Arrival

by William Dickey

  “I knew it. You’ve been holding back this whole time,” I accused.

  “It’s not any easier, just different,” said Lilith.

  I looked down the sigil and sure enough, it didn’t seem any simpler. In fact, since both involved temperature, many of the components were the same. I started focusing on this new symbol as we continued making our way down the quiet trail.

  It’d been five days since we’d set off together from the village, Hazel, so we had another day or two on the road before we reached Crystalpeak. I had spent most of that time trying to cast magic without the faintest success.

  The landscape was boring, a vast plain, no mountains, no hills, just an unending field of grass stretching from one horizon to the other. Occasionally we came across a small farming village or two, most of which were placed along rivers and streams, a necessity in a world where it was difficult to transport water long distance. I asked Lilith why people didn’t try to use magic to redirect rivers, create artificial lakes, or otherwise transport water. She wasn’t too clear about an answer, only stating that even if most mages weren’t too preoccupied to help some small backwater, most places were too far from ley lines to provide the necessary mana.

  On our journey, we crossed a great variety of creatures the likes of which expanded my sense of the possible. We saw man sized blue river scorpions, three-headed grass vipers, and broad birds of prey that could coast on the wind for leagues without need of a single flap of their wings. So I wasn’t too surprised when I observed another oddity a few hundred yards off the path.

  “What’s that?” I pointed towards a strange looking tree placed at the center of a circular cluster of decidedly pointed rocks, or at least I thought it was a tree until I took a second look.

  Its brown skin was patterned like the bark of a tree’s trunk and extended upwards before branching out into a field of green. Nevertheless, it wasn’t a tree. Its trunk was contorted into the shape of a beautiful woman whose emerald hair flared out into a giant canopy shielding her dark chestnut skin from the sun’s dazzling rays.

  “No,” said Lilith her eyes followed to where I was pointing. “We have to-”

  Before either of us could do anything, we were bombarded by a wave of sound. My entire brain, all focus and thought, all hopes and dreams, worries and anxieties, was gone. I was floating carefree in a vast ocean of white, free of the constraints of time and space, of light and gravity. My entire world with all of its complexities was replaced by a single word, bliss.

  I don’t know how long I was gone, time didn’t exist in that place, but next thing I knew, Mai was yelling at me. ‘Hey nerf-herder, snap out of it.’ She started flashing a bright flickering light into my eyes, to jar me from my stupor, until I ordered her to stop.

  “What the hell happened?” I asked.

  ‘It’s a siren. Its voice has the power to hypnotize people. While hypnotized, its victims impale themselves on those pointy rocks surrounding it. Then they feed on the bodies. You were under its spell for a few seconds until I blocked your brain from hearing its voice. You’re safe now. Only a siren’s voice is dangerous. It can’t attack physically,’ Mai explained.

  “A siren, but don’t sirens live by the sea. They cause ships to crash onto rocky coastlines, killing the sailors on board,” I recalled from Greek mythology.

  ‘They do that, but they don’t have to be near rocky coastlines, they don’t have to live by the sea at all. They magically generate the jagged rocks around them and their song guides people into killing themselves on the rocks by whatever means possible. Near the sea, sailors guide their ships into them. But on the land, victims will simply walk up and impale themselves,’ Mai explained.

  In my interest about the land siren, I forgot something. “Where’s Lilith? Is she alright?” I looked around quickly and spotted her a few dozen yards ahead steadily moving toward the melodious tree and the jagged earthen spikes surrounding it. Several of the spikes were marred by sun faded crimson stains, the remnants of prior feedings.

  I ran up to Lilith and grabbed a shoulder. “Hey, wake up. Anyone home?” She ignored me completely and continued her slow march.

  “Hey, snap out of it. Wake up,” I repeated. This time resorting to a firm slap across her face. Again, she continued unfazed.

  ‘Well, at least you can’t say you didn’t try,’ Mai yawned.

  “Little help?” I asked.

  ‘Sorry. No can do,’ Mai replied.

  “Come on,” I begged Mai who was nonchalantly walking by my side. “You saved me.”

  ‘Yes, but my effects are limited to you. I’m in your head not hers,’ said Mai.

  “Come on there’s got to be something I can do.” I put myself between Lilith and the siren monster and latched onto her. Considering her narrow frame, she was astonishingly strong and regardless of how or where I grabbed, I wasn’t able to slow her in the least. All I did was get myself dragged along with her.

  I shouted as loud as possible. I jammed my fingers in her ears. Nothing worked.

  ‘No normal means of blocking her hearing will work. If even the tiniest hint of the siren’s voice reaches, she will remain under its spell. So as long as the siren sings…’

  “As long as the siren sings,” I repeated, her words giving me an idea. “So all I have to do is kill the siren.”

  I looked back at the siren. Lilith was less than fifty yards away from her doom. I didn’t have much time so drew my spear and charged. Other than the lines of jagged rocks, which I carefully navigated between, the approach was simple. The siren just stood there mouth open, presumably still wailing though I couldn’t hear it. I thrust my spear straight at the siren’s chest. I wanted to end this as soon as possible, less chance of complications that way.

  Thud. My spear clanged off the siren’s thick bark-like skin, without leaving so much as a scratch. I struck out a couple more times but they were no more effective than my first strike.

  ‘The siren is an earth elemental, a being of magic. You won’t be able to kill her with a spear. Magic must defeat magic,’ Mai scoffed as she swatted me on the forehead. ‘One more thing. The siren is in the form of a tree so fire is its natural enemy. Now hurry up before I start to regret helping that witch.’

  I understood what Mai was saying at once and my blood went cold. The only way for me to take down the siren was with magic. The one thing I couldn’t seem to do. Helplessness filled me. Lilith was now only a dozen yards away. I had less than a minute to do what had failed to do for five days.

  I cleared my mind, tossing aside all my spiraling emotions, all my thoughts of Lilith, our long talks on the road, her enduring patience with my stupidity. I focused on the fire sigil. I didn’t have the piece of paper to remind me of the proper form, but I didn’t need it. Five straight days of having it plastered to my face ensured I’d never forget it.

  I concentrated on the sigil and this time, I don’t know if it was luck or the added pressure from having no other option, but something just clicked. I felt strength drain out of me. It wasn’t physical strength, nor mental strength, but a different sort of power entirely, one I’d never grasped before. As the energy left me, I felt it bend and shape itself into the pattern in my head, the sigil for fire. Red flames roared to life, igniting the siren’s leafy green hair. The siren screeched in surprise as it moved to smother the fire with its hands. The conjured flames didn’t last long but it was enough.

  While the siren was busy dealing with the fire, it neglected to keep up its song and in a blink, Lilith snapped out of the it’s glamor. She shouted in rage as she looked at how close the siren now was, raised an open hand, and shot a cone of flame so intense it burned blue. I backed away in horror, realizing how close I was. In Lilith’s confused state, she didn’t realize I was standing right there. I dove over the siren’s tiers of spikes and was lucky enough to not accidently land on them. Flickering shades of sapphire filled my eyes as I looked back at the rapidly burning siren. In under a minute the si
ren was gone, leaving nothing behind, any remains had burned up.

  Fight over, a new set of system notifications bombarded me.

  You have learned new skill: †Sigil Mastery†

  You have learned new skill: †Mana Recovery†

  †Sigil Mastery Lvl.1 (0.0%)†

  Sigil based magic is 3% more mana efficient

  †Sigil Mastery† grows with the use of sigil based magic. Previously unused and more complex sigils allow mastery to grow more rapidly.

  †Mana Recovery Lvl.1 (0.0%)†

  Recover mana at a max rate of 1% of mana pool per hour anywhere

  Recover up to an additional 1% of mana pool per hour for each nearby ley line

  †Mana Recovery† grows with heavy mana use. As †Mana Recovery† increases your mana will recover faster.

  You have gained greater insight into the universe.

  †Otheristry† has reached level 2

  †Otheristry Lvl.2 (37.4%)†

  Inventory size increased from 1 to 4 cubic meters

  I looked at the messages and smiled, my hard work was finally paying off. I was a mage, a being unconfined by the laws of nature, a master able to bend the rules of the universe at will. I still wasn’t too impressed by Otheristry, increasing it by another level had only doubled my inventory size again, but it was still early days yet and 4 times the inventory space could be useful. I now had a portable closet instead of a suitcase.

  “Are you all right?” I asked Lilith, who was still catching her breath.

  “Fine, thanks to you. I should have been more prepared,” Lilith gasped.

  “Well, it was a siren. Once you’re in the grasp of its song it’s too late. There was nothing you could do,” I reasoned.

  “You did it and you can barely use magic. You have a guardian angel or something?” Lilith questioned.

  “I don’t know,” I lied. “Maybe it’s because I came from another world. It makes me immune to their hypnosis or something.”

  “Perhaps,” Lilith conceded. “Anyway, thanks again, but somehow that doesn’t seem like enough. I’ll find some way to repay you.”

  ‘Ohh Isaac,’ Mai exclaimed in a falsetto voice as she shifted into a blue skinned Lilith. ‘You saved me. Now, why don’t you wrap those big strong arms around me? I’ll find some way to repay you.’

  My face went flush and I turned away to hide it. “That’s not necessary. It’s what anyone would have done.”

  “I know but I’ll still find a way,” Lilith insisted.

  ‘You’re praying she finds that special way,’ pestered Mai.

  “Shut it,” I snapped back.

  “Shut what?” Lilith asked.

  “Just that…” I stuttered. “Maybe we should shut it down. Our walk. For today. It’s getting late.” Lilith agreed so we stopped for the night and I was forced to endure Mai’s ire-inducing giggles throughout dinner.

  I shuffled again under the covers, the day’s events rushing through my mind, thwarting all attempts at sleep. I’d done it. It had taken 5 days, but I finally cast a sigil. It seemed odd, to be proud of such a faint flame, but I suppose it wasn’t the fire but what it represented. Back home not a single person could do magic, not a single one out of 7 billion. Even here in Tautellus, magic was incredibly rare, only one in several hundred humans possessed the ability. I suppose being teleported to another world and made apparently immortal would be equally rare, but those things were different. They were done to me. But that little flame was something I did.

  I had spent a couple hours in the evening trying to repeat my success. Lilith was right once I had accessed my power once calling magic became easy. At first, the magic was stop and go but after a couple hours, I could get the magic to work around 20 percent of the time. I know that may seem dangerous from a battlefield perspective, but it was a good start. I would have spent the whole night practicing, but I ran out of mana and had to wait for it to recharge. Since we were nearing Crystalpeak and the ley lines running through it my mana would return faster than it would have elsewhere, but it would still take several hours.

  ‘You really should get some sleep,’ Mai whispered in my ear. She used my eyes and ears to see and hear so she knew I was awake. ‘Staying up will only make your journey tomorrow that much more difficult.’ Tomorrow would be hectic. With an early start and a quick pace, we could reach Crystalpeak by nightfall.

  “Yeah,” I sighed.

  Mai heard the tone and caught on. ‘You’ll miss it won’t you, the journey here. She said she’d only stay until you’ve safely delivered your message.’

  “Yeah,” I sighed again. It was often annoying how much Mai seemed to know about me, like I couldn’t keep anything from her, not even my thoughts. I would miss Lilith. She’d only agreed to see me to Crystalpeak, after she would return to her work.

  “I’ve been thinking about that, maybe I should go with her.” I tried to broach the subject carefully. Mai continually remained adamantly opposed to Lilith.

  ‘What do you mean?’ Mai huffed.

  Some part of me never trusted Mai. How could I when she invited herself into my brain? She knew her animosity towards Lilith wasn’t helping, especially when Lilith had been so accommodating, guiding me to Crystalpeak, teaching me magic.

  “You said so yourself. I’m an Otherist, a class embodying the powers of both science and magic. Lilith is a mage specializing in ancient magical artifacts from a technologically advanced society. Staying with her will let me learn magic and study technology. What could be better?” I argued.

  Mai materialized beside me. It was odd seeing her unblemished form lying in the dirt but she wasn’t really there. Her blue face was inches from mine. Her mouth formed a grim half smile as her dark eyes peered into my own, pityingly. ‘You know my feelings. I’ve made them plain, again and again. She may have helped you thus far but Lilith can’t be trusted. I’ve known from the start she was hiding something, that hasn’t changed,’ Mai uttered, flat, firm and unyielding.

  “I don’t know what’s gotten into you,” I muttered as I got to my feet. I looked down at Mai, my voice growing steadily louder. “You simply refuse to accept her, saying she can’t be trusted when all she’s done is help me out. You won’t even give me a chance to explain. Every time I try to talk to you, you cut me off. Shushing me like some ignorant child.”

  I was frustrated with her, all her secrets, all her demands. Then, when it all seemed as if it was about to erupt, when it seemed like I would say something irreversible, I realized something important I had missed.

  In a soft, almost timid voice I asked, “Why aren’t you silencing me now? You always cut me off because you are afraid of discovery.” I looked around me, squinting in an attempt to see beyond the glow of the fire. “Where’s Lilith?”

  ‘Not here,’ Mai answered in barely a whisper. ‘She’s been gone for a while now.’

  “Why?” I questioned.

  ‘I’m not sure,’ Mai claimed in a pitiful tone. ‘All I know is that she left and is not currently within range of my, or rather your senses.’ It wasn’t too surprising that Mai knew Lilith left. Mai shared my eyes and ears but I didn’t have to see or hear something for Mai to be aware of it. Mai could take my senses and process them, like a computer, sharpening them well beyond human limits, and while she could share the upgraded sensory information with me she didn’t have to. It worked the same as the way she projected her image for me to see.

  ‘You want to know why she’s gone?’ Mai offered.

  “She’s probably just using the restroom or something,” I explained. “I wouldn’t want to-”

  ‘That won’t be an issue. I can see better then you. If she is indisposed, I can head you off before you get close enough to see,’ Mai reassured.

  I hesitated. I trusted Lilith but I couldn’t find fault with Mai’s suggestion. Maybe Lilith was in danger; maybe she needed my help.

  ‘Come on, you still think Lilith has nothing to hide so what’s the harm,’ said M
ai.

  “Lead on,” I nodded. Mai marched away. I followed silently behind as we were both embraced by darkness.

  Lilith set down the small black cube nervously. She’d settled down in a small clearing well beyond view of the campsite.

  They were only a day from the city. If she wanted to complete her assignment, she had to act soon. She had been ordered to dispose of the human before they reached their destination, but after the human saved her, Lilith felt duty bound to return the favor. She was an honorable member of the Legion. She would prefer not having that debt on the books when she reached ascension. While the debt was nowhere near large enough to overthrow her orders, she felt she should try to get her orders modified. She owed the human that much.

  “Cube, open a channel back to command,” said Lilith. She waited for a response. The only sound was her foot tapping on cold hard soil. When the cube finally reacted, it generated the same mysterious cloaked man.

  “Lancepesade Lilith Demogorgon of the 16th Reconnaissance Division,” Lilith started her report with the same identification.

  “Lancepesade,” acknowledged the cloaked man, pausing for a moment as he found the appropriate file. “According to your locator beacon you are very close to Crystalpeak. Have you dealt with the traveler yet? Were you able to learn anything from him first?”

  “I haven’t killed him yet,” Lilith answered. “I have new intelligence and would like to request a reassessment of my orders.”

  “Understood,” said the man. “What have you learned?”

  “In my last report, I indicated the presence of a soul gem imbedded in the subject’s hand,” Lilith began. The cloaked man nodded in agreement, urging her to continue. “Behavioral inconsistencies in the subject have suggested multiple personalities. At first I thought this might be a personal quirk, but now I believe an intellect within the soul gem has bonded itself to the traveler.”