I glanced at the person Baldur was speaking to, long enough to identify him as Hardol, God of Healing. I thought I’d been caught when Baldur seemed to react to that invasion of magic used to identify. I released the magic I had gathered in reflex when I saw that he was leaving, not attacking.

I felt a sense of relief course through me as I slowly backed away from the clearing. If I had not recreated the glamour to hide my presence completely, if I had not received Cailleach’s bloodline and power to control shadow, my quest to obtain Odin’s eye would have ended here and now.

Once I was far enough from the clearing that I felt some sense of safety, I considered my options. I needed to move faster than I had been and find a way to scout at the same time. There was a bright side to stumbling across that clearing. I saw the direction Baldur had taken when he left.

I would change the direction of my path from now on, using the direction Baldur headed as my new focus. I could be wrong, but I thought it likely his destination was Asgard City. With no actual sun and a realm with none of the workings of a solar system, no revolutions of planets and stars, it was hard to determine direction. I knew that Asgard City was to the left of the Forest of Nightmare Plants, so I decided to designate the path he had taken as west.

The System responded to my thoughts, and a new feature opened. A map and mini-map displayed that I had never seen before. A quick perusal showed little to see. Only those areas on the map that I had explored had been revealed. The rest was covered in a fog that obscured the realm.

There was a feature of the mini-map I thought would be helpful. I could place markers and notes on the map for easy reference. Markers had already been placed at each location I’d planted a [Fairy Daisy]. I experimented with that feature for a few seconds, finding I could make notations for each marker and set a new one as I chose.

I placed a marker for the clearing where Baldur and Hardol had met, assigning a notation for it and using red for the font to set a threat level. Then turned my thoughts inward, reviewing my actions since I had arrived in Asgard and what I might do differently.

I realized I had been ignoring the gift of shadow I had been given as part of Cailleach’s heritage. My grandson, Ryu, had the ability to pass through shadow, to travel within the two-dimensional world of darkness. Now that I was a child of Cailleach, I should have that same ability.

As for scouting, I was ignoring an obvious solution. Ag was a Cu Sith, able to move in shadow as adeptly as Ryu. He could scout the way forward using shadow, his sense of sight, smell, and hearing so developed that he would notice dangers in time to give a warning.

I had been instructed by the Oracle to bring Tia, Ag, and Meala with me, but I had ignored their abilities and usefulness. That would have to be remedied. I would need to make a conscious effort to include them as I made plans as we advanced.

“Tia,” I called across our companion bond, not sure but hoping that Cait Sith could connect to Asgard. As long as any species of feline was found within the boundary of this Realm, she should be able to pass within, especially now that I was here to serve as an anchor. But even if it didn’t, the connection we shared as host and bond would be enough to summon her to me.

The wave of energy that precluded a weakening between dimensions appeared nearby, and Tia stepped through a dimensional rift without incident. It would make what I needed to be done easier.

If I had not been able to use Cait Sith as a passage between Urt and Asgard, I would have been forced to use the Summerlands for passage. It connected to everywhere and every-when, so I knew I could create a connected network from here to there. I was wary of using that passage, though, uncertain of the ramifications of opening a way into the Summerlands from the realm of the Asgardian Gods.

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If I only needed Ag, I could have summoned him through our bond, but I wanted to gather Balfour and two colonies of Azi-fey also. I hoped to use the Azi-Fey’s abilities to spy and scout as additional protection against detection. They could go places that Ag would be barred from entering.

I also planned on leaving a colony of Azi-fey in the Forest of Nightmare Plants. The [Fairy Daisy] I had planted and would continue to plant until I left this demesne could be used as a staging point. I would not risk creating a Sithern in this realm, but I would risk opening a beachhead for [Fairy] to spread. The forest was a perfect place for me to seed this realm and slowly exert the influence of the Tuatha de Danann.

Tia, I noticed when she arrived, was no longer heavy with child, having given birth to the first litter of Cait Sith in this dimension. Motherhood agreed with her as she was brimming with health. Or her role as the Queen of Cait Sith invigorated her with the energy that allowed her, her nine lives, and the ability to combat [Paradox] only the most obvious benefits of her race and role.

“Teigh,” she greeted me warmly, going so far as to launch herself into my arms. One minute a beautiful young woman, the next an Ocicat. I didn’t see her cat form often, but I knew she had transformed into a rare feline breed. And even if the Ocicat species could be considered domesticated, a feline was always master of its own fate.

“I’m happy to see you too,” I assured her as I stroked her pelt before giving her a few scratches under her chin. Those scratches transformed her into a boneless, purring kitten as her eyes closed in satisfaction and her body relaxed with contentment.

“I need a favor,” I told her as I continued to scratch, moving to a spot behind her ears as her purring got louder. “I need you to travel to Urt through Cait Sith and gather Ag, Balfour, and two colonies of Azi-fey. Use Cait Sith as a bridge to escort them here, please.”

I had thought to include Caraid, but he had been gifted with a son. I would not be so inconsiderate as to ask him to abandon the child mere days after his birth. I had taken enough from Caraid. It was best to allow him this moment in time to enjoy what life offered.

A final scritch under Tia’s chin and I tossed her, watching with envy as she sailed through the air disappearing between here and there in an instant. Her transition was so seamless and fast that I wasn’t able to detect the magic required to open the rift she used.

More remarkable was that the second she vanished, she reappeared from the same place with Ag, Balfour, and the Azi-Fey in tow. One of the features that made Cait Sith so powerful was the ability to harness the power of [Time] without creating [Paradox].

What for me had been only a second of time had been much longer for Tia. But because she was [Queen of Cait Sith], she commanded enough of the fabric of [Time] to adjust the passage of that element within her kingdom.

She couldn’t stop [Time] completely, but she could slow it down or speed it up by an incredible amount. That feature was not uncommon for the Sidhe. Underhill allowed the same shift in time to occur. Tia was able to project an [Aura] that allowed her to vary time independent of location.

Stories of mortal men that were tricked [Underhill], believing they would be gone for only a day only to find hundreds, even thousands of years had passed, were based on fact. And only possible because of a shift in the flow of time and space.

I felt a sense of completeness once Ag had arrived. We had spent the most time together, the bond between us nurtured and solidified by time and battle. Compared to the ethereal bond that existed between Tia and me, Ag’s bond was steady and solid.

It would take time for Tia and me to form the same type of connection. But her duties as Queen of Cait Sith, her role as a new mother, and her duty to [Time] would leave us little opportunity to share the same opportunities to work together and learn to rely on each other as Ag, and I had.

But this closeness, having both bonds in the same place, was calming. It allowed me to focus more clearly. The soothing influence of each bond helped relieve the tension in my shoulders and loosened the tightness of my brow.

There would be more moments like this. Moments of peace and calm, but that was no reason not to stop and appreciate our connection and the benefits being close to each other allowed.