Voices In Her Head, Voices Of The Dead.

[Deer]

Fall 136PW

The village was a mess of activity when Owl arrived. The golem has walked for a very long time, moving straight from the most recent meeting in Nizla, Madeel, crossing through Teutonia and finally arriving in Hasele. They had hoped to find a mage somewhere in the region, but a signature was seemingly non-existent, so they had waited. Owl spent much of their time wandering around the cities and towns in Hasele as they sought a mage, most times being hurried along as quickly as they arrived. It wasn’t the citizens’ fault really, a creepy child in tattered clothes wasn’t particularly a welcome addition, especially when they seemed unable to even communicate or take instructions. So Owl was pushed to the background and carefully ignored wherever they went, tirelessly walking through Hasele.

Salvation came in one of the more prominent cities they visited, a city not too far from some obscure mountain town that apparently had little to offer. They had heard rumors of a charm seller from the village, a woman whose charms had actual power in them. She apparently had certain times she came to peddle and came frequently, so Owl put off leaving the city and found a spot they could observe the gates from, perhaps she was the mage they sought. Some days later the woman arrived in the city and Owl approached her, they felt the magic as soon as they got close to her, it was faint, but it was there. Owl reached out to her, a whisper of a voice slinking into her head.

“Are you the mage I seek?” The woman jumped, startled at the intrusion and looked around warily, it was a good reaction, one that confirmed that she could truly hear them. Owl reached out again, tugging at her clothes this time. “The one by your side mage, I require your assistance.”

Perhaps she was a kind soul, or perhaps she was simply accepting of the circumstances, but for whatever reason the charm-seller accepted Owls request and took the golem up in her cart to the obscure village, assuring Owl that she would help however she could. Unfortunately for her, and by extension Owl, fate was not to be on their side.

The duo arrived in the village soon enough, Owl sitting dutifully in the back of the cart as Demetria had told them to do, there was some noise coming from inside the village but Owl paid it no mind, a mage that could help them had been found, that was all that mattered. The cart slowed down then stopped somewhere in the midst of the shouting, and when Owl looked out they could see that the mage was with two others like herself, surrounded by a crowd of people. Owl looked on curious as the shouting intensified, then a stick soared through the air and hit the mage, making her crumple even as one of her mage-spawn sent back more sticks in return. The magic ebbed away, and soon, Owl could sense the mage no more.

They stood and walked through the conflict, curious as to why the mage was on the ground, why the mage was producing red liquid from her chest, why the mage twitched and brought even more from her mouth. Owl had never seen a person die, dead bodies yes, but never someone die. They couldn’t grasp how fragile people were, couldn’t sympathize with how they could just not exist suddenly. As Owl looked at the body they caught sight of a charm around her neck, the only thing still producing magic from the body, Owl picked it up and immediately felt two pulls of magic tug at them, two more mages. They clutched the charm and pocketed it, barely noticing the arrows that has stuck into them during the battle, they fell out as Owl moved away, following the trail of magic, the villagers shocked silent by the undying child.

Owl followed the trail at their usual pace, a brisk walk that never faltered, the charm always pulling them in the right direction. They lost the trail for several days as the pull grew slack, and wandered aimlessly in search of it once more, going as the wind directed them. Many days later they picked up the trail once more, then like a string drawn over its limit one of the pulls snapped, another mage lost. Owl didn’t stop to think or slow down though, one mage would be enough, one mage could be everything. With their pace it took some more time before they caught up to the mage, but catch up they did, even with a superior pace the mage-spawn still needed to rest when Owl didn’t.

The golem-child walked along side the cart in the woods, trees occasionally blocking their view of her. There, hidden in the treeline, they began to reach out to her, a whisper slithering into her head.

“Mage-spawn. I require your assistance.”