155 Join the Club (1/2)

\”Reunion went well earlier today?\” Luca asked as he joined me inside the tent that the Starfall soldiers set up for our use.

\”Yeah, laughs, gut-punches, buckets of tears, the usual,\” I said jokingly, although deep down I was feeling relieved that Ty had come home and Arah wasn't angry anymore.

\”And… no one wondered where Ty's been this whole time? They just accepted he was back out of the blue?\” Luca asked for confirmation.

I glanced sideways at my little brother who was looking back at me with a very serious face.

Of course, his unease was understandable. Luca was probably wondering what to expect after we freed him from a life of slavery. Perhaps walking home to find that everyone hadn't missed him and simply thought he'd been around this whole time could be his best-case scenario.

\”Don't worry… it'll happen for you too,\” I assured him.

\”I'm not worried,\” Luca said, turning away from me. \”I believe in you…\”

Well, that was possibly the first time Luca had ever admitted that to me. Perhaps the success of Ty's rescue mission had reinforced my brother's belief that I would free him one day. He needn't have worried. His freedom was my priority number one after all.

I patted Luca reassuringly on the shoulder and nodded toward the scene in front of us.

\”Someone looks nervous,\” I laughed.

\”You were probably just like him the first time you met Aura,\” Luca reminded me.

I recalled my first meeting with my fairy partner on that night we made a pact to fulfill each other's wishes. Compared to that magical encounter, I thought Ty's was kind of lame. Still, I was happy Aura agreed to be his contractor. I couldn't trust his power to anyone else.

Ty was kneeling on the floor in front of Aura as they were surrounded by me and my team members with the exception of Qwipps who was guarding the front of our tent.

He raised a hand and offered her a small golden charm that was shaped like the a six-pointed star.

\”Please take this, um, golden star, as a sign of my fealty and, um,\” Ty had forgotten what came next so he got a helpful nudge from Varda who whispered in his ear, \”my desire to serve as a visere for the Trickster Pavilion.\”

\”Y-yeah…\” He gulped visibly. \”My desire to serve as a visere for the Trickster Pavilion.\”

Aura took the charm from his hands and clipped it onto the necklace I'd given her so now there were two things hanging from it.

\”I, Aurana, princess of the Trickster Pavilion, recognize your resolve, Tyberius Cruz,\” Aura answered in an uncommonly serious tone that was a contrast to the warm smile on her face. \”And I accept you as my visere.\”

Varda passed Aura a five-foot-long tree branch — taken from one of the desert firs in the battle oasis — which Aura then offered to Ty.

Ty took the branch awkwardly from her hands. Afterward, he rose to his feet while the rest of us applauded.

\”Welcome to the Trickster Pavilion,\” Aura said, clasping him on his forearm as she did.

As I clapped along with everyone, my mind went back to that night I became Aura's visere and I noted how my own joining wasn't nearly as serious as Ty's. There were no oaths to take with her, just a simple promise that we would both get the job done. Ours was far more intimate and that thought made me smile.

\”Come with me, Luca,\” I said.

Then I turned around, opened the tent flap and walked out to my second viewing of the night sky.

Above me, Idunn was back in her place above the heavens, a new moon that shone down across the desert sands. Around me, a sea of tents covered our surroundings, many of them sporting the banners of units that serve the Starfall clan.

\”If I didn't know any better, I'd say we were sitting in the middle of a sea of enemies,\” I commented.

\”Muddamit, I didn't need that image in my head,\” Qwipps replied.

He was standing next to the open tent flap and sipping on a cup of elf tea.

\”This came for you,\” he said.

Qwipps passed me the glass ball in his hands. I took it with both hands and activated the object that I knew was a scrying orb.

From inside its murky depths, I saw a gathering of storm clouds that dissipated like theatre curtains to give way to the news hidden within.

It was a bit like my visions when I astral projected, but instead of moving scenes, I was treated to a series of 3D snapshots of important moments happening in the Fayne at that exact moment. Of course, these images came with their own floating texts like that of a magic eight ball.

The headline caught my attention.

FIRST HUMAN MAGICIAN IN A HUNDRED YEARS JOINS THE TRICKSTER PAVILION