Arcane Transmogrification

by Robert Harper

  The Queen and Elder Breeze stood, and Danny quickly rose to follow them.

  The three left the guest wing of the palace but did not travel far before entering another room. Servants were inside removing sheets from the furniture in the small sitting room. A few extra chairs were taken away as the three sat down in the chairs left behind. A servant brought in a tray with tea, setting it down at a short table placed between them. A large window overlooked a small courtyard that contained a small pond and a garden located in a bend of the palace's base. Music began playing from somewhere outside, a string instrument of some kind.

  The queen picked up a cup of tea, and Elder Breeze and Danny followed her lead. Taking a sip, the queen spoke softly, “Danny, what I am going to tell you is a secret normally only told to royalty and the Elders. I am going to take a calculated risk and tell you this secret as well. I hope we can find a way for my people to become someone you can trust and depend on as well.”

  The queen paused to take another sip of tea before continuing, “Now Danny, while I would like for us to begin on a relationship of complete trust, I hope you understand that should you divulge what I am about to tell you to anyone else, you will become an enemy to the elven state. This is a condition placed on all who hear what I am about to tell you. Since you are a human, I will also add the condition that our alliance with your people will be immediately dissolved. Do you understand what I have told you? This is your only chance to back out.”

  Danny didn't wait and replied, “Yes, I understand. I will keep your people's secret safe and understand that should I not, myself and my people will suffer for it.”

  The queen didn't respond immediately and studied him for a moment. Putting down her cup, she stood to walk over to the window and looked at the courtyard below. Turning to Danny, she gestured for him to join her.

  Once Danny stood beside her, the queen began her tale, “Before the great cataclysm, our people had groves like this one, all over the known world. The rest of the races believed us to be religious zealots, as we would allow no one to enter our cities, or our ‘sacred groves,’ as we called them. We purposely fostered this belief by giving the great source of all mana the name Gaea. Attributing our sacred groves to her creation, as a gift to our people.

  All of this subterfuge held a purpose, and that was to hide the weakness of the Elven people. We elves are born with magic, and for the rest of our lives we require mana from an external source. These sacred trees produce tremendous amounts of mana which they store in their roots, branches, and leaves. We elves can access this mana to use as our own. We do this because, while we can store more mana than humans, we barely generate any mana through our connections to the source. It is truly a pitiful amount, and our bodies use mana for a very specific purpose.”

  The queen took a deep breath, as if she was preparing to climb a steep hill, “Our longevity is a byproduct of our storing large amounts of mana in our bodies. You humans have a taste of this, living two or three times what you should. Elves can exist for millennia. The more magic we store in our bodies throughout our lives, the longer we can exist. These bodies of ours use significant amounts of mana in order to do this. The sacred trees provide this mana, and we in turn protect the trees and aid in their proliferation.

  That is until the great cataclysm, when the last ascendant of the royal lineage died halting the advance of the invaders so that his children, my ancestors, could travel to this secluded grove. This palace you see around you is nothing compared to the great sacred tree that housed the royal family of ages past.”

  The queen lapsed into silence, looking lost while staring out at the tree that grew around the small courtyard. Danny thought about asking her one of his many burning questions, but decided to wait for her to collect her thoughts.

  The queen blinked and shook her head slightly, turning to look at Danny, “My great grandfather was the last ascendant of the royal line, and he died so that we could live on. Since then, there have been no more ascendants to come out of the royal line. Every so often an elder would ascend and be welcomed into the royal family, but they too have not produced an ascendant since the great collapse.”

  Danny interrupted her, “Excuse me Your Majesty. You keep using the term ‘ascendant,’ but I don't know what that is. Who were the ascendant?”

  The queen looked confused, “Danny, you are an ascendant.”

  Elder Breeze spoke up from his chair, “Your majesty, I believe the humans call them variants.”

  The queen's mouth opened, “Oh, that's right!”

  Danny was quickly thinking back and realized that he hadn't seen a variant since he had changed, so he couldn't confirm it himself. He never bothered to look to closely at one with his mana sight before, because he was usually too busy trying not to die.

  Elder Breeze added, “Danny, you are similar, yet different to the beastmen’s arcane guardians.”

  Danny interrupted the elder, “Arcane guardians?”

  “You have, of course, heard about the beastmen that wield magic?” Elder Breeze asked, surprised.

  “I was told they have magic users called ‘shamans,’ and their affinities vary from one race to another.” Danny replied.

  “While it is true their affinities vary, they are by no means normal magic users. We would consider them ascendants. Their powers are more like the beast variants’. They not only wield the affinities’ magic, but become the affinity themselves,” the elder explained with more than a little interest and enthusiasm on the topic.

  Cranny quickly interrupted, *Danny, do you remember how Arya looked at us when we used Earth Affinity in the forest? Instead of looking only shocked, she almost seemed to recognize the change in our appearance. I would bet the Basalts have fought at least one of these arcane guardians before.*

  The Queen put the conversation back on track, “Danny, we tell you all this with a purpose. The sacred trees of this city are all that keeps my people from living short fleeting lives like the humans do who have not unlocked their mana. Our people can maintain the sacred trees we have, but only the ascendants held the knowledge on how to induce them to propagate. These trees would grow uncontrolled throughout the world if left to their own devices, so our ancient ancestors locked their ability to procreate without our assistance. This concealed information has unfortunately led to our own slow and eventual fall into abject mortality. The more elves that are born, the fewer trees there are to sustain them. The shorter our lives, the more young who are being born each year. It is a cycle that only has one unfortunate ending.

  Our people are capable of becoming truly unlimited beings, but that is changing. Danny, will you help us gain back our birthright? We will gift you all that we have in wealth, artifacts, weapons, armor...” The queen paused and spoke quietly, “I will even give you my daughter's hand in marriage. In exchange for my people’s freedom from this fate, I will give her to you. Like most nobles, our people only marry to form an alliances between houses. Marrying my daughter would cement your place among my people. You would be able to wield much influence between my people and yours.”

  “Are you asking me to absolve my engagement with Ivy, Brooke, and Jade?” Danny asked incredulously.

  The queen shook her head, “No, I would never ask you to do such a thing.”

  Danny was rendered speechless by the weight of what was being asked of him. He finally gathered his thoughts enough to give a reply, “How do you even know I can do this?”

  Elder Breeze moved over to join them by the window, “Given the sensitive nature of this knowledge, nothing was written down on how to accomplish this task. You, of course, will not do this alone. I am certain with your apparent genius and the full experience of the elders, we should be able to easily accomplish this task.”

  The queen added, “Once it is finished, you will be granted whatever you choose as your reward.”

  Danny turned to look out the window while he pondered what he should do next.

  *Take the p
rincess! Just look at her mother if you want to see into the future! Maiwage, maiwage is wot bwings us togedur... and then I think there was something about twu wuv?*

  Danny rolled his eyes. Turning back to the two awaiting elves, Danny bowed low, “I would be honored to help your people, Your Majesty.”

  *In exchange for the princess!*

  CHAPTER 10

  Like the palace’s rooms, the individual surfaces of the hallway were not sharply defined, but unlike the rooms, the hallway did not have any leaves growing from the ceiling. Smooth bark, arching across from one wall to the next. Ornate Paintings, lavish tapestries, detailed pottery, and other impressive artworks decorated the walls every few feet.

  The next morning found Danny following a liveried elven servant through the halls of the palace toward the wing specifically reserved for the Elders.

  The night before, after his meeting with the Queen and Elder Breeze, Danny had followed a servant back to his room.

  Everyone else had retired for the evening, and the dinner table was already devoid of any evidence a meal had recently taken place.

  Danny hadn't been surprised when Arya nearly walked into his room immediately after his return, looking to find out what had transpired. Danny knew the walls could literally have ears, so he kept things simple and truthful. He told her he had been asked to do something important for the elves. Something only he could accomplish. In exchange, relations between their two countries would improve, and he would be personally rewarded. Before she could ask, Danny explained that he would become an enemy of elven state, and the human/eleven alliance would be dissolved, should he ever divulge what it was he had to do.

  Arya accepted his explanation better than he would have thought, only having concerns that what Danny was doing could give the elves too much power. Danny had already thought of this and explained that he believed it was better to have a stronger and grateful ally than a weaker one. Arya obviously didn't like all the unknowns but reluctantly admitted that she had no choice but to trust his judgment. Danny was slightly shocked by this, as he figured she of all people would have questioned his judgment.

  Danny continued to follow the palace servant through the palace’s twists and turns. Everything about the palace seemed almost natural. There were no straight hallways or even level floors. He passed a window to find they had traveled up a floor without him even realizing it. His air scanning ability had shown this would happen, but he figured he would notice the change in elevation somehow.

  Walking through a doorway and into a large atrium, Danny could see light pouring in from numerous large windows high up the walls. One side of the room was taken up by a large round table, around which sat two dozen elves in long robes.

  The other side of the room held rows upon rows of bookshelves. A small space filled with tables and chairs was left open at the end of the bookshelves. Danny immediately veered toward the knowledge awaiting him on the those long shelves. He had only made it a few steps when there was a cough behind him.

  The liveried servant spoke nervously, “Honored guest, if you would, please continue on this way. The entire elder council is awaiting your presence.”

  Danny frowned and looked back toward the bookshelves for a few moments before continuing on to the other side of the room.

  Looking around, all the elders appeared well advanced in years, and he was surprised to see the male/female ratio of the table seemed to be split evenly. Danny recognized Elder Breeze when he stood up and walked up next to Danny.

  The servant left the room, and that was when Danny realized there were only the elders and himself present in the entire room. Elder Breeze looked to the entryway and nodded to an elven guard standing there.

  A large door, fit to match the shape of the room’s entryway, closed with an audible heavy thump.

  Clearing his throat, Elder Breeze addressed the room, “Esteemed council members, I would like to introduce you to Danny Creek. Originally, he was to come to us as the first human sorcerer since the great cataclysm to visit us. Now, I would like to introduce you all to the first known human ascendant.”

  Reactions around the room varied from shock to disbelief. Elder Breeze settled everyone down before calling on two of the more senior members of the group to step forward and verify his claim.

  A female elder came up to stand close to Danny and stared at different parts of his body. Danny thought he felt her using nature magic, before she quietly confirmed the claim before sitting down.

  Another elder seemed extremely skeptical and reached out to place his hand on Danny's cheek.

  Danny suddenly felt odd. Very odd.

  *Danny! I don't know how, but he is stealing our mana!*

  Danny yelled out in alarm and on instinct tossed the elder away from him with a blast of air that radiated from his body. Currents of wind surrounded him, and he turned to find the offending elder on the ground looking back at him with wide eyes.

  “Do not do that again!” Danny’s voice seemed too loud to his ears as the sound of it reverberated off the walls.

  Two guards appeared in front of the elder laying on the ground, their swords drawn.

  “Danny! Please calm down! Danny!”

  Danny turned to see Elder Breeze yelling at him, while crouching a few meters away from where he had been a short while ago. The elder’s hands were held in front of his face, trying to block the wind. Danny glanced around to find the room in chaos. Many of the elders were standing from their chairs, and each had a pair of guards standing over them with weapons drawn.

  Books from the library started falling from the shelves, as pages were ripped out to fly around the room.

  Danny closed his eyes and centered himself in order to calm down. Eventually pulling the winds into himself, he realized he had activated Air Aspect on impulse.

  Looking down at himself, his body was almost transparent. It also felt lighter and added an almost fluid quality to his movements. He was pleased to find that his clothes, despite a few tears, were relatively intact. It looked as if his clothes were both trying to cling to and fly off of his body at the same time.

  “Danny, I apologize for my council member's actions. I had no clue he would attempt something like that.” Elder Breeze was standing closer to him but was still obviously wary about approaching the boy. Elder Breeze turned to the offender to demand,”What did you do to him?”

  The elder who had stolen his mana rose and bowed low toward Danny, “Ascendant, I apologize for my actions and my doubt. Please, just tell me how and I will make amends for the wrong I have done you today.”

  From what Danny had been told by Arya before, the elven hierarchy went from the royalty to the elders then to the nobility and so on. An elder rarely bowed more than their head to anyone, except of course toward the ruling monarch. This elder was shoving his pride aside in exchange for Danny’s forgiveness.

  Danny took a deep breath, staring at the elder who still bowed before him, “Just don't do that again unless I give you my explicit permission. Now, let's talk about how I'm going to try and return your people to their former glory.”

  The bowing elder raised his head and nodded it reassuringly at first, only for it to fall in shame at hearing the last of Danny's reply.

  Everyone settled back into their chairs, and their personal guards faded into the background. When Danny started moving toward the chair which had been placed there for him, he was surprised to find that he was naturally floating above the ground. He had forgotten that he was still in Air Aspect and would have to get rid of the excess Air Affinity stored before he could return to normal. He stopped moving his legs, as he was uselessly trying to walk by moving them. He focused and willed himself toward the chair.

  *You look like a ghost!*

  When Danny went to sit in his chair, he found his butt wouldn't settle on the seat cushion. After trying to pull himself down a few times, only to float back up again, he gave up and just relaxed. Many of the elders openly stared at him whil
e others looked markedly uncomfortable with his new appearance.

  Elder Breeze was looking at Danny with an amused smile, “Danny, on behalf of the elder council, thank you for agreeing to help our people. Now, we have a few questions before we begin that effort. First, how did you achieve ascendancy? You see, our histories tell us that the youngest elf to achieve ascendancy did so around the age of seven hundred and fifty years. Normally, only after spending the good part of a millennium using large amounts of mana might one be expected to reach the point you are at. The transition to ascendancy is a slow and gradual one that takes time to acquire.”

  Danny had expected this question and had prepared an answer, “I was gravely wounded after stopping the goblins from casting a Dark Affinity ritual spell. I used the last of my mana to slow my descent through the forest from the resulting explosion. When I came to later, I was alone, healed, and physically weak.

  Then, there was pain, nothing but an excruciating pain until I passed out from it. I awoke later, and it was dark and almost morning the next day. I found myself changed into an ascendant.”

  The elders discussed this for a while; some of their theories even came close to the truth. When asked, Danny answered with the truth, just omitting anything Cranny had done.

  They then grilled Danny on his education, family, and finally his affinity levels. To say they were shocked upon hearing his affinity levels would be an understatement. Of course he did not mention the entropy affinity, and fortunately, no one asked.

  Elder Breeze was civilized enough to look uncomfortable when he asked, “Danny, the last question I have for you is one that is considered rude, and you can refuse if you want to. Have you exceeded any attribute thresholds?”

  Danny was not surprised they asked this question even though most people did not give out this information, as it could give an enemy or rival and edge.

  Danny paused for dramatic effect, “Yes, my intelligence passed the first threshold.”