by Pirateaba
“If you will not reconsider your actions—then listen.”
He pulled something out of his clothing. A silvery bell. It rang, a clear, high-pitched note. Once, twice.
Timor’s face went pale. He leapt back from Pisces as if the other young man had struck at him. He stumbled into Charles and the two nearly fell to the ground.
“Stay back! We’re both armed! Charles and I can take you on, regardless of your rank!”
Pisces held the rapier out calmly, facing sideways towards the two as Charles unsheathed his sword and faced him uncertainly. This had gone far further than Ceria had intended. She wasn’t sure what the bell meant, but she couldn’t let this continue. Ceria stood up.
“Back off. We’re all on a ship going to Wistram. If you start a fight you’ll get thrown off if the Captain doesn’t kill you himself. And if he doesn’t—I will.”
She raised her fingers and concentrated. Flames erupted from her skin and danced around her hand. Charles and his followers backed away as the other students murmured and pointed.
“We have magic too!”
A few of the other people raised their hands and produced sparks or flames from their fingertips. None were nearly as vibrant as Ceria. She held her fiery hand out towards Charles until she heard pounding feet.
“What are you doing on my ship!?”
The flames around Ceira’s hand went out as she saw the [Captain] storming down the stairs, roaring at the students with two brawny sailors at his back. In moments everyone was separated and he was shouting at both Ceria, Pisces, and Charles and Timor, ignoring the latter two’s complaints.
“I should toss you all overboard myself! You two are lucky we’re far from port, or I would put you ashore and damn the list! You, boy, put that away before I throw that blade in the sea!”
The Captain shouted at Ceria and Pisces as he sheathed his sword.
“We were defending ourselves.”
Pisces protested, but the Captain was too incensed to listen. He glared at Ceria.
“I won’t have any magic on my ship! Cast another spell and I will toss you overboard myself! And you two, start trouble or draw a blade and I will cut you down, lords or not!”
He ignored the outraged noises the two boys made and stormed back up the stairs. Charles and Timor hesitated, but they stiffly walked away from Pisces and Ceria with only a parting glare.
Ceria sat back down with a sigh, heart pounding.
“That could have ended far worse.”
“Or far better. He threatened to throw away my blade!”
Pisces grumbled as he sat back down with Ceria. He was still glaring over at Charles and Timor, who’d joined the majority of the other students and were laughing loudly and not looking at Pisces and Ceria.
“Well, you were threatening two of his passengers.”
“Only because they drew steel on us!”
Pisces was indignant. Ceria sighed.
“If you hadn’t stood up to them, they would have left us alone soon enough. Trust me, I’m used to it.”
The young man looked sideways at Ceria.
“I didn’t feel it was right, that’s all. We’re all aspiring to become mages, proper mages, that is. If we can’t treat each other with basic civility, we’re no better than ignorant fools for all our power.”
Ceria smiled at him. It surprised her more than it surprised Pisces. Here she was, getting along with a Human of all people. He grinned back at her.
“Well, I enjoyed the looks on their faces when you stood up to them. Thank you.”
Pisces blushed and waved his hand.
“It was nothing.”
Ceria smiled again. She pointed to Pisces’ pocket.
“What does the bell mean? Those two backed off fast when they saw it.”
His cheeks were still flushed, but Pisces shook his head as he hid the rapier back under his bedding.
“It’s a token used by duelists. It means I’ve reached a level of skill recognized among anyone who practices the same craft.”
“Oh.”
It was obvious that he wanted to keep that a secret, so Ceria let it drop. Pisces muttered to himself as he rearranged his bedding.
“I dislike arrogant nobles and the like intensely. I thought I would be rid of them, but I suppose even in Wistram wealth speaks.”
“We’ll see if it holds true in the academy.”
“I’m told that there’s barely anything on the isle other than Wistram Academy and a pier. I wonder if they import all their goods? How do they feed themselves?”
“They probably grow what they need with magic. Somehow.”
“Still. How many new students will be like us, do you think?”
“Don’t know.”
“And how many will pass the exam?”
Ceria was silent. The exam. It loomed in her thoughts, a vague, terrifying specter.
It was true that anyone with a bit of talent and enough coin could travel to Wistram. But staying there was far harder.
Twenty gold pieces was the price, but that only bought each student a month’s time to study in Wistram. They would be taught basic magic and be given the run of the isle, but after that month they would have to prove their worth…or be sent home.
It was extraordinarily expensive to live in Wistram if you weren’t a mage offered a scholarship by the academy. Students would have to pay hundreds of gold coins to study there, which was why most who went to Wistram hoped they could pass the exam and stay for free.
Wistram Academy was always looking for talented mages, so the exam was designed to allow students to showcase their talents. Anyone with a high level or better yet, some kind of unique spell or Skill would be allowed to study. It was what both Ceria and Pisces hoped to do; pass the exam and become full students.
But what the exam might actually be, and what they would learn in the time before then, neither Pisces nor Ceria had any idea. They had no idea what Wistram even looked like; it was in the middle of the ocean, and visitors to that isle were understandably rare.
Eventually, the light coming out of the portholes almost completely faded, and Ceria closed the one closest to her and Pisces so they could sleep. They still had another day and a bit to go, and she wanted to conserve her strength.
She slept soundly, until the storm began and rain began to pound the deck overhead.
—-
It was a sea storm, the kind of horrific maelstrom that only emerged in the middle of the ocean. Huge waves battered the Errant Traveller as she sailed on through the dark clouds and pouring rain. Wind threatened to blow the sailors scrambling to lower sails and obey the Captain’s orders as the man himself fought with the waves at the head of his boat.
Below decks, the students huddled in fear, listening to the crash of the waves and talking in quiet voices. Ceria sat with Pisces, watching through the window as the ship would go up and then come down with stomach wrenching force.
“Are you sure this boat can survive this storm?”
Pisces shouted in Ceria’s ear. He was clutching his belongings as he stared out at the water.
“I don’t know!”
Ceria shouted back. She tapped the window.
“This is glass. The ship must be newer, so it should hold!”
“It had better! I can’t swim!”
“What?”
The idea that anyone couldn’t swim baffled Ceria, until she remembered that many Humans from Terandria lived inland and never saw a large body of water. Not that it mattered. Ceria had had ample time to learn how to swim over the sixty years of her life, but she was certain she wouldn’t last ten minutes in the frothing waves.
“We’ll be okay!”
And then, as if to mock her, Ceria heard the hatch leading above slam open. A sailor pounded down the steps as wind and water blew in. He shouted.
“Sea Serpent to the starboard! Stay below!”
The people in the hold began to scream. Ceria’s gut clenched in fear, but then
the sailor was running towards her. He ignored the rocking motion of the ship as he seized her.
“You! Half-Elf! Do you have any spells that can fight off the serpent?”
Ceria stared at him, mouth open.
“Not a Sea Serpent!”
The vast monsters of the ocean were far more terrifying than those on land, at least in terms of size. A Sea Serpent was twice the length of a warship—and that was only on average. Bigger examples of their kind could take down an entire fleet. Ceria’s [Stone Dart] spell would be as effective against it as spit.
“Fine. Stay here and pray it loses interest! The Captain’s used a scroll to send for Wistram for help—maybe those damn mages will be able to do something from there!”
The sailor ran back up the stairs. Pisces turned a white face towards Ceria. She was already staring back out at the churning sea.
“There. There it is!”
In the distance, Ceria saw a rippling form scything through the water. The Sea Serpent shot out of the water head-first, a massive jaw and burning eyes the only impression Ceria received before it plunged into the water. It’s serpentine coils followed it, and Ceria’s heart froze in her chest when she realized the creature was four times as long as the Errant Traveller.
“Does it see us?”
Pisces gripped Ceria’s shoulder. Even in the middle of her fear and panic, the touch filled Ceria with revulsion. She stared at his hand and had to fight to resist stabbing him. He was a Human male—no, he was Pisces and he was frightened. She pried his fingers lose and shook her head.
“Not yet! But it looks like it’s hunting!”
It was true. The Sea Serpent was questing about, diving through the waves as if it barely noticed them. It seemed to be searching for something. It dove, and then Ceria gasped as it came up with a struggling fish in its jaws. It must have been a massive fish, too, because it was clearly visible at this distance. It was only slightly bigger than the Sea Serpent’s mouth, but that already put it at least twenty feet across.
The serpent shook its mouthful and then disappeared again. Ceria prayed it had gone, but then its head shot up and it stared right at their ship.
Someone screamed. The Sea Serpent dove towards them, and then Ceria saw a huge mouth with teeth as it reared above their vessel.
She heard shouting overhead, and saw what looked like arrows shattering on the serpent’s scales. Two harpoons flew through the pouring rain, but they only lodged superficially in the creature’s scales without even drawing blood.
People were screaming and crying all around Ceria and Pisces. She just stared out the port hole. Pisces was mumbling to himself, clutching at his rapier.
“…not fair. I just wanted a chance. Is this how it has to end? Can’t even find a body to use…nothing big enough…”
“What’s that?”
Ceria muttered the words to herself. The serpent was roaring overhead, a vast alien shriek that sounded like death. Pisces looked up.
“What?”
“There’s something out there. In the storm. It—”
Lightning flashed. The world went white a millisecond before Ceria and Pisces felt the thunder that made the ship list sideways and travelled through their bones.
Boom. It was more of a feeling than sound. Ceria tumbled backwards and Pisces cushioned her fall. She scrambled upwards, ignoring the screaming, and saw the Sea Serpent twisting in agony.
“The lightning hit it!”
Indeed, part of the beast’s scales near its neck were blackened and torn away, exposing red flesh and blood that stained the waters. The serpent, twisted, and opened its jaws towards the ship, but then lightning struck again.
This time the roar of the bolt striking the serpent coincided with the light, so Ceria was blinded by the sight of a bolt of energy hitting the Sea Serpent as she was hurled to the deck. Pisces helped her up as he stared outside.
“It looks hurt! The lightning hurt it!”
Ceria rose to her feet slowly. She crouched, trying not to tumble over as she shouted back.
“That’s not lightning. That’s a spell!”
“What?”
“There!”
The half-Elf pointed, and Pisces gasped. In the sky, far overhead, the two mages could see a small figure hovering in the storm. The only reason they could pick her out was that the air was flashing around her, and electricity was crackling off her body.
“A mage? From Wistram?”
It had to be. Ceria stared at Pisces and saw his face was alight with the same hope in her chest. But then her heart sank.
“They only sent one person?”
Indeed, it seemed that way. The small figure was alone and she—yes, it was a woman—floated high in the air, facing the ship. But she was woefully small compared to her opponent, and now the Sea Serpent had seen her too. It roared and lunged out of the sea, snapping towards her.
The woman flew backwards, and Ceria felt the serpent hit the ocean, missing by only a few feet. The resulting wave turned the sea and sky into a confusing mess as more water rained around the ship, but then she looked up and saw the female mage, dodging through the air again as the serpent chased after her.
“Look at it go! It can’t catch her!”
Pisces stared out another port hole as the woman flew through the air, the serpent launching itself at her time and time again. It couldn’t easily strike her while she was flying, and every time it shot out of the water she would spin out of the way. It was a wild, insane dance with death, but the mage flew around the serpent as if she was having fun.
The serpent snapped upwards and the woman dodged just in time. She flew right by the side of the ship Ceria was on and the half-Elf caught a glimpse of her face just for a second. She stepped backwards.
“What is it?”
Pisces stared at Ceria. She stared as the mage finally stopped, hovering just in front of the ship and facing the serpent. She had raised her hand and the serpent was charging towards her, unstoppable. It would hit the ship, but now electricity was crackling around the woman again.
“She’s…laughing.”
Ceria only saw her back now, but she knew what she’d seen. The woman raised her hand calmly as the serpent approached, as if she had all the time in the world. Ceria heard something shouted above the storm, and then the mage cast a spell.
Lightning flashed from her palm, a coruscating bolt of pure electricity. Ceria saw the afterimages as it struck the sea serpent, once, twice, three times, and then with so many bolts that the entire world went white.
Ceria covered her eyes as the explosion rocked the entire boat. She fell backwards and Pisces caught her. When she’d scrambled to her feet and peered back out the window, the woman was gone. The sea serpent’s body floated belly-up in the water, smoke rising as the rain pelted the massive corpse.
“Dead gods!”
The serpent was dead. Very dead. Its head was almost completely blackened, and only a stump remained where the gaping maw had been. Ceria and Pisces heard cheering from above, and then the ship was moving again.
“She killed it! Just like that! She was just toying with the serpent until now!”
Pisces shouted the words as the storm continued to rage around the boat. Ceria looked at Pisces. His eyes were shining with excitement. She knew she had a gigantic smile on her face, but she couldn’t wipe it away.
Almost all of the other candidates were screaming or still huddled in shocked silence. But the half-Elf and young man sat together, staring out the windows at the massive beast. It had seemed so incredible, so impossible to defeat. Even a ship full of trained sailors had been helpless before it, but a single mage had killed it in a matter of minutes.
Magic.
The boat lurched again and Ceria heard splattering as one of the students lost their lunch again. She saw something in the distance to the ship’s left—a dark silhouette jutting out from the sea. And then the ship was turning towards it, moving forwards.
That w
as when the storm cleared. All at once, the ship ceased rocking as it entered eerily calm waters. The raging wind and rain of the storm seemed to hit a wall, and then the boat was beyond, sailing underneath clear skies and above blue-green waters that sparkled in the light.
Ceria’s mouth fell open. The Errant Traveller sailed into the heart of the storm, a magical bubble in which the weather ceased. The waters were suddenly smooth, and then the ship turned again and Ceria saw it clearly for the first time.
Wistram. The Isle of Mages.
The tall castle stood on top of a cliff—no, rather, it was built into the island itself. Tall rocky cliffs gave way to grey stone and Ceria saw that the castle was more like a citadel, not one building but a few interconnected ones, joined together by a thick wall and bridges that rose into the sky.
The spires and buildings rose out of the ground, impossibly high. Ceria had never seen any structure so tall—it seemed as though it were surely impossible, and from an architectural point of view, that had to be the case. Fat, round domes sat on top of narrow spires and entire wings of the castle stood out over the sea with seemingly no support.
It had to be magic; and indeed, Ceria could see shimmering lights in the air, and glowing runes visible to the naked eye hovering in the air around some windows, and more magic still. One tower looked like it was engulfed in fire, and another part of the castle was frozen, windows and part of the wall covered in creeping vines.
Ceria felt their ship slowing, and then spotted the dock. A huge, white dock made out of stone was their destination. Already two other ships were moored in the harbor, and one more was heading in, covered in rain from the storm. The mast on that ship was broken, but Ceria saw people on top of the deck, staring at Wistram.
Slowly, ever so slowly, the ship stopped and then sailors were securing ropes and the Captain was shouting at the students to gather their belongings. Almost numbly, the prospective students gathered their things and filed out of the ship.
Her breath caught in her chest the instant Ceria saw the castle in its entirety. A long stairway led up and up to two massive metal doors, and the castle towered higher still, glowing with magical light even in the daytime.
