Upon a Star: Karyana's Journey: Chapter 27

The Chosen learns a new ability, but not all actions are beneficial.

Chapter 27

"I'm glad to see you are up and about, m'lady, though you do seem winded." Arius asked as he cocked an arrow onto one of the soldiers' practice bows.

"I'm sorry… have we met before?" Karyana replied, finding the elven man somewhat familiar. Still, she was winded for good reason; not only had her time with Allision been very private and rather prolific, which explained the beads of sweat on her skin, but she had been summoned to the archery fields by Alban, who was keeping an eye on the two of them while helping the initiates with the sharpening of arrowheads.

"Well, I have met your fellow comrades on my way here." the elf answered before letting the arrow fly, hitting the target inches from the center. "Hmm… still needs more tension…"

"I see." The black-haired woman answered. "My name is-"

"Karyana Desteen, yes, I know." the elf replied as he added tension to the bow string. "News travel very quickly from the regions to this shrine. Courrier hawks have sent Father Korgan news from the Order of Magicka. It seems you are quite the interesting young lass."

The young woman looked worried. "Wh-what do you mean?"

"Well… there has been word that the mercenary named "Iron-chain Pison" was on the hunt for a young woman with long, black hair and crystal blue eyes." the elf commented, causing a chill to run up and down Karyana's spine. "Of course, this place does commit to the rules of sanctuary, and as a friend of Father Korgan, I am certain that you are welcome here."

The elf fired the second arrow, which ended up wedged in the target barely half an inch from dead center. "As for me, my name is Arius Greenleaf. Spell-blade extraordinaire…" he introduced himself, then snapped his fingers. A second later, the silver ribbon in Karyana's braid vanished only to appear in his hand. "…and gentleman thief."

The young woman examined her disheveled braid, then picked the ribbon out of the archer's hands. "Please keep your hands to yourself, next time…" she said as she grabbed the arrow Arius had picked from the quiver that was hanging on his lap. "And what exactly is...?"

The elf put the bow against the nearest barrel and picked up an arrow. "A spell-blade… is a different type of wizardry. Instead of channeling mana through his hands, voice or bodily gestures, he simply channels it through his weapons. For instance…"

Arius turned to look at the target, then threw the arrow as if it was a knife. To Karyana's surprise, rather than the arrow spin on itself and bounce off the target, it fired in a perfectly straight line, lodging itself deep in the center of the wooden board. "This is a minor trick a spell-blade learns: how to strike a mark with any weapon by mana-weaving the path of the attack into it. The second trick…"

Karyana couldn't prepare herself to the shock of the target bursting into flames, then falling apart, incandescent splinters laying in the snow. "…is how to manaweave a spell into a weapon. Any questions so far?" Arius asked, waited for a few seconds, then continued. "Good. Now, suffice to say the Order has found a strange interest in you, as Master Turalyon would have not been sent here without a reason."

The elven spell-blade pointed at the battle-mage who was straining at the task of enchanting weapons while bickering with Onyx over some details that neither the elf or the young woman could understand, as the conversation was in dwarven tongue, before turning back to look at her. "Now, then. Have you ever used combat magic?"

The young woman thought for a moment, before remembering the one time she did. "Well… I guess I have." she answered, seemingly embarrassed by the thought. "A… close friend of mine was hurt because she was protecting me, and… I guess it was really sudden."

"Well, then. How about you show me what you can do?" the elven gentleman finally asked before walking over to a target before asking the monks to move it to the place where the previous one now laid in smoking rubble. "Let's start with a simple set of cantrips. Pick up an arrow from my quiver… without touching it."

The message was clear; this was a test of magic. Levitating objects was a very simple trick that Rauz did day in, day out. She usually did it to clean up around the tower, lifting objects while dusting the cabinets. Levitating one arrow would be easy.

Arius waited for a moment before not one, but five arrows flew out of his quiver and flew towards Karyana before stopping several feet from her, all of the arrow tips pointing downwards. "Well, I guess that was far too simple for you." he commented, scratching his bare head under his leather helm. "Now, how about something a little more difficult? Hold the arrows up so that all five tips touch, then infuse one arrow with any spell you can think of."

This was actually a bigger issue for Karyana, as infusing matter with a manaweave wasn't exactly the type of magic she was used to do. In fact, her previous attempts, even the creation of Bell, had been executed out of sheer luck and instinct. This time, not only did she have to keep the arrows aloft, but also find a shape of some sort that would allow the five tips to touch, not to mention figuring the right manaweave for the one arrow to enchant… wrapping her mind around all of the steps to execute was making her head spin, which caused the arrows to fall on the ground.

The spell-blade shook his head as he walked over to her. "It looks like you lack focus." he commented, picking up the arrows one by one. "You can't always bend mana on instinct. Try to think at least one or two steps ahead... and take it from a thief; bending the rules only hurts when you're caught."

Handing the arrows to the woman, Arius winked before walking back towards the target. "Now, try again, but this time, don't rush it. Once you pick up the basics, you'll be able to cast at a much quicker rate."

Karyana examined the arrows that laid in her hand. There was nothing special about them; thin, wooden shafts tipped with iron, brushed feathers for better flight. "Getting them to levitate is easy, but making them take a shape in mid-air is tricky…" she told herself. "And then I have to enchant… wait a second."

The answer was so obvious that she almost slapped herself. He did say that a spellblade could weave a spell into a weapon… then why not try? Closing her eyes, she focused on the picture of the five arrows levitating. As she tried to find a shape, her mind wavered for a moment as a group of monks passed by, reciting their prayer. However, rather than making the arrows drop, the hallowed melody traveled into her mind. The arrows soon moved about, two of them tipping to a horizontal position while two more floated one above the other, the tips seemingly standing on one another. As the other two arrows moved into position, Karyana opened her eyes.

"A… cross?" she wondered before looking up towards a balcony where one of the many symbols of the Planars had been carved. The symbol itself was a symmetrical cross with a hollow, diamond-shaped center.

Arius let out a sigh as Karyana's loss of concentration caused the arrows to fall again. "At least you have the shape!" he retorted, not liking the way the training was going. "This time, do it all the way, and use your hands!"

As the blue-eyed young woman picked up the arrows, she absentmindedly placed one in her left hand, while the others were in her right. "I can make them levitate, and I can work the shape… now, what spell to cast?" she wondered, trying as hard as she could to find the right one.

Thinking about the whole situation, she quickly realized that this was to be a combat spell, so it was meant to harm, if not kill, the target. As much as she hated the thought that mana could be used to destroy lives, if the threat of war was truly approaching, she had no choice but to accept it and fight.

Karyana examined the wooden target and took a deep breath. "Here goes…" she uttered before lifting her arm, the arrow tips pointing downwards. Moving her arm to the left, she let one arrow go before moving her arm in a clockwise motion.

Arius looked surprised, if not impressed, by quickly she was learning. He was trying not to show his jealousy of the matter, but he could tell she was a natural at this. While it took him weeks to learn how to create a bow merely out of mana �" a spell his mentor had to drill him to use while hunting in the Emerald Sea -, this young woman took merely an hour, if not less. The result was a slanted, yet symmetrical cross. "How about you show us some of that power you have? I'm sure that Pison would never leave you enough time to cast this."

Rather than cold sweat or fear, the mention of her tormentor's name steeled her resolve. Clenching her now empty hand into a tight fist, she glared at Arius as the remaining arrow started to float out of her hand, its tip touching the other four.

All of his words, all of his taunts… all of the hurt he dealt to Sayeth… "Never… ever… mention… his name… to me… again!" Karyana spoke, her tone becoming more and more angry and aggressive at each word. As each word was uttered, the arrows started to spin on themselves, create a wheel of energy that kept accelerating.

The spellblade was aghast as he stared at the building energy. It was as if the arrows were acting like a funnel, squeezing a growing amount of mana into a single point… at the tip of the arrows. "Everyone…" he tried to say before noticing the arrows were now spinning so quickly that they were a blur of energy in the air. "Get down!"

It took less time to ring the Shrine's tower bell than for the monks to drop what they were doing and fall into defensive positions behind barrels, carriages or anything sturdy or heavy enough for what they thought was an air attack. Instead, what they saw left no question about the power that Karyana tapped in. As soon as the arrow fired into the swirling vortex of energy, it was as time shattered for a fraction of a second before a beam of pure, unrestrained mana was unleashed in a straight line, as if a phoenix was being reborn from the bowels of raging volcano. The silver blast rushed out with such force that the wooden target was unable to stop it, leaving nothing left but the wooden legs of the object jammed in the stone, as well as a gaping hole in the sides of an ox cart, and ended with a hole in the wall as large as a round shield.

An eerie silence filled the area for a moment before frightened whispers with uttered. Onyx and Turalyon stood slack-jawed at the display of power, while Alban walked over to her. "Karyana… what in all Planars was that?" The only answer he got was the young woman collapsing, visibly spent. "Blast! Get a healer here, now!" he ordered an initiate, who quickly ran inside the temple.

----

"I can't believe this…" Raemu said, his right hand palming his forehead as he sat in the Shrine's meeting hall.

Scyens rubbed his long beard. "Indeed. I, for once, have never thought such power could exist…"

"That is not my point!" the Planar-Knight retorted. "How is it that the Childlord ordered us not to interfere with that mortal's life, yet not only did Prolectae allow her into her domain, but she made a pact with her?"

"Must you always go on about this?" the Planar-Lady replied, not liking the armored Planar's tone. "You influenced that ranger and his dwarf friend's lives if my memory serves me right!"

"I did not force them to accept!" the silver-haired Planar shouted, looking sternly at the voluptuous maiden. "You used your powers to have her commit to your will!"

"Wouldn't you have done the same?" Prolectae added with as much force in her voice as the Aspect of Justice did.

"Enough, both of you!" Lady Asuna cried. "Can't you see this discussion is pointless? Karyana has borne our blessings from the moment she was created! She isn't a petty mortal; she is our mutual wishes! We granted her life and hearth… as if she was our own offspring!"

Panyus let out a sigh as her right hand rose to rest upon the table. "Asuna speaks the truth. Instead of fearing what we have created, we should embrace it. Scyens taught her our secrets, and the power of mana-weaving, thus gave her the tools to shape her own path. Progeny appeared to her in mortal form, and spared mortal Sayeth from the Underdeep by his word and Prolectae's actions. Now, she has received the All-Mother's blessing. This… display of power was simply a manifestation of our essence, of our will."

Raemu closed his eyes for a moment. "Yet, the coming battle will test her and her comrades to their limits. This… imperfect incantation will not be enough to honor the sanctity of this place."

"That is why you will grant them your blessings." spoke Progeny as he entered the meeting hall. "Raemu, it was your will that almost destroyed the half-mortal Laurinya, and it was her sister's plea that allows Karyana to live anew. Do not forget."

The Planar-Knight dropped to one knee as a sign of fealty. "Then, what must I do?"

"Appear to them on the first night of battle." the Childlord answered. "Grant them your benevolence." He then turned to look at the alabaster maiden. "As for you…"

Author's Note

Any and all comments are welcome.