P-03. Trial By Magic, page 25
part #3 of PrimeVerse Series
She smiled sweetly and stood on her tiptoes to kiss my cheek. Then she punched me in the shoulder. “Go get ‘em, tiger!”
“Okay, MJ.” I smirked.
“Huh?” she said, her eyebrows furrowed inward.
I just laughed and left to find Graham, pausing for a few seconds to listen. I smiled at the high-pitched voices of children and walked in their direction. I knew I’d find him close.
It’s not like Graham and I had ever been buddies, but I was definitely on the outs with him now. I wasn’t sure why it was somehow only my fault that we led Cora to his village where she burned everything to the ground and turned all his pals into gromlins, leaving him homeless and guardian for a bunch of kids. Madison and Kai had the same level of involvement, hadn’t they? Oh well. I could live with someone not liking me.
The grass in front of the longhouse was dotted with kids and chickens, and I could see Graham leaning against the fence. I could complain about the guy as much as I wanted, but I couldn’t fault his loyalty. He had stuck with these kids constantly, and none of them were even his. That alone was reason enough to think he’d be good at what I was about to ask him.
He threw his head back, face to the sky, his chest rumbling with laughter as a little boy showed him something I couldn’t see. Huh. Happiness looked good on him.
The kid ran off, and his smile stayed until he noticed me approaching. It was almost like that trick with the hand where you smile, and as you move your hand down your face, you turn it into a frown. Instant annoyance.
“Hey buddy,” I said, leaning against the fence next to him. He didn’t respond. I get that my presence somehow screwed up his entire life, but the dude was acting like a 13-year-old girl.
“How are the kids doing?”
“Fine.”
Okay, he was going to play hard to get. Maybe I should’ve let Madison talk to him. He was either being overly dramatic or he really did hate my guts.
Apparently I was taking too long to answer because he asked, “Can I help you, Hudson?” between gritted teeth.
“Uh, yeah, actually you can. I hope.” I scooted up on the fence so I was sitting on the top rail. “I wanted to run something by you.”
He didn’t respond.
“So, uh, you know how, well, Arnold was taken by Cora?”
He signed heavily. This was painful.
“Well, the village is without a leader. And I know you weren’t there for the meeting, but we talked about how we need to stay organized and use our time well to prepare for what’s inevitably coming.”
He nodded. Progress.
“We asked them to break into three groups so we could rotate learning and leveling and protection and whatnot. Everyone seemed agreeable, but no one is actually doing anything. I was hoping, since you’ve got a lot more experience and know-how, that you could help wrangle the troops? Get them motivated and moving and working towards the same thing? Be the stand-in leader?”
He turned to look at me, making such intense eye contact it was uncomfortable. I remembered he had some kind of people-reading skill, and I was sure that’s what he was doing. “Hmph. I can do that, but what aren't you telling me?”
I sighed, it really was hard to hide things from him. “Look, Graham. I know you don’t like me. I’m sorry about how everything went down, and I’m working my best to right it. I didn’t know your village or friends very long, and even I could see what a good place it was, what great people lived there. I’m going to fix this. We’re going to fix this.”
“I said I would do it,” he answered, “but I am only going to help if you tell me what else is going on.”
I puffed out a breath. “We need your help for another reason. I think Therese might be on her way here and I’m going to form a party to help her.”
Finally, I got some animation out of him as his eyebrows shot up and his face went red. “What!? Why didn't you tell me that? How do you know this?” He took a step towards me, and while I didn't think he would get violent I didn't feel the need to test that theory.
I held up my hands. “Hold on now, I just found out from an archon when we finished the enclave. She showed me a... video, I guess?” What did you call a showing of something in this world? “It was Therese in gromlin form, coming through the same woods we came though. The archon said she would be safe, but that we would want to go get her when she got out of the woods.”
“I’m going,” he said, “if she’s coming here, I’m going to go get her.”
“Whoa, let me send Ryan to do it, we need you. Time is of the essence or else we could lose everything. Cora’s becoming increasingly more powerful, and while we have figured out a few things to keep pace with her, new players are arriving to join her side. We need you to help get these people organized, to stay here with the kids.”
“You keep throwing that in my face, Hudson.” He towered over me and my position on the fence. “I stay with them because they know me, I help anchor them. I’m not a permanent babysitter.”
“Graham, I know that. I also know that right now, you are the most qualified to keep us running, and frankly, we need every advantage we can get. I’m worried man, worried that the archon of Chaos might win. That would be bad. Real bad.”
His lips tightened as he stared at me. “Why would you send Ryan? Why wouldn’t you go?”
I filled him in on everything Minuitt had said and everything we’d learned in the last week. I was sure he’d heard some of it, but to be honest, it was a failing of mine that I hadn’t come talk to him sooner. Graham was capable and smart, and I let my fear or annoyance or both get in the way of involving him as much as I should have.
When I was through, the redness in his face had died down, replaced with the shrewd look he had had when we were in our first meeting with him, back at the village. That felt like years ago.
“That’s a lot to take in. You’re right, though, if we want to really protect these people, our people I guess, then we need to organize and move faster. I’ll help, but if Therese really is coming here, you need to make sure she gets here safe, and fast. She is well equipped to organize a town, she’s done it before, both here and IRL.”
I nodded. “Thanks, man.” I reached my hand up to shake his. “I know you’ll be great and it’ll be such a big help.”
He eyed my hand, and after a moment grasped it. “I agree we need to be as prepared as possible and I’ll do what I can to help. I don’t want to lose anyone else.”
“Awesome.” I jumped down from the fence. “See you at breakfast tomorrow? We’ll fill everyone in and you can take charge from there.”
He nodded and I moved to leave.
“And Hudson?”
I turned to face him.
“I’m holding you to your word. We’re going to get my friends back.”
I looked him dead in the eyes, trying to be as intense as he had earlier. “I don’t know how, or how long it will take, but we’re going to get them back. Not just for you.” I nodded toward the kids. “But for them.”
Something that almost resembled a smile flashed across his face then just as quickly disappeared.
“Look,” he said, staring at the ground. “I know I’ve been an ass. As angry as I am with you, I’m more pissed at myself.”
The sudden change in tone caught me off guard.
“I was supposed to protect them,” he continued. “I was supposed to keep them safe. It was my job to make sure no one got hurt and I didn’t... I couldn’t.”
He kept staring at the ground, and I touched his shoulder in what I hope was comforting and not condescending.
“You can’t blame yourself, Graham. Cora is... Cora is something else. I’d wager she’s one of the most powerful players in the game, if not the most powerful. We weren’t prepared. We won’t make that mistake again.”
Chapter 31
“You ready for this?” I asked Madison.
“Yep! It’s not like it’s hard, just takes a while. It’ll be so good to have it done, though.”
“Well, I for one, am ready for this all-day magic fest to be over already.”
She rolled her eyes. “It hasn’t even started, party pooper. Besides, don't you like making magic with me?” she wiggled her eyebrows.
I laughed. “You know I do.” I gave her a wink. “But I much prefer being alone with you. Really, though. Being the skill booster is just boring.”
“Well, I’m sorry I’m not non-stop entertaining you, but if you wouldn’t mind, would you go fetch our subjects? I’m think they’re all at the door.”
I groaned for dramatic effect, and moved to the large, mostly granite door. I opened it and, sure enough, nearly a dozen villagers waited outside.
“Hey, come on in,” I said, pushing the door open as wide as it would go, and standing outside to hold it.
The group moved in quietly, but as they entered, a buzz of excited energy moved through the room. Madison greeted everyone with her cheerful demeanor, and it wasn’t hard to picture her at the front of a classroom with a gaggle of little kids eager to learn.
“What does it mean?” a lady with a dark brown bob haircut asked.
“What does what mean?” Madison asked.
“This prompt. It says something about all magic aspects get +10.”
“Oh! Right. That’s why you should be able to learn while you’re in here. All your magic skills, traits, aspects are boosted 10 levels, but only while you’re inside the enclave.” Conversation moved throughout the group again.
“Alright everyone! Gather around.” She explained to them the plan, how just like last time, I would sit in the middle with her, and everyone would circle around us. She was doing the teaching, but I was the magnifier, allowing everyone within my radius to get a quick and easy boost.
I pulled the door closed and took my spot in the middle of the room, sitting crisscross applesauce next to Madison. I listened halfheartedly as she explained it would feel the same as the last time they learned it, only with any luck, they’d actually learn it this time.
“Everyone ready?” she asked, and a wave of nods moved through the room. “Okay, here we go.”
I watched as everyone’s eyes unfocused selecting their answer to the prompt that must have popped in their vision. Within seconds, everyone began vibrating so quickly you could hardly make them out, like a video feed stuck between fast forward and pause.
After my talk with Graham the other day, things had really gotten going. We called another meeting and started divvying up tasks. Tim oversaw resource gathering, since his zombies were so helpful in that department. Teams of people would take turns going out with him and staying at the village to train with Kai. Ryan had been sent to find Therese, and a few Hunters went with him so they could work on grinding at the same time.
Madison had organized those who stayed behind to all have a turn with us in the enclave. We had successfully taught magic when we tested it out with the Hunters who left with Ryan. This was our first big batch though, and we would rotate people in and out, as many as could fit comfortably in here. Then they all would get to work in their assigned positions. We figured we could send them out and they could experiment with their magic while doing other things, and Madison could begin refining their abilities over time.
With nothing to do but sit there, I got stuck in my head, thinking.
How would we stop Cora? She would continue to be a major threat until she was gone for good. But even if we somehow managed to defeat her, she would just respawn and come back. Without threat of death, how could one be served justice?
Maybe we needed to focus on creating a jail cell. Though the thought of living with Cora in town and giving her three hots and a cot daily didn’t sound appealing either. Plus, I’m sure she could Chaos Bolt her way out of anything. I just wanted her to go away and never come back.
Soon enough, everyone was coming to and excitement spread across their faces.
“It worked! I learned magic! I got Mana Orb!”
“Me too! But I got Cantrip?”
“I got Cantrip, too.”
“Wait, some of you unlocked the Cantrip spell?” Madison asked loudly over the voices.
“Yeah, I did.”
“Me, too.”
“Same here!”
“Okay,” she spoke loudly again, “raise your hand if you got Cantrip.” Nearly half raised their hands. “Now raise your hand if you unlocked Mana Orb.” The other half raised theirs. “Interesting.”
“Excuse me? Ma’am?” A sturdy looking guy with a thick southern accent spoke with his hand in the air.
Madison blushed. “You don’t have to call me ma’am,” she laughed. “What is it?”
“Well,” he drawled, “I got a prompt that’s asking me to choose. Mana Orb or Cantrip. Which do I pick?”
I perked up. “It’s asking you which you’d rather have?” I asked, surprised.
“That’s what it says. Which one is better?”
“Mana Orb lets you cast a ball of energy that you can shape into various things meant for combat.” I cast my own Mana Orb and showed off with it a little. “Cantrip lets you manipulate things around you, smells, sounds, feelings. You can make stuff float across the room, scrub floors without touching them, that kind of stuff.”
“What would you pick?” the guy asked me.
“Well they’re both pretty cool, but since I’ve been fighting a lot, I’ve been glad to have the Mana Orb. Cantrip is the spell the kids all have that lets them do all the stuff you've seen around the village.
“Uh, Madison?” the lady in the dark bob spoke again.
“Yeah?” Madison responded.
“Unless I’m wrong, I’m pretty sure the skill we got is based on our classes. Looks like Hunters got the Mana Orb and Gatherers got Cantrip.”
“Huh. That’s interesting! What class are you?” she asked the man who had to choose.
“I’m a Shaman.”
“Crazy. Learn something new every day! Alright, everyone, thanks for being our guinea pigs. We’re going to bring the next group in here to get their magic skills, and once everyone has them, I guess we’ll separate you by spell types and teach you how to use them. You can head on out and we’ll let you know when we’re ready for you again.”
They slowly filtered out and we let in the next group of waiting villagers.
We repeated the process identically, only this time Madison let them know what we learned about getting different skills based on their class type. When they were done, we brought in the next and final group. Rinse, wash, repeat.
I was spent by the end, though I wasn’t sure why. I did nothing but sit.
“I think that went okay, do you?” Madison asked when we were alone in the enclave once again.
“Well, yeah. They learned the skill, didn’t they?” She looked at me, annoyed. “You did great, Madison. You always do great.” I smiled and walked over and kissed her. She kissed me back, but it was short and sweet. “We need to show everyone how to use them now. Do you want to take Mana Orbs?”
“Sure, I have lots of experience with it.”
We gathered everyone and split them accordingly, and I showed my group pretty much everything I knew about the Mana Orb spell. We were outside behind the chickens, and I cautioned them against aiming toward the birds. No one would be too happy with us if we exploded the entire flock of chickens.
It was fun watching them learn, seeing the same excitement I originally felt while I figured out how to manipulate and use the orb.
Once I had shown the basics, I stepped back and let them explore. I’ve always been a hands-on learner and listening to someone drone on and on did nothing for me. I even got bored when I was the one doing the droning.
After about an hour of playtime, I reminded everyone it was a real spell, and the orb could have real consequences so to use them accordingly. Then I left them to their own devices and went back to the enclave to find Madison.
Her group was still together practicing, but instead of glowing orbs of energy, all kinds of weird things were happening. Strange gusts of wind, floating objects, lots of colorful hair. It felt like I’d waltzed right into a wizarding school. ... which I guess I had.
I smiled when Madison caught my eye and mouthed ‘let’s get out of here’ while jutting my thumb behind me. I could tell she looked tired. It’d been a long day and she didn’t seem to object to my plan.
“Okay, everyone. I think that’s enough for today. Now that you have the spell, you’ll always have it. You don’t have to be in the enclave to use it. You can head out and practice at your leisure.” It took about ten minutes, but the room was finally quiet.
“What do you say we take advantage of this peace and quiet?” I asked.
Madison looked up at me. “You have no idea how good that sounds.”
“Oh, I think I do.” I’d had more than enough of being around people for the day.
Graham and the kids had been on dinner duty since everyone else was learning and practicing their new magic abilities. As covert as I could, I snuck over and grabbed some food, which I stashed in my inventory, and hurried back to meet Madison at the enclave. She had stayed back to pick up all the random things that had been moved around by the Cantrip spells. She smiled when she saw me, and I offered her my arm.
“My lady,” I said, curtseying. She rolled her eyes but laughed.
“Where are we going?”
“I thought we’d head back to the spot above the cave. Eat dinner and watch the sunset. Sound okay to you?”
“Sounds like a date!”
Chapter 32
The next day, with the course for the village set, I finally had some time to focus on something I’d wanted to since we got back from the forest: playing with cores.
I thought about using the enclave to help boost my ability, but it was full of people experimenting and learning. Magic had swept through this village and changed everything, just like I’d expected. I was grateful though; we needed the power up.
Instead of the enclave, I went to my second favorite place, the hill above the cave. It was a nice day out, some clouds but not many, the temperature just right for being outside. Basically, just another day in PrimeVerse.
