Embers in the Dust

Outside The Nightingale, Myla felt slightly frustrated. She had wanted to speak with Leaf, but Sam’s constant surrounding made it difficult for her to speak about things secretly. She could speak telepathically to him, but Sam had already noticed that they randomly go quiet in the middle of conversations. While they didn’t need to hide things from her, she was still new to them, and trust wasn’t something they took lightly anymore.

“Come on! This is one of the best places I know.”

Sam had mentioned coming to get drinks with them after class. Dropping off a few of their things, Mr. Muffins had been sitting downstairs with Sarnorin, and Sam invited him as well. As they walked in, she saw her sister sitting at the bar. Behind the bar, an owlin with white feathers and orange eyes darted around. To Lyla’s right, sat two other figures. One was an older, white haired, human. The other was an older tiefling with horns that reminded Myla of a ram’s. While the human was larger, with muscles that made it seem that this woman was used to working hard, the tiefling was much more slender. On the right of the bar, a group of people were finishing a meal. The dwarf, who seemed to be leading this group, turned to the others and gave a wave.

“See you later, ladies!”

“Of course, Karrak!” Lyla responded while giving a quick wave back.

Seems like you’re having fun. Myla said as she connected to her sister’s mind.

Myla! It’s been a good day. How was yours?

Busy. Want to sit with us?

Lyla turned to her sister and nodded. Myla grabbed a table with Leaf and Mr. Muffins as Sam walked right into the middle of the conversation Lyla was having.

“Hey Nazira! Hi Wren. I brought some friends. Some drinks and food?”

“Hello Sam. We’re a bit busy here, but our new employee can help you all.”

“Actually,” Lyla added. “Those over there are my friends. Want to come say hi?”

While the four of them made it over, the white haired woman grabbed a few extra chairs and pulled a table over. With everyone seated, she looked over to Myla, then to her sister.

“You have a twin? That’s gotta be fun for you and confusing for others.”

“It definitely helps.” Lyla laughed. “This here is Myla. Then that’s Mr. Muffins, and Leaf. It sounds like you already know Sam?”

“Yeah. I’m a regular here before I started hanging out with you guys.” Sam jumped in.

“Regularly drunk and out of money.” Nazira quipped.

“It does seem that she spends more time here than at home.” The tiefling added, a smile showing on her face. Myla took a glance to see a silver canine tooth in her mouth.

“I’m Nazira, owner of The Nightingale. This is Wren, my partner in crime. She owns the stables on the south-side of Berkton.” The woman told them.

“Apparently,” Lyla added. “These two have been in Berkton for the last forty or so years. They know most everyone around here.”

“I wouldn’t say everyone, but we’ve definitely learned that kindness is contagious.” Wren stated.

“So…” Nazira started, looking at Sam. “Is my bar not good enough for you anymore? You haven’t been around much.”

“It’s been a busy couple of weeks. I’m on guard duty. Night and day.”

Myla watched as the owlin walked quickly over. She glanced over at each of them before talking. There was a slightly nervous twitch in her, which Myla guessed was just shyness.

“Hi. I’m Alvora. I’ll be getting food and drinks for you. What do you want?”

“What would you like?” Nazira corrected.

“Ah, sorry. What would you like?”

“Let’s grab a round, then just some snacks for now.” Sam answered.

“Some wine would be nice too.” Leaf added at the end.

“Sounds good. Be right back.” Alvora said, before turning back around. “Umm.. That’ll be 3 gold for all that.”

Myla let her consciousness open, connecting to her friends. If they needed to speak about anything, she wanted to make sure they could. When Alvora returned with drinks, Myla took one from the table and casually sipped it while letting the conversation go around here. Sam spoke with Nazira and Wren, occasionally trying to bring Leaf into it, but he was already relaxed in his seat, wine glass in one hand and his books in front of him. A little later, Alvora returned.

“Do you all need anything else?”

“Here.” Sam said while pulling out ten gold coins. “Let’s just keep them coming, but don’t let me get too drunk.”

“H-How would I know when you’re drunk?”

“Shit… Nazira usually knows.”

“I do, but I’m not working right now.” She answered back with a smile.

Mr. Muffins leaned forward, waving a blue napkin towards Sam while looking at the owlin.

“See, if her neck and cheeks get red, you know they’ve had a bit much. Stopping them around there would probably be good.”

“Um…”

“Alvora is actually colorblind. She can’t really see red too well.” Wren added for Alvora.

“Oh, well here.” He handed her the blue napkin. “If her neck looks like this, she’s too drunk.”

Alvora held the napkin against Sam’s face, then leaned in, getting within inches of her, and stared at her neck.

“Not this color, yet. So, good?”

“Wait. That’s bl-”

“Yes.” Mr. Muffins replied, hiding his smile at his joke as he interrupted Sam.

The owlin walked away to grab drinks. Myla pulled out her notes and set them on the table.

“Mr. Muffins? If you have a second, could you take a look at my notes?”

“What are you learning?”

“Mostly botany and chemistry.”

“Ah… That makes sense,” Mr. Muffins said as he looked at the first page. “Because that formula is on how to build a bomb.”

“Oh! I must have messed that up somehow.”

“It’s pretty good, I just imagine that’s not what you meant to write. Let’s add something here, and that should fix most of the issue.”

“Thank you.”

Myla took down the instruction he gave, then looked at it again, finally seeing it make sense.

“You know, if you’re gonna be studying this, I could spend some time going over it with you.”

“Would you? That would be very helpful. While I’m good at practical things, talks about theories and formulas don’t really work well for me.”

“Speaking of,” He pointed at Leaf’s book. “That’s wrong too.”

“What?”

“Just kidding. Yeah, I can help some. I’m not an expert, but I know some of the basics you’re going over.”

Nazira finished her drink, then looked over at Myla.

“So, this one does the physical stuff, and you’re the bookworm?” She asked.

“No. We both have our preferences, but Lyla is more physical than me.”

“Makes sense. Wren here was the same way. She spent more time in the woods than in the city.”

“How did you two meet?” Myla asked.

“Did you ever hear about Tamvir Skypeak’s risk of falling forty years ago?”

Myla thought back on it. She remembered the place being talked about at VerdantKnoll. Tamvir Skypeak was the last of four floating islands west of Cecela. They had slowly fallen, with no clue as to why, except for traditions that the giants believed in. It was a dangerous place for a lot of merchants, but those that did tended to make enough money for a lifetime pretty quickly if they procured a good contract or sale.

“We were the ones that stopped it from falling.” Nazira said as she puffed out her chest slightly.

“Well, us and some of our new friends at the time.” Wren added.

“I didn’t know that!” Sam excitedly leaned forward as she spoke.

“It’s not something we talk about much, and you’ve never asked.”

“You don’t ask much of anything about us, which is kinda hurtful, now that I think about it.” Nazira said, folding her arms and turning her nose away dramatically.

“What do you mean? Nazira never stops talking about her eyepatch.”

Myla looked over at Nazira, confused.

“What eyepatch?” Myla asked.

“Oh, I wear it during working hours. Bar owners with grizzly stories make more money.” She answered.

As they talked, Alvora returned with another set of drinks. Before she set them down though, she tossed the napkin onto Sam’s shoulder, got close to her face again, then apparently decided the blue napkin wasn’t the same color as Sam’s face. In a confused and frustrated gesture, Nazira waved Alvora over.

“Look, I can’t guarantee it’ll help forever, but would you like to see colors normally for a bit?”

“You… You can do that?”

“Just for a bit. If you’d like, we can even cast the spell regularly, and over time it could become permanent.”

“Yes please!” Alvora shouted excitedly, almost knocking over Wren’s drink.

“Here.”

Nazira stood and placed her hands over Alvora’s eyes, who was shaking with excitement. Myla watched as light started appearing from under her hands, and as Mr. Muffins realized what was happening, waved his hand and changed the napkin from blue to red. He caught Myla’s gaze, then brought his finger up to his smile to signal that it was their secret.

Nazira brought her hands down, and Alvora opened her eyes. She blinked a few times, her mouth open in slight shock. Then, she wrapped her wings around the woman, ecstatically jumping up and down.

“Oh, thank you Ms. Nightingale!”

“It’s no problem, Alvora. Just remember that if you leave me, the spell will cost you.” She joked.

Eventually, Leaf stood and had to make his exit, and Myla joined. Sam kept a slight distance, and though they were speaking telepathically, she tried to make it seem as if they weren’t talking.

I have some questions for you later, as well.

Yeah?

I was studying magical rituals, and I found a decent amount of information. Later we should look over it.

That’s easy enough. We have a few more classes together, and I’m sure we’ll have time to look at it.

I’m mainly mentioning it, because I was wondering something. Are there ways to stop rituals when they’re happening?

Leaf stopped for a second, the thought grasping his motor function and thoughts. Then, he stepped forward as if he had tripped on something, then kept going.

There are, but it’s a tricky answer. There are spells that can stop or redirect magic, and if the ritual takes time you could stop the people casting. You could also just take the spell’s components away before they’re used. Why?

I was thinking, what if there was a way to stop someone from being able to cast, or even stop a spell before it leaves the person? For someone that doesn’t use magic, it would be helpful.

You’re not wrong. I’m a little unsure if there is a way, but I do know that some talk about poisons that are able to stop a mage from casting for a bit of time. I imagine it could stop a spell mid-casting, if it was applied quickly enough.

Leaf opened the door to Lyrical Lute, and Myla, Sam, and Emmi entered the building. The place was darker, with only a few lanterns lit as night hadn’t come just yet. They waved towards Scoria, then headed upstairs to their rooms.

“Well, more classes tomorrow. See you then.” Leaf stated, before nodding to Sam and heading into his room.

Myla sat in the dark for a few minutes, before opening the curtains at her window and letting in the light that poured in from the West. Laying down on her bed, she didn’t remember being so tired, but fell asleep anyways.