Rise of the Godking

Daneel didn't know whether he was imagining it, but he was reasonably sure that there was a twinkle in the elf's eyes as he looked at the both of them at around the time they stopped laughing, and took a measure of where they were.

It was the glow of one who had always been looking for true companions that they could share their amusement with. It was a glow that had shown in his own eyes when he had found his best friend on Angaria, and later on, his brother and his wives, and in fact, the only reason he could recognize it was that when he had gone through his own memories recently to find out who he was, he remembered seeing it so clearly as it had shone as brightly as the sun.

It disappeared as quickly as it appeared, though, when Alex looked around and sighed before saying, "The next haven is over 10 islands away. And without knowing where we are going to go…it will take us too far out of the way in case we need to come back. I don't think you would like wasting time…so I suggest we make do with the ground, here, and imagine that it is a soft bed from the Hanged Wizard. As for food…all I have is some bread, but it should make do. I think they were roasting mutton in the kitchens, there…"

Alex muttered the last part while rubbing his stomach, but Daneel heard him clearly. His own stomach rumbled now that the danger was past, but surprisingly, the elf's smile remained.

Daneel watched closely, as the being from the Mainland put his hand inside his robes…and took out two objects that looked like masks to be worn to parties, at first. They were styled artfully, one in the shape of an eagle and the other looking like it shared a likeness with a bear, but was different.

Alex's eyes almost popped out of their sockets when he looked at them. Striding forward, he took one in his hands and turned it around, examining it from every angle, and when he finally removed his own mask in a flash and put it on… his burned face disappeared, the shining complexion of an elf taking its place as naturally as if he had had that face since birth.

[High-level magic object detected. Data scan in progress. Construction of base of magic system has progressed.]

The system's message made him smile as he took the other mask. When he put it on, it felt as if it melded into his skin, making his spine shiver as it transformed to make him look like an elf, too.

With the chuckle, Mors declared, "You two could be my brothers! But, alas, if we go back there with these faces, they'll definitely throw is out. How about…"

The dots were grouped, then pushed together in a process that looked like it was easy, first, but whose difficulty was exposed when one of these grouping actions failed, accompanied by Mors frowning but repeating it and succeeding on the subsequent try. When all of the groups of differently colored dots, each a different shade of the colors of the rainbow, none bearing resemblance to any elements that they might represent, were ready, he made them flow between each other, forming a pattern like a weaver, each group tangling with the other, then forming a knot before forming a loop and going through it, too, causing a dizzying structure to emerge that made Daneel's head hurt.

[Spell has been recorded. Major progression has occurred in formation of base of magic system.]

Immediately, he felt like patting his own shoulder due to that decision where he hadn't run like Alex. If it weren't for what had happened then, there was no way that he would be standing here, now, witnessing such a wondrous thing.

He had to forcefully clamp down on his own instinct to use the crystals and mimic what he had just seen. If he did that, he would be exposing the biggest secret that he had to keep, so like someone in front of whom a feast had been placed but had been told that he would die if he ate even a morsel, he looked on, almost salivating, as a fourth man formed beside the seated elf and blinked, as if he couldn't remember where he was.

He seemed almost lifelike, but Daneel could tell that he was made of air, for the most part. He even cast a shadow; soon, his features cleared, and he looked no different from any dusty traveler traveling between islands.

Mors opened his eyes and admired his own handiwork. He tugged at the construct a bit here, a bit there, smoothing out imperfections that would not have been visible to the naked eye before nodding with satisfaction and sitting down once again.

This time, it was a much simpler spell that he cast. It was on himself, and when he was done, a rugged man with a beard that Daneel had never seen before was looking back at him.

"Go on. Even I'm tired after so much spell casting… so I wouldn't mind a roasted goose, or two. Firmly imagine the face you want to put on, then raise your hands to the mask and press down. As soon as you're done, we can be on our way."

Daneel and Alex both nodded, the latter tongue-tied, for once. A few moments later, Alex was flipping through colors on the crystals once again. He stopped when it showed the same shade as the one that had taken them to the entrance teleportation matrix of Athwarf, and a few seconds later, they were stepping onto the grassy land of the town they had just fled.

There were a few guards at the crystals, but with dejected looks, they waved them forwarf after seeing that they bore no resemblance with those that had caused so much destruction. If there were three of them, there might have been some reason to stop them…but because even the number didn't match, they were ignored in barely a second.

They passed the destruction that the giant had wrought over the town on the way to an inn where Mors claimed the best roasted geese could be found. Men and women were already at work on the tiles that had been ripped out when the giant had stomped down on them. At least three out of every ten buildings showed some or the other sign of repair; people were already puzzling over them, trying to figure out ways in which they could make it seem as if there had been no damage at all, in the first place.

Daneel felt a faint pang of guilt when he saw the female innkeep crying in front of the Hanged Wizard. The old woman that had shouted at them was consoling her while saying that the town would pay for the damage. She glanced at them for a moment when they passed her; Daneel almost looked away, but knowing that that would mean that he had a reason to hide, he met her gaze and held it before scratching his head and turning away.

They reached their destination without any trouble. A few minutes after that, they were all sitting around a similar booth that was square instead of round, and on the large table revolving in front of them, four large birds the smelled heavenly were present, their aromas wafting to the ceiling.

They ate, first, without even saying a single word between themselves. Daneel realized that he was famished; he almost finished an entire goose by himself, and only the elf fate more than him, somehow retaining a measure of grace despite the juices flowing down his mouth. 

All of them relaxed while nursing mugs of chilled wine a half-hour later. Daneel took a few sips and studied them both. As he did so, he realized that he had already made the decision to do what he was about to, so without any hesitation, he said, "Alright…this is who I need to find."

He described it all without giving any details of Graiton. He talked about the one who had come a great deal, and explained what his background might be. When he was done, he looked at his companions expectantly…but he could never have expected the way they would react.

The elf chuckled, then burst out laughing. Alex looked as if death were staring him down at that very second, and without a word, he got up…and started to run to the door.