Kopius woke up to the sounds of birds squawking in the tree canopy. He had seen birds, heard birds; hell, Cici had tackled a bird back in Escher Pass. Yet, the cacophony that he opened his eyes to now sounded like every feathered creature in the forest was arguing over who got the early morning's last worm. He made passing attempts to cover his ears and eyes; he would have buried his head in a pillow if one were available. Alas, the world would not quiet at his whim.

Before the noises could cause an early temper tantrum, Cici's musical instrument came to life. The melody was soft and familiar, warding off the shrill reverberations. Whether it was his imagination or not, Kopius couldn't tell, the infernal debate of the birds fell deep into the background as if they now whispered.

As the music grew in volume and pace, Kopius rubbed his eyes and opened them to the morning sun. When the blur cleared his peripheral and the world came into focus a calm rested upon him the likes he had rarely felt. The music flowed into his soul like a warm bath, cleansing him of distracting thoughts and frustrations. He felt lifted and loved; heard and seen. A relief surrounded him, embraced him as if it were a loving mother protecting him from a cruel world.

For a few precious minutes, Kopius absorbed the sound and rested in its peace until tears ran unabashedly down his cheeks. The song pulled at his heart until it gave him a name: Canon. The name of the song was Canon and Cici played a rendition that was exponentially more beautiful than the original had ever been. The big man played to the forest as if it were his attentive audience and finished the melody with a final, gentle strum of his guitar.

"That was fucking beautiful man," Kopius whispered after Cici had finished. He wiped his eyes and felt rejuvenated.

Cici, facing away from Kopius, did not give an immediate response. The big man stood there in silence taking in deep breaths with his head tilted towards the sun. After a few brief moments, Cici looked to wipe away his own tears before turning to face his friend.

"It is beautiful," Cici replied with a reverence he had yet to display towards anything except his weapon. "I wish it had a name."

"It does. The name popped into my mind as you were playing."

"Really? Let's have it then!"

"It's called Canon," Kopius answered. "I think the version I like was in D-Minor."

"Canon," Cici repeated as if the word had never been spoken before.

"Some dude named Tupac–wait, no not him," Kopius looked around trying to remember. "Pikachu… that doesn't sound right either. Pachelbel, that's it: Johann Pachelbel."

"Praise be Johann of Pachelbel," Cici recited in thanks.

"He's not– that's his name, his last name."

"And who is this D-Minor?"

"I don't know," Kopius said plainly. "I mean–it's a tone or a version of it or something. It's not a person."

"What should we call my rendition?" Cici asked with a joyful twinkle in his eyes. "Canon in C?"

"I'm pretty sure that's a thing already."

"Canon in A then? For Astral."

"I think they used all the letters… " Kopius answered. "I guess it doesn't matter considering we aren't on my planet. So, whichever sounds best to you." He finished with a shrug.

Cici indicated with a shake of his head that he did not like this idea.

"Ok," Kopius placated. "Ummm, how about Astral Canon?"

"Astral's Canon," the big bard repeated with a smile.

"Just Astral," Kopius corrected.

"What do you think Luna?" Cici asked, pulling his instrument in a close embrace. He gently stroked the instrument as if to coax an answer from it–her… the instrument. "Yes, yes; it has a lovely sound to it."

"I'll be honest lad," Cici announced, returning his attention to Kopius. "Your naming conventions have been uninspiring up to this point. Your… your Sparta's and the other one, the one for your Push spell." He snapped his fingers around trying to recall the phrase.

Kopius took in a deep breath and let it out in an exhausted exhale, "Piss off."

"Yes, that!" The big man blurted. "But here you have done me a great honor! Clever, concise–powerful."

"Sure thing," Kopius replied deadpan. "I take it Luna approves?"

"Of course she does, didn't you hear her?"

Kopius just raised his arms in half agreement, half I-don't-know-how-to-reply-to-that gesture.

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

"Excellent!" Cici stated. "Now let's eat!"

***

By the time they had finished eating and packing up camp Kopius had explained the show he had witnessed the previous night. The further he had gotten into his telling the crazier it all sounded. Still, he relayed the information as he had seen it.

"You sound like you're on that horror root again lad." Cici joked.

"What is horror root again?" Kopius asked rhetorically.

"It's a mind bender, a spirit spotter," Cici answered but elaborated once he saw the confusion on his friend's face. "You smoke it and you see things that aren't there."

"Oh," Kopius said, shaking his head. "No, I haven't tried the stuff yet."

"Best to keep clear of it or you'll be seeing more than a few blue dots chasing each other."

"I'll keep that in mind."

"Did you check the backside of that log? Anything there?"

"I have and all that is there is a giant hole with pink residue all around it."

"Like soot?"

"I didn't touch it," Kopius admitted. "So–maybe."

"Let's have a look!" Cici said in his normal excited curiosity.

It took both their strength to roll the large log over enough to see the site of impact. Cici let out a lowkey whistle when he saw the crater in the wood. Pinkish dust covered the affected area and sparkled in the sun depending on the angle they looked at it. After enough examination, Cici pulled a knife from his thigh holster and carved away the wood until he found a hole in its center.

A few minutes of chipping away to make the hole bigger revealed the back end of a slender rod that had all the makings of arrow nock and metal fletchings. Cici glanced at Kopius and raised his eyebrows. Kopius made a similar facial expression, pulled out one of his kunai's and carved further into the log. It wasn't long until he could get his slender hand into the hole to grip the rod. With the necessary wiggling and swearing required to dislodge an embedded shaft, the rod pulled free.

Too short to be an arrow, but an arrow none the less, the two men examined the item. At eight inches in length, the bolt was made from a black metal; as were the fletchings they had first seen. It was slick and unmarred from its impact. The bullet point end didn't appear sharpened which led Cici to one conclusion.

"This was imbued," Cici stated.

"Like with magic?"

The big man nodded.

"What kind?"

"I'm at a loss there," Cici answered while rubbing his beard in contemplation. "Green, purple, blue, red...yellow even; never pink."

"What are you talking about?"

"When a weapon is imbued, the magic that was used can leave a marker… at least for a short while–to my understanding that is."

"A short while?"

"I didn't study magic, lad," Cici admitted with his unbridled confidence. "An archer would be better suited with that knowledge… " The big man paused for a moment, snapped his fingers as one does when discovering a solution, smiled wider than normal and waggled a finger at Kopius. "Or a witch."

"Do we have access to either of those?" Kopius asked as he looked around.

"Well, not any archers that I'm aware of," he said and wagged the bolt at Kopius, "and I don't think your friend here would be much for chatting."

"And a witch?"

"Yes–yes, a witch… " Cici trailed off again, shading his eyes from the rising sun. He looked to the sky as if he were looking for one now. Kopius followed his gaze to find only a blue sky and a random assortment of wispy clouds before the big man spoke again. "Did you happen to see the moons last night?"

"Yea, I guess," Kopius shrugged. "I wasn't paying that much attention to them."

"Were they full?"

"They were bright, I don't know about full."

"Bright will do!" Cici replied with a clap of his hands. "We should get moving though, probably only have a day or two until they close shop."

"The witch?"

"It's more than one, lad," Cici said with a smirk. "They have a market of sorts but we can only enter at particular times; a few days before and after the moons are full."

"Do we really need to go there?" Kopius asked in all honesty. "I mean, I really don't care what magic was used on this bolt. Besides, don't we have some evil woman to serenade and stomp out?"

"That we do lad, that we do," Cici tempered his growing excitement for a moment. "But the ladies over at Ashes & Embers might be able to help with that. Even if not, that Ovarite we found back in the cave will get us the royal treatment, barter for supplies–and pay off an outstanding debt."

Cici rushed through that last item, almost coughing it out. Now having a name for the amethyst looking crystal in his inventory, Kopius had a better understanding of Cici's reaction when they had found it. Not that it mattered, it was the big man's personal business and if he could square a debt while bartering for much needed supplies, who was Kopius to protest. The slight indignity Cici spoke with made Kopius chuckle in response.

"Alright," Kopius replied with a laugh, "if you insist."

"Oh, I insist," the bard insisted.

"What kind of witches are we talking about here anyways?" Kopius asked. "Are they flying around on broom sticks? Burned on crosses?"

Cici raised a single eyebrow as if to say, Excuse me?

"Pointy hats, green skin, moles on the noses type stuff?" Kopius continued to inquire.

"No," Cici said plainly, "nothing of the sort."

"Is this a coven? Like a bunch of women standing around a cauldron sharing an eyeball?"

"No," Cici answered as if insulted. "What kind of witches do you have in your land?"

"Oh, we don't have witches where I come from." Kopus replied.

Cici opened his mouth to say something but closed it. Repeated the process again but said nothing. They stared at each other for a few moments and it was the first time Cici regarded Kopius as a bit senile.

"Kopius, I don't know where you are getting all that from," Cici began slowly. "They are a coven of sorts but only in the sense that they gather from time to time; more of a Collective sharing information, learnings, and trade. Some of the oldest magic users known to Metem, ranging in power, knowledge and come in every shape or size imaginable."

"My bad," Kopius said with apologetically raised hands. "Obvoiusly we got it wrong where I'm from."

"Just know this my friend," Cici replied with a flirtatious smile, "they love crystals, especially Ovarite, they love grafeen but most importantly; they love yours truly."

Cici ended it by spanking Kopius on the rear and a quick head nod that said 'let's get going.'

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