Teuila begins to rouse as I’m starting to pass out after having finished my sixth rune. The horses vanish as my energy maintaining them wanes. On some days, I might be able to maintain them indefinitely, possibly even while sleeping, since I have practice doing just that with strong energy tethers, but not today. Today we met Tiktik, a hilarious, yet exhausting new companion. She’s so full of energy, that I half wonder if she’s stealing some from everyone around her, like an emotional vampire. Hah. No, of course not Bud. Tiktik’s sort of great though. Hopefully we can get her back to her pal Littlebit in one piece some day.

I lean over to smooch Teuila’s forehead while she’s staring up at me as I ask, “Nice nap sleepyhead?”

Te cuffs my cheek playfully for my cheekiness. She then grabs the back of my head to pull me down for a much more passionate kiss before tossing me across the seat softly into Tiktik after reducing my personal gravity. Teuila starts giggling as Tiktik wakes up with me thunking into her lap at low gravity. I'm left blushing in Tiktik's lap while Teuila gets up to go foraging and hunting. I facepalm, and I’m about to apologize when Tiktik shrugs, yawns, and falls right back asleep.

Well, at least Teuila’s antics and I don’t make her uncomfortable, that’s good news. What Bud? No this doesn’t mean either one of us has romantic feelings for each other. Err, it doesn’t mean that either you goon. Because I still don’t know how I really feel about Alanea anyway dingus. Sorry, you’re not a dingus or a goon. Err, yes, true, I am still laying in her lap. It’s comfy, I’m lazy, and I’m worn out from crafting runes. I got done before bothering to stop the carriage.

Hold up a second Bud, it’s one thing to talk about leaving behind an heir or someone to remember me by, back in the Heart while we were pretty certain my death was inevitable. No, I don’t know what the other half Tiktik was talking about is. Huh, err, well, as fascinating as that is, the answer is still no. We’re going to try to keep me alive, and it’s far too dangerous to be bringing an infant along wi—. They do? Huh, that’s more like Can’Z’aas than I expected. Still, it doesn’t mean Tiktik operates the same way, she has parents, a family. I don’t think she sprang out of the ground Bud.

True, she did say half too many times, but I’m pretty sure that’s just Tiktik being Tiktik, silly and all. Y’know? I’m sure she’s perfectly capable of adding simple arithmetic. Then again, maybe Fae operate under different math when doing that sort of thing for all I know. Did any of your previous wielders ever do that? Well, then neither of us knows. What? Heck no, I’m not going to ask her about it. Yes, that’s right, because it’s inappropriate to talk about the actual acts involved in mating. Thank you for remembering.

Pft, no Bud, it’s okay. Don’t worry about it, just, could you maybe please stop being so pushy about that particular thing? It’s kind of a touchy icky subject for me. Yeah. Precisely. Thank you. The spell? Well, I think it’s going to be costly. I’m going to need shavings of the metal I want to use, or to carry around an entire plate of metal like the big squares of it that Teuila summoned onto the roof.

Err, the spell has a material component that’s consumed. Yeah, it would be costly to keep casting it all day, both in S P cost as well as the opportunity cost of giving up tons and tons of mythical quality metal. I believe it would take either a large section of a sheet, or the whole sheet if I was carrying one around to cast the spell. I haven’t mastered it yet, so I’m not quite sure. It calls for iron filings, like, half a pouch full. Hopefully I can figure out how to get the spell to substitute in orichalcum or mithril or adamantite or whatever the heck we have.

Yes, that’s another reason it’ll be costly. I’m probably going to have to pay a smith to shave the metal down, since it’s incredibly powerful metal, it’s going to be hard to work with. I don’t know if I’ll be able to work the metal on my own. Sure, Teuila might be strong enough to break the metal, maybe, but if she is, then it’s not powerful enough to keep me safe anyway, and I should abandon the spell. I guess we could ask her to test it. Teuila? Are you nearby enough to be in my head?

Teuila’s telepathic avatar pops into my mindscape asking, “Sure am, what’s up Dink? Any specific requests for scrounging, my Airhead?”

I chuckle and can’t avoid smiling as I shake my head. I telepathically respond, “Bud thinks that we should test out the durability of the metal you pulled out of your inventory. I agree, but I don’t want you to break your hand punching the stuff. Care to experiment a bit? I’m probably going to pass out any minute now from S P overexertion, so you don’t have to do it right now, or if you do it, we can talk about the results when we all wake up to start riding again.”

Teuila’s avatar nods and throws a thumbs-up my way as she responds, “Check! Rest up Air. I’m so glad to have you back in my head. I love you. I love that I can say that in here, with you, with my mindscape nearby in case we have to talk about all the bubbling feelings. Talk to you when you wake up Airhead.”

I smile lovingly towards Teuila’s mental avatar, but also in meatspace, which has an odd repercussion. When I open my eyes, I realize Tiktik’s gazing down at me with one eyebrow raised. I’m about to explain, but Tiktik chuckles before beating me to the punch.

The wild-orange-haired impish woman teases, “Never knew my lap was -that- comfy. I’ll have some of what you’re having!”

The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

My face reddens to high heavens and I sit upright woozily. I begin to respond, “Was, was in telepathy. With Teuila. So tired. She threw me at y—“

I can feel consciousness leaving me as I begin to topple into the space between the seats. It seems like perhaps Tiktik catches me, or softens my landing, because I don’t immediately awaken from the pain of a concussion. When I come to, it appears several hours have passed. I find myself once again in Tiktik’s lap, and she’s rocking her head side to side absentmindedly.

Yawning, I begin to sit up to stretch out. Tiktik gives me a patronizing pat on the head, and flashes a smile my way while bringing one finger to her lips in a shushing motion. Tiktik points to Teuila, and I can see that Te is still asleep after having come back from foraging. I nod in thanks to Tiktik as I leave the cabin of the carriage momentarily to work up some blood flow.

Stretching out my aching limbs leaves me in acute pain along my spine, neck, and jaw. I pace about the carriage for a moment while stretching as many muscle groups as I know how to safely stretch. My stomach rumbles, so I dig about in our packs for provisions. We burned through a lot of what we’d bought, summoned, or perhaps stole, over the last two months that we’ve been on this world. We got here on June sixth, it’s August sixth, or somewhere around there.

I don’t think we stole anything per se, since everyone in Victo had been reduced to a soulless husk. Not metaphorically either, literally their mortal shells were devoid of their souls due to Milbert of Navica and his stupid Bright Lord. Huff. Alright, I’m spent again.

I return to the carriage to find both Teuila and Tiktik sleeping. That makes it easy I suppose. I cuddle up alongside Teuila, who still manages to reactively quickly snag me with her wonderfully strong arms while sleeping. I chuckle quietly while shaking my head incredulously. This woman. Heavens and hells I love her. Sinking into her embrace, I sigh softly, contentedly.

We rouse as a group after several more hours, and Teuila excitedly drags me outside. She takes me behind a tree where apparently she’d been testing each of the metals’ durability. One has a fist sized hole and several fist sized dents in it, but the other two seem mostly unharmed, it seems like Te hasn’t put them through all their paces yet.

I hazard a guess, “I’m guessing the one that you beat to hell is mithril?”

Teuila grins madly while nodding emphatically. Since we’re out here, may as well test the others.

Teuila’s telepathic avatar shows up to gloat, “I already did! Rock solid! Err, better in fact, way better.”

My eyes flash wide as I glance between Teuila, the powerhouse of powerhouses, and the undamaged metal plates. Teuila’s telepathic avatar pretends to be bashful as it says, “Awe shucks,” in response to my complimentary thought about her.

I fight, and lose to, a smile that spreads across my face as I roll my eyes and shake my head at Teuila in faux exasperation. I’m left chuckling at her false modesty. She’s not actually a braggart by any means, but she’s hamming it up playfully on purpose to get a reaction out of me.

Teuila jokes, “Because you’re so easy to get a rise out of, Tiger.”

I raise an eyebrow as I ask, “Are we moving from Dink to Airhead to Tiger now?”

Teuila shakes her head while smiling wide to her ears before denying, “Nope, was a one time thing, I thought it was funny and fitting in the moment. Maybe I’ll use it again, maybe I won’t. Ya never know-.” Teuila lets the word know hang in the air in a singsong tone, leaving me chuckling and rolling my eyes further.

I tease, “So Te, in your expertly destructive opinion, which of these would make for a better animated golem body? Weight shouldn’t be an issue unless we’re fighting on a wooden boat or something. The magic transmuting and animating me allows me to move as if I were strong enough to carry that weight around, otherwise most mages would just crumple in on themselves with the steely body spell, hah. If it’s super heavy, I probably won’t be making any jumps though.”

Teuila scratches her chin, then her forehead, as she’s lost in though comparing the two. Apparently she alights on an idea as she teases me in return, “I’ve got it, the orichalcum, that way when things are getting hectic hot and heavy, I can tell you to get hard and put your O body on. Hehe.”

My face flushes all color down the drain as it flashes pale, then redness returns until I’m steaming from my pointy eartips. I cough and shake my head in disbelief at Teuila. Really Te? Yes Bud, it was funny, I’m glad you enjoyed it, but come on. Hah. Great, I’m being ganged up on. Don’t even think about making a joke about that one Bud. Eugh.

Blushing, mildly chuckling, and solidly rolling my eyes, I ask Teuila, “Are you ready to leave then? We’ve got a few more days until Daffodil’s place. We’re going to have to find someone in The Brook to work the orichalcum for us. I don’t know any other way to get shavings from it to fill pouches.”

Teuila offers, “Try freezing it once Air?”

I shrug and oblige by crafting the frost rune. I start pouring my emotions into it, my embarrassment, my joy, my incredulity. As usual when empowering a solo rune to extreme levels, far beyond what a Rayileklian spell would even normally do with all thirty three runes, I pass out as I finish pouring my all into it. As I’m slumping to the ground in unconsciousness, Teuila shakes off a thick layer of frost to catch me.

I’m asleep for only moments as I awaken to Teuila hammering the hell out of the frozen metals with each other. I blink, a bit stunned that I didn’t think to use one plate of metal against another of the same metal. The two nearly unbreakable sheets of mythical metals are breaking under the massive strain Teuila puts them under. We’re not going to be able to get fine filings and shavings like this, but we might get some thin fragments that could be enough.

What’s that Bud? Are you okay? Sorry about frosting the area. I don’t have control over a Rayileklian frost rune like I would have control over my F F S on Can’Z’aas. Yes I know what humans use the acronym for, hah. Lil and the rest of my inner circle named my ability to instantly chill a massive area my Flash Freeze Storm. Phew, anyway, my head is pounding after passing out, and now laying here hearing this pounding near. Each slam Teuila continues to perform leaves my head spinning as the din resounds throughout the clearing.

I stagger to my feet and raise a hand towards Teuila, trying to get her attention. She looks my way, then cheekily takes one more slam against both sheets of metal with her gauntleted fists while grinning maniacally at me. Hah, Punkbutt. Maybe I’ll start calling you that instead of My Wings.

Teuila grumbles, “Don’t you dare. I like the name you picked out for me.”

I grin slightly evilly at Teuila, not answering as I walk back to the carriage to summon our spectral steeds.