63 - Night Wings

  “Drink up, my friends. I would have us away before one of our pursuers managed to break my lock.” Jink stated, gesturing at the door. White symbols appeared around the jamb, seeming to clamp onto the door, holding it closed. “Worry not about your gear; it will transform with you.”

  Jink’s words also had a pleasant bell toll, though it lacked the true conviction of Mazsy’s goodbye.

  Joe popped out the cork and tipped the liquid down his throat. While the fluid looked bright and lemony and smelled like broth, it had a dry, herby taste that Joe was not expecting at all. It was not unpleasant, but the contradiction of expectations and reality almost caused him to choke.

  As the potion slid down to his stomach, a warmth infused his skin. Suddenly, Joe felt significantly lighter, as if ninety percent of his mass had just vanished. What remained was on the move. Without any discomfort, Joe felt himself shrinking and twisting into a vastly different form. Muscles packed into his chest, back, and shoulders. His knees clicked backward. His clothing seemed to vanish into a carpet of feathers that ruffled out from pretty much every pore he owned.

  Joe looked down at his taloned feet and found he had a flexibility he could never have imagined before. His form was that of one of the seahawks that he had seen wheeling around the cliffs on their way into port. He rippled his shoulders and found they moved in ways he could never have achieved as a human. It was as if his new body could twist and flatten itself into some crazy weird shapes.

  He also knew instinctively how to fly. There was an absolute certainty in his mind of just what he needed to do to take to the air. Joe bunched the muscles in his back and legs and kicked off the wood planks. He pulled his wings back, thinning his profile, and shot straight through the banisters encircling the room’s exterior balcony. He could have easily hopped over the bars, but this was way more fun.

  Once through the bars, he snapped out his wings, soaring upwards in a banking spiral. He made a few turns above the buildings, reveling in the amazing feel of wheeling through the air before looking around for the others. If his beak would have let him, Joe would have been grinning from ear to ear.

  A blast of air skimmed his side as a white falcon slashed past him. Hah’roo banked and spun through the air, effortlessly sliding through a dozen obstacles, from banisters to streetlamps to shop signs. She seemed to be enjoying her predatory form as much as Joe was. And, of course, in typical Hah’roo-like fashion, she made her insane flight path look effortless.

  Jink, on the other hand, had become a lovely songbird. The warbler landed on the saloon roof and trilled out a strikingly beautiful melody, getting their attention. When he had their focus, he hopped into the air and headed away from where the sun was setting over the harbor, flying deeper into the city. Joyfully, Joe and Hah’roo followed. They swooped through a park, diving and playing before Jink’s bird call summoned them back on track again. Soaring and darting over roofs and around chimneys, the two played and chased each other, while heading in the general direction the Jink’s songs were indicating.

  Without even trying to, Joe let all of his worries fall away for a moment. He had had moments of peace and wonder since coming to Illuminaria. The one thing he hadn’t had until now was just plain having fun. If there was something more amazing than being able to fly like a hawk, Joe could not imagine what it would be.

  The hawk and falcon followed the songbird’s flight over the darkening city. They flew past several loud parties that had spilled onto the street. Whether it was due to his enhanced avian senses or just the nature of the gatherings, Joe felt there was a weird energy around these festivities, as if they were trying too hard to be boisterous and merry. The laughs sounded strained, and the drinking was fierce. Likely, it was the current of fear that would come tomorrow night that was underlying the raucous behavior.

  Eventually, they left the taverns behind and flew past streets of apartments and mercantile buildings. These, they left behind quickly, traveling over an area dominated by warehouses. Finally, Jink led them to a neighborhood of townhouses. He soared down into a quiet plaza dominated by a central fountain.

  The warbler-shaped elf landed on the rim of the pool, before holding up a wing in a ‘wait’ gesture. He closed his eyes, and, almost immediately, the transformation began to unravel. As he reverted back to his elven shape, his clothes seemed to flow over the man’s body, molding and growing with him. In seconds, Jink sat on the edge of the fountain dressed in his flamboyantly purple outfit, huge floppy hat, and all.

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  “Your turn, my friends. Just focus on the enchantment and will it to end. In no time at all, you will resume your natural state, and we can be on our way to visit the seer.”

  Joe turned his senses inward and, sure enough, he could feel the transformation spell nestled inside himself. It felt a bit like one of Hah’roo’s woven charms, knotted tendrils of magic woven together. He focused on the magical knot and wished for the spell to untie itself. There was a slight bit of resistance, as if the effect was checking to make sure he really wanted it to cease, which Joe found reassuring. He was glad a passing thought would not have ended his metamorphosis while he and Hah’roo had been zipping over the rooftops. Joe pushed his will a little harder, and he felt the effect come apart. His weight returned, as his body stretched back into his human shape.

  Joe sighed as he stood next to the huntress, suddenly feeling heavy and clumsy in his own body. He looked to the galeling and saw the same pout on her features. Joe promised himself he would look into buying another one of those potions when this quest was over and spend a day soaring over the city, just for the fun of it.

  “We will have a bit of a walk still to go, but this was my closest stash to where Madam Zanthiss resides. I cannot imagine that gold will be her price, but it seems silly not to have some cold currency on hand just in case she is feeling mercantile this evening.”

  Jink fidgeted with one of the stones in the fountain, and a moment later, it popped free. He reached into the newly made hollow, and Joe heard the distinctive click of coins as the elf withdrew a small money pouch. After putting back the stone, Jink tossed the bag to Joe before gesturing for them to follow him.

  “Off we go,” the elf proclaimed, crossing the plaza and entering a small alleyway.

  “Wait. Why did you give me this?” Joe asked as he jogged after the long-legged elf, while Hah’roo glided along beside them.

  “You are the quest-bearer. My job is to get you there, as it is this lovely white lily’s duty to protect you. Yet in the end, it is you and you alone who must seek the way forward.”

  “I’m going alone?”

  “Didn’t I just make that clear? Please, Joe, pay attention. Oh, and remember, when you are meeting with her, focus is of the utmost importance,” the elf warned. “If you let your mind wander, then Madam Zanthiss may pick up something completely unrelated and give you a reading about something other than what you truly seek. You must not let events flummox you in her presence, as you seem to want to do quite frequently.”

  Jink’s words rang true with sharp, clear notes, setting off a tiny panic in Joe. At the end of his life on Earth, he had developed a terrible habit of overthinking things or letting himself get distracted. To be honest, for the last few years, Joe had been actively trying to maintain a state of distraction rather than dwell on the pain and degradation the cancer was doing to his body. Staying focused was something he was highly out of practice with.

  Thankfully, he had a new trick to help with his scatterbrain: [Crystal Mind]. Joe had used the skill during his flying chase with Hah’roo so as not to paint himself into the hanging signs and chimneys the galeling seemed to effortlessly slip around. While it was active, his mind stayed sharply on the task at hand, smoothing out his flying. The skill pushed away distractions, but it didn’t put blinders on him. Joe was still aware of all the sights he had zipped past during his playful journey across the city, but his attention to his flight stayed at the forefront of his thoughts.

  He had zero regrets about taking this new ability, instead of trying for another upgrade,

  “Got it. Thanks, Jink.”

  “Excellent. Now I hope you ate well. You have quite a grueling last leg in front of you.”

  Unfortunately, there was no exaggeration in that last ominous line, according to [Ring of Truth].

  Their guide stepped up to a doorway set a few stairs below street level. Instead of touching the handle, the elf slid one of the hinges to the side and then pushed. The door swung inward on hidden hinges on the handle side of the door.

  “She does love her misdirection,” he noted. “This is where we part, my good man. The fate of nights to come is in your hands now. Firm that spine and speak with the authority vested in thee in yon lair of the unknown.”

  While the elf’s words rang essentially true, the bombasting packaging they were wrapped in pinged with small discordant accents.

  “Are you trying to freak me out, Jink?” Joe grumbled at the eccentric popinjay. “You could have just said ‘good luck’ or ‘be careful’ instead of loading on a heap of dread and the weight of the world.”

  A firm hand gripped his shoulder and turned him to face her. Hah’roo’s eyes met his. She nodded, squeezed, and simply huffed, “Good luck and be careful,” before turning him back to the yawning stairwell. With a gentle push, she propelled him toward the yawning portal.

  Descending the dark stairs, Joe grumbled. “Did they both have to make this so ominous?”

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