Downfall And Rise

by Nathan Thompson

  Was it with rain? I asked myself. But I felt both Ideals tense. Rain must be where Water and Air met. That probably meant clouds were almost as much of the domain of Water as they were of Air, since they were just trapped moisture. Water did connect the two, I realized, but it was an Ideal with its own territory. It was more than the connection of two points.

  Connecting two points…

  That thought grasped at my brain. Air and Earth were arguing for two different things. One wanted constant travel. One wanted stillness. One wanted change to happen quickly, and often. The other wanted change to happen slowly, and over long periods of time.

  What was something that connected the two?

  Instants, I thought with a smile, ignoring the pain in my body and the battle around my mind. No matter how big or small the measurements, time was composed of instants. And what symbolized instantaneous connection, and served to connect Earth and Air.

  The answer sparked into my brain.

  Lightning.

  Lightning traveled between the sky and the earth all the time during storms. And, unlike rain, it traveled in both directions- from the clouds to the ground, and, usually immediately, from the ground back up to the sky. And, as far as I knew, there was no water in lightning. It was something both Earth and Air had at least a portion of a claim to, without Water as a third party. There were some rare accounts of it happening even without clouds at all.

  Fighting against the pain in my skull, I visualized a single bolt traveling from the sky into the ground, spending part of its charge into the soil, then shooting from the ground back into the sky. In this instant, I thought to the two Ideals, you are connected.

  The pain in my head and body began to settle down, and the voices from both Ideals grew less intense. They seemed to gravitate toward the picture, muttering at it in agreement. Then, slowly, both of their voices faded into the background of my thoughts. The images competing in front of my eyes also faded away, and I began to see the mind-screen Stell had originally created for me.

  The words had changed again:

  You have acquired Innate understanding of a Second-Tier Ideal, the Ideal of Lightning.

  The Ideal of Lightning: Lightning is the domain of instantaneous connection, power, and revelation. An Innate understanding grants the Challenger an immediate and gradual increase to Strength, Dexterity, Intelligence, and Charisma. Over time the Challenger will notice an increase to their Speed, Wits, fast-twitch muscles, and an improved health for their neural pathways, in both their projected and original bodies. The Challenger further performs Lightning and electric-based magic to greater effect, and also gains a significant resistance to lightning-based magic as well as slight resistance to paralyzing effects in both bodies.

  The Challenger has overcome a significant challenge facing an attack on both his body and mind, and grown stronger for it. The Challenger's Constitution and Wisdom have both improved by one degree.

  My head spun for a moment, then settled down. I felt a tiny difference to my body. Like I had suddenly become healthier, more clear headed.

  “Did I just level up?” I asked. “I mean, did I just 'Rise'?”

  “No,” Stell said, her voice edged with relief and something else. “But it looked like you broke the rules somehow. Again.” There was just a hint of bitterness in that last comment. “You gained access to an Ideal on another tier.”

  “What does that mean?” I asked. “And why are the benefits for this new one better than the other two?”

  “Located immediately beyond the Foundational Ideals are the Secondary Ideals,” Stell answered me. “They represent the places where two or more Foundational Ideals connect. Their connective nature means a broader benefit to your body, while their magics are more focused, with spells that are only useful for very specific purposes. The four Foundational Ideals seem less powerful in comparison, but their magics usually cover a broader, more flexible scope.”

  “Okay,” I replied. “I think I follow you. Sorry I keep cheating,” I offered lamely. Some part of me that had started treating this all like a game was screaming out 'Hax! Challenger is OP! Nerf Incoming!'

  “Don't apologize,” Stell replied. “Your... exploits... are surprising, but it's going to help us save more lives. All things considered I have zero problems with that. In fact I hope you'll keep breaking the rules if it helps you solve my incoming headaches.”

  “I'll try and do that for you,” I said with a smile.

  “Good boy,” my dark-skinned guide said in gentle mockery. “Now we need you to prepare you for...”

  “Alert,” Avalon's voice rumbled from the mist. “Avalon bears witness to a Challenge rising in another world. Possible Trial forming.”

  Stell's eyes snapped upward.

  “Guineve!” She called out.

  “I know, dear,” The other woman's mature voice called back from the mists. “I'm sending you what I know right now.”

  I felt something stir in me, like I was a racehorse looking at the man holding a whistle. Or a war-hound, looking at a man waving a bloody piece of meat through the air.

  “When do I leave?” I asked, feeling the eagerness wanting to creep into my voice. “And where to?”

  Chapter 14: Commit

  Stell turned and looked at me.

  “I'm not sure you're ready. You haven't really Risen yet.”

  “Do I need to overcome Challenges to rise?” I asked.

  “Yes, but if you die...” her voice trailed off. “Right. You've become a Challenger now. You can't die permanently.”

  “Which means we have nothing to lose if I come along,” I said patiently. “There are no penalties to dying, right?”

  “Other than the fact that it's traumatic and extremely painful?” Stell asked. “No. But a normal person would say that's enough to avoid it.”

  “I understand that,” I said, though part of me pointed out that I really didn't. “I mean, I'd like to avoid it if possible. But the people on the other worlds don't come back if they die, right?”

  “They don't,” Stell admitted, biting her lip as she thought for a moment. “I need to review what we're facing.”

  She tapped at her know-stones (still hated that name, by the way) for a moment, nodding and talking to herself.

  “A Nest-type Challenge,” she muttered. “Out in the one place where it could grow on its own, without something from the environment to destroy it while it's still weak. No villages or guardians nearby,” she paused, closing her eyes. “Merada would need months to get there. Anyone she brought with her would face a much greater threat by that time. Whereas I can transport you there now...”

  “Wait,” I interrupted, raising a hand. “Just so we're clear, I'm going without you?”

  Stell nodded.

  “I can send myself to the worlds in an emergency, but it costs a whole lot of power. One single trip can make me useless for decades, if not centuries, depending on how much power I spend. Even using my power on Avalon is difficult.”

  “Really?” I asked, curious. Stell nodded, looking glum for a moment.

  “My race is supposed to just send projections of ourselves to other worlds. Our abilities decrease somewhat when we live away from our home world.”

  Something in her face steered me away from asking further questions about her background.

  “But you won't go completely alone,” Stell said, her voice picking up energy. “Breena's one job is to escort Challengers for me.”

  “Is that the fairy?” I asked.

  “It's not the official name for her race,” Stell nodded. “But yes. You'll have to be the one summoning her though.” She rolled her eyes for a moment, without telling me why.

  “How do I do that?” I asked, curious.

  “You'll have to Rise first,” Stell replied. “Luckily we have time for that.”

  “Have I grown enough to Rise yet?” I asked.

  “You're not even in the first stage yet, so yes. Rising the first time is somethin
g innate. It takes the least amount of personal growth to achieve, but the trigger for every person is different.”

  “How do we find mine?” I asked.

  “You already did,” Stell replied. “You challenged Avalon itself when you came here.”

  “Oh, right,” I remembered. I had been scared and confused by everything happening and had chosen to face it all head on. “So what do I do now?”

  “Pick a good spot to stand,” she said, looking over and pointing at a flat part of ground. “Probably right there.”

  The spot of ground was relatively free of loose rocks, roots, or other things to trip and hurt myself on. Other than that, I couldn't think of a reason for Stell to have picked this spot.

  “Am I going to flail around or something?” I asked worriedly as I made my way over.

  “I hope not,” Stell said, still not looking up from her glowing computer-rocks. “The first Rise is always a little unpredictable. But it's a low risk, and as you keep reminding me, you come back when you die.”

  “Thanks,” I said dryly as I moved into position. But Stell probably would have shown more concern if I really had anything to worry about.

  “Alright,” I said. “Ready. I think.”

  “Okay,” Stell said, finally glancing up at me. She took a deep breath, but her eyes remained steady on me as she did so. “Find a way to look inward. Find that heavy part inside of you and push.”

  I closed my eyes to focus on following her instructions. I had no idea how to really look into myself, I realized. Not in the way I wanted to. But then I remembered the movements inside my body when I acclimated to the Ideals. I found that spot where they rested, took a deep breath, and as I released it I felt that heaviness in my body, the part my magic had fought over, and shoved.

  I'm not sure that was a good way to describe it. Imagine pushing a stray thought out of your mind, only instead of your head you do it in your chest. Does that make any sense?

  At any rate, I pushed, not to get out of my body, but because I realized that the weight inside needed to move forward.

  Then I started to rumble.

  Not the ground. Not Avalon. Not the mists. Me.

  I started to quake. Muscles all over my body started twitching, and I heard my bones creak. Thoughts started snapping faster inside my head, and everything felt just a little clearer, a little easier to understand. That wasn't quite it though. The things I could see and hear and smell became sharper, more noticeable, and the things I couldn't see, the shadowy parts of the mist, as well the edges of my hearing and even my sense of smell, became more glaringly obvious, like little warning signs that said I still didn't know everything. But I didn't feel troubled by all of this. Actually, I felt just a little more confident, more comfortable in my own skin. But by the time I understood all of this, everything was over but a few tremors in my limbs that gradually faded too.

  And the lightning, I realized. There were still tiny little bolts of blue and white running up and down my body. Stell was watching me very carefully.

  “How are you?” the dark woman asked. “Do you feel okay?”

  “Hell yes,” I answered before I could stop myself, the swear word slipping right out and for once feeling completely okay with it.

  I felt amazing. like I could punch through a tree right now, that I could do anything. It was incredible.

  “Not the flashiest Rise I've ever seen,” Stell noted casually. “Arthur managed to get trumpets to sound, every single time. Which was cool, up until it got weird. But anyway, good job getting through your first Rise. Your three magics merged together beautifully. Take another moment to get settled, then pull up your mind-screen.

  I did as she directed pulling the screen by mentally desiring to look at it:

  Wes Malcolm

  Race: Human. Origin: Earth (Challenger)

  Growth Level: First Rise (Spark)

  Path: Unknown

  Saga: Unknown

  Profession: Unknown

  Vital Pool: 230 points

  Stamina Pool: 230 points.

  Mana Pool: 260 points

  Strength: 14

  Dexterity: 14

  Constitution: 13

  Intelligence: 18

  Wisdom: 24

  Charisma: 16

  Speed: 16

  Deftness: 14

  Wits: 23

  Will: 24

  Rise Points: 6 (can increase the six primary traits at a 1:1 ratio, or the four secondary traits at a 1:2 ratio.

  Insight into the Following Ideals

  Earth: lvl 1

  Air: lvl 1

  Lightning: lvl 1

  Skill List truncated.

  “I get six points right off the start?” I asked incredulously. “And can increase the last four stats twice for every one point I spend? And the Ideal increased each related stat by two points right off the start?”

  “Yes, yes and yes,” Stell said quickly. She seemed to be very much in business mode. “But the growth from Ideals will only be half that for each stage of Rising in the future. Now, I'd normally like to take my time in explaining everything that's happened to you, but since you're somehow already annoyingly familiar with this process, and since this Challenge will slowly escalate into a Trial or Tumult even faster than the other ones already forming, I'm going to have to delegate the rest of your training for now to Breena.”

  “Okay, sure” I said. “Where is she?”

  “You're going to have to summon her. I'll teach you how in a minute.”

  “Wasn't she flying around before on her own?”

  “Yes,” Stell said uncomfortably. “But I sorta grounded her because she's still coming down off a suger-high.”

  “A what?” I said in disbelief.

  “Guineve made cupcakes last evening and left them out overnight. Probably on purpose. Don't ask about it.”

  Stell took a deep breath and walked over to me.

  “Okay,” she began. “You're going to do magic by reaching into the same place you used to Rise and balance out your Ideals. You're going to pull on part of that to make your first spell. This one depends purely on your status as a Challenger and isn't connected to any of your Ideals. Reach into that same place, but this time I watch you to pull down hard, and call out in your mind.”

  “Okay,” I asked slowly. “Is all of magic just pushing and pulling?”

  “Not hardly,” Stell shook her head. “I'm just trying to keep things simple. If you can do those parts, I'll be able to walk you through the rest.”

  I made the necessary gestures and vocalizations Stell required of me. It felt weird. Mostly because my Baptist upbringing suddenly kicked in, saying any magic you didn't see in the old Lord of the Rings was completely taboo, and even that was only liked by people like my parents. I relaxed when the process began to feel like a scientific formula I was performing with my body, instead of forming a pact with Hell that exchanged my soul for dark power.

  But enough of that. Subconscious hang-up conquered, I moved on from creating an arcane gateway to calling through it, reciting the phrase that Stell taught me my new familiar would respond to.

  “Breena,” I began in a strange, arcane tongue. “Will you be my friend?”

  “Oh-my-gosh-yes-yes-yes! He's finally heeeeeerrrrrrrrre!!!”

  Something small and bright flew out of the small hole I made and fluttered all around me.

  “Hi! I'm Breena! And you're really really tall! But that's okay! I'm your new familiar! We are going to have! So! Much! Fun!”

  She buzzed by me one more time. She was still too fast, and too small, and too bright to get a good look at her.

  “Breena,” Stell called out. “Deep breaths and count to ten!”

  “Huff, huff,” the little nightlight paused long enough to do what her -mother?-maker?-older sister?- whatever-Stell-was, said, and began puffing and counting.

  “Stell,” I began in a concerned voice.

  “It'll be fine,” she interrupted. “Trust me.”


  Breena finished huffing and counting and floated up to me. She seemed to dim, and enlarge, growing from a tiny speck no bigger than my eye to a twelve-inch body that was still somehow obviously a woman. And yes, the fact that I noticed that at all worried me too. But enough of my issues. Picture a young, peppy woman, with a sparkling short dress, pink spiky hair, and softly glowing skin that couldn't decide on which color it wanted to glow. She had thin, gossamer wings that sparkled with her and seemed to make her twice as large. The wings flapped slowly, too slowly to be the reason she was floating in front of my face.