Measureless Magic: Ch. 17

Just one chapter this week, sorry. Lots of disruption to my writing time last week and only really got two days of time for it. On the plus side, I did find out I got approved for a vendor table at Huntsville's Nerdy Noel this December. It's a pretty cool fair if you're local to northern Alabama. I've shopped for Christmas presents there for several years at this point. Lots of high-quality small business/craftspeople doing very nerd-focused stuff. Huntsville's called rocket city for a reason

In the past I've gotten:

• solar system knobs for my kitchen drawers

• a metal hair stick with a chain mail flower

• the hair sword I wore to LitRPG con that was problematic to get through airport security despite its lack of sharpened edges

• D20 earrings

• Grimoire earrings

• magnetic laser-cut wood Magic the Gathering life counters

• Tiny keychain books of the Chronicles of Narnia that I later made into earrings

• a Rainbow Brite crossbody purse

• a large crochet plush spider for a child (the purse was for me. It's fabulous. Don't judge.)

• various nerdy Christmas ornaments

• LEGO minifigs of characters from Sonic the Hedgehog, the X-Men, Spy X Family and Sailor Moon

I have not gotten (but was tempted by) a whole plethora of other things, including Lord of the Rings-themed cutting boards, Game of Thrones trivets, sweet cosplay-esque accessories and apparel, dice towers, really freaking fancy MtG deck boxes, and a whole lot more. So like, if you are a nerdy little goblin like myself, it's a pretty magical place filled with stuff to make your fingers itch. Plus, I'll be there! Signing things and selling books and stickers.

Chapter 17

Many of you have studied pragmatic magic runes in your magical prep classes. These pragmatic runes have strong links to ancient science, which organized substances into different states - gases, solids, and liquids - and different elements and compounds. While we can no longer verify much of this knowledge, the best pragmatic mages are also highly educated in the ancient sciences.

• A Deeper Study of Substances, age 14 science primer

Ravel had expected his tile to behave identically to Raza’s, which would have had him facing toward the downhill slope. 

Instead, the side in front of him was where the magic “hinges” were, and he windmilled his arms, trying to keep his balance and failing. He stumbled against the barrier and fell to his rump, then to his elbows, leaving him sliding down headfirst.

He tried fruitlessly to slow himself, unable to find a grip on either the tile or the magical barriers. 

Fortunately, the chute didn’t end in a drop. It leveled out and curved around to send him skidding across another white tile floor. Beside him, he could hear the pained, gasping breathing of someone trying not to whimper, and he turned his head to see Koby sprawled out on the floor.

Despite his clear agony, Koby grinned. “Hey! You made it too!”

“Yep,” Ravel said. “Are you… okay?”

The other boy nodded, although he was still breathing heavily.

Ravel raised his eyebrows, but chose not to interrogate him further. He pushed himself up on his elbows and looked around 

They weren’t alone, but they hadn’t caught up with Raza. They had caught up with Dee, who was looking over at them from a tile much like the ones in the room they’d just left. In fact, the entire room was exactly like the last one, except that the injunction scrawled repeatedly across the walls was different. 

Ravel squinted at it. “Bisconnect?”

“Disconnect,” Dee said, pushing herself to her feet.

 Ravel frowned. Who would draw a line across the center of a D? But he had to admit her interpretation made more sense. “Stupid writing,” he said instead.

Dee laughed, moving toward him with her odd, slightly jerky gait. “Yeah. I’ve heard people argue that it’s kind of pretty, but it’s writing. It’s for passing information. If you want something pretty, paint a picture.”

As frustrating as the writing was, that statement didn’t sit well with Ravel. He pointed to the embroidery on his shirt sleeve. “Things can serve more than one purpose.”

“Sure, but you’ve got to be smart about it. What’s the point of doing lots of things badly? I’d rather have some decoration around legible writing than decorative writing that’s hard to read.” She reached the pair and frowned down at Koby. “What’s wrong with him?”

“He told me it was some of the others,” Ravel said. “People who blamed him for all this.

“Thought so,” Dee muttered.

Koby blinked, getting to his feet. “You… didn’t think these injuries were from the castle?”

“I was pretty sure. I know what it looks like to lose a fistfight. Black eyes and scrapes are something even a shaky-handed apprentice can handle. Those things don’t even need treatment, most of the time. Any other injuries?”

Koby lifted his shirt, revealing a purplish section on one side. “Maybe. I’m not sure. I got kicked really hard once.”

Dee bent over and reached toward the injury. Koby stepped back, dodging her hand.

She bit her lip. “Sorry, I should have asked. The area’s really sensitive?”

He nodded.

She inspected his face. “Hm. Your complexion seems normal. Have you coughed up any blood? Felt dizzy?”

“No.”

“Well… it’s probably a fractured rib. Maybe broken? The good news is that it will also probably heal on its own without treatment: my specialty. I’d say to rest and ice it if you could, but…” Dee gestured to their surroundings.

“Oh,” Koby said. “It hurts a lot. More when I laugh.”

Dee hesitated. “That’s… probably normal? Let me know about any changes. If you have other injuries, I might be able to talk someone else through the treatment process. I know what to do for a lot of things.”

“You don’t mind sticking together with us?” Koby asked.

The question seemed to surprise Dee. “Oh. Um. Sure. I guess I have to, if I want to monitor your injuries.”

“Great!” Koby said.

Ravel frowned when Koby didn’t even glance at him. He was happy to have Dee tag along; she seemed nice enough. Plus, she knew things about doctoring, and Ravel was in a constant state of trying not to think about whether or not the things he was eating were really food. He understood why Koby wanted her with, but…

Koby could have asked me. He could have checked.

I get dragged around by other people too much.

But I do want Dee with us…

Dee was looking at him now and Ravel realized he’d opened his mouth to speak somewhere in his internal argument. He cleared his throat. “I’m surprised we caught up with you, Dee. You made it through the mazes really fast, and you made it through the first magic-shaping room. Is this one so different?”

Dee shrugged. “Not really. But there didn’t seem to be a reason to rush, so I’ve been taking time to experiment and practice while I waited for somebody else to catch up. These rooms are so empty.”

“It’s creepy, isn’t it?” Koby said.

“It is,” Dee said. She shuddered. “Even with you two here. It’s so quiet and open, but I can’t go anywhere. There’s too much space and not enough.”

“There’s one way we can go somewhere,” Ravel said. He nodded at the tiles. “Not that I expect it to be any better than this room.”

“At least it will put more space between, uh, this kid and the people who hurt him,” Dee said.

“Koby. I’m Koby.”

“Right. Koby. It could be really bad for you to get hit again in the torso before your ribs heal. Actually… you should probably try to lie down while you work on your tile. I didn’t like the way you were breathing when you got here.”

“I hit my back on the slide when I fell,” Koby said.

“Do you know which tile Raza used when she came through?” Ravel asked. “And which side dropped down? If it always does the same thing, that could let Koby go down to the next level feet-first.”

“I think that one? And I think it was the near edge that dropped. I’m not sure, though,” said Dee, pointing. “She was in and out of here in under a minute.”

Koby walked over to the tile she indicated. “Thanks. It’s better than nothing.”

Dee shifted uncomfortably. “Just lay down. Even if I’m wrong, or it does something different, going down headfirst is better than falling again.”

Koby nodded, then paused. “Oh. Um. Ravel didn’t know… Do you have a metaphor for your magic?”

“A what?” Dee asked.

“It can make it a lot easier,” Koby said. He gave her a quick repeat of the explanation he’d given Ravel. 

“Hm… interesting,” Dee said. She sat down next to Koby’s tile and got to work, asking the boy occasional questions as she experimented.

Ravel joined them, taking another tile nearby. 

The first thing Ravel tried was completing it just like the previous tile, with one line of thread between the center and the edge. 

Predictably, that didn’t work. 

“Disconnect,” right? This is as connected as it gets, Ravel thought. Although I probably should have warned Dee and Koby in case I was wrong.

He let the magic dissipate, but tried once more, this time putting regular knots in his magic thread every few stitches, and knotting it again once it reached the center. There, he thought. All I need to do is snip away the bottom part of the thread, and there will be magic in the center. No where else. If that doesn’t work, we’re misunderstanding this room badly. 

He lifted his head. “I can go on anytime, I think.”

“Same,” said Dee. “I had it mostly figured out before, and the metaphor idea was very helpful.”

“I… I’m not ready yet,” Koby said. He sounded stressed.

“Let us know when you are,” Ravel said.

“There’s no hurry,” Dee said.

Ravel gave her a skeptical look.

“What?” Dee said. “There’s not.”

“What about the people who hurt him? The castle?”

Dee shrugged, her shoulders tightening. “There might be a reason to rush later, but there isn’t right now.”

“But… that will happen,” Ravel said.

“Maybe. Maybe not. But stressing Koby out won’t make him figure things out faster.”

“I wasn’t-” Ravel started, but then gave up as Dee’s glare intensified. “Alright! Fine! Whatever.”

Ravel usually thought of himself as a patient person, but it was difficult waiting for Koby to catch up. He tried to distract himself by experimenting with the magic, but he couldn’t help but keep looking over at the others. 

The fact that Koby looked more visibly worried as time went on didn’t help.

I wasn’t trying to stress him out, Ravel thought. It’s not my fault. 

“Sorry,” he muttered eventually.

“It’s… it’s okay,” Koby said. “I’ve almost got it, I think. You two are both ready?”

“Yes,” said Dee.

“Yep,” agreed Ravel.

“And it’s just us, still. I’m still ahead of them. Thanks for waiting.” Koby smiled at both of them. “It’s been good to have company. Hopefully we can keep this up.”