by Jaxon Reed
“You see, ordinarily a grown man is needed for good long distance shots. A yew longbow is very difficult to draw back. It’s a mighty weapon in the hands of a strong man, and can send a kill shot several feet away. At close range, a decent archer can penetrate plate armor with it. That’s how powerful a longbow can be even without magic.
“A short bow does not require as much strength to pull. Thus, they are ideal for children and women, who have less upper body strength. That’s also the preference for dungeon teams, since longbows can get awkward down below.
“But, the Easy Pull enchantment means the Starhelm Bow will be even easier to use. Hard Strike gives you power comparable to a longbow, and True Aim means you’ll hit what you look at it when releasing. Those spells alone make this a phenomenal weapon, even in untrained hands. Such as yours.”
Nessa blushed at his directness, but she did not protest. Percel simply stated the facts.
He continued and said, “I went ahead and bought you an Endless Quiver from the quartermaster. It will never run out of arrows, and is well worth the money. I also bought you some magic arrows. They are not unlimited, and you should use them sparingly.”
He handed the leather quiver over to Nessa. She looked at the freshly fletched arrows while holding the strap. A half dozen magical arrows sparkled back at her.
She said, “What do they do?”
“I’m not sure, and Dankers wasn’t sure either. Usually they make big explosions. Next time we’re in the crypts and a bunch of monsters are charging us, you can shoot one and we’ll find out.”
He smiled then, a note of amusement creeping into his voice. She smiled back.
“Right!” Norra said, speaking up for the first time. “Let’s practice. I’ve taken the liberty of setting up a target against the wall over there, Nessa. Try hitting the bullseye. Careful, don’t use a magic arrow. We don’t want to blow a hole in the wall.”
Nessa carefully pulled a regular arrow out of the quiver and watched in amazement as another one popped into place. She placed the quiver’s strap over her shoulder and nocked the arrow.
She pulled it back and aimed awkwardly downrange at the target.
Erik said, “Uh, that’s not really proper form, Nessa. I know a little something about archery and . . .”
Nessa ignored him and released the arrow. It shot through the air in a straight line and thunked into the target, in the center of the bullseye.
She smiled up at him and said, “You were saying?”
“Hm. You should still try and develop proper form. Here, let me show you how to do it.”
She handed him the bow and another arrow.
“See? Stand like this and hold your arms like so. Then you pull and . . .”
He carefully aimed. His arrow shot across the distance and thwacked into the first arrow, splitting it in two.
“Oh . . . these enchantments are really good.”
“Let me have my bow back,” Nessa said, her arms outstretched.
Erik reluctantly returned the weapon to her and watched her quickly shoot several more arrows at the target.
He said, “Hm. Yeah, that’s going to help. You should stay in the back, still. We’ll protect you. But, yeah. Arrows will be very useful.”
-+-
The following day Percel announced at breakfast they were ready to go down into the crypts again.
“Should be a much more routine patrol, I hope,” he said, watching Toby put five pancakes in his mouth at once.
The giant elf smiled at him while he chewed.
“Is it my imagination, lad, or have y’ grown a couple inches lately?”
“How can you tell?” Erik asked, swallowing his own bite of pancakes. “He seems as tall as ever, to me.”
They looked at Tawny with questioning eyes. She shrugged.
“He’s relatively young. It’s possible he’s still growing.”
“I think he’s wonderful,” Nessa said, gazing at Toby fondly.
Toby smiled back at her and swallowed the pancakes. Then he grabbed five more.
After breakfast, everybody loaded up their weapons and belongings and headed out the door. They followed Percel through the morning streets and over to Grimuald Cemetery. There, another man stood watch outside the guard hut near the entrance to the crypts.
Toby stared at the man without smiling as Percel spoke to him for a moment. Toby reached out with a finger and poked him in the forehead.
“Ho! And what was that for?”
The man glared up at the big elf.
“Don’t mind him,” Percel said. “Last time, a doppelganger got poor Gellnar and gave us quite a fright.”
“Oh. Well, I ain’t no doppergangel … doppel whatever. So get on with you.”
Together they turned, and headed down the incline to the upper ossuary, already walking in formation.
Erik turned to Percel and smiled. He said, “So, how do we know the guard really wasn’t a doppelganger?”
Percel smiled back. He said, “I doubt a true doppelganger would fake ignorance over his name like that. They’re fierce, proud creatures. No, a real doppelganger would have laughed about it, as if it were all a joke. Then he would have attacked. Since our lad back there let us go without a fight, chances are very good he’s a real person and not a monster in disguise.”
The group walked through the ossuary, then deeper into the crypts. Tawny sent a globe of light sailing ahead.
Over the next hour they patrolled the upper levels, and came across a lone alpha rat. Nessa killed it with an arrow to the eye before it came close, drawing praise from the others. Even Toby smiled at her.
“I’m actually useful for a change!” Nessa said.
Percel grunted and said, “Arrows don’t always take down a foe. Don’t get too sure of yourself just yet.”
Before they left for the day, Nessa killed four more rats, all regular ones. Despite their smaller size, she easily hit them, and the magic quiver replenished her arrows.
Percel said, “If the Dungeon Corps doesn’t work out, lass, y’ can always get a job exterminating rats!”
Finally, close to lunchtime, they exited the crypts and made their way through the streets of Phanos back toward Headquarters.
Much to everyone’s surprise, Lady Lexa and Lord Reginald awaited them in her carriage. Pediford opened the door as the team approached, and the two hopped out. Lexa busily replaced strands of hair that had somehow strayed out of place, while Reginald dabbed at his lips and neck with a handkerchief, wiping something red off his face. Pediford looked straight ahead, ignoring them both and acting as if nothing was amiss.
The two nobles both looked embarrassed, but only for a moment. Lexa quickly recovered and said, “There you all are! We have been waiting here for you the last hour or so. Tawny, I have a gift for you.”
Pediford reached into the carriage and returned with a book on a red velvet pillow. He walked up to Tawny, clicked his heels and presented the pillow with both hands while making a slight bow.
Tawny said, “What is this?”
“That, my dear, is a book that my mage Justen says will prove very useful for you. It is a . . . what did he call it, Pediford?”
“I believe he called it a textbook, milady. A magical primer for elven children.”
“Yes, that’s right. It seems he learned something of elven magic when he lived in your main city as a young man. Something about an elf girlfriend. I hear they . . . you sort . . . are attracted to tall men, or some such. Anyway, being a mage, he was privileged to enjoy training in eleven magic for several years thanks to this relationship. This is the book from which he learned his first elven spells. He says he no longer needs it, but that it might be of use to you.”
“Oh, my . . . that is . . . how did he . . . ? Tell him thank you.”
“Indeed. If this will help you in your sojourns through the inky depths of the Crypts of Phanos, then all the better!”
She turned and headed back to the carriage
. Pediford hurried to open the door for her.
She said, “Come along Reginald. The chef should have our meal prepared by now.”
Reginald smiled his goodbyes at the group and hurried after Lexa into the carriage.
Pediford bowed stiffly to the team, then climbed up to the driver’s seat and snapped the reins. The contraption headed down the street at a steady clip. Everyone watched as the vehicle trundled away.
Percel broke the silence with a harrumph.
He said, “They’ll be married within the year.”
“Really?” said Erik, his tone mystified. “What makes you think that?”
Percel arched an eyebrow, trying to see if the boy was fooling him or truly clueless.
He said, “You couldn’t see the hooks she has in him, lad? He spent all his time wiping her lipstick off his face!”
“I think it’s sweet,” Nessa said, watching as the carriage turned at Alexander Platz. “They obviously fancy one another. Didn’t you find it sweet, Toby?”
The giant elf looked down at her and grinned. He nodded his head.
“You see?” Nessa said. “It’s all so romantic. Toby gets it.”
All eyes turned toward Tawny to gauge her opinion on the matter, but she was already reading the book, eyebrows scrunched together in concentration.
“It says this is the basic text used by teachers when addressing first year pupils.”
“You missed out on all that?” Erik said.
Tawny nodded absently, flipping the page.
“We had to leave when Toby was born, and I never went to school. Oh, look at this! It explains the philosophy underlying eleven magic.”
Eventually they all walked inside, making their way to the common room and the serving line. Tawny followed, her nose in the book.
After lunch, Tawny went back to her bunk to read rather than participate in afternoon training.
Erik reached up and slapped Toby on the back. He said, “Come on, big guy. Practice swinging swords with me!”
Nessa walked out with her bow and looked around, trying to find a spot to practice. Norra saw her and motioned for her to approach.
“I don’t think you need to worry about practicing with the Starhelm Bow much, Nessa.”
“But I’m good! It’s so useful! I can slay a rat at a hundred feet!”
“That is precisely why you don’t need to practice much. It’s an enchanted bow, and it requires little in the way of skill. That’s why it’s so expensive. Let’s work on your clerical powers, dear. That’s where the true measure of your worth to the team lies.”
Dejection plastered across Nessa’s face, like paint splashed on a wall.
“But Mistress Norra, I’m actually useful with this bow. And it was your idea!”
“Yes. Every team can use someone with ranged abilities to help take out threats at a distance, or at least injure them before they come near. However, your team now has that, and practicing it during these times in the courtyard won’t help improve it much. On the other hand, not practicing won’t hurt your team, either. Therefore, let’s spend this time pursuing something that will help them.
“Show me Rested State.”
Reluctantly, Nessa set aside the bow and turned to magic. She cast Rested State.
“I can’t do Field of Healing yet.”
“Don’t be so negative, child. Half of magic is believing you can do it. Now make Rested State stronger for me.”
“How?”
“You know how to make a spell stronger. You will it, and enhance its strength.”
Nessa closed her eyes and concentrated, trying to make the weak area of effect spell stronger.
Across the courtyard, Erik yelped as Toby surprised him with a lightning-fast flick of the wrist. The big elf had watched Percel’s lessons, but never participated much. One of the basics to swordplay lay in the fact blades are best controlled with the wrist, not the arm. Toby, who had no prior training, looked like a big lumbering lummox, awkwardly slashing the air the few times he had deigned to practice. But after observing Percel for the umpteenth time, he made a twitching motion with his hand while facing Erik.
Their swords hit together and a resounding thwack echoed across the yard.
“That’s good, Toby! That’s really good!”
Toby chuckled with the praise, the sound of his deep belly laugh carrying just as far as the swords.
Nessa opened one eye and smiled at him.
“Excellent, dear,” Norra said. “Think positive emotions. Think warm thoughts. Imagine, if you will, that you want to hold and protect Toby. Imagine he’s injured and needs your spell. Now, make it stronger. Help Toby with your magic.”
Nessa closed her eyes again and concentrated, this time with a sense of urgency that had not been there before.
Slowly, the spell strengthened.
Norra said, “Good. Good. Now, do you feel the way the spell is in your mind right now?”
Nessa nodded, her eyes still closed.
“Good. This is your new watermark, then. When you cast Rested State from this point forward, you are to make it this strong.”
Nessa relaxed, letting the spell fade. She opened her eyes and looked at Norra.
The older woman smiled at her.
“And when you get a chance, I want you to kiss Toby. Then, the next time you try the spell, remember the way that made you feel. It should come out much stronger. We’ll have you casting Field of Healing in no time.”
“I don’t think this is the way they train us in the Rectory. I got sent here for kissing a boy you know.”
“I know. But I think you’ll find my way is faster. A healer brings positive energy to her group when they are battered down by the enemy. Sometimes your magic, your very presence, is all that stands between your team and death’s door. So, you need to be filled with warmth, radiant energy, love and kindness. You need a deep reservoir of passion, and generosity. A well of warmth and goodness you can draw from again and again in the worst of circumstances.”
The older woman’s smile turned into a grin.
“One of the ways you can get there is to think about boys you like. And how much you want to protect them . . . nurture them . . . love them.”
Together they turned and watched as Toby laughed in delight from his newfound skill. He flicked the long wooden blade, making it blur as he fended off Erik’s attack.
Erik clearly held back, refusing to attack him hard, letting Toby’s crude efforts deflect his blows. Each time Erik failed to score a hit, Toby let out a big belly laugh, garnering the attention and smiles of everyone in the courtyard.
-+-
“We might actually be able to teach Toby a thing or two,” Erik said over supper, sipping on turnip stew before digging into the lamb chops on his plate.
“Do you really think so?” Nessa said, smiling at the giant elf across the table.
He smiled back at her, picked up his soup bowl as if it were a cup, and quaffed it in one gulp. Then he grabbed a fork and began shoveling lamb chops in his mouth, one after the other.
Erik said, “Yes, I do. Master Clencher does, too. It seems Toby learns more by observing than we thought. If you show him how to do something repeatedly, he catches on . . . eventually.”
Tawny showed up late to the meal. She grabbed a plate from the serving line and plopped down next to Toby.
Erik said, “So . . . learn anything?”
“Yes. In short . . . I’ve been practicing magic all wrong.”
“Really? You seem pretty adept to me.”
“That’s just . . . raw talent. No offense, but we elves are made for magic. This book is a beginning text, and it’s designed to train young elves from the very start. It teaches things like the basic philosophies behind elven magic. How to approach it . . . how to shape it toward your needs. I never got this training when I was younger, because we had to leave with Toby. But now . . . Now I’m beginning to understand things I never realized before.”
“Is it harder since you’re grown to go back and relearn things?” Nessa said.
Tawny nodded, then pursed her lips in thought.
She said, “Some things I do have to go back and relearn. There are better ways to cast certain spells. Light, for instance, should not cost as much mana as I’ve been using. But other things . . . other things are simply richer textures, and added layers to stuff I already knew instinctively. It’s like knowing how to do something then reading a master explaining better ways to do it.”
She smiled suddenly and said, “I never thought I could be as powerful as my mother. She was one of the better Andreian battle mages of her time. She could do things you cannot dream of. I see now how formal training, in the proper schools of magic, helps attain such heights of power.”
“That thing is just a primer,” Erik said, referring to the book. “You probably still need formal training.”
“I know. That’s not going to happen, of course. I can’t exactly walk into Dryadopolis and demand someone take me as an apprentice.”
“You could use Justen, the mage employed by Lady Lexa,” Nessa said. “Combined with what Mistress Norra can teach you . . . well, it would be better than nothing.”
Tawny grew thoughtful.
“You’re right. I’ll send a message to Justen and ask if Lady Lexa would allow him to help me.”
“It’s a good thing we have an open account at the front desk,” Erik said. “You can send a note that way. It should get to him in the morning.”
“No. I’ll send a mage message.”
She focused on the spell at the table, drawing an intricate pattern in the air. Then she spoke a few words the others could not hear and made a thrusting motion with her fingers.
When she finished she smiled at them.
“If he’s not busy, I’m sure he’ll respond back soon.”
A few minutes later a golden swirl of light appeared in the air near Tawny. She turned to it and listened as a voice spoke only to her.
When it was over she smiled again at the group and said, “Lady Lexa has given him leave to visit tomorrow, and start my lessons.”
“This is all very good,” Erik said, starting in on an apple tart for dessert. Toby had already inhaled six of them.