Elan Pt. 06 - Cast Aside

Cast Aside

----

Talos and Casiama approached the imposing, white-haired man standing before the dangling, suffocated corpses of two of the local peasantry, their weight immobile in the chill, faint breeze. The soaring stone towers of Imperia -- the capital of mankind -- stretched on the horizon, as if rising in defiance to the flat farmland surrounding them.

"Sigi. We ought to stop meeting like this," Talos said, a smirk still forming on his face even before the grotesque sight. The man turned around with wide eyes, still in disbelief of the sight behind him.

"Talos. Are you a sight for sore eyes," Sigismund replied, offering his right hand in greeting. Talos took it by the forearm in response, Sigismund's eyes drifting towards the elf, her being radiating with delicate beauty in the dusty village.

"Sigi, may I present Casiama the Fourth of Tor Valliya," Talos introduced with a slight bow and flourish of his palm, somewhat giddy he had finally found someone to introduce Casiama formally to.

On the reverse, Talos would show Sigismund no such respect. As per tradition. "Cass, this is Sigi."

"Sigismund is fine," he replied, taking the pretty woman's offered hand with a bow and hovering his lips over it for just an instant. She raised an eyebrow in response to the curious formality. "A pleasure to meet you, Casiama."

"It's all mine, Sigismund. And 'Cass' is fine for me," the lithe elf replied with a giggle and nod, her hand being returned to her. "Talos has told me much of you."

"Mostly true, I hope?" he chortled, the charming elf giggling once more in response. Talos made his way towards the corpses before them, investigating.

"Mostly, I imagine," Casiama answered huskily in jest.

"Two more. We're on the right path," Talos muttered under his breath, just barely audible to his two companions.

"I'm sorry, Talos. Did I hear you right? This grizzly sight is merely another step on a trail?"

Talos nodded, sullenly. He explained the situation of his missing pupil, of the string of suicides along the road from Skymarch. He held up his crude drawing of a girl to Sigismund in vain hope.

"Oh no," Sigismund replied, turning his head away from his old captain. "We uh... we were acquainted, yes. Back in Oak's Crossing on the solstice." Talos' brows perked up at the answer.

"And you're not swinging here, instead? Sigi, do you feel strange at all? Feeling a sudden urge to strangulate yourself from a tree branch?" The white-haired man shook his head seriously.

"I can hardly believe your story, Talos. The meeting was pleasant. Fun, even." Sigismund smiled at the reminder, prompting that it was Talos' turn to shake his own head.

"No. No, no, no, Sigi, nothing's fun to you. You didn't-"

"She came on hard, Talos. It all happened so fast."

Casiama's eyes were shifting between the two men as they rapidly conversed, inquisitively wondering what the 'it' was they spoke of.

"Did you at least get a destination from her? What she was doing? Anything?!" Talos questioned with haste, not yet coming to terms with the woman his young Rayya had become.

"Talos, I-I didn't even get her name..."

Talos turned around then, angry at his old friend for an action he couldn't be held responsible for. Any man would have done the same. Sigismund stepped forward, placing a hand on his friend's shoulder.

"We'll find her, alright? Just like old times," Sigismund said reassuringly to his former captain. It didn't quite feel the same to Talos.

--

Rayya looked over the dangling wooded sign of the building before her, her tan skirt blowing gently in the breeze. The sign read "Rebecca's Alchemical Supplies", next to a picture of a boiling pot with stars floating from it. The bustling market of Imperia lived half a million raucous lives around her as she entered.

"Good morning, young sorceress," the woman that must be Rebecca greeted her. "How many I be of assistance to you?"

Rayya smiled sweetly, realizing that Rebecca must have worked with with many sorceresses to have the immediate assumption. Perhaps she would have what she was looking for.

"Hi! Rebecca, I presume?" Rayya asked, tilting her head just enough to look innocent.

"That's me. How are you this fine day?" A brief, shared smile.

"Good enough, thanks," Rayya shot back. Her eyes danced over the many flasks and vials of the shop, as if aware of their properties. "I'm looking for something very specific. A potion, long-lasting, that would make a man fall for a sorceress like me," Rayya explained, cheeks reddened by the request that sounded far more silly out loud.

"A young woman such as yourself shouldn't have need for a potion for that," Rebecca answered with a smile, stating the obvious. Rayya lost her own smile as she stepped towards the alchemist, placing both hands on the wooded counter-top.

"It's for a special type of man. One that doesn't see things as they are. Of what they could be."

"Perhaps an ocular stimulant?" Rebecca chortled out with just a pinch of nervousness. Rayya started to lose her cool and drilled through the alchemist's thin eyes with a sharp squint.

"Do you have something or not?" Rayya asked tersely.

Rebecca shook her head. "Dear, the love you seek doesn't come from a potion or out of any bottle. It can only be made truthfully... Naturally."

Rayya pursed her lips at the statement. The woman behind the counter was actively disrespecting her request with words unsaid. She thought Rayya weak, too weak to admit to non-reciprocal love.

No. She was insulting her, feeling falsely secure in her own thoughts.

"Oh yeah, Rebecca?" Rayya challenged, her anger rising through her chest at the woman's insolence.

"You know what else would be natural, for a hag such as yourself?"

--

Alanna swayed through the busy, paved city streets of the Imperial capital, twisting around a deliciously-smelling food cart here and a sprinting street-kid there. The enchantress smiled, the abundant sights and sounds of Imperia making her feel just small enough to go unnoticed as the men and women around her went about their day. Alanna shut her eyes in appreciation of the marvels of humanity, then opened them once more as she remembered her mission.

Three imp hearts, two hand-fulls of saffron, and the flower of a jade amaryllis. Alanna knew the Imperial capital would have all of that and more, what with it being the center of trade for all the known world and all.

She had offered her help enthusiastically to the old alchemist back in Catriona, which would grant her a reason to travel to the human metropolis. Alanna looked forward to the food and poetry readings she would enjoy this night. She just needed to solve the simple problem of locating those ingredients, first.

Travel to Imperia from the College of Catriona had been a simple task for her, due to Alanna's connections at the college. One of her closest friends there was a transmutation and teleportation sorceress, after all, who was capable of sending the girl here on a moment's notice. Alanna assumed the return trip would be just as simple, although she had a full six days still until her friend would be capable of bringing her back.

So many of her friends had told her not to come. Alanna was now a distinct rarity amongst the Catrionan sorceresses, nay, all humanity, but not because of her magical abilities.

Half of the population had no hope of ever casting magic, as the spark only fell on women. And only one in three-hundred women would ever show any natural magical inclination, according to the ancient studies on the topic, studies which had found no correlation in who received said spark.

Less than a quarter of those gifted would ever be formally trained to become a sorceress, allowing them to cast more intricate magic than a simple fireball or a distracting whisper on stone.

And only about one in two-hundred sorceresses could ever get pregnant. Alanna now held her tummy with one hand as she walked, although she didn't require the support just yet. It was a pleasant reminder of her uniqueness, yet a somewhat unpleasant one of her connection to a man that had cast her aside.

Alanna had insisted on going to the capital, of course, already feeling cooped up after two months in Catriona. Perhaps the travels to the Badlands, Solais, and the Borderland forests had already changed her permanently. Perhaps she had a faint hope of reconnecting with a man she once knew.

She spied a sign depicting a bubbling cauldron across the way, stars dancing away from its contents. Jackpot. She approached the shop excitedly, appreciating the fact how simple it was to locate a relevant vendor in the massive city.

The door opened, a girl wearing a tan bodice and skirt far too short for her form emerging from the store. Alanna nodded to the fellow sorceress, walking up the steps past her.

"Shop's closed," the sorceress flatly, her eyes scanning the street before her.

"Oh. Darn," Alanna replied sullenly, looking down towards the wooden steps sadly. She would need to locate another relevant merchant, now. Or perhaps she could come back tomorrow?

Alanna scanned the sorceress next to her. The air of the city seemed to flow around her, as if in response to a pull Alanna couldn't yet recognize. She tried entering her, her advances being rejected like those of a peasant's to a beautiful princess.

Another enchantress! How exciting!

Rayya started to walk down the steps, either not realizing or not caring for the fact.

"Wait! Hi!" Alanna exclaimed with a wide smile with both arms stretched towards her new friend. The blonde girl in tan turned towards her, an unreadable look on her face.

"Name's Alanna. You're an enchantress too, right?" she asked with a giddy voice. The sorceress nodded, shaking her hand briefly before pulling away coldly.

"What're up to today? I was just headed off to a poetry club, take in a song or two. Want to join me?"

The mysterious young sorceress looked away for a moment, as if trying to conjure up something better to do.

"Sure," she shrugged.

--

The two eye-catching women made their way down the busy streets of the Imperial capital towards a well-known poetry club in the eastern district, speaking of magics and menfolk as two attractive sorceresses would be expected to do.

The night was going well, the girls laughing and weeping to the beautiful songs and poems of minstrels sharing their arts with the greatest of emotions. A song of a lost love had just been sung by one particularly skilled bard, accompanied by a lute. Alanna turned towards her new friend once the ballad was finished, Rayya, seated beside her on the bench. Alanna grabbed her glass of water.

"That was so... beautiful," Alanna said, "So sad. It reminded me of this man I knew, once. We had spent several fortnights alone together, 'til he left me for some..." Alanna sighed, cutting herself off. She couldn't speak ill of Casiama no matter how hard she tried to.

Rayya turned towards her. Her eyes too were on the verge of tears. "Men can be such jerks, Alanna. He didn't deserve you." Alanna merely shook her head in response, taking a large chug of her water.

"Thanks," she choked out a moment later. "I wish it were true."

Rayya frowned, somewhat displeased her simple encouragement had failed. Alanna had been the first person to treat her respectfully for... months, perhaps, since Rayya had left Catriona all those years ago. She didn't see any correlation between that and the fact she couldn't read her mind.

"I've been through the same. Well. Sort of." Rayya grimaced nervously, drinking from her wine glass. She had wanted to show sympathy for Alanna, yet immediately regretted bringing up the subject.

"What happened?" Alanna asked with sad eyes, a soft hand on Rayya's lap. Rayya gulped, conjuring a lie before deciding against it.

"Oh, he left when I went to the College. Half a decade ago, in Catriona." Alanna's mouth was left agape at the mention of the city's reference. "He wasn't allowed to visit, being a man and all. Nor did he want to wait around for me to finish."

"... Rayya?" Alanna asked incredulously. She recalled Talos' story from a lifetime ago, just before they had entered the Badlands. He had mentioned 'dropping off' an enchantress in Catriona about that long ago. The blonde-haired girl nodded.

"You've heard of me?" she asked sweetly.

Alanna had thought her dead. Talos had as well, and she felt how much the notion had crushed him when they discussed it briefly back in the borderlands. He needed to know, Talos had to-

The next bard began playing a flute, the hall quickly going silent but for the music. Alanna squinted towards the interruption with a hint of anger, grabbing Rayya's hand and walking out through the side door of the poetry club known as the Spellsong.

"Rayya. Wow. Sorry, but this... meeting you is just crazy," Alanna said as soon as the door had shut behind them. The girls were back in a paved city alleyway, illuminated only by the warmly-lit windows of the buildings around them.

"I'm from the College of Catriona, too. You know Talos is worried sick over you, right?"

Rayya's eyes widened at the name's mention. She attempted to pierce Alanna's thoughts before being reminded of her inability to do so, and settled for verbal communication.

"You've met him?"

Alanna giggled, gleefully explaining. "Yeah! He's the man I was talking about, the one who-"

Rayya stepped closer, giving a menacing glare which might have been more intimidating had she not looked like a helpless teenager.

"Is that his?" she squeaked, pointing at Alanna's tummy.

Alanna shook her head, a lie she could fortunately maintain against Rayya's strong empathetic powers.

"No. Of course not, Rayya, don't be silly."

"Well, do you know where he is?" Rayya continued without a moment's hesitation.

Alanna shrugged, losing her smile for a moment. She took a step back. "I don't know. Last I saw him he was headed for Tor Valliya, one of the elf kingdoms to the east. But that was..." Alanna looked towards the night sky, conjuring an appropriate answer to maintain her lie, "gods, almost a year ago already. I don't know where he is," she said. Rayya crossed her arms with a huff.

"Stupid."

"Hey!" Alanna exclaimed, pushing a finger into Rayya's chest angrily. "I told you, he left me."

"For what?" Rayya asked with an unblinking stare. Alanna was nervous of the eye contact, but felt no harm in letting her know the truth. She sighed deeply before answering.

"A, um... elf. He left me for an elven princess."

Alanna spun on her heel, her hands balling into fists. Her heart thumped as she remembered the events of last summer, a common occurrence for her. Calling Casiama an 'elven princess' was Alanna's best self-justification for the horrid outcome, but it stung no less painfully.

Rayya's voice was now barely a whisper, but stressed. "I need to talk to him."

Applause erupted within the Spellsong, the fluttering notes of the flute finally terminating. Several of the audience were rising from their seats, deciding to leave the premises before the next performance could begin.

One bumped into Rayya as they hastily opened the club's door, only a gentle shove of the shoulder really. The sorceresses stepped away from the door to make way, but not before Rayya drilled into the back her attacker's head with a glare.

The man curiously reentered the Spellsong. Alanna thought nothing of it.

"I'd like to see him too," Alanna said softly.

Rayya rummaged through her backpack, fishing out an amber-colored stone. "I have this. A sorceress here in Imperia told me I can communicate with someone half a world away with it, but only if I infuse it with something of theirs with sentimental value." Alanna nodded, although she really didn't understand how it worked in the slightest. "Do you have anything of his, Alanna?"

"Um... I have a shirt," Alanna replied, remembering the garment Talos had loaned her almost half a year ago in the Badlands. She never left town without it. "Would that work?"

Rayya shook her head, finally giving Alanna a smile. She threw the stone back into her pack.

"Well. I'm sure two enchantresses can think of something, right?" Alanna offered enthusiastically after a moment's silence. Rayya nodded.

"Sure. Let's get out of here."

--

The air was heavy in the storeroom of the alchemist's shop. Silvia Durazzo crouched before the cold body before her, impotently casting a strong restoration spell on the lifeless entity in vain. The body of an alchemist. Rebecca. Silvia hadn't known her. Hadn't known what pain she had felt to ingest such a potent toxin, taking her own life with not a chance of redemption.

Silvia wiped tears from her sad, green eyes as she rose to her feet, the feeling of helplessness overwhelming her. It was the sixth suicide in two days, and the deaths of these strangers weighed heavily on her mind. Death always did, of course, and she was so very accustomed to it during her thirty-five years as restoration sorceress.

But Silvia felt regret volunteering at the Imperial Hospital in the capital. These deaths felt different. She could heal a knife wound, seat a broken bone, detoxify a snake bite. But she could never heal a broken heart of those she had not met. Silvia held her short red hair with both hands, wanting to rip it from her scalp in desperation as the door to the shop opened.

"Silvia! Another one, at the Spellsong in district three."

Silvia lowered her hands from her head, gathering her supplies quickly as she left the building and started to run with haste.

"What happened?!" she asked the man jogging beside her between breaths.

"I don't know. The man had no sooner walked on stage before he drove a dagger through his own heart."