Throughout the day the three continued as they had the day before. Occasionally Taras would instruct the two of them in a new weapon form. As a point she had started making Kayne learn each of the forms Naia had already learned as well. He found shaping the blade into a double ended weapon to be particularly challenging and only managed it a few times so she had him practice with a piece of wood the same way Naia had been. The training and labor today was particularly vigorous so they each ate a whole breakfast as well as a loaf of hamaio each, that Taras included. To increase the challenge she began adding in specific small spells that were almost useless in nature but simply drew on the pools of mana the two naturally had in an effort to strengthen their reserves. Whenever the two would become obstinate about the exercises she’d bark at them. “Strengthen the body, strengthen the mind!” A few times in the afternoon she’d pull the crucible out to check it and add a handful of a few powders and other substances only to replace it in the forge. Late evening came around and she allowed them a respite from their exercises.
Unlike the night before Taras didn’t leave them for her own hut. She stayed and helped them tend the metal and prepare the forms. She layed out the shapes and the bone handle that she and Naia had been preparing. At one point she upended a small bag of gems similar to the ones Kayne had received from his mother in the caves not but a handful of nights before. Taras looked over them and picked out a few blue, green, and white stones setting them to the side and pocketing the remainder. “I think these should do.” she said to herself mostly.
After seeing the stones Kayne chimed in. “I’ve got a small bag of the blue ones if they would help, Taras.” She responded by raising a dark eyebrow at him in question. He got the point and turned out the small sac and refilled it with just the coins. She examined them and chose three of the largest ones. “Well that is a stroke of luck for you Naia. These are some of the highest quality. I suppose my sister Lyrosier had these sent to you didn’t she?” Looking confused at the question he replied simply, “I’m not sure my mother never even told me we had them until the other night. I had always wondered where we got our money.” She continued to gaze towards him. “These are incredibly valuable Kayne. If she sold a single pair of them I’d doubt if she had to work a single day of her life.”
She continued gazing at them then pulled out that small journal once again and made a few notes. “Say, Kayne, mind if I have a look at one of those handy dwarven daggers you carry?” He looked surprised by the request but quickly drew one and handed it to her. She laid it on the table in front of her and began examining it with her magic causing the runeforging on the blade to appear along its center. She made a few notes and then without notice reached out and grabbed his right wrist where she examined it as well in a similar fashion. She made a few more notes and mumbled to herself. “Hmmmm clever dwarves. I’ve not seen skill like this since Dorruns work. Powerful man, Dorrun, he fought alongside Dryus, Yezi, Silara, and Keldan. He was a great smith in his own right. Although, it was a shame. Had he let me make his war axe it may not have shattered during that fight. But you know dwarves. Stubborn as the rocks they live in.” She made a final note and handed Kayne the dagger.
It was getting late and Taras looked up at the moon to check the time. “I think it may be time!” She said with an excited clap. She reached in and pulled the crucible out. Continuing to hold it in the tongs she stepped away from the light of the forge and tilted it to reflect into the moonlight. The liquid shone a glittering blue, casting light from the moon onto her face in a way that couldn’t simply be a reflection. With one of her usual curt nods she decided the time was right and set the crucible in the forge momentarily while she pulled out a few other tools and set several of the gems she’d gathered into certain spots around the two casts.
She then called Naia over and gave her several instructions. Naia put on a spare apron she found near the forge and took up the tongs. “Right then. Quickly before the metal cools.” Taras told her. Naia picked up the crucible using the large tongs to begin pouring it into the two cast forms laid out on the stone. While she did so Taras began chanting quickly with her hands outstretched. Circles and sigils of every color imaginable began appearing over the forms as she poured. Kayne and Naia both watched in wonder. Neither of them had seen any magic so complex before in their lives. While many can have a skill in more than one element of magic seldom do they have such a well practiced skill in so many.
Kayne stood on his own to the side and hadn’t noticed that Kismet had wandered over to watch the process. Quietly he spoke nearby Kayne momentarily startling him. “Now that really is the power of an Alkin magi. I’d heard of her skill but that truly is an impressive array. I can barely keep track of how many different spells she’s casting.” Kismet said quietly. Kayne did little more than nod only realizing towards the end of her process that his mouth was wide open.
She continued her work and began shaping the blade further adding more gems and tinkering with the metal here and there. “Now. This is where your being a Piscalian is going to really help.” Taras said before she snatched up a few tools and put them in her apron. She quickly cooled the metal with a spell and they all felt the icy breeze as she did so. She picked up the unfinished weapon and began another set of spells. Oddly this time she appeared to be focused on air and water spells alone. Not to mention she was only casting them on herself.
She and Naia walked quickly to where the stone formation of the forge dropped into the lagoon and they both dropped into the water. Kayne and Kismet hurried to the edge to peer down into the steamy black water. A few minutes passed where nothing happened. No bubbles rose and it seemed that nothing at all changed. Then slowly a glow began to rise from the depths and the steam around them increased dramatically so they stepped from the edge of the stone platform. Unable to stand the heat from the water the two walked down the beach a short distance to watch from a new point. The glow could still be seen from the beach where they sat but now they could see a bright red flash from time to time.
Deep below the surface Naia and Taras arrived at the glowing vent in the wall Naia had visited beforehand. Taras began casting spells and put one end of the blade into the slot in the wall then replaced it with the other. She began pounding and smoothing the surfaces of the blades, spells shooting out without words from her hammer sending bright lights and sparks from time to time. Halting briefly she raised her hammer to the double moons whose light was somehow still oddly bright at this depth. A moon beam came down and followed the hammer to the anvil for several strikes. She flipped the weapon from end to end and performed the magic yet again. The light abated and she silently stowed the hammer in a pouch. At this point Naia thought they had finished but Taras grabbed a strange looking glove from the wall and between her forefinger and thumb Taras produced a small bolt of lightning. She then ran it along the edges of the blade. As she did so it was clear by the way it glinted in the moonlight its edges were becoming razor sharp.
Naia watched the process helping where she could and staring in wonder during the whole process. Lastly Taras took the blades and heated them each to a glow in the sea forge followed by quickly cooling each end in the cold sea water behind them a few times. She closed the forge and grabbed a different odd looking glove with some strange material on the palm. The back of her palm glowed blue and she rubbed the flats of the blades until both glowed a cool blue. Taking off the gloves and stowing her tools she stepped back and admired the work.
Once again nodding Taras picked up the weapon and floated back a bit in the water before the sea forge. She swung and spun the blade through one of the advanced forms she’d been teaching Naia but being underwater she floated and the momentum took her in a maneuver that could not have been performed on land. After finishing the sequence she floated back towards Naia and handed her the blade. Following her lead Naia performed a similar sequence of moves part way through she deviated using her natural underwater skills to execute several strikes and spins with aquatic elegance. Taras watched the moves and when she finished the execution she silently gave her a visible clap. She pointed up to the surface and they began swimming. As she swam upwards she noticed how the blade seemed to compliment her natural ability and didn’t drag or pull in strange ways in the water. Naia picked up speed in her excitement and darted through the water at max speed slashing and striking imaginary enemies.
Quickly reaching the surface she burst out flying into the air and landing on the stone where they had stepped in. She landed, blade in hand, as though she’d struck down yet another imaginary enemy. Kayne and Kismet saw her burst out and land. She held the blade in front of her and it glowed a faint blue, speckles of starlight seemed to litter the flats of the blades in the moonlight. She again performed one of the practiced forms moving from stance to stance as though she’d been wielding the weapon all her life and seemed very pleased with it.
Taras made her way out of the water nearby on the beach. Being Alkin she wasn’t nearly as nimble in the water as the highly aquatic Piscalian girl. Trudging out her leathers and clothes dripped extensively until with a spell of red and white all her garments flapped in a short breeze drying everything immediately. She once again looked pristine aside from the strip of seaweed that hung from her hair. She felt around and flung the bit of flotsam back into the sea. Taras walked back over to the workbench where they had started the work and sat back down then waved Naia over. Naia quickly exclaimed, “Taras! It’s simply perfect. I can’t believe the way it flows and glides in the water. This really is the perfect thing for a Piscalian!” With a chuckle and smile she replied “I’m glad you like it. But there’s one more thing to do. And, you can thank Kayne for this one. That set of dwarven daggers inspired one last enchantment. Lay the blade before me and give me your right hand.”
She did so and from yet another pocket on her apron Taras produced a small white band made of some sort of smoothed coral. Inbedded in it was one of each color of the stones Taras had been working with before on the blade. She slipped the band over her hand then stood up. Raising a hand over the handle of the blade she produced a cool white blue circle of magic she then did so over Naias wrist as well. The band shrunk to a comfortable fit on her arm and began to tingle then freeze intensely. Kayne watched on knowingly. A cool white frost appeared on the workbench around the spot where the magic circle had hovered over before. Naia grabbed at her wrist in fear looking up at Taras with a moment of panic. A few moments passed and the freezing stopped. Taras closed her eyes and produced a green and a blue circle over her arm causing the pain to quickly fade and the marks on her arm healed instantly. The panic in her eyes ceased and she relaxed.
Kayne, having seen this, decided to chime in saying, “Oh, by the way, that enchantment really hurts at first. But, Taras? The dwarves used a fire cigil to bind my daggers. Why was that one white and blue like water magic?” She grinned at him and replied, “That was an adaptation I worked out earlier. Naia and her blade are attuned to mostly water magic. So it wouldn't make sense to bind her with fire. It’s not likely she would ever learn to control any form of fire. Piscalians have no aptitude for it. And for good reason. Naia, step over there and reach out your hand. Simply will the blade to come to you.”
Stepping away from the workbench towards the beach she lifted her hand. Everyone cleared a path between her and the blade. Her bracelet glowed gently from the blue stone and the weapon rattled around on the table. Taras looked at it then at her and said, “Try adding a tiny bit of mana into the blue crystal then try it.” Naia held her left over the right and channeled a bit of mana into it. Reaching out with the right hand again the blade lept from the table and zoomed into her outstretched palm. Taras clapped and seemed terribly pleased with herself. “It would seem as long as you keep a bit of mana in the crystals embedded in the blade and bracelet you should be able to get it to soar across short distances like that.” Taras walked over and held out a hand for the weapon. She pointed at the glittering gems embedded in the metal and handle. “That bracelet is like a gateway to these other stones. Over time you should channel and fill them with excess mana from each of your three disciplines. They’ll hold what you put in as long as you need and only you can draw from them through the bracelet. In fact I believe Kayne Can do the same with those daggers. I’m just not sure how big the stones they used are. Likely not very big. Fire stones are exceedingly rare and the Kindel seldom trade off the larger ones.” Kayne pulled out a dagger to examine it. She was right. There was a small red gem in the hilt.
Naia took the blade back from her when she’d finished her explanation. Examined it and the bracelet herself but then took on a quizzical expression and asked, “Taras? These green stones. They’re… forest gems? I don’t understand. I don’t have any talent in plant magics. I’m neither a dwarf nor a gnome.” Taras looked down at her, as she was significantly taller than the girl, and put a hand on her shoulder and told her, “It’s not uncommon for Piscalians to have some skill with earthen forest magic. Generally referred to as plant magic. I think in time you’ll discover a skill that you never knew you could possess. If Silaras talent alone is any indication. She was a singularly powerful woman and in her travels she learned that a proficiency with plant magic combined with her natural talent in wind and water gave her an uncanny ability to heal others to a degree the world has seldom seen.” Glancing left and right at the other two who stood there listening to her elaborate about the champion, Taras suddenly realized how tired she had become followed by letting out a very big yawn. “I think… we could all use some rest especially you two. The forge will cool on its own. Off to your hut now I think.” And she pushed them both off.
Like she’d cast a spell they both became quite drowsy as they walked back to the hut where their beds had been the night before. They returned quickly, stowed their gear in the cabinet and found their pillows like a hammer to anvil. Following the hard work the two slept for almost the entirety of the next day. Over the course of the next week Taras and a variety of other island inhabitants spent time with them individually and as a pair. Taras continued teaching them to handle their respective weapons with increasing proficiency and others bombarded them with lessons in magic or general world knowledge.
Kayne continued, between his studies, to examine the Piscalian history book as well as several others about the dwarves and Kindel. Unfortunately the Kindel books were very vague and largely only provided details from the point of view of an outsider. One day while studying the Piscalian history Kayne thought he’d finally figured out why she had given him the book. There was a brief entry on the dawn of their society about the split of their people. It speculated on how the dragon god Vaitara changed several of his own whelplings to walk upright and swim rather than fly. It continued to elaborate on how the author thought Piscalians had divided themselves when some artifact of great power had shown up in their city before the split in their society. This relic apparently was proscribed by their god Vaitara and for good reason. Those Piscalians that stayed saw the civilization rise to great power and prosperity but were supposedly lost to time after some unknown event. Not much else was said about the faction of Piscalians or what happened to them. It did however vaguely mention that legends are told about their civilization maybe being off the Northwest coast of Teswhyn. It was all written up around a few detailed drawings of several floating islands with lakes. A side note on the drawing with an arrow pointing into one of the lakes annotated that a city itself lies beneath the waters.
Finally putting two and two together Kayne got Naias attention. “I think... I found something about where we might find your soul orb.” He showed her the passage and she spent a while reading it. He pointed to the drawing and said, “This looks a bit different but I think it’s the place I saw in my dream, Naia.” She glanced at it again and said, “Ok, but it also says no one in close to a thousand years has seen it or knows where it could have gone. It barely even says where they think it was. Here is something though. Not many aside from ourselves know about this. The color of this Piscalian drawn here, I think, is significant.”
She held out her own hand to show it was a green color compared to the very blue skin color of the drawing. “Most Piscalians you meet these days are more of a green skin tone and we don’t have these rough looking fins around our backs and heads. We’re far more human looking rather than dragon. The blue skin tone indicates they spent their lives in the waters of the Northwest seas of Sacalia. The water there is a different color entirely compared to the waters in the South or even to the East. If I’m reading this correctly, we descended from dragons. The only place to find dragons these days is far off the coast of Teswhyn. There’s several large islands where only a few Piscalians can set foot. The dragons there won’t let any other race near it. They become very aggressive and will sink ships that come too close. Even we have to stay far away from the island and swim underwater to get near it. That might be a good place to start looking although I don’t know how we’d get you to the island”
Looking dismayed Kayne sat there staring at the drawings and said, “Well, I don’t know where else we might look so I guess it would be a start.” She considered for a second then replied, “If the charts Captain Pallaj had are to be believed, that island is halfway around the world. We’re going to need a bigger ship. As it is, getting my skiff back to the mainland is going to be a rough trip.” They both just sat there considering the task. “I know you may not like it, but we may have to take a safer route inland. With roaming bands of Korrigan on the seas and those dangerous patches of fog, we may never make it on your skiff alone. I wonder if Kismet will continue to help us. He hasn’t made any kind of commitment or inclination at all about what he wants to do.” Kayne said, continuing to stare at the book, and rubbing the back of his head.
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“Naia? How long do you think we can stay here? This island is incredible, but we have no idea what’s going on outside these barriers. What if our home is being destroyed? People could be out there dying because we’re hiding here, doing nothing.” She sighed. “I know. That’s been bothering me as well. On top of that, knowing what Captain Pallaj told us about my mother. Tormguard…” She said wistfully and then continued, “If you think Teswhyn seems far, Tormguard is about the farthest location from here. All of Sacalia lays between here and there.” She groaned and flopped back down on a pillow she’d had behind her where she was reading on the floor of their hut. “I don’t even know if she’s there! When I was a kid we were always sailing! A new port every month. Raka village and the ship are the only homes I ever knew. I don’t even remember Limuna. It seemed like mother never made port there.”
Kayne looked down at her, leaning on one hand where he sat, and said, “Wait, I thought all Piscalians were born in Limuna.” She opened one eye to peer over at him. “I’m not sure Kayne. Like any of us, I know about our city and could even find it, I think. But I’m not sure I’ve ever been there. We spent so much time at sea. Then, when that ship began hunting us, Talrei left me with you and that’s almost as far back as I can remember.” Kayne grabbed her arm and pulled her up. “Alright then! It’s settled! One day we’ll make it to Limuna so you can see where you come from! And on the way we’ll find your mother. She’ll have to take us there herself! Can’t make it there on a tiny skiff ya know.” he said with a giant grin on his face. She couldn’t say anything. A tear ran down her cheek and she smiled giving him a quick nod, looking a bit embarrassed.
It was mid day almost a week after they’d arrived. Kayne stood from where he sat on the floor reading in the hut and said, “Lets go talk to Taras and Kismet. I think we’ve lingered here long enough. Nothing is going to get done if we stay here forever.” With that he strode off to find the two of them sitting in the main hall near the deus that overlooked the Lagoon. He spoke to them at length for a while and finally came to a conclusion. After a while Naia finally wandered her way in to find them. Taras was telling Kayne, “Alright Kayne. We knew we couldn’t keep you here forever. In fact it’s one of the few things Silara told me the time I met her. We were going to talk to you about leaving tonight anyway. But you have to wait till tomorrow morning. She was very specific about the timing of your departure from here. Go begin packing your things. We’ll have one last feast tonight and in the morning we’ll send you off.” Kayne made a fist in excitement, which Taras clasped in her hand. “Before that I’d like to see your forms once again. This time I think you may be able to maintain a spell I dug up for you. It’s not something most could even attempt even though it's not a particularly complex spell. But I think you may have the talent for it.”
She was wearing her silky loose hanging robes again and reached inside a pocket to find a small leather bound book. It was not much bigger than Kaynes palm. It was decorated with stars and a white magic circle on the cover. “Go give this one a read through and I’ll meet you on the beach.” Taras told him. Having been unable to master very many spells recently aside from basic production of small amounts of fire or moving a bit of wind Kayne looked ecstatic at the prospect. He wordlessly sprinted from the hall. As he did he snagged a fruit off the table and just about ran over Naia in the process. She stuck her head out the door to see him run down the beach a ways and plopped himself in front of a palm tree then took a bite out of the fruit while opening the book.
Naia, having missed the whole conversation, much more calmly went up to the two where they filled her in on the plans. The three walked from the great hall and up the village towards the docks. Taras led them into her private study where Kayne and Naia had not been allowed before. Taras kept a large library here in a multi level, domed room. Books lined the walls and surrounded a large table that bore a carved map of Sacalia. “Naia,” Taras began, “I have something very special for you. Sacalia is a truly massive world. Yet it’s only the small portion we know of. It’s believed that there are other continents somewhere out there that we may never discover. But to help you two on your way I’d like to provide you with this map. Legend tells that it was created by the fifteenth tribe of the Kindel. As the legend goes, before they lived on the Grandaitu, the Kindel never set foot on Sacalia; they lived in the clouds somehow peering down on us from a massive floating island. One of their scholars made a device to collect data and map out our world.” She unrolled a two foot long parchment and spread it on the table which proved to be an almost identical yet much smaller version of the map. The only difference was a small square at the bottom right corner of the parchment. Inside the square was a golden circular seal with bumps and ridges on it.
“This map was brought down by the fifteenth. We’re not sure how it came to us anymore because of Arks betrayal of his own tribe. They’re no longer earthbound and have been lost to us. It’s one of few pieces of evidence that their floating island, or at least the device they created, is still in existence.” Taras drew out a small dagger. Naia saw this and looked somewhat anxious. Catching the eye of Kismet she relaxed when she saw that he wasn’t worried. Seeing the look on her face Taras said, “Not to worry, child. We only need a drop. Simply prick your thumb and press it to the seal.”
She did as instructed. Upon completion she removed it and the seal glowed faintly with the same grey blue color of her blood. Moments later the lines drawn on the map rippled with that blue-grey for a fraction of a second. Then a glowing blue dot appeared. It was far to the north almost off the page on the southeast corner of a small crescent shaped island. Her eyes searched for a few things on the map to confirm and then they went wide. Stuttering she said, “This- this shows exactly where we are!”
Turning to make eye contact with Taras, Naia just stared at her in disbelief. “That’s right, Naia. As long as you’re the one holding it, the map should always tell you exactly where you are. Unfortunately it can’t tell you which way you’re heading or where you’ve been. But I’ll give you a second parchment and if you trace this one out and then make markings and notes on it you’ll always know exactly where you’ve been.” Taras helpfully pointed out. “Thank you so much Taras! This really is incredible!” Naia said excitedly. She was so ecstatic, in fact, that she jumped up and wrapped her arms around the Alkin.
Out on the beach something almost as exciting happened to Kayne. Opening the book he began reading through the dozen or so pages. Little did he know what might happen next. He made it through several pages detailing the theory behind the spell and the effects it could have on himself, others, and inanimate objects. It would seem he could perform it on himself and others in a similar precedence, however its effect on objects could have the exact opposite effect. Moving on past the technical details about mana consumption based on rates and variations he tried to dedicate those to memory but it really wasn’t his strong point. Finally he got to the descriptions of how to perform it on himself, others, and lastly objects. On the very last page is when it happened. Turning the page he saw the magic circles inscribed on the page in a white glowing ink similar to the light produced by Naias swallow blade when they created it. Without him willing anything to happen his grey-blue left eye took hold of him. The circle jumped off the page and swirled around him. As it had before his right eye lost vision briefly. After that everything seemed exactly as it had moments before. The only difference was the circles on the page were plain black. He turned the next page and the book ended.
He closed the book and stood from where he had been reading. He looked around for something and found a rock laying on the beach. He picked it up and inspected it. Just an ordinary rock he guessed. Holding it in his right hand he attempted to cast the spell. Imagining the circle and the theory he’d just read a small white circle appeared over the rock then sunk into it. He examined it again. Nothing appeared to change. Casually tossed the rock in the air and caught it again. To his dismay nothing of interest happened. He thought to himself, ‘huh, maybe I did it wrong.” In frustration he threw the rock towards the gently crashing waves of the lagoon. As it flew through the air he clenched his left fist in resentment of the stone. A look of surprise, mingled with a hint of consternation, sprung into his eyes. The rock had slowed to an, almost indiscernible, speed mid air. Like he had all the time in the world, he strolled across the sand to where the rock slowly drifted in the air. It plodded its way in the direction he’d hurled it, inching forward, he could only tell it moved by its rotating mass.
He continued to examine the stone when Naia called his name from the direction of Taras’ hut. In his intensely focused examination of the stone, she startled him. At that moment it shot forward with viemance, splashing into the sea. He shot upright from his slightly hunched over position as though the rock would strike him. Kayne once again forgot that Naia had been calling his name and just stared at the sea straining in credulity even in his own mind. He put his right hand on the back of his neck and then turned the small book over in his left. Naia cantered her way over to where he stood, her left hand full of parchment, she placed them both on her hips and asked; “Whatcha looking at?” She looked at the book in his left hand and then back to the sea comically. “If you lost something to the sea I can go find it for you, Kayne. That’s no problem.” Still flabbergasted he just said. “Rock.” And pointed towards the water.
She looked where he pointed and then stood right in front of him. “Kayne! What is it?” She waved a hand in his face and he seemed to shake out of his astonishment. All he could muster after that was. “It worked!” A broad grin spread across his face. She finally saw the book he held and snatched it from him. “This is the spell Taras gave you isn’t it? You made it work?!” She flipped open the book after looking at the cover which had no words on it at all. The top of the first page said simply “haste.” Taras and Kismet sauntered over casually. “Kayne. Naia. Is there something interesting going on?” Kismet asked. They both looked over like they had something to say, bumped into each other like a couple of clumsy teens and then just laughed once they realized what they had done. Breaking the silence Taras said, “Ok, ok, you two. Naia why don’t you show Kayne what I gave you and then I suspect I know what he’s so excited about.”
She unfurled the map for him and explained what Taras had several minutes before. He stared at the map with the same excited expression she had. “This is incredible! Now we’ll never be lost!” The two adults just glanced at each other and chuckled. Taras spoke again. “That map is one of a kind and you two should treasure it. Now Kayne, I assume you managed to work that spell. Didn’t you.” He nodded and explained what the rock had done before they walked over. “That’s great Kayne. I had a feeling it would suit you quite well. You’ve got your blade with you right?” He affirmed that she was correct. “Great, Naia, go get your swallow. The two of you are going to spar for us.” With a nod she ran off and collected it from the hut.
“Alright you two. Try not to actually hurt each other. Both blades are incredibly sharp so no contact. If you can strike a blow with the flat of the blade you may. First round. No magic.” She looked down her nose meaningfully at them both. They stepped back and faced each other taking a well practiced stance they’d both become familiar with over the last week. Striking back and forth the two fell into a nimble dance of striking, blocking, and parries. Eventually Naia won the first bout, her right hand blade frozen by Kaynes neck and his own blade woefully out of place. He gulped and they eased apart. She wolfishly grinned at him and he looked abashed.
“Great!” Taras clapped once. “Again. This time, Kayne, shift between blade styles. She can change her technique and form but you can change your blade entirely. Use that to your advantage!” They began again. He started with the familiar cavalry sword that wasn’t too short or too long. He began to relax and let it shift quickly while he changed between sword forms allowing it to settle mid swing from one to the next. Quickly, with the shifting from one to the next, Naia was easily thrown off balance simply due to the sheer unpredictable nature of his attacks. When he caught her mid spin under her guard, it completely knocked her weapon out of her left hand and he stood with a thin rapier solidly aimed at her rib just below her tight leather top.
Kismet saw this and gave in involuntary “Ah ha!” then clapped his gloved hands a few times. “That’s my boy! Quite the progress you’ve made already Kayne!” This time it was his turn to grin at a defeated Naia. In mock of a military sergeant he’d seen once in town he gave the blade a flourish and bowed with it up to his face standing up with a swing downwards. The blade then shifted magically back to the usual short dagger form. Watching this Naia rolled her large emerald colored eyes at him and placed her free left hand on her hip. “Well done Kayne. Right then. Once more and this time you’re both allowed to use magic. Take a moment to prepare something before you begin unless you don’t feel it's necessary.”
They stood to face each other once more and waited there thinking a moment. Before Taras even released them, Kayne got a face full of seawater. Naia and the two onlookers burst out in uproarious laughter. Kayne simply stood there and wiped the water from his face with an unamused expression. “It would seem that round goes to Naia!” Kismet said from the sidelines. “Always expect the unexpected Kayne.” It was his turn to roll his eyes which he did emphatically.
Taking a stance again Kayne took two quick steps forward striking from bottom left to right and in a hurry she parried the move. Once again they began their dance. Kayne kept the medium length sword form he’d become accustomed to this time following forms to the letter while she fought against him as they had the first time. With a spin of her blade she managed to push him off for a moment and cast a spell. Ice quickly spread from the lagoon to under his foot. He slipped on a back pedal caught again when he hit sand then rolled narrowly missing a horizontal swipe through his body.
He finished the roll and landed on a knee sword held back ready to block if necessary. She stood in a ready stance, the ice melted, and Kayne watched her cautiously. He followed in his head the theory he’d read before they started their sparring, cast the pure white circle, and touched himself in the chest. He sprung forward and it was as though Naia didn’t even move. He could see himself in her eyes as they slowly changed expressions. In a gesture of pure comicality, he allowed his blade to fall to his side while he flicked her on the nose. He then stepped past her and stood behind her, sword outstretched. He tapped himself in the chest and let the spell fade.
It was Taras’ who realized what had happened first. She let out a gasp and then began slowly clapping her hands. “I knew it. Kayne that spell suits you far too well.” Taras said. Naia stood there looking around and rubbed her nose due to it strangely being in pain. Slowly she realized where Kismet and Taras were looking. Directly behind her. She turned to see the blade pointed directly at her and she raised her hands in surrender. In almost a silent whisper she muttered one word in disbelief. “Haste.” Kismet stepped over as Kayne sheathed his blade and took his now free right hand. “Our winner! Little miss Naia I think you’d be hard pressed to defeat that so long as Kaynes mana held up.” She stabbed one end of her blade in the ground and crossed her arms. “Alright Mr., that was a rotten trick.” She said rubbing her still sore nose.
“Thank you Taras. I didn’t think I’d ever be able to cast any real spells. But I don’t understand. I’ve never heard of any form of time magic. Or whatever that was.” She smiled at him and said, “Well Kayne, I had the idea when you first showed up here. And after much discussion, with Kismet here, explaining about your left eye and a few things we’d witnessed we came to the conclusion about what might be happening. Your left eye was blessed by the goddess Lumiara.” She pointed to Kaynes grey-blue eye which he felt with a hand. “And I believe she’s been helping you and Naia along the way. When you first saw your mothers stasis field, it reacted. This leads me to believe you may be able to cast a similar spell given enough mana. Then, again during the creation of Naias swallow blade, that mythril did something I’ve never experienced during the first night. It glittered in ways I’ve never seen before. We could have cast and hammered it out the first morning but I had a hunch. So I waited until the starlight was brightest that next night and she, Lumiara, blessed it below the sea. That swallow may have properties I didn’t intend. Only time will tell.”
Kismet added in; “Kayne we think the goddess needed you to have an affinity for time magic, which is normally almost impossible for most mages, of any race! We think you’ve been seeing short snatches of the future when certain events occur.” In the setting afternoon sunlight Kayne just stood there in overwhelming astonishment. It felt like to him, ironically, that time stood still. He lifted one hand and just looked at it. Opening and closing one eye then the other like he’d see something different from one to the next.
From a distance, he began hearing someone say his name. It was like it came from down a tunnel or through water until it became suddenly much clearer. Naia was tugging on his sleeve repeating his name. “Kayne. Did you hear me?” He shook his head and looked at her confused. “I said that’s amazing, can you do it to me? You moved so fast I wanna try!” He smiled at her and seemed to return to normal. “Sure, Naia, but you have to do something really cool when I do it.” Her face lit up.
Taras raised an index finger between them and interjected. “I’ll warn you right now of two things. If you do this wrong, Kayne, the spell will draw off your own mana while she moves about and the spell will continue to do so until you run out. This will leave you drained unless you can touch her and remove the spell. So you have to cast it on her hand, the same way you do on your own so she can activate it and deactivate it herself. Secondly…” She raised another finger. “This one is mostly for you, Naia, I’d avoid water and swimming. At that speed you may find it more solid than usual. The laws of nature can be rather unforgiving when time magic is implemented.” They both looked at her and gave a few nods in affirmation.
Kayne focused for a moment. The same white spell circle formed on his left hand and he took hers with it and using his right hand he slid the spell down onto hers like a band. She looked at it in amazement, unsure what to do. Kayne mimicked at her to touch her own chest and she repeated the gesture. Suddenly everyone around her seemed to stand still including the waves on the beach. She grabbed her swallow, sprinted a lap around them, and then performed an entire form completing it with a flourish and a quick well-practiced flip. She then tapped her chest and the crash of the waves resounded in her ears once again. She looked down at her hands in amazement. “Kayne! That was amazing! No wonder you beat me!” The three of them looked around at the sand realizing how many foot prints were around them now and the fact that she was twenty feet down the beach. “Simply incredible,” Kismet said to no one in particular. “We could hardly see anything more than a blur around us.”
The rest of the night went much the same way as any other night had, while they were there, aside from the feast. Some few words or encouragement were shared by the inhabitants of the island and Kismet took to his usual performances as the bard he was. They spent the hours after sunset enjoying his performances and plenty of libations.