Noa had arrived, well into the middle of festivities — or maybe the end? Not like she could see what was going on. Just like how no one could see the glaze that had settled over her milk-white eyes. Ne kept Noa’s pace, chuffing when a step was too uneven or when she bumped into another.
The blind knight pulled out her pipe, feeling the enhancements of Seluria’s buff as she walked to the stage. With Ne beside her, most of the participants made sure to give Noa some room, although plenty of the squires greeted her and stepped aside as she strode ever closer to the stage.
In truth, Noa had only a vague idea of the performance she were to perform. Unfortunately she had missed some others, but her sensitive ears could hear whispers of the whimsy they had experienced earlier on. Ne growled as Noa stumbled, grabbing a fistful of the albino tiger’s pelt to steady herself.
“
I’m fine, I’m fine.” Noa said, “
I swear to drunk I’m not— wait, that’s not right.” Noa swayed, and if only to keep Ne lecturing her further, she pretended it was a dance. Her hands waved in front of her, arms weaving like seaweed. Her palms were always pointed to her face yet somehow they never hit the pipe stuck firmly between her scarred lips.
Her lower half, from her hips down to her feet, didn’t match the rhythm of her arms and wrists. Somehow, she was able to smile despite the pipe. She breathed in and didn’t seem to need to exhale. A huff from Ne to remind Noa that she was at the steps that would lead her onto the stairs. Her uncanny dance stopped, and she pulled the pipe from her lips. She breathed out, hollowing out every bit of breath from her lungs.
The smoke moved before like a hound in search of prey while Noa took her time in walking up the wooden stairs. The heavy wood of her sandals could be heard, echoing louder than they should. Materializing onto the stage were musicians and their instruments. Noa had played them all at one point, but more importantly, these instruments were created in Cais Vihara, her first home before she was taken to the Knights.
A long, T-shaped harp with a multitude of strings with a woman with spindly fingers like a spider set to build an intricate web. Two flute players with two sets of flutes, both on their knees and staring out to the audience. A set of drums, some big and some small, with the largest being upright and behind the drummer. Beside the drums was another musician who held up the ceremonial bells of the monk, like a tree branch with a multitude of chiming leaves. The last musician to form from Noa’s smoke rested on their knees, holding a stringed instrument similar to Noa’s.
The thick blocks of wood in the center of her sole echoed out once, then twice, then three times.
Somehow, music came from the smoke: the flute players and drummer demanded the attention of the audience as Noa finally walked onto the stage.
She moved in leisure, heading to center stage in steady steps. With Ne’s guidance she faced the crowd. Without a word, she took another heavy drag from her pipe before letting more smoke reach out to the audience. The scent of cloves and lavender clung to it as it nestled itself between people’s legs or the gap of the arm to the small of their wait’s. It caressed the necks and jaws of men and women like a dog nuzzling it’s soft snout lovingly into their owner.
A whisper, a hush, from the smoke. Noa took another drag, her heart beating slower. As she exhaled, a dome of smoke formed.
“
Let them see,” she whispered to the unseeable contractor, “
what I see if I make them feel what I feel.” If she failed, well… best not to focus on the negatives. Noa placed her pipe into her robe, pulled the sanshin from behind her, and fiddled with the strings. Rapid twangs that were unsettling but needed echoed about as she warmed her fingers up. She slowed down, fingers moving along the slender neck of her instrument, listening to the pitch. When she was certain it was perfect, the flute players whistled into the instruments in agreement.
The harp player joined in: like rainfall pattering on ceramic rood tiles, a melody all on their own. A few moments was given to the harp, and then the song started. The flute could be heard, sounding like the fluttering of butterfly wings and the chirp of birds at the same time. The harp players fingers continued to pluck at strings while Noa and the other sanshin player began to start the rhythm for the entire song.
“
Ever on and on I continue, circling,” Noa’s voice was deep, uncommon for a woman as small and petite as she was, but it reverberated clearly despite all the other instruments at work. Her voice would not be deafened by the others.
A somber melody flowed out from the stage. The velvet-rich voice of Noa and the steady, slow beginning of the performance moved like the blue-gray waves of a ocean during early spring. The smoke was like a fog, obscuring vision yet cool and salty: a sea breeze before the sun had reach it’s highest point. Then, light parted through the pale mist as the drummer began. Like a beating heart, the whole gamut of song could finally be heard as the musicians of smoke began to play alongside Noa.
Not that Noa demanded attention, allowing the flute player to cut through the steadiness and take the song deeper into the melody.
Besides, this wasn’t just about the music. It was about delighting the senses: all of them. With the song underway, Noa focused her magic in showing them a world they all had gone blind to.
Within the air, all the participants would be able to see small, minuscule creatures of light. Perhaps they resembled shapes of animals, but something was off about the lambent, pearly beings that hummed and throbbed within the air. Reaching out to touch one would grace one’s fingertips with a subtle warmth, like feeling sunlight after sitting in the shade for so long.
Pure beings of the arcane, these simple organisms derived from the ley lines throughout
Arethil. Only seen by powerful fae, or even those gifted with a sight unlike others, they were beings born within the leys and rivers of magical light. Unseen by many, unfelt by many, for now, within the time of Noa’s song, could they be seen.
The song continued, and with a bit of effort from the blind knight, these creatures moved in sinuous rivulets through the crowds of people, flashing colors bright blue or green, lavender or pink, white and orange. Shimmering like fallen stardust, the lights continued weaving between people. The scent of cloves was no longer present, instead only a soft white musk with aromatic rose and fresh coconut pulp to remind the viewers of a leisurely bubble bath.
Others may have discerned other scents, like fresh rainwater or a field of flowers. Perhaps the scent of cedar or moist earth after rain. Whichever was pleasant, whichever brought on fair memories. Plenty of people could smell a loved one, a particular someone that was cherished in their heart.
Sight, sound, touch, and scent continued to evolve with the song. Looking up ahead, along the dome of smoke was now a night sky filled with bright stars. Some where silver, some were red, and some were even blue. These stars flickered like firelight, casting shadows from the light illuminating from the small airborne creatures of the leys. Looking beneath one’s feet, all would be able to see these river-like ley lines of pure, unblemished magic. Somehow they seemed so far down, yet no one would fall into their bright abyss.
The song built into it’s loud and uplifting crescendo. A sugar-like sweetness would waft into gaping mouths. Settling over the tongues, residing in their soft cheek. Crisp like a pear, sugary like a peach, soon all were drenched in the ambrosia. It was far better than their last meal could ever taste.
The music reverberated within the bodies of everyone nearby. For some it was a sizzle and for others it matched the pitter-patter of rain on a desert. Animals of all kinds throughout Arethil, magical and non magical, formed and began to move around. Elephants and lions walked with swimming sea creatures like whales and squids. A school of fish swarm in a pulsing sphere, their scales sparkling like diamonds.
Birds flew over ahead, eagles with sparrows, ravens with finches. Their feathers brighter than a rainbow, reflecting the colors onto the people like bright lanterns.
It was a joyous sight, and it hid the fact that all of those on the stage, including Noa and Ne, to appear like silhouettes. Their forms were inky black shadows, rising higher and higher as if there was a setting sun. Her illusion magic slowly began to
fade as the song began to steady back into it’s original rhythm. The animals shimmered off into nothing, the strange beings of ley-light and magic faded from view, and scent and taste were returned to the taste of ale and the scent of smoked meats and baked goods.
The smoke receded, filtering off into nothingness as if it was never even there to begin with. The stars faded away, and the only warmth that could be felt would be from another’s touch or another swig of ale.
Noa stepped forward, the block of wood from her sandals clacking against the wooden stage and echoing out. The last to leave were the musicians of smoke, and with them their instruments and sound. The only thing that could be heard was the twang of Noa’s sole sanshin, and as she got closer to the edge of the stage her footsteps quickened.
The blind knight of dusk stood at the very edge, about ready to tip over. Ne was stalking towards her, but the song ended. Noa raised up her sanshin, only one hand grasping the swan-neck of her instrument.
“
THANK YOU ELBION AND GOOD NIGHT!” She shouted, her voice slurring despite sounding completely fine when she had been singing. Noa took a deep bow, and only then did she fall over the stage.
