Chapter 8: 8. Meandering Onward

An excerpt from Yenna Bookbinder’s ‘A Travelling Mage’s Almanac’.

“After all was said and done with that wretched valley, we were left with more questions than answers. Besides an unusual addition to the crew in the form of a guardian spirit, I find that I am finally left with a conundrum that I do not even know where to start with. That book defies my usual scrutinies, and it irks me that I cannot even hold it in my hands for fear of it harming me somehow…”

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When the group returned to the ridge where everyone had made camp, Yenna let out a sigh of relief. The mage was never much for the actual company of people, but knowing they were nearby was a comforting thought—a primal instinct of the kesh, who were ever fond of herding together. Smiles and cheers went up when the group arrived in good spirits, healthy and seemingly successful. Mayi ran up to throw Jiin into a hug, and like that the stonecarver went off with her friend to explain her version of events. Yenna still hadn’t managed to find out what exactly it was that Demvya had done to the ghosts, but she was sure she would find out later.

Instead, Yenna was dragged along to the main campfire along with the Captain. She realised too late what was about to happen—nevertheless, Yenna sat down amongst several scrutinising eyes as Eone recounted her grandiose rendition of their time in the valley. Fortunately for the mage, she was able to get away with writing in her journal, only needing to look up when Eone required clarification. The status of the book was still weighing heavily on her mind, but so was fatigue—since she had joined this expedition, Yenna had barely had a moment to herself to rest. I knew life on the road would be tough, but this is absurd!

While a tent was offered, Yenna had shelter of her own. A few curious eyes watched as she laid out a wide piece of cloth drawn from her pack. With a few magic words and arcane gestures, the cloth lifted itself off the ground to form a tent shape, no pegs or poles required. Further magical maneuvers saw a rug, her bedding and a spare change of clothes zip out from her bag and into the enchanted tent. Turning around to remove the bag itself from her back, Yenna was interrupted by a small voice.

“Huh. I thought it’d be bigger on the inside or something.” The sparrow-winged mereu Mysilia was peering in through the flaps. When she removed her head from the tent and turned to face Yenna, there was a pouting, grumpy expression on her face that the mage found unbearably cute.

“Is there something I can help you with?” Yenna tried to remain civil, though she was torn between wanting to bat the disapproving creature aside and cuddling her into her breast.

“Well, no. Captain Eone said I had to come and apologise for being rude or whatever.” Mysilia’s insistence on not looking Yenna in the eye gave the distinct impression she didn’t agree with this assessment. “I suppose you were braver than I gave you credit for, going down into the valley. Though you did scream loud enough to be heard up here.”

Yenna blushed. “I…I had to hurt myself to break out of the dream! My hand is still sore.”

Mysilia gave an unbelieving look, and with a swish of her dress hovered off to her captain’s side. Yenna had never really interacted with that many mereu, but she had never met one quite so sour as that. Resigned that she may never unravel the mystery of that woman’s scorn, the mage headed to bed.

The morning came quite quickly—too quickly for Yenna’s liking, as she had just the other day been expecting to sleep in after school was finished for the year. Her bedding held a mysterious pull that kept her tethered there for several minutes, but after a time she was able to extricate herself. Yenna slipped on her robe, donned her hat, and scooped up her pack. Under normal circumstances she might have just left the bag in the tent, but she didn’t know the people here and having access to all of her equipment gave her a sense of security.

Stepping out into the mid-morning light, Yenna could see a few people coming back up the trail from the valley. The ruins of the town were shaded by the valley walls—by Yenna’s best estimate, the entire place would barely get a couple of hours of sunlight a day. For what little she knew of farming, Yenna could only assume that the crops would need more light than that. The small stream would have barely sustained them besides, leaving Yenna to wonder if the well that they had stopped at in the first place was left by these people. The mage could only see one reason for settling here—to stay hidden from the rest of the world. In that regard, it would appear they were successful.

Yenna had a few goals in mind for today. First, to process the samples she took from the valley, though she suspected they would largely confirm what was already known about the state of the valley. Then, while they were on solid and unmoving ground, Yenna wanted to inspect the curious black book with her more delicate instruments. The last thing I need is to drop a spectrascope off Chime’s side as we tear down a forgotten old road.

Finally, she needed to talk to Eone about a rather more long-term issue—due to Yenna’s decision to jump aboard this expedition at the last moment, the mage still had little clue as to where they were actually going. Milur was the destination, but that was an entire nation. There was also a lot of Aulprean territory to go between here and Milur, to say nothing of the myriad paths which one could take to get there. Did they mean to tread the more direct paths and avoid the dangers of unmarked roads, or brave the possibility of beasts and bandits to seek forgotten curiosities? Worrying about it will get me nowhere, so I’ll ask later. For now, those samples.

Yenna finished her first task with relative ease. The soil and water samples were alarmingly inert, having not a pinch of life inside them whatsoever. They were utterly barren and Yenna was relatively certain that the cause was the stagnant magic. It still didn’t explain why the magic refused to flow here, and Yenna worried she wouldn’t have that question answered for a while. The weed she had picked was another enigma—It was a common weed of the area, known to spread wide roots and spring up from underground, much to the bane of farmers and gardeners everywhere. But having plucked it, the flower quickly grew brittle and crumbled away before she could finish analysis. It was like something vital had been taken from it, but Yenna couldn’t identify exactly what.

Examining the book proved to be equally mysterious. Even with more refined equipment and Jiin carefully holding the thing for her, she just couldn’t get any kind of information out of it. The metal was stronger than her sampling equipment, chipping an enchanted knife the mage had used to try and take a shaving with. Working with the book was equally frustrating in its very nature—every now and then, the devilish urge to pluck it up and start wrenching it open with her bare hands scratched at the back of her mind. Every time, Demvya’s gentle but stern hand pushed Yenna’s away. It seemed the spirit knew when the influence started to take over, and Yenna presumed that was why Jiin was able to keep the book even when she was, well, herself.

Yenna’s research so far had brought her more questions than answers, which left her in hope that at least Eone would give her a proper response. The captain was busy inspecting several weathered old farming implements when Yenna approached. Turning them this way and that, Eone considered each one as though they were a masterwork of craftsmanship. With how focused she was, Yenna didn’t want to distract her. She waited for Eone to notice her for a few minutes, before the prospect of awkwardly interrupting her seemed less of an issue than standing there staring.

Yenna tried her best to appear as though she had just arrived, stepping in place for a moment—though the act only made her feel that much sillier. “Erm, Captain? If I could bother you a moment with a question…what exactly is our next destination?” 

“Oh? Oh! Mage Yenna!” Eone looked up, and Yenna leapt back to avoid the slicing arc of her horn. “What a fantastic question! We’re heading south, to Milur¹. Specifically, Hilbar, on the border.”

Yenna barely maintained her neutral expression, hiding her extreme surprise. Hilbar was a sizable town and a reasonable destination, but it was also at least two weeks away—even at the pace that Chime could maintain. If that was their next destination, then either Eone was not counting stops along the way, or they were sincerely going to press on for a fortnight straight towards the border between Aulpre and Milur.

“Are we making any stops? I know there’s not a lot of large towns between here and there, but—”

“Might I answer ye?” Muut chose this moment to announce his presence behind Yenna, who hopped in surprise. The man suppressed a small laugh and came around beside the captain. “Our captain, in her great wisdom, takes us unto a winding path of whimsy. Ye might get used to it—I’ve known her me entire life, and I’ve ne’er been able to predict her. Still, we shall assuredly show ye the trick of our travelling route in due course.”

“Well said, Muut! That’s why I keep you around!” Eone gave a belly laugh and smacked Muut on the back. The man gave a long suffering sigh.

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“That, and ye’d starve, lost in the wilderness without anyone to get ye back on track.” Muut’s comment earned another laugh and another resounding smack on the back. Yenna reminded herself not to make the captain laugh too hard in swinging distance.

“Might I make a request, if our itinerary isn’t so set in stone?” Retrieving a small object like a spyglass from her pack, Yenna placed it gently on the table. “If we come across a town with a jeweller or engraver or the like, I would like to requisition their help creating a set of tools for us. Spyglasses permanently enchanted with that magic sight spell I’ve been using.”

Eone scratched her chin and nodded. “I can see how it’d be useful. You led us straight to Demvya, and found us the valley, just off the back of that little spell. What a neat trick it’d be, if we could all do it! Don’t you think, Muut?”

“Another way for ye to get distracted, captain.” Another laugh, another smack. Yenna almost felt that one. “Though I doubt we’ll find a jeweller anywhere on the way–”

“Consider it done! Can’t say I know why you’d need a jeweller or what-have-you to do magic for you, but you’re the mage! There’s a reason I have all these people here to help us—I can’t know everything!” Eone’s winning smile was infectious, and Yenna couldn’t help but smile back. The mage understood her just a little bit better—she wasn’t respected because she knew a lot or had some exceptional talent for everything, she was respected out of her willingness to listen, and let others do their jobs to the best of their abilities.

A few hours later, camp was packed up and everyone was content to leave. The people of the valley had left very little behind, and while they could have spent a while digging through the dirt for scraps, Eone was eager to continue onwards. Once again, Yenna found herself a place on Chime’s back. She found an empty place to sit, and was surprised to find Jiin and Mayi join her almost straight away.

“Captain said I gotta stay close t’you,” Jiin explained with her characteristic smile, “Y’know. Just in case Demvya does somethin’ crazy.”

“THY CAPTAIN MAY REST ASSURED I WILL DO NOTHING OF THE SORT.” Watching Jiin’s face instantly change as Demvya took momentary control was surprising, but almost comical. The yolm’s hair had remained long and white, but the flowers were no more. Her eyes also didn’t change colour to herald Demvya’s control, but the entire change in posture was more than enough of a give-away. No sooner had Demvya said her piece did Jiin come right back into command, to laugh joyfully.

“Mage Yenna—C’n I just call ya Yenna? Yen?” Jiin moved on immediately.

“Yenna will do.” ‘Yen’ reminded her of a childhood nickname, and she would rather not have that be the mood going forward.

“Yenna it is then!” Jiin leaned over and wrapped an arm around Mayi. “I realised we didn’t get much of a chance ta chat, considerin’ all that happened.”

Mayi’s eyes flicked to Jiin at that, with a curious expression that Yenna couldn’t decipher. 

“I suppose not.” the mage replied. “Jiin and Mayi, yes? It’s a pleasure to, erm, formally meet you.”

Jiin laughed loudly, with Mayi giving a quiet snicker alongside her. “Form’ly meetin’! Yer a real fancy lady, Yenna! We’re workin’ t’gether, so don’t have to be all ‘form’ly’ with us, alright?”

“What Jiin is trying to say is,” Mayi butted in, “Don’t worry too much when it comes to how you talk. Speaking of talk, Jiin wouldn’t shut up about you when she got back! Thought I was going to start getting jealous!”

Mayi gave a charming giggle, while Yenna blushed slightly. 

Jiin gave a sheepish laugh. “Well, it’s just that Demvya seems ta think you’re some fancy priestess, and I’ve never seen a mage in action before, so it was pretty cool. Uh, I still think you’re cool too, Mayi!”

Jiin squeezed her friend closer, and Mayi rolled her eyes. “Well, Mage Yenna, I apparently know all there is to know about you, so I might as well introduce myself. I’m Mayi, a doctor. If you get hurt, I’ll patch you right up—you’ll never guess how I met Jiin.”

“W-Woah! Y’don’t have t’go tellin’ everyone about that!” The two devolved into a giggling argument, and Yenna slowly tuned it out as she went back to her studies. They reminded her of students long past, though both women were closer to her own age than her students were. It was the kind of young love where it was so dreadfully obvious that these two were meant for each other that it gave Yenna a warm feeling—even if it did make her a little envious.

It was late afternoon by the time they arrived at the next town over. It wasn’t much, just a small countryside town, but it was a place to stop, resupply, and rest. Yenna thought back to Muut’s promise, to show her the trick of how they plotted their course. As their strange caravan pulled in through the town, Yenna couldn’t help but wonder—what weathervane guides our journey? Some long-forgotten map? A safe path scouted out in advance? Some kind of dowsing or augury, perhaps?

Yenna only hoped she wouldn’t have to wait too long to find out.

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¹ - Milur is a state to the south of Aulpre, its terrain mountainous in contrast to the hills and forests of Aulpre. Milur is primarily known for its mineral wealth and its hardy, friendly people. Who we will likely meet, dear reader! 

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