— Aina —

Aina sat happily a few inches above the small foldable camp stool swinging her legs. Sitting on the table in front of her were a few picture books, one of which was laying open. The strange sleepy fog that she felt when the sun was still there but inside of the enchanted tent she barely felt it.

The first day of the trip she had her own tent but she’d been bored, lonely, and could barely think or move around due to the strange sleepiness brought by the sun. Getting to share a tent with Miss Antheia and Miss Mycenia was much nicer. Miss Antheia let her borrow some fun books and Miss Mycenia not only read with her, she would turn the pages when Aina had trouble touching things.

After reading the paragraph of common trade speak and enjoying the colorful picture of bunnies dancing she reached out to turn the page. Her ghostly hand went right through the book and into the table below.

Aina focused as hard as she could on being able to touch things but when she tried again she could barely feel any difference and the page barely moved.

Before she could start getting frustrated Miss Mycenia looked up from the small pile of colorful crystalline seeds in front of her. She blinked in a slow way that Miss Antheia said was the way kobolds smiled and said “you're getting so much better at interacting with physical objects even during the day. Do you want to keep practicing or should I turn the page?”

Aina shook her head, bobbing slightly in the air as she did, and said “I keep tryin’. I almos’ got it tha’ time.”

Miss Mycenia did the slow smile blink again and went back to arranging the seeds in an odd pattern.

It took a few more tries but eventually Aina fully turned the page and went back to reading the story about the small bunny family. As the morning approached mid day it got harder for Aina to actually touch things.

She was just about to ask Miss Antheia to get out a new book after finishing the story when she heard muffled shouts from beyond the tent. She looked around but the adult women didn’t seem overly concerned. Miss Antheia was still reading a book that looked like it might weigh almost as much as Aina. Miss Mycenia had at some point finished arranging the seeds and had begun sprouting them in a seemingly random order.

Aina was still worried with her father out there. It was far too much like sitting at home with Velintha, her nanny, while her parents were both out fighting to protect their home.

The yelling was soon joined by awful creature sounds and Aina did her best to be brave like she was supposed to be. She tried to distract herself by looking at the small rock-like stems protruding from the small seeds but the noises were getting louder, or maybe closer. She couldn’t feel the rumble of the earth or the grounding echo through the stone.

With a start she brought out of her nervous worry by a hand not too much larger than her own on her head. With the sun so high in the sky she couldn’t really feel rough scales or blunted claw tips she knew were there. Instead she could feel a thin sheen of mana. It wasn’t wasn’t quite the cool calm of her father’s earth magic or the sharp tingle of her mother’s that she sometimes let out when she was happy. Instead it felt like roots digging through soft loamy soil and countless threads of mushrooms spreading among them in the damp soil.

Miss Mycenia didn’t say anything; she just ruffled Aina’s ghostly hair. After a few moments she drew Aina’s attention to the arrangement of the crystal passion flowers she was growing.

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While they were walking the day before Aina had been talking about her mothers favorite flowers and while there was no way they were going to find any lightning lilies Miss Mycenia gathered up some crystal passion flower seeds that were in their path.

As they talked Aina could almost forget the sounds outside instead thinking about what colors the flowers might end up. She was even more so looking forward to visiting her mother at the castle and giving them to her. She just hoped her mother was at the castle not out fighting bad guys and monsters.

— Minira —

While Marsaili told her about hunting with her son who was living in Still-Leaf Village, Minira examined the remains of the large worm who’d burst into the underways.

Large swathes of the beast were carbonized and crumbling away. What was left was plenty to show the strange pattern of cauterized holes present when it arrived.

Minira let a small smile show when Marsaili told her about her son falling into a bush the first time a small shalemaw worm burst out at him.

After serving the kingdom for so long Minira had fought everything that typically lived on or under the mountains. None of them would account for the strange wounds. There had been a decent sized cut that might have come from any number of things from a large sword to an obsidian mantis’ claw. Despite the toughness of the creature's hide and flesh that wasn’t enough to really peak her interest.

It wasn’t a real threat by any stretch but she was curious what had chased off the large worm. When they finished dealing with the parasites in the ruins of what might have been her home she would split off from the rest of the group to investigate.

She pushed aside the distraction and fully joined the conversation as they started moving again. Once they were finished a combat engineer could repair the damaged wall. It wasn’t an often used passage but that was no reason to let it fall into disrepair.

Much like the lighting in the passages and streets of Stonesheild the enchanted crystal lights along the length of the shifted color throughout the day and night. The reddish purple they glowed as they resumed their journey made it clear the afternoon was giving way to evening.

The clatter of hooves and heavy armor echoed loudly in the wide relatively low ceilinged tunnel. Or at least it did until channeled a simple cantrip and the sounds grew muffled and distant as the smell of rain and ozone flowed around them.

As they rode, Minira and Marsaili told stories about the loved ones they lost. Minira knew her traveling companion had lost a son but she now knew that she had also lost a daughter in law. Occasionally she heard snippets of the troops' conversations as they talked about friends or family they lost to the snakes as well as the occasional deal or debt that would remain unfulfilled.

Not everyone had tales to tell but those who didn’t listened or asked questions. Depending on the state of the roads they could potentially arrive within the next day and three at the most. So close to their destination their focus would be entirely on the memory of the fallen and preparation for avenging their lost lives and stolen honor. Normally there would be more talk about the foes they sought but they only knew they had apparently claimed Still-Leaf village. Apparently one of the greedy fools had a name either almost or completely the same as one of the village guards who’d been a friend of a young woman riding near Minira. She hadn’t heard enough of the conversation to be sure.

Just as the purple began to fully take over the red in the lights they reached the end of the underway passage. Like the rest stops on the underways the path ballooned out with doorways set into the walls and stone troughs full of water or ready to be filled with the fodder that would be stored in stasis containers.

While the bulk of the troops prepared to bed down Minira, Marsaili, and a small group of guards left the tunnel to check the state of the road.

The short ride immediately showed the trail connecting the Underways to the abandoned trade road was severely overgrown. The thick undergrowth didn’t even slow the powerful stone horned rams let alone her war drake, Torrent.

Minira was just about to comment that at least the overgrown path wouldn’t be an issue when they broke through an oddly thick line of foliage and out onto a road. It was a slightly crude road, little better than a tightly compacted dirt path, but it was free of plants or detritus.

Before Minira could ask Marsaili confirmed her suspicions as she said “I dinna know who did this, but they must’a dun it less’n a day ago.”

Minira nodded and turned to the nearest soldier and said “Gather the rest of the brigade. Let’s pay the ones who made our vengeance that much easier.”