Arden began to prepare the meal, as he couldn’t argue that he was technically the reason they encountered Morrachel. Killian watched as Arden unpacked a pot and the rest of the necessities to prepare a simple camp stew. He was in the middle of a chuckle when Imari offered him some of their meal. He waved his hand in response, confirming he had plenty to eat tucked away, before leaning forward with a grin. Mentally reaching into one of his many food warehouses, he shifted a fine cut of beef into his hand, holding it out to Arden. The trio tried to deny the gift, but Killian wouldn’t take no for an answer. Arden nodded in thanks when Killian told them he thought Imari could use it. The wizard still looked weak from the earlier encounter. Killian thought that the price for bottoming out one's ability to use magic was rough. She had regained some energy, for sure, but there was still a look of bone deep exhaustion in her eyes and in her movements. Waiting a while before he ate a meal of his own, Killian leaned back into his chair to watch the trio's antics while he reached out to Amy for the answer to a question that had been on his mind all day.

"Amy, why can I understand what these three are saying? Do we all get the language for free? I could swear I am still speaking English."

"That's because you are." The goddess responded, "I mentioned before that the higher deities view too many alterations to your minds as going too far; thus, when a world is in need of the surge, worlds with the same languages are picked for mortals to transfer."

Killian tilted his head, asking, "So it's ok for them to place pretty extensive knowledge on how to use whatever magic we choose, but learning French is going too far?"

"It can be different for various beings in the infinite worlds of creation, but for the humans of your world, it truly is. Language changes the way you think, Killian. The syntax and order that make up English mean you process the world around you differently than someone who speaks French. I believe there are languages in your world that ascribe genders to different objects or concepts, while your native tongue does not. Imagine how different your thinking would be if much of the world were inherently male or female. Even something as simple as the order the words in a sentence take can shift how one person sees the world from another. Take a look at the ranger's pack on the ground. If you were to describe how it looks to someone by all of its characteristics, you would name them off in a specific order, and if you changed that order in any way, it would sound wrong to you, like something was off. Language marks when a group of creatures has advanced enough to have the need to communicate complex ideas to one another for survival. So yes, Killian, learning French would be too large an alteration, as we would be literally changing how you think."

Killian soaked all of that in before asking another question. "Wait, so are all of the languages we spoke on earth present in The Elder Realm?"

"No, though many are. You were placed, like the rest of the mortals chosen, in a region that primarily speaks your native tongue. Here it is called Oreali."

"Huh." Killian said to himself, low enough that the others didn’t hear him.

Killian sat for a while more, processing what the goddess had told him. He was a bit bummed out, learning a new language would have meant English could have been a code language or something he could teach others for private conversations. He got over it when he realized that all of the books he had stored could be read by anyone who spoke English, well Oreali. Killian didn’t plan on spreading the knowledge he had brought with him so soon, but it did feel good to know it would be significantly easier when he wanted to. By the time he shook himself from his musings, the others were ladling the stew Arden had prepared into wooden bowls. He grinned when he saw Imari had more pieces of beef in her bowl than the other two. He had to hold back laughter when he saw Shan plop in more when the wizard was distracted.

Killian was ready to eat himself, but he realized he could shift into his base to make something proper. That was a secret he wanted to keep for now. So, thinking back to his survival supply warehouse, he shifted an MRE into his hands. Checking to see if it was ravioli, he nodded and tore the bag open. Now understanding that the trio would be able to read the language, Killian kept the side saying U.S. military out of view, which would spark questions he didn’t know how to answer. He tried not to laugh as the others slowed their eating as they tried and failed to stealthily watch him prepare it. Killian felt he was going to pass out when Imari, who's eyes grew two sizes when he poured water into the ration heater and it started to boil, did her best not to ask him any more questions. It seemed to take most of the energy she regained throughout the day just to stay seated in her chair.

Killian packed away the trash, having finished his food a few moments before. This seemed to be a point Shan was waiting for as she spoke up.

"We were talking earlier and decided we would take the watches. You helped us when you didn’t have to, allowed us to ride in your incredible vehicle, and even gifted us some of the best meat I have ever tasted." Killian held back a smile, it looked like the elf was about to drool just thinking about it. It must have been hard for her to give Imari part of her share. Shan continued, "We are already used to taking watches with just the three of us, and it's the least we could do to let you get a good rest."

"Appreciated." Killian said. "Though I will probably be up for a while longer, I have some things I wanna try out with my magic. Got an idea for something brewing in the back of my head and need to work it out. So I might be distracted, but I could help with at least one of them."

"Fine with me." Arden said.

"If it's ok with you two," Imari spoke up. "I'll take the first watch. I think if I fall asleep, I won't be able to get back up, or worse, fall back asleep on watch."

Her two friends agreed with her, with Arden kissing her on the forehead before crawling into their shared tent. He called out to Shan from inside that he would take the harder watch in the middle. The ranger chiding the warrior that it was expected after his mistake. After a few minutes of rustling as they got comfortable, the two tents went quiet, leaving only the sounds of the fire crackling and the occasional squeak from Imari or Killian shifting in their chairs.

--------

Imari felt ragged, her mind sluggish in a way she hadn't felt in a long time. She didn’t mind. She had worked hard while they culled the number of tunnel fangs that had begun to get out of hand in their clearing. The bounty for the job itself and for the horns they could sell meant it would be a good haul. She had used the job as an opportunity to test out some new spell variations and came away sure that she could increase her magic power efficiency by at least fifteen percent. She had even been able to practice some of the everyday magic she learned from the book Aunt Seren had given her. Imari smiled to herself as she remembered how Shan nearly wept when Imari cleaned the blood from all three of them. Thinking about Aunt Seren reminded Imari of her promise to Killian earlier in the day. Her aunt, who wasn’t really an aunt and was more of some complicated, twice-removed grand something, had quite an…abrasive personality.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

Imari gripped the armrests of this wonderful and strange chair the Dusk Elf had summoned from nowhere. She knew she was more curious than was good for her, but Imari was amazed at everything to do with this stranger. She didn’t know anyone who had seen a Fadeborn. Nor did she think she knew someone who knew someone who did. Imari only knew what she did about them because Aunt Seren had a book on the Honored ones and had read the description of them inside. Killian didn’t seem to be a normal example of his people, though, seeing as he was out in the world and not in the Fadeland. The book also stated they all had gray eyes, but his were sky blue. Strange.

Imari looked at Killian as he focused on nothing in front of him. She wondered where he had come from; his clothing was too strange to give her any hints. It seemed well made, with materials she had either never seen or were prohibitively expensive, like the rubber soles of his boots. But his jacket was made of canvas, which, though it seemed to be crafted well, was a cheap material. Though the hood sewn inside the collar looked comfortable.

But his magic was the strangest and most wonderful thing about him. The way he saved her was still fresh in her mind. That teleportation he called blinking, was amazing. She had been teleported a few times. The charge of magic and the feeling of displacement were always present, except for when Killian saved her. One moment she was standing, well, stumbling, in one place, then her view changed and she was somewhere else. There was no feeling of displacement; she didn’t even think it cost Killian much magic with how much he was blinking. In the vehicle, which was incomprehensible to her, she had marveled at what Killian had said he could do. And to top it all off, he was a sorcerer! So everything he did was powered by his own magic he had inside him. Imari had made the decision that no matter what the man was doing at Falcons Rest, she would try to keep in contact. Which is why she desperately hoped that Aunt Seren didn’t chase him away.

During her internal musings, Imari noticed something strange happen in front of Killian. The air looked warped. At first, it looked as if the dusk elf had summoned a flame to float in front of him, but the light didn’t flicker. She watched as the effect disappeared, and he began to move his hands in strange ways. Imari thought it almost looked like he was trying to grab something she couldn’t see in front of him. She was about to ask what he was doing when the strange effect happened again, and this time Imari could see his hand behind it. It looked as if his hand was twisted back on itself. As he moved around, anything behind it seemed to warp confusingly, like she was looking through an invisible lens.

This went on for about thirty minutes until Killian seemed to reach what he was trying to do, though Imari hadn't any idea what it was. The dusk elf began to look around the campsite, scanning the ground for something. Imari was so curious but hesitated to interrupt whatever it was he was doing. She also would never admit it out loud, but it was frustrating to her that she couldn’t figure out for herself what he was doing and wasn't ready to give up trying. She watched as his eyes seemed to become unfocused for a moment before he smiled to himself, scooted his chair away from the strange effect in the air, and walked about twenty feet before reaching down into a patch of tall grass and picking up a rock the size of his fist from the ground. Imari guessed he had used that spatial sense he spoke of before to find it. That seemed like it was very useful. Imari tried to hold down her growing jealousy. She was still wrestling with it when Killian walked next to the strange effect, held the rock above it, and let go.

The rock fell straight through, unblocked by the magic. After a sharp popping noise, the rock hit the ground in two halves. Imari's eyes bulged out of her head. She looked back towards Killian to see the same look on his face. He bent down to retrieve one of the two halves, giving the magic in the air a new, healthy distance. Once again, he dropped it from above. Pop. Two new rocks hit the ground.

"What. Is. That" Imari said, pointing at whatever it was in the air.

"Um…an experiment?" Killian answered, almost questioningly.

"You sound like you don’t know." Imari replied, "What is it you were trying to do?"

Killian stared at his magic, saying almost as if to himself, "Well, I don’t really have any attack magic, so I was trying to come up with a weapon or something using my space magic. I had been pondering ways I could use it offensively, and I came to this." He gestured at the twisted air in front of him.

"This? What is it? I can't even see what is cutting the rock." Imari said, standing and striding to stand next to him.

Imari bent down to pick up and examine the stone in her hands. The part that was cut was completely smooth, flat from one end to the other. Her eyes bulged for the second time as she slid her fingers across the surface, feeling the perfect smoothness.

"By the twelve, how did this cut so cleanly? Can you explain to me what it is you did?" She said, looking away from the rock and into his eyes.

Killian rubbed the back of his head for a few moments before he began to speak.

"Ok, I can try, but it might be difficult to wrap your head around. I don’t even really get it, at least not yet. So with my space magic, I only have a few primary abilities I can use. Blinking doesn't really work as a weapon, not directly. Same for pocket spaces. So what I'm left with is the ability to manipulate space directly, something I barely understand. I've been thinking about it since the fight with the Nightmare and was practicing for a while, so I tried an idea I came up with."

Killian stepped to put the magic hanging in the air between them, gesturing with his hands to accent what he said next.

"Space is the area that all matter exists in. A three-dimensional grid that we all move around in. Length, width, and height. I can move the lines on that grid like pulling and pushing it, almost like cloth. But this time, I tried to move it as if it were a hard plane. Kind of folding it like the covers of a book. But the problem is that when you bend space, you bend whatever is in that space too. Now I can think of a bunch of other things using that concept, but if I made a sword with this, which is what I am going for, it wouldn’t cut anything. Anything that hit the edge would simply bend along with it, unharmed but confused."

Killian bent down to get a different angle at the bent place in reality, Imari doing the same trying to follow along with his explanation. She agreed that this was hard to wrap her head around, but terribly interesting all the same.

"So I thought about that book example." He said, holding his hands up like he was holding something in his palms and moved them like he was closing a book. He continued, "Imagine you were holding a large stack of paper in your hands. Now fold both sides upward. What would the edges of the stack look like?"

Imari played out the scene in her head; being a wizard, she had been through more paper than other people would see in their lifetime. She saw the edges of the stack, and she thought she knew where he was going. He went on.

"The edges of pages at the bottom don’t reach the top due to the pages above them getting in the way; this creates a mirrored, ramp-like shape on both sides. I folded space the same way. The idea was that if anything that touches the bent space bends with it, what if I use two edges instead of one? The edge of this blade is actually two edges that bend in opposite directions. When the rock hit the two edges, the space that was cut was actually pulled in two directions at once."

Imari stared at the rock in her hands, processing what Killian had said. She came to a conclusion and asked, "So the rock wasn’t cut at all? It was pulled perfectly in two?"

Killian nodded slowly, more to himself than to Imari. He continued, "The result seems to be essentially the same. I placed the two edges of space so close together that it seems to create a sheer surface. I'm going to need to keep thinking about this; if I can make it work, it would be devastating. I just have one major problem."

"What?" Imari asked

"I can't move the damn thing." Killian responded in an annoyed tone. He explained further,

"I folded the space in the exact spot. Imagine a sheet on a clothes line. I have pinched it into the shape I want, but if I try to carry it away, it will just continue to stretch the space wherever I go. Which I would imagine being bad for anything near me, as well as providing more difficulties than the benefits the blade would provide."

Imari thought she understood, if barely. At this point, the dusk elf yawned and turned to Imari, telling her he was heading to bed. She nodded back to him, wishing him a restful sleep. As he climbed into his strange tent, she sat back down in the chair he provided. Her body felt like it was going to fall over from exhaustion, desperate for sleep.

But her mind was racing, trying to commit every word Killian had said to memory.