Chapter 5: The New Norm

As Jaxon and Doro emerged from the fog, Jaxon opened his map and checked where they were in relation to their destination. He saw that he had actually moved further away from the city on his detour following Doro.

“Okay,” he said, “shall we take a direct path?” Dorothy approved nodding, and Jaxon started heading towards the path. As they walked, Jaxon said, “We need to find a way for you to hide/ride on me so that when I use this bolt-blink thing, you travel with me and don't get left behind. And that ice spike thing you did, that’s something Marion gave you?”

Doro sent a feeling of [sort of]

“What do you mean? What did she do?” he asked.

“Cold,” he received back.

Jaxon pondered in thought for a bit as they walked along. “Ahh,” he said. “Okay, let me see if I have this correct. So, you are a water elemental, and then Marion infused ice mana into you, giving you the ability to shoot the ice spike things.”

[Approval] came from Doro.

“That’s cool,” said Jaxon. “So you're water and ice now!”

As they walked along, Jaxon remembered something and then got very excited. “One second,” he said to Dorothy. He then focused his mana and willed it into a staff. He felt the mana surge from his mana pool, shoot down his arm into his fingers, and then the mana moved up and down, forming a solid electric purple and blue coloured staff. The shaft was quite plain in design, and at the top of the staff formed a waffle ice cream cone with a single scoop of purple-blue electric mana that sent off the occasional three-inch spark every now and again.

“Seriously,” he said out loud, “my conjured weapon is an ice cream on a stick?” He shook his head as he continued walking with the staff. “I wonder if they even have ice cream here,” he thought to himself. Just then, he heard a cracking sound come from high in a tree behind him. As he turned to see what branch was falling, a massive ant-looking thing, the size of a German Shepherd, was leaping from the falling branch towards him.

“Holy crap!” he yelled as the ant pushed him to the ground and went to take a bite with its huge pincers from Jaxon’s face. Jaxon screamed like a flamboyant guy at a Cher concert. As the ant-like thing moved in for a bite, Jaxon twisted his head out of the way, and the creature bit the ground where his head had been. The creature moved back for a second bite when, all of a sudden, the creature's body shook and then broke in half, covering Jaxon in a goo that must have been stored in its abdomen. Jaxon screamed again, not because he was scared but because his body now felt like it was on fire where the goop had landed on him. Jaxon flailed, trying to push and squeegee the muck from him as his hands burned. Then, as he sat up, Dorothy was there hovering over him. All of a sudden, he was completely soaked like someone poured a bucket of water over him. Then he realised the burning sensation had stopped and the burnt skin was healing itself. He checked his interface and indeed saw that his health was going up.

“What the—” Momentary confusion turned to understanding as he realised that Dorothy had doused him in water and was somehow healing him. Sopping wet, Jaxon stood up and shook like a dog, then looked at Dorothy. “Um,” he said sheepishly and in shock, “thanks for, um, saving me,” he said as he looked down at the ice spikes that had struck the ant, opening it like bullets hitting a watermelon. After a minute, Jaxon picked up his staff and, without another word, started walking again.

After some time, Jaxon was not sure how long, he received [Concern for you] from Dorothy.

“Me?” Jaxon said. “I'm okay, I'm just annoyed [Me?].”

“No,” said Jaxon, “me. I was completely shit just then, I totally froze.”

Just then, Dorothy started vibrating with laughter [You Bad] as she giggled. Jaxon shook his head at her and began to laugh. “You're not supposed to agree with me,” and he laughed even more, the tension leaving him [You scared] followed by more giggling from Dorothy.

“Yeah, okay, I was,” Jaxon said, still laughing. When suddenly he saw three more ants crawling towards them from behind Dorothy. “Oh shit, look out!” he said. Dorothy zoomed behind Jaxon, and the huge ants were running towards him. Jaxon pointed his staff and focused, then a blue bolt of electricity struck the ant on the right. He pulled his staff back and swung his ice cream cone-headed staff at one of the ants as it leapt towards him. As he swung the staff towards the ant, Jaxon noticed that he had missed the body of the ant he was aiming at. Instead, the head of the staff smashed into the ant’s abdomen, and with a spark, the head of the staff discharged an electric pulse, sending lightning into the ant. Jaxon saw it; things seemed to slow slightly like before when he was running. He noticed the abdomen of the spider growing in size and the liquid inside starting to boil.

“Oh crap,” Jaxon said as he cringed and pulled away, not wanting to be covered in ant goo again. As he did, he felt his mana surge out of him like a bubble and form a shield. The ant's abdomen exploded with goo flying in all directions. As it approached Jaxon, it came in contact with the shield and burned away. Jaxon spun around to look for Dorothy, who was hovering next to a very elaborate ice sculpture of one of the ants.

“That’s a cool trick,” he said as his adrenaline started to ease off [Quick, you finish]. Jaxon looked at the ant, then at Dorothy questioningly, then back at the ant. He saw it: the ant was still alive but stuck, frozen, and was trying to escape its ice prison.

“Oh, I see,” he said as he readied to swing his staff. “Here we go,” he said as he swung the staff at the ant, this time focusing his mana into his staff. As the staff moved towards the ant, it grew brighter and brighter. When it came in contact with the ant, there was a massive crack, not from the ice, but the huge surge of electricity that erupted when the staff came in contact with the ant. The sound was so loud Jaxon thought he went momentarily deaf.

After the shock of the explosion, Jaxon looked at Dorothy. “Are you okay?” he said. She rocked forward and backward, indicating yes. Jaxon looked around and up. There were bits of ant everywhere, up in the branches and some wrapped around tree trunks, even a leg that, when Jaxon pulled out of the ground, had been embedded two-thirds of the way into the ground.

“Holy Batman,” Jaxon said, “it completely exploded.” He looked at Dorothy again, who was still nodding and sent [impressed].

“Okay,” said Jaxon, “I need to focus more, this is stupid. I should not have been ambushed like that,” as he pushed out his hearing senses to listen for movement. “Okay,” he said, “I can't hear anything big around us. I think we are okay.” [Go] “Okay,” Jaxon replied, and they headed off. After about 20 minutes of walking, Jaxon said, “Well, it's getting dark. It would be nice to stop by a river or something,” looking down at his dirty self with stains and muck on his body and clothing. Dorothy shook her head.

“No?” Jaxon said. “We should stop here?”

“Yes,” Dorothy nodded.

“Um, okay then,” he said. He paused and focused on his door for the second time. Just as before, after about two minutes, the door finished materialising in front of them. Jaxon swung the door open, and they both went inside.

“Oh, I forgot the shower was in here,” he said as he lent his staff against the wall and sat on a chair and went to take off his shoes, then remembered he didn't have any. Jaxon laughed at the old muscle memory action. “I guess orc feet are so tough it felt like I was wearing boots.” He stood up, walked over to the shower, and turned the only lever that was there. Nothing happened.

“Hmm,” thought Jaxon, and he walked over to the sink to find it was the same. Jaxon thought, “I wonder why.” Then he used his senses and saw that there was nothing magical about it. “Oh well, that’s odd,” Jaxon said, turning to look at Dorothy, sitting in the huge cup/birdbath thing, and then saw that the entire thing was glowing blue, the same blue that Dorothy used to be before she got ice mana.

“Ah, I see,” said Jaxon as he turned back to the sink and reached out and pushed his mana into it. Suddenly, there was resistance and a small electric shock hit Jaxon’s hand as he pulled it back quickly. “Ouch, Charlie, it bit me,” as he turned to Dorothy with a baby-like expression on his face. Dorothy looked at him blank-faced. [Stupid], Jaxon’s face turned to mock shock.

“Go on then, buddy, you try it!” But he had a feeling he knew what was wrong. Sure enough, Dorothy floated up and moved over to the sink and Jaxon saw her pour blue mana into it. As she did, he noticed it took quite a lot. Eventually, he noted the mana in the sink was stronger than the mana in Dorothy.

“Hey! Don't overdo it,” he said to her. She looked at him as she finished pouring the last of the blue mana into the sink and he saw she looked drained. “Why did you put so much in?” he said. [Give] Jaxon looked puzzled. [You Give]. “Um, oh yes, that’s right.” He reached out his hand and focused on sending mana to Dorothy, making sure he willed only raw mana to her and not converting it to electric, as Marion said. Once he started with a little bit, Dorothy sucked on the line of mana. It reminded Jaxon of trying to drink bubble tea, but a tapioca bubble was blocking the straw. Jaxon immediately sensed the pull and pushed the mana faster. Soon, it was like he was a fire hydrant, and no matter how fast he pushed it, she managed to drink it in. Soon, she was the brightest he had ever seen her, and he checked inside himself and saw she had pulled about three-quarters of his mana from him. Panting slightly, he said, “Wow, you can hold a lot of mana,” also observing she had grown in diameter slightly, looking like an overinflated water balloon. Dorothy moved over to the shower and pushed her water mana into it. Within no time, he saw that the shower now had the same blue haze over it as the sink. When she finished, she moved back to her bath thing, soaking in the water that was in there. [Happy].

“Well, yes, thank you, that's awesome. I suppose it makes sense you can't use lightning mana in something that needs water,” said Jaxon. Doro nodded yes.

“Would my raw mana work like what I gave to you?” she shook, indicating no.

“Oh, okay, good to know. I might have a shower now if that’s okay?” Dorothy looked at him indifferent. “Um, okay, here I go,” he said as he removed his shirt and pants, then hesitated. It felt kind of weird like your dog watching you shower with interest.

“Okay, whatever,” he said as he removed his boxers, put his clothing in the sink, and went into the shower. The shower was not hot but not very cold, so it was not unbearable but not the steaming hot shower he was hoping for. While he was showering, he noticed that the super clear water was washing away the dirt with ease by simply rubbing his hands all over himself, he was unbelievably clean.

“That’s incredible,” he thought as he rubbed his hands through his hair. He pushed the lever back to stop the water flowing and stepped out of the shower. Then he noticed Dorothy over near the sink expelling water onto his clothing, and as he watched, all the dirt and stains dissolved away like magic.

“That’s incredible,” he said, then checked his skin and it was indeed super clean, not oily or dry. “Wow, magic water,” he said as all of a sudden, the water started lifting away from the clothing in the sink and also started lifting away from Jaxon’s body. It was the most peculiar sensation he had ever experienced like something was sucking off the water but without the airflow. Then all of a sudden, all the water that had moved away from his body and the clothing in the sink flew towards Dorothy and inside her. She then went back over to her chair/bath thing and sat back in it, sucking up the water in that as well.

Jaxon just stood there in shock for a moment, went over to the sink, and picked up the clothing. Sure enough, it was completely clean and dry, the same as Jaxon. “Magic, or should I say mana, is so cool,” he said out loud as he laughed. He grabbed his boxers and lifted a leg to put them on and then fell over and banged his head on the table. Dorothy erupted in giggles and laughter. Jaxon looked at her with one leg in his boxers sprawled on the floor.

“I give up,” he said, shaking his head. “This new orc body is so much taller and bigger than my old human one.” Dorothy was still laughing, rolling on her back in the bowl chair. Jaxon sat up, hooked his other leg through, and pulled his boxers up. Opening the front door, he focused his hearing and pushed out his senses, not wanting to get attacked as soon as he got outside. He slowly walked outside with his senses on full alert. After a few moments, he opened his inventory and removed his tree mug, went to a tree, and held the mug up to the side of the tree. After a few seconds, little roots grew out of the side of the mug towards the tree, pushed into the tree trunk, and then the cup started to fill with water. Once the cup was full, the roots retracted back into the cup, and Jaxon drank deeply of the fresh crystal-clear water. He drank all he could, then after checking his senses again, he crouched down in his boxers and placed the mug on the ground. This time, roots emerged from the bottom of the cup into the ground, and the mug started to fill. He did note that the huge mug took a little longer to fill from the ground than it did from the tree. He stood up, went back inside, placed the mug on the table, shut the door, and then sat down on a chair.

“Hey,” he said to Dorothy, “you want to come sit with me?” Dorothy looked at him as she floated over to the other chair and hovered at roughly Jaxon’s head height. “Here,” he said as he pushed the mug towards her. “I brought you some water.” Dorothy looked at him and vibrated happily as the water moved in a reverse whirlpool shape directly into Dorothy. Jaxon sat there with a smile on his face. “Well, that was an interesting afternoon,” he said, looking at her. Dorothy wobbled side to side in a nonchalant way.

“Hey, Dorothy, I was wondering if we could try something. You can change shape, yeah?” Nod from Dorothy. “Okay, so can you form a ring around my arm?” Jaxon asked, again a nod. “Okay, can you do it?” Quick as a flash, Dorothy moved towards Jaxon’s arm and formed a large donut shape. Jaxon jumped a little at the unexpected speed. Dorothy laughed, vibrating.

“Funny,” Jaxon said sarcastically to her, then suddenly she poked out a tongue.

“Ha ha ha,” he laughed. “I didn't know you could do that,” Jaxon said. “Okay, so can you grip onto my arm?” Dorothy moved and seemed to suction herself onto his arm. “Okay, hold on,” Jaxon said, and he shook his arm back and forth. “Hmm,” he said, “you're quite heavy.” Dorothy let go of his arm, zipped in front of him, poked out her tongue again, and spurted water into his face.

“No, not like that,” he said. “I mean if you're attaching to me for transport, so if I'm off balance, I can move or react efficiently.” Dorothy paused for a moment, nodded, then quick as a flash, she disappeared. Jaxon looked around the room, looking for her.

“Where the hell did you go?” he said out loud. Then all of a sudden, he felt vibrations all over his torso, and it sent shivers down his spine.

“Wait, stop,” he started to laugh. “No, don't do that, it tickles,” he said. This, of course, made her do it again. “No, no, mercy, please,” he said as he tried to push her off but couldn't. She stopped, and when Jaxon regained composure, he looked down. Thinking how solid she was when he tried to remove her, it seemed although she looked like a ball of water, she was solid to touch! When Jaxon regained composure, he looked down and saw that she had moulded herself completely around his torso all the way from his underarms to his hips.

“Wow,” he said, looking around his body. “Are you holding on tight?” he asked. There was an odd sensation as she adhered to his skin even more. Jaxon gave another shiver. “Okay,” he said, and he jumped as high and as fast as he could. After about three jumps, he stopped, and to his surprise, she did not slip even a tiny bit. “That’s so cool,” he said. [OK] Jaxon got from her, and then all of a sudden she was solid ice.

“Ahhhhhhhh!” Jaxon screamed for three seconds as she maintained the ice transformation. Jaxon pulled at his hair. “You,” he breathed heavily, “you,” he looked at her like a panther stalking its prey. Dorothy was giggling madly. “I’M GOING TO GET YOU,” Jaxon said as he lunged towards her, but she was too quick, zipping to the other side of the room. Jaxon, who tripped on the table leg, caught himself and spun around and saw her in the corner of the room above his bed laughing hysterically. Without hesitation, Jaxon moved, leaping towards her, arms outstretched. But again, she was so quick. As he was in the air, zooming towards her, she zoomed underneath him, his head following her with his extraordinary sight tracking her.

When, crack! He hit the back wall, and with a whoosh, all the air left his lungs. Jaxon made a groaning sound, then fell face-first onto the bed.

“Ouch,” he said as he turned around to face Dorothy, who was looking at him with concern. [OK?] Jaxon started laughing, and once Dorothy saw he was okay, she started laughing as well.

“Thanks,” he said as he hugged a pillow. “I needed that. It was like having my little sister back, her putting ice down my shirt and me chasing her around the house.” He lay there, hugging his pillow, deep in thought for a few minutes. Then he shed a tear. Dorothy floated towards him, and he moved his pillow behind his head and hugged her instead. Then his tear and wet trail from his eye lifted off his face and formed a tiny, tiny blob of water. As it floated away from his face, it froze into a snowflake. Jaxon reached out and caught it in his hand, then he gave a small laugh as it melted back into a liquid. He went back to hugging Dorothy. After a while, he fell asleep.

The next morning, when he started to wake up, he opened his eyes and saw that Doro had sagged like a water balloon, laying on his arm, still sleeping. The glow of the room was still low, so he went back to sleep. As he woke a second time, he saw she was not there and looked over to see Dorothy in her big water birdbath.

“Hey,” he said as he sat up. She vibrated, and it sent ripples across the water she was sitting in. Jaxon got up, stripped off, and jumped in the shower. After a quick shower, he got fully dressed, sat at the table, and pulled a huge mango out of his inventory and began to eat it. While he was doing so, he saw that there were a lot of notifications, so he decided to go through them.

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Note: Your bond with your familiar has increased to level 2 - 35% - Check the status for more information.

This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

Note: Your Conjured Weapon Ability has increased to level 0 - 5%

Note: Your Keen Scent Ability has increased to level 0 - 10%

Note: Your Whisperwind Ear Ability has increased to level 0 - 20%

Note: Your Spiritual Awareness Ability has increased to level 0 - 20%

Note: Your Lightning Bolt Ability has increased to level 0 - 2%

Note: Your Static Shield Ability has increased to level 0 - 2%

Note: Your Ionic Blink Ability has increased to level 0 - 2%

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“Wow, that was a lot for sleeping,” he thought. Jaxon had planned to spend time reading everything in his interface while he lay on his bed trying to fall asleep. “Oh well, I will have a quick look now,” he said as he started eating the other half of the mango.

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My Status

Cores & Abilities

Inventory

Equipment

Map

Familiar Status

???

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“Okay,” Jaxon thought, “that’s a little different to how it was before,” as he delved into his status.

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Status:

Name: Jaxon Angel

Race: Orc

Level: 2

Class Level: 1 Raw Elemental Druid

Sex: Male

Age: 18

Height: 2.4 Metres

Attributes:

Conversation level: 4

Movement level: 3

JuJu level: 8

Lift level: 6

Smart level: 5

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“Well, that's an improvement,” he said as he checked Dorothy’s status for the first time.

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Familiar Status

Name: Dorothy

Race: Water & Ice Elemental

Level: 3

Sex: NA

Age: 350

Bonded Level: 2

Abilities:

Manipulate and create water & ice

Ice Shard Attack

Camouflage

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“Hey, Dorothy,” Jaxon called out to Doro. “I didn't know you could camouflage!”

Dorothy sucked up the water in her chair thing and floated over, shrugging. The outsides of the blob formed the shape of a two-year-old's drawing of a heart that Jaxon took to mean “meh.” Jaxon shook his head.

“Do you eat?” Jaxon asked her. She shook her head.

“But you drink water?” he asked.

“Oh!” Jaxon said, “That reminds me.” He checked his mana level, which was at 100%. “Hmm, I should take more note of how much I use and regain over time. How about you? Are you good to go? Need anything?”

Doro shook her head.

“Okay then, let's go,” Jaxon said as he opened the door. He pushed out his senses to check for safety, then he stepped out, then stepped back in and retrieved his staff, and then stepped out again. This time, he held out his staff as the door changed into a bolt of electricity and moved into his staff. Jaxon had a pleased look on his face; the staff was definitely an extension of him. As he dismissed his staff, it turned into crackling lightning and then retracted back into the palm of his hand.

“Cool,” he thought, “it's the same effect as a dual-blade lightsaber.” He turned to Doro and said, “Suit up, I want to try something.” She looked at him questioningly. “You know,” said Jaxon as he indicated around his chest. Comprehension appeared on her face, and then a second later, she zoomed up under his shirt and created a tight grip on Jaxon as she did the night before. Jaxon took a few jumps to check she was held on tight. Then he checked his map to make sure he was heading in the correct direction, honed his senses, and then started running. Within no time at all, he was back into the rhythm of using his senses to mark ahead his next few footings. His strides became bigger and faster as he moved up to about 70% of his speed.

“Don’t want to tire myself out too quickly,” he said. Then, when he held a good pace, he scouted ahead as far as he could see. It was not too far as he was in a forest, but it was thinning out as he moved towards the path he had been on days ago. When he was ready, he willed himself forward using his Ionic Blink ability. Suddenly, the change in vision and the gliding sensation happened again, and this time he was ready for it, focusing as best he could. When he changed back from a bolt, he kept running.

“Yes,” he thought, “I did it! Are you okay down there?” he said to Doro. “[Yes],” Jaxon received. “Okay, I'm going to give it a few more goes,” as he made a huge leap, holding the next destination in his sight. Soon, Jaxon had it down packed and was taking 5-6 strides and then transforming into a lightning bolt, zooming 10x faster through the forest, blinking back to an orc, taking another five steps, then disappearing again into a lightning bolt and zooming off. Soon, he had completed about 15 blinks. He continued running while slowing himself down to a stop. Once he did, Doro zipped out from his shirt and looked around with a nod of approval.

“Time for a drink,” he said as he pulled out the mug, held it to a tree, and then completely drained it. Then he went to a different tree, placed the mug up against it, and then held it out for Doro. Half the liquid in the mug zoomed into her.

“You don't want any more?” he questioned. She shook her head.

“Okay then,” he said, and he finished the mug. He didn't dare waste the water the tree next to him had given him; he thought it would feel kind of insulting if he did. He stowed the mug back in his inventory and checked his mana level. “75%,” he said. “Hmm, so it does not use too much,” he thought. “Okay,” he said, “let's go.” As he started walking, he opened the map and adjusted his course to where he thought the path would be when he heard movement from the right of them heading towards them. “Wait,” he whispered. Doro stopped. “There is something coming,” he said fast, “towards us. Get ready,” he said as his staff formed in his hand, as he faced the direction. They came into his vision—five huge wolf-like creatures but with just fangs pointing down from their snouts. Without hesitation, Jaxon willed his shield into being and started shooting bolts from his staff. As they ran towards Jaxon, he managed to get three bolts out. Two hit one of the wolves, but the third had missed as the wolves scattered to become a harder target to hit. Jaxon heard the yelp of a wolf as the one he had hit with the two bolts collapsed as the electrical energy surged around and through its body. Two wolves went either side of them, and Jaxon and Doro ended up back to back. Then there was a yelp and a thud from behind him, but he dared not turn away from the two wolves facing him. He shot a bolt at them, and they jumped apart, dodging it. As they got closer to him, one of them lunged towards him, but Jaxon was ready. He swung his staff, and it connected. The wolf yelped as it spun from the impact.

“Stupid,” thought Jaxon, “I should have pushed the mana into the staff.” The wolf regained its footing as the two wolves came together and pounced at the same time towards Jaxon. He swung the staff and pushed mana into it. Crack! As the staff connected with the first wolf, tendrils of lightning leapt from the staff, electrocuting the wolf as it started to fall to the ground. Jaxon saw from his peripheral vision that he could not maneuver to defend himself from the second wolf flying towards him with its maw open, ready to take a bite of Jaxon’s arm. But as it got closer to him, it suddenly hit his shield. The shield failed and zapped the wolf but not enough to kill it as it landed on its feet. The wolf he had hit with his staff connected to the ground with a thud. The remaining wolf backed off from Jaxon, knowing they had misjudged the traveller. As the wolf looked around, it saw it was the only one left. It turned tail and ran back into the forest. As Jaxon turned, he saw Doro was there watching him. He looked around and found one wolf pinned to a tree, dead with three ice spikes, and the other in small frozen pieces scattered all over the ground.

Jaxon looked between the pieces on the ground and Doro. “Remind me never to piss you off. That’s full on,” he said. She did her shrug thing, and Jaxon said, “All good?” Doro nodded, and the pair headed off. As Jaxon examined his staff a little, he said, “I still can't believe I have an ice cream on a stick for a staff,” as he dismissed it. “At least it looks cool when I whip it out, swing it around, and put it back.” No? He said, looking at Doro. “Hmm, talk about a wasted joke.” He checked his mana and he was at 55%. “Still good,” he thought. “We are just from the path, I think,” he said to Doro. “It’s safe for you to be seen?” [Unsure] [Yes] “Okay, well if you need to hide or I think you should, I will say ‘suit up,’ okay?” She nodded, and so they continued. Before long, the forest thinned out and the path was visible. Jaxon used his senses to check if anyone was on the path and it all seemed to be clear apart from what sounded like cart wheels and some animals a while away. They started walking, taking in the sunshine and the easy foot placement. After a short time, Jaxon heard the wheels on dirt sound getting close. He turned to see a huge beast, the height of a big Clydesdale horse, but with a tail and neck that would easily be twice as long, prancing towards him. The huge beast looked dragon-like but was covered from head to toe in thick fur with the same black and white colours and body patterns as a border collie. Jaxon saw its huge rippling leg muscles and big paw-like feet, but still with huge razor-sharp looking claws, as it headed towards him. Jaxon and Doro moved off to the side of the road to let the huge thing pass. As it did, he waved at the person driving the carriage.

“Hello there!” Jaxon called out. The woman riding at the front of the carriage halted the beast.

“Hello,” she said. “Are you lost?”

“I don’t think so,” he said, smiling. The woman looked at him.

“Are you okay?”

“Yes, of course,” he said, “we are just heading to the city.”

“Oh,” she said, “don’t see many of your kin in the city.”

“Oh, is it a problem?” he said.

“Well, it could be if you keep looking at me like you're going to eat me,” she said. “I'm warning you, Chip here has a mean bite.”

“I... What?” said Jaxon, looking confused.

“Thanks, that’s better,” she said.

“What did I do?” he thought, with a puzzled look on his face. “I'm very sorry if that's what I was conveying,” he said. “You're the first human I met that said that to me.”

“Well,” she said, “that’s probably because they thought you would eat them.” She laughed. “Who’s your friend?”

“Oh,” Jaxon said, “this is Dorothy, and I'm Jaxon.”

“Well,” she said, “nice to meet you. I’m Lacarne, but my friends call me Lacy, and this is Chip,” she said affectionately, scratching the fluffy dragon’s tail-looking thing.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you,” Jaxon said. “You're like the third human I have spoken to. The ones I have spoken to seem to be trying to get rid of me.”

Lacy laughed. “Well, don’t take it personally,” she said. “Like I said, not many people around here would have seen an orc. I mean, I know the war was a long time ago. I remember my great grandpappy telling me about it. But you know what people are like, water under the bridge for me, but—” she said.

“Absolutely,” Jaxon agreed, “for me too,” he bluffed. “Moving forward for the better.”

“Yes,” she said, “I would drink to that! Do you want a lift?”

“Um, are you sure? I would not want to be too much trouble.”

“No,” she said, “but I'm warning you, you pull anything and it’s lights out for ya.”

“No, no,” Jaxon said, “not at all. As if I would attack the first person to offer me a lift,” he said, smiling.

She looked at him again. “You really need to stop doing that,” she said.

“What? I was smiling?”

“Oh, is that what that is?” she said. “Well, sorry, to me it looks creepy, like predatory.”

“Oh my god, really?” he said, thinking back to his last encounters, thinking when he smiled he was being friendly. “Oh,” he thought, “well, that explains a lot.”

“You’re sure it’s no trouble? I can help you keep a look out. I have good hearing.”

“Sound good,” Lacy said. “Climb up.”

She pointed to the huge box-shaped wagon. It was very big, the size of a refrigeration truck. In the wooded side, there were little grooves to climb up. He climbed up and sat looking down at the creature.

“Can I ask a question?” Jaxon said.

“Course ya can,” she replied.

“What do you call this magnificent creature?” he said, gesturing towards the beast.

“You’re really not from about here, are ya? You never seen a Glimmerdraft?”

“Um, no,” Jaxon replied, “but are they all this beautiful?”

Chip seemed to preen and hold his head high with more swagger in his movement. Lacarne laughed out loud.

“Well, that will certainly help him like you more if you keep talking like that. But they all look similar, if that's what you mean. The same as people,” she said. “But Chip here is one of a kind to me. I’ve had him since he was a pup,” she said. “Is that your familiar?” she said, indicating Doro, who was sitting next to him on the bench seat.

“Oh, um, yes,” he said.

“Thought so,” she said. “I saw a man with a red coloured one. It was not as fat as yours, but—” Dorothy vibrated and shook, then harrumphed as she sat on the bench, causing the bench to freeze.

“Oh, I'm sorry,” she said, “I meant as big, like—wait, she can understand me?” Lacy asked.

“Yes,” Jaxon said. “Do other elementals not understand people?”

“I'm not sure,” she said. “The others kind of just float there and don't do anything unless commanded by their masters.”

Jaxon laughed. “You hear that? Apparently, I'm supposed to command you,” he said, looking at Dorothy. She gave him a look to say “just you try it.” Jaxon laughed again.

“What’s so funny?” Lacy said.

“Well, it’s just that I think if I ever ‘commanded’ anything from Doro here, it would probably be the last thing I ever do.” Dorothy gave a nod of satisfaction and approval. Lacy looked over at Doro, nodding her head, seeming a little more impressed.

“Well, that’s—” suddenly Chip stopped moving. Lacy stood up. Jaxon quickly pushed out his senses and heard the sound of something coming out from the left of the forest.

“This side,” he said as he leapt down from the carriage, summoning his staff. Doro floated above his head. Suddenly, huge spiders ran towards them. Jaxon instantly went into action, firing bolts of electricity at them, this time pushing more mana into the bolts. He noted this made them faster and harder to dodge. He struck two, and they died instantly. However, an entire swarm poured out of the forest.

“Holy crap,” said Jaxon, firing off bolt after bolt. Because there were so many of them, all the bolts hit. He willed his shield up and kept firing. The entire time, Doro was shooting up to five broad ice spikes, spreading them across the group of spiders. Soon, spider after spider fell to the onslaught of ice spikes and electrical bolts, but it still was not enough. They finally arrived at the carriage, and Jaxon swung his staff, pushing mana into every swing, as Doro continued to fire ice spikes at lunging spiders. Then all of a sudden, Chip was there, leaping into the swarm, jumping on top of the spiders, squishing them into the ground. As he spun around, he used his thick long tail to bat the spiders away from the caravan, as he gnashed and bit them with his teeth. Lacy was also in the spiders, having removed the harness from Chip and then leaping down from the top of the caravan with two big daggers. As she landed, each dagger pierced the head of an spiders. She removed the daggers and began to swing her arms and daggers around, slicing and dicing the spiders in what appeared to be a fluid-like dance-fighting style. Eventually, after what felt like forever, the last few spiders fell. Chip was covered in spider goo.

“Hang on,” said Lacy, “I will get some water to wash you off before it soaks through your fur.” But before Lacy could turn around to fetch the water, Doro was there, floating over Chip, water pouring out of her like a never-ending bucket. Chip stretched out from head to tail, and Doro moved up and down Chip, washing all the spider goo away.

“What a mess,” said Jaxon, looking at all the dead spider bodies littered across the ground.

“Yes,” said Lacy pointedly. “Once I saw it was an spiders swarm, I would have just sped off in the carriage. But when I went to tell you to hold on, you had already leapt down without hesitation,” she said. “And I'm not going to lie, for a moment there, I was going to leave you, but then I figured, what kind of person would I be if I left you two for dust after you literally leapt to our rescue? So I unhitched Chip, and, well, you know the rest.”

“Well, thanks?” Jaxon said. “I think.”

“No, thank you,” Lacy said. “That will certainly push them back for a while, and they might leave the path alone for a bit now.”

“This is a normal occurrence?” Jaxon asked.

“Oh, ya,” she said. “If there are only a few, like a scouting party, then I would just take care of them, but that was a huge amount,” she said. “Well, thank you both,” she said, looking up at Dorothy, who had finished washing Chip down and was now sucking up the water from his fur but not the water from the ground. Jaxon figured it was because of the goo. “That’s a cool trick,” she said. “Hey, Chip! Your coat looks amazing! How’s that?” she said. “A full wash and an instant dry, none of the waiting to dry. Thank you, Doro,” she said as Chip looked around at his body, very excited with how clean and dry he was. He pranced around happily, then went up to Doro and snuggled his head up to her. She vibrated happily. Then Lacy re-attached the harness to Chip, and they were off again.

“Thank you,” she said again to Jaxon as they moved along the path.

“That’s okay,” he said. “We would help.”

“Well, yes, but people say one thing then often do another.”

“Nah,” said Jaxon, “no worries.” So he said, “Does the city have a library?”

“Yeah, it's a small one, but you cannot remove the books. I heard in the big cities you can get a licence if you donate lots of money to the library, and then they will let you take one book for three days at a time.”

“Hmm, okay, but they will let anyone read them?”

“Well,” she said, “they are supposed to.”

“Okay,” said Jaxon. “I was hoping there was a manaversity there.”

“Oh no,” she said, “you will need to travel to the bigger city, Aurenavar, if you want to study mana.”

“Oh,” said Jaxon. “How far is that?”

“Oh, I think it's about 13 days sailing by water and five days by air.”

“By air?” Jaxon questioned.

“Yes,” she said. “Air is the way to go if you have the disks.”

“Oh,” Jaxon thought, wondering what the value was. “Hey,” he said, “how much would one pay for a room at a reputable inn?”

“Oh, well, about 30 bits for a half-good room with a tub and 150 to 2 disks for a room with a view and a guard and food. But I don’t know anyone who would spend that.”

“True,” he said. “You wouldn’t happen to have a recommendation for a bathhouse, would you?” he asked.

“Well, yes, actually, my father runs one that's next to an inn.”

“Well, I actually don’t need the inn,” he said. “I actually just need a blank wall somewhere.” She looked at him curiously. “Well, I have a kind of portable house,” he said.

“Oh, you do?” she said, looking around. “Me too,” she said, patting the carriage. “But mine’s not invisible,” she said, laughing.

“No,” he said, “it’s like my staff.”

“Oh,” she said, “like your mana weapon?” She indicated the staff by his feet.

“Yes,” he said, as he picked it up and then dismissed it to show off a little. “It’s like a door,” he said. “Anyway, I just need a wall to place it on, and I would like to have a bath.”

“Oh,” she said, “well, that’s easy. You have coin?”

“Well, a little,” he said, not wanting to reveal how much he had. “And how long are you staying?”

“Well,” he said, “that depends on when the ships go.”

“Well,” she said, “with the year just beginning, I figure they would still be doing intakes for the next few weeks for this year.”

“Oh,” Jaxon said, “I better get a move on then. How much does a skyship cost?”

“Well,” she said, “I figure about 30 disks. But in my opinion, you’re better off taking a GlimmerWing for about 15 disks. It will take a day more than an airship, needing for you to stop, rest, and sleep, but will save you a lot of coin. And the airship just left yesterday, so it will be another five days before the next one arrives. So if you’re in a big hurry, it would be faster.”

“Hmm,” Jaxon said, “it seems I have a lot to think about really.”

She said, “You’re considering the airship? You got the coin for that?”

“Well, only just,” he lied.

“Oh, right,” she said, “I was going to say that’s three trips for me to make that much coin. Two weeks’ work, and I have it good,” she said. “I have just about paid this chiller coach off.”

“Chiller coach?” Jaxon questioned.

“Yeah,” she said, “I’m hauling fresh fish from the coast to the city, and then I take goods back like milk and bread and so on back to the coast,” she said. “Got to have a chiller coach or it goes bad. I mean, it’s not cheap to buy, but I have almost paid it off, then I will be raking it in,” she said. “At the moment, 60% of the profits go to paying back this and the 20 for food for Chip here. Then, well,” she said, “I give the rest to my dad to pay for food for us. But,” she said, “won’t be long, a few more months of runs, and I’m done.”

“Oh, that’s great,” he said.

“Yeah, it’s been a lot of work for the last eight years, but it’s about to pay off. Hey, Chip!” He gave a kind of purr that ended in a squawk.

“How much further is it to the city?” Jaxon said.

“Oh, not far, a few more hours if we pick it up a bit. What do you think, Chip? Shall we give her a run?” Chip nodded in agreement. “Okay, there,” she said to Jaxon, “hold on to something,” as Chip started to speed up faster and faster. Jaxon found the carriage to be surprisingly smooth for the speed they were going. He wondered how as he looked down with his mana senses to see that there was mana in the wheels.

“Hey? What’s the mana do in the wheels?” he called out above the now much noisier coach.

“Oh, how did you know that?” she said. “I helped a man with wind mana a few years back and he did it for me as payment. It’s kind of a wind thing that happens between the axle and the coach,” she said. “It kind of lifts it up and cushions it apparently.” Jaxon looked again and saw the mana was quite weak, and he wondered if it could be increased to provide more cushioning. As they cruised along the footpath, Jaxon kept his senses out. As they continued talking, he said, “So, are there a lot of mana users in the city?”

“Hmm, I suppose no,” she replied. “There would, of course, be way more in the cities that study mana, but there would have to be some to recharge the defence turrets and tend to the airships and so on. I’m not really sure what a lot is,” she answered. Jaxon shook his head and went to ask another question when Lacy said, “Look, there it is.” Chip started to slow down.

“It’s probably not the best to approach at full speed. Who knows, with city defences,” she said. As they approached the wall, he noted the huge cross-bolt guns along the top of the city walls. As they got closer, the cross-bolt guns faced them. Jaxon activated his mana senses and saw each one was covered in two different types of mana. Some were brown and yellow, some were just dark purple and blue.

“Hmm,” he thought, “I suppose the purple and blue are lightning mana, and I wonder what the others are,” when suddenly Lacy halted abruptly.

“What’s wrong?” Jaxon said.

“Well,” she said, “the defences don’t normally point at us.”