Scientific Sorcery : 19 Callista Liesl

Stormy’s sudden, loud "Mraurwww!" interrupted my thoughts about my magical experiments as she dashed to the window.

I set down my Witchy Codex book and followed after her to the window.

Stormy’s superior feline senses were right on target.

There was a truly enormous, carriage-style wooden sleigh covered in carved runework rolling into Svalbard pulled by four horses. I rushed to pull my crystal-reinforced armor and face-covering helmet on, making sure that the arbalests were armed and ready.

The sleigh stopped next to my tree-fortification.

As I pulled the window open, aiming the arbalest I saw that a girl in a lush, furry white coat and fluffy hat was holding the reins of the horses.

“Lo, Nordstaii ungmenni!” She called out with a slight accent as she noticed me in the window.

After a second of delay my brain interpreted her words as an overly-formal greeting of a young man of the Nordstaii tribes.

“Please lower your weapon,” she yelled. “I am a merchant! My name is Callista Liesl and I come to your village because of a request made by Ioan. His message reached me through Cecil of Bernt. Are you Ioan?”

"Greetings, Callista," I replied as I lowered my arbalest. Cecil had done his job. “I am Ioan Starfall of Svalbard!”

"Ahh," the girl quickly disembarked from the sleigh, raising her empty hands in the air to indicate she was unarmed. I secured the arbalest to my side, and she approached the pub. I couldn’t help but notice her somewhat feline features and brilliant snow-white hair.

“So, can I stay here for the night?” she inquired. “My Stormseer tells me that a brief snowstorm is brewing.”

"Do you need a room?" I asked. "Unfortunately, a dragon demolished our inn."

"That's alright," she reassured me. "I can sleep in my sleigh. Are the stables beside the pub still intact?"

"They are," I confirmed with a nod.

"Wonderful," she beamed. “Might I come into your pub for a drink? We can talk business–I have chicken eggs as you requested and many other supplies from the south which might aid in your… situation.”

“You alone in that sleigh?” I asked.

“Sure am,” she nodded, walking closer to my tree fortification. “So can you lead this weary merchant inside to warm up?”

I eyed the merchant girl evaluating her. She looked around nineteen at most and appeared harmless. There were no weapons on her as far as I could see.

“Fine,” I said. “Just for a few hours to talk business. Give me a bit of time to get the pub ready for you, it’s a bit of a mess.”

I retreated from the window and quickly concealed the greenery that was blooming within the chests, by pulling old, grimy cloths or Band banners over the far too obvious green pants or by simply shutting the chests closed.

When the pub became presentable-ish, leaving only randomly strewn earth piles, I came out of the side door and showed Callista the safe passage through the narrow path in my tree barricade.

“That’s quite a fiendish albeit simple tree-fence you’ve got there,” she commented, avoiding the jagged branches as she followed me, leaning down low. “Cecil told me that you’re alone in Svalbard, Ioan?”

“Yeah,” I replied, feeling no need to lie to the merchant. “Just me and my cat survived the dragon.”

I'm sorry to hear that,” she said.

“So what brings you to Svalbard, Callista?” I asked conversationally as we emerged from the tight tree-tunnel and stepped inside the warm pub.

“Trade of course,” she said with a soft, friendly smile that put me entirely at ease.

Callista was the first person that wasn’t trying to kill me and her soft, feminine soprano chatter was a nice change of pace from listening to my own voice.

Stormy hissed at the girl as she removed her thick, white fur coat, revealing a simple yet elegant white leather dress. I noticed a fanciful, white gold and blue gemstone lavaliere-style necklace was decorating the merchant's pale, slender neck. Glancing at her curves made my heartbeat accelerate for a moment.

When she pulled off her white furry hat, it revealed a pair of white, exceptionally fluffy cat ears and curvy white, sparkling hair. I stared at her cat-like ears, not believing my own eyes. She looked just like the girl from the book of monsters!

The girl wiggled her ears in my direction with a sly grin.

Stormy let out a small growl. She was probably just feeling bothered that another cat… person invaded her feline domain. Indoor cats didn't get along well with other cats from the outside, so this was probably normal.

“Haven’t seen a felix arcanicx before, have you?” Callista asked me, winking at Stormy.

“Nope,” I shook my head, blushing ever so slightly as Callista pulled off her white gloves. She unbuttoned her blouse further, basking in the heat of the fireplace.

“Are there… other people like you in the south?” I asked the merchant, ignoring Stormy’s ‘what is this questionable other cat doing in my house?!’ glare.

“Oh there are all kinds of arcanicx,” the merchant nodded with a smile. “The tribes living close to cometfall tend to end up with all sorts of quirky features.”

“Cometfall?” I asked.

“I hail from Iridium, the city of mercantile trade,” Callista said. “It stands at the edge of the Fern Archipelago which in itself is the edge of the Castian Sea. The Castian Sea, which connects to the wider Azure Ocean isn’t natural–it’s the result of cometfall or starfall as the Nordstaii tribes call it.”

“Starfall,” I thought, considering the sudden relevance of my last name.

“It wasn’t that long ago that a shard of the Wormwood Star sheared our world and brought about the age of winter to Thornwild,” Callista said with a bit of a sad look in her deep, blue eyes. “The great, slowly moving glaciers advancing from the north have upheaved many, making them forsake their homes. The Nordstaii tribes of your people arose from a fusion of a multitude of distinctive cultures that had to retreat from the north, west and east. The lives of many were filled with a great deal of strife because of starfall day.”

I simply stared at her, my eyes wide. Callista seemed to wield a great deal of history, spoke with crystalline clarity and seemed a lot more educated than the ancient, home-bound Yaga Grandhilda.

“It is actually the end of summer now here in Ninitza peninsula,” the merchant revealed. “Autumn is yet to arrive and winter will be harsher yet.”

I gulped as Stormy’s claw dug into my shoulder. This was the end of summer?! Thornwild was experiencing an Ice Age because a comet crashed into the planet?!

I shuddered momentarily and then remembered that I was a witch. No matter how cold it would get, I would be immune to it. Still, it was a bit of foreboding news.

I shook my head, driving dark thoughts away and gestured towards a pair of simple chairs and table near the fireplace that I had left in the pub for myself and stormy to eat on. "Have a seat. Can I offer you an elk steak and a drink of wine?"

Callista gracefully lowered herself onto the bench. “Elk steak and wine? I wouldn’t mind that at all, Ioan!”

I went to fetch the food and drinks. Stormy remained perched on my shoulder, keeping a wary eye on our guest. I quickly fried the meat for all three of us and then brought it to the table with some cheese, and a bottle of wine.

“Quite a festive place you’ve got here,” the arcanicx girl commented, leaning forward and eyeing the piles of earth and Zemy’s banners hanging from the ceiling and walls all around us. “It must be lonely here for you, no?”

“Yeah,” I confessed, staring at the fat, blue, glittering jewels on her chest. “It does get a bit lonely here.”

"So, tell me, Ioan, what sort of supplies are you most in need of other than the eggs?" The merchant smiled.

"Well, I could use some proper tools," I admitted. "The smithy here is decent, but finer instruments would be nice if you have such."

Callista's eyes lit up. "Oh, I have just the thing! I've got a set of Castian magisteel tools that would make any craftsman weep with joy. They're a bit pricey, but..." She winked conspiratorially. "For you, I might be willing to cut a deal."

I went to the pile of earth and grabbed a bunch of gold chains that had remained after my jewellery dismantling. During the past weeks I had excavated about 75 gold, 122 silver and 522 copper coins from the ruins of Svalbard. I placed about twenty gold coins onto the table in front of the merchant.

“Will this do?” I asked.

“Yea,” Cali nodded. “I definitely accept gold.”

“Now, what else have you got?" I asked.

The felix arcanicx began listing her wares, from medicine, to exotic spices, to finely woven fabrics, explaining the prices. The amount of gold I had was more than enough to purchase what I wanted and Cali seemed genuinely interested in helping a poor orphaned boy.

I found myself relaxing further and further as we chatted, Callista's easygoing, relaxed manner making me feel somehow more at ease than I had in weeks.

“That’s quite a big assortment you’ve got,” I commented as she listed out a multitude of handy supplies that a teenage boy might need to survive the incredibly long and brutal winter. “How does all this stuff even fit into your enclosed sleigh?”

“Ah that,” Cali smiled. “Magic’s a tad easier to weave closer to cometfall, you see. The Sled of Ancorra is a tad bigger on the inside.”

“Bigger on the inside?” I blinked. “How is that even possible?”