"– according to her biography!" Lori ranted. "So, it doesn't work like that!" She panted and reached for the water skin for a drink to soothe her throat.

Landoor– and his name would forever be burned into her head for his utter stupidity– said, "But in the story–" and that was as far as he got before the other two hurriedly clamped hands over his mouth and shuffled him off to the far side of the barge from Lori, hissing urgently. She made a note to try and remember their names if it came up next time. It was good to know there was some basic intelligence around.

Lori grabbed the wooden dipper, carved from a single piece of wood, next to her and skimmed it over the water rushing past the boat, splashing herself in the face. The mild, thick, unclean feeling of Iridescence growth was already making her skin feel grimy. The water brought her some relief, and she resolved to take a bath that night. Or just jump into the river too, she had to get it out of her clothes as well after all. She took off her hat, doused it in water, and put it back on her head. The water flowed down her hair and she sighed in relief from both the sense of grime and the sun's heat. Looking down at the water now sloshing beneath her, she absently willed it to go over the side, then sighed in frustration as it didn't happen and she remembered why.

She fell back on old learning, taking deep, even breaths, channeling the magic she drew in through her veins and letting it out through the pores in her hands, which she submerged into the water sloshing on the deck to bind their waterwisps. The resistance from the waterwisps was jarring after having been so attuned to the wisps of her demesne. It reminded her of when she'd first started learning, and it had been so frustratingly hard to get the wisps to do as she wanted…

Yeah, no. She was a Binder now, she wasn't taking this sort of attitude from a puddle.

She bound the wisps to her will, wrapping the water around her hand like she was picking up a towel, continuing to breathe until she'd gotten it all, then held her hand over the side. The water collapsed from around her hand, falling back into the river and leaving her hand nice and clean.

Nodding in satisfaction, Lori sat back and glanced at her lords, both of whom had been utterly unhelpful in helping her educate the ignorant. Indeed, Grem was sleeping, a wet cloth over his eyes to try and prevent Iridescence growth as other parts of him began to take on a light, dusty texture. Rian was somehow keeping the barge stable despite the fact it was continuing to move at a speed even she found worrying, his arm almost casually draped on the rudder as if it was the back of a couch he was lounging on and adjusting their course with only the most minute motions that made the barge turn smoothly to follow the contours of the river.

On either side of the river, the plants and stones glittered poisonously, and Lori was pretty sure she was missing beasts in plain sight because they were standing still. Rian kept them to the center of the river, since that let him see turns and possible obstacles well ahead of time. Occasionally, there was a bump from beneath as adult seels hit them, seemingly curious, but beyond that they were unmolested.

Lori reached over and placed her hand on the wire that stood out from the bone strut supporting the water jet, connecting through it towards the waterwisps powering the jet. They were consuming magic evenly, but still had a lot imbued, and continued to respond to her with alacrity. She sighed, once more regretting leaving her demesne.

The late-noon sun was low and more than halfway down to the horizon as they continued to speed along.

"It's getting late," she told Rian. "Maybe we should stop and find a place to anchor so we can get ready for the night?"

"It's probably safer for us to just stop in the middle of the river," he said. "No need to worry about beasts that way. But if you can make us some light, we can just keep moving all night. The barge doesn't need to stop for us to sleep." He nodded at Grem.

Lori blinked. The thought hadn't occurred to her. She thought she'd stop the jet so they could rest during the night, change the binding on the wisps to conserve magic while they slept. She eyed the sleeping– or at least resting– Grem. "Can he steer us without crashing?"

Rian shrugged. "It's not that hard. Just be relaxed and remember small adjustments are all you need. Though actually, we might not need you to make light. Between the moons and how reflective the Iridescence is, he should be able to see well enough for us to not crash."

It sounded like a good idea. But as she glanced at Rian, he subtly shook his head. Ah. Yes, he didn't want to leave himself asleep and in Grem's power if this was a trap.

"I don't want to risk crashing in the dark," Lori said. "Actually, perhaps we should wake him. Given how fast we've been going, we might have already passed it. They said it only took them a couple of days, didn't they? That's not far."

"They had the river," Rian pointed. "Walking along the banks would be faster than going overland, since it would be slightly easier to see beasts since they weren't hiding in tall grass. Slightly." Still, he nudged at Grem's leg slightly with his boot. "Grem, wake up. We need you to tell us how far we might be from your wounded."

Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site.

Grem muttered incoherently, pushing Rian's foot away and settling back to sleep.

Rian sighed and nudge him again. More incoherent muttering. Rian rolled his eyes, glanced at Lori, and mouthed 'hold on'.

Wordlessly, Lori held on to the side of the boat and did just that.

Then Rian began wiggling the rudder from side to side. There were cries from up front as the three young men grabbed at the boat's sides and Grem rolled over before jerking away, grabbing his cloth from his face and going for his sword before falling over with a curse as Rian shook the rudder again.

"Good afternoon, Captain Grem," Rian said cheerfully as he finally stopped wiggling the rudder, allowing Grem to push himself up. "Had a nice nap?"

"You could have woken me up normally," the older man grumbled, glaring at the other lord.

"I did. This way actually worked," Rian said, then gestured at the bank. "Anything look familiar?"

Still muttering, Grem wipe the cloth over his face, and then looked around. He frowned, getting up on his knees looking around. "I don't think we’re there yet," he said. "We set up River's Fork at a confluence of rivers. And… yes." He pointed, and in the fading light, Lori saw some distant peaks in front of them. "Those are too small yet, but we're getting closer. We won't make it today, but we should be there late tomorrow morning."

Lori and Rian exchanged looks. "That close?" he said.

Grem nodded. "We're already a lot closer than I thought we'd be. This goes so fast! Do you have more like it?"

Lori put her hand on the bone strut a finger on the wire. "Sit down Grem," she said. "You might fall off."

He glanced at her and sat down, one hand on the side of the boat.

Lori reached through the wire, touching the bone down below and binding the earthwisps in the bone, reinforcing their strength. Then she reached towards the bound waterwisps, and altered her will on the binding.

The barge noticeably lurched forward, getting faster as she increased the suction of the water jet.

"Well, in that case," Rian said easily, seemingly unperturbed as their already fast boat started moving even faster, the front rising higher out of the water. "If we hurry we might make it by tonight."

Grem gaped at them. "Tonight?" he said, surprised.

"It's much safer for us to sleep in a demesne than out in the open," Lori said. "We just go in, I claim the core, and then we can sleep not having to worry about beasts coming at us in the night. I'm sure the injured you left behind would appreciate the safety."

"Actually, I should have asked sooner, what sort of shelter do they have?" Rian asked. "I mean, they've been there for days. Are they crowded in? What supplies did you leave them? You said you planted grain. Any chance they have flour?"

"We left them some…" Grem said, shuffling. "We brought a lot of it with us since we had more people, but we left them supplies."

"And you intended to come back for them, of course," Rian said, nodding. He shifted the rudder as the river curved again. "You didn't intend to leave them to die."

"Are you implying something?" Grem said.

"Is that how it came out?" Rian said with theatrical innocence. "Sorry if it came out like that. But we're here now, and you brought us here. Don't worry Grem, we'll take care of your people. Well… The five of us will take care of your people, Binder Lori will follow as soon as she's made the core her toy."

Well, of course. She was there for the core, after all.

A thought occurred to her.

"Your deceased Binder," she said. "What did you do to their body?"

"Lori, no," Rian said sternly. "No desecrating! Use the ones you already have first!"

Lori rolled her eyes, but he probably had a point. Besides, if the corpse hadn't been put on ice it might be too degraded to use by now. Supposedly an intact brain was needed to make magic-capable undead, and soft tissue like the brain was always the first to go.

––––––––––––––––––

At around sundown, when the dark was encroaching on the light, Lori stopped the boat, letting it drift on momentum and the current. A little while later, the anchor was thrown overboard

"Grem," Rian said levelly. "Didn't you say your Binder was dead?"

"I wasn't lying," Grem said. He was fairly calm for a man with three spears and a ball of water pointed at his chest, because even if the spears were held nervously, the ball of water had anger behind it. "Our wizard, our Dungeon Binder Koshay is dead. He died protecting us from the dragon."

"And yet you don't really look all that surprised by the fact there's a demesne in front of us," Rian said.

Even in the fading light, it was clear that a hundred paces in front of them, the world had stopped being brilliant and glittering as green leaves and brown trunks swayed in the wind, and no poisonous dust rose into the air with every movement. The difference was abrupt and seemingly cut as sharply as a knife.

Grem pursed his lips, staring down at his feet. "We didn't think she could do it. She wasn't a wizard, she'd just found out she could do magic the day before. The Great Binder is right, it's not like the stories. You don't just spill your blood on a rock and become a Great Binder. You need to know what you're doing. But they said she was going to try. They must have found a way."

"Do you really expect me to believe that?" Lori demanded, her ball of water ready to burst into a stream and pierce through his heart. All she needed to do was will it.

"It is the truth," Grem said. "Touch my heart and know, Great Binder."

"I am not going to get close enough for you to grab me," Lori said flatly.

From the resigned look on Grem's face, he couldn't argue with that reasoning. "The demesne is still open to you, Great Binder," he pleaded. "All you have to do is take it. I did not lie. All our wizards are dead. The one who has claimed this place, she is not a wizard. Only someone with too much power and no understanding of what they're doing. I cannot leave my friends to someone like that, Great Binder. It invites catastrophe."

Abruptly he knelt down so fast one of the spears cut a tear on his shirt. The point was made of beast teeth, after all. Forehead to the floor, his voice was pleading. "I have angered you. Take my life, if you must. But please… claim this place and save my friends."