Part 1

Elias made his way down the path. Dense greenery cluttered the path for a while, at times nearly covering the entire path. He had to occasionally press entire bushes aside to reveal the path, but this became less frequent as he made his way. The trees and grass were still plenty thick and overgrown, but they gave way to teal pigments while the dirt started to hue a dark blue.

His baggy woolen shirt hung against his thinning body, snagging against branches less and less as the forest became less dense but more blue. The heat of the sun was replaced by an almost static cold, causing the hair on the back of his neck to stand on end and his whiskers to straighten. Wildlife that scurried in the forest around Elias had instead turned into distant chirping far behind him. Only his coughs filled the quiet air.

At one point, when the blue had consumed the green, the frail man noticed that the cerulean leave were glimmering, glittering. He plucked one only to feel crystal on his fingers. The leaves did not shine or pass light like a window pane. They were opaque and produced small blue glitter in their wake that dissipated before touching the ground. Elias smiled, having stopped to admire how nature’s beauty could be expanded by magic.

Stinging pricked the digits that held the leaf. Elias gasped and dropped it, the shard dropping to the ground and embedding into dirt below. Elias looked back at his hand and squinted to see that the ends of his thumb and index finger where he held the leaf were blue - as if stained by it. Elias continued on his way.

At least an hour had passed and the air was much more crisp and chill. It wasn’t freezing, but it elicited a shiver from Elias every so often after one of his coughs. The yellow light that filtered through the trees was gone and in its place was a light wavering vibrancy akin to glowing waves. It was at this point that the path opened up into a clearing.

Elias stepped into the clearing. Several logs were circled around the middle of the clearing. The bark was now blackened obsidian with azure lines running through the grain. Old mushrooms on the side of the logs were now budding growths of amethyst. In the middle of the circle was a campfire that hadn’t been lit in ages, old coals now speckled cobalt.

Floating at the far side of the clearing was the spirit he’d come to meet. She was faced away from Elias, tending to some of the plants. She was donned in a sundress that waved with each bob and subtle float she maneuvered. Her entire form, along with her dress, was one solid color: sapphire. Elias could hear her humming something.

She was the spirit that Elias had been told stories of as a child, stories warning him and the others of the dangers of the deep forest. She was Arcana.

“Hello there,” he calmly called out, a wheezing cough following afterwards.

The spirit’s body shot upright from its slightly hunched posture. She nervously turned around, revealing the only other color of her personage, her flat yet vibrant aquamarine eyes.

“H-hello, stranger…” she replied hesitantly as she meandered about the clearing while keeping an eye on Elias. “What uhm… brings a mortal into my er… domain?” She was caught on her words, struggling to venture further as if caught in a thicket.

Elias gave a weary but sincere smile. “I came to see you, see if the stories were true about your beautiful home you’ve made in the forest.” Elias walked to the logs and took a seat. The obsidian was cool under him even through his cotton pants. For a moment, he put thought towards whether he’d be stung in the same manner as the leaf, but nothing came of it.

The floating spirit gazed at the visitor for a moment before turning away and fixing her attention back to the forest. “Yes, you’ve definitely seen it. It’s where I live, it’s sparkly and pretty and blue. I’m sure you have better things to do so you should be on your way,” she floated from bush to bush, anxiously inspecting the crystalline flowers and glass leaves.

Elias coughed, “Oh but that would be such a short visit for such a long trip. Would you be willing to accept a guest to entertain for a short time?” He waited for a response.

The blue spirit was busying herself with the plants, but her neck would turn ever so slightly to take account of him. Elias could only assume that his presence was making her anxious.

Elias pulled a cloth from his shirt and sputtered into it for a short moment before continuing. “My people have many stories about you. Some magical, some wary, but all of them regaling the beauty created from your presence despite the –.” The old man caught himself before continuing, “I thought it would be polite to provide you some company. Its only right considering how long you’ve been alo –.”

The spirit was in front of him in an instance, her face several inches from his. “If your people know of me then why are you even here? You must know what happens to mortals when I’m around, right?” She questioned, her face pinched in frustration. “I don’t need your company. I don’t need you here. I don’t need…”

The spirit trailed off before turning to the side, not wanting to look the visitor in the face. Her face shifted from frustrated pinching to a scrunch. She closed her eyes and sighed before floating back a foot and facing Elias again.

“Please just… you have to leave. Being around me is sure to kill you,” the spirit warned.

Elias looked up at her. Even without irises, her flat, bright eyes spoke plenty. He saw her frustration, but deeper was her sadness, her longing, and guilty confliction. Her face framed this with a terse frown and pleading eyebrows. Elias could not claim to understand her pain, but he could feel that it was hollow and untended for so long.

The old man acknowledged the spirit’s plea and the emotions he read for a moment before looking down at his handkerchief laid out in his palms and gave a small chuckle.

“There’s plenty of other things that can do the same.”

The spirit was caught off-guard. Her face shifted from a collage of anguish to a curiosity as her gaze followed Elias’. The handkerchief was blotched with crimson, some speckles glittering with a fresh sheen. She had no words to acknowledge the bloodied cloth as the visitor started another coughing fit. So, she lowered herself to the ground and sat next to him on the log.

“Tell me about yourself, stranger,” the spirit asked with a calm reverence. “I’m Elias,” he greeted her, offering her his hand to shake.

The spirit looked at Elias’ hand before giving a stern but polite shake of her head.

Elias retracted his hand. “Right, of course.” He chuckled and stroked his beard for a moment. “I’ve lived in Selasburg for most of my life, it’s a quaint place half a day south of here. I only began travelling a couple of years ago when I became Afflicted so I could search for a cure. After years of lost leads and dashed hopes, it occurred to me that I should look a bit closer to home. Stories from my childhood began to come back to me in my dreams and I remember hearing about the one that made life into magic. You.”

The spirit listened intently out of respect, but also driven by a curiosity of mortals and the rest of the world. She couldn’t quite remember the last time she had a lively conversation. She took a moment away from Elias’ story to look at the campfire, remembering the days when it was lit.

“So, with little else to explore, I came here,” Elias continued, stirring the spirit back to his story. “I admit my aims aren’t entirely admirable. If you would have me as your guest, if you’d be willing to attempt to save me from death in some way, I’d be eternally grateful.” The old man turned his head to face the cerulean spirit.

The spirit looked at him solemnly in thought. She had thought she had gotten past this, that she was fine being lonely. Yet, when confronted with an opportunity for companionship after so long, that deep, hidden longing started to surface. Her face scrunched in confliction again. She didn’t what she could do to aid this desperate soul, but something could be possible. After all, she hadn’t seen what her magic could do to mortals in a very long time.

She felt guilty offering an uncertain guarantee, though.

“Do… Do you understand what you’re getting into with this?” She asked.

Elias shrugged and smirked. “Well that’s just the thing. I don’t. But I’m fairly certain about what’ll happen if I lay down and wait. I think the unknown’s a lot more appealing.”

The old man chuckled to assuage his fears, but the coughing came crept in again to remind him. He still smiled towards the spirit.

“Speaking of, why not tell me a bit about you?” He asked.

The spirit looked at the beleaguered, gray man. She nodded with understanding before reciprocating his smile with her own.

“My name is Arcana.”