Khuk accepted the letter from Sister Valfina. She was slightly off-guard, as she had planned to start building the nest this weekend, but the letter might change things.

It did.

"What's it say?" Valfina was unsettled by the worried look on Khuk's face.

"Talae got herself mauled by a bear, and the Druids would like a second opinion on her treatment. The two female druids present in the grove are either too inexperienced, or too disturbed by her heritage, to treat her properly."

Valfina nodded. "And the males are too uptight about naked females to treat her right. Go. I'll be waiting."

Khuk bobbed her head and started to gather her things.

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Talae Telena lay back on her new bear fur bed. Her ribs still ached something fierce, and her legs were intact enough to totter to the chamber pot and back, but the enforced inactivity chafed at her willpower. She wanted to be up and moving, but her body wouldn't heal fast enough on its own.

A winged figure descended in front of the cave mouth and stalked cautiously inside, a glowing stone held high. "Talae? Are you here?"

"Little Bird! Over here on the bed! I'd hug you if my ribs would let me."

Little Bird hurried over, glowing stone held high. "Kuko! Talae you look like you tried to stop a storm with your chest! What happened, and why aren't the druids healing you properly?"

Talae gave a lopsided grin. "Probably because I scared the furs right of their pampered asses. The wisp with the honey hair got the bones set right, but doesn't know enough healing magic to really help things along. The brown-haired cunt got her ass kicked by a Drow raiding party way back when, so she won't come in here at all. Same reason I'm not bunked down anywhere near the grove."

Little Bird bobbed her head, then looked about the cave, appraising it. "This would make a good nest to spend a few days. I've learned a few things I want to show you, and a friend I'd like to introduce you too, If she's willing to come. In the meantime, let's get your bones healing, then we can spend some time talking."

Talae lay back with a sigh of relief. "Perhaps the wisp can lend a hand...?"

Little Bird gently swated Talae upside the head. "Only if she's willing. Kuko, you really have been stuck on your own for too long, haven't you. Alright, hold still, this will tingle..."

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Aflia Cencin entered her father's study carefully. Seeing him sitting behind his desk with official-looking papers stacked all about the place she paused. "Father or Instructor?"

Yarizos shrugged. "Instructor."

Aflia Stiffened slightly. His answer meant that this was a formal meeting. She dropped into her favorite of the two chairs facing the desk and crossed her legs. "So why the summons Instructor?"

Stolen novel; please report.

"How well do you know one Aris Cretu?"

Aflia frowned in thought. "A fellow guild mate, but we met only a few days before arriving in Altheim. Human, capable fighter, no fan of slavers. Why do you ask?"

Yarizos flipped a slim book across the table to her. "Because he just co-authored a new and very definitive primer on Primordial with High Mage Ultian."

Aflia blinked. "Aris? Co-authored? You are certain of this?"

Yarizos huffed and flicked a finger at the book. "Ultian credits Aris with most of the language work, as well as with translating several runes in the old tomes we haven't been able to translate for quite some time. Ultian's called me in to assist with the next one, and I don't like walking in blind. So what do you know of Aris Cretu?"

Alfia shakes her head, clearly lost. "I didn't know he spoke Primordial. Lord Wavethunder may know more, he spent quite some time interviewing Aris when we first arrived."

Yarizos leans back and stares at the ceiling. "New set of questions. As your Father, not your Instructor.

Aflia leaned back. The formal interview was over, but the informal one could be just as piercing. "Oh?"

"Bloodlines."

That one word answer furrowed Aflia's brow. "Aris', I presume? Human through and through, commoner working the Sapphire docks as a fisherman before joining the Ironbark Mercenary Band. Orphan, never knew his parents, and he speaks Primordial."

Yarizos leans forward, resting his elbows on the desk. "One only leaves Ironbark feet-first or six foot under. But his actions in Chedal tell me he wouldn't flee from Ironbark... What's missing...?"

Aflia blinks. "You didn't hear? Ironbark is dead. Ambushed and wiped out almost to a man."

Yarizos' head tips ever so slightly. "A suspicious mind would find Aris' survival quite interesting then."

Aflia's eyebrows rise. "And Lord Wavethunder isn't a suspicious elf?"

"HA! A fair point. I guess you will be accompanying me after all."

"Eh?"

"To assist Ultian and Aris of course! We leave tomorrow morning."

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Aris Cretu checks over the runes in the circle one more time. They are all exactly as described in his little book of rituals. The candles are as yet unlit, The incantation as yet unspoken.

He takes a deep breath, and lets out his tension. His desk is already inscribed with the other spell in his ritual book, Comprehend Languages, and well tested with dozens of obscure tomes in uncommon languages. This Find Familiar ritual is no different.

Except it is. Except it's the first time the entire incantation is to be done in Primordial, at least by the kingdom of Althiem's records, and it is not the same ritual inscribed into every wizard's first spellbook. It's Aris' personal version, the one he worked with Instructor Ultian to adapt, and its successful casting will serve as his final examination before graduation.

Aris reviews his ritual book once more. He consults his notes on the incantation. He lets the runes roll and echo in his head, not daring to speak them aloud, not yet.

Everything is ready, and yet something seems not quite right. Aris looks around. It isn't with the circle, the runes, or the candles, so it must be the incantation. But the runes are all correct.

He thinks it over a bit more, letting the cadence of the incantation flow through his mind.

The discrepancy strikes him like a hammer blow, upsetting his carefully calmed mind. Elvish spells are spoken or chanted. Aflia's spells in Primordial have all been one- or two-word evocations, barked out and backed by force of will. A ritual in Primordial won't follow either of those patterns.

Aris thinks back over Lady SiDabolo's songs, letting the haunting melodies flow over him, listening to the echo of her sweet soprano over the becalmed waves.

He takes in another breath, and lets out his uncertainty. Aris reaches for the waiting taper, strikes the match, and begins to sing.