Songs of Reamere: The End Of The World (I think I do have it in me after all)

Armand stared in shock at the wall of fog before him, the unfamiliar sensation of a man on his back but a niggling annoyance. The end of the world was a solid wall in front of him, but.... the serpent hadn't even hesitated, it had gone straight through. Plus the voices on the other side....

 

Determined, Armand angled himself forwards, ignoring the human on his back suddenly shouting in alarm.

 

“Woah, lad, what are you doing?”

 

“There's something on the other side, I'm going to see what it is.”

 

“Lad, that's the end of the world!”

 

“The serpent crossed over without even hesitating, and I'm certain I heard voices on the other side. If you'd like, I'll drop you on the ice, but I'm going forward.”

 

Armand tilted his head backwards, watching Wayre's face, and the man gulped a few times before hesitantly nodding.

 

“I'm with you. You've taken us this far, and I've seen things I never thought I would ever see. I trust you.”

 

Armand's face softened, touched by Wayre's words, and he turned back to the fog again.

 

“That means a lot, captain. Now hold on tight, I don't have a harness and depending on what we encounter in that fog I may need to move suddenly.”

 

“Ain't my first time riding a stryx bareback, son, though you're considerably larger. Don't worry about me.”

 

Without another word, Armand beat the air with his wings, moving swiftly forward. The breeze picked up, blowing towards him from the wall of fog, and he hoped that there would be land on the other side, wherever that was. With the activities of the past few days, he was exhausted. Trying to conserve some strength, he slotted his wing tips, slowing his speed but allowing the wind to pass through with a little less resistance. As he approached the fog bank, he felt his will falter slightly, but he grit his teeth and remembered why he was out here. If he gave up now, everything he had gone through would be for nothing, and no questions would be answered, and it would have all been pointless.

 

Still, though, as he approached the mist he felt trepidation shiver through him, ruffling his feathers, and at the very edge of the very strange fog he paused, hovering. He sent forth a very small beacon of light, the very first spell Inari had taught him, and was relieved when it stayed a steady pale gold, indicating that at the very least the fog was not dangerous.

 

“What's that light, lad?”

 

“A guidelight. Inari taught me the spell when I first became her student; it warns you if the environment you're about to enter is dangerous, and if you're lost you can use it to guide you in a straight direction.”

 

“A very useful spell! And you learned it when you first started? How strong a mage you must be.”

 

Armand laughed dryly, remembering the ridicule he had earned from his fellow students when he chose to learn this instead of something like fire breath.

 

“The opposite, in fact. It's considered one of the easiest and simplest spells to learn. You could probably even cast it yourself.”

 

Wayre's hand on his neck jolted him out of the memory, and he tilted his head back.

 

“The simplest tools are the most useful, usually. Think of how useful a knife is to a man. You could make it a fancy sword, or a vegetable peeler, or attack it to feathers and make it an arrow. But once you specialize it, it no longer able to do the tasks you once gave it. Sometimes, simple is better.”

 

Armand stopped listening to Wayre's words, something about the way he had said it ringing in his ears, reminding him of something, if only he could.....

 

~

 

“Well done, Armand! Look how clear and steady that light is, masterfully done!”

 

Instead of being proud of the earned praise, Armand instead wilted, looking down at the light balefully. The light, once proud and bright, flickered out of existence almost immediately, and Inari frowned at it. Armand winced at the expression, hoping Parhelion wasn't around to see him disappoint her rider.

 

“It's just a beginner's spell, isn't it? Nothing to really be proud of.”

 

Inari snapped her eyes to his face and Armand flinched back. His instructor paused for a moment, pursing her lips as she clearly thought over her words, and she spoke them very carefully.

 

“An easy spell to learn does not make a spell a beginner's spell. During the siege on Sol this guidelight was the most valuable spell I had. Without it, I would have fallen into many a trap. It's a dependable spell that takes a lot of focus and commitment to master, but once done it is well worth it. And you've mastered it, Armand. There are many masters who don't even put in half the effort into this spell and it shows in the rest of their work. Now, what's really wrong?”

 

Armand huffed, breaking eye contact and dragging his talons through the dirt. Behind him, the rest of his studymates cheered at some sparkles of frost Nidavir had managed to conjure.

 

“It's just..... everyone else can already do a ton of spells, and this is the only thing I can do.”

 

Inari followed his gaze to Nidavir, watching for a moment as the snowflakes sputtered in and out of existence. When she next spoke, she dropped her voice, leaning towards him.

 

“They are able to get to the first step of a lot of spells, aren't they? But watch Nidavir. She's struggling to maintain that frost for even a few seconds, where I watched you play with the guidelight all morning. A wide cast net may catch a lot, or it might miss something that a well-aimed spear would have been able to get with ease. Don't take your efforts lightly, Armand. I think you'll find learning and mastering other spells a much easier process now that you've mastered one. And besides, don't knock the guidelight; you may one day find it can do more than you ever thought it could.”

 

“Yeah, maybe”, Armand muttered, scrunching the loose dirt under his toes, and Inari reached out to pat a talon.

 

“You'll get there at your own pace, don't try to rush it. Now watch closely, I'll show you how to make a fart sound with magic.”

 

~

 

Snapping out of his memory, Armand stared at the guidelight intently, something niggling at the back of his brain. He knew that spells could be altered, though it could be risky. But the guidelight was just a simple caution spell, wasn't it? But it wasn't cast like a caution spell, it was cast-

 

His eyes widened. It was cast like a soul spell. The light was summoned by converting one's own energy and using it as fuel, except the guidelight was so negligible the caster wouldn't even notice the drain. But what if...?

 

Armand drew the guidelight close to him, watching the wisps of magic curl off of it, remembering the way Parhelion had once described looking at the sun. The cost of the guidelight was so small because the light was cast to be small. But what if.... what if he made the light large, instead? Perhaps extremely large?

 

“Lad? What are you thinking?”

 

“Something very, very stupid most likely”, he muttered in response, still studying the light. In answer, Wayre slapped his neck, the loud guffaw startling Armand.

 

“That's my lad! Knew we'd get some life out of you yet!”

 

“This could go badly”, Armand warned. “I haven't heard of anyone doing anything like this before. It could kill both of us.”

 

“Or go back and give up when we've gotten this far? Go ahead, try your idea. I want to see this through to the end.”

 

“Very well”, Armand nodded, tilting back to hook the guidelight in his talons. Wayre whooped as the soft warmth touched Armand's skin, comforting him, and he took a moment to relish it before focusing his energy, using that simple warmth as a guide. Then, without realizing that his eyes were glowing, he pushed the gathered energy into the guidelight, flinging it forward into the void.

 

To his surprise, it responded exactly how he thought it would. With a roar, the guidelight exploded in size, the pulse of its growth burning away the mist and leaving a large hole in the fog for them to travel through. Armand examined the guide carefully, calculating the drain, and was stunned. The energy drain wasn't any more than what the small light had cost him, in fact it seemed to be energizing him in turn, like it was sentient. But that couldn't be, could it? Unless.... unless it was feeding off his own surety in what they were doing. He had remembered reading about magic like that, that fed off of willpower instead of strength.

 

As if in response, the guidelight pulsed again, then began moving forward on its own. Armand watched it for a moment, than laughed joyfully and began following it, feeling the burst of energy in him in response to the laugh. Well then, time to see where this light would take him!