As we crested the hill and reached my house, Jax Liora and I turned to look back down the trail. At this point practically crawling was our new priestly friend Kaelen, who was gasping and wheezing, but still slowly coming.
"And your sure your OK?"
Jax asked looking at Liora and I with an expression that asked if we should help him. Liora turned to walk into the house as Jax went back down the trail a bit to help Kaelen as I followed Liora back into my home.
"I'm not used to having guests, so you might just need to find a spot to sleep on the floor."
I said walking in, but she was already sprawled out on my bed and starting to tuck herself in.
"Now hold on, first of all, don't just go stealing someone's bed, especially if you're staying over, and second of all, at least take a bath, we just hiked for like 4 hours and I'm not cleaning my bed out tomorrow morning because you felt lazy!"
I yelled as Jax and Kaelen came through the door. Liora sat up in my bed and propped herself up on her elbow.
"That's rude you know, in a room full of guys, shouldn't the girl be the one with the bed, where has chivalry gone in this day and age?"
Liora asked making a dramatic gesture like she was fainting.
"Then you can have the bed but at least take a bath!"
I yelled in annoyance as I grabbed the flint and steel from my shelf to start the fire in the fireplace.
"Fine, fine, you humans have the weirdest customs."
Liora said as she seemed to bounce up as if she barely weighed anything.
"Sleeping in a bed sweaty and dirty is a beastfolk custom?"
Kaelon asked Jax as he sat down, opening the top 2 buttons on his robes to allow himself to ventilate.
"It's not, but I guess everyone is different."
Jax said with a shrug.
I kept striking and striking with the flint and steel and finally after a few minutes I got the fire started. I sat down in a huff, I was tired, I was sweaty, and I wanted to sleep right away, but I can't scold someone else for something and do it myself. So I sat with the others as the warmth of the growing fire warmed all of us from the cold hike up. As everyone gathered around, we all looked at each other for a moment before Jax turned to me and asked,
"soooo should we strategize for tomorrow, or should we wait until the morning?"
"We might as well while the fire heats up the bath water"
I said grabbing some firewood from the pile that Jax has helped me cut as I took it outside and started to set up the fire under the marked copper tank. As I came back inside I could see that Kaelen seemed to know what I was doing, and Jax had seen me use the tank system my parents made before leaving before, but Liora gave me a confused look.
"Arn't you going to hang your water pot over the fire to heat?"
She asked confused. Jax turned eager to explain so I nodded for him to continue as I walked over next to the fire and grabbed the small soot shovel to grab a chunk of burning wood to carry outside and ignite the log pile I had made.
"As it turns out Aiden's parents are inventors, one of the things they made is this system where you have two tanks of water collected and purified by some process, he explained it, it went over my head. One tank is designed to have a fire under it to be heated, and the steam is used to build pressure, making it so you can turn a lever, and the water comes out easy, and you can change the temperature based on how much cold water you mix in."
"It's quite incredible that your parents invented such a thing Aiden, they must be making quite a bit of money from such an invention, nobles that have visited the monastery have been talking about controllable bath installations."
Kaelen said as he started to pick little bits of things out of his hair from the hike up. There was a ping of frustration towards my mom and dad, but I tried to not let it show as Liora jumped in and asked.
"So, strategizing wise, what exactly are we up against here?"
"Well to be frank were not 100% sure, part of the reason I was looking for a mage is because there is some magic stuff we don't know anything about, and were hoping it can answer some questions."
Jax said partially with his mouth full as he pulled off his pack and let it fall to his side.
"If I am recalling our time at the library the enemy in particular, we will be dealing with is an Ash Spirit, right?"
Kaelen asked as I started to rummage through my cabinets, grabbing blankets and pillows for everyone.
"Thats right, they are a type of undead created occasionally when someone burns to death, often exhibiting their last wills they had in life in their new forms."
I said walking over to my cabinets to see what I could find for dinner. I saw Misty was already asleep in her small hammock, her body seeming to resemble a small pool of water on a leaf hung from strings. I tried my best to be quiet as I grabbed some cans of soup and started to open them, grabbing out a pot, and pouring 4 cans' worth of tomato soup into a bowl, grabbing a loaf of bread to dip as well. Jax preferred a carnivore diet, that and soup is hard unless he wants to be messy, so he had already pulled out what had once been my supply of jerky's that he was happily munching on, balancing them so they stand up between his front paws.
"Well from what Jax said these guys are just burning a circle around this one untouched old travelers' shrine with an old magic circle in it, so what kind of last will could these Ash spirits be enacting?"
Liora asked as she seemed to start shifting some of the feathers on her body in what I assume was pruning.
"Maybe they worked at that shrine and wished to have the shrine remain untouched and preserved, making it so animals won't go near, and trees can't fall on it?"
Kaelen suggested. It sounded reasonable enough but the fact that there was that magic circle still confused me. If they had just wished to do that, why would they continue burning outward, animals in general avoid ash and soot, so that should have been enough to protect the shrine. I placed the pot on the stove to heat as I turned back to the others.
"Sorry guys, I normally live alone, so I only have 3 bowls."
I expected them to be annoyed, but without a second glance Kaelen and Liora nodded and produced their own utensils and bowls from their bags.
"you just carry bowls and cutlery with you?"
"Yea, adventurers are often camping, so they kind of have too."
Liora said matter of factly. I started to think back to my book on the 7 stars and realized they skipped over a lot of the travel and little details in traveling.
The small steam whistle blew, telling me the water was ready. Liora jumped up and headed for the door, bringing her pack with her. She turned back at the door and said.
"Alright, boys, if I catch so much as one of you peeping, I will over inflate your lungs until you pop."
With that scary final warning she went bouncing over near the tanks as we sat in stunned silence for a moment before Jax asked.
"Can she really do that?"
"By the power of draconian do you want to find out the hard way?"
Kaelen said shaking his head and crossing his arms. I stirred the soup and cut bread for Liora, Kaelen, and myself. We waited for a solid 20 minutes before Liora came back inside, wearing what looked to be night clothes and a towel around her head as she shrugged and said not as warm as I thought it would be. She walked quietly over to my bed, and sat on the edge as she pulled out what looked to be a familiar book, the 9th book in the 7 stars series. For a brief moment I was tempted to give her the spoilers that one of the characters dies by the end, it seemed fitting considering her attitude all night, but I restrained myself.
"Can you stir the soup every now and then, and pull it off when it starts bubbling?"
Liora gave a silent thumbs up, not even looking up from her book as Kaelen, Jax, and I all headed outside to the bath. Kaelen was the most excited, he striped and practically dove in. I was about to follow when I heard Kaelen's screams as he quickly floundered out and landed on the stones around the tub with a thud.
"By the Hammer of Gundenclang its boiling!"
He screamed as he seemed to try to shake the water off of himself as he looked to be as red as a tomato from just the brief moment, he had stepped in. I poked a finger in and ripped my hand out. It was unbearably hot. We all turned towards the door where we could just barely see the edge of the book that Liora was reading. Be it the collective telepathy of guys when a nut tap occurs, or collective amazement, we all said the same thing in unison.
"She thinks this isn't hot enough?"
We ended up waiting and shivering for a moment as the water cooled before hopping in. It felt still a bit too warm, but compared to the cold outside the tub it was much better. We soaked for a good 10 minutes before draining the dub and heading back inside. Even having waited for it to cool and being in there for half the time, where we had been submerged was red as a tomato. As we got back inside, we saw that Liora was already asleep, cozied up in my blankets, and my bed. Her empty bowl sat beside her, her cut of bread eaten as the pot sat to the side of the stove. Kaelen, Jax and I started to curl up on the wooden floor when Jax turned to Kaelen and asked.
"I grew up in a naturalist pack of fullbloods, so I never really got to learn anything about the gods, you worship Fornugen, right? What are they the god of?"
Kaelen chuckled as he pulled up his left sleeve to reveal that his wrist seemed to have a special tattoo of a fireplace with a place that looked like it could have flames, but it didn't have any.
"Her name is Freyungen, the goddess of love, home, family, comfort, and compassion. She witnesses things like marriage, brings soulmates together, allows families to get trough adversaries and remain together, and serves as the patron god of Balwuk. She has guided me through many aspects of my 185 years of life and even granted me her minor blessing of The Spark of Kindness."
Jax and I turned to each other. Beastkin were the shortest-lived race at just 60-80 years on average, humans only slightly better at 80-100, while dwarves can live several hundred years, I have no idea about elves. I could have asked Eustus, but questions like is 400 old feels so rude in public.
"Is that considered a long time or are you still young for an Elf?"
Jax asked as he picked his head up.
"It's exactly 18.5% of my time in this world, but for elves there isn't really a young elf unless you're under 30."
Kaelen said as he finished his bowl of soup and started to munch into his bread.
"You say 18.5 like you know exactly when you're going to die."
I said dipping what remained of my bread in the soup to enhance the flavor.
"Well, I do, down to the second, as all elves do."
Kaelen said matter of factly. Jax sat upright and asked now very interested.
"You mean to tell me that all elves know exactly when they are going to die?"
Kaelen looked over with a confused look.
"Yea, All elves live exactly 1000 years to the second before they die of old age, did you not know that?"
"Not until now, so what, you just mark down a time your born and 1000 years later you just fall over dead?"
"Not quite, nobody knows fully what caused the 1000 years, but many speculate it was because of the fight between E-tum and Magentina."
Jax and I stared at Kaelen blankly for a moment before Kaelen understood we had no clue and continued.
"There are two gods, E-tum and Magentina who are known for an argument that got them kicked out of heaven and sealed in something called the divine tomb in Desrium."
I had heard of the divine tomb before from my grandfather telling me stories of when he was traveling in his youth, but I knew nothing else really.
"How can anything mortal seal a god, isn't godhood all about creating that stuff?"
Jax asked confused.
"Well, it was actually the other gods that sealed them because their argument threatened the world."
I finished my bowl and carried it over to the makeshift sink I had before coming back and asking.
"What kind of argument threatens to destroy the world."
"Thats the funny thing, you see Magentina created language as one of her creations, and it was seen as one of the greatest, but E-tum was known for being very prideful and so he would boast about himself using language day and night to all the gods. Magentina getting fed up with hearing it ended up stealing E-tum's mouth. E-tum enraged retaliated by creating writing and letters, something Magentina saw as a corruption of her great creation. The two would argue constantly to the point the other gods couldn't focus and do their work correctly. So they worked together to seal the two in a room where they could argue all day without interrupting the other gods work."
Jax and I turned to each other as if expecting Kaelen to say Sike, look at your faces, but he didn't.
"Thats weird, but what does that have to do with Elves and 1000 years exactly?"
I asked as I started to get situated under my blanket.
"Well, it is said that even in the tomb their arguments caused the land to change, as what was once a small cave became a massive mountain made of sandstone in the middle of the desert. It was said that Elves at this time could live to be 5,000 if they took care of themselves. As such an old elf who was said to be the wisest man in the world was sent to try to calm the two divines, and while he succeeded, he had to make points from both divine's perspectives, as such each divine gave the elven race a gift and curse. E-tum cursed the elves to never be able to live past the age 1000 while Magentina cursed them to always know the day they will die of old age. For their gifts, E-tum changed Magenta's curse slightly so the elves only know when they will die of old age while Magentina changed E-tum's curse so that Elves will live as long as possible to 1000. While nobody is 100% sure this is how it happened, it's the general agreed upon theory."
"Wow, but even still, doesn't knowing when you will die get stuck in your mind and weigh everything down?"
I asked sitting up on my elbows.
"We are literally fighting monsters that inherit the wills, personalities, and more of those who die. Death is almost never the end of the line, what reason would an elf have to fear it any more than anyone else. Humans don't start running around when they turn 90 begging for a way to extend their lives. Sure there are exceptions in rare cases, but there are tales of some humans seeking immortality as well."
Jax and I turned to each other and blinked a few times. Kaelen smiled and layed down on his pillow and cozied into his blanket. After a few minutes his chest started to rise and fall slowly to the Rythm of sleep, with Jax shortly following. As I layed awake I heard the familiar chirping of misty as she flew over where she had been asleep in her bed. From the way her liquid body drooped she was clearly sleepy as she chirped at me in a sleepy tone.
"Get some sleep, were gonna need your help tomorrow."
I said scratching Misty on the head like she liked. She nodded and drifted back to her little hammock as I turned to get some sleep.