4 Chapter 4

The morning after was followed by a throbbing headache and an empty guardpost. Ria had left just as she said, leaving Desmond on his own, rubbing his temple achingly from the overindulgence of mead.

'So shes gone now. I wonder what her plans are.'

When he left his spot, nobody asked any questions while the empty guardpost was quickly replaced by someone.

'I guess she wasn't really that noticeable here. Maybe we'll cross paths one day. Now to do something about this headache.'

Desmond channeled his magicka hoping that his healing spell will cure his hangover. After a few attempts proving unsuccessful, he contemplated whether or not the properties of the spell should be changed.

'Could I do it again? Maybe I got lucky the first time with the ward. Let's try it out. I gotta think of remedies. A purge of invading toxins. Mind clearing.'

He focused his thoughts on the exact thing he wanted his magicka to do, then a few seconds later, the soft yellow light of his restorative mana transformed into a light green color, flowing through his body, making the aching headache slowly dissipate.

'It worked! But is it supposed to be this easy? I wonder.'

He didn't know enough about Magicka, only that stronger and more complex spells required more magic power and that one can learn spells from either books or experimenting.

"You there. The Matriarch requires your presence."

His thoughts were interupted when a middle-aged woman with short white hair and wrinkles approached. She wore a dark robe similar to his giving the notion that she too was a spellcaster. Since she wasn't wearing the tribal foresworn armor, it was likely she was a witch.

'Hella wants to see me? Im not sure if I can compose myself in front of her.'

"Follow me."

As he followed her through the camp he decided to see if she would answer some of his inquiries.

"Pardon me, but may I ask you a question?"

"Speak."

"I was wondering how easy, or should I say, how long it takes for someone to learn a spell on their own. Or even create a new one."

"Spell creation is a dangerous, and meticulous process. Magicka is afterall a complex energy that cant be so easily reshaped to ones will. Those who can use magicka can cast a spell after a bit of practice and guidance. The more in tune you are with the energies of Aetherius, the more powerful you are destined to become."

"Aetherius? What is that?"

"Another realm separate from ours. It's where Magnus resides, the god of Magic."

'A God? I guess it makes sense.'

"Here we are. Pass through the cave and head to the stairwell at the end and go up the tower."

The cave was the same as the day he left. Dark and wet. He reached the end and walked up the spiral staircase, reaching a wooden door that led to a tower facing the opposite side of the camp.

He knocked on the old door.

"Enter."

He stepped inside and came upon a small room with no ceiling and a balcony overlook. Hella stood outside with a black bird resting on her arm.

"I see that you haven't tried to escape yet."

"I admit, the people here seem a bit...odd. But it's not such a bad place to live."

"Indeed."

The bird on her arm spread it's wings before taking flight.

"Tell me, young Breton, and i want your unbiased opinion. Have you ever felt like a...caged bird?"

"A caged bird? If you mean do I feel trapped here, then not at all."

"I meant, caged inside your mind. Locked in and unable to escape."

It was a thought provoking idea. He stood there thinking for a few seconds before answering.

"When you say it like that. Then-ah!"

Hella had approached him while had been lost in thought and stood only a few inches from his face. Desmond could see down her cleavage as her wide pitch black eyes stared into his.

"-Ah, I-I mean, ahem. I do, uh, feel like that. Like this isn't my body even though it probably is, but somehow, I feel like a foreign entity in someone else's life. Does that...make any sense?"

Instead of answering she sighed and went over to a small chest where she pulled out a piece of parchment. She handed it over to Desmond who looked at it curiously before unraveling it. Inside was a painting of a young lady standing beside an older woman.

"That is a picture of me and my mother."

Desmond was shocked. he stared at the young woman in the picture who seemed not much older than him.

'She looks completely normal, but still petty.'

"You looked quite beautiful, Matriarch."

"Yes, I did," she closed her eyes and took a deep breath before continuing, "It was my mother.

She was a witch. Obsessed with obtaining greater power. Power was everything to her. Those that had power, had control, as she always said. She...forced me into performing rituals with her. With other witches. Until the time came for the final one."

Desmond balled his fists with anger. 'A ritual to turn a normal young woman into a big breasted bimbo! Disgusting! Shame on these witches!'

"Hella, you dont have to continue. I understand." Desmond sighed. "It's not your fault you look like this. And...I must confess. I have also been giving you dirty looks, and I apologize. I now know to look beneath the surface and see the real you inside."

Hella stared at Desmond with wide eyes. She had been a hagraven for as long as she could remember, and this was the first time someone had shown compassion towards her, even though she had grown numb many moons ago.

She was lost for words. She no longer looked at the young Breton as another pawn, or her next meal, but...something more.

Desmond wrapped his arms around the Raven haired beauty, and pulled her in for a hug.

'Her breasts are so soft...no! snap out of it!'

If anyone were to walk in, they would see a man and a hagraven embracing one another.

"Hella. I'm going to find a way to turn you back, or at least undo some of the damages."

'Like her enormous breasts! Dear God!'

Hella smiled and melted into Desmonds chest, feeling happy that someone was actually thinking about her.

"I won't stop you from trying. I myself have spent countless years trying to undo my curse, but to no avail."

Hella separated from the hug and walked over to a stack of books, pulling out a few and handing them to Desmond.

"These may be of use if you truly wish to help, but I doubt your efforts will prove fruitful. Nevertheless, the spells in them will aid you in your time of need. One is a simple conjuration spell that summons a spirit animal. The other two are alteration spells, night vision and detect life. And do not show these to Ascila. She's burnt enough of them already."

"I'll see what I can do. Perhaps I can create a new spell that can help you."

When Desmond left, Hella shook her head and let out a ragged sigh.

"Create a new spell, he said. Hehe. He speaks as if spell creation is so simple. Silly boy."

Desmond hadn't realized, but his creation of the cure poison spell and modified healing spell were feats not so easily done. What would take years of study and practice came to Desmond with but a flick of his imagination and will.

******

The young man sat inside an empty tent and for the next several hours, read over the books.

"This page says Familiars are spirits that are, well, most Familiar to you, as per the name. They can be summoned from anywhere including some God named Hircine and his hunting grounds. They can also just be from dead animals or even from the plane of someplace called Oblivion...interesting.

As for alteration, it is the process of altering an object's form into something else either temporarily or in some cases, permanently."

The night vision book required altering the eyes to catch even the smallest amount of light in dark areas. The detect life was something similar but instead see all living creatures in an area.

"I think Ascila said that the Matriarch had fused her soul with a Raven spirit to gain her power and physical appearance. Do Ravens symbolize beauty?"

When he managed to summon a spirit successfully, it turned out to be none other than a raven. A raven that can shoot lightning tendrils. It stuck around for about 2 minutes before disappearing.

The night vision spell worked when he noticed he could see things better in the darkness of his tent. The detect life spell was rather interesting as it also altered the eyes but instead of capturing light, it captured life energy in the form of a red outline of the target.

"Interesting. If I can alter my eyes to capture life energy then I can alter them to capture spirit. This way, I can see just what's going on in Hella's soul."

It took Desmond until nightfall to get the spell to work correctly. Several times his eyes started bleeding or became partially blinded. It wasn't until midnight that he thought he figured it out.

"It...is it working?"

Desmond stood outside his tent and watched some Foresworn walking about and chatting. When he squinted his eyes, he found that one of the foresworn suddenly turned transparent until he became a blue misty shape of themselves.

"It's his spirit! I'm sure of it. Tomorrow I'll go see Hella."