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myrdschaemThis one grew a bit out of the proper size.
Prompt and original post: any fantasy, any, paper airplanes
Just like Marcille had suspected, she found Farlyn lying in her cave and watching the ceiling after class. Typical. With a huff, Marcille plopped down next to her and crossed her arms.
“You can’t always just run off half-way through the lesson, you know?” Marcille said, trying not to sound personally attacked. She failed. She had little to do with Farlyn’s education and was instead she frequenting the academy as an independent researcher.
“Mh-hm.” Farlyn frquently hummed in the same way instead of answering questions, one of her most infuriating habits. Maybe it meant something in a human language, but none of her classmates Marcille had asked had known anything about it. Of course, it would be rude if Marcille asked what it meant upfront, and since Farlyn herself never told Marcille, the infuriating humming remained untranslatable. It could mean anything and nothing at the same time.
Knowing from experience that Farlyn couldn’t be convinced to care about her skipped classes, Marcille let the topic drop. She laid down next to Farlyn to watch the mana in the cave circulate. It wasn’t much of a dungeon yet, but tiny magical creatures were already saturating the air currents and feeding of the energy. In a century or so, these creatures would be big enough to challenge any intruders and attack any parties that came through. However, for now the only true dungeon inhabitants were barely visible to the naked eye. Their transparent bodies trailed sparkles as they broke the sunshine.
Marcille lost herself watching the little creatures for a while. It was easy to understand why she was compelled back to this place again and again, despite Farlyn being a little peculiar. Marcille was like her in that, both of them fascinated by dungeons and the old magic. Their fellow students were much more interested in astrology, potion making or weaving magical clothing. All useful and even necessary fields, but Marcille didn’t understand why they shied away from learning anything of the old magic even if it would further their own talents.
Having done enough contemplation for the day, Marcille sat up. “Come on, since you missed the lesson, let’s make up for it now.” She prodded Farlyn in the side a few times before she paid attention.
“That’s a wonderful idea!” And really, it should have been impossible for a human’s smile to make Marcille’s heart beat faster. Farlyn raised a hand and scratched the back of her head, resulting in tousled hair. “What were we learning today?”
“Making familiars.” Which was at least old magic adjacent. Not truely summoning a living monster, of course, but rather the shaping of a servant out of energy and magic. “Let’s see what I got with me…”
Rummaging in her satchel brought to light several blank sheets of paper, some pastries and two apples. Guess she wouldn’t be eating any of those. “Let me show you how the summoning circle looks.”
Farlyn quietly observed her makeshift set up: from gathering all the ingredients in a pile, to choosing abilities and tailoring the circle to them, to finally inscribing a summoning circle all around. For a human, Farlyn tended to be silent, but Marcille knew that she was always observing and thinking.
“Finally, this is the incantation.” Marcille took a deep breath, slammed her hands against the earth and recited the instructions for the old magic. Take all the energy in the materials and convert them into two magical beings. The contents of the circle were swallowed by, or maybe even exploded into, mist. It was hard to tell. For a few moments, the cave was filled with white fog, taking any visibility with it. But wind cleared out the haze and they were left with two sheets of what seemed to be paper in the circle. The food had vanished, but the colour of the paper now seemed a touch pink.
“Did it work?” Farlyn asked, blinking in surprise at what looked like an underwhelming result to a novice.
Marcille picked up the sheets and passed one to Farlyn. “Not at all. We have to shape the familiars now.”
With the limited energy she had been able to utilize, the familiar’s abilities would be limited. They had no eyes or ears, but could feel some touch. Marcille carefully lined up the edges, folded the material lengthwise and then made a paper accordion. Laid out on flat ground, her paper familiar was able to crawl like a worm. Farlyn clapped with joy, genuinely excited by the simple beast.
“What did you make, Farlyn?” Marcille had to ask to get her focused back on her own familiar.
Farlyn opened her hands to reveal her creation. She had folded it into an arrow-head with a sort of keel on the underside. Maybe it was meant to be a sort of boat? “My brother used to make these a lot. I hope I didn’t remember it wrong, let's test the design.” Farlyn pinched the familiar at the keel, pulled back her arm and threw it into the air. And it flew! Instead of drifting back down, the arrow shape was revealed to be a sort of wing, allowing it to glide on the mana currents.
Marcille turned back to Farlyn with a smile. “That’s amazing! It took me several years to make my first flying familiar.” But then, elves had longer life spans, so humans had to rush their learning. Farlyn looked happy with her creation, watching it dip and rise near the cave ceiling.
Marcille took a peek outside at the sun, only to find it going down already. “Farlyn, we should head back now. It’s getting dark and we'll miss dinner if we don’t hurry.” That got Farlyn in a scramble to collect all her things while Marcille waited in the mouth of the cave. She was almost done when she looked up at the ceiling, froze and called: “How do I get the familiar back down?”
“Leave them both, Farlyn. They can feed on the mana here and if they are still working the next time we come by, we will take them back with us. Now hurry up, I heard they were serving risotto tonight.” Farlyn apologized unnecessarily and came. Both of them made it back just in time for dinner.
For some reason, they never did visit the dungeon cave together again and their left-behind creations slipped their mind entirely.
(Years later, when the academy will be abandoned and the Canaries are finally called in to neutralize the dungeon that grew right under the school, their final opponents will be a lindworm and roc, fighting side by side.)
Prompt and original post: any fantasy, any, paper airplanes
Just like Marcille had suspected, she found Farlyn lying in her cave and watching the ceiling after class. Typical. With a huff, Marcille plopped down next to her and crossed her arms.
“You can’t always just run off half-way through the lesson, you know?” Marcille said, trying not to sound personally attacked. She failed. She had little to do with Farlyn’s education and was instead she frequenting the academy as an independent researcher.
“Mh-hm.” Farlyn frquently hummed in the same way instead of answering questions, one of her most infuriating habits. Maybe it meant something in a human language, but none of her classmates Marcille had asked had known anything about it. Of course, it would be rude if Marcille asked what it meant upfront, and since Farlyn herself never told Marcille, the infuriating humming remained untranslatable. It could mean anything and nothing at the same time.
Knowing from experience that Farlyn couldn’t be convinced to care about her skipped classes, Marcille let the topic drop. She laid down next to Farlyn to watch the mana in the cave circulate. It wasn’t much of a dungeon yet, but tiny magical creatures were already saturating the air currents and feeding of the energy. In a century or so, these creatures would be big enough to challenge any intruders and attack any parties that came through. However, for now the only true dungeon inhabitants were barely visible to the naked eye. Their transparent bodies trailed sparkles as they broke the sunshine.
Marcille lost herself watching the little creatures for a while. It was easy to understand why she was compelled back to this place again and again, despite Farlyn being a little peculiar. Marcille was like her in that, both of them fascinated by dungeons and the old magic. Their fellow students were much more interested in astrology, potion making or weaving magical clothing. All useful and even necessary fields, but Marcille didn’t understand why they shied away from learning anything of the old magic even if it would further their own talents.
Having done enough contemplation for the day, Marcille sat up. “Come on, since you missed the lesson, let’s make up for it now.” She prodded Farlyn in the side a few times before she paid attention.
“That’s a wonderful idea!” And really, it should have been impossible for a human’s smile to make Marcille’s heart beat faster. Farlyn raised a hand and scratched the back of her head, resulting in tousled hair. “What were we learning today?”
“Making familiars.” Which was at least old magic adjacent. Not truely summoning a living monster, of course, but rather the shaping of a servant out of energy and magic. “Let’s see what I got with me…”
Rummaging in her satchel brought to light several blank sheets of paper, some pastries and two apples. Guess she wouldn’t be eating any of those. “Let me show you how the summoning circle looks.”
Farlyn quietly observed her makeshift set up: from gathering all the ingredients in a pile, to choosing abilities and tailoring the circle to them, to finally inscribing a summoning circle all around. For a human, Farlyn tended to be silent, but Marcille knew that she was always observing and thinking.
“Finally, this is the incantation.” Marcille took a deep breath, slammed her hands against the earth and recited the instructions for the old magic. Take all the energy in the materials and convert them into two magical beings. The contents of the circle were swallowed by, or maybe even exploded into, mist. It was hard to tell. For a few moments, the cave was filled with white fog, taking any visibility with it. But wind cleared out the haze and they were left with two sheets of what seemed to be paper in the circle. The food had vanished, but the colour of the paper now seemed a touch pink.
“Did it work?” Farlyn asked, blinking in surprise at what looked like an underwhelming result to a novice.
Marcille picked up the sheets and passed one to Farlyn. “Not at all. We have to shape the familiars now.”
With the limited energy she had been able to utilize, the familiar’s abilities would be limited. They had no eyes or ears, but could feel some touch. Marcille carefully lined up the edges, folded the material lengthwise and then made a paper accordion. Laid out on flat ground, her paper familiar was able to crawl like a worm. Farlyn clapped with joy, genuinely excited by the simple beast.
“What did you make, Farlyn?” Marcille had to ask to get her focused back on her own familiar.
Farlyn opened her hands to reveal her creation. She had folded it into an arrow-head with a sort of keel on the underside. Maybe it was meant to be a sort of boat? “My brother used to make these a lot. I hope I didn’t remember it wrong, let's test the design.” Farlyn pinched the familiar at the keel, pulled back her arm and threw it into the air. And it flew! Instead of drifting back down, the arrow shape was revealed to be a sort of wing, allowing it to glide on the mana currents.
Marcille turned back to Farlyn with a smile. “That’s amazing! It took me several years to make my first flying familiar.” But then, elves had longer life spans, so humans had to rush their learning. Farlyn looked happy with her creation, watching it dip and rise near the cave ceiling.
Marcille took a peek outside at the sun, only to find it going down already. “Farlyn, we should head back now. It’s getting dark and we'll miss dinner if we don’t hurry.” That got Farlyn in a scramble to collect all her things while Marcille waited in the mouth of the cave. She was almost done when she looked up at the ceiling, froze and called: “How do I get the familiar back down?”
“Leave them both, Farlyn. They can feed on the mana here and if they are still working the next time we come by, we will take them back with us. Now hurry up, I heard they were serving risotto tonight.” Farlyn apologized unnecessarily and came. Both of them made it back just in time for dinner.
For some reason, they never did visit the dungeon cave together again and their left-behind creations slipped their mind entirely.
(Years later, when the academy will be abandoned and the Canaries are finally called in to neutralize the dungeon that grew right under the school, their final opponents will be a lindworm and roc, fighting side by side.)
