082, 2/2

A warm breeze flowed through Ophiel’s feathers to catch on deftly held wings.

Erick wasn’t flying with [Airshape] right now. He was flying with skill and precise control. This was not how Ophiel usually flew. Ophiel’s body was a mess of wings that naturally moved around, responding to his desires and temperament. Ophiel was poorly suited to natural flight. But with Erick in control, Ophiel’s wings stabilized into a configuration of two large ones and a mess of smaller ones, to provide for easier flying on the natural wind. Getting to this point had taken Erick months of trial and error, and learning how to control a body that was not his, but he had managed to do it anyway. Flying, unaided, felt wonderful.

Sunny, flying next to Ophiel in a completely magical manner, looked stilted by comparison. She didn’t bounce with the breeze, or turn with the wind. She just hovered forward, perfectly out of tune with her surroundings.

‘There it is,’ came Kiri’s voice.

With less of her attention spent on flying, Kiri was much more cognizant of their surroundings than Erick. Erick went back to using [Airshape] to fly. The wind turned into a friend, holding Ophiel aloft without the beating of wings or any real effort, creating a rift of controlled reality between Reality and Erick’s senses of his [Familiar].

Erick gazed out across the southern sky with a few eyes, and saw what Kiri had seen.

They had started their search from the north, flying with the wind. Erick had used [Cascade Imaging] to roughly scout the land; the Hole was supposed to be a very distinctive structure in the landscape, and it was, but seeing the Hole in a projected image and seeing it ‘in person’ were two very different things.

The horizon was a flat orange line. Just below that line, was a dark thread. Sunny shot forward. Erick followed, marveling all the way at exactly how big the Hole truly was.

The desert dipped down to a dark edge of jagged stone that stretched to the east and the west. Wider than Spur by double, at least, deeper than the tallest mountain Erick had ever seen, with depths that vanished into shadow, the Hole was a place of wind and sky that dove into the dirt, like a god had poked a hole into the surface of Veird, just to see how deep they could drive their power. It was an entrance to the Underworld. It was the second most dangerous place in the Crystal Forest. If not for Ar’Kendrithyst, there would undoubtedly have been some sort of permanent city near the Hole. But Ar’Kendrithyst did exist, and the Hole had a habit of spewing out monsters sized to eat small buildings, and hordes that ravaged indiscriminately.

And that was all Erick knew of this place. He’d only picked up that much information on the Hole because some of the monsters he had to kill came from here. Most monsters from the Underworld didn’t usually make it far topside. This fact was even more true in the Crystal Forest; most natural living things couldn’t survive in this desert for more than a few days.

Flying high over the Hole, where the wind held him aloft with a bare push from [Airshape], Erick sent to Kiri, ‘How much do you know of the Hole?’

‘I know it’s full of dark-aspect monsters. I never really studied the Underworld, either. But now that we’ve found it—’ A rush of small joys accompanied Kiri’s words, ‘So? A real battle?’

Erick would have smiled if he was in his own body. He sent ‘I’ll go 121 kilometers north. You go 122. We’ll meet in the middle.’

Sunny, emerald green and shimmering like glass, blipped away.

Ophiel followed, sort of.

 

– – – –

 

Erick came back to himself, sitting in a lounge chair with Ophiel in his lap. A few questions filled his mind. His Ophiel near the Hole had been killed, obviously, but how? And so quickly, too? He looked across the room, to Kiri.

Kiri opened her eyes and grinned. Sunny lifted her head from Kiri’s shoulders.

Erick summoned another Ophiel and sent him blipping across the land, as he asked, “What did you hit me with?”

“A cheap shot.”

“I really should have tried to join you in Professor Ulogai’s advanced combat courses.”

Kiri shrugged, smiling as she summoned another Sunny, saying, “Maybe next time you’ll see it coming?”

 

– – – –

 

Hard-winged Ophiel watched all around him, burning [Hunter’s Instincts]; the sky was clear.

There was no warning. One second the sky was clear. The next, it was still clear, but it was also refracted and glittering in every single direction, but only along thin, barely visible lines. Erick instantly recognized what was happening, but not before Ophiel’s natural wing movements had cut off five wings and dropped him to half Health. Ophiel blipped to the right, and saw where he had been.

A thousand thin lines of something populated the air.

‘What is that, Kiri?’

Five Sunny appeared out of the air—

Erick added, ‘And a 5 on one fight! And [Invisibility], too?’

‘I said it was a cheap shot.’ Kiri said, ‘Well… More like several cheap shots all at once. It’s [Hermetic Seal] but stretched into lines; [Hermetic Razor]. I made it a while ago. It only really works when it’s layered like this, though.’ She teased, ‘You told me exactly where you were going to show up for the fight! I knew where to be to screw up your plan.’

Erick considered for a moment, before he said, ‘All valid points.’ He realized yet another implication of her words. ‘And when did you get [Invisibility]?’

Kiri chuckled, ‘I don’t have [Invisibility]. I don’t need it when I’m fighting with Sunny.’

To punctuate her words, each Sunny faded from the color of bright jade, to green glass, to clear. Even with [Hunter’s Instincts] active, Ophiel could barely see the five of them, circling him like raiders waiting to strike.

Ophiel responded with two black bursts of magic, spending 1700 mana to [Dispel] with the same power as Erick’s 850 mana. Erick cast the same spell three times. The first two Sunnys went down without a reaction. The second two had enough time to realize something was happening. The third almost blipped away, but Erick caught her halfway through a [Blink], and apparently that was enough to work.

 

– – – –

 

Erick came back to himself, smiling.

Kiri glared at him. “I don’t have nearly as much mana as you, so it’ll take a while for me to get back out there.”

“No comment over the cheap shots?”

“Nope. None.” Kiri added, “[Dispel] is a valid tactic, and you know how much Sunny costs me to cast. I would have done the same to you, but then nothing is learned, and nothing is gained.”

“Yeah. But I won that one. Don’t try to pull that spoilsport ‘nothing learned, nothing gained’, on me.”

Kiri just summoned another Sunny, and magnanimously laid back down in her chair, ceding the point with an upturned nod of her head.

 

– – – –

 

Ophiel flew fast, carving the air with his wings and beams of force.

Sunny dodged, returning fire with fire, setting feathers alight.

With a twist and a flicker into light, the fire went out. Ophiel blipped to Sunny, layering fire around the serpentine [Familiar] like a cloying splash of white hot heat. Sunny peeled that fire away, shedding the [Endless Plasma Wrap] like a second skin—

‘Oh come on,’ Erick sent, ‘You can peel my Wrap away like that?’

‘Of course I can.’ Kiri said, ‘That spell is great for fighting monsters, but not people.’

‘You know? Almost none of my spells work against Sunny.’

‘That seems like a ‘you’ problem.’

They fought in the sky for an hour.

Kiri won, almost every time. It was a humbling, yet fun, experience.

 

– – – –

 

“That’s enough for me!” Erick decided, sitting up in his chair after his tenth loss.

Kiri came back to herself, saying, “Time to explore the Underworld? At least a little?”

“Maybe tomorrow. I’m suddenly tired of fighting.” Erick paused in thought. He added, “That reminds me. I need to go see some people.” He asked, “Can you keep an eye on the roast? Or would you rather come look for Delia and Ikawa? I need to see if they’re doing okay.”

Kiri rapidly decided, “I will keep an eye on the roast!” She added, “And I might explore the Underworld a bit on my own, too.”

Erick nodded, “That works, too. Thanks, Kiri.”

 

– – – –

 

The Mage’s Guildhouse was a three towered, grey stone affair. It was one of the largest buildings in the Mage District, with peaked roofs, tall windows, and scant parapets. Since the last time Erick had been here, another grey building had gone up right next door, similar to the first in size, but not in style, with a carving over the entrance archway that read ‘Sapphire Halls’ and a smaller sign that read ‘Mage Guild Residents Only’. It looked like a dormitory of some sort, with individual balconies all around the outside.

The entrance of the Guildhouse had changed, too.

Erick avoided looking too much at the people who looked at him and spoke in quiet voices, as he walked into the Guildhouse. He did, however, look for Anhelia, the iron wrought incani at the front desk. She spotted Erick almost as fast as Erick spotted her. She was working behind the receptionist’s desk, just beyond the doorway to the guild, as an instructor of some sort; she stood behind a young man who sat behind the desk. The young man, in turn, spoke to a woman standing on Erick’s side of the desk. With a few words from Anhelia, cutting the younger man short, the customer nodded, thanked Anhelia, and walked to the right, toward the job boards.

Erick stepped up to the desk.

Anhelia smiled at him as she interrupted her junior, saying, “I’ll take care of this one.” She stepped to the side of the desk. “Hello, Archmage Flatt. What can I do for you, today?”

The young man did a double take at Erick, then quickly busied himself, acting like he was reading from a thin book behind the desk.

Erick stepped to the side, saying, “Hello, Anhelia. I’m looking for Ikawa Kali. I want to know if she’s doing okay.”

Anhelia lost her smile, but she did not seem angry. She said, “Ikawa moved into the sapphire residences next door.” She turned to the guy, asking, “Get me Ikawa Kali’s room number. She should be listed in the mages-for-hire book.” The guy rapidly fumbled through a different book, while Anhelia said, “Despite how Ikawa looks and acts, she is not doing well, Erick.” The man at the desk handed a small card to Anhelia. She glanced at it, then handed it off to Erick, saying, “Good luck.”

Erick took the card, saying, “Thank you, Anhelia.”

 

– – – –

 

The door was open. Erick peered inside. The only furniture in the grey stone room was a wooden couch. Someone moved something heavy further inside; whatever it was slid across the floor with a screech and a knock against the stone wall.

Erick knocked on the open door, saying, “Hello?”

Ikawa called out, “One second! Be right there!” A crunch and a small, “Oh no,” preceded the sound of a glass breaking against stone. “Oh well.” Ten seconds later, Ikawa appeared around a corner. She saw Erick. She paused.

For the briefest of moments, Erick saw Ikawa break in a hundred small ways. Her wingtips folded backward. Her claws clutched at nothing. Her eyes, the color of an amber sunset, turned dewy, as she blinked away a tear. But then Erick saw her lips twitch. Her eyebrows narrowed. Anger took hold, and then that emotion washed away, too.

Erick said, “Hello, Ikawa. I’m sorry about—”

“Don’t. Not… Not yet.” She said, “I need a moment.”

She didn’t tell him to leave. She didn’t tell him to stay. She just stood there. So Erick waited outside the doorway, not stepping into the apartment.

After a minute, Ikawa found herself, or something close enough. She spoke without rancor, “I’m glad you didn’t try to talk to me at the party. I wouldn’t have been able to keep it together for Savral.” She added, “Grandmother never knew the specific vector that her death would take, but she knew it would come from you.”

Ikawa’s words were a punch to Erick’s stomach that kept going, to reach up into his ribcage and squeeze.

She continued, “But that’s just the curse of the Weather Witch. When you speak with the sky for long enough, it sometimes tells you things you don’t want to know.” She smiled. She laughed. She broke into a quick sob, then stopped. She turned away. When she turned back, she gestured to the back of her apartment, saying, “I was just about to test out my new stove, making some tea. Would you like to come in and have some?”

Erick found his footing. He said, “Yes.”

Ikawa put on a happy smile, saying, “Come on in, then! Shut the door and have a seat.” She stepped away, saying, “I’ll start the tea.”

Erick walked into Ikawa’s house and sat down on the couch. Poi followed and closed the door; he stayed standing with his back to the wall. The casual sounds of pots and pans clattering around came from the kitchen. A minute later, Ikawa came back to the living room, carrying a glass pot of tea, already turning dark from brewing leaves. She poured Erick a cup, first, then herself. She offered to Poi, but he politely declined.

She began, “Krakina hated you, at first. She told me when she first saw you that the spectre of her death laid on your shoulders like a cloak. It wasn’t till later that she understood that hatred was just her fears that she had to work past.”

The hot tea in Erick’s hands felt cold.

She continued, “She never stopped being scared, not really. But she worked through her fear… I don’t know how to do that. Not really.” She added, “I only learned about this two weeks ago. I never knew any of this until the week before the Red Dot. Looking back on it, I’m sure that if her own death wasn’t coming for her, that she could have warned us about the attack. About what it meant. About who was coming, and how they would arrive.” She kept going, “She also told me that you would come calling after she died and that I was to throw away my fear, but it’s all very strange. I don’t think I can do that.” She stopped. She stared off into the distance. She said, “She held on to her fear. But she wants me to ignore mine— Huh. ‘Wants’… Look at me. Talking like she’s still alive.”

A long moment passed. Steam curled into the air from barely sipped mugs.

She asked, “Say something, please.”

Erick tried to find something to say. “I’m sorry for killing your grandmother.” He tried to find his footing; a joke came out, “No wonder she hated me! I’d hate me, too.”

“What? No. That’s wrong.” Ikawa paused. She said, “Sorry. I’m not… I had a small speech prepared because I knew you would show. Grandmother told me you would. But… Grandmother liked you, a lot. She also made sure to tell me— Sorry. I’m doing this all wrong. She didn’t blame you. But you were how she would die. Death comes for everyone, and Grandmother was no exception. She was scared, and she never fully accepted what would happen, but she knew you. She liked you, as a person.” Ikawa found her center, saying, “She liked you too much, in fact. You became the eye of her storm, and she never wanted that. She loved to be the free flowing wind, soaring above it all, only coming down when circumstance demanded. But death comes for us all. Even she couldn’t out fly that inevitability.” She smiled as a tear fell. She wiped it away with a wingtip and chuckled, saying, “But she made so much money working the Farm. She loved that. She loved the work, too. In the end, she decided to find solace in leaving a legacy. So she stayed on the Farm making money, putting away an inheritance.”

Silence filled the room.

Erick said, “I’m glad Krakina had that opportunity. I don’t know what I’d do if I knew I was about to die.”

Ikawa silently sipped her tea.

Erick tried to turn the conversation somewhere nicer, or at least less heavy, “Are you going to follow in her steps? Become Spur’s Weather Witch?”

“Yes. Grandma hoped to be there for my final tests, but she knew that would never happen. She guided me on most of the trials, though.” Ikawa said, “I drove a stormfront across the Crystal Forest last month. I was struck by lightning and survived. The sand storms are due to arrive in a few weeks. Some of them have already begun further up north. That’s the last test; Protect your home from Nature’s Scouring.”

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“Is there any way I can help?”

Ikawa spoke with finality, “No.”

A long, silent moment passed.

Erick asked, “Do you want to be involved in the Gardens? I would like to make that happen for you, if you wish.”

Ikawa eventually said, “No. I’m going to be more of a diviner than a farming magnate.” She offered, “But if you want to know the future I might be able to help in a few years.”

“Are you going to be okay, Ikawa?”

She smiled, but it was a put-upon expression. She said, “Not for a while, but eventually. Thank you for coming.” She added, “Truly, I mean that. It means a lot to me.”

Erick took that as his cue to leave.

 

– – – –

 

Delia Greentalon, the 16 year-old pinkscale daughter of Valok Greentalon, stood on the sands of the Adventurer’s Guildhouse arena, fighting with a similarly sized blackscale boy. She clutched daggers in her hands, striking where she could, and dodging the boy’s spear when she needed to dodge. The boy tried to strike a decisive blow, but Delia held the spear away with one dagger and struck the boy’s hands, drawing a thin line of blood. The boy yelped, dropping the spear. Delia moved in—

Draz, the incani instructor overseeing the match, called out, “Enough!”

The boy was already on the ground. Delia held her daggers against his throat. She breathed hard. Her eyes were points of pink light that stared into the boy’s black eyes. She pressed—