Chapter 411: Let’s Do This

Chapter 411: Let’s Do This

Tala and Rane ran through the lush wilderness toward Bandfast.

Traveling in the summer was so different from the winter, and it wasnt only because the pervading color was green instead of white.

The trees being full of leaves meant that lines of sight were changed, as even her threefold sight flattened out to the superficial at any sort of range.

Thankfully, there were never enough trees close together to constitute a forest, so it wasnt too much of an issue.

Additionally, they were still able to sense large sources of power and avoid them, but it made for a more tense traveling experience.

Even so, as she traveled with Rane on this leg, she was careful not to hover, even while keeping an eye on him with her threefold sight.

He, in turn, didnt purposely try to put distance between them that she would have to cover quickly in order to keep close enough for emergencies.

When they stopped at midday, Tala produced the spread of food prepared by Mistress Petra, and the two Archons lounged in the tall grass of the rolling plains, beneath a lone tree.

Rane and Tala chatted over the food, and the man seemed to have a bit more life in him than before.

After theyd finished the spread, they were taking a moment to simply enjoy the little spot that Tala had found for them to eat their fill.

Terry was splayed out on a nearby boulder, catching the few beams of sunlight that came through the summer foliage.

Tala glanced Ranes way, taking in the contented smile he wore below closed eyes as he enjoyed a moment of silence in the shade.

She almost decided not to disturb him, but he cracked an eye and looked her way. What?

She quirked a smile. What do you mean?

You were staring.

Not really.

Sure. He smiled. Now, what were you thinking?

She shrugged. How are you doing?

He shrugged in turn. Well enough. How are you? Your sister basically rejected your entire way of life.

Eh. Not really? She just decided it wasnt for her Tala sighed. That does mean that she she swallowed. She wont have as long a life as she could have, but that is her choice to make.

He sighed and nodded. Yeah. We each have our own path.

Tala opened her mouth to ask him about his own path, but she stopped herself. He had already deflected once, and she didnt want to be pushy.

Instead, they finished their rest in silence before continuing on.

Terry alternated between running and flickering across the plains, riding on Talas shoulder, or riding in Kit.

As such, it was a rather easy trip from Marliweather to Bandfast.

* * *

Tala and Rane spent a couple of days in Bandfast catching up with their friends and acquaintances there.

Master Cazor did not spar with Tala, though he and Rane had a few fun matches.

Ranes partially Refined nature helped him edge out victory more often than the last time theyd fought, but it still wasnt a clean sweep.

Master Cazor had been continuing his specific training to combat Mages of all stripes, and Rane still mainly trained to fight magical creatures. That differenceby its very naturegave the less advanced Archon his own edge.

Mistress Aproa was out on a caravan run, so they didnt get to see her, but most everyone else was around.

Tala almost dropped through to say hi to master Lisa and ask him about the magic-dimension squid horrors. She really should have asked him about those before, there had just been so much else going on that it hadnt come up.

Regardless, the option was taken from her this time around because the store was locked when she went by.

She didnt know if that was because the fox-man was out, or if hed seen her coming and locked the door.

Regardless of why, she wasnt going to be able to enter without either physically or magically kicking down the door. So, she let the idea go.

Tala briefly dropped by Mistress Hollys workshop, and the woman took some time to sit down to enjoy coffee and scones with Tala and Rane.

Mistress Holly initially gave Rane a rather intense look, but didnt actually say anything to him in the end. She did mutter something under her breath that Rane couldnt have heard.

Tala, herself, only barely caught it. Good, someone else already slapped some sense into you.

Beyond that, Mistress Holly was a busy woman, and they didnt take too much more of her time.

While in the city, they stayed with Lyn and Kannis, using Lyns house as a convenient spot for Kits door to manifest.

Whenever the two women werent working, they spent time with Rane and Tala, eating, chatting, playing some newer strategy games.

One was an odd variant of tafl that had been designed to be played by four players.

It was a bit awkward to learn initially, but that was mainly because it was so alien from the way Rane and Tala had been playing the game. Even so, in the end, they decided to have a board commissioned for their use back in Alefast.

All told, there was little of note in the city, and after those two days, Rane and Tala headed back home, back to Alefast.

* * *

Back in Alefast, Tala and Rane fell back into their common routines.

They trained, socialized, played tafl, caught plays when they could, and just lived life, seeing each other more often than not.n0ve(l)bi(n.)co/m

Tala didnt have to leave the city for missions very often as it seemed like the number of cells bubbling up had lessened. Even so, the number of magical creatures attacking the walls was continuing apace, so she and her unit were fighting more often over all.

Brandon and Kedva officially moved into Kitinto a house just on the edge of Irondale to be specificand they settled in to be permanent fixtures of the place.

Kedva helped Mistress Petra as well as worked to improve various parts of the sanctum. She wasnt showing yet, but as many first-time mothers, she was being careful with almost every action.

Healers were being consulted on the repercussions of the increased magic density, and Kedva, herself, had come down from the increased power until several healers were able to verify that her magics wouldnt harm the baby in the slightest.

They would have to be factored in at the birth, but the general recommendation was that she allow them to fade before going into labor regardless.

Brandon settled in as a full-time assistant to Master Simon.

Tala found herself paying them, somehow, even though she didnt ever actually agree to any such thing officially.

Still, they were helpful, and they did good work, so she didnt mind much.

It was because of their joining her workforce that Tala found herself within her sanctum on her first day fully off since her return to Alefast. She stood beside her sparring ring, amplifying the gravitational attraction of the reality nodes toward one another.

Master Simon and Brandon were continuing to monitor what her magics were doing, even though, from what she could see, she was doing nothing.

Sweat was building across the exposed skin of the air focused Archon. As soon as it exits the sphere, it acts as I expect, but within? Its like trying to lift a mountain with a feather.

There were some chuckles at that.

It was obviously a bit of an arrogant statement, because the man was actively doing the supposedly difficult task, but he was also obviously being hyperbolic.

Finally, he released his magics and sat down heavily. I think I agree with Mistress Brisas assessment. Id estimate that it is around fifty times as difficult to enact workings within that space. That said, I got the distinct feeling that if I approached the working differently it would have acted more in the vein of what I was expecting.

The other RefinedMistress Brisanodded. I got that feeling as well. It was like I was missing a part of my mental model, and I was having to bridge the gap in understanding with power.

That started a long discussion about what might be missing, but Tala wasnt paying strict attention.

Alat would let her know if anything important was said or realized.

Instead, she walked toward the water that encircled the sparring circle.

Her threefold sight swept over the oddity that was the reality node before her.

It was massive as she considered such things.

Most reality nodes that werent associated with a life form were only a couple of feet across at the largest.

Except the world fragment. Well, that was an assumption. When shed explored the world fragment, she hadnt really had any truly practiced form of voidsight.

Still, the massive reality node felt similar to that place.

She glanced back. Im going in.

That stopped the Constructionists conversation dead. When there was no immediate response, Tala continued.

Is there any reason that I shouldnt?

A few shaking heads were all that she needed.

Alright, then. Monitor closely.

Without further preamble, she willed herself into the middle of the sparring circle.

This was her sanctum.

Everything within was hers.

It was trivial to move into the center.

As she appeared, she felt the true stillness of everything.

She felt a groundedness that made her stagger slightly, as odd as that sounds.

It was as if her whole life had been on shifting sands, and finally, she stood on solid rock.

The disorientation passed quickly.

I didnt feel that in the world fragment.

-Your senses are better now, but its also likely that this is a different phenomenon.-

She moved her hand, not feeling any extra resistance in the air, but also feeling like it was more real than it had been.

It was no harder to breathe, nor do anything else, but there was decidedly less movement to the magic within the space.

In fact, as soon as Tala noticed that, she could feel that it was almost like the zeme was still there, moving and shifting, but slightly removed from the reality node, itself.

Her own reality node was intact and separate within the larger node, just as shed expected. Though, here, it seemed like her node was compressed more tightly around her physical body than it usually was.

She needed another perspective.

Terry?

Terry flickered into the circle beside her.

Shed seen him watching from a nearby stand of trees. Does this place feel odd to you?

He chirped, then flickered around her, moving essentially as fast as he usually did.

If she was reading him correctly, though, it was taking more power for him to move, but not that much more. Youve made the mental adjustment to function normally, here?

He stopped his movement and trilled.

She found herself smiling. Of course you have. You are fantastic. I wish you could just tell us what were missing.

His look was full of incredulity.

Right, right. If we dont figure it out for ourselves, our understanding will be lesser.

He bobbed once, then flickered to her shoulder to wait.

Tala, for her part, turned and walked toward one of the exits to the sparring circle, one of the stone bridges that spanned the flowing water.

As she came to the edge of her working, she paused and examined the space in front of herself.

There was nothing different that her mundane eyes could see, but her threefold sight insisted that the void was larger there at the edge of the ring.

As she stepped across that void, her physical body and mundane sight experienced nothing of note.

Her magical density seemed to take a slight dip, and her threefold sight briefly took in the void far more clearly.

It was odd, like passing through the doorway into a house and having the feeling that the walls were thicker than she had been expecting.

She basically never noticed the doorframes of houses she entered, but here, it struck her as being oddly large.

And then she was through, and it was like nothing had happened.

Once again she almost stumbled as she suddenly felt a bit wrong footed once again, like her foundations were a bit less sure, here.

She glanced back and didnt notice any oddities from this close on the outside..

Master Grediv walked her way. I think the last thing we can test is to have you dismiss the working.

Oh? Is it time for that? Tala found herself smiling. You know, Ive been building this off and on for a year, right? Im going to be frustrated if we arent actually ready to record as much information as possible.

He chuckled at that. We understand the investment youve made here, Mistress Tala. Yes, I think we are ready.

Very well, lets do this.