Hello! First off, thank you for deciding to give Beneath the Surface a chance. How this collection of one-shots will work is I will upload new chapters according to where they fall within the timeline of the characters' overarching story, not based upon the classic oldest to newest layout. To help avoid readers missing out on the newest releases, I will mark the most recently posted one-shot as new alongside the title. I may also provide context notes at the start of some of the chapters if I feel they are needed.
That is all! Please enjoy!
He had failed. Viren had been so sure that his plan would work, that he would be able to unify the five kingdoms in the face of a clear common threat. However, he had underestimated the child queen's stubbornness and the cowardice of the other rules, two calculation errors that in the end proved to be his downfall.
"Spineless incompetents, the lot of them! They don't deserve the thrones they lounge on!"
Even as these unspoken criticisms burned hot on the back of his tongue, Viren could only sigh in frustration and defeat, his head drooping between his shoulders as his mount trotted onward in ignorant bliss of its master's plight. In the end, the mage knew his thoughts and convictions mattered not now. With confidence bordering on arrogance, he had gambled and he had lost, and now all that was left for him to do was return to Katolis where Opeli would surely be waiting to rain her wrath down upon him in full force. At best, all of his movements would be carefully watched from this moment forward until the foreseeable future, but given his fortune as of late, the idea of hoping for such a tolerable penalty for his "treachery" seemed nothing short of foolish.
His thin lips pursing into a fine line, Viren gave a light tug on his steed's reins, the subtle gesture sufficient enough to guide the beast to gradually halt. His fingers found the coin pouch stashed within one of his robe's hidden pockets with practiced ease, fishing it out and cradling it in his hand as the contents clinked softly like the quietest of bells. The likelihood of Opeli understanding exactly what these artifacts were and how they worked was near impossible, and yet the thought of any of the coins in her possession left his stomach churning. The contents of his study had most likely been confiscated already and he could not part with his staff; these, however, needed to be kept somewhere safe, somewhere far from Opeli's reach.
Like magic or an answered prayer, the most suitable solution manifested in his mind's eye, her keen and somewhat mischievous green eyes sparkling like polished gemstones against the frame of her dark tresses. Though his daughter's occasional awkwardness and lapses of judgment worried him at times, he knew he could entrust her with this responsibility, even if she didn't fully understand it.
Carefully dismounting so as not to further aggravate his limbs that were already sore enough from his lengthy ride thus far, the mage rifled through his saddle bags until he found the components he needed. In truth, he preferred to avoid utilizing this spell when possible due to its rather conspicuous nature, but he highly doubted that he would be afforded brief access to a messenger bird before Opeli carried out her judgment. Despite his rotten luck thus far, he had to take a chance.
With the lone hawk feather and the coin purse clasped securely in one hand while the other gripped his staff, Viren diverted all of his focus and energy into the chant that started tumbling from his lips, the world around his fading into obscurity as each syllable rang in his ears, "Krad regnessem, dnif ruoy kram. Krad regnessem, dnif ruoy kram. Krad regnessem, dnif ruoy kram."
Once again, the familiar, slightly painful tug of the dark magical energy rippling through him consumed Viren's body and mind, pooling into the hawk's feather that had begun to smolder now with blackish purple smoke. Slowly, the formless haze began to twist and stretch in places while pinching and folding in others until he could finally make out the figure of a shadowy hawk amid the dark vapors. The conjured bird's soulless eyes stared blankly up at him as if waiting for something, causing the dark wizard's brow to furrow in confusion, but it took little more than a brief moment of contemplation for him to realize his mistake.
"Krad regnessem, dnif ruoy kram: Claudia!"
With an eerie cry, the shadowhawk sprang into the air in a flurry of dark wings, the coin purse in its talons. Like a dark arrow against the sky, it soared off without any further hesitation, growing smaller and smaller until it was no more than a faint blip that was eventually swallowed by the horizon. Only once the shadow had fully disappeared from view did Viren hoist himself back into his horse's saddle, his stomach still churning uneasily as he willed the steed forward again and fixed his own eyes in the direction of Katolis.
Claudia would look after the coins until he could sort out this current mess partially of his own making. They just had to make it to her.
A shrill, somewhat unnatural screech accompanied by the flapping of wings drew Claudia's attention over her shoulder, where her eyes could just make out something small and dark darting through the trees with ease as it headed straight toward her. Shifting into a defensive stance on instinct, her palms already crackling with potential energy and at least a dozen offensive spells flickered across her mind for her to choose from, she glared down the incoming projectile only for her eyes to widen upon noticing the familiar dark vapors curling off of the approaching figure. As the shadowhawk gave another cry, the young wizard rose back to her feet and held out her hands, and hardly had the apparition touched her before it dissipated in a puff of smoke, its mission fulfilled. Her brow wrinkling slightly, Claudia stared at the coin purse that now sat in her palm, racking her brain to try to make sense of the strange gift. There was no doubt about the identity of the sender; what she could not understand was why he would send it to her. As her fingers traced along the pouch's exterior, she made mental notes of some scratches and spatters of what appeared to be fresh blood dotting the material, her heart clenching at the sight. Her mind wandered to Soren, still tucked in that infirmary cot while she was no closer to helping him; the thought that her father might also be in need but beyond her aid now was terrifying to say the least.
"No, Dad's fine. He has to be fine. He IS fine." she coached herself, sharply shaking her head as if that would somehow dislodge her mounting fears from her memory. "This has to just be another one of his plans…His plans that aren't really making sense right now…but he has to have a reason. I know he has a reason."
Refusing to linger on the matter further, Claudia carefully grabbed the end of the somewhat frayed cord of the bag, which came loose at the slightest tug from her fingers, and as she turned the pouch over in her hand, three golden coins clattered out into the open air, their pristine surfaces sparkling in the sunlight. In that instant, Claudia remembered where she had seen this bag. She recalled the night before she and Soren had left to find the princes, of how she had wandered into her father's tower to find him hunched over his desk. This bag had been sitting idly upon the tabletop, its contents sprawled out for her father to inspect or admire, whichever he had been doing at the time. She hadn't gotten a good glimpse at the coins before now as her father had hurriedly swept them back into the pouch upon her arrival; however, there was one thing she was certain of even with her limited knowledge. Where there had once been four coins in this strange collection of her father's, now only three remained.