Galen Vesa

Time flows for everyone. That is, if you have something worthwhile to do. If all you can do is staring at the ceiling, time slugs around. Mercilessly. And Erta got sick of all the flowers people kept sending in. I have no idea if a soul can get an allergy, but she kept on sneezing. What kind of a dragon gets a runny nose from sniffing a flower? Well, my dragon does.

To alleviate her condition, and partly to find something to put my mind on, I sneaked out of my room. Repeatedly. After about the tenth time I was told off by both Altina and Beatrice combined, they gave up and left me alone. The wolf muttering something along the lines of, go blow up I don’t care anymore.

Well, I wasn’t going to. I think. Now that the pressure between my inner and outer world equalized, Pellicora shut down the flow and all I had to worry about now was just my natural recovery. Sort off. The dryad could both burn and harvest mana. I kept her use as much of it as she could without people becoming suspicious but that still made no dent in my recovery. I even increased the quota of power allotted to the Spirit queens but even that did not help. Worse yet, the more I gave the faster my mana seemed to recover. At one point they bluntly refused to take any more. Citing their law as what prevented them from taking any more. I ranked up so much credit with those four I had to think of creative ways to use it without causing some repercussions. So, With the help of the Earth, the guild had all the buildings strengthened and renovated. All the walls reinforced, and all the pavements redone. Twice.

I had no particular use for Fire, so I made her burn mana instead of wood in all the furnaces the guild used. Calling it a murderous waste, she sulked in Altina’s office, drinking to her heart’s content. Poor master, whatever she saved on firewood, she lost on refilling that cupboard. Not to mention the company. That couldn’t be healthy for her. Just to be on the safe side, I made sure Water reinforced the wolf’s heart and took off few years off her back. Since that still left me with some credit, I let her roam through the dorms ~fixing~ people. Within reason. I hope. Soon, people noticed our girls had the biggest bosoms, the clearest skin, shining hair and the most beautiful disposition people saw in entire city. Somebody even started a rumor about a wish fulfilling statue in our bath… Perhaps I should put a damper on whatever she did with all that mana I sent her way. Even Chuko suddenly advanced into the D cup territory.

I have no idea what Wind made with her share and frankly, I don’t care if she keeps her distance.

Aside from that, every day I snuck into the library and worked on books until Altina or Beatrice decided to kick me out. When they did, I promptly returned to my new room. I did not return to the dormitory. Instead, they had me shift between guest rooms in the main hall. Whatever the reason, it eluded me. People on the other hand reacted quite well. Girls I worked with, came squealing with glee and dispensed hugs by the dozen. Others, less familiar with me, kept their distance but I felt no hostility there. Possibly something I should thank Li for. At the same time, Pellicora, much to her own surprise, quickly became an integral part of the maid corps. She behaved herself and seemed more social than I did, even though her appearance closely resembled mine, nobody seemed to care. Charms of the wood perhaps? Or perhaps the fact she came running to me every time something seemed to threaten me. That or maybe people saw her beating the wind out of a judge magister with her bare fists, garnered her quite a bit of fame. Altina had to write a long and tedious apology letter to the magistrate afterwards but in the end, the witch in question called it a mistake on her part and the charges were dropped. Though, it earned us an informal house arrest for the foreseeable future.

And then there was the issue with Inra.

As much as I guessed, she got herself involved with the Blue bird guild shortly after we parted our ways. Being the way, she was, they scammed her into a deal she could not refuse and afterward, her honor would not allow her to quit. She felt obliged to complete the contract she took. That is how much her word meant to her. I pestered the wolf about it whenever I had time, but I think it was the catgirl herself that made Altina crack in the end. I don’t know the exact details, but at some point, even Water got involved and went to mediate in my stead. She made the wolf go and question her prisoner again. Inra once more spilled her story, admitting to all her sins and begging not for forgiveness but for quick death. It moved the guild master enough to give her a chance. Under conditions. Andrea died that day and Inra came back to life. Sort of.

“Your tea.”

She spoke in a dead voice, setting the cup before me. Since the hour grew late, we were the only ones in the library. I put my eyes on her neck and the silver slave collar she now wore. A permanent addition to her attire and my fault. That and an empty stare of a sealed mind. I’m guessing Vittoria will give me hell for this when she gets back here. Eh.

I called upon Water and she appeared sitting upon my desk.

“You have called my love? At such hour?”

Her promiscuous smile held so many meanings and promises…

“How do I stand with your tribute? Do I have some credit left? Enough for a few wishes?”

“Perhaps, my love. Perhaps.”

“Good. Take it off her.”

I pointed at the collar. I had come to dislike collars. Watching this one disintegrate before my very own eyes send some pleasant warmth down my spine.

“Also, Return her body to her prime.”

“That shall cost you more than I owe you.”

“I’m sure we can negotiate some discount?”

Let’s see if my most fluttering smile works on spirits as well as people. Inra yelped in surprise when her body changed, and old wounds vanished like smoke on the wind. So, that means I got the discount?

“What have you done…”

The girl grabbed her neck but did not find what she looked for.

“Nothing beyond taking responsibility. You had shared my load of bad luck. I want to repay it. Speak, what do wish for? If it’s in my power, I shall grant it to you.”

Inra stared at me for the longest time, then said.

“Are you the name he spoke of?”

Well, not exactly but…

“Yes. “

“I see.”

Her ears dropped in sadness. An odd reaction. Was there some undertone in it?

“Your… friend, is he safe?”

“Yes.”

At least for the time being. Odd. My answer made her ears stand up and her mood lightened.

“You are free. Your wounds are healed. If you wish I can have your appearance altered. No one will recognize you. Is there any place you want to go? I can send you there with enough gold to last.”

Or whatever else I can barter off those spirits.

“No. Your offer… I cannot... I gave my word…”

“Pestilence and rot! Both of you!”

Altina pushed the door wide open and stormed in armed with her wand and dressed in a satin gown. Interesting combination non the less. Oh, she does have some feminine shapes hidden under all that fur.

“You!”

She aimed her wand at me.

“Even Zee is less trouble than you are! And you…”

Inra did not dare to look at her. She fell to her knees and prostrated herself before the Guild master.

“You! You… you go and bring us more tea. I have no patience left to deal with you again.”

The wolf dropped on one of the empty chairs, put down her wand and massaged her temple.

“Pestilence and rot… What am I supposed to do with you?”

Did her suit really hide all those curves? How fascinating.

“Hug?”

She scowled at that. Noting what I stared at, she tried to cover herself with her arm. Not very successful.

“It is always that with you, bad puns at all the inappropriate times. I do hope Hertia will beat some sense into you. She has replied to my enquiry and is on her way. Given how old her letter is, she might arrive in the next few days. “

Inra came back with more tea and few sweet buns. Did the kitchen staff tried to bribe her? At this hour one would get a cold stare from the cook and not a freshly baked bun. She probably walked in on something she shouldn’t have. Probably.

“Buns at this hour?”

Altina sneered.

“These two, good for nothing, are at it again. Lord Shamu save me… at this rate my ulcers will be back in no time.”

She hid her face in her paws. We ate the guilty snacks.

“Vittoria should arrive tomorrow.”

The wolf spoke after a third cup of tea and more than half an hour of silence.

“I hope you two had enough time to think what to say to her. “

Inra’s ears sagged again.

“Your affair, was it genuine?”

“No. As pleasant as she is, I hold no interest in her affection.”

“As much as I feared. Perhaps this will be for the better…”

Water, probably still invisible to those two, went around the table and placed her palm on the wolf's back. The effect seemed subtle but instant. As if all tension just washed away, Altina sighed and stretched on her chair. The spirit winked at me and vanished.

“Should I avoid her?”

“No. Be truthful. However painful it'll be, I do not want any more lies in my guild. Oh, and get that alcoholic of yours out of my office! She’ll drive me to ruin! “

As if I could.

***

Fate is a fickle thing. What was to be, changed with the morning post. Vittoria's carriage broke an axle and her return got delayed by at best another week. Instead, around the third bell a young and unusually thin lady came in through the back gate. Her posture told me nothing of importance and her slow steps made her appear even more fragile than she was. Her simple yet elegant robe distinguished her from the poor but at the same time it didn’t allow me to classify her as a noble. The mystery only deepened by the large wooden chest on wheels she pulled on a rope behind herself.

Altina went to greet this newcomer. Both appeared to know each other, and their meeting seem like a reunion of old friends. Soon they vanished from my view but not for long. Beatrice came to fetch me so I could go and greet my tutor.

We found them chatting up by the back entrance and joined them to say hello. Hertia von Rashen, had soft grey eyes and a calm voice of someone who lived through ages without as much as a scratch or a broken nail. The moment we appeared, she sized me up with her eyes and gasped.

“Oh, dear.”

Was all that came from her mouth before she closed her distance between us in one fluid step. My eyes managed to register her palm going up towards my center when the thud happened. It lifted my feet off the ground and made me bend forward. At the same time all the air escaped my lungs with a pathetic aff while inside me Erta went flying sideways.

And it made me queasy. Very queasy.

“Now, now dear. Don’t hold it in. Take a deep breath and let it all out.”

Breathing. Yep. Exactly what I couldn’t do right now. But I had no trouble letting go whatever tried to leave me. My internals most likely. I fell to my knees and retched like a cat.

“Merciful Shamu!”

People jumped away as black goop came streaking out of my mouth and splashed all over the granite floor where it sizzled, vaping away in clouds of black smoke.

And it kept on coming out.

I spent no less than a quarter of an hour convulsing, perched over a drain in the backyard while the newcomer watched over me from a chair Pellicora brought her. The dryad judged whatever happened to me as beneficial and left without any explanation.

Let the dolt hork his guts out. Well at least I wasn’t alone in my suffering. Erta went through similar treatment. Our convulsions were somewhat connected.

I slumped on the ground and stayed there when nothing else came out.

“Let us see now.”

Hertia came and hoisted me off the ground with strength unbefitting her fragile body. She slid her arm under my shirt and went exploring.

“Wh… d… me…”

My voice came weak and hardly audible.

“Helping your body get rid of all that stale mana. You have gathered a lot of it. So much that you began to condense it into that vile liquid. Your mana channels are clogged with it. We must get rid of all that mess as soon as possible. Consider it your first lesson. Mana is like a river. It must flow. Also, like a river, slow flowing or unmoving mana will become stagnant and give rise to decay and other issues. One must always ensure a proper flow of mana throughout their body. Now, try to relax and let it all go.”

Her words were followed by a sharp pain when her palm found the pressure point she’s been looking for and sent a spike of mana through it. My body went ~kyaaaah!~ without any input from my mind. Then it most likely went pale blue.

“Do not look at me like that. You only have yourself to blame for all this neglect. Have no one taught you that if your body cannot circulate your mana you must do it yourself?”

I shook my head in denial, making my stomach complain. It was so natural for people out here, the way mana flows, that my case of not needing mana at all or not knowing how to use it, did not occur to anyone.

“Then we have our work cut for us.”

She propped me again over the drain and went back to her chair to huddle in a warm blanket while I went back to being sick.

A day went and the night came by, all the while I got acquainted to my lovely drain and all the dark secrets it flushed over the years. I'm not sure if dumping all that stale mana into that drain was safe. Or if my body would ever be rid of all of it, given how much power sat dormant within me. Every once in a while, my teacher would come and check on me then drive her finger into this or that part of my body, sending her mana on a rampage within me. It ended with my head hanging over the drain, reminiscing the worst food poisoning I ever had. Or that time when a lazy clerk mixed up my meds.

*Dolt. Shut up. You are thinking too loud. *

Oh, and the hanged over dragon in my head made the experience so much more interesting. Her soul apparently absorbed so much of this stuff that each purifying poke I received, tore her a bit.

You’re holding up in there?

*No. Just get it done with. *

My stomach made one more push and I slumped to the ground, drooling. Surprisingly, it felt good. I could tell that for some twisted reason, my body felt good. Content.

Wait, I know this sensation. That elf once did something similar to me.

Soft hands picked up my head. At this point I could just lie and drool. My eyes weren’t even focusing.

“Much better, is it not?”

Sure is. My organs gave up on getting out through my mouth. If there are still any left inside, that is.

To answer her, I drooled a little bit more.

“Come, let’s get you cleaned up.”

Easy said than done. My limbs just didn’t feel like cooperating. Pellicora solved that by picking up my sorry ass off the ground and carrying me in her arms. I drooled at her pillows.

I can’t remember anything that happened afterwards. I woke up in my bed, sans underwear, with the dryad wrapped around me. Eh. I'm not sure if I want to know what I don’t remember.

“Go back to sleep. Dawn has yet to come and you will have a long day.”

Pellicora stirred beside me. Not that I had a say in the matter. Her leg held me firmly in bed.

“I don’t need to sleep that much.”

“Neither do I but from what I gather those meaty bodies work better after a night of sleep. Also, your lizard needs rest to mend herself.”

So I slept. Or tried to. For some reason I felt like a squirrel that had too many cans of some energy drink.

I did wait till morning before I got up. Whatever difference it made. Pellicora allowed herself five more minutes. One of the human habits she's been trying out.

Since I still smelled of soap, I skipped the bath and got dressed. Not much of choice I had in that department. Either a skirt or pants, both made of the most universal material this world used. Leather.

If it was to be cheap, people made it of one or another kind of linen. If one aimed for quality, leather it was. Well, except for lingerie. That was reserved for cotton or silk, yet again dependent on one’s budget. And, leather thongs weren’t that rare either. Who would have thought?

I went with the pants and a roll of cotton bandage. My old wardrobe got somehow lost during my absence so, it was either that corset Cora found somewhere or a roll of bandage. Suffice to say, I got quite efficient at tying up those pillows. I topped it off with a pullover made from scraps of grey and tawny fur sewn together. It made me look like furball with legs, but it also stopped people from asking me repeatedly if I wasn’t cold. Well, I never was. Enchants made sure of that but explaining it to every person that asked got old quite quick.

Alas, No luck with the shoes. Whenever I ask for a normal pair, one way or another, I always end up with over the knee boots on stilettos. Every. Single. Time.

I just gave up and stopped asking.

As on cue, when I put on my second boot, someone knocked on the door.

“Karin, are you awake? Can I come in?”

Li let herself in before I could answer. She also tried not to stare at the dryad left min my bed, trying out another human hobby. Eh.

“Yes?”

I had to block her view with my body to get her attention.

“L-lady Rashen invites you to join her for breakfast, i-in the blue r-room.”

She managed to convey her message but not before turning into a cute tomato.

“I’ll do so with pleasure. Please guide the way.”

Just for her own safety, I pushed her out of the room and closed the door behind us. Hopefully the blue room should survive my presence. If not, well, Earth can always rebuild that.

“Good morning Karin, please sit. I hope you don’t mind me starting without you. I just couldn’t help myself.”

Hertia welcomed me, waving with a fork. Her plate held a rather larger omelet which she cut and bit by bit put into her mouth and chew carefully. Something you would expect from someone of her physique.

I took a chair across her.

“I had not eaten such wonderful omelet in years. The beacon is also done to perfection and melts in your mouth… “

Even Erta’s favorite tomato salad with smoked salmon or some local pink fish, waited on the table. Although… Perhaps I shouldn’t. Not after yesterday.

“What a blunder. Forgive me. I did not intend to torture you with such splendid dishes. Here,”

With some effort she pushed a basket towards me.

“Dry toast and warm water should be safe for your stomach. At least for today. If you are feeling adventurous, you may try some honey.”

Not that I could tell but, it did seem my stomach was not up to the task. I took the toast though and nibbled on it.

“Good choice. Now, your master asked me to teach you how to control your mana and help you protect yourself from outside influence. Something you are in desperate need of.”

She pulverized another bite.

“I’m sure that paranoid furball introduced me already so I’m not going to gloat about it. I prefer for my work to speak for me and I am known for dealing with difficult cases. Such as your guild master. I think I did quite well with her.”

She winked at me from the cup of her tea.

“You may call me teacher if you wish or use my name. It does not bother me as long as you remain respectful and willing to follow my guidance. In such case, I will do my utmost to help you.”

Another piece of omelet, this time tightly wrapped in bacon, disappear in her mouth.

“I do not offer a magic pill that would solve all your troubles. No. Expect hours upon hours of tedious repetitions of my instructions until I am sure you have mastered all the skills, I am about to show you.”

Slurping her tea as if she had not drunk anything more delicious in years, she closed her eyes and enjoyed herself.

“So, are you willing?”

Eh, why not. At least I’ll talk with her.

“Yes.”

“Good. Very good. I like decisive people. Come, let us walk. Fresh air refreshes minds and moving legs propel thoughts. Take your toast with you. You may want to finish it later.”

She wrapped herself in her blanket and we went to the plaza behind the guild hall and from there, round and round the dormitory we walked.

“Ah, I did hope for more room for our leg way, but one makes do with what’s one got.”

We made yet another loop before she spoke again.

“Tell me, what is wrong with you? Aside from looking like the vilest creatures on this planet. For that I believe you are paying every day in this charming city.”

Several guards passed by. They were guild guards. All well accustomed to my presence. Yet, the stares I got… one of the five walked with a halo of deep crimson around his body. Killing intent. Now when I knew what it was, I could name what I saw. Peculiar eyes the witch gave me.

“I do not bother myself with what I cannot change.”

She considered that.

“An interesting choice. Perhaps even beneficial. Also, dangerous. It may lead to blindness. You have not answered my question though.”

*Well, go on. Spill our secrets. Do not be bothered by some lizard convulsing in your head. *

The voice of my conscience. I know roomie you’d wish to be the Reason but that’s already taken. Sorry.

You okay in there? It feels odd since yesterday.

*The dolt cares…. I must be dying. Wait, I am dead. *

You’re cracking bad jokes, so I believe the answer is, it hurts like hell, don’t bother me. Got it. So, should I tell her?

*At this time? I no longer know. You can try. Perhaps she will help. Just, maybe not everything. *

I stopped and pretended to stare at my arm to justify my prolonged silence. I could move it again, but it itched with even the gentlest touch of mana.

“It hurts. It burns. When my mind cannot take it anymore, I faint.”

I pointed at her.

“That thing you're doing with your mana, it’s unpleasant. It makes my skin crawl.”

“I’m trying to warm myself. You can sense that? “

“Only if it’s very close or if I’m touching someone.”

“Gods, my tits are frozen solid.”

She wiggled her blanket a bit tighter around herself. Days were cold enough for even the wolf to start wearing a coat. Her breath, contrary to mine, condensed into puffs of smoke. We did one final round and returned to the guild hall.

“Can I touch you?”

She asked through clattering teeth.

“Last time somebody asked that, it did not end well. Not for her. Not for the room we were in and neither for me.”

“Then I shall be exceptionally gentle.”

I offered her my hand. What could happen? Worst case I'll nap it off…

“You seem disappointed.”

Maybe I was? Nothing happened. She held my hand cupped in her palms and stood with her eyes closed.

“Should I feel something?”

“Who knows? You tell me. “

*Galen, stop her! Your mana is reacting! *

I almost did. Hertia ripped away her sizzling palms.

“My god…”

Blood dripped from her nose in a steady stream, her pupils fully dilated and eyes not focusing.

“In your… state, I don’t think you should be staying in this city or close to it. Or to any city for that matter.”

She rubbed her nose, smearing blood all over her face and her arms.

“We need to get you out of here. Come. “

She rushed towards the staircase, blood splashing in her wake.

“An interesting case she said… I'm gonna choke that damn furball with my own bloody hands!”

***

“Altina Elizabeth Camille Hishgrew, Stop right this instant! I want to choke you!”

The two been chasing each other around the wolf's desk for a while now, with Hertia tossing whatever she got her hands on at my hopefully long-time employer.

“And why should I allow you…”

“Why you ask… why?! You, you incompetent excuse of a lousy… you are not worthy to call yourself a student of mine! She is fractured you balding furball!”

An expensive looking vase missed the wolf’s head by a hair and met its doom against the wall where it clattered in rain of angry bits.

“I've been ramming my mana willy-nilly into her body, whole day yesterday! I could have wiped us all out! Erase this whole city and gods know what else alongside it!”

“It must be some kind of mistake…”

“There is none! I know what I felt! It’s deep, very deep but it’s there. Here whole inner mana reservoir is cracked and leaking!”

“But that’s impossible… I have…”

Fear spread through the wolf's body. Fear so strong it bleached her hair white. I would never believe it if I had not seen it. Slowly as if one would wash away the paint, her hair became snow white.

“She’s held together by spit and wishful thinking! She cannot stay here!”

“Excuse me,”

I chimed in on their argument, just in time to stop my teacher from tossing an inkwell.

“Can someone explain to me what does it mean to be fractured? I can guess already that it’s bad but, I would love some details.”

With bleak faces they looked at each other. None feeling brave enough to challenge that topic and both kind of scared to stand near me.

*It is much worse than I expected. I have seen the cracks from the inside but to think it was that bad from the outside… whatever have the witch done to you, that dryad must made worse. *

That still doesn’t tell me anything and please no finger pointing. In layman’s terms please?

*As dolt would say, we are going to pop. Given that thing inside you, the boom will be heard outside this universe. *

Ok, that sounds bad. Question is it `if` we pop or `when` we pop.

*When, dolt. When. *

“It sometimes happens. It is a kind of wound that… makes your mana unstable.”

Hertia tried her best but lies did not work in her lips. Even I could read it from her body language.

“I see. And how do you treat this wound?”

“Well, you have to…”

“There is no cure.”

Altina came to her senses and cut the lie short.

“But there is a treatment. One that somebody already tried on you. Not to the best effect.”

Her eyes were full of sorrow as she matched all the events together.

“When one is fractured, you take the afflicted. Drug them senseless. Chain them, sealing away their magic. Pack them into a weighted chest and dump them into the deepest part of the ocean you can find, praying the chest will sink to the bottom before they die. Water will dampen the magic and limit the destruction. The law states, it be done quick. I am sorry, it is either that or waiting for disaster to happen. I would not wish such end upon my worst enemy.”

“Eyh. Mortals and their endless whining…”

Fire hiccupped from the corner. Her body slowly came to our view, sprawled on the couch with a bottle in her arms.

“She’s a stable fracture if I ever saw one so, put a sock on it and scram. You are disrupting my rest…”

An empty bottle clattered to the floor. The spirit yawned, stretched and turned her back to us. Her body flickered on the couch like the flames in a fireplace. Altina plopped on her chair, her ears sagging.

“There is no such thing as stable fracture.”

Hertia seemed unfazed by the queen. If any, I would say the Queen’s presence enraged her.

“Maybe there isn’t, maybe there is. Go away half-born I am not talking with you.”

The couch exploded with splinters where my teacher's fist missed the Fire's head.

“What a boring child. Five thousand winters and still not an ounce of respect for her elders.”

Fire reappeared leaning against me. Her arms wrapped tight round my pillows. At the same time, Beatrice and several guards arrived, summoned by the noise.

“Hiya and buh-bye-ya!”

Fire greeted them with a soft puff that swept them out of the office, doors closing shut behind them.

“Step away from her.”

Hertia demanded, flames flying around her, her fists glowing white. Fire ignored her remarks.

“You know each other?”

My question earned me a long lick on my cheek that smelled of booze and ash.

“Mmm, that we do, my love. “

Fire whispered a name into my ear, true name. Sizzling embers? The now familiar pain burned my soul when my teacher’s true name attached itself to me.

“… is my daughter.”

Furious, the woman trembled, staring death and murder at the queen. Only my body between them stopped the open war.

“How… how could you!”

“I have given you that name. I can do with it whatever I please, like…”

“Enough. Both of you, sit.”

I pointed at the remaining couch. Power left me through their names, and they obeyed. Sitting next to each other, they glared at me and at one another. Happiness of their reunion vaping off them like smoke from acid while eating steel.

Altina suddenly became preoccupied with her claws. I don’t blame her.

“What now?”

I hoped she had some idea. The wolf looked at me over her desk.

“Now I should report you to the guards and have you sunk again somewhere off the coast, which I can’t do since we are bound. Honestly Karin, all I want at this point is to crawl under my bed and wait out this nightmare. How can you be so calm? Or perhaps, cold?”

Her fingers were trembling as well.

“I just play the cards I’ve been dealt. I'm sorry I involved you again. “

I went to face Fire. She got another bottle from somewhere while I wasn’t looking.

“You said my fracture is stable. Is that true?”

“Hmm? Yes? That slosh you frolic with so much, made sure of that. Probably? Fixing broken people is not something I excel at. Most of the time I am the one doing the breaking besides,”

She waved with her glass.

“That crack inside you is one of the very few things we cannot touch. No raising dead, no meddling with people's mana, no unfair deals and such and so on, yada yada… Rules you see.”

“Rules?! How dare you speak of rules in front of me… father!”

That made even the spirit silent for a moment.

“As much as it sometimes pains me, even your existence is legal, child. “

“Father?”

The queen gave me a long hard look.

“None of your damn business.”

Her anger flared within me, reflected through the dragon flames, a shadow of the ethereal flame that she was part of. Through it I felt it all. Through it I saw it all. The child… Her anger vanished the instant she felt my soul resonate with her.

Speak of what you saw and neither our bond nor death will save you.

Her voice burned in my mind and I swallowed my next question. Instead I spoke to my teacher.

“Did anyone ever attempted to mend a fracture? How should One even go about it? I am a bit biased against the proposed solution. It did not work anyway. Is there anything else we can try?”

“No. I have not heard of a single case where the fracture was healed. We have an extensive knowledge of the process required to fracture the inner wall but almost none regarding healing it. Not many people are willing to risk their lives to study something so lethal. Not many volunteers to become test subjects either.”

Erta?

*Had I known any procedure I would long ago made you do it. *

“Guild master, there is a guest wishing to see you. I believe it is urgent.”

Pellicora’s voice carried over the locked doors.

He has a spirit with him. I do not think I can stop them if they try to enter.

She added a thought aimed at me.

“Hide.”

The Fire groaned and vanished. At the same time the doors unlatched themselves. The outsiders took it as an invitation and barged in. Resigned, the wolf turned to greet the intruders.

“What is so important to…”

Struck by an invisible whip, Atina jumped to attention and bow before the man that entered. Even Hertia tried to do the same but my previous order held her anchored in place.

“… as to warrant your presence, lord magister.”

“Indeed, my dear, what could it be. Ah, yes. Now I remember. A certain, well respected, ancient citizen of this city sent me a cryptic letter a while ago. Something pertaining to the apocalypse and the end of the world we know and cherish. Nothing out of ordinary. My office handles about five or six of every moon, but since two of my agents became gravely wounded after coming to this guild and at least one died while investigating your involvement in a case of high treason, I got to wonder. Why is that the name of the Emerald Guild appears whenever something disturbing happens within the empire?”

Altina spoke nothing and lowered her head even more. It seems the stranger did not expect an answer and continued.

“Why is that a certain other name jumps at me from every report I receive?”

He turned to face me and made a step in my direction, but his companion stopped him, grabbing his arm. A fully corporal spirit by the looks of it. A beautiful one as well. Perhaps one of the generals. And she trembled in fear. The man stared at her, puzzled.

Should I lie my way out of here or…

*Do not bother. I know this man. Garbannel the Slayer. Unless you want war, truth is the way to go with him. Then if we fit ourselves into his scheming, perhaps then…*

A friend?

*Not of my kin. If he is here, then we already have a snare round our neck. Careful. *

Well, what’s the point of caution when dogs already got your ankles? You run when it happens. Time to get myself even deeper into this whole mess then. I put my gaze at the spirit. Have I seen her before? Whatever.

“You have my word I carry no ill will towards your charge. As long as we are not threatened, no harm shall come your way.”

The spirit bent her knee before me.

“I accept your kindness.”

And I thank you for sparing my child. She is a proud one. She would not submit to my will even though she has no chance against me.

Water whispered.

So the stalkers were already here. And given by the odd presence I felt, they did not come alone.

“Fascinating. It seems I have come to the right place.”

The mage smiled.

It was, one of those smiles.

“Right and wrong coincide with one’s place in hierarchy, your lordship. Or however the hell they call you these days.”

Am I the only one missing the joke here? Who is he?

*Shut up dolt and listen. *

“Ah, miss Rashen. Always a pleasure. One sided I believe.”

Hertia grit her teeth. Her name burned with rage inside me.

“Lirr, be so kind.”

He indicated the shattered couch. His spirit looked at me seeking permission. I gave one with a nudge of my head and watched her walk over. Her mana shivered and before she sat down, the couch reassembled itself. Garbannel sat beside her. Leaning back, he spoke.

“All of you, sit.”

So, I sat where he pointed. Altina came as well and wiggled herself in between me and my teacher. Our elbows rubbed against each other and I could feel the slight tremors passing through her body.

“Brandy?”

Pellicora offered without a care.

I can poison him with my pollen. Then he should not pose any threat.

No. Leave him be.

“Old from Hasverik?”

The mage showed little interest. His eyes were focused on me.

“A, no.”

Altina shook her head as if accused of treason.

“Difficult to get. Bold from Crown. This year.”

His lordship appeared genuinely surprised. I could never read people like him. Soft on the surface and raging underneath.

“Then by all means, yes. It would be a sin not to try.”

He even smiled.

“Cora, bring us the glasses. Water?”

“No, thank you.”

Judging each other, they watched the dryad pour their drinks.

“An interesting year. Quite mellow. With a hint of plum if I am correct.”

“That is so.”

The wolf noted but did not try to sustain the conversation. Hertia on the other hand, boiled with furry.

“Do away with your games. What do you want here?”

Garbannel raised his hand and a leather-bound book appeared on his palm. He pulled a page from it and tossed the book at my teacher. The single page, he placed on the table between us and pushed towards me.

“Fracture sealing magic? What is this nonsense? There is no such thing.”

Hertia seethed through her teeth.

“Oh, but there is. Up until a moon ago, only two people knew of its existence. I and the only person that ever succeeded at using those instructions. Then, come winter and I get a letter saying I should give it to the Emerald Guild. How convenient is that?”

She opened it at random then started swapping pages. With each page she turned, her emotions changed. From anger to puzzlement and from there into shock.

“Why is this not common knowledge?!”

She demanded.

“So many lives… it would have saved so many lives.”

“On the contrary. It would do the opposite. The slightest deviation from the described path results in death and destruction. Imagine what would happen when untrained and inexperienced wannabe heroes start teaching and using this method.”

Hertia's face became pale.

“The success rate?”

“One out of nine hundred seventy-five that tried.”

“Merciful Shamu…”

“Indeed. Gods mercy was on our side when we managed to suppress this.”

He sipped, so nonchalantly…

I picked up the image. The page he placed before me contained a rough sketch of a young woman. Perhaps of twenty years. Thick mane cut short and standing unruly. It was but a charcoal sketch, yet I could see the similarities. Like the azure of her eyes.

It’s her, is it?

*…yes. *

“My dear, there is no need for all that killing intent. She lives well and unbothered.”

I didn’t notice when the light went dim and the air it the room chilled. Garbannel sat with cold sweat frosting over his forehead.

“You would not leave this room otherwise.”

I conveyed what Erta’s heart told me.

“Where is she?”

“Safe.”

Is it true?

I recalled the names of my Queens.

Yes. He has men watching her but so far, they are keeping their distance.

The crystal whisky glass exploded in his palm.

“Careful my dear, you do not wish to have me as your enemy.”

“Enemy?”

I sipped on my drink. I liked those glasses. Solid. Chiseled out of heavy crystal. Erta boiled within me. Her magic pushing towards the surface. I had to make an effort to suppress her. Could she reach him, his head would roll. Eh.

“I am tired of people threatening me left and right. Still, I am not my friend. Your carcass would burn by now, had she sat in my place. Tell me human, why do you bother me? I have not done anything to you or your beloved empire. I do not care about politics, never did but the longer I stay here, the less sympathy I have for your nation.”

“Neither does this empire care for any of you. Although I do. I care for each bastard suckling at the tit of this country. I care for every goat raping peasant stinking like they cheese they sell and eat. I care for every drunkard farting in the ditch by the road. I even care about the nobility with their heads so far up their asses they can’t seem to differentiate between their own farts and perfumes. I care about each dam idiot that walks this earth without a care in the wind. And because I care I do whatever needs to be done to preserve their god’s blessed way of wasting their life.”

“Then, what about the monsters? Monsters. Like. Me. Is it not what I am to all those you care for?”

“Monsters care for themselves. They need not my help. It is I who is often in need of their help.”

Lirr cleaned and healed his bloodied palm. Her kisses sealed his wounds.

“For the past five winters I’ve fighting a loosing battle against an enemy I do not know and do not understand. I have cut many of its heads but in the place of the one I slain, nine more would appear.”

“We do not know what they are. They given us no name to call them. We do not know what they intend aside from what we can learn from their behavior. They seek out ancient artefacts and sites of power. Whenever found around such sites, they build an unfocused portal and drive it to the edge of collapse. Why? We don’t know. There is no way to make them talk. Captured ones die by their own hand.”

“Not so long ago, we found a town, not far from here, stripped to the bone by something. Something that came out of one of their portals.”

“Few of them got scared and managed to kill it before it could reach any further. One managed to survive long enough to give me the first word ever uttered by them. Libo. They are looking for Libo.”

“Libhro.”

The wolf corrected him.

“The city of the undying. That is only a myth. It does not exist. Neither do the undying. That is but a story to entertain unruly children.”

Perhaps I would think the same if I had not kissed one. Her lips were so sweet.

“We found it.”

His eyes held no shine of madness. This was not a man who would imagine things.

“And what does it all have to do with us?”

“One of my best agents became, indisposed after coming to this guild. it is only natural for me to request remuneration.”

“So far no one have noticed we found it. Whatever the cult wishes to acquire there, we shall not let them. I have my most trusted studying it but there are places they cannot go. Fenela was supposed to go there but now I have no other choice as to request you go there and take her place. Find what they would look for or destroy it all. My men will have the site ready for the ritual. If you succeed, your mana core shall be healed, and you will be powerful enough to claim the artefact from its guardians. Fail and, there will be no artefact to speak of.”

“Why should I?”

The man sighed. As if a child disappointed him by not fulfilling his expectations. He leaned even further back and with his palms entwined over his knees, he started counting.

“Cardis, five hundred seventy-two. No trace of any struggle. We found their tongues nailed to a frame. Ten by four quai. Their first successful attempt at making their ritual work.”

“Longlong, Littlelong and Notsollong. Five hundred thousand total. Whatever came out of the first portal, got there before we did.”

“Saafetino, over one million. Reason unknown. Purified with fire.”

“Dannask, Town of haggu. Civilian casualties unknown. We lost Six thousand heavy infantry, ten thousand riders and nine judge magisters. First appearance of a cult lord.”

“Neighlow, unconfirmed involvement, fifty villagers. Their bodies were turned inside out.”

“Graetting, nine hundred thousand civilians. Twenty-five thousand soldiers, eleven judge magisters, sixty apprentice judge magisters. It took a week to close the rift they made. Five more people died for that.”

“Longhorn… The entire island vanished.”

“Ciritia, five million. Never rebuilt.”

“Sappyyap, five thousand turned to stone.”

“Doadodo, penal colony, between a hundred and a thousand.”

“Is this reason enough? Or perhaps more recent example… Everooth, eleven million, vanished. The only saving grace is, whatever they found, wiped them out as well.”

Now would be a good time to break out some nervous sweat. But since I am me, I just stared into his cold eyes. No one else spoke until he got up.

“I shall be staying at the Iron Cup. You have five days to consider this request. “

***

The sky burned with the flare of sunset over the empty sea. Together with the dying sunlight, city bustle vanned. Here and there, city lights came to life in the more reputable districts. Aside from that, a crimson hue appeared over a certain part of the less reputable alleys. Cat calls of the night workers became more pronounced in the absence of the city noise. From time to time, bats zoomed all over the place chasing bugs.

And I felt Like a bug.

What else would I be, squirming under the foot of fate? How peculiar. How long has it been since I thought something similar?

Guards came and went sweeping through the courtyard. The gates closed. The light faded and my eyes magic came to life. I let my head rest on my arms while they held my knees together. Guilt sat beside me, leaning against me. She kept silent. Always.

“You know it’s not my fault.”

Our eyes met for a moment. Oh, she knew. She also knew that if I ignore this request, plenty more people could die. People I didn’t even know. Why should I bother…

Her tiny hand slapped me across my face. It smarted. I rubbed my cheek and it left blood on my fingers. Her blood. Her hands were bleeding from never closing wounds.

“But it’s true. There is no reason…”

She slapped me again. And again. And again.

“I’m sorry, I just don’t know how to care.”

I braced myself for another impact, but it never came. Instead, her eyes glittered with tears. She vanished without a word and I went back to star gazing. I did not search for any shapes of known constellations. For me stargazing is but a form of staring at the popcorn celling, just made a bit fancier by the occasional falling stars.

“Karin? How in the abyss did you get there?! Get down right this instant.”

Busted. Altina found my hiding spot among the chimneys. Perhaps guards from the gate pointing in my direction had something to do with it. Trying not to damage the roof with my heels, I tiptoed to its edge and stepped over it. Wind’s blessing arrested my fall and I touched the ground without as much as a sound. Ever since I got that thing on me, I had to make sure I made a noise as I walked, or people freaked out.

“This is where you’ve been hiding for the past four days?”

Her eyes went between my feet and the edge of the roof. A good forty feet drop if not more.

“Yes. I mean no. I wasn’t hiding.”

“Then what were you doing there?”

Sitting with a blank stare while a certain dragon wailed within me. She also wished to bring doom and gloom by making the world burn but Logic rejected that idea.

“Thinking.”

“And what kind of conclusion did you arrive at if any?”

“A part of me wants to pummel certain snake.”

“Sah, if so, you may send her my regards as well. With your right hook if you dare. “

“And here I thought you would at least try to dissuade me, mom.”

She snarled and pulled my head towards the ground. My long ears were perfect for that task.

“What have I told you about calling me that?”

“That I shouldn’t.”

“That is so. That is just so.”

She tugged even harder.

“You do not have enough fur to call me that. Besides… who would want to marry such animal? Not even haggu look my way. But that does not matter. All the healers I spoke with said the same, my blood would not mix with anyone that could fancy me. I can only conceive with a pure human. Even if I find one insane enough, there is little chance for a child to survive. My own magic would kill it.”

My ears became free again and her hand caressed my head while I stared at her feet.

“Every time you call me by that name, you remind me of that fact and my heart can only take so much...”

Crystal clear droplets began peppering the ground around her feet.

“I was unaware. I shall not do so again.”

My head went even lower, this time by my own doing. She kept on petting my head.

“You have your daemons, I have mine. Lord Shamu teaches us not to submit to their calling. I blame you not, you have no sin in me, I will not cast my voice against you at the end of times.”

Such warm words. Odd. As if something brushed against me. Was this her way of saying I forgive you?

“Have you made your mind?”

“Not really. No. But I think I'll take your advice and go talk to a friend.”

“Do I want to know?”

“Better not. I do not know if I will return.”

“Always. You can always return to me. Well, at least until you work off what you destroyed. You own me quite a bit and that damn spirit drank all the hooch I've been saving for spring. If you want to go, go now and don’t be wandering anywhere outside after sunrise. You're under house arrest after all. Also, stop sticking out that butt, guards are gawking.”

She slapped my bum and walked away, leaving a sense of direction. Kind of. Erta’s emotions told me she came to a similar conclusion.

“Should I go with you?”

Pellicora appeared out of nowhere.

You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

“Have you anything else you want to tell that serpent?”

“No.”

“Then watch over this place while I'm gone. I have those perverts following me anyway, so I'll be fine.”

I pushed away from the ground and sailed over the guild house and onto the plaza before it. Such convenient blessing. Erta’s charms could not compare. Hopping over the rooftops, in no time I reached the temple and jumped over it’s outer wall. As I did so, my body itched, and the tip of my hair sizzled. A barrier? Not very effective.

“Who goes there?!”

Suddenly a lot of pointy bits surrounded my midsection when I landed on the path beyond the gate. Perhaps this was not the best place to choose.

“The seer is awaiting me. Or she better be. Take me to her.”

One of the more zealous guards screamed and struck me with his spear. Its blade shattered upon impact with my neck and its shaft broke. I looked straight into his eyes, my third eyelids closed and my eyes glowing.

“I have promised not to slaughter her guards and you are making it very, very difficult for me to keep that promise.”

For the first time in a long while, I fully extended my nails. I almost forgot they could do that. The effect seemed instant.

“Apologies, honored guest. Right this way.”

A path opened in the sea of spears and I followed a pale young man.

*Tell me dolt. What will you do when one day some idiot shall call upon your bluff? *

We'll improvise if that ever happens. It worked like a charm so far.

*I see. Then you may want to know he is leading us to the dungeon. *

Oh.

“Why do you want to die so badly in that dungeon?”

He froze and recalculated his chances.

“A, apologies honored guest. I mistook that turn. I am new here.”

What a quick thinker. A captain's material if he ain’t one already.

We trudged through the inner maze of her temple and arrived near Nahira’s private rooms. I left the guard there and entered unannounced. The snake sat on her coiled tail and gazed upon the stars through a tall, crystal window. I made no attempts to announce my presence, just walked up to her and grabbed her arm to twist her around. She did so in shock and our eyes meet again. I did not wait for them to overpower me again but instantly let my arm sail through the air. My fist connected with her face sounding a satisfying klonk of a bone hitting a stone and I watched her collapse to the floor. Way to go puny arms. I did not expect such impressive result. The serpent’s face turned into a bloody mess, with her nose likely broken and several teeth missing. Either the flame flowing in my veins did something to me or she was more of a wimp then I was. Nah. Probably the later. I poked her tail with my boot, she slithered away in fear and coiled her tail around herself in defensive manner.

“Why? Why did you lie to us?”

No answer. Just fear. Fear so deep I doubted any conscious thoughts roamed in her mind. Well, that was that.

Say roomie, want to have another go?

*Hmmm, tempting. Alas, you did not leave any space for a second round. Let us go, I am sick of her. *

I took a shortcut through the balcony and landed somewhere between a unit of guards. Not giving them a chance to think or notice my bloodied knuckles, I jumped away, bounced off a guard tower and sailed way into the city.

I did not rush my return. Rather, I stopped by the fountain and let it wash away the serpent’s blood. The fur of my pullover rustled in the cold breeze. So far no one followed me.

So roomie, what now?

To my left, emerald banners framed with gold called to me with the promise of peace and a comfy bed. On my right, I could see the guards change around the Iron Cup. His lordship requisite the whole inn.

*With the queens not willing to get us to her and the seer not wanting to tell us… for now I shall satisfy myself with the knowledge she is near. *

Her voice broke.

*But first we must do something about your core. If you go up in flames, there will be no place for her to live her life. I cannot allow that. *

I turned right and started walking.

You’re sure?

*… yes. *

The guards opened the door for me even before I reached the steps to the inn.

I did not expect much in the way of welcome and I did not disappoint myself. The second the inn's door closed behind me, I was stopped and searched. A ferru female guard in cotton gloves gave me throughout pat down. Whatever for. Anyway, I just stood there and let her grab this or that. Nothing outrageous. I had worse on an airport.

Assassin, the others whispered. Well, I think that was the word. My mind picked up several other meanings, including some emotions. Logic kept bugging me to investigate this odd ability I somehow got but, some things are better left unknown. Perhaps one day…

My eyes wandered through the shadows and I counted total of nine people. Three females, one human and two ferru with varying degree of inhuman blood. All three dressed in light leather armor without any insignia or ornaments. Elegant but tipping towards the more practical design. Something that not only looked good but also worked. Their armament appeared similar. A short sword and a knife, hanging at one hip and a quiver full if arrows at the other. A short bow and more arrows sat in a sheath strapped to their backs. The human also held an iron tipped staff in her arms which was an exception.

Four knights, I think they were males, brooded in opposite corners of the room. Not much I could tell of them from under all those layers of fur, leather and steel. Each had either an axe or a battle hammer. Two appeared to have shields hung on their backs. One also held a spear. He stood near something that snored on the floor. Going by the rule of thumb Altina used, if you have no idea what in the abyss you are looking at, that is probably a haggu. If it wants to kill you for no reason, that is a haggu. Well, it didn’t try to kill me, but I could bet my money on it being a haggu. Even though the appearance of ferru like Altina or Dosie was far removed from a human one, they still had fundamentally human form. Haggu on the other hand… it’s difficult to describe that mass of limbs, fur, pointy thingies and dirty leather to someone that never seen a haggu. Although…

This merry company contained one more oddity. One that could be male, female, both or neither at the same time. I have seen androgynous people before but, was this even a person? Like a statue from a fairytale, I have never seen a creature like him. Her?

*It. That is not a living being. A doll soldier of the old empire. I have not seen one in many years. I thought them all destroyed after the fall of high human society. Its presence is not a good sign. Thousands of them were used to hunt for dragons. It might be older than I am.*

“Clean. No weapons. Three artefacts but like the report said, not weapon grade.”

The female guard leaned closer, almost pressing her face into my pillows.

“Blood. Fresh.”

The bored and sleepy faces in the room suddenly burst into full awareness. Weapons were drawn. The knight with a spear came to face me and stopped beside the ferru guard that still sniffed my arm.

“Do not touch her. A charmer. Much stronger than Anli.”

Well, At least I won’t have to introduce myself.

“What a load of bullshit! An assassin? That thing?”

One more person joined our jolly group. I could not see where he came from or how he appeared but even from where I stood my nose picked up the smell of cheap ale. The one you don’t drink but rather use to remove oil stains or paint. The doll moved for the first time and looked my way. Its eyes were of glass and porcelain.

“A whore and nothing more!”

The ferru that searched me reached for her sword, but the knight stopped her and called to the newcomer.

“Kander, you are drunk. Go and clean yourself up.”

“And you’re a spineless pussy! You want me to clean up?! Fine! Watch me clean up this dung!”

His arm vanished from my view for a split second until the whole world slowed to a crawl. My eyes burn with the familiar pain of mana but now I was able to see his hand releasing a dagger. The blade went straight for my face and almost reached it when Fire blinked into existence. Yawing, she fished the knife out of mid air and tossed it back with tripled force. She sent me a kiss before disappearing. I hope they couldn’t see her. I don’t want to explain why a spirit Queen is following me.

“Abyss… So fast.”

The dagger twonked against the wood pillar, embedding itself up to the hilt. Just where the attackers head been a moment ago. Inhuman reaction speed saved the man's head, but it did not save his now dripping pants. I think it sobered him up a bit too.

“Tell me you saw that!”

“I could swear she didn’t move!”

“How did you do that?!”

The second ferru now stood behind me with her knife on my neck. When did she get there?

More people with pointy bits approached me. Whispering, staring. Staring not with fear but with… admiration? Did I just got myself involved with another bunch of lunatics?

*Well dolt, I will not be surprised if they start calling you elder sister. You just proved your title. *

Eh? But that wasn’t me and really, what is wrong with those perverts and their definition of danger? Being blown up by some shady mage? Nope. No reaction. A guy throws a dagger at me. A dagger that would bounce off my skin. She almost killed him. What is wrong with those perverts?

“Are you done?”

Garbannel's voice came from the stairs. He stopped at the half-floor, overlooking the entire room.

“Sir! We...”

His frown silenced them. His eyes were focused on the man sitting in his piss and pointing at me.

“Drinking on duty. Disobeying direct orders. Attempted murder. Kander Vadah, by the power bestowed on me by his imperial majesty, I find you guilty of your crimes and sentence you to death. You’ll hang by the sunrise. Get him out of my sight.”

Just like that. His life ended before my eyes, without a drop of blood lost. Without as much as a second thought from the man that employed him.

“Karin, you come with me.”

It seemed proper thing to do so I shoved the knife away from my throat and pressed through the frozen crowd to follow him. Garbannel the Slayer. I’m beginning to understand why someone might call him that.

*You understand nothing dolt. I fought against him and yet he lives. That alone can say much about his strength. *

My math failed me.

Just how is that possible? He would be like thousands of years old.

*Not only my kin were long lived. All creatures with plenty of mana hardly die of old age. Well, the tree huggers are an exception to that. Their bodies work in a different manner, so they have no need for much mana but, at the core of it, the more mana you have, the stronger your life force becomes. *

Then, what about us?

*Unless we die here and now, and if I can believe what your memories speak of the stars that burn above us, then we shall watch this sun die before we die with it. Then there are the spirits you mingle with. You are too much of a delicacy for them to let you go that easily. *

Oh. Even Logic shudder within me, pondering the number of years it would take. My mind focused on moving my legs while more whispering followed me.

Just who is she?!

Why?!

I can’t even feel her presence…

Perhaps we should clear up all that misunderstanding?

*Dolt, you are one big misunderstanding, but I must disagree. Let them think whatever they want at this point. It will stop them from bothering us if they can fit you into their hierarchy. Assasins are feared but respected. People might hate them but would go to great lengths to avoid their wrath. *

Come to think of it, Altina had a similar reaction. Remember? She accused me of being the very same thing.

I pondered climbing up the stairs. The upper floor seemed much better lit and more spacious.

*It is no wonder. Tree huggers have earned themselves a reputation. When it became clear they would not be able to win the war, they adjusted their tactics. Poisoned blades and arrows found many targets from the shadows. Not even my kin escaped their madness. Their activity dwindled overtime but the damage they made lives to this day. *

Garbannel opened a door and invited me inside. The room had a simple setting of three couches surrounding a low table that in turn stood in front of a crackling fireplace. Shining crystals hanged around the room added brightness to the warm glow of the fireplace. He sat on one couch and pointed at the other. An order for me to follow his example. I did so.

“That blood. The seer?”

My hair did not settle yet as I sat but he already asked his questions. What kind of man does that?

“Yes. “

“Did you kill her?”

“No.”

His stare looked like the one of the officers that came to question me. Why did you do it? Did someone threaten you? Were you on drugs? Not much of interest in the answer, more of an obligation to ask then to get an answer.

“A shame. Her meddling has made my work so much more difficult than necessary on so many occasions. Sometimes it is best to leave fate alone and not thinker with it but apparently, those like her enjoy playing gods, guardians or whatever else they believe themselves to be.”

His voice sounded bleak and washed out of any concern. Fatigued, perhaps.

“Because of people like her, the world needs people like me. Janitors. Someone that shall clean up after their blunders.”

Well, Erta did have a comment but not one I would voice in front of him.

“Your request. I wish to know more of what it entails.”

He smiled like a fisherman, ready to reel the second the fish swallows his hook.

“The City we found. There are certain parts of it that we cannot access. I believe you have the necessary abilities to do so.”

“And as an outsider I am disposable so in case of any mishap, you will not be risking your valuable employees?”

“Yes. There is the added bonus of that. Although, this is not the best place for such discussion. At this time, I cannot provide you with more details my dear, but I assure you, all the help I can provide, you will get.”

So, we can do it or try to beat the information out of him. I’m not exactly interested in either of those options.

Erta chuckled.

*My dear dolt. For you to even consider that… No. This one more time, we shall play the game fate wrote us but do tell him. If anything happens to my daughter or if he tries to weasel out of this deal, death shall be the least of his worries and neither you nor that twiggy will stop me. *

I conveyed her words, keeping some to myself.

“Very well. I do not throw my word into the gutter and that in itself should suffice but I shall make an exception this time. I swear by the spirits we are bound, that I shall keep my end of the deal as long as you keep yours. Destroy or bring me the artefacts you shall find.”

For a moment I wished I could stop him but, he brought it on himself. Not my fault. I won’t care.

“And we heard and stand witness.”

As one the queens responded in their unearthly voice. Melody of their words made my dragon heart skip its beat. Blood drained away from Garbannels face, he dared not to turn and look. I let my lips curl in a smile while Erta gloated at his apparent fear. Eh.

Fire leaned over him and put her arms around him from behind, her lips near his ear.

“And I swear upon myself, give me a reason mortal, and death shall not save you.”

***

Time and time again I had to stop and steady myself but even that did not help. Whatever charms were baked into this form, went out of sync and for no reason tried to compensate whenever I made a step. I think. I have no idea what was causing this. The result however, turned out quite predictable. I tripped and fell, landing nose first into a set of pillows framed by the guild’s maid attire.

“You drunk?”

Chuko the owner of the said pillows, took a whiff of me. Since my body would burn alcohol in matter of minutes, I already ruled out that cause. Her nose brought her to a similar conclusion.

“Sick?”

She put her hand on my forehead and tried to get a feeling for a fever. Good luck with that. I don’t think my body is capable of running a fever. I get a steady… I have no idea what my current body temperature is, but it doesn’t change.

“I’m fine. It’s the boots I think.”

That made her look at me with even more suspicions. Ever since her recovery, Chuko seemed to care for me. In her own way.

“You lie. Boots good. No make funny walk. I tell master.”

And she got up, at the same time picking me up. As if my body weighted nothing, she tossed me on my bed and went out of the room. Great. Knowing my luck, the wolf should be here any minute. Dang, I really need to practice that sigh. Such a useful thing to do. Anyway, I reached to my know it all lizard.

“What’s going on in there roomie?”

I could put on the fourteen-inch monster stilettos Altina got me for some occasion I never attended, and balance on the heel while standing on the tip of the leg of an upturned table. The spell would keep me steady. However, for some reason I couldn’t make more than two steps without tumbling while I wore regular boots.

*Take off your shoes and try to stand still. *

Why not? I pulled off the first flat soled boots I got and stood up.

“Okay, I am standing. What…”

And my face bounced off the floor without me noticing that I fell. Uncool.

“Eh? What’s going on?”

*Try again but this time, stand on your toes. *

I did so and, nothing happened.

“Ok. You lost me there. What is wrong with me?”

I took few steps. As long as I kept my heels off the ground, I could walk as normal.

*Your enchants are unbalancing your body. *

“Does that mean I’m going to wear high heels for the rest of our lives?”

*No dolt. It means the damage to your core has caught up with you. Your enchants misbehaving is only the beginning. Also, how many times do I need to remind you not to speak to me? You are putting us in danger. *

Says the voice in my head. Eh.

Fine, fine. I won’t.

That battle I lost. I tossed the flat boots away and pulled out the fancy ones. Here I hoped I won’t have to wear them again. They made me walk funny. Why do I even care? With my pillows around, who will stare at my feet?

The wolf did.

“Are you not satisfied with the ones I got you? A ship is not place for such footwear.”

Just like I guessed, Chuko returned with heavy artillery. Together they stared me down into submission.

“Mana sensitivity. Lack of appetite. Trouble sleeping. Now, imbalance. Merciful Shamu, how blind was I. It’s starting to surface isn’t it?”

“Yes.”

Altina reached for my hand and held it.

“No fever. Be praised merciful lord… Forgive me. We should have spoken of this as soon as we learned of your fracture. Shattering is not a spontaneous event. It takes time for a fracture do develop and for the boundary to weaken. There are stages to it. These can take months or years to appear, but all are always present.”

“Lack of appetite comes when your body begins to defend itself against the spreading crack. It will retain or burn mana to equalize pressure between your core and the outer layer. This one is the easiest to miss. Right after that comes lack of need to sleep. The constant struggle within you will keep your body awake. Then your natural defenses fail. Body begins to change, and all your senses become clouded. Such as inability to walk, talk, smell.”

“At this point people take notice and try to hide it. For example, there is a trick to regaining balance. Walking on one’s toes or on heels help but it only masks the symptoms.”

“Then comes the nausea and almost at the same time, fever. High and unpredictable. It lasts for about a week and goes away along all the other symptoms.”

“The last known stage is the false recovery. The affected appear healthy as if they recovered. Their appetite and energy will return. Most if not all negative changes will appear to revert. The exact duration of this period is unknown. It ranges from hours to days. The longest a person survived after entering this stage is one and a half moon. Then…”

“They will shatter?”

“Yes.”

Altina’s grip tightened around my palm. She could not bear to look into my eyes.

“It is no fault of yours if that’s what shall happen. I thank you for all the help you have given me but don’t even think you will get rid of me that easily. I still haven’t got that bonus from your guild lords.”

I winked at her and offered the sincerest smile I could manage. It made the trick, she relaxed.

“I think I shall go now. I am to meet them at the docks by noon.”

Chuko helped me into entirely unnecessary fur coat and as I buckled it up, hugged me from behind.

“You. Be. Back.”

“I’ll do my best. Take care of the furball while I’m gone.”

“Will do.”

They walked me to carriage waiting behind the guild house where a crowd of maids flocked around Pellicora. Even though she stayed here for such a short time, a lot of people liked her and came to wish her safe journey. Which couldn’t be said about me. The moment I stepped out of the building, their cheerful and teary voices became hushed and vary. All eyed me with… not fear but a bit of coldness. Why? She too looked like an elf. She even went around the place hugging all the trees growing on the guild ground and whispering to the plants. A typical tree hugger. Yet… must be my dolty charm then. Yup.

“Aaa!”

Li came running and hung herself on my neck. Well, at least I could count on her.

“Ah, I already miss you! Come back quick. Without you or Vittoria around, Zee turned into a real nightmare! Oh, and remember to stay warm. Go to bed early. Eat properly and stay out of trouble.”

“You do too.”

I hug her back. I think that’s the proper thing to do. Emily said so. She liked to hug a lot. Whatever for. She lived next door to me in some ancient times. Her mother had issues worse than mine. She tried to hang the girl once. The ceiling fan couldn’t take her weight and snapped. I remember that day quite well. Emily spent it hiding in my closet. I have no idea where she got the keys to my room. Perhaps she didn’t need them. Police came that evening and took the woman away. She got into a fight at the station. Another suspect cut her throat. Next day an officer came for Emily. She informed her what happened and that she will have to go with her. Emily hugged the woman and cried. For the first time in her life she cried tears of joy.

What an odd memory to recall. Gently, I pushed Li away. She’s been cuddling against my pillows a bit too long.

“Oh! I got you some cookies! You seemed to like those so I though…”

“Thank you.”

I took the offered pouch. Pink silk and ribbons didn’t really suit me but the butter cookies this girly pouch contained I did enjoy. And the drooling dragon inside me did too.

Further away, I saw the catgirl looking my way. I boobed my head in her direction and she responded with a deep bow. We didn’t speak much after what I did for her, but it seemed to be working out somehow. Altina made her swear a whole litany of oaths and sign a blood pact but at the end of it, she let the girl stay. She also made up quite an intriguing story about how the maid got blackmailed into spying against the guild and such and so on. Since Li `accidently` overheard our conversation, the whole guild house knew the story by the evening.

“Aren’t you forgetting something important?”

Hertia came running with stacks of books and papers in her arms. Large shadows hung under her eyes and her hands and clothes were stained with ink. I don’t think she slept or ate ever since Garbannel paid us a visit. Judging by the smell, she didn’t bathe either.

“I’ve read and reread it until I could make sense from it. It’s been written and added upon by many people without any logic whatsoever. I am surprised anyone succeeded at using this procedure. I have made you notes and rewritten it into proper order. Make sure you read it at least twice before you attempt anything from this book. Check all the notes I left. I made you notes explaining other notes just in case something wasn’t clear enough…”

She shoved her books into my arms.

“Be diligent and it might just work. Understood?”

“Yes ma’am.”

“Good. Make sure to return those when you’re done. As for me, I need a drink…”

“No!”

The wolf yowled.

“What you need is sleep and a bath.”

“Go cough a hairball. I drink when I say I drink.”

Hertia made a rude gesture at the wolf. A local version of the middle finger.

“Teacher, I thank you for all this effort but really, you should rest.”

I sent some mana through her true name, ordering her to sleep.

“You’ll pay me for this…”

Trained for just such occasion, maids caught her before she hit the ground, snoring soundly.

I said my goodbyes to anyone I knew that came to the courtyard and climbed into the guild carriage Altina lend me. Pellicora brought in all the gifts she received then took her place beside me and we rode out. I watched the guild gates close and disappear in the distance. It had a sense of finality to it.

“Will we be coming back?”

The dryad’s voice broke the silence. Her face exposed no emotions but at the same time, her core radiated a mixture of sadness and uncertainty.

“Do you want to?”

She did not answer, instead tears dripped from her cheeks.

“I do not understand. Why mortals do it to themselves. They enslave each other with those bonds they build and for what? Just so that those bonds could be broken? Why does it hurt so much? What is friendship to them? What is love for?”

Is this really the blood thirsty monster that cried murder? What did the wolf do to her?

“I don’t know. Nobody taught me that part.”

“You’re a useless master.”

She put her head on my shoulder. In silence we rode through the bustling city towards the docks where a ship awaited us. I still don’t know how this is supposed to work. During the winter, port of Fenira became unusable. The season’s winds would push any vessel out of course and onto their doom among the rocky cliffs surrounding the peninsula. But not today. Eve of silence, as people called it, appeared to be the final day before the spring when one could sail out of the city. In theory. For what I heard, nobody did it.

“You may stay if you wish.”

“I cannot stay. You are my host, my source of mana. This body cannot survive away from you. It would wither and fade if you were to go too far. “

I did not consider that. So that was the reason for her clinginess.

“So, am I just a walking snack for you?”

“More or less. Yes.”

Now that I thought of it, mana was being drawn out of me. Eh.

It took about an hour for the carriage to pierce through the crowded streets before we arrived at the dock. I had never been to this part of Fenira. Well, I had never been to many parts of Fenira but this one seemed the least interesting. Chiseled in the side of a cliff, several piers extended into the waters of the bay. This was the new port. The first one, or its remains, sat on the opposite side of the peninsula and got abandoned after several ships sunk there, crushed by the furry of the open ocean. Here, the ships were sheltered from all of that but given the current season, this place also seemed deserted. Aside from one, hmm, longboat if I ever saw one. Some activity took place around it, so I guessed that as our destination.

At the entrance to the dock, a guard stopped us and after confirming my presence, directed our driver towards the ship I saw earlier. We went as far as the road allowed us and stop near the place where the pier connected with a wooden jetty. The driver and our guard unloaded our luggage and Pellicora used this moment to pack the gifts she received. Between the two of us, we packed our belongings into a single chest. Neither of us had much in the way of possessions. A change of clothes. Some underwear. Extra pair of boots. Nothing much of importance. Perhaps the most valuable were the books I received.

“Is this all your luggage?”

The spear knight from yesterday and two of his silent companions came to us from the jetty. There were no greetings or introductions. Just a blunt question and a stare that would cut if he had permission.

“Yes.”

“Good. Follow me. We’re disembarking as soon as they finish stripping the ship.”

And that was that. His companions grabbed our chest and we followed to where the others awaited. At the end of the jetty we found the rest of the merry company from yesterday, including the snoring haggu that lodged itself at the top of a pile of duffle bags and snored. The doll soldier stood a bit further away from the others, with his hood pulled tightly around his head. The rest stood in a circle and conversed in a hushed voice. We were not invited.

“They are chopping up the ship.”

Cora pointed out as its mast fell. Indeed, sailors with saws and axes were working along the entire length of the ship. After about half an hour of this, someone got off the ship and came to us.

“That’s it anymore and she’ll sink.”

“Thank you, captain.”

The spear knight said. He appeared to be running things.

“You can send your men away. Did anyone volunteered to man the tiller?”

“Yes, Sadrik will go with you. A hundred gold shall be paid to his wife whether he returns or not. Is that correct?”

A sack of coins changed hands.

“May the gods protect you.”

He called his men and all but one left. He made some hastened goodbyes and took his place by the rudder.

“Get in. We leave as soon as the rowers arrive.”

So we lined up before the gangplank and went on board. I caught and ignored few snide comments about my choice of footwear. They went silent anyway as soon as I scaled the plank without any trouble or even a sway. We were placed in the back near the rudder and for the lack of a better place, we sat on our chest. Others dumped their bags near us and spread out around the ship. The haggu, for the first time awake in my presence, stared at me scratching its butt.

“Cargo?”

It asked jabbing its knife in my direction.

“Yeah.”

One of the knights answered to which the furball answered with a fart and went back to sleep among the bags they brought. Not long after, about forty men in chains appeared herded towards our boat by armed guards. The rowers?

One by one they were pushed onboard and sat at the oars.

“Feels nostalgic, doesn’t it? How many did we get that time?”

“Fifty years in the quarry. Half ration.”

“Fifty. Yeah. Sounds about right.”

The knights sat down near their haggu companion. A silver flask went between them.

“You were prisoners?”

My mouth opened before my mind considered the consequences of interrupting their conversation.

“I’ll be damn, that thing speaks.”

One of the two spoke and took a deeper swig from the flask.

“A, we are all full-blooded convicts. Not those kinds of sorry slobs you see shitting their pants there but a real time criminals. Pending pardon, mind you. “

He laughed.

“What? Did his lordship promised a better company?”

This time all within the earshot laughed. A joke maybe?

“That boring bloke at the stem post that somehow got the idea that he runs everything? Farkis, house guard of the emperor, deserter. Those two virgin furballs are the Ri sisters. Sari and Nari. Adultery and manslaughter among other things. That one with the stick? Anli, the third sister. Assault. Legend has it she bit a shlong off some senator when he tried to rape her. That thing behind you? Hork. Thief. Or whatever the abyss he is. They keep on sending him with us so…”

He shrugged and continued.

“Those two gentlemen by the drum? Yogo and Dale, deserters. Friends of our dear captain. Now that leaves me with, Hib.”

He pointed at the hooded doll.

“Hibertus Irrelrius Barrensur. Innocent. His only crime is his existence, as he says, which he tries to rectify every time we see action. But you lassie don’t need to worry about any of that. Just stay with us, the good folks. Hubert, great the lady.”

“Handyman for hire, At your service!”

The man sitting next to the speaker raised the flask he held in a salute and drank. I responded with a nod and looked back at the knight that didn’t introduce himself yet. He smiled and pretended to make a court bow.

“Barrent. Pimp. Pleasure to make your acquaintance. Ah, up until recently this merry company had one more rider but he got his pardon this morning.”

“Good riddance, trash not worth the rope he hanged at.”

“Why so heartless Nari? The man’s dead now.”

The ferru hissed.

“That was no man but trash. Let him rot like trash.”

“Yes, well. Try not to forget we are in the same boat. Quite literally. After our last ride that rope could've been yours or mine. He did us a favor so I’ll drink to that.”

Her ears sagged and she rubbed her neck. A tic most of them had. Every once in a while, one of them would rub their neck.

“Quite the eyes you have lassie.”

Barrent pulled at his collar and raised his head. A weird line of squiggles run tattooed around his neck. The black ink burned up with bright red every five or so seconds.

“Our link with the empire. You be a good doggie. Do whatever they want and perhaps after they'll cut your sentence. That’s what it is.”

A leash.

“Oars ready!”

Farkis called. His men untied the boat and pushed us away from the jetty. The boat swayed on the waves and freed from the ropes, slowly inched away.

“Lower your oars!”

As one, forty oars touched down on the water, their blades submerging.

“Row!”

As one, forty men moved. Fighting with resistance, the boat groaned and lazily built up speed. Timed by the drum, the prisoners rowed. We did not sail far.

“Oars at rest!”

The docks were still visible in the distance when we came to a stop. How odd. Water around and behind our ship seemed steady. Almost like a plate of glass. Out in front however, wind creased its surface and the further away I looked the higher the waves got.

“And now we wait.”

The knight took one more swig then laid down on his bag and fell asleep. One learns to sleep, or one dies huh? Aside from the doll that took a watch closer to the front, everyone else came to rest. Even the chained men did not waste this time on pointless chatter.

What did he say back then? That I should avoid using magic or artefacts. Or even being near a place where powerful magic is cast. All those could accelerate the decay of my inner boundary. That’s why they were shipping me out on a boat powered by manual labor and sweat. Outside of the bay where winds lacked the destructive power, another ship would await us. When the evening breeze switch, we will sail ahead and hope to make it. Or something like that.

For now, we could only wait. So, I did. I sat staring at the passing clouds as the sky lost its shine and inky darkness surrounded us.

“They’re here.”

The doll spoke, rousing their captain. Away in the distance, a solitary light bobbed on the waves. Our ship?

“So it seems. What about the wind? No change?”

“None.”

As far as my eyes allowed me to see, waves raged before us. What worse, we were not the only ones awaiting a favorable wind. Over the cape to our right, blue lights danced over the sky with increasing frequency. If that thing gets us before the wind comes…

Go at once. We shall open a path before you.

A spirit I did not know whispered in my ear.

Hurry.

You heard that?

*Yes. *

What do you think? Should we?

*Not much else left for us if we wish for this endeavor to work. *

I cast one more glance at the approaching storm. Now I could pick up single streaks of lightning dancing across the sky.

“The wind is changing. Go now if you want to make it.”

My words smacked them like a whip shattering the silence.

“And how the hell would you know that?”

A pointy thingy approached my throat. Pellicora opened her eyes and watched with interest. The sea before us still foamed in rage.

“I can hear it.”

Technically, I wasn’t lying. Spirits said so. I also flapped my ears up and down to make a point. I hope he has more brains in his head than what Logic think he has.

“Sari?”

The woman got up and stood focused. Her eyes closed, her ears working.

“I don’t know… wait, it does sound different.”

Farkis considered that.

“Better make up your mind boss. It’s either that or we can go back. I sure don’t want to be out here when that storm hits.”

Barrent pointed at the sky. Distant thunders could be heard already.

“Oars ready!”

The knight pulled his sword away from my neck.

“Row! Row you bastards!”

“Son of a bitch… he went for it!”

Awakened from slumber, our ship swayed and cut forward through the water. At the same time a chilly breeze smacked our faces. Droplets raised by oars, froze midair and peppered us with hail.

“Row you bastards!”

The knight screamed, beating a breakneck pace on the drum. We slid through the last few hundred feet of calm waters, crushing head on into a bustling wave. The ships’s bow jumped up and out of water hanged there for a heart-breaking moment then fell. People screamed while ice cold sea splashed over the sides. In the corner of my eyes, I saw a spirit dancing among the waves. Closely behind her, four more followed. In a heartbeat they overtook our ship and forming wedge before us, they spread their wings and the sea calmed.

“Row! Bastards! Row!”

“I’ll be damn! The sea! Look at the sea! The winds have changed! “

“Son of a bitch! It may work! “

Then I guess they couldn’t see those five sweeping ahead of us. I closed my eyes and tossed a tip for the one I wished to never see again but her name refused to take my mana. Was this her idea of repenting? Eh.

“Steady now! Bring us on the right side!”

With one more glance at us, the spirits vanished, leaving us at the mercy of the open sea. Though, the worst we had behind us. Ahead, lights from another ship, steered us towards its right side. Enormous, roughly the size of a cargo ship, Empress awaited as if the raging waves did not bother her at all. Her name inlaid with golden runes along her side. Her figurehead welcomed us with arms opened wide. A mermaid jumping out of the waves. How fitting.

“Ain’t no time for sightseeing lassie! We need to get up there!”

Barrent pointed up, above our heads when the other ship dropped a net for us to climb.

“Ladies first!”

He offered but Farkis and his men jumped first and started climbing.

“Ladies or gutless cowards. Whatever. The longer we stay here the less chance of a return these shmucks have. Move!”

I looked at our chest.

“You can handle it?”

“Yes.”

The dryad grabbed it like its weight meant nothing and in one elegant jump landed on the deck of Empress, causing some screams. I followed her example and bounced away, over the ship’s side and arrived next to her, among troubled crew. Sailors did not bother us though as if they were prepared for such company. They stood a safe distance away and stared making comments. Several officers came and dispersed the crowd. I saw documents change hands between Farkis and the ship's captain.

At the same time, the rest of the company made it aboard with their bags and the longboat turned around towards the shore. I saw anger mixed with exhaustion on the faces of prisoners we left behind. Were they not chained to the deck, they would try for the Empress themselves.

That tiller, was he a good man?

Why do you ask my love?

Water leaned against me yet I could not see her.

I am wondering. He sold his life for a hundred coins. A wife he supposed to have. Is he a fool or just that desperate?

That man has no wife. He stayed because he chose to. He does not seek death but will not despair when it finds him.

I see. A useless hero then.

The boat vanished in the distance. Why would I care of them? They were criminals, judged and sentenced. They exchanged their sentence for this chance. Why would it bother me? Guilt sobbed somewhere deep inside me. Why?

Pellicora sneezed pulling me back to reality. Her body shivering. She had a light coat on that couldn’t possibly be worth anything in this weather.

“It is cold. You should dress appropriately.”

I unbuckled my coat and made her wear it. Her body lacked the enchants the witch gave me. Perhaps Fire could do something about that.

For some reason Barrent decided to join us and all the others went after him.

“That’s a neat little trick you got there lassie. Makes it convenient moving around but weren’t you supposed not to use magic?”

Sailors passed us by, hurrying to set sails. I had the dryad wrapped in my arms, my body steaming. They stared.

“I didn’t.”

He sure wanted to accuse me of lying but my deadpan stare disarmed that. I think. Perhaps he just left that for later.

“Right… No magic.”

I think he wished to add something to it but about then, an officer came and offered to show us to our quarters. An offer I gladly accepted.

Following the boy, his face looked no more than sixteen years, we descended into the bowels of the ship. I did not expect more than a brig with iron bars and a straw mat and even Logic concurred with my guess, but this time fate decided to up the stake. We were led to large private room with double bed and several other amenities, such as a vanity dresser and a bronze bath bolted to the floor, that pointed at this place being meant to house women. It even had a lock on the inside.

*Consider me impressed and troubled. *

I just had to check under the bed to see if the odd one wasn’t hiding there. Nope. Should I worry?

The underage officer tried to mumble something but went silent when I looked at him. Barrent pushed the kid out and whistled with approval.

“I’ll be damn lassie. They even got you four crystals. The warm ones.”

Indeed, dim gray shards lightened the hall with pale, cold light that made things look dead. Not exactly aesthetically pleasing but they did its job and were safer than candles. My room on the other hand had an array of four, cut and polished crystals. Much brighter and warmer. Also, if I read correctly the carvings running over their surface, I could dim them like some fancy led lights.

“You’re, some kind of princess lassie?”

He asked after checking if none of the crew was within earshot.

“And you’re quite eager to lose your tongue.”

Cora still shivered but her words carried weight he understood.

“What’s going on in here?”

Farkis appeared in the doorway.

“Nothing. Boss. Making sure the cabin’s secured…”

“Then go make sure you’re somewhere else. Sari, Nari. First watch. We’ve got this deck to ourselves but still, No one goes in. You check meals and pass them along. I don’t want any sailors strolling about. You,”

He looked at me, his jaw tightened.

“You stay here. You want something, tell your guards.”

“Am I a prisoner?”

Such power of will. It took him a moment to compose an answer.

“No. You can take walks on the main deck. But don’t think of going anywhere unattended and without prior notice. I don’t want any incidents. The Empress is a fast ship, but we still have at least two moons before we make a rendezvous with Leferria.”

“Over two moons and another transfer!? Where in the rotting ass of a whore they are sending us?”

Again, Farkis’s eyes fell on me.

“Don’t know. We’ll get orders on Leferria.”

“What?!”

Their surprise seemed unanimous. Even the haggu pooped up, scratching his backside.

“Why do you even care? Given your last `performance` we might as well get one-way ticket to hell.”

He pushed through the crowd and slammed some door, down along the corridor.

“Lovely. Well, you heard the man. Girls do the honors. And the rest, we might as well make sure it’s just us on this deck. Lassie.”

Barrent made one of his theatrical bows and kicked the others out, closing the doors behind him. I used the lock and it made a pleasing click.

Corra’s teeth clattered in silence.

“You’ll alright?”

“No. How can you meat bags even live in such weather? Do not answer. I wish to unsummon this body.”

Unsummon?

“If that helps?”

Her body vanished in cloud of dust and her clothes fell to the floor. Almost at the same time Erta groaned welcoming her company.

Nothing I could do about those two. Anyway, I had a lot of reading to do.

*You intend to sit and read. Now of all times? *

You have a better idea?

*No. *

I picked up the items Cora discarded in such fancy manner and stuffed them under the blankets on the bed. We were seen entering together and I have no desire to answer how she vanished from a locked and guarded room. The chance that this little charade would trick anyone seemed slim but any chance at all still presented a better choice.

*I wish I could share your carefree attitude. *

Well, I don’t. I often neglect important issues. Like, I think my pants have frozen to my butt. Something I thought impossible just a while ago. Also, look at my hands does this look like a frost bite to you?

*I... I cannot feel that. *

Fear flooded my mind. For a dragon, what a scaredy-cat that lizard is.

Look, it could’ve been worse. Imagine we went swimming and that air charm run out. That would be no fun at all.

For some reason moving got difficult. Then staying upright got difficult. Erta called something but at that point even thinking got difficult. Very difficult.

I did not dream that night. I don’t think I did anything at all aside from drooling on the floor but that too seemed questionable since I found myself sandwiched between two voluptuous spirits. Free of any garments. Because why not. It’s a tradition...

And I really liked that white set. Hardly any jiggle. A perfect fit.

I took a deep breath. One. Two. Three.

Sigh.

Bravo. Done like you really cared.

Water had her arms around me, her magic doing something to me. At the same time Fire snored behind me, pressing her pillows against my back. Making sure I won’t freeze I suppose? I don’t mind except...

Remove your fingers or you can join Wind wherever the hell she is. Preferably nowhere near me.

She did listen and withdrew her hand, but not before it made this body remember. Shivers I could not control shook me.

Forgive me.

Well, that did sound awkward coming from her so perhaps it was genuine? Who knows? Their thought process still baffled me.

Although, I must admit I enjoyed her warmth. Like in a long hot bath, her heat seeped deep into my bones, relaxing muscles I did not knew were tensed. Eh, I might as well get the best out of it. Since Erta seemed to be beyond my reach I had nothing better to do. Well, I could read but without her taking notes it had little sense.

This might feel a bit uncomfortable.

Water did something. It felt a whole lot uncomfortable.

I think I'm going to throw up.

Your insides were bleeding. I’m almost done fixing that. See? As good as new.

Well, I don’t want to question your work, but I still am queasy. What’s going on?

Your body no longer fights to keep your shattered core whole.

Jolly. Anything else I should know? Where is that lizard when she's needed?

You are being watched. Be careful of what you do my love. As for your companions, they choose to avoid needless contact. Such bond between minds puts enormous strain on your body. Limit that to only when such help is needed.

Her face rested next to mine. I knew their emotions were just for show. A way to bend people to their ways but... Sadness. Her eyes were full of it. Her hand brushed my check.

We must go. Our presence here drains your strength. Do not call us unless your life would depend on it.

She kissed me and put something in my palm.

A promised gift. Earth asked me to give it to you. Also, a little something from me.

On my chest, just above my pillows, a crystal formed.

It will give you a bit of time if worst should come to happen. The most I can do.

She stole one more kiss.

Do not give up.

And that was that. I found myself alone in bed with a blanket that couldn’t hold warmth no matter how much it tried.

Alone.

My head seemed awfully quiet. If I tried, I could sense them in there but even the most audacious ones went silent. Eh. The word must be ending.

My gift from Earth turned out to be a ring. Another one of those of irremovable variety. I’m going to run out of fingers if this continues. It locked itself around my left pinky and refused to go anywhere else. At least I won’t loose it. That being said, I’ll freeze if I won’t put on something. Figuring the ring out shall wait.

Thankfully, my undies did not run far. Someone took the time to neatly fold my clothes and stacked them on top of my chest. I got up and smashed my face against the floor. Toes, dolt. Remember to walk on toes. I imagined Erta’s voice nagging me.

Second attempt. Almost made it. Seems like I have to find a middle ground now. Heels off the floor but not all the way. You know what? Screw it. I made it to the chest on all fours and grabbed my stuff. Rolling on the floor I got dressed and with my teeth clattering from the cold, I scoured my chest for something warm. I ended up with two layers of pants. Three socks. Four sweaters. Boots, gloves and my trusty fur coat. Hiding my face in the muffler Li gave me, and drawing my hood as tightly as I could, I slumped into the chair and started reading. Or tried to. Would be easier if they had any heating on this ship and if I had any idea what I just read. Focusing matrix? Mana polarity? Fracture abating? Laws of reverse attraction? Breathing exercises… wait, that I know. What else? Refocusing the inner flow over the crystalized conduits? What conduits? Lavarel's organ? I might as well be reading quantum mechanics. The result is the same. Not a clue what am I supposed to do.

Lizard get your ass in here or were going to pop for sure. Your dolt needs you.

I reached within me and tugged at her imaginary tail.

*Galen, did something happen? We should not…*

Can it. I need your help or this won’t work. Go through my memory and see if I got everything. I went through half the books Hertia gave me. The other half we’ll do together.

Her mind touched mine in a way that for a single heartbeat we were one and the same. Odd it never felt like this before.

*The boundary is failing. Without it our minds shall become one. Each such contact brings us closer to that eventuality. *

With effort, she extracted herself from my mind.

*Yes, I believe I got all that you saw... This might work. Quick, browse through all the books you have left. Make sure to watch each page. *

I skimmed through all the remaining books and notes.

*I have all I need. I will call you when I am done. Try to rest in the meantime. Do some of those exercises she described. *

Erta cut off our link and it seemed like I lost a limb. A part of me that no longer sat there.

What a nauseating experience.

I think I may need a bucket.

Correction, I need a bucket.

Couldn’t find one but I made do with a pot. I need to get a bigger bucket.

“What you need is a push in a proper direction.”

That voice. Oy, that’s not how it should sound.

I turned too fast for my body to handle and everything around me swam and wavered. My eyes did not wish to focus.

“Make sure to return the favor.”

The intruder hidden by a haze, crouched ready beside me. Her arm raised. Something glowed on her wrist. Where have I seen that hand? I tried to open my mouth but she flicked me right between my eyes.

And I fell.

I fell right out of my body. Or at least that’s what it felt like. Right after that came the mushy sensation of passing through the fabric of time. The noodle wiggling underneath me as I sailed through the eons. Familiar yet new at the same time. A movement without moving. Worlds, lives and places flashed around me. Like branches of the tree of life every choice ever made sprouted out of infinity and grew its branches out, climbing towards eternity while I fell backwards towards the source of it.

And I stopped.

Or, something or someone stopped me. Frozen in place, my body spun around while a force from beyond ripped me apart and put me back together at the same time. And the cycle repeated endlessly. Will I suffer this fate till the end of times? Will it ever end?

I wished to faint yet I was not allowed. all I could do was to last in this torment without a purpose until my mind or soul would give in to madness. Yet even that grace was thorn out of me. Fractured, my mind could only last in waiting, impervious to the force tearing at me. One cannot shatter what is already broken.

Truth.

Something agreed with my assessment and once more invisible force ejected me among the ever-growing branches of the tree. This time upward and at a speed light could not match. I blasted through the darkness and back into flesh and blood.

Crimson sky spit me out in a thunderclap and like a falling star I crushed, splattering against the ground, splashing blood everywhere.

Then again, why am I still alive?

Am I alive?

Is this some sort of new hallucination?

No. I can sense my undies being drenched in whatever foul liquid arrested my fall. It tastes of iron. Like that time when I cut my lip. Blood?

I rolled to my stomach then forced my puny arms to pluck me out of the sticky goo the place seemed to be filled with. I had it everywhere. In my hair, in my mouth, in my eyes. Everywhere. I barfed out some if it too.

Blood?

It’s kind of difficult to tell when all you see is red. Red sky. Red goop. Red tower. My body red too.

Tower?

No matter where I looked, only this tower stood above the horizon. Blood covered everything else.

Erta?

Nothing. Not even the mist. No voice that would keep me company. Empty.

How unnatural.

So, to the tower it is. That or, nothing else. As far as I could see, there was nothing.

I got up and waded through the knee-deep slush, yet the tower did not approach me even after what seemed like whole eternity.

I fell.

Face first into the blood. I got up. I fell again. I walked. I walked some more. I tripped some more. I barfed a whole lot more. Yet the tower remained where it was. Perhaps if this slush wasn’t knee deep to begin with… dumb. Dolt is dumb.

Raising my foot over the slush as if I were climbing stairs, I brought my leg down with confidence. It didn’t sink like before but hit a hard surface sending circular ripples around my foot. I still had the wind's blessings on me.

Pulling my other leg out, I shook off as much of this gunk as I could and started running. Whatever the hell is in that tower, now I will at least reach it within my lifetime. Or so I hoped. Carried by the wind, I skipped over the surface like a stone thrown at the water.

And I run. And Run. And run. And I had to stop since the tower now stood before me.

No guards. No people. No monster. Not even animals. Only the red stones greeted me. Not a way in too. Eh. Nothing above me to jump on either.

I had to bend over and let my gut do its thing. Now mostly black goop and blood came out. My veins were beginning to glow as well. So, should I go left, or right? Eeny, meeny, miny, moe. I don’t give a damn so right we go.

Perhaps If I went left, I would find those stairs earlier but, what do I care? My body already looked like a glowing Christmas tree with all my veins radiating hot white mana. On the plus side, I couldn’t feel the pain anymore. Well, that aside, the stairs won’t climb themselves. These too were covered in blood. Or red slippery goop. Ok, if that is not blood then I have no clue what it could be. So, do I want to know where these stairs will take me? On a side note, if I survive this, make sure to come up with some countermeasures against random people sending me to gods know where. Or when. Eh. Come on puny legs, up we go before I lose any more marbles.

One, two, three…

This may take a while.

Nine hundred seventy two. Nine hundred seventy three. Nine hundred…

Okay, that’s fifty steps less since last barf. Now it’s just blood. I think I’m gonna sit here for a moment. Let the world stop spinning. Why can’t I see the sun? It’s kind of bright so the sun should be somewhere out there. But isn’t. Wherever I look, I can see only crimson sky and bloody land.

Six hundred thousand and one. Probably. Might have missed one or two.

Who the heck built this thing? I need a break, I think. Now even my skin glows underneath all this goop. Let me see, those steps are about as high as my heels so that should be something around nine inches. That would give me a total of… something around five million and a half inches which is half way to the orbit. Or should be. Just why can’t I see the curvature of this planet? Am I on some flying pancake or a cosmic pizza? Let’s say I do a step every two or three seconds so that would give me… about two weeks’ worth of this hallucination. If this is all in my head. I wonder if those blessings would be enough to save me if I jump from here. Hmm, best not test that.

One million.

Nope. Can’t be. If it was, blood in my veins would be boiling off right now. Or something. And I can breathe just fine. Either I can’t count, or this is not a normal place. I wonder, how much longer will it take?

It took eight million more steps before I saw the top.

Not that I complain but after all that climbing I expected something but… my stomach could not choose a better moment for another spasm. A fitting reaction to what I saw.

In the center of the platform, nailed to a black monolith were, parts. Parts of a woman. Woven into quisling constellation and nailed in place. Her head, pierced right through her left eye socket, hanged in the center right next to… her beating heart. Pierced with seven nails and a wooden spike, it still moved to its beat.

Drip. Drip. drip. Her limbs were dripping blood. Fresh blood. Was it her blood that drowned the world beneath us? Those lips. Where have I seen her before?

Traveler,

Her remaining eye opened and moved, staring at me.

You should not be here.

The undying closed her eye. Her lips moved but no sound came from there. Rather, her mind touched mine.

You should not be here.

Unimaginable pain seeped in from her mind. It felt as if I were flayed and chopped into tiny pieces. I fell where I stood, reliving her horror over and over again.

You should not be here.

I experienced her heart being torn out of her limbless torso. The feeling of restless hands ripping out her insides.

You should not be here.

I could feel the nails entering my heart. Over and over again until they hammered that spike in.

You should not be here. Not yet.

Darkness engulfed me and yet again I was torn out of time and tossed into nothingness where I fell until a stone slab stopped me.

“Why have you done that! That was my friend!”

“Keeper, a wandering soul is a friend to no one.”

I saw them arguing in the corner of my eye. Surrounded by the eerie glow of the tomb. A scenery I hoped to never see again. This place and time, I’ve been here before. I still remember the taste of her kiss and the inhuman texture of her skin.

“Oh, did not expect to see you so soon. How’s your voice? Been singing a lot?”

Familiar face appeared next to me. I could not recall her name but the attire we shared I knew from somewhere. We both had the same armor and each of us held our lantern in right hand. Oh. We were dressed exactly the way I saw them when we sang the gate closed that time. But how…

“Master… “

Al's voice broke, stuck in her throat alongside her breath. Tears the size of green peas trickled down her trembling chin.

“Oh dear. I see you have not changed one bit little kitten.”

The redhead did her best to dry her tears and clean her nose but they just kept on coming. She rubbed her eyes but the more she did, the more tears came.

The woman went forward and put her arms around Rose then calmly waited as the girl cried her lungs out, holding her in an iron grip.

“Now, now. It is unbefitting a keeper to act in such way. Death is but a part of life. My watch has to end so yours can begin, just like I took the mantle from my master. Just like you will teach your apprentice. Do not cry over us but rejoice for we can now rest among others…”

That did not sound all that convincing. Not that it mattered. No words would reach the girl at this point. I’ve seen this type of a dead grip countless times while in ER. People getting a hold of what they thought was long lost. Even if only for a moment, nothing else mattered.

“You are late.”

The undying stopped beside me, her scaly skin glistening with sweat and reflected light. The runes, freshly cut in her skin.

“And you are in one piece.”

I blasted, not sure what else to say. She looked at me as if recalling the pain that always been there and shivered.

“Yes…”

It sounded more like 'for now'.

“Come, we must reach the sacred grounds before the sun comes up.”

She walked without waiting for us and we did our best to follow.

What an odd experience. Traveling once more through the same passages we fought through back then. Wait. That did not happen yet. There were no undead here and the corridors we passed seemed less ancient than I remember. Brighter too. Almost inviting. The air here had the feeling of rest, the ambient mana so soothing.

Was this the tomb where I brushed against my death? And why do they stare so much?

“Ah, forgive me. I had never seen an elf before. World must have gone insane if a pointy ears got the stick. Your empress is probably responsible for half the occupants of this place... I know how it sounds, no need for that blank stare. It’s nothing personal. I'm sure there are decent people among tree folk. Like you. I saw you risking your life for what none of us could do and I respect that but I will not forget about the spilt blood just because you seem nice.”

“I am not an elf.”

My pillows should gave her a hint.

“Well, you do feel more like a spirit than anything else so please forgive my ignorance. Anyway, I stand by what I said until someone can prove me wrong. There is a lot for them to repent…”

Moans came from ahead of us. That dry, hoarse voice. There is no way someone can forget that shuffling sound once you hear it. Nothing else comes even close to the dread of it.

“Here? We’re not even down to the inner layer. Were you doing your job sprout?”

“I’m sorry… I… There is too many of them down there…”

“Did I raise a coward? No kitten. I did not. There is no such thing as too many. Whatever is there that scares you, you need to deal with it. Do your job. That’s what we are here for. Come. Let us clear that up before it becomes an issue. You come too, fancy ears. You’ll need as much practice as you can get. I don’t think your master had taught you properly. “

She tightened her grip on her lantern and closed her eyes. Her body swaying slightly. I could see her lips moving along to the song that echoed in my mind. A song that wished to be sang. And the song she sang. Clear, magnificent voice came from the woman’s lips along the warm light emanating from her lantern. Her staff burning bright as if made of ivory. Surrounded by the swaying melody, she marched to meet them. Caught by the song, our voices joined in and light spread throughout the entire floor. Walking ahead with the song on our lips, I shivered. I could feel each and every one of them. I could feel the madness and hate whenever light touched one and I shared in their enormous ecstasy whenever they were freed from the bonds of rooting flesh.

Some cried. Some prayed. Some even thanked us. Time and time again until they were swept away by the strange warmth awaiting just beyond the reach of my mind. But not all were taken. Some shattered and turned to dust to vanish within the radiance that came through us.

“Good lords, that was horrible. Such big ears and I can swear you are tone deaf. Let us hope it is only practice you lack.”

We stopped by a staircase spiraling down into the bowels of earth. More cries came from the darkness of that shaft.

“Tell me oh timeless one, are we going 'there'?”

The undying gave us a silent nod.

“Then we might as well clean up all as we go. Will save us a lot of trouble on the way back.”

Such optimism. To expect we will come back up. I think, given enough time, I could like her.

“What’s your name?”

“Ho hum. You're asking something difficult out of the blue, pointy ears. Hmm, can’t say I remember. It’s been such a long time. People around here used to call me a lot of names. That crazy bitch. Weirdo. Corpse lover…”

She uttered some names even Erta would not use in anger.

“Let me see, my master is about here so I think my name should be right under your thumb.”

She pointed at my lantern. There were hundreds of names engraved on its shaft. The last one belonged to Alirea, the one before her was, huh? What were those symbols? Did I read that right? It didn’t make any sense. Scared stone? Like, why?

“Faina.”

“Ah. Been a while. Bastards, they couldn’t think of something more elegant for their daughter. Never liked it. They probably didn’t like me as well. I got thrown away around this tomb as an infant. Not much of a happy story but it made me remember. You can call me Nea.”

The runes flashed through my mind. Blue flower? I think I saw some of those on the moors around the city. Indeed, they looked and smelled nice.

“Now, before we go deeper, when you sing, breath with your stomach. You have a good posture but you jiggle too much with those melons of yours. When you sing, your chest should hardly move, work with your abdomen.”

“Kitten, come here. Sing”

She made Al sing while at the same time, she pulled up her robe, exposing bare flesh.

“See? Look how she breathes. Look how her belly is working. Understood? Good. Now sing and stick to the tune or I’m going to whack you every time you go off key! You’re just wasting our efforts if you can’t keep up with us. Off you go.”

She didn’t joke about the whacking. We walked down the spiraling stairs, singing and I got a solid thwack over my shoulder every few steps. About six floors down, we had to make a longer stop. That level seemed entirely overrun with shades or whatever the hell they were. These made the awful screeching noises as the light banished them.

Also, Al stood frozen. Unable to move or sing. Her eyes were glued to something lying on a floor below us.

“I’m sorry… I’m so sorry… “

She collapsed on her knees.

“So that’s what you were afraid of… poor little kitten. Is this how I taught you? No. I know the brave tiger hiding behind those wet eyes. Come let us do what must be done.”

“You pointy ears, stay out of this. This is her job.”

We descended to where a body lied. Half of a corpse, its lower part torn away and missing. The bones that did remain, were pockmarked with bites and scratches. A little bit of shriveled and dried skin still hanged from the skull alongside some mangled hair. Dull blue lights shone where once her eyes were. All unrecognizable aside from the armor remains she wore. It creaked its head over and welcomed us with its jaw hanging out to the side.

Alirea fell on her knees and gathered the Bones into her lap.

“I’m sorry... I…I am so sorry… they were so many… you told me to run… I should have stayed… I still had strength… if only…”

She held the cadaver in her arms, her tears dripping straight on its scull. And she started to sing. Her voice wavered and broke yet she sang. Sang from the bottom of her heart.

“Master I abandoned you. I… I confess my sin. I am not worthy of your forgiveness.”

I saw the bones move and the skeletal hand came to rest on the girl's check. She cupped it with her own palm.

That day, I knew you'll come. I waited.

As the voice sounded, light filled Al's arms. No longer she held the rotting flesh but a translucent body made of warm light.

See?

The soul pointed at her younger self standing next to me.

I knew. I knew you will return. And you came. There is nothing to forgive my kitten.

She dried the girl's tears.

I am free…

Myriads of tiny little lights erupted out of her frame and floated away.

***

“We are here. “

The undying put her palm on the stone wall, not unlike the other walls around us. Nothing distinguished this one from others we passed along the way. A ripple went over the wall's surface. Nothing aside that.

“Do not waver.”

She pressed on and her arm sunk into the wall. Then her leg. Then her body. Then she disappeared from our view. Al poked the wall with her finger. Solid, it refused to give.

“Well,”

Nea looked at me. Her eyes lost a bit of shine after we send away her future self. Back home, and here as well, people spent millions every year to get a glimpse of what future might bring. The trembling of her hand told me she would pay more to erase from her memory what fate had in stock for her. She smiled, hugged Al and encourage her while only a miracle held back her own tears.

“After you, pointy ears.”

Aha. Right. Pass through a wall. Nope. Did try that once when one of loonies swapped her meds with mine. Whatever they were giving her, made me feel like, like walking through a wall. Broke my nose in seven places that time. Good doctor patching me up just couldn’t believe the x-ray.

They still waited.

Well, this better be a hallucination. I closed my eyes and at a brisk pace went towards the wall and, did not hit anything. It tickled but nothing beyond that. I even got some dust in my eyes…

Long blue rays of light brushed my skin with oddly pleasing shine. Specks of mana floated in the air moved by some form of convection and a puffy layer of dust spread like snow all over the flooring. Hove marks leading away from where I stood, imprinted a path in this untouched surface. Tall stone steps cascaded down along the trail, into the center of this odd structure.

No, not steps. Seats.

I stood at the top of what appeared to be a theater of sorts. Like the ones they build in ancient Greece, with steps sloping down and a platform awaiting at the bottom. Although, this one had the size of a small auditorium. Abandoned auditorium.

How peculiar. Not a rune in sight. Not on the walls. Not on the floor. Neither on the crystal celling. Not even on the stone of the seats. Nothing. And yet… The air. It had an odd quality to it. It did not reek of basement rot but rather carried the pleasant aroma of warm wind after a rainfall.

“Why? Why does it always have to be an ancient altar?”

Nea arrived, pulling Al behind herself.

“I hate ancient altars. What were all those people thinking? Sending sacrifices to this or that tentacle wagging entity. Honestly, what did they expect?”

Well, I must say I share her sentiment. Last time I’ve been near an altar they tied me up to it and tried to poke a hole in my chest. With a dagger. A cursed dagger. Thanks, but no thanks. A person should have no more holes than what nature given them.

The undying run her hand along the top of the stone altar, encircled by a set of white marble columns. The reverberations of space this simple action made, send shivers down my spine. I could swear the altar bend light around its edges. Light that bounced around the entire room without a known source.

“Let us make haste. In a place such a this, time is a luxury. Even for one such as I.”

The inky black of obsidian made a striking contrast with her long, pale legs. Her hooves clicking against the floor as she walked around the altar.

“Why did you bring us here?”

“I did not. I am but a vessel that exists beside time. You were always here to retrieve what is, was and shall be hidden within time. “

“If it has tentacles, secrets slime, stinks of sulfur or can bring doom to all that exists then I shall wait outside while darkness devours you.”

Nea true to her word, turned on her heels. Her feet carried her over few stairs when the Undying stopped her with a single word.

“Songstone.”

“That is only a legend. No such thing exists.”

“For you, it is but a legend. For me, it is right within my grasp, yet I cannot touch it. Such is the curse of this place.”

Her palm closed around something right above the altar, yet to her annoyance, it remained empty when she opened it.

“And what us that?”

To say I lost track of this conversation would be, inappropriate.

“The most valued treasure of the emperor Northon von Melleroy. The songstone. Here In this room. We should not be here.”

“Valued? Perhaps. Treasure? No. He does not regard it as such. His affection lies elsewhere...”

She moaned. Her eyes vacant of presence. Her lower lip trembling. Her body responding to the most primal of pleasures. Was she reminded of a time past or had she just lived through it? How?

“We must hurry,”

Her composure returned as fast as it vanished.

“The stone cannot stay here. Hurry. They are chipping away at the gate it will not stop them for long.”

The wall we came through did not show any signs of what she described. In total silence we should at least hear the people banging at the stone. Nea went as far as touching the place from which we emerged.

“There is no one there.”

“I see them coming. If you do nothing, they will get what they desire.”

“You can see all that? “

The Undying looked through me. I know I asked dumb questions in the past, but her expression would certainly smash my self-esteem if I could care for such things.

“What will happen if we refuse?”

Again, Nea spoke for us. I don’t think I could remain so composed in her place. The fate she had witnessed… I watched her gently caress Al while the girl cried her eyes out and begged forgiveness. Not a single word of damnation came from her mouth. Not a tear escaped her.

But my beastly eyes saw. Black heavy mist oozing out of her. Regret? Fear? Hatred? I have no name for what I sensed from her, but she did not let it show.

“That I do not want to see.”

The undying, yet again, reached for something we could not see. It slipped her hand once more.

“So, by that logic, we already agreed. Can you also see that?”

“Yes. “

“Then let us be done with it. What do you need us for?”

“The stone is hidden within time itself. A place I cannot reach. A place where human future, present and past brush against each other. “

She pointed above the altar.

“A vault to which the key you hold. Open it and I shall do the rest.”

Perhaps I should pinch myself? Why does this hallucination feel like we are about to open the Pandora’s box?

“The key you say. Well ladies, get the shit stick ready.”

She raised her own lantern and went over to the altar. Now that I look closer, the air above the altar acted like a hot haze. As if there was something there.

“Do we just whack it or is there anything specific we have to do?”

“Cross your lanterns over the vault and it will open.”

We took our places around the altar as directed and held our staffs that they touched around the middle, creating a triangle in the air. At first, nothing happened. Then the air began to shiver and the space shattered and broke.

I don’t know how else to describe it. Between our lanterns, there was a hole in… space? With sharp edges like a shattered glass, it spewed out light and sucked the air and dust in. Out of it, a white cylinder covered with tiny purple script, began to slide out. The Undying stretched her arms to receive it.

And it happened.

Whatever magic held that breach together, vanished without a warning. The breach sealed itself while the stone, left at the mercy of gravity, dropped into the awaiting hands.

Then it passed right through them.

Horror appeared on the ever-calm face of the Undying. The shining stone slipped through her palms like a bar of soap thru wet hands. It danced in the air for a frightening moment and sailed towards the floor where it would shatter into hundred pieces. I did the only sensible thing that came to my dolty mind. Discarding the lantern, I tossed myself after the stone. It’s been years since I've been forced to played baseball at the orphanage, but my body still had some memory of it. I stretched out my arms as if I were trying to catch a ball.

I didn’t. The cylinder shattered into myriads of pieces and scattered among the dust.

But not before my fingerprints brushed against its surface. My veins lit up like a searchlight when power I could not comprehend forced its way into me. The purple script sliding all over my body and burning itself into my flesh.

I think I screamed.

Or rather howled like a wild beast.

Was I the beast that ran howling through the woods?

No.

Was I the hare running for life through the meadows, its heart pounding just like mine?

No.

Was I the kabu pulling a cart, foaming from my mouth, hastened by the whip smacking my back?

No.

Was I the trees swaying on the wind, creaking with my branches?

No.

Was I a bird, dancing in the sky, clouds brushing against the tips of my wings?

No.

Was I among the ants toiling to build a castle for our queen?

No.

And yet I was. I was all and among all. My melody reverberated within all creatures. My words were sang by all. Every day, every night, every hour every minute every heartbeat.

Alive I am!

Called each of them for life is my song.

Then two things happened.

I bend over and barfed out a rainbow and my mind switched off.

Not necessarily in this precise order.

Not really a rainbow.

***

Sound.

I know that.

What do they call it? Noise? No. A voice? Yes.

“What in the name of light was that!”

It boomed in my… on the sides of my head… I have… ears?

“Ears.”

I lolled my tongue around the word to make sure.

“Cross your lanterns over the vault and it will open.”

Have we not done that?

Ta-thump, ta-thump went around in my head.

Seeing hurt. Why is it so bright in here?

“They’re coming. The cavalry is coming.”

I shielded my face from a hit that already came. The grass tickled my face. Red rimmed glasses fell near my nose. They made her scream so loud. I could hear the fabric being thorn.

Not yet and not this way.

A head without a torso spoke inside my mind. Her blood reached over my ankles.

“All along I thought I've been lacking what others like me had. I Did not. I am not I will not. What I shared, what I will share, what I am sharing with you is complete again.”

Lips hot and sweet.

Dust raising from the floor, stirred by powerful magic.

Wind howling as I fall.

Axe, knife and claws ripping me apart.

A stake being driven through my heart.

Tasting lips of a young man that looked lost and out of place in a tomb.

The softness of the silk bed of the emperor.

His hands gliding over my body.

Pain and pleasure mixing into one.

All of that I saw and felt at the same time. As if there is no time.

Only now.

Only here.

Only everywhere.

Only every when.

Then two things happened.

I bend over and barfed out a rainbow and my mind switched off.

Not necessarily in this precise order.

Not really a rainbow.

“What have you done to me?”

I spoke but these were not my lips that moved. I held her hand while her beastly eyes gazed into me. Indeed, she looked more like a spirit than an elf. Black shadows of exhaustion hung under her eyes. Smoke sizzled from between the cracks in her marble skin.

Presence so soft like a flower petal pushed me out, back to what was mine.

Forgive my selfishness. I cannot allow you to die here.

Not here.

Not now.

Not yet.

Leave, this is not your place.

Like a jealous lover, time grabbed me again and pulled away before anything made sense. I fell through darkness bouncing off the branches of an endless tree until I was caught by mine.

And it hurt.

“If you try to move it will hurt even more.”

I turned my head to the voice and howled in pain.

“I did warn you. Be a good dolt and don’t move or you’ll make this worse than it already is.”

Long black boots entered my view. It seems the boots were connected to a body that could rival mine, well, that is until I got a lot of steaming, black streaks running over my body. And the black, leather body suit she wore glimmered seductively enough even for me to take a second look. Had someone pulled that off right from a monster and made it into a cloth? It even had gloves attached that made her hands look like they were ending in claws.

“Who…”

She hid her face behind one of those fancy festival masks. This one painted like a muzzle of a cat twisted into a grin. The hood she had pulled over her head hid the rest of her features.

“And what good would that knowledge bring you? It is enough for them to think I am your dryad. Let us stay true to that story.”

Her muffled and strange sounding voice irked me at some deep level I could not put a name on.

“Here,”

Her arms propped me up and brought a steaming cup to my lips. Whatever it held made my mouth water.

“Drink. I watered down some stew and mixed in few herbs. It will help you sleep. No dreams. No horrors. Just sleep. We can talk later if you still want to but in the interest of us all, it is best if you rest as much as you can.”

I put my lips to the mug. It hardly had any taste to it, yet I dried it with pleasure. My stomach growled for more, but I didn’t feel that adventurous.

The promised drowsiness came quick and sleep closed my eyes.

I did not dream for the first time in a long while. The calm swaying of the ship confirmed I had not been spirited away this morning. A pleasant surprise if any. Although, my memory of this room seemed a bit fuzzy. I don’t remember a window being in my cabin and that masked stranger just… bothered me. Why?

“We are onboard the Leferria. I carried you over and took the liberty to bandage the cracks. I used an ointment that should limit the itching. We are nearing the equator so it will get warmer as we go.”

The masked stranger in question, brought herself a chair and sat beside me.

“Well? Questions? I promised did I not?”

She sat with her legs wide apart and her chin supported by the backrest. Her pillows were pressing against it too and spilling sideways. Tempting.

Who are you?”

“Your best chance to survive this trip.”

Not a name I can recall…

“Why are you helping me?”

“It’s beneficial to me and a whole lot of other living beings in the vicinity of this universe.”

Fascinating. Another one of those. I wonder what kind of herbs she put in that mug.

At least now I know what’s been bothering me.

“How do you know English?”

“How do you know it is English I am using?”

Good point. Ever since I came to this world, everything sounds the same to me.

“Then...”

“It’s a dead language no one else knows. Very convenient if you want to have some privacy when people are eavesdropping. Those sisters behind the door are quite bothersome in that regard. Big ears and all.”

Made sense. Probably. So little made sense in my life.

“How did you get here?”

“I clicked my boots three times and they brought me here.”

Then perhaps I should call her Dorothy. What did I expect from my life…?

“How long was I, away?”

“About seven months and two weeks. We will arrive at the island within the next two weeks. Give or take.”

Over half a year. I spent over half a year in the past, future or some very realistic hallucination. No. That cannot be true. Also, just how on earth their seasons work in here? Seven months of winter? I think I’m missing some very basic education here.

“Island?”

“Yes. The place you are going to is located on an island. Not so far away from the daemon continent.”

Another shoddy fact.

“How do you know all this?”

“I have seen it. In a crystal ball.”

“You’re not telling me the whole truth.”

“That’s not a question is it?”

Was there even a point to this conversation?

“I’m going to die. Am I?”

“Not today. Nor tomorrow. Not in the next few hundred years I hope. It would be quite bothersome if you did. Do your best not to. I’m rooting for you. Our future depends on it.”

“Our?”

“Mine. Yours. Your dragon friend. Her daughter. Your wolf. Your spirits. You hold enough energy to turn this cosmic ball into a flying pancake. “

“I think I understand the consequences. If it is as you say, why help me? Why bother? Wouldn’t it be faster for me to just… disappear? “

“No.”

Lightning fast answer she accented with a head shake.

“It doesn’t work that way. When a healthy person dies, their remaining mana dissipates to their surroundings over a period of days. About seven to nine days for an average person. Sometimes this reaction is potent enough to vaporize the corpse. Killing a fractured person on the other hand, will only trigger the shattering. Since there is no barrier to restrain the outflow, all the energy is released at once. “

So, a show of fireworks is in store for me.

“There is no easy way out of this. You must patch yourself up at some point or, well, there is no or.”

I thought about calling my roomies. Not sure what it would cost me. Better leave that option for an emergency. Maybe I nap some more?

I’m not very sleepy at this point.

“Come, I will help you get dressed. Some fresh air on the deck will make you feel better. I think you entered the latent stage yesterday. Your wounds are healing quite nice and your skin got back some of its color.”

And my stomach is no longer acting like I just rode a vomit express.

“How long? You know, don’t you?”

“Long enough for you to not think about it. Come. Fresh air is waiting.”

I submitted myself to her care and got dressed in a weird mix of bandages, a gown and a blanket. I looked as good as a car crash victim can look and I kind of felt the part. It’s been years since I felt my joints ache and I can’t say I missed the feeling. Regardless, I got a ride to the top deck in a princess carry while the Ri sister followed suit. Moments later Farkis came running with a bucket of damaged pride and curses. He yelled, spraying spit everywhere. Something about overstepping our bounds or not getting his permission first. I had little interest in the noise he made. My incoming migraine did not help either. The sisters also discreetly ignored his tirade. Only Dorothy, I think I’m going to call her Dorothy, turned to him after she sat me on a coil of unused rope and made sure I won’t fall.

“Leave.”

Her voice flattened the sisters’ ears. And that would be the end of it if the man had listened and left. He did not. He kept on screaming. Long enough to summon his shadows. Both armed and angry for no reason. Several sailors stopped their work and came to stare as well. Dorothy ignored all this commotion and focused on fixing my blanket. Not sure if I needed it, the sun high over our head felt warm enough but I did not protest either.

Then he grabbed her arm and I can swear sparks went through the air. Her eyes burned bright red even through the mask she wore. Slowly, fighting with herself, the woman turned and faced him.

“Human excrement. Son of a whore,”

She used her free hand to grab his wrist and squeezed until both his bones and his iron armguard gave up.

“Touch me again and I will slaughter you.”

The movement she made did not appear to hold any power behind it, but the knight flew back and crashed into several sailors. His companions already had swords in their hands when Barrent materialized on deck.

“You too wanna die? Get that idiot below deck and find someone to look at his hand.”

“I’m not taking orders from you, step aside or…”

I’m not sure what happened. One moment Barrent stood to my left, I blinked, and he somehow held the knight by his neck, the man’s legs dangling in air.

“I am not giving you orders. I am just making sure you will not commit a suicide by annoying an assassin.”

He seethed into the man’s face and tossed him next to his captain.

“Get the fuck off deck and take those boneheads with you.”

Barrent addressed the last standing knight. The man ran not waiting for his companions. I watched Farkis get up, a snarl on his face. I thought he would shout again but no. He kept his mouth shut. Not even the obligatory, `you’ll pay for this! ` spiel. Cradling his arm, he walked away.

“Saa, the first smart thing that prick did. Can’t believe I lost. “

A coin swapped hands between Sari and Nari. Not a sign of distress after what happened to their fellows.

“Ladies,”

Barrent made one of his overexaggerated bows.

“I sincerely apologize for this blatant lack of respect. Some people just have no idea how to treat a lady.”

Sari sniggered.

“Go charm your own hand you old pervert.”

He ignored that and continued.

“I hope we can complete this assignment without any other incidents. You seem to be a reasonable person lassie, so I’ll ask this of you. Please restrain your servant from such rash actions in the future. Our captain is and idiot and a coward but now we are one sword short. Whatever we’ll find where we’ll going, I do not want to lose any more advantage however little it might seem.”

Dorothy ignored that and said nothing. She just stood there, behind me, that I could lean my back against her. Which I did but, how much of say I had over her actions if any at all? How should I know?

My inner eyelids slid over my eyes like a pair of sunglasses. The strong midday sun bothered me a bit, but the frosty air made my headache somewhat subside.

Barrent accepted the lack of answer as an answer itself and went underdeck to deal with his companions. With the crisis averted, the sisters found themselves a spot further away from us and watched me from there.

“Charming,”

I tried to recall the sound of the language Dorothy used before.

“You were saying something about two weeks of this? Still think we’ll make it?”

She did not answer but procured my fur coat out of thin air and wrapped it around me.

“You are shivering. Perhaps it is enough air for today?”

Was I? I had to look at my had to notice the slight tremors.

“A bit more. The sky is so blue. Almost like Erta’s eyes. Tell me, why can’t I reach them? Have you done something more than putting that ointment on me? Also, these people don’t seem too surprised by my dilapidated appearance.”

“I asked the dragon not to speak to you for a while until all is ready. She is keeping her word. As for others, I have told them you are suffering a mana related, not contagious condition and we are taking part in this expedition in exchange for a cure. “

“Who are you?”

“I am Dorothy.”

I could not see her face, but I did imagine her smirking at me.