Over the next few days, the group had time to rest as the elves of Isanthyr handled the aftermath of the ruin delve. Tahir and Metilia spent a couple of days in Merenthyl’s home while they learned the soul sight spell, which allowed them to check for any residual spiritual corruption. Past that, Tahir could see a lot of additional utility in the spell, he could see through nearly anyone trying to disguise themselves with magic, especially extraplanar beings, whose souls would shine in a much brighter light.
When they returned from Merenthyl’s, Murabi would take everyone to the short field behind the embassy for more training, very eager to get them started in learning the further techniques. It took Tahir most of the first day, but he could consistently fire a wave of aura from his sword a short distance, which had about the same amount of power as his regular swings. It somewhat proved that he didn’t just get lucky with quintessence, thankfully enough. While everyone else worked on replicating the feat, Murabi began to teach him the actual forms of his sword style, as well as some of the philosophy behind it.
“As much as I hated how much it got drilled into me in my training, the thought behind it all and their way of thinking might be something you want to keep in mind, since it was part of the formation of the style.” He explained. “I’ll go over it with you a couple of times while you’re training, and leave you to mull it over for yourself.”
While they trained, the group heard the inkling of a party happening in the embassy to celebrate, but one that awaited approval by the elves. With nothing to do but wait on that, the group got up to their other business. Mainly, as soon as they received the approval, Tahir and Meti made their way to Isanthyr’s leyline crossing. Unlike in Balrech, the building around the crossing functioned solely as a barrier to entry around the space rather than doubling as a guild building for kingdom sanctioned mages.
Warned of their arrival in advance, the guards of the crossing let them through without incident, and the two made their way inside. Isanthyr’s leyline crossing looked like a small piece of the surrounding rainforests brought into the city, with tall winding trees bordering the space, and flowers of all shapes and colors growing along their branches. Strangely, the floral scent that Tahir smelled throughout most of the city was absent here, but Tahir attributed that to the strangeness of the space as he and Meti found a place to sit down, facing each other.
“Now, I’m aware that you haven’t done this before, so I’ll let you know the most important part in this process is when to stop.” Meti explained. “Continue to cycle your mana, do not stop once you get started. After a while, you will feel when it is time to cease. The mana from the crossing will chill you to your very core. Once that happens, continuing may actually reduce your mana pool rather than increase it. Understand?”
“I think so. I’ll let you know if I have any questions.” Tahir replied. With that, they began to cycle their mana. It felt different from cycling aura, as that energy came naturally from their bodies, it felt as natural as their blood circulating, only quicking it when they went to cycle their aura. Doing the same with mana felt more like gathering it together for a spell, but never casting, only letting it pass through the body. They would then repeat this process, over and over, keeping the mana swirling. Tahir felt the change in his mana pool gradually with each rotation. They continued like this, mostly in silence, for a couple of hours, as the energy of the leyline crossing suffused them. Finally, after rotation upon rotation of cycling their mana, Tahir felt it. The all-encompassing chill of the void. A cold so profound he couldn’t even shiver, and an immediately recognizable sign to stop.
Not wanting to tempt fate, he stopped cycling his mana and checked the capacity. He would have to fully expend it to get an exact amount, but from what he could tell, his mana pool had risen by about the same amount that Odium’s blessing gave to his aura after they cleared the first ruin. This brought his pools to about equal once more, though at a point that would have taken him years to get to before he started using spirit magic.
With that out of the way, he glanced toward Meti, who sat with her eyes closed, still concentrating on cycling her own mana. It made sense, given that she possessed a much more substantial pool of mana than he did. Leaving her to her work, he began to set up the ritual circle to summon a tier two spirit. He felt odd about drawing spaces for him to put materials that he wouldn’t actually use, but he remembered Merenthyl’s only praise to the mages who made the ritual was its ability to safely summon a spirit using it, so he kept the original design instead of trying to change it.
Once he finished the circle, he sat inside and held the seed he received from the unicorn. He took one last glance at Meti, still cycling her mana nearby, before beginning the ritual and allowing his mind to be swept into the ether, similar to the other rituals to summon spirits he’d performed up to this point. At least, that was what was supposed to happen. As the ritual started, the seed in his hand started to glow. Dimly at first, enough to take Tahir out of his trance as he noticed, but without warning it flashed so bright that the light filled his vision completely.
If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.
As he blinked away the spots in his eyes, Tahir felt a warm breeze that signaled something about the area had changed. When he could finally see, he noticed that he sat in a different place. Still in a patch of rainforest, but undeniably wild and untamed, as opposed to the space in Isanthyr’s leyline crossing which had some amount of thought put into where the various trees and plants grew. He also noticed that the ritual circle, as well as Meti were gone.
Tahir’s mind raced. Did he do something wrong with the ritual? Did the seed affect it somehow? He had to assume that his mind occupied this space instead of his body, the ritual sent him here rather than the ethereal, but he couldn’t understand why. As he stood, and tried to gather his thoughts, a voice caught his attention, just ahead of him. A soft singing and a gentle light behind a barrier of foliage up ahead. Hoping he could find some answers, Tahir crept up ahead and pulled aside leaves and branches to peer inside.
As he parted them, they folded back the rest of the way to clear his path. Tahir could see a verdant glade, ringed by colorful flowering trees and orchids on all sides. He could see a myriad of creatures, fairies, pegasi, women wearing green and leaflike clothes that Tahir could only assume to be dryads. They all paid him no mind, instead looking to the opposite edge toward a being Tahir had never seen, and the source of the singing. She looked to be a tall and slender woman made out of some kind of orchid, with pale skin a lilac color, amber eyes, and long ears. She wore a cloak of leaves, vines and flowers that draped down from her shoulders.
Moments after the plants in the glade parted on Tahir, the fey, at least he assumed fey, stopped singing. As she focused on Tahir, her pink lips curled into a smile, and all of the other creatures in the room faded away. “There he is.” She spoke in a melodic voice. “It is nice to finally meet you. Your soul, at least.”
“You know me?” Tahir asked, stepping fully into the glade. As far as he knew, he’d never met this fey before.
“I know of you, at least.” She made her way over to him, gliding across the grass and flowers until she stood just in front of him, standing a head taller now that she came close enough for him to tell. “You’ve been quite busy in these woods. Alewar has spoken rather highly of you.”
“Alewar…?” He thought back to anyone he’d met but didn’t get the name of, especially fey. “The unicorn?”
“Ah, I suppose he was a little flustered to give his name at the time. Oh well, he gave you a very special seed in thanks, and I imagine that seed is what led you to me, no?”
“That’s right.” Tahir confirmed. Normally, he’d be cautious around fey. He had to be, other than unicorns and those explicitly tied to natural areas like dryads, he had no way of knowing whether or not they sought to trick him into some deal or bargain. This one though, she had a sort of air of regality about her. Like he was looking at nature itself, personified. He briefly wondered if she might be some sort of archfey. “I used the seed as a component in a ritual to form a contract with a spirit, and it sent me here.”
“Ah, I see, that sly horse.” The tall fey said with a cheeky grin. “I bet he wanted to give you the opportunity to make a contract with me. Wouldn’t that be nice?”
“I suppose?” This didn’t follow the normal flow of things for summoning spirits. He usually had more options, and he usually got an idea of what the spirit was capable of by focusing on them. Though, if what she said was right, and only Tahir’s soul occupied this space, he still might be able to do that. Taking a deep breath, he focused on the being in front of him, and had information flood his mind. A spirit of benevolence, life, and nature in its purest form, brimming with so much power that it likely stretched the limits of his tier two summoning ritual. “I-that would be amazing actually.”
“I thought it might.” The way she spoke, and smiled at Tahir, he had the sense that she knew exactly what he just did. “My name is -ah, wait, you spirit mages need to earn those. Hmm.” She paused, considering something. As she looked around, her gaze settled on a patch of flowers growing on a bush. “You may call me Dahlia for now. I shall form this bond with you, for saving dear Alewar, and for your part in slaying the maligno.” She said, and gave another knowing look at Tahir’s raised eyebrow in response. “If your next question is ‘how do I know,’ you could say that we are cut from the same branch, so to speak. As I’m sure you’ve gathered by now, where the maligno venerated death, I champion life, and growth, and abundance.” She held a hand out for him to take. “And so long as you do the same, I would be glad to form a contract with you.”
Tahir froze, and stood still for several seconds and he stared at her hand in deep thought. This almost felt too good to be true, and perhaps it might have been if this had only happened when he followed the normal ritual for summoning spirits instead of using the seed. As Dahlia herself said, she offered this contract for saving the unicorn, and his part in killing the maligno. His gut feeling told him to reach out and take her hand, like it had told them during the tier zero ritual to quickly form a contract with a second spirit. Like then, also, he had the feeling that he operated out of the normal bounds of the ritual, but that hadn't stopped him before.
With a smile of his own, he looked up to the tall fey’s face as he took her hand to accept the contract. “I’ll try my best. Glad to work with you, Dahlia.”