Elsewhere: Alfheim

Chapter 12: Graduation

Of the fourteen hours before the ceremony I was only able to rest for six. The other eight were spent training with the mask to see what I could do with it. Sophia has wings, so the first thing I tried was flight, but given the nature of the strings it proved to be difficult. How does one fly with strings without revealing the strings? It was like working with a handicap. In the end flying wasn't what I ended up doing this time, which admittedly was disappointing due to the experience with the spirits of Alfheim.

I smile wondering what they would say if they could see me bumbling around here. They'd probably think it was amusing that I was only able to get six hours of sleep before the ceremony that Sophia is now making a speech at.

"Without further ado I offer the stage to my inheritor, who will now demonstrate the secret technique passed down to me from my master." She gestures for me to step to the front of the stage.

I oblige and bow still feeling guilty about the half-truths I've been telling since I arrived here. I repeat the flawed technique from the day before producing the mask once again. The mountain town cheers at this making me feel even worse. I don the mask and begin to step onto air earning silence from the crowd. It's fortunate that they can't see the expression of nervousness I wear behind the mask. To them this probably looks like an effortless feat, but I can only see the strings through one eye, so it takes a lot of focus to not miss one.

Stepping on the strings that I expand to fit my feet gives the illusion that I no longer need ground to walk. They stay silent as I continue to walk above their heads. The thought crosses my mind of the possibility that they're holding their breath in case I fall. Sophia would never have allowed me to perform this without me knowing exactly how long I could do it though.

I've got about a five-minute window before I become mentally exhausted, so I head back to the stage and touch down with a minute left. My back is to the crowd purposely as I remove the mask. I breathe out a quick, sweet, sigh of relief and regain my composure before turning back to them. I'm holding the mask in my right hand when I turn back to them. I take another bow and straighten up to say, "Inguz."

I expect to hear cheers or applause but instead the silence continues.

"Sophia. Who is this? What they just did shouldn't be possible. What have you done?" An elder who slams their staff asks sternly as they step forward.

Sophia gives a soft smile with obvious guilt on their face, which also confuses me. She only responds with, "Wyrd."

"Don't you insult me young one!" The Elder responds getting progressively more upset.

"That isn't the intention here Elder. I chose to believe, and it's already too late to do anything about it."

"Answer me truthfully! Is this a Sage?!"

"They are The Wandering Sage. The one who knows. The one who goes."

"They will be the death of us! We will kill them before they can threaten us since you didn't!"

At that my attention snaps to Sophia. "What is going on?! Kill me? What did I do wrong? Was I not supposed to be able to do this? Was this all a set up?"

Sophia now directs that guilty smile to me. "You know...I've known this whole time."

I start to panic. "Known what?"

"That you're lying. You've been lying since I met you and so have I. The truth is everything that you've done has been impossible. You said you started walking until you ended up here, but that's impossible. This is an island; you can't walk here from Alfheim and I'm the only one here that can produce a rune. That's literally a thing of legends. You're not even an elf and you can produce runes? You say you walked across an entire ocean to arrive here? You succeed with Inguz on the first try with no changes to your body?