Now that we’re here, it seems no one is entirely certain what to do. The city’s glow is beautiful, and the promise of a soft bed and warm bath is enticing. But if Liz’s intel is correct, it might be filled with enemy troops. I look out into the desert, but the dunes limit our horizon.
“Should we wait until we see sign of Constance’s troops?” Quell wonders, looking off to the east.
“Or we could go looking for him,” Liz suggests. “Stop him before he gets close.”
Xamireb shakes their head. “That may risk the possibility of missing him. With these dunes, we have limited visibility. We could pass each other by without realizing it.”
“His troops were moving on foot,” Darian says. “Since we’ve been traveling by star drake, I’m certain we’re here first. He might only be a day or two out, but no closer. The safest option is to wait for him to come to us. Once he’s within sight, we can intercept before he makes it in the gates.”
“Assuming there’s even an ambush waiting,” Earnest points out. “We could be doing all this cloak and dagger for nothing.”
Everyone looks to Liz.
“I don’t know,” she admits. “I only heard bits and pieces from my kidnappers. Like I said, they were discussing the plans to take the city, but we still don’t know for sure if it’s already been captured or not.”
“We need more information,” Quell agrees. “If it hasn’t been taken and we stop Constance’s approach for nothing, we might actually be buying Moonfall extra time.”
The solution seems obvious. “Then we go in and see what situation we’re actually dealing with,” I say.
The others look uneasy with the suggestion.
“But if it has been taken,” Quell trails off.
“Then that will be good to confirm,” I point out. “I mean, if they want it to be a trap, then they need to maintain the appearance that nothing has changed. We should be able to walk right in. They’re waiting for Constance’s troops, not a handful of travelers.”
Not to mention, I’m not about to let our group turn around when we’re this close. I need to see if the Oasis can resolve the magic that has me tied to Quell—and the Crimson Aegis, I suppose. I did promise to give it to Constance. But it’s the Role Requirement I’m more bothered by, and I can’t let the opportunity slip through my fingers now.
“They’ll know what the prince and princess look like,” Earnest says.
Liz smiles, and does a flourishing twirl. Light flickers down her form, and when she comes to a stop, she’s changed. Her clothes are warm red silks, and her previous cloudy hair has grown into dozens of braids. She grins, placing a pair of gold rimmed glasses on her nose.
“Good thing you know an illusionist,” she says.
Quell squints at her. “I feel like you’re mocking me somehow.”
“What?” She flutters a hand against her chest. “Me? Never! I’m just a bookish academic looking to study the Lifespring! Favorite interests include: reading. Writing. Spending days in the library—”
Quell snaps his finger with a pulse of purple light, and her disguise burns away in a cloud of sparks.
“Hey!”
“Pick a different persona,” he says.
Liz snickers, but Darian appears grim. “I don’t like that the spell can be so easily undone. What if there are other illusionists in the city? They might see right through you.”
Liz shakes her head. “Not likely. I mean, there might be other illusionists, but only Quell’s good enough to see through and disperse a disguise like mine. It’s in our blood. Unless I’m directly targeted with a counter, it would take someone on par with demigods to notice my spells.”
“Directly targeted sounds like a huge caveat,” Darian says. “And with Constance approaching, they’ll be on the lookout for exactly this kind of magic.”
Liz shakes her head. “They might have illusion detection spell circles set up at the city gates—most cities do—but those are pretty generic, and wouldn’t be strong enough to pierce my magic. They’d need to be actively casting a detection spell on every single inhabitant in order to find me, and that’s not only impractical, but effectively impossible, given the mana requirement. Trust me; I’ll be fine.”
Darian looks to Quell for confirmation.
He lifts up his hands in defeat. “She might be arrogant, but she’s right. She is that good. Me and Constance wouldn’t be able to go undetected, but Liz has the capability. Small scale illusions are her specialty.”
“Arrogant?” she scoffs.
“Well earned arrogance,” Quell amends.
She sticks her tongue out at him.
“Well that’s well and good for the princess,” Earnest says. “But what about the rest of us?” He looks down at the Duneshade emblem on his armor. “I’d rather not walk into potentially-enemy territory without any protection.”
“You don’t have to worry about that.” Liz rubs her hands together, looking each of us over with a strange, hungry expression. “Oh, this is going to be fun.”
She takes a breath and raises her hands, sparks spitting from her fingers. Then she lets out a melodic whistle as she flicks her fingers at the rest of us. The sparks are caught up in her song and swirl around our forms.
[You have been imbued with a Major Illusion spell,] Echo speaks up.
I only feel a faint warmth as the magic ripples across my body. A moment later everyone is looking at everyone else, blinking.
Earnest laughs, pointing at his sibling. Xamireb looks down at themself. They’re still an arachnoid, but their armor has been replaced with wizardly robes that do look a tad ridiculous on the soldier. Then Xamireb laughs at their brother.
His water prosthetic now appears to be made of gold, and similarly colored rings and necklaces and cuffs adorn his body like a rich merchant. Earnest starts laughing at himself, too.
Darian smiles faintly at her soldiers, then looks over the rest of us.
This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it
Liz is back in her previous disguise, sans-glasses this time. Darian’s imposing form is now dressed in modest drapes of brown and blue cloth; practical and discreet.
Quell’s glasses have vanished, and his hairstyle has changed to a short, sharp cut, which looks absolutely bizarre on him. Don’t get me wrong, it looks much more sleek and fashionable, but neither of those terms are words I would associate with Quell. Then I look down at myself.
My attire has changed the least. I’m still in light leather armor and loose clothing, but a sword hangs at my side, and the symbol on my chest is that of a wyvern. I experimentally try to grab the sword; I can feel it as my fingers close around the sheath, but when I squeeze, the illusion ripples, and my hand clenches around air. It looks like my hand is embedded in the sword.
“Try not to intentionally break the illusion,” Liz says, noticing my experiment. “Or I’ll have to take that sword away from you. But what’s a sellsword without their weapon?”
“Sellsword?”
“Given your physique and everything, I thought it would be a good cover,” Liz explains. “You’ll have to vanish that shield of yours, though; I can’t really do much to make it appear discreet. I mean, I could make it look smaller, but if someone ran into the invisible part, that might break your illusion. So, yeah: no shield.”
“Right.” I add the Aegis to my Inventory before it has the opportunity to argue the point. As it vanishes with a small puff of air, I feel something brush against my neck. I reach around behind, and my fingers tangle in a ponytail.
I frown. “I like my hair short.”
“But it looks good on you!” Liz says. “And in the northern cities it’s—”
“Short,” I snap, clenching my hand around the hair. It vanishes beneath my grasp.
Liz wrinkles her nose. “All right, all right.” She wiggles her fingers, and the faint sensation at the back of my head whisps away. I breathe out a sigh of relief.
“Well, that’s that,” Darian says, surveying the group. “Let’s leave Poppy out here and take the star drake from the Coil. It would be suspicious for us not to have any beasts of burden, but Poppy might give us away.” Liz opens her mouth, but Darian silences her. “Illusions on people are one thing, and on animals are another. She won’t know to be careful with the spells you put on her.”
Earnest stops playing with the rings on his fingers.
Darian gives him a hard look. “Because the rest of us understand we need to be careful with our illusions.”
Earnest smiles guiltily, but Liz pats Darians arm. “Really, don’t worry about it. They’re quite stable. And the closer you all stay to me, the more stable they’ll remain. Just no one go running off on their own, and we’ll be fine.”
Somehow, Darian seems even less reassured than before.
“Then what are we waiting for?” I say, before she can have second thoughts. “We need to get going if we don’t want Constance to catch up with us while we’re still in the city. We have a lot of ground to cover.”
“Alright,” Darian agrees. “But by sunup, we leave, whether we’ve found anything or not. Everyone ready?”
“Yes, Captain,” the twins say.
Liz squeezes Darian’s arm, and Quell glances nervously to me.
I stare down into the city, trying to feel the healing Life arcana radiating toward me. Wondering if this is the day I’ll finally regain my independence.
I nod. “Let’s go.”
----------------------------------------
We find a path that leads to the city’s front gates, melting out of the surrounding sand. It’s packed firm; many people have traveled this path before.
Similar to the Coil, the city is lit with red and orange lights, which are slightly less harsh on my dark vision. Even so, I squint against the brightness of the Oasis as we approach its gates.
Guards are stationed at the entrance and watch us as we approach. I Check them out of curiosity.
[Muri, level 24 human sand guard. Protects the Lifespring Oasis.]
The others are much the same, and none of them mention the Moonfall Dynasty. I consider that a good sign.
The guards stop us to check over our star drake’s supplies; it’s a good thing we left anything identifying back with Poppy. Earnest greets them warmly, immediately launching into a convincing story about trade. I don’t particularly pay attention to what he says as I scan our surroundings; people hurry about the streets ahead of us, but there’s too many to Check all of them. No one gives us a passing glance, however. It all seems normal. Was Liz wrong?
After a few more minutes of inspection and chatter, the guards wave us through, and then we’re in the city walls.
It’s so different and yet so similar to the Coil. Instead of lights strung above us, the streets are lit by lamps. I crane my head back as we pass under one; the pole is covered in roots and vines—or maybe that’s what it’s made of. At the top hangs a flower, blooming to reveal fiery, ethereal lights. The streets are much wider, the buildings shorter, but giant fronds grow up between them, casting shade over the streets and houses below. Between the fronds and streetlights, I can’t even see the stars. I wonder if this city operates all day as well as all night, provided such reprieve from the harsh sun.
Though the Coil had been bustling and busy, the Lifespring feels alive in the way the other hadn’t. There’s more laughter, more children, more smiles. The Coil had been surviving, while the Lifespring is thriving. No wonder both countries want it for their own.
“Notice anything?” I ask Quell quietly.
His eyes go unfocused for a moment, then he shakes his head. “No illusions that I can see.”
Liz drifts over to us. “That’s good, right? Maybe they’re not here yet. Maybe we were wrong about it being a trap”
“Maybe,” I agree. It’s easy to think that’s true. Everyone seems so relaxed. There’s even Lifespring guards that pass us by every once in a while, casually strolling through the squares to discourage trouble. Surely they would have noticed if the city were infiltrated by a bunch of Moonfall soldiers.
We wander through the streets, taking in the sights. I’m not sure if anyone has a specific destination in mind; anyone besides me, really. There’s occasional street signs that indicate the kind of wares you’d expect in a certain district, but nothing that points to the physical spring itself. A sign isn’t necessary, however, as I can sense the magic growing stronger.
Quell breathes in deeply, and lets it out. “Can you feel that?”
“I can.” I run a hand down the scrapes and scabs that dot my arms like freckles. Though I can’t see them beneath the illusion, the faint itching sensation tells me they’re healing.
“How’s your wound?” Earnest asks Xamireb.
“Improving,” they say. They brush a hand over their abdomen. “The scab’s nearly ready to come off, I think. I bet by the time we leave this city, it’s nothing more than a faint scar.”
Another reason why this place would be so desirable to the two kingdoms. I can’t imagine what it would be like to face an enemy who regenerates simply by keeping within their walls; a siege would almost be impossible.
Which means they can’t have taken the city yet, right? All they’d have to do is fortify, and it would take an army for Duneshade to take it back. Which leaves two options. Either they’re really not here yet, or they’re in hiding and biding their time, willing to risk losing the city on the bet that they can lure in and capture the Duneshade royal children when the time is right.
The Spring draws us in like moths to a light. I can feel its warmth on my skin, even though it’s not within sight. Wordlessly, we all thread our way through the streets, following that growing warmth, until we reach the city’s center.
I realize now that I’d seen the Oasis from outside the city, though I hadn’t recognized it at the time. Back on the sand dunes, it had appeared as little more than a blue disk at the city’s center. In person, however, its size is breathtaking.
The water is unnervingly blue and still, a perfect circle hundreds of feet across. It glows faintly, like sunlight shone through a jewel. The many paths down to the bank transition from stone and brick to a lush layer of grass and tiny blue flowers. All around the pool, people are crouched, pouring cups of water over their arms or legs. A few have even waded out into the shallow waters, or rest floating on their back. I take a step forward, and the water laps at my boot.
Fear seizes my gut, clenching around it tight and cold. I take in a sharp breath as my mind is temporarily cast back into the ocean, waves crashing over my head, slamming into me like a wall, sending me reeling, spinning, salt burning up my nose and down my throat. I try to gasp in a breath, but frigid water rushes into my lungs instead. I choke, wanting to scream. The scene swims in front of me.
“Nye?”
Quell grabs my arm as I sway, stopping me from tipping over. “Hey! Are you alright? What’s going on?”
A rush of blood floods and then slowly fades from my ears. I take a steadying breath, stomach still churning, but grounded again in the present. I tear my eyes away from the lake.
“I’m fine,” I tell him. Quell’s face is pinched with worry. I gently remove his hand from my arm. “It was just a bad memory.” Memories can’t hurt you. Not if you don’t let them.
“Are you sure?”
“Yeah.” I step forward, forcing the trepidation down. I won’t be controlled by my fear—I won’t let anything control me. That’s why I’m here. I need to see if the waters can set me free.
This isn’t the ocean. There’s no waves. The pool is shallow and safe. I won’t drown.
I take another step forward, and the water rises to my ankle.
[Lifespring buffs activated,] Echo says.