Ethria- the Pioneer

by Aaron Holloway

  “Uhhh, well, I don’t mean to be rude Ailsa, but you’re a Fae,” I said as if this explained my skepticism completely. She didn’t react at all. “On my home… “ I caught myself as well. “... Island. We don’t have very flattering stories about Faie, and their deals, contracts, agreements, or understandings.” I said the last word with air quotes. “It usually involves us mortals becoming your eternal slaves, or having our vision turned upside down for the rest of our lives, or having our entrails eaten while we are alive at the high table by the Fae King of the Hunt, only to be resurrected the next day, turned loose, then hunted, captured, and eaten alive again in a never-ending cycle of pure agony...”

  She reacted this time. Her eyes went wide, she retracted her hands and held them together at her chest, and her mouth went agape in shock. “That was…. That was your world?” She asked almost to herself. Had the cart been moving, or any other noise been going on I wouldn’t have been able to hear her.

  “Well,” she said loudly enough that I knew she intended for me to hear. “I’m not saying that my elder kin have not made, mistakes, in the past. But I’m not them, I’m Ailsa and I'm a fairy, not some Fae Court Queen, cruel and dark as I am beautiful to behold. I’m just …” She shrugged and swung her arms out helplessly, almost playfully. “...Me. I mean I am beautiful to behold, but I’m not cruel and dark. Okay maybe I'm a bit dark, I mean I wear black and purple, they’re my favorite colors and coincidentally the colors of my aura, but you can’t hold a person's favorite colors or their aura color against them! That's prejudice.”

  I smiled “Yeah, but you’re still fae.” We stared at each other for an awkward few seconds. “But you do seem trustworthy, for a fae.” I tapped my chin with one finger contemplatively. I was having a lot of fun screwing with her. After a few more seconds of foe contemplation, she crossed her arms and glared at me tapping her foot in the air expectantly. I decided to ease her annoyance.

  I pushed my back up against the front of the cart and pulled up the smaller book. “But I do very much appreciate the offer Ailsa” She gave me a skeptical look. “Putting all joking aside I really do. It means a lot to me that you would be willing to teach me.” She softened a little at that. “I don’t think a contract is such a good idea, I have no idea how it would interact with my oaths ability, and I really don’t want to experiment with that right now.”

  She nodded and began bobbing up and down in the air in her usual carefree manner. “Okay” She said holding out the word in a question. “So, what?” She asked.

  “How about, you answer questions when I run into them? Maybe, if I get stuck, you can show me a thing or two?” I asked, trying to think of another way I might be able to enter into an apprenticeship without actually doing so.

  I really didn’t want to get caught up in some kind of weird oath binding thing with the Fae, even if it was by accident, and even if the Fae was Ailsa who had proven more then helpful and good-willed towards me. With the Fae being known for their binding contracts, and with my oath ability being in play, I was sure something strange would happen. Besides that I always hated contracts back home, even going so far as to purchase a monthly phone plan at almost double the cost rather than going for a long term commitment, even at half off.

  “So after my guide duties are over, we’ll be, what? Just…”

  “How about friends? Companions? Adventuring around the world in service to your Gods?” I asked hoping it would be something she could do. I had no idea what requirements and contracts she had made with the Pervolin Gods who had brought me here to Ethria, but I hoped that since they were betting on my success, they would give me, and Ailsa, a bit of latitude here.

  “Hmm, that is possible,” Ailsa said as she bobbed up and down slowly. “Let me think about it. In the meantime, if you have questions you can ask them, and I'll do my best to guide you.” She said smiling.

  I smiled back “Sure thing. Now, if you don’t mind? I need to try some of these other experiments?”

  “Uh, not without me here.” She said “I’ll help you through a few of the exercises to get your Anima-atiumi into sync with the other elements tonight. Right now? Maybe, I don’t know, try and shut up a bit so we can catch anyone about to try and kill us all?” She asked as politely as possible, fluttering her eyelashes at me in a rather insincere way.

  I was about to answer in the affirmative when I heard something. I tilted my head concentrating on trying to make out what that sound was. As I strained I heard a faint “... not now. This is a bad idea, with all the kids gone missing. Too many guards…” I opened my mouth to call out when an arrow shaft appeared in the side of the cart, punching through the wood a couple of inches. Ailsa looked at it, then at me and before I could even properly figure out what direction the arrow had come from, she shot into the sky and began pulling magic towards her.

  I, I felt it. I had seen her cast magic before, but I had never felt the pressure, or rather sucking power, that a spell caused on the area around it.

  It wasn’t a physical sensation, but a magical one. Mana from her surroundings poured from the area around her and mingled with her own. This was something I didn’t even know was possible, the book hadn't talked about any way of taking in outside sources of mana.

  A light blue bubble that rippled with purple lightning appeared around us, the cart, Riggil, and the pony, which nearly spooked the poor creature. Riggil jumped down and untied it leading it away from what I now recognized as a hail of arrows bouncing off the shield. I need to move! I thought.

  Instead, I did something really stupid. “Hey Ailsa, does your shield stop things from going out?” She looked down and shook her head at me. She didn’t speak as the concentration the spell she was casting took must have been higher than the other spells she had cast up tell this point.

  I dropped down from my place on the cart and stood for the first time in a day and a half on my own two feet. It took me a few moments to steady myself, but when I did I looked around and saw that the hail of arrows had stopped. Now, around twelve angry-looking men with bows laid on the ground or in the process of being strapped onto their backs, with swords in hand or soon to be, were waiting just on the other side of the blue purple-sparking barrier.

  I drew Sparks, but I knew it wouldn’t really help me. Not against people who had grown up in this world, and who had any semblance of training with their weapons. Instead, I extended my hand, closed my eyes, breathed deeply, and was swiftly surrounded by the clouds and stars again. I opened my eyes a few seconds later, and while the clouds were gone, the stars remained.

  Acting on instinct and intuition, I grabbed one of the stars that swirled around me and held it in my hand. It was slightly hot, but not in an unpleasant way. Like holding a hot melting cookie in the palm of your hand fresh from the oven. I held out the palm of my hand in the direction of the man I thought was the scariest looking dude in the bunch and opened my fingers.

  A ball of white, grey force appeared and launched itself at the man, leaving my hand with a massive Womp! Smacking him square in the chest with a loud sick crunching sound.

  “You hit Unknown Bandit with Force Bolt 1. Dealing, [3]+7.5 modifier, for a total of 10.5 Force Damage. Status Effects Applied: Prone.”

  The man wasn’t dead, but he was off his feet, and in a lot of pain. His chest had been caved in by my attack. I analyzed him and found out he was only level 5, with a total of 20 HP. I had nearly halved his health, nearly killing him. A few of the other men hesitated, expressions of unease rippling through the group. One of the smaller men who I found was level 15 when I used analyze, stepped forward, attacking the barrier. The groups resolve seemed to stiffen, and the rest of join in. A purple lightning spark lashed out when one of the bandits struck it with his sword, rippling through that part of the barrier. The purple energy arched into hi short sword turning him to blackened cinders.

  Instead of breaking and running at the sight, the men turned towards their level 15 leader. “Watch out for
the purple sparks. Strike between then. If you hit them like Torva did, you’ll die.” The leader said. He was shorter and was wearing only slightly better gear than the rest of them, but he was obviously in charge. The bandits' jaws all stiffened, and began doing as instructed.

  After a few seconds, I heard Ailsa call down to me in English. “Hurry! I can’t hold this spell barrier for much longer.” She had a slight southern drawl to her English which I found odd, but I couldn’t focus on that just then. I turned my attention back to the stars that were still floating around me, and I grabbed another one. I held it in my hand for a few seconds, trying to better understand what I was doing, before pointing it at the leader and letting loose.

  This time instead of a simple Womp! Sound, the bolt sounded like a clap of thunder far away, it wasn’t overpowering, but clearly much stronger than the last bolt, and it struck with much more force too.

  “You have struck Unknown Bandit Guard for [3]+[6]+[2] + 7.5, for a total of 18.5 damage. You have slain Unknown Bandit Guard level 8. You have gained +20 XP.

  You have leveled up! You have uncovered a new spell special effect. Overcharge: This spell can be Overcharged for an additional cost of +5 mana per second, dealing an additional dice of damage per 5 mana to a max of 4 times.”

  I skimmed the message, and saw that there were three dice rolled, and the word Overcharge and knew roughly what it meant. “Wow! I can cook them?!” I said with excitement. I reached for another but the stars went wild, for about two seconds and I was unable to grab one until the cooldown timer ran out in the bottom right of my vision. Apparently, I could cook them, but the cooldown timer also increased by .5 seconds per overcharge. When the cooldown ran out I grabbed one, and looked for another target.

  The leader is still alive? I thought annoyed. He stood still hacking at the barrier, but another one of his men lay at his feet behind him chest caved it and a bloody mess. He must have used that guy as a human shield. No problem, rinse and repeat.

  I pointed and shot, again a boom and crack, and somehow despite hitting the leader of the group squarely in the chest, a man to his side took the blast, and again crumpled. The little bandit leader smirked at me and kept hacking. His blade cut through for a second, before the barrier reformed. “I’m running out of mana Rayid!” Ailsa yelled at me. “There are too many of them hacking at my shield. I only have about thirty seconds left!”

  Where is Tol’geth and the Elves! I thought, before reaching for another star, cooking it for a few seconds, and loosing again directly into the leader's chest. Again, another guard around the same level as the other two crumpled and died. The evil little man in a leather jerkin and wool gambeson openly smiled as his blade cut even deeper into the barrier this time, and the shield didn’t reform. Cracks and cuts from the others didn’t heal, and swiftly the barrier became little more than a thin sheet of cloth between us and them.

  Crap! I thought as I pulled another star and fired. I leveled up again after the fifth man died from my force bolts, but I was about halfway out of mana. When the first bandit got through the whole he had carved for himself, a rough-hewn arrow shaft blossomed in his chest, and he dropped to the ground, not dead, but screaming in pain and bleeding profusely as he tugged at the shaft. The arrows barbed hunting head caused more damage as the man tried to pull it out in panic.

  “You won’t take my cart!” yelled Riggil. I turned just in time to see him loose another arrow into the man's chest from his hunting bow. At any kind of range the thing wouldn’t have been nearly as effective against even gambeson armor, but this close? With barbed hunting heads? Well, the hunting bow was just as effective as any war-bow.

  I grinned at the old man, as I loosed another bolt into the bandit commander's face, and this time surprisingly he got hit by it. Whatever ability he or his guards were using, it either wore off or lacked valid targets to move my attacks damage over to.

  “You dealt Bandit Commander [6]+[5]+[3]+[1]+7.5, total of 22.5 Force damage.”

  The commander's face exploded with red, and I heard a sharp crunch sound. And that was all. My best shot and some above-average luck on my part did little more than break his nose. I gulped and looked to charge another as soon as I could.

  While I was waiting for the 2.5 seconds, another bandit cut through, and Riggil shot at him, but the man raised a buckler and deflected the attack knowing that it was coming. I interposed myself between the brute and Riggil, hefting Sparks, crackling with electricity. It looked menacing, I just hoped that the man didn’t have the analyze skill like I did or he would realize that while I could use Sparks, I wasn’t nearly as strong as even most children on this world. He could take it from me like a parent taking a stick from an unruly five-year-old. Easier probably.

  The bandit grinned and took a step towards me. Two things happened then that probably saved my life. First, the barrier failed and Ailsa fell out of the sky, exhausted and mana depleted, distracting the man as she landed on his head, and allowing me to attempt the same type of stab that had proven so ineffectual against Tol’geth just the day before. It was much more effective against a level 9 bandit, then it was against the mountain of stone-hard muscle that was the barbarian.

  As my blade skewered the man through the belly I let go of the blade, allowing Sparks to electrocute the bandit. I grabbed Ailsa and dragged her away, as the second thing happened. A massive hulking mountain of muscle and fury appeared behind the remaining six bandits and their leader.

  Tol’geth let out a bellowing battle cry and a red haze appeared around him. All six remaining bandits eyes went bloodshot, their demeanors filled with fury, as they turned and attacked the barbarian as he Taunted them.

  The subsequent slaughter was, brutal. Tol’geth skewered the first attacker on his sword, grabbed the second by his shirt and threw him into the third attacker. He let the first man, now dead, slide from his sword, as whatever taunt ability he had just used wore off and the remaining two bandits began scrambling for cover.

  Tol’geth began walking towards the two frightened young men, who were climbing and tripping over each other trying to escape, their weapons abandoned in their flight. As Tol’geth raised his sword to strike the slower of the two, I yelled “No! Let them run!” Tol’geth hesitated for a moment, and both men found their feet and ran.

  The Barbarian came over to where Riggil and I looked after our fallen fairy friend. “Why did you interfere in my delivery of justice?” Tol’geth asked, his voice stern and curious.

  “I, I don’t know really. They just, well they were not a threat anymore right? They didn’t actually hurt us, even if they were going to. I think watching their friends get slaughtered, and then running for their lives just before winter hits is going to be a harsh enough punishment, no need to take their lives too. Don't you?” Tol’geths expression eased a bit, as he mulled over the question I received a prompt.

  “Congratulations! You have proven your dedication to your Reclaimed Oath “Sanctity of Life” current state of this reclaimed oath: Reclaimed, Loyal 2. No additional benefits are received.”

  I mentally shrugged and minimized the prompt. Kind of useless benefit, simply changing the name from Recently Reclaimed to Reclaimed, and the number to 2. Who knows, maybe It’ll get better as I level it up, I thought.

  “I suppose starving or freezing to death is a far more fitting punishment for degenerates like them.” Tol’geth said finally, after a few seconds of thought.

  That’s not really what I was going for, but sure. I’ll take it, big guy . My attention turned back to Ailsa who lay motionless and cold in my arms.

  “How is Ailsa?” He asked concern replacing his anger. “I saw her fall just as I arrived,” Tol’geth said, voice a near revenant whisper. “I was lead astray as three of their kind,” the last word dripped with venom. “Attempted to kidnap the children. I pursued, slew them, left the children on the other side of the brambles, and returned as quickly as I could.”

  I nodded. “She will be fine, sh
e’s only passed out from lack of mana. I analyzed her, and she's already back to about an eighteenth of her total mana pool.” I said this as I took a small cloth that Riggil had given me and wrapped her in it to keep her warm, careful of her soft dew like wings wrapping them around her in the same way as the cloth. She was cold to the touch, a side effect that the book I had read warned of when someone depleted their mana to such a degree.

  “Though I am worried about hyperthermia. She is freezing cold, and if we don’t warm her soon she could die.” I said, as I opened my gambeson and placed the bundle directly next to my chest. “Can you get the elves to start a fire, and then police the weapons and armor?” I asked Tol’geth who nodded and walked off into the woods. “And can you grab me a full blanket?” I asked Riggil, who obliged me and retrieved one of the bedrolls they had used for my bed as we traveled. I rubbed my chest under the blanket to add warmth.

  When Tol’geth returned he guided me to the fire that the elves had started, and I sat as close as I could. I asked the elves to find anything that fairies might eat that had carbohydrates, a common aid in hypothermia recovery, and they just stared at me confused. I guess not everything translates, only those things that they have a concept for in their language. I thought annoyed.

  “Fine, it's okay, go find me fresh honey, and see if we have any bread we can soften for her to eat.” Bread has carbohydrates, particularly the hardtack that Riggil gave us all for lunch each day, and Honey would give her a boost to her sugar levels which I thought might also be low. They both nodded and ran off to begin their work.

  “Rayid?” Ailsa asked, her voice shivering from the cold. “What are you doing?” She asked confused.