War of the Wisps

Anna followed the archmage through the castle. They were on their own. The Chamberlain, Daniel, had insisted on lecturing the boys about the proper etiquette due to royalty, having noticed that none of the travelers had bowed to their King and Queen. Sol had taken the opportunity to slip away with Anna. “Courtesies are a dreary subject,” the Elf said. “And I share the king’s opinion that they’re all a waste of time anyway.”

Anna didn’t reply. She found it difficult to breath, now that they were at the point. She could feel Halcyon stirring in her bracelet. He calmed her a little. But the moment he withdrew, the thought that the Wisp was controlling her came back, along with all of her anxiety.

“Remind me the number of Wisps you’re traveling with,” Sol continued without looking back at her.

“Six of them. One that came on his own, and the other five came later.”

“Fascinating. And the fact they haven’t driven you raving mad is a feat in itself. Oh, this way. My offices are above the library.” Sol led Anna into a large chamber. It was two stories high, with balconies overlooking the room on all sides. Bookshelves stood lining the walls below and above. There were a few more bellow, forming a corridor of books around the room, opening into a series of tables in the center. These were strewn with various papers scrolls, and other books that Anna had no time to examine.

Sol brought her over to the corner of the room, where a spiral staircase lead up to the second floor of the library and beyond. Sol continued, and they entered a chamber that seemed almost like the library in miniature. One great bookshelf covered the wall, and one desk table sat adjacent to it, even more disorganized than the group below. There were some papers spread across it, but most of the mess came from, of all things, bits of carpentry tools and crystals spread over the surface.

Anna found herself staring at the pile, not sure what to do. Sol sat down, then realized she was staring. A smile crept over his face. “Oh, don’t worry about this. I’ve been tinkering with a few types of enchantment, is all.” He picked up a small stick with a gem placed in its center, and a pattern of sharp angles forming diamonds spreading out from it. He pressed his finger to the largest shape in the pattern, and beams of light shot out of the stick at the ceiling.

“A light stick?” Anna asked, wondering why the Archmage would be showing her this. She’d seen a few. As far as she was aware, most mages had something like it, if they could afford the crystal for the enchantment.

“Yes. I’m trying to modify the spell though.”

“Why?”

“Well, normally, if you wish to have different levels of brightness, you need an enchantment for each one, and therefore a new crystal for each one,” Sol said. “I’m trying to see if I can weave a net capable of changing brightness without magical intervention.”

Anna frowned. “Wouldn’t most workers or mages using a light stick need as much light as possible?”

Sol shrugged. “Most of the time. But sometimes having just a little is better. Besides, I think I’m almost there,” he added. He pressed another part of the stick. The light began flickering, and a popping noise came from the stick. Sol shut it off, sighing. “But not quite yet.”

“Are all of these baubles something like that?” Anna asked.

The Elf grinned. “Most of them. Others are more unique enchantments. Idea’s of mine. But, let’s not forget why we’re here!”

“Oh. Right,” Anna said, realizing she’d almost managed just that.

“You have your Wisps living in your bracelet, yes? Here, let me see it.”

Anna held her hand up, wrist up so the gem in her bracelet faced Sol. The Elf took her hand in one of his and examined the gem with the other. “Six of them? In this one opal?” he asked. Anna nodded. “Fascinating. They really are something far different than our normal spells. I wonder if I could structure something like… but I’d need a test subject… would you mind if I borrowed one of the Wisps?”

Anna blinked. “I… I think that’s up to them,” she said.

Sol nodded. “Right, right. I’ll start thinking on some way to entice one or two of them into one of my gems.”

“What about making sure they aren’t controlling me?” Anna asked.

“Let’s see!” Sol said. He turned in his chair and began rummaging through one of his desk drawers. Over his shoulder he said, “It’s a very good sign that you still have the wherewithal to ask that question. Mean’s you’re still thinking your own thoughts and have got your own intentions. Ah, here’s my notes,” he added, turning back around with a stick of charcoal and a reem of small papers bound together in what was almost a book. He flipped to the middle of the papers and continued. “But it’s a good idea to check, since we’ve already established a few unusual things about your Wisps.”

“How does it work?” Anna asked.

“I’m going to cast a web of my own magic around you,” the Archmage said. “It will let me sense everything that’s going on. If you’re completely under the Wisps’ influence, there will be traces I can find this way. Ready?” Even as he asked the question, she saw a ruby the size of an egg set into the collar of his robes begin to glow. White light flowed out of it, smoking in tendrils similar to the Wisps themselves.

“How long will it take?” Anna asked. Sol didn’t answer. He just held his hand out. Anna felt her skin tingle. Her hairs began to rise almost they way they would during a thunderstorm. She looked over herself, expecting to see the magic web Sol had described. There was nothing of the kind, though. The most she could see was her clothes rippling, as if there was a breeze. Then she saw the opal in her bracelet was shining a brilliant blue.

“Interesting,” Sol muttered. The Archmage stared at Anna for several seconds, eyes all sharp focus, before turning to jot things down in his notes. He looked up, then returned to writing again. As he worked, the tingling in her skin grew stronger, more like a vibration. It sank deeper, into her bones. Her whole body felt like it was shaking. It wasn’t painful, but if this kept up, she was sure it would make her sick. “Ah… That’s unexpected.”

“What is?” Anna asked.

“The Wisps themselves are resisting the web,” Sol said. “I can feel them. They’re powerful little things. But I can’t tell anything about them. If you hadn’t told me there were six, I don’t think I could even have parsed out their numbers. No wonder they’re so difficult to study. Ah well. That’s just confirmation at this point.”

“Does that mean you can’t tell if they have any control over me?” Anna asked.

“Oh, no. You’re fine,” Sol said. His ruby stopped glowing, and the vibration ceased. “This web cuts off their influence. I can tell how much control they had based on how much resistance there was around you. There wasn’t much. They’re resisting it themselves, but they’re not forcing their way into your head. And I’ve sifted around some. It doesn’t look like they left anything so they can take over when they want to, either.” The Elf smiled. “Thought it best to be safe.”

“Really,” Anna said. “So I’m not under their control?”

Sol nodded. “That you are not.”

Anna jumped out of the chair and hugged the Elf. “Thank you!” she said. “I’ve been… I’ve been so worried about this over the last few days.” She stepped back and looked back at her bracelet again, even as the blue light began to fade. “And I can really help them.”

The Elf smiled. “Glad to put your mind at ease.”

“Should we go and tell the others?”

“Yes, the King and Queen should know how the test went. Oh, and your friends.” He rose from his chair and gestured for her to go ahead down the stairs. He went after her, then guided her through the castle.

The others were in the great hall, clustered near the back of the room around the thrones. Each throne was a large stone chair carved into the wall of the castle. Their backs were part of a relief in the wall, rising up to form twin towers. The King and Queen themselves seemed to almost disappear into the seats, where they sat listening as Peter spoke to them. Andrew stood beside his brother. Anna thought he seemed a little more relaxed, until she noticed how he was staying stone still. The Chamberlain stood between the thrones, and at each entrance was a pair of guards, watching the two young men as they spoke.

“So he landed on Sir Ironhill?” the King was asking as Anna and Sol entered.

Peter nodded. “Broke his breastplate. That’s how we found out about the crystal he was storing his Wisps in. That broke, too, though, and then his Wisps went wild.”

“With all of you right there?”

“I think we can finish this part of the story later,” Queen Emily cut in.

“But—" the king began. “Ah. Right. We can talk more later.” He watched Sol and Anna approach. Sol knelt when he reached the base of the dais, and Anna followed suit, but she was barely down before the boy king said. “That’s fine, that’s fine. So, how is she, Sol? Do the Wisps have her?”

“Well,” Sol began, “It seems they have managed to capture our interest. But then, they do that with a lot of magicians who never even meet them. There’s nothing sinister about our little friend.”

“That’s great,” Peter said, stepping down closer to Anna. “What was the test like?”

Anna was about to answer “later,” when Andrew stepped in and jabbed his elbow into Peter’s ribs. “Listen,” he said, nodding up to the throne.

“That’s wonderful news!” the queen said. “It is good to know a few things are looking up in that department.”

“Maybe we just haven’t gotten reports of other good Wisps,” Henry said.

Sol shook his head. “I wouldn’t get my hopes up. One positive case amidst a sea of negative is… well a drop in the bucket.”

“Still, it’s something,” the chamberlain said, stepping forward. “In fact, I think it’s something big. Better than just a case of Wisps being peaceful, we have a group who’s already shown they can help us with the others.”

“Will one Wisp be enough to deal with the others?” Queen Emily asked.

“Six Wisps, actually,” Sol said. The group fell silent for a moment. “But wasn’t the boy saying our friend here only came to them with the one?” the Chamberlain asked.

“She has six,” Sol said.

“Anna captured the five that were with Sir Ironhill,” Peter offered. “So she has six now.”

“She captured them?” Daniel stammered. Even as he spoke, the King had shot up from his throne.

“How’d you capture them!” he burst. “Can you use magic? Is that how you got the first one? What are they like, by the way? Can you pull them out to show us?”

“No!” Anna said, with much more force than she intended to. Even realizing that, she couldn’t quite stop herself from continuing, “No, no, no!” Both royal children frowned, a look of mixed disappointment and disapproval coming over them. “What I mean is, I didn’t capture any Wisps. Halcyon, that is, the one that started following me first, he did it. Well, I don’t think he captured them. I think he… convinced them to follow him. Which means traveling in this.” Anna held up the bracelet for the others to see. “But I didn’t do anything,” she repeated.

“On the contrary,” Chamberlain Daniel said. “You must be doing something for such a unique creature to choose you.”

“I don’t think this Halcyon has told her what it is though,” Queen Emily told the young man. “Still, thank you for clarifying,” she added to Anna. “His majesty can get a bit carried away with questions.”

“Well, we need to know,” the young king huffed, throwing himself back onto the throne. “How else are we going to deal with Wisp problem?”

“This does look like our best solution,” his sister agreed.

“Wait, what’s going on?” Peter asked. Anna looked at him. She had a sinking feeling that she knew what the King and Queen were about to say.

Next to Peter, Andrew seemed to deflate, and Anna heard him mutter. “I just wanted to get home. Was that so much to ask?”

“We need someone who is able to investigate all the different instances of Wisps activity across the kingdom,” queen Emily said. “Someone who can travel quickly and reach places before source of the problem disappears or causes too much damage.”

“And we need people who can handle the problem whether it is bandits or rebels, or whoever else attracts the dangerous Wisps. Seems to me like having a someone with a dragon and a lady the Wisps really like is a good start. What do you think, Daniel?”

“Seems like a good idea to me,” the Chamberlain said. “Though we may wish to train them up a bit. He gets on with you, but I think our beast tongue here would do poorly in most diplomatic situations.”

“What makes you say that?” the king asked. Then his sister answered.

“Because he gets on with you.”

“Right. We’ll he’s got his brother for that. I think. He’s kind of quiet though.”

“That’s usually a good thing,” the queen said.

“We’d also want to train them so they can operate while the dragon isn’t present,” Sol suggested. “I doubt any of our governors will be any more pleased than your mother was to see an Iron Wyvern landing in the middle of their city.”

“Ah, good idea,” the king said. “We’ll have the knights give the men martial training. As for our Lady of Wisps…” King Henry trailed off.

“I can handle training her in magic myself,” Sol said.

“What?” Anna squeaked. “I can’t use magic!”

Sol frowned down at her. “Of course you can. I noticed during your examination. Didn’t I tell you?”

“Wonderful!” King Henry said, clapping his hands together. “Then it’s decided. You three will be our team seeking out Wisps across Grealand!”