Hedge Knight

Elly woke up at the first sign of light. The tavern’s room of stone and wood had a pale blue sheen to it; a result of the heavy fog that had formed throughout the town this morning. As the rest of her senses cleared the familiar hum of the device that sat on her desk greeted her. It was of a simpler design than most of the magitech heaters she’d seen, consisting of only a small red crystal contained by a cage of brass attached to a circular metal plate. A singular knob was attached to it, one that could be twisted and was currently set to an output that allowed only the slightest bite of cold against her exposed skin. It was comforting, in a way, making the prison of her surprisingly soft bed all the more enticing to remain in.

With a groan she slipped from her covers, scratching her head as she made her way to her room’s desk. She had to admit; despite the Freemark’s more rustic composition she did not feel wanting for many of the conveniences she’d grown used to from more urban settings. Goldshire in particular was more deliberate with its use of magitech, most likely related to the nature of the Aether Crystals located within its mines.

She smacked her face, clearing her head a bit more while she started to draw Aether into her fingers. She snapped her fingers soon after, releasing the spell that she formed at her fingertips. A mix of wind and water aspected Aether washed over her right after, smoothing her frayed hair, freshening up her skin and leaving her clothes feeling softer to the touch.

“Tis no bath, but it’ll have to do…” she muttered to herself. She flicked her fingers again, summoning the robes that hung off of the desk chair to her.

She slipped the robes over the sleeveless shirt and tights that she wore, taking comfort in the heat that started to build under the bulky cloth. She moved to the desk as she adjusted her clothes further, flicking open the notebook that rested on top of it in the process. The paper was worn, yellowed at the edges from the harsh conditions that overpowered the enchantments that she’d placed on it a year ago. Spread across its pages were a semblance of ordered notes, frequently disrupted by various footnotes and scratched off passages. Numerous sketches of various stone structures lined the notebook as well, mostly of statues, constructs, and small bits of architecture. They were all of Ruhian design, evident by their smooth, carved stone all held together by some variation of magic, evident from the Aether that traveled along the trademark grooves of Ruhian design.

She flicked through the notebook too hard, flipping to the first page of her notebook by accident. Her eyes fell upon the first page of the journal, noting the “Volume Ten” that she’d scribbled at the top of the paper a year ago.

“The tenth journal…” she snorted, “You’d think I’d have something published by now with all the scribbling I’ve done over the years.”

Elly perused her notes for a moment longer before closing the notebook. She noted the repetition in her notes, observations that she’d written in volumes long past, its wording only slightly changed to give it some surface level distinction. It was not uncommon for researchers to repeat themselves, that much she was aware of, but the trend was all the more pronounced with her latest scribblings. Her wording was dull; observations more terse as the pages went on, a victim to the recent trend of studying ruins that had already been picked clean by other Orelian scholars.

“I swear it's like they’re late to inform us on purpose recently…” she muttered to herself.

A rapid rapping rang from her door, jolting her from her musings.

“Come now Elly, these bones will have turned to dust by the time that you’ve sorted yourself out,” her master called out. There was an energy to the elderly woman’s voice, one that she’d not heard in sometime.

Elly smiled, feeling the cloud over her thoughts lift.

“I find that hard to believe.”

“Well… this truly is a tragedy.”

Agatha stood over the rubble that was once a Ruhian artifact, looking down at the pieces of broken stone and metals that were unceremoniously piled into the center of the mine’s clearing.

“Sorry about that…” Jahora said in a weak tone.

“Oh don’t misunderstand, it’s not like you had much choice in your situation,” the older woman said, “Consider my ire more directed to the imbecile that forced it upon you.”

She tapped her staff on the ground, producing a pulse of pale white Aether that washed over the stony remains. Helbram saw the Aether wrap around each individual piece, coating them in shells of energy. A singular ring of Aether hovered around Agatha’s head, but given the ease of which the spell was cast, he suspected he was only seeing what the wizened woman wanted him to see.

“If you don’t mind I’d like to run my pupil through a quick test,” she said as she looked over the rubble.

“By all means,” Helbram said, his voice ringing with a familiar hollowness through his helmet.

“I still can’t believe that thing survived…” Leaf said as he eyed the newly polished metal.

“Neither can I,” Helbram admitted, “But I am glad of it. A good helmet goes a long way when you’re adventuring.”

Leaf shrugged, “Fair enough.”

Agatha looked to her student, who stood at her side while tapping her chin.

“Are you ready?” Agatha asked.

“One moment… ok, ready,” Elly said.

The older woman held her staff out, allowing her apprentice to touch it with her hand. The ring of Aether around the older woman’s head disappeared as a ring of Aether formed around the younger woman’s right wrist along with one around her left ankle. Jahora’s eyes widened.

“A Weaver…” the gnome remarked.

Leaf’s raised an eyebrow, “What’s that mean?”

Elly stomped on the ground with her left foot, forcing the Aether wrapped around the rocks up and allowing hollow projections of the rubble to linger in the air. With her right hand, she began to piece the projections together, forming the familiar shape of the artifact piece by piece.

“They’re Wizards, but unlike Mages, like I am, they focus more on manipulating Aether with their hands and feet,” Jahora explained, “While forming Aetheric Circles around your hands is common for most Wizards for the purposes of control, a Weaver leans more into this than a Mage ever will. Where a Mage will formulate the spell in their minds, a Weaver will mold them much like a sculptor would.”

Elly continued to manipulate the projection in the air, pausing a few times while muttering to herself.

“Let’s see, if I recall the focus should be placed around here…” she said as she twisted her hand, rotating one of the projections around.

“The nature of their spells are a bit different as a result,” Helbram added as he watched Agatha’s apprentice work.

Jahora nodded, “Right, its a bit more…” she snapped her fingers, “tactile in its process.”

“So like bending fire and ripping rocks out of the ground? Things like that?” Leaf asked.

“Exactly,” Helbram said, “they’re more common within Esperus, so it is a bit unusual to see one within the Freemarks of all places, but then again it's unusual to see a Dusk Elf out here as well.”

Helbram examined Elly further, who was focused on putting the final touches on the projected image in front of her. Her skin was the color of the night sky, but beyond that and her long, silver hair her features were nearly identical to her paler skinned brethren. Her ears were long and pointed, features soft yet angular , and though most of her body was covered by her robes the slightness to her frame was easy to see through them. She was tall, and through the motions by which she manipulated the Aether before her he detected a sense for movement beyond the natural gracefulness of elfkind.

With a flourish of her hand she placed the final piece of the projected rubble, resulting in an image that perfectly replicated the unbroken form of the Ruhian artifact at her feet. She slipped from casting to pondering in a smooth motion, rubbing her chin as she peered at the finished projection.

“Hmmm… from what I can tell this was a Shield Projector, though certainly far larger than any I’d ever seen,” Elly noted.

“Indeed,” Agatha added, “Logic would dictate that whatever it was meant to protect was of great importance to the Ruhia,” the elderly woman’s voice grew more excited at every word.  

Agatha turned to Jahora, curiosity alight in her eyes. The gnome straightened up from her gaze out of instinct, clearing her throat without prompt.

“Tell me, how was it that you managed to destroy such a device?”

Jahora scratched her head, “Erm, well… twas more out of instinct than anything,”

The frown tugging at the corner of Agatha’s lips told Helbram that the elderly woman was looking for more, “Instinct? I’d hardly think a second circle mage could harness the power of a Ruhian artifact on pure instinct… What is your family background?”

“Artificery, though it has been quite some time since I’ve had my hand at making anything.”

“Ah, well that would certainly explain some things…” Agatha said, more to herself than to them, “Artificery can be traced back to the Ruhians, though the art has certainly diverged somewhat since its inception…”

“I would add that our friend here was mighty peeved at the time of said destruction,” Leaf added in a flat tone.

“You’re one to talk. You were cursing up a storm that’d make The Burned One blush back then,” Jahora countered.

“Aye, that I did, because that shite eating bastard deserved it,” Leaf spit on the ground to emphasize his point.

“I should also mention that the air was thick with Aether at the time,” Helbram said to Agatha, “Made manipulating Aether so easy that a hopeless case like me was able to fire off a spell.”

The elderly woman’s brow furrowed, “I see…”

Elly mimicked her master, “Well if we factor that in, it does seem somewhat plausible…”

Teacher and student began to mutter amongst themselves, words unintelligible as they slipped further into thought. Elly produced her notebook from beneath her robes and began to scribble in it, having followed in her master’s footsteps in acting like Helbram and the others weren’t even there.

Leaf leaned in towards Helbram, “Are all scholars like this?”

Helbram shrugged, “The passionate ones at least. I’ve known plenty who were more akin to talking books. Very handy if you were looking for something to put you to sleep.”

“Well, we should probably let them stay at it…” Jahora said, “Feels ill-willed to even think about breaking their concentration right now.”

Helbram sighed, “Yes, they are paying us afterall, We can only hope their hypothesizing lasts just a little while longer.’

The better part of an hour passed while Elly and Agatha talked to one another. Helbram had abandoned trying to follow their conversation around halfway through and elected to look over his equipment once again white the two women talked. He didn’t bring his ruck along with him this day, and instead had most of his gear strapped to himself. He assumed that he must have looked like a mess with his sword and shield hanging off of him along with the sledgehammer on his back and the pickaxe at his side. Garuf’s brigandine required little adjustment to fit him well, and sat comfortably over his chest. Unlike his breastplate, his shoulder plates and arm guards were mostly intact following his fight with Vol’kesh, and his helmet, newly polished and cleaned, smelled fresh as it sat over his head. 

Leaf had elected to take a nap. The half elf had laid himself against a pile of crates, his unstrung bow resting against his shoulder. His quiver sat on the ground next to him, loaded with typical arrows marked by their brown and white feathering, but a number of arrows marked by black feathers now populated his ammo as well. His hood was pulled over, and he’d wrapped his brown cloak around him as a makeshift blanket. The sight reminded Helbram of a bundled up baby, and he snorted as he looked at his companion. Though he had to admit, there was a degree of comfort to Leaf’s face that made his position enviable in a way..

Jahora, at some point, joined Agatha and Elly in their musings. Half out of her own curiosity, and half from the string of questions that the two scholars threw towards the gnome. Her hand moved furiously as she scribbled into her notebook, almost in tandem with Elly’s movements as Agatha proposed or explained some new fact.  Marlin’s focus hung from her wrist, and the gnome was decisively more bundled up in a thick fur coat that was a size too big for her, a result of the mayor lending her his son’s old clothes. 

“Tis truly an interesting case,” Agatha said, “Devices capable of condensing Aether are not rare to Ruhian ruins, but those are smaller scale, more suited as magic foci as opposed to a large apparatus such as this...”

“Indeed,” Elly added, “Not to mention that it was doing this while also projecting a shield over a large swath of land…”

“Perhaps we should examine the ruins themselves then? There is only so much that we can determine from speculation,” Jahora added.

Helbram sighed in relief.

“Indeed, we’ve wasted enough time here as is,” Agatha admitted. She set off for the mines at a surprising speed. pulling Elly and Jahora after her, both sharing in the same enthusiasm that put a skip into the elderly woman’s step.

Helbram lightly kicked Leaf’s boot, “Hey, we’re moving.”

Leaf stirred, his eyes fluttering as he unfurled himself from the bundle he placed himself in, “About bloody time…” he muttered, “here I thought I’d wake up with gray in my hair.”

“Well you’d just be growing into your personality then,” Helbram said with a smirk, “you have ‘old curmudgeon’ down quite well.”

Leaf rolled his eyes, “Clever.”

Helbram helped the half elf up, “Tis a habit, but we should hurry. The ladies are leaving us in the dust.”

Leaf nodded and accompanied Helbram towards the cave. The women had just entered it, and Helbram could hear faint echoes of conversation following them. The two men adjusted their gear and made sure it was secure as they followed suit at a brisk pace to catch up to them.

Much like its town, Goldshire’s mine was of a simple, but effective design. It was tall enough that Helbram could stretch  his arms above him without much issue and wide enough that a handful of men could fit through even if they stood shoulder to shoulder. Supports were placed evenly throughout the cave, constructed from wooden beams that were the width of his shield. Lights hung from the beams, constructs of metal that were all connected to one another with a small wire that traveled across the ceiling. Each light held a small crystal, emitting a bright enough glow to chase shadows to the very edges of the mines.  A singular rail traveled down the center of the mine’s path, absent of the carts that would have frequented it in more productive times. The rail split with the cave in the distance, going down two paths. Agatha and her new formed cohort took the right one.

“Gods, she walks fast,” Leaf said, “How does she even know where to go?”

“I imagine Gorond told her,” Helbram said as they picked up their pace, “Or they’ve been around Ruhian ruins long enough to sniff them out.”

They caught up to the women by the time they entered a larger, more expansive cave. Bereft of the frequent supports of the tunnels before, this cave was more natural in its formation, with jagged ceilings and walls spread wide enough that their footsteps now started to echo off into the distance. Lining the walls and the ceiling were a mix of chromatic crystals, emitting enough light throughout the cave that only a few lights were needed at the center of the chamber to keep it lit. Yellow and green were the dominant colors of the room with only small bits of red bleeding through. Though even with that amount of red the chamber felt distinctly warmer compared to the bite of the Fall chill outside.. The crystals themselves were large in scale, some standing as tall as Helbram as they passed by them.

“Looks like the Aether crystals have reformed…” Helbram observed.

“Yes, though I can’t say it's common to see formations this large…” Agatha added.

“It’s probably due to whatever was about to blow up the mountain,” Leaf guessed, “If the rocks were blowing themselves up with Aether then why wouldn’t they grow this big?”

“Correct,” Elly said, “normally such a phenomenon would be the result of being close to a Leyline, but I imagine our case is a bit different this time.”

“Is that normal?” Leaf asked, “Ruhian ruins priming the environment to blow itself up at anytime?”

“Not at all,” Elly looked at Leaf, “I must say I’m surprised at your curiosity, most mercenaries don’t seem too interested in this sort of thing.”

Leaf scoffed, “Well of course I am, it could mean the difference between safety and me getting my arse blown off.”

“He has plenty of experience with that,” Helbram said. 

“Shite, I walked right into that one,” Leaf frowned, “You know a bigger man would have just let that one go.”

“In that case you can consider me quite small, and petty,” the grin was clear in Helbram’s voice, “and are we mercenaries? I was under the impression that we were more of the adventurer sort.”

“That certainly sounds more appealing,” Jahora said, “Gods knows I’m not looking to guard any caravans anytime soon…”

“Seconded, here hoping this venture of ours is more of the peaceful sort.”

“Adventurers… I see,” Elly said, “It must be nice, being able to go where you want, be in charge of your own desires. “

“Well it certainly does sound nice,” Helbram responded, “but more often than not you’re more likely to find yourself sleeping on dirt than doing anything exciting .”

“You’re making it sound so appealing,” Leaf responded in a dry tone, “truly making me believe that I made the right choice grouping up with you.”

“Do you want every day to be like our last adventure?”

Leaf rubbed his chin, “Fair point.”

“Still, there still is a certain appeal to it, having that amount of control in your life,” Elly said, “Certainly better than waiting approval from some council before you can actually do anything…”

Helbram noticed Agatha look back as Elly said those words, but the elderly woman said nothing and continued on her path.”

“To a certain extent,” Helbram said, “in the Freemarks approval doesn’t matter much but within the Six Kingdoms and even Esperus you’re required to go through a guild for any work.”

“That is true,” Jahora said, “The Guild in Helios is one of my family’s top customers, though we’re more inclined to sell to the fledgling adventurer rather than anyone that’s made a name for themselves.”

“Really? I might have to give them a visit if we ever find ourselves within the city.”

“Feel free to. Just… don’t mention me when you’re there. They’re probably still a bit sour after I disappeared on them.”

“I’m sure they’re more concerned about your safety than anything else.”

“Aye,” Leaf said, “I’m sure it’d go a long way if they saw your face the next time you were in town.”

Helbram and Jahora looked back at Leaf, surprise evident on the gnome’s face.

“What? I’m a bastard, not an arsehole.”

Elly snorted, “I’m inclined to agree with your friends,” she said to Jahora, “A little bit of communication goes a long way.”

Jahora scratched her head, “Fine, I’ll talk to them if we’re ever in town. Just don’t blame me when they lock me up and throw away the key.”

Leaf chuckled, “You’ll be fine, just distract them with tales of your wanton destruction of ancient property.”

Jahora frowned, “To save a friend.”

“Of which I am truly grateful,” Helbram said, “By all means keep doing it if it means I get to see another day.”

“Well it depends,” Agatha interjected with a light tone, “If it was some earth-shattering revelation on the line I’d be inclined to hesitate just a bit.”

Helbram snorted and shrugged, “Fair enough, I’ll be sure to keep myself scarce at the moment of any discovery.”

“Smart man.”

“Indeed, woe be to anyone standing between Master Toulec and a brand new discovery,” Elly said with a slight smile.

“Exactly, I’m glad you’ve learned something in all the time I’ve taught you.”

“How could I not when I’ve seen fellow scholars flee at the sight of you?”

“Bah, cowards the lot of them, it’s just a bit of tongue lashing, common in our field.”

“I recall the last student who questioned you fleeing to their quarters with tears in their eyes.”

Agatha paused, washed over by the pale green light of a nearby crystal as she tapped her chin with her staff, “That is true, but you can’t tell me that his thesis suggesting that Saputan and Ruhian technologies were of a similar origin held any ground. Better to show the lad the error of his ways rather than pursue such an unfounded notion.”

“Yes but again, perhaps you worded your criticisms just a bit too harshly.”

Agatha sighed, “That’s the problem with youngsters these days, always so thin skinned…”

Elly shrugged as she continued to follow her teacher, and the conversation faded into small talk as they made their way through the cavern. The rest of their journey was of a similar aesthetic to the rest of the mine, alternating between the structured tunnels carved by man and the pockets of crystals that bathed them in a full spectrum of colors. The natural caverns eventually ended at a final chamber lined with blue crystals. As they bathed the group in light, a chill bit at them through their heavier clothes.

“I see we’ve skipped Fall and walked right into Winter…” Leaf muttered to himself.

At the end of this cavern was another tunnel, shorter and narrower than the ones that came before. Also absent from its construction were the support beams of the previous tunnels and the lanterns that hung from them, leaving it dark aside from a small light  at its very end. Agatha stopped at the entrance of this tunnel, tapping its sides with her staff.

“Jagged edges… hastily constructed, I do believe that this is the tunnel we were told of,” she said.

Elly reached out towards the walls of the tunnel, Aetheric ring forming around her wrist. As her fingers touched the rock, soft yellow light pulsed from the point of contact, traveling through the tunnel until it was swallowed by the darkness.

“It appears to be stable,” the dusk elf said, “though I’d be inclined to reinforce it just in case.”

Agatha nodded, “Agreed, this will just take a moment…”

The elderly woman tapped her staff on the ground, producing a small ball of yellow light at the tip of the twisted wood. She hit the side of the tunnel with the orb of light, sending a pulse bright enough to light up the entire length of the pathway. As it was illuminated, a rumbling beneath them followed, potent enough to rattle their feet but not to the extent that they lost their balance. The sound of stone grinding against stone echoed from within the tunnel as columns of smooth rock rose from the ground and into the ceiling, producing a steady cadence of thumps that projected puffs of gravel and dust into the air.

“Not my finest work, but it’ll hold for years to come,” Agatha mused, “though it’ll be a bit of a tight squeeze.”

The elderly woman waited for the dust to settle before venturing into the tunnel, Elly right behind her.

“Not her finest work she says, like she didn’t just mold a mountain to her will…” Leaf whispered.

“If it keeps us safer, I’m all for it,” Helbram said. Though he had to admit, Agatha’s casual display of such magic made him question why the elderly woman was inclined to hire their group to accompany her and her student.

They followed after the scholarly duo, squeezing through the narrow passage left by the columns. The light at the end of the tunnel grew brighter as they drew closer to it, almost blinding by the time that they emerged from the tunnel. When Helbram’s vision cleared, he froze in place, making note of the grin that beamed from Agatha’s face.

They stood before a pair of doors carved from a bright, white stone that stood twice the size of Helbram’s height. It was flat against the cavern wall, its faces lined with the carvings of 6 circles orbiting around a central one. Within each circle were words of a language he did not understand, and lines connected each circle to one another, forming the shape of a hexagon. The doors possessed no handles, and the carvings themselves were filled with a dull white light, making the entirety of the door itself glow amidst the darker stone of the mountain theat surrounded it. The cavern they stood in was absent of  any crystals, but he noted that the sides of the chamber near the door were marked by scratches he could only assume to be from the strikes of pickaxes.

Beyond all of that was the rush that filled Helbram’s chest. The sight of the door, untouched despite all the machinations that came before, hiding secrets he could not even begin to fathom, made him unable to stand in place, and he found himself lifting himself on his toes involuntarily as they started at the door. His grin was hidden by his visor, but was reflected in both Elly’s and her teacher’s expressions.

The elderly woman walked up to the door and rapped her staff against it. Before it struck the stone it was stopped by an invisible force, producing a pulse that distorted the very air in front of the door, much like the barrier produced by the artifact from before. Agatha laughed at the reaction, one filled with a sense of energy beyond the weariness in her old voice.

“This… this is everything I hoped for.”

Author's Note: A lot of exposition and character interaction within this chapter, but I liked the flow of it personally. My goal with it was to make the characters appear more fleshed out beyond their initial appearances, and that includes Helbram and his party along with Agatha and Elly. Let me know how I did! Your feedback goes a long way to improving my craft.