Adventure of Exiles

Felix climbed up the hill to find Noah sorting out the material they had gathered so far. Emily was standing beside him helping. Felix came up and while headpatting Emily with one hand, he unceremoniously dropped the bag of junk Felix and Isaac found like a sack of potatoes by Noah.

“Jeezs, thanks.” Noah said.

“Anytime. All looks like junk to me but what do I know?”

“That’s the magic of an alchemist. Turning junk into...more junk.”

“Hey! Alchemy is extremely useful!” Lisa called out.

Felix folded his arms, “I mean she better. If this is our adventuring party only like two of us know how to fight.”

“I can fight too!” Emily said as she brandished her rapier.

“No. No, you can’t.” Felix replied flatly.

“Hey!” Emily complained.

“It’s the truth. Let Isaac and I handle the fighting.”

“Sounds like it’s time to display the power of a true alchemist.” Lisa said as she twirled her staff.

Felix was not impressed. He looked over to Isaac. Isaac just shrugged, “I don’t know. Sounds like fun.”

Felix shook his head.

“I’ll prove you wrong. You just watch.” Lisa said with determination.

“Sure. I’m not doubting you. Magic, I found in my experience to be unreliable over just going and whacking your problem with a proper weapon. Like a sword or mace.”

Lisa’s face twisted up a bit, “well, we will just see. I’m not just some magic user.”

Felix put his hands up in surrender, “yeah, sure.” He said as sat down on a log to watch. Isaac leaned against the log next to Felix.

It was a nice day out. The sun was shining, the sea breeze felt nice. Felix could almost forget that a massive northern army was forming to make Emily queen. He looked over to her as she was bundling herbs and sorting out metals.

This teenaged girl would one day lead the Restorationists to reignite the roaring flames of civil war.

Her father and brothers were killed when she was a baby. Yet here she was so happy. So normal. Felix looked at the Skarrage Sea in the distance. Wondering where the winds of fate would take them next. He was never sold on the Restorationist dream like Michael was. He didn’t have as intense emotional ties to the land and people of the north. In his mind he would finish this job, take the money and go wander.

In the back of his mind, he knew he could always go off somewhere. Leave all this behind. He could buy a house along the canals of Isidoro.

Lisa gave her staff another twirl, “check out this awesome move.”

His attention snapped back as he saw her staff glowed with a blue light.

Lisa then spun around her staff.

“Oops.” She said as she stopped it.

Felix didn’t really think about it but wasn’t the staff pointed his direction?

He felt like was sweating a lot for some reason? No that wasn’t quite right. Also, it got really humid to breathe.

Water then a torrent of water appeared out of nowhere and washed Felix away.

“What the fuck!” Felix said as he was carried away by the magical water geyser.

Isaac was knocked over too, but his expression was deadpan and seemingly unfazed by the fact he was being carried away by the rushing water.

The water carried them part way down the hill before the water stopped. He got up and brushed himself off.

He went over to help Isaac up.

“You alright, Isaac?”

“Yeah, that was pretty neat.”

“Neat? Aren’t you a bit hot and bothered by being washed away like a dirty rag?”

“No. The water made me wet. Besides it was kind of nice after our spar from earlier. We were sweating a lot, and I wasn’t a big fan of the dust from the ruins.”

Felix sighed and then gave Isaac a pat on the shoulder, “come on.”

They got back up to the top of the hill.

“Well, it wasn’t my intention, I was aiming at the tree.” Lisa said sheepishly as she walked up to the two.

“I didn’t know you could do that with the staff. That’s pretty good.” Isaac replied.

“Wait. Really?”

“Yeah. Magic is fascinating.”

“Oh, well, it was nothing.” Lisa said embarrassed.

“Woah you don’t get off that easy. Come here, you.” Felix said as he tried to grab Lisa.

She panicked and pointed her staff as Felix, it glowed a pink light this time as a dazzling display of flashing, colored lights emitted out of it.

“Arrgh!” Felix said as his vision was blurred with colors.

“Hey! Are you okay, Felix?” Emily called out.

He was in fact, not okay.

“Emily, I’m soaking wet and I’m seeing colors I didn’t even know even existed. I could be better.”

Felix closed his eyes from all the pretty colors and took a deep breath.

He might not be able to see but he had his other senses. He also knew how Lisa smelled she was always working with herbs and plants at her little shop. She smelled of lavender and peppermint.

He took a quick step forward and he grabbed Lisa.

“Hey! What are you going to do?”

Felix smirked and pulled her closer. Then he shook his body like a dog splashing water on her.

“Gross! Felix, stop it!” Lisa squealed.

“No way, I’m soaked from that stunt. I’m going to make you suffer with me.”

She started to kick him and flail, “ack! How soaked did you get?”

“Come on, stop. You’ll hurt yourself.” Felix said as he held her firmly.

“Fine.” Lisa said with a huff.

“Okay, good. You aren’t going to hit me anymore, right?”

“Maybe.”

“Great, that’s comforting.”

Felix released her and opened his eyes again.

Nope. Still purple and pink.

“How long does this last?”

“I’m not sure. Probably an hour.”

“You aren’t sure? Also, an hour!”

“Here let me.” Emily said as she approached Felix.

Felix felt a hand on his eyes.

He felt a warm feeling like a campfire. Reminding him when he was still serving in the Elk Company. Joking with his comrades while eating slightly stale bread rations huddling around the fire.

After a few moments the warmth faded, and the colors disappeared. He could see normally again.

“You have my thanks.” Felix said with a slight bow.

Emily rubbed the back of her neck, “it was nothing.”

“Now you know the power of an alchemist.” Lisa said.

“Yeah, it’s awesome.” Felix said with a smirk.

“Hey, don’t give me that tone. I can do plenty of things with my alchemy.”

“I’m sure you can. Now if the things are actually useful that’s another matter.”

Lisa put her hands on her hips and gave Felix a hard look.

Felix held up his hands in surrender, “sorry, sorry. It was just a joke.”

Lisa gave Felix a light smack with her staff. Her staff glowed again.

Felix’s chest started to glow a faint pink light.

“Woah. What the hell did you do to me?”

“Just cast a light spell. You’ll be glowing for a bit.”

Felix turned back to Emily, “Emily can you help me out here?”

“Well. I mean you aren’t actually sick or injured. Besides pink is a good color for you.”

Felix groaned.

“Hey, Felix. Look, you are sparkling.” Lisa teased.

“What am I? A fairy? I’m not supposed to sparkle.”

Lisa laughed, “that’s what you get for being a big bully.”

“Whatever. How long do I have to have a lightshow in my chest?”

“A few hours or until I dispel it.”

“So, dispel it.”

“Nope. I like the way it looks.”

“Great.”

“You could always go back to Kurkenburg and have Michael take a look.”

“Fuck no.”

“Or you could try and learn the spell and dispel it yourself.”

“What? Me? Do magic? Yeah, no. That’s not going to happen.”

“Why not?” Emily asked.

“Because I’m a sword type, not a magic kind of guy.”

“Don’t you channel lightning in battle?”

“That’s different. Combat arts like that is channeling the will of the Hrafnagud.”

“I know combat arts too.” Isaac added as he came over.

“I could dry you off, Felix.” He said as his scythe lit up in a blazing red flame.

“Yeah. No thanks. I don’t want to catch on fire.”

“No problem. I’ll just make a small fire then.” Isaac said as his scythe flared up with more fire than before.

“Are you guys done?” Noah asked annoyed.

“If you guys are done fooling around, I have some further information on the Staff of Eternal Night.”

Felix shrugged and sat down, “alright then lay it on us.”

Isaac and Emily also sat down on the grass.

Lisa sat down besides Felix and put her head on his shoulder.

Noah remained stood up and began pacing as he spoke,

“The staff is a legendary artifact from the ancient Queendom of Nevaria. Adorned with dark gemstones the Witch Queen Natasha used it manipulate shadows and darkness, creating illusions, concealing herself, and summoning shadowy creatures to do her bidding. It was thought to be lost to time after the Scouring of Blackreach. Yet we found a piece of the staff. It appears there is four parts of the staff. First pop quiz what do you know about the gods?”

Felix gave him a look, “pop quiz? Listen, Noah. I didn’t get to go to school. I got the privilege of eating turnip soup and moldy breads while being in a mercenary company. I don’t know shit about the gods. Just the Sky Father, Hrafnagud the god of freedom and the open sky.”

Isaac nodded, “I don’t remember anything about my past. But I do know the gods. And the All-Father Hrafnagud is the god of the sky, order, and justice. There is Herta the goddess of abundance and the hearth, the provider of healing and mother of mankind. Loki, messenger god and trickster. God of Fear and Hunger, a formless, nameless, unknown god. My patron, Ragnar the God of War and Strive. The God of the Sea Aegir and the Goddess of Death, Halja. She is the overseer of the realm of the dead.”

Noah nodded, “I see you have been educated. There are of course other gods and goddess of this world. But the point being is they represent a domain and derive their power from their domain and worship.”

“Yeah, the Sky Father domain is beautiful open sky. To feel the fresh breeze and not to bound by the walls of a castle or city. True freedom.” Felix added.

“I would say it is more a domain of order and justice.” Isaac replied.

“Same thing.”

“Literally the opposite.”

“Anyways, the point being is divinity is a force. A source of power. And the Staff of Eternal Night derives its power from the realm of darkness and shadows. This is why the staff is a shadow. As the Staff of Eternal Night is a physical manifestation of Halja’s domain.”

“Alright then what does this have to do with anything? I thought we were going after the staff. Why are we looking into the gods now?”

“Well, the Staff of Eternal Night was sealed away during the Scouring of Blackreach. It is currently located within a temple that was consecrated to Halja and the realm of death. The staff piece we recovered was a piece of the puzzle to find its location.”

“How did it end up in a tomb?”

“After Queen Natasha was slain, the staff was hidden and sealed by her most loyal knights and protected who protected a part of the staff. The Oak Knight Kono, the Black Knight Stannis, the Knight of Delusions, Lyndis and the Smiling Knight Garrik. The hope was the staff would be combined to be given to loyalists to restore the Queendom. But that never happened, as the Queendom of Nevaria fell into ruins and crushed by the Vexillum Empire like many other nations. In order to reassemble and use the staff, it will need to be assembled and powered by divine energy.”

“And that’s the point where we come in. We are going to find the other pieces and assemble the staff.” Emily said.

“Correct. The Oak Knight Kono had possession over the first part.” Noah replied.

“Alright, well where is the next piece?” Felix asked.

“Reviewing the material, we found at the ruins there is a piece at a chain of isles off the east coast.”

“Alright then, that’s where we are headed.”

“Not so fast. We will need to prepare for it and the Sea Bounty Festival coming up, not like we can leave anyway. The ports and waterway will be too busy due to the festival.”

“Fair enough. What about the other pieces?”

“There was a rumored piece at Wittenden but I’m not sure what happened there. The last piece I’m also not sure. I have my suspicions, but we will have to confirm that later.”

“Alright. So, let’s just enjoy the festival for now. Sounds good to me.” Felix said.

“We need to discuss our plans further and prepare. Don’t just dismiss this.” Noah chided.

“Hey, come on. We all worked hard. We have a lot of stuff here. We should just take it back and come back to planning after the festival.” Felix replied.

“Yeah. Let’s go enjoy the festival.” Lisa agreed.

“We have the material, let’s get a drink.” Isaac chimed.

“Yes, a drink! And a food. I’m hungry.” Emily added.

Noah sighed, “alright fine. But I must ask what we should do when we find the staff?”

Everyone paused and looked at each other.

Felix spoke up first, “well it’s obvious, sell it to the highest bidder for insane riches.”

Lisa hit Felix in the shoulder.

“That’s a terrible idea.” Noah shot back.

“Oh yeah, how is that a bad idea?”

“First of all, it’s a national treasure of the Kingdom of Lyris, a piece of our history. Secondly, it’s extremely dangerous you can’t just sell it.”

“Fine. I’ll drop it for now. What’s the alternative?”

“We could give it to the Order of the Goddess Herta. They can use it for their research on magic.” Lisa suggested.

“I’m going to shoot that one down. No thanks, I don’t trust them. It’s the Staff of Eternal Night not the Staff of Healing.” Felix replied.

He left out the part where the Order of the Goddess Herta had its own political agenda and had Restorationists among its ranks. That would be a confusing clusterfuck if they did hand it over.

“What about giving it to the Grand Military Council? Surely, they would be the safest hands in the kingdom?” Noah suggested.

Emily frowned, “No, they would use it for conquest. If they had a powerful tool like the staff, they would not stop until the entire continent is under their rule.”

“I have a suggestion.” Isaac said quietly.

Everyone looked at Isaac.

“We can ask the goddess Halja herself.”

“The Goddess of Death?” Emily said.

“What’s the harm in asking?”

“She deaths us. Like boom! Instantly dead.” Felix replied.

“Halja is a goddess. It is unlikely that she would strike down a mortal without reason.”

“Unlikely isn’t impossible.”

“Enough.” Noah said with a sigh. “Perhaps what we should do with it will become clearer when we have it. Let’s just go home for the day.”

“Alright let’s head back to the town. I think the sun is setting soon.” Felix said as he stood up.

“Sounds good. I’ll carry a couple sacks of materials to Astral Aetheria.” Isaac said as he went to do so.

“Let me help too!” Emily said as she followed behind Isaac.

Noah also picked up a bag, “Phew. I’ll be glad when this is all over. My sister Catherine has been looking forward to Sea Bounty Festival all year.”

Felix looked back down at Lisa.

She just looked back at Felix and put her arms out, “carry me. I’m tired from all the magic use.”

Felix just looked at her with an eyebrow raised.

“Are you serious?”

“Please? If you do, I might dispel the pink light.”

“Ugh. Fine. Come here, you.”

Felix knelt and turned around, so his back was to Lisa. He felt her wrap her arms around his shoulders and her weight on his back.

The group made their way back to Kurkenburg. The sun was slowly dipping towards the horizon.