062 – Melee And Magic

They marched along a high mountain valley, rolling hills to either side, craggy peaks beyond several of the rolls. Leafy trees mixed with pines in alternating stands. The road they traveled was above the usual flood level of the stream that carved this valley. They had been seeing one long valley like this after another, as the road wended its way across the mountain range. Generally they worked their way east, but the road went in all directions depending on which part they were on. It even regularly climbed up and over the hills as the terrain changed from drainage zone to zone.

They had passed some smaller bodies of water and two large lakes in their time. They stopped at one lake for baths and to wash their clothes. Rox and Steven swam across the comparatively narrow part of the lake and back. Caspian gave them respectful distance as they were stripped to their skins. The time in the water left the Caplan’s in a better mood than they had been previously. Caspian found the water to be too cool for his liking. Rox said it was warmer than Tahoe in May.

Steven and Rox had been taking turns hunting each week harvesting a medium sized animal; Steven with his crossbow, Rox with her bow. They used what they wanted of it and traded the rest off to others they encountered. Local traders and bards passed them on the road every so often; loggers, miners, quarrymen, and herders were in nearly equal distribution among the rest of their trading partners. The camps of men and women were at irregular intervals harvesting their specific resource. Twice they spent the evening with circuit riding ministers who graciously shared their fire. The hides were traded off, as neither the Caplan’s nor Caspian had any real skill in prepping and tanning.

One thing that was increasingly apparent among the locals was the underlying feeling of two camps about elves; one was neutral to vaguely positive, the other was openly hostile without being belligerent. One of the bards explained it as that the elves were condescendingly politely inconsiderate on the average, with the few hostile ones making up for the many benign ones. Caspian echoed this from his experience. There are enough benign ones that you could get along with for the most part, but when you found a hostile one, it made up for the rest.

Generally this left Rox doing her best to always be polite and gracious and Steven putting on his best good mood, and taking off his hat, to show his rounded ears.

Journal of Steven Caplan: Day 90

The mountains are getting a lot taller and craggier. The hills around them likewise taller, and less ‘rolling hills’ and more sharp angles. Likewise the trees of the forest are changing, fewer leaves, more evergreens.

I am a little surprised at how well the road appears to be maintained.

They spent one night at a camp that housed both a logging crew and quarry crew. It was soon apparent to the travelers that they were at the end of the week. As the evening went on, drink was passed around and a spirited debate between the two crews began. One side made a convincing presentation of their case followed by an equally spirited rebuttal, and counter argument. Rox found herself the target of enthusiastic participants willing to share their point of view with whoever could be seen, and she quickly disassembled the foundation of the arguments. Steven likewise was gathered into the spirit of things, and found himself defending his position from all comers. Caspian mainly found the loggers pressing their point of view on him, but was also able to hold his own against all arguments.

The debate wound down as the participants decided that their points had been proven, or were forgotten, the field littered with casualties from all sides. The women of the camp, those who had not been involved to this point, moved in and sorted the bodies attending to such wounds as needed, and sending the participants to their beds.

The next day was worship services, with many attending sporting assorted bruises and other minor wounds. Caspian joined the congregation, as Steven and Rox stood by at the back and listened to the message without comprehending a word of the language. Steven found he actually relaxed at the meeting; he appreciated that the audience participated by giving honest attention rather than calling out and adding to the noise. Rox was amused and pleased that her husband was actually having a good time at a worship service, though she found the speaker a bit long winded.

Services done and lunch being cleaned by the locals, the travelers took their leave and continued on their way.

At breakfast and as camp was broken the following morning, Rox mentioned to Caspian that she had sensed him using magic in the brawl, but had not had time to examine just what and how. As they walked Caspian talked about using personal body shields to counter various forms of attack.

Steven joined the conversation citing Caspian’s available spell assortment during the battle at Veradale. Specifically he mentioned Caspian’s saying he could brawl or do major property damage, so was reluctant to toss much magic around in the city.

As the discussion and lesson continued, the Caplan’s challenged Caspian to a sparring contest.

Caspian looked at them. “You are serious?”

Steven answered. “Yeah. You have seen how we can fight, but we have not really seen how you do. We clashed once, but I have not ever really seen you fight. I would kind of like to see that.”

“Also, I have not had a chance to really spar magically. I would like to do that,” Rox chimed in.

“You have a point. You want to joust, or put the animals aside and where they won’t be spooked?” Caspian looked around.

Rox answered. “Put them aside would be better, I think.”

Caspian nodded.

They soon passed into a meadow on the saddle of a hill and Caspian reined his mount in. He looked around and signaled to the Caplan’s that this would do.

“I think we can tie the horses here at the edge, then walk over there onto the point, and have our drill.” Caspian dismounted, and motioned for the Caplan’s to precede him. “It will be best for you to have the point to your backs, so I don’t inadvertently throw magic into the horses or whatever.”

They secured the horses at the edge of the meadow, and then Caspian cast a spell around them, and Cyrril perched on a branch above them. Rox sensed the result as a bubble of energy around the animals that was in motion and drawing energy from the world around it to maintain itself.

Caspian turned away from the horses to follow the Caplan’s “That should keep them from startling at any of our noise.”

They walked across to the far end of the point, trees coming up off the hills on all sides of them. Rox walked to Steven’s left and they spread out, giving each other room. Steven left his crossbow behind, Rox her bow, as they wanted to initially test melee fighting.

Caspian did not even give them the chance.

Steven did not get to begin to clear leather on his sword, Rox did not get to try anything with her staff, before everything around them went black. Steven felt the air around him solidify, holding him motionless. Rox felt a solid force shove her off her feet. A jet-blast of hot shot past Steven. A thunder crack deafened them from their left sides. Then nothing.

After a few more moments, to contemplate what was going on, light returned. The solid air vanished and Steven could move. A tree was on fire ahead of Steven, and off to their left two more had scorch marks, and some broken limbs were working their way down in the breeze that moved through the area.

Caspian spoke. “That demonstrated how I might start against a competitor in magic. Had I wanted to, Steven would have been hit by a flame blast and Roxanne by lightening.”

Caspian cast a short spell, and the fire on the tree died quickly.

Steven recalled the pit fight and tussle on the road, and turned drawing his sword and swinging through Caspian. Caspian blocked with his staff, and then moved into Steven with the two of them testing each other.

Roxanne watched, sensing that Caspian had some magic enveloping him. She applied to these senses and to all her prior experience to puzzle it out, and quickly saw that Caspian had a shield around him that redirected the kinetic energy from Steven’s strikes. She also watched as Steven practiced his own attacks from below, above, off hand and back hand, the intervening diagonals and straight ahead. He moved his left hand to the sword's blade griping it at its approximate middle, keeping his right at its normal place, and used it as a short staff, surprising Caspian. Steven used the crossbar to snag Caspian’s arm and then to yank his staff from his grip. Steven then closed in and tripped Caspian and put the flat of his sword to Caspian’s neck.

“I yield,” the mage said.

Both men were breathing heavier than normal, but not fully winded.

“You have been practicing, Steven. Also, that two hand stuff, very unorthodox to my experience. I think I should practice more against it.” Caspian critiqued, as he stepped to where his staff lay.

Steven smiled. “Thank you. The two hand stuff is partly a variation on staff techniques. You are using some kind of magic shield, at least on your arms, and torso.”

“Yeah; full body shield, redirecting your impacts. You could still push me directly on axis, but not from any other angle. Also it kept your cutting edge from connecting.” Caspian had his staff, brushing the scrub bits from it.

Steven sheathed his sword, and turned to his wife. “Your turn, Rox. Take him apart.”

Roxanne had her staff in loose ready, watching and listening to the men. The shorter one with the staff taller than her turned to her, fully warm and ready. Rox had come to understand that in a mana rich environment she could perceive the aura, or energy that a living thing put off. A healthy person was a swirl of reds and oranges normally, with injuries or other issues showing as a brighter intensity of color. Caspian normally had purples to blues in his aura as well, but at this moment, his arms and sides where Steven had managed to make contact now had brighter reds and oranges in the mix. Then Caspian reactivated his magic shields, and he took a blue tint, especially around his head.

As she looked him over she settled to a ready stance. Her hands found the outer carved spots and her staff extended its magic field, lengthening three fold. Caspian’s staff was enveloped in energy for its length, and the two stepped into each other.

They struck twice, one end then the other, and Rox was about to go for a third, when Caspian stepped off the proverbial mat.

“What was that?” he asked.

Rox looked back and realized that the magic enhancement around Caspian’s staff was gone, and for all intents at this moment it was just a tall stick. Her own staff was unchanged.

“I’m not sure. I struck with the one magic end, then the other. The Sorceress never gave me much instruction on this staff, insofar as actual hands on. She told me of its extending. And of its splitting,” Rox twisted the inner spots and the staff was now two sticks in her hands.

She put the ends back together. “Beyond that, she said it did not have any spells invested in it.”

Caspian looked his staff over. The first end she had hit was the carved end. That had been an intersection of energy fields. The second hit was at the butt end. There was a new slight dent in the wood, where the field of her staff had hit.

“Your first hit aligned all the energy I had invested around my staff. The second hit released all the energy back to mana, and hit the wood itself. That is why I backed off.”

Caspian stood for a moment, thinking, looking at and through her. Rox took the staff, and turned the length back on, and swung through a few bushes. These exploded in twigs and leaves as she went through them. Caspian tossed some magic fire into the bushes around her. The magic fire burned without consuming the plant. Rox’s staff passed through the bush. The fire was scooped out and tossed away, but the scrub exploded. The same result on several more scrubs, until a half dozen magical fires were merrily consuming energy around the area.

Caspian suggested at the same time Rox thought of it. “Hit the same one with both ends.”

Rox jabbed a fire with one end of her staff, then the other. It went out, both magic users sensing the organizing energy disrupted and dissipated. She tried it again on each of the remaining ones; no matter which end was used first, once both ends hit the second hit dispelled the spell. A single hit just moved the spell about, as magnets push each other about.

Caspian nodded. “That is what canceled all the magic around my staff. Useful indeed. I would need to look it over in more detail, but I suspect that is part of its intrinsic enchantments. So it won’t get in the way of putting other spells into it. So, now that we now that, I believe we were about here.”