I. The Tower in the Fog
Exhaustion wasn’t unknown to Vahn. Magical or otherwise, but this was something else. Even days away from what had transpired between Ramvale and Elwick and all the awful medicine Vahn had to swallow just to appease city healers and he was still not back to form. Embarrassing, truth be told because he usually bounced right back. Thankfully, Hawke took it in stride and wasn’t pushing Vahn too much.
They’d agreed staying in Ramvale was too dangerous. Without knowing how soon Elwick could recover, getting as far away as possible in as little as possible time (energy permitting) was ideal. As soon as Vahn had a hearty meal and rest in a real bed, they were on the move. The land here was mostly flat, at least, and had dirt paved roads. Easy treks all around. No forest to get lost in or anything nearby tempting Vahn to stray. Boring, but preferred. Even if walking was the last thing Vahn wanted to do. What he wouldn’t give for a passing merchant this summer afternoon, but it wasn’t to be.
After a short stay at the roadside inn outside of Ramvale and then camping out another night, this stretch of road (which Vahn felt was much too long) had a small guard post about halfway from one place to the other. Travelers commonly used them as rest stops and Vahn gleefully took the time to get out of the sun. The handful of stationed guards even shared some meager food when Vahn managed enough magic to strengthen their walls. There had been a charm there already, grown weak with time, and all Vahn had to do was speak soft words to it to reinvigorate it to be what it once was.
Looking at it in its prime, all activated and sparkly, fascinated Vahn. An incredibly intricate weaving of spells reminding Vahn of complex embroidery. Threads of magic pulled together, overlapping one another in a vibrant display only trained magicians could see. Beyond fascinating and went right into Vahn’s tome so he could study it at length later.
Hawke had been quiet since they arrived at the guard post, but then again, he’d been distant since Vahn recovered enough to be on the move. Clearly, the Elwick business bothered him a great deal, and Vahn wanted to give him space. Although he’d rather have the talkative Hawke back. As it was, Hawke’s shoulders remained tense, there was a worried line in his forehead, and he concentrated too deeply to the world around them.
Vahn understood the worry, but he hated seeing Hawke so. Without a surefire way to loosen him up that he’d approve of, however, Vahn had to leave him be. Once they made enough distance, he was sure the Hawke he knew and enjoyed would be back.
For now, Vahn ignored his own worry. If he was as drained as he was, Elwick would have been in worse shape given the parameters of the spell. It was why Hawke heard nothing on the wind despite how hard he listened.
In any case, the food at the guard station was acceptable. The fresh-faced guard giving Vahn too many little smiles upon arrival had even mixed together some kind of lemon drink with too much sugar in it too, but Vahn quickly devoured it and asked for seconds much to the man’s delight. The oldest guard, likely the one in charge given the way the other three deferred to her, was sitting down with Hawke as he studied a map she’d laid out. All Vahn knew was they were heading toward a city to catch a ferry to the other side of the lake instead of walking all the way across.
The guards here came from either Ramvale or Lakewatch which was where they were headed toward. A coalition of sorts keeping the roadway clear of bandits and the like. They had set rotations and mostly employed abled young individuals until said guard moved on to try something else. It wasn’t a bad profession by any means and the fresh-faced guard admitted to liking it because it meant he met new people. His gaze lingered with a certain kind of hopefulness on Vahn when he’d said that.
What interested Vahn the most about the place was the lookout built atop the post. After he’d eaten his fill of oatmeal and biscuits, Vahn convinced the fresh-faced guard to let him up there to look at the contraption used to watch the field. It was a spelled telescope and Vahn just had to study it before they left.
And while sure, the fresh-faced guard admitted they didn’t usually let anyone examine it, he made a special exception for Vahn. Not out of the goodness of his heart, no—not the way he checked Vahn out. To make sure the guard didn’t change his mind, Vahn even let him get a feel for his ass under the guise of helping Vahn steady himself on the ladder (and it was definitely more than just a helping hand with the way it squeezed). The attention was actually rather nice and Vahn made it a point then to memorize his name—it was Bert, he was pretty sure.
After being bold enough to cop a feel, however, Bert grew more nervous the longer he was alone with Vahn. Immediately into the look-out room, he rapid-fired the directions and became even more flustered when Vahn gave him smiles and his “wow, that’s so interesting!” look, and then let Vahn at the telescope.
Vahn knew how they’d worked, even without Bert’s explanation. The Floating World utilized them between islands and he’d helped the university construct one after an upper-year broke it in an experiment gone wrong. This one was a little archaic, but the motions remained the same. Peer into the view finder, turn it with the handles at the sides, and simply look. Scan lines fluttered over the view, connecting to the lines of magic imbedded into the field around them, and pinged anything of note the telescope captured in its lens.
And that was the impressive part. Someone had laid an impressive groundwork with all the magic lines crisscrossing the field to make sure the telescope was well utilized. The magic there drew on the leyline below, but unlike the network of roots Vahn was getting the hang of noticing, this was regimented and measured. Definitely human made. Vahn made a mental note to touch the ground once he was outside to see if he could track just how far it went on magic alone.
A question came to mind and as Vahn glanced over to ask Bert, he paused to bite down a chuckle. Bert’s gaze was firmly on his ass with the way Vahn was bent over the viewfinder. Vahn saw no reason to deny the man the view—these leggings indeed made his ass look great—and resumed bending over.
Next time he and Hawke had separate rooms at an inn, Vahn was going to find himself a bed partner. Maybe one of the guards here wouldn’t be bad, but Bert seemed to be the only one interested and Vahn wasn’t sure if he could handle how flustered the man would become if Vahn made the first move.
“Hey,” Vahn said and Bert’s armor clattered with sudden movement as he pretended he wasn’t staring precisely at Vahn’s ass. Vahn smiled over his shoulder, delighting in the way Bert’s face went red. “A magician put this in for you, right?”
“Uh. Yeah.” Bert dared closer, standing right beside Vahn. He smelled like wood and lemons up close. Endearing. He wasn’t much older than Vahn with messy hair shorn close to his scalp and an unfortunately patchy beard he did his best with. Young faced and cute. Too bad he wasn’t bolder. “Years before I started here. Abbie says they put it in one day and showed the guards how to use it. Abbie’s been keeping the trend alive, I guess. Handy, right?”
Vahn hummed. “Very.” He resumed bending over to peer across the field. “It’s very complex. Do they come out often to check on it?”
Bert paused, thinking. “Not to my knowledge, but I haven’t been here long yet. Nothing usually breaks as far as I know.”
“I see. It is incredibly well constructed and you all do a good job keeping that way.”
They went quiet again, Vahn idly peering across the field just to bide his time to see if Bert would grow bold on his own, but just as Vahn was sure he thought to—there was a tiny intake of breath of a decision made—boots hitting the rung of the ladder interrupted them. Too bad. Vahn drew away to look, finding Bert quickly taking his hand away from copping another feel, and Hawke was coming up.
Bert immediately looked put out by the bard’s presence and bit back his smile. Not the first time Hawke had ruined someone’s attempt to feel Vahn up. Amusing every time.
“I figured you weaseled your way up here,” Hawke said. “Something magic and you’re all over it.”
Vahn rolled his eyes and straightened his back. “What can I say? I live for learning.”
“Ah. I’ll. Um.” Bert cleared his throat and gently patted Vahn on the back. “I’ll leave you to it then. Don’t break it or Abbie might throw me in the lake.”
“Promise, I won’t,” Vahn said, chuckling. “Thank you for letting me up here!”
Bert’s goodbye was mumbled at best and he dodged Hawke’s amused stare as he hurried back down the ladder to rejoin his fellow guards. One of them immediately gave him crap about something, but then the words were too quiet to parse so far up.
“He was going to feel you up,” Hawke pointed out.
Vahn shrugged. “And I would have let him! You just had to go and intimidate the poor guy.” He bent back over and peered through the telescope again, knowing Hawke was also now checking out his ass. Predictable. “You want an eyeful too?”
Hawke sighed loudly through his nose, annoyed. “You know, that guy knows how to use a sword better than me. I should be the one intimidated!”
Artfully dodged the question, but Vahn didn’t mind. Teasing between them was fun and he wasn’t tired of it yet. Hawke came up beside him and bent over to peer as well. Vahn didn’t even mind the arm around him, holding Vahn still so the telescope didn’t jiggle.
“So, what do the lines do?” Hawke asked.
“Oh, you’ve never used one before?”
“Usually don’t flirt my way into one of these. Guards don’t trust smooth talking bards. Just innocent magicians with nice asses.”
Vahn barked a laugh, overjoyed Hawke was at ease enough to tease him again, and nudged the bard in the stomach. “Please! What exactly about me is innocent?” He grinned and Hawke just shook his head before he stepped away. “The lines connect to magic down below to help survey. It’ll tell me if there’s anything of note. Like this rock!”
The rock was actually rather boring. Smooth faced and white. Probably put there as a landmark. Vahn turned the telescope again to look another direction, all while keeping an eye on Hawke. He’d gone to the rail surrounding the room to keep people away from being directly up against the windows. It was a nice view of the growing evening around them. Fog curled in the far distance, leftover from a rainstorm that must have gone through before they’d arrived. A shadow crawled across the plains, too, from one of the islands moseying on by. Vahn couldn’t tell which one from inside.
“Well?” Hawke asked and faced Vahn. “See anything worthwhile except the rock?”
Vahn shrugged. “Land’s flat. There’s grass. A few wild flowers that way. Oh!” The view finder jumped with the word and so did Hawke. “There’s a bunny rabbit!”
Hawke’s long, drawn out sigh came closer and he flicked Vahn in the head, making him lose sight of the dashing rabbit. He was smiling though, even as he tried to hide it when Vahn peeked up at him.
“Did you learn anything from Abbie?” Vahn asked. “You two were very serious over that map.”
“Not as much as I’d hoped. I haven’t been down this way in a while and was trying to get a feel before I stick my nose into anything.” Hawke returned to the rail to lean on them. The setting sun poured scant rays inside, lighting up all the golden hues on Hawke’s person. “As far as Abbie knows, no weird magic things going on over here. The city has a magic sensing device to keep track of disturbances.”
Vahn had seen those devices. The Floating World used them to make sure the magic keeping the islands floating was working as it should. Very vital. Down here, he supposed it would be useful to measure what Wild Magic did, although he doubted it followed much of a pattern.
“No sign of Elwick out this way, then?”
“Not a one.” Hawke’s shoulders eased and before Vahn could ask him if he heard anything, he’d tilted his head one way. “Hey, point that thing northwest-ish. Tell me what you see there. It was on the map.”
Vahn followed the direction, curious, and across the evening fog, the view finder pinged the top of something in the distance. He waited a moment, letting it get an accurate reading, and excitement jolted through him. “Oh! Is that a tower?” He moved aside as Hawke returned to look as well.
“Yeah, Abbie said there was a magician who kept the lines in the area working?” Hawke waved a dismissive hand. “Don’t remember the details”—Vahn pouted at him—”but she said the magician set all this up here, too. Seems like they know a lot about magic.”
Interesting. Vahn studied the telescope itself and gently ran his fingers along the shaft holding all the lenses inside. Magic lines made up the seams, keeping what was within ready to use, and although weak now, there was still a very distinct magician’s signature there. Not any Vahn knew intimately. When he pulled his hand away, he found Hawke watching him softly.
“Want to visit the magician?” Hawke asked.
Vahn perked up. “Really? It’s out of our way.”
Hawke shrugged. “I know, but it’s not like we’re gonna make it to Lakewatch at this hour.” He nudged Vahn in the side. “Come on, I thought you’d be geeked. Another magician to talk to that isn’t trying to kill you.”
“I am geeked!” Vahn said quickly.
“I also promised Abbie we’d check in on the magician,” Hawke continued as he crossed his arms. “She hasn’t heard from them in a while and no one answers when she goes by.”
“Ooh.” Vahn chuckled and peered at the tower in the viewfinder. “Likely buried in research. I can relate; once, I didn’t come out of my dorm for weeks! How far is it?”
“About an hour’s walk. We’ll probably get there by the time it gets dark.”
Vahn thought a moment and slid a glance at Hawke. “You don’t want to stay here overnight and then head out in the morning?”
Hawke shook his head. “I’d rather not chance someone coming to replace the others and recognizing me.”
Vahn raised his eyebrows. “What did you do?”
“Well, not here, just… nearby. Yeah. Problems with authority. You know.”
Magic tumbled off the words, quick and hurried like he thought he’d slip them past Vahn. Teasing Hawke about it crossed Vahn’s mind, but he decided against it. He probably just didn’t want to listen to Bert trying to make a move. Just as well. Tower was far more exciting than a tryst with a nervous guard.
“Besides,” Hawke continued once he deemed it safe to do so, “tower’s bound to have comfy beds. You don’t want to roll around with a guard on a cot here. Not good on the back.”
Vahn cackled. “I take it you have prior knowledge?”
Hawke put a finger to his lips, winking, and Vahn laughed. Of course, rolling around in a cot such as the ones here was something Hawke was well versed in. Vahn shooed him toward the ladder. “All right, all right. Let’s get going before I coach Bert how to be bolder.”
The guards were fine seeing them leave—even though they’d been friendly to Hawke, none of them looked to trust him as though he was a common vagrant. They also had no idea what to make of Vahn, although Bert certainly didn’t want Vahn to leave, but he hid his disappointment well. Vahn flustered him in the end anyway with a kiss on the cheek before they were off. The tower awaited, after all, and Vahn wasn’t about to turn away from the opportunity.
Hawke’s mood improved on the walk, his shoulders growing more and more relaxed, and Vahn attributed it to the sunlight, as scant as it was. Bright and brilliant still for a summer evening; what Vahn wouldn’t give for a summer nighttime stroll. Sleeping outside the tent hadn’t done much for his reserves, but it had helped. Maybe he could convince Hawke to run around with him under the stars somehow. It was nicer with a friend.
For now, he concentrated on the road. He’d feel his reserves return soon. At least the ordeal was worth it to at least be able to research the effects at a later date.
The road was smooth and, on either side at even intervals, were the very uninteresting rocks spied from the viewfinder. Except, upon closer inspection, they were far more interesting. He stopped to study the third one they’d passed—there had to be a reason they were there—and recognized sigils and glyphs carefully carved on the surface. Vahn tempted touching one with his finger and the connection was immediate. The rocks were small wells of magic drawing power up from the leyline beneath the road.
It made sense. If the magician in the tower took care of the area, they’d want wells of magic for a quick pick-me-up in case they overextended. Each stone had the same set of symbols and provided the same amount of magic. Not enough to upset anything below, at least.
Vahn skimmed his fingers over each stone they passed after his discovery and the burst of energy brought a spring to his step, making his vision clearer and sharper to see the world around him. Hawke noticed the shift after the third one and watched Vahn, amused.
“It’s a magic fountain,” Vahn said quickly and brought Hawke closer to the one he’d been hurrying toward. He helped Hawke splay his fingers across the surface so each finger touched one of the cardinal points. The magic ghosted upward and Hawke immediately flinched and withdrew, eyes wide.
“Aw.” Vahn frowned. “It’s not that weird, is it?”
“Not my thing at all.” Hawke shook out his hand and the flecks of magic slipped off to return to the road. “I’ll let my voice do what it does. You can have the little fountains.”
Vahn was happy to do so, delighting in how it felt shivering up his hand. Sure, the sensation sent a soft tingle throughout his entire body as though it was memorizing it, but it was merely to make a record of who was taking the magic.
It made him think of Elwick and all his power and he paused in thought. “Do you think the magician might know about Elwick?”
The name sent a shiver through Hawke. He’d tried to hide it, scratching the back of his neck, but Vahn caught it anyway. “I was wondering that too. If magic’s just here for the taking and Elwick hasn’t taken it…”
Vahn nodded slowly. “Perhaps we’ll learn something.”
He certainly hoped so, at any rate. Even days after the event, Vahn had come up woefully short with how to help Hawke. Giving in wasn’t his style, but he needed somewhere to start and Hawke remembered nothing of what Trice had found on her own. Vahn wanted to push him—surely, he recalled something—but bringing up Trice always left Hawke frustrated or incredibly down, so Vahn let two years of potential research go. Whatever had happened at the end of their relationship must have really hurt.
Besides, Vahn didn’t mind letting it go if it meant Hawke’s carefree smile returned.
They came upon the tower as evening ghosted across the land, bringing with it a breeze sending shivers across Vahn. Even the brilliant gold leaves of the tree growing alongside the tower shivered. Magic tracked up the white bark, a protective charm of sorts as it blended magic from the earth with the Wild Magic upon the air. The tree wouldn’t fall nor burn so long as the magic continued and given how the roots reached far below, into the leyline itself if Vahn had to guess, it would be here for years to come. Astounding and Vahn let the nuances of the complex spell fill a few more pages of his tome for studying later.
Hawke had already knocked on the door while Vahn surveyed the tree. It was a simple door, made of some kind of word with heavy grain work and had a window at the top, the panes in the shape of a floral design with golden leaves. Though the sound of Hawke’s heavy knock reverberated, no one came. Not even to answer the shout they cast upward. Gave Vahn more time to acknowledge the place as the work of art it was, at least.
Every brick and bit of plaster enchanted to weather anything. Magic twinkled off windows, on one hand ready to dim the window against bright suns and to clear them when the sun set. Even the ivy clinging to the sides ate magic and it grew healthy wildflowers along its stems even though it wouldn’t have normally.
Crickets sung in the air from the field and owls hooted from faraway, the sounds carrying toward them. Soft summer sounds, Vahn could have found himself lost listening to if they weren’t waiting for a sound from the tower itself. Vahn peered upward, trying to think of why. It wasn’t so tall someone at the top wouldn’t have heard them; the sound must have carried on magic to keep the magician knowledgeable to who was visiting.
The top fanned outward, a balcony wrapped around the very top. Probably where the magician kept their chambers and Vahn could only imagine the view from up there, all the way around. Parts of the tree leaned into it, like the leaves grew in such a way to listen to the spells in progress.
“Well.” Hawke dropped his arm and frowned. “Now what?”
“Did you try the handle?”
Hawke gave him a dubious look. “And be cursed?”
Vahn rolled his eyes. “They’ll be a researcher, like me!”
Hawke’s expression did not change. “Yeah and I’ve seen what you can do first hand.”
Vahn pushed Hawke and slid between him and the door. “Oh, come on. The most we’ll contend with are wards. Perhaps a hex or two.”
“Hex is where I’m worried.”
Hawke missed the roll of Vahn’s eyes because Vahn was facing the door. He pondered it up and down, thinking. Simple work, not incredibly thick, and the handle was basic. Probably not how the door opened at all and Vahn ignored it in favor of the magic cycling through the grain pattern. Vahn splayed his hand there and the inherent magic warmed against his skin, studying him as much as he studied it. Magic kept it locked, not the handle. Understandable; it was how most doors in the Floating World worked as well. Who needed physical locks when magic did the trick much more safely?
“It’s locked with magic,” Vahn said. “But it’s not too complex. I can use the door’s magic against itself to undo the incantation.”
Hawke leaned on the doorway as though to get a better look. “How so?”
“Solar Magic made the ward.” Vahn pressed his index finger against the center of the grain pattern. “It’s concentrated here. The antithesis of Solar Magic can pull it out once I get the pattern down.” Vahn smiled. “Do you remember what that is?”
Hawke snorted. “Lunar Magic.”
“If I had a gold star, I would give you one.”
It got another snort out of Hawke and he had to turn away to stifle the laugh bubbling up next. As intended.
Vahn concentrated on the complex of lines and sigils hidden within the door. They flickered into view with the concentration, soft undulating lines constantly refreshing them as was their function. All he needed to do was to find the beginning and retool it with a little Lunar Magic and presto, it’d be unlocked. Finding it, however, was time consuming as each magician was unique and so too were their spells.
Out of the corner of his eye, Vahn caught Hawke watching him like he could see the intricate work too. Eventually, the bard chuckled.
“Have you actually picked locks before?”
Vahn huffed and jabbed his elbow into Hawke. “Magic locks! I’ll have you know I rummaged through every single of my professors’ offices after hours.” He couldn’t bite back the smile spreading across his lips. “I was only caught when a professor noticed a book out of alignment and set a ward down to catch me.”
Hawke’s laugh grew loud and he was too late to cover it. “You were a troublemaker, I knew it!” He grinned as Vahn gave him a tired look. “What were you going through their offices for?”
“Their spell books!” Vahn insisted and twisted some magic tickling his palm. “I learned much more from those excursions than their classes. I even learned how to set their locks exactly as they had them so they’d never notice!”
It was after he’d been caught. Part of his punishment was reupping the professor’s wards for him and Vahn was sure the man was more impressed than angry when he set Vahn to the task. He’d even begun to leave research notes for Vahn to find in the nights afterward. It was a cute little game. Oh, how Vahn missed Professor Senwin. The man had liked Vahn’s curious mind and was incredibly easy on the eyes. Irius meanwhile, hated Senwin. Perhaps that was what had drawn Vahn to Senwin originally.
The lock clicked, threads undone as Vahn idly plucked while deep in thought. The door creaked itself open, pushing cold air trapped inside out. It was a charm magicians utilized in the summer to keep buildings cool even on the warmest days. Refreshing on the skin.
Which meant this magician must have been from the Floating World in some capacity. The tower was growing curiouser still.
“There we go,” Vahn said and faced Hawke. “Easy!” Unfortunately, the motion of turning reminded him of the magic he lacked. His vision spun, blurring Hawke into two of him, and then he tipped backwards. Hawke merged back together and caught him before he went down entirely. “Oh, dear.”
“What was that?” Hawke asked, concern too vibrant in his voice.
“Still recovering.” Vahn blinked hard and when he reopened his eyes, everything was right again. He stood solidly on the ground and released an exhale. “You know what we need to do? Do something remarkable and have a tavern throw us a feast.” He chuckled as confusion worked its way across Hawke’s face. “So I can eat it all.”
Another laugh barked out of Hawke as realization hit and Vahn grinned. “Next big tavern, I’ll dance and sing and get you all the food I can. Promise.”
Almost tempting to say screw the tower and find said tavern, but Vahn swallowed his excitement and focused on the task inside. Tower. Perhaps a missing magician they’d promised the guards they’d check up on.
Right inside was stonework flooring and wooden walls holding strings of dried flowers and herbs. It created a soft aroma to the place, reminding Vahn of the earth, and he breathed in deep. One side of the entrance led to a shallow cellar filled with shelves of jars and all sorts of preserved foods, but they weren’t here to ransack the place. Vahn left it all alone. Magicians had very peculiar ways of sorting their own stores, so to mess with another’s was a huge insult.
The other half of the entry way led to the wooden spiral staircase heading upward. Vahn eagerly took the lead and Hawke stepped a few paces behind him like he thought there truly was a reason to be prepared to duck and cover.
No one answered Hawke’s many calls upward as they ascended, which was worrisome. The magic inside the tower was old, following directions too hard to follow all the way back to get a glimpse of who cast them. Should have asked the guards how long they’d known of the magician to get an idea of the person. At least the magic was welcoming, which put Vahn a little at ease. Meant no one would likely attack because the magic was an extension of the magician and thus, who they were deep down. If the magician meant strangers harm, the magic would have already reacted as such.
The first open floor was a small visiting room. It was circular, following the shape of the tower, with a nice rug in the center, a magically lit fireplace against the far wall, and cozy, wooden furniture facing one another with cushions aplenty. Definitely looked cozier than the hard cots at the guard post. Between the windows looking out into the fields around them were white tapestries with geometric earthy tones woven into the surface. Trinkets galore sat upon shelves across the room, little things of wonder someone might buy upon traveling.
Vahn moved on and inside the next floor up, they found a small chemist room. Vahn resisted with every fiber of his being from going in and checking all the equipment out. He hadn’t seen a proper alchemic set up since university. Crystalline beakers and measuring cups lined shelves across the room, tubes were carefully nestled in holes in the shelves, and there was a large cauldron in the center of it all. All of it was covered in dust, which was partly worrying, but not entirely unheard of.
“Magic to dispel dust tends to mess with alchemic potions,” Vahn said to Hawke’s sensible concern.
There were also spell books along the far wall, collected from various areas, but Vahn resisted thumbing through them. It was only polite he ask permission first, so up they went.
“Hello?” Hawke called out yet again, magic drawing his voice upward. “Is anyone up here? We just want to check in on you.”
More and more, nervous energy wound through Vahn. There were many reasons an accomplished magician (and they had to be accomplished to have made this tower) hadn’t come down to greet them. Research. Sleeping. Perhaps they were having a bad day and didn’t want to get out of bed. All sensible reasons. The higher they went, the more Vahn couldn’t deny that perhaps, something was actually wrong.
They passed a small kitchen on the way up, complete with a contraption built into the wall there to take whatever was made either up or down, but nothing else was remarkable inside. Typical appliances. A pantry full of staples (Hawke had to know and shared his findings). Everything was in its proper place.
The very top was another large room. Two walls opened up into the balcony outside, large glass doors were pulled aside and billowing sheer curtains let in the evening breeze. Two skylights allowed in the bountiful light (or moonlight) from above. In the very center of the room was a pillar that also functioned as a bookcase, full of all sorts of different sized tomes. Another wall resembled a library’s wall given how many books were placed inside. It even had an attached rolling ladder to reach the higher ones. Near the wall of books was another small sitting area with equally comfy looking couches and a prestigious desk just right for a magician. The other side of the room held a canopy bed dressed in vibrant colors and had sheer curtains pinned back against the posts. It was separated from the rest of the room via a wooden lattice screen and had a full wardrobe and dresser set on either side of it.
Vahn breathed the room in deep. It smelled of paper and ink, the leather of tomes, and the glue of book binding materials. After it came the aroma of the tree outside, the leaves attempting to curl inside from the balcony. All of this told Vahn it had to be a magician who was also a researcher. Like him.
He drew his gaze across the room again and noticed the chair out on the balcony. Dark wood, covered in a tasseled dark maroon blanket, and most importantly: someone sat there, covered in robes of violets and white.
“Hello! I’m so sorry for the intrusion!” Vahn hurried around so he could look at the magician properly. “My name is Vahn and I am a Wayfarer…”
The rest died on his lips, title and status vanished into the air as he beheld the magician beneath the robe.
Dead.
The robe hid a skeleton beneath, one crusted with magic made physical as little salt crystals all over in so many different colors. The power had already eaten away all the skin and tissue, leaving only the skeleton. The skull stared skyward, empty of all emotion, and upon both wrists were two golden bangles, a twin of Vahn’s own.
🙡🙢