"You found the Radiant Blood Flower and turned it over to the Arcane Council. One child, err, youth and one man. I'll have to test him first, though. That's just how these things work. If the lad. What's his name? Can't touch the mana, you're shit out of luck. I can't do anything about it, especially when they'd much rather me stay out here in the backwaters," Thalora said. Her expression was solemn as she took a step backward, rolling her sleeves to her elbows.
"He's called Talus," Crow replied, lightly sucking his lower lip to avoid saying more. Thalora gave him a sideways glance, raising an eyebrow. Crow adjusted the heavy pack on his shoulders, uncomfortable under her gaze.
"Like your son? Suddenly, I feel like this aptitude test might not be necessary. People do say spend too long in the wetlands and shades will find you," Thalora replied, hesitating to go any further.
"Do not concern yourself with my background. If I need a Magi to officiate my ability to cast spells, then please do so," Talus impatiently interjected, his brows menacingly lowered to emphasise his words.
He momentarily froze, aware that time usually meant nothing to the Fae, immediately recognising the influence of the Corrupted Fragment on his body. He forced himself into silence and wiped his facial expression blank, unwilling to succumb to the pervading quirks of Humanity.
The sun had moved low over the marsh, spilling golden light across the shallow water and grasses. Twilight bled into the forming mist, painting the landscape in muted colours. The air buzzed with the slow hum of offending insects, their sounds blending into the distant croak of hidden things beneath the reeds. Thalora stood with her feet half-sunken in the muck with Talus in front of her.
"Heh, couldn't be your boy, Crow. He may sound like you, but far too formal and polite. Alright, are you sure about this? If Talus turns out to be a shade, it's our duty to make sure he stays lost out here in the marsh. He does have the ghostly look about him," Thalora said, slightly recoiling away from Talus in suspicion.
"I want to know the answer to that myself. How would you know if Talus is a shade?" Crow asked.
"It's a bit more complicated, but it'll be like the Mana around the Radiant Blood Flower. It just won't mix, making it impossible to test him," Thalora replied, her body subconsciously tensed as she met Talus's gaze. He didn't voice the concerns inside his mind as the Magi began a series of movements to cast her aptitude spell.
It appears I do fall into the category of a shade. But like everything else I've seen, Humans are stupid with time. They've made up fanciful stories to explain the existence of my people. Their dead loved one returned to haunt them? Rediculous. I have seen Humans brought back to life, it is far different from what they imagine.
From Thalora's description, a shade is actually a creature imbued with the Ether, a Fae. They cannot even see the shades standing right next to them for my protection. If the Magi makes even one hostile gesture towards me, she will be executed. My body is perfect, nigh-on identical to Izzara's, the true creator of Human magic. It will have an aptitude unmatched.
Four translucent geometric shapes hung in the air in front of Thalora. Two interlinked cubes, a floating vertical diamond, and a flat horizontal square hovering just above the water's surface. Their glow each contained a singular colour, edges humming with arcane resonance.
"Will this take long?" Crow asked, stifling a tired yawn. He slouched against his tall walking pole, watching with an expression that wavered between exhaustion and curiosity.
Thalora didn't answer. She raised her hand, fingers adjusting the position of the illusory diamond. It flared purple, its edges warping like light bending through heat. An ethereal, vibrating resonance pulsed from it, the sound layered with indistinct whispers, as if the spell itself was trying to form words. Talus perked up, he could almost understand what the voices were trying to say, a mutilated parody of the Fae language. He didn't dare shift his vision into the Mirror Realm at this close proximity, but he could sense his attendants become alert next to him.
A beat later, the two cubes flickered yellow, crackling with high-pitched static bursts, the hum sharp and relentless. The horizontal square, infused with blue light, pulsed in slow, rolling waves, the melody soft and hypnotic, like ripples expanding across the wetlands. Thalora turned her solemn gaze to Talus.
"Touch it," Thalora instructed. Talus hesitated to regard the shimmering spell with an unreadable expression, then lifted his hand.
The moment his fingertips brushed over the surface, the entire structure convulsed. The purple diamond stuttered, its whispers distorting into a fractured, discordant echo. The yellow cubes flared too bright, emitting a screeching metallic whine before their edges darkened to black. The blue square pulsed violently, its flowing hum twisting into a fractured rhythm, like a song being dragged backward through time.
"Shards," Crow swore under his breath.
The spell's framework buckled, the shapes destabilising, flickering between solidity and emptiness. Thalora's breath caught in her throat as once-stable forms bent inward, like something unseen was pulling them apart from within. She tried to anchor them, the strain evident on her face as she tried to push more intent into the structure. But it was slipping, like caustic Bogfire through her fingertips.
Talus tilted his head, watching the spectacle with detached curiosity. Then, with the lightest stroke of his finger against the diamond in the centre, the spell collapsed. Magic shattered like brittle glass, followed by a blend of warping echoes, static crackles, and a deep, sucking void. The air snapped silent in the chaotic wake of the sounds.
Thalora stood frozen, her hands clenched in front of herself, suppressing the warring feeling of fight or flight. That wasn't failure. That was…something else.
"Well," Thalora muttered, releasing a long exhale. "That's new."
Talus withdrew his hand. He didn't speak, the faintest flicker of amusement ghosting across his lips.
"No aptitude?" Crow asked, clearing his throat to steady his wavering voice. He was mentally preparing himself for the news he least wanted to hear, his investment and good fortune all flowing away with the marsh tides.
"No," Talus said, meeting Thalora's gaze with a self-assured smirk solidifying on his face. "I suspect Thalora's magic would say otherwise."
As the last light faded beyond the horizon, Thalora realised her hands were still trembling and she still hadn't said a word. Composing herself, Thalora drew her soaked roughspun cloak tight around herself. Her mouth opened, but no sound came out. She briefly closed it to wet her lips and tried again.
"Talus is right, quite the opposite. His aptitude so far-outmatched my own that I was no longer the one maintaining the spell. Since he isn't trained, the spell collapsed. This is usually what would happen if I tried to test the aptitude of someone far more proficient than myself," Thalora said. She paused to gulp before continuing. She hugged her arms tightly around herself, more shaken than was initially evident. "Gulp, for instance, a Magi of my calibre testing a member of the Arcane Council. This sort of test effectively works by constructing a spell and then handing it over to the one being tested. If it simply dissipates, the candidate has no aptitude. What usually happens is that the spell will flicker gently, giving the candidate an invitation and a tingling sensation, prompting them to take over the spell. What happens after doesn't really matter, the traditional spell being used is completely harmless. The candidate will just hold it without activation. Or, the spell would gradually crumble due to the difficulty. That's in the vein of what happened with Talus, except I wasn't prepared. I don't think I ever could be. He ripped away control like a spoiled older child snatching away his baby sister's favourite treat. There was nothing I could do to stop him. I tried. Ahem, the mana…"
Thalora couldn't say anymore, her voice rising in pitch and trailing off into the darkening marsh, the trauma of feeling powerless still fresh in her mind. Talus quietly processed her words as Crow attempted to comfort the distressed woman with a hand on her shoulder. She recoiled at his touch and retreated a step out of reach.
"You're not a shade, but what in the shards are you?" Thalora whispered, her gaze never leaving Talus, staring at him like she was looking at a monster.