Mason spent 'the night' with Eve, whatever exactly that meant in the fey. Learning the runes hadn't hurt him, but they did seem to have drained his energy in a way he hadn't experienced since early in the apocalypse. It didn't help that Eve woke him. Several times.

He didn't mind, obviously. She was gorgeous in a kind of unreal, movie-star way that would have terrified him in his old life. But he was really tired.

So he made her do all the work, riding him like one of those mechanical bulls until he passed out again. Eve kept bringing him water and all kinds of nuts and berries, which were shockingly filling, though not what he wanted.

"I don't suppose you eat meat," he said, munching on some kind of...leaf.

Eve shook her head, then wiggled her brow.

"Unless you count the last several hours."

Mason grinned and chewed. Slept and dreamed.

They weren't typical druid dreams. He felt far more in control, but they weren't normal either. Mason saw himself wearing clothes you might see on some medieval warrior—maybe a bearskin cloak over green chain mail. His hair was long, his beard ragged. He looked out over the rise of a hill, and with his 'dream' view he panned around himself like a camera on a drone.

A forest burned. A man Mason could only see as a dark, blurry figure stood next to him laughing, the sound disturbingly familiar, yet somehow impossible to remember why. All around the trees were more shadowy figures that looked like an army hacking with axes, and lighting torches. He couldn't decide what sort of creatures they were, but the man beside him was definitely human.

"Mason? Wake up. You're safe. It's alright."

He woke covered in sweat, a hair's breath from drawing a Claw. He found a concerned, maybe slightly frightened Eve next to him in her bed.

"I'm sorry to wake you...but, I don't think you were enjoying wherever you were."

Mason nodded and stood, feeling far better than the night before. The nexus event had definitely taught him not to take his druid dreams as exactly true. He was starting to think of them as possibilities, or premonitions.

His dream about the Nexus had been mostly right, but wrong in the details. And he suspected through his actions they could be changed. He paced a little to clear his head, then took a breath and smiled for Eve's benefit.

"I'm alright. Now you promised to teach me what to do with those runes. You wouldn't want me to think you lied just to get me into bed."

Eve smiled and dropped the sheet to her waist, and Mason did his best to stay focused.

"You cannot draw a rune physically. But you can draw them with your mind. Some beginners use a finger in the air. You must hold the entire shape somehow in your mind's eye, or your vision. Focusing on a wall or the sky can be useful."

Eve finally put some clothes on, which helped. Mason took a breath and focused on the furthest wall, imagining the shape of the cold rune and trying to draw it in the air. But the shape was reasonably complex and, as usual, Mason was not a patient man.

Instead he imagined it like a cattle brand, and stamped the damn thing.

A rush of cold air formed around him, then blasted towards the spot he'd been staring. It covered it with frost, and his mana decreased a little. Then everything was normal again.

"Did I just do it?"

"You did." Eve grinned. "It can be channeled as well—altered, manipulated, woven with other runes. You have hardly begun to understand its complexity."

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"As in, I can use cold and tree together?"

Eve nodded, and gestured for him to try.

"But know using two is far more difficult. You must hold both images in your mind without losing either. The clarity is important. The size changes the effect. Many details matter, but you will have to practice on your own, it cannot be explained easily."

Mason focused. The symbol of arborea felt bigger to him somehow, though he wasn’t sure why. He decided to draw it more slowly, getting the image clear before he imagined 'stamping' the cold symbol inside it.

He instantly felt the rush of success as he finished. He also felt this time he could hold it and channel more mana as Eve said, but decided to let it go instantly again.

The ground broke apart. Small tendrils of white roots ripped out of the short grass. They grasped a fallen log, wrapping weakly around it, seeming to hold it like constricting snakes for a moment before dissolving into nothing.

[Runic spell learned: Grasping Frost. Sometimes it’s best to hedge.]

“Well done, Champion! And so quickly. Truly impressive.”

“I learned a new spell,” Mason said, grinning. His mana had taken a slightly bigger hit, but it couldn't have been more than five percent.

“I see that." Eve laughed and tied up her sex-tussled hair. "You will learn more. Try the runes in different ways. Be mindful of your surroundings, of the natural world. Seek out the language of the gods. But be patient. You have much to learn, and it will take time.”

Mason smiled, thinking maybe he should linger in the fey just a little while longer...

He missed Haley, and Streak, and all the others. But for them no time would pass, and he couldn't imagine a greater gift than time to learn some more power.

He prepared himself to try another version when a bit of light seemed to drift through the edges of the roof, or at least light it.

"I love the dawn," Eve said, holding out a hand for Mason. "Will you watch the sunrise with me?"

Mason went to her, but frowned in confusion.

"The sunrise? I didn't see a sun in the fey before. Are we in some different part of it?"

Eve blinked and shook her head.

"We are not in the fey now, Champion. I exist there, but I cannot linger in this form. You are in my home in the north."

Mason felt a brief rush of panic.

"How long have I been here?"

Eve shrugged. "An evening. A night. You were exhausted, Mason. The days are shorter here, the sun lasts perhaps ten hours. Though it will get even shorter as..."

"I have to go." Mason ran his hands through his hair. The others would have been expecting him to come right back. They'd be worried and wondering what was wrong. And he'd only had three days before the communication beacons activated. Had he lost one? Two?

"You are here to be taught, Champion," Eve said. "The mistress gave clear instruction that you had..."

"Your mistress, not mine," Mason said, a little more harshly than intended. He was feeling a bit like he had back when he'd accepted the Avatar of Gaia and used her power. Like he was losing control, somehow being manipulated. Tricked. He didn't like it. Not one bit.

Eve was staring, somewhere between confused and hurt. Mason took a deep breath.

"I'm not angry with you. Your mistress...lied to me. Or at least didn't tell me everything. I have things to do, Eve, and no time. Not yet. One day I promise I'll come back and stay longer. But for now..."

"Others need you," Eve said, coming closer with a smile. "I understand. I am being selfish." She trailed a finger up his chest, and leaned in to kiss his cheek. "But at least I didn't waste any time."

He kissed her lips and grinned.

"No you didn't. Thank you, Eve, for the lessons. For everything."

"One more moment, please," she said, and Mason practically groaned.

"My vestments. I told you we could improve them. And I have regained considerable strength." Her eyes flicked over his still naked body, and she sighed. "Now put on your clothes, please."

Mason activated 'Eabha's Vestments' from his innate items, the strange, tight fabric forming over him snugly. Eve grinned as she inspected.

"I do like them as is. But I expect you'd prefer something...more useful."

He nodded and she hmmd and hawed, walking around him in a circle.

"Something that...adapts, perhaps, like you do. That might even suit your other forms. Though I can tell by your scent that you rarely use them."

"I only have one," Mason said.

"Hmm." Eve held up a hand, her eyes glowing with a faint aura of greenish blue power. "If you have any requests, Champion. Now is the time."

"Less tight," he said instantly, then blinked as he thought of his dream. "Could you make it look...like armor? I don't care how I look, but I'm a baron now. I have to deal with people. They need to be take me seriously so I don't have to hurt anyone just to..." he shrugged. "I need to look..."

"Regal," Eve finished. “Intimidating.”

Mason sighed with a nod.

"Something like that."

The great tree's spirit smiled as the power in her eyes increased, seeming to swell in the light of the dawn as she drew energy from the water of her pool in a flowing river of mist.

"I will help them see you as you are. Knight of Gaia. Avatar of the Horned God. The gods of the earth have chosen you as their champion, druid, not just I. Let your enemies see you, and know fear."

Mason straightened, feeling a little pumped up, being honest. But he would be happy with anything that didn't look like spandex.