Aiden was jerked from his sleep by a loud scream piercing his dreams. Jumping out of his small tent, the scream filled the air. Causing the entire world to freeze. Then it cut off abruptly. The sudden silence that followed was oppressive, the usual rustlings and wildlife chirping eerily absent.
The oppressive silence was shattered by the fearful cries of startled birds and animals. The sky filled with the sound of beating wings and darting shadows as flocks of birds winged for safety.
The sky was just barely lit with the coming day. Aiden spun in a circle, taking in the fleeing birds and gauging the direction of the scream.
"What was that?" Bram's voice startled Aiden. He hadn't noticed Bram joining him as he scanned the forest.
The animal noises diminished and the birds returned to their hidden perches in the trees. A few moments later the forest around them slowly gained the sounds of insects, birds, and other morning animal activity.
Aiden pointed in the direction of the scream, his heart still hammering. Despite the almost restored forest noises, Aiden could feel something was still hanging in the air. The forest felt different, thicker somehow. "I don't know. It came from that direction," he pointed his voice barely above a whisper.
"You don’t know?" Bram's tone was edged with anxiety, his usual composure slipping. He stepped closer to Aiden, lowering his voice. "That didn’t sound like an animal."
Aiden nodded, peering into the dense foliage, trying to pierce the dim shadows that seemed to cling closer than before. "I've never heard anything like it. It was..." unable to properly describe what he'd heard, Aiden shrugged, "wrong."
The two exchanged a glance. Neither wanted to admit how deeply the scream had unsettled them. Bram swallowed hard, then pulled a small device from his bag, his fingers working to activate it. "I'm setting this to detect magical disturbances. If that was caused by something... unnatural, we should know."
The device hummed to life, casting a faint blue glow. But as seconds stretched into minutes, the tension only grew.
"I think it came from the trap," Aiden said as Bram fiddled with his device.
"I'm not detecting anything unusual."
"I think we should check the trap."
Aiden and Bram took their time cautiously trekking through the dense forest to reach the location. By the time they approached, the usual chorus of forest morning sounds had resumed, and the sky had brightened enough to chase most of the shadows away, easing the eerie feel of the woods.
Peering through the thick underbrush, they caught sight of the trap on the ground, a stark splash of red visible within. Without hesitation, Aiden pushed through the foliage, his breath catching at the sight before him. The strange bird lay unconscious, its glimmering red wings unfurled slightly on the forest floor. Around it, a scatter of vibrant red feathers and the remnants of the trap's violently torn heavy twine told the story of a desperate struggle.
Aiden observed the bird's chest rise and fall with slow, steady breaths. Its eyes stared openly. After a moment, the eyes slowly closed and then opened again. The bird was disheveled and half-puffed up like a baby. It was alive, clearly stunned, possibly unconscious.
Bram knelt beside the fallen trap, his expression clouded with concern. "One of the binding wards has been broken," he muttered, examining the remnants of the magical protections. "We need to secure this better before we attempt to transport it."
Aiden nodded, his mind racing with the implications. "What is this? A bird capable of breaking through magical wards?"
Bram shook his head, his eyes still fixed on the creature. "I’m not sure, Aiden. But one thing is clear—this is no ordinary bird. We need to proceed with extreme caution and study it meticulously."
He stood, brushing dirt from his hands. "I can strengthen the cage temporarily with what I have here. Once we're back at camp, I'll prepare a more robust ward. After that, we can study it safer out here. I'm not sure we should take it to the village."
"I want to try feeding it out here and see how it responds," Aiden suggested, glancing at the bird with a mix of awe and apprehension.
Bram made some gestures with an incantation. Blue light surrounded the cage and then settled into the metal bars as it slowly faded away. Bram nodded and brushed some leaves from his leggings. "It is good weather, and this is a beautiful location. It might help that bird to stay here for a bit."
Aiden collected the feathers automatically before carefully righting the cage. The bird was unconscious, and with careful movements, Aiden got it settled on the bottom of the cage.
Back at their makeshift camp, Bram set about reinforcing the bird's cage with additional magical wards. Aiden watched as Bram drew intricate symbols in the air with a small, glowing wand, and on the ground around the cage with an array of powders. Each gesture weaving visible layers of energy around the cage. The air thickened with the scent of ozone as the spell took shape.
"Just a few more minutes, and this will hold it," Bram murmured, his voice steady despite the concentration etched on his face.
The bird stirred. Its eyes blinked rapidly before it lifted its head and took in the situation. Bright with an intelligence that seemed far too knowing, it began squawking, the sound unnervingly human-like—a scream of frustration and rage that made Aiden step back. The bird threw itself against the sides of the cage with startling force, its wings beating furiously, more red feathers flying.
Aiden rushed over to hold the cage in position against the bird's violent thrashing. The bird’s agitation increased, and it made more than a few attempts to get at Aiden's hands with its beak or talons. When Aiden proved able to hold the cage without giving the bird a chance to bite or scratch Aiden, it screamed again, a chilling sound that echoed through the clearing—the sound ringing in Aiden's ears.
Aiden being unreachable, the bird turned its attention back to Bram. It let out a painful screeching cry that caused the air to wobble in a cone shape aimed at Bram. Bram held up his hand, which glowed green, and the cone of blasted air dispersed. Thankfully, Bram had only paused in his incantations rather than losing them altogether.
"Get ready to stand back, Aiden!" Bram called out over the din. He quickened his pace, the magical symbols flowing faster from his wand. The air around the cage started to pulse with energy, a deep hum filling the space as Bram chanted the spell's words.
"Let go!" Bram commanded, and then he spoke a final word of power as Aiden jumped back from the cage.
The bird had been expecting this, lashing out at the cage again just as Aiden was too far back to catch it. The cage tilted and began to fall over.
With a final flourish, Bram slammed the wand down, the ground beneath them trembling slightly. The cage was snapped back to standing as the glowing light of power settled into the cage's bars and frame. As the last syllable of the spell echoed in the air, the bird abruptly stopped its frantic movements. Breathing heavily, the bird slowly stepped from where it hung on the side of the cage to the wooden perch made of branches Aiden had mounted in the cage. The bird shifted to a position near the center of the cage and stretched its wings, slowly settling down.
Its gaze fixed on Bram, intense and unblinking. The look in its eyes was menacing, promising retribution, as it glowered through the bars. The magical energy slowly faded into a soft glow around the cage, the wards now visibly reinforced, pulsating with a gentle blue light contrasting sharply with the dark threat in the bird’s eyes. Then they faded leaving the cage looking ordinary.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.
Bram wiped the sweat from his brow and exhaled deeply, watching the bird respectfully. "It's secure now, but that was too close. This creature is more than just a rare specimen. It's powerful and dangerous. We need to be extremely careful with how we proceed. I don't think you can use your aviary for it."
Aiden nodded, his eyes still on the bird, whose intense stare hadn’t wavered. "I get that. What is it?"
The bird's head turned to glare at Aiden. A trilled, deep, soft note came from its open mouth. The sound sent chills along Aiden's spine, it sounded too much like an ominous chuckle to be anything else.
Bram stepped up to the cage, earning the bird's glaring stare. In Bram's hand was the same device he'd had before. Aiden stepped closer and looked.
"Anything?"
"Nothing, not even the expected baseline of power."
The bird made another vocalization and puffed out its feathers. The device in Bram's hand sparkled, and Bram cried out in pain, dropping the delicate instrument and jumping backward. Bram lost his balance and fell. Aiden jumped back, too, but managed to keep his feet.
The device bounced in the grass and little trails of smoke started to rise from the grass it rested on.
Bram rolled to his knees and quickly cast another spell on the device. Aiden felt a sudden chilled breeze as Bram picked up the device and adjusted it.
The bird sat on its perch, watching Bram.
"You little devil," Bram said. "This is expensive and you could have broken it with that surge."
The bird turned, tilted its head, and chirped once before fluffing its feathers and closing its eyes.
Bram scowled at the bird and then mumbled, "Too small to make a decent meal."
Aiden collected the scattered red feathers and put them in his pouch with the others. "We just need to earn its trust."
"You're in for more of a challenge than you think." Bram glanced at the now bright sky. "The new wards will hold it. I'll check them again this evening and teach you how they work. Keeping that creature contained will be great training for you. How about some breakfast, and then we can continue the investigation of that chamber?"
Aiden rolled some of the fruit mush he'd brought as bait into a small log and carefully placed it at the bottom of the cage where the bird could reach it. After that he pulled down their supplies from the tree and set about making breakfast while Bram chatted away about the tests they were going to conduct as he pulled out the magical devices and got them ready.
Together, they prepared a warm breakfast of oat porridge sweetened with honey and dried fruits, a comforting meal that filled the chilly morning air with inviting aromas. Aiden kept one eye on the bird, but it didn't move a muscle.
Aiden helped gather their equipment and carry it down to the ancient chamber. The chamber was cool and dry, the dark blue walls smooth with tiny veins of white and grey that seemed to dance in the flickering torchlight. It had a depth to it that made Aiden feel wary of its glass-smooth surface.
Bram began setting up an array of devices with meticulous care. First, he took out the vial containing the dark red liquid that detected Blood Magic. "Notice how it pulses, Aiden. It’s reacting to the life forces of you and me. Set it down at the center of that circle."
After putting it in the center of the circle of symbols, Aiden stepped back, putting his back on the cool wall. Bram stood close and using a wand showed Aiden how to mask their life forces from the device. It took a few tries before Aiden got the spell right. With Bram's and Aiden's life force masked from the device, it settled to an absolute stillness.
"That is unexpected," Bram said as he jotted some notes into a small travel log.
"What?"
Bram raised the brightness of the magical lamps so Aiden could see that the reddish liquid had settled to the bottom of the vial, and the clear liquid floated on top—neither moving.
"We should have some movement from the life in the forest around us. There is some life even in the Earth deep underground. Yet, there is no life magic. How is your telekinetics?"
Aiden frowned, "I've been able to move small objects like a pence across the table. Why?"
Bram shook his head. "That won't do. I expect you to practice more. Here is a place where tight control is vital to our research."
Bram held out his hand, and the device lifted into the air and floated slowly towards them. The movement was so smooth and slow that it didn't disturb the liquids in the blood magic detector.
"Don't look so surprised." Bram admonished.
Aiden realized his mouth was open and closed it.
The detector slowly moved around the chamber as Bram followed it, his hand held palm up.
After circling the room fully, Bram reached out and plucked the detector from the air. "This chamber is shielded from blood magic beyond anything I've seen or even dreamed of. We are completely isolated here."
Bram put the device away and made more notes in his little logbook.
Next, he unveiled the geometric object within a crystal cube used for detecting Entropy Magic. "This device measures the decay of systems. Watch the fluctuating shapes; they reveal the stability of magical energies around us," Bram explained as he placed it on a stand and adjusted it with precise movements.
The evening before, the device had been shifting from one shape to another in a blur of unusual activity. Here, like the blood magic detector, it seemed almost inert. Except it did slowly change. The reality of it still puzzled Aiden, it changed shape when he wasn't looking at it. Staring intently at it it remained a solid geometric object, a pyramid, a crystal growth, a cube. But, then it would be something else without it actually moving. It changed shapes twice a second in a steady rhythm.
Bram taught Aiden the spell to mask them from this device, and it slowed to changing every second.
The day proceeded in the same fashion. It took between a half hour and an hour to set up each device, for Aiden to learn how to mask themselves from the device, and then to conduct what tests were appropriate for the devices and the magics.
They'd done the most basic tests for all the basic forms of magic by the end of the day. Aiden was surprised to find himself as tired as if he'd worked a full day in the forge. Aiden was happy when Bram declared the chamber safe to leave the gear in.
Wearily, they emerged into the early evening light. The forest's fresh air and sounds were refreshing. They both stood, stretched, and took in deep lungs full of the fresh air.
Aiden checked on the bird. The cage was still sitting on the plank camping table they'd brought, and the bird was in the exact same position as when they'd gone down into the chamber. But the food Aiden had left was gone. Aiden tapped the top of the cage lightly, "You aren't fooling anyone." He chuckled as he splashed a little water into the cage's empty water dish and added more of the bait mash.
Bram stepped over. "Listen and watch," he said. Then he said a few arcane words with a deep tone and held his hands over the cage. The cage glowed, and the magical symbols of the wards became visible.
Bram indicated one of the symbols, "Ah, see how this symbol is not as bright as the others?"
Aiden had to concentrate to see it, but once he did, it was obvious. One of the wards glowed like a candle with small, slow flickers, while the others were bright and steady like lanterns.
"Does that mean it is weaker?"
"Exactly, this fabulous bird has been tapping at it. And can you tell me why?"
Aiden considered it. Bram had added a few new wards to the cage, which Aiden wasn't familiar with. But, looking at it, he could see small tendrils going from that ward to the others. Then he remembered the symbols for air and electricity, and it clicked. "That is collecting power for the other wards you added?"
Bram smiled, "Exactly. If that one breaks, it will likely take a couple of others. But, then, the rest will be easier to dispel. This is not random." Bram looked at the bird's fluffed-up back, its eyes closed. "Not sure how much it understands, but it is cunning."
Bram looked thoughtful. "There’s something unique about this place, Aiden. We’re missing a piece of the puzzle, but we’ll find it. Magic like this bird and chamber doesn’t hide without reason. But, let's get to our immediate needs. Here, pay attention, let me show you a spell to refresh any ward you create." Bram spoke a spell that channeled magic into the cage, and all the wards brightened and glowed evenly.
Aiden caught a slight movement out of the corner of his eye. Looking at the bird, it seemed the same, but its head was a tiny bit turned down. If Aiden hadn't seen the nearly imperceivable slump, he doubted he'd have noticed.
Bram waved his hand, and the glowing wards faded until they were invisible again. "How about some food and sleep?"
After storing everything away for the night, they sat by the fire and worked on a soup together. When Bram finally said something, Aiden was shocked to realize they'd been silent for almost two hours.
"It's all about the groundwork—laying the foundation for what’s to come." Bram muttered more to himself than Aiden.
Bram was clearly starting in the middle of some conversation or series of thoughts, so Aiden prompted more "What?"
"Hmm? Oh, sorry, that oddly refined magic in the chamber. It was built for a purpose that required it to be cut off from the world. It is more than just a protective location to practice magics. Practice labs have more protections from damage and reducing surges. This place doesn't have those protections, it is just cut off from external influences. Every spell I did down there had to be done from my reserves. I couldn't use the magics available from the environment like I could now. It is elusively simple, but in reality, must be extremely complex and sophisticated to provide that magical environment."
"Like prepping the forge," Aiden remarked, his eyes glinting. "Getting the coals hot, the bellows primed, and the iron ready to shape."
"Exactly," Bram replied, smiling. "And you know how important the right temperature is, especially for working metal."
Aiden chuckled, nodding. "Yeah, it's a fine balance. Too much heat, and you burn the steel; too little, and it won’t shape at all. From what you've taught, magic is similar—it needs careful tuning to make sure everything’s in harmony."
"And speaking of harmony," Bram said, patting his belly. "That soup is starting to hit just the right notes. It smells so savory—like cooking a fine meal, we should think about adding more flavor into our magical tests."
"That's one way to spice things up," Aiden quipped, a smirk tugging at his lips.
Bram rolled his eyes, giving Aiden a playful shove. "Oh, be quiet and focus, will you?"
They both laughed, the tension easing from the day's mysterious results. Bram pulled out a couple of the complex clockwork devices that dealt with more than one kind of magic. "Maybe we try casting stronger spells down there and use some that will use more than one of the magic types."