Content Warning: Coarse language

“My lady says that everyone has magic potential, it just lies dormant in most people,” said Astatine.  “We just have to awaken yours so it flows freely.  Like blood flowing through your veins.”

Eskil grimaced.  They both sat cross-legged, facing each other in front of the fireplace in the cottage.

“Okay, maybe that imagery wasn’t the most pleasant,” said Astatine.  “But you know what I mean.”

“Sure,” said Eskil.  “How are you going to help me though?  I already have the ability, it’s just that I have a hard time controlling it.”

“When my lady first started unleashing my potential, she used these techniques called ‘diving’ and ‘echoing.’  Well, she didn’t call it that, I just made up those labels.”

“What do you do?”

“It’s a little hard to explain.  We both go into a trance and I send out signals with my magic into your mind and see if it bounces off yours.  We’re basically trying to locate your magic source and unlock it.  Haven’t really done this before though.”

“Um…”

“If you don’t feel comfortable, then we don’t have to go through with this.”

“I…am curious…but what if something goes wrong?”

“We’ll just stop immediately.  Just call my name.”

“All right.  So, how do we go into a trance?”

“There’s not really any particular method.  Usually I just close my eyes and focus on the sounds and sensations around me.”  He stared at Eskil.  “Um, for the diving part, it might be easier if there is a conduit.  Doesn’t have to be much, just our fingertips making direct contact is enough.  It’s just for the first time, since I haven’t done this before.  I can probably make the dive through the air in future attempts.”

Eskil pursed his lips in thought.  He then held out his hands.  Astatine brushed his fingers against Eskil’s.

“Okay, here we go.  Remember, if you start feeling uncomfortable at any time, just call my name.”

Eskil closed his eyes and relaxed his shoulders.  Astatine took one more look around the room and closed his eyes.

He felt himself falling into an abyss, as if he were in one of his many vivid dreams.  It was dark and turbulent wind tore through him.  There was a flurry of tiny ice crystals.  They landed on his sleeves and melted into the fabric.

Is that snow? he thought.  It didn’t snow much in the Southern Region, other than on top of the highest mountains.  Am I glimpsing into his memories?  He might not like it if I do that though, since he’s often reluctant to tell me anything.  Nothing much is happening though, so maybe these aren’t memories, but just a general state of mind.

A large white field materialized before his eyes.  His boots sank into something soft.  His footing stabilized and he took a step forward.  The white substance on the ground crunched as he brought his foot down.  He bent forward and gathered some of it in his hands.

Yeah, I guess this is snow.  He threw it in the air and it rained down in clumps.  He began to walk through the snow, but his pace was slow.  In the distance, he saw dark trees with bare branches.  He said he was from a place further west than the Western Region.  Is this what it looks like? This place is so desolate.

He radiated a wave of earth magic towards the horizon and waited for a rebound.

Nothing.  He sent out another wave.  Still nothing.

Where is his magic source? Is it that well hidden?  Guess I have to keep walking.

Onwards he trudged, the packed snow crunching as he left footprints.  He lost track of time in the monotonous landscape.  It seemed like hours had passed, even though it might have only been minutes back in the real world, where he and Eskil were still sitting cross-legged in front of the fireplace.

Is Eskil doing okay? he wondered.  He hasn’t said anything yet.

The snowy ground shook.  There was a clamor in the distance that sounded like a thousand horses galloping.  Geysers of ice shot up around him.

Oh shit, what’s going on now?  His heart beat erratically.  Eskil’s still not saying anything.  Should I just go?

The geysers of ice turned to steam.  The snow melted and mixed with the ground to form a muddy sludge.  He fell backwards into the muck.

This is getting ridiculous! I’m just going to get out of here.

Rocks spewed from the ground.  A ring of fire surrounded him.  He was completely enveloped in flame.

NO!!!  Not this again!  He curled up and squeezed his eyes shut.  Get away!  Get away!

“Astatine!”

He gasped and fell backwards.  When he opened his eyes, he saw the ceiling of the cottage.  He was breathing heavily and his heart was pounding.  Eskil’s worried face entered his field of vision.

“Astatine, are you all right?  You were screaming.”

Astatine clasped his hand over his mouth.  Shit, how embarrassing.

Eskil offered his hand and Astatine took it.  He slowly sat up and waited for his breathing to slow down.

“You didn’t hear me say anything, did you?” Astatine asked.

“No,” Eskil replied.  “You were silent for a few minutes, and then you started screaming.”

“Okay, good.” Astatine glanced at Eskil for a moment.  “Your mind is a frightening place.”

“Oh?” Eskil looked downward.  “What…did you see?”

“I didn’t see any of your memories, if that’s what you’re worried about.  It was mostly an endless field of snow.  That would have been fine, except that it started shaking at the end, as if there were an avalanche coming.”

“Oh…is that why you were screaming?”

“Um…yeah…” Astatine thought about mentioning the fire, but decided not to.  That’s most likely one of my own memories.  I wonder why it resurfaced when I was in his mind.  “I tried looking for your magic source, but no luck.  Sorry.”

“It’s all right,” Eskil replied.  “At least you’re okay.  I was worried.”

You’re worried about me?  Astatine smiled warmly.  Eskil looked at him, confused.  

Astatine stood up and dusted off his robes.  “Well, that’s definitely enough excitement for one day!  You hungry?  Let’s get something to eat!”

***

Astatine tossed the last of the small bones into a pile.  He had used his earth magic earlier to shake up the ground and drive out some small rodents.  As they scurried out of the holes in the ground, he grabbed a few of them and took them back into the cottage to roast in the fireplace.  They were quite gamey.  Eskil wasn’t complaining though, so at least that was good.

“So,” Astatine said.  “We could either stay here a few more days and get cabin fever, or we can venture out again.  No guarantee that we won’t run into the undead army again.”

Eskil chewed thoughtfully.  He waited until the food had gone down before speaking.  “We could venture out.  We’ll just be careful.  And…you could always teleport us again if things get too dire.”

Astatine chuckled.  “All right, sounds good.  Maybe we can reach the next city by nightfall.”

They gathered their belongings and went outside to where the horse was patiently waiting.  Astatine mounted the horse and pulled Eskil up behind him.  Eskil wrapped his arms around Astatine’s waist to secure himself.  Astatine smiled and pulled on the reins.  The horse began to gallop and they were off again.

Many hours passed.  The canopy of trees gave way to open fields and they found a dirt road to follow.  As the sun descended, they saw the silhouette of a large building up ahead.

“Is that a city?” Eskil asked.

“Hmm, it looks much smaller than the walled cities we’ve been to before,” Astatine replied.

They went closer and stopped when they were right in front of it.  Astatine dismounted and helped Eskil get down.  He tied the reins to a rock post jutting out from the ground.

The building was made of marble and had many columns.  Intricate carvings lined the walls.  There was a recurring motif of a female form with a flame-like hairpiece and sashes flying around her.  It looked like the building had been neglected for a long time.  There were cracks in the stone and weeds poking out between the tiles.

“What is this place?” Eskil asked.

“It looks like-”

A sudden crash came from within the building.

“Shit, someone’s here,” Astatine whispered.  “Hide!”

They went around the side of the building and ducked down next to some fallen columns.  Astatine peered through the gaps in the walls and his eyes widened.

“What is it?” Eskil whispered.

“Southern Region soldiers,” Astatine whispered back.  “Shh, let’s wait until they’re gone.”  He crouched down, and then remembered something.  “Oh fuck, the horse!”

The horse was still tied to the rock post outside, chewing on grass.  Astatine sighed.

“Should we leave?” Eskil whispered.  “Before they see us?”

“I want to see what they’re up to.  Actually, I can take care of the horse.”  Astatine held his palm up and blew across it.  A shimmering wave radiated through the air.

“What did you do?” Eskil asked.

“Cloaking,” Astatine replied.  “It’s temporary.  That way the soldiers won’t see or hear the horse.  Or us for that matter.  It’s going to drain my energy though.”

“Oh…I guess I could heal you later.”

Astatine smiled at him.

“To restore your energy.”

“Of course.”

They continued to peer through the gaps in the walls.  There were around ten Southern Region soldiers inside.  They toppled the statues and threw pottery to the floor.  Some of them yanked objects out of the walls.

“Why are they destroying everything?” Eskil asked.

“I think it’s because this is a temple of the Fire Goddess,” Astatine replied.

“Fire Goddess?”

I guess I’ll finally have to explain everything to him.  “There are four elemental goddesses, one for each region.  We’re in the Western Region, and they worship the Fire Goddess.  I’m from the Southern Region where they worship the Earth Goddess.  The other two regions are the North and East.  The Northern Region worships the Wind Goddess and the Eastern Region worships the Water Goddess.”

“Oh…that’s interesting.”

“Do you have a Lightning Goddess in your region?”

“Lightning Goddess?”

“Since you use lightning magic.”

“Ah, no, we don’t have a Lightning Goddess.  We do have a God of Thunder though.  But we have many other gods and goddesses.  We have one for each season and ones that represent concepts.”

“Concepts?”

“Yes, like strength, wisdom, peace.  We even have a God of Mischief.”

Astatine chuckled.  “Sounds wild.”

“Yeah…” Eskil smiled, then frowned.  “But why are they destroying a temple of a goddess?  Isn’t that disrespectful?”

Astatine sighed.  “It is.  I don’t want to get into too many details, but it’s a symptom of an underlying power struggle.”

“Oh?  Are the goddesses at war with each other?”

“Um…it’s complicated…”

“Oh…okay,”  Eskil fell silent after that.

They waited until the soldiers finished ransacking the temple and galloped away on their own horses.  Astatine released the cloaking spell and fell forward.  He was exhausted.

“Astatine.” Eskil placed his hand on Astatine’s arm and his palm began to glow blue.

After a few minutes, Astatine placed his hand gently on Eskil’s arm.  “Hey, save your energy.  I don’t want you to drain yourself too.  I can just sleep the rest of it off.  Thank you though.”

“Okay.”  Eskil retracted his hand.  “You’re welcome.”  He looked at the sky.  It was bathed in the orange and purple light of dusk.  “I don’t know if we’ll make it to the next city before nightfall.”

“It’s okay, we can just stay in the temple for tonight,” Astatine said.  “The soldiers are gone now and I doubt anyone else will show up.  Of course, sleeping on stone isn’t going to be that comfortable.”

“That’s fine, I’m used to it.”

“Of course,” Astatine laughed.  “It’s me who isn’t used to it.”

They walked into the temple and stepped carefully over the rubble.  There were porcelain shards and cracked statues everywhere.  Dried flower petals were strewn about.  Tiny indentations dotted the walls.

“I think they were prying out gemstones,” Astatine said as he looked at the indentations.  “Fucking thieves.”

“And these are soldiers from your region?” Eskil asked.

“Ah…” Astatine sighed.  “Yeah.  Their behavior doesn’t represent all of the Southern Region though.  There are good and bad people everywhere.”

Eskil frowned.  He bent down and picked up a piece of a statue’s face.  “That’s too bad.  These are beautiful.”  He turned to Astatine.  “You wouldn’t do anything like this, would you?”

“What?  Of course not!  I gr-” Astatine cut himself off before he could say that he grew up in a temple.  He remembered that he had previously given Eskil the impression that he merely studied under the Earth Priestess with his parents’ blessings.

“Sorry, I shouldn’t ask such things,” Eskil said, looking down at the statue piece.  “You’ve been so kind all this time.”

Astatine frowned and his shoulders sank.  He thought about Thallios and Leiyu.  He looked back at Eskil, who was still examining the piece in his hand.  If only you knew…

Dusk turned to darkness.  They cleared out some space in the corner of the temple so that it was free of shards and other debris.  Eskil curled up and took out his dragon’s egg.  He gazed at it with a soft smile.

“You really think that thing is going to hatch someday?” Astatine asked as he lay down on the tiles.

Eskil shrugged.  “It’s something to look forward to.”

“Okay, but you better not let that giant winged lizard eat us when it grows up.”

Eskil laughed.  He rested his cheek on the shell.

Astatine wrapped his cloak around himself.  “You really aren’t cold?”  Eskil shook his head.  “But you’re from a place with a lot of snow, aren’t you?”  Eskil gave him a look.  “Sorry, it’s what I saw when I dove into your mind earlier.  I assumed that’s where you’re from.”

“Yes…we had a lot of snow…” Eskil had a faraway look in his eyes.

“Just let me know if you need to borrow my cloak.  I know you turned it down before at the cottage, but it’s pretty cold right now.  You keep saying you’re used to it, but I’d feel bad if you were freezing while I’m not.”

“Ah…but then won’t you be freezing?”

“I’ll deal with it.”

“I’d feel bad about that then.  Um…what if we…shared it?”

“Oh?”  Astatine was surprised.  “I considered that too, but I thought you’d be uncomfortable so I didn’t ask.”

“Ah…” Eskil’s cheeks flushed.  “It’s just for tonight…” He looked up shyly.  “Since it’s cold…”  He got up, walked over to Astatine, and lay down next to him.  He kept the dragon’s egg pressed against his chest.

Astatine moved closer to him and wrapped the cloak around both of them.  Eskil’s breath hitched and then calmed back down to a slow steady pace.  Astatine could feel the warmth circulating between them under the cloak.

“Good night, Eskil.”

“Good night, Astatine.”