A few days later, Thepa and Rory set out with the rest of Elite Team One for the Wildehaven controlled ionic crystal. The plan was simple. The group would travel to the crystal, set up camp at the base of the tower, and wait while Wilran guided Rory in building an affinity with her magic. Along the way, Wilran would explain the finer points of being a cleric and how Rory could offer concessions to her goddess. However, in Thepa's mind, the plan was far from perfect. It relied heavily on someone she barely knew and on forces she didn't fully understand. Yet, for Rory's sake, she had was willing to try anything, desperate to help the sister she loved.

Despite her reservations, Wilran was ecstatic. The Youngling of the Stars kept Thepa up half the night with endless questions about Rory's situation. At one point, sometime after the fourth bell, Thepa felt a growing awkwardness when Wilran asked about the deity Rory followed. When the name 'Chandeidra' came up, Wilran winced before quickly changing the subject. Thepa wasn't sure what to make of the action but chalked it up to a difference of theological opinion. When Wilran didn't pursue the matter further, Thepa didn't bring it up again. There was already enough for her to worry about without getting into a debate on a topic of which she knew very little.

"Let's make camp here," Thepa declared, the group arriving at the ionic crystal sometime around mid-day.

Zuna and Yenry quickly set about unpacking while Tosh and Julius ascended the platform to keep watch. Thepa's gaze drifted to Wilran, who had settled into a meditative stance near the flickering campfire, beckoning Rory to follow suit. Curious about what was to come, Thepa joined them as Wilran began to speak.

"Magic comes from inside of us," Wilran began, allowing the subtleness of her voice to draw the two of them in. "It's in our bones. It is granted to us by our Goddesses, but our bodies are a channel from which it flows. With me so far?"

Rory nodded, encouraging Wilran to continue.

"Sometimes, to release it, it is a matter of saying the right chant. Other times, it requires a material sacrifice. Almost always, it requires the somatic movement of our hands to work its way out."

Wilran demonstrated the gesture by twisting her hands and sending a burst of energy into the air. "The hard part is learning to focus on the internal experience of the somatic movement rather than the external appearance of the movement. Basically, it doesn't have to be perfect on the outside, but you have to let the magic flow from you or it won't work. When it does, you will see positive results like this."

Rory gave Thepa a bewildered look, but Thepa shrugged. "Don't look at me. It's quite the opposite with the bow. Off by an inch, off by a mile."

Wilran closed her eyes and started to cast a spell. As she did, Thepa could feel the magic around them pulse and crack in the air, perfectly in tune with Wilran's chant. The energy arched around her, shimmering with life. When Wilran's incantation reached its peak, the warmth grew stronger, enveloping Thepa entirely. Then, with a sudden burst of light, the energy snapped—sucking Thepa through the void.

In a blink, Thepa reappeared alongside Tosh, Julius, and Wilran, now standing on the towering ionic crystal atop the platform. A surge of anxiety tightened her chest as she realized Rory was nowhere in sight. Panic rising, she called out, her voice echoing against the soft hum of the ionic crystal.

"Rory?"

"I'm here," Rory responded, rushing up the stairs.

Thepa let out a shaky breath, grateful nothing bad had happened to Rory. But before she could fully relax, she noticed Wilran's face flush with embarrassment. "I'm sorry. I should have made sure she was attuned with the crystal first."

Thepa shot Wilran a perplexed look. "She is attuned. I've teleported here with her myself. I was even there when she connected with it."

"Oh..." Wilran's voice trailed off, uncertainty creeping into her expression. "Maybe she resisted? I can't teleport her against her will."

Rory frowned; furrowing her brow. "I'm sorry I didn't know what you were doing."

"I guess I'm not a very good teacher then" Wilran continued to blush with embarrassment. I will try to be more direct."

Thepa started to head back down the stairs when Tash stopped them. "Why don't you have her try attunement just in case?"

It's likely she just didn't realize you were teleporting..." Thepa started, but her words caught in her throat as Rory stepped forward, pressing her hand against the smooth surface of the crystal.

Rory closed her eyes, and the crystal blazed to life, glowing brighter with each heartbeat, casting an ethereal light across their faces. Just as Thepa felt her pulse quicken, Rory's eyes snapped open, wide with shock, and she inhaled sharply as if awakening from a deep sleep. In that fleeting moment, both Rory and the crystal pulsed with blinding light before the glow flickered and faded into silence.

All Thepa could do was stare, mouth agape. How...she wondered. As far as she knew, there was no possible way to lose attunement.

As Thepa tried to process what she had just seen, Wilran wasted no time in leading them back down the stairs, pondering the answer to her unspoken question. "Perhaps the crystals themselves are connected to memories? Either way, we should be able to do it again with more success. Let's go back to the bottom and try again."

The whole thing started to set uneasy in Thepa's bones. There was something about Rory's attunement, her loss of memory, and the way Rory had been acting that made everything seem off. She doubted anyone else could sense it, not having the same familiarity with Rory, but it pricked at her heart nevertheless.

At the bottom, Wilran began to cast the spell. This time, Thepa felt a slight difference in the air as the casting ended. Instead of the spell arching around her, this time it arched around all three of them, and they disappeared together. When they reappeared at the top of the platform, Thepa gave a sigh of relief, though the sensation continued to gnaw at her.

Wilran smiled at her success. "How do you feel?"

"I feel...the same, I guess," Rory said. "It felt like the magic was inviting me in, so I let it come, but that was about it."

"That's good," nodded Thepa, trying to reassure herself more than her sister. "You're normally on the spell casting end and not the receiving end. That's how it should feel."

"Yes" Wilran said, leading Rory back down the platform. "It is a bit weird at first, but you get used to it. Let's go over how the somatic movement works. If you need me to go slow, let me know."

"Please do," Rory said with a grateful smile.

"Don't worry about it," Wilran said. "Somatic movement is exploratory in nature. Even when we practice it with the intention of improving our spell casting technique, the way we move is guided by the magic inside of us. As a result, we need to be able to focus on the internal experience of the movement at all times or the magic itself gets bottled up inside. If we are not careful, the results can be disastrous."

"In what way?" Rory asked, frowning. Subconsciously, Thepa frowned too. Her heart continued to prick at her very soul.

"That's a good question. Most of the time nothing, just a miscast spell. Sometimes, it results in mild headaches, but in rare cases it can explode outside of our control. A lot of it depends on the spell. If I was healing you, it might just result in a minimal effect. If we were teleporting, it might send us to another ionic crystal or somewhere else entirely."

This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.

"It sounds dangerous," Thepa added.

Wilran nodded sympathetically. "It can be, but don't let it scare you. The magic wants to release in the way you're thinking about it. Which brings me to my next point: being conscious about your spell. If you're not focused or aware of your somatic movements, the magic is likely to get away from you. That is why when we practice, we do so slowly and with deliberation. Only as time goes on do we gradually speed up. It's just like learning to play a musical instrument - practice makes perfect."

Thepa laughed, grateful for some understanding. "Now that I can relate to. Practice is practice no matter the tool."

Rory half smiled and said, "I guess that makes sense."

"Great. Are you ready to try the movements?" Wilran asked. Rory nodded and Wilran closed her eyes.

"Follow my lead," Wilran said then she started the first part of the movements. Thepa followed as well, hoping to encourage Rory, but stopped as Rory hesitated.

Rory looked down at her arms. "Do I have to close my eyes?"

Thepa almost fell over in laughter. The simple response had caught her so off guard, she had to bring a hand up to her mouth to suppress its infection. Wilran too struggled to keep her composure, but managed to shake it off with a short apology. "No. Again, I'm sorry. My idiosyncrasies are not necessary in casting spells. I'm just use to closing my eyes when I cast that spell. Go ahead and do what is comfortable for you."

Rory smiled and held up her arms again. Like Wilran, she repeated the first somatic movements of the spell and stopped. Wilran gave her another encouraging smile.

"That's close. Let's try again."

On they practiced. Wilran would mimic the somatic movements and Thepa and Rory would imitate her. It was a weird feeling for Thepa. It reminded her of some of the early exercises she did to build endurance with the bow. She hoped Rory wasn't feeling the same way, but a quick glance showed Rory's movements becoming smoother and more confident with each repetition.

"That was better that time," Wilran said, taking a break. "How do you feel?"

Rory blushed, "To be honest, a little silly. I feel like I'm swatting at a gnat."

It wasn't the answer Thepa was hoping for, but she could tell Wilran wasn't worried. "I remembered feeling the same way when I first learned about spells. "Just wait until we add chanting."

They exchanged smiles, but an uneasy feeling began to churn in Thepa's stomach as she observed the two stare, brown into green. Again, her heart pricked. For a moment, she thought the feeling might have been jealousy of the connection the two were making, but as she found her own eyes focusing on the whites of Wilran's, she could see what was really passing through the empty space between them: fear and reverence. Unsure of what it meant; she watched as Wilran broke the awkwardness.

"Rory, I've been meaning to—"

"Someone's coming from the east," interrupted Tash, pointing across the horizon.

Thepa looked up and saw a figure running towards them. In the moment, a desire to protect overcame her, forgetting about Wilran's question. Instead, she ran back up the platform and looked in the direction Tash was pointing and asked, "Friend or foe?"

"Friend," said Yenry from behind her. "He's definitely a halfling by the look of it, and Pearlview is about thirty minutes in that direction. But..."

"But what?" answered Julius.

Thepa ran down the platform, shouting, "Something's wrong. Come on. Let's go see." The others rushed after her, and they soon met with the panicked man. Worried it might be a trap, she kept her guard up, but for all appearances, the man looked like nothing more than a halfling fisherman.

"Help us," the halfling said, grasping for air. "There's a platoon of hobgoblins approaching Pearlview. We don't stand a chance."

"How long and how many?" asked Thepa.

The fisherman continued to grasp for air. "Maybe forty. I'm not sure. They might be there by now. I ran as soon as I saw them."

"Yenry," Thepa ordered, "Use your diplomatic pouch and write to Mistress Deeprabbit. See if they can send support right away. Catch up when you can. The rest of you follow me."

Without looking back, Thepa ran without a thought until they could see the small town in the distance ahead of them. The terrain was largely flat, save for a large sand dune blocking the view of the town. By the time they reached the height of it, they saw that the hobgoblins were attacking the gate. Thepa couldn't be sure, but based on the way they were pressing against it, they had to have almost broken through.

"We need to do something fast. There is only a small—Rory what are you doing here?" Thepa chastised herself. How had she been so careless? In the twenty of so minutes since running straight for the dune, she had become so focused on helping the town, she forgot all about Rory. Her heart became to prick her incessantly and a bead of sweat dripped down her cheek she was sure had nothing to do with the run. However, now that she was here, she wasn't sure what to do. There was no way she was sending Rory anywhere near that battle.

Feeling a surge of frustration, Thepa scanned her surroundings, her mind racing. She briefly considered sending Rory back to the crystal for safety, but the thought of leaving her vulnerable in the open sent a shiver of anxiety through her. A smaller dune lay ahead, but it was too close to the chaos of the battle to risk. Frantically, her gaze shifted toward the bluffs that descended toward the ocean, a potential refuge.

"Rory, you head west toward those bluffs and stay hidden," Thepa instructed. "As for the rest of you, strike, hard, strike fast. We need to make our presence felt. Hopefully, help is on the way. Julius, I need you on sleep duty. Wilran, do what you can to keep Matron Zuna on her hooves. We can't wait for Yenry to back us up."

Wilran started chanting and cast an armor spell on Zuna, while Thepa rushed the battlefield. The downward slope of the dune drove her legs faster than she normally would have carried herself, but Thepa managed to stay aloof, barely keeping the upper part of her body from toppling forward.

"Hey! Over here!" she yelled at the top of her lungs, desperate to draw the enemy's attention. It wasn't until she reached the crest of the smaller dune that she finally paused, pull out her bow, her arrows slicing through the air, each one finding its mark with a sickening thud as it struck flesh.

With expert precision, Thepa felled foe after foe, but their sheer numbers pressed in like a rising tide. Her arms burned from the effort, and as the first hobgoblins surged up the base of the small dune, she glanced at her daggers, questioning if her bow could keep pace with the onslaught. Just as doubt crept in, a blur shot past her periphery—a figure hurtling through the air, riding a steel shield like a battering ram.

In an impressive leap, Zuna reached the height of the dune, abandoning the shield to dive into the fray, knocking several hobgoblins back from the gate. To Thepa's left, a brilliant ball of light whizzed past, striking a hobgoblin inches from her and filling the air with the sweet scent of honey. Before she could even notch another arrow, a small group of enemies collapsed to the ground, unconscious.

However, things were not going well. The hobgoblin's attention was diverted from the gate, but Zuna was taking more than she could handle. A smaller group of archers had broken out bows to lay down suppressive fire, forcing Tash, Julius, and herself to take cover behind the small dune.

Thepa was doing her best to lay their own suppressive volley of arrows, while Wilran attempted to cast healing spells on Zuna, but the matron was losing the defensive and was about to be overrun. In moment of bravery, Thepa saw Julius draw his sword to assist Zuna by charging her position.

He flew through the air, his sword held high, diving on the small group of hobgoblins that had flanked her, sending a group them crashing to the ground. Thepa tried to clear a path as she continued to shoot arrow after arrow in front of Julius's charge, but it wasn't enough. Zuna took a hit to the shoulder and crashed to the ground.

Despite the mayhem, Thepa tried to keep a clear head, her heart pounding with adrenaline and her mind racing as she desperately searched for a way to turn the tide of the battle. Metallic ring of swords clashing and the deafening echo of battle cries reverberating in the air. The sand beneath her hooves was slick with blood and sweat, and the overpowering stench of death and decay filled her nostrils. She hoped Julius could hold his own, but her priority was to reach Zuna, hoping against hope that she was still alive. As she struggled to make her way through the throngs of hobgoblins, a sudden flash of fire erupted from the sky, incinerating a large number of the enemy forces. A quick turn of her neck revealed Yenry, and for a brief moment, Thepa allowed herself to feel grateful that at least one thing had gone right. Finally reaching Zuna, she frantically forced a healing potion down the matron's throat, watched with relief, as the matron regained consciousness.

Thepa helped Zuna to her hooves and surveyed the battlefield. Julius had managed to finish off the hobgoblins surrounding him while Tash cleaned up the strays. She started to lift up her bow to help, but stopped once she caught sight of Wilran staring off in the east. Again, the uneasy feeling in her stomach and the pricking of heart started to bubble up, and she felt the same thing she did when she watched Wilran stare into Rory's eyes just minutes ago: fear and reverence.

Briefly, Thepa turned to the east, but didn't have time to process what might have been there as a large noise erupted from the west. Across the field towards the western dune a large contingent of goblins charging in their direction. This time, they were not after the town of Pearlview. They were after the elf running towards it. They were after Rory.

The images of her nightmares flooded her mind, overwhelming uncertainty gripped her brain. But her heart, now crashing against her chest, took over. Thepa sprinted towards the horde, choosing to abandon her bow and pull out her two small daggers. As she pushed herself faster than she ever had before, the battle around her intensified. The screams of the dying, the dust kicked up by charging feet, and the grunts of the goblins were all she could hear. She knew she would never make it in time, as the army closed in and Rory was just too far ahead.