Golden sunlight streamed through the stained glass windows of the Solarium. Dellen’s eyes landed on Eliza, who was examining one of the plants in the corner, her tea and biscuits forgotten at the table.

“Is there something special about that plant?” He asked her.

“Yes, no, I just don’t think I’ve seen this species before.”

“You have a good eye, Miss Montgomery, I had that imported before the city’s borders opened up,” Lady Lockridge said.

“I cannot believe that is a useful skill,” Gilgamesh said.

Eliza allowed herself a small smile of success, “Are you all done talking about things that are not suitable for the likes of me?”

“Yes, sorry, my dear,” Lady Lockridge said, “We trust you, but you do work for the broadsheets; it would be best if we did not put you in a compromising position.”

“Listen to her Dellen, this is a lady who knows how to use the truth to deceive.”

Lady Lockridge flickered her gaze to Gilgamesh, before she continued, “Is there enough tea left for everyone?”

“Yes, my lady,” Albrecht said, pouring her a cup and placing a biscuit on a saucer.

“Thank you,” she said, taking a still steaming sip, and a seat. “Now to the matter at hand, I’m pledging one hundred thousand sovereigns to Dellen’s efforts to convert the Northcote Estate into the Northcote Institute.

“Can I print this?” Eliza asked, pulling out her pad of paper.

“Yes, I want citizens to have faith in the Northcote Institute, we want as many Aetherforged and partially Aetherforged as is possible as quickly as is possible.”

“Good, good,” Eliza said, her pencil scratching on the paper.

Dellen felt relief rather than surprise, he and Victoria had discussed this before, but it was grand to have her confirm it. “I’d like it best if you established a line of credit with a bank.”

"Of course, I believe in our vision for the institute, Dellen. I shall set up a line of credit for you at the Farridge Bank so you can access the funds as needed?”

"Thank you," Dellen murmured, momentarily lost in thought. He wondered how much of a free hand he could give Stefan with the funds. It would be best if his steward did not need any oversight.

"Is everything alright, Dellen?" Eliza asked, adjusting her perpetually sliding glasses as she studied him.

“Yes, it is, Copperopolis has just seen a lot of changes in a very short period of time, and I feel heavily responsible.” He did not mention the control room, he had chosen not to tell anyone, except Gilgamesh, about that little jaunt of his. Perhaps he should see if he could merely… Partially restart the city. After having seen Evergale and Ravenport, it seemed unfortunate that the spinning gears, a defining feature of his home, should be lost. It might even be best if the city spun again, and re-created the Aether boundary, but no, he could not do that, yes it would protect the city from predators, but in the admittedly unlikely event that he died and did not loop back, he would be re-consigning the city to losing the aetheric arts all over again, he thought that decisions was too big for him to make on his own.

"Actually, there's something else I wanted to discuss," Ember said, her voice suddenly somber. She glanced around the Solarium, as if worried about being overheard. "It's about Dakkon. I'd rather not be in the same city as him. Not him, and not Evelyn Thornbrook.”

The sudden shift in her demeanor caught Dellen off guard. Concern etched across his face, “Why, what do you know about Dakkon that we don’t?” They already knew all they needed to about why she might not want to be in the same city as Miss Thornbrook.

"Nothing's happened yet," she admitted, wringing her hands together. "But I’ve met him a few times, and I cannot help but feel distrustful. He doesn’t just play with shadows like I do. He becomes them, he slides into them, incorporates into them. Do you know how few High Trinity Aetherforged there are? There are stories about Dakkon, nothing proven, almost legends, maybe they follow him around because they’re just stories about what people are afraid he could do.”

“You’re being vague, my dear,” Lady Victoria said.

“People being found torn apart in places where they should not have been reachable. The sort of thing that it would be easy for a High Trinity Aetherforged to accomplish if they could turn into a shadow and slither through a crack in the wall. Stories about things that have happened when Dakkon also happens to be in the same city.” By the end of her short speech Ember looked much smaller than the confident woman who had accosted him in his office.

“I understand your concern,” Eliza said, “But compared to most of the citizens here, we’re all Dakkons. Do you know how few First Trinity Aetherforged are in the city?” She snapped her fingers, and a ball of fire flared over her hand. “I could scale a wall that only a few weeks ago would have been impassable, char an unsuspecting victim, and continue on my way.” She shook her head, “I won’t, I’m not a monster, but I could. Even if Dakkon did do these things, we’re in an enormous city, and I’ve spent time with him. I don’t think he’s a monster. I can imagine him as an assassin, I can even imagine him killing the unforged to try and take a core, but I cannot imagine him killing just to amuse himself. If you want to make people safe from him, a near impossible task I might add, then I recommend you help us with the institute, so there are as few unforged as possible in the city.”

The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

“How am I going to help? Dellen and Victoria have already told me that you don’t have people with Umbral Affinities here!”

“Perhaps use your abilities, often, in public. They’ll make people nervous, perhaps even more people will flock to be forged?” Lady Victoria said.

“I don’t like it,” Ember said, “I’d leave, I would, but I want your help finding Angus, and well, I’m not sure I can reach Third Trinity without you.”

“You’ve done it before. Why can’t you do it again?” Gilgamesh asked.

“It’s not as simple as just doing it, the materials are expensive and hard to find.”

“I’ll help you,” Dellen said.

“What?” Eliza demanded, “Why? You just met this woman!”

“I knew her from before my memories were scrambled,” Dellen said, “We were… Friends, I can tell that much.”

“We can ill afford additional expenses right now,” Lady Victoria said, “But I would also like to reach Third Trinity.”

“Shouldn’t you reach Second Trinity first?” Eliza asked.

“Look at me carefully.”

Eliza looked at Lady Victoria, eyes narrowed behind her glasses, “Your steelskin…” she muttered at last.

“Yes, I had one of the trainers from the guild assist with my forging.”

“Am I the only First Trinity in the room?” Eliza looked around, but Albrecht had left them to replenish the tea service.

“Let’s not get distracted,” Dellen said, focused on Ember as she glanced down at her hands. He could tell that none of their arguments had fully convinced her of anything. “What about Miss Thornbrook, what has she done, in the world outside, that has you concerned?”

“She’s a Seventh Trinity Aetherforged who wields fire!” Ember flinched back from her own words and her eyes unfocused, “Shadow and fire have a complicated history, fire feeds shadow, but banishes it at the same time… But strong fire?” She shivered without finishing her sentence. “There are dark stories about many of the High Trinity Aetherforged. It’s impossible to know if they’re true, but I’ve heard stories of Miss Thornbrook finding a village where a rare forging material grew, forging with it, and razing the village to the ground to prevent a rival from having access to the same resources.”

Dellen frowned, he could see the value in denying a resource to a rival, and no doubt Miss Thornbrook could too. The story was all too plausible. "Tell me what you know about Angus," he said, his voice steady despite the storm of emotions brewing within him. "Do you have any recollection of where we might find him?"

Ember hesitated for a moment, her gaze distant as if searching through memories. "Angus... He uses Terra Aether. He came here from Lurun, but he was always so vague about his history, even though he and I were close. I don’t know which tribe he came from. I'm certain, though, that he's been born, and is an adult by now.”

“A different continent,” Eliza murmured, “Well, you’re not making this easy.”

“If it was easy, I could do it on my own, but that would also mean abandoning Dellen and Victoria.”

“Your sudden loyalty is endearing,” Lady Victoria said, taking another sip.

Eliza gave them both a confused look.

"Then a search must extend beyond the city," Dellen said, “What do you think Angus’s goals will be right now?”

“Angus?” Ember said, “I had hoped we would meet him here. Knowing him, he will want to forge, I know he, ah,” she glanced at Eliza, “His ambitions were no lower than Sixth Trinity.”

Sixth Trinity, it was not the tower of strength that one associated with Eighth Trinity, what Dellen had once been, but an Aetherforged of any affinity of the Sixth Trinity was not to be discounted. That would be an individual single-handedly powerful enough to found and carry an organization on a scale similar to The Order of the Red Truth, unless a rogue Aetherforged of the same or higher Trinity decided to oppose them.

“Sixth Trinity,” Lady Victoria gasped, “That is an ambitious young man.”

“Do you think his ambition would have him questing after forging materials, or coming here, where he might hope to find us, so that he can find the backing he needs?”

Ember looked unsure, “It’s why I’m in Copperopolis.”

“How did you know Lord Northcote and Lady Lockridge before his memory loss, but also someone from outside of Copperopolis?” Eliza asked, looking confused.

“I smuggled myself in with the Mercantile Guild before your city opened up.”

“A plausible lie!” Gilgamesh announced. Dellen hid a smile, Gilgamesh took a little too much joy in rating deceptions.

“You smuggled yourself in?” Eliza asked, “I just wanted to smuggle myself out.”

“It’s easier when you don’t just have to hide in shadows, but the shadows will also help hide you.”

“Alright,” Dellen said, “So I have four goals right now. They are, forging as many citizens as possible. I believe that is going well. Founding and expanding the Northcote Institute, thanks to Lady Victoria, that is underway. Finding the materials I require to raise myself to Third Trinity, I need to decide which materials I’m going to use, and learn where to acquire them, and lastly, I’d like to help find Angus.” Dellen was not as worried about Angus, Ember had brought back some memories for him, but Angust was all but a blank clay mold in his mind. At the back of his thoughts tickled the idea of finding his distant cousins in the Northcote line and bringing them back into the fold. It felt good having the Northcote Estate alive with people, maybe it would feel even better to have it alive with relatives.

“All of those seem like achievable goals, of course Eliza should bring herself up to Second Trinity. I think that’s at a minimum.”

Eliza let a frown mar her face, but did not disagree.

“Now, for Third Trinity, here our options begin to diverge.”

“For you,” Ember said to Dellen, “I recommend stormscale.”

Dellen felt almost like a callus had been scrubbed from his brain. Stormscale. There were many, many materials with which once could forge, some better, some worse, some downright inimical like zinc, but stormscale was a rare material, only found in stormclouds with the right hatcheries floating in them. It could only be forged when still in the cloud, at least forged to its full potential. He had enough raw talent that he could probably reach Fourth Trinity regardless of what mix of materials he used to reach Third, but stormscale would make it easier, and he would be stronger as a result. “An excellent choice.”

“Why do you know what that is?” Eliza asked.

“I get flashes of memory,” Dellen replied.

“That’s only one material, though, and a hard one to find at that. You still need two more, I’d recommend mercury and chromium. I’d recommend them as their first and second forgings for anyone of the Second Trinity looking to pave the way to Third.”

“Oh,” Eliza said, “After stormscale I was expecting things to be more esoteric.”

“They are, at Fourth Trinity, Dellen could try to forge with more esoteric options at his current Trinity, but it might not go so well. Most trying to raise themselves stay with the simplest, safest options, as it is not just a question of finding the materials, but also of having the necessary talent to forge oneself. It isn’t like the First and Second Trinity when another Aetherforged can do all of the hard work for you.

“Kinematic Aether could still make use of stormscale, though it’s hard to imagine that you could find a strong enough source of Aether in the clouds to accomplish the forging, but I recommend glimmerstone.”

“Why?” Lady Victoria asked.

“Simply put? It will make you faster.”

“What about me?” Eliza asked.

“After you reach Second Trinity? Tigers eye gems, they’ll enhance your flame.”

“And for yourself?” Dellen asked.

“Starshadow,” Ember replied.