He slipped out the door, trudging down the hallway he tossed the rest of the doughnut into his mouth, chewing happily he forgot how steep the stairs were. He let out a yelp, one leg going forwards while the other was still at the top steps and slid all the way down landing in a sprawled mess at the foot of the stairs. The main room of the tavern fell silent and he let loose a groan, rolling into a ball as he cradled himself. It felt like an NFL kicker had tried to score a field goal with his family jewels while an angry dwarven blacksmith had taken his hammer to his knee caps.
“Well, he lived” one man called out in a rumbling voice like thunder across mountain tops.
“See Boris, I told you those steps were too steep and needed a banister.” a thick phlegmy voice responded
“If I make them less steep then they take more room which means less sleeping room in winter and less dancing room in the summer. Besides you were supposed to build the hand railing months ago” the deep rumbling voice, now known as Boris growled out.
“Y’ain’t paid me yet.” came the response.
“Why would I pay a lazy dog for a job that hasn't been done?” Boris asked incredulously.
“Amanda you should probably see if he’s ok. Poor boy took a good tumble.” the man with the phlegmy voice called out.
Pag rolled over and stood slowly, biting his lower lip.
“You ok?” Amanda asked kneeling beside him.
Pag nodded and took a slow deep breath. “yeah, do you by chance know where that weather mage you mentioned last night is?”
“Yeah he went to read the clouds in the east fields while all the locals went to check on the animals back in the barns.”
“You know when he’ll be back?”
“No, sometimes he disappears for days at a time.”
“My friend and I were hoping to see when how long this window between the storms is so we know if we have time to move out. We have a very important quest that has a timer. I was also going to ask if you possibly had enough time to perhaps bake some more of those amazing pastries for us even if we cant get on the road today?” he asked clearing his throat and fighting back a cough as he stood.
The snow groaned beneath his feet as he sunk thigh deep into the powdery blanket that painted that landscape. A shiver ran down his spine and he steeled himself wading though the snow. As he neared the edge of the clearing that held the tavern he stopped and scratched his chin. He looked down at himself, the memory of the mini avalanche that the Cryogenetic master had thrown at him surfacing as he stared at the frigid clumps clinging to his robes. Taking a deep breath he closed his eyes and snapped his fingers as he imagined a thin layer of flames laying over his skin and clothes, just warm enough to bite back the cold but not to burn. Letting his breath out slowly Pag opened his eyes and looked down.
The snow that clung to his cloak slid before falling into a slushy pile onto the ground, now clear of snow in a small circle around him. Warmth blanketed him as if he stood in front of an oven. Pag grinned and took a step forward, watching as the snow shrunk back from him. He checked again to ensure he was still headed in the right direction and starts out again.
The soggy ground squelched beneath his feet as he trudged through the frozen landscape leaving a small thawed trail behind him. Steam rose from the ground with each step he took and his breath rose from him in thick clouds the two mingling into a fog that hung around him. Around him the frozen world is silent as he passes through it. The pale blue sky nearly blending seamlessly with the horizon as the sun sun burns through the gossamer layer of clouds that wrapped the sky.
Pag crested the rise of a hill, the precise line where the trees and undergrowth stopped distinct as he looked around. He took one final step and looked out over the landscape, his breath hitching as he took in the large perfect circle of clear of snow. Grass lay like a thick carpet in the circle, bushes whose branches sagged heavy with berries dotted the land in an odd pattern. In the center of the circle squat a dilapidated cottage dressed in vines so thick on the door and window were visible while chimney smoke seemed to rise from nowhere. Small star shaped purple and yellow flowers waved at him in a breeze he hadn’t noticed that carried the smell of mint and honeysuckle.
Shaking his head he picked his way down the hill, stopping at a bush to add more berries to the sack in his cloak and popping a few into his mouth. As he neared the cottage the vegetation thickened around him, slowly going from being ankle deep to waist deep, the heady aroma of it filling his senses. He waded through the plants and knocked on the door, taking a step back to avoid being hit as the door flew open.
Pag blinked and stared at the very rumpled and scowling woman in the doorway. Her left hand gripped a wooden spoon, her right hand planted on her hip, as she stood there looking him up and down.
“Drop that spell before all my plants wilt” she growled pointing the spoon at him and narrowing her eyes.
Pag stared at her for a moment before his eyes widened and he dropped the Cloak of Flames spell with an apologetic grimace. “S-sorry. I was just trying to locate the weather mage.” he mumbled.
She stared at him for a moment and rolled her eyes leaning backwards into the cottage “Mav. You’ve a visitor.” she calls out as she leans against the door frame.
Hurried footsteps echoed from inside the house and a small figure bundled in woolen clothes appears. It pushes back the faded blue woolen cap, large hazel cat eyes staring up at him. Pag blinks as he takes in the sight of the apparently hairless small feline child. Pag stared at the Altacian child and cocked his head before shaking and to refocus his thoughts.
“Sorry to bother you, I was just trying to figure out how long it would be between the storm fronts, my companion and I have a time sensitive quest that we are trying to get south for.” Pag said watching the child's tail as it curled and flicked.
“As of right now. Approximately 16 hours. Give or take.” The small voice croaked out.
Pag stood there for a moment longer and gave an awkward smile and chuckle.” Thanks.” He said slowly turning.
“How far south are you going.” the girl asks straightening.
Pag blinked and pulled up his maps. “Our primary quest is in the disputed lands previously held by the marquess Tibald, I believe the area is referred to as The Forests of Dimmen. But there’s also a quest for the areas main hold of Caldwell and a quest within the lunar empire as well.”
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.
She stared at him, eyes wide, her mouth parted. She rushed forward and grabbed fistfuls of his robes. “Please, take us along the way. We don’t have much in the way of funds but we can teach you plenty of skills and even cook for you along the way.”
Pag stared at her in shock. Before extracting himself from her grip. “What sort of skills?” he asked smoothing out his robes.
“You’re a mage, we can teach you spells. Or there’s herbology, or enchantments, rune working, ward making, talisman crafting, artificing, summoning. We have a lot of skills both magical and non magical that we can teach you in exchange. The thing is, the cold isn’t good for my brother, and we can’t go south on our own because we’re not really combat oriented. In short it’s just too dangerous.” She said in a rush, the words tumbling from her mouth as she looked at him pleadingly.
Pag squints looking between the two of them. “He’s your brother?”
She sighs rolling her eyes. “Maverick is my half brother. Same dad, different mothers. Both of our parents are... They’re out of the picture. We need to get down to my sister’s house in the city of Kyrbane. Its along the way you’re already going” she says looking down and wringing her hands.
Pag crosses his arms and frowns. Quests to escort an NPC to another location were rarely as simple as they sounded and didn’t always have the best rewards. Or at least that was his experience. He sighed and pulled up the menu, selecting party functions where he tapped the message option and tapped out a quick explanation of the situation to Aviva and sent it to her. “I need to consult with my companion before I can give a definite answer he says rubbing his face.
To his surprise he didn’t have to wait long for her response. The notification chimed and he pulled it up.
Pag swallowed and turned to them. “We’ll do it.” He says pulling up his menu to add them to the party.
Pag tapped the accept button and took in a deep breath. “If you don’t mind, please gather the things you will need as quickly as possible. We need to get on the road.” he said as he pulled up the menu again and typed out another message to Aviva.
He thought about asking for her to ask about the pastries he had spoken with Amanda about earlier but decided against it and clicked send. Pag looked around and frowned sighing as he leaned into the house. “You guys don’t happen to have any mounts do you?” he asked into the house over the sound of rushed packing.
“We can summon bound mounts. Spectral beasts.” Toula called back, voice high and thin with agitation and effort.
Pag blinked. “Spectral Beasts?” He asked taking a step inside and stopping as he saw the two of them running around, grabbing various objects and shoving them into a bag that was about the size of a volleyball. He felt his mouth drop open as he watched them shove item after item into it, some with no business fitting into something so small, until the cottage was entirely empty of everything but the largest furniture. Once they were done Toula took the bag and tied it closed before shoving it under Maverick’s hat which she tugged farther down.
“Spectral beasts are souls of creatures that have died or are yet to be born. You make a pact with one to bind it to your soul so that its not taken by Thurtris and Idona, feeding it with your excess energy, and call it when you need it.” Toula says pushing past him and out the door.
“Thurtris and Idona?” He asks slowly.
“The god of the dead and the goddess of death. Idona gathers the souls once they die so Thurtris may place their souls to be reborn. Occasionally when there are great cataclysms or wide spreading wars some souls seep through their grasp and are left wandering the planes of the afterlife. These are the ones that we call.”Maverick said quietly from beside him
Pag looked down at him his eyebrows raising. “Is that like a necromantic spell of sorts?”
Maverick shook his head. “No, its a soul spell. Necromancers don’t usually deal with the soul unless they have some warlock tendencies. Usually necro’s are just puppeteers of sorts. Warlocks deal with souls and demons, some specialize in strictly one or the other”
Pag felt a light bulb click on in the back of his mind. “What are all the possible classes a mage can specialize into?” Pag asked looking closer at Maverick.
“I don’t know them all but what I do know is this. Mage is the broad unspecialized term for magic users. For those who prefer elements they’re called elementalists which can specialize further to specific elements or elemental combinations. Those who make a pact with a patron god, dark god, demon or other powerful entity for skills and power especially in regards to souls you have warlocks who can specialize further into a shaman for greater control and access to spirits, not sure what the other specialization is on that branch. Mages who wish to specialize in magic dealing with sounds, incantations and such become Bards. Mages who prefer magic based in plants and animals are druids. There are even mages called Palletician who can infuse ink with mana and manipulate it to attack, defend, alter what is written and the like. Mages who do blood based magic to create or puppet creatures, usually from corpses , are necromancers. There are more but this is all that I know.”He said with a shrug.
Pag scratched his chin and stared out over the foliage to the stark line of trees and frozen landscape for a moment before shaking his head and looking around for Toula who was summoning a pair of ghostly boars whose hide sprouted thick vicious spines, their tusks curling back far over their heads near to their flanks. Where their eyes were supposed to be black pits with pale yellow wisps floating within that seemed to boar into your soul. Pag chuckled at his internal pun.
“You ready?” Toula asks looking over to him with a grim set to her face.
“I am, this should hopefully be a boaring trip.”Pag gave a small nod followed by a jump as he was notified of another message.
Pag waved away the message and pulled up his map to get an idea of the direction he needed to start off in. With a breath he trudged in the direction of the map marker, snapping his fingers a few times to activate his cloak of flames spell as they approached the tree line. He trudged in silence, the snow melting away from him in a circle slightly broader than the earlier one to create a clear path for the two following behind.
They went along in silence, steam from their breath mixed with the steam that curled from beneath his feet as he padded over the soggy ground. A frigid breeze pushed at them from the side, coming from the northeast pulling the steam that hung around them and trailing it along until it fell in shimmering frozen droplets into the snow.
The sun was well overhead by the time they reached the area Aviva had marked as their rendezvous location and Pag felt like his mind was in a fog. He came to a stop, plopping down on the ground as he fought unsuccessfully to hold back a fit of harsh barking coughs. The fit of coughs wracked his body and he felt a weight settle on his chest, his lungs and throat burning with each breath he managed to pull in until a thick wad worked its way loose and he spat it out with a grimace.
“So that’s why you’re going to the lunar empire.” Toula said quietly. “What stage are you at?” she asked.
Pag took a few ragged breaths before looking up at her through the tears that rimmed in his eyes as he wiped the spit from his maw. He glanced at his character sheet to make sure nothing had changed and gave a resigned response. “Still in stage one for the time being but not for much longer if that countdown clock is any indication.”
“Now that we’re all here we need to get on the road, when you messaged me you said we had about 16 hours, well it’s been four and we have about another four until it starts getting dark. The next tavern is a way’s out but we should be able to make it if we push.” Aviva said as she came from a thicket, Morena tied to her saddle to guide her along.
Pag stood and took a step, stopping as he caught sight of the hooded figure that slipped from around a tree behind Aviva.