Rising Kite - A story from the world of HWFWM

High in the night sky, two moons bathed the cliffs and forests below in their pale, silver light. The late evening was clear and crisp, and an observer sitting on one of the myriad stone spires would be able to glimpse shades of red, orange, yellow and purple from the foliage below even in the murky gloom of night.

This was the Autumn lands, the northernmost province of the kingdom of Hua-Xi. Many would call it beautiful, and just as many would call it a mana-sparse backwater far removed from real civilization and culture.

The valleys were dangerous, as the calls of monsters were ever present in the night. But even as inhospitable as it might seem, with its high and frequent cliff spires and valleys absolutely covered in woodlands, the same observer could see signs of habitation. While the villages were small, one could usually spot a handful if you climbed the highest peak, often built upon the more hospitable cliffs with gentler slopes. Most inhabitants were asleep at this hour, the wooden houses only lit up by the moons above.

But in one such village, Starberry Peak, there was a rustic but beautiful wooden house where magical lamps still cast their warm glow from the windows.

Two women were waiting, and coping very differently with said wait.

“Dearest Dove, please gather your composure and have some tea instead. I’m sure it will do you more good than carving an ever deeper groove in our floor.”

The speaker was a thin, rather short celestine woman with crescent moon glasses and sharp features framed by straight onyx black hair. She sat on a pillow next to a low table, knees tucked in and posture straight and dignified. A pot of tea sat atop a small heated plate, its warmth ensuring a thin stream of steam continued to rise from the nozzle.

The human woman she was addressing was taller and more curvaceous, with a small waterfall of brown locks that swished about every time she turned in her pacing. Her face was rounder and usually had a kind and serene look. At the moment, those same features were marred by lines of worry.

“Oh, Crow, you know they should’ve been here by now. The letter was very specific. What if something has happened? Are we even prepared enough? Maybe there is something we forgot to procure? I should-” Dove said before closing her mouth after seeing the amused glint in Crow’s eyes.

She sighed, smoothed out her comfortable silken robes before joining her wife at the table. Crow remained silent as strands of her long hair gently picked up the kettle and poured a cup for the fretting woman while she gently draped her aura around Dove for comfort. She spoke up after Dove took her first sip.

“Their needs are rather simple when they are young, so I’m sure there will be time to compensate for any oversight on our part.”

Both women looked to be in their mid-thirties, but a person with the right experience would be able to spot the beautifying effects of being bronze-rank which probably put their true age somewhere above that. While Crow followed the more stereotypical leanness when ranking up, even the evolved essences hadn’t been enough to smooth out the softness from Dove who somehow kept looking more warm and welcoming as the years progressed.

It was that same look that was somehow even more endearing to Crow as she saw her companion fret, full of compassion and worry. She had to make sure her slight smile didn’t break through her facade, either on her face or her aura, or she wouldn’t hear the end of it.

As she listened to Dove once again going over the list of things they would need for this new, grand undertaking, that she felt another bronze-rank aura. It pulsed gently outside their door, announcing that the object of all this fretting, waiting and preparations had finally arrived.

Dove had fallen silent as she belatedly felt the pulse, being caught up in her thoughts. Crow was already at the door, where she momentarily paused to suspend the house’s defensive arrays before opening the door without much ceremony.

The warm light from inside spilled out over the beautifully shaped wooden porch, bathing a travel-worn figure in the glow. A black cloak hid the majority of the silhouette, but Crow could see enough of the body clad in leathers as dark as the cloak to identify the person as male.

As he lowered his hood and removed a black scarf wound about his mouth and neck, Crow caught a glimpse of a rather bulky, oblong box firmly secured to the man’s back, almost like an over-sized version of the medicine boxes carried by wandering herbalists and doctors.

Her scrutiny was interrupted as he locked eyes with her, now revealing a rugged face covered with black stubble around a small, once neatly trimmed mustache, and spoke up.

“Curious Crow flies Swift.” he said with a small bow, hands cupped.

“Brave Walker of Paths” she replied as she returned the gesture and was about to speak when Dove sidled up to her, almost pushing her off the porch with barely restrained eagerness.

“Oh please, enough with the formalities you two. Walker, please come in. We have been awaiting you. And congratulations on reaching bronze rank!” Dove said as she strode up to the man and started insistently leading, just a smidgeon short of dragging, him into the house.

“Waiting most eagerly…” Crow muttered with a smile as she followed, closing both doors and arrays behind them.

Moments later, a third cup had joined the first two at the table. Dove poured tea for their guest while she bombarded him with questions of his journey, adding a stamina pill to the cup before serving it to him. Walker could barely get a word in through the barrage but politely waited and instead took his first sip of tea, shoulders relaxing a bit when the stamina-restoring concoction spread warmth through his body.

He took the time to take in his surroundings, his eyes scanning the plushly decorated common room filled with fabric and plants. A lone stick of incense burned in a corner, spreading a gentle, fresh fragrance throughout the room which mixed pleasantly with the medicinal smell of dried herbs. The house gave off a warm, soft feeling mixed with functionality and just the right amount of rustic beauty. This was a home, well worn in and the pair of women had truly made it their own.

Crow gently nudged Dove’s aura in an attempt to provide Walker with an opening. As Dove paused to look at her, he cleared his throat and spoke up with a slightly gravelly voice.

“Lady Dove, I can assure you that the journey was a safe one, but I got slightly delayed since I had to circumvent a pack of galezards. Wouldn’t want to risk the cargo to all those wind blades” he finished as he gently patted the box which now lay beside him.

Dove listened to the tale with wide eyes while Crow gently patted the back of her hand.

“See dear, I told you that the messenger would be cautious. And it would seem that we got the region's very best one too.” She comforted, before nodding toward the box. “Might we, at last, see what all the secrecy and excitement is about?”.

Walker looked a bit hesitant at her. “You don’t know what’s inside? I was assured that-” he started speaking as Crow gently interrupted him with yet another nudge of aura.

“Master Walker, I know what it is. A baby isn’t that much of a mystery. However, the communications and messages leading up to this most auspicious moment have been very vague about most everything else. It would be nice to at least be assured that the young one isn’t some fabled lost royal scion, child of dark prophecy or anything else that would fill our life with assassins and intrigue.” The last part was added with a generous serving of dry sarcasm.

Walker chuckled, relief evident on his face as he answered. “Well then, lady Crow, while I do not know much and my oath does not permit me to disclose even less, I can at least assuage your apprehension on those accounts.”

He paused for another sip of tea and a grateful nod at Dove, who offered him a rice bun, before continuing.

“As you may know this solution was a compromise between parties that have to remain unnamed, and while they have both power and influence it is nowhere as near the more… spectacular… fates you suggested. This solution was agreed upon to be the one that removed as little potential from the world as possible. I assure you that the compensation-”

Crow interrupted him with a curt hand gesture. “Yes, yes, more resources are all well and good and you have always upheld your promises before. But I think you better get on with this and actually show us the boy. Dove will probably poison you if you delay any longer.”

She added the last with a smirk as Dove had been steadily inching closer to the box. Walker looked at Crow, then at his cup, back to Crow and then at Dove before clearing his throat a bit more nervously than last time. “I believe you are right, lady Crow.”

The box was a rather large affair, made of beautifully polished reddish wood and held together with sculpted iron fittings. One and a half meters long, half a meter wide and deep, it made for quite the package.

Walker went about the box, flipping hidden latches and finally opening the lid. The interior was lined with azure silk, and most of the space was dominated by a cylinder seemingly made of clear glass. On one end they could see a metallic cap, covered with inscriptions and powered by several silver rank spirit coins affixed to the disc. While the craftsmanship was interesting enough, the small infant human boy suspended in the cylinder drew the most attention. Resting in the fetal position, he rested perfectly still with the small severe frown typical for the newly born. One could see neither breathing nor other movement, the child being kept perfectly serene by the stasis enchantment of the device.

He looked like babies mostly did with slightly reddish skin and a small tuft of dark hair. Perfectly ordinary. The rest of the space inside the box was filled up by two smaller iron chests. Walker removed all three items from the box, being extra careful with the stasis cylinder.

“This…” he said while gesturing toward the first chest “... is your agreed upon compensation. And this-” he gestured toward the other chest “-is for the boy when he comes of age. There should be instructions inside, but you can probably figure it out by yourselves as well.”.

The two women were busy examining the infant through the glass, Crow nodding absently to his instructions. After a couple more moments Dove turned to him, put her hand upon his and looked at him gravely.

“Thank you Walker” she said, her voice a bit unsteady. “While I was a bit hesitant at first, I’ve grown rather fond of the idea of raising something more… substantial… than herbs in this house. It has become rather important to me.”

“To the both of us” Crow added, albeit with a more serene demeanor. “Although I must admit that I am curious. Why us? Why offer us, of all people, this task?”

Walker looked thoughtful for a moment before seemingly coming to a decision.

“In all honesty, there were several candidates but I was the one who recommended you two when this contract was delivered to the local branch of the adventure society. If you look around here, you see stability. You are both proficient crafters, and in our dealings I’ve found that, while you have your differences, you are both reliable and reasonable as well as kind and caring. And seeing the home you’ve built in such a remote place-” He looked meaningfully around the house. “- I could see the boy at least being safe and comfortable. Which was one of the criteria which the contract emphasized.”

Crow nodded in satisfaction at the explanation while Dove was becoming a bit misty-eyed. “I promise we will do our best, master Walker” she said while dabbing her eyes a bit. “Could we meet him now? In an actual, animated state that is?”

Walker smiled, retaining his good feeling about his recommendation of the pair. “Certainly, lady Dove”.

Not long after, they had laid the cylinder down on a big pillow. Walker was working the controls on the device, referencing a note with instructions, and after a short moment all three of them could feel a pulse of magic as the device started the process of bringing the child out of stasis. After a couple of seconds, the glass seemingly disappeared in the blink of an eye and the baby fell the few centimeters that separated him and the pillow. The small arms instinctively flew out to either side before an angry wail filled the room.

The three bronze-rankers could feel the small aura, all chaotic and raw. It was a bit frightened but mostly slightly cold and lonely. Dove scooped up the little creature and wrapped him in a blanket, cooing and rocking him both with her arms and her aura as she stepped out into the kitchen to spare the others from the noise.

Crow, who ever valued formalities and order, stayed to wrap up the arrangements and gave Walker a small smile.

“So, it seems life sure has taken a turn towards more exciting times. It will probably interfere a bit with our work, but our customers will just have to practice the art of patience a bit more thoroughly.”

“Well, quality is worth waiting for in my opinion.” Walker said with a smile. “But I would expect that it will cause some frustration among the sects. There are some there who are not used to waiting.

And speaking of work…” he said while glancing toward the kitchen where the wailing had subsided. “Do you think lady Dove may be bothered to make a small order of pills? The road back to Gilded should be safe enough, but caution ever remains key.”

Crow looked toward the kitchen as well, her bronze-rank hearing making out the soft humming of Dove and the even softer small snoozing noises of the baby.

“I think she might be amenable, but you will probably have to wait until morning. I have found it best to simply let her take her time with new, exciting things, or else she might be a bit… cranky. And you don’t want your alchemist to be cranky when making your concoctions.” She finished with a wry smile full of past experiences. “We took the liberty of preparing the guest cabin, so please make sure to leave only once you are well rested and stocked up on supplies.”

Walker looked hesitant, but smiled with a resigned expression. “It would be most rude of me to turn down such an offer. Please then, lady Crow, if you would be so kind as to show me to my accommodations.”

Crow nodded, and started toward a side door leading out to the garden and small guest house. As the door was closing behind them, the last they heard from the kitchen were soft, cooing words.

“... and I will need to practice more cooking. And baking. Because you can’t feed on spirit coins yet. Oh, no you can’t… Oh, no you can’t…”