Chapter Five

Anne watched as the little blip that was Newt disappeared into a cloud, far, far above.

“That was a missed opportunity,” Elain’e said. “Though I suppose it might be for the best.”

“Missed opportunity?” Anne repeated. She looked back down, then rubbed at the back of her neck to work out a kink there.

“Dropping a mountain on an enemy of Not Evilia might have made the clan very popular.”

“That could have killed... lots of people,” Anne said. In reality, she had a hard time wrapping her head around it all. A whole mountain in a card? Something so small that she could hold it pinched between two fingers?

“You’re right, we hardly had time to think through all of the political ramifications of it. And besides, the nearest truly enemy nation is far to the west. The card might unseal before reaching them.”

“Enemy?” Anne asked.

“Ah, yes. I suppose I ought to give you the lay of the land. Even a hero needs to know who is their adversary and who isn’t.” Elain’e gestured ahead. “Come!”

Anne picked up her skirts and jogged to catch up Elain’e, who seemed to be walking with as much speed as she could manage while still remaining somewhat dignified. That meant that she was flouncing more than she was walking, and Anne thought it was very cute, but she knew that telling that to someone could really ruin their mood, especially if they were trying to be taken seriously.

At least, that was how Jake reacted to her telling him he was cute and hugging him in front of his little friends.

“Ah, right here,” Elain’e said. Anne moved around a particularly large tree, then paused as she found herself standing next to a road. It wasn’t a nice asphalt road like back home, but a path made of stamped dirt, two tracks marking where carriages and carts had pressed down the earth countless times. “This way,” Elain’e said.

Anne caught up with her, running made much easier now that she didn’t need to worry about bushes and such. “You said you had a, ah, carriage?” Anne asked.

“Just around the bend here,” Elain’e said.

“Is that where your guardians are?”

“Guardians? No, I came on my own,” Elain’e said. She sniffed. “I’m hardly a child, despite my appearances.”

“Of course not,” Anne said without meaning it.

They rounded a slight bend in the road, and Anne slowed to a stop. There was a grassy area next to the road where a carriage was parked. It seemed, to Anne’s inexpert eye, like a very nice carriage. All black wood, glossy and clean, with silver gilding and a shield carefully painted on the doors. There were four horses ahead of the carriage.

Those were what gave Anne pause.

“Are those skeletons?” Anne asked.

Elain’e half-turned, then followed Anne’s gaze to the horses. “They’re skeletal horses. Perhaps not as strong as a flesh and blood horse, and not nearly as keen, but they’re obedient and they don’t need nearly as much maintenance.” She walked over to the carriage door, then hopped up, trying to reach the handle.

Anne walked over and opened the door for her. “Okay,” she said. She decided not to stare at the roughly horse-shaped piles of bone. Elain’e climbed in, and Anne pulled herself up and into the carriage a moment after.

She sat down across from Elain’e while staring around the interior. She had expected a carriage like in those period dramas she enjoyed so much. Instead, the inside only had two small seats in the middle, and there were shelves built into the walls. A lamp hung from the ceiling, creaking as the carriage settled after they found their seats. “I keep a small library here,” Elain’e explained somewhat bashfully. “Just in case.”

“That’s fine,” Anne said. “My little Jake liked reading a lot when he was younger. It’s a good habit to have.”

“Yes, certainly,” Elain’e agreed while smoothing down her skirts. “Now... where were we. Ah yes, a mountain card was summoned from thin air with the ability to kill both of us. As well as a card with what I suspect is an advanced automaton and... may I see the other cards?”

Anne still had the other cards in hand. She gave them to Elain’e in a hurry. “Here you go.”

“And army of worn-out Jake Maias?” Elain’e asked.

“That’s my Jake. My son, I mean. It’s him in the image too.”

“Strange,” Elain’e asked. “And this... a book, I think. The System’s Guide to Magic for Dummies.” Elain’e twisted her wrist, and the card turned into a book. It was bright orange, and seemed to have been battered a little. Some pages were obviously dog-eared as well.

The girl leafed through the pages in a hurry, stopping to stare at some diagrams and images along the way. It looked to Anne like a mass-market paperback kind of book.

“As I said, strange, and rather useless. This is an overly simplified guide to magic and how to use cards. A child ought to know everything in this.” She tilted her head at one particularly messy diagram. “Though perhaps it has some unique insights?”

“Maybe it’s to help me?” Anne asked.

“That’s possible,” Elain’e said. She set the book onto a little table next to her plush seat (with cushions so that she wasn’t sinking too deep into it and could still reach said table). She pulled out the last card, the cart of mangos. “This one is... likely precious. We should open it at the castle. But... I don’t see the link between all of these. The mountain, the automaton, the book.”

Anne didn’t miss the way Elain’e clutched the Cart of Mangoes card. “Well, I think that there are people, ah, watching me, and they might be the ones buying these things, maybe?”

Elain’e squinted at Anne. “That’s very bizarre. Usually heroes grow faster, or have access to unique magics. This... is very different from anything like that.”

“I didn’t exactly ask for that,” Anne said.

The girl nodded. “You’re right, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t be measuring things based on my own expectations. It’s unreasonable.”

“You’re very mature,” Anne praised.

Elain’e lips pinched in a tiny pout even as her cheeks warmed from deathly pale to rather-ordinary pale. “Yes, well, I’ve had time to mature.” She leaned to the side, and tugged on a little cord. A bell tolled just outside the carriage. “To tell the horses to bring us back home. I suspect your automata will be able to find you, don’t worry.”

“Um, alright,” Anne said. She sat back with her hands on her lap and waited while Elain’e stared at the book she’d bought and toyed with the Cart of Mangoes card.

It was the first time Anne really had to think, and she wished she didn’t have the time for it.

So, instead, she glanced at her chat.

Anne touched the text her son had written to her. And to think that all it took for him to open up a little was for her to be portalled into a strange world with monsters and magic and strange little girls.

She sighed as the carriage started to rattle and bump along the road, trees scrolling past the windows. “Elain’e. Why did you summon me again? You said something about a tournament?”

“Yes, one for the honour of my clan, and one to find a warrior worthy of leaving Not Evilia and fighting against the Dark Lord’s hoards.”

“Leaving Not Evilia?” Anne asked.

“Is something easier said than done. Not Evilia was founded several hundred years ago as a palace where the... not-quite-human could gather and feel safe, where we could depend on each other. It was a nice idea that took a lot of work to realize, and even now it’s far from perfect. Part of what keeps the nations safe also makes travel prohibitively difficult though.”

“Oh,” Anne said. She wasn’t quite sure she understood, but she thought it might start making sense eventually.

At least, she hoped it would all start making sense soon.

The alternative was entirely too distasteful to think about.

***

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