Ikfael’s paws trembled with anticipation and also a touch of fear.
There was a common saying in Diaksh: “Three is the direction of five.” The less-common second half went: “Yet ten is an uncertain future.” Meaning, the gap between nine and ten was a wide one and if a person did to reach Level 10, then the amount of danger they faced escalated dramatically.
The Deer God residing in the Glen had given us a taste of what that would be like—monstrous creatures throwing themselves at us as they sought out his power. Now, we’d become magnets of our own.
Except, as I cradled Ikfael, her eyes closed in concentration, I noted her confidence in both us and our ability to defend ourselves. We three were a potent combination. Her fear originated from something else—a more personal decision.
Ikfael gasped as the silverlight changed her. One moment she was in my arms, and then she disappeared in a swirl of air. As surprised as I was, I knew she was okay. If anything, our connection strengthened as the level-up process began.
She’d told me before that spirits of the land didn’t get to choose their paths like other beings, since they were only a handful they could follow. However, they did get other choices. Exactly what those were she’d been coy about, though.
I could’ve checked her Status to see what she was doing, but Yuki rose up in protest. ‘No spoilers!’
“But you both already know my choices.”
‘Because Ollie/Eight needed help.’
“And Ikfael doesn’t?”
Yuki’s qi blipped in the equivalent of a raised eyebrow.
“Yeah, okay, I noticed that she knows what she wants.” The fear she’d felt wasn’t going to stop her.
For about twenty minutes, I reviewed my own Status and did some math, calculating that being Ikfael’s beloved had, in fact, tripled my mana capacity. It had then been boosted again by reaching Level 14.
In the end, my beloved only took about half an hour. The air swirled once again, and this time my eyes spotted a spirit spiraling to form a shape larger than before. I was starting to imagine Ikfael as a super-sized otter—but to my surprise a young woman appeared in my lap. Long dark hair framed a playful face and spilled toward a bare neck and shoulders. Cornflower-blue eyes gazed into mine. The irises were rimmed in gray the color of slate.
My heart stopped. I gulped, my Adam’s apple bobbing like a shy teenager’s head in the face of beauty.
Ikiira wrapped her arms around me. She buried her face in my shoulder, and her hair tickled my nose. A strong, warm voice whispered, “I am here.”
My brain kicked into gear. My surprise had had me just sitting there like a lump, so I put my arms around Ikiira, Ikfael, Ikfiirael? I put my arms around my beloved and hugged her tightly. “Welcome back.”
###
In a daze, I listened as Ikfael—she’d made it clear Ikiira was no more—narrated how spirits of the land weren’t able to change their choice of avatar until they reached silvered.
“The way to think of it,” she said, pulling the blankets around herself, “is that dawn is the stripping away of bark from a tree and silver is the carving of something useful from it. Or a smith putting metal into a forge to heat it up, and then hammering it until a tool is made.”
A small smile slipped out as she gazed at her fingers. Her toes stuck out from under the blankets, and she wiggled them. “Even so, such a dramatic change is difficult unless one’s path happens to coincide with it. In my case, my spirit remembered my old body, and our zasha, who helped me transform in the first place, was willing to help again.”
“For an exchange,” I clarified.
“Always,” she said, “and this time it was even more potent and far reaching.”
“Is this what that meeting between the spirits of the land was about? You made the exchange in preparation for this day then?”
She nodded, her hair spilling forward, then frowned and reached back to braid it. My Ikfael had a lovely body, which was much too distracting with just a blanket spilling off her shoulders.
I grabbed the blanket to move it back into position and swung around so that I could take care of her hair for her. “Let me do that.”
“A hunter’s braid,” she said, then tested the next part in her head before speaking. “The one for a married spouse. Also, you should now call me Ikfei.”
The hair felt silky and rich. My fingers paused when I registered the words, then they continued in the style she’d requested. It… wasn’t like she was wrong, and an affectionate nickname for her was long past due.
I wondered when my heart would start beating again.
Yuki nudged me. ‘Silly Ollie/Eight, it hasn’t really stopped.’
I feel like I’m in a dream, I thought.
‘The best kind,’ Yuki said.
Did you know this was coming? I asked them.
‘The pattern of actions indicated Ikfael reaching for something precious, something she’d risk everything for.’
Ikfei turned to glance at me. “With Amleila dead, our zasha no longer needs to hide in the Glen. We are—” She swallowed. “She will release me from my first exchange and my obligation to guard her door. We are free to travel, if you’d like.”
A second time my fingers paused, and I tilted my head forward to touch hers. She leaned back into me and said, “I noticed, you know, the words you used when you promised not to leave me. You’d said that you wouldn’t go anywhere without me. A fair exchange means I have to do my part.”
“It’s not an exchange. We don’t need one when beloved to each other.”
“Then it my heart’s desire that moves me so. I will not lose you—not to striving and not to time.”
“I’m still mortal,” I said.
I felt her eyes narrow. There was steel in her voice as she said, “For now.”
###
On our explorations earlier that day, we’d found dawn-enchanted clothes that had survived the ruin of Baxteiyel, so Ikfei went through the Hoarder’s Pocket, looking for things that fit her. She settled on a vest beaded with small, pearlescent shells. Rows of green ribbons at the sides bound it tight to her body. The pants she selected were leather and a rich umber color. And for her feet, she wore sandals, which she trimmed to length with her obsidian knife.
She was breathtaking.
Yuki spun in happy circles and separated an extension of themselves, the fuchsia-colored lichen growing out from the palm of my hand. ‘It’s time! It’s time!’
There was a curious-wry-expectant look on Ikfei’s face as she took the bundle from me. She peered at Yuki closely before they disappeared into her.
For a moment, I was the one who felt disoriented as the two connections echoed. Waves of delight and wonder reverberated back and forth. A sly whimsy slipped in too, along with the sense of secrets being shared. Fun secrets and plans for pranks and a giddiness at this long-long-long anticipated true meeting between Yuki and Ikfei.
The feeling for me was like when I’d first opened my spirit eyes, with too much sensory information hitting me all at once. The difference now, though, was my 20 Wisdom and 25 Spirit. After a couple of minutes to acclimate to the interplay, my balance returned, and I simply enjoyed the overflowingness of it all until Yuki was ready to share their spoilers.
Ikfei laughed as she humored the overexcited uekisheile.
Then it was Yuki’s turn to laugh. ‘We are an uekisheile no longer,’ they revealed. ‘We now travel the Path of the Hidden Mind.’ Their qi danced a jig within me. ‘With our growth to Level 14, we now have 25 Intelligence, and our qi well is deep enough for approximately two-hundred fifteen points’ worth of qi.’
Find this and other great novels on the author's preferred platform. Support original creators!
A tendril of lichen appeared from the back of my hand. ‘Look, look, look,’ they urged.
> Yuki the Hidden Mind (Lichen, Silvered)
>
> Talents: Qi Savant, Magical Technician, Otherworldly Sapience, One with Qi, Multi-Threaded, Dream Worker , Networked;
>
> Nascent Talents: Ageless
“That’s amazing. You had three talents evolve and also gained Networked. What does it do?” I asked.
‘We’re glad you’re curious,’ Yuki said, and the image they conveyed was of a professor tugging on their blazer’s hem. ‘Our ability to grow extensions will increase, as will our ability to distribute our consciousness among them. And, and! Our authority and influence extend wherever they go. They are not limited to our main body.’
Your other path options weren’t as good? I thought.
The tendril sticking out of my hand waved the idea away. ‘Pish posh, this one will be much more fun.’
“You heard all that?” I asked Ikfei.
She nodded her head in wonder. “All those times you laughed for no reason, now I understand.”
‘We’re family,’ Yuki said.
“The best kind,” I added. “We build each other up.”
“A… a truth,” Ikfei said.
Yuki hummed in happiness. ‘Once we’re somewhere safe, we’ll refine your qi. The taste is delicious, but the density is thinner than we expected.’
Ikfei’s laughter surprised her. It shook her shoulders. “Will I receive my own boon, then?”
‘Of course!’ Yuki said.
“I look forward to it.” Her smile tilted to the side as she looked at me. “I see you, my anxious beloved. You do not like to be kept waiting when there are surprises to be revealed.”
“I’m being good,” I objected, “and haven’t looked at your Status.”
“Ah, that is the word you use to describe how the World Spirit enumerates our abilities.” Ikfei tested the English. “It feels strange in the mouth, but also right too. Perhaps it will become part of our Diaksh.”
“You’re stalling,” I said, pretending to be stern.
Her smile spread. “I was, but no more.” She gestured as if putting herself on display. “As you can see, I am still a spirit of the land, but my avatar is now human. My level is thirteen. The majority of my free attribute points I put into my Agility and Spirit. I also put one each in Charm and Luck to reach the rank-fifteen milestones.”
I licked my lips. “And? Did you get new talents from them?”
“Not those, but…” Ikfei’s eyes brightened. “The World Spirit did treat me kindly. I gained two talents on becoming silvered, as well as a third for reaching 20 Spirit.”
“Would you mind if I look directly?”
“What’s mine is yours,” she said.
Looking at her most-affected sections, I saw:
> Primary Attributes
>
> * Strength 12
> * Constitution 15
> * Agility 20
> * Intelligence 13
> * Wisdom 17
> * Spirit 20
> * Charm 15
> * Luck 15
>
> Secondary Attributes
>
> * Body Power 77
> * Qi 67
> * Mana 246
>
> Talents
>
> * One with Water and Stone
> * Hoarder's Pocket
> * Devoted Artist
> * Foodie
> * Talent Scout (shared)
> * Qi Savant (shared)
> * Outlander
> * Elemental Shaper
> * Strength of Spirit
The first thing I did after that was check out her new talents.
Outlander had come from her spending most of her life away from civilization. The talent gave her bonuses to survival skills and also provided a “different perspective” on human cultures that occasionally generated insights about their behaviors.
Meanwhile, Elemental Shaper directly referenced the training she’d undergone to master One with Water and Stone, as well as the work she’d done as a Devoted Artist. The result was a “significant” bonus to manipulating both elements.
And finally, Strength of Spirit provided an umbrella-wide bonus to all of Ikfei’s actions. For a limited time, though, she could convert the bonuses into pure physical power—literally trading Spirit for Strength.
“Those are amazing talents,” I said.
‘Very cool,’ Yuki said, looking over my shoulder.
“The two of you really do have your own language, don’t you?” Ikfei quirked her head, the gesture so familiar. “The meaning of ‘cool’ is what? Great and stylish?”
Yuki nodded. ‘Yes! But don’t worry. We’ll translate for you.’
I nodded along, but was still glancing through Ikfei’s Status. My blessing was there, as well as the ones from the people who’d most benefited from her exchanges: Mumu and Heicata. Briefly, I wondered how Voorsowen’s former lodge master was doing.
There was a nice spread of attributes. No twenty-fives yet, but that would only be a matter of time. And her qi capacity would double once Yuki finished refining it.
Ikfei possessed fewer skills than I did, but most were at much higher ranks than mine. For example, there was a skill called Water Bending at rank 24, and her Hydromancy and Stealth skills were at 23 and 22 respectively.
Perhaps most interesting were the slew of skills under the Spiritualism category:
> * Darklight Resistance 14
> * Equity of Exchange 14
> * Meditation 22
> * Sense Balance 16
> * Silverlight Refinement 14
> * Taoism 16
> * Timeless Endurance 15
The memories underpinning Ikfei’s skills weren’t available to me, but the names and tooltips spoke of the role spirits of the land played in helping to refine the world’s light. A role I would now be helping with, in more than one way.
The next Long Dark was not going to be pretty if I was going to be… expelling the darklight from both Ikfei and the Deer God’s territory. Ugh.
“What are you thinking?” Ikfei said, frowning. “Is my Status unpleasant?”
“No, of course not. It’s as amazing as I would expect from you. It’s… well—” I switched from speaking aloud to sending my thoughts to her through Yuki. There are some things you should know that must be kept utterly secret.
Ikfei’s expression turned solemn as she listened.
And so, I told her everything from beginning to end. She’d already visited my old world as part of a tour with Diriktot, but I finally got to tell her about the hidden details of my life: of my childhood and mis abuelitos, of the Deer God, of Helen and Alex and Daniel, of my work in documentary films, of the striving to be a better man, of my death. I then also filled her in on the details of the Deer God’s theft of the power in Ithia’s throne, as well as the effect of my soul marks on darklight.
Ikfei didn’t mind losing the ability to absorb darklight. Given how she’d had to sacrifice herself as Ikiira to make amends for its abuse, that was a good thing. Me filtering the stuff, though—that blew her mind.
At first she looked at me like I’d gone mad, but then Yuki confirmed the truth. None of the… products of the process had been as bad as that first year when I’d initially cleared Yuki of their darklight, but I expected the experience to be much more painful going forward. Which was why, I explained, I’d looked so grim.
Ikfei’s mind locked up as she grappled with the idea there was a way to cleanly and efficiently “refine” silverlight. I realized I’d be the envy of every spirit of the land that ever existed. With me on their side, it would be effortless to maintain the balance of exchanges.
I didn’t know exactly how the process worked, but from the bits leaking from Ikfei’s thoughts, there were two ways the spirits helped refine the world’s light.
In the first, the spirits didn’t participate in exchanges. They avoided entanglements with mortals and instead focused on a passive process that slowly drew out the world’s imperfections. The second and faster method was to offer exchanges. Those helped to directly draw out the imperfections of the beings participating.
Whichever approach the spirit of the land took, a reckoning came at the end of every Long Dark wherein they were forced to justify their actions and prove they’d refined their fair share of light. And if they couldn’t, then the punishments were severe.
Yet Ikfei shouldn’t have to worry about that—not ever again. My ass will pay the price for her wasn’t a line I’d ever expected to think, but there it was.
She shook her head, still unbelieving but also recognizing that it was true. She took me into her arms to hold me tight once more. Her heart trembled from a potent mixture of relief, awe, and wonder.
‘The gods give gifts with ten hands,’ she thought, ‘and you are a gift to the world.’
We talked for a long time afterward—just going back and forth telling stories and asking questions. Ikfei and I had known each other for eight years, yet this felt like meeting for the first time. We could now be our most open, truest selves with each other, holding nothing back.
With every word and every passing beat, I recognized the magic forming between us—the most primal and elemental of human magics. Until, during a pause in the conversation, she raised a wry eyebrow at me.
“You are my beloved, yes?”
“Yes,” I replied with a smile.
“And yet, you have not kissed me.”
I licked my lips and couldn’t help looking at hers, couldn’t help leaning in. She met me halfway, and my mind went blank. Her kiss was tentative, but her lips were as soft as they looked. The scent of her filled my nose. I reached up to cup her cheek, and she reciprocated a moment later.
I didn’t want to stop, but I pulled back to look into her eyes. She’d initiated, but a gentleman checked to make sure. What I saw was her willingness.
“That’s… that’s nice,” she said.
“You’ve never kissed before?”
“I have,” she said, then in much smaller voice, “two hundred years ago. The memory is as worn and thin as old cloth.”
“I hope for us to make many newer memories,” I said, playfully.
She reached up to stroke my ear, the sensation sending a shiver through me. “Yes, me too.” Her gaze became heated, and then shifted to unexpectedly downcast. “My beloved, you should know.”
“Yes? What is it?”
“A spirit of the land cannot conceive children.”
“Oh. Ohh. Oh.”
An acknowledgement I’d heard her.
A realization of the implied invitation.
A disappointment as the implication hit home.
That last was ironic, because I’d come to the conclusion years ago that I’d be fine without having more kids. The ones adopted by my family were enough. If there were any others, the odds I would lose some to disease, disaster, or the Long Dark increased. And I even had a whole orphanage of them I was supporting. I was doing my share. Plus, I’d already raised Alex and Daniel—seen them grown and sent them out into adulthood.
I had no plans to shepherd anyone else through their teen years, except maybe myself through my own. Wasn’t that funny?
And yet...
Perhaps there isn’t a more human phrase than “and yet.” We are such hapless creatures—always wanting a little more: that something we might’ve missed, or the people we might’ve been.
So, I felt a pang when I learned Ikfei and I would never have children. Then I let it go, because she was enough as she was, I was enough as I was, and together we were amazing.
In the interest of frank communication, I shared all that directly by opening myself, relying on Yuki to help with the heavy lifting so that Ikfei was absolutely clear on where I stood. Any cracks in the relationship now would only widen over time unless they were dealt with.
Her own feelings were just as complicated, and well… she wasn’t a thoughtless person, my Ikfei. She may not have had the same opportunities as me, but she’d had her own experiences. I knew we’d draw on both to see our way through.
Later, we kissed some more, and after that… well, it was awkward and gentle and sweet.