Tale of Four

The door slammed shut behind, and a breeze hit Alice, sending a chill across her body, having not changed her appearance. With a snap of her fingers, her robes changed, turning back to normal. With a deep breath, the smell of flowers and animals wafted over her as she let out a slight sigh, looking at the forest around. Behind her was a small hut that looked ready to fall apart.

Turning around and opening the door, she saw an old man sitting, eating a bowl of oats in cold water. The old man sighed and put his spoon down. ”Another Magi.” Looking Alice up and down, he chuckled, ”You fresh out of the Mad House, girl. Your teacher told you to come here first, or you were on an errand to get some herbs.”

Standing up to be a good host, he cleared a chair for Alice and brushed the seat before grabbing a small jug of water and pouring her a drink. Alice’s eyes widened seeing the jug, able to tell it was an Aretfact created by a Magi.

”What’s that?” Her eyes widened in excitement. The old man looked at it before smirking.

”An old friend from your Mad House made it for me. In return for me pointing people to where they want to go, he gave me this.” The man walked over to a nearby potted plant and poured the vase over it. After a while, the runes engraved all over the vase lit up as more water than could possibly be held in the vase fell. ”Eventually it will run out, but I just need to leave it on the ground for a while. Soemthing about absorbing the moisture in the earth to refill it.”

The old man stopped and returned to his seat, picking up his bowl and eating, ”So why are you here?”

”We’re out exploring.” The old man smiled, seeing the wonder in Alice’s eyes, and chuckled.

”We’re. Who’s with you?” Alice looked around and groaned when seeing Chesh had vanished.

”She always runs away for some reason. Anyway, is there anything fun here? You say the Magi come here?” Her annoyance with Chesh vanished with the potential excitement she could experience. The old man’s wrinkled face looked permanently stuck in a smile as he nodded.

”They mainly come for herbs to make potions. I can’t let you have too many if you want, it’s a pain for them to grow back when too many are gone.”

”I don’t care about that. Potions brewing is always boring.” With a sympathetic nod, the man leaned back, bringing a spoonful of his oats to his mouth.

”Excitement then...” Biting the wooden spoon, his eyes widened as he thought of soemthing, ”I dunno if it’s true, as it ain’t my thing, but there’s a cave nearby. The Magi come every now and then to study it. The stories they told me are about a guy from the past who died in there, leaving behind his research after he got stuck, or an old relic, I dunno.” The old man leaned forward and pointed east, ”Walk that way for a while until the trees get thicker and then look around. Should find it.”

”Okay.” Jumping Alice was about to leave before the man stopped her.

”Be careful if it gets dark. Whilst this place is pretty safe, you never know when it’s dark. I ain’t talking about bandits, though they may be there, but the animals. Also.” Eating another spoonful, he smiled, ”We got a new king, apparently. Just be careful with what you say, as it’s a touchy subject right now.” With a nod, Alice stepped out and walked the way the old man pointed. From above, falling out of a tree, Chesh appeared with a thin smile.

”An adventure.”

”Stop leaving me.” Alice huffed, seeing her, ”People think I’m crazy when you vanish like that.” Going behind her, Alice dug her fists into the side of Chesh’s head and twirled them, making the girl groan in fake pain.

”I’m sorry. Forgive me.” Stopping, Chesh peeked back and stared into Alice’s eyes before they burst into laughter, and Alice let go.

”Good. Anyway, he said there was a cave.” That was all Chesh needed. Following Alice, the two walked slowly, mindlessly chatting about what mystical things they might find inside it, building up expectations without fear of being crushed. The walk was long, with repeated stops to get lost, but as the trees grew thicker and the sun slowly set, they saw, in the distance, a small hill with an opening.

Looking at one another, their eyes sparkled as they charged towards it, arriving outside. Checking her outfit one final time, Alice pulled her hood up and grabbed a nearby stick, the top exploding into flames that didn’t burn past a certain point. ”Let’s go.” Stepping in, the air changed instantly, a colder chill than the one from the breeze outside.

The darkness was darker than the forest, and the two looked at one another, the strangeness of the cave filling them with joy rather than fear. Picking up the speed, Alice ran her hand over the wall, ”There are carvings all over. The old man didn’t lie.” Pausing, she let the arcane powers inside her flow out slightly, into the carving. Across the wall like a nervous system, her power spread along, lighting the entire cave up before dying.

Narrowing her gaze, she tried again, putting more power than last time. The walls lit up for a few seconds longer but eventually died. ”Chesh....” Groaning and turning to the girl with midnight hair, Chesh smiled and shrugged.

”Maybe it’s why no one found what it hides before. Look at them.” Chesh dragged her finger along the wall, ”These carvings, they’re all connected to one another, creating soemthing.” Alice turned away and focused on the carving, bringing her torch closer.

On a deeper inspection, she saw each one a rune woven together, intricately carved so the power could easily spread across it. The deeper she looked, the more surprised Alice felt. It wasn’t just how they were woven, but how each rune was placed in the perfect location. Each one, if even moved left or right by a couple of centimetres, would mean that whatever it wanted to achieve would fail.

”This is... How long did someone spend creating this?” Her hand gently caressed it, fearing that if she pressed too hard, it might break. ”But why?” Alice turned to Chesh, who silently sat on a nearby rock and shrugged.

”Maybe it was because they got bored.” Alice rolled her eyes and turned back to the cave walls. Studying them, she reached into her bag and pulled out a small notepad, going to the start, and drawing each rune in. The more she studied the puzzle, the more overwhelmed she got. Just when she thought she had broken it, a new part would be added, complicating it and shattering her theories.

”Whoever did this?” Alice reached the end and looked down at her notepad, flipping through each page she drew on, ”They did so with a purpose. I don’t know it all, but the darkness and the cold in here.” Running to a section of the wall deeper in the cave, she tapped the wall, ”This whole part is what controls that.” Alice’s smile grew wider, ”Which means...”

”That even without us, something is filling it with power still.” Chesh finished her thoughts, and the two smiled happily, nodding and nearly bouncing in excitement.

”But how. To have a source of Arcane power still working. These runes are at least hundreds of years old, maybe older. Some of them I don’t even recognise.” Alice rubbed her head in annoyance and amazement, trying to decipher it. ”I have to know. Maybe if we break it, I can find its secrets.”

Appearing behind her, Chesh’s arms wrapped around Alice’s as she brought her head closer to her ear. ”Then if anyone can, it’s you.” Her voice was confident as its warmth was carried off by the ever-present chill of the cave, ”Even that old man said you’re a one in a million. But he is wrong. You’re chosen by the arcane itself.”

Alice’s lips curled as she nodded to herself, ”If I can break this. Imagine what knowledge it hides. The Magi who created this must have understood that only those who break his puzzle are worthy of his research, or maybe he left a treasure.” Alice had to stop herself from feeling her mouth water from the idea.

Breaking free from Chesh’s hold, she ran out, grabbed a bundle of sticks, and dropped them on the floor. Lighting them to start a fire, she sat down and tore the pages she had drawn out, arranging them on the floor in order.

Falling into deep thought, ignoring the hunger and thirst that crept on her, she got lost in the drawing as Chesh stroked her head, silently egging her on.