By JBV and Joel Quill
For the second time in the past couple of days, Jay awoke in a strange place. The sound of gentle waves awoke his consciousness, and instead of an abrupt shock in waking, it instead was calm and peaceful. As if he had just gotten out of a deep sleep rather than passing out from pain and blood loss. His eyes fluttered open to see the clear blue sky above him. He adjusted his eyes for a second and turned to see a large body of water surrounded by hills and mountains. Vast plains as far as the eye could see. Beauty like Jay had never seen was before his eyes, and he laid astonished in its wake. Thoughts began to race in his head, wondering where his companions were, wondering where he was, stress of the current predicament; but they all seemed to be quelled before the scenery. Jay sat up from the plot of grass he was laying on, grunting as he did so; the wound on his shoulder was covered with leaves and cloth. He reached his hand towards his face and upon touching his nose felt immediate pain wrapped, again, in leaves and cloth. Jay scrunched up his face in pain, but tried not to make a sound, out of fear of disturbing the serenity. A quiet voice came from behind him.
"Try not to move too much, let the plants do their work," Kins said. When Jay turned to look at Kins he saw a drastically looking boy than he had seen before. Long hair was tied back behind his head with a vine, he was no longer covered in dirt and was wearing scholarly clothes with a green and gold accent; and he was wearing glasses while reading a book in a chair made of lucious green leaves. He still was small but with his button down vest, green jacket, and scholarly demeanor he seemed to fit into the way he carried himself. Kins smiled his same whimsical smile and closed his book, placing it in his lap. "I am sorry if I disturbed the scene, even after all these years, it still even makes someone like me feel calm," Kins said to Jay while breathing in fresh air.
"Where are we?" Jay asked while rubbing his head as it adjusted to him being vertical rather than horizontal. As Jay's eyes wandered away from the scenery, he began to notice how odd his surroundings were. While the view of the shore led to magnificent mountains and landforms, the view from the other side was a massive forest with trees so tall they could rival that of castles. Just on the edge of the forest laid a two story makeshift cottage. It had a tiny base of wood that was all the same and of the same design, but it clearly was built poorly, using different materials to accommodate for more size.
"My home," Kins said, he arose from his chair and walked towards Jay. "If you go farther, past the tree line, you will see an entire village worth of cottages...No one lives in them anymore, but they are there."
"This is the home of the Druids," Jay asked while pointing around wildly, "I thought it would be...I don't know...less beautiful. More weapons and stuff." Kins laughed loudly then immediately quelled the outburst by cupping his hands over his mouth. Kins pointed up to a window on the second floor, to which Jay could see Lily sleeping peacefully, letting the breeze blow on her as she slept. Seeing her sleeping there, and Kins standing before him made everything very real for Jay. He was standing in the woods with a druid and a little girl, his brother was trying to kill him, and every other member of his family was dead. He was no longer a prince of a king, he was just a boy with no home. For some reason this did not phase him. The weight of the guilt and awfulness should have made him collapse in despair, but instead he still stood. Jay could not tell if he was able to keep moving because of strength or release; that the destiny thrusted upon him no longer applied to him because the worst possible way to get rid of it had happened. In his confusion Jay saw himself as strong in his ability to move forward, but in reality he just didn't realize how fast he was running away.
Kins put his hand on Jay's shoulder to break him from his thoughts, and silently notioned for him to follow. The two walked past the tree line, into the forest until the only thing that surrounded them was the deep woods. "I thought you said the druids village was around here?" Jay asked. Kins smiled the sort of smile one gives when they know something and are terrible at pretending they don't.
They walked for a while, and were silent for most of the way, until they came to a large stone archway. The stone itself was completely cracked, covered in vines, and old. The only visible marking upon it was the symbol of the druids at the top, which looked almost freshly carved. It was a miracle that it hadn't already toppled over, but it stood strong. Kins put his hand against the archway and the symbol of the druids began to glow. With a blink of an eye, suddenly the environment around the two of them completely changed. Where there was once woods became a large clearing with many buildings surrounding the area. Buildings made out of wood and stone, with terraces and luxurious columns. The entire area was paved and there seemed to be signs above every building in a language Jay did not understand. The more he looked around, the more he noticed that no building looked exactly the same, they were all made in different styles and the style itself seemed to correlate to the name on the sign. The crumpled stone archway was suddenly fully built up once again, it was majestic and immaculately carved. Jay walked around it a couple of times admiring the craftsmanship, and studying the multiple runes that were carved within it. "Do you know what you are looking at Jay?" Kins asked as he smiled at the world around him.
"I imagine it is the village of the druids, I just do not know how this could exist…" Jay looks around, of all the crazy instances of wonder and astonishment he had found himself witnessing in this last week, this easily was top three.
"You are looking at the last great achievement of the Artificers…" Kins continued, Jay looked confused at the word 'Artificer`; it was one he was unfamiliar with. "I am not surprised by the fact you have never heard of them, almost no one nowadays has. In our world today many people just accept things to be fact. The druids are dead, magic is the answer, the rule of sixteen is absolute, people never truly try to investigate for themselves or ask questions of "why". I have many theories as to why this is, one being that people are simply okay with being complacent, another that most of the population is afraid that after that first why...they may never stop…" Kins looked troubled for a moment, "but I find our world at an extreme loss that we do not try to discover anything anymore. We just accept things." Kins begins to wander away from the archway, tears fill his eyes as he looks around.
"You sound like my brother in some ways…" a mix of anger and despair cross Jay's face, "he believes he is on some righteous retribution to get people to think again and try to discover about the world around them." Kins chuckles a little while wiping away some tears.
"Your brother and I are cut from the same cloth then...he sounds like an intense man but I would probably enjoy talking to him." It was at that moment that Jay realized that Kins had no idea who he was. He mentioned his brother so offhandedly, but most likely Tyrius was the one that kept Kins locked up for the past couple of years, Or Tyrius along with someone else. Kins kept talking, the words seemed to drift off as Jay became caught up in his own dilemma. Not only did Kins save his life on multiple occasions, but he was also kind and trusted Jay with seeing the druidic village. So far Kins had been transparent and open, never holding anything back or trying to be ominous or mysterious. Jay honestly owed him the same kindness in return, but didn't know how to start a conversation that's overall premise was 'my brother kidnapped you'. While wandering within his thoughts, Jay did not realize that he had actually walked away from Kins. So while Kins was trying to tell Jay the rich history of the druids, in the middle of his speech Jay simply walked away with a troubled look and started staring at one of the buildings about 100 feet away. "I always found this to be very interesting...that was a little rude...I mean he could have at least said something," in a fit of frustration, Kins flicked his wrist upward and the ground in front of Jay began to grow vines very quickly until there was a full wall in front of Jay obscuring his view of the building. Jay fell back a bit and turned quickly to look at Kins. Kins just stood there with a dead look in his eyes. "You know if you were really that uninterested you could have just said so…" Kins said. Jay looked around, truly confused as to how he got next to this building, but the moment of seeing Kins and the sincerity he had, Jay knew he had to tell the truth.
"Sorry, it is not that I was disinterested; I just was lost in thought. To be honest I have kinda felt bad because you have been honest with me and I don't think I have been the same in return…" Jay said while scratching the back of his head and with a shivering smile adorning his face.
"Well go on then," Kins snapped and the grass beneath him shifted to form a base for him to sit on, "I am all for honesty." Jay started out very meekly, talking in a quiet voice, then as he started the words couldn't stop.
"My full name is Jay B. Cornelius, fifth in line...pseudo king of Illverstand. It's a long story but basically since I was young I have always loved to explore and find new things, especially things that took me a bit closer to understanding the world around us...the next 'why' as you put it....I thought because I was fifth in line to the throne and nowhere near as responsible as my siblings that there would be no reason to believe I would ever become king, nor did I want that. I honestly believed that I would become an advisor to my eldest brother of some kind and spend my days exploring the forest and learning about the world…" Jay looked down as the words fell from his mouth and began to become of despair and turmoil, but he couldn't stop them. "But my dad...the king...Markus Cornelius...he obtained a rare disease or disorder or something I guess, where his body became unable to regenerate his magical reserve. So it just began to leak out of him like steam until eventually...he would die. In my stupidity I believed I could save him...I found these gems that I called chromatics and vermillions. The Chromatics had the ability to trap magic inside of them, but I had no idea if that magic was transferable to something or someone else. I experimented with them for five years. FIVE WHOLE YEARS! And didn't even come one step closer to understanding how they work!" Jay began to become angry. " Then, instead of saving my father, I watched my brother, Tyrius, invade our kingdom using that ship I found you on, kill my father, my friends, and my other brothers...literally everyone in the world I had left to care about!...and then watched him get away." Jay paused for a minute, he seemed at a loss for words, the story was truly over by that point, the only thing left was his feelings. "I didn't even want to be some stupid king! I have no desire to accept the destiny my father put at my feet! It belonged to Illia but Tyrius took that away from him...Tyrius, as an act of complete selfishness; KILLED OUR FAMILY SO HE COULD TAKE AN EMPTY THRONE...a throne that feels like a curse more than a responsibility…" Jay could no longer attempt to meet Kins's eye line. "Kins I think my brother may have been the one to kidnap you and I am so sorry, I understand if you want to take revenge on me or…" Jay tried to keep going, speeding up drastically as he spoke, but Kins erupted into laughter that could shake the buildings foundations. Kins put up his hand to stop Jay from talking.
"I have many things to say and I think you would be interested in hearing them." Kins said, in the most extravagant way possible he put up a single finger in front of him. "First, I knew who you were the moment I met you…" Jay tried to interrupt but Kins just shook his head, "part of my magical specialization is that I am able to see the name, age, and magical affinity of every person that comes into contact with my plants. So Jay. age 11, with kinetic affinity; I knew you were royalty already." Kins put up another finger, "Second, yes, your brother did kidnap me and kill the remaining druids…" Kins stopped for a second, "ok you may not have known the killing thing but that is a discussion for later...the point is: I know you are not your brother and have no intention of trying to hurt you, my anger resides in your brother, and your brother alone. Why would I attack a family member who literally has nothing to do with the actions of their brother?" Kins looked annoyed at Jay's ignorance and assumption that he would want to condemn Jay for his brothers actions. "Third, and this is the real meat of the conversation, we need to have a serious discussion about those gems you found because…" Kins reached into his pocket and pulled out a small blue gem, "is this what you are talking about." kins tossed the gem through the air, Jay caught it and began to examine it in disbelief.
"Where did you get this…" Jay noticed that the gem already had a twinge of glow within it, probably from Kins's magic a second ago.
"What you call a chromatic, is actually called an Artificer's gem, they are the first step in understanding more about the world and becoming aware of how magic really works." Kins had a large smile on his face. The more the two of them talked the more he saw Jay's drive and determination, the curious look that Jay had when he was curious about something was the same that Kins had. An excitement began to well up within him, because he realized Jay was someone he could pass knowledge off to so it wouldn't be lost.
"What exactly is an Artificer? You speak of them as if they were a people but I have never heard of them before," Jay spoke with a driven look in his eyes.
"In order for me to explain more about that I am going to need you to come with me," Kins pointed towards a large three story building within the village. The building had large marble columns and statues of men and women and strang clothing holding books. The entire entryway seemed to be carved with ornate scenes of scholarly writing and people obtaining knowledge. The rest of the building was red stone with hundreds of windows around it. In the circle of buildings that made up the village, that one was the most ornate and was obviously made to be at the pinnacle of the structures, given its size and architecture. "But, Jay, there are two final things I need you to know before we go in there...once we are inside you will learn a great number of things. About yourself, about the world, about the existence of magic. Within that building...is the answer of how you could have saved your dad...and the answer to why he lied to you." Kins turned quickly and began to walk towards the building. Jay's eyes widened as he looked away from the stone and processed what Kins had said. Jay rushed after him, across the cobblestone street, and up the large stairs that led to the door of the building.
"Wait what do you mean my father lied to me?" Jay yelled out as Kins rushed to open the large golden door to the building. Kins stopped for a minute and looked back at Jay, sweat beaded on his brow.
"I don't mean to step into family business, but I can tell you for a fact that…uh…" Kins tapped his foot nervously, "You...you are not telekinetic…" Kins smiled and chuckled nervously before rushing into the building. The muscles holding Jay's jaw close loosened and his mouth became agape.
"I'm not...telekinetic?" Jay muttered to himself. He slowly opened the door to the building, and walked inside hoping to be enlightened.
-
Jay opened the door to the building, and rushed inside after Kins. "What do you mean my dad…" Jay stopped his speech as he marveled at the room. Around Him was the largest library Jay had ever seen. The main room of the library was one gigantic space with many tables that had lanterns and were made of glossy, beautiful wood. All around the outside the rest of the building, away from the tables, were hundreds of thousands of books. Shelves were overflowing with literature, so much so that books were no longer able to be contained upon them and instead books would be in large stacks or just in random areas around the space. Jay lifted his head towards the ceiling and realized that the second and third floor were more like balconies than floors that looked down upon the main floor. Shelves and books abound upward as well leading to a large skylight in the middle of ceiling that depicted the druidic symbol being held by a man in a hood and a woman wearing armor common to that of a forge master. However, the most perplexing thing was the number of books flying around. Despite Jay and Kins being the only people in the building, books soared all around and roamed across the space. Jay stepped forward, spinning to look in every direction, only to meet eyes with the smiling face of Kins who had his arms out wide displaying the world building they were in with pride.
"Welcome to the Artificers and Druids greatest achievement...well second greatest I would say...although it is pretty amazing." Kins shrugged and pondered the man works of his people and the Artificers, "This is what we call the Scriptorium, a collection of literature from all different times, topics, and dimensions. An achievement of magic in itself that no one has ever even fathomed before."
"STOP" Jay yelled more out of being overwhelmed rather than anger, "enough Kins, you are acting like a madman. Can you please just answer my questions rather than trying to blow my mind every five seconds!" Kins laughed.
"Alright, alright, sorry. Let's take it one at a time. I will start by telling you about the Artificers and we will end with you…" Kins pointed at Jay and then reached his hand out to the left. "Summon: Catalog- Artificers Almanac," Kins said while maintaining eye contact with Jay. Moments later a book came flying towards Kins and landed exactly in the grasp of Kins outstretched hand. Kins motions for Jay to come to him and sat down at the nearest table. Jay approached warily and sat down next to Kins to take a look at the book. The cover was bronzen and surprisingly made of metal, the book itself looked heavy and extremely thick, on its cover it had etching of people with hammers and brutish hands that were all reaching up towards what looked like a perfectly cut gem. "Don't freak out," Kins said silently. He opened the book and there was a flash of blinding golden light. When Jay opened his eyes, he and Kins were standing in a completely white room, with a woman in front of them wearing cast iron armor and a large battle hammer.
"Who is this?" Jay asked, stepping back a bit.
"She isn't really there, she is a projection of the leader of the Artificers, Katelyn of Doan, but everyone just called her Marie," Kins smiled as he looked at her with a very nostalgic glance. "Marie, please read to us," Kins asked. The projection smiled and then began to speak:
Long ago, a woman by the name of Rhylyn found a strange gem while she was walking through the woods to forage for food. She examined the blue stone with curiosity as it was strange and beautiful to her. She was known within her village for having the magical affinity to create electricity, and she was considered only worthy as a source of keeping out invaders. She sought to innovate and discover the world around her, so in secret, she researched the gem…
The woman's voice was soothing and light. Despite her warrior like appearance, she maintained the demeanor of a warrior while also having the presence of a sweet and caring woman. As Marie spoke, images of the woman, Rhylyn, came forth around them and began to play out before them as if they were there. Marie continued:
Rhylyn came to the discovery that every other magical affinity was absorbed inside of the gem, except for her own. For instead, her magic was able to release the magic that was held within the stone once again. Using the stones she was able to bottle all kinds of magic, and release it in different locations until she had such an understanding of magic, that she could conduct electricity within the area around her without the electricity coming from her body...as if it appeared out of no source at all…
The scene around Kins and Jay showed Rhylyn in the middle of the woods holding the stone and electricity stuck around her, seemingly without her influence.
Over time, she became obsessed with people understanding the complexity and truths of magic, but those around her were blind. The verbally and physically attacked her, asking her to go back to being a silent protector, but she could not once she had obtained the knowledge she now held. She fled from her village, leaving it defenseless, and became her own person.
Sometime past for her, she continued to research until she felt like she had hit the pinnacle of discovery, and had nowhere left to go. She cried in feeling as if she had hit a wall and could go no further, when she had an idea that changed the world forever...just no one knew it.
[REDACTED INFORMATION] and when she had finished, he obtained the ability to imbue normal everyday objects with magic, now called mana, and created the first magical item…
"Why did she just say redacted information," Jay asked Kins.
"That part of the story is only revealed to druids and Artificers that go through the right of passage. Sorry, I am not allowed to let you hear that piece unless you are officially a part of my order." Kins answered. Jay seemed perplexed, but was so captivated with the stories around him that he let it go.
One day, she came upon a man who had run into her neck of the woods and almost killed him in a fit of rage for him being close to her, his name was Towles. He apologized greatly and explained that he was exiled from his village for beating the chief in a trial of combat. Instead of being accepted as the new chief, the people rebelled and forced him out. At the mention of him being experienced in combat, Rhylyn came up with a test for him in a way for her to spare his life. If he could get even one hit on her in combat of magical abilities, she would let him live in peace. Eager to protect his life, he accepted and fought against her believing her to be extremely cocky. The fight ended quickly, and while Rhylyn respected the ability he had reached on his own, his earth magic was defeated without Rhylyn using any of her magical items or advanced magical techniques. She got ready to strike him down and he begged for another chance to prove himself. In her mercy, she told him to come back in three days and try again. This sequence continued for many years. The two of them meeting, fighting, and her giving him mercy before he would return again. Over time they became friends in their shared combat, and after three years he finally was able to hit her, to which he threw her off guard by surprising her with a kiss.
The two became one and started their own little community together, they discovered and explored, creating many fantastic items and found more gems that each held different possibilities. They began to meet more people who were exiled, and make them take the same test until they had an entire village of their own. Their community grew, and expanded. They took on different disciplines, discovered the world, and eventually; the druids and artificers established themselves. The druids kept the secrets of the artificers from the world for many generations, growing in knowledge and discovery and passing down what they had learned. Believing that their magic was too powerful and required too much responsibility for the world to handle. That was...until Heathers came…
The scene shifted to darkness, fires, and destruction. A man in a black and gold robe, holding a black gem smiled down at the carnage. He had long black hair and glowing yellow eyes. He had sharp disturbing features and when he would wave his hand, people would move with his motion. "Is that who I think it is…" Jay asked. Kins nodded, but didn't look at Jay. He glared at Heathers with absolute anger. No one had ever been able to clarify what Heathers looked like, but because of this magic, he was able to be seen in all his notoriety.
It was common thought that Heathers coerced the Druids and Artificers into fighting for him because of his strong Gravity magic. But actually, his magic was known as Hive Mind. Using the black gem known as "obsidian" he amplified his power to control an entire army to his will, and his alone. The gravity magic that many feared came from the head of the druids at the time, Davill. With hive mind, Heathers could control as many abilities as he wanted, and have as many body shields that he could handle.
"So that is how he did it…" Jay said in wonderment, "The druids never betrayed us...they were controlled…" Kins nodded.
"Your great grandfather knew this and accepted the druids in, as he was the one who heard this truth from his father. But given the common opinion, the druids were always going to be isolated. Honestly it was what we had always known so it didn't really hurt our feelings, just more so that fact that so many people were actively trying to kill us. Thus, the law of self-defense became a thing." Kins said to Jay. He breathed deeply, as if he was reliving a hard truth, watching the history of his people.
When Heather was killed by the efforts of the four kings, Jameson of Illverstand, Drakon of Draconis, Wraith of the wasteland, and Reakan of the Divine Continent, they realized they had no way of alleviating the anger the world had towards the Druids and Artificers. Also they realized that the magical items Heathers employed at his disposal would shake the way the world saw magic, and they were not ready for such things. This was the same conclusion Rhylyn came to as well. They kept the existence of Artificers a secret, and scattered the most powerful among the magical items among the kings in order to protect them from getting out.
In the days that followed, the druids were persecuted, imprisoned, and killed for their work in helping Heathers. For generations they were seen as menaces and overall destroyed until a small group of druids emerged and presented the law of self-defense. While many wanted to eradicate them, King Jameson II accepted them and gave them a home in Illverstand. Over time, most of the world forgot they existed and the druids descended into legend.
"That may be to the extent of what you know, but the story does not end there…" Kins said. The scene moved quickly until they were in the Druidic village. It looked exactly the same even though what they were seeing had to be at least 100 years ago.
Katelyn Marie of Doane became the leader of the Artificers during this time. Using her time magic, she was able to isolate the entire village with a bubble of time that from the outside nobody could find. It was during this time that Druids formed "the rite of passage" a way of determining who deserved to be brought into the fold and who was not truly there for the betterment of the community. Marie and the leader of the druids, Farth of Guildborn, researched constantly together over many years, keeping themselves alive for many generations, keeping their youth through [REDACTED INFORMATION]. The pinnacle of their discovery was what they called "the overload" a process where the mana from the world itself would flow through the body and imbue it with power. In an attempt by Marie to overcome overload, She tore a hole in the fabric of reality and was decimated into mere ashes. The Artificers saw her failure as a complete loss for the community andn ahsopasjfaoe[
The scene became distorted and the projection of Marie started to fade in and out until fire appeared all around them and then they were back in the scriptorium. The book closed on the table and Jay felt very disoriented. Kins patted him on the back asking if he was ok, but Jay could feel the vomit coming. He jumped up and ran out the door, reaching the first patch of grass he could find and started puking. Kins followed behind him and watched him laughing.
"I remember when I puked after my first time," Kins laughed and walked over to stand next to Jay.
"What...Happened...there…" Jay asked through gasp of air, he wondered if he was going to throw up again.
"Ah yeah sorry about that, the book got badly burned when your brother came and it lost some of its history. Thus, whenever it is used it tends to have that happen," Kins begins to rub his head as he talks. "Basically the end of it was that my dad suffered after my mom was destroyed during the overload and I acted as de facto leader until your brother came and destroyed us right after my rite of passage."
"Wait….You were...the leader of the druids…, Are you...really only 12," Jay asked, still heaving. Kins nodded.
"Yeah, my mom and dad lived for a very long time but they only had me 12 years ago, even I don't know how they were able to stay young for almost 100 years but I just think that my mom was a genius when it came to time magic," Kins boasted about his mother's talent.
"Why...Why did you show me...that," Jay finally rose to his feet and began to walk around to try and gather himself and regain equilibrium.
"Because there were things you needed to know. Like who the Artificers were, where they came from, the truth about Heathers, how Davill relates to you…" Kins says, but is abruptly interrupted by Jay.
"Woah woah woah, what do you mean how Davill relates to me?" Jay asked putting his finger up to Kins's face to get him to shut up for a minute. Kins pushed his hand away and looked at him intensely.
"Isn't it obvious?" Kins said confusingly. Jay shook his head no. "The two of you have the same magic type." The silence became so still that Jay could hear the leaves being blown across the grass by the wind. From the silence brewed an explosion of thought, Jay began to shake and clenched his fist.
"WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT KINS!" Jay erupted, in his anger and confusion his magic ignited and the ground shook for a moment and Kins was forced back a bit. A second later, his eyes went back to normal and he looked around at the area around him. Cracks started to form around his feet and all the blades of grass were forced against the earth. Kins composed himself and brushed himself off.
"Well...you see...gravity magic became outlawed after the actions of Heathers. Since Heathers and Davill were both killed after the war, many believed that gravity magic would not appear again as it is not common among any magical pedigrees. However! Your mother was telekinetic wasn't she?" Kins said with major excitement, Jay didn't respond as he was sure Kins already knew the answer. "Gravity magic is a mutation directly off of the telekinetic line; thus, because of your powerful genealogy: you are a mutation of your families magic!" Kins physically jumped in the air and clicked his heels. Jay looked completely unamused and turned to walk away from the situation.
"Wait please," Kins said running in front of Jay and putting his hands up to him, "Listen, I know this is crazy, believing one thing your entire life and finding out another. Please Jay, listen to me. I can prove it to you." Kins said smiling nervously. Thoughts of skepticism bombarded Jay's brain but through all of the thoughts, Jay's curiosity got the better of him.
"I can't believe I am trusting you…" Kins clapped his hands while laughing.
"You won't be sorry!" Kins yelled and then beckoned for Jay to follow him back into the scriptorium. Jay contemplated his path for a minute, where he was going, how far his curiosity would take him, and with a single step; began the path to his new reality.