The next morning I woke up bright early to feed Seraphina and Onyx. While doing so I took a mental note to enchant the yard with a growth spell help me keep up with Serafina's feeding, as soon as I could spare a moment. Back in the cottage, I began preparing breakfast for Celeste and myself.
Not long after starting, I realize that I actually needed more food in my kitchen. Looks like today's breakfast will be better found in town. Shortly after my realization, Celeste came into the kitchen.
"Good morning," I said.
"Good morning. Thanks again for letting me stay here. It's a very comfortable cabin."
"Of course! You're always welcome here anytime. Also, as it turns out, I do not currently have any food for breakfast. Want to hop over to town? I need to stock up on supplies and we might as well get breakfast out there while we're at it."
"Good idea," Celeste said. We both got our cloaks and left to town.
"I really should have been to town sooner," I began as we walked, "but I guess this is actually the first chance I've gotten. It's hard to believe that this is only the second day since I arrived here, not counting the night I got in for that matter."
"Yeah, that is a lot for two days."
"How long do you think you can stay today before you need to be heading back to the DoveLands?"
"Hmmm... I'm not quite sure yet. I still want to take a look at your new staff. Also, I assume you'll be wanting to do some housewarming magic around your house, yes?"
"Yes," I laughed, "I've actually been compiling a list of practical magics too, starting with that door to the Void Space."
"You have a Void Way? I saw that strange door in the hallway, but I didn't dare to think that was what it could be. Besides, it was locked when I tried the knob. Curiosity must have gotten the best of me."
"I can hardly blame you, but what did you say? Something about avoiding day?"
"A Void Way. It is what you have in your house then, I'm certain of it if you said it leads to an empty space. It is a doorway to anywhere. You can go from any door to another door, absolutely anywhere. It can even create a door on the other end if need be. It's all up to the will of the one who enchants it."
"Wow! I can't believe it."
"We can work on it too if you like. It's your door of course, but I'd love to help. Void Ways are Impossibly rare. I can also help with your house warming spells. Might as well. What do you say? Why not call it a day?"
"Are you sure you have the time? Won't your parents be worried about you?"
"No, not once I send them a message by canary. I can do that in town at the postal stop. Honestly, what's one more day?"
"Oh, well in that case, you're welcome to stay with me of course. Let's go for it! Thanks for all your help by the way. I really needed a friend around these parts."
Celeste smiled and we continued on to find a place to stop for breakfast. In Forest Falls, we found ourselves at a café by the name "The Bellowing Pot". We went inside and were swiftly seated by the bar keeper outdoors on the balcony. It overlooked a stream surrounded by trees and sat up high among trees.
"So, I begin as we sit down , "where is the best market place to shop around here."
"Oh! Are you shopping today?"
"Yeah, for food that is. I need to fill my cold crate. It was sadly depleted."
"Your cottage even came with a cold crate?! Wow, you're a patron really included everything."
Cold crates were cooling boxes for the purposes of preserving produce and perishable foods. Being that they were fueled by ice pixie magic, I had never seen one until now.
"They are very accommodating indeed. I've never had one myself due to their mystical nature and so on."
"oh, right! Well, they are pretty much a standard household item in the enchanted kingdoms. I can't remember a time before them, but I'm only 17 years old."
"Really? So am I. When is your birthday?"
"September 24. When is yours?"
"October 15."
"That's nice," she said, "We will both still be having birthdays this year as the summertime is only just now beginning."
"oh! It would be wonderful to have a birthday here of all places! Just imagine," I said wistfully, caught up in thoughts of what could be.
"Truly remarkable, I'd venture to guess. Just thinking of the Lunar Festival last night and how whimsical it was. I can only imagine what a birthday would be like," she replied.
The two of us went on bantering back-and-forth over the subject. As it turned out, the open market was just passed the main square and Celeste and I could stop by quickly after breakfast. We finished a meal and left happily.
As I stepped out into the morning sun I felt a familiar feeling yet again. The watcher. I began scanning the trees. It would be easier to spot them now that it was daylight. And then, I saw it... Them rather. I figure among trees, over shadowed by the foliage. Definitely there and definitely human... But just far away enough in the distance that I could not make out who it was, nor could I see them clearly. Had she found me? I had to know.
Without much thought I began to move in the direction of the watcher, but as soon as they realized I was onto them they ran off. I watched as the figure managed to hop from tree to tree, swinging on vines as they slowly disappeared deep into the woods.
"Whatever have you gone off to?" Celeste asked as she followed behind me.
"Someone was watching us from the trees."
"Really? Did you get a good look at them?"
"Hardly. They ran off through the trees before I could see."
"That's odd. A little unnerving too, but they're gone now right?"
"Yeah, they left."
"OK, let's head to the market then."
All right," I agreed and we began walking down the road once more. The market place was a fairly quick trip and before I knew it we had acquired all that we needed and were on our way back to the cottage. Enjoying the entire walk back, I could feel it again. The watcher. This time, regardless of how many times I looked over my shoulder or watched my back I saw nothing. Nothing among the trees, and nothing on the land, but it was there. I decided that if they would not reveal themselves to me, I would simply have to entice them out into the open.
In the meantime, Celeste and I got straight to work as we got back in. I brought my staff out from my bed chamber and placed it down on the kitchen table.
"Wow," Celeste said while examining the staff with great curiosity. "It definitely is from the DoveLands . That's for sure. This manufacturer is well known in the enchanted Kingdom. And I think I recognize the stone."
"Wonderful! What is it?" I asked anxiously.
"I think it is a Pink Ameronia. They are know to govorn light and knowledge. This allows for them to work with a very broad variety of magical subjects. It will aid you with most anything you possess the knowledge of, as well as it can lead you to what knowledge you need. It lights your way. It is an illumination stone."
"What an incredible tool! When I was working with it before, it was almost as if it was alive, like it has a mind of its own."
"OK, definitely a Pink Ameronia then. What you felt was the knowledge coursing within the stone itself. Back home, these stones are often used by seers to divine the future. They are definitely a rare stone, but they can hardly be called one of a kind. Nevertheless, this is an exuberant and opulent gift. Who was it that you said gifted it to you again?"
"It was from a dignitary who visited my Kingdom. His name is Sir Phoenix of Brimburry.
"Faustine! You must not have told me that the last night at the festival. If you had, I would've remembered. He is the right hand of the king of Brimberry itself and his most trusted advisor. My kingdom and Brimberry have a long been allies. They are one of our most lucrative trade supporters. I've actually met Lord Phoenix myself. The best gift I received was a pearl bracelet from Porterfalls though."
"That actually quite sounds nice. I figured he was important in some way if my parents took the time to host him as an honored guest, however, I neglected to collect that information from him personally."
"He is an especially powerful mage. His work is renown. It's starting to make sense that the stuff came from him. I wonder how he acquired it?"
"Wow. It's no wonder he seemed so pleased when I showed interest in magic. Additionally, he was particularly intentional to share about the magical world to my parents. Now I guess I can understand why."
Now that much more had been revealed to me about the staff, I took it back to my room and locked it away safely. Then, Celeste and I began compiling a list of housewarming spells and got down to the enchanting part.
By the end of it all, I had properly spelled house cleaning items like a mop and bucket, Saraphina's grass in the yard was charmed to always grow healthy and strong for easy grazing, And I especially enjoyed the mirror spells we cast. Sylvester had included all the protection and warding I will be needing before hand and for that I was grateful. Now Celeste and I could begin mirror casting and we need not worry about any intrusions.
Mirror casting. Communicating through the mirror network. Any mirror could be used to communicate with another. All you had to do was recite the incantation to connect to the mirror with the network. Once connected, it would remain a part of the network until it was especially removed. So, Celeste and I enchanted all of the mirrors in the house. We were careful to add protections to them to ward off any unwanted attention as well. Lastly, we enchanted two handheld looking glasses for travels sake. We would keep one with us at all times so we could communicate on the road.
Then there was the void way to deal with. We walked over to the door and looked at it together.
"It looks like it has a cloaking spell over it," I said. She waved her hand over it and a new door materialized before our eyes. This one was big and round and solid black, and covered in a little golden, shining stars. It had a special door knob with mechanisms and symbols like I had noticed before.
"That's more like it," Celeste said, taking in the view, "it seems to respond to you. Probably Luna's doing when she got it ready for you."
"Yeah. So how does it work?"
"If I remember correctly, from my time with my tutors, as you turn the knob you must visualize the place you want to go in your minds eye. The image will be received by the void space, so make sure the image you have is as crystal clear as possible."
"OK, sounds simple enough, but what about the symbols on the doorknob?"
"Ah, right. Those are longitude and latitude markings. If you want to go somewhere you've Never been before, or seen before, these can more or less help you point out the spot close-ish to where you decide to go."
"How well planned," I said in response.
"Yes, quite. They don't all have that feature, so whoever made this door was, or is, exceptionally clever."
"Well, it certainly is convenient. I will have to do some research on these Void Waze. In the meantime, do you want to give it a try? We could send you home this way instead."
"Oh, could we? Really? I'd love to try void traveling!"
"OK, but I've never been to the DoveLands before. How do I get you there?"
"Hmmm...that is tricky. When the void receives your location it will light up. Let's set the coordinates and see what happens. You have to be the one to open the door as it is connected to you."
"Right, let's try the coordinates first."
Celeste told me what they were and I arranged the door knob accordingly. Nothing happened.
"It's not enough. It's not working." I said
I have an idea. I learned a spell once where one could pass an image in your mind to another's. It actually is more of a simple trick than a spell. Anyways, I can show you the image and maybe that will unlock the void.""
"That sounds easy enough. Maybe it could work? Try it."
Celeste touched the ring which sat on her finger and then gently touched my temple on the left side. I closed my eyes and slowly an image began to form. I could see a vast gathering room, a great Hall, But this one was made entirely of bright blue crystals. "I see something," I said, "a great crystal space. It's a blue stone room."
"Yes! That's it. That's my parents Castle."
The image sharpened and I felt a surge of something like electricity rush through the doorway and through me. I open my eyes and behold, the void was now a light with a brilliant galaxy. It worked.
We got it!" I exclaimed as the stars began to swirl about each other in a hypnotic, celestial dance. "The only thing left to do now is step through."
"Right. OK, " celest said as she took a deep breath before the plunge. "Well, thanks for letting me travel through the void way. Saving me hours of travel time this way."
"Of course. This was fun and very productive. I do hope you will visit again soon."
"I plan to," she replied and with that, she stepped beyond and was gone. I held my breath is she disappeared.
Not a moment too soon, my mirror rang. I dashed over to the table as fast as I could manage to answer the call. Across the shimmering surface of the looking glass I saw a shifting image of Celeste. It was a brief image to identify who was the incoming messenger on the other end. I answered the call with the swift pass of my hand.
"Faust? Hi. Are you there?" Celeste called from beyond the mirror surface.
"Yes! Hi. Can you see me? Can you hear me?"
"Yeah I can. I made it through in one piece. The void way works!"
"Perfect! This is amazing."
"I know. OK, OK, OK. I must go now. I just had to let you know our efforts are a success."
"Incredible!"
"OK, goodbye for now."
"Goodbye."
Swiftly I made my way outside to tend to Phina for the night. Once again, as I stepped outside, I felt it. The watcher was near. This time I wouldn't let them get away. In a quiet manner, I lifted my hand to my neck and gave the pendant hanging there three gentle taps.
"1 2 3, reveal to me what I wish to see."
And then, there he was, standing not amongst the trees, as one would expect, but rather standing in them... And was he... Upside down? He wasn't standing at all! He was hanging upside down by his feet from the bough of a tree. What a peculiar perspective indeed.