A messenger bird was waiting for Regina when they woke up the following day. The message was written in code, but it contained no real secrets. The queen would like them to continue their journey. There was also an extra piece of interesting news that did not affect them. Kasmaya wasn’t the only country plagued with Chromatic Dominion sabotage and spies. Reports were coming in from Astresh of several explosions in their capital.
“Why send a message like that in code? There wasn’t any secret information in it.” She asked Regina.
“Mom sends all messages in code. That way, nobody can tell which ones have the sensitive information.”
At breakfast, Zane grumbled every time someone tried to talk to him. He looked like he had not slept at all. His clothes were wrinkled, and his charming smile was missing.
“Did you go out partying while you were supposed to be getting some rest?” Violet asked, happy to mess with her tormentor while he was susceptible.
“Do you have any idea how loud Rick can snore? The whole room was vibrating from the sound.” He growled in response.
Rick looked up from his meal and then shrugged. “Warned him to get the noise canceling ear covers.”
“Enchants don't grow on trees! The only ear covers I could find were single-use only, and those were expensive. How was I to know you would snore so badly EVERY time you found a proper bed?” Zane whined.
“Drink a wake-up potion and quit complaining,” Regina said in annoyance.
It was amusing for Violet to see Zane so grouchy. Every evening, he made a point of giving her new bruises. His training ramped up to the point where she constantly pushed her limits to keep up with him.
The group made their way to the Port Maya gate and headed northeast. They could follow a dirt road for three of the four days it would take them to get to the second ancient site on their map. The road was far less traveled because it only led to smaller fishing towns.
When they stopped for the night, there weren’t any walls to shelter them for the night. Zane needed to raise barrier walls to keep them sheltered for the night.
“Ok, Violet, time for some group magic training. Do you know how to share your mana for others to use?” He asked her while raising markers for where the walls would go.
“I have donated mana to spells cast on fields before. Is it the same?”
“It is similar. Rather than just passively allowing someone or something to siphon your mana, you will need to help by pushing your mana to me when I start casting. We should practice before I do anything major.”
He walked around to one of his marker stones and said, “I am going to grow this mark into a pillar ten feet high and three feet wide on each side. It may be a little ambitious, but I want to see what you can do. Hold my hand and slowly ramp up how much mana you give me until I say to stop.”
Violet waited for him to start before pushing twenty mana to him through their linked hands. The pillar he raised from the bedrock went from a slow and even rate to jumping out of the ground. The dirt on top of the stone pillar was launched several feet into the air before raining back down on them. Rather than the ten by three by three-pillar Zane was trying to raise, they ended up with a ten-foot by three-foot by nine-foot section of wall.
“Geez! Violet! I said to start slow!” Zane said furiously.
“Sorry! I thought that was slow. It was only twenty mana.”
“Raising that pillar alone would have cost me ten mana. Usually, when a mage sends mana to another, there is a large loss during the transfer. I expected you to start slow. I will be more clear on how slow from now on. What confuses me is I received nineteen of the twenty mana you sent me. How is that possible?”
“Oops, sorry, I didn't even realize I was doing that,” Violet said absently while she recalled the steps she took to send him mana.
“Doing what? Don’t make me drag it out of you.”
“I have a healing aspect called Drain Life. It is supposed to be used as a defensive spell. It annoyed me that when I used that aspect, I didn't receive any of the mana or vitality I was draining from my target. I sort of used a technique I used to save mana from that when I sent you mana.”
She had spent several months perfecting the use of Drain Life. No matter what she tried, Violet could not absorb any mana or vitality from what she was draining. She was, however, able to redirect what she was draining into something else. Giving energy to one plant from another was a successful workaround she had found. She could also power enchantments with the mana she drained. At first, the throughput was abysmal, but she could recover nine out of every ten mana she drained with practice.
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“Spare me the details for now. Between the two of us, we can raise a sheltered area like we were using in the south. Give me a moment to adjust my marks, and we’ll get to work.” He said with an excited smile on his face.
A circular wall surrounded them from all but the campsite entrance when they were done. There was enough room inside the walls to fit five wagons arranged along the walls comfortably. It was smaller than the ones located in the south, but this road didn't see enough travelers to require anything more significant.
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They ended up raising two more shelters before they needed to leave the road and head toward the ancient ruin. During the day, Violet worked on enchanting objects to help them explore the semi-submerged building. Enchanting was an ability she used as much as she could. Violet could not create anything other than single-use enchants, but she was working on ways to extend the life of an item. Right now, the things she could make were on par with what a modern magician could make. It was just far cheaper for her to make single-use enchants.
All she needed to do was focus clearly in her mind on what she wanted the enchant to do and have a big enough object to inscribe a rune on. It would save her mana if she etched the symbol on the thing before trying to enchant it. Without a symbol, it would cost her mana and overall synchronization to inscribe the object’s rune magically. With the rune, mana smoothed out any imperfections, and synchronization would only be lost if she messed up the rune too severely.
As she got more proficient with enchanting, she was able to inscribe two runes on each object to have combined effects. The limitation was that the symbols needed to be from one of her tier two magic types. The main thing holding her back with enchanting was her need to find a power source to make the enchants last longer. The ancients had a way to do it, so she was confident that eventually, she would discover their secret.
When she had finished making the items for the group, she gathered everyone to explain how to use them. “I have gifts for everyone,” she said as she handed the things to each person.
Holding up a pendant on a leather necklace, she said, “This is the most important item. It is your get out of jail free card.”
“Why are we going to jail?” Rick asked, confused.
“Oh um, we aren’t. It’s just a saying my friend used to use a lot. Anyway, wear it at all times. As long as you are within two miles of the wagon, when you inject your mana into this token, it will teleport you about two feet above the roof of the carriage. I’ve placed a paired token on the roof of the carriage. Important safety note, it will only teleport what you can hold when you activate it. So, make sure you hold everything or everyone you want to take with you. Any questions?”
“Why two feet above the roof? Won’t that drop hurt?” Regina asked.
“Safety, if someone accidentally places a box over the tokens on the roof, there will still be enough clearance for the enchant to work still. Please pay attention to where you pack things on the roof.”
When nobody else had questions, Violet moved on to the following items. Holding up a hat, she said, “this is our light source while we are down there. There are four settings, High, Medium, Low, and Off. Once you activate it the first time, it will begin to lose mana. Even if you turn it off, it will still drain itself eventually. At the high setting, the light should last around four hours. The lower the setting, the longer it will last. I suggest we take turns activating our lights.”
Violet had bought knit hats similar to a beanie while in Port Maya. Rick’s hat had holes where his ears could poke through. Most beastkin found anything on their heads uncomfortable, and Rick was no different. He was happy to have a light but would not be wearing it until he needed it.
The next item Violet presented was a wrist sheath with sockets to place enchantments. Both sockets were currently filled, and a pouch on the underside of the sheath held more tablets. “This will manipulate the water around you to stay an inch away from your skin. It won’t prevent anything from attacking you. It merely keeps the water off of your clothing.” She said while pointing to the top enchant.
“The bottom enchant is the most important one. It will create a bubble of air around your nose and mouth. If you open the pouch on the sheath, there are two more of this type of enchantment in there to keep you safe. Each one should last four hours, but it varies depending on how heavily you are breathing.”
“Wow. Vi, you’ve really outdone yourself. I think the only one I could have done is the light. Even that would have taken me weeks if not months of trial and error before I got it right.” Regina said.
“These will be very useful tomorrow. Thank you, Violet.” Rick said.
Not to be outdone, Zane made a show of reverently placing each item on and admiring it. It embarrassed her a little bit because these were just items she had been experimenting with for years. Violet had to practice enchanting in secret, so she could never show anyone other than Avery or her parents the finished products before she used or destroyed them. Using her Drain Life trick to supply the mana requirement helped her with mana to experiment with different ideas she had bouncing around her head.
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“What can I bribe you with to make noise-canceling ear covers?” Zane asked that night as they were getting ready to sleep.
“That would probably take an act of fate. Any enchantments that have to do with sound require Air magic. I’m sure I will get that eventually, but I don't have it right now.” Violet said.
“There is really nothing you can do about that loud guy I am forced to sleep near?” Zane whined.
“I could create a bucket that refills itself with water. You could pour it on Rick when he starts to snore.” She replied, trying and failing to keep a giggle down.
“I would prefer to keep my life. Thank you very much! You realize he would come after you once he got done killing me, right?”
“It would be a bucket. How was I to know you would have evil purposes for a bucket of water?” She said while innocently batting her eyes.
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On the final night of their journey, they camped within sight of the ancient ruins. Erosion along the shoreline caused the once-mighty building to be completely submerged during high tide. Saltwater had damaged the structure extensively, but it was still mostly standing.
When they arrived, the tide was still coming in, and several colorful fish were swimming close to the shore. When Rick saw the fish, he made a point to tell everyone not to go in the water. The fish had teeth and used swarm tactics to kill larger prey. Seeing the fish there set the party on edge. There was always a larger predator, and they were worried about what kind of beasts would make the ancient structure their home.