Dahlia, Marko, and Buzzbo began their new living arrangements with a tentative start, adjusting to the circumstances as best they could, while baby Jomo was looked after no matter what. The baby was allowed more freedom to move around, play, and learn, and at first his development and growth was still stunted from the months of distress and restriction he’d experienced.
But then Jomo began to take a few steps, literally so in his case, and he talked even more without crying all of the time or clinging to his parents and Buzzbo. So the baby began to grow up and Marko and Buzzbo tended to Jomo, too, helping him out and allowing Dahlia the freedom to leave and wander about without worrying about her baby.
Dahlia spent time with the villagers and Corricans, learning more about them, and she got involved in some of their activities and affairs, keeping herself busy and enjoying herself immensely. The trio didn’t fight or argue as much as they used to with Dahlia and Buzzbo making peace with each other, and even spending some time together, and Marko was happy with this balance in his family.
He was able to be with the people he loved and they were working together to build a home for everybody. They’d be part of each other’s lives, and they wouldn’t be alone or separated anymore. Marko stopped scheming and plotting to take charge of every situation, though he was interested in joining the village’s militia and wondered if he could command the troop.
ℜℜℜ
As Porran traveled back to the beach and then to the village with Huette, he’d gotten to know her and found out about her magical gift, which astonished him. But then he discovered at one point, quite by accident, that he had some magical powers of his own.
Porran and Huette had reached the beach and met with his crew and Geneva’s family to tell them about the summit and their decision to join the people of Bahealfisaba. After some discussion of the offer, the others agreed to come along, and so they set out back to the village.
However, during their trek, a Yellow Dragon, or Air Dragon as Huette called it, soared through the sky and came towards them, possibly to attack and snatch someone up for its meal. Porran was startled and frightened like the others, but before Huette could use her own Bone or Animal magic in an attempt to dissuade the dragon from attacking, he unconsciously summoned a wind to ward it off, blowing away the dragon.
Huette and the others were shocked and Porran stared at his hands, stunned as he wondered what he’d just done. Huette questioned him, asking if he’d ever shown such an aptitude before, and he mentioned his brief, supposedly imagined levitation during the passage through the mist.
“It’s quite possible you did float, even for a moment.” She told him. “I’ve heard that some people with the Air element might be powerful enough that they can propel themselves up and fly for short distances.”
“I have the Air element?” Porran gaped. “Why did it appear here and now?”
“Sometimes people develop their skills later in life, usually in an emergency like this one.” Huette said. “Magic comes from passion and willpower, they say, and that sense of urgency and protecting people you care about can feed into that, and give you the strength you need.”
Porran looked back over his crew and the passengers they were supposed to take care of, and he realized it was true. “How many different magical elements are there?”
“Most of them are based off of the ten magical elements, bone, stone, death, spirit, shadow, water, fire, earth, air and plants.”
“That seems like a lot, and some of it’s similar to each other. Like plants, earth, and stone could be the same, and death, spirit, shadow and bone sound like they’d be the same, too.”
“No, it’s different in terms of attributes. The Green or Plant element only applies to growing things, Earth only deals with the soil and earthen elements, whereas Stone deals with rock, metals, and similar materials. Bone is the animal attributes that deal with the body and bodily functions, even the mind and instincts, whereas Spirit’s more ethereal and deals with the spirit or soul. As for Death, well, that’s more like controlling or dealing with pain and death, maybe causing it or blocking it, while Shadow’s more otherworldly, dealing with shadows and demons.”
Porran shook his head. “That’s confusing for me, but I’ve got this Wind or Air talent, right? I can control the wind or breeze?”
“That’s right, though you’re going to have to learn to get a good grip on your knack, to summon your powers on cue without resorting to happenstance, and be precise as well so that you don’t blow yourself away.”
“All right, I’ll keep that in mind. Can you teach me some of the basics in wielding magic, even though we don’t have the same capacity, or point me in the direction of a good teacher who knows Air magic?”
“I’ll see what I can do. I’ll help you out and then, if things go beyond my experiences, we can find a teacher for you.”
“That’ll be great. Thanks for your help.”
“No problem. I want to be sure you don’t cause a mess either.”
Porran laughed and they continued on, heading into the village with their large party. The Corricans were reunited with their advance group, learning about the village and villagers, and then they got to work, setting up their new community.
As the Corricans and villagers interacted, some of the Corricans started to show traces of magical ability, not just Porran, but Anya, Mogame, and Wilama amongst them. Rowena, Kalino, Oran and other members of the village’s assembly were alarmed and decided they should do everything possible to test and train any Corrican who showed such a capability when it was important that anyone inexperienced in such powers should be prepared to control them.
Otherwise they could put themselves or others at risk if their abilities grew out of control. It was common practice amongst the villagers to start training any potential magic-wielders as soon as they could, regardless of how strong or capable they were, even if they’d never become mages.
This tradition was different, however, in that the villagers usually discovered such capacity in their own youths, not full-grown adults and strangers from beyond. Their children were easier to manage when their faculties usually weren’t very strong at first, and had to be groomed and developed.
But the Corricans were gaining their new faculties at an alarming rate, some with the full range and capacity of adult mages without any of the years of training the mages had received. A rather large, increasing portion of the Corricans also seemed to be affected by such a development, and who knows how many others might become so endowed later on?
It was even getting to a point where the Corricans didn’t need translation spells to understand any of the villagers. They were developing the ability to speak the villagers’ language without any assistance, a sign that they were absorbing such magical powers as the translation spell unleashed.
Rowena and the other mages struggled to keep up, finding and training all of the potential magic-wielders amongst the Corricans who didn’t know the first thing about their facilities. It was exhausting and draining, to say the least, for the teachers and it was likely that Rowena and the other mages overlooked or missed a few warning signs of other magic-wielders in the midst of the Corricans.
Meanwhile, Porran and Huette practiced calling up his Air magic and targeting a breeze at an object, enjoying each other’s company. But when he was having some trouble, she helped him get in touch with a fellow Air magician to learn even more about his new gift.
Porran still spent a lot of time with Huette and the other Corricans outside of his lessons, but he found himself missing the sea and his ship, having been a sailor for most of his life by now. He found some pleasure in going out to the river, fishing on the shore, and then he obtained a small boat, imagining that he was still a captain on the ocean as he sailed downriver and rowed back up. But it was never the same for him.
ℜℜℜ
Mogame, meanwhile, wandered around even more, exploring and mapping out the terrain of the village and its su
rrounding land. He met different people, learned about them and their culture, how they lived and how their society was structured.
He discovered that Bahealfisaba, the village and the territory they claimed, was but a small stretch of land in a bigger landscape. He mapped out as much as he could from their accounts and details, but he still didn’t know everything.
Apparently this forest, Mila Forest, stretched for hundreds of square miles, to the Mila River and mountains and a desert in the east, and then down south to mountainous terrain, with a prominent lake near the center of the forest. Coastline extended along north, northeast, west and southwest of here, with Bahealfisaba located near the northwest corner of a large landmass.
“We call this place Arria or Salarria, Earth or Big Earth in our language.” Demetrius remarked when Mogame asked him for more information.
“Is that the name of the country?” Mogame asked, confused.
“What’s a country?” Demetrius said.
“A country is like the Corrican empire. We claimed numerous islands with different cities and towns and our government ruled them. We formed a country in a way.” Mogame said.
“No, we don’t have anything like that here.” Demetrius shook his head. “Arria or Salarria is just the name we have for the landmass, not for any country. The others might have different names for different places, too. We’re just in charge of each other, and no one’s in charge of us. Same with all of the other territories.”
“What territories are we talking about?” Mogame asked.
Demetrius sighed. “I was afraid you were going to ask. Bahealfisaba’s not the only settlement around, and we’re definitely not the strongest or largest territory.”
Demetrius and a couple others helped Mogame sketch out the different groups within the forest, though they didn’t know what the rest of the world was like beyond there. West and southwest of Bahealfisaba was Anjia, which stretched along the coast to a trading hub. East of Bahealfisaba was Rynalda, a mix of forest and marshland along the coast close to the banks of the Mila River.
“Rynalda is also the place where the merpeople touch the land.” Demetrius remarked to Mogame, facing him. “They’ve got a large community there on and off-shore, and sometimes they mate with humans. There are half merhumans.”
“Really?” Mogame asked, his eyes wide. “Is that usual?”
“It’s possible, it happens. There are a few people who claim to be half Fay or half kitsune, even a few who might be…well, stranger things.” Demetrius cleared his throat. “In any case, there are populations of wild great creatures scattered about. Biba’s well known for having a large number of unicorns living by the lake, while Gorbasa’s got a lot of kitsune. In the mountains, we’ve heard of dragons who’ve practically claimed a whole territory to themselves, same with Trollas, while griffins roost in some of the tall peaks, too. Supposedly there are a number of large cats like lions and tigers wandering the valley beyond, not to mention centaurs and gnomes, but we don’t know where exactly. And the Fay live in their forest, somewhere on the other side of the world.”
“Are the Fay real? We’ve heard a lot of stories about them, but we’ve never seen them. We’ve seen other great creatures, though, like centaurs and kitsune.” Mogame said.
“They’re real, they exist. It’s just that they tend to hide and disguise themselves whenever they can.” Demetrius said, and went on with his description about the territories.
South of Rynalda, the Dobalas stretched along the riverbank, and east of Dobalas and south of Bahealfisaba lived the Savorre. Demetrius and the others wouldn’t speak much about them, but Mogame figured out they must be a powerful group, possibly rivals.
South of the Savorre were the Gorbasa, another group the villagers didn’t like, and then the Biba lived near the lake. South of Gorbasa were the Aelata, who apparently had a fortress, and then the Wanata lived south of the Biba and Dobalas. That was the extent of the forest factions, but there were even more in other parts of the continent, Mogame was certain of that.
He conveyed this information to Marko and other Corricans at a meeting. Marko nodded and said, “We figured Bahealfisaba couldn’t be the only settlement, that there must be other people elsewhere, but I never knew there could be such complex divisions in this land.”
“It also gives us a hint as to how far this land stretches.” Hasbas commented, looking at the map. “There’s deserts and mountains, marshes and valleys, and who knows what else? This land could be bigger than any we’ve ever come across before.”
“The Corrican empire controlled a stretch, but there were always sailors that spoke about larger lands on the far horizon. Sometimes traders would come seemingly out of nowhere, with strange goods and wares we hadn’t seen before.” Porran commented. “I always wondered where’d they been, where they came from, but maybe now we know.”
“Why hasn’t anyone found this Arria or Salarria place before?” Dahlia asked, curious. Buzzbo or one of the others was looking after Jomo. “We sailed pretty far, yes, but not so far away from the last stretches of the Corrican empire. How could the mist have hidden such a huge landmass from others?”
“It might have something to do with the enchantment that encompasses this land.” Wilama said as the others looked up, surprised she’d joined them. She’d been spending most of her time learning about magic from Rowena and the other mages. “This mist supposedly acts as a barrier, protecting the land from invasion and welcoming those who need its shelter. Few people could’ve crossed it, unless they found the right portal to lead them through.”
“The mist is sentient? It was aware we needed help, and it granted us leniency to pass through?” Lapida scoffed. “I don’t believe that. I know magic’s a reality in this world or this special area, but it can’t possibly control everything here. Why would such powerful forces want us to come through?”
“Maybe we were just lucky and found a break through the barrier.” Geneva said. “Otherwise we might’ve gotten lost in the mist, or just turned around and went back, not finding anything useful except for open water, if it could disguise or hide the presence of such a landform.”
“Whatever else, at least we came here.” Mogame said.
After the meeting adjourned, Mogame and Geneva snuck away and made out, hidden from the others. “How’s it going with your studies?” Geneva asked Mogame.
“Rowena’s a good teacher. She’s helping me, Anya, Wilama and a few of the others learn how to use our powers.” Mogame said.
Geneva shook her head. “I can’t believe some of us have magic. You control shadows, right?”
Mogame summoned a shade, showcasing it to her, before he vanished it. “Yeah. Apparently, I’m one of the most powerful in our group already.”
Geneva shuddered. “I’m not going through with such a test. Even if it’s possible I could have that same knack, I don’t want to know. A couple of people in my family were talking about it, and they don’t want anything to do with magic.”
“Why are you afraid of it?”
“This came out of nowhere, as soon as we crossed through the mist and arrived here. This conjuring isn’t natural to us. We’re not supposed to have this capacity. We’re supposed to be ordinary people, not possessing the strength of gods.”
Mogame laughed. “It’s not like we’ve got the strength of gods. It’s just a different way of seeing and interacting with the world. We’re in touch with different forces, yes, with different facilities, but we’re not strong enough to control or change the world.”
“I still don’t like it.” Geneva muttered, turning away from him. “Where was this sorcery when we could’ve saved more people from Corrica?”
Mogame sighed, staring at a shadow he formed in his hands. “I wish I knew that, too.”
Chapter Eleven:
The Stone Circle
Soon after, Anya, Wilama, and Wintha paid a visit to Kiki, asking if she’d take them to meet the seer and hear what she might have to share w
ith them. Kiki agreed, but Kozu insisted he should go along with his sister, and then he dragged Corr and told the boy he should come with them, too.
“Why do I have to go with all of you?” Corr asked, nervous as he avoided looking at Kiki.
“Because you’re supposed to be looking after your people, aren’t you?” Kozu pointed at Anya, Wilama, and Wintha. “You should come with us, and protect them.”
“Come on, Corr.” Kiki muttered under her breath, watching him, not loud enough for her brother to hear, though.
“We don’t need protection from a boy like him.” Wilama scoffed. “We can protect ourselves now, can’t we?” She asked Wintha and Anya.
Kozu frowned, certain she was referring to their magic powers.
“Nevertheless, Kozu does have a point.” Wintha added, straightening up. “Corr should come with us and maybe see the oracle as well.”
Wintha and Wilama turned to Anya, who shrugged and said, “I don’t mind having him along if he keeps out of our way.”
“Good. It’s settled. Corr comes with us.” Kozu said.
Corr groaned. “How’d I get stuck with you, Kozu?”
“My father and the others agreed that some of us should be acquainted with you Corricans, and I volunteered to look after you, just like my sister’s looking after Wintha.” Kozu nodded.
Kiki grimaced, wishing Kozu hadn’t revealed that to the others. “It’s a way of building up a relationship with all of you.” Kiki added, glancing at Wintha.
“That’s fine with me. I haven’t had a friend before, aside from Wilama and Anya here.” Wintha remarked, nodding at the other two ladies.
“All right, I suppose Corr comes with us. Let’s leave already.” Wilama said, in a hurry to see the oracle.
They set off soon after, hiking through the forest with Kiki leading them and Kozu following behind, making sure that nobody was lost. They trekked east through the area the Corricans were clearing, and then they entered a field of standing stones, some arranged in a circle with menhirs, but a few dolmens were also scattered about the clearing.
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