《Runesight (Progression, Rebirth, dimensional mage)》 Prologue

--- Runesight, the year 759 --- Once, there was a girl who looked at her life and said, ¡°I know what this is, I know exactly how to use this.¡± She was a girl who knew the joys of life, she was a girl who could love and be loved, who could dream and reach for those dreams, who could put pain behind her and simply seek to live in the moments that life gave her. Once, I used to think that might be me. But she isn¡¯t real. In the darkness, an almost blissful calm embraced me. The release somehow felt right, but it was strange to be at the end of my life, where memories of white, bloodstained claws lingered in the back of my mind¡ªtearing at the memories I refused to look at, but here, it was over. I was simply¡­dead. I could finally be at peace even as my regrets from life piled up on top of each other, reaching higher than the silverside cliffs. This realm held a deep familiarity to me. It was a stronger connection even than my own body that I¡¯d left behind. I drifted in it, wondering why for quite a while before I realized it. I felt as if I knew this place too well, I remembered catching glimpses of it as I bent space between my fingers, it was like the runes that floated in the air, it was like magic itself. I sensed a tug from the depths of my soul and without thinking I followed it, moving in a way that was still somehow familiar, toward¡­ something. At least, before I felt myself stop, unable to move any farther. As I drifted, the world seemed to watch something. I turned my attention to it, wondering what it might be. I was dead, but I could feel as my attention was guided to where my body lay, throat torn, chest crushed. There was no burial, just decay. Blue blood had been spilled over the scene, painting the white sand cyan. It was¡­just paint. Sand and paint. Like the dyes I remembered growing up with. The body was dead. Yet as I watched, the wounds reversed slowly, the blood in the sand washed away and eroded, the clothes on her back soiled with time as the body became vibrant. Youth reclaimed, I gazed upon a girl, eight years old¡ª that was the age I''d been when¡­ ¡°I hoped this day wouldn¡¯t come,¡± a voice echoed in the place that wasn¡¯t a place. The place between places. I sought for its source, my speech came without a voice, but somehow it didn¡¯t feel strange, almost familiar instead. ¡°Who are you?¡± ¡°You have to go back to that place of pain.¡± Could it even hear me? I felt a stab of fear enter my mind at the idea of simply being a ghost. ¡°WHO ARE YOU?¡± Something seemed to hear my fear, my fear of not being¡­ quite real. ¡°Go.¡± Pulling me toward my body, toward the white sand, toward the blue blood I remembered beneath the paint. ¡°Start over.¡± The voice said the words calmly, but I felt anything but calm. I was gone a moment later. I was¡­no this wasn¡¯t me, it couldn¡¯t be me. I was dead, I was¡­simply a ghost. She was¡­she was dead, but as the body began to twitch, as her eyes blinked open, she couldn¡¯t really believe that for much longer. Fear of the unknown and the unknowable, fear of not being seen or heard. That was my last memory. Fear.

--- ? --- Fear. That was her first memory. The sand below her was rough, grating against soft, young, untested flesh. She didn¡¯t know where she was but it was bright, the sun above was warm, the rolling dunes picturesque. She inhaled slowly, taking in the scent of a fungus that lightly tickled the back of her mind. Fear. Pure, unexplainable fear. It overwhelmed her, it pulled at her soul from somewhere deep inside; somewhere that the girl couldn¡¯t access anymore. But the fear remained, even if she didn¡¯t know why she should be afraid. She sat up tiredly, staring at the field around her. A field of pure white sand and a sky of deep blue that was more intense than any color she could have imagined. She pulled her knees to her chest, feeling the cool of contact with herself from behind the tattered rags draped over her. Who am I? She felt at her body, pointed ears still there, small fuzzy antennae atop her head that she somehow knew would grow bigger with age. Small feet, three toes on each. Two hands. Two legs. One head. Long white hair that sprouted from a hard scalp. The rags around her were shaped as if they were once clothing. A dress that went past her knees, so torn and soiled with¡­ with dried blue¡­ p~pain~nt¡­ that¡­ that she wasn¡¯t certain what color it used to be. She hugged her knees harder, feeling tiny spikes in her exoskeleton jab at each other. You have to move. She remembered pain, somehow. The fear that was still gnawing at her chest drowned out her voice once again. This is a problem. Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit. Flashes of memory. This same sand, white sand. Pain, terrible pain. There was also anger. anger, and violence that consumed her very soul. She remembered it, deeper than any other memory. Because it was all that she remembered. White sand turned red with the blood of¡­ something else. White sand turned blue with her own blood. The terrible, impossible fear that she would never see¡­ someone¡­ again. Someone she¡¯d cared about. What was-? Blue and red mixed with white sand. Like paint coloring the earth. Paint. It was just paint. She realized then that she didn¡¯t have to think about it. The young girl, barely eight, barely old enough to realize the concept and horror of death, hugged her knees again as fear poured over her, a fear that she didn¡¯t understand. -- He found her several days later. I imagine that he didn¡¯t know why she was there, who she was, or how she¡¯d lived for who knows how long, wandering in the Sanarian desert, breathing in the poison of the sandfrost. He didn¡¯t know what to do with the young girl, I wouldn¡¯t have either, but he crouched in front of her terrified face, his smile worried, his posture mostly calm with an undertone of fear as he saw the dried blood that covered her. She looked uninjured, but¡­ ¡°Hey, are you alright?¡± The little Tuvei didn¡¯t answer. She continued to stare up at him, fearful. fearful of him. He frowned at that, always having assumed until now that he was great with kids. ¡°You won¡¯t be hurt. You can call me Estin, I¡¯m a friend.¡± She shuddered, not understanding why some part of her didn¡¯t like this man. ¡°I- I¡¯m lost.¡± She felt the tears bite at the edges of her eyes, they would have come out but she didn¡¯t have enough water for it to overflow. Estin nodded, ¡°Do you know where your parents might be; where you¡¯re from?¡± The girl shook her head, looking down at the white sand. Red and blue paint¡­ she closed her mind from the image that she didn¡¯t even remember seeing as it leapt into her head once again, still unprompted. Estin put a hand on her shoulder. ¡°What¡¯s your name, kid?¡± She looked up and met his eyes, that was¡­ no that didn¡¯t feel right. Looking into his soul like that, the runes of his being danced at the edge of her vision. She looked to the side instead, at the sky. That was much better. ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡± She whispered. She put her fists against her eyes, trying not to look helpless as a few drops of water leaked from them. He probably knew how to help, right? ¡°You could just¡­ call me nothing.¡± She mumbled against her arms, ¡°I don¡¯t think I have a name.¡± Blood. Red and blue. He blinked, ¡°We can¡¯t do that. How about¡­ Eliax? It was my grandmother¡¯s name.¡± The little Tuvei looked up slightly, Eliax. That was a nice name, it didn¡¯t make her mind scream like the one that had been on the edge of her tongue. ¡°Alright.¡± The man put a hand on her head and smiled, ¡°Alright Eliax, what do you think of coming with me?¡± She closed her eyes. Why did it feel like this was a terrible idea? You know him. You knew him. She nodded slowly. The man ruffled her hair a bit, ¡°I take that as a yes?¡± She nodded again, more sure this time. ¡°Yes.¡± He has been kind. He will continue to be kind. It was the trust of a child who had no one else to look to. He had somehow earned that trust. Eliax wasn¡¯t sure why. He was smiling as she finally opened her eyes, his two large antennae bobbing up and down on his head. For the first time, Eliax noticed that one of them was cut in half. He also had a scar across one cheek, moving almost too close to one eye. Estin took the girl¡¯s hand and walked with her, giving her a mask to filter the toxic air from her young lungs. ¡°The Sandfrost in the air is a fungus.¡± He explained. ¡°It¡¯s spores attack the lungs. It doesn¡¯t kill unless you eat the mushrooms, but it makes thinking difficult until your body is used to filtering it out.¡± She took the mask, a simple cloth to tie around her face. ¡°Why don¡¯t you have one?¡± He grinned, ¡°I¡¯ve lived in Aubinere longer than you¡¯ve been alive. My body processes the stuff perfectly fine.¡± Eliax looked at her feet as the two of them began to walk. ¡°Am I¡­ weak?¡± She asked, her voice soft as she tried to prevent it from cracking. She failed at that, her throat was more determined than she¡¯d expected. Estin raised an eyebrow, his antennae bobbing to the side unevenly to mirror the expression. ¡°How old are you, my friend?¡± The girl frowned, ¡°Eight. I¡¯m eight.¡± It was¡­ just paint. There was no blood when¡­ when she was eight. ¡°Well, a kid like you shouldn¡¯t think about that. You can only get stronger from here.¡± He asked her a lot of things after that, she didn¡¯t remember most of them, but she did know that she would get stronger. She had to get stronger. For now, she could be weak. She could be weak enough to see the stains, to feel the pain and the phantom fear that was just now beginning to finally fade. But one day she would be strong enough to erase the paint that tugged at her mind, telling her distinctly to ignore the memories. Some part of her soul felt¡­ misaligned maybe? He carried her when her weak legs failed her and her feet were burned by the hot¡­ white sand. Eliax and Estin went together, toward a place where both of them might find a future to populate. -- Estin stood beside her, letting a woman measure her feet while another woman pulled a rope across her waist, checking how loose the new clothing should be. She stood perfectly still, eyes wide as the two women poked and prodded at her. One of them tried to comb out her terribly tangled hair, and another one shooed Estin away, assuring him that they would ¡®have this all under control¡¯ in just a matter of time. Eliax herself was torn between terror and awe. Awe because one of the women, a tall Tuvei with four arms and a graceful way about her, kept doing magic. She would levitate a brush in the air, she would summon things out of nowhere, and she would cast a small flame when it grew dark and begin to light the lanterns with the ghostly fire. Terror because the other woman was human. For some reason, it was strange to see a female human. Eliax wasn¡¯t certain why, but she got the notion she¡¯d never really seen one up close before. Everything she knew told her that humans were coldhearted destroyers who would protect the world one moment and destroy it the next. People who had no respect for nature. But as time ticked by, the woman only smiled at her, led her to a tub with warm water and gently scrubbed at the dirt and grime covering her, asked her various things like her age and her name and her favorite color¡­ Eliax couldn¡¯t help but get over her humanness. Eliax was washed and clothed, her hair was cleaned, trimmed, and braided, and for the first time since waking up in the sand, Eliax could say that she was finally not afraid. Chapter 1 Lazy Dryad Eliax Lestwood often assumed that she was insane. At least¡­that¡¯s what she¡¯d been assuming for the past ten years. She was perfectly reasonable in this assumption, given that there were things in her mind and soul that had no right to be there; there were pieces of herself that no one understood, least of all her. And so Eliax was insane. Even I classify her as insane, but my opinion doesn¡¯t matter here. Thump. The sight of the city ahead slowly grew larger as the hours passed. The sight of trees, the road, the wagons in the caravan, and the sights of people around her also riding towards that distant city. The sight of the old palace as she finally got close enough to see it. Eliax could have sworn she¡¯d been here before, but this was her first time going this far west. Thump. The sounds of a moving cart, wheels grinding against the hard earth. The sounds of talking voices as the other passengers entertained each other, the sounds of the animals that plodded onward tirelessly, the slurping as her neighbor drank from his canteen. Thump. The feel of the vibrating seat beneath her. The rough wood of the armrests which kept giving her splinters, the faint ache in the base of her back from sitting for so long. Hours of sitting. Months with this same group. Thump. The scent of horses and pack animals. The scent of Humans and Tuvei, even a few Seldaens, most of them sweating flagrantly in the noonday heat. Thump. The taste of bile as it rose to her mouth. Eliax let out a long breath, clutching her single bag with tired hands. She was almost there. To Reiaran. A place where perhaps she might get some answers. The beating of her heart in the base of her stomach, the click click of her exoskeleton as she tapped her fingertips together. She took out her notebook and began to write. I couldn¡¯t tell you anything that went down on those pages. It could have been observations, it could have been poetry. It could even have simply been a journal entry that was eventually lost forever. But Eliax wrote. She wrote until the charcoal of her pencil grew dull. She wrote until the steady rhythms of the caravan slowed to a crawl. She wrote until she finally worked up the courage to look up at the city walls. There were many things that Eliax expected to happen when she saw the city for the first time, but oh blood and sand, she still wasn¡¯t prepared for it. She barely noticed as the caravan stopped outside the gates and each wagon who wanted to enter approached the wall, telling the names of those entering to a guard who stood helpfully nearby with a sheet of paper and an inking pen. A flood of memories that still weren¡¯t quite solid rushed through her mind and she barely noticed as she was admitted into the city. She sat stock still in the wagon as memories stirred at every brick and stone and poured memories into her head. Past the cracks in the paint that she¡¯d attempted to shore up over the past couple of weeks. A bakery in front of her was a familiar shape, the scents penetrated the resonance and she remembered them from some time long ago. The layout of the streets reminded her of mail for some reason, letters and envelopes. A broken street lamp accompanied a vague feeling of embarrassment. The scent of the nearby sea was so achingly familiar, even though Eliax had never seen the thing. It was like every mental barrier, every distraction, every method of coping with these memories that she¡¯d developed over the years was swept away without a thought. Laying her mind bare for tampering. Estin always said that the past would lie in wait forever until she was prepared to face it. Well, the only concrete thing that Eliax got from the experience was a headache. That and a distant sense of loss. She looked down and started writing again. This time, I could tell you what it was. Resonance, page six, Reiaran. Subcategory twelve. I¡¯ve been here before. I can finally say with certainty. Eliax stood up from the wagon at last as it reached the markets, she put her bag over her shoulder, and started looking for an inn to be her base of operations. The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there. -- The door in front of her swung open beneath her palm. The tactile sensation was smooth, almost too smooth if that was possible. The Innkeeper must¡¯ve spent a lot of money on the fine door, Eliax could see lovingly carved designs along the edges that would up the price immensely. Even so, the Lazy Dryad wasn¡¯t a particularly nice place, it was old and the layout was reminiscent of a large home. It was more like someone had expanded the dining area and kitchen, added a third floor, and turned their house into a bed and breakfast. From the cobbled together feel the place seemed to cultivate, Eliax could almost say for certain that it had gone through at least three full on renovations, and not all of them were recent ones. She walked into the entry hall and examined the three tables with an open kitchen, it was...quaint. Also familiar. Eliax massaged her temples as the resonance tried to overload her with information. Memories that weren¡¯t hers. Mostly she would need a couple of hours to build up her mental defenses again. After nearly being robbed twice thanks to losing her presence of thought at exactly the wrong moments, it was in her best interest to get her mind under control again quickly. As was her habit, Eliax shoved any new memories to the back of her mind for later examination. She¡¯d found that once a memory surfaced, She could afterward easily peruse it to her leisure. Eliax hesitantly rang a little bell with a sign labeled ¡°Assistance¡± and glanced around as a woman¡¯s voice sounded from upstairs, ¡°I¡¯ll be right down!¡± A slightly chubby Tuvei quickly made her way down the stairs a few moments later, a basket of linens against one hip, ¡°Hello dear! I¡¯m Alsen Serian. What can I do for you today?¡± Eliax examined her for a moment before looking away from her face and tracing the lines in the wallpaper behind the woman with her eyes. ¡°I¡¯m Eliax. I was wondering about renting a room for a month or two?¡± Alsen grinned, ¡°Of course, of course! I have plenty of room! Where are you from, Eliax?¡± Eliax followed her almost by instinct as the Tuvei walked through the room and put the basket of linens on a table near the back door. ¡°Just, Sanaria.¡± Alsen sat down in an empty seat and motioned for Eliax to follow suit as she started folding some of the towels. ¡°What part of Sanaria? I have a cousin over there somewhere¡­¡± ¡°Just the outer ring of Ceruleia,¡± She answered almost automatically. Alsen blinked at her, ¡°My my, that¡¯s even farther than I thought.¡± She frowned, ¡°It¡¯s a big city too, much bigger than Reiaran.¡± Eliax nodded awkwardly, paint in the sand. It was just paint. ¡°Yes, it¡¯s strange here. It¡¯s almost like I¡¯ve lived here forever.¡± -- Eliax woke up the next morning, ready to start a new day of speculation. Reiaran was a city that was filled with contradictions to her eyes. Half and half¡­ she mused. She was caught between a world of the present and a world of the past. Never mind her personal instinct to focus on the future. Eliax opened her notebook and made a mark of the date as she was prone to doing. It was a great, reliable way to make the resonance surface. As always, she stared at it for far too long, her mind barely comprehending the number that was apparently widely different from what the resonance thought it should be. Being supremely unhelpful, the resonance completely neglected to inform her what it thought the number ought to be, only that this wasn¡¯t it. Eliax was still waiting for it to slip up one of these days and inadvertently tell her something useful. She shook her head, wrote a few quick thoughts, and headed down for breakfast. The free breakfast that came with getting a room here was half the reason She¡¯d chosen Lazy Dryad over all the more conveniently placed taverns and inns. The other half of the reason was that it was one of the least frequented, and the fewer people around to disturb her the less distracted both herself and the resonance would become. The sparking thing almost had a mind of its own. Eliax greeted Alsen politely as the smiling Tuvei scrambled some eggs. She had a motherly way about her, but besides not quite being as distant as Eliax would like her to be, Alsen wasn¡¯t terrible. She was tidy, polite, strict about her rules, and gave Eliax a discount when she found out she was all the way from Ceruleia. She reminded Eliax of her own¡­mother. Eliax let out a long breath, sat down at a table, and took out her notebook. Mother resonance, page 1. She¡¯d been...wonderful. A person Eliax had wanted to be for the longest time. She¡¯d been an artist, a craftswoman. Always making beautiful things. Busy with her hands and her mind which was as sharp as any blade. Before¡­ She¡­ ¡­She didn¡¯t have a mother. She¡¯d never even known the woman who gave birth to her. Eliax had never had a woman to look up to. This was wholly a trick of the resonance. Alsen came up to her and handed her a plate. Eggs, a warm roll, and a few apple slices. Eliax wasn¡¯t able to thank her, she was gone before her mind recovered from the moment before. Eliax took a bite and dutifully wrote down the experience with trembling hands. Who were you? I¡¯m not sure. The seconds ticked by. Eliax dropped her fork, her hands were still shaking. Stupid, stupid. she reached for it with her foot, trying to edge it closer, but ended up kicking it further away. Sparks, she needed to calm herself down. Eliax sighed and cast a quick distortion spell, contracting the space between her hand and the fork, allowing her to simply pick it up. She then firmly set it down on the table and kept eating, this time going over what the resonance had inadvertently told her moments before. Whoever this past life or missing memories had been, she¡¯d had a mother. She¡¯d loved her mother so, so deeply. Far deeper than Eliax cared for anyone save Estin. It was the love of a child. The love of someone who had lost that person while still a child. The love had never had a chance to grow up. She¡¯d also been a Tuvei, and she¡¯d lived here, in Reiaran. Eliax curled her fingers once more around the fork, stabbing it into one of the apple slices. Chapter 2 Tavern Resonance

---Hivren--- Hivren tilted his head, glancing at the strange girl again, ¡°She seems like she¡¯s just lost in thought.¡± Jiuhen, his only companion for today, kept pointing out things about her that he noticed as part of his empath training. Apparently he¡¯d ¡®gotten bored of all the normal people.¡¯ The girl in question was the strangest person Hivren had seen in his life. She looked like she was trying to act normal, but every so often she would stare at something for a bit too long, or take her notebook out of nowhere and make a note, she also had a weird tendency to glare at anyone talking to her, and her bearing screamed of someone with secrets. Hivren had seen her with the caravan that arrived yesterday, and at a glance, she seemed to always have her head in the clouds. Jiuhen pointed at her, ¡°I doubt she¡¯d notice if someone robbed her. I mean, maybe she is lost in thought like you said, but her emotions are all over the place, and that only happens if someone¡¯s going through some stuff.¡± Indeed, it seemed like the small Tuvei was entirely engrossed in whatever it was she was doing, she¡¯d started making weird gestures at one point and something was clearly off about the air around her, a bit like a mirage. Hivren caught himself staring at the strange distortion. It was a bit creepy. ¡°You never know if someone¡¯s a powerful mage in disguise, maybe she¡¯s fooling your empathy?¡± In fact, wasn¡¯t that distortion a sign of something? Jiuhen rolled his eyes and tipped back his drink, glancing at one of the serving ladies a bit too long for someone who¡¯d just started courting a different girl yesterday. Part of Hivren felt he needed to guide Jiuhen through the thorns of female interactions, but there were some things he would have to figure out by himself, besides, you never knew if Jiuhen was just reacting to someone else¡¯s strong emotions. Eventually the flirt glanced back at the lone girl, who was now staring at a worn notebook laying on the table, ¡°She seems to get a bit more emotionally stable every time she does that. What¡¯s she even doing?¡± ¡°Does it matter?¡± ¡°I dunno, she¡¯s not bad looking though, her nose is a bit flat but those dark eyes are nice she definitely knows how to present herself too, I think that¡¯s a riding dress, built for practicality, her entire bearing screams ¡®I¡¯ll do things my way.¡¯ It¡¯s kinda hot.¡± Hivren sighed. Sparks, this guy... ¡°You have a girlfriend.¡± Jiuhen rolled his eyes and clapped Hivren on the back in a friendly way, ¡°I was just pointing it out for you, you¡¯re too oblivious to the world, I almost think you wouldn¡¯t notice a girl if she punched you in the face.¡± ¡°And¡­that makes you think that she would be a perfect match for me? We¡¯re both equally oblivious?¡± Hivren shook his head with a groan, ¡°Jiuhen, I¡¯m not into tuvei, for me it¡¯s harder to understand you people. I¡¯d like a human if I can help it.¡± ¡°We both know there¡¯s barely any difference. ~Especially not emotionally~¡± Well, that was true enough, there were plenty of halfbreeds kicking around, and most scholars -even all the way in Yera- had long since decided that humans, tuvei, and pitten shared a common ancestor somewhere. Hivren still felt the need to point it out though.¡°Biologically the way things are-¡± ¡°Hivren, you always talk like you ate a textbook. I¡¯m just talking about her looks. She looks nice. She would look nice too if she was next to you, I¡¯m just saying.¡± Hivren sighed and looked at the tuvei girl again, ¡°You Jiuhen, are a pest.¡± Jiuhen laughed. ¡°Do you think she might be crazy?¡± Hivren¡¯s head snapped up at the word crazy, glancing over to another table and seeing some familiar-seeming guys pointing at the same girl Jiuhen had spotted. One of them laughed, ¡°I bet she¡¯s here just to creep everyone out.¡± ¡°Really? I bet she¡¯s one of those dirty squatters in the old palace, you can never trust travelers these days.¡± Hivren stood up, frowning at the four idiots joking about the stranger. It was true that there weren¡¯t as many travelers these days, trade was moving to the new capitol, even the merchants from that caravan were pretty well known. Everyone knew when someone didn¡¯t belong. ¡°-know how crazy people are, I doubt she¡¯d notice if she lost her own head.¡± But talking like that just because someone was unknown? The only solution to this in Hivren¡¯s estimation was to remove her from the category of ¡®unknown.¡¯ It would help for a start if she wasn¡¯t sitting alone. Jiuhen was giving him a worried look as Hivren glared at the table of idiots, but he was a good guy at heart, Jiuhen was probably noticing the cloud of negative emotions behind them now that he wasn¡¯t focused on one person, and despite how he acted, he wasn¡¯t an idiot. ¡°I have to have a chat with someone.¡± Hivren explained as he stalked off toward a certain table¡­

---Eliax--- Nightwind tavern was bustling in the later hours of the evening. Eliax entered the door and for a moment just stood among the obnoxious students of Starsbane, a local academy, hearing their laughs and excitement. She heard the playful melody of a folk song from the piano at the edge of the room, a Tuvei with four arms was sweeping the notes out majestically as several drunkards sang along with blue-flushed faces. There were even a couple of humans here and there. Overall, it was just like every other tavern that Eliax had been in in her life. Estin had a strange fondness for the places that she really didn¡¯t understand. She was fine with them, but only if no one was disturbing her ability to get things done. At the moment, it was far from her ideal tavern experience. She couldn¡¯t concentrate on the resonance, but it was definitely feeding her new memories as the moments ticked by. She remembered a certain table, moderately out of the way, near the edge of the room. It was more worn and beaten up than the resonance thought it should be, but as she passed it, she ran her hands along the carvings, seeing one of those cheesy graffitis with a stylized AxF in the center of a heart. This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it. The resonance shuddered at that for some reason, sending a volley of new memories at her. Eliax tucked them away for later examination and sat down at the table, glad it was vacant. The piano player started a new song, the type with a catchy tune that Eliax felt like she¡¯d heard a million times on the way to Reiaran. It wasn¡¯t a terrible song, but it felt off to her that the piano was alone in it, usually, she heard it with a multitude of instruments, stringed ones mostly. That or voices, singing in a chorus together. Most Tuvei were at least partially tone-deaf, but the piano player clearly wasn¡¯t one of those as her four arms swept across the keys skillfully and theatrically without a hint of written note to go off. It was almost as entertaining to watch her as it was to hear what she was creating. Eliax nodded pleasantly at the waitress who approached her table, ordering something based on the resonance as a test. Usually, those memories were accurate as to what types of foods she enjoyed, and it wouldn¡¯t be the end of the world if it was wrong for once. In fact, she was waiting for it to be wrong for once, that would give her some points of data to work off. The waitress left with her order and Eliax killed time by practicing the space-bending trick. According to everything she¡¯d read, she might eventually figure out how to make gateways. Of course, that would be sped up significantly if she had a teacher of some sort, but until she resolved this whole resonance situation, she wasn¡¯t entirely certain how much she could learn. So Eliax compressed and stretched the space between the window and a fork, it was more difficult to do without her hands as one of the reference points, but it was still entirely manageable. After a couple minutes of that, Eliax looked up with surprise as a stranger sat down across from her. The distortion unraveled as her concentration was subverted, though he probably wouldn¡¯t have even noticed it without magesight. His skin had the red tones of a human, even if it was quite a bit lighter than what she was used to seeing. His ears were small and round, and his arms almost bulged with muscle. Eliax frowned at him, feeling the resonance scream at the audacity. She would destroy him and his entire bloodline for- No no, stop it. She forced herself to relax and plastered on a supremely fake¡­moderately pleasant face. ¡°Who the sparks are you?¡± Okay, so that was the nicest she could manage. Whatever. She was probably glaring too. ¡°I saw you sittin¡¯ alone. Figured you might be lonely?¡± his country accent was so obviously fake, she could hear the tones of upper class nonsense lurking beneath. He was probably some kind of noble, not from Reiaran or even the surrounding land since the queen would never give a human a noble title. Eliax kept her face neutral, giving him the dragoncrapless look that she¡¯d perfected over years of having to deal with Estin. ¡°And the real reason?¡± ¡°...what?¡± ¡°Come on, if people were really that decent then I wouldn¡¯t be as messed up as I am. What do you want from me?¡± The human began to turn a startling shade of red on the edges. Sparks, was that a blush? It looked so wrong for a blush to be red. ¡°I heard some guys talkin¡¯ crap about you sitting alone and acting strange. Things like that spread. I wanted to prove to them that you can¡¯t be crazy.¡± His fake accent faded somewhat, and his vocabulary seemed to be growing by the second. He¡¯d probably figured out she wasn¡¯t an idiot by now and was trying to salvage her view of him. Eliax felt her eyes narrow further. ¡°Well, thanks I guess. But you can go ahead and let them talk crap. I am, in fact, crazy.¡± He gave her a startled look, but Eliax simply looked down at her notebook and made a note about the table graffiti. She drew a quick sketch of it along with a few other vaguely familiar pieces, making a show of glancing at the graffiti and everything. The human stared at her the whole time, frowning slightly as a strange calculating look crossed his face. ¡°Are you studying graffiti?¡± Eliax didn¡¯t answer for a long moment, ¡°I have reason to believe that a past life of mine drew this, so sure, we¡¯ll go with that.¡± She set her charcoal pencil down hard when the waitress came back with her food. She accepted the plate, handed the waitress a coin, and put her notebook away. The human raised an eyebrow, ¡°Past life? An ancient graffiti artist?¡± ¡°I have absolutely no idea. I¡¯m crazy, remember?¡± She examined the plate before cutting off a piece of meat. ¡°What¡¯s your name anyway?¡± The human cringed slightly, perhaps remembering how he hadn¡¯t answered a similar question earlier, ¡°I¡¯m Hivren. And you?¡± ¡°Eliax.¡± There was a long silence. She poked at the greens, but mostly she was trying to figure out how to make this conversation end before she told him anything else stupid. Really, telling anyone about the resonance was a terrible idea. ¡°Have you seen the Ayfel yet? It¡¯s really a nice spot, they¡¯ve got a shrine to the Hero there and sometimes they give tours.¡± Eliax shrugged, ¡°I¡¯ll look into it...maybe.¡± Preferably only if the resonance had something to say about it. That name did strike something in her, but Eliax wasn¡¯t sure if it was just something she¡¯d forgotten. Hivren deflated slightly. What, was he trying to flirt or something? The forgotten sage would have rolled in his grave if he knew how bad she was at this. ¡°Why?¡± Eliax added after a moment. He shrugged, ¡°Well, the Hero¡¯s pretty cool. She saved my grandmother¡¯s life once, you know?¡± Oh, he was one of those. For some reason, Eliax had an instinctive hatred of people who had this much respect for the Hero. In fact, she could rightly say that she hated everything the Hero stood for. All the idiot had done was kill a bunch of people, dethrone the Last King, and send the entire continent into unstable wars and pointless bickering for the last thirty years. The narcissist hadn¡¯t even had the decency to die like a mortal. No, the Hero had ¡®disappeared¡¯ twenty years ago, never to be seen again. Good riddance I say! Eliax agrees with me. All Eliax could manage was a weak grunt before she pulled out her notebook again and marked something as she shoveled the last bite of food into her mouth. Hivren sighed, ¡°I could take you there if you want, sometime?¡± Eliax stood up. ¡°Perhaps.¡± She had no intention of doing that ever, but he¡¯d be more likely to leave her alone if he thought there was a chance. She slung her bag over her shoulder and simply left. Hivren stared at her back with a slightly lost and confused expression. Exactly as she liked it. On her way out, Eliax stopped by the piano player, who was taking a short break. Three drunkards were exclaiming at her to play some folk song that Eliax had never heard before, but that was the least of her concerns. Eliax shoved through them, stopping in front of the piano player. ¡°What¡¯s that song called that you just finished?¡± She blinked, ¡°What, you mean Aneles¡¯s Lament?¡± Eliax stared at her, The resonance was quiet, almost too quiet, but she still got a strange sorrow from underneath the paint. Eventually, she nodded slowly, ¡°Yes, that one¡­¡± The girl smiled, ¡°It¡¯s nice to see someone cares about more than just how it sounds. I¡¯m Illila, and you are?¡± ¡°Eliax¡­¡± She said with a frown. That name. Aneles¡­who was that? Perhaps the resonance jus- A boy. Grinning down at me from a tree, his smile wide and mischievous. A strange feeling of terror from the back of my mind, ¡°get down from there!¡± He just grinned wider. ¡°Come on Fari, are you scared?¡± Eliax put a hand to her head, ¡°Ah¡­thanks Illila, it¡¯s a great song, I¡¯ve heard it a couple times I think.¡± Illila tilted her head, ¡°That¡¯s an old song, my teacher found it in a personal journal of one of the lost warriors just a couple of years ago. I don¡¯t think anyone but me plays it anymore.¡± Eliax closed her eyes, nodding, ¡°I¡¯ll see you around I guess¡­¡± With that, she stumbled away, her usual graceful gait disturbed by this latest memory. The resonance had a name. It felt more like a nickname, but Fari was a lot more than she¡¯d had yesterday. Chapter 3 Mist --- Aymiae, twenty-two years ago --- ¡°They¡¯re all dead. Every last one of them. Tell the widows and mothers and let them mourn.¡± The words echoed uselessly in Aymiae¡¯s mind, replaying like an annoying child who didn¡¯t quite understand what they meant yet. A child who thought she understood. Aymi didn¡¯t know how to banish the thoughts, only remembering that she was useless. The world around her played out like it was happening to someone else. Usually when something terrible happened to someone she cared about, it gave her strength and bravery to stand up and make the world right. But you can¡¯t solve death no matter how hard you try. Aymi felt the tears bite her eyes. ¡°Tell the widows and mothers and let them mourn.¡± What about the sisters? The friends? The daughters? How many people would simply not know the fate of their loved ones because they didn¡¯t realize their brothers and fathers had been in that battle? Aymi wished she¡¯d been someone who didn¡¯t know, that way she would have the strength at least to join the group scouting out the battlefield to make sure that Foralen was right. But in her heart she knew that if her brother had lived, he would be here by now, reassuring her worries and joking about how weak the other army was compared to him. Slowly the reports trickled in, a battlefield of ash. All of them were dead. The only good thing from this whole mess was the fact that it gave princess Steris the chance to seize the throne. Aymi watched with hollow eyes, swollen blue from crying, as the crown was placed on her head and she began to make order from the chaos. The rest of Reiaran seemed just as shocked by this turn of events, everyone assumed that prince Talein would win in the end. But most of his army had been destroyed by Foralen. They started calling her the hero. She¡¯d ended the war after all, only a year into the carnage. Aymi wasn¡¯t sure how to feel about that yet, it brought another kind of grief to think of it. No one had seen the hero since she¡¯d come through the gates and started shouting to people about the fallen. Didn¡¯t¡­didn¡¯t she care? Aymi hadn¡¯t really seen any emotion on her face when she¡¯d said that. Aymi was more concerned though that now she was alone. Eventually someone remembered to tell the sisters, but Aymiae already knew he was gone. She already knew that she had to take his dream for herself. And so it was that Aymiae, devoid of family and devoid of peace, removed herself from the city of her birth for the first time in memory. She brought all her meager money and all her things, traveling south and east, toward something more. --one year later-- Aymi felt her face melt into something else. It was a feeling that used the sense she had of her own mana rather than her nerves, but it was similar, like a creeping up her spine that was¡­somehow centralized on her face? Not sure how accurate the illusion looked, Aymi peeked out the deserted tavern¡¯s window, trying not to scream as she watched the bloody group of Pitten marching through the village. They looked horrifying to her, though she knew plenty of humans thought the more rough Tuvei were disgusting. A Pitten was just another kind of person, except they had gills, webbed fingers, and their hands were strange shapes as they were designed to move water more effectively. They had strange proportions and stranger minds. There were ten of them, grinning madly, revealing sharp teeth and mad eyes. Around the lead Pitten¡¯s neck was a strange amulet that glowed with a sickly blue light. Aymi saw corpses behind them, mostly human as she¡¯d long since entered Nakoria, south of the lands where Tuvei were the majority. She put a hand to her mouth, eyes still wide. The illusion held though and to them she looked like a Saelden. She¡¯d noticed in the last village that the Pitten armies didn¡¯t harm the tree folk if they didn¡¯t fight back, which they rarely did unless a forest was in danger. They waded through the carnage and Aymi only felt despair that she was too late to save anyone. She¡¯d been delirious last night when she¡¯d tried to tell them about the danger. This time she needed to do something, right? But what could she do? Her options were rather limited and she didn¡¯t even know how to fight the people of the sea. The leader kicked a corpse out of his way. It was marred with claw marks and scorched with flame. One of the villagers had been a self trained fire mage who¡¯d set several buildings aflame during the initial assault. This was the result of not having any decent mage schools between Reiaran and Nakonua. The body he¡¯d kicked didn¡¯t move easily, so he kicked it again, grinning. He was grinning. They were all grinning. Aymi saw the face of the corpse and vaguely recognised it from last night when she¡¯d arrived. It was the kindly old woman who¡¯d asked no questions of her and given her stew and a bed at the tavern. That was¡­ That¡­ That brought pain, and with the pain came resolve...and finally bravery. Aymiae set her jaw and held her hands out, casting a new illusion. She was going to be an adventurer, that meant she had to protect people. That meant she had to start somewhere. Even if her resolve was too late for this village, there would be others. A bright, blinding flash of light emerged from the sky, the huge bubble of light poured down, making a wall of light around the entire area, destroying all shadows with a finality and blinding the Pitten as they screamed and clawed at their eyes. I should have done that sooner, so so much sooner. What¡¯s wrong with me? Why didn¡¯t I help? She bolted out the tavern door, drawing her sword with clumsy fingers and heading straight towards the leader. She was smaller than him, Pitten were tall, but she pulled the sword across his throat. There was too much air between the blade and the neck though, sparks, what was she doing? This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. She felt the blade cut something, and she was dancing away before she could second guess the action. They would recover in a moment and be after her. She stood in a defensive position as the light faded and they began to blink at each other in confusion. Her eyes went back to the lead Pitten who¡¯s hand was to his neck where the blue amulet had been. She¡¯d somehow managed to accidentally cut the strings. It was laying on the ground innocently as the Pitten stared at it in shock. They muttered to each other in their language and gazed with confusion at the carnage around them. Their eyes went back again and again to the amulet. Eventually, one shook his head in a surprisingly human gesture. He stomped on the amulet with a grimace and after a moment the rest followed him, hitting it with things until one of the spikes broke off. The group dispersed afterward, not even looking in Aymiae¡¯s direction. What the sparks? --a few months later-- The ship rocked again and Aymi¡¯s deathgrip on the railing tightened as she continued barfing her guts out. The deck had been a slate gray before, but as the hours passed, it started to look more like the porridge they were feeding her than anything else. The sailors seemed amused at this, and the other Tuvei passenger wasn¡¯t in any better a state. Aymi had heard of the curse before, and there was a reason tuvei didn¡¯t become sailors unless all other professions were taken. The weakness of their frames extended to their stomachs, tossing the contents with the slightest unwarranted disturbance. Aymi had heard it could be overcome, but the longer she was on the ship, the less she wanted to try that out. Would it really be that hard to obtain a water-breath spell and walk the whole way to Aulous? She groaned as the ship fell past a particularly violent wave, her stomach began churning again without so much as a break from the last round of barfing. Thankfully she¡¯d long since emptied her stomach of any contents. The thump of sturdy boots had her looking up as one of the sailors approached her. Most of them were human men, rough looking and far from the types of people that Aymi would normally associate with. This specific sailor wasn¡¯t one of those though, she held herself with a quiet dignity, but she didn¡¯t quite look down on others. In fact, the way she held herself reminded Aymi a lot of mistress Raia, down to the expression of slight amusement that hid behind her eyes. She was a pitten though, apparently most ships had one or two sea folk with every voyage since it kept the seas calmer and most could speak to monsters from the depths. There was some claim that the goddess of the seas favored them, but Aymi wasn¡¯t certain how much stock to put in that. ¡°If this was my ship, I¡¯d make you scrub up all that filth.¡± The pitten spoke with a subtle accent, words a bit too sharp, annunciating things with more clarity than Aymi was used to, even though neither of them were speaking her native Melorian. Aymi blinked up at her and groaned slightly as her head swam unhelpfully, ¡°Then I¡¯ll be glad it¡¯s not your ship.¡± Part of Aymi in the back of her mind shivered at the fish woman¡¯s presence, remembering the group of pitten who¡¯d massacred all those villages months ago. She sat gracefully down beside Aymi, a stark contrast to the sailors'' careless strides. ¡°Yes, but then again, if this were my ship you would have been eaten by my cousins by now.¡± Aymi tried again to pull herself to a more dignified position, ¡°That would be¡­a lot better than suffering like this for weeks.¡± The pitten tilted her head curiously, ¡°I never did believe those who spoke of tuvei frailty. From afar your people are strong as the stones, strong as a good ship. But then a little bit of wobbling sends you to the deck.¡± She shook her head in what seemed to be amusement. After a moment she pulled something out of her bag, a package wrapped in some kind of waterproof leather. The pitten placed it in Aymi¡¯s hands, ¡°this is from a friend of mine, he asks that you don¡¯t open it until you arrive at your destination.¡± Aymi managed to pull herself up, as she took it, tucking the small package into a pocket, but her arms shook as she leaned against the railing, ¡°That¡¯s just great.¡± All her training in the art of conversation from mistress Raia had long since gone out the window, so she didn¡¯t even excuse herself from the conversation or even thank the pitten for whatever it was as she slowly inched her way back to the cabin she¡¯d paid for. Really it was her own fault she¡¯d come up here, but she¡¯d read somewhere that watching where the ship was going might help. That was a load of dragoncrap. She felt a twinge of guilt for not trying to help out that other tuvei, but what could she do? She fell into the bed with a groan, landing awkwardly and feeling the frame scrape against her leg, but this was significantly better than trying to stand and she even had a bucket that she¡¯d found in this room, probably left specifically because the sailors knew what would happen. She hadn¡¯t really noticed it before but it would find good use over the next few weeks. She pitied whomever had to scrub up the mess up there. She pulled the package out as she started getting tired, wondering what her destination even was. With a sigh, Aymi tossed it onto her desk and groaned as her stomach started churning again. She thought she caught a bit of sickly blue light from the thing while she turned away. --- Raan--- Someone handed him a mop when they made port. He didn¡¯t have enough presence of mind to remember which port it was, but he did have enough to know what the mop was for. Raan stared at the green deck with trepidation. ¡°You sure about this? I¡¯ll probably just keep on hurling.¡± The sailor grunted, ¡°Can¡¯t make the other tuvei clean it up, she¡¯s got an even weaker stomach than you if that¡¯s possible. ¡®Sides, she¡¯s a lady ¡®n stuff.¡± The rest of the reason was unspoken, you owe the captain. No reason to let that debt pile up. Raan was distinctly glad the waves were less at port. He looked out at the ocean, moving the mop across the deck and trying very hard not to look too hard at the gunk lest his stomach empty again, he noticed the distinct mist floating about the ship, the thicker the mist got as it floated past the land itself. It was a clear week for this area, which was why they¡¯d been able to sail here at all, after this the mist would thicken again for several months before there was enough leeway to sail through it again. Best not to be delayed on this trip. Raan saw several of the locals unloading the cargo as the captain supervised. They looked like regular humans in most ways, tall, more muscular than Raan would ever get, and hard enough that at a glance it seemed nothing could shake them. The only real differences between the sailors and the people of the mistlands were the way they dressed, more tribal and practical than uniform, and the way their local magic manifested. Each person Raan saw had some kind of wings, some insectile, some as if made of light, and some large and feathered. Often they would take flight while moving the boxes, carefully setting the cargo in piles. ¡°Boy stop gawking.¡± The voice pulled Raan out of his mind. He stammered, ¡°I- uh¡­sorry!¡± He started moving the mop again, dipping it in the water and scrubbing against a section that was a bit too dry. The sailor watched him for several tense moments before shaking his head and turning away. Raan kept on mopping. Eventually moving to the other spot. The weird pitten who¡¯d been staring at him every chance she got came over to watch for some reason. He¡¯d eventually asked her name the other day so he¡¯d feel less weird about her presence. She¡¯d simply laughed at him and refused. ¡°By the depths, I thought that captain of yours had sense in his skull after I chatted with him last night.¡± She remarked. Raan glanced at her, ¡°What?¡± The pitten sighed, ¡°Rich or not, that girl should learn to clean up after herself. You ought to help her out with that instead of doing it for her.¡± He slowed his scrubbing, ¡°and...that means you want that other tuvei to clean this up?¡± ¡°No,¡± She said slowly, deliberately as if speaking to a child who didn¡¯t understand. ¡°She¡¯s not going to learn if people intervene.¡± Raan squinted at her for a moment and started scrubbing again. ¡°No response?¡± Raan shook his head, ¡°I have no idea what you¡¯re talking about, so I¡¯m assuming it¡¯s a metaphor or some weird highborn crap. I¡¯m just here to wash the deck.¡± The pitten tilted her head, an amused smile growing on her strange fish-like face, ¡°Alright then.¡± She nodded curtly and turned away. Raan was so confused. Chapter 4 the palace Eliax was the type of person who liked to think she saw most things coming. Usually she noticed connections easily, calculating their importance before the rest of the world even realized they should look for them. But with that ability came a startling amount of tunnel vision. As the musician burst through the door to the bed and breakfast carrying a sack of apples with some type of stringed instrument slung across her back, Eliax reflected that she really should have noticed that the musician had the same facial marks as Alsen. Eliax looked up from her breakfast, stared at her for far too long, and then resolved to ignore the issue. Chewing on the Reasle meat with a bored expression. Illila didn¡¯t seem to like that idea though. She centered in on Eliax, made a kind of shrieking noise, and was at her side a moment later, vibrating from ear to ear. ¡°You¡¯re staying at the Lazy Dryad! This is my aunt¡¯s place!¡± Eliax set her fork down and tilted her head at the musician. ¡°Huh.¡± She sat down across from Eliax before she could properly object to the idea. ¡°So I was right! You aren¡¯t from around here.¡± Illila had never voiced that suspicion before. She seemed to want something from Eliax with the statement though, uh¡­what did people usually respond with? Right¡­ ¡°I¡¯m from Ceruleia.¡± The older girl whistled slowly, ¡°That explains the weird accent.¡± Eliax scowled. Illila grinned, ¡°So how long are you in town for?¡± ¡°Just a month or two, I¡¯m investigating something personal.¡± ¡°Nice nice! So I can show you around then? Are you free¡­right now?¡± Aaaah. Eliax liked having warnings before this type of thing. Especially if she didn¡¯t have much of an idea of what to expect. She contemplated saying no, she was rather busy. Besides, a properly done tour would probably need stronger mental shields than what she currently had up, there was no telling what she might encounter. But at the same time, she got the feeling that being on Illila¡¯s good side would be helpful in the long run. For one her aunt owned this inn, so she would most likely be around the area often, for another, she had a rather obscure skill set and could probably get Eliax into some otherwise unattainable places. Setting her fork down, Eliax felt a hesitant smile spread across her face, ¡°Alright, give me an hour.¡± -- ¡°You know where we should start?¡± Illila asked. Her arms were spread wide as if embracing the air. ¡°The Palace, it¡¯s a pretty interesting place.¡± She nearly tripped as the instrument on her back wobbled, but she caught both herself and the device smoothly. The way she walked reminded Eliax of a dancer in some ways. ¡°Sure.¡± ¡°What do you know about it already?¡± Eliax shrugged, ¡°The Last King lived there? He had like a million children, right?¡± The musician nodded, ¡°Yeah. But no one really uses it for anything anymore, it just sits there and looks nice, cause you know, failed succession wars.¡± ¡°Seems like killing the king wasn¡¯t the smartest thing the Hero did.¡± Illila grinned, ¡°Nope, definitely not, but it¡¯s still cool to see the ruins.¡± Eliax frowned, ¡°Don¡¯t they at least chase off squatters or something?¡± That seemed like a disaster waiting to happen¡­If anything, the rich people would complain. Her smile faded, ¡°Most of the soldiers were ordered away by Her Majesty a couple of years back and their families simply moved to the new capitol to compensate. What we¡¯ve got left is barely enough to keep the walls safe at night.¡± That Eliax understood. Reiaran was used to being the capital city of Melor, it certainly wasn¡¯t structured to lose protection in favor of a more important city. They were silent. Eliax slowly watched the towers and sweeping lines of the palace move closer with every step. Before she knew it, they were on the palace steps, walking through the enormous doors. I remembered this. I remembered walking through these very same doors, they were cleaner though, and they opened smoothly beneath my hands. Guards lined up along either side of the path forward, inadvertently guiding me toward the king. My mind was filled with anger, fear, and a touch of anticipation. I would have my peace, one way or another. Blood in the sand. It was all paint. The blues and reds mixing together were nothing but paint. Eliax let out a long breath, feeling the tension in her chest rise as she forced the memory to the back of her mind. Later. She would process it later. Illila didn¡¯t notice her unease as they continued onward, passing through doors, entering the servants¡¯ halls, peeking through tiny peepholes at the throne room as memory after memory poured through the gaps in her defenses. The throne room was locked from every avenue of entrance, they probably didn¡¯t want looters to strip the four golden pillars of their leaf or to pull the gemstones out of the walls. It was truly a sight though to see the lonely crown resting on the throne, the empty suits of armor resting on their swords, the stained glass windows depicting Gium¡¯s gifts. If I could make a gate, we could go in there. The thought was unbidden, but Eliax still heard it. Perhaps¡­in the future. Illila motioned her to keep going, leading her through the servants¡¯ halls once more. They stopped above the main ballroom, Eliax gawked at the sheer size of it and Illila let her. ¡°I used to come here as a kid and just explore. It doesn¡¯t have the best rap thanks to all the squatters around, but usually they keep to themselves.¡± Eliax found her hand straying to her belt knife, which she took everywhere these days. Traveling alone in an unknown region as a young woman, even if she had some weird advantages? Well¡­it was always best to have several backup advantages. Illila grinned, pointing at a particularly sturdy door, ¡°You want to check out the dungeon? I heard it¡¯s haunted by the ghosts of everyone who was ever executed by the Last King!¡± The younger girl blinked at her slowly, ¡°Really?¡± ¡°Oh, definitely. My cousin was in the dungeon just last week and heard some weird noises.¡± Eliax felt like this cousin was just spreading rumors, but she wasn¡¯t about to claim as such just yet. It was more than possible that the souls hadn¡¯t been exorcized properly. ¡°Hey, do you know any light spells? We could probably check it out.¡± The musician grinned, ¡°Nope! We could find a torch though, I think there¡¯s one somewhere around here¡­¡± Eliax handed her the one she¡¯d been eyeing and Illila blinked at it for a moment before casting a utility warming spell a couple of times before it caught on fire. After a moment to make sure all was well with the light source, the two relatively young Tuvei worked together to pull the rusted hinges away from each other. It was rather damp in this area, corroborated by the faint scent of stale mildew that wafted up from the dark interior. If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. The temperature changed noticeably as Eliax followed Illila down the stairway. The walls were cool to the touch, almost icy the further down they went. The stairway felt longer than it was though, Eliax had an excellent sense of the space around her and distance was just another facet of that. Besides the ceiling being a couple of times thicker than the rest of the palace, she could tell that they were essentially just underneath the ballroom. ¡°This place is enormous.¡± Illila explained helpfully, ¡°It goes under every part of the palace and it has a second level below that. In some places, it even goes deeper.¡± She gave Eliax a sideways look, ¡°You uh¡­you¡¯re good at navigation, right?¡± ¡°I¡¯m a Dimensionalist, Illila.¡± ¡°Oh! Perfect! No chance of getting lost then. Can you teleport or anything?¡± ¡°Ehhhh, not yet?¡± The musician grinned, ¡°Well, as long as you can guide us back to this door, we¡¯re fine.¡± They walked in silence for a long moment, Illila seemed a lot more bothered by the place than Eliax was, she flinched every time she heard a noise, even if it was just Eliax tripping over a loose stone. ¡°So uh¡­You¡¯re here for Starsbane then?¡± Eliax blinked at Illila¡¯s back, ¡°What?¡± ¡°I mean, there¡¯s not many places to get dimensionalism training. I can¡¯t see anyone coming all this way just for that though. There¡¯s got to be qualified teachers back in Ceruleia.¡± Eliax simply shrugged, ¡°I¡¯m not here for that.¡± ¡°Oh, come on, what is it then?¡± ¡°I told you already, it¡¯s personal.¡± ¡°You and I both know that-¡± Illila stopped in her tracks, ¡°Did you hear something?¡± She whispered. Eliax sighed, ¡°No.¡± She said back, quieter than before. ¡°I couldn¡¯t hear it over you digging into my personal life.¡± Illila sent her a hurt look, but they both silently listened to the sound of nothing for several heartbeats, simply standing in the darkness. Eventually, Eliax sighed, ¡°Sorry I was being defensive about it, my actual reason just bugs me because it¡¯s not working out as quickly as I¡¯d hoped.¡± Illila shrugged, ¡°Well, I¡¯m really pushy, sorry about that too.¡± She frowned at the ground for a moment and started walking again, Eliax behind her. ¡°So are you going to share or do I have to keep guessing?¡± ¡°I¡­would need to think about that. I told someone the other day when I was frustrated and I¡¯m still waiting for that to backfire.¡± ¡°What, are you a secret grandkid to the Last King and don¡¯t want anyone going after you?¡± Illila guessed, ¡°I swear that¡¯s half the city at this point.¡± Eliax snorted, ¡°I¡¯m pretty sure I would hate that more. No, it¡¯s not some weird lineage thing, I have no idea who my parents were.¡± Illila smirked, ¡°Ohhhh, so maybe you¡¯ll find out and then be a secret grandkid to the Last King!¡± ¡°I would rather die.¡± ¡°You¡¯re right, we can¡¯t all be as cool as me.¡± ¡°Ahh, so you have some weird lineage thing.¡± Illila sighed, ¡°It doesn¡¯t really mean anything since there are so many of us, but it sure makes a girl wonder what life would be like had things been different.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll just have to call you princess from now on.¡± ¡°Princess of spooky dungeons. That doesn¡¯t seem very fun.¡± Eliax shrugged, inhaling slowly, catching a slight stench of rot in the stale air. I remembered darkness. Pain. anguish. I remembered the burning desire to destroy all that had destroyed me. I remembered his face, pleading for salvation as it faded away into nothingness. The stench of rot throughout it all. The sorrow on the battlefield as every living thing except for me vanished without a trace, leaving nothing but the dead behind. Eliax closed her eyes, letting out a long breath as she pushed the memory aside. So far, she hadn¡¯t been able to look through all of them, just a couple of the easier ones. There seemed to have been some event in the memories. The closer they were to that event, the more difficult it was to watch them. And so they were covered with paint and buried beneath the sand. She would have to try and fix that soon, it was probably why she was making so little headway. Illila made a choking sound. ¡°Elie¡­do you smell that?¡± Elie? That was interesting. She nodded though, not hanging onto the strange feeling that getting a nickname warranted. ¡°Something died down here.¡± ¡°Do you think we should leave? I think maybe we should leave, right?¡± She kept on walking though. Eliax frowned at her, sparks this woman was terrified. ¡°Yeah, we can turn around if you want.¡± The musician relaxed marginally and the two of them stopped. Eliax took the torch and examined the walls for a moment, letting Illila calm down for a second. After a bit, she found a second torch and lit it with the first one, giving the new one to Illila. If they somehow got separated, it was better for the terrified one to have light for longer. Illila was staring down the hall as she accepted the torch. ¡°I didn¡¯t notice before since I was right next to the torch,.¡± she said, her voice trembling slightly, ¡°but there¡¯s a light that way. Do you think maybe it¡¯s an exit?¡± Eliax didn¡¯t feel like explaining that they were still underground so unless the ceiling collapsed somehow, it wasn¡¯t an exit. She simply shrugged, not seeing much of a reason to not check it out. Besides, if it was somehow a way out, she could leave sooner. ¡°Sure. let¡¯s see.¡± And so they kept walking. When Eliax finally spotted the light, it seemed more like a lantern than the sun, it wasn¡¯t steady enough. They turned a corner into a room that Eliax assumed had been some sort of guard breakroom or something. It had a very worn round table and a couple of suits of armor at any rate. What the two of them focused the most on was the young man sitting at the table. He was tuvei, but his skin was the darkest that Eliax had ever seen, it was still gray, but it almost looked ebony black in the lighting. Strewn across the table were pages and pages of notes, several empty inkwells, and two broken pens. The guy himself nearly jumped out of his skin when he saw the two of them, which was fair since Illila did exactly the same thing, with the addition of a small yelp, which she cleverly covered with a cough. Eliax just sort of stood there, holding her torch and examining the room for anything that might be lethal. The whiff of rot was stronger over here, which wasn¡¯t a great sign. ¡°I didn¡¯t do anything! Did Raendus send you? Tell him I didn¡¯t forget about the game on purpose! I-¡± ¡°Who¡¯s Raendus?¡± Eliax asked calmly. Staring straight at the stranger. Illila seemed a lot less anxious now that she had someone to allegedly blame for her earlier terror. ¡°Never mind that. Who the heck are you?¡± His eyes went wide, glancing between the two of them as if wondering how long he was going to live. ¡°I¡¯m Niun? Are you¡­not here about me missing the game?¡± Eliax sighed, ¡°That¡¯s Illila, I¡¯m Eliax. We were just exploring the dungeon. If neither of us is going to kill each other, we can just go our separate ways and pretend this never happened.¡± Niun nodded vigorously, seeming relieved at the idea. Illila simply narrowed her eyes. ¡°What are you doing down here?¡± Eliax sighed but didn¡¯t interrupt her. Niun looked distinctly as if he¡¯d rather be anywhere but here. ¡°What? Are you planning a murder?¡± It seemed like Illila did this to everyone¡­ ¡°What no! I don¡¯t kill people!¡± ¡°Alright¡­alright¡­so you¡¯re not going to murder anyone. What about sabotage?! You¡¯re planning on ruining someone¡¯s life!!¡± ¡°That is entirely unrelated to my presence here. I¡¯m literally just studying.¡± Illila planted her hands on the table, standing across from the strange man. ¡°So you are planning sabotage.¡± ¡°Well yes, but that¡¯s none of your business.¡± Eliax continued to watch, marveling as slowly, Niun broke under the pressure and told her everything. ¡°Who¡¯s life are we ruining? Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯m on your side.¡± ¡°It¡¯s just one of my classmates. You know Starsbane, it¡¯s all competition there-¡± ¡°It¡¯s more than that. What did he do?¡± ¡°Well he¡¯s dating the girl I like-¡± ¡°Ah that would do it. What¡¯s his name, maybe I can spit on him.¡± ¡°Jiuehn. He¡¯s an empath and he¡¯s like¡­one of the Last King¡¯s grandkids-¡± ¡°Oh yes, I hate them,¡± Illila said, nodding wisely. There wasn¡¯t a hint of deception in her bearing. ¡°But full disclosure, he¡¯s my cousin.¡± ¡°-and he- wait really?¡± ¡°Yeah, green eyes, taller than the forgotten sage, acts like a stuck-up dragon kisser. Anyway, you said there was something else illegal you were doing down here?¡± ¡°Oh, yeah I-¡± He clamped down on his mouth, ¡°I never said that.¡± ¡°But it¡¯s true.¡± He threw his hands up into the air, ¡°I¡¯m a necromancer. Happy? Do you need me to tell you about my childhood now?¡± Illila shook her head, ¡°That¡¯s all I needed.¡± She glanced at Eliax, ¡°We can go now. I just had to make sure I could still do that since you¡¯re immune to it.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not telling you my secrets until I make sure it¡¯s not going to bite me in the butt,¡± Eliax said lamely, making a quick note in her book about the earlier resonance now that she had time. Niun was simply staring at Illila, having no words, ¡°Usually when people hear about the necromancy bit they react.¡± ¡°At this point, I just want to go home. Eliax! Lead the way!¡± And¡­so they left. Chapter 5 Aulous

--- Aymiae, twenty-one years ago --- The world passed behind the ship, steady and calm despite the way it still gnawed at Aymi¡¯s stomach, even after two months at sea hopping between islands. Raan would always track her down whenever the sea sickness got bad, he was nice to be around, he was like a little brother in some ways. She showed him how to ¡®act fancy¡¯ as he put it, how to write in a way that people would pay for, and how to barter for payments. Raan was an eager student, and after some prodding he reluctantly revealed his three affinities to her, one being empathy, which a lot of men apparently thought was girly. Aymi understood why they would think that, but that didn¡¯t make them any less wrong. The imprint was based entirely on random chance. Eventually as time steadily passed, Aymi spotted land in the distance. Finally. She felt in her pocket and pulled out the package the strange Pitten had given her. She¡¯d long since disappeared, leaving them to pick up a new fish person at the next port. Aymi had asked the new one about the package but he had no idea and tried to explain some politics of the sea cities instead. Well, she was almost to her destination. She held it though, thinking as the land slowly became larger and the sailors around her started frantically preparing for port. The first few times she¡¯d tried to help out the sailors, but that just got her yelled at by the captain. Once the land was only an hour or so away, Aymi retreated to her cabin with the package, deciding this could be something sensitive. She tore at the paper and eventually came out with a small wooden box, intricately carved with scenes from myth. Gium shaping the magic of the world, the eight types he sorted them into, the uneven scrambling of the affinities that went with those. It was beautiful. She took a moment to appreciate it, but she did notice a large dent in one side that partially ruined the experience. Humming, Aymi opened the box and stared at the thing inside. It was a black pendant, the shape was strange with two long spikes jutting out of the central mass, there was a third spike but someone had snapped it off. Considering Aymi had no idea what kind of metal this was, that could have been very easy or very difficult to do. She picked it up hesitantly and nearly hurled it across the room when a voice spoke in her mind. ¡®Hello there, little tuvei. I am called the Whisper. By right of the laws of the go¡¯lir, you have defeated me. I am now in your power.¡¯ -- ¡°Aymi, could you get me more planks for this part?¡± She perked up at her name, glancing toward Raan who knelt beside the half finished repair job, juggling nails in one hand while another held the hammer and a third supported -if weakly- the plank he was affixing to the hole. The wall still had an enormous gap in it, but it was getting steadily smaller by the hour. His stack of planks was also decreasing and Aymi agreed that it wouldn¡¯t last through the rest of the wall ¡°Of course.¡± She stood up without hesitation from where she¡¯d been stapling the picture frame back together and sorting through the various wood chips for a missing piece. Aymi stretched a bit and nabbed her purse from the chair on her way out just in case they would let her pay for the wood this time. The men across the street were all pulling a different wall up, though that building hadn¡¯t had any remaining after the disaster. She waved at the overseer for that building and started down the ruined street where a couple of kids were already gathering piles of rocks for the men fixing the road. As she passed through the quickly recovering town, Aymiae couldn¡¯t help but wonder if these attacks would just get worse over the next few years. True, she¡¯d just been passing through with Raan, both of them were out of money at this point and surviving off odd jobs, monster slaying, and occasionally the generosity of the locals. But Aulous was somehow different from all the other places they¡¯d gone. It was significantly worse when you couldn¡¯t simply exterminate a couple of rowdy bandits or help find a lost chicken. She hummed to herself, passing into the distribution market, filled with various kinds of fresh planks and nails. Did Raan need more nails too? He hadn¡¯t said. Aymi passed the cooks handing out stew and blankets for anyone who needed them, wondering how Reiaran would have acted if a similar disaster hit them. Aymi already knew though, the disaster was different but two years weren¡¯t enough to forget the hollow eyes of the mothers and the sorrow that permeated the very walls of the city. That¡¯s why she¡¯d had to leave, to get away from that pain. She stopped in front of the same stall from earlier, ¡°Ten more planks, please!¡± The human grinned, ¡°Right away miss! But ah...how''s about I help you?¡± His accent placed him somewhere in Sanaria or the Aubinere desert. Aymi examined the planks behind him, counting out ten. Last time she¡¯d had Raan here and he was a lot more sturdy than herself. Not really muscular, but it wasn¡¯t hard for her to take one end and him to take the other and then for the two to simply walk back to the house they were fixing. The human in front of her could probably carry about twice that much without help. Aymi hummed slightly, ¡°I don¡¯t want to be a bother, I can just take half now and come back in a bit for the rest?¡± ¡°Nonsense! It¡¯ll be faster for both of us this way.¡± The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there. Aymi frowned, ¡°but-¡± He picked up ten planks and started off the way she¡¯d come. ¡°Where¡¯s this house? You¡¯re going to have to show me.¡± She blinked at him a few times and hurried toward him, part of her trying to figure out how to take a plank or two to ease the load and the other frantically trying to rationalize how easy it was to just let him take the whole load. ¡®You always do this.¡¯ The whisper said, quiet and unobtrusive, ¡®why?¡¯ Aymi grabbed the amulet at her neck anxiously since it would start glowing again, ¡®I can¡¯t just let someone do everything for me.¡¯ The foreign mind settled a bit, ¡®that is not an explanation. I will blame the disconnect between thought and emotion.¡¯ Aymi rushed to the side of the strange helper, silencing the whisper with a reminder that tonight was a better time to talk. She examined the man for a moment, ¡°I¡¯m Aymi, a traveler or something, what do they call you?¡± He glanced at her curiously, ¡°Harrel.¡± He was silent for a moment, ¡°I¡¯m also a traveler of sorts, mostly trying to get away from my family and all the nonsense on the other side of the sea.¡± She nodded, ¡°Did tales of Foralen get to you?¡± He blinked at her, ¡°Of course, everyone¡¯s heard of her as far off as Yera.¡± Of course the hero had made it all the way out here. It would have been more shocking if she hadn¡¯t. Fari had done something amazing and it made Aymi feel gross inside that she¡¯d discounted her as¡­well useless. ¡°She¡¯s the reason I left, I just felt sad being at home after that, like I needed to do more with my life. She¡¯s probably doing something in the name of justice again.¡± Harrel nodded slowly, following Aymi up the path and eventually into the house the two tuvei were fixing. He set the planks down after some guidance. ¡°Let me know if you need anything else, I¡¯ll probably be in the area for a few more months.¡± Aymi smiled, glancing at Raan as he got back to his work, ¡°So will we I think.¡± ¡°Yup.¡± Raan commented, ¡°We need a bigger group though if we want to go after the dragon queen.¡± Harrel paused in the doorway, frowning as he turned back to stare at Raan, ¡°You what?¡± ---Months later--- Aymi frowned at the two arguing humans, trying to figure out how best to intervene in a way that wouldn¡¯t make them mad at her too. ¡°I said, I¡¯m not one of those fancy shifters that can become anything, I need time to get to know the form!¡± ¡°But you literally became a rabbit? How is a hare any different?¡± ¡°I can¡¯t even begin to explain!¡± ¡°Won¡¯t rabbit fur work?¡± ¡°No! They¡¯re different?¡± ¡°How are they different, they taste basically the same.¡± ¡°There¡¯s a lot of things that can fit between ¡®basically¡¯.¡± Aymi cleared her throat and the two glaring humans reluctantly stopped for a second to glare at her, ¡°The potion might work with rabbit fur, but it¡¯s best if we follow it completely. A hare has different gifts from Gium that we need for this to work.¡± Cada, the one who¡¯d assumed they were the same, grunted in an annoyed fashion and stomped off, ¡°well good luck trapping the thing without me!¡± She had a point since without a chronomancer or dimensionalist, their chances of successfully catching something that was magically quick were lower than Aeinar itself. But could she really do it anyway? She¡¯s an ameture chronomancer by her own admission. The whisper took this as a sign to start invading Aymi¡¯s thoughts again, ¡®Purpose? Why? Catching a beast to make a potion? Odd mortal ideal. Simply become strong enough you do not need the potion.¡¯ ¡®That¡¯s not really¡­practical for us.¡¯ Aymi explained, glancing at Marn with a sigh. The whisper kept listening but Aymi focused on the present. ¡°That could have gone better.¡± Marn grunted, putting a hand on his belt knife and scanning the undergrowth for creatures. ¡°Cada can figure out a different way to sneak past a dragon¡¯s senses herself if she thinks it¡¯ll be so easy.¡± Aymi sighed, forcing a smile, ¡°Well, I know it¡¯s not tricked by illusions, but I can probably blind it for a moment.¡± The shifter grunted again, which could mean a hoard of things. Aymi took it as a good sign that he¡¯d stopped growling at people last week. ¡°Well, if that sparking nullifier ever catches up, this¡¯ll be so much easier.¡± ¡°...I believe Harrel has a name?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll call him that when he stops calling me ¡®rabbit boy,¡¯ I have a name too.¡± Aymi felt her smile start to falter as someone came back through the trees. She prepared herself for damage control if it was Cada deciding to keep arguing, but she found herself relaxing somewhat as the harmless form of Raan peeked out and examined the ground with a frown. ¡°Have you guys seen the hare yet? I keep thinking maybe it¡¯s stalking me, does that make sense?¡± She tilted her head at him, wondering if there was something else easy he could do to feel included besides scouting out the area. Marn got to him first though, ¡°Hare¡¯s don¡¯t stalk people, just send us the signal if you sense it coming in our direction.¡± Raan laughed nervously, ¡°Right¡­ right. It just has a really weird mental signature.¡± He reluctantly left, back to the area where he¡¯d been waiting. Aymi kept watch with a sigh, her illusion of bright light ready as a distraction. This group was far from her ideal one, at each other¡¯s throats most of the time, barely capable, and all of them just kept pushing. Usually Cada helped with peacemaking but she could never get along with Marn. Most of them couldn¡¯t get along with Marn, it was almost like the one-armed shifter was trying to make everyone hate him. Aymi caught a flash of movement out of the corner of her eye and flashed the illusion out of sheer instinct. All she got in return for her effort was a yelp of pain from Marn. Right, I have to warn allies about what I¡¯m doing. The whisper sounded amused when it spoke, ¡®You have made this realization before, mortal. Is it really that difficult to remember it?¡¯ Aymi hissed under her breath, ¡°Don¡¯t make me toss you back into the ocean.¡± The whisper seemed to like that idea though, ¡®Really? Are you offering? I was having such a great time ruling the pitten and destroying human villages. If you release me I promise I¡¯ll-¡¯ ¡®I¡¯m really learning to regret this agreement.¡¯ Chapter 6 the bane of stars There were no dreams, only memories. Memories that were unbound from the paint I¡¯d firmly affixed over them. Eliax never wondered why she¡¯d chosen paint to mask the blood, but I knew that answer. I knew so many of the answers. I just couldn¡¯t look at them, not yet. There was no blood when I was just eighteen. When I¡¯d lived for ten years with a barrier of blue and red paint masking it from view. It¡­it might still be there, but I didn¡¯t have to think about it. I could be happy. But Eliax didn¡¯t like that idea. She wanted to know what I¡¯d gone through. She wanted to fix us. She wanted to know who she was and why she was the way she was. She hated the idea of never knowing something as crucial as her own past. Neither of us had any say in the nighttime. As our dreams scraped away the paint and for once made us a cohesive whole. A cohesive whole that could do nothing but hurt. The same memory sounded over and over, now that it was recovered there was nothing I could do to force it back beneath the surface forever. -- I was running. I was crying. I watched them, their eyes fading into darkness, their skin turning black and brittle, the blue of their life force falling away into shadows. I watched as their soundless yells met my ears, thousands of dying wishes falling into my mind. One man wanted nothing more than to tell his sister he was sorry. One wanted to finish his mother¡¯s gift. They were all valiant men. I ran past them, the guilt and fear overwhelming me as I clutched two pendants in my hand, two versions of the same spell that could save one person each. One was for me. I watched the nightmare as the massive spell of destruction took hold. I ran through the battlefield, the stench of rot in my lungs. The stench of death. They were all dying. Everyone except for me. My light feet pattered against the cold blood stained grass, I barely left a mark where I went besides the sets of bloody footprints as my bare feet spread it like paint. Paint was something beautiful that I loved. Something I could hide behind. I screamed his name. The warriors around me that dwarfed me in stature fell to the blade of a single culprit. A blade of pure death. A blade that swallowed the human armies, the Tuvei protectors, and¡­him. He was nowhere. I was too late. I couldn¡¯t save him. All I did was let him fade into the blackness. The lingering memory was the closest to the surface from earlier, and in every way, it was the worst memory to be in that place. That was the day I¡¯d lost everything. My home. My trust. My king. My best friend. All I had left was vengeance. -- Eliax felt her eyes snap open, her heartbeat was like a drum in her ears, quick and painful. She felt her throat constricting, her mind spinning. She felt cold as death. Her mind replayed the scent of rot, but it didn¡¯t go further than that. Eliax knew the memory that went with it, but as she reached to peek at it, the resonance pulled it away from her grasp. She needed to¡­ugh her mind was spinning.¡­she probably needed to go over some different memories to figure out why this one was so terrifying. Yes. That was the right word. Eliax had never felt that before, but as her heartbeat slowly lessened and her mind dulled from the panic that had brought out its edge- she could accurately say that this was terror. Eliax prodded at the resonance again, getting nothing but a second source of terror out of it. After a moment she glanced down at her bedsheets, noticing how uninviting it suddenly seemed. She pulled the blanket off and sat on the floor with it wrapped over her shoulders, hugging her knees as she sat there and simply breathed for several moments. Eventually found herself taking out her notebook and fumbling for a candle. It took her a second, but before long she was writing. 17th of Darion, 771 For once, the resonance didn¡¯t stir at the number. Sparks, was the thing getting used to it or was it too distracted by the terror to worry about a simple discrepancy in dates? With a sigh, she put her pencil to the page again. The stench of rot sent me to a battlefield. I was trying to find someone. I might want to check up on battlefield records later. It was nothing like I¡¯d ever heard of before. People simply faded into nothingness as if returning to the dust. Eliax frowned and wrote a few other ideas out, but she had a feeling she would be going to the library in the near future. Knowing what to do next was both a relief and a pain. She glanced out the window once she was done, knowing very well that it was nowhere near sunrise. She was definitely not tired enough to go back to sleep. The lingering terror would only strengthen that way. After contemplating her courses of action, she finally sighed and poked at all those memories she¡¯d shoved to the back of her mind, having promised herself she would go over them later. Well. It was later. She chose one that seemed happy, gently eased it to the front of her mind, and felt the information slowly seep into her. Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel. -- Eliax bent the space between her fingers, watching as the sun began to rise from her small window. The distant mountains were visible for the first time since she¡¯d arrived. They were barely a hint of shadow, but seeing as the sun was still behind them, Eliax got a rather good view of the whole spectacle. She¡¯d gone over so many memories, and all she¡¯d learned was that apparently everyone called whoever she¡¯d been ¡®Fari.¡¯ There was a lingering sense that this wasn¡¯t her whole name and it still itched at the back of Eliax¡¯s mind. Mostly she¡¯d seen a room of stained glass, a woman who smiled down at her and looked over her ideas and drawings with a kind, happy bearing. There were a few other girls, memories of growing up with them, memories of running messages to high-ranking nobles and learning decorum from the kind lady. And once again there was that boy, the one in the tree. Whenever Eliax tried to look at a memory with him in it, the resonance withdrew again. The sun peeked above the horizon, its rays shining right into her eyes. ¡°And it¡¯s morning again, as if¡­nothing happened.¡± The resonance stirred for the first time since she¡¯d woken up as the sunlight chased the lingering terror away. She pulled at space again, making a bubble out of it that was separated from the outside world. It was completely unstable, but it was the closest thing yet to making some sort of permanently expanded storage. She released the tension after a moment and watched the runes unravel at the seams. Goal one, understand my past. Eliax smiled as she looked back at the sun, it was almost completely risen. Goal two, develop my dimensionalism. After a second of staring at the window, Eliax picked up her bag, ready to accomplish things with this new day. She would be alright, it was still starting. Goal three, make valuable connections. Alsen, Illila, Niun, Hivren, there were more people to connect her to her future. She needed to have a future. She knew she needed people in her life in order to be satisfied with that future, but accepting them there was a different matter entirely. Eliax opened the door, blinking at Alsen¡¯s hand poised to knock. They stared at one another for a long second, somewhat surprised, ¡°Ah¡­what is it?¡± Eliax finally asked. Alsen smiled pleasantly and took a step to the side, giving Eliax room to exit, ¡°There¡¯s an official from Starsbane here to see you.¡± Eliax blinked at her, having absolutely no idea what she¡¯d done to make them notice her, ¡°Do you know¡­why?¡± ¡°No, but I believe he just wants to ask you something.¡± Eliax frowned, but she couldn¡¯t think of anything that could implicate her. Maybe Illila did something stupid? Maybe it was Niun? Necromancy was fairly illegal outside of the proper channels, but she couldn¡¯t see a school official interrogating her for talking to a necromancer. ¡°Alright, I guess I¡¯ll have a chat with him then, he¡¯s just downstairs?¡± Alsen smiled pleasantly and nodded, her eyes adopting a more serious light after a moment. ¡°If he does anything you don¡¯t like, just shout, I¡¯ve got a cast iron wok in the kitchen.¡± Eliax examined the woman for a moment and nodded slowly, ¡°Ah¡­thanks?¡± ¡°That goes for anyone missy!¡± Alsen said a bit louder as Eliax turned and started down the stairs. ¡°Anyone, anywhere! You take my wok with you if it might go wrong!¡± ¡°Got it!¡± Was the only response she felt was appropriate. She opened the door at the bottom of the stairway and peeked into the front room, which was devoid of life this early in the morning. The only person in the area was a fairly tired-looking man with a neatly trimmed goatee and a rather fidgety bearing. He glanced up as the door made a very undignified squeaking noise. Eliax ignored it, nodding at him. ¡°Ah¡­you wanted to talk with me?¡± She hesitated in the doorway. ¡°Miss Lestwood I take it?¡± She nodded and moved toward him, sitting across from the stranger at one of the dining tables. She remained silent, observing him. ¡°My name is Roin. I¡¯m an official at Starsbane University. Do you know why I¡¯m here?¡± Eliax frowned, that just made her feel like he was digging for information. Did people do that if they weren¡¯t being actively malicious? She had no idea. ¡°No. I¡¯ve thought about it but I can¡¯t think of what it might be.¡± His lips turned upward into a slight grin, ¡°We¡¯d like you to enroll in Starsbane, Miss Lestwood.¡± Eliax tilted her head at him, ¡°Really? Why?¡± She had a couple of ideas, but she couldn¡¯t figure out how the school would know either of them. ¡°We had a report last night about one of our students practicing dark arts in the palace dungeon. Along with that, we had the revelation that you are a dimensionalist. Is this correct?¡± Eliax froze slightly, her face was still mostly neutral, but apparently, he saw something in it. ¡°I get the feeling you didn¡¯t want us to know that. Considering how thoroughly you hid it in your papers, how valuable mages with this skill are, and the magesight that comes with it?¡± Eliax glanced at the table, ¡°I just have some personal matters I wanted to deal with. I don¡¯t plan on being in Reiaran for more than a month or two.¡± ¡°And yet we also have it on record that you are entirely untrained. Your papers list no teachers, mentors, or magical academies. The most you have is the tutelage of a dropout spellcaster who could barely draw a rune.¡± ¡°You¡¯ve clearly done your research. Congratulations. Guilt trips don¡¯t work on me, my dad tried that all the time.¡± He sighed, ¡°Why don¡¯t you want to go through official training?¡± Because she wasn¡¯t ready. The resonance knew things about the ability that she hadn¡¯t pulled out of it yet. ¡°I¡¯m perfectly fine on my own. Do you need a demonstration or something?¡± The official paused, he seemed curious. Good. ¡°Perhaps. What can you show me right now?¡± Sparks, she had to do something that was at least mildly impressive for her age and presumed skill level. ¡°I¡­alright.¡± She prodded at the realm of magic, the source of all spells and abilities. It was easily accessible. Thankfully, some places made it more and more difficult to open, but in the middle of a city where people had been using magic for thousands of years? Well it was almost too easy. She bent the space at first, not so much drawing runes in the air as she was pulling them into sight. She could see them at all times, it was part of her magesight, most of what she needed when bending space was picking the right type of space to bend, some runes would never bind to regular matter, which was why it was so difficult to make a permanently distorted area since those runes were everywhere, tiny and hidden by Gium when he made the world. The small lines in the air grew brighter as she moved them, spurred by contact with the Between realm. She could tell that Roin could see them now because he watched their movements with a slightly curious -but still ultimately tired- expression, he grew more interested the more runes he saw, flying about the area like little insects. Eliax stopped after a long moment, hesitantly holding up a small silver bit that she¡¯d bound the whole thing to. It was still rather unstable, but it was an expanded space that might be able to hold a book or something. Roin examined it for a long moment, ¡°Impressive. It will fall apart soon, won''t it?¡± Eliax nodded. ¡°And you can¡¯t teleport or make gates?¡± Eliax shook her head. The official frowned. ¡°How about we simply set you up with a teacher for personal lessons? You won¡¯t have to enroll and we won¡¯t get any of the face from having a dimensionalist learning at our institution.¡± Apparently that¡¯s what he thought the real reason was. This offer was a lot better than what she¡¯d resigned herself to eventually having to do, it didn¡¯t change the possibility of any teacher noticing that there was something terribly wrong with her, but- ¡°Our of curiosity, what¡¯s your other affinity?¡± Eliax felt herself harden, the resonance, rising up, overtaking her entirely of its own accord, ¡°I don¡¯t have one.¡± She found herself saying. The more interesting part was that she could tell it was a lie. The man shrugged, ¡°That just gives you more time to focus on the important things. So what do you say, will you take the offer?¡± She met his eyes for a moment and looked away just as quickly. ¡°I¡¯ll¡­think about it.¡± ¡°That¡¯s all I¡¯m asking.¡± Chapter 7 Yellowpass

--- Hivren --- ¡°-he¡¯s not going to reconsider this stupid idea of his?¡± Hivren shrugged helplessly, knowing exactly how his uncle was. ¡°Sorry, I don¡¯t think so.¡± he held out the letter in question and the illusionist took it with a frown, scanning the paragraphs with her strange eyes. Hivren had once asked her how she even knew his uncle, but he only ever got vague answers from both of them and sometimes a far-off look. At one point she set the page down with a sigh, massaging her temples and muttering. ¡°Harrel you idiot¡­¡± after a bit she glanced back at Hivren, ¡°I¡¯ll do the commision, but only because I don¡¯t want him to go off without anything.¡± This was another thing Hivren had noticed about her, she cared about the life of someone more than whether or not what they were doing was right. Hivren paused, frowning, ¡°You really think he¡¯d do that? Without a team? Without supplies?¡± Hivren himself had received many lectures from his uncle about what not to do if he decided to go adventuring, and that was at the top of the list. Aymiae raised an eyebrow, ¡°Yes. Yes I do. Your uncle thinks he¡¯s immortal. Sparks, I used to think he might be, he just has a way about him.¡± That was far too true. Hivren could easily see him taking down three dragons by himself and at the end simply remarking that one of them owed him money. There was silence for a long moment. Eventually, Hivren remembered the bit that wasn¡¯t included in the letter, ¡°Well, he¡¯s sending a bunch of thinweave roots in a few weeks, I can get it for you. Harrel said he won¡¯t be leaving for another month or so.¡± The woman nodded absently, frowning at the letter, ¡°When you see him next, tell him he needs to let me know this time if he survives so I can kill him myself for not telling me last time.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s both hope this is the last of his expeditions¡­¡± -- Hivren found that when he didn¡¯t understand something, it was best to figure it out before it bit him in the backside. He¡¯d learned this through years with parents who didn¡¯t tell him things, and the skill was surprisingly transferable because by this point, he¡¯d looked up countless facts in libraries and archives. He tried not to think about that one time he¡¯d decided based just on the tea she was drinking that his aunt was pregnant. After that it was an embarrassing couple of months in which he was proven completely wrong. Since then, Hivren never shared his theories with anyone unless they seemed dangerous to keep to himself. As such, Hivren found himself in the library, looking up the magical and mundane uses of thinweave root. It hadn¡¯t specified in the letter what uncle Harrel needed the potion to do, but he¡¯d clearly needed it plenty of times because Aymiae hadn¡¯t even asked for clarification. The first book on plants wasn¡¯t very helpful, it only stated that thinweave ¡®isn¡¯t edible unless cooked in a pot of pure verdant essence¡¯ but everything was edible if you did that. The next book only told him where it was found and a general description with some badly done renditions, which was interesting, but not particularly helpful. After five books of getting roughly that much, discovering that it was used for weaving by some old societies, and eventually moving to the alchemy section, Hivren finally picked up a book that seemed more promising, he located the index, searched for ¡®thinweave¡¯ and eventually found his way to the magical attributes section for the roots. Thinweave root: Increases the effects of any sensory-arts. When combined with Ori leaves, it strengthens illusions beyond mortal abilities and away from simple light/sound. Certain combinations can even fool dragons. Uncle Harrel wasn¡¯t just going on another expedition, he was going to the dragonlands. Hivren stared at the page for quite a bit, remembering belatedly that his uncle had some sort of unknown vendetta against the place. Hivren just wished he knew why.

--- Eliax --- Eliax stepped into the library and felt herself relaxing. This was the first time she¡¯d entered a new building in an entire week and felt nothing from the resonance. If anything it seemed bored, which was something Eliax had noticed a while ago, the resonance didn¡¯t like reading. Naturally, she¡¯d long since decided to like reading just because of that, which made libraries one of the only places where she knew anything about herself. She smiled and examined the rows of books, nodding at the librarian at the desk and trying to get a feel for their sorting system here. Most libraries had different systems, especially when they were so far apart, but Eliax had a lot of experience getting used to different ones. She''d probably lived in almost every city in Sanaria in the last ten years, Estin sure didn¡¯t like staying put. She¡¯d been half sure he was on the run from someone, but regardless, it gave her the ability to examine the layout for an hour or so and have a pretty good idea of where to find everything. She found herself humming as she flipped through a history book, only to find it was severely outdated. There was nothing on the last fifty years. It didn¡¯t mention any battles where everyone on both sides turned to dust, so she tried to find newer books. It did make her feel slightly better if these memories were from more recent times. Eliax also didn¡¯t find anything from before the Melorian empire was formed, which wasn¡¯t weird in the slightest. She didn¡¯t think there were any records left from before that, maybe the dragons had something with their hordes of knowledge, but she wouldn¡¯t bet on it. She picked up another stack of potential sources and moved to the back of the shelf, glancing at the volumes on affinities and innate magic. Eliax paused and made an undignified squeaking noise when she ran straight into something squishy. She grimaced and looked up just in time to meet the eyes of the weirdo from the tavern the other day. Sparks she¡¯d forgotten that humans were squishy. If anything in the world was unnatural, it was definitely that. People shouldn¡¯t be squishy, they should have exoskeletons or scales or something. Humans were probably hurt by everything around them, what did they do if they got poked wrong? What protected them from rocks and stuff? Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more. The human, oblivious to her train of thought, gave her a moderately startled and concerned look, ¡°Eliax! Sorry! I thought you noticed me.¡± He backed up, looking slightly ruffled. She sighed, ¡°That was my fault. Nice to see you. Goodbye.¡± He didn¡¯t take the hint. ¡°Hey, what¡¯re you looking for? Maybe I can help out?¡± Eliax glanced down at her three books, ¡°I think I¡¯m good.¡± But you¡¯re noooootttttt. The tiny voice inside her head insisted. It wasn¡¯t even something she could blame on the resonance¡­ The human, thankfully, didn¡¯t seem to care that she didn¡¯t want help. ¡°What are you looking for?¡± She sighed, but the tiny voice was very happy with this situation. ¡°I¡¯m looking for records on a specific battle.¡± She frowned, there were humans on that battlefield too, weren¡¯t there? It couldn¡¯t have been an inter-tribal dispute or anything like that. It had felt too official. Had they been wearing two different colors? She couldn¡¯t quite remember¡­ ¡°It ended with both sides turning to dust. Or being sent to Aeinar I think.¡± The human blinked at her and glanced at her books, ¡°Oh, well that would¡¯ve taken you all day, you¡¯re looking at the wrong section of the library.¡± Eliax gave him a rather unamused look, ¡°How? This is history, wouldn¡¯t it be in the history books?¡± ¡°Err¡­ no. Most historians don¡¯t believe it actually happened.¡± He smiled slightly, ¡°There was only one reported witness, you see. The one who killed them all and led her kingdom to victory. The entire battlefield was ash when she was done.¡± Eliax felt bile rise to her throat. ¡°The Hero.¡± She said it more bitterly than she¡¯d intended, but really, her opinion of the woman couldn¡¯t be lower. The human nodded. ¡°The Hero.¡± Eliax sighed and let him lead her to a more obscure corner of the library. She would have found it eventually, but her hatred of the Hero probably would have led her to ignore it even if she¡¯d gone through the entire library already. She might never have opened any of the books with titles like ¡®Foralen Dei Imal, the Hero¡¯s legacy¡¯ or ¡®Never forgotten, the twenty year anniversary of the Hero¡¯s rise to fame!¡¯ She eventually conceded when the human happily took a book as if at random from the shelf of propaganda and opened to a page near the middle, pointing out artistic depictions of a battlefield of ash. It was¡­sparks, that was almost identical to what she¡¯d seen in the memory. It was clearly made by someone who hadn¡¯t been there, but it was the same event. It showed a man staring hauntedly at the viewer while his face disintegrated, a haunted look in his eyes that Eliax knew had been there during the battle itself. ¡°You see.¡± The human started, ¡°Foralen couldn¡¯t find any way for them to win, so she cast an enormous spell over the entire battlefield, catching every enemy in the radius.¡± ¡°That kind of magic is impossible.¡± Eliax pointed out. ¡°That¡¯s also part of the reason the historians don¡¯t believe it even happened.¡± Eliax stared at the picture for a long moment as he talked animatedly about the events leading up to the battle, ¡°We don¡¯t know how she made the choice, but it single handedly won the queen the succession war. The Hero came back to Reiaran and told everyone these words. ¡®They¡¯re all dead. Every last one of them. Tell the widows and mothers and let them mourn.¡¯ After that she left and was never seen again.¡± Eliax frowned at the pages, she¡¯d apparently been there. This was weak evidence for her having been the hero as far as she was concerned, there was no way that she could have cast a spell that big and there¡¯s no way she would have. Besides, just because there were no other documented survivors didn¡¯t mean there weren¡¯t any at all. The resonance had retreated far beneath the surface through the entire conversation, Eliax wasn¡¯t sure how long it would take to come back out. ¡°Huh. Well I think that¡¯s all I needed to know. Thanks I guess.¡± The human frowned, ¡°Hey wait, do you want to do some games with a couple friends? We go to Nightwind tavern most nights.¡± Eliax paused. She didn¡¯t want to. But she did know that the resonance liked this kind of thing. It might be more useful if she was around people. The time she¡¯d hung out with Illila was probably the most productive with memory surfacing. Although on that note¡­ugh¡­Illila would probably be there. Eliax wasn¡¯t really avoiding her, but she was definitely annoyed that she¡¯d told the school about her dimensionalism. She knew it was illogical since there was no way that Illila knew that the school didn¡¯t already know. But still. Hesitantly, Eliax smiled, ¡°Sure, is this right now, or later?¡± The human blinked, apparently not expecting her to even consider the idea. ¡°Yeah, I was just going to head over there in a minute, did you need to finish whatever your project is?¡± Eliax felt her smile strain, ¡°No¡­It¡¯s going great¡­¡± She really hoped he forgot the whole ¡®looking into the memories of her past life¡¯ thing. -- Nightwind was just as rowdy and energetic as the last time she¡¯d been there. Even though it was barely past noon, people were already drinking and jeering at each other. More of them were older men this time around. Men who kept glancing at the doors as if scared someone was going to burst in and yell at them or something. Eliax suspected their wives didn¡¯t appreciate them drinking. The human led her to a table a bit further from the bar than the one she¡¯d chosen last time. There were three people there already, a fairly decent looking Tuvei who was grinning ear to ear, a girl by his side who looked completely unimpressed with everything, and another guy who mostly seemed distracted. The last one was fairly large for a Tuvei, almost Hivren¡¯s height probably. Eliax examined them and sat down next to the girl, deciding she didn¡¯t really like any of them. Oh well, she was already resigning herself to several hours of pointless nonsense. She let her magesight rise up, examining their surface abilities discreetly. The human took the last empty spot and clapped her on the back in a friendly way, ¡°This is Eliax! She¡¯ll be joining us today. What are we playing?¡± The first guy she¡¯d processed looked her up and down, ¡°Nice, gotta know all the ladies.¡± He grinned. He was an Empath with a slight affinity for lightning spells. It was a lot lower than Estin¡¯s lightning ability, but Eliax hadn¡¯t seen it for a while, it pulled a pit from the depths of her stomach. The girl beside him elbowed him in the gut, ¡°Jiuhen, you have one warning remaining.¡± Jiuhen? Wasn¡¯t that the name the necromancer guy was contemplating revenge on? An Empath too, like he¡¯s said¡­huh. He glanced at her sheepishly and then focused back on Eliax, ¡°I¡¯m Jiuhen and this is my lovely girlfriend Givei!¡± Givei had mostly sky magic, but it seemed like she was working harder at her weaker affinity, enhancements. Givei glared at him, looked Eliax up and down, and then glared at her too. This was going well. The human sighed, ¡°And the quiet guy to the side is Raendus, he¡¯s head of the local Echoball team.¡± Raendus groaned, ¡°Well I won¡¯t be for long if I keep coming to these, my grades impact if I¡¯m allowed to play! I don¡¯t know why I keep letting you guys talk me into this¡­¡± Raendus¡­that name also seemed familiar, maybe the necromancer had said it? Raendus seemed to be a shifter, though a very very bad one. That was his only affinity, but he had the feel of a fairly decent mage anyway. Jiuhen nudged him with an elbow, ¡°It¡¯s because you¡¯re stressed, my friend! We¡¯re all stressed! School is stress! Life is stress!¡± The human nodded, he pointed at himself, ¡°And I¡¯m Hivren in case you forgot.¡± ¡°We¡¯re playing Yellowpass.¡± Givei informed them, setting down a deck of cards. ¡°Everyone sit down, I¡¯m not explaining the rules again.¡± She glared hard at Eliax and started shuffling the deck. Chapter 8 Underfolk Eliax walked back towards Alsen¡¯s place, contemplating the merits of trying to actually make friends with these people. She had Illila¡­apparently. Even if she was kind of annoyed at her still for spilling her secrets, it was clearly not the end of the world yet. It had only been a couple of days though, she couldn¡¯t accurately say if any of these connections would last. She didn¡¯t really know any of them yet. What would her future look like? What would she be doing in a year? In ten? If she could get past the paint, could she ever be a normal person? She¡­might one day look back on all this and regret it. Eliax shook her head and pulled out her notebook, flipping through the pages and pages of memories, it was still mostly blank, there was still so much that she didn¡¯t know. She couldn¡¯t simply leave it alone. She hadn¡¯t been able to do that for ten years. Ten years of picking at the broken pieces and wishing she could see the whole picture. She flipped to the first page, remembering when Estin had given her the journal, when she¡¯d actually used it as a journal. 1st of Teivet, 766 I remembered my mothers face today, she was beautiful. Somehow I know that she¡¯s dead. I think my father is dead too, whoever he was. At least I have Estin. We¡¯re leaving Aubinere today, I think that there¡¯s someone after him, but I¡¯ve never seen them. He goes to taverns a lot, I think he¡¯s trying to forget something. Why would he want that? I can barely remember what kind of food I like, I would hate to forget. Eliax breathed out slowly, pondering her future. She could make money with dimensionalism, if she could ever focus on it enough, if she could find the memories she knew she had that contained the secrets of the craft. She breathed in again and paused at the scent of rot. Her mind sharpened in less than a moment, she felt her hand stray to her knife and instinctively draw it, she peered past the street lamps into the darkness of the night, trying to get her eyes to focus on what she knew was there. It shuffled in the darkness and the scent of rot increased. A creature. Something dead. Eliax decided right then that no matter how this ended, she would look for some light spells. No matter how bad she was at them. She ended up in the darkness far too much without suitable lighting for this to be something she could keep ignoring. Eliax stepped backward, prompting the creature to step forward. It looked like a Saelden, the tree folk that were closer to being golems than intelligent beings. This one was shaped more like a canine though, standing on four legs, the twisting branches that made up its body were in that unmistakable shape, but it was also somehow wrong. Most of its leaves were completely gone and the ones that remained were brown and dead, barely sticking onto the cracked wood. Pieces of the wood were missing, revealing an inky black abyss beneath it, like a shell that was hiding something terrible. An entire front leg was missing, leaving nothing but leaking darkness in the shape of an arm, instead of paws it had claws that grasped at the air with jerking motions. Eliax almost screamed. Almost. She refused to stoop to that level though, the level of someone who didn¡¯t have enough self control to push past her terror. She should be better than that. She should always be better. That didn¡¯t mean she wasn¡¯t scared though, she couldn¡¯t control that part. That just proved how badly she was failing. She backed up even more, holding her knife up and warily staring at the monster. The creature jerked its head sharply as if tilting it. It didn¡¯t seem aggressive, but that didn¡¯t really mean much. It was clearly undead, which meant it had to have a¡­master. The scent of rot was all she could really think about, and as most beings with terrible noses tend to be, it sparked connections that otherwise might have been overlooked. The necromancer in the dungeons. When she¡¯d met him there had been an underlying scent of rot all over the place. Plus there was Illila¡¯s cousin, who claimed to have heard strange noises down in the dungeon. She¡¯d written that off but what if this was the creature that had been making the noises? It didn¡¯t completely line up, she was more than halfway across the city from the palace presently and there was little reason for the necromancer to set something like this loose if he had a good place to keep it. Unless he was trying to get ¡®revenge¡¯ on Jiuhen right now, which struck Eliax as monumentally stupid, even if it was something that felt likely. The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. ¡°Can you understand me?¡± She managed to ask the creature, her voice was wavering, but in general it was a lot more firm than she¡¯d expected it to be. Good job. The creature tilted its head to the other side sharply, it made a groaning noise. Right, most undead probably couldn¡¯t really talk even if they were smarter than a rock. She would have to read up on them apparently¡­She would have to read up on a lot of things.¡°Uh, could you take me to your master? I¡¯d like to have a chat with him.¡± The creature straightened its spine suddenly and a puff of black smoke erupted from the cracks in its wooden shell. Eliax almost fled right then, curiosity notwithstanding. After a moment it began to amble away in a supremely disturbing fashion, limbs jerking without anything that resembled a smooth gait. Hesitantly, Eliax followed it. She regretted the decision when the creature entered one of the lesser lit areas of the city, plowing straight through a fence that looked like a particularly strong breeze could knock the entire thing over. Eliax sent an anxious look at the dark house it belonged to, but continued behind the tree zombie even as a scenario of law enforcement stumbling upon them and assuming she was the necromancer tumbled into her mind. A scenario that seemed¡­almost familiar. Sparks, what kinds of crap had her past self done for that to be something familiar?! Eliax shoved the slightly impressed and concerned feeling to the back of her mind as she realized that the undead Saelden had stopped. It peered at a small house for a while before going up to a window and sitting back so it could peer through. The thing made noises that resembled begging and scratched at the glass, which was strange since it was definitely capable of simply breaking through it. It was nearly twice Eliax¡¯s height for goodness sake. She simply watched it however, really hoping that its master was in there and not just some random civilians. She wasn¡¯t sure what she should do if the thing was simply confused. After a while a light turned on in the room and a candle was held up to the glass for a long, tense moment. The angle was wrong so Eliax couldn¡¯t see the figure very well, but after a moment the light went out again and the back door was opening, revealing a concerned looking necromancer in his pajamas. ¡°What are you doing here?¡± He hissed under his breath, ¡°I told you to go back to the underrealm, come on! Nasei, you remember that place, right?!¡± The creature jerked its head to the side suddenly and a puff of black smoke came out of its cracks again. It glanced back at Eliax, looking oddly pleased with itself for a demonic beast. Kind of like a dog in more than just appearance it seemed... It stood up straight on its four legs, dwarfing both of the Tuvei, and finally the necromancer -Niun she thought his name was- seemed to see her. ¡°...Eliax?¡± She grinned hesitantly, ¡°...yeah?¡± He groaned. ¡°Jeref. You are the least cooperative undead I¡¯ve ever summoned, I hope you know.¡± The creature happily fell over onto the grass in a clatter of creaking branches and crunching leaves. ¡°Didn¡¯t you get reported to the academy for necromancy? Don¡¯t they take that kind of thing badly?¡± Niun grunted, ¡°I was suspended and they did a full examination of my workshop in the dungeon. Thankfully this idiot was long gone at that point so they didn¡¯t really have any evidence besides the report and my Soul mage affinity.¡± Jeref didn¡¯t seem to mind being called an idiot, if indeed it actually understood what that meant. ¡°Ah, well sorry to hear about that?¡± ¡°Are you going to report me again? At this point I don¡¯t even care, my entire future is ruined. They probably won¡¯t let me back into the Academy anyways and nowhere else will even teach the basics of my skill. Never mind that Empaths and Shifters are a million times more sinister. Plus the royal enforcers will probably know about me now and discriminate the heck out of everything I do¡­¡± Eliax cleared her throat awkwardly. ¡°It was actually Illila who reported you. If it makes you feel better, she spilled everything she knew about me too.¡± ¡°The only thing worse than being a soul mage is being a dragon. I doubt your life is ruined.¡± The creature peered up at them curiously and made a strange growling-groaning noise. ¡°Okay, well they hate undead too.¡± Niun amended. Eliax grunted in a way that could be interpreted as agreement. ¡°Well It¡¯s not like I don¡¯t have my own crap to deal with. I¡¯m not going to report you as long as you aren¡¯t killing children or summoning demons.¡± He snorted, ¡°If I wanted to summon a demon I¡¯d have to get past the blockage in the void. It would take a lot more than a couple children to knock a hole through.¡± Huh, strange. ¡°That clarification isn¡¯t helping you much, mister sinister vibes.¡± Niun sighed, glancing at the undead creature who was now digging at the dirt for¡­some reason. ¡°Jeref. Go home. I released you from the contract.¡± The zombie glanced up at him and moaned sadly. Niun grimaced. Eliax watched the exchange, not really seeing anything she could do about it. ¡°So¡­you aren¡¯t going to go all vengeful on that empath with this guy? That¡¯s kind of what I assumed.¡± Niun laughed awkwardly, ¡°That was ah¡­that was the original plan. I realized how stupid it was though, that¡¯s why I tried to get rid of Jeref.¡± They both watched the creature for several minutes. ¡°Well.¡± Eliax eventually said, shifting her stance, sparks her legs were getting tired. ¡°I think you should just take him outside the city and let him terrorize some cave while you think about what to do. In fact, I think I know just the place.¡± At least¡­the resonance thought it knew just the place. Eliax wasn¡¯t about to trust that this particular spot was still devoid of civilization. Niun brightened somewhat, ¡°Oh! Really? Where¡¯s it at?¡± She paused uncomfortably as the resonance finished feeding her information about the spot. That was¡­not ideal for her, but it certainly increased the chances of no one looking there.. ¡°I¡¯ll¡­draw you a map. You don¡¯t happen to be deathly allergic to any mushrooms, do you? Particularly¡­Sandfrost.¡± They parted ways soon after, it really wasn¡¯t Eliax¡¯s problem what Niun ended up doing with his zombie, but she left feeling rather good about the entire experience. She was getting better in leaps and bounds lately. Sure, she was losing more and more sleep every night thanks to the nightmares. Sure, she couldn¡¯t think too hard about some¡­stuff without her vision going red, but all in all, she could probably be mistaken for a regular person at this rate! Chapter 9 Necromancer

--- Runesight --- There was a story I remembered from when I was a child, the type my mother would tell when I wouldn¡¯t leave her alone. It wasn¡¯t the type of story with a happy ending, but if you opened a book with the words bound inside and flipped through to the end, you might think it was happy when you got to the last line. A boy lived in what is now Aulous, the country named after the everhigh mountains that bordered the dragonlands. At the time of the story though, it wasn¡¯t a country yet, it was right after the rise of Yeran power and all the human tribes were too busy squabbling with each other to appoint a king or write a social contract. The boy loved to look at those mountains that reached beyond the sky, he loved to watch when sometimes a dragon would fly overhead, off to business that the boy would never know. He learned to paint so he could capture their beauty, he learned to hunt so he could traverse their feet. One day the boy became a man, he decided to map the mountains that he loved, but in order to do that he had to find the top. The young man gathered together supplies, pages of maps, rations for the journey, and his bow for hunting. He bade his family farewell, but they knew better than he did, for they said goodbye tearfully and supposed that the young man would never return. The young man drew as he went, mapping the crags in the rock, the distance between each peak, and the routes of the animals that called it home. One day he came across a cave hollowed out in the icy peaks. He still couldn¡¯t see the top, but he took shelter there for the night, deciding it was a lovely cave for such a place. When he woke, he crept farther into the cave, exploring the branches and shapes that formed its belly. He mapped these as well. He came into a room near the end and stopped in surprise. Before him, sitting silently on a ledge, three enormous blue eggs shimmered in the torchlight. His greed spoke before his wisdom. The eggs were gone by the time their mother returned, she searched high and low for them, scouring the mountains for the culprit. When she found the young man he didn¡¯t live long, but neither did her eggs. They shattered upon the rocks below her cave during the scuffle, and the dragoness¡¯s scream of fury could be heard for hours afterward. She destroyed several human villages, seeking vengeance. The other dragons joined in soon, vowing to remove the human plague from the land. The villages weren¡¯t idle though, they hiked the mountains and found nests when they couldn¡¯t take the attacks anymore, destroying more eggs in retribution, killing dragons when they could. The tribes of Aulous joined together to fight this, rising up against the threat. They were victorious in the end, destroying any dragon that dared to attack them. The dragons never stopped looking for revenge, and the humans never stopped having to rebuild their cities. But no one remembers how a circle of pain begins, and no one thinks ¡®hey, we should stop this, I think the revenge we got is enough now.¡¯ That, I believe, is exactly how Niun felt when he stared at the map, trying to figure out how to get Jeref where he needed to go.

--- Niun --- He scratched the zombie behind the ears absently. It had been three days since Eliax had given him the map, three days of anxiety, confusion, and not a little depression. He¡¯d tried putting Jeref in an abandoned house, Nasei knows there were plenty of those in the city lately. But Jeref didn¡¯t like the idea and ended up breaking a Jeref-shaped hole in the wall so he could track down Niun again. If he could go back in time and tell his past self that summoning a zombie wasn¡¯t worth it, he would most definitely do that. Nevermind the anger that burrowed into his soul whenever he thought about Jiuhen, nevermind the fact that the empath had known that Niun liked the same girl. Yet all he¡¯d gotten was a laugh of pity from him. It was like Jiuhen saw him as lesser, like simply apologizing or helping him out with getting any girl was completely beneath his notice. Niun knew there was more to it, but he couldn¡¯t find it within himself to care. Somehow though, the longer that revenge plot had festered, the more Niun was sure it wasn¡¯t actually worth it. He sighed, ¡°I need to kill something¡­¡± Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author. Jeref perked up at this, sitting up as Niun got to his feet, it seemed like a question, where are we going? ¡°You¡¯re staying here.¡± The tree-wolf whimpered and lay back down in search of pity, but Niun simply shook his head, ¡°Tough luck.¡± He held up the map, ¡°I¡¯m just going to find out where this is, I¡¯ll come back for you and then we¡¯ll figure out how to get you out of the city.¡± Jeref seemed happier at that idea and snuggled into the blankets below him contentedly. -- Niun dodged to the side at the swipe, something grazed his arm as he turned on his heel into a fighting stance. The giant spider hissed at him and skittered backward, apparently more of an ambush predator than anything. It stayed within view though, hissing at him every so often and shooting some webbing. Niun examined the creature, but it didn¡¯t have anything valuable even if he could sell it without getting fully kicked out of Starsbane. So Niun tossed a knife at the spider, which hit true. It let out a screech and skittered backward farther, before deciding this meal wasn¡¯t worth it and leaving entirely. Niun wouldn¡¯t be getting the knife back, but it was a minor loss if the creature would leave him alone in the end. After a moment, Niun took out the map again and frowned at it; he¡¯d headed south, because that¡¯s what he figured the map was telling him to do. At some point he¡¯d completely lost the coast though since the cliffs of silverside got in the way. They were really eye-catching cliffs, rising up out of the ground like a wall made by some powerful earth mage or maybe a god. No one could really scale them, and while it was possible to find your way through, more people died trying to do that than to dragons each year. Was this beach on the other side of the cliffs? Niun glanced up and squinted at the horizon, before deciding he¡¯d somehow managed to lose the cliffs at some point too. Such a way to go about life¡­ he turned the map this way and that, but having lost all the landmarks in the first five minutes, Niun was almost completely sure it was useless by this point. With a shrug, Niun folded up the map and pocketed it, continuing forward. -- By the time the sun was starting to set, Niun was completely lost. He wandered around in the wilderness, occasionally finding a path, or running into the coast and following it. He squinted down at the map, trying to retrace his steps, and tripped on a root that was hidden in the lengthening shadows. Niun found himself on the ground, grunting at the impact and picking himself up. He tried to find the road a few times, but the only time he¡¯d seen it was way back before he¡¯d even found cliffs. Occasionally he would see the massive thing in the distance, but then he¡¯d get chased by a monster or find a trail that looked promising, and next thing he knew, they were out of sight again. Suffice it to say, Niun did not have a good sense of direction. After exhausting all possible avenues and deciding there wasn¡¯t anything else to try, Niun finally sat down in the middle of a field and started drawing up a circle. It took about twenty minutes, but he¡¯d memorized the diagram with as much precision as he could manage, down to even the subtle angle of an offshooting arrow. It wasn¡¯t a perfect replication, but it didn¡¯t have to be. After looking over the circle for a bit, Niun stepped inside and faced the direction -he believed- Reiaran was. He pushed his mana into the circle and spoke quietly, ¡°Loyal to the core, bring me the wolf.¡± The circle started glowing and Niun felt his energy drain away immediately. If the spell didn¡¯t work, there was no way he could walk all the way home without collapsing. The circle pulsed to an unknown beat before darkness materialized out of the ground, it looked like a seed at first, but it coalesced faster with every passing moment, eventually leaving the shape of a happy looking Jeref behind. After a moment, the glow stopped and the tree-wolf pounced on Niun, wagging his tail fast enough to decapitate someone. Niun laughed, somehow feeling quite a bit better. ¡°Glad to see you too, buddy.¡± -- The two of them walked tiredly onto the beach two hours later, only proving that Jeref was smarter than his master. Somehow, Niun had thought the map was telling him south but even right there it said north. He shook his head and examined the area before turning toward his summon, ¡°Alright, you get to stay here for a couple of weeks, Jeref! I¡¯ll come visit every week, so behave! There¡¯s a farm not too far out, but I¡¯m trusting you to not go over there, okay?¡± Jeref seemed to understand. He started rolling in the sand and Niun smiled pleasantly. The sharp scent of sandfrost spores was concerning, but if Eliax thought the zombie would be alright here, then he would trust her a lot more than he could apparently trust his own sense of direction. He eventually left the zombie there, making his way back along the coast, glad that the silverside cliffs were to the south of the city and that he wouldn¡¯t have to go around them again. His feet were tired, his nerves were spent, and he couldn¡¯t wait to collapse into a warm bed. Chapter 10 Ayfel That was how the days passed. Eliax followed thin leads, explored anywhere that caught her fancy and read up on everything the hero had done with her life. Occasionally Hivren caught her at the library and convinced her to go to Nightwind with him, but most of her time was engrossed in her studies or practicing her dimensionalism. Before she knew it, she¡¯d been in Reiaran for two weeks. It felt like a small eternity as she pulled memory after memory out of the resonance. A memory of drawing, a memory of teasing some younger girls, a memory of loneliness. The more memories she saw, the more she felt herself longing to be that person. She still saw them as separate people, but that gap was getting steadily smaller with every passing day. Eliax felt like this was probably a decent, healthy thing, in fact she found herself feeling almost good. She hummed and doodled in the margins of her notebook, there was no problem with that, right? No problem at all with taking a moment to relax. Hivren peered over her shoulder, ¡°Whatcha doing?¡± Eliax jumped and glanced at him, slightly panicked as if she felt like she shouldn¡¯t be doodling in the margins instead of taking notes on that latest memory she¡¯d looked over. ¡°I¡¯m just ah¡­working on my thing, ya know?¡± ¡°Ah, the mysterious personal project you¡¯ve been going on about forever. How long do you think it¡¯s going to take?¡± Eliax shrugged and closed the notebook before he could absorb the numerous question marks and confusing rambles it contained. She felt like with each page these things were degrading.¡°Hopefully not more than a month. Time is flying and I feel like I¡¯ve barely scratched the surface¡­¡± ¡°Well, you finally read everything on the Hero, do you need help finding anything else?¡± Eliax cringed, remembering the hours wasted on all that dragon crap propaganda. She¡¯d checked though, she could safely say she wasn¡¯t missing anything clouded by her hatred of the Hero. ¡°I¡¯ll have to look into some other stuff, but I think I¡¯m done with the Hero forever.¡± Ha. Ahah. Ahahahah. Don¡¯t mind me, I¡¯m just laughing at her. ¡°Oh, do you want to see the Ayfel?¡± Eliax paused. ¡°The¡­Ayfel¡­¡± The resonance stirred at the word. It hadn¡¯t done anything the numerous times she¡¯d read the word in the propaganda. Which only really told her that the stupid thing had decided that until now, she wasn¡¯t ready or something. ¡°Isn¡¯t that where the Hero grew up? You mentioned it before, there¡¯s a shrine isn¡¯t there?¡± Hivren nodded, ¡°I visit all the time, the lady in charge of the building is pretty nice, Aymiae, if you¡¯ve heard of her.¡± Eliax blinked at the name, feeling a memory perk up. She shoved it down before it could distract her.¡°Huh, I guess I¡¯ll check it out later, I need to finish something first.¡± Hivren shrugged, ¡°Just tell her you know me and she¡¯ll probably give you a tour free of charge.¡± ¡°Ah¡­thanks?¡± Hivren nudged her with an elbow, ¡°What¡¯re friends for! Even if the friend is insane or something.¡± Apparently humans had hard elbows, but not much else. ¡°Ugh, you do remember that¡­¡± She¡¯d been trying to figure out if he¡¯d dismissed that as a joke for a while now. She still wasn¡¯t sure if he actually believed it. Hivren grinned, ¡°Of course! It¡¯s all anyone knows about your mysterious project.¡± Sparks, maybe she should leave some more ¡®normal¡¯ bits of her research out for him to find and see if he made a more reasonable assumption out of them. -- Eliax sat down an hour later, her hands once more crafting her experimental expanded space. It was slowly improving every time she did it, but if she made it too large it didn¡¯t even last ten seconds. She¡¯d figured out that if she put as little power into it as possible, it wouldn¡¯t even explode when it inevitably destabilized and pushed everything out! She pulled at the space, binding the little bits of it together in a way that wouldn¡¯t directly force the bits that didn¡¯t like each other to touch. Sparks, she had to draw this out. Eliax collapsed the frame and a moment later found herself trying to represent a four dimensional object on a two dimensional one. Herm¡­ She pulled out a book on mathematics and started calculating something¡­something¡­something else? I stopped paying attention by this part, but I promise you, it was very thorough. After a while she leaned back in the chair, examining the shape in her notebook, and then realized she should just¡­not be using those pieces of the puzzle since they served no purpose. The entire thing was pointless, and she was tempted to tear out the page and start ripping it up to make herself feel better, but she left it there. It still looked nice after all. She doubted she could look at the page again without feeling annoyed, but whatever. Eliax put down her notebook and decided to do something else before she ended up setting it on fire. She ended up prodding at the more recent memories she¡¯d surfaced, there were a lot more from the teenage years lately, even one with Fari¡¯s eighteenth birthday. It made her feel just a bit more like she was making progress. Eliax opened up a memory and sat back in preparation. I remembered the emotions first. Anger, resentment, a pinch of fear. It took me a bit to realize they weren¡¯t mine. They were the emotions coming from someone else as a younger girl screamed at me. ¡°Fari! You¡¯re always so unbearable! You go outside the city with my brother alllll the time, you never do what you¡¯re supposed to! And the mistress still likes you better! It¡¯s not fair! I¡¯m always doing your job for you, I¡¯m always helping out the mistress!¡± I stared at her for a moment, ¡°Aymiae¡­¡± ¡°And then there¡¯s the dragon. You got kicked out of the scribes and then suddenly the only dragon Reiaran has seen in like a million years decides you get to be his personal messenger!¡± I cringed, ¡°I¡¯m sorry¡­¡± This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it. She huffed, ¡°Plus all my brother does is hang out with you. Doesn¡¯t he know I still want him around?¡± She started to sound more and more like the little kid she was. Barely eleven and holding such resentment. ¡°Did you tell him that? Aneles doesn¡¯t hate you.¡± ¡°But he likes you better than me! Everyone likes you better than me!¡± Aymiae glared her little heart out and stomped from the premise, the door slamming behind her. I sighed, closing my eyes. I¡¯d known this was coming, she¡¯d given every indication that this was coming. But for some reason I hadn¡¯t known it. I hit my fist lightly against my forehead a couple of times, ¡°Stupid stupid stupid.¡± Eliax frowned at the wall, Aymiae. She did remember an Aymiae, didn¡¯t she? Apparently she had to head to the Ayfel as soon as possible. Eliax picked up her notebook from the desk and exited the library, already dreading this confrontation. It was important though, arguably the most important thing she could do. To talk to someone who had known her. Eliax half hoped they were different people, if only because she wasn¡¯t certain if she was ready for physical confirmation that this was real, that there had actually been a person named Fari. And worse, if there had never been one. If she really was just going insane. She¡­didn¡¯t know if she could handle that option. -- The ayfel was a tall building. Having six stories and a large appropriately creepy basement, it wholeheartedly embraced the tower-like aesthetic that had been popular when it was built, but such a thing had fallen out of fashion¡­oh just over sixty years ago. Which resulted in most folks calling it kind of ugly; the badly installed stained glass windows didn¡¯t help much with that. Stained glass windows that as far as Eliax could tell from the outside, depicted the hero¡­killing a lot of humans, and that was basically it. What can I say, the people like a good murder spree. Well, I suppose it¡¯s not counted as such when it¡¯s the middle of a war and your side is losing, but really Melor, you all should get some higher standards. A confused goat could have become the hero. Eliax stepped into the Ayfel, you remember, the building that¡¯s vastly out of style and guarded by an angry old woman who will steal the toes of kids who invade her place. I have no idea what HIvren is going for when he described Aymiae as nice and- what do you mean why am I suddenly being more talkative? Eliax hasn¡¯t left the library in two weeks except for sleeping and meals and most of the time not even that. I¡¯m bored. The entrance room was both breathtaking and rather anticlimactic. A strange combination that perfectly exemplified the hero it was meant to represent. The stained glass depicted a scene of Foralen, the hero, heroically standing over the corpses of the enemies of the empire. So Eliax stood inside the ayfel, observing the stained glass windows, the broken floorboards, and the rotting walls. She concluded that something was clearly wrong here. It didn¡¯t feel right to have a pair of stained glass windows, even with their beauty. It didn¡¯t feel right for the splintering wood to be so gently cared for. It didn¡¯t feel right for the ayfel to be so empty of small voices and hurried messengers. Eliax closed her eyes, imagining what the place had looked like when the hero Foralen had lived there. The resonance -which is me if you haven¡¯t noticed that yet- was all over the place, enraged at the changes and occasionally the slightest bit salty. This place should have been bustling with little girls wearing matching uniforms and carrying messenger bags. There would be the overseer, the Lady, the Mistress, and the founder of the building. The one who took care of the money and the training, and everything really. Her office would have been over- ¡°What are you doing here?¡± a sharp voice snapped at her. Eliax looked up to see a woman who was entirely too old for her familiar face. She was a Tuvei, her two thin antennae bobbing above her head in a very cross way. Her arms were also crossed, and even her eyes, though that last one may have been a medical condition since they stayed that way perpetually. Aymiae has always been a very cross person, she was cross as a child, and forty-odd years of being cross didn¡¯t lighten the crossness much. In fact, I¡¯m pretty sure that this particular woman was the crossest person in the entire world. Now that I¡¯ve successfully made the word cross lose meaning, Eliax finally remembered that Aymiae was expecting an answer from her. What was the question again? Oh right, what was she doing here? ¡°I um¡­I was just looking around?¡± Eliax! What are you doing! Lean on the unknown authority of the human that you tolerate!! Aymiae made a noise that would remind most folks of an annoyed mother, but since Eliax didn¡¯t grow up with a mother and generally hadn¡¯t had much mothering done to her in her life, she would describe the noise as more of a tired sigh. Therefore, Aymiae¡¯s brilliant mechanism for reminding any invading children of their mother completely went over Eliax¡¯s head, lightly brushing her antennae and falling into the abyss of social interactions that Eliax didn¡¯t understand. There was a moment of silence. ¡°My uh¡­my friend Hivren said you do tours?¡± Yes! Gooood¡­. Now¡­don¡¯t act like me because Aymiae hates me. Eliax rubbed her forehead and smiled tiredly, ¡°I could come back another time if you want.¡± Aymiae sighed again, this time the noise wasn¡¯t full of motherly connotations. ¡°Kids come in here all the time trying to sneak a glimpse of anything Foralen touched once.¡± She threw her hands in the air, ¡°But you know Hivren so it¡¯s fine!¡± She grinned, which I found disconcerting. Eliax ignored me as she was prone to do, slightly confused as to why the resonance was more vibrant than usual. Screw you! This chapter is from MY perspective! MUAH HAHAH! Eliax smiled hesitantly back, feeling worry bubble up inside her at the¡­disturbances in her brain. Regardless, She followed Aymiae as she happily led her out of the main room, ¡°But isn¡¯t that kind of stupid? People aren¡¯t any more heroic just because they come in here.¡± Ohhhh yes. Do that! Aymiae would like that! Wait¡­ okay shutting up now. Aymiae gave Eliax a surprised look, ¡°They look up to her. I see it differently, we grew up together, she and I. Foralen will always be that kid to me, not so much a hero.¡± Eliax tilted her head, a sudden terrible thought rising up that she didn¡¯t like. ¡°What was that like? Growing up here I mean?¡± Aymiae smiled and gestured to the kitchen area, where pristine dishes were laid out. ¡°It was like it is now, but different. Once the Queen won the succession war, she funded a remodeling, but I couldn¡¯t bear to change too much and by that point I was the only one left for the Ayfel to go to. Some of the others are still around, here and there, but I was the only one who came back to Reiaran.¡± Aymiae shook her head, ¡°Anyways, we were all orphans here, our parents died in the great plagues or from bandits. There were all kinds of stories. The Ayfel was where the girls were sent and the guard was where the boys were sent. I didn¡¯t see my brother that much, but I was too excited to learn from Lady Raia to care about that until later.¡± Eliax opened her mouth to ask, she needed to know if Fari had been one of those girls. But she¡­couldn¡¯t quite make the words come out. Aymiae paused and looked her over, ¡°You remind me of her actually.¡± JUMP OUT THE WINDOW. Eliax stared at Aymiae, feeling a bit out of sorts, ¡°Who? Lady Raia?¡± ¡°No, Foralen. You¡¯re a lot calmer than her, quieter, but you feel similar to how I remember her. You even have the same facial markings.¡± Eliax swallowed the bile that was rising in her throat. ¡°Did she¡­have a nickname? You don¡¯t seem to flow right whenever you say her name.¡± Aymiae blinked, ¡°Oh, certainly, I don¡¯t think anyone but Lady Raia actually called her Foralen. It was always Fari for the rest of us. The one time I called her Foralen she pushed me out of a tree.¡± Hah, yeah¡­I did do that. Eliax meantime, was closing her eyes, as if trying to block out the truth that she¡¯d gone looking for. Just stop trying to break this balance, please. Chapter 11 Fragility of thought I was the Hero. At least, that¡¯s what they called me after I died. They weren¡¯t supposed to love me, they weren¡¯t supposed to even remember me. I hated that title because I¡¯d done nothing to deserve it. I hadn¡¯t destroyed that army, I hadn¡¯t done anything but bring war to a place that had known nothing but peace. All I¡¯d done was kill the king. All I¡¯d done was purge the world of a monster only to let more monsters take his place. But¡­who had destroyed that army then? Eliax couldn¡¯t help but wonder¡­I didn¡¯t give her that answer. I wasn¡¯t ready. I found myself falling back to the edges of her mind, stubbornly refusing to face this. Eliax found herself staring at Aymiae. Her mind racing at this newest revelation. She couldn¡¯t let her know though that she had been Foralen. That she¡¯d been the person to do all those terrible things. Aymiae took it as a sign to keep talking, she didn¡¯t seem to think it was odd. ¡°Do you want to see my favorite part of the Ayfel?¡± Eliax nodded slowly and the older woman smiled, ¡°Right this way then!¡± She led Eliax up some stairs, a ladder, and then finally into the attic. It was fairly small, but mostly just empty. There was nothing but a couple of chairs, a small round table, and an empty vase. Aymiae sat down in one of the chairs and Eliax followed suit. For once the resonance was silent. ¡°This is the quietest place in the Ayfel.¡± Aymiae whispered as she spoke, she looked out the small window with a smile, her crossed eyes absorbing things that Eliax would never know. ¡°It puts things in perspective for me. You can see the city below, the people, the sky, the sunrise.¡± Eliax watched those things, feeling a kind of peace well up inside her. It still wasn¡¯t okay, she still wasn¡¯t okay, but perhaps one day she would be. ¡°Thank you.¡± -- Eliax frowned at Jiuhen as he nudged her shoulder once more in an overly friendly manner. Clearly Givei didn¡¯t like that since she kept glaring at him when he wasn¡¯t watching, like right now. She wasn¡¯t entirely sure, but Eliax got the feeling that Jiuhen didn¡¯t realize this. She would have done something sooner, but she liked planning these types of things out, she wanted to make a move and have it be effective. Either that or she wanted him to just take a hint and pay more attention to his girlfriend already. She nudged him back but made it far more violent. Whoever said that violence wasn¡¯t the answer was clearly an idiot. It had a place, and that place was now. He overbalanced and fell off his chair, Eliax glanced at him to make sure he wasn¡¯t dead and continued sipping her drink. She was starting to think that Niun was right in his extendedly impossible revenge plot. Sparks, she should check up on that and make sure it was actually called off. Raendus wasn¡¯t here today since he had a game coming up and needed to practice, Hivren was sitting across from Eliax but he seemed distracted by something, and Givei was clearly not paying attention to the game either. Oh, plus Jiuhen¡¯s cards flew everywhere when he landed, giving Eliax a pretty good view of what he¡¯d had. She glanced at her cards and looked down at Jiuhen, who was just now picking himself up, ¡°Sparks Eliax, what was that for?¡± She picked out a card, a nine with a nick in the side and played it, ¡°You¡¯re ignoring your girlfriend again, I¡¯ve noticed you do this a lot.¡± He sat up, giving Givei a wide-eyed look. Sparks he was so stupid. Givei only glared at him. Jiuhen groaned, ¡°I swear, girls have a special language or something.¡± ¡°We aren¡¯t denying it.¡± Givei said tensely. ¡°You never are¡­¡± Jiuhen said with a sigh, finally playing his turn. They continued in silence for a while. ¡°So Eliax,¡± Givei started, ¡°I heard the school wanted you to enroll, what¡¯s that about?¡± Eliax supposed it was only a matter of time before that little tidbit got to the gossip queen¡­ ¡°yeah, I¡¯m a Dimensionalist, they wanted to make sure I¡¯m being trained.¡± Givei perked up, ¡°You know, most magical lines like that are genetic, my brother¡¯s got a weak affinity for it and so does my father, we might be related!¡± She smiled pleasantly and Eliax got the feeling she was desperately trying to make some kind of connection with her. ¡°Huh, maybe.¡± ¡°So?¡± Eliax blinked at her. ¡°So are you getting trained? How is it?¡± ¡°No, I¡¯m not being trained at the moment.¡± Hivren glanced up from his cards with a surprised expression, ¡°Why not? Starsbane isn¡¯t the greatest magical school out there, but it¡¯s best to have something. Plus, the Hero went there.¡± Eliax closed her eyes, ¡°She did?¡± Of course she did¡­ The resonance laughed at her. Eliax could just imagine the memories that she would surface if she explored that place. A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation. Hivren nodded, oblivious to her internal war, ¡°Of course, she graduated top of her class.¡± Uhhhh I think I would remember graduating. Who comes up with this stuff? Eliax rubbed her forehead and managed a weak grunt. Jiuhen nodded at that, also grunting. ¡°They had a whole unit on the Hero in my history class. I don¡¯t get it, she died like twenty years ago, that¡¯s not really history yet.¡± ¡°It was twenty-two years ago, and she went missing.¡± Hivren corrected. ¡°...Your point being?¡± The human sighed in exasperation. Eliax frowned, the little puzzle pieces in her mind connecting together. There was a four year gap there before she¡¯d been born, or at least¡­before she should have been born. Hrm. If Eliax hadn¡¯t really existed until that day in the sand, that was an even bigger gap, twelve years in fact. This wasn¡¯t lining up quite right, but how was she supposed to know how reincarnation worked? Sparks she should look into accounts, she couldn¡¯t be the only person that this had ever happened to. Right? The discussion continued without her attention, before she knew it she¡¯d missed most of the context. ¡°-What? But it¡¯s Raendus! Are you seriously saying you won¡¯t go to the game?¡± Jiuhen¡¯s tone was accusatory, and also directed at Givei. That¡¯s not what I meant when I said pay attention to your girlfriend¡­ Eliax thought in his direction, wondering how an Empath could be so oblivious in some ways and so charismatic in others. Hivren made a noise that Eliax couldn¡¯t judge the tone of, ¡°I heard there¡¯s lots of injury in Echoball, I don¡¯t know if I want to support that.¡± Jiuhen gave him a confused look, ¡°What? The human is saying this? You guys are almost more violent than the dragons for goodness sake.¡± He shrugged, ¡°We don¡¯t die as easily. I once knew a guy who lost an arm in a battle and kept on fighting for two hours with nothing but field medicine keeping him from dying of blood loss.¡± ¡°Case in point. Violence is literally your thing.¡± ¡°Well I¡¯m not arguing with that, I¡¯m just saying that Tuvei are pretty fragile. Don¡¯t you get poisoned if the oils on your exoskeleton get in your blood?¡± That was¡­true enough. I¡¯ve known a lot of people who died, and the Tuvei ones always died faster. Which is very relevant because of reasons. ¡°I think I read somewhere that we were cursed by an angry deity.¡± Eliax interjected, ¡°Before that we were super hardy. The uh¡­ the record was from before most of recorded history so there¡¯s no way to prove it, but it seemed interesting.¡± There was silence as everyone digested or ignored that. I don¡¯t claim to be able to read people and neither does Eliax. ¡°Huh.¡± Hivren eventually said, and the other two seemed similarly as willing to move on the discussion quickly. Eliax sighed, it seemed like even with people willing to tolerate her, there were just some things that were too far. She wished there was someone who seemed to genuinely care about what she cared about. Even though she was just looking too much into it and basing this on tiny parts of the picture when clearly they did care. Just, not about this apparently. It only made her less and less willing to tell anyone about the resonance. -- The bells rang, the people panicked. Everywhere had its own way of warning folks about a passing dragon, but most of them used bells. Eliax had once even seen a village in the middle of nowhere with twelve different bell towers, each for a different level of threat. It was a pretty interesting setup all things considered. In Reiaran they had four bell towers, one at each side of the city; depending on where the dragon was coming from, that tower would be used to inform the inhabitants of the possibility of their demise. Eliax had never actually seen a dragon attack, apparently they were worse along the eastern coast closer to the dragonlands, as well as the Aoulous area which everyone except the inhabitants agreed had been a terrible spot to build settlements. She looked upwards to the east, where the belltower had sounded, squinting with the hope that she might see the creature. Often they flew too high and were mistaken as birds by most folk, but the wall guards always had special goggles and training. Besides, a false alarm was always better than a dead city. She didn¡¯t see anything yet so it might not be above the city¡­If indeed it was even going to fly overhead. Focusing back on the city itself, Eliax retreated back into Alsen¡¯s Inn which she¡¯d left just a few minutes earlier. Being out in the open when a dragon was on its way seemed to everyone as a monumentally stupid idea. Alsen seemed a tad anxious, but despite that she smiled when Eliax came back in, ¡°It¡¯ll be a crazy day then. I¡¯m going to make some biscuits, would you like any?¡± Eliax shrugged as she made her way toward the stairs, ¡°Sure, let me know if Illila comes back too, I¡¯ve been meaning to chat with her.¡± ¡°Oh that¡¯s good, I was starting to think you two were avoiding each other. Orien knows that girl needs more friends.¡± Well, Eliax had been trying to avoid crossing paths with the musician, mostly because it felt awkward. She did think it had been a bit easy, especially considering she was at Nightwind most nights, perhaps Illila had been doing the same thing. Eliax had just labeled it as luck and moved onward. She smiled hesitantly at Alsen and finally moved up the stairs to her room, intent on watching the sky from her small window for a glimpse of the dragon. She was lucky it was an eastern facing one. It was ten minutes before anything happened, she entertained herself by making various spatial distortions while glancing upward every few seconds. The sky was clear and blue, so there was no chance of missing it as the white ¡®bird¡¯ appeared. It got closer quickly, before Eliax knew it she could make out the creature¡¯s form. It was too far away to see details, but its long tail swished about in the sky behind it as two enormous white wings sparkled in the sunlight. She thought she could make out its head and it- it was¡­ I remembered my anger. VENGEANCE. I remembered as it tore at me, as the white claws drew blue blood, as the red mixed with blue and painted the sand beneath us. I- Eliax grasped her skull as a pounding headache came out of nowhere, as a memory she wasn¡¯t even close to being ready for forced its way to the surface. A memory that hadn¡¯t ever really left. She remembered waking up after nightmares with this same image in her mind. over and over through the last ten years, she remembered the pain that she¡¯d caused. buried beneath the sandfrost and deep below her exoskeleton, down into her heart and soul. She gripped her notebook with white knuckles and threw it across the room. She was gone a moment later, the door swinging behind her as she plopped down at one of Alsen¡¯s tables and tried to get herself to breathe. She was alive. Mostly. Chapter 12 Orchestra --- Larien --- Reiaran worked smoothly. It was a steady machine that many people didn¡¯t really notice, but it was a machine that Larien was absolutely dedicated towards keeping together. He used to take pride in his position in the city, the only one between the whole place and complete social upheaval. But the longer it went on, the more Larien was simply tired of the whole thing. He was tired of going over the accounts of who left the city walls and who came back. He was tired of keeping order, but being tired of it did not give him permission to slack on his duty. He did his job with the precision of a general and whenever his superiors came knocking, he gave them reports that were orderly and easy to read. ¡°You¡¯re wasted here, captain!¡± The queen¡¯s own scribe remarked one day, leafing through the pages of neat handwriting and neater calculations. ¡°You should be on the accounts with skills like these, not patrolling an out of the way city that¡¯s more trouble than it¡¯s worth.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t plan on leaving this place and forgetting about it. Unless her majesty demands me to leave, I¡¯d rather stay here and keep Reiaran and my men safe.¡± The scribe clicked his tongue, glancing at the last two pages, ¡°Well, I¡¯m going to get that magistrate of yours to pay you more then, a man who works this effectively needs to at least be paid like it.¡± Larien nodded slowly, ¡°I¡¯d appreciate that.¡± ¡°Of course, you¡¯d get paid more if you accepted a transfer to the capitol, -as either a scribe or a soldier- so just keep that in mind for the future.¡± He tapped the ledger, ¡°your recruitment is lower than ever, why¡¯s that?¡± Larien frowned slightly, ¡°Sir, anyone who was going to join up already has, the city is filled with children of the lost soldiers who want nothing to do with battle and veterans who were happy to put down the sword. Travelers who end up staying are rare and people who move out are more likely to leave their house for squatters than sell it. It¡¯s not a great time to be a recruiter for the queen¡¯s military.¡± The scribe sighed, looking out the window at the city, ¡°I¡¯m sure it¡¯ll pass eventually, but some of the queen¡¯s relatives might get ideas about seizing the throne while we¡¯re weak. Reiaran would be a terrible blindspot to hit, especially with the old palace here.¡± Larien nodded, ¡°All the more reason for me to stay here and keep watch of things.¡± --- Illila --- Knowing a city is an artform. Knowing who to talk to for a few extra coins, knowing what the best routes are from one end of the city to the other, knowing when to pass through the shipyard to avoid the press of people. If one doesn¡¯t know a city, they aren¡¯t just handicapped, they¡¯re also missing something beautiful. Illila felt as if she was part of the city as she flowed in and out of traffic, slipped through alleys, and even managed to catch the owner of the bakery in a good enough mood that she gave her the loaf half off! What a nice lady, she¡¯d have to find out when her birthday was. The city was like an orchestra and somehow it seemed like Illila was the only one who could hear it. There was only one part she wished she couldn¡¯t hear. Illila felt her feet slow as she passed by the ancient palace, the silence surrounding it was almost painful. It was like a hole in the heart of Reiaran that could never be filled, pulling the music to a close as the conductor became lost in thought. Oh Orien above, let that hole be filled. Illila would never admit out loud that she wished things were different, but the longer she stayed in this city, the more she was sure of it. Reiaran was suffering. She could hear it in the music of the city; as beggars slowly increased in number, as prices slowly increased, as soldiers were called away to the capitol to resolve crowds of rioters and their families followed them, leaving empty houses without anyone new to fill them. It was a slow kind of suffering, and Illila imagined it wasn¡¯t nearly as bad as when the Last King had ruled; the city itself, it¡¯s future, was still suffering However, Illila couldn¡¯t imagine what would be able to fill that gaping hole. -- Her hands swept gracefully across the keys, tapping out the tune that currently filled her soul, beautiful, powerful, awesome. The song rose and fell as she worked all her frustration into it, she didn¡¯t make any mistakes in the sound but she was prepared to tweak what people heard if she messed up. Sound mages were usually musicians, but for Illila it somehow felt like even more than that, like the universe itself sometimes took hold of her fingers and helped them to move where they were unable. That ease was almost terrifying sometimes, but her old master said it just meant she could get lost in the song and experience it in a way no one else could. And so Illila played, crafting a masterpiece and pouring her soul into it. It hit the grand ending all at once and she felt as if everything stopped for a moment to witness that glorious conclusion. Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon. That last part was just her imagination though. Nothing stopped to hear it, not the people in the tavern behind her, not Siorah who was cleaning the tables, the world moved on, unconcerned about her. It was just like that sometimes. Illila started on a cheery song about the lost sage, barely listening to the lyrics some folks belted out. Her fingers wavered on the keys and after a moment she stopped, casting an illusion of sound so no one would realize she¡¯d stopped unless they glanced at her. As artists, we have two modes; transcendently brilliant and barely functional. Usually we end up somewhere in the middle, but every so often there are those days with both extremes. Sometimes a painter will create a masterful work with sweat and tears and all that, but right afterward they mourn at the lack of attention it gathered. Today Illila was that painter, except she was a musician, and she would much rather be writing down the notes she¡¯d flown across just minutes before than entertaining Nightwind tavern. Unlike many artists though, Illila didn¡¯t need to write it down to remember that sweet bliss of freedom. She knew that she could find it again. -- Illila packed up for the night, cleaning the piano and noting again the keys that needed to be tuned a bit just in case she got the money for the tools one day. She was under no disillusions though that she was the only one who noticed the slightly off-key twang that heralded the piano¡¯s age and neglect. She wiped off the seat even though she couldn¡¯t see anything on it, straightened some of the untouched music sheets laying on top, and finally ended up helping Siorah wipe down tables and put up chairs so they could start mopping. It was about four in the morning and despite a single man who¡¯d passed out drunk at some point in the night, the whole time had been fairly uneventful. Just like every shift. Part of Illila wondered again if a great adventure was just the fancy of her mind, it didn¡¯t really seem all that likely for anything exciting to happen in her life, besides the incident in the palace dungeon with the necromancer, but she¡¯d been terrified that entire time so it didn¡¯t count. She really should check up on Eliax, it had been at least a couple of days, right? It felt just like yesterday- Siorah folded her arms with a glare. Illila realized she was getting distracted again, ¡°Right right, tables!¡± She started scrubbing at a particularly tough part, ¡°Did you ever get that flute, Sia?¡± Siorah sighed and shook her head, ignoring Illila. Sparks, why did this always happen? ¡°Um¡­ that was quite a bit ago, wasn¡¯t it?¡± The look she gave in response could have killed a boar. Thankfully there were no boars present. ¡°Can you not act all sparking friendly? You never talk to me outside of work. I had to ask Sen if I could not be scheduled with you anymore, but apparently he forgot again.¡± She turned away and lifted a few chairs onto their tables with a clang. Illila wilted, realizing finally that it had been quite a while since she¡¯d worked with Siorah. That wasn¡¯t her fault, she just didn¡¯t think of people unless she saw them, but that little voice in the back of her mind got stronger every time she realized she hadn¡¯t talked to someone in five months. You¡¯re a terrible friend. She had to be, Siorah would know things like that. --- Hivren --- ¡°Do you ever think that maybe Eliax is insane?¡± It was only one of many days when she hadn¡¯t been seen by anyone. At first Hivren assumed that she was just hanging out with that bard friend of hers, but as the days ticked by, he was becoming increasingly certain that she¡¯d dropped off the face of virna. Occasionally he would catch her at the library, and she was going through those books he¡¯d shown her at an alarming rate. The rest of the group blinked at Hivren in confusion, eventually Raendus spoke, ¡°The girl who called me ¡®shifter boy¡¯ when she forgot my name? I haven¡¯t thought about her much. Is she your girlfriend?¡± Hivren sighed, ¡°No, she¡¯s not.¡± Jiuhen perked up at the mention of someone¡¯s love life and layed across the table in a disturbingly casual fashion, propping his head up with his elbows and wiggling his eyebrows at Hivren, ¡°You do like her though, I can tell that much.¡± ¡°Only enough to be worried about her mental health.¡± Jiuhen frowned, ¡°Sparks, you aren¡¯t even lying, are you! What will it take to get you to pursue someone? I don¡¯t even care if you start courting a dragon, I need to see you fall for someone.¡± Hivren blinked several times at the crazy tuvei before letting out the breath through his teeth, ¡°Jiuhen, you know how I¡¯m technically a noble, right?¡± Jiuhen groaned and flopped his face into the table, ¡°Pleeeeeaaseeee don¡¯t tell me you were betrothed as a baby like in those cheesy stories the queen keeps writing¡­¡± ¡°Uhhh no. But before she died my grandmother made it quite clear that if I went after a girl that wasn¡¯t at least well off, she would haunt me until I joined her in the grave.¡± There was silence for quite a bit before Givei perked up, ¡°So you need an exorcist?¡± ¡°Great idea!¡± Jiuhen shouted, pointing back at Givei, ¡°We¡¯ll get Hivren a girlfriend or something and then exorcize his grandma!¡± The two of them bumped fists and it made a weird clicking noise at impact that Hivren kept forgetting to expect. When all of your friends had built in armor, interactions were quite a bit different. His mind wandered for a bit before he realized the two of them were now plotting all sorts of illegal things, like breaking into the repository or hiring a soul mage. ¡°You know what,¡± Raendus added, ¡°I know a guy who could cast it if we get a hold of how it works.¡± Jiuhen grinned, ¡°You, my friend, are on the team! Team ¡®get Hivren a girlfriend!¡¯¡± Givei frowned, ¡°But not Eliax, you said he doesn¡¯t like her that way.¡± The empath glared at Hivren, ¡°Which is too bad since that one would be so easy, they¡¯re practically the same person! They read, they both have no idea how to interact with people, and they both have been immune to my matchmaking prowess...¡± ¡°I thought you gave up on matchmaking after the Siorah incident.¡± Hivren finally pointed it out as a last resort. Everyone glanced at Raendus, whose face flushed blue with embarrassment. ¡°That one could have worked if we weren¡¯t so stupid.¡± Jiuhen shook his head, clicking his tongue at Hivren, ¡°That¡¯s a low blow mister, we don¡¯t talk about failures here.¡± They kept on and on, eventually Hivren had to point out that he didn¡¯t want his grandmother exorcized, and that he wasn¡¯t going to let them influence his lack of a love life, thank you very much. But none of them were listening. Chapter 13 Draconic wishes 1st, Warrior, 771 I remember a dragon. He could take human form as many are capable. I worked for him during his stay, the king was trying to make an alliance. I have a feeling this ended badly, but the history books glaze over this emissary, as if no one quite remembers him. I can¡¯t pinpoint his name in any of the memories I¡¯ve recovered. This is¡­perhaps connected with that white dragon behind the paint. But I don¡¯t want to dig too deep yet, this memory has always been sensitive. I¡¯ve woken up from nightmares ever since seeing the dragon two days ago, my mind isn¡¯t as sharp as it should be, it¡¯s dulling my thoughts. 5th, Warrior, 771 The weather is getting warmer. It¡¯s been three weeks to the day since I arrived at Reiaran. Niun finally contacted me with thanks about the hiding spot, he said I could visit Jeref whenever, but I know there are memories hiding there, the painful kind. I need to settle some things first. Eliax flipped through the notebook, alone in her room, feeling tension as she surfaced a memory by force. It took a bit of prodding for this one, but it wasn¡¯t a painful memory, it was just more closely connected to the painful ones. Beside her was a tray of cookies from Alsen, who had seemed rather worried about her. ¡°You haven¡¯t left the house all week!¡± She¡¯d complained. Eliax was simply busy, but she had thanked her for her concern anyway and took the cookies. Food was perhaps one of the greatest ways to get the resonance on her side. She closed her eyes as she bit into one and let herself become someone else. I remembered her voice. Mistress Raia. The things she¡¯d taught us, calligraphy, self defense, the basics of housekeeping magic. She got us all tested for affinities, the things that everyone has. Most folks have two or three, some only have one but I have two. Even if one is more useless than a dragon¡¯s favor. I remembered her lessons, anything and everything that we might need to survive in this world. We had no parents, all we had was each other. ¡°Can anyone tell me why the dragons are so effective? They pillage and destroy, but what makes them so powerful?¡± I raised my hand enthusiastically. ¡°They¡¯re super big! Lot¡¯s of them breathe fire! All of them are reeeeaaaalllllly magical mages!¡± Raia smiled, ¡°Very good Foralen. Anyone else?¡± ¡°Oh! Is it because they¡¯re all immortal?¡± Someone piped in. Raia nodded, ¡°Yes. Exactly. They¡¯ve had hundreds of years to get more powerful.¡± I shot the girl a look of hatred, how dare she steal the correct answer! ¡°What does that have to do with anything! Don¡¯t we have immortals too?¡± Raia paused, ¡°Well, have any of you heard of Alpitha?¡± There was silence. ¡°Alpitha.¡± Lady Raia continued, ¡°Was a dragon. One of the first ones. She had a unique ability that no one has ever been born with since. She could wish for anything and it would happen. They say Gium sealed her away, but before that happened she shaped the world as we know it. Alpitha separated the dragonlands from the rest of the world, she pulled Yera from the sea, she shaped the barriers between the isle of dreams and Sanaria. Her last act before she was taken away was a promise. A promise that every dragon would be given one wish to use through their entire lives.¡± I raised my hand again, waiting for her to let me speak. ¡°So.¡± I started at her nod, ¡°They¡¯re all powerful because their grandma gave them wishes?¡± I heard stifled laughter behind me and grinned. Filing away the joke as an effective one. Lady Raia nodded slowly, ¡°Sort of. A dragon¡¯s wish can do anything. It can rewrite magic itself. But every dragon only gets one, and most of them use it to become immortal. Either that or to get Rebirth.¡± ¡°So they weren¡¯t always immortal.¡± Which meant I was TOTALLY right. This was all because they were really magical mages. I sat contentedly through the rest of the class, barely paying attention beyond pointing out the fact that I¡¯d been right to everyone who had ears. Eliax opened her eyes and took another bite of the cookie, trying to remain calm. She opened her notebook and wrote two words: Draconic Rebirth. She paused and wrote another sentence: Fari was a brat. She was at the library less than an hour later. -- ¡°Eliax?¡± She glanced up from the pile of books, feeling rather lost. She had found very little about dragon wishes besides a more complete version of the myth that Raia had told Fari. Her eyes barely focused on Hivren, she blinked at him and stared past him for a moment, ugh, too much reading, it was screwing with her eyes now¡­ Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. ¡°I haven¡¯t seen you in a whole week! Are you alright? Illila said that you barely left your room the whole time.¡± Eliax opened her mouth to respond, memories. I was looking through my memories. But the words wouldn¡¯t come out. She closed it again. Sparks there wasn¡¯t even a reason to keep these things secret. She was just tricking herself into believing that it could hurt someone. But¡­couldn¡¯t it? If people knew she had been Foralen? Wouldn¡¯t they do something? Wouldn¡¯t it put at least some people in danger? Probably? Eliax put her face in her hands and groaned. Her mind was¡­off. She couldn¡¯t think properly. ¡°I¡¯m¡­researching.¡± ¡°I can see that.¡± Hivren pointed out. He sat down across from her and tried to meet her eyes. Eliax wasn¡¯t looking at him though. Her gaze was fixed resolutely on the table, tiredly pondering the question she¡¯d come up with. They sat in silence for a long while. ¡°Do you ever try to remember something so hard that you¡¯re scared it¡¯s gone forever?¡± Hivren nodded, ¡°Of course.¡± Eliax sighed and pushed the books away, Hivren gave one of them a dubious look. ¡°You¡¯re after children¡¯s tales now?¡± ¡°I had a very weird childhood.¡± More than half of it was spent in bars with Estin, and the other half was moving to different places. Never mind the eight years when she hadn¡¯t really existed. Or something. ¡°I never really got any tales.¡± Fari had, but most of those memories legitimately faded with time. She wouldn¡¯t get them back even if she pulled out the block in her mind. ¡°Well, what are you looking for?¡± Eliax gave him an odd look. ¡°I¡¯m looking for any mention of draconic wishes being used, either that or draconic rebirth.¡± Hivren blinked at her and then glanced back at the books, ¡°You do realize that the dragons sure as heck don¡¯t tell the historians about any of this. They hate each other.¡± She gave him a look, ¡°Hence why I have children''s stories as my primary sources.¡± He sighed, ¡°I see.¡± Eliax nodded, still not looking at him. ¡°I feel like there are so many things I should know. Like, things I once knew a long time ago. It¡¯s frustrating.¡± ¡°Yeah?¡± He prodded, was he trying to get her to keep talking? Eliax simply grunted and let her weight fall onto the table under her. ¡°I always think I¡¯m done with the research, but then another thing like this pops up. I like going through books and searching for obscure things, but I feel like I shouldn¡¯t like that. Like if I want to be the person I¡¯m discovering I once was, I have to hate it.¡± ¡°Eliax, everyone changes, that¡¯s how you know you¡¯re alive. I think that who you are now takes precedence over who you once were.¡± She was silent as she digested that, she¡¯d heard things like it before, things like ¡®be yourself!¡¯ or ¡®live in the present, it only lasts so long.¡¯ But¡­She¡¯d never really thought about them. At least not in context with herself. She agreed it was good advice, but was it good advice to her? Maybe? If she became Fari again, she doubted she would make any progress. Fari had been an enthusiastic slacker who loved talking, making friends, and being the center of attention. If she became Fari, she would be content to sit there and let the memories in the back of her mind fester for the rest of eternity. But yet, Eliax wasn¡¯t who she wanted to be either. She wasn¡¯t progressing if she was only ever who she was now. Hivren examined her for a long moment, sensing that she had something she needed to say. But¡­what should she say? She couldn¡¯t just tell him, she couldn¡¯t tell anyone. She didn¡¯t want to lose any friends, or put anyone in danger, or¡­or anything. She sat up in her chair and finally looked at him. Really looked at him. He was human, but she found she wasn¡¯t holding that against him anymore. Fari hated humans because they were the ones who gave the royal bastards the idea to go to war with each other in the first place. But she wasn¡¯t Fari. Eliax looked at Hivren and only saw concern on his face. He was worried about her, legitimately worried. Eliax looked back down at the table, ¡°You once said the Hero saved your grandmother¡¯s life. Can you tell me about that?¡± Eliax found it hard to believe that Fari would do that, save a human¡¯s life. Hivren blinked, apparently expecting something else. He complied though. ¡°I¡­My father is a high ranking nobleman in Aubinere, just across the mountains. You know, the desert filled with poison.¡± Hivren laughed nervously, ¡°He inherited the title from my grandmother. After making sure things in Aubinere were going alright and giving the title to my father, she moved over here, wanting to talk some sense into the Last King. The last thing she wanted was a war and she was scared that it was inevitable if she didn¡¯t do anything about it. She was prepared to die to make him see reason.¡± Eliax could probably see where this was going now. Hivren smirked, ¡°The King didn¡¯t much like anyone telling him how to run things, no matter how high ranking she used to be, so he put her in the dungeon, ready to be executed once he got around to it.¡± ¡°And then he was killed.¡± Hivren nodded, ¡°Foralen killed the Last King and all his prisoners were set free, which included my grandmother.¡± ¡°I see¡­it was an accidental saving then.¡± ¡°Well, technically, but I believe the Hero would have freed them all anyway.¡± Eliax stared at him for several moments, ¡°Why?¡± She finally asked. ¡°Because she believed in justice. She killed the king for a reason, he wasn¡¯t giving anyone that justice.¡± ¡°But the wars afterward-¡± Hivren frowned, ¡°No one intends for wars to happen. I know you hate the Hero, and I still don¡¯t know why, but I believe she just wanted the world to be a better place. And she succeeded. The queen doesn¡¯t imprison people who annoy her, she doesn¡¯t execute someone when they¡¯re inconvenient. She got her throne through blood, but the world is a better place now.¡± ¡°But what about the next monarch?¡± Eliax said quietly, ¡°What about a hundred years from now, how do you know that we won¡¯t just get another one of him?¡± ¡°Well, we don¡¯t. If Gium wants us to have a good ruler, he¡¯ll give us a good ruler. If he wants to punish us, he¡¯ll give us a bad one. But life goes on anyway.¡± A callous view. Fatalistic. Giving too much power to Gium. A deity shouldn¡¯t decide who was in charge; a deity wasn¡¯t down there with them to feel the consequences. Maybe that¡¯s what Eliax hated about this. Fari had decided who was in charge, but she wasn¡¯t the one who had felt the consequences. Chapter 14 Echoball Eliax blinked slowly at the necromancer in front of her, trying to comprehend the request through the tired haze in her mind. She needed to take a break from memories, maybe it would give her a lull in the nightmares? Niun watched her expectantly, ¡°Well?¡± The tired Tuvei put a hand to her head, wincing as a random wave of headache appeared. Yeah¡­she should take a break from the deep memory scans. ¡°Sorry, what exactly did you want?¡± ¡°Are you going to my brother¡¯s game? I heard you¡¯re friends.¡± ¡°Uhhhh¡­who¡¯s your brother?¡± He sighed, ¡°Raendus. The Echoball player.¡± ¡°Right! I don¡¯t want to go.¡± Niun folded his arms, ¡°Eliax, you owe me still for basically ruining my life.¡± ¡°That was¡­Illila.¡± She reminded him, yawning. ¡°That doesn¡¯t matter, you have to come with me, I don¡¯t want to spend all day alone with Jiuhen.¡± ¡°Isn¡¯t Hivren going?¡± Eliax muttered. ¡°No, he has to take an assessment.¡± ¡°This is why I¡¯m -yawn- not going to school, too much¡­assessing.¡± ¡°How much sleep did you get last night?¡± Eliax glanced at her hands and held up all eight fingers, then paused and dropped one off, then another¡­and¡­another. One. Yes. That''s how much sleep she¡¯d gotten. One. Niun stared at her for a long moment. ¡°Well, I¡¯m going then.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°Yeah. You need to go back to sleep, the game is tomorrow.¡± Eliax rested the side of her head on the table, ¡°That¡¯s fantastic.¡± She glanced vaguely at the area, which was just Alsen¡¯s front room. She wasn¡¯t quite sure how Niun had tracked her down, but whatever. She closed her eyes, ¡°I¡¯m going to just¡­sit here and die for a while.¡± - She wasn¡¯t sure when he left, but he was gone when she next opened her eyes. In fact, there was a blanket over her and when she looked out the window it was dark outside. Sparks, it had been around noon last she remembered! She sat up, blinking, feeling odd cramps all over from the weird sleeping position. She glanced to the side when she saw movement and relaxed as she realized it was just Alsen with a book. There was a light spell hovering above her hand, and she was watching Eliax. ¡°You must¡¯ve been tired. I think you were out for almost ten hours.¡± Eliax put a hand to her head, which felt much clearer than before. ¡°I¡­sorry. I¡¯ve been having a lot of nightmares lately.¡± She stood up, her feet were shaky, but manageable. Alsen frowned and closed her book, stepping forward and supporting her, ¡°Eliax. You¡¯ve been pushing yourself remarkably hard the entire time you¡¯ve been here. I¡¯ve seen you studying, going to the library, coming back tired and then studying some more. If you push yourself so hard, how will you continue once you finally do achieve your goal? Life doesn¡¯t simply get easier.¡± Eliax frowned, following Alsen as she started up the stairs. ¡°You¡¯re right.¡± She was just so close. It always felt like she was. What would she do once she stored all this out? Those were the questions that plagued her as she slipped into a real bed and continued her battle against nightmares. A dragon. I remember serving a dragon. He was mighty, fair, and he wanted peace. The dragon would talk with the king late into the night about plans for the future, I was his scribe, his messenger within the bounds of the city. I would be sent to retrieve certain books from an archivist, books after books, the dragon seemed to hoard the knowledge, frantically pouring over the documents into the late hours of the night. ¡°Foralen.¡± He said once, ¡°What would you give up to save the world if it was on your shoulders?¡± I blinked at him from behind my quill and ink, and just as the Mistress had taught me I stopped taking notes. No one records the conversations between a noble and his scribe. That was the same here, right? Even if he had no title, even if he was a dragon. ¡°I¡¯m not sure, master, I¡¯ve never thought about it.¡± The dragon who was shaped like a human hummed in thought, his dark brown skin rippling slightly as his form went out of focus. I was becoming more and more certain that he did that on purpose just to make himself seem more magical than he really was. ¡°I suppose that¡¯s true. Tell me if you think of it, I¡¯m curious.¡± I nodded slowly, ¡°Is there anything else, master?¡± He looked out the window in thought for a moment before shaking his head, ¡°I¡¯m merely thinking of my kin.¡± The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there. I hesitated and nodded again, picking up the ink. I preferred to use a charcoal pencil or something, but those notes would fade faster. Preserving knowledge was always worth the price. At least, that¡¯s what Lady Raia always said. I felt a sudden urge to stab the desk with my quill, just to see if it would leave a mark, but¡­no, that would get me in even more hot water with the king. The dragon kept talking, but this time it wasn¡¯t to me. That was better, dragons freaked me out. ¡°-And so it makes me wonder. Xien would certainly love to burn the world down, but she¡¯s too vain to use her wish for anything other than immortality. I wonder how long it will take her to realize that I won¡¯t be joining her in that venture.¡± I wrote it all down, every stroke, letter, and word. But my mind was elsewhere. I couldn¡¯t tell you any of what it said besides those short musings. -- Eliax stood in line beside Niun and Jiuhen, wondering if there was anything she might get out of going to this game. It was far too late to back out now, but instincts like that were hard to break. Jiuhen was flirting with the lady beside them in line, one who looked way too old for him. In fact, she was clearly long past childbearing age and seemed to be both amused by his ¡®flirtation¡¯ and quite a bit flattered. She didn¡¯t seem to be taking it seriously, and besides a reminder when they¡¯d first stepped through the gates that he was in a relationship, Eliax hadn¡¯t mentioned Givei this entire time. This was wise apparently since Givei was the reason her two companions hated each other. Niun was simply glaring at Jiuhen as he flattered the older woman, and Eliax had long ago decided to just ignore all of them. Those birds that were resting near the top of that building were rather amusing to watch after all. It took far too long to get seated, once they did, Eliax decided it would probably be much louder than she¡¯d initially expected. She was right next to Jiuhen after all, and his lungs were impressive. Before she knew it, the game was starting. She didn¡¯t know the rules, and generally would have completely ignored the game in favor of plugging her ears from the crowd. Except when it started she sensed something. Eliax blinked and opened her eyes, examining the field below with a frown. She couldn¡¯t see the magic so well from up here, but there was clearly a powerful and selective anti-teleportation barrier set up all around the area. In fact, it was so powerful that her subconscious mind was trying to get her to move away from it. No one else seemed to feel it, but that was easily solved when she realized what kind of barrier it was. The golden reflection really should have told her that, but Eliax didn¡¯t realize until she noticed several prominently placed flowers planted evenly around the field, it was too far to make out details, but it was a safe bet that it was Timestrider Silvi. There wasn¡¯t really anything else it could be. Silvi barriers were almost entirely unfair, they were trivial to mold to the desired shape, they powered themselves as they were technically living things, they were powerful, and they weren¡¯t aggressive. It was like warding except you didn¡¯t need math or any supplies beyond what could keep a Silvi alive. Eliax examined the barrier in awe, knowing that one day she might be able to make something like that, barriers were hard though, it was essentially tricking the air into being solid without actually being solid, and since it was technically time magic, it would be even harder for her. She let out a long breath, perhaps she could get something out of this venture after all. - In essence, the game was very simple. Get a disk into a net. It didn¡¯t matter which net, there were three of them. One in the middle, and one on either end of the field. Each team had their own disk that they had to get into the nets multiple times, either until time was up or a certain number of points was reached. If the other team scored a point with your disc, you lost points. The trick was that the two disks were charged with a restricted wild magic, granting them the ability to teleport¡­basically whenever and wherever. Hence the Silvi barrier, to keep the disks in a certain area. The discs would be spinning through the air toward a teammate one moment and then the next be spinning in the air to the other side of the field. Eliax liked making fun of the players when the things teleported, but they were actually rather good at adapting to the whims of the wildmagic. The game went on. And on. And on. Eliax wasn¡¯t quite sure how long it was supposed to be, it seemed to have multiple sections where various numbers of discs were put out, some were different kinds with more or less powerful teleportation abilities depending on¡­some criteria, and the points probably reflected that. But generally it took forever. Jiuhen was screaming the entire time, Niun shouted occasionally when Raendus did something cool, and the old woman Jiuhen had been flirting with wasn¡¯t any quieter. Nevermind the others nearby. There were probably a couple hundred people total there, not as many as the markets back in Ceruleia, but enough to kill someone if they were all shoved into a small room. After a couple of hours, Niun elbowed her, ¡°It¡¯s nearly over!¡± Her smile was strained from being around so many people for so long, but somehow she wasn¡¯t at her breaking point just yet. ¡°Great.¡± She glanced back down at the field in time to see Raendus catch one of the disks, he started running with it, which was apparently allowed, jumping to throw the disk into the net and- It was gone. Eliax shook her head and tried to see where it was now, but she looked back at him when the crowd went eerily silent. Raendus lost balance in the air with the absence of the projectile, he landed, but it wasn¡¯t on his feet. The other players wavered when he didn¡¯t get back up, but the timer only had a couple of moments left on it. One guy rushed to his side, but Eliax could already see his white uniform turning cyan with blood. Niun was already running. Eliax was behind him, but all she could remember were the nightmares. Losing people she cared about. A battlefield of corpses turning into fine ash as the void sucked them in. She tried to flood her mind with paint. They got out of the seating in record time, Niun shouting, he ran through the barrier perfectly fine, it only blocked dimensional anomalies then. Eliax was right behind him, feeling in her gut as her magic tried to push her back from the barrier. Inertia kept her going through as her muscles locked up by instinct. She felt the Timestrider Silvi stab at her viciously, halting her in place and violently pushing her magic away. Scraping her mind until it was bare and pulling against her like she was the space being distorted. It only blocked dimensional anomalies. She fell to the ground, her muscles locking with pain, her entire being reviling against the thing that was her opposite. Over and over she felt it pull at her, pulling, pulling, pulling. Just like rubber that could no longer go any farther, Eliax felt like something inside her was about to- Snap. Chapter 15 Silvi petals --- Netun --- Somewhere beneath the earth, resting from a long night of travel, Netun felt something strange in the between realm. It felt as if perhaps a kindred soul was awakening. It was hundreds of miles away, in the opposite direction he¡¯d been traveling and it faded after just a second, but Netun felt a jolt of energy from it, invigorating his mind and soul. He opened his eyes and parted the soil around him, rising from the ground like a monster might in a horror story. Netun pulled his large hat over his face and gazed in the direction of Melor. It was across several mountains, beyond cities and countries, but perhaps¡­well perhaps one of them had followed his same way on their own? There was a distinct possibility to Netun that this was simply a regular person, but even if it was, there would surely be things he could teach them. His red eyes stared toward the far off person, and after a moment of thought, his legs followed that gaze, step upon step. Somehow he knew that this journey would not be wasted. --- Fora --- Snap. Eliax watched weakly from the wrong side of a Silvi barrier. The golden runes danced in front of her eyes as the group on the other side hauled off Raendus with Niun following behind the procession. He looked¡­lost as he followed his unconscious brother. Eliax would have cared, she would have been just as worried for Niun as she was for Raendus. But at the moment she was not Eliax. The person who was watching from behind those eyes was far more ancient. When the memory was forced on her, it hit like a dragon lance, it was more intense and concentrated than any other memory that Eliax had ever gone through, it shattered her mental barriers, washing away the remains of the paint and leaving her mind bare for torture. All she could think was¡­I¡¯m failing again. I can¡¯t get to him. I can¡¯t lose anyone. Not again. Which is¡­ a feeling that no one really understands. Once, there was a girl who looked at her life and said ¡°I know exactly what this is and how to use it.¡± I used to think I was that girl. But she isn¡¯t real. Aneles was just another guy really. He was nice, he made jokes sometimes, and whenever I was with him I felt as if the world didn¡¯t have to make sense. I felt as if I could just be. Whenever I was with him I wanted that to be my eternity. But life is life. He was the captain of the city guard when I foolishly killed the king. Afterward he was thrown into battle after battle with no say in the matter. Princes and their sisters ordering his battalion about, assassinating each other, staking their claims on land, and starting little wars. And then something happened that no one even contemplated, they all thought I¡¯d just wanted Steris to be Queen, but it wasn¡¯t even me. A dragon used her wish and opened up the void, letting Aeinar consume the falling warriors. I still don¡¯t know why, but she clearly didn¡¯t care who was in the way. Neither did I, really. There were a lot of deaths that day, I remember sprinting through ranks of soldiers that were melting from the inside, holding a sword that I didn¡¯t even know how to use. I remember feeling the void tugging at my own soul but the two amulets I held kept me in place. I remember swinging my sword at anything that moved, searching for him with tear-stained eyes that could barely focus. I remember getting to Aneles and falling to my knees, sobbing as his skin turned the endless black of the void and he faded away as I tried¡­and failed to simply give him the second amulet. I remember living out the short time that was the rest of my life with regret as I sought revenge on the only person besides myself that I could blame. She was powerful, she was majestic. But the queen of the dragons almost fell beneath my might. Almost. I remembered her blood in the sand, red against the white, I remembered my own joining the puddle as she slowly got the upper hand, I remember dying as her claws raked at my flesh. I remember watching as she tore at my lifeless body even after it was clear I¡¯d left it, leaving nothing but a corpse behind that she didn¡¯t even bother to dispose of. I remember watching it heal without a heartbeat to measure it by, I remember watching as the clock seemed to turn back, I remember being put back into that body years later. Eight years old. Scared. Eliax. She was a shield just like everything else, to protect my own mind from the things I¡¯d subjected it to. I felt the metaphorical mask slide off my face as I finally viewed the person in my body as myself. I always have been. I didn¡¯t know why I¡¯d come back, I didn¡¯t know how, but I was here now and I knew that I could save someone this time. This time. This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. Eliax had cared, and so I would care. I smashed my palms together, forcing myself through the Between realm as I remembered doing countless times before, back when I¡¯d been Fari. I pushed the matter around me, the spatial distortion poping me from one place to another in the blink of an eye. A true gate. The Silvi barrier didn¡¯t even notice it, the spell bypassing it without even a hint of effort on my part. I was extremely lucky that this Silvi barrier was the selective kind. I was beside the fallen player a second later, shoving aside people. The realm of magic still surrounded me as I grasped at my meager healing skills and started the process of mending his exoskeleton. There was blood. There was so much blood. But my mind didn¡¯t even try to pretend that it was paint. -- The medical bay at Starsbane was crisp and white. Not the most white thing ever, mind you, it was a bit more cream colored with a hint of gray, but off-white was better for cleaning so we won¡¯t disparage the nurses any. The waiting room was just as white, though distinctly more gray considering the three Tuvei who sat there, projecting a depressed mood onto the world. Jiuhen, Niun, and myself, anxiously waiting for news of Raendus. Most of my body hurt from running headlong into a Silvi barrier -really what had Eliax been thinking?- But that wasn¡¯t my main concern. Bodies would mend, Raendus would mend, my mind would mend. I¡¯d been procrastinating this for so long, I¡¯d been pushing against the idea violently since I¡¯d first had it. Since¡­Eliax first had it. But I¡¯d done something when I¡¯d hit that barrier. It still hurt to think about most of it, but a good chunk of the blockage had disappeared. I could remember¡­just about everything. Though I had a feeling that any control over the nightmares I¡¯d wrestled for over the past week was gone now. So what was I going to do now? Eliax had wanted to go home after this step, back to Ceruleia and Estin, make sure the old bastard was still alive, that kind of thing. But I had some snooping I needed to get done. I couldn¡¯t simply leave. There was something big that I was still missing. And besides, just because I could see underneath the mask right now did not mean it would stay that way. I¡¯d had that for ten years, blocking everything, especially my own conscience from accessing the deeper levels of my mind. Things like that didn¡¯t simply puff away because I¡¯d rammed into a particularly specialized magical barrier. I nodded curtly at Jiuhen and stood up. ¡°Let me know how he is later, alright?¡± The flirtatious Tuvei blinked, ¡°Eliax? Where are you going?¡± I smiled, ¡°Just settling some old thoughts, I¡¯ll be back tomorrow if I don¡¯t hear anything.¡± I stopped beside Niun on my way out. He was dejectedly staring at the floor, his knee vibrating as he rocked back and forth in the chair. ¡°Hey, It¡¯ll be alright.¡± I tried, ¡°They got to him on time and he¡¯s super healthy so recovery won¡¯t be a big problem.¡± Niun looked up and met my eyes, which¡­still felt wrong, so I looked at the wall behind him. ¡°Thank you, for those healing spells.¡± He finally said. I tilted my head at him and folded my arms, ¡°Do you need me to do anything? You might be here for a while.¡± He grimaced, ¡°Could you check on Jeref? There¡¯s still a link between us even though I tried to sever it with five different spells, and he might try to get to me if I¡¯m gone too long.¡± I grimaced as well, though for entirely different reasons. That spot was ah¡­yeah I was starting to regret choosing it, there had been other places to send him. ¡°I can do that. How long before it might become a problem?¡± ¡°I just check on him once a week, usually the first day, so you¡¯ve got two days before he¡¯ll expect me to appear.¡± I nodded smoothly and turned toward the door. ¡°You¡¯re different.¡± I paused, glancing back at him, feeling a spike of alarm. Was my cover going to be blown immediately after making a huge leap of progress? ¡°How so?¡± I asked carefully. ¡°More confident I think.¡± He paused, looking me up and down, ¡°It¡¯s¡­probably a good thing.¡± I sure hoped it was. I just had to figure out who I was without that mask on. Not Fari, not Eliax. Me. -- For some reason, I hadn¡¯t expected anyone to come looking for me. This, in essence, was stupid on my part. Obviously Hivren and Illila would want to know what happened. Obviously Alsen would fret over the scrapes on my arms from the barrier and insist that I ¡®bring her cast iron Wok next time!¡¯ That woman had a cast iron Wok fettish and I had no idea how to feel about it. She¡¯d taken Eliax into her storerooms once just to show her them, as if saying ¡°here¡¯s some weapons, you know, just in case.¡± If anything, that was the first place I was heading if there was a raid on the town. I was certainly taking one of the smaller ones when I had to pay a visit to Jeref in a couple of days. Either way, people wanted answers. They¡¯d heard rumors about the Echoball game, about the fallen player, and it seemed like everyone had heard a different story behind it. The two extremes were either ¡®everyone made it up and none of the players were hurt.¡¯ or ¡®GIUM HIMSELF DESCENDED FROM THE LOST TOWER AND MURDERED ONE OF THE ECHOBALL PLAYERS.¡¯ I was mostly glad that they were ignoring me, who had foolishly cast a gate in a very public setting and then used intermediary healing magic, which was one of the most finicky types for those without an affinity to learn. I am an idiot. If you haven¡¯t noticed. I do things, I regret doing the things, I decide to do better things, and then all that happens is more stupidity. It¡¯s a pattern you see. The sun will always come up, the dragons will always be salty jerks, and I will always regret everything. I barely had the presence of mind to feel sad about that fact as I tried to undermine the gossip vines by giving everyone straightforward, general, facts. Raendus broke his arm. He¡¯s getting help. He will probably be fine. I could only be thankful that no one was questioning any implausible abilities on my part yet, but I expected that to change once they chatted with Niun and Jiuhen. Someone would notice that something was off. That the facts didn¡¯t line up. Right? They would notice that there was something wrong with me and do something. They would help me. I found myself hoping that someone cared enough to see it, but that little voice in the back of my mind refused to really believe it could happen. No matter how much I wanted it to. Chapter 16 a long time ago --- Turste --- In the darkness between moments as he fought for his own mind, he remembered who he was before. He remembered the winter whenever he started to waver, he remembered that first winter he¡¯d seen a ferien, when he¡¯d first decided there was beauty in the world. He remembered the graceful gait of the hunter in the ash, looking for smaller creatures to consume. He remembered watching as it caught a pest and turned toward him with a tilted head. Curious as to his presence. Oh winters and stars they were beautiful. He remembered feeling the rebellion in his steps as he came out into the ash every year to see the creatures hunt. Soon he knew them better than he knew himself. ¡°Are you trying to activate your blood? You know that¡¯s against the rules, right?¡± He looked up from the three beautiful hunters and remembered seeing his sister, arms folded, nose up to the clouds. He didn¡¯t answer her question. ¡°Aren¡¯t they beautiful?¡± His sister snorted, ¡°They¡¯re beasts. Just like everything else they¡¯ll want to destroy it.¡± Now, he couldn¡¯t even remember what ¡®it¡¯ was. What had they been protecting? The memory drifted. He remembered as the years passed by, as the grand cities forged new ships. He remembered as the people took and took and took from the land. That was an important change, wasn¡¯t it? He remembered visiting the ferien, studying them, and finally learning to shift to their forms. He remembered the joy that brought him, dancing through the ashes of winter. The heightened senses and the feeling of his paws bouncing across the land until winter ended and he was forced to just be himself again. So much less against the feeling of his active blood. He remembered finally boarding one of those new ships the grand cities had forged and leaving his home forever. Never seeing a ferien again until the end of the memories. Darkness again. What else did he remember? --- Fora --- The sky was getting lighter. That always gave me hope for the future, a strong feeling of resilience that poked into my mind against the floods of sadness I¡¯d been so prone to ever since the Silvi barrier. I¡¯d like to say I was strong enough to simply push past the pains and losses, but it was still hitting home just how much I¡¯d missed. The chance to be normal, the small and simple moments with those I¡¯d cared about. Aneles was gone, Raia was gone, even that dragon who was almost too thoroughly scrubbed from my mind was probably gone. That sunrise stirred my mind, tired from the nightmares and weary from disuse. It reminded me that I had to look to the future. I had to make sure I could one day be happy. That¡¯s all I needed really, in order to get up out of bed and make my way down the stairs. I wanted to feel happy for accomplishing so much, but all I could feel were the flashes of blood, the battlefield of ash, and the queen of the dragons ripping my throat out. I couldn¡¯t help but remember the face of the other dragon, the one who seemed like he¡¯d wanted the world to be better. Contradictions upon contradictions. A big part of me wished I¡¯d been able to keep the mask of Eliax on for longer, wished that I still had that protection. I instinctively strengthened my mental barriers as I descended the stairs. Wondering how much longer it would be before I was strong enough. I was supposed to be strong enough. I was supposed to be able to do anything I tried for. I was supposed to be able to look at myself and to see someone who could accomplish what I needed her to. But I couldn¡¯t. I was weak. ¡°Am I¡­weak?¡± ¡°How old are you, my friend?¡± ¡°Eight. I¡¯m eight.¡± ¡°Well, a kid like you shouldn¡¯t think about that. You can only get stronger from here.¡± I felt my jaw tightening. I was supposed to be better than this. That was the conviction that took me down to breakfast, that was the conviction that took me out of the house and to the Ayfel. I stared at Aymiae, finally really seeing that stark difference between the kid I remembered and the woman that she now was. I¡¯d missed so much. She seemed rather confused at the early hour I¡¯d barged into the Ayfel, but ultimately not angry. This was at odds with how I remembered her, but it matched mostly with how she¡¯d presented herself last time. Aymiae smiled at me, her crossed eyes examining what felt like my soul itself from two different angles. ¡°What brings you to the Ayfel, miss Eliax?¡± The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings. I sat down at one of the benches. This main room had been where Raia taught us, the bench was newer, but the feel and layout was the same. I fidgeted for a moment and finally sat differently, my feet up on the bench and my legs crossed like I was sitting on the ground. Aymiae tilted her head at me and sat down on the bench in front of mine, neatly folding her hands in her lap. Sparks it was so strange to see her this old. It was only around forty, but it felt like yesterday when she¡¯d been barely ten, when I¡¯d last seen her, over thirty years ago as I took my last steps away from the Ayfel. Had I¡­really not visited after that? I should have. I sighed, taking Eliax¡¯s notebook out from my bag, ¡°I figured I should tell someone. I don¡¯t know what I¡¯m doing, I need help, and you¡¯re the only person I can think of who knows most of it already.¡± Aymiae frowned, ¡°Alright, what is it you need help with?¡± I cringed, she was so nice now. More pleasant. I think I remember wishing she was like this way back when I was Fari. Would she go back to her usual irritable self that had it out for me with every step? I hoped not. I hoped that now that I was different, she would treat me differently as well. I opened my mouth, still not meeting her eyes, funny how I still didn¡¯t know how to do that. ¡°You know how last time I was here you said I remind you a bit of Fari?¡± I closed my eyes, ¡°For as long as I¡¯ve been alive, I¡¯ve had these¡­memories. I remember being older, I remember this city like it was yesterday, I remember the Ayfel being filled with little girls, I remember the palace being cared for and when the city guard was the strongest in Melor.¡± I opened my eyes hesitantly, ¡°I remember so many things, and for a while the more things I remembered the more I was sure of it, until I came here and I knew. I was Fari. I was Foralen dei Imal, the stupidest most shortsighted Tuvei who ever lived. I didn¡¯t deserve any of what was given to me.¡± Aymiae was staring at me, I didn¡¯t look at her long enough to find out when she stopped, I simply stared down at my notebook, hoping against my pessimism that this might somehow end well. I really didn¡¯t want to expect it to, but I was prepared to teleport out of here at a moment''s notice, my eyes flicked toward the runes floating about in the air every couple of seconds. Aymiae blinked slowly, her face morphing into a frown, her brows knit together, ¡°That¡¯s¡­a wild claim. Why should I believe it?¡± I stared at her, more surprised that she wasn¡¯t just discounting the idea out of hand. She was listening. Sure she was doubtful, but this was a lot more than I¡¯d expected to get out of her. ¡°You¡¯re asking for proof?¡± Aymiae nodded, ¡°Tell me something that only she would know.¡± I scowled, my mind racing for ideas. Sparks, I¡¯d never been close to her in the past, I¡¯d grown up with her but that was it. ¡°That¡¯s completely unfair, how am I supposed to think of something right now?¡± She tilted her head, ¡°You have nothing prepared?¡± ¡°Well yeah, you hated me, I didn¡¯t expect to get this far.¡± ¡°I-¡± Aymiae started, and then frowned again, narrowing her eyes at me, ¡°Alright then, when¡¯s my birthday?¡± I felt my eyes widen in panic and my mind began to race, when was her birthday, I knew it was in the middle of the year¡­probably the month Warrior? That meant this month. It was the thirteenth right now, but I felt like it was later in the month than this, Aymiae was watching me with a slightly amused expression on, as if just waiting for me to get it wrong. She glanced at the glowing spell chronometer affixed to her wrist. It¡¯s after the 13th, but warrior only has 26 days, it¡¯s before the 20th, because the mistress always had a catalog during the last week of the month and I would remember if Aymiae got to skip out on it¡­ Mind racing, I glanced around the room, hoping for some clues if possible, but there was nothing. ¡°It¡¯s ah¡­this month. Before the 20th but after this week?¡± She blinked. I blinked back. Aymiae sighed, ¡°Correct.¡± ¡°Oh! Really!?¡± ¡°No, it was yesterday.¡± I deflated, ¡°Sparks I¡¯m an idiot, uh¡­Happy birthday? I know Aneles¡¯s birthday was 23rd of Orine but I guess I never tried to remember the exact day for yours since Lady Raia always celebrated everyone¡¯s together.¡± I put a hand to my head and started muttering incoherently for several moments. Aymiae finally interrupted me. ¡°How?¡± I blinked, glancing up at her, ¡°What?¡± ¡°How is it possible? You died. Everyone was sure that you died.¡± ¡°W-what?¡± I sputtered, ¡°I thought you still wanted proof-¡± ¡°You gave me all the proof I needed, Fari would never remember my birthday and I didn¡¯t expect her to.¡± I scowled, but she had me there. I sighed after a moment, ¡°I don¡¯t know. I don¡¯t know anything. I know I died though. I definitely died. I remember being torn to pieces by a particularly angry dragon. Then I remember waking up twelve years later as a child in the middle of the Sanarian desert.¡± Aymiae stood up and started pacing. I didn¡¯t blame her, I was dragging her into something she had no reason to help me with. ¡°So as far as you can tell, you were reborn?¡± I nodded. ¡°It took me ten years to figure that out from a whole load of jumbled memories, but yes.¡± She stopped suddenly, staring me dead in the eye, ¡°I¡¯m glad.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°I¡¯m glad that you¡¯re here now. I can finally apologize.¡± ¡°For-¡± ¡°For not trusting you. You deserved to serve under Yumorath, you deserved my brother, you deserved everything. I was just too stupid to see it.¡± Aymiae smiled and inclined her head toward me, giving the sign of the angels. That was the gesture reserved for those one respected beyond anything. I¡¯d only ever given it to Lady Raia and Estin. I closed my eyes and slumped down on the bench, letting my feet fall to the ground. ¡°I don¡¯t deserve that, Aymi. I don¡¯t deserve anything. I let him die.¡± ¡°But you saved everyone else from war. You single handedly won the queen the last battle she needed to claim the throne in full. You-¡± I shook my head. ¡°That wasn¡¯t me. I just happened to be there. My master - the dragon, he gave me an amulet that could protect me from the effects of the spell that killed them all.¡± ¡°It¡­wasn¡¯t you?¡± I shrugged helplessly, ¡°That kind of magic is impossible for a mortal.¡± ¡°Fari, who was it then?¡± ¡°Xien.¡± I whispered, ¡°The queen of the dragons. She used her wish. I died trying to get revenge.¡± Chapter 17 Jeref ¡°So.¡± Aymiae started, ¡°That means this whole situation isn¡¯t as impossible as we first thought. A dragon wish would neatly explain most of the problems they ran into way back when. Normally when someone opens up the void, Aeinar leaves residue, but no one could find that when they checked out the area. The void is also not a strong enough vacuum to literally pull living people into it, usually it¡¯s just any unbound souls in the area that would get trapped.¡± I nodded, remembering the disintegrating forms of the soldiers and commanders. ¡°I still don¡¯t know why she did it, if I wasn¡¯t sure that Xien would kill me on sight I would track her down for a little chat.¡± Aymiae paused, ¡°You¡­don¡¯t know?¡± ¡°...What don¡¯t I know?¡± Sparks, did it always have to be one disaster after another these days? ¡°Xien is dead. There was a scandal about it a few years back, dragonslayers got her. Her kids destroyed three cities in retribution.¡± I stared at Aymi for a long moment before I couldn¡¯t take it any longer. I laughed. Long and hard, the release of tension that I¡¯d been ignoring poured over my muscles. ¡°That¡¯s¡­Sparks really?! She¡¯s dead?¡± ¡°Yeah, her daughter is in charge of the Aulous Dragons now. They¡¯ve been a lot less aggressive ever since then, I was even able to go over there and track down some artifacts without drawing any ire.¡± ¡°Oh wow. I didn¡¯t think I¡¯d live to see the day.¡± I basked in the feeling of freedom for a while, the thought that I¡¯d outlived my killer. ¡°That¡¯s so strange to think about.¡± ¡°Hmmm, yeah. Anyway considering the present situation, I wouldn¡¯t tell Queen Steris you¡¯re alive for now, she¡¯ll probably want to either publicly thank you or imprison you. She¡¯s got to know that the whole battle was mostly up to chance and she has no idea where your allegiances really lay. She would worry that you¡¯re going to topple the kingdom again.¡± I glanced out the window, ¡°I don¡¯t really know, part of me wants to see what the world would do if they knew. It just feels so dangerous to be at the center of it.¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± I sighed, ¡°Yeah.¡± Aymiae nodded, thinking over something. Part of her cross bearing seemed to leak back through as she began to speak. ¡°I know that some nobles pay to wear temporary illusions when they want to pretend to be normal for a while.¡± I gazed at her in shock, suddenly feeling rather excited, ¡°Are you offering?!¡± Aymiae had been a sparking good illusionist back in her 20s and there was no way that time had lessened those abilities any. Aymiae tapped her chin in thought, examining me for a moment, ¡°It would be a tad bit tricky, but I could bind an illusion to a necklace or something to make you look older. Old enough that people would recognise you as her, and hopefully that no one would guess Eliax and Foralen are the same person.¡± I wasn¡¯t sure why, but I really liked this idea. ¡°Do you need payment or anything? I¡¯ll pay. How long would it last? Do I need to charge it or anything?¡± Aymiae smiled, a strange expression for her, ¡°It¡¯ll be free, just give me a couple days to set it up. I¡¯ll give you instructions once I¡¯ve finished it.¡± ¡°Oh thank you so much Aymi. When should I come pick it up?!¡± She laughed, ¡°The day after tomorrow, Fari.¡± -- I left the city early in the morning. It¡¯s a little-known fact, but sandfrost doesn¡¯t keep well in the daylight. It releases spores when the sun sets and the more sunlight it¡¯s subjected to the less potent the spores are. Once a spore is dead it¡¯s practically dust. Completely harmless. To the north of Reiaran, around a three hour walk from Alsen¡¯s inn, there was a nondescript beach. This beach was peaceful and generally ignored by people unless one was looking for a particularly picturesque sunset. But, if one was perceptive enough, they would notice the round shapes half buried in the cold sand, the strange tendency of the rocks to frost over every night, and the slight glow to the sand itself. If one was perceptive enough, they would realize that this place could be deadly under the right circumstances. That¡¯s what I¡¯d realized the first time I¡¯d gone here, but my foolish self just kept coming back. Until the day I decided to kill a king and found myself conveniently within reach of a perfect poison for the job. I had a whole confusing history with these spores, the assassination, the fight with Xien, and then waking up in a desert filled with them. But I had to come here now, to check on Jeref. The dimwitted hound who loved its master more than anything. I inhaled the stench of rot and the more subtle odor of the spores in the air. Immediately I found myself coughing, my lungs remembered what this stuff was and they were violently opposed to the idea of meeting it again. I was fairly sure that after an hour of sunlight, most of them were dead, but my lungs didn¡¯t really care about that fact. If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. Sparks, I¡¯d forgotten again that I was still Eliax. That wasn¡¯t a good thing. Moving forward regardless, I pulled the front of my dress over my face, shielding it from most of the spores. ¡°Hey, Jeref! Are you here¡­.uh¡­are you here, boy?¡± There was silence across the beach. I felt the crunch of seashells under my boots and cringed as the softer squish of one of the mushrooms made from beneath me. I hopped to the side and quickly buried the thing in sand before it could kill me or something. Who knew, maybe it was some weird breed that didn¡¯t need to be eaten in order to come after you. Too jumpy. I was way too jumpy. ¡°Jeref?¡± I tried again, opening a bag of dead things. I¡¯d read up on undead and apparently they didn¡¯t need to eat, but they liked it anyway. I glanced around the beach, frowning at the emptiness of it. I scanned over the rocks and clumps of mushrooms, finally examining the shoreline. It still smelled like rot so he had to be around there somewhere¡­right? I felt myself stiffen instinctively as a crashing noise sounded behind me. Something was running at me. I managed to force myself to turn around, just in time to see Jeref barreling toward me in a way that was almost too happy. I squeaked in a distinctly un-ladylike fashion and threw the sack of probably-edible things at the zombie before it could plow into me. Besides, it was for him anyway! The thing stopped, growling in annoyance and clawing at the sack before giving up and looking back at me with an alert posture, black smoke puffed out of the cracks in its wood. Jeref seemed still wary though, almost too wary. I felt bile rise into my throat as I noticed its eyes. Where before there had been black pits of nothingness where the bark was scratched away, now there was a white coat on everything. The eyes were practically glowing. I dimly noticed that all the dead leaves had fallen away, the creature looked almost skeletal without them. In their place were¡­mushrooms. Small white ones that seemed to be bioluminescent in the morning air. Sparks sparks sparks. Sandfrost shouldn¡¯t infect undead! It didn¡¯t even do this to living creatures! Was it just growing on him because it could find food there? The spores taking root in the zombie¡¯s rotting wood? ¡°Jeref?¡± I asked hesitantly, stepping backwards and watching the creature with wide, worried eyes. The zombie smoothly looked towards me. Too smooth. Before it had been jerky and confused. Now that I¡¯d noticed it, I could see the way its gait was different, more natural, less dead. I swallowed the bile in my throat, ¡°Niun told me to uh¡­check on you?¡± I said hesitantly, gesturing to the sack by its feet that it had finally stopped tearing at. ¡°I brought food just in case, I don¡¯t think he would let me live it down if you did something stupid on my watch.¡± Jeref glanced back at the sack and then looked at me, ¡°Al¡­ner~ah?¡± It growled, but the noises sounded vaguely like they could be a word. I stared at the canine creature, ¡°What?¡± It stared back at me, jaw working silently for several moments. ¡°¡­Ala~ner-¡± The keening wail of a sea Reasle sounded from nearby and Jeref¡¯s single ear rose up to catch the sound. The shadow of the other ear mirrored the movement and the creature glanced around as if searching for the source. The sounds of the waves crashed on. Jeref snarled and paced in a circle around the sack, occasionally twitching uncontrollably. ¡°Ala~nere~ah?¡± I shook my head, ¡°Sorry, I don¡¯t understand.¡± He stopped and growled slowly, ¡°Tu-uvei.¡± The creature rumbled in a disconcerting way and after a moment it shook itself out, black smoke puffing from the cracks in its wooden form. The white mushrooms glowed brighter for a moment as it paced around the sack and eventually sat down with a growl of annoyance. I watched it for several more minutes, but Jeref didn¡¯t seem inclined to do anything besides growl at me every couple seconds. Occasionally the creature whined in a pained way, and once it creeped closer to me and bumped its head against my hands. It let me rub at the back of its head for a bit, but before long it was simply growling at me again. After a while of this, I simply gave up, Jeref seemed to get that I was leaving somehow and didn¡¯t try to follow me. The sound of its growls echoed in the back of my mind for hours afterward. -- ¡°So! How¡¯s Raendus!?¡± I asked cheerfully, holding out a basket filled with various treats I¡¯d gathered from people who were worried about him. Alsen had provided some cookies that had to be straight from Orien itself, Illila and Hivren had each handed me something, it was hard to remember what considering how much there was packed into that basket. Niun stared at the basket uncomprehendingly, tiredly blinking at the contents, ¡°He¡¯s ah¡­he¡¯s fine. They have a couple healers on him at all times to keep him stable and they keep having to cleanse the oils from his blood. They¡¯re pretty sure he¡¯s not going to be in top shape for a year or so. Mom wants to never let him on the field again but I guess we¡¯ll see¡­¡± ¡°Oh, do you need to talk about it?¡± Niun grunted and I handed him the basket, trying to ease him into the ah¡­Jeref situation. ¡°Not really.¡± He finally said. I nodded. ¡°Alright, how have you been? You getting enough sleep?¡± Niun shrugged and examined the basket of foods, ¡°I¡¯ll be alright. Did you check on Jeref?¡± Oh dear¡­ah¡­ ¡°Yes.¡± I ventured. ¡°Anything off?¡± I sighed, ¡°He¡¯s covered in mushrooms and wouldn¡¯t stop growling at me, but I think he¡¯s probably fine?¡± Niun paused, giving me the most bewildered look I¡¯d ever gotten out of him. Sparks I¡¯d forgotten how interesting some expressions could get. ¡°What? Is it Sandfrost?¡± I nodded, ¡°As far as I could tell it just sort of started growing on him?¡± Niun frowned, ¡°That¡¯s¡­probably not going to hurt him. I guess I¡¯ll look into how much it breaks down wood. We can try cutting it off or something¡­¡± I gave him a bewildered look, ¡°You can¡¯t just cut off sandfrost.¡± ¡°What? Why not, does it grow back?¡± ¡°Of course, how can you-¡± I sighed, having forgotten that most folks hadn¡¯t spent any real time in Aubinere where every second rock and brick was covered in deadly mushrooms. ¡°Sandfrost takes nutrients straight from the between realm, you have to exterminate it with fire or it acts like a sparking hydra.¡± Niun went pale, ¡°and Jeref wouldn¡¯t like that, even if he could last through the fire.¡± I nodded, ¡°It doesn¡¯t hurt wood very much, plus he¡¯s an undead so I don¡¯t think anything it does will last long.¡± The necromancer sighed, ¡°Alright then, thanks for checking up on him, could you do it again next week? I don¡¯t think I can sneak out of the city properly with all this.¡± I nodded easily, ¡°I¡¯ll let you know if it¡¯s worse next time.¡± ¡°Thank you, Eliax.¡± I smiled, but that name somehow felt wrong. Chapter 18 A Heroic Hero The same moment I was awake the next day, I was already out the door and halfway to the Ayfel. Whiplash has nothing on me. Nevermind the fact that it was still rather dark out. I didn¡¯t care, all I wanted was that illusion. I was fairly certain that Aymiae didn¡¯t want me to come get it right away, but I was fine with waiting at the Ayfel if I had to. I just didn¡¯t want to wait a second longer than necessary. As predicted, Aymiae was woken up by my pounding but still somehow seemed amused at my actions. She brought me inside without a second thought and had me make breakfast for the two of us while she put the finishing touches on the illusion. I hummed happily as I stirred the pot, occasionally adding a spice or two to the porridge and glancing at the diced fruit. I couldn¡¯t ruin the whole thing by adding them too early after all¡­ I was probably making a bit too much, but cooking in the ayfel was really weird. It felt like I should be making food for over a dozen little girls instead of just me and Aymi. For the first time in a while, I let myself feel the pang of sadness at that unique loss. The front door opened and I glanced toward it, blinking. I didn¡¯t think that Aymiae had anyone else coming so- Hivren blinked back at me. ¡°Oh! Eliax! Great to see you. Is¡­ is Aymiae here?¡± I nodded, and after plopping the fruit bits into the concoction, I mixed the porridge extra hard for a second and set down the spoon. ¡°She¡¯s just back here, did you need something from her?¡± Hivren nodded, gesturing toward the basket he held under one arm, ¡°She asked me to get her some alchemical ingredients.¡± I examined the basket idly for a moment and decided I needed to look into alchemy one of these days. I opened the door for him and followed behind as we set about locating Aymiae. Hivren seemed to know where she would be though, and before I knew it, we found our way to Lady Raia¡¯s old study, apparently repurposed for the various magical disciplines that Aymi dabbled in. Honestly it boggled my mind how many different types of magic she was proficient in. Illusionism, alchemy apparently, I was pretty sure she had an air magic affinity somewhere, and she always had been interested in Yeran magic. When I walked into her workshop to see a gun mounted on one of the walls I decided she¡¯d definitely gotten into Yeran stuff. Perhaps a bit too far. She glanced up when we entered and brightened at the load of ingredients before taking them from Hivren and setting them beside a shelf of potions for later sorting. ¡°Thank you, thank you! Is breakfast ready yet?¡± I scrunched up my face, ¡°Mostly.¡± Aymi picked up the necklace she¡¯d been working on and gingerly handed it to me, ¡°There you are, to activate the illusion you just put it on, It should only work on you. Just add some power to it every day or so after hard use and you¡¯re golden. If anything weird happens with it, let me know immediately!¡± She glanced at Hivren, ¡°Ah, try it out later and if it doesn¡¯t work as expected then contact me.¡± I nodded and pocketed the simple chain, following as the other two migrated back to the kitchen, Aymiae stirred the contents and glanced at our companion, ¡°Do you want some breakfast Hivren? It seems we¡¯ve got too much.¡± She sent me a knowing look but didn¡¯t give me time to apologize. -- I stood in a particularly obscure corner of the abandoned palace half an hour later, staring at the chain and gripping a newly-purchased mirror in one hand. This had better work. I didn¡¯t know what I would do if it didn¡¯t. Taking a deep breath, I unlatched the chain and brought it across my neck to clip in the back, watching my arm as a faint buzz of magic passed across my skin. I hesitantly looked into the mirror once the effect was over. My magesight could detect the faintest bit of a difference in the magical aura that surrounded me, but if I hadn¡¯t known it intimately already, I would have no idea that this was an illusion. My hair had always been stark white, as with most Tuvei, but with the illusion on it seemed less vibrant, more dull. My eyes were mostly the same, if anything they seemed less out of place now. My exoskeleton was more scruffed, and there was a long scar across my chin that apparently Aymiae had taken liberties with as I¡¯d never had such a scar before. I stared at that reflection for a long long moment. ¡°Foralen Dei Imal.¡± I whispered, ¡°The Hero of Melor.¡± All in all, the face was familiar, it looked just like how I remembered it albeit a couple of decades older. When I spoke the voice that came out was more mature and level than I¡¯d expected, but it also felt right. It seemed like this might be who I was underneath the skin, even without the youth I enjoyed; this was how old my soul was. I stood up straighter and tied up my hair into a tail before bunching it up to make a tight bun where only a few strands were allowed to fly free in order to give it personality, I changed my clothing and tucked it inside Eliax¡¯s bag, sitting down in the alcove and taking out the tools I¡¯d bought weeks ago but never used. Makeup. Eliax would never wear makeup, it wasn¡¯t who she was, but right now, I wasn¡¯t aiming to be Eliax. To my relief the illusion took it in full grace, I wasn¡¯t quite sure how it worked, but most magic needed an element of belief from the user, if I believed hard enough that the makeup would work then I figured it probably would. I was right on that front. I stared at the mirror for a long moment, my inner artist searching for flaws to correct. When I got to the long scar on my chin I contemplated covering it, but Aymiae had put it there for a reason, it was another thing that separated Eliax from Foralen. This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it. So I hesitantly coaxed it into the light, making it stand out more, I was Foralen dei Imal, I was a woman who survived a war, a woman who had¡­been in hiding for the last twenty-two years, a woman who was well versed in dimensionalism and soul magic. I would not be ashamed of a scar, even if I wasn¡¯t sure what it would have been from. I put away the makeup and the mirror, tucking Eliax¡¯s bag into the alcove and forcing myself to relax. Foralen holds herself confidently. She seeks attention and doesn¡¯t think before speaking. She¡¯s powerful enough to go toe to toe with a dragon and almost win out of sheer spite. Ah, perhaps that¡¯s where I got the scar. That feels right. I exited the palace, teleporting to the other side of the wall a decent way off, behind a bend in the hills so the wall guard would assume I had just arrived. Presumably Foralen wouldn¡¯t really know that the capitol had been moved to a different city, besides, she was from Reiaran so there was no reason for her to appear anywhere else. I approached the wall, kind of doubting that there was anyone I remembered that might vouch for me when entering. Occasionally when about in the city I would see a face I recognised, but everyone I¡¯d really been close to was either dead or no longer in the city. One of the guards glanced down at me from the wall as I approached the closed gate, looking distinctly unimpressed. ¡°Who are ya?¡± He asked loudly, picking up a pen of some sort and tapping it against the city records. I frowned up at him, wondering how I should make this seem. Demanding? Show off some power? Make them respect me? That¡¯s probably what they expected from the Hero and it would definitely get the Queen¡¯s attention. ¡°You don¡¯t know?¡± I asked calmly, giving him the most dragoncrap-less look I could muster, unimpressed. I let my magical aura flare and if he had any kind of senses he would feel it. I might not have graduated from Starsbane, but I sure had excelled and my aura reflected that after a night of getting it in order post silvi-barrier incident. He blinked slowly and I heard some papers rustling. They probably had some portraits of relatively important people just to avoid offending anyone by not knowing. ¡°Ah¡­nope. Can¡¯t say I do. There¡¯s no way in the lowest depths of Aeinar can I let you in without a name, ma¡¯am. It¡¯s for the records ya see?¡± I bent the space around me and stepped through the distortion so I was perched on the wall next to him. I stared down at him and hopped off the battlement so we were level. I leaned closer as I felt his terror suddenly spike. ¡°Guess then.¡± The other members of the wall guard were certifiably freaking out, a strange dimensionalist appears, refusing to state who she is but demanding to be let in? I was clearly important though, I had to be. The poor guy squeaked and shrank lower under my stare. Sparks, why did it still feel so wrong to look someone in the eyes? ¡°I don¡¯t know ma¡¯am! I swear!¡± he glanced at his comrades with wide, pleading eyes and one of the more reasonable looking ones came closer, presumably trying to defuse this. ¡°I understand your annoyance at my friend here. Why don¡¯t you tell me who you are and we can put him through a couple months of intense training to be sure he never does this again?¡± Hah, that was actually rather decent persuasion skills there. I tilted my head sharply, remembering the way Jeref had done it to make it as disconcerting as possible, ¡°Have I really been gone so long that no one can even guess.¡± ¡°Ma¡¯am I-¡± ¡°Really I¡¯m disappointed in this queen of yours then, she¡¯s not even educating common soldiers in how to speak to someone who gave her so much.¡± Sparks, this was starting to make me sick. Buy into the propaganda already, I know you read it¡­ I mean, they have to have read it, right? The more sensible one swallowed and laughed nervously, ¡°Unless you¡¯re the Hero herself I¡¯m still going to have to ask you to tell me who you are.¡± I grinned widely, ¡°Ah, finally a guess. Took you long enough. You¡¯re no fun though, it¡¯s more entertaining when people aren¡¯t right the first time.¡± I took an exaggerated step away from the idiot from earlier, giving him a somewhat apologetic look and bowing extravagantly to everyone else. ¡°I am Foralen dei Imal.¡± I made another spatial distortion and popped through it back to the ground below. ¡°I¡¯m still requesting that you open the gate, though I can always blow it off its hinges if you don¡¯t want to do the sensible thing.¡±

--- Hivren --- He was becoming more and more sure of it by the day, but when Eliax bought an illusion from Aymiae, it all sort of clicked for him. Hivren had tried to ignore the signs at first, Eliax was his friend! She had a lot of flaws but none of them were nefarious enough to be worrisome. He didn¡¯t know why she hated Foralen so much, he didn¡¯t know why she seemed convinced she¡¯d had a past life that needed to be uncovered. What Hivren did know was that she went about at weird times, disappeared often for several days at a time, wasn¡¯t really good at treating people like people, and she was a dimensionalist. He knew she was a dimensionalist, even though she hadn¡¯t really done much in front of him. It was just the same vibe as some of the people his uncle Harrel brought over for dinner sometimes, a bit of a careless attitude, and the way she often acted as if nothing could hurt her. All this together convinced Hivren that Eliax was doing something, and that something was probably highly illegal. So, like any good friend, hivren resolved to talk to Eliax about this alone at the soonest possible time. And he would have. He sat at Nightwind early in the day, Raendus¡¯s brother across from him, Jiuhen next to him, Givei on the empath¡¯s other side. He¡¯d been wondering how best to bring up Eliax to break the stark silence at the table when someone burst through the doors with a great clatter, and took a moment to catch his breath just inside. He wore the uniform of the wall guard, which seemed a bit odd until he began to speak. ¡°The Captain¡­Larien, of the Wall guard-¡± He stopped for air for a second. ¡°-has requested that everyone stay seated, we have a very important person coming this way and she-she¡¯s not in a great mood I think! Do not engage her! Stay seated!¡± The man sat there and breathed for a second before running out the door, presumably to either spread the word or run back to his duties. A moment later another wall guard burst through, also panting, ¡°She¡¯s back! She¡¯s back! No one panic, stay here everyone and don¡¯t insult her!¡± By now the owner of the tavern was peeking out from the kitchens with a frown, ¡°What¡¯s all this fuss?¡± The soldier glanced at him, breathless, ¡°Sir! We have reason to believe that the Hero herself is approaching this building at this very moment! We¡¯re clearing the streets!¡± The man balked, ¡°What!? Fari? She¡¯s alive?¡± Hivren stood up, staring at the soldier with eyes wide, ¡°Do you have this confirmed by someone who knew her?¡± The soldier blinked at Hivren and bolted out the door, presumably to get that checked. The tavern owner rushed back into his kitchen, muttering something about drunks dancing on tables. There was a great clattering from within as he hastily prepared something. Hivren sat down in a daze, his mind racing and his mouth dry. He patted his pockets but he didn¡¯t have any paper on him. He glanced at his companions who seemed to expect the question. ¡°Jiuhen¡­can I borrow that notebook?¡± Chapter 19 Beats of destruction There wasn¡¯t much else to say, they opened the gate. I stepped through dramatically, looking over the city as if I hadn¡¯t seen it in twenty years. This wasn¡¯t difficult as small pieces of me were always jeering at the little changes in the place since I¡¯d gone. Were those stones always so worn? When did this blacksmith shop replace its roof? That kind of thing. I appraised the city for a moment, noticing with glee that the entire wall guard seemed to be freaking out at each other for several moments before the responsible one from earlier pointed at three of his fellows, said something, and then descended the wall while screaming orders at the remainder of the guard. Now that I thought about it, that one was probably their captain. Oh well, I¡¯d figured it out eventually. Sparks I¡¯m sounding more and more like Fari with every passing moment¡­That was¡­technically a good thing considering she¡¯s who I was trying to be at the moment, but I wasn¡¯t sure I liked it. I continued walking, not making it clear to the wall guard that I¡¯d even noticed them, but I did see one of them clutching a communication stone as a few more worked to close the gate. The particular one I¡¯d been bullying was nowhere to be seen, but after a few moments the captain guy caught up to me and matched my pace. Probably a stalling tactic as they got orders from higher up. ¡°Ma¡¯am I must apologize for earlier, no one knew you were¡­well alive.¡± I nodded curtly and stopped, figuring I should give them a bit of a break. Besides, I had no idea where I was going anyway. ¡°I know.¡± I smiled at him and gestured toward the city. ¡°And I am sorry about that. Disappearing wasn¡¯t really my idea, but at a glance it seems that Reiaran is doing fairly decent without me.¡± ¡°So you really are her then? The Hero?¡± I sighed, ¡°I was never really famous before, but I figured that people would at least recognise me.¡± ¡°Ahhhh¡­¡± The guy nervously glanced back at the wall, ¡°You do resemble the portraits I¡¯ve seen.¡± I nodded and started walking again, instinctively taking us toward Nightwind. Mmm, yeah that could work. The ancient bartender probably remembered me from the numerous times I¡¯d started fights and danced on his tables drunk. ¡°Miss¡­Hero¡­Forgive me for bothering you but where are you going?¡± I glanced at him, ¡°A tavern. Nightwind if it¡¯s still here.¡± I caught a glimpse of a transmission stone in one of his hands, he probably had some of the wall guards rushing ahead to make sure no one offended me again. Very nice of them. The captain nodded slowly and continued after me, people along the street were staring at us and I had a feeling the wall guard would tell more than just the folks at Nightwind who exactly it was who was marching towards that tavern. ¡°So¡­where have you been all this time?¡± I ignored the question, not really having a good answer yet. The captain watched me for several moments and then glanced up as Nightwind came into view. Sparks, I could swear that half the city was on the streets or peeking out windows with baited breath just trying to get a glimpse of me. I didn¡¯t really like that, but I plastered on a grin and waved at a few people I dimly recognised from Fari¡¯s memories. Walk with confidence. Fari had always been confident. I was planning on kicking open the door all dramatic-like, but someone opened it for me. I caught a glimpse of the wall guard¡¯s uniforms rushing through the crowd. When I entered the tavern it was surprisingly empty, only three tables were full but I suspected that was how it had been before the wall guard told everyone I would be here. I suspected they were limiting the people who could flood in. Internally my mind hiccupped when I noticed one of the groups was Hivren, Niun, Jiuhen, and Givei. I had to treat them the same as everyone else though, Fari hadn¡¯t known them and even a lingering glance could give me away. I should have known however that Hivren wouldn¡¯t let me do that. He was obsessed with the hero and had predicted that I wasn¡¯t dead a long time ago. He stepped into my path, eyes wide, mouth poised for a thank you. But I didn¡¯t give him enough time to do that. I glared him up and down and simply distorted space so I could step past him without pause. Hivren stepped through the space I¡¯d been and gave me a bewildered look as I continued on to my table. The bartender was already there, Sen, the one I remembered. He seemed skittish. ¡°F-foralen! I remember what you like, I have it cooking right now, what about drinks?¡± I gave him an unamused look, ¡°What, you¡¯re using my name now? Fari always worked before and I never said you could change that.¡± Sen blinked at me and laughed nervously, ¡°Ah, right right¡­Fari¡­ do I need to order some new tables again or are you going to leave these ones be?¡± ¡°As long as that human leaves me alone, the tables should be fine. And for the drinks-¡± I paused, thoughtful, remembering how much happier I was now that I mostly avoided alcohol. Besides, this body wasn¡¯t used to it in the least. ¡°I don¡¯t know, give me whatever he gets.¡± I gestured toward the captain and Sen nodded quickly. He glanced at the captain with a worried look, but he simply shrugged, and the bartender was gone a moment later. I leaned back in my chair as Aneles¡¯s song began on the piano. Sparks if anyone was doing their research they would know I¡¯d grown up with him. I paused and narrowed my eyes at Illila, who was innocently tapping away at the melody. What would Fari do in this situation? Heck I knew that answer without even thinking about it. She would make it everyone¡¯s problem. But I didn¡¯t have to always act like her. And so I ignored it. After a bit, the school official that had bugged Eliax about enrolling so long ago burst through the doors looking very out of order. He was backed by a person I hadn¡¯t seen in thirty years. I mean seriously, one would expect that a Tuvei in her seventies would be dead by now, but no, Misial was just as lively as ever. She seemed to be half blind at this point, but her magesight was clearly intact because she looked me over and then glared at the school official, ¡°Sparks above, why¡¯d you need me to come all this way just to tell you something so obvious. That¡¯s Fari, I¡¯d think the way her aura is shaped would tell you that much, only a student of mine would have it so flawlessly under control.¡± She ranted for five more minutes before looking me over again, ¡°Fari, I¡¯d rather hope you¡¯re still practicing those exercises I gave you last time we saw one another. A mage must always keep learning.¡± My smile was strained but I managed to keep it together until Misial started ranting at the official again before teleporting away, ¡°Next time you want me to do something, give me something in return, you sly bastard!¡± And then she was gone. The school official cleared his throat awkwardly before bowing, ¡°I am Roin Yanovel, an official of Starsbane. On behalf of the school, I would like to welcome you back from your long absence, Miss Imal.¡± The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. I gave him a bemused look, immediately forgetting his name again. ¡°Is there something you want from me?¡± He blinked and glanced at the captain of the guard who was still standing next to the table before shaking his head slowly, ¡°Ah, how long are you going to be in town for, Ma¡¯am? We can provide housing free of charge if you are in need of lodging.¡± I was dimly curious about where the school would put me, but not curious enough to try it. Their housing had never been worth the price in the past and I didn¡¯t expect that to change anytime soon. Besides, Alsen would probably have a fit if Eliax disappeared for weeks on end. I contemplated just making a show of Eliax leaving the city so I could focus on whatever it was I ended up doing now, but I would have to think on that more. I shook my head and took the warm plate from the bartender who¡¯d hesitantly approached the table in the last few moments. I was glad for something else to focus on. ¡°I¡¯m staying somewhere already.¡± He left a few minutes later, thrice Hivren tried to approach the table only to be deflected by members of the wall guard and two cleverly positioned cleaning ladies, and after a while Aymiae showed up surrounded by the anxious wall guard, as if they were trying to verify my identity in as many ways as possible. To her credit, Aymi was a very good actor, I was going to simply blame that on her illusionist prowess. She acted like we hadn¡¯t seen each other in twenty years, and I acted like we hadn¡¯t hated each other for most of our childhoods. All in all, this was bizarre and I was starting to regret the whole thing. -- I slipped back into Eliax¡¯s clothes, taking out the mirror and scrubbing at my face until there wasn¡¯t a hint of makeup remaining. The thin silver chain that would make me who I once was had been tucked into a relatively obscure pocket of my bag. It felt strange to see my actual face, to hear my actual voice. For a bit there I might have actually convinced myself I was back to being her. Frowning at the darkening sky, I left the palace grounds, and made my way to the Lazy Dryad bed and breakfast. Alsen seemed excited when I entered, in fact everyone did. She didn¡¯t usually serve folks at the more rowdy times of the day, but I found her humble home filled with a surprising amount of people. Alsen herself was baking sweets, and for the first time since entering her home just over a month ago, I thought I saw a drunk person. Alsen spotted me almost immediately, rushing over and handing me a cookie, ¡°Eliax! Have you seen her? I think I saw her! You know the Hero is the reason I moved here, I figured that if someone that powerful was looking out for a place then it must be worth the trouble.¡± I blinked at the woman, it only took a moment to understand she was talking about Foralen. Oddly touched at the history she¡¯d shared, I glanced down at the cookie and decided it was one of her more amazing recipes. I took a bite, ¡°Yeah, I saw her too, where do you think she¡¯s been all this time?¡± Alsen smiled and started making rounds across the room, handing out cookies and drinks to the gathered townsfolk. ¡°Sparks, nobody knows that, I doubt even Gium has a clue! I¡¯ve heard plenty of speculation though.¡± I decided against pointing out that the Hero would know, and that I knew. After a while I managed to extricate myself from the partygoers, heading up to my room. I stopped in the doorway. It was very sparse in the way of items, most of what I had was what I¡¯d brought with me. Three sets of worn clothing, my notebook, a few weeks of dry rations. The rest were small things, a flute from Illila, a card I¡¯d ripped in half when trying to learn how to play Yellowpass, a pile of drawings that I didn¡¯t know what to do with. The battlefield of ash; Raendus, broken behind a barrier; the stack went on. I didn¡¯t remember drawing all of them, but I knew it had to have been me, while I was me. Fari didn¡¯t like drawing because it reminded her of her mother, Eliax didn¡¯t like drawing because she didn¡¯t know how. I didn¡¯t like drawing because this was all that came out, but sometimes it¡¯s all that could trap the nightmares. I sat down at my desk and pulled out the notebook, taking out a stick of charcoal and putting it to the page. A shape formed beneath my fingers, a face. The face of who I once was, who I¡¯d been once again for a day. A rough scar, bold makeup, someone who hadn¡¯t been real and still wasn¡¯t. I never liked drawing things as they were, it probably barely even looked like Foralen, the nose the wrong shape, the eyes with a different glint, but it let me think, it let me use my mind. I couldn¡¯t just stop being Eliax, no matter how much I wanted to. There were too many variables happening all at once. but¡­I could change that. I could follow every lead, be every person I needed to be. I just needed a spell. -- I passed through into the repository, knowing fully well that if I got caught here then everything would be over. The spell repository of Starsbane was somewhere I would never go under normal circumstances. It had three very distinct, very powerful wards. First was a ward against dimensional magic, the type that reached into the between itself and destroyed the bonds I could normally forge. It effectively made a deadzone to my magesight. Second was a ward against illusionism, destroying falsehoods before they could even form. Even Aymiae couldn¡¯t make something that would pass against it. Lastly, there was a particularly thorough alarm ward. The second anything was moved without specific authorization, it would alert everyone that there was someone inside. The doors would lock and the authorities would descend. But I was there, looking for one of the most restricted spells I knew of. I wasn¡¯t positive I could cast it, but I sure as heck wasn¡¯t going to let that stop me. I wandered through the halls, taking note of the sorting system. Hands behind my back to limit my ability to accidentally touch anything. I even had a bubble of air cast around my head so as to not accidentally breathe a page off a shelf. I only had one idea of how to get this spell without being tossed behind some bars and questioned the heck out of. I wasn¡¯t certain what I would do if it didn¡¯t work, but the first step was locating it. I strode through the shelves for hours, feeling my mind tire and my body begin to grow sluggish. I kept onward though, persistent as a human with a grudge. After a long time, I stopped near the middle of the repository, frowning at a single page on a single shelf. That was it. That was what I needed. I took out my notebook and started drawing up a spell circle. I wasn¡¯t an expert on a lot of things, but my main focus throughout my lives had been Dimensionalism. It was my primary affinity and it lent me so many advantages in a relatively annoying field of magic. As such, that was a large part of my plan. The wards relied on people not being able to leave the vicinity with dimensionalism, I wasn¡¯t an expert on wards, but if something was working on both sides to bypass their safeguards, very few wards would see it as something to be countered. I stuck the page to the underside of a shelf with sap, packed up my supplies, and left the repository. -- I meditated in an obscure corner of the palace. If someone somehow managed to trace this, I didn¡¯t want them to find Alsen¡¯s house as the endpoint. People were still milling about the streets, most of them drunk and the rest still going strong. I tried to ignore them, but the occasional cheers to Foralen¡¯s name and drunken singing was hard to ignore. Eventually, after sufficiently connecting myself to the Between realm, I stood up. ¡°Oh Gium above, grant me your blessing¡­¡± I muttered, I didn¡¯t normally resort to prayer as I figured that if a deity was there, he would decide to intervene if I was worth the effort. But today I felt like I needed every help I could get. ¡°Esile take my power, Orien fuel my dreams¡­¡± I slowly brought my hands together, seeking with my magesight for the magical circle I¡¯d left inside the repository. My senses found it easily and the anchor took hold. ¡°Aeinar don¡¯t take me today, Nasei protect my soul.¡± I poked the hole between realms and felt the space begin to distort as I created a true Gate. I didn¡¯t like doing this so often, but a gate was more powerful and already had the function to locate a specific spot that I needed. I examined the silvery plane of space and took a deep breath before poking my head through. When I did that, I could hear the alarm already blaring, sparks. I grabbed the page without fully going through the portal, and finally I pried the page off the top of the shelf to keep anyone from realizing what I¡¯d done or how I¡¯d done it. It wouldn¡¯t do for them to update the protections and I certainly would like to be able to do this again in the future. Hopefully they¡¯d call it off as a false alarm and not even realize the page was missing. I closed the portal and immediately teleported to the dungeon before teleporting again back to my room at the Lazy Dryad. The room was silent, dark, and exactly how I needed it to be. I cast a light spell and sat down at my desk, pulling out the page triumphantly, a successful mission. Looking back I probably should have thanked those deities I¡¯d asked for help, but everyone agrees that hindsight is much clearer than any other type of sight. I¡¯d like to hit those people in the back of the head with a chair and see if they still agree, but with my luck they¡¯d grow some extra eyes, dodge it anyway, and I¡¯d impale myself on the chair legs. Thankfully, I was too stupid presently to notice my misstep. I brightened the light and unfolded my page, reading the title at long last as a grin spread across my face. Geneseri, the art of duplication, cloning, and the forgery of the soul. Need another hand or two? No need to fret, with a small set of exercises you¡¯ll be popping out simulacrums like the lost sage¡¯s dead lover! Below was a list of the most grueling disciplinary activities I¡¯d ever had the misfortune to read. I mean really, seventeen different conjuration types, each with their own personal milestones? A specialized routine based on time magic? I was apparently going to be busy on this for quite a while. Chapter 20 Double the problems Late in the morning of the next day, the Ayfel was under siege. I would never claim to understand crowd mentalities, but what I saw from the top of the palace mostly felt confusing. There were townspeople everywhere, some calmly sitting outside the Ayfel, others peeking through the windows and yelling for the Hero. I would be wondering if Aymiae was alright if she wasn¡¯t right next to me, wearing an illusion of her younger self. It was strange, but not as strange as some of the things lately. She stared down at the Ayfel, ¡°For some reason, I thought you were less impulsive after all this time.¡± I sighed, ¡°I know, I know.¡± ¡°I thought you were going to wait a couple days at least, get yourself used to the illusion, and plan out how to go about each step of the process. Apparently I forgot who I was talking to.¡± Aymi sighed, still looking down at the Ayfel. ¡°You¡¯re going to have to lead them somewhere else, entertain the crowd or something. They all put you on a pedestal, the only way to get off of it is to interact with them on their level.¡± I grimaced, ¡°That means answering their questions doesn¡¯t it.¡± ¡°You don¡¯t have to answer all of them, not even ones about the battle. You can tiptoe around it, get everyone to assume it¡¯s just too painful to talk about.¡± I sank to my knees, leaning against the architecture of the building, ¡°Well I wouldn¡¯t even be lying with that. It¡¯s not like I like all the nightmares with your brother turning to ash right in front of my face. I just wish my subconscious would get more creative already.¡± Aymiae winced, ¡°Sorry. You¡­saw it happen then?¡± I nodded and stared blankly down at the city for a moment, ¡°I had the way to save him right there in my hands. Two amulets that my master -the dragon- gave to me for that exact purpose. But by the time I got to him he wasn¡¯t substantial enough to even hold one. Sometimes I wonder if he¡¯s still there you know? In the void, suffering through Aeinar¡¯s own torture, hating me through every sparking second of it.¡± I blinked when I felt Aymiae sit down next to me and drape an arm across my back, ¡°Describe that moment to me, what he looked like.¡± I felt my throat constricting but I complied. The one I expected to hate me the most after learning I¡¯d let him die was Aymiae, but here she was, in the illusion of her younger self, no longer a ball of anger and resentment that I remembered her as. Instead I saw something different in her eyes as she made a comment. ¡°That sounds difficult. I don¡¯t think I would have taken it any better. I know that the last thing he would want is for you to be beating yourself up about this. He would just be glad that you tried. I¡¯m glad that you tried.¡± -- I stepped through a spatial distortion, the architecture of the Palace melting away into the roof of the Ayfel. The crowd below hushed immediately, some gasping and pointing upward at me, pointing toward the Hero of Melor. Others simply fell silent, watching with bated breath for what I would do next. I don¡¯t think any of them expected me to leave the roof, let alone leave it by jumping three stories. But that¡¯s what I did. It¡¯s trivial to trick a body into thinking it only fell a short distance, but it¡¯s much more difficult to do so without letting anyone around you see the spatial distortion. But I don¡¯t think it would have mattered even if they did. Such a casual use of dimensionalism boggled almost every mind since it was a relatively rare skill. Everyone knew someone who could do it, but being able to do it and being able to do it well are very different things. I landed without issue in the middle of a throng of people and simply waited. It didn¡¯t take long for them to do something about it, in fact it took exactly twelve seconds for the nearest woman to shove her baby in my face and ask me to hold it. It took thirty seconds for Hivren to start asking me questions -really, I should have spotted him earlier- and it took just under a minute for the rest of the crowd to be requesting similar things. There was even a woman with a goat, but she was pretty far off. I frowned at them all, deciding that this wasn¡¯t going to work. I needed an orderly row of people, not a conglomeration that could tackle me from any angle. I examined the crowd of overly excited people, deciding that the longer this went on the more chances there were of a fatality. This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. I needed¡­ ah, perfect. I pointed at Illila, who was being jostled around unfairly, her eyes wide. I hadn¡¯t been touched yet but that was only because I had a shield charm that I¡¯d bought in the market a few weeks ago resting between me and the crowd. It could be broken with effort, but I didn¡¯t think I needed more than that at the moment. ¡°You.¡± I said, still pointing at Illila. ¡°You¡¯re a sound mage, right?¡± The crowd, somewhat helpfully, shoved her forward, apparently eager to gain my favor. Illila nodded hesitantly. ¡°Great, try to make my voice louder so there isn¡¯t any miscommunication for this part.¡± Illila nodded hesitantly and I saw something happen with my magesight. Illila concentrated for a moment and then gave me a nod. I grinned and held my arms up, ¡°People of Reiaran!¡± My voice boomed in my ears, several people nearby blinked and put their hands to their heads, one guy even put a hood over his antennae, but I wasn¡¯t quite sure why since they only detected certain sounds. Some folks leaned closer though, a look of glee in their eyes. They shut up though, every last one of them. I would say you could hear the dead snoring, but I didn¡¯t think Jeref could sleep. ¡°If you want to speak to me, get in a line. If you want to stare at me creepily then stay at least ten paces away. If you need me to do something then come back later.¡± I made a short range gate into the Ayfel and pulled a chair out of it, setting it firmly on the ground and putting my behind down just as firmly. ¡°Anyone who skips the line gets ignored.¡± I nodded at Illila and made a cutting motion before sitting back and watching as the people remarkably did as they were told. ¡°Many thanks, sound mage, do what you want now I guess.¡± I waved her off but didn¡¯t see what happened to her. Somehow though, the first person in line was Hivren. I really should have expected that though. I gave him a moderately annoyed look, ¡°You again? Alright, you have thirty seconds, what have you been dying to ask me?¡± He nodded quickly, Jiuhen¡¯s notebook in hand, ¡°Why did you come back? Are you here to topple the new empire?¡± I stared at him. He stared back. ¡°No. I have nothing against Queen Steris unless she gives me something to be against.¡± Hivren looked disappointed for some reason, ¡°So why are you here then?¡± I sighed, ¡°You slipped in two questions there mister.¡± I narrowed my eyes at him, ¡°I¡¯m here, because I have nowhere else to be. I was born and raised in Reiaran and I plan on dying here.¡± ¡°But where were you-¡± ¡°Back of the line if you want to ask me anything else, little human.¡± The person behind him shoved him away. Slowly as the line progressed I worked my way into what questions were the most common. I was only glad these people hadn¡¯t worked together to ask the most questions they could, they might¡¯ve actually gotten information out of me that way. ¡°Where have you been all this time?¡± My answer, ¡°Recovering from stuff.¡± ¡°Why did you kill the Last King?¡± My answer, ¡°He was a dragon-crap king and everyone agreed with me.¡± ¡°How did you kill the Last King?¡± My answer, ¡°Persistence.¡± ¡°Are you going to help Melor conquer Sanaria?!¡± My answer, ¡°Since when are they doing that? And no.¡± The questions went on and on, my patience had never been as great as I claimed it was but I felt I held my ground remarkably well. After three hours of this though I was done. I stood up from my chair, ¡°Last question, make it count!¡± The last person in line was Niun. I hadn¡¯t noticed that. He stared at me for several seconds, ¡°Could you¡­heal my brother?¡± I¡­ Sparks I hadn¡¯t even thought about Raendus since getting this illusion. The problem though wasn¡¯t there. The problem was that Niun was asking of me something I didn¡¯t think I could give. Maybe if I had the ability to do so, but I didn¡¯t. Healing was a thing I could only do sometimes and even then it was just the basics. Battlefield medicine if you will. ¡°I¡¯m not a healer kid.¡± Besides, hadn¡¯t I told everyone who wanted me to do something to go away? Niun¡¯s bearing hardened, ¡°I can pay, I have money. How much do you need?¡± Sparks Niun, that¡¯s not¡­ ¡°Kid I have two affinities, do you know what they are?¡± ¡°Dimensionalism?¡± ¡°And?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know, enhancements?¡± I shook my head, ¡°I¡¯m a soul mage.¡± I poked him in the chest. ¡°You should know better than anyone that no matter how hard we try we can¡¯t pick up the elemental stuff unless we never touch the soul. Even then we can¡¯t get past the basics.¡± That was a bit of an exaggeration but oh well. He stared at me, he seemed¡­lost. Sparks this was going to bite me in the butt. I started shaping the teleportation spell before remembering about the chair. Instead I started a gate. ¡°For what it¡¯s worth though, I hope your brother recovers.¡± I was gone before he could reply, setting the chair back down in its place in the Ayfel and returning to the palace grounds. I shed my Foralen guise and wiped off the makeup, I was too disturbed to think about it. I had to get back there as Eliax, make sure no one was overly mad at the Hero for the departure. In the back of my mind, all I knew was that I needed to figure out that cloning spell as soon as possible. Chapter 21 Yera

--- Aymiae, fifteen years ago ---

A sharp crack heralded the pain as a scraping sensation moved across her upper arm. Aymiae cursed, ducking behind a relatively thick tree as Raan took his turn and bolted forward to draw fire. The sniper was hiding in the trees somewhere, with one of those strange weapons that Aymi had been trying to find for years. She wasn¡¯t about to lose this one when she might get a chance to take it apart. Mostly at the moment she was angry. So sparking angry. Aymi always seemed to go a bit berserk when someone got hurt. Usually she was timid and helpful, but the moment someone else was in danger it was like she was an entirely different person. Kind of like mistress Raia when the king tried to take over the Ayfel that one time. She felt at her arm, coming back with the slightest bit of cyan blood. It wasn¡¯t a deep penetration, not enough to get anything into her main bloodstream, but it had scraped against a spot where two joints in her exoskeleton met, the tender skin there wasn¡¯t protective enough to fully block those bullets. Aymi was extra glad that this particular weapon didn¡¯t pack enough of a punch to do more than occasionally crack her natural armor, and that was only with a direct hit. It wasn¡¯t often where a tuvei was more resilient to a weapon than a human. Sure enough, her three human companions were huddled behind a fallen tree a ways back, Cada and Marn tending to Harrel who¡¯d been shot in the leg. Aymi and the other tuvei took turns drawing fire as they steadily drew closer to the hidden attacker. She wasn¡¯t entirely certain what she would do when she got her hands on whoever had done this, but she might actually kill them. She¡¯d never really been able to do anything like that before, always leaving the area if she knew it was necessary and part of herself still screamed that all life was precious. Well, this attacker would be disarmed at least. Aymi kept checking the wind through the whole situation, trying to feel for inconsistencies. She wasn¡¯t great at sensing the patterns of the air even after twenty-seven years of having the ability, she was a lot better at illusions, but she wasn¡¯t about to hide herself now, Raan would be in more danger when he tried to edge forward if the attacker couldn¡¯t see Aymi too. Either way, Aymi didn¡¯t find anything significant in the wind this time, she was much better at making it move or using it to occasionally slow her fall than sensing stuff with it. The crack of the gun gave Aymi the signal to move forward again since the sniper had focused on Raan, she bolted for the next tree even as Raan ducked behind a different one about forty feet to the side and a bit behind her. Sparks how far away was this guy? She kept running, trying to make it erratic as she zigzagged, she made it past her initial target and was almost behind the next one before she heard the gun again and felt the bullet hit her shoulder straight on. She wasn¡¯t an idiot and had set up an illusion of herself that was quite a bit taller, so the likelihood of the attacker hitting her head was minimal with his accuracy. She¡¯d probably live through a headshot though unless it was an extremely unlucky one and got one of her eyes, but Aymi wasn¡¯t about to play with fate. She heard the gun again and bolted forward once more, squinting as she noticed the light hitting something reflective in the trees just a bit farther ahead and closer to Raan¡¯s side than her own. Possibly two or three more clumps of trees before she would be behind the attacker. Aymi put her hand on her sword when she skidded to a stop behind the next clump of trees, remembering quiet nights where her brother showed her sword stances in secret. ¡°I don¡¯t want you to be unable to defend yourself.¡± She glanced back at the fallen log her human companions were behind, about eighty feet behind at this point. How had the attacker managed to hit Harrel from this far? How had he managed to hit herself and Raan at all in the early part of this? Was it an eagle eye potion? Enhancements? Did Yerans even use magic? Perhaps the attacker was just that skilled with his aim. Aymi had tried out a bow once and her weak eyes had severely disagreed with the experience, so she didn¡¯t really have a great frame of reference. The gun fired again and Aymi kept running forward, Raan did something she couldn¡¯t quite see, but it distracted the attacker enough for her to get behind the tree he rested in undetected. Aymi slid behind a new tree and watched as Raan ducked again behind his own. The sniper looked around, frowning in his odd human way, he probably hadn¡¯t seen where Aymi had gone then. She dismissed the illusion that made her look taller and pulled a worn necklace over her head, welcoming the familiar illusion she¡¯d bound to it over five months ago now. It felt so much longer than that now, and it was one of the most worn illusions she¡¯d ever made, it badly needed to be refreshed and her toes kept poking out the bottom. It still did the job though, and Aymiae disappeared, light passing through her completely with no purchase. Unfortunately, it also took her sight with it since there wasn¡¯t any light to reach her eyes. This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there. Now that she was closer, she could feel how the wind moved around the attacker, it wasn¡¯t very clear, but she did get a sense of distance from it. She heard the gun a few more times, worrying about Raan all the way as she slowly approached the tree, feeling with her feet for obstacles and stepping lightly so she wouldn¡¯t make too much noise. That gun was loud though, it was a miracle the Yerans weren¡¯t all deaf if these things were constantly going off in their homeland. Aymi found the tree and asked nicely for the wind to blow real hard towards her, it did so enthusiastically, and the attacker¡¯s bag fell out of the tree. She heard him curse and he probably glanced down for it, but she¡¯d already kicked it so it landed a bit farther from the tree. She heard the gun a few more times and then the Yeran cursed again before leaping from the tree and landing near Aymi, he seemed frantic. Aymi broke the illusion when he passed her and dashed toward him, holding the sword up to his squishy human throat, curved so if he tried to pull away it would slit his throat. ¡°Why are you firing on us?¡± Aymi asked in his native tongue. ¡°You hit my friend with that gun of yours.¡± The Yeran froze, ¡°What kind of savages don¡¯t die after over seven direct hits?!¡± He cursed again. Aymi pulled the sword closer to his neck as Raan emerged from behind the tree. Switching back to Melorian, she glanced at him ¡°Raan, can you take his gun?¡± She turned her attention back to the annoying man. ¡°Why were you firing on us?¡± He spat into the grass as Raan carefully pulled the gun off the man¡¯s back and picked up the bag of ammunition. ¡°My division was told to ambush you. The general thought that only three men would be enough though since everyone knows Savages are easy as all hell to beat, so he pulled everyone else into his monster hunts. The other two deserted when they saw the magic.¡± Aymi sighed, ¡°And here I thought coming in peace and telling the whole land we¡¯re just here to trade would get past these things.¡± She shook her head and nodded toward the gun Raan was holding, switching back to Melorian. ¡°Do you know how that thing works?¡± Raan gave Aymi a look of utter bewilderment. ¡°What? You¡¯re the one who wanted this thing so bad.¡± Aymi glanced back at the prisoner. It was so strange that this place was terrified of magic, and really it was only to magic¡¯s benefit since it let them get away with so much. She could cast an illusion over him and make him think something else was happening, or scare him into submission, but there were too many variables there. She frowned for a moment now that she had some leeway and, keeping the sword steady, Aymi pulled the whisper out of her bag. She used to wear the sickly blue amulet all the time, but she hadn¡¯t wanted it to start glowing out of nowhere and freak out the yerans. ¡®Hey, is it within our deal for you to¡­take control of people for me?¡¯ The whisper seemed amused at the question, ¡®Easily, though most mortals don¡¯t take it well.¡¯ She contemplated for a moment before deciding she didn¡¯t care. Aymi pushed the amulet into the human¡¯s hands, he took it, confused. After a couple of seconds he stiffened and drew the chord over his head. Aymi took that as a sign that Whisper was in charge now. She still waited for him to speak though, ¡°My oh my. What has it been, eight years since I used a body?¡± He flexed his fingers with a pleasant expression while Raan glared at the amulet sourly. The empath didn¡¯t particularly like randomly hearing the creature sometimes just because of his ability. In fact, Raan was already turning his glare to Aymi, ¡°I thought we decided we can¡¯t trust that thing?¡± Aymi shrugged, walking off towards the rest of the group. ¡°I figured that guy needed some kind of punishment and I don¡¯t really like killing people.¡± ¡°Oh, this is significantly worse than death for our friend here.¡± The whisper said, following behind her dutifully. ¡°I don¡¯t think he¡¯ll be very sane after this, regretfully.¡± ¡°I need a scale though, Whisper. How different is this from occasionally using my senses or helping me to dodge things I don¡¯t notice?¡± Because that had sometimes felt like a violation to Aymi. She felt a knot of regret bubble up, but well, the whisper had been only useful to her this whole time. He raised an eyebrow and then gasped, wiggling them back and forth, ¡°Eyebrows are so nice!¡± He kept going until Aymi cleared her throat pointedly, ¡°A scale my dear Aymi? I don¡¯t know a mortal term to describe it, but it is very different. I took control entirely. Though I suppose I could have shared and that wouldn¡¯t have as many ill effects. Most possessors like myself can decide to what extent it is-¡± Aymi absently took the gun as Raan offered it, hefting the weapon and barely stopping a happy dance from coming out as she tried to keep listening to Whisper¡¯s explanation. She¡¯d waited so long to hold this weapon, or any weapon really before leaving home. She found it hard to let go of them. Aymi glanced over the gun, frowning at the shape, it was basically just a metal tube with some fancy handle stuff, it was slightly bent. Aymi squinted at the bend, sensing an ancient preservation spell on it that was probably common to any of these things that were still floating around. The world had lost the ability to make new guns after the Cataclysm. It was around this point she realized that Whisper had finally finished, and that she hadn¡¯t heard a word of it. Oh well. ¡°How did that guy even hit us? This is like if a bow had one arm longer than the other!¡± Whisper glanced at it, noting the slight bend, ¡°He was using some type of stabilization spell unconsciously, and I think he was even spinning the projectiles as they went. He was probably the best person in the whole world at using that thing. Too bad his superiors would have killed him if anyone realized what was happening.¡± He shrugged and plodded off, leaving Aymi to stare sadly at his back. There was mostly just regret in her mind. Chapter 22 Skipping Goat From the beginning of time, before people had handy things like calendars or writing, Gium was the soul of the world, the one who gave creatures the abilities to bend the impossible. As such, there were some abilities he had to remove from the Imprint after certain mortals abused their powers. I don¡¯t know his stance on the dragon wishes, but considering how thoroughly he¡¯d shut down the ability of anyone to use it infinitely, I assumed he didn¡¯t like it much. Parts of the Imprint were unbalanced as a result. No one had a complete record of what it would look like if it hadn¡¯t been amended over the years, but generally, there were eight types of spell. Each of these interfered with each other, but some more than others. This was pointless to me entirely at the moment if it wasn¡¯t for the fact that dimensionalists can¡¯t cast time spells. Nowadays I wonder if Gium did that deliberately to keep us from doing some particularly world shaking magics, the overlap between the two disciplines wasn¡¯t something I ignored. Mostly, this was a problem at the moment because half the exercises toward the cloning spell involved time magic. Which meant no teleportation, gates, or even bending space until I could cast the spell reliably. The actual spell was very very light on the time magic part, but chronomancers in general were a relatively confusing lot, and folks were hard pressed to find any of their skills anywhere. So essentially the cloning spell sidestepped that by starting the user on the very basics of time magic. But in short, I was struggling. I tried to be someone who could do it anyway. I told Aymiae that if anyone asked, Foralen was doing ¡®intense personal meditation!¡¯ for the next week and was not to be interrupted. I went and visited Jeref again but the zombie¡¯s state seemed mostly the same as last time. I felt like I should be worried about the increased restlessness the thing was displaying, but there were too many things on my plate as it was. I wasn¡¯t getting enough sleep again since the nightmares decided to come back, most waking hours were dedicated toward decidedly not using any dimensional magic and trying to get my soul to accept the little scraps of time magic as genuine. It wasn¡¯t nearly as hard as my past attempts as Fari to learn the healing arts, perhaps because I could literally go in and stabilize my own soul by force, but in all I felt I was making passable progress on that front. Most nights I made my way to Nightwind where things slowly trickled back to normal, and it wasn¡¯t even a coin toss anymore that I would walk into any given room and hear a conversation about Foralen. Hivren though, would never stop the speculation game. ¡°I think I¡¯ve got it this time guys! She said she plans on dying here, does that mean she¡¯s dying? Do you think that¡¯s why she came back?¡± I gave him a baffled look and I wasn¡¯t the only one, Givei did too, Jiuhen probably would have joined us in that if he was paying attention. He¡¯d long since tuned Hivren out though. ¡°What the sparks kind of logic is that.¡± Givei pointed out, furrowing her brow. ¡°She¡¯s perfectly healthy, she jumped off a roof for goodness sake.¡± Hivren shrugged, ¡°do you have a better idea for why she disappeared for twenty-two years?¡± Givei shrugged and jabbed Jiuhen in the side, who was staring out the window thoughtfully. She was almost unfairly mean to the guy, but he seemed to need someone who kept him on course. I wasn¡¯t hedging my bets on the length of their relationship though. I remained silent, picking at my food and trying to figure out how to contribute to the conversation. Hivren sighed, ¡°Did any of the rest of you get to ask her a question? Eliax? I remember seeing you there later on with your bard friend.¡± ¡°Illila¡¯s not a bard.¡± I pointed out, deciding she would probably like that distinction. ¡°She¡¯s a musician. She doesn¡¯t tell stories or cheat people out of their inheritance.¡± ¡°Uh¡­noted. Did you get to ask anything?¡± I shrugged, ¡°I was in line, but a couple of people cut in front of me early on and I gave up.¡± I remembered seeing some folks cutting, so Hivren probably wouldn¡¯t see through the lie, especially if he assumed I¡¯d left the line when he was at the front, which would have decreased his chances of having spotted me. Hivren blinked, ¡°Oh, I¡¯m sorry to hear that, what were you going to ask anyway?¡± ¡°I just wanted to know where she¡¯d been all this time.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t we all?¡± Jiuhen interrupted. ¡°I heard half the city asked her that one and no one got a straight answer.¡± ¡°She doesn¡¯t have to tell anyone, it¡¯s probably personal. Maybe she was imprisoned by a Lich, maybe she sat in a cave and meditated, maybe she just wandered around another continent.¡± Givei shrugged, ¡°In the end, there¡¯s no way to know, but does it really matter?¡± I gave her a surprised glance, not having expected Givei to take my side on anything. Well¡­ technically she thought she was against my opinion, but it was still a strange thought. The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. Hivren grumbled slightly but didn¡¯t argue further. He was a fanboy through and through, but he was still Hivren. I wasn¡¯t sure if he genuinely cared about our opinions, but I did know that he would rather not start a fight if he could help it. -- Foralen dei Imal was once again entertaining the public. I tried to keep my dimensionalism usage at a minimum since I was still figuring out that time magic stuff, but it had been days and I didn¡¯t think I could go entirely without it for weeks on end. It was a huge part of me, bigger than soul magic and bigger than the broken memories that lingered at the back of my mind. It felt like an itch I had to scratch, an itch that never really went away. I figured I was making decent progress on learning the spell so there wasn¡¯t much issue with taking a break from it for the week or so it would take after this for my soul to shed the dimensionalism magic. I shifted the space around me again. Leaping through the air and landing easily on a nearby fence. ¡°How¡¯s that?¡± I asked a kid on the ground, crouching down into a perch. He gaped at me and pointed his little wooden sword at my face, hopping up and down with excitement.. ¡°Could you teach me how to do that!¡± The crowd was much smaller than before, but I figured it was because the people of Reiaran had decided I was going to be around for quite a bit longer. They weren¡¯t worried anymore that they wouldn¡¯t be able to see me if they didn¡¯t do it right then. The captain of the wall guard stood nearby, five other heavily armed soldiers stood at the edge of the crowd. The captain had sent a message to Aymiae for me, basically yelling at me for being so reckless the other day. He also provided a way to contact him. Apparently last time there¡¯d been a bit too much trampling, no fatalities but the captain would really rather not have that on his record. He wanted to know every time I would be appearing in public from now on. So the six soldiers were keeping an eye on things while I advertised myself. I signed papers, patted children awkwardly on their heads, answered questions and occasionally posed for a short portrait. It was exhausting, but somehow not enough to dissuade me from ever doing it again. I left the premises after an hour or so, this time letting the six guards escort me to the Ayfel. Everyone still assumed that that was where I was staying and since I couldn¡¯t think of a better place to trick them into, I let them believe that. One woman was furiously being held back by one of the guards, she was holding a small goat and screaming as she tried to get to me. Some folks were¡­odd that¡¯s for sure. ¡°Sir! Please! This is a gift for the Hero!¡± She screamed, the small goat seemed rather confused with this situation but he sat placidly in the woman¡¯s arms. ¡°Ma¡¯am, I¡¯m sorry but-¡± ¡°Foralen!¡± She met my eyes, holding the goat out toward me, ¡°This goat is for you!¡± - It was a strange sight to all as Foralen dei Imal stepped out of the crowd and into the Ayfel, carrying what looked like a small goat. She didn¡¯t seem bothered as the creature chewed on her collar, and she certainly didn¡¯t seem like she planned on getting rid of the goat at the first possible opportunity. I had no idea how I was supposed to feel about the creature, and I found myself thinking of it as more a sign than anything. I needed to get my crap together and devise a real plan for my future. Or maybe I just didn''t want my future to be filled with mentally ill people giving me goats. This was the first time something had happened while playing at my old life that I decidedly hated. I heard the Ayfel door close behind me and I set the small goat down. I was used to goats being bigger but this one didn¡¯t seem like it was still a kid. It was probably just¡­small for some reason? ¡°Where in the Lost Sages last will did you get a skipping goat?!¡± I stared at Aymi, ¡°Don¡¯t¡­don¡¯t all goats skip?¡± Aymi rushed over from the doorway and picked the little creature up, ¡°Of course, but a skipping goat is different.¡± She looked over the creature, examining its head, eyes, underbelly and hooves, ¡°They live in the dragonlands, Fari.¡± ¡°...and?¡± ¡°And they sometimes breathe fire.¡± She opened its mouth and stared down the poor thing''s throat. ¡°Is this thing staying here? Did someone give it to you?¡± I nodded, ¡°It was a lady outside, she didn¡¯t seem all¡­there in her mind.¡± Aymiae set the goat down on the floor, ¡°Alright well don¡¯t make it angry. Most of the Ayfel is stone so it should be fine, but I¡¯d rather not have to replace all the carpets.¡± We watched the goat warily for a couple of moments. ¡°Could I leave this thing here?¡± Aymiae stared at the goat for quite a while longer. ¡°Alright, but this had better be the only creature I have to deal with, and only because I¡¯m selling the fur as an alchemical ingredient.¡± I nodded, ¡°That¡¯s fine, sell the creature itself if you want.¡± ¡°Seriously Fari, if you come back here with another living thing I¡¯m not dealing with it.¡± I nodded, barely stifling a grin at the idea of shoving some undead at her. Jeref would probably love it here. He might even calm down if he had an Aymiae to crossly glare at him...either that or he would trash the entire place and track sandfrost everywhere. Though knowing Aymi she would probably just use it in a potion.

---Selneth--- He wasn¡¯t quite aware at the moment, the curses of being what he was. But he was no longer with the agent. The fire in his veins stirred as he remembered his master¡¯s orders. They were simple orders that would be absolutely trivial to perform in the state he currently held. A strange woman cut his fur, very annoying of her, but he would admit that he felt better in the summer heat without as much of it. The target was gone now, left somewhere with her strange powers. Surely she would return soon. He would wait for the time his master had described. Fire was often warded against, but he was a fire mage of the highest caliber, brought up in the depths of Pamor¡¯s volcanoes. Petty wards and fireless stones would not hold him when he struck, when he brought down the one his master had selected for death. His body didn¡¯t move quite as it should, but the form was slowly growing on him. It had its own innate fire that would add to his own. Selneth vowed that soon, the target would die. It wouldn¡¯t take long for her to lower her guard in this building. Chapter 23 Please dress like a person ¡°Eliax!¡± I felt the magical effect fizzle out as my door burst open. I hastily examined my desk just to be sure there was nothing incriminating laying around, but besides the Geneseri spell there wasn¡¯t anything that might give me away. I stared at it for a moment and simply set my notebook on top, glancing back at Illila. ¡°I gave your thing to Niun if that¡¯s what this is-¡± ¡°No! Eliax, you have to come with me right now.¡± She took my arm roughly, tugging me toward the door. I blinked at her but held my ground, ¡°What? Why?¡± Illila started vibrating, ¡°Didn¡¯t you hear? The Queen herself announced that she¡¯s going to be here next week! A team just arrived to tidy up the palace and all sorts of important people are going to be coming back early from their summer estates.¡± I felt my mouth open, but for a long moment nothing came out. It had WORKED, sparks above I couldn¡¯t believe it. She had to be here because of Foralen, right? Because she needed to see the Hero and gauge her allegiance. I stood up straighter and berated myself for having been unable to keep composed. ¡°Really? That¡¯s amazing? But that¡¯s next week then, where are we going right now?¡± Illila gave me the most dumbfounded look I¡¯d ever seen, ¡°Sparks, you¡¯re serious. You have no idea. Eliax, This means there¡¯s going to be a party. The queen always hosts parties when she visits and I am not going to be caught without a suitable dress again. I came to get you because I figured you needed help dressing like a person.¡± I glanced at my simple coat and trousers, tilting my head at Illila, ¡°I look like a person from what I can tell.¡± ¡°Eliax. We all know that you would be mistaken for a man if your antennae weren¡¯t so big.¡± ¡°But my hair is-¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know what it¡¯s like where you¡¯re from, but I¡¯ve seen plenty of guys with longer hair.¡± ¡°Illila I wear dresses all the time.¡± If only to keep my legs warm, but she didn¡¯t need to know that, ¡°I just wear this more.¡± Ever since I¡¯d read somewhere that most dimensionalists could use their feet too for binding and that was impractical to figure out in a dress. ¡°Well, if you wear that to the party I¡¯m not talking to you again.¡± I finally conceded, letting her drag me from the room. I was curious though, ¡°So when was the last time she visited?¡± Illila sighed in a dreamy way, ¡°Six years ago. I still remember the fireworks and the lights¡­¡± ¡°And¡­did you hear why she¡¯s visiting?¡± Illila rolled her eyes, ¡°The Hero is here, it¡¯s a given that she wants to publicly thank her or give her a title or something. Or maybe she wants to tell her to knock it off with the public displays, who knows.¡± I nodded slowly, getting my arm out of her grip when she realized I wasn¡¯t going to struggle. Eventually Illila spoke softly, ¡°Did I tell you that the Hero talked to me?¡± I shook my head, but I knew what she was talking about, ¡°No, you didn¡¯t tell me.¡± ¡°She asked me to project her voice to a crowd, which is baby stuff and I was happy to help, really. She was so rude about it though. She said thanks after but it didn¡¯t feel sincere.¡± Illila sighed, ¡°It¡¯s fine and I never really looked up to her like some folks, but it¡¯s still so strange.¡± I examined her for a moment, ¡°So would you say you hate her then?¡± ¡°Sparks Eliax, that''s a bit of a hasty decision. No, I don¡¯t hate her, it¡¯s just that the way she acted didn¡¯t sit right with me.¡± I nodded, not really expecting more than that. I was the slightest bit¡­disappointed if I was being honest. Did I want her to hate me? No, but I did want insider knowledge from someone who did. I wanted to know the intricacies of why, I wanted to know what I could do to become better. Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit. ¡°What, do you hate her?¡± I blinked at Illila and glanced away, ¡°I hate what she represents and I hate how easily she can simply appear and garner the attention of half the city.¡± Maybe I wanted to meet someone who hated me so I could figure out why I hated myself. I mused on that for a bit and decided it couldn¡¯t possibly be that simple. My life was too convoluted for that to be the case. I didn¡¯t hate myself. At least not in the traditional sense of the word. ¡°Well, it doesn¡¯t seem like it¡¯ll stop anytime soon. If it makes you feel better she¡¯ll probably slowly fade into a local curiosity.¡± ¡°Yeah¡­¡± I wasn¡¯t sure if I was excited for that day or worried for it. - I ended up getting a pretty nice dress. I expected the prices would only go up the closer to the party we got so I was glad Illila was so firmly inserted in the local gossip vine. If it was just me, I might not have even noticed the Queen was coming until she either arrived or I received an invitation. It still cost a lot more than I wanted it to. It was less extravagant than Illila¡¯s, tame enough that I could wear it around town without anyone looking at me weird or thinking I was a Noble. That¡¯s all I needed really. I could barely remember the last time I¡¯d gotten a new item of clothing. Everything I had was what Eliax brought from Sanaria and that was plenty enough to live on. But why shouldn¡¯t I take more than that? I had the money for it. Why shouldn¡¯t I get everything I needed instead of barely scraping by? I put a hand to my head, frowning as Illila pointed out a particularly fancy dress as she reminisced about her empty wallet. Wasn¡¯t I done with that? Where was the logic in this? Where was the logic in spending all my money on useless things that I didn¡¯t really need? There wasn¡¯t logic, that¡¯s where it was. I clenched my teeth. If I didn¡¯t have a real way to separate my desires and temporary whims from myself, then I didn¡¯t have anything. I marched out of the shop, Illila squeaking in surprise and rushing after me out the door, ¡°Oh, come on, I was just looking!¡± She exclaimed, shifting the neatly folded bundle of fabric in her pair of smaller hands. Sometimes, dear audience, the narrator forgets that Illila has four arms. But you see, I¡¯d be willing to bet half a coconut and that goat I got the other day that none of you recalled that fact either. It¡¯s a very rare trait in Tuvei after all. It didn¡¯t used to be but I¡¯m not the one you should ask about that fiasco, that would be Turste. ¡°Sorry Illila, I have to finish learning a spell and I¡¯m kind of all over the place¡­¡± Illila perked up, ¡°Really? What kind of spell?¡± ¡°Ahhh, conjuration.¡± Illila whistled lowly, ¡°Nice, I think I know a conjuror somewhere but it¡¯s a weird combination.¡± It definitely was. ¡°Do they actually have all the right affinities or did they just practice the heck out of everything?¡± ¡°I have no idea.¡± Illila shrugged, ¡°But I haven¡¯t seen him in five years and I¡¯ve got no idea where he¡¯s at these days. I mean, if you need help I could probably find out...but I¡¯d honestly rather not.¡± Yeah¡­I didn¡¯t think I was capable of asking for help anyway. I was still waiting for someone to notice something off about me, but...no one had. I was probably hiding it too well, but I didn¡¯t want to sabotage my secrets just because I was a bit frustrated. It just seemed like someone should be able to see. ¡°Thanks for the thought, but I¡¯m past the point where advice would help me.¡± Illila smiled and we stepped into the Lazy Dryad, ¡°No problem, see you later I guess!¡± I paused, ¡°Wait, Illila, have you been avoiding me?¡± The musician paused and glanced back at me, eyes wide, face shocked. Why shocked? ¡°What? No! Sparks I¡¯m sorry¡± She sputtered, ¡°I¡¯m just¡­ Eliax do you ever wonder why I don¡¯t have very many friends?¡± She sighed, waiting for an answer apparently. ¡°You don¡¯t talk to them much?¡± I asked quietly, the realization dawning on me. I could easily see her not being there for someone because she got distracted. She wasn¡¯t an air-head, but she did have a certain obliviousness to her. ¡°Yes. I just don¡¯t think about them. I forget about someone for months on end and then I see them again and it feels like there was never a gap in time, but they remember the gap and I don¡¯t. I¡¯m a terrible friend.¡± I blinked at her, ¡°Huh. Alright then, that¡¯s good to know, I was just wondering since I was avoiding you and it felt way too easy.¡± ¡°WHAT?¡± Illila gaped at me, her mouth going open so wide that I thought her face might burst. ¡°Why?!¡± I glanced at the mostly empty room, sending an apologetic look to the only patron there and casting a wary glance towards Alsen¡¯s closet of cast iron woks. ¡°I was mad at you for telling Starsbane that I was a dimensionalist. I know it was stupid, since you didn¡¯t even know I was keeping it from them, but I was pretty salty about it.¡± Illila stared at me for a long moment, ¡°Okay then, We¡¯re going to not do that again. I¡¯ll not forget you exist -which by the way is very difficult when you hardly leave your room- and you will stop avoiding me.¡± I nodded, ¡°Yes, I agree.¡± ¡°Why were you hiding your affinity anyway?¡± I sighed, ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter anymore.¡± Chapter 24 I dont like mushrooms --- Turste --- He remembered a fleeting consciousness, but that didn¡¯t matter. He remembered vaguely the sense that something was near, something he could eat, something he could become just like so long ago with the ferien but somehow so much worse. He grasped onto it with the desperation of the mad, though he couldn¡¯t be mad, could he? He couldn¡¯t remember being mad, he couldn¡¯t remember much of anything. Except the beautiful sight of a ferien hunting. He drew himself to his feet and was dimly surprised to find there were four of them. Some weren¡¯t as¡­real as he¡¯d hoped, he didn¡¯t feel real. His mind was still a mess even as something in this body fought him with the valiance of a falling ferien. It even had a similar form to his beloved beasts. He fought against the creature, finding it weak in the bounds of this world. Slowly as the daylight came and went and another creature visited with kind, worried words, he won against the beast he¡¯d been sharing it with. His mind still wasn¡¯t working quite right, but he could finally see, he could finally think. After a long time he wondered, do I have a name? Fire. Something with fire, or ash. Like the devastating winters of his homeland. The second winter, fire, and ash, all three named after an angry god of volcanoes. He pondered this for many days until eventually he had it. His name meant Warrior of the Flames. And now, it seemed like he was made out of wood. How long had it been? --- Fora --- The village of Beial moved. It wasn¡¯t a particularly interesting town, founded by an eccentric shifter and a determined lot of monster tamers. After three hundred years, Beial didn¡¯t move as much as before, but it still migrated between four particularly nice spots every five years or so. The people had little to no say in where the city went, all those monster tamers were long dead by now after all and the mountain didn¡¯t really listen to anyone else. It wasn¡¯t a popular idea to build things on top of giant migratory spiders, but the people of Beial were just weird like that. Besides, their mountain had only sat down and crushed another village one time. The idea of moving to Beial and literally dropping off the map was increasingly tempting as I made my way onto the beach of deadly poison. In fact, I thought I could see the ¡®mountain¡¯ from here! It hadn¡¯t been there in most of my memories after all. My lungs didn¡¯t like the sandfrost any more than last time, I could probably do some sort of dimensional shenanigans to filter the air but I was soooo close to figuring out the spell. Just a couple more days to perfect it and then I could go back to normal. So, because I didn¡¯t want to wait three more days to get on with Geneseri, I simply suffered. I examined the beach for the zombie, the scent of sandfrost was almost overwhelming this time, but I could still detect the underlying rot. ¡°Jeref!¡± I called out, wondering if it would be worse this time. It might be. I hoped it wasn¡¯t. I didn¡¯t want to have to tell Niun that his undead zombie was dying. Everyone said that was impossible but sparks, with my luck I was surprised it had lasted this long. I made a very unladylike noise as something tackled me from behind, knocking the air out of my chest. Sharp splintering claws dug into my back and I got a face full of sand. Half my body was laying on top of a patch of mushrooms when my mind finally caught up to the assault. The growling didn¡¯t stop as I tried to both arc my back away from the claws and turn my head to get a better look at Jeref. I managed it kind of, but I still felt the unpleasant sensation of scratching at my exoskeleton. ¡°Hey¡­.Jeref!¡± I wheezed, he was much heavier than me, but thankfully the air seemed to still be coming in. The zombie growled again, and spoke. Sparks, even intelligent zombies couldn¡¯t speak and most saeldens were dumb as trees! Maybe Jeref had been an honest to goodness Dryad. I didn¡¯t think those could die though unless someone burned down the whole forest, and weren¡¯t they more¡­spirit-like? ¡°You¡­ Who are...you.¡± I mean, I really should have thought something weirder was going on when he first started making noises that sounded like words, but I never claimed to be a very smart person. ¡°I¡¯m nobody!¡± I managed to squeak, ¡°I¡¯m just a Tuvei who¡¯s supposed to check up on my friend¡¯s zombie!¡± ¡°Your name.¡± The undead dog growled. ¡°Eliax.¡± ¡°No¡­your name.¡± I froze, terror and incredulity pouring through me. How did this thing know? Could it smell lies or something? I could escape from here, but if I did that, I might not master the spell in time for the queen¡¯s arrival. Illila would throw a fit if Eliax didn¡¯t attend, but The Hero probably needed to be there too. ¡°Foralen.¡± I said quietly. ¡°But it¡¯s just Fari.¡± Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. The creature growled again but seemed to be relenting. ¡°How long?¡± He asked, ¡°How long, how long, how long.¡± ¡°Who are you?¡± I asked instead, figuring it was only fair, ¡°You can¡¯t be the same zombie I left here.¡± He was silent for a long moment and then to my amazement got off me. I scrambled to my feet and backed up as the creature began to pace back and forth, snarling every couple seconds, ¡°I¡¯m different.¡± He eventually growled. ¡°I think¡­ I needed an empty body. How long.¡± A possessor entity then, that was good, that meant Jeref was probably fine and Niun wouldn¡¯t kill me. ¡°How long since what?¡± ¡°Alanerea. Since the¡­Alanerea got...¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know what that is.¡± The creature stopped in its tracks and said something that sounded like a curse, though it was either in a language I didn¡¯t know or its voice was finally giving out. Probably the first one since the thing started ranting in that same language incomprehensively. After a while I took a step in the ¡®away from here¡¯ direction, ¡°Well...I hope you find what you¡¯re looking for, but I¡¯m really going to have to ask that you extricate yourself from my friend''s zombie. I don¡¯t think he would be very happy about you being in there.¡± ¡°Can¡¯t.¡± I gave him an incredulous look, ¡°...why?¡± The thing snarled again, he was doing that a lot. ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡± ¡°Well...who are you?¡± This time he laughed, ¡°Turste. Maybe.¡± ¡°You¡¯re sounding more and more unhinged.¡± I took another step away, intent on running to find an exorcism spell, but he didn¡¯t seem to notice. Sparks, would an exorcism even help? It might banish Jeref too. The sun made its way behind a particularly large cloud. The sandfrost growing on him brightened and the voice spoke again, more clearly this time. ¡°My mind is wrong, the creature fought me, no room for memories.¡± He glanced down at a pile of mushrooms and a strange grin spread across Jeref¡¯s face, the creature clawed at the mushrooms, screaming, ¡°Die die die! Haha, pathetic, destroying destroying destroying.¡± ¡°Turste, right?¡± He glanced at me, ¡°Maybe. Probably.¡± ¡°What do you want, Turste?¡± I tried. He paused, still glaring at the mushrooms, ¡°I want to be a person.¡± He jerked his head in that disconcerting way. ¡°I want to be Turste.¡± He started screaming, ¡°I WANT LIFE.¡± I watched as the possessed zombie marched around the beach, screaming every so often and destroying mushrooms. He didn¡¯t seem to notice that the very same kind of mushrooms were growing on himself. ¡°And... what are you, right now?¡± He glanced back at me and the sandfrost growing on him brightened again, ¡°I don¡¯t like mushrooms.¡± He muttered, ¡°But I am an ALANEREA. I am the greatest race, a steward of the world, a protector-¡± He cut off, falling to the ground for¡­some reason. ¡°We betrayed...he...why did he TRUST US? Did he curse us? Alner? Did you curse me? I can¡¯t...I can¡¯t...His gift is gone.¡± I tilted my head at Turste, suddenly feeling a bit of pity. He was clearly insane. I didn¡¯t know if that was because he was possessing an undead creature without enough brain cells for speech or if it was because of the possibility of centuries in that ¡®how long¡¯ he kept asking. ¡°Who¡¯s Alner?¡± I asked gently. He snarled, getting to his feet and once more pacing back and forth. ¡°You know nothing. How did they...how long? HOW LONG?¡± The cloud moved away from the sun and his speech returned mostly to gibberish, not that it had been very understandable in the first place. -- ¡°So,¡± I finished, ¡°I¡¯m really busy for the next few weeks but after that I can probably look into exorcism, what do you think?¡± Niun was staring at me. I stared back, sparks I would never pass up an opportunity to cream someone in a staring contest. ¡°My zombie is possessed by a possibly ancient spirit.¡± He recounted slowly, ¡°Besides Yera, I don¡¯t think there¡¯s anywhere that would have exorcism spells. They like doing it themselves to make sure people are keeping their stuff to code.¡± I frowned, it was unlikely that anyone would be willing to help out, even though owning a zombie or two wasn¡¯t strictly illegal, most mages and nobles would raise a huge fuss over it. It would get back to Starsbane and they probably would never let Niun out of his suspension -which was already an iffy thing. ¡°This is so stupid¡­ Maybe we could break into the repository?¡± I certainly wouldn¡¯t mind doing it again. ¡°What? There¡¯s no way they¡¯ll give a couple of civilian mages a pass. Besides, we don¡¯t even know for sure what kind of possessor it is.¡± I shifted, ¡°Yeah...that was a stupid idea, forget I said anything.¡± I should have looked at him with my soul-sight earlier, I could probably find out more about the possessor entity at least. But how would I explain that to Niun? And then I had an idea. An amazing idea. ¡°Do you know any other soul mages that might have something? I¡¯m pretty sure necromantic spells are only so restricted on this side of the continent. Like in Sanaria it was sooo much easier to get a hold of stuff, but that¡¯s weeks away and it would take forever to get there.¡± Niun paused and started thinking, ¡°Anyone with a soul affinity here doesn¡¯t tell folks about it. Besides my family, you, Illila, and Starsbane no one knows about mine. I could ask the soul teacher at Starsbane but he would never help.¡± ¡°Do you know of anyone else?¡± He hesitated. Perfect. ¡°I think so...Give me a bit to try and talk to her, she probably won¡¯t help either, but it¡¯s worth a shot.¡± I grinned, ¡°let me know if you need me to do anything!¡± I knew he probably wouldn¡¯t inform Eliax of the results until he had the spell. I would know anyway though, since I was ninety percent sure he was about to ask Foralen. Hopefully he wouldn¡¯t insist on coming with me to the repository, the illusion wouldn¡¯t work in there after all. Chapter 25 Be a good little hero ¡°Ma¡¯am, Captain Larien would like to request that you stay in today.¡± I blinked at the soldier slowly and gave him my best incredulous look, ¡°Why?¡± To his credit he didn¡¯t even shift nervously, ¡°You see, most of the nobles are going to be back in the next few days and you¡¯ll probably be invited to a multitude of lunches, parties, and such.¡± I sighed, ¡°Why today specifically? They¡¯re bound to do that all week.¡± He ducked his head sheepishly, ¡°The wall guard is occupied elsewhere.¡± Which meant they were either preparing for those nobles to arrive or something terrible happened. Honestly it was probably both. I nodded slowly, it interfered with Niun¡¯s ability to get a hold of me as Foralen, but if he was persistent -and I was pretty sparking sure he was- me sitting around in the Ayfel wouldn¡¯t slow him down much. ¡°I might have to head outside the city for an hour or so later today.¡± Now what would be really funny if he¡¯d been talking about someone else and he wasn¡¯t about to- A knock came at the door, Aymiae, who was sitting patiently outside her workshop went to get it. The guard stood from the bench with a salute as the door opened, ¡°If you must leave the Ayfel we ask that you go in disguise.¡± He sent a significant glance at Aymiae. Sparks how deep in the black market was that woman? She had to be at least known across a couple of cities. He left though, passing whoever was at the door, and to my delight I heard Niun¡¯s familiar voice from the doorstep. I do so love it when a plot unfolds itself. ¡°-I¡¯d just like to talk with her about soul magic? Do you think she¡¯d be willing to hear me out? I know I¡¯m a terrible mage but I want to get my friend checked on and I can¡¯t think of anyone else to ask.¡± Aymiae frowned at him in that cross way of hers, ¡°Foralen is not accepting guests at this time. Unless you¡¯re with the noble houses and this will offend someone important, I¡¯m going to have to ask that you go on your way.¡± She started to close the door. Niun pushed against it, ¡°Wait! She might remember me! Is she here right now? Could I just see her for a second?¡± Aymiae gave him the most dragon-crapless look I¡¯d ever had the pleasure of seeing. ¡°Sir, we are not taking this to a full on mage duel. You know who would win that.¡± Niun flinched. I finally stood up, making my way easily toward the door, pretending to be slightly confused, ¡°Who¡¯s that?¡± Niun straightened, saluting for some reason, ¡°I¡¯m called Niun Previan! I was wondering if you could help me with an exorcism!¡± I sighed, pretending to be annoyed, ¡°Ah, I remember you now. Come on, what exactly is the problem?¡± He wavered, ¡°I¡­ah¡­it might be better to show you?¡± I¡¯d watched him sneak out of the city last night, because I¡¯m just that cool, so he likely knew exactly the state Jeref -Turste?- was in. He¡¯d probably also tried sending the zombie back to Nasei again. I wasn¡¯t sure what the problem there was. I sent Aymiae a sidelong glance, ¡°Aymiiii, would you be willing to lend me a disguise illusion for the day~¡± ¡°Where is this at?¡± She asked Niun instead of responding. ¡°Ah¡­outside of the city, on a beach not far up the coast.¡± Aymiae glanced back at me, ¡°Just teleport, miss Dimensionalism expert.¡± I glared at her, ¡°Yeah I¡¯d love to pop over to some random haunted beach for a couple hours, sounds like a great idea. Thankfully I kinda can¡¯t.¡± Niun gave me a confused look, ¡°I can just show you where it is once we¡¯re out of the city-¡± ¡°No no, I was planning on that already¡± I glared at Aymiae, who was unrepentant. ¡°I¡¯m just in the middle of learning a very basic time spell and my soul is being stupid about it.¡± Aymi sighed and made her way across the room, ¡°I¡¯m giving you the old lady illusion.¡± ¡°Perfect, maybe I¡¯ll finally feel my age.¡± Aymi pulled out a key and opened a nondescript cabinet that I remembered Lady Raia keeping wine in. Aymi was apparently still not into alcohol because now it was filled with simple chains almost identical to the one currently around my neck. Most were more embellished though, with gemstones or pendants that probably served some purpose for the illusion. She picked one out seemingly at random -I certainly couldn¡¯t make heads or tails of the organization- and closed the doors, the lock clicking back into place on its own. She handed it to me. ¡°Recharge this when you¡¯re done.¡± -- Sneaking through the city as an old lady was thrilling. People ignored me just like when I was Eliax, but each glance away had a note of respect in it. Mostly, it was an experience that I tried to live to the best of my ability. Niun was projecting anxiety and concern the entire time, but I did my best to ignore that as we made our way from the Ayfel to the wall. I knew the wall guard didn¡¯t pay as much attention to people leaving the city, but there was clearly something wrong when I didn¡¯t see anyone up there watching the gate. Perhaps they really were having a crisis. I put that to the back of my mind though, a step behind Niun as we left the walls and entered the vast fields of farmland surrounding the city. There were even a few buildings right outside the walls, since land inside the walls was getting more sparse. I¡¯d seen older cities in Sanaria, especially Ceruleia itself, that had completely overflowed from the initial walls. The Last King had tried to curb the idea since war had been on the horizon and he didn¡¯t want to have the city build a new untested wall farther out, but Queen Steris didn¡¯t even frown on it. The farmland eventually melted away as we followed the northern coast on a faint almost imperceptible trail. I glanced to the east and thought I could see Mount Beial again. Fallstar, that¡¯s what that translated to. I remembered the story of how that eccentric mage had first decided to build on a migratory mountain, a falling star had hit the side of a cliff, embedding itself there. Finally, Niun broke the silence. ¡°So...where have you been all this time?¡± I watched Mount Beial for longer, ¡°You know how sometimes something happens that you can¡¯t -despite all your planning- truly prepare for? Something that knocks you down farther than you¡¯ve ever been.¡± I continued walking, ¡°It was like that. I¡¯m still recovering.¡± Niun blinked, not having expected an answer, ¡°That¡¯s...I¡¯m sorry to hear it. What happened? If you don¡¯t mind me asking.¡± This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version. ¡°I fought someone powerful that I should have left alone.¡± Niun was silent. It was a bad idea to start venting, in fact it was a bad idea to tell him what I¡¯d already said. But if there was someone I knew could keep a secret, it was Niun. I closed my eyes and focused on the present. ¡°This haunting, tell me the details.¡± Niun blinked, ¡°Well, I¡¯m a soul mage, you know that already but I ah...I summoned a zombie a couple of months back. I tried to send him back to Nasei but he wouldn¡¯t go, so a friend had the idea to keep him at this desolate beach until I could figure out what to do about it. Then, he started acting weird. We figured out that he got possessed by something while I wasn¡¯t attending him.¡± ¡°Who¡¯s this friend?¡± I asked, kind of curious now how he would describe Eliax. ¡°Ah, she¡¯s Eliax Lestwood, I don¡¯t think you know her.¡± I paused at the last name, sparks, I kept forgetting about Estin. ¡°No, I don¡¯t think I do. You trust her with your secrets though?¡± Niun shrugged, ¡°ah¡­kind of.¡± I nodded slowly, feeling terrible that he trusted me at all when I could barely tell him a sentence to describe the details. ¡°It¡¯s good to trust some people, sometimes I wish I could do that.¡± ¡°That makes sense, most people who try to get close to you would either be after your fame or your magic.¡± ¡°Exactly. Like right now you¡¯re after my magic.¡± Niun cringed, ¡°I-¡± ¡°Don¡¯t apologize, it makes things less real. I¡¯m happy to help, really. I¡¯m curious about this possessor entity though, do you know anything about it?¡± Niun looked down, ¡°We¡¯re pretty sure it¡¯s made out of Sandfrost. The zombie is covered in the mushrooms.¡± ¡°How far out are we now?¡± Niun glanced ahead and pointed to a spot just ahead, ¡°That white beach.¡± I examined it, remembering again the thousands of times I¡¯d come here. ¡°Nice choice, very secluded, those hills will keep people from spotting anything strange and most folks are leery around Sandfrost to begin with.¡± ¡°Uh...yeah.¡± I stepped onto the sand a moment later, seeing the strange beauty in the tan quartz crystals and flecks of sediment, even the tiny luminescent spores that pulsed slowly in the sunlight. It made the beach sparkle. The form of Jeref was laying in the stuff, half buried in spores and grains. He looked out of it, but I¡¯d expected that. Niun crouched down beside the undead hound, ¡°Is Jeref in there?¡± It growled, burying its face in the sand, ¡°Turn¡­off the SUN.¡± Ah. ¡°I don¡¯t think sandfrost likes the sunlight.¡± I pointed out, ¡°Is there a cave nearby or something?¡± Niun nodded and gently patted the miserable creature, ¡°Come with me, I¡¯ll take you somewhere without the sun.¡± I followed them, trying to remember if I knew where the cave was, I didn¡¯t think I remembered a cave, but hey, I¡¯d straight up forgotten a lot of things that were more important than this. To my surprise, Niun led the creature up one of the hills and into the nearby forest. Sparks I was dumb. There was a noticeable difference in the bearing of the zombie when it stepped into the shade, it seemed to relax, its gait became more smooth, the glow of its eyes and the mushrooms along its back became more steady, like a heartbeat. I folded my arms and glanced at Niun, ¡°So it¡¯s not rampaging or anything, the mushrooms just...possessed your zombie and no one¡¯s sure what to do about it?¡± Turste growled. I glanced at him, and then back at Niun. ¡°I¡¯d like to examine the thing privately, could you step away for a few moments?¡± Niun nodded quickly and went back toward the beach. ¡°Turste?¡± I asked. Turste growled again. ¡°Oh don¡¯t be like that.¡± He moved deeper into the shadows, ¡°You smell the same, you know my name, why do you look different.¡± ¡°This is an illusion.¡± The eyes narrowed, ¡°So which one is real, Foralen?¡± I sighed, ¡°Sit still, I¡¯m going to cast some diagnostic spells on you.¡± ¡°How long? How long, how looooong.¡± I snapped my fingers, ¡°Be quiet for a second.¡± ¡°Why should I? I¡¯ve been turned into a dog. It¡¯s not even the natural kind, why can¡¯t I be a ferien again, oh Alner above my curse is unbearable-¡± I finally managed to tune out the rambling. I cast a light soulsight spell with some leaves and a prepared sigil, examining the creature with a frown. There was only one soul in there. ¡°Turste, what happened to the soul of the ah...dog you¡¯re possessing?¡± ¡°How would I know. This thing is deader than my family.¡± I sighed and dispelled the effect, instead squinting at him with my magesight. I¡¯d gotten a general sense from him last time, but I had been mostly freaking out and hadn¡¯t had time to really look. He had an aura that reminded me of a shifter, but waaay more selective. Most shifters could turn into any creature they understood intimately, but this felt different somehow from that. It was also completely sealed away from what I could tell. It was like the soul here had no affinities. Not having affinities wasn¡¯t weird for something that wasn¡¯t Human, Tuvei, or Pitten, but it was still odd to me. ¡°Tell me, what is an Alanerea?¡± Turste growled again, ¡°I am an Alanerea. We¡¯re the people of the world trees, the stewards of our land. But we...did not do that. We went against his wishes and left them behind and in turn he cursed us.¡± ¡°What¡¯s this curse? Is that how you became a mushroom?¡± ¡°...I don¡¯t want to be a mushroom. Can I be a ferien again?¡± I sighed, ¡°What¡¯s a ferien?¡± ¡°It¡¯s like your name but with different letters.¡± ¡°Never would have guessed that.¡± Turste huffed and black smoke came out of the cracks in his wood. ¡°I can¡¯t believe your ancestors. I can accept forgetting about Alanerea, that was part of the curse, but how could you forget about the ferien! They¡¯re amazing little creatures that can kill anything if you give them enough time. They¡¯re like...The best thing in the universe!¡± I cast some more diagnostic spells, but I only learned a few things. First, Turste was firmly attached to Jeref¡¯s body, he wasn¡¯t going to leave unless he either got a new corpse or someone destroyed the body. Second, he seemed to have kicked out Jeref¡¯s soul, I wasn¡¯t sure when since it seemed like the last time I¡¯d been here the two were fighting over the body. And last, I was almost completely sure that if the zombie were to ¡®die¡¯ Turste would be kicked out of the body and Jeref would reset in Nasei to the state he¡¯d been before the last summons. That was usually how undead worked. - Niun returned a few minutes later, awash with questions about Jeref. Was he okay? Would I be able to kick out the mushrooms? What were we going to do? I didn¡¯t have as many answers as I¡¯d like to have, and it seemed like breaking into the repository again wouldn¡¯t really help, but for some reason Niun still seemed to be in awe of what I¡¯d gathered. ¡°So¡­Jeref is fine then.¡± I nodded, ¡°There¡¯s no evidence the soul got eaten or anything and this idiot mostly just seems confused at his predicament.¡± Turste raised his head from the grass he was laying on, ¡°Hey!¡± ¡°If he dies he¡¯ll go back to being mushrooms and you could summon the original zombie again perfectly fine.¡± ¡°I DON¡¯T LIKE MUSHROOMS.¡± ¡°Yeah that there is the only problem.¡± Niun nodded slowly, watching as the creature rose to its feet and glared at me. Sparks he was still so big¡­ ¡°He can keep the body as long as he doesn¡¯t do anything evil with it and make Starsbane hate me more. He seems a lot more stable than yesterday at least.¡± I raised an eyebrow at Niun, not having expected that, ¡°Well that¡¯s good.¡± ¡°Why?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think I could make him leave even with the right spells, we would just disperse the entire body back into the underrealm. As I said, he¡¯ll only leave if the body gets destroyed.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t wannnaaaa be hereeee!!!¡± Turste yelled suddenly, ¡°Curses curses curses. HOW LONG?¡± ¡°You said he¡¯s less unstable now?¡± I quietly asked Niun. The guy in question shrugged, ¡°Unstable is a very good word for it.¡± ¡°How long¡­¡± Turste muttered, ¡°Is there a year? Do you have years here?¡± I sighed, ¡°Of course, Turste, we have years. It¡¯s¡­seven hundred and seventy one right now.¡± Turste growled, ¡°Since what?¡± ¡°Since recorded history.¡± Niun perked up, ¡°Something wiped out most of civilization around year zero and we barely have legends.¡± Turste growled again, ¡°How would I know? But...you do not know the Alanerea. Curses above and stars below, we betrayed-¡± I let out a long breath, and here we have the ranting again... ¡°What in the world happened to you?¡± He jerked his head to the side, meeting my eyes, ¡°I do not know? But...You¡¯re like that too, aren¡¯t you, Foralen? Fari? Fora? How many names could you make?¡± He started rambling again and I gritted my teeth, he better not- ¡°Yesterday! I met you!¡± He leaned closer to Niun conspiratorially. ¡°She looked different though, Younger. I could smell through it though! She wears an illusion!¡± Turste said proudly. Apparently, Turste couldn¡¯t keep a secret to save his life. Part of me was glad that this was happening, finally. ¡°She even lied to me.¡± Turste kept talking, ¡°Called herself a different name, I forgot the name though, so many lies!¡± Niun glanced at me in confusion, ¡°What is he talking about?¡± Chapter 26 Smoooooth Sparks I had wished it wasn¡¯t this situation that led someone to find out. I could think of a million better ways to tell someone the truth than ¡®a possessor entity ratted me out.¡¯ I looked back at Turste and couldn¡¯t help but glare, my voice was pleasant enough though, somehow. ¡°¡­good job for using your nose? But Turste, could you go deeper into the forest for a bit, you know, there¡¯s more shade there and it might help your brain.¡± Turste brightened and happily plodded off, muttering about betrayal and deities. Niun watched him leave with trepidation, looking back at me with wide eyes, ¡°Are you-¡± ¡°No, no, no. I should have assumed that idiot would blab about it to everyone who had ears¡­ I¡¯m going to tell you the truth because we all need someone to trust, right?¡± I ran a hand through my hair, pulling out the ponytail and letting my hair fall. ¡°You asked me earlier where I¡¯ve been for the last twenty-two years?¡± Niun nodded slowly, ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°Well, It¡¯s more complicated than I gave it credit for, I didn¡¯t lie though, something happened that I couldn''t have prepared for and it brought me to my lowest point.¡± I smiled, ¡°I died.¡± ¡°What?!¡± I nodded, ¡°I died. Then I woke up twelve years later, somehow back to being a child.¡± ¡°...So this is an illusion?¡± ¡°Yes,¡± I unclipped the chain and brought it over my head, watching his expression closely and tucking it into a pocket. From Niun¡¯s widening eyes I could tell the illusion was gone. ¡°Eliax. You¡¯re¡­Eliax.¡± I nodded. Niun sat down. ¡°How is that possible? Tell me something only Eliax would know.¡± I hummed slightly, ¡°I first met you in the dungeon with Illila, she told the mage guild about you practicing necromancy without someone monitoring you and you¡¯re still suspended. She also told them how I¡¯m a dimensionalist and they got after me for not getting trained and I was salty about that for a couple of weeks.¡± ¡°Sparks, then you appeared again because you wanted to change how things are done?¡± I cringed, ¡°No, that part wasn¡¯t nearly as well thought out. I just...wanted to be her again. I wanted to be able to make sense of the things happening in my head.¡± I looked down at my hands, tempted to start bending the space between them. No, I was too close. I balled them into fists instead. ¡°This is insane. I¡¯m pretty sure you¡¯re not feeding me a pack of lies, but sparks, it really feels like it.¡± He ran a hand through his hair and then stood back up so he could start pacing. ¡°How can you be the Hero?¡± ¡°I think it was my soul affinity that brought me back, maybe. After I died¡­ things are weird.¡± ¡°Why were you a kid?¡± ¡°A lot of my memories did fade with time, I can barely remember what happened when I actually was eight.¡± A faint flash of unexpected sadness snuck up on me, but that was probably just cause I was eight when my parents died. I didn¡¯t make it to the Ayfel till I was ten¡­and...well I did remember being on the streets for most of that time, I probably should have died a million times over. I frowned slightly, maybe I had died. Maybe some magical ability had reset me to the state I¡¯d been when it was first activated. But...if that was true that meant this would keep happening. I would live out my life only to come back again. And again¡­and again. Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site. I shoved that thought to the back of my mind. If it happened it happened, there wasn¡¯t really anything I could do about it if it did. I shook my head to dispel the sense of unease and focused back on Niun, ¡°I don¡¯t know why I came back, it could be that I made Gium angry or something, or maybe it¡¯s a sign of a bigger ability. All I know is that you, need to keep this quiet.¡± Niun stopped pacing and nodded quickly, ¡°Yes! I¡¯ll do that, no need to worry about me or silence me or anything like that!¡± I narrowed my eyes, ¡°Good, because I haven¡¯t had the chance to think about the implications of you knowing, it might throw off everything.¡± ¡°What are you trying to achieve then that I might ruin?¡± I looked him in the eyes, really looked. It somehow didn¡¯t feel wrong this time. In the back of my mind I was amazed at this, In his eyes I saw that he was telling the truth. He wouldn¡¯t knowingly compromise my position. Mostly I just felt resolve as I finally truly made up my mind. ¡°I need to talk the queen into helping me make contact with the dragonlands.¡± If anyone would know something about rebirth, it would be them. Before Niun could properly absorb the implications of the whole idea, something huge leapt into the area with a grace I honestly hadn¡¯t expected. The rustling of branches was the only warning as Turste leapt out of the trees, a large hog caught in his jaws. He landed in front of us, his ghostly tail of black smoke wagging like a sparking dog. ¡°I found a piggie! Look how small it is!¡± I examined the hog and gave Turste a dubious look, ¡°It¡¯s bigger than me.¡± ¡°Yeah, what a pity, people are much smaller than I remember them being. You¡¯re like little ants!¡± ¡°And you¡¯re as big as a tree.¡± Turste snorted, ¡°The trees on Virna are absolutely minuscule- BUT ahhhh it must be part of the curse!¡± Somehow though, Turste broke the tension in the air. Niun laughed, it was stress filled and uncharacteristic of him, but he laughed. I felt my anxieties finally fall to the back of my mind ¡°So this whole ¡®getting to the dragonlands thing,¡¯ you really think it¡¯s a good idea?¡± I nodded, ¡°It¡¯s the only idea I¡¯ve got.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll help you then. I don¡¯t understand a lot of this but I do know that you need that much.¡± I smiled, touched, ¡°Thank you.¡± -- I grinned widely at the mirror image of myself, who was rather confused. She seemed to have all my memories though and that¡¯s all she really needed. ¡°So do I get to be Foralen or do I have to be Eliax?¡± I grinned wider, ¡°This spell lasts three days my friend! We¡¯ll rotate to dissuade boredom.¡± The clone held up a hand, paused, and examined it with a frown, she shook her head and focused back on me, ¡°Alright so which one am I¡­today.¡± I tapped my chin, ¡°You¡¯ll be Foralen. Just entertain the Nobles that started annoying Aymi.¡± I dug in one of my pockets and pulled out the list Aymi had given me, ¡°Go to a couple of these houses and have tea with them or something, I¡¯ll meet you at the Ayfel by moonrise.¡± The newly designated Foralen took the list with a scrutinizing face, ¡°Oh come on Sir Yanovel is on here?¡± ¡°...I can do that one I guess.¡± I winced, not looking forward to the encounter with the slimy noble. ¡°You can use all my abilities, right?¡± The clone nodded and pocketed the paper. She was technically a conjuration, but given a snapshot of the casters mind. I¡¯d heard of some Geneseri who were just extensions of the caster, not individual entities. But I wasn¡¯t great at time magic and never really would be, so this had to do. She looked at her hands again, squinting, ¡°It¡¯s so strange to think that this isn¡¯t real. It looks real, even my magesight sees exactly what I¡¯d expect.¡± She glanced back at me, holding out her hand. I obligingly handed her the illusion, trusting that she would look after it with her life. The clone picked up my bag of Foralen stuff and saluted. I teleported from the Ayfel back to Alsen¡¯s Inn, watching the space change in the blink of an eye. I really hoped this wasn¡¯t an absolutely terrible idea. I descended from my room and smiled as Alsen handed me a relatively small cast iron wok, it was only big enough to comfortably fit my face instead of pretending to be a bathtub like some of them! ¡°Take this miss Lestwood, there¡¯s something strange afoot! I feel it like the flames of the world burning out!¡± The faint fire aura she always spread around intensified to my magesight, but it didn¡¯t cause any effects so it was probably fine. ¡°Really? What kind of strange?¡± I hefted the wok, deciding it wouldn¡¯t fit in my bag. ¡°I just feel like you might want to take this with you from now on, most of the nobles are back in town and they¡¯ll be causing trouble left and right!¡± I put the wok down, ¡°Alright, do you have a smaller one I could take? The more subtle the less they¡¯ll see it coming.¡± I knew she had a smaller one already, she¡¯d shown them all off to me quite a while ago. Alsen smiled pleasantly and handed me one that was only a single handspan across instead of two. I had no idea where she¡¯d gotten that one from, her hands had been empty a moment ago. I took it somewhat hesitantly and slipped it into my messenger bag, feeling the weight significantly increase. Between that and my belt knife, along with my magical prowess, I was fairly certain I could face anything that barred my way. ¡°Thanks Alsen!¡± Chapter 27 Complaints Nightwind tavern was silent for the first time that I could remember. Even through the succession war, Sen had kept the place open. He¡¯d worked tirelessly to bring even an ounce of joy to the people who had been falling into depression. The recruiters tried to take him a million times to fight for a prince just like all the other war-aged men, but in an act of defiance, he¡¯d poisoned himself. Sen¡¯s affinities burned themselves out and left him permanently crippled. But the people loved him even more. He was the most hardy man I knew, so whatever had happened to emergency close down Nightwind for a day had to have been nothing short of a complete and utter disaster. Everyone else seemed to agree with me. Sen took breaks sometimes, but those were always advertised days in advance. Jiuhen peeked through the dark window, complaining again how he¡¯d left his coat inside last night. There wasn¡¯t even much of a chill yet so I was clueless as to why he¡¯d even had it. I folded my arms and glanced at Hivren, who seemed the least angry about this out of everyone, all he wanted to talk about again was the Hero, and he could do that anywhere, really. Thankfully though, he seemed to have gotten over the idea of praising her name, I didn¡¯t deserve it and I doubted I would ever deserve it. ¡°Did you guys hear that Foralen is visiting a bunch of the Nobles?¡± Oh yeah, I hoped my clone didn¡¯t make any important enemies tonight...I might want to go to those myself from now on just to be sure, I mean...Geneseri makes a flawless copy of a person so she probably couldn¡¯t do any worse than me, but it still felt weird. I shrugged in response to Hivren, ¡°Nobles are annoying.¡± Hivren raised an eyebrow, ¡°In Aubinere, I¡¯m a noble.¡± ¡°You¡¯re just proving my point for me.¡± Hivren sighed, ¡°Well the hero is making important connections now. She was never a part of Noble society before the war but now that she¡¯s back she¡¯ll need allies.¡± We moved off as a group to Alsen¡¯s place, not as fun to be as Nightwind, but probably a whole lot safer than the shadier taverns, ¡°I don¡¯t give a crap about the hero.¡± ¡°Yes, I know,¡± Hivren paused and spoke quieter, ¡°and I do agree that she¡¯s a lot less¡­impressive, than I was envisioning.¡± That struck me a lot deeper than his praises had. I raised an eyebrow at him, ¡°In what ways?¡± Sparks yes, I was ready for this to be an ¡®everyone bash on the Hero¡¯ session. Hivren sighed, ¡°She¡¯s inconsiderate, she doesn¡¯t seem to know how to act in public, and she¡¯s constantly making a fool of herself.¡± I nodded slowly. Jiuhen perked up, ¡°I don¡¯t like how she¡¯s constantly using dimensionalism, as if she¡¯s rubbing in our faces how much cooler than us she is.¡± Hivren winced. What did it say about me that someone else cared more about me being criticized than I did? Givei wasn¡¯t about to be left out though, ¡°I don¡¯t like her, She¡¯s just offputting to me.¡± They all seemed to be waiting for me to say something, the silence almost had a weight to it. ¡°She¡¯s spontaneous,¡± I started quietly. ¡°She doesn¡¯t seem to think things through, but her actions still affect the whole city. She¡¯s selfish and seems to only do things for her own benefit.¡± They kept going on and on. And on. We opened the door to the Lazy Dryad but the criticism didn¡¯t stop, Illila was there and she joined in. At first it felt like a weight was being lifted off my shoulders. It felt like finally I could see the things I was doing wrong. But¡­ That feeling soon reversed itself as the torrent of things only increased, far beyond my or anyone else''s control. I heard words against my actions, the way I looked, words against my answers to questions, speculation about what I was hiding, I heard everything. It was almost worse than the criticisms my own mind came up with. Almost. Eventually it ended, two farmers walked in and started complaining loudly about something else. The torrent was redirected and I finally managed to relax. ¡°Woke up this morning to find my fields torn apart by a monster! You hear that? A monster. I talked with the wall guard about it but they didn¡¯t even listen to a word I said! Do you believe that?¡± His friend clapped him on the back and shook his head sadly, ¡°Sparking right! Half of my hogs were slaughtered in their pen just ereyesterday!¡± Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit. Wait, hogs? Hadn¡¯t...hadn¡¯t Turste caught a hog just a few days back? I focused on their conversation, nervously wondering how far the idiot would wander. His mind wasn¡¯t quite right, I knew that already. Why was I so stupid as to take it for granted that he would stay put? The first farmer shook his head sadly, ¡°The monster slayers are off their game I tell you.¡± ¡°Last night I heard it. Managed to scare it away with a torch but I know it¡¯ll be back!!¡± I tilted my head at him in silent curiosity, trying to keep my voice calm and even, ¡°Did you get a good look?¡± The man shuddered, ¡°By Gium, I sure did. The creature was darkness itself but the eyes¡­the eyes were like dead pits of white. Had me shaking in my boots. The strangest thing though, I found some dead sandfrost this morning. No idea how it got there, even a vengeful beast should know that stuff only likes sand.¡± I gritted my teeth, it was Turste then. Definitely Turste. They kept on chatting, eventually their topic made its way to the party the Queen was throwing. No one would shut up about that lately, and no one even knew when it would be. Queen Steris would be in Reiaran for five days and she wouldn¡¯t send out invitations until she was there in person. Nevermind the fact that it could be the night she arrived, which would mean tomorrow. My anxieties were focused on Turste at the moment, but the reminder about the party really didn¡¯t help. I could probably put him in the Ayfel until Niun could figure out what to do with him...hmmm¡­ Illila elbowed me, ¡°Eliax! When do you want to meet tomorrow to watch the queen arrive?¡± I blinked at her, ¡°When is she arriving?¡± ¡°Around midday. Last time there was a parade, it¡¯s really short notice for anything like that now, but the rest of the Nobles should come back at the same time.¡± She sighed. ¡°And the city was so peaceful...¡± I tilted my head, ¡°Why would it be less peaceful with the Nobles there?¡± ¡°Oh, they just bicker all the time and their soldiers are always causing trouble. They probably did the same thing in Sanaria.¡± I thought about it for a bit, reflecting on Eliax¡¯s memories. I went over Fari¡¯s memories too about the various lords and ladies and decided that Illila was right. ¡°Yeah, now that you mention it they did.¡± ¡°Just stay away from Sir Yanovel, I heard he sleeps with a different woman every night.¡± Yeah...if that wasn¡¯t the case then it was as close to being as possible. He also loved being the center of any and all gossip and had started some rumors about himself just for the fun of it. He¡¯d been the King¡¯s right hand man and I sorely regretted not having killed him too. I was just glad he was in the category of those pretending to be nobles instead of those actually nobles. I wasn¡¯t exactly sure why Steris let him keep his knighthood though. ¡°I¡¯ve heard a lot of bad things about him. Thanks for the worry but I don¡¯t plan on going anywhere near him if I can help it.¡± Illila nodded with a smile, ¡°There are a few other nobles that aren¡¯t much better, but he¡¯s definitely the worst of the lot...Oh and there you have me distracted again! Eliax when are we meeting!¡± ¡°...I don¡¯t know?¡± Illila sighed and looked at the ceiling as if she was wondering why she¡¯d expected anything more, ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll find you then when I¡¯m ready. You¡¯d better be ready when I come, you hear me?!¡± I simply nodded, figuring that was the easiest option. -- Foralen dei Imal was currently taking the hospitality of a certain lady Onix Senest. She was one of the most dull people the clone had ever met, which wasn¡¯t saying a lot if you were counting only the people this clone had met. It was still strange to think that she¡¯d only existed for a day, whenever her mind drifted to that fact it came back with a mixture of relief and sorrow. Relief because it wasn¡¯t her who had to deal with all the problems her original had cobbled together for herself. Sorrow because if she wasn¡¯t real, she didn¡¯t know what was real. Certainly Lady Senest couldn¡¯t be more real than she was. A lady who was more dull than a seldean¡¯s mind but twice as beautiful as the flowers they could cultivate. An image of Jeref covered in flowers was amusing, but she managed not to laugh as Onix started talking again after an extended sip of her tea. ¡°Truly, it¡¯s such a blessing that you and my father were friends back then, and that you...sought me out first out of all the allies you could have chosen.¡± She smiled in an overly pleasant way, ¡°Tell me, Fari, where have you been all this time!¡± Dull dull the dullest of dulls. ¡°I was recovering.¡± Onix nodded slowly, teacup to her mouth, barely the hint of a tilt to pour the contents down. The clone took a polite sip of her own tea, but Onix just kept sipping. As if she didn¡¯t know what to talk about. Was she misreading that? Perhaps she was but it felt a bit like Lady Onix didn¡¯t want to be here any more than Fari did. What a strange thought. There was no way to prove it, false or otherwise. Unless that is she wanted to break some decorum. It was only her first day going through the nobles though, perhaps she was simply out of practice from Lady Raia¡¯s teachings. --- Hivren --- Hivren had a bit of a one-track mind. Every single time the Hero appeared, he was determined to be there. He was determined to figure out what her plan was, and he was determined to see it happen when she finally made her move. He¡¯d known for quite a while that she had to be alive, and now he knew that she was going to change the world. However, that conviction didn¡¯t keep his heart from missing several beats as the messenger in front of him spoke. ¡°Young master, your mother sent me about two weeks ago. She said you need to come home.¡± Hivren¡¯s throat was dry as he opened his mouth, ¡°and¡­why?¡± ¡°Your father is dying.¡± Chapter 28 Too many problems Eliax Lestwood sat beside Illila, wondering what was taking so long. The clone was terrifyingly good at acting like me, sometimes it felt like she was even better at it than I was. But at the moment I was at the northern beach with Niun, trying to coax Turste into a portal. He was amazingly terrified of the thing for some reason. Muttering about ¡®a betrayal to Alner and all he stands for¡¯ whatever that meant. The important thing though was that I couldn¡¯t witness this myself. Illila was vibrating beside my clone, just waiting for Queen Steris to appear. The two of them had somehow gotten spots near the palace, which was a stark contrast to the beaten down husk I¡¯d gotten used to. Over the past week, the squatters had been whisked away, the floors polished, the cobwebs dusted. Broken doors were replaced and hundreds of magical lights brightened the empty halls. I¡¯d peeked in a few times over the course of the renewal, but despite the grandeur, the feeling that there was no expense spared, I could tell that this wasn¡¯t meant to last. In a week or so the queen would go home and her father¡¯s palace would once more fall to rot and squatters. But right now it looked exactly the way I remembered it, it felt like at any moment the Last King would descend from those steps and order an execution. Perhaps that was the real reason Steris hadn¡¯t kept Reiaran as the capital city, perhaps she was trying to put the bad memories behind everyone. My clone was having similar epiphanies as the horns and bells sounded and the people began to cheer. A golden carriage rolled through the southern gate followed closely by seven decorated knights on horseback. Most were young, strong from their youth, but one was only young in my memories, I remembered that face from before. Eliax smiled at the spectacle, beside her, Illila made some very unladylike noises as she pointed enthusiastically at one of the knights. Looking around, the clone could see that most of the younger women were swooning over that same knight. She didn¡¯t really see the appeal, his nose was a bit on the large side and he looked a bit sloppy, but she had never claimed to understand the whims of the public and neither had I. The queen couldn¡¯t be more different from how the clone remembered her. Where she had once been frail and thin enough that a strong breeze might blow her away, now she was on the chubbier side; a sign of wealth. It was a sign that this queen could afford to feed herself past the point where her body needed it. It was a sign that if something terrible happened, she could outlast it. Her hair was long and fluffy, the white tendrils curling elegantly in a way that somehow made her seem larger. And atop her head was the only thing identical to how she¡¯d looked in the clone¡¯s memories. The two large antennae were longer than Steris¡¯ head, thick enough that they barely drifted in the soft breeze and never even dipped upon their own weight. They were large. Large enough that the clone hastily strengthened her mind shields just in case the legends of antennae granting mind reading powers were true. Steris looked out majestically from her carriage, the knight all the ladies had been swooning over bowed majestically at a seemingly random girl and winked. Illila was looking like she might pass out. Now that the clone thought about it, that knight seemed almost too careless to have won his title the true way, but he was still wearing the most decorated armor. Was this one of the princes? Probably the adopted one, he didn¡¯t look anything like the Queen. There were also four young girls skipping along the streets and tossing small papers all around. Whenever the group passed the crowd would surge forward and pick them up, though they seemed eager enough to show off the contents. The words spread through the crowd like a wildfire, when the carriage passed Eliax and Illila, they wasted no time in procuring themselves an invitation. ¡°Queen¡¯s ball, Tonight.¡± Eliax read aloud. Sparks, that wasn¡¯t great timing. The Queen passed from view before long, exiting her carriage and gracefully ascending the palace steps. The knights handed their steeds off to some grooms and followed her, their hands resting calmly on their swords as most of them kept watch of the area for irregularities. They all entered the palace and finally the crowd began to disperse, whispering excitedly to each other all the way. -- Eliax -the clone- paced in her room at the Lazy Dryad. She knew from her first moments that she wouldn¡¯t last more than a few days, but sparks this was more stressful than she¡¯d expected. Eliax¡¯s dress lay on the bed, and hidden in the closet from the prying eyes of Illila and Alsen was the dress she would wear as Foralen. The clone though didn¡¯t want to choose one without her original self there. It would set a bad precedent. So you conjured a clone out of the Aether, you granted her stewardship over half of your life, trusting her to inform you of important things! What would you do if that clone did something that might be important without your input? Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. Sparks where the heck was she? Hadn¡¯t they agreed to meet here right after finishing with their respective tasks? The clone bit her lip and stopped pacing, the party wasn¡¯t until sunset and it was still just after noon, it would be fine, she would be fine. Turste was probably just being a baby about the gate spell still. She still managed to jump out of her skin when a knock came from the door, she berated herself for letting a mere anxiety get so far and brushed herself off with a sigh. She plastered on a smile and opened the door, wondering if it was Alsen again making sure she was still keeping that wok with her. She wasn¡¯t sure who the last person she¡¯d expected to see was, but Hivren was definitely near the bottom of that theoretical list. He did have a tendency to randomly appear places though so she really should really put him higher. ¡°Hivren?¡± ¡°Eliax¡­sparks, you probably can¡¯t help me anyway but I have no idea who else to go to¡­ it¡¯s my dad, in Aubinere. I just got word that he probably won¡¯t make it another two weeks, I should have realized, he¡¯s been getting worse lately and-¡± She stared at him as he outlined the -to him- hopeless situation. Sparks sparks sparks, she should not be the one talking to him right now! That was the real Eliax¡¯s job, if it was left up to a simple clone she would just mess it up, she would offer to teleport him all the way there. She would destroy months of buildup, erase the efforts and goals that her original had crafted. She would- A faint, almost imperceptible ripple in her magesight was the only warning as someone teleported into the room. -- I stared in bafflement at the open door and Hivren. It wasn¡¯t the worst possible thing to be caught teleporting, he knew what my affinities were. The worst part was my clone, standing innocently beside the open door, practically radiating panic. She was so panicked in fact that she simply dismissed herself rather than deal with the fallout of this. The memories of her existence slotted themselves neatly into my mind, but that only made me wish more that I could get the clone to do that in real time. Hivren caught the door as it swung through where the conjuration had stood, staring at me, ¡°You know Geneseri?!¡± I stared back at him, my mouth dry, ¡°I¡­ yes.¡± He peeked out at the hallway before stepping through the door, closing it behind him, he dropped his voice to a whisper, ¡°And you can teleport, but you¡¯ve given every indication before now that you¡¯re still a complete beginner at dimensionalism.¡± I nodded slowly, trying to sort through the Geneseri memories quick enough to get the context of why he was here. Hivren folded his arms, looking concerned, ¡°Eliax what else are you hiding?¡± ¡°I...I can get you to Aubinere in less than a day.¡± He blinked, taken aback, ¡°you-¡± ¡°You need to see your father, I can get you there.¡± I moved my hands to the conjuration and started casting a new clone, ¡°I mean, we should leave now since I have to go to the ball tonight, but uh...what else can I do? I could get you an audience with the Hero probably, I mean, you¡¯d like that right? You¡¯ve been trying to really talk to her since before she even showed up!¡± Hivren stared at me as I started rambling, ¡°Eliax?¡± ¡°Is there anything else? I...can¡¯t think of anything else to offer but-¡± ¡°Eliax. Are you trying to make me stop asking questions? Because we both know that won¡¯t work no matter what you give me.¡± I cringed. Hivren was the last person I wanted to tell about being the Hero. It had gone pretty well with Niun but I knew never to trust a single outcome to be the rule. The clone formed and I handed her Foralen¡¯s necklace. She already knew what she was supposed to do, but before she could teleport away, Hivren grabbed her arm. She looked back at him, frowning, ¡°I have to do damage control, Illila is going to kill us for possibly missing that ball.¡± ¡°Just wait for a second, I need some answers right now.¡± He eyed the necklace I¡¯d handed the clone, ¡°Isn¡¯t that the illusion Aymiae gave you?¡± The clone wrenched her arm away, ¡°That doesn¡¯t matter.¡± She teleported away before he could demand anything further. ¡°Hivren.¡± I found myself saying, ¡°Is there nothing I can do to make you not question this too deeply?¡± I contemplated knocking him out and putting him somewhere until I could properly deal with this, but...that felt like too much. Besides, I would still have to face him eventually and he might demand legal retribution. He stood up straighter, ¡°Eliax, I came here to ask for your help, but I¡¯m not going to accept that help if I can¡¯t trust you.¡± I sat down roughly on the bed, ¡°Fantastic¡­I¡¯ve been dreading this since I met you by the way, you were just so obsessed with everything I did, you seemed delusional about my motives, you looked at me and seemed to think there was anything more than a stupid, selfish, impulsive, brat. But Hivren, there¡¯s not, that¡¯s all I am and I hate it!¡± ¡°I was never obsessed with what you did, Eliax, I¡­I¡¯m sorry if it felt that way.¡± ¡°But you are! You always have been! Even before we met, you heard about what I did, you saw heroism in it, but I guess everyone did. No one wondered if there was any reason for what I did besides glory to the kingdom, you wondered, but sparks you¡¯re so determined to see a good side in it!¡± ¡°...What are you saying?¡± ¡°I¡¯m saying that I hate myself, Hivren. I¡¯m saying that I¡¯m the Hero you¡¯re so obsessed with, I¡¯m Foralen dei Imal, or at least I was before I died. And I¡¯m saying that you need to stop asking questions before I make you regret it.¡± Chapter 29 The Queens Ball

--- Aymiae --- Aymiae really should have expected all sorts of things to go wrong now that Fari was back. They¡¯d always gone wrong before and there was no reason that they should stop doing so. What she hadn¡¯t expected was for Fari to keep popping in randomly after days of personal isolation, asking Aymi for things and barely ever giving anything in return. It was almost like dealing with Harrel, actually. Earlier today, Fari had opened a portal in the basement of the Ayfel and innocently explained to her that her friend needed a place to stay for a couple of days while the whole thing with the queen died down. Aymi had been planning on going out to watch her majesty¡¯s arrival, but Fari was involved, so of course it couldn¡¯t be that simple. Aymi watched dubiously as Fari and her friend tried to threaten a possessor entity through the gate, and then decided that she would have to supervise this entire operation lest the entire building somehow get leveled. ¡°Niun, give me that rod there- yes that one.¡± Aymi took it and wielded the rod in both hands while giving the creature a look. ¡°You are going to get in here, and you are going to stay in here.¡±

--- Fora --- Foralen stood three hours later in the Ayfel, wearing the gown her original self had purchased for the occasion. It was elegant, at least that was the best word for it. It was a deep red, a stark contrast to the blue tint of her skin, it had long sleeves that billowed about her hands and would probably be catching on things all night long. The skirt was thick and white lace was sewn into it. It made her feel like a queen. The clone was still getting ready though, her hair refused to behave and her mind kept focusing on the little imperfections, she covered her Tuvei markings with makeup -a common enough practice- but then ended up scrubbing her face for twenty minutes when she changed her mind. Tonight was her one chance to talk to Steris about her plan without going to the capital. It was the best time to convince the queen to help her and the clone had no idea if it would even work if everything was in her favor. She wanted it to be perfect, if it was perfect then the only things she had to worry about was her own incompetence and the stubbornness of a Queen. -- I gripped Hivren¡¯s arm and stepped through the fifth gate, practically pulling him behind me. Hivren wasn¡¯t happy about the massive things I¡¯d told him, and he seemed to be getting more out of sorts with each new gate we passed through. To my dismay, it wasn¡¯t just from the physical effects. I hadn¡¯t memorized the landscape when I¡¯d been traveling from Ceruleia to Reiaran as Eliax. She hadn¡¯t known to even do that. But thankfully the gate spell could work around that since I¡¯d been there before. I could barely tell what time it was, but during the breaks between gates I could see the sun steadily moving downward. It felt agonizingly slow as I collapsed to the ground again and started the process of recharging the ability once more. Hivren collapsed beside me and barfed all over the path from the strain of crossing such vast distances. Traveling through the between was a common enough practice, but I¡¯d never really done it on this scale before and in my incompetence I kept on messing up the spell. It disrupted our bodies and minds, our souls growing chaotic with each gate. It wasn¡¯t the first time he¡¯d barfed and we both knew it wouldn¡¯t be the last. ¡°So...you do this a lot?¡± I grunted, feeling the magic begin to flow into me again from the Between. It was starting to hurt. I made sure to memorize each spot we ended up in so that the return trip would be more pleasant, but I didn¡¯t even want to comprehend how far we still had to go. ¡°If I did this a lot -huff- do you really think I would be so bad at it?¡± The reply was sharper than I¡¯d intended, but we were both tired and annoyed so he didn¡¯t seem to take it personally. He barfed some more and groaned slightly, laying there for several heartbeats. After a moment we both stood up in unison and I cast the spell again, my motions jerky and out of sync with the heartbeat of the world. I still ended up watching the golden surface of the gate materealize though. After three heartbeats to give it enough time to stabilize, we stepped through and started the process all over again. If I was sure of anything it was that this was what Hell felt like. -- Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings. Foralen peeked out the window, concerned at the darkening sky. It was becoming increasingly obvious that her original would not be returning on time. The important part of this night though was that she would talk to the Queen, anything more than that was a blessing but not necessary. She focused back on the mirror, putting the finishing touches on her makeup and finally settling on how her hair would be held; all the while listening for the carriage the Queen had sent for her. It would be any moment now, any moment and she would be on her way to fulfill her one purpose. -- I lost count around the twentieth gate. The movements were automatic, the mana sickness apparent. The things I do to prevent disaster. ¡°So, you were reborn?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± I rasped, laying there in the grass. There was a rock poking me in the thigh and a spider crawling across my hand but it still felt so nice to just lay there...my breaks between gates were getting steadily longer as my body started refusing to process the magic I was shoving into it. We had to at least be halfway though, right? The sun was almost completely set by now, and I¡¯d given up all hope of making it back before the ball. ¡°I pissed off a dragon and she didn¡¯t let me live to regret it.¡± I stood up shakily and started casting the spell again, half sure that I was going to completely ruin my ability to cast spells if I kept at it. No one really knew what happened if someone kept processing magic after it started to hurt. For some reason I couldn¡¯t get myself to care that I was probably about to find out. -- Foralen stepped out of the Ayfel and into the carriage that was waiting for her. It wasn¡¯t nearly as fancy as the one Steris had ridden, but it was up there. She nodded at the driver and the vehicle began. The horses pulling it eagerly moved forward into the night, following the streetlamps and watching the small groups of dressed up youth make their way toward the palace. There was a strange terrible feeling in the back of her mind, but she wrote it off as anxiety. I mean, it had to be anxiety, right? She tapped her finger slowly on the side of her seat, wishing she was just there already. She¡¯d rehearsed what she would say to Steris a million times over the past few weeks. I am Foralen dei Imal and I need help contacting the dragons. It was starting to sound like a stupid idea to ask for anything though. Did she really need to find out that badly if she would be reborn again and again? She found the pace of her tapping increasing as the moments ticked by. How could she- Pain. One moment of incense bitter pain along her throat. She cried out, her voice a scream in the night. But then it was over, the clone dissipated, not even leaving a corpse to remember her by. The driver looked back at the scream, but he didn¡¯t see anything. He stopped the carriage and looked around, puzzled as to where the Hero had gone. He saw a dark figure running away and figured she had probably forgotten something important. Oh well, she was a dimensionalist, she¡¯d probably make it to the party perfectly fine. -- I gasped as the memories flooded into me. She was gone. It was over. I stopped in the middle of a stroke to summon the gate, the lines of connection between different types of matter fizzled out and I sank to my knees in shock. Hivren gave me a concerned look, ¡°What?¡± I shuddered and feverishly started painting the lines again, refusing to fall all the way to the ground, ¡°My clone was killed. I don¡¯t know who did it, it felt like an assassination.¡± The gate started forming and fizzled out halfway there. I cursed, catching the stray magic before it could do something stupid. I started again, ¡°We need to hurry.¡± Hivren stood up, ¡°Eliax you need to breathe, take a break.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not Eliax¡­¡± ¡°Yes, I know, that¡¯s what you said. But just because you have the memories of some dead person doesn¡¯t mean that¡¯s who you are. Remember what I said? Who you are now takes precedence over who you used to be.¡± The gate fell apart again. Eliax...she was distant. She was the kind of person who liked to plan, to get things done, to have a reason for everything she did. Eliax was productive, straightforward, and smart. Eliax was capable. She lived in the future, sacrificing her joy for the sake of her future self. Fari on the other hand was sociable, she knew how to talk to people, how to see their motives, feel their desires and use that to her advantage. She lived in the moment, in the here and now because she didn¡¯t know how long it would be before it was taken from her again. Eliax was everything that Fari was not, and Fari was everything that Eliax was not. They were opposites in almost every aspect, and if they were different people who met one day they would either be best friends or worst enemies. Mirror images cut from the same cloth. Hivren was telling me I didn¡¯t have to be both. I still didn¡¯t believe him, but everything was falling apart. I let my hands fall to the ground and tried to just react. To do what I would do. It was a lot harder than it should have been. ¡°We¡¯re staying here then.¡± I found myself staying. ¡°But just for an hour. I need to think.¡±

--- Aymiae --- Aymi watched with a frown as the possessor asked the same question again. ¡°How long?¡± She sighed and finally met his scuffed white eyes ¡°Since what?¡± He shuddered and looked down, ¡°Since we were cursed. Since the Alanerea ceased to be.¡± Aymiae tilted her head, ¡°It¡¯s been seven hundred and seventy one years, if I¡¯m right and your people are the ones that destroyed the old empires. But we don¡¯t exactly have accurate records from back then.¡± ¡°It felt longer.¡± There was a pause. ¡°But that makes sense if no one remembers, he keeps doing that.¡± ¡°Who?¡± ¡°Your god. He keeps erasing everything. Next time it will be worse, because there are still things you remembered.¡± Chapter 30 Why?

--- Netun --- It was a lovely day beyond the reaches of humanity. The sun was high above, there was just enough cloud cover to prevent heatstroke on the warm summer day, and he hadn¡¯t met any other travelers all morning. Truly the stars had blessed him. It was hot and stuffy in his twelve layers of fabric, but he wasn¡¯t taking any chances with sunburn, his pale complexion and paler hair agreed with him. Netun was glad his eyes were working today, if only because he could see the beautiful formations of the silverside cliffs in the distance, he could hear the steady beat of ocean waves and he could smell the slightest scent of poison in the air. Truly, it was a great day. He stopped beside a nondescript beach, breathing in the sandfrost and examining the old growth of the fungus that seemed to have halted a few months ago. That could mean two things, one of them was very good and the other was very bad. Netun tried to find the soul anyway, he wasn¡¯t sure who it was, but this soul had been separated from everyone and everything, set upon a secluded beach that rarely even saw visitors, he would be surprised if they were even particularly sane. Stars, Netun hadn¡¯t even been particularly sane. He could see the slightest signs of a beast having been nearby, but he couldn¡¯t smell anything particularly aggressive about the lingering odor. It had an undertone of sandfrost to it, but Netun couldn¡¯t tell if it was simply exposure to the mushrooms or something more. Perhaps a mutation? That would be interesting. In any case the beast was gone, whatever soul had been in the sandfrost was nowhere to be found. The old growth was completely severed and would die out without making new spores. Netun shook his head sadly and dismissed the entire area from his senses. To his surprise there was a slightly weaker sandfrost signal to the south, it seemed to be near that city he¡¯d seen at the edge of the silverside cliffs. With a shrug, Netun made his way southward, finding a weak path that seemed to be right. -- The guard stood outside the gate, watching him approach with a hostile expression. Netun had come to expect these from most mortals, since they tended to judge based on appearance. His layered clothing and covered face spoke of someone with a disease, or someone from so far south that to them it seemed cold. It didn¡¯t help that he wore a wide brimmed hat, shading his face from almost any light. Finally the man spoke once Netun was close enough to hear clearly. ¡°We aren¡¯t letting people in unless it¡¯s important right now, the wall guard is busy keeping the peace.¡± Netun paused, tilting his head, when he spoke it was with a slight slur, his tongue was quite a bit slower than his thoughts and sometimes it refused to move in the way he expected. ¡°I¡¯m jussst¡­looking for an old friend.¡± Stars, he probably sounded drunk. Too bad he couldn¡¯t get drunk anymore, he¡¯d like to see what that would be like to his current body. The guard¡¯s face hardened further and any hesitations he¡¯d had would have flown out the window. ¡°Great, come back in a week once this whole thing has blown over.¡± ¡°My friend might be¡­a bit viooolent. Gotta¡­find him.¡± ¡°Is that a threat?¡± ¡°No.¡± ¡°Look, who even are you?¡± ¡°Niiiitun.¡± The guard sighed and waved him closer. Netun followed his motions, curious. It seemed like it was working, he would be let inside and he could look for the sandfrost. What he didn¡¯t expect was for the guard to violently wrench the large hat from his head and to pull the mask from his face. Apparently he was expecting some kind of outlaw who was hiding his identity. What he got instead was a corpse. -- Netun woke up some time later in a new body. He¡¯d grown it in what had seemed to him like a secluded area, but when he peeked out of the bushes around him, he¡¯d somehow chosen what looked like a palace courtyard. The plants weren¡¯t as cared for as they should be and the building itself was a bit rundown, but there were lights in most of the windows and he could smell a feast inside. Carriages were lined up along the road and he could see more of them coming. Great. Netun pulled himself from the bushes, glancing to the west where the sun had disappeared. It was still light out but the rays were sinking below the horizon and any damage to his body would be minimal. He¡¯d kind of left his old one out of instinct, it would have died soon enough anyway with the sun right there and most of his sensitive organs within that light. His practice of growing new streams of himself in the ground with every footstep had paid off, he¡¯d easily had enough mass to produce a new body in just a few hours, though maybe it had been a few days, he wasn¡¯t great at telling the passage of time without eyes or ears. Netun raised his nose to the air and took in the scents around him, plant matter, the sharp scent of magic, the musky scent of anticipation from the partygoers, there were many things he could smell, but even when he moved around the gardens to gather scents upwind, he couldn¡¯t find the sandfrost. Stars, he¡¯d been able to smell it clearly before he¡¯d replaced his body, was it being shielded somehow? He could detect the faintest bit of afterscent, but it was hiding underneath everything else. It didn¡¯t help that his own mass was far more present, and that smelled too similar to not be confusing. Netun shook his head sadly and moved off, walking through the gardens and occasionally peering at an unfamiliar plant. In the back of his mind there was a smidgen of regret whenever he saw one. He remembered reading histories long ago in his youth, seeing depictions of trees as tall as mountains and legends of heroic warriors who¡¯d protected them. He remembered that legacy and yet he¡¯d still chosen to betray it along with the rest. He regretted that, so he put his palm to a weak sapling and fed it some of his strength, as a sign again to Alner just like all the other plants and creatures he tried to help that he¡¯d forgiven himself. Knowing that what he¡¯d done in the past didn¡¯t matter, only who he was now and who he was going to someday become. Netun strode through the garden, giving of himself to the earth until he barely had enough energy to keep walking. It was a shame that this garden had been neglected, but hopefully this new growth would inspire someone else to aid it in the future. Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. As the night grew late and the partygoers began to leave the celebration, Netun reflected on how beautiful this world was, glad that he¡¯d made his mistakes so that he could know that now, this. This wasn¡¯t a mistake.

--- Fora --- I am the Hero of Melor, Floralen dei Imal, Eliax Lestwood, and the only daughter of a long deceased dye shop owner. That, I found, was all I really knew. I sat there on the path, recovering with a barfing Hivren beside me. I looked up at the sky from my back, feeling my heartbeat slowly calm, feeling the grass below my tired exoskeleton. I could feel the faintest breeze tossing my antennae from one side to the other. I could hear my breathing, the ragged breaths of the human nearby, I could hear the faint sound of birdsong as the sun began to rise. I could see the brilliant pinks and oranges of the dawn, the silhouette of unfamiliar mountains, the land around us that was worked into fields and ranches. I could see in the distance as the mountains gave way to white sand. I remembered this place vaguely. I¡¯d lived in this village with Estin for a couple of weeks. I couldn¡¯t even remember its name though, there had been so many villages to keep track of. I could smell the distant scent of baking bread from one of the farmhouses. Slowly I sat up from the grass, feeling my stiff muscles protest. I let my magesight bleed into view and relaxed slightly at the runes drifting in the wind. At that I finally let myself examine my soul, looking inward and expecting to see a disaster. I finally breathed out the anxiety as I saw nothing but the normal workings of my magic. I would be fine. I knelt beside Hivren and started casting healing spells to help his body recover from the strain. His eyelids flickered and he looked up at me in confusion, ¡°Eliax?¡± He coughed, but now that he was awake he wasn¡¯t about to do something smart like stay put. He sat up and took stock of himself, ¡°We¡¯re alive.¡± He somehow didn¡¯t seem to believe that fact. He focused on me again as I pinched his arm to make him stop moving and continued the weak spells. ¡°Yes, I¡¯m just as surprised as you.¡± I missed it. I finished up the weak healing aids and helped him to his feet, looking out toward the sand I could see past those mountains. ¡°We almost made it¡­¡± Hivren seemed surprised, ¡°I was half sure we would wake up and find we¡¯d been going in circles the entire time.¡± Well, traveling with the Between did mess with one¡¯s sense of direction something fierce. There was a reason I preferred teleportation instead of gates. I examined the distance, finally able to see the land around us, I could easily teleport us the rest of the way. ¡°Alright, let¡¯s keep going then.¡± Hivren winced but nodded, stretching his back with a strange popping sound. I led him back to the path and drew a quick magic circle in the dirt. Hivren seemed confused at the lack of the gate spell, but he certainly wasn¡¯t arguing about it. If we were lucky this could take us to the edge of the desert, which was roughly half the way from here if I was remembering my geography right. -- It was two days before I managed to extricate myself from Aubinere. Hivren¡¯s father died on the first day and it felt wrong to leave without at least attending the funeral. Hivren seemed grateful that I¡¯d gotten him here, but he still tried to pelt me with questions whenever we saw each other. I wanted to tell him everything, but I knew that doing that would give me nothing. No matter what he knew about me, he couldn¡¯t get me an audience with the queen, and he couldn¡¯t help me get to the dragonlands. The journey back to Reiaran was much easier, Hivren stayed behind so I didn¡¯t have to worry about him, and I was in a much better frame of mind than when I¡¯d begun the journey. I¡¯d contemplated popping over to Ceruleia to say hi to Estin, but that would have added at least a day to the whole trip. Reiaran was just as I remembered it, a port city in a favorable location, big enough to give enemies pause but small enough not to be worth the effort of conquest. The palace shone above the whole thing, the magical lights floating innocently in the windows and the hundreds of guards milling about in an organized fashion. The Ayfel stood near the palace, among the mansions and ornate gardens of the noble district. A festival flowed through the streets, weaving in and out of sleepy streets, merchant corridors, and back again. The sun was starting to set as I settled upon a roof near the Ayfel and examined the people surrounding it. The Queen¡¯s guards. Were they there for me? Aymiae was in there, so was Turste. Sparks, Turste, Aymi hadn¡¯t been happy when I dumped him on her, if they found him I would be reported to the mage guild. I would probably be fine, most folks knew Foralen had a soul affinity, but Aymi was known for dabbling in any magic type that would let her. Even her elemental affinity couldn¡¯t take her out of suspicion for a zombie being found in her house. I teleported from the roof, trying to figure out where my illusion would have ended up. Sparks I¡¯d put that assassination out of my mind already but there was at least one person in Reiaran that wanted me dead. With my luck it was probably a lot more. I cast Geneseri and had my clone keep watch of the Ayfel before scouring the city for my illusion. First I checked the carriage I¡¯d been assassinated in, but that wasn¡¯t any help, then I tried some divination spells but it was probably behind wards or something. I even checked my room at Alsen¡¯s inn, but it was nowhere to be found. After hours of looking I ended up back on that rooftop, contemplating the Ayfel below. ¡°The Queen herself went inside.¡± The clone sounded shaken as she stared down at the building with me. ¡°She¡¯s definitely behind this. Do you know why she¡¯s there instead of at the festival like everyone else¡± I nodded, having asked around about the festival. ¡°The queen started the festival out of nowhere and decided it was in honor of the Hero. I think it was an attempt to get her to leave wherever she was hiding and face Steris. She seemed rather annoyed when she didn¡¯t show up to the Ball and even ended it early.¡± Both of us winced. I dismissed the clone and let her memories flood into me, making sure there wasn¡¯t anything else important she hadn¡¯t realized. But no, just the presence of the Queen. After contemplating my options, I dropped from the building and approached the Ayfel, holding myself as much like Fari as I could. The guards examined me and one of them slipped inside as I approached. He came back with Captain Larien of the wall guard. I realized that I hadn¡¯t seen him in just over a week. ¡°Kid, the Ayfel¡¯s closed right now, you can go enjoy the festival. Gium knows Reiaran needs more of those.¡± I met his eyes and gave him the look. ¡°The Queen has made it abundantly clear that she wants to chat with me.¡± For show I bent space and stepped closer through it, hopefully reminding him of the first time we¡¯d met. Larien blinked, ¡°You¡¯re-¡± ¡°Yes, I¡¯m Foralen. Tell her I¡¯m sorry for not going to the Ball, I was helping a friend get to Aubinere.¡± Larien seemed taken aback, but he retreated into the Ayfel. The other guards watched me with guarded looks as we waited for something to happen. Eventually one of them put a communication stone to his ear and stood up straighter. He gestured for me to go on ahead before falling in behind me as I stepped through into the place I¡¯d grown up. Aymiae was sitting in the front room looking rather frazzled but still a picture of ladylike decorum like Raia had taught us. She blinked when I entered the room and had a question in her eyes, where was my illusion. I don¡¯t know. I tried to inform her, I shrugged with an apologetic expression. The Queen was standing on the other side of the room, examining the stained glass windows that portrayed the Hero. She eventually turned around, frowning at me, ¡°So did Foralen never return? Have you been an imposter this entire time?¡± I shook my head, ¡°I am foralen.¡± For some reason I felt like it would be a monumentally stupid idea to tell her the whole truth. ¡°In my travels I came across a field of wish-lilies on a night of the blue moon. I wished for my youth back. I wear an illusion for the public.¡± Steris examined me curiously and glanced at Aymiae, ¡°Is this true?¡± Aymi nodded, ¡°If you look in the records that Lady Raia kept when she was alive, You will find that the paintings of Foralen as a teen match up exactly with the young woman in front of you.¡± Steris nodded slowly and waved for the guards to leave. Reluctantly they marched out the door. ¡°Why did you do it? Why did you let me become Queen. I¡¯ve wondered ever since that day. With such power as you displayed that day, you could have taken the title yourself. In some places it¡¯s only right for the assassin to take the throne. Why did you not?¡± I blinked at her, ¡°Steris, I don¡¯t want to be a Queen, I don¡¯t want to even be a Noble. I don¡¯t trust myself to make the right decisions for the people. You¡¯ve been doing a lot better than I ever could.¡± The Queen smiled, ¡°Thank you, Foralen. Will you support me in the public?¡± I nodded, ¡°Of course. I will make it clear to everyone.¡± Chapter 31 Why not. When the guards left, Aymiae forced me into a hug, which caused an undignified squeak to escape my throat, ¡°Fari you scared me to death! You disappear for two days straight after dropping off a random zombie in my basement! Who does that?!¡± I laughed nervously and extricated myself from her grip. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I had to take Hivren to Aubinere and I wasn¡¯t in the best frame of mind. I bet Illila isn¡¯t any happier with me.¡± ¡°I¡¯m just glad you didn¡¯t do anything too stupid.¡± I relaxed slightly, ¡°I don¡¯t know what to do next. Everything was thrown off, I was going to ask the Queen to help me get to the dragonlands, but that¡¯s off the table now.¡± Aymi grimaced, ¡°Yeah¡­ I don¡¯t think you can fix it now.¡± I nodded, sitting down on one of the benches. ¡°Is there a reason you can¡¯t contact Yumorath though? I mean you haven¡¯t seen him in a long time but he would probably know the answer to what you¡¯re looking for. Plus he¡¯s calmer than most Dryads. I can¡¯t see him biting your head off for tracking him down.¡± ¡°...Yumorath? I feel like I¡¯ve heard that name before, didn¡¯t you say it once?¡± Aymi stared at me, ¡°Sparks it hit you too? That acctually¡­hmm yeah that makes sense, when you died the spell would have counted you as a stranger to him¡­¡± I furrowed my brow, ¡°What spell?¡± ¡°Fari, Yumorath was the dragon you worked for. He¡¯s one of the abyssal dragons that travels between dimensions. He cast a spell a while back that prevents strangers from remembering anything substantial about him. The more they know the more they forget.¡± Aymi frowned, ¡°You should remember most of that tomorrow... Sparks, he¡¯s probably on some other plane or realm right now.¡± ¡°Aymi, you¡¯re freaking me out, besides, aren¡¯t different planes a legend?¡± Aymi looked at me like I was stupid, ¡°A master dimensionalist is asking me this...¡± she sighed, ¡°Fari the between is a different plane, so is the Void, so is Orien itself. There are hundreds of realms hidden from the naked eye where other dimensions or worlds touch ours. I¡¯ve read all about them in some very interesting Yeran legends and I even have a guy who supplies me with seeds from other places for experiments. They¡¯re very real.¡± Okay that made more sense, I¡¯d always felt like there was more to the between realm. ¡°I¡¯ll look into it then, tomorrow. Right now I need to sleep. I just crossed a couple thousand miles with a teleport spell built for short hops, and the days before that weren¡¯t much better.¡± Aymi nodded at me, ¡°You can stay here, rumors are probably going to spread that the Hero usually wears an illusion and Gium knows it¡¯s not much of a secret how good I am with those.¡± I dimly took a blanket from her and headed up to my old room, I finally had an idea of what to do next. I would leave Reiaran, I would leave Melor, I would leave Virna itself. And I would chase a dragon. However long it took. -- Something seemed¡­odd in the middle of the night, I kept tossing and turning, increasingly out of sorts as something in the back of my mind refused to rest. I would fall asleep and then minutes later find my consciousness returning as a strange scent began to assault my nose. As loud sounds echoed through the Ayfel and something that reminded me of screams rose up from the back of my mind. I jolted fully awake to silence and the distinct smell of smoke. It burned at my lungs, threatening to suffocate me. I gasped for breath, I screamed for help, I pushed my door open searching for fresh air only to find more smoke. I felt along the wall, yelling for Aymi, but I couldn¡¯t find her. I found a window as my sense of direction started fizzling out, a sure sign that there was something blocking my magical abilities. I tried to pry open the window but it was jammed, as I stared out through the flames, I thought I saw a faint but powerful golden barrier. Time runes danced in front of my eyes, leaving nothing but a distinct and horrible terror to fill my soul. I steeled myself and moved my hands to cast a teleport spell but it fizzled out like a million wards had been set in place. I set my jaw against the smoke, feeling dampness at my eyes. This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings. I ran through the Ayfel, searching for a way out, but that relentless smoke choked out my breath. I¡¯d never had great lungs as Eliax, Estin blamed it on all the Sandfrost I¡¯d inhaled so long ago. Those same lungs resisted the contaminated air I was forcing into them, I grew weaker, struggling to find Aymi, to find Turste. I thought I heard shouts from somewhere but my mind was foggy, my breath labored, I could barely make out shapes of furnature from behind the smoke. My sense of direction was completely gone by that point, I had no idea where I was, for all I knew I could be in the attic somehow. It was almost worse than the smoke to not know instinctively where I was. I felt my knees grow weak and I moved to the ground, somewhere in the back of my mind I was screaming to do something to cast a spell to filter the air, to find the stairs and get to the main level, to search for another window, to¡­to find somewhere to rest. I was so sparking tired. I could barely move in that hallway as I finally spotted the billowing flames. To my terror, they only came closer. How...how had the Ayfel caught on fire? The...the skipping goat? I blinked blearily at the strange sight of stone burning. Perhaps it was dragons. I hadn¡¯t heard any bells, I hadn¡¯t heard anything. I pulled myself toward a door with my hands, coughing and coughing and coughing. It felt like I was going to cough my lungs out. I felt something unnaturally hot flicker against my arm but I didn¡¯t even have enough energy to jerk away from the burns. There were some magical fires that could burn stone, was this something like that? Had Aymi been doing something in her workshop? I reached the door and weakly hit the bottom of it, somehow hoping it would open underneath my weak fist. I couldn¡¯t quite remember right now, but with my luck this door was probably the kind you were meant to pull on. It was then that I gave up. I lay there, and found that I couldn¡¯t regret anything. The minutes ticked by, they felt extended by leaps and bounds. Dimly I tried again to teleport but nothing happened. Slowly and agonizingly, Eliax Lestwood took her last breaths. Slowly and agonizingly, Foralen dei Imal died for a second time.

--- Netun --- He could almost feel it as a life winked out in the city. Somehow though, it didn¡¯t go from the world in the way he was used to. Netun remembered others slowly fading into Orien and out of sight, shining brighter all the way. It was sad, but Orien was a better place than here. This soul instead faded into Esile and stopped, still dimly within sight. It was odd, but he had more pressing things to worry about at the moment. He quickly lost sight of it as a part of him snarled with rage at this terrible murder. The house in front of him was on fire, burning slowly; the scent of sandfrost only increasing as the flames bubbled outward like a massive bonfire. Netun might have decided then and there that the fire was the end of the sandfrost inside, if he hadn¡¯t himself been burned to a crisp once about three hundred years ago. There were villagers watching from around the flames with horror, some with buckets of water and sacks of gravel as they tried to prevent the fire from spreading any farther. Netun contemplated helping them, but they had it all well in hand, besides, there was something that only he could do about this unjust travesty. He would have to track down those mushrooms later. -- ? -- A man sat in front of a table full of nobles, grinning from ear to ear as a servant handed him a picture of the remains of the building. They hadn¡¯t found much, but both of the women who had been in the Ayfel were now dead for absolute certainty. Foralen and Aymiae. Two pains in his back. It was only right that he could still bring the world back to how it was meant to be. A world where the Hero hadn¡¯t returned. A world where Foralen wasn¡¯t the center of attention anymore. Weeks of planning lined up perfectly and finally that sparking shapeshifter had gotten his chance. Really he¡¯d started to wonder if the shapeshifter was even capable of the job, but setting up dimensional and physical barriers and burning the place out was almost too easy to even believe. Sparks he would have to throw a party after this. The man grinned at the other nobles and held up the picture for them to see this glorious proof, ¡°The Hero is no more!¡± He was met with cheers and toasts, congratulations and pats on the back. Yes. They would learn after this success, now they would come to him and him alone every time they wanted a successful assassination. He would be known as the greatest strategic mind in all of Reiaran. One noble fell over, a known drunk who seemed to have gotten to the alcohol early. The victorious man sipped his own drink, still grinning from ear to ear. It tasted a bit odd, somehow reminding him of how sandfrost smelled, but spark him if he wasn¡¯t going to enjoy his victory anyway. He sipped his drink again, feeling almost weightless at his bliss. Beautiful, wonderful bliss. It only lasted a moment before he felt a sudden horrible pain in his chest. He collapsed, feeling his heart reeling and his lungs gasping for air. He dimly realized that all the people around him were experiencing the same thing. The dying man¡¯s last sight was of staring upward in horror. A halfbreed stood above him, his pure white complexion and hair a strange contrast to the horrible red of his hard eyes. The assassin tilted his head down at the man. ¡°It would have been more satisfying to stab the lot of you, but you really don¡¯t deserve that effort.¡± The man dimly felt a foot on his stomach. ¡°Justice was not yours to reap.¡± And then he was dead, fading away into the Void. Book 1 Epilogue - Warrior of the flames

--- Turste ---

Turste screamed as he felt the fire, he tore at the walls and raved his madness to them, feeling as the primal terror of the flames enveloped him. The fear was so horrible that Turste could barely contain himself from it. It weakened his limbs as he pulled at the rocks around him, feeling the once strong body betray him as it tried so hard to escape anyway. This wasn¡¯t right though, Turste remembered. He remembered winters spent as the ash started to fall, he remembered the heat of the volcanoes after they¡¯d finished spewing their contents across the land. Turste remembered when he¡¯d become a ferien, he remembered how friendly that fire had been to him. He tore at the walls anyway, the body of wood betraying his mind as it convinced itself there was no life to be found if he was reduced to ash. There was no way that he could live if his soul was burned to a crisp. Terrible, horrible death that would destroy his weak weak body. He was too weak, he needed a stronger body, he¡­ Memories accosted Turste, two women in this house, if one of them died could he grow on them instead? He wasn¡¯t sure how mushrooms worked but he was pretty sure he could do that if he went carefully. His body didn¡¯t want to listen though as he told it to attack the door instead, to find them and uh¡­figure it out? Oh winters and stars above he was doomed like this. He wasn¡¯t sure how long he slashed at the stone, fighting for control of the wooden body as it continued to panic, but he couldn¡¯t see any progress on his own part. He was better than this though, majestic, beautiful, he was the flame, the ash, the hunter of the desolate winters. He was a ferien, he¡¯d only ever been happy as a ferien. He remembered watching as the seasons moved onward. After the ash there was always the spring, life always grew from those ashes even if cities were burned to rubble. People found a way. Turste growled as the door opened, he narrowed his gaze at the person there, a descendant of the Alanerea. The one who stank of far off winds and subtle illusions. She was tired, covered in burns and scrapes. She gazed at him with a lost look. ¡°We can¡¯t get out.¡± She explained, watching him as he snarled at her and continued scraping at the stones. He heard a loud, terrible cough from her direction But¡­ But¡­ There was a door right there. The one that led up the stairs and out of the ground. Couldn¡¯t he tear past her and find a wall of wood to destroy? Couldn¡¯t he find a place away from the flames. But¡­ There was more fire in that direction, he could see it curling around the stairs. He tore at the stones, growling in pain and terror as the illusionist approached him. The wind did something strange around her, it blew the flames, strong enough to put most of the nearby ones out. Others it only strengthened, it might have bought time though. With effort, Turste managed to speak, ¡°I¡¯m¡­dying.¡± She coughed, ¡°Yes, so am I. I can¡¯t find Fari but someone put up a dimensional barrier. With luck she wasn¡¯t here when it started.¡± She gazed up at the ceiling, where there was more fire. She started muttering to herself. ¡°I tried breaking down the door, I tried opening windows, I tried blowing up the wall with my explosives, but there¡¯s a ward against those somehow. My wind affinity is being impaired, and I can barely shape it. How the sparks didn¡¯t I feel them set all this up? Even the walls are burning far too slowly to be natural. The stone is on fire but it¡¯s not breaking down as fast as it should¡­¡± Turste snarled and pulled at the stones again as the illusionist spoke. One of them toppled out of the wall. Finally there was some progress, but the fire would get him before he could make any more. ¡°You¡¯re the mushrooms, right?¡± Turste glared at the wall, slashing at it, ¡°I hate mushrooms.¡± ¡°I can tell, but you¡¯re still the sandfrost.¡± He whimpered as the flames only grew hotter, he spoke faster. ¡°Yes, I¡¯m the poison.¡± He was pulling at the stones, screaming as his wooden claws splintered at the abuse. ¡°I don¡¯t SUPPOSE you¡¯ll DIE before I do so I can take your body?¡± He stared at the broken claws, flexing the darkness beneath them that refused to interact with the rest of the world. He tried again not to think about the flames around him. She paused, ¡°Can you possess someone who isn¡¯t dead? Keep my soul alive like your own when my body fails?¡± The wind stirred again, pushing the flames back. This time it didn¡¯t stop for several moments, the illusionist lowered herself to her knees and the wind finally halted, the heat returned quickly. Turste was staring at her, deciding she was the source of that wind. But oh stars was that an offer? ¡°I don¡¯t know¡­if I can.¡± She grunted and leaned against the wall behind her, ¡°Well-¡± She coughed again for several moments. ¡°-I give you permission to try whatever the sparks you need to. Doesn¡¯t really -cough- matter anyways. Even if only you live, I¡¯ll count that as a win.¡± Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators! Pulling back from the flames and cringing the whole way, Turste padded over to her side, sitting on his haunches. He proffered his head and she rested her hand there. A certain loyalty he¡¯d first felt during those wonderful days in his homeland bubbled up to the front of his mind. The loyalty he remembered feeling as a ferien, the same one he¡¯d felt towards the strange necromancer just days ago. Turste then realized that he would do everything in his power to make sure that this woman would see another sunrise.

-- Hours later, under the light of a halfmoon, Turste felt himself dimly shift in his lesser form as someone coaxed him forward. A tall albino knelt beside a patch of mushrooms, gently prodding at the two souls in front of him. It was the most gentle push that Turste could remember in the state he was. The facts of his mind didn¡¯t line up in every case but this he knew, this man was familiar. ¡°Come on, Turste and friend. I promise I¡¯ll take both of you somewhere better.¡± The two fungus cultures slowly and ponderously inched forward into the proffered box.

--- Fora --- In the darkness, a blissful calm embraced me. I was dead. I was dead but I didn¡¯t feel bad about it. Sure, I hadn¡¯t gotten as far as I¡¯d wanted but that didn¡¯t matter. My time had come as sure as the sun did rise. A form appeared in front of me, made of golden light it was draconic in shape but wingless, floating in the vast white expanse around us. Its form was almost completely without substance, but it somehow felt more real than anything I¡¯d ever seen, it peered at me, at my soul, examining the little pieces I¡¯d painstakingly forged together over the last ten years of my life. ¡°Last time I saw you.¡± The strange dragon said, ¡°You were broken. Curious. I can¡¯t do the same thing as last time¡­¡± ¡°Who are you?¡± I asked quietly. The dragon puffed itself up, rising on six mighty limbs and curling its tail like a snake. ¡°I am greater than you can comprehend. But you asked me that last time.¡± He pointed downward and disappeared from view as I saw the world. Melor, Aulous, Yera, a cluster of islands far far to the west, a continent I¡¯d heard rumors about to the south... I could somehow tell though that he was still there, observing me. ¡°You have an ability I¡¯ve never given to anyone, the dragons had to resort to trickery to get it. Betrayers they are. Not as bad as some people to their gods, but betrayers all the same.¡± I peered at the world and then found that I was watching myself. Laying in the ashes of the Ayfel. I barely looked like a person anymore. I shuddered and tried to look away, but found that I couldn¡¯t. ¡°What ability?¡± I asked slowly. The dragon hummed, ¡°That doesn¡¯t matter. You shouldn¡¯t have it.¡± ¡°...why?¡± ¡°Because that¡¯s how it is. I locked up this ability at the beginning of time itself and it has never before touched a mortal.¡± ¡°Then how did I get it?¡± ¡°Trickery, through no fault of your own.¡± The body before me changed somehow. The world around it was becoming less¡­real. ¡°Is this the between? Is my body in the between realm right now?¡± He didn¡¯t respond, but that was all the answer I needed as the body began to heal. The moments passed but somehow I knew it was longer than moments. Hours, days, months, years. My body healed as I watched it, the clock reversed faster than it passed. ¡°Why eight? Why was I eight?¡± He didn¡¯t answer, but I somehow knew that he was still watching. Finally the body in front of me stopped changing. Barely eight years old. I felt myself drawn toward it at last. Part of me didn¡¯t want to go, but another part of me was too curious. I wanted to know what else the world had to throw at me.

-- I opened my eyes to the cold, feeling the winter breeze blowing at the rags covering me. They still somehow smelled like smoke. I got up onto shaking feet, marveling at the snow around me. Sparks I hadn¡¯t thought I¡¯d ever see snow again. I had no idea how long I¡¯d been in the Between, but when I looked up I saw a building where the Ayfel had been. It seemed newer than I¡¯d feared, but the elegant sweeping roof and the stained glass windows that fit perfectly felt more like something Raia would have liked than the ugly tower she¡¯d gotten. When I peeked in the window, I saw little girls in warm clothes sorting stacks of letters, I saw older girls with messenger bags arguing over a route, I saw a human man sitting at a desk, carefully transcribing some faded words onto a new page. There was a human woman calmly negotiating with two little Tuvei. I pushed open the door, feeling the cold winter air and wanting the warmth of the hearth I saw in the corner. Everyone looked up when the door opened. After a moment of shock, the woman quickly pounced on me, fretting over my torn and soiled clothes that were several sizes too big. ¡°Dear! Where are your parents!¡± I looked up at her but once again I couldn¡¯t meet the eyes. ¡°Dead.¡± I answered simply, and really it was simple. I had all my memories, everything seemed right. My mind though wasn¡¯t as sharp as I remembered it, my thoughts took longer to form, but I remembered that from the last time I¡¯d died, my mind would catch up eventually. I looked over and met the eyes of the man, squinting. Wait! That was Hivren! I felt my eyes widen before I looked down again. He was so much older. At least thirty now. But...if he was involved, it made sense why they¡¯d replaced the stained glass windows. I glanced over at them, frowning at the two faces on it. Foralen with a scar on her face...and Eliax. The woman knelt beside me, putting her hands on my shoulders, ¡°So you¡¯ve come to the Ayfel for shelter. Don¡¯t worry, we can help you. What¡¯s your name?¡± ¡°I¡¯m Fora.¡± I said, I looked over at Hivren whose face was all scrunched up. ¡°I¡¯m going to just be who I actually am this time. No more worrying about who I used to be.¡± I smiled at him. Yes, it was alright. This wasn¡¯t exactly what I¡¯d wanted to happen, but it was alright that it had.

-- Over my long strange life, I¡¯ve been exiled, worshiped, executed, ignored and loved. I¡¯ve been a leader, I¡¯ve been a villain, I¡¯ve been everything in between. I¡¯ve been to worlds, planes, and realms without number. This is just the beginning. Interlude 1 - Origin

--- Amaranthine, the year 720 --- The sun flickered again, she¡¯d stopped counting how many times that had happened, all she could conceive to feel in her soul was simply resignation. Every time it happened, Amaranthine wanted to go around and smite some particularly annoying mortals. Everyone who¡¯d done this should die, everyone who knew how to do this should die, everyone they¡¯d ever loved and every piece of their souls should be torn apart in the depths of the void to fester in the stomachs of the demonic hordes. But then the sun would stabilize again and Amaranthine could feel herself relax slightly as she prodded at it. She was far from all powerful, so there was nothing she could do about the shell affixed around most of the sun, there was nothing she could do about the way it pulled energy forcibly into it, there was nothing she could do about the deaths and famine and disease of her people- there was nothing she could do about the destabilization of everything, as it fell apart right in front of her very eyes. So, Amaranthine didn¡¯t let herself feel that pain anymore. This time she¡¯d had enough. The goddess of DECAY drew her presence away from her world and into a place between worlds and realms, she wasn¡¯t thinking straight but to her it didn¡¯t really matter. When she arrived in the realm of order, it was just as orderly as the last time she¡¯d popped in for a chat, the four gods that were present noticed her immediately. Kalteii, the world mother and the most ancient of them, mostly ignored Amaranthine; she was still resting even after thousands of years of being wounded. Naltest seemed happy to see her, but he was far away, focused on something that seemed important. Alner didn¡¯t even glance her way, but she knew he would be listening to every word that was spoken as was his habit ever since Gium started being a salty prick about the wording of contracts, PROTECTION wasn''t quite a contract kind of god, but it was the closest one that Gium had access to. The last deity examined her thoughtfully, knowing that she was after his assistance. ¡°Gium.¡± ¡°Amaranthine. To what do I owe this visit?¡± ¡°I am giving up my arguments. You won the bet.¡± He laughed, bringing the god of protection into the conversation, ¡°Alner, some of your traitors went to Wreyn, didn¡¯t they? It seems they finally broke our dear sister¡¯s conviction.¡± The god in question ''glanced'' at Gium, ¡°They went a little bit of everywhere, of course Wreyn is on that list.¡± Amaranthine glanced towards her world, the invaders happily reaping the benefits of their total annihilation of culture and peace. It was a kind of decay, and so part of her couldn''t help but admire it, but she was more than just the concept of slow destruction, it was difficult to put into words that mortals could understand, but DECAY was so so much more. ¡°They were so peaceful at first¡­ but they¡¯re just toxic now. I¡¯m here to concede that Gium has won our bet, mortals cannot be left to their own devices, they must be controlled if there is to be anything good that remains.¡± Alner followed her gaze toward Wreyn and glanced back at Gium, ¡°I¡¯m sure he¡¯s happy about that.¡± Alner likely wanted to help, to stand in the way as a sheild from the pain his traitors were causing, but he''d sworn fealty to Gium, and he was no more powerful than Amaranthine was in this situation. Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere. ¡°Not necessarily.¡± Gium intoned, examining the world Amaranthine had helped shape with a critical, orderly eye. She could almost see his judgment about the way the continents were shaped, the way the core of the world had been tied to the magic of her people in what felt like an afterthought. It was no wonder that the other gods who''d lived there had left a long time ago. ¡°I might need these traitors in a thousand years.¡± Amaranthine felt her aura sharpen in annoyance, she¡¯d come here, ready to submit to him just like Naltest and Alner had done. She¡¯d come here ready for scorn and embarrassment, she hadn¡¯t come ready to be denied even that, ¡°So the moment I¡¯ve decided I lost, you aren¡¯t willing to help me? Aren¡¯t you the god of Order? Can you possibly see this happening and still refuse to act?¡± ¡°I am ORDER. And I will, by bringing the traitors here once they¡¯ve burned themselves out. That should line up nicely with my next reset.¡± She bristled at that, remembering his obsession with destroying every culture after about two thousand years of letting it fester. To ¡®keep the mortals from rising too far¡¯ apparently. Amaranthine noticed the huge gap in time though, she saw the whole unfairness of the prospect and the many futures in which this could go wrong. Gium knew it was there, he knew that Justice herself would demand some kind of favor to Amaranthine for the delay, but he was hoping she wouldn¡¯t act on it. ¡°That gives me the leeway to change something in your world.¡± Gium was silent for a bit too long before responding, ¡°Yes, it does.¡± ¡°I agree then.¡± ¡°What are you going to do?¡± She smiled cruelly, ¡°Something that will make you regret not letting this happen immediately.¡± Alner nodded, ¡°The deal is made.¡± Gium sighed, ¡°Then let my power run rampant if this contract is broken.¡± The gods dispersed and Amaranthine was left alone in the realm of order. Gium was still watching her, as was his right if she was going to change something in his realm, but he could not interfere with the decision of what to change. It had to be minor though, for a goddess, having to wait an extra thousand years was simply an annoyance that could spiral out of control if things went badly, so it had to be something that would be ¡®simply an annoyance¡¯ for Gium, hopefully the kind that would spiral out of control, hopefully the kind that would prompt decay to his order. Below, on Gium¡¯s continent there was a city filled with some of Alner¡¯s people, they¡¯d gone everywhere, as he¡¯d said, but this variety was calmer than the destroyers on her own world. Amaranthine examined their souls, seeing the ways Gium had woven his ¡®imprint¡¯ into their very beings. It was an intriguing method, but ultimately useless to her. Amaranthine was preoccupied trying to understand the workings of it anyway when she sensed a new soul being born into the world, all the way in Naltest¡¯s domain. Turning toward that soul, she frowned as it caught Gium¡¯s attention. He quickly affixed a different type of magic to it, shaping a random ability into the new soul with a careful hand that Amaranthine was quite a bit jealous of. There was likely a deal there between Naltest and Gium, because most of the other souls in that domain carried the artistry of the son of ice instead. Afterward he retreated again and continued watching her. That¡¯s when she had the idea, the amazing, terrible, awful, idea. Time passed and soon another soul appeared into the world from the beyond; the soul was female, attached to one of those people she¡¯d been watching earlier. Gium moved to do the same process for this soul but Amaranthine sent out her aura. ¡°This is my act in your world, I will give this child powers as I see fit.¡± Gium paused and pulled away his presence, not commenting or arguing. He was probably hoping she would go easy on him if he didn¡¯t provoke her right before she did something. Too bad for him that Amaranthine was not going to go easy on him in the least. You will be my little project. Amaranthine could tell that this would likely not be an agent of DECAY, the child didn''t have the soul for it. However, one didn''t need that in order to be a pain in the backside of Gium. She listened as the parents named the child and smiled at the irony. Foralen dei Imal, The only one blessed. Interlude 2 - Not Alone

--- Netun, the year 771 (present day) --- The scent of sandfrost was the most present thing in his mind as Netun walked through the desert -really walked. His feet were still a bit out of practice with every new body he made and his eyes were weaker than they should be this time around, but he felt a strange type of resolve as he walked through the moonlit spores that floated around him like fireflies. His antennae twitched, receiving signals from those spores just like they¡¯d done back before the betrayal. ~Footsteps!~ Curiosity, ~Human?~ ~Half Breed,~ another corrected at a better vantage. ~Not many. Those dream big.~ Netun felt the corners of his mouth as they lifted into a slight smile at the conversation. In response, he sent out a slight probe of his own to observe the five souls watching him, greeting them as was right. ~I hear.~ ~Familiar!~ One of them shouted the observation. ~Felt him before,~ another agreed ~Him?~ Asked a mind that was farther away. Another sent confirmation. ~Him.~ Netun nodded his head and sat down in the sand, closing his eyes and moving his internal timetable to the speed of the conversing mushrooms, the little missing pieces of their sentences moved into wider speculations as he observed it more fully. ¡°It¡¯s Netun.¡± He explained, ¡°I led the first ship.¡± The spores went wild at that, the ones in the air dying quickly as new ones were pushed into the conversation by the mushrooms hidden beneath the sand. ¡°I know you! How are you whole?¡± Netun¡¯s antennae vibrated his answer, letting out invisible spores of his own. ¡°I¡¯m not whole.¡± He corrected them. Little tendrils of fungus had started growing beneath his body, just as much a part of his consciousness as his mind. ¡°I gave up my hatred and it repaired something in me. I¡¯ve spent the last fifteen years trying to help the world and find every scrap of sandfrost.¡± One of the voices, one that felt the most familiar to him, rose up from the background. The rest fell back at her wake. ¡°Netun, how does this work? I¡¯m sure at least one of us is ready to learn your way.¡± The voice was familiar, as was the bearing she had. Of course Salven was the leader here, he should have expected as much. He turned to look out at the desert, feeling odd as he remembered the little patch of mushrooms he¡¯d spent hundreds of years alone in. ¡°How many of us are here?¡± This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source. Salven sent a bit of sorrow at his isolation, ¡°Thousands. There were only a dozen unaccounted for, you were one of them.¡± Netun closed his eyes, ¡°That¡¯s wonderful. I worried for so long- but that doesn¡¯t matter now. Salven, all you need to do is forgive yourself and things will slowly fall into place.¡± ¡°I¡­¡± Salven paused, ¡°It will be much harder to find an Alanerea who is ready for that than I assumed.¡± Netun nodded, ¡°Set in your ways then? Eight hundred years didn¡¯t mellow anybody out?¡± ¡°We still¡­try to see past it, but I think some of us will never be capable. No longer being mortal does strange things to most of our minds. We did¡­so many things against our promises, all I¡¯ve been able to think this whole time was that Alner was right to do as he did.¡± ¡°I can come back and check on everyone in a few weeks. But Salven, I found someone. Someone I think you¡¯d be glad to see again.¡± She sent curiosity as a response, so Netun rummaged in a pocket and pulled out a small -but sturdy- box. He opened it slowly so as to not alarm the things inside. When he set it down the culture of fungus eagerly spread out from the box and into the ground outside. Well¡­two cultures of fungus. He¡¯d found them tangled together rather thoroughly, but within a few months, they would separate again. The minds within were rather lethargic, not having enough mass to properly form thoughts in the same way sandfrost usually did it. It had taken quite a bit of telepathic pantomime to get both of them to understand that if they went into the box he would take them somewhere better. They¡¯d thoroughly devoured the two handfuls of leaves he¡¯d given them last week, and they seemed more responsive than last time. Salven absolutely radiated excitement as her spores erupted from the ground and scattered about in a rather showy exclamation of joy. They gathered rather forcefully upon the new culture and a few other souls that were listening sent out their own little probes. They all shouted the same word. ¡°TURSTE!¡± How she could tell immediately who it was was a skill Netun had never developed. Apparently, there were more benefits from having lived in the desert all this time than he¡¯d expected. ¡°TURSTE YOU LITTLE-¡± Netun interrupted her by waving away her spores. ¡°Now now, there¡¯s no need for such things.¡± He reached down and prodded at the mass, ¡°Turste here lost almost his entire mass just two months back, and he¡¯s in no state to properly respond to you.¡± ¡°I haven¡¯t heard from my brother in almost eight hundred years, I¡¯m going to SCREAM AT HIM¡­once he grows his brain back so he can understand JUST HOW ANNOYED I AM.¡± Salven mulled on that for a bit before moving her mental probe toward the other soul. ¡°I don¡¯t think I ever met her though. But there is something off about her, things shouldn¡¯t be able to grow like¡­that.¡± With a hand, Netun gently guided the not-Turste mass away from the Turste mass. ¡°I don¡¯t know who she is either, but Salven, she doesn¡¯t have the mark at all. I don¡¯t think she was ever cursed in the first place.¡± Salven sent curiosity, ¡°You think she¡¯s Turste¡¯s daughter? Some of us have tried to reproduce but it never works.¡± Netun frowned at the delicate structure of the living mass, absorbing that tidbit with not a bit of worry. How would they be able to return to the traditions of their past if they couldn¡¯t have children? That just made the past of this mystery soul that much more vital. ¡°Maybe. And there is something off about Turste too. But all we can do is wait.¡± ¡°We¡¯ve gotten too good at that,¡± Salven said ruefully. ¡°Thank you Netun, I¡¯ll keep an eye on the two of them.¡± ¡°I have some things to look into, I¡¯ll be back soon.¡± He stood up, leaving the toppled box in the sands. As he watched, the sand slowly parted, absorbing it and leaving not even a trace behind. ¡°We will await your return.¡± (Aymi 1)b2c1 Traitors

--- Aymiae --- Something was intriguing about how slowly thoughts moved. It was a bit like trying to think about something she couldn¡¯t quite remember; it was as if her mind was drifting through nothingness and occasionally bumping against a fact she remembered. Her name was Aymi. The deepest parts of the seas were out of reach. She¡¯d once hidden her mistress¡¯s favorite locket behind a cabinet after she¡¯d broken it. There were hundreds of memories, most of them were things she knew that she knew, but sometimes she would find one and pause for quite a while, trying to remember why that fact was so hard to think about. Her brother was dead and had been for quite a while. She was alone. But¡­well Aymi wasn¡¯t alone so that fact must be outdated. There were others here, in this place, she would occasionally meet one of them and see their own facts of the universe. It was like a vast desert of minds out there, occasionally she thought she could see little lights floating out that reminded her of what souls looked like from her time trying to learn necromancy. The other minds could do more than she could, and that fact only bothered her more the longer it existed. She needed to do something, to act, but the facts of how to do so weren¡¯t there, she knew how to move a body, but when she tried, all she got was a dim sense that there wasn¡¯t a body to move. There was something, but she couldn¡¯t quite understand the impressions it gave her yet. She could also -vaguely- remember dying. Sitting inside a burning building and weakly petting the head of a tree wolf as he whimpered against the flames. She remembered feeling something, and then she was here. The others around her had memories like that too, they readily shared them when she shared her own, but all of them were more strange than she¡¯d expected. They remembered dying of old age or falling into a deep chasm. They remembered a moment of shock years before that, as something in their souls was ripped away forever. They remembered being traitors, they asked if she was a traitor. She didn¡¯t know. They remembered having been here for an impossibly long time, but none of them knew exactly what number to give it. Aymi was the first new soul in the mass since the last of the traitors had died, and she was the only one who wasn¡¯t a traitor. She knew this somehow, from meeting their tendrils and seeing their memories. They were curious about her, but none of them yet remembered what hope was. She bumped into another mind and found a memory from not long ago bubbling to the surface, the confusion and fear as she tried to understand what was happening with slow¡­deliberate thoughts. The mind studied it, it examined the memory with thought. And then after a long moment, it spoke without language in the pure tongue of the land, ~What do you know of my brother, newcomer?~ Aymi took quite a while to process her words, her mind circling unhelpfully as it slowly came into focus. ~Brother?~ she managed to weakly send the concept of siblinghood. ~Turste, you came here with him.~ Aymi thought about that for a moment, slowly recalling the tree wolf again, she sent an image of the wolf, covered in mushrooms and screaming his insanity to the world. ~Tutste¡­~ The mind examined the memory with an intensity that Aymi hadn¡¯t expected, peering at it. ~He was¡­ a strange ferien?~ Aymi sent confusion, not knowing what that meant, ferien was¡­a concept cobbled with dog, wolf, and hunter, a concept that meant defender of the ash. Aymi wasn¡¯t familiar with that, or the word the mind tried to attach to it. The mind specified, ~It¡¯s probably closer to a wolf¡­ but Turste had an obsession with ferien. Could he turn into other things?~ Aymi thought about it again, remembering a bit of the conversation they¡¯d had, ~Not¡­ really.~ She tried to attach the concept of possessor entities to the words, but it didn¡¯t work. ~Alright, what do you call yourself?~ Aymi thought for a moment, remembering vaguely stories of fey that could steal your soul if they knew your name. She figured that this mind seemed nice, so there couldn¡¯t be any harm in it. By that point, she¡¯d forgotten her name and had to dig it up again. She contemplated for a decent amount of time again whether it was a bad idea to share, before relenting. ~It¡¯s Aymi.~ Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon. ~Nice to meet you, Aymi, I¡¯m Salven. Do you know who you are?~ ~Yes.~ ~Do you know how you got here?~ ~No.~ ~Were you sandfrost before this, or is this your first experience?~ Aymi paused at that, a realization finally dawning on her, ~Sandfrost! I wasn¡¯t!~ She sent excitement, ~It worked!~ Salven sent alarm, ~You did this on purpose?!~ ~I¡­think so, that is odd, isn¡¯t it.~ -- Aymiae opened an eye, blinking at the world around her. White sands sprawled out from the area, but as she remembered the thousands of souls around her, she could pick out the sandfrost, the spores, and the way each thought led to new growth in them. Her eyes weren¡¯t very effective yet, but she could still see the moon up above and it¡¯s calming light, just like Netun described it. Aymi looked down at herself and examined the figure woven out of mushrooms and streams of fungus. She didn¡¯t look exactly like her old self, but she¡¯d managed to use her soul as a template at least, so she suspected she was mostly the same height and build. None of the others could do this sadly, a result of their nature as traitors, but they¡¯d helped her so much once she¡¯d started talking to them. Hesitantly Aymi got to her feet, instinctively reinforcing the legs since she hadn¡¯t made them quite as sturdy as what was needed. The body was really really fragile at the moment, she didn¡¯t have much of a model and had no idea yet how to make the internal systems work effectively. This wasn¡¯t the first time she¡¯d stood up, but it was the first time she¡¯d had something resembling eyes. She¡¯d managed ears a while ago, and the sense of taste was trivially easy since she already had something like it with her mushrooms. Aymi flexed a hand and decided she¡¯d fudged the construction again. She kept trying to give it four fingers like a tuvei, but her template apparently wanted five. As a result of the conflicting ideals, the joints were always in the wrong places and some lengths were distinctly off. This version probably wouldn¡¯t be able to hold things or achieve any level of manual dexterity. There was a man sitting on the ground in front of her, watching her curiously. He was taller than she¡¯d expected, with a beefy build that defied all reason for a tuvei. He looked a bit too much like a human, but his stark white hair, skin of exactly that same shade, and almost red eyes told all she needed to know. Netun, the traitor who¡¯d overcome his nature. ¡°That¡¯s good, your ears are still working, right?¡± Aymi thought for a moment before remembering how to nod, she opened her mouth and found the words coming out as a slur, ¡°The¡­handsss are¡­¡± She blinked slowly and shook her head before simply holding them up for him to see the mismatched joints and wrong proportions. He tilted his head, ¡°You¡¯re fighting the template.¡± ¡°It wantsss¡­ five.¡± ¡°Well, maybe your hands would be better with five fingers then.¡± Aymi squinted at them and thought about it for a second before conceding his point. She¡¯d just have to figure out how to use five. She thought for a moment, ¡°Thank¡­thank you.¡± ¡°Nonsense descendant, I¡¯m certain you will repay us with knowledge a hundredfold when you go out into the world with this.¡± Aymi nodded, remembering the promise she¡¯d made to the souls in the sand. I will help the world, I will seek only the future where that world is preserved, I will serve the people, and I will avenge needless destruction. ¡°Still¡­thank you.¡± -- It took quite a while for Aymi to feel comfortable that she would be mistaken for a regular person if anyone saw her body, every time the sun rose it would kill the body she made until she finally obtained enough presence of mind to start burying it properly under the sands. Throughout the whole thing, Netun didn¡¯t even comment on her diminished intellect, though she could tell it was frustrating for him. He would simply nod and explain how he did something. She didn¡¯t have to do it the same way as him after all, even though she could tell that Netun hoped she would do it his way. It was a long and arduous process, but she even figured out how to make something that looked quite a bit like clothing. Netun said that was a must-have since their bodies were fragile by nature and would often require replacing without access to things like fabric or armor. The only thing she couldn¡¯t change was the stark white color of the entire body, it wasn¡¯t completely out of line for a tuvei, but the template decided to look quite a bit more human than she¡¯d expected, even more so than Netun¡¯s. The ears were still pointed, but they weren¡¯t large enough to be a tuvei. There were still antennae, which were exactly the right shape to use as spore collectors so she could communicate with the others, but the template wanted them smaller. At least with this, she could simply ignore the template since it was a size problem and not a construction issue. When she found a pool of water one night and examined her reflection, she couldn¡¯t help but admit that she now looked distinctly like some of those halfbreeds she had occasionally seen in her travels. I¡¯m going out tonight, Aymi finally decided. She pushed some spores out with her resolve. One of the souls nearby sent a confirmation. Beside Aymi, a small box was pushed out of the sand by the mushrooms growing there. When she¡¯d asked about money, the souls had admitted to having quite a large stash from people who¡¯d died in the desert over the years. Aymi picked up the box, her fingers still felt clumsy, but that was from lack of practice now, not lack of ability -that extra finger was really throwing her off too. She opened the box and counted the coins inside, deciding it was at least enough to get some real clothing that would help protect this body from the sun. Netun nodded to her and stayed where he was, watching the moon above in a way that told of hope with a twinge of regret. (Aymi 2)b2c2 Small towns

--- Aymiae, the year 774 --- Aymi smiled at the shop owner, taking the dress and folding it into her arms, ¡°Do you have any travel bags? It seems like I have money left.¡± The man nodded easily and led her past the clothing displays, ¡°We get our leather straight from Genso¡¯s, he¡¯s got the highest quality stuff as far as Ceruleia.¡± Aymi nodded, but she¡¯d never heard of this guy before. After hesitantly asking what day it was earlier, she¡¯d been slightly relieved to find it had only been three years since the fire. She¡¯d only known that because it was a leap year now and she recognized things too much for it to have been the leap year after this one. Netun hadn¡¯t exactly been counting the passage of time so it had seemed possible. She browsed through the bags, eventually finding one that suited her needs. It was big enough to carry the money box and it had plenty of pockets. It also came with a basic alchemy set, which Aymi felt she would need quite a bit in the weeks to come. With her remaining money she bought a silver necklace that met the requirements for a basic permanent illusion. She hadn¡¯t trusted herself to make one before, she was waiting on testing out her illusions. But¡­well there was something distinctly wrong with the instinctive part of her affinities. It seemed like it wasn¡¯t even there. Aymiae walked through the streets until the night started to get late, finding an open shop had been difficult, and people had started giving her more strange looks the later in the night it got, perhaps because her body glowed slightly in the dark, she hadn¡¯t figured out how to turn that off yet and Netun has simply shrugged and said it took practice. She hummed and picked through a pile of garbage, even finding a whole sack of rotting vegetables that would be perfect to feed her mushrooms. Truly the world was looking up. That was when she felt something hard smack into the back of her head. According to everything that Netun said, it was at this point when Aymi should have fled her body and cut her losses, but she hadn¡¯t journeyed around the world for ten years just to fall flat when things took a turn for the worse. Aymi let herself go limp, her body didn¡¯t really do unconsciousness, but she felt something important break. Thinking as fast as her body would let her, Aymi decided she needed more information first. She felt someone peek into her bag, evidently finding the alchemy kit and the bundle of clothing. She heard a hissed whisper, ¡°You said she was loaded!¡± Someone roughly pulled the bag toward them, and Aymi let her body flop in that direction, ¡°She was! She got the thickest clothing and the most expensive bag!¡± They pulled a large object from the bag and froze, Aymi heard something strike the ground nearby as it was tossed, ¡°Ew! I think I got some on me!¡± There was a slapping sound and the other assailant shuddered, ¡°Rotting vegetables?¡± Someone pulled at the bag at Aymi¡¯s side again, finally finding the box of coins, as evidenced by their sharp intake of breath and a quiet cheer. Aymiae waited a moment longer and then pulled herself to her feet, but she couldn¡¯t quite prop her head up like it should, she ended up growing a quick line of harder fungus to hold it up, but her mobility was limited. Sparks, she hoped her neck wasn¡¯t broken, that would be a pain to fix. She saw the two assailants standing a few paces away, staring at her with wide eyes. Aymi examined them for a moment and turned to examine the bag of vegetables, ¡°If you wanted the money so bad, you could have just asked.¡± She felt at her neck, deciding that it was, in fact, broken. It felt odd, and Aymi was distinctly glad that she¡¯d never broken her neck before. Good thing she¡¯d been testing out different ways to wire the nerves. ¡°Sparks, that¡¯s not pleasant. Are you going to apologize or what?¡± One of the assailants, a tall human man with an unfortunate nose, bolted at that point. He had the box. The other assailant stuttered to herself, she looked around maybe fifteen, and she was also human. ¡°I-I sorry!¡± Aymi shrugged, ¡°I think it¡¯s mostly just annoying. Do you need like¡­help or something? Why did you turn to mugging people in back alleys?¡± This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. She stuttered a little bit more and then bolted. Aymi sighed, glancing down at her skin but already knowing that she¡¯d been glowing pretty strongly as she worked to repair the damage. Sparks, that was annoying. She picked up the bag of vegetables and the rest of her things, glad that the only thing they¡¯d taken was the box. It reminded her of all the things she¡¯d lost during that fire. I wonder how Reiaran is doing¡­ The pain from that thought was unexpected, and it only reminded Aymi of how strange it was to be in a city again, even if it was a small one. She¡¯d gotten used to the sands, the networks of fungus, and the souls that spent all their time simply thinking. But she¡¯d been a tuvei before that, a proud descendant of the alanerea, a retired adventurer who¡¯d had an entire life, and an entire web of people. She¡¯d been trying so hard to get Harrel to slow down and notice her for once, but then it had all ended in a moment. Aymi felt as if she finally completely understood why Fari had tried so hard to live both lives. But that effort had only ended badly, and Aymi didn¡¯t want to die again. Don¡¯t go back to Reiaran then, go other places, tie up loose ends, discover the world, help people, you only stopped because someone needed to look after the Ayfel¡­ She liked that idea, perhaps in a couple of months, after she got a greater hold on her abilities. -- As the weeks passed by, Aymi formed new bodies, grew her mass, and gained greater ability in the nuances of shaping herself. It got to the point where she didn¡¯t even have to follow the outline in every aspect anymore, she knew how to make lungs, she knew how to make a tongue, she knew how eyes worked and she knew how to modify the strength of each of her senses. She could smell things from miles away if she concentrated and she could purge all impurities from herself with a mere thought. Occasionally she would check up on Turste, but he still wasn¡¯t talking. Salven theorized that he was deliberately curtailing his mass regeneration, though if that was the case he had to have a reason. They had ideas for what that reason might be, but they couldn¡¯t confirm it until Turste stopped doing it. Several times Aymi thought of maybe bringing him a new body to possess, but she had no way of knowing if that would work. ¡°Is there any way for us to get a hold of a dead ferien?¡± Aymi asked Netun one day, ¡°He would probably love to be one of those again.¡± Netun shook his head, his eyes distant, ¡°We can¡¯t find Aleene, it¡¯s been blocked from our view forever. Feriens only live there.¡± Aymi nodded slowly, ¡°Is there a reason he can possess things and no one else can?¡± Netun grew solemn, looking down at his hands, which had balled into fists. ¡°¡­yes I think so. There was something very very different in Turste than the rest of us. A desire to simply be something other than himself. Some say that he had the soul of a ferien and the body of an alanerea, but that wasn¡¯t quite it. He did everything he could think of just to become a ferien. We¡¯d all long since left behind the powers of our god, but Turste? He knew that those powers would give him what he needed.¡± Aymi frowned, ¡°So he did something no one else would and it changed his soul significantly enough that it carried over when he was cursed?¡± ¡°Possibly.¡± Netun sighed, a deliberate action since they didn¡¯t need to breathe except to talk. ¡°If that¡¯s the reason, then the curse changed the seed of this ability in all of us, but Turste is the only one who had it unlocked.¡± Aymi nodded slowly, ¡°So you think the inactive version is in me too?¡± Netun shook his head, ¡°No, I think yours is active. I believe this is the same ability you and I use to change our forms since that¡¯s closer to the original effect than what¡¯s happening to Turste. The difference between us and Turste is that we aren¡¯t holding onto the curse.¡± Aymi leaned back with a frown, ¡°But I feel like after the alanerea moved here, their children wouldn¡¯t have been born with the inactive ability.¡± Netun paused, remembering those days, ¡°That¡¯s true, you shouldn¡¯t have it at all¡­ Well we¡¯ll have to get someone with soul sight to look at you, and we would have to describe what to look for¡­ hmm¡­¡± Aymi tilted her head, ¡°Alright, I can put that on the to-do list.¡± He blinked, ¡°You have a to-do list?¡± She grinned, pulling out the notebook she¡¯d gotten during her last trip to that small town. ¡°Yup.¡± She held it out to him and he took it with a curious expression. ¡°This is¡­interesting. ¡®Settle issues in Yera,¡¯ ¡®find Harrel,¡¯ ¡®look into reports of odd patches of sandfrost,¡¯ what¡¯s this part here? ¡®Settle issues with the Society of the Mis-born Dragon.¡¯¡± Aymi felt her grin fall, ¡°¡­just a shady group that kept threatening me after I discovered their secret base a while ago. It¡¯s not super urgent, I just want to let them know I¡¯m still watching them, I¡¯ll¡­probably have to shut down their orphan trafficking again too.¡± She remembered the thin children starving in cages and shuddered, it hit far too close to home. Had things been different, it could have easily been herself in those cages, Aneles too, even Fari and the other girls she¡¯d known in the Ayfel. Netun could sense that this was a more sensitive topic, probably because Aymi had lost her hold on her spores and they were flying about, projecting her sorrow onto the world. Netun placed a hand on her shoulder, ¡°If you need help with that one¡­if you need help with any of these, just ask, okay?¡± Aymi smiled, ¡°Thank you.¡± (Aymi 3)b2c3 You Never Stopped

--- Aymiae --- Aymiae wove an illusion. It was significantly harder than before the fire, the magic didn¡¯t want to flow along the same lines she was used to, and Aymi had a terrible suspicion that her affinities had been destroyed. But one didn¡¯t need affinities to craft a spell, and Aymi just had to trust that she would figure it all out when she got her soul looked at. So she wove the illusion, feeling it drain her more than she was used to on top of the difficulty. ¡­Oh well, she would just¡­have to practice more. That loss was compounded upon her others, but she¡­she could manage. She just wouldn¡¯t accidentally enhance her appearance sometimes, she wouldn¡¯t instinctively silence her footsteps¡­she wouldn¡¯t be able to trick her ears into not hearing something or her eyes into ignoring garish wallpaper¡­she wouldn¡¯t accidentally trick her heart into silencing it¡¯s voice. She¡¯d noticed the lack of those things in the last few weeks, how could she not? But Aymi didn¡¯t truly feel them until now. She¡¯d just figured that maybe her soul was recovering, she¡¯d figured that once she cast an illusion it would all work out. But it hadn¡¯t. She probably wouldn¡¯t be able to manage even a complicated wind spell anymore though, let alone the instinctive kind, she was just glad she¡¯d done enough illusions that they weren¡¯t dropped to that level. With a sigh, Aymi draped the chain over her head, relishing the feeling of transforming into someone else. In this case, that someone else was herself. White hair, dark gray skin, and light blue eyes that were the slightest bit crossed at all times. Aymi had fixed the crossed part a long time ago, but if people saw them that way they tended to assume her vision was bad. So it had become part of her instinctive illusions, and now it was part of this illusion. Netun glanced up from his thoughts at the change and appraised the illusion, looking impressed, ¡°I wouldn¡¯t guess that you were sandfrost. We¡¯re moving now then?¡± Aymi held up her hand after a thought and frowned at the fifth finger, ¡°Sparking¡­¡± She sighed, at least she didn¡¯t still have visibly bright red eyes¡­this was distinctly less eye-catching. ¡°Yes, first we¡¯ll go to Aubinere and find Harrel¡¯s family, they¡¯ll have an idea where he is.¡± Netun nodded, then glanced at the sand, ¡°Have you figured out how to make spare bodies yet?¡± ¡°No, but I think I¡¯m close.¡± Aymi frowned in the direction of Aubinere, ¡°I have part of my mass over there though, shouldn¡¯t it be possible to dissolve this body and make a new one over there?¡± Netun followed her gaze, ¡°I tried that once, but it took a week. It would be useful for larger distances, but do you remember what I told you about that conundrum?¡± ¡°Right, once the consciousness is gone from part of the mass for too long it stops producing new spores. After a month or two away it dies off entirely. Couldn¡¯t we circumvent that by moving our consciousness back through the networks every few days?¡± Netun seemed a bit unsure, ¡°I¡¯ve tried something like that before, and I think it did slow down, but I¡¯ve also talked to some of the other souls and they seem to think that mass just won¡¯t stretch for farther than a few hundred miles, the connections break down faster the more mass there is. At a point it breaks down faster than you can make more.¡± Aymi nodded slowly, ¡°And there goes the possibility of any one of us simply growing across the whole world.¡± Oh well, it was just an idea. Netun grined and stood up, stretching his back as a puff of stagnant spores fell in a layer from his skin. That part had taken a bit of getting used to, but Aymi could say for certain by now that she would feel odd if they stopped appearing. ¡°Alright, adventure time!¡± Aymi felt a familiar excitement envelope her, memories of times with Cada, Marn, Raan, and Harrel, she was once again going out into the world to make a difference. -- Aubinere was a large city, the biggest in the entire Sanarian desert. It was one of the few remaining cities that had existed long before the cataclysm, it had been named something that meant ¡°land of the scorching sun¡± before that because according to Netun, aubinere meant sandfrost in one of the old tongues, and sandfrost hadn¡¯t existed before the cataclysm. Aymi was still reeling from the fact that so many historical conundrums could just be solved by simply asking Netun. He didn¡¯t know everything, and most of his knowledge surrounded the state Melor had been in when the alanerea arrived, but it was still far more than Aymi had ever known. Yera had been an almost world-scaling power, they¡¯d limited magic in everyone and spread increasingly complicated and powerful technology across their lands. The only thing that had stood in their way was the dragons, and the scaly beasts didn¡¯t particularly care what mortals were doing as long as it didn¡¯t get in the way of their expected eternity of existence. Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more. Until that is, the alanerea arrived on powerful fleets and reaped destruction and conquest¡­ Aymi¡¯s mind was still on that fact as the two of them strode into the desert city. The moon hung in the sky and clocks ticked steadily past the last hour and into the next day. The stars slowly faded from view as the light of the city drowned them out. Aymi had seen that effect a few times in her travels, but she couldn¡¯t help but think that it was a loss to be blind to the lights of Orien. Aubinere didn¡¯t have a check in policy at the walls like Reiaran and the rest of Melor did, it was in an entirely different country where Queen Steris wasn¡¯t in charge or ordering a census of her people every five years. Instead, Aubinere had guards roaming the streets with patrols, stopping violence when they came across it and helping to contain any known criminals that were reported. In the late hours of the night, those patrolls were impressive, a guard or three would march across any given street at least once an hour, more so in the higher populated areas of the city. Aymi lost count of the amount of guards she passed, they all gave Netun strange looks because of his extremely albino appearance, not to mention the hybrid state of his features. Aymi suspected they would bother him a lot more if she wasn¡¯t with him, and if she wasn¡¯t holding herself like someone important. Her illusion was keeping up, but she had to channel more energy into it sooner than she was accustomed to. Which was¡­still a loss, she felt another pang of sorrow, remembering again that her footsteps wouldn¡¯t be magically silent anymore, that she wouldn¡¯t be as observant, that she¡­ Aymi sighed, forcing her mind into a more productive track. Netun is expecting you to show him where we¡¯re going, you can¡¯t dwell on this right now. ¡°Harrel¡¯s family is a local power,¡± she explained, ¡°Their house title is Shelex, and they have a history of being¡­odd. Most of them barely act like nobles, and they have a long tradition of strongly suggesting all their children in their early adulthood to spend a couple of years adventuring and seeing the world or simply being sent to become priests if they refuse.¡± Netun seemed impressed, ¡°It¡¯s a proven way to get people to see each other as people. I suspect if other nobles did that they wouldn¡¯t be as bad.¡± Aymi tilted her head, thinking about the various houses in Reiaran, Aulous¡­Nakonua¡­ yeah, they were terrible. ¡°I¡¯ve met some of his cousins, and that seems right. The Shelex also happen to be extremely interested in other realms, they¡¯ve been trying to politically secure some kind of realm gate for several generations, but all I know about that is rumors.¡± ¡°Other realms are fickle¡­ we had some people looking into them before the betrayal, but that was with hundreds of years of buildup. You¡¯re saying these Shelex have figured out how to actually go to other realms?¡± Aymi blinked at him, ¡°We¡¯ve¡­known how to do that for quite a while I think. I don¡¯t know who first went to another realm, but I¡¯ve read about them all over the place. Arendi, Arithren, Wreyn¡­ of course the between too.¡± Netun frowned, then started muttering to himself, ¡°Your social and technological maturity is so odd¡­you have sports but you still have wars, you have sanitation but you don¡¯t have dedicated doctors, you have amazing advances in magic but some of the most basic disciplines are shunned¡­¡± Aymi examined the houses, remembering the address that Harrel gave her, ¡°Is that¡­not normal?¡± ¡°No, I don¡¯t think so. I¡¯ve only experienced a few civilizations in my time, but that¡¯s generally not how things work.¡± Aymi frowned, recalling something Turste had told her before the fire, ¡°Your god. He keeps erasing everything. Next time it will be worse, because there are still things you remembered.¡± She hesitated, ¡°Do you think there will be another cataclysm?¡± Netun blinked, ¡°...What gives you that idea?¡± ¡°Just something Turste said once¡­¡± Netun thought for a moment, and then sighed, ¡°We don¡¯t have enough evidence to be sure, but plenty of the other alanerea have been talking about it. They feel like it¡¯s inevitable and I¡¯ve been gone for too long to properly consider their points. I¡¯d ask Salven about this next time you cross paths.¡± Aymi nodded, but there was a terrible feeling attached to these thoughts, a sorrow that bit at her. Odds were they had decades before it might happen, but the idea that life as it was might be temporary? And how much death might there be? How much injustice? She¡¯d taken an oath to preserve life and to seek justice for those without a chance at it themselves, if this was true, what could she do about it? ¡°I¡¯ll do that.¡± She found herself saying, hoping that the alanerea were wrong, hoping that the world would be fine. ¡°It will be fine, you¡¯ll see.¡± Netun examined a particularly extravagant house and Aymi followed his gaze ahead toward a more decorated guard patrol down the road. ¡°Are we getting close at this point?¡± Aymi glanced at the name above the gate, and toward the next house ¡°It should be the next one.¡± The noble district was cleaner than the rest of the city, and somehow more and less crowded, they¡¯d come across at least twelve patrols in just a handful of minutes, each of them wearing different house colors, but Aymi hadn¡¯t seen hardly any regular people. The next house was different though, it had about the same levels of land and expense as the other noble houses, with enough space to easily fit at least two dozen smaller houses. Yet somehow the house of Shelex was more humble, if that was the word. The gardens contained mostly native plants, cacti and succulents that would be easy to care for. Between plants and along the paths of the gardens, there were formations of rock crafted by magic that seemed to flow like water, impressive, but not extravagant. The walls around the manor were similar, also shaped from stone but they seemed natural, as if the world had simply decided that the rock would be shaped that way. An arch of stone heralded the entrance and there was nothing visible barring the way for anyone to simply stride into the gardens, but they had to have some kind of spell on it to keep unwanted people or thieves away. The house itself was large, made of natural rock shaped into impossible sweeping shapes, the strata showed off impressive colors and a bronze roof was a stark contrast. It was humble, but also extravagant, and somehow it was exactly what she¡¯d pictured it would be. She frowned, glancing at the ground, ¡°I¡¯m starting to feel hungry, Netun, is that strange?¡± Her gaze moved toward the guards that were still a decent way off, her eyes narrowing in thought, but she shook her head and examined the gate closer. ¡°That is strange, Aymi, are you-¡± She shook her head again, plastering on a smile, ¡°It¡¯s alright it¡¯s gone now, I¡¯m fine. Let¡¯s go meet the Shelex.¡± ¡°If you¡¯re sure¡­¡± ¡°I¡¯m sure.¡± (Aymi 4)b2c4 Shelex --- Aymiae --- Aymi stood at the gate, remembering belatedly that it was the middle of the night. She¡¯d been right about the presence of a spell to keep people out, because when she tried to pass through the stone arch, there was a soft buzzing sound. The two people of sandfrost watched curiously as a glowing ball of light emerged from the top of the arch, buzzing around them like a firefly. Aymi wasn¡¯t an expert on spirits, but when what she had first assumed to be a spell construct began talking, she figured that must be what it is. ¡°What business do you have with the Shelex! It¡¯s the middle of the time of stars, if you by chance haven¡¯t noticed.¡± It spoke with a high pitched childlike voice, the sound wasn¡¯t unpleasant, but it was odd. Aymi straightened her back from the slight slouch that had crept in when she hadn¡¯t been paying attention. ¡°I have business with the master of the house, I seek Harrel Shelex and I suspect they know where to find him.¡± ¡°The mistress is sleeping, like all the other mortals right now.¡± The sprit explained, hovering in front of Aymi for a moment before fluttering around Netun. ¡°You¡¯re strange, I¡¯ve never seen someone so white.¡± ¡°Thank you,¡± Netun said, grinning. ¡°I try.¡± Aymi frowned, mistress of the house? Did that mean that Pastin was dead? ¡°Can you at least let the mistress of the house know I¡¯d like a meeting with her at the earliest convenience?¡± ¡°I already did.¡± It said dryly. ¡°You mortals are always looking down on spirits, it¡¯s always ¡®spark, you¡¯re supposed to call my father when I come home!¡¯ ¡®Spark, what did you do to my sparking doorbell?¡¯ ¡®Spark what time is it?¡¯ it¡¯s annoying. I¡¯m never making a contract again after this one is over. You should learn that we can get things done perfectly fine without you telling us to!¡± Aymi sighed, ¡°Well, thank you for doing it. When should we come back?¡± The ball of light flashed blue for a moment, and then started grumbling. ¡°Nevermind apparently. The mistress woke up,¡± it sighed, ¡°and now she¡¯ll want to talk to you now. Mortals are so strange¡­just go back to sleep!¡± It muttered a bit and floated back up to the top of the arch, molding into the rock and out of sight. ¡°I do allll the work around here, can you stabilize the temperature of a mini domain? Can you find a missing earring in less than ten seconds? I didn¡¯t think so!¡± Aymi watched the spirit uncertainly, but after a moment the front door of the manor opened to reveal an elderly man in servant clothes. He was plump, and he wore a grandfatherly smile. ¡°The mistress would like to see you.¡± - The servant led Netun and Aymi into the manor, though winding hallways that looked just like any other house, without a sign to be seen of the rock that coated the outside. There were paintings of nature that decorated the walls, every other painting there was one that depicted a person, young or old, they all resembled Harrel and Hivren. She¡¯d never been here, but she¡¯d attended several of the Shelex family gatherings with Harrel, so she recognised most of the faces. His cousins, brothers, his parents but younger, his nieces and nephews who were currently on adventures of their own. The servant opened a door that was identical to all the others along the hallway and gestured for them to enter. They stepped past the servant and appraised the room. Aymiae was met by two women, one around her own age, perhaps a bit older. This was Emelit. Her eyes were weary, and her bearing was authoritative. She was Harrel¡¯s sister in law, Hivren¡¯s mother. She was also the wife of Pastin, who had been -last Aymi checked- the master of the house. The other woman was perhaps in her thirties, and heavily pregnant. Felosin was a classic beauty, and the heir of the Shelex line, she was also Hivren¡¯s older sister and Harrel¡¯s niece. It was news to Aymi that she¡¯d finally settled down, she had an almost Harrel-like obsession with being out in the world, but the sharpness of her eyes hadn¡¯t faded any, so Aymi doubted her wanderlust had faded either. Netun examined them and sat down in the proffered chair, moving his gae back to Aymi and then between her and the two Shelex. The women were simply staring at her. Aymi cleared her throat awkwardly, ¡°I¡¯m looking for Harrel. Where can I find him.¡± Felosin finally stood up, placing her hands on her hips, her eyes hard with her constant soulsight. ¡°Aymiae?! Aren¡¯t you supposed to be dead? Sparks, it figures that you wouldn¡¯t die, You¡¯re made of tougher stuff than that, adventuring with uncle Harrel all that time. You absolutely must tell me the story of your survival!¡± Emelit simply continued staring at Aymi, eventually moving her gaze to Felosin, ¡°She¡¯s¡­real? You aren¡¯t being bewitched?¡± ¡°Mother,¡± Felosin said, seeming exasperated, ¡°I would recognize the shape of that soul anywhere, it¡¯s practically glowing with big letters saying ¡®this is Aymiae, you know, that Aymiae.¡¯¡± Aymi felt a bit awkward still, but she nodded, ¡°It¡¯s me. I¡¯m a bit¡­different in some ways now, but I promise you that I¡¯m the same Aymiae that spent years adventuring with Harrel.¡± Felosin nodded and glanced at Netun, ¡°And who¡¯s this?¡± Netun glanced at Aymi, but he remembered the long conversation they¡¯d had a few days ago about telling the Shelex the truth when they met them. ¡°I am called Netun of the Alanerea. I serve as a mentor of sorts for our Aymi here, who has by happenstance been added to our numbers about¡­was it three years back?¡± Aymi nodded, ¡°Three years back.¡± Netun smiled, ¡°Yes, those three years have been enough for her to almost rival me in skill, which I hear is a specialty of hers.¡± Felosin sighed, ¡°Of course, you joined another unknown society of mages. I assume you¡¯ll want me to gauge your abilities again? I¡¯ll get the equipment.¡± --- Hivren --- Hivren Shelex was tired of dealing with Reiaran politics. Why was it such a huge deal to them that he was rebuilding the Ayfel? They weren¡¯t even slowing down the production out of respect for the Hero, which he would have accepted much more gracefully. No, they just¡­didn¡¯t want him to make it happen at all. Hivren was starting to understand why Aymiae hadn¡¯t tried too hard to restore it after the first couple of years, Hivren had effectively been wrangling with the magistrate and the nobility for three years by now, and it certainly wasn¡¯t helping that he¡¯d been back in Aubinere for most of that time, trying to convince his mother that she did not need to arrange a marriage right this moment, thank you very much. Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there. If this is what he had to deal with as the backup heir, Hivren shuddered to think of how much pressure must have been placed on his sister all this time. Mother had still gotten a betrothal arranged, but Hivren had managed to convince her to at least let him get to know the girl for a few months before it went any farther than that. I digress. Hivren was not in the greatest of moods when the expensive comm crystal his mother had sent back with him started flashing. After father died she¡¯d insisted he keep it with him at all times, and like the dutiful son he was, Hivren took it out and reluctantly accepted the communication. ¡°...Hivren?¡± His mother¡¯s voice sounded hesitant and worried, perhaps a bit scared. Hivren felt his annoyance fade to the back of his mind at her tone, he knew his mother. Something was happening, something serious. ¡°What is it? Is something wrong?¡± ¡°I¡­I don¡¯t know how to explain it. Someone came looking for Harrel, she said she knew him, and she also knows you.¡± Hivren frowned, trying to think of who it might be, maybe Cada? He¡¯d met her a few times, but his mother should recognize Cada. ¡°Alright, but something else has you unsettled? What did she say her name was?¡± ¡°Hivren, I know who she is. That¡¯s the problem, it¡¯s Aymiae.¡± Hivren felt a jolt of sudden shock, he stood up from his desk, bumping his head into the sparkingly low ceiling -really, tuvei were unnaturally short- ¡°What?!¡± He shouted, rubbing his head, ¡°But Aymi is dead? She burned with the Ayfel!¡± ¡°She didn¡¯t seem very dead to me, Hivren.¡± His mother, using sarcasm? Sparks that meant she really believed it was Aymi. It couldn¡¯t be though, it was probably a shape changer, or a dragon in disguise¡­or¡­a skilled illusionist¡­ Sparks had she just faked her death? Hivren had halfway expected Eliax to appear one day, just stride into somewhere important and casually say something obscene while everyone was trying to figure out how she was alive agian. But Aymi? He¡¯d mourned for Aymi. the woman who in another life might have been his aunt. ¡°Are you¡­Mother, are you sure?¡± ¡°Yes. I¡¯m sure it was her. I don¡¯t believe it, but she¡¯s got the same soul and everything, Felosin checked and you know how she is with souls.¡± ¡°And you said she¡¯s going after Harrel? That means she¡¯s going to the capital?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Tell her I¡¯ll meet her there.¡± --- Netun --- Netun smiled at the tired looking mother as she returned to the room. She¡¯d claimed the need to contact her son, and Aymi had brightened slightly at the mention of Hivren. Netun wasn¡¯t entirely certain his student¡¯s history with the Shelex, but it was clear that they considered her to be almost family. As such, Netun tried not to look for broken oaths in their words, he tried not to think about the deaths that every noble house was most assuredly built upon. He would be prepared for their betrayal, but he wouldn¡¯t bother his student with the possibility. He could easily see the person he¡¯d once been scoffing at this, explaining how he had to keep tight control over everything, how he had to push away anything that might get in the way of his goals. His past self would have killed all of them by now without hesitation. But seven hundred years of thinking had changed him. Netun nodded as the mother sat beside him, examining Aymi and her daughter from the saide as they conducted a more delicate soul scan. She seemed a bit worried, but ultimately happy. The mother smiled at them and turned toward Netun, a spell falling into place that he couldn¡¯t quite get a sense of. It had the buzz of sensory magic to it, but that was about all he got. Netun sent the mother a curious look, ¡°What¡¯s that?¡± ¡°Privacy spell. I don¡¯t want to bother them.¡± she was still watching Aymi. ¡°How¡­has she been? Not blaming herself too much I hope?¡± Netun frowned, ¡°blaming herself?¡± ¡°She does that when something terrible happens. She always tries to tell herself that she could have fixed it. That she could have done better. I hope the fire didn¡¯t start another spiral in her.¡± Netun examined Aymi curiously, ¡°You seem to know her well.¡± ¡°As well as anyone can. We were friends for a long time, we all assumed she would one day marry Harrel, and then she would be part of the family, but then the years passed and the two of them never announced anything. We waited and waited, but there was nothing.¡± ¡°She never seemed to me at least that she¡¯s in love with anyone.¡± ¡°I¡¯ve talked with her about it and she was always unsure about Harrel. She liked him, she liked him a lot, but he was always¡­ somewhere else.¡± Netun nodded, ¡°That would explain why tracking him down is currently her top priority.¡± She frowned, ¡°Netun, is it? I know isolated mages won¡¯t usually tell strangers about their personal works, but what exactly was it that made Aymi have to fake her death just to learn from you?¡± He blinked, remembering the little tendrils of fungus that had been Turste and Aymi, he remembered the protectiveness he¡¯d felt for them, the knowledge that these souls had gone through Aeinar itself because of greed. ¡°The fire was real, the danger was real, and her method of escape left her wounded in body and soul, barely hanging on to life. She¡¯s been gone for these three years recovering and learning what she can from me. Her unprecedented wounds are the reason I took her into my protection.¡± The woman blinked, ¡°You¡¯ve saved her life then? In that case we owe you a debt.¡± ¡°No, Aymi owes me a debt.¡± He corrected, ¡°And she¡¯s already begun to pay it on her own.¡± She turned to look back at Aymi, ¡°There¡¯s something different about her bearing.¡± she whispered, even with the privacy spell. ¡°It¡¯s Aymi, but the way she¡¯s been talking, the way she¡¯s held herself, the way she looks at things¡­She¡¯s hiding something. She¡¯s still wounded isn¡¯t she? Is she covering bandages with an illusion?¡± Netun shook his head, ¡°All her wounds are in her mind by now, and those are only things that time can help. She is hiding something, but I suspect she¡¯s going to tell you.¡± He blinked his red eyes and smiled back at the woman, ¡°I¡¯m glad she already has people who care, I had to find my own strength. But at the same time, she won¡¯t be able to hold onto that crutch forever.¡± The pregnant daughter raised her head and took her hands off Aymiae¡¯s shoulders. The privacy spell fizzled out as the woman spoke, ¡°I can hardly tell that there were affinities there in the first place, I¡¯m sorry but they¡¯re completely gone, barely a scrap or a scar on your soul remaining. But there certainly is something odd like you said in there, it feels like a shifter affinity but it¡¯s different.¡± Aymi nodded, glancing at Netun, ¡°Well that answers that question.¡± Netun nodded, ¡°but it doesn¡¯t answer all of them.¡± He glanced at the soul mage, ¡°I have a similar construct, do I not?¡± She examined him for a moment before nodding as well, ¡°Once I know what to look for, it¡¯s almost identical, yours is more beaten up, but it¡¯s operational. Does this have to do with whatever magic Aymi is learning from you?¡± Aymi was still thinking though, ¡°I went through a huge physical change, why is my soul still almost completely identical?¡± The pregnant woman looked at her sharply, ¡°You were expecting it not to be?! Soul damage is not-¡± ¡°I wasn¡¯t expecting it, but not much else is the same so I didn¡¯t know.¡± Netun cleared his throat, ¡°are you going to explain to them or are you having too much fun dancing around that?¡± ¡°Sparking¡­Netun, how do you even say something like that?¡± He stood up. The two humans watched, the mother seeming worried and the pregnant daughter just entertained. Aymi frowned at him as he stepped closer, but she didn¡¯t stop him when he walked up in front of her and simply...took off her necklace. The illusion left with it. Aymi took the chain from his hands and glanced at the humans, smiling hesitantly, her red eyes glinting in the firelight. ¡°I ah¡­I might have been secretly turned into an entirely different species. It¡¯s not a big deal or anything, I¡¯ll just slowly die in the sunlight and¡­¡± The mother closed her eyes, ¡°Aymi¡­¡± The daughter peered at her closely, ¡°Interesting illusion.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not-¡± ¡°It¡¯s not an illusion.¡± Everyone glanced at Netun, the two humans no doubt noticing the similarities between the two of them, the red eyes, the pale white skin, the colorless hair. ¡°Okay, if that¡¯s not an illusion then what the sparks are you.¡± (Aymi 5)b2c5 Shape Changer

--- Aymiae --- She parted ways with Netun. He wanted to check on some leads in Yera, and she had that meet up with Harrel happening soon. So they¡¯d gotten some long distance communication crystals that could vibrate into specific patterns, Aymi had used them before so it was just a matter of teaching Netun. They both agreed that she would meet him in Yera after tracking down Harrel¡­ and then finding Raan so she could retrieve those spare keys to her bunker¡­ and then she had to deal with the society of the Mis-born Dragon again¡­ There was a lot on her plate, but Netun going to Yera would alleviate the stress of not knowing what the Whisper had been doing for the last three years, and it would help her get back into contact with some people there. So she agreed entirely with the idea of separating, but Aymi hadn¡¯t really¡­ been alone since before the fire. She¡¯d always had an alanerea checking on her, or Netun to bounce ideas off, or for the past couple of weeks she¡¯d had the Shelex. But now, unless she wanted to lose a few days to talk to one of the souls in the sand, Aymi was alone. -- Aymiae remembered feeling more and more tired as the weeks passed by, She trudged on through the desert, making little progress as she passed the dunes, she¡¯d already asked the alanerea for assistance seven times by now, she was running out of energy, she was running out of magic, she was running low on vitamins and all that. But every time they gave her more nutrients, it seemed to only drain away faster. They were happy to help, really, but Aymi felt bad asking them when they were already limited to the ancient organic matter that was found in the sands. Netun didn¡¯t have any ideas, or he hadn¡¯t figured out how to communicate them over the limited buzzing of the crystal, so she¡¯d stopped bothering him. She was just¡­ tired, that''s all. She told herself that she was just consuming too much energy. She cut off more of her mass from the whole, feeling a little better when she shrank to a more manageable size, but that only lasted a few days before she was back to misery and hunger. She ate decaying matter, she ate her own withering mushrooms, she went to a city and tried some human food again. But none of it lasted. Aymi remembered laying in the sand one morning, as the sun was just starting to hint at the possibility of rising. She remembered thinking that it might help if she just killed this body and made a new one, but¡­would she even have enough strength for that? Would she even be able to make one? Was she dying somehow? She stared up at the stars as they slowly began to wink out. She contemplated her options again and again. That was when a gruff looking man peered over her with a frown. He was dusty, and he wore one of those masks that filtered out the sandfrost to help protect the lungs. He spoke something terse in a language she didn¡¯t recognize, kicked her once in the ribs, and then started rifling through her pockets when she didn¡¯t react or even blink. He thought she was dead or something. Was she dead? I will help the world, I will seek only the future where that world is preserved, I will serve the people, and I will avenge needless destruction. The words of her promise danced in the back of her mind as the man wrenched the illusion chain from her neck, cooing over the delicate construction. ¡°How many other starving people have you robbed as they lay dying in the desert?¡± She whispered, turning her head to look at him. Was that a justification though? Was she about to do something that would only make the world darker? She examined the man, who¡¯d practically jumped out of his skin a moment earlier. Right, my illusion dropped. She slowly and ponderously rose into a crouch, the man fell onto his backside as she rose upward and edged away from her, yelling something, waving a strange symbol at her as if trying to keep a demon away. Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings. Aymi couldn¡¯t find it in herself to care what he thought she must be, because this was the perfect person to try out the very last option she could think of. She needed energy. The human body had a lot of energy, magical energy, vitality, even blood was energy. She launched herself at him almost by pure instinct, sinking her fingers into his arms and pushing her mana at him and then pulling. She grew sandfrost out from her fingers and into him, pulling nutrients straight from his blood. She found a reservoir of energy there, a connection to magic itself. The man went limp as Aymi sucked his affinities dry, taking a decent amount of blood with them. She released him after a moment, a sudden horrible terror pulling up into her bones. What had she¡­ what had she just done. She remembered prodding at him and feeling a distinct, overwhelming relief as she felt a steady pulse remaining. Perhaps that would¡­ yeah that would teach him not to rob people suffering in the desert. This was¡­ this was fine. She examined the five holes where her fingers had been and shuddered. It wouldn¡¯t kill him. Somehow she was sure of that. She stood up and glanced around, finding the man¡¯s steed hitched to a cart. The cart had a covering so she dragged him over and placed him inside to help prevent his demise when the sun rose. She took her illusion chain from his limp fingers and drew it once more over her head, still feeling sick. Aymiae walked off a ways and sent tendrils out into the ground. She parted the sand and dropped her body into the resulting indentation just as the sun began to rise, intent on interrogating the Alanerea for any possible information. -- After that Aymi lost energy slower, but if she took more than a month or two without stealing anyone¡¯s energy, she started spiraling again, it once even got to the point where she started losing control of her form entirely. She gave up after that. It wasn¡¯t terribly difficult to not kill the person, and it wasn¡¯t even that hard to just take a piece of their magic instead of eating their whole affinities, usually if she was discrete about it, they wouldn¡¯t even know something had happened. But that didn¡¯t stop her from feeling terrible about it every time. That didn¡¯t stop her from giving herself tear ducts just so she could cry. Which¡­ meant she needed more water. But sparks, things weren¡¯t supposed to be like this. At least you aren¡¯t a possessor entity, that would be so much worse. A part of her brain whispered. That¡¯s what she¡¯d expected to become honestly, if that idea with Turste had worked. She¡¯d expected to either die or to be kept somewhat alive while Turste held the wheel. She¡¯d expected it to be Aeinar¡¯s own torture but she¡¯d had so many things she regretted. She¡¯d had so many things she needed to tell people, so many unfinished dreams, so many people she¡¯d still needed to help¡­ and Turste was the only path towards that. But now she was here and it wasn¡¯t anything like she¡¯d expected. Turste was just different from the others but apparently so was she. But it was a good kind of different. Now though, Aymi wasn¡¯t sure if her kind of different was better or worse than Turste¡¯s. She had no idea in the moments how long it took her to get from Aubinere to Melor, but by the time she arrived at the waypost Harrel had said to send word through, it was the year seven hundred and seventy five. A whole year since she¡¯d left Aubinere. Aymi suspected that this would grow to be a common occurrence for her, losing a couple of years here and there since sandfrost greatly preferred a different timetable entirely from humanity. But she¡¯d still made Harrel wait a whole year in one city. The rest of the way to the capital, Aymiae didn¡¯t dismiss a single body, refusing to lose any amount of time, refusing to make Harrel wait any longer in a city than he had to. She knew how much he hated cities. Aymi was having a bad day, a bad week, a bad year, but a few months later, she finally approached the gates of the capital city, the moon far above, her illusion immaculate, her energy full from eating some magic the other day. And she knew that there was very little that would stop her from telling Harrel exactly what she¡¯d been avoiding for as long as she¡¯d know him. The only thing she could think of that might stop her was Harrel himself. (Aymi 6)b2c6 Vethemelnexintelali --- Hivren --- Hivren watched his fiance as she smiled pleasantly out at the capital city. The carriage rolled through the gates and just like everywhere else in Melor, they were stopped at the wall and asked for names. It only added a minute or so to their journey, but it was still an annoyance. ¡°What do you think of the capital?¡± Kureia asked him, sitting properly and firmly in her spot. Hivren followed her gaze out at the enormous palace and legions of guards, the bustling market, the lively taverns¡­ it reminded him of Reiaran a lot more than any other place, the main difference being the presence of all those soldiers. It hadn¡¯t been as bad lately, but queen Steris always did seem to give out soldiers sparingly. ¡°It¡¯s interesting.¡± He eventually said, examining the tops of large boats he could see from the docks. ¡°Why doesn¡¯t anyone call it by its name though? I think I¡¯ve only heard it a few times and ah¡­¡± Kureia smiled, ¡°And you can¡¯t remember most of the name, can you?¡± ¡°That¡¯s right.¡± His scholarly nature rebelled against that fact, but the more he examined his knowledge of the capital, the more he realized that besides the fact that it started with a V and that it was outlandishly long, he couldn¡¯t remember what it actually was. ¡°Vethemelnexintelali,¡± Kureia said easily, ¡°It means ¡®etherguard of the new age¡¯ in one of the old tongues. The name is from right after the cataclysm and historians suspect that it was one of the first cities built after the destruction.¡± Hivren leaned forward with interest. It was nice that she was a historian, because that was his blindspot. ¡°Etherguard of the new age, eh? That implies there was an etherguard of the old age, and what does that even mean?¡± Kureia¡¯s mouth twitched upward, ¡°No, most historians agree that etherguard refers to the tuvei. Apparently their ancestors saw themselves as such.¡± ¡°So why don¡¯t we call it etherguard instead of Veth¡­¡± ¡°Vethemelnexintelali?¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± Kureia shrugged, ¡°People do things like that sometimes, and it¡¯s not like the common folk know what it translates to.¡± Hivren nodded, glancing out the window again and pulling out the transcribed address his mother had told him. He¡¯d probably be here before Aymi, but he wanted to have a chat with Harrel beforehand anyway. ¡°It¡¯s like trying to study silvi, the question itself is usually how you identify the problem.¡± He frowned at the address for a moment before the carriage rolled to a stop. Oh well, that just meant the driver was better at directions than him. He peeked out at the building to find a rustic little bookstore titled ¡®Wela¡¯s Wonders¡¯ nestled between two taverns. Interesting neighborhood here. Kureia peeked out with a frown, glancing down the street on either side, taking note of the taverns and a random maket stall. She turned in another direction and noticed a few residential houses. ¡°The layout here is just as horrendous as I remember it.¡± The driver heard her and glanced their way with a chuckle, ¡°Well no doubt there, it annoys her majesty to no end, but this district belongs to noble house Seneset, they started lowering rent prices for chaotic layouts when her majesty took the throne.¡± Hivren frowned at the bookstore and the taverns, that seemed¡­reckless. Why spend social capital just to annoy someone? He tossed the driver a coin, absently sending a ¡°Thank you for your time¡± with it as he followed Kureia into the bookstore. The interior walls were lined with bookshelves, each of them packed full of worn tomes that had been greatly loved by their previous owners. There were presumably tables somewhere, but Hivren couldn¡¯t really see them under the stacks of books piled toward the ceiling on what had once been chairs and desks. They were now glorified book holders, and they seemed content with their new purpose in life. Why Harrel had asked them to meet here of all places was anybody¡¯s guess; as far as Hivren could tell, his uncle hadn¡¯t opened a book that was unrelated to his next expedition since finishing his schooling. That implied that Harrel was looking for information on his next exploit, but you could never really tell with him. Someone peeked out from the backroom when the bell on the door rang, but whoever it was ducked away a moment later. Kureia picked up a nearby book and leafed through it, prompting Hivren to do the same. It was a good way to pass the twenty minutes it took before the front door opened extravagantly under the sudden thrust of Harrel Shelex¡¯s palm. The bell didn¡¯t ring. The magical lights that Hivren had absently noticed floating in the corners winked out, Hivren¡¯s own mind enhancements petered out and his constant sense of the earth beneath him wavered before collapsing. Kureia seemed to have similar effects on her because she gasped and put a hand to her head. Hivren sighed and gently took his fiance¡¯s arm before leading her away from Harrel¡¯s path of violence. As such, the two of them had a spectacular view as he nodded once to Hivren and unceremoniously kicked the back door off its hinges with a physical might that Hivren still had no idea the actual force behind, magical or true. It was probably a mixture of both and- Sparks. Hivren blinked a few times as his mind moved slower than he was used to, belatedly remembering that Harrel had told him this before and he was wasting his time. Kureia set down the book she¡¯d been skimming and peered into the back room, still holding a hand to her head, ¡°Is he¡­ coming back?¡± Hivren nodded, ¡°He probably gave us this address because he was going to shut down some blackmarket something or other on the same day we were going to arrive.¡± He sighed as his mind tried to catch up with his reasoning, ¡°the uh¡­ Harrel didn¡¯t forget about us, he¡¯s just doing double work right now.¡± She blinked, seeming impressed, ¡°He gave us this address months ago.¡± ¡°Harrel is like that.¡± Sure enough, a moment later the nullifier walked cheerfully out of the backroom with a skinny man draped over one shoulder. The stranger was out cold and there was nothing about him that suggested he was some kind of criminal. Harrel grinned at them, waving like an energetic child, ¡°Hivren! Great to see you! Is this your lovely fiance?!¡± As he focused on them, Hivren felt -blessedly- as the nullification bubble lifted and his mind enhancements returned to him. His feet felt sturdier on the ground and his mind as clear as day. Hivren nodded, ¡°This is Kureia.¡± Harrel grinned wider, ¡°Great to meet you, Kureia.¡± She seemed a bit confused about the unconscious criminal, but she nodded cordially, a mask of indifference coloring her face. Hivren knew though that she was probably panicking a bit on the inside. ¡°It¡¯s a pleasure to meet such a legend as yourself.¡± She bowed her head in his direction. ¡°Hivren found a polite one too, that¡¯ll make gatherings interesting.¡± Hivren rolled his eyes, ¡°the arrangement was mother¡¯s idea, but I think we¡¯re both happy enough with each other.¡± ¡°Oh booo, that always adds needless drama.¡± ¡°That was my only worry too and it hasn¡¯t given fruit yet.¡± Kureia diverted the conversation, smiling at Harrel, ¡°So I¡¯ve heard that you¡¯ve done a lot of interesting things, what is it exactly that brought you to Vethemelnexintelali?¡± Sparks, she was probably just flexing on everyone her ability to actually say the city¡¯s name. Harrel seemed to think so too because he didn¡¯t comment on that fact. ¡°This bookstore. I¡¯ve been hunting the owner for quite a while. Wela is a nasty one, she is.¡± Kureia frowned, ¡°but you¡¯ve been here over a year, that can¡¯t be the only operation you were after.¡± Harrel shrugged, ¡°I did a few side jobs here and there, but I had to make Wela let her guard down. She knows I¡¯m coming for her.¡± ¡°And¡­you still haven¡¯t gotten her then?¡± Hivren deduced with a frown, glancing at the young man draped over Harrel¡¯s shoulder. Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel. ¡°It¡¯s a step in the right direction. This is the first time I¡¯ve gotten one of her subordinates and they haven¡¯t silenced themselves forever.¡± Hivren shuddered slightly, and then picked up the book he¡¯d been examining earlier, he left a few coins in its place, hoping that they wouldn¡¯t be used for something nefarious. Harrel led the way out the door where a dozen bored looking guards stood at attention. ¡°Thanks guys, I¡¯ll be using the building for the next few weeks though, I can try and get you more evidence if you¡¯d prefer?¡± One of them took the criminal from Harrel with a grunt, ¡°No need for that mister Shelex, You¡¯ve brought in enough of these people that we get the drill by now.¡± Harrel shook his head with bafflement, ¡°always check your sources men! Anyways this one is special, he¡¯s from the society of the Mis-born Dragon, have him on suicide watch because that¡¯s how we lost all the other¡¯s we¡¯ve almost caught. Be careful with him. I¡¯d like to interrogate him in a few days if that works for you.¡± The man grunted, apparently not going to ask for any further explanation. The guards were gone a moment later and Harrel grinned at Hivren and Kureia, ¡°Alright!¡± He sombered, which was absolutely terrifying on him, ¡°Emelit said that Aymi is going to arrive tonight. You¡¯re certain that she¡¯s the real Aymi?¡± ¡°My sister apparently evaluated her herself. Several times. That¡¯s the most proof we¡¯re going to get until she arrives.¡± Harrel nodded, ¡°I heard about that, but even a master soul mage can be fooled with a strong enough adversary.¡± Hivren sighed, ¡°You¡¯re going to nullify her when she gets here, aren¡¯t you.¡± ¡°Aymi wouldn¡¯t expect anything less of me, and if this is a shape changer or a different illusionist, I need to expose them.¡± --- Aymiae --- Aymi walked along the dark streets, curiously examining the new kind of magical streetlamp that lined the blocks with regular pulses. They were more blue than most magical fires, so she suspected they were actually individual light spells. She¡¯d become something of a street lamp connoisseur over the last year, and she really did see all the types there were in her travels. She approached the Seneset district, which was just as strangely chaotic as she remembered it being. Everything was measured by the exacting standards of the queen, every street lamp was at perfect intervals, and every building was the exact right distances from the buildings around it. Every fence was just the right height, and every street was numbered with a perfect grid system. Aymi remembered hearing about how much of the city Steris had torn down just to meet these exacting standards. It was certainly odd, but the city flourished. The Seneset district, however, took advantage of the one piece of the system that couldn¡¯t be orderly. The people. As a result, Aymi passed a washhouse, twelve tax buildings, a tavern, and six residential buildings on the first street. Navigation was easy, but you couldn¡¯t have much of an idea what a building would be just by the street name on an address. As such, when Aymi found herself at the address Harrel had given her, it wasn¡¯t too shocking that it was a bookstore nestled between two taverns. The only odd and slightly worrying part was the ¡®closed¡¯ sign on the front door. With a frown, Aymi examined the door, her eyes tracking to a piece of paper stuck to the other side. ¡®Aymi, come right in.¡¯ Huh. Well Harrel had probably pulled another version of the Nakonua incident or something. He was probably the shop owner now or he was looking after it for an elderly couple who were out of town or¡­ well it didn¡¯t matter. She pushed the door, and sure enough it opened under her hands. The room beyond was dark, but she saw a light coming from the backroom along with laughter and some jeering that sounded like Harrel. The bell above the door chimed happily and the voices stopped as three faces peered out at her. Harrel, Hivren, and a young woman that Aymi didn¡¯t recognize who matched the descriptions of Hivren¡¯s fiance. ¡°Aymi!¡± Hivren greeted with a wave, smiling, he glanced at Harrel, ¡°see, I told you it would be her.¡± Harrel however, was frowning. Oh dear. ¡°Harreldon¡¯tyoudare-¡± was all she got out before he activated his area wide nullification. The world went dark as Aymi felt her current body dissipate. --- Harrel --- Harrel felt¡­ disappointed as the pretender immediately revealed her true form. He hadn¡¯t wanted to admit to himself that he was hoping Aymiae was alive, hoping so hard¡­ but he¡¯d gone to her funeral, he¡¯d forced them to show him the burned out husk of her body, he¡¯d scoured the remains of the Ayfel, feeling lost. His nephew¡¯s face went pale as he watched first the illusion drop and then the strange white creature that resembled Aymi start to disintegrate into¡­ sparks were those spores? Harrel pushed the two kids into the back room, ¡°Stay back, I need to investigate.¡± He approached the pile cautiously as they reluctantly withdrew, closing the door behind them. Pulling his shirt up over his face to avoid breathing it in, Harrel examined the pile. In the dim room, it looked almost like it was glowing. Whatever it was, it couldn¡¯t be a magical glow because his nullification was still operational. He took out a stick from his dimensional pack and gently prodded the substance, it acted just like sand, but¡­ even as he watched, it grew almost imperceptibly, streaming outward. Without hesitation, Harrel took a box from his bag, the one he¡¯d gotten as a gift from Raan ten years back. He counted his blessings that he¡¯d sent its last occupant to a more permanent prison a few months back. He turned off his nullification hesitantly since the box wouldn¡¯t work if it was on. Harrel opened the box, facing it toward the pile of imposter Aymi. He stood up as it started streaming around the box, frowning as the pile just started¡­getting bigger. Harrel skipped backward as it formed right back into the humanoid shape, the box clicking closed, apparently thinking it¡¯s job was over. A colony being then? The box would stop once it caught a single creature, if it was a colony then the box wouldn¡¯t be able to catch anywhere close to the whole thing. He thought fast, deciding to turn his nullification back on and try something else- The creature formed Aymi¡¯s face again, still strange and white, with more human-like characteristics than he was used to. Its eyes were red, and it was glaring at him. ¡°Harrel you sparking idiot.¡± It formed the rest of the body, holding up a hand with a frown and flexing it experimentally, five fingers. ¡°It¡¯s me.¡± Her voice was exactly the same, but that could mean a lot of things. ¡°That just means you¡¯re good at mimicry.¡± He said quietly, suddenly wanting to yell at it instead of run containment, he felt his voice rise, ¡°Last I checked, Aymiae wasn¡¯t that. Really, what are you trying to gain by pretending to be her? Only the worst of evils prey on people¡¯s emotions like that, only the darkest of the dark and the most cruel of terrors. Lucky for me, I hunt things like that for a living.¡± She looked hurt for some reason, taking a step backward, it was still Aymi¡¯s face, and that part clawed at Harrel¡¯s insides. He¡¯d maybe believed for a bit that it might actually be her coming to look for him¡­ but¡­ ¡°I need help, Harrel.¡± Her voice was soft, it wavered at the edges, just like Aymi¡¯s had whenever people started arguing and she couldn¡¯t do anything about it. ¡°And what makes you think I would help you?¡± She was silent for a moment, and then she started casting a spell. Harrel was on the defensive immediately, preparing to pull out his area wide nullification until he realized that it was an illusion. Nullification was weird about illusions since they were opposites, he was able to dispel permanent ones, but the active ones that were still alive and changing? Not a chance. He pulled back his instinct, and continued glaring at the imposter. She was even a pretty good illusionist, nowhere as good as Aymi of course, but as the scene appeared before him, he relented that it was very realistic. It was a memory, clearer than his own, the greens were slightly brighter than how he saw them, the reds slightly duller. ¡°We were so stupid when we set out¡­¡± the intruder said quietly, looking up at the Everhigh mountains. ¡°So stupid and hopeful, figuring that we could become dragonslayers and save the world from a whole lot of trouble.¡± Harrel blinked at the detail of his companions¡¯ faces, Marn, Cada, and Raan. He saw his own face, but it was different from how he saw himself. He seemed stronger, more sure, he seemed to always have a smile and he seemed so kind. ¡°It didn¡¯t work of course, but you know that already, someone beat us to it. I wish we¡¯d been able to be the ones though, I¡¯m sure that we could have done it.¡± Her voice wavered, ¡°Because I learned years later that she was the one who killed my brother.¡± Harrel furrowed his brow as the scene changed to a battlefield of ash, and a man disintegrating into nothingness as an unfamiliar woman cried at him, shoving something into his empty hands¡­ ¡°I wasn¡¯t even there when he died, but I know he was suffering the whole way.¡± The scene changed again, this time to Yera, the time he¡¯d been shot by that sniper with the ancient weapon. ¡°I remember when you were hurt there, I remember that fact being what drove me forward, I remember realizing after that that I needed you.¡± The illusion ended and Harrel was met again by the dark bookstore, Aymi still glowing slightly. ¡°I¡¯m scared, Harrel, I don¡¯t know what to do now, but I know that I need your help.¡± ¡°Aymi?¡± He found himself asking, ¡°What happened?¡± She started crying at that, wetness running down her white face out of those strange red eyes. ¡°I was going to die Harrel, I was going to die and I was so scared of dying. I just¡­I stared death in the face and found that I had so many regrets. So I made a deal at the end, since I thought we could save each other. He couldn¡¯t though, but it turns out he wasn¡¯t in any danger in the first place and-¡± she sobbed, ¡°Harrel I¡¯m a sparking mushroom now! Do you know how weird and horrible that is?! I¡¯m a sparking mushroom and I don¡¯t think I can even sparking die now and the sparking-¡± She sobbed again. Harrel didn¡¯t remember moving toward her, but suddenly he was hugging her, ¡°Hey, Aymi, it¡¯s okay, please start from the beginning.¡± (Aymi 7)b2c7 An old Acquaintance

--- Aymiae --- ¡°And then I met with your sister in law, somehow I-¡± Aymi blinked mid sentence, feeling the privacy spell she¡¯d instinctively set up earlier shatter as Hivren and his fiance opened the door in a flurry of motion, leaping forward ready for an attack. Harrel glanced at them, apparently also having forgotten about the young couple. Aymi sighed, ¡°Right, I can tell you the rest later.¡± Hivren glanced between Aymi and Harrel uneasily, Aymi noticed that he was holding a pipe like a bludgeon, ¡°Harrel are you bedeviled?!¡± Aymi scolded herself for having forgotten to take down the privacy ward. She really shouldn¡¯t have put it up in the first place, but she¡¯d gotten used to trying to make up for her lack of instinctively silent footsteps and¡­ sparks. Harrel chuckled, ¡°No, no, Aymi apparently cursed herself on accident.¡± She opened her mouth and closed it a few times, ¡°That¡¯s-¡± She sighed, ¡°wait¡­ yeah, that¡­ yeah that¡¯s what happened. I¡¯m taking that explanation for when I eventually track down Raan.¡± ¡°Good luck convincing him to even talk to either of us.¡± ¡°I need to eventually, he has my spare key for the bunker!¡± Hivren lowered the pipe slightly, ¡°soo¡­ It¡¯s actually Aymi then?¡± Harrel nodded, ¡°Next time Hivren, when you think an ally is bedeviled, attack first and ask questions later. But this is definitely Aymi.¡± The young woman beside the pipe wielding nephew relaxed visibly, her eyes turning from worried to curious, ¡°Well this has been an eventful meeting.¡± ¡°Aymi, this is Kureia, Hivren¡¯s betrothed. Kureia, this is Aymiae, my friend.¡± Friend. Why did that word hurt? But¡­ was it even true? The way he¡¯d reacted when he thought someone was stealing Aymi¡¯s identity¡­ she might just be reading too much into it though, and then what, she¡¯d get false hope again? She¡¯d follow him around for years only to realize again, that he wasn¡¯t going to do anything? Kureia nodded though, oblivious to Aymi¡¯s trade of thought. ¡°A pleasure to meet you. Unless of course this is a huge ruse and you really are an imposter, in which case it would not be a pleasure.¡± Aymi raised an eyebrow, ¡°Don¡¯t spend too much energy trying to think of the alternate reality where that¡¯s a fact.¡± ¡°If I didn¡¯t spend time thinking up alternate realities, I wouldn¡¯t be nearly as good a historian as I am.¡± Aymi found herself smiling, ¡°Remind me to introduce you to Netun sometime. I¡¯m sure he¡¯d have fun with you.¡± Harrel laughed, because she¡¯d already told him about the immortal mushrooms that lived in the Sanarian desert. Kureia only seemed intrigued, she belatedly took Hivren¡¯s pipe away and nodded, ¡°If this Netun is interested in History, I¡¯d be thrilled to meet him.¡± ¡°He¡¯s in Yera right now, tracking someone, but I¡¯m sure we could introduce you once he gets back.¡± Harrel frowned at that, ¡°Sparks, that¡¯s right, you¡¯re alive!¡± Aymi blinked at him, ¡°I feel like this entire conversation has been about that?¡± Harrel looked relieved all of the sudden, ¡°No, I just realize that means I don¡¯t have to keep spending resources bribing Whisper to keep him from taking over the world.¡± ¡°He what?!¡± ¡°He stopped laying low after the fire, I think they made him king-¡± ¡°Sparks, didn¡¯t he learn after what he did to that group of pitten?¡± ¡°Not sure, the only thing I think that¡¯s been slowing him down is the almost complete lack of magic in Yera.¡± ¡°Doubly glad we just left him there.¡± ¡°But now that you¡¯re back we can use his contract to make him back the heck down!¡± ¡°Yeah!¡± Aymi paused, ¡°Except I don¡¯t know how Go¡¯lir contracts work, it might have been bound to my body or a part of my soul I lost.¡± Harrel paused as well. ¡°If it¡¯s like a regular spirit contract then there¡¯s not a binding, it¡¯s just the spirit¡¯s word¡­¡± Aymi sighed, ¡°But possessor entities are weird. I probably have something in the bunker about Go¡¯lir¡­¡± Hivren and Kureia had watched this interaction with a mixture of confusion, intrigue, and even some note-taking on Hivren¡¯s part. When they petered out, Hivren tucked away his notebook, ¡°Well, it¡¯s getting late and Kureia and I have an early day tomorrow. Do you think We¡¯ll see each other again before we have to part ways entirely?¡± Harrel frowned, glancing at Aymi, ¡°If we need to get into Aymi¡¯s bunker, we¡¯ll have to track down Raan. He¡¯s in Nakonua somewhere, and Reiaran is on the way¡­¡± ¡°No.¡± Aymi said quickly, ¡°let them head home alone, I¡¯m sure they need the quality time, that wedding is coming up fast.¡± Both of them turned red at that, Hivren coughing into his fist, ¡°No, no, you¡¯d be welcome to come!¡± Harrel though was always the kind of person to latch onto weakness like a reasle to water. He grinned, ¡°We wouldn¡¯t want to intrude, hopefully we¡¯ll see you at the wedding though~¡± -- They bade farewell to the young couple, who¡¯d rented rooms at a reputable inn rather than sleeping in the dubiously sanitary beds Harrel had found in the upstairs of the book shop. They¡¯d been confused when Aymi said she wouldn¡¯t be able to say goodbye when they left in the morning, and it had taken another hour for her to explain that yes, sandfrost died in the sun, and no, layers didn¡¯t help her as much as they did Netun. Aymi examined that room with the dubious beds, but it seemed a lot better than what she and Harrel had dealt with during most of their time in Aulous. It was no wonder Harrel had rolled his eyes at the idea of renting rooms. She shook her head and simply laid out on the floor as Harrel pulled out a bedroll and started setting up camp. The trick with dubious beds was to not use them. He tried to give his bedroll to her, but she simply shook her head. Harrel turned his light off after a minute and his movements slowly lessened in frequency. After a long time without making any noise, he spoke quietly, ¡°You don¡¯t need sleep anymore, do you?¡± Aymi contemplated not answering, but he would eventually find out later that it was true, ¡°Yeah, I don¡¯t.¡± Harrel was silent again, ¡°I¡¯m sorry for never responding to your advances in the past.¡± ¡°It¡¯s¡­ fine.¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s not.¡± He responded, seeming angry at his past self. ¡°You clearly were hurt by it and I was just too caught up in the next adventure to notice, even after you left to take care of the Ayfel.¡± ¡°Yeah¡­¡± Aymi said, a bit hopeful about where this was leading, but also¡­ sparks she was a mushroom now. She found that her emotions weren¡¯t exactly the same as she¡¯d left them either, she remembered being in love with him so hard that she hadn¡¯t tried to pursue anyone else. But now it was different, the problem was she wasn¡¯t quite sure how different. She knew that she still loved him, she loved how kind he was, she loved how dedicated he was to doing the right thing, she loved how he put so much of himself into adventures, even though that was what had eventually made her leave. You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author. But there was something missing now. ¡°I think maybe there¡¯s something wrong with me.¡± Harrel finally said. ¡°Whenever I think about relationships like that, I just feel like¡­ they always end terribly. My parents hated each other, you know? I always thought that when I eventually got married we¡¯d secretly hate each other too.¡± Aymi thought about that, remembering his parents. It made a horrible amount of sense. ¡°And now I¡¯m a mushroom.¡± She stated, feeling a bit surreal. ¡°And now you¡¯re a poisonous mushroom, which I feel like makes things more complicated.¡± ¡°Yeah I¡¯d refrain from putting any of my body parts in your mouth.¡± Harrel laughed for a long moment, and then made a sound like a wince, ¡°Wow Aymi, I never thought you had such a dirty mind.¡± She felt a smile appear, ¡°You did all the imagining there, I just gave you the words to imagine.¡± ¡°That¡¯s the same thing and you know it.¡±

--- Raan --- Raan often considered himself to be a practical person. He was practical in that he¡¯d retired from his adventuring career early, he was practical in that he was a farmer now and really, who was more practical than a farmer? Raan was clearly the most practical person there could be in the entirety of Nakonua, this was obvious to him, and it should be obvious to you too. His wife agreed with him and their three wonderful daughters were the most practical they could be. As such, when early one night he felt two familiar mental signatures enter his range, Raan wasn¡¯t angry, he wasn¡¯t even annoyed. He was¡­ disappointed more than anything else. ¡°Honey, some old friends are looking for me, can you get them to leave while I hide in the basement?¡± His wife raised an eyebrow at him and peered out the dark window, but their property had a few too many trees for that to be a practical method of stalking anyone coming by, Raan resolved to cut a few of them down next week. ¡°Raan, you can¡¯t keep hiding from your past! What happens if all of your daughters decide they¡¯d rather be farmers than seek their fortune!¡± That¡­ wasn¡¯t very practical. Sparking woman. He grumbled for a moment before remembering his own youth, if it wasn¡¯t for his older brother going out into the world and dying, he would never have tried the same just to avenge him. But then he¡¯d almost died himself, at least two dozen times. After one particularly close call, Raan had decided it simply wasn¡¯t worth it anymore, but here were two familiar minds that as best he could tell, belonged to some of his old adventuring companions. But seeking one''s fortune was important in Nakonua, Raan blamed the humans and their general lust for recognition. Raan had never been the greatest mind mage, he was better at Empathy, so he wasn¡¯t quite sure who they were, all he knew was that the minds were familiar, he remembered practicing his abilities on both of them in the past. He did know that one was most likely Harrel since he¡¯d tried at least a dozen times to get Raan to come on this adventure or help him find that lost amulet of the old empires, or¡­ well anything. Harrel knew where to find Raan and Raan knew how to get Harrel to leave. ¡°-now that Irean is sixteen.¡± Raan blinked at his wife and gave her an apologetic look. He¡¯d stopped listening again. She huffed, annoyance leaking from her like a bad stench. ¡°It¡¯s got to be your friend Harrel again, right? It would be a good idea to introduce Irean to him, he¡¯s famous and all that and everyone knows the eldest child is best for adventures.¡± Raan adopted a sour expression, remembering his brother again, ¡°If she wants to I won¡¯t stop her, but we aren¡¯t about to corrupt our-¡± There was a knock at the door. Raan grumbled, and he still wanted to run to the basement and hide in his panic room, but he reluctantly got to his feet and opened the door, glaring mightily at Harrel on the other side. Didn¡¯t I used to smile like that when we went out on adventures? Raan¡¯s eyes tracked to the other person standing at his doorway, and nearly jumped out of his skin as he saw Aymi. She was watching him awkwardly, her eyes still slightly crossed as she smiled hesitantly. ¡°What in the name of-¡± ¡°Raan, could I please have the spare key to my bunker?¡± ¡°Aymi!? Aren¡¯t you¡­ dead?¡± ¡°Now that¡¯s a terribly long story, and I thought you were trying to avoid us.¡± ¡°Sparking¡­¡± He turned toward Harrel, shook his head and pulled out his key ring, squinting at them, ¡°You know what, I don¡¯t even want to know the story, okay? You just take your key and leave, alright?¡± His wife came up behind him and smiled at the newcomers, ¡°Harrel, great to see you again! He¡¯s still just as salty as always.¡± Harrel bowed slightly at her as Raan pulled up a key that looked promising, it had a golden dragon stylized along the handle and that was pretty neat. Raan held up the key toward Aymi, ¡°is this it?¡± She blinked at it, ¡°Isn¡¯t that the key to the lost sage¡¯s tomb?¡± Harrel leaned forward, frowning at it, ¡°Yeah, I remember it.¡± Raan felt the blood rush from his face, he dropped the ring of keys and backed up, prodding it with his foot hesitantly, ¡°I¡¯ve been carrying around the curse of the boneless for seventeen years?!¡± The red jewel on the dragon¡¯s eye glinted in the lamplight menacingly. Aymi picked it up, leaking intrigue like a toppled barrel. ¡°Fascinating, you somehow haven¡¯t even touched it in all this time!¡± ¡°I thought we lost that in one of the underwater cities?¡± Harrel muttered to himself. ¡°Does this mean I can finally find out what¡¯s in that tomb?¡± ¡°Harrel, the tomb is on Engere, the Society of the Mis-born Dragon is still in charge there.¡± ¡°Ah, right. Why was I thinking it was north of Aubinere?¡± ¡°Sparks, I was just there, what was it that was north of Aubinere?¡± Raan sighed, remembering countless times when he¡¯d been given the map since literally everyone would have died if they relied on Cada¡¯s navigational abilities. Or Harrel¡¯s¡­or Aymi¡¯s¡­ Marn probably could have led them around without anyone dying, but they wouldn¡¯t have trusted the salty shifter with something like that. ¡°North of Aubinere is Gium¡¯s Tower.¡± He eventually said. ¡°Ohhhhhhhhh.¡± the two said. Aymi carefully unclipped the curse of the boneless with a strange expression on her face. If he was reading her emotions right, she was thinking about maybe touching the tiny gem. She didn¡¯t though, thankfully, and she handed it to Harrel, who stuck it in his dimensional space. She flipped through the rest of the keys, eventually finding the one she was after. She unclipped it and moved to hand the rest back to Raan, who was now eyeing them warrily. ¡°Could we maybe make sure there¡¯s nothing surprising on there? I¡¯d rather not keep something like the key to a demon prison or a key to a go¡¯lir temple¡­ or anything like that.¡± Aymi paused, pulling the ring back to her with a frown. She went over each key individually, thinking about it, occasionally consulting Harrel, and sometimes she would simply leave a key there, harmless things like a key to a long vanquished cult¡¯s icebox. But most of the time she would clip it off the ring and hand it to Harrel. She got to one particular key, an ordinary looking bronze one and frowned, unable to identify it. The three of them went back and forth about what it might have been from before Raan¡¯s wife came back from whatever she¡¯d left to do. ¡°Raan, honey, that key is to our cellar. I¡¯ve been looking for it for years.¡± The three of them were suitably embarrassed, but they gave the woman her key and continued around the ring. Finally, once there were only three keys left out of about sixty, Raan pocketed the ring again, giving his wife a resigned look. His eldest daughter, Irean looking bored as she frowned at the two strangers. ¡°Ma, they¡¯re done, can I go now?¡± Her mother adopted a strained smile, placing a hand gently but firmly on her daughter¡¯s shoulder. ¡°Harrel! You remember Irean, right?¡± Harrel nodded, though he seemed to get what she was trying to do, ¡°I¡¯m not looking to-¡± ¡°It¡¯s great to finally meet one of Raan¡¯s daughters!¡± Aymi smiled, jabbing Harrel with an elbow to shut him up. ¡°Irean was it? What are your affinities?¡± She blinked at the suddenly intrigued woman, frowning, ¡°I¡¯m a cronomancer with a water affinity, I also have a smaller illusion skill, but I haven¡¯t found much training there.¡± ¡°That¡¯s great! How much training do you have with the other two?¡± Sparks, was Aymi trying to steal his daughter with less than a day of notice? And his wife was collaborating with her! ¡°I don¡¯t think-¡± Raan began, glancing at his wife. He shut up though when he sensed her emotions. Irean seemed confused, but she answered readily enough, ¡°I¡¯m good a purifying water and I learned how to sense the Flow of Time when I was barely five, I¡¯ve been able to accurately see past events that have significance to me and sometimes I get glimpses of the future.¡± Raan continued watching his wife speculatively. She was trying to get them to take Irean right now. It seemed like Aymi was trying to do the same thing. It could be anybody¡¯s guess why though. Irean had to easily be the most beautiful girl in the village, and that wasn¡¯t just his fatherly pride showing through, she would have a good life lined up for her if she stayed here! But maybe she¡¯s trying to get her to meet some prince or another and charm him. If that was the case, he¡¯d prefer if they just came out and said it. He knew Aymi also preferred to be straight with people, but she was also a woman, which made doing that when it was at Raan¡¯s expense almost impossible. ¡°Would you consider accepting a possible apprenticeship in five or so years?¡± Irean looked like she was about to faint with excitement, but sparks, Raan didn¡¯t like this idea. ¡°Aymi, are you trying to blackmail me?¡± She blinked at him and glanced back at Irean. ¡°No, She just seems like a lovely young woman.¡± Raan wilted slightly as Irean glared at him, ¡°I¡¯d love to have an apprenticeship! But¡­ wouldn¡¯t it be better to start something like that sooner? I hear most apprentices start younger than I am now.¡± Aymi smiled, ¡°The secret to becoming a great mage isn¡¯t to start off as early as possible and hammer down the basics, it¡¯s to wait and see where the ability and the person grows on its own. The fact that you can already see the future at all is proof of that. I¡¯ll admit that usually apprenticeships should start around eighteen with this rule in mind, but I¡¯m going to be very busy for the next couple of years.¡± Irean perked up visibly, her eyes shining, ¡°I¡¯ll look forward to it!¡± Five years¡­ Raan contemplated, I have five years to get her to reconsider. He could only hope that a handsome young man who was decently well off would pick Irean up before then. (Aymi 8)b2c8 Bunker in the Woods

--- Aymiae --- Aymi had never been particularly fond of mountain spiders, but when she¡¯d been looking for a place to store her more¡­ sensitive books, mount Beial was the ideal place for it. For one it was a young enough mountain that it was unlikely any other mages had hidden their secret stashes there. And for another it moved, and that just made it all the more difficult for anyone to find a secret room or two. She might have overdone it with the twenty rooms of treasure, secrets, and more than a few expensive potions that she hadn¡¯t had immediate need of, but no one had found it yet and that¡¯s what mattered. It was situated deep in Beial¡¯s thick shell, deep enough that occasionally you could hear the monster¡¯s heartbeat through the ground. It was protected by hundreds of permanent illusions kept in place by the most expensive wardstone Aymi had been able to get a hold of. Aymi herself couldn¡¯t even see through the illusions as she led Harrel through the forest and toward a familiar clearing. She relied on little hints she¡¯d left for herself in the construction, a pair of specific carved initials in an aspen tree, a normal looking trail marker that was made from rocks not found on mount Beial. Eventually, they arrived in the clearing and Aymi spread out her senses, making sure the illusion was still completely undetectable. There wasn¡¯t a trace that anything was even remotely odd here. Aymi cleared her throat awkwardly and said the childish key she¡¯d come up with, having known that no one would ever think to guess it. ¡°Potato Mittens.¡± The first illusion melted away to her eyes, Harrel still saw it, and the privacy wards she¡¯d placed would prevent him from hearing the phrase either. The illusion further protected itself by making it nigh impossible for anyone to read the lips of whoever said the phrase. Harrel knew the key though, so this wasn¡¯t a problem. Aymi knelt down beside the rock that hadn¡¯t been there before. She held it firmly and turned it sharply ninety degrees. The rock changed underneath her fingers, a carving replica of Lamariel, the Blinking Star melted into its surface in the center of its common constellation. Aymi tapped the tiny almost imperceptible dot beside Lamariel that represented a planet to the constant beat of that star that she¡¯d painstakingly memorized as a means of reading the codes of the Society of the Mis-born Dragon. She did several other things, the layers of illusions slowly melting away until a keyhole appeared in the rock. She inserted her spare key that she¡¯d gotten from Raan, resisting the urge to turn it. After a minute of sitting in the lock, the key turned itself and suddenly there was a gaping hole in the ground a few feet away. She handed Harrel the key for his turn with the entrance ritual and stepped down into the pit, immediately met by darkness. A moment later the magical lamps caught her presence and turned on, audibly buzzing slightly since they were old spells. She¡¯d have to fix that tomorrow once she had time. She descended the rest of the ladder, and ignored the highly decorated chest full of semi-expensive jewels and mage secrets meant to give intruders something for all of their trouble. She deactivated the last illusion and a peaceful blue door melted into existence. Aymi opened it and relaxed slightly when she saw that not a touch of dust had disturbed her repository. She examined the whole place, just to be sure it was the same. She sorted through vials of alchemical ingredients, she glanced through her shelves and shelves of inactive permanent illusions affixed to necklaces, rings, bracelets, and earrings. Aymi examined the beds that lined the back two rooms and the room filled with emergency food in case she needed to lay low somewhere without notice for a while. After an hour or so, she got worried about Harrel, so she went to make sure he hadn¡¯t forgotten how to do part of the entrance ritual. She found him sitting in the front room, looking nostalgic as he examined the various trophies and mementos that littered the area. ¡°It¡¯s been so long since I¡¯ve been here¡­¡± The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. Aymi nodded, setting down the wardstone she¡¯d brought out from its hiding place. ¡°Exactly why I need to get you a key to this place, I¡¯m sure you¡¯ll have more need of it than anyone else in the coming years.¡± ¡°What happened to an extra key¡¯s existence threatening the safety of the hideout as a whole?¡± ¡°It lasted over ten years without anyone discovering it,¡± Aymi admitted, ¡°I finally figured out how to sever individual keys from the system, so I¡¯m a lot more comfortable with giving them out.¡± Harrel grinned and motioned toward the wardstone, ¡°Alright then!¡± Aymi nodded. She made a sharp gesture above the wardstone, channeling magic into it in a specific way. It was difficult to shape the conjuration though without her illusion affinity, She hadn¡¯t realized how much she¡¯d relied on it for this. The Time magic and Body magic portions of the spell were just as difficult as she remembered, but the unexpected hardship in her own field of expertise threw the whole spell off. Aymi frowned down at the resulting bronze goop that was even now dissolving slightly. Harrel gazed at it too with his mouth slightly open. ¡°Aymi, are you alright?¡± He¡¯d never seen her fail at something that relied on an illusion before. She prodded the mass and decided she was going to have to start over. ¡°I¡¯m¡­ I¡¯m fine. My affinity however, is not.¡± She sighed, starting up the flow of her magic again, ¡°I¡¯m just still figuring out how to use magic without it.¡± Harrel nodded, but he paid closer attention to her as she cast the spell again. This time the conjuration worked, bonding to a piece of mass from the wardstone and producing a simple bronze key. He took it with a frown. ¡°You didn¡¯t tell me that your affinities were gone.¡± Aymi glanced down, ¡°I didn¡¯t want anyone¡¯s pity.¡± ¡°That¡¯s strange, I remember you being quite the pity hoarder not so long ago.¡± ¡°...How so?¡± ¡°You would only ever cry if there was someone there to watch.¡± Aymi thought back on how she¡¯d made tear ducts just so she could cry in the desert not terribly long ago. ¡°I think I¡¯ve grown past that part.¡± Though¡­ she probably would have done it sooner if she hadn¡¯t been almost completely alone. She was glad though that things had gone the way they had. She couldn¡¯t imagine what would have happened if she hadn¡¯t come across that bandit. Or if she¡¯d eaten a companion''s energy instead of someone who deserved that loss, or if she¡¯d fallen catatonic only to wake up in a couple hundred years when someone bled all over her mushrooms. Maybe¡­ maybe that¡¯s what was wrong with Turste. Aymi frowned at that thought, shaking her head to dislodge it. It was possible, but she had more pressing things to worry about. ¡°Anyways, what do you think we¡¯ll need for a trip to Yera?¡± Harrel grinned, ¡°Is it odd that this is actually my favorite part of adventures?¡± ¡°The planning stage? Sparks Harrel, is that why you can take two months just to get a crime lord out of a city?¡± ¡°No, that part is my dramatic flair.¡± Aymi shook her head at him and picked up a nearby map of Yera, refreshing herself on the distance involved, ¡°Well, we¡¯ll need three months of supplies and then three more for the trip back¡­ but accounting for our luck, we should probably pack for a whole year.¡± ¡°And we need to look at your records of go¡¯lir to see if this is even possible.¡± Aymi wrote that on the top of her list, having forgotten before, she glanced at the second item on the list. ¡°I¡¯ll also need to try contacting Netun again, but he¡¯s in Yera by now since the stone is just buzzing.¡± Harrel perked up, ¡°Oh! We should bring your gun! That thing helped a lot for making them take us seriously last time we were in Yera.¡± Aymi winced, ¡°I¡¯d have to try conjuring one again, since¡­ I was keeping that in the Ayfel.¡± He winced, ¡°oh¡­ I¡¯m¡­ I¡¯m sorry.¡± Aymi was still trying to reconcile the loss of all the similar artifacts she¡¯d had there, but she was familiar enough with the gun that she might actually be able to make one. ¡°It¡¯s fine, it was just a priceless artifact from a bygone age, there¡¯s at least a hundred of them still kicking around. It¡¯s not nearly on the level of when someone stole the Eye of Eclipse from you.¡± ¡°I never did find out who that was¡­¡± Harrel said thoughtfully. ¡°I thought you said Wela had it at one point?¡± ¡°Well yeah, she had it for at least a year, but I still don¡¯t know who actually stole it. Then it dropped off the map entirely, I think someone took it to a different realm or something. ¡± ¡°Yeah...¡± She remembered Harrel spending hours every night pouring through legends and hearsay about that artifact, she remembered an expedition over the course of five years looking for it, and finally a victorious return from an icy island far to the south only for it to go missing the next day without a trace. ¡°Anyway,¡± Harrel said, ¡°I think we should bring that last vial of full healing, last time we were in Yera we needed three of them¡­¡± Aymi nodded and added that to the list. (Kolen 1)b2c9 Light --- Kolen --- Kolen thought of himself as a very boring person. This was easily contradicted as the kid sat in front of five absolute strangers and gave them advice for their sob stories. He¡¯d known one of them for about five minutes, but the others were at a grand total of about an hour between the four of them, so¡­twenty minutes each. Yes, I just made you do math, at least I¡¯m not using watermelons. Either way, Kolen was in a particularly happy mood today, as he¡¯d found an entire stack of illegal paperwork in his aunt Cherry¡¯s basement and had gotten a chance to show her his newest idea for hiding things like that. Cherry had seemed at a loss of what to do with a thirteen year old who was better at dodging the law than she was, but she certainly wasn¡¯t complaining that Kolen had been the one to find them instead of say¡­ an investigating officer. One of the strangers, tall-Yani with a big smile, had started crying at some point. Kolen was patting her back as she explained how she¡¯d lost her job last week. The other four were explaining their own sorrows and Kolen was nodding along the whole time. He led the discussion, but mostly he didn¡¯t really think he was even involved. ¡°Yani, I think you need to march right back into that architecture business and demand a job. They seem like they appreciate straightforwardness.¡± Kolen decided with a nod. Yani nodded as well, ¡°That must be the answer!¡± Things seemed much more simple when you were advising others. Kolen eventually had to excuse himself, but the five strangers kept the discussion going. He thought he saw some of them exchanging addresses so they could all become pen pals. He smiled at that, That¡¯s great for them¡­ Stepping out of the shop, Kolen hefted the medium sized crystal with a frown. He¡¯d wanted one that was too small for people to detect, but this one was probably right on that line¡­ hopefully aunt Cherry would have a better idea. Chatting with strangers was fun and interesting, but it was also a helpful way to keep people from getting suspicious of him. He cared about strangers, so he tried not to talk to the same people too often, just in case he did something stupid. He¡¯d rather they didn¡¯t get caught in the fallout. Kolen tucked the crystal under one arm and waved to people he recognized as he walked home, he would call them by name and occasionally ask after a family member or beloved pet. This resulted in one man balling his eyes out for a while, but the recent death of Shaggy the dog was worth ten minutes of comforting a stranger. I hope Shaggy is happy in Orien¡­ Eventually, aunt Cherry¡¯s house was in front of him, wedged innocently between two similar houses that had been built by the same man twenty years back. The yard wasn¡¯t tame per se, but it wasn¡¯t wild either, it seemed like it straddled the line between the two, until you would glance at the perfectly manicured grass behind that tree and realize that it was actually dancing on the line all while making fun of you. Opening the door, Kolen called out for his aunt, using the tone that meant ¡®I have something kind of important but if there¡¯s anyone listening who might tell someone about it then it¡¯s not that important.¡¯ He heard Cherry call back to him with the tone that meant, ¡®get in here you little fart before the neighbors hear you, I don¡¯t want to have to move again. But the coast is clear so you can explain what the heck you¡¯ve got now.¡¯ The fact that she used that tone meant she hadn¡¯t understood the underlying meaning of his greeting shout again and he would have to try remaking the entire system again. Perhaps using code words would work this time. Kolen shook his head and closed the door neatly behind him, ¡°Cherry! It¡¯s really cool this time! I think maybe I could make a security system with it!¡± ¡°That¡¯s what you said last time.¡± Her tone was entirely flat, and even the extremely open minded Kolen sometimes had a hard time thinking of her as a person rather than an object from Aeinar itself sent just to torment him. Kolen set the crystal on the ancient hardwood table and perched on the bench, practically vibrating as Cherry appeared in a doorway and examined the crystal with a blank expression. She held a steaming mug of that new drink the artificers had come up with to keep workers awake. She seemed as if she was just ready to be disappointed. Kolen felt himself wilt slightly under that gaze, holding up the crystal. ¡°It¡¯s a recording crystal.¡± ¡°Kolen. I don¡¯t have time for this, I have to go back to the offices, their prototype is being finicky again.¡± He glanced downward, remembering again the papers he¡¯d found in the basement. Records of what she was actually doing whenever she went back. It hurt more that she kept lying about it now that he knew exactly what she was being hunted for. ¡°Alright¡­ I¡¯ll try and set it up while you¡¯re gone then.¡± Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more. ¡°Knock yourself out kid, just don¡¯t let anyone see you using those for more than light,¡± She reminded him, again. ¡°Most of the city still thinks crystals count as magic.¡± Even though the King keeps announcing that they don¡¯t count. His mind finished her repetitive speech. That was why Kolen had subtly convinced them all that he was scared of the dark, it explained to inquisitive people why he always looked for new crystals at the shops. The fact that Cherry couldn¡¯t see that effort was yet another pain of his life. ¡°Yes Cherry, I¡¯ll be discreet.¡± That was the fastest way to shut down any lectures, and it also left her in a relatively good mood as the human embodiment of that fungus you found on the bottom of your pantry nodded sharply and made her way toward the door. She paused, ¡°I appreciate you not sharing those papers.¡± Cherry said quietly, ¡°I hid them again and I¡¯d like to ask you not to look for them.¡± Now that just sounded like a challenge. Kolen sighed as the door closed, shaking his head, no, Cherry didn¡¯t want him to look for them, even if it would help her to know how secure her new hiding spot was. No, the best that Kolen could do for her was set up a security system. He picked up the crystal, ¡°Hey is there a spirit in here by chance?¡± It remained silent. Okay then, I suppose we¡¯ll do it the hard way. He examined the runes carved on its surface for a moment before holding it up and grinning at it while trying several gestures and common command words. ¡°Spodiocioous! Butter! Wasoooso!¡± The crystal remained inert. Kolen frowned and brought it closer, squinting at the slightly pulsing runes for a moment before setting it back down on the table. Alright, the harder way then. He placed his hand above the crystal, channeling the slightest bit of energy into it. It wasn¡¯t strictly illegal to know how to do that, but it depended heavily on which official you were on trial with. The crystal pulsed brighter and hovered into the air. Huh, neat. He tried the gestures and words again, this time receiving a chime of activation for his efforts. Awesome. Kolen snatched the crystal from the air and hooked it up to a wire cage, which connected it to a transmission crystal, who¡¯s other half was in his pocket. It would vibrate when someone told it to, causing his half to vibrate as well. His idea here was to have the recording crystal tell the transmission crystal whenever someone it didn¡¯t have a picture of walked through its line of sight. He attached another wire to the recording crystal, adding his most precious crystal. It was the same light blue as the other two, but it was smaller than his pinky nail and generally looked more like an uneven piece of quartz than anything special. Kolen had struck gold when he¡¯d found it at a pawn shop though. He attached it to the contraption and, taking a deep breath, spoke aloud, ¡°Light, I¡¯m sorry to bother you, but could you possibly tell this recording crystal to inform its friend whenever it sees someone it doesn¡¯t have a picture of?¡± The small crystal buzzed slightly, and then spoke aloud with a strangely high pitched voice. ¡°Of courseeee! Do you want anything else? I can have the crystal also let its friend know if it senses a higher than usual magical concentration! I can have it gather ambient magic to cure this deadzone of-¡± A sudden panic pulled to the front of Kolen¡¯s mind, the authorities finding them because he¡¯d made a beacon leading them right here. ¡°No no, not that last part, but the rest would be appreciated.¡± Light buzzed again, ¡°It is done! You should really use me more, I can be helpful!¡± Kolen had read somewhere that it was strange for a spirit to want to be helpful. Most of them were more¡­salty about their imprisonment. He shook his head slowly, feeling sad for the little unique crystal spirit. He wanted it to be happy. He wanted his friend to be happy. ¡°Sorry, Light, I don¡¯t want people to find out about you.¡± The crystal pulsed slightly and he removed it from the contraption, tucking it back with the rest of his crystals lest Cherry go through his pockets again and decide this crystal was too important for Kolen to hold on to. Placing the box of crystals and wires back under his bed, Kolen affixed the recording crystal contraption just above the door, hoping that it would just end up acting as a long distance doorbell. He went back out into the city, once again searching for people to talk to. -- When he came back home, he found Cherry squinting up at the recording crystal with a dubious expression. It was hidden in shadow and it didn¡¯t glow that much since it was in recording mode, ready to take a picture if Kolen told it to. His transmission stone finally stopped vibrating once he appeared in the crystal¡¯s sight. ¡°Kolen, what is that thing doing above my door?¡± ¡°It lets me know whenever someone comes up to the door.¡± Cherry shook her head slowly, ¡°so it told you when I got here?¡± ¡°Five minutes ago.¡± he answered with a bit of hope. Cherry finally turned toward him with a grin on her face, ¡°Kolen, how would you like to become an artificer? I¡¯ve got a friend who might be able to get you in the Order.¡± He felt his stomach sink, no, he didn¡¯t want to be an artificer, he wanted to help people. ¡°Acctually I-¡± ¡°I¡¯ll contact him right now, I¡¯m sure you¡¯ll be out of here by this time next year. Thank the heavens I was worried I¡¯d have to kick you out into the streets.¡± Kolen felt his throat go dry at that, his words didn¡¯t come out. ¡°Alright.¡± he eventually said quietly. ¡°Imagine it, being related to a famous artificer. They¡¯d stop hunting me then.¡± Dragonkisser. Cherry is a dragonkisser. (Kolen 2) b2c10 - Artificers --- Kolen --- Across a distance as mind-numbing as the sky, in a place where no one had ever even heard of the hero, there was a swamp filled with miserable artificers. They weren¡¯t the kind of weird to live out in the middle of a swamp without reason, but they were the kind of weird to have built a heavy compound that had a bad tendency to sink into the wet earth, giving it an extra basement or two every fifteen years. In one of these basements, snooping through a secluded closet, a cheerful teen stared eagerly at the most terrifying crystal he had ever seen. It was roughly the size of his head, which is to say roughly the size of your head, assuming you¡¯re human-shaped. It glowed a sickly purple color, giving off a vibe reminiscent of rotting cheese as it floated about a foot into the air. In any other situation, Kolen would have bolted the moment he realized what the crystal was, but instead, he was excited as he stared into the depths of its sinister-as-all-heck glow. He wondered if he could take it to his room and pretend to cast magic with it¡­ Looking back, Kolen would have probably told his younger self to leave at this point and never come back, leave the entire Order and make a name for himself in some far-off fishing village or something, screw his aunt Cherry¡¯s visions for his future, but time travel is impossible and his older self didn¡¯t learn as much from this experience as he claims to have. Kolen hesitantly reached his hand out and touched the crystal, feeling a jolt of energy run through his arm and into his very soul as a stream of the stuff started pouring into him. Kolen tried to let go of the crystal, but it seemed like his hand didn¡¯t really¡­feel like it. At that point, Kolen finally started to feel a little bit of caution, as he fell to the ground and passed out. - Kolen groaned and sat up, his head feeling like someone had smashed it between two blunt objects over and over again. Everything was a bit too fuzzy, and Kolen had a feeling that he would sorely regret letting any of the bigger-time artificers know what he¡¯d done to the important-looking crystal. The crystal in question was no longer glowing, in fact, it was straight-up gone. Kolen wasn¡¯t sure what had happened to it, but it sure helped with his plan to pretend that this hadn¡¯t happened. Kolen stood up with a wince and eagerly left behind the scene of the crime, intent on washing all the windows on the upper floors as an alias, he managed to find a bucket of water and some rags, so¡ª ¡°What the hells are you doing?¡± A rough, annoyed voice asked Kolen from behind. ¡°We had someone washing these windows just last week.¡± Kolen grinned at him and nudged the bucket with his foot, ¡°Eaton sir! Are you here to help me wash windows?¡± He scrubbed at a particularly messy spot for a moment as a means of emphasis. Really if this was done just a week ago, it hadn¡¯t really been done well. Either that or they just needed to be cleaned more often. The artificer furrowed his brow, his tone rising into anger. ¡°Boy¡­why are your hands glowing?¡± Kolen glanced at his hands, which were in fact glowing. ¡°Huh, neat.¡± He glanced at the bucket. ¡°Is that magic water by chance?¡± Eaton shook his head slowly, as if baffled, ¡°There¡¯s no such thing as magic water¡ª¡± ¡°Pity that, I¡¯m sure it would taste even better than the stuff from that spring up north.¡± The man took one of Kolen¡¯s hands roughly, tired of waiting for him to explain. Eaton was left turning it this way and that, he watched as the green glow pulsed weakly, growing stronger by the moment. A sheer panic erupted in the high-ranking Artificer when he got a good look at that glow. ¡°Idiot! You absorbed something!¡± Kolen didn¡¯t have a chance to confirm or deny anything as the artificer roughly dragged him through the hall and into the nearest examination area. The people inside were busy trying to make the energy released by crystals turn machinery in increasingly delicate ways when Eaton burst in, annoyed and angry at the world. ¡°Someone get me that measurement equipment we got from the king! You there, stop standing there like an idiot! This boy is under some kind of unknown effect! All of you are completely incompetent! Intern!¡± The room flooded with chaos as the high-ranking artificer yelled orders and insults one after another, they listened, but Kolen could sense a stark resentment toward Eaton with how they cleared the room of people, brought out the right equipment, and started scanning Kolen with it. Kolen smiled at the lady scanning him, figuring she didn¡¯t want to be here any more than he did. Crossing Eaton was a surefire way to get yourself exiled, killed, or turned into an experiment subject. Kolen had a feeling that one of those things would be in his own future. The device beeped a few times before the spirit inside seemed to have had enough with the mortal mechanism. A young lady manifested in the air near Eaton, her deep blue eyes glaring in the way of river spirits. ¡°I have a few complaints about this device of yours¡ª¡± Eaton raised an eyebrow, ¡°You ruined our crops last year, it¡¯s either serve or be exiled.¡± Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on. She huffed, ¡°I can easily tell you what you want to know without using that demeaning thing to do so! Do you know how small it is in there? I had to half my mass just to squeeze inside and¡ª¡± ¡°Do your job, spirit.¡± Eaton almost snarled the words, like a wild animal. His eyes flashed in a reminder and the river spirit hastily backed down. ¡°The boy will be fine. He¡¯s under a wind curse, I¡¯ve seen them before. It might fizzle out in a couple hundred years.¡± Eaton turned his glare back to Kolen, who had somehow managed to get his hands on the spirit¡¯s device and was tinkering with the showy dials and buttons. ¡°Boy! What the hells did you absorb?!¡± ¡°Eaton sir, have you read my record?¡± ¡°Why would I care about the record of a worthless¡ª¡± ¡°Because if you read my record you would know that I don¡¯t like it when people are acting like dragon-kissers. I¡¯d like to say that you aren¡¯t in that category, but until you get your act together and start treating people like people, I¡¯m not going to tell you anything.¡± He glanced back down at the device with a frown, pushing a button and handing it back to the woman who¡¯d been holding it earlier. ¡°Thank you, Shauna, it¡¯s a very interesting device.¡± Shauna looked as if she would rather be anywhere but here, but she took it back and hastily retreated. The river spirit sighed, ¡°If he absorbed anything it was probably the sleepless curse.¡± And then she was gone too, racing after Shauna. Kolen hadn¡¯t realized spirits could manifest while under contract, otherwise, he would have learned all their names by now. He resolved that if he got out of this situation in at most two pieces, he would search for that information. Eaton, meanwhile, was fuming. A vein in his head was bulging, his hands were balled into fists, and anger poured off him like a thick syrup. Kolen frowned at him, realizing he¡¯d been a dragon-kisser himself for a bit, which never really helped in these situations. Kolen sighed before the rant that he was expecting could start, ¡°Sorry, that was stupid of me, I¡¯m sure you¡¯re a lovely person¡­deep¡­deep inside.¡± Eaton only glared harder, ¡°Get the heck in that closet.¡± He pointed at a burly-looking artificer who was trying to edge away discreetly, ¡°You there, guard this idiot and make sure he stays in that closet.¡± Kolen smiled at the man, ¡°Bereth! Great to see you! I¡¯m sure you¡¯ll do great at keeping me in that closet.¡± Eaton glared at Kolen again, ¡°No, never mind, you can go. Intern! You keep the idiot in the closet.¡± The intern in question pointed at herself with confusion, which was evident because she was barely shoulder height on Kolen. Odds were she wouldn¡¯t be able to do anything if Kolen decided to just walk out. Eaton nodded, ¡°At least I can fire you and have a reason to kill him¡ª¡± he pointed at Kolen, ¡°¡ªonce he inevitably escapes.¡± Kolen gasped with overinflated shock, ¡°Wow, devious of him, he¡¯s using my best friend Khrih to keep me in a closet!¡± Eaton almost growled at this, almost, it was more of a grating-groan sound that probably just meant he was infected with something. ¡°Is there anyone in this entire compound you aren¡¯t best friends with?!¡± Kolen shrugged. Eaton threw his hands in the air and stomped off. Kolen walked over to the closet and shut himself inside, immediately snooping through the pockets of the coats left inside and the boxes of crystals they¡¯d been using for those experiments. He¡¯d expected to get kicked out or killed once he joined the Order or Barriers, he was just that good at accidentally aggravating people, what he hadn¡¯t expected was for it to take so long to happen. Really, how in the world did it take Eaton a whole week to run into Kolen? -- Kolen closed the folding knife he¡¯d found in the closet, wondering if he would need it shortly. He wasn¡¯t quite sure what would happen next, and he definitely wasn¡¯t sure that he would be alive tomorrow. Somehow though, he didn¡¯t panic. There¡¯s only one other person I know who would react the same way to impending doom, the most important difference being that¡ªlast I checked¡ªKolen was mortal. He fingered the knife again and tucked it into a more obscure pocket, figuring he¡¯d better be safe than sorry. Following the same train of thought, he took one of the smaller crystals from the box in the corner and pocketed it as well. Strangely, when he touched it he could sense a bit of something from it, like he could feel the magic inside. Thankfully, his hands had stopped glowing after an hour or so, and he didn¡¯t absorb this crystal like what had happened with that sinister-looking one. It was placed harmlessly into his pocket and the slight sense he¡¯d had of the magic inside disappeared. Kolen was in the middle of disassembling a piece of broken equipment when the closet door finally opened. Eaton had actual guards this time, and despite knowing who they were, Kolen was already certain he wouldn¡¯t be able to use that as leverage. They pulled him roughly from the closet and marched him down¡­ down, into the depths of the compound. --- Kolen didn¡¯t sleep that night, or the night after, by the time it had been the tenth night, he was fairly certain he would never sleep again. Eaton locked him in the last basement of the compound, a place that smelled of death and damp soil. The walls were cracked under the pressure of the building above, flooding was common, and Kolen had learned quickly to not look too hard at the moldy sheets and mushroom-filled walls. He tried to tire himself out several times, but he never passed out no matter how much his muscles ached and his energy dwindled. He tried doing increasingly complex math problems to tire his mind, he tried hanging upside down until he barfed out his last meal, and he tried laying on the moldy blankets thinking about the intricacies of the universe. He still didn¡¯t sleep. Eventually, he settled for teaching himself to meditate, he figured that would do the best in order to keep him from getting sleep-deprived, though he didn¡¯t feel any signs of that yet, which struck him as odd. The only times anyone visited the last basement was to give him food and take his blood for tests. After the first few days, the guard claimed they were going to execute him for having developed some kind of magic, but¡­Kolen was still waiting for that day to come. I think the artificers liked having a steady source of magically infused blood for experiments, not having to send people on perilous journeys to Melor just to get it must have been convenient for their little evil organization. Days passed, and sleep did not come. (Kolen 3) b2c11 - Fungal Friends --- Kolen --- He might have started hallucinating by the tenth day, after all Kolen really couldn¡¯t tell if the voices were real. They were faint, like little whispers at the back of his mind, some were louder than others, some were more¡­vibrant than others, some had a sense of power about them that Kolen really couldn¡¯t describe. Some sounded female, others sounded male, most sounded like they might contain words if only Kolen could listen just a bit harder. They were his constant companion as the days passed by. They never stopped, they never slowed, and the only time there were simply less of them was at night. They pulled at his mind, it felt almost like Kolen was unraveling, like each of those voices was a piece of his mind that had fled his grasp. He stopped counting the days when the voices started getting louder, he still couldn¡¯t make out what they were saying, but there was so much pain with those voices, so much hatred and anger, so much annoyance. He felt like his own mental voice was lost in the downpour. And so he searched, he looked for anything that might be positive, he looked for even a hint of joy, but¡­there was nothing in the voices he could hear. That¡¯s¡­ I don¡¯t like that. Is this how people see the world? Is this¡­ how I should see it? And then he heard something almost quieter than his own mind, something that was simply content. To Kolen, that was good enough. He stood up with firm legs and walked along the abandoned halls, looking for the source of that positivity. - ~Peace, content, beauty, see it? See it!? Beauty, moments of now, emotion, content. Content! Peace!~ Kolen knelt down beside a patch of fungus, tilting his head at the small white mushroom that poked out of the wall. Feeling strange, he addressed it. ¡°Are you the voice?¡± ~Peace, contentment, curiosity, curiosity? Human! See it! See beauty, moments of now.~ Kolen felt a slight smile tug at his mouth, ¡°Can you hear me?¡± ~Hear! I hear! You hear? Humans hear! Peace peace! Joy!~ ¡°Who are you?¡± ~Difference! Beauty, ancient spores and ashes.~ Kolen grinned and slid to a sitting position, leaning against the wall, ¡°How long have you been here, my friend?¡± ~Time? Timeless things there are. Many facts, many joys, small small small thoughts.~ Kolen nodded slowly, figuring that the mushroom meant it didn¡¯t know. ¡°I¡¯m Kolen.¡± He explained, ¡°I¡¯m down here¡­waiting for them to get rid of me.¡± There was silence for a long moment. ~Death? Destruction and sorrow? You are?~ He nodded slowly, and then, not sure if the mushroom could detect that, Kolen explained, ¡°I think I maybe got magic, they¡¯ve been taking my blood every few days and the guard keeps cursing my name.¡± ~Sorrow sorrow! Not all bad! Soon will end!~ Kolen cringed, figuring the mushroom didn¡¯t really understand that that was a bad thing. ¡°I¡¯d rather escape somehow, but I really can¡¯t find another exit.¡± He¡¯d spent most of the first few days looking for one, but any other door that led upwards was blocked off or guarded. ~N nnn content, have peace?~ Kolen shook his head, ¡°I don¡¯t think I could have peace. But your peace is nice to listen to, you can forget about my problems if you want, there¡¯s not really anything you can do.¡± ~You hear others.~ it was a statement made with certainty. ~They are angry? Sad, broken?~ Kolen nodded, ¡°It¡¯s hard to really hear anything else.¡± ~There are those not sad! Here, the humans above made the others sad, but other places there is joy!~ That was the most coherent sentence he¡¯d gotten out of the mushroom the whole time. ¡°I don¡¯t know why, but they are very angry people.¡± ~Affirmative! Peace peace! Soon! End will soon!~ Kolen smiled at the energetic optimism, and nodded slowly, ¡°Thank you, I think maybe I would be fine to die here.¡± ~Others anger¡­ no freedom, no movement. I have peace.~ ¡°They think they aren¡¯t free?¡± ~Stuck, they are stuck.~ It corrected itself. ~Not always.~ That part really didn¡¯t make sense, so Kolen simply nodded and leaned back against the wall, trying to hold on to the little haven of positivity that the mushroom was emitting. -- Kolen gently prodded a section of mold, sensing the absolutely pissed mind that was inside it. ~anger anger anger, no room, no food, no light, dark dark, anger.~ ¡°But why?¡± He asked softly, ¡°Why are you angry?¡± ~Reason? REASON?~ ¡°Uh¡­yes, reason.¡± ~...reason.~ ¡°That¡¯s rough, buddy. Could you maybe¡­stop being angry?¡± ~Halt? Stop? Cease? Continue no longer? Why?~ ¡°...Because it takes more energy? I¡¯m sure your¡­reason is a very good reason, but it¡¯s making me sad to listen to. Maybe you would be more happy if you weren¡¯t so angry?¡± This was like talking to a particularly dense child. It struck Kolen that perhaps the reason only one of the mushrooms was so much nicer than the others was just a higher capacity for thought. None of the others were getting philosophical on him at least, it was kind of disappointing actually. The mold thought about it for a moment. It thought harder. And then it thought for a little bit longer, just to be sure. ~Alright.~ And¡­just like that, it stopped. Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site. It was strangely fulfilling to sense the mold transition into a more peaceful state, it was like Kolen had succeeded at something. He grinned down at it, moving his hand across the wall and to a slimy substance that had been constantly screaming as far back as Kolen could remember. It wasn¡¯t any louder than the other voices, but it was really annoying anyway. ¡°Heyyyy¡­ could you stop doing that? Isn¡¯t there something more interesting you could do with your time?¡± ~AAAAAHAHAHAEHEHEHIHIIHIYIYAHAHAAAAAHHHHHHH~ Was the only response, the sheer amount of tonal shifts in that mental voice was rather impressive actually. I¡¯ll call that one Screamer¡­ That thought struck him, he glanced back at the easily swayed mold, its bright orange coloring was the only distinguishing feature that Kolen could make out. Mango. It''s mango colored. He made his way back to the happy mushroom, ¡°Do you have a name?¡± He asked, figuring that it might. It sent joy, ~Happy happy! Of course! Alrasi!~ Kolen frowned, Alrasi¡­ ¡°How do you have a name?¡± ~Abashment, apology, sorrow.~ It explained, ~Do not¡­know.~ Kolen sighed, ¡°Well thank you, Alrasi. I¡¯d like to call my friends by their names.¡± -- It said something about how ingrained he was in mushroom drama that Kolen noticed immediately when Screamer and Mango started acting funny. Mango was a bit too happy for its little vengeful self, and Screamer seemed to be testing whether it could shorten and lengthen its constant yell, as if trying to get Kolen¡¯s attention. It was only a moment before Kolen was in their area, anxiously examining the two fungi like a worried parent. Oh how far he¡¯d come. ~AAAAHHHHHHH~ The green slime exclaimed. ¡°Yes, that¡¯s great, screamer.¡± Kolen said absently, glancing it over. ~Strange strange! New thing!~ Mango explained, ~Happy? New thing happy.~ Kolen frowned and tried to follow the mental map that Mango was sending him. It was really odd the way fungus senses worked, so at first he went too far, and then he didn¡¯t go far enough. After quite a bit of finagling, Kolen spotted what the two had sensed. It was a new kind of mushroom. It looked a bit like Alrasi, but not as big yet, the mental voice was absent for some reason, though there were some species he just couldn¡¯t read. Mango seemed excited though, which was the last thing Kolen would have expected. Most of the time it was just¡­salty. Kolen examined the new mushroom from above, but he figured that he¡¯d poked Alrasi a couple of times and hadn¡¯t died yet, so this one was probably similar. He felt at it, gently so as to prevent bruising, and peered at it with a frown as he felt something stir from it. He got the sense though that any consciousness it had was far far away. He shook his head and wandered over to Alrasi, ¡°Can you sense the new mushroom?¡± ~Affirmative! He is here!~ Kolen frowned, ¡°He?¡± ~Joy joy! Contentment! Excitement! Soon soon! The end is soon!~ Kolen sighed, ¡°Awesome¡­¡± ~Joy joy!~ ~Master of the light of the sight!~ Wordy exclaimed, ~Stars of the ash of the beyond!~ Kolen nodded slowly and made his way to Wordy, wondering again what that was supposed to mean. Wordy was quite a ways off from Alrasi, hidden in an alcove. Wordy was one of those more colorful mushrooms, it had a bright blue-green cup shape with white speckles and Kolen was almost completely sure that it would kill him if he ate it. ¡°Wordy? You good?¡± ~Merely interested. I can feel it approaching, a mass unlike any. I want the attention of this mind, I can feel that it is good and gracious to those it sees.~ Kolen nodded slowly, the whiplash of hearing an almost intelligent being was stark here. But Wordy had a tendency to¡­ pick up new words and use them in ways that they weren¡¯t meant to be used, while making it sound entirely correct. It also had a terrible memory. So while it sounded coherent, Wordy probably had no idea what it was talking about. Kolen wondered if there was a tradeoff with memory and vocabulary for mushrooms¡­ an interesting thought because that would make Screamer the greatest at remembering things out of all of them. He smiled, happy that the last few days had had something to occupy him. -- Breathe in¡­ and out¡­ In¡­ And out. The voices in the back of Kolen¡¯s mind slid out of focus slowly. It had been a long day of focusing on the mushrooms, but he figured it was probably nighttime by now. He still wasn¡¯t tired, and he still wasn¡¯t asleep, but well, this was close enough. In and out. And there it is. Kolen didn¡¯t exactly see anyone, but as his mind stretched and flowed about, thinking and processing the events of the day, he felt like there was someone nearby, someone with him. He could still vaguely sense Screamer and Mango in the back of his mind, he was closest to their area at the moment after all, but two different minds seemed far stronger. One seemed like Alrasi¡¯s mind, it looked a bit like a little boy to Kolen, a child full of hope and joy. The mind seemed to encourage him as it gestured enthusiastically at the unfamiliar mind. A mind that was far far larger than the simple mushrooms and molds. It couldn¡¯t seem to see him though, whatever consciousness this thing possessed was far away, connected, but not here. Alrasi pulsed slightly. He seemed to be pulling at that mind, for lack of a better term. ~Friend! Friend! Who is this friend?~ The mind slowly and ponderously turned its attention toward Alrasi, sending a sense of curiosity and intrigue. It examined Alrasi. This mind seemed the shape of a tall man, contemplative but exuberant, powerful but calm. ~I¡¯m Netun, I¡¯ve been looking for you. Alrasi, is it?~ --- Alrasi --- Contentment, joy, curiosity, excitement, and a carnal desire to know. Alrasi wasn¡¯t the brightest mushroom in the cave, but he did know that he wasn¡¯t like any of the molds and slimes that lived in this basement. He couldn¡¯t talk to them like Kolen could, but he knew that there was just something different about him. Sometimes Alrasi just had a feel about how things would turn out. It wasn¡¯t anything magical, at least, he didn¡¯t think it was anything magical, but Alrasi knew the moment that he met Kolen¡ªa person that could hear him! Wasn¡¯t that exciting!?!¡ªhe knew that things were about to change drastically. He knew that someone was coming, he could sense them from somewhere far away, occasionally he would find a spore or two from someone like him. And now, Alrasi was actually talking to him. That, above everything else, was amazing. He felt like he should be vibrating with excitement. But¡­ he wasn¡¯t. He couldn¡¯t really vibrate, sometimes he could shape his mushrooms into other things, once he¡¯d made a tiny form in the shape of what he thought a human looked like, but he didn¡¯t remember if it had worked. Oh! Right! Friend! ~I¡¯m Alrasi! Yes! Hellooooooo!!!~ Netun sent amusement at his enthusiasm. ~Thank you, Alrasi, but¡­ why is your mass so small?~ Alrasi thought for a moment, remembering all the mushrooms around him. ~I don¡¯t want to hurt! I want to be small, it feels right!!~ Yes, that sounded like the reason, maybe there was more to it that Alrasi couldn''t remember, but it was the reason, and that''s really all that mattered. Netun seemed a bit confused at this, but he seemed to understand the concept. ~You want to not be in the way?~ ~n..nnnn maybe-possibly-perhaps?~ ~Alrasi, I''m here because your parents are worried about you. Do you remember them?~ Soft arms, protection, safety, an impossibly resilient trust and love. ~Maybe-possibly-perhaps?~ ~Do you want to come with me and meet them?~ Alrasi felt excitement bubble up inside him, along with curiosity and a bit of fear, ~Yes! Can you help my friend too?~ Netun sent curiosity, ~Who¡¯s your friend?~ Alrasi couldn¡¯t find the words for it, so he moved his attention towards Kolen, who was listening to the conversation, the little fart. He directed Netun toward the human, ~This friend!~ (Kolen 4) b2c12 - Justice is Balance --- Netun --- Netun resisted the urge to make a body just so he could bang his head into a blunt object for several minutes. He¡¯d never met an Alanerea who was so¡­ frustrating. He didn¡¯t hate Alrasi, but the longer he talked with him, the more clear it was that he was still a child in more ways than one. He¡¯d heard from Salven that anyone who had died young was a bit odd, sometimes they grew their mushrooms strangely, they often didn¡¯t understand things easily, and some of them were so set in their ways that no one could even dream of breaking them out of strange repetitions and dreamlands. None of them suffered though, none of them were in pain, they were just¡­ different. But a child who¡¯d died after only a month of being mortal? The Alanerea had prided themselves in their low infant mortality, so Netun hadn¡¯t even thought to ask Salven about that possibility. He should have asked Alrasi¡¯s parents how old this kid was¡­ He sighed internally again and finally examined the human the little Alanerea had befriended. Netun couldn¡¯t just¡­ kill him, Alrasi would be angry and the human hadn¡¯t actually done anything to deserve that fate. And he was a very interesting human. The power to read the perceptions of any fungus? If Netun himself wasn¡¯t a fungus he would be intrigued by the idea. ¡°Explain yourself, human.¡± Netun finally said, sending annoyance and curiosity. It was so odd to think that a mortal could hear their conversations without being somehow included. The human seemed nervous, but he responded, it was a mental projection so Netun could hear it, but the human didn¡¯t seem to realize he was doing that part. ¡°I¡¯m sorry for listening, I couldn¡¯t sleep.¡± Netun sent annoyance at the lack of a true explanation, especially since Netun himself couldn¡¯t read the human¡¯s thoughts. For all he knew this was an elaborate ruse somehow¡­ ¡°Explain more.¡± He commanded. The human paused for a moment and belatedly sent apology, Netun got the sense that he wasn¡¯t quite as good at sending emotions as he was thoughts. ¡°The artificers above us locked me down here, I¡¯ve been waiting for them to kill me¡­ but it hasn¡¯t happened yet.¡± Netun prodded at the surface area, having sent tendrils all through that compound by now, he¡¯d listened to them for days and the existence of a prisoner down here did explain a lot. ¡°Ah, I¡¯ve heard them talking about you. I don¡¯t believe they intend to kill you, but to give you to their king as a means of placating him in regards to their sub-par performance.¡± ¡°I¡­ think that¡¯s worse than death,¡± The human sent terror, ¡°I¡¯ve heard horrible things about the king.¡± Alrasi also sent terror, ¡°Kolen! Friend!¡± Netun had forgotten the child was listening¡­ ¡°I propose we strike a bargain then.¡± The human sent curiosity, ¡°What kind of bargain?¡± ¡°I will aid the two of you in escaping this place.¡± Netun said slowly, knowing that Alrasi was in no state to simply grow his presence outside of that basement. ¡°And in return?¡± For such a young human, he was extremely wary. ¡°In return I will need your oath, by the laws of magic itself; that you will preserve this world, save the dying, avenge the innocent, and uphold justice.¡± Netun recited, watching the human speculatively, if he said no then it would be difficult to get past him to retrieve Alrasi. There was no reason for him to object though, at least, no reason that Netun could see. ¡°Is this preservation and justice by your measurement? Or by something unchanging?¡± Netun paused. That was¡­ a very important distinction. ¡°Because if it¡¯s your measurement then I¡¯m going to have to refuse.¡± Netun sent concern, ¡°I have never thought of it that way before. Do you know of something unchanging so I can set my standard to that?¡± If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. The human sent surprise, apparently not having expected Netun to be so willing to change. ¡°I don¡¯t know of an unchanging justice. Sorry, but I think I¡¯ll have to decline.¡± Alrasi sent support, probably not knowing what exactly was happening. Netun sighed internally, pushing aside his discomfort at his shaking ideals and picking up a different idea. ¡°I would accept it as repayment enough if you help me to find an unchanging justice.¡± ¡°I agree then.¡± The human said. Netun couldn¡¯t help but feel that he was being tricked somehow. --- Kolen --- He paced around the room for the seventh time, deciding again to walk past Mango and Screamer to see if the guard had tossed any bread down yet¡ªthe bread was five hours late, but they might have just forgotten about him again. He checked the enormous mind again, but it wasn¡¯t paying attention to him anymore. He thought it was more condensed in a few areas than before, but Kolen really wasn¡¯t an expert on mushrooms or fungus, or anything really. But it came looking for Alrasi. He reminded himself again, it clearly had a memory and a vocabulary, it clearly could plan and decide and learn and feel. The part of Kolen that still thought of fungi as nuisances that ought to be rooted out of society kept arguing that there was no way he should consider them as if they were people. But if he saw them as not people, he¡¯d be a dragonkisser. It was very difficult for Kolen to rationalize these two things, he simply¡­ hadn¡¯t thought about it for most of the last few months. He¡¯d gotten to know the local fungi just like he would the local people. And they were as diverse as humanity. The problem, Kolen figured, was that he couldn¡¯t really see the big version of Alrasi. There was that tiny mushroom he¡¯d seen, but that clearly wasn¡¯t the entire consciousness. Kolen suspected that he would never be able to see the entire consciousness. And so he¡¯d resorted to giving it a mental breakdown, not wanting to be tied to the moral code of a mushroom. The worst part there as far as Kolen could tell was that he didn¡¯t even feel bad about it. He paced around the hall for several minutes until the proximity of Screamer¡¯s mental voice started to grate on him, then turned around to pace near Wordy instead. Pacing wasn¡¯t nearly as helpful as people in stories made it out to be, but it was certainly something to pass the time with. He went between the two pacing locations a few times, and then went back to Alrasi, and then tried to check on the big mushroom, but neither of them were paying any attention to him. Alrasi had gotten extra energy from somewhere and Kolen could almost see it growing even as he watched. Finally, after several hours of this back and forth, Kolen went back to the entrance area to see if the guard was there again, only to see a strange man leaning against the door, his eyes closed and his arms folded. His skin was extremely white, and it seemed to even glow slightly in the dim corridor. His hair was as white as his skin and even his clothing was that same shade. Kolen took an instinctive step back as his eyes opened to reveal two blood red irises. ¡°Ah, there you are.¡± The stranger said, hefting a box. ¡°My sense of direction is shot, where¡¯s Alrasi?¡± Kolen blinked at him and belatedly noticed that he could sense a mind from the stranger. It was the big mushroom he¡¯d given an existential crisis. ¡°You¡¯re¡­¡± ¡°You can call me Netun, and yes, I know. Usually people find out the mushroom part after the sapient part. Then there¡¯s a lot of screaming with a dash of murder attempts, and I¡¯d really rather skip that part.¡± ¡°That¡¯s¡­¡± ¡°Kid, from how your mind felt I assumed you weren¡¯t slow of thought, let¡¯s get going. Where¡¯s Alrasi?¡± The mushroom¡¯s personality was vastly different from before, but Kolen belatedly led the strange man through the halls until they came to Alrasi¡¯s little area. Kolen was impressed to see that he¡¯d grown a second mushroom. ¡°Great job Alrasi!¡± He got a dim sense of accomplishment from the fungus. Netun sighed with exasperation. ~Alrasi, I¡¯m going to need you to speed it up.~ The little mushroom sent sadness. The human-shaped mushroom placed his hand holding the box near the small mushroom, ~I need you to grow a new stream into here and then sever your bond to the rest of your mass.~ The little mushroom sent confusion. ¡°Can¡¯t you just like¡­ pluck it off the wall and put it in the box?¡± Netun turned on Kolen with an offended expression. ¡°You don¡¯t pluck people! Not only is that rude, but it hardly ever¡ª¡± Kolen grabbed Alrasi¡¯s larger mushroom from the base and gently tugged it off the wall, setting it inside the box. ¡°There, easy.¡± Netun immediately placed his hand where the mushroom had been, ¡°Sparking idiot!! You could damage him permanently when he¡¯s this small!¡± Alrasi sent shock and fear, but after a moment returned to his usual contentment. Netun peered into the box at that message and then glared at Kolen, ¡°You are extremely lucky that that worked.¡± (Taasen 1) b2c13 - Brute Force --- Taasen --- In the opposite direction of ¡®halfway across the world¡¯ but just as far, on a lonely continent that had little to no contact with any that you might be familiar with, there was a simple training room. For some people, there are things that never get old no matter how hard or how many times you throw yourself at them. For these people it¡¯s not a quest of novelty that keeps them going, it¡¯s more the opposite; a hard drive to experience that moment of peace a thing gives you. It comes to the point where it¡¯s no longer a thing, it¡¯s your thing. Most people in Divaria have this drive, it¡¯s present in their magics and the way they tell stories. Being one of these people, Taasen took every opportunity to experience his thing. The air flew by as almost an afterthought as he moved like a leaf in the windless training room. It was like Taasen was playing an instrument with the blade as it whirled around him with grace and precision, striking at imaginary foes and into invisible weak spots, taking them down with almost beautiful brutality. The laws of physics in those moments were a mere suggestion at which Taasen completely neglected to adhere to. The kata came to an end after far too soon and his master examined his ending form with a frown. ¡°Taasen, are you trying to bludgeon with a slicing sword?¡± He tilted his head, thinking back on the dance, ¡°Only if the opponent dies that way.¡± Lew sighed and took one of the other practice blades, holding it differently to show Taasen, ¡°If you do it like this, it¡¯s more likely to do something effective.¡± ¡°And my enemies will perish?¡± ¡°Your enemies will probably perish. There¡¯s never a guarantee even with the most practiced swordsman.¡± Taasen experimentally moved the practice sword in a cutting motion, his master was already out of reach, having learned early on that Taasen might literally start attacking at a moment¡¯s notice. He¡¯d never won any of those spontaneous fights, but he¡¯d come closer than frostbite one time. ¡°Can it cut through bone like this?¡± Lew examined his stance and showed him the way to hold it again, ¡°With practice eventually you could even cut through a metal construct.¡± Taasen brightened and was immediately on board, why bruise the enemy so hard they couldn¡¯t walk when he could simply decapitate them? ¡°I like this idea, why is the kata you taught me easier when you whack them with the flat of the blade?¡± ¡°You looked impressive, but you were doing it wrong.¡± ¡°My enemies will bow before me if I make it look interesting.¡± He sighed, ¡°That¡¯s your problem then, you¡¯re so focused on making it look cooler that you aren¡¯t doing the motions right.¡± Taasen pouted and moved the sword again, ¡°I think maybe I should just use a sword meant for hitting them.¡± ¡°But how will you decapitate your enemies that way?¡± Taasen glared at him and pulled up his mental shields, frosting musicians¡­ ¡°Stop reading my mind!¡± ¡°That took you too long to notice, a real enemy wouldn¡¯t clue you in that it was happening. They would beat you to a pulp having expected all your moves.¡± Taasen sighed, remembering countless times with this same argument, ¡°But then the fight isn¡¯t fair.¡± Lew shook his head slowly, ¡°No one claimed that battles were ever fair. If you could win by tricking your enemy, wouldn¡¯t you?¡± ¡°That defeats the entire purpose though! How can I know if I¡¯m stronger than my enemies unless I decapitate them fair and square?!¡± Honestly, the fact that more people didn¡¯t have the right things straight was a common sort of annoyance to Taasen. Why would you manipulate someone when you could just explain why you needed them to do something? The world would be far more simple if people were just straight with each other. The swordmaster sighed, ¡°Taasen, we both know this is a topic you¡¯re passionate about.¡± He glared at him and pulled his mental defenses higher. ¡°But Taasen, isn¡¯t that exactly the point? You don¡¯t know when or if someone will turn on you. You don¡¯t know if someone is secretly a liar, so you need to be prepared to deal with those who are.¡± Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road. Taasen brightened slightly, ¡°I can deal with¡ª¡± ¡°Killing them is not as much of a solution as you seem to think it is.¡± He furrowed his brow, ¡°Well I know that; there will always be people searching for revenge if I kill everyone who¡¯s a liar. But frost above, can¡¯t I just punch them a little bit? Convince myself that they¡¯re rabbits?¡± The instructor adopted a slightly haunted look at the mention of rabbits, no doubt remembering the time Taasen had turned an entire class of younger students¡ªwhom he¡¯d been meant to critique¡ªinto rabbits, claiming they were too slow and this would fix the problem. Taasen would have no doubt turned the swordmaster into something by now if Lew wasn¡¯t constantly reminding him that he was human and therefore completely immune to Taasen¡¯s type of rabbit-making. After a moment¡¯s pause, the instructor shook his head dimly, ¡°Well, that didn¡¯t work well in the past and you shouldn¡¯t expect that to change.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t expect it to change, I just want to know why it¡¯s like that in the first place.¡± Taasen, it should be noted, would have fit right in with junior philosophers if he could refrain from turning them into rabbits long enough to teach them something. The master held up his practice sword, ¡°You aren¡¯t going to learn why until you realize that that¡¯s a fundamentally stupid question. We¡¯re human,¡± Frostbite there was the reminder again, no turning into rabbits today¡­ ¡°Life is just filled with liars and people looking to manipulate you for their own gains.¡± With that he attacked, Taasen eagerly blocked the strike with his own practice sword. It should also be noted that Taasen learns by doing. He really should have expected it, but when he felt the sting of grit as it entered his eyes, all he could conceive to feel besides pain in his freaking eyes, was a seething hatred for the nature of deceptions. ¡°Gah¡ª That¡¯s not fair!¡± ¡°So?¡± Lew asked as Taasen felt a sharp strike against his ribs, ¡°Would an enemy refrain from taking advantage of their environment?¡± Taasen hissed as another strike came for his back, he kept blinking at first, getting flashes of where Lew was, but that frosting grit was still in his eyes and he couldn¡¯t focus long enough to do anything except weakly dodge the next attack. ¡°An enemy should refrain from that, what¡¯s the point?!¡± ¡°To win.¡± He said calmly, smacking the practice sword against the back of one of Taasen¡¯s knees. He stayed up though, his stance holding. ¡°There¡¯s no point in winning!¡± ¡°There is when it¡¯s life and death.¡± Lew hit the back of Taasen¡¯s knee again even as he tried to move away, the timing was exactly wrong and he tumbled to the practice grounds. Taasen could barely begin to express his thoughts on that, all he knew was that he was only here for the contest, he wasn¡¯t here to beat people, he was here to see if he could beat people. ¡°Maybe it shouldn¡¯t be for that then!¡± Taasen opened one eye, glaring at the form above him that held out a hand to assist. His master would have pointed out here that Taasen was quite a bloodthirsty person, but he¡¯d tried that another time and it hadn¡¯t worked. ¡°Well for other people it is, so you need to figure out how to deal with them when they get desperate.¡± Taasen didn¡¯t take his hand, instead he lunged at him from the ground, his legs taking him high enough that Taasen could tap Lew on the shoulder with his exposed elbow while making a distracting attack with his other arm. ¡°I am faster than this¡­¡± Taasen muttered, ¡°Stronger than this.¡± And so he was. Even though Lew knew to expect this from Taasen, the swordmaster reeled, turning to strike at one side, but that was all Taasen needed to ram the practice sword point first into his stomach. Taasen landed, remembering belatedly that gravity existed. ¡°There, you seem to have perished, that means I¡¯m right.¡± Lew blinked in disorientation at the energetic student, putting a hand to his head, ¡°If we¡¯re counting that then you would have lost a leg earlier, you couldn¡¯t have jumped nearly as well with only one.¡± ¡°A lost leg will not prevent me from slaying my enemies.¡± ¡°That¡¯s what you think until you lose one.¡± Taasen nodded slowly, backing away a decent bit and rubbing his eyes to dislodge the sand, ¡°I believe that I will¡­think about how to properly deal with surprises. I must admit that you do have a bit of a point.¡± ¡°You did deceive me though.¡± Taasen looked at him sharply, ¡°When?¡± ¡°When you were on the ground, I assumed the fight was over, especially with the sand in your eyes. I assumed I had the upper hand because I was ¡®cheating.¡¯¡± He brightened, ¡°So I didn¡¯t deceive you, you deceived yourself with your deceit! I hope you¡¯ve learned your lesson now, never deceive, it simply makes you look stupider than a mucician in the winter!¡± ¡°Yeah, we¡¯ll go with that.¡± Taasen gleefully spun back into his kata, after all, it was still the subject he was meant to study today. The wind whipped about him, created by his movements, each thrust and stab in perfect harmony¡ª ¡°Taasen, you''re just stabbing now, it¡¯s supposed to be a slicing sword.¡± Taasen glared at his master, ¡°Perhaps my victory by means of impaling you has left me with better views on the stabs of combat.¡± Lew picked up his own again, holding it in exactly the same stance as before, fingers just the right width, shoulders flexed for combat. ¡°Or maybe you weren¡¯t listening on the right way to hold a sword?¡± Taasen examined the stance with a frown, ¡°Perhaps if I decapitate something I¡¯ll feel more in the mood for slicing swords?¡± (Taasen 2) b2c14 - Assassin --- Taasen --- Taasen smiled up at the sky as flakes of pure whiteness fell from it, each one unique and beautiful against the tapestry of the surrounding world. He caught a flake on his hand, watching as it slowly melted and observing the delicate pattern of six-fold symmetry. Art is the soul of the world, especially in Divaria, the land of ice and snow, a place where anything can happen if you work hard enough. Taasen was one of those people who had worked hard enough. At this point, impossible things even happened on accident. As such, Taasen leaped sharply to the side as someone lunged at him. He hadn¡¯t seen or heard the strike, but that didn¡¯t matter. Spinning out of the way to face the attacker. His sword was in his hand after less than a heartbeat and Taasen certainly didn¡¯t remember actually pulling it out. He wasn¡¯t sure if it had cracked reality or if he¡¯d just unsheathed it unconsciously. Who cares, I have an enemy. I have to have gotten Selneth¡¯s attention by now. Taasen might just end up hunting down Selneth if it turned out this was just another opportunist. There was a surprising amount of opportunists around lately, he was getting rather tired of them to be honest. He grinned at the attacker, who¡¯d regained himself after the failed ambush. He was smaller than Taasen had expected, with a slight build and a certain fumbling quality to his stance. He wore a mask, which didn¡¯t bode well for him having been sent by Selneth. He held his knives out defensively, one in each hand. They were big enough to possibly count as swords under some classifications, but to Taasen they were pitiful. He shifted his own legs into a stance that granted greater stability, watching the attacker¡¯s stance and bearing with a critical eye, waiting for¡­ there it is. Taasen leaped forward, moving with inhuman speed and grace. He slashed at his enemy¡¯s unprotected legs, feeling it bite into the thigh with surprising resistance as the blade achieved a shallow gash. The man managed to slightly deflect the blade with one of his knives, otherwise he might have lost the limb. Taasen backed up, narrowing his eyes. ¡°Are you with Selneth?¡± The attacker hissed slightly as he tried to shift his weight to his injured leg. Taasen struck by instinct, hitting the other leg this time in a way that felt like it went deeper than the first¡ªthere was still too much resistance¡ªbut Taasen was gifted a slash across one of his own arms for his trouble. ¡°Did you assume that I might be carrying this lovely weapon as a decoration?¡± Really, it was a beautiful tool; when he sliced just right he could cut through bone, wood, sometimes even metal. So why was there too much resistance? He frowned at the attacker, examining his form again, perhaps it was a thin armor? The attacker backed up slightly as if he was contemplating running away. ¡°Oh, frostbite, you are not leaving!¡± Taasen held up his sword in a more threatening stance, ¡°I have been patiently waiting for someone to attack me for the last seven passings of the sun!¡± And he¡¯d been out here for about four months before that, having been attacked several times in those four months. All of them having been frostbitten OPPORTUNISTS. The attacker watched Taasen for a moment before he seemed to give up, dropping his knives into the snow. He removed his mask while making several clicking sounds that just made Taasen¡¯s heart drop. Construct. Taasen felt his mood severely sour, that¡¯s why it was a bit too hard for flesh, it wasn¡¯t even flesh! He glared at the wooden face in front of him, one eye was just straight-up nonexistent as if the carver seemed to have thought the knot in the wood there made a striking contrast to the human-like appearance. The other eye blinked slowly at him. Taasen continued glaring, examining the face before deciding that it was clearly meant to be female. Frostbite¡­ If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement. He sighed and suddenly his sword was sheathed¡ªdefinitely a crack in reality that time¡ªTaasen massaged his temples. ¡°I assume your creator either perished or left you on your own once you became inconvenient?¡± The construct nodded. ¡°Do you have a purpose?¡± The construct shook her head. Her mouth opened and made more of those clicking sounds. He frowned for a moment as his construct was a bit rusty, but he got the meaning easily enough, ¡°No, my father died and took my purpose with him.¡± ¡°Did you attack me with a goal other than obtaining my possessions?¡± The construct shook her head. Well, that was inconvenient. That meant Selneth definitely hadn¡¯t sent her. ¡°I¡¯m after maps. Travelers have maps.¡± ¡°And the most effective way to obtain maps is to attack travelers?¡± She looked down, seeming a bit chastised. ¡°If that isn¡¯t how humans do it, I can stop¡ª¡± ¡°No, humans do it that way as well. We happen to be very good at hypocrisy.¡± The construct seemed surprised at this response. ¡°You¡­ don¡¯t care if I attack travelers?¡± ¡°All of them are liars. I would slay them myself.¡± Taasen turned and examined the path, wondering where he should try next for that assassin that Selneth would certainly have sent by now. The construct took a step after him when he made to leave, apparently she¡¯d been feigning injury from those attacks earlier, the little deceiver¡­ ¡°Where are we going?¡± ¡°I. Am waiting for an assassin. You. Are going on your way.¡± ¡°No I¡¯m not,¡± She put her hands on her hips, but it was an awkward movement, as if she wasn¡¯t really sure why that¡¯s what she should do. ¡°I¡¯ve decided that you¡¯re going to be my new human.¡± He turned away from her, ¡°That sounds lovely, but I apologize seeing as I¡¯m not currently looking for any companions. Besides, you attacked me.¡± He strode through the snow, annoyed but a little intrigued when he heard footsteps behind him crunching through ice. Strangely, she didn¡¯t listen to him. He¡¯d never met a construct that wasn¡¯t absolutely obedient at all times. Some would argue, but all of them would do what you asked in the end. ¡°I¡¯m sure that you¡¯ll regret not having some kind of backup, even if I am pathetic at fighting.¡± Taasen examined a strange-looking log for a moment. She hadn¡¯t been what he would describe as ¡®pathetic¡¯ though, he felt the need to correct her. ¡°Where did you learn to fight?¡± ¡°You know, here and there¡­¡± And she was lying again. ¡°I don¡¯t tolerate deceit. If you so desire, you may simply not answer as opposed to misleading me. I have a certain¡­ let¡¯s call it a grudge against liars, I tend to make them my enemies, and believe me when I say you do not want to be my enemy.¡± He glanced back at her, and she seemed a bit shaken. ¡°I¡­I¡¯m sorry, I think I did that by instinct.¡± The clicks of her speech were soft. Taasen nodded, ¡°I suppose you can come with me, but only if there is no deceit between us. Intentional or otherwise.¡± The construct nodded. ¡°Oh, what do you call yourself? I am Taasen.¡± ¡°I¡­I¡¯m Erane.¡± He nodded easily and continued onward. ¡°If we don¡¯t get ambushed, I¡¯ll simply have to provoke Selneth again, or track him down, that little frostbitten shifter¡­¡± Erane walked silently behind him as he plodded through the snow, eventually, she took her gloves off and tucked them away somewhere, she probably couldn¡¯t feel the cold, lucky little construct. Most Divarians have a lesser sense of temperature than other kinds of humans, being in a land with almost perpetual winter, but despite popular belief, they did still feel cold. At least, most of them. Kind of. I would have simply keeled over dead in these temperatures. Taasen wondered vaguely if musicians¡ªbeing the most fragile kind of artist¡ªwould freeze first if left in an endless field of ice. The painter would certainly live the longest, followed closely by the dancer¡­ it was an interesting question. Again, Taasen would fit right in with philosophers if they lived long enough to learn his twisted ways. A sudden thought came upon Taasen and he glanced back at Erane, ¡°Are you an artist?¡± She blinked. ¡°I¡¯m a construct if you didn¡¯t notice?¡± ¡°And I was made by the children of Kalteii, but that does about the opposite in preventing me from creating art. Also, what did I say about deceit?¡± Erane glanced away, ¡°It¡¯s a recent development¡­¡± ¡°I see. Do you have a handle on it?¡± She kept on staring out at the falling snow, ¡°As much as can be expected.¡± He smiled, looking out at the snow as well, ¡°Art is everything, it always struck me as odd that constructs couldn¡¯t make it. But you seem to be different, aren¡¯t you?¡± ¡°I wasn¡¯t always different. I was just like the rest, I could barely talk, I could barely choose.¡± ¡°What changed?¡± Erane stopped walking, and Taasen did as well, figuring the assassin could find him anywhere if it was a decent one. ¡°You want my story?¡± ¡°Of course, I¡¯m certain it¡¯s more interesting than mine.¡± Erane seemed resigned, ¡°It started when my father died.¡± (Taasen 3) b2c15 - Carved Dreams --- Erane --- The sky fell around her. Now, at a glance, one might assume that this was a pure place, a place of magic, or beauty and justice. The flakes that fell didn¡¯t seem to understand what they did to the world, they didn¡¯t seem to see that their frozen crystals were the one thing that kept the evil at bay. Its pure white is the only reason that this world can still be beautiful. To a human, this would likely be a different experience entirely. Her father always used to say that the skyfall was cold, cold as death, cold as a starless night. Erane was never quite sure if she should believe him on that. She knew the concept of what cold felt like, but the moments between the crystals of a solid sky and the air felt nothing like the cold to her. They felt like magic. In fact, they looked like magic, or perhaps, magic looked like them. Every time Erane would mention that, her father would laugh, pat her on the head, and call her a good little girl with brilliant observations. Erane, being simply Erane, would much rather not be called that, but apparently, he could never tell what she felt. As the little pieces of sky embraced their bond with gravity, Erane walked through the storm of them, catching them in her ungloved hands, breathing in their scentless air, glancing about with barely contained life as she spotted piece after piece of broken sky. Father always told her to keep moving. Keep going because one day the humans would catch up and they would destroy him. Erane never quite understood the reasons for his worry, but she could keep moving anyway. In this case, instead of moving in a progressive way, Erane moved through the flakes, dancing like a Zaen bird during her season. Her trance-like state abruptly stopped as a familiar shape entered Erane¡¯s view. Suddenly, it was as if the entire skyfall was over. She stopped in her tracks, finally remembering. Finally allowing herself to remember. Her father was dead. Why did Erane have to keep moving forward? Why couldn¡¯t she concentrate? Her gaze followed a flake from far above as it made its journey downward, finally falling onto her open hand and settling there. In the middle of what was practically a blizzard, the flake wasn¡¯t alone for long, Erane¡¯s bare hand was still outstretched, waiting, wondering, trying oh so hard to feel. Another flake landed beside the first, sparkling in the low light as another and another appeared soon after. Erane stood completely still, watching as her bare hand filled with snow. She didn¡¯t know how long she stood there, still as the tree that birthed her, watching the snow with slow blinks as it covered her body in line with the wind. The whole world went at its own pace, Erane went at hers, the snow at its own, but it still sent a vaguely terrible feeling through her core at the thought. Somehow even the snow could keep going. The world was not changed in any significant way at his death. Curious. She¡¯d wondered how important she was to the world; if her father wasn¡¯t important then Erane supposed that meant she wasn¡¯t either. The simplicity of that was baffling. Though that might be the wrong train of thought to follow. She continued to watch the snow as it fell; even as it slowly covered her from head to toe while the hours passed, eventually her mind began to consider what was next. Usually, her father would have told her what to do next, but death was permanent. He wouldn''t be coming back no matter how much Erane might have needed his help. So far, all she knew about the world was that she was woefully unprepared for anything. Even after hours buried in the snow, her ears filled with the stuff, part of Erane still expected to hear him call out to her, his child, whispering calm words that she didn¡¯t understand. Her name on his lips, Erane. At that, Erane finally took a step forward, it was difficult with the snow that had piled around her, but she left the little cocoon it had made for her, and broke free from its protection. She didn¡¯t know what irony was back then, but it does feel ironic that the snow had tried to protect her. After that first step, her body finally decided to walk, it was then that Erane realized if she wanted the thing to do stuff she merely had to put forth the effort to continue to order it around. Almost like how her father had ordered her around, commanding her body when she had no will to do so herself. This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there. Perhaps just as Erane¡¯s wooden legs plowed forward, this was the first step toward her future. Perhaps to gain a will, perhaps to understand this world that she had been thrown into. -- Erane closed her eye and continued walking, her steps became steady, so she started counting them, taking pleasure in the mathematical exercise. It was strange to feel the rhythmic pounding of her march, strange to hear the changes in the world as she walked. 258, 259, 260. When the snow finally stopped falling, Erane had once more halted her thoughts. She was the count, 783, 784, 785. She was the pounding of her feet. She was nothing more than a husk that numbered each step. She opened her eye again, and a sudden rush of stimulation lanced through Erane as her body saw a tree. The tree. Her tree. That was Erane. And it wasn¡¯t. She could clearly see the branches that had been removed, the sections that had carefully been carved out. Erane could see how the tree missed those parts, Erane could see how the tree lived on without them, how she would continue to grow. And how Erane would continue to grow. Erane stood beside her, watching the tree as she slowly continued to grow imperceptibly. nutrients that she had gathered were sent into her wounds. Erane found the largest hollow on her far side and climbed up into it, feeling almost complete as the small construct did fit the gap. She sat inside, silently feeling the tree, her mother. She was in that hollow for a long time, eyes closed and mind barely grasping as cause and effect spiraled out from around her. The wind shifted and branches rustled. She could hear the small pattern of rodent paws as a creature dug a burrow nearby. Erane wasn¡¯t sure when the day passed into night, but it happened again and again and again. She wasn¡¯t sure when the snow moved off to a different place. All Erane knew was that those things happened, and she continued to exist. The days and weeks passed, and her mother slowly grew, but regardless of Erane¡¯s earlier assumptions, she did not grow, she did not change. Perhaps her paint peeled, perhaps her wood dried out, but Erane did not change. A strong wave of sorrow flashed through her. She didn¡¯t change. How? Didn¡¯t all creatures change? Didn¡¯t they all grow and learn and discover? Erane¡¯s tree felt that sorrow inside her, and finally, the mother spoke in a language that wasn¡¯t a language. A language that perhaps all knew but none used. ~What do you feel, child?~ Erane opened her eye, looking out at the snow. ~I feel¡­ dead.~ ~All things die.~ Mother prodded, ~but you still move, you still feel. You are not dead yet.~ ~But why am I not changing?~ Erane blinked and turned her head the slightest bit to the side, ~You are still alive, I know that, and you change. Why am I not changing?~ ~You are, child.~ Mother comforted, ~You have been separated from me, and then changed into a new form, then you have been given a gift, please treasure that gift.~ Erane closed her eye again, ~but what do I do now?~ She asked, hoping that Mother would let her stay here forever, let Erane be near her so she could feel alive again. ~My sweet daughter, you must go, but not yet.~ ~Why?~ ~Because you have the soul of a higher being. You may have come from me but you are not the same creature anymore.~ ~It doesn¡¯t feel like it.~ ~Erane, I have a gift for you, to help you grow.~ ~What is it?~ Erane felt as something dropped into her hands from the sky itself. She opened her eye, blinking slowly at the small snowflake. It wasn¡¯t melting, and it seemed to shimmer in the light like magic. Or perhaps magic looked like it. ~THIS is my gift to you. A gift to complete your soul.~ Erane examined it, deciding she knew where it was meant to go. She opened her mouth and placed it inside, feeling it fall down inside of her. Erane leaned back in the tree, closing her eye again and feeling as time continued to pass. -- When Erane opened her eye and looked upward, blinking at the green sprouts that were beginning to grow on all the surrounding trees, she realized that she couldn¡¯t feel any life from the tree below her. Time is a construct of creatures with things to lose, but now it sent a shiver through her. Now, Erane did care about how long had passed. Slowly, she extricated herself from the hollow in her tree, climbing down. Erane looked up at the dead tree, wishing that Mother hadn¡¯t done that, but appreciating her sacrifice all the same. She marveled at the speed of her thoughts, they didn¡¯t take hours to form anymore, making decisions somehow seemed easy all of the sudden. It felt like Erane¡¯s mind had been in a cloud all this time and she had just now woken up from it. Then, she felt angry, she felt confused, sad, and even a little bit excited. Where before her emotions had been stifled and orderly, now they were chaotic, they moved like a monster, hunting through her mind. Now, her emotions seemed alive. Erane felt a grin split across her wooden face, she looked up at the sky, and she thought that maybe she could feel the slightest bit¡­cold. (Taasen 4) b2c16 - Artists --- Taasen --- Taasen listened as his companion dictated her story. Erane made it almost an art as she explained the things that had befallen her. Her voice rose and fell with emotion and intensity that was lost on her audience. But she was vibrant by the end of it, filled with life and feeling. ¡°-my goal has been to get a master since then, and to do that I have to find my way to the Forge.¡± Taasen nodded slowly, ¡°Which institute of learning would you invest your time in?¡± By now, Erane seemed to be used to Taasen¡¯s oddly formal way of speaking, which was odd since most people never got used to it. ¡°The school of dancing, or music, I¡¯m not sure yet.¡± Taasen frowned, his own discipline being seen by members of his institute as vastly superior to dancing. Taasen also had a grudge against musicians because they had a tendency to read minds. ¡°I see. Well, of those two equally horrible professions, dancing is better.¡± Erane brightened, ¡°I am leaning more toward that one. You¡¯re a warrior, right? Could you give me some tips?¡± Taasen grimaced, ¡°No.¡± ¡°Oh come on, why not? It¡¯ll be fun!¡± ¡°I sincerely doubt that. Dancers are¡­undisciplined.¡± Erane frowned, ¡°aren¡¯t they basically the same kind of magic though?¡± Taasen was offended at the mere thought, why would she possibly think that?! ¡°Frosts no! They¡¯re like fire and ice!¡± I¡¯ve never understood this idea. As far as I can tell, warrior magic and performance magic are fundamentally the same. Though I have met a sparking good actor who was actually a musician. Taasen didn¡¯t explain why, but Erane finally stopped prodding him. She shrugged, focusing on Taasen, ¡°Well, you got my story, what¡¯s yours?¡± ¡°I was born and raised in Northern Lekesh, I learned to be a warrior and now I hunt people who have deceit in their blood.¡± ¡°Very descriptive.¡± ¡°Thank you.¡± Erane shook her head slowly and finally glanced at his pack with a frown, ¡°Don¡¯t humans need to eat or something? Sleep? We¡¯ve been walking for quite a while.¡± Taasen shrugged, ¡°The sun is still up, and I believe I ate a few weeks ago.¡± ¡°...I¡¯m by no means an expert on humans, but I feel like my father ate almost every day, multiple times.¡± ¡°And you would most likely be correct, he would have done that as long as he had the food for it.¡± Erane glanced at his pack again, it didn¡¯t seem overly full. ¡°Do you not have the food for it? Are you one of those ¡®poor¡¯ people I¡¯ve heard about?¡± ¡°I have plenty of money.¡± ¡°Then why¡ª¡± ¡°Frostbite, now I¡¯m getting hungry, that was a new record¡­¡± Taasen shook his head mournfully and set down his pack, ¡°The thing about warriors my construct friend, is if we don¡¯t think about something, it¡¯s more likely to not happen. If I don¡¯t think about how high I¡¯m jumping, or how strong my strikes are, then they will simply become more improbable.¡± He took out a container of dried meat. Erane blinked at him, ¡°So if you don¡¯t think about not having eaten then you won¡¯t need food?¡± ¡°Precisely. Now I¡¯m going to have to ask you not to remind me about food anymore, I don¡¯t have enough here to eat every day for more than a week.¡± He chewed on the strip of meat, grumbling internally about his broken streak. He could have easily made it to a month or two, now he would have to start over¡­ If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. Erane though, determined to be as annoyingly perceptive as possible, had to know more. ¡°What else can you do? I¡¯ve heard about the concept of breaking reality, and I know that''s uh¡­similar to what dancers do.¡± Taasen shrugged, wondering how he could explain this without deactivating any of his abilities, he¡¯d no doubt destabilize some of them simply by thinking about their existence¡­ ¡°Art is fundamentally about the artist¡¯s perception, one who is never satisfied with what they make is weaker than a regular person who never learned to create. Some disciplines are about knowing your limits and working around them, and I¡¯ve heard that in Melor Warriors have to know those limits intimately. But here? It¡¯s better if we don¡¯t know what our limits are, or even what our abilities are. On some level I know that things I can do are impossible, but there¡¯s a reason warriors learn to only think in terms of goals.¡± Erane thought for a moment, ¡°So basically you can¡¯t tell me because you don¡¯t actually want to know the answer.¡± He nodded. ¡°And if you¡¯re going to be a dancer you shall be the same in this aspect.¡± ¡°Maybe I¡­¡± she trailed off, her eye going wide as she stared off to the side at something. As a result, Taasen had barely enough time to lunge to the side as something struck him in the side of the neck. He spun around, sword in his hand, his stance ready as he met the eyes of the assassin. Finally. Simply react. Taasen lunged toward the attacker, his movements a flurry of swipes and jabs, he had to move faster, he had to be better. And so he did. It was nothing like the fight with Erane, and Taasen suspected she would realize by now that he¡¯d been going easy on her as a means of feeling fulfilled at the end of it, but that didn¡¯t matter, all that mattered was destroying this enemy. Taasen dodged an attack by a hair''s breadth, he sliced at the assassin with violence and certainty, getting through the light armor and cutting deep into flesh. ¡°Did you come from Pamor? Did Selneth send you?!¡± The attacker grinned cruelly, and they exchanged another flurry of blows, he managed to slice Taasen across the cheek, but he didn¡¯t have time to gauge the wound, his heart was thumping, his mouth was twisted into a grin, he was speed itself, but he still needed to be faster. And so he was faster. ¡°Selneth wants to know how you keep finding our bases!¡± The attacker shouted, blocking a blow and coming in for his own, his voice was gravely and unpleasant to the ears, ¡°Either that or you get to die today!¡± Taasen stabbed him in the shoulder, dancing backwards out of reach before coming in again. ¡°That isn¡¯t an explanation I would even gift to my closest of allies!¡± Taasen replied, jumping to the side as the enemy tried to strike, leaving his back exposed. An exposure that Taasen eagerly took advantage of, finally cutting him down. ¡°Frosts! That poison was¡ª¡± and then he was silenced forever. Poison? A voice in the back of Taasen¡¯s mind asked, remembering the pain at his neck before the fight began. No, that wasn¡¯t poison, you can¡¯t be poisoned. At least, he couldn¡¯t be poisoned as long as he believed there was no poison. And so there was no poison. Taasen glanced back at Erane, who was watching him with wide eyes, ¡°That was¡­¡± ¡°Impressive? I am well aware.¡± Taasen plucked the needle out of his neck and flicked it into the woods, poking at the gash on his face too, it wasn¡¯t even that bad. Oh well. He¡¯d be fine in a few days. Erane knelt beside the body and examined him for a moment before rifling through his pockets. His headless form was disturbing, but she didn¡¯t seem to notice it even as the blood stained the pure white snow. She examined something that looked vaguely like an identification, ¡°Taasen¡­I think he was sent by the crown.¡± He blinked and took the proffered card, looking it over front and back, ¡®royal seal of authority, this man is to be given entrance to anywhere the king would be.¡¯ on the back of the card, not subtle at all, was a job description. ¡®Royal assassin, watch your windows.¡¯ Taasen examined it for a moment longer before handing it back, ¡°Apparently so¡­ Perhaps they realized I was going after them next, the deceivers¡­¡± Erane stared at him for a moment and then sighed, ¡°They aren¡¯t going to let me into the Forge if they know I was with you, will they?¡± ¡°I¡­ never thought about that possibility, but I have been banned from the forge.¡± ¡°Taasen, if the king is after you, and he¡¯s working with this Selneth guy, where the frosts do you think you can possibly go and still be safe?¡± Taasen began to rub snow across his blade, cleaning off the blood, ¡°Safety has never really been a concern of mine.¡± Erane frowned back down at the body, ¡°You¡¯re literally an idiot.¡± It sounded like a realization, but Taasen wasn¡¯t quite sure why she thought he might be one. ¡°I have goals, I work towards those goals. If it means I can¡¯t sleep anymore from assassins, then I¡¯ll simply teach myself how to do that. All I know is that deceivers need to be destroyed.¡± Erane continued to stare at the body, for some reason she looked lost. (Taasen 5) b2c17 - Fugitives --- Erane, the year 775 --- Erane sat in a tree for the millionth time, absently drawing out an idea for a kata as Taasen executed a legion of soldiers. Somehow it seemed like the more people the crown sent after him, the easier it was for him to wipe them out. That first assassin had been far more skilled than these guys. She shook her head and sketched out a chain of movements that was prevalent in Taasen¡¯s style, a sweeping blow that was not only majestic but also effective. It seemed to carry far more force than it should be able to, which was also prevalent in Taasen¡¯s style. Erane had this same sequence drawn at least twelve dozen times by now though, which made this one completely useless. Erane had thought about dedicating time toward this kind of artistry, simply drawing, but what her soul yearned for was a performance, not a project after project chain of works that she could never replicate. She glanced back down to get another sequence of movements, but Taasen had killed them all while she hadn¡¯t been looking. Frostbite, why did that always happen? She sighed and put away the drawing pad she¡¯d scavenged from one of the assassins a month or so back, back when she used to get worried every time they showed up. ¡°Taasen, one of these days they¡¯ll send a whole army after you. Eventually it¡¯ll work.¡± He was cleaning his blade on the snow, ¡°Erane, one of these days you¡¯ll realize that trying to put my movements to paper is impossible.¡± ¡°Yes thank you for that.¡± He sheathed his sword with a thoughtful look, ¡°I¡¯m almost sad to kill these men, they have been deceived by their superiors.¡± The fact that it took the idiot a year to realize that was what annoyed Erane the most out of that sentence. She glared at him, and then glared past him at the field of red. Why doesn¡¯t he just forget they have blood? That seems like it would be convenient, killing without blood, giving the snow mother easier carnage to cover¡­ Her eyes tracked back toward Taasen, who was bowing to one of the corpses, but then again he probably thinks that would be dishonorable or something. Erane shook her head and started walking in the direction they¡¯d been heading for the past month, they were almost at the northern coast and she could swear that it was getting warmer already. The snow wasn¡¯t as thick as she was used to and she¡¯d heard that in the lands up here that sometimes it even melted completely. Which was wild. Taasen examined one of the corpses, ¡°I believe this is Melorian writing.¡± Erane stepped closer to him and squinted at it, ¡°Huh, that¡¯s weirdly squiggly. What does it say?¡± Taasen held it up with a raised eyebrow, ¡°I cannot tell. But this is certainly enough proof at this point that Selneth is in Melor, we are headed in the right direction.¡± By Kalteii¡¯s snow we¡¯d better be. ¡°Great, any idea yet how we¡¯re going to get a boat?¡± ¡°Frosts Erane, stop reminding me I¡¯m unable to walk on water.¡± ¡°Maybe you could, but I can¡¯t.¡± ¡°Are you not made of wood?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t go there mister.¡± Taasen sighed, ¡°Very well. So we shall find a boat then.¡± ¡°It could be a rowboat or something, I¡¯m sure you¡¯d be able to convince the sun not to kill you and the waves not to drown you. I¡¯ll just live either way, I don''t need to breathe or anything.¡± ¡°You seem very confident in my abilities.¡± More like I¡¯m confident in your stupidity¡­ Erane nodded slowly, masterfully preventing Taasen from realizing her true thoughts. It certainly didn¡¯t count as a deception, Taasen was just¡­deceiving himself, the little deceiver. -- They floated off into the icy ocean, sitting on a tiny rowboat and being chased by twelve battleships, the sheets of ice nearby were breaking with loud crashes as flaming cannonballs shot out past them. Erane would have liked to have said that things went off without a hint of a problem. That, however, would have been lying, and Taasen seemed pretty good at convincing himself things would be fine without her input. He was rowing as if his life depended on it, all while muttering that he was faster than this, stronger than this. As he muttered, the boat simply¡­went faster. Erane held on to the thick wood of the boat with a deathgrip, occasionally shouting encouragement at her companion. He probably couldn¡¯t even hear her over the wind and explosions, but as all artists know, it¡¯s the thought that counts. Erane flinched to the side as a flaming cannonball whisked past her ear, crashing against the side of an iceberg several boat lengths ahead. This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. Frostbite, that was close. How in the name of the snow mother¡¯s own backside had they not been hit yet?! ¡°Taasen!!¡± She shouted, ¡°I know you can go faster than this! You¡¯re so much more capable than this, it¡¯s almost insulting that you would go so slow!¡± Their speed somehow increased. Erane suspected that the boat would be on fire by now from sheer kinetic force if it wasn¡¯t Taasen who was rowing. She glanced back at the ships, glad they¡¯d taken this one, the larger battleships had to go slower to avoid icebergs and sheets of frozen ocean, so they were easily overcoming their pursuers¡­ who had things like sails and experience. Erane heard Taasen continue muttering to himself as a flaming cannonball hit the sea behind them. The ocean surged forward at the impact, tossing their little boat upward. She heard Taasen shout, but it somehow sounded excited as they flew through the air. ¡°Yeah! Fly onward my majestic steed!¡± It kept going. And going And¡­ going. By the time ten minutes had passed, Erane was pretty sure they weren¡¯t going to land. It occurred to her again that Taasen was easily the most powerful artist in the world if he could simply do this at a moment''s notice. She¡¯d heard tales of things like this, but they were always one off feats, masterpieces that sometimes lasted generations fueled simply by the belief and pride of a single individual, there weren¡¯t people who could do things like this over and over. But she¡¯d seen Taasen do things like this at least a dozen times by now. Sometimes to destroy armies that were coming after him, sometimes in a moment of forgetfulness when he didn¡¯t realize that humans couldn¡¯t walk on air. It seemed as if Taasen¡¯s default mode simply wasn¡¯t the same reality as everyone else. The secret, Erane suspected, was that Taasen was an idiot. In this case, his idiocy was exactly what both of them needed to survive. The boat flew through the air in a huge arc that eventually forgot it was meant to be an arc. They soared onward, somehow increasing in speed as Taasen continued to row the boat¡­ through the air. It¡­ well it worked. The twelve battleships inevitably fell behind, disappearing into the distance. They kept firing long after the floating boat was out of range, as if figuring that their superiors wouldn¡¯t be as mad if they thought they¡¯d at least tried. Erane sighed and leaned back, looking down off the side of the boat as Taasen continued shouting his excitement like a little kid with a new toy. He was usually more¡­ stoic than this, Erane embarrassingly had long since decided he didn¡¯t feel emotions as strongly as normal people. Which was hypocritical of her now that she thought about it. Constructs were usually the people who got that crap, and now she was the one giving it out¡­ She glanced at Taasen, who was still screaming, rowing at inhuman speeds that just kept getting faster. It was a miracle he hadn¡¯t simply passed away. She looked backward again, only to find that there weren¡¯t even any icebergs floating around anymore. She couldn¡¯t see Divaria anymore, or the ships that had been firing on them. There was nothing but a vast, impossible ocean. A sudden worry bubbled up into the front of her mind. How do we know we¡¯re even going in the right direction? Erane anxiously looked up at the sun, high in the sky. No use trying to navigate with that at the moment, but she felt like it was a bit farther down than before, which meant they were heading north as long as she hadn¡¯t forgotten how the sun worked. But well¡­ with how fast they were going, they might even get there tomorrow ¡ªas long as they were in fact heading in the right direction. hich was a very strange thought indeed. She smiled at Taasen, he was an idiot, but he was a good idiot. ¡°Go Taasen, go! We both know that you can row faster than that!¡± Their speed increased even more. A bird smacked into the front of the boat, dying immediately and barely even slowing them down or changing their trajectory. Erane grinned out at the sky, wondering how long it would be before she saw snow again. --- Taasen --- The boat soared onward, exactly as it was meant to do. The land slowly appeared in the distance, and as it did their velocity finally started to waver, their huge arc of flight lowered and Taasen felt himself grinning stupidly as they hit the surface, bouncing high upward again like a stone being skipped across water. Sure enough they hit again a moment later, bouncing a bit lower this time. The process repeated several times before they were completely in the water again, leaving Taasen to continue rowing. That. Was. Exhilarating. Taasen slowed his rowing and grinned back at Erane, he remembered occasionally hearing her cheer him on and that was almost as good as his own convictions. ¡°Frosts! We should attempt that again, I am absolutely certain I can do it faster.¡± Erane¡¯s face was completely blank. Which was odd for her, he was used to being the one who was completely unreadable. How strange that it was reversed at the moment. ¡°Taasen?¡± She eventually asked, ¡°What are we doing here again?¡± He frowned at her, ¡°Are you being deceived?¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°Did Melor bewitch you?!¡± He pointed out at the steadily approaching land, they were slowing down, but he figured they would get to a port before they stopped entirely. And so they did. They kept going as the land drew closer. Erane met his frown with a frown of her own, ¡°No, how would a land bewitch me?¡± Taasen tilted his head at her, figuring she had a point. ¡°Well perhaps it was the spirit of the land then, Gium, the god of order.¡± ¡°Why would he bewitch me?¡± Taasen sighed, ¡°Erane, have you not heard tales of his bewitching! They are grand feats! Memory wiping entire nations and binding them to his will! Kalteii herself warned our people of his vile habits!¡± Erane frowned again, ¡°Kalteii? Who¡¯s that?¡± ¡°Erane? Are you alright? I can turn the boat back home and heal you of this bewitching.¡± ¡°Taasen, I¡¯m not going to do anything until you tell me why the sparks we¡¯re here.¡± He frowned at the word ¡®sparks,¡¯ wasn¡¯t that a Melorian curse word? He put his paddle in the water and stopped the boat. ¡°We are here to stop Selneth¡¯s deceits. But now I¡¯m thinking we might need to kill Gium himself for his deceit.¡± ¡°You can¡¯t kill a god, Taasen.¡± ¡°Not with that attitude, and I¡¯d kindly request that you don¡¯t sour my conviction with logic.¡± Erane sighed and leaned back, ¡°Whatever, I must have finally just gone insane from whatever the sparks is wrong with you.¡± Taasen shook his head slightly but after a moment of indecision, he rowed onward, he would save Erane from whatever was bewitching her and everything would be alright. Interlude - Gaps --- Aymiae, the year 779 --- Something was wrong. Something was terribly wrong. But¡­ Aymiae couldn¡¯t tell what it might be. She remembered¡­ maybe getting to Yera? With Harrel? She remembered¡­ maybe meeting up with Netun before that, he¡¯d dropped some kid off at the Capital¡­ maybe. She tried to stretch herself, but there was something wrong. Something was terribly wrong. There were gaps where there shouldn¡¯t be gaps, there was pain where there shouldn¡¯t be pain, and she was so tired. She drifted off again, conserving energy, waiting for something to give her life. But¡­ she needed magical energy or blood, preferably both, no one would know to give her that. Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon. Something was wrong. Aymi didn¡¯t know what. Aymi didn¡¯t know a lot of things as her mind slowly wandered through the holes in it. All she could remember after getting to Yera was a betrayal that cut her to the core. But she couldn¡¯t for the life of her remember who might have betrayed her. --- Runesight --- In the end, you have to see things from my perspective. I''m the narrator, I¡¯m the one who¡¯s clouded lens you have the privilege and pain to see through. And so ultimately, you need to be almost as confused about what I stumbled into as I was. Welcome to my fourth life. A life of justice. (Fora 1) b2c18 - Youth

--- Fora, the year 781, the fourth life --- ¡°She looks just like her!¡± Illila squealed, pushing forwards and grabbing my face. She stretched it in all sorts of uncomfortable ways before nodding, ¡°Yes, definitely.¡± She glanced back at Hivren, then focused on me again, ¡°How the sparks did this happen? Are you sure you¡¯re not just her daughter or something?¡± I managed to retrieve my face after a bit, rubbing my cheeks with a scowl, ¡°Illila, I think I would know if I was actually only eight.¡± ¡°But I wouldn¡¯t, and that¡¯s arguably more important here.¡± My answer was cut off by Hivren, ¡°She appeared last night in the snow, I checked and it looks like her tracks just came out of nowhere. There¡¯s a shape like she was laying in the snow before that, and Illila, we made the building smaller since the road needed to be expanded. I¡¯m pretty sure that¡¯s exactly the spot where she died.¡± I shrugged, ¡°I don¡¯t know how it works.¡± Illila frowned, ¡°Alright, but what if this little cretin is playing us? We all saw the corpse.¡± ¡°A corpse that mysteriously disappeared after three days.¡± I raised my hand, ¡°That was my corpse, just saying.¡± Hivren glanced back at me, ¡°I admit her personality is quite different now from what I¡¯ve seen, it¡¯s a lot closer to Foralen than Eliax.¡± Illila grabbed my face again and squinted at it, ¡°Well, it¡¯s not an illusion, if that was ever in question.¡± I raised my hand again, ¡°You know, I could have told you that part too.¡± Illila glared at me, ¡°But if you are Eliax, there¡¯s no way I can trust you to tell us everything.¡± I looked down, ¡°Good point¡­¡± Illila nodded as if it was all resolved and glanced back at Hivren, ¡°Is she going to stay here? I know your wife has her hands full with those kids you guys are mentoring.¡± ¡°Kureia claims that she¡¯s fine with it for now. Fora will be staying here at least until we get all the documentation done.¡± I grinned, ¡°If you kick me out, I could probably hollow out a random section of earth and make an underground lair only accessible by portals!¡± Hivren gave me a concerned look, ¡°She has some weird tendencies too that I never saw in either Eliax or the hero.¡± ¡°That¡¯s just my youthful charm shining through. It¡¯s probably normal.¡± ¡°We¡¯re not going to be calling any of¡­ this,¡± He gestured at me, ¡°Normal.¡± I shrugged and went back to signing documents, ¡°I can be as boring as dirt.¡± I paused mid stroke, ¡°Scratch that, dirt is super cool, did you know that professional mind mages can detect thousands of tiny little critters in even a cup of the stuff?¡± ¡°So Fora¡¯s going to try and be as discreetly cool as dirt then.¡± Hivren decided. I nodded. ¡°I¡¯ll be cool on the inside and boring on the outside, just like dirt.¡± I finished the page and picked up the next one, squinting at it. ¡°Does anyone know how to brew an ¡®age faster¡¯ potion or something?¡± Illila idly wondered. I shook my head, amused, ¡°I¡¯m not going to let you guys try that until being a kid again every time I die gets boring.¡± Hivren gestured at me, ¡°Like I said, she¡¯s got some weird tendencies.¡± --- The city of Reiaran was just as beautiful from above as I¡¯d pictured it; which is to say, it was sparking ugly. The docks on one side of the city marred the whole thing with their desolate nature¡ªvery few tuvei were about to get on a boat after all and many traders went to the central market to sell their wares. Mostly there were humans over by the docks, probably a few pitten too but I¡¯d always been bad at telling them apart from humans, and the little pieces of me that were still Eliax hadn¡¯t really been any better. One end of the palace bordered the docks. It wasn¡¯t nearly as desolate as it had been ten years ago, but I was confident in my ability to find at least one squatter there if I really looked. The richer district was on the opposite side of the city as the docks, bordering the palace, and the poorer district was sandwiched between them at the center. The whole city had long since grown past the walls, farmland sprawling towards roads like a reasle to water. The middle class lived out there, coming into town every day for work or taverns. I grinned at the city below me and twisted in the air with a yell of excitement as I continued to fall from the sky. Somewhere below, Kureia was probably horrified at this stunt, but she was so far away that she probably couldn¡¯t even see me clearly yet. I bent the space around me, slowing down my fall to a halt as gravity thought I was meant to be going the other way for a few seconds. I bounced around for a bit, moving the little pieces of the world I could see into various impossible shapes that had me whirring about in just as impossible directions. I didn¡¯t just use my hands to bend the space either, my feet were bare, allowing me to shape it however I wished based on the magic I could see. Sparks, that book Eliax had read so long ago was completely right, dimensionalists could fly if they really tried! I bound the air together with streams of magic, feeling my energy start to drain faster as it formed a force shield below my feet and finally allowed me to step onto something solid. I grinned down at the world like a fool. Force spells weren¡¯t supposed to hold people, let alone be the only barrier between a person and certain death, but Gium¡¯s ideals were simply a suggestion as far as I was concerned. He would probably be spitting blood right about now if he had any of the stuff. It was a wonder that he hadn¡¯t blocked off any of these abilities from mortals, because even now I could think of plenty of ways to destroy his orderly dreams with this. After a bit of recovering energy¡ªmaintaining a force spell was sufficiently easy to leave me suspended there¡ªI dismissed the platform and shrank the distance between myself and the ground, stepping lightly onto soft soil that squished beneath my feet. -- Kureia¡ªthe woman in charge of making sure I didn¡¯t do anything stupid¡ªwas as unyielding as a rock; the really hard kind that had been underground for thousands of years. ¡°What if you ran out of mana and fell out of the sky?¡± She chided me, ¡°What if by doing things like that, you finally annoy the nobles enough that they finally decide to come and deal with you?¡± They were all excellent points, and I only had an argument for one of them. ¡°I wasn¡¯t going to run out of mana, I¡¯ve only done that once in the last few months and that was the incident with the hand cream.¡± ¡°Which was a disaster.¡± ¡°It was a learning experience.¡± Kureia and I glared at each other for several heartbeats. ¡°I used to try and treat you like an adult, you know? Give you a say in things and let you decide how your life is going to go.¡± I shrugged and looked away, ¡°I know. But then I blew that trust up rather spectacularly. I thought I could handle it too. I mean, there¡¯s no reason I shouldn¡¯t be able to. But for some reason I¡­ can¡¯t.¡± Kureia nodded to herself. ¡°That makes me feel a lot less bad about what comes next then.¡± I winced. ¡°And that is?¡± This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. ¡°You¡¯re going to stop fighting everyone about getting put into those classes.¡± I gaped at her, ¡°But I¡¯m going great in my dimensionalism lessons!¡± ¡°That¡¯s definitely not the only thing that matters.¡± I glared, ¡°Sure it is, if I want to figure out why I came back to life in the first place, I¡¯m going to need to be able to get to other realms.¡± ¡°Despite the fact that no one has been able to do that within recorded history?¡± I barely refrained from pointing out again that Aymiae had seemed like she knew a guy. ¡°You already know my response so what¡¯s the point in arguing about it.¡± Kureia raised an eyebrow, ¡°Really? So you won¡¯t argue then and I can finally sign you up for some decorum classes?¡± I threw my arms in the air, ¡°How is self defense in any way a ¡®decorum¡¯ class?!¡± ¡°All ladies of the court know how to break a guy''s nose on their elbow. It¡¯s a rite of passage and I sure as heck am not going to be the reason you can¡¯t.¡± ¡°That¡¯s not what lady Raia always said¡­¡± ¡°That was nearly fifty years ago, by your own admission. How can you not want to learn combat? What if you go out one day and decide to galavant off monster hunting?¡± I shrugged and stared stubbornly at my feet, that did sound like something I might do on a whim, I didn¡¯t want it to be something I would do, I kept telling people that I was going to do better. ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter, you¡¯re going to make me do it anyway.¡± Kureia folded her arms crossly, which just reminded me of Aymiae again. Kureia was so similar to my old friend¡­ ¡°If you don¡¯t tell me, then I¡¯ll be operating under false information. Which one of those is worse?¡± I stiffened, remembering weeks in a library as Eliax, searching for answers, remembering how much I hated lying to myself. ¡°You are absolutely unfair.¡± ¡°And you¡¯re acting like a teenager. Last I checked you should either be far too old for that or too young for it.¡± I grumbled, trying to put my thoughts into words, why could I never explain things? After a moment I spoke, ¡°I don¡¯t want to learn how to fight. If I have to hurt someone then I think maybe I¡¯ve already failed.¡± ¡°And how many times has that killed you?¡± I remembered the fight with Xien, the way I¡¯d hopped around through her attacks and awkwardly jabbed with that sword, eventually falling to her claws even though I¡¯d almost won. I remembered the assassin the night of the queen¡¯s ball, how I hadn¡¯t even seen them coming. I remembered the scent of smoke and the sting of burns as I tried so hard to simply stay alive¡­ ¡°You¡¯re not going to make me answer that, are you?¡± ¡°I already know what it is. I just need you to think about what that answer means. I¡¯m getting you a fighting instructor tomorrow. I know that you can see why you need them.¡± She was right, which only made it more infuriating. I glared at her and finally cast an almost instinctual teleport spell. When my vision cleared I sat down roughly, staring out at the ocean and thinking. After a moment I took out my journal and started writing, that part of me that was still Eliax giving me peace with the motions of pencil on page. I only managed a sentence, but that was enough. I suspected that there were lessons I would have to learn again and again. I was right. I sat on the secluded beach, the poisonous spores were long dead¡ªI had no idea why¡ªbut the memory of their existence tickled my lungs. The only odd part would have been that my lungs wouldn¡¯t have reviled against the experience as I expected them to. But there was no sandfrost here, not anymore. I wondered what had happened. It was calm with the sounds of ocean waves crashing against each other in the background. I didn¡¯t glance up when a familiar figure walked into view, I remained sitting, looking out at that sea and wondering why I cared so much about some simple combat classes. He sat beside me and followed my gaze. ¡°So? Are you finally going to leave it all behind? Go out into the world and change it like you always wanted?¡± I shrugged, ¡°A couple of months isn¡¯t enough to get back all the instincts I lost. I thought it would be, but it¡¯s not.¡± ¡°I think everyone¡¯s surprised you¡¯ve been sticking around this long. They think that even if you¡¯re not Foralen, you¡¯re still a prodigy at everything they can think of to throw at you.¡± ¡°Do you think that¡¯s why those people stopped coming to see if I was real?¡± The necromancer paused for a moment in thought, ¡°No, I think the world figured out you were real after it got enough evidence. They stopped coming because it wasn¡¯t a novel thing to do anymore.¡± I grunted and stared down at the sand, ¡°I¡¯ve been thinking about it for quite a while, and I finally decided that it¡¯s good that Hivren told everyone who I was.¡± Niun gave me a curious glance, ¡°It is?¡± I nodded, ¡°It proves that even with people knowing, they¡¯re still going to treat me like a child. Now I know that there¡¯s not anything I can do about that fact.¡± Niun nodded slowly, contemplatively. There was a long silence as we both let our minds wander, ¡°On a different note, I made some progress on that research you asked me about.¡± The part of me that was Eliax glanced at him in surprise, ¡°Really?!¡± She looked away just as quickly though, it was¡­ weird to look at the people I¡¯d known in my last life. A big section of my mind would always see Niun as the barely adult necromancer who¡¯d been kicked out of school. His current look couldn¡¯t be any more different from that. He was confident in his step, but his gaze betrayed a knowing look that only the right people would understand. Every part of his image was carefully cultivated. ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s weird though since what you said holds up, every time I find out more about that dragon, the entire memory gets erased. I¡¯ve had to reset my soul to the point before that seven times and the soul itself is already getting resistant to the reset process.¡± Eliax nodded, remembering her own tries before she¡¯d realized it was a soul effect. ¡°What¡¯s your progress?¡± ¡°Well, I figured he wouldn¡¯t have much information besides maybe his name in the legends about abyssal dragons, and it does seem like learning about their abilities in general doesn¡¯t have the same problems. Hivren would probably be a better person to send for information like this, he has a lot of influence that I don¡¯t, but you did make it clear that Hivren is the very last person you¡¯re going to agree to tell anything to.¡± Eliax scowled, ¡°Well yeah, he told the whole world that I came back from the dead.¡± Niun nodded, ¡°I know, his judgment about who is¡ªand isn¡¯t¡ªan acceptable person to tell things is kind of spotty. Anyways, what are your thoughts?¡± ¡°Abyssal dragons¡­¡± She mused, ¡°That¡¯s a bit I never thought about looking into. Let¡¯s see what we find.¡± -- I spun through the attack, evading another swipe from my teacher. ¡°You have to hit me back, remember?¡± Erane chided, ¡°You¡¯ll lose if you just play defensive the whole time.¡± I glared at her, ¡°I¡¯m only here because¡ª¡± ¡°Yes I know, Kureia made you.¡± The dryad-like-creature swiped at me again, and she would have landed the hit too if I hadn¡¯t lost control of my affinity again and phased through it. She stumbled slightly at the disorientation of a strike missing even though it hadn¡¯t missed, and frowned at me, ¡°That¡¯s no excuse for poor instincts.¡± I sighed, ¡°Why are we even doing this¡­¡± The wooden creature glared at me with her one good eye, it looked as if she¡¯d been carved of wood by a master, who¡¯d given up entirely on the second eye, leaving nothing but natural bark in its place. ¡°Because. You need to be able to defend yourself, and I need some sparking money.¡± I happily sat down at that sentence, remembering from the last five times how she was likely about to start complaining again about some guy. I¡¯d listened before, but now it was just getting annoying. ¡°¡ªAnd then he just left me here! He went insane and just left me here, that sparking idiot! Did I mention he¡¯s the stupidest human I¡¯ve ever met?¡± I nodded absently, resting my tired legs. Erane had made me run around a field for ten minutes before this, as was her habit for each lesson. I was a dimensionalist though, why in the world did I need to be able to sprint a whole mile at a moment''s notice? ¡°Yup.¡± I absently responded to something she was complaining about. Erane nodded curtly and then whacked me in the face with her stick that vaguely resembled a sword. I reeled backward, blinking up at her as I put a hand to my cheek and immediately started casting healing spells on the stinging sensation, ¡°What was that for?!¡± ¡°You weren¡¯t listening to what I was saying again. I¡¯m surprised I managed to actually hit you.¡± I scowled at her, belatedly standing up again. ¡°I¡¯ve decided that I¡¯m getting a nullification bubble.¡± I scowled harder, ¡°that¡¯s¡­¡± ¡°Do you not want to know what to do if someone nullifies your ¡®oh so powerful¡¯ abilities?¡± ¡°Well yeah but¡­¡± ¡°Then you have to suck it up and figure out how to be a capable person without them.¡± I was becoming more and more certain that that had been Kureia¡¯s idea. It sounded exactly like the type of torture she might invent. -- I couldn¡¯t find Niun again, I hadn¡¯t been able to find him for two months straight at this point, but he had said he was going to the capital to look into something he¡¯d stumbled across, so I figured he was probably fine. Something in the back of my mind didn¡¯t like that thought, a piece of me I hadn¡¯t looked at for months. Curious, I turned the thought over, frowning at the contents. You said You would be different this time. That carelessness, that unthinking self deception. Is that really you? Didn¡¯t you grow past that? Her stride became a bit straighter as she thought about it again, her eyes straying toward the library as her steps drew to a halt. I needed goals, didn¡¯t I? She liked goals. So why was it so hard to think about more than just this moment right here? Why was it so hard to think about the implications her actions had on the world? She was almost ten years old at this point, that should have been enough time to get back into who she was. But it wasn¡¯t. It wasn¡¯t nearly enough. The moment faded and I shuddered slightly¡ªhopefully¡ªback to being myself after the momentary lapse. Eliax was still in there somewhere, peeking out whenever she got the chance. I shoved her back into the metaphorical box and kept walking. I could hear a storyteller farther along down the street, her voice rising and falling with the beats of a tale. It was one of those legends from a far off place that no one had ever really heard of. I walked onward, my mind still reeling from my failures, dwelling on the thought that Eliax had drudged up. And then I heard the word ¡®realm,¡¯ the storyteller paused momentarily in theatrics, glancing at me and then at the gathered crowd. And then she continued, ¡°A tale from as far away as the realms of Prosperity and Sacrifice, Arendi and Arithren.¡± (Fora 2) b2c19 - Stories --- Runesight --- The first worlds I¡¯d wanted to find were called Arendi and Arithren, simply because it was the place with the most intriguing stories. Those two worlds are very close to one another, close enough that you could get from one to the other almost by walking. In these two worlds, twins are sacred, they¡¯re a sign from the gods themselves; a sign that change is to come. To this day, there has not been a set of twins in either of those worlds that hasn¡¯t ended up starting a necessary war or making an important discovery. I¡¯m not sure if the twins themselves are destined to change things or if they achieve greatness simply because they believe that they must. A pair of twins was born one day in the eye of the storm between worlds, the tempest of connection like violent brackish water. One female and one male. Their mother named them, and then died to that same storm of worlds, her love on her lips. If this wasn¡¯t an auspicious enough birth, the two were strange children, they knew things they shouldn¡¯t know, they were powerful in the ways of magic and wise in the ways of their respective talents. The sister grew to be beautiful, her eyes dark and thoughtful, her ways circling around kindness and gifts. She was graceful with her hands, weaving threads together and creating all kinds of things which she would give away. They called her Kui, meaning gift. The brother was hard by contrast, in every way that his sister was kind he was easy to anger, but he was selfless and wise in the way of greed. He was willing to lose everything to keep that greed away from those it might harm. They called him Rui, meaning protector. But the two of them didn¡¯t know their true names, for their mother had died before she could tell anyone. - The stories always ended like that, leaving you with more questions than answers, had that story even begun? Had the one writing it down had a stroke and died before it could be finished? Or was the tale simply not finished yet; was there a pair of twins still out there somewhere, trying to find their true names and knowing they were going to one day change the world forever? Were they daunted by the prospect of changing the world? I knew I had been, back in my fourth life, and even then I knew that I had the same path laid out for me eventually, a path of decision, change for the better or change for the worse. --- Fora --- The months passed. I never really got along with Kureia, but she wasn¡¯t all bad. She¡¯d turned the new Ayfel into a sort of school. Any kid could come and learn to read and write, if they didn¡¯t have anywhere to stay they could run messages or sort letters for a bed and meals. It wasn¡¯t exactly the same as how Raia had run it, and while part of me reviled against the idea of changing something that had been my foundation, Kureia was still doing something that was good. At first I¡¯d wanted to run messages, until it became clear that people would ask for them to be sent just for a chance to gawk at me. The little hero, the immortal Foralen, who came back from the dead. I was still annoyed that Hivren had told everyone who I was, but it certainly made some things easier. One boring day I squinted at a new child at the Ayfel¡ªhe was only going to be here for a day¡ªwondering how someone could possibly be that dumb. He was probably around thirteen, which was ¡®an entire two years¡¯ my senior, but I¡¯d expected more from him after learning he was a dimensionalist. ¡°No Timmi, you can¡¯t teleport somewhere you¡¯ve never been, are you an idiot?!¡± He huffed at me, folding his arms with the petulance that came from being rich, ¡°I¡¯m sure I could do it when I¡¯m older, just show me a picture and blamo!¡± ¡°Blamo?¡± ¡°BLAMO! I¡¯ll be right there where I meant to go.¡± I squinted harder, ¡°Timmi, you can barely cast a simple warping spell.¡± If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. ¡°What makes you think you¡¯re such an expert at this? People say you¡¯re someone special but you don¡¯t look all that special to me, you¡¯re just a kid that the Shelex took in.¡± I felt my lips tweak into a smile. ¡°Oh, you don¡¯t know then, that explains it.¡± He was from out of town, the kid of a visiting noble that Hivren had been asked to look after for a few hours. ¡°Don¡¯t know what?¡± It was a tiring spell, but it had been quite a while since I¡¯d played this particular prank¡­ besides, it would only teach him what he should strive to become. ¡°You want to find out? I can show you, it¡¯ll be fun!¡± Timmi didn¡¯t look amused. He huffed, ¡°Just show off your party trick already.¡± My grin grew wider. His lack of amusement turned into panic when the gravity affecting him mysteriously turned off. He tumbled toward the ceiling, yelping and waving his arms like he was trying to swim. He never hit the ceiling though, he just floated about like a confused insect. I nodded at him and turned to leave, ¡°You never know when someone is secretly a master in disguise!¡± ¡°Get me down!!!¡± I snickered and closed the door behind me. I¡¯d been growing calmer, stunts like that had grown further and farther between. Part of me wanted desperately to just achieve goals, to choose something and work toward it with a single minded intensity. While the larger part of me wanted to stand in front of a crowd and hold their attention, I wanted to be able to grin and joke and laugh with all of them, myself being the spectacle we could connect with. The older I got, the more I found my goal setting side becoming dominant. I tried and failed to track down Niun several times, but he was gone and no one seemed willing to help me look for him. I asked scholars and historians about abyssal dragons and other realms, absorbing the stories like a sponge. I found that stories were something that both sides of me could agree on. Tracking a tale down was the goal part, and telling the story allowed me to be in front of a crowd, soaking in their attention and gazes, the runes of their magic pulling at me. -- the year 788 -- ¡°And SO! The twins hunted for their names, pulled along by a single goal, giving of themselves into the world while seeking for the one thing that was theirs to take. A name is a wonderful thing, no one¡¯s quite sure who they are without one. But the right name is worth more than all the treasures and art in the world.¡± I finished with a grin, my arms held up before dipping into a slightly awkward bow, I met the eyes of a familiar ancient face down below, ¡°And so, must I ask for your name?¡± He blinked at me, apparently not having expected to be addressed in what he probably thought was the middle of the story. Little did he know that that was the end. ¡°Sorry, keep going.¡± He hastily said, waving toward me. I frowned at him, and stepped through a distortion so that I was standing right beside him, ¡°The story¡¯s over, I was asking you a question.¡± The people around us were dispersing already, used to my antics by now. Estin looked oddly nervous at the display of dimensionalism, ¡°I¡­¡± I grinned at him, ¡°Don¡¯t you know who I am?¡± I probably used that card too much lately¡­ The old man that I knew so well scratched the side of his head lightly, ¡°Um¡­¡± I nodded, the back of my mind screaming at me for being so casual about this. ¡°Foralen dei Imal, voted unanimously as the person most likely to blow up the city, seven years running.¡± ¡°I¡­ I didn¡¯t expect it to actually be you.¡± My smile faltered slightly as Estin shook his head with amazement. He should have recognized me immediately, but¡­ well Eliax had been a far more thoughtful person than I currently was at fifteen. I said, ¡°I was never able to find you, what the sparks have you been running from all this time, old man?¡± He fell into step beside me as I wandered toward Nightwind tavern. ¡°Just a past that refuses to leave me behind¡­¡± ¡°At seventy years old?¡± He gave me a sidelong glance, ¡°I was too curious and now I know too much. Too many people are trying to silence me for all that knowledge.¡± ¡°Trying to make me stop asking? Let me make my own mistakes, thank you very much.¡± Estin shook his head slowly, ¡°So when did you¡­ figure out you were Fari?¡± I paused, examining him with a surprised expression until I realized that he knew. He¡¯d known that Eliax and Fari were the same person. ¡°I found out not long after I came back here. How long did you know I was her?¡± ¡°I suspected for quite a while, most of the time I assumed you were her daughter. But I wasn¡¯t sure until just now.¡± I relaxed slightly, ¡°It¡¯s good to know that you¡¯re still in one piece. You came here looking for me then? Did you know I went to Ceruleia twice trying to find you?¡± He smiled slightly, his eyes apologetic, ¡°I was aware of that, but as you well know, I have far too much practice running away from things.¡± Neither of us noticed as a crystal in my pocket began to vibrate. (Fora 3) b2c20 - Gone

--- Eliax - Clone, the year 789 --- ¡°Fora. We can¡¯t find her anywhere.¡± Hivren¡¯s voice was shaking over the recorded communication crystal, Eliax could tell that he¡¯d been crying. ¡°The queen sent out a request for people to look but it¡¯s been two weeks and¡ª¡± his voice cut off with a sob. ¡°Just let me know if you got this, I¡¯d like to- to hear a familiar voice.¡± Click. ¡°There¡¯s been no progress; after you didn¡¯t respond I was hesitant to contact you again. I¡ª I figured you were mad at her still. I¡¯m sorry for that, I¡¯m sure Kureia is sorry too, wh-wherever she is right now.¡± His voice seemed a bit stronger in that one, like he was getting used to the concept of his wife being gone. Click. ¡°I¡­ Fora, they¡ª they found her. It¡¯s been two whole months and I¡ª I still thought she would just walk in the door one day, you know? I thought that she must be out there somewhere. Kureia was strong¡­ I figured¡ª¡± He sobbed lightly for a minute or so. ¡°The funeral is in four days, I¡¯m sure you could- you could make it if you get this.¡± Click. ¡°Fora, are you alright? Did you make it to another realm like you¡¯d been hoping? Or¡­ or are you just ignoring me?¡± He paused, ¡°I know I haven¡¯t been the best person, I was never the best friend or the best guardian, but please, just respond if you¡¯ve been getting these¡­ I need to know that you¡¯re at least alright.¡± Click. Eliax paused, thinking over the recordings again and again. She¡¯d lost track of how many times she¡¯d listened to them in the last ten minutes. Eventually she sighed and put the whole device back in her dimensional bag, next to a book of laws she¡¯d been trying to find holes in and a sack of rations, it was still ready to record the next message that was due for any day now. The trail was almost over. The trail was always almost over. But this time. This time she was making progress, she would find out why they had killed her, get vengeance, and then she could finally rest easy, knowing that everything was dealt with. Eliax grinned triumphantly at the package when she peeked out my door, grabbing it without a second thought and hurriedly closing the door again, trying to look as suspicious as possible the whole time. There was a note accompanying the dull brown packaging, and after almost a year of being far too invested in secret codes, Eliax could read the underlying meaning without even thinking about it. Foralen dei Imal, I would kindly request that you halt your current path of questioning, but I¡¯ve done that seven times by now and I think we both know how this will end. I¡¯ll send another assassin, you¡¯ll have actually been a clone this whole time, and then we¡¯ll be back to square one again. Instead of capturing your clone again and torturing her for information as to your whereabouts as I¡¯m inclined to do, I¡¯d like to offer a compromise. Contained within this package is a one way gatestone. We both know that you¡¯ve expressed great interest in traveling to other realms, and I think the realm this will take you to would suitably keep you occupied for however long it takes you to finally die. Use the gatestone, leave Virna forever, and we will stop hunting you. ¡ª Sincerely, the society of the Mis-born Dragon, which kindly requests that you leave us alone My clone smirked at the note, took a picture of it with her recording crystal, and cast a simple fire spell to destroy it and any tracking spells it might contain. After a moment of trying to see if the package itself would leak acid and kill her if she tried to open it, Eliax tore at the paper, pleased to see a bright green stone, exactly the shape to fit into a particularly strange construction I kept finding in the between realm. The runes were similar to a specific one near here, and I knew my sparking runes. After confirming that it was in fact a gatestone, the clone that was Eliax put it in her dimensional storage, determined not to use it until she either died again or found a way to get rid of this society. The fact that they¡¯d sent her something like this just meant she was getting closer. Not too close because then they would have started to throw more and more resources at me to make me just die already. But she was close enough that they were starting to sweat. They figured it was worth the chance that I might leave Virna. They underestimated greatly how stubborn we could be. How helpful of them to give me the resources to start tracking down Yumorath though, my clone would have to send them something for their troubles. She pulled out a sheet of empty paper and a pen, using my most beautiful calligraphy to write a response to their message. I appreciate the gatestone, I¡¯ll be sure to put it to good use. However, you can¡¯t make me do anything, so good luck with those bees. ¡ª Fora :D The clone wondered how long they would search for the bees before realizing she¡¯d never actually sent them. -- Eliax frowned through the shop windows, wondering how long it would take to simply look around. It shouldn¡¯t take forever, but she was an expert at glancing straight over important details because she was too focused on an odd butterfly or something. After looking in for a moment and deciding that she¡¯d just have to deal with it if the Mis-born Dragon decided to come knocking, the clone that was Eliax pushed open the door of the abandoned crystal shop. The owner had gone missing a week or so ago, straight from under Steris¡¯s ancient nose. She¡¯d even had him being watched after it became clear that it was mostly artificers and historians who¡¯d been going missing over the last year. And yet now he was gone. Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings. The authorities hadn¡¯t found a body yet, which meant he was still alive. I¡¯d learned early on that the Mis-born Dragon preferred to try ¡®correcting¡¯ kidnapped individuals, but so far they¡¯d only succeeded with one of them, and now she was as tightlipped as they came. Eliax examined the immaculate crystals that rested innocently behind the glass, the crystal devices were something that this particular artificer had managed to popularize before they finally tracked him down. He¡¯d made his mark first, which granted him her respect. Opening the cabinets behind the counter, Eliax found them conspicuously empty. They must have contained the artificers notes and speculations, which the Mis-born Dragon would have destroyed any trace of. But they were getting sloppy lately. Last time she¡¯d been able to find a whole notebook filled with historical evidence for the cataclysm. So Eliax was expecting to find something. She watched as bright runes of drifting magic appeared in the air. It was odd to think about, but apparently the amount of people being born with magesight was declining sharply, almost as sharply as the amount of soul affinities. The fact that these runes might only belong to me in just a few short lifetimes was strange. But it meant that the likelihood of the Mis-born Dragon using magesight to find hidden compartments was slim to none. As such, when Eliax immediately saw a bright Alpitha rune hovering innocently over a section of wall, she knew that she had struck gold. She grinned at it and peeled away the wallpaper, seeing a metal safe door, the keyhole prominent. Since she had no idea where the key might be, and since it would undoubtedly alert something if she tried to pick it for some reason, Eliax simply made a miniature gate and reached her hand through the wall, feeling around for anything interesting. The clone came out of it with a handful of crystals, a small journal, and what looked like a wardstone, sparks. Wardstones were hard to come by these days, supply and demand or something. She thought for a second before deciding this was far too valuable to put in her regular storage. Though¡­ If she was going to open the other storage, she should probably put some other things in there while she was at it. The clone frowned at the wardstone for a moment before placing it gently on the counter and reaching into her pouch for the gatestone. Eliax set it beside the wardstone and piled on a few of those quick aging potions I¡¯d accidentally gotten addicted to for a whole week. Sparking alchemists shouldn¡¯t sell things with thinweave root in them to teenagers¡­ After going through her bag for ten minutes and realizing that her pile was almost as big as she was, the clone decided that she would have to take several trips. Eliax needed to stop procrastinating opening this for so long, what had it been, three months? She set down my bag since she couldn¡¯t bring expanded spaces inside expanded spaces, the last time she¡¯d done that, the god of spatial balance had started appearing in her dreams and he really hadn¡¯t seemed impressed. After trying to decide for five entire minutes what to bring with her on the first trip, the clone ended up just grabbing the two stones and an armful of more important objects before setting them haphazardly at her feet. She situated everything, drew a quick magic circle with some chalk, and pressed her hands together, ¡°Places beyond, places between, thoughts of worlds, thoughts of dreams¡­ Give me your secrets.¡± Eliax closed her eyes as a sudden wash of light enveloped everything, and then blinked as the small room came into view. The walls were entirely made out of a silvery blue crystal, which I¡¯d painstakingly hollowed out fourteen months back right before Kureia had first gone missing. The crystal would always disappear after it was no longer connected to the wall, so I¡¯d gotten a pretty large room in. Over time it had started to turn gold, the same color as the rune that described my magic. Eliax suspected this was a result of her actually being here, observing the space that represented her own thoughts. She put the objects on some of my shelves, which were getting rather full at this point. After shuffling things around somewhat, deciding a few things she¡¯d need in her other storage, and making sure there was nothing that might explode for being left inside, my clone exited the between. Eliax picked up another pile of things that needed storing and repeated the process. - She appeared in the mortal realm again, the pile finally gone. It probably hadn¡¯t been the best idea to do this out in the open, but she¡¯d much rather have everything in her permanent storage than rely on the dubious possibility that was survival. As such, Eliax wasn¡¯t surprised per se when someone spoke from the other side of the room, she¡¯d half expected to be tracked down again. She did still jump out of her skin, as was common practice when one is confronted in an abandoned shop by a glowing white figure with deep red eyes. ¡°Are you by chance, Foralen?¡± The clone blinked at him for several moments before examining him again, frowning at the even more white rune that floated around him to her eyes. With practiced ease, Eliax identified it. Selective shifter, with a hint of justice, whatever that means. ¡°Who¡¯s asking?¡± She thought about leaving out of principle, teleporting away and being done with it, but she had a suspicion he might end up in my nightmares if she didn¡¯t at least learn his name. He was as creepy as Aeinar¡¯s own eyes¡­ He tilted his head slightly, frowning, ¡°I am called Netun. I¡¯m a friend of one of your friends.¡± ¡°Which friend?¡± Whether the clone was leaving immediately or not heavily depended on this answer. He smiled slightly, ¡°Turste.¡± Eliax blinked at him, that name having been near the bottom of the list of possibilities, was he even alive still? You could never tell with possessor entities. But she had started using that as a code word with Niun before he¡¯d been disappeared. ¡°Really? That¡¯s weird, I thought he was fairly dead.¡± ¡°You never can tell with Sandfrost.¡± The clone raised an eyebrow, remembering how resilient the mushrooms were. That could either be a confusing metaphor or he was hinting that there were others like Turste. ¡°I feel like being burned to a crisp would get rid of it entirely. It works in Aubinere when trying to curb infestations.¡± ¡°That didn¡¯t work for you, so why would you assume it works for everyone else?¡± ¡°I feel like the universe has proven over and over that I¡¯m the exception, not the rule. So perhaps you should provide meaning to your words before I shank you? This is just an option though.¡± His smile grew, ¡°Alright then, Foralen. We have a common enemy and a common goal, we both want the society of the Mis-born Dragon to stop by any means possible. They¡¯ve been harming innocents, warping the truths of the universe, and they¡¯ve taken people from both of us that we either want back or want vengeance for. I propose an alliance.¡± Eliax sighed, stepping up onto the counter so she could perch. Perching always helped me think, and such a thing transferred to clones. ¡°That¡¯s all well and good, except you¡¯d die and then I¡¯d feel bad.¡± His expression turned bitter, ¡°You aren¡¯t the only one they¡¯ve been having trouble silencing. They took nearly a decade of my memory, and they took one of my friends just last week. But as of yet they haven¡¯t figured out how to take my life.¡± Eliax tilted her head at him, ¡°How do you know Turste?¡± ¡°We have a shared past, he and I. And though he¡¯s been catatonic since the fire, he remembers something no one else at the moment can.¡± ¡°Great, help me finish ransacking this place for clues and then we¡¯re set.¡± His lips drew to a line, ¡°I don¡¯t ransack my old friends'' homes.¡± ¡°You do today.¡± (Fora 4) b2c21 - Ransacking

--- Fora - Clone --- ¡°So are you like¡­ a vampire or something?¡± Netun blinked at her, seeming baffled, ¡°a what?¡± Fora grinned, picking up a crystal and examining it, ¡°It¡¯s this creature I¡¯ve been hearing rumors about, they burn up in the sunlight, they have glowing red eyes, stuff like that.¡± Netun frowned, ¡°Well, I do do those things.¡± ¡°Oh sweet!¡± She exclaimed, her mind racing at the implications, ¡°I¡¯ve always wanted to meet someone who drinks blood.¡± Though, preferably as long as they didn¡¯t drink my blood. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, what? They drink blood?¡± Fora sighed, somewhat disappointed. In all likelihood that meant he wasn¡¯t a vampire¡­ ¡°I take it you don¡¯t drink blood then.¡± ¡°Who in the stars would drink blood!¡± He paused, ¡°Though, it is high in nutrients and I could easily see it being a replacement for many vital¡ª no no no, I don¡¯t drink blood, that¡¯s crossing the line.¡± ¡°What about like¡­ absorbing the blood.¡± She prompted, flipping the crystal over and frowning at a decorative rune carved into the bottom. ¡°That¡¯s the same thing for me, remember?¡± ¡°Sparking shifter thing.¡± Netun massaged his temples, a clear sign of annoyance on his part, ¡°Why do you keep calling me that?¡± Fora set the crystal down and picked up another one, ¡°I would explain it, but then it wouldn¡¯t be funny anymore.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not a shifter, I don¡¯t change into something I¡¯m not.¡± She squinted at the rune on this one, deciding that it was the same one. Probably some sort of signature from this Kolen guy they were ransacking. ¡°Preeeettttyyyyy sure you said you¡¯re actually a mushroom earlier, and right now you look more like a person, so therefore you¡¯re a shifter.¡± ¡°I am a mushroom.¡± Netun said, he sounded slightly offended, ¡°I¡¯m literally made of mushrooms.¡± ¡°And I¡¯m a person, I¡¯m literally made of person things.¡± Fora picked up a third crystal and glanced at the rune. ¡°You¡¯re just trying to annoy me.¡± The clone set the crystal down so she could grin at him properly, ¡°Yeah, but the fact that it¡¯s still working is far more entertaining than the actual annoying part, usually people start ignoring me entirely after the fifth intellectual debate about the nature of the soul.¡± ¡°I still think you¡¯re wrong about souls being made of little pieces of gods.¡± ¡°And I still think you¡¯re wrong about souls coming from some guy¡¯s violent sneeze.¡± Netun actually looked offended at that part, ¡°That¡¯s a gross oversimplification and it¡¯s highly¡ª¡± ¡°I know, it¡¯s inaccurate. It sounded better in my head. You know what, I¡¯ll just shut up now, okay?¡± There was silence for a long moment. Eventually Netun opened his mouth, ¡°But if you think about it, Divarian souls come from snow and that could be considered a frozen sneeze.¡± ¡°Oh sparks, you¡¯re right, I wonder if Gium has a nasal cavity.¡± ¡°I guarantee you that he¡¯ll get rid of it after listening to this conversation.¡± The clone grinned at him, her mind whirring about in ways she kept forgetting it could do. Netun just kind of¡­ brought out the chaos in her she supposed. ¡°We keep getting distracted.¡± Fora finally said with a sigh, picking up the journal that had belonged to Netun¡¯s artificer friend as she reflected upon the various odd places this conversation had gone in the last hour. Sparks, had she only known him for an hour? ¡°You said he was Yeran, right? Why didn¡¯t the Mis-born Dragon go after him sooner?¡± Netun glanced at the journal from his position rifling through drawers. He was a very good ransacker. ¡°When I first brought him here, he was barely fifteen and I hid him well. Because of the holes in my memory I wasn¡¯t even able to contact him, which just meant he was safer. They probably didn¡¯t realize he was even Yeran until he started selling crystals.¡± ¡°And that¡¯s how the entire continent adopted recording crystals in the last fifteen years.¡± The clone surmised, having wondered who had first had the idea to use illusion magic to capture an image or sound inside a crystal. It was getting to the point where they were a bit out of hand, which was exactly the type of thing the Mis-born Dragon had literally been founded to prevent. Netun nodded, tilting his head at what looked like a financial record. ¡°Stars¡­ he never got over his tax evasion tendencies.¡± Fora laughed from her side of the room, where she¡¯d been going through a stack of recording crystals filled with information. I know I called it a stack, but that¡¯s only because they were meticulously sorted, not because they were on top of each other. ¡°I don¡¯t remember the last time I paid taxes.¡± My clone realized, since she was legally an adult again already. People should just stop aging, that would make things significantly easier. This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it. Netun frowned at her with that disapproving way of his, ¡°And yet you reap the benefits of a society¡­¡± ¡°I would pay them if the tax collectors actually came by, but apparently they¡¯re all scared of me after the incident with the oranges. They also only go by birth records for some reason, and by that measurement I¡¯m about sixty seven years old. Which would be fine but they stop making people pay taxes when they get old enough that a strong breeze might kill them.¡± ¡°It sounds like you¡¯re making excuses.¡± ¡°Thank you, I¡¯ve worked very hard to come up with all those excuses.¡± Netun shook his head slowly and flipped to the next page of the financial records while my clone activated a crystal and peered at the contents. she got distracted halfway through again by this guy''s journal. ¡°Hey, Netun, did you know that this journal goes all the way back to 771?! That¡¯s the year I died!¡± He glanced up again, an eyebrow raised, ¡°Does it have anything interesting?¡± ¡°Nope, it¡¯s mostly illegible, I think he was like ten when he wrote this.¡± Fora paused for a long moment, ¡°Ahah! you can use spirits to re-align the functions of a crystal!!¡± she paused again, ¡°What does that even mean?¡± ¡°If you don¡¯t know what that is then why did you sound so excited?¡± ¡°Because he wrote that sentence with seventeen exclamation marks and it felt wrong not to at least try to include them.¡± My clone frowned at the page before flipping it, eventually remembering about the pile of crystals. Right. She put the journal in her dimensional storage so she¡¯d stop getting distracted. It started an audio recording when she tapped it, and Fora nearly dropped the crystal when music started coming out of it. she¡¯d expected maybe a voice journal or a lecture, but she supposed that music was welcome too. Netun glanced up again at the noise, ¡°That sounds pretty nice actually.¡± ¡°That¡¯s a famous musician around these parts, she¡¯s written more songs than anyone knows what to do with.¡± Fora laughed slightly, it was such a small world that Illila¡¯s music was everywhere she looked, ¡°I knew her before she was famous.¡± Netun nodded, turning back to the page as the music enveloped the room. - ¡°Here¡¯s something.¡± Netun said after a long silence on both of our parts. He held up a page of the financial records, ¡°Smart kid, he hid it coded where no one would ever look, in his charity donations.¡± ¡°How do you code a message into a donation?¡± ¡°He donated specific amounts each week to represent letters, he donated nothing for spaces.¡± The Eliax part of the clone frowned at the page, why the sparks¡­? ¡°Are you sure this guy wasn¡¯t insane?¡± ¡°Very sure.¡± She set down her current crystal and leaned over him, squinting at the page, ¡°What does it say?¡± Netun frowned at the page again, ¡°All I¡¯ve translated is the word ¡®can.¡¯¡± Eliax snatched the page, examining the code, ¡°here, let me try¡­¡± She stared at it. Yeah¡­ that first one was a C¡­ and an N? No no¡­ Netun was right, it was an A¡­ and then an N¡­ Eliax sighed and handed him back the page, ¡°You know what, how about you do it?¡± I was great at codes, but that required them to be interesting codes, like clever misspellings to determine meaning, or specific beats that matched the pattern of a blinking star. Codes like that made me feel like a treasure hunter. This one was boring, and my clone didn¡¯t really feel like being Eliax at the moment anyway. Netun examined the page for a moment longer before reading it aloud. Sparks, he was fast. ¡°¡®Can you hear their voices singing against the wind?¡¯¡± He flipped through it for a moment, frowning, ¡°That¡¯s all it says, I¡¯ll try the other records.¡± Fora frowned at him, ¡°What could he possibly do, buy specific amounts of groceries to determine letters? I feel like that¡¯s crossing a line.¡± Netun examined a different page, and then laughed, ¡°Well, it seems like he did exactly that actually.¡± ¡°Sparking¡ªalright what does this one say?¡± ¡°It says, ¡®He¡¯s immune to the memories.¡¯¡± The clone that was Fora narrowed her eyes at him, ¡°Are you sure this guy was sane?¡± ¡°You know, I¡¯m starting to doubt his sanity myself.¡± He flipped to another page, reading it, ¡°¡®Something is gone.¡¯¡± She sighed, ¡°Well yeah, obviously his sanity is gone.¡± ¡°Fora, I¡¯m going to have to ask you to start writing these down and stop complaining about their nonsensical nature. Kolen didn¡¯t strike me as a particularly stable individual, but regardless of any feelings we may have about it, he¡¯s our only source at the moment.¡± She glanced down, feeling a bit stupid. Fora nabbed a blank page from one of the nearby flat surfaces and took out a pencil. It was that exact moment when she felt an anti-dimensionalism barrier go up. Here we go again. My clone perked up visibly even as her annoyance surfaced, catching Netun¡¯s attention as the pile of crystals disappeared into her dimensional storage, ¡°Netun, guard up, they¡¯re here!¡± A feminine voice sounded from the doorway, ¡°How nice of you to announce my presence for me.¡± Fora held up a hand, ¡°No no, give me a moment.¡± My clone picked up a stack of random pages and started shoving them into her storage as well, followed closely by a few more crystals and that stack of financial records Netun had been going over. Wela adopted a more aggressive stance once Fora had started moving, and frowned at the clone as she rushed about the room, packing things inside. ¡°Fora¡­¡± ¡°I feel like I deserve at least something from all this effort!¡± She explained, looking at a receipt paper for a moment too long before it also ended up in her storage. ¡°And we both know how this will end!¡± Fora tossed three marbles to the side, and she heard as they clinked harmlessly against the wall. Wela¡¯s eyebrow twitched as she pulled a nasty looking sword out of thin air, it curved into a thin point, promising pain and death as it glowed with various runes that just made me hope it wasn¡¯t cursed on top of all that. Fora felt her movements slow as caution finally surfaced. Sparking dragons and their sparking unfair conjuration magic¡­ sparking¡­ ¡°No,¡± Wela said, ¡°You¡¯re going to surrender and give me back that gatestone, I knew it wouldn¡¯t work.¡± The clone that was Fora smiled at her, handed her dimensional bag to Netun, and proceeded to blow up the wall. Wela¡¯s mistake had been not watching the clone¡¯s hands, but I¡¯d gotten good at finding people who could make subtle explosives. The three marbles she¡¯d tossed had been noticed, but when they did nothing immediately, they wouldn¡¯t have been remarked upon. She grabbed Netun¡¯s arm in the confusion and rushed through the suddenly fiery wall, out into the open world. Fora took one look at the dozens of Wela¡¯s underlings and activated the spell of recall, pulling both of them through the between realm and far, far away. (Fora 5) b2c22 - Soul Siblings

--- Fora --- I squinted at the air as a faintly familiar rune started rippling to my magesight, I had a pretty good idea who it was before it even solidified into the golden glow of the double triangle, the rune that represented both spatial magics and time magics. The fact that they were the same was a constant source of annoyance for the part of me that was Eliax, why would they do so when time magics and dimensionalism couldn¡¯t co-exist? Every evidence I¡¯d ever seen said that they would always be opposites, like the void and the between, like nothing and something, like order and chaos. I tapped my chin in thought as my clone materialized, and paused in confusion as I noticed an unfamiliar man beside her, he was strange, his complexion pale and white, almost glowing in the dim tunnel, his eyes a pure red that blinked quickly as they examined the area with clear disorientation. I sighed at my clone¡¯s antics, feeling myself bleed into more Eliax than Fari, but my clone¡ªfrom her bearing¡ªseemed to be the opposite at the moment, ¡°Who¡¯s this guy?¡± She grinned, patting him on the shoulder as he started to look slightly queasy from the teleport, ¡°This is Netun, a friend of a friend!¡± ¡°Which friend?¡± ¡°Apparently Turste is alive!¡± ¡°Sparking tree wolf¡­¡± ¡°My thoughts exactly.¡± The strange albino lifted his head, blinking at me slowly and then looking back at my clone, ¡°Geneseri?¡± He pointed between us. My clone grinned, and then dismissed herself, as was apparently her habit whenever someone needed to be told important information and I was there to do it instead. Her clothing and belongings thumped to the floor, leaving me to stare dimly at them with tired eyes. I sighed as her memories flooded into me. ¡°That was my clone.¡± Netun stared at the pile of clothing, ¡°She didn¡¯t tell me she was a clone.¡± I picked up the dimensional bag and started rifling through it, ¡°They never do unless there¡¯s literally no other option.¡± I frowned at the copious amounts of recording crystals and pages. Right¡­ there¡¯d been some kind of a ransacking she¡¯d just come from. I sighed again, this time at them¡ªI was definitely more Eliax at the moment¡ªand put them back inside. I was at a disadvantage until I absorbed the memories now, but my clone would never do that if it would put me in actual danger, so this Netun fellow must be trustworthy. At least, as trustworthy as could be expected when what constituted actual danger was more ¡®anything that will kill me dead¡¯ rather than ¡®anything that might kill me dead.¡¯ Netun massaged his temples for a moment, ¡°I¡¯ll admit I¡¯m fairly disoriented, I arrived here rather abruptly, and I left most of my mass back in Vethemelnexintelali and it wasn¡¯t a pleasant experience.¡± I blinked at his ability to say the name of the capital, only historians or weird scholarly people did that. And yet I got the sense from my clone''s memories that in the two hours she¡¯d known Netun, they¡¯d bonded far closer than should have been possible. ¡°I¡¯m disoriented too.¡± I paused for a moment, tapping my chin absently as some things slowly started to fall into place. ¡°Perhaps a break then?¡± I nodded, sitting down on a chair carved from stone and gesturing for him to do the same. He seemed grateful for it, and drew himself into a meditative stance as the minutes ticked by. Eventually he opened his eyes and seemed to relax visibly, probably ready for conversation then. I had one thought tumbling about in my head that refused to leave, an observation my clone hadn¡¯t made because of our presently differing perspectives. ¡°Sparks¡­¡± I muttered, ¡°Does this mean soul siblings are a real thing?¡± I didn¡¯t like thinking about soul connections, but soul siblings were a lot less strong a bond than other ones. ¡°Soul siblings?¡± Netun asked, ¡°That was the lost sage¡¯s idea of a different kind of soulmate, correct?¡± I nodded in confirmation, ¡°Except unlike soulmates it¡¯s a kind of bond that people with soulsight can¡¯t see since it wouldn¡¯t be purely magical in nature.¡± I remembered the crimson line I¡¯d seen so long ago, the one that had bound me to another soul way back in my first life. He seemed thoughtful as he replied, ¡°That idea did intrigue me when I first heard of it, but I feel like it¡¯s just a label for something regular. People meet strangers and automatically understand them all the time.¡± ¡°And yet the soul is a complicated thing,¡± I interjected, ¡°Believe me I can see them. For all we know you¡¯d be able to find those bonds somewhere inside it if we could figure out where to look. It¡¯s just that the soulmate bond is so much stronger and more potent.¡± ¡°That¡¯s a point there, I suppose that we don¡¯t know.¡± ¡°Souls are¡­¡± I frowned, a sense of deja voo suddenly bubbling out of the memories I¡¯d absorbed from the clone. ¡°Sparks, that¡¯s the seventh time we¡¯ve started debating something about the soul, isn¡¯t it?¡± ¡°It is.¡± ¡°I think that¡¯s a new record or something, how did you say you first heard of me again?¡± Netun smiled slightly, ¡°I actually was looking for you the day of that fire, you and Turste.¡± I didn¡¯t like that memory much, but I was certainly glad I still had it, ¡°Right, my clone asked you that, you killed Sir Yanovel and his lackeys.¡± His gaze turned darker, ¡°They were the scum of the earth. I¡¯m sure that Justice herself was cheering me on.¡± ¡°Justice?¡± I prodded. He brightened again, and I got the sense that he didn¡¯t often switch gears so quickly, he didn¡¯t seem to mind the change in topic though. ¡°Justice! I haven¡¯t found her true name anywhere, but the goddess of Justice is definitely the one I¡¯m worshiping!¡± ¡°Huh, so you go around and smite evil doers for¡­ a dead religion.¡± ¡°No, I joined a dead religion so that I could properly smite evil doers. Someone once pointed out to me that my own moral code isn¡¯t perfect enough, I need a higher one. And so I found it!¡± ¡°I wonder how many other mostly dead religions are just waiting for someone like you to find them.¡± ¡°According to my research, thousands! Though¡­ most of them are probably not dead, they¡¯re just practiced in other lands, like the goddess of prosperity, or the god of protection, or¡­ some even probably worship Aeinar itself.¡± I shuddered, remembering the battlefield of ash, the void had had a presence about it, an impossible desire for everything, for experience, for emotion. I hated that feeling more than the sight of blood in the sand. ¡°I¡¯m sure anyone who worships the void deserves to live there for eternity.¡± such irony, to be speaking of soul bonds one moment and the void the next. I supposed I was destined to think about Aneles today. ¡°It certainly would be an unconventional religion.¡± ¡°The kind that should be lost forever.¡± I stubbornly insisted. ¡°I¡¯m inclined to agree with you there.¡± There was a long silence as I contemplated Aeinar. It was nothing, a nothingness that was somehow substantial. And yet¡­ It was also everything, it was an everything that ate and ate and ate. Something like that¡­ But it was so alien that I doubted I¡¯d ever know for sure, there was no way that anyone could ever truly understand it without going mad; the other gods made so much more sense. I felt my gaze move to the ground, where my clone had been. The thought again hit me, were we separate people? At all? Sometimes I felt like I was more¡­ Eliax or more Fari than otherwise, but that was still technically me. Right? I picked it up from the ground and set my clone¡¯s dimensional bag on the table, taking things out one by one and examining them. ¡°Do you know why the Mis-born Dragon keeps making people disappear?¡± Netun shook his head slowly, ¡°I did once know, but they took that memory from me rather thoroughly. I believe that I barely escaped their clutches. If I hadn¡¯t been able to draw extra strength from the between realm¡­ well I¡¯d likely have been captured.¡± I nodded slowly, understanding that part. I had a suspicion that it was also their way of getting rid of people who were likely to change the world too much from Giums ideals. Kureia¡­ she¡¯d definitely known something though, Niun too. ¡°They¡¯ve almost captured my clones at least a million times by now, so far they¡¯ve always just dispersed before the Mis-born Dragon could get anything out of them. Do you think it would help if I let them catch one so we could learn more about their base?¡± The extremely Fari-like question surprised me. The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation. Netun opened his mouth and closed it a few times, ¡°Maybe¡­? It¡¯s a risk though, and you really should think about something like that for longer than a few minutes.¡± The stories about heroic sacrifices were always the most interesting, though Netun was right, I probably shouldn¡¯t base decisions off that. I felt the Fari in me bleed away again. ¡°I was planning on sleeping on it, deciding in a few days would be best.¡± He nodded, and another silence descended on us. I frowned at the ceiling for a moment before popping my back and getting up, ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll be back in a minute.¡± At Netun¡¯s nod, I started the short ritual, muttering the activation phrase under my breath. ¡°Places beyond, places between, thoughts of worlds, thoughts of dreams¡­ Give me your secrets.¡± I blinked at the silvery blue crystal surrounding me, and at the new objects I vaguely remembered my clone adding to the room. She¡¯d prioritized the Gatestone memory, so I already knew about that, but when my eyes locked on the wardstone, I felt a dim sense of accomplishment from her memories. I¡¯d done that, I¡¯d found a wardstone. Those things were so rare that I was almost more likely to find a dimensionalist with operational magesight these days. A wardstone could be used to keep hundreds of spells running indefinitely. With a wardstone, you could set up magical defenses around a home without having to recast the spell every week or even recharge it. And the spells would be active that whole time. Aymi¡¯s illusions had followed a similar principle, a spell having been cast a long time ago and usable by anyone, except you had to charge them, they were easy to nullify since they didn¡¯t fight back, and since they weren¡¯t active they were harder to differentiate from regular objects. I really missed her illusions anyway, but if they¡¯d been connected to a wardstone they would have been a million times more powerful. The problem was that I had no idea what to use it for, I could make a permanent portal from one end of the world to the other, I could use it to fly forever¡ªthough that would require taking the unwieldy rock everywhere with me. I could use it to power a secret hideout like the one Netun was in at the moment. There were so many possibilities. Far far too many. I set the wardstone back where I¡¯d had it, pursuing a few other important things before exiting my little piece of the between. I would have to think about that and hope that I didn¡¯t waste it on something stupid. Thankfully wardstones were something you could recycle, so it wasn¡¯t terribly bad if it started its life with me as a battery for something stupid. -- I squinted at the list of coded messages we¡¯d found in Kolen¡¯s financial records. Flipping through three entire pages. This guy had put codes into literally every expenditure, even down to the forged tax documentation. His dedication was remarkable. Unless of course he¡¯d just lied about all the numbers, which admittedly would have been much easier as long as they ¡®kind of¡¯ fit with the real ones. I was pretty sure that most people wouldn¡¯t care if they noticed something wrong there. ¡°This.¡± I said, ¡°It still makes no sense. I¡¯m even looking at different combinations of the words and they still aren¡¯t adding up. Like... What does ¡®Deception¡¯s nemesis¡¯ even mean?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t forget this one, ¡®A different mind than our own.¡¯ That could refer to a Go¡¯lir maybe? Or some other kind of spirit?¡± He paused, frowning for some reason. ¡°Maybe deception¡¯s nemesis means someone that deceptions don¡¯t work on, like someone with truthsight?¡± ¡°Isn¡¯t truthsight just a really weird name for a reverse prophecy ability?¡± ¡°Uhh¡­ I stopped paying attention to the definitions after it became clear I¡¯ll never be able to learn them. Sparking time magic¡­¡± Netun looked thoughtful, ¡°Maybe Kolen had a prophecy ability, that could be where he got all these weirdly poetic phrases.¡± ¡°I think we should just stop wasting our time with them.¡± I finally admitted, ¡°We need to send in one of my clones, we can keep thinking about it after they¡¯ve captured her.¡± Netun frowned but eventually nodded, ¡°Alright, how are we going to do this?¡± I smiled, standing up to cast Geneseri. ¡°We¡¯re simply going to send her to the small island off the west coast called Engere, which as far as I can tell is the Mis-born Dragon¡¯s base of operations.¡± ¡°You¡¯re very impulsive when it comes to taking the next step¡­¡± -- Fora stood next to me, nodding as she took the tracking crystal. I had the other half, which I would be leaving in our between realm base and checking up on regularly. My clone gazed at it dubiously before opening her mouth and placing it inside. She didn¡¯t need to eat as a clone, which was honestly a relief, but she could swallow things, they just¡­ wouldn¡¯t come back out. Fora hesitantly swallowed the fairly large crystal, but it was simply odd as it went down, not uncomfortable or painful as she¡¯d halfway expected. After a moment of disorientation, Fora nodded to me. I teleported away and my clone followed my example, the base fading away into a patch of endless plains, and then another¡­ and another. The teleportation chain had seven stops before she finally sat down on a stretch of dark sand that was the coast of Engere, waiting for the Mis-born Dragon to find her. -- The communication stone vibrated again, finally falling off the table and landing square in the dirt. I ignored it. Netun looked like he was trying to physically restrain himself from picking it up, but after a moment it stopped entirely. ¡°What was that?¡± I ignored his question, finally having found the map of Melor. I handed him a charcoal pencil as I rolled it out on the empty table. ¡°Here, drop this on the map, we¡¯ll make a new base wherever it lands.¡± Netun glanced at the fallen communication stone again before shaking his head with what looked like exasperation. He took the pencil, frowning down at the map. After a moment he dropped the tool, tip first. We both squinted at the spot the mark had fallen. Oh. Oh dear. ¡°Uhh¡­ could you drop that again maybe?¡± Netun gave me a flat look, pointing at the dark mark that was less than a day''s journey on foot from Reiaran. ¡°Didn¡¯t you say that if we pick somewhere your clone is less likely to think of then we¡¯re safer? They¡¯re going to interrogate her.¡± I shifted in my seat, still staring at that spot on the map, ¡°Whenever I go back to Reiaran something terrible happens¡­¡± ¡°I understand that you died in a fire there once, and several other things happened, but Reiaran is the closest civilized area to the island of Engere, wouldn¡¯t it be smart to investigate the spot for Mis-born Dragon lackeys?¡± I finally tore my eyes away from the dot that represented so much of my history, ¡°I already know the Mis-born Dragon is there. Practically every noble house that has an estate in Reiaran is almost completely corrupted. Everyone except House Seneset and¡­ well and Hivren.¡± Netun frowned, ¡°Hivren, he¡¯s the Shelex, right?¡± ¡°Yes. His sister is the head of house at the moment. He¡¯s in Reiaran because he had an obsession with my first life.¡± Netun nodded slowly, ¡°and he¡¯s in charge of the new Ayfel, the building that burned down with you and Turste in it.¡± I paused, I didn¡¯t like it when people forgot about the person who¡¯d really paid the price. ¡°Yes, and Aymiae, she was¡­ she was there too.¡± Netun tilted his head slightly, a far off look appearing in his eyes for a moment. ¡°Sorry, what were we saying?¡± I was happy to change the topic, ¡°Right, so I already know that Reiaran is corrupted, that just means we should go somewhere else.¡± ¡°Oh, no we¡¯re definitely going there now.¡± ¡°Sparking shifter thing.¡± ¡°That¡¯s still a widely inaccurate description.¡± ¡°You really don¡¯t look like a mushroom. That isn¡¯t helping your case.¡± -- We abandoned the base a bit later than I¡¯d intended. Mostly because Netun kept distracting me. I was still counting how many debates we¡¯d had about souls, and I was almost pleased to note that it was steadily approaching the twenty mark. I¡¯d eventually conceded though that a base near Reiaran would be the best, it wasn¡¯t too far from our starting point, there was a city right there for resupplies, and I was intimately familiar with the whole area. If we ended up getting chased around somehow, I¡¯d be able to teleport almost anywhere in the vicinity. I was getting far too good at hollowing out random sections of earth. Even my soul affinity couldn¡¯t compete with the sheer amount of earth element that I ended up shaping. Netun was surprisingly helpful with the hollowing out part, he could¡­ uh eat?... most kinds of dirt, and he¡¯d somehow managed to make an air circulation system just by growing some of his fungus up through the ceiling and to the air. I suspected it was acting like a set of lungs somehow, pulling the air in and then pushing it out, but I was perfectly capable of ignoring how creepy that was. I definitely didn¡¯t lay awake the first night listening to it and wondering if the thoughts it provoked were in any way similar to what it felt like to be eaten. Now that I thought about it, I wouldn¡¯t be surprised if I got eaten at one point in the future¡­ that would be¡­ sparks that would be rough to recover from. Drowning too, what if my body decided to rebirth itself right in the middle of the ocean? I shuddered lightly at the thought. Which didn¡¯t help the sleeplessness. -- My clone tried to smile, she really tried. But she knew what was coming as they found her, she knew what was coming as she surrendered, she knew what was coming as they hastily set up anti-dimensionalism barriers and called in their superiors¡­ who called in their superiors¡­ who called in their superiors. Wela was there before Fora knew it, the leader of the society, the Mis-born Dragon herself. She looked human on the outside, her hair was a dull brown with streaks of white telling of old age, which would never plague a dragon. There was nothing on the outside that might betray the soul inside. But Fora could see the soul inside. It was a bright fiery orange, shedding light on everything around it. The rune that represented her magic was unfamiliar, but it was similar to the one I remembered in Xien. It was bright and powerful and it had an impossible amount of detail, to the point where if the clone looked at it too long her head started to hurt. When Wela appeared, the clone knew that she didn¡¯t have a chance to smile any longer. Fora had been completely on board with this idea before, but that was when she was still part of her original self. Now though? Now she was having second and third thoughts, even some fourth ones. She knew though that she definitely didn¡¯t want to be tortured, Fora didn¡¯t want to be unable to dismiss herself just because I¡¯d turned that option off. But her body grew limp as a wip of electricity flashed out of Wela¡¯s hands. The world went dark. (Fora 6) b2c23 - Dragon --- Taasen --- Taasen meditated. He hadn¡¯t really liked meditating back when he was still learning his art, but he found that the more time passed since then, the more he was able to see wisdom in what Lew had taught him. Breathe in¡­ And out¡­ Taasen was in a lovely grove of trees, he was in the snow, the snow that covered up everything ugly in the world, resulting in endless white beauty that was a hallmark of the Master of the Forge. He was in a meadow filled with flowers that swayed in the light breeze. Breathe in¡­ And out¡­ He was alone wherever he went, moving through a kata that resembled a dance. Striking at imaginary foes that disserved nothing more than to be punished for their deceit. Deceivers, liars, untruths. He was the breeze that blew the leaves, he was the storm that destroyed everything ugly in the world. He was the world itself as it moved through nothing and into something. Breathe in¡­ And out¡­ He was the air in his lungs, the snowmelt in his blood, the follower of Kalteii who was determined to see that deceivers obtained their deaths. He was the nemesis of deceit, the one who would one day kill the god of order himself for bewitching all the people of his lands. Who needed order anyway? Taasen opened his eyes, tilting his head at the creature that stood before him. It was like a dragon except it had no wings, it was like a snake except it had six mighty legs. It glowed faintly golden in the darkness. ¡°Are you here to deceive me?¡± Taasen wondered aloud. ¡°Are you here to attempt again to change my mind into what you wish it would be?¡± The dragon growled slowly, and Taasen realized it was pacing. ¡°You cannot kill me, stop deciding that you will.¡± ¡°I apologize. But you are simply wrong. I can do anything. I can sleep, I can dream, I can see the deceits and become immune to untruths. And I can kill you. I just simply won¡¯t yet, it¡¯s significantly more interesting if I wait until I am stronger.¡± ¡°You can¡¯t kill your god¡­¡± it muttered. ¡°You are not my god.¡± It scowled, ¡°Kalteii hasn¡¯t touched this world since she brought the snow, but I¡¯m here, I can do things that she cannot.¡± ¡°Then kill me.¡± The scowl grew deeper. ¡°If I could kill every mortal that was like you, the world would be a better place, it would make more sense, it would be a paradise¡­¡± Taasen shook his head, ¡°I don¡¯t actually see you, now that I think about it. Why would a mortal see a god?¡± Gium disappeared. Tassen nodded to the empty space, settling back down and closing his eyes. He was the leaf in the wind, the sword wielded by a master. And he needed to wait, to become stronger. -- Taasen didn¡¯t hear it as the guards marched past his cell, he didn¡¯t see it as they gave him food and removed the cold untouched plate from yesterday, he didn¡¯t smell the fragrant shlop, and he certainly wasn¡¯t hungry. Taasen could leave at any moment, the guards just didn¡¯t know that fact. He stayed simply because this was a place to meditate, with free room and board no less! His numerous failed escape attempts were clearly just to lull the deceivers into a false sense of security. clearly. The longer he sat there and thought¡ªor rather, practiced not thinking, as Divarian warriors are prone¡ªthe more he felt his power grow. Taasen was strong, he was intelligent! He was as fast as a breeze and as vital as a youth. He didn¡¯t care how old he was because age didn¡¯t matter, he would be like this forever. And so he was. Taasen didn¡¯t hear the guards or smell the shlop, but as a new kind of deception grew nearer, he peeked an eye open. A deceiver, but not one of the guards. This piqued his interest enough that Taasen watched as those guards packed an unconscious person past his cell, depositing her in one of the numerous empty ones just across from him. Frostbite, a deceiver. She looked like one of those strange insect people, with the exoskeleton and the antennae. He couldn¡¯t really tell anything besides that, not that he was even looking. Faces didn¡¯t matter, only deceits. The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there. Besides, this was clearly not a real person. Shaking his head, Taasen pointed at one of the guards as they withdrew. ¡°I¡¯d like to note that I don¡¯t like deceivers, if you could put her somewhere else it would be much appreciated.¡± Besides, he¡¯d liked having the hallway to himself, it made meditating easier. The guard seemed confused that Taasen was talking to her, and quickly shook her head before rushing off. Taasen sighed and prepared to meditate again, before that same guard returned with what appeared to be an aging human woman. Just like the rest of the Melorians she didn¡¯t have the blue cast to her skin that Taasen did, or the slight markings like snowflakes across that same skin. It was merely flesh colored. But Taasen had seen this woman many times and he knew that she was a deceiver. That weak frame and aging stride hid a magical might stronger than the light of the Forge. ¡°Divarian.¡± she addressed him with the name of his home, ¡°You spoke to one of the guards? I thought you were still refusing to do that.¡± Oh, right, he had been doing that. ¡°I still am,¡± Taasen insisted, ¡°I merely had to request they put that¡­ah¡­ that girl somewhere else.¡± He had to glance at her unconscious form and squint, but she did seem to be fairly young. The dragon who wore the skin of a human gave him a dubious look, ¡°Why?¡± ¡°Her presence is disturbing my meditation.¡± She put a hand to her forehead, massaging the bridge of her deceiving nose, ¡°Divarian, you do realize that you are our prisoner, right?¡± Taasen nodded, ¡°I could leave at any time, but yes.¡± ¡°And your many attempts at doing so have never borne fruit.¡± That was only because the deceiving dragon was always there! She was somehow immune to almost everything that came with physical strength! On top of that she kept trying to tell him that humans couldn¡¯t ignore things like gravity, and it was really throwing off his fighting style. He could defeat her, he just had to try a few more times. ¡°And yet you are still incorrect. My request remains, I would prefer if you moved that prisoner.¡± ¡°We aren¡¯t moving her. That¡¯s the only cell we have that¡¯s prepared with anti-dimensionalism, so you¡¯ll just have to suck it up.¡± She nodded curtly and strode off. Taasen shook his head at her fleeing back and returned to his meditation. -- ¡°Ugh, why am I not being tortured?!¡± Taasen opened his eyes at the question, peering toward the cell across from him. Frostbite, he¡¯d remembered he could hear during that last bit. That was inconvenient. ¡°I do not know, however, I am certain they will get right on that if you ask them nicely.¡± She got up with a frown, squinting at him, ¡°What are you?¡± ¡°Human, last I checked, though I might forget that again and turn into a rabbit, I haven¡¯t done that in quite a while.¡± The deceiver laughed slightly, ¡°Nice response there. I should come up with something like that.¡± She thought for a second, ¡°here, you ask me now!¡± Taasen sighed, ¡°What are you?¡± She grinned, ¡°A magical construct of body magic, illusionism, and a smidgen of a time spell!¡± Taasen gave her a strange look. She sighed, ¡°Alright that sounded cooler in my head, I¡¯m just a clone made by Geneseri.¡± Somehow, she seemed to be telling the truth here. He could still feel that she was a liar at heart, a deceiver and a destroyer, but at the moment she wasn¡¯t deceiving. ¡°Interesting.¡± She nodded, glaring out at a guard as he marched past, ¡°They definitely know that though, that¡¯s probably why they aren¡¯t torturing me¡­ Sparks, I wouldn¡¯t be surprised if they figured out my plan immediately.¡± ¡°You planned to be tortured?¡± ¡°I like to assume the worst in any given situation, I¡¯d even prepared a dramatic speech for my real self and imagined killing her myself seven times by now.¡± Taasen raised an eyebrow, ¡°Is she that bad? A deceiver who deceives?¡± She was silent for a moment, ¡°Well, no not really. I think I just want to blame someone.¡± ¡°So you¡¯re deceiving yourself then?¡± Tassen asked, confused. He never liked that kind of lie, it was harder to simply stab it through if it didn¡¯t have a tangible cause. ¡°I don¡¯t like doing it, but I feel like everyone does to some level.¡± ¡°Interesting.¡± ¡°What¡¯s your name?¡± ¡°Taasen.¡± ¡°Nice to meet you, I¡¯m¡­ ah¡­ Eliax, or Fora, or¡­ something.¡± They lapsed into silence. Taasen closed his eyes to return to meditation, but he kept catching himself peeking out to watch as the strange girl paced around her own cell or climbed up the bars to examine the ceiling, or peeked out the tiny window in the back that was barely small enough to even need bars. She just kept moving, like there was something in her skin that might burst out if she stayed still. Taasen could sometimes feel similarly, but that was only in battle, only when he had an enemy to vanquish, that was the time he needed to move. Taasen stood up after a long time. Touching his bars with a fraction of his strength. They burst from the wall. Let¡¯s try this again. --- Eliax - Clone --- Eliax watched with wide eyes as the bars burst open, slamming against the empty cell directly in front of it. Taasen emerged from the dust, looking like a blank slate. His face was emotionless, his eyes calculating, his mouth tilted the slightest bit upward. He looked just like he had before, hard to place age wise, skin with a slight blue cast to it, and eyes a hard icy blue that reminded her of Aneles. But to her magesight he couldn¡¯t look any more different. The rune he¡¯d sported before had been simple, but all its bright red glory meant was art. Eliax had been confused, but not overly sure about it. Now however, the rune had expanded, morphed into a different simple one. This one meant justice. There¡¯d been hints of it in how I¡¯d seen Netun, but this was the pure unaltered rune. And Eliax had no idea what it meant. Evidently it was powerful though as Taasen sped through the halls and away. Eliax was slightly offended that he hadn¡¯t freed her as well, until she glanced toward the cell she shared a wall with and realized that it was completely gone, the iron bars from Tassen¡¯s had slammed straight into them and pulled them off as well, breaking through the back wall too and into open air. Why¡­ why hadn¡¯t Taasen taken that way out? Heck if she knew, but Elias sure wasn¡¯t going to ignore it herself. (Fora 7) b2c24 - The Power of Idiot --- Fora - Clone --- My clone exited the building through the collapsed wall, immediately feeling her ability to cast dimensionalism return to her. The only thing that prevented her from teleporting away immediately was what she saw once she was outside. Her fellow prisoner, Taasen, stood toe to toe with Wela, the Mis-born Dragon herself. The two of them circled one another, examining each other for any weaknesses as a crowd of excited looking guards watched on from behind. No one¡­ no one seemed to realize that my clone had gotten out, some people looked her way, but it was only to remark upon the collapsed wall. She had a strong survival instinct, but that all went out the second story window and into a pile of particularly fragrant dung as they landed their first strikes on one another. Actually landed. I¡¯d tried fighting Wela once before, and all I¡¯d gotten for my trouble was beaten to a pulp. Taasen danced through moves like a leaf in the wind, dodging strikes before Wela could even throw them, honestly Fora was having trouble seeing most of their attacks. Occasionally one of them would just casually break the sound barrier, and as she watched, Taasen seemed to just be getting¡­ faster. The cuts on his arms healed even as she stared at them, and Wela¡¯s hits seemed to be doing less to him as time went on. Somehow. Fora frowned at him, tapping her chin in thought as Wela began to speak between heavy breaths and strikes. ¡°You¡ªhuff¡ªYou¡¯re so weak, it¡¯s almost pitiful. You¡¯re a disgrace¡ªhuff¡ªto all that the gods went through to bring you here.¡± She struck again, ¡°You¡¯re slow, you¡¯re mortal.¡± She struck again, ¡°There¡¯s no way that you can win this!¡± Taasen seemed to shrink at the insults, his strikes drawing less blood. He glared at her, ¡°I can¡¯t actually hear you, now that I think about it, the wind is too strong.¡± The wind picked up slightly, and Fora frowned at it. Was that a coincidence? It had to be¡­ Wela dodged under an attack, glaring as well, ¡°That¡¯s¡ª that¡¯s not how ears work.¡± ¡°Frostbite.¡± Taasen said, punching at a slightly exposed section of his opponent¡¯s back. He seemed annoyed about something, but he started muttering under his breath as the fight went on. Out of curiosity, the clone that was Fora cast a light hearing spell and was surprised at what she heard. ¡°You are faster than this, you are stronger than this, you are lighter than this, you are more powerful than this¡­¡± As he went, over and over, with the same motto, it seemed as if he was becoming those very things he was saying to himself. But like a harsh critic to a budding painter, Wela continued to push down those spurts of growth. He was still growing anyway, even as she started to say more things, criticizing his technique, his speed, his footwork. Her words only slowed him down. What mattered though was the fact that he was slowed down. Fora watched in horror as she realized what Wela was doing. Dragons could do all sorts of magically illegal things, which was why she hadn¡¯t realized it earlier, it shouldn¡¯t be possible to keep hasting one¡¯s self while building up a dimensional effect. But even as she watched, the time runes of the double triangle that represented her hasting effect slowly faded away into the flipped version of spatial magics. The force spell came out of nowhere, slamming into Taasen with bone-crunching power. He grunted at the orange-red wall of power as it pushed him to the ground. Taasen frowned at it as it refused to dissipate, Wela standing over him triumphantly. Fora felt her hopes crash down like a badly constructed tower. Oh well, she¡¯d simply have to leave, that had been interesting but ultimately¡ª Almost like he¡¯d been waiting for something like this, Taasen grinned. The emotion was strange on his face, strained almost, as if he wasn¡¯t used to it. But it was a wide, sincere, smile. Wela paused at this, hastily strengthening the force spell, but it wasn¡¯t enough. The grinning madman simply¡­ phased through the magical barrier. Fora had a very hard time understanding how that was even possible. He attacked Wela again, even as the clone¡¯s mind tried to wrap itself around what she¡¯d just seen, but now that Wela¡¯s hasting ability was deactivated she didn¡¯t have any chance at keeping up with him. It took Fora several minutes as she tried to process what Taasen had just done, before her brain decided to just think about it later. By that point the fight was completely over, Taasen Standing over a wounded Wela who held her arms up in surrender. He¡¯d won. Sparks above, we needed this guy on our side. - The various guards and minions of the Mis-born Dragon scattered once their leader was defeated. Taasen let them leave, simply standing over Wela and frowning at her. ¡°Where might I find Selneth?¡± She slowly moved into a sitting position, watching the madman warily. The clone that was Fora folded her arms, still thinking. Was this Selneth guy so important that Taasen would refrain from killing her just to know the answer? Wela wasn¡¯t someone I would trust as a prisoner, she had too much power at her disposal. ¡°Not here right now, he¡¯s on Wreyn, preparing the way.¡± This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. Taasen frowned, clearly having no idea what that meant. Fora knew though and she felt her heart skip a beat at the mention of a different world. Wreyn was known as the realm of Decay, and all the stories she knew from there were¡­ not encouraging. ¡°Where might I find this¡­ Wreyn place? My quest is to kill Selneth, and then to kill his master.¡± Wela laughed, a long hard laugh. It was broken by a bloody cough, apparently Taasen had broken some ribs. ¡°Good¡ªcough¡ªgood luck with that.¡± ¡°Do you wish to perish?¡± Taasen asked, clearly annoyed. My clone frowned as a guard ran past, looking worried. Right, they¡¯d likely be sending in reinforcements, Wela surrendering didn¡¯t mean the rest of the base had. ¡°Taasen, she¡¯s stalling while reinforcements get here.¡± He blinked, glancing in Fora¡¯s direction, but he seemed to recognize her, ¡°I see, she is a deceiver then after all.¡± He seemed disappointed. Fora glanced at Wela as she saw another dimensional effect building up. She wasn¡¯t even moving her hands to shape it! To say I was jealous was an understatement. ¡°Sparks, she¡¯s¡ª¡± The teleport activated and suddenly Wela was gone. ¡°teleporting¡­¡± My clone added belatedly. Taasen blinked at the now empty space he¡¯d been glaring at. ¡°No. People can¡¯t teleport, that¡¯s impossible.¡± The word ¡®impossible¡¯ echoed through my clone¡¯s ears. It echoed through her bones. It echoed through the world itself. She stared in bafflement as Wela rematerialized, just in time for Taasen to stab her through the heart. What. The. Sparks. Fora stared at the corpse as it fell over, lifeless, she stared at Taasen, she stared at the knife that he¡¯d definitely not been carrying before. ¡°What in Aeinar are you?!¡± She found herself shouting as she erected a golden force shield, remembering with panic that he could walk through those. At the exclamation, Taasen glanced at my clone, ¡°I am simply an artist.¡± -- Fora felt vitalized as the teleport ran through her, glancing anxiously at Taasen. If he had the ability to undo teleportation, it was unlikely that she¡¯d be able to truly escape if things went bad like she¡¯d initially assumed when she¡¯d decided she needed him on her side. At this point Fora knew better. Taasen, on the other hand, seemed to have taken a liking to her for some reason. My clone counted her lucky stars that she hadn¡¯t lied to him about anything when they first met, because he seemed to take any kind of deception personally. As in, he personally decided to vanquish any and all deceptions from the world in what was practically a life goal. The scenery around them stabilized and my clone teleported again, wondering where I would have set up the new base. She had some guesses, but in the end she knew that she would have to either dismiss herself or wait until I came after her tracker. Fora glanced down the side of the cliff, stilling at the sight of Reiaran below. The Silverside cliffs were an oddity, both because of their enormous height and because of their almost smooth nature. From below, it was like a wall of stone that stretched up into eternity. Most historians suspected they¡¯d been crafted by an ancient archmage who far eclipsed all more modern mages in power and might. Naturally, I¡¯d taken it upon myself to get to the top a long time ago. Taasen glanced down, not seeming impressed with the view. ¡°It would be more beautiful with snow.¡± Fora frowned at him, ¡°It¡¯s spring, I don¡¯t think anyone down there wants the snow to come back.¡± ¡°It¡¯s unnatural for the snow to melt in the first place.¡± ¡°Where are you from exactly?¡± ¡°Divaria, though barely anyone here can recall anything substantial about it.¡± Fora frowned, remembering the various things she¡¯d heard about that place over the years. My clone belatedly realized that she didn¡¯t have any stories about it, that was¡­ Sparks, how had she let herself simply ignore that fact all this time? Divaria wasn¡¯t on another world but she had plenty of stories about Aulous or the Mistlands, this shouldn¡¯t be any different! ¡°We¡¯ll be waiting here for quite a while until my real self decides to come looking for my tracker, why don¡¯t you tell me about Divaria?¡± He blinked, apparently not having expected that. ¡°Of course! I shall speak of the great wonders of my homeland! What do you want to hear first?!¡± Fora tapped her chin, ¡°You said there¡¯s always snow there, could you tell me why?¡± Taasen nodded curtly. Brushing off a rock before sitting down, the faint snowflake-like patterns that covered his skin twinkled in the sunlight. ¡°It all began with Kalteii, the world mother, the master of ice and snow.¡± --- Runesight --- And so there was the creation of Divaria. At the beginning of the world, there was snow. It was the first and most beautiful snow ever to grace the planet¡¯s surface. Each individual flake was meant to be different and that first snow was not held back by the designs that had already been done. The flakes settled, the clouds moved onward, for the first time the world was finally whole. Kalteii, the mother of winter, the mother of JUSTICE, was born of the first snow. She saw her world and knew that something was missing. Her winters were harsh and unyielding, but there needed to be others if there was to be balance. And so Kalteii shaped her snow and created Naltest, guardian of fire, of the forge. A master of improvement, master of destroying and making anew, the father of ARTISTRY. The art of Naltest brought warmth to the world and the snow of creation began to melt. During the melting, the ground was uncovered and the seas formed, the ice of Kalteii was driven back to the north and the south, giving almost everything she had to Naltest. She fell into a deep sleep and did not wake again. Using the harshness of her dreams, Kalteii shaped from her snow creatures to populate her world, at the core of every one of them, there was a piece of Naltest¡¯s warmth and a flake of the first snow. Creatures of every shape and size dominated the land sky and sea, Kalteii had made them all and they were each individually beautiful. The creations of her dreams were powerful, and divine. The children of Kalteii created just as she had, some of them rose and made art, music, stories, and oh so much more. They took their creations and infused them with magic, becoming creatures of art and power. Some say that the children of Kalteii created everything else, and indeed they must have, for where else would the great cities that seemed to have been grown from the ground itself have come from? Why else was the sky so clear and the mountains so grand? Even the snow of creation that came again and again would inspire her children. At last, the children of Kalteii packed up their tools for art and left to search the cosmos for inspiration, becoming the stars in the sky and leaving behind their only creation that could create in their stead. Humanity was closer to Naltest than Kaltei, they destroyed and made anew, they spread throughout the world and endured, they wielded the magic of Naltest and the Justice of Kalteii and changed the world. Some say that if the children of Kalteii ever return, they will not recognize the world that they left behind. (Fora 7) b2c25 - Halted --- Fora --- I neatly tied the top of the small sack together, binding the explosives into a cohesive whole. Beside me, Netun was placing the finished packs into a new dimensional storage I¡¯d made, where they wouldn¡¯t be jostled against each other or even shift in position until someone took them out. I glanced up as a communication stone started vibrating, pausing as I saw the familiar contraption that would record what was being said instead of allowing it to be played out loud. Why was he sending another message the very next day? I frowned at it with worry for far too long. I didn¡¯t want to talk to Hivren until I could say that I¡¯d gotten vengeance¡­ but¡­ Sparks I hadn¡¯t even gotten a chance yet to listen to the one from yesterday. Hesitantly, I stopped assembling bombs and waited for it to stop vibrating. Netun watched with curiosity, but he didn¡¯t seem inclined to say anything about the break. It was several minutes before the vibrations stopped, which was concerning on its own. As such, the moment it was done I disconnected it from the recording crystal before immediately playing the two recordings, back to back. ¡°Fora¡ª¡± Hivren cut off for a second before trying again. ¡°I¡¯ve¡­ started to make these regular I think. Maybe it¡¯s because you like things that are predictable, constant. You like to know how something will be before it even starts.¡± He sighed. ¡°I think at this point I¡¯ve convinced myself that you either lost the crystal or you¡¯ve died. So maybe this regular message is for myself. You¡¯d be sixteen by now, almost seventeen, it isn¡¯t fair that you always die so young, there are joys in life you can only find later on. But¡­ the oldest you¡¯ve gotten is twenty eight. ¡°In the end, I just hope that you always remember who you are, and that people care.¡± Click. ¡°Fora!¡± His voice sounded excited almost, if it wasn¡¯t for the worry and anxiety that filled the rest of the space up. ¡°Fora, I felt something today, something that changes everything.¡± He paused, gathering his thoughts. ¡°If you remember my uncle Harrel, you¡¯ll remember how he always went on adventures to far off lands and after treasures. You¡¯ll remember how he was sort of involved romantically with Aymiae, though they were always very weird about each other.¡± I blinked at that information, feeling more than a little guilty about having not thought about my old friend¡¯s romantic life before. She¡¯d always just¡­ felt like that angry little kid to me. ¡°About fourteen or fifteen years ago, before you came back, my uncle Harrel went missing, no one could find him and those who looked always came back a bit¡­ odd. It always reminded me of that memory spell your old dragon master had on him, the more they found out, and the longer they looked, the more they forgot. ¡°And so I know I¡¯ll forget this, and I know that that¡¯s the worst thing that can happen, because you need to know it. So I hope you¡¯re listening. ¡°No one can remember Aymiae either. I don¡¯t know why I can remember, I don¡¯t know why you can, but almost anyone who knew her well has had her scrubbed from their memory. For the last fifteen years I always found this strange since my mother and sister don¡¯t remember her, but I figured they were trying to grieve, or they were trying to give her memory the respect it deserves. ¡°But then this morning, I realized that I had a huge gap in my memory, me and¡­ Kureia visited the capital a number of years before I believe the forgetting happened, and no matter how hard I try, I can¡¯t remember why. The entire trip as well as most of the events surrounding it are gone from my memory. ¡°All I know was that Harrel was there. ¡°And so was Aymiae. ¡°This was after the fire, Aymi was supposed to be dead. And yet she wasn¡¯t.¡± He sighed, ¡°I don¡¯t know if I¡¯m going insane, I could be, but there¡¯s something big I¡¯m missing, and the more that I think about it, the more energy and thought that I put into my mental enhancements, the more I¡¯m certain that Aymi is somehow in the middle of it.¡± ¡°I hope you can make more use of this than I can.¡± Click. ¡°Aymiae?¡± Netun asked, frowning in thought. ¡°The fire? She was there when you died?¡± I nodded numbly, staring at the crystal, ¡°We grew up together, we were kind of like sisters in some ways.¡± ¡°And I was there¡­ looking for Turste¡­¡± ¡°Yes, you said that already.¡± Netun gave me a blank look for a long moment. He paused, frowning, ¡°Sorry, what were we talking about?¡± I felt my blood run cold. Netun had told me from the start that he had huge gaps in his memory, nearly ten entire years. And here he was, forgetting again once Aymi was brought up. I remembered what Netun had told me not so long ago, that Turste could remember things the rest of the world couldn''t. ¡°Netun, can you take me to Turste?¡± He nodded, still frowning, ¡°We were in the middle of looking for justice though, shouldn¡¯t we keep hunting the Mis-born Dragon?¡± I shook my head, ¡°They¡¯ll still be there when we get back.¡± Netun paused, ¡°What about your clone?¡± Right, they might move her around a bunch, I should record her current location and see where they took her¡­ but I also remembered how much harder things got if I let a clone run around unsupervised for more than a month. Would I be gone for a month? I wasn¡¯t sure where Turste was so I doubted I could teleport there or even make portals. This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. I needed to record her location, and then I could cut off the Geneseri and retrieve the memories. Right. Right¡­ My mind was whirring though, spinning about like a wild blade, Aymi might be alive. It was hard to focus on anything else with that distinct possibility lingering there. That was¡­ that was amazing if so, she¡¯d be sixty at this point¡­ Barely able to form coherent thoughts, I prepared to enter my between space in search of that tracking stone. I blinked at the spatial runes as a piece of paper fell in front of me. Picking it up, I examined the writing with a worried frown, half expecting it to be the Mis-born Dragon ready to attack after somehow finding my new base. This is your friendly reminder not to take spatial distortions into the between (Unlike you, I do have bees ready for deployment at all times.) ¡ª Astral, the god of Spatial Balance I rolled my eyes at it and belatedly set down my bag, tucking the note into it. The fact that he felt the need to keep tabs on my every move after last time was almost funny in a way. Perhaps enough to let my mind finally focus on something other than Aymi. -- ¡°Is it just me,¡± I asked Netun, ¡°Or have the gods gotten more¡­ vocal lately?¡± I frowned at the second note, a thank you from Astral for not breaking the space time continuum again¡­ whatever that meant, but there it was again, space time, the two being associated with each other. It was almost like they weren¡¯t actually opposites. Netun nodded, his eyes still peering forward to the edge of the sandfrost desert. ¡°I¡¯ve started having odd dreams lately, and I don¡¯t even sleep.¡± I blinked at him, ¡°How does that even work?¡± ¡°It¡¯s impossible for a creature to leave behind dreams, they¡¯re a connection to the between realm that the mind needs to be healthy. I just don¡¯t sleep when they appear, they¡¯re more like¡­ faint hallucinations mixed with powerful emotions for me.¡± I thought back to my own dreams, feeling a bit sad that I barely ever remembered them. ¡°Dream magic is a mix of mind and illusion, right?¡± Netun nodded slowly, ¡°I think I¡¯ve known a dream mage, but it might¡¯ve been in that decade I lost.¡± I watched him hopefully for a second before he belatedly shook his head, ¡°Anyways, gods talk to people through their dreams most of the time, so perhaps it¡¯s Justice looking to tell me something.¡± I frowned at the note, ¡°I didn¡¯t even know there was a god of spatial balance until he started bothering me¡­¡± ¡°Maybe he¡¯s trying to get you to worship him?¡± ¡°Do they even need that?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know, maybe¡­ Gium never seemed to care if people idolize him, just that there is Order, and Alner¡­ Alner just cared about the promises and the consistency.¡± I hummed lightly, ¡°And yet the average person still thinks that Gium is the only god.¡± ¡°So clearly it matters at least a bit then. Perhaps if other gods get worshiped they gain a presence in this land?¡± ¡°Or maybe they get to eat your soul if you die worshiping them¡­¡± Netun gave me an odd look, ¡°...what?¡± ¡°Yeah that was a weird thought there.¡± He shook his head in bafflement, ¡°You come up with the strangest things¡­¡± I grinned, ¡°Thank you!¡± -- Netun pressed his hand against the sand, leaving me to stare awkwardly. I thought I could even see the little streams of a root like structure as it grew from the outstretched limb and into the ground. He¡¯d told me already that I wouldn¡¯t be able to hear anything they were saying, but I still tried to look for the nearly invisible spores. They had a faint presence to my magesight¡­ maybe¡­ I could simply be tricking myself into seeing something that wasn¡¯t there, but I thought I could see runes similar to the one on Netun. It would be harder though since the souls themselves weren¡¯t contained in the spores, I was limited to simple magesight instead of having my soulsight to back it up. Which admittedly was still far too easy, I had plenty of practice with finding spells without the caster nearby. So¡­ yeah I wasn¡¯t sure if there was actually magic contained in the spores, but I thought I saw some twinkling, so there. He knelt there for quite a while, his antennae vibrating for¡­ some reason. Perhaps they were being used as sensors? There was a limited sense of smell that came with antennae, but you never knew what a shapeshifter could do with them. I was busy contemplating the ups and downs of trying to increase my own antennae senses, when suddenly Netun¡¯s soul moved. I blinked at it, watching as it went into the ground. Sparks!!! I hadn¡¯t thought about the implications of that, and by Gium they were big ones. If he could move his soul around, make bodies, grow streams of himself into the land around him and transfer nutrients quickly and effectively? How could someone ever kill something like that? Sure he was the only mushroom with the ability, but he¡¯d implied that that might change. I watched with wide eyes as his body slumped slightly, it was still breathing and alive, just no longer active. It seemed almost asleep as I watched. The minutes ticked by. If he could leave his body with no repercussions, was there a way for me to do that? I already left my body whenever I died with the instinctive aspect of my rebirth affinity, but if it was anything like other affinities there should be other ways to use it. Right? I frowned at his form for several minutes before finally sitting down myself, the fact that I¡¯d never figured out anything instinctively from my second affinity besides seeing souls had always felt odd to me, in the back of my mind. It was never something pressing since I had plenty to explore with just dimensionalism. I remembered the blockage between my memories and sense of identity, back when I¡¯d been just Eliax, I remembered what the golden wingless dragon had said when I was in the middle of rebirth, ¡°I can¡¯t do the same thing as last time¡­¡± Had it done something to me? Had it been trying to stop me from coming back? I was certain that there wasn¡¯t any more blockage, so that tracked with what it had said. The good thing was that whatever it had done, it hadn¡¯t worked. I was reasonably certain that the golden dragon hadn¡¯t actually been a dragon, but the blatant use of soul magic just made it more certain in my mind. That had¡­ probably been Gium. Which would mean that Gium himself, the god of Order, was definitely after my death. It was nice to know that the feeling was mutual. I blinked out of my thoughts as Netun stood up, frowning at the ground as his antennae started vibrating again. Belatedly he glanced at me, ¡°Turste remembers her, he says he saved her life¡­ she¡¯s¡­ she¡¯s like me now.¡± He looked like he was in awe, apparently having assumed he was the only one. I felt my mouth open and close several times, ¡°Aymi is a discount vampire too?!¡± Netun tilted his head, antennae vibrating, ¡°Turste says she actually does absorb blood.¡± ¡°Sparks! That¡¯s awesome!¡± ¡°Do you think maybe she¡¯s the originator of those rumors you heard?¡± ¡°What? Noooo coincidences can¡¯t be that big.¡± (Fora 9) b2c26 - Oh yeah --- Fora - Clone --- ¡°That¡¯s super interesting!¡± Fora exclaimed, nodding up and down as Taasen¡ªa horrible storyteller¡ªexplained the legends of Divaria. That wasn¡¯t to say she was lying, it was interesting, he was just the very last person she would have picked to tell her about it. He nodded, ¡°We have many stories, though I confess that I have never listened to most. It is considered a high calling in my homeland to be an artist, and storytellers are artists. As are Warriors¡­ even¡­¡± He sighed, ¡°Even musicians.¡± My clone got the sense he didn¡¯t like them much. ¡°Most of the tales I remember are about Kalteii.¡± ¡°The goddess of Justice.¡± I finished, tapping my chin. Netun would be very interested to hear about that. Taasen nodded again, ¡°The snow mother. Justice can be gentle and persistent like a light snowfall, or it can be violent and relentless like a storm of ice. In the end you shouldn¡¯t seek to change it, but instead to change yourself to match what it needs you to become and to accept its determinations. In the end, it¡¯s always there, one must simply be grateful whenever it deigns to spare you.¡± Fora had a distinct feeling that Taasen and Netun would get along swimmingly. ¡°Do you think¡­¡± She felt a sudden familiar lurching sensation from her body, My clone blinked, stopping mid sentence, her mouth forming a baffled O shape as her form collapsed. Sparks, her real self had great timing. -- I paused as the memories flooded into me, remembering again how much easier things would be if I could have that happen in real time. It was getting really annoying that things like this kept happening, and I had a feeling that they would only get more annoying as time went by. Extra incentive to keep trying to practice time magic¡­ I felt my soul at the thought, wondering if I could convince it to behave. My dimensionalism was still growing, and I really hoped it wasn¡¯t at the point yet where I might break things forever if I neglected to use the built up power for a few days. I¡¯d heard of a few rumors about that happening to more powerful mages, though I wasn¡¯t sure yet how much stock to put into them. Regardless, it took me about ten minutes to decide that we really needed to go pick up Taasen, and that definitely wasn¡¯t enough time to¡­ I felt it distinctly as a huge amount of energy drained from me, exactly the amount actually that it took to cast Geneseri. -- Fora frowned in confusion at Taasen as she rematerialized. Sparks. ¡°Did you just make me cast Geneseri again?! How is that even possible?!¡± He tilted his head, ¡°I thought you teleported away.¡± ¡°My real self called back the clone without giving that clone any warning.¡± ¡°Oh, were you just going to leave me here?¡± ¡°What? We¡¯re on the same side here, we both hate Gium. I was going to probably come get you in a few minutes and take you to our base.¡± Sparks, we really needed him to be on our side, if I couldn¡¯t disperse a clone with him there¡­ that made both my avenues of escape completely null with him. My clone touched her head slightly, blinking at the fact that all the previous clones'' memories seemed to have seamlessly slotted themselves into place. She was used to taking hours to understand everything from any given clone! She couldn¡¯t help but hope this would be repeatable. Except now she had the real Fora¡¯s memories too. How the sparks¡­ Taasen nodded and then allowed the clone that was Fora to set up the teleport, apparently not concerned at all that she might be lying about anything. Perhaps he was just that confident in the power of threats. Fora knew that he would beat her to a pulp if he caught her lying about anything, and he knew that she knew that. For a moment Fora contemplated how terrible of an idea it was to take someone this powerful into her base, before she decided that was a pointless line of thought. She already knew she was going to take him there anyway. No, I¡¯m not sure why. What do you mean, Eliax would be groaning in frustration at me whilst banging her head into a wall right about now? They teleported. Fora didn¡¯t even need a second stop thanks to the proximity of the base. She could hardly believe her luck that it was so close by. In the back of her mind she begrudgingly admitted that Netun had been right to make me put the base just outside of Reiaran. A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. After materializing, Fora¡¯s real self was in the middle of running around like a headless chicken while Netun watched, and Fora was mature enough to admit not a little bit of glee at my predicament. Because clearly this wasn¡¯t also her predicament, she was certainly more in control than I was. Definitely. Fora grinned at my face when I saw them, and promptly dismissed herself. This time, Taasen didn¡¯t force her to come straight back, how very thoughtful of him. --- Taasen --- He tilted his head at the two Foras, wondering why one of them seemed more¡­ agitated than the other. Thankfully the agitated one was across the room, as opposed to right next to him, but he still watched her warily, an agitated person was a lot more unpredictable. The clone next to him disappeared, just like she had earlier, and the agitated Fora seemed to relax slightly once the clone was finally gone. ¡°Taasen, I presume?¡± She asked, folding her arms, most of her agitation melted away, though he could tell that something might still be bothering her. He nodded, gazing around the small room. The walls were made of dirt and stone, there was a doorway on one wall, but no windows or other escape routes. He would simply have to learn how to phase through rock if worse came to worse, which was pretty good odds in his eyes. Besides, if Fora was actually a deceiver then he would have to take it upon himself to bring her to the dust. ¡°Where are we?¡± He finally asked. ¡°About a mile underground near Reiaran.¡± She explained, frowning at him. After a moment she sighed, ¡°Alright, you¡¯ve taken us by surprise, but I can¡¯t say that it¡¯s a bad surprise.¡± Taasen nodded, ¡°Likewise. Unless of course you happen to be a deceiver, in which case I must vanquish you out of precedent.¡± ¡°I only lie when I¡¯m being an idiot, which admittedly is a bit too often¡­ I like to think I¡¯m getting better about it.¡± An unfamiliar voice sounded from nearby, ¡°Like you¡¯ve been ignoring Hivren?¡± Fora scowled, moving her gaze toward the doorway, where a strange man with entirely white skin watched them. Taasen hadn¡¯t seen him arrive, which was stupid, he was better than that. ¡°I¡¯ll go talk to him once I get rid of the Mis-born¡­¡± She sighed, glancing at Taasen, ¡°What the sparks are we supposed to call them now that Wela¡¯s dead?¡± Taasen tilted his head, ¡°I apologize that my vanquishing of evil has inconvenienced you.¡± The man in the doorway frowned, ¡°Does he always talk like that?¡± ¡°Of course, how else would I speak?¡± That same man put a hand to his forehead, sighing, ¡°Alright, I know I¡¯ve been perfectly capable until now operating under barely any information, but I don¡¯t have clone memories to tell me everything. Where in the stars did you come from and why does Fora trust you?¡± ¡°He destroyed the base where my clone was being kept and killed Wela.¡± ¡°I vanquished evil. She was a deceiver.¡± Taasen corrected, it was a big difference to kill someone who wasn¡¯t a deceiver. He nodded at the strange man, ¡°and who might you be?¡± ¡°Netun.¡± Fora perked up, ¡°Oh, Netun, guess whaaaaaattttt?!¡± He raised an eyebrow in her direction, apparently still annoyed about something. ¡°Taasen is from Divaria, and he knows all about the goddess of Justice!¡± Netun blinked, glancing at Taasen, who was tilting his head at Fora, wondering why that was relevant. ¡°You worship Justice?¡± ¡°Of course! Kalteii is the highest god in this world. She might still be dreaming from the strain of creation, but in the end she far eclipses Gium in power and fairness.¡± Netun looked vaguely as if he was about to pass out. ¡°Are you well?¡± ¡°Yes, yes! Of course! Just¡­ reminiscing about a promise I made a long time ago. I¡¯ve been looking for Justice.¡± Taasen perked up, feeling a grin spread over his face, ¡°So you want to help me vanquish deceivers?¡± ¡°Definitely.¡± Taasen found it very difficult to refrain from dancing. Only his status as a warrior kept his feet at bay. ¡°I have a feeling that we are going to become the greatest of friends, you and I!¡± Fora rolled her eyes, ¡°Alright, welcome to the team, Taasen. We seem to have completely lost our plan of action, besides our new idea of figuring out where the sparks Aymi is. That base you destroyed was our only lead, and I highly doubt they¡¯ll stick around now that the location is known.¡± Netun adopted a slightly blank look for a moment, ¡°Sorry, what?¡± Fora sighed, ¡°We were doing so good¡­¡± Taasen frowned, ¡°What is it?¡± ¡°Well Netun has a memory spell on him, whenever I mention Aymi, he forgets the last twelve seconds of conversation. I think the effect was weaker when we were near Aubinere, but¡­¡± Taasen frowned at him, ¡°What memory spell?¡± ¡°The one that¡­¡± ¡°No no, there is not one present, I can tell these things, being an artist. I do not see any memory spell, in fact, if there is one, I would say that our friend Netun is completely immune to the effects. However, there is no memory spell, so therefore it¡¯s impossible.¡± ¡°What are you¡ª¡± ¡°No memory spell.¡± Taasen nodded wisely, ¡°There never was one and never will be one again. Now Netun my friend, what do you know about this¡­¡± he glanced at Fora, ¡°What was the name again?¡± ¡°Aymi.¡± She said, frowning at him. Netun opened his mouth and closed it a few times, looking baffled. ¡°Aymi¡­ She¡¯s¡­ I was helping her. She made some kind of a¡­ a deal with Turste.¡± Fora straightened her posture sharply, glancing between Taasen and Netun, ¡°How did that¡ª¡± ¡°Fora, I¡¯d kindly request that you don¡¯t question it, with things like this if you think too hard about them they tend to stop working.¡± She closed her mouth. Taasen sighed, wishing that he¡¯d realized that memory spells were impossible back when Erane had gotten hit¡­ he was a much more powerful artist now though, after however long he¡¯d been meditating, since everyone knew that meditation made you a more valiant foe. He wondered where she was right now. He¡¯d have to track her down soon and vanquish that deception. Netun still seemed baffled as he slowly continued, ¡°Aymi became sandfrost, but she was like me. She had a problem with absorbing regular energy though, the longer she subsisted on just plant matter the more tired she would get, so she had to take blood and magic. I think that fact hurt her a lot more than she let on¡­¡± He frowned. ¡°She clearly hated it.¡± ¡°Alright, she¡¯s a vampire, we established that.¡± Fora said, ¡°So what happened to her then? I find it hard to think of any ideas to kill or contain someone like you, Netun.¡± He fell silent for a long moment, ¡°They captured us when we returned from dealing with something in Yera, when we weren¡¯t in the area long enough to have much mass nearby, they killed Harrel, but they couldn¡¯t kill the two of us.¡± Fora deflated slightly, ¡°Harrel¡­¡± Netun nodded, ¡°To restrain us they captured as much of our mass as they could, and then they¡­ they separated us from the rest of the mass and denied us nutrients. I can eat almost anything and live off it. Aymi though¡­¡± ¡°You managed to escape and they still have her.¡± Fora said, eyes wide and full of pain. Taasen frowned, ¡°We¡¯re retrieving this ¡®Aymi¡¯ then?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Fora nodded, resolute. ¡°We¡¯ve left her there long enough.¡± (Fora 10) b2c27 - Violence is the Question

--- Queen Steris --- It wasn¡¯t the oddest thing ever to hear about a magical explosion in the city, they were far too common lately as those new strange crystal devices had a tendency to overload, but usually there weren¡¯t any fatalities. Steris bowed forlornly at the family of the deceased, muttering several hushed; ¡°My condolences for your loss.¡± It wasn¡¯t that she didn¡¯t care, she did, but Steris felt her mind being drawn elsewhere. She hadn¡¯t heard from anyone investigating those kidnappings for weeks, and the artificer who¡¯d invented these crystal devices had been the most recent one. Who was going to go missing next? Another historian? Another retired monster hunter? To say that the queen was tired of disappearances was an understatement. She was almost livid. No one was actually investigating them. She¡¯d seen a few detectives sent out, and she¡¯d even sent some soldiers, but nothing actually happened. From her long experience with ruling Vethemelnexintelali and the rest of Melor, Steris was positive that things like this only ever happened when the nobles were involved somehow. Which meant her own nobles were against her. Again. Sparks, she¡¯d just gotten used to the idea of some kind of tenuous peace. Sure, the various leaders of Nakonua were still trying to get around tariffs, and sure, she was pretty sure the entire royal family of Sanaria was still possessed by something, but that wasn¡¯t anything new. And sure, she still had no idea what to do about the mini hero¡¯s own disappearing act¡ªthat Shelex kept badgering her to look into it. But things had still been quiet, none of those problems had been time sensitive. But if her nobles were against her again, if they were going to start kicking up trouble by not doing what she asked, then that was very much a time sensitive issue. The disappearances themselves weren¡¯t wholly remarkable if it was being dealt with, but the lack of a reaction was certainly something that Steris would take issue with. And she¡¯d just finished with getting rid of any legitimacy the Yanovel family had had¡­ she¡¯d assumed they would listen to her after that. Steris sighed, the distortion of time around her fizzling out as she continued paying her respects to the dead. It was giving them great face for her to come to the funeral herself, but she wanted allies in this family, as they were becoming a power in Vethemelnexintelali. It was tiring to say the least. After two hours of observing the procession, Steris was wondering again if the ability to use crystals to activate magical effects would continue to spread across the world or if it was just a popular thing with the nobility that would burn out soon. She was pretty sure it wouldn¡¯t burn out¡­ but one could never be sure. ¡°Miss Talveni,¡± Steris approached the deceased man¡¯s sister, whom he¡¯d been very close to, ¡°If I may ask, what was he doing with those crystals?¡± It was a somewhat rude question at a funeral, but Steris had noticed earlier that the young woman would rather talk about her brother''s dreams than his death. She had tears in her eyes, but a slight smile appeared at the mention of her brother¡¯s work, ¡°He was always such a kind person, just wanting to give regular people a good life¡­ he was working on using force crystals to make a kind of¡­ magical wagon.¡± She nodded, ¡°It was going to save the common people so much work and he was so excited about it all the time¡­ but¡­ most of his notes were destroyed in the explosion.¡± Steris thanked the young lady and sent her her condolences again, remembering how that artificer¡¯s shop had been ransacked too, devoid of notes. There was something going on, and Steris didn¡¯t like not being in the know. -- Less than a day after that funeral, a massive explosion echoed through the palace halls, clearly originating from outside. Steris blinked from her meal, glancing at one of the guards and motioning for him to check the disturbance. He ran off immediately as the other guards and maids turned toward her, eyes wide, looking for direction. She stood up without hesitation, turning toward a different guard, ¡°Take a friend and check on the princes and my daughter in law please, they should be with my granddaughter.¡± To another she said, ¡°Check on the treasury,¡± and to another, ¡°Be sure that no one breaks into the armory.¡± She paused, examining the remaining group. ¡°The rest of you with me, I¡¯ll be seeing about that disturbance.¡± She nodded at them curtly and strode from the room, dusting off her dress and frowning at the lack of guards stationed around the hallway to her personal quarters. Oh well, there were more important things for them to do. Her six guards flanked her, one of them had insisted on walking ahead of the procession, but she wasn¡¯t too worried. If this attack was meant to target herself, she would already have assassins or kidnappers after her. They arrived at the main balcony closest to where the explosion had sounded from, and after letting her guards examine the area thoroughly, Steris peered through the glass before stepping outside, frowning at the smoke above the enormous magical supply store that had been about to begin their grand opening in just two weeks. That wouldn¡¯t be as concerning if it wasn¡¯t so close to so many flammable merchant stalls, or the palace itself. It wasn¡¯t on fire, but Steris wasn¡¯t about to expect that to last. ¡°Sir Barined, would you please send a messenger to the water teams and make sure they¡¯re readying their response? If you can, find out what the meaning of this is, but I¡¯d like you to take charge of the situation down there and attempt to prevent damage.¡± The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. The knight saluted and promptly shifted into a large bird, flying straight toward the chaos that was erupting from the area. Steris examined the area for another moment, time rippling around her as she extended her thought process before turning toward another guard, ¡°Go fetch my farsight mages, and afterward please make sure the servants and others in the palace aren¡¯t panicking too much. If we have any elemental mages around, have them join the water teams.¡± He saluted and went off. Something was wrong though, Steris heard several following explosions, smaller though and less destructive. They were certainly flashy though. Steris turned back to the problem at hand, examining the building for a long moment before she saw something¡­ far¡­ far too familiar. The queen sought confirmation first though, and after a few minutes when the two mages with farsight appeared, casting a full telesight together, Steris had it confirmed. ¡°Sparks.¡± She swore, turning toward another of her guards, ¡°Someone inform Sir Barined that the mini hero is down there. Tell him I¡¯d like to have a chat with her after this is over, and that he should attempt to inform her of that fact.¡±

--- Fora --- I bounced through the air, trying to evade the various projectiles the Mis-born Dragon base was sending at me. I wasn¡¯t sure why, but I hadn¡¯t actually expected them to fight back, not after Wela had been killed the other day. Their command structure should be in shambles, their might in battle should also be ruined. But no, they had far too much coordination and discipline for a little thing like losing their first in command and their most powerful battle mage to get after them. I felt myself phase through a particularly persistent bolt of energy, which was impressive by my estimate since I still hadn¡¯t figured out how to phase through things on command yet. I glanced from the station that was firing on me toward Netun and Taasen on the ground, who were successfully subverting the enemies'' defenses, Taasen was single handedly holding back twelve battle mages while I saw Netun escape into a side door that would lead him toward where he remembered Aymi being kept so long ago. We¡¯d looked into it over the last few hours, and as far as we could tell, she hadn¡¯t even been moved in all this time. Hopefully this wouldn¡¯t take too long. I made a force construct to stand on, letting one of the attacks sputter harmlessly against it, and almost immediately leapt off the thing to evade a beam that was too powerful for my hastily constructed island to resist. As predicted, it shattered and soon the rest of the mages were firing on me again. I nearly hit a shifted bird out of the air as he tried to approach me, but when the annoying people below aimed for him too I figured he was probably on my side. ¡°What?!¡± I asked, constructing a stronger force island to stand on. The shifter landed, and a voice came from it. ¡°Queen Steris wants to talk to you once you¡¯re finished.¡± ¡°What the sparks do you think I¡ª¡± The force spell shattered again, the beam that had been aimed at me slicing across my leg with a painful amount of accuracy. ¡°¡ªgah! Tell her if she wants to chat with me she has to help us get my friend out of this place!¡± I caught myself in the air, bending the space in a curve to swing myself upward again. I was running out of energy though, I¡¯d have to land soon and leave this to my Clone, who was somewhere below, acting as our escape, though¡­ now that I thought about it maybe she¡¯d gone with Netun? We hadn¡¯t planned this out nearly well enough. The bird seemed to regard me for a moment before he dove for the ground. Apparently he could tell somehow that I was getting tired. Without hesitating I teleported to the ground, having achieved my goal of distracting the more long distance capable mages so Netun could get through that door. I winced when I landed on my leg, but it was¡­ well it was probably fine, I mean, it wasn¡¯t bleeding or anything so my exoskeleton had held up. It still ended up hurting like heck though. The bird landed beside me and shifted into an unfamiliar man wearing the uniform of the queen¡¯s personal guard. Apparently she didn¡¯t care about her own safety as much as resolving this situation. ¡°Awesome, so you¡¯re going to help us then?¡± He tilted his head, ¡°us?¡± I pointed at Taasen, who was covered in blood and screaming like a madman. His scream seemed to be making him more powerful though so I wasn¡¯t about to stop him. I could vaguely make out the word ¡®deceivers¡¯ from the yell, but mostly it was just pure volume. ¡°He¡¯s with me.¡± The guard stared at Taasen for a moment too long before following after me as I rushed across the mini battlefield and toward that door. Those mages I¡¯d kept preoccupied were now busy keeping Taasen from murdering them, which was plenty diverting. ¡°So you¡¯re really the hero then?¡± he asked me once we were through the door. There was a conspicuous lack of defenders, which didn¡¯t bode well for Netun. I nodded, ¡°I died and then came back, it¡¯s not a big deal.¡± It was most certainly a big deal, but I was getting tired of treating it as such. We rushed down a flight of stairs and peered through a cracked doorway, frowning at the various dead defenders that could be found through the entrance. ¡°You have¡­ another friend I assume who did this?¡± the shifter asked, frowning at the bloodless death around him. I nodded, ¡°I¡¯d hold your breath if I were you, it should all be gone by now, but you never know with sandfrost.¡± ¡°And you¡¯re certain that these people are enemies?¡± I nodded, ¡°They kidnapped a friend of mine, we have evidence of this.¡± Pushing open the door I followed my own advice, welllll mostly. I constructed a miniature gate inside each of my nostrils like a cool person, depositing the other half on the surface where fresh air could be easily found. We followed the trail of corpses, which was as gross as it sounds. I¡¯m not completely sure who I¡¯d be more scared to have as an enemy, Taasen or Netun. Taasen at least was straightforward with his attacks, but Netun? I would never see him coming. I took a step and felt my leg give out. It had been a bit of a struggle to get down those stairs, but I¡¯d always considered myself to be a very suffering in silence kind of person. At least¡­ I guess Eliax was, not Fari. But that didn¡¯t matter, there simply hadn¡¯t been a point in complaining about it earlier. I warped space instinctively as I fell, softening my landing as I gasped lightly at the pain from my leg. The guard blinked at me, holding out a hand, but I ignored it, simply standing up again without a word. My mana was definitely getting too low at this point. Alright, so maybe that wound was worse than I¡¯d thought. I kept walking, eventually coming to a new door that had been left ajar. The shifter peered through it, glancing back at me with worry, apparently well aware that I was going to be mostly useless if we got into another fight. I could definitely teleport us out of here, but I wasn¡¯t sure how comfortable it would be with the low levels of mana I had left. We plodded onward. Had¡­ had my clone gone down here with Netun after all? Teleported him out? I wasn¡¯t certain, which was a really, really bad thing. (Fora 11) b2c28 - Clone Rights Chapter 28 Clone rights (1567) --- Fora --- My weight collapsed beneath me again. This place went much deeper than I¡¯d envisioned. We would have known that fact if we hadn¡¯t attacked the base immediately, but the faults of the past couldn¡¯t be helped. I glared at my leg, contemplating the benefits of sawing it off. At least then the throbbing pain would be somewhere else. I¡¯d already attempted healing spells, and they¡¯d helped a bit, but in the end I didn¡¯t have much energy left. My soul was processing it as fast as it could, but I was burning it all just to keep on my feet. It certainly didn¡¯t help that the between in this area was thick as sludge, it was hard to get anything out of it. The shifter cringed, glancing back the way we¡¯d come where one could hear the shouts of the defenders, trying to regroup. I had no idea where Netun was, we¡¯d run out of the convenient trail of bodies, and it wasn¡¯t like that had been all that reliable in the first place. My companion shook his head and finally looked back at me. ¡°Just get us out of here, alright? We aren¡¯t going to find anything.¡± I sighed and sat down, glancing back the way we¡¯d come as well. They were probably closing in. ¡°I¡¯m going to need to make a gate, and honestly I don¡¯t expect to have enough energy to get through it. If that happens, just leave me.¡± He paused, blinking at me. ¡°Why would I do that?¡± I gestured toward my leg, and finally rolled up my leggings to help explain. The flesh was turning dark and brittle, and it had traveled much farther than it should have, nearly covering my whole leg at this point. ¡°I think I was hit by some kind of curse. It didn¡¯t take effect till later.¡± Which was why I hadn¡¯t seen the nasty black rune hovering over my leg until a few minutes ago. ¡°You didn¡¯t answer my question.¡± I sighed, feeling myself bleed into more of an Eliax perspective. ¡°In all likelihood I¡¯m going to somehow die from this, and with my luck and the fact that I¡¯ve never seen a rune that¡­ moldy before, it would be a miracle if I live another hour. In that light, it¡¯s a waste of time to get me out of here.¡± I scowled, annoyed at the prospect of dying¡­ again. But well that would be much easier than trying to figure out how to walk properly all the way back while people were trying to kill and capture me. Honestly it would be more frustrating to be eight again and to lose a whole decade just for rebirth to take effect than the dying itself. Though¡­ perhaps I could finally get a chance to figure out how to mess with whatever function of the affinity had decided I had to be eight. At that thought, I felt my heart pick up pace as the Eliax in me faded away. This was¡­ Sparks I didn¡¯t want to die, why was I trying to convince myself that it was a good idea?! I glanced down at my leg, glaring at the black rune, I closed my eyes, ¡°I don¡¯t want to die though, so let¡¯s try and get out of here in one piece, alright?¡± The shifter seemed to like this plan better. He nodded, drawing his sword and looking down the hall again. ¡°Get that gate started then, how long will it take?¡± ¡°Five minutes!¡± I responded, pulling a nub of chalk from my dimensional storage and drawing up a magic circle as fast as I could, sketching a simple version of the double triangle in the center. Time and space. This particular version of the portal spell was meant to last as little time as possible, just to make sure nothing could follow us through. By the time I was nearly done with the circle, there was¡­ blood being spilt all over it. I studiously didn¡¯t glance upward, knowing far too well that I would either vomit¡ªfurther hampering the circle¡ªor that I might even try to stop the fighting. A body fell beside me, and it took an iron will not to look at its eyes. It was different somehow whenever I wasn¡¯t there during the actual death. Taasen¡¯s brutality from before had affected me, but not nearly this strongly. Perhaps because I¡¯d known there was no way to stop it, I¡¯d been less conflicted. If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. I closed my eyes and drew the last stroke, ¡°Done!¡± I shouted, finally looking up and regretting it. The shifter was covered in blood, but none of it was his own. I immediately glanced down again, finishing the spell as I took a step away from him by instinct. The portal opened, I felt my energy drain and trickle to a stop, barely enough to rip the tear in space. My leg gave out again. The Shifter hurried through, glancing back at me as he did. The portal closed. It was such a simple chain of events, and yet I found myself staring at the empty space with wide eyes, wondering what exactly the gods had against me. I really should have switched roles with my clone it seemed, and I found myself mourning that fact more than anything else that had happened today. Well, that and my weak stomach. Why had I taken a step back? If I hadn¡¯t done that I probably would have fallen through the portal instead! One of the surviving attackers stabbed me in the back. The world went dark. --- Fora - Clone --- Fora gasped as a tearing sensation rippled across her soul, falling to her knees as a sensation similar to whenever I recalled a clone enveloped her. The only difference was that this time she was the clone. Fora stared down at her hands, half expecting to see them evaporate as she went to rejoin her true self in the between realm for rebirth. Except¡­ Nothing happened. Fora stared at them for a moment longer, slowly lifting her head to stare at Netun, who was giving her curious looks over the jar he held that contained the entirety of Aymiae¡¯s mass. And the second jar that contained someone else¡¯s mass. Fora wasn¡¯t paying attention to that fact anymore though. The clone felt her throat go dry, which was interesting because it was an entirely mental construct when she was a clone. ¡°I¡­ Netun I died! The real me died! What the sparks?! How am I still here?!¡± He blinked at her, glancing at Taasen, who was inexplicably clean of the earlier blood. The artist raised his hands in a placating gesture, ¡°I didn¡¯t do anything this time!¡± Netun frowned slightly, apparently doubting him, before focusing back on the panicking clone, ¡°You¡¯re sure? Maybe she did something to her soul?¡± Fora shook her head, feeling her hands begin to shake, ¡°No no no! I¡¯m sure, I can¡¯t sense the dismissal switch anymore and I used to be able to, I guess¡­ dimly sense the fact that there was another me somewhere, but she¡¯s gone!¡± Netun frowned, ¡°And we¡¯re absolutely certain that you¡¯re not actually the real Fora? It¡¯s possible you got mixed up.¡± Fora stared at her hands for a moment longer before shaking her head again, ¡°No no, I¡¯d be able to tell, my soul looks a bit different like this, it used to always confuse me when I made clones but¡­ Netun what do I do?! I died!¡± ¡°When will rebirth finish?¡± Fora blinked at him, ¡°How am I supposed to know that?¡± ¡°You can always tell us exactly how long all your other spells will take.¡± Fora put her head in her hands, ¡°I¡¯ve only used it two or maybe three times, the first time that I remember dying it took twelve years, last time it took ten. It could take eight now, or it could randomly decide to take twenty! It¡¯s an instinctual bit of magic, I don¡¯t exactly have control over it.¡± Taasen patted her on the back, ¡°I am certain that you can get control over it, just keep attempting it.¡± Fora glared at him, all prior experience now telling her that that¡¯s exactly how it would be. She wasn¡¯t sure if Taasen was secretly a genius with magic or if the world actually did reshape itself based on his perceptions. ¡°Great. Well I¡¯ll get right on that then, right after I figure out how exactly I died, and find the precise rebirth point, and find my body in the between realm so I can figure out how that works¡­ and¡­¡± The clone that was Fora paused, realizing that if she could observe it as an outsider then she could answer a lot of questions she¡¯d had regarding the process itself. ¡°This might actually be perfect now that I think about it. Spark you Taasen.¡± He smiled, it still felt unpracticed but the clone got the sense that he was getting better at it. ¡°I did nothing.¡± ¡°I still have no idea if you¡¯re somehow lying to yourself about that.¡± ¡°I assure you, Fora, I do not deceive myself.¡± Maybe that was what was doing it¡­ he refused to deceive himself so hard that his deceptions literally became reality¡­ Fora relaxed marginally, deciding that perhaps this wasn¡¯t such a bad outcome after all. It was strange how this had made things feel better. Netun had gone back to frowning at the little jars. He had the lids off and he was fussing over them like a mother hen, which was honestly kind of cute if it wasn¡¯t for his red eyes and the literal mushrooms that were beginning to sprout from the two masses. Fora shook her head slightly, deciding that things would be alright. (Fora 12) b2c29 - Stake Your Claims --- Netun, five months later --- Netun watched as the mushrooms flawlessly formed together, the streams of fungus and various constructions weaving into a likeness of a person. He¡¯d successfully talked to Aymiae before this, but he could safely say that it was only thanks to Taasen¡¯s contributions that she didn¡¯t have any lingering mental problems after the long state of miniscule mass. Taasen was intriguing in his own way, which is to say absolutely invaluable. He knew things about the true word of Justice that Netun could only have guessed at before, and he lived that word to the letter, his only problem being that he might be considered too dedicated. Netun shook his head at the memory of that conversation, gently poking at a bit of mushroom that was forming a misshapen lump on one side since she¡¯d requested he do that. Aymiae obediently killed the offending section and started a new one. Netun glanced up as the door moved open a crack, a face peeking out for a bit before it closed a moment later. Fora was getting impatient, or at least, her clone was. It was feeling less and less like she was a clone the longer she was active, and all of them expected that it would just get more strange the longer it went on. But today was a joyous day, because today Aymi was finally going to be back in something resembling top form. There was a sheet covering most of the forming body, just to keep things from feeling weird, and they¡¯d all donated some blood to her whenever they could. Except for Fora who didn¡¯t have any blood at the moment seeing as she was dead, and any evildoers they¡¯d come across that didn¡¯t deserve to live had been ah¡­ well anyway Aymi was back and that¡¯s what mattered. Netun prodded another slightly misshapen section and Aymi hastily fixed it. She didn¡¯t used to have so many flaws in her growth, she¡¯d been almost like an artist. But now she was back to the fumbling state of a novice because of the horrible treatment of the Mis-born Dragon. He glanced at the door again as Taasen peeked in, he examined the growth for a moment before nodding curtly in that way of his, and whispering for some reason. ¡°Your mushrooms are the most¡­ speed bound fungal structures that I have ever had the pleasure to see, very strong too.¡± The growth sped up noticeably. They¡¯d noticed early on that Aymi was more perceptive to Taasen¡¯s¡­ Taasen-ness than almost anyone else he tried it on, Netun wasn¡¯t certain if that was because her mind was still healing and the Divarian had been slowly helping her out through the beginning of it, or if Aymi was just more perceptive to others. Netun had long since given up on understanding how Taasen¡¯s ability worked though. He knew that all Divarians had it, but he honestly doubted that anyone had refined it to the sheer level that Taasen had. Taasen had actually laughed at Netun when he¡¯d asked if it was possible he¡¯d just been born with a greater ability. Apparently in Divaria they all started with the exact same seed, it was the cultivation of it that brought this forth. That had been the first and only time that Netun had heard Taasen laugh. Regardless, Netun had asked Taasen to keep his input to a minimum, he didn¡¯t want to accidentally harm the still relatively young growth. He prodded another lumpy piece and heard the door close again, Taasen leaving. Netun sighed as the door opened again, the newest addition to their group peeking in, Irean had just sort of¡­ appeared a month ago, demanding that they let her help them. She¡¯d heard from someone that Aymi was alive, and hadn¡¯t even hesitated two days before spending the last four months trying to get Steris to tell her where they were. Apparently she¡¯d been offered an apprenticeship quite a while ago, but Aymi¡¯s disappearance had put a block in that. Irean though, she hadn¡¯t given up just because of that, she¡¯d spent the last fourteen years diligently studying magic and whatever professions she could get her hands on. She¡¯d even gotten married to a nice scribe, but she¡¯d simply¡­ taken him with her. Netun glanced at the tuvei peeking in before shaking his head at everyone¡¯s antics and prodding another section that didn¡¯t quite look right. Aymi was on the hands now, and Netun remembered fondly how Aymi had kept trying to remove that stubborn fifth finger. He contemplated asking if she remembered that, but he didn¡¯t want to distract her in the middle of her first body in over a decade. Aymi, however, didn¡¯t share his opinion. She sent amusement through her spores, ~I kind of want to try doing only four again¡­~ Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon. He felt the corner of his mouth twitch upward, ~Come on, Aymi, do you want to be stuck with useless hands?~ ~It was just a thought!~ Netun sent amusement and then a light rebuke to remind her to keep going before he closed the link. --- Aymiae --- It felt strange to have a body again. It felt strange to be able to hear again, to see. Aymi blinked at the light in the ceiling, she probably hadn¡¯t given her eyes enough light processing power, but they were working and that¡¯s what mattered at the moment. She could fix things later or make a new body once she gathered more mass. Her gaze moved around the room to the various faces there, some she recognized and some she didn¡¯t, but Aymi felt her gaze linger on one person as she sat up. Fari. She looked about sixteen or so, it was strange to think of her having been a child again while Aymi was gone. Aymi opened her mouth, ¡°I¡¯m sorry that I-¡± Fari hugged her, squeezing tightly, ¡°Nope nope, it was entirely my fault, you don¡¯t get to take all the blame.¡± Suddenly everyone was hugging her. Netun, Irean, Fari. It was tight and warm, but it was a good hug. Aymi found herself smiling. ¡°Th-thanks!¡± She managed to get out, a bit breathless. They finally let her go, most of them smiling. It was nice to be surrounded by friends. ¡°It is a pleasure to meet you.¡± A human man she didn¡¯t recognise said, inclining his head. His skin was tinted blue and she could see faint snowflake like patterns across it, almost like he had frostbite. ¡°I am Taasen.¡± Oh, Taasen! Netun had told her about him. There was only so much that he could relay though, for one she¡¯d expected him to be taller¡­ ¡°Thanks for telling us about Kalteii, it should make interpreting my oath much easier.¡± Netun nodded ruefully. ¡°We were kind of stumbling in the dark before that.¡± Taasen tilted his head slightly, ¡°Something is-¡± A new voice appeared before he could finish. It was powerful, though it was near the middle range with a feminine inflection. Aymi jerked her head toward the sound, the rest of them doing the same as the words sank into their very beings. ¡°I admire your dedication.¡± Fari stared at the newcomer with her mouth agape for several seconds, looking like she was a bit weak in the knees, ¡°That rune¡­¡± The woman standing in front of them was a pure silver that shined brighter than the stars and the moon. Aymi got the feeling that it was only weaker than the sun because this creature had commanded it to be. Her skin was a pale white like snow, her hair a shade of silver with slight hints of blue. Her eyes were like deep storms that examined all of their souls and found them lacking. When she smiled her smile wasn¡¯t warm, and yet it wasn¡¯t cruel, it simply was. She also was clearly a creature so powerful that Aymi was surprised they didn¡¯t all simply die upon contact. ¡°I am Kalteii,¡± She said, ¡°and I have been watching your group for quite some time.¡± Netun knelt down immediately, followed closely by a stumbling Aymiae and a graceful Irean. Taasen didn¡¯t move, he simply nodded as if this was to be expected. Fari fell over, Aymi suspected that she¡¯d fainted. Kalteii strode around the room, examining them, ¡°I¡¯ll admit that none of you are perfect, however any deity who seeks for followers who have no more progress to make is simply an idiot. You have all been dedicating your lives quite nicely to JUSTICE. As such I am accepting you fully. You may call on my authority.¡± She stopped at the other end of the room and each of them got back to their feet, feeling helpless before a force such as this. ¡°Aymiae, I sense that you have a pressing question.¡± Aymi fumbled for a moment with her words, her eyes still blinking wildly at the sheer amount of light. ¡°Did you save me?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t often intervene with affairs, but I have brought each of you to this point, knowing that you have what it takes. You are all capable of taking pain, you are all capable of seeing balance, you are all capable of giving pain to those who deserve it. So yes Aymiae, I did save you, and I will continue to give you what you require in order to become what the world needs.¡± Her gaze was sharp, but it softened the slightest bit as it met Aymi¡¯s almost terrified gaze before she glanced down at Fari¡¯s unconscious form, where it sharpened once again. ¡°Foralen, however, has been claimed by another. I would like to have said that I considered claiming her first, but she would not have had what I needed.¡± Aymi blinked, ¡°Another? Who?¡± ¡°Decay attempted something, but I believe Balance or possibly Mercy has the claim, I could see Cycle or Change doing so, possibly even Debts¡­ Regardless I am not fully aware of who, only that she has been claimed.¡± There was silence for a long moment. Kaleii shook her head slightly at Fari and glanced at each of them in turn. ¡°Prepare yourselves, soon there will be JUSTICE.¡± And then she was gone. A piece of paper floated down from the air where she¡¯d been. Taasen picked it up, blinking at the words. ¡°¡®Gium is mine to deal with, please focus your efforts elsewhere.¡¯¡± Taasen sighed, ¡°I suppose Kalteii herself is certainly more suited to the task than I would be.¡± Aymi blinked at him, ¡°Wait you were planning on killing the god of order?!¡± ¡°He is a deceiver.¡± ¡°I agree but still.¡± (Fora 13) b2c30 - From Then to Now --- Hivren, the year 791, wintertime --- The building shook slightly, which was getting a tad bit old at this point. Hivren sent his sister an apologetic look. ¡°That¡¯s the twins.¡± Felosin smiled slightly, ¡°They haven¡¯t collapsed the building yet, which is better than when I was their age.¡± ¡°I could have them move to the training grounds at the old palace, they¡¯re just going to keep going at it.¡± She shook her head, ¡°leave them be, it¡¯s not like I¡¯m going to get offended and march down there to kick their rear ends into shape.¡± Hivren squinted at her, unsure if she was joking. She wasn¡¯t often the joking type, and Hivren could easily see Felosin chasing the two pre-teens around a training yard, insisting that they be prepared mentally and physically for their years of adventuring that were on the horizon. She was an¡­ interesting aunt, that¡¯s for certain. Hivren was just glad that she wasn¡¯t his aunt. ¡°Well, thank you for not beating up my children for no reason.¡± ¡°You¡¯re welcome!¡± Hivren sighed, ¡°So, back to business. You¡¯re sure that the Senset plan is viable? Whenever I talk to Onix she makes it seem like she¡¯s trying to pit me against the whole city.¡± Felosin frowned, leaning back in her chair, ¡°I¡¯m not certain, but when I talked to Steris she seemed sure that most of the nobility is corrupt at the moment. If Onix is trying to get allies against them, then doesn¡¯t that mean the Senset are on our side in all this?¡± ¡°It feels almost like social suicide¡­¡± ¡°The Senset seem to acctually want to make a cohesive magical society, with strict rules and guidelines for educating and regulating magic. Isn¡¯t that a good thing? They already have Queen Steris on their side, and practically the entirety of Sanaria besides the royal family and us. Whether we like it or not, their idea is going to get implemented back home the moment the royals crack.¡± Hivren sighed, finally understanding, ¡°And if we help them get footing for it here, they¡¯ll be in our debt. And since they¡¯re rising in power in Sanaria that debt would be worth more.¡± Felosin nodded, ¡°With the popularity of the mentoring program the Ayfel has been refining, and how Starsbane has been falling out of favor¡­¡± ¡°It makes me the biggest authority when it comes to magical education in most of Melor.¡± Hivren finished. ¡°Exactly.¡± He massaged his temples, ¡°I see now why they were trying so hard to keep me from rebuilding the Ayfel. They probably saw this coming from a mile away while I¡¯m still trying to figure out how to keep a bunch of children from blowing up the building.¡± The room shook again as if to accentuate his pains. Felosin smirked, ¡°You took that upon yourself.¡± ¡°I know¡­¡± Her gaze softened, ¡°I know we haven¡¯t really talked about¡­ well Kureia, how are you doing there?¡± Hivren felt his mind grow distant. Kureia, there was still pain there. It was less now after nearly three and a half years, but there was still pain. ¡°I¡¯m¡­ well I¡¯m certainly still going.¡± He sighed, ¡°It feels normal at this point to have her gone, but the twins are still taking it better than I am. I miss her, you know? But it¡¯s mostly the little things.¡± Felosin nodded in understanding, she seemed a bit relieved that he wasn¡¯t about to start crying, the closest person she¡¯d ever lost had been Harrel. That; well that had hurt both of them. ¡°I heard that the two of you used to chat for hours about all kinds of philosophical topics.¡± Hivren blinked at her, ¡°who told you that?¡± ¡°Fora.¡± Hivren snorted lightly, ¡°That girl¡­¡± Felosin nodded, ¡°That girl indeed. Has she contacted you yet?¡± ¡°No,¡± Hivren said with a sigh, ¡°I had to hear about what she was doing from Aymi.¡± Felosin nodded, ¡°I¡¯ve seen her a few times in the capital. You could probably corner her if you wanted to. She¡¯s guarding something so it isn¡¯t like she can just leave.¡± He thought about that for a moment, it might be a good idea, but in his experience, Fora was the worst possible person to try and corner. She¡¯d be more likely to gate you across the city or replace herself with a clone while she snuck out the back door¡­ or any number of other things. ¡°I¡¯ll wait for her to come to me. I¡¯m sure it¡¯ll happen eventually.¡± ¡°By that point I suspect you¡¯ll be old and gray.¡± ¡°Whatever it takes.¡± Felosin shook her head with a slight smile. --- Fora, the years 789-792 --- Dying is not my favorite pastime, and the golden dragon in front of me didn¡¯t seem to like it any more than I did. I drifted in the nothingness, reminded of the various things I¡¯d left behind not so long ago. ¡°Gium, right?¡± I asked the serpentine dragon, figuring it would probably answer that at least. Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings. It sighed, ¡°Yes¡­ Can you stop talking now? I¡¯m in the middle of something.¡± I would have frowned at him if I¡¯d had a face at the moment, ¡°What, are you messing with my affinity again? Didn¡¯t you say last time that you can¡¯t do that again?¡± ¡°That is what I said, yes. I¡¯m attempting to appeal to higher authority.¡± ¡°What?¡± He remained silent, still drifting there. I wasn¡¯t completely certain why he was even letting me see him at the moment, though honestly I doubted I would ever be able to understand a god. ¡°Is there like, some kind of bigger god that you have to get permission from in order to smite me?¡± He glared at me. ¡°Is that a yes?¡± ¡°Stop tormenting me with your existence.¡± ¡°Now that¡¯s not fair, I¡¯m sure I¡¯ll keep existing no matter what either of us does about it.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t remind me.¡± ¡°You reminded yourself.¡± There was silence for a long moment. I examined my body again, it looked around fourteen maybe at the moment. Sparks why did this always take so long¡­ ¡°Hey, so why can¡¯t dimensionalists do time magic?¡± He glared at me again, ¡°That is the ORDER of things.¡± I stared at him for a long moment at that word, it had felt¡­ powerful, as if the entirety of his being was encased in that one sound. My mind barely seemed capable of reconciling that technically it was the same word as ¡®order.¡¯ ¡°Ah¡­ do other places follow that?¡± ¡°Of course not, they¡¯re chaotic, unruly. The only world I have any presence on besides this one is barely any better.¡± ¡°Why are you telling me this?¡± ¡°I really want you to just leave forever.¡± ¡°That¡¯s making me want to do so even less.¡± I glanced at my body again, it was maybe thirteen at this point. Ughhh, so sparking slow. ¡°Hey, how about if you make it so I can do time magic, I¡¯ll leave.¡± ¡°That¡¯s impossible.¡± ¡°I¡¯m sure you could do it.¡± ¡°I am the god of ORDER, I cannot do something that I know would cause chaos.¡± Then what the sparks was that whole thing with destroying society every few thousand years?! I glanced at my body again, it was perhaps twelve, and¡­ ¡°Wait, where did she come from?!¡± There was a second me standing beside my body, frowning at it. And she was clearly not dead. --- Eliax - Clone, the year 792, springtime --- Claiming The rebirth point had been inordinately difficult, but Eliax wasn¡¯t about to let it out of her sight now that she had it. After three years of fighting over the legal and social problems with the building and basically bribing Steris, Eliax finally had unlimited access to the spot where her real self had died. I think they just got tired of her lurking around the building and sneaking in with teleports, but all that mattered was that Eliax could finally study it to her heart''s content. Which is to say, entering the between realm and looking for her real body. Eliax walked through the silvery tunnels, examining every nook and cranny. It wasn¡¯t in the space that represented me, for¡­ some reason, but she¡¯d checked there quite a while ago just to be sure. The longer the clone looked, the more she was certain that she had to find the space that represented that exact spot of death. The only problem was that Eliax wasn¡¯t exactly sure where I¡¯d died, so she ended up combing through the tunnels, searching for any sign of my demise. The clone wasn¡¯t even sure if she would be able to see my body, and the crystalline tunnels weren¡¯t exactly comprehensive. As such, it took her two whole months of searching before she peeked into one particular tunnel and stopped in her tracks. The body looked about twelve or thirteen as far as Eliax could tell, but it was fully healed. And it had only been three years. That threw out her idea that most of the rebirth time was spent on the healing, which meant it was literally just wasting time and energy trying to turn me exactly back to eight years old. Most of that¡­ ugh¡­ most of that was probably spent undoing puberty to be honest, which was extra wasteful since I always hit that particular milestone around elven. My clone that was Eliax frowned at the body, tapping her chin with a thoughtful expression. Alright then, what could she try in order to reset the rebirth age to where the body was at now? --- Fora --- I pulled in a breath sharply, feeling almost euphoric at the sensation. Sparks, that was wonderful. I took in another breath, relishing the feeling. That¡¯s when I felt a deep horrible pain in my chest. My eyes flew open, meeting the gaze of an unfamiliar man, his gaze cruel and relentless, the rune of his soul based around fire and art, his skin the frostbite blue of Divaria. There was no justice. I died. Again. I stared in bafflement at the golden dragon as he formed in the center of my view, he seemed to be preening. The dragon stared into my eyes and then laughed, ¡°Hah! HAH! Yes! It worked!¡± I felt my anger rise up out of almost nowhere, ¡°What the sparks did you do?!¡± ¡°I sent an assassin, little hero. Ever heard of them? I asked as many gods as I could and they all agreed that killing an enemy who will continue to come back forever is most certainly within our rules. It¡¯s not actually killing, you see¡­ If you¡¯ll recover eventually.¡± ¡°You can¡¯t keep killing me whenever I come back that¡¯s¡­¡± ¡°Not fair? Since when is ORDER fair? You aren¡¯t speaking to Kalteii, what¡¯s fair and just and part of the true consequences is most certainly not a part of my decision making process.¡± I stared at him, speechless. ¡°So then¡­¡± ¡°You¡¯ll continue to die, every time that you come back. I will simply kill you again.¡± And so he did. Over. And over. And over. (Fora 13) b2c31 - Intervention --- Fora --- I was barely coherent this time when I came back, I¡¯d lost count of how many times it had been, how many rebirths, how many deaths. I wasn¡¯t sure if the space between them was getting shorter or if my mind was giving out. But when I didn¡¯t die immediately, I peeked an eye open, gaping at the scene in front of me. The golden serpentine dragon stood proudly in one corner, glaring at a silvery woman with hard, stormy eyes. Between them and standing in front and above me was a third figure that glowed brightly to my eyes with a similar silvery color to the woman, but with more blue to it. He took the shape of something I¡¯d never seen before. It was almost human, and yet it had feathers instead of hair. It was almost a bird in that sense except it had more scales than feathers. It was elegant, graceful, and almost beautiful. A tail hung behind him, swishing lightly in the air, hardly even disturbing it. I stared up at him, my mortal eyes burning noticeably at the light of three gods. ¡°Gium you are overstepping.¡± The silvery-blue humanoid spoke, his hands clasped behind him like a general at war. The golden dragon snarled, ¡°Since when do you have dominion here, you copy? Can you never leave me to my own devices for even a century at a time?!¡± The humanoid tilted his head, ¡°There is BALANCE in all things, just as there is¡­ order. You are putting your order above all else and infringing upon the balance of this world and those connected to it.¡± The woman nodded, taking a step closer to the humanoid. ¡°Unless you wish to make an enemy of us, it is time that you release her. She has paid the price for her arrogance and mistakes, JUSTICE is met.¡± Gium glared at both of them again, his eyes nearly slits, ¡°This is my domain! You cannot simply¡ª¡± ¡°False.¡± The humanoid spoke, unclasping his hands from behind and reclasping them in front of him. ¡°You are upsetting my world with your fervor, causing my Rendai and Atharian to start arguing again, and you know how they get when they argue. It¡¯s upsetting the entire delicacy and I would much prefer to not have millions of mortals die because you are incapable of some simple self control.¡± Gium looked like he was about to start attacking something. ¡°You can¡¯t do this to me, I¡¯m a forth!¡± The strange humanoid of silvery-blue light narrowed his eyes, ¡°So am I.¡± The woman folded her arms. ¡°And I am a third.¡± It was clear who was in charge here. The humanoid nodded to the woman, taking a step to the side and holding out a hand toward me. Hesitantly, I took it and he pulled me to my feet as I watched him with wide eyes. ¡°Who are you?¡± He smiled warmly, ¡°Astral, the god of Spatial Balance.¡± He gestured toward the woman, ¡°I would listen to my mother if I were you. Kalteii appreciates that kind of thing.¡± I nodded slowly and moved my gaze back to the goddess of Ice and Justice as she stared unamused down at Gium. ¡°I propose a compromise.¡± She said, placing her hands on her hips. ¡°Foralen will leave your world until your next¡­ ¡®reset¡¯ is completed. And in return, you will leave the people she cares for alone.¡± ¡°That¡¯s preposterous!¡± ¡°And yet it is the only thing she will accept, is that correct, Foralen?¡± I blinked at her, my mind still racing. If I could never come back until he destroyed everything¡­ then¡­ they¡¯d all be dead by the time I returned anyway. All of them except maybe Netun and Aymi, but how could I be sure? I closed my eyes and nodded. If I knew they would live the rest of their lives without this monster interfering, that would have to be enough. ¡°I would¡­ I would accept a deal like that.¡± Kalteii nodded, focusing back on Gium, ¡°and you? Would you accept?¡± He glanced at me and then seemed to relax slightly, ¡°I¡­ suppose¡­ but why can¡¯t she leave forever though?! is that part negotiable?¡± Astral frowned slightly, ¡°No, it is BALANCED. Foralen will grow stronger in that time, it will give her enough strength to learn, to grow. You will do as you wish, without her emotional ties to you people prompting her to do something about your terrors.¡± This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version. He turned toward the higher authority, glaring, ¡°It is negotiable?¡± ¡°No.¡± Kalteii responded. I sighed, the strain of all this getting to me, ¡°Can we just get this over with already?¡± Astral nodded, and then slowly Gium followed suit. Kalteii¡¯s aura pulsed slightly, ¡°Gium, please return the clone.¡± I blinked, ¡°My clone?¡± The woman nodded, ¡°She remained active when you died and has been attempting to guard your rebirth point for the last six years. It has been admirable to watch.¡± Six. Years. That had been only six years?! I blinked at Kalteii and glanced at Gium, ¡°Where is she then?¡± He sighed and waved a hand, a figure materializing as if from a teleport. She still looked sixteen, so that answered whether or not clones aged¡­ on that note, I felt a bit too tall for eight¡­ When she saw me she gasped and ran over, grinning wildly, ¡°It worked!¡± I blinked at her, ¡°what worked?¡± ¡°I managed to reset the rebirth age, as far as I can tell it significantly decreased the time between¡­ ah¡­ here I can tell you about it later.¡± She nodded. ¡°Alright.¡± Kalteii said, ¡°We¡¯ve come to an agreement, correct? Fora leaves Virna, she doesn¡¯t come back until Gium¡¯s next reset. In return Gium will stop trying to order his people to kill Fora¡¯s friends and family.¡± Gium thought for a moment before he nodded. I nodded as well. My clone nodded too for some reason. ¡°Oh! Kalteii, please tell Netun and Aymi and everyone what happened, I don¡¯t want them to do something stupid!¡± Hah, yeah, that sounded like them. Kalteii smiled, ¡°Of course,¡± and she disappeared. Gium followed her a moment later. Leaving me alone with Astral and a product of my Geneseri. - ¡°I find your dedication to achieving balance within yourself to be intriguing.¡± Astral finally spoke. ¡°It attracted my gaze at first, though your tendency to disrupt the laws of space time certainly made me warrier of you.¡± I nodded slowly, glancing awkwardly at my clone, what was this even about? ¡°Your clone has achieved a life separate from yours,¡± Astral continued, ¡°Normally this is impossible, but I hear Taasen was involved somehow.¡± My clone sighed, ¡°and he said he didn¡¯t do anything¡­¡± ¡°He likely didn¡¯t realize the impact it had, he simply viewed you as a person, separate from Fora, and so that is what you became.¡± I frowned, ¡°Taasen has such a strangely powerful ability, why isn¡¯t that regulated? Why isn¡¯t Gium freaking out about that instead of my Rebirth?¡± ¡°He doesn¡¯t like Taasen, that¡¯s for sure, but in the end Taasen is still mortal, he might be immune to most of what Gium can do to him, but in the end Gium knows that time will take him. Time won¡¯t take you though, and as far as any of us can see, there is little else that could stop you permanently.¡± I sighed, ¡°I didn¡¯t ask to be born with this, why did Gium even let it happen if he¡¯s so scared of Rebirth? What about the dragons who have it?¡± Astral nodded, ¡°An apt question, but one that you need to answer for yourself. I cannot tell you everything, such is a BALANCE.¡± My clone raised her hand for some reason, ¡°Can we get back to settling my existence? I tried already and I can¡¯t dismiss myself anymore.¡± ¡°I can fix that in a moment, Eliax. You will return to Fora, and then come back once she makes a new clone. You aren¡¯t entirely separate beings, but there is a divide between you now.¡± The clone paused, ¡°Eliax?¡± Astral glanced between the two of us, ¡°That is who you¡¯ve become. The part of her that was once that girl. Fora has been drifting between the two, and yet you both have very different methods and ideals. You are real. Ever since Gium first cracked your soul.¡± I stared at Astral, eyes wide. ¡°So¡­ we¡¯ll stop drifting between each other now?¡± Eliax¡¯s eyes were hopeful, ¡°I¡¯d sure love to be able to acctually get things done without¡­ ah¡­¡± I smiled, ¡°without this idiot constantly getting in your way?¡± ¡°Yeahh¡­¡± she smiled though, which wasn¡¯t something Eliax did often. Apparently she was happy with this. Perhaps that was most of the difference between us. I knew that I would never have been happy with an existence that could just stop like that at the whims of someone else and then come back also at the whims of¡­ ah¡­ okay maybe we weren¡¯t so different after all, that was essentially just a weird version of Rebirth. I frowned, ¡°I suppose this isn¡¯t really that different from what we had before.¡± Eliax nodded. ¡°I agree. We are still connected though? When I dismiss myself we¡¯ll¡­ recombine? How does this work?¡± ¡°That¡¯s something I¡¯m going to let you figure out yourself. I did balance out your spell somewhat,¡± he handed me a piece of paper, ¡°Please cast it this way from now on, the odd way you were doing Geneseri was very annoying to watch.¡± I took it, glancing over it for a cursory moment before handing it to Eliax. ¡°Thank you, is there¡­ anything else?¡± I hesitated, ¡°Am I supposed to act differently now that we¡¯re bound to you, Astral?¡± He shook his head, ¡°simply keep in mind that if you break things, I will force you to fix them.¡± Astral nodded to himself, apparently satisfied. ¡°Alright then, I¡¯m taking you to Arithren, there¡¯s plenty to explore there and it will be easier for all of us to keep an eye on you.¡± He made a face before shaking his head, and I imagined he was cursing himself, though he could have just remembered something unpleasant. He pointed at Eliax and her body melted away, reverting her to her dismissed state, ¡°Alright, let¡¯s go.¡± I took his hand, and we were gone. Epilogue - The Greater Skies --- Fora --- A vast desert surrounded me, broken only by rocky outcroppings and even more rocky mountains. There were forests in the distance, but they too seemed inordinately dry, a nearby river was¡ªalso¡ªdry. I gazed at the unfamiliar landscape, tilting my head at the red rocks and red sand, even the sky was tinted slightly red, like an almost pink bubble, devoid of the blue color that I¡¯d come to know. I blinked at it slowly, remembering the stories about Arithren. As I gazed into the sky, I finally understood why they always said you could nearly walk to Arendi. Hanging in the sky, like an enormous moon that took up over half of the available space, there was a green planet, lush with water and fluffy clouds, similar in some ways to Virna if it weren¡¯t for the enormous mountains and large craters that marred its surface. I stared at it for a long long time, my mouth working slowly into an O shape. Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon. After a long moment I leapt into the sky, cheering. I re-cast Geneseri, which was much easier with that time affinity. In fact, I wasn¡¯t sure how I''d never seen it before but if I did this a bit differently and added this little addition¡­ A perfect clone stood in front of me a moment later. After a second she opened her own eyes, blinking at me. ¡°Wow.¡± She said, ¡°Now that is trippy.¡± She was very right. I don¡¯t recommend seeing through two pairs of eyes at once, it¡¯s very strange. She turned to look up at the planet in the sky before tracking her gaze back down to the land around us. After a moment we both grinned at each other. ¡°This.¡± I said, ¡°This is going to be awesome.¡± ¡°It would be more awesome if that dragon is here somewhere, but I completely agree.¡± We saluted each other and marched off in separate directions, intent on finding some locals. The end of Book 2 Interlude 3 - Child

--- Aymiae, year 795 --- Aymiae shook her head at Netun when she returned. ¡°She¡¯s gone now.¡± He looked sorrowful, but she didn¡¯t think he¡¯d expected anything different. Aymi had hoped¡ªwell she¡¯d hoped Fora was alright, or at least her clone. But in the end neither of them were here any longer. Netun sighed, ¡°We¡¯ll have to just continue operating without her. I don¡¯t want to be the one to tell Hivren though¡­¡± Aymi cringed at that, glancing at Alrasi. Hivren had started helping him out in the last few years, somehow the human seemed to understand mental problems rather well. He was an absolutely genius teacher too. Hivren could spot where practically any child was going wrong, and he knew exactly what to do to get each of them to learn. It was no wonder that he was finally starting up a proper school with skills like that. He¡¯d asked Aymi a few times about Fora, and it was clear that the sparking girl had never decided to sit down and have a chat with him, or even say thank you. Aymi had made sure to say thank you twice as much just in case, but she could tell that Hivren really just wanted it from Fora. And now Fora was gone, and Kalteii refused to tell Aymi which realm or world or whatever she¡¯d ended up in. ¡°At least she¡¯s not stuck dying over and over again anymore, that would be worse. Did Kalteii tell you if she¡¯ll be able to ever come back?¡± Aymi shook her head miserably. ¡°She just said she was handling it, but the answer was just maybe.¡± She sighed, feeling an itch in the back of her mind. That itch was still a bit odd¡ªshe doubted it would ever be normal¡ªbut it wasn¡¯t unpleasant. If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. Netun nodded and glanced back at Alrasi, who was sitting quietly on the floor, barely even moving as he watched an insect crawl up the wall. Alrasi was smart¡­ about some things. He could understand people and their emotions, but simple things about the world like this could keep him occupied for days if someone didn¡¯t do something. He had other problems too. Well, they called them problems but they were more like¡­ he was stuck in a childlike state. Aymi didn¡¯t think anyone could force him to grow up. Even his template refused to grow into anything other than a five year old boy¡ªthough at least that was older than he¡¯d been when he¡¯d died. ¡°Rasi,¡± Aymi called, tapping him lightly on the back. ¡°Rasi we have to go.¡± He blinked at the insect before glancing up at her and tilting his head, he stared at her for a moment before recognising her and smiled, ¡°Okay! Where are we going today?¡± Aymi focused back on the slight itch in her mind, getting a familiar feeling from it, ¡°Nakonua, but you¡¯re going to stay with Hivren and the twins at the Ayfel while we do this one, alright? Kalteii says it¡¯s for the best.¡± Alrasi tilted his head, ¡°Hivren¡­ the¡­ Oh! I like Hivren, he¡¯s fun!¡± Alrasi grinned at her, a big happy smile. He didn¡¯t seem to think that anything about what he¡¯d said might have been strange. That was the most painful part, Aymi thought. The constant forgetting. They¡¯d likely get to the new Ayfel and Rasi would forget who Hivren, Tibetch, and Orfen were again, he¡¯d find the same toys and puzzles and act like it was his first encounter with them. He¡¯d forget all sorts of things like that. Aymi could feel something similar sometimes, just a sense that there was a big gap in her memories, and sometimes she couldn¡¯t remember who she¡¯d talked to a few days ago, but never as bad as Alrasi. Netun said it was a side effect from being so small for so long¡ªof which Alrasi had been for much longer. Aymi was just glad it wasn¡¯t worse, though she suspected that Kalteii had done something to help heal the two of them. Aymi smiled, though it was slightly pained, ¡°Yeah! Hivren is pretty cool. Next time though, I bet you¡¯ll get to come with us.¡± Rasi looked thrilled at the idea, ¡°You guys go and punch bad guys!¡± Netun laughed from where he was fiddling with the transportation crystal. ¡°Yes, exactly.¡± Aymi said, smiling. The child grinned up at her. He wasn¡¯t innocent per se. Alrasi just¡­ didn¡¯t know the difference between good and evil. He knew there were bad people out there, but he didn¡¯t know that he would ever meet them interlude 4 - the bane of Starsbane

--- Tibetch, year 793 --- ¡°Daaaaaaaaaaaaaddddddddddddddd!!!!! Orfen is breathing my aaaaiiiiirrrrrrr!!!¡± ¡°Daaaaaaaddddddddd!!! Tibetch is also breathing my aaaiiiiiirrrrr!!!¡± Tibetch grinned at her brother, the joke between them just as hilarious as it had been the first time. Their father¡ªHivren¡ªwho was sitting beside Orfen, turned to look at the two of them, who were elbowing each other in an increasingly rowdy manner. His dad instincts picking up on their annoyed tones. He glanced at them for a moment, finally absorbed what they¡¯d said, and then turned away again. ¡°That¡¯s very nice, let me know who stops doing it first, I might let them leave a whole five minutes early.¡± Tibetch paused mid elbow swing, a whole five minutes. If she could leave a whole five minutes early, she would be home before Orfen, and she might just get to pick her evening work first. Sparks that wasn¡¯t even a question. However, Orfen had also stopped and was scooting away from her, ¡°I-¡± ¡°IT WAS ME!!¡± Tibetch screamed, ¡°I STOPPED FIRST!¡± Their father glanced back at the two of them, raising an eyebrow, ¡°Really? Did you?¡± Tibetch nodded vigorously, ¡°I¡¯m not breathing his air anymore!¡± Hivren sighed, turning back to his book, ¡°Since when is air even owned by anyone¡­¡± Orfen stuck his tongue out at her and settled down. Sparking pest¡­ She¡¯d have to fill his bed with worms again for that. Really, since when was there a shifter who was scared of worms? That was like someone from the mistlands being afraid of heights. Tibetch shook her head, focusing on the door again. Hivren basically had said that she could leave early. When was this supposed to be over again? She glanced at the sun and then out at the gathered crowd again. She knew that her dad was going to make some kind of speech, but it couldn¡¯t take that long, could it? The three of them were practically alone on the stage, well, besides the three mushroom people sitting on the same bench as Tibetch and Orfen, and a few of her father¡¯s students sitting on the other bench in front of them. She sighed and glanced at Rasi on her other side, who was watching the crowd with wide eyes, unbothered by the twins¡¯ antics. ¡°Wow! So many people!¡± He said quietly. He¡¯d forgotten about Tibetch again, even though she was right next to him, but that was alright, he was just a little bit different. It was like how Orfen had started getting sad for no reason lately, people were just¡­ a bit different. You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author. Tibetch would never admit it out loud, but she sometimes wished that she was a bit different too. To have some kind of actual reason that she always felt so out of place. If she had something different, well she¡¯d be proud of it. Time continued to pass. Tibetch sighed, standing up and leaning past Orfen. ¡°Dad, when can I leave?¡± He glanced up from his book again, smiling, ¡°Tibb, try to be patient. I¡¯ll let you know when we¡¯re done.¡± She sighed and sat back down, putting her chin on her hands in as bored a way as she could manage. It wasn¡¯t nearly as helpful as she¡¯d expected it would be. Tibetch closed her eyes with a sigh, finally looking up several minutes later as a hush fell over the crowd. She sat up, looking out at the stage with wide eyes as the queen herself strode onto it. Queen Steris was beautiful, just as beautiful as Tibetch remembered when she¡¯d first met her a few days ago. She was beautiful and powerful, and just like Tibetch, she was a time mage. One of the only ones who was good enough at it to possibly make her own spellbook for the next generation. Tibetch wasn¡¯t entirely sure what most of that really meant in a practical sense, but she¡¯d heard her father speak about it excitedly all the time. The queen stood before the crowd and held up her hands, the hush grew into the magical kind. It wasn¡¯t terribly uncommon for powerful mages to learn things outside their affinity¡ªthe most famous of those lately being Fora¡ªbut it was still notable as the queen silenced the area and projected her voice on the crowd. ¡°People of Reiaran! Welcome to the grand closing of Starsbane, school of magical arts and practices. As most of you know, it isn¡¯t simply a closing.¡± She glanced back at Hivren, nodding for him to stand up and approach, he did so, approaching with confidence. Tibetch could tell though that he wasn¡¯t as sure of himself on the inside. The queen continued though, ¡°The Ayfel has persisted. I¡¯ll admit that I didn¡¯t expect that it would last more than a year, but after over a decade of service, we can firmly state that the will of Lady Raia has been realized. In the words of the founding code she stated, ¡®this place will be somewhere that any child, rich or poor, broken or whole, can come for learning. Any child who is in need should have their needs met, any learning they should require and any healing they are in need of.¡¯ I believe that Lady Raia phrased it perfectly. ¡°And so it is with great joy and anticipation, I grant house Shelex titles throughout Melor. No longer are their kin known only in Sanaria, but I see them and acknowledge the gift they are to Melor. Hivren Shelex is the founder of the new Ayfel, the restorer and expander of Lady Raia¡¯s dream. Starsbane school of magical arts and practices, having fallen on hard times now submits to him in all matters of educational and circumstantial policy. They are no longer Starsbane, but just another piece of the unified Ayfel.¡± She nodded to Hivren and turned, sitting down. Tibetch watched as he approached the center of the stage, smiling. That was good, wasn¡¯t it? That was exactly what she knew he¡¯d always wanted. But sparks, Tibetch was actually a noble now?! That was so odd to think about. She glanced at her brother, who was picking his nose. Perhaps nobles weren¡¯t all they were cut out to be though. Interlude 5 - Fresh News

--- Kolen, year 793 --- It was a strange amount of twists in Kolen¡¯s life that led him where he was now. At first, he¡¯d seen his life as nothing more than a constant struggle, always one step ahead of those who were willing to report him, or recruit him, or¡­ well anything. He¡¯d failed at that, and then he¡¯d seen his life as impossible. Trying to impress a lot of artificers? No thank you. After that¡­ well he¡¯d seen himself as dead for sure, but by meer chance he¡¯d been saved. Kolen still wasn¡¯t sure of Netun held a grudge at him for manipulating him like that, but Kolen was fairly sure at this point that the strange mushroom hadn¡¯t even noticed. The following years were both stressful and absolutely amazing. Kolen had expected himself to keep failing, but keeping his identity as a Yeran secret? Well that was almost too easy. It was far more difficult to keep people from realizing he couldn¡¯t sleep anymore than realizing where all his technical knowledge came from. Most assumed him a prodigy¡ªjust like back home¡ªand so Kolen had continued onward, hardly even making any waves as he released his products to the world. But after that? Well he should have realized that eventually someone would come knocking, wondering where all these inventions were coming from. A crystal that will record your voice? A crystal that can contact its other half across practically any distance? This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it. It was unheard of. The following time was the worst of all of them combined. After they¡¯d found him Kolen had hardly even been capable of walking. They¡¯d beat him, ask him questions and then beat him again. It was really a miracle that he¡¯d even survived, let alone gotten out of the situation. But one day his captors simply packed up their things and¡­ left. Leaving Kolen there to be found once again by Netun. Kolen was just glad to be alive honestly. He sighed, picking up a page on the news and raising an eyebrow at the headline. ¡®The Reiaran Ayfel, calling for eligible teachers!¡¯ He read on, his eyebrows raising higher and higher with each sentence. They¡¯d finally made something better for the younger generation, eh? Kolen shook his head slowly and turned the page, reading another headline, ¡®migratory mountain sits down on a village! Is your home next?¡¯ he shook his head at the wild claims about mount Beial, and flipped to another one. The rest of the articles consisted of political drivel, but Kolen didn¡¯t care much about that. Finally, he turned the paper over and read the back, the biggest article proclaiming that magical crystal sales were going up again. His eyes finally tracked to the very last article on that page and it had him blinking. ¡®Local genius uses movement crystals to make an automatic wagon.¡¯ Kolen stared at the article for several moments before shoving it in his pocket and rushing to the door, intent on tracking down this woman. Interlude 6 - Incursions

--- Aenn, The 34th division of Keepers --- It was a day, certainly. Aenn would never admit it to the other Keepers, but he found the average day to be¡­ painful. It was almost like swimming through a pool of Arithren water. Sure, it was peaceful, but you knew that at any moment you might fall out and end up sprawled on the moist ground with the air knocked out of you. Because even though average days were beautiful and serene, there was always the slightest chance that that would be turned on its head. This didn¡¯t seem to bother anyone else. They all just went about their duty to the world silently. Aenn measured the frequency again, muttering that these devices were always so imperfect. They left such a wide range for fault. How could he know if the portal had connected if the number he got was two thirds of a celestial unit wrong?! Sometimes his superiors joked that they should send him off with Tajan. As if no one else respected numerical perfection. They were the types of people who thought the measurements were pointless. They were brutes, just here to fight any incursions. It was inelegant and absolutely insulting to his professional pride, but they were doing their jobs. Even if Aenn would prefer if they did their jobs a little more thoughtfully. He¡¯d lost count of the number of incursions that would have been caught early had he been on duty. The brutes managed to stop them eventually, but it was significantly more dangerous if they let an incursion continue past the two minute mark. It was vital that this world in particular not have any of the true monsters escape into it. Aenn peered between his glowing device and the enormous portal in front of him, glaring at it for a long moment as the dial slowly turned. He wasn¡¯t entirely sure how the thing worked, but some mumbo jumbo with the movement of magical energies was involved. If he was being honest, he¡¯d glazed past that part. The dial finally moved the slightest bit, and in Aenn¡¯s experience, that meant the portal was open now. He jumped, pocketing the device and shouting to the other Keepers who were standing lazily at attention. The brutes stood up straighter, brandishing their spears and adjusted their stances¡ªnot that there had been anything wrong with their stances to correct in the first place, Keepers were a strict and disciplined group. Aenn pulled out his own spear, remembering the thousands of past incursions he¡¯d dealt with. There wasn¡¯t anything they couldn¡¯t handle. According to every guidebook and history of these types of things, the massive portal was predictable, constant. And most of the time nothing even found its way through. Gates were finicky like that. It was in their nature that you could never quite tell for certain. But today, the thin surface that bridged this world and into the realm of connection rippled like water, the portal itself changing almost imperceptibly. Aenn narrowed his eyes at it, watching, waiting. The tear in reality was massive, big enough that even ancient dragons could fit through it if they so desired. It probably wasn¡¯t what one might imagine if told to think of a portal, or even a fully-fledged dimensional gate. It wasn¡¯t anything like those. With a dimensional gate, it had a clear path forward and yet there was no way to see where the other side might take you. This portal on the other hand was not only permanent and regularly shifted where it took whoever walked through, but you could see the other side. In most ways it looked more like a natural tunnel than anything, but there was a certain¡­ impossible architecture past the rippling air. The other side hardly changed much, it always resembled the crystalline tunnels of the Between realm. It technically did change what it looked like depending on what world it led to at any given moment, but Aenn only knew one Keeper with the ability to actually tell the difference in any meaningful way. Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. The Keepers watched the portal, eyes narrowed and gazes ready. If they got the more sophisticated equipment out they might be able to tell which world it had connected to, and that would tell them a lot. But the last time they¡¯d done that, one of the important pieces had been eaten by some kind of enormous slime monster. That hadn¡¯t been a good day for any of the Keepers. The portal rippled. An enormous monster appeared. It was bird-like, with a wicked beak and oddly placed eyes. Its legs seemed to have too many joints or perhaps too few, and the sheen of its feathers almost made it glow in the sunlight. Shards of crystal¡­ The incursion was connected to Monori then. Aenn shouted a formation to the other Keepers and they fell into it easily, hardly even thinking as they quickly rushed the disoriented beast. He was at their head, eyes calculating as he watched the monstrous bird. He didn¡¯t know what the people of Monori called these things, but they had plenty of other monsters to keep it company. Aenn sometimes thought that the people themselves that inhabited that world must have been wiped out from sheer numbers. But it was worlds like Monori that made guarding against incursions important. The Keepers couldn¡¯t guard every portal in the network granted by the starstorms, and there was no way a division could be sent to places like Monori or Sireen, no matter how much the elders and Zolinal herself would rather keep tabs on those spots. And so they simply did their best to keep the worlds from leaking too much into one another. Aenn lept to the side, the other five Keepers scattering around the bird monster. It was large enough to step over them or even fly away if it wished. In Aenn¡¯s experience, this kind of monster would always stay and fight if there was prey to be found. Unfortunately, the Keepers didn¡¯t look very appetizing to bird monsters, or most other kinds of monsters for that matter. There were only a select few who ate rocks and most of those didn¡¯t really have hunting instincts. Aenn stabbed his spear into the flank of the creature, but there wasn¡¯t enough resistance for it to have penetrated the feathers. He flexed his soul as he pulled it out, hoping for some wildmagic¡ªas he always did. However, as was just as common, nothing happened. The monster simply gave him a curious look, hardly even seeming to have noticed the stabbing. He was already falling back though, trying to gauge the creature¡¯s hostility. Many of the smarter ones tended to try and get back to the portal, unfortunately once they knew about it, it was the Keeper¡¯s duty to eliminate them. The same usually applied to humans or bound races. But if something could talk, it got to have a chat with the resident elder first. None of this variety of monster so far had been able to communicate¡ªAenn suspected they were all too dumb for that¡ªbut the Keepers still shouted toward it in various languages as they stabbed at it to see. Just because they couldn¡¯t feel a Connection stirring to indicate a native tongue didn¡¯t necessarily mean it couldn¡¯t speak. The monster roared after the third stab, this one finally seemed to have penetrated its thick feathers. The Keepers switched tactics then from annoying it to distracting it, Rifiel, the one who¡¯d managed to stab it, went completely on the defensive, dodging around with an impressive speed that was at odds with his heavy Arkorite body. While the bird was distracted, Aenn launched himself upward, striking down through the thing¡¯s neck. It wasn¡¯t as painless a death as he would have preferred, but it would bleed out in minutes, giving them time to contact the resident elder about the incursion. The last one with something to fight had been over two months ago. Aenn would be concerned about the system itself, but this portal was probably finally stagnating. That was for the best since it seemed to really like connecting to Monori. He couldn¡¯t wait to be assigned to one of the smaller ones once this one dissipated. He let out a long sigh, gesturing toward Rifiel to find the elder. It was better for someone who could use soul magic to be there when a monster died, the ones from Monori had a nasty tendency to send their corrupted soul into a new creature. While the Keepers and other bound races were protected from such things, there were plenty of animals on this island. Snuff the wilds, for giving curses like this one¡­ he glared at the beast as it continued to die. Every monster died differently in his experience, some fought all the way, while others were more like this one, pitifully fading away into the place beyond. Leaving the everything that was and returning to the anything that might someday be. It was sad in a way, but mostly Aenn was bored with it. He took out his device, watching and relaxing as the number slowly lowered. It tended to lose energy faster when something used the portal, and it would need some time to build up another opening. By his estimations they probably had one or two more incursions before this portal collapsed and half a year after that before it reformed on the mountain. It was just another day. v3 c1 - Arithren --- Eliax --- Why am I here? I find that that is a question by definition significantly harder to conceptualize than others I¡¯ve known. It¡¯s a simple question in most ways, it¡¯s short, to the point, concise. However, over the past six years, I¡¯d wondered that every single day. It begs question after question, with little to no answers to be found in between. Why am I here? Even as my real self is reborn? How did the universe line things up precisely enough that I could exist? Why am I different, separate from Fora herself? Who even am I in that light? I¡¯m not real, at least, I didn¡¯t think I was real. Not until Astral looked at me and decided that I had been all this time. A god couldn¡¯t be wrong, could he? There are far too many things that made me doubt his statement in the beginning, and most of those would only return to my mind. I was a clone. A copy of Fora. Not a perfect copy, especially after my years spent apart from her, and especially after living for ten years assuming I¡¯d been real. But I was a copy. I wasn¡¯t alive. I couldn¡¯t eat or drink or feel real pain. I could be hurt but I was stronger than other clones Fora had made. I was more resilient and I didn¡¯t know why. The perfect answer was Taasen, he¡¯d certainly done something, whether on accident or on purpose. But was he the only reason for my existence, separate as it was from Fora herself? Even though I¡¯d existed before that? Who even was I? I was Fora, and yet¡­ I felt no urge to confuse people, nor did I feel the same kind of sorrow at the loss of Virna from our scope. Even after merging again, I¡¯d still been separate from her. I¡¯d been something else, Fora but not Fora. Real but not real. I couldn¡¯t even call myself Fora in the end, could I? I wasn¡¯t Fora. I wanted the same things but it seemed I approached them very differently. I had the same values but in a way mine were more¡­ flexible, and yet paradoxically less at the same time. I had the same memories and the same experiences, only with six years of extra ones and the entire existence of Eliax to back me up, all that time knowing that I was not her. And so I looked at my real self as we parted ways. She glanced back at me. That moment of synchrony was gone, but I could still feel it in the back of my mind. It wouldn¡¯t be as encompassing as the last kind, but it would help us to stay in contact. ¡°Try not to die this time.¡± I finally said, smiling hesitantly. She split into a wide, stupid grin. The kind I couldn¡¯t even imagine doing at the moment. She seemed to think I was joking, even with the link between us. ¡°I make no promises!¡± I sighed internally and gave her a mock salute. After a moment of examining each other, we turned around again and kept on walking. I¡¯m not Fora. Fora is not me. But we just so happen to be mirror images. - ~I found a city!~ My real self spoke to me, sharing her senses for a moment. Sure enough, a bustling city stood in front of her, there were few real buildings though, most of the city seemed to be made up out of tents, of all things. I examined it, noticing as Fora did that the people there were different from anything we¡¯d ever encountered before. They looked mostly human from this distance, but they each sported long reptile-like tails that swished behind them and aided in balance. I examined the image as Fora rushed toward the city, I wasn¡¯t entirely sure how long she would live with this particular attitude, and a pit of anxiety opened beneath me. She¡¯d die, I¡¯d be alone again, I¡¯d have no chance of getting older or changing without her. ~Fora, can you find a map of some sort before you do anything stupid?~ She hesitated slightly, ~Whaaaattt, I wasn¡¯t about to do anything stupid!~ I sighed, ~I just want to find a different city from that one, then we can work separately.~ I made a mental note to look into ways to get her to age faster. Well¡­ without the addictive properties of Lightweave. There had to be something else, right? She sent some kind of confirmation. ~Alright, alright¡­ I¡¯ll make it my first order of business then.~ The connection dissipated to the back of our minds again, and I opened my eyes, sighing at the vast expanse of nothingness. Sure, there were mountains in the distance, topped with snow and vast enough that they might rival the Everhigh range on Virna. And they were very pretty. Most of the land around me, however, was filled with depressed shrubs, spindly trees, and clay-like soil. That same soil when dry¡ªas it was¡ªwas more like dust. Every time the wind picked up, it would blow the stuff right at my face, and that just so happened to be the direction I was walking. The wind itself wasn¡¯t particularly powerful, but it was persistent. Another annoyance came from the complete lack of any definable path. I ended up winding my way through the plentiful shrubs and occasional cacti, and I certainly would have been walking in circles if it weren¡¯t for the innate sense of direction that came from the dimensional affinity. The desert wasn¡¯t entirely unpleasant though. There were interesting plants I¡¯d never seen before, and animals that scurried about, giving life to the otherwise bleak landscape. Occasionally I would peer at a plant or interesting rock, seeing the small beauty they offered. It was difficult, however, to remember that beauty as the hours and days wore onward. I walked, wishing I knew any of these places so I could simply teleport. If I¡¯d been real, really real, I might have become tired. I might have thirsted. I might have wanted the joy of rest or the smiles of companionship. But I wasn¡¯t real. And so I walked, simply an observer to Fora¡¯s emotions as she explored that grand, alien, city. --- Fora --- I walked beside the guards, smiling from ear to ear as two of them grasped my arms, speaking gruffly in a language I didn¡¯t even know. Over the last week or so I¡¯d managed to pick up a few words here and there, though admittedly most of them were curses that people had a tendency to yell after me as I invaded their homes and shops in search of a map. If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. Don¡¯t blame me, it was sparking difficult to tell which tents were meant to be entered and which weren¡¯t. It was to the point where soldiers would just start chasing me on sight, a novel experience, but certainly something I could see becoming a trend in the future. ¡°Hey hey,¡± I said as one pulled my arm harder than necessary, ¡°I¡¯m just looking for a map, you got a map? It¡¯s preferably a sheet of paper, but I¡¯ll even take cave drawings if that¡¯s all you¡¯ve got.¡± I hadn¡¯t managed to find any books or paper yet, but to be fair, most of the places I¡¯d somehow ended up were either clothing shops or animal enclosures. Though¡­ it was much easier to escape in the chaos if a hundred bird things twice the size of myself were running around screaming their enormous hearts out. I hadn¡¯t even known birds could get that size! But bless the gods above for designing these ones as such. The guards beside me didn¡¯t speak Melorian, I¡¯d checked and they also didn¡¯t speak the dialects of Sanarian I knew, and the few Nakonian words I¡¯dpicked up didn¡¯t elicit any more response than the other two languages. But I knew this from the first day, since it was usually these two who were after me. I suspected they¡¯d been assigned to the task because they were the best at actually catching me. I smiled at them and kept talking, figuring that there were worse ways to die than doing what my clone had asked. She caught that thought, unfortunately. After a moment she sent a mental snort, ~Fora, I know you¡¯re having fun, but I¡¯d much prefer to fix the rebirth age as soon as possible.~ I sighed, Eliax¡­ Eliax¡­ ruining all my fun¡­ that was a very Eliax thing to do though, it certainly sounded like something she would say. ~alright, alright, I¡¯ll try harder to learn their language¡­~ ~They say younger people have a better grasp of languages, so maybe this absurd rebirth age is worth it in that light. I suppose I¡¯ll simply have to keep outliving you.~ Sparking clone was probably never going to let me live down that one death. I didn¡¯t want to die again anyway, that was too fresh at the moment, the pain and pain of dying over and over again, not being able to do anything about it¡­ but sparks, apparently my clone couldn¡¯t take a joke. She caught my internal muttering and sent a picture of the bleak desert again, as she was prone. ~I wouldn¡¯t object toward switching places!~ I scoffed, glancing up at the guards as they started giving me concerned looks, maybe it was because I¡¯d stopped struggling, ~I would die in an hour.~ I reminded the newly named Eliax. ~I thought we decided I¡¯m not allowed to die again?~ That shut her up. Finally. Sparking sparks¡­ ¡°So!¡± I grinned back at the soon-to-be-very-annoyed guards. ¡°What do you think about another grand chase?¡± They regarded me, frowning. One was big and burly, but his voice was far more high-pitched than one might expect, even with how I couldn¡¯t understand him. In the sunlight I could see the slight glint of his tan scales this close. The other was tall and thin, able to rival anyone in speed, and he was the reason I couldn¡¯t just run. He regarded everything with a silent stoicism. At least, that¡¯s how he¡¯d always reacted to everything I¡¯d done. They spoke to each other, probably deliberating. They were waiting for someone¡ªI¡¯d never stuck around long enough to find out who. The two of them were getting a hold of my patterns by now though, and were unlikely to keep falling for the same tricks. As if just to prove my observation, the thinner man let go of me, standing off to the side with worry. They¡¯d figured I was about to escape. That made things more difficult. Not impossible, but I highly doubted the two of them were about to give me a map if I stuck around. ~Try a different district?~ Eliax offered. I hadn¡¯t really figured out how their layout worked though. I scoffed, ~I¡¯m sure I¡¯ll find it eventually.~ ~Great.~ She responded dryly, falling to the back of my mind again as she kept on with her walking. I left her to that and glanced at the alley around us. There was only one exit, and it was in the direction the tall-thin-lizardman was standing. Unfortunately for them, all the buildings around us were tents. Tsk tsk. The two guards waited, watching me anxiously. Well, with such anticipation, I might as well perform. I¡¯d teleported them around the first time. The second time I¡¯d turned off their gravity. The third time I¡¯d teleported them again. The time after that I¡¯d made a full gate and ended up in the middle of the desert with tall-thin-guy for two days. Tall-thin-guy was very tired of me after that. This was the fifth time, and I was starting to run out of things to throw at them. So, I stared the big-high-pitched-voice-guy straight in the face and simply¡­ phased my arm out of his grip. There. Perfect. I then teleported away, leaving the two of them to wonder why I¡¯d never done such a thing before. They were getting harder to baffle as the days went on, but sparks, I wasn¡¯t about to give up on it just yet. --- Eliax --- I crouched down, watching as the large insect sat on the leaf. Sparks, it was such a strange creature. Its body wasn¡¯t really that small¡ªaround half the size of my smallest finger¡ªbut compared to the size of its enormous wings, it was absolutely miniscule. The wings were stiff, flat as a board. Each wing was at least as big as my hand, and the longer I watched the creature, the more fascinated I became. It was perched on the plant, lightly opening and closing its enormous wings, allowing me to see all the beautiful patterns along both the inside and the outside. It was a pleasant tan color, blending in nicely with the shrubs and grasses nearby. Predators would have a difficult time finding it. I wouldn¡¯t have even noticed the creature if it hadn¡¯t flown out right in front of me to get here. Fluttering, I amended, it looked like it was barely even aloft. How could a creature survive like that? With such enormous wings yet hardly able to use them? What did it even do? What did it eat? Did it have any magical abilities or properties? My gaze tracked to the plant it was perching on, a particular kind of desert shrub that I¡¯d gotten my clothing caught in at least seventeen times by now. I finally looked at it, really looked, and smiled at the pleasant scent it emitted. It was flowering too at the moment, the white blooms were tiny, barely even something I could see before leaning in closer. The fluttering insect¡ªapparently scared at my sudden proximity¡ªtook to the air. For something that could hardly even fly, it was surprisingly fast. Before I knew it, the insect was gone, likely hiding in a different bush. Oh well. I sighed, standing up and looking at the sky. There weren¡¯t any clouds in sight, nor was there a sign of Arendi. I wasn¡¯t sure how the cycle worked, but I usually saw it pass through the sky around midday. My gaze tracked back to the land below and with annoyance, I walked onward. I thought I could hear in the distance, the far off sound of rushing water. -- I¡¯d never seen a river quite like the one I was following. In most ways it wasn¡¯t too unique, there was more life beside the river, plants of all kinds, insects that flitted about, small animals floating down the water. There was even a riverbank and a bed beside it, though I wasn¡¯t exactly sure how those things had carved out, since the ground itself was simply damp. The water itself¡ªas if it had seen the rules of the universe and just said ¡®no¡¯ in response¡ªwas floating. It still moved downstream with a quick and steady pace, it still watered the plants and gave life to the creatures who could call it home. But the river was around five feet off the ground at any given point. Occasionally it was closer, and occasionally it was farther, but the shining waters always floated in the sky, as if they couldn¡¯t bear to touch the ground itself. I had¡­ absolutely no idea why. I frowned at the river thing, watching it with my magesight and tapping my foot with annoyance. Why couldn¡¯t this world just make sense¡­ I¡¯d thought it was fairly close to my own, but here I was, staring up at a floating river. Sparks. I shook my head at the river and kept walking. I didn¡¯t have enough energy to get baffled by everything I saw. I¡¯m sure there was a reason why it was floating, but I sure as heck didn¡¯t know what it was. I turned my head and stopped in my tracks immediately, mouth opening in a shout, gaze sharpening as I turned on my soulsight. v3c2 - Worry is Worrisome --- Kinthek --- Kinthek Korelli shaved his face, frowning at the wispy and indecisive whiskers that had started appearing. He had begun to feel that he would never get a hold of himself. Most boys around his level of maturity had started doing this years ago, but as in all things, Kinthek was once more behind on everything. People had a tendency to hate him here, he¡¯d caught them whispering about him quite a bit over the years. It was less often lately¡ªKinthek always thought he had good ears. Either that or they hadn¡¯t been trying to keep him from hearing them. Anyways, Kinthek wasn¡¯t very practiced at shaving, he¡¯d tried once about ten years back¡ªjust to see how it felt, not because he¡¯d needed to¡ªand all he¡¯d gotten for his effort was a long but faint scar across his chin. This time however, Kinthek finally felt that he needed to. It was almost gratifying. Years of waiting, and at the moment, Kinthek really didn¡¯t think it was as neat an experience as his mind had been trying to convince him. He was disappointed mostly, but in the back of his mind there was a part of him that felt relieved. He hadn¡¯t been missing some life changing experience all this time. Now he could go on with his life and steadily get more annoyed about the daily ritual. He set down the blade, smiling into the piece of polished steel in front of him. His mother had called him handsome, but he¡¯d barely been old enough to tie his own shoes back then, so Kinthek wasn¡¯t entirely certain if she would still call him that if she were here today. He wiggled his eyebrows at himself, opened his mouth to check for things that might be stuck in his teeth, and finally scratched at a loose bit of scale. Stars above if he lost all his scales again there¡¯d just be more staring. He was pretty sure that wasn¡¯t about to happen, but you never knew what Atharian would saddle you with next. Kinthek finally washed out his mouth, examined his left eye¡ªwhich he thought might be a bit more green than yesterday¡ªand then got distracted again as a sudden thought erupted into his brain. What if they put lizards in the grinding wheel to turn it instead of those rats? Kinthek considered the idea before remembering that he hadn¡¯t even seen any lizards all week. That was unfortunate. After several moments of frowning at the lizard shaped splotch on the mirror, he finally blinked several times and looked over his tail, yes¡­ yes it was still tail shaped. Perfect. Kinthek nodded at himself in the polished steel and finally left the tent, smiling at the annoyed looking line of men on the other side, who were waiting for use of the razor. Eternal River prided itself on having such a tool, and the men were nothing if not dutiful in using it daily. The first man in the line quickly rushed inside, and the line moved forward. Kinthek walked past them toward the shrine, his face pleasant. When he¡¯d first moved in, half of these men had still been kids, now they were all fully fledged farmers. He hummed lightly, a skip in his step as he passed a huddle of women doing laundry. They gave him hostile looks as he passed, and Kinthek caught their conversation shift. ¡°Soulless, they¡¯re unnatural I say!¡± The others agreed with her, ¡°Preist Vespin should have kicked that one out! Instead we have to live with it!¡± ¡°It should go back to the seas where it belongs¡­ a Soulless in the desert¡­ Sacrifice himself should have struck it down!¡± Soulless. Kinthek always felt his heart speed up at the degrading term, memories of a bigger city and the abuse there always hit him painfully at the word. Kinthek kept walking though. He remembered what his mother had always said though, and it gave him strength. ¡°The world goes at a different pace from us. You don¡¯t have to match it.¡± So Kinthek continued to smile, making his way to the shrine at the far end of the village. It was a ways away from anything loud, close enough to civilization that the farmers could see it while working but far enough that it could be a haven from the world itself. The shrine was a simple area. It didn¡¯t have a statue of Atharian like most other shrines these days¡ªKinthek had heard Vespin complain about the rising popularity of that quite a lot. It was a simple stone arch, painted red like blood. In the center where the doorway might have been, there was a short pedestal where people were encouraged to leave things. At first, Kinthek had assumed that Vespin was the one who always made those things disappear by the next sunrise, either that or a thief in the village. That¡¯s what he¡¯d expected. But once he¡¯d been unable to sleep, Vespin had taken him out here. The two of them had sat near the shrine, talking and watching it for hours. As the sun rose behind the arch, Kinthek had seen the items disappear before his very eyes. Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. Now, Kinthek could say for certain that there was at least something that called this shrine home. He wasn¡¯t sure if it was Atharian himself or a spirit of the land, but there was something. Today, Kinthek knelt beside Priest Vilvav Vespin, who was in the middle of his own kind of morning rituals. He didn¡¯t open his eyes, but the priest spoke softly, ¡°You¡¯re late, Kinthek.¡± Kinthek felt his face go slightly red, ¡°Sorry, I got distracted.¡± He spoke a bit louder than he¡¯d meant to, but still lower than his usual. The priest nodded and bowed his head back to the ground. Kinthek copied him, feeling a certain peace in the sacrifice of time. The sacrifice of ideas¡ªthat one was the hardest. The sacrifice of thought. The temporary sacrifice of self. He knew that he was a better person when he was able to give these things away though, just an hour out of the day to be one with the universe itself, back to how it had been before the world was made. Eventually the two of them rose to their feet. Kinthek always felt it was some kind of confirmation that Atharian was listening whenever they managed to do it in unison. It was rare though, usually Kinthek ended up falling asleep, having stayed up too late the night before. He could tell that Priest Vespin was disappointed when he did that, but the old bloke never said anything. Today though, Kinthek didn¡¯t have to think about that, because last night he¡¯d fallen asleep after only half an hour! It was a good sign for what this day would bring him. Hopefully some progress¡­ the back of his mind whispered. He wasn¡¯t nearly as focused with getting out of Eternal River as he¡¯d been ten years ago, even with the date of his escape no longer being a far off and impossible event. He still wanted to travel. Someday. ¡°You¡¯ll live a long life, Kinthek.¡± He remembered his mother saying. ¡°Use all that time better than I did.¡± He would try. He would really try. But Kinthek found he wasn¡¯t any more wise for that length. Not yet at least, he supposed that he was just still young. He stretched as Vespin bowed to the shrine. ¡°We thank Atharian for this time of meditation.¡± Kinthek bowed a moment after, remaining silent as was expected. Vespin looked up finally and met his eyes. ¡°So. What distracted you this time?¡± The priest had a twinkle in his gaze though, more amused than angry. Kinthek had always found that refreshing. Vespin was far easier to get along with than any of the farmers or townspeople¡­ and he was certainly better than his corrupt son, back in the city of Starlight. Kinthek smiled, ¡°I shaved. I never would have thought how interesting a mirror could be, but I think I need to clean my teeth more often.¡± Vespin nodded with a smile of his own, ¡°See, you were worried about never getting a beard for nothing.¡± Kinthek sighed, it was just like how he¡¯d worried about never losing his first set of teeth, or how he¡¯d worried about the bald spot on the back of his head never growing back. He¡¯d worried as well about never growing taller, but here he was, finally having hit his Red Curse height. He was at least a head above practically everyone else at this point¡ªnot Denthen though¡ªand by the time he stopped growing he¡¯d be even taller. ¡°That doesn¡¯t stop me from that worrying, next I suppose I¡¯ll be worried about my tail, or maybe I¡¯ll pick something more exotic like my fingernails and¡ªVespin do you think this fingernail looks odd?!?¡± The priest smiled, his wrinkled face familiar and cheerful, ¡°Your fingernails are fine.¡± ¡°Yes, but are you sure?! That part there has a bit of a¡ª¡± he paused, frowning. ¡°It¡¯s alright to worry about some things.¡± He nodded, ¡°So, you got to shave, and I see you didn¡¯t even cut yourself this time.¡± Kinthek puffed up slightly, ¡°That¡¯s right!¡± Vespin smiled again, ¡°I¡¯m glad. Let me know if the farmers get restless again, I can remind them that you only have about a month left at this rate.¡± A month. Just a month. Kinthek could hardly believe that. It was so strange to think that he could finally leave soon, just a few more bundles and he would be free again. He could get away from these people who knew exactly what he was. But at the same time, he didn¡¯t think he¡¯d be able to tell the priest about the restlessness. It never really stopped. But it wasn¡¯t lying to withhold that from him, was it? ¡°If today¡¯s a lucky one,¡± Kinthek smiled, ¡°I might even be able to leave tomorrow!¡± Even at the proclamation and the puff of excitement and joy, Kinthek wasn¡¯t actually certain if he was ready. - Kinthek walked down the river. He would pause periodically to pick stems from the farroot, but besides that, he hadn¡¯t stopped for three hours. Despite his earlier hopes, Kinthek wasn¡¯t doing great with the gathering today. Most of the farroot had stalled recently thanks to the rain a few weeks back, the plants would be working on their roots rather than their stems, since the water was deeper now. Kinthek was baffled as to why this was, wasn¡¯t the river right there? Couldn¡¯t the plant just get water from the spray? But nature was odd, as always. He picked a stem that looked big enough¡ªonce again mourning that this plant was always so small. It never grew anywhere besides this river, and it took some practice to differentiate it from its less pleasant cousins. Most of which would give you a rash if you touched them. Thankfully, Kinthek was practiced at this point with identifying the things on sight. He hummed as he walked. The bundle was far too small, but not as bad as some days. He would be bringing back plenty of the useful stems and he would be one step closer to leaving this place behind forever. Unfortunately, that¡¯s when he spotted someone else walking beside the river. She was young, perhaps twelve by normal person standards. Kinthek found himself blinking in confusion at the blue cast to her skin and her complete lack of a tail on her back. What was¡ª Kinthek found his mind stuttering as the stranger met his eyes across the distance. She was so strange, and she was young, but at the same time it was hard to stop his mind from immediately tossing toward him reason after reason for why she might be here. For who she was. Ideas and interest smacking into him in turn. She turned from her examination, her eyes wide and surprised. Her gaze seemed in that moment to see into his very soul. v3c3 - City of Rivers --- Eliax --- ¡°GAH!¡± I screamed. I felt my affinities rise up to protect me from the perceived threat, which was usually a good thing. But I had to disrupt the instinctual teleport lest I lose this spot entirely. It left my mana all over the place and my stomach roiling like I¡¯d swallowed a vat of poison¡ªwhich Fora had done once on a dare. The stranger blinked at me, speaking something in that language of theirs. A hello maybe? I only really knew for sure that it wasn¡¯t a curse word, because that¡¯s all Fora had managed to pick up of the language so far. I stared at him for several seconds, feeling my heartbeat calm from the shock. ¡°Ah¡­ hello?¡± I tried, smiling hesitantly. He frowned, then said something else, a question. I shook my head, ¡°I don¡¯t understand you.¡± He hesitated, glancing upriver the way I¡¯d been walking. There was something familiar in his eyes, a weight or a burden that I could feel as well. He spoke again, using a word that Fora had heard the guards yell after her on numerous occasions. We both assumed it meant ¡®wait.¡¯ or ¡®stop¡¯ or something. I tilted my head at him and sat down, fairly certain that that¡¯s what he¡¯d been asking. His frown deepened however, and I had no idea what that meant. He set down the two bundles and looked downriver, speaking again. I raised an eyebrow, ¡°I feel like I made it clear by now that I don¡¯t understand.¡± He sighed. I sighed back at him. - After about an hour of pantomime and greatly annunciated words, the red haired boy hesitantly led me upriver. I had no idea if he was going to take me where I wanted to go, and he probably had no idea what I even wanted. But at least we were going in what was probably the right direction. ~What is our goal exactly?~ I asked Fora, already knowing that she probably didn¡¯t even have one. ~Uhh¡­ learn the language probably, find out about this world?~ Alright¡­ I¡¯d prefer something more specific, but I could work with that. ~This fellow seems decent enough, I think I¡¯ll just follow him around for a few weeks, see what happens?~ ~Cool, have fun!~ She didn¡¯t give me any direction besides that. Sparking Fora¡­ --- Kinthek --- Kinthek watched the stranger with worry as the two of them walked, wondering what he was getting himself into. She was strange, so very strange. Mostly it wasn¡¯t even her appearance that had him on edge, it was the way she held herself, quiet and confident. The look in her dark eyes that held a weight to it. Kinthek watched those things, seeing also the strange way she walked, as if she expected anything to go wrong at any moment. The way her gaze would always move from him to the surrounding landscape. She was prepared for violence, though she held no weapon. And yet she looked so young. Her face was soft with youth, even with its shell-like exterior, the muscles underneath betrayed an even harder mind. Her hands were small but dexterous, they fiddled with each other as the two walked, but the movements seemed more purposeful than just a fidget, as if she was remembering a movement. Who are you? He wondered. He could tell with an almost impossible ease that she was older than she looked. He wasn¡¯t sure though if it was a significant amount. It couldn¡¯t have been the Red Curse though, her hair was a stark almost white; nothing like the bright red of his own. ¡°Who are you?¡± He tried again. The girl glanced at him, smiling nervously as she shook her head once again. Speaking something in that language of hers. She doesn¡¯t understand. He frowned, gesturing to himself, ¡°Kinthek.¡± He said. Then he pointed at her, a question in his expression. She tilted her head then pointed to him, ¡°Kinthek?¡± She pronounced the name oddly, it was meant to be said with more of a -ch- sound than a -kuh- sound, but by his estimations it was close enough. After he nodded, she gestured toward herself, tapping her chest lightly. ¡°Eliax.¡± The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. Kinthek grinned, though he wasn¡¯t quite sure what he thought of the stranger yet, he was too busy trying to imagine how Vilvav and the villagers would react to this. At the same time though he couldn¡¯t help but try and figure out where she¡¯d even come from. Idea after idea popped into his mind, each of them being discarded after a moment. ¡°Nice to meet you, Eliax.¡± She smiled hesitantly. The two of them continued walking. It took about three hours more to get back to Eternal River, but Kinthek tried to speak most of the time, he talked about the river and the bundles of faroot he had to gather. He spoke of ideas he¡¯d had and what he would do once he was free from this village. It was such a strange time to him, having a companion who¡ªpresumably¡ªwas listening to everything he said, even if she didn¡¯t understand it. He pointed to new plants and animals when he saw them, naming them for her benefit. Kinthek wasn¡¯t entirely certain how much she was absorbing, but she would repeat the words back to him. He spoke of his dreams and his fears. He spoke of things his mother had said and worries he had. He spoke of Atharian and Sacrifice, he spoke of Vespin. And this Eliax, well, she seemed to really be listening. Perhaps it was only so she could learn the language, or perhaps she actually cared. But it was a good feeling to have someone do that for once. Kinthek was tired of people turning away from him or redirecting his thoughts. Vespin tried, sure, but he didn¡¯t have a lot of time. Finally, they walked along the path from the river to the village, cresting the hill there. Eliax stopped. Her eyes wide as she looked at the farmland and homes. It was a typical layout for a village, there wasn¡¯t much to really think about by his estimation. Perhaps it was the fact that there were only five tents in the whole village, that might be what confused her. Men in one, Women in another, couples and their children in a third. Storage in a fourth¡ªwhich was also where the razor was kept, Kinthek knew that most of the village was proud that they even had something like that. The fifth tent was much smaller than the others and only held a single individual, Priest Vespin. Perhaps it was the presence of a priest tent that had the strange girl pausing? Most small towns¡ªleast of all villages¡ªdidn¡¯t have a local priest, there weren¡¯t enough of them for that. Or perhaps it was the fields. They were rather ordinary, but if she was from so far away maybe they didn¡¯t have proper watering systems? Kinthek glanced over the floating waters that drifted above the fields, they seemed to be working right. He looked back at Eliax, tilting his head with a question. She stared at the village for several more moments before muttering something under her breath, giving him a slightly suspicious look¡ªat least, that¡¯s what it seemed like to him¡ªand finally following him down the hill. Kinthek didn¡¯t know a lot of things, but there was only one thing at the moment he was certain of. The villagers wouldn¡¯t look at him any less strangely after bringing back someone like this. He just hoped that it didn¡¯t get too much worse. Kinthek led her through the village, cringing at the looks the villagers gave them. None of them hated him more than the others, but some were significantly more vocal about it. One of those, a tall and burly man with a thick tail and an almost constant glare, folded his arms as Kinthek passed. Denthen was his name. ¡°The Soulless brought back a godless, did it?¡± Someone beside him laughed slightly, ¡°Where¡¯d it even come from? Looks like it¡¯s been wandering through the wilderness for months!¡± This was the most direct that any of them had ever been. Some of the men started cursing at Kinthek. Others directed those words toward Eliax. Kinthek let out a long breath, simply walking past them while his mind tried to explain various ways to make them regret this without them knowing it was him. Eliax glanced at the villagers, confused, before she looked back at him. She spoke a single word, calm and calculated, that strange accent almost butchering it beyond recognition. ¡°Help?¡± she gestured toward the villagers. Kinthek blinked at her. Was she¡­ offering to do something to shut them up? He opened his mouth to tell her no, but Denthen¡¯s jeering laugh interrupted him, ¡°And she¡¯s such a young thing too! I can¡¯t believe that Kinthek would stoop so low, isn¡¯t a soulless like him too old for¡ª¡± He didn¡¯t get any farther, because Eliax walked up to him, hands on her hips. She was tiny. Barely the stature of a twelve-year-old. Denthen was one of the biggest men in the village, bulky, tall, fully grown into his height, taller even than Kinthek¡ªthough not for long hopefully. Was the kid an idiot!? Sure she held herself competently but that shouldn¡¯t¡­ squalls, what had Kinthek gotten himself into. She looked Denthen straight in the eyes. He¡¯d stopped talking, baffled that she was doing something about it. He was used to Kinthek, who hadn¡¯t spoken up about the abuse for years, even though it had never gone this far before. This¡­ direct. Eliax stared Denthen straight in the face for several long, tense moments. She didn¡¯t do anything, just¡­ looking at him. Eventually, Denthen shook his head slowly, ¡°Not even willing to defend herself, you know what they say about the godless, they hardly can even think.¡± Eliax tilted her head up at Denthen, and then tapped him on the chest before immediately turning and walking away. She didn¡¯t look back as she walked in Kinthek¡¯s direction, gesturing for him to lead the way. After a second of confusion, Denthen yelped. His tail swung about and limbs flailed as the force that held him to the ground¡­ turned off. He floated up into the air and then almost immediately fell back to the ground as the world re-asserted itself. Kinthek blinked at the man, glancing at Eliax, who was already a decent clip up the path. He hurried after her. ¡°What was that?!¡± He shouted. She glanced at him, but still didn¡¯t look back at the baffled Denthen, ¡°Help.¡± The kid said simply. Kinthek had a feeling that this was going to get very out of hand, but he felt a grin spread across his face, wide and happy. ¡°That was awesome! Eliax, what else can you do?!¡± She gazed at him hesitantly, but didn¡¯t seem to really understand the request. That was fine. Kinthek laughed to himself, ¡°Wow, did you see his face? I bet he¡¯ll remember that for the rest of his life! Squalls, Eliax, I can¡¯t even imagine what I would do with an ability like that!¡± v3c4 - "godless" --- Eliax --- I opened my eyes, blinking slowly at the tent roof above me. So that hadn¡¯t been a dream. I hadn¡¯t really thought it was one. I didn¡¯t usually have dreams, not even Fora remembered hers very often. Mostly it was the confusion of suddenly sleeping. As a clone, I didn¡¯t need to sleep, but it wasn¡¯t difficult to simply lay there and activate a sleep-like state. For some odd reason, the possibility in my mind that none of that had actually happened seemed fairly high. Nothing distinctly odd had even occurred, just the really¡­ really confusing actions of natural water. Fora hadn¡¯t noticed the floating water until I pointed it out, but she¡¯d managed to find some last night, so it wasn¡¯t even something limited to just this area. We were about a half day of mindless gating away from each other¡ªwith rest calculated in, no more casting until it was painful. Which translated to probably a week or so by normal people''s standards of travel¡ªthough for all we knew they had very different standards of travel than Virna here. I sighed at the reminder, sitting up in the hammock and peering down at the multitude of lizard people that moved about around me. Some of the older ones had cots that presumably helped with any back problems, but almost all the women in the large tent had their own hammocks with a small bundle of belongings tied above them. Did they not worry about thieves? If it weren¡¯t for my dimensional space that held anything remotely valuable, I would have been anxious about sleeping here. The setup was made to maximize height as well as the rest of the volume, it seemed a sign that this village was outgrowing their space¡ªeven at hardly a few hundred people from what I could see. It was strange as I spotted occasional tails draped out of the hammocks or curled up under blankets, but besides that, the sleeping forms and peaceful early risers seemed practically human. Just like the people Fora had found in that bigger city a few days ago. As it was, the women in the large tent didn¡¯t seem to care much what I did. At least, what I did didn¡¯t seem to change what they did. Most of them gave me nasty looks when they thought I wasn¡¯t watching or whispered to each other¡ªprobably about me, though I had no way to really tell¡ªbut a decent amount simply watched me curiously and went about their morning as normal. Just like last night. - Outside the large tent, the village was still quiet. It was just before sunrise, so most were getting the last of their sleep in or preparing for the day. I passed a group of farmers going through seeds together while a line of bedraggled looking men stood outside what looked like a storage tent. They seemed annoyed about something. I tilted my head at them and glanced around, wondering if there was anything I was expected to do. I was perfectly fine with helping out, they¡¯d attempted to feed me last night after all¡ªI¡¯d refused their food out of principle though, I couldn¡¯t really eat. Besides, Fora was replenishing the Between storage all the time, so if I needed food I had exactly the place to go. It might not be filled with legally acquired things, but I already knew it was pointless to try and get her to be a law-abiding citizen, not that I cared much for stupid laws myself. Someone came out of that storage tent and the line of men moved forward. I glanced at the opening and blinked to see that strange red head walking out with a smile and a spring in his step. All the men were glaring at him, yet he still ignored them. They glared at me too occasionally, but it was less than what they reserved for this boy. Kinthek¡ªas he¡¯d called himself, I wasn¡¯t completely certain if that was his name or another descriptor, but all odds said it was his name¡ªwas abnormally tall, tall enough that he would have towered over most humans. As it was, he was relatively equal in height with that idiot from last night that I¡¯d gravity-d. He was still young though, and in all likelihood he would only get taller. Which was extremely unfair, considering I¡¯d only ever get up to where his shoulder currently was. At the moment I was even shorter than that, but not by too much since I always reached my maximum height around thirteen or fourteen, depending on what I ate. His bright red hair was still strange to me, and I got the sense that it was some kind of magical consequence from how it shimmered in the light. I¡¯d never seen anyone with red hair before. I¡¯d heard that most Yerans back on Virna had the trait, but I doubted any of them had anything close to how bright Kinthek¡¯s hair was. He smiled when he spotted me, which probably meant he¡¯d decided we were friends or something. Or¡­ perhaps he was remembering the guy I¡¯d gravity-d yesterday. No matter, he seemed perfectly happy to see me, whatever the reason was. I hummed slightly as he approached, trying to gauge what he wanted or what topic he would bring up. If I had a general idea of what he was talking about, I¡¯d certainly be able to pick up words faster. At least, that was what my trilingual brain seemed to prefer. ¡°Hello!¡± He greeted me¡ªat least, I was pretty sure that¡¯s what it meant. I nodded in acknowledgement, ¡°hello,¡± I repeated, but I was fairly certain I¡¯d gotten the pronunciation wrong again. He smiled at my response anyway and waved me forward. He started talking immediately, which was both helpful and pointless. Helpful because it gave me another good idea of what some of the common words were, probably mostly and¡¯s and the¡¯s. But it was also pointless because despite my best guess, I didn¡¯t really know what the topic even was. Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon. I felt my eyes cross slightly at his speech, a location phrase¡­ something something¡­ maybe ¡®well?¡¯ He kept going, and I got the sense that he wasn¡¯t even sticking to a topic. He¡¯d done that a lot yesterday. I occasionally repeated a word, a question in my voice, and he would say it slower or try to explain what it meant. Most of the meanings still went over my head, but it gave me more information, and that was always valuable. I gathered that Atharian¡ªwhich sounded far too much like the planet¡¯s name to not get confusing, so for all I knew it was actually what they called the world¡ªwas either their word for god, or the name of their god. Kinthek said this word a lot as he led me up a particular path, grinning. The path itself was fairly well worn, not as much as others around the village, but it was clear that it was used at least a few times a day. We walked for a few minutes up a hill and finally approached a strange construction of stone that was painted a vibrant red. I tilted my head at the structure and the old man that was kneeling in front of it. Kinthek had introduced me to him yesterday, though his name had eluded me. Once the arch came into view, Kinthek¡¯s words tumbled into nothing. He hesitated near the construction and glanced at me. He looked toward the old man with worry in his eyes. After a moment he sighed and knelt down beside the man, still not speaking a word. The old man also refrained from speaking, his posture barely even shifting with his breathing. I stopped at the edge of the area, tilting my head as they knelt there. Curiously, their souls were fluctuating. Was this some kind of strange magical discipline? Or perhaps a religious thing? Kinthek had mentioned Atharian several times earlier, and with the reverence in his voice and how he kept gesturing toward the sky and the ground and the¡­ everything when saying it, it couldn¡¯t really mean anything else. Interesting. I sat there, frowning. I prodded at my presently weak connection with Astral. Wondering if he might appear and explain, though probably not. Maybe people who followed gods just did this kind of thing? My friends who were bound to Kalteii never had, but Kalteii hadn¡¯t struck me as someone who could¡ªor should¡ªbe seen as the rule. Fora and I were technically following Balance now, did that mean I was expected to¡­ worship or something? How did one even do that? Sparks, I had no idea what I was doing. - About an hour later¡ªa very very boring hour¡ªKinthek and the old man finally opened their eyes. They found me perching on top of the stone arch, my legs folded into a lotus position and my soul bouncing around like a sea reasle as I tried over and over¡ªand failed¡ªto contact Astral. I half expected them to start yelling at me for being on top of the thing, but the two simply seemed curious. I peered down at them as they bowed toward an empty pedestal in the center of the area beneath the arch. After that, the two of them stretched and spoke a few quiet words to each other. Something something¡­ stranger maybe? I was pretty sure that meant stranger, I¡¯d only ever heard it referred to myself though, so they were probably talking about me. I stepped off the arch, falling as light as a feather and landing without issue. The two blinked at me, which further cemented¡ªalthough after yesterday I already knew¡ªthat if dimensionalism existed here, it was practically unknown. I smiled hesitantly at them. Finally Kinthek spoke, and I nearly fell over with surprise as it came across to my mind clearly and understandably. ¡°Alright! Eliax, do you want to go with me along the river today? You don¡¯t have to, I¡¯m sure you¡¯ve got a lot of ah¡­ things to do. But having an extra pair of hands would be great!¡± I stared at him, feeling my mouth open and close several times. The old man spoke to him, and the phrase didn¡¯t make any sense to me. Kinthek spoke something to the old man and it was the same. But when he turned back and spoke to me again, it made perfect sense. ¡°Ah¡­ I¡¯m going to the river.¡± He pointed in the direction. ¡°Do you?¡± he pointed at me, ¡°Want to come?¡± he pointed back at the river again. I finally spoke, ¡°W-what?!¡± Kinthek frowned, glancing at the old man, this time when he spoke it made no sense again. What¡­ in Arithren¡­ Kinthek smiled back at me finally and pointed toward the river, ¡°River.¡± He said slowly, ¡°You and me, to the river?¡± Still baffled, I nodded, ¡°Yes?¡± Kinthek frowned, ¡°And you¡¯re back to your own language again¡­¡± His words trailed off into incomprehensive nonsense after a moment when he started talking to the old man again. It finally struck me that I had been speaking in Melorian, briefly. That certainly added to the confusion on both of our parts. Their words were starting to make more sense though. I could pick out¡­ more of the words as he said them to the old man. It made more sense to listen to it than to try and speak though, there was a huge disconnect, like viewing my own thoughts from the outside. ¡°...I¡¯ll take her with me to look for faroot then.¡± The old man nodded, ¡°It¡¯s Light day next week, are you ready for that?¡± Kinthek blinked and looked at the sky, his eyes wide, ¡°I¡¯ll be back late then!¡± Sparks, I wasn¡¯t completely certain what that really meant, but this was certainly making more sense than before. Kinthek smiled and started off, gesturing for me to follow, I did, wondering how I could let him know that something had changed. I didn¡¯t trust myself yet to really speak, but¡­ ~ELIAX WHAT DID YOU DO?!?!~ I jumped as the voice appeared in my head, tripping over a shrub and sprawling to the ground as Fora kept on going. ~I CAN SUDDENLY UNDERSTAND PEOPLE AND I DON¡¯T LIKE IT!!~ I paused, ~I¡¯m not really sure? I don¡¯t think I did anything?~ ~Weren¡¯t you like¡­ meditating or some crap? Trying to contact Astral? I checked when your senses started doing weird things but you were OUT.~ I paused, looking up at Kinthek as he held out a worried hand to me, I smiled hesitantly up at him. ~Astral didn¡¯t actually answer though.~ ~Sparking god of Balance probably chucked this at us to make us leave him alone¡­~ Fora didn¡¯t seem inclined to continue complaining, so I shut out her senses again as I took Kinthek¡¯s hand and pulled myself to my feet. ¡°Ah¡­ sorry?¡± I tried, still unsure how the words fit together exactly. It would take practice to really get the language, especially the speaking part, but I was pretty sure Fora would figure that out for me. She never had been able to resist talking. Kinthek smiled, ¡°Just watch your feet!¡± Sparks, his tone was far too cheerful for the words coming out. The two of us started down the path, making our way toward the river. v3c5 - Light Day --- Eliax --- ¡°I¡¯ve lived here for ten years,¡± Kinthek explained as we approached the strange, floating river, it seemed to be having a hard time doing that at the moment though, the water was trembling in the air and droplets kept falling to the riverbed, ¡°before that, I lived in the bigger city and¡­ well it wasn¡¯t bad there, but they never really appreciated people like me.¡± As far as I¡¯d seen they didn¡¯t like him much here either. They seemed like they would leave him in the desert for dead if they had any say in the matter. ¡°People¡­ like you?¡± I echoed for elaboration. I¡¯d been wondering for quite a while why everyone seemed to hate him, he¡¯d so far acted like it didn¡¯t matter, or that it wasn¡¯t even happening. So it was nice to hear him acknowledge it, that meant he did notice what was happening Kinthek seemed a bit surprised at the more detailed question, but he explained, ¡°One of my ancestors was a Bloodbinder¡­ Bloodbinders, they ah, they usually go insane.¡± He touched his hair absently, scratching at his head. ¡°They call my ancestor the Red Curse because he was particularly famous for a Bloodbinder. He went insane and killed all sorts of people. Atharian doesn¡¯t like senseless murder, but it took a long time for any of the priests to manage to deal with him.¡± Kinthek sighed. ¡°This is stupid. You can barely understand me.¡± I glanced at him, annoyed that he was second guessing the idea of giving me information. ¡°Continue.¡± He blinked, ¡°Ah¡­ well anyway, they all know I¡¯m probably related to him. He¡¯s one of the only ones in recent memory who went too far and still had enough children left to pass it on. Most other lines have died out by now too.¡± I wanted to ask about his relatives then, or at least about what exactly had been passed on¡ªthe red hair probably?¡ªbut I didn¡¯t know enough words to form the question. ¡°Hardly anyone from there ends up here,¡± He explained, ¡°My mother left, she was running away from¡­ my father. But we had a pretty good life all things considered. We lived in the city and my mother worked odd jobs. It wasn¡¯t anything fancy, but it was good. At least, till I was fifteen, that¡¯s when he finally tracked her down.¡± Kinthek shook his head sorrowfully. I frowned in slight confusion on the specific numbers, but didn¡¯t interrupt, I¡¯d probably just heard something wrong. Kinthek continued, unaware of my confusion, ¡°I hate him. So much. I might hunt him down one day, or just go back to the sea, find out what it¡¯s like there. I think I¡¯ll probably travel though, it¡¯s easier to be a Red Curse if people don¡¯t have to deal with me all the time.¡± I nodded slowly. ¡°...Anyway! I liked the city, they never even had attacks there on Light day, it was peaceful, it just had the people to get in the way.¡± ¡°Light day?¡± I echoed. They¡¯d mentioned it earlier. He perked up slightly, ¡°Light day is the only day when the barrier is weak enough that things can get through.¡± He pointed up at Arendi. ¡°They have all sorts of monsters up there, just waiting to come down here. Thankfully the monsters can¡¯t really live anywhere besides the seas, they need a lot of water.¡± He hesitated. ¡°At least, most of them.¡± As if to accentuate the fact that such a day was approaching, the river¡ªwhich had been acting oddly for the last hour or so¡ªfell to the bank below and began glowing. Which wasn¡¯t any less weird than the alternative, but it felt strange to see a river that suddenly looked like a river. I stopped in my tracks, giving the water a bewildered look. Kinthek glanced down at it, ¡°Atharian above, even the water can tell it¡¯s soon! Just a week away¡­¡± -- I pressed my hand against the ground again, frowning as it refused to shape. I wasn¡¯t particularly good at elemental magic, but I¡¯d done this a million times, so it really shouldn¡¯t be so stupid in this area. I had worked just a few days ago while I was off wandering for goodness sake! I stood up, putting my hands on my hips and huffing. Kinthek sat nearby, having completely misunderstood when I tried to tell him I was about to be busy, I¡¯d managed to get¡­ most of the point across, but even after two days of knowing most of what people were saying, I wasn¡¯t much better at explaining those things myself. I sat back down and tried again, glaring. ¡°What are you doing?¡± Kinthek asked. He seemed more curious than critical, though his face was warped with confusion. ¡°Things.¡± I responded, scraping up a handful of dirt and attempting to shape it into something with magic. It resisted, but I was able to mold it into a relatively smooth sphere. Kinthek gave the sphere a wide-eyed look ¡°Don¡¯t do things like that! The earth is-¡± He paused as I pressed that ball of earth to the ground and tried to meld it again, nothing happened. I glared at the ground, ¡°It¡¯s not working.¡± He blinked at it, ¡°How are you even¡­ I think it¡¯s¡­ well we have a thunder crystal in the village and that¡¯s¡­ Eliax!¡± That last bit came as I picked up a rock and started breaking it up with magic. ¡°What?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t do that to the earth!¡± I blew the dust off my hand and tried shaping it without touching it, it was harder for me but still something I could usually do. I tried pulling that dust back to me. Yet, nothing happened. ¡°Why not?¡± I asked, raising an eyebrow at the bits of earth still stuck to my hand. Perhaps I should try and make a floating base? If earth shaping only worked if it wasn¡¯t connected to the ground then¡­ well this was making my dim idea of hollowing out an underground space like I¡¯d done back on Virna much more complicated. If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. Kinthek spluttered for a few more seconds, ¡°The Aremolot do that to the earth! You might attract one of them!¡± I tilted my head, ¡°...Aremolot?¡± ¡°They¡¯re dangerous beasts!¡± I nodded slowly and rubbed the rest of the dust on my skirts. Well, if it made him that uncomfortable¡­ ¡°Okay.¡± I conceded. --- Fora --- ¡°Hey, you!¡± I shouted, perching atop the city wall. The lizard person below me¡ª they called themselves Larborak as far as that weird translation stuff was concerned ¡ªlooked up, eyes wide. When she saw me, she squeaked and made to run away. Sparks, they were getting scared of me. Perhaps I needed to vary my approach after all? Just like Eliax kept saying? I glared at her, ¡°I just wanna know why everybody¡¯s hiding inside! What¡¯s going on?¡± According to Eliax it was ¡®Light day¡¯ but that didn¡¯t tell either of us anything. Those lizard people¡ª sorry, Larborak ¡ªthat she¡¯d befriended had made it very clear that everyone was staying in their tents today. The lizard woman¡ª Larbora, right right ¡ªblinked up at me, her hands trembling. ¡°The beasts are coming! It¡¯s Light day!¡± With that she fled into the tent. Why in the sparks did they use tents if a beast was coming? I would rather be in one of those buildings if I knew something dangerous was on its way. I frowned at her, tracking my gaze toward the sky. Arendi was high in it, but we weren¡¯t even close to its path. It would dip above the horizon and then set again, only obscuring the sun for a few hours. Eliax had said it was something to do with Arendi. Light day¡­ what did that even really mean? I looked out at the desert again, glancing to the side as those two annoying soldiers peeked out of the nearby door. They finally seemed to have figured out that I¡¯d mostly behave if they were just watching instead of trying to catch me. They were whispering something to each other. I ignored it out of habit, but sparks, they¡¯d probably just yell at me for my earlier annoyance-ings if they knew I could understand them now. They shifted in their spots for a moment before finally withdrawing. Interesting. - The world trembled. I blinked from my perch, glancing down at the city. There wasn¡¯t a person in sight, they¡¯d all hidden in their tents. Was it just an earthquake? If it was an earthquake, I could partially understand why they wouldn¡¯t want to be in a real building, but¡­ she¡¯d mentioned beasts, and so had Eliax. I turned and frowned out at the desert, finally feeling my gaze track up to Arendi in the sky. It was just as green as usual, but something seemed different, brighter. I got to my feet, almost excited really. I¡¯d never seen a monster attack before. There weren¡¯t a lot of them anymore back home, the monster hunters and various adventurers had wiped out most of the bigger ones before I was even born. The world shook again, but now that I was on my feet it was somehow harder to notice. It wasn¡¯t a particularly violent quake in the first place though. I peered out past the mountains and land as it slowly stopped shaking again, my eyes meeting Arendi again in the sky. The green world was enormous, large enough that I could hardly even see the rest of the sky beyond it. And Arendi was definitely pulsing. Awesome! As I watched, something dug its way out of the earth right in front of the wall. An enormous serpentine shape. Almost like a dragon but significantly less¡­ elegant. It¡¯s head rose up from the ground, curling upward to regard me with soulless eyes. It pulled itself from the earth, four mighty limbs, two wip thin tails, and a mouth that opened wider than three buildings. I gaped up at it as a huge yawn erupted from it. As it closed its mouth there was an unmistakable boom and a flash of light that filled my eyes. I was too filled with awe to even contemplate running. --- Eliax --- I paused in bafflement as Kinthek handed me a bundle of the stems¡ªthe whole stack had collapsed a minute ago and he insisted that we fix it as soon as possible. I looked as if through the supply tent and southward toward my real self as her consciousness faded out of the world. ¡°Did she literally just die?!¡± I found myself shouting in Melorian, dropping the reed-like plants and feeling my hands ball into annoyed fists. I found myself recalling¡ª without any effort ¡ªgrueling months spent scouring the Between for her body and years spent trying to protect it from the assassin that had simply returned time and time again. The memory was still fresh, seeing as it had only been a few weeks since then. Really, how inconsiderate could she possibly be??! Was she just trying to piss me off? Kinthek followed my gaze toward the tent wall, furrowing his brow. ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± I scowled, ¡°An idiot.¡± I didn¡¯t have enough words to say ¡®my real self got killed again and now I feel morally obligated to track down her body because without her my future is practically nonexistent.¡¯ He picked up the bundle and watched the wall with a worried frown, ¡°It¡¯s almost noon, no monsters yet, they always go for the bigger cities, but¡­ let¡¯s not tempt fate.¡± Earlier he¡¯d talked about maybe going out to the river today, looking for more of these stems, but apparently¡ªthrough no way I could understand¡ªhe¡¯d learned that there were more imbalances than the usual Light day granted. I agreed with not tempting fate though. At least it wasn¡¯t Fora in my place, she seemed perfectly willing to tempt the heck out of whatever gods cared to strike her down. It didn¡¯t help that if they did strike her down, she¡¯d just be back eventually. The gods that liked us were a lot less likely to get annoyed at the ones who did that if she would just come back afterward. I¡¯ll have to track down her body, won¡¯t I? Sparks I hope that thing didn¡¯t eat it¡­ For now, I followed Kinthek toward a box with a decent amount of the stems in it, ¡°Vespin needs these for his Lifeforce things.¡± he explained, packing the box tightly. ¡°Once I get him enough of them I¡¯ll be free¡­¡± I wasn¡¯t really paying attention, though I still filed that information away since I¡¯d wanted to know the reason. I was distracted looking at the tent wall. It was a mystery to me how they thought a thin wall of fabric could withstand something like that beast Fora had seen. Dimly, I thought I felt the ground quake slightly as if in response to my thoughts. I sighed, and felt Kinthek¡¯s attention drift toward me. ¡°I need¡­ to find something tomorrow.¡± He glanced at me, smiling, I¡¯d only ever seen him angry once, when he¡¯d spoken of his father. ¡°Alright, do you need help?¡± I paused, blinking at him. That look in his eyes said it all, really. He was almost desperate to be of assistance. It was strange to find someone willing to help, but then again, I¡¯d never been good at actually telling people about the things I was doing. Perhaps I was too used to being disappointed. ¡°Yes, I think so.¡± v3c6 - A World of Dreams --- Kinthek --- Kinthek peered at the strange space around him, eyes wide with wonder and curiosity. There was a hint of fear too, hidden below the surface. He felt his gaze drift across the nothingness, a pure white void that was lacking in anything. Yet as he stood there, images briefly faded into view, giving color and flavor to the strange space. A field of flowers, faint but alive, blowing in the wind. A construction of stone that seemed more like an idea than an actual place. Eliax gave the area a cursory glance, and then led him forward, but Kinthek couldn¡¯t help but be in awe at the images and things that drifted past him. Were these his own thoughts? ¡°What are we looking for?¡± He asked, hurrying to catch up with the short girl. She pointed to herself, ¡°She¡¯s like me.¡± Kinthek nodded, ¡°it seems like it should be easy to find someone here.¡± He gestured out at the nothingness. Eliax snorted. ¡°That¡¯s what I thought.¡± She seemed bitter about something for some reason. ¡°Ah¡­ stay with me.¡± Kinthek¡¯s gaze had been diverted by an image of a strangely shaped altar, but he focused back on Eliax, ¡°What is this place? How can you even get here?¡± The bluish cast to her skin grew more prominent. Was that a blush? It was strange on her, but in a way it fit. ¡°It¡¯s the¡­ ah¡­ dream world?¡± she seemed slightly confused, ¡°I think that¡¯s what your people call it.¡± Kinthek nodded seriously, remembering legends about the crystal mountain that led to a world of dreams. She hadn¡¯t answered him on how she could get here though, which Kinthek felt was important information¡ªhe¡¯d tried to pay attention to the whole process as she¡¯d pulled him through a glowing circle of air, but all he¡¯d gotten from the experience was a headache. This was Eliax though, she probably had a good reason. ¡°Alright! I¡¯ll keep an eye out for people who look like you then!¡± Eliax nodded distractedly, her gaze following the line of the horizon. It was strange that this place even had a horizon. ¡°I¡¯m used to it¡­ looking different.¡± ¡°Like?¡± ¡°Ah, crystals, a lot of them.¡± He frowned, crystals? Just like the crystal mountain. Perhaps it was related? An image appeared to the side of a small furry creature, it evaporated after a moment, ¡°why is it different now then?¡± She shrugged. ¡°Depends on¡­ ah¡­ where you are.¡± ¡°And you¡¯re from far away.¡± Kinthek filled in. He was increasingly certain that she was from Arendi. Or maybe even Peldrin. What did people look like on Peldrin? They worshiped¡­ Stars above, Kinthek would have to ask Vespin again. Eliax nodded, adopting a slightly wistful look. ¡°Very, very far away.¡± - ¡°Ah!¡± Kinthek called, pointing to a figure laying in the distance, ¡°Is that her? The one you¡¯re looking for.¡± Eliax perked up, standing up taller, but it didn¡¯t seem like she could see them yet. ¡°Is she laying there?¡± Kinthek nodded, ¡°I think so, she¡¯s a bit far away though.¡± Eliax turned their trajectory without question, her gaze determined, possibly a bit nostalgic? Kinthek couldn¡¯t really tell, Eliax wasn¡¯t great with showing emotion. They moved forward, and the closer they got to whoever it was, the more Kinthek could tell that something was wrong. The figure wasn¡¯t moving. As they neared her, Kinthek was startled to realize she looked almost exactly like Eliax, the only difference being the peaceful expression, the thicker clothing, and the huge wound across her chest. Kinthek gasped as he saw it, rushing forward by instinct. He wasn¡¯t someone who knew medicine, but seeing someone hurt felt wrong. It seemed only right that he helped as soon as possible. But¡­ She still wasn¡¯t moving. Kinthek stopped a few paces away, glancing at Eliax as the girl moved forward without hesitation, examining the body. Yes¡­ now that he was closer he could see the lifeless eyes staring upward. Why did things have to always end so poorly? ¡°I¡¯m sorry¡­¡± Kinthek gave Eliax a sorrowful look, expecting her to seem if not mournful, at least respectful. But he found himself gaping at her as she shamelessly prodded at the body, clicking her tongue at it and squinting at the wound. ¡°What are you doing?!¡± his voice rose unexpectedly high at that. Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation. Eliax glanced at him, looking apologetic, but more toward him instead of the corpse. The corpse that looked quite a lot like Eliax. ¡°Was this your twin?¡± Kinthek asked, quieter. Perhaps Eliax had hated her? Eliax hesitated for a moment and then nodded, ¡°Yes.¡± She looked back down at the body, examining the wound, ¡°But she¡¯ll be fine.¡± Kinthek glanced between the unmoving, sightless, not breathing corpse, and the very much alive twelve year old. She didn¡¯t act like she was twelve, but Kinthek finally understood the fact that she was. This was¡ªwell maybe she didn¡¯t realize it. ¡°Eliax¡­ I¡¯m sorry, but I¡¯m pretty sure, she¡¯s dead.¡± Eliax nodded, ¡°yes, quite dead.¡± Kinthek furrowed his brow at her, ¡°Why are you treating her like that then!¡± She sighed, ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter. Just¡­ looking for something.¡± He frowned at her, but didn¡¯t interrupt as she finished looking her sister over before holding out a finger and drawing something in the air. Kinthek blinked as glowing lines and runes followed her finger. Not so much appearing as gathering. His eyes insisted they had been there all along, yet if that was true then there should have been thousands of the things floating about to see, he couldn¡¯t see anything. Kinthek had no idea how Eliax could do things like this. She¡¯d shaped earth, she could pretend that gravity didn¡¯t exist, she could take people to the realm of dreams. Abilities like that sounded like something that would take your whole soul to get with bloodbinding. You¡¯d go insane and then¡­ well Eliax wasn¡¯t a bloodbinder, he already knew she was something else, but whatever she was couldn¡¯t be any less dangerous. And yet she was a kid. When he¡¯d been her age, Kinthek had barely been able to even talk straight. She pressed the runes to her twin¡¯s chest before standing back up and meeting his eyes. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± ¡°Did you¡­ find it?¡± Eliax nodded. Kinthek peered at her hands, which were clasped together, ¡°What is it?¡± She tapped the side of her head in explanation, ¡°It¡¯s up here.¡± Which Kinthek felt wasn¡¯t nearly good enough. She was like a sky beast that way, constantly dodging confrontation until finally it was cornered. But as the sky beasts were, she¡¯d likely be the most unpredictable or dangerous once she was cornered. You had to wait for them to come to you. He glanced to the side as another image appeared, this time of two worlds orbiting each other. While he was distracted, Eliax started back the way they¡¯d come. ¡°Aren¡¯t we going to¡­ bury her or something?¡± Eliax glanced back at her twin, shaking her head, ¡°No, she¡¯d want to stay here.¡± She gestured forward again and started walking. ¡°Come on, we leave where we came in.¡± Kinthek frowned, ¡°Why?¡± Eliax seemed annoyed about something, ¡°Because Astral doesn¡¯t like me warping hundreds of miles of space.¡± Kinthek tilted his head, Astral¡­ that name sounded familiar, at least a bit. He wasn¡¯t entirely sure where, but Vespin had probably told it to him. The part about hundreds of miles of space was more disturbing though, ¡°Space is different here, right?¡± Eliax nodded absently, ¡°Not really space. It¡¯s¡­¡± she frowned in thought, seeking a suitable metaphor, ¡°It¡¯s the space between spaces. Something and Nothing. The barrier between them. It¡¯s the place of thoughts and connections. The between.¡± her words seemed more clear as her voice was imbued with passion for this. This was the first time Kinthek had heard her speak of something she seemed to care about. He gestured for her to continue, she blinked at him and made an odd noise, perhaps some mixture of laughter and pain. ¡°I¡­ ah¡­ Understand why your people would call it the dream realm, dreams are between sleep and wakefulness, they¡¯re thoughts but also pieces of the spirit, they¡¯re a lot like this place. I think dreams come from here. I mean¡­ nothing comes from here, but everything comes through here to get where it¡¯s going.¡± she gestured at an image that appeared, an enormous tree holding up the sky. ¡°It brings things together while also holding them apart from each other.¡± She looked sad about that last bit, perhaps thinking of someone she was apart from. She had to have a lot of those, right? Being so far from home? Or was she more like him, hardly able to remember the land she¡¯d been born into? ¡°So, this place is like a mind? It pulls things in and lets them out, sometimes changing them on the way. It connects things.¡± Eliax paused, and then nodded, understanding, ¡°Yes. Mostly I think.¡± Kinthek smiled, ¡°I kind of like it, it seems¡­ peaceful.¡± Her gaze sharpened suddenly, alert. ¡°don¡¯t do that.¡± He blinked, ¡°What?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t think of it as anything like that. It¡¯s best as a thought experiment.¡± Kinthek raised an eyebrow, ¡°Why?¡± ¡°You can stay in this place for as long as you want, but if you decide that you don¡¯t want to leave, it will¡­ change, and then it will never let you go.¡± She cringed, but her reaction wasn¡¯t strong enough for someone who had had personal experience with this. Eliax must have heard it from somewhere else. Or maybe she¡¯d had a friend of a friend go missing here. Or maybe it was a cultural thing. Kinthek mused over the possible reasons as Eliax continued, ¡°It¡¯s better to¡­ just not think about it like that.¡± He nodded, ¡°I¡¯ll remember that. Thank you.¡± ¡°I brought you here, it¡¯s my job to make sure you know how it works.¡± He sighed, ¡°No, that¡¯s for bringing me. I know there¡¯s something big about this situation you aren¡¯t telling me, but thank you for including me. I¡¯d like to be able to help with it, whatever you¡¯re dealing with.¡± He gestured back toward the lifeless form far behind them, ¡°I¡¯m sure you know what you¡¯re doing, but if she died¡­ well whatever it is, it¡¯s got to be dangerous, and I¡¯m sure you¡¯re not invincible.¡± Eliax smiled, but for some reason it seemed brittle; perhaps a bit angry. ¡°Yes, I¡¯m not invincible. Sometimes that¡¯s hard for parts of me to remember.¡± v3c7 - Denthen --- Denthen --- Eternal River, it may be noted, is a very eclectic village. It has exactly Three hundred, seventy people who call it home on a permanent basis¡ªnot counting the godless or soulless, obviously¡ªyet larger villages don¡¯t have local priests, or even such a reliable thunder crystal. By this, the astute listener would have put together that there must be something very important the village does for the world, otherwise it might have simply been swept off the map by a bored Aremolot or wandering monsters of the sky. And yet you would be wrong. Eternal River has nothing special to offer besides perhaps water, but other places can get that particular resource perfectly fine without having to deal with the locals. ¡ªsimply going downstream is the preferred method, though I have met a water smuggler who uses its inherent floatation to his advantage. I¡¯ll have to tell you about him someday, he¡¯s at least the twelfth most interesting person I know of. No, Eternal River subsists on exactly two things, Priest Vilvav Vespin, and the only thunder crystal within several hundred miles. It¡¯s only luck that the crystal was found so close to a river; with such a combination I¡¯ll be surprised if Eternal River isn¡¯t a sprawling metropolis in a few decades! It¡¯s a new village, and as such the people aren¡¯t yet as tied to it as the ancestral lands that their parents or grandparents hailed from. As such, the man known as Denthen had been born into Eternal River, he¡¯d lived there his entire life, twenty seven years of laboring under the sun, looking after plants, moving rocks, building walls and pathways. Twenty seven years of being tired of everything and looking forward to the day he was too old to do any of it. After that he could sit around all day and shout advice, perhaps take up weaving with his wife. It was an ideal world. In most ways. Denthen looked up from his work, feeling his eyes narrow to a point as he spotted the stranger. The godless stranger. She was just¡­ floating there, watching him like she didn¡¯t have a care in the world. Probably making fun of him in her head for having to do such backbreaking things while she just floated there with her strange godless abilities and even stranger face. How did people even float? He¡¯d heard of the Niortak of course, the people of the sky from the green world above. But not even they floated. Did they? Denthen didn¡¯t think they floated, but you never knew with bird people. Either way, it was unnatural to do something like that. The godless were unnatural, even the Niortak were unnatural. Denthen shuddered, turning back to his work, only to find that the stranger was suddenly standing in front of him. He glared at her, ¡°What?¡± She looked at him with that strange, expressionless gaze. ¡°I¡¯m sorry for our first meeting. I occasionally react on impulse and at the time I didn¡¯t have enough information.¡± Denthen scowled, ¡°Great, thanks. Now run along, do¡­ whatever it is that kids do all day.¡± She frowned slightly, ¡°Yes, I¡¯m well aware that I need to just grow up already. Can you at least sate my burning curiosity that begs from the edges of my mind, never to be filled without a single answer?¡± He furrowed his brow slightly, ¡°There¡¯s plenty of paper in the storage tent if you¡¯re looking to become a poet.¡± She actually smiled at that. Denthen got the sense that she didn¡¯t smile often. ¡°You didn¡¯t even ask what my question was.¡± He sighed, driving the shovel into the ground and leaving it there. ¡°Alright, what do you want, godless?¡± She rolled her eyes slightly, Denthen barely even caught it, but she did. ¡°Tell me, what is your story? I don¡¯t just want a summary, I want to know your motivations, your passions, your soul.¡± she paused, ¡°and ah¡­ I¡¯m sorry again for gravity-ing you.¡± If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. Denthen folded his arms, wondering why in the world she cared. It had to be a ploy of some sort, get him to lower his guard so she could¡­ poison him, or kill him, or rob him blind. But she was just a kid. Even if she did that strange thing again¡ªgravity-ing?¡ªhe¡¯d surely be able to deal with a single child. He frowned, looking at her harder, noting the worn clothing, the expression of slight boredom that masked rapt attention. And the eyes that¡­ squalls, those were the same eyes that Kinthek had. Not the same color or shape, no, the expression behind them, the weight. The age. Immortal. Denthen felt his jaw set as he regarded the ancient creature masquerading as a child. ¡°Why do you want to know?¡± Her eyes narrowed slightly, annoyed, ¡°because I don¡¯t like you. And spark me if I¡¯m going to let that keep going. I¡¯ve spent too long trapped in a fool who can barely¡­¡± she sighed, ¡°I¡¯m trying to get better, and discounting your existence out of hand won¡¯t help me do that. I¡¯d rather ignore you entirely, but then I won¡¯t get better.¡± There was something else. Denthen frowned, ¡°and?¡± ¡°And I have a¡­ friend who would kill to figure out what kind of life spat out someone like you. She has an obsession you see, with stories.¡± ¡°What makes you think I¡¯m so strange?¡± The godless stranger sighed, ¡°Everyone is odd. I¡¯ve never once heard a man¡¯s story and thought ¡®oh, that¡¯s such a well put together person, he¡¯s so normal he¡¯s practically leaking it!¡¯ I¡¯m sure there are people similar to you, but you aren¡¯t normal and neither are they. So are you telling me your story or do I have to hang you upside down from one of those weird shrubs?¡± He regarded her, feeling annoyed. He didn¡¯t want to be anything special. People who were special left Eternal River behind, and this life was perfect exactly the way it was. Even the soulless monster who was leaving soon wasn¡¯t that bad, he was the one all the abnormal things could be blamed on. If you couldn¡¯t blame him then you could blame the priest, or the old woman who practiced medicine, or the man who slept each night under the stars, or the young hunter who brought back the biggest kills. No one would be blaming abnormal things on Denthen. Never. Slightly baffled as the words came out, Denthen finally responded.¡°I think this is stupid. But you¡¯ll leave if I tell you about it, right?¡± She nodded. Denthen sighed, ¡°I was born here, in Eternal River. My parents moved here from The City of the Last, but they returned when my grandfather died and never looked back. Eternal River is all I¡¯ve ever known though, so I stayed.¡± He figured that was the most memorable thing he¡¯d done before, choosing to stay. The godless girl clicked her tongue, ¡°that¡¯s a good start but I need more details. Sparks Denthen, what¡¯s something you¡¯re passionate about?¡± Denthen stared at her for a moment, ¡°what does passion matter?¡± ¡°I¡¯m going to pretend you didn¡¯t say that and ask a different question. Sparks Denthen. Anyways, you had dreams as a kid, didn¡¯t you? What was your dream? Your drive?¡± He looked up at the sky, exasperated, ¡°Do I have to answer that?¡± ¡°Of course!¡± ¡°I¡­ wanted to be a famous carver. I loved woodworking, you see.¡± The godless child put her hands on her hips, ¡°Aaaannnddd? Elaborate already! Were you any good at it? What happened?¡± ¡°No, I was terrible. So I let the dream die, it was pointless anyway. How could I become famous in the middle of nowhere?¡± She seemed amused, at least partially. ¡°I know a minstrel who¡¯s music is sung across half a world, and yet no one recognises her when she goes out into those same cities. Famous is a strange thing.¡± She mused that for a moment, probably trying to get Denthen to think about it but he was mostly just wishing she would leave already. ¡°Either way, what about now, you¡¯re married right? Any kids?¡± Denthen stilled slightly, ¡°No, not yet.¡± That ¡®not yet¡¯ had been going on for the better part of ten years now. At this rate, Denthen would be more surprised if it ever did become real. The godless girl examined his expression, ¡°I¡¯m sorry.¡± Her voice was perfectly even, flat, lifeless. Did that mean she didn¡¯t care or was she just trying to show the proper sorrow for such a thing? Denthen was sad about it, but besides praying to Atharian occasionally or consulting the medicine woman, there wasn¡¯t much to be done. Well, those and there were always the obvious. Denthen suspected everyone occasionally thought about giving Atharian their soul for something like that. She continued staring at him, her gaze boring into him strangely, like she was seeing more than scales and expression. It was unnatural, but it was just another odd thing to blame on someone who was odd. v3c8 - Arendi and Arithren --- Eliax --- I frowned at Kinthek as he handed the Priest another bundle of those stems we were always searching for. He¡¯d said it was to pay off a debt when I asked, but no one had really told me what the stems were even for. My eyes tracked to Preist Vilvav Vespin, an old man who was at least in his eighties. That was older than I was if you thought about it as mental age, even if I hardly could think of myself as older than twelve at the moment. Sparking Fora never staying alive long enough for it to matter¡­ Either way, Vilvav Vespin was suspicious to me. He acted all nice but he was the one that Kinthek¡ªpresumably¡ªowed. In that light, perhaps I should make sure that he was going to honor his side of it? On the surface Vilvav seemed like a fairly good man, even if he never did any actual work and prayed at that shrine all day instead. He was old, no one really expected him to do any work. But it was to the point where he was tan only on the back of his bald head from how much bowing he did. Kinthek grinned at Vespin, ¡°Just two more bundles, right?¡± Vespin nodded with a smile, ¡°I¡¯ll count over them again tonight and account for the ones we used, but you¡¯re almost done.¡± Kinthek brightened visibly, practically vibrating as he nodded so fast I thought his head might come off. He rushed off, back toward the river even though the sun was starting to set so he¡¯d only get a few. He didn¡¯t ask if I wanted to come, I¡¯d said no earlier, too busy annoying Denthen. I turned toward Vespin as Kinthek rushed off, frowning at him, ¡°Do you want help counting those?¡± If he refused then I¡¯d have to find some other way to figure out how many Kinthek had gathered. Vespin turned his grandfatherly smile on me, ¡°Of course, I¡¯d never say no to another set of hands. But I thought you said I made you uncomfortable?¡± I shrugged, not refuting the statement, ¡°You¡¯re odd, people aren¡¯t meant to spend all day at a shrine, talking to a god who might not even be listening.¡± Vespin¡¯s eyes sparkled slightly and he waved me toward the storage tent as he started down the path, ¡°You have a god of your own, don¡¯t you?¡± I shrugged again, not meeting his eyes. Part of me was still uncomfortable with anything related to deity. I hadn¡¯t realized how odd that might be here, where practically everyone knew at least five different gods off the top of their heads. Gium had taken more from us than just our histories. ¡°I do.¡± He nodded as I pulled open the tent and ducked in in front of me. ¡°Then you know that barely any of them say much unless it¡¯s important. They always listen though.¡± I remembered Fora¡¯s sight, laying on the ground as three gods argued above her. Two of them had been at least mostly on her side. I hadn¡¯t realized just how much the two of us had needed to see that, to know that, to hear the words of the argument itself. Fora focused mostly on the emotion of it, the sensation and direct cause and effect. But I was Eliax, I was the quiet thinker that she occasionally became. I saw the longterm, the logic. Three gods arguing was different for me, I could almost see their power radiating outward when I remembered it. I shuddered slightly, ¡°I know they can hear.¡± with such power and strength, there was no way that they couldn¡¯t hear. ¡°I just don¡¯t know that they actually listen.¡± ¡°I suppose I can see that perspective.¡± I frowned, ¡°but¡­¡± I sighed as he gestured for me to pause for a moment. The Larborak had a lot of gestures with their language, which is part of what made it hard for me to figure out how to speak back, even with the inexplicable translation ability. Vilvav led me to a large pile of dried reeds, gesturing toward them. The two of us sat down and he started picking up bundles and inspecting them. ¡°We count based on amount, not damage. Kinthek¡¯s agreement was to gather seventeen thousand bundles, if they were damaged during our care then it¡¯s not on him.¡± he set down the bundle, ¡°so far two thousand seven hundred and thirty three of those have cracked beyond use, I managed to get some out of a few of those but the rest were thrown out.¡± He picked up a new bundle. ¡°Four thousand sixty-three of them have been used properly, and none of those ones remain.¡± The Priest then gestured at the piles and piles of stems. ¡°This was roughly ten thousand at last count, which was just a few months ago.¡± I picked up a bundle, glancing at the ones he¡¯d gone through and comparing them. That one had a crack down the center, but he didn¡¯t seem concerned about it, and this one here had a little patch of mold since it hadn¡¯t dried out all the way. Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings. I tilted my head and sat down on a box across from Vespin, going through the stacks. ¡°Alright.¡± ¡°No questions?¡± Vespin asked, picking up another bundle. I shook my head, ¡°It seems straightforward.¡± He smiled, ¡°What were you saying then?¡± ¡°How am I supposed to know that a god actually cares about what he hears? How do I know that he has my best interests at heart?¡± Vespin examined a specific stem for a moment, humming in thought, ¡°Well, you wouldn¡¯t know, now would you?¡± ¡°I feel like that matters?¡± Vespin nodded, his gaze a bit wistful. ¡°Sometimes I wonder that too, but in the end all you can do is trust that he does. Who is your patron, if you don¡¯t mind me asking?¡± I sighed, ¡°Astral, the god of Balance.¡± Vespin adopted a strange look, ¡°Really? I would have thought Alner, the god of Protectors.¡± I raised an eyebrow at him, remembering that name as one Turste had said a lot, Netun had later mentioned him as well, ¡°Why, exactly?¡± ¡°You look like his people do.¡± I furrowed my brow slightly, the Alanerea, the people who¡¯d been turned into mushrooms. ¡°You¡¯ve met them?¡± That was the only explanation I could think of on the spot. He shook his head, ¡°No, I¡¯ve just heard about them. There was a depiction in one of my teacher¡¯s books.¡± How in the world had that gotten here? I shook my head slightly, ¡°No, I don¡¯t know anything about Alner.¡± ¡°So you didn¡¯t simply switch paths?¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°You didn¡¯t choose a different god from your parents?¡± I sighed, ¡°Why would that matter?¡± Vespin gave me a curious look, ¡°So you don¡¯t know anything about paths? I suppose where you¡¯re from there aren¡¯t many?¡± ¡°Ah¡­ no, not many.¡± As in none, Gium hadn¡¯t exactly encouraged people to worship him, and no one had really known anything about other gods. Vespin nodded, thoughtful, ¡°And you don¡¯t know about Everything? Or Anything? Or the legend of Null?¡± I shook my head slowly, baffled. ¡°Could you tell me? Or are you just going to nod to yourself about this piece of information you have over me, decide that I didn¡¯t deserve to know either way.¡± Vespin laughed, ¡°No, no, I¡¯ll tell you, I¡¯m just trying to gauge how much there is to tell first, that way you won¡¯t be constantly asking for explanations. I know that Alner looks like you do, and so his people do too. Atharian looks as I do, and so do we as the Larborak. Rendai looks as the Niortak do. Every person resembles their god.¡± I opened my mouth and closed it again. ¡°What?!¡± I looked down at my hands, half expecting them to have changed since I last looked at them, ¡°Does that mean I¡¯ll start to look like Astral?!¡± ¡°That¡¯s something you should ask your patron.¡± I cringed, not knowing how to even begin to imagine the horror of changing myself that drastically. Though¡­ with rebirth we should be able to change anything that happened to us back¡­ right? I glanced at Vespin¡¯s tail, remembering that Astral had one too. Nope nope, I didn¡¯t want a sparking tail. ¡°Okay okay, please start from the beginning.¡± I needed something else to distract my mind from¡­ that. He nodded, and at long last began a tale, ¡°It¡¯s not complete, I don¡¯t think there is any complete version out there. I tell you this so you won¡¯t call me a liar when you find a different piece of the story somewhere. Once, there were two worlds, Arendi and Arithren, but long before they existed, there was something more.¡± --- Runesight --- The creation story of the twin planets is by no means unique, but I find it strange that it¡¯s one of the only ones I¡¯ve ever found to mention what things were like before their existence. But such is the nature of Prosperity and Sacrifice, both view themselves as temporary. When life is temporary, when the world itself is temporary, well, you tend to ask questions like this more often. Anything can happen. Anything will happen. Anything might happen. Anything is possible. As such, in the beginning there was ANYTHING, and then there was EVERYTHING. Everything is what is and Anything is what will be. The two Gods created two worlds, and in so doing set about a balance for them, an orbit so precarious and yet so perfect. As such, BALANCE was drawn from his world, the even weight that is impossible to disturb. BALANCE, named Astral, shaped the worlds with his might, and yet his very nature leaves him unable to make anything but the slightest changes. The first world bloomed with growth and nature, and he named it Arendi. The second world drew dust and pain, and he named it Arithren. The two worlds grew, separate but connected. They became populated by plants and animals, mountains and hills, oceans and air. And so two gods were born together, both at once, PROSPERITY and SACRIFICE. Rendai and Atharian, both after their respective worlds. There was an order to this, a peace and connection that defies reasoning. It drew a fourth god, one who was wordless. ORDER was similar to BALANCE in a sense, however, the two of them were not. They fought time and time again, arguing over the sake of the two new worlds. Until finally, ORDER took his people and left the budding worlds behind. In his absence, CHAOS and WAR crept in, seeking to destabilize the twin worlds and cause anarchy. And so it was that Rendai and Atharian began to argue. Their arguments shaped monsters and a storm, a whirlwind of death that circled between the two of them. Only by Astral, their father, was any peace to be found. And so it continues to this day. v3c9 - The Ending of Stems --- Vilvav Vespin --- Vilvav paused as he looked over the remains of the pile, feeling a smile spread across his face. ¡°Well, it seems like our friend Kinthek has been gathering more than we thought.¡± Eliax, as impassive as always, nodded, giving him a suspicious look. ¡°He¡¯s at least twenty bundles over the number.¡± Vilvav nodded, still smiling pleasantly, squalls, ten years flew by fast. He still remembered when he¡¯d first met Kinthek, after being called all the way out to the city of Starlight. ¡°Yes,¡± Vilvav agreed, ¡°I think perhaps he hasn¡¯t been counting them quite right. He¡¯ll be happy though, this means he¡¯s done.¡± Eliax was silent for a moment, ¡°Whatever happened anyway, why does he owe you so many bundles of this stuff? What are they even for?¡± Vilvav tilted his head at her, ¡°You¡¯ve been here for two weeks and this is the first you¡¯re asking that?¡± The slight blue tint to her face intensified slightly in a blush, ¡°ah¡­ yes?¡± He chuckled, ¡°Faroot is for the thunder crystal. It¡¯s full of vitality and energy, and with a skilled life force, I can move that vitality into myself or things like thunder crystals. Plants like this faroot are extremely important for a priest like myself to have on hand.¡± ¡°So it¡¯s like a¡­ mana battery.¡± That last bit was a word Vilvav wasn¡¯t familiar with, though Eliax was mostly muttering to herself so he didn¡¯t ask. ¡°And what did he do to owe you seventeen thousand bundles?¡± ¡°Kinthek may seem like a calm individual now, but¡­ well, ten years ago I was called off to the City of Starlight, being the closest priest to the area. You see, a precocious young boy had somehow managed to not only find the city¡¯s thunder crystal, but he also took the time and effort to dig the whole thing up before shattering it piece by piece.¡± Eliax blinked at him, ¡°ah¡­ did he ever say why?¡± Vilvav shook his head, ¡°Never. I used to ask almost every day.¡± ¡°Wow. And he was what, five? Seven? That¡¯s a bit intense.¡± Vilvav opened his mouth and closed it again, she didn¡¯t know? Was that the only reason she was alright with being friends with the poor kid? Or was it the constant awe of younger children for older children, even if she didn¡¯t act much like other kids. ¡°Eliax, do you not know what the Red Curse is?¡± Vilvav contemplated leaving it at that, even if she didn¡¯t know. Kinthek didn¡¯t have anyone on his side, Vilvav himself barely counted. It felt wrong to possibly get in the way of that. She blinked at him, ¡°It¡¯s the reason he has red hair, right? Some ancestor sold his soul and the hair got passed down to him?¡± Vilvav frowned slightly, ¡°Yes¡­ but do you know what he sold his soul for? All sacrifice has two ways.¡± he felt himself shift almost immediately into teacher mode. He hadn¡¯t used that mode on anyone besides Kinthek since his son left¡­ She thought for a moment before shaking her head, ¡°No, I¡¯ve got nothing.¡± Vilvav looked back down at the bundles of faroot, worrying once again that he was about to cost Kinthek his only friend. It wasn¡¯t common that people didn¡¯t already know what the red hair meant, and very few of those would stick around long enough to find out in such a way. But¡­ well Eliax deserved to know, didn¡¯t she? ¡°The Red Curse asked for¡ªor rather he demanded¡ªthat his life be extended. He would have lived twice the length that the world prepared for him.¡± Vilvav kept an eye on Eliax¡¯s expression as he continued, ¡°And so his descendants have the same. Kinthek mentally and physically is about fifteen or sixteen. But he¡¯s been in this world for thirty one years.¡± Eliax blinked at him. Her face hardly showed anything but surprise, which didn¡¯t help Vilvav¡¯s anxiety any. ¡°Oh! Well that¡¯s great then! I was worried for a second.¡± Vilvav blinked back at her, incredulous. She wasn¡¯t going to get mad? She wasn¡¯t going to start calling Kinthek slurs or vow that she never speak to him again? ¡°You were¡­ worried?¡± ¡°From how serious you were making it, I half expected you to say that he eats people or something. I don¡¯t really care either way in a practical sense. Out of curiosity though, is that what most people who sell their souls ask for? Immortality?¡± Vilvav stared at her for several seconds, suddenly worried that she would be after that. He¡¯d never heard of someone so young even knowing much about her own mortality, but¡­ ¡°You don¡¯t plan on trying it, right?¡± She rolled her eyes, ¡°Immortality sounds like far too much existing.¡± The priest massaged his temples, wrong again. ¡°Well, I suppose I¡¯m glad about that. But yes, in practically every case I¡¯ve heard of, the person in question asked for some kind or another of longer life.¡± ¡°Huh.¡± The two of them sat there for a long moment, Vilvav frowning slightly at Eliax, wondering what in the world she wasn¡¯t telling him. It wasn¡¯t that she was hiding something, but he was sure that she hadn¡¯t explained her reasons properly. This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon. With a sigh, Vilvav stood up, feeling his back pop in both a satisfying and painful manner¡ªit was becoming more clear the older he got why so many priests misused life force just to soothe some aches¡­ ow ow ow¡­ the pain faded somewhat and he stretched his back again, pleased that it was back to normal again. He gestured toward the door, ¡°Why don¡¯t you go find young Kinthek, tell him to come here.¡± Eliax had her head tilted as she watched his back, ¡°In a second. Why are your bones so crackly?¡± Vilvav chuckled, ¡°I¡¯m old, practically ancient enough to have been there for the dawn of Anything by your standards.¡± She seemed amused about something as she finally exited the tent. --- Eliax --- I blinked away the teleportation haze, peering up and down the river. I didn¡¯t see Kinthek on this stretch either, which was odd. He couldn¡¯t have gotten too far in just a few hours, could he? I shook my head and teleported further downstream, trying out a half remembered locator spell as I continued onward. Locator spells, even though they were technically mostly dimensionalism, had more in common with mental enhancements in structure, and I sucked at those. So as predicted, the spell fizzled out after a moment. Sparking¡­ I peered up and down the next stretch of river, frowning. If he¡¯d gone and gotten himself killed when he¡¯d finally paid off his debt, then I¡¯d feel bad about it. I didn¡¯t like feeling bad about things. It made me¡­ ah¡­ feel bad. I glared at the floating water for a moment before shaking my head and teleporting again. I only had a few pieces of the river route memorized, which was sloppy on my part, plus it was mostly dark by now too. There were holes in my search, so the idea that he¡¯d slipped through one of them was far too possible to let me comfortably keep going. I sighed, internally calculating the energy drain. I was at about half maximum simply because it was so late in the day, as well as those teleports earlier. If I started flying then the sheer amount of distortions necessary would drop that remaining energy like a stone. And there was no guarantee that I would even find him if I started flying. I glared up at the sky, then looked back at the water, which was starting to glow in the area closest to me. Odd. I shook my head, jumping into the air and bending the space around me. Screw it. I started to fall back down, and a quick teleport into the air above me, as well as a small hesitant time distortion¡ªI was still pretty bad at those¡ªslowed my fall enough to leave me mostly hovering there as I peered at the land below. He definitely wasn¡¯t on this stretch, but I couldn¡¯t look farther out until I turned around first. If he beat me back somehow then I would never live it down. So, with a sigh, I pushed myself quickly back toward Eternal River. - It was a relief when I finally found him, at least it was on my part. Kinthek¡¯s panicked expression when I fell out of the sky in front of him was anything but relieved. ¡°Eliax!¡± his voice went surprisingly high there. Now that I thought about it, the fact that his voice seemed so mature at only fifteen should have clued me in a bit earlier that he wasn¡¯t aging like a regular person. Didn¡¯t most boys have that voice-awkward stage about that age or was that earlier? I grinned at him, ¡°Kinthek.¡± He looked up at the sky, suddenly anxious, probably worried that other people were about to start falling from it. ¡°Eliax where in the world did you come from?!¡± I followed his gaze upward, ¡°The sky. I thought you were watching!¡± ¡°I wasn¡¯t- Since when can you randomly fall from the sky?!¡± he paused, ¡°Are you alright?¡± I rolled my eyes, of course that¡¯s what he was asking. ¡°Yes, I¡¯m fine, flying isn¡¯t nearly as difficult as most people seem to think. Besides, I actually found you, didn¡¯t I?¡± ¡°You can fly?!?!¡± ¡°Not as well as I¡¯d prefer, but technically yes.¡± Kinthek stared at me for several seconds before shaking his head, his gaze still baffled, ¡°You know, I really should have realized when I first met you that you wouldn¡¯t make any sense. Stars, I¡¯m used to being the one that no one can understand! I didn¡¯t realize there were people worse than me!¡± I grinned, ¡°Hang around me long enough and it¡¯ll just get more weird!¡± He smiled back, ¡°Somehow I find that comforting.¡± I gestured toward the village, ¡°Let¡¯s go, That Vespin guy has some good news for you.¡± He perked up visibly at that, probably guessing the nature of the news, ¡°Really! I¡¯m done then?¡± He hefted the bundle on his back, and the several hours I¡¯d spent staring at mostly identical ones had me shuddering slightly. ¡°I refuse to confirm or deny anything!¡± I started up the river, Kinthek following behind without question. ¡°But I had an interesting conversation with him before coming to get you.¡± Kinthek raised an eyebrow, ¡°yeah?¡± He probably thought it was about something stupid. I usually only made stupid observations out loud. I glanced at him, ¡°Why didn¡¯t you ever tell me that you¡¯re secretly thirty! That¡¯s completely unfair.¡± He blinked at me, his gaze suddenly nervous, ¡°ah¡­ you didn¡¯t know that?¡± ¡°Sparks no! You look like a child!¡± ¡°I look like a young man!¡± ¡°I¡¯m an expert on what counts as a child, and let me tell you, the world doesn¡¯t care as long as you look like one.¡± He gave me a curious glance, ¡°You aren¡¯t¡­ going to start calling me soulless or demon spawn? No shoe throwing or shouting?¡± I rolled my eyes, sparking people in this world, sparking afraid of magic¡­ they didn¡¯t even have a word for magic, which just resulted in annoyingly complicated explanations. As far as I was concerned, this was only a symptom of the problem. ¡°Kinthek, if I hated you because you¡¯ll live longer than everyone else, then I would be a hypocrite. I¡¯m sorry that you¡¯ve had to deal with all those things.¡± He opened his mouth, and then closed it again, ¡°Hypocrite? Why?¡± ¡°Kinthek, mentally I¡¯m more than twice your actual age.¡± v3c10 - The greatest Lack --- Kinthek --- ¡°Mentally, I¡¯m more than twice your actual age.¡± the words echoed through Kinthek¡¯s head, bouncing around unhelpfully as reasons and implications followed in their wake. Possibility one: she was also soulless. Impossible, she wasn¡¯t even a Larborak, nor did she have red hair. Possibility two: the god she¡¯s bound to gave her a strange ability. Unlikely, to Kinthek¡¯s knowledge the gods were finicky with giving out powers and she had a million of them. Possibility three: she stole powers somehow or won a bargain. He hadn¡¯t heard of anyone actually winning a bargain with demons, but he did know they existed. So¡­ maybe. Possibility four: her abilities as they were were the natural untamed gift somehow leashed. Kinthek hadn¡¯t realized that could be possible, but odd things happened in the world. He labeled that as another maybe. Possibility five: she was secretly a god herself or a vessel. Unlikely, most people could tell immediately if there was something that powerful in front of them. Possibility six: wherever she¡¯s from, the rules are vastly different in such a way that Kinthek would need more information. That last one seemed the most likely. She stared at him. ¡°Sparks that¡¯s awkward.¡± He stared at her. ¡°So¡­ are you going to explain?¡± ¡°Well that was the plan but you¡¯re giving me that look. I expected you to start guessing. Which admittedly would have been entertaining.¡± She paused for a moment and then nodded, ¡°Yeah I don¡¯t think you would have gotten the right answer anyway.¡± He gestured for her to continue, so Eliax nodded, ¡°I have an ability called Rebirth. Basically, whenever I die, my body is taken to the Dream Realm. After a while¡ªthe time depends on how damaged it was¡ªI wake up again, back to being around twelve.¡± Kinthek opened his mouth, remembering the dead child that had looked quite a lot like Eliax, ¡°So, when you took me there to look for something? Your dead twin?¡± She nodded, wincing slightly, ¡°I¡¯m a clone, my original self died because she was doing something stupid. She¡¯ll be back in a few days.¡± Kinthek put a hand to his head, ¡°Stars, I¡­ I¡¯m so sorry.¡± Eliax seemed surprised for some reason, ¡°Why?¡± He frowned, trying to put his thoughts into words, ¡°Living forever, it¡¯s more a curse than a blessing. I¡¯ve known my whole life that I would outlive everyone. Most people with the red curse live nearly two hundred years. But you¡­ you¡¯ll outlive even that.¡± She smiled sadly, ¡°Yes, I will. It¡¯s only starting really, my mind is living there already most of the time. But it¡¯s not all bad if I remember there are still things for me to do, still goals to reach and places to discover. Then, if I end up dying for good one day, at least I¡¯ll be able to say that I accepted that a long time ago.¡± She paused, ¡°My journey just¡­ seems like it¡¯s going to be a lot longer than everyone else''s. It¡¯s not a bad thing, it just means I¡¯ll have a lot more time to lose my mind.¡± He stared at her for a long moment. ¡°What?¡± He blinked, ¡°oh, sorry, just trying to see if I can tell that you¡¯re some kind of projection. Are you¡­ different from your real self?¡± She glanced downward, ¡°I¡­ well Fora has some mental problems I think¡ªthat¡¯s her name, my¡­ real self. I¡¯m completely separate from her in personality, ideals, and short term goals. We¡¯re practically different people.¡± Kinthek sighed, looking downward, ¡°sorry, I keep bringing up things like that, you don¡¯t have to talk about it, you know?¡± Eliax glared at him, putting her hands on her hips, ¡°I like doing things like this. I like talking about myself in a setting like this. I like explaining my reasons and finding out who I really am on the inside.¡± She hesitated, ¡°but don¡¯t let this get in the way of how you see me, okay? I¡¯m still the same Eliax you¡¯ve known for the last few weeks. Even if I¡¯m not quite real and even if I¡¯m secretly super old. I¡¯m still the same, you just know part of why I¡¯m so weird now.¡± Kinthek smiled, ¡°only part?¡± She nodded curtly, ¡°The rest is because I¡¯m just built different. It¡¯s okay, not everyone can be as cool as me.¡± She said it with a completely straight face, hardly even adjusting her posture to indicate it was a joke. Kinthek laughed. The slight tension that was built up in his friend bled away. -- Kinthek smiled at Vespin, holding up the last bundle, ¡°I¡¯d give this to you, but Eliax tells me I was over the number! Can you believe that!¡± The old priest laughed slightly, ¡°do you want the twenty back or do I get to keep them? I¡¯m sure after all that life force training you could use them too.¡± Kinthek stilled slightly, setting down the bundle and giving Vespin a slightly uneasy look, ¡°I¡­ don¡¯t think any village will let me near their thunder crystal ever again. Even if I prove I can recharge it.¡± Vespin raised an eyebrow. ¡°I see. But out of curiosity, what did you think the shrine was built atop?¡± Kinthek felt his eyes bug out at the admission, feeling his head snap toward the shrine, ¡°WHAT? You were letting me go there every day?! Even after what I did?!¡± The priest chuckled slightly, but didn¡¯t even really answer the accusation, ¡°I trusted you more than you trusted yourself I see.¡± Which was pretentious as the stars themselves. Vespin nodded to himself, ¡°You¡¯ll be leaving then?¡± Eliax glanced at them at that, apparently not ignoring them as Kinthek had assumed. Kinthek scratched the back of his head, ¡°Ah¡­ yeah, I think tomorrow would be best, right?¡± Vespin nodded, ¡°Tomorrow it is then.¡± Eliax nodded as well, seeming contemplative for some reason. -- Kinthek knelt at the shrine, just hours before he was meant to leave. His head wasn¡¯t bowed, his eyes weren¡¯t closed. Instead he simply stared at the altar, feeling lost. ¡°I¡­¡± He swallowed, ¡°I¡¯m leaving soon.¡± He felt something, it could have just been him, but it seemed like the very air was growing more still. He looked up at the stone arch, ¡°I¡¯m here to claim my life force, I¡¯m here to join the legion of travelers. In that I vow that¡­ that whenever I am able I will find a shrine, when I am not I will give in my heart. For this the¡­ the agreement as old as Sacrifice is spun in my heart.¡± He swallowed again, hoping he wasn¡¯t missing any words. He knew it didn¡¯t really matter if some parts were off, as long as Atharian knew your intent. If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. He felt that stillness increase, ¡°And for all this, I simply request the power of life force. My dedication these past years should begin it and fill in the gaps.¡± The stillness completed itself. It seemed as if the whole world was holding its breath. Kinthek did too, just in case that helped. And then a voice spoke from somewhere both near and far at once, ¡°I see.¡± Kinthek tried not to jump, but he didn¡¯t think he succeeded. The voice continued, it was deep, deep enough that Kinthek could hardly fathom its depths. ¡°Your request is granted. Life force for your time. I wish you luck, Kinthek Korelli.¡± And then it was gone. Kinthek felt himself shuddering slightly as something was placed inside him. --- Eliax --- I entered the piece of the Between that represented our mind. It seemed much more chaotic than the last time I¡¯d come here, probably because Fora was currently dead, but also because I hadn¡¯t checked up on it for weeks before that, leaving Fora to do most of the organizing herself. It wasn¡¯t that I didn¡¯t understand her system, it made sense. But the system was less a system and more ¡®let¡¯s shove everything I don¡¯t want to deal with in here without putting anything away.¡¯ It wasn¡¯t annoying, per se, but it just led me to once again being disappointed in Fora. I was tired of doing that, one of these days my expectations would get the memo and stop going so high. Either way, the space was chaotic as I stepped inside it. I took a moment to gather my thoughts, my instinct was to immediately yell at Fora, but she was dead at the moment. My other instinct was to fix the place, but then I¡¯d probably have Fora constantly complaining when she got back that she couldn¡¯t find anything. Annoyingly, she would be back in a day or two, and that wouldn¡¯t even give me enough time to sort through everything we¡¯d taken with us from Virna. I sighed. Instead, I looked through things, peering into corners and moving aside various crystals until I came across an intact set of communication crystals. I wasn¡¯t sure if this world had a deadzone like Virna¡¯s Yera, but even if it did, the crystals would still vibrate when told to. It was just that the spoken words wouldn¡¯t go through. I pocketed the crystals and kept searching before eventually coming across two vials of healing potion. They were the potent kind, and I had a whole shelf of them. I pocketed these as well before wandering about the space, letting my mind wander. What else was there¡­ I poked my head into a hollowed out section of the crystalline rock¡ªit was strange to me how my personal section of the between looked like Virna¡¯s when nothing else here did¡ªAfter a bit of rummaging I pulled out one of my old expanded bags. I stared at it for a minute. I stared at it for a bit longer. I made a sound reminiscent of a growl and tore out the spell I¡¯d long ago bound to it, letting it unravel harmlessly in my hands and disperse into the between around me. Sparking amateur crafting¡­ I shoved some things off the desk and sat down beside the small bag, pulling out a jeweler''s lens and some tweezers. This would take a while to fix. Several hours later, I turned the spell around with one hand, the other hand still holding the magically charged tweezers. I¡¯d long since stuck the lens to my face with some old goggles, and I probably looked a sight as I slowly pushed the different runes into place. After a second of staring at it to be sure nothing was missing, I placed my hand over the whole of the rune, ¡°You are one.¡± I spoke to it in a whisper willed with energies. The rune obediently tightened beneath my grip. When I took my hand away, it was more stable, even when I ran the still magic-covered tweezers across the spell, it didn¡¯t waver. Hesitantly, I set them down and tapped at it a few times. I couldn¡¯t feel it really, but the binding held against the ripples of magic I sent at it. Good, it should last through dimensional ripples. As long as no one specifically targeted the bag it would be fine. I sighed and stood up, stretching my back and setting the potions and crystals inside. The things I do for people¡­ I wrote a quick note and some instructions and put them inside before taking one half of the communication crystal set and putting it on a piece of the five sectioned recording system I¡¯d set up. I would try to check it every few days if I wasn¡¯t carrying it on me. Either that or I¡¯d try and get Fora to look after it, but the probability of it getting lost in that case was unfortunately high if she herself didn¡¯t have an emotional tie to the object. I shook my head and exited the space, bag in hand. - When I stepped back into reality, the sun was high in the sky. I¡¯d entered the between before dark. Sparks, Kinthek had better not have left already, the sparking man seemed so carefree half the time¡­ I glanced around the area before spotting that Vilvav guy, walking toward the shrine. I caught up to him, matching his pace, ¡°did Kinthek leave already?¡± Vilvav smiled, ¡°He¡¯s at the shrine, asking Atharian for safe travels. I think he should be done soon, it¡¯s why I¡¯m returning now.¡± I frowned at him, ¡°don¡¯t you usually pray with him?¡± The priest shrugged, looking down the path as he started up the steps. ¡°A prayer of travelers is best done alone. They¡¯re quick though, he should be finished any minute now.¡± Sure enough, Kinthek was standing up and bowing to the shrine when we entered the area. He seemed more frazzled than usual and¡ª I gaped at him, I could see his soul. We hadn¡¯t been able to see very many people¡¯s souls here, and neither Fora nor I had any idea why. I could see Vilvav¡¯s, and a few of the villagers, but before this moment, Kinthek¡¯s soul had been impossible to make out, just a vague sightless blur to my senses. It looked like a regular soul without any affinities, but it had the same piece that Vilvav did. It was a simple thing, really, but it seemed a bit like a luck spell. I hadn¡¯t seen many of them, but they did exist. I gaped at him for a whole three heartbeats as the priest asked him how it went. Kinthek seemed nervous, ¡°It went well I think, he accepted at least. I don¡¯t really feel very different though, are you sure anything happened?¡± I stared at his soul, mapping out the shape and color of the glow, taking in the way its runes curved this way and that. Vilvav spoke, smiling, ¡°That¡¯s great then! That means it worked. It¡¯s hard to feel anything at first, but now you can give energy to thunder stones and take vitality from plants. It makes you stronger too, more hardy. You don¡¯t heal any faster though so try not to do anything dumb!¡± Kinthek smiled, ¡°I¡¯ll try not to, but I can¡¯t say for sure if that¡¯ll work out very well.¡± I kept staring, my mind going over one particular section over and over¡­ Sparks wasn¡¯t that¡­ ¡°Oh, I don¡¯t doubt that you can¡¯t be sure, but squalls Kinthek, just try to keep yourself in at most two pieces, alright?¡± Kinthek grinned, his gaze moved over to me, ¡°ah¡­ Eliax, are you alright?¡± I blinked at him, finally realizing I¡¯d been spaced out for most of that, ¡°oh, sorry I¡¯m just surprised, I couldn¡¯t see your soul before.¡± Kinthek froze slightly, touching his hair, ¡°I¡­¡± I blinked at him, ¡°oh, no no, it¡¯s not like that. I mean, I can see people¡¯s souls. But here it seems like it¡¯s only certain people, I couldn¡¯t see yours before but now I can.¡± Vilvav frowned at me, glancing at Kinthek and then back at myself. ¡°You can see souls?¡± I nodded, ¡°Ah¡­ sparks sorry. Kinthek, if it helps, your soul looks just the same as everyone else''s. It¡¯s regular sized and it¡¯s not even damaged, which I¡¯ve found is far too common for practically everyone everywhere.¡± Kinthek opened his mouth and closed it again, his expression seemed to actually be surprised, ¡°That¡¯s¡­ thank you, Eliax, that¡¯s really good to know.¡± I smiled and held out the dimensional bag, ¡°I made this for you, it¡¯s bigger on the inside than the outside. I¡¯m going to stay here for a while to¡­ settle some things, but there¡¯s a way to contact me inside.¡± Kinthek blinked at it, he seemed to have tears in his eyes, ¡°Oh, Eliax, you didn¡¯t have to¡­¡± I held it out more insistently until he took it. I nodded at him, ¡°You¡¯ve better not die, you hear me? I learned something important from your soul, and I¡¯m not going to just ignore it, you hear me?!¡± Kinthek was examining the bag, but he met my eyes again, ¡°I¡¯ll stay in at most two pieces, just like Vespin said.¡± I nodded, that was good enough. v3c11 - Assumptions --- Fora --- I let out a long, content sigh as I opened my eyes and took a deep breath. I smiled, grinning up at the city wall above me. Apparently I¡¯d fallen off it before actually dying. ~Sparks, Eliax, did you see how big that thing was?! It was big enough to swallow Reiaran whole!~ I paused, frowning up at the city, ~how in the world is this place still standing?~ Eliax sent annoyance, as she was prone to doing. ~Fora¡­ You know what, how about you just come here? I¡¯m in the between space.~ I sighed, looking up at the baffled guards who were peering down at me from the wall. ~Alright, alright¡­~ I drew a quick circle in the dirt with my feet, which wasn¡¯t really very effective, but I didn¡¯t have much else I could make do with. A moment later I was blinking away spots in my vision¡ªa consequence of the imperfect circle¡ªand meeting the eyes of my annoyed clone. She had a stack of books in front of her, and quite a few thinweave seeds that I certainly didn¡¯t remember putting in here. She tapped her fingers on one of the books in a pattern, her expressionless gaze boring into my soul. ¡°Eliax¡­¡± I started, giving the seeds a wary look, ¡°What are you doing exactly?¡± I took an instinctual step away from her, eyeing the seeds as my eyes grew wider. She tapped the book a few times before opening it up. I finally realized that it was a book about the magical use of plants and animals. She turned to a specific page and started reading aloud. ¡°¡®Thinweave leaves¡ªin contrast to the roots¡ªwhen prepared properly have the strange ability to manipulate time in a similar way to the roots. However, instead of forcing the body to go through years without experience, it places the body itself in stasis for those years, forcing it to grow older naturally. This experience is in a way more in line with spacial magics than time magics.¡¯¡± She looked up from the book, still meeting my eyes with that annoyed glare. ¡°I looked into it as much as I could, and this method won¡¯t leave you addicted. I think it was the time magic involved last time that did it.¡± I took another two steps back from my absolutely insane clone, ¡°no no no, that is wayyy too risky.¡± She raised an eyebrow, ¡°more risky than literally dying becuase you wanted to see what exactly people were talking about when they said ¡®beasts?¡¯ Sparks Fora, you aren¡¯t the only one who gets impacted by this type of thing you know? I want to grow up.¡± she slammed the book shut. I swallowed thickly, ¡°We grew up before, there¡¯s not much different now, just more unfamiliar dangers, I¡¯m sure I¡­¡± I trailed off at the look she was giving me and glanced downward. Sparks. ¡°Do you honestly think that you can refrain from doing something stupid for at least ten years without me there in your head to take over and stop you?¡± She sighed, ¡°and it¡¯s not that much a bad thing to keep on dying from stupid things, but Fora, I want to be able to get older. Can you just¡­ not? For just eight years? Ten if you can? Maybe longer?¡± I looked at her, feeling myself deflate at the words. I¡­ Sparks. Eliax was trying, she was trying her hardest to find a solution that didn¡¯t leave both of us miserable. I shuddered slightly and sat down, sighing. You¡¯re so stupid, why can¡¯t you think about more than just you? Eliax is here too. And what about the people in that city? You just died. You can¡¯t even say that you were doing it to help them. You just died. You could have easily gotten away or lured the monster off somewhere else. You are a failure. But what are you supposed to even do? You¡¯re a failure already. ¡°I¡¯m sorry if I¡¯m just incapable of being a decent person.¡± I snapped, ¡°And what do you want me to do about it exactly? You¡¯ll make this dubious potion and choke it down my throat, but then I¡¯ll just die again. You can¡¯t stay summoned forever, and even then you won¡¯t age, you¡¯ll just be stuck at whatever age I get to, and there¡¯s no telling that I won¡¯t just die before that even happens!¡± Eliax stiffened, ¡°Well it¡¯s certainly better than being stuck as a child for the rest of time! Okay? I¡¯m so Sparking done with how people treat me! How I can¡¯t get anything done because they won¡¯t let me. I¡¯m sparking tired of not being able to connect with people in any way that¡¯s real. Okay?¡± She huffed, tears in her eyes. ¡°All they can see is a stupid kid, and then that¡¯s all I can see myself as. You¡¯ve made it all the way to twenty eight before, but I¡¯ve never even been able to finish growing! Eighteen. That¡¯s the farthest I¡¯ve ever gotten, and even then, I only died because of you.¡± Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings. Eliax glared at me, and then teleported away, apparently done with this. I felt it as she blocked off the link between us. I felt it as the room around me grew cold and painful. I felt as a distinct whine began to sound in my ears, it took me a while to realize it was my own voice. I buried my face in my lap, my knees hugged to my chest. And then a different voice appeared, calmer, quieter, more inviting than the critical one. Eliax is hurt, what can you do to fix that? What can you do for her? Eliax wasn¡¯t even really real, how could someone who was just me but different even matter? Why did it matter if I¡¯d failed her? Why did she hate me so much? But she¡¯d¡­ she¡¯d existed before we¡¯d met Taasen. Does she hate you though? Well of course she hated me, after what she said how could she not hate me? I wasn¡¯t about to forget how eager she¡¯d been every time I¡¯d heard criticism about myself from others. I wasn¡¯t about to forget that hard look in her eyes, merciless. Clearly she only cared about herself too. But what did she do, what did she do that said that? She¡¯d tried to get me addicted to thinweave again, because all she cared about was herself. She¡¯d¡­ tried¡­ I stood up, approaching the desk of crystal and looking at the page again. It was covered with notes. Notes in the margins, papers stuck into the spine. Drawings of the double triangle and speculations about the plant on the page. When I looked around the room I spotted a large pot of dirt with a small seedling sprouting out of it. Another pot of dirt was beside it, a dying plant in the center that I recognised as Thinweave, this one was larger. There were notes beside it, detailing what had been tried, and what hadn¡¯t worked. I looked back at the book and read a section of notes, ¡®In every account I can find, the leaves aren¡¯t addictive to dimensionalists. Be sure not to harvest the stems with the leaves, just in case.¡¯ I looked down at that, only feeling regret. I sighed as a weak presence appeared behind me, ¡°You certainly managed to destabilize that. I thought it would happen sooner, but you kept it up for a whole month. It¡¯s almost impressive.¡± I glanced back at Astral, glaring at him, ¡°Are you here to help, or are you here to make me feel worse?¡± Astral strode around the room, taking in the chaos. ¡°Neither. I was simply remarking that this was going to happen no matter what you did. The two of you are opposites in almost every sense.¡± I huffed, sitting down at the desk and flopping on top of it, ¡°That couldn¡¯t be any more obvious to me. We¡¯re opposites, we have absolutely nothing in common!¡± Astral tilted his head, ¡°If a mirror flips letters around, are they not the same letters?¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°The two of you are made of the same things, but with different experiences. In this, there is a balance. You aren¡¯t opposites, there is simply a mirror between you. In this, both are made of the same things.¡± I scowled, ¡°Then why does she hate me?¡± ¡°Do you hate her?¡± ¡°No! She¡¯s just¡­ frustrating.¡± Astral smiled, ¡°In this there is balance.¡± He started to disappear, ¡°I believe that if you speak with her, you will find the feeling is mutual.¡± And then he was gone. Several heartbeats passed, and then the mental barrier lifted. A hesitant voice spoke in my mind. ~Fora, are you still there?~ I sent confirmation, not trusting myself with words. A moment passed and the air rippled in front of me. Eliax appeared, her eyes puffy as if she¡¯d also been crying. I hadn¡¯t realized that clones could cry. What were they even made of? ¡°Did¡­ Astral come talk to you too?¡± Eliax asked, her gaze directed downward. I nodded, still numb. ¡°I¡¯m sorry.¡± I blinked at her, finally taking in her anxious bearing, ¡°I¡¯m the one who started yelling.¡± ¡°I¡¯m the one who brought it up in the first place.¡± We both sighed. ¡°We sure are messed up, aren¡¯t we. People aren¡¯t supposed to have a friend in their head. They certainly aren¡¯t supposed to argue with it.¡± Eliax smiled, but the expression still seemed strained, ¡°...yeah.¡± I finally realized that I¡¯d never even wondered how she was taking all of this. She¡¯d grown up with my body, all the while with me in her head, assuming she was just as real as everyone else. How had she never freaked out after realizing that wasn¡¯t true? I mean¡­ she was real. As real as anyone else. But to find out that your origins weren¡¯t what you¡¯d assumed? I glanced at the thinweave seeds again, the plants she¡¯d tried to grow. This was her way of trying to compromise. I glanced around the area before holding out a hand, ¡°How about we try this a different way?¡± Eliax raised an eyebrow at me. ¡°How so?¡± I hesitated slightly, my hand falling a bit, ¡°We know how Geneseri works, but do we really know what its limitations are for us?¡± I gestured to my chest, ¡°we both know that I probably won¡¯t be able to keep from dying all the time,¡± I tapped my head, ¡°but you¡¯re in here too, whoever said that I¡¯m the one who has to be in charge of our real body?¡± Eliax gasped, her eyes going wide, ¡°You¡¯d¡­ do that?¡± I nodded, ¡°And if I¡¯m the clone¡­ well maybe we can figure out how to summon me in a state we¡¯ve been before, rather than how we are at the moment, I¡­ kind of like being a kid, if I¡¯m being honest. I¡¯m sure it¡¯s possible, it¡¯s got to be. If it¡¯s not, then we¡¯ll just bug Astral until he makes it possible. He¡¯s a god, they¡¯ve got to be able to do crap like that!¡± Eliax was still staring at me, baffled, ¡°I- Fora!¡± she seemed to be tearing up again as she tackled me in a hug. ¡°Thank you.¡± I smiled, feeling warm inside. v3c12 - Arrows in the River --- Kinthek --- Kinthek Korelli, great great grandson of the Red Curse, walked along a river. It had been two days since his leaving the village of Eternal River behind him, but part of him still kept an eye out for faroot as he walked. He passed a stalk of a similar plant¡ªbut this one had more basal leaves than actual faroot¡ªand continued onward, peering with curiosity at the underbrush. Kinthek smiled when he spotted a small bush with the distinctive leaves he¡¯d come to know over ten years. He plucked one of the branching stems and put it in the bag Eliax had given him. At the moment it was holding practically all of his supplies. If it weren¡¯t for his worry that he would run into someone else out here and have to explain where his things were, he could have simply left everything inside it. Somehow the strange bag seemed to have a bottomless pit stuck to it. It was practically big enough on the inside that Kinthek felt tempted to try and fit himself into its depths! He hummed, standing back up and dusting off his hands. Stars, he¡¯d forgotten how sticky the sap was. He didn¡¯t know how though, considering faroot sap could practically be used as glue. Kinthek shook his head at the plant and walked onward. He¡¯d planned on skipping The City of Starlight entirely considering his history there, but the lower his supplies grew the more he felt it might be necessary to stop there. He¡¯d been hoping to run into a caravan or something, but those seemed to be much less common than he¡¯d initially assumed. Stars, he probably should have waited a few extra weeks for the village to all journey to Starlight together, they did that twice a year, practically half of everyone packing their things up and heading southeast. In the past, Kinthek had always stayed behind with Vespin and the others who remained at Eternal River, but this time he would have been allowed to go with them. Kinthek walked up the riverbed and took out his map again, frowning at the landmarks Priest Vespin had sketched¡ªrather poorly¡ªat the approximate areas. He turned the map this way and that, frowning at it with his brow furrowed. He looked at the mountains¡ªEternal River was fairly high up in them, but not at the highest point; he''d been heading downhill pretty steadily. He knew there was a turn here, but he couldn¡¯t for the life of him figure out if it was at this spot or later. The path was starting to get overgrown but it seemed like it might be here. Stars. Kinthek tilted his head at an oddly shaped rock nearby, it looked almost like a face. He felt like Vespin would have included such a landmark if it was relevant, but there was no way to be sure¡­ besides, the Priest himself hadn¡¯t even made the journey in quite a while, so who was to say it was even close to how it was presented on the map? Kinthek sighed and continued down the river. -- Kinthek yelped as he felt an arrow wizz past his ear. Instinctively he flattened himself against the side of the riverbed, watching his attacker with wide eyes as he simply¡­ prepared another arrow. Stars squalls squalls! Kinthek screamed again as the unfamiliar man shot the second arrow. It rushed toward Kinthek, surely about to end his life, it was clearly going to hit some of his vital organs and then he would lay there, bleeding out for the world to see. The world wasn¡¯t supposed to see what was inside someone! Kinthek closed his eyes, awaiting the pain. Nothing happened. Kinthek opened an eye, looking the strange man in the face as he frowned at something past Kinthek. He sighed and put away the third arrow, and then began to unstring his bow. Kinthek watched him with wide eyes the whole time, his mind only able to really focus on that bow. It was a very nice bow, probably handmade and from what Kinthek could tell it was well maintained and well crafted. The wood was smooth and strong without a hint of splintering and the string was straight and true without any visible frays. Kinthek watched as the man put the bow string in a bag and tucked it into his pouch, all the while remaining silent. ¡°W- WHY WRER YOU SHOOTING THAT IN MY DIRECTION?!?¡± The man regarded Kinthek for a moment before sighing and looking past him again. He walked in that direction, probably intending to retrieve the arrows. ¡°There were some birds behind you. I missed.¡± Kinthek blinked, turning to look in the direction the man was heading, ¡°I was¡­ right there though?¡± This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source. The man snorted slightly, ¡°I doubt anyone would blame me if I hit a soulless on accident. But you¡¯re fine, so what are you complaining about?¡± Kinthek felt his mind still at the insult, he let out a long breath, ¡°Sorry, you¡¯re the first person I¡¯ve seen in days. Are you out here hunting?¡± The man bent to pick up one of his arrows, not even looking in Kinthek¡¯s direction, ¡°Yes, I was. Are you a traveler or something?¡± Kinthek nodded, ¡°I¡¯m¡­ trying to avoid going to the City of Starlight, but I need to get more supplies soon.¡± The man grunted. ¡°Hey, do you happen to know if there are any smaller villages nearby?¡± The man grunted again, ¡°If you follow the river long enough, and then the coast after that, you might find your way to Openness, or even The City of the Last return. After that, who knows, you might be able to get on a ship back to Saarabenth where you belong.¡± He poked at the arrowhead before putting it in his quiver. Kinthek felt his expression sour. ¡°Yes, thank you, I¡¯m well aware of your opinion now.¡± he held up his map, ¡°do you at least have something better than this?¡± The man glanced at the map and didn¡¯t come closer, instead walking over to his second arrow and likewise examining it, remaining silent, and then finally putting it away, ¡°I¡¯m sure that map is good enough, can¡¯t you just sell more of your soul for directions? I¡¯m sure Atharian would be perfectly willing to give you that much, even for something so worthless.¡± ¡°Do you know of any caravans then? Ones that are heading literally anywhere but here?¡± The man frowned, finally looking at his annoyed expression, a smidgen of fear seemed to appear in his eyes as he looked at Kinthek, ¡°I¡­¡± He swallowed, ¡°The only Caravan that¡¯s nearby at the moment is Leftbite¡¯s Wings. I saw them in the distance the other day, they seemed like they were heading to the City of Starlight from Far cold.¡± He hesitated, gesturing just off the river ¡°it should be a few hour¡¯s journey that way,¡± He then swiftly walked upriver, not looking back. What had that been about? Kinthek was used to people either being scared of him or insulting him. But it was never both. Perhaps he decided that the chance of me being a bloodbinder was too big? Kinthek glanced behind him, just in case there was a big monster, much like the birds earlier. But no, there was nothing. He frowned at the riverbed for a moment before realizing that he should probably get going if he wanted to catch that caravan. Usually they moved fairly slow, but they were very persistent. He climbed up the riverbed and set about in the indicated direction. -- It took more than two hours of stumbling through shrubs and dodging cacti before Kinthek saw smoke in the distance. The sun wasn¡¯t disappearing yet, but it was rather close to the horizon. Kinthek quickened his pace, but even so, it was completely dark by the time he stumbled into the hastily erected camp that was filled with scents of cooking food and the sounds of uproarious laughter as strangers spoke over their fire. He paused at the edge of the camp, hesitant to continue onward. Most people wouldn¡¯t react well to a random traveler appearing in their camp out of the wilderness. Especially when he was alone. Thankfully his mind was made up for him, as a thickly built woman who looked like she could crush entire mountains with her fingers alone spotted him. ¡°Ho! Traveler! Where¡¯d you come from?¡± Kinthek smiled slightly, trying to be as pleasant as possible before she decided to hate him for his hair, ¡°I¡¯m on foot, I just came from Eternal River.¡± The woman nodded her head as a few passerbys gave him curious glances. None of them stuck around though, each giving the woman nods or wary looks before continuing onward. ¡°My, that¡¯s a decent clip off there. And for a Red Curse too? What¡¯s your name, lad? What are you doing this far north?¡± Kinthek blinked. He wasn¡¯t used to people being that pleasant right after mentioning his ancestry no less. ¡°I¡¯m¡­ Kinthek. My mother took me to the City of Starlight when I was two.¡± The woman nodded, gesturing to him to come with her; somehow, Kinthek wanted to follow her. She had a presence about her. ¡°That¡¯s certainly a history there! Say, I don¡¯t usually offer it for free, but if you¡¯d like to travel with us, we¡¯re heading to Starlight for the next few days, after that it¡¯s off to wherever the winds and profits take us.¡± She smiled. He felt his eyes widen, ¡°I think that would be great!¡± She grinned, ¡°Well, so long as you¡¯re alright with some¡­ unconventional company.¡± Kinthek turned toward her, ¡°Unconventional?¡± In response, she gestured toward the campfire, Kinthek followed her gaze and even so, it took him a while to notice it. He had to examine each person in turn after that, startled to find the presence of feathers. Niortak. The people from the world in the sky. He felt his mouth opening into an O as one of the people of the sky stood up, approaching the woman with folded arms. He seemed annoyed about something, ¡°Another stray, Taenseva?¡± the bird-like man looked Kinthek up and down with a critical expression, ¡°He barely looks worth the effort.¡± The woman clapped Kinthek on the back, ¡°This is Kinthek!¡± She turned back to the Red Curse in question, ¡°So, what do you say about joining us? We¡¯ve got a few bloodbinders here and there, but never had a Red Curse before!¡± Kinthek blinked, looking back at the people again¡ªreally, he needed his observational skills checked one of these days¡ªto find that several sported the distinctive red hair. It was bright and shining in the light, more noticeable even than his, to show that their curse was their own. The two bloodbinders were laughing and jeering with the others. Well¡­ one of them was, the other looked like he was about to bite everyone¡¯s heads off. However, he wasn¡¯t doing that at the moment, which Kinthek thought was a blessing. Kinthek hadn¡¯t even realized that there were still bloodbinders out there. The way people talked made it seem like the squalling redheads were a myth or a ledgend. He especially hadn¡¯t realized that there were non-violent bloodbinders out there. You only ever heard about the murderous ones¡­ He hesitated for a moment, and then remembered the map, and how annoying it was to find his way without a guide. He finally responded, ¡°I¡¯m in.¡± As far as he was concerned, they were saving him from a tedious several months of wandering through the wilderness and regretting his life choices. Possibly even dying from starvation or once Light day came around again¡­ He shook his head, this wasn¡¯t even a question. Taenseva led him toward their fire. v3c13 - The Leftbites --- Kinthek --- Kinthek felt his gaze lingering on the red heads of hair as the hours wore on. There were only two of them, but their luster and shine had his full attention. The most eye-catching of the two was a gruff looking man who constantly glared at anyone and anything. At his side was a short hand and a half sword, and his eyes had a tendency to track every movement. From what Kinthek could tell, the Mercanary hardly even stood still as his gaze constantly tracked around the group and the shadows. Kinthek wasn¡¯t sure what he¡¯d sold his soul for, but it clearly wasn¡¯t beauty or immortality. The man was well into his middle ages and looked like you could chop a block of wood with his face without even scratching it. He kept giving Kinthek annoyed looks at the staring, but he never did anything about it, simply letting his eyes keep searching for danger. The other bloodbinder was a stark contrast to this man. She was bright and perky, constantly chatting and smiling. She was beautiful as well as young, with the kind of looks that probably had every man she¡¯d ever met pinning after her. Her most odd feature was that she had a very small nose, small enough that one could hardly even see it unless you looked for a minute. However, after that minute you¡¯d be remarking about the colors of her eyes¡ªwhich her red hair was perfect to bring out the blues and greens of¡ªor the brightness of her smile instead. At his staring, all she did was smile in a perfectly innocent way and focus her attention on something else, as if she was completely oblivious to the attention. With how she looked though, Kinthek suspected she got the staring part a lot. ¡°I can¡¯t blame you,¡± a voice started. Kinthek blinked and glanced up, meeting the eyes of a pleasant enough fellow, he was fairly old, probably about thirty five or fourty, but it was harder to tell since he was a Niortak. Kinthek felt his eyes squint slightly, ¡°Ah¡­ for what?¡± The man gestured toward the female Bloodbinder, ¡°Staring. I don¡¯t think anyone here hasn¡¯t occasionally daydreamed about Filfinde. I have to warn you first, she¡¯s got a thing for Flame.¡± Kinthek blinked at the bird man, following his gesture toward the other bloodbinder, the gruff looking man. ¡°Ah¡­ good to know?¡± ¡°Yeaaauuupp, I like looking out for the strays. I¡¯ve got lot¡¯s of important information for you if you¡¯re going to spend any time with this lot.¡± He gestured toward himself, ¡°I¡¯m Talfaxin. Probably the most normal person here, well¡­ right after Rohanosh, can¡¯t beat him with that¡­ Anyway, it¡¯s Kinthek, right?¡± Kinthek nodded, ¡°I¡¯m not sure how long I¡¯ll stay, but I don¡¯t really have anywhere in particular I¡¯m going, so¡­¡± Talfaxin perked up visibly, ¡°That¡¯s neat!¡± He lowered his voice, whispering across the short distance theatrically, ¡°But hey, if you feel like you need help leaving stealthily, I can get you out for good without anyone even noticing, just say the word!¡± he winked and sat back up straight, as if he hadn¡¯t said anything. What? ¡°...Thank you? Talfaxin nodded happily, ¡°We the Leftbites have all sorts of odd people!¡± he waved a hand absently, a strange construct of light appearing beside the bag of rolls and tossing one in his direction outside the watchful gaze of Taenseva. She¡¯d been expertly preventing everyone from nabbing any more than a single roll, and even this didn¡¯t pass by her sharp eyes. ¡°Talf! Put that back before I wip your rear end! We¡¯re rationing those!¡± The Niortak was already taking a huge bite of the roll, trying his darnedest to choke the whole thing down as Taenseva marched over with a purpose in her step. As she left her post though, a surprisingly thin woman with brown feathers as her hair nabbed three rolls and hurried off, her own strange construct of light hitting a fourth in her direction as she turned to finish her getaway. Talfaxin started choking on the roll he was shoving down his throat, but the whole thing was in his mouth by the time Taenseva got to him. ¡°You little-¡± Taenseva started, and then shifted to a different language that reminded Kinthek of Teli-teli, and was probably mostly curse words. He examined her lighter skin tone and more erratic scale patterns before realizing that yes, she was probably from Teli-teli. Stars. That was far away. Talfaxin simply grinned at her, raising his hands and responding in the same language as he made another hand gesture that flung a fifth roll toward the thin woman, who caught it just as deftly as the others. Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings. It was around this time that one of the Niortak, this one held himself like a nobleman, walked up the path and stopped in his tracks. He was carrying water, but his expression told it all really. He watched a sixth roll fly toward the woman and then shouted in outrage, ¡°The roll thieves strike again! There¡¯s Teizen behind you!¡± Taenseva¡¯s head jerked upward with a murderous expression, and it was only moments before the thin woman¡ªpresumably Teizen¡ªand Talfaxin were being chased around with a very large spoon. Kinthek was left watching them all, his eyes wide as the show continued. It was perhaps the most entertaining thing he¡¯d seen in his entire life as the situation continued to escalate, leaving Teizen scarfing down rolls as she ran around the camp and Talfaxin summoning those strange constructs of light over and over again, which somehow managed to thrust him into the air in a way that was almost flying. Kinthek got the sense that Teizen would be doing the same thing if her arms weren¡¯t filled with rolls. Eventually, the rest of the caravan intervened, the two remaining Niortak tackled Talfaxin out of the air as the gruff looking bloodbinder managed to help Taenseva corner the thin woman with the rolls. Taenseva stood over her, taking back the three remaining rolls with a glare, ¡°You two are lucky that you¡¯re more than half of my mercenary force! Otherwise I¡¯d¡¯ve thrown you out on your spectrals for that!¡± Talfaxin seemed wholly unrepentant, and he¡¯d probably been fully aware of what would happen too, he settled back down next to Kinthek, who was watching him with bright, intrigued eyes. ¡°Were the rolls worth it?¡± Talf nodded sagely, ¡°One hundred percent. Filfinde cooked today.¡± he leaned closer and whispered, ¡°Taenseva was probably going to just hoard them again¡­¡± he perked up again and gestured toward Teizen, who the annoyed Larborak was still scolding. ¡°It¡¯s also the only way I can bribe Teizen to patch my clothes.¡± Kinthek smirked, ¡°What, are you that bad at sewing?¡± Talf shook his head, ¡°No, no, you don¡¯t understand, Teizen is magical with a needle. You can hardly even spot the seam with a magnifying glass, I checked!¡± He gave the thin woman a haunted look, ¡°but the last time I asked her to help me without getting her something like this, she nearly stabbed me.¡± ¡°With the needle?¡± ¡°Ah¡­ no, she¡¯s got plenty of weapons, she¡¯s one of the mercenaries after all. I don¡¯t think she actually owns a single needle now that I think about it¡­ didn¡¯t actually see any that time we stuck all her things to a tavern roof¡­ hmm.¡± ¡°Then how does she patch your clothes?¡± Talf shook his head, ¡°It¡¯s one of Arendi¡¯s greatest mysteries¡­¡± He paused and then grinned, ¡°Oh, here comes the runt¡­ Don¡¯t tell him I told you that.¡± A red haired man was approaching Talf, his eyes just as hard as when Kinthek had been examining him earlier. ¡°Talfaxin, there are other ways to fix your clothes than pissing off Taenseva.¡± The man glared, a firey and slightly unhinged anger in his eyes. It struck Kinthek that this was a bloodbinder, and they weren¡¯t exactly known for being able to regulate themselves. Talf simply grinned though, not even scared. ¡°It¡¯s totally worth it. Maybe you should try it sometime!¡± The redhead glared at him, ¡°Are you just trying to show off for the newbie or something? There are much more interesting ways to do that.¡± Talf put a hand to his chest, a look of utter bafflement that was probably just an act spreading across his face, ¡°Flame in the Darkness Casting brilliant light is offering to breathe fire for us! Finally!¡± Without warning, Talf was tackled to the ground, an angry bloodbinder attempting to grapple him. Kinthek wasn¡¯t even sure what was going on exactly, but he took a step back, feeling an amused¡ªand slightly worried¡ªgrin spreading its way across his face. He glanced to his side as someone else approached, only to see the beautiful young bloodbinder sighing beside him. Filfinde, as Talf had called her, sighed with annoyance at the grappling duo. ¡°Stars of squalling¡­¡± She muttered for a moment, before finally directing her voice to the two men, ¡°Flame, he¡¯s not worth it.¡± The bloodbinder looked up at her, his eyes still murderous, ¡°THIS SQUALLING-¡± Talf wriggled out of his grip again, still laughing maniacally, while Flame¡ªas Kinthek assumed his name was¡ªstarted trying to¡­ bite the smaller man, with teeth that were far too sharp to be natural. After several minutes, the two of them ended up breathing heavily on the ground while Filfinde grabbed one of Flame¡¯s legs and started pulling him away from Talf. Surprisingly, Flame stopped struggling at this point. Talf sat up sharply, getting to his feet and retreating in the other direction, still grinning, ¡°Flame is violent today! Good to know!¡± Taenseva was finally approaching, apparently done with Teizen, who didn¡¯t seem phased at all at the scolding. ¡°The day is nearly over, I should hope that that won¡¯t be useful information to have. Aren¡¯t you supposed to be tired out from a whole day of walking behind the wagons?¡± Talf looked at her, wide-eyed, ¡°Yes, of course, I¡¯m the most tired little Niortak that ever did prosper. Say, are you going to make me do that again tomorrow? Just asking for a friend.¡± Taenseva put her hands on her hips, letting out a long, annoyed breath, ¡°Water duty.¡± Talf groaned. v3c14 - City of Starlight --- Flame in the Darkness Casting Brilliant Light --- Flame wasn¡¯t always a violent person, but he¡¯d sold far far more of his soul than he¡¯d preferred, which¡­ made it hard sometimes to not react at the slightest provocation or go off on a rampage of yelling and attacking. All for what, a practically useless ability? Sure, he wouldn¡¯t be here without it, but Flame in the Darkness, Casting Brilliant Light, would much have preferred that it hadn¡¯t happened. He¡¯d have liked to simply not have sold his soul in the first place. He wouldn¡¯t really have been any happier either way after all. Filfinde stroked his back comfortingly, her small nose sniffing the cool night air as the darkness wore on. Neither of them needed as much sleep as the rest of the caravan, a consequence of having less of a soul. Without a soul, you didn¡¯t need as many dreams. She didn¡¯t seem nearly as impacted by violent episodes than he did, often her gaze would simply become calculating, her posture hard, her eyes angry but also planning. It was probably because she was a woman, women were a lot better than men in practically every sense. Squalls. That was probably why all the murderous and famous bloodbinders had been female. The only reason none of them passed on their curse, was that practically all of them that he¡¯d heard of had been unable to have children. Maybe that¡¯s what some of them had really sacrificed. ¡°I can talk to Talf if you want, let him know that it¡¯s getting harder?¡± Flame felt a sudden fear rise up in his mind. If that idiot knew, then everyone would know by the next sunrise. He¡¯d never get a wink of solitude if everyone was constantly badgering him about his feelings. Besides, He wasn¡¯t supposed to even have feelings. That, he suspected, was most of the problem. ¡°Ack! No! No! It¡¯s better if you don¡¯t tell anyone! Least of all that blithering fool!¡± He just had to be better. Somehow. Filfinde sighed, shaking her head. But she didn¡¯t say anything. She didn¡¯t need to, Flame could practically feel her opinion from where he sat. Open up! It¡¯s okay, you won¡¯t be burned again. Flame found himself relaxing into her even as he disagreed. - The next morning, Flame woke up in a good mood. When there was a beautiful woman beside you, that was hard to not happen. It helped a lot with getting through the rest of the day. Mornings themselves were a fresh start, a cycle of the world that was free of things like anger, sorrow, and insult. Flame sat up, peeking out of the tent and examining the wagons. After a thief had stolen one of them a few months ago, he never really trusted their ability to simply stay as they were. Flame counted the three wagons and then the tents twice before he finally relaxed. At least the new kid probably wasn¡¯t planning on robbing them blind. Not that Flame would trust him even if he was farther away than the stars themselves. The bloodbinder peered around the camp for another long moment before finally standing up. He picked up his sword as he exited the tent, turning in a wide circle to have a look at anything that had been obscured by the tent itself. Roahnosh had set it up wrong again, Flame remembered being extremely annoyed about that last night. But¡­ well he found that anger far away at the moment. Flame in the Darkness Casting Brilliant Light sighed and started packing things back into the wagons. They¡¯d be arriving at the city of Starlight before sunset, so there was quite a bit of reorganization that needed to be done, bringing wares and cargo to the front and putting their personal items farther back. Flame scowled once he found a particular item, and vowed once again that he¡¯d be staying out of sight the whole trip, so there was no reason at all why he would need it, thank you very much. He brought the despicable bucket closer to the front though, just in case Filfinde or someone else wanted it today. Squalls, he hated that thing. --- Kinthek --- Kinthek sat with the last wagon outside the gates. He¡¯d watched the other two wagons as they¡¯d moved inside, taking most of the caravan with them. But Kinthek himself didn¡¯t plan on visiting Starlight anytime soon. After shattering their thunder crystal quite spectacularly, it was a miracle they hadn¡¯t been burned to the ground and trampled a dozen times over by monsters on Light days. He hesitantly felt at the lifeforce, feeling the slight pull towards the city now that he was outside of it. Thunder crystals had a tendency to suck in life, but only life that would move toward it. Mostly that meant water, which was why it always floated out in the desert. You couldn¡¯t have your crystal drinking you out of your city.If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. He knew in theory that they¡¯d repaired it after the whole debacle, or maybe some poor sap had been forced to sell their soul for a new one. Kinthek figured that was a way to get them, rather than looking out in the desert for natural ones? Either way, it was strange to know that it was back. Part of him felt an unnatural urge to head into the city and break it again, he wanted to see how long it took the corrupt prince to get booted from his throne the right way this time¡­ But no. No it wasn¡¯t worth it. Kinthek sighed and looked up at the stars, trying very hard not too look in the direction of his only companion, Flame. Flame didn¡¯t seem to think much of Kinthek, and this whole time he¡¯d treated him as just another threat to the wagon, even forcing him to sit on the ground next to it within clear view; Kinthek didn¡¯t want to make the mercenary angry, he figured that was a short route toward ending his life early. So he sat there patiently, part of him wanting to just set up a tent and go to bed, but the other part knowing that he wouldn¡¯t be able to sleep this close to his old home. Just knowing how many of the people he used to care about were still in there. None of them had even been willing to look at him though, ten years ago. He probably wouldn¡¯t even recognize his old friends if they ran into each other. Kinthek sighed at his depressed trade of thought, finally mustering the willpower to glance over at Flame because that would certainly get him thinking about something else. Sure enough, the bloodbinder was just¡­ staring at him. Hardly even seemed like he was blinking. Kinthek gave him an uneasy look as he stared back at him for a long moment, deciding that yes¡ªhe wasn¡¯t blinking. That was¡­ decidedly creepy. ¡°Ah¡­ do you have to do that?¡± ¡°No.¡± Flame replied in a quiet voice, a subtle violence lurking below it. ¡°Could you stop then, maybe?¡± Flame regarded him for another long moment and sighed, ¡°No.¡± ¡°Ah, that¡¯s a shame.¡± Silence once more erupted around them, it was almost like a physical force with how it seemed suddenly to strangle Kinthek. He opened his mouth again and then closed it, feeling the life drain out of his words. Somehow, there was nothing to say. Kinthek usually had something to say, even with a conversational partner as¡­ eloquent as Flame was. He¡¯d had plenty of practice with Eliax. Somehow though, the silence just kept on going. That is, until Kinthek nearly jumped out of his own skin as a voice sounded from on top of the wagon. ¡°Sparking sparks. That¡¯s Kinthek, isn¡¯t it?¡± The voice itself was familiar, but the manner of speech threw him off. The tone of voice was different, the word choice, the volume. Flame was already on top of the wagon, attacking the surprise visitor by instinct, but the short girl evaded his strikes with a tired ease, simply smiling as she eventually leapt into the air and stayed there, practically floating. ¡°ELIAX?¡± Kinthek shouted. She grinned at him, ¡°Close, but no.¡± She turned toward the increasingly violent Flame, ¡°Hey, could you tell your friend here to calm down, I¡¯m not after anything in this Sparking wagon. What, does he think that just because he didn¡¯t see me get up here that I¡¯m a threat?¡± as if to prove herself false, the Eliax-like girl reached in her bag and tossed a long dagger out to the ground as if in a show of peace, this was ruined by the fact that it was long enough to be a sword and certainly too big to fit in the bag. Flame himself was growling at this point, his eyes shining with barely contained rage, ¡°Who in the squalls are you?¡± He shouted it with clenched teeth, crouching down low on the top of the wagon. ¡°Fora, Unanimously thought of as the most annoying new addition to the City of Starlight for the past two months. They¡¯ve been trying to get rid of me.¡± She smirked, ¡°Imagine their surprise after I got eaten by that big earth thing! Only to come back in one piece!¡± Eaten by an¡­ Aremolot perhaps? If that was so then it must have been Light day. Which was the same day Eliax had decided to take him to the dream world. ¡­The day after which he¡¯d seen the corpse of someone who had looked quite a lot like Eliax. Even so, assuming that this was the real her, Kinthek could hardly reconcile the grinning girl above him with the calm and collected one that he¡¯d come to know. ¡°You¡¯re so different from her.¡± Kinthek found himself observing, his mouth growing a bit dry at that. Was Eliax nothing more than a clone with a different personality then? Fora¡¯s face soured slightly, but she didn¡¯t respond, instead looking down at Flame, ¡°I didn¡¯t know there were any dragons here, that¡¯s pretty neat. You don¡¯t look quite right though, where¡¯s the¡­ talons and wings?¡± Flame shouted his rage again, this time leaping off the wagon and smacking into Fora. She seemed surprised at the sheer height of his jump, and her form blinked out of existence. It appeared again a second later, this time higher in the air as Flame hit the ground and just shouted up at her again, ¡°I¡¯m not a dragon.¡± Fora sighed, ¡°Sparks, I¡¯m sorry you¡¯re so pissed off, I just wanted to freak out Kinthek, alright? I¡¯ve been dying to meet him ever since¡ª¡± Flame jumped at her again, this time missing. ¡°Sparks, that¡¯s pretty impressive. Could you stop by chance? I haven¡¯t even really done anything¡­ ah¡­ I¡¯m just an innocent little girl, ya know?¡± Flame stilled, blinking up at her as if finally realizing something. Squall, how had that gotten to him? Nothing about Fora said ¡®innocence.¡¯ Flame turned his glare to Kinthek, for whatever reason. ¡°You almost let me attack a woman?!¡± His anger seemed to bleed away even as Kinthek watched. Fora peered down at them for a moment longer before sighing, ¡°And now I¡¯m bored.¡± she adopted a slightly blank expression for a moment, ¡°Eliax says that you need to sparking contact her. I think she reaaaaalllllyyyy misssseeessss yoooouuuuuuuu~¡± Fora smirked again as Kinthek started sputtering, and stood up in¡­ the air. ¡°Just fiddle with the sparking communication stone she gave you, it¡¯s not that hard to figure out!¡± And then she was gone. Flame¡¯s eyes turned toward him, ¡°Who in the squalling stars was that?!¡± Kinthek sighed, his mind turning from Eliax to trying to figure out the best way to explain something like this. Stars above, what had he gotten himself into¡­ v3c15 - Chaos Gremlins --- Teizen --- Teizen hummed to herself as the land passed her by, reveling in her perfect pitch as she tuned an instrument from somewhere farther away than her own origin. Sitting on top of the wagon gave her a good view of the upcoming lands, and it also managed to get Flame off her back for being so oblivious all the time. But Stars, did he really have to keep badgering her about that for the rest of time? It was almost like he was trying to make her hate him. She didn¡¯t though, he was too stars-begotten cool to hate. A grizzled warrior from a tribe of dragons? A warrior who hated being small so much that he¡¯d sold his squalling soul so he¡¯d stop being so much of a runt? Flame was almost cooler than the time Teizen had backflipped off the conqueror himself¡¯s throne, and smacked him in the face! Which did in fact happen, why else would he have been after Teizen¡¯s head, forcing her¡ªand the others too of course¡ªto leave the planet entirely? Hopefully nearly fifteen years of them being away from the storm cities had mellowed the man out a bit. The conqueror hadn¡¯t seemed like he was that bad inside. And Teizen would know, she understood people pretty well! Probably. Hopefully. Teizen shook her head and plucked a note again, glaring at its insistence to stay flat. At this, her attention was drawn to Branix, who was chiding the new kid. Again. Branix was some kind of noble from back home, but Teizen always spaced out when he started talking about it. She honestly felt kind of bad about that, if it weren¡¯t for his attitude she might have tried harder. But no, he was almost worse than Taenseva. It was almost as if he felt morally bound to be everyone¡¯s grumpy old dad. And not the kind that would help you sneak out on festival days or tell you stories before bed even when you got too old for it. No, he was the kind that always wanted things to be the way they had to be, with no room to stretch or grow or anything. He was precisely the kind of person who would kill a plant because it¡¯s great-great whatever grandparent offended him seven years ago. And in every memory she could think of, Teizen was that plant. But you wouldn¡¯t know any of that just by looking at him. Branix sat beside Kinthek with a smile, his posture patient and understanding. The kid spoke and from his bearing, it seemed like Branix really cared about what was being said. He was a merchant though, which said it all, really. When Teizen¡¯s gaze fixed on his face, she could see the calculating stare there without even having to take in the details. She just knew it too well. The way his eyes narrowed whenever Kinthek said something he disapproved of, the way his mouth would curve into a frown of thought with every interesting tidbit of information. It was disgusting. He summoned a wing of energy at some point as the two of them spoke, showing off the Niortak magic without a care in the world. Teizen had two wings like it that she could shape at will¡ªthough she got tired if they were out for more than an hour or two at a time¡ªand that was considered impressive by most Niortak standards. She saved them for important times, like stealing extras of Filfinde¡¯s cooking. Branix, the star-hating noble, had four, and Teizen had never seen him tire of having them out. She thought that perhaps he could even fly with them for more than short glides and the occasional lift. They were certainly big enough, which was completely unfair. This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it Teizen managed to wrench her gaze from the annoying man just long enough to look at the poor instrument again. She¡¯d tightened that string far too much. Stars¡­ --- Kinthek --- The days finally began to pass them by. Kinthek mostly got used to the camp dynamics, which was easy when hardly any of the faces ever changed. It felt like the people were finally on the same side of the river as him. Even with their chaotics and strange behavior, Kinthek found himself gravitated toward it¡ªand occasionally even the instigator. A traveler called Roahnosh left the group when they¡¯d gone through Starlight, and they hadn¡¯t picked up anyone new since. As such, there were only eight permanent members of the Leftbite¡¯s Wings. Not counting Kinthek. Part of Kinthek would like to be there permanently, just the way they had about them and the sheer energies¡­ well it made him want to stay there forever, sitting around the campfire and telling tales or playing pranks. Kinthek found himself more often than not getting swept away in his own torrent of ideas. There were just so many of them. One day in particular, even though it was rather ordinary by day standards, Kinthek felt this more. He felt it harder. That day, he couldn¡¯t ignore anymore how icky he¡¯d felt after speaking to Foralen. So what, she was¡­ somehow different from Eliax. Nothing was a perfect copy, right? He¡¯d just¡­ somehow assumed that she was just Eliax through and through. A quiet withdrawn girl that no one could read. But Kinthek had been able to read Foralen, easily. He could relate to her, he could feel her amusement as if it had been a physical force. In a way it was the same as how Eliax sometimes seemed but magnified tenfold. And so he ignored the strange crystal in the bottom of his bag, despite knowing that she wanted him to keep in contact. ¡°Hey! Kinthek!¡± Teizen said loudly, her face a perpetual grin, ¡°Do you want to help me hide these wooden bears all over the caravan? I got them back at Starlight and I think I¡¯m finally out of suspicion!!¡± Kinthek perked up, taking the bag and peering inside. The bears themselves were distinctly boring to his eyes, hardly the size of his pinky finger and carved so badly that he supposed a child might have done it. Kinthek tilted his head at them, feeling a spark. ¡°Do they do anything?¡± Teizen smirked, ¡°No, but if we number them six through three hundred and two, then people will be looking for one through five for the next two years or so!¡± ¡°You are truly a master of terrors beyond my comprehension.¡± ¡°Thank you!¡± Kinthek nodded, laughing slightly, ¡°but seriously, isn¡¯t that mean?¡± Teizen hesitated slightly, ¡°Kinthek, we talked about this. It¡¯s for the reaction. We can tell them at any point that there are only two hundred and ninety seven bears.¡± ¡°Why not an even three hundred? Did they rip you off?¡± Teizen adopted a vaguely haunted look, ¡°We don¡¯t talk about the last three bears.¡± ¡°Did you lose them? Or¡­ you hid them in my stuff, didn¡¯t you.¡± Teizen grinned slightly, ¡°Oh, maybe that is what I did, maybe it isn¡¯t! I suppose you¡¯ll have to find out!¡± Kinthek shook his head at her and took a large handful of bears, sifting them around, ¡°We can¡¯t get caught hiding them, this is going to take weeks¡­¡± ¡°That¡¯s why we¡¯re starting now! Hopefully we¡¯ll be done by the time we get to Thundercrossing, we aren¡¯t planning on doing any big trading till then so no one will find the ones we hide in that stuff!¡± ¡°You¡¯re almost more crazy than I am¡­¡± ¡°Why, thank you!¡± She pressed the bag into his hands and took out a bear from her own. After a moment of smiling at it deviously, Teizen leaned down and slipped the bear between two boards on the nearest wagon. She looked back at him, ¡°Be sure to lose a few of them, it¡¯s better if there¡¯s more numbers that no one can find!¡± Taenseva rounded the bend with purpose and frowned at the two perfectly innocent looking idiots, ¡°What are you doing this time?¡± Kinthek shrugged, ¡°Nothing much, what do you need?¡± Taenseva grunted, ¡°I¡¯ll stop prying if one of you comes with me to hold down this squalling Nynar for a minute while I smack some sense into it¡­ Really, the guy in the last town said they were the smartest breed he had. I pity the lot that gets his stupidest breed.¡± She shook her head with annoyance and waved them forward, Kinthek eventually following her. He furtively tucked away the pouch of bears as they walked. v3c17 - Outcasts --- Kinthek --- It was odd for there to be mountains to the east. For the last several days, there had been rather spectacular sunsets thanks to that, and even the setting of Arendi when it appeared was made more magnificent with the land that rose up to greet it. One of those days, Kinthek stood on the top of one of the wagons¡ªthey were stood on a lot¡ªand watched the brilliant oranges and reds fade into pink and then finally into darkness. It was almost more beautiful than that morning he¡¯d watched the sunrise with Vespin, when he¡¯d first seen the offerings disappear. The head of the caravan, Taenseva¡¯s husband, climbed up the wagon after a moment and sat beside him, watching the colors progress. ¡°You¡¯re much calmer today, last time you ran around the whole camp and forced everyone to take a look at it.¡± Kinthek laughed to himself slightly, looking at the quiet but stern Niortak. Ashevian hardly did anything visible for the caravan, but Kinthek knew he was in charge of the route, the navigation, and all of the larger trades. He was the one that every city had to go through if they wanted the really good stuff. Things like the woven spider silk from Teli-teli, or dewdrops from the highest peaks in the far off land of Nilinta. ¡°I just realized today that you guys have probably seen plenty of amazing things. There¡¯s no need to point them out, is there?¡± Ashevian shook his head slightly. ¡°We¡¯ve been all over the place since we first came together, but mostly we keep to Nelfourne and Teli-teli. They¡¯re peaceful. The point is, we¡¯ve seen plenty of things, but don¡¯t let that stop you from pointing out the beauty that you see. I hardly even glance at the sunset these days, I think that I might have convinced myself I¡¯m too busy for it.¡± Kinthek nodded slowly, smiling a bit, ¡°Well, I¡¯m glad you have time right now.¡± A hundred possibilities and reasons sprung into his head, why was Ashevian telling him this? Was it just on a whim? Perhaps. But he got the slightest notion from how he was looking at the evening colors that it was more than that. ¡°You¡¯re a good kid, Kinthek. But life gave you something hard and visible for people to mock you with. You don¡¯t think much of yourself, do you?¡± Kinthek blinked, that had been near the bottom of the list. ¡°I¡­ suppose that I consider myself to be humble.¡± Ashevian hummed slightly, ¡°That¡¯s not quite the same thing. Do you think you¡¯re worth the people who led you to this moment? Do you ever sit quietly and wonder if you aren¡¯t?¡± He sighed, ¡°I¡¯m just worried about you I suppose. You¡¯ve given every indication that you plan on staying with us for the foreseeable future, so in a way I¡¯m starting to feel responsible for you.¡± Kinthek finally figured out what felt so off about this conversation. He''d never known a man who was so willing to talk about feelings before. ¡°I suppose I feel that sometimes, but usually¡­ I don¡¯t know, I am who I am, there¡¯s not much I can do about that. I wish I weren¡¯t a Red Curse, I wish people would see me for me more often. I know I like it here because it¡¯s different.¡± Ashevian nodded to himself and turned back to watch the sky, ¡°Just let me know if you start struggling then, or even if you just want to chat.¡± The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there. Kinthek frowned at him slightly, ¡°If I may ask, why do you care? Even if you feel responsible for me, I¡¯d expect a different kind.¡± Ashevian grinned slightly, ¡°I¡¯ve got my own demons holding onto me, I have to always be sure after my experiences, you know? Besides, practically everyone¡¯s got something that¡¯s left them more broken than when they entered the world.¡± Kinthek fell silent for a moment, ¡°Was it why you left Arendi? You and the others? Teizen talks about it sometimes, but I¡¯m not sure how much stock to put into some of it.¡± Ashevian sighed, a long and drawn out thing, the mark of a tired mind and a more tired soul. ¡°Back on Arendi¡­ Well, none of us were happy wherever we went. Teizen pissed off the Conquerer himself somehow and he was hunting her at every turn¡ªthough she changes the story of how it happened every time she tells it. Talf lost most of his family in a war between tribes, not even the floating cities were distant enough, he still freezes up every time he sees white feathers. Branix got blamed for a murder and fled his country. And I¡­ well by Niortak standards I¡¯m useless.¡± He waved his hand and the light around it rippled slightly, but nothing else happened. ¡°I was exposed to a strange plant when I was young, and ever since then I can¡¯t form the wings of the Niortak. Our entire world revolves around that ability. You can hardly get from place to place in a village without being able to glide. We use them as weapons, we use them to carry our supplies¡­ the list goes on.¡± He sighed, ¡°So we picked up what was left of our lives and thought, ¡®hey, there¡¯s a whole different world over there, a world where we could start over.¡¯ It took months to get a hold of something that could take us between the worlds, things like that are rare, even on Arendi where skycraft are all over the place. But we came here. We met Taenseva and have never separated since. We have our squabbles, but¡­ we¡¯re family.¡± Kinthek frowned slightly, trying to fit this in with how he thought of the man. A cripple? A cripple that could still walk and talk and smile. Kinthek thought of the earlier question, Do you think you¡¯re worth the people who led you to this moment? Do you ever sit quietly and wonder if you aren¡¯t? Was that what Ashevian felt then? Did he sometimes think that he wasn¡¯t worth it? Kinthek couldn¡¯t precisely say that it was something he could relate to, but in the end he¡¯d heard those whispers every day. Soulless, pointless, burden. Sometimes¡­ Well sometimes Kinthek had simply sat there and taken it, thinking in the back of his mind that this must be true. When everyone else seems to have the same opinion, it makes it hard to call it false. But he was away from that now, and things were so much better. Kinthek looked at Ashevian, ¡°Thank you for telling me that, I think I understand a bit better now.¡± Ashevian nodded, still staring at the sky. ¡°Arendi has floating cities though? I¡¯ve never heard of that.¡± The man smiled, ¡°It does. They¡¯re beautiful. I¡¯d never seen a place built for people without wings before visiting the city of Teisel. It¡¯s what gave me the idea, actually.¡± Kinthek tilted his head, feeling his tail begin to sway from side to side behind him, ¡°Really? Why¡¯d they build it that way?¡± ¡°Well, the people who built them are dead now. They didn¡¯t have wings to make it necessary, it wasn¡¯t the Niortak you see. It was some other people with some other god. I don¡¯t remember what we called them, but they could work wonders.¡± He spoke then, telling of beauty almost beyond comprehension, inventions that had never been replicated, and cities that floated in the sky, coloring the sunsets of Arendi with islands that almost seemed like vast castles. Kinthek felt like he could almost see what they¡¯d look like as he watched his own sunset. v3c18 - Just as Bright --- Alafaya --- From near the top of the city, Alafaya watched the traders arrive. It wasn¡¯t a noteworthy thing with a junction so crucial as Thundercrossing, but she¡¯d seen people talking of this caravan, often with their wards against danger within grasp and fearful looks just behind their eyes. Alafaya was good at faces, she was good at faces and eyes, but mostly she was good at telling people apart by their mouths, the way they¡¯d curve with displeasure at a bad scent or wobble into a grin at the slightest provocation. Everyone¡¯s mouths were different, everyone¡¯s words unique and personal. Sometimes she thought she was the only one who saw those things, but that wasn¡¯t terribly odd. Alafaya smiled as the city gates opened and the caravan rolled in, three weary looking wagons and the oakay birds that pulled them telling the tale for her without needing to see the tired eyes of the merchants and mercenaries. It had been a long journey through the dead river then, the closest city in that direction was Starlight, and they weren¡¯t exactly known for their hospitality from what Alafaya could tell. She grinned wider when she spotted a head of bright red hair among the traders, the rumors were true then. More odd, however were the Niortak, the bird like people who seemed to be the only ones who looked up into the floating lake and at the enormous tower beside it. These were the only ones who would spot Alafaya from where she clung to that tower. She¡¯d always considered herself to be good with climbing things, dexterous, strong. She¡¯d first climbed the tower when she was eight. It was a place to get away from the people and just exist. A place away from the looks and the judgement. Even fourteen years later she wasn¡¯t any less capable of climbing it, or any less willing. But she also wasn¡¯t any more happy, not in a place like this. Alafaya let out a long breath, the air in her lungs was much warmer than the current weather, it was late fall by now, and the way her coat clung to her was just a reminder of that. It wasn¡¯t the best time of year to join a caravan, especially when most of them would hole up in whatever city they could find until the coming winter passed. The Leftbite¡¯s Wings wouldn¡¯t be doing that; they were famous for winter trading after all. They were also famous for having an entire menagerie of odd people. People that most places would never allow into their walls if they didn¡¯t need the wares and know they wouldn¡¯t be around for long. Alafaya watched them for a long moment, making sure they weren¡¯t going to be moved to a different location. That happens sometimes. After being sure that the trademaster wasn¡¯t heading in that direction, she was fairly sure that wasn¡¯t about to be the case this time. She felt herself relax greatly as she started scaling down the tower, smiling all the way. Finally. The streets weren¡¯t terribly full this late, but it was still a busy road to get from the tower to the market. Alafaya watched the people flow onward, wrinkling her nose at the scent of dung as one of the oakay birds that was pulling a cart released its nether innards. Dodging around the whole cart, Alafaya joined the flow of traffic. Even as light as it was at the moment there were still plenty of people to press against each other uncomfortably. Alafaya could almost feel their breath on her as she wove through them. She bumped straight into a man, both of their balance wavering. Alafaya turned to give him an apologetic look once she caught herself, but his face was already contorted in that angry way she was too familiar with, his mouth open into a shout. Alafaya watched his face for a moment too long before turning and being swept away again by the crowd. Eventually she was spat out near the market. It wasn¡¯t as busy as she¡¯d expected there, but most of the shops were closed for the night already. She wasn¡¯t even jostled anymore, as most of the people had been heading away from the market, likely back to their homes. Even as she watched, Alafaya noticed several market goers trickling toward the road. Shaking her head at the shops, Alafaya passed the regular shops by, following the gathering crowd who¡¯d come to gawk at the traders. And the Leftbite¡¯s Wings were certainly worth gawking at. Alafaya herself slowed to a stop at the ring of people, three annoyed looking merchants¡ªsome of which were Niortak¡ªsat a distance from the wagons that were being unloaded, keeping people away from the goods since no trading or selling would happen until tomorrow. Behind them, several others were setting up tents and sorting through items, likely cataloging everything before tomorrow. If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. Hesitating at the ring, Alafaya watched the three merchants with anxiety. Now she started to wonder if they would even accept her. She had no way to be sure who she was even supposed to ask, and the Leftbite¡¯s were infamous for not taking travelers with them without reason. Alafaya hoped it would be different if they knew she planned on staying with their group. It took that long for her to notice a woman standing near the center of the crowd she was in, everyone else seemed to be paying attention to her, so Alafaya shifted her gaze there, watching the woman¡¯s face. It took her a moment to adjust to the way her mouth moved, it was so calm and orderly, like a mother lecturing children. Alafaya barely even had to fill in any gaps. ¡°-be here for the next two days. Remember, no exchanges before tomorrow, but come back with your families and-¡± Someone bumped into Alafaya at that point, and she was forced to look away, giving the person in question a confused look. There was no reason to¡­ Squalls. She knew him, how could she not? Alafaya didn¡¯t remember his name, but he¡¯d been there the day¡ª the day she¡¯d¡ª when¡ª She punched him before the thoughts even finished, her eyes wide, her mouth pressed into a stiff line of anger. Someone pulled her away from him. Someone else pulled him away from her. Alafaya didn¡¯t really notice what was going on until that same woman before, the one who¡¯d been talking to the crowd, leaned down in front of her, shouting. Shouting¡­ Right. Alafaya watched her, feeling her anger melt away into resignation. All she caught of the woman¡¯s words was a belated ¡°-is going on?¡± Alafaya cringed slightly, holding up her hands into the sign of repetition, it was a common enough gesture in most places, and most folk got what it meant immediately. The woman blinked, confused, her neat mouth twisting into a frown, ¡°Squalls, what got into you? What did he do?¡± Alafaya watched her for a moment longer, and then shook her head. It hadn¡¯t been him. It had been his friend. She felt her fingers twitch slightly, but she stilled them as she kept her eyes on the woman, who was starting to get more confused. Squalls. ¡°Can you understand me?¡± Alafaya shrugged. Mostly. There were big pieces that were always missing, but she had most of the context at the moment. She knew what this woman would be asking. To alleviate the confusion though, Alafaya touched her ear and shook her head. It took a moment for that to sink in, but the woman stood up almost immediately once it did. She said something that Alafaya didn¡¯t catch well enough, but she left a moment later, rushing toward the unpacking traders. Alafaya sighed, part of her expecting the woman to be coming back, but the other part was too used to people to possibly think so. Mostly she expected the pitying looks. She was more than surprised to say the least when the woman returned less than a minute later, holding something under her arm. Alafaya looked up at that, finally allowing herself to see the five angry people standing over her, their mouths were curved in anger, their eyes full of fire. The man she¡¯d punched was behind them, staring at her with haunted eyes. He remembered that night too. She felt her hands curve back into fists at his expression. Haunted, but guiltless. Pitying. And then there was a notebook in her hands and that same woman holding forward a stick of charcoal. Alafaya stared at it for a long long moment, momentarily shocked out of her anger. Paper. Real paper. That was expensive, she¡¯d learned to draw glyphs and to read, but¡­ she¡¯d hardly ever held a real book. Alafaya belatedly looked up, giving the woman a completely baffled look as she still held out the stick. With stiff fingers, Alafaya took it. It was smooth beneath her palm. She looked back up at the woman once more, who just nodded. Alafaya began to write. The woman read over her shoulder, watching the pencil move. As the moment¡¯s passed she seemed to get stiffer and stiffer in her bearing. As the story was told. She stood up sharply at the end of it. Alafaya blinked as she marched over to the man and punched him herself. And then it was over. - Alafaya looked over the written word, memorizing it. Taenseva. Names¡ªlike every word¡ªwere difficult to pick up with lip reading. As it was, Alafaya could barely understand someone that way, it was more a necessity thing than a solution. Regardless, it was nice to know the name that belonged to the person. Alafaya wrote neatly a bit after the first name, putting her own down. Alafaya. She watched as Taenseva read it, her lips curling into a smile, her eyes echoing that grin. She nodded, smiling. Alafaya nodded back. They didn¡¯t need to speak to know what it meant. It was nice to meet each other, and to have a name. v3c19 - Corruption --- Fora --- Tatch Vespin, the magistrate of the City of Starlight, was a horrible person. I hadn¡¯t really expected that at first, given that Eliax knew his father and everything that she said made it seem like he was a great guy. It was hard to believe that someone so sour could come from a devout priest who had a very guilty Kinthek gather stems for him for ten years as a means of paying off an impossible debt. It was hard to believe, but that didn¡¯t make it any less true. I squinted up at Tatch and my nose wrinkled in disgust at his noble bearing. As if the whole world was at his beck and call. He wore ivory buttons, silk clothing, and a large headdress that outmassed his skull five times over. He sat in a chair that was just barely not a throne, and he looked down his nose at everyone in the room, but especially at me. ¡°So?¡± I asked, spinning the shackles I¡¯d phased through around one finger absently. ¡°What exactly do you want?¡± Tatch grimaced at me, but ignored the question at first. ¡°Can you not do that?¡± I shrugged and petulantly swung it faster. ¡°You¡­¡± Tatch sighed. ¡°You¡¯re from Arendi, aren¡¯t you? The world in the sky?¡± I regarded him for a moment, ¡°So? Maybe I am. Maybe I¡¯m not. Where are you going with this?¡± I tossed the shackles to the ground and started inspecting the gold leaf on the walls. Sparking corrupt local governments¡­ Parts of it weren¡¯t even leaf, some was actual solid gold. That was worse in every way. Tatch narrowed his eyes at my attention to his wall, but didn¡¯t comment on it. ¡°The Emperor has an interest in going there in the near future, you see, Arendi is more prosperous and green than our lands. It can support more people.¡± I paused in my examination and met his eyes across the distance. Even his soul felt gross, it was perfectly ordinary for a Larborak, but in this man every part of it made me want to look away again, and so I did, once more focusing on the gold in the wall. ¡°Don¡¯t people already live there though? They wouldn¡¯t be very happy with plans like those.¡± Tatch grimaced, but didn¡¯t answer my question. ¡°The Emperor or Nelfourne himself requested me to look into your¡­ people. Once he heard you were here he looked into reports of people like you, people with gray skin and hard shells instead of bones.¡± I hesitated slightly, wanting to ask but more willing to correct him than anything. ¡°I have bones. What kind of person doesn¡¯t have bones. That¡¯s like the sky not being blue or people in power not abusing it.¡± I smirked at him, ¡°But that¡¯s just life there. What do you mean, ¡®people like me.¡¯ anyway?¡± ¡°The Alanerea.¡± Tatch said impatiently, ignoring my earlier jibe somehow. ¡°The people from the stars who appeared hundreds of years ago. They found their way to Arendi after many wars. Is that not what you are?¡± I blinked at him, remembering the name that first Turste and then Netun had claimed. ¡°I¡¯m¡­ related to them.¡± I finally said after a long and arduous pause. ¡°But I didn¡¯t even know there were any on Arendi, so I¡¯m not going to be of much help here.¡± He was silent for a long moment, staring down at me with annoyance and hatred, two emotions that I¡¯d come to associate with nobles. Well, most nobles. I couldn¡¯t imagine Hivren or Raia expressing either of those. Even Steris hadn¡¯t been that bad. But this Tatch¡­ sparks I hated him. ¡°Are you in need of something to¡­ remind you.¡± He waved a hand, and one of the guards pulled out a sack. It looked like it was filled with gold or something. I gave him a baffled look, but I¡¯ve always been too curious for my own good. ¡°How much is that?¡± ¡°Seventeen hundred golden castings.¡± Tatch replied smugly. I wasn¡¯t sure how much that really was. I gave the bag a dubious look, ¡°What, how much bread could I get with that?¡± He hesitated, sending a scholarly-type man nearby a panicked look. The scholar considered something for a moment before making the Nelfournian sign for two hundred and twelve. Tatch looked back at me, triumphant, ¡°Two hundred and twelve loaves of bread.¡± So that wasn¡¯t much more than six hundred bigger coins from back home. I sighed, ¡°No deal.¡± The nobleman seemed baffled about something, ¡°not even-¡± he stuttered for a moment, ¡°How about three times that amount. I was expecting you to see through me.¡± I picked at my ear. ¡°...four times?¡± This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it. I sighed. ¡°Alright alright, ten thousand golden castings. That¡¯s nearly six times the initial amount!¡± I gave him a look again. ¡°How much is that in bread?¡± The scholarly man sighed, ¡°One thousand, two hundred, and forty-seven loaves of bread.¡± I tilted my head at him, ¡°You¡¯re sparking good at math.¡± The man who I was increasingly certain was a tax collector simply shrugged, ¡°It¡¯s my job.¡± Tatch stood up, angry, ¡°So? You¡¯re bleeding me dry. Is ten thousand golden castings something you can agree with?¡± I yawned. ¡°Ah¡­ nope, I got nothing.¡± I grinned at him, ¡°It¡¯s not like I need that much bread anyway. Can¡¯t think of anything else I¡¯d even buy with it. Besides, it¡¯d all go bad before I could eat it anyway.¡± I shrugged helplessly and started casting a gate. Everyone in the room grew defensive the moment I dropped to my knees and started drawing a circle, sparks, I needed to learn how to make a circle with just my feet, that sounded like it was something useful. Maybe I could put chalk in the toes of my shoes¡­ ¡°Wait!¡± Tatch yelled, growing panicked, ¡°Wait! Wait! I¡¯ll do anything! What do you want! I can pardon you! I can give you land! I can get you a thunder crystal!¡± I felt my expression sour, people like this irked me. ¡°I¡¯ll pass.¡± I was gone before he could offer anything else. --- Filfinde --- Filfinde lifted her dainty nose into the air, turning to the side with confusion as Taenseva returned to the camp. She never stayed nearby when they were unpacking. She said it was because she always tried to organize people and it made half the traders anxious when she did that. Flame, who had been with the Leftbite¡¯s longer than Filfinde and back to when Taenseva didn¡¯t do this, agreed that it was necessary. But she was coming back today, which meant something was different about today. That was good, Filfinde liked different things. She bumped Flame with her elbow slightly, getting his attention off setting up the tent. ¡°Taenseva¡¯s coming back.¡± He grimaced slightly, he¡¯d been having a good day so far, no unwarranted anger or even wrestling with Talf. But if Taenseva was about to start micromanaging, he would be making himself scarce. Flame was like a cuddly animal on the inside, whenever he was himself he¡¯d rather choose peace in every single case. In fact, that was most of the reason he¡¯d left his family, his temperament had been so vastly different from theirs before the bloodbinding. He glanced around the area before giving Filfinde the look. The one that said, ¡®I¡¯m so terribly sorry for this and inconveniencing you brings me pain.¡¯ Like a cuddly animal. ¡°I¡¯ll¡­ go then¡­ can you¡­ finish this?¡± he gestured at the tent, and Filfinde could tell that even asking it was painful to him. Stars above he was too much of a gentleman. Filfinde pushed him in the direction of the gate, ¡°Go on, mister! Don¡¯t get distracted by the water this time.¡± She teased. Flame smiled, ¡°It¡¯s just so pretty from above.¡± So cuddly. It was truly a travesty that no one else got to see him like this. ¡°Then maybe you should take me one of these days.¡± His smile fell slightly, ¡°I don¡¯t know if I¡­ but if you really-¡± Filfinde tapped him lightly with her fist, reminding him of the time she¡¯d punched him to prove this very point. ¡°Squalls Flame, you don¡¯t have to if you don¡¯t want to. I¡¯d like to see it one day, but if you aren¡¯t comfortable now, I suppose I¡¯ll just have to wait then.¡± His smile returned. It was like a warm hug, inviting, happy, relaxed. Flame turned and finally made his way out of the camp and toward the city gate. Filfinde never wanted to, but every time she would always watch the sky for a glint of wings. She hadn¡¯t spotted it yet, but hopefully one day he would finally let her see it. All she had for now were two red scales as large as her eyes that he¡¯d given her the first time. He only did this when he was worried he would get angry. She felt like it was more often lately. Too often. Filfinde turned toward Taenseva finally, her eyes widening in shock as she spotted a young woman walking with her. She looked like she was in her early twenties, and the way her eyes moved about was adorable, like she was some kind of princess surveying her kingdom. Filfinde felt a genuine smile, another stray then? She looked like a stray, she had that way about her that Taenseva always managed to pick up. Like she wanted to blend into a wall but didn¡¯t think it was possible. Most strays only stayed for a few months, eventually finding a place to belong, but Filfinde loved meeting them, making them feel welcome. At least¡­ most of them. She now regretted never having done that with Kinthek. Filfinde reached them, waving politely as the woman began the inevitable staring. The face, the hair, the perfectly dainty nose¡­ Filfinde really should have asked for just a regular nose in retrospect, but it had felt wrong to only do things halfway. After all, why leave even a chance that the old one kept its shape? ¡°Another stray?¡± Filfinde asked. Taenseva nodded, ¡°Seems that way, certainly. This is Alafaya, she¡¯s deaf.¡± Filfinde blinked at that one, ¡°That¡¯s a first!¡± She turned her smile toward Alafaya, who was shrinking slightly under her gaze. Now that wouldn¡¯t do. ¡°We all have our thing.¡± ¡°Some more than others.¡± Taenseva muttered. Filfinde rolled her eyes before fixing her gaze on the young woman. She was clutching a notebook with a deathgrip, that was probably her only mode of real communication. Filfinde stood up straighter, holding out a hand for it. Reluctantly, Alafaya passed it over and Filfinde wrote a greeting. ¡°Alafaya, Right? I¡¯m Filfinde, it¡¯s great to meet you.¡± She smiled when she read it, ¡°You too.¡± Her gaze tracked to Filfinde¡¯s hair, ¡°You¡¯re a bloodbinder?¡± Filfinde nodded, still embarrassed about the reason for that. At least now she could say she had a very cute nose. She wrote one last sentence and then stood up, Alafaya read it and then followed, ¡°Come with me, I¡¯ll introduce you to everyone.¡± v3c20 - The Aremolot --- Fora, one year since arrival --- I slammed into the ground as the creature pinned me there. According to Eliax, Aremolot were tunneling draconic beasts from Arendi. She wasn¡¯t sure yet how they¡¯d managed to get across the gap between worlds, since usually it was only flying monsters that could bridge the space. But after my first encounter with an Aremolot, I had a feeling that they were always there, below the surface. It was a mystery why they only came out on Light days. Those days specifically were four times a year, mostly I¡¯d learned that the hard way, but Eliax was just glad my incessant dying wasn¡¯t nearly as debilitating as it used to be. ~Aren¡¯t you going to phase through it?~ Think of a dragon and soon she appears. ~Not sure, I don¡¯t really want to start getting predictable.~ ~It¡¯s because your guard friends are watching, isn¡¯t it.~ ~I can¡¯t let them know how easy it is to do that! They¡¯ll start to wonder why I ever used to let them catch me!~ ~It can¡¯t be good for your mental state to see dying as less bad than that.~ ~Dying is temporary, you¡¯ll make another clone just to get me out of your head.~ ~And yet you still manage to distract me at the worst times¡­~ She trailed off, finally returning to her research. I sent her books whenever I got a hold of them. Eliax claimed that she was trying to figure out why water floated here, but I didn¡¯t think anyone knew the answer to that, least of all a bunch of books. Couldn¡¯t she just look at the water herself and find out? Learn some identification spells? We had a whole bunch of spellbooks, there had to be a reason for their existence. I shook my head and pushed against the massive claw, hardly even shifting it as the aremolot glared down at me with slitted eyes. This suddenly felt uncomfortably similar to the time Xien had disemboweled me. Sparking dragons and dragon-like creatures. I pushed my dimensionalism at it, trying to turn off its ties to the ground, but it was much too big. I felt it grow slightly lighter, but I had to extinguish the effect before it drained all my energy away. I slumped against the claw, sighing with annoyance. Alright, alright. My reasons were stupid anyway. But why the sparks is it just sitting there looking menacing? Shouldn¡¯t it be biting my head off? That¡¯s what had happened the last three times I¡¯d confronted this aremolot. ¡ªI think it got a taste for me after the first time. Was it smart enough to have realized that my clone body would just dissipate into nothingness once it died? If so, I must be like an empty buffet table to this thing. Maybe it just wanted to finally see me die for good. I contemplated trying to strike up a conversation with a less than self aware monster, but in the end I phased through the claw, teleporting immediately for a better vantage point. ~Now what? You hardly know any offensive spells.~ I grumbled internally, ~Would you stop it about that? I¡¯m not learning to slice people open with portals!~ ~Even if it makes the world safer for a monster like this one to no longer be present?~ ~YES. Even then.~ ~And you still won¡¯t let me do it? We don¡¯t really share a brain anymore, you won¡¯t even have to watch.~ ~We¡¯ve talked about this.~ ~Well I¡¯m going to figure out how to do it, one day there will be someone like Xien that just has to die. It¡¯s better if it happens before we lose someone we care about next time.~ I stilled slightly, watching that creature. It was just¡­ looking up at me, not even angry anymore, just¡­ curious. Sparks, could it think? It seemed at that moment to be a sign of what Eliax was saying. One day there will be a monster strong enough to hurt the people you care about. Shouldn¡¯t you be able to hurt them first? My mind still reviled against the idea, but I knew why Eliax was bringing it up. She had Kinthek now, and she was terrified of something happening to him. She¡¯d never been all that close to any of our friends in the past, and that part scared her even more because she didn¡¯t understand it. ~I¡­ won¡¯t stop you from figuring it out, but I¡¯m not doing it.~ Eliax seemed surprised at this, and then suspicious as she saw my thoughts. ~I¡¯m not in love with him.~ Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work! ~Well obviously, if you were in love you¡¯d have tracked him down already and been stalking him to make sure he doesn¡¯t stub his toe. But I know you considered it.~ ~Only briefly.~ She admitted shamelessly. Sparks it was impossible to really get under her skin like this. I sighed and let the connection dissipate, focusing again on the creature. ¡°Hey, are you specifically after me? What¡¯s up with that?¡± The dragon-like aremolot regarded me, and then to my eternal surprise, it spoke. ¡°You stink of traitors and blood.¡± Sparks, it did seem like a dragon in a lot of ways, why had I assumed it wouldn¡¯t be like one in this way too? They could talk apparently. That felt like it should change something, it meant they were intelligent. ¡°The Alanerea?¡± I guessed, unable to think of any other traitors. ¡°Yes, the old ones.¡± ¡°Like you, I assume? Old I mean.¡± The aremolot puffed itself up, it sounded vaguely masculine to me, but with such a booming voice, that wasn¡¯t really much of an indicator. ¡°I¡¯m older than the mountains, I shape the world itself.¡± ¡°Yes, yes, earth magic, it¡¯s very impressive. You¡¯re like a dragon then?¡± It hissed, ¡°Imbeciles¡­¡± ¡°The dragons?¡± ¡°They¡¯re so much weaker than they used to be, and yet somehow twice as prideful.¡± ¡°So¡­ are you done trying to eat me or was four times good enough?¡± The aremolot hissed, ¡°You¡¯re unnatural. No one should come back after they die.¡± I shrugged, ¡°So that¡¯s another reason you hate dragons? The ones I know have a tendency to do that.¡± ¡°It¡¯s unnatural¡­¡± I nodded to myself, ¡°Yes, the most unnatural thing ever. Say, do you know anything about a dragon by the name of Yumorath? I¡¯ve been trying to track him down.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t like you. Why would I give you information like that?¡± ¡°That¡¯s a shame.¡± I frowned at the creature, even less willing to try killing it now that we¡¯d had a conversation. It probably had family, friends, even if all of them were despicable earth worms with bad attitudes. I was frustrated too. Now I had no way of even knowing if it knew Yumorath. Besides, almost any information I got would just be forgotten. ~How in the world do we expect to be able to find someone like that?~ Eliax sent annoyance, apparently at a good part in the book, this section was about plants. ~We don¡¯t. That was your idea, I¡¯m just waiting for you to give up so you¡¯ll listen to me more.~ ~That¡¯s terribly rude.~ The monster huffed, ¡°I might be willing to help you.¡± I perked up, ¡°Oh? What are you asking in return?¡± The aremolot jumped, a mighty leap with powerful limbs, its jaws opening to swallow me whole again, ¡°Your death.¡± I squeaked in a very unladylike manner, leaping off my force spell and sending myself into the sky. I hadn¡¯t even realized it could jump! I barely managed to avoid the jaws as it was, yelling once I landed on a new spell, this time higher, ¡°Sparks! You are extremely violent! I was just asking a question!¡± The monster eyed my platform from below, probably contemplating jumping again but higher. It glanced toward the city¡ªwhich was unfortunately nearby¡ªand snarled at me. ¡°Fight me fairly, mage.¡± ¡°You¡¯re about a kazillion times bigger than me, I don¡¯t think that¡¯s very fair!¡± ¡°And you¡¯re immortal.¡± I regarded it for a moment, ¡°That is completely beside the point. I don¡¯t want to fight you, this is stupid.¡± The aremolot snarled again, once more focusing on the city. And then it rushed toward it. Sparks. I decided that this thing probably didn¡¯t have friends or family, only a heartless monster would go after a city. The aremolots had to be avoiding them on purpose if they could just come to the surface whenever and rampage without the use of earth magic¡­ that was an interesting thought. I thrust myself after it, feeling my energy drop as I twisted about in the air once again. I was probably at about half by the time I landed on the wall ahead of the aremolot. It seemed to grin savagely as it continued rushing forward. I heard the guards along the wall scream and scatter. I heard the wind. I heard the roar of an approaching monster large enough to flatten the city in a matter of minutes. Eliax chose that moment to check in with me again. ~Sparks, Fora, you work fast.~ ~Are you going to help me?~ I felt mana leak through our connection in response. It took me a moment to realize it was for me. ~Make a barrier or something, I¡¯m sure it¡¯ll work out.~ I sent anger but took the energy, thrusting both of my palms forward before grasping onto the runes drifting in the wind, shaping them together hastily and pulling them into a force spell. A massive force spell. It was harder than it should have been to pierce the between with my mana, to take its energy to fuel the spell, but there were hardly any places on Arithren where it was easy to do so. In this case, it was enough. A spiraling dome of golden light formed, starting at where I stood and spreading over and across the city, just in time for a very angry dragon like earthworm to ram straight into it. I felt the energy strain at its might, I felt it almost buckle, but another pair of hands joined the dome, lending her own ability. The dome held. I turned my head, grinning from ear to ear at Eliax, who just seemed annoyed. She didn¡¯t speak aloud, the sound of the impact had been deafening and it pierced the air like a gong. But I felt her mind connect back to mine, its origin. ~You¡¯re lucky it held.~ I grinned wider. ~Thanks, thanks!~ She nodded curtly at me and teleported away again, somehow still having mana after that. I knew I was completely drained. The aremolot glared at me, but it retreated. v3c21 - Visions of Truth --- Hivren, the year 796 --- ¡°There was once a hero so grand that not even death could keep her. A hero so brilliant that kings fell beneath her. A hero so noble and just that even the between itself split apart at her command. A hero who could see magic, who could do almost anything.¡± Alrasi watched Hivren with wide eyes just like the other kids as the man told the story of Foralen. The twins sat at the back, looking bored and annoyed. As all things were, this tale was being warped by society, her feats inflated, her legend only growing greater now that she wasn¡¯t around to claim it. It was much harder to keep the facts straight in things like this. But everyone expected her to be back. In just a decade or two they always said, in just a few years like last time and the time before. She would appear out of nowhere and change the world again. Hivren was one of those people, the ones who spread such conviction. After all, he¡¯d been close to Fora. No matter what Aymiae said, it was just a matter of time before the little test of his sanity returned. But the longer it took, the more Hivren was sure that it wouldn¡¯t be in his lifetime. Even though he was still in his middle age, even if it was at the tail end of that¡ªsparks nearly forty-seven already¡ªit had been years now since she¡¯d died. Hivren finished the story, smiling at the kids as they started fighting with each other and declaring themselves to be able to see magic. Fora was still affecting people, even if she was somewhere else now. Tibetch snuck her way over, sitting down beside him and watching the small ones slowly become more and more rowdy. Now that he thought about it, his kids hardly ever came to this class with him. He glanced at the teacher, who just seemed happy the children¡¯s fighting was lighthearted this time. ¡°Yes?¡± He asked after a moment, clearly Tibetch wanted to talk with him about something. Maybe she was going to choose a mentor finally. He knew she¡¯d been trying to get Steris to accept her, but from what Hivren knew, the queen had far too much on her plate for an apprentice. ¡°It happened again.¡± Hivren paused, looking his daughter in the eye. His mind stumbled for a moment before finally recalling what she had to be talking about. ¡°A vision?¡± he perked up, last time she¡¯d seen a glimpse into the past, a memory of her mother. ¡°What was it this time?¡± With the look she was giving him, serious with a dash of worry, it had to be more important. Tibetch swallowed, and Hivren realized her hands were shaking. ¡°I¡­ don¡¯t think I can describe it. I¡¯m not even sure where it came from, but I¡¯m sure it happened in the present this time. It was¡­ it was only an hour ago.¡± Hivren nodded and held out a hand, Tibetch obliged, taking it and sharing the memory with her other affinity. Hivren found himself watching an alien landscape, a beast rampaging, attacking something. The monster itself was like nothing he had ever seen. In a way it was almost a dragon, but in another way it was almost a worm. It had no wings but it attacked with such ferocity, such anger. Finally it pinned whatever it was attacking. Something that had flitted about in the air. The view itself seemed to be from the perspective of a city, hivren could see buildings from the corners of his eyes and a wall, but it was fixed in point on the rampage. After a long moment of stillness, the beast turned toward the city, rushing forward as an arc of golden light sped past it. Fora. The dome of force she cast across the city was so large, so advanced, and so strong that it stopped the monster in its tracks. Hivren was left blinking as the sight of the golden shield faded from his view. He stood up, heart beating quickly as if he¡¯d actually been there. It was no wonder why Tibetch had seemed so shaken. After a moment he sat down again. His nerves settled back down. ¡°Fora?¡± He said quietly, ¡°That was Fora.¡± Tibetch nodded. ¡°Definitely. I was thinking we might be able to use this to find out where she ended up?¡± Hivren shuddered slightly, and then nodded. ¡°Write down a description of the scenery. The monster too. I¡¯ll get them to Aymi.¡± The young woman who always seemed so much older than Hivren imagined her nodded quickly, ¡°And after that? What do we do if we find out where she is?¡± ¡°We get there somehow. Even if it means stealing a gate key.¡± Tibetch frowned slightly, but it didn¡¯t seem like she¡¯d expected anything else. She glanced up as her brother approached. Orfen always spoke with an easy authority, much like Hivren himself in a lot of ways. His eyes were slightly haunted at the moment. It was clear that Tibetch had shared the memory with him first. ¡°So? What do you think that monster was?¡± Orfen was always the cautious type. Where Tibetch was a firebrand, Orfen was a calm storm. Hivren put a hand to his forehead, ¡°It looked like a dragon, or a pi¡¯che. But unlike those, it didn¡¯t have wings. It looked like it could destroy a city in minutes even without them. Not even a dragon is that big either.¡± Orfen lifted his chin, ¡°We¡¯ve exterminated all the monsters on that level on our own world. Only the dragons still have sheer power at that lever but we can reason with them. Even if we go there, how can you be sure that the place isn¡¯t crawling with those things? It¡¯s not enough to just figure out how, if you want to go after Fora we¡¯ll help you but we aren¡¯t letting you die in the process.¡±This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source. Hivren sighed, ¡°I¡¯ll talk to my sister. Tib, are you alright with sharing that memory with her?¡± Tibetch nodded, her gaze even. She was getting so much older¡­ Why did the two of them have to grow up? Couldn¡¯t they just stay as they¡¯d been, innocent children who looked up to him? ¡°I¡¯d also like to share it with Aymi.¡± Oh. ¡°This again, Tib? I don¡¯t think the goddess of Justice would concern herself with our problems. Last time, Aymi said that it¡¯s not something we should concern ourselves with. It¡¯ll take time.¡± Her eyes returned to their natural fire. ¡°But we need Taasen! He would be perfectly willing to help, even if it isn¡¯t on Kalteii¡¯s orders! This is his friend we¡¯re talking about!¡± The one with all the missing memories thanks to that enormous memory spell of unknown origins. They hadn¡¯t even realized what was going on with the Ayfel¡¯s combat instructor until a few months ago. Hivren massaged his temples, not willing to explain that Taasen made him uncomfortable, because that wasn¡¯t even the actual reason. ¡°Erane is doing perfectly fine. She¡¯s a great teacher.¡± ¡°But she barely remembers anything! Besides, Aymi didn¡¯t say we shouldn¡¯t concern ourselves with it, just that Kalteii wouldn¡¯t fix it for us.¡± Hivren watched his daughter as she steadily became more heated about this topic. Finally sighing. ¡°Alright, alright, you can ask Aymi to send the message along that we have one of Taasen¡¯s old friends here. Odds are that will get him here.¡± Hivren shuddered internally, still remembering when Taasen had called him a deceiver. It had been terrifying, especially when later he heard of what Taasen normally did with deceivers. He hadn¡¯t even lied that much¡­ Tibetch on the other hand grinned triumphantly, Orfen patted her on the head in congratulations, which only resulted in the two of them lightly elbowing each other for five minutes while Hivren ushered the two children¡ªthey had to still be children with such actions¡ªfrom the room before the smaller children got any ideas. --- Runesight --- I¡¯ve always found tales from Arendi and Arithren to be beautiful in some cases, poetic in others. In more cases than not, however, many are horrifying. Their style of stopping a story before it¡¯s ¡®finished¡¯ in the traditional sense has always brought much thought into the words I¡¯ve seen. While this particular tale takes place long long after my initial arrival on Arithren, I think it highlights an important point. On Arithren, they expect things to be horrible. They expect their stories to end before the true heroes rise up and take action. They expect a lot of things. In essence, the interesting stories are about breaking those expectations more than anything else. And so it happened, once in a time I can hardly even know, for I¡¯ve had to hear this tale through the lips of one who wasn¡¯t even there. There was or will be or never has been a bloodbinder, a monster above all other monsters he was. In the years following his death the people still whispered of him to their children, for he had colored their lives with deep and bloody memories and scars. Not even time can erase him forever, I believe that even now they still speak of him in the darkness in places beyond even the sea of tears, remembering his horrible actions and terrible rule. They called him Aeinar, death itself, as if he was the void given physical form. He was the bite of pain as a loved one passed into the beyond. He was the defilement of corpses and murder of children too young to know their own names. The man that was death started his rule of Arithren with a single blade. Before he was sorrow incarnate he was but a simple monster like any other, corrupt, powerful, and impossible to dethrone. Hero after hero went to kill him. Hundreds of aspiring saviors met him in combat, armies and knights spread across his lands seeking his death. His legend grew as his tyranny continued. And each of them fell. Years later, a single hero made his way to the monster¡¯s domain, long after the rest of the world had stopped trying. The monster still took as he wished, taxing the lands and destroying their homes, dreams, and lives. This young hero met his blade with the monster¡¯s own, his dreams and comrades falling before the tyrant¡¯s might. The battle was vicious, it lasted for hours as they traded blows, danced around each other, and fought with a ferociousness that almost matched the horrors capable of a harnessed gift. The monster of a man swung his blade one last time, close enough that the young hero noticed that there was something wrong with it. The blade itself was unfinished. It struck him in the chest, and even as the hero bled out, the blade seemed to drink it in. a weapon so powerful, forged with the blood of hundreds of heroes. The young man didn¡¯t rise again. The whole world seemed to skip a beat of its orchestra in mourning for this vibrant soul. The monster stood above the corpse, admiring the red glow of his blade as it was completed at last. The blade sharpened to a true point, the iron perfecting itself. Clean of blood but never free of it. The hundreds of heroes it had slain were designed to only be the beginning. But a blade forged in blood can never run thirsty. The true bite of death was the sword itself. The true piece of the void given life. And it was hungry. Aeinar, the blade, was found embedded in its master''s own back months later. The hero who had retrieved it fell to it as well, having found it poetic to wield the blade of a monster. And so continued the cycle of blood, the blade itself always killed the master eventually until Atharian himself saw fit to remove the blade from the world. They say he still has it, and he still waits for someone capable of controlling such a monstrous thing. - In the end, this story doesn¡¯t end. The story is about the blade itself, and it still waits. But at the same time this story is over. The possibility of Atharian returning that blade to mortal hands is much less than there ever being someone who can use the Gift of Everything properly. And so it is different, deviant from other stories. Not just because it actually happened but because of how it happened. This, I believe, is why the people who still remember it hold it so tightly. Every people I¡¯ve ever met, whether human or bound to a god, has stories like this that stand out and touch their hearts. Stories that can change the world again and again simply by existing. In this case it is the Sacrifice that touches them. I believe that the right sacrifice can touch anyone¡¯s hearts, but especially on Arithren where that¡¯s what they as a people are. Their stories are filled with martyrs, their myths are filled with selfless heroes who fight against impossible odds and win. v3c22 - Jack of All Trades --- Eliax --- I leaned back in my chair, making a mental note to ask Fora later to see if she could find a better one at some point. This one was absolute heck on my back. After leaning precariously on the chair until my back popped, I immediately went back to leaning forward. Hunched as I was over the notebook, it was a miracle that my back was still working at all. I sighed at the blueprints and pulled a pencil out of my hair, scribbling all over them again. The problem with having so many focuses, so many abilities and so many things that might be considered talents, was that I never really got to focus on any one in particular. Sure, I could cobble together a decent design or plan in an afternoon, and it might be better than the average person¡¯s design. But it wouldn¡¯t come close to an expert. I was to architects and infiltrators as those magic bag peddlers back in Reiaran were to me and Fora. I could make things, but they were absolute garbage compared to what real masters could make. I hadn¡¯t expected this to be a wall, my professional pride said I had to do all this on my own. But I was horrible at it compared to where I needed to be. I felt my mind wander again, drifting from thought to thought and then toward a solution. It probably wasn¡¯t a good solution, but I¡¯m too stubborn to be a perfectionist. I sighed, sending out a mental checkup on Fora and wondering how to word this newest request. She was usually happy to help, but she had her own crap to do. Even if it was just annoying earth dragons. I hesitated. Was I really considering sending Fora to find professionals on infiltration? Sending Fora to delve into the black market and subtly sway the people there to my cause? She¡­ didn¡¯t really do subtle. Never in a million years would those black market people ever trust me if I sent someone so loud to talk to them. I banged my head into the table, contemplating again if it was a good idea to try making a clone. Last time I¡¯d needed one I¡¯d talked myself out of it. It just seemed like a horrible idea for someone who wasn¡¯t actually real to make a clone when my real self wasn¡¯t shoving her mind inside it. Why did it always come back to this¡­ There was no way I was leaving Eternal River though, there were too many ways to die outside of this room. I stared at the desk beneath my face for several minutes before finally contacting Fora. ~Hey¡­ do you think I could make a clone? After Astral taught us the better spell we aren¡¯t really limited to one anymore.~ Fora stopped in the middle of what appeared to be desecrating a statue. Stunned at the very thought. Apparently she hadn¡¯t noticed that. We¡¯d always stuck to one clone in the past because of it, and Fora did often get stuck on things like that. She hit the world with a single minded intensity equivalent to a very very large boulder. Sometimes it was admirable. ~Do it! I want to see what happens!~ I hesitated at the phrasing, ~you don¡¯t mean¡­~Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more. ~I¡¯ll be there in a minute or two, let me pack this stuff up!~ She sent an image of the painted statue, it had a very unflattering blue mustache, a yellow unibrow, and she¡¯d coated the whole torso in orange paint for¡­ some reason. She didn¡¯t seem to be done with it, but if she cared enough she¡¯d be back regardless of the amount of fines or sentences the city of starlight threw at her. I was never going to be able to show my face there without people running away in terror, was I? As the thought drifted through my head, Fora popped into existence beside me, peering down at the scribbled out schematics. ¡°Wow wow, what are you doing here?¡± I groaned in my chair, covering it up before she read any of the nonsense it contained. ¡°Failing. I decided to give up on that a few minutes ago.¡± ¡°It looked pretty.¡± I grunted, closing the book and standing up. ¡°So you just want to watch? The clone is probably just going to be another me. Or are you hoping something else will happen?¡± Fora shrugged, climbing onto my desk¡ªwhich was cluttered plenty with various notes and objects. She probably wouldn¡¯t break anything, but I wasn¡¯t going to bet on it. ¡°I don¡¯t know what I expect, magic is weird.¡± I pushed the chair in because Fora didn¡¯t seem inclined to use it and there wasn¡¯t that much room in this place anyway. It was just a tent we¡¯d gotten from Starlight after all. ¡°Well I expect to regret this, that way if I don¡¯t I¡¯ll be pleased.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t be so pessimistic! It¡¯ll make you sad all the time.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not pessimistic.¡± ¡°And yet you had to ask me permission for something like this. If it works do you think I could make a legion of clones? I think that would be super useful.¡± I frowned slightly, ¡°Can clones make clones?¡± ¡°Probably. I¡¯m sure the magic doesn¡¯t care.¡± ¡°Ah¡­ we can try it but I don¡¯t think it¡¯ll work like you¡¯re imagining.¡± ¡°See? Pessimist!¡± ¡°That¡¯s realism, I don¡¯t see anything negative about either outcome, just outcomes.¡± ¡°Come on, cast the spell already, you¡¯re only talking to delay!¡± I grunted, not dignifying that with a response, but she was essentially right. I frowned at the desk for a moment, making sure I¡¯d weighed the options correctly, but I didn¡¯t think I¡¯d missed anything. And so I lifted my hands into the air, shaping the spell. It was just as difficult as I remembered, the portion that was time magic didn¡¯t like to cooperate with me. But Astral¡¯s spell seemed designed specifically to overcome that, to avoid the use of time magic as much as possible. I moved my hands slowly, focusing on the structure of the body and the soul. It didn¡¯t actually make a new soul, but it did make a sort of copy of my own that wasn¡¯t quite as vibrant to my soulsight. From there it built the body, and then the mind. The whole process was just a few minutes, and soon there was a perfect copy of me standing there, blinking. Even the clothes were copied, which was a piece of the lesser conjuration that I didn¡¯t quite understand enough to modify in any appreciable way. She blinked at us for a few more moments. ¡°I¡­ think I¡¯m stable? I feel stable.¡± She flexed a hand. I smiled, ¡°I see. On a scale of Eliax to Fari, who do you think you are at the moment?¡± She hesitated, glancing between me and Fora, ¡°Eliax? I think?¡± I relaxed marginally, finally looking at Fora, who was staring at the clone with her soulsight. ¡°What is it?¡± ¡°Hey, did you ever notice that on the bottom bit on the soul. You see, there to the left of the Dimensional affinity¡­ does it look different on the two of us to you? I think it does, yours is a bit more oblong than mine. I don¡¯t really remember that but it¡¯s so small¡­¡± I blinked, looking back at the clone and then at Fora. How did she even spot that? It was different though. ¡°It looks the same on me and the clone, right?¡± Fora nodded. ¡°Definitely. I thought for a moment it might be the switch, you know, for clones to dissolve themselves. But it can¡¯t be.¡± she frowned. ¡°Does that mean that when we¡¯re both in the same body it changes depending on who¡¯s more there?¡± ¡°It very well might.¡± The clone said, her eyes adopting a thoughtful look. ¡°But is anything else different in the soul then?¡± We all glanced at each other, the clone looked between the two of us and I just stared off into space, thinking of implications. ¡°Not sure.¡± Fora said, ¡°But we really should memorize our entire soul one of these days, shouldn¡¯t we? I feel like that¡¯d be helpful.¡± I nodded absently. ¡°Sounds like the perfect boring job that Eliax would enjoy!¡± Fora grinned, ¡°You already spend all your time reading and stuff.¡± I scowled. v3c23 - They Cycle Continues --- Eliax Clone --- It was odd to once again not be real, but not as odd as I¡¯d hoped it would feel. In the end it didn¡¯t really matter, I supposed that I actually wasn¡¯t real this time, but I was still just¡­ Eliax. This time there were two of me though, and without Fora in our heads it was actually weird somehow. I thought I¡¯d been desensitized to weird crap after Fora started taking control again, but it shouldn¡¯t be so surprising that the world still had things it could throw at us. I shook my head as I walked quietly through the street. I¡¯d been tracking Kinthek¡¯s communication stone¡ªbecause seriously it was a horrible idea to not know where it was in an emergency¡ªand using his previous locations, I¡¯d managed to make a gate all the way to Thundercrossing. That was good, since according to everything I read, the underground there had to be much more developed than Starlights. There might actually be someone there who knew something about gates between worlds. It worked out nicely since Kinthek and the rest of his caravan had left Thundercrossing a few months ago. The only thing I couldn¡¯t cover up was that it was the middle of winter and no one would have any idea how I¡¯d even gotten there. The cold was significantly more devastating here than I remembered back in Melor. Enough so that as I walked through the quiet streets, I found myself shivering. Spark this tiny body¡­ it could barely even hold in my own body heat¡­ I was a sparking clone, I shouldn¡¯t even have to shiver! But nooooo, whoever designed that spell had decided I couldn¡¯t eat or sleep but being cold and feeling pain were still on the table. I might have joked about revenge, but I knew I would never seriously consider it. I watched the shop names pass by as I tried to think of various funny revenge schemes so I could tell them to Fora later. The real Eliax might prefer to have Fora think she was distant or some crap, but I didn¡¯t have to do that. I searched for a specific shop, wondering how long it would take Fora to realize that Eliax was actually just an idiot. I wasn¡¯t the same Eliax, so clearly I could see everything she was doing wrong. Clearly. I felt my steps slow down as something started to feel¡­ well something seemed a bit off. I frowned at my feet for a long moment, staring at them and then flexing my hand as was habit whenever I was a clone since the sensation was slightly different from normal me. I jerked my head upward as something shot toward me, a dart or arrow¡ªsomething. I barely even registered that it was there before the air around me distorted and the object flew past. I stared in that direction for a long moment, hardly even able to process the woman who stood there with a crossbow trained at me, also watching me with a startled look. Sparks, why a crossbow? That would pierce my skin but not my exoskeleton. Unless it hit in exactly the right way it would barely even do anything. We stared at each other for a long moment before I relaxed my posture. ¡°You¡¯re with the Keeper¡¯s, I presume? I haven¡¯t found much regarding them, but what I did suggested they¡¯d know if I knew it. How is that?¡± The woman stared at me for another long moment before she swallowed, ¡°I¡­ You¡¯re from offworld. And not Arendi. That¡¯s what they said.¡± I regarded her with surprise at that, apparently they were a shady group with their hands in everything. Most of the information brokers back on Virna hadn¡¯t known anything about other worlds though¡­ that felt odd to me. ¡°Well perhaps I am. They take issue with that?¡± She stared at me for another long moment, her voice wavered slightly, ¡°I¡­ acted on my own here. I just thought they¡¯d tell me more if I took care of you for them. They¡¯re very secretive but they wanted to talk to you. Try to reason with you. They don¡¯t do that with anyone else.¡± You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version. She could be lying, but this was also a plausible turn of events. If people like this knew I was from Virna, they wouldn¡¯t have to look much farther to find out why I was here. By that logic they should know I couldn¡¯t be permanently killed. Not that I had any idea what clues they had even picked up. In short, I needed more information. I regarded the woman for a moment longer before nodding, ¡°How did they even know I was here?¡± She shuddered slightly, ¡°They have their ways.¡± I considered her for another moment, deciding that she didn¡¯t seem inclined to try shooting me again with that crossbow. Mostly she seemed scared. That wasn¡¯t terribly odd, she¡¯d seen space itself warp to keep me alive. ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll allow you to escort me to them then. So long as you put the crossbow away. I¡¯m not particularly sure but from what I¡¯ve seen, it¡¯s customary to exchange names when meeting strangers? Crossbows aren¡¯t often part of the equation.¡± I held out a hand, ¡°I¡¯m Eliax.¡± She seemed confused, but slung the crossbow over her back before taking my hand, ¡°Zouaia.¡± -- ~It seems like she¡¯s actually taking me to them, I wasn¡¯t expecting that.~ ~Really?~ The true Eliax responded, ~Try to find out the answer to our dilemma then, or memorize a few spots for teleports and we can sneak back in later on.~ I nodded to myself, sending an affirmative to Eliax before cutting the connection. It wasn¡¯t until then that I scoffed to myself. Try? I knew that if she was here herself she would have been absolutely certain of her ability to get at least that. I wasn¡¯t sure if I should be annoyed at her or excited to prove her wrong. I¡¯d probably do both. I followed right behind Zouaia, and I could tell she didn¡¯t like that much. She was the type of person who not only wanted to see a knife coming for her, but even seemed to expect it. I generally avoided people like that. I would always trust friends easily, but if someone expected you to betray them, that just meant they¡¯d betray you before you got the chance. It wasn¡¯t exactly the kind of thing I knew how to work with for longer than an hour or two, which was honestly Fora¡¯s fault. I sent that thought process to the true Eliax so she could mull over it more. It wasn¡¯t likely that it would even go anywhere though. Zouaia led me through the streets regardless of my thoughts, and despite knowing I was making her uncomfortable, I didn¡¯t move to walk beside her. Thundercrossing was a relatively boring city by my estimate, but the longer I existed the harder it was to be interested in any city, and that interest had mostly been Fora in the first place. I shook my head as we passed a tavern, and it wasn¡¯t until we were entering a dubious looking tent five minutes later that I remembered how long Fora had looked for a tavern in Starlight. I sent the location to Eliax so she could use it as a bargaining chip with Fora. The inside of the tent was crisp and clean, fashioned like a shop with prices and various items strewn about the area. It didn¡¯t feel right though, and I wasn¡¯t even sure what was wrong about it. I tracked my gaze around the area, watching the shopkeeper and Zouaia with equal measure. The shopkeeper seemed to understand who we were, which was understandable considering how much I stood out in this world. Sparks, I missed blending in. He nodded to Zouaia, who swallowed visibly before leading me to the back of the tent, into a sectioned off room. I peered in after her and stopped, frowning at the hole in the ground and the ladder leading into it. I hadn¡¯t realized basements even existed on Arithren. They hardly seemed to build any permanent shelters. I examined it for a moment longer before starting down the ladder after Zouaia, who seemed much more shaken than I was by the act of descending into the earth. I did know that the Larborak held shaping earth as some kind of sacred action. I doubted Zouaia was particularly religious, but those things always got stuck onto the culture of a people rather thoroughly. The distance was longer than I¡¯d assumed, but after a few minutes I heard my crossbow companion drop down to the ground. It was dark down here though, wasn¡¯t she going to light a torch or something? I frowned at the ladder as I reached the bottom, dropping down the remaining two or so lengths before regarding the space around me. ¡°No torches?¡± I asked as she led me down the tunnel without one, giving her a curious look. Zouaia shook her head, ¡°The keepers don¡¯t like them.¡± v3c24 - A Connection --- Eliax Clone --- I frowned at Zouaia for a moment before deciding not to cast a light spell since I didn¡¯t know what part of a torch the Keepers didn¡¯t like. The fire or the light itself. The tunnel on the other hand simply grew darker as we continued, it went farther than I¡¯d expected. We were probably almost out of the city¡ªand we were definitely out of light¡ªby the time Zouaia stopped. I was reminded of the time I¡¯d explored the palace dungeons with Illila. At least this time my companion wasn¡¯t freaking out. As much. Well, if she was freaking out then I couldn¡¯t tell in the darkness, so there. ¡°Are we-¡± ¡°Shh!¡± I blinked, confused at the violence of the shushing. After a long moment, the walls began to glow. Or rather, three spots on the walls did. I stared at them, my mouth forming into an O as they brightened the room into a comfortable dimness. That was the same kind of crystal that covered the between so thoroughly back on Virna. How in the world had it gotten here? I was staring at one, trying to figure out who had managed to carve a statue out of it when a voice spoke. ¡°You are the immortal, I take it?¡± I glanced toward the voice, startled to see that one of the other crystals¡ªwhich also looked like a statue and was probably not a statue now that I thought about it¡ªwas speaking. Her voice was pleasant, not grating or anything that I¡¯d expect from someone who was literally a rock. But if she hadn¡¯t been fashioned of crystal, she might have been human, albeit a hand or two taller than most humans I knew. ¡°I¡­ yes.¡± I finally responded, shaking myself out of my shock. ¡°Are you the Keepers then?¡± The not-statue tilted her head at me. I realized that the glow deep within her was pulsing, as was the glow in the other two. ¡°I am Nenfein, leader of division six of the Keepers. Voice and present vessel of Zolinal herself.¡± I inclined my head slightly, not sure who Zolinal was or what half of that meant, but it certainly sounded important enough to kill me if I did something wrong. ¡°I call myself Eliax, though you may also know me as Foralen.¡± She watched me for a moment longer before looking to Zouaia, and then to the other two statue people. ¡°You may leave, I will speak to the immortal alone.¡± The three did so, Zouaia seeming more relaxed to not be in the same room as me anymore. Interestingly, the two statue people simply nodded toward Nenfein before retreating deeper into the area. I watched their glows fade into the distance, the clarity of the room growing less with their absence. ¡°So, what did you want from me exactly?¡± I paused with shock as she spoke in clear accentless Melorian. ¡°I wanted to speak with you, my agents had a hard time tracking you down though, freedom of movement is difficult on most worlds for them.¡± Nenfein regarded me for a moment, and something in her eyes too seemed different, as if something else was looking out of them for the moment, ¡°Astral broke his word because of you. We all agreed to keep travel between worlds as short lived and subtle as possible for the next thousand years. They all expected me to be the one to break the truce, never in the worlds would anyone have expected Astral to be the one to do it.¡± I blinked at her, getting over the shock of hearing my native tongue. This was like when Kalteii spoke through Aymi, even down to the different bearing and attitude. Was Zolinal a goddess? ¡°I¡­ didn¡¯t know that. He broke it then when he brought me here? I assume that¡¯s bad?¡± Zolinal shrugged, ¡°This particular agreement was not hinged on anything. A certain race spread itself among the stars not terribly long ago, and it sets a bad precedent if we let that happen too often. It was a preventative measure and nothing yet has even happened.¡± I frowned at her odd way of speaking, but I got the idea. The gods didn¡¯t want too many races to go doing that all at once. ¡°And you will break this eventually too? That¡¯s admirable I think, to try and do it anyway because it needs to be done.¡± Her eyes moved across my face, ¡°Astral said you were odd. But yes, it needs to be done, even if the presence of a divide pains me.¡± I finally felt confident enough to make a guess, ¡°You¡¯re the goddess of¡­ unity?¡± She smiled and shook her head, ¡°Unity is my great grandson. I am CONNECTION.¡± I suddenly felt very very stupid. Nenfein and the other Keepers looked like that specific kind of crystal, and that gaze¡­ well I finally recognised that it felt like I was looking into the between itself. I found myself stuttering, eyes wide, mouth agape, ¡°Y-you¡¯re!¡± I opened and closed my mouth several times before finally continuing, ¡°You¡¯re in charge of the between? Really?¡± She nodded, amused. Stolen story; please report. ¡°Oh my goodness I didn¡¯t even know that I¡¯ve been waiting to meet you my entire life. I think that your realm is¡­ it¡¯s just amazing¡­ and¡­ ah¡­..¡± I trailed off as my brain had begun to malfunction. ¡°You¡¯re very good at your job and¡­ and¡­.¡± ¡°Oh dear, please don¡¯t break, I don¡¯t want to have to explain to my favorite nephew that I broke his mortal.¡± ¡°Wh- where¡­. Please, where does magic come from?¡± She gave me a startled look, ¡°You¡¯d be vaporized immediately if you went there!¡± ¡°I just really need to know. I¡¯ve been trying to figure it out for at least twenty years now, and I always feel like it¡¯s just out of reach!¡± Connection herself regarded me for a long long moment, ¡°I feel distinctly that it would be a horrible idea to tell you. But it¡¯s nothing against you specifically.¡± I deflated visibly. ¡°Regardless, I was simply curious earlier if you knew what Astral had done for you. The real reason I¡¯ve asked to meet you is far more pressing.¡± She paused, and I had a hard time telling if it was theatrical or had a purpose behind it. She watched me, her eyes narrowed and knowing. ¡°I cannot force you, for I would like to be on your side in what happens next. However, I find myself with an abundance of followers who know nothing of the worlds they guard. They are disconnected from their own worlds. Until this agreement for me to keep places from leaking into each other is dissolved, they will continue to fall away from their world and in turn myself.¡± she scowled slightly. I blinked at her, not really surprised at her predicament since it made sense, but more surprised that she was telling me about it. ¡°So what is it that you want from me?¡± ¡°I will provide you and up to ten of my followers with illusions and transformation potions. I want you to connect them with this world.¡± I stared at the goddess housed in mortal flesh, taking in the look on her face. I could tell that she was annoyed that things like illusions were necessary, but from her perspective it was much better than the current state of things. I swallowed, remembering Fora and how much fun she would have with a task like this. ¡°I¡­ I¡¯m going to need a moment to contact my true self. She would be absolutely pissed if I decided something like this without her input.¡± The goddess smiled slightly, ¡°Take your time.¡± She didn¡¯t seem at all surprised that this was a clone, because of course she wasn¡¯t. Why would a creature like this not be able to tell? I nodded quickly and reached out toward Fora and Eliax. Because we hadn¡¯t had to learn the spell from scratch all over again for this modification, none of us were really sure how this part even worked. Which annoyed Eliax to no end. But it worked, which was enough for Fora. I felt the two of them stop in their respective tasks at the communication, sending me curiosity. After a moment of gathering them, I managed to shove the relevant memories toward the two, waiting for them to be digested. Eliax always preferred efficiency over dwelling on details, and it showed with how quickly she skimmed through the contents while Fora pursued them at a much more leisure pace that was paradoxically impatient. As it was, Eliax finished first, sending me interest and respect. ~I vote yes. This would help us get closer to Connection. We want her to like us.~ Fora didn¡¯t seem to get most of the memories yet, and her mental voice was a bit confused, it didn¡¯t help that she kept looking back at the full on mural she was painting. ~ah¡­ why do we want that?~ I sent annoyance, ~Because she has dominion over the Between. There is no way we can avoid using her realm even if she decides she hates us. It¡¯s just better to be on her good side.~ ~But she also said that we don¡¯t have to.~ I reminded her. ~Why are you pointing that out when you know I already considered it?~ Eliax sent ridicule. ~Use your brain, you have one.~ Fora still seemed a bit confused, ~I say yes? But sparks guys, can we not share memories like this, it¡¯s giving me a headache to process them.~ ~Stop being a baby.~ ~Eliax¡­~ I started, ~you¡¯re having a bad day, aren¡¯t you.~ ~Of sparking course I am! First I had to make a sparking clone this morning, and apparently that decided to drain half my mana, and then Vilvav decided not to tell me that they have festivals when they¡¯re feeling capricious¡­ it doesn¡¯t matter. Just leave me alone, I¡¯m sure you won¡¯t do anything too stupid.~ Eliax cut the connection and I sighed internally, focusing on Fora, who seemed annoyed at Eliax now, ~Seriously? She hates me again, doesn¡¯t she. Why does this always happen?! What did I even do? You know what, spark her!~ I massaged my temples, ~Fora, Eliax doesn¡¯t hate you.~ Fora grumbled for a moment, ~Well I say yes for what Connection wants. It sounds like it would be fun.~ Then she cut the connection too. I opened my eyes to see an amused Zolinal watching me, ¡°That¡¯s certainly a disconnect you don¡¯t see every day.¡± I felt my face heat up slightly, sparking clone body, only doing the annoying things¡­ I hesitated, wondering if I should try to get something more out of this, but it would be a monumentally stupid idea to accidentally offend her with something like that. I cleared my throat, ¡°We decided to agree with your request.¡± v3c25 - A World of Traders --- Kinthek, a year and a half since arrival --- Kinthek Korelli took the razor to his face, hating the scraping sensation of metal against light scales. Fortunately, his childhood dream of being capable of a full beard had been fulfilled. The only downside was that it looked like a shaggy mop strapped to his face. Most people didn¡¯t forget to do this until mid-afternoon when the sandpaper-like texture of new hairs finally got to be too much, But Kinthek had never claimed to be like most people. Kinthek shook his head at the reflection, and then tilted his chin upward before cutting away a few stray hairs. He might have stayed there longer, but Kinthek had a job to do. He hopped off the wagon once he was done, tucking the razor away and pocketing the small piece of mirror. People sure loved sitting on top of the wagons as opposed to outside of them. It probably came with having roofs to keep goods dry and out of the sun. Even now, Teizen sat perched up there, contemplating the sky. He hummed to himself as he walked through camp, waving to a few people here and there before making his way to Flame. The bloodbinder who Kinthek was pretty sure was not-so-secretly a dragon in disguise regarded him with annoyance as he approached. So it would be one of those days then. Kinthek could count the number of good days Flame had had in the last two months on one hand. Sometimes it felt like those days were getting farther between, but Flame didn¡¯t seem to think so. ¡°If you want me to teach you to stab things properly, you need to show up when you say you will.¡± he almost growled the words, and even though he seemed relatively in control at the moment, Kinthek was too tired of being tackled out of nowhere to trust that. ¡°Right, sorry.¡± ¡°You really should have tried harder with that bartering the other day. Then I wouldn¡¯t have to beat up a kid instead of sleeping in.¡± Kinthek cringed slightly, ¡°Uh¡­ yeah.¡± ¡°Stars above, don¡¯t use the word ¡®uh¡¯ it makes you sound like an idiot. Warriors don¡¯t say ¡®uh.¡¯ Now draw your squalling sword and go find Talfaxin. Beat him up for an hour or two, I¡¯m going back to sleep.¡± If he kept on offloading this onto Talf, then why in the world had he insisted on being the one to train Kinthek? Was it because he didn¡¯t want Teizen to do it? Flame was really really weird about women and not inconveniencing them, and not making them do things they shouldn¡¯t have to or want to do. It had somehow taken Kinthek until Alafaya joined the Leftbites to even notice it, but it was present in everything that Flame did. It also explained why he¡¯d seemed so horrified after meeting Fora, at how he¡¯d tried to tackle her out of the sky. That thought just reminded Kinthek of Eliax again. He¡­ still hadn¡¯t contacted her. He felt horrible about it, but he kept assuming that she would start to hate him now that he wasn¡¯t actually there. Wasn¡¯t it better if she hated him? He knew better how to act around people who hated him. Kinthek shook his head, remembering her confidence, even if sometimes it felt like a thin facade. He missed that. He missed the way she would look at problems, as if they would bend to her will if she watched them long enough. He missed how they actually had. He walked back to the cookfire, knowing that Talf wouldn¡¯t be in the mood for beating him up today. Alafaya and Branix were cooking today, which meant it would at least be edible. Kinthek sighed as he looked up at the sky. He was probably just thinking about stuff like this because it was his birthday. He hardly even remembered the way his mother used to celebrate it anymore, but he remembered hugs. A lot of hugs. He¡¯d never told Priest Vespin when his birthday was, so despite trying, the man had never given him anything. Kinthek felt like that was easier. His gaze tracked back to the fire, watching it dance as Teizen appeared beside him. ¡°What¡¯s got you down today? Is it Branix? Branix always gets on my nerves. He hasn¡¯t poisoned me yet though so there¡¯s no way he¡¯ll slip something extra in your bowl.¡± Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. Kinthek smiled, ¡°but how can you be sure that he hasn¡¯t been poisoning you this whole time and you¡¯ve just become immune to it?¡± ¡°Stars Kinthek, he¡¯d be doing me a favor in that case! He has to know that a non-lethal dose would do that!¡± ¡°But what would he even be poisoning you with?¡± Teizen shook her head, looking to the north, ¡°Well, have you heard of the thundermine? I know your people hate going underground since you¡¯re got so many aremolots here, but one would assume that you¡¯d stop abandoning those mines of yours once you make one.¡± Kinthek tilted his head, ¡°they keep getting attacked. What do you expect us to do?¡± Teizen snorted, ¡°fight them off or something?¡± Like what Fora had tried to do? That other version of Eliax? ¡°I don¡¯t think you can kill them, Teizen. Maybe we could drive one off, but it would just come back and it would be angry. It¡¯s hard to find areas to mine that are protected by a thundercrystal.¡± ¡°Stars above Kinthek, you sound like you think that¡¯s working. I¡¯ve hardly seen any metal anywhere. Just wood and cloth, and you hardly have any forests or quarries. Challenge yourself Kinthek! You need to argue better!¡± He thought about that for a second, really thought about the scarcity of iron and bronze. ¡°And you sound like you already have a solution all lined up? Who are you to criticize how things are without something to change it?¡± Teizen would berate him for that flimsy answer. After she¡¯d figured out she could argue with him, she¡¯d never quite gone back to her jovial mask around him. And yes, it was a mask, there was a certain intensity lurking beneath her that Kinthek could hardly even grasp most of the time. As predicted, she raised an eyebrow at him, ¡°Criticizing an imperfect system is the best way to find a solution to it. Besides, even if there isn¡¯t one to be found in my head doesn¡¯t mean that pointing out the flaws won¡¯t inspire someone¡ªsay you¡ªto find the solutions I cannot. That¡¯s just a bad argument to say that my lack of a solution prevents me from bringing up problems.¡± She smiled sweetly. Kinthek shuddered a bit. ¡°And yet the system itself is working. Who¡¯s to say that there won¡¯t be a genius somewhere with evidence to say that it¡¯s better for the world for the Larborak to be held back by this?¡± ¡°Wow, you are really off today. Stars Kinthek I can¡¯t even begin to start pointing out the problems with that argument. Do you need a drink or something?¡± Kinthek remembered the time she¡¯d gotten him drunk after some words like that. He was ashamed to admit that he hadn¡¯t hated it. Atharian should strike him down for enjoying a vice like that. It was the nature of sacrifice that one should never need something as such. ¡°No, I¡¯m fine, just out of sorts today.¡± It was hard to properly talk sense when his mind kept wandering back to Eliax. Teizen jabbed him in the ribs, ¡°Seriously kid, that¡¯s the face I give worms. What in the world is wrong?¡± Kinthek gave her a blank look, ¡°Just thinking about things, you know, my friend.¡± Understanding dawned on her face before Teizen was elbowing him again, ¡°Oh, oh? The kid who¡¯s older than she looks? The one who made Flame crap himself? Stars Kinthek! I didn¡¯t know she invaded your thoughts like that!¡± ¡°Teizen¡­¡± ¡°Oh, stars, I need to convince Ash to take us back in that direction soon then! I¡¯ve got to meet her this time!¡± ¡°Teizen you squalling madwoman¡­.¡± ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter if you don¡¯t want me to, I¡¯ve got to see if this kid is good enough for the kid in front of me! Children must be shipped together properly, you see?¡± ¡°You¡¯re barely thirty¡­¡± ¡°And so are you! But unlike you I actually look thirty! No one¡¯s going to stand above me and do shipping like that!¡± She lowered her voice noticeably, ¡°but Kinthek, if you see any interdimensional beings from beyond our time and space who can read minds, they might be worthy of such a thing.¡± ¡°What kind of qualification is¡ª¡± ¡°So what¡¯s her name?¡± Kinthek groaned, burying his face in his hands as the mortification finally took hold. ¡°Eliax. Her name is Eliax.¡± Teizen seemed to smirk, ¡°Oh my, what a willing kid you are today. It only took two minutes to whittle you down to your core. That¡¯s got to be a record or something.¡± v3c26 - Cheese Maker --- Eliax --- After finally figuring out what that enormous shady organization was, I felt confident walking around outside of Eternal River without being a clone. This way if I died somehow, Fora wouldn¡¯t have a good argument for calling me incompetent because it wouldn¡¯t be my fault. Sparks I need to get better at ignoring my needs for justification. I walked down the street of Thundercrossing, and found myself glancing to the west, that¡¯s where Kinthek was according to my tracking. He¡¯d been going in a fairly steady loop around the country for almost two years. Ever since he¡¯d left. Part of me suddenly wanted to contact him, but¡­ well Fora had already told him to do that when she¡¯d seen him. He probably didn¡¯t want to talk to me, or he¡¯d found better friends or¡­ something. I frowned slightly, deciding that that was a weak spot in my contingencies. I continued down the street, finally spotting that tavern my clone had found. Thankfully she hadn¡¯t sent that memory to Fora because I needed to give her plenty of¡­ motivation if I was going to ever get the idiot to actually practice cutting things with dimensionalism. I¡¯d found that it wasn¡¯t actually that hard. The only tough part was convincing myself to use it on people, so far I hadn¡¯t been successful in that and I wasn¡¯t really sure if I wanted to be. But I knew that one day something would happen, and I would need an ability like that. I peered inside the tavern, looking from person to person before eventually slipping in. It was just like Nightwind back home. It felt odd to step into a tavern without the familiar tables and staff. It felt odd to still smell the foreign food I¡¯d come to know, to hear strange instruments I¡¯d only seen a few times and only on Arithren. I found my muscles stiffening at the contradictions, a sudden well of emotion hitting me out of nowhere. Loss, sorrow. I¡¯d never grieved at the loss of my home. I never grieved for anything, there wasn''t time, I had to make it to the future. But sometimes things could still hit that piece of me that I¡¯d forgotten how to see. Sometimes the past managed to affect my future. I shuddered slightly, continuing forward as the sense of loss continued. I sat down at a table, all of them had at least one occupant, so I chose one at random, muttering a request for the seat and plopping down roughly. I might have taken out my new notebook and started doing something to get my mind to ease, I might have sat there for hours and hardly looked up. But I didn¡¯t manage either of those things, as the man across from me spoke, his accent strange for this area, but his voice somehow familiar. ¡°Say! It¡¯s my old friend isn¡¯t it? What has it been, a year? Two?¡± I jerked my head up, finally realizing that I was sitting across from a human. A short human with a neatly cropped beard and sparkling eyes as if he was about to start making a joke out of the world. I sputtered for a moment, finally remembering the face that Fora had shown me. ¡°You¡¯re! The guy! The one Fora promised to go drinking with?!¡± He hesitated slightly, examining me, ¡°Ah, I see, you¡¯re a different person entirely. My apologies.¡± He picked up his mug and sipped at it before slamming it down on the table in a jovial manner, alcohol splashing out at the jolt, ¡°I am called Kenny!¡± I watched him for another moment, startled that he could somehow tell we weren¡¯t the same person. ¡°Weren¡¯t you in Starlight last?¡± I finally managed to ask, ¡°What brings you down here?¡± Kenny grinned, ¡°Oh, this and that. Mostly too many tears to be healthy. It''s refreshing to see a real tavern, friend! I wipe my tears away at its magnificence!¡± I nodded slowly, deciding that Fora was right, this man was an addict of the highest caliber. If he not only remembered but had been crying over a sub-par tavern, then he was a dedicated fellow indeed. ¡°Well, I¡¯m glad you found your tavern.¡± ¡°Do let your friend know that she still owes me a drinking contest.¡± I snorted, ¡°Sparks, Fora does not need to get on alcohol again. It makes her deadful to deal with.¡± Kenny sighed, ¡°and yet another magnificent night is destroyed before it ever begins. It was a shame that I hardly even knew what it might bring.¡± His eye sparkled slightly, ¡°You never know what might come to light when you go drinking with an immortal.¡± I stiffened, narrowing my eyes at him, ¡°How sparking much did Fora tell you?¡± ¡°Oh, not much, I was terribly sad that day, you see, that tavern was the worst thing I¡¯ve seen in my entire life, I did end up contacting Shoushen, if you know about that. He just gave me another rude note¡­¡± Kenny opened his very full money pouch¡ªFora had led me to believe that Kenny was broke¡ªand took out a note from it, holding it up for me to see. This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. Kenny, stop contacting me. You¡¯re worse than my mother and at least she has a reason to keep lying to my face. Do your damn job and leave me out of it. If you want to blacklist a tavern, contact my son about it, you know that isn¡¯t my job. Kenny sighed, pocketing the note, ¡°I still owe him quite a lot of money.¡± ¡°And why can¡¯t you just¡­ pay it?¡± Kenny actually laughed at that, a wide grandfatherly smile spreading across his face before it morphed into a smirk. ¡°Because he also owes me money. Just about the same amount that I owe him I think. Poor gambler¡­¡± I tilted my head at him, ¡°And the debts don¡¯t¡­ cancel each other out?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t say stupid things like that, friend, I thought you were the smart one.¡± I stared him straight in the face, my crapless gaze boring into his soul. Sparks I remembered Fora showing me a memory of it, but I hadn¡¯t even registered how odd it would seem in person. ¡°Unless you don¡¯t owe something that can be counted, they would cancel each other out. Besides, friends don¡¯t count favors if both of them know it¡¯s always relatively even.¡± Kenny held up the note, raising an eyebrow, ¡°What makes you think me and Shoushen are friends? I do things for him sometimes, but in the end I¡¯m outside of his chain of command. I¡¯m not sure he likes that.¡± ¡°You¡¯re dodging the question.¡± ¡°Ah, so you are the smart one. Alright, I owe something that¡¯s not quantifiable, and he owes me something else that fits the same description. Are you happy with that?¡± I nodded slightly, not quite satisfied, but perfectly ready to ask something more important. ¡°What is up with your soul? It looks like someone was trying to make it look like a dragon and then missed every other step.¡± ¡°Ah, you noticed that.¡± ¡°And?¡± ¡°And that is all. You keep cleverly countering my dodges with wordplay.¡± he sipped his drink, smacking his lips, muttering under his breath a compliment to the drink, ¡°ah, that¡¯s the perfect buzz there¡­¡± I huffed slightly, ¡°so you¡¯re not answering.¡± ¡°You have too many questions, if I answer them, you¡¯ll give me another one. It¡¯s personal, I might just have to kill you if you knew!¡± He grinned stupidly and took another swig. ¡°Besides, it¡¯s not even that uncommon.¡± Come to think of it, Astral also had a tendency to stop answering when my questions got too deep. I suspected that he didn¡¯t want to spend three days dumping information into my brain. I¡¯d just have to figure it out myself then. That was certainly an option. ¡°Right. Awesome.¡± I trailed off, trying to remember what I¡¯d been about to say earlier. There had been something, right? ¡°You¡¯re not from this world.¡± Kenny motioned for me to continue. ¡°But I heard from a very reputable source that open travel between worlds isn¡¯t allowed at the moment.¡± Kenny smiled, ¡°But am I leaking my world into this one? Am I really? I¡¯m just a human, humans are everywhere.¡± I sighed, ¡°I suppose that might be the case, but you¡¯re the first one I¡¯ve seen here.¡± ¡°Of course, I¡¯m currently one of the only humans in this world.¡± ¡°...and do you not see the contradiction there? If you¡¯re one of very few, won¡¯t people start wondering where you came from?¡± Kenny gave me a startled look, his eyes watching me with confusion and then realization, ¡°by the gods, you¡¯re missing a very important piece of information here!¡± ¡°That¡¯s why I¡¯m so confused¡­¡± ¡°Do you know how bindings work? Like the larborak to their god and the Niortak to theirs?¡± I nodded slowly, ¡°When someone binds themselves to a god they usually start to look like that god. A priest explained it to me. What does that have to do with anything though?¡± Kenny shook his head, baffled, ¡°And yet you¡¯re still missing something important! Think about it friend! What happens when a race isn¡¯t bound to a god?¡± I watched him for a moment, remembering the alanerea, Netun had said that every alanerea had four arms and large antennae, he¡¯d said that their exoskeleton had been more pronounced, that even their feet had been different. It was because of interbreeding with humans, after that, they¡¯d started to look less like alanerea and more like tuvei. At least¡­ it had to be because of that. Was kenny implying it was something else? Had that happened not because of interbreeding but because they¡¯d left their god? ¡°They¡­ stop looking like their god?¡± I asked, raising an eyebrow. Kenny took another swig and slammed his cup down on the table, ¡°Wrong! They go back to their natural state!¡± ¡°Which is¡­¡± ¡°Human.¡± I stared at him for a moment, incredulous, ¡°You made it sound like it would be done after just a few generations. That¡¯s not what¡¯s happening with the tuvei. It¡¯s been seven hundred years and we still look more like the Alanerea than anything. If it takes that long then how are there any humans at all?¡± Kenny scoffed, ¡°The tuvei are a special case.¡± I regarded him, ¡°...why?¡± ¡°Honestly I have no idea.¡± He pulled out a card, handing it to me, ¡°Anyway, good chat! You best be on your way though, isn¡¯t tomorrow Light day?¡± I sighed, taking the card. I paused though at the words on it. Kenith Ironwood, professional Cheese Maker. I stared at it for a moment and then turned it over, confused. It was the same on the other side, ¡°Didn¡¯t this say something else when you gave it to Fora?¡± I certainly didn¡¯t remember anything about cheese in that conversation. Kenny raised an eyebrow, ¡°no, I don¡¯t think so, besides, can¡¯t a man have multiple professions?¡± I glanced at it with my magesight. Nothing. ¡°Alright? I suppose I¡¯ll go to you if I need any cheese made. I¡¯ll¡­ see you sometime?¡± ¡°If you see Shoushen before we meet again, please tell him how good I am at my job!¡±