Lark

“Lark, would you mind taking these books back downstairs for me?”

Mikael Larkens suppressed a frown. He was pretty sure Fen’s only reason for becoming a mage was one of pure laziness. Why walk somewhere, when it was easy to teleport? Of course, he could have just teleported the books in the same manner, but asking someone else to do it was easier than casting a spell.

“Sure, I was about to go down anyway.”

“Thanks Lark.”

He picked up the books and started his way down the spiraling staircase to the lower part of the mage tower. He’d been called Lark since he started going to school. There were three Mikaels in his first year as a young lad. The teacher had started out by calling all three by their full names, but within a month, she was calling them only by their last names. The fellow students shortened it even more to Lark, and it stuck. He didn’t mind, as long as no one assumed he could sing.

He reached the ground floor of the tower, and left the books on the table to be sorted and put away. He had been coming to study every day for the past few months, but was unable to find the books he needed to progress in his studies. He was starting to think he’d have to turn to other sources. He’d already started looking into it, though finding people willing to go off the beaten path to look for books was proving difficult. He had started dressing down and going to questionable bars looking for the right people, but hadn’t found anyone yet.

He’d keep looking. He had to until he found the information he needed.

Hethurin’s Notes

• Everything at the school is going well. I’m really glad to be teaching again too. I’m not trying to rush them through their work, but there is a certain amount of material I wanted to cover this semester, and I know there won’t be time for it all. Maybe I can work it into the plans for next semester.
• If I could, I’d take them with me to other timelines and just teach them there. I’ve been going for two weeks at a time, but I’m only gone a few seconds here. That would be a great way to cram a couple of months worth of material into a just a few weeks. I don’t think I’m allowed to do that though.
• I have more official stuff to fill out for that art school in Silvermoon. They want to know everything! The only thing that might not check out is the general studies teacher. I guess Raleth asked me the night of the mask party, but I had a little much to drink then. He brought Lali with him. I think it was her first time here. Anyway, I agreed to hire her as the teacher. I don’t know how much she knows about sin’dorei history or math or anything, but Raleth assured me that she can do it. I suppose I can ask my students to help. They’re already helping Vaildor.
• I need to remember to ask the Confessor if he knows of any other young people at any of the other estates in the area. The general education classes should be free, so everyone from the area is welcome to enroll. I’ve filled out the papers necessary for the Spire to get Silvermoon to help fund it. I did get a letter back saying that they’re pleased with someone opening a school in the Ghostlands, and they’re planning to expedite my request. I think that’s a good sign!
• On a completely unrelated matter, no one believes me that eggs hatch into chickens. I’m going to make sure Lali teaches basic biology. Everyone should know that!
• The room for the general classes is coming along well. Unfortunately, the new hallway to it is next to my study. They had to take out the wall where the side door is, and it’s a bit chilly now. Okay, more than a bit. It’s freezing! Anyway, my office gets cold a lot. Des suggested I could ask Aeramin for his hot rocks. I didn’t laugh, but I think he would if I asked him that. Terellion wants to bring me tea. I don’t want him to really. It’s my study and it’s the only place I can work, and if he starts bringing me tea in there, then maybe he’s going to want to stay in there, and I’m so weak around him.
• I’ve been trying to go to bed earlier than him, and waking up earlier. A lot of times I do succeed. I know I have to talk to him about it. I just keep feeling worse and worse about it. I just don’t know what to say though. I can’t make him stay with me if he doesn’t want to stay. I keep trying to forget that, and try to appreciate that he’s here now, but it gnaws at the back of my mind constantly. I can’t forget that he doesn’t want to make a commitment to stay together, and it hurts. It hurts when I see him, or when I think of him. It hurts all the time.
• That’s why I’ve been fishing a lot. I know it’s a big advantage for me to be able to just go off for two weeks and then return to the same point I was when I left. I think Tik is starting to question what we’re going to do with all the fish. A couple of times I was gone longer than two weeks, but I’m worried that Renner won’t let me and will stop teaching me if I do that a lot. I’m surprised he hasn’t said anything about the frequency. I’m not supposed to spend a lot of time in one place, but he never said anything about restrictions on how often I could go, so I guess it must be okay.
• Anyway, I go and I think about it, and I think I’m okay with it all again. Then I come back and it starts all over again the moment I see him. I keep telling myself to enjoy that he’s here, and well, things are very enjoyable with him, but then I feel bad after. That’s when I feel the worst. Like why do we do that if he isn’t going to stay. Oh, but then he says he isn’t leaving. I know he’s young, but what does that have to do with marriage? Does he think he’s too young, and he’ll change his mind when he’s older? That hurts too.
• I knew it was a mistake. I should have never looked at him in the first place. He’s younger than some of my students. He’s too young to know what he wants, and I love him too much to send him away.
• I think I need to go fishing again.

A Talk after Classes

Hethurin Fairsong walked along the long hallways of Fairsong Academy.  He hated his new wards, which allowed magic only in certain rooms.  It meant he couldn’t teleport anywhere!  However, Maerista’s parents had not been very accepting of his idea that she should be old enough to make decisions herself, and he felt it was best to keep the wards up for the time being, even if it meant walking.

He stopped at a door near the end of the hallway and knocked.  He heard a voice call out from within, “Come in.”  Good, he wasn’t too late.  Aeramin had a tendency to leave early at times, as he preferred to work in the library in Shattrath than at the school.  He opened the door, and stepped inside the room, closing the door behind himself as the elf sitting at the desk looked up.  “Hello, Hethurin.”

“Hi.  Can we talk?”

Aeramin pulled the papers in front of him together and stacked them neatly off to the side.  “Sure. What is it?”

Hethurin sat in the chair on the other side of the desk.  “I was wondering about marriage.  Oh, don’t tell Ter I said anything, okay?”

“Okay.  What do you think I know about marriage?  I’ve never been married.”

“Oh, well I thought maybe you knew who was supposed to ask.”  Hethurin frowned.  Maybe Aeramin wouldn’t know.

“Probably the one with enough money to buy everything for the wedding.”

“But I wear robes.”

“Lots of guys wear robes.”

Hethurin frowned again, “But I want him to ask, and I want it to be his idea.”

“Then wait.”

“How long?”

Aeramin shrugged.

“What if he never asks?”

“Then he doesn’t want to get married.”

“But I do.”

“Then ask him.”

“I can’t ask him!” Hethurin exclaimed.  Aeramin wasn’t being much help at all.

“Why not?”

“Because I want him to ask.”

“And what if he’s saying the same thing to himself right now?  Look, I know you don’t want to hear this, but because he works here and you own everything, he probably sees you as being the one who should ask.  If he asks, it’ll look like he’s just in it for the money and the easy lifestyle.  That’s if he’s even thinking about it.  He’s a bit young to be thinking about marriage.”

Hethurin rolled his eyes, “He’s old enough.  There’s less of an age gap between him and me than there was between us.”

Aeramin’s ear twitched, “Age difference has nothing to do with it.  I’m just saying he’s young.  Yes, he’s old enough, but he’s young.  I think you should bring it up with him and see if he’s open to it.”

“But then it’s my idea, not his.”

Aeramin raised a brow, “It is, isn’t it?”

Hethurin frowned thoughtfully, “I guess it kind of is, but I’d like him to think about it too.”

“Then talk to him about it.”

Hethurin thought about it for a moment before nodding silently.  He started to get up.

“Wait, I was kind of hoping to talk to you too.”

“Oh?”  Hethurin sat back down.

“Yeah, I was hoping you might have a guest room free starting this weekend.”

“There should be.  I’ll make sure Tik has it ready for you.  Will Imralion be coming too?”

“It might just be Imralion.”

Hethurin raised a brow, “Where will you be?”

“That depends on him.  I have to tell him something he’s not going to be happy about.  I want him to be near his sister, and there’s the Confessor in town if he needs to talk.  I know Tik will make sure he eats, and if he needs to talk about how awful I am behind my back, I have two ex-boyfriends in the area who can probably nod and agree.”

“Two?”

“Orledin, the death knight.  I knew him when he was alive and just a baker.  Anyway, I’ll be in town staying with my father until Im’s ready to see me.  If he wants to see me.”

“It sounds pretty bad.  What did you do?”

“That’s something I have to talk to him about, not you.  You’ll find out eventually.  Probably this weekend.”

Hethurin frowned.  It must be something really horrible if Aeramin expected Imralion wouldn’t want him around.  “I’ll let Tik know to have the room ready.  I’ll ask Terellion to make extra cake this weekend too.”

“Thank you.”  Aeramin picked up his papers and put them away in his satchel.  “I suppose I should get home and let Im know of the plan to visit this weekend.  I’ll be telling him what happened after we arrive so he’ll have all the support he needs.  Could I bother you for a portal to Shattrath?  Yours are better than mine.”

Hethurin nodded.  He could make them in this room as he had left it out of the warding so that Raleth and Aeramin could still arrive without having to arrive outside.  He got up and started casting the spell.

Practice 2

Lena said the words to conjure the vision around herself and Zarah.  A future Ghostlands slowly came into focus.  Zarah had warned her that her subject today was Vaildor.  The timelines were still adjusting to his presence, and the visions may be foggier than usual.  While it did take a little longer to focus, when it finally did, this one was clear.  The young man stood on an outdoor terrace at an easel.  Lena guessed that they were in Tranquillien, and that they were at the boy’s home.  He painted the scene of the village as he saw it from where he stood.

“This is the most likely future for him as things are now.  With him, things can change very rapidly still.  There is another possible future that switches frequently with this one.”  Zarah commented as Lena walked closer to study the details of the painting in progress.  “This one changes often.  Sometimes he’s painting here, sometimes he’s inside or in Silvermoon, but he paints.  The subject of his painting changes just as often.”

“What is he doing in the other possible future?”

“You memorized the spells I gave you.  Cast the second one.  It will take us to his second most likely possibility.”

Lena looked at the painting once more.  The young elf meticulously continued adding more details.  He was very good.  She smiled and cast the spell.

It took longer than usual as the vision faded and a new one replaced it.  They were in a room, the walls were an off-white and the cabinets were as well.  Again, it seemed quite clear despite the fact it took longer to appear.  Vaildor knelt next to a female elf.  They both observed a wound on a third elf’s leg.  The female was explaining what she was doing as she cleaned and dressed the wound.

Lena scrunched her nose up slightly.  She didn’t like the sight of blood much.  “He’s a healer?”

“He’s learning.”

“I see.  It’s quite a bit different from painting.”

Zarah smiled, “They both require attention to detail.  He seems good at that.”

“Can we try another?”  Lena asked, looking away from the wounded leg.

Zarah nodded.

Lena wasted no time casting the next spell.  The room faded as another vision appeared.  This one did seem more muddled as it slowly came into focus.  It was as if she were watching something far away, though it was right in front of her.  Though things never fully became clear, and the sound was muffled, she knew where it was as she had been here before in a vision.  Fairsong Academy.

“I can’t make out the faces, but that looks like him there.” Lena pointed to one of the students.

“That’s him.  This is an unlikely possibility, but it still could happen.  It is a lot less likely now that he’s moved to the town.”

“So it would have been clearer if we visited before he moved?”

Zarah nodded silently.

“But it’s still not completely eliminated as a possibility.”

“Correct.”

Lena nodded, still concentrating on the foggy vision.  It wasn’t going to clear up.  “Can we do one more?”

Zarah nodded.

Lena cast the spell.  There was no waiting this time.  A vision set at a camp in a forest snapped into focus.  Zarah took a step back.  Lena did as well upon seeing who the campers were.  She knew it was him before Zarah told her, not simply by the way Zarah had reacted, but also by the way his head had snapped towards them the moment the vision had appeared.  There was little likelihood of it being Hethurin.

“So, we’re resorting to spying now?” Sanimir said, standing and taking a step towards them, “But no, wait… something is off.  I can’t tell what it is.”

Vaildor, who was almost 90 in this reality, looked around, “Ann’da, who are you talking to?  They aren’t coming for us again, are they?”

“They’re not really here, but they see us.”

Vaildor quickly crawled into his tent and pulled a blanket over his head.  His green eyes peeked out from underneath it.

Lena glanced at Zarah.  She whispered, “What do I do?”

“Keep him talking.  I’m trying to unravel his location.”

Sanimir laughed, “Good luck with that, dragon.  I’ve had time to improve my skills.  Thankfully for you, you’re not really here.”

Lena glanced at Zarah again, and whispered, “How is he talking to us?  It’s supposed to just be a vision.”

Zarah was silent.

“Oh, I see!  You’re not even fully trained yet!  Zaradormi, my dear, you are slipping.  No, wait.  I know what’s wrong.  You’re in the past.  This is Lena, isn’t it.  Poor thing didn’t deserve what you led her into.  So sorry about that.  My condolences about what happened to Renzdormu as well.”  Sanimir looked directly at Zarah.  “I suggest you leave my family alone.  We wouldn’t want any further accidents.”  He smiled smugly as he began to cast a spell.

“No!” Zarah exclaimed, but it was too late.  The vision disappeared.  “I think I almost had it.  We could have gotten him, but I suppose it’s for the best.  We wouldn’t want to let him run loose for 70 years.  It’s much preferable to catch him before that.”

Lena frowned, “The vision was very clear.  Is there a high likelihood of it happening?”

“He’s done enough.  I won’t let him do more.  We need to warn the others of what we’ve seen.”

Hethurin’s Notes – Booty Bay: Month 2

Day 33:

I took Des fishing with me this morning and spoke to her about the importance of not driving Renner crazy.  I caught some fish too.  I hope she was listening.  We talked some about the spells and stuff as well.  She’s doing well but hasn’t quite got the hang of casting both the invisibility on herself and on someone else.  It does have the added benefit of making her tired, so she sleeps longer and bothers Renner less.

 

Day 37:

Success!  Des managed both invisibilities at once!  It was only for a few seconds though.  We’ll have to work on it a lot yet.

I still miss Terellion so much.  I think about him a lot.  I bet he could make the cake here with the cream inside and it would be so good, not old and stale like the ones they have.  I tried to conjure some, but it’s hard to imagine what it tastes like when it’s fresher because I’ve never had it fresh.  I asked the goblin where the cakes are from because I thought if I went to the source I could get better cake!  Unfortunately, they’re from some human town to the north at a lake or something.  I guess they send some down every few days.  I think they only send old ones because if they’re sent every few days, then every few days they should be fresher, but they’re not.  The goblin might be lying.  It’s a big cake mystery.

Maybe humans are just awful bakers.

 

Day 41:

Des still can’t maintain both invisibility spells for very long, but she can do it regularly now.  I think she’s still putting too much into maintaining it.  I will admit it is difficult and it’s based on some very advanced concepts.  It took me some practice to get it to work, and a lot of practice to prolong it.  She’s progressing well.

 

Day 45:

I miss Ter.  I hope he’s ready for me to jump on him when we get home!  I hold my pillow at night, but it’s not the same so I just end up crying.  Quietly!  There’s no privacy with the stupid curtains dividing our room up, and I don’t want the others to think something’s wrong.  Nothing’s wrong.  I just miss Ter a lot, and I’m sure I’ve said that enough that they don’t want to hear about it.

Des is doing well.  She’s making progress.  Slow progress, but progress all the same!  One of her attempts today lasted for almost a minute.  I think she’s getting better at figuring out how to maintain it without exhausting herself too quickly.

I caught fish and had it cooked today.  While I was waiting for it to be cooked, that goblin with the dirty books tried to sell me some again.  I couldn’t wait for the food to finish!  I might have been interested if he had books with just guys.  The just girl ones are weird.  How do they even make that work?  They don’t even have things.  I didn’t look so I don’t know.  I don’t think I really want to know.

 

Day 48:

It hurts!  I cut my finger while fishing.  Well, it’s not a real cut.  It’s more like a hook got stuck in it, and I had to take it out, and the barbs on the hook made taking it out hurt even more, and now I can barely write!  I went to see the goblin healer here.  He lives in the tavern, or something.  That’s what the other goblins said, and that’s where I found him.  I think he was drunk.  I’m not sure it was sanitary.  If it still hurts when we get back home, I’ll have Lani look at it.

It happened because I wasn’t paying attention.  I’ll be more careful from now on.

 

Day 52:

My finger hurts less now.  I went fishing again.  It wasn’t a good day to fish.  I didn’t catch anything big enough to eat.  We had chicken.

Des is improving on the spell.  Yesterday I timed her going up to five minutes with both invisibility spells!  I’ve been making her stop at five so she can have some water or gross cake.  I think tomorrow we’ll try ten minutes.  I’d like to get her to go up to thirty minutes with distractions.  I might try adding some of those in tomorrow.  I’ll just start pointing outside and saying, “Oh, look at that ship!” or “That cloud looks like cake!” and stuff like that.  We’ll see if she can maintain it through that.  Maybe Renner can help by moving around and making it harder for her to cast invisibility on him.  He can say some things too.

 

Day 57:

We’ve decided to go home later.  We left during the evening so it would be best for us to go back during the evening so we’re not awake all night.  We plan to do a little more practice too, though I think she’s ready.

I can’t wait to see Ter!

The Vision

Hethurin Fairsong had been in better moods.  He had tried to keep classes as normal as possible, but he knew his students were likely aware of the fact that something was up.  He lacked his usual patience while teaching.  He knew at least one of them noticed.  Keyalenn had asked during his private lesson if everything was okay.  Luckily, his second private lesson of the day was with Renner.  He avoided walking through any of the hallways by teleporting just outside Renner’s practice room.  He knocked.

The door opened.  Renner walked back to his work table in the center of the room.

Hethurin entered the room, closing the door behind himself.  “Any luck?”

“That depends.  What are you hoping I’ve had luck with?”

Hethurin frowned questioningly.  It should have been obvious what he was asking about.  “Reconstructing a portal from the teleport dust.”

“No.”

“Well, what have you had luck with?”  Hethurin’s ear twitched in annoyance.

“I’m glad you asked.  As you know, we have little portal dust to work with, due to it being from a teleport, not a portal.  A teleport only lasts for a very brief moment, whereas a portal lasts longer and leaves more time for crystallized matter to form.  I’ve come to the conclusion that it will be highly unlikely that we will be able to reconstruct a portal out of what was left behind.”

Hethurin frowned, “Well, now what?”

“That’s where I’ve had luck.  There is enough that we can create a vision of where he went to.  From there, we’ll be able to follow him to the next, if he doesn’t use the spell to garble his words again, that is.  I do suspect that wherever he went, it’s warded, but you should be able to undo it enough for us to see even though we’re not going there ourselves.”

Hethurin nodded, “Will it be the same as before?  I’ll have to stop casting the spell to take us to the vision to undo the ward first?”

“Exactly.  We can do it now if you think you can concentrate on it.”

Renner must have guessed too.  Hethurin twitched an ear, “I’m fine.  Let’s start.”

He conjured a glowing orb as Renner covered the windows.  He let it fade again as Renner joined him at the table. He cast the spell.

The vision started to appear, but stopped mid-way as Hethurin began casting spells to gently unravel a ward protecting the timeline they were going to visit.  It had almost reverted back to nothingness by the time Hethurin cast the final spell and gently pushed through the ward.

They were in Silvermoon, but not really.  It was just a vision.  The room they had arrived in was empty.  Hethurin peeked out into the street from the window.  The were on the second floor of a building.  Elves walking in the street below seemed slow and lethargic.  Two of them looked up, pointing to something at the end of the street.  Hethurin couldn’t see what they were looking at, but he did notice their eyes.  One had blue eyes.  The other had the slightest hint of a green glow.  Hethurin searched for another looking up enough to see his eyes, and upon seeing a third elf’s eyes, he stepped back from the window.  The third had more than a hint of green.  “Renner?”

“I know.  The Sunwell has been destroyed.  He brought him here to change his eyes, don’t you think?”

Hethurin frowned and nodded.  “But where are they now?”

“Gone.”

“How do you know?”

“The portal is a good indication.”  Renner pointed to the portal in the next room.

“Oh, I hadn’t looked there yet.”  Hethurin walked to the other room, and looked at the portal.  There was no way of telling where it went by looking at it, and since they weren’t really there they couldn’t gather the dust from it.  “What do we do now?”

“Do you know where in Silvermoon we are?”

“Not from inside.”  Hethurin said and cast a spell to switch the vision to outside in the street below.  “We’re near the market, but does that matter if we don’t know which timeline we’re in?”

Renner smiled at Hethurin, “Luckily, I know your timeline when I see it.  He didn’t switch timelines this time, just time.  If we go to the same building in your past, we can collect the portal dust.  Then we’ll be able to follow him.”

“You can just tell the timeline just like that?”

Renner nodded, “When it’s one I’m familiar with, yes.  You’ll learn as well, I hope.  End this vision.  We’ll go now to get the dust, so that we’ll be able to reconstruct the portal for next time.”

The Papers

Hethurin Fairsong knocked on the door to the small study on the northern side of the house.  It was next to the second classroom, which had been used today for fire magic lessons.  He hoped he wasn’t too late.  He smiled as a voice called out from inside the room, “Enter!”.  He was still here.  He opened the door.

Aeramin sat at the desk in the room, with some papers spread out before him.  He glanced up as Hethurin walked in and sat in one of the chairs at the other side of the desk.

“Did you give them a test today?” Hethurin asked.

“No, I’m trying to catch up on the work I gave them to do before leaving.”

“Oh.  Do you have time to talk?  I was hoping to catch you before you went back to Shattrath.”

Aeramin stacked the papers neatly and put them to the side.  “I can take the work back with me to go over this weekend.  What is it?”

“I need papers.”

“Papers?”

“You know, identity papers.”

“Did you lose yours?”

“No, I need them for someone else.”

“Who?”

Hethurin paused, not sure how to explain it.  He decided to go with the truth.  “My brother.”

Aeramin’s brow raised, “You want papers to make it look like someone is your brother?”

“Oh, no.  No, no, no.  He needs to be my son on the papers, but he’s really my brother.”

“Are you okay?”

“Yes, and it’s true!”  Hethurin could tell from the look on Aeramin’s face that he had his doubts.  “Look, okay.  I’ll tell you everything.  I’ve been studying chronomancy, and–”

“Chronomancy?”  Aeramin interrupted, “Isn’t that dangerous? Dragons could swoop in, and–”

“Demons are dangerous.”  Hethurin interrupted this time, “Speaking of, I have something in the stable to show you as well.”

“Point taken, and I’ve heard about that already.”

“Good, then I don’t have to explain as much about that.  Now, back on topic, I’ve been studying chronomancy, and–”

“So the dragons don’t care anymore or something?” Aeramin interrupted again.

“No.  They do care.  Where do you think I’m learning it from?  Now let me finish telling you what happened.”

Aeramin nodded.

“So I’m learning chronomancy, and part of my practice is viewing other timelines.  In some of those timelines, I’m also learning chronomancy there, so there’s a few mages in other timelines who are me and can do the things that I can do.”

“Okay, so your ‘brother’ is one of these mages, but from another timeline?”

“Actually, no.”  Hethurin frowned, “He’s from this timeline, and he’s not a mage.  He really is my actual, real brother.  He was supposed to die, like everyone thought he did.  What happened was, one of my alternate selves was intent on kidnapping him.  He went to one of the other timelines first, but he was too late and the baby was already dead.  He took that baby and left it in our timeline when he took my brother.”

“But why?”

“I don’t know yet.  I’m working with my teacher to find out.  In the meantime, Vaildor needs papers here so that Lani can adopt him and he can go to school.  If you could somehow get records made that would be great too.”

“I don’t think it’s going to matter if he has papers or not.  No one will believe you’re his father if he’s older than you.”

Hethurin sighed, “He’s supposed to be older, but he’s not.  He’s in the right timeline now, but not the right time.  There’s not much to be done about that though.  If we take him back to his time, he’ll have no one to take care of him, unless my parents accept him, but then that means I might not be born, then I can’t take him back.  That would make a really bad time anomaly, and we don’t want to do that.  Anyway, we’re not sure how old he is, but he can’t be over twenty.”

“Okay, so if you’re his father, who should I put down as being his mother?”

“Oh, maybe someone who died recently and didn’t have any family, or someone who doesn’t want him, or something.  Can you make someone up?”

“I’d rather no one questions the authenticity of the papers.  If your sister wants to adopt him, she might want to check up on his mother’s family.  I don’t think making someone up is a good solution.”

“Well, I already made up a girl who I met in the library.  I didn’t get her name.  I told Lani that she told me that she was sick and dying.”

“I’ll see what I can do.  I assume you’ll be paying for them?”

Hethurin handed Aeramin a decent sized pouch of gold coins.  “Thank you so much.  Now, about that thing in the stable.  Do you have time now to go take a look at it?”

Aeramin nodded and followed Hethurin out of the small study.

Hethurin’s Notes

• I’m worried.  I’m usually worried about things, but right now, I’m exceptionally worried.  The kid who was left in my room is at Lani’s place now.  She doesn’t seem to mind.  I think she still thinks that he’s mine, and she doesn’t realize the possible danger of having him there, but at the same time, he apparently broke his leg again, and how angry would his father be if he came back and we weren’t taking care of him?  I don’t think I can take that chance either.

• Anyway, I guess something happened while Des was watching him and he complained that it hurt too much and she took him to see Lani, then Lani said she needed to keep him there to make sure he was healing okay.  He probably did something on purpose.

• None of it sits very well with me.  There’s a powerful mage out there, who looks like me, and probably is me, but from another timeline.  And he left this kid here without any instructions.  A little note would have done wonders, like, ‘Oh, watch him for a few weeks, thanks!’

• Of course, then I did find letters.  It was my first time really going to an alternate reality.  Renner was with me, but he went outside to look around while I checked in the house they had stayed in before they came here.  I found the letters under the bed upstairs.  It turns out, my alternate self isn’t the kid’s father either!  So now we don’t know who the boy is really, and going by how some of the letters were started, I’m not sure the guy will be coming back, but if he does, I really don’t want him angry at me.

• So I took everyone to the city to shop.  I told the students that I thought everyone should have some nice mage robes, real mage robes, and that I was buying.  They really can’t complain if I’m buying.  I let them pick their own robes out too.  Terellion, Tik and Lilithel also came along.  I thought it would be good if they had good armor.  Terellion really knows why.  I told Tik and Lilithel that they had to double as guards for the estate.  I think Tik might have questioned it in his head, but he didn’t say anything.  He did refuse to get a new sword.  He said the one he has now is the one he’s used to and it’s the one he will continue to use.

• Both Tik and Lilithel preferred the lighter armor.  Lilithel wanted a bow instead of a sword.  She said she had some training with both, years ago, but felt more comfortable with the bow.  They wandered off to look at leather armor together, while I stayed with Terellion.  His new set is going to be amazing on him.  He picked out a really nice sword too.

• He was trying things on and I was wandering around the market nearby when one of the vendors showed me some glasses.  I’d never seen glasses like these before!  He said they would protect my eyes.  I asked what they would protect my eyes from and he had a whole list of things.  Dust, bright mage spells, mage spells cast at me… oh and I can look at the sun without going blind!  I bought the fanciest pair.  They sparkle.

• I gave everyone time to visit home while we were there too.  I think almost everyone has family in Silvermoon.  Tik and Lilithel went to have coffee together because I guess neither of them has anyone here.

• Anyway, now everyone is ready in case the other me comes back and is mad about anything.  I guess they would be more prepared if I told them, but I don’t want anyone freaking out either.

• I guess they would freak out if they knew what was in the loft in the stable too.  I’m a bit freaked out about that myself.  The other night, Tylenthis stopped by with a bag, and said he found something near one of the ziggurats.  Turns out that something was an imp!  I was able to freeze it before it caused any trouble.  It’s hidden in the loft in the stable.  I have it properly warded, so I don’t think anyone will find it there.

• I was hoping Aeramin would return from his trip soon, and I could ask him about it then.  However, Tik informed me that Kestrae and Ordinicus are visiting and taking one of the guest rooms, so I don’t have to wait for Aeramin.  I can just ask Kes.

• A lot of things are going on all at once.  I don’t think the glasses will be enough to protect me if something goes wrong.

A Trip Sideways

“You’ve memorized the spells I gave you?”

“Yes, Renner.”

“And you’re sure that your invisibility spell will work for both of us?”

“I’ve made the necessary adjustments, and tested it multiple times.  It works, as long as no one gets too close to us, and we don’t go too far apart.”

“That should be sufficient then.  Will we be able to talk?”

“I wove in a sound dampening spell.  We’ll be able to talk quietly without people hearing us.  We shouldn’t be too loud though.  I can’t guarantee they won’t hear if you decide to shout.”

“I have no intention of shouting.  We’re only going to investigate for now.  I’d like to know more before trying to find the mage.  I’d rather we not disturb the timelines any more than they’ve already been disturbed.”

Hethurin nodded.  He’d like to know more too.  He’d especially like to know why he left a teenager in his room and teleported away.  Having the kid here was causing problems, even with Lani watching him.  Just earlier today, she had accused him of ‘experimenting’ when he was younger, having a child, and hiding it from everyone.  The sooner they found out where, and when, the kid really belonged, the better.

“I’d like to start with the most recent portal residue.”

“The one with the dead dragon?  Are you sure?”

Renner frowned, “Yes.  It’s the most recent location they stayed that we know of.  Maybe there’s some clue to tell us where they came from that we weren’t able to find just from the vision.  We likely won’t need the invisibility and the sound dampening spell this time.  I don’t think we’ll see anyone else there, but it will be good practice.”

Hethurin nodded.  It would be good to practice since actually going to an alternate timeline wasn’t something he had done yet, nor had he any practice with the invisibility and sound dampening while in another reality.  That was one of the reasons he hadn’t told Desdeyliri about this lesson, and instead had given her his class to teach.  He liked that she could sit in on his lessons with Renner, but this wasn’t just a vision.  This was for real, and they didn’t know what would happen there.  He glanced at Renner and seeing him nod, he cast the invisibility spell, then cast the spell to send them both to the other reality.

It was quiet and overcast as it often was in the Ghostlands.  Renner and Hethurin looked around at their new surroundings.  They were in the building at the bottom of the hill next to the stable.  In his reality, this was his sister’s home, but here, it had been abandoned.  Although there was no one there now, there had been someone living there recently.  Hethurin walked over to where some drawings hung on the wall over an old sofa.  He had looked at them before when they looked into the vision of this place, but now that he was really here, he could touch them.  He unpinned one from the wall.  It was signed like the others.  Vaildor had drawn them.  This showed an elf in combat against a dragon.  The drawings had all been done on scraps of paper.  Hethurin turned this one over to find an old bill of sale for two hawkstriders.  He didn’t recognize the names and the paper looked fairly old.  The date indicated that the sale had taken place just before the Scourge attack.

He glanced out the window towards the stable.  The large, bronze body still lay out there.  He looked back at the drawing on the opposite paper.  If the boy was to be believed, it was his own alternate self who killed the dragon.  He looked up as Renner spoke.

“I don’t think we’ll run into anyone here.  You can drop the invisibility.  You look around the house.  I’m going to look outside.”

“You’re sure that no one’s there?”

“No, but it seems unlikely.  I just want to check to see if any of the other buildings look lived in.  Check around here for anything to indicate how long they were here, and where they came from.  I’ll be back shortly.”

Hethurin frowned, but started up the stairs as Renner left the house.  Each step creaked as he went up, some seeming to bow under his weight.  Though he was not a heavy elf, he stopped to cast a spell to make himself lighter.  It was better to be safe than sorry, and he did not want to fall through the stairs.

After reaching the second floor, he went into the first room.  It was the smaller of the two bedrooms.  In his own reality, it was Lani’s spare room.  Nessna had been staying in it, but now Vaildor was.  Here, it didn’t look like anyone had stayed there in quite some time.  There was a poorly patched hole in the roof over some pots in the middle of the room.  They appeared to have been there for some time, all of them displaying rings along the inside where the water had risen to before it evaporated.  Some old clothing and blankets had been placed around them.  They reeked of mildew.  There were not many furnishings in the room.  In one corner, there was a dresser with two missing drawers.  A third hung open and empty.  A broken bed with a partially decayed mattress was against the other wall.

Hethurin quickly checked the closet, the only place he could think of that something of use could be hiding in this room, but it was empty.  Only a few lonely hangers remained.  He moved on to the next room.

The second bedroom was larger than the first, but only by a little.  However, this one looked like it had been used.  There were pinned up drawings lining the wall on one side.  A blanket and some pillows had been arranged over a thin cushion on the floor underneath them.  Along the opposite wall was a small bed which looked like it had been used fairly recently, as well.  Down the center of the room, someone had strung a cord of thin rope, and placed blankets over it, dividing the room into two sections.  One of the blankets lay on the floor below the cord, and another was crooked and rumpled along the line.  It was obvious that they had shared this room, probably due to the state of the other room.

There was one dresser in the room.  Hethurin quickly got to work checking through the drawers, which were surprisingly empty, though by the evidence, they left in a hurry.  The boy had even mentioned that he woke up after the portal, after being left in Hethurin’s room.  If his alternate self was dragging sleeping teenagers through portals, then Hethurin figured he must have been in a real hurry.  He checked the drawings on the wall, taking each one down and looking at the opposite side.  None of them seemed important, and none of them gave any clues as to where the two had originally came from.  Most were receipts for hawkstrider feed and such.  He paused and looked back at the bed.  If he wanted to hide something, he’d hide it under the mattress.  He went to look and that’s where he found a stack of half-written letters.  They were all to Vaildor, and were only one or two sentences in before being discarded for a fresh start on another paper.  Hethurin flipped through them, reading over each one quickly.

Dear Vaildor,

The time is nearing when I’ll no longer be able to take care of you.  The dragons will catch up to us soon, and I fear I am already weakened from the chase.  I want you to be safe.

 

Dear Vaildor,

You are not who you think you are.  I’m taking you back where you belong.

 

Dear Vaildor,

I will be dying soon, and I wanted you to know the truth.

 

Dear Vaildor,

If you’re reading this then my time has come to pass.  I’ll leave this letter where you can find it in the event of my death.  I only pray they don’t hurt you as well.

 

Dear Vaildor,

There’s no easy way to say this.  I love you as though you are my own son, but you are not.

“I knew it!”  Hethurin muttered as he folded the letters and carried them with him back downstairs.  He had just reached the bottom step when he heard the flapping of large wings outside.  He rushed to the door, which had been left open, and smiled as the dragon landed on the ground in front of him.  The dragon was large, at least, he seemed that way to Hethurin, though he had seen larger dragons before.  The dragons bronze scales gleamed even with the lack of sunlight.

“Did you find anything, Renner?”  Hethurin asked as the dragon shifted into a smaller, elven shape.

“I found no evidence of anyone living in any of the nearby buildings.  It does appear the town is populated, but less so than in our own reality.”

“I found these.”  Hethurin showed him the papers.

“Interesting.” Renner commented as he read through them.  He raised a brow as he looked up after reading the last one.  “Let’s go back for now.  I need you to rest well and be prepared to maintain invisibility for the duration for our next visit.  I think it’s time we tried to get through that ward.”

Hethurin nodded and cast the spell to take them back to their own reality.

The Portal

Fairsong Academy was quiet and dark on its perch on the hill overlooking the sea.  It was well past midnight, but it would be a couple of hours before dawn yet.  Most of the residents were sleeping, except a small rat in a cage.  Even Nosey was tired and had only gotten out of his nest for some water.  Soon, he crawled back into his nest and was fast asleep.

Somewhere else, and some when else, someone was not at rest.  He worked quickly to undo the ward keeping him from making his portal into the reality where Fairsong Academy existed.  He had been there before, even if only briefly, but he knew it was the right one.  He couldn’t help being jealous.  There, the dragons were helpful.  Here, he had already needed to ward several timelines from their tampering, as well as kill several of the dragons who tried to stop him.  Things had definitely not gone as planned either.  If they had, he wouldn’t have been stuck running with the boy for so long.  

He cast another spell, imposing it upon the ward to quietly cancel out part of it.  The ward still held, but it was weaker now.  The boy still slept next to him.  He reached over to brush his hair back away from his face.  None of this was his fault, and this wasn’t the way it was supposed to be.

He started to cast another spell to gently unweave the next part of the ward.  It was a ward he was familiar with.  These wards were done in his own style after all.

It was then that he felt it.  The traces of magic in the air started to swirl.  He could feel the time bend in one spot in the room.  “He found us again.  Time to go.”  He quickly finished his cast then another to force through the rest of the ward.  Then, while holding the sleeping boy in his arms, he cast his own portal.

***

Hethurin Fairsong woke with a start in middle of the night.  It was the noise again, the same one he had heard only a few weeks ago when a portal appeared in the kitchen.  This time it was much closer.  In addition, his ward had snapped, the same as last time.  

Terellion woke as well, but Hethurin was already peeking out of the curtains at the foot of the bed.  Terellion joined him.  He whispered, “What was that?”

Hethurin gestured to Terellion to be quiet.  He peered through just a small opening between the two curtains.  Terellion looked as well.

There was a time portal.  Hethurin knew what it was, but someone was there.  He was carrying something.  He seemed to have trouble moving the weight as he dragged it to the sofa in the farther part of the room.  He left it there and cast a teleport.  Standing near the portal as he focused on his cast, Hethurin could see who it looked like.

So could Terellion. “That’s you.”

“It’s not me.  I’m here in bed.” Hethurin whispered back.

As Hethurin’s double disappeared, another figure emerged from the portal.

“Hey, that’s Renner.”

Hethurin was thankful that Terellion still whispered.  They both watched as Renner also teleported away.

“That wasn’t Renner, I don’t think.”  Hethurin said at last, sticking his head out of the curtains in an attempt to see what was left on the sofa.  There was a knock on the bedroom door.  “But that probably is.”