Ruyo woke up on the road to home. A small military camp stirred nearby. As the late summer sunlight began to warm her tent, she recalled her long list of things to do. She stretched, got dressed, and stepped out to resume earning her new job title: Goddess of Water.

The first task was to check on Elly, who slept in the next tent over. "No time to sleep in," she told her friend and former bodyguard, and shook her. But the young woman in battle-worn clothes was fast asleep and didn't react.

A voice spoke into Ruyo's mind, cheerful and burbling. "Good morning, milady. We might have to carry her for a while. Literally and not."

Ruyo turned toward a hovering ball of water with eyes like pearls. That was Nusina, her guide, currently invisible to most folk to save a little energy. Ruyo said, "Then we'll regroup at Wellspring first."

The few dozen campers were tired from war. But they were the lucky ones, getting to leave the field before the fighting was fully over.

Ruyo went to the campfire to help out with the cooking. Somebody had caught a rabbit overnight and there were wild berries, but they were mostly living on Ruyo's magically conjured bread in several flavors. She at least had the power to conjure unlimited clean water and with some effort, orange juice. The monotonous food made everyone eager to get back to peace.

While stirring a thin stew, Ruyo looked over the Ninth Arcane Squad that she'd informally joined. "I guess we part ways today."

The young officer said, "No, ma'am. We'll escort you directly to Averell to drop off the treasure."

Ruyo spoke to Nusina by silent thought. "Let's talk strategy."

A minute later, the officer frowned. "Talking with your sidekick again, ma'am?"

Ruyo snapped out of her unspoken conversation. "Yes. I need to get back and recover, and you need the artifact. Can I trust it with you? I'm sure the Council will want to discuss the mission, but they'll have the thing in hand and they'll get a report from me right away."

"My orders are about escorting you and retrieving the item, but we're done with the military phase. I can release you from being our sorcerer consultant."

Relieved, Ruyo brought out Night's Glittering Fastness, or the Shroud. Physically it was a cloth banner of darkness, violet-tinged and so deep that it seemed like a hole in space. Its tiny woven stars twinkled in the sunlight. A work of art. "Hold it like this," she said, demonstrating an odd gesture before handing it over.

"So that we don't fall in?"

"Right. It's probably safe at the moment, but be careful."

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The gesture did nothing, but she wasn't technically lying. These men had seen dozens of enemy soldiers come spilling out of the Shroud for an ambush. For all that some of her companions knew, it was still capable of pulling people into a hidden world.

But really, the Shroud was permanently de-powered. The Council probably wasn't going to be pleased to learn that.

Ruyo sampled the soup and thanked the soldiers, then split the party. The Ninth Arcane went south to the city-state of Averell, and she went southwest.

Nusina floated along beside her. A group of eight young men from the westlands rode along, too. A dozen had signed up to fight for glory, loot and magic. One had enjoyed the soldier's life and remained to help end the war, and three more weren't coming back at all. Then there was Baris the Hunter, Ruyo's first follower. Also two former bandits named Hastro and Khulis. None of the three was a stranger to violence, but their time at war had been a sobering experience even for them. The scarred wanderer Tamur was in good spirits, tapping his mace against his thigh. Right now he was suffering the slight magical drain of feeding Pir, a fire spirit that floated like an animate bonfire beside him. Finally there was Roland, a skinny horse-groom who'd discovered a talent for medicine and gotten more use for his beginner skills than he'd ever wanted.

"What's wrong with Elly?" asked Roland. The girl sprawled with remarkable if unconscious skill on a docile black pack-mare.

Ruyo frowned. "There's a magical problem we're going to deal with soon." She wouldn't tell him more.

#

The party rode south on good horses captured from the enemy, along with weapons and armor and booze. They'd long since passed the area where they might face raiding parties, but they were still on guard until they passed through a forest and reached the long east-west clearing that formed the main trade route in this region. East of here stood the walls and towers of Averell. West was Brotherhood, the odd monastic village with a terrible secret Ruyo was trying to help fix.

Nusina rippled into physical form, her watery orb becoming visible to all and brighter to Ruyo's eyes. "We're in range of Wellspring! See you there." She floated off ahead.

"Good to be back," Ruyo said. "Baris, will you be bringing your wife home again?"

"It's about time, yes." His eyes narrowed. "But you've still got a problem, don't you? When are you going to explain that?"

Ruyo took a deep breath. "Let's get back to the cave. It's been much too long. Then I'll fill everyone in."

Nusina reported by thought. "You have a few city soldiers and Brotherhood monks waiting, supposedly to guard the place. I figure the Averell troops are there partly to make sure you don't double-cross them."

"I didn't, really," Ruyo said.

"True, but some aren't going to see it that way. I'm checking on the shrine now. Looks fine and you're still getting prayer energy as expected."

At last they climbed a slope and reached the permanent camp her headquarters had become. Wellspring these days was the mystic hillside cave that had started all this, plus a little stream and a cluster of shacks in various states of completion. The two parties of guards were camped out in and around the huts.

One of the Averell men wore a splendid outfit of green and white. He resembled a noble Ruyo had met briefly, and was probably his son. He strode up to Ruyo and said, "Your spirit says you're victorious?"

She curtseyed. "We fought hard and lost some good men. But we killed the Khyberian general leading the invasion, and took back what he extorted."

"Excellent. Where is it?"

"I've handed it over to the Ninth Arcane to take back to the Council."

"You handed it over to a random group of soldiers?"

"Not random, sir. They bled to take it back. It's fitting that they should get the attention." She told the assembled guards, "Thank you, everyone. I need a little time to get organized. If any of you want my magic blessings, we can do those in a bit."