Archives: The Golden Egg
Chapter 20: The Mages’ Guild
Naclia woke up with a chill. She had slept soundly for the last few hours, too exhausted to care about the outside world. Now the elf bunched up her blankets around her shoulders and sat up in her bedding. Wil was up on watch, but no one else seemed to be awake yet. Fog snaked through the trees, making it a pale gray morning. It seemed late enough, and they had to make good use of the their time, so Naclia decided that she may as well wake every one else up. Turning to Talen next to her, she shook his shoulder, and spoke in a sing-song voice that might have been loud enough to wake the others, “Wakey wakey Talen.”
To keep himself occupied during his watch, Wil had made conversation with several fairies in the area, telling them stories while keeping an earnest watch of the area. Other than the occasional passing herbivores and the feeling of a passing carnivore, the forest was quiet in the last hours of night and early morn. The fairies had left by the time Naclia awoke, having heard a great deal of Wil’s stories so far, and had returned to their tree colonies to face the morning in all its splendor. With Naclia up, he expected the others would rise soon, and waited to start the day.
The noise Naclia made was enough to draw Aiden out of his sleep. The common elf was near waking as it was. With a groan, he pushed himself up onto his hands and knees, then knelt and stretched his back. The ground was never kind to one’s back, even an elf’s. He wouldn’t have minded sleeping a little longer, but they couldn’t afford to waste time at this point. The ranger moved over to Eliamn and shook the elf maiden gently to wake her.
Eliamn had been lying on her side, her body in a loose fetal position to help her keep warm under the blanket, her hair spread over the bedding like flowing honey. Aiden’s touch caused her to sigh and crack her eyes open as she twisted around to make eye contact with him. Like a flower bud opening to sunlight, her eyes widened to seeming wakefulness as she looked up at him.
{“Good morning, Aiden,”} the elf shamaness greeted him in their native tongue, still lying supine over her bedding. She then rewarded him with a gentle smile. {“A dreary morning, is it not?”}
Aiden couldn’t help but smile at Eliamn, even just waking she was beautiful. {“I suppose it is,”} he replied, slipping back into the elven tongue in response to her. {“I hope you rested enough, we must move on soon.”}
Eli eased herself slowly into a sitting posture. {“Well enough now, though I will not be above dozing over the back of whoever I ride with later.”} She gave a look around the stirring camp, self-consciously stroked some of her mussed golden hair behind one of her elongated ears and looked back to Aiden. {“I thought we still needed to figure out where to go next. Have you made a decision?”}
Aiden stood up and began to pack up his bedroll again. (“We’ll go to that academy you learned about,”) Aiden replied as he worked.
Talen awoke with a smile as he rolled over to see Naclia leaning over him. “Good morning,” he said, then stretched.
“Morning handsome,” she replied with a grin, then moved back to her bed and started to roll it up.
Talen blushed slightly at that comment, but then began to pack up his gear. As he rolled up his bed, he overheard Eli and Aiden talking in elven. “Umm...what are they saying?” he whispered to Naclia.
The female ranger glanced over at him as she finished rolling her own bed up. “Oh, um...Eli asked where we’re going, and Aiden said that we’re going to the academy that we found out about,” she explained. Tossing a glance over her shoulder at Aiden and Eliamn, she spoke in elven, {“Hey guys! How about a little common tongue for the sake of the uninitiated?”}
Eliamn’s ears drooped a bit at Naclia’s request. To spare herself from making a weak or apologetic reply (why feel guilty for speaking one’s native language?), she silently slid out of her bedding and started following Aiden’s example of packing up her things, though she did not immediately pack up. Instead, she splashed some of her waterskin’s content on a cloth to wash her face and she then took a comb out of her things to try and straighten out her hair. As she methodically killed snags and knots in her hair, she glanced down at herself. With her missing the bath the day before at the inn and with her changes of clothing having been worn more than a couple of times now without having been washed, Eli was starting to get worried about stinking bad.
“Are we going to come across any streams on our way to the mage school?” the elven shamaness asked Wilhelm hopefully.
Kima got up with a start, rolling around on the ground until she was on her feet. Her eyes surveyed the group quickly, noting what each were doing. It seemed that she woke up in time as they were getting ready to go. Her stomach hurt out of hunger, wanting to eat. On all fours she rushed Aiden, jumping up on him and planting a kiss on his lips as a morning greeting. “Aiden!” she greeted him by saying his name.
Wil looked back when Eliamn approached him. “Yes, there is a stream in the direction we’re heading. Good morning, by the way,” Wilhelm added the last part almost jadedly, since no pleasantries were spoken to him before inquiring about the stream. “It is approximately half a day there by horseback.”
Aiden nearly toppled over, but steadied himself; after traveling with Kima so long, he was getting accustomed to her clinginess. “Good morning, Kima,” he said, almost defeatedly, then tried to pry the human girl off him and set her back on the ground. “Let’s get ready to go,” he told her, then turned toward the dozing centaur; “Rylan! Time to wake up.”
Eliamn nodded her thanks to Wil, still running the wooden comb through her blonde hair. “Good morning to you as well,” she replied, trying to force some cheer in her voice. Smiling is contagious, right?
The centaur awoke with a start when his name broke through his slumber. He had slept in a little later after taking a watch shift. Rylan squared his feet on the ground—like a horse, he slept standing up, usually with a hoof propped up to rest the leg. “I’m awake,” he said, shaking his head. He stretched his arms out in front of himself, gave his coat a shake, and flicked his tail. “How long until we leave?” he asked Aiden, then a yawn cracked his jaws.
Kima resented getting put back on the ground, but she didn’t show it more than a small pout. Nipping at her shoulders, the young wild girl sighed in relief as the itch disappeared after a few nips and bites. When she was finished satisfying her itch, Kima waited impatiently for the group to become more active.
“Not long. Let’s get some food in our bellies and head out,” Aiden replied. He was eager to be out of this place, he still worried that the soldiers could be searching for them. The elf pulled some of his homemade leaf-wrapped rations from his pack, then handed one to Kima. Quickly unwrapping his, he ate as he gathered up the rest of his belongings, put on his boots, and threw his cloak around his shoulders.
Wil gave Eliamn a small smile and removed himself from the ground. After a long stretch the bard lifted his pack onto his back. He surveyed the sun’s position in the sky through the canopy and took the time to find the moss’s location on the trees. Cut north-northwest through the thicket and we should come upon the river. Cross the river at the shallows and head a league to the northwest, that should take us to the mage guild. Not only will we avoid the main roads this way, but we’ll also avoid the chance of being caught. That’s the best way to move through the forest. “Hey, Eliamn...” Wil started. “Why did someone like you leave the forest? Weren’t you happier there than out here?”
While Wil getting his bearings in the forest could have seemed rather innocent for the rest of those assembled in the camp, Eliamn paid it closer scrutiny. The half-elven minstrel had given her a guide to identify cardinal directions and she found it rather interesting to see him act on his own advice. Took him a conscious effort, but he seems fairly confident in the result. I can probably do it on my own from now on too.
His chosen topic of conversation, though, was a little more touchy. The blonde shamaness was not in the mood of dwelling on her past failures and instead wanted to go on the optimism Naclia had tried fostering in her, so she went for a lighter retelling of why she left the Mirror Forest: “I come from a family of powerful shamans. Around my age, we have a tradition of trying to bond with the King Spirit Ento, but I failed to do so. Because of that, I decided to go on a pilgrimage to learn of the world and come back stronger to try the covenant again.”
Naclia went about packing and preparing for the day’s journey while the others talked. Once packed and dressed, she stepped towards the center of the camp, eating a trail biscuit while Eliamn explained to Wil why she was out in the world. “Is everyone about ready?” she asked. Wil and Eliamn could continue talking on the road.
“I am!” Eliamn put the comb back in her things, quickly packed up and stood, laboriously heaving her backpack over her shoulders. She huffed a moment as her slight frame bent below the weight of her luggage and walked toward Aiden.
“Can I ride behind you?” she asked. Aiden would ride Tiash and since Tiash was Eli’s favorite in the horses they had she wanted to ride on it too.
“I am ready,” Wil said, shouldering his pack once again, readjusting it so it was more comfortable. “Shall I take lead?” he asked, wanting to drop the topic that obviously caused Eliamn some discomfort. He had no intention of raising ill ghosts traveling with people from his mother’s motherland. “We’re heading north by northwest, cutting off the normal trails to make time. Gods and trails willing we’ll reach the river by or before midday. If we take the trails—which in fact may be guarded—then we’ll hit it by midday or later. After that it’s just another league till we hit the Mage’s Guild.”
“Of course, Eli,” Aiden replied. Reminded of horses, he realized that they had a spare now. “Oh, Wil, Lyassa’s horse escaped with the rest of our little herd, so you’re welcome to ride it.”
“Oh...uh, sure.” Wil stammered. He hadn’t ridden a horse for most of his life and given the chance to now didn’t overly sit well with the half-elf minstrel. “I...I suppose I could...ride it.”
The group focused on saddling their horses again before they headed out, and Landia was handed over to Wil. The horse was well-trained and a bit anxious, but she accepted Wil readily. Aiden mounted Tiash and helped Eliamn into the saddle behind him, while Kima rode with Naclia again. Once the horses were ready, it was left to Wil to lead the way out, since he was the one who knew the way to the guild.
* * *
After a quick stop at the river so that the group could bathe, Wil guided the group to the outskirts of the town that had been abandoned and left for the Mage’s Guild to take over. “This is it,” Wil said somberly. “The guild hall is probably the old town hall. That’s located in the north east. There’s an inn, at least what was an inn, near the south gate. I’ll inquire about lodgings there, if you want to go to the guild hall and ask about whatever it is needing asking.”
Wil happily dismounted. “I’m not feeling too...good right now,” he said with a dismissive wave. Truth be told he felt like absolute shit. The bouncing and jostling of the ride through the woods was making his stomach do back flips. Holding the feeling of vomiting down, Wil took the reigns in his hand and guided the horse he rode towards the old inn.
Aiden halted Tiash after Wil stopped. Once the half-elf turned to him, he could clearly see that Wil was sick by the pallor in his face. “Let’s go on to the guildhall,” Aiden said to Eliamn before he slipped out of the saddle and landed softly on the overgrown cobblestone street. He offered a hand down for Eliamn while he spoke to those behind him, “Naclia, take care of Tiash and help Wil get us set up at the inn, would you? Anyone who wants to join us at the guild hall is welcome to follow.”
Eliamn eased down from the saddle, her fine-boned hand resting in Aiden’s to facilitate the descent. She rewarded him with a grateful smile before she turned to the saddlebags and got her satchel out, strapping over her shoulder. I don’t think I will need the rest, she inwardly mused as she transferred her money pouch to her satchel and then closed the saddlebag, leaving the rest of her traveling gear inside. If their dealings with the mages turned south, going there with as little encumbrance as possible seemed wise.
“I would suggest only those adept at defending themselves against sorcery come,” the elf shamaness warned after Aiden’s proposition. “We do not know if the meeting with the mages will be a friendly one. The peddling necromantic writings is no small thing. Even if we act as the behest of the King Dragon Mycen, unscrupulous individuals could come to the conclusion that it would be easier to dispose of us than to deal with us—especially considering how much we might know.”
Naclia nodded to Aiden and hopped out of her horse’s saddle. Once Kima had dismounted as well, Naclia took her horse’s reins and she led the mare to Tiash’s side to take him from Aiden. “I can’t say any of us are all that familiar with mages, unless you guys have any secrets from me,” Naclia said, glancing back at Talen, Rylan and Kima with a playful smirk. She wanted to see how this would play out though, she she had been present while they gathered this information. For now though, she had trivial duties to attend to. “I’ll join you guys as soon as I get the horses taken care of,” she said to Aiden and Eliamn, then led the two horses behind the inn, follow Wil.
Eliamn gave Naclia and the rest of their group a slight wave as they headed off. The shamaness had spent most of the trip leaning on Aiden’s back dozing to recuperate her strength, so, she was about as ready as she could be. But... She was inwardly puzzled as to why the possibly of things turning sour did not fill her with dread. She was certain her confidence wasn’t because she was spoiling for a fight, but still wasn’t sure of what had happened to the elf girl with the shattered self-esteem Naclia had consoled back in the inn where they had met Talen, and what she seemed to be now... determined not to be weak? Determined not to fail? Determined to win? She wasn’t sure, but did not believe the hurt could disappear in so little time—Wil had only proven that right by his inadvertent salting of the wounds she had suffered to her ego and her volition after her ill-fated confrontation with the King Spirit Ento.
The pain of doubt showed briefly in her eyes, but she closed them, willing it away. Aiden would be depending on her—she would need to support him, help him, be above reproach to help them all see this through to the end. This hidden reserve of courage and confidence, though unfathomable, was needed. Well, regardless, I certainly do not have the luxury to question or doubt in this.
Pale but resolute, she turned to the elf ranger by her side and offered: “Shall we go, then, and have Naclia catch up with us later?”
Aiden nodded to the shamaness and began to lead in the direction Wil suggested; north east. The elf walked cautiously, hand on his sword hilt, and eyes scanning the decrepit old buildings. He was beginning to wonder if the nation was named Moss because of the prevalence of moss itself—it seemed to cover almost the entirety of the village, from the cobblestones to rooftops.
“See anything that looks like this guild?” Aiden asked Eliamn as they walked.
