Erlem

Dinner was brought to them on a cart, Erlem once again didn't notice it enter the room. He we fully immersed in a story Direth had begun about Agatha the first Autumn witch.

" Her Daemon was a fan of animating toys and other objects, I remember she once had a whole battle between her toys. she liked to make figurines." Direth looked off into the nothingness of memory, his bright green eyes seemed to glaze over and made them seem dull compared to their usual neon brightness. He spoke dreamily as he spoke about her. It made Erlem feel as if she was more like a daughter to him than just a child who stayed at the castle for a time.

"Why was Agatha here? you never really told me why she was visiting."

He snapped from his memory and his eyes brightened up again, "She was traveling the Titan tree road much like you Erlem. She saw the castle in the distance and decided to investigate. We didn't quite know what she was at first. A real surprise when she started fighting my guards." He chuckled a bit, "can you even imagine, a ten year old girl trying to take on several Elvish soldiers!"

He laughed and turned his head noticing supper waiting in the corner. "Looks like suppers arrived, better go eat while its still warm."

Erlems stomach was thankful for food, he ate two kidney pies and half a loaf of bread before laying is head on the table gasping from his over stuffed little belly. Direth patted him on his back, 'time to rally, our lucky stones still have a ways to go before I can activate them."

"how long did Agatha stay with you?"

"She ran these halls for a couple of years. I was incredibly sad to see her go but she was an adventurer by nature as most Autumn witches are." Looking at Erlem in an obvious manner.

" I am no Adventurer, I never even left Autumnveil until it was destroyed. I'm only special because my hair is red. If I were just a normal mage or even a human i'd be nothing at all."

"But you ARE an Autumn witch. The spirits of Autumn blessed you and as such is with all Autumn witches destined you to have great adventures. You will do things even we elves never have."

"what can I do that you can not?"

"You have a physical soul in the form of your Daemon. Elves have only one soul."

Just having a daemon puts the Autumn witch at a large advantage. It makes there magic more powerful without even having to try. The daemon acts like a conduit boosting its owners magical abilities. Erlem had heard these words before from the mouths of old Magestrates of various titles explaining to him why he was special even as far as mages were concerned.

"I don't even have my Daemon yet, the old Magestrate back home said my Daemon would take another two years before it would manifest."

"That is very unusual indeed, very curious, I don't believe I've ever heard of such a thing, that would give you three souls! I can't even fathom the amount of power you would have." Direth reached into his pockets once again and pulled out his pocket watch once again and checked the time.

"Goodness Erlem its getting close to morning. let's not waste what's left of our time dwelling on what could be and lets focus on our craft at hand."

Direth picked his stone back up and poured some new sand over his leather strip, which had almost been warn right through from the rubbing of the opal into it. His was almost finished it had a definite oval shape and it had a very prominent dome that caught the light causing the golden lightning patterns inside to flash across the blue and purples that made up its background. Erlems stone was more of a circle in shape and a bit larger than Direths. Direths was the size of a gold coin while Erlems was the size of bouncy ball you could get at fairs or carnivals. Cut in half that was.

Both stones still had edges on the fronts and sides but they were recognizably meant to be jeweled. Pulling out a fresh leather from the bundle he did as before and placing the strip on another part of the table clean of dust and debris. Erlem followed suit again making sure his new place was clean, which moved him further away from Direth. Erlem had to walk over to retrieve his stone again. Direth got off his stool and walked to a small cabinet on the wall and grabbed a pair of shallow saucers and put some water from the fountain into them. It was barely any water really,

Erlem just looked at the few drops of water that collected in the bottom of his bowl, he began to swirl it around for a few seconds before being interrupted by Direth handing him the small satchel that wasn't filled with sand.

Direth had poured the powder onto his strip of leather and had his opal sitting in the bowl with the small amount of water. He rolled the stone in the water getting the whole stone damp and then began to rub the stone against it in a circular motion. He did so in intervals and then dipped the stone back in the water to clean off the pink residue the powder would leave behind.

As the water washed away the powder, where it had been had become perfectly smooth. Erlem had begun to copy him and was rubbing his wet stone against powder and cleaning it off to reveal the smooth glassy finish underneath. Erlem felt revitalized as his stone became smooth and glossy all over. It definitely looked like a gem now.

Direth had finished his stone before Erlem and had come to see how the by was fairing. He was amazed to see Erlem finishing up his opal, which was more beautiful than his own. The pattern inside didn't seem to need light passing through it to look as if a storm was blasting through the blue and purple sea inside. The finish was so clear if Direth wasn't so sure it was Erlems first time he may have assumed im to have been a master at gem cutting.

" My boy this is wonderful. I bet when I activate it for you it will be a wonderous item. After your Omen is cleansed ill be sure to have this set for you, alas, it is time for us to go to bed. Tomorrow we take care of that Omen."

Erlem was having such a nice time working on his opal he hadn't noticed the hours fly by, or how filthy he and Direth had become. " Do take a bath before bed, Myra would be awfully displeased if your bedding was as bad as those clothes." He laughed as he walked out the door. It close behind him and Erlem was once again stuck in a room waiting for an escort to his bedroom.

While he waited for one of the girls to retrieve him he sat in his stool collecting the things he had brought with him, both of the satchels were now empty of there contents, and there were far fewer of the strips of leather as well, the shoulder bag had mades its way to the floor at some point so Erlem got off his stool to retrieve it and stow away the items.

He used a bit of magic to clean up the mess they had left behind as well. He wasn't sure who would have to clean it up if he didn't but he had an itch to use some magic anyway. With a wave of his hand the dirt and sand and little bits of rock swirled around like a tiny tornado across the table before becoming a cloud and floating towards the fountain. Erlem moved the cloud above the water and released it from his spell. it dropped into the water with a satisfying splash. DUrah the door and hurried him through the corridors back to the tower and up to his room. Erlem didn't want to bathe either, he had lost the energy that he had when he was in the workshop, but Durah insisted he take one.

Erlem climbed the winding steps up to his room to find a steaming bath waiting for him. He didn't even have a tub in the room but there it was frothing with thick soapy bubbles as warm steam floated to the ceiling above. Erlem stripped off his filthy clothes and climbed into the water slowly.

It was warm and the smell of honey and lavender enveloped his nose and made him even more drowsy. He found a wash cloth handing on the side of the tub and began to wash his arms and legs, water sloshed off the sides into floor as he moved. When he was done he found a set of sleeping robes for him to change into. When he was clothed he crawled into his bed and sunk himself deep into the blankets before closing his eyes and drifting off to sleep.