“Another?” Helbram asked, “Is it the one that you have been pursuing?”
Ren shook his head, “This one possesses a different magic, which is all the more concerning.”
Leon took a seat at a table, “It is highly unlikely that multiple Shades emerged from a small town such as this,” he explained, “which means that they came from the outside. While some have been known to wander, I cannot imagine any Shade coming to a small village on a whim.”
Elly rubbed her bottom lip, “Which means that they came here with a specific purpose…” her eyes widened, “The girl.”
Ren nodded, “Yes, as erratic as many of their behaviors can be, it is not unheard of for Shades to form groups, and if they came all the way out here…”
“Then they believe the girl to be important,” Leaf concluded.
The Cleric nodded, “Yes, perhaps it was some sort of Divination that allowed them to see her, but we’ve more immediate matters to attend to before theorizing about that.
Leon grunted, “Indeed, we could move her away from this village as soon as possible, but with the presence of a Shade I believe it more pertinent to deal with that threat, lest we find ourselves ambushed on the road by a powerful foe,” Leon looked at Helbram, “You all certainly took your time getting back here. Did you find the girl?”
Helbram looked over to Jahora, who took in a deep breath.
“Yes, we did,” she said, “Cora and Erik are preparing a bath for her.”
“Then we will have to examine her right away,” Leon said as he stood up.
“After her bath,” Jahora said.
Leon looked at her, eyebrow raised.
She met his gaze with a firm look of her own, “After.”
The Black Cloak stared into the Mage’s eyes for a moment longer, his eyes searching. Eventually, he sat back down, his hands raised in surrender.
“As you wish,” he said.
Helbram leaned against his table, “A Shade normally leaves behind quite the trail, do they not? It is curious that you have been unable to follow it.”
Ren sighed, “You are very correct. My magics especially are adept at tracing such magical signals, but sadly even they could not divine where this Shade is located. Which leads to our second problem…”
Leaf’s eyes narrowed, “The Shade you’ve been chasing is here too.”
Leon nodded, “Yes, otherwise we would have to believe that there is another Shade out there with the ability to conceal their presence and that possibility is… concerning to say the least.”
“It is not entirely out of the realm of possibility” Elly said as she leaned back in her chair, “though I have not done enough research on Shades to be sure on that theory,” she crossed her arms, “It would be best to assume the former is true”
Helbram drummed his fingers against the table, “Could you tell us what you have seen? Perhaps we would be of assistance in locating them.”
Ren perked up, “That would be wonderful.”
Leon opened his mouth to say something, but closed it as Ren held a hand up to him.
The Cleric reached into his robes and took out a stone, its color a dark gray much like his skin, “It’s not much, but this is the only clue that we have found.”
Helbram raised an eyebrow and looked to Elly, who had approached the table, her eyes shining with Aether, “I see… the stone is suffused with a large amount of Aether,” she examined.
“The color is strange too,” Leaf said, “You’re not likely to find such stones out here in the Freemarks.”
Helbram looked to Jahora for further input, but the Mage was too focused on looking towards where Cora had taken the girl.
“Perhaps the stone’s color was changed by the Shade’s magic,” Helbram suggested, “It is not unheard of, but I can only guess as to what the nature of such magic would be.”
“Manipulation,” Elly explained, “Specifically precise, mechanical control,” she flicked her fingers towards the center of the table, the Circle of Aether around her wrist flaring as her spell was cast, producing the image of a stone soldier, the armor carved into it taking the appearance of interlocking plates that covered its entire body, “much like a Golem.”
Helbram tried to hide his sigh, “That certainly brings up pleasant memories.”
Elly smirked, “Indeed, but unlike our mind prison from before it appears these are in the flesh, do you mind if I take a closer look?” she held her hand out.
“Not at all,” Ren said as he handed it to the scholar, “but mind prison? That certainly sounds like quite the story.”
“Of sorts,” Helbram said, “perhaps we can swap tales sometime when things calm down.”
“It would be a pleasure,” the Cleric said with a smile, “Though I must say that we’ve not too many tales to tell. Mysterious as we appear, the work of a Black Cloak is a fairly routine affair most of the time.”
Leon nodded, “Dangerous and violent as they can be, we are usually able to subdue them before they become a serious problem, which we should all be grateful for.”
The Black Cloak’s face grew darker the more that he spoke, and while Helbram felt the urge to have him elaborate, there was a weight to the man’s tone that stopped the question from forming.
“Have you noticed anything Elly?” he instead asked, turning to the scholar as she flipped the stone back and forth.
“Yes…” she said as she pointed towards the edges of the stone, “There are no jagged irregularities here, which suggests that this did not break off of any main body, and its weathered state tells me that perhaps it was merely one of many stones that were forced together in the approximation of the Golem.”
Ren peered towards the stone, “So we are not dealing with a Shade that can produce Golems?”
Elly shook her head, “No, were this a Golem there would be some part of a magical circuit to be found within this stone, part of what would allow the Golem to act autonomous,” she rolled the stone in her hand, showing its bare surface, “To elaborate on our previous point, one can often tell the age of a Golem based on its color, due to the circulation of Aether throughout its make. The darker that a Golem is, the longer it has been active. This stone, as you can see, possesses no circuit, which means that the Aether was forced into it,” the Circle around her wrist glowed with a yellow color as a similar color bled from the stone.
“Forcing Aether into an object such as this results in the color change occurring faster,” she focused as the energy from the stone flared. The stone itself turned a shade darker as it did so, “Given how dark it was previously, we can assume that the stone had a vast quantity forced into it within a short span of time, a key factor to any spell that seeks to control an intended object. What was produced as a result of this magic was a Puppet rather than a Golem, as it no doubt was manipulated directly by the caster themselves,” she gave the stone back to Ren, “Since this is only a small part of a greater whole, I would be able to trace it back to the main body, normally, but the trail that leads from this stone cuts off abruptly.”
Ren nodded, “Yes… I tried to do just that. Masking one’s magical presence is not entirely unheard of, but the nature of this concealment is what causes alarm.”
Elly’s eyes searched the stone some more, “Yes… were this the usual affair of hiding tracks the magic here would have vanished entirely, yet I can see the beginnings of a trail leading from this stone.”
“Precisely,” the Cleric said, “It is an aimless trail to be sure, unable to be followed, but this suggests that the spell that this stone was part of is still active, somewhere. How anything is capable of masking such an Aether dense spell is beyond me, however.”
“Such is the way of Shades,” Leon said, “We’ve seen enough that eluding the Watcher’s gaze is not so surprising.”
Ren sighed, “Indeed, but it remains all the more frustrating,” he turned back to Elly, “you mentioned that the creation formed was a Puppet, how does that differ from a Golem?”
Elly snapped her finger, making the image of the stone soldier on the table march. It patrolled the outer edge of the table, its movements stiff and efficient, “A Golem’s movements are entirely made on its own, directed by the commands instilled into it upon its creation. A puppet, on the other hand, requires more direct intervention…” she flicked her wrist again, producing the image of a pile of stones on the table. She let Aether bleed from her fingertips, connecting to the stone like strings. As her fingers twitched, the rocks within the pile began to move, clattering against each other until the vague shape of a humanoid was formed. Elly flexed her fingers and started to move them, and as she did the humanoid figure began to dance, its steps flowing from one to the other in a graceful fashion. Helbram noted it was one of the many dances that Elly was familiar with..
“The control is much more precise,” the scholar explained, “But requires a constant stream of Aether to maintain - one that can be quite simple to cut off - so they are not as often used compared to their Golem counterparts.”
“Given that we lack the magical means of finding them, how do you suggest we look for this puppetmaster?” Leon asked.
Elly rubbed her chin, “If we were to speak in generalities, then the puppetmaster would be utilizing some sort of Focus -a large one- in order to minimize the amount of effort, and Aether, they would need to expend to maintain the spell. This only applies to the average Lower Circle Mage, however. Such devices are not needed, or are far smaller for those of the higher Circles. Since this is a Shade we are speaking of, we most likely are dealing with something like the latter.”
“Then we best hope that they are utilizing some sort of focus,” Ren said as he nodded along.
“Yes, though there is another option open to us,” she flicked her hand towards the dancing Puppet on the table, knocking a pebble loose from it, “since it appears that the spell is being maintained, there is the chance that the stone could reach if it were closer to the main body of the Puppet,” she let her illusion dance closer to the fallen pebble. As it did, the rock lifted from the ground and reconnected to the mass of stone.
Leaf peered at the demonstration, “Wouldn’t they be aware of this? If I were the Shade I would just turn the spell off.”
“You are very correct, but I imagine that they are trying to hide their presence as best as possible even without the aid of their companion,” she explained, “they are not doubt utilizing the same stones for the spell, and since this stone possesses the same Aether as those, it should remain reactive whenever the spell is cast again.”
“If it is cast again,” Leon interjected, “while it is no doubt related to the girl, we still do not know the full purpose of casting such a spell in the first place.”
“Still, a possible lead is better than nothing,” Ren said, he examined the stone for a moment before pocketing it, “I am grateful for the information nonetheless.”
Elly smiled, “Happy am I to provide it.”
“Let us hope it will prove useful on our search,” Helbram said
Leon frowned, “About that…”
As he was about to speak further, the door to Cora and Erik’s room opened and the couple emerged with the girl, who looked almost entirely different. Gone was the grime from her skin and hair, letting her white locks and pale visage stand out all the more. While her thin frame was still noticeable, most of it was now covered by a simple dress. One that had clearly been altered hastily as it still hung awkwardly on her frame, but in Helbram’s eyes it was still a large improvement. Her hair was pulled back and tied into a ponytail by a blue ribbon tied into a bow, though enough strands of hair were left to cover her forehead. The girl’s face was much brighter as well, though there was an uncertain look on her face, as if she did not know if she enjoyed the bath or not.
Jahora pushed herself from her seat and trotted over to the girl. He could only see the back of her head, but Helbram knew his companion wore the biggest grin on her face.
“You look wonderful,” the Mage said, “I dare say you’d put any princess to shame.”
The girl blushed, “T-thank you,” her voice was barely above a whisper.
When she spoke, Helbram noticed that Elly took out her notebook and started writing. The scholar felt his gaze and met his eyes, her look suggesting that she would speak to him later about what she was doing. They shared a nod before returning their attention back to the girl.
“She was a well behaved one,” Cora said with a hint of pride, “Made not a peep as I scrubbed her down.”
“She will need better clothes,” Erik added, “I’m afraid this was the best I could do on such short notice.”
“You did a wonderful job. Thank you so much,” Jahora said in a bright, cheery tone. She fished for her coin purse, “I can pay for -”
“Don’t worry about it,” the tavernkeep said, “I’d do it for free many times over.”
Jahora smiled up at him, “You’re a good man.”
“Tis why I married him,” Cora wrapped her arm around his, the pride clear on her face.
Erik scratched his head, embarrassment clear on his face.
Jahora’s attention went back to the girl, whose eyes had found the Black Cloaks. Her posture shrank as she saw the two men and she shuffled behind Cora’s leg as she peered from behind the woman.
Ren looked at both his gear and Leon’s, “I do have to wonder why we settled on black of all choices.”
“We’ll have to ruminate over that later,” the larger Black Cloak said. He got up, but rather than approach the girl like Helbram thought he would, he walked towards the door, “It is clear that our presence is intimidating her, so I shall wait outside for the time being,” he looked to Ren, “I trust that you can handle this without me?”
Ren snorted, “Perhaps not, I’m feeling the jitters of your absence already.”
The Black Cloak shook his head as he walked out the door.
The Cleric remained seated, “If you would be so kind to bring her to me, Jahora,” he requested, “I’m afraid that even I don’t appear very approachable in a get up like this.”
Jahora looked at Ren, her eyes searching. After a brief moment she turned back to the girl and held out her hand, a gentle smile on her face. The girl took hold of it gingerly and allowed Jahora to guide her towards Ren, but she did not let go even after standing in front of him. Helbram did not know if that was Jahora’s doing or the girl’s but Ren did not seem to find it disagreeable. Erik and Cora stepped back into the hallway as Jahora took the girl away, but kept an eye on the two with both curiosity and concern.
The Cleric gave the girl a smile of his own and closed his eyes. When he opened them, their dark gray color was replaced by a golden hue as he examined the girl.
“I see… this Chosen certainly does have a way with spellcraft,” he said, more to himself than anyone in the room.
“Is the seal intact?” Jahora asked.
The Cleric nodded, “Yes, it appears to be keeping the rampant magic inside her at bay, and there does not appear to be any signs of weakness as of now. However, it is too effective in a way, I cannot accurately assess how much strength she possesses,” he leaned back, “For the time being I can safely say that we do not need to worry about the seal breaking in anyway,” he frowned, “From internal factors, at least.”
He did not elaborate more, but Helbram knew what he was referring to.
“Normally I would suggest that we leave leave the first thing in the morrow,” Ren said, “But given the poor weather, I believe we should keep watch over her for the next few days, see if there is anything else we should take note of while traveling conditions improve,” he did not mention the other Shades, presumably due to Erik and Cora being in the room, but there was a weight behind his statement that told Helbram he was considering them as well.
The Cleric looked at Jahora, “Is this agreeable?”
The Mage met his gaze, “...for the time being, yes.”
The two shared a mutual nod while the girl looked between them. Fear was gone from her expression, replaced instead by curiosity as she tried to read the air between them. With a relieved sigh, Helbram left them to discuss things further and made his way outside. Leon stood by the door, his eyes closed. He no doubt heard his companion through the door, especially with his abilities as an Awoken, but he waited for Helbram to speak first.
“Before the girl came in, you were about to say something, what was it?”
Leon opened his eyes, “You and your companions, you need to assist us with the Shades.”
Helbram leaned against the door frame, “I guessed that was the case,” he snorted, “I do appreciate you including my companions to lessen the blow, but it is not them that you are referring to, are you?”
Leon looked at him, “No, no it is not. Confident as you are in your skills I cannot in good conscience allow you to get yourself involved in this. Shades are far beyond the realm of a normal man.”
“Normal?” Helbram mused, “I would assume my lack of control of both Ether and Aether would make me abnormal.”
The Black Cloak frowned.
“Regardless, this is my decision,” Helbram continued, “While I appreciate your concern for my safety I cannot sit idly by while my companions do their to assist.”
Leon examined Helbram once again, taking stock of his weapons and armor.
“Will you allow me one request?” Leon asked.
Helbram raised an eyebrow, “What is it?”
“Your skills,” the Black cloak grabbed the hilt of his sword, and Helbram knew what he was about to say.
“Prove them to me.”
Author's Note: Here we are with another kind of lore/exposition heavy chapter. I figured it would be a good cool down from the heavy drama last chapter and I always want my characters to discuss their plans instead of having them being made up on the fly, that way it is easy to follow their own logic. This goes for the Black Cloaks and Helbram's Party. I could have easily made them antagonistic towards each other but I figured having them working with one another amicably and discussing things with a little bit of friction makes the plot overall flow better and the characters in general more relatable. I'm not a fan of making people unwilling to work together for the sake of drama, unless there is a seriously good reason that it would be that way of course, and I think having the party run into non antagonistic groups more often keeps things grounded. Let me know what you think of this chapter though! If it was too dry or if you wanted to see more friction let me know! I'm always open to ideas.
Till next time! Have yourselves a wonderful day! :)
