“Then I’d better get ready.”
With that, Elda left the kitchen.
She returned a few minutes later, having changed into a white shirt, blue cardigan, and jeans.
“Sooner I get this over with, the better. I’m off to the forest. You coming?” she asked.
“I am. Just a minute.”
Kyleid ran to his room and grabbed the bag with the measuring device.
Elda walked out the kitchen door and into the backyard.
The backyard was much larger than the front. Many types of flowers grew there, though the only roses were some small, double-flowered, yellow blooms that grew alongside the walls.
Kyleid recognized a tree with small white flowers—an elderberry. But that was the only tree he knew. Never one for horticulture, he was unfamiliar with much of the garden. Shrubbery fenced in the perimeter, and beyond that was a gentle slope covered in soft green grass.
It’s blinding.
The sunlight itself wasn’t actually all that bright, but Kyleid felt momentarily dizzy. How long had it been since he’d ventured outside on a bright, sunny day? He’d spent the last few months cooped up in his workshop, slaving over his prototype. He’d basically only gone out to get groceries.
Elda made her way through the garden and out a small wooden gate nestled in the hedge. Turning, she headed into the trees.
Sunlight bled between the branches of the oaks and beeches, brightening the forest. Low-lying underbrush was all around, but plenty of paths were wide enough for human use.
Elda moved quickly, with purpose. Kyleid could barely keep up; he had to scramble to catch her a few times. After a while, he saw the river flowing through the trees. Elda left the path, stomping over the underbrush to the bank. The river itself was about five meters across, and the forest continued on the other side. The water wasn’t particularly high, but it flowed fast and clear.
At last Elda stopped, and Kyleid was finally able to catch his breath.
“Really? You’re winded from that? You really ought to walk more,” Elda said, shaking her head.
“I…clearly could use more exercise… Is this the place?”
“Yeah. Claire loves it. Often comes here alone. When she proudly displayed a sapphire ring, they must have thought she was showing it off. Highly likely a neighbor pulled a prank on her.”
With that, Elda began chanting under her breath. Dark blue threads emerged from her cardigan, wrapping themselves around her.
Kyleid hastily took the measuring device out of his backpack. To ensure he didn’t drop it, he attached a thick leather strap to the box and hung it from his neck.
He opened the lid and took out the pouch with the vibration crystals inside. Then he loosened the bottom layer of the box, flipping it over to display the five hooks he’d fixed there. He hung each of the vibration crystals on these hooks in order from smallest to largest and was ready. The crystals dangled from a piece of string, swaying in the breeze.
Much like the first time he’d seen Elda do magic, the threads multiplied around her body, eventually forming a single blue cloth.
Strange… Glancing from Elda to the device, Kyleid was baffled. She was clearly using magic, but the vibration crystals weren’t responding at all.
Is she too far away?
He’d never tried using the device outdoors. He was standing two or three meters from her, trying to stay out of her way. Maybe that was the problem.
Kyleid moved closer to her from behind, a step at a time. The two smallest crystals began vibrating. Each gave off a soft, throbbing light. The crystals’ reactions always came in stages; as the magic energy increased, they not only vibrated, but began glowing. The longer they glowed, the stronger the magic they detected. The smallest of the crystals responded to the faintest magic, and at the highest volume the device could detect, all the crystals would be vibrating. Then the light wouldn’t pulse at all but instead shine brightly.
Elda’s shawl left her shoulders, drifting away as if carried by the wind.
At last, the shawl vanished into the river.
A few seconds later, a dark blue pillar of light rose from the water about a meter off the bank. But this shone only for a moment before vanishing in the blink of an eye.
Elda’s magic stopped, and the crystals stilled. Kyleid took a notebook out of his pocket, recording the results of the measurement. For now, he could only roughly guess the numbers, but if he could prove these stones measured magical energy accurately, eventually he’d be able to connect them to a meter that would be more exact.
“Seems like she definitely dropped it in the river,” Elda said, turning around. “Well? You manage to measure me this time?”
“Yes, thanks. What was that spell?”
“I was calling to the sapphire in the ring. A spirit responded, telling me where it was. Now the question is how to get it back.”
She folded her arms, staring at the water’s surface as she thought. Kyleid had nothing helpful to add, so he just watched.
Suddenly, all five vibration crystals began shaking. Light pulsed out of them several times like a camera flash. Not only that, each crystal swung wildly on its hook, as if trying to smash into the others. Kyleid had never seen them move like this.
“What the… You aren’t using magic, so how…”
“Quiet,” Elda snapped, stepping protectively in front of him.
A horse appeared before them, soaking wet as if it had just risen out of the river. Water dripped from its mane and tail. Kyleid could tell immediately this was no ordinary horse. Its eyes shone with clear intent, staring directly at them.
“It’s a Kelpie. It lives in this river. Rarely shows itself, but it looks like it’s after something today. They’re dangerous, so don’t provoke it. Just back away. And do something about the noise that device makes, if you can.”
“I’ll…try…”
The five crystals still flashed violently, hummed loudly, and spun on their hooks.
The crystals react to neighbors as well?
Was the Kelpie using magic? Or were the stones reacting to its very existence? He wasn’t sure. Unfortunately, he’d never considered how to stop the crystals’ reactions.
Oh. Distance. I can just move away.
Remembering how the device hadn’t reacted to Elda’s spell at first, Kyleid took the strap off his neck. He held the device behind him and began slowly backing up. But the Kelpie shook itself as if to stop him, stamping its hind legs on the ground.
Certain it was gearing up to attack, Kyleid froze.
Compounding the threat, the Kelpie bared its teeth and let out a loud whinny. Satisfied that Kyleid had completely stopped moving, it turned to Elda.
“You want to recover the ring? I could give you a ride,” it said. Its voice was chillingly cold, a low rumble from the bowels of the earth.
When Elda said nothing, the Kelpie pressed her for a reply.
“Or should I fetch it for you? Doesn’t have to be you. I could take that human there. Would take no time at all.”