To the east of Grael Nydia there could be found a nearly-endless forest of pine trees, extending from Spire Nydia all the way to the Ash Sea. The high cliffs overlooking the Ash Sea were unassailable, and they bordered the forest to the east and the south. It was because of these cliffs that the forest was given its name: the Shelf Forest. To the north, the Shelf Forest was isolated by a long mountain range. As such, the region was almost entirely uninhabited. A single paved road granted access to the deep forest, lined on either side by walls of pines.

Kiera used her ethermancy to operate the little steam engine that powered the Emperor's autocar. Sasha sat at the wheel, happily steering along that lonely road with a practiced hand. It was warm inside the cabin, the cushions were comfortable, and the paisley felt on the walls was soft and tasteful. Kiera thought the machine was frightful, especially when it first started moving and everything outside became a blur. She tried closing the shutters but that only made her sick. Thankfully it was foggy outside, and not even Sasha would drive too fast in the fog.

Shadows appeared in the fog on the road ahead. A sturdy gate, constructed from reinforced steel, spanned the space between two stone walls that extended deep into the forest. Sasha slowed the little autocar to a stop some distance from the gate. The running engine caused the car to rock and bounce while it stood motionless on the road.

Suddenly, Kiera felt something. It was sort of like ethermancy, except that was clearly impossible. However, that feeling was unmistakably some method of consuming dream ether. Kiera could feel the direction of the ether converging. She knew almost exactly where the ethermancer was standing, just to the left of the road, hidden behind the stone wall.

Slowly, the gate began to shift to one side. A dark feminine figure marched out into the center of the road, wearing skirts and a tall pointy hat with a wide brim, the very image of a witch from the old stories. Even at a distance Kiera could clearly make out the glowing purple eyes and the radial teal fractures, the two marks of an oculomancer. She felt a chill.

The witch glided forward gracefully, right up to the autocar, and slipped open the door. Kiera gasped. She was exactly as Sir Zachary had described. Shining, iridescent blue scales on her cheeks and on her forehead, with an ageless face and long, dark blue hair. As she slipped into the cabin the brim of her hat smashed into Kiera's face. Kiera grunted in protest, and thankfully the witch doffed her oversized hat and stuffed it in an empty corner of the cabin.

"Hello love," the witch said. She turned to face Kiera and flinched. "Well, this is embarrassing. I didn't realize it would be so damn bright."

The shuttering and rocking of the autocar stopped and it began to lurch forward toward the open gate.

"Is your name Fiona?" Kiera asked.

"Fjenna," the witch said. "But yes, languages change over the centuries. You may call me Fiona if it pleases you."

"Honored ancestor," Lucia said as she peered back from the seat beside Sasha. "I will tell my grandchildren that I met you."

If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

"Hello human," Fiona said. "That's me, your ancestor. It turns out that if a whelp like me mates with a human, the child will always be human. Too bad. I'll bet the Aden clan would look striking with blue scales on their face. It would juxtapose those obnoxious red robes you wear."

"My great grandmother warned me that you were strange," Lucia said.

"Do we just keep following this road?" Sasha asked.

"It's not far," Fiona said.

"Did you get my message?" Kiera asked hopefully.

"I did. I am a very busy woman, however, if enough oculomancers get their knickers in a bunch, even I can find an excuse to intervene."

"So, um... Miss Fiona, why did you give me this aura?"

"Well," Fiona began. "There is so much to explain. That aura only has a single spell that is always active, and the purpose of that spell is to create maximum resistance to the use of dream ether. I thought it was pretty clever when I invented it. However, in the past, it has never been necessary to use such an aura on somebody at your level."

"At my level?" Kiera asked.

"I forgot to mention it," Fiona replied. "You, Kiera, are a witch! Just like me!"

"Oh," Kiera said. "And you gave me the aura to prevent me from using my, uh... witch abilities?"

"That's right," Fiona said.

"And this aura, it also caused everyone else to experience the 'maximum resistance' thing that you mentioned earlier?"

"Just so."

"You do realize," Sasha said, "that you basically derailed three national economies with that thing?"

"That's not my problem," Fiona observed. "We delegate such details to the banks. I'm confident that they'll come up with some clever and arcane financial instrument to shift their problems onto somebody else. Most likely a pyramid scheme of some sort."

"Something doesn't add up," Lucia said. "How the hell is Kiera able to operate this thing if her powers are being suppressed? How did she heal hundreds of soldiers?"

"I was about to ask the same thing," Sasha added happily.

"That is quite simple," Fiona replied. "The aura was designed to contain relatively weak witches. Kiera is a strong witch. Much, much stronger than myself. She will make a fine weapon for the Elder Saint."

"I don't want to be a weapon!" Kiera protested.

"That's the spirit!"

A brilliant flash of red light cut through the fog, followed by a sustained indigo light. The autocar slowed and stopped in front of a yellow line painted on the road. Through the fog, Kiera could just barely make out the shape of a huge white boat directly ahead. Except, it could not be a boat, because it was above the ground, and there was no water. Either way, not wanting to crash into the thing, she released her ethermancy and allowed the steam engine to die.

All four women clambered out of the autocar in silence. As they approached the white boat, Kiera realized it was not a boat. It was like nothing she had ever seen before in her life. The giant contraption was shaped like a huge tube, with a tall fin at one end. In the middle of the contraption, there was a huge protruding thing, curvy and cambered, with a blazing indigo light at the very tip. The fin at one end had a delta-shaped thing at the very top, with a red light that occasionally flashed. The whole tube was supported by shining metal struts ending in tires, the same type of tires on the autocar but much larger. It was somewhat difficult to discern the purpose of such a contraption, especially because of the fog.

At the far end of the tube, there was a funny staircase leading to a doorway. They all followed the witch Fiona up the stairs and beyond the threshold. Within, Kiera found row after row of leather seats, and in that moment Kiera realized what the thing was.

"It's a huge autocar!" Kiera announced.

"Not quite," Fiona said. "None of you girls have ever seen an airplane, have you?"