Lisrau Mining Town lay on the Tabad’s Great Trading Route at the upper reaches of a valley at the northern tip of the massive mountain known as the Giant’s Fortress. The passage out of Arelia consisted of nothing more than climbing to the saddleback between the Fortress and the Gray Ridge that marked the end of that valley. The town lay within a mile of that point, so we were in the Tabad and headed downhill almost from the start.
As our wagon passed the border crossing, I noticed Tabadan tribesmen in uniforms similar to the forces that had invaded the Amaga tribal lands, lightly equipped with ordinary weapons like a civilian might carry for self defense, glowering at the passing army.
I had already heard the story from Talene. Until just a few days ago, when Talene proved it had been Berado miners who purposefully created the collapse that triggered the disaster in the Lisrau Mines, Arelia had been tentatively recognizing the chieftain of Berado as “King of Beradia”. Now, here we were, brushing them aside and entering their supposed kingdom to sweep for bandits. It was probably a pretty deep wound to their pride.
This area, as I understood it, wasn’t traditionally controlled by anyone. The climate along this stretch was too poor to support mortals, even as seasonal pasture. Once the road at last descended below the tree line, around two thousand paces altitude, it would technically become the frontier of the original Berado territory, the homeland where their aspirations as a kingdom began, but it would still be largely wilderness until much further south.
History kept these tribal territories from recognition as kingdoms, more than anything. They would go a generation or two with some degree of organization, then splinter, sometimes reforming under a new leader again, but often going through a sort of ‘redistricting’ as they acquired new names. I had heard from Bron, the son of the Amaga chief, that the Berado and Amaga chief families were actually cousins, branches of the same family, having been the chiefs of a now-defunct tribe whose descendants had split between the two.
It was a temptation to think of these tribesmen glowering at us as simple locals, but they had hopes to stand on equal terms with this army invading the land they claimed. I wasn’t happy about helping to trample on their pride.
I waited until we had put those resentful eyes at least behind our wagon before I dug into my belt-wallet and dug out a purplish stone mottled with pink blotches. In my fairy sight, it glowed faintly with a spirit’s aura from deep within.
“Now, then,” I told my cousin, “it’s time to give this bauble a try.”
Spirit stones come in many types. The conditions for creating them can happen in many different ways. So, although the item in my hands had an unusual appearance for a spirit stone, it was nothing uncommon to have a spirit stone with an unusual appearance.
Dilorè looked at the peculiar ball in my hand and commented, “It looks delicious.”
I started giggling. “It looks like a piece of candy to you, too?”
It looked exactly like the giant ‘jawbreakers’ Robert loved as a kid. They have similar candies on Huade.
“Mm,” she nodded, cracking a smile at last. “Well, don’t eat it. That’s adamantite. It’s a metamorphic form of adamant ore. Only forms in subterranean mana streams and almost impossible to smelt. You can see how it became rounded by the water mana in the stream. Adamant is a mana conductor, and this form also has traces of mithril in it, so spirits can take a liking to it.”
It’s sometimes easy to forget, in this fantasy world, that science isn’t at a medieval level on Huade. They’ve yet to shake loose of certain concepts, such as geocentrism, and the presence of elemental mana alters the fundamental theories considerably, but they have a very modern understanding of many practical sciences, like geology and medicine.
In other words, you have to adjust for Huade. Even though physics seems to be the same here at broader levels, like planets orbiting around stars and air becoming thinner with altitude, the details have to adapt to the presence of fantasy elements. For example, metals that don’t exist on Earth’s periodic table still form compounds and minerals with each other and the normal elements via the same chemical and geological processes… except with extra terms like ‘subterranean mana stream’ thrown in..
The magic side of the laws of physics do not change across a universe, so it is clear that Huade is in a different universe from Earth. The Mortal Realm contains at least multiple trillions of universes, from tiny pocket universes to grand expanses such as those occupied by Earth or Huade.
Spirit stones, 95 percent of the time, are mithril ore, the most common kind being a form of quartz. In nature, if a chunk has just the right size and concentration of mithril for a particular spirit, they will settle down in it and collect mana of their particular element. Which elemental affinity the spirit will be depends a lot on the rest of the composition of the ore. A fire spirit stone is very often red-tinged thanks to the presence of sulphur in it, for example.
But the other five percent of spirit stones are all kinds of other oddball ores. All they need to have, to become spirit stones, is a spirit that finds them attractive and settles in. Or, a composition that allows a spirit handler to insert a spirit into them.
“So, what are you meant to do with this trinket?” my cousin wondered.
“All I know is that the spirits belonging to Lord Greenwater are looking for Amelia, and the spirit in this rock can talk to them. That was basically the end of the conversation with the old grump. He went off to his hideout and left me standing there with it.”
“You do always manage to pull off an impression of greater magical expertise than you actually possess. He likely assumed you could work it out.”
That much had already been obvious to me.
I commented, “I can see the spirit within, but this spirit stone is like nothing I’ve seen before.”
“Hm,” she commented, holding her chin between thumb and index finger while looking down at the stone and contemplating it. “The spirit resides quite deep in the stone, but it appears to be a Light spirit. Unusual for a tool meant for communication with spirits. Normally, it’s the Wind spirits who act as the communicators.”
I blinked at her. “That sounds a lot more organized than my understanding of how spirits behave. They are all independent actors, aren’t they?”
“That doesn’t mean they don’t interact,” she countered. “For spirits, the whole world is one huge ocean of mana, and they’re constantly bumping into each other in it. The Wind spirits have the most freedom, so most exchanges go through them.”
“Exchanges of what?”
“Mana, miasma, and information. They feed on it, hoard it, and barter it.”
Turning the stone over in my hands, I shook my head. “I was under the impression most spirits had nearly no intelligence.”
“It’s true, but those are the grass and insects of the spirit economy. The ones we actually handle can range from the level of goblins up to the level of sages. “
I turned and frowned at her. “‘The ones we handle’? You’re a spirit handler?”
She grew a smug smile. “I am more of a spirit magic user, but Lady Serera has taught me some spirit handling. It’s what I originally approached her for as my teacher. I began studying the sword because she convinced me I needed physical combat skills as well.”
‘Spirit Magic’ involves just getting spirits to do things for you, and grabs whatever spirit of the required elemental affinity is nearby to handle the task. ‘Spirit Handling’ involves actually taming and training spirits.
“Can you figure out how I’m supposed to use this thing?” I asked, lifting the stone.
I couldn’t hand it to her. We had discovered earlier that it had some kind of anti-theft feature. Some of the patterns built into it were Aether-based, and could deliver an electric shock. It seemed only those authorized by Lord Moram could touch it. Dilorè could likely defeat the defense mechanism, but there was no point in doing battle with the spirit that was supposed to be helping me.
“What have you tried so far?” she wondered.
“There are patterns that seem to be engraved Wind mana buried in it, so I tried sending mana into them. They didn’t respond.”
“That’s because they aren’t meant for you. They’re made for the Light spirit dwelling in the stone.”
“Eh?” I tilted my head.
“What?”
“Why would a Light spirit use Wind mana?”
“They aren’t opposing elements, after all,” she said. “It can’t summon Wind mana directly, but it can use a tool. These patterns are meant for its use. It probably must barter with Wind spirits to recharge it, so I’m sure it appreciated you giving it a free charge.”
I chuckled. “Fine. So…”
“Frankly, I suspect you should try just talking to it,” she stated.
“Just talk to it?” I replied, a little incredulous.
A warning bugle call came from the front. The driver pulled on the reins while calling over his shoulder to us, “Flyers!”
Ahead, I could see the battle wagon crews in the train pulling tarps off their ballistas, while archers and crossbowmen unlimbered their weapons and ran out to the side to find good ground to shoot from.
I tucked the stone away. Dilorè wondered, “Should we get airborne?”
Scanning the sky, I finally spotted the incoming force. “It looks too small for an attack. I see three birdkin, not a squadron of flying beasts. This is a reconnaissance flight. Did someone overreact?”
Unless they expected a trio of third level combat mages, there was no reason to even be halting the column.
“Perhaps it’s intimidation,” my cousin suggested.
I shook my head, “Three birdkin is useless against a force this size.”
She rolled her eyes. “I mean, on the part of the Arelians. They’re saying, ‘You want to see what we have? We won’t even bother hiding it. Look, and tremble with fear.’ A very fairy strategy, I must say.”
I looked at Dilorè with surprise. That… was actually an excellent hypothesis. This one ‘patrol’ was at least equal in size to the entire invasion force the Berado had just sent at the Greenwater. The Arelians weren’t exactly fairies, but they might just overmatch the Berado enough to pull off the ‘foolish mortals!’ attitude.
The birdkin flew the length of the column. The Arelians had birdkin of their own, who were currently ascending to chase the scouts away, but nobody was firing. The halted column simply stood, prepared to fight, showing what they had.
Dilorè had called it. The ballistas and bows now tracking the birdkin fliers were a message to the “Beradians”. So why did the Commander ask us to hide the number of mages in the adventurers corp? Arken was carrying a bow, for gawdsake. He might be an elve, but the only arrow I ever saw him shoot was a [Magic Arrow] spell.
Our column wasn’t entirely stationary. To the side of the road, a certain prince was riding quickly in our direction. As he approached, I noticed he appeared to have his eyes on Dilorè and me.
