When Erika reported to the alchemy laboratory, she was greeted to a sleeping Ezarel with stacks of reports at his feet. How long had he been like that? With hesitance, she reached out to tap his head; however, he grabbed her wrist before she could do so.
"I know very well how one's misery beckons for company. Are you trying to show sympathy...or pity?" His grip started to hurt. She tried to shake him off but failed.
"Please, let go..."
His eyes regained clarity, and he retracted his hand. "My apologies. I thought you were...someone else."
"Oh." Erika checked her wrist to see if there was bruising. "...Have you been sleeping enough lately?"
"It's only because I bothered to enchant that fox's item. The process of permanent enchants is exhaustive, and I would have preferred to rest, but then another mess had to happen."
While the kidnappings lacked a satisfiable conclusion, no children disappeared; however, cases of missing familiars and members of the Guard were under investigation. It started with the reported death of a bugbear named Cryllis. There was no pattern in later victims besides their vanishing in the same forest. Ezarel finished his explanation and scoffed at Erika's face.
"You want to help, don't you?"
"Do I have to fill out another appeal?"
"No, this is the type of mission where I have to give approval. But what will you do if there's another dead body? Or multiple for that matter?"
"...I won't force myself to look at them. You could let me handle something else also," Erika said. "It just doesn't feel right to sit around when stuff like this happens."
He let out an exasperated sigh and agreed to Erika's participation. After Ezarel chugged a potion to boost his energy, they reviewed the reports again. Bones and dried blood were collected, but the locations spanned the entire forest. Search parties were sent out, but their reports had too much variation. Miiko ordered a halt to them because one or two members would be gone upon return.
"I think whoever's causing this is using memory manipulation spells at least," he said.
"Are there ways to reverse the effects?"
"Potions can only effect basic spells unfortunately. The best solution is to kill the source. It's how Psyche magic works most of the time."
"...Does death always have to be involved?"
"My apologies, but you have to be the expert diplomat to get a hostile party to willingly agree. And that's assuming they're still sane."
"Isn't there a spell to restore sanity?"
Ezarel gave her a bitter smile. "Even magic has its limits. Let's make a trip to the forest, yes?"
They returned to her room so she could put on the cloak.
"But didn't you say-"
"What Miiko doesn't know won't hurt her. It's worked before," Ezarel said.
They arrived at the outskirts of the forest, and Erika noticed his grimace. He noted the air acted as if it wanted to hide something. She suggested they split up, but he refused. As they investigated, Ezarel wrote his observations. Erika began to have this nagging feeling during their exploration.
"Do you think we've been going in circles for a while now?" She kicked a rock that hit a familiar tree.
"What do you mean?"
"Look, the same fork in the path is up ahead. I think-"
Erika lost her footing to an upturned tree root. She caught herself. Ezarel scanned their surroundings while she saw her knee was scraped.
"There's a clearing up ahead."
"Since when?" Erika looked behind her.
Nonetheless, she followed him. In this clearing stood a tree different from the forest vegetation. A small voice caught her attention; she couldn't find the owner. Before she took a step forward, something grabbed her arm.
"Ez, what-"
Erika screamed as she saw what grabbed her. To her gratitude, Ezarel pulled Erika away from the hamadryad.
"Who are you?" The elf put himself between the two.
"...I-I'm sorry. I didn't mean to...Yvoni."
"What were you going to do with her?"
"N-Nothing. I-I thought if s-she knew...The s-scary man..."
She trembled at Ezarel's gaze. He asked several questions but the hamadryad continued to give incoherent responses.
"Can you show us how to get out of the forest?" Erika withheld the frustration inside of her.
Yvoni told them the directions, and Ezarel promised to return later. As they left, Erika tripped again, but he caught her.
"Stupid tree roots..."
"Is that really your main concern?"
"I don't remember being so clumsy," she said.
"Not that. I'm concerned that you didn't notice it as we left." Erika gave him a confused expression, so he continued. "You mentioned how we were going around in circles, right? Yet why is it when after meeting that hamadryad we followed a path without hindrance?"
They stopped in front of the alchemy laboratory. "...You're suspecting her? Ez, I doubt she could harm a fly."
"But it's still a possibility," he said.
"Yvoni is innocent until proven guilty. That's how it is in my world."
"Valk."
"Ezarel. Did you already have lunch?"
The two leaders met each other in the middle of the hall. A two-handed sword was strapped to Valkyon's back. He removed his helmet as it felt too hot.
"I'm waiting for someone, but she's rather late."
"Is this person always late?"
"No. Ykhar usually-"
Ezarel trailed off as a familiar hood moved in the corner of his eye. Valkyon followed the elf's line of sight, but he lost the person as more people entered the facility.
"Valk, are you busy at the moment?"
"No."
"Good. Accompany me."
They tailed the figure until the person strolled into the forest. Ezarel was about to follow, but Valkyon held him back.
"Miiko said we need to discuss things before going in here again," he said.
"Do I look like I care? You're free to return to HQ if that's what you desire. And don't touch me."
Ezarel removed Valkyon's hand and headed into the forest. Valkyon rolled his eyes and followed him. The two spotted the hooded figure; the trailing turned into a chase when the individual noticed their presence. Valkyon kept speed with the person, but she vanished at a certain point. Ezarel panted as he caught up to his companion.
"Where..."
"Ran through here and vanished."
"...Oh? No signs of teleportation?"
Valkyon shook his head. Ezarel clicked his tongue and turned his attention to the pathway in front of them.
"Be prepared," he said.
"...Why?"
The elf walked along the path; he disappeared in the same fashion as the hooded figure. Valkyon stood dumbfounded until an arm manifested out of thin air and pulled him forward. A grotesque scent hit his senses as he took in the surroundings. No longer did the forest appear peaceful; blood dripped from leaves onto the foliage. Dried corpses hung from trees.
"And that girl thought I was wrong to suspect the hamadryad." Ezarel shook his head. "But to be able to create an illusion of this scale..."
"Who? Ezarel, we need to report to Miiko about this."
"What's this 'we' you speak of? You can go back. I plan to find the person who led us here."
"How come?"
"...I'm worried." He used a soft tone, and Valkyon wouldn't have heard it were he not actively listening.
The duo stepped over the puddles of intestines and rotting limbs. When they were within walking distance of a clearing, Ezarel pulled Valkyon to the side and discussed a strategy. Meanwhile, Yvoni watched in delight as more of the mark on her tree was removed. She knew the girl that came with the blue-haired elf was an easy target. A rustling noise distracted Yvoni from her thoughts as an unfamiliar person appeared. His white hair was as almost unique as the girl's eye color.
"Did you get lost?" Yvoni tilted her head.
"I was looking for my friend. Oh, that's her." He pointed at the girl who continued to erase more of the mark. He took a step in her direction, but a large branch blocked his path.
"She's doing me a favor. Why don't you come back later?"
"What if I refuse?"
"Well, that would be a shame, wouldn't it?"
A series of ice arrows then pierced Yvoni's tree. She yowled, and Valkyon punched the hamadryad in the face. Another arrow wounded her shoulder; Yvoni focused her attention on the attacker. One of her branch-like appendages knocked the person out of the tree and wrapped itself around his throat. Meanwhile, Valkyon grabbed Erika who still had a dazed look in her eyes and sprinted away. Yvoni hissed at their escape but focused on her current prey. She brought the struggling elf closer.
"I remember you. You...really made sure to fulfill your promise." The grip around his neck tightened as he gasped for air. "Do you have some...final words?"
"Do you really think...I would sacrifice myself for them?"
Yvoni spotted white particles on her branches. Soon, she realized snowflakes descended upon them. Each speck transformed into a beautiful blossom. When more flowers sprouted, she dropped Ezarel whose hair began to turn silvery-white.
"What are these?"
He slowly got to his feet and rubbed his arms. "W-Why s-should I tell you?"
Yvoni tried to grab him but felt a sharp pain. The flowers' roots had hooked themselves onto herself and her tree. She destroyed one; however, more sprouted, and Ezarel took that chance to escape.
"We have to go back!"
Erika attempted to loosen Valkyon's grip on her. When they reached the edge of the forest, she returned to her senses. She remembered how a coaxing voice urged her to help Yvoni, so she followed it. What she didn't expect was Valkyon's explanation of the events.
"Ezarel will be fine. Miiko needs to be informed of what's going on." Valkyon tried to pull Erika along, but she refused to move.
"You tell her then."
Seeing that she had no intention to return, Valkyon grumbled and told her to bring Ezarel to Eweleïn if he showed up. Erika agreed and waited. And waited. Impatience, stress, what-if scenarios— she decided to search for him.
To her luck, Erika bumped into Ezarel as she wandered around the area. He collapsed in her arms, and she shivered as a coldness seeped from his body.
"Ez, what happened?" The elf responded with a groan. "...We're meeting up with Valkyon and Miiko in the infirmary, okay?"
He leaned on Erika while she supported him. They entered the room; Eweleïn helped Ezarel onto a bed.
"Do I need a hypothesis for your current condition?"
"If I didn't...we'd h-have to waste t-time tracking her down again." He turned on his side as a blanket was draped over him. Eweleïn told one of the junior nurses to fetch more.
"What are you two talking about?" Miiko frowned.
"The Garden of Cocytus. It's an ancient hex where a snowstorm releases Judecca Blooms. After they've identified a 'host,' the flowers will drain all the maana from that person. We can't leave them be, however. The flowers will always search for a new host, and the entire forest will be killed eventually," Eweleïn said.
"What do we do then?" Erika asked as she watched Ezarel shudder beneath a pile of blankets.
"If you burn the current host before all their maana is drained, the flowers will die off."
"...Understood. Valkyon, Erika, the three of us will head to the forest and end this," Miiko said.
"But Ez-"
"Don't worry. I'll help him get through the consequences of using such advanced magic," Eweleïn smiled at Erika. "Return safely, all of you."
A/N: I never imagined I would get this far in writing, haha. Regardless, I'm sure all of you can guess what'll happen next, right? Don't forget to review!
So, the current magic in Eldarya works in tiers: basic, advanced, superior. Let's say for the purposes of explaining, the average Faerie has 100 Maana Points (MP). Basic spells would be simple tasks like summoning a fireball or using telepathy that cost 5-10 MP. Advanced spells would range from summoning a firestorm, using two fireballs, or possessing someone which cost anywhere from 15-50 MP. Superior tier is where the costs can be 51-100+ MP or "uses 2 MP per second so long as the spell is active" instances; an example would be Weapon Manifestation. If a Faerie used a spell that cost more than their max maana, he/she will experience adverse effects, but it differs on the individual and what spell was used. Though, some spells will give the caster side effects regardless.
Faeries get their maana from food, but some races can get it in other ways. Elves gather maana from outside sources like plants or the air (like how leaves absorb sunlight), and some even engraved magical tattoos on their bodies to increase efficacy in gathering maana. Another example is that vampires get their maana through blood, but they can use the maana in blood to cast spells. Like imagine using blood to create a tornado or brainwashing someone. A little off-topic, but the Great Crystal ensures fertile soil for plants to grow, though at the moment crop yields aren't as high due to past events.
Since magic has moved away from the rune system, it mainly centers around incantations. The purpose of the rune system was to strengthen the spell prior to casting. If a spell could do 100 damage, a rune would be the 1.5x boost factor to make the spell do more damage. The drawback was that it takes numerous resources to create runes, and the art of runecrafting was supposedly lost when human groups such as the Illuminati, Triad, and Templars organizes massive hunts to capture groups of Faeries during the Primordial Wars.
Incantations work in allowing the Faerie to focus his or her mind to use the maana that's stored in the body. Superior tier spells have longer incantations than basic spells.
If a Faerie has a great control over his or her magic, they can bypass using incantations entirely. Think of incantations like a safety blanket or insurance that the spell is going to work and not backfire.
Of course, using incantations means the spell takes longer to activate. For those who lack control over their magic, it's optimal to use incantations to prevent the spell going wrong or using more maana than what the spell would normally cost. Imagine a Faerie who's not good at using fire magic casting a fireball. Normally, a fireball would cost 3 MP when an incantation is used or when someone who is proficient in using fire magic uses it. This Faerie that lacks control can still make the fireball spell cost 3 MP if he or she uses an incantation, but if not, the cost would be 9 MP—triple the normal amount.