Astarte Ch. Three

New friends join the ranks

Ch. 3 Aurora Valley

Bear and his three companions chose to not wear their robes for this expedition. Instead they wore loose pants and travel vests that could carry their various equipment. Horo was a new mage class guild member with long brown hair, pale skin, and a dimpled smile. She was only sixteen years old, but already an accomplished nature mage. Markus on the other hands was a dark haired, broad shouldered giant. Markus was in his mid-twenties. He was a master mage like Bear, but Bear had the authority given his amount of time in the guild and how long he had held his rank.

They had a long three day walk ahead of them. Bear set an easy pace given that they had no time frame in which to complete this task. Brooklyn refused to let go of his hand as if her very life depended upon holding it the whole way there. Horo hung back as was he nature. She was probably the most quiet of them all. She never said more than she absolutely had to.

Bear had his scythe strapped to his back on the off chance that someone decided that a traveling group of mages were an easy target for runes, through that was highly unlikely. Bear just did not underestimate the power of a fool when he thinks he can accomplish a task.

“So, you two a couple now,” Markus asked. He was always a very blunt person. If he thought it; he said it. Bear looked back at him with cocking an eyebrow and looking down at his and Brooklyn’s hands.

“Well,” Markus said sarcastically, “I’ll take that as a yes.” Markus had not wanted to come on this excursion. He hated doing any type of mission. He would much rather be in his room studying. Aries of course had other plans for Markus. Plans that involved him getting outside and associating with the people of Lakel.

After they had walked the better part of a day, Bear told them to set up camp. They were settled in a small grove of trees just off the main road to the Aurora Valley and the numerous villages that inhabit the valley. Horo started to make the evening meal, since she had a passion for cooking. That and she was far better at it than others. Brooklyn decided to assist Horo by stirring the pot and cutting vegitables. Markus began the setting the perimeter with alarms crafted by Taurus and Cancer. Bear had just gathered the wood for the night when a hand touched his shoulder. He turned to see Markus with his finger to his lips. Horo slipped past Bear in a crouch. Her eyebrows were creased in seriousness as she proceeded forward with care. In the low light of the evening Bear could make out a fire fly zipping this way and that. A large cat of sorts chasing it their way.

Horo leaned forward bringing out her belt knife. She had no offensive magic to speak of. In one graceful leap she tangled with the cat, cutting its throat. Bear just watched dumb founded as a nature mage in his company killed a beast in cold blood. What happened next surprised Bear enough that he fell back onto the ground. The cat’s body burst into flames.

“Hell Cat and Sprite,” Horo said looking at Bear. Bear worked with animals often, but Horo was an expert in the area of magical creatures. Hell cats were of course vicious like beasts who hunts magical beasts and humans who have high magical energies. Sprites are more favorable to deal with if you like obnoxious, mischievous pests. The Sprite not knowing the cat had died flew straight into Bear face. The little maiden-like creature fell from his face landing in his lap.

The sprite had long blonde hair, little blue eyes, and pale uncovered skin. Her wings resembled Brooklyn’s own. The Sprite were the smaller cousins of fairies and pixies. Pixies could take the size of either sprite or fairy depending on their mood. The sprite sat up holding her head in her hands.

“Ouch! Where did you come from, you big ox,” the sprite complained. Bear not phased by the insult picked her up by her wings causing her to squirm and wiggle. Horo looked horrified at how the sprite was handled. Bear had a little experience with them though. It was the only way to contain her. With a disapproving look from Brooklyn and a laugh from Markus, Bear deposited the sprite in a jar that sat next to the food stuff.

“You flew into me, and until you apologize for your rudeness, you will save us from wasting firewood, by being a lamp. Horo just saved your hide and your going to be rude! I don’t even think so,” Bear told her. Surprisingly the sprite lowered her head and tears streamed down her face. A sprite who could not control their emotions meant only one thing. They were young.

“I’m sorry, I was just afraid of that hell cat,” the sprite said in a small voice, “My name is Fay.”

“I’m Bear. The girl over there by the fire is Brooklyn. The girl with the knife is Horo, and the man next to her is Markus,” Bear said as he introduced each person.

“Since I have been rude to you and I am absolutely terrified of the forest; I’m going to tag along with your company,” Fay announced.

“Your seriously afraid of the forest. You do know that sprites live in the forest,” Markus barked with laughter.

“Yes, ok! I am a total failure as a sprite. I prefer to be next to cities with their exotic smells and sights,” yelled Fay as more tears formed at her eyes.

Markus was about to something more, but Horo put the blade of her knife to his neck and shook her head. Horo stepping clearly out of rank only made matters escalate. As aura formed around Markus, Bear picked up his scythe striking the ground. Small fissures split the ground forming a web of cracks and crevices.

“Enough! Horo remember your place among us. Markus, say no more to Fay. She is only a child,” Bear yelled. Brooklyn who had been watching all this stepped up to Bear laying a hand on his shoulder. Some of the tension waned, but sparks still flew as Markus glared at Horo before retreating to his tent. Horo who seemed infected by the young sprite turned her back to Bear and also retired for the night, but not before a tear escaped her. Not much upset Horo.

Brooklyn left Bear with Fay and followed Horo. A knocking sound came from the jar. Bear had forgotten to let the sprite out of her prison. He flipped the jar over and let Fay out. Fay stood about six inches off the ground; It had been a big jar, but she still stretched her limbs. Bear tried not to stair at her naked body. Fay still blushed anyways. He was going to have to find miniscule clothes for the young one.

Bear went into his and Brooklyn’s tent with Fay sitting on his shoulder. The little sprite was chatting about her adventures in Willow and the towns around the trade city. Bear half listened to her story as he rustled around in his pack. His hand found a rectangular wooden object, his travel chest. He kept a few odds and ends in it. It was about three inches wide and six inches long. He normally carried it in his pocket and it held various herbs in it that could travel together. He removed the herbs and placed them in the jar that had minutes ago contained Fay.

Fay, as most sprites are, was curious as to what he was doing. She flew from his shoulder and hovered next to his hands as he cut rectangular strips from an old Astarte robe. In his good humor he cut a strip with the guild symbol on it. He put to strips in the bottom of the box after removing the lid. He took another and rolled it up as one might with a travel blanket. That strip went on one end. The last strip with the guild symbol went on top.

“You can sleep here tonight. Its not much, but it is all I could think of for a bed,” Bear said. A wide smile spread across Fay’s lips as she looked at the makeshift bed. In her joy she flew up and kissed Bear’s cheek. It felt like a small breeze brushed Bear’s cheek. Fay blushed realizing how spontaneous she had been. Bear smiled at her and then removed his vest. A great weight left his shoulders. The various item that went into the pockets of the Astarte field vest could weigh a mage down. He wore a plain cotton shirt underneath. He gave a sigh of relief when he removed his walking shoes. His feet were very sore from the miles of hard packed dirt road that had been traveled. All magic type except dark and plasma had healing techniques. Bear being rather fond of this fact wasted no time in passing the back of his scythe blade down his soles. The Tome had not lied when he said that the items it bestowed amplified magic. Within seconds his feet felt better than they had when they started.

“It is late little one, I am going to get some of the meal Horo prepared and then its off to bed,” Bear said to Fay as he went to retrieve a bowl of Horo’s stew. Brooklyn and Horo were outside. Horo did not show any emotions. Good, she’s back to normal. I wonder what Brook said to her, Bear thought to himself. Horo stood up as he walked over.

“Forgive me for my earlier outburst Bear. I am very protective of magical creatures; whether that be a gryphon, siren, sprite, or even a mage. I can not let one hurt the other. To make up for it I have some things a carry for the various creatures if I were to have to tend one for any length of time,” Horo said. Bear was very surprised she said so much. That was probably the most any person has ever heard her say in one sitting. In her hands though were some very small items indeed. A set of eating utensils including a plate and bowl, several miniature outfits, and a small mirror and comb. Horo in Bear’s mind was the most prepared mage he had ever seen.

“Thank you Horo, I’m sure Fay will be grateful,” Bear replied.

“I will be going to bed as soon as I finish my conversation with Horo, ok Bear,” Brooklyn told Bear as she dipped the mini-bowl into his own.

“Ok, Hun. I’m about to put Fay to bed as soon as she eats,” Bear said absentmindedly. Brooklyn smiled at him and he could not quite figured out why. Had he heard himself, he would have noticed the fatherly tone he had just used.

Brooklyn and Horo actually giggled when he went back to the tent. Bear wondered why there were laughing at him as he walked back into the tent he shared with Broolyn. When he walked in Fay was flying around the tent, going from one thing to another looking at each one. She flew up to Bear’s scythe looking intently at the blade. As she extended her hand to touch it she felt a tugging at her legs. She turned to see Bear’s fingers around her legs as he shook his head.

“A human can barely stand to touch it, I do not want to find out what would happen with you decided to touch it. Horo had some items she wanted you to have,” Bear said as he showed Fay the miniature items. The first thing Fay went to was one of the dresses. It was green silk with gold thorns embroidered up the sleeves and met together to create a rose on the bodice. The dress had very little in the way of a back so that her wings would not be hindered. He set her stew next to her bed as he sat down to eat his own.

“After you finish with your stew, its straight to bed. We wake at sunrise,” Bear said as he drank the broth from his bowl. Once he had finished and made sure that Fay was fast asleep; he blew out the lantern. It was not long after that that Brooklyn crawl in beside him. Bear slipped his arm around her and promptly fell asleep.

The next morning the group broke camp and began a long walk in silence, for the most part. Fay was the most talkative sprite in existence it appeared.

“There I was in the small village of Granite, and a most wonderful spell wafted through the air towards me. It was a sweet smell and I latter learned that it was the smell of cherries. Any ways, I followed the smell to a house with a pastry sitting on the window seal. I could tell it was hot, but it small so good. As I went in to get a closer look the lady of the house threw a shoe at me. And do you know what she called me? A bird! Do I look like a bird to you? And then she clarified that I was a hummingbird, as if I looked that fat! If I had a nose like that, I think I would hide until I was an old maid, I would,” Fay said with eyes full of honesty as she got caught up in one of her tales of misadventure. Bear and Brooklyn listened through it for the better part of three hours since they had continued from the afternoon lunch.

Bear not being able to help himself said, “I don’t know Fay, that dress is a little tight on you.” Fay turned to look behind her and started feeling at the dress. Bear barely had time to duck as Brooklyn swung wide at his head.

“Fay, Bear was only joking, the dress fits perfectly Dear,” Brooklyn explained to Fay.

“You shouldn’t be so mean to me,” Fay said to Bear. Nonetheless Fay flew over and sat on his shoulder. She could not fly for too long as she had not fully developed yet. So she rested her head on Bear’s shoulder and laid there. She had surprising balance.

Horo had spent the entire day taking notes on Fay’s actions and interactions with everyone. She her self had not said a word to anyone. Markus had not either as he stayed back from the group. He never did get along with people, and sprites apparently for that matter as well. When they stopped for any length of time Fay would fly over to Horo and got measured, pricked, swabbed, or some other test. She did not mind it too much. At times she would rest on Horo shoulder instead of Bear’s. only occasionally did she sit on Brooklyn’s shoulder and she never went near Markus. When Bear asked about Fay and Brooklyn to Horo he had to laugh at her response.

“She likes Brook, but she really likes you. She is jealous of Brook’s relationship with you, though she knows that she is a sprite and far too little to get your attention like Brook has it,” Horo said. She had begun talking more to Bear, but she talked the most to Brooklyn. She still did not speak above a whisper.

The same routines continued the rest of the day and all the next day. Then all at once they crested a hill and a flourishing valley lay before them. The trees in the Aurora Valley were mostly fruit bearing trees, so the whole expanse was tinted with reds, blues, yellows, oranges, purples, and greens. At night the whole valley would light up like the night sky. That was after all how it got its name.

The mages began their ascent down into the valley. The valley was far from quiet. Howls, growls, hoots, chirps, and other sounds came from all directions. As the reached the base road a wolf walked unto the path in front of them. He was shaking his head as if he had something he wanted out of it. His eyes were bloodshot and his fur matted. Bear began to approach the wolf slowly. He slid off his pack and grabbed a bottle of liquid. When he opened it the wolf walked over to inspect the bottle. As soon as he smelled the contents he became unconscious. Bear at once began to look over the animal. The wolf was covered in old and fresh wounds. He had more than territorial animal should have. Over a quarter of them fresh and well over half of the healed ones recent.

Markus took soil samples to check for poison or some agent that would cause the animals to act out like this. They did this several time over as they progressed deeper and deeper in. the animals checked by Bear, the magical ones and hazardous plants by Horo, soil samples by Markus, and Brooklyn applying healing and inspecting herbs. Fay spent most of the time of Bear’s shoulder. The further in they went, the sick she looked.

“Bear, I have a headache. It hurts really bad.,” Fay began to complain.

“She is in essence a magical creature far more in tuned to the world then we,” Horo said.

Fay’s headache became so bad that tears streamed down her face. She flew down and sat laid in one of bears pockets on his vest. Brook gave he a numbing herb that eased her headache and put her to sleep.

“We most be close to the epicenter of whatever is causing such chaos. Yet we have fond no plant or mineral that could have cause this,” Bear said.

“Maybe what we seek is neither. What if we are looking for some beast,” Markus offered.

“I have studied many creatures that I could get my hands on, but I have not been ably to study the more dangerous ones. I can not until I become Master Mage. I have read that some creatures cause disturbances, but the writings offer little information. Magical creature care is a guarded secret among guilds. Your uncle is one such person with unicorns, almost nothing is known unless you can get access to his copies of research in the council library. Something I can not yet do,” Horo said with a saddened look. She did not like not knowing something about her trade that would be important their mission.

They walked a bit further into the valley. Bear could hear a stream not to far off. A massive heat wave hit him as they approached closer. Should you come across a large red oval shaped stone, bring it back. I left one such stone by a stream with rather warm sand. The words of Aries resounded in his head. Bear cried out in pain as a sharp stab hit his side. Fay had bittten him and was clawing her way out of her pocket. Bear grabbed her holding her firmly n his hand. Fay clawed and bit at Bear’s hand. Despite the pain, Bear held her tight. Fay had a wild look in her eyes and she was yet again crying.

“Fay! Calm down, and tell me what’s wrong,” Bear yelled. Fay looked up at Bear. She had blood around her lips where she had pierced his skin. She seemed to come to long enough to scream one word. “Dragon!”

Fay’s piercing scream hurt all their ears. Brooklyn had no choice but to force feed her a herb that would knock her out for a long day. With her size it might even be days. Brooklyn just hoped that the herb would not harm the young sprite physically. The mages looked at one another.

“It would that the request for this mission came from our own guild master,” Bear said as he handed Fay to Horo. He walked over to the stream. Pocking out of the sand was a large red stone. Intense heat poured from the thing. Bear took out a cloak to wrap the egg in so he would not burn himself handling it.

They traveled back to the guild in silence. The egg causing them to sweat each day they walked with it. The guys traveled shirtless, and the girls traveled with their breast wrapped so that at least their torso would not have to suffer. Fay stayed sedated the whole way back. Brooklyn shared a tent with Horo and Fay on the way back. Their tent was next to markus’s tent, both of which were settled from from bear who slept next to the egg. He drank three times the amount of water the others drank and hardly ever slept longer than three hours. The trip back to Astarte was both hard and miserable for the mages.

After two and a half days, they made it back to the guild. Aries met them at the door and took the egg from Bear. He immediately left them and disappeared into the undercroft of the guild hall. Aquarius met them soon after.

“Before you begin your paperwork, I think you should know some things. Yes Aries was the one who put up the request, but he wanted his most trusted and/or talented mages to handle this. Aries grew up in Cherrywood. His father was a renown rider and his mother a mage. He quickly became a sword prodigy and was on his way to becoming a rider, before his magic manifested. He was so powerful that he could not control his magic. His mother a magical item craftswomen died to create the Tome. A book that was entrusted to her son. The Tome grants each mage who come before it an item that will help a mage control his or her magic. In most cases it also makes those items amplifiers if the mage can be trusted with more power. In Aries’s case, the book collared him. Her can only go a few hours without his collar before he loses control. The collar also cuts off full access to his power. He can only wield a fraction of what he is capable of. After his mother’s death, his father blamed Aries. One night Aries took the egg that was promised him and ran away. He hid the egg in the valley and then made his way to willow with the Tome. He did freelance mage work until he founded the guild with Cancer, Pisces, Scorpio, and Pisces’s brother, Taurus. The dragon is a red, tamable, and will only listen to Aries once it hatches,” Aquarius explained to the mages.

“Why didn’t he tell me before I left then,” Bear questioned. He had a doubtful expression. The other mages all felt the same. They felt that their guild master had betrayed them. The risked their lives against insane, feral beasts, and all to bring a dragon into the halls. Aries had just taken the egg and left without a word; what did that say?

“Would you have gone if you knew? What would you have done Bear? What would you do if your perfect, promising life was taken from you and turned upside down? What if everything you have come to love here in Astarte was ripped from you and all the blame for it thrown upon your shoulders, even though the fault was not your own? Think about it before you pass judgment on Aries,” Aquarius said with her stern motherly voice.

“I would have done the same,” Bear said with down cast eyes.

“Well what’s done is done. She said the thing was tamable, and if Horo is a good girl she might get to study it,” Markus said with a laugh.

“You know I’m beginning to think the words that come out of your mouth are not mean at all. You just don’t have a clue how to talk to people,” Bear said as he gave Markus a look that was borderline glare. Honestly the man had no clue how to interact with others.

Horo did not take offense though at the comment. She was lost in thought thinking about the possibility that was before her. She looked up at Aquarius, who jerked her thumb towards the door to the undercroft. Horo was gone in seconds, her footsteps becoming faint down the stairs.

Bear left to complete the paperwork regarding the quest and Brooklyn left to gather the supplies for the trip. As Aquarius sat talking to Bear while he wrote she began looking intently at his pocket.

With a smile Bear told her the story of Fay. Fay was still asleep. Her face was red from the tears she had shed. She was clinging to the cloth with the guild seal on it that Bear gave her as a blanket. Bear gently laid her on the table next to his paperwork so he could watch her.

“She is still young, but she is makes for a great traveling companion. She is very talkative, and inquisitive about everything. Though Horo thinks she is a little jealous of Brook,”

“I’m not jealous! I promise,” Fay harrumphed as she turned over. She looked up at Aquarius who stared back with peeked interest. Fay did not like being studied so intently so she hid her face in her blanket, flashing the seal.

“Curious,” Aquarius said, ”That is the guild seal on her blanket.”

“I used one of my old robes. She needed something for the cold nights,” Bear confirmed.

“Well I guess I could enter her name in the guild register,” Aquarius began. Fay shot up with a beaming smile on her face. She looked from Aquarius to Bear and back again. Aquarius nodded her head to confirm that she would and Fay flew circles in jubilation. As more and more mages heard the commotion a crowd soon began to gather staring at the sprite in curiosity. Fay eventually became aware of all the eyes watching her. Her promptly flew to Bear and clutched his robes, peaking over his shoulder at the crowd.

“Shoo shoo now. You bunch are scaring the young sprite. Off with the lot of you,” Aquarius commanded. Bear just laughed as he did his paperwork. He hadn’t taken his eyes off his work. He had incident reports to fill out on the argument, Fay had to be reported, the condition of the valley, the cause of the problem, how it was dealt with, and results among other things. After he was finished he took Fay to his suite to meet Amberle. Amberle of course took a liking to her immediately. When he mentioned Amberle caring for her while he went to Eleron Fay went ballistic. She did not want to be left behind.

“You will stay until I return. Where I go is both dangerous and largely unknown territory to us. Amberle raised me from a young boy, she will take good care of you until I return,” Bear said. Fay knew she had no hope of winning. She flew up and hugged bear the best she could being as small as she was. She was truly emotional for a sprite as she cried yet again. Most sprite preferred to be tricksters to humans, but Fay was special indeed.

“Be safe my son, I hardly see you any more and I want to spend some time with you before Brooklyn takes you away from me. You know what I mean, don’t give me that look,” Amberle said. Bear promised to return and spend all the time she wanted as he kissed her good bye. He left to catch up to Brooklyn.

“Well little one, I guess it’s you and me for a while. Do you like cherry pie, I made some,” Amberle asked Fay. Fay smiled and emphatically nodded her head.