At the top of the Dead Belt, far above Fount Salt, lay one of many lighthouses which dotted the Boreal from sea to sky. Bright white stone with a shining beacon at the distant top, these can help wayward sailors find their way or send messages between any other outpost. The Gandeux even ran a service that received messages from a lighthouse and distributed them to their local recipient.
While managed independently, it wasn’t uncommon for official Gandeux business to take place at any given lighthouse—they were easy to find and always on the most direct path through the Boreal. One example of such ‘official business’ was happening at the lighthouse on top of the Noose—the transfer of a prisoner from Gandeux custody directly into Earth Vein’s.
Brindle and Hale had been talkative and relatively jovial for the first leg of Nanri’s trip, but were now visibly nervous under the presence of Earth Vein’s legendary adjutant. Silver hair framed a deceptively gentle expression as she thanked the two with a kind nod.
“And here are her belongings,” Brindle held out a small box which was taken by a servant. “Just a few books and her storage ring.”
“Well, I would hate to hold you two up any more than I already have,” she flashed them a warm grin and bowed slightly before turning around, “Come on, dear. We better get going.”
Her smile carried until she turned around, where her eyes grew cold as they bored into Nanri.
“Farewell, you two.” Nanri looked right past her mother and offered a smile, “Thanks for the ride.”
The fearsome adjutant held her breath as they walked up the ramp but didn’t seem capable of doing so much longer after the door closed behind them.
“On top of it all, you even lost the staff I made you.” The Silver Witch launched into a tirade. “Have you no shame?”
The ship started moving pretty much immediately, and Nanri watched the lighthouse disappear through the clouds.
“Mother,” Nanri chuckled with a light grin, knowing full well the Silver Witch was explicitly banned from her former island of residence, “Haven’t you seen Fount Salt? It had greater value as materials than in my hand.”
Anything created naturally of the earth could be refined into a staff, and even certain conjurations—such as stone or metal in Nanri’s case. Cira seemed to be most experienced with artificing through burning light, but Nanri found the same effect could be achieved through concentrating any kind of mana, really. Of course, she specialized in earth. Salt was a simple matter now, as were most common minerals and such.
Why specialize in silver? How drab. As if it’s high up on a list of tiers that doesn’t really exist about prestigious metals. Orichalcum is difficult to handle, sure, but silver? Clay is only softer by a mere half-step. Tch. Before my affinity came in, she hoped I would become the Gold Witch.
What even is that? If I’ve learned anything, gold is a relatively common material with few uses. It’s easier to destroy than silver, for one. While its mana conductivity is impressive, it’s practically disposable in such applications. Why does Mother Dearest strive for mediocrity? While softer than both, mithril is far more difficult to destroy and unfathomably practical in comparison.
Why didn’t she want me to be the Mithril Witch? Or orichalcum? If I was supposed to be the culmination of her greatness, does this mean she couldn’t possibly imagine authority over those two mythical metals?
Well, they aren’t mythical anymore. They are fine materials, however. Quite rare for one such as I, in my current predicaments especially—I don’t know if I can even call myself a sorcerer.
“Is this a joke to you?!” The Silver Witch grabbed her arm harshly and pulled her out of the entryway and into the interior of her personal warship. Her next move was to throw her daughter onto the ground.
These are the real witch’s shackles. While I feel my potential crippled with every second in her presence, this is only a trial that will make me stronger.
Nanri had a lot of time to think recently, and no longer felt like entertaining her former master’s behavior. She picked herself off the ground and dusted herself off with hands bound in silver.
“Mother. You have lied to me for many years, so let’s not mince words. My life has only ever been a joke by your design.” It was possibly the first time Nanri had ever seen her mother’s eyes grow so wide. “Your greatest ambitions are but shackles at my feet. If you intend to interrogate me, let’s be on with it.”
One of the Silver Witch’s maids, a woman named Oliander who had largely raised Nanri, audibly gasped. A gaggle of Earth Vein guardians turned pale while apprentices straight from Nightwing Isles whispered among themselves like school children.
“W-what is wrong with you?!” Her mother shouted indignantly. She was completely caught off guard, and the crowd wasn’t helping, so in the Silver Witch’s rare flustered state, she again grabbed Nanri by the arm and dragged her down the hall.
“Good afternoon, Oliander.” Nanri’s smile was the same sun which had always risen. “I hope you have been well.”
Like a nimbus shark were pulling her arm, Nanri was immediately dragged off. Normally the Silver Witch would have a retinue, but her glare shooed even Oliander away.
The interior was furnished gaudily with rare marble from the depths of Earth Vein’s stores and silver of course, much like Nanri’s childhood home. The massive hallway was lit with artifacts that looked like candelabras and they passed more than one portrait of the Silver Witch.
Let’s see… I can’t even do much with this silver. It seems resistant to most channels of ambient aether, but I think it’s mainly restricting my magic because of its nature as my mother’s conjuration. Indemnite was a struggle to overcome, but this isn’t a natural reaction. I should be able to get around it… As for reactivity, holy doesn’t mind silver, but space at best regards it with neutrality. There must be more to this…
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“Mother, why did you choose silver?” The pain of the grip around her arm was not significant, temporary, and purely physical. “There must be some quality I’m not grasping, because it seems rather lackluster at a glance. You don’t even utilize space in your artifacts.”
“W-what? Do you think you’re in class, child?” Her mother’s eyes burned a glistening silver. “You have proven yourself a disgrace to your family and bloodline, yet you would ask my wisdom? You don’t know a damn thing. You’ve made that perfectly clear.”
Those words a few months ago would crush Nanri, but she smiled reflexively, “You’re right. To hear your wisdom would surely stifle my progress.” I guess I have plenty of time to play around with it.
After two short staircases and at the end of another hallway, the Silver Witch swung open a door and tossed Nanri inside. “This is your cell.” The door slammed shut behind her—it was made of more indemnite, as were the walls. Her mother was fuming, surely thinking of her next words as she stood there.
Nanri sat up and felt the negative aethereal pressure bear down on her from every direction. Such varying levels from beneath her bottom to the ceiling above may as well have rendered this prison cell into a condensation array. Even ambient aether was being forced down to the floor where Nanri sat.
I see. The force which suppresses my will in fact affects the aether itself. Like energy infected with a disease that makes it intangible. Any mana within its frequency becomes a relay with diminishing returns. But when this force exists on a potency scale before my eyes, it becomes something altogether comprehensible.
What should I call it? It’s almost like it disrupts the aethereal realm, or locks it in place. Or disconnects me from it. Some kind of will-break.
“Are you just going to stare at me all day or ask some questions—”
“Tell me about the Hidden Witch.” The Silver Witch’s voice was cold.
Nanri snorted trying to stifle a laugh, “Goodness… Where to begin?”
Among the many things Nanri had thought about, it was this matter. She was one who spent a great deal of time with Cira as far as Fount Salt residents were concerned, and her involvement in recent events was impossible to deny completely. To do so would only implicate her intentions negatively. She did not intend to speak freely of her friend, but a sorcerer does not lie.
“Like the fleeting flash just before sunset, her lively green eyes remind you that tomorrow will be even brighter” There was a barred window through which Nanri smiled at the midday clouds, “She shines bright enough to accomplish in a week what witches have failed for decades. She even sacrificed her own treasures and health to do it. Do you remember the tale you told me when I was little? About the Sunforged Witch of Sea and Sky?”
Her mother narrowed her eyes in reminiscence, “Quit your babbling—”
“The skies would have fallen were it not for her sacrifice. A life in flames tempered her, yet she still burned herself up to protect people that had nothing to do with her. Putting your life on the line—for someone else’s benefit—you don’t know a thing about that, do you Mother?”
“Y-you bitch! Where did you learn to talk like that?” The Silver Witch’s enraged face showed through the door’s small slot. “You realize our alliance with Earth Vein is already falling apart because of you? I’ve spent hundreds of years preparing these skies for you to take over, and you’ve squandered it at every step! Ever since you were a child, I knew you would disappoint me in the end. Don’t think that our blood connection will spare you from the utmost of punishment a witch can deserve.”
Nanri felt a short tinge of sadness, but it manifested in a troubled smile, “I don’t know why you think I should care about Earth Vein. They helped you stuff me in a cave. Any hope you had for me was smothered by your own hand, but don’t worry… I will accept any punishment I am presumed to deserve if it means the people of these skies may continue to exist in peace. And once I have served my time, you will surely have come to understand the witch’s shackles from which I escaped.”
“Absolute nonsense… Is that what your head is stuffed with these days? And I hear you even consorted with pirates down there.” Her mother wasted no time in changing the subject, “Just what were you hoping to accomplish with all this rebellion? Did you not spare a single thought to all those your actions would affect?”
“Of course I did, Mother. There will be no more mass graves on Fount Salt, no sky burials. The plague will disappear within three years.” The look Nanri gave the Silver Witch was that of incredulity to someone lacking common sense. “The island will never flood again, nor will the nymphs go berserk. If anything, Earth Vein should be thanking the Hidden Witch, not imprisoning me.”
“Tch. Shortsighted as always.” The old witch turned to look out the window, seething. “Do you have any idea how much that mountain of titanium you gave away cost? How much money we should be making on Zero Stratum?!”
“Do you have any idea how little I care?” Nanri laughed, “For the record, she didn’t allow me the chance to refuse, though I would have agreed. Earth Vein can surely balance out their losses with all the labor that won’t wither away in the plague ward now. It was a necessary expense—”
“Shh! Stay quiet.” The Silver Witch suddenly turned serious, “Something’s coming. I’ll return shortly—”
As she made for the doorway, an explosive blast filled the hallway with light. Nanri was caught off guard and shielded her eyes, coughing out smoke. Just who could sneak up on Mother like that? For some reason the blinding attack didn’t recede even after the dust settled and crumbling noises came to a halt. To think they even got through the hull.
“You again… you hag!” Nanri heard her mother shout as metal clanged beyond the light as if ten swordsmen were locked in combat.
This is getting annoying. I need to see what’s going on. “Lamplight.” Nanri cast a little spell she learned recently, and it greedily sucked up all the ambient light coming in. There was resistance owing to the original caster’s will, but this simple sorcery seemed capable enough of sapping it for raw resource.
During this time, Nanri felt her skin prickle as if she’d just drawn the gaze of something dangerous. Well, here goes nothing. It took a bit of effort to overcome her new bindings, but all that practice behind indemnite bars made her will relatively indomitable here. The silver shackles melted and dripped upward to form a small runic array that floated before her and could be easily maneuvered like a shield in her hand.
Next, her cell door split into thin slices and melted down to spears as the light finally faded, nearly completely absorbed into the condensed ball of light. Indemnite was difficult to wield like this, but it could probably diffuse a spell or pierce a shield if she needed it to.
“That’s some strange witchcraft you’ve got there, little girl.” The amused voice came from a young girl with radiant crimson hair in black robes. She stood in the hall opposite her mother, but if Nanri had learned anything in her life as a witch, she was surely some old crone from across the sky. The Silver Witch did double takes between the two and a fierce glint entered her eyes.
“I’ll have you know it’s called sorcery.” Nanri’s spears started to revolve above her while the doorway widened, and she shot one out with blinding force as a loud bang echoed through the ship. At the same time, her real attack took shape as a titanium javelin that silently rose from the ground behind the unknown mage.
As the redhaired woman deflected the spear in front of her with a wooden staff, the real attack landed, piercing her through the spine and out her chest. She coughed up blood as a look of panic broached her face. Even the Silver Witch was aghast to see what her failure of a daughter had just accomplished.
Something just didn’t feel right to Nanri, and sure enough, the mage disappeared into motes of light like a mere conjuration. An illusion. Then there was a whisper in Nanri’s ear.
“Another sorcerer, is it?” The saccharine voice held no sign of enmity, but there was no one there when she looked over her shoulder, “How fun. But it may be difficult for a sorcerer of your caliber to face one such as I.”