The Carnival at Moonbright

Though there was a chilled bite in the air, Leaf could feel the sweat already coming from his body. Leaving the Archmage Tower, he looked up at the sky above. The patches of clouds seemed to stretch overhead, covering the world in a pale gray color, with the sun’s rays causing distinct shades of oranges and reds to match the sky’s blues and blacks on the opposing view. Leaf thought back to many of the nights here in Moonbright, high above the Archmage Tower with Orin, talking about the clusters of stars that were easily viewable in the night sky, about the moons, Mirus and Seladon, and their race with each other through the vast cosmos around the realm.

Leaf could feel a tightness in his chest. Thoughts raced through his mind, almost too fast to keep up.

Orin

What do I do now?

Am I ready for this?

The funeral

All the people

Do I remember their names?

Ramona Moontremble

Fortune Teller

Hag

Nix

Orin

This carnival troupe. What will they do after this?

Am I alone?

Am I ready?

What now?

Who is Dubh Catha?

The comfort of having the group with him helped ease his anxiety, but it also reminded him that they would probably leave soon, causing him to be alone. Leaf had never worried about being alone before. In many ways, he hoped for it. Then, the Archmage came, and everything changed. Leaf was plucked from his life and brought into a world of wonder and magic far beyond anything he could have achieved at Berkton Academy. He knew this day would come, but was he ready now?

Across the plaza and towards Haron’s Castle, they relinquished the gems they were given with the memorial service letter to the front gate guards and walked into the castle grounds. Leaf saw that the gates had not been entirely remade, but there was enough to keep people out if needed, and he knew that there would be more work soon. Things like that take time.

To the left, he could see the hedge maze. Though the cold nights had taken their toll on the shrubbery, he could still see the few flowers fighting to survive. In front of him stood the giant castle, casting an enormous shadow to the right. A patch of trees surrounded a stone path leading to a pond on his right. The fruit had already fallen or had been picked from the area, but the leaves were still holding firm to their branches, giving a multi-colored array of orange, yellow, and red amongst the few green leaves that had not changed yet. Fall had indeed started to make its way into Moonbright, and the cold winter followed close behind.

They passed the tree line and walked upon a large expanse of wooden chairs from the castle to use for both funerals. There were hundreds of seats, primarily empty still, but the ones towards the front were already being taken by the carnival troupe. Leaf walked up with the group and sat down.

Leaf did not know all of these people but could feel their sadness. He saw Markus at the front, holding the small changeling child, who he assumed was Nix’s daughter, Meg. Near the water, a small stage and podium had been placed, with Elysium and a firbolg woman standing next to each other, their backs turned away from everyone. Next to the stage, lying close to the water, was a coffin shaped like a tiny boat, where he assumed Nix had been laid to rest.

The firbolg woman walked off the stage and sat down next to Markus, and Leaf watched as Elysium took a long look at everyone in their seats. He closed his eyes for a moment, then started to speak.

“I started the carnival with only a few gold pieces in my pocket and a dream. I wanted to bring joy and hope to anyone who came into our tent. Then, a new dream formed. People from all over the world came to us and asked for help. Some were homeless orphans, some were trying to escape bad situations, and some needed guidance and purpose. We took them in, one by one, and tried to build the Arcana Emporium into our own family and homestead. What started as a small group of five turned into so much more.

Nix came to us just over eight years ago, brought by our mutual friend, Markus. She didn’t speak much of her past, but the scars on her body told us all we needed to know. A pregnant woman was in need. We took her in and gave her a safe place to rest. Quite a lot of you were here when Meg was born. It was a week of celebration, and we considered ourselves lucky and blessed.”

Leaf listened to Elysium give the eulogy. He had only seen Nix once or twice during the carnival’s brief time in Moonbright, so there was a slight disconnect in his feelings compared to everyone around. He looked over at Markus, who was holding Nix’s child. Leaf examined Meg’s face as she concentrated on trying not to cry, which caused her skin and hair color to change every few seconds in small splotches. He had never seen a changeling do this, but he had never seen a changeling lose a mother.

“I could stand here all night, talking about Nix, but our time is limited. We are finished with the Arcana Emporium this year and will travel to the campground in a few days. When we leave here at the end, meet with Torra, and she will hand you the finances you deserve for the last week of our time here and the money we hold for you during the year.

I-I don’t know if it’s right to reopen next year. We have some months before we have to figure that out, though. As always, you know where to find us if you choose to leave for the winter, and you’ll always be welcome because you’re family.”

Elysium walked away from the podium, and with help from some of the troupe, they pushed the boat into the pond. Leaf didn’t know their names then, but he watched as a fire genasi walked over to an elven archer, lit her arrow, and stood there as the elven woman walked over to Elysium. She fired at the boat at his command, and they all watched it erupt into flames.

As the sun set, guards came by and lit the standing torches throughout the space. Leaf stayed with the carnival group as he watched them all stare into the fire on the pond until, finally, the fire died, and the boat sank into the water. Most of the troupe turned and walked away, out of the castle grounds, but Leaf saw that Elysium and Torra, along with the party, had stayed behind.

A guard walked by and softly asked their names. Once given, he ushered them all to the front, over to the left end of the seats, and gestured for them to sit. The guard double-checked his scroll, ensuring the seats were correct, then nodded and walked away.

Over the next hour, the quiet respect turned to a loud cacophony of voices as people from all over the world walked into the castle grounds, passed the orchard, and worked with the multiple guards to find seating. With the funeral so quickly after Orin’s passing, Leaf assumed that most people attending were either mages or higher-class citizens with access to teleportation magic since the nearest town or city was almost two weeks away from Moonbright.

As people reached their seats, a trio went straight to Leaf and the troupe. There stood A female tiefling with reddish skin, white horns adorned with sapphires, and an elegant black dress, a male human in an emerald-colored suit and a wooden shillelagh being used as a cane, and a male bugbear dressed in ceremonial leathers carrying a small satchel at his side. Leaf knew them as Dalia, the Dean of Eduzan, Darion, the Dean of Rahmnivar, and Balk, the Chemistry Professor at Berkton Academy. They stopped right in front of Leaf, who stood up and shook hands with all of them.

“As your academic advisory, we felt like we should be here to share our condolences,” Dalia said as she lowered her head in Leaf’s direction.

“It is a shame to lose one of the greatest mages of our time.” Darion followed.

“He… He was a great man who had lived longer than most,” Leaf replied.

“And look at you, young Leaf. It has only been a few years since you’ve been in my classroom. See how grown you’ve become!” Balk smiled and gestured, beaming with pride.

“Speaking of classes. I’m unsure of where your training has gone since you became the apprentice to the Archmage, but we are always available for extra teaching if needed. As the most respected institution, I’m sure we can provide for any lack,” Darion stated.

“As well as your Mastery Testing,” Dalia added.

Leaf nodded, then thanked them before sitting back down and watching the three of them walk away. He disliked Darion but could never quite place it until that moment. It was his smugness and the fact that he always seemed to act as if he was better than anyone else. Leaf knew little of Darion but knew he was in his early forties and had only been a Dean for the last couple of years after Grazorn had retired. His status as Dean happened roughly a month before Orin came and took Leaf away from the school.

The crowd started filing in, and the organized aspect of Moonbright’s military force moved things along smoothly. Within half an hour, everyone was seated, waiting for what would come next. Beside him, Lyla shifted in her seat. She had been looking around at the different people that had come, but she immediately swung forward, grabbed her sister’s hand, stood up, and walked towards the castle. Leaf turned towards the crowd and saw someone watching Lyla and Myla walk away. He was an older man with no hair on his head or face. He looked slender and tall in his seat and wore a ceremonial white and gold attire. On the front of his tunic was a prominent symbol of a golden dragon. Leaf knew little of this symbol, but it must have some type of status because others were also looking at this man. Leaf watched as the man kept his eyes focused on the twins, turned to the man sitting next to him, said something, then looked away.

The crowd grew silent, and Leaf returned to his seat to see Queen Sylona Valtori walk across the castle grounds, surrounded by half a dozen guards. She wore her silver crown over her braided, blond hair, with diamond jewelry across her collarbone, fingers, and in her hair. She wore a black dress with a long cape that fell from her shoulders to roughly ten feet behind her, which three servants carried. The cape itself was also fashioned with a multitude of diamonds, which gave the entire look a night sky feel, with the gems like stars that gleamed and shined in the torchlight. While the seats faced the stage and podium, Queen Sylona’s chair was placed near the stage, roughly twenty feet away, and met the crowd.

An older human walked onto the stage wearing a simple but formal robe. He pulled out a piece of folded paper, set it on the podium, adjusted his glasses, and started speaking.

“Thank you for attending the service and memorial of a great man, the late Archmage Orin Sungrove. My name is Suma of The Magick Guild in the city of Miofell, Migandi…”

Suma stepped away from the podium a few minutes later, and another took his place. Then, another and another. For the next two hours, Leaf listened to people of different races and ages talk about how they knew Orin, then introduced the next person. The more Leaf tried to pay attention, the more upset he got. Most of these people didn’t even really know Orin. Many of them had only met him once or twice, and their speeches talked more about their station and nobility than anything about the man who died just a few hundred yards from where they stood. Leaf felt a pain in his hands and realized they were in fists. His fingernails were digging into his palms.

“And now, for our new Apprentice of Cecela to give a few words, Leaf of Rutherglen.”

Leaf felt the eyes of everyone fall upon him. While already high in anxiety and frustration, he realized no one had told him he was expected to speak. This is not what Orin would have wanted: a bunch of people talking about themselves, gaining prestige and reputation by stating that they knew him.

How dare they…

Leaf was moving toward the center aisle before realizing he had stood up. He felt the eyes move with him, expecting him to fall under the same system of political bullshit. He turned right, away from the podium, and down the aisle through the crowd. Step by step, he felt his anger grow. His hand reached into his pocket and pulled out a small crystal orb. It spun in his hand with greenish energy as he thought about the day Orin had given him this arcane focus during the first few months of their time together.

He thrust his hand into the air, and the arcane force waved over him and those near him, pushing people in their seats a foot or two away. The green wave rushed into the air, twenty, forty, sixty feet above, before exploding above the crowd into a vision of a large green bell.

BONG

It rang out above the castle grounds. People gasped and moved away from Leaf as he turned towards the main crowd.

BONG

“The sky is falling!” He could hear someone yell out towards the front and saw Mr. Muffins duck down, clearly trying to hide that the voice came from him.

BONG

Everyone stared at Leaf, his anger rising higher and higher. He spoke through gritted teeth before turning away from the crowd and walking back to the Archmage’s Tower. His voice

“In Memory of Archmage Orin Sungrove.”