Embers in the Dust

After a lengthy day, Leaf was excited to have a day off and just relax his wounds away. If his thoughts didn’t wake him and stop him from turning back over, he might have slept the entire day, but Leaf knew if he didn’t get answers, his thoughts would spiral until anxiety made its consistent, recurring entrance. Putting on his clothing and robes, he decided not to wake his friends. Sitting in the corner of the hallway, dozing in front of a chair, was Emmi. Her green scales shone against the wall as light from one of the skylight’s hit her back. In the chair, Sam was finishing a small plate of food.

“G’morning.”

“Morning, Sam.”

Wiping off their hands against her pants, she stood and followed Leaf downstairs. Emmi stretched like a small pet does after a lazy day, before shaking its head and trotting down behind them.

“What’s the plan today, Sir?”

“We’re going to meet with Onisa.”

“The Dean?”

“Yes.”

Without stopping for breakfast or saying hello to anyone who might be awake, he walked out of Lyrical Lute and made his way to the academy. He was anxious inside, but he knew that wasn’t what people needed to see. He held his head up and briskly made his way down the main road. As people passed, he could see them look at him, some even whisper, but he paid them no mind. They needed to see his confidence. An attack wasn’t going to be enough to scare him. He fought dragons. He was trained by the most prolific mage of his time. He needed to seem courageous, intentional, and above all, unfazed. His reputation insisted on it.

It was the fourth day, and while many people relaxed outside their dorms, he could sense an oddity to the situation. Only a few blocks away, Lyrical Lute was attacked last night. A few blocks further, Drakewardens swarmed Scorched Ale and had to write reports based on a situation he was involved in. Yet, no one seemed to have made any notice of it. On the contrary, people played, relaxed, and ate their breakfast outside, as if nothing could or would harm them inside the bubble that surrounded Berkton Academy.

Was I also like this during my time here? Oblivious to what was happening?

“You seem nervous about something.” Sam casually stated.

“Yes… Is it odd that no one seems to be worried about the Ravenglade attack?”

“In my years here as a Drakewarden, I did notice that anyone near the academy seemed to be immune to the things that happened outside of its protection.”

“It’s like the eladrin told us. Those who study here, or those privileged enough to have arcane power, don’t notice what is happening to the rest of the city.”

“They were not wrong. I have seen it myself, and always hoped to change that.”

“Sam,” Leaf stopped outside of the large building that Onisa’s office resided in. He turned to her, and he could feel his hands shake a little. “If that is all you ever accomplish, you will have my gratitude eternally.”

“Sir?”

“I have spent most of my life away from people, but I can see how that divide has made me less sympathetic towards others. I know that everyone can’t stop their lives and help causes, and some couldn’t handle the things even we’ve been through lately, but knowledge is important. Ignorance is the true evil, and one day I hope we can all find ways to remedy the curse that it is.”

Leaf waved his hand, causing the door to open without his touch. Without a finality for the conversation, he made his way up the staircase to the third floor, with Sam following next to him. Walking down the hallway, able to see the dean’s office on the opposite wall, Sam spoke again.

“I think I was wrong about you.”

“About?”

“I was quick to judge the fact that you don’t know spells that are simply taught here. I was able to see the power you wield last night, and even more so today. You will make a great Archmage.”

Leaf didn’t add to the conversation, his mind and heart already overwhelmed by his feelings that today presented. He walked down the hall, read the dean’s name on the wall next to her door, then knocked.

“Hello?” A voice wandered out from behind the door.

“Dean Onisa? This is Leaf. I-”

The door opened in front of him, light cascading out from the dean’s office into the hallway. It took a moment for his eyes to adjust, but as he looked around he could see that one wall was one complete pane of glass, which explained the high amount of light that came into the room. While the office was small in width, the octagonal room was tall enough to have a ladder ladder that led up to a loft, along with a small basket, tied to a pulley for accessibility. In the middle of the floor, behind shelves that reached up to the bottom of the loft, was a desk, in which Dean Onisa sat. Near the glass wall was a table in which the eladrin’s body had been laid out for examination, along with a small, rolling, metallic table with a variety of instruments on it.

Onisa, the Dean of Sothasem was an elderly woman, with long gray hair that contained hints of brown from her younger years. She was small in stature, but from Leaf remembered, was immensely strong as well as intelligent. She had intense eyes, brown with speckles of gold in the irises, which gave the hint that she was looking into Leaf rather than at him, but her smile was calming and jovial.

“Leaf! Oh how I’ve missed seeing you roam these halls.”

“Hello Dean Onisa. I-”

“You came to see the body of the eladrin, as well as any updates from me, I know.”

“Uh… yes?”

“I, unfortunately, haven’t had much time for that. There has been a lot happening in the last few hours, and even the delay of coming to my study for your needs has not stopped them.”

“What’s been going on?”

“A lot, but nothing to worry about just yet. I will be, of course, sending a full report to the other Deans, as is normal for such things, but as your mind is brimming with the thoughts of Dean Cerrin, it might be best to leave him out of such conversation for now. Yes?”

Leaf was confused. He had not mentioned Dean Cerrin to anyone but those in confidence the night prior. While it was possible for someone to have overheard something, it was unlikely that it would be brought to Onisa’s attention. Even Sam seemed taken aback by it, her hand moving towards her weapon slowly, as if preparing for an attack.

“I know all of this is odd, Leaf. Let’s sit and talk. You, Drakewarden?”

“Sam, Ma’am.”

“Yes, Sam. Please do me a favor and step outside.”

“No offense, but my orders are to stay at Master Leaf’s side.”

“Do you watch him bathe too? Of course not. I am a Dean of Berkton Academy, and while I understand that our authority is parallel in ways to the leadership of the Drakewardens, let it be clear that the only reason you have a drake is because the dragons who run this academy thought it best.”

Her voice was stern, her eyes even more intense than before, but her smile never left her face. Leaf was unsure why she would request a Drakewarden to leave his side, but he knew that this was going nowhere unless they did as she commanded. He turned his head to Sam and nodded. Unsure of herself, they gave a quick nod back, then left the room. The door closed behind Sam, and Leaf noticed that Onisa had not moved her hand to cause it that way.

It took only a moment for him to realize what was happening, as a figure materialized from their invisible state. Standing at the door, their hand still on the knob, was a tall, slender tiefling. His skin was red, but contained an almost purple hue, with horns that were shaved down to small rounded bumps on their head. Leaf recognized him, even in plain clothes as he wore today, as Andrai, one of the teachers of Berkton Academy.

“It is a pleasure to see you again, Master Leaf.” Andrai spoke quietly, giving a slight bow as he moved back towards the window.

“Professor Andrai.” Leaf stated as he gave a nod in return.

“I’m sorry for the theatrics, Leaf. Andrai has been with me since the eladrin was brought to me this morning, and as he is well versed in spell preparation and rituals, it made sense to ask for his assistance in examining this body.”

“That would also make sense as to why you knew of my thoughts over Dean Cerrin.” Leaf acknowledged, recalling Andrai’s distinct abilities towards telepathy.

“If what happened is true, it is safe to say that we all should have protection at this time.” Andrai replied back, before picking up a strange device that Leaf had not seen before. It resembled a sextant, but it contained a variety of colored lenses at one end.

Onisa sat back in her chair as Andrai looked over the body. She seemed hesitant to start a new conversation, but the twiddling of her thumbs made it clear that it was one that needed to happen. Leaf waited patiently, not trying to push more than was necessary. After a few minutes, she leaned forward onto her desk, placed her hands together, locking fingers together, and looked over at him.

“There’s something you must know, which is why I asked for the Drakewarden to leave the room. Kirdoth and Cerrin have been working on something that has done more harm than good as of late.”

“What do you mean?”

“There have been tellings over the past few decades of dark elves going missing. While it was not something that was relevant to the people of Cecela, it has come to our attention that many have been missing, and some have returned… different. We are calling it the Drow Disease.”

“What is different about them?”

“It started with the examination of one elf who had been having issues with their magic. At first we assumed it was a teleportation ritual gone awry, but the more we investigated, the more we realized that her body wasn’t just affected in an arcane state, but by something more. Then, one night we found her screaming in pain in the infirmary. We tried to settle her, or at least to get her to tell us what was wrong, but her body must not have been able to handle the pain, as it disappeared into black smoke.”

Leaf listened as Dean Onisa told the story. He knew that there were talks of missing dark elves, but never anything this insane.

“When the second person came forth with the disease, Cerrin took it upon himself to try and find a cure. It took weeks, unable to find any clue as to what was happening. Kirdoth insisted that he bring the woman to him. So, he did as the dragon commanded.”

“This doesn’t seem like a bad thing, though.” Leaf commented.

“Yes, overall it would be a heroic thing, like many actions of the ancient dragons and their Deans,” Andrai added. “The issue comes from the fact that this disease has changed hosts.”

“Changed hosts?”

“It doesn’t just affect the dark elves. It has caused mutations in other elves, a few humans, and as of a month ago, Kirdoth.”

“Wait… Kirdoth is sick?”

“Not just sick, Leaf,” Onisa answered. “Changing. We’ve been unable to determine the cause of the sickness, but we have reason to think that Kirdoth’s changes will be different.”

“How so?”

“Dragons are magical beings. As I’m sure you remember during your studies, they have the ability to change the area near their lair, and their deaths send a surge of magical energy into the world. We know that this affects the weave of magic as well. It has the arcane force to push against the weave, and at times cause small rifts to appear. If Kirdoth dies, an ancient dragon, we do not know how badly it will change the world.” Onisa explained.

“That’s not all,” Andrai took a step towards the window as he spoke. Staring out over the campus, he spoke and Leaf could hear a hint of concern in his voice. “Kirdoth’s death would cause the entirety of Berkton to come under a magical surge. If this disease travels with this surge, it could cause many to become ill.”

Leaf listened, a feeling of concern growing quickly as they spoke to him. He sat down in a chair and placed his hands together. While it would be easy to leave them all to this, and not get involved, he knew this was one of many things he’d have to deal with as an Archmage. Taking a deep breath, he looked back to Onisa.

“So, what can we do? How is this connected to the eladrin?”

“That’s the part we’re trying to figure out, but it feels connected.” Onisa stood and made her way over to the eladrin’s body. “The necrotic smell is enough to know that this is similar to Cerrin’s magic. I can’t know for sure, unless he confesses to it, but I have a feeling that he’s growing desperate to help Kirdoth. Many of the attacks lately, by this thieves guild that the eladrin was a part of, have been orchestrated, I believe. Do you have any idea why they attacked you?”

Leaf knew that lying would not be the smart choice here, but he also knew that some of the things they were doing didn’t need to be publicized. So, he chose to omit the truth where he could.

“They attacked Lyrical Lute while we were all gone. It mainly looked like a burglary, with many things looked through and broken into. We went after them, only to find them at Scorched Ale, the tavern. The eladrin did speak to us about the political and financial differences between mages and non-magical people, but before he could give us too much more, he was possessed by the being that caused his withered form.”

“Hmm…” Andrai let out the sound almost like a sigh.

“Well, that’s all I have at the moment. If more comes, I’ll make sure to send a letter to you. Are you still staying at Lyrical Lute?”

“Currently. We saw no reason to run and hide somewhere else.”

“The confidence of an Archmage to be. Keep your head up, Leaf. We’re going to find solutions.” Onisa smiled as she spoke, her eyes full of care and warmth.