Hope

Irwyn realized he had missed this place. The wondrous training hall with magic that he could still not quite understand despite all the progress he had made was the exact same as the last time he had been there. Perhaps not even dust was allowed to fall. At least nowadays he felt the intangible strings of magic grasping onto him, connecting and affecting him. But these were unlike the magic he used. They were… distant for the lack of a better word. Beyond reach or ability to affect no matter how hard he tried. Still, just the fact that he could sense something as opposed to before was a cause for celebration. Proof of his improvement.

He had begun to feel them before Elizabeth’s departure and his latest burst of Insight had made the impression far more distinct compared to before. How they actually worked remained a mystery though.

"It feels longer than just a few days away," Elizabeth sighed a bit wistfully. "Do you want to warm up or…"

"Let us spar right away," Irwyn nodded. "I am curious how much of a leap you have made," and whether he might not have made a bigger one.

"On your spots then," Dervish had appeared at some point and only interfered when he was needed as the stone-faced man tended to do. "On my mark, go," he waited for them to reach their usual starting distance and then set the match off.

"Dark tide"

"Disruptive brilliance"

Elizabeth started with perhaps her favorite opener, a black mist gushing from her at a rapid pace. It was a cheap spell that denied vision, magical senses, and not much else. But it was simple enough to work through Finity - just the singular intention to hide imbued - and had stumped Irwyn in the past. It was hard to hit someone you could not see or perceive after all.

Which was why he had been looking for a counter and his delving into the details of light provided an inspiration. Rather than trying to disperse the mist with beams or waves of light under his direct control, he created a few sources of light with the intention to disrupt and break. Except, now that he understood that his source shone these pseudo-magical light particles as it glowed he had figured out how to imbue them with both the intention and power of the spell manifesting them.

Now, in all honesty, although the spell essentially disrupted any magic with a line of sight the effect was not potent. Actually, it was quite weak and Irwyn had no idea how it would handle friendly fire if he worked with another mage. But it was tailor-made perfectly for countering exactly what Elizabeth was doing: Void and Light were still anathema and annihilated on contact. And although still limited, this method of delivery was much more generous with the increasing attrition of Finity compared to direct constructs.

And the effect was immediate. Just beginning to spread, the fog was stunted and began receding back instead. Quickly realising the way of the tide, Elizabeth let it disperse, taking a potshot at Irwyn with a quick barrage of void magic bolts. Irwyn dodged some and just let the rest harmlessly impact his barrier. He knew better than to get distracted, anticipating what Elizabeth would do next.

To his surprise, she remained standing at a distance rather than continue pressuring Irwyn. Which likely meant a big spell. Not panicking, Irwyn began his own chant to match it; his superior reserve was his biggest advantage and mutually breaking each other’s larger magics massively favored him. His words were just half a breath behind Elizabeth's own chant.

"Delve, seeker,

one step deeper

and in yourself find

Elvenkind"

“From the seams,

In my dreams,

I saw them fall,

The Stars scourge all”

While Irwyn's spell was mostly unchanged, Elizabeth's incantation was brand new; at least as far as Irwyn was aware. Because she was not obscured Irwyn could see the transformation in real time. If he did not know better, he might have mistaken it for life magic of some kind since Elizabeth visibly changed. Her eyes grew darker, iris turning pitch black and even the sclea greying. Her ears lightly extended with ebony growths, nails blackened and elongated. But all the changes Irwyn saw could but compare to those he felt. Because his magical senses sang in alarm as Elizabeth's physical location began to more and more feel like a bottomless pit. Like a ravenous and inescapable hole in reality.

That did not bode well for his odds.

Almost 120 projectiles of Starfire manifested around Irwyn and shot off, about a fifth more than when he had last used the spell in their spar, though Elizabeth did not seem bothered all that much because she was running towards him, already casting another spell, even faster than before. Irwyn could scarcely react, occupied by maintaining his ongoing spell.

"Shatter and fall

One and all.

Such is this path,

Legacy of Wrath”

And shatter it did. Irwyn felt his control vane, the projectiles of his own spell cracked and weakened, making it a struggle just to keep them going. Subverted Irwyn realised. All of his magic had been afflicted by half-sentient furry. The magic itself raged against his grasp, against the given direction; the spell’s very purpose. It was as fascinating as it was frightening to see magic rebel against him. They were supposedly on the same level yet Elizabeth could suddenly completely overwhelm him, suppressing all his magic, making it significantly weaker.

All, including the barrier, Irwyn was dodging to the side before the thought even fully registered. It was barely enough as a beam of blackness sheared through Irwyn's barrier and flew right by his head. 4 intentions, he noted, probably dedicated to piercing. Normally that would not be enough, but the disruptive spell has weakened the barrier too greatly.

Which made it a massive issue considering Irwyn implicitly relied on his defenses in their spars. He could not possibly dodge everything Elizabeth would throw at him. Thankfully, he was offered a few moments of respite as the missiles of his Scourge spell arrived and Elizabeth had to feel with them: She systematically shattered them while weaving around the rest with inhuman speed and dexterity. Probably part of the Elvenkind spell or some other effect she had cast silently.

Irwyn could attempt to force a victory by joining the assault of his ongoing spell but if that did not work and Elizabeth broke it then he would have no real chance of recovering. And they both knew that; it was clearly bait.

So instead Irwyn tried to come up with a counter to her counter. He quickly tested that new magic was indeed still affected by the wrathful subversion. Elizabeth was maintaining two powerful ongoing spells. That had to be incredibly draining on both the Vessel and the mind.

Which offered him an idea.

"In the Light,

Beyond mortal sight"

By that point his Scourge spell was well past halfway broken. Elizabeth was shattering it unreasonably quickly considering the projectiles were actively dodging and positioning themselves to minimize damage by any area spell. But they had held long enough, ironically freeing up more of Irwyn's mind as their destruction continued.

Avoid, suppress, stabilize, contain. Irwyn imbued the spell with four intentions while also slipping out of his own barrier. Elizabeth’s senses would be keen, even keener than before. There was no doubt in his mind she would be able to track him just by the protective spell even if he was visually invisible. However… she might attempt to track it even when he was no longer inside. The barrier too was made up of four intentions so with a spur of inspiration, Irwyn changed half of them to hide and contain. Contain, to his appreciation, also worked to help against Elizabeth’s disrupting spell rather than just making the spell better hidden, if just slightly. It would better sell the misdirection.

Obscured as such, Irwyn moved the barrier away from himself at roughly his jogging speed, making it flank Elizabeth from one side while he actually approached from the other. As he had expected, Elizabeth pretended not to notice the ‘hidden’ barrier as she was almost halfheartedly sending beams of void magic at almost random. If she really had sensed nothing she would be drowning the hall in another fog or something along those lines.

When she feigned turning away from the barrier, Irwyn too pretended to fall for the obvious bait. He cannibalized a chunk of the barrier’s magic to construct something that would feel like the start of an attack while he was in fact on roughly the opposite side of her.

Just as he had hoped, Elizabeth snapped around, obliterating the barrier with an overwhelming attack, thinking Irwyn had overextended. Instead, it provided Irwyn with a real opening.

Prepared for exactly the moment, Irwyn spurred forward a net of light. Fast and wide enough that Elizabeth would not be able to slip it, even if she noticed it in time. It would take only a split second to reach her. Speed, cut, catch, accelerate and fast. After his latest vision, Irwyn theoretically had the competence to cast a five-intention spell, though he had been hesitant to put that to the test unsupervised. But for such a good shot at victory? At finally besting her honestly despite that rise in power? He went all in, letting even his invisibility slip to make the spell just a bit better. The net a bit wider and faster.

Those aspirations were dashed a moment later when Elizabeth instantly jumped to the side before Irwyn’s spell even left his immediate surroundings, leaving a black smoking trail in her wake. Before his mind registered it the spell flew, and Elizabeth, empowered by whatever the spell was, could run far faster to the side than Irwyn could change the direction of a spell explicitly intended to catch a target before they had the slightest chance to react.

Irwyn had a split second more to wonder whether it was better to dismiss the spell or try to somehow redirect it when Dervish appeared right by him. His eyes widened ever so slightly but knowing what that meant Irwyn looked around himself. With combat paused, it was not hard to spot the ebony tendril of magic the stone faced mage was physically holding in his hand. It had somehow slithered just behind Irwyn, barely not touching his body, and, judging from the position and height, Dervish had likely stopped it just as it was about to plunge into Irwyn’s spine with him being none the wiser. He had felt nothing.

“Damn, I really thought I might have you this time,” Irwyn sighed. Unfortunately, his invisibility had not resulted even in a single surprise victory. “How did you see me?” Because how else cold she had predicted him so perfectly.

“I could not see you,” the pitch withdrew from Elizabeth’s eyes as her appearance returned to normal, everything receding once the spell was over. They walked closer to have a conversation. The disruptive spell also ended. “But I could feel you. Among other things, the Elvenkind spell sharpened my perception of Void magic and through that also to its anathemic Light. And despite all your attempts at hiding, you had become an increasingly bring lighthouse ever since we have first met. That seems to have only grown disproportionately more potent over the past few days.

“I suppose I get what you mean,” Irwyn sighed. Elizabeth’s presence had also grown significantly stronger. But she seemed far more adept at hiding it from him than he was from her. “Though I had no idea you could pull a sneak attack like that.”

“That’s because you always hide in a bubble,” she grinned. “Impossible to slip anything like that through it. At least at my level of ability which is rising faster than ever now after I partook in the Ambrosia. But you too have leapt forward by an unexpected margin. That last attack especially. Do you mind explaining how that has happened?”

“Well, it is something I had been hesitant about broaching…” Irwyn pretended to consider his words, show doubt and fear, though in reality he had had days to somewhat plan what to reveal. In truth, he had realised that there would be no hiding everything without some explanation. But there was no reason to go into exact details or all his suspicions. “Let me explain…” And so he did. About some of his insights and suspicions. Perhaps Elizabeth would keep quiet if he asked her to, however, Irwyn highly doubted Dervish would report everything the man considered important. So, he told them a slightly… abridged version.

In Ebon Respite he had stumbled onto that crystal which gave him the first vision. That of a wise Named providing guidance to a Starfire mage. No need to speak of his suspicions, or that he had beheld an Edict being cast. Focus on his sudden improvement and the unexpected attainment of Starfire of his own. How its lingering impression had allowed him to unleash that futile but powerful attack in an attempt to escape from Alira.

Then of the second vision, not a week later when he was first setting out on his journey. Speak of two powerful beings discussing demons but absolutely nothing about their identity. No lies, not yet at least. Just omissions. He was not willing to expose himself. Instead, put focus on this eventually warning him about the nature of kobolds. About how he suspects the vision had warned him.

And then the latest vision. Speak of the impression of utter loss from the Death of the Aspects. Speak of the despair felt and that he had heard the last will of Father Fate. But no that he had stood among the 9 nor that his memory of it strangely cut off. Perhaps broach his suspicion that it could be warning him of something in Abonisle.

“Do you believe that the perspective of these visions comes from the same being?” Dervish asked thoughtfully after a moment. The fact that the man paused at all meant he must have put some serious thought into it. Irwyn could not quite yet imagine at what speed the mind of someone like Dervish would operate.

“I thought of that too,” Irwyn nodded. “It is possible but I cannot be certain,” which was not even a complete lie. He was almost sure but not completely. But what he was suspecting he would absolutely not admit, at least not while unaware of circumstances. Irwyn was too ignorant of what it might imply and that meant he could not know if it might affect his safety or the agenda of his patrons.

“I am not an expert on the subject and do not know anyone I could properly inquire with without risking a leak,” Dervish prefaced. “However, I possess a few more details about the crystal that you likely do not. It was originally uncovered inside a recently re-established iron mine not far from the Western border with the Duchy of Yellow. The Marquis whose lands the mine stands on immediately attempted to have it appraised, however, the object vehemently resisted teleportation and was above local expertise. An expert was contacted in City Black, however, due to its nature there was a perceived risk of a volatile reaction to the extensive Void magic permeating the Duchy’s ancestral seat of power. The Marquis was instructed to have it appraised at one of the satellite settlements where it was, supposedly, destroyed by the willful actions of Alira von Blackburg. Her guardian had been convinced it was a single-use offensive artifact according to the report I have been given.”

“And they will not change their mind on that,” Elizabeth said with surprising confidence, probably based on personal insight. “They are particularly stubborn.”

“Yes, I have observed the same thing,” Dervish nodded lightly. “That being said I cannot say with confidence what your situation is. I have not heard of anything like it, however, that means little. And as I have said, leading any inquiries… could be dangerous given the events of Ebon Respite; dots could be connected. Perhaps it would be possible to contact someone in the Duchy of White or Duchy of Cyan, depending on whether this phenomenon comes from the Soul or is a detached vision related to Fate. Discerning either is more difficult than usual due to your condition. I assume you are aware.”

“I have been told my Fate is particularly difficult to read, yes,” Irwyn nodded.

“Either way, I will see what can be found without raising any eyebrows and notify you if there is a breakthrough of any kind. Though that is in no hurry. Your unexpected improvement opens up… possibilities for training.”

“Well, I am all for improving further,” Irwyn could only grin. Although he was still a bit worried about what Dervish might find - especially how others might react to it - for the moment he could

In the evening, Irwyn once again found himself seated in the private room with the wonderful view opposite to Elizabeth. He wondered now why she was so partial to the Restaurant or if it was perhaps just a habit. Either way, he realized he had missed their dinners as well. Though it might have also just been that his diet had not been… optimal during his recent spell obsession.

“Perhaps it would not go amiss to procure something more… magical today,” Elizabeth suggested, slightly hesitant.

“Let us call it a celebration of your return and our improvements,” Irwyn nodded with a smile which she returned. He could afford to indulge once in a while.

When the ‘attuned’ cuisine was served Irwyn swore it was even better than he remembered.