A Hero's Rebirth Ch. 06

Inside were half a dozen maidens, though two looked on the verge of retiring and becoming elders.

One of the older maidens noticed us enter and when she saw the other move to approach us, she turned back to the younger maidens, who sat in rune circles, hands outstretched, chanting, as a strange green light with swirls of translucent energy extended from their hands into the basin. The older maiden began the walk around the basin.

As the second older maiden approached us, I watched in awe as new growth from the very tree emerged from the water and began to form. The elves weren't so much building a ship as they were growing one! The interior wood was shaped and grew slowly without bark. Well, slowly for some things, but I guess comparing it to watching grass grow, it was blazing fast. I'd guess, it was about two millimeters per minute.

"Holy shit." I breathed.

"Greetings!" The older maiden greeted us. "You must be Master Thomas and his lucky matrons."

"Indeed, sister." Tavorwen acknowledged. "We were just coming to see the process and see if we couldn't learn an estimate of when the vessel would be complete."

The maiden nodded, "It is a wondrous process. I think of it like giving birth to the children I was never selected to have... but seeing a vessel take shape before your very eyes is a beautiful and intimate feeling."

I watched the wood continue to grow and take shape, growing slowly in all directions.

"How long will it take?" I asked. "To grow the whole ship that is."

"If we get the support we were promised... Five days for the main ship. Two more for the components and assembly." She stated.

A week. They could GROW a fucking ship in a week.

"Why haven't you got a navy then?" I demanded.

She looked at me intrigued. "A navy? Is that like an armada?"

"More or less." I accepted. I wasn't going to argue the nuance.

"Well, first of all... because we live far from the shores. There are rivers we used to take our ships to the sea, but it was simply impractical." She declared. "And secondly... the seas are just too dangerous. A ship may take a week to make, but a crew of twenty maidens? If they are lost to one of the various dangers of the deep, it is far too much."

Oh, right. Audriul had mentioned leviathans, krakens, megalodons, and sea dragons. I was guessing that wasn't a complete list. I knew what two of those were, or at least thought I did. There were enough shark movies about megalodons that I at least had the idea. Big fucking shark. Krakens, I had a friend who loved a stupid card game, Magic the something or other, and he'd shown me pictures of his Kraken deck. If I had it right they were like big fucking octopi or squids. Maybe even like that Cthulhu thing that people were always going on about, whatever it was. Leviathans... I had no idea. I'd have to ask my matrons later.

"So how hard will it be to steer?" I wondered. "Like, the ring thing is going to have an elemental... what is that?"

I got stares from my matrons and the maiden with the hair turning white.

"Oh, wait! You told me about those! They're like bunches of fire or shit, but they're alive!" I remembered turning to Tavorwin.

"Yes..." The shipwright agreed. "So a wind elemental would appear to you as a whirlwind or a cloud, though you might be able to discern eyes and some form of a mouth. Their language is hard for even those educated to speak or understand."

Cool, so like from that movie Hercules, I'd watched years ago with Jacob and his family... where there was the tornado monster thing... TITANS! That's what they'd called them. I think my history professor had said the movie was shit compared to the actual myths, but I guess I'd gotten at least something out of it... Maybe the ice thing had been like an ice elemental and the lava thing was a lava elemental. My brain could go from there and start to think about what other elementals might look like.

"It can be tricky to control an elementally powered vessel. You need proper elemental attunement. You need will. And you need endurance." She cautioned.

I nodded, "Okay, so the elemental attunement... how does that work?"

She blinked. "That's the one you are worried about?"

"Our Master is.... Gifted... in many regards." Tavorwen informed her.

"But lacks a formal, magical education." Sevrina clarified.

"Well, you can practice elemental attunement with a tuning crystal over here." The shipwright declared, seemingly unconcerned.

"Don't worry, Master. All mages learn magical attunement in our second lyceum on magical application." Sevrina assured me. "I can explain it to you, and as quickly as you learn, you are sure to pick it up quickly."

I was nervous... but she had a point. I didn't know what it was about me, but I had, in fact, picked up on most magical things I'd tried pretty quickly. If this went the same way, then I'd be good to go in short order.

The tuning crystal was a round crystal ball that sat on a pedestal in one of the alcoves around the basin. It was dusty and looked like it hadn't seen much use in a long time. Unsurprising considering how long it had been since a ship had been built... or this sector of the city had been populated. I blew the dust off and then, had an idea before it inevitably clogged all of our lungs and made us cough. I thought of a breeze and waved my hand, making a gust to blow the dust away.

These boons were freaking convenient.

"Now, the concept is simple," Sevrina assured me. She opened a little drawer under the crystal and a larger drawer lower in the pedestal. Inside the larger drawer were ten marbles, each a different color. She picked up the red crystal and slipped it into the smaller drawer beneath the crystal ball. "Each elemental key tilts the elemental balance of the crystal toward a given element." The crystal turned slowly red and orange. "Like now, it is tilted towards fire."

She put a hand on the crystal. "You begin by channeling your will into the crystal. The crystal will not resist, so there is no need to exhaust yourself with excessive force of will. That will likely not be the case with the elemental, but now you are simply learning the trick of proper elemental alignment." She closed her eyes and the red and orange energy swirling in the crystal danced and shimmered chaotically for a bit, then settled into a pattern of regular bands, and the crystal began to glow more brightly. "As your will intermingles with the energy you will feel its nature, often described as a mood, a leaning, or a tilt. You can either attempt to match it, as I am now, with your will for a complementary attunement, or you can attempt to reach the opposite nature, known as a dissonant attunement."

Her brow furrowed for a moment, as the crystal ball stopped glowing, and the energy went back into chaos, then it seemed to shrink until it was a guttering flame in the center of the ball.

With a sigh, she removed her hand from the crystal and it returned to its original state of getting filled with slowly changing red and orange lights.

"The complementary attunement is far easier and is what you will require," Sevrina explained. "Once you have mastered attuning, it is a skill that is returned to with ease."

"Like riding a bicycle," I muttered.

"What is a bicycle?" Tavorwen wondered.

"I'll tell you later," I assured her, then reached for the crystal. It felt warm under my hand, but not quite uncomfortably warm.

Okay, just a little bit of will, I thought. I took a thread of the golden light I always imagined my will as and fed it into the crystal.

I immediately saw what Sevrina had been talking about. I could feel the energy, and how it was... Spicy? Angry? Leaned forward? Somehow it was all of those things and none of those things, and... Explaining it is weird. When you try it, you'll understand.

Now, matching that energy with mine was... hard. I tried for several minutes to just force my will to be...that.... And it just didn't work. My will was...me. As I went to give up, I thought, come on, fire, work!

"You finally got it!" Sevrina called.

I opened an eye to glare, it was certainly not... the brightly glowing crystal filled my vision. I swear my will wasn't right, but the fire still worked.

[You called?] A tiny voice from inside the crystal trickled through the will I was feeding into the crystal.

[Um, yeah. I'm trying to learn how to attune.] I thought, kinda just imagining the thoughts getting tossed at the crystal.

No need to shout. The voice replied. It's been a long time since I talked to anyone... but you want to learn how to temper your will? That's not it at all... No, it's like this."

I felt the energy guide me, and my mind relaxed. When it was done, my will felt like the energy around it.

"A second attunement? How is that possible?" Sevrina gasped.

That's better. I'm going back to sleep. Good luck! And as quickly as the voice had come, it was gone.

"Master, how did you do that?" Sevrina begged. "I've never even heard of a two-level attunement!"

"Well, I was just... a... talking to the um... fire," I admitted.

"Talking to the... Master Thomas, do you speak Infernian?" The shipwright demanded, walking over after overhearing.

"Um... no idea. Not sure how the magical translation worked there." I admitted.

"That's right! Master Thomas does not even speak elven, the magic simply translates his words for us!" Nauveir noted.

"Interesting... so, perhaps... you could tell me how good my Zephyrin is...?" She asked curiously.

"Well, I'm happy to try," I told her.

She cleared her throat and I admit, it creeped me out. Normally, yes, it was a little like watching a TV show with subtitles, but only if the actors had pre-recorded themselves reading the subtitles in the new language. So the voice matched the individual, but the lip and tongue movements didn't match the words. I wasn't much of a lip reader, so it hadn't bothered me until recently. The Shipwright however looked like she was trying to sing opera, and the words I heard were brief and abrupt.

"Fuck you, I want to go home." Her voice declared.

I blinked.

"Did it work?" She asked. "Did you hear the wind and breezes of Zephyrin or your own tongue?"

"Heard what I think you were saying... but what did you think you were saying?" I asked carefully.

"We believe that to be Zephyrin for 'Greetings, how may I serve'." She announced.

"... Not even close," I informed her. "What you said was, 'Fuck you, I want to go home'."

She blinked. Then again.

"That means... what? Please say it again." She pleaded.

"It means 'Fuck you. I want to go home'. Or at least that's what I heard." I reiterated.

She buried her face in her hands, "nnnnnnNNOOO!" She wailed. "Oh, merciful Enlightened Hosts! Have mercy! No wonder the Wind Elementals never respond favorably to my greetings!!!"

"This is a problem..." Sevrina murmured. "That was my understanding of the words as well... we may need to restart our efforts at learning the languages of the Elementals."

"Oh, gods..." The Shipwright moaned. "How did we get that so wrong?!"

"Well, have you ever had friendly contact with these elementals? Do you have their writings?" I asked.

"Elementals don't write!" The shipwright lamented. "Or at least never that we've found! And no, we've been trying to decipher what words we can catch when they speak!"

"Oh... yeah... that's rough..." I noted. "On a good note, you were saying something that I could translate..."

"That is something... say it again. What did it mean?" She pleaded, grabbing a quill and parchment.

She wrote down the phrase and its translation, then got the translation for "You asshole, let me go home" and "Why are you doing this?".

"Hells, we have horridly misunderstood..." She lamented looking at the statements.

"So... what about the Elemental you are binding for this ship?" I wondered.

"It is already bound in an anchor." She explained. "The anchor is then mounted into the ring and the elemental is used to power it."

"Can I... see the anchor?" I asked.

"Yes, yes... come this way." The Shipwright jumped to cooperate.

The anchor was an emerald, or similar green gem, in a cut that was at least what I always imagined when I thought of a gem. It was the same cut that Jacob had ended up going with on the ring he'd bought his wife, and I only knew its name because he'd insisted I come with him as he figured out what to do for his wife's ring, since she had told him she didn't care (and for once when a woman said that, she actually meant it). He'd gotten her what was known as a Round Brilliant cut. And while the size of a golf ball, this green transparent gem was cut very similarly.

I held it in my hand and just kinda thought at it, [[Hello?]]

It took a second for any response.

[[Eh? Wah?... I was sleeping... what do you want?]]

I got a little excited. [[Are you okay? I mean, I just kinda learned that you got stuck in here. Do you know what's happening?]]

[[Not really. But... no one ever talks to us. If it isn't some Pointy One shoving us in a thing until it breaks and we get to go home, it's a Tiny One, one of the Fuzzy Ones, or a Flapper making us fight.]] The response came.

Pointy? Tiny? Fuzzy? Flapper? I looked around and had an epiphany.

[[Pointy? Do you mean an Elf?]] I asked.

[[Oh? Is that what the Pointy Ones call themselves?]] The gem replied. [[Guess it doesn't really matter. They never... wait, how are you talking to me?]]

I sighed. [[Well, I kinda got summoned too. But one perk of that is that when I talk, whoever I'm talking to just understands.]]

[[I wish I got that. The closest I ever got to talking to a Pointy was her yelling 'Fuck You' at me before using their weird magic to force me into this gem. But hey, at least there was that.]]

I felt bad for the elemental. [[Do you want out? To go home?]]

There was a second of thought. [[Am I going to be used for something interesting?]]

[[Huh?]] I thought before my brain could even comprehend what it was asking.

[[I mean, we never know what is gonna happen when we get pulled through the sparkle on the Plane of Air. I mean, fighting is lame and hurts, but generally, we go home pretty quickly. But honestly, home is kinda boring.]] The creature in the crystal replied. [[So what did they snatch me for?]]

[[Well, it's a flying ship.]] I told him, remembering the image.

[[Oh! That looks fun!]] The voice replied.

[[You can see it?]] I noted in confusion.

[[You showed me, so yeah.]] The elemental retorted.

[[You're okay with this then?]] I confirmed.

[[I get to throw a big... carrying thing... through the air while a bunch of pointy ones hold on! That sounds like fun!]] The elemental replied. [[And worst case, it crashes and breaks and I go home.]]

That sounded reasonable.

[[Okay, I just wanted to make sure you were good with this.]] I assured.

[[I appreciate the sentiment. Are we doing anything important? I mean, flying is fun, but seems like a lot of work for fun.]] The elemental asked.

I took a moment to explain our goal, then had to explain the war and the distinction between the races and everything.

[[Wow, that seems... dumb. Aren't they all pointies? Why do they fight if they are all pointies? Why do their gods... I just don't get it. You're trying to stop this stupidness? I will help.]] The elemental rumbled.

[[Well, it will only take a few more days and the ship should be done.]] I told him.

[[What's a day?]] The Elemental wondered.

[[You know, sun rises, sun sets. That's a day. It gets bright, then it gets dark.]] I told him.

[[Oh, I wouldn't know about that. It is always light on the Plane of Air, and I can see nothing from inside this gem. The only reason I know what I'm in is I could see it before I got put in here.]] The elemental confessed.

[[Oh, I might be able to help with that.]] I noted. [[I'll see what I can do.]]

[[That would be great! Thanks! What are you by the way? You don't seem like a Pointy, or a fuzzy, or a flapper. What are you?]] The elemental asked.

[[I'm a human.]] I told him.

[[Hu-man? Strange. But I like you. Maybe we can talk again. It gets boring in here sometimes.]] The elemental confessed.

I returned the crystal to the Shipwright.

"Well, the elemental thinks being part of the ship is cool. But it'd love to be able to see." I told her.

"They can't see!?" She groaned. "We'll see what we can do."

I got some interesting looks from the shipwrights and my companions and decided to leave them to their work.

"You spoke with the elemental?" Sevrina prodded as we walked out.

"Yeah, it was interesting. It said elementals are usually called by... Pointy ones, Fuzzy ones, Flappers, or Tiny ones." I told them.

"Pointy ones...?" Nauveir noted in confusion.

I reached out and tapped the tips of her ear. "Pointy ones."

They looked at each other, then laughed. "Pointy ones! That is amusing!"

"Then the fuzzy ones... those would be the Felanin or the Lorpins... and the Flappers are probably the Hawkar!" Sevrina noted with continued amusement.

"The 'Tiny Ones' are probably the Halfmen." Nauveir chuckled.

"So, I've heard those names before... What are they?" I asked.

"Well, the fuzzy ones... The Felanin and the Lorpin..." Tavorwen noted. "They live far enough from our lands that only our most ardent wayfinders have come in contact with them."

"The Felanin are described as large humanoids, with most standing taller than any lineage of the elves. They are almost as diverse as our lineages, but there are some things that remain true for all of them. They are covered in fur, hence the 'fuzzy ones'. They have short triangular ears on top of their heads and have elongated faces, to one degree or another, with forward-facing noses and larger jaws, with teeth that serve as one of their primary forms of self-defense, along with their claws that replace fingernails like we have. Most have tails with various degrees of prehensility. It is not safe to generalize on the other traits." Tavorwen noted as we wound our way through the dilapidated bridges.

"So... they're cat people?" I asked.

She shifted uncomfortably. "More like tiger and lion people, but yes."

I nodded. Made sense. The fucking Thundercats were real here. I'd seen the action figures in the stores and hoped I didn't have to deal with a giant cat licking itself as I tried to negotiate.

"The Lorpin... if the Felanin were 'cats'... the Lorpin are rabbit-people," Sevrina noted. "They too have fur, and have ears on top of their heads like the Felanin, but where the Felanin have short triangular ears, the Lorpin have elongated ears that if counted in their height would add another two knots to their height."

Let's see, a knot was like 8 inches, so like sixteen inches in ears?

"They have strong legs and can run very fast and jump very high, though they tire even faster than we do," Sevrina noted. "They have seemed very friendly, the varieties we have met."

"So how tall are they? If they have two knot-long ears?" I murmured as we jumped a missing plank.

"They stand between nine and ten and a half Knots," Sevrina replied. "If the wayfinders are to be believed."

Let's see, that was... between six and seven feet?

"Hawkar are smaller, from the reports, but in place of our arms, they have wings," Tavorwen noted. "Their feet have longer toes like the talons of birds of prey. They do not have beaks, however, and are far more humanoid than most birds."

So we have birds, cats, and rabbits, what were the halfmen going to be? They were called "Tiny ones", so maybe guinea pigs?

"The Halfmen... well, the reports are hard to believe," Sevrina noted. "From most reports, Halfmen are almost indistinguishable from an elf, until placed next to one... The reports are that they stand between three and four cords tall."