The Lightbearer's Gift

“Master, are you sure you shouldn’t test it more?” Benny said worriedly as I mounted Noire.

The design of the harness and saddle took several weeks to finalize. It first began with testing the basic strap and layout for the saddle on smaller birds with weights attached to their backs proportional to mine to see if they can fly without any difficulty.

Next was measuring and scaling the design to fit Noire. The straps wrapped around her breastbone in crossing patterns to avoid her wings and flight heathers then anchored to her legs. Then I instructed her to fly out of the city and bring back an animal while wearing the saddle. Half an hour later she returned carrying a large buffalo-like creature and devoured it in front of us. It was quite a gruesome sight as she crushed the body with her powerful talons to the point where bones were poking out through the skin.

Then she proceeded to tear large chunks out of the creature, swallowing them whole. Once it was confirmed that she could fly and hunt without much difficulty with the saddle attached, next was my personal harness. The harness that she wore had special straps that would attach to a harness I wore over my own armor. It is attached to points 4 on a belt that looped around my shoulders and legs, similar to climbing equipment. Once the horse master Umber demonstrated that each strap could hold well over 300 pounds, I was confident that 4 of them would be more than enough to keep me attached to her, even under the most strenuous maneuvers. Now I was strapped onto all four mounting points with Benny and Umber as an audience for my first test flight.

I had to admit I was nervous, but I was determined to become the first individual to ride an etheric beast. I sat on her upper back and there were two handholds attached to the Noire’s harness that I could use to stabilize myself. I sat on the saddle, a small one designed to be as aerodynamic as possible while also allowing me to sit comfortably upright at low speeds and tuck myself close to her body in a dive.

“Benny, sometimes you have to fly before you can walk,” I said.

“That is the exact opposite of what you usually say.” she complained.

I locked in the final clasp, and I was fully attached to Noire’s harness.

“Alright Noire stand up” she raised herself from her brooding position. She wiggled a bit as she got used to my added weight. There was no bridle or reins so I would have to navigate using my will alone.

I took a deep breath then shouted.

“FLY” I said in English.

In one motion she unfurled her massive wings and took to the air. I held on for dear life as I was jostled around on the saddle. Her rapid wing beat whipped up the air around us. We went higher and higher. I began to get nervous as the ground fell away from us. After a handful of seconds, the flapping became less violent as she slowly started to climb in a large circle.

I watched as the city below grew smaller and smaller. The wind whipped through my hair as Noire picked up speed as she climbed. A massive grin spread across my face as I basked in the sun with my arms spread wide. It was the ultimate form of freedom. Nothing matters anymore, not my past, not my future nor any ambition. Is this peace? Is this true happiness?

“Good girl,” I thought to Noire. She did a small wiggle and continued in her ascent. Soon enough we started to reach clouds, and, in a few minutes, we broke through. All around me was the endless expanse of the sky. I could even see the two Moons. Noire leveled out and stopped ascending. A combination of the massive size of her wings and some kind of instinctual magic made it so that she barely needed to flap to maintain our altitude. As she flew, I poured some life ether into her as a reward for carrying me. For the first time I truly felt grateful that I was brought to this world.

We had to be at least 8000 feet in the air. To my left I could see the endless expanse of the Great Stormveil Sea, to my right was the Hearthaven capital little more than a smear on the landscape.. I glanced down, debating with myself if I should do what I had planned. I felt a slight amount of vertigo as I gauged how far of a drop that was. It stupid and it shouldn’t risk it but like it told Benny, sometimes you have to fly before you can walk.

“DIVE” I yelled.

In the same instant I pulled myself close to her back as possible. Noire tucked her wings in, and we dropped like a brick. We raced towards the ground straps holding me to her pulling taught. The wind buffeted loudly as we accelerated. I couldn’t even keep track of how fast we were falling since the wind was so strong. The sound of the wind racing by was frankly terrifying as it increased to hurricane forces. We hit some low floating clouds and excited. I took that as a good enough signal.

“Pull up” I mentally ordered.

It felt like we were hitting terminal velocity. I was practically slammed into the saddle as she opened her wings fully. The G-forces were so great that I didn’t have the strength to push myself up. The straps pulled taut once more as we decelerated at such a speed that would tear the wings of any other creature that wasn’t magical. Finally, she leveled out again.

I breathed heavily, my heart racing as I recovered from the fall. Noire let out a loud cry seeming to be ready to go again.

“No no no take it easy” I said rapidly.

I looked around and noted that we had drifted a quarter mile from the city. As my heart slowed, we flew in a lazy circle, lying just outside the city walls. After I had fully recovered. I decided to run a few tests.

‘let’s see how fast you are.” I thought to myself.

I commanded her to fly back towards the city. At a casual pace. We were roughly a thousand feet into the air and as soon as I passed the gate I began counting. We glided gracefully through the air as we passed the lower quarters then the noble quarter,eventually flying over the Baroness’s keep. Until finally we reached the docks, and the great storm veiled the sea. It’s hard to imagine the massive expanse of blue water was actually a lake. The city was roughly two miles in length, and it took around 70 seconds to cross. Which means that her casual flight speed is around 100 miles an hour.

We banked around as I commanded her,

“Ok now Noire show me what you got” with a loud scream she beat her massive wings and I began counting again. I could feel the ether flowing off her wings as she pushed herself to her maximum speed in less than a minute, we blew past the gate.

“Alright take it easy.”

She calmed down and we slowed back to a leisurely pace. 40 seconds so roughly 180 miles an hour.

‘Let’s head back’ I commanded her and intuitively knowing where to go she banked and headed back to the stables. Noire came down fast and at the last moment spread her wings and landed gently. A bit of a crowd had gathered as word spread. Many of them were among the nobility because. I removed all 4 straps that kept me in place and dismounted, went around to her large head, and ruffled her feathers.

‘Have a rest girl, I’ll have them bring a cow for you later.’

She screeched and I gave her a little life ether.

Benny and Umber rushed over to me.

“Master, that was amazing, we all saw your dive, Noire was so fast, you’re going to take me up soon right.” she said, slightly rambling.

“Of course, we just need to make a few adjustments.”

Umber rushed over.

“Umber my good man you are truly a master.'' I said, giving him a respectful bow.

“My thanks my lord I dear say I’ll have more customers that I know what to do with after this stunt.”

“I’ll be sure to remind everyone who the designer was, come let's discuss some modifications I think would help.”

I looked over to Benny and said,

“Let's get your measurements for a harness. I guarantee this is an experience you will remember for the rest of your life.”

She grinned as she followed us into Umbers workshop. I ignored the stares from the crowd, no doubt that the entire city would hear about this. And there would be many questions directed to those I am close to as to how I achieved this.

An hour later both Benny and I were strapped into the saddle. She had to sit behind me since over the last few months she grew by about an inch and was taller than me. During the measurements I had a cow brought to Noire. She simply crushed it with a single talon and tore it into 3 pieces. It was quite a terrifying sight since one could easily imagine what she could do to a human. Instead of the few dozen who watched us land there were hundreds. Some street vendors took the opportunity to sell food to the onlookers.

“Are you ready?” I said.

“Sure” she responded, not sounding confident whether it was from flying or the hundreds of eyes on us wasn't sure not sure.

I grinned and shouted once more. “FLY”

And Noire took off once more. The crowd roared in excitement. Benny screamed the entire time ignoring the handles meant for her and simply squeezed me. We climbed higher and higher. Noire’s violent flapping jostled us up and down as she clawed through the air to gain height. Once we were a thousand feet up, I commanded her to maintain height and she flew through the air gracefully.

Once we had reached a stable cruising speed Benny finally calmed down.

“Well, what do you think?” I said, turning around and looking back at Benny. She apparently had her eyes closed. And then she finally opened them.

“Gods” she said as she observed the scenery. She still clung to me, but it was growing less tight by the minute.

“It’s beautiful.” she said. Slowly she removed one hand from me and then the other, she realized the straps were more than enough to keep her seated. Fear turned into excitement as she did the same thing as I did. She stretched out her arms wide like a bird and began laughing.

“I’m flying, I’m actually flying,” she said, Barely able to believe what she was saying. She had to talk loudly over the sound of the wind. Then she hugged me again, not out of fear of heights this time.

“I’m so glad I found you that day.” She said, almost low enough that I didn’t pick it up.

“Me too Benny.”

I commanded Noire to go lower only a few hundred feet above the city and we cruised along the walls. I made a few low passes by the stables to give our audience some entertainment. On our final pass I tossed a ball of fire into the air. That drove them wild. Then we traveled to other areas of the city. We flew along the wall only a hundred or soo feet in the air. Benny and I waved at the guardsmen as they realized who was riding the giant bird.

“Alright Benny ready for some speed.” I asked.

“Yes master” she shouted back.

‘Head for the lake at max speed, my apprentice is here so you better not embarrass me.’ I thought to Noire.

With an ear-piercing cry Noire did a rapid turn and rocketed towards the lake. She flapped with all her might to increase her speed. Benny clung to me as we pressed our bodies lower to the saddle as ether started to flow off Noire’s wings pushing her speed even higher. In no time at all we left the docks behind and flew into the endless expanse of the lake.

I commanded her to slow down to cruise and Benny and I slowly sat upright.

“Hell’s she’s fast.” Benny said.

I commanded Noire to increase in height and slowly in a massive spiral we increased altitude to almost 10,000 feet. At this height, the air was becoming thinner, but I didn’t feel any signs of hypoxia. We could see hundreds of miles into the distance. Out on the lake it was rather clear So, the height was rather disconcerting. But Noire’s steady flying made the anxiousness fady away quickly.

We flew for at least another half an hour, not in any particular direction, just enjoying the freedom of it all. From this height we could even see migratory birds traveling in a loose ‘V’ formation. Hearthaven was little more than a thumb print on the landscape below.

“I could stay up here forever,” I said.

“We're going to have to do this every day.” She said,

I chuckled.

That I had to agree with.

“Come let's scout the location of the enemy army, last report was that they were in the southwest.”

With a command I pointed Noire south she simply glided in the direction to preserve energy, our elevation slowly reducing. Over 3 hours later at around 4000 feet in the air we could see the enemy army below they were currently marching. They numbered around 20,000 strong, almost 4 times the Baroness's own army. If I had to guess we were around 350 miles from the city. Up this high it was rather cold so that something else we would have to factor in on our next flight.

“Big army,” Benny said as she looked down. There weren't any clouds in the sky so we could see directly down at them with any difficulty. The Baroness had a plan for when they reached the city, so I wasn’t really worried about how outnumbered we were. With the addition of my abilities, it made a sure victory, almost guaranteed.

“Almost half of them are conscripts so it’s going to be quite bloody.” Benny shrugged, seeming to not care.

With a command I pointed Noire back in the direction of the city and at a slightly slower pace we headed back. With one last gratuitous fly around the city, we made a lazy spiraling descent. And eventually landed in the field outside the headmaster's stables. After nearly 8 hours of flying, I could start to sense the fatigue coming from Noire. I could of course extend it with my abilities, but it was a good idea just how much distance she could travel in a day.

The maiden flight was in the early morning and now it ended in the evening. As we came in for a landing I could see the baroness, her Niece and some of her advisors watching the spectacle. There was quite the excitement as we dismounted.

“We should do this again tomorrow” Benny said as she trotted over to Briannah, they had become friends over the last few weeks. I wasn’t really sure if it was genuine on Briannah's part, but I just told Benny to keep her wits about her anytime they conversed. I trusted her enough not to reveal anything of importance.

I rubbed Noire’s head while feeding her life ether. “That's a good girl, I’ll make sure they bring you 3 cows.”

I left her to rest and made my way towards the baroness who was smirking at me.

“You realize this will spread throughout the empire within weeks.” she said with humor in her voice.

“Oh, I know. I just don't care, I managed to find the army. They are about 3 weeks out before they reach the city walls. The initial scouting was correct; they are currently 20,000 strong.” I said.

She glanced at Noire, “Yes, I suppose she would be excellent for scouting. Can anyone else ride her?” she asked?

“No, she only listens to me.” I said.

“Yet another mystery, regardless it is good information,” her eyes flicked over to Benny and Briannah. Benny seemed to be excitedly telling her about being in the air and Briannah listened in rapt attention.

“They have become fast friends.” Allyssia said.

“Yes, Benny does have that way about her. Let them have their fun. I wanted to discuss some ideas I had about using the regeneration orb during the siege.”

Allyssia nodded to Feyrun, and he joined us. “My Lord, may I congratulate you on your maiden flight. This will be a story told for generations.” he said, bowing respectfully.

“My thanks Lord Feyrun,” I nodded in return.

“According to Moon the army is three weeks out and their numbers exactly match our initial estimation and scouting reports.” The Baroness said.

“Good, I will inform the command staff, Sir Mage, Baroness.” he Bowed and left his attendants following him.

Allyssia looked at Noire once more, her expression guarded, but I knew what she was thinking.

“I could take you up, Allyssia, you need but ask.” I whispered.

With one last look at Noire she said. “Another time, let us have supper. We have some more to discuss.”

As proud as she was there was no chance, she wouldn’t be curious about what it was like to fly in the sky.

Come to think of it would only take less than half a day to reach Vernon at Noire casual flying speed. Perhaps I should drop by after the end of hostilities? I could only imagine the reaction. I was rather curious about how the Baron actually died. Apparently most believe it was a stroke or a heart attack, his reputation as a glutton and drunkard certainly made the story believable. There was even a certain redheaded barmaid I wouldn't mind seeing again. So many options.

Two weeks later.

Of all the spells I have learned from the grimoires Radian Orb or Restorations seemed to be the most underwhelming. However, when I accounted for my absurdly large magical stamina it became something beyond useful.

The spell conjured an orb of healing light in combination with emitting slightly orange light that increased the recovery rate for fatigue. I could of course extend the range and intensity by overcharging the spell. It was a strange combination of spells with elements of light orb healing light and invigorate. Since the healing light being produced was not directly connected to my will it was significantly less effective at healing. My tests show that it was around 5 to 10 percent of my lowest powered directed healing spell. But what it lacked in healing power it made up for in sheer scale.

A single orb could emit a light in a roughly fifty-foot sphere. Meaning that everyone within its light would receive both the healing and restorative benefits. With my absurdly high stamina I could create around fifteen of them without tiring myself out. With some coordination with the generals and commanders I created healing orbs all around the training and drilling area, each could fit around a hundred soldiers.

This allowed the generals to drill the soldiers longer and harder than normal without suffering the effects of over training. After the training ends, I would simply cast the orbs in the barracks. For them to absorb its energy during the night since I can make it last for over 12 hours. It only took a few days to see its effects. I decided to track the physical progress of two soldiers, one man and one woman. Both were commoners, one was a conscript and the other volunteered.

I walked into the barracks for my routine of casting the healing orbs. Their cots were rearranged to cram as many soldiers within its light as possible. I was accompanied by General Feyrun and a few of his advisors. As soon as we entered the soldiers who were mostly slacking off after over 12 hours of constant training snapped to attention and saluted us.

“Vanya, Sefen Forward ''Feyrun said.

The two young humans hopped out of their cots and presented themselves. On the left was Vanya, a brown-haired woman who at the beginning was rather skinny. And next to her was Sefen, a red-haired young man who was almost as thin as Vanya. This made them perfect candidates for testing how this training routine affected the body over time.

“Come. It's checkup time.” I said they both sighed and said, “yes sir.”

We went to the sick bay where I could examine them in privacy.

“You know the drill Vanya.” I said as I closed the curtains.

The first time I did this she was rather perturbed but once she realized my intention as purely academic she lost all her reservations. Vanya stripped down to her small clothes and stood in a loose ‘A’ stance with her arms and legs spread apart. I would touch a limb and she would flex the muscle beneath. And I would measure and compare it the week before. I would also examine the limb in detail with my abilities. To ensure that there was no permanent damage being done.

In the space of 2 weeks, she managed to and one inch to her arms and two inches to her thighs and calves. It was an insane level of growth in such a brief time. She was at least 20 pounds heavier with most of that being muscle and some fat, as thin as she was both were good for her. I even managed the army's diet. It comprised 4 high protein meals daily with plenty of carbohydrates to fuel their training. The Baroness had to triple her budget for soldiers' rations to support this. Once all her commanders reported noticeable increases in their performance, she adopted the idea fully.

“How are you feeling lately?”

“Good Milord that healing orb magic really helps out.” she said as he flexed a calf for me. In the space of 3 weeks, she went from scrawny peasant to actually showing muscle. I just wish I had a greater time period to see how far I could push her physical training. However, I managed to compress months of physical training into weeks. I could only imagine how her body would progress after a year. Alyssia would have one of the best non-magical fighting forces in terms of physical fitness at least..

“Keep up the good work Vanya. Send Stefen in after you leave.”

“Yes, my lord.” she said and left with a salute.

Two weeks later

I sat atop Noire watching the army’s progress, they were close enough that it took me less than an hour to reach their location. While it would be easy to rain spells down on them as they traveled, the baroness wanted them to have full confidence in their victory. Then over time she would wear them down slowly draining their resources.

After my report the week before she sent hundreds of caravans to her outlying villages and towns to transport citizens to the safety of the capital, making sure to bring every scrap of food with them and destroying anything that would be of use to the incoming army. Anor’s trading company proved to be quite useful, and he was of course paid handsomely for his work. The city’s population increased by almost 15,000. But this is also something the Baroness accounted for since she was hoarding food for months.

Their numbers managed to increase by another thousand as they seemed to be hiring mercenary companies as they traveled. This no doubt was draining their coffers significantly but the belief in their victory seemed to spur them on. I headed back to the city to report my findings.

I entered the war room within the keep. On the center of a table was a map of the surrounding area; figures representing each army were present, their colors representing the group sizes. The baroness and the rest of her advisor noddeds to me as I entered.

“Good day Sir Mage, how is your scouting going?” Lord Feyrun asked.

“Roughly a week out, they managed to increase their numbers by an additional thousand putting their number at roughly 21,000. Almost exactly 4 times our own.” I announced.

“Not unexpected, and the waters?” Allyssia asked

“No ships to be seen though I only traveled around 100 miles before turning around.” I said.

Searching the lake for their ships would be too much of a task so I limited my time to simply spotting their approach though I have had no luck so far.

“General Byron, how is the preparation of the army going?” the baroness asked.

“Ahead of schedule most are combat ready, With Sir Moon's contributions we can drill them for over 12 hours and with that magical orb of his they'll be right as rain the next day”.

“Excellent, General Krate the wall's defense?” the baroness asked.

“We have practiced with Sir Moon's idea to Stagger the healing orbs along the walls one orb per 300 feet divided among 10 companies. I’ve seen the extent of the healing myself, and while it pales in comparison to his directed healing the wide range more than suffices. It should reduce our losses significantly.” He ended his report.

“Moon, what of your radiant carapace have you verified that can be applied on a mass scale?” she asked.

“Not quite, it is rather expensive to cast even at lower levels so it would be best to limit it to light infantry and the archer regiment. It lasts roughly a day and on such a mass scale I have to dial back its power. A few dozen arrows and blows from a sword is all we can expect it to block. I also have to cast all the radian orbs so proper timing would have to be done to ensure that I am at full stamina for the main defense.”

She gave me a smile and said, “Thank you, that is more than acceptable.” She held my eyes for a few moments then continued.

“It’s about time I inform you of my plan for the inevitable blockade.” She took up 4 brown ships each representing four war galleys.

“I’ve commissioned, in secret, 16 war galleys that were completed a few weeks ago. They are currently stationed a few miles outside of Velcor. I need but send a messenger and they can break through any blockade allowing us to receive shipments and reinforcements.”

Ahh so that’s why she wasn’t concerned about the waters being blockaded.

“I see,” Lord Feyrun, who’s mind seemed to be faster than his old age would suggest, quickly accounted for the Baroness’s secret war galleys in his plans for defense.

He continued “It is a contest of how much we can make them bleed before they realize the fight is unwinnable.”

The baroness said. “Essentially yes, we need them to believe that they have a chance at breaking through the walls, 21,000 men require a large amount of food and coin to sustain, no doubt they are bleeding their coffers dry. Where we have months of preparation and the ability to break through any blockade they try to enforce.”

And so, the extent of her planning becomes clear. While we will be under siege directly, they will be under siege indirectly. A significantly larger army will mean truly little if they can’t breach the walls. At that moment I had another idea.

“While riding Noire it would be rather easy to spot shipments of enemy reinforcements and supplies. It is a simple enough process to destroy the shipment and leave before anyone sees.” I suggested.

The Baroness looked at me considering, it seems that a flying mage isn’t something people normally consider when making battle plans.

“Give it a few weeks for them to entrench themselves outside my walls, I don't want starvation amongst the troops to set in too soon.” She said,

I nodded.

And that’s how it was with most of my contribution, I came up with an idea, presented it. It would be considered and modified to fit in with their plans. I was almost never asked to do anything even when it was clear that there was something I could do to aid. It was certainly odd, but I was fine with it, Since I could be creative with the applications of my abilities.

“Excellent work everyone, return to your duties.” The armored men saluted and walked out of the room leaving the two of us alone.

“Your plans were extensive, I can with confidence that you would have achieved victory without my assistance.” I leaned against the table gazing out the window. Allyssia stood next to me then led again to the table watching the city outside the window.

“Indeed, this has been planned for some time. Now with your assistance it is guaranteed to succeed.”

I looked down at the bustling city even though the citizens knew that they were going to be under a siege, their confidence in the baroness never wavered. Apparently, the addition of myself, Benny and Noire added. According to her spies among the city, the baroness and I were close friends though there was another rumor that we were something more. Attending restaurants, plays, and political dinners with her certainly added to the rumors.

“Why did you want to become a Duchess anyway?” I asked. That was one thing I couldn’t figure out.

“The same reason why you keep trying to grow more powerful” I raised an eyebrow.

“You disagree? I’m sure you tell yourself it is for survival, safety, or some other lofty goal. But in the end, we mortals want power for power’s sake. I could tell you that my family used to be archdukes and decades of poor leadership caused us to fall from grace. In truth I want the power and the title,just to have it.”

She stepped forward and stood in front of the window I was gazing out of. Making me meet her gray eyes.

“What was the goal that drove you?” she asked.

“My memories, I don’t even know my true name, Sten just gave one to me on a whim when I was looking at the moons one night.” I said.

Her words had some truth to them. As months passed, I thought less and less about my true origins and my purpose in this world. I kept gaining power purely because I enjoyed it. Safety and security were both factors but, in the end, I loved being powerful.

She stepped forward, closing the distance between us, she reached down taking my hand in hers and started running her thumb across my knuckles.

“What does your past really matter in the end? If you learn the truth of your origins what will change”

“Nothing?Everything? Who knows?” I said.

I gently pulled her toward me, we had been dancing around this for weeks, the constant work involved in preparing for a siege made it difficult to have any real time alone. So, any intimate contact between us was limited to soft touches and momentary caresses. We began to close the distance until a knock at the door interrupted us. We separated and I made my way to open the door. A man in armor walked in and saluted.

“My lady, I have the latest scouting report.”

I gave her a wave as I left, and he gave me a nod of acknowledgement. I have to get that woman alone at some point.