As previously discussed, Quinn was not a morning person. It didn't matter if she was in the Library, in her own bed, in somebody else's bed, or in a weird sort of igneous rock formation world. She didn't like getting up in the mornings, and this was simply no exception.

Still, there was a very light chirping in the surrounding canopy that helped ease her into the day. It flowed in time with the slowly waking world around her, like easy listening background music. The vegetation smelled so earthy and revitalizing. Yet, Quinn wanted to hunker down in the bed she was sleeping in and stay there, simply enjoying the life around her.

Aradie gave her a light peck on the forehead.

"I know, I know," Quinn said. "Time to get up."

The light hadn't quite sifted through the canopy yet. It was still extremely dark. Fireflies, in a sort of enclosure they could come and go from, were the only light to see by. Quinn thought it was odd and yet kind of cool. Couldn't they just do a light spell? But these fireflies, or firebugs, or whatever they were, apparently seemed to like lighting up the housing for the Jenishu Salosiers. It gave the place an even more magical touch.

Aradie tugged on her this time.

"Fine, I'm getting up." Quinn pulled on her clothes and wished she'd have worn something a little more fitting for the rainforest. Still, her leggings and long baggy hoodie would be good enough. She was lucky she could get the Library to recreate her old trusty, comfortable combat boots whenever she wanted. At least she didn't have to wear them in.

She poked her head outside of the door that was her quarters in the oddly larger on the inside little living pod. Narilin narrowly missed running headfirst into her.

"Oh, you're awake, Librarian," the book doctor said.

Quinn took a step back and a deep breath in. "That I am," she said, stating the bleeding obvious.

"We have a quick breakfast for you before we set out. Best not to approach the Balisors on an empty stomach." Narilin, again, was in a light and airy mood. Perhaps it was being around her hometown, or her people, or the magical forest. Quinn thought this mood suited her much more.

The Librarian was a bit apprehensive about meeting these Balisors and wasn't sure eating was the best thing to do. After all it'd probably sit like lead in her stomach.

She followed Narilin to the kitchen, and was given something very similar to a breakfast burrito back home. There were eggs and mushrooms and other different vegetables all wrapped up in what she thought was a type of feta cheese inside a pita bread. It was divine with its own rugged salsa that gave just the right tang to the ingredients within it.

"This is marvelous," she said, although it came out more as "fishish-movish" because she was speaking around the burrito. Narilin and Sarila laughed.

Nishpa, however, hovered at the far end of the patio, fluttering with more of a staccato beat to her wings than usual. She looked like she was impatient or in a hurry to get to where they were going. Not that Quinn could blame her. They did have a lot of work ahead of them.

"Hurry up. There is..." Nispha paused.

"Something in the air?" Quinn finished.

"Yes. I don't know what to make of it yet," Nishpa said.

Quinn couldn't help remembering the Ishiposa Isle incidents. The gut feelings. She didn't like it when bad things happened. At least in this instance, they weren't here to try and rescue people like Eugea, but that didn't stop the hum of unease from spreading through her as she looked out into the deep uninhabited parts of the forest they'd have to traverse. No, what they needed this time was the Hunter Guide to Field Dressings to go into the alchemical wing opening pot.

She sidled up next to Nishpa. "You did eat, didn't you?"

Nishpa didn't show any outward signs of hearing Quinn, but there was a light brush up against Quinn's consciousness again, requesting communication.

What is it? Quinn asked.

We'd be better communicating mind to mind for this trek over the land.

Quinn studied Nishpa's profile and she could tell from the way her brows pinched together and the slight creases at the corner of her eyes that Nishpa was currently very preoccupied with something Quinn didn't quite understand.

Are you okay? Quinn asked.

Nishpa shrugged and moved finally, or moved her body because her wings had never stopped since she was hovering in place. Yes and no, Librarian. I am realizing that as I age I will lose more and more friends like Eskadrille, who I have known since he was a sapling.

Oh, Quinn said, unsure of how exactly to respond. After all, how did you talk to somebody who was about to lose one of their oldest friends? I'm really sorry.

Not your fault. We all die sometime. Well, Nishpa turned to her and flashed her a grin, maybe not all of us.

Quinn wasn't sure how to take that. She knew the Library wasn't dying yet. Maybe that's what Nishpa meant.

"Anyway," Nishpa said, clapping her hands together to get everybody's attention. "Sarila, I thank you for your hospitality. We must set out, lest we offend the Balisors more than we apparently already have."

Sarila laughed. "That is an easy feat. But keep your thoughts to yourselves." And she gave them a meaningful look.

"We'll be careful," Naralan said.

Quinn hovered as they stepped off the patio, used to navigating within the safe zones now. It was easy for her to hover to and from them, alighting very quickly to help replenish some of her energy from the pulse of power the small platforms gusted up. The small group made their way quickly through the forest, past the other end of the mana nodes, deeper into the forest.

As they moved quite quickly, an Aradie flew in time with them. Quinn could tell that the vegetation had grown thicker, denser, different. The deeper in they got, the more she could sense an underlying current. The power vibrated through the floor leaking out toward her, almost as if it was trying to show off.

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

After about forty minutes of traveling, Quinn stepped to the edge of a sudden massive clearing. The sun was starting to shine through some of the canopy leaves, the occasional soft beam of light hitting a beautiful flower, as if it was aimed specifically.

Which it probably was.

They came to a clearing with what looked suspiciously like a portal. Quinn frowned.

Narilin smiled at her. “This is the aperture. It phases us into the Balisor region.”

“Phases?” Quinn asked, curious.

“Not quite a portal as such, but a distance reduction of sorts. Same planet system - easier to travel and stay out of each other’s business until we need to.” Narilin actually grinned at that.

Quinn nodded and they stepped through.

She stood at the edge of the clearing and took the differences in. Instead of flower buds, or at least that's what they looked like in the Salosier section, the Balisor area had what Quinn could only describe as tents out of woven vines, except the tents moved, the vines moved. They seemed to weave themselves constantly in and out, making living and breathing buildings that set Quinn's teeth on edge.

It reminded her of serpents. And she'd had way too much of those recently.

She glanced at Nishpa, who'd been oddly quiet, both in normal speech and in her mind. Aradie on Quinn's shoulder, making herself smaller again. Quinn could feel a slight shudder pass through her owl, and she glanced over at Narilin who she realized now was hovering and not touching the ground.

Is there something I should know about, Narilin? Some custom? Why aren’t you hovering? Quinn brushed her mind with a thought.

Narilin shook her head. It's not that. I am not completely compatible with the change in vegetation density that happens at our territory line.

Quinn nodded. That made sense. It also made the Balisor region adjustment and their rivalry perhaps more dire than Quinn originally thought. Although something occurred to Quinn. I thought you had some of their bloodline in you?

Ah yes, Narilin said. I have very little of their bloodline, but I do have a lot of their abilities.

So does it hurt if you touch this ground, if you connect to their root system?

Somewhat, I'm not seen as a Balisor, and thus I am viewed as a, not enemy, but a tolerable guest. There was a hint of something in Narilin's mind overtones that Quinn couldn't quite place.

But we can still step onto the platforms, right?

Narilin nodded.

Quinn was extremely grateful that hovering didn't drain her mana too much, and that the plates placed at intervals helped rejuvenate that same mana and energy supply. Yet, she wasn't entirely sure if it extended to this portion of the forest. So she was grateful for having brought the replenishment food Cook gave her with them.

Everything in this area felt darker, more, perhaps sinister was the incorrect word, but it was very close. Quinn couldn't come up with what she meant.

It's very sombre, isn't it? Nishpa said, somewhat sadly.

Yeah, Quinn said, but that's not the right word.

And that's when Narilin piped up, I think foreboding is the word you're looking for.

That's it, Quinn said, tightening not only her own mental shields but extending that to her companions , that's it, that's the word. Except, why?

Narilin shrugged as they moved very slowly toward the tented city, which is what Quinn was calling it. Don't know, they do it deliberately.

Is it a power trip sort of thing, Quinn asked.

Exactly, or probably at least, Narilin said.

Quinn didn't like that everything was darker, that less sunlight shone through, even if it was completely controlled. She also didn't like that they were obviously waiting for a contact of some sort to reach them and yet other than the moving vines and vegetation, there didn't seem to be anyone else awake right now.

The tents felt regal and yet untouchable. Everything about it shouted old world custom, tradition, and pomp. Not exactly any of Quinn's favorite things. Though she did understand cultural significance and rituals/ Perhaps that's what this was. But it felt more like a power flex, considering the ever constant thrum of energy directly underfoot. Underfoot in a way that felt like it was coming directly from a node and being dispersed over the area.

Quinn was more attuned to the mana than she'd realized that she would be. Something she would have to research when she finally got back to the Library. Because she realized all the little vibrations that spoke to her during her day while back at home were trying to tell her things. Because the forest certainly was, she just couldn't figure out what.

Aradie was practically muttering under her breath, in short little coos and hoots, just for Quinn's ears to hear. The vegetation and lack of bird life seemed to get on the owl's nerves. As Quinn noticed, there weren't any birds in those trees. Did they not like the thrum of the power? The cloying scent? Quinn found the air more difficult to breathe here and adjusted her magic to compensate, to help her filter it and make it less thick.

Ripples expanded across the area they stood in, ever so subtle in their presence. But it meant Quinn wasn't surprised when a voice spoke out of seemingly nowhere.

"Ah, our guests have arrived. Let me escort you."

"Well met," Quinn said without batting an eyelash.

"You must be the Librarian." The voice said from its still invisible stand point, even though Quinn tried valiantly to see a body shape of some sort.

"And you are?" she asked, knowing that she was supposed to know who this person was. She was fairly certain she'd learned his name while talking to Sarila but had completely and utterly forgotten it.

The form stepped out of shadow around the closest vine tent. The older Salosier wasn't of an age with Escadril. He was definitely younger although not as young as Narilin. His boughs and his arms and the bark were all redder, with a darker base wood than Narilin's bright and airy feel. It gave off a sensation of wood soaked in blood, not Quinn's forte. It was nothing like the rich walnut of Escadril.

No, this man standing in front of her had an almost gloomy and resentful vibe to him. Right down to the flowers and leaves that made up his hair. Ironically, considering that the tents were made of vines, his hair branches didn't extend down like the Jenishu she'd met. Nothing as regal as Escadril or Narilin's.

"I am Haritan." He offered a very shallow, barely there bow.

"Hello Haritan. I am the Librarian," Quinn said. She allowed her scales to flex underneath her clothes, lending her another level of protection she suddenly felt in the need to call forth. The unease around her was rife with unpredictability.

"Please follow me. Thank you for observing our customs. You needn't do so, dear cousin," Haritan said, inclining his head but not offering any eye contact as he began moving.

Narilin, very wisely probably, chose to remain hovering and not utter a word.

"We will bring you to the town hall. Please keep up."

He moved fast almost as if he threw down a challenge, but Quinn had already been in the forest for a day. It allowed her to sync with the mana flows to avoid any pitfalls. All she had to do was attune her mind to the way the forest moved. This part had a very slightly malevolent intent underneath all of the vines and all of the plants.

But power still sung through it and it called to Quinn. She was a part of the filtration system. It knew her. It knew her magic. And despite what the Balisors might have expected, the mana also liked her. It sensed her familiarity and recognized it.

Quinn choked back a grin. She wasn't going to give them any hints yet. But suddenly Quinn didn't feel like the weak link and didn't feel like she couldn't grab onto power. It was a very important mindset change for her and she needed to grapple with that and remember how it felt.

Suddenly, she no longer felt like she was walking into a nest of vipers.

No, now she felt a new level of control and confidence.

And she was going to get the book back whether they liked it or not.