With the early afternoon traffic in full swing, it took Saga the better part of an hour to make her way to her destination near the other end of the wall. The Menders’ Sanctum was a tall tower, second only to the Academy in size. It seemed exceptionally wide as well, though Saga knew this was only to accommodate the wide gentle steps and ramps connecting most of the lower floors. The hospital was here, and they didn’t want to worry about straining patients or slowing down the transfer of materials between floors in case of an emergency. After the first few floors, the tower thinned where normal staircases began to link the floors.
Saga found her way to one of the floors just above the hospital, which served as the living quarters for residents of the tower. Though the inside of the tower was a labyrinth to the uninitiated, she’d been here enough to know where his room was, and she gave his door a loud knock when she arrived. “City Guard, you’re under investigation for being dull,” she droned, dropping her voice to sound more gruff and masculine. “Come quietly, or I’ll be forced to drag you into natural sunlight.”
There was a commotion inside as something fell over, and she heard Arty sigh. “You’ll never catch me alive, Saga.” She frowned. He’d given her his usual response, but it seemed his heart wasn’t in it.
She opened the door and peeked her head in, making sure not to crush her hat. Dapper, who’d found his way back to her on the way to Arty’s room, also peered in from atop her shoulder, chittering. “Are you okay, Arty? What was that sound?”
“I’m fine.” Bartalan Fox was a slight young man with reddish brown hair and freckles. His room, while small enough to be considered cozy, still managed to house a bed, a workbench, a bookshelf, a storage chest, and, most impressively, his brain. It also currently contained a veritable mess of papers and books scattered all over the floor.
A small pile of clear quartz crystals sat on his workbench, and an odd but familiar implement rested was on the floor among the usual clutter of books and loose paper. He glanced at her, sighed, and stooped to pick up the fallen object, looking it over. “Just hoping to get this done before I leave tomorrow.”
She opened the door the rest of the way and leaned against the doorframe, arms folded and smirking. “Aren’t you supposed to leave your quarters clean while you’re gone?”
He looked at her, blinked, then looked down at the mess as if noticing it for the first time. “That’s weird. It was clean this morning.” He set the device on the worktable with a loud thump, making the pile of crystals rattle, and knelt to pick up the mess.
“And then your trip got delayed a day and you tried to get some last minute work in before then, instead of relaxing or preparing for the trip like you should be doing.” She wasn’t usually stern, but she had to be with Arty or he’d forget his own head. She entered the room fully and began helping him clean up. Dapper got in on it, too, dragging out of the way papers and books to where the humans could easily reach them.
He snorted. “This is preparing for the trip. This device should make our caravan safer on the road.”
She perked up at this, shooting a glance at the device on the worktable. “You’re working on the shield? Do you think you’ll finish it?” He raised an eyebrow at her, and she amended, “On time?”
Arty beamed, and she could feel it in him, that same manic energy he always got when working on a project. “Yes! And maybe. I’m close to figuring out how to use a wind crystal to project the shield, but I’m still working on the connection. Copper works for a while but it burns out if it’s not thick enough, and I need a bigger Redlight to power it for more than a few seconds.” He accepted the last sheet of paper from Dapper and gave him a formal bow. “Thank you, kind sir.”
“He says he’s happy to help a fellow scholar,” Saga translated for her little friend, but her mind was whirling. This was big. Trained mages like the two of them could learn to project a shield around themselves with wind magic or harden their bodies with earth magic. If Arty’s device worked, it would allow normal people to do the same. “So, what’s the problem? Why not just ask for a bigger light and make thicker strands of copper?”
“Lack of data, really.” He sighed. “People have looked at recreating the power of mages before, but usually as a curiosity. With mages and drakes around, no one really thinks further research was necessary. They don’t see the value in granting me more resources than they already have for an oddity.” Staring down at the device, he grimaced.. Saga could see where some strands of copper had been attached at various points and apparently burned from excess heat.
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“But you think it is.” It wasn’t a question. Saga knew her friend.
“Exactly. Mages hold a lot of power, and drakes even more. Why should we have this basic method of self defense when normal people can’t? I want to even the playing field, help everyone protect themselves, and for that, we need to learn how to harness magical energy without mages or drakes.”
Saga furrowed her brow in concentration. “You’re not just talking about the shield anymore.”
He smiled sheepishly at her. “No, sorry, that was a tangent. I want to find an alternate source of Redsong energy in the future so we don’t need to rely on dragons and drakes to power them. No offense.”
“None taken. Do you have any ideas? And what are you going to do about the materials?”
“Not really, and I don’t know. When I get to Merallo I should have better access to supplies for research, and I can ask if anyone else has looked at creating or replacing Redlights. Neither of those will help on the trip, though.”
Saga scratched at her eye while looking over the device. It looked a little different from the last time he’d shown it to her. “How does this thing work again?”
He picked it up and began pointing to various parts of it as he explained their function. It was a stone disc, with a hole in the center and a smaller one near the top, as if at the northern point on a compass. “A Redlight lantern goes in the center hole, and a wind crystal can be placed in this one.” At each of the eastern, western, and southern points was a small peg that appeared to be where he connected the copper strands, or wire, as he’d called it last time. One of the strands was intact and connected to a second smaller disc, this one made of copper and the same size as the hole in the stone disc.
“The wires connect these three studs to this ring, which sits around the Redlight lantern.” All that remained of the other two wires were burnt and melted copper stubs, but there was copper inlay connecting the three studs and running along the disc to form a ring around the northern circle. “When the Redlight lantern is placed in the correct spot and this ring is placed around it, the wires conduct the energy over to the ring around the crystal, and the presence of Redsong energy makes the crystal give off wind.
“I learned during my studies that if a mage invests their Will into the crystal when it’s made, they can control what the wind does when activated. This one will create a shield covering a little over two meters in every direction. It won’t push people away when it’s made, but it’ll stop anything from entering once it’s up.”
Saga admired the device. She thought she could follow how it worked, but there were likely fine details that were escaping her. “Wait, if you had to cast the spell yourself in order to make the crystal, why not just use the spell tomorrow?”
He shook his head. “It took everything I had to make a shield that big, and I couldn’t hold it for long. That’s another benefit of having a device like this instead of having a few mages on hand, you don’t have to worry about them running out of Will.”
“Just Redsong?”
“Just Redsong.” He sighed. “Again, that’s a problem for later. If I can get a bigger Redlight in a lantern and some thicker wire, I should be able to it on the way, then I can arrive with a working prototype in hand. They’ll have to make me an official journeyman then.”
“Wait, so this is just to skip the exam?” Saga quirked an eyebrow at him.
He set the device down quickly and held up his hands in protest. “No, no! I’ll still have to take the exam, but you also have to present a piece of research when you arrive or they’ll make you study further until you can make something. I can skip that part if this works.”
Saga nodded and sat on the edge of his bed, stroking Dapper on her shoulder. “Shouldn’t you be resting, though? Merallo is a long trip, isn’t it? I know you want to have this done, but what happens if you need to use it and you’re too exhausted to use it yourself or show someone else how?”
He sat next to her. “I’m just going to be sitting in a cart the entire way, I’ll be fine. I just need those materials and I can have it ready in five minutes.” He gave her a long look, his blue eyes pleading, and she suddenly realized what he was getting at. She kicked herself mentally for not realizing it sooner.
“Alright, I’ll ask Papa,” she began, sighing, but before she could finish Arty had thrown his arms around her, hugging her tight. She smiled and returned the hug despite herself. After a moment, she pulled away and shot him a devilish grin. “Embracing a young lady in your private quarters, Bartalan?” she teased. “With the door open, even? It’s indecent, think of the scandal if we’re caught!”
His face turned almost as red as his hair, and he pulled back, struggling to speak. She held up a finger to stop him, laughing. “Alright, alright, I’ll help you. But!” She shifted the finger to point at him, almost touching his nose. “You’re coming with me. Papa will want to see if this works.”
The young man gave her a sullen look, still blushing slightly. “That’s not fair. Why do I have to go?”
She smiled sweetly. “My parents haven’t seen you in ages, they’d love to see you around more. Besides, you did just share an intimate moment with their favorite daughter. We should really tell them about us.”
Seeing his blush return at her sarcastic remark, she almost felt bad for him. Almost. They’d never showed any particular romantic interest in each other over the years. They were practically siblings the way they’d grown up together. Still, she had to tease him now and then. He was cute when he blushed like that.
He lowered his head, covering his face in his hands and groaning. “Do I have to?”
“No, but you don’t have to finish your shield, either.” She thought for a moment, then suddenly sat up straight, her smile widening. “You can join us for dinner!”
Arty groaned again.