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Ifan stooped down to investigate the damp grey stone. Pinching together his fingers he assessed the coarseness of the particulate resting on the cobble.
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“Mari, I think there’s something you should take a look at.” Ifan beckoned over to Mari.
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“What have you found, Ifan?”
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“I’m not sure. Would you be able to cast some appraisal magicks on this dust?”
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“I can certainly give it a go.” Mari pulled her arcane focus from its holster; a slender wand crafted from the trees of her homeland, imbued with the elves’ ancient magical essence.
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“Imarum sendrum collensis.” Mari chanted a magical incantation after kicking up the dust from the bridge’s cobblestone, hoping to unearth some of its secrets. The dust cloud glowed a pale blue, transforming to a dark purple hue as it settled back into the ground. “It’s definitely enchanted, Ifan, nice catch. Now if we can take some samples back to the guild, we’ll be able to work out for what purpo-”
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A shriek pierced the conversation, and all was still. A shadow hung in the air above them before crashing to the ground. The force flung Mari into the cold, black obelisk; its retaliation arresting her breath. Ifan struggled for his sword until the hulking structure’s wing knocked him to the ground. A stone talon dug into his hand and he screamed in agony. The cobble refused his grip, now soaked in his blood as he wrestled beneath the weight of the creature. Ifan gasped in relief as the stone talon slid out of his hand, the creature beginning an ascent into the air above the boy.
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“Cantarus enflamaris!” An orb of pure blue light emanating a dazzling aura of heat shot at speed towards the creature, striking the beast cleanly in its torso. Dust fell from the construct as Ifan wrested himself from the ground in the pause granted to him by Mari. Ifan clutched his necklace and muttered a prayer under his breath and was enveloped in light. Shimmering apparitions circled Ifan and dissipated with the light, as the wounds on Ifan’s hands closed.
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“Nice one, Sis!” exclaimed Ifan, with renewed confidence.
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“Not a problem, now don’t get cocky; I’ve simply wounded the beast. We’ll need to be at full attention if we’re to come out of this alive.”
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Ifan unsheathed his sword, its metal dancing weightlessly in his hands. “I’m counting on you, Regalis.” Ifan spoke a word to his sword before turning back to his sister, “Mari, you’ll have to lure the monster down from its flight. Once its back on the ground I can take over for you.”
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“Easier said than done, Ifan.” Mari began rehearsing another incantation, “Ice be my spear!”, as she drew a dagger across her hand. Blood dripped from the shallow wound and Mari pulled a solid shaft of crimson ice from her palm. “Take… this!” Mari hurled the spear forward at a remarkable pace, and the ice soared through the air directly toward the creature, still struggling with the fire from Mari’s last spell. The spear’s head bored its way into the space between the creature’s torso and its right wing, and with a flick of Mari’s wrist the spear began drilling at speed into the monster’s stone body. The construct let out a howl as the spear finished its mission, passing cleanly through the impact point. As the creature tumbled to the ground, Ifan drew his sword over his shoulder, passing the blade through his hand as he did so. Glyphs began burning a bright yellow light on the sword’s blade and Ifan settled into a lunge, poised towards the creature’s projected site of impact. The stone monster crashed into the floor, and Ifan propelled himself towards his target. Regalis tore through the creature’s neck, and Ifan grunted with effort as he forced his hand to complete the decapitation. The stone construct’s head fell with a resounding thud, and the rest of the body soon followed.
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Ifan surveyed the scene, Regalis in hand. Mari stepped toward Ifan and the beast’s crumbling body, tapping the stone head with the side of her foot.
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“We should have really expected something like this,” Mari rolled the head over and bent down to investigate the construct’s features. “I wonder whose magic was responsible for animating you,” Mari muttered under her breath before brandishing her wand. She pressed the wand against the construct’s head and pulled out a swirling blue strand of pure arcane energy. Ifan sheathed Regalis and reached into his rucksack; after a few seconds of rummaging he presented Mari with a cold, black sphere. “Thanks.” Mari pulled the strand of energy through the air using her wand and pressed its tip to the sphere. The energy flowed with immediacy into the sphere, its blackened core now resonating with an azure glow. “We’ll investigate this when we get back to the guild, now on to the obelisk.”
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“This thing definitely matches the description Hephestis gave us; ‘A large black structure on an island in the middle of Denthir’s Lake .’” Ifan reached out to touch the obelisk, its surface ice cold to the touch. His hand recoiled slightly from the surprising chill before returning to explore the obelisk’s façade.
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“According to Hephestis this obelisk was used in ancient Sevari rituals,” Mari stepped around the obelisk, exploring its immediate surroundings, “Exactly what rituals did they use you for, hmm?”
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Ifan’s hands danced over the obelisk, its exterior reminding him of a frozen lake he and Mari used to play on as children during the Frostfall. “So, Hephestis wanted us to transport this back to the guild. Uhh, how are we going to do that exactly?” asked Ifan.
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“That’s what we’re paid to find out,” Mari stopped in front of the obelisk, “what if we – “
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“Well, we can’t just lift it up now can we!” exclaimed Ifan, stepping back and putting his hands on his lower back, looking up and down at the massive structure.
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“Of course not knucklehead.” Mari looked exasperated as she responded to her brother. “Maybe I can shrink it.” Mari waved her wand in front of the obelisk and muttered a spell, “Minimalis!” A stream of magic burst forth from the wand, striking the obelisk’s centre of mass. The magic swirled in place on the obelisk’s surface for a fraction of a second before refracting back at an angle and hitting her brother in the right shoulder.
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“Ow!” responded Ifan, more in surprise than actual pain.
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“Oh shit!” Mari panicked and began another incantation.
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“Hey, since when were you taller than me?” Ifan looked over at Mari with a puzzled expression. “Wait did you say Minimalis? Oh come on Mari, that’s like the third time this year.” Ifan’s voice dropped to a squeak as he began accepting his fate.
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“Sorry, Ifan, sorry, sorry!” Mari finished her incantation with a flick of her wand, “Maximalis!” A ray of energy shot out of the wand’s tip and thumped into Ifan’s now 2ft tall person.
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“Ugh I hate this feeling. Blergh.” Ifan doubled over and wretched as he returned to his regular size, leaning against the obelisk to support his weight. Ifan composed himself, wiping away the spittle from his lips, “It looks like shrinking it isn’t going to be an option – thanks for the heads up by the way.” Mari rushed to her brother’s side, pulled off his rucksack and began stroking his back to assuage his nausea.
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“Feeling better now?” asked Mari after a few moments soothing her brother.
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“Good enough,” Ifan stood up straight and gently moved Mari’s hand from his back, “do you have any more ideas about how we’re going to move this thing?”
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“I’ve got a few,” Mari squatted down and rifled through Ifan’s rucksack, “in particular – astral chalk.”
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“Great idea but do we have any left? Plus, that stuff’s not cheap you know and it’s bloody hard to find, last time you sent me off to the market to find some I was there for four hours before some weirdo with a monocle came and – “
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“Found it!” Mari held the chalk up to Ifan.
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“Ah, very good, very good,” responded Ifan in a slightly dejected tone after Mari’s interruption.
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“Right, step aside Ifan.” Mari kicked the rucksack out of the way of the obelisk and began drawing a chalk circle on the cobble surrounding it. As the two ends of the chalk line met, the cobble within the circle vanished into a sea of blackness and the obelisk began to silently sink into the ground. Several seconds later, the obelisk had been wholly taken in by the portal. Mari brushed her shoes against the white chalk line to break the circle and the portal vanished, “I’ll keep a hold of this,” Mari motioned to the chalk in-between her thumb and forefinger, “Lose this and we lose the obelisk.”
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“You know, I’m quite aware of how astral chalk works. I think Hephestis and I put some salted hams in there last time we used it so be careful when summoning the obelisk back at the guild.”
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“I’ll keep that in mind.” Mari tucked the chalk into her side pouch. Ifan knelt over to pick up his rucksack, fastening the belt loops and swinging it over his shoulder. The two surveyed the area briefly before heading back into the Fandelran forest; keen to avoid more trouble on their journey home.
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Hello, @zedcell! This is @macchiata from the @OCD team. We saw that you already posted your first post here in Hive! Congratulations and welcome! it would be awesome if you do an introduction post. As a sample of what an intro post is, you can refer to this intro post for reference:
Keeping Up With the Buzz - My Introduction to the Hive Community
There's no specific format on how you do your intro post, but there are some suggested content that we would love to see in your post. Information like who are you and where you're from, how did you discover Hive or who invited you, what types of content you want to see here and the types that you want produce, and what are your expectations in this platform. There's no pressure on this. You can choose on whatever information you would like to share.
If you have questions, you can hop into OCD's Discord server and we'll gladly answer your questions. For now, @lovesniper will follow you and we are looking forward to your intro post!
Hello,
Thank you. Your blog has been verified:
https://hivewatchers.com/verifications?utf8=%E2%9C%93&verification%5Busername_search%5D=zedcell