Fantasy The Adventure of the Princess and the Mage

[Catro the Writer]

It was a dark and stormy night in a small village. With it being the middle of the night and the rain pouring down it was pitch black outside and no one could see a thing, nor could a sound be heard. It was the perfect night for a man who was running down the street, holding a crying child in his hand.
Though it was so dark you couldn’t see your hand in front of your face the man had his face covered in a hood that was a part of the tan cloak that he wore on his body. The little baby, though wrapped in a bit of the cloak, was soaked and freezing to the bone. But the whiles of discomfort did nothing to stop the man and take shelter.
He made his way to the largest building of the little village and laid the infant down. He could hear a fire crackling on the inside and someone moving sound. Though he did grimace at hearing the man hum very off-key to some folk song. But he raised his hand and pounded on the door with three loud knocks.
Thud? Thud! Thud!
“Who is it?” A voice, tired and raspy sounding, asked having heard the knocking, though barely thanks to the raging storm outside, and hearing no answer went to check on it. Only after opening the door, he heard the sound of an infant crying. Looking down he saw a baby, no older than a year old. But the thing was just lying there on his doorstep wrapped in a piece of cloth.
Seeing the crying child the old man instantly lifted the baby up, flinching at how cold the poor thing felt. It felt like he was holding a lump of ice! But instead of taking the baby in right away the man stepped in the rain and tried looking around for someone, anyone really, who could have left the child.
“Hello?” The old geezer called out. But even he couldn’t hear his own voice in the downpour. He stared out into the dark for another moment before taking the baby inside.
Getting the infant changed into some dry clothes and preparing a bottle for the boy the man laid the baby on his own bed. Making sure he was wrapped up in a swaddle so the baby, which turned out to be a boy, wouldn’t roll off the bed the man sighed as he looked at the fire. He had just been looking at some tomes and scrolls before getting ready to go to bed, but now he had to think about how he was going to handle this situation.
Grabbing the cloth the boy was wrapped in he heard a slight crackling sound, which made him unwrap the cloth to find a piece of paper that had been tucked into the cloth. Probably to try and protect it from the rain, but even then the paper was soaked. But the old man unfolded the paper, and just as expected, the ink was washed away from the rain. It looked like it was a letter of explanation. But the only thing legible was the top part.
This is my son, M----ic
But the name was too damaged to make out more than the M, I, and C.
“Oh boy this just keeps getting better and better.” The old man sighed as he refolded the paper and sat it on his table.
______

On the complete opposite coin of when the story first start, years later the same boy who was found outside the door step of the old mans house was now a young man, 15 years old. Dressed in a white tunic, with brown pants and leather boots, he sat on a wall with a flute in his hand. His dark black hair combed up into spikes, kept up by a golden circlet with a green gem on it.
It had been fifteen years since that stormy night, and a storm that bad had never haunted the village again. The storm tore down houses and barns, killed live stock, and other wild things. But they never had to deal with that again.
As for the boy, whos was named Merric, he was raised by the old man, whom he referred to as Gramps, and grew up in the village. Which it was a quiet peaceful farm town, the rich soil made it so the plants grew extremely well, and they didnt have to worry about poisonous plants or weeds to boot. But Merric wasn’t trained to do farm work as he was a mage. Gramps could sense his magical power even when he was just a baby, and tried to train him in magic, figuring the boy had the be imbued with one of the six shrines. But nothing ever came from the training. But one day while he was playing around and blowing into a flute something weird happened. Now the boy wasn’t trying to do magic, just goofing off as little kids do. But when he did that the trees in the village seemed to react as he hit a sour nite, and their branches and leaves flew up.
Which seeing this surprised his Gramps, as that meant Merric was a music-craft mage. He could control nature with different music instruments. Different instruments did different things, he made this move around with his flute, made plants grow with violin, made the roots of the plants shake the earth with a drum. Which he was able to pick up thise three different instruments with ease. So this meant he was a music prodige as well as a music-craft mage, two things that obviously went hand and hand.

As Merric played his flute the tree he sat under moved its branch down and grabbed a fresh aom the tree. Holding it up to make sure there werent any worm holes in it. He took a bite, the juice of the inside exploding all over his face, making a crisp crunching sound as he bit into it. It was, as usual; juicy, tastey, and just perfect.
But as he ate the apple, taking a small break from his flute, he looked out to the wide empty plain. Sitting on the wall that surrounded the village he had a clear view of what was going on. Which normally would have been nothing. But today, taking another bite of his apple, he squinted as out in the distance he could see a group of people approaching the village. It was a large group and they were all dressed way too nice to just be vagabonds, or travelers. Heck they were even carrying flags with them!
Jumping down off the wall Merric rushed into the village and told his Gramps about it. Which he immediately jumped up and in a matter of minutes the entire town was outside of the houses, waiting for the group to get to the village.

 

[Thanny]

((Double double, toil and trouble~! This time to spare confusion the princess will be named Delphinia after the lovely blue flower Delphinium Cultorum. If that is too much of a mouthful, I can get another name.))

The journey had been tiring, and not even the princess could stop a march when she felt that she needed a rest. Her legs, unaccustomed to the art of travelling long distances, felt like wobbly jelly beneath her frail form, and the dust that was kicked up from the entourage before her was sometimes suffocating. Even in this beautiful land the roads could house a great amount of dust and sand. She swept herself off with white-gloved hands, brushing free a light sheen of earth, and continued on, hoping that this shrine visit will make her a little more tolerant to the effects of the world.

"How are you faring, princess?" came the familiar voice of Porphyry, a retainer whose family heralded from the fire tribes.

His older eyes looked upon her with the warmth of an uncle, and his red unruly sideburns and wild hair, typically unheard of in the palace, swayed in the wind undeterred by the journey. He seemed perfectly fine with the travel, but then again he was a Samson of the group, even at his age able to move an ox and perhaps lift it. A shortsword lay at his side of fine white steel and bronzed hilt and guard.

"I am fine, Porphyry, thank you," she replied, unable to keep herself from smiling. "This is just one more conquest in my list of struggles. I just have not won it yet."

He cracked a grin and offered her a deerskin pouch, its aged and cracked leather giving off an appeal bordering undesirable. The princess recoiled slightly and did not even know it.

"Not even a princess can conquer a struggle without water. Nobody has drunk from it yet besides myself just now." He unwrapped the top and poured a fair amount of water onto his tongue. Once done, he offered the rest to her.

"You do not need to do that."

"Do what?"

"Make a proof that the water is not poisoned. I know you, Porphyry, as I would a close relative, so please do not provide me a disservice by thinking that I would drink only after you or someone else."

She played with a strand of her blue hair as she spoke, as if uncertain how he would take the news. He looked her over and after a few seconds smirked.

"While I understand you would like to taste waters yourself, always be mindful what you eat and drink in mixed company. If it is not obtained directly, it can be poisoned. Besides"--he gave her a wink--"I was thirsty. I wasn't doing it for you. Now look up. We are nearly there."

A number of murmurs were happening about them as they came closer to the heart of the village, or perhaps it was a town. Were towns and villages differentiated by the number of people inhabiting them? She had heard of this before but could not remember. Nevertheless, the greenery gave way to habitation as buildings quaint and rustic were sprouting from the ground over the next hill.

The company, uniformly relieved of the break, stopped short of the crowd of people before them but stood at attention and parted around the princess and her retainer. Porphyry looked toward her in the process, gave a wink, drew her by the hand as he walked forward a few paces so that she was walking in stride with him, and stopped short of the crowd by about fifteen paces. Princess Delphinia followed his lead with careful eyes, making sure that she did not step in front of him when he stopped, and looked among the faces of the crowd. While she attempted to keep a straight face, nervousness oozed out every now and again with her nervous looks toward her guardian.

"Fine people of this fine town," he proclaimed powerfully over the sea of people, trying to ensure his voice was filled with business but did not contain a trace of harm, "we are looking for the one in charge. Who here can speak for the town as a whole?"

 

[Catro the Writer]

The village was all abuzz with the news of the princesses arrival. They had spent weeks making sure things were set up just right for the arriving VIP quest. The roads were cleared, not a piece of paper or horse dropping was left on the street. Banners were hung up and on this day the entire village smelled of delicious food as most the town people cooked for the feast of the night.

Thankfully the land was ripe for harvest with fantastic soil for crops. Which with fantastic soil it also grew fantastic grass for grazing which made for great cattle. So there was plenty of food to go around. Of course that was all thanks to the Earth Shrine that the town was built around. Each portion of the earth had a shrine that spread across it's lands and each shrine did something different. The Earth Shrine obviously effected the earth, making the soil richer, clay more effective, and made the land easier to till. If you were a mage and you wanted to learn earth magic you came to the town. Of course mages were so few and far between there hardly ever was students there.

But that didn't change the fact that the village was booming. It was large, with 60 houses within the wall and more even outside the walls. The town was known for the freshest foods in the entire world, which was a benefit with being so close to the shrine.

At the edge of the wall stood a teen dressed in a brown tunic with a matching hat and boots and then white leggings to go with it. This was Merric the town mage's grandson. And he was a gifted mage if course... But not with a normal kind of magic. Merric used a rare kind of music called "Musicraft". A magic where he could control the elements by using music. Hanging from his back was a guitar like instrument... Or at least it was normally hanging in his back. Right now he was strumming the strings and the clay walls smoother out as they expanded and filled the cracks and holes.

He was trying to stay busy while he was keeping a eye out for the princesses party. Apparently it was a pretty big deal that the princess was coming to embue herself with the power of the earthshine. Which was cool and all, and the entire town was pretty excited. But Merric wasn't sure about this... He hadn't even seen anyone from the royal family before. The king was apparently I'll and had been for years the queen had passed away years before, and the princess well nobody has ever seen her before other than her castle staff...

But glancing out Merric saw a large party heading in this direction and rushed into the village to tell his grandpa about the approaching group and the entire town stood outside and praised the party as they walked through the streets, tossing flowers at them all and cheered.

"That would be me sir." A elderly man wearing master mages robes, "I'm guessing you are the princesses retainer good sir." The old man said with a smirk

 

[Thanny]

When the cheers had struck up from the gathering crowd and the flowers had been thrown, Princess Delphinia was at a loss for words, partly because she was struck by stage fright. So many people had come to see her, and while she had a similar experience with this entourage that went with her this was a larger crowd, and of more outspoken appearance.

I got this. I got this, she voiced repeatedly to herself, trying to remain calm throughout the whole ordeal and contain her embarrassment. Everyone seemed to have a jovial face. Shouldn't she do the same, look as pleased to see them as they were of her? If she had to be honest, she was excited to leave the castle, explore the world a little. Living in the same location and seeing the same faces had grown stale, and everything here appeared so fresh and vibrant.

Even the flowers appeared beautiful, and she trotted forward from the entourage around her to stoop and pick up a flower that may have been common, but was marvelous all the same. The daisy she had gathered in her hand still had all of its petals and had shown so brightly. Keeping step with everyone else, she placed it in her hair, tucked above her ear before her bangs. A serenity returned to her face, and she smiled gratefully toward the gathering of people.

Before her, after her retainer Porphyry had approached the crowd in search of a speaker for the town, someone did step up. He had an air of certainty about him, this mage, and his resplendent robe was not to be taken as just a badge. He was a master mage, which was considerably special. The only other master mage she could think of was her mother before she had passed, an incredible lady with a power she felt emboldened to aspire to.

Porphyry looked the man up and down and up again, then bowed his head to honour the man. He did not expect to speak to a mage of such prestige.

"Aye, you would be correct. Porphyry Rathyrus, in the service of the Princess Delphinia who is present with us." He turned and offered an outstretched hand to the princess. Mimicking a mien of dignity even through her confusion, the princess had collected the hand and stepped forward. Her blue hair and loose-fitting shoulder shrugs bobbed in the light wind as Porphyry released her in gentle manner. "I suppose you know of the nature of our arrival," continued Porphyry, his armoured arms clasped tight behind his back, "but it is customary to state it anyways. We are here to imbue the princess with the power of the Earth Shrine. With the passing of her eighteenth birthday, her royal pilgrimage is to begin here at your lovely village. Are you familiar with the rites I am speaking of, Sir Mage?"

 

[Catro the Writer]

"Of course, I am familiar with the rites, sir knight." The elderly man says, folding an arm over his chest and giving a small bow to the knight and to the princess's party. "It is a great honor for us to have the princess and her party here on this day. Please call me Sir Jagen, I have been Arc Mage to this village for many years." He explained and looked at the princess, his mud-brown eyes sparkling with delight seeing her, "I remember when your mother went on this journey. Of course, I was a great deal younger at that time and was simply a mage in training, but I feel truly blessed to see a second princess going through this rite." He said, awe and excitement filling every single word. The mage was obviously up in years so it was great for the man to be here in the presence of the princess. "But before I get caught up in telling stories, you do have a mission here your majesty. After you are done we do have a feast ready for you to celebrate." He said, a beaming smile on his face.

Before anything else could be said a deep low HISSSSSSSSS sound could be heard. Though it wasn't really loud it was enough to stop everybody and look in the direction of the noise. From the height of where they stood, they could see over the walls. And outside the gates, three black whispy snake creatures were floating outside the city and a few guards stood ready to attack, weapons at the ready to attack the creatures if they decided to get any closer. These creatures were known as Curropt Whisp, or simply Whisp. They were the leftover remains of monsters, which by themselves were normally harmless. They were practically harmless and floated aimlessly without any goals but were known to get hostile if you got too close to them, or if you were the unlucky one that randomly floated to them. Again they were harmless by themselves but if they gathered in large numbers they were known to leave quite the mark. But since there were only three it would be enough for the guards to chase them away if they decided to get any closer. But with a shrine so close it usually kept them away, which is why the town didn't have to worry about the monsters at night. So Jagen cleared his throat to get everyone's attention. Merric, who had his flute at the ready, was met with a sharp look from the mage, and he lowered his flute. Merric knew the only time the whisp got dangerous was when they had a lot of numbers or, according to the Arc Mage, were close to the Shadow Shrine where they drew power. But that was in the Reapers Dessert all the way on the other end of the continent.

"Anyways!" Jagen said to the crowd, "Let us get on with the task at hand. The whisp are not anything to worry about. Now according to the rules of the kings of old, the princess will go into the shrine with her party which can not consist of any more than four people. Princess, you would count as one, your retainer would serve as two, and for the moment as a substitute party member is my pupil Merric." He said and looked at the boy, who know what he was supposed to do as him and the Arc Mage, whom he referred to as gramps, had gone over throughout the week. He step forward and put his right hand over his heart and bowed forward.

"Princess, I would be honored if you would grant me the honor of leading you through the Earth Shrine." He said looking up at the princess and her retainer, "I have grown up exploring the shrine and know it like the back of my hand." He promised her. He wasn't sure what the big deal of needing an escort through the cave was. Yes he had grown up going through the shrine, but it probably wouldn't be that hard to go through. But he was tasked with doing this and he could think of worst jobs to do. So he was glad to lead the princess through the shrine. He was very curious about her, as she seemed to be about the same age as him and, which was probably noticeable, there wasn't a lot of teens in the village Merric's age. So he was curious what the princess was like and getting to know her would be interesting. Even if here retainer looked intimidating with his fire-red hair and black armor. He could also sense magic coming off of the retainer... But since he was wearing armor and Gramps kept referring to him as a knight, he figured that he wasn't a mage. So that meant the knight had a magical item or weapon or that he was imbued with a shrine... Which the ladder was something only specific people could do.

 

[Thanny]

The princess looked at the village elder with a sense of amazement and interest. The man did not seem at all doddery, used to his station and its benefits, and more than willing to rest on his laurels as an Arc Mage. Delphinia hoped that sometime she would be able to attain such status like so few before her, to be worthy of the respect he had showed her.

Porphyry, on the other hand did not seem too moved by sense or status. Perhaps a smile rose to his lips at the look of a man whose humility was greater than the norm. It was a fine thing to see, and the youth beside him (Merric) caught his eye with interest. He indeed had a magical item of truth-seeking and with the ability to read magic. The lad gave a mien of honesty, but a different mien as well, at least from the trickling magic that bled from him like wispy, distortionary heat. How peculiar, but then again perhaps this was why the lad was the Jagen's pupil.

The hissing of the creatures far off from the hill the gathering was perched on drew the attention of both retainer and princess. How odd it was to see them so close. Neither felt them as foreign, as they had seen such creatures along the way to the Shrine, but it still brought out a shudder from the princess as she looked upon their smoky nature. She had much to learn of those odd beings that wandered the continent. They were dismissed readily by the elder Jagen, however, and so she lured her attention back toward him and the intricacies of his statements.

The rule of only four entering struck her as very specific outside of the tact and politics and manners of the court, but perhaps in older times they were more rigorous as to who saw the shrines. She nodded in understanding, then looked toward the youth who had presented himself so courteously, hand on heart and all. She smiled at his earnestness and was glad to see someone young like herself, as the stuffiness of adults was difficult to get away from. The fact that he was handsome to the eyes helped some as well.

A hand on her shoulder startled her, but it was only Porphyry who had leaned in close with a smile raising his sideburns on either side of his face.

"This happened with your mother as well. I heard this straight from the horse's mouth long ago," he explained in a quieter tone of voice than his gusto tended to provide. "It is a time-honoured tradition, and I read that the young man seems entirely trustworthy, especially if he is under this sage's tutelage. Oh, but please be sure to bring your staff. You never know."

"I will be fine, Porphyry, really," Delphinia spoke in embarrassment, skirt swishing as she turned sharply. She was no fighter -- that much might be garnered from those that look upon her -- but she wanted to prove herself as capable. Even still, the staff would make her feel braver, being passed down from her mother, and it was under the protection of her entourage who was already prepared to give it to her. When it was presented to her, held in both hands by a black-maned knight, she nodded her thanks and delicately took it from him before looking back toward Merric. "I would be honoured to have you lead the way, Merric," she replied in turn with a one-handed curtsy, her other hand wrapping around the staff's upper grip. "Whenever you are ready, Porphyry and I will be too."

 

[Catro the Writer]

The princess would have no reason to worry about reaching the power that that arc mage had, but she would surpass that. It wasn't even a matter of her needing to try really hard. But at the end of her journey, the princess would be wielding the power of all the shrines and of all the elements. Even now the princess possessed the power to heal people, a magical power that no other mages could wield or would ever be able to as that gift was only given to the princess of Dia. But if she mastered all elements, as it was her duty to do so, she would defiantly be the strongest mage in all the land.

Merric gazed at the two that stood before him in awe. He had never met any of the royal family before and to say that the princess and her knight were disappointed would have been a lie. Her knight Pophry, stood tall and proud in his black armor his fire-red hair seemingly ablaze in the sunlight, Merric made a mental note to not get on his bad side as he feared the knight could have taken him down with ease. Then there was the fact that he had some sort of magic aura about him... He was practically the perfect guard for the princess. Then the princess... Well, Merric had never seen a girl with such beauty and elegance. Her white robes practically glowed in the dark. Her red hair was neatly brushed back, but the front of it was slightly curly a bit, and her sapphire eyes sparkled with curiosity but clearly nervous, which Merric assumed was by all the people. He would have been nervous too if everyone was staring at him as well.

Merric wished he could have gone to help the guards, but he knew they could handle it. But the fact that they were so close to the city did baffle him. The power of the shrine usually repelled the fragments of the ancient monsters. But he let it go, the monsters drifted around so they probably got close to the city from time to time. But his attention was pulled from them as the princess smiled at him, making the teen's cheeks blush a tiny bit and he returned the smile. Merric was well aware of the tradition of the village to escort the princess, which at first he was nervous about it. He had heard stories of princesses being real brats, but Princess Delphina seemed really lovely. But he also thought this tradition was a bit silly, as the shrine was the safest place in the town. If Merric did anything in there it would be moving a rock or something that happened to fall and block their way.

"Please Princess the honor is mine," Merric said returning the bow and glancing at her and her guard once again. They had a healer in the princess, a mage in himself, and a warrior in her retainer. They were a pretty balanced team as if they needed a balanced team for walking through a safe cave. But if they happen to run into a thief or a mercenary after the princess' life they would have it covered. The Arch-Mage had drilled it into the boys head, as a mage it was his job to be leveled headed and drink in any info he could get and make a game plan by it, no matter how big the info was or how small.
"I'm ready whenever you you two are." He said and made sure he had his bag and flute at hand.