220: Wings

While I was at the palace, it felt like the best time to speak with Kathrine.

“Kathrine, I’m having a farewell dinner tomorrow night, just inviting my friends, as we’ll be leaving the city the day after. Would you like to come?” I asked.

Kathrine had an honest smile. “I’d love to. I heard from Luis already that he’d be attending.”

“The rest of the family is invited as well, but I wasn’t sure if inviting them would cause some political drama or not,” I said, embarrassed.

Kathrine laughed. “It likely would, yes, but Elijah will certainly attend as well. Any excuse to have a drink works for him.”

I was about to say my farewells to Crisplet and Clifford, who had returned to adding the finishing touches to the statue, but I remembered I still had a couple of the flame pastries I had put aside.

“I have something for you.” I pulled out two of the pastries and handed them to her.

“I’ve seen these before. They sell them in the market, right?” She said, taking them.

“Not quite. Try a bite. You shouldn’t need to eat all of it,” I suggested.

She hesitated for only a moment before shrugging and taking a large bite.

Slowly she ate it, seeming to take it all in. “Tastes alright. Could do with a bit more spice. I’d prefer it to have more of a kick.”

I would remember this for later, but that wasn’t the point. “Check your buffs,” I insisted.

Kathrine’s eyes went wide.

“You got it?!” she said, looking at her hand, which burst into flames.

Crisplet, who must have seen or felt the fire, rushed over, and emulating the flame, he likewise erupted into a larger flame, copying what was happening to her hand.

I watched as the fire started to leave her hand and condense into a ball, while Crisplet still seemed to copy.

Soon she had what looked to be a tiny, eye-sized ball of condensed fire in her fingers, while Crisplet had it floating above his head, pushing across joy and excitement.

“I think you’re teaching Crisplet something new,” I said, smiling at him.

It was only then that Kathrine took her eyes off her hands and really paid attention to Crisplet, while Sylverith stood to my side, a smile on her face.

“Oh, uh, well, once you get it like that, you essentially just throw it at someone, perhaps use a burst of heat to project it far, because despite the small size, it packs a punch,” she instructed Crisplet.

Looking around, I couldn’t see where she could throw it that wouldn’t cause any damage.

Crisplet didn’t seem to wait and threw his little ball of flame at the statue. The ball seemed to suspend in the wings momentarily before they erupted in flames, sending a giant pair of wings covering the courtyard, raining down sparks.

I just stared in awe, while Kathrine seemed to come to the same conclusion I did, choosing to follow Crisplet and throwing her own fireball into the wings, where it was absorbed, and I couldn’t help but notice the flame was different.

Where Crisplet’s was much more like a campfire, with its oranges and yellows, and only getting the streaks of black and dark when he was angry, Kathrine’s flame was deep red when it exploded, sending large deep tendrils of red flame coursing through the wings.

“Will it absorb all fire spells I throw at it?” Kathrine asked curiously, looking at Crisplet.

Sylverith let out a soft chuckle. “Crisplet is not sure. He simply said fire mana is good.”

“Also! The wings unfurl? You didn’t mention that part!” she looked excited.

Crisplet just let off a burst of sparks.

“Crisplet says that it was a surprise, dear, and it does appear that you’ll be able to activate that for a short period of time,” Sylverith said with a smile.

Clifford was standing back, a small smile on his face as he watched the wings burning above, raining sparks down over the courtyard.

I caught Clifford’s attention and noticed he had a tear running down his cheek before quickly wiping it away.

“Sorry to interrupt. I wanted to invite yourself and your wife to the farewell dinner tomorrow as well,” I said.

“It would be my honour, sir,” Clifford bowed.

I wanted to protest the “sir,” but we were at the palace, and if you were going to follow formality anywhere, it should be here, so I bit my tongue.

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“I think Alira will really enjoy seeing this, but we should leave you to it. See you tomorrow,” Sylverith smiled.

“The nobles are going to lose their minds at this,” Kathrine shook her head.

I felt like it was a good time to head back to the house. I had a lot of prep to get started with for the dinner tomorrow, as I wanted to join in with the dinner and not spend the whole time in the kitchen instead, so I wanted to get most things semi-prepared today so I could just serve tomorrow.

Which reminded me.

“I’ll make you some more,” I said, pointing to the pastry, as I went to get back inside the carriage.

“That would be amazing. I wonder how we could get this up from minor potency, though,” Kathrine said.

“I have some ideas, but I’ll accept any new ingredients when I return in a few months,” I smiled.

“Oh, Trevor, I really like the gloves. It’s a nice touch. You’re looking much more noble every time I see you,” she said as I was leaving.