Magic Studies

It had been almost two days before Aspen returned to the room Parvil was being kept in. He wasn’t quite a prisoner but he didn’t like leaving to wander after the first few days after he’d been allowed to. With the always being watched, and sure he could wander but he couldn’t leave not until they knew just how he was affected by becoming a warlock.

Aspen knocked on the door and let herself in once she heard Parvil tell her it was unlocked. “Enanth has agreed to a supervised trial run.” she said, seeing Parvil sitting on his bed cross legged with a large book in his lap. Almost comically large.

“Can’t believe they still think I am a threat.” he said sardonically.

Aspen sighed. “They are just worried you are playing the long game I guess.” she shrugged. “They are worried you are playing a game of chess only you can see and you won a few moves ago but you are just seeing if you can take all the pieces first.”

“That’s an awful way to play chess.” he said, “The more pieces in play the less space the king has to move.” he noted.

Aspen could only shrug again. “Enanth’s thoughts are tough nuts to crack, I’ve stopped trying to figure him out and just roll with it.” She tilted her head trying to see what he was reading but couldn’t see anything on the cover that rang a bell.

“What’s with the big book?” she asked.

“Huh?” Parvil asked, pulling his head from the book to look up at her. “It’s a book of magical theory on glyph traps and chained wards, but I think it's over my head.” he said.

“Over your head or ‘your’ head?” she asked.

“My head,” he said.

Aspen walked over to a chair and took a stack of books from it and sat them on the floor before speaking again, “Why, you’ve figured out…” she waved a hand over the room. “All of this,” she said. “What are chained wards?” she asked.

“Half finished research that somehow got published.” Parvil said bitterly.

Aspen raised an eyebrow. “Half finished?”

“I’m being generous,” he said. “Its…” he tapped a page. “Its like fancy notes.” he said. “Like the author got an illustrator to make his notes pretty but they aren’t finished.” Parvil said annoyed.

“Well you did say it was a book of magic theory, sometimes they are publishing ideas to get them out there and have other wizards work towards an answer.” Aspen said.

Parvil shrugged and flipped back a few pages. “All well and good but…” he said, spinning the book so she could see.

She stared a moment looking at it straight on then turning her head left then right trying to follow the text in the circle on the page. Then trying to follow the intersecting lines between all the circles on the page, her brows furrowing more and more as she chewed on the inside of her upper lip. Getting more confused as she read. Until she was rubbing the side of her head. “Okay.” she said finally agreeing. “That’s just gibberish.” Aspen added. “How long have you been looking at that book?”

“I’ve read through it three times…today.” Parvil said.

“I got a headache looking at that for a minute, how are you not in a coma?” she said, watching him put the book back in his lap.

“Maybe it's because I don’t know how to study magic like you do.” he shrugged. “You know how to break it down into its parts and figure it out in bits and pieces. I really only know how to see it as the big picture.” he said.

“What do you hope to accomplish by solving this problem that other mages haven’t?” Aspen questioned Parvil.

Parvil looked up again, she could tell he was looking at the corners of the room. “I’ll tell you later.” he said in a whisper.

Aspen watched Parvil checking the corners, she closed her eyes a moment and they opened the icy blue eyes sparkled a moment like sun catching icicles. Her eyes darted to the edges of the room, seeing apple sized black spheres in each corner. Blinking again the shimmer to her eyes was gone and she nodded understanding.

“How long until we can go?” Parvil asked.

“I need to get a few things but we can leave tonight.” she said, stopping at the door. “Do you need anything from Gretchen’s?” She asked.

“Hmmm…” Parvil thought. “White yarn.” he said.

“Taking up knitting?” Aspen joked, “I didn’t think you’d been cooped up that long.”

“No.” Parvil smirked. “No. I want to test something I read in one of those books.” he minced her arm wave from before.

“I’ll see if she has it.” She said, “Dress warm, we’re going somewhere pretty cool this time of year.” she told Parvil.

“Snow?” he asked, closing the book and placing it on the table in the room.

“No, just cooler than here.” she said and closed the door behind her.

–
About an hour later, she returned and tossed Parvil a skein of white yarn, which he fumbled a minute, it bouncing out of his grip twice before his fingers closed on it. “Will that work?” She asked.

“It should. The book wasn’t specific.” he said. “Just said ‘white yarn’ but nothing beyond that. Would be a real pain if it had to be alpaca yarn and not sheep yarn.” he said putting it in his bag.

“So you really aren’t going to tell me what its for?” Aspen asked, a bit of begging in her voice her tone, one she knew would usually make Parvil give up a stupid guessing game.

“Its a surprise I think you will really like.” he said.

“PARVIL!” she snapped in a mock tone of shock and disgust. “I am not that kind of woman.”

Parvil was putting something in his bag and dropped it with a loud clatter. “NO!” he said. “No its nothing like that. Besides yarn would never work for that.” he said meeting her in the joke. “If you must know its to maybe replace the musty tarp we have to cover the portable hole with.”

“How so?” she asked.

Parvil huffed. “Web spell, modified web spell.” he added. “It’ll be better to just show you.” he said, pulling out a length of the yarn about the length of his forearm and laced it in his fingers of one hand like a off kilter cats cradle. He muttered something and snapped his fingers near the yarn, it shimmered green a moment then when the light faded it looked like some one had pulled all the yarn apart in a thick sheet across Parvil’s outstretched fingers. “I figure if I stretch enough over the hole it will be a better cover than the tarp.”

“Probably more expensive, though.” Aspen said. “But you can test it.” She then looked at him “Aren’t you going to dress warmer?” she asked.

“I’m in as many layers as you.” he said.

“I’m used to being cold.” Aspen corrected him, “You are not.”

“I’ll be fine.” Parvil said.

Aspen rolled her eyes “Don’t say I didn’t warn you.” Aspen said before tracing a lazy door shaped arch in the air, a ring on her middle finger let off dim cyan glow and a portal opened up. “You first.” she said.

When Parvil got close to the portal he could hear the wind on the other side. And was hit with cool salty air when he was on the other side looking out over a cliff side waves hitting the rocks below. He instantly grabbed the sides of his outer robe and pulled it shut around him, his hands inside. Aspen stepped through soon after stretching out the hand with the ring and making a little closing gesture and the portal shut, the gemstone on the ring turning to dust leaving nothing but the silver band and setting. She slid it off her finger and put it in a pocket. “I need a staff for this kind of work.” she grumbled.

“I might be able to do it.” Parvil said, looking like he was trying to recall a faded memory. “Yeah I think I can.”

Aspen let out a small laugh that rolled into a bigger one. “Okay big guy, let's see it.” She pointed to a spot down the hill the cliff sat on that leveled out again into a field. “Start small, go there.”

Parvil stood there looking a bit hurt that she laughed but switched to determination. He shut his eyes and started doing motions he remembered seeing before, Aspen watched as he mimicked Enanth hand gestures for when he would teleport, and in a dull green flash Parvil vanished. With a shock, Aspen watched the place she pointed but he didn’t reappear right away. But a breath later he did appear. About double his own height above the ground. He fell, and Aspen started running. Halfway to Parvil she saw him stick his arm out of the waist high grass and stick a thumb up. “I’m okay.” he said. “My legs broke my fall.”

Aspen reached him. “You are an idiot. An impressive idiot but still an idiot.” she said, helping him up.

“Why did you end up so high?” she asked.

“Mess up the spacing I think, or timing. Or my sense of direction is bad, just need practice.”

“You should probably keep that you can do that to yourself, and not let anyone see you practice.” She said.

“Enanth already knows.” Parvil said with a scowl before pointing at empty space and making an upward cutting motion, Aspen felt the little pop of unseen magic. “Sent eyes and ears to follow us.”

“He’ll probably be mad that you sabotage his scrying spell.” Aspen said looking in the general direction of where the spell had been.”

“Let him be, he was going to be anyway.” Parvil said.

“Alright…” she said unsure. “Let's go then.” she said, whispering a word of magic and a small mote of light appeared in her hand, making it so they weren’t in total darkness as they walked, looking for the nearest road.