"So you do know one of the Fair Folk after all! And what about this little one?"
We'd kept rather quiet, aside the necessary exchange of information, until we entered the forest, due to the seriousness of situation, but Sahra really had overcome her sense of apprehension quite quickly. It seemed that she was asking in a lighthearted manner however, rather than making too much of what had happened. Which was good, since I really couldn't afford to have her start distrusting me. She just couldn't hold her curiosity for long after the meeting with Satin, particularly about Chiffon. Still, I didn't really have much that I could tell her.
"She's a spirit, I think. An entity consisting purely out of mana, though I still don't entirely understand how that works."
"The annoying and loud human doesn't need to know!"
It seemed that Chiffon really had a rather sharp mouth, once she actually spoke, but her manner of speech was quite childlike, giving an impression of youth that hadn't been there when I'd previously communicated with it. I was admittedly rather amused, by how her opinion of Sahra rather matched my own, and by Sahra's disheartened reaction. Chiffon was rather more harsh though, and I still had the impression that she didn't particularly trust humans, so I didn't say anything more.
With such an easy path set for us by Satin, it was a relief that we were able to make good time and catch up to the people we were pursuing. Whether the path would lead us directly to them or not, we were definitely quickly getting closer to the center of the forest, where the Fae rift awaited.
As we moved so quickly, it was easy to see how much the forest changed even within small distances. Plants and animals alike got more strange as we went, even more colorful and odd in shape. There were some more familiar things mixed in as well, but seeing fir trees next to unfamiliar trees with huge leaves only gave a more dissonant impression to it all, and the bushes that seemed to match both in height were even more strange.
The animals seemed to get more numerous as well, based on what little my mana sense could tell, and birds especially were everywhere, in a dazzling variety of colors. But they all seemed to steer clear of the path, to an odd degree even. I supposed that Satin might have been instructing them to stay out of the way, like with the plants, though I didn't know if her powers extended to animals. Regardless, it was something of a relief, as I had no idea how dangerous the wildlife could get in such a place. The creatures of the Faerie on the other hand continued watching us pass by with their usual interest.
I was increasingly certain that some of the things we saw came from the jungles to the southwest of the continent, on the exact opposite end of the landmass from where we were. And others, I thought, matched descriptions that I'd read in the books about the eastern continents. Most I couldn't recognize at all, and I had to think that even some of the more mundane species that we saw came from the Faerie itself. Yet all of them seemed perfectly at home.
As we got deep into the forest, the path we were following began to deteriorate again. I suspected that it was because Satin's control didn't reach as well that far, since the flow of mana in the surrounding forest began to seem more erratic, rather than how it'd had a certain structure to it, presumably centered around the dryad, when we were closer to the town. There were still paths that Chiffon could lead us through, and we were moving far quicker than would have been possible normally.
The trees continued to reach ever higher as we went deeper. Sometimes they seemed entangled at the top to an almost unnatural degree, creating some places on our path with such a thick canopy that we were almost left in the dark, which I found more unnerving than I'd have liked to admit. Yet elsewhere the canopy would open up, letting the light of the setting sun show the mesmerizing beauty of the odd forest.
Increasingly the forest was starting to look old. Very old in fact, older than I thought it should have. Moss in all many odd colors, and fungi of all sorts, could be found in the soil that was full of life, and on the huge fallen trees. It seemed strange that there hadn't even been a forest just three centuries previously. Humans might have abandoned any of their dwellings, and even the fertile fields, in the area, due to fear of the fae, but the place looked like it had never even been touched by humans. But eventually I noticed something that distracted me from such musings.
"We are getting close."
Sahra looked at me with surprise, when I spoke up, whereas Chiffon just nodded, and we came to a stop. Even with the raging energies of the Faerie impeding it, my mana sense alerted me far before we stumbled onto the people that we were pursuing. At first I sensed two large spells overlapping, and finding the mana flows of several humans nearby after that wasn't difficult. I did not think that hiding my ability was a priority in the circumstance, though I wasn't planning on explaining, so I simply I started talking what I could tell.
"They are interfering with a spell that is controlling the flow of mana through the rift."
I was a bit hesitant to say anything more, as I slowly uncovered more by inspecting the complex ways in which mana intersected in the area. There were three mages participating in casting a spell in the area, but all of them were working together on a single one. That alone was a remarkable rarity, due to the difficulty of multiple mages synchronizing their mana flows to the degree of being able to cooperate on the same spell.
But more remarkable was that the other spell, the one that was actively feeding off of the mana flowing from Fae rift, and in turn redirecting that mana to stabilizing it, wasn't being cast by a human. The entity at the center of that spell array was actually a spirit. If we weren't in such a tense situation I would have been delighted to research such an amazing achievement, but as it was I had to do with merely analyzing the basic concept and how it related to my objective.
A spell needed a living entity to serve a conduit for the mana flow, but this confirmed that, even for the magic that we humans used, it did not need to be a human that served that role. If a spell had the appropriate structures included, another mage, or in this case a spirit, could be allowed to take over the role of maintaining it as a conduit. Judging by the familiar structure of the spell, Mary had probably designed and cast it, before passing it onto a spirit to maintain.
Perhaps it was part of the deal that she had made with the fae, in regards to the Fae rift. Though of course I'd also managed to befriend a spirit to a degree, it seemed more likely that the fae had managed to convince this one, and potentially others that might have served in similar roles elsewhere in the forest, to do such a thing.
It was an ingenious solution, since humans couldn't have done such a task indefinitely, needing sleep if nothing else, compared to spirits that seemed to need no sustenance or rest by their very nature. Though I wasn't sure if spirits were any less susceptible to the boredom of such a task. I would have guessed not, judging by Chiffon's personality, but on the other hand she had not particularly minded a sedentary existence within the scarf.
"I think we can get closer to them if we approach from behind that hill, and I might be able to try something to stop them, before they notice us."
Sahra followed my directions, even though she surely was wondering how I could have known what I did. All of the opposition we were facing were actually gathered together in a tight group, making it easier for us to approach unnoticed. We managed to get a line of sight on them from the top of the hillock. Though most of them were clearly on watch duty, I didn't think they'd notice from that distance, past the thick underbrush.
There were another half a dozen clustered around the three who were casting the spell. Understandably it seemed to be the older mages, probably all instructors, that were handling the complicated spell, whilst the students seemed to be on guard duty. I recognized one of them, even from the distance. It was the person that I'd run into, when I'd spotted the group heading into the forest previously. He was the one primarily in charge of the spell, handling its core structure, whilst the other two operated sub-structures that connected to it.
It seemed to me that the whole group stuck together for safety, as the ones not focusing on the spell were facing outwards, a couple brandishing weapons even, and they were completely encircled by entities from the Faerie. And these ones, I could tell from their numbers and posture, were not merely curious. I was myself hesitant to get any closer, or to do anything else that could get their ire. But an idea occurred to me, as we had with us an advantage that the other group of mages didn't.
"Chiffon, could you convince the, uh, locals to not to be alarmed about what I'm going to do? And ask the one maintaining the spell to cooperate with me when I contact it?"
"Um. Maybe? I'll try!"
She didn't sound particularly confident. Maybe the entities of the Faerie weren't all acquainted after all. But she flitted away, moving through the underbrush seemingly without even moving a leaf. Though she kept her physical form, it didn't seem likely that anyone could pick out her small and green shape from the forest. For my part, I withdrew a small distance from the top of the hill, and started working on a design for a spell, whilst Sahra was watching with great interest what I was doing.
I wished I could have said that it was one of the most difficult tasks I'd had to take on as a mage, because it was certainly difficult, but that would have been a lie. For most mages it would have been true, and I did not think that anyone other than myself, except perhaps Mary, could have possibly succeeded in what I was going to attempt. Though who knew, since there had been a monstrous genius like Mela around as well. But the spells that I'd used to control the Fae rift, and to bring Mary into being, had been incomparably complex.
I was about to directly interfere with not one, but two, active spells with one of my own. Who else could have possibly perceived the complete flows of mana involved in each of them precisely enough to do such a thing safely? And crucially, I had a fairly clear understanding of both spells from the start. Mary's spell was based on the ones that I'd created in my efforts to control the rift, and the trio, that were seeking to interfere with it, were employing the same core logic, because they were attempting to subvert the spell for their own purposes.
I was thankful that they'd chosen such a method, rather than trying to outright destroy the spell, not only because it made my job easier, but also because it showed that they had some understanding of the dangers that they were dealing with, and weren't entirely clueless in their meddling. Of course, this meant that, in interfering with their spell, I would also have to intersect my spell with Mary's, without interrupting it. I risked damaging the seal on the rift myself, if I screwed up, but it was also the best method that I could think of to deal with their spell, as interrupting it directly could easily have had the same result.
The issue was that I simply had little to work with. I pulled out two small timepieces, as well as a few other small mechanisms that I could comfortably carry along. It wasn't enough. I was somewhat embarrassed with how unprepared I'd come, yet I could only chalk it up as a weakness in of my preferred type of magic. Unlike with many of the possible components for spell arrays, there was practically no way to create the necessary materials for a spell on the spot.
I would have needed to know what sort of spell I was going to be casting, in order to have known what materials to bring along. I was already carrying what I reasonably could; trying to lug around all sorts of heavier machinery on the trek to the forest, in the hopes that it could have some use, wasn't a feasible option. I was rather widely learned, when it came to the different fields of magic, so I could certainly use other components to create a composite array as well. Only that I was carrying very little else that could have served as components in the circumstance. That perhaps was a real failure on my part.
Relying on chants or bodily motions, the most easy components to spontaneously come by, was out of the question, and not just because it could have sacrificed our advantage of stealth. I frankly had no confidence that I could use them for such a complex spell, with my new body. Even if I felt comfortable enough with it, in mundane circumstances, the precision needed for magic wasn't something that I could just rely on Mela's muscle memory for.
"Sahra, do you have anything that I could use to create a spell array together with these?"
"How about these?"
Sahra looked like she'd almost been expecting it, as she handed me a fist sized bag, which had quite some weight to it. Opening it, I could see that it was filled with quite a variety of gemstones. It was an impressive, and probably expensive, collection. It was definitely workable. They could be placed in a three dimensional formation, together with the mechanisms that I had at hand, and the spell array components that could be easily derived from gemstones, relating to their material compositions and shapes, were also commonly included in magic of machinery.
"Thank you. Can I ask you to guard me while I cast the spell?"
"Of course."
I felt rather sorry asking that of Sahra, after I'd just diminished the tools that she had at her disposal, but she did not seem to mind. There wasn't any real choice. There was no way that three experienced mages would not notice when I interfered with their spell directly. Regardless of what their ability to sense mana was like, they'd notice that something was off, when I intersected with the mana that they were personally manipulating.
There was one issue remaining, that I pondered as I began to arrange the physical formation of the array. My adversaries had set up their formation right around the spirit, that was maintaining Mary's spell, and I couldn't safely get any closer to them. Thus my array was going to be quite a distance away from where the spell's effects were meant to be realized. It was a rather big issue too, as such a distance could damage the precision that was exceptionally crucial in the situation, but I figured that I had a solution.
It was something that I'd theorized based on what little I'd seen of what I took to be the magic of the fae, or perhaps of the Faerie more broadly, since spirits and other creatures from that realm seemed able to utilize it to degree. I hadn't actually got around to trying the idea yet. But there was no logical reason for why it wouldn't work, assuming that I had the right interpretation of the logic by which this type of magic worked. Which, I had to admit, was a big assumption to make, when it came to the Faerie.
All I needed was the cooperation of the spirit maintaining Mary's spell. If necessary, I could ask Chiffon instead, though that would have made things more complicated, and potentially put her in danger. First I cautiously reached out to the other spirit, using the method of communication that I'd practiced, presenting it with as clear a mental representation of the idea as I could manage.
What I was planning wasn't actually very far removed from this minor method of magic that we were using to communicate. I would simply realize the effects of my spell through a similar link of mana between me and the spirit, which conveniently happened to be positioned at the center of the two spells that I intended to interfere with. Through the spirit I could overlap my spell with the two others, or more specifically use it to create a protective structure around the one that the spirit was maintainng, that warded off the interference from the other spell.
I was surprised how easily the spirit agreed, showing none of the coyness that Chiffon had at first. Apparently the fact that I was a Tannel gave me a sort of authority in the circumstance. And it quite appreciated my arrival, after the pressure it had been put under by the trio of mages. I proceeded with all haste that I could afford with such precise work, understanding that the spirit itself had no way to defend against the attack.
"Lucan! There's someone interfering, search the forest!"
With my attention focused in the complex intersecting flows of mana, I barely paid attention to the shout over the crest of the small hill, but I recognized it for the voice of the man in charge of their spell. He really was a rather skilled mage, to have spotted my interference within moments, but I knew as much from the spell he was attempting. The name he shouted stuck out to me as well. It seemed that we had managed to stumble onto our dear head prefect himself.
