War of the Wisps

They spent the better part of the next hour in the air as Jarnvaror circled the city, making sure there were no mottled anywhere near the fountain Captain Yamada had told them about. Anna saw the fountain right away. Or at least, she saw the square the captain had described. It was difficult to make out the ruined structures themselves. Most were little more than piles of rubble. But, despite how late in spring it was, snow still held on in the shadows around some of the old buildings, outlining the ruins with white.

Once he was sure it was safe, Jarnvaror landed at the edge of the square. Anna looked around as they dismounted, but she didn’t see any Wisps. For a moment, she wondered if this really was the right place. But as they approached the fountain, she knew it must be the same. Just like in the Crimson Wood, a tree grew out of the fountain. The fountain itself was more weathered. Anna doubted she’d get anything from studying it. The tree itself was small, and seemed drained of its color, until Anna got closer. Light flickered in her bracelet, and a ripple of blue ran through the leaves.

“Well, this is definitely the right place,” Peter said. “Why aren’t there any Wisps here, though?”

“Seems like they’re not around all the time,” Andrew said.

“I wonder if they behave differently by this one, since its not close to anyone,” Anna muttered.

“I doubt we can stay long enough to find out,” Andrew said. “It’s close enough to the Mottled.” As he spoke, Andrew kept looking over his shoulder. Jarnvaror had already taken to the air again. But even with the dragon keeping watch, Andrew had been sure to string his bow, and he held it tight in his hand. “Well, think you can figure out what the Wisps wanted here?” he asked.

Anna took a breath. She touched the opal in her bracelet, letting the Wisps feel her nerves. Halcyon’s calm washed over her, joined by the influence of a few others. “We’re at the city,” she whispered. As they calmed her down, all she could feel was anticipation. What was it they wanted in this city? “We’ve found the place you were looking for.”

For a moment, there was nothing. Then she felt the influence change. Halcyon, of course, was still focusing on the calm, but even he had shifted a little. She tried to make sense of the influence for several seconds before she realized she couldn’t. That was the point. The Wisps were simply… Perplexed?

“Isn’t this where you wanted us to go?” Anna asked, holding her memories of the vision they showed her in her mind, hoping they could see it. It seemed to work, at least for a moment. A mix of very different feelings seemed to run through the Wisps, and a few fully emerged from the bracelet and began bobbing around. Their influence grew stronger as they did, glowing like gold. They didn’t exude fear. It was excitement.

The tree lit up as they emerged. Anna could feel their influence pressing into her. Once more she had the thought that a pleasant feeling might be just as dangerous from these creatures as the more frightful emotions. Halcyon emerged, then, and his calm seemed to fill the others.

As it did, their colors faded from yellow to blue, almost to the color of lilacs. Anna’s heart fell as she recognized their disappointment.

“Okay, that doesn’t seem like the feeling we were hoping for,” Peter said.

“So what?” Andrew said. “Are these the wrong ruins?”

“I don’t know,” Anna said. “Maybe they don’t recognize it?” she offered, though she didn’t believe it herself. “Maybe they were looking for something in the city that isn’t here.”

“Maybe it’s just somewhere else in the city,” Peter offered. “We could look around.”

Anna perked up, which seemed to improve the Wisps’ mood as well. “That sounds like a good idea.

“Hold on!” Andrew interrupted. “With all of the Mottled everywhere? We can’t just wander around.”

“We’re not going to just wander around,” Peter said. “We can let the Wisps guide us.” Andrew gave him an incredulous look. Peter shifted on his feet. “Well, we could.”

“We could look in the citadel,” Anna said. “Maybe there are better preserved parts of the ruins. Maybe they’re looking for something that’s underground, now.”

“You want to go underground in this maze that’s infested with Mottled,” Andrew said.

“Mottled avoid the Citadel, remember?” Anna said.

“Only if they don’t spot us entering,” Andrew reminded her. “And that’s assuming Captain Yamada’s information was complete.”

“I mean, he was right about the layout of everything, and we haven’t seen any Mottled yet,” Peter pointed out.

“Exactly,” Anna said. “We can be careful as we go. And we have Jarnvaror watching our backs.”

“Fine,” Andrew muttered. “I suppose I’m outvoted. Let’s just let Jarnvaror know what we’re doing, and move fast.”

“Great!” Peter said. “Hey, Jarn!” he called.

“Not so loud!” Andrew hissed. “Couldn’t you just signal him?”

“Only if he was looking this way.”

A moment later, the dragon had landed next to him. Peter quickly explained their plan to the dragon, who agreed to keep an eye out as they made the quick march to the central ruin. The building had been hexagonal, similar to the Elve’s towers in the Crimson Wood, but made from stone bricks. All six corners still stood, and between a few of them, even the walls remained. But the ceiling was gone, along with everything inside save a few stone pillars. Even the floor was missing, leaving a pile of rubble that was probably the ceiling at one point mostly filling in a hollowed out crater that must have been a basement or cellar of some kind.

“You really think we’ll find anything here?” Andrew asked, looking inside through one of the great holes in the wall.

“Yes, I do,” Anna said. The cavity in the ground was not completely full of dirt, snow and rubble. There were a few places that were more or less clear down to the ancient stone tiles. And a few of these, Anna was excited to see, were next to doorways that indeed lead underground. She pointed these out to the others.

They climbed through the rubble till they were before one of these pathways. Anna raised her bracelet and Whispered for Halcyon to come out. “We’re going to need some light,” Anna said. A few moments later, the Wisp understood. He and several of the others appeared, casting blue light into the corridor.

“This looks promising,” Peter said. “How far do you think it goes?”

“I bet it’s connected to the other underground section Captain Yamada mentioned,” Anna said.

“Maybe if it curves,” Andrew said, pointing off to the right. “Or there could be another underground part of the ruin.”

“What is this tunnel even for?” Peter asked.

“If it was supposed to be a tunnel, maybe an escape route from the Citadel itself. Or it could just be an underground section.” Anna started walking down the tunnel, the Wisps bobbing along after her. The brothers followed. They passed by lots of old doors, or empty doorways. The rooms beyond were filled with dirt, having caved in. Others had stone doors, which, on trying, they found were locked.

Anna raised her hand and began trying to feel for anything magical. As she did, she found herself continuing to talk. “Lot’s of ruins had underground sections even before they were buried as far as we can tell.”

“We meaning your books, right?” Peter said.

“That,” Anna agreed, “And some of the Dwarves who’ve studied the ruins up close. Cellars were common. And in the big ruin under Woadrok, there were a lot of ancient enchantments that no one knew how to deal with.”

“What did those do?” Peter asked.

“As far as anyone could tell? They kept doors shut,” Anna said. “Like I said, they were cellars. The people of the time probably wanted to keep them safe from intruders.”

“So no one’s been able to break inside them?”

“Oh, some Dwarves did, once,” Anna said. “They took the easy route and bore their way in with drills. The whole room collapsed, and we never learned what was inside.”

“Do you think there will be any rooms like that here?” Andrew asked.

Anna nodded. “Most likely. It wouldn’t surprise me at all if the Wisps were looking for something that was trapped inside one of those rooms.”

“You think you can get through the spells?”

“If I’m able to focus, I think I might be able to unmake the spell.”

The group fell silent, and Anna looked back at the brothers. “What?” she asked.

“Isn’t that dangerous?” Andrew asked.

“Kind of,” Anna said. “But I was able to do it in the middle of combat. I’m sure I can at least prod around without blowing us up. And if it’s too much for me to do, then we’ll at least have—found it!” Anna cut herself off and ran forward. She heard the boys’ footsteps pounding after her until she reached the door. It looked completely ordinary, like the other stone doors they’d passed. But there was an enchantment on it. One unlike any spell Anna had ever seen before.

“This?” Andrew said.

“Is it locked?” Peter asked, reaching for the handle.

“Don’t touch it!” Anna barked, a little too late. But nothing happened as peter tried to turn the handle. He pushed and tugged.

“Well, that’s definitely not opening,” he said.

“It’s enchanted,” Anna said, exasperated.

“Right,” Peter muttered.

Andrew peered at the door for a few seconds. “There’s no carvings or anything. Are you sure it’s worth trying to break in?”

Anna nodded. “We need all the information we can get,” she said. “Don’t worry. I know how to be gentle with magic.”

“And you’re sure you can lift the spell?” Andrew asked.

“I can try,” Anna said. “Don’t worry about it. Just let me focus.”

“Alright,” Andrew said. “You’re the expert on this.”

“Thanks,” Anna said.

She stepped up to the door and, now that she knew it was safe thanks to Peter, put her hand on it. Every spell she’d ever encountered before had been compared to a net laid over the object. This didn’t feel like that. The more she examined the spell, the more it seemed like it had been woven into the stone itself, not lain over it. It didn’t feel particularly complex. Maybe. It was so different she couldn’t be sure.

She felt Halcyon’s influence as she began to get frustrated. She leaned into it, knowing that staying calm would help. Whoever had cast this spell didn’t think of magic as weaving, she was sure. But, it occurred to her, that didn’t mean she had to think of it the same way. The magic was still woven, just very tightly.

With Halcyon’s influence surrounding her, she began to prod the spell itself looking for a point where it might budge. She found one. So she kept working, tuning out everything else.