Aster Fall 3, Ch 1: Life Among Ruins (Patreon)

A strand of moonlight flowed into the broken line on the stone. The pattern glowed as it absorbed the energy, slowly brightening. After a few minutes, sweat was pouring down Sam’s face and there was a pounding ache in his temples as his essence ran low, but he persisted, pushing the energy across the break to carve a new channel.

Slowly, the line began to shine with a silver light and a hint of ice crystals shimmered around the area. It was accompanied by a bell-like chime that brought an intense cold to the mountain peak.

Just a little more.

There was a loud crack as the energy bridged the gap and merged together to create a new line. A cloud of ice crystals swept outward past Sam, covering him in swirling snowflakes that clung to his cloak and hair. They rested on his horns for a moment before evaporating.

He wiped the sweat from his forehead with the back of his hand and let it disappear in the mountain wind. Then he scooped up a handful of snow and rubbed it across his face as he looked at his latest work. The green stone that made up the Moonlight Relic had been dull before he started, covered with a shattered spider web of silver lines.

Now, it was shining with a brightness that it hadn’t seen in uncounted years. The broken pattern had merged together into one solid line that shone as the relic’s energy flowed through it.

The third energy conduit is complete, the Guardian Star announced calmly. Four more are required to restore function to the closest repair node. At this rate, it will take a week and a half. You must hurry if you want the relic to be ready for the lunar alignment.

Sam straightened up and grabbed a stony protrusion to keep his balance as he let out a deep breath and checked the work one last time. He’d expected that Imbue Aura would be the most helpful for repairing the ruins, but it turned out that Transfer Aura was the one he needed right now, since his repairs were only capable of pushing the relic’s energy from one place to another.

Transfer Aura was one of his weakest abilities, but the practice over the last week was pushing it to evolve, even if it hadn’t reached Advanced yet. For now, the best he could do was repair a few pieces.

He made sure he didn’t slip as he looked out at the view. The ice and wind here helped, adding a reassuring stability that pushed him back against the rocks and kept the climate from bothering him, but it was still a precarious position. It had been difficult to reach.

The central plateau was at the peak at the very top of the mountain far above him. To get here, he’d jumped off it and floated down, hugging the cliff the entire way. The buildings and abandoned homes that made up the first layer were two hundred feet below, with nothing but the wind between him and where they began.

The only thing on this cliff was the green stone that served as the Moonlight Relic’s foundation, which was deeply layered over the bones of the mountain. The section was badly damaged by whatever war had shattered the relic. There were gashes here as deep as ravines, making it look like the cliff face had been sheared through by an enormous claw.

Next to him, a cut went fifty feet deep into the mountainside. It almost looked like a cave, but the sides were too smooth to be natural. Fortunately, the Moonlight Relic was enormous and the attack had just ripped through the upper layer.

He didn’t know how long he had until the next flaw appeared, but if he could get the repair enchantment working here, it would be good progress. After that, he could start feeding it the correct materials and have it ready to absorb the energy of the moons when they aligned.

The enchantments throughout the ruins weren’t a single thing. Each layer had its own repair nodes and sometimes more than one, all of it interwoven into something much more complex. This line was part of a repair enchantment that supported the central plateau and first layer. The Guardian Star had been the one to direct him to this area, after identifying it as the most important place to start.

According to the Guardian Star, the relic was only 32% intact. Given that it was 162,000 years old, that was impressive, but it was its original purpose that interested him. It had been designed to seal dimensional space, stabilizing the world to prevent flaws from appearing, and that was what he needed it to do again. Hopefully, if he repaired it enough, it would be able to protect the valley.

“You’re certain that the lunar alignment will help to charge the relic?” he asked aloud, glancing down at the star’s location on his hand.

Affirmative. This repair node will stabilize the relic’s core pattern and the control plateau. Eventually, it might be able to reactivate the defenses on the first layer. From there, it will begin a chain reaction as it starts to access the other repair nodes. However, without your continued support, the best case scenario for those repairs is 7,198 years.

Sam finished checking the line and let it resonate with the relic’s core enchantment in his mind before he nodded. It was like repairing a single letter in a book. He couldn’t tell what the word was, much less the sentence or the whole page, but he knew when it was right.

Then he leapt off the cliff, gathering the wind close around him. As he floated down, the view stretched out to jagged, white-capped peaks that pierced the sky. Brilliant currents of mana gathered on their slopes in a dozen colors, promising elemental storms to come.

His timeline left three days before the moons aligned, but the Festival of Three Moons was already in full swing as the inhabitants of the valley counted down the last two weeks, their eyes fixed on the rise of the moons each night. Highfold’s walls were decorated with green, blue, and purple banners and it was bursting with travelers.

Given how important the repairs were, it was tempting to move on to the next area, but instead he raced across the snow as he headed back to the Ice Sylph village. Today was special and he needed to be home by sunset.

---

“Sam!” Altey’s voice rang out across the snowy field as she spotted him coming. She was standing at the edge of the village in a grassy field that was dotted with early summer flowers in perpetual bloom.

Outside the valley, the Kingdom of Aethra was quickly approaching winter, but the enchantments on the valley kept the area at a constant, pleasant temperature. The ice sylphs’ heritage was nearly as mysterious as the relic.

His sister started running, her feet dancing across the snow as she closed the distance. She was wearing a light blue dress and her hair was decorated with tiny ice crystals that sparkled in the sun. All around her, dancing lights in white and blue gave life to her movements as if she were surrounded by an army of elemental sprites.

“Haha! You’re taller already!” Sam’s laugh burst out of him as he caught her and swung her around in a circle. Crystal blue energy flared around him as his aura reacted with her spirit lights, and he instinctively balanced the energy as he directed it away.

Her control was improving, but it would take a while before she was able to fully internalize Siwaha’s lessons. She didn’t have a class yet, so she was doing everything the hard way. Despite the mana she was emitting, she hadn’t changed much over the last half year. She held herself with a bit more seriousness and poise than she had back in Cliff’s End, but every flicker of emotion was as clear as day.

“Mom and dad are waiting for you!” Altey declared when he set her back down. Delight radiated from her as she looked up at him. “Then we can get started!”

“Lead the way!” Sam said as his grin got bigger. His demonic appearance didn’t make Altey blink and it was something for which he was extremely grateful.

She led the way back through the wildflowers, heading to a small house that blended in with the hill behind it. It was on the edge of the village, and was one of the three guest residences that the ice sylphs sometimes lent out. The village wasn’t large, but it had a long history.

It was hard to tell from the outside, but the house was slightly larger than the one they’d had in Cliff’s End. Its roof was made of a grassy sod that blended into the landscape and long, leafy branches extended above them. The walls were made of living trees whose trunks had somehow been stretched out for dozens of feet.

The door was a heavy, tanned hide that stretched across the gap between the walls. It was weighted to keep it from flapping and a small rune on the inner surface was able to turn it as hard as stone and seal it to the walls, if they wanted privacy.

He’d only met about a hundred Ice Sylphs, but they had many classes in their number, including Enchanters and others, like Ice Spirit and Ice Weaver, who could infuse natural materials with different properties. The village had a very natural feel, but it was filled with many small magics to make life easier.

That alone made it a very different place than anywhere he’d ever lived. He’d already spent several evenings studying the house and the enchantments in it.

“You’re right on time! Come inside!” His mother’s voice rang out just before they ducked through the doorway. Her abilities as a Seer had been progressing and there was no doubt that she’d been keeping an eye on them.

When they entered, Altey darted across the room to where their parents were standing by the table. Aemilia was wearing a silver dress that wrapped around in loose folds. Her blond hair was longer than it had been in Cliff’s End and it tumbled three quarters of the way down her back. The combination gave her an ethereal look that was further enhanced by the depth in her blue eyes, which tilted into crescents as she saw her children in front of her.

Jeric was a head taller than his wife and his muscled frame was three times as broad. Ever since he’d changed his class, it seemed like he was growing more muscular by the day. His arm was wrapped around Aemilia as he winked at Sam and then turned his attention to his daughter.

Altey’s eyes were wide as she hopped from foot to foot, but her self-control was on full display as she forced herself to stand still. In front of her, the table was decorated with silver and blue streamers, as well as strands of shimmering ice that arched toward the ceiling, sparkling with crystals and imbued mana.

All across the table, there were delicate plates with sliced meats, stuffed buns, sauces that steamed in different colors, small dishes of spices and accents, and cups of sparkling cider and wine. At the very center of the table, the ice streamers gathered together to form a crystal dome over a cake that looked like a frozen castle with three layers.

One of the Ice Sylphs must have helped. His parents had the Initiate of Ice trait, but none of them had the experience to make something so intricate yet. The icy dome and strands looked like they had been spun from a thousand snowflakes. They gleamed with light, tossing a rainbow cascade across the room that made it look like a celestial palace.

The scene brought Sam’s class day to his mind, along with all the things that had happened since. A trace of tears stung his eyes before he pushed the memory aside, even though he wasn’t sad. It was because so much had changed.

“Happy birthday, Altey!” Sam said as he pushed his more serious thoughts aside and looked down at her with a teasing smile. “Eleven years old and already an archmage!”

“Wait and see!” Altey’s response was accompanied by a punch to his leg, but she grinned up at him.

He let out the laugh he’d been holding back. He would have ruffled her hair, but it was too neat for that. Instead, he sent sparks of crystal flame shooting all around her like an enchanted birthday candle. They twisted into a flower before they disappeared.

His birthday had been the end of an old path. His sister’s would be the beginning of something new. In an important way, this was a celebration for all of them, a way of recognizing their new life.

“Happy birthday, daughter!” Jeric boomed out, his voice echoing around the room as he waved toward the table. With his other hand, he pulled Aemilia closer, as if he never wanted to let her go. “Yorasi helped with all of this, and she insists that you call her your aunt in the future. You should. We’ve been welcomed here more than I thought possible.”

“This is for you, dear,” Aemilia added. She held out her hands to Altey, beckoning her over. On her palms, there was a bright, white-blue sphere, about the size of an orange. “Your father and I found it in the city.”

“What is it?!” Altey rushed over to see what it was, her eyes wide as she took the sphere from her mother’s hand. Behind her, Sam smiled and took a long look around the room. He already knew the outside of the present was just an illusion.

When she touched the top of the present, the illusion burst, turning into a sparkle of lights that rained down around her hands. When the light faded, there was an elegant, white dimensional bag that had been embroidered with her initials resting on her palm.

“You can store your practice items and herbs in it, when Siwaha teaches you about them,” Jeric said with a smile. “We wanted to give you something useful.”

Altey was slowly gathering a number of ice element items, herbs, and other things as she learned from Siwaha, making it the first time in her life that she’d had much to put into a dimensional bag. Until now, she’d been storing them in a regular one.

Most dimensional bags were utilitarian and had an appearance based on whatever hide they’d been made from, but they had acquired this one from a shop that sold high quality ones to locals who wanted something more tasteful.

“And this is from me,” Sam said as he held out a small book to her. It was about the size of his hand, with a hard cover that had a small, silver clasp. Inside, there were a hundred blank pages of pale vellum. “For your studies.”

With his appearance, he hadn’t been able to go into the city yet, but his parents had picked it up for him when he explained what he wanted.

“I inscribed two small enchantments on it,” he added proudly. “One is for durability and the other will attune it to you, so that no one else can read it and it will be harder to lose.”

“Thank you!” Altey swirled around the room, hugging them all. Her delight was obvious as she spun from one person to the next.

“Now for dinner!” Aemilia declared as she guided Altey to the table. “We’ve been cooking all day to make this special! Let’s celebrate!”

As everyone turned toward the food, Sam pulled a scroll from his belt pouch and activated it, summoning illusory snowflakes and miniature ice drakes that filled the air, swirling from place to place. It was followed by Altey’s immediate giggle of laughter as she tried to catch one of the drakes that whooshed by.

As they began to eat, the snowflakes drifted down and the drakes darted through them, settling now and then onto the ice strands. They tilted their heads as they examined the food on the table before they took off again. He’d based the image on Elsanar. Hopefully, the drake wouldn’t mind.

For a time, the room was filled with family laughter and chatter, discussions of Altey’s plans for her year, the differences between Highfold and Cliff’s End, and advice that filled her ears.

“I hope you have a year full of magic and laughter,” Sam said as he finally reached out and ruffled her hair, messing it up before she could stop him.

“Sam!” Aemilia laughed as she reached out to tuck Altey’s hair back. “Try to behave!”

Altey was just turning to grin back at him as a quiet knock resounded through the room, and

Aemilia’s hand froze. It shouldn’t have been loud enough to get their attention, but there was a piercing quality to the knock that instantly sent the room to silence.

Jeric frowned as he looked up and then he slowly pushed back from the table. Beside him, Sam was already on his feet. Aemilia swiftly finished fixing Altey’s hair as she stepped forward, moving in front of her daughter. Despite their best efforts to relax and have a happy celebration, the speed with which they moved showed an underlying tension that they hadn’t been able to let go.

A sense of foreboding passed over Sam as he looked toward the door. A strand of crystal flame so condensed it was nearly solid was already spinning in his hands as his aura swept outward.

Had the World Church come to accuse him of being a demon? Or had some remnant of the Iceblood Guild or adventurers that served the Outsiders come for revenge?

He’d hidden his appearance while attacking the Grand Flaw as best he could, but it wasn’t impossible that someone had been able to track him, or that they’d gotten information from Lenei.

He hadn’t been paying much attention to Crystal Focus here in the village, but it was always around him. A moment later, when he sensed who it was, he let the flame dissipate. If it had been the church or the adventurers, they wouldn’t have knocked anyway.

Jeric came to the same conclusion with Earth Sense, and he strode forward with a growl. He pulled the hide away from the doorway as he looked out into the night, his eyes shading red as his vision shifted.

“Siwasir.” His tone was a grumble halfway between relief and surprise as he looked out at the Ice Sylph who was standing there. “Didn’t expect you. We were jumping at shadows in here.”

Sam came up beside his father and peered out to see what was going on. The Ice Sylphs all knew it was Altey’s birthday and Siwasir, in particular, wouldn’t have come here without good reason.

“I am sorry to interrupt,” Siwasir apologized quickly as he stood in the doorway. His lean features were taut with worry as he glanced around the room, taking in the decorations and the illusions. A flicker of regret was evident when he grimaced.

“I know how much this evening means to you and we will try to make up for it. I wouldn’t have come if there weren’t trouble. Jeric and Sam, you are needed.” His words were swift, like a mountain stream tumbling over frozen rocks, but he paused, looking toward Aemilia and Altey before he pulled his attention back to Jeric.

“A flight of wyverns is approaching the border, more than a dozen of them, and they’re accompanied by some other monsters as well. Elsanar just arrived to warn us. We can deal with them, but they could destroy a large part of the village if we’re unlucky. They’ll be here in about ten minutes.” Siwasir frowned, pausing for just an instant before he added a final thought. “It seems the death of the Outsiders has released the monsters under their control.”