There were times that Nature reminded me of my own insignificance, when looking at the grand scale of things. Sitting within the golden soap-bubble of protection, watching the weather batter the mountainside managed to make me feel small. The winds were bad enough to pick up small rocks as the winds rushed around the land, creating an awesome symphony of howling and whistling sounds. In addition to the howling wind, rain and hail was buffeting the shield around us with a fury that made me shiver as I sat on Sigmir’s lap.
“Are you certain that it is wise to make a fire in here?” I asked, when Olivia started to pull out some wood and tinder from an obviously magical pouch in her backpack. Even as I asked, I realised that someone who had been travelling for decades would have used the barrier before and would almost certainly have made a fire inside, making my question obsolete.
“Oh, that is no problem. The barrier lets the smoke out and even keeps the temperature at a comfortable level.” Olivia assured me, causing me to nod, even if I had no idea just how it could work. Not that I could even begin to guess how a barrier that could be crossed by people but kept out the wind and rain could work, so why not a barrier that did that, while maintaining a comfortable environment inside? It was barely more ridiculous and impossible, so why not?
Lenore, sitting on a nearby rock with Ylva curled up nearby, was amused at my mental grumbling, to her, the magic used by Olivia was divine in nature and simply was. She didn’t feel a true need to attempt understanding it, even if some parts of it made her curious, she simply accepted that the divine worked in mysterious ways.
While Olivia was setting up the fire, I stood and walked over to the barrier, looking at it from up close. It was almost like a curved pane of glass, just with a pale golden glimmer and I could see the rain pelting against it, as if it was a solid object.
“Is there anything I have to pay attention to, regarding the barrier?” I asked, looking over my shoulder to Olivia. I wanted to try out a few things but had little interest in accidentally breaking our shelter, even if it could hopefully be recreated. Even just a minute in the storm that was raging outside would be unpleasant.
“Erm, what do you have in mind?” she asked in response, looking at me with a suspicious look on her face.
“I want to know how it works. It shouldn’t work, it goes against what I know about the way the world works, which makes me curious.” I replied with a bit of annoyance in my tone, causing her to chuckle while Adra started to giggle as well. Looking at Sigmir and Rai, both of them had amused grins on their faces, while I could feel Lenore’s amusement over our bond. The only one not obviously amused was Ylva, but when looking closely, I had a feeling she was amused as well.
“Keep your examination mundane, without trying to magically interfere with the barrier and you should be alright. If you do that, the worst case would be that you are expelled and unable to enter the barrier for the night.” she told me, the amusement obvious in her voice, making me wonder if she wanted that worst case to come to pass.
“If that happens, I’ll do my best to burst your bubble.” I replied, a bit of malice in my tone, as I reached out to gently poke the barrier. Only, there was nothing to poke at, my hand simply went through the barrier, as if there was nothing there. I could feel the change easily, the cold rain and the wetness running down the barrier was obvious but that was merely an effect of the environment, not the barrier itself.
Pulling my hand back, I tried something else, bringing my face and nose close to the barrier and sniffing the air, trying to get a taste of the magic creating the barrier and I thought there was that airy, fluffy taste I had perceived when Olivia had given her oath earlier, but I couldn’t be sure. Getting even closer, my tongue flicked out, trying to get a better taste, only to suddenly get a cold shock when my tongue went through the barrier and tasted the rain outside. The sudden, cold sensation was enough to make me flinch back and bite my tongue. I thought there was more of that magical taste but I couldn’t be sure.
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“Lenore, care to help?” I mentally asked, feeling a little peeved that I couldn’t figure out anything. The amusement coming from Lenore doubled, as she hopped into the air, landing on my shoulder. Sadly, when looking through her eyes and using her vision, there was little to be learned, the barrier was looking almost identically to its appearance in my vision, the golden glow merely a bit more pronounced.
Staring at the barrier, I was considering what to do next when a black shape came out of the rain, breaking through the barrier and landing on a nearby rock. For a moment, I was simply stunned as I looked at the intruder, a bird with black and grey plumage, quite similar in shape to the one sitting on my shoulder. But before any of us had a chance to react to its sudden appearance, the bird added another surprise to the tally when it started cawing in a way I could understand thanks to Lenore’s ability.
“Good Evening, Sister. Would you or your companions mind if I share your shelter?” the bird asked, looking at Lenore.
Flabbergasted, would be the perfect word to describe me in that moment, dumbfounded would also work, as I described that letting Lenore, the one who was addressed, answer would be the simplest solution.
“Olivia, what do you think? Morgana and I won’t mind but you set up this barrier.” Lenore asked after turning to Olivia, using my voice once more. “It might help to keep Morgana from poking the barrier some more, if she has something else to catch her interest.” Lenore added, after a moment, causing me to squawk in outrage. I wasn’t that bad, was I?
“No, I don’t mind. It is the right thing to do, to offer shelter to our fellow Travellers.” Olivia responded, ignoring the bit of interplay.
“You are welcome to stay, Brother. If you are interested in conversation, my dear friend and partner here is always curious to learn more, I can feel her bubbling with questions about you, the region and likely a dozen other things.” Lenore told the other bird, using their cawing language. To my amusement, she was right, the chance to speak to a different spirit-raven was one that I would relish, especially as it was a rare chance. Depending on the weather, or maybe even if I asked kindly, I would get another chance to poke that sort of barrier, but it was the first chance I had to speak with a different spirit-beast.
“She is not wrong.” I admitted, consciously trying to project the meaning of my words, along the words I spoke, using the ability my bond with Lenore gave me.
“An evening out of the rain and intelligent conversation, what more could a bird want?” the newcomer asked and thanks to Lenore, I could hear the amusement in his voice.
“How about a bit of food?” I asked in response, walking back to the others, anticipating the response. The bird didn’t disappoint, hopping over to another rock before taking a few flaps with his wings, to land on my shoulder. However, before he even got close, Lenore let out a warning caw, telling him to keep his talons away from her perch, causing me to chuckle. The bird had apparently anticipated refusal and simply landed on yet another rock, before hopping closer to the fire.
“Why is he so trusting?” I asked, using my mental connection with Lenore. It seemed that, if we had ill-intent towards the raven, he had essentially delivered himself into our midst. Not that I planned to do anything, but it made me curious.
“He trusts a fellow spirit-raven and I’d think that he knew who Olivia follows before he ever landed. I don’t think Olivia, or Eleutheria, would allow anyone to turn the shelter they grant travellers into a trap.” Lenore explained, making me wonder just how far loyalty between Spirit-beasts went. Her words implied that there was a certain base-trust but on the other hand, I could remember the black wolves, some of whom had possessed a sapient spirit, yet they had hunted down other spirit wolves.
But I had to agree on her other point, when taking the stories Olivia had told me over the day into account, there was no way she would agree to such a scheme.
Reaching into my magical bag, I brought out some of our hardtack, breaking off a piece for our feathery visitor, before settling back down on Sigmir’s lap and starting to ask questions. So much to learn, so little time.