The Circles of Magic

by Gabriela Fišerová

  Instead of replying, Edwyr sighed and shook his head before turning around and walking out of the cave, heading as far away from the cave as he could without being drenched in rain again. Feyrith sighed as well once Edwyr was gone, rubbing his eyes. In essence, this was all his fault, and it weighed on him terribly.

  “What the hell was that about?” Arbane asked Lanna, sounding both concerned and puzzled about what had just happened. And so was Feyrith, now that he’d had a moment to process this. Why had Edwyr reacted so strongly? And why had he been so short with the two humans? Feyrith had been under the impression they were friends.

  Feeling a need to get involved, Feyrith cleared his throat and looked directly at Lanna and Arbane. “I apologize. My presence makes Edwyr…uneasy.”

  “It’s not your fault, Fey,” Lanna replied sadly, running her hands through her wet hair as she undid her ponytail. “He’ll calm down, then we can talk about what just happened.”

  Feyrith let out a quiet sigh. “I can make the rest of the trip alone if….”

  Arbane shook his head at him, waving his hand. “No, we got this far together. I gotta talk with Edwyr, though.”

  Before he could walk outside, though, Lanna grabbed his elbow, pulling him down to sit next to her. “Give him time. You’ll just fight if you go after him now.”

  Arbane didn’t look very pleased, but he stayed where he was. Feyrith swallowed down another wave of guilt that hit him. It should be him trying to smooth things over, as he was the reason for the fighting, but he knew he would only make it worse.

  Still, tomorrow they would reach the ruin. Even if Edwyr decided to leave Feyrith behind, at least he would be able to give the Council the information they needed. Feyrith just hoped the tension wouldn’t get worse before that happened.

  18

  Edwyr had known he would have to face Lanna and Arbane eventually. Of course he’d known. But that didn’t mean he was ready for it, even now, hours later, when the rain was finally starting to let up. That was the moment Arbane had chosen to come out here, which was the worse option. If it had been Lanna, Edwyr wouldn’t have to explain much. She always seemed to put together what was going on well enough for herself, even if Edwyr might not agree with her assessment. But Arbane had seemed confused back there, and hoping that Lanna had explained things to him was probably foolish.

  Still, after knowing him for years, Edwyr owed him an explanation, he supposed, even if he might make it very short, as he wasn’t feeling up to explaining any of this.

  “Are you okay, Edwyr?” was the first thing Arbane said to him while trying to push Aggra away as the squawker nudged the human with its beak, probably looking for treats. It made Edwyr pause, as he’d expected Arbane to get directly to the point, but he appreciated the gesture.

  “Yes, I apologize for earlier.”

  Arbane finally managed to push Aggra away towards Tempest, who took pity on the other squawker and started to groom his feathers. Arbane then proceeded to fold his arms over his chest and shake his head. “Nuh-uh. We’re not doing that.”

  Edwyr huffed, mirroring the pose. He’d expected nothing less, but it made it no less irritating to be talked to like this. Still, what had happened earlier had been fairly immature in hindsight, he supposed. He probably wasn’t justified in feeling annoyed with his friends over how nicely they treated Feyrith, but he certainly should have handled it better.

  “Why do you hate Fey so much?”

  Edwyr did his best to hide the way he gritted his teeth at the nickname. “I hate the Council. He is their servant. It’s not about Feyrith specifically.”

  Arbane grimaced. Edwyr could tell that he was about to get a lecture, but at least Arbane seemed to take this explanation at face value, which was good because Edwyr had been doing his absolute best not to think about why he was feeling this way. It wasn’t because Lanna had been right about him being jealous of Feyrith. He just didn’t need to be distracted by this right now. He had more interesting things to think and worry about.

  “Well, look, I already gave him a talking to about him calling you….well, you know.” Arbane sighed. “Twice, actually.”

  Edwyr’s eyebrows flew up. Arbane had just told a powerful elf to be nicer to Edwyr? What Edwyr wouldn’t give to have witnessed that, though Edwyr supposed that explained why Feyrith hadn’t pointed out his magical inability in a while now.

  “I know he’s sort of strange, but he’s trying.”

  Edwyr let out a long, tired sigh. He knew Arbane was trying, but this really wasn’t helping. “I am an elf as well, Arbane. He is not strange to me.”

  Edwyr wasn’t sure what kind of reaction he’d been expecting, but an awkward laugh wasn’t it. He blinked as Arbane scratched the back of his neck. “Right, sorry, I sometimes forget you’re not one of us.”

  Edwyr sometimes wished he could do that as well. To just forget he had been denied his birthright and pretend defending a small town from beast attacks was the most he could do in life. That helping an elf reach Urzikal was one of the highlights of his life, and the story he would tell for many years to come at the tavern in Sunwood, much like Arbane and Lanna sometimes tended to, usually when drunk.

  But Edwyr couldn’t. Especially not now, when they were so close to the ruin.

  “Just because we like him, though, doesn’t mean we like him better than you, all right?”

  Edwyr almost flinched then, and now he was frozen in place, unable to look away from Arbane’s eyes full of concern. That…. That wasn’t what Edwyr was bothered by, was it? No, it couldn’t be. He wasn’t jealous of Feyrith. If Edwyr had to choose between staying Cursed—magicless—for the rest of his life and having magic but being forced to blindly obey the Council, he would always choose the former.

  “Of course. I know that.”

  Arbane nodded, though he was now looking at him through narrowed eyes. “Good. Because it didn’t seem that way.”

  Edwyr huffed again, but before he could defend himself, Arbane spoke again, his expression softening.

  “I just wanted to make sure you were okay.”

  “I am.”

  Arbane sighed. “All right. Great.”

  After a tense moment of silence, Edwyr decided that it was time to change the subject, especially since Arbane seemed willing to let this go. At least for now…. “When are we leaving?”

  Arbane frowned at him, his mouth forming a displeased grimace, but when he spoke, his voice was perfectly neutral. “Tomorrow. It’s almost dark now, and it’s still raining. We’ll leave in the morning.”

  As Edwyr had expected. Even though he was certain they were only about half a day away from the ruin now, he wasn’t surprised Arbane and Lanna wanted to be safe and not travel at night. It was the smart and right thing to do, and yet he wanted to get going and get some answers immediately.

  But he’d already tried taking risks to get to their destination faster, and it hadn’t ended very well. And it certainly could have ended much worse. No matter his complicated feelings towards Feyrith, he was very grateful to him for saving them from that lightning. Edwyr’s desire to get to the ruins faster could have killed them all, and that was something he wouldn’t take lightly, no matter how much he’d tried to pretend it hadn’t been a big deal.

  Edwyr swallowed down his urge to apologize to Arbane for it. He wanted to, of course, and he and Lanna would deserve it, but by doing that Edwyr would only bring back a topic he didn’t want to discuss.

  “Think you can avoid arguing with Feyrith long enough for us all to get some sleep?”

  Edwyr knew that had been a joke, but it made him feel annoyed anyway. He had been doing his best to avoid arguing with Feyrith this entire time. Or at least avoid it around Lanna and Arbane. Clearly, his efforts weren’t enough.

  “Yes,” he grumbled, which made Arbane laugh.

  The man put his hand on Edwyr’s shoulder, smiling at him with far too much sympathy. It almost looked like pity. “Hey, being here is a good th
ing, all right? Fey needs help, and he’s been helping people left and right. So even if he’s here to investigate some ruin, this trip has been worth it.” Then he sighed wistfully. “We could really use more elves around.”

  But not elves like Edwyr, the elf thought bitterly. But of course he said nothing to Arbane.

  “Yes, I agree.”

  Thankfully, Edwyr had managed to say that calmly enough not to rouse Arbane’s suspicions. But then, his friends didn’t seem to pick up on Feyrith’s subtle emotional expressions often, so Edwyr wasn’t surprised.

  “All right, come on, then.”

  As much as Edwyr didn’t enjoy the thought of being in that small cave with Feyrith, he would be lying if he said that he wouldn’t like to be near a fire. Even up here during a thunderstorm, the weather was still too warm for his wet clothes to become a major issue, but it had been very annoying to have them dry so slowly. But despite that Edwyr didn’t regret coming out here. He might have said things he would come to regret if he hadn’t.

  Aside from Lanna’s piercing, worried gaze, there was no reaction to Edwyr’s return, and he appreciated that. Things were uncomfortable enough as they were, though he couldn’t help but relax a little when he sat down next to the fire, letting its warmness envelop him. Judging by the amount of ash around and beneath it, they must have kept the fire going this entire time.

  Unsurprisingly, he didn’t sleep well that night. He kept tossing and turning as he tried to fall asleep, and when he finally managed it, he woke up what felt like moments later. But in the darkness of the cave, it was impossible to tell. Once daylight began to light up the rocky walls, though, he gave up on sleeping completely and simply laid there, thinking.

  He knew that if Wyn had come to contact him again, Edwyr would likely learn nothing new, but he still wished a little that he had. It made sense he hadn’t, given the way Edwyr had treated his previous visits, but still, Edwyr wouldn’t have minded some kind of explanation for what exactly he was going to do once they reached the ruin.

  Was he supposed to tell his friends about this? Wyn hadn’t said he wasn’t supposed to, and yet something was stopping him from it. Or more precisely someone. Edwyr turned over to glare at Feyrith, who was sleeping peacefully on the other side of the cave.

  Edwyr grimaced. Whatever was going on here, he knew he couldn’t risk Feyrith finding out about Wyn. None of this could be a coincidence, and with Lanna and Arbane being so friendly with him, it would be entirely possible they might accidentally tell Feyrith about what Edwyr had been experiencing.

  Edwyr nodded to himself, closing his eyes again. He had practically no useful information to share anyway, aside from having been contacted by another elf. He could keep that to himself without feeling guilty about not telling his friends, seeing as he knew next to nothing anyway. Wyn said he’d explain when Edwyr got to the ruin, and even though Edwyr wasn’t foolish enough to trust the elf blindly, he believed him on that.

  And if he tried to hurt Arbane or Lanna, Edwyr would kill him before he could touch them, Cursed or not.

  Not much was said once everyone woke up and having a very modest breakfast of mostly just bread. Though Edwyr could barely taste the thing. He didn’t feel like eating in general, but not doing so would more than likely only prompt questions.

  He managed to relax somewhat only once he was in his saddle and on the move again. There was no road to speak of up here—even with the map it wasn’t entirely obvious which way to go—but the relative lack of trees and the gray, rocky terrain at the very least made finding a ruin a more simple task than it would be normally. It was a bit startling how much the lack of grass had an effect on everything. Edwyr couldn’t remember a time he’d been to a place like this.

  There were still tall, steep hills and distant mountains blocking their view to some extent, but Edwyr was confident that if they kept heading south, they would notice the ruin eventually. Tempest kept looking around with interest—and to Edwyr’s annoyance, also looking at Feyrith’s squawker—thankfully not having too much trouble with the new surface beneath her feet.

  Edwyr knew that all of the squawkers had eaten enough to last them throughout this whole day yesterday, as he’d watched it happen, but he still couldn’t help but already plan for the possibility that the farther they went, the less grass there would be. But at least so far it seemed there were always patches or a couple of trees the squawkers could use to feed.

  Though even after that, Edwyr continuing thinking about it, if only to avoid thinking about Wyn, the ruin, and everything and anything related to them as they trudged on, climbing hill after hill, and passing tall mountain cliffs. The squawkers didn’t have a problem with any of the hills, but climbing up those mountains would have been too much for them.

  Still, Edwyr wished they could manage it, as it would give them a great vantage point to determine if they were going the right way. But even without that, they managed to stay on track for the most part. Arbane had always been good at finding his way around, after all.

  It was around noon when Edwyr finally spotted something in the distance. Structures of broken stone littered the valley before them, some rising to three or four stories, while others barely tall enough to be visible from the distance. Edwyr wasn’t sure what he’d been imagining Urzikal to look like, but he could tell this was what they’d been looking for.

  Even from here, it both looked completely alien and somehow familiar, and Edwyr quickly realized why. He’d seen ruins similar to this, albeit much, much smaller in scale in the jungle. But he supposed that made some sense. Whatever civilization had left these behind, it would make sense that they would be in more places than one.

  “Oh, that’s amazing!” Lanna exclaimed as they all came to a halt on top of a hill overlooking the scene. Edwyr supposed it was, as he ran his eyes over the valley again, noticing that there was something carved into the mountain towering above it. Was that a gate with stone steps leading up to it?

  Without even truly realizing he’d done so, Edwyr took the lead, Tempest slowly making her way down the hill and towards the valley as Edwyr’s curiosity got the best of him. No one argued with him, however, and they all followed behind as Edwyr brought Tempest into a gallop.

  As they made their way over the relatively grassy plain separating them from the ruins, Edwyr started to wonder just how he was supposed to find Wyn here. The place was huge, and there would be no way to search for Wyn without explaining the situation to the others, which was something he would still rather not do just yet.

  But all of these thoughts disappeared from his mind when, as he was about to pass two broken, massive statues of what looked like people, a thick, white mist rolled in all around him.

  His eyes widening, Edwyr automatically grabbed at Tempest’s reins, bringing her to a halt, and then pulling at them again to turn her around, but it was too late. He couldn’t see anything through the white mist, not even the statues he knew were there, just a few feet away from him.

  “Lanna! Arbane!” he tried calling, hoping that if they couldn’t see each other, they would at least be able to hear him. But there was no answer.

  Edwyr jumped off Tempest’s back, taking her reins into his hand so as not to lose her as well in the impenetrable whiteness. He looked up, his stomach sinking when he realized that he couldn’t even see the sky anymore. His only comfort was that beneath his feet, there was still a small but significant patch of color—a little yellowish grass. That was his only proof that he was still where he thought he was.

  And before he could panic and decide to run, either back or forward, Wyn’s voice spoke behind him.

  “Ah, you made it.” Edwyr flinched, turning around to look at the pleasantly smiling elf, the white mist between the two of them as if dissipating ever so slightly. “Welcome to Urzikal, Edwyr.”

  19

  For a moment Edwyr had no idea what to say. He was too taken aback by what had just happened to properly respond to what Wyn had told hi
m, though that didn’t seem to matter to the elf, as he continued to smile. It hadn’t felt that way in the dreams, but to have another elf smile at him was truly a disturbing experience. Was this how Feyrith felt every time Edwyr expressed an emotion clearly and obviously? Edwyr had never thought about this.

  After a moment passed, Edwyr finally found his voice as he frowned at Wyn with suspicion. “What have you done?”

  Wyn raised an eyebrow, his yellow eyes widening in realization a moment later. “Ah yes, the mist. Apologies for that, but I wanted to talk to you first before your…companion joined us.”

  Edwyr supposed that made sense if whatever Wyn was hiding needed to be kept from the Council, but what about Lanna and Arbane? They were human, of course—they didn’t need to be involved in elven business, but there was no reason not to. They wouldn’t tell the Council. They had no way of doing so, even if they wanted to.

  “It’s completely harmless, I assure you,” Wyn continued, clearly sensing Edwyr’s concern. “I simply wish to speak with you alone. The mist will disperse in a moment. Now please, follow me.”

  Edwyr narrowed his eyes. He didn’t like this at all. Being separated from his friends was incredibly suspicious to him. What purpose could that possibly serve? Surely two humans weren’t a threat to Wyn, or whoever he worked with.

  Wyn had already turned around, clearly assuming that Edwyr would do as he’d been told without question, but Edwyr stayed firmly in place, his hand clenched a bit too tightly around Tempest’s reins. “How can I know I can trust you?”

  Wyn stopped, turning to face Edwyr again with what looked like amusement, though not the malicious kind, as far as Edwyr could tell. “Your human friends won’t come to any harm, and neither will you. I give you my word.”

  Edwyr narrowed his eyes further. Hearing a regular elf say that would have probably been enough to convince Edwyr, but Wyn wasn’t a regular elf, so who knew how much his word was worth. And yet he did believe him. Edwyr just hoped this wasn’t due to some kind of magical influence.