Tag: Fantasy

35. Lucas

On By MaryIn 2023, WritingLeave a comment

We travelled quickly, escorted by the dwarven delegation that we still hadn’t been fully introduced to. In fact, Ambassador Kernel seemed to insist on keeping our camps separate, which most disappointed the dwarf with the messy brown hair and glasses, who seemed exceedingly eager to chat with us. Saph Anchor turned out to be the location of the Dwarven King’s palace, which was set at the base of the Seiling Mountains. There we arrived in the city of Kamruk, which was massive compared to the elven cities we had passed through. Almost every building was made of stone and shining metal, and adorned with stained glass, and everything looked so clean and well maintained. It was beautiful. The palace itself was also a masterwork, half built into the mountains themselves. The other half included towers that looked to be competing with the mountains they were built into for height.

Ambassador Kernel led us to the palace as we were to be guests of the Dwarven King. “In fact, there is going to be a ball this very evening in your honor. I do hope you’ve come prepared for that? If not, perhaps more suitable clothes could be arranged, though it is short notice…” I grimaced as he spoke. A dance? I already absolutely hated the idea.

“We have come mostly prepared, though we do have a few exceptions.” Raella glanced over at Lyre and Asterollan, a slight frown on her features. “We have two men that need to be fitted with something appropriate, and one woman that we have prepared a garment for, but may need to provide some alteration to.”

“Then we will send for the King’s personal tailors.”

With my height, I had been worried about whether I would be stooping a lot in buildings made for the much shorter dwarves. The palace was suitably massive though, and we all had plenty of room to move through as a group as we were shown to our rooms. Palace servants brought the trunks that had been hauled all the way from the University in the wagon. As we settled in, I was pleased to see that the beds and furniture were all made for people our size. “These are probably the rooms for visiting dignitaries from the human kingdoms,” Greyjon noted.

My room adjoined a large shared common room that included many cushiony chairs and a massive desk. There were three other rooms that also adjoined it – Cassandra and Lyre had taken one for themselves, and Peyton and Lexie had their own rooms. Raella had asked Asterollan to stay with me in my room. “There’s a chaise in the common area. I’ll just steal a blanket from you,” he told me with a shrug when we saw that there was only one bed.

Raella, Chase, Greyjon and Zolambi were given a similar rooming situation with their own shared common room. They were right down the hall from us. Raella had one of the trunks delivered to our common area and pulled it open, yanking out packages of fabric wrapped in paper, and a few smaller wooden boxes. “We have here some basic make up for anyone that wishes to use some, as well as hair and skin creams and some perfumes and oils of a very fine quality,” she said, practically slamming the wooden boxes down on the desk. Then she began to shove some of the packages of paper into our hands. “And these should be the garments prepared for you for the dance. You should all go wash up immediately and prepare yourselves, we only have a few hours before we are expected to attend. The dwarves will provide hairdressers within the hour. They will have recommendations on current dwarven styles. You are welcome to ignore them if it is not to your liking. You are representing yourselves, as the Chosen of the gods.”

“What if we don’t like the dresses?” Lexie asked.

“You are free to ask the King’s tailors for alterations. But you are also representing the Empire responsible for summoning you here. Elven fashion is much more sophisticated anyway.” I glanced at Peyton, who happened to look over at me at the same time – we both did our best to suppress our grins at Raella’s tone. “The rest of us will also have to go and prepare for this evening’s dance. Once we are ready, I will come to give you a briefing on what to expect and how to act. And then we will escort you to the dance itself.” There was a knock at the outer door. “That should be the tailors. They’ll help you two choose out appropriate clothes,” she said, nodding to Asterollan and Lyre.

Raella swept out as several individuals came bustling in, carrying already prepared suits for Asterollan and Lyre to try on. I retreated to my room with my packaged clothes and summoned warm water for the tub, a stone structure that was set into the wall behind a folding partition. As I settled in and began scrubbing, I realized there was a faucet. Curious, I twisted the knob.

Apparently the dwarves had plumbing.

I finished washing up quickly, and after some mild coaxing, got Peter into the tub so that I could rinse him off as well. He did not seem pleased, and I feared possibly hurting him with soap, so I kept it short and used only plain water. Once out of the tub, he shook himself vigorously and began rubbing his legs over his body and face, grooming himself.

After drying off, I pulled out the clothes that had been provided. The pants and jacket were a deep black, the material crisp and heavy. Intricate needlework in gold and red provided a pattern along the collar and front buttons and along the hems of the sleeves. I had worn suits before for special occasions, but nothing quite like this.

The undershirt was a silky cream color and was ruffled with extra material to hang out the front of the jacket. I wandered out to where a few tailors each were working with their charges in the common room. Cassandra was being fitted into a long teal dress with buttons down one side – it was slim through the waist but hung loose past that, the buttons pulling the fabric of the skirt away to reveal a second, deeper blue swath of fabric that matched the colors of the sleeves and collar. I managed to get the attention of one of the tailors working on her dress, and asked about removing the ruffles from my undershirt. It didn’t take them long at all, thankfully.

I pawed around in the wooden box for some cream to rub on my skin so I didn’t look like a dried-out fish, and dabbed a bit of a minty smelling oil under my clothes and jaw. Then I found something I could smooth my hair back with. Feeling as prepared as I could be, I perched on the arm of a chair and watched the other preparations. Peter came out into the common room and sat in the chair I was perched on. Many of the dwarves kept looking at him out of the corner of their eyes, some of them even seeming quite terrified, but they said nothing.

Lyre looked incredibly uncomfortable. They had also fitted him in something black, very similar to what I was already wearing if longer in the tail, but unadorned beyond a silver sword brooch that someone had pinned to the lapel. His undershirt was black with hints of silver tracing like pinstripes in vertical rows, but only seemed to glint when they hit the light just right. It looked like he had already had the chance to bathe as well. He stood off to the side, leaning against a wall and looking awkward at the bustle of activity.

Peyton and Lexie each had some mild modifications they wanted made to their dresses, and they each dug around in the wooden boxes, taking a few items with them back to their rooms. Asterollan’s clothes were golden with red scrolling and a white undershirt with the same ruffles that had been present on mine before. He went to go use my room to bathe when he saw that I was done.

As the tailors finished up, several women bustled in, bee lining for the rooms. I got the sense from the chatter I could overhear that they were helping with hair and makeup – they brought their own supplies as well, but did come out to dig around in the boxes on the desk on occasion.

Asterollan stepped out first, looking mildly annoyed. His hair had been pulled back into a simple ponytail, and he was attempting to swat away the attentions of the woman that was gushing over how she could really style it into something wonderful. He looked regal, like a storybook prince stepping out of a fable, the scar on his face making his frown austere.

Lexie popped out next – her hair was quite short still, but had apparently gotten long enough to be braided into a series of cornrows. I wasn’t sure if the dwarven women already knew the style or if she had to walk them through it, but they had created a delicate curving design and she seemed ecstatic with the result. Her dress was a shimmery white accented with yellow and orange, with slightly puffed sleeves. It flared just beneath the bust. Her makeup was very light, except for the orange eyeshadow that made her eyes pop. She grinned and twirled as she exited her room. I clapped. “Very cute,” I said.

“I feel like a fucking princess.”

“Now if only you sounded like one.” She stuck her tongue out at me and flopped down next to Peter, patting him gently behind the eyes.

“Peter needs like… a bow or something.”

“You are not putting a bow on my spider.” She pouted. Asterollan, who was just in my line of sight as I was speaking to Lexie, straightened suddenly, his face becoming carefully composed as he stared. I followed his gaze to watch Cassandra step out of her room. Her makeup was very light – her hair had been braided along the sides of her temple and pulled back into a loose ponytail, with teal ribbons tied through the braids. The color of the dress really suited her, but someone had also managed to find a series of delicate looking gold chains for her to wear. Lyre was smiling at her, absolutely enchanted, and she grinned shyly at him.

“You look beautiful,” Lyre said. She stepped over and took one of his hands in hers.

“You’re not too bad yourself,” she murmured to him, and he turned slightly pink.

I glanced back at Asterollan curiously, who was looking away now, a frown creasing his brow. “Aww, I didn’t get any jewelry,” Lexie said.

“They probably don’t trust you with it. You’re just a kid, you’d probably lose it.”

“I am NOT a kid.” Lexie puffed out her lower lip, her brow furrowing. Then the expression disappeared, melting into a delighted one. “Wow, you totally look like your movie-star self!” she said, staring past me.

I twisted around to see Peyton stepping out of her room.

She did indeed look ready for the red carpet. Her hair was pulled back into a bun, and her makeup was exquisitely done – her eyes looked larger and bluer somehow, and her lips were a bright crimson. She was wearing a deep red dress, the neckline swooping dangerously low. It looked modern in its design, fitted around the hips and flaring above the knees. It was sleeveless, though there was a sheer fabric that attached to the shoulder straps and covered her upper arms, and curled around behind her like a very short cape. The sheer cape glittered, and I realized it was covered in some kind of glittery amber-colored gemstones. I felt my breath hitch a moment, which caused me to have to clear my throat, and as I realized my eyes were dipping more toward where the neckline ended, I looked away.

And then almost instantly, I looked back. She was grinning at Lexie. “I feel like my movie star self,” she said. Her eyes shifted over to meet mine.

I looked away again. “Yes. You look very pretty,” I managed to say, after clearing my throat again.

“That’s an understatement,” Lexie said under her breath to Peter, tickling him under the mandibles.

The team of people that had been helping us get ready were gathering their supplies and trailing out of the room just as Raella swept back in with the others just behind her. Raella was dressed in a slim fitting golden dress with a high collar, that had a triangular opening at the bust. She had favored gold make up, which made her golden eyes stand out. Greyjon was wearing a suit very similar to Lyre’s and mine – deep black, though his undershirt was a pale grey and was laced up to his collar, with the strings of the laces hanging over the front of his jacket. He had medals and military insignia attached to his lapels and shoulders, though I wasn’t sure what they signified. Zolambi was dressed in deep blue wizard’s robes – they looked much like the jackets the rest of us were wearing, but went nearly to his shins. Where they draped down his chest from the shoulders, the fabric was velvety and had a floral pattern. Chase was dressed in an almost poofy velvety green dress with a grey inset along the front, and her long red curls had been pulled back into a half bun. Her makeup was also very lightly done. She must not have wanted her freckles to be covered up.

Raella nodded as she looked us all over. She raised an eyebrow at me. “I’m afraid your spider must stay here,” she said.

I patted Peter on his back. “Sorry buddy, stay in the room. I’ll bring you back a good snack,” I promised, speaking quietly to him. Peter trilled and jumped to the ceiling, carefully picking his way across from above and darting into my room obediently.

Raella watched him disappear before she began to speak. “This ball is less frivolity and more political occasion. We have only just recently established our relationship with the dwarves as equals. For the first time in many centuries, the Elven Empire has broached their isolationism. Our mission benefits the entire world, and the dwarves know that. But there is still some lingering animosity toward the Empire.” Raella paused. “As the Chosen of the gods, you are not officially representatives of the Empire, but I would appreciate if you did not do anything to embarrass us. We,” Raella made a brief sweeping gesture to show that she meant her fellow elves, “are your wards, and representatives of our people. Any embarrassment you cause will reflect poorly on us, and perhaps hurt our burgeoning relationship with the Dwarven countries. Please keep that in mind. Now as for matters of decorum…”

For the next 30’ish minutes, Raella launched into a lecture about ball etiquette. Since we were the guests of honor, we were to arrive by a certain door and descend some stairs, where we would be announced to the entire room full of the Dwarven upper crust who had managed to be invited. We were supposed to greet the King and his Queen first, to bow or curtsy as directed, and Raella would handle talking to them. Then Raella wanted us to follow her as she introduced us to some of the upper nobility from the other Dwarven Anchors. After that, we would be allowed to mingle or eat or participate in dances as we pleased – so long as we didn’t get raucous and drunk.

A dwarven man with smoothed back black hair and gray eyes appeared at the door, clearing his throat to interrupt Raella’s long list of things that would embarrass her. “Well,” she said. “It’s time for the ball.”

34. Lucas

On By MaryIn 2023, WritingLeave a comment

The remaining journey to Glyss passed quickly and quietly. It almost fell into a more comfortable routine. I was getting better sleep now that I knew the auditory and visual hallucinations were real, and I kept a more careful eye for them. When I saw the figure of light, I was careful not to turn my head directly toward him, instead studying him out of my periphery. Sometimes he appeared to be riding alongside us on a shining horse of silvery white that was as bright as he was. He wore shining armor, and sometimes I could just make out the hint of flaming wings extending from him and the horse, wavering tendrils of light, bright as solar flares. I would catch moments when Peyton or Asterollan would spot him and twist their heads around, or do a mild double take, only for him to disappear. Whoever he was, he did not want to be looked at directly.

I realized that the strange smell of burning electronics or ozone seemed to follow in Cassandra’s wake at times. Sometimes she would pass me on the road and I felt the mild tingle of static run down my arms. She didn’t seem aware of it in the slightest. I began to study Lexie to see if there were signs of Myrapen’s presence, but nothing made itself known. She was not as hovering or watchful as the other gods, I guess. Lexie still had trouble with fine control in her spells, but raw power was never an issue. That may have just been Lexie though – she still couldn’t catch anything to save her life either.

Sometimes in the evenings if I was alone, I would sit and quietly speak to Peter. In a way, I was indirectly attempting to communicate with my own god. I would still hear the laughter on occasion, but nothing ever directly responded to me.

Glyss was a larger town, with two sets of walls separating an upper ward from a lower ward. The city had grown since the original town had been built, and the nearby dwarven border made the municipality cautious. In Glyss we made our way to the inner ward, and instead of staying at an inn we were invited to stay in the home of the city’s leader. He was an older man that looked almost stereotypically like a wizard, with a long slate grey beard and hair and twinkling blue eyes. In fact, he looked remarkably a lot like Master Zern.

He was introduced to us as Javyk Zern. “Wellem is my younger brother,” he said when Peyton asked if there was a relation. He was very enthusiastic in greeting us, shaking each of our hands with both of his and staring us so directly in the eyes as he did so that it was almost disconcerting. “Yes, yes, make yourselves at home. Feel free to wander the estates or settle into your rooms. Dinner shall be served in the hour. Oh! A giant jumping spider. Quite rare in these parts!” Peter seemed a bit nervous to be approached, but once the old man began tickling him behind the eyes, he warmed up to him instantly, leaning into the old man’s touch.

“You’re not scared of him?” I asked, a little surprised. Every wall guard and innkeeper we had met so far had to be argued with and perhaps bribed to allow Peter to pass through. When we walked down streets people eyed him warily.

“Hmm? No. Many consider the smaller varieties lucky. Perhaps the larger one is just extra lucky!” When he got to Asterollan, he peered at him curiously. “I wasn’t expecting an extra human. What brings you so far into Elven lands?”

“I think I have much to discuss with you before dinner,” Raella said, cutting in before Asterollan could provide his own answer. “The gods appear to be returning to our world.”

“Really?” Javyk looked thoughtful at the news, then nodded. “Yes. The retainers will show you all to your rooms, and we,” he looked meaningfully to Raella, “shall sit and discuss this in my library.”

The house was large enough for most of us to have our own rooms, though Lyre and Cassandra opted to stay together in one. The rooms were nicer than an inn, similar to what we had experienced while staying in the tower at the University. We were planning to leave first thing in the morning so there wasn’t much settling in to do. Instead, I flopped down on my back on the large bed, relishing in how soft the mattress was. Peter jumped up, leaning against my side. I absently patted his nearest leg. If I didn’t look at him, I could almost imagine I was being cuddled by a bristly dog.

Lexie wandered into my room after a while and, completely uninvited, flopped down on her back on the other side of my bed. “My bed has a canopy,” she said.

“That’s nice,” I replied.

“I always wanted a canopy bed. Back home.”

“Maybe when this is all done you can have one here.” I had been ignoring the possibility that we might not have a life here after this was all done, and could almost believe the words as I spoke them. I tilted my head back to look over at her. She was staring absently at something that I couldn’t see. “Have they done anything new?” I asked.

She shook her head. “Nope. Same old routine. Float around us, stay out of reach.”

“Hmm. Not that I mind, but why did you come in here to bother me?”

“Oh, I was trying to check everyone’s rooms out. Greyjon said it was inappropriate to walk in on a man, Asterollan was meditating and kept ignoring me, and Cassandra and Lyre had locked the door. You just happened to be next.”

I sighed. “So one man tells you that it’s not appropriate to walk into a man’s room, and you continue walking into men’s rooms?” I asked.

“You hardly count.”

I expected that, so I ignored it. “And Asterollan?”

“He was meditating.” I didn’t see how that answered the question, but I didn’t argue the point.

Peyton walked by the open door and spotted us, stepping in to lean against the door frame and cross her arms, an amused expression on her face. “Is this some kind of party?”

“It’s just a soft bed,” I grumbled. Peter trilled softly.

“Mine has a canopy,” Lexie told her enthusiastically.

“I always wanted one of those as a kid.” Peyton walked over and flopped down next to Lexie. I was starting to feel a bit crowded. “Dinner is soon.”

“Wonder what kind of food a place this fancy serves,” Lexie said, popping back up. She walked over to the door and glanced back at us. “Are you guys coming?”

“In a moment. It’s a soft bed,” I said.

“I just lay down,” Peyton groaned. Lexie rolled her eyes, made some mumbled comment about old people, and walked out. “Ouch,” Peyton said, having heard the comment as well, and laughed.

I closed my eyes. I hadn’t been alone with Peyton in a long time, and realized she probably didn’t know that the strange figure of light she caught sight of sometimes was a god. “So have you been seeing things too?” I asked.

She shifted on the bed, I suspected to look over at me. I smirked, but said nothing as I waited for her reply, my eyes still closed. “So I haven’t been going insane.”

“No. Cassandra says the figure of light is Asterollan’s god. If you avoid looking directly at him, he stays longer, and you can kind of observe him from the periphery.”

“And the child?” I opened my eyes now to look over at her with a frown. When she realized I didn’t know what she was talking about, it was her turn to smirk. “There’s a kid that shows up sometimes very briefly, and then disappears. I’ve seen her sometimes in town, but mostly when we’re out on the road. Standing by a creek or out in the middle of a field, or sitting in a tree.”

“I think I hear her laughing sometimes. But I haven’t seen her very often,” I admitted. I sat up, careful not to disturb Peter, who was trilling in a soft even way that suggested he was sleeping. “Cassandra says that she and Asterollan have both talked to their gods. Cassandra knows the name of hers too.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. But it seems like she hasn’t told Raella or anyone else yet.”

Peyton was quiet. I resisted the urge to turn to look at her. “I wonder what they want us to do? Is it the same as what we’ve been told we’re here for?”

I stood up and stretched a bit, then turned to face Peyton. She was staring at me, her eyes wide and blue and as easy to fall into as the sky. I looked away, uncomfortable with the eye contact. “I don’t know. But we’re going with them for now, right?”

Peyton nodded. “For now. Yes.”

We both wandered down for dinner. It wasn’t quite a formal affair – the servants or attendants or whatever brought us our food when we arrived to eat, and we weren’t expected to wait for anyone. Raella and Javyk must have still been talking privately, and Lyre and Cassandra were nowhere to be seen. Lexie was already halfway done with her meal. I watched the way her eyes flicked up above my head as Peyton and I entered – I had grown used to it by this point, but the first several times it had happened, it was hard not to twist my head to follow her gaze, even knowing I would see nothing.

The bed was almost too comfortable, and I spent a lot of the night twisting and turning in it. I was dead tired the next morning, barely able to drag myself along as we gathered ourselves for the final leg of our journey through the Empire.

Javyk accompanied us. “Just as far as the border,” he said. “I have my own duties here and can’t leave, but I’ll be passing you into the care of a dwarven ambassador.” The road looked well traveled and maintained, but there was very little traffic along it. I could see the border wall before we reached it – a massive stone construct. Where the wall met the road, there was a gate with guard towers. Standing at attention on either side of the road was a regiment of soldiers, and standing at the gate was a group of dwarves.

I had expected the stereotypical vision of burly bearded men, short but stout, fully armored, wielding battle axes and perhaps speaking in a Scottish accent. My first impression was that I was seeing a group of children, but as I approached I realized they were adults – just very small. In fact, they reminded me more of tall halflings or gnomes. The tallest only came up to my elbow. They had pointed ears, though not as sharply upswept as an elf’s ears. And while some of the delegation did wear armor, and a few had beards, they did not look uniformly as dwarven as I had imagined.

They spoke Blest, but had a softer accent that sounded vaguely American southern mixed with Irish. For a moment, I felt foolish as I realized that of course I would never really find a recognizable accent here. It made me faintly homesick for a moment.

The leader of the delegation was a man that, despite his height in comparison to ours, held an air of unquestioned authority. He had wispy blonde hair and hazel eyes and stared at Javyk Zern as he approached with us. “Hello, Ambassador Kernel,” Javyk greeted cheerfully. If anything, Kernel’s expression darkened more at the sight of him.

“You’re not coming into Amethys Anchor with us, are you, Zern?” the dwarf called out as we got closer.

“Oh no, I’ve got too much to do back home. I’m simply here to make introductions and pass our people into your care.” Kernel looked visibly relieved. We dismounted and stood in front of Kernel, where Javyk introduced us one by one. Kernel didn’t seem very impressed, but the younger man standing next to him – with messy brown hair and green eyes magnified behind very large glasses – looked incredibly excited to see us, practically bouncing on the heals of his feet, and appropriately ooh’ed and aah’ed at nearly every title that Javyk seemed willing to lay at our feet – from Raella, Lead Professor of Divinity of the Imperial University, to Greyjon, Captain of Kimber City Military. The young man practically squeaked in awe as Javyk introduced Lexie as, “Chosen of Myrapen, the Eternal Flame, god of fire.”

Kernel did not seem like the sort to enjoy the tedium of decorum. Javyk, on the other hand, was taking great joy in drawing it out, and I suspected he was doing it just to piss Kernel off. It was kind of amusing to watch the shorter man go through various shades of pink and red as he tapped his foot in impatience, his arms crossed. Once Javyk was done, Kernel immediately suggested that we be on our way without offering to make similar introductions of his own people.

Raella and Javyk spoke privately for a bit, and then we were climbing back onto our horses and preparing to travel again. And all too quickly, we were passing through the gates, with Javyk waving enthusiastically behind us as we left. Some of the dwarven delegation rode ahead, and a few of the more armored ones followed along behind. Some were mounted on ponies, short enough for them to easily ride – others were mounted on a strange breed of dog that I had never seen before that stood easily as tall as the ponies. The dogs had long fur, some being more grey and some more tan, although the one that Kernel rode was a deep black.

One of the dogs growled slightly at Peter, baring its teeth in an alarmingly menacing way. Peter gave a short, affronted chirp at the sound – I started to try to angle my horse between the dog and my spider, but Peyton beat me to it, frowning in an impressively imperious manner. The dog’s rider rubbed the dog behind his ear and whispered something to it, calming it down. “Apologies, my lady,” the rider said, shifting his mount a bit further away.

“Thanks,” I mumbled to Peyton as I trotted my horse up next to hers. She smiled at me as I motioned for Peter to get on the wagon. Peter obliged, jumping up on top of the wagon and crouching down on the fabric that covered it, settling in for the journey.

“So the dwarven country is called Amethys Anchor?” I overheard Cassandra asking Raella.

“More accurately, there are several dwarven countries. The one that immediately borders the Empire is called Amethys Anchor. There is also Emeran Anchor, Deman Anchor, and Rewbe Anchor, though those are much farther south and we aren’t likely to travel to them. We’re making our way to the Seiling Mountains, in Saph Anchor, which houses the entrance to the great mines that will bring us closest to the Seal.”

“Is it the Seiling Mountains because of the Seal?” Lexie asked curiously.

“Well, it may have gotten its name from it, yes.” I had the sense that Raella was ready to gear up on telling us everything we’d ever need to know about the dwarven kingdoms, and allowed myself to drop back away from the wagon before I got caught up in the lecture.

33. Lucas

On By MaryIn 2023, WritingLeave a comment

Returning to the ship was like an easy walk downhill. The oppressive heat had lifted and a cool ocean breeze swept off the waters, though I still felt sticky from sweat. The fires across the island were gone, except for the one at the heart of the temple. There was an altar, back behind where the colossus had faced us, shaped like a stone bowl. A fire burned steadily inside it now. “It’s larger than when I saw it in the past,” Raella had noted before we left. That was the last time any of us had spoken – we were all tired and awe struck, processing what Lexie had told us.

When we reached the place where we had left the boat, Tanert waved at us enthusiastically. “Whatever you lot did, it worked,” he said as I climbed down from the cliff. I was so tired that my foot slipped from the railing. Peyton, having climbed down before me, reached out to steady me, but my weight took us both down instead. “Sorry,” I muttered, standing as quickly as I could and avoiding eye contact.

She chuckled. “It’s fine,” she said, grinning at me in a remarkably disarming way. I reached down to offer her a hand up, and she accepted. We stepped aside to make room for the others to descend.

“What happened?” Dustyn asked curiously as she helped Lexie and Cassandra down from the cliff face.

“The fire god has returned,” Raella said simply. Dustyn exchanged a surprised look with her father. They seemed to want to ask more, but could sense that we weren’t open to answering questions at the moment. It was a quiet ride back to shore.

At the inn, once Cassandra and I had finished a round of healing spells on everyone, Raella immediately suggested a trip to a local bathhouse. “We can soak and get freshened up, and then we can come back to a good meal and discuss what occurred,” she explained. She spoke to the innkeeper about arranging dinner and then led our troop out again, away from the docks this time. I left Peter behind in my room. The bath house was a large building with plenty of foot traffic going in and out. I worried for a moment over whether it would be a shared bath, but there were apparently multiple private rooms, and Raella reserved three – two to be divided by gender, and one solely for herself.

I suspected she wanted to come just for herself but felt it would be rude to not offer the trip to the rest of us.

The room was large, with a bath that looked more like an inset pool, steaming from the heat. The calming sound of trickling water was present throughout the building. Zolambi and Greyjon, apparently more used to places like these, immediately stripped and slipped into the water. Lyre followed, also not particularly bothered. Asterollan and I both paused for a moment. “Is modesty a human thing?” Lyre asked, glancing back to see us. “Cassandra was always quite shy about it too.”

Realizing I was making it more awkward by not joining, I stripped and stepped into the pool, slipping down until just my head was still above water. It smelled of salt, and was instantly relaxing – I sighed in relief. Asterollan appeared to still be hesitating. “I wouldn’t say it’s modesty, necessarily,” he said as he began taking his clothes off. “But I tend to draw more curious looks than I’d like.” I could see that he was covered in scars across his entire body, including a massive twisting of flesh from an old burn across his back.

“Scars are a warrior’s medals,” Greyjon said, “A matter of pride more than shame.”

“Although that might depend on how one earned those medals,” Zolambi added, his tone dark. An uncomfortable silence fell across the room as Zolambi and Asterollan stared at each other, their expressions carefully fixed. I busied myself with using the provided soaps to wash myself, and Greyjon chuckled awkwardly as he did the same. Lyre sighed, taking a deep breath and then dipping under the water completely.

Some of the bath house employees entered, bringing thin robes and towels, and depositing them on the benches near our belongings. Lyre and Zolambi finished quickly, toweling off and leaving the room together. Greyjon leaned back against the edge of the pool, apparently intending to soak for a while. He looked over to Asterollan curiously, but instead of asking any questions, he chuckled again. “That fight was a mess. We were very uncoordinated.”

Asterollan nodded thoughtfully. “You’ve done well with teaching the other outworlder. Peyton.”

I grimaced, dropping so that only my nose stayed above water. Greyjon nodded. “I can’t take full credit. She was already quite skilled before she got here. I worry that she fell back into those skills too immediately though – she didn’t even reach for her magic in the fight.” Considering that, I felt a level of awe rise in me, and a twinge of something like jealousy. Peyton had rushed in to fight a giant and hadn’t once thought to use magic. She was ridiculously brave in a way that I wished I could be.

Asterollan glanced over at me. “You did well too.”

I shrugged. “Plants don’t stand a chance against fire,” I mumbled, briefly popping my head up above the water surface.

“Still,” Greyjon said thoughtfully, “You unbalanced a god.”

A god. I hadn’t even wrapped my head around that fact yet. “Yes,” I said quietly, dipping down again. After several minutes of soaking, the heat of the water was starting to make me dizzy, so I stepped out and toweled off. I wrapped one of the robes around myself and gathered my things, stepping out into the hallway of the bath house. I didn’t immediately see Lyre or Zolambi, so I started walking down the hall, past other rooms and employees that smiled at me warmly as I went.

I found an interior garden that appeared to be open to the sky. It was lit by the moon and by small round crystal lamps crisscrossed along strings that draped from column to column. I stepped out, feeling almost chilly now that I was away from the steaming baths. “Kind of like an old Roman bath. Did you enjoy it?” I heard a voice say.

Looking up, I saw that Cassandra was sitting on a bench, wearing one of the robes. Her hair was wrapped up in her towel. I hadn’t seen her initially, since the space was so dimly lit. I held my clothes in front of me, hoping the robes weren’t too sheer. “It was nice,” I said. “Did Lyre and Zolambi come out this way?”

“Oh, were they already done? I haven’t seen them.” She paused a moment, studying me with her head tilted. “I wonder what the name of the fire god is.”

“We’ll find out later, I’m sure.” I stepped over to a separate bench, facing the one she was sitting at, and settled there.

“Do you know your god’s name yet?”

I frowned. “No. Do you?”

“T’Keran,” she said without hesitation, so straightforward that it caught me off guard. “The goddess of storms.”

“You’re god talked to you too?” I asked, surprised.

She nodded. “She’s been talking to me all along.” Cassandra hesitated a moment, like she wasn’t sure if she should say more. “I think I saw another god. Briefly. It looked like a child, and was walking along the ocean shore one night. Plants grew wherever it set foot.”

I stared at her, remembering the giggling I had been hearing so often. Suddenly I felt significantly less crazy. “You know, I’ve been seeing this figure of light out of the corner of my eyes…”

“That’s Asterollan’s god,” she said. “He mentioned that he’s been seeing him like that too.”

I leaned back, sighing deeply in relief as I closed my eyes. I wasn’t crazy. I wondered if I would really sleep better for that knowledge or not. It was still creepy to consider that there were these powerful beings that were following and watching us, invested in us, giving us our abilities. “I wonder what they want,” I mumbled.

“Maybe Lexie will have the answer to that.”

“Maybe.” We sat in companionable silence until Raella came looking for us.

We were allowed to keep the bath house robes, and walked back to the inn wearing them. I was a little embarrassed by the idea at first until I saw that other patrons of the bath house left in a similar state. We ambled along slowly, enjoying the crisp autumn air. I could hear snatches of conversation here and there among people that we were passing – awe that the smoke had cleared so quickly, that the fires had stopped.

Back at the inn, we pushed tables together and settled down to eat the meal that had been prepared for us. It was a rather subdued dinner, and I noticed that Lexie kept staring into space, twisting her head to stare at the invisible orbs that she had described to us. As we each finished our meals, we sat quietly, expectantly.

Raella had the grace to wait until Lexie finally pushed away her plate before speaking. “So, the fire giant we fought was actually the physical form of the fire god,” Raella said finally, swirling her wine around in her glass. She had stared at the girl through the entire meal, her bright eyes intense as they reflected the light in the room.

Lexie nodded, her eyes finally drawing away from the invisible object she had been staring at. “Yeah. Er… Yes.”

Raella frowned, waiting for Lexie to continue speaking. When that didn’t happen, she asked with some exasperation. “And it… communed with you? Spoke to you? What did it tell you?”

“Oh… a bunch of stuff, but some of it wasn’t quite words. It’s really hard to explain. She was angry.”

“She?” Raella said thoughtfully, intrigued by the concept.

“I think she was a she because I’m a she? I think she’s anything, really.”

“I see. Did she say why she was angry?”

“She was super pissed. Something about… like, betrayal? But that wasn’t what she was telling me. I just felt it, in the background of everything she was telling me,” Lexie stared absently above my right ear, then sighed in frustration. “She said she wanted to stay here, but that she’d grant me all of her powers, and I could choose to use them how I want. And then she said she was going to gift me Sight, because it was important that I See.”

“And now you See these things, around yourself and the other Graces?”

“Yeah. Like these little black shiny orbs just floating in the air around us.” She glanced above herself, and hunched down in her seat like she was uncomfortable with all the attention. “I don’t know what they are though, or why it’s important to see them. I don’t know how long they’ve been there. Maybe they’ve been following us this entire time.”

Raella tapped her chin thoughtfully. “Did she mention anything else? Or did you sense anything else while talking to it?”

“Myrapen,” Lexie said, intoning carefully, in awed reverence. “That’s her name. I got the sense that sometimes she’s known as the Eternal Flame.”

Raella seemed startled to have this information dropped on her. “Myrapen,” she repeated. “In all my years, I have never found a text that names the gods. Myrapen, the Eternal Flame.” For the first time since meeting her, I noticed that she actually looked excited – she was leaning forward in her seat as she spoke. I glanced over at Cassandra, thinking of our earlier conversation, but Cassandra did not seem keen to share her own god’s name with Raella.

I heard a giggle from somewhere in the room.

I glanced at the other Graces to see if they had heard anything also. Cassandra and Peyton had no reaction, and Lexie was too distracted by the invisible orbs sharing the room with us. But I could see Asterollan tilt his head briefly and glance around, a slight frown on his features. I wondered if he had heard it too.

Once it became clear that Lexie didn’t know much more about her god, Raella became invested in figuring out the invisible orbs. Lexie was initially reluctant to touch them, but once we finally coaxed her into trying to catch one, she quickly became frustrated by the fact that it always moved out of her reach. Next, we tried having Asterollan and Greyjon grab it while Lexie shouted directions, but we quickly figured out that each orb moved to evade being touched. “Certainly that means it has actual physicality, but I would like the confirmation,” Raella said, tapping her chin, her brow furrowed.

Some of the shouting drew the attention of the innkeeper, who stepped in to check on us, but after seeing a pair of grown men jump and attempt to catch something he couldn’t see while a young girl shouted directions at them, he stepped quickly back out the door. I think I was the only one that caught sight of him, and I suppressed a grin at how chaotic the scene was to an outsider.

After several moments, Raella said, “Ah, I think I have something for this. Where are one of the orbs?” Lexie gestured over toward me, where I stood off to the side. Raella lit up with the light of magic, and made her own swirling gesture with her hand – a wave of soft glittering light flowed past me. I held up my hands to see the softly glowing motes floating like glitter being held by static in the air around me. I knew it was only insubstantial light, but something about it made my nose itch. I stepped to one side and saw that the glitter followed.

“Oh! Right there!” Lexie shouted in excitement, pointing above my head.

Glancing up, I could see that the glitter had formed a circle in the air above me. I moved my hand up toward it and the glitter in the air shifted, moving toward the ceiling and out of my reach. “Usually this spell only works on things with a conscious will,” Raella said, staring up at the glittering spot in the air.

“So it’s thinking?” Lexie said, her voice jumping up in surprise.

“Or being directed by something that thinks.”

Lexie glanced back down at me thoughtfully and smirked. “Oh, Lucas. You can think too?”

I rolled my eyes. “Funny,” I said. “How long does this last?” I asked Raella.

“Probably about 30 minutes or so.”

I scratched the tip of my nose, a bit frustrated. “Okay.”

Now that we could see where the orb was, capturing it was a bit easier. Chase, this time, provided a spell that held the orb in place so that Greyjon could grab it. Raella thoughtfully ran a hand over it when he handed it to her. “Smooth. You said it appears black and shiny?”

“Yeah,” Lexie nodded, looking intently into the space that occupied Raella’s hands. “It doesn’t hurt to touch it?”

“No, it feels like glass.”

Lexie reached out and poked it. She shivered. “It’s cold. I wonder what it does.”

Raella sighed as it lifted out of her hands. “No way to tell. Keep an eye on them – Myrapen thought it was important, after all. If they do anything unusual, let us know. In the meantime – we resume our journey to Glyss.”

Back in the room I was staying in, Peter trilled in alarm as I entered. He rushed me suddenly, causing me to stumble back against the door. His legs waved around me frantically and I realized he was trying to bat away the glitter that still surrounded the air around me. My choked scream turned into a hysterical laugh, and I patted him on his head. “It’ll wear off,” I promised, pushing him away. He chittered nervously, a low ticking sound that he didn’t stop until the spell finally faded.

32. Lucas

On By MaryIn 2023, WritingLeave a comment

The smoke was so dense it was like a wall against the confines of Raella’s magic. Worried that Peter would disrupt it somehow, I shooed him away from the edges, and he obediently stepped closer to my side. I suppressed a shudder. I had spent the better part of the past week getting myself used to him as best as I could. I was making headway, but there were moments when I would spot him out of the corner of my eye or he’d rush up to me unexpectedly and I’d feel uncontrollable terror take firm hold. Sometimes I’d even squeak or scream in terror, which amused Lexie to no end.

It didn’t help that I felt like I was losing my mind in other ways. Sometimes I could swear I was seeing a bright figure of light out of the corner of my eyes, but no one else would acknowledge it, and when I looked again it was gone. Other times it was like I could smell electricity faintly in the air. It seemed like once a day I heard a high-pitched giggle somewhere nearby. I was getting less sleep because of all of it and my days passed in a strange haze.

Raella continued to glow as she stood at the front of the boat, focusing on holding the spell. I could see that she had the barrier extended well beyond the boat to allow for some visibility. The atmosphere was so oppressive that I shivered a bit, and Peter trilled softly, an almost comforting tone.

The island first appeared as a wall of stone looming suddenly out of the smoke. I almost gasped at how quickly it had materialized. The fisherman, a man named Tanert, called out to his daughter Dustyn, some sort of instruction to help steer the boat. They had gone at a creeping pace the entire way, and easily maneuvered to pull the boat along the edge of the rocks without hitting them.

“Did you want us to continue along the edge until we find a better place to berth?” Tanert asked Raella. She shook her head and held up a hand to indicate that she wanted Tanert to give her a moment. Frowning in concentration, she closed her eyes and suddenly pulsed with a brighter light – the glow of the barrier deepened as the light of magic dropped from around her. The barrier remained in place.

She took a deep breath as she turned to the fisherman. “No, you should be safe if you stay right here. We’ll find our own way up,” she said. Then belatedly added, “Thank you.”

Tanert nodded, raising a hand to touch the glowing magic of the barrier. “You learn that at your University?”

“No,” Raella said tersely, lifting her chin slightly. “Spell mastery is an expectation to even be able to attend. I could do this well before my years there.” Tanert raised an eyebrow, looking mildly annoyed, but didn’t comment further. Chase gave him an apologetic smile as Raella turned to look over us, her hands on her hips and her head tilted. She began to mumble to herself, “Need to be able to protect us each individually from the smoke, to have freedom of movement to climb or somehow reach the top. We’ll need to figure out how high this cliff face is…”

Lyre raised his arms suddenly, speaking Primordial. The light of magic enveloped him and his voice became resonant as he spoke – he shifted his arms in a loose circle and then made a pushing motion. A sudden violent gusting of wind moved against the cliff face, causing the smoke to swirl and clear momentarily. Dustyn gave a yelp as the boat shifted, rocking in the disturbed water. As he ended the spell, the smoke was already closing back in, but it wasn’t quite as thick as it had been and the momentary clarity gave us a view of the cliff we were perched beside.

It was, quite luckily, not very high at all. In fact, it looked like most of us could reach it if we stood on the rails of the boat and pulled ourselves up. Raella looked up, her eyebrows high with her momentary surprise, but then she looked back at Lyre and quickly composed herself. “At least we know we won’t need to magically assist our assent,” she said. We started moving toward the rails – Peyton and Greyjon easily pulled themselves up first, and I followed behind them with Asterollan. Peter easily made the jump, and began to run back and forth behind me in excitement. We helped the others up a few at a time – Greyjon and Asterollan grabbed Cassandra’s arms and easily pulled her up, though she looked annoyed by it. Peyton and I pulled Lexie and Chase up, and Zolambi and Lyre followed.

I was already doing my best to suppress coughing against the smoke that was settling in around us. Lyre cast his spell again, and the smoke shifted and swirled away – not completely dispelled still, but giving us a momentary reprieve from it. Nodding, Raella lifted her arms and focused on her own magic, and a barrier erected around us. “I could create multiple individual barriers for each of us if we find we need them, but that will take much of my concentration. Too much. If it is needed, someone will have to protect me. For now, between this large one and your winds,” she nodded to Lyre, “we should be able to move forward. But be careful, and stay close together. Now follow me.”

“Are you expecting danger?” Peyton asked as she fell into step next to Raella.

Raella frowned. “I am… uncertain. There are rumors that those that have tried to extinguish the flames have seen a monster. The flames may be magical in nature.”

“Divine is what they were saying? Since it’s a temple,” Peyton pressed.

Raella nodded, not commenting.

We moved forward as a group. When the smoke became too thick to see through, Lyre would cast his spell and shift it away. It was an eerie walk – I could hear the crackling of fires from around us, and it was unseasonably hot. I found that I was constantly wiping sweat from my brow. The others looked similarly miserable, beads of sweat dripping down temples or soaking through shirts. I couldn’t wait to return to the inn and indulge in a bath.

There was no plant life – everything seemed to be bare stone and dust. Despite the fires around us and the thick smoke, I realized there was no visible trace of ash or soot anywhere. Sometimes we moved close enough to see some of the fires that raged, only to see that they crackled evenly over the stones, with no visible fuel. The first time we spotted this, we stood for a dumbfounded moment. “The rocks are on fire,” Greyjon said, his tone strangely flat.

“This island is a stone in the sea, with a stone temple built at its heart. And in that temple, there stands an altar that houses a small ever-burning flame,” Raella spoke. “It has always been barren of life.” I felt the truth of what she was saying somewhere inside myself. This place had never been hospitable to life. I just… knew. It felt completely wrong to me – unnatural. Perhaps sensing my momentary discomfort, Peter bumped against my leg and trilled.

“Let’s move on,” Raella said, turning and continuing her walk.

“So there’s a fire here that’s always been burning?” Lexie asked curiously, hopping forward to stand closer to Raella.

Raella nodded. “Yes. It’s been known about for years, being such an obvious sight at sea. They say that the temple used to be bright as a beacon, and was commonly used as a landmark or a lighthouse for sailors. The divine flame that burned here never produced smoke like this though.” She paused for a moment, squinting at the smoke that pressed in all around us. “When the gods touched our world, the faithful of the fire god would make pilgrimages here to walk through the flames, unburnt.”

“Is that true?” Lexie said in awe.

Raella shrugged, a strangely human gesture for her. “We’re getting close now,” she said after a moment. The sound of the fires had grown to such a roar that she had to raise her voice to be heard above it. She paused a moment, then gestured ahead of us. “The temple should be right in front of us.”

Lyre summoned another bout of wind, larger than before, and aimed it ahead. The smoke swirled, clearing the area, revealing an open building ahead of us. There were stone columns that stretched out before us, forming a large oval around paved stone floors. The temple was open on all sides. Something bright loomed, flickering, near the center of the floor. Since Raella had been talking about an ever-burning flame, at first I thought it was only a large fire. But it shifted, and turned to face us, and I realized it was a colossus made of flame. White hot eyes narrowed and focused on us.

“Really,” I heard Cassandra groan under her breath. I watched it open its mouth, a void of shadow, and it bellowed. Then it unleashed fire from its mouth, a massive cone of curling flame.

“Shit,” I heard myself say. I could see out of the corner of my eyes as several of my companions instantly lit up, could see the flurry of movement around me as they each scattered. Peter screeched and jumped, shoving me back several feet and causing me to fall.

“Wait!” Raella shouted, and then began cursing. I could see that the barrier she had erected appeared to be keeping the flames out, but several of us had darted out of its protection. She dropped the barrier and moved to take cover behind a column, closing her eyes to focus. A massive barrier pulsed into existence around the entirety of the building, then seemed to pulse again, shrinking suddenly. I realized I was surrounded by a soft glow of light – she had erected a personal barrier around myself. Peter, also, was surrounded by his own personal bubble of protection. I froze, wondering if I had to stay inside of it, but when Peter jumped up onto the top of a column, I watched the barrier move with him.

I quickly pushed myself to my feet and also took cover behind a column – the one next to Raella’s. “What the hell is that thing?” I shouted over to her.

“I don’t know!” she shouted back, sounding annoyed. “Don’t distract me! Just do something about it!”  

“Peter! Protect Raella!” I called out, hoping that the spider wouldn’t go launching itself at the fire giant. I heard it trill from somewhere above, but couldn’t see it. Glancing out from behind the column, I could see that Peyton and Asterollan had rushed the colossus, pushing it back several feet with their onslaught. It was an almost shocking sight – they barely came up to its chest, almost looked like children standing in front of it. It was roaring in anger at them. Cassandra knelt on the ground, near the prone form of Greyjon – he looked badly burned, and I realized she was healing him. I took a deep breath and moved out of cover, reaching for my magic as I rushed in to help – the flood of power was almost calming. The colossus was preparing to slam a massive fist into Peyton, who was raising her sword against it. I summoned vines from behind it, which struck forward and grasped its arms, pulling it back.

It roared angrily as the vines unbalanced it, easily breaking through them as the flames of its body burnt the plants away, but at least its attack was hampered. Asterollan glowed briefly and flashed so bright that I was momentarily blinded – whatever he had done did not appear to work on the colossus though, and it roared directly in his face, swatting him away.

I could hear Lyre chanting from somewhere nearby, his voice an eerie resonant echo. Ice began to materialize and creep up the ground, like a crystalline flash, crawling up the legs of the giant. Glancing over, I could see that he was standing near to Cassandra – Chase and Zolambi were there as well, also seeming to focus on putting their energy into the same spell that Lyre was working on. For a moment, I felt a pulse of worry quicken my heart – where was Lexie in all of this? She was just a kid.

The fire colossus appeared to be immobilized by the ice for the moment, but had become more enraged. It roared and swung a fist down at Peyton again. She shifted to move out of the way, but slipped on the ice under her feet. I summoned more of the vines to grasp her and pull her out of the way of the fist as it slammed into the ground. Looking back, she smiled at me appreciatively.

“Where’s Lexie?” I mouthed at her. She mouthed something back. Shit, I can’t read lips, I thought to myself. Greyjon was sitting up and Cassandra was moving forward – I realized she was trying to find Asterollan – when the colossus screamed while straining against the ice. It was burning brighter now – the air around us crackled with heat, and I realized the only reason we weren’t burning was thanks to Raella’s barriers. Still, the very air scorched around us. The ice was melting, vaporizing as quickly as it formed. The creature shifted one flaming leg forward, almost entirely freed from the ice.

Peyton was closest to it still. I pulled her further away with the vines, could hear her shout something as she was dragged roughly across the stone floors.

“It’s angry,” I heard Lexie say, somewhere very close to me.

I wasn’t sure where she had come from. Glancing down, I could see that she was standing nearly next to me – she stared out at the creature, seemingly in a trance. “No shit,” I said.

She walked forward. “Wait, Lexie!” I reached out for her, but my hands felt scorched the second they touched her shoulder. I pulled back with a sharp yell. Despite the heat, I felt a chill rush up my spine – she didn’t have a barrier around her at all. I shouted her name again and moved forward once more, but the colossus emitted a massive pulse of heat and flame, and I felt myself knocked back bodily, slamming against a pillar. I heard Chase scream, and Lyre’s chanting stopped. Everything suddenly became strangely quiet.

Dazed, I rubbed my back where it had hit the stone, wincing at the pain. I pushed myself up, turning to see what was happening.

Lexie had stopped right in front of the creature, which towered over her. It stood still, staring down at her. And then it shrunk. It was still a figure of flames, bright and orange, with white hot eyes, but now it was quite small – the same size as Lexie. In fact, seeing her standing and staring at it face to face – I realized it had taken Lexie’s shape. It was like seeing Lexie stare into mirror image made of fire.

The heat around us cooled. The smoke cleared. I twisted my head around – we were at the top of a plateau, and I could see the shoreline and Ylfsport, and the ocean stretching for miles beyond. It was like the smoke had never existed at all. I moved forward – slower than I had intended, my back twinging.

Lexie and the figure stared at each other for several moments in silence, and then it disappeared. I staggered forward until I was standing next to her, and the others were approaching as well. “What happened?” I asked.

Lexie seemed to startle from a trance. “That was the fire god,” she said. “She said I was her chosen.”

“It spoke to you?” Raella said as she approached. The barriers dropped from around us as she ended her concentration on the spell.

“Yes. She told me her name, and said that she’d give me…” Lexie glanced up. Something seemed to catch her attention. Frowning, her head twisted, looking up into the air around us. “What the fuck are those?”

We all looked around, confused, trying to see what Lexie was asking about. “What are what?” I asked.

Lexie pointed into the air, very near me. Then stabbed a finger into the air, above her head, and over towards Cassandra, and then very near Peyton. “Those! The orbs! You don’t see them?” She looked around at us, seeing the incomprehension in our expressions. “She said she was giving me Sight. That was what she meant. I can see these… weird orbs? Floating around us. They must be invisible.”

Raella frowned, looking uncomfortable as she glanced around. “We should return to the inn, for now,” she said. “And you must tell us everything of what happened when you… communed with your god.”

31. Cassandra

On By MaryIn 2023, WritingLeave a comment

Traveling through the Empire was much easier than our mad dash to the Empire, though I did miss having Silden and Larina with us. We traveled slowly even though we were on horseback, and there was a wagon for us to take turns in as well. I didn’t even mind listening to Raella drone too much, especially if I could get her on the subject of the gods. I did have a personal interest in that now, after all.

From what she said, I learned that the old pantheon included anywhere from five to fifteen gods. “We’re not sure if we are misunderstanding and perhaps counting some of them multiple times, or even missing some entirely. After all, it would be possible for one god to have several domains that they oversee.”

“Domains?”

“Yes… aspects of nature or powers that a god represents. Lucas’s manipulation of plant life and his animal companion suggests he is the favorite of the god of nature.”

“I’ve used a lot of lightning in my magic,” I mentioned.

Raella nodded thoughtfully. “There is a god whose domain is storms. Perhaps that one favors you.”

T’Keran, I thought to myself. I didn’t speak her name out loud, but still felt something like the stirring of a current in the air.

We had left the borders that ran along the canyon and the great desert, and followed a road that ran easterly along a southern sea. From my understanding of the maps I had seen, near the southeast corner of the Empire was a land bridge that connected the elven lands with the dwarven lands. The journey there was going to take a little over two weeks, maybe even three – we had a lot of ground to cover, traveling from the western border of the Empire all the way to the eastern corner of it. “Dwarves,” I had mused out loud when Raella mentioned them for the first time. “Do they live underground?”

Asterollan nearly choked on a laugh, and Raella gave me a very sharp look. “Every single one of you has asked that!”

“Really?” I said, eyeing Asterollan, who was very careful not to look at me. “It’s kind of a common…” I paused, not sure how to translate the word trope. “…idea. In our world.” Raella sighed in frustration.

There were cities along the southern coast, but fewer than I would have expected along the ocean. “During the Fracture, elves were so busy fighting amongst themselves that humans and dwarves managed to domineer the seas. Many small coastal towns were not able to survive in the south, where trade flourished between countries that had become hostile to us. We have managed to maintain some degree of naval dominance in the east and the north, at least,” Raella had explained.

During our travels, I tried teaching the others my healing spell. It was slightly awkward at first – the only way to heal was to cause an injury. Raella and Greyjon had both volunteered and took turns slicing small cuts across their arms so Asterollan and I could demonstrate the spell and so the others could practice. Only Lucas could manage it – in fact, I suspected he was more powerful than I was with it. Peyton’s version was not as effective, only as strong as Asterollan’s healing magic – she could close the wounds, but if it was a particularly deep cut it still left a faint scar. Lexie couldn’t manage it at all. “This is a completely unfair Uno reverse,” she grumbled at Lucas as she tried and tried again with no result.

Greyjon began to teach me some of the more martial lessons the others were learning too – I had taken archery classes before, so I had a grasp of the basics there. But Greyjon quickly decided that I had no business holding a sword, and I was given lessons with Lexie and Lucas with staves instead.

They were a little less sure on what to do with Lyre. He didn’t need to be trained in magic, and didn’t seem interested in learning to handle a weapon at all. They had lost the rapier in the spider’s den, and he didn’t miss it. They did decide to test his power when we were far from any towns or cities by suggesting that he cast the largest flame spell he could manage out towards the ocean. The breadth of it surprised even me – I had seen him lob balls of fire at things with ease, but the scorching inferno he summoned practically filled the horizon, and the heat radiating from it was intense. I don’t think I was the only one that took a step back in surprise. Guiding with his voice and a few gestures of his hand, he pulled the flames back into a central mote that glowed white hot, still radiating the same amount of heat. And then he snuffed the ball out of existence. Greyjon gave a long, low whistle into the silence as the heat disappeared. “You’re skilled. Nearly as adept as some of our more fearsome warlocks,” he said, his voice full of awe.

Lyre was gasping with the effort of the spell and rode in the wagon the rest of the day. He had seemed embarrassed by the compliment. “It’s almost annoying to think that Wrasker actually made me useful,” he said later, poking at his food.

“Wrasker didn’t make you useful,” I snapped, feeling somewhat angry at the idea. “Wrasker didn’t make you anything. You would have already been powerful and he just used that.” Lyre had stared thoughtfully into the middle distance as I spoke, neither arguing or acquiescing.

Zolambi spent a lot of time teaching Lyre about the Empire, perhaps giving him the same information that was being provided to Larina and Silden by other people. Lucas and Lyre also seemed to be on friendly terms.

Whenever there was a chance to stay in a town, Raella took it and, much as Lucas and Lexie had described, an entire inn was cleared for us each time. Sometimes the inns were quite small, and many of us shared rooms. Probably thanks to the close quarters, the leisurely nights sharing chores and watch duty in camps, and the lengthy travel, we were all getting to know each other quite well. I found that my fellow outworlders were all companionably nerdy and fun to talk to. Even Peyton, who had been intimidating at first when I considered her fame. And although Raella was aloof, both Greyjon and Chase were easy going and friendly.

Asterollan mostly kept to himself, and was very careful to avoid Lyre and Zolambi. He spent a lot of time with Raella. I had the feeling he was using her ability to chase the others away with her lessons and simply tuned her out most of the time. But if that was the case, he had mastered the ability to appear impressively attentive.

It was one of the nights that we had stayed at an inn that I first had the dream.

I recognized it was a dream as I was having it. Everything about it seemed instantly familiar, as though I was remembering it, and realized it was from a previous dream. But also, in the same instance, I realized it wasn’t from a previous dream of mine. This dream, I sensed, this recognition… it belonged to someone else entirely.

I was somewhere dark, deep underground, but still lit with blue arcane light that trailed down the passage I stood in. I turned at the sound of something cracking, crackling, like the sound of bones breaking. There stood a figure of shadow with bright white eyes, like beams of narrow light cutting through the dark to focus on me. I could hear a voice that I instantly recognized, softly murmuring something I couldn’t understand. The voice I had heard on the ship so long ago, that I had completely forgotten. The voice that said the seal was weakening. The deep, dark laugh.

That same laugh echoed again in my head as I woke. Still sleep fogged, my brain tried to recall the meaning of the words the shadow figure had spoken, but it was all frustratingly just beyond my grasp. The only thing I could remember with any clarity was that it wasn’t my dream. But whose dream was I sharing? I looked out across the darkened room, at Peyton and Chase’s forms in the other bed, and Lexie sleeping next to me.

I spent the next few days surreptitiously studying my companions a little more closely, but nothing anyone said or did suggested they were having dreams where they were talking to our supposed enemy. I was wondering if perhaps it was just a normal dream when it happened again a few nights later. It was the same place, the same strange arcane glow, the same deep laughter. The same sense that I was somehow observing someone else’s dream from their perspective. When I woke, I sat up in my bedroll and stared across the camp. Everyone appeared to be sleeping peacefully, aside from Asterollan and Raella who were on watch. I walked away from the campfire, up to the rise of a hill that sloped down into a pebbly beach. We weren’t very far from the sea, and the smell of the brine was heavy in the air.

Within sight of the water, I could see a glowing figure wading in the shallows. I squinted, frowning – it looked like a child, wearing a short robe or toga, with long flowing hair that grew translucent and disappeared into the air. I couldn’t tell if it was a little boy or a little girl, but I could hear the giggling, clear as a bell as it carried across the night air. I could see the bioluminescence of some creature – jellyfish, perhaps – moving through the water around it.

The figure stepped out of the water, moving up the beach, and strands of kelp and algae seemed to bloom at its feet. It stopped and stared up at me, smiling, and then disappeared.

 “Was that T’Keran?” Asterollan asked, practically right at my shoulder.

I nearly jumped out of my skin, I hadn’t heard him approach at all. I turned to look at him, saw that he was standing right next to me and staring out at the water. “You could see her?” I asked, surprised. He nodded. I paused as I considered. “No, I don’t think that was her.”

He stared out at the beach, a frown on his face. “They’re getting stronger,” he said.

I knew he meant the gods of this world. “Yes,” I said. “Have you seen yours?”

“Briefly, on occasion. A figure of light, out of the corner of my eyes, usually in bright daylight. I think a few of the others have spotted him too, but thought they were imagining it.”

“Hmm. I haven’t seen him yet.” I wondered what his name was. I wondered what it meant if we were seeing gods besides the ones that favored us. I wondered what it meant that I was sharing someone’s dreams. I yawned and stretched and turned away from the beach, suddenly exhausted by it all. I wished Asterollan a mumbled good night, and walked back to my bedroll.

The next night we stopped at the largest city I had seen yet – Ylfsport. This one had a docks district, but it looked like it mostly homed fishing vessels that stayed close to the bay the city was built in. We had pushed on along the road even as darkness fell intending to reach it since we were close, and because of the fading light we could see that far on the horizon, there was a foreboding orange glow out at sea. “Has something caught fire?” Raella asked the gate guards while they argued about the presence of Peter the spider.

The guards glanced at each other nervously. “There’s an island south of here that has the remains of an old temple,” one of them said.

“I am aware of it,” Raella said tersely. “Did something happen to it?”

“The entire island’s been burning for days now,” the other guard said.

“I see.” Raella seemed distracted through the rest of the evening. Although normally she preferred to stay at an inn close to the outskirts of the towns we stopped at, we wound our way through the roads of Ylfsport until we found an inn closer to the docks. It was interesting to be walking through an Elven city for the first time. Many of the stores had been closed earlier, and it was late enough that there weren’t many people out and about, beyond a few skulking shadows that seemed to decide a group of our size wasn’t worth messing with. Some of the taverns we passed were bright and boisterous though, and I could hear brief snatches of music and drunken laughter as we passed. The homes were well lit and I could smell various dinners being cooked. But as we got closer to the ocean, the smell of smoke became more overwhelming.

Once we were settled in at our destination and had our own fill of supper, Raella excused herself. She beelined for the door and left the inn. We all stared after her for a moment, before glancing around at each other, a little puzzled. “Maybe she’s trying to see if she can spot the fire?” Chase suggested.

The next morning, Raella called for our attention as we finished eating breakfast. “We may not be leaving immediately,” she said, looking mildly agitated. “To the south of Ylfsport is a small island that houses a temple. The entire island is on fire. There have been attempts to quell the flames, but nothing seems to work.” She sighed and looked up at each of us. “I would not normally want to detour, but the temple belonged to a fire god and there are rumors that the fire is divine in nature. Given my position at the University… and since it could be argued this is tangentially related to our mission… I plan to take a boat to the island today to see this divine flame for myself.”

“Are we going with you?” Peyton asked.

Raella hesitated. It seemed that she had planned to say no, but she paused on the word and seemed to consider the offer. “If you would like to,” she acquiesced with a brief nod.

I glanced around the table. “I would like to,” I said. A part of me was curious to visit another temple after having seen the last one. But I also wondered at how active the gods were becoming now.

“Oh, me too,” Lexie volunteered nearly on my heels. One by one, the others also mentioned wanting to go.

Raella sighed again and nodded. “I hope passage can be arranged for all of us,” she said. She voiced it like a complaint, but I thought she looked relieved to not be going alone. We kept the entire inn reserved for ourselves for that day and the entire next, and left the horses and the cart and much of our supplies in their care. At the docks, Raella made a deal for us to take a boat across to the island.

It was clear where the island was located because of the smudge of smoke that darkened the sky. It felt like the entire oceanside was hazy with it, but it thickened and concentrated in one area. The fisherman that owned the boat was reluctant to steer directly into it. “It’s dangerous. There’s zero visibility once you get close to the island, and it was never easy to land on with all its steep edges. I can get you to the side, but I don’t think I can navigate to any of the safer spots to berth.”

“That’s okay. We’ll manage it ourselves once we get there,” Raella said.

“But I’ll be risking damage to my vessel if I slam into the side of the island,” the fisherman complained.

“Then I will compensate you for any damages you take,” Raella responded, annoyed. “I think I am offering a more than fair deal. Will you do it or not?”

Within the next hour we were all loaded onto a large fishing boat with the fisherman and his oldest daughter. We sailed across the waters, approaching a bank of smoke so thick that it looked like a dense cloud. “That’s going to wreak havoc on our lungs,” Lucas said, looking concerned as we approached.

Raella began to glow. She held her hands aloft, and a soft light expanded out from her in a wave, large enough to encompass the entirety of the boat. As we sailed into the smoke, it shifted along the edges of the light.

“Oh, okay then,” Lucas said, and Peter happily chittered, waving its front legs along the edge of the barrier.