by Pirateaba
Maybe it was time to rethink her ideals. If that was what Ryoka could attain, maybe…
Ryoka’s melancholic thoughts were interrupted by a flash of light far off to her left. She paused, slowed, and changed directions in a heartbeat. Something was lying in the snow, around a mile away.
It was small at first, but as Ryoka approached she realized the object was actually huge. She stopped as the snowy ground grew muddy underfoot.
It was a…massive suit of armor. It lay spread-eagled on the ground, in an area of ground that was no longer covered in snow. The snow had melted, and something had turned the wet grass into a muddy landscape.
Ryoka slowed as she made her way across the broken earth and churned and muddy ground. What had happened here? A battle of some kind. But this armor…
As she stepped next to it, Ryoka realized that this armor wasn’t normal at all. It was plate armor to begin with; black metal hammered together to create an imposing behemoth. And behemoth was the right word for this armor. It was massive.
Even Calruz—even he would have found the armor a loose fit. But that wasn’t what attracted Ryoka’s attention. No, it was another aspect of the armor that bothered her.
It was battered. There was no other word for it. It looked like someone had bashed every single square inch of the armor with hammers. The black metal was dented in places—in others, Ryoka found holes where something small had punched through the metal.
Crossbow bolts? Ryoka doubted it, but that was the only thing she could think of. Either that or a huge longbow had done this damage. She’d seen only one broken crossbow in her entire time in this world, but something had punched through the armor.
But that brought another question to Ryoka’s mind. She squatted down next to the damaged piece of plate. It had no helmet, so she could peer inside without a problem. And what she saw was an absence of any blood or flesh.
There was no blood on the armor. Anywhere. That was the oddest thing. With all this damage, there surely should have been some blood or a corpse nearby, but the armor was simply empty.
Ryoka looked around. Someone had fought there. There should be some bodies. But there weren’t. She saw something else sticking out of the ground and headed towards it.
A massive, broken sword was embedded in the ground twenty meters away. Ryoka stared at it and noticed how something had cracked the blade in two different places.
“What the hell…?”
Just by following the muddy ground, Ryoka could see a terrific battle had been waged in this area. The swath of muddy ground was nearly two miles across, and reached all the way back to the foot of a mountain in the distance.
Ryoka followed them to an odd opening in the rock. It looked like the opening to a cave, but very small. It was just large enough that the massive armor might have fit through, but it was too thin to let anything wider through.
The human girl peered into the darkness of the cave, but couldn’t see anything. She went back to the armor, and regarded it.
“Steel?”
She was no metallurgist, but Ryoka guessed that was the case. It rang as she knocked on the armor with her knuckles. Iron would have been more of a thunk.
Who had the resources to make something so expensive? Ryoka was almost tempted to try and see if she could salvage the armor, but it was so wrecked she didn’t know if it was worth it.
It was probably worth it either way. Ryoka mentally marked the location as something to come back to. After a moment of hesitation, she buried the armor in the snow so it would be less visible from the road.
But who had fought here? Who was the wearer of the armor, and who had destroyed it? There were no clues.
Just another mystery to solve. Ryoka groaned as she stood back up. More tracks led into the crack in the mountainside. Something had gone in there, but Ryoka wasn’t about to follow.
For one thing, she was exhausted. For another, she had an aversion to entering dark caves where something with a crossbow might or might not be lurking. And for a third reason, she had a Courier to catch.
She was only a few hours away from Liscor. Ryoka made her way back to the road and set off. Her body hurt. She wanted another sip of the stamina potion, but Octavia had warned her it could only stave off exhaustion for so long.
Ryoka ran through the brightening morning, thinking only of the end. She could have food, a place to sit, and hot water when she got to Erin’s inn.
But when she arrived at the place where The Wandering Inn should have been, Ryoka only saw an empty hilltop. She stared up at the empty spot and looked around. No. She was definitely in the right place. But…
“…Where the hell did it go?”
—-
The inn’s glass windows were full of warmth and light when Ryoka finally found it. For a few minutes she just leaned against the wall of the inn, too exhausted to do anything else. Then the tantalizing smell and heat from inside called to her, and she pushed the door open.
The room was beautifully warm, and the instant Ryoka entered, she saw a familiar face. Ceria sat at one table, smiling and laughing with Olesm. Pisces sat across from them, munching on a familiar food. Erin sat at a table and laughed with Val—
Val.
Ryoka stopped in her tracks as Erin got to her feet. The Courier inclined his head at her and said something apologetically. She waved it away as she walked towards the kitchen.
“Another hamburger? Coming right up!”
Ryoka stared at Val as he leaned back in his chair and sighed happily. He had several empty plates on the table, and he looked like he’d been in the inn for quite a while.
He looked towards the open door, and saw Ryoka. Instantly, Val smiled.
“Ryoka? What a surprise! I didn’t expect to see you here! Did you just get in?”
Everyone in the room looked up at the sound of her name. Erin halted in her tracks, and beamed.
“Ryoka!”
Ceria got to her feet, and so did Olesm. Ryoka walked slowly forwards as her friends approached.
Erin went to hug Ryoka or do something friendly, but then she halted a few feet away from the running girl. Olesm sneezed, Erin coughed, and Ceria leaned away from Ryoka. She couldn’t blame them.
She stank.
“Sorry. I just got here. Ran all night.”
Ryoka knew she was drenched in sweat, melted snow, and not a bit of mud. But Erin waved at her face and smiled anyways.
“Wow, that’s fast! Here, take a seat and I’ll get you some food. And a towel. Do you want a drink? I’ve got this alcoholic drink I bought from Krshia…”
Ryoka sat at the table opposite Val and stared at him. Erin hesitated.
“By the way Ryoka, this is another Runner. A Courier, actually. His name is—”
“Val. We’ve met.”
“You have? That’s so weird!”
Val nodded. He didn’t seem bothered by Ryoka’s pong.
“We just met in a city north of here. Ryoka actually helped me find my way here. But I didn’t think we’d meet in this inn. You’ll never believe this, Ryoka, but it turns out my destination was here all along. I was delivering it to this innkeeper, Miss Erin.”
“Oh?”
“Yeah, it was a chessboard!”
Erin excitedly pointed to the chessboard in the corner of the room.
“I guess it was because I sent this puzzle to someone. And they gave me a chessboard. Well—it’s not that amazing, but it’s cool that we all know each other!”
“Oh?”
Ryoka’s face was completely blank. Erin blinked at her, but Val leaned over to her.
“I think Ryoka would do better with some food and drink in her. Water, not alcohol.”
“Oh, right! You must be starving! Coming right up!”
She was so tired Ryoka didn’t even question the hamburger. But she did nearly tear up, especially when she bit into it.
A proper hamburger. Not crap fast food. She ate two before she even realized what was
happening and drank six glasses of water. Slowly—the food she’d take, but she had no intention of vomiting in this new inn.
“…And then they gave me windows, see?”
Erin was finishing explaining how her inn had moved from its previous location. It was a disjointed explanation, but Ryoka got the gist. Exploding inns? She had no idea what to make of that.
“Well, I am glad to have discovered this inn. I’ve never tasted food like this. I’d love to take the recipe back up north. I’m sure the innkeepers up there would love to learn it.”
Val sighed as he rested his hands over his full stomach. Erin smiled crookedly.
“It can’t hurt to tell you, I guess.”
There was something behind her words, but Ryoka’s head felt like static. She was full, and dog-tired, but she had another thought as she looked at Pisces and Ceria, arguing over something in the corner.
“I’ve got a problem.”
Everyone looked at her, and Ryoka realized she shouldn’t have blurted it out. But it was too late now. Ryoka’s exhausted mind couldn’t handle subtleties, only the thing that had bugged her all the way here.
“Can you tell if someone’s cast a mind-altering spell on me?”
She addressed that comment to Pisces and Ceria. The two mages blinked and exchanged a glance, and then came over to sit at their table.
“Mind magic? What, did someone hit you with something, Ryoka?”
“Maybe. I don’t know. Can you test me?”
It was just something the faeries had said. But the only people Ryoka even remotely trusted were the two in front of her. Ceria and Pisces exchanged another look and nodded. They were oddly in synch at times.
“There’s an easy way to tell, although it’s odd. Normally, a spell that messes with the head will remain concealed until the victim is aware of it. And naturally the magic prevents them from realizing something’s off. But if you think there’s a spell on you, this should work.”
Ceria explained as she raised her hand. Her fingertips were glowing green. Across from her, Pisces closed his eyes as his fingertips glowed blue.
“[Detect Magic].”
Pisces and Ceria cast the spell at the same time and glared at each other. The room suddenly lit up.
Ryoka and Erin gasped as Val suddenly exploded in colors like a Christmas tree. Magical auras swirled around him, concentrating on spots about his person. His pockets, places at his belt—
“Tree rot. You were right, Ryoka!”
Ceria pointed at Ryoka. She looked around, and noticed a shining coming from her as well. It was hard to see, but there was something…swirling around her head? Something bright, like a halo of smog. Erin stared at it.
“Hey! Your belt is glowing too!”
It was true. Some of the potions on Ryoka’s belt were glowing faintly, but one of them—the orange-pink potion Teriarch had given her was shining with light. Val whistled.
“There’s some magic here.”
Pisces and Ceria had their own aura of glowing colors as well. In fact, only Erin and Olesm were without their aura of colors. The inn was full of magical auras shining from different locations. Val, Ryoka, Ceria, the chessboard, Pisces…
“Well, there’s something strong affecting you, that’s certain.”
Both mages canceled their spell and the inn faded back into the normal range of colors. Everything suddenly seemed drab and ordinary. Ceria stared at Ryoka’s head, and shook her head.
“You’re enchanted. And with something so powerful that I don’t know that I can do anything about it. Sorry, Ryoka.”
“I know I can’t do anything about that.”
Pisces sat back in his chair, wide-eyed. He took Val’s drink and drained it.
“That’s Tier…6 magic? Tier 7? Who did you anger so to make them use that on you?”
“I have an idea. Damn.”
Ryoka sighed, frustrated but vindicated. She was right. And maybe the faeries were…nah. It couldn’t be. But how could they tell?
Val frowned at Ryoka, and then fished in his pockets.
“You’re just full of surprises, aren’t you? Hold on; here. Take this.”
He took something out of his pocket and showed it to Ryoka and the room.
“I’ve got a powerful charm I use to ward against that kind of magic. It’s worth several thousand gold pieces, so it should remove anything that’s affecting you.”
“Oh! I know those!”
Erin peered excitedly at the charm dangling from Val’s hand. Ryoka recognized the object as well. It was a dreamcatcher, a circle in which someone had woven threads together in a symmetrical shape, like a spider’s web.
The only difference here was that this dreamcatcher was a far smaller version of the ones Ryoka and Erin had seen – barely longer than a thumb. And the frame was made of metal, not wood. But the threads were beautiful, each one a shimmering line of color that made a tantalizing pattern in the center of the charm.
“Here. Just put it against your head and it will dispel any magic on you.”
Val handed the dreamcatcher to Ryoka, and she looked at it dubiously.
“Are you sure?”
He shrugged.
“It’s not a one-use item, and if you’re enchanted, you’ll need something powerful to remove it. Consider it a favor from one Runner to another.”
“Huh. Uh, thanks.”
As soon as she accepted it, the small charm began buzz. Val nodded.
“You’re under the effects of something.”
Ryoka lifted it up, and suddenly the buzzing became a low whine. Val frowned.
“It shouldn’t be making that sound. Wait a—”
Too late. Ryoka pressed the charm against her head. She felt the metal warm, and then it cooled. Ryoka lowered the charm, and stared at it, bemused.
“I don’t know if anything hap—”
Something clicked in her head. It was like Ryoka suddenly going through déjà vu, only a thousand times stronger. She blinked. Memory, forgotten memory rushed into her head. Along with a word.
One word, echoing in her head.
Dragon.
The whine coming from the dreamcatcher suddenly turned into a shriek. Olesm clapped his hands over his ears and Pisces and Ceria ducked.
The dreamcatcher exploded, throwing Ryoka backwards. Val moved like a whirlwind, and Erin gasped as fiery fragments disappeared inches from her face.
Ryoka was catapulted over the top of a table, knocking Pisces’s empty plate off. She crashed hard to the ground as porcelain shattered under her, and felt something wrench in her shoulder.
“Ryoka! Are you okay?”
Erin crouched next to Ryoka, peering anxiously at her friend’s face. Ryoka was alright, albeit bruised and dazed. But she didn’t respond right away. Her eyes were flickering. The dreamcatcher had worked.
She remembered. She remembered everything.
2.16
Ryoka stumbled into the cave, bleeding. Dying. Every step was agony. She felt her sliced flesh and fragments of rock embedded in her skin cutting away at her sanity.
Pain. She didn’t know why she was still moving. But as Ryoka stumbled forwards, the rough stone turned to marble. The room filled with treasures made of gold and magic.
She left footsteps traced in crimson as she walked forwards, forgetting her hurts for a second. The wonders around her were far more glorious than anything she’d ever seen in a museum. Artwork as beautiful as a Louvre masterpiece hung next to swords that glimmered with magic. Yes, it was in the air.
Magic.
Ryoka felt her heart beating faintly in her chest. She heard rushing wind, but then the cavern wall opened up and her heart did stop.
Because in the center of this cave of miracles was a Dragon.
A Dragon. A massive creature four times the size of a house, slumbering on the cold marble. A creature straight out of myth and dreams.
Serpent. Wyrm. Drake. Arach. Naga. Ormr. Tanniym. Vovin. Draak. Drage. Draeke
.
Dragon.
The massive dragon was sleeping in an open space in the center of the cavern. Ryoka stopped. She stared. His scales shone as the light touched them, so brilliant that her heart ached.
Her eyes filled with tears. Ryoka sank to her knees as her blood covered the marble floor. She didn’t care. It was worth it. This was worth it.
It was worth seeing this before she died.
“Hm. Who’s there?”
His head moved. The dragon opened both eyes and stared down at Ryoka. She gazed into two massive pupils, mismatched colors of heliotrope and cerulean. Celestial lights shimmered within the moving pupils.
For a moment, Ryoka understood magic. She gazed into the center of it; the reason why it could exist. A fragment of the truth. A piece of forever. A dragon’s eye.
Her eyes rolled back up in her head. Ryoka fell forwards and her nose broke as she toppled onto the floor.
The Dragon grumbled deep in his throat. He looked around, and tsked at the blood trail.
“I’m going to have to clean that up as well, aren’t I? And fix the nose. And use a memory spell. Honestly, this is why humans are…”
—-
She remembered.
“Awaken, human.”
Ryoka opened her eyes. She sat up at once, and felt no pain. She was healed? Healed! How?
It was a miracle. But then Ryoka noticed the old man standing in front of her. Long white robes covered a body only lightly touched by age. His mismatched eyes gazed down at her as he gestured at her.
“Rise, human.”
Ryoka stood up. She couldn’t help it. She gaped at the old man who had pointed ears and flawless features.
“Mm. You must be exhausted from your travels. I confess; it was unusual for me to find one in such bad shape. But I have healed your wounds. I presume you are the Courier I requested?”
Ryoka blinked. She stared open-mouthed at the old man. He frowned at her.
“Hello? Can you hear me?”
The human girl made no reply. Teriarch looked around, frowning.
