3 CH 3 - Ripples

He felt it. The faintest stirring in his soul that spoke of trouble. Was something waking up? Or had someone stumbled upon a celestial artifact of some sort and that was the power he was feeling burning through the air?

The child slowly stopped running, his wildly pumping legs coming to a halt as he titled his head and starred off into the distance. The little girl he had been chasing stopped running too when she noticed he wasn't giving chase. "Are you all right?" She called.

He didn't answer for a moment, still looking off into the distance before turning back and saying. "I am sorry, something has happened and I have to go."

"No fair," she pouted, her blond hair whirling around her head as she shook it. "You said we could play for an hour and we only just started."

"I know," he admitted. "But like I said something has happened. I felt something just now, a magic that I thought had perished forever. I have to go see what it is."

"You're weird," she answered, sticking her tongue out as she reluctantly walked back over to him. "You just need to promise that next time we will play for two hours then."

"It's a promise," he replied with a smile. They parted ways, him peeling off to go deeper into the forest, and her heading back to the large manor not too far away. Spieler wasn't sure what he had felt, it had been so faint, so quick that he almost wanted to write the whole thing off. Yet the pit in his stomach made him keep moving. It was rare for new celestial artifacts to be found, but it did happen on occasion. Most nations kept them as national treasures, keeping them locked away or gifting them to their royalty. New ones were almost never found anymore and the last one he had heard of someone finding had been almost three decades ago. Still he had to go see, this magic wasn't just something from a god, this magic was from a god that should have be dead along with everything he owned.

As he stepped into the shadows he hesitated for the briefest moment. Maybe he should alert the Chroniclers and send them out to see what this was? That was their job after all, if it was something that shouldn't be found they would make sure it was buried and no one knew about it. Mobilizing them however would alert the others that he was down on earth alone, something that was forbidden. The Chroniclers had most likely sensed the magic anyways and would be mobilizing even now. And he'd rather keep his presence down here a secret.

After the betrayal they had suffered, all the gods had agreed that no one would visit the earth by themselves. As far as Speiler knew, very few actually followed this rule. It was usually fine as long as you weren't blatant, or caught meddling in the affairs of mortals without approval. Should he warn the others about what he had sensed? No, that would be foolish. He would only insight panic, at the worst they would smite down the whole area turning it to ash. He would go see if there was anything to what he had sensed. Hopefully it was just someone's dream that would soon fade.

********

Hours later the trees cleared a bit and the trio wandered out onto a small plateau. Morea let out a sigh of relief. They had avoided whatever magical creature had been lurking out there, and hadn't lost to much time either. The three of them gathered around the edge of the plateau and carefully looked down on the forest that continued to stretch on before them. Not to far below, at the base of the hill where they stood was a small clearing, and their target.

A stone wall rose in a large circle that was nearly twenty feet tall. Two giant gates could be seen on the south and north side, and a single white tower ascended up from the ground, like a lone finger stretching to the heavens. Even from up here Morea could see a white flag fluttering from the towers top. The emblem of a golden sun with triangle like rays shooting off of it was emblazoned on the flag, the crest of the Cerian Empire. From this vantage point she could see people moving down below, and Morea let out an irritated grunt. "Well this is not going to be easy," she mumbled glaring down at the tower. "Not only is this place in the middle of no where, but it seems heavily guarded as well. Maybe Mother Unara wasn't planning on me returning from this little pilgrimage."

The twins had both knelt down, and were silent as they surveyed the target. Their emotionless eyes flickered back and forth in unison as they studied everything. "It will for sure not be easy, what kind of magical defenses can you detect? A place like this is might be heavily warded."

"I haven't checked yet," Morea admitted sheepishly. She had to focus, now that they were here she needed to get serious, and being distracted was not an option.

Closing her eyes she drew her attention inward and focused on her magic. It responded instantly to her touch, and she could see her magic center like a soft green light glowing inside her chest. She quickly grabbed a thin strand of it, a mere thread and began to slowly pull it out, unraveling it like a spool of yarn. As Morea pulled she also began to weave it back and forth, creating a web to hold her spell. The glowing green energy inside of her began to pulse and glow as she quickly finished the weave before cutting it off from her magic. She'd heard enough horror stories of mages who left their magic attached to a weave and had all of their magic drained without even realizing it. The stories were interesting though, maybe something to test later.

The whole processes took barley a second as she cut the weave off and held it in her mind. Slowly opening her eyes she bent down towards the ground as she got ready to release the weave. Morea's fingers brushed the soft earth and with a sigh she let her fingers sink deep into the soil beneath her. Instantly her breath was taken away by the immense power that she felt. The earth was so alive, and every time she felt it she was left in awe. The pure raw power that moved beneath the surface was like nothing else in the world. It always made her feel small, but part of some bigger whole, a humbling and awe inspiring feeling. In her minds eye it looked like a giant golden ocean of magic, shifting and constantly moving. A soft mist rose from its surface, the natural overflow of such magic that rose up and disappeared.

Carefully Morea connected to the ocean of magic beneath her, joining in the gently moving power that naturally flowed in the ground. It didn't resist, instead it responded to her touch like a mother welcoming their child. She easily connected to it, and felt welcomed by it. For a moment she had to orient herself, focusing so she didn't get swept away in all the power. This was one of the first things the Daughters of Stone learned.

Connecting your magic to the elements was something everyone could do, but if you were untrained it was easy to get overwhelmed and sept away in its raw power. Whether it was the magic of the earth, or the fire in a volcano, or the magic currents of an ocean, they all held immense power. Many mages had been known to try and connect to something beyond them, and had simply starved to death and wasted away as they rode the waves of power, lost in its mesmerizing embrace. It was a high that few could come out of willingly.

Most mages, or weavers, drew their magic from the vapors that rose off of the different elements around them that connected to their element type. The ambient magic that rose off of these magical sources looked like a mist, and as it disconnected from its source it was easy to absorb and cycle in ones magic center. These small unconnected pieces of magic were easy to use, and were essential for casting weaves. You also avoided the danger of trying to connect to an actual magical source. Once you let yourself get to drawn in, it was difficult to come back out.

This was mostly because the magic you were connecting to was so beyond you, and so alien that it was difficult to retain ones sense of self. Many mages had to fight to keep themselves aware, as the elements would seek to bring them in and absorb them. Only those of the highest weaves could access such power with few consequences, though to try and pull power out of the earth or another element was something different all together.

This however was something her order excelled in. While most people who tried to connect to something so powerful would feel themselves being pulled along and forced to fight it, the Daughters of Stone were welcomed by the earth when they touched it. It responded differently to them, allowing them easy access and never trying to overrun them. It allowed her to weave a bubble of magic around her mind, keeping her thoughts and identity protected as she gently rode the flow of magic coursing beneath. Then she carefully connected her weave to it as she released the spell. She didn't try to take power, but added hers to what was already there, letting it absorb and then release the magic she gently pushed into it.

From the twins perspective nothing happened, but to her the affects were immediate. Instantly she could feel everything around her. Each blade of grass as it slowly dipped in the soft breeze, the ants a few hundred feet away that hurried along, seeking to find food before the sun set. Further down below a young fox was actively stalking a rodent, leaping forward and going for the kill. Then her senses caressed the structure below. She could feel the stone walls that sank into the earth and the guards who walked on them. Each of their footsteps was like a small ripple in a pond, echoing out and announcing their presence.

Next her senses swept over the tower, and at once she could feel the wards that wrapped around its smooth base. They weren't too extensive, the anonymity of the tower, plus its remote location was probably enough to keep it safe, or so its creators probably believed. The wards still felt strong, somewhere around a Fifth Weave spell she guessed as her touch lightly danced across it's surface.

They didn't react as she searched them for any sign of the weaknesses. Normally they would have responded to her spell, but she had been taught well. Connecting it to the natural flow of the earth hid her magic, making it seem as if the energy was coming from the earth itself and not someone else. Supposedly it was a rare skill, though she had nothing to compare it to besides what the Mothers had told her, and it was something that only the Daughters of Stone possessed.

Morea continued to probe and realized as she did that the tower continued down beneath the surface. She followed it down, feeling out the wards as she did and she realized they got weaker the further down she went. Well that wasn't too surprising she figured, that deep below the earth few would be able to break out, and the stronger wards up top would hamper anyone who tried. Most of the magic she could feel was directed inward, obviously containment spells and the like for the prisoners who dwelt within.

She continued down, following the structure all the way to the base where almost no magical protection was. This was fortunate for it allowed her to perceive the vibrations of those walking inside. Each ripple that a person caused was like a testament to their skill or strength. Mother Unara had described it well, telling her to imagine a child grabbing the largest rock they could and throwing it into a pond, and the subsequent ripples that would follow. Then imagine an adult man grabbing the biggest rock he could and throwing it in as well. The larger rock would cause bigger ripples, and people's magic was much the same way. Everyone contained some small bit within themselves, and their level of skill, training, and natural born talent influenced the ripples they caused. Now most people harnessed these ripples, turning the magic it represented into threads to form weaves of power.

The weakest of these were known as First Level Weavers, and were the small simple things even a child could do. As someone grew and learned they would advanced from Second, Third, and up. The highest being a Thirteenth Level Weaver, and Morea knew of only half a dozen alive who were at such a level. What made it more difficult as well was that as one progressed they would begin to specialize, focusing on a certain Weave to increase. While someone may be a Third Level Weaver in earth, they might focus purely on Stone, becoming more adept until they reached the ability to cast Seventh Level Stone Weaver spells. Someone at this level would be known as a Weaver of the Seventh Level. Though allowing your specialty to outclass your base was never wise and usually both had to be strengthened together, which could take years if not decades. Most people living today never advanced beyond an Eighth Level Weaver, and those who did were rare as far as Morea knew.

Feeling the ripples she could instantly tell that most of the guards were no more then Second Level Weavers. Their small ripples allowed her to read their lines of power. She felt a few Third and Fourth Level Weavers as well, but nothing beyond that. Good, maybe this wouldn't be to hard.

Slowly opening her eyes she looked at the twins and quickly gave them the run down of the situation. " The enchantments are heavy up near the top of the tower, but the lower you go the weaker they become. I'm going to start at the bottom and work my way up, that should keep them from noticing what I'm doing for a while and hopefully I can break through the enchantments before they have enough time to reinforce them. Most of the guards are Second Level Weavers, though i did sense a few Threes and Fours, though nothing stronger. The upper part of the tower is pretty heavily warded though so I can't be sure if someone stronger isn't in there."

"We should wait then," the Bonded pair replied instantly. "Watch and observe for the next few days, we should be able to get a better view of who dwells within and the power levels of those we have to face."

Morea tried to hold back an exasperated sigh at that, she did not want to spend more time out here then was needed. The longer this took, the longer she would be away her sister. "I disagree," she said, "The longer we stay out here the higher the chance that we will be discovered and seen, and if that happens our advantage of catching them by surprise is gone. I think we should just go for it, the sooner we can get in there the better."

The twins hesitated for a moment, obviously seeing the wisdom in her argument, but also knowing it was foolish to rush in to fast. "We hesitate to agree," they slowly countered, "If we move prematurely and fail, then we will also loose our advantage of surprise." Damn they had her there. "Watching and hiding gives us the best chance of success."

Morea grumbled at that. She really did not want to be out here for a few more days. Sure it may be harder to grab the prisoner they were after if they just attacked, but so what? She was a Third Level Weaver, which amounted to almost being a Fifth level my most other peoples standards. The twins were each a Fourth Level Weaver, who combined with their uncanny ability to support each other in combat put them somewhere between a Fifth to Sixth level weaver. She doubted there was anyone here who would be able to stop them. This tower wasn't one that held high valued targets, it was one far out of the way where you put people you wanted to forget about. Out of sight and out of mind. At most the warden of the prison would probably be a Fifth Level Weaver, and she was sure they could handle that without any difficulty.

"It's my mission," she finally said, "So I get to make the call, right?" She assumed she had the authority, after all Bonded pairs rarely led anything, though she wasn't sure if maybe Unara had given them some order she wasn't aware of.

Bonded pairs were often best for support, the work it took to stay connected did not lend them an advantage in leading most of the time. Plus their magic centers were connected, if one died, they both did. Though most pairs were trained to shut off their pain receptors, so if one was badly injured the other could keep fighting, but death for one meant death for both. This made it harder to hide them as leaders, as people knew they just had to kill one, and moving bonded pairs or even larger groups was difficult in the heat of battle. That's why most of them ended up being bodyguards, fighters, assassins, or even advisors.

The twins hesitantly nodded at that, affirming what she thought. She was in charge and the choice was her. "We move then," she said, slowly kneeling down and crossing her legs as she got into a meditation position. This allowed her to be closer to the earth and gave her easier accesses the vapors of magic that rose from it. "I am going to hide my first few spells within the earths power. Hopefully they will think it is a glitch in their wards and not that they are under attack. As soon as they realize something they will move though, you two need to be ready to strike then. If you can keep them distracted I know I can break through their wards with little trouble. I want you both to get down there and strike as soon as the guards start to panic. Get inside the tower and find him and then get out. Don't cause more of a scene then you need to."

"Very well Daughter," they said with a bow. "We will go below and hide ourselves and wait for the chance to strike."

Morea nodded sagely as they slinked off, doing her best to portray an aura of confidence. She was sure this would work, after all, what was the worse that could happen?