Nalcara's Shackles

Then

Sarah paused, leaning against the tree she'd nearly collided with and tried to catch her breath. It was too dark to see much of anything but she dared not shed any light, lest one of those things notice her and resume the chase. She had very little magic left, and would not be able to put up much of a fight.

Her left arm throbbed where the big one had struck her, and she was having trouble making her hand work. 'Demons.' She thought to herself. 'These things are probably demons. I'll be lucky if it's just broken.' She'd repeatedly cursed herself for not seeing the 'adventurers' for the cultists they truly were, but she took a dim satisfaction that the massive creature she was meant to be a sacrifice for killed everyone indiscriminately. It was only the 'obscuring mist' spell she had prepared that allowed her to escape, though not unscathed. If she ever saw Azra again, she was going to throw that 'useless spell' right in his face.

She could hear combat all around her. She wasn't sure who or what was battling these things, but she was grateful for the distraction. After the massive one had wrenched itself through the portal, the smaller ones poured out behind it. Small, squashy ones, tall, spindly ones, even a few toad-like things the size of trolls. Fortunately, she'd been marked for the big one, so she'd been ignored in the initial rush. They'd spread to sow chaos, and now the forest was burning. She could see patches of flame through the trees, along with the occasional horrifying flash of... not... light. She had to go.

She left her tree and began moving again, slower and more carefully this time. She didn't know where she was going, only away from the portal and the monsters coming out of it. She picked a direction and crept maybe fifty feet, when a flash of light off to her left caught her attention. As she turned, something tiny impacted her shoulder hard enough to rock her on her feet. Her injured arm sizzled with pain from the collision. Sarah bit back a scream, releasing only a high pitched gasp, as the world swam around her. As she composed herself, she notice the glow beneath her and looked down. The light was coming from a pea-sized lantern lying on the forest floor, several inched away from the tiny woman who'd likely been carrying it.

The woman was only inches tall, perhaps five or six, with green skin and dragon fly like wings; a fey of some kind. She wore wooden armor and clutched a needle like sword in one hand. She was not moving. Sarah blinked, staring at the small figure until a nearby growling distracted her.

She looked up to see on of the squashy creatures pushing through the underbrush. Under other circumstances, the hideous thing might have been comical, but it's teeth and claws were deadly serious.The creature has apparently been battling the fae and was shocked to run into a full sized human. It's beady eyes went wide and it froze, just as surprised as Sarah, who held a similar expression,

Finally the thing shrieked and rushed at Sarah, claws out. Her reaction was slower, but fortunately for the mage, it had some ground to cover before those claws would be of any use, giving Sarah time to loose a barrage of magic missiles. Five of the arcane projectiles streaked from her outstretched right hand, demolishing the squat creature. It began to fall, but boiled away in foul smoke before it hit the ground.

That was it. Her offensive magic was all but gone. The best she could do now, was flick acid drops, which she doubted would even annoy these things. Her only hope now (and likely before) was to run far and fast.

She took a single step and stopped, the diminutive woman catching her eye. To leave her would mean death, if she wasn't dead already. The lantern would surely attract 'something'. Sarah sighed and bent, scooping the prone creature up with her good hand, before running into the darkness as fast as she could manage.

Now

Sarah ascended the wooden stairs to the inn's block of rooms with measured steps and deep, slow breaths. She had to maintain tight control or she would sprint from the crowded room, hyperventilating. At times like this, she desperately wished she had been able to learn that calming spell the young cleric had used on her, but divine magic was beyond her. She would simply have to grit her teeth and take deep, slow breaths.

She could feel the ranger's eyes on her as she moved away. He made her skin crawl and her left arm tingle, which the young cleric had suggested may be some form or rudimentary evil detection. Unfortunately, the man was the local authority on the weather and had the best estimate on when the snowstorm would end. Then she could escape this inn and all the horrible people stranded here with her. 'No.' The cleric's voice seemed to say in her head, 'They are likely decent people for the most part.' Sarah paused near the top of the stairs, clenching her eyes tightly shut. Her demeanor broke, and her pace an breathing steadily increased all the way to her door.

She was extremely fortunate to have her own room. The inn was full to overflowing with stranded travelers. After her encounter with the cultists, and her interrogations by the clergy afterwards, she found herself trying (and mostly failing) not to hate every person she met, though truth be told, she'd never been much of a people person.

Her door opened easily for her. She'd secured it with an 'arcane lock' when she'd taken the room. There was an alarm spell covering the portal too. She stepped in and quickly closed the door, pulling the 'immovable rod' from her pouch. She held it under the latch and depressed the button, fixing the device in place and further barring the door. Only then, did she lean into the door and allow the tension to drain from her body.

"Well? What did he say?" The clatter of minute wings filled the small room as Jix lifted from her chair near the fire. The diminutive green girl flew in a short arc to hover several feet out from Sarah's face. "When can we leave?"

Sarah took one last steadying breath before replying. "Bad news, Jix. Another day, maybe two. We should be able to leave by Toilday."

"Two MORE days!?" The atomie spun in a tight aggravated circle. "We've been here three already!"

"I can't control the weather." said Sarah. "Not yet, anyway. I don't like it either, but we'd be having a rough time on our own, out there.

Jix made a sound the might have been a snort, before flitting a circuit of the room. She was an atomie, five and a half inches tall with skin the color of spring leaves. Her long coppery hair was pulled into a tight ponytail; how she kept it clear of her rapidly beating wings was anyones' guess. Today she wore her buckskin leggings and a silk halter like top tied at her neck and lower back. Sarah had restructured the materials with a 'fabricate' spell, making them lighter, thinner, and easier to work with, much to the fey's delight. Her feet were bare. Circumstances had to be extreme for Jix to find foot ware anything less than appalling. She completed her lap of the room and dropped lightly back onto the chair in front of the fire. "This is so boring!"

Sarah sigh inwardly. She and Jix were not friends, exactly. Companions would be a better word. The tiny fey had lost everything when the demons attacked her forest. No living creature could be found when they'd finally returned. The clergy hadn't treated the atomie any better than they treated Sarah (aside from the single cleric) so the girl had clung to the humanp who'd helped her. For Sarah's part, her dislike of other people, didn't mean she wasn't lonely, and some nights Jix's company was all that kept the nightmares at bay. "Look, the innkeeper had me melt a path to the stable again today. Maybe tomorrow we can go out an you can talk to the horses."

"Horses will probably talk to me." Jix grumped. "The mice in here are all snooty."

Trying not to dwell on the implications of that statement, Sarah cast a 'light' spell and touched it to an overhead beam, brightening the room considerably. She then put out the lone candle Jix had been using and began to peel off her heavy traveling clothes.

The rustic inn had surprised her by having a polished metal mirror. Once down to her rather snug underpants, she used the mirror and a 'prestidigitation' effect to clean herself thoroughly. Not as nice as a bath, but much better than being dirty. Once that was done, she looked herself over briefly in the mirror. She thought her body, while maybe not unattractive, was at best, unremarkable. Her breasts might have been large, if they weren't so flat, her hips didn't really stand out, and she was too short. Not dwarf short, but below average for a human. Judging by proportions, if she and Jix were the same race, the tiny creature might actually be a head taller than her.

And speaking of Jix, when she glanced at the girl's reflection, it spun away, as if Jix did not want to be caught watching. Suddenly self-conscious, she grabbed a long, woolen shirt and pulled it over her head. It only covered her to mid thigh, but made serviceable night clothes. She ran her fingers through her bob of brown hair and turned away from the mirror.

Retrieving her spellbooks from her bag, Sarah took the room's other chair, and moved it to the side of the table nearest the fire. When this blizzard finally did break, the deep snow would still make travel difficult, but the 'overland flight' spell she'd just learn would help with that. It was therefore wise to study up a little.

A Sarah poured over the several page long spell, Jix eventually lifted off her chair and drifted lazily over to the table, landing lightly upon it. She paced in circles for a while, before flitting away and returning with her needle-like sword.

What followed was somewhat more interesting than the arcane script Sarah was studying. Jix began to practice with her weapon. Following what the mage assumed was a martial form, the tiny fey began to dance through the air, performing various blocks and stikes with not only her blade, but also with fist, feet, knees and elbows. As the girl twirled, looped and spun, Sarah became so enthralled, she stoped studying entirely. Jix usually kept such things for when Sarah was not in the room.

After a time, Jix's aerial maneuvers came to an end when she landed lightly on the table. Sarah assumed her companion was finished, but the atomie continued, performing much more mundane patterns on her feet. The foot work was very similar to what Sarah had seen soldiers do, but eve earthbound, the fey was much more graceful.

Eventually the display ended. Jix, panting slightly and glistening with sweat, walked to one of Sarah's closed books and sat on it, bench-like. She met Sarah's gaze once, then turned away without comment. Her posture suggested... sullenness maybe?

To some extent, Sarah could at least understand the tiny creature's unhappiness. Jix was much more social than her human counterpart and, despite her size, much less afraid of the other beings in the inn. Most wanted little to do with the strange little creature though. Couple that with the gaggle of children in the common room who wanted to capture 'the dragonfly lady' for display in a jar, and Jix was as isolated as Sarah. The two were, essentially, alone together. At the very least, Sarah decided, she could try and be good company.

"That was quite impressive, Jix." Sarah began. "The aerial part, obviously; your a much better flier than I am. But even your ground stuff is better than I can do.'

"It's basic form." Replied Jix not looking up. "My feet don't listen as good as my wings do."

"Still quite impressive." said Sarah. "Why does your basic form finish on the ground?" Sarah had a good idea, but she wanted to keep the conversation going.

"Our wings get hurt easy." replied Jix. "If they get hurt and we can't fly, we have to fight on the ground." Jix finally looked up. "In an honorable duel, if one atomie gets hurt and can't fly, the other should land and fight fair."

"That sounds honorable to me." said Sarah. "Are duels common?"

"Not real ones." replied Jix. "Everyone does it for fun and to see who's better, but mostly no one gets hurt. Fandi Willowroot wanted to duel me once, but Ma said he just wanted me to notice him, and wouldn't let me."

"I've never been in a formal duel." Sarah said. "There were duels in the school where I learned magic, but they were mostly flashier magic than I was interested in. Fire, monster summons, 'Magic Missile'. Those weren't the spells I focused on back then." Sarah fell for a moment, wondering what her battle-mage schoolmates would make of her current situation.

'I know a spell." Jix put in, shaking Sarah back to attention.

'You know several, Jix." replied Sarah. "I've seen you do 'dancing lights', turn invisible, you cast 'reduce person' on that bandit..."

"Anyone can do those." said Jix, waving a dismissive hand. "Aunt Nalcara taught me a real spell. I can't do it like she does. It takes me a long time, but I can do it. I don't use a book like she does though"

"I see. That's actually quite impressive." said Sarah. "What spell is it?"

"Um..." Jix's cheeks colored a bit, and she suddenly found the table very interesting. "Nalcara's Shackles."

"I've never heard of that one. Did your aunt create it? What does it do?"

"Yeah, she made it." Jix replied. "She's not really my aunt. She's Ma's friend, but she calls herself aunt. Anyway, it... shackles people."

Sarah blinked. That sounded like complex magic. She'd been thinking Jix had learned something simple. "You mean... like, a 'hold' spell? Does it freeze the target?"

"No." Jix wrapped a hand around the opposite wrist. "Just the hands, feet, and neck. Like when the church people put that chain on your foot, except magic."

Sarah shivered at the reminder. "Okay, so if someone attacks you, you can 'chain them up'?"

"No." The fey repeated. "It only works on people that let you do it to them. Anyway, I'm not fast enough for fighting. Maybe Aunt Nal is. but it wouldn't work."

"Wait... so..." Sarah blinked in confusion. "So its a voluntary target spell? You can only 'chain up' people that let you?"

"Yes." confirmed Jix.

"Well..." Sarah's brow furrowed. "What did she use it for?"

"Um...' It was Jix turn to blink. "Fun, I guess?"

"Fun?"

"Yes. Like one time, I beat my older sister in sword practice, so she let me cast it." Jix smiled wistfully. "She was stuck in weird ways all day."

What type of magic does it use? Asked Sarah. "What school?

"Um, Aunt Nal said the only reason I can do a spell that hard is because I'm a fey and fey are magical so..." Jix shrugged. "Fey magic?"

"Ah, right..." Jix was far from stupid, but she was not trained in magical theory. However Sarah's curiosity was piqued. "Can you show it to me?"

Jix cocked her head thoughtfully. "You want me to do it... on you?"

"I.. well..." Sarah paused. She was excited to observe a new spell. So much so, she failed to notice that she wasn't at all afraid at the moment. "I guess I'm the only other one here. But I'd like to take notes and cast a few analytical spells. Do you mind?"

"I guess not." Jix shrugged, with a rather bemused expression.

Sarah retrieved a wand of 'Comprehend Language' from he bag and used it on herself. A fey spell, she assume would be largely in the Sylvan tongue, in which she was not fluent. The she grabbed a quill and ink. Finally, as she opened to a blank page in one of her spellbooks, she cast 'Arcane Sight'; the better to see the spell's effects. "All right, Jix." She said, reseating herself at the table. "Ready when you are."

"Okay. This will take a little while." Jix slid backward to sit cross-legged in the center of her book/bench. "Maybe two human minutes. After I start, I can't stop or I'll have to start over." Jix then began to chant and gesture."

The language was, indeed, predominantly Sylvan, though there were a few arcane Draconic words that didn't translate well to anything. Sarah immediately recognized elements of 'Mage Hand' and 'Levitate'. There was also a substructure similar to animate rope, but it seemed more a medium for another function. The spell was complex, on par with some of the most difficult spells Sarah herself could cast, which made it all the more impressive that this untrained fey could do it. She was essentially casting as Sarah would if she hadn't prepared and was reading straight from her spellbook.

The tiny girl's chanting seemed to reach a crescendo. Thanks to her sight spell, Sarah was able to see the dim blue flash of activation. She felt a wash of brief tingling in her extremities, neck and lower face. Then Jix sagged, slumping backwards, catching herself with her arms.

"Whew! That took more magic than I remember." Gasped Jix. "Maybe cause you're so big."

"Are you all right, Jix?" "With 'Arcane Sight' going Sarah had spied the faintly glowing blue bands on each wrist, which otherwise would have been invisible. While the atomie recovered she took a moment to study them. They appeared to be mostly of the Transmutation school as she had suspected, but there were other elements of Divination and even a little Evocation present. Sliding her chair back revealed similar bands on her ankles though she could feel nothing. Very interesting.

"I'm fine." replied Jix. "It just surprised me, and I was already a little tired from sword practice. It worked though. I can feel it."

"You can feel it? That must be the Divination aspect I saw. I can't feel anything."

"Divin-ation?" Jix cocked her head quizzically. "Yeah, that sounds like something Aunt Nal would say. Anyway, I can feel the shackles, but I can also feel your feelings. Aunt Nal called it em-path-y. She said it's so everyone has a good time.

Sarah blinked. "Wait, so, okay... You can control the bands on my arms and legs, and you can read my emotions?"

"Yes. Right no you feel..." Jix pursed her lips. "Confused."

"Yes. that would be a good word." Sarah replied. "This is a complex spell, Jix. It's amazing that you can cast it. It's taken me years to get to that level."

"Aunt Nal helped me." Jix said with a shrug. "Are you ready to be chained up now?"

"I.. Uh..." The curiosity that had carried Sarah this far suddenly faltered. Her time as a prisoner of the church, as a suspected demon summoner, had not been pleasant and Jix's reference to the iron they'd kept locked around her ankle had been a strong reminder. "H-how long does it last?"

""For me, about two days unless I stop it." said Jix. And I never saw this happen but Aunt Nal said that strong bad feelings would stop it too, like if you were really scared or mad. So bad people couldn't use her spell for bad things." Jix cocked her head. "You're a little scared now, but not enough to end the spell."

Sarah sighed. She was always scared recently. Scared of the dark and the terrors it hid. Scared of people and of being alone. In fact, the only thing that didn't scare her of late, was the tiny green girl sitting in front of her. Sarah took a deep breath. How bad could it be? "All right, Jix. Let's see then. Ch-chain me up."

Jix looked at her quizzically again. "Your feelings are weird, but okay." She examined the scene before her. She could only see Sarah's upper body over the table; her left arm propping up her chin, her right resting on the surface. "Okay. The fey repeated. "I'm gonna chain you right arm to the table. Done."

The otherwise invisible aura around her right wrist did intensify, so Sarah tried to move it. Her arm wasn't immobilized; she could still rotate back and forth and turn it. The band around her wrist simply would not move from the point it currently occupied. She gave a couple of experimental pulls, finally jostling the table. She felt no pressure on her actual wrist; the shackle wasn't solid, it was just the point the magic was focused. Her left hand came down to probe the shackle and felt nothing out of the ordinary. Then she noticed a slight flare in the band on her left wrist. She gave it a tug and found it similarly trapped, before glancing at the grinning atomie.