Arcane Transmogrification

by Robert Harper

  They had reached the first few buildings of the elven capital, and Danny asked, “Where are all the elves?”

  Cranny stopped and waved his hand again. An elven soldier appeared out of nowhere. The same nondescript elven armor covered its body. The soldier just stood there, which actually was normal from what Danny was used to seeing.

  “We can recreate creatures and people here, but they end up acting like computerized characters from a video game. We have to establish their behaviors, personalities, strengths, and weaknesses. Even then, they don’t make it through the uncanny valley. After my first serious try, I erased it,” explained Cranny. “I figure there is a trick to it, but I haven’t figured it out.”

  “Yes, I can see that,” said Danny as he studied the soldier.

  “They are useful for one thing though,” Cranny said with a hint of humor in his voice.

  Danny looked cautiously over at Cranny, saying, “I probably don’t want to know what you do in here when I am not…”

  Cranny pointed at Danny, “Attack!”

  The elven soldier drew a sword from its side and lunged toward Danny.

  “Crap, Cranny, make him stop,” yelled Danny as he barely dodged the first strike.

  “HER name is Petunia, and she doesn’t like being mistaken for a man,” informed Cranny.

  Danny blasted Petunia away from him with a condensed ball of air magic, and didn’t take his eyes off the elven soldier as he shouted, “Cranny, this is ridiculous. Make her stop!”

  “No can do. I want you to see what it’s like when these elite elven soldiers start using their different affinities. Petunia, use air magic to enhance your movements,” commanded Cranny.

  The elven soldier’s body blurred as she moved forward, and Danny could only watch as her blade pierced effortlessly through his chest and out his back. Danny held out his hands in a weak and useless attempt to push her away. Looking down in shock, Danny realized that he didn’t feel any pain from the over meter long blade now skewered directly through his heart. He continued to breathe regularly and didn’t feel any of the other symptoms one would expect from such a sudden and unconventional body piercing.

  Danny’s brain had trouble processing what he was and wasn’t feeling, “Wha… Cranny, why…”

  Cranny waved a hand, and Petunia disappeared. Reaching out, his other self quickly grabbed the sword handle and pulled it out of Danny’s chest. Cranny held the sword up, and Danny was surprised to not see any blood on it. Reaching down, Danny gingerly touched his chest and didn’t discover any gaping wounds or torn robes. Holding his hand up to his face, his fingertips were devoid of the blood he expected to find.

  Tossing the sword behind himself like it was trash, Cranny continued, “This place allows us to spar with opponents we have faced or seen fight before. To say we would not be able to take on an elite elven soldier unprepared would be a massive understatement. Fortunately for us, we get to choose how much physical pain we feel or receive.” Cranny paused to let this sink in before continuing, “Come on, there is one more thing to show you.”

  Danny rubbed his chest as he numbly followed behind Cranny. They passed the center of the capital toward the opposite end. The newly grown sacred tree homes were there along with a few new larger trees he did not remember seeing.

  “Where did those come from?” Danny asked.

  “They are just some experiments of mine. The runes used to grow the sacred trees have many more possibilities than those used by the elves. To say it simply, the druids are growing small mud hovels when they could be creating massive…skyscrapers. Imagine entire cities within a single self-contained tree,” Cranny said excitedly.

  An obstinite squirrel chose that moment to hop out from behind one of the experimental trees.

  Cranny groaned upon seeing the magical construct, “I rushed so much through different versions of those things, some of the defects got loose before I could delete them.”

  The red squirrel opened its mouth, and a red beam of light shot out to sweep across the area in front of it. Danny ducked, even though the light passed meters above his head. There was a sound like wood breaking, and Danny and Cranny both looked back to watch the sacred trees behind them split cleanly in two, half-way up, before toppling over to the ground. They all didn’t fall at the same time, so the deafening sounds continued for a few minutes.

  Cranny lifted a shaking hand to quickly wave away the squirrel from existence.

  A seriously concerned Danny turned wide-eyed to stare at Cranny, asking, “You didn’t give the ones we made at the fortress that ability did you?”

  Cranny frowned and refused to look Danny in the eye.

  CHAPTER 34

  A rabbit’s head popped out of its burrow, as it inspected its surroundings. The fur of the white bunny hid it well in the thick layer of snow covering the ground. Taking a few cautious hops out into the open, the rabbit stopped once more to sniff the air and to ascertain whether or not the area was clear. One of its ears swivelled to one side, and the rabbit’s nose twitched nervously.

  The small mammal suddenly leapt a foot in the air, seeming to turn mid-jump and dived back into its burrow. Hundreds of blurs rushed past through the trees and along the ground. It was hard to make out what they were as no sound had been made. The trees and the snow were left undisturbed.

  A few moments later, Phantom, carrying Brook, Ivy, and Dain, came silently running past. Well, it would have been silent had the dwarf on Phantom’s back not been groaning and complaining incessantly.

  “Dain, how have you still not gotten used to riding on Phantom, even after three days?” In his Air Aspect, Danny landed a few feet in front of the cat and moved to follow alongside.

  “There’s no blasted saddle! I swear to… Ahhh,” screamed the Dwarf as he forgot to keep hold of Phantom’s pelt as he tried to make a gesture with a hand.

  Brooke caught the short man before he slipped off.

  The dwarf seemed to find insult in the teenage girl’s assistance, grumbling, “Are you sure this is faster?”

  Danny smiled patiently, “Yes, much much faster than the first four hours when you refused my offer to ride Phantom and you kept stumbling into every prickly bush in the forest. We probably hadn’t even made it five kilometers by that point.”

  “Blasted forest, there is nothing natural about it, I say,” Dain grumbled.

  Danny took a quick glance over at Brook and Ivy, who had been quieter since he told them the truth about who and what he was. They seemed conflicted on how they felt about what he had revealed. Jade, on the other hand, had taken the news in stride, continuing on like Danny hadn’t just told her he was essentially a spiritual parasite. They all agreed to keep his secret from their families. His mistrust of Diadem would have to be alleviated before he shared this with them.

  An elven soldier appeared and saluted while keeping pace, “Ascendant, we are almost there. The queen requests your presence as soon as you have recovered from your travels.”

  Danny replied, “Yes, of course. Thank you.”

  The elven soldier left, and Danny gestured toward the dwarf, ordering him, “Stop complaining. We are almost there, and I will be taking you to the palace from here. I hope you are not afraid of heights.”

  The dwarf’s look of confusion was quickly placed with one of great alarm.

  The forest that had surrounded them for so long parted, and the elven capital rose up from the absence. A certain dwarf’s voice screamed out an unending stream of obscenities through the open air. Using an opportunity when Dain had to stop for air, Danny asked the girls to go ahead back to his tower while he went to visit the queen. Danny wasn’t sure what this was about, but he felt his time with the elves would soon be coming to a close.

  ***

  As Danny drew closer to the Palace, he could see that many of the fabricated homes were starting to come down from the area surrounding the original sacred trees near the center. There were also quite a few more newly grown sacred
trees around the perimeter. The druid council had been busy while he had been gone.

  Danny flew them down to the front door of the palace. The doors were left wide open as servants, soldiers, and messengers busily hurried inside and out. Danny flew in and set the strangely quiet dwarf on the ground. A servant waited to one side, and upon seeing them, walked forward to take Dain to the guest wing.

  The dwarf stood up on shaky legs and waived off the servant’s attempts to help him. With a glare toward Danny, Dain stormed off without another word.

  The servant chased after him, “Excuse me, Sir Dwarf, that is not the right way!”

  Exiting his Air Aspect, Danny turned to his ever-present guards, “One of you want to help me find the queen?”

  Without a word, one of his guards ran ahead and took him through a familiar path. Soon, they arrived at the queen’s office. The guard knocked and stepped back. Danny noted that the knock was a different pattern than last time. The door almost opened immediately, and the queen’s aid ushered him inside.

  The queen and Willow were talking with General Barrow while sitting in the corner area Danny where had chatted with the Queen before. A light meal sat on the small table between the three elves, and an extra chair waited there as if they knew he would be coming immediately.

  Willow too quickly embraced him before he could make it across the room. She whispered, “Danny, I am so glad your safe! You had me worried.” By the look the princess was giving him, he knew she was anything but pleased with his taking off unannounced.

  Danny whispered back, “I figured I would get more of a talking to than that for not telling you.”

  Willow’s smile was knowing, “Oh, I will leave that to my mother. I am more upset that you took Ivy and the others and left me behind. I was starting to worry that you were trying to get out of marrying me.”

  Danny winced, “Sorry, I didn’t exactly plan on the girls coming with me, and you were the main reason I came back.”

  Willow’s lips turned upward in a small smile at these words.

  “Danny, I am so glad that you have returned to us in one piece. Please come sit down. My husband was just recounting what happened,” the queen interrupted them and motioned him to the empty chair across from her.

  Not ones to argue with the queen, Willow and Danny sat down in their chairs.

  Before anyone else spoke, Danny announced, “Before we go into the gory details of my latest misadventure, I would like to speak with you three in private.” Danny turned to look at the queen’s aid and the hidden guards in the room.

  The queen looked confused, but at a shared look with her husband, she gave the orders. Danny raised a double layer of air around them and immediately went into his explanation for his presence in this world.

  While the general had just looked on skeptically, and the girls had either had nothing to say or didn’t know what to say, the queen and Willow had half a million questions. At first, Danny could tell that both the queen and the princess were skeptical, but as he told them more and more about Earth, they seemed to find validity in his quick and detailed answers. They asked about Earth’s cultures, technology, and anything else that piqued their interest during his explanations. If they were not still skeptical, they were at least keeping an open mind.

  “Alright, that is enough grilling Danny on this. I am not sure if I believe him, but I don’t have anything better to explain why he can do what he does. Now, if you ladies don’t mind, I would like to get back to discussing the current war,” Barrow asked, his patience running thin.

  “Oh, yes, of course. Danny we will have to speak more on your world later. Are you sure we cannot tell anyone else, especially the elder council?” the queen asked.

  Danny shook his head, “I would rather this be kept between as few people as possible. I need both of your words on this. I fear that if the wrong hands get hold of this knowledge, then we will have more Hadrian Diadems.”

  “Hadrian Diadem, what does this have to do with him?” Willow asked as she was the first to pick up on Danny’s reference.

  Danny had left out this part of his personal story but didn’t see a reason why they should not know what they were really dealing with. He wanted Hadrian gone, and the more people who knew about it, the likelier that would happen. The Diadem family could threaten him and those he loved all they wanted, but they were not going to manipulate him as easily as they once had.

  After his explanation of the events that occurred at the goblin fortress, the queen mumbled, “I can see why they would want to keep this a secret.”

  ”I have already dispatched our best scouts to track down the three goblin parties, but no word has returned yet,” the general added, with a tired sigh. “I also have teams mapping the goblin tunnels. If any of the enemy escapes, we want to be ready to prevent them from spreading further. If what, Danny says is true, this will be a headache for both Diadem and our people for some time.”

  The queen nodded, “I am relieved we have the immediate goblin issue under hand. We should work closely with Diadem’s forces to ensure there is no overlap and that knowledge on the issue is evenly shared.”

  Barrow wiped his mouth on his napkin, only to rise and bow, “I will go now. I have more than enough to take care of.”

  They said their goodbyes to the general before he left, and the queen picked up the conversation again, “Now that the threat of Diadem’s total annihilation is no longer at hand, we will speak of your upcoming wedding.”

  Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Willow sit up straighter.

  “I suggest that we not delay any further. I have already begun the preparations, and the ceremony is scheduled for a week from today. Given his success at Crossbark, my son should return by this time. Is there anything you would wish to be added to the ceremony, Danny?” the queen asked.

  Danny shook his head, “No, I just wish my family could be here. With recent events, however, it is best they not travel.”

  Willow reached over and took Danny’s hand, looking at him in sympathy.

  “That is understandable, and I am sorry they will not be here as well,” the queen smiled apologetically. “I am also disappointed that I will not get to meet them at your upcoming wedding in Diadem. I assume you will all wish to travel back after your wedding here.”

  *Cranny, did I miss where someone told me about immediately going back to get married in Diadem?*

  *I don’t have any records of this, though it doesn’t surprise me that they would want to seal this alliance by marriage as soon as possible.*

  Danny did his best to hide his surprise at the queen’s words, “Yes, of course.” Wanting to change the subject, Danny asked, “Is there anything I am expected to do at this wedding? Anything I should bring?”

  The queen shook her head, “No, you have done enough as it is. Customarily, an ascendant marrying into the royal family is expected to provide something of benefit to the elven people. You have done this many times over already. Then, as is the custom, at the ceremony the ascendant grows a sacred tree befitting their new position. A home for the new couple. The ceremony usually takes place after the tree is grown. Danny, we know you do not plan to live here, and you have already expanded the city past what we could hope for. There is nothing for you to do now but show up.”

  Cranny interrupted Danny’s thoughts, excitedly saying, *Leave this to me Danny! I have a few ideas.*

  Danny caught glimpses of what Cranny wanted to do and told the queen, “I do not want to break with tradition. May I have a large space to grow a tree? We can also call it a birthday gift for Willow.”

  Willow spoke up, “Danny, you really don’t have to do this. No one would expect it of you. We can have the ceremony in front of the palace.”

  Danny ignored Willow’s comment, asking, “We grew the new homes on the outskirts in circles of five. I would request you reserve a space twice as large as that for the tree I wish to grow.”

  Hearing this, the queen looked conflicted
and uncomfortable, “Danny, my husband has told me about your hideaways you grew in the forest, and while perfect for helping secure our borders, they are not exactly what we are looking for to be grown in the capital.”

  Willow frowned at her mother before turning to Danny, “Danny, what my mother is saying is that we plan to make the city into not just a city for the survivors of the elven race, but the eventual capital for a true elven empire. Your addition will more than likely stand out, and she is just worried that it will be for the wrong reasons.”

  *Cranny?* Danny question in thought.

  Cranny grumbled, *I am pulling references from hundreds of movies and illustrations I saw on Earth and am cross-referencing them with the architecture style in use here… Challenge accepted!*

  Danny stood up and bowed to the queen, “Your Majesty, please make sure the area is prepared. I assure you that you will not regret this.”

  The queen’s lips were pinched in concern, and she reluctantly conceded, “Fine, it will be prepared.”

  He turned to Willow next and leaned down to kiss her hand, saying, “I will be heading back to my tower if you need me.”

  Willow ignored her mother’s worried expression and smiled at Danny, saying, “Of course, Danny. I will come see you later.”

  ***

  The early morning light peeked over the treetops and flooded the palace’s courtyard. There, a squad of five elven soldiers waited patiently by a horse drawn carriage in front of the palace. The front doors of the palace opened, and the queen, Danny, and the dwarf Dain descended the steps to pause next to the carriage.

  “Mr. Quarry, I really wish you could stay for the wedding, but I understand, given the circumstances, if you need to return. I am also sorry we did not arrive sooner to save your fellow countrymen,” the queen said sincerely.

  Dain bowed low to the queen, “Do not apologize, Your Majesty, as you did what you could. I really wish I could stay, but I must really be heading back to let my people know what happened to the envoy and to keep an eye out for the mysterious dwarven child. I won’t let what happened to poor cousin Mari go unavenged.”