TRC - Searching for the Sky Ch. 17.5

The smile on her face was caused by the faint feeling of elation coming from around the man's crotch as the other part of her consciousness received enough energy to form into a glowing ball again. But Hol didn't need to know that.

---

"Oh, thank goodness," she said, laying her head back on the chair and closing her eyes.

"What?" asked Hassil.

"You destroyed my body but the other two have managed to form a new one thanks to your fighter."

"How is that even possible?"

"I honestly don't know, but it must have something to do with how the will-o'-wisp's body works. I can't explain it any more than I can explain how there can essentially be three of me right now."

"Hmm, perhaps it is something like slimes?"

"How so?"

"When a slime grows big enough, its core splits and it uses some of the body to form a new slime. In studies, there has been no loss of intelligence and things known by the mother were passed on to the daughter slime without any degradation."

"Can't tell you're a scholar," she said with a hint of sarcasm. "Interesting idea, but we are just an orb of light. I need to return to that orb as quickly as possible once I leave or I will fade away and take my memories with me."

"Is that why you no longer seem mad at me? Since you have all the memories of your original body, now that you have a new one you essentially haven't lost anything."

Rowan thought for a moment. "That seems fairly accurate, though I am still upset that you attacked first and asked questions later."

"The wisps of the swamp are not to be trifled with. There are few survivors."

Rowan shook her head, "There is only one survivor. The rest were never caught to begin with." She looked over at the wall that still showed what the wizard was seeing. "I suppose I can't say that anymore with Avel and now Hol. Given any more thought to my offer?" she asked, turning back to him.

Hassil smiled. "Sexual fantasies are fun but you can't give me my heart's desire so I think I will have to pass."

The woman cocked her head to the side, this was an interesting turn. "Mind if I try?"

Before he could answer, the room brightened significantly as a glowing orb took up most of the mage's outside field of view. A moment later a second Rowan stood in the room. "Kal's place, nice," she said looking around. When her eyes came to rest on her other aspect sitting in the lounger, she tilted her head towards the wall showing the world outside and the glowing sphere floating in front of the wizard's face. "She's about done with the swordsman, if this one isn't going to try to kill us anymore I figured we could wait in his tent until she's finished."

The Rowan sitting on the lounger held up a hand. "Give me a little bit of time, I may convince him to give us a little as well."

"Should I wait down there then?"

Standing, the first woman nodded. "If nothing happens in a few minutes, come get me." She turned to the wizard, "May I?"

She vanished as soon as he nodded.

---

Rowan shuffled through the wizard's memories, but nothing was standing out. A couple of relationships lasting a few years apiece. The most recent one was the reason he took up adventuring, the heartbreak driving him to choose a life where such affairs were unlikely.

In each of his former loves, he had been looking for something but found them lacking, leading to the eventual demise of the relationship. Seeing no recent events that explained this, she started looking for answers in his distant past. The wizard was significantly older than the other two men, so there was a lot to look through. As she traveled further back, she started to notice a pattern. The women he was with would have a similar shape to their face and specific eye color. This all finally culminated in... Hassil's niece.

Wait... what?

The wisp dug around and did some more searching, hardly believing that this woman could be his niece. She discovered that Hassil was a very late child for his mother and that his eldest sister was significantly older. Because of the age difference, the mage's niece was only around a year younger than he was. She was also only a half-niece. His sister's father had died at some point and Hassil, along with his older brother, was the product of their mother remarrying.

The mage loved this woman with every fiber of his being. His sister married a minor noble who lived a short distance away and Hassil and his niece, Ella, spent many of their early years playing together. However, the lives of nobles are filled with rules. In their early teens, his mother and sister started working to keep them apart, afraid that he might despoil her and possibly ruin her chances of marrying into a higher house.

She found a scene that was branded into the mage's memory, though the edges had frayed with time.

---

"Hassil, what is this all this about?" the woman giggled as he pulled her into a spare bedroom at his sister's mansion.

A much younger version of the mage turned to look at his beautiful niece. He'd always thought of her more as a cousin because of their ages. His older brother's children felt more like his niece and nephew than she ever had.

The young mage swallowed hard and blurted out, "I... I love you, Ella." Before she could react, he continued hurriedly, running his words together in his nervousness. "Please don't marry Lord Hoken's son. I'm starting my third year at the academy and I don't have to live in the dorms anymore we can—" the mage was silenced by a finger over his lips.

"I love you too, Hassil. I have for a long time," she said with a sad smile. "But we share blood, so that can never be. If I were to run away with you then our families would disown us. You love magic, how would you become a wizard with no money to pay for the academy?"

He gave her a weak smile, "I knew that would be your answer, but I needed to ask. Needed to tell you."

"And I'm very glad you did. I've wanted to hear that for quite some time. I only wish we were of different families, then maybe we could have been together." They stood in silence for a moment. "I should go," she said

Hassil nodded, "It is your engagement party after all."

Smiling, she stood up on her tiptoes to kiss his cheek.

The mage turned his head and their lips met. Ella's eyes widened in surprise for just a moment before melting into him while his arms wrapped around her and held her tight.

They stayed like that until they heard someone calling for her off in the distance.

Stepping back she looked up at him, "Never do that again."

The mage looked surprised, "You acted like you enjoyed it."

"I did, very much. That's why you can never do it again. I hope you understand when I say: Goodbye Hassil." She ran a finger over her lips before calling out, "Coming mother!" and running out the door.

Hassil ran a finger over his own lips, trying to burn the feel of hers into his mind. Looking at the empty doorway, he said, "Goodbye Ella," as he bid farewell to his hopes of a life with her. A short time later he stepped out to rejoin the party and offer his congratulations to the young woman on her engagement.

---

Rowan pulled back from the memory and took a deep breath.

"Whoah," she whispered. Just watching that had been intense.

Hassil's most fervent wish had been to have a life with this woman. He was correct, there was no way she could give that to him. But maybe...

The wisp dove into the man's memories, inspecting every tiny bit of information about his niece. Avel's prostitute had merely been someone he remembered fondly, this was a woman that Hassil would have given his life for. She couldn't miss a detail.

---

The image of the mage standing in Kal's farmhouse froze, startling the woman in a plain brown dress standing nearby. Around her, the walls of the farmhouse began moving and changing color, rearranging into a long hallway in an opulent mansion. The wizard's clothes also changed, reflecting his noble ancestry while his face and body became much younger. A woman about the same age in a flowing party gown appeared and walked toward him.

"Wait," said Rowan.

The woman stopped and turned toward her, "Yes?"

The wisp stepped over and looked closely into the new woman's eyes. "You've become her."

The woman smiled, "Her name is Ella and he has loved her his entire life. Every memory, every inflection, every blemish, every movement, I took them all in. So yes, I have become her."

Rowan shook her head, "I don't like this, it's plain to see that you love him as much as you say he loves you. You can't bring those memories back and share them. We can't fall in love with this man."

"I understand," said Ella smiling, "and I have a plan."

The woman in the plain brown dress nodded reluctantly. "I'm trusting you, don't make me regret it. While you are working on this, I'm going to move him back into his tent then tell our new body to go down and wait before coming back. I don't think you have enough left in you to make it back alone."

Nodding in return, Ella went about positioning the mage and putting the finishing touches on the scene around them.

---

... Hassil nodded, "It is your engagement party after all."

Smiling she stood up on her tiptoes to kiss his cheek.

The mage turned his head and their lips met. Ella's eyes widened in surprise for just a moment before melting into him while his arms wrapped around her and held her tight.

They stayed like that for some time, the mage waiting to hear a voice in the distance that never came.

Stepping back she looked up at him, "Never do that again."

The mage looked surprised, "You acted like you enjoyed it."

"I did, very much. That's why you can never do it again. I hope you understand when I say..." her voice faltered as she brought a hand up and ran a finger over her lips. Looking down, her eyes darted from side to side with uncertainty.

"Ella?"

Her eyes met his, "Do it again."

Hassil couldn't hide the elation that ran through him, "You're sure?"

"Do it again Hassil, before I change my mind."

The wizard in training wasted no time wrapping his arms around her again, meeting her lips with his own. Ella threw her arms around his neck, preventing him from escaping as their tongues danced in each other's mouths.

It was far too soon when she pulled away and rested her head against him. Her next words stunned the mage to his core.

"I want you to be my first, Hassil. I still have to marry Lord Hoken's son, but I want you to be my first."

"But... when you..."

"No. They already know I lost my maidenhead when out horseriding a few years ago."

This could destroy both of their lives, but now that the decision was upon him, there was no choice.

Scooping her up in his arms he stepped over to the bed in the room they had hidden in.

---

Rowan stood at the doorway to the room as Ella came over to join her, leaving the young wizard sleeping on the bed much as he was doing in his tent in real life. Watching the two make love had been an amazing sight but now reality was intruding once again.

"What's this plan of yours?" asked the olive-skinned woman.

Ella just smiled and held up her hands with a small space between them. Concentrating, the woman's entire body began to glow until the light became blinding. The glow then shrank down to a small orb in the place between where her hands had been. The small sphere of light then floated over to Rowan's upturned palm. As it came to rest, she could see everything Ella and Hassil had done in vivid detail, but it was as though she was seeing it on a stage or through a window, instead of living it and feeling all the same emotions.

"That's a good plan," said Rowan before grasping the smaller orb and returning to her body. As she left the campsite a second tiny glowing sphere lazily orbited the larger one.

---

------

---

"Are you sure you want me to let you off here?" asked the cart driver.

"Yes, I'm sure," the old man snapped as he carefully tried to slide off the back of the cart. The driver's wife hopped down from the bench she and her husband were sitting on and helped him the rest of the way down, so he wouldn't hurt himself.

"Thank you, my dear. You deserve better than that lout, up there. He must've hit every hole and rut on this blasted road," he complained loudly enough for the driver to hear, but there was laughter in his eyes. The driver smiled, the road to the dwarven kingdom was fantastically maintained, there had been no ruts or holes.

He reached down to his belt but found it empty, looking up into the cart he saw his coinpurse up by where he had been sitting. He waved a hand at it dismissively. "Bah! Too much of a bother to get that. You two keep what's in it as thanks for bringing me. Buy her something pretty when you get to the dwarves, she deserves it!" He hollered at the man sitting up front. Grabbing his walking stick, the ancient old man started slowly making his way to the nearby woods.

The cart driver and his wife watched until he was out of sight to be sure he didn't fall or change his mind.

"Do you think we should leave him alone?" the woman asked her husband.

Her husband shrugged. "You've heard the tales of the woods around here. If that's how he wants to end things, who are we to stop him."

"Men," she scoffed, climbing back up onto the driver's bench. "Even at that age always thinking with what's in their pants."

"Last I checked, you quite like what's in my pants," he chuckled, flicking the reins and getting the horses moving north toward the dwarven stronghold again.

Rolling her eyes, the woman reached over the back of the driver's seat and shuffled through the various vegetables they were hoping to sell at market. She found the bag the old man had left behind partially buried from the cart's shifting. As she picked it up, she wondered for a moment if he'd forgotten to close it and a small potato had rolled inside.

Setting it on the bench, there was a telltale clink of coins. Nope, no potato. Husband and wife looked at each other, then down into the bag as she opened it. A few coppers, a good number of silver, and even a few gold pieces lay inside. With a squeak, the woman tied the bag back up and slid down onto the cart's footrest. Reaching under where she had been sitting, she quickly used a key hanging around her neck to open a small metal lockbox hidden behind a wooden panel. Throwing the bag inside, she locked everything back up and hid it again before sitting down next to her husband, her eyes still wide with shock.

The driver, however, was laughing. "Thank you, old man!" he called out to the empty road behind him. Turning back to his wife, he smiled. "It looks like I need to get you something pretty like he told me to."

"Do you think he gave us the wrong one and will come back for it?" she asked him, worry written across her face.

"Dear... he's not coming back."

---

"You've grown," he said to the woman made up of glowing orbs. He'd found a small clearing where the forest met the swamp and a comfortable tree trunk to rest his back against. A streak of purple light from the end of his walking stick announced his presence. It wasn't long before she came floating into view.

"You've grown old," she responded. Her voice had an eerie echo as it came from all the different spheres making up her body at once. "It's good to see you again Hassil. Hol came back a few times after your group went their separate ways. Avel came back for another six years or so, the last time he brought his new wife. That was a fun night," she said, the transparent outline of her body smiling at the memory, "but they said they were moving out east and I never saw them again. You never accepted my offer again while you were with them and were the only one who never came back to see me."

"I'm here now, and I imagine you know why."

Rowan nodded, "I do, and it makes me sad."

"Don't be, these last twenty years have been some of the best of my life. After I quit adventuring, I found a good woman still young enough and willing to give me a couple of kids. I even got to meet my first grandchild not long ago. It made me wish I hadn't started so late."

His voice turned melancholy, "Sadly my wife didn't make it past giving birth to our second. I never remarried after that. A month back a cleric saved me from dying. She said my heart isn't very strong anymore." He smiled up at the will-o'-wisp. "It's time for me to go, and I'd rather do it on my terms than in searing pain, clutching my chest." The old wizard sighed, "That... and I'd like to make love to Ella one last time."

Rowan reached up and plucked a tiny orb from one of the bigger ones, holding it out to him. "Nothing on this world could make her happier," she said.

"I appreciate you doing yourself up in her likeness again."

The wisp shook her head. "No, she was made entirely of your memories of her. In every way, she is the Ella you remember, and she loves you very, very much. That's why I had to keep her separate from the rest of me all these years."

The speck floated over and touched the old wizard's eye making him freeze in place.

"I'll give you two some time," said Rowan.

----

Inside the man's head, the bedroom where they made love the last time formed around them as Hassil's worn and aged body returned to its younger days. Letting out a squeal of happiness, Ella flung herself at the man. No longer concerning herself with how real the situation needed to look, the young woman's clothes faded away before she reached him.

Laughing, he caught her and spun her around a couple of times before putting her down and sobering slightly.

"You know—"

She put a finger over his mouth and looked into his eyes. "Yes, I do. And I can't tell you how happy I am that you came back to spend these last moments with me." Grabbing his arm, she tugged him toward the bed, "Now let's make these next few hours amazing."

---

Rowan's lips came away from the old wizard's. For probably the thousandth time she cursed that this body couldn't shed tears as he took his last rattling breath.

She gave Ella the choice to come back or stay with the mage until the end.

She chose to stay.

Rowan watched as the old wizard's soul streaked up into the sky. Even for a creature such as the will-o'-wisp, souls were difficult to see.

This one was made far more visible by the familiar speck of light that went with it.