Harbinger of Light

Sybille was at a table at the center of the town and presented with a feast before her eyes. The Great Heidrun had finally managed to relax and merrily ate honey from over-sized ladles handed to her by the workers.

“This, uhm… got out of hand,” said Sybille.

The food on her table seemed exquisite. There were so many new types of food I could not help but wonder how they would taste like. Alas, even if I were to put them in my mouth, I would be unable to taste a thing.

“I would like to thank you for retrieving the Great Heidrun, Harbinger of Light,” said a certain noble as he clapped his hands and approached the great table.

It was the Count.

“Oh, it was nothing, Count Victor,” said Sybille. “It was my pleasure!”

“I had a talk with the Guild,” said Count Victor. “It appears my stupid son had caused this trouble to begin with, and tasked foreign adventurers to clean his mess. I have sent him to study out of the city as punishment. As apologies and compensation for you, not only do I offer you payment in money and in kind, but also citizenship for the Kingdom of Holy Brenna. I trust this is agreeable?”

Sybille’s eyes went wide.

“Wait, are you sure?!” she said.

Count Victor nodded.

“Of course,” he said. “If you are trusted by the Great Heidrun, then you are trusted by us.”

“Thank you very much, Count Victor! We will never forget it…”

Her eyes, however, kept darting on to something behind the Count.

“Hmm?” muttered the Count.

As he turned around, he saw a group of orcs arguing with the guards at the gate.

“What is this about?” said Count Victor.

“These orcs, they want to come into the town!” said the guard.

“I’m telling you I am expected here!” replied one of the orcs.

We knew that orc.

“Rocksplitter!” shouted Sybille. “You arrived!”

“You know of him?” asked Count Victor.

“Yes!” said Sybille. “He helped us catch Great Heidrun. Would you please let him through?”

Count Victor nodded, raised his hand towards the guard, and let the passage of the group of orcs.

Rocksplitter came to us exhausted, and holding in his hands a leather bag.

“Here,” he said. “As we promised.”

Sybille took the bag with both her hands.

“Thank you for this, Rocksplitter,” she said. “I am now in your debt.”

“Not at all,” replied Rocksplitter. “This is as much as we can offer to settle what debt we had with you. From her on out, we are in equal standing.”

Sybille smiled.

I turned towards her.

“What is that?” I asked with curiosity.

“Oh, right!” said Sybille. “Hehe… it is something that will make you feel really good! Can you guess what it is? A hint. It comes from a plant!”

It took me a moment to realize why she had been so excited over the strange substance.

“It can’t be…” I muttered.

Sybille smiled as she nodded.

“It is, it is!” she said.

“Mushrooms?”

“THEY’RE NOT! By Iona, what do you think I am going to give you? Sheesh… look.”

She opened the bag and showed me its contents. It was filled to the brim with some kind of orange, caramel-like substance.

“Ah,” I said. “Resin?”

“Yes!” she said. “You got it right this time. Here, with just a spell to age it…”

She used her staff to bless the contents of the bag, swirling it with magic, and molding it to shape as they crystallized. Just like that, it became a rune.

“It looks so hard now,” I said.

Sybille chuckled.

“Come now, open wide!” she said, prodding the amber rune towards my face.

I nervously opened my jaw piece and let Sybille place the rune to where my tongue would be. As she pressed it into my rock jaw, she wove together a spell to merge it, pressing it neatly into place as though my body was clay.

“There!” said Sybille. “Now… take a bite!”

She gestured towards the feast in the table.

“Can I?” she said.

“It is my feast, and I’m sharing it with you,” she said. “No way I can finish it by myself either. Oh, and that design will make it so that the food you consume will become mana. Pretty handy if you ask me!”

I took a platter with cake into my hands and inspected it closely as I raised it towards my face. It had multiple layers, and even had some kind of frosting. It was almost something I could have found back home.

How long had it been since I had last eaten, I wonder.

I took a bite out of the cake.

In that moment, everything came back to me all at once.

The gentle touch of cinnamon, the crunchy sprinkles of sweet candy, the soft and juicy tenderness of the bread…

I was speechless.

“Bastion?” said Sybille.

I was so happy that I did not have eyes to cry with. Yet, even without tears to leave my stone body, my voice cracked as I returned Sybille’s call.

“It’s delicious,” I broke.