Aurelion - Creation of a Mage

The creation of a Mage

We had thought the fleet lost. Nothing ever came back once it made it past the horizon and we certainly never expected an outdated transport boat to beat those odds.

Just like always, I looked into the vast emptiness that was the black sea, looking for anything out of the ordinary. Usually the only thing we might spot was a distant thunderstorm, but that day was different, on that day I saw the white of the old city. It wasn’t hard to make out with that monochrome background.
“Isn’t that one of ours?” I asked as I concentrated on trying to make out exactly what it was.

My fellow knight found his binoculars and joined me in peering at the ship in the distance. “Man, that flag brings back memories. I remember seeing the expedition fleet off as a kid. That was quite the day…” He started; he did like to ramble when he started to talk about his past.
“Yeah yeah,” I interrupted as I turned to him, “but didn’t those boats leave a good ten years ago? What would any ship flying those colours be doing here now?”
He was quiet for a bit, still looking behind me as he spoke again. “Couldn’t tell you, but I feel like we’ll know more soon,” he said as he started to back away, “the thing is headed straight for the coast!”
I turned to face the ship and it was definitely heading towards us. More worryingly though, it showed no signs of slowing.

As we ran from the coastline, we could hear the creaking and cracking of wood as the ship ran aground. When it hit the coastline proper the cacophony was deafening, we were certain the ship had torn itself to pieces going by the sound it had made.

The sound subsided and we returned to assess the damage. To our surprise the ship was in surprisingly good condition. Sure, most of the wood was rotting and battered, but the structure of the ship remained mostly intact. “You think anyone is still in there?” My partner asked. I stared at the tattered ship for a moment, its presence is starting to make me feel uncomfortable. The inconsistencies of the carcass that lay before me were adding up and the result didn’t make much sense. “I-I mean it wouldn’t make much sense for it to just be here without anyone in it, but look at it, no sane crew would sail in that.” An inexplicable fear started to come over me. I really wanted to be anywhere but here.
“You know what? I think we should just leave it, report it to the local guard and let them deal with it. The thing’s kinda creeping me out.” I said to my friend, already starting to back away from the ship.
“I kinda get what you mean, but if there’s someone alive in there we really should help them”, he replied, as he started walking towards the wreckage. He was right of course, we would be laughed at if we couldn’t enter a shipwreck because it was ‘a little spooky’ and our oaths did boil down to ‘we help those in need’, so I resolved to ignore the nagging feeling that something was wrong and followed my partner, who had entered the wreckage through a hole in the side of the ship.

The inside of the ship was silent, damp, but most of all it reeked of decay. As the light leaked in from many holes in the structure, we were able to make out many supply barrels that were likely the source of the smell. “You go up top and search the deck and captain’s quarters and I’ll search the rest of the hold,” I said as I started towards the front of the ship.
“Right, so that you’re nice and close to the exit, I see how it is.” My friend laughed as he walked up the steps to the deck. He wasn’t entirely wrong, every step I took into the wreck felt wrong as my mind screamed at me to run away.

As I made my way through the hold, I found many barrels of different kinds. Most gave off an immense stench, which was odd. Surely, if the ship had been out at sea for ten years these things would have completely decayed by now. Inspecting the hull a little more closely further increased my apprehension towards this place. It was decrepit sure, but the age and rot were inconsistent as though some of the timber was at sea for the full ten years while other parts had been freshly cut. I quickly finished my search and as I headed toward our entry point, I heard my comrade yell out. “Hey, I found someone, but I’m going to need some help.”

Lamenting the fact that I had lost the opportunity to be out of this stench for even the briefest of moments I started up the steps leading to the deck of the wreckage. I noticed that the steps of the staircase felt almost mushy. Definitely old and entirely unsafe, it was kind of surprising that it held my full weight.
Once I reached the deck I turned to the captain’s quarters and approached my companion. They were concentrated on the lock on the door, seemingly not being able to get it open. “You alright?” I asked, my question startling them. “Oh, uh yeah, you done with the hold?”
His question puzzled me a little.
“I mean yeah, I guess, but you called for help so I thought it could wait.”
The look of confusion on his face made me want to turn around there and then. If it wasn’t him that called out, I didn’t really want to know what did.

Understanding my hesitation, my friend replied. “All that’s left is this room, we just have a peek inside and then hoof it out of here, alright?” I don’t think I had ever loathed the fact that he was such a stickler for the rules more than at that moment. But I wasn’t about to leave him to fend for himself. “Fine, I’ll get the door open”, grabbing the axe I carried around my waist. As expected, the door practically fell apart when I hit it. The instant it did I realised that I had made a grave mistake. The smell of death and decay was overpowering. The light from outside now revealing where the stench came from. The cabin was full of human remains, from the quick glance that I got I guess it must have been the entire crew. A sudden movement drew my attention, but before I could react something large hit me in the chest sending me flying back onto the deck.

As I got up, I readied myself and my friend had drawn his sword. The only thing that came from our mouths as the assailant emerged from the cabin was, “What the fuck?!”
It was unlike anything I had seen before. The mass of flesh, bone and sinew that stood before us was something we had learned about during our training, but no amount of stories and books could prepare a man for what stood before us. If you squinted at it you might have mistaken it for a man, but its appendages were too long, it had eyes all over it that moved erratically and don’t get me started about how many teeth it must have had. The image of that thing will forever haunt my nightmares.

As it shambled out onto the deck its flesh almost seemed to start boiling. Its ear-piercing screeches certainly made it seem like it was in pain, but that didn’t stop it from trying to charge us. The mere act of looking at this monstrosity was mentally draining. My mind refusing to believe that such a thing could even exist. Luckily, the skills that had been drilled into me over the years of service as a knight kept me focussed enough to stay alive. The fight was chaotic and fast. The beast was unpredictable and contorted itself in impossible ways to attack us. It took all my energy just to defend myself, let alone try to counterattack. In a feeble attempt to gain some distance I swung my axe at its head. Surprisingly, the blow connected, but it did little to stop the beast and now, with my weapon stuck, I was fully open to its attacks. I took a hit to the head and fell to the floor, dazed. I remember suddenly feeling very cold as my vision faded, the sound of shattering glass being the last thing I remember before losing consciousness.

I awoke some time later and quickly rose to reach for my weapon and fend off any more threats. Now fully awake, I realised that I was no longer on that accursed ship, but I was in the hut that my friend and I lodged in between patrols. He was lying in his bed, clearly in pain. He had multiple lacerations, though, judging from the heap of scrap metal next to him, it seemed his armour protected him from the worst of it. However, he could not have carried me here in that state. As I looked around the room, I now noticed that there was another person here. They were sitting in a chair, asleep. As I approached them, they suddenly shot awake, staring into my eyes. The sensation I felt then was very strange. Their eyes made me feel calm and yet they conjured images of the eyes on the monster I had just faced. As I returned their piercing gaze they spoke. The words that came from their mouth made no sense to me, it was clearly none of the common tongues spoken across the kingdoms, yet their message was as clear as day.
“I am sorry about your friend, if I had intervened earlier he may not have come out in this state.”, they spoke. I simply continued to stare and ponder. So many questions I wanted to ask, yet none would leave my lips. “He should recover, I froze the wounds to stop him from bleeding out, so the area may remain numb even after it heals.”, he simply continued, ignoring my gaze. “You yourself got lucky, the beast hit you hard enough that most would have lost their head, seems your attack disoriented it enough to make it miss.”
I scoffed, if that was a miss I’m surprised we even made it back out alive. “So how did you kill it?” I was surprised at how hoarse my voice sounded when it finally came out.
“Ah, I wouldn’t recommend speaking too much for the next couple of days, your neck was still damaged in the assault. And I froze it as it tried to jump your friend, the thing shattered as soon as it landed, that impact is where most of his wounds come from.”
“Froze it? How would you even…” I was interrupted by our apparent rescuer “Again, don’t talk too much. I should probably introduce myself. I am Janeira of Nieva, former preservation specialist of Corta, now an ice mage.”
They reached out their hand, as if to shake mine, I simply looked at it. They just called themselves a mage. If they were serious, they would be one of only a handful of people that could wield legitimate magic, but they’d be legendary, I’d never heard of the name Janeira, let alone an ice mage, it would explain the whole language thing, but even then.

As my mind struggled to make sense of the whole situation, Janeira retracted their hand and walked to the door of the cabin. “I suppose that might be a bit difficult to believe huh. Well, whether you believe me or not isn’t all that important.” They said as they opened the door. The cold wind from the outside snapped me back to reality.
“Before you go, I should thank you for saving us, if there is ever anything me or my companion can do for you, please ask for Cal Avik in the halls of the Lost Legion.”
As Janeira stepped outside they spoke, “It’s not that big of a deal, I couldn’t have dealt with the beast if you two weren’t there to distract it. But, if you insist, I’ll hold you to that. See you around Cal.”
And with that the door blew shut. When I opened it again, they were gone, the wind now being a lot warmer. Only now I realised how odd it was for there to be snow and cold wind in these parts. The weather here was normally so perfect it was kind of boring. The snow also made a perfect circle around the cabin. I suppose Janeira liked to show off.

It would be some time before we were able to resume our patrols. The wounds inflicted by that beast would take weeks to heal and the mental torture that we endured throughout the following nights did us no favours either. About a month later though, we resumed our duties and once again passed the beach where the carcass of that ship should lie.

“I half expected it to not be there and for all of that to have been one large delusion.” I said to my friend. “I get what you mean, but on the other hand I’m kinda glad it’s still here. Means I haven’t lost my marbles just yet.” The frozen structure stood amidst the warm beaches, showing no signs of melting.

For the rest of the continent it would come to symbolise the arrival of the ice mage and it would stand as proof that it was possible to return from the Endless Sea, but that the cost of such a journey would be great. To us, it stood as an eternal reminder that there are unimaginable horrors out there and that it would take extraordinary people to stop them.