Tell-Tale Lamp
Ada was a young mage, studying at the elite Academy under the tutelage of Alistair, renowned for his own remarkable mastery of the arcane arts, and that at a very young age. He was only a few years her senior. But the pair had grown close over the years of her study.
While her skills were raw and promising, Ada was far better at rune weaving and ritual casting than she was at practical applications of magic. Too much science involved, not enough creative liberty. As such, Alistair had given her the task to come up with a tool that could ease a day-to-day task. He himself was known to be a skilled medic. So, in an attempt to impress her mentor, Ada worked on an instrument she hoped would help medics better monitor their patients.
Her idea was simple: a lampwork glass sphere, it would light up in sync with a person’s heart rate. A tethering spell would link the sphere to the patient. With her initial experiments successful, she was eager to show Alistair her proof of concept.
"This sphere," Ada began, pointing to the floating ball in front of her, "is enchanted to respond to the heartbeat of whoever I link it to," she said. The small ball was now still dull.
"It's supposed to help with medical diagnostics by visually displaying the heart's rhythm. It should work over bigger distances, but I haven't figured out how to account for the magical interference fully... yet.. ." Her voice trailed off. But Alistair nodded, encouraging her on. "That sounds quite impressive, Ada. How does the spell work?"
Ada smiled, happy to have his interest. "The crystal is attuned to the holder's heartbeat through a simple incantation. I based it on Arktos’ 3rd principle of connection. Once it picks up the beat, the light will glow and pulse in sync with it."
"Let's see if it works," Ada said, a hint of excitement in her voice.
To demonstrate, she took the sphere and held it to her chest, muttering the activation spell under her breath. After a brief moment, the magical light began to glow with a steady, gentle pulse.
Alistair watched the light, fascinated by the smooth synchronization.
As Ada focused on the magical light, her heart rate quickened a bit, a normal response to the anticipation of seeing her instrument in full action. But as Alistair stepped closer to her to get a better look, Ada felt a surge of warmth spread through her, causing her heart to race even faster. And the sphere responded in kind.
Alistair raised an eyebrow, noticing the sudden spike in Ada's heart rate through the lamp’s glow. "Interesting," he remarked, his voice filled with curiosity, and a smile played on his lips. "That made your heart jump."
Ada blushed. "I suppose it does," she admitted sheepishly. "I hadn't realized."
A silence settled between them, punctuated only by the soft glow of the magical light. Alistair stepped even closer,the coy smile growing. "Now, how sure are you the measurement is accurate?" He asked, looking straight at her now. "There is always some loss due to interference in the signal.” He stood directly in front of her, the lamp the only thing floating in between them. Her breath caught in her throat.
"May I?" he asked, gesturing towards her neck.
Ada nodded, unable to get words formed, her heart fluttering as Alistair reached out to take her pulse. His touch was warm and gentle, his fingers finding the pulse point at her throat with practiced ease. He took his time counting the beats, his hand warm on her neck, his gaze focused on the glowing sphere, again picking up in response to her own racing heart.
"It appears the measurement is correct, the accuracy is astounding.” Alistair smiled at her again, removing his hand from her neck and taking a step back. The spot felt oddly empty to her now.
A silence fell again between them. In order to break it, and in an attempt to compose herself, Ada cleared her throat and disconnected the sphere.
"Now, let's see if it works on you," Ada said, handing the lamp to Alistair. He held it against his own heart. And after a brief pause, allowing her to say the spell again, the light adjusted to his heartbeat, pulsing with a slightly different rhythm than before. His was slow and steady, but then Ada picked up the slightest increase in pace as well…
