Tala, Rane, and Terry proceeded up the mountain range, making a couple more stops in order to collect stone for Rane.

They were quiet stops as Tala contemplated the Irondalians as well as the other ways in which who she was and who she wished to be actually interacted with humanity—gated and gateless—as well as the rest of Zeme.

She also had the recurring, passing thought that she was still officially an Eskau of the House of Blood. According to the arcane society on this continent, she could show up in any city and demand certain concessions, receive certain courtesies, and have specific rights. This was true because the House hadn’t revoked her status. They had explicitly not revoked it. Because of that, not only would she have those benefits, everything she did, once her status was revealed, would come down upon that House.

She felt like she could use that, even if she still didn’t know how to feel about it over all.

All this and more tumbled through her mind as Rane gave her the space to process, and Kit harvested the stone.

One of the two sources was another spot marked out in the wedding present that they’d received, but the other was a spur of the moment thing.

Rane saw some stone sticking up from the ground and paused to examine it, shearing off small bits in order to test its workability. As it turned out, it had some interesting properties… at least that’s what Rane said.

Tala didn’t really have a deep enough knowledge of either stone or of sculpting to fully grasp what he was explaining as he had excitedly asked for them to harvest some for him.

In both cases, Kit harvested a good amount of the material, leaving Rane with a rather good stock of stone to work with over the coming years.

Well, months at least. He was a much faster sculptor than his mundane counterparts after all.

When they were exactly as far north as old Marliweather, they turned and set off east, across the plains.

When they were about halfway from the mountains to the city, they were greeted with a truly puzzling sight.

There seemed to be a colony of arcanous rodents who had actually built a wall around the entrances to their collective burrows.

The wall was constructed of odd, nearly cubic, brown material.

The rodents themselves had profiles reminiscent of bears, if at maybe a third the size. Their faces were also far more rabbitlike, but their ears were rounded.

Tala frowned. “What… what is that?”

Rane was frowning as well. “I think they’re wombats?”

“What?” She looked at him in confusion. “Some rat-bat hybrid? Is that even possible?” She considered for an instant. “Well, they are both mammals, so—”

“No, no.” Rane shook his head, ending that line of thought. “They’re just a large rodent-like mammal. I don’t know much about them, but I do remember something about a fire-aligned colony of the creatures living in this area. They are less aggressive than many arcanous creatures, but still not exactly peaceful.” He frowned. “I think I have a cousin who got one as a familiar a century or so back? I recall playing with him a couple of times as a child. The fur is stiffer and stronger than you’d expect. Though he was gentle enough once soulbound.”

“Huh.”

Terry had stopped with them, and he was crouched low.

Rane gave a little smile. “Bad idea, Terry. They probably couldn’t hurt you, but—” Terry flickered forward, and Rane sighed. “Well, he’ll learn.”

As Terry arrived just outside the wall, the wombats collectively let out a sound akin to a cat being run over by a wagon—the sound the cat would make in furious exclamation, not the sound its body would make as it was being crushed.

At the same time, licks of magic shot out to the wall, and it burst alight, creating a literal ring of fire around their homes, even as they retreated toward their burrows.

The ground also caught fire, making a solid circle of flame, and if the smoke was any indication, the burrows had fires raging within them as well.

When the smell reached Tala, she grimaced. “Oh, that’s foul.”

Rane shrugged. “Well, I’m pretty sure that’s their poop that’s burning.”

Tala gave him a look. “They form their poop into bricks? Seriously?”

He shook his head. “As strange as it sounds, I think that even the mundane ones poop cubes.”

She raised an eyebrow. “That… What? Why?”

He shrugged again. “How should I know?”

Terry looked genuinely at a loss.

There wasn’t anywhere for him to flicker to that wasn’t engulfed in flame.

He could probably survive the fire for a time, but it would be uncomfortable at the very least. As the fire was magical, it would likely singe or actually burn him, too.

The terror bird was clearly irritated. If Tala had to guess, he was torn between wanting to just leave them be and not wanting to be warded off by flaming poop.

Tala snorted a laugh, then shook her head. “I suppose I can see how the colony has survived this long. They make it not worth the effort of eating them.”

“Yeah, and no one wants poop-smoked meat…”

“Isn’t that the truth.” She grimaced again. “Speaking of which.”

Rane nodded. “Yeah, we should be moving on.”

* * *

Tala, Rane, and Terry stopped in the plains on the edge of the disrupted region of old Marliweather.

There was essentially no evidence of the city’s previous existence, despite the area having only been abandoned for less than a hundred years.

But that lack of evidence was only for mundane senses. To Tala’s threefold sight, the evidence was unmistakable.

Great gashes in Reality were manifest in her sight, and the stone- and starward creatures were swarming around the splits that extended in those directions.

Experience told her that she shouldn’t go any closer as her magical weight could easily make things worse, and that was not the point.

Rane looked back and forth between her and what little he could perceive in the distance. “Well, this has nothing to do with me. I’m going to go play with my stones.”

He had an excited smile as he opened the portal into their sanctum. Tala huffed a laugh. “You did that on purpose.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.” He gave a wink. “You know where I’ll be, if you need me.”

Tala found herself smiling even as she shook her head. “You have fun, now.”

“Oh, I will.” The portal closed behind him, but Tala could see him—through her perception of everything within Kit—unconsciously rubbing his hands in anticipation as he regarded various potential pieces of stone.

She took a bit to watch him as he ran his fingers over the surface of various sections, clearly thinking about what he might make with each, and what he was in the mood to make that day.

It brought a smile to her lips, especially when she remembered those fingers and—

-So! What are we doing, now?-

Rude, but fine. She sighed, moving her focus back to the damaged reality. I think we should try to augment the sections back together, starting at a little tear.

She frowned. This might take a while, which meant that she wouldn’t be moving much… Her thoughts drifted back to the Irondalians that she’d helped give magic to…

-Oh! That’s a great idea. I’ll ask Lyn.- A moment later, Alat sent confirmation. -Lyn thinks it's a great idea, too.-

Great. She could do this. She could actually treat them as more than the results of a ‘could I?’ experiment.

Tala opened a large portal into Irondale, connecting—as usual—to the main gates at the town’s center.

Soon enough, those gates swung open as ten men and five women walked out, Lyn at their lead.

The others were members of the… Irondale Defenders. Tala would not address them by their own, chosen name for the group.

-I don’t know, the Talasen Guard has a nice ring to it.-

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Tala groused but didn’t reply. She was decided on taking a bit more responsibility, but that did not mean she would accept everything.

-At least not yet.-

Hush, you.

Lyn was looking around with a big smile on her face. “This is wonderful! The mountains are fairly close, and there are even some arcanous creatures in the near distance. Our reborn have been wanting to test their mettle against actual foes.”

Tala raised an eyebrow. “Is that wise?”

Ron stepped up beside Lyn and bowed to Tala. “Mother Tala.”

Tala felt her chest clinch up at the title. I’ll never be a real mother.

But she suppressed the surging emotions. Her children, when she had them, would never address her in this manner regardless. Then, she hesitated. She was using this as an excuse to distance herself.

All this flashed through her mind in an instant, and so when she spoke, interrupting Ron, it came hard after his use of ‘Mother Tala.’ “Alright, Ron. We need to discuss something.”

His mouth was open to continue speaking, but he stopped at her utterance. The others who had come out with him and Lyn shifted, exchanging glances. Regardless of his surprise, he mastered himself and nodded once. “I am listening.”

“I’m not your mother. I know it’s meant to be a title of honor, but right now, I cannot accept it for reasons I won’t go into. You are right that I have some role with regard to you all. You would not have magic without me, after all.”

He raised an eyebrow. “It’s far more than that… Mistress Tala. We live in your soulbound dimension. The magic we take in came from you. Our very natural magics are modeled after, and forged by, you. You may not have given birth to us, but you do at least as much as an adoptive parent—more than many—even without being very involved after granting us power.”

Tala frowned but gave a slow nod as she considered what he said. “True as that may be, I want to be a bit more involved with you all going forward.”

That caused a stir, but she held up a hand to forestall them.

“A bit, and the title you’ve insisted on using for me is actively making that… difficult.”

Ron gave a bow, instantly seizing on what she had offered. “Then, Matron?”

Tala gave a slow shake of her head. “For now, can we just go with Mistress?”

He frowned, seemingly gearing up to argue, but then he visibly deflated, seeming to reset his priorities and mindset on the fly. “If that is your preference. The point was always to show our appreciation and respect for you and all that you have done for us, our friends, and our family. You have my sincerest apology if it failed in that regard.”

“Accepted.” She nodded once for emphasis.

There was a moment of silence, but before it could become awkward, Ron cleared his throat. “With that cleared up, I wish to inform you that Mistress Lyn has agreed to watch over us as we engage one or two beasts. With her advanced nature, and our borrowed power, we should be more than safe enough.”

“Alright, but do not engage the fire-aspected colony to the west. They would be beyond you at this time.”

He tilted his head to the side, then shrugged and gave a nod. “As you wish.”

Terry shook himself from where he’d been curled up, sleeping on Tala’s shoulder since the wombats. He trilled an assertion, and Tala glanced his way. “Really?”

He bobbed his head in assent.

“Alright.” She turned back to Ron. “Terry has stated that he will watch over you and yours as you venture forth.”

Ron bowed deeply. “Thank you, master Terry, for your assistance.” He then turned to Lyn. “Mistress Lyn, is that acceptable?”

Lyn smiled. “Absolutely. You can move faster without me slowing you down, too.”

“Then, we shall be off.”

Without another exchange needed, Ron and those with him moved off to the south, moving much faster than any mundane could, Terry keeping pace beside them.

Lyn shook her head. “They are an interesting group, your Talasen. Those fifteen in particular are making great strides.”

Tala’s eye twitched. “The Irondale Defenders is a good group of folks, that's true.”

Lyn raised an eyebrow. “I agree that’s a more accurate name, but it’s not the one they chose. Do you feel that strongly about it?”

“I would prefer it not be a derivation on my name.”

She gave Tala a searching look. “Alright. I apologize. I didn’t realize you felt that strongly about it.” She then looked after the departing group. “Though, after your words with Ron, I suppose I should have assumed.

Tala grimaced. “Yeah. Thank you for the apology.”

Lyn huffed a laugh then waved her off. “Of course. I’ll see to it that they pick a new name. I don’t want to simply enforce one upon them. Do you want to talk about what’s bothering you?”

“No, I think I’m good.” Tala swallowed.

Lyn gave her a long look. “Alright. You know, I’m here when you’re ready to talk.”

Tala almost denied that there was anything to talk about, but then she just gave a sad smile. “Thank you, Lyn. I’ll… I’ll remember that.”

“See that you do.”

Without another word, Lyn turned and moved back into Irondale. There was activity on the other side of the gate as Irondalians were seemingly negotiating with Talasen Guards for escorts to explore the plains in which Irondale was anchored.

Tala shook her head, moving some hundred yards away from what was about to become an increasingly active gate and sitting cross-legged in the tall, snow-packed grass.

Once she had cleared her mind, she opened a portal into her sanctum and withdrew one of the flying devices.

She wanted to get a closer look at what she was going to be working with, and this was a convenient way to do so without having to rely on others, or overextend her own aura.

Soon, the uneven cylinder had unfolded its wings, revealing iron-covered contours rather reminiscent of a gyrfalcon, if darker in color and lacking the taloned feet.

With an effort of will, Tala connected with the device, and it took to the air, a bloodstar cloud in tow.

Given how much more information her threefold sight gave her than her mundane senses, using the flier was almost like flying herself.

She had to take the feeling of wind from her sitting form, however, as touch wasn’t something that the device provided back to her… she could aspect mirror that sense onto some of the orbs along with her perception, but that seemed like a recipe for disaster in that moment. So, she contented herself with a fantastic view.

It was time to see what she could do about these rents.

She could see all around the device in fantastic detail, even seeing the air currents via the tiny particles carried along within them. That let her ride the various breezes with ease.

She could move much faster as the flier than with her own body as it didn’t have her magical weight. That, coupled with the iron shielding, meant that there was essentially no way that it could create any magical resonance.

Soon enough, she brought the flier to a halt, hovering barely a dozen feet off the ground as she looked down on a smaller end of the inter-branching gashes in Reality.

She watched the creatures swimming star- and stoneward, seeming to jump across the gaps without any transit time, the reality threads between the two points strengthening with each pass.

Here goes nothing.

Tala reached out, focusing on two reality nodes and the thread connecting them.

She’d done things like this before—rust, she had nearly increased the coherence of her artificial lung to the point that it was a singular node—but she’d never acted across damage before.

Still, her magics took effect. Her long-honed gravity magics working to enhance an essentially identical form of attraction and connection.

Yup, not misusing the magics at all. Not one bit.

The working took easily enough, and she began dumping power into amplifying the connection.

As the gash had already been slowly closing, she’d picked a set of nodes a good distance from the most extreme ‘point’ of this rent.

It was odd to see the creatures naturally causing healing near to where she was working, and even as she poured power into the connection, the ‘point’ drew closer.

There was no danger of it reaching her—the natural repairs didn’t move that quickly—but there was something odd about being in the path of something that seemed so inevitable.

Alat was radiating a pleased feeling for some reason, but Tala decided that it wasn’t worth the distraction to figure it out at the moment.

Finally, after the sun had set, night had passed, and the sun had risen once again, Tala felt her magics reach a tipping point.

The two reality nodes that she had been affecting seemed to almost slip toward one another before clicking into place, drawing the surrounding parts of existence with them.

There was a small cascade as the gash that had been past the attempted repair was now cut off from the other damage. With an oddly silent series of clicks that Tala could feel echoing through the region’s zeme, the little segregated tear pulled entirely back together, Reality reasserting itself in that four inch strip of damage.

A moment later, there was no evidence that the damage had ever been there.

Tala just sat there with a big grin on her face for a long moment. She almost went to get Rane to celebrate, but she held off. There was still something that she needed to check.

Alright, this will be the moment of truth. Have you gotten a good look and record of what we have, here?

-Absolutely. I’m ready when you are.-

Tala nodded once in acknowledgement, even while keeping her eyes closed. Let’s do this.

With a minor effort of will, she changed her mindset, broke her previous understanding of the two nodes, and effectively released her workings.

The two reality nodes that she’d affected seemed to rebound slightly, moving a bit apart once more, revealing damage between them that remained unhealed, but the section that had been pulled together by their previous proximity stayed repaired.

Tala grinned broadly.

-Well done, Tala. That was an excellent first attempt.-

Thank you, Alat. Yeah. Now we just need to observe the location, and make sure that the parts that we affected can still heal naturally.

-I’ll keep an eye on it. I think Rane is starting to get antsy.-

Oh? She turned her focus onto her husband.

-Yup. You two still haven’t investigated the hold that you got from Master Grediv. All you did was devour it and stick it—whole cloth—onto the side of your sanctum for later use. Then, you went back to playing with the fliers, because you knew it would require planning to properly parse it out for melding with Irondale.-

…Right. She sighed and stood, purposely not letting her mind drift to the painful topic that she was out here to escape. Let’s go look at cool things.

-Ahh, yes, the remnants of a conquered House. What joys it will bring.-

Tala grinned then. I know, right? Besides, it’s not just one. It’s several.

Alat chuckled at that.

With an effort of will that was second nature by now, Tala appeared within Kit beside Rane.

He spun and caught her up in his arms, kissing her deeply. “There you are.”

“Here I am.” She said softly as she pulled back after the kiss was complete.

“How goes your work on the outside?”

“I fixed a little bit of one small rent.”

“Hey! That’s wonderful, Tala.” His smile was as genuine as it was pervasive. “I knew you could do it. That’s a solid proof of concept, right?”

His smile was infectious, and she returned it without thought. “Thank you, and yes, sort of. However, we still need to make sure there aren’t unforeseen side-effects. Alat is observing.”

“Oh, so you have some time, then?”

“Yeah, I thought we could do something fun.”

His eyes flicked toward their bedroom.

“Not that. I thought we could finally investigate the hold that we got from Master Grediv.”

Rane blinked, clearly recentering his mind. “Oh! That would be wonderful. Yeah, let’s do that.”

She hesitated, her own eyes flicking to the side. “Yeah, good. Let’s do… that, after.”

With a flicker of will, they arrived where she intended, and she wrapped her arms around him once more.