Jasson was skipping the next morning, at least until he found the ground holding onto his feet like concrete shoes. It seized and would have sent him toppling forward if he hadn’t caught onto the kitchen table. Jasson’s heart pounded and he looked around wildly.

“What,” Petra said, “Are you so giddy about this early in the morning?”

“Woah,” Jasson said, looking at Petra, “You are not doing well.”

Petra was slumped, sitting and idly stirring a steaming soup and scowling up at Jasson like a homeless man who had been handed a quarter. She glared from bloodshot baggy eyes with emo-levels of shadow painted in exhuasiton. Her hair, usually a straight combed bob, hadn’t gotten out of bed and so remained relaxed as if on the mattress (which is to say ironically erect).

“I overexerted myself,” Petra said, “I’m basically really, really hung over.”

“You still have Mana though,” Jasson motioned to his frozen feet, “This can’t be nothing to you.”

“That?” Petra scoffed, “My compatibility with earth is immense, so I barely waste any in the process. Plus I’ve been doing that trick to Clara since we were little. She’s prone to-”

As if on cue, Clara skipped into the room with a cheerful medley whistling from her lips. Petra rounded like a tiger with a migraine and Clara froze in place, catching herself like Michael Jackson before saying “Sorry Petra.”

“Whistling? Really?! At this hour.” Petra growled, then sagged and released them, “This is a pain though. Just…lower voices.”

“What’s the point of rushing when you’re out of commission the next day?” Jasson said.

“Shut up,” Petra said, “If it weren’t for you I’d be fine. But noo, you had to go and show off. I’m not even sure if there’re any more wyverns left!”

“Harriet seems to think so,” Jasson said, “She said there’d be nests and stuff.”

“Harriet seems to think so,” Petra mocked, “Shut up. What does she know? Has she ever hunted Wyverns before?”

“Have you?” Jasson said.

“Shut up,” Petra said, “and I found the contract Lord R. Ippoff sent over. A hundred and fifty total? That was half the number in that swarm at least.”

“Well, to be fair it’s hard to count when they’re in so many pieces,” Clara said.

“Whatever,” Petra said, “I’m not about to sign this thing.”

“I don’t think we should,” Jasson said, “At least not until Harriet wakes up. She seemed to have a plan.”

“She was still sleeping when I saw her,” Clara said, “And will probably go until ten.”

“Whatever,” Petra said, “We can’t wait for her. Clara, take Jasson and go out scouting the area. I’ll gather local reports and resources here, but I want you to get a lay of the land as quickly as possible. Find a vantage point, etcetera.”

Clara flinched and said, “Petra, you know I’m not too good at that.”

“You’re the best we have,” Petra said, “Unless you want to trust Harriett to instruct us on the local dangers.”

Both Jasson and Clara shook their heads.

“I thought so,” Petra took a sip of her soup.

“Shouldn’t we use the table to scout from the air?” Jasson said, “That would be faster and safer, right?”

“Jasson,” Petra said, “Why are we here.”

“Uh…” Jasson said, “We’re here to look for resources in the depths of the mountains for as long as possible. So the table would be too efficient.”

“Precisely,” Petra said, “And we do need to know the lay of the land, as well as the area around this town. We can’t always fly and I’d prefer not to get lost in an area as dangerous as this one.”

“We’ll be careful,” Clara said, “come on Jasson, let’s go for a long walk in the mountains together.”

“By the way,” Petra groaned, “you should stop by the chapel first. They have the tallest tower in town, so you should be able to get an idea from there.”

Jasson was almost out the door when his feet froze in place again, tipping him forward and crashing him against the doorjam.

“What?” Jasson said, turning back to Petra.

“I- I want to talk to you for a bit. Alone.” Petra said.

Jasson felt his gut plunge. Had Clara broken trust and told her sister? Was there some kind of sibling telepathy? It would be hard to explain him watching his own funeral.

Jasson turned to Clara but saw her disappear around the corner, and then Jasson’s feet were pulled back toward the table.

“Have a seat,” Petra said, pulling aside a chair for Jasson and wincing as it squeaked along the floor.

“Is it an electric chair?” Jasson said, grinning as he looked hopefully into Petra’s eyes.

“Nope, just wood,” Petra said, then sighed and said “I’m… I’m not good at communicating when I’m like this.”

Jasson decided that silence would be prudent and he waited for Petra to continue.

“I guess I should start with last night,” Petra said, “I don’t think that any of us expected your device to be so powerful, but last night would have been a much more dangerous and exhausting affair without you. I am glad that I was right to ask for your aid.”

Jasson raised an eyebrow and said, “Uh…thank you?”

Jasson thought, I saved us from three hundred wyverns last night but I’m the one thanking her?

“You’re welcome,” Petra sighed then sipped from her steaming bowl of soup, “That’s- look. The area around Stalt was dangerous, okay?”

“Oh?” Jasson raised his eyebrows, “The only thing that’s tried to kill me in Stalt is you.”

“Funny. Do people tell you you’re funny?” Petra growled, “I’ll grant you that this past week has been fairly safe. But it’s not a safe place.”

A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

Petra waved her spoon and said “Even without the war, there are a couple of nearby dungeons that let monsters escape almost every day. Gangs in the street, like the {minor_plotpoint} gang, constantly fill the street with Cheese and other contraband. Outside the city, there’s even the occasional bandit.”

Petra stabbed her soup, “The bandits around Stalt are tough enough to survive close to Butcher Baron of Stalt, but they’re nothing before the untamed wilds. The A`hk`aka mountains are truly dangerous, with monsters like wyverns serving as middle predators to an extensive ecosystem. Preyed upon by things that make a traditional wall useless. This town might seem like it doesn’t have a protective wall, but it’s there. Every citizen sleeps with a crystal by the bedside in case of something in the night. And you’re supposed to help? You’re not ready for this area. You’re too weak.”

Jasson flinched and frowned, then opened his mouth and said “Then why-”

Jasson reconsidered and looked Petra up and down. She was angry, but defensively. She wasn’t upset that Jasson was here. Heck, she’d practically thanked him for coming. So why…

“I understand,” Jasson hefted his phone, “Maybe I’ll find someone to charge my phone more so I can keep it in battle mode. Just in case.”

Petra nodded and said “Good. Remember, you report to me, understand? You owe your life to me.”

Again with the random stuff? Jasson thought. What are you trying to say?

Jasson tapped his chin with his phone, then nodded and said “I’ll be careful, and I won’t go along with any dumb things Clara or anyone else might want without your permission. We’ll fight together as much as we can. No one is dying out here.”

Petra sighed, slumping over her bowl and covering her eyes before she said “Thank you.”

Dang. Jasson thought. She must be pretty worried.

****

The city of Smill had a chapel of stone that stretched up more than wide. They asked for directions inside the meeting hall, and Jasson admired the murals and statues decorating the interior. Was this the same religion as in that first town?

“Come on,” Clara said, finishing talking with a clergy, “the way up is around back.”

Jasson climbed four flights of stairs, then a set of ladders on the outside of the building to reach the highest tower in the town. The mountains loomed majestically in the distance surrounding the city, covered in crawling fog.

“Wow,” Jasson hung off the ladder as Clara climbed inside, “it's like something from Lord of the Rings.”

“Oh hello,” a voice sounded from inside, “who are you?”

Clara introduced herself as Jasson climbed the last few rungs. He swung his leg over the wall and lowered himself into the tower before relaxing. Jasson didn't have a problem with ladders, but that wasn't the same as confidence.

“And this is my friend Jasson,” Clara said, “Jasson, this is Ellie. She is a…caretaker?”

The tower was circular with ten windows set in the sides. A strange device of bronze and glass did its best to hold Jason's gaze, but Ellie drew it regardless.

“I'm the operator,” Ellie held out her hand to Jasson, “It’s a pleasure to meet you Jasson. My name's Ellie Everright, but you can call me Ellie. So are you adventurers then?”

“I mean…yeah…” Jasson looked away and blushed as he shook her hand. He should have washed his hands.

Ellie was dressed like a plain southern belle (bulky hoop included) but smiled with a vibe that made you remember all the wrong you’ve done. She was pretty, in a homespun golden-haired way, but that was not what made Jasson blush. She felt…good. Warm like your mom’s home cooking after going out to college for a year. Strong like she was packing a twelve gauge beneath her skirt. Kind of like a neighbor bringing you food when sick.

“How did you get up here?” Jasson said, dumbly looking at Ellie’s massive skirt.

“Oh, this?” Ellie motioned to her hoop skirt, “It's cool. Want to see?”

Then Ellie reached down and unbuttoned her dress.

Horizontally.

One by one she loosed buttons in a knee-height circle around her, like those cargo pants that turn into shorts. Ellie detached the bulky hoop and let the fabric pile on the ground before stepping out. Ellie gathered her lower-skirt and opened a Locker, pushing the bottom of her dress into the pocket of space.

“It was getting hot,” Ellie said, “so I figured that I’d change it into a sundress.”

Ellie twirled gracefully, knee-height dress light and playful in the warming day. Jasson stood, hypnotized.

Oh, Jasson thought, apparently I have a thing for Cottage Core.

“So what is this?” Clara said, approaching the apparatus in the center of the tower, “It's not like the raid light systems I’ve seen.”

Jasson tore his eyes away and looked at the device. It was about chest high with twelve twisting arms of bronze holding intricately carved yellow light crystals, leading into a large central crystal that glowed dimly in its cage. Blown glass curved like a river of distortion through the aperture, refracting the glittering bronze and yellow in a dazzling array. With any other operator, Jasson would have been drawn first to this creation of magic.

“We're not quite sure what it does,” Ellie said, “it's made to be used with light crystals, but the only purposes we've found we’ve found were for raid lights and street lamps.”

“This doesn't look like an ancient device though,” Clara said, “those are more…rusty?”

Ellie laughed and said, “It's not even older than I am. Ten or so years ago, there was an eccentric inventor who stayed here as his team searched for natural crystals. They only seemed to find light crystals, but that wasn't what they wanted. So, instead of selling these crystals, the inventor created this. An impulsive creation that he assembled in this tower. His manager wanted to sell the device, but they’d have to destroy it to remove it the way it was built. In the end, Lord Ippoph paid for it and hired me to operate it. I was eight at the time.”

“Wow,” Jasson said, scrolling on his phone, “that's awesome.”

“Does that mean you're a light mage?” Clara said.

“The best in the town,” Ellie giggled, “I’ve never left this town though, so I guess I’m the best I know.”

“Perfect,” Clara turned to Jasson, “Don't you need your crystal charged more?”

“Huh?” Jasson said, “Oh, no. I couldn't ask Ellie to-”

“Oh it's okay,” Ellie said, “I was doing an examination but this shouldn't take more than a second.”

Jasson held out his phone and explained where it charged, and Ellie pressed his phone onto a light crystal that was part of the device. Jasson counted to ten before-

Doot.

“There you go,” Ellie said, “I have to say, that's the most charge I've ever seen a device need.”

“Thanks,” Jasson said, “I’ll head down now-”

Ding.

A notification? Jasson thought. For what?

Jasson opened his phone and read the notification.

Peach Maps has been updated. Local map downloading.

“No,” Jasson whispered as he watched the bar progress, “Why now? It’s been so long! All I did was get my phone charged. It can’t be that, unless it’s the third time or something. But that doesn’t make sense.”

“What are you mumbling about?” Clara said, “Something wrong?”

“Oh, I’m sorry,” Ellie said, “I didn’t ruin it, did I?”

“No, quite the opposite.” Jasson said, “I’m trying to figure out why it’s finally working better.”

“Well, you can figure it out later,” Clara slapped him on the shoulder, “Come on. I know where to start, so let’s get down from this tower.”

“That’s it!” Jasson turned to Clara, “What did you call this? A tower?! And we climbed it to know what the area was like, right?”

“Uh,” Clara said, “yeah. That’s about right. Why?”

“Of course!” Jasson slapped his forehead, “Why didn’t I think of it? I have to climb a tower before I get a map of the area. Basic gaming logic!”

Ding.

It had finished downloading, and Jasson clicked it excitedly. The app loaded, showing the local area and street names. Jasson clicked an area and opened up Poke Around. It worked! It all worked! Sure, it was Peach Maps. But Peach Maps wasn’t that bad these days.

“Hahaha,” Jasson said, “Hahaha. MWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!”

Then he screamed out over the town, “I will never get lost again!”*

*(A typical thing for a man to say.)