The city entered two weeks of mourning. During this time, the inhabitants rebuilt businesses and homes. By the end of the fighting, the death toll was around fifty, which was far less than many had feared. Most deaths were adventurers and guards that had fought the mercenary attackers.
There were far more injured, which left the healers of the city extremely busy. With over a thousand injuries, it took nearly a month for everyone to have fully recovered.
It seemed even after the city had recovered from the attack; the household only got busier. Once Gary was free from helping with reconstruction, he started up the training with the children once again. Callahan was handling the intersection once again, while Ava went to the visit Liliana.
***
Ava walked into the Liliana’s study.
“You could have warned us,” Ava said, annoyed.
Liliana raised an eyebrow, glancing up from the letter she was reading.
“It was too late when I saw it. I was also busy telling the Parthevian’s, the Triarch Coven, and Arkia kingdom of a war on the horizon, along with an increase of monsters.”
Ava blinked rapidly. “Really? War with who?”
“Yes, really, and with Esteron and its allies. As for when, I don’t know…the future of the internal strife in Esteron is something I cannot see. I can only see effects from potential actions the country may take and even they are vague. A rather recent development, I might add.”
“What the actual hell is going on there? Ivron is on his way back so we won’t get his account of goings on there for a while, but how could its future hide from you?”
“There are several possibilities,” Liliana said. “One a higher power is interfering, which is quite possible. The second could be a fate break mucking things up,” the queen said, looking like she had swallowed something sour at the mere thought. “Third, and this is the least likely one, but if true is a terrifying prospect. But maybe Esteron’s relationship to fate has changed so much that its future is entirely indiscernible, which could have a ripple effect.” Liliana slumped in her chair. “Or it’s a combination of all three and the future is going to be a goddamn mess.”
“Well, this conversation is uplifting,” Ava said, which got a tired chuckle from Liliana.
“How did your children handle the fight?” Liliana said, changing the subject.
Ava raised an eyebrow. Over the years, the queen had acted like Zerine didn’t exist and only inquired about her other children. This would be the first time she included Zerine.
“A little shaken but doing fine. The worst bit was that they were in an area that had an aura clash.”
Lillian gasped, horrified. “In a populated area? Who would be that stupid or cruel?”
“A new gold-rank using his power and a mercenary who didn’t care. The gold-rank got chewed out by the adventurer guild master and Raith, who I thought would rip the guy’s throat out.”
“Good for him to learn,” Liliana said scornfully.
“Speaking of the attack, any word on rounding up those behind it?”
Liliana sighed. “We got some people, but we both know those truly behind it kept their hands clean. This matter reminds me, congrats on reaching the peak of gold.”
Ava smiled. “Thank you. My little show of force hasn’t screwed up your plans with the secret guardians, right?”
Liliana laughed. “Oh, no. People already knew you were strong. Those in the city won’t have much to compare it to, so they will attribute it to you being gold, which is already known.”
Ava nodded. “That’s good. What about you? When do you believe you will reach the peak? I know you have been stalling so your youngest daughter can get older and compete.”
Liliana smiled. “In eight more years, but there are steps before the competition can start.”
“Hmm, plus there is that Esteron nonsense. Are you hoping your daughter will have divination abilities like you?”
“It has helped us stay neutral and is quite helpful, so yes,” Liliana replied.
“How old is she now?”
“Eight, like your son,” Liliana said.
“Did she get her crest?”
“Nope, but she will get it in a month, though,” Liliana said cheerfully.
“Whereas Falkor told us he isn’t sure when Zerine will get hers.”
Liliana pursed her lips. “Hmm,” she said, sounding disinterested.
“But she can talk to elemental spirits and dragons without magic.”
The queen's eyebrows shot up at that. “Truly?”
“Yep, she made a spirit friend almost two months ago and she is now part of the family. As for the dragons, that spirit befriended them, and they accepted Zerine too.”
“You got to be kidding me.”
“Nope,” Ava said with a toothy grin. “At this point Raith, Gary, Cal, and myself have bets on the next creature she will befriend.”
Liliana shook her head. “You always had a strange family.”
“We’re cousins so you're included in the strange,” Ava teased, which got a chuckle.
“I guess that is true. But we should go down to business. I will check yours and Cal’s fate. I suspect the attack’s failure will lead to something stealthier.”
“Yeah, I figured. Oh, you’ll find this funny. The mercenaries had outed information and attacked the Gravefield's home, believing the Baron lived in the largest compound in the city. Needless to say, the Gravefields crushed them.”
Liliana snorted out a laugh. “They learned the hard way. Now let’s see your fate,” Liliana said, placing a hand on Ava’s forehead.
“Assassins showing up won’t surprise me,” Ava said.
“I’ll check on that so you can be ready. Reading fate is more of an art form than an objective process, so your fate may vary, but I will look down several paths, just to remind you.”
Ava nodded. “You say that every time.”
“Yep, and I will keep doing so because it shocks people when their fate differs slightly from exactly what I said. But let’s take a look.”
***
“Ten!” Zerine called out to the deserted forest around her.
This was a new form of magic practice for her. Terrinixis over the month, had noticed that Zerine’s magical senses were lacking. When Zerine had tried to say it was because she didn’t have a crest, Terrinixis had scoffed.
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“Father says magic is innate to everything. Just because you don’t have magic of your own right now doesn’t mean you can’t sense it. Father has us doing magic sensing practice all the time because we have to get better at it. Just like ambient magic control, it’ll be a harder for you, but you can develop it,” Terrinixis had thought to her.
And so began a new game of hide and seek. The dragons and Varino would hide and release varying amounts of magic. She had to use her magic senses to find them. They played this at least once every time they visited, and Zerine had seen minor improvements.
One thing that had noticeably improved was her odd instinct. Not only did it allow her to more easily understand Varino and the dragons, but she felt it during conversations with people. She would feel a vague impression of the person she was talking to. Often it just felt like she could trust the person. Well, that was for the people in the household and family.
In classes, it made Zerine constantly feel an itch as the impressions of the surrounding people kept changing. Impressions of self-interest, deceit, honesty, and more fluctuated. Honestly, it was rather draining and just another reason she disliked classes.
Zerine closed her eyes and took a deep breath. The fresh earthy air of the forest with a hint of the ocean filled her lungs. Her skin tingled slightly as she focused on the ambient magic. Her goal was to acclimatize to the current state of the ambient magic, which should allow her to figure out any deviations. It was a simple goal, but the problem was its execution was far harder.
Affinities of all kinds were flowing all around her. Zerine had thought there would be a constant equilibrium, but clearly, that was not the case. To Zerine, the surrounding energy never felt the same. It also didn’t help was the lack of range she had with her magical sense. So, to find her friends, she would have to walk for a bit, stop, then try to sense the ambient magic again.
She moved to a clearing and attempted once again. This time she felt her instinct kicked in, drawing her attention to a trace of wind affinity. She focused on that trace, and it felt a little different. Pondering for a moment, Zerine realized there was a vague intent to it. Grinning, she followed the trace. She looked under a bush and found Octralamoz curled up.
The dragon blinked in surprise, but squeak happily.
“Yep, found you Octra! I might actually be getting better at this,” Zerine said. The dragon flew around her before curling around her shoulders.
“You're getting a little heavy to rest there,” Zerine said.
Octra chuffed a puff of smoke.
“Yeah, yeah, I’ll get stronger for it. Let’s go find the others!”
That got squeaks in response.
She eventually found them all. The last was Varino, who was hiding in a tree. They played another game, then left, giving the dragons a farewell wave as they headed out.
When she got back to Raith and the others, she saw two people standing with Raith. One was a man who was tall and broad with dark brown hair. He reminded her of Gary., because of his well-defined and large muscles. To her surprise, the man was an elf. She always thought elves would be more on the slender side, but clearly that was just from her own limited personal experience.
Next to the large elf was a slender woman. She had auburn hair and was also an elf. The women would be more like what you would expect from an elf, with her delicate features and pointed ears.
Zerine ran up with Varino sitting on her shoulder.
“Good timing, you two,” Raith said. She gestured to the two people, who were curiously observing the two. “This is Markilo and Shiya. They will take over training all of you. And before you ask questions, let me explain. Since the attack, everyone has only gotten busier so they cannot take the time to train you like some of them have. Gary and I will join with our team soon, which means we’ll be heading out soon. So, we searched around, and these two were perfect for the job.”
“Nice to meet ya. You can call me Mark,” Markilo said, giving them a cheerful wave. Varino returned it with a bright chime.
“Nice to meet both of you. I heard about Varino, but you're quite the spirit,” Shiya said.
Varino shyly hid behind some of Zerine’s hair but gave Shiya a shy wave.
“Great to meet you both! Thank you for helping us train. And Varino is quite the spirit, isn’t that, right?” Zerine said.
Varino peeped, but was still shy as Shiya leaned forward, trying to get a better look at the spirit.
“Alright, time for ambient magic control practice Zerine. As for you, Varino, you can join Naro and Shara, displaying what you can do to Mark and Shiya.”
The two ran towards Naro and Shara.
“Can she truly understand the spirit?” Shiya wondered, after the two were out of earshot.
“Absolutely. I can go over ways to get a rough guess what Varino is saying. But let’s start the training session first,” Raith said, heading towards the children.
***
Valgrath was sitting in a cave, waiting. This cave had served as his campsite while he hunted, although years ago. It now served as a place for his little projects. He had finally gathered the right materials for a ritual. It had cost nearly all the money he had embezzled to get what he needed.
A floating crystal cube spun in the center of a large circle. Complex sigils and runes ringed the circle. Lines and patterns connected several piles of rare types of quintessences resembling piles of gemstones. The circle was slowly beginning to glow as the cube absorbed the energy from the quintessence piles.
Several muffled whimpers made Valgrath glance to his right. An entire family was bound, gagged, and magically suppressed with slave collars. Fear-filled eyes met his gaze and rolled his eyes.
“Patients, your turn will come,” he said, which got quiet sobs from the mother and whimpers from the children. The father only glared; his gaze filled with rage.
When the quintessence piles were all absorbed, Valgrath changed the magic circle, keeping the cube in the center.
He grabbed the father by his hair and dragged him to another circle inscribed in the large one. Valgrath unceremoniously dropped the man into the circle, which shone red.
Valgrath placed his hand on the large circle, which glowed orange as his energy started the ritual.
“I wonder how long you will hold out,” Valgrath said, sitting in his chair once again. A smirk crossed his face as the man looked defiantly back at him. “Hmm, so strong, for now. What do you think of soul torture?" The man's face went pale making Valgrath's smile grow. "I believe it's a true test of character, don’t you?”
The man glared, but his face was still deathly pale. Then a muffled scream escaped him as the circles activated. He writhed and screamed unable to leave the circle as the magic scoured his soul.
Twenty minutes later, Valgrath was munching on the man’s thigh as his children and wife soon followed. The last was the mother, who didn’t even last a minute and just gave up her soul. Maybe it had something to do with witnessing her children give their souls up or absolute hopelessness. Valgrath didn't care, he got what he wanted.
The cube that had once shone yellow, pink, and orange had changed drastically. It was now red, like oozing blood with veins of poisonous green and black, pulsing with a heartbeat.
Valgrath sigh and tossed aside the thigh bone. He gestured, and the cube flew to him.
“Now, for the last ritual, then I can reach out,” he muttered, smiling down at the cube.
Granted, the final ritual would take time to complete, but the cube would need that time to stabilize after the infusion of energy, anyway. He wasn’t in any rush, especially if what he felt was true, then his backers were already helping him.
What he felt was warmth emanating from within his soul, stemming from the mark placed there. The feeling told him he wasn’t alone, and they were helping him.
***
A month later, a tearful Zerine embraced Gary.
“We will miss you, but hey, we will be back in a few years. Count on it,” he said, patting her back with one of his giant hands.
“We’ll miss you!” Zerine gurgled.
Using his upper arms, he lifted Zerine into the air, surprising a laugh out of her. He then hugged her.
“Think about it this way. When we come back, you will get a few years’ worth of birthday gifts all at once,” Gary said, putting her down.
Zerine sobbed a laugh, wiping her eyes. She smiled up at him, but her eyes overflowed again as Raith came into the courtyard with Ava. She ran to Raith arms outstretched.
“Oh, Zerine, we will miss you,” Raith said, picking her up into an embrace. “We will be back. But I want you to promise that you and Varino will keep doing your best with training and class.”
“P-Promise,” Zerine said, echoed by a mournful flute note from Varino who was floating on a cloud.
“Good, we expected to be wowed by you both when we get back,” Raith said, putting her down.
Zerine and Varino then said farewell to Umbra and Willow.
The entire family watched the group leave, then vanish in a swirl of darkness.
“Will they be alright?” Zerine asked, looking up at Ava.
“They are meeting up with Selara and Grace. Then they will go get Ivron, with their strength I know they will be safe,” Ava replied. “But now it's time to go meet up with Mark and Shiya for your training before class.”
Zerine entered a new routine. She would train sometimes before and after class, with full days dedicated to training on non-class days. One would think Zerine would get bored with the training, but Mark and Shiya made sure that it never got dull. They even made it fun creating little games for them to play, which made the hard work seem easier.
She and Varino would visit the dragons and have some more fun with them. They would play in the forest or on the beach. Their games would also relate to some magic the dragons were learning, or something Zerine and Varino were curious about or wanted to practice. They tried to get Naro and Shara to meet the dragons, but they always had something to do or were busy, so it stayed Zerine’s and Varino’s little secret.
Time moved on, days turned into weeks and soon months, then a year. Zerine had turned eleven and soon was almost turning twelve.
***
Valgrath gestured, and a squirming elemental spirit flew. It was around the size of a child with a body dark like the night sky with swirls of blue. It was an elemental of space, the last piece of his ritual, which he placed into the circle.
Gathering the remaining pieces took him longer than expected, but he was satisfied with the results. The corrupted cube was floating at the point of the pentagram, while space spirit was at another point, with piles of quintessence on others.
“All the pieces are falling into place,” Valgrath said, as the circle glowed orange.
In the center of the circle, space cracked.