Phoenix and Obsidian Part 2

Neval had the crew take just the two of them to one of the remote islands. "I've already asked, and no one owns this island. Not enough here to own, really. The volcano's still quite active, a few plants have grown, a constant breeze, and surrounded by water. No drinkable water, though. I brought some for us. It's a little different than the desert, but maybe more balanced for you. Would you try to duplicate the spell, and I can observe, and we'll see what happens?"

She shrugged. Her pathetic equipment had been in her old ratty pack the whole time, so she pulled it all out. She drew the ward, and laid out the pattern, and said the spell, timed the gestures...

And nothing happened.

And still nothing.

She glanced over at Neval, sitting far away with his eyes closed like he was in trance. She sighed in exasperation and scooped up her kit-

And the sand exploded at her feet.

She scooted back, and she would never understand how Neval was suddenly behind her, supporting her, both of them staring in wonder as another crystal phoenix danced on nothing in front of them, twirling in the sun's heat, bathing them with rainbows coming from each invisible feather.

Neval murmured something, and Gerala realized he was speaking the air elemental language. And the air phoenix responded, in a voice much higher pitched, like it was singing a harmonic.

Gerala was jealous, but fascinated.

Neval offered the creature his arm to land, but the phoenix didn't, instead continuing to cover them in rainbows as it spun in joy. It shivered, and they could see two feathers break free and spiral down to them. Neval caught his, Gerala's landed in her lap.

It continued to spin higher and higher, caroling its happiness till they lost sight of it in the sun.

At Gerala's feet were a pile of glittering nuggets.

**************

Neval plopped down a few paces away to try to duplicate the spell with his own kit. Perfect specimens, of course: griffon feather pinion, a nugget of pure gold as big as her fist, a bowl of water blessed by the high priestess and a raft of lesser water elementals, and a fire of sandalwood shavings lit from charcoal taken from the high altar after summer solstice ceremonies.

She would have puked with envy, but he was her friend. So maybe she'd only puke when he wasn't watching, instead of on his perfect leather slippers.

Perfect gestures, perfect phrasing, perfect timing. Watching him do the summoning spell was watching the best mage in a generation, perhaps two or three, at the height of his power and brimming with collected power.

And nothing happened.

They waited impatiently, and waited again, and Neval eventually scooped up his kit and jumped back.

Still nothing happened.

They heard a calling over the water, and looked up to see a shimmering form undulating toward them over the ocean. An air serpent, a huge one, sinuously twirling in the air currents. When it landed it curled itself around them like a puppy and demanded pettings, so they both obliged - not that they could do anything less, since it was wrapped rather thoroughly around both of them.

The pet-scratchings loosened many scales, which were left behind when the happy elemental finally caught an air current and slithered downwind and out of sight.

They silently gathered scales, and packed them with their feathers, and walked to the other side of the tiny island to join their ship and go home.

*************

"I don't understand! My mage kit is nothing compared to yours, what just happened?"

"Magic follows logic. We're missing something. Probably many things. It's not the quality of the kit, I don't think, though we can try my using your kit and you using mine."

"I.... don't think that'll work. I may blow up something."

"Well, some first thoughts." Neval held up his feather, just barely visible indoors. "That was no air phoenix. I should know."

"What? Then what was it?"

"Nothing I've ever seen or heard of. How well did you see the air snake?"

"Uhhh, sort of. It shimmered a lot."

"But we could both see the phoenix perfectly plainly. I think that's a clue." He stroked the feather gently. "You're a three-path magic user. Earth, Fire, and Air. All three elements were there in great supply each time you did your spell. What.... what if, that phoenix, is somehow a combination or manifestation of all three of your elements?"

Gerala thought. "When you meld water and fire, you get steam. Water and earth make mud. But earth, and fire, and air..... uh, glass?"

"In nature, it would be obsidian. These shiny nuggets, I'm guessing, are the remains of an eggshell, or what passes for one. A little different than the first set, though. The creature was so happy to be alive, and singing! I think we witnessed its birth. When I talked to it, it seemed very much new-born."

"But that's impossible, isn't it? Wouldn't we know, have heard?"

"Has anyone tried it before? Or, after being treated like you were, would anyone admit what they'd discovered? To the mages that spit on them?"

"Oh. Yeah, if I'd figured this out on my own, I'd stay here and tell the snobby prigs to skleth off and sell my pretties as dearly as possible to their grubby paws."

"That's what I wanted to tell you." Neval looked at her intently. "I know how you feel about the merchants. I've wanted to talk to you about Merchant's Row. For all the mages sneer at the working class, there's an awful lot of magic going on down there."

"What do you mean?"

"If you don't have the eyes to see magic, there is a spell you can cast to see it for a time. Or you can cast it on an object, like eye lenses or a magnifying lens. So I may have gotten drunk and wandered down to the market after that test, while the spell was still active. The place is thick with magics! Not pure spells, but like a patchwork knitted by a drunken sailor. No one ever asks where the twin paths and three-paths go when they wash out of mage school."

"You're implying they become... merchants?"

"Some of them, I think. But I think they can become the best artisans, if they learn to channel their specific magics into their art."

"Um." Gerala thought hard. "So, Water and Earth.... pottery?"

"Fire and Earth, blacksmith or armorer."

"Air and Earth, weaver."

"And each person would be drawn to the skills that channel into their chosen profession. Gerala, what if your dad was like you, a three-path, and somehow a patchwork spell went awry, or got accidentally disrupted, and that's how he had the accident?"

"You're saying, I got this from Dad?"

"It's possible. Magic talent tends to run in families. Your own brother - well, since he went to Water, I can't really explain that."

"He completely takes after Mom's side and there are Water mages in the line. You know she favored him over the rest of us."

"Oh. Then maybe what I say makes sense after all."

"It.... it just may. We will both have to think on this. But that doesn't explain why my awful kit works, and yours doesn't."

"Well, let's look at the components." They dug out their spell pieces, laid them side by side. "We're taught purity, purity, purity. But twin paths are by nature divided, and three-path even more. So, how would that translate to our kit?"

Gerala reached out hesitantly, touched his gold nugget with one finger. And shuddered. "Ugh, It's too cold, too.... ah, words! Too deep, not enough sunshine."

"Your rock is mostly quartz. If I remember my elemental studies, quartz is very like rough, unrefined glass."

"I'm detecting a theme."

"Then we may be on to something. So, for a twin or three path, the rock composition matters. Might be different for each mage. What else?"

"This is supposed to be a griffon feather."

"Not a normal one." He gently picked it up, stroked it. "Earth griffons are a brown patterning, air griffons are mottled gray like storm clouds. I've heard of water griffons, but they're rare and blue-gray tones. Fire griffons are of course reds and yellows and oranges. Black with a blue-white sheen? Maybe a mix again, of air and earth?"

"You do realize the fire for a glass worker isn't red or orange or yellow, but blue with a white halo?"

"Ah. I did not." He gently set it down. "So we can safely assume others have discovered what you did, in other quadrants. If it's a griffon feather, it's definitely an elemental mix. The water?"

"From the Oracle's Grove."

"Ah, a heavy mineral hot spring. Makes you wonder who will use sea water in their spells, with all its abundant minerals."

"And sevanda wood is known for pulling metal salts from the desert soil to build itself."

"And driftwood collects minerals from the water when the wood dries. Yes, I'm seeing a pattern here."

"I need to think on this."

He shoved paper at her. "And take notes. I will too, to compare."

********************

Blur of routine.

Years flew by with importing, and exporting, and selling, and shipping, and rigging ships for safety.

The ship's crew retired early, returned with riches to their families, and were replaced with another crew. Who also retired early, and were replaced again with eager volunteers.

The shop was turned over to the servants to run. Gerala was busy with Neval, trying new spells and methods of concentrating and gathering magic. They tried, they really did, to entice mages from the other three elements to join them, but mages were in such high demand now with no more being taught and graduating, that they could make small fortunes on the mainland.

Finally they both saw the obvious, and wrote some discreet letters.

Soon, every other ship wasn't bringing goods. It was bringing potential students - rejected twin path and three-path prospective mages.

*******************

"We just bought the island!"

"Wonderful!" Neval, in an uncharacteristic display of affection, scooped her up and swung her around. "So the spell worked?"

"Some of the Water-Fire twins did a calling, and some kind of heated spring elemental answered. Or was born there. But it's fresh water. We'll probably have hot baths forever. They're building up a well right now for it to live in, and some of the others are working on building housing. They called some kind of Earth-Fire or Earth-Air thingamies for that. We'll get occasional storms, so we're being careful in where and how we build."

"And you'll set up warning shields for larger things?"

"If the Air-Water twins can't come up with warning devices for the storms, I'll eat my tunic!"

"Hah!"

Just then, the servants-turned-merchants entered the room - to stop short at the sight of Neval still swinging Gerala through the air and both laughing with happiness. Nareen, the youngest servant, clapped her hands in delight. "It's more than about time! You've just got engaged, yes?"

Neval stopped swinging Gerala so fast that she almost fell. Almost. She just clung tighter, and he almost overbalanced. They stared at each other, then at the servants, at each other - and collapsed into giggles. Neval gently tossed her onto the nearest couch, and flumphed himself aside of her.

He stared at Nareen. "Darling, how long have you harbored this romance?"

"Since I arrived here and was told you were exiled. You saved her life! She saved yours! You love each other! Here you can get married, and have children, and the king will have to accept it, or he'll be dead so it doesn't matter who you marry-"

Neval shook his head. "Dearest, it isn't that easy, and it wasn't quite like that. I do not love women that way, and certainly not Gerala. Her friend? To death, as has been proven. Loyal? To beyond death, if it is allowed. But I am already engaged to the high priestess, as our kingdom dictates. There are ways we can consummate a union long enough to have children. She, or her successor, depending on how long I'm in exile."

Gerala's turn. "And I don't love anyone like that. I don't think I can, actually, my body was damaged by years of living on the streets. Magic's enough for me, now that I have it! That's how we became friends, each of us was tired of people flinging themselves at us like we must mate with them for their own purposes. I want conversation and learning, not pressing bodies together." She glanced sideways at Neval. "Though you do have a certain royal allure..."

"Don't you start! Remember, I had you at my tender mercy. The healer made me clean you up, after he had to teach me how to do it. I never want to go through that again! How women put up with it, tending their younglings, I will never understand."

She shrugged. "We birth them, we clean them. Most men have no idea where to start."

"I would have died happy never knowing that esoteric knowledge." They both looked over at the servants, just in time to see a lot of money exchanging hands. "Hah! Who had what bets?" And they spent the next hour finding out who won, who lost, and who was devastated at the news.

*******************

Neval was so proud when he went out with a small sack of money and bought a second boat. A smaller one, that could ferry him back and forth from their home to the budding mage school.

Gerala and the servant-merchants were just happy he wasn't cheated - well, not by much. And they didn't quibble when the crew threw in free sailing lessons, in case he was daft enough to try sailing on his own. Which, of course, he was, the very next day.

Some of Gerala's students helped fish him out, and she gave him a proper scolding. And a few amulets so the water-air elementals that had been popping up would assist him.

Then they thought better, and gave him amulets that covered all the elemental cross-quartering.

And then they thought some more - and after long discussions with each other and elementals, began selling protective amulets.

It funded the school, and then some, without relying on the servants' booth anymore.

And word spread, like word always does. Soon the mage school became a regular stop for merchants from the mainland to get reliable amulets.

With the safer trade routes, came the artisans. And with some classes at the school under their belt, better artisans, who no longer relied on patchwork stitched spells that could backfire spectacularly.

Many of the artisans stayed. With ready access to raw materials, and new elementals, and advance warning of unpredictable weather, they could produce beautiful things in safer conditions. Fire-Earth and Fire-Wind mages, and the three-paths, managed to broker an agreement to have their forges and workshops lava-heated without burning anyone to a crisp. Bakeries, too, and other cooking kitchens.

Some single-path mages had heard rumors of mage stones, and came to investigate. And brought a lot of money. Some even left with one, radiant with happiness. Some left empty-handed, after being chewed out by the three-path mage turned headmaster who remembered how they'd bullied and hounded her on campus.

Gerala even got a tower. A little one, but tall enough so she could see some of the other islands from it. And her prism-glass phoenix would come sometimes, and sing to her, and if she closed her eyes and concentrated, it would fly around and she could see the world through its eyes.

And her own mage stone would shimmer in response.

****************

When Gerala walked into the room, Neval was sitting uncomfortably straight in his chair, and wearing that sklething silk outfit they'd packed for him all those years ago. She could see the creases the servants tried to hastily remove.

She bit back her usual greeting. With him puddling in the heat, in that outfit, it could only mean one thing. Sure enough, there was a thick stack of papers dripping with seals in his lap, and some strangers standing discreetly off to one side. Their servants and his were hovering in the background.

She half-bowed. She knew. "Is your father still alive?" she asked quietly.

He nodded jerkily.

"Ah, good. Then you are forgiven, and recalled."

He nodded again.

"And the servants? Do they stay or go with you?"

He finally found his voice. He coughed. "They are split. Some will stay, and some will go with me. The ones who stay, their families and a few more of the servants who have come will take over the house, and the emporium, and the trade route."

"Ah, good. Then it sounds like everything is settled on this end. When you're ready to leave, come over to our island, and we'll throw a party for you." She turned to leave, but he was still stiff, and a hand twitch caught her eye. There was more?

He motioned her closer, and she came. He handed her a packet, sealed and folded. "My first decree," he whispered, "As the fully restored Crown Prince, is that you are a free woman, beholden to no tribe or family."

She froze - so the decree - officially - that could only mean -

She heard the door open again behind her, but she was staring at Neval's impassive face. So she schooled her own face to match. Even if the nasty whiff of stale fresh water wasn't enough of a clue, the paper packet that rested solidly in her hands was proof, and she knew that step-step-step-bounding-leap and was he really going to pull that stunt right here in front of his future ruler?

I don't think so! Not today!

Years of talking with three of four elemental types - plus all the cross-quartered ones that were found / born / discovered - had gotten her ears well used to hearing the subtle warnings they would give. Years of living on the streets also had honed her reflexes, and they hadn't disappeared in just a few years' worth of softer living. So when her idiot (no, bully) brother tried to humiliate her in front of their mutual ruler, both in magic and in politics, she waited till he was nearly on her - then ducked, and with one elbow firmly planted in his midriff, flipped him over her own body to slam on the floor right in front of the makeshift throne.

"Uh-o-o-o-o-o-ouuuuufffff!"

"Nice to see you too, moron." Gerala turned, one eyebrow already raised, to see her mother skulking in the back, clutching her young sibling twins like she owned them. They looked thin and starving. "And the parent harpy, always letting others do her dirty work for her. To what do I owe" - she glanced down at her brother, still gasping for air - "the 'honor' of this sophisticated visit?"

Like I don't already know. Like I'm too stupid to figure it out.

The silence was only punctuated by her brother's long gasps and hiccups. And the air drake now protectively coiled around Neval - which she could now see, thanks to a personal amulet from Neval - was staring at the writhing thing at Neval's feet like it would dearly love to deny him what little precious air he had left.

She waited. I've learned some things, Mama dearest, like how I don't need to punctuate the silence with my own excuses. Let's see if you've learned the same lesson.

No. "Well. Daughter. It seems that you've yet to reach your majority-"

"And this packet decrees I am free of your tender mercies. Forever. And in return, I won't take you to court for a decade of abuse and neglect. Forced to live on the street when you all but kicked me out. Never feeding me enough. Letting this piece of kravosh-spit beat me, feel me up, call me all kinds of names, and all you'd do was smirk like it was our own private game. He always got the best of whatever scraps were thrown our way, and the rest of us got nothing. Not even letting me apprentice to one of the other glassblowers, knowing many of them would take me! I scraped together my own money to enter the mage school, even though you and kravosh-spit here tried to steal it from me many times. And bounce me out of college. It's not a secret where all those nasty letters testifying to my 'evil nature' came from, that the deans kept receiving." She kicked her brother in the gonads, forcing him to gasp and curl up in a ball of pain. "He's older than me, and I'm a three-path mage, and he still couldn't muster the concentration to graduate before they got shut down? And who's the better person here? I am the headmaster of the first royal college of magic of the cross quarters, and he's a single-spiker of no particular distinction. Tell me," she suddenly demanded, "do you even remember my name?"

Silence.

"No surprise there. Well, now that I've made something of myself, and proved to royal satisfaction that I can manage a budget and lead a school and turn a profit, I think that there will be no further contact between us. You came here because you heard I had money and prestige. And I will not share it with you. You just wanted me to die before I reached majority and could sue you for damages in court. You're lucky I don't care enough to do so in a few scant years." Her personal air elemental, the one that Neval had asked to watch over her, chimed and flew over to her one sister, hovered, and returned. Gerala looked at her twin sisters, and saw little shimmers - and haunted eyes. Her mother clutched them a little too tightly. Hmm.

"Brinna. Cressie. I'm guessing that our darling brother started abusing you the minute I wasn't around long enough to take that abuse myself. This is your one chance. Do you want a different life? A better one? If you wish, I can find you places in this world where you're treated with respect and kindness, and we'll find you jobs that will fit the skills you choose to develop. You don't have to depend on another person for your way of life, ever. You get to choose your own fortune. But this is your only chance - take it, run to me, or stay. Your choice."

It only took a few moments. Their harpy-mother tried to keep a grip on them, but in a coordinated movement, each sister kicked her in a shin, and when she dropped in pain, the twins ran to her and wrapped themselves sobbing around her waist. Gerala glanced at Neval.

He cleared his throat. "Then, by the authority I wield, I transfer guardianship of these two to Gerala till their majority. Conalt, would you be so kind as to write the proper packets for them?" His manservant fell to scribbling quickly.

Gerala glared at her birth parent. "My name is Gerala. Named for my father. Now take your poisonous son and get off the islands before my royal friend here loses his temper on you, which you so richly deserve. Enjoy your hovel." She turned to go, one arm curled around each sib protectively.

The elementals warned her, and she pushed the twins off to the side to get them out of the way-

Her idiot brother had gasped out the final syllables of a curse spell, fingers pointed at her in a particular fashion-

And the air drake reared up, and its tail curved around and swept him into the far wall with a sickening crack.

He hit the ground in a disjointed pile. Gerala just shook her head. A shimmer in the air around him condensed like water vapor, and a handful of water elementals popped into visibility - everyone in the room could see them. They keened, swirling in distress, then flew off out the nearest window.

Neval was also shaking his head. "First rule of higher spells, little neophyte: do not use elementals to kill for you."

"You are the king of fools." Gerala looked over at her harpy-mother. "Good luck finding a healer who will help him. Your best bet is to get his bones set and pray for the best. His elementals have abandoned him, so he will go mad soon. Also good luck getting him home under such conditions."

"And I will neither waste money nor bribe healers for such a spectacular waste of a decent life. Some of my servants here will help you find a stretcher and carry him to the nearest apothecary. Good luck with paying for it." The servants bowed, nodded, and ran off to find two pole-like objects and a bed sheet.

Gerala was too busy checking on the twins to notice the glass phoenix that twirled slowly, protectively, right above her head. Everyone else could see it, even the twins. But only Neval noticed that of the rainbows it scattered across the room, none washed over Gerala's harpy-mother, or her brother.

*********************

"I have a lot to do when I return."

Gerala and Neval curled up in a corner of the dining hall, out of the way of the revelers. They found it ironic that the person for whom this party was ostensibly being thrown was in fact the quietest of the bunch, keeping still and out of the way.

"Indeed. A magic school to turn upside down and inside out..."

"A court system to upheave, so children abused by their own family can get help..."

"The servants will set up an emporium for us on the mainland, to sell our amulets and artistry..."

"You will raise your sibs, and give them the best possible chances..."

"You will scandalize a court with your new summer fashions..."

"So many other things. Conalt and I have been conferring, and we've been writing up documents for years. I have them in the silk trunk, just to remind me of what lies ahead."

"You'll have to call it the linen trunk now, since you're returning."

"Hardly. I'll scandalize everyone. My underlayers will still be linen, it's too comfortable to give up for courtly fashion."

"I do not envy you your new position, though you were born and trained for it. I wish you luck. Though you are welcome here at any time you can sneak away for a visit."

"I am still an air mage, with an air drake who's coming along for the ride. If I can't sneak out, I'll eat those silks." He drank whatever beverage had been given to him, but slowly, since it was a mixture of fermented local fruits that the three-paths were experimenting with. "I will miss you, my friend. Royals don't have those, and you are worth double your weight in mage stones for all the paths of the world you've shown me."

"So it was worth it? Being exiled?"

"You made sure I never endured hardship. A less sumptuous life, perhaps, but still so much better than the least of my people. I had hard lessons to learn, but they needed to happen. A matter of opening my eyes."

"For a stuck-up royal, you were surprisingly easy to teach."

"I should be, after almost killing you with neglect."

"You made it right, so we're even."

"Yes, we are." he stared intently into her eyes. "You are my peer. That packet I gave you also mentions that fact. Set it as an amulet, and if you need to find me, no matter where I am, you are allowed in my presence. No one, and nothing, can stop you."

She swallowed. "That's... rather potent magic."

"Indeed. Loyalty to death does that." He swallowed some more of his drink, nodded at another corner. "Nareen lost more money last night. She honestly thought you were coming back with us."

"That poor deluded girl! She really expected a happy ending, with a boy and a girl kissing under the moon as they sailed off?"

"Apparently. She's coming back with us. Want to take bets her heart breaks when I take my next lover, and she finds out it's a man?"

"Oh, didn't what's-his-name from school wait for you?"

"No, I gave him the choice to stay or come with us, and he chose to stay. Which is fine, we were casual lovers anyway. Though I think he regrets his decision now, since I didn't tell him I was shutting the school! The high priestess knows, and understands. Dad had the same understanding with the last high priestess. My high priestess has some special friends too, though the magic spell we use ensures her children are sired by me. She'll be an excellent mother. She told me some of the priestesses are so put off when they learn, through initiation and mysteries, that a high priestess of the Mother Goddess has to have sex and produce children, they quit in disgust! They're sent to the Moon Maiden cloisters."

"Sounds like the best place for them."

"Every one should be able to find their way." He drained the drink. "I'll find mine, and if I can't, I'll come back and you can get my head on straight again."

"And sometimes I'll come to you, to get away from three-path mages and their sugary sweet drinks."

"Yes, I'm rather wanting a more savory tea myself, and to scrape my teeth clean."

"Here." She shoved a goblet of spiced cider at him. "My special vintage."

"Then I'm sure to like it." He sipped, and was pleasantly surprised it was good, a balance of tart and sweet.

"Told you." She eased back, enjoying the "firelight" of a few glowing lava elementals at the hearth. "It's not a seedy tavern, it's not your class mates celebrating your mastery, and it's not as smelly and loud, but I'm here to see it this time, and it's deeply satisfying to see some dreams become reality."

"As you should be." He tilted his drink at her in salute, and when she went to set hers down, impulsively caught at her wrist and kissed it. "Ah, Nareen saw that, I'll have to endure her sad eyes all the way back to court. But you've earned it and more. Be well, my friend, and successful beyond our wildest dreams."

She reached for his hands, turned them over, and kissed each inner upturned wrist. A traditional kiss of servant to liege lord was in the center of each palm, but on the pulse point, it was the royal kiss of equals. "Be well, my friend, and rule well, and scandalize everyone for hundreds of miles in all directions. And if you can't, set an air drake on them!"

The air drake, curled around both of them to give them privacy, snorted. So did the glass phoenix, curled up near their drinks on the table. The air sprite Neval set on her so long ago was sitting on its back, but it giggled instead.

"Hah! For true scandalization, I may need a whole raft of air dragons! Maybe I'll try a summons or five on the way home..."

Gerala smacked him.

(Author's Note: I love obsidian in all its forms, though I chose the smoky-clear apache tear as the main mineral of the first half of this story, and silver sheen obsidian for the second. Obsidian forms some amazing combinations - check out rainbow obsidian, gold sheen obsidian, fire obsidian, snowflake obsidian... even peridot is considered a volcanic glass-like mineral, though slightly different in formulation, but a close cousin. Check out some pictures, and enjoy!)

Part 1: https://vocal.media/fiction/phoenix-and-obsidian-part-1