Twenty minutes later Ulharsjach was on his way back to his chamber, having agreed to perform during the upcoming gala. It would be an inconvenience to practice and become more involved in the workings of the clan, but it would also afford Clax an easier way to cast spells unobtrusively in the future, which made it worth the annoyance.
Jirael was speaking to Bairoth at the edge of the Great Hall, and the Aberration watched him for a moment before slipping into his room and closing the door, leaving the sliding window shut.
Both fell asleep instantly, waking up to complete silence as the clan lay dormant in sleep. Majak quickly consulted the timepiece on their table in the dark, and saw that it was the second hour of the day.
Time to get to work.
Majak began gesturing elaborately, closing his eyes as his motions led them in a strange dance until the spell took effect. Hide from Dragons was one of his most used spells, an effect that allowed them to pass undetected by sight, hearing or smell to others of their kind.
Clax reached forward and carefully slid the window open just enough to permit a thin line of illumination. The dim light that shone through the rectangular opening shifted into strange patterns as both concentrated on their shadow, warping first their wings, then their body and tails. The physical figure mirrored the changes of its shadow, and swiftly changed into that of an insect at their direction.
Had anyone looked inside, they would have seen a gigantic fly staring back at them.
With the transformation complete, Ulharsjach quickly shrank his shadow to make himself smaller, then buzzed to the window, scanning the environment with his own eyes, which he had left as they were. In the hallway devoid of movement, a fly's vision would only slow down his progress.
CS-34 is approaching the Great Hall. Clax thought as he focused on their right field of vision.
Majak let his thanks pass through their telepathic link, then took off, flying in the erratic, billowing patterns he had memorized until he came to Torn's door and crawled across the door. Her window was shut.
The small insect quickly buzzed down to the floor, crawling through the gap between the metal door and the stone. The space was tight, but he managed to pass through without damaging his body.
The painting? he asked as they waited near the metal edge.
Their eyes focused on the distant wall.
Empty. Clax responded.
Majak would have smiled if he could.
Perfect. CS-21A is sleeping.
The fly instantly raced into the room, its tiny figure billowing out into the dragon before Ulharsjach strode to the painted scene hanging on the wall and swiftly put it into his Bag of Holding.
Majak still didn't like how there was no way to affect Torn's familiar in the chance that it attempted to return to its original painting and found it was unavailable, but there was no better way to do it. It would look suspicious if the enchanted creature noticed the way to her room was cut off, but there was nothing that would incriminate him as the source.
It was an acceptable risk.
Majak acted quickly, removing the shade of her lamp, and then quickly searched for her spellbook. Clax was the one who noticed it underneath a roll of canvas, and they immediately added it to their bag.
Clax took a slow silent breath, then reached into the bag on his side and grasped the arcane focus for his spell. A tiny bell, and a piece of wire. The wire had long been shoved into the interior of the bell to prevent it from ringing, though he still checked it with a claw before pulling it out and singing in the lowest pitch he could.
Majak waited patiently, watching Torn as she slept in her bed while his partner set the Alarm spell several feet before her door, then he straightened.
Done.
The Aberration swiftly changed back to a fly, then returned to their room.
|
Raria's chance to discover the painting being inaccessible is 1 in 6.
If she rolls higher than a 1, she does not notice that her painting is physically missing on this night.
She rolls a 4.
Raria does not travel to Torn's room tonight.
Ulharsjach's meddling goes unnoticed.
|
|
Their window was shut the moment Ulharsjach reverted to his true form, then he laid out the lampshade and the book on his table. Majak didn't waste any time, beginning with the lampshade while Clax leafed through Torn's spellbook curiously.
She can't cast Teleport. She can only cast up to the third level. Clax thought with amusement as he turned back the pages.
Look at how pristine her pages are past that point.
So she was lying. Majak hummed as he began inscribing the symbol with a pale ink. Something that would look like a water stain when it dried.
CS-16 is a similar level, isn't he?
They may have to pay GS-2's familiar to perform it for them. Clax thought with a smile toward his counterpart.
Or ask you.
I would prefer to keep them ignorant of my skills, Majak said dismissively as he painted another careful stroke.
Let them assume we're both bards.
There would be benefits to being the most experienced mage here. We could presumably sit on the council rather than CS-16.
That would require us to always be here. Majak knew his partner was only teasing, but the idea still annoyed him.
I won't be beholden to them when we have more important things to do.
Clax said nothing, pulling out his own pen and beginning on the new page in Torn's book. He couldn't imbue the symbol with any power, but he knew from watching Majak many times what the general shape of the Symbol of Persuasion was.
What spell should I put here? he asked.
Know Opponent?
She might wonder why you would transcribe a bard spell, Majak chuckled.
Only bards and clerics can cast it, can't they?
Spells can always be converted into other processes, given enough time and effort. Clax thought with a shrug.
Even some of our spells are shared.
It might become a higher level spell for her if she was to translate it. Majak looked up from his work.
It would give her something to work toward, then. Another way to make the memory hers.
Majak paused, then nodded.
Good point. Go ahead.
Clax began methodically writing out the process of his spell, finishing just as Majak held up the lampshade with a satisfied smile.
Done. Yours is ready?
Clax wordless passed over the open book, and Majak scanned through it before noticing the location of the symbol.
This might blend in too much with the surrounding design.
We still have some iridescent ink, don't we? Clax frowned.
His partner nodded with a smile.
Ten minutes later, Majak had finished inscribing the Symbol of Persuasion, and they returned to Torn's room, replacing the spellbook and the lampshade. Hide from Dragons was still active, so he could freely conduct his final preparation without fear of being heard or discovered.
The male Aberration stood over her nest as he boldly began casting Veil, the disguise that would account for the appearance, feel and scent of the sleeping dragon before them. It was even better that he could observe her directly as reference while his body shrank and became leaner, and their faces changed shape to become less angular and softer.
As soon as Majak and Clax both confirmed the other matched Torn's appearance, the shadow dragon activated his invisibility and hung the painting back in its spot on the wall. No sign of the resident faun came, and Majak nodded in satisfaction as they settled on the floor to wait.
I was thinking, if she resists Modify Memory today, we can say she was sleepwalking. Clax thought as all fell quiet.
I witnessed her doing so once.
I'll leave it all to you, then. Clax was easily the better liar, and Majak often let his partner handle most of the interactions with other dragons when they mattered.
Now they just had to wait until the captain woke.
Rill yawned as he felt Grim stir beside him.
Morning.
Smells like the blizzard has arrived, Grim motioned as they got up.
So, today-
"GrimRill," Torn's hesitant call came from beyond their door and interrupted their discussion. Her voice was bashful, and Grim looked intrigued as Rill swore furiously in his head.
Why now, of all times?
"I won't take much of your time, I promise," she said softly.
Grim didn't hesitate, opening the door as Rill struggled to stay in place. Torn's mane was still a little messy, as though she had just rolled out of bed. Her eyes were heavy, but she seemed very excited about something.
Torn quickly closed the door, and Grim smiled in the dim light.
Well, she's certainly eager.
Rill ignored him. Torn never woke up this early; she was one of the latest risers in the clan. There was no way that she be would awake before
him.
"You're up early," he said suspiciously.
"It's this pressure; storms here always ruin my sleep," she sighed in annoyance.
True enough, when the weather was bad, she often did wake up earlier than normal. He sighed. "Look, Torn, we have to get started, and-"
"I just wanted to show you something I found!" she interrupted quickly, then stopped herself. "I'm sorry.
Please, let me show you something I found. It... gave me an idea."
"For what?" Rill gave her an unimpressed look.
"For your condition," she said, then opened the book and held it in the light for him to see.
GrimRill looked down at the words, both sets of eyes distracted by the illustration dominating the paper. Rill couldn't understand much of the magical jargon surrounding it, and so he was drawn to the design.
"I can't read this stuff, Torn," he said awkwardly. "Just break it down for me."
"Don't worry; it's not important, anyway. The spell allows you to see the strengths and weaknesses of someone, so when I was reading through it, I thought of you." She gently closed the book and gave a hesitant smile. "I know it probably wouldn't activate on you, but maybe you could do something similar that isn't magical. So you could see the details of your weakness."
Torn looked up at him with an encouraging nod. "It would be really nice if you could understand how to fix it, right? If you could, you would have more options."
Normally he would have dismissed the idea, and taken great offense at the insinuation that they were weak, but Rill found himself flattered at her efforts instead. She had really gone to this length to try and come up with ideas on his behalf? Maybe she wasn't so bad.
"How, though? You said yourself that spell wouldn't work."
"You could ask Cenue. Nature and Plague dragons can examine the body without using magic, right? Maybe she could find out what's causing your resistance to magic." Torn suggested.
"Y-yeah..." She was being unusually pleasant today. He didn't know what to make of it.
Let's ask Cenue if we can do this after breakfast. Grim gestured quickly.
Sure.
"What does Grim think about it?" Torn asked curiously.
"We'll go talk to Cenue and ask. If she can, we'll try to do it today." Rill said.
"That's wonderful!" she beamed. "I hope she can give you some answers."
"Yeah."
Rill shifted uncomfortably. He didn't want to be rude and ask her to leave, but they had to relieve Jirael soon.
"Sorry for keeping you," Torn said quickly as she noticed. Suddenly her face was split wide open with a yawn as she blinked wearily. "I'll let you go; I think I'll try to sleep a little more."
He gave a hesitant smile. "No, it's no problem."
"I'll see you later," Torn smiled, giving a shy wave before she trotted out, leaving the door open behind her.
Ulharsjach didn't waste a second, turning invisible the moment they weren't in sight as the Aberration quickly made his way back into his room. Majak maintained his concentration on the shape of Torn, allowing his partner to control them as they changed into a fly once more and flew to Torn's door.
She didn't trigger the alarm, Clax thought as they again cautiously peered into the room to make sure her familiar was not present.
We'll see if she activated the symbol, Majak thought back. No faun in the painting, and they quietly crawled inside, then reformed as an invisible dragon in Torn's shape. Clax replaced the spellbook beneath the canvas.
Majak released his concentration, doing his best to mimic Torn's voice as he intoned the short verse of Suspended Silence. Seconds later, he laid a single talon on the edge of her lamp, and smiled as it activated.
The lamp was strategically placed at an equal distance from Torn and her painting. Now neither the subject of the painting (if it returned), nor Torn could hear anything. He stepped alongside the wall so her familiar would not be able to see them if it did reappear, and then Clax sang a short line from a lullaby in Torn's voice, directing the spell toward her six seconds later as he finished.
Clax closed his eyes, focusing on fabricating the first memory. A memory of Torn coming to him in the middle of the night and asking for ideas in helping GrimRill fix his condition. He only had five minutes worth of memory to alter, and so he kept the scene brief, imagining himself simply copying the spell into her book and telling Torn to read it herself before dismissing her.
He then quickly changed to his own memories of the interaction with Rill only a minute ago, passing the entire event to her, as though it was Torn that had been there. He made it through with only seconds to spare.
Did you get everything? Majak asked urgently.
It was tight, but I did. Clax nodded.
Maybe tomorrow we can add more to make it even less noticeable.
Let's see how she reacts today. We may not need to. Majak smirked.
If she fills in the gaps herself, it will be even more convincing than if we did it.
True.
The area of artificial silence was gone, but the pair were as silent as shadows as they finished the final touches.
Majak quickly removed the Symbol of Sleep from the lampshade. It had only been there in case Torn had woken up while they were speaking to GrimRill, and since that hadn't happened, it couldn't remain on her belongings.
I was about to wonder why she always turns on a light when she wakes up, but I forget they can't see in the dark. Clax smiled as his partner finished.
I don't know how they manage.
Me neither, Majak agreed mentally. They were still invisible, thanks to his partner's continued efforts.
Although I really can't understand how other dragons manage. How can they get by with only one mind?
Who knows.
The Aberration silently exited, deliberately stepping on the Alarm spell and triggering the sharp, mental sound in Clax's mind. Erasing the last bit of proof they had been there.
Other than their scent. But today was the day of the week that everything was due to be washed or wiped down. And besides, Torn wasn't very sensitive to scents anyway. Even if everything weren't about to be covered with the smell of soap, she most likely wouldn't have noticed.
Now all they had to do was listen in on GrimRill's diagnosis, and see if it inspired any new approaches.
