“So, are you now going to tell us how this will work?” I asked, looking at Olivia with a raised eyebrow. When Lenore and I had returned to their accommodations last night, Olivia had told everyone to be ready to leave before dawn, without specifying why. In the morning, she had guided the others out of town, with me still riding along in my Hallow, to a nearby meadow, as the pre-dawn light was slowly brightening the mountains in the distance.

“Dawn is the time of beginnings, so it is suitable for a ritual to call upon Eleutheria’s blessing for the coming journey.” she explained, though I was less interested in the question of timing and more in the mechanics of her spellwork. Not that I thought I would get an answer on that, or that I’d understand the answer if it was given, yet, I wanted to know. Every bit of knowledge might allow me to glean a little more understanding.

“Please, form a half-circle, holding each other's hands. And Yvla, please move out of your Hallow and take up a position next to Sigmir.” Olivia asked, directing us to stand with our backs to the west, with her standing in front of us.

“I will lead you in prayer, you do not need to pray with me, but remember, we are asking Eleutheria for her blessing, so please, be at least respectful.” Olivia seemed to stare at me, as she explained.

“You might feel a small draw on your Astral Power, especially you are liable to notice, Morgana. Please, just let it happen.” she added, her stare growing in intensity, before she turned her back to us, staff in hand, and looked into the distance, waiting silently.

After a few minutes, just as the first real rays of the sun crested the distant mountains, she started to sing in a soft voice, asking Eleutheria for her blessing on our current journey. Next to me, Rai and Adra were joining in, while Sigmir simply lowered her head, eyes closed, a gesture I mimicked. It was weird, it was almost as if I could feel the world around us a little clearer once my eyes were closed, as if a thin veil had been taken away, letting me see the colours in their full splendour, the scents growing just a little more intense and vibrant.

Relaxing my mind, I could feel a trickle of Astral Power flowing out of me, barely more than I naturally regenerated over time and as Olviia had asked, I let it happen. I could feel the power flow to Oliva, before continuing on somewhere else and as I was just about to try following that tendril of Astral Power, using the slight connection I maintained with my own Astral Power for a brief amount of time, I remembered Olivia’s warning, that we were asking a favour. I also remembered the last time I Had tried to follow a trace of power into a deity’s domain and had no desire to find out if Eleutheria would smite me in the same way Fenris had. That seemed like an excellent way to muck up Olivia’s efforts and piss off an apparently very easy-going deity.

Olviia’s song didn’t take long and the moment it ended, with a praise to Eleutheria, I could feel a brief moment of stillness, as if the world was holding its breath before letting it out in a slow, controlled gust. This wind that wasn’t wind was flowing around us and I could feel my burdens ease, not only the weight of my body but also the weight of responsibility, my worries and aches, they all faded away, leaving me exuberant, ready to dance and sing. Or ready to run and that was what we did.

With Olivia in the lead, we started to move, first at a quick walk, before falling into a jog that soon turned into a run, as we were dashing down the ancient, imperial road. The magic of the road seeped into us, allowing us to move at a pace that a horse would be hard-pressed to match but even as we ran down-hill, away from Narristo, I realised that no horse would be able to keep moving at such a pace. Yet, despite dashing faster than I had imagined myself capable of, I didn’t feel any exhaustion, my body feeling great, my breath smooth and calm, even as my legs pushed me forward.

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My mind started to slip into a primal state, the land around me turning into a blur with only the road ahead staying in focus, my whole body focused on nothing but running. Time began to lose it’s meaning, seconds turned into minutes, turned into hours, as nothing mattered but the movement of my legs.

Finally, I felt the effect start to fade, reality sending a stark reminder that it was not to be ignored. Ahead of me, Olivia’s previously smooth, loping gait slowed down, turned into a gentle jog before she was simply walking, as if she was out on a stroll. My mind started to snap back into focus and for a few moments, I was afraid that there would be a backlash, similar to the way I suffered when using Blood Magic to push my body past its limits, but when I focused my magic inwards, there was nothing, no exhaustion, no strained muscles, nothing that even hinted at the fact that we had been running at an insane speed for most of the day.

“Keep walking, your body and mind will need a few moments to get back into sync.” Olivia told us, and we did just as she told us to. In my case, I took a few slightly quicker steps, to get next to her so I could ask a few burning questions, ones that I needed answered.

“What would have happened if we had been attacked?” I asked, the realisation just how heavily her spell had affected me settling in.

“For a few moments, we are protected by Eleutheria’s blessing, hopefully long enough to let us fight back.” Olivia admitted, a part of me horrified at the implications. An ambush might be able to take us out, as we were running, hitting us before we could ever notice that the enemy was there. I had been completely caught up in the movement, with little regard for my surroundings.

“If I had to guess how powerful the protection would be, I’m reasonably certain that it would stand up to multiple, direct hits from Sigmir’s Lok’Nar or a pair of Adra’s magically infused arrows.” she added, and for a moment, I stopped, rooted to the spot in surprise. What she described was some hard-core protection, as I knew just how much power one of Adra’s arrows had, more than enough to shatter a swiftly summoned Wall of Ice and pierce someone hiding behind. Similarly, Sigmir’s strikes had enough power to cleave rock if they scored clean, direct hits, making what I had thought to be an insane risk into something quite manageable.

“I see.” I muttered, after taking a few more quick steps to catch up to Olivia again.

There was another surprise for me, when Lenore moved out of her Hallow and took to the sky, stretching her wings a little. I could feel disbelief flooding her mind, alongside images and for a moment, I didn’t quite get what she was so incredulous about, until I realised that it wasn’t what she was seeing, but what she wasn’t seeing.

Namely, she wasn’t seeing the White Mountains, even after completely clearing the trees around us, they were invisible and it wasn’t like there were hills or anything that blocked her sight. Only once she had risen quite a bit into the air, was she able to make out their faint outline on the horizon, almost entirely lost in the distant haze.

“How far did we move?” I asked Olivia, a part of me fearing her reply.

“Compared to moving at our normal pace, we roughly travelled the same distance we would travel in a week.” she replied, and I barely kept myself from stumbling.

“How?!” I blurted out, my mind not ready to accept just how powerful her blessing had been. No matter how I tried, I was nearly certain I wouldn’t be able to replicate such an effect, certainly not without using a great deal more Astral Power. There were ways to use Blood Magic to boost and regenerate at the same time, I had used such spells before, but there were diminishing returns, making it more difficult both, as time went on and with a more powerful boosting effect. Olivia had boosted us to an absurd degree, with no apparent backlash and with very limited Astral Power used.

“The Lady Eleutheria’s grace is wonderful, is it not? Letting us be free, letting us travel freely. That is her blessing.” Olivia replied and I could hear the grin in her voice, more than I could see the corners of her lips curl into a faint smile.

“By the gods.” I muttered, only to hear her chuckle in response. By the gods, indeed.