Mana Mirror: Chapter Thirty Six (Patreon)

The following morning, I packed things in my new storage briefcase, hung it from my broom with some sturdy cord, and flew off towards the manor. This flight was longer than the one to visit Kene, and also… Boring.

It was very pretty, especially at first. Trollstone Forest’s bright greens and shadowed blues contrasted with the reds and yellows of the rising sun, and the layer of dew over everything cast an iridescent sheen over the world that vaguely reminded me of the peacepyre.

The peacepyre seemed to think so too, if the fact that it joined me for that section of the flight was anything to go by.

But before long, the noonday sun was beating down on me, exacerbated by the black suit I’d chosen to wear, and the peacepyre had returned to its bottle, I was much less amused with the flight. The fact that instead of passing over villages, towns, forest, and other interesting sights, I was met with nothing but plains and the occasional bit of heathery fenland, certainly didn’t help. I took a brief break to eat some of the buns I’d packed away in my new storage case, and then set off again.

By the time the sun was lowering again, the sights had begun to get more interesting. A new forest had begun to come into view – I wasn’t sure of this one’s name, but the trees were gnarled with age, and the setting sun cast long shadows over the whole scene.

I landed in the village closest to the forest, where I’d – hopefully – find the owner of the manor, or at least pick up some local gossip.

I glanced around. The place was even smaller than the village, Kene lived in, and I was tempted to call it a hamlet. Much like Kene’s village, floating orbs of light, glowing crystals, and other spells and enchantments lit and warded the village, but here on the edge, it was unsettlingly dark, even before the sun fully set.

Until, that was, the peacepyre flickered out of its bottle and over my shoulder. It crackled cheerfully, letting off the soft popping sounds of a campfire and lighting the area around me in a silvery glow.

“Thanks buddy,” I said to the peacepyre, then headed into the hamlet. There were still a few people out, mainly on their way home from work.

“Oi!” an elderly lady called, waving her walking stick at me. “You another one of them Watchmen? Here to take a crack and Ol’ Davies’ manor?”

I turned fully to face her, using a flicker of mana to switch my broom to charging mode, then nodded.

“Yes ma’am,” I said, doing my best to be polite. “Do you have anything you can tell me about it?”

She let out a very undignified snort and leaned on her walking stick.

“Course I know what’s goin’ on. We all do, it’s obvious.”

“May I ask what it is?”

“Old Man Davies passed on ‘bout two years ago now,” she said, looking off into the distance. “He was real good with the forest. Life mage, like you I reckon.”

I kept a smile plastered on my face. I did appreciate oral history, but I did wish she’d just tell me.

“When he passed, though, his daughter was gonna take hold o’ his business. Was a bit controversial – the eldest son wanted the money from it, but he weren’t ever that good with plants the way Old Man Davies or his daughter were.”

“The son got the business though?” I guessed.

“Nah. Daughter did for a year and a half, then she died. Terrible thing,” the old lady said wistfully.

“Is it possible that the son had her killed?” I asked warily.

“I ‘spose anythin’s possible, but he ain’t done it,” she said. “She died of a bad fall, plain an’ simple, and he wasn’t anywhere near. But now he does run the business, and that’s why he’s been driven out of the mansion.”

“I see,” I said. “But… Why?”

“I told you, boy!” she said, waving her walking stick aggressively. I warily took a step back. “Forest’s angry at him.”

I frowned and slowly nodded.

“I suppose I can see that. Is there any way to speak to any of the local forest spirits?”

She stared at me as if I’d grown a second head, which I felt was entirely uncalled for, then spit over her left shoulder, and sketched a symbol to ward off evil in the air.

“Only a fool goes knockin’ door to door askin’ to speak to the reaper. Knock enough, an’ they’ll show up.”

“Well, I suppose I’ll take a crack at the manor tomorrow,” I said. “Do you know where I can find the son?”

“Young Davies’ bought a small house off that way till he gets his manor back, an’ you can stay with him. We ain’t got no inn or nothing,” she said, waving her walking stick vaguely to indicate direction.

“Thank you,” I said, bowing my head slightly.

In truth, I was extremely uncomfortable sleeping with someone I’d never met before.

From a purely objective standpoint, I knew there were good odds nothing would happen. They’d hosted multiple other members of the Wyldwatch or Spiritwatch without trouble, and if they actually wanted it solved, they’d probably do everything they could to be nice to me.

But I still couldn’t shake the discomfort of having to stay with someone I didn’t know, especially if they’d done something to piss off the forest itself.

I groaned to myself. I should have taken the library mission.

But I wasn’t going to be able to do anything about that now, so I shoved that away. I could at least get some information from the son, even if I didn’t stay with him for the night.

I headed in the direction the old lady had indicated, the peacepyre bobbing along happily as I did, and eventually found what had to be the son’s temporary home.

It was a two-story house, already a rare thing in a hamlet, and painted with a dark blue color that contrasted against the woodsy feel of all of the other houses. It had enchanted lights strung through its garden, which had to have been magically sustained.

As soon as I crossed over the property line, I felt the faint buzz of a ward triggering. It wasn’t anything strong – if anything, it reminded me of the bakeries’ alarm ward.

By the time I’d gotten to the home, the door was already open. A tall man, with tightly curled black hair and a navy-blue suit was standing there. He looked me up and down, a faint frown touching at the corners of his lips.

“You’re the Watchman? Well, at least you dress properly.”

“My name is Malachi,” I said, trying to project as much confidence as I could. “I plan to get this done tonight, so let’s not waste time. What can you tell me about the situation? I understand that there’s multiple death crows, but they’re hardly the real problem, are they?”

It came out slightly too fast, and the confidence sounded a bit more like annoyance, but it still seemed to throw off the well-dressed man.

“Well, why don’t you come in an–”

I cut him off by raising my hand. It was probably nothing, but this whole mission had me a bit on edge.

“I intend to get this sorted out quickly, Mister Davies. I appreciate the pleasantries, but I don’t have the time for them at the moment.”

“I see. Well, you’ve done your research. I presume you know how I inherited the lumber business that keeps our lovely little hamlet operating?”

“I do,” I said. I hadn’t known it was lumber, sure, but that hadn’t been too hard to guess. “Let me ask you this – have you made any substantial policy changes since taking over the company?”

“We’ve expanded!” he said, a fierce pride showing in his eyes. “My family never wanted to expand our business, only saying we made enough for our manor and to keep the village aloft, and that was enough. Under my guidance, we’ve more than tripled, and we’re approaching the size of a true village now. Four new shops have opened, and we’ve an inn opening in a month.”

“Admirable,” I said, though I wasn’t sure it actually was, and was beginning to get my suspicions of what exactly was going on. “Then you’ll understand why, if I can get you back in your manor, I’m going to have to–”

This time it was his turn to cut me off, nodding. I didn’t let any annoyance show on my face. Not only would that help break the veneer of power and competence that I was trying to put on, but it would be hypocritical.

“Of course, of course. I’m happy to add a piece from my personal collection if you manage to do it.”

“Most kind. I should be back shortly.” I said, turning to leave.

“Don’t you want me to fly you out to the manor?” he asked. “It’s at least a mile out. Well, you have your own broom, but I’d be happy to give you directions.”

“I appreciate the offer,” I said. “But I need to walk there.”

I left, heading out towards the edge of the forest to try and confirm my suspicion.

Sure enough, as I walked the path towards the forest, then into the forest and towards the manor, I began to see evidence of my theory. The trees in the area were slightly too thin, and there were too many stumps. They’d not entirely deforested – at least the son had possessed some sense – but there were certainly less trees than I’d seen in either Trollstone or Delford forest.

From above, the old tree branches were so spread out and filled with leaves that it would have been hard to tell from the air – which was how most people would have reached the manor, and since the mission had been filed with the Spiritwatch, and the investigation had been done by them and the Lightwatch, nobody had looked too closely.

After all, nothing illegal or overly spiritual was going on with these trees. It was his right to cut them down, at least as far as the law was concerned, as long as he wasn’t causing environmental damage.

Which, he wasn’t, but he was certainly happy to dance along the line. Certainly willing to push it in a way that the previous owners hadn’t been. If the old woman’s words about the old man and his daughter were right, I was guessing that they were far kinder to the forest than the mere legal minimum. They cared about the forest itself.

As I drew up to the gates of the manor, I stepped off the path and took a seat on a stump.

“Leeeavvvveeee,” a voice said, carrying hauntingly on the wind.

“I’d actually like to talk to you, please,” I said, pouring power into my Analyze Death and Life spells to look around, but not seeing anything.

The peacepyre over my head floated from one side to another as if caught in a gust of wind. I extended my mana senses, but whatever it was, it was either tightly controlled, shielded, or – and most likely in my opinion – so closely matched to the natural mana of the world here that I wasn’t able to notice the fluctuation.

I opened my new suitcase and withdrew a bag of pastries I’d pilfered from yesterday’s leftovers.

“I’ve got food,” I said. “You’re welcome to have some, if you’re willing to talk to me.”

I took a bite of a cheese filled scone.

“Also,” I said conversationally, “I’d much rather sleep out here with… I’m guessing you’re an Asomatous? Or maybe a Genius Loci? Well, whatever you are, I trust you more than I do the guy who keeps cutting down trees. At least if you give me permission to stay – if you really do want me to leave, I’ll do so. But I’d rather eat and talk, I promise.”

After a moment, I caught something out of the corner of my eye. Foliage shifted slightly, and a man emerged from the brush.

He was attractive, though perhaps his features were too delicate to be classically handsome, with long brown hair that fell to his waist. Ivy and other plants were woven in his hair, and across his body, peaking out and around his clothes. He wore a simple pair of trousers and shoes, both of which seemed oddly natural, as if they’d been grown rather than made. He wore no shirt, and I glanced away from that quickly, my cheeks burning.

But most strange of all, he had… Antlers? Horns? I wasn’t sure what the right word was. They rose off his head, and looked almost like they were made of wood.

In my Analyze Life spell, he looked utterly bizarre. The flows of life energy in his body were incredibly strange. They seemed to branch out into ten million little capillaries, almost like the capillary veins, weaving in and out of his muscle structure. At the end of each of the strange, tiny flows, there was a small knot, almost as if to bind it more directly to the muscle itself.

Even more strangely, while several of the large flows of life energy came from the heart, brain, and spine, like they would with a human, quite a few lie along other bones as well – in particular, the arm and leg bones.

I wasn’t sure what the exact effect of this was going to be, but I was certain that this was no human I was dealing with.

“Very well,” he said, and his voice was deep and rich, nothing like the creepy sounds on the wind. “I shall speak with you.”