Closed Angrboða III

[Vicissitude]

​

summer 21 year 123 of the third age
Continued from <here.>​

To Cælum's query about how exactly Cryomancy worked, Æhti nodded. "Aye, I can just undo it partially."

With a slight flick of his wrist, the Inari's head would at once unfreeze, able to animate freely again. Her features appeared to look around with rapidity, shivering and confused at her newfound surroundings. The dragon's voice, further, was jarring– snapping her panicked attention onto him. With wide, animalian eyes and red-furred ears set back against her head, she hesitated, thinking about how to answer.

Inari were a rare breed, with only around twenty-thousand of them in total spread across all planes. There were very few on Antarok to begin with, and they'd been lucky to find one at all. They had no innate way to track one another, either, and so those that traveled far and wide almost always lost track of kith and kin– some having been born never knowing another Inari at all. Further, most of the Inari in Ælheim were connected, one way or another, to Yonakouchi– Velho had sent them after this one specifically because she wasn't. Were Cælum to ask after a Seeming mentor to Velho directly, he'd be able to make such arrangements with ease.

"I…yes, I settled here…n-near to this outpost specifically because the humans w-were easy food," she began, her words shaky. "...b-but…I haven't come across another of my kind in well over fifty years."

One could easily assume she was telling the truth, though downplaying exactly what it was she was doing in these caverns.

Æhti looked annoyed. "That can't be all," he said, staring daggers into the vixen.

"If you just wanted bodies, you'd fare far better in the forests above, near an actual village. Explain yourself– properly, this time." While the usually soft spoken boy wasn't half as intimidating as a dragon, he was accompanied by one, piggybacking off of his influence.

The shivering fox wavered for a moment.

"I was…stealing the research of these Æld'Norai, and using it to try and make fungal thralls of the humans," she managed, fear in her voice. "I-I…used my Seeming to infiltrate them."

꧁══════════• ༺༉ { Æhti } ༉༻•══════════꧂



꧁══════════• ༺༉ ❁ ❀ ❁ ༉༻•══════════꧂​

 

[Caelum]

Caelum was pleased to know his dragon's touch at intimidation hadn't failed him. Then again, he wasn't sure how necessary it had been. Surely the inari knew that she was right fucked the moment she'd come to and realized she couldn't move the rest of her body. It was somewhat amusing for the dragon to see her visibly try as hard as she could to move her body but nothing under her neck budged.

The admission that she was trying to turn humans into thralls made Caelum's stomach churn. He would be visibly upset by the news for a few moments but he suddenly dropped his serious demeanor.

"Wow. Well, if she's telling the truth, and I'm betting she is, then that answers a lot of questions. I figured there was a chance she was working with a like minded inari and we could have negotiated for their location but… if she's nothing to offer us then I suppose we can get going." He had long since abandoned the idea of having this inari teach him, anyways.

The aelf who had led them there held up a finger before Caelum could ask AEhti to freeze her again. "Hold that thought. She may not have been working with another inari, but who's to say she wasn't working for someone else? Making fungal thralls out of humans is hardly a thing that someone would do on a whim."

"Yes," the inari blurted out. "I'm working for another druid… A necromancer! He taught me how to do it all. Promised me the body of an aelf if I helped him. Please don't kill me, I'll lead you right to him."

The inari looked like she wanted to say some more but Caelum interjected, "if I were her, I'd probably make up anything somewhat believable to waste our time. We can't keep her frozen forever and she probably knows that. We give her a moment to breathe and she'll change forms and then we'll lose her."

The idea of there being some grander plot at play was intriguing, but he hardly cared about some rogue necromancer. He was tired – the saol he'd received had done little to alleviate that fact. All he really wanted to do was to go get the surgery done. He also didn't want the aelves to take the inari and have to go through this whole mess again.

"A necromancer, you say," said the aelf pensively, more or less ignoring Caelum. "I would not be privy to details about one involved in these matters. And I'm not sure if anyone in this camp would know either…"

 

[Vicissitude]

​

summer 21 year 123 of the third age
Continued from <here.>​

Æhti observed what conversation followed with a quiet sort of loathing. To be frank, he hated the fae. They were a step beyond even the cruelty of the Æld'Norai, for it was they who spurned the ælves in the first place. The fae took the lives, thoughts, feelings, so on, of others even less seriously than the ælves. For all their potential, all their beauty, Æhti viewed faefolk as almost exclusively irredeemable monsters.

He was glad this one was slated for death.

Both Cælum and the sentry had an equal chance of being correct– it was a fifty/fifty. It would not be surprising that one of her ilk had simply blurted out an outright fabrication, but at the same time, he wouldn't be shocked to learn some wretched Necromancer had made their home within the darkness of the caverns. Still, they didn't have time at this precise moment to really investigate that…they needed to get the Inari back to Velho, get Cælum the surgery that they'd come to collect her for.

The sentry sighed. "I won't burden the two of you further; a claim like that is beyond the purview of any of us, really. I'll report her claims to the Emerald Vigil; they'll perform a sweep of the area, find out if there's any truth to it," he'd say with a curt nod.

"Cart her off, then– I'll go tell the Exodii the two of you are near enough ready to leave. The Wisps and the Vigil's agents are more than capable; we need her not," he'd say as he turned to leave, presumably going to alert the Sloan in charge of this encampment, too.

And with that, Æhti, perhaps spitefully, waved his hand and uttered a word, freezing the mortified Inari once more. He'd bring all this up to Velho, though he wasn't sure what would come of doing so. Perhaps vainly, he'd hope that the Ferrier would pull upon the Wisps again, and that he might be able to go after this Necromancer himself, if such a being even exists. Though this was wishful thinking– a lone Galdr going after a Necromancer all on their lonesome was tantamount to suicide.

They did not have to wait long for the Exodii to arrive– another Æld'Norai, this one a woman of pinks and blues. "I was told the two of you need return to Thokkmyrr? I can create a portal that's near enough to Själasalr," clearly she'd been informed of to whom they were meant to return to, "...I can't make one directly there, as I've never been," she admitted as she began to move her arms in a manner many Exodii adopted to cast.

Mumbling an incantation of her own, the portal would open, large enough for Cælum to carry the Inari through. From looking at the scenery on the other side of the portal, Æhti recognized exactly where it let out; it would be another couple minutes of walking to get back to Velho.

He would look to Cælum, "...after you."

꧁══════════• ༺༉ { Æhti } ༉༻•══════════꧂



꧁══════════• ༺༉ ❁ ❀ ❁ ༉༻•══════════꧂​

 

[Caelum]

Caelum breathed a sigh of relief when the aelf let them go. The dragon didn't exactly have any authority and even if he did, he would not feel comfortable bossing an aelf around. Even if the inari's claims had been genuine, he didn't think it would have been a good idea to give her any opportunity to escape. So, he nodded in satisfaction when her face stopped moving. He could still look the hopeful look in her eyes. He wondered if he would ever talk to her again, but he supposed he would find out within the hour.

"Thank you, I hope what she said is of some help at least," Caelum would say to the aelf before he left to get the Exodii. Caelum wondered if he ought to find an Exodii mage of his own to keep in his employ. It seemed like an incredibly useful ability to have, though he would never consider taking it because of the risk of death.

"No worries, a little more walking won't kill us," he said to her, silently hoping that she got them at least reasonably close. He did not want to carry this creature any more than he had to. He picked her up again, on his now healed shoulder, nodded his thanks, then stepped through.

"I take it you know where we are?" he asked AEhti, assuming he followed. None of it was immediately familiar - He had been too focused on finding Velho's business to get acquainted with the surrounding area.

 

[Vicissitude]

​

summer 21 year 123 of the third age
Continued from <here.>​

Æhti followed, and his anxieties seemed to ease once he returned to the familiar climes of Hespæria's bogs. It was early in the morning, so much so that the sun had yet to rise, though the moon had faded from view. The familiar sounds, too, of croaking frogs and buzzing insects, quelled his anger.

But then, Cælum's question pulled his focus back to the present. "Oh, yes! It's…um, this way."

He was not the best at giving verbal directions, but he needn't be in this case; they were going the same direction. Æhti began to walk, assuming the dragon would follow him rather than continuing to simply stand there holding a frozen inari. That image was likely terrifying, too, to anyone they walked by– with any Fælnir they passed giving Cælum an awfully strange look. But who could blame them, really? A dragon-man carrying a frozen fae-creature. How utterly absurd it looked.

Before long, they left the city proper and took the dark, winding path of packed dirt which led out to Själasalr. And soon thereafter, the dirt turned to mud, and then that mud to wooden bridges rising over the water below, and finally, they arrived among the bright, glowing red of poppies and the soft, soothing purples of the wisteria above and nightshade below– Velho's favorite flowers. Part of Æhti hated that this place had become so familiar to him.

Nevertheless, he approached the door and knocked. Moments later, a sveinn opened the door, and upon seeing who it was, nodded, gesturing them inside. Æhti would do so, taking a seat on a rather comfortable looking armchair, sinking into it to rest his tired body.

"I'll alert the master," the sveinn said with a curt nod before stepping away through another door.

꧁══════════• ༺༉ { Æhti } ༉༻•══════════꧂



꧁══════════• ༺༉ ❁ ❀ ❁ ༉༻•══════════꧂​

 

[Caelum]

The walk was not nearly as short as he had hoped. He often had to switch how he held the inari and desperately wanted to ask Velho for help. The only reason he'd offered to carry the inari was because the man had been injured. But he convinced himself to tough it out under the assumption that AEhti was expending aether to keep the inari frozen.

The looks Caelum got were to be expected. People around his home knew him so his appearance was nothing special. Outside of that and he had to explain that he was a dragon to everyone he talked to. It was honestly annoying and probably the worst part about taking this form. But he couldn't just claim to be an aelf because that was unbelievable, and claiming to be a human wasn't a good idea either. Thankfully people just left him alone, probably because of the inari he held and the wings that he had.

He was too tired to hold a proper conversation but he still forced himself to try to fill the silence with conversation. More because he needed something to distract him from his fatigue than genuine interest.

"So, you live here your whole life? How about education? What sort of schooling does a Faelnir like you get? Do you have any goals in life?"

Soon the familiar sight of the business came into view, along with all the flowers and Caelum finally let out a deep, tired sigh. He hurried inside and took a seat, leaning the icy body against the wall.

 

[Vicissitude]

​

summer 21 year 123 of the third age
Continued from <here.>​

Æhti had half a mind to offer to switch and be the one to carry the Inari now that he was no longer injured, but he ended up saying little. He figured that if Cælum wanted him to do so, he would ask. The Cryomancy he'd use to freeze her was not a channeled spell, but the temperature of the ambient air around them was high enough that she would not stay frozen forever. At one point on their journey, he did perform the hand motions and utter the incantations to reinforce the Ardor in the spell, paranoid that if she regained her senses at all, she'd break free.

When Cælum asked him questions, he was actually happy to hear the other man break the silence. Æhti was sort of used to not speaking unless spoken to in the company of ælves, and was unsure whether or not that applied here. Erring on the side of caution, he had been acting under the assumption that it did.

"Yeah, I was born here in Thokkmyrr– haven't really traveled much outside of it," he began.

"There's a public education system I was in until my teens where I was taught basic literacy, arithmetic, history, the like…but after that I didn't continue because my parents wanted to teach me and my sister to man our family shop. They run an apothecary, see, and she and I were going to be given the chance to run it jointly– or not, if one of us decided we wished to pursue something else…within our means, of course," Æhti explained, not sure how much Cælum really knew about life within Ælheim's Fælnir settlements.

"There are opportunities for further academic education afforded to us, but I was content to follow the path my parents set out for me along with studying Galdr in a…somewhat clandestine manner. That is, uh…until I found my way into Velho's employ. Which, well…I guess is fine? My sister seems happy to run the shop herself along with our parents, though I don't see them as much as I'd like," he sounded conflicted about this turn of events.

"It's difficult to have goals, though, when your future is not in your hands. I'd met Velho assuming I was participating in some research with regards to Ensorcelling, and that once it was done, I'd be on my way. No, he kept me. My future is…" his.

"Hard to predict. Velho says he intends to have my Terra pedagogue initiate me into another Galdr, Aqua, so I guess I can think about the 'future' again if I live through it since, well, I can't exactly tell him no," he said with a shrug, trying not to sound defeated.

Cælum would be able to respond before they made it back to Själasalr. But even so, once the two of them had sat down within the towering hybrid of marshlog and sequoia, it would be a bit before Velho would show up.

꧁══════════• ༺༉ { Æhti } ༉༻•══════════꧂



꧁══════════• ༺༉ ❁ ❀ ❁ ༉༻•══════════꧂​

 

[Caelum]

Caelum had only asked the questions to fill the silence but he found the human's answers to be interesting – far more than what he'd expected. Born in the area, given basic education, studied magic, and eventually ended up with Velho. The dragon guessed that was about as good a life plan as a human of average status could get so long as the aelf wasn't a pain to be around.

"Would you say your path so far has been typical? I imagine most humans would like to be successful enough to be seen as a useful asset by an important aelf. Although I suppose most who make it as far as you have probably ended up victims of their success."

He thought about the supposed plan to give the man another Galdr initiation. "Don't you think it's a bit much to keep getting initiated? I'm sure you have little say in the issue… but if someone held a sword to my neck and told me I had to get initiated… I would probably take the sword than take the chance of failing." Deaths from galdr initiations did not sound pleasant.

"I'm fairly certain aelves don't generally let humans get as strong as you have because then you're capable of saying no. You're probably one of the few in all of AElheim that could probably refuse and live to tell the tale." Caelum was, perhaps, assuming a lot about Velho. All he knew so far was that he did some fancy work with spirits and could perform miracles of healing. He hadn't heard of any offensive abilities he might have.

Caelum thought of the friend he'd once had who'd mysteriously disappeared after becoming a bit too influential. He'd been outspoken about the aelves so the only probably explanations for his disappearance were that he'd fled or gotten killed. The dragon liked to think that the human made it out of the forest and lived a nice life… but he doubted it. That experience was probably one of the most important lessons he'd learned about the aelf – human dynamic. It taught him the futility of human rebellion. The aelves had been doing this shit for thousands of years and they'd gotten damned good at it.

Still, his friend hadn't been a master mage like AEhti. "Sorry," Caelum said after a long while, when they were alone in the room, "I didn't mean to imply that you should say no… I just… I don't know, I feel bad for humans sometimes." He decided to leave it at that.

 

[Vicissitude]

​

summer 21 year 123 of the third age
Continued from <here.>​

Æhti considered the question for a moment. "I'd say it was typical for the child of a merchant– at least, before I met Velho. Usually, we Fælnir prefer to avoid ælven attention…it can give great benefits, but is considered by most to be passing fickle. Today, Velho might protect me. Tomorrow, he might throw me to the wolves." The Fælnir frowned, a twinge of bitterness pulling a subtle sneer to his lips– if only for a second.

That uncertainty made him feel a sort of omnipresent anxiety– one he couldn't quiet and only got louder if he let himself ruminate for too long on it. And if his thoughts lingered, he was prone to making himself feel sick.

"A bit much…" he repeated, his soft voice trailing off. "If only my opinion mattered at all." Æhti stared off into the distance, into nothing at all.

He sighed. "See, that's the problem. It wasn't, 'accept Aqua or die.' There was no 'or'– he said if I resisted, I'd be subdued and forced. I didn't ask what he meant by subdued; I didn't see the point in protesting. What other option is there? I refuse to die by my own hand," he continued, explaining the futility of his circumstance. "And if you wonder why, know that I know as much about whatever eldritch reason that man has as you do– which is to say, I've not the faintest clue."

꧁══════════• ༺༉ { Æhti } ༉༻•══════════꧂



꧁══════════• ༺༉ ❁ ❀ ❁ ༉༻•══════════꧂​

 

[Caelum]

The dragon found himself sighing deeply a lot. It felt bad to know that some day this human was going to be pushed too far and killed. The fact that he'd nearly gotten killed today was proof enough of that. He could tell by AEHti's tone that he was smart enough to realize this eventuality and assumed that he was none too happy about it. For the human, this was his whole life they were talking about. For Velho, the entirety of AEhti's existence could be likened to a weekend.

"That sounds particularly unfortunate," is all he could think to say to his comments about not having a choice. "Then, between the two of us, if you ever need a ride out of the forest… feel free to reach out. It's the least I could do given how much you've helped me today."

He couldn't think of anything else to say that might be useful to the man's situation. He didn't even know if it was something that would be useful, since it would probably be fairly easy to come up with an excuse to get an exodii to send him far away. So, he sat there in silence, thinking and waiting for Velho to come check on them.

 

[Vicissitude]

​

summer 21 year 123 of the third age
Continued from <here.>​

Æhti had no idea what he'd do if he were to try and run away. It was, theoretically, possible– and would be much easier with Cælum's offer.

"I appreciate the thought, but…" he began,

"I…I've little in the department of survival skills and I fear what Velho would do if I were found. The Æld'Norai can be spiteful, and I doubt he'd ignore such a slight. Plus…those who heal often know how to do the most harm," the young man shuddered.

By this point, they'd made it back to Själasalr and had been let in. Once they were seated, another few minutes would pass, but then Velho would return through the door centered within the room's back wall.

The Ferrier would eye the frozen Inari, "...ah, finely preserved– she'll do just fine," he said with a nod.

His gaze would shift between Cælum and Æhti, somewhat surprised that they were both completely unharmed, but he was glad of it. He could reasonably assume somebody at the encampment nearest to where the Inari had been holed up had healed them if anything had happened.

"I believe you traveled to be here, Cælum, correct…? To not inconvenience that much further, I'll be able to perform the procedure tomorrow or in the next few days, whichever works better for you…and you can stay here for tonight, too, if you've not other accommodations," Velho offered.

If Cælum accepted, he'd be allowed to stay in one of a handful of guest rooms Velho had set aside for traveling clients or Maltrician patients that needed the space.

꧁══════════• ༺༉ { Æhti } ༉༻•══════════꧂



꧁══════════• ༺༉ ❁ ❀ ❁ ༉༻•══════════꧂​

 

[Caelum]

Caelum nodded as AEhti justified maintaining the status quo. It was admirable and disappointing at the same time, though there was no way the dragon could ever truly understand what it was like to be in his shoes.

"I suppose I wouldn't want to get on his bad side either," he chuckled.

When the Ferrier came in, Caelum fixed his eyes on the man. An unnatural feeling of pity welled inside him and he had to remind himself that it was due to the lack of fertility that he sensed. That was a discussion for another time.

He pushed the feeling aside and said, "Yes, it would be quite convenient if I could stay here. Would give me some time to get rid of these wings and rest. Thank you for allowing me to use your Ward, by the way. He was extremely useful, brave, and an entertaining travel companion." He didn't know if Velho was the type to care, but he figured he might as well say his thanks.

Afterwards, he'd go up to a guest room and spend the night using his saol reserves to retract his wings back into his body.

 

[Vicissitude]

​

summer 21 year 123 of the third age
Continued from <here.>​

"If only I could figure out how to truly get on his good side," Æhti commented. In truth, he imagined that such a thing wouldn't be possible for a Fælnir like himself.

When Velho arrived, he nodded at Cælum's words, his gaze drifting to Æhti as he was mentioned. Others, too, apparently found value in the boy– and they needn't require Devorare's bloodlust to find it. Curious, he thought.

Velho nodded. "I am glad he served you well," he acknowledged.

Æhti could only wonder if such an acknowledgment really meant anything to the Ferrier.

And then he continued, "...and since you will be staying here, a sveinn will escort you to your room; you're otherwise free to spend the interim as you please. And Æhti, you're free as well– 'til next I require something of you."

After saying this, he would turn and leave, with the aforementioned sveinn entering the room shortly thereafter to escort Cælum away and Æhti taking his own leave to elsewhere within the manor. A sveinn would knock once after a few hours to ask if Cælum needed anything, but otherwise, he would be left alone.

•════════════════════• -the next day- ❀​

The next sunset, the same sveinn that'd been escorting Cælum around would knock upon his door.

"Excuse me, Drækr?" He asked, referring to Cælum by his title. "Are you awake? The master would like to begin soon. Let me know if you've any questions, otherwise the process on your end can be fairly streamlined."

꧁══════════• ༺༉ { Æhti } ༉༻•══════════꧂



꧁══════════• ༺༉ ❁ ❀ ❁ ༉༻•══════════꧂​

 

[Caelum]

Caelum woke up often during the daytime when he was meant to be sleeping. He wasn't unaccustomed to sleeping outside of his home but this area was much different than where he usually spent his time. The noises of the creatures outside, the general ambiance, it had a way of making him feel like he wasn't exactly safe.

During his waking hours he spent a lot of time thinking about AEhti and Velho. He analyzed what little he knew about their relationship, wondering if his own relationship with humans were really any different. AEhti did whatever Velho asked without hesitation, much like Flora did for Caelum. But when talking in private he surmised that AEhti did not exactly like his situation. That what he did was because he was afraid of what would happen if he refused.

Did that stand to reason that Flora was the same way? It pained him to not know the answer and even more so to realize that he might never be able to find out. If her loyalty to him was out of fear that he would someday kill her for disobedience…

When Caelum heard a knock on the door he was glad to have a reason to take his mind off of things. "Yes? I'm up and ready" Caelum said as he hopped out of bed and opened the door.

"I've no questions. I think it's better I not know anything so long as I'm not conscious during the operation. Though, if something unfortunate does happen I request you send word to my Faelnir, Flora, in the Basin."

(word counts)
Velho: 2388
Caelum: 2047

 

[Vicissitude]

꧁══════════• ༺༉ { Reviewed/Canon } ༉༻•══════════꧂​

Cælum

+21 XP

Velho + Æhti

+24 XP

The journey is almost at its end!​

꧁══════════• ༺༉ ❁ ❀ ❁ ༉༻•══════════꧂​

​

​