The first place I checked was the tower itself. I knew my brothers would be there but I was unsure if Mum or Dad might have taken some time at the node to absorb more vis. Or gone out for something else entirely. Yuuna came along right away and we found the place completely empty. I was about to panic when Yuuna spoke up.

“Mum brought them out. They need to meet people.”

I blinked, then took a deep breath.

“Thanks. Where’s Dad?”

“Maybe still at the house?”

“Thomas’ house?”

She nodded.

“You go look for him, I’ll find Mum and the boys.”

With our roles settled, we took off again. They had to be somewhere in the village if they were meeting people. I circled a few times above to look for them but was not successful. So I decided to ask around.

I landed in front of the smithy only a few buildings over from our tower. Rubeos was busy working some metal. It seemed he was making a pan. His son was free, only sharpening some knives. He soon noticed me and walked over.

“What can I do for ya?”, he asked.

“Did you see where my Mum went with my brothers?”

He put a hand up to his eye then remembered it was dirty and lowered it.

“Nah. Didn’t come ‘ere, at least. I got no clue.”

“Did you see them fly somewhere?”

“Nope.”

“Alright, thanks.”

I left and flew low between the buildings. There were a few people walking around or standing together and I asked them about my family’s whereabouts but nobody knew anything. Eventually, I made my way all the way to the other side of town. I knew there was a hunter living here. The man was Leon’s teacher. And from the house, I heard a familiar tone. My mum’s voice as it came out of the arcane speaker.

I knocked on the door.

“Hold on”, someone said.

Then, steps moved closer to me. The door opened. In front of me stood a wiry man with disproportionately muscular arms. His eyes widened in recognition.

“Oh. You here for ‘em? Come on in!”

“Thank you”, I said and entered.

The house was simple with a table, a few chairs and some kind of workspace on either side. One of them was a kitchen with a stone stove while the other held several tools I knew were used for leatherworking. Knives, awls, burnishers and others among a few threads of different thicknesses. A young woman was sitting there and putting some marks on a simple piece of leather. Mum sat next to her with the boys standing slightly behind and staring intently at the woman’s hands.

“Aeria, you got someone looking for you”, the hunter said as he moved back to the table.

I spotted Leon sitting there over a familiar chalkboard. I let them get back to their lessons and turned to Mum.

“Hello, there”, the woman said, “I’m Thea, Silbert’s wife.”

I looked between them. She seemed a little young to be with the hunter. Clear laughter sounded through the room.

“It’s been some time since we got that reaction”, the woman said.

Silbert chuckled.

“Well, why don’t you come over? I was just showing Aeria here how I prepare the leather for a knife handle.”

“… sure.”

I jumped up with a flap of my wings and greeted Mum with a short nuzzle of my beak to the side of her neck. The boys huddled up between us, seeking protection.

“Oh, they are so cute!”, Thea squealed.

Sem clicked his beak while Hik retreated further.

“They are!”, Mum said.

I nodded and put a wing behind them. The improvised cave helped to settle them a little. I knew they could understand a few words but it was like talking to little kids. They simply had to learn a lot more before being able to hold a conversation. Mum had not even brought their arcane speakers.

“What are you doing here, Mum? Do you want to be a [Leatherworker]?”

“No. I want this to be easier.”

She held up the artefact that let her speak awkwardly in her talon. I nodded.

“Good idea. I prefer my shadows.”

I indicated the necklace made from darkness holding my own arcane speaker to my chest.

“Oh, that is quite interesting!”, Thea mused, “Is that a Skill of yours?”

I nodded.

“It’s very useful.”

“I can imagine.”

“Why were you showing Mum how to work leather when she only wants a necklace?”

“Because she needs to pay me somehow. If she knows how I work the material, her hunts will bring in better material.”

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I tilted my head.

“Even my husband has to know how to work a hide. Otherwise, he would ruin it.”

“Oh, let it be, wife. It’s been almost two decades.”

Thea giggled.

“Well, what brings you here, Fio?”

“I was coming to get my family all gathered up. The mercenaries wanted to talk to us.”

The woman’s eyes widened and her mouth formed a small ‘o’.

“I hope you’ll be fine”, she said, “and not taken away or something.”

“I don’t think that’s an issue”, I said, “We’re getting along quite well. They just need some more details for their report.”

“Ah, that’s good, then. But keep them on their toes! You can never fully trust city folk!”

I clicked my tongue and narrowed my eyes.

“I will. Thank you.”

Minutes later, we were back at the tower. Yuuna had found Dad and everyone was there, ready for the ‘big talk’. I expected it to be over rather quickly.

Joachim, Ludwig and Cerberos stood at the bottom of our tower a short while later. I was wondering why Kranos and Jasper did not come along but it was not really important. All of us owls got together on the ground floor as I invited the men inside. Joachim had his sword on his hip and Ludwig was carrying a knife. Cerberos had his bow with him but it was unstrung. That made me breathe out some tension I did not know I was holding.

“Welcome”, Mum said, “Take a seat.”

The men nodded and took a chair each. I was busy preparing tea with Yuuna heating up the kettle but still listened in on the conversation.

“Right”, Joachim began, “We’ve met already, mostly, but let’s do some short introductions. I’m Joachim, leader of the Plains Brigade. These are my companions Ludwig, our [Scout], and Cerberos, our [Hunter]. We’re here on a mission for Lord Ekos, [Lord] of the land this village belongs to. Word came from the [Village Head] there was a sapient owl willing to interact favourably with humans.

“Our mission was to investigate since there is always a high risk of thaumaturgy or aura nodes being involved in a matter such as this. We’ve since concluded our presence as combatants is not required. Even with all of you here instead of the one expected sapient beast, there’s nothing that would prevent your prolonged stay in Greypeak or Eterios as a whole.

“Any questions so far?”

“What’s Eterios?”, Yuuna asked.

“The country we live in. It has a [King] ruling at the top and several [Lord]s managing smaller matters. The number changes all the time, though. I think there’s seven right now?”

Ludwig nodded.

“Anything else?”

“What about beyond Eterios?”, I asked.

“That’s a little more complicated. Not for you since you’re a dwarven citizen but the others will need some kind of identification to prove they are part of the country or they’ll likely be poached by either the Church or some other lord. In fact, it’s quite likely Lord Ekos will try to get some of you to work directly for him after we deliver our report. Sapient beasts are always very powerful if trained properly.”

“Trained?”, Dad asked.

“Trained, taught, guided. Nothing malicious, really.”

“You can just say no”, I said.

Cerberos gave me a nod.

“So”, Joachim said, “We brought this thing.”

He put a block of crystal maybe twenty by twenty by five centimetres on top of the table.

“This is an item that will show if you are subservient to a leader Class. It will also point toward the corresponding leader and give a rough estimate of the distance. At least within the human plains. I don’t know if it can detect farther than that. Please touch it, one by one.”

My family looked a little nervous around the block. It had a clear magical aura, some mix of humanus, sensus, praecantatio and several others that blended together without much rhyme or reason. The first three at least made sense.

I decided to take the bullet and touched it. Outwardly nothing happened. Within, I felt a tendril of soul vis reach out to connect to my brain. I was ready to cut it at any moment but it did not do anything. Instead, the block pushed and pulled my vis a little before going dormant once again.

“Wow”, Cerberos said, “I’ve never seen it stay blank.”

“Either your liege is too far or you don’t have one”, Joachim said.

“The latter”, I confirmed, “It’s safe”, I told the others.

Mum hesitated for another moment but pushed through. This time, there was a visual. The crystal lit up a soft blue with a green dot in the centre and a yellow one a tiny bit north. They were so close they almost overlapped.

“Great!”, Joachim said, “You recognize Greypeak’s village head as your leader. That means you’ll be able to move through Eterios and pretty much all human countries without much to worry about. If the guards anywhere make trouble just tell them to bring out an ID crystal.”

Mum nodded and pulled her talon back. Next was Yuuna. For her, the exact same thing happened. I noticed Ludwig scribbling details into a notebook. It was actual paper but a little rough compared to what the dwarves made.

Dad proceeded as well. Again, a green and yellow dot practically overlapping. Notes were taken and that was it.

“The little ones as well”, Joachim said.

“That might be an issue”, I said.

“Why?”

“They reached sapience after the ceremony. I don’t think they understand the concept of a leader quite yet.”

“I see. Still, go for it.”

It took quite a bit of coaxing to get the boys to move closer to the humans. Eventually, they got there. This time, for both of them the dots were directly on top of each other. The colours fought for a little before turning magenta.

Ludwig nodded.

“Expected.”

“What does this mean?”, I asked.

“They are loyal to someone within a few metres, is what this colour means. In this case, their parents. The [Village Head] only needs to be their ‘leader’ once they are old enough to make that decision. It would be an issue if anyone tested while they had no leader but that is highly unlikely.”

Mum let out a sigh of relief.

“So that’s settled, then?”, I asked.

“Mostly”, Joachim said, “I’ll need to see a more direct proof of your involvement with the dwarves.”

“Oh, how about this?”

I activated my storage and Ludwig screamed. The scrawny scout jumped back and just barely caught himself before hitting the wall.

I blinked. My heating plate dropped onto the table and I closed the portal.

“You alright, Lud?”, Joachim asked.

The man had one hand on the hilt of his sword and was eyeing me carefully.

“What… was… that?”, the man asked.

“My storage?”, I said, “It’s a Skill.”

“That was what I felt. Warped bullocks. That is just so wrong. On so many levels!”

“It’s more useful than wrong”, I said, “Anyway, is this proof enough?”

I indicated the heating plate. Cerberos carefully got a closer look.

“Huh”, he said, “That’s a genuine dwarven artefact.”

“Made it myself under guidance of a proper [Artificer].”

“You don’t have the Class”, Ludwig said.

“What do I need a Class for?”, I smirked.

The men shuddered. Only Cerberos looked intrigued as if that idea was very welcome.

“Alright. I’ll take that as proof”, Joachim said.

“Great!”, I said and put the artefact away.

Ludwig only flinched this time.

“Anyone want some tea?”, I asked.