The Circles of Magic

by Gabriela Fišerová

  Though, he couldn’t say that he was particularly excited when he finally approached Sunwood because he had the feeling that talking to Edwyr was not going to be pleasant.

  The sun was already starting to set as Feyrith approached the first houses. The timing wasn’t ideal, but it wasn’t surprising either. Traveling always took far too long according to what he’d heard and read, so he’d been aware this would be the case. Still, he might have to spend the night here. Traveling at night was more dangerous, and many humans seemed to avoid it at all costs. But then again, he was an elf, and he knew enough about protective magic to attempt it. The only problem was that he might get lost, as he didn’t know his way around at all. Edwyr was supposed to help him with that, but he might not be as willing to travel at night.

  Feyrith sighed. This was all very complicated, so he decided to put off this planning for after he talked with Edwyr, and he instead got a closer look at the houses he was about to pass.

  Feyrith forced the quasir to slow down as he took in the wood and stone structure closest to him. The owner of the house didn’t seem anywhere close, and they were probably not inside either, judging by the lack of light coming from the windows, so Feyrith didn’t feel self-conscious as he took in the entirety of the building in front of him.

  He'd of course seen human structures in books before, but these looked somewhat different. For one, they only had one story, and their roofs were very strange. They didn’t form any kind of tip. Instead, it was as if they were cut off halfway through, with a large, flat area at the very top.

  Feyrith was climbing off the quasir’s back before he even realized it, wincing at how much his entire body ached from the long travel. He hadn’t realized it until he started moving. But he didn’t let that stop him for long as he eagerly walked close to one of the pillars making up the corners of the house. There was something carved into it. Shapes of people? Gods? He couldn’t say for sure, but it was fascinating.

  “Can I help you?”

  Feyrith flinched, whirling around to see an unimpressed-looking woman, one eyebrow raised at the elf. Feyrith cleared his throat, trying not to appear as embarrassed as he felt. Though that didn’t stop him from noticing that the woman had her hair in several braids, not unlike his own, aside from the fact that his were shorter. He would have to make a note on that later.

  “Yes, perhaps,” he replied, which prompted the woman to frown at him. “I am to meet another elf here and—”

  “You mean Edwyr?”

  Feyrith was shocked that she knew immediately, though in hindsight it made sense. Edwyr was likely the only elf in the vicinity of this town, so, of course, she would know him.

  “Yes.”

  “Right, he lives on the other side of Sunwood. On that hill over there.” Feyrith looked where she pointing, noticing one house on the top of a small hill. Was that what she meant? In any case, he would ask someone else once he made his way over there, just to make sure.

  “Thank you.”

  The woman only frowned at him harder. Feyrith wasn’t sure if he’d done wrong, but he needed to get going so he didn’t ask. He took a hold of the quasir’s reigns and led it into the town, unable not to stare at every single house he passed, making mental notes on the differences between them.

  The few humans that saw him all looked surprised, though at least a few of them didn’t seem too happy to see an elf here. How odd. He may have no time to help them right now, but they didn’t know that. Feyrith would have thought they’d be at least neutral towards his presence here. But maybe he was reading the atmosphere wrong.

  Regardless, it didn’t matter. He needed to meet with Edwyr first and foremost. He asked one more person about where Edwyr lived, an older, balding man, who confirmed that it was the house on the hill with a rather shocked expression.

  Feyrith decided to leave the quasir behind when they reached what seemed to be the edge of the town, letting it eat grass as he continued on, walking up the hill and finally standing in front of what was supposed to be Edwyr’s house. It looked like all of the other houses, which was surprising. Feyrith had thought an elf, even a Cursed one, would personalize their living quarters to better suit their species, but he wasn’t here to criticize.

  He closed his hand around the door handle before remembering that humans tended to prefer when a visitor knocked on the door first. But would Edwyr prefer the human way of doing things or not?

  Feyrith could feel his nervousness returning. He stood there, thinking about this for far too long before finally deciding to simply knock. Being overly polite was better than being unintentionally rude. But as it turned out, his attempt at human politeness had been pointless because no one opened the door.

  He walked around the house, peering into the dark windows. No one was home. It was fairly late, but Feyrith didn’t know what occupation Edwyr had taken up after being exiled. Perhaps it required returning late.

  As he walked back to the door, he as if by instinct grabbed the handle again. Would it be terribly forward to go inside? Elves had practically no concept of privacy, unlike humans. Feyrith knew that walking into the living quarters of one of his fellow elves on Aendor wouldn’t make anyone angry, but he had no idea how Edwyr could react.

  But Feyrith was also terribly curious about how a Cursed elf lived. And he wouldn’t mind resting his legs for a moment either. He still felt worn out after the trip over here.

  Feyrith sighed, folding his arms and turning away from the door. It would be better not to risk it. And besides, Edwyr was probably going to come back soon. It wasn’t wise to stay outside at night, as he’d been told many times.

  He managed to resist the temptation for almost half an hour before he attempted to open the door, only to find that there was a lock that stopped him. That was very surprising, since elves never used locks, aside from keeping the members of lower Circles out of the chambers and areas fit only for the higher. And those locks were entirely magical.

  His curiosity was stopped for only a moment, however, before he was muttering an incantation to move the mechanism of the lock. As he heard it click, Feyrith opened the door slowly, peering inside in case Edwyr had been in there all along and had just been ignoring him.

  But no—the house was empty, and all of the candles Feyrith could spot were unlit. Still, despite no one being here, Feyrith did his best to walk as softly as possible as he made his way inside, closing the door behind him. He quickly scanned his eyes over the relatively small room, walking over to the table so he could sit down.

  He let out a small sigh of relief before finally taking the time to take in the room. And he couldn’t help but feel shocked yet again. Nothing about this room even suggested an elf might live here. All of the furniture was made of wood, for a start, and there was no sign of anything relating to their Goddess at all.

  Feyrith couldn’t say he was surprised about that, given that Edwyr had been cursed by her, but it was still odd since every room the elf had been in on Aendor had included something related to her, be it something as small as a necklace in the shape of a starflower, or a full statue of her. Feyrith constantly wore a starflower earring to honor her, so this was very odd to him.

  But perhaps the most glaring thing was that the entire room was very…plain. Functional, perhaps, was a better word. Elves didn’t revel in pointless luxury and decoration, but they tended to put gold and other nice-looking metals into everything. Their clothes were made with a similar design in mind as well, favoring bold colors and contrasting combinations, while also preferring darker hues as the base at the very least.

  But nothing about this room showed any of that. It looked exactly like Feyrith would have imagined a normal human’s house—there was a small fireplace in the corner, a bed larger than what the elf was used to, and a few cupboards and wardrobes along the walls. There were also a few weapons hanging from the wall on the opposite side of the room, but that was about it. No tapestries, no decorations, nothing.

 
Was it possible that Cursed elves were simply completely different from their magic-using counterparts? Or was that something specific to Edwyr?

  Or perhaps Feyrith was in the wrong house, after all.

  Before Feyrith got the time to become anxious about that possibility, the door swung open. And Feyrith couldn’t help but stare at the newcomer, frozen where he was sitting.

  Whatever Feyrith had imagined Edwyr to look like, this wasn’t it at all. The hair that was barely long enough to cover up his eyebrows was shocking enough, but seeing the thick beard….

  An elf growing a beard was completely unheard of. It wasn’t banned, but it might as well be. And yet here Edwyr was as if it was perfectly acceptable.

  It made him look…wrong. Which Feyrith supposed, given the other elf’s condition, was somewhat fitting.

  “What are you doing in my house?”

  Feyrith cringed at the harsh tone, and at the equally harsh glare Edwyr was giving him. This was already off to a terrible start.

  3

  Edwyr couldn’t believe his eyes. There was another elf. The first elf he’d seen in a decade. He’d gotten so used to humans that the sight of another one of his kind was almost unfamiliar to him. The black eyes, the long, pointed ears, and the long, dark, smooth, braided hair…. The only thing the local humans shared with them was the hair color and the darker skin, but while theirs was brown, the elves’ skin was dark gray.

  And Edwyr had gotten completely used to not seeing any of it, so much so that even after a few seconds he still felt shocked. But now he was also confused. Why was this elf here?

  What was perhaps even more shocking, though, was that the other elf was looking at him with the same amount of surprise. That immediately put Edwyr off of being a welcoming host. Not that he was planning on being one either way, but this wasn’t making things better. He didn’t appreciate being gawked at like this.

  “What are you doing in my house?” Edwyr asked harshly, walking inside and hanging his bow on the hook by the door.

  The other elf straightened up, though he still looked very out of his element. Edwyr could practically smell the magic off his black and gold robes that must have been more expensive than anything Edwyr had ever owned. Already Edwyr was guessing that this was an elf gifted with magical talents, but with little experience concerning the world outside the Academy. He did look young—perhaps a little over twenty—though Edwyr was about the same age, so that wasn’t an excuse.

  “I…” The elf cleared his throat. “I was told to seek you out.” He scanned the entire interior of Edwyr’s house with his eyes as he spoke, most likely just to avoid looking at Edwyr. “I am Feyrith Senari Werion. I have been given a mission by the High Council to investigate a ruin in the area. There have been—”

  “And the Council told you I would help you?” Edwyr couldn’t keep the bitterness out of his voice. They’d called him Cursed and banished him, and now they had the audacity to assume he would help one of their people?

  Edwyr hadn’t expected to get so angry so quickly, but he could already feel the urge to yell at Feyrith building up inside of him.

  “Yes.”

  Feyrith sounded a little taken aback. Somehow, he apparently hadn’t thought that Edwyr would find this to be a problem.

  “Well, the Council was wrong.”

  The elf blinked at him as if he was surprised that Edwyr had refused to help so quickly. It was sort of amusing to see, but Edwyr would still much prefer not having this discussion in the first place.

  “I know you bear the Divine Curse.” Edwyr grimaced at the full name of his affliction, doing his best not to start ranting about their Goddess right then. “But that doesn’t mean you don’t have a responsibility to help with threats that—”

  “I do help,” Edwyr interrupted him, taking a few steps forward. “I help protect Sunwood. Unlike you.”

  Feyrith narrowed his eyes at him. Edwyr was almost glad to see that. “Our forces are not numerous enough to protect every town there is.”

  “Of course they aren’t.” Edwyr had never been particularly patient, but he felt like this was the least patient he had ever been. And he couldn’t even make himself feel guilty about treating Feyrith this way. He couldn’t tell the Council to go to hell, so their dutiful representative here would have to do. “And ours aren’t numerous enough to help you find a ruin and abandon this town to its fate in the meantime.”

  “But—”

  “Get out of my house.”

  Unlike before, Feyrith’s expression barely changed, but Edwyr could still tell he was shocked. Edwyr was still more than knowledgeable enough in their kind’s insistence to not show emotions outwardly to be able to tell just by how Feyrith’s eyebrows rose just a little.

  He opened his mouth, probably to argue further, but then he just bowed his head at Edwyr and, avoiding his gaze, left the house, closing the door behind him. Edwyr stood in the middle of the room for a moment, taking a deep breath to calm down. His clenched hands were shaking, and his heart was beating hard in his chest—neither of which he had been aware of until now.

  He ran a hand through his hair, sitting down in the chair. It seemed he would need a beer tonight rather than get one to celebrate, and he needed to get it fast before he could start feeling guilty for treating Feyrith the way he had. Because Edwyr fully realized that the other elf was simply trying to complete the task given to him by the Council, but from the moment he’d seen him he had been too angry to even listen to him properly.

  Edwyr shook his head. This wasn’t his problem, nor was it his duty to help this elf. As far as he was concerned, he couldn’t care less about what the High Council expected of him. They’d exiled him, and with that, they’d lost all their power over him.

  Letting out an annoyed huff, Edwyr walked over to the pantry and picked up a carrot for Tempest before leaving the house. His squawker was trying to steal the carrot from his hand as soon as Edwyr showed up, barely letting him lock the door behind him. He couldn’t help but smile at her, though his bitter anger was still very much present.

  At least once he gave her the carrot, it was harder to think about his troubles when he saw the joy in her eyes as she gobbled the vegetable down. For once she didn’t ask for more and simply sat there, content, which was unusual but appreciated since Edwyr wasn’t sure he’d be able to resist giving her more right now.

  After petting her forehead, he began strolling down the hill, staring down at the path as he did. He only then realized he had meant to take off his armor, but he didn’t feel like going back to do it now. The biggest worry on his mind right now was running into Feyrith again, but that was unlikely. The elf probably didn’t want to talk to him again, and given how much any elf stood out among humans, it would be easy to avoid him. And Feyrith wasn’t likely to go to the tavern because elves had no taverns, or anything comparable.

  As he went, he passed by a few people—most likely people he knew, definitely people that knew him—but he barely noticed them. He tried not to think about what had just happened, but he couldn’t. And now on top of that, he was starting to wonder what could possibly be so important in these ruins that the Council would send a gifted magic user to explore them alone. Or at most with an elf without magic, which the Council saw as practically useless.

  He should have let Feyrith at least finish telling him what his mission was, but at the same time, Edwyr knew that the more he heard about this the more curious he’d be, so maybe it was good that he had thrown him out of the house before finding anything out.

  And yet he couldn’t help but wonder what ruin Feyrith was looking for. Edwyr couldn’t think of anything that fit that description anywhere close to Sunwood. He was certain he’d seen a few broken, stone walls and the like deep in the jungle, but that was the most he’d ever seen. And he was also sure that those were the remains of some human settlements, a few centuries old. Surely that wouldn’t be interesting to the High Council.

  He barely realize
d that he had entered the tavern and sat down, doing all of it by instinct at this point, until someone put a tankard with beer in front of him. Edwyr flinched, looking up to see the tavern keeper give him a nod, leaving before Edwyr could thank her. But then again, the woman had never been one for conversation. That was a little odd given her occupation, but Edwyr didn’t mind at all, seeing as he wasn’t exactly talkative either.

  He took a gulp of the beer, humming to himself and enjoying the bitter taste. It wasn’t helping him stop thinking about Feyrith, though. His whole mission sounded off to Edwyr, and the more he thought about it, the less sense it made. An inexperienced elf like him would usually be sent off to help the humans in a less dangerous area, and he would go there with several more novices. Unless the Council had severely changed its policies within the last few years, of course, but Edwyr doubted that. With elves, nothing ever changed.

  But perhaps he was simply being too suspicious. After all, if this was some ploy to get Edwyr to do something, or to get him somewhere, what could the High Council want with him in the first place? It was still odd that they’d send Feyrith to talk to him, but then again, if this ruin truly was in the area, perhaps they thought Feyrith would have an easier time talking to him rather than the humans. Edwyr wouldn’t fault them for that logic, as to an elf who had never gone to the mainland, humans and their general demeanor could be a bit much.

  The thought of Feyrith being confused by the locals made Edwyr feel a bit better, but even at that moment he couldn’t help but feel annoyed with himself. He shouldn’t lower himself to being quite this petty. No matter his own opinions and stances on the elven nation and its rules, Edwyr knew that their primary goal was to help where they could. Whatever Feyrith’s mission actually was, Edwyr hoped he wouldn’t get himself killed because of it, and he truly wished him the best. He just didn’t want Feyrith to involve him in said mission.