“I would rather walk with a friend in the dark, than alone in the light.”

- Helen Keller

Vanessa sighed. “You want to buy a channelers orb with a void affinity?”

“Yes?”

“Then do so. I know money is something you two have struggled with in the past. And I might not be the best person to talk to about saving money.” She coughed. “I might’ve been a bit spoiled in my long-forgotten youth. But that is an amount we could earn if necessary. I know some fine enchantments that you two…” Mireille looked interested. “That Alyssa could forge.”

“Why did you change the sentence! I would like to enchant something.”

“Why do you want that? It is boring and exhausting work.”

“I don’t know, because you don’t seem to believe I can do that?”

“Quit the childishness.”

“Technically we are, most of us, still children in the eyes of the law.” Alea seemed to smile while saying that. “And you would most probably be taken for a child too.”

“Why do I keep coming back here to argue with you all?” Vanessa held her head.

“Because we really like you?” Mireille ventured.

“Why do you ask that as a question?!” Vanessa put down her hands. “Anyway, please buy the orb. It would be possible to forge one yourself, with my help of course, but tools and the necessary trial and error leading to the loss of ingredients would probably run you a lot more than forty-something gold.”

“Ah, tomorrow is Sunday. I would so like to go and buy it right now.” Alyssa lamented.

Mireille stroked her armor and sorted her blade to the side a possessive gleam in her eyes.

“Yes, you did well choosing that. Armor is something that you should have and a weapon...goes without saying.” Vanessa nodded. “Then let us begin to teach you something you really need to know.”

They sat together around the table and Vanessa stood on her chair while weaving illusions and explaining glyphs, runes, and methods of spellcasting.

Alea was very interested in that but held her peace until Alyssa was stumped with a rune.

“That is Graz the rune of times passing, is it not?” Alea mentioned.

“Yes, you have a good eye. I just wanted to explain that.” Vanessa smiled at her, pleased.

“I heard you are an arcanist?”

“Yes, that was my primary area of schooling. I learned the rest for self-defense and because I had to.” The last was spoken a bit hesitantly.

“My primary magic is light, but because light is such a good wellspring of energy it is often used, along with fire, to power greater workings. So a minor focus on the arcane manipulation of magic would be very helpful. At least I think so!”

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

“I will see what I can do. We only have the evening and on weekends that is. But I will do my best and I would be lying if I said it did not interest me to see what humanity came up with in the years since our fall.” Vanessa seemed pensive. “Curiosity was what kept me going after my transformation. I would hope for knowledge for something grand or beautiful to validate my clinging to what life I have left.” Internally she added. ‘That and vengeance. Charys drinker of tears, when I stand before you and you taste of mine I hope you find them to be very sweet indeed.’

The teaching continued.

“Sing the spellsong once again.” Vanessa looked critical.

Alyssa focused, inhaled, and began to sing, gesturing with her left hand she smoothly drew an oval. And it was like seeing something coming up to the surface of still and deep waters, wavering slightly at the edges reality seemed to bow, space to distort and bitter cold flooded the room. Rime spread over the table and each breath misted before their faces. A black oval hung in the air nearly two meters from top to bottom and up to one meter in breadth.

“Breaking the second seal. Stop!” Vanessa said wonderingly. “How did Asandria manage to teach it to you in so short a time. The first seal is Sight, by breaking it you can see into the dimension of the void in a location closest to you. It can be adapted for all the planes aligned to the negative axis."

She scribbled some illusionary notations to an already convoluted diagram. "The second seal is Touch and by breaking it you bring the planes closer together. The third seal is Being you can bring something out of the plane of void, a summoning, or simply some substance to use as you see fit. The fourth seal is Motion and you can align the two planes even closer often it is sufficient to bridge the gap fully, the last seal that I know of is Time. With it, you can align the planes that they become one for as long as you can keep the spell going.”

The oval slowly, oh so slowly drifted back wherever it had come from.

“A potent spell but it needs direction and is not as quick as one would want in a defensive measure. I will try and find the time to teach you shadestep which I think would be more general purpose.” Vanessa sighed again. “In the copious amount of time, we get to spend together.”

‘I will keep teaching her. If you have something you want me to prioritize tell me.’ Asandria hovered nearby and interjected.

“I will keep that in mind. Thank you.”

“It is bad manners to talk to invisible and inaudible ghosts!” Mireille complained.

The evening concluded in this manner and Vanessa renewed her spells against detection and tracking and left them to go to sleep.

The door closed with a click and the dark corridor surrounded her, the night grew colder around this time of year and Mireille pulled her cloak tight around her shoulders.

She went for a walk while the two other girls were still discussing spellcraft. Wending through the deserted corridors and the silent courtyard to the marble face spitting water she thought. ‘I am lost without you, grandmother. You were the one who believed I could become something more than a nuisance.’

In the shifting waters, she seemed to glimpse an old woman, back straight and unbowed with pure white hair drifting around a face mostly unmarked by age, the blue eyes were smiling at her as they had often done in the past.

‘And now you have been dead all those years and I am in a strange land and my friends work towards their goals, driven and full of passion, and I while away the days and nights simply playing around. Learning academic magic I will never be able to use.’

She knew that this was not completely true but after her grandmother's death she had realized that no one had wanted or needed her for anything. She had stolen, she had let her spell practice slide and her family had only been too happy to ignore her. Now that she had people who depended on her who wanted her she felt as if she would let them down. What even was her goal? At the moment succeeding in the academy, but did she have the drive to learn everything she lacked?

She thought of Rhys and Challon her friends in the army, even Alan. What were they doing? Rhys always serious, Challon anything but, Alan always helpful. Even the army had been a slip, a moment of hunger and a 'what of it?' moment. Her whole life decided on the growling of an empty stomach and lack of perspective.

She folded her hands to pray. ‘Nirileth daughter of the old dark, Covetous One, you teach that what one wants one must take. And I learned that lesson well in the past, please help me find my way.’ And she threw the golden coin she got as a bonus for enlisting all those months ago and it soared into the night sky, never to fall down again.