Knights of Alchemy
Chapter One: Stormclouds
It was raining outside the Hall of Ankohl, a mighty storm in the night that made the dryness and torchlight inside seem even more inviting. Though this was a place of decisions, the political centre of the Eastern Sea -aside from Lemuria, which ruled itself- it was also a place of social gathering, where many of the villagers met at the end of a day. And the food wasn't bad, either.
Straining to hear past the background noise of a few dozen voices, Harbromme leaned over in his chair at the farthest end of the long hall, towards the Elder Torph, who was explaining a rather longwinded opinion of the economic situation with Lemuria. Apparently they were refusing to allow merchant ships with the letter 'I' in their names to dock, or something like that.
There was always a problem with the Lemurians. Sometimes Harbromme thought the Lemurians were difficult just to enjoy the results on Torph. If he didn't have to spend so much time dealing with the man, Harbromme would probably do it himself, sometimes. The way the old man's face tightened until his wrinkles vanished and the sides of his head went red suggested that if pushed too far, he might very literally explode one day.
"Look, this is ridiculous," Weychuk said to the nearly-deaf (and thus nearly-asleep) elder to his left. "Either we stop letting them in or we impose some limits on the noise in here. I can barely understand myself." The dozing elder looked over at Weychuk in a calculating way.
"What?" he asked at last.
"We cannot simply allow them to make arbitrary legislation like this! I don't care if they're receiving orders from the Elemental Spirits in their sleep, the Lemurians are going to start being reasonable. I want an envoy to head down there and tell them if they don't work things out with our people, then we'll find other nations to do business with!" continued Torph, who tended to work through these rants in a matter of a hours. Until then, there was little to do but weather the storm, much like the village was weathering the one outside. A bolt of lightning seemed to indicate Jupiter's agreement, though Harbromme knew better than to believe a Spirit might choose to hear his thoughts at that moment.
"If he doesn't shut up soon I'm going to cast Briar under his chair," Weychuk commented quietly. "Don't we have someone else to deal with the Lemurians?"
"After all these years, everyone else thinks the job is hell," Harbromme pointed out.
"They're right, but we're not talking about what the Lemurians are putting up with, we're talking about replacing our side." Harbromme laughed, and decided that life was too good to even want to replace Torph, who had more energy than anyone else even close to his age. Admittedly, the source of that energy was unbridled fury, but whatever worked, worked.
Ankohl Province, in this age of Weyard, was perhaps the most prosperous place to live on the entire Eastern Sea. Lemuria, of course, was off that scale, an island where Psynergy was treated not so much as a skill to be mastered as it was sort of supreme arm and life lasted for many centuries, thanks to the strange powers of the spring water.
But Ankohl was a beautiful place, nestled between the Lamakan Mountains and the Great Eastern Sea, where people could do or be anything they wanted, whether they felt at home among trees, in mines, or on the waves. And it had a share of luxury, too, thanks to trade with all the other lands on the ocean.
And so there was little for Harbromme to do on this stormy summer night except bask in the warmth of both the fire and the gathered villagers, a haven in from the cold rain. There were no threats in these days, except occasional monsters out of the mountains. The world of Weyard was at peace.
The slamming of the doors at the far end of the hall could be called symbolic by one who knew what was happening, one who could see all that would now happen. The crash piercing the calm of the Hall was like the shattering of the peace, and soon it would echo in every town across the world.
"Elders!" shouted the dripping man, who had sprinted through the storm without notice and was now barrelling down the centre aisle between the tables and chairs. "Elders!" he repeated, stumbling to a halt in front of Harbromme and the others. "The Trident is gone from the sanctum! It has been stolen!"
A collective cry went up from the villagers, ranging from horrified shrieks to shouts of anger that anyone would dare to steal the sacred relic. Thieves were uncommon in Ankohl Province, though they were unavoidable in many other parts of the world. To think that one would dare come into their capital and steal the hallowed Trident of Ankohl!
"When was it found, or rather, not found missing?" asked Harbromme, cutting off Torph, who would have been more likely to shout 'Mobilize the soldiers!' The theft of an important symbol like the Trident could create a panic, which was what Harbromme intended to avoid above all else.
"Not half an hour ago, Elder Harbromme!" replied the stricken man. "It was-"
Harbromme cut him off with a raised hand and looked around the room. "Will all the Jupiter Adepts please assist the temple monks with their searching. Everyone else, remain calm. This is not a crisis. A thief from another land, no doubt, has underestimated the powers of the people of Ankohl. The Trident will be returned safely."
"You sound confident," muttered Torph as about a quarter of the villagers rose and made their way, reluctantly, out into the storm.
"Would you prefer chaos?" asked Weychuk, who was always ready to defend someone, as long as that someone in front wasn't himself.
"I think that we could be underestimating the thief- as much as he is underestimating us," Torph finished his sentence with a glare at Harbromme. The Elder shook it off. Torph only seemed to be happy when he wasn't happy, and it was nothing to worry about. Ankohl would not be harmed by these events.
Outside, Jastyx could nearly hear Harbromme's thoughts as easily as a Jupiter Adept. "Don't be so certain of that, dear foolish Elder." And another shadow slipped into the night and the storm.
Cata decided, as she hauled another bucket of water from the well, that this was it. She could not take this any more, and if nothing else, Elys was going to hear about it, even if she did no more. Carrying around water and feeding animals and doing endless chores was not what Cata intended, and there wasn't much else to do in Daila.
The village was larger now, filling the northern valleys for a few miles to the north, east, and west. The fields were dark with fertile soil, and no doubt it would be an excellent season for the people of Daila. They supplied most of the countries on the Great Eastern Sea with food, and was quite prosperous for such a simple village. The people here put their souls into the earth, and they reaped the rewards along with the plants. Well, that was fine, but that didn't mean it was for everyone.
Cata put the buckets down by the back door, shook her head in an attempt to get her long, rippling hair out of her face, and stormed off toward the house where her best friend lived, though there was a fair chance Elys was still asleep at this hour. She had enough older brothers that there wasn't much for her to do until an hour or two past sunrise, which was practically noon to most farmers.
The house was short and unremarkable, a description that held true for all of Daila's buildings. It was wooden, thatch-roofed, and mostly quite sturdy, though winter wasn't often cold in the north of Indra, and some of the boards in the outer walls were slightly spaced to let air in.
The door was open, and Elys' mother didn't look twice when Cata entered the kitchen and headed through to her daughter's room. They exchanged 'good morning's in passing, and each got on with their work.
"Elys, you lazy Mercury-aligned lunk!" said Cata by way of greeting. "Are you dead, or did someone fill that blanket with lead while you were asleep? It's not like they'd be short of time!"
"You're cheerful this morning," Elys mumbled, absolutely serious. Cata teased just about everyone, and was always careful not to go past anyone's limit. Well, not too far.
"I've had it," Cata declared, hurling the blanket aside with a very minor Whirlwind.
"It can't even be eight yet," Elys protested, rising to a sitting position.
"I mean I've had it with this village," the Jupiter Adept replied, and another burst of wind opened the shutters on Elys' window. "I can't take this sort of life any more."
"I'm not sure what you expect me to do about it. The axe needs sharpening," Elys said with a yawn, and rubbed her eyes.
"I'm serious, Elys," Cata repeated. "You know how it's going to go for me. You, too."
"I just woke up. Remind again what fate has in store for us, oh oracle of the ages," asked Elys, and grinned. Cata scowled at her, mostly hiding her own grin. They both knew that Cata's ability to predict the future was as dismal as Elys' ability to light a fire.
"We live in Daila. A village of farmers. We're going to be like everyone else. We're going to learn to reap and sow and everything in-between and get married to some nice strong dull farm boy and have a big family and then die, still on the same farm, never having gone anywhere or done anything," said Cata, fuming enough that Elys paid as much attention as she could so soon after waking.
"Farming's a perfectly noble profession. We feed all the lands on the Eastern Sea, Cata. You have to put your heart and soul into the earth to be masters like we are."
"And that's just fine in my opinion. But let the people who want to put themselves in the ground ahead of time do that. I'm not meant for it, and neither are you," said the girl, crossing her arms in annoyance at the resistance Elys was putting up. Cata rather suspected her friend of arguing just because she could, and so made a point of taking no notice of her existence, preferring to brush some of the unavoidable dirt off her clothing. Elys laughed, partially because it was such an obvious move, since Cata hardly cared about a little dirt, and partially because, aside from the purple silhouette of a falcon, the tunic's tan colour made finding any obvious dirt very difficult.
"What, then? You're barely eighteen. You don't have much of a choice except to stay here, for now. What other possibilities are there?" Elys had shaken away the last sleepy bindings of being quickly awoken and refreshed herself with a little Mercury Psynergy.
Cata took a deep breath, preparing herself to argue this unflinchingly. "I want to be a knight." Elys said nothing, and she rushed on ahead. "A roaming warrior of justice, saving people, villages, entire kingdoms from terrible dangers. I want to go slay dragons and evil monsters, lead whole contingents of stalwart warriors to victory against impossible odds, save thousands of lives from oppressive tyrants. And stop deadly assassination attempts on royalty- no, not just any royalty, a brave and valiant prince who's being forced to remain in the castle by his overprotective mother -the queen, of course- who doesn't want him to associate with common people." Cata was pacing back and forth now, lost in her head, gesturing forcefully as she spoke. Elys looked on and tried not to laugh. "But we'll succeed, and find out it was a plot of an evil duke, halt his attack on the king, and be sent off with great rewards, though none truly satisfying… and then the prince will sneak out of the castle in the night, as we're leaving… to find us, come with us… saying he couldn't bear to let me go so quickly…"
Elys couldn't help it, and broke down completely, laughing too hard to draw a breath. Cata turned on her friend, her face red with fury and no small measure of embarrassment. "I'm sorry," Elys gasped, and that was, by sheer chance, exactly the wrong thing to say.
"Along with various other adventures of a similar sort that would no doubt put me in tales and songs for a THOUSAND YEARS!" finished Cata, screaming the last like a battle cry as she tackled Elys.
Elys' mother took no notice of the heavy winds rushing through the house as she carried out four sacks of potato seeds, nor the shards of ice that flew out of Elys' room and exploded into a layer of frost on the far wall.
"Okay, so say this is an actual possibility," said Elys, lying comfortably on the floor with her elbows resting on Cata, who had been straitjacketed with the blanket to the point of immobility. "You're going to be a knight and find all sorts of kingdoms and such. And slay terrible monsters. Yes?"
"That's the general idea," replied the cotton roll.
"How, precisely, do you plan to get started?" asked Elys. Cata was silent, and the Mercury Adept sighed. "This is your problem. You're a Mars Adept stuck in a Jupiter Adept's body. You never think these things through."
"I've already got a horse," she pointed out.
"Zak agreed to this?"
"Zak has a choice?"
"I just hope you don't intend to cross much water on this journey of yours."
"Why would I? The only places out there are Lemuria, Izumo, and Apojii. They aren't big enough to need knights."
"You're really serious, aren't you?"
"Absolutely, Elys."
Elys thought for a moment. "Well, I guess that's good. You're right, you aren't meant to live here. I always knew you'd leave. I'm just glad you didn't rush off in the middle of the night."
"…Well…" said the roll, slowly. Elys lifted a layer and looked at her best friend suspiciously.
"That was a very meaningful sort of well, Cata. What's the rest of the sentence?"
"…Well… um… look, you can't just have a knight and a horse. It doesn't work!"
"You want me to come with you?" Elys demanded.
"I'm just suggesting-"
"That I leave my home and family to go with you on a journey against terrible monsters and save kingdoms and rescue snobby princes?" finished Elys, and she was right, though Cata would have chosen words that didn't make her plan sound about as sane as asking for shortcake in a crowded Loho restaurant.
"I think-"
"Look, Cata, this is a little crazy. I can understand wanting to see other places, and I figured some delusion about becoming a knight couldn't hurt, since there isn't much danger in the world anyway, but I am not going to be your squire or something!"
"All right! I wasn't asking you to be a servant or anything, I just thought you might want to come along. Journey of a lifetime, you and me. But I can understand if you don't want to," said Cata, very carefully not suggesting that Elys was scared. She knew her friend well.
"I am not scared, Cata," Elys added, and Cata struggled not to grin.
"I didn't say you were. I'm going to go say goodbye to Cian, want to go with me?" she offered.
Elys was quiet for a moment, and sighed. "All right. He's probably at the river."
The river at Daila's western edge was a peaceful place, the sort of location that held a great deal of inspiration for an artist who loved nature. Cian was good at finding such spots, often hidden from view. Here, though, he had simply found a large flat rock that just barely connected to the riverbank, and the sound of the water rushing around it would calm even a furious dwarf. The canopy of leaves filtered the sunlight into strange shapes on the ground, and he loved the way they danced in the wind.
"A shame no painting will ever do such a thing," he muttered, but his brush danced too, slowly making the shadows lie still on the grass on the canvas. This was the forty-eighth time he had tried to capture those effects. The Lemurian rather expected there would be a forty-ninth, and more. Even those who didn't live in their homeland carried the spring water with them, and he felt little rush. Anyone who didn't know his heritage -which, he reflected as he brushed back long blue hair, would be limited to the colour-blind- wouldn't have placed the 'young' man at anything more than twenty-one, but he had seen more than six decades already, and would see many more.
Some would be more interesting than others, he knew, and thought this point nicely punctuated with the rustling as Cata and Elys walked among the trees behind him, nearing the river. The girls seemed to be in their usual state of eternal minor argument, but they stopped soon after noticing him.
"Well met, Cata, Elys. You don't often come here on your own. Were you looking for me?" asked the Lemurian, setting aside his canvas and tried again to keep his hair out of his eyes. This was, in all fairness, impossible for more than a few seconds, but that obvious fact never seemed to bother him.
"Morning," said Elys, by way of reply, and then looked meaningfully at her best friend. "Cata's leaving. Something about dragonslaying, I think."
"Knighthood," Cata explained, but rather sheepishly. Every time she told someone else, the idea seemed less like ambition and more like lunacy.
"I should think it was about time you decided what you wanted to do," said Cian, and smiled. At first, Cata thought it was sarcasm, but she realised after a moment that his words were sincere.
"Am I the only one who didn't expect me to pack up and head off some day?" she asked, feigning annoyance.
Cian shook his head. "No. We expected you to slip away in the dead of night. If we were lucky, you might leave a letter." Elys laughed, and Cata glared as well as she could at the sudden outburst.
"Okay, fine, you've made your point," the Jupiter Adept said. She looked back to Cian. "I'm leaving, and I take it you're not going to stop me. I wanted to say good-bye."
"Thank you," said Cian, and held out his hand. Cata took it and shook firmly. "I don't doubt that whatever you want to do, you shall be very good at it."
"Thanks, Cian. And I'll be back, you can count on it."
"Never mentioned to me that you were coming back," Elys muttered, in the midst of tying back her long purple hair. Cata shot another glare her way, on the basis that she could only improve with practice. Elys appeared not to take the slightest notice of it, and knelt by the riverbank, watching the occasional fish slide past.
Cata looked back at Cian, noticed she hadn't let go of his hand, and quickly did so. She wasn't sure what else there was to say, really. The Lemurian, though, had thought of something no one else had yet considered.
"Where are you going, anyway?" Cata stared at Cian, stunned. Elys looked back from the edge of the river, and laughed at the expression on her friend's face. Cata noticed the amusement she was providing yet again, and decided she was tired of it.
"South," the Jupiter Adept replied firmly.
"You'll probably hit the Yampi desert before any kingdoms," Cian pointed out.
"Northwest," Cata said immediately, as though nothing contrary had ever been suggested.
It was probably best for Elys' general health that she was cut off from commenting. Before the first syllable left her mouth, a loud, slightly melodic crash ran out from Daila, back beyond the forest's edge. That was the sound of the giant bell at the village's centre, and it rang only in times of urgency. The last time had been six years ago, when the coming of a flood had been felt by the Great Healer.
Cian, Elys, and Cata didn't speak. They simply ran.
After a few minutes they cleared the trees, and saw farmers gathering at the village centre, around the bell. Someone a bit overly enthusiastic moved to swing the massive hammer arm again, but was stopped by one of the many people nearby who didn't care for the idea of having their eardrums forcibly relocated to their elbows.
"What's going on?" called Cata, when they were close enough to be heard by someone at the crowd's edge. The woman turned around, recognised them, and shrugged.
"Not a single clue. Someone'll show up soon, I hope. I'm betting on rain this afternoon, and there's still work I need to get done." Cata noticed the twin-drops symbol on her sleeve, a sign of Mercury Adepts, and knew better than to argue.
After a few moments of fruitless questioning, since no one seemed to know what was happening, the Great Healer appeared and climbed onto the platform, in front of the arch holding the bell. It still swung lightly, probably helped by the winds, which were starting to pick up.
The old man raised his hands, and silence flowed out from him, first forced by Psynergy (it took a moment for people to notice the words weren't coming out) and then simply accepted as the gathered farmers calmed down.
"People of Daila, fear not. There is no great disaster, nor any threat to our village," the Healer assured them. The crowd started speaking again, some relieved, others demanding to know why they had been called by the bell. The Healer raised a hand again and silence fell over them again. He relaxed, smoothed his beard, and continued. "There is, however, an important matter that must be known. The Sea God's Tear that is our sanctum's greatest treasure has been stolen."
"That can't be good," said Elys.
"That could be very good," said Cata, beneath her breath, and she could almost taste the quest.
"Cata!"
"Well…" she said, defensively, but offered no further argument.
"As such," the Great Healer went on, rather annoying at how often he was having to cast Silence on the crowd, "we are going to need a few volunteers to help with searching the surrounding land. Not far, and we are only asking for those who are not needed at home." He was silent for a moment. "Some of you, the Mercury Adepts, have no doubt felt the sudden coming rain. I believe that unless we bring the Sea God's Tear back to the temple, terrible storms may soon appear, unrelenting storms. The Psynergy of the land is out of balance as long as the Tear is gone."
At first, everyone seemed too concerned to think about volunteering for a search. It was in the nature of Dailans to protect their homes, and none wanted to be away if heavy storms were soon to be there.
"How long ago was it stolen?" called a villager, mostly because the quiet muttering throughout the crowd was starting to unnerve him.
"We found that the Tear was missing less than an hour ago," replied a temple Adept, a no-nonsense figure in pristine sky blue robes with perfectly even brown hair. Cata mistrusted such people on principle. No one who was physically that untainted could be the same figuratively.
"The thief has no reason to remain near Daila," said Cata, loudly. "Some of us should go to ask the Kibombo to be on the lookout as well. No one can cross their borders unseen."
"You make a good point, young Cata," said the Healer. "Who shall go to speak to the Kibombo?"
"I volunteer, Great Healer," said Cata quickly, before anyone else had a chance.
"What do you think you're doing?" demanded Cata's mother, who had been wading through the crowd –a stunned villager who hadn't been quick enough in getting out of the way stood nearby. Cata's mother took a deep breath. "Look, I know you said you wanted to see other places, meet other people-" Cata avoided Elys' eyes with admirable skill "-but to go off after thieves? Are you insane?!"
"Mom, come on, I can take care of myself for a few days-"
"Cold Mars you can!" her mother shot back. "You don't know anywhere but Daila-"
"That's the problem-"
"You don't know what these people are like! Thieves are dangerous! They could be Angaran, for all we know! I'm not going to let you go off alone chasing barbarians!"
"I'll go with her," said Cian. It was unlike him to speak up in the middle of something like that, so everyone gave the words due consideration (including Cata). Cian grinned. "I guarantee I won't let anything happen to her."
"You?" repeated Cata's father, who had managed to catch up with his trailblazing wife. "You're hardly any older than she is!"
"Actually, sir, I'm twice your age," said Cian, evenly. Cata's father withdrew for a moment, and a few words passed between him and her mother, including 'Lemuria', 'spring water', and 'bloody ancient'.
"Well… maybe, I suppose…" Cata's father admitted. "All right. If you really must."
Cata smiled to the point where people nearby wondered if she was insane. Elys wasn't surprised when the Jupiter Adept turned to face her, and didn't bother waiting for the question. "Okay, yes," she relented. "I'll go with you for this. But when it's over we're coming straight back here." Cata didn't argue; she always waited until the argument was unavoidable to let it start. For now, winning was good. "You go get ready to leave. I'm going to tell my parents I'm going with you."
"Do you really expect them to simply let you go?" asked the Lemurian.
"I'll wait and let someone else tell them where we're going." The girls ran.
Cata skidded to a halt at the edge of Zak's fenced area beside her house. The horse blinked his huge brown eyes at her in a way that suggested he didn't intend to go running anywhere anytime soon, so that particular idea could be abandoned now.
"Don't give me that look," Cata told him, and vaulted over the fence.
"What do you expect? I'm good at it," replied the grey marchador. Zak was hardly unique in having Psynergy, but people who didn't expect a horse to tell them off for trying to buy him were often surprised, and usually took a few moments to realise where the words were coming from. Zak's lips didn't move as he spoke, he simply created the sounds with his mind and let other people sort it out.
"I expect you to listen to me when I tell you to. I am your rider, after all," replied Cata, and threw the very-nearly-a-saddle over his back. "Come on. We're going on an adventure. After thieves."
"Horse thieves?" asked Zak, on the off chance that he might be interested.
"No. They took the Sea God's Tear, whoever they are. Oh, we're also going to ask the Kibombo to watch out for anyone suspicious," Cata added.
"Kibombo?" repeated Zak, and reared back slightly in surprise. "Hold on. They eat horses."
"No they don't. That's an unfair generalization. Only a couple of deep-mountain tribes do that, and only for special ceremonies," Cata assured him, and tried to get onto his back.
"Yeah, well, one of these days they're going to run out, and I intend to be ready if they come looking," said Zak, but he knew perfectly well that he couldn't deny Cata her ride. He was, ultimately, her horse, and would be as long as they both lived.
With more agility than he liked to admit having, Zak leapt over the fence and darted down the worn path, back to the village centre. Cian and Cata were waiting there, and both of them had gathered a fair amount of supplies for a short journey like this.
"Is it really worth bringing Zak along? Cian and I don't have mounts," Elys pointed out.
"We can take turns. He'll be a big help when we're tired," Cata replied.
"Oh yes, don't worry about me, I'm just transportation. And if you get bored, I could always try singing. I really think I'm getting the hang of it," said Zak, shifting from dark muttering to annoying cheerfulness easily.
"I think I may agree with Elys on this one," said Cian. Zak swung his head around to look the Lemurian straight in the eyes. Cian was frozen, almost hypnotised, and watched as Zak raised one large hoof, then slammed it into the ground right between his feet. The apparent trance broke, Cian looked down, and then back up.
"Now, the question is… did I miss?" asked Zak. He waited for the remark to sink in. "Right. I'm going, thanks. Why sit around waiting for horse-eating Kibombo raiders when I can go straight to them? Get it over with. Saves time."
"Okay," said Cian, ready to agree with just about anything.
Cata looked down at her friends, glancing only for a moment at the villagers, who hadn't quite dispersed yet. "Ready to set out?"
"Please don't try to be dramatic," Elys requested.
"We are only going to talk to the Kibombo, Elys. It is hardly a perilous undertaking," said Cian.
"Maybe for you bipeds," muttered Zak, still certain the near future was going to be unpleasant.
Cata was still looking back at Daila. She waved to her parents, and managed, to her credit, to wave heroically. The Adepts started off to the west, toward the Kibombo valley. Cata settled into the for-lack-of-a-better-word saddle. She smiled again, at the appropriate dark clouds blowing in from the horizon. "It's about time," she decided.
[Author's Notes] Totally new story, totally new characters, totally… well… sort of. *evil grin* No, I didn't just hint at anything. Anyway, do review if you like it, and I make no promises on the next chapter, seeing as I've agreed to finish Tolbi Redux. No, thank you. And credit to the muse, just because it's deserved at all times.