After an exhilarating morning sparring with Arawn I’d expected a break for lunch, but it turned out there was no noon meal in harpy culture. The sun was baking hot over the Cyclopean Bones and the altitude put us far above any cloud cover, so traditionally the harpies retired for a midday siesta instead of eating.
I’d never been one for napping, so I asked Arawn if the harpies had any books in the Eyrie. She had a Valkyrie give me a lift back to the complex of tunnels and caves that was the harpy equivalent of a royal palace.
The ‘library’ I found waiting for me was at the top of one of the Thirteen Spires. The room was several times taller than it was wide, a grand chamber of towering stone pillars and curved walls, laid out to give the greatest shelf space possible.
As a side effect of the rolling walls and pillars, all covered in books, scrolls and parchments, the room was too cramped for royals such as Arawn to move about in.
The harpy who met me had no such problem – she was only a few inches taller than I, the smallest I’d seen yet.
She flew down from a perch high in the vaulted roof where she had been reading, her black feathers and scales giving her a crow-like look, accentuated by her long nose. At her neck I noticed a choker set with a large opal.
Landing in front of me she cocked her head as she looked me up and down. Her mannerisms were surprisingly cute. “Queen’s guest?” she asked. I’d half expected a caw.
“Ah, that’s me. I’m Safkhet, nice to meet you,” I said, offering my hand and a smile. She looked at the extended appendage curiously.
“Why?”
I blinked, wondering if I’d missed something. “I’m sorry, why what?”
“Why are we meeting?” She asked impatiently.
“Oh… I wanted to see the books here,” I explained, “So I suppose we’re meeting because you’re here.”
“Don’t damage my books,” she said, taking to the air once more as if done with me.
I’d have thought she was a strange girl, but if anything she reminded me of a less irritable version of my former college librarian.
She hadn’t told me to leave, so I decided to just help myself to the books and let her object if she wanted to.
Walking about on the floor level I saw all sorts of books, no sense of order or logic I could detect to the arrangement. That reminded me of my old college librarian too. It was probably too much to expect a world like Arcadia to have a library classification system.
Browsing the titles also confirmed something important to me; Myr’s mental meddling hadn’t just imparted spoken language to me, but the written forms too. I could understand the titles written on the spines of each book as naturally as if they were all in English.
Interestingly, almost none of the books were in the language of the Harpies, Cycloan. There were many that seemed to be in whatever language Lyanna and her party had used, but other more ‘exotic’ scripts were present too.
I tried a book of the latter variety whose author caught my eye. It was a heavy tome with a leather cover, old enough that I wondered if it was really alright to touch it barehanded. It wasn’t as if I had any gloves of course.
The book was simple for me to read but the contents proved impressively obtuse. The author appeared to be discussing fundamental differences in how the ‘common’ magical tongue of the mountains and the Nemoian language of the Stormqueens transformed the user’s mana.
Skipping ahead I saw that the writer also delved into how Nemoian could create forms of magical effect unobserved in other magical languages. She speculated that Nemoian had been derived from the speech of the Goddess Nemoi herself.
The topics were fascinating but the author wrote with a rarified technicality that left me totally lost, despite being able to read all the words. Perhaps I could make more sense of books like that if I found a more appropriate introductory text first. Something that didn’t assume the reader was already a master of magic.
Overhead I heard wings and looked up to see the library harpy alighting once more.
“You can read Safkhet?” she quizzed.
I gently closed the book written by my ancient namesake and got up from where I’d sat cross-legged on the floor.
“I can understand the words, sure,” I confirmed sheepishly, “but the ideas are a bit too complicated. I don’t know anything about magic yet. I was hoping you might be able to help me correct that.”
As I was placing the book carefully back on the shelf I felt a familiar ‘energy’ behind me, then the sensation of magic brushing over me. Looking back I didn’t see any sign of the small harpy having cast a spell, but it could only have been her.
She was staring at me as if she’d never seen a human before. In fairness that was possible but she hadn’t been like that when I first arrived.
“Too much,” she muttered, shaking her head.
“Excuse me?”
“You have too much mana for a human.”
“Oh… is that bad?”
“Not human,” was all she replied with.
“Sorry but do you think you could you explain with more than two syllables at a time?” I asked, keeping my tone light.
The harpy gave an impatient sigh. “That was three. You’re not human. You have too much mana.”
“Oh…. Maybe I’m special then?” I suggested brightly, with only a hint of smugness.
“Humans can’t hold this much. You’ll probably explode. Don’t blow up my books.”
Even the college librarian wasn’t this brutal.
“Uh, well I feel fine. Maybe I just need to learn to use it properly?”
She cocked her head at my words, thinking. “Fine,” was all she said as she took off again.
“Does that mean you’ll help me out or… hello?”
She’d just flown off in the middle of the conversation, but it wasn’t long before she came back with another book in her hands. She thrust it out at me.
“Take it,” she said when I hesitated.
“Thank you. So this book will teach me magic?”
The harpy took off once more, this time grabbing my shoulders in her clawed hands. She was nowhere near as fast as Arawn – I could have dodged easily – but I didn’t feel any ill intent. I doubted she could even scratch me anyway.
“Land release your hold; let my charge slip your surly bonds and soar free!” She intoned.
All of a sudden I felt almost weightless.
Having already experienced faster takeoffs, I was pleased with myself that I avoided showing any signs of alarm this time.
As we flew the librarian took us out through a large window near the top of the library. A sheer drop swam into sight below.
Being carried like cargo in the claws of a strange library girl no bigger than I was a lot less relaxing than being safe in Ael’s large, powerful hands, but I gritted my teeth and resisted the urge to grab onto her arms.
I felt better when we landed atop the spire, even if we were atop the pointed tip. From a distance it had looked sharp as a needle, but the scale was so large that there was actually a wide circle of stone flat enough to stand on.
Touching down beside, me the small harpy held up her hand. “Watch,” she said.
I couldn’t see anything out of the ordinary.
As with other times people had used magic around me, I could feel something happening. Straining my eyes I thought perhaps I could make out movement along her outstretched arm, some ethereal energy gathering in her hand.
I wondered if it was my imagination, but it grew clearer and more distinct as it intensified, until with a short incantation she produced a gust of wind from her palm.
A lot happened at the last moment, but I could tell there had been a huge increase in the complexity of the movement, then some sort of change from energy into an actual physical phenomenon.
“Now you,” was all the crow-like young harpy had to say.
She hadn’t even given me her name, yet already she was teaching me magic. If you could call that teaching.
“I don’t know how to do… any of that. I could see something funny happening with your mana when you spoke the incantation, but I couldn’t follow it at all.”
She shook her head. “Skip that.”
“Then… I just say the words?” I paused for a moment but she didn’t stop me.
“Wind, blow!”
The actual sounds that came from my mouth were a strange lyrical pattern unlike any natural speech. That was normal for the magical languages of this world as far as I could tell. I was confident I had the incantation right but the air seemed to grow stiller if anything.
“I don’t think that worked.”
She looked as disappointed as I felt. “Gather mana first.”
I tried to recall what it had looked like – felt like – as the taciturn harpy manipulated the energy within her body. Searching for some trace of a similar sensation within myself I drew a blank.
The harpy huffed impatiently, taking the book from my hands and grasping it in her tail. She took my hands in hers. This librarian was surprisingly forward.
Her fingers interlocked with mine, claws holding the backs of my palms. Once more I could feel mana circulating in her body. Then I felt it pushing against my own. My body resisted, as if tensing against an attack. I tried to ‘relax’ and let it flow into me.
It was a bizarre feeling, as if some astral muscle was being pulled the wrong way, my body fighting the intrusion.
The motion decayed to nothing before it advanced more than a couple of inches along my palms but it gave me the hint I needed.
“Thank you,” I said as we released each others’ hands. “I think I know what to do now.”
I took a long deep breath and let me shoulders relax.
My chest rose and fell with my breath.
I thought back to the delicious meal I’d had earlier, to the warm friendship growing between Ael and I, to the comfort of my new clothes and the warm embrace of the feather bed the night before.
Recalling those varied forms of relaxation I sought to place myself at peace. I had to relax my mind and body to release the energy I was subconsciously resisting.
I closed my eyes, feeling the cool, rough stone underfoot; the unfathomable mass of a whole mountain holding me up.
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A gentle wind stirred the hem of my dress and played with my hair.
I exhaled slowly.
Ael’s smile came to mind and a soft grin spread across my lips.
My body and soul released the held-back energy.
A dam broke at that moment. An ocean of something thick and heavy flooded my whole being, bursting out with a sense of great pressure releasing.
The librarian gasped as the wave hit her, but it did no more than ruffle her feathers.
Soon the initial rush subsided. I was left with a feeling of overflowing energy suffusing my body. The whole experience reminded me of opening a shaken can of soda.
“Now… the spell,” she said after a moment. She seemed almost frightened, or fascinated.
I still had no idea how to actually form spells or change my mana into physical phenomena, a step Ael had referred to as transmutation, but I obediently gave it another shot with just the words.
“Wind, blow!” I commanded.
The air whipped forward in a gust, billowing my clothes and hair.
“I did it!” I grinned, turning to the librarian. She gave a sharp nod of approval.
“But how come I didn’t need to do any of the other steps?”
“Too slow. Power through.”
Decoding from librarian into Cycloan I guessed that she probably meant that it would have been too slow to teach me the other steps from scratch.
“That makes sense I guess, but then why doesn’t everyone skip that stuff?”
“Efficiency.”
“Meaning?”
She rolled her eyes as I insisted on a better reply. “Skipping precise mana control and transmutation multiplies the mana needed.”
“Ohhhh, so I just brute forced it and let the incantation do all the work?”
She gave another nod, wings bobbing in what I took for enthusiasm.
“Will that work for any spell?” I asked eagerly.
“No.”
“Let me guess, only simple ones?”
She nodded once more.
“I guess that means I still have to learn that stuff? Mana control and transmutation?” I asked a little deflated.
She waved her tail at me, the book still held in its coil.
“Right, homework,” I sighed, taking it back from her. “Still, thank you so much! I had no idea it would be so easy to use magic! Oh, I never got your name. I’m Safkhet but I think you already knew that.”
She stared blankly at me for a second before she seemed to realize what I wanted. “Shukra.”
I continued practicing after that but we’d only tried a few more simple incantations when there was a huge rush of wind.
For a moment I feared I’d accidentally done something wrong, but then a shadow fell over the spire.
Overhead Ael was flying, Arawn back and to one side with her greatbow in hand, half a dozen intimidating harpy warriors around them, all with grim faces.
Shukra shrank back from the Queen and bowed her head low.
“Oh, hi Ael! Everything alright?” I asked, with the guilty feeling of a kid who knew they’d done something but wasn’t sure what yet.
The Stormqueen looked down at me with wide eyes. “You monstrous buffoon!” she thundered, “we feared some unspeakable calamity had descended upon the Eyrie!”
“This morning you couldn’t even move your mana, and now you do this?!” Arawn chimed in. “Contain yourself, Safkhet!”
“I knew you had an inhuman body but this mana is absurd,” Ael shook her head.
The group had relaxed after seeing the situation atop the library spire, but it seemed they weren’t done with me. I’d really given them a shock.
“What are you, the servant of an evil god?!” Arawn demanded.
Did she really have to say ‘evil’? Still, she was uncomfortably close to the mark there.
“Okay, I’m sorry about that, I didn’t mean to worry you all,” I piped up. “Shukra was helping me learn magic. I guess I had a bit of a buildup of unused mana.”
The librarian seemed to wilt as I drew attention to her.
“A buildup she says,” Arawn said, shaking her head.
“Even now you’re oozing mana from every pore Saf! Surely you can sense the essence leaving your body!” Ael exclaimed. “Control yourself or you’ll collapse from the exertion!”
“Are you sure? I don’t feel anything strange.”
I was starting to wonder if this was some sort of elaborate practical joke.
“Feel,” Shukra said in a whisper without raising her head.
When I tried to feel mana around me I got quite the surprise – it was pouring off my body in thick waves!
“Oh wow, you’re not kidding! How do I turn this off?!”
It was Ael’s turn to look confused. “You… cease forcibly expelling the energy. Allow it to rest within you as normal.”
“But I’m not pushing it out or anything; it’s doing this on its own!”
The harpies exchanged looked that made me worry that this was some sort of terminal condition in Arcadia.
“Too much pressure,” Shukra murmured, still looking at the floor as if wishing it would swallow her as royal eyes turned her way. Perhaps that was a normal reaction for a shy girl like her.
Thankfully Ael seemed to understand what she meant. “Ahhh, Safkhet, you truly are an absurdity.” She shook her head wryly. “With your beginner’s degree of control you’re producing mana too fast to contain.”
Between Ael and Shukra I gleaned a working understanding of the situation. I wasn’t sick; I just hadn’t ever tried to emit mana before. When I did it opened the floodgates and I didn’t have enough practice in mana control to close them again.
I had been worried about what that meant for me, but the worst case scenario if you used up all your mana was that you’d be exhausted and unable to cast spells until it replenished. If that happened I’d be safe as long as I was with friends.
Shukra didn’t seem to think that was a problem I’d encounter however.
For the present, Ael sent some messengers to spread the word that there was no cause for alarm. I agreed to work on controlling my mana.
~~~
That evening at dinner the subjects on everyone’s lips were the situation in the South and my venting essence.
I was sat with Ael again so the harpies at our table weren’t too unkind in their remarks about the events of the afternoon.
Naturally that didn’t extend to Ael herself.
“Really Saf,” she laughed, “even wild animals don’t let their mana spill uselessly all around them. For a companion of the Stormqueen you simply must do better.”
“You said it’s because I have too much,” I protested. “Shukra said I have more than anyone she’s ever met in fact!”
“All the more reason you need to control it,” Arawn spoke up. “Any humans who met you now would be petrified. They wouldn’t even need to be sensitive to mana.”
I wondered if anything had changed in that case, but I didn’t want to get into the mess with Lyanna. Ael would probably laugh herself sick.
“You’ve already caused a panic here in the Eyrie you know,” Arawn went on.
“I’m sorry about that. Shukra said that I need to learn mana control to make it stop. That’s probably going to take a while. But speaking of her, I hope Shukra’s not in trouble.”
I hadn’t seen the librarian anywhere in the hall for dinner.
“You shouldn’t worry, Lady Safkhet,” spoke another harpy further down the table. “The witch laureate never eats in the hall, she prefers to stay in the royal library and continue researching.”
“She doesn’t trust anyone else to take care of the place,” remarked someone else.
“Of course, she restored it almost single-handedly. Stormqueen Safkhet would be proud of everything she’s done.”
“Indeed, and not only in her literary efforts,” Ael nodded. “Despite her low birth Shukra has proven the finest witch laureate in centuries.”
“Is that unusual?” I asked, “For harpies without noble blood to be skilled at magic?”
“Of course,” chimed in an older woman with bronze feathers whose stature indicated her as highborn. I vaguely recalled her being introduced as Ventora, one of Ael’s advisors. “We of the nobility are predisposed to lead, both in battle and the arcane arts. It does Shukra great credit that she overcame her disadvantage.”
“I don’t agree,” Arawn responded. “The noble-born receive the best education, but I have plenty of common-born cadets who show impressive results once they begin training.”
“Of course, Princess,” the older harpy nodded respectfully. “But our greatest Valkyries are those of high birth. You are both our princess and our mightiest warrior are you not?”
Arawn frowned at the compliment. “Yes but…,” she spoke uncertainly, “My physical strength is the highest. That doesn’t mean my techniques are the best. I was just blessed with a powerful body.”
“By virtue of your royal blood,” Ventora nodded, looking pleased with herself.
“But you can fight with magic too, right?” I asked.
Arawn and I both enjoyed the momentary look of irritation on the pompous elder’s face.
“Certainly some can, lady Safkhet, but you need only look to the great Stormqueen whose name you bear to see the difference between what a commoner and a queen can achieve.”
“But we don’t give commoners the same chance to begin with,” Arawn protested. “The royal family has the best teachers but most commoners never learn any magic at all!”
“Indeed, we cannot spare such resources for each of our people, so we focus them where they will do the most good,” the old advisor responded sagely.
I could see the princess growing frustrated. Apparently Ael could too.
“Arawn,” Ael spoke, “Have we any word from the scout wings?” Her sister looked relieved as the queen saved her from the conversation.
“None yet, we still expect them to return tomorrow evening,” Arawn replied. “Our forces are already preparing to fly south, should it be necessary.”
“What of Thanya’s wing and the ogres?”
“Travelling north slowly, they’ve reported no problems.”
That seemed like a good moment for me to speak up again.
“Are attacks like the one on Southtown common?” I asked no-one in particular.
“Not common, no, but they aren’t unheard of.” Arawn was the first to answer. She was surprisingly friendly after kicking my ass that morning. “Lesser species always want to improve their lot and claim new territory. Even if the scale is larger this time, the Cyclopean Bones are rarely peaceful everywhere.”
“So you aren’t worried?” I asked hopefully.
She smiled. “Of course not. Few species could even attempt to attack us here in the Eyrie. As for the ogres, as our obedient subjects we’ll protect them.”
“You’ll protect the other species in your territory too right?”
Arawn hesitated to answer that time.
“That’s right,” Ael nodded. “As the rulers of the Cyclopean Bones we will protect those who live in our domain. Even if they fail to pay us adequate homage,” she added, looking over at Ventora.
The old harpy gave a sigh. “You majesty, how will the lesser species learn their place when we show them such generosity and lenience?”
“I shan’t let a single person die if it is within my power to save them, Ventora. Consider it my royal prerogative. It falls to you to deal with the repercussions of any lesser species growing insubordinate. Or any harpies at the court for that matter,” Ael’s last remark was all too pointed, cutting off any further dissent.
I felt my blood pumping at Ael’s declaration. Even if she was a terrible tease and arrogant as sin, Aellope was one of the coolest people I’d ever met.
Ventora could only bow her head to the imperious stare of the queen.
~~~
After dinner Ael retired to her personal chambers. They were a gorgeous series of rooms the size of cathedral halls. In each the rock had been carved into engraved columns and patterned walls, the stonework adorned with elegant drapery. Furnishings were on the simple side for a royal palace, but given the size they had to be it was understandable.
The Queen was currently reclined on a feather bed the size of a house.
“So, what do you make of my home, Saf?” she asked, laying her head back to look up at the stone ceiling far above. She looked sleepy.
“It’s classy.” I spoke from my perch on a raised chair, admiring a carving of a huge four-winged bird soaring over the mountains.
She smiled. “That was not what I meant. Do you like the Eyrie?”
“It’s amazing, but very different to what I’m used to,” I said honestly.
“What is it you’re used to, Saf? The Bloodsucking Forest?”
“No, I just mean compared to the places humans live….”
“You remember now?” Ael asked.
I hesitated at that. I didn’t want to lie to her again.
Turning her head she saw my expression and laughed.
“My apologies Saf, I shouldn’t pressure you. Whatever you may be holding back, I know it’s nothing that would bring harm to my people or my person. You’re not cunning enough for that,” she teased with a smirk.
“Hey I am too! Uh, I mean… you know what I mean!” I protested. “Anyway… thanks Ael. Thank you for trusting me. You’re a true friend.”
Her blush was very cute. Ael was disarmingly weak to directness. “Think nothing of it, Saf. You are fast becoming very dear to me.”
As she spoke she reached across the room to stroke my arm with her hand. Despite her great size her touch was gentle enough not to be uncomfortable. I felt myself blushing right back.
Perhaps I was pretty weak to directness too.
“You are entrancing in your new human clothes, my tiny friend. Incomparable to the bedraggled bundle of feathers you were on first arriving.”
She grinned as she saw my blush deepen. “I am glad you found such well-fitting garments. I had feared we might not have anything suited to as voluptuous a girl as you.”
Charmed by her words, I forgot my self-conscious feelings about my female form, simply enjoying the lovely compliment. It meant all the more coming from Ael, her praise bolstering my confidence and pride. I’d never felt so comfortable in my skin before.
Yet as I caught myself thinking such things it was with a sense of guilt.
I shouldn’t be happy to be praised for this body when I was supposed to be a man. My father would have been mortified if he could see me now.
“Thanks. It turns out they’re actually magical,” I replied, pretending my cheeks weren’t luminescent with embarrassment as I redirected the conversation. “Good thing too or I’d have totally ruined them in the training arena today.”
Ael chucked. “Hoh hoh, yes indeed, Arawn came to me after your bouts you know.” If she had sensed my conflict she was too kind to mention it.
“I suppose she told you all about how she crushed me?” I asked, frowning. “Well I got a win in too you know. 4-1 may not sound like much, but I learnt a lot – next time I’m going to do a lot better!” I insisted.
“Hoh hoh hoh! Saf you dear girl, you really know nothing!” Ael’s voice boomed.
She wasn’t wrong, but way to rub it in.
“Have you any idea how few Valkyries can boast even one win in a duel with my sister?”
“Really?” I asked, brightening up. “But it’s not like she was going all out – I realized as we were fighting that she held back a ton. If she’d been serious she probably would have just killed me….”
“Indeed she told me all about the events,” Ael nodded. “It seems you worked some magic on my dear sister today. It was only last night that she was demanding to know why I would bring a human like you to the palace, yet this morning she took enough liking to you that she has demanded I hand you over for training each morning! I trust you have no objection?”
I couldn’t help but smirk at that. “None at all! Maybe in a few days I’ll be able to make her get serious.”
“She also told me one other interesting thing you know, Saf,” Ael grinned mischievously. “She told me that in your final bout she used her Spiral Spear and that you received the blow unharmed.”
“That’s the one that curved through the air?” I asked. “It wrecked what was left of my shield, but I was able to brace against the ground to avoid getting knocked over again. But I was barely able to follow what she did at all, it almost got me.”
“Saf.”
“What?”
“The Spiral Spear is a supernatural attack technique, said to be impossible to read the first time you see it.”
“Really?”
“I know my little sister. Arawn was serious in that fight.”
I beamed at that. Aellope beamed right back.
“You are a terrifying little monster, Safkhet,” she said, patting my head. “Take a care you don’t grow vainglorious.”
“I don’t think you’d let me,” I laughed.
After that we talked for a while longer, but I could tell Ael was sleepy. Her job was a stressful one, even I could see that.
When she gave a protracted yawn I suggested I head back to my room. She clearly needed some rest.
“Ah, of course. After a day such as this I’m sure you’re tired too. I’ll have someone show you the way. Oh, but that reminds me, how have Agytha and Chione been? Those girls are my favorites, but they have had a difficult time of late; make sure to take care of them.”
“Ah… I think that it’s been difficult for all three of us,” I said diplomatically. “I upset them when I told them about our duel. Chione was pretty angry.”
Ael sighed. “I had assumed that you and Chione were so alike you would be natural friends, but if she’s giving you a headache I shall assign someone else. Perhaps Ventora was right that she is unsuited to her role as handmaiden….”
“Ah no, it’s really not that bad!” I held up a hand to stop her, horrified at the thought that I could have gotten Chione dismissed. Whatever attitude problems she had, the young harpy clearly had her own struggles, ones I was ignorant of.
“We got off on the wrong foot but that was my fault as much as hers.”
Ael looked relieved at that. “I hope that you can get along with them both but if not please tell me Saf.”
“I will, I promise.”
“Then with that I shall let you rest,” the queen smiled, ringing a chime to summon the servants to escort me out.
~~~
Outside the queen’s chambers Agytha was waiting for me dutifully.
I felt sorry for her, hanging around in a waiting room while I was having fun with the queen, but she was determined to do her duty.
As we walked back to my room together I thought the girl looked particularly stiff that night. Perhaps it was just the eerie volume of mana I was releasing. “Agytha?” I asked.
“Yes, mistress?” came the robotic reply.
“Ael was asking about you.”
Her wings twitched. “Her majesty asked about me, mistress?”
“Yeah, you and Chione,” I nodded. “She wanted to make sure you were alright.”
“I am her loyal servant,” Agytha said quietly. “It’s my place to obey whatever orders she may have without question.”
We walked in silence for a while again after that. It was a long walk going pretty much anywhere in the Eyrie for a being of my scale. That gave me time to work up the nerve to take a risk and speak my mind.
“Ael gave me the impression that you and Chione have had a difficult time recently,” I spoke, carefully choosing my words.
“The Queen shouldn’t have to concern herself with the worries of a former handmaiden.”
Agytha looked miserable, her shoulders and wings slumped.
“Would you like to tell me about it? I’m a total outsider, so I’m a good person to talk to.”
“It isn’t something you should worry about, mistress.”
I sighed quietly.
“If you ever want to talk or you need help, please tell me.”
“…yes, mistress.”
‘Just you wait,’ I thought to myself. I was going to get to the bottom of what was going on with Agytha and Chione. It was obvious that the girls were troubled by something and if Ael had trusted me with them then I wasn’t going to let her down.
If Agytha’s icy walls were too tough then I’d try my hand with the fiery Chione instead. I just needed to think of a way to get her on her own without making either girl suspicious….
~~~
Once my handmaidens had left for the night I had a chance to relax and take a look at the book Shukra lent me.
It was parchment bound in leather, written in Cycloan by a meticulous and precise hand, each letter uniform enough that I could have believed it was printed on a press.
The author was none other than Shukra herself. That made me question just how good the contents could be, given her monosyllabic tendencies.
It was a strange but pleasant surprise when I started to read; I found not just clear writing, but complete sentences awash with clear imagery and detail.
The book was a practical introduction to Harpy magic. It began with some of the basics of magical theory, but leafing ahead I saw it eschewed the more philosophical and metaphysical elements in favor of practical lessons and applications. It seemed quite a Harpy-like attitude towards things.
The basics of casting a spell were to recite an incantation while gathering mana inside your body and shaping it to create a ‘formation’ which would reinforce and focus the magic.
Lastly, as the spell was completed, you transformed (or ‘transmuted’) your mana. Transmutation gave the supernatural energy the appropriate properties to effectively create the desired result.
The incantation could be in a variety of magical languages – many species had a unique magical tongue peculiar to them – but they weren’t like ordinary conversational speech. When using a magical language you were speaking to the fundamental properties of the world, imposing your will upon them; it required focus and willpower in addition to precise pronunciation and cadence.
That was further complicated by the lack of understanding of these languages. Even expert mages didn’t actually study the underlying meaning of their incantations it seemed – they were treated more like scriptures to recite than true communication. Changes or new developments were trial and error as much as insight.
I couldn’t blame the mages of Arcadia however. Magical words were power, and the more powerful the language the more difficult it was to comprehend – and the greater the strain of trying to speak it.
I’d felt that for myself when I tried to recreate Ael’s magical language, Nemoian. Learning conversational Nemoian would be like trying to learn how to sweet-talk reality into conforming to your desires.
Now I could understand why the mental assault I’d been subjected to in hell had been so nightmarish. It was amazing I’d stayed sane with the idiot god of ‘fortune’ trying to cram not only ordinary language into my mind but magic too.
Perhaps it was no wonder none of his other victims made it through his gauntlet. From what he’d said I could guess they’d died. He’d practically murdered them all himself. Given his callous stupidity he probably hadn’t even realized what he was doing. I doubted he would have cared if he had.
But even if I’d endured and survived the arcane violation, that didn’t mean I could just pull out a language at will like browsing a catalogue.
I needed some reference to draw on; something to lead me to the proper memories. But when I had such a guide I appeared to be fluent in every form of communication I’d been able to perceive in Arcadia.
I had hoped I might be able to compose my own incantations with that knowledge, but even with the ability to understand chants perfectly I couldn’t always predict the strange rules they had to follow.
A simple example was that “Wind, blow!” would create a gust of wind yet saying “Light, shine!” didn’t appear to do anything. It was a perfectly correct translation of my English thoughts into Shukra’s magical tongue but it wasn’t a valid spell. Instead what had worked was “Light, glow!”
Curled up under a fur by the fire, I would have liked to keep reading on into the night as I did on Earth at times, but I couldn’t try out any more magic without wrecking my bedroom.
The harpies were also early risers, at least by college student standards, so I resisted the urge to burn the candle at both ends and went to bed.
As I stretched out in the warm and soft feather bed I sighed in contentment, looking forward to talking to Ael again and having further magic and combat lessons the next day.