Chương 19: Landing II

Entry VII – Of Sacrifice and the Breaking of the World And so it came to pass. Merlin, last of the First Circle, bore the full weight of the ritual. With hands trembling not from fear, but from the sheer vastness of the spell, he spoke the final glyph into being. Light cracked the firmament. The world groaned like a thing dying - and then, it was done. Two worlds. One step apart, and yet divided by eternity. He paid the price. Flesh undone. Soul dispersed unto the ley.

We did not bury him, for there was nothing to bury. Flesh and familiar, soul and spirit, he unraveled in his entirety. No peaceful rest for the greatest of Archmages, but a mighty Grove grows at the place he fell, at the place he saved us all. I wept not at his death. I weep now, in silence, for the peace he bought us... and for the burden of remembrance.

Chronicles of the Sundering: A Personal Record by Mine Own Hand by Archmage Elowen Thorne, Keeper of the Black Flame, Scribe of the Meridian Vaults Felix almost lost control of his suitcase on the ramp of The Prydwen. He froze when he got near the sleighs and the wolves. Those were some big fucking wolves. Their shoulders were as high as his, and they were far wider than he was.

Some of them were yapping, nipping, and playfully shoving each other, with others having their tongue playfully lolling around as they panted in the hot summer air. All Felix could see were bared fangs large enough to take his head off in a single bite. Seriously, how did they feed so many wolves? What if they got hungry? A lot of tasty students were right there. The first years were perfectly snack-sized.

"Hey. Hey!" One of the hottest girls Felix had ever seen flagged him down, pushing through the crowd. He blinked, and remembered where he'd seen her before - she'd been apologizing while her friend had kneed Erik in the groin. Speaking of her friend, there she was, mutteringly darkly and following in her wake.

"Hi!" She said, coming to a halt right in front of Felix. It was a struggle to maintain eye contact, especially with the pose she was striking. A 'can I touch my elbows behind my back' one.

"Hi?" He said.

"I'm Vivian! I'm so sorry about my friend from earlier. She's got a bit of a grudge, but we really didn't mean to be so rude! She came to apologize as well." The other girl muttered darkly, looking at the ground. Vivian sharply elbowed her in the side.

"Fuck! Sorry." She hissed, her voice not going above a whisper.

"You alright?" Felix asked.

"No." She harshly whispered back, her throat hoarse.

"Fucking Morsin did this to me."

"That's not entirely true." Vivian hooked her arm in Alexandria's and Felix's, and started dragging both of them along with her. Felix happily went along, while Alexandria looked more resigned.

"How about you give poor Felix here the complete story, before he thinks you're a total monster for attacking his friend like that."

"I am a monster." Alexandria mumbled.

"Nonsense! I don't want to hear that coming from you at all!" Vivian said.

"Sure, your face needs a glamour, but honestly, who doesn't need one? Ah, here we are!" The three of them climbed into the sleigh, and they were quickly off.

"That's weird, why only - oh, there's five crammed in over there." Vivian said, then clapped her hands.

"Now! Alexandria! Want to tell your story?" The ginger girl crossed her arms and glared at Felix.

"No." She said.

"Fucking everyone already knows the story." Vivian sighed.

"I'm sorry. I'd like to say she's not usually this cranky… but she's usually this cranky." Alexandria glared at her.

"She's got a heart of gold under all the grump. Deep… deep under the grump." Felix eyed Alexandria warily.

"You sure about that?" He asked. Alexandria smirked, and turned to Vivian.

"Okay, I changed my mind, I like this one." Vivian's smile was radiant.

"Story time!" She said, clapping her hands.

"Big war, blah blah blah, Bjorn Morsin is winning when The Hollowing breaks out. Everyone's dropping like flies, and everyone's far more concerned with not dying to the magic-killer. Duke Morsin betrothes his first son, Erik, to one of the minor Grey houses as part of the peace." Vivian dramatically flourished her hands over Alexandria.

"Tada! Meet Erik's fiancee."

"I hate the bastard." Alexandria muttered.

"I foresee a long and happy marriage between the two of them." Vivian nattered on, ignoring Alexandria's comments. If looks could kill, Vivian would be dead.

"Now, quite a few people were mildly annoyed by Bjorn and his merry band of raiders, you know, murdering a bunch of their friends and relatives, and it was quite easy to blame him for the Hollowing and everything that went wrong. Except there's like, three Morsins total, and they're all safely holed up on the Emerald Isle, behind their great wards. Alexandria here was wide open, annnnd everyone and their cat took a shot at her." Felix looked at Alexandria again, his eyes going wide.

His mind briefly short-circuited, trying to find the right thing to say without sticking his foot in his mouth. Which, naturally, made an awkward silence all the more awkward as it dragged on.

"That's terrible!" He finally settled on.

"Fuck the Morsins." Alexandria grumbled.

"If they weren't around, none of this would've happened. If they'd picked anyone else, I would've been fine." Vivian frowned.

"Yeeeees." She glanced at Alexandria then cupped her hands over her mouth. Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author's consent. Report any sightings.

"Nevermind that Erik's practically in the same boat, had no choice either, wasn't any of the attackers, the Morsins weren't behind any of the assaults, and I'm like, 99% sure that someone's intercepting and fucking with Alex's mail and stopped her asking for help." Vivian faux-whispered. Alexandria kicked her in the shin.

"When I learn a few spells, I am going to hex you." She threatened.

"I'm sensing… wait… yes! The shield spells are going to be my best spell, and I'm going to have divine reflexes." Vivian dramatically put her hand on her head as she spoke. Alexandria crossed her arms with a huff, and they crossed into the forest. The shadows lengthened, and the branches reached out. Things stirred in the bushes, and the trees didn't rustle in time with the wind. The howling and growling of wolves was oddly comforting. Vivian adopted a dramatic tone.

"They say, if you walk through the woods at night… you'll emerge seven days later, as a zombie." Alexandria snorted in disbelief.

"And who told you that, Morgana?" She asked. Vivian pouted.

"I'm trying to make scary stories! The place is practically inviting them."

"The wolves of House Thalorien have the run of the place." Alexandria hissed.

"We're perfectly safe with them."

"Humph." Vivian continued to pout.

"That's no fun. I much prefer stories of how dark and scary the woods are." She batted her eyes at Felix.

"You'd protect me if a bear jumped out, right?"

"If by 'protect you' you mean 'gets eaten first as a distraction', he'd absolutely pull it off." Alexandria whispered.

"You're being too mean again." Vivian scolded.

"Sorry." Alexandria… might've sounded a little apologetic. Felix decided to take it.

"No problem. I heard a bit about cores earlier. How do I find out which one I've got?" He asked. Vivian salaciously waggled her eyebrows.

"It's not about the core, it's about how you use it." She said. Alexandria snorted.

"You're only saying that because your core is a bee." She whispered.

"A honeybee, thank you very much." Vivian primly said.

"Okay, but like. How do you know?" Felix asked.

"The Renard family is small and not terribly relevant." Alexandria whispered.

"But we do have a bloodline of our own. I'm a red fox, as are all the other bloodline members of the family. My dad's one, my mom's obviously not." Vivian theatrically shuddered.

"Nooo… it is not obvious that your mom isn't a fox core." She said.

"Have you seen some of the family bushes the noblecore idiots have?" Felix pulled a face.

"I don't think I want to know anymore." He said.

"Next spell to learn. How to forget cursed knowledge." Alexandria whispered. Vivian clapped her hands and bounced in her seat.

"Oh! Oh! I want to learn that one! Then when there's a really really good movie or something, I can just go BAM and forget it, then watch it all over again for the first time!"

"You've got movies?" Felix asked.

"Ehhh… sort of. We live in Paris, but we'll go to mundane Paris for events and shopping. Then there's sort-of movies in Arcadia, but they're more like really, really complicated illusion spells stored in a mirror or crystal ball. The whole 'how' is way over my head, but they're basically the same thing." Vivian's eyes widened.

"WAIT. Felix! You live in the mundane world! You can totally hook us up over the break!" Felix didn't want to admit how much he could not hook them up. Not admit to his financial state, not in front of such a pretty girl.

"Eh, I'll see what I can do." He said noncommittally. Alex rolled her eyes at how not-smooth Felix was. Apparently done with the conversation, she pulled out her wand. It was a legacy of the Renard family. White spruce, 11 inches and rigid, it had a large marquise cut red fox core in the handle. It was beautifully decorated, with a scene of foxes playing through the woods. Careful examination would reveal curious eyes peering out of the bushes, details done so finely that it had to be magic.

"Are you going to do a spell?" Felix asked. Alexandria frowned.

"I don't know any right now." She whispered.

"Magic is a muscle. It improves with use. I don't have any spells, but I can tug on it. Like stretching." Vivian wisely didn't make any comments.

"Wait!" Felix smacked his forehead.

"I never found out how I can know what my core is."

"Well, what are your parents?" Vivian asked.

"Easiest way is to look at what they've… oooh I'm sorry I said anything. You don't hate me right?" She slapped her hands over her mouth.

"What? Oh, castoff. Right." Alexandria whispered. Vivian smacked her arm.

"Oi! That's rude." Felix shrugged.

"True though, right? Might as well own it." Vivian looked dreamy.

"Maybe your mother had a night of forbidden romance with one of the fae lords. Now that you're back in Arcadia, he'll sweep you away and declare you prince of the mushroom kingdom. Ah, wouldn't that be nice?"

"I think I'd rather know." Felix said.

"Oh no, I can totally see that." Vivian agreed.

"I'd trade you." Alexandria whispered. Felix wisely didn't make a comment, and Alexandria focused on her wand." Argentum Anima always takes the form of your core, but it's a Cauldron-level spell. There's some potions that'll reveal it in one way or another, a dozen soulbindings will reveal what's going on, you can summon any number of otherworldly creatures and pump them for knowledge, construct a ritual, see if you resonate with an existing core, ooooorrr, you can be boring and take the shortcut."

"I'll go for boring." Felix said.

"Use a revealing stone. Camelot's got to have one. Bing, bang, boom, done. Might have to wait until next weekend, we'll probably be super busy during the week. Mystery solved!" The forest ended, and they were at the great scar.

"Okay, what the fuck?" Felix asked.

"Camlann." Alexandria whispered reverently.

"The great battle between King Arthur and Mordred."

"I repeat. What the fuck?" Felix said. A thousand years had not cleansed the land or removed the scars. The fields, once a rolling green beneath a noble sky, under the gates of Camelot, sprawled like a vicious pulsating wound. One that never healed, one that still festered and oozed pus. The air clung thick with the scent of iron, ozone, and magic, and was never still. It moved back and forth, like the lungs of a great beast unsteadily drew breath just under the soil.

Shadows fell in directions that defied the sun or other lighting. The bones of giants lay where their owners had fallen, gleaming an unnatural white in the light, refusing the decay after all the years. An unwise bird flew into the field, and dropped over dead midflight. Its body hissed and rotted as it touched a cursed blade still present on the field. Grass grew in awkward patches, not green but a sickly silver-white.

Scattered among the fields were dozens and dozens of blades, armor, magical focus, staves, banners, and a thousand other objects that the brave wixen and warriors on both sides of the battle would've brought with them. Most had rotted away to nothing under the relentless march of time, making the remaining artifacts all the more tempting. Like the bright colors of a poisonous snake, their pristine monument amidst the devastation warned to their cursed nature.

An optimist might call it enchanted, and for about half the blades on the field, they wouldn't be wrong. Worst were the bodies. Anything that had been struck down by a mundane blade or arrow had long since rotted away, returned to the earth to continue the circle of life. What remained were those unlucky enough to have encountered a fate worse than death. One area was filled with broken stone statues, evidence of powerful petrification spells or curses unleashed on squadrons of knights.

Time had not been kind to the stones, but a sufficiently powerful necromancer would be able to see a number of souls still tethered to the rocks. Fires continued to burn, lightning regularly struck the same spots, and foul, sentient fogs crept along gullies and hollows, dense enough to strip a horse and rider to the bones in seconds. Piranhas could only dream of being so efficient.

In the middle was a great clash of light and dark, the location where Mordred and Arthur mutually struck each other down still in a perpetual clash. Flaming swords and black stars, cursed ground and haunted songs, the fields of Camlann were one of the largest cursed treasure troves in the world. Which was keeping teams of Purifiers busy, generating a steady income for Duke Thalorien, and significantly subsidizing the education of the students of Camelot. A number of students waved to the esteemed curse breakers.

They'd worked together as an elective, and there was no better education in the field. In several hundred years, the fields would be purified, and the treasure trove would dry up. In a rare bout of sanity and sense, the fields were carefully marked. Posts were hammered into the ground, with a white rope demarking the border between safe and dangerous. A winding path had been cut through the cursed field, wide enough for two dozen wolf-drawn sleighs to comfortably pass together.

"Camlann." Alexandria whispered with admiration. She carefully stood up in the sleigh.

"Do you think we can see any of Morgana's spells?" Vivian tugged on Alexandria's robes.

"Sit down, you don't want to fall in." She said.

"I'll be fine." Alexandria hissed.

"Maybe that?" Felix suggested, going green as he pointed to a man. A man who was arguably still alive. The knight took three steps forward, holding a great sword in two hands, a jeweled pendant around his neck. Then a spell superheated his armor, and he fell, silently screaming. The armor morphed into red hot spikes and stabbed through his body. Then he reset, and took three steps forward again. A small plaque was hammered in front of the man. A half-dozen messages were crossed out and rewritten.

Don't break the silencing ward, it's quite disturbing otherwise. Loop resets outside magic. Syr Lysandor is AWARE and remembers everything. Along with more technical lines around various efforts and knowledge the Purifiers had obtained so far.

"Is there a reason they don't, I don't know, put a box around him or something?" Felix asked.

"Skip generations of students watching a murder right before starting school?"

"It's a warning." Alexandria hissed.

"Of what can happen if you are not careful with magic. That fates worse than death are out there." Felix was starting to seriously reconsider this whole magic thing. There were a few more horrors along the way, and to his surprise, a number of sheets and veils placed over others. If a man being cooked alive and murdered on a loop wasn't worth hiding away, what was? Felix decided to stare at Vivian instead of looking at Camlann. She noticed.

"Like what you see?" She flirted with a smile.

"No." Felix sounded like he was going to be sick.

"Oh. Yeah. Uh. Forget I said that." Vivian said.

"We're here." Alexandria said, a moment before the sleigh came to a stop.