"Help!" called a small, pathetic sounding voice. "Please help."
"Where are you?" called Sanjaya. Following the sound, he and Prad found a burned tangle of webs. Stuck inside was a tiny girl, maybe as tall as Sanjaya's boot. Her entire right side, arm and leg were blackened, cracked and oozing with other burns all over her body. She had maybe a quarter of her honey blonde hair left on her cracked scalp. Soot covered most of her body and her sewn flower petal clothes were shriveled and all but burned off. Sanjaya grimaced. If this was an animal, he would have put it out of its misery. Prād shook his head. "Her burns are pretty bad. We need to get her cleaned up. Maybe the blood root can save her, but I need to mix the herbs." The pitiful figure started sobbing. "I'm all alone and it hurts." Prad removed his upper cloth and tore off the blood stained section. Revealing his chiseled body, all lean muscle with barely any excess fat. He used the cloth to gently pick her up. "Aaaah!" the tiny girl screamed "My wings". Sprouting from her back were two sets of ruined wings. The right hand ones were almost completely burned off, leaving only short stumps. The left hand ones retained their upper structure, but the wings themselves had been completely burned away, leaving only two toothpick-like struts sticking from her back.
"I'll carry her," said Sanjaya. "You lead the way."
"Don't resist," he whispered to the girl as he wove his magic to put her to sleep.
Sanjaya knew six spells in the first circle of magic of which sleep was one, but only had enough power to cast first circle spells twice before needing to rest and condense ether. He also had access to a number of cantrips - minor magics that could be performed at will simply by drawing ether from the surroundings.
He glanced at the spider corpse, wondering if it were possible to harvest its venom sacks. He would have to come back.
They waded through the river and soon found themselves back in Lone Creek. Passing through the market area, the bloody, soot-covered, and in one case, half naked pair drew the eyes of the townsfolk. Sanjaya waved to the merchant who had arrived with him and headed toward the Riverside Inn, limping slightly. "I need to buy a few things to make the poultice," said Prād. "I'm sure I can repay you if I sell some of it." Sanjaya handed over 5 silver Talens. "I hope this is enough. I'll get her cleaned up," he said, glancing at the tiny, wrapped up girl. "Meet me in my room when you are ready."
Bringing a pail of lukewarm water up to his room, Sanjaya gently unwrapped the sleeping girl. Her body was a mess. This must be a sprite or a pixie, he thought. Everyone had heard stories of the tiny forest folk with their harmless pranks and mischievous magic, but few had actually seen them. He dipped a cloth in the water and began to wipe the soot from her body.
A groan escaped her lips as she woke up. "Please, water," she begged, her voice little more than a whisper. Sanjaya dipped his finger into the pitcher of water next to his bed and placed a drop in her mouth. She swallowed painfully. "Thank you," she said, a few mouthfuls later. "My friend is making a poultice for your burns," said Sanjaya, "but you need to be clean. The water is cool, can I put you in?"
Tears ran from her eyes. "I can't move. Everything hurts."
"It will be ok," soothed Sanjaya, "I'm going to put you in the water." As gently as he could, he scooped up the tiny girl with both hands and slowly put her in the pail. "Is that better?" He asked. "What is your name?"
About three quarters of an hour later, Prād came in holding a small clay pot containing an oily, red substance and strips of white cloth to use as bandages. A mental ping went off in Sanjaya's head. The ward that he had set previously had been triggered. Prād looked at the tiny naked girl in the pail and blushed. "You put this on her," he said to Sanjaya and turned around. Despite the pain and desperate situation, the tiny girl laughed like a tinkle of bells.
Her name was Elhandriel. A pixie. Prād and Sanjaya had agreed to keep her presence a secret. According to her, 'horrible spider masters' had been catching and eating the sprites and pixies in the forest. They had spun webs all around the sprite village that she was visiting, the sprites had set fire to the webs, and she had gotten tangled while trying to escape.
Sanjaya didn't ask too many questions at this point, it was clear that the pixie was exhausted and needed to rest.
"Let's go and report our findings," said Sanjaya as he smeared some of the blood root salve into the wound on Prād's shoulder. Elhandriel was sleeping on the bed, bandaged from head to toe, the white cloth stained red from the blood root.
A few minutes later, the pair set off towards the barracks as the late afternoon sun began to dip behind the mountain.
"So basically you're saying that there is some sort of war between fairies and spiders going on in the forest," said Jack Slate with a chuckle as he pushed ten iron stamps over his desk. Sanjaya had reported almost everything, he had mentioned that they rescued a pixie but omitted that they had brought her back with them. "Something like that," said Sanjaya. "I am also curious about that paved path. I was not aware that this place was previously inhabited." He picked up an iron stamp and examined it. It looked like some iron had been dribbled onto a flat surface then stamped with a simple triangular symbol. Not difficult to duplicate, but it was only useful here and there was only one smelter.
"As long as there is no threat to the town and mining operation, these things are not a concern," surmised Jack Slate. "Also, with spiders that size, I doubt it would be worth the risk to send my men.
I've been thinking: Since you're good with numbers, I could use a hand with a stock take. Our supply caravan should be arriving in about three days. At that point, we will load up the next shipment of iron and request whatever is needed."
Sanjaya thought about it. Helping with a stock take would be a good way to understand the available resources and make strategic suggestions. "I have some things I want to do tomorrow and my leg can use the rest. After that I will be happy to help." Jack glanced at Prād. "You can help too, I can use extra hands for counting and carrying."
Prād put his hands together and bowed slightly. "And so the Lord arranges my service," he thought.
As soon as they left, Prād took out four iron stamps and a Talen to repay Sanjaya. "Keep it," said Sanjaya waving his hand, "I'd rather have some of that poultice."
On the way back, Sanjaya stopped in the market and spent his stamps on another set of simple clothes. Prād also bought some cloth to replace his upper cloth that he had turned into bandages and a long, sturdy pole.
As the sun dipped behind the mountain, an immediate chill descended. Sanjaya shivered and picked up the pace towards the inn, the puncture wound in his leg burning. Prād, despite his minimal clothing, seemed completely unaffected.
The inn was already bustling by the time they returned. The fire giving a warm, comfortable light and warding off the evening chill.
"Welcome back," greeted Tercia with a smile. "So many people want to know what's going on. I heard you went into the Catspider forest on a secret mission. Can you tell us about it? What did you see? Were there really spiders the size of cats? How did you get injured? Sit down, have some stew and ale and tell us all about it."
Sanjaya glanced apologetically at Prād, "I have some things to take care of," he said, "but I'm sure Prād can fill you in. When there is time, please send up some stew and bread."
Thirteen days…. Sanjaya sat on his bed with his spell book in hand. Condensing ether was simple. In the beginning, one could use a mirror or bowl of water and will the ether to condense, forming gray clouds, visible only to the practitioner or someone who was sensitive to these things. One could enhance this effect with crystals and sacred geometry, but after some time, these tools became unnecessary.
The difficulty came in storing the collected energy. "Why is all the magic in your head?" A small voice came from the foot of the bed. Sanjaya turned his attention to Elhandriel, sitting propped up against the pillow that she was resting on. The glow of the bedside lamp lit her blood red bandaged frame with a few clumps of hair sticking out in places like a tiny mummy.
"What do you mean?" He asked.
"It's all going into your forehead and out of your ears!" She sounded slightly amused. "Magic should be in your whole body, not just your head."
Sanjaya stared at the pixie. "Let me try." He drew the gray clouds together and willed them into his chest. Most of the energy dissipated but he managed to retain some. It was working! This would take a lot more practice, storing the energy was difficult and accessing it was sluggish, but it was definite progress. "You're amazing. Thank you."
There are many schools of magic, some focus on the raw elemental power of evocation, some on enchantment, bending others to one's will, or summoning or defense… Sanjaya had long contemplated the school on which to focus. While flashy magic and raw power tempted many, there were often long term consequences to such spectacular displays. Sanjaya preferred a more subtle approach, after all, he wanted knowledge. The thirst for information is what brought him to the path of magic, and besides… knowledge is power. Focusing on a school of magic does not prevent one from learning spells from other schools, indeed, Sanjaya knew spells from a number of schools - his sleep spell as example was from the school of enchantment. His focus, however, was divination. The spells that provide information. A master of divination could see through space and time and unravel the secrets of the universe. At least that was the theory.
As dawn broke, Sanjaya stood and went to look out of the window. It was raining. Water dripped from the thatch roof and splashed into the river below. In the gray light he could see the water wheel attached to the inn turning slowly, the bridge they had crossed the previous day and the barren farmlands beyond. He had wanted to return to the spider corpse today, but not in this weather. While the rain was gentle and his room was warm from the iron chimney running through it, Sanjaya had no doubt that it was bitterly cold outside.
"Please tell me a bit about the forest. We saw a paved path but have no idea where it leads." After breakfast, Sanjaya had brought up some oats cooked in milk with butter and honey and some fruit cut into tiny pieces for Elhandriel. Prād had also come to visit and was sitting on a wooden chair next to the simple table that Sanjaya used as a desk.
"You mustn't go there," said the pixie, around a mouth full of honeyed oats. "That's where the evil spider masters live with the spider queen in a huge stone house." She held her arms wide as if to indicate the size. "When the spider masters came, the spiders started attacking and now there's almost nowhere left to live. When they found my village, they spun webs all around at night and then attacked. I got away to get help from the sprites but I don't know what happened to my family and friends." Elhandriel looked forlorn. "Even the dryad tree is all webbed up. What can I do now? I can't even fly and I'm not making any pixie dust." Her eyes teared up as she sat, picking at her bandages and staring at the half-eaten oats.
"I will definitely help you," announced Prād. "It is the duty of a warrior to protect people who can't protect themselves! I will go to the spider forest, find your people and teach these spider masters a lesson." He looked at Sanjaya. "Are you coming with me?"
Sanjaya was a bit startled. He hadn't expected the young monk who was usually calm and peaceful to become so fired up. "Of course I will help, but there are a few things that need to be taken into consideration." He looked at Elhandriel. "When did these 'spider masters' come, how many of them are there and what do they look like?"
"They came two or three moons ago. They must have come from the caves. I don't know how many, not more than five. They walk on two legs and have long, thin arms and heads like spiders. The spiders do whatever they say."
Sanjaya had read about these creatures. 'Ettercaps' they were called, their species had a propensity to farm and heard giant spiders. "You mentioned a 'spider queen', tell me about her, is she the only one who lays eggs?"
"No," replied the pixie. "Lots of spiders lay eggs. She is the biggest, oldest spider and she used to talk with us. Most of the spiders have simple minds, like animals. They even eat each other if they can't catch food. But the spider queen is different. She can hear our thoughts and we can hear hers."
"Amazing," said Sanjaya, nodding his head. "You said that you aren't making any pixie dust. What is pixie dust?"
"Pixie dust is pixie dust," said the pixie, looking a bit confused. "Our bodies usually make it all the time and we use it for our magic. With pixie dust, we can help flowers to bloom or make someone fly or put babies to sleep and so many other things. I never thought that I wouldn't have any dust."
"Maybe when your body heals some more you'll make dust again," soothed Sanjaya. "You are probably spending all your energy on healing right now and so haven't got any extra to make pixie dust."
"One more question," said Sanjaya with a smile. It was a long shot but this was an inherently magical being. "What is the nature of magic?" Elhandriel frowned in thought but didn't answer. "Come Prād," said Sanjaya, turning towards the door, "let's leave Elhandriel to rest."