Fleck and Moon went down to drink shortly after that. They’d more or less left the forest behind, for what looked like a field of pebbles. There was a river running through it. On the other side, in the direction they were going, Fleck could see the mountains he’d been smelling. The pebbles turned to larger rock, the ground got steeper, and bits of snow appeared.

There hadn't been many animals near Edinar, but there didn't seem to be much life in this area in general. There were the trees and grasses behind them, but there wasn't much in the field of pebbles that Fleck could see or smell, and there wasn't much in the mountains either. It was weird. He knew of places like this on Xentron, but that was because it was a desert, and the lifeless areas had no water. Dangerous places to go.

It made him wonder if this was a good direction to go in. Maybe they should follow the stream. It was cold even down here, at the bottom of the mountain. It made the water refreshing.

Fleck's concerning thoughts aside, Harmoni was glad they were taking a break. She didn’t know where dragons got all their energy.

‘Gut fire.’

Well Harmoni knew he was lying there, since not all dragons breathed fire. (Fleck didn’t breathe anything.)

He tried not to react to the reminder. ‘You still need mechanisms to make something in your gut, and spit it out. And we all have that.’

‘In that case, that should use energy, not create it.’

‘You have to be efficient with energy if you’re using it to make fire.’ Or ice. Or whatever. ‘And if we’re not-’

“Do you smell that?” Moon asked, shoving her face against Fleck.

He was a little annoyed. But she was right. He could smell something new he hadn’t noticed. Elves. There was a town nearby.

~~~

Moon went back to get the others while Fleck waited by the river, and made sure nothing changed.

They didn’t all go into the place. They were a big group with two dragons. They didn’t want to overwhelm anyone.

In the end, Fleck pointed Harmoni and Cooper in the right direction, and they took off alone. Harmoni could speak Elvish if that was needed, and Cooper was a less jarring sight than Evin or the dragons.

Fleck was right that there wasn't a whole lot of life in the area, at least none Harmoni could perceive, even if she connected to magic. But there was an oasis of sorts in the mountains. A leveled out space with a lake and trees.

The town was . . . weird. The elves here were all very pale, with white or silver hair. Sometimes their skin even looked a little gray or blue. If Harmoni had to explain it, she’d say they reminded her of the moon. They moved quietly like most elves. They held their heads high, but seeing as they didn’t bump into anything, including Harmoni and Cooper, they must be able to see the ground. There were indoor areas people came in and out of, but Harmoni honestly couldn’t tell if anyone had built those structures, or if they were natural.

Elves always had an affinity for nature, and could be ethereal if they wanted. But Harmoni would call these ones downright eerie. Internally. She would not call them eerie out loud.

One of the elves stood up from a circle, where she’d possibly been meditating? She walked over to them, and while she didn’t make eye contact, she did angle her head down to speak to them.

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“Can I help you?”

She asked it in Elvish, and fortunately not in an indecipherable accent. The worst part was that she half sang the words.

“Do you know where Edinar school is? From here?” Harmoni asked. She clasped her hands together. Tightly.

Any tighter and she’d draw blood.

“Edinar? That’s on another continent.”

“What?” Harmoni barely managed to get the word out.

The elf laughed, and it genuinely sounded more like a bell than a laugh. Harmoni had good ears. She would know.

“Yes, I’d say you’re about as lost as you can get.”

“Is-do you have a way we can get back?” Harmoni asked.

The elf woman stopped laughing. She angled her head to the side and frowned. And she looked at Harmoni. Really looked.

Cooper managed not to look worried, but he did look confused by now, eyes darting between the two. He, after all, didn’t understand a word being said.

Fleck could tell Moon, who would automatically relay it to Cooper.

Sounded like a round about way of translating when Harmoni could fill him in soon, but it would be easier than talking to this woman and translating for Cooper.

“You are weighed down,” the elf woman said. “By worries, burdens, duties. Are you sure you want to return to them? You are bound when you return to the wider galaxy, but you need not be.” She began circling Harmoni. Despite the intimidating gesture, her tone was still polite, questioning. “Everyone else, so distressed by the unimportant. So focused on things that won't matter in a hundred years, or even two. You could stay here with us. Here, with nature, you could achieve true enlightenment and happiness. Better than that school could offer.”

Harmoni smiled, but she could tell it looked fake. “Thank you. But I would rather go back to Edinar.”

She thought she understood. This place was one of those places where people lived simply, with minimal things. And in a way, the offer was tempting. No more worries or distractions. But this place was a little creepy. And Harmoni was a dragon rider who made people explode. Would living here in isolation really make that problem go away?

The elf woman didn’t respond right away. For a moment, Harmoni thought she might attack them with some horrifying, unknown force, and they’d have to be rescued again.

Then, the woman sighed. “Very well. Forcing you to stay would rather defeat the point. But try to take heed. You are living an overly complicated life.”

Harmoni nodded. Was the woman making a guess, or did she somehow know this?

“Now, how many of you are there? We have someone with teleporting magic here in town.”

~~~

It was hard to explain teleporting, in that there was so little sensation. If she was the one using magic, she was sure that would be different. But as a passenger, there was no sound, no warping visuals, no feeling of travel. It was just, one moment they were in one place, the next they were someplace else. It was like blinking.

The teleporter had to take a few trips, with there being so many of them.

His job done, the teleporter gave a sweeping bow, and was gone.

“Err, sorry, about that,” Rasha said. Her head dropped partway into her shirt. “I shouldn’t have just . . . touched it.”

“You shouldn’t have,” Evin agreed, crossing his arms.

“But it worked out,” Harmoni quickly assured her. Fleck nodded firmly beside her.

“And it was pretty cool,” Cooper said. “I’ve never seen a town like that before.”

“Me neither,” Harmoni assured him.

Rasha shook her head. “We should . . . we should probably warn someone about that crystal, huh?”

“If it’s still there,” Evin said. They all looked at him. “What? I know magic only has limited energy. Well, unless it's done by a cleric. That seems to be an all or nothing type of supernatural." He lifted up a gross, cleric-cursed hand for emphasis. "For all we know, transporting four people and two dragons was all the juice that crystal had.”

Well, looked like they still had some loose ends to tie up.

Fleck and Moon went out to check the crystal. Despite getting tired, they were still faster than people walking on land. And Harmoni and Cooper could learn what they knew. They wouldn't have to make it back to relay the message.

Once they confirmed it did in fact still look magical, Harmoni and Rasha went into the school. They slowed to a stop in front of the headmaster's office, but neither seemed to be in a hurry to open the door. They both glanced at each other. After a moment of failed silent communication, where they raised eyebrows or made faces, Rasha giggled.

"Sorry. Just. Maybe we should just talk."

Harmoni smiled as well. "I don't really want to talk to the headmaster," she spelled out.

"Me neither," Rasha agreed. "I've talked to Tolith lately. You know, learning healing magic. But I think he'll. . .be a bit busy right now."

Right. Putting that aside, the new potions teacher probably couldn't do much. "Ava," Harmoni suggested, nodding decisively. "Let's talk to Ava."

And by the time that was done, well it was late. Days were short here. Harmoni was ready for some rest. She'd just, say goodnight to Cooper first. He and Moon were sleeping on the spaceship, but he was still waiting to hear back from them, before he headed to the ocean.