Chapter 33
A bright light shone through their eyes as the void disappeared before them, they found themselves laying on the ground exactly where they had fallen. Except, lying around them were dark green and deep purple flowers glowing with a dim light, they could see the mana from the flowers ebbing out and pooling into them
Scanning their surroundings, they found the girl they had transferred their power to, she was kneeling just outside the sizeable ring of flowers around them. She was muttering words as if she was chanting, power flowed from her to the flowers and into them. The girl had to be feeding power into them, bringing them back from the brink.
They felt an immense gratitude towards her, the girl that they had saved turned around and repaid the favour. Gathering their bearings, they noticed the girl now sported a nice floral dress of deep purple with patches of green dotted around, her hair tied back behind her and the long antlers adorning her head had a similar glow to the power leaving her. She stopped praying after the pair got themselves upright, her eyes shifted to them and smiled warmly.
"I'm glad that you both are okay, young spirits." The girl's soft yet elegant voice spoke in a language they could understand, they thought that they could now understand the dryad's language, until another of her kind sat close beside her and spoke in their confusing language they had first heard. The girl before them replied in her native tongue before returning her attention to the pair. "I believe I am using the language that you understand, though your memories are a little fragmented."
She got our memories? Rhordan worriedly enquired, looking curiously at the girl before her. Gideon agreed with her, though he had an inkling of what might have happened.
I think for our first time connecting to someone, we may have overdone it… Gideon pondered aloud, wondering if they shared more than just their power with the girl. It possible that when we connected to her, our thoughts transferred as well.
If that is the case, then I worry what she got from our memories. Rhordan voiced their fears, if the girl got anything important then she may expose who they really are. Except, that thought didn't frighten them though, she was a dryad in a village far away from any human settlements, they doubted that she would tell anyone if she did learn the truth about them.
"I wish to thank you both, young spirits." The girl bowed before them, paying her respects to them as if they were saints. "My name is Mai, and I know of your struggle, young spirits!"
Mai's words startled them. They were already startled by being called young spirits, but they were confused by what she meant 'she knew of their struggle'. Gideon and Rhordan shared a look between them, they had known they were giving up their chance to survive the abyss by helping out Mai's people, but they were making no head way with their research into the runes.
"A few days ago, when Jasper became king of the dryad village, we found the records from long ago about how our people used runes in daily life." Mai explained to them, the pair weren't sure that she couldn't hear them, or see them for that matter. "We also found that our people once heralded the spirits and paid homage to them, something we have neglected for far too long. Young Spirits, we know you seek to learn the runes in order to help the elder spirit who sent you here. As our homage to you and as our thanks for saving us, we will do what we can to teach you."
The pair stared dumbfoundedly at Mai, unable to fathom how saving a group of oppressed people managed to gain them what they were searching for. Just as they were trying to wrap their heads around Mai's words, the leader from before walked over to them, the crystal crown awkward placed atop his head, he and Mai spoked quickly before he knelt before them.
"King Jasper wants to pay his respects and thank you both for not just saving our people…" Mai seemed to be translating for the king who spoke while still kneeling down beside the flowers. "He would also like to thank you both for keeping him and his allies from the former king's men."
At least he remembers us. Rhordan quipped, she gave up trying to understand their luck, accepting that their hard work that had nearly gotten themselves killed and now they were about to be given the one thing they came to this forest for. Gideon shared her sentimentality, glad that they now had what they wanted since the beginning.
"Every day, at dawn and dusk, we will hold teaching sessions here for you and for the young generation of dryads for both sides." Mai continued, raising her head as she spoke. Gideon and Rhordan smiled at one another, not only were they going to get the lessons, but they would also have time to explore the forest. Something they had been wanting to do since they first arrive, the beautiful forest around them held many wonders and sights to behold.
True to their word, everyday at dawn and dusk, the village held a mass gathering around the array of flowers and there they worked together to understand the runes from the books within the vault. As the dryads knew next to nothing, they arranged the lessons as a collective input, working together to understand the basic fundamentals of runecraft. It was arduous work, especially as Mai had to translate everything spoken by one of the elder dryads that had minimal experience working with runes under the former king's command.
They would always start the lesson by paying homage to the pair, thanking them for 'lifting the veil' as they put it. Many of the dryads of the village, the guards included, took their lives for granted and never once questioned the strange happenings around the palace. Upon learning the truth, they burned just about everything within the palace, even Jasper pitched in as he couldn't stand the sight of the luxuries within the palace. The only remnant remaining was the crown, though that was one item that couldn't be destroyed as it was the only key to the vault.
The villagers had a difficult time adjusting to the new settlers, but after the first lesson, things went rather smoothly. Those that had dwelled within the compound had an unusual affinity for runecraft, able to learn them far quicker than anyone else, even Rhordan was impressed by their speed. They would then work with the villagers and help them to understand the runes, with their help the villagers learned far quicker than they would without them.
Rhordan had the benefit of Mai teaching her, though it was a hilariously one-sided conversation that Gideon found himself incapable of not laughing at. He wasn't exactly the best student when it came to learning difficult things, he did try at first but found that understanding runes was like trying to decipher hieroglyphs without knowing what Egypt was, and when you added in the magical element, those hieroglyphs stopped being two dimensional. Gideon's head hurt trying to wrap his mind around it, even with Rhordan stopping to explain it, he still didn't get it.
From Mai's explanation, runes are interconnected lines of magical power formed from the users will, by creating a symbol it finalises the rune and seals it into place over the location it was engraved upon. Runes come in three types with three forms, though that is only the basic fundamentals of runes, higher tier runes are vastly more complex with a lot less restrictions. The types are Mana Based, Elemental Based, and Fusion Based.
Mana Based runes are the most basic rune type and are made by mana, these are the types that most people start with when learning runecraft. Mana runes can enhance the strength and durability of items, or it can be used to influence inanimate objects to follow certain commands.
Elemental Based runes are harder to form without a proper understanding of how the element functions as elemental energy is used to create the lines, they are generally used for combat or defense since their uses are limited to casting spells or imbuing an object with that element.
Fusion Based runes are the combination of both mana and elemental runes, a complex array that requires the person to carefully ensure that the mana doesn't convert into the elemental energy and corrupt the rune. Fusion runes are not only the most powerful, but also has a nearly limitless range of uses or purposes.
The forms are how a rune is powered, the forms don't differ from each type of rune nor are they the only ways to power rune, they are just the common methods. These forms are Charge, Stored, and Ambient. Charge runes have only one use and are destroyed upon activation, they have enough power to sustain itself for a period of time before activating. Stored runes have their own internal storage that continuously powers the rune, however it requires to be periodically refilled with mana to ensure it continues working.
Lastly is Ambient runes, they absorb mana from an outside source to power themselves though these types are insanely difficult to sustain. Ambient runes can either absorb the mana from a person that the rune is applied to, or absorb the ambient mana in the air around it.
To Gideon, this all flew over his head, he spent most of the lessons pretending he understood and nodding along. He felt unbelievably guilty stopping Rhordan the first time the lesson went over his head, he didn't want to hinder Rhordan's progress any more than he already had.
Bowing out of the lessons, Gideon spent his time running through the forests, admiring the majesty of the magical wonder. He found many magical beasts that defy any explanation, ones that he was sure they didn't want to meet anytime soon from just the sheer size of them. Though the plants and flowers took Gideon's main focus, he felt slightly useless after leaving Rhordan once again to learn the vital knowledge they needed to survive. He wanted to learn something that could prove useful to them, and as he was a mystic of nature, he reckoned he could use his ability to study the flora of this world.
They already knew that a particular concoction of plants or herbs creates a poultice that speeds up healing by nearly double, and the potion that Xan had used had to be made from similar plants or herds, except they must have been infused with magic. If he could learn how to make these, not only would they have a supply of healing items on hand, but they could also fetch quite a price as the simple poultice went for a silver piece per a small pot.
He found plants of varying elements and even those that didn't have magical energy, though he couldn't use his magical sense in the spirit world, the radiating energy exuding from them generally gave away their elements. Gideon would sit there and stare at them, taking in every detail that he could, looking for distinct features and how it interacts with the surrounding elements. He figured if he learned what he could, then just maybe he might be able to use that knowledge if they manage to returned to their bodies and escape the abyss.
Gideon's absence was noted by the dryads as the dark green flowers no longer glowed when they paid homage to the pair before the lesson, they found that the flowers held a small amount of spiritual power that reacts around spirits of the same element. The dryads were dismayed at first, upset that one of the young spirits sent by the elder spirit didn't stay around for their teaching, though it was by sheer chance that one of the guards around the perimeter happened upon a patch of glowing dark green spirit flowers. Guards would then actively look for the nature spirit flowers, finding the young nature spirit happily wondering the forest and pay homage to it as it passed them by.
The dryads soon started calling him the 'explorer', the young spirit that would never stay in one location and always ventured into the forest in search of something. They also had a name for Rhordan, the 'scholar', her willingness to stay long after the lesson had finish earned her the nickname.
A week flew past before the dryads revealed that they constructed a statue of the pair, a beautiful intricate leaf almost shaped like a flower blooming with lightning bolts sparking outwards like veins, a massive tree branching out and around the main symbol. The dryads called it 'The Thunder Leaf from the Great Forest', the dryads believed that all spirits reside within the Great Forest, a place beyond the realms that only the most powerful spirits could go.
They believed that the elder spirit must have saved the explorer and scholar spirits by bringing them to the Great Forest, but with the elder spirit dying and the young spirits unable to stay within the Great Forest, they were sent to the dryads to learn of a way to help themselves without the protection of the elder spirit. That was the reason for the tree branching out around the Thunder Leaf, it resembled the Great Forest that once protected the young spirits and now they leave it behind to make their own way in the vast world.
By the end of the second week of learning, the pair were growing anxious of their time, worried that if this world followed their old world's timeframe then it would be any day soon that they get teleported back to the abyss. Rhordan had learned that runes were originally designed to be a like a written language, a spell is casted as the rune is read by a source of mana.
She theorised she could layer the runes on top of one another and connect them through lateral powerlines akin to that of a circuit board. Her idea did have the major fault with the delicacy of the rune's integrity as stacking one rune atop another caused them to destabilise and collapse, yet she believed she found a way to overcome this issue by isolating each individual rune and connect them together through a single rune acting like a switch board controlling all of the runes simultaneously.
That said, her theory was causing her to second guess everything she had learned about runes, unsure if runes she had learned would work with her theoretical model, or if she would have to completely redesign them as well. Her fears over surviving the abyss and her worries of if what she had learned would work nearly gave her a panic attack, Gideon had returned from one of his adventures to find her on the ground with the dryads concerned for her wellbeing as the purple flowers flashed dangerously. After Gideon managed to comfort her, he refused to leave her side again, sitting through the lessons and encouraging her as best as he could.
With time running out, and Rhordan struggling to cope with the stress of studying runes, Gideon was forced to take her mind off of the problem by dragging Rhordan out into the forest for a break. He knew that if she didn't stop soon either she would mentally break from the stress, or she would go insane from her mind running in circles.
Come on! It's just over here. Gideon enthusiastically called to Rhordan, encouraging her to follow him faster. He was leading her to one of his favourite spots in the magical forest, a place that he could spend days just sitting and watch the world around him peacefully.
Phasing through another set of dense bushes, Rhordan found herself stunned at what laid before her. A fairly decent sized clearing had been carved out of the beautifully luminescent forest, an ethereally azure lake covered most of the clearing, and a massive array of flowers around the edges of the clearing radiating their elemental energy with a deep intensity.
Laying down against one of the few boulders around the lake, Gideon motioned for Rhordan to join him. With a reluctant sigh, she joined Gideon and sat with her legs crossed just beside him, staring helplessly into the lake. She sat there begging the glowing water to break the wall she was faced with, the knowledge that could save their lives laid just beyond it and no matter what she did, the wall held.
We're not going to make it… Rhordan sorrowfully admitted, unable to take staring into the water as all she could see was nothing, she had no reflection nor a presence as the lush grass beneath her didn't bend or even make note of her. She felt helpless, unable to do anything to help them with her mind in utter turmoil trying to decipher if she should continue with her inane theory or try to conform herself to how runes were meant to be used. However, neither option showed her a way to create a barrier to protect themselves from the chaos energy, and with time nearly gone she felt worthless at not being able to find the answer to their problem.
Maybe. Gideon spoke with a calmness that shook Rhordan, she whipped her head around to stare incredulously at him, unable to fathom how at peace he was. But I have faith in you, I know that if anyone could do the impossible then it is you. You just have to believe in yourself.
His words baffled her, she stared at him for a long time before rising to her feet. Rhordan didn't understand his words, she believed in her abilities and her skill, and both were telling her that it was impossible, that without a proper method to cast runes in her mind or a even a rune that could protect them from the chaos energy they were as good as dead. Still, sitting there gazing hopelessly in a lake wasn't going to solve anything, she was determined to do what she could until the last moment. Heading back to the village, she found Gideon walking leisurely beside her, admiring the forest around them.
You know, I am going to miss this forest. Gideon wistfully stated, a small smile adorning his face as he lazily drew his eyes over everything he could see. I learned a lot about the flora of this world, yet what I learned is but a fragment of the whole truth.
It can't be that extensive? Rhordan had found herself enjoying the times when Gideon would come running back to the village to tell her about some new flower or plant he found that fascinated him, he would go on for hours just detailing the elemental energy that exuded from it. The look of joy on his face soothed her heart, and it had helped her push forward in her studies to find a way to save themselves.
It is! Gideon nearly leapt as he spoke, tearing his eyes from the stunning forest to engage with Rhordan. He seemed almost like a kid on Christmas day, a thought that Rhordan couldn't stop herself from enjoying, nor could she hide the small smile on her face. I always thought that plants and flowers were just separate entities that subsisted off of the world's natural resources, but not here, not on this world.
Gideon paused to spin around, extending his arms out and letting his hands phase through the forest around him. He stopped and took hold of Rhordan's hands, staring jubilantly into her amethyst orbs.
It's like one massive organism, the plants if grown normally wouldn't yield anything, following the same process of our old world's. Gideon spun her around, his excitement infectious as Rhordan couldn't prevent the smile broadening on her face. This was the first time since they arrived in this new world that Gideon looked truly happy, a sight that Rhordan committed to memory. But, if the plants are grown within the forest then they are connected to one another like a massive computer system, each piece on its own is useful but only up to a point. Combine it together, and suddenly you have… all this…
Gideon let go of her hands, spinning around once again to stare in amazement of the forest, seeing something that Rhordan couldn't. She tried to look at the forest in the same way he was, but for some reason she couldn't see how many different trees and flowers could be considered a single organism when they were nothing alike. She was happy for Gideon as he found something he was genuinely interested in, consumed to a point that he took the simple pleasure of just existing within its domain.
If I had my nature mystic ability, I could see just how extensive the circuitry goes, but for now I'll settle with just watching the forest provide for the plants and take what it needs to survive. Gideon's words startled Rhordan for a second, she felt that something he had said held a secret that she was missing, one that could help her. Yet, it eluded her, she couldn't see what it was that was hidden from her.
Instead of dwelling on the missing secret, she focused on returning to the village and getting back to her studies, praying that any day now she would make the breakthrough that they needed to survive. However, she wasn't given the chance as a bright yellow light suddenly surrounded them, swallowing them up and wrenching them away from the Forest of Ravas harshly. With a hand outstretched, Rhordan tried to call out, her mouth open and her eyes wide as she and Gideon disappeared into the yellow light.
A surge of power burst through the forest, a similar one that had happened nearly a month ago. The energy suddenly coalesced into the statue of the Thunder Leaf, the simple stone and vines suddenly glowed with an ethereal light before bringing the statue to life. The leaf itself glowed with green energy while the lightning veins sparked to life and shot bolts of lightning throughout the leaf, the branches around the Thunder Leaf suddenly changed from dead fallen tree branches into a beautiful array of flowers and living bark. The dryads were stunned at its sudden transformation, all except for one.
"The elder spirit has taken the Explorer and Scholar home." Mai stared at the statue, she walked slowly over before bowing to it, thanking it deeply for the freedom it had bestowed upon them. "May the Great Forest be merciful upon the young spirits, and may the elder spirit rest in eternal peace."
Gideon and Rhordan awoke with a start, the shock of returning to their physical forms locking them in place while their brains failed to comprehend the reality before them. They thought that there was more time, that they could find the answer to their problem within the next few days, yet they couldn't complain. The pair knew that this chance was already temporary, and that it was based on pure chance of them managing to 'find' the dryads and learn from them the runes that 'could' save them.
Thank you, little mystics… Kagaras sounded far weaker than before, that he was barely clinging onto life and struggled to speak at the same time. The pair sat up, their bodies groggy and far heavier than they thought, though being spirits for a month meant they had no physical weight or gravity affecting them, so it wasn't as surprising to them as they tried to shake the cobwebs out of their joints. They had thought they would be hungry, malnourished, and dehydrated, yet they felt none of that, just tired and disorientated. It had been far too long since I ever saw the dryad home, I did not think they would be in such a dire strait. Thank you, little mystics, for bringing them peace.
If we had known about our ability before, then we would have helped them sooner. Gideon admitted, though they stayed around and helped as much as they could, neither of them felt it was enough for the imprisoned dryads.
I too am perplexed by how you managed to break the spirit world… Kagaras pondered aloud, his voice trailing off at the end as he struggled to think and speak at the same time. I wish I could think on this for longer, though my time is running out…
Gideon and Rhordan focused too intently on Kagaras' voice that they failed to notice the power surrounding them fail drastically, an explosive burst of chaos energy filled the enclosure. The pair were suddenly assaulted heavily as pain rocketed through their systems, the chaos energy threatening to smoother them and extinguish their spark of life.
The sheer agony overrode their senses, causing them to scream in anguish, twisting and wrenching them in any way that they could to ease the pain. Gideon ripped his arm around and bite down on it hard, forcing his mind to focus on the pain in his arm rather than the one tearing his entire body apart. It was a trick that he had learned during his time with his uncle, by focusing all of his senses onto a singular point, he could effectively shut down his senses just enough to give him a few moments of conscious thought. The trick wasn't perfect, it only gave him a split second to react, and if he failed then he couldn't use it again.
Blitzing his gaze in every direction, he used his magical sense to find the leak as he ripped off his bracers. On one side of the walls was a small gap that exuded the brutal evil energy, the small, enclosed space was covered in a layer of shifting spirit and nature. Focusing his mana to the point of the leak, he forced it through the gushing evil energy and pressed it against the leak.
The space cleared gradually of the chaos energy, allowing Rhordan to finally breath while Gideon maintained his composure despite the blinding pain assaulting his senses. Unable to talk he decided to use the mental connection that he hoped was still in place.
I… cannot… hold… this for long! Gideon grunted in agony, screwing his eyes shut and twisting his face in any way he could to ignore the pain. Rhordan laid a gentle hand on his shoulder, a mistake she soon regrated as the chaos energy zapped her violently.
Little mystic, it is time… Kagaras sorrowfully spoke, upset he couldn't give them a chance to collect themselves. You must use what you know… I cannot hold the barrier any longer… and the other little mystic won't be able to hold much more than he is.
Rhordan couldn't think, she hadn't learned what she needed to save them. What she knew was nowhere near enough to deal with chaos energy on the level that she had just felt. Scrambling with the spatial ring, she pulled her writing equipment out and started scribbling any set of runes she could think of that made a shield or blocked energy.
Each of her attempts failed as the paper exploded into flames, she swore heavily that the paper should have held with the magic of the runes but each time it failed she realised that the rules of material used was far more extensive than what the dryads had told them. A sudden burst of chaos energy caused her to snap the quill she had purchased specially from a store, the energy appeared as soon as it had disappeared.
Hurry… Rho… Gideon's pained voice echoed in her mind, she couldn't see Gideon but from the sound of his voice in her mind and the loud grunts echoing in the enclosed area she knew he was struggling, badly.
Closing her eyes, Rhordan ripped off her bracers and focused all of the mana she could control to her fingertips, holding her hand out in front of her as she breathed softly, her instincts controlling her actions for the most part. She recalled Gideon's words, telling her to believe in herself.
She brought forward all of her knowledge of runes, picturing in her mind a combination of runes that should create a bubble around them and block out energy. The rune's complication was far more than anything the dryads had taught her, or what she knew was within her capabilities, yet she threw those limitations from her mind. She chose to believe in herself, to believe that there was no impossibility that she couldn't overcome. With a picture of Gideon in her mind, she suddenly recalled his words, remembering how he spoke about the plants of the forest.
A smile bloomed on her face, opening her eyes, she started to draw.
Author's Note: I HATE THIS CHAPTER! I had to rewrite the runes section multiple times that I eventually gave up and left, so if it is badly written then I am sorry but I'm not going back to fix it.
The basic gist is that runes are a written language that is powered by mana, like chanting a spell but its written in an ancient form of written language that the user creates from their own interpretation of the runes. In Raven's case, she knew all about this type and used a similar version back on Earth, but the difference was of how the runes are connected which in her mind don't function properly. (Imagine a simple circuit of wire to battery to lightbulb back to battery, that would be how a rune is connected to one another, except Raven took Cyborg's mechanical ramblings of circuit boards and computer chips and tried to eliminate the need for the wires altogether. However, she couldn't find a way that would light the lightbulb without providing a positive and a negative wire without the wires.)
Raven ran her heard around in circles and essentially overcomplicated it to the point that she was stressing out over nothing. (Not going to say how she figured it out, but her original idea of isolating the runes and connecting them via a switch board wasn't exactly wrong but not entirely right either)
Comments:
Eris – Thanks for the comment. Yeah, I have multiple chapters written out but they are in the first draft form which means they are have horrible mistakes and grammatical errors that I have to fix before I can publish them. They also have continuity errors which I need to either delete or change lest when I publish later chapters then they don't make sense. I'm focusing on this story at the moment, but I will need to shift over and work on my other story Titans of the Stars at some point.
I have a reason for revealing this plot as it will help later on when I reveal the massive plot twist in the story (not going to say just yet but it does change the entire story dynamic).
I had originally meant for Baltharn to be good but as I wrote I turned him evil, now I'm bringing him back to the good side. The team is coming together in trying to save Alex and stop Averia, but will Garfield and Raven lead this team? (not saying that they aren't, but not saying they will… who knows…)
Becoming Spirits was the only way I could think of to try and save them from the abyss without outright writer intervention with a perfectly timed saved by someone else who came to their rescue. I want the pair to have many different experiences while fighting tooth and nail just to survive on their own, though they may have someone coming to their rescue…
An Ent is a mythical creature that is essentially a living tree, they have some semblance of a human form but are basically a large tree. Ents (or Treant as they are sometimes called) are wise old beings that are extremely passive and just generally watch the world from the forest, that said Ents are extremely powerful beings the older they get.
Runecraft in the right hands is a powerful tool which is why Kagaras sent the pair to the dryads as it was the only thing he could think of that might be able to save them. As for how they will escape, that will remain a mystery until the next chapter, or will they escape?