Magical Essence: Undine's Flute

Silken blonde hair blew in the cool breeze, partly held down by the three hair pipettes on either side of Eril's face. Her lithe fingers were wrapped gently around the bamboo flute, holding it up to her pursed lips. Gently blowing cool air through her embouchure and then across the holes of the piping, Eril shut her eyes in concentration. The lush green grass of the Dominian hills was cool on her legs, and the fiery sun was setting far off in the distance to her left. It was Jinn Day evening, which meant the townsfolk of the small town below would be going to work in the morning. Domina, a village normally so bustling and full of life, was beginning to wind down, its citizens again initiating the perpetual sleep cycle as they so often did.

Eril's solemn song emitted from the twined-together shoots of bamboo, echoing across the knobby terrain like a haunting requiem. A sudden gust of wind picked up the stream of sound, blowing it about the valley in which Domina lay with a sporadic carelessness. Presently, the song flew back on the wind towards Eril, gathering and coalescing to form the cerulean-hued spirit that Eril, and many other inhabitants of Fa'Diel, knew to be Undine.

Smiling to herself, Eril rose off the ground, playing the flute while doing so. She opened her eyes, and watched Undine's spirit wander nearer with each passing moment. This meant that the spirit liked the song. Still persisting in her melody, Eril studied Undine with her unblinking eyes until the essence came so close that Eril stopped playing the flute. An expression of surprise showed on Undine's pale blue face. When Eril touched Undine lightly on the arm with her hand, the spirit disappeared, three golden coins appearing in her place. The ritual of gathering elemental coins had been completed.

Ecstatic, Eril picked up the three coins and placed them into her hip pouch, beginning the trek back home at a swift pace. It was getting late, and if she was going to augment this current flute so that she might be able to call upon Undine's powers during combat, she would have to hurry. Eril was proud of the flute—it wasn't exactly made of Altena Alloy, but it served her well. For some odd reason, when Eril had found it on the streets of Geo on a very busy Dryad day, she noticed that it was without an essence. She took it in, and decided just to play on it a little before she added an element to it. Eril figured that if it was eventually going to invoke a magical spell, she should get in some practice on it and hone her skills.

The nearly set sun was behind her, and the skies ahead were a midnight blue. Eril was thankful that there were no monsters on the road between her house and Domina, for if there were, she would have most certainly been attacked from behind. She hadn't even brought her staff along, but that wasn't a matter. The home under the mammoth Baobab tree was coming up quickly ahead. This speed was increased when Eril broke out into a swift run, sprinting through the fields and the Monster Corral on the right side of the house, looping around back to where her workshops stood.

A dank smell of stone and mud entered Eril's nostrils as she swung open the door and stepped inside. Heading right and bypassing the Blacksmith Workshop and Golemology Laboratory, she opened the door to the Musical Instrument workshop, rushing inside and gently placing her flute on the central platform. Then, she moved around the platform to the odd mechanical device on the northern side, opened her pouch, and selected a piece of Undine Gold.

Once she had placed the coin into the appropriate slot, Eril stepped back from the platform, her placid violet eyes aglow with astonishment and wonder at the sight before her. A large bright light emitted from the flute, completely filling the room in a deep white glow. Serpentine wisps of brilliant azure wove in and out of the large ivory mass, randomly moving about the large room and eventually convening in the center. The flute absorbed the blue strands of light, shimmering as though made of the sea, in silence. The only audible noise was Eril's quick breath and her beating heart.

As soon as the light had appeared, it was also gone. The homely pipe flute that once rested in the middle of the room was instead replaced by one of much more grandeur. Fresh seaweed bound the wooden pipes of various lengths together tightly, adorned with two effulgent cobalt feathers that stuck out on either side of the flute, marking the highest and lowest notes. The bottoms of the pipes were stuffed with black sand as to reflect the air back upward, out of the angle-cut chutes to produce a sound.

Eril reached toward the instrument, her left hand tingling with expectation and—almost—fear. She was relieved, however, once she picked it up. No explosion had occurred, nor did a sudden wave of power overwhelm her and force her into the unconscious. Instead, muted warmth spread through her hand, and gradually, her arm...her chest...until it was pulsing gently throughout her whole body. Eril closed her eyes softly, inhaling air through her nose and reveling in the sensations. This feeling was almost of a myth; it didn't seem real.

An abrupt knock on the Workshop door alerted her back to her senses. From the other side came a frail voice. "Eril...? It's late. Aren't you going to bed?"

It was Lisa, one of the two magicians who, through a quirky chain of events, had become her apprentices. "Yes," Eril replied calmly, "I'm almost finished here. I just got home late from getting magic coins, that's all..."

"Oh, okay. Goodnight. See you tomorrow in the orchard, then." The padded footsteps became softer, until they were followed by the sound of a closing door.

The door opened again, this time producing Eril out onto the homeland, flute in hand. The moon was high up, accompanied by the glittering stars. Dew had begun to settle onto the grass, and a cold breeze ruffled across the plains, making them look like dark oceanic waters. Eril smiled softly to herself, thinking of Undine.

Looking upward towards the house, Eril sighed gently, realizing that the only thing she really wanted to do was rest in front of the fire; she started for the cottage, shivering slightly as the wind picked up. Eternity passed, and her living room never felt quite as warm as it did when she opened the door and stepped inside. This type of warmth was different from the kind she felt on picking up the new flute for the first time. Regardless, it was all she could think about as she climbed the stairs to her room. Gently laying her new achievement on a desk, and climbing into the small bed set into the wall, Eril curled her body into the engulfing sheets and welcomed sleep.