Plus Ultimate

by Simon Archer

  “No, we should not go on without you,” Marinka mused. “Your presence here is invaluable. You’re the physically strongest of us, so if there comes a time we must leave our horses, you can carry more goods than any of us. On top of that, you have a better grasp of supplies and foraging than any of us from the kingdom. In that, your skills are unparalleled.”

  “I am honored.” Bernsten nodded his head and gave an exaggerated little bow at her praise.

  “Then what do we do?” I asked. “I’d go, but something tells me that’s not the best idea.”

  “No,” Marinka said, shaking her head vigorously. “You are needed more than anyone in the mountains, Leo, and Nadeine is as skilled as Godfried at magic and swordsmanship.”

  “And you are needed to lead this quest, Princess,” Nadeine added. “Your diplomatic skills are vital, not to mention you are the scholar among us.”

  I nodded in agreement. I couldn’t imagine myself, Bernsten, Nadeine, or Godfried attempting to reason with any enemies we may come across. While combat might be essential or even unavoidable, there could be those we could sway to our side.

  “I think we’re out of people,” I said, looking around at the kingdom elves.

  “Indeed,” Marinka sighed.

  “The other forest elves will be fine,” Freyja said, and I jumped a little at the sound of her voice. I had almost forgotten that she and Ishida were there, as they had stayed silent during the discussion about Godfried. “You can trust that they will navigate their way to the kingdom. Our people are many, and they’ll rely on each other.”

  “I would feel better if we could somehow give them our navigation spell,” Marinka said, her brows furrowed together in worry. “It is difficult in the forest right now, given the lack of landmarks.”

  “True.” I nodded gravely. “That family had no idea where they were before we found them, even though they know the forest like the back of their hands. Everything looks the same now.”

  Bernsten turned to me then, an idea sparking in his eyes. “Leo, is there a way to give them the spell? If anyone could, it would be you, the ultimate mage.”

  “I don’t know,” I said, scrunching my own brows together in thought. “Obviously, I can’t give them my magic, but yeah, I suppose I could try something else.”

  “Such as?” Nadeine asked.

  “I don’t know,” I mused aloud. “Maybe I could make something like a compass, I suppose.”

  “What is a compass?” Freyja’s fox ears tilted forward curiously as her tail swished from side to side.

  I smiled as I explained. “It’s basically the navigation spell, but you can carry it around. Where I come from, they are really common, but I guess the kingdom elves don’t have any because of their magic.” I nodded as the idea took shape in my mind. “I’ll work on it today and see what I can do. Maybe I can create a new spell to enchant an object or something.”

  “Good, that could help,” Ishida said. “I do worry that they’ll run out of food before they find their way to the kingdom.”

  “And that bad actors among them will panic and sabotage what chances they have to make it,” Freyja said, nodding, her fox-like yellow eyes wide with concern. We sat in silence for a few more moments, letting that prospect sink in, until I rose and stretched, yawning loudly. I hadn’t realized how long we’d been sitting there. My legs had nearly fallen asleep.

  “I’d better get to work on that spell,” I said.

  “I was wondering,” Godfried said, looking up at me. “Is there a way to create another spell, one to combat the one our enemy has performed to suck the energy from the forest?”

  “It’s not impossible,” I said. “The problem is that I don’t know how he cast it or why. To fully dispel it, I need to know that to create the right countersong. However… maybe I could work on a spell to counteract its effects somehow. It’d be temporary, but any relief for the people here would be worth it.” I nodded with growing confidence. “Yeah. I’ll get started on that after the navigation one, though it’ll probably take quite some time if it does work. I’ll have to continue to work on it as we travel.”

  “This makes sense,” Godfried said, nodding slowly. “Let me know if I am able to help in any way.”

  “What you can do to help is keep practicing your own magic.” I looked around at my kingdom elf companions, all of them. “And keep studying those music theory scrolls I wrote for you while we traveled here. The more I can focus on creating my own spells, the better.”

  “I understand.” Godfried nodded. He had been studiously going over the scrolls since I’d given them to him on our second night in the forest. “I will do so now.” He rose from his crouching position and stretched out himself.

  “I will join you,” Nadeine said, rising herself.

  “As should we all.” Marinka got up to join the others and motioned for Bernsten to do the same.

  “Very well,” he groaned as he pushed himself up into a standing position with exaggerated difficulty. “I do believe we may all be better off should I leave the magic for more capable elves.”

  “Nonsense.” Marinka waved away his words. “We are all better off the more magic there is in this world.”

  “Amen to that,” I said.

  “May we join you to watch?” Ishida asked. “The one time I witnessed Leo’s magic, it was so beautiful.” I remembered the time I had practiced on top of Ishida’s treehouse, not far from where we were right then. That treehouse was probably long gone now.

  “Of course,” Marinka said.

  “Though you do so at your own risk that my brother will chop off your heads,” Nadeine grinned.

  “Oh dear,” Ishida said.

  “She’s just kidding,” I said. “You’ll be fine. I’m going to go work on that spell. I’ll catch up with you guys later. I’ll be over by this side of the wall if you need anything.” I motioned in the opposite direction from where my companions were headed.

  “Very well,” Marinka said. “We will see you soon.”

  “Good luck to you, my friend,” Bernsten called as he and the other headed off to practice.

  “You too,” I called back, already thinking about how I would go about creating this new spell. I leaned down and grabbed my pack carrying my blank spell scrolls and ink next to the horses, patted Bill’s head, and wandered off to find a good spot to get to work.

  15

  I found one in a fallen treehouse right up next to the wall. I waded through the wreckage and found what remained of a cozy little living room, including a small couch, lying on the ground almost completely still intact. It was as good a place as I was going to find given the current state of the forest, so I settled down on the couch and pulled out my ink, a quill, and a blank scroll to get to work. I also grabbed a block of wood from the wreckage that I thought might work as a makeshift compass for the forest elves.

  I turned the block over and over in my hands, trying to figure out how I could go about using my magic to shape it into what the forest elves needed. I didn’t know much about how compasses worked, but I would do my best. I began to write a tune, a more complicated version of the one I already used for the kingdom elves’ pre-existing navigation spell. I hummed under my breath as I wrote, and small puffs of golden light appeared around me in the air.

  When I was finished, I went back over what I had written several times, correcting any errors I may have made and then committing the finished product to memory. This didn’t take long since the new spell was basically just a slightly more complicated, amended version of the navigation spell. After I was confident I had it down, I rose from the couch, drew a faint mage’s circle in a spot of blackened grass nearby, and held out my hands, waiting for my cello to materialize in my hands.

  When it did, I grasped it tightly and took a seat in the hardened air beneath me. I set my bow to my strings, breathed in deeply, and began to play the tune. As it had when I had created my own spells in the safety of the castle libraries in the kingdom,
a giant rotating ball of golden light appeared in the space in front of me in my mage’s circle. I smiled at the sight of it. I had been a little worried that it wouldn’t work in these circumstances, but clearly, that wasn’t the case.

  I narrowed my eyes, concentrating on shaping the ball of light in the way I wanted. I envisioned the navigation spell in my head, and with some kicking and tossing and turning, a giant arrow, much like the one from that spell, emerged out of the mass of light, with the excess light melting away.

  But I wasn’t done yet. I concentrated now on the block of wood lying on the ground next to the mage’s circle. This was proving much more difficult than with previous spells I had created, and I felt a vein in the side of my head popping from the effort. Slowly, the arrow turned to point directly at the block, and then some light snaked out of the arrow and bent down to grab the wood and bring it into the mage’s circle.

  I was on my fourth run-through of the spell I had written now. The block of wood disappeared inside the giant arrow which began to turn clockwise furiously, faster and faster until I couldn’t tell which end was which anymore. I continued to focus intently on the center of the mage’s circle in front of me, envisioning in my mind what I wanted the finished product to be: a working compass much like the ones I knew of back on Earth, but invulnerable to the elements and guided by magic so that it would never falter, and always pointing in the direction of the kingdom. On my sixth run-through of the new spell, the arrow began to slow down, slowly but surely. On my eighth run-through, it stopped.

  The arrow dissipated, and then the light disappeared with a puff of golden smoke, leaving behind it the block of wood in the center of the mage’s circle before me. I rose and held out my arms as I watched my cello disappear in turn, and then I walked up to the block and leaned down to pick it up. I smiled when I saw that it was now coated in what seemed like golden paint, no longer the blackened, sickly brown it had been before. Popping out of the center of the block was a miniature golden arrow pointed in what I knew based on my current position on the wall to be the direction of the kingdom.

  “Awesome,” I murmured, rotating in a circle and seeing that the arrow remained pointed in the same direction no matter which way I turned.

  In a burst of energy despite my fatigue from creating and performing such a complicated spell, I rushed over to the fallen treehouse and gathered up as many more blocks of wood as I could find, even going so far as to break longer planks of wood over my knees to create more. Then, one by one, I performed the spell on each block. When all was said and done, I had nearly three dozen makeshift magical compasses, all pointing in the direction of the kingdom.

  I inspected each and every compass, testing out their invulnerability by smashing them against the wall looming not far from me and holding them up to the sky when it began to rain. But nothing phased the magic at work in them, and the little golden arrows still held strong despite my best efforts. I grinned when I was done testing the last one, finally confident that my efforts had been successful.

  I gathered up the blocks of wood in my pack, piling them in on top of the scrolls and ink, and made my way back over to our campsite, where I grabbed an empty pack that had previously carried food that we had already eaten and piled the blocks into that instead for the forest elves to distribute amongst themselves. Then, I crawled back into the tent I shared with Bernsten and Godfried and fell asleep almost instantly, the fatigue I’d been holding barely at bay finally washing over me.

  I awoke from a dreamless sleep about an hour later to the sounds of my companions returning to the campsite themselves. Noticing my pack lying on the ground in front of the tents, Bernsten poked his head inside to see if I was there.

  “Oi, Leo Hayden,” he called. “Do not spoil your sleep for this evening.”

  “I don’t think there’s any chance of that,” I said, rolling over and rubbing my eyes, letting out a big yawn. “How was your practice?”

  “It was very productive, indeed,” Bernsten said. “Did you create the spell like you hoped?”

  “Yep,” I said, crawling out of the tent as Bernsten moved out of the way. “I made a ton of them, see?” I grabbed the pack and opened it, displaying the compasses. Bernsten reached and picked one up, turning it over in his hands.

  “Amazing,” he mused. “The magic remains even though the spell is long gone.”

  “They all point in the direction of the kingdom?” Freyja asked as she and the rest of my team congregated around the compasses.

  “Yep,” I said again. “No matter what I do to them, they still work. I tried smashing them, short-circuiting them with water. They still worked no matter what.”

  “Excellent,” Freyja said, her eyes gleaming.

  “I worry much less for my friends knowing that they’ll have these,” Ishida said, peering down into the pack at them to count.

  “Indeed,” Nadeine said, nodding solemnly. “Well done, Leo. That must have taken quite some effort.”

  “Yeah, I was exhausted afterward, though I’m not sure how long it took,” I said, yawning again. “I wasn’t paying attention.”

  “Well, you missed lunch, my friend,” Bernsten said. “You were still working when we broke to eat. I came to retrieve you, but you were deep in the middle of a spell, and I did not wish to disturb your efforts.”

  “I missed lunch?” I asked, aghast. I hadn’t realized it had taken me that long, given that there was no sunlight poking through the trees above us by which to judge the time.

  “Lunch?” Bernsten chuckled. “It is nearly time for dinner.”

  “No way,” I gaped. Then, rubbing my grumbling stomach, “No wonder I’m starving.” I longed for the days where I could eat to my stomach’s content in the training grounds’ dining hall after creating a spell.

  “You may have two helpings of bear meat, of course, given that you missed lunch,” Bernsten said, crouching down beside the food packs to retrieve our meals.

  “How generous of you,” I said, rolling my eyes. Though I was grateful that we had found the bear, I would be very glad when it was gone. Though it tasted good, three meals a day was a bit much for any one kind of food. Nonetheless, I took both my helpings from Bernsten’s outstretched hand and finished them both off within minutes.

  “Creating spells makes you quite hungry, no?” Godfried asked, watching me scarf down my meal.

  “And tired,” I said, nodding. My eyelids were still heavy, and I wished I could crawl right back up in our cozy little tent. “Anyway, tell me about your practice.”

  “Godfried was excellent,” Nadeine gushed, her eyes wide. “He has been studying that music theory you wrote out for him very diligently, and it shows. He is now able to conjure just about any spell he desires one after the other.”

  “That’s great,” I said, giving the young elf a congratulatory clap on the back. I could tell from my companions’ expressions that, if there was any doubt this morning about whether Godfried would be joining us on our journey into the mountains, it was gone now after they had seen what he was capable of using his magic.

  “It is all thanks to your excellent training,” Godfried said, shooting me an uncharacteristically genuine smile. “I would never have believed I was capable of this back in the royal castle.”

  “I would wager you will take your magic over your sword now, no?” Bernsten asked, punching Godfried playfully on the shoulder.

  “Indeed,” Godfried said. “I was mistaken, and for that, I do apologize. When we return to the training grounds, I will have to apologize to the swordmaster once more.”

  “He knows you meant it the first time,” Marinka said.

  “Even so, I will do so,” Godfried said, and I realized he had actually matured quite a bit since we’d left the royal castle, even though he certainly still had some work to do.

  “And I am certain he will appreciate it,” Marinka said.

  “How did the rest of you do?” I asked, looking around at Nadeine, Bernsten, and M
arinka.

  “I did surprisingly well,” Bernsten said thoughtfully through a mouthful of bear meat. “I was able to consistently conjure complete weapons this time, so I am at least somewhat confident that I will fare alright in battle, though I am still more comfortable with my physical sword.”

  “That’s awesome,” I said. I knew how much my friend had been struggling in his attempts to use his magic.

  “And my sister, of course, was excellent,” Bernsten said, turning to Nadeine.

  “I did do quite well if I do say so myself,” she grinned. “I am actually kind of looking forward to my first true battle using magic, though I dread the circumstances in which that will be necessary.”

  “If you wish, you may borrow the scrolls on music theory that Leo Hayden made for me,” Godfried offered. “They have proven quite helpful, as I have already expressed.”

  “Thank you, I may accept that offer,” Nadeine said, nodding to him in thanks. “Though I believe they will be more helpful for young minds such as yours.”

  “What about you?” I asked, turning to Marinka.

  “Ah, I fared alright in our practice today,” Marinka said. “My spells held strong, though I must admit my confidence is shaken after what happened on our way here.”

  “Oh, that was just beginner’s jitters,” I said, waving away her concerns as I took a long drink from my canteen. The bear was quite salty for preservation purposes.

  “I hope that you are correct, Leo,” Marinka said, though her brows were still furrowed together in worry.

  “You’ll be fine, I know you will,” I said, giving her a warm smile. “I believe in you.”

  “Thank you, Leo,” she said, meeting my eyes and returning my smile. “That means a lot to me.” Just as we were finishing up our meal and conversation, Akash appeared on the beaten path not far from our campsite.

  “Amaka and I wish to speak with you,” he said as he approached us. “Would you come with me to meet with us near the great tree on the same benches as last night?”