Chapter Text
The Fire and The Fey
Author: RamblingsOfAMadman
For all the people who have come into my life and left it better than you found it.
This story is my love letter to all of you.
Chapter 1: The Farmer’s Son
The snow falling just outside the thin window was pillowy and glimmering off of the starlight above, melting as it landed against the warm glass on the far wall of Caleb’s office. Essays and graded papers lay scattered across the dark wooden grain of his desk, a single lantern lit and perched precariously on the edge. His office was a narrow space, slotted between two others in the staff building of the Soltryce Academy.
A small fireplace took up the majority of the left wall, roaring with the fuel of a fresh log laid inside while Caleb ran a hand through his own fiery locks of hair. Everything outside was quiet and still, the cold snap of winter had set in early and seemed to have the whole of the empire in its vice-like grip. Anyone smart enough to avoid it would already be huddled up at home under a warm blanket with a hot drink in their hands. With the end of the semester approaching, the newly minted professor had no option but to slog through the stack of homework that he had assigned to the students in his care.
The night was starting to drag on, and his focus faded along with the stack of assignments left to be graded. All of the staff tended to stay late before the winter break so they’d have less work to do over the two weeks the academy would be let out for the feast of holidays at the end of the year, but the red haired wizard felt no closer to being truly done than when he’d started four hours ago. All this, and I still have to review final projects next week.
He took a moment to compose his thoughts, a gruff sigh scraping past his lips while leaning back in the plush chair and letting the weight of reality fall from his slight frame for just a moment. The past two years had been a flurry of moving to Rexxentrum, beginning to lecture for the academy (as a guest or teacher’s aid for the first year), finding a home, and getting piles of paperwork and evidence cataloged for the investigation into the Cerberus Assembly. Especially the trial of his former mentor, Trent. It had been so busy that Caleb hadn’t even had time to dip into the new stack of romance novels he’d set aside at home a month ago. They say just as alone on his coffee table back home as he was in this office.
With another weary sigh from his nose the mage rubbed his hands down his face and slapped both cheeks, refocusing his eyes onto the essay in front of him. It wasn’t well-written, the spelling and grammatical errors were present in abundance, but it was well-theorized. His youngest students were currently studying the use of arcane runes from other schools of magic to influence common transmutation spells like Expeditious Retreat, and this particular student theorized the use of necromancy runes during the creation of a transmuter’s stone would give the stone the ability to temporarily raise the dead. Even if it did seem highly unlikely that one could transmute death into un-death through such means, it was an idea worth experimenting with if the stone used had some sort of divine significance. Still much too dangerous of an experiment for a 13 year old boy, but Caleb would make a note to revisit the topic with him another day.
For your next essay, I recommend you find a text on the different ways arcane energy interacts with each school of magic. The idea is worthy of merit and testing, however, Transmutation energy is drawn from the movement of the planet. Necromancy may not be as well-researched in proper circles, but we do know that the energy is pulled from lingering divine power in the air of Exandria. The two distinct sources are opposites on the order of elements, and cannot be drawn together by the ordinary means of constructing a transmuter’s stone. Try not to stay up all night trying to write the next one, ja? If you need any pointers, please come see me during office hours.
Caleb rubbed the bridge of his nose and began to shuffle the ungraded essays into a pile on his left. Tomorrow was the start of the weekend, he could finish the rest of his grading then. As long as it was all done by the end of next week, it didn’t matter too much. He stood from the desk and pulled his dark leather coat off of a hook by the office door and wrapped the tattered pale blue scarf next to it around his neck with practiced absentmindedness.
The wizard touched the spell books strapped to either side of his ribcage one last time to ensure they were still secure in their holsters before leaving the office locked behind him and exiting into the frigid night air. His shoulders shivered as he stepped into the frigid air, it felt like one of the wolves from Eiselcross was breathing down his neck, and he pulled the coat even tighter around his frame. With his fingers tucked into his armpits as he speed-walked through the open air halls, the noise and clamor of the holiday market slowly drifted up to greet him.
Rexxentrum was vibrant and alive this time of year in a way people typically did not see as everyone prepared for Winter’s Crest throughout the Empire. Parents bussled their children along as their excitement got the better of them and they stopped at every stall to see what was set up for sale. The smell of roasted nuts and mulled wine waltzed through the air, and magic lanterns of every color lined the rows of merchants all the way to the gates of the summer ward. He smiled a little, remembering running up and down these streets so many times as a student with Astrid and Eadwulf and one other time as a member of the Mighty Nein.
Time seemed to slip by him so fast as of late, each second shorter than the last. His keen mind never let him forget the passing of a moment, a blessing and a curse rolled into one since he’d escaped the sanatorium. He was acutely aware of the missing eleven years of his life…on nights like this more than most. One of his hands reached into his coin purse as he walked by the vendors, his baggy blue eyes skating over their wares as he ambled to his home just outside the city walls.
It was a long walk to the small cottage he’d purchased, about a 30 minute walk, but he still preferred that to living somewhere in the city like he once had. It made him feel boxed in now if he stayed for too long. Caleb Widogast was a man that loved the simple things in life most of the time, and while his tower was always an extravagant option it felt wrong to cast the spell each night for just himself. The entire point of crafting that spell had been to create a home for his friends, to bring Jester a sense of security, somewhere they knew was safe after a long day of travel or a hard fought battle.
“Fresh cookies! Hot out of the oven and perfect for a cold night! Fresh cookies and bread!” Caleb stopped to look over at the baker as she called out the window of her shop, and after a moment of silent deliberation decided to pick up a little treat for himself. Veth and Beau often complained to each other that he didn’t do things like that often enough, but neither could exactly force him to do it either and would usually drop the subject after a few jabs at his poor excuses of self-care. He jingled the purse a little bit, remembering how little of his salary was left for the week, then shrugged and stepped into the bakery with a soft ringing from the bell above the door.
“Welcome in! What can I get for you, sir?” A young man was running the front of the store as sounds of dough thudding against a counter echoed from the back. The air inside smelled of cinnamon, almonds, and sugar. Bright mage lights hovered near the ceiling and cast the room with a warm yellow glow. Caleb nodded to the man and took a few moments to read the labels before walking up to the counter with a polite smile.
“Yes. Ah, hello. I was wondering if you had any cinnamon or blueberry scones? I would also like a few snickerdoodles, that is if it’s not too much trouble.” The ginger rubbed his hands together in front of him, using just a little arcane power to warm his fingers and stave off the cold for a moment before heading back outside.
“Shouldn’t be a problem for the cinnamon! No blueberry scones though, sorry. It’s hard to come by fresh fruits this late in the season without a special order put in.” The shop keep grimaced and pulled a paper bag out from beneath the countertop.
“It is not a problem, I understand.” Caleb smiled and placed 3 silver down on the counter, one at a time. “I will take a dozen cinnamon scones then, and three of the snickerdoodles as well.”
“Coming right up!” The young man grinned and swept the coins off of the counter, grabbing a pair of tongs to begin bagging the pastries. “I hope you don’t mind me saying, sir, but I don’t believe I’ve seen you in here before.”
“You would not have, I’m afraid.” Caleb chuckled darkly. “I only recently returned to the city, and I’m a bit too busy to buy myself things like this very often.” Caleb’s smile turned a little sour and he winced as the other man chuckled as well.
“I can understand that all too well. When we first set up shop, I felt like I didn’t even have time to sleep! Well, if you’re passing by again anytime soon, I’ll make sure to keep some of the cinnamon scones tucked away for you!” The man smiled and handed the bag over to the wizard.
“That is entirely too kind, but I thank you.” Caleb nodded and gave another smile on his way out the door, this time it felt a bit more genuine to the young man. The winter wind once again assaulted his face as he stepped out into the cold. He muttered a curse, then tucked into his coat and began to eat up the distance to his home with large strides down the street and out of the city.
Most of the guards recognized him at this point, and allowed him through with smiles of their own and a few waving hands. Even if it wasn’t much, he was quite proud of the life he’d built for himself. Away from his past, and the mistakes he’d made. Only ever a message away from a friend he could talk to about anything that was on his mind.
It wasn’t a smile, but his eyes were light and no tension wracked his body when somebody glanced his way. He was no longer the paranoid pseudo-fugitive he had been when he’d met the Nein three years ago, he was a powerful wizard and a master of transmutation in his own right. Given another two years he may even be able to publish a spell book containing spells crafted by his own mind and effort.
Caleb’s mind filtered from one train of thought to another like this his entire walk home, and soon enough the wood and plaster cottage came into view. In the spring, he would grow berry bushes along the low stone outer wall and fill his tiny front yard with plants gifted to him by Caduceus and Yasha, but for now the entire property was covered in a blanket of snow 5 inches deep. He stomped his feet outside the front door to knock off as much of the snow on his soaking boots as he could before stepping inside. The coat rack near the door leaned one of its arms toward him as he shook the leather off and hung it up with his scarf, undoing the buckles on his boots and carrying them over to dry next to the fireplace.
It was a modest home for a man of his ability, to say the least. Two bedrooms and a small office space upstairs, the ground floor consisting of a kitchen with a breakfast nook, a sitting room with a large river stone fireplace and three loveseats arranged in a crescent around it, a wash room with a deep copper tub. Everything he needed, and honestly more than he wanted.
Caleb snapped his fingers to cast mage hand and used it to carry a few logs from the bundle into the fireplace, then pointed a finger at the logs and launched a weak firebolt into them to start a comfortable blaze in a matter of seconds. It was one of his favorite uses of magic, a simple trick that worked wonders and took little effort. The sitting room began to rise in temperature immediately, Caleb plopping himself onto one of the three plush loveseats and angling his frozen toes toward the fire and setting the bag of scones next to him on the cushion.
The sigh that he inflated his lungs conveyed a thousand tiny worries that could never be articulated in the correct way. For quite a while, he just sat there and allowed himself to rest his eyes. Tomorrow he was going to teleport to Nicodranas and see Veth, Yeza, and Luc. He needed some time with his family, and he didn’t want to intrude on either of the other couples in their group this close to a holiday. He’d already made that mistake with Beau and Yasha once, and he was not eager for a repeat. Perhaps Caduceus would like to tag along with me, it would give him a little break from the chaos of those siblings of his. Caleb smirked a little and stared into the fire as he pulled a short piece of copper wire from his pocket, holding it up to his lips and casting Sending.
“Hello, I hope I’m not intruding on your evening. I was wondering if you would like to make a trip to Nicodranas with me tomorrow?” Caleb didn’t have to wait long for the soft baritone of the firbolg to answer him.
“Mr. Caleb! Good to hear from you! We’re a bit busy at the moment, but say hello from the Clay’s.” That is a tad disappointing. But I suppose they must be setting the Blooming Grove up for visitors next weekend. Caleb scratched at his beard a bit before standing up and making his way to the kitchen, planning to make a pot of tea to pair with his cookie. His mind wandered as the kettle sat above the small fire, fingers idly fiddling with the ring of evasion on his right hand. Right as the kettle was starting to whistle, another voice broke through his silent reverie.
“Cayleeeb! You’re never going to believe who showed up today! I was just sketching earlier and Frumpkin was suddenly there! Poof! You gotta come and-” The spell cut itself off along with Jester’s voice, and he found himself chuckling.
“That is good news! Tell him to visit me as well sometime soon. I hope you and Fjord are doing well at sea.” A gentle whisper of affection danced through his voice, though he doubted she would notice it. He began pouring the scalding tea into a mug and made his way back to the sitting room to rest a bit longer. Whenever Jester cast Sending, it sent shivers running down his spine. The influence of Artagan’s magic caused it to sound like she was speaking directly into his left ear, rather than just entering his mind as when he cast it himself.
“Well, I’m not exactly on the boat with him anymore. We REALLY need to catch up, Cayleb, so much has happened! I’ll tell you tomorrow…” When her voice faded out that time it seemed like her mood had turned a bit sour. Caleb made sure to think out his words before responding.
“Either way, it will be good to see you again, Jester. I will be at the Brenatto’s around noon. I hope to see you there.” It seemed like their conversation for the night was going to stop there, so he picked up one of the books on the small coffee table between the seats and started to unwind the last knots of stress from his shoulders as the fire coaxed him ever closer to sleep.
“Sagen Sie einfach noch einmal meinen Namen und ich werde tun, was Sie sagen." He whispered as his eyelids fluttered shut. The book remained shut in his lap.
=☥=
When Caleb woke up the next morning his beard was coated with cinnamon and the tea had gone cold on the table. His clothes from the day before smelled vaguely like a musty attic, and he could feel a large knot in his hair as he tried to card his fingers through it. He’d never even made it to his bedroom last night before falling asleep, his back and neck now stiff from sleeping upright. At some point the fire had gone out, and only a few very weak embers remained inside. The wizard scrubbed his face with his hands for a moment, then groaned and took a few deep breaths before he began his normal morning routine.
The sun was higher in the sky than he would’ve liked, it was near ten in the morning already. By the time he was finished cleaning himself up and changing it was almost time to depart. It crossed his mind to shave his beard off, since it would be so much warmer down south, and after half an hour of struggling with his ancient straight razor he was once again smooth faced (it had nothing to do with seeing Jester after a year, none at all.)
Tilting his face from side to side as he stood in front of the mirror, it dawned on him that he hadn’t shaved like this since before the Nein had ended the war of ash and light. He almost missed the impeccable edge of Magician’s Judge shaving the coarse hair from his face. Yasha’s steady hands in a dimly lit tunnel had been his first real shave in over a decade, but his damn beard just grew too fast.
One slender hand traced his jaw and pressed the small dimple in his chin as he observed himself. Sharp jaw, high cheekbones, angular nose, and a few gray hairs starting to sprout from his temples. Had she been alive to see this, his mother would probably coo over how much he resembled his father. But his eyes were hers, and he was proud of that fact.
Caleb looked younger this way but his eyes remained old and worn in his opinion, the beginnings of crows feet carving themselves into his skin. No amount of grooming was going to change that. He tried to smile at his reflection, but it looked more like a pained grimace. The words he’d spoken to Twiggy so long ago filtered through his mind. “ Yeah, I’m not a happy guy.”
With nothing left to put off leaving any longer he slipped the high boots on his feet and looked over his appearance, knowing somewhere in his soul that Veth would lecture him for at least an hour if he didn’t look like he was taking care of himself the way she expected. The navy turtleneck did little for the cold this time of year in Rexxentrum, but it would be perfect for the chilled ocean winds of Nicodranas mixing with the bright sunlight. His hair was tied back in a low ponytail behind him, the book holsters securely strapped to his ribcage, and his spell components all secured into the pockets of his coat or a small worn leather pouch carrying his most essential supplies hanging at his hip.
No time like the present, Widogast. Hop to it. Standing in the center of his sitting room, he slapped both of his cheeks and shook his head to clear the last of the haze of sleep. He pulled a tiny glass jar of sand from the beach out of the pouch and muttered the incantation that would send him across the continent. Arcane energy swirled around him in a spectral wind for a moment and he closed his eyes, the familiar sensation of being squeezed through a tiny hole overwhelming his senses for a moment, only opening them when the air changed from the warm interior of his home to the salty scent of the ocean and the sound of seagulls filled his ears.
It was a beautiful day out to be sure, not a cloud in sight and a strong breeze rolling along the coast that kept him from getting too warm. Caleb had long since memorized the layout of the city and began the short trek towards Veth and Yeza’s apartment near the Lavish Chateau. Just like in Rexxentrum, the streets were chaotic and filled with people milling about and preparing for the upcoming holiday. Sweet meats and dried goods were being sold in abundance down by the docks along with large casks of liquor, and further into the city vendors were calling over one another as they advertised abalone and pearl jewelry.
Before long the rows of shops and stalls began to transition to residential buildings constructed from large blocks of sun bleached limestone. The noise of the crowds fading into the distance. It was as he was approaching the apartment that one of the windows was flung open and Luc stuck his head out to wave at him. His face was marked by a few large zits on his forehead and chin but the way the child’s eyes lit up at seeing him made Caleb feel at ease in an instant.
“Uncle Caleb! You’re here! Mom’s just about finished with lunch! You better hurry up!” The wizard’s lips curled at the edges into the closest thing he could usually get to a grin.
“I will be right up! Make sure the door is unlocked this time, ja?” Caleb called back while using a hand to shield his eyes from the sunlight. Luc nodded and dipped back inside. A minute later when the zemnian knocked on the door, Luc came rushing out into his Uncle’s arms. “It is good to see you, Luc! You have grown like a weed, I can hardly believe my eyes!” The teenager was already taller than his mother by about an inch, which might as well have been a foot for halflings like them.
“Caleb! There you are!” The shrill voice of his best friend echoed from inside and a genuine smile played in his steely eyes. “Stop letting all the warm air out and come give me a hug!”
“Ja ja, as you say mutter .” He chuckled and stepped into the home, the smell of garlic and fresh fish hung thick in the air. Veth was wearing a vibrant yellow sweater over a thick black wool dress that fell to her ankles. The usual assortment of buttons and colorful stones adorned her neck and fingers.
A pot was hanging above the fireplace where a thick orange broth bubbled with rice, various shellfish, diced onions, and slices of a heavily spiced red sausage. After months of simple meals, the heavy scent of the stew was practically divine. Caleb knelt down and wrapped his arms around his friend as she stepped away from the fire towards him.
“It is good to see you, Veth.”
“You better believe it is! I haven’t seen you for three months! Three months! What gives? You don’t like my cooking anymore, is that it?” She teased as she pulled away and patted his cheek. The jovial smile turned into a small grimace. “Also, you should keep that awful beard shaved. It makes you look like an old man.”
“It helps with the cold back at home, but I do agree that I am beginning to look too much like my father these days.” A dry chuckle escaped his lips. “I am afraid my life is very boring at the moment, please, tell me how you all have been doing.” He allowed her to guide him towards their small dining room and sat next to her at the table. It was warm enough inside that he could take off his coat and drape it over the back of the chair.
“Yeza’s shop is still pretty much the same, perpetually opening. He should be home before it gets too dark out. We’re already getting applications for the camp this summer too! You’re still going to come to teach magic to the kids, right?”
“Ja, of course! I would not miss it for the world!” Each moment he spent talking with her lifted the weight and stress of dealing with the Assembly from his wiry shoulders and an easy smile painted his face. “I owe it to my first student, after all.” He knocked his elbow into her arm when she rolled her eyes at him.
“You’re sweet, but I’m not a fool Caleb. You look like you’re about to keel over on the spot! Have you been sleeping enough? Are you eating proper meals?” Veth’s tiny hand reached out and covered his own slim one. “I worry about everyone, but you especially.”
“I have perhaps not been eating as well as I should, but I have been sleeping just fine. Last night was busy and I ended up sleeping on the couch, that is all.” Her eyes said she didn’t believe him, but would accept the answer for now. “Oh, Veth, come now. Surely you remember I was almost tearing my hair out last year trying to get all of my grading done on time.”
“Y’know what? Fair enough. I’m still going to make extra helpings for dinner while you’re here to take back home with you though. Now, your turn! How are Beau and Yasha doing in Zadash? You still see them regularly, don’t you?”
“Ja, they are um…I suppose ‘good’ does not quite get the message across. Hmm…” Caleb glanced over his shoulder to see if Luc was listening in on them. Not seeing the boy but not wanting to risk anything he leaned close to Veth’s ear. “If I could use the sending stone and not hear one or the both of them panting, I would think the world is coming to an end again.”
“Good for them! They deserve it!” Veth grinned in a way that reminded him of when he had only known her as Nott, a goblin-like glint of mischief in her eyes. “Any signs of them starting up a family of their own?”
“I would not go quite that far yet,” Caleb smiled. “But Yasha has taken well to having so much spare time while Beau is working. After Winter’s Crest, we should get the Nein together so you can all see the flower garden they have out back.” Caleb smiled and leaned an elbow onto the table as he tried to massage some of the stiffness from his neck.
“Well, y’know, Yeza and I were actually-” Veth was cut off by a sporadic light knocking on the front door, both of the former mercenaries turning to look. “Luc! Door!”
“Yeah, I know!” The halfling boy shouted back. His tone was sharp enough that Caleb looked to Veth with an eyebrow raised. She waved Caleb off and rolled her eyes.
“Teenagers.”
“Ah.” Caleb nodded once and clamped his mouth shut to stifle a laugh at the common struggle of a mother. “Well, he will grow out of it sooner or later.”
“If it isn’t sooner, I might just sign him up for the Zhelezo so he can learn some discipline.” She grumbled. Caleb smiled again and turned as he heard the door swing open. The first thing he caught sight of was a flash of skin as blue as the sky, and a high pitched squeal reached his ears.
“Aunt Jester!” Luc hugged her quickly and held the door open as the tiefling stepped inside. “Mom and Uncle Caleb are in the dining room!”
“Why thank you good sir Luc! What a gentleman!” Her giggle carried through the house and warmed the wizard's heart and set it racing in the same breath. He’d remembered to brush teeth, hadn’t he? Of course, he did, and Caleb knew this intellectually but he would always be some mixture of excited and nervous whenever the cleric was near him. It was a fact he’d come to accept soon after their moonlit conversation before Traveler-con.
“THERE you are! Caleb’s been here for nearly ten minutes already!” Veth pulled another chair out beside him with a quick mage hand, which Jester happily plopped herself into.
“It is not a problem, Veth, I will be here for half a month after this last week of classes. There will be ample opportunities to catch up with each other.” Caleb turned to look at Jester and the familiar sense of yearning nested in his chest. She was wearing a thick white cotton dress with a high collar that fell just past her knees. Wrapped around her shoulders was a heavy pastel green cardigan. Jester’s hair was tied into a messy bun at the back of her head that accentuated just how much her horns had grown. “It is good to see you again, but where is Fjord? I expected you to arrive together.”
“I could say the same about you , Professor.” Jester winked at him and giggled at the blush that covered his face. “Where’s Essek? Last I knew, the two of you were getting all cuddly and cozy by the fire.” Her navy blue eyebrows wiggled in a suggestive way.
“Oh, you two definitely need to catch up.” Veth laughed. “When was the last time you saw each other?”
“It was in Zadash, for Beau and Yash’s wedding, wasn’t it?” Jester looked between the two of them with a questioning eye, then realization seemed to alight in her amethyst eyes and she put a hand on Caleb’s shoulder. “Wait, Essek broke up with you Caleb?! I’m so sorry! I had no idea! I totally would have come to try and cheer you up if I had known about it!”
“Nein, it was mutual.” Caleb sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose at the memory of their parting, shooting Jester a half smile. “Essek is going to live a very long time, longer than a drow normally would, considering he is part of den Thelyss. We spent a good year together, then parted ways so we could focus on the future laid out for both of us.”
“Oh…That’s good, right?” Jester looked to Veth, who just gave her a very exaggerated shrug.
“It is what it is. I was sad about it for a time, but Beau did not allow me to wallow in my self pity this time and forced me to take a week off from the academy so that I could cope with the emotions with her and Yasha both there.”
“Then that is good!” Jester pointed a finger right between his eyes. “Your brain is funky, Cayleb. It doesn’t seem to like you very much.”
“Ha! You may be right about that.” He drew in a deep and slow breath, letting out through his nose and shaking his head a bit. “What about you and Fjord? Did something happen between the two of you?”
“Oh. Well you see, it’s kind of a long story…” She bit her lip and he watched as her fingers twisted together in her lap. “Okay, so it all kind of started when Kingsley slept with Marius, I guess.”