[Choose Your Own Adventure] Part 26

Hey guys!

Just as an update: more Master Arcanist soon! I'm still recovering from jaw surgery, and once I get back to my normal writing group meetings, I'll be posting more chapters.

Hopefully that's okay!

<3

[Part 26]

You decide to join the Arcanist Festival.

And why not? You’re arcanist now, and the entire island will be there. Well, except for Wyre. You made sure he would be safe, at least for the time being.

With confidence in your step, you head to the beach, leaving the two boats to fend for themselves. Who’s going to take them? No one’s around. They’re perfectly safe.

The lantern lights, bonfires, and rambunctious music made it easy to navigate your way through the streets of your humble town. The windows are dark, and the houses cold, but you know that no one will go home until dawn.

Before you make it halfway, your mimic eldrin turns to you, his pointy ears twitching.

“My arcanist,” Twain says. “I don’t want any of the mystic seekers to find me… So, I think I should transform into something else for the duration of the party.” He pats a paw to his lips. “Oh! I know. I’ll just take the form of a leviathan again! That girl already saw me as one, right? She’ll think you’re a leviathan arcanist, and everything will be perfect.”

Before you can add any input, Twain narrows his little kitten eyes at you.

“Don’t mess up our bluff, though. People are after me!”

Then he leaps off your shoulder and lands on the cobblestone of the main streets. He huffs and then shakes around.

Before transforming, he glances back at you, his short little bobtail up in the air. “Mimic arcanists can signal to their eldrin to transform, even when we’re not around. You know how you’re blinking without thinking about it? But if you thinkabout blinking, you can control when it happens? That’s kinda how you can ask me to transform. Just… think about it. Okay? You got that? No confusion?”

Then Twain curls up and transforms.

In a matter of seconds, he shifts and writhes, and then erupts into scales, fins, and a serpent-like body.

The mark on your forehead burns with inner magic. Instead of a blank star, you now have a leviathan wrapped around the points!

Twain is rather large, now. You remember from the cove—he’s practically an anaconda.

“Let’s go,” he says in his deeper voice. “But not too long… This form is straining me… I’m still young!”

The two of you head over to the largest beach on the island—South Shore! There’s a lively atmosphere, and you can hear the pulse of celebration, even through the sand.

Every person here seems to be in one of two gatherings. The first is around Nini! She has her leviathan, and people are asking her questions or offering her food.

The other person is… Brixin! He’s so tall and beafy, it’s hard to miss him.

And he has a baby salamander by his feet! The red-scaled lizard is adorable, and Brixin is showing him to everyone who walks by.

What do you do?

A) Gather your own crowd. “Look at my leviathan, everyone!”

B) Walk over to Nini’s group. “Hey, girl. What a coincidence, am I right?”

C) Walk over to Nini’s group. “Hey, Nini! It’s me! Look!”

D) Walk over to Brixin’s group. “Hey, there! I’m an arcanist, too!”

E) Walk over to Brixin’s group. “Pftt. You call that a mystical creature?”

F) Stand around until people notice your eldrin.

G) Search around for the librarian to tell him first.