28.5 Ever in Darkness

General Summary

Day 448

Despite the late hour when we return to Amytri's tower, Kaide and I stay up talking for a while before sleep. Seeing Hella and Kadia has made her thoughtful about whether we might be able to offer them the same sort of arrangement Kaide and I share. The ritual we undertook was heavily based in blood magic and neither of us feel right about teaching these arts to another, even my own students. It's possible that we could alter the ritual somehow to use a non-blood-based matrix to construct a body or arrange it so that we perform the ritual on them as a target.   But truthfully we don't even know if it's something the two of them would want. We will have to ask about it and if they're agreeable, we can work on it. Personally, I think it extremely likely that the Empress across the Barrier will already have something worked out for them when they finally cross and meet her.   With only an hour of wakeful time left for Kaide we snuggle up and fall asleep together. It is a new and welcome form of closeness.  

Day 449

In the morning Hella brings me a delightful tea at a reasonable late hour. It's rich and black with a hint of a citrus-like fruit that she picked up at the market. With a full week of time to enjoy the city we all decide to spend the day exploring and poking around before getting up to more serious work. Hella and Kadia take us to a lovely café that serves delicate pastries that even Alder would approve of.   Over a leisurely breakfast Kaide and I tell Hella and Kadia a bit about the Grotto and of the City of Deep Refractions and the platform that took us into the sky. At some point Hella is determined to learn how to fly, pointing out that only Dal and Bran are flightless, as Knotrael and Alwen would surely be welcome to fly with Haze and Tira.   After breakfast we undertake our light-hearted wandering around more relaxed than I have been in a while. The borders and paths in the city have softened up with the new construction and the streets are full of mages stone-shaping, transmuting, and transporting stone and wood.   In the market Hella is delighted to show me a stationary shop she noticed earlier and I acquire some hardy paper that the shopkeep tells me is made of fallen branches from the forest up North. I am pleased at his answer when I ask about how he expects to continue producing such curious paper - he tells me that perhaps they'll forage for other fallen branches in the Spring but to chop down such sacred trees would be inappropriate.   And then he shows me an unusual treasure - elegant almost-living wooden pens that he tells me were a gift from a troll friend of his. The warm burled wood came from trees that the trolls consider sacred and he has decided that only those who might truly appreciate and respect them would even be allowed the opportunity to purchase. I pay for one before I've even set my hands on it and it was the right choice - as I let my magic seep into the wood to investigate I feel it connect with the magic of life and distort, leaving the pen unharmed but exposing a seed in my hand. The wood feels less alive now, as though it was just waiting to disgorge this piece of life.   The shopkeep looks bemused and awestruck as I thank him kindly and breeze out of the shop, already thinking of how to send this to Hue and Ipthina to get their opinion on what the seed might grow.   The next store that catches our eye is a pottery shop with ware in an unapologetically elvish style. Unlike last night's fusion adventure there is nothing human about any of the dishware or tea sets on display here, almost defiant in their familiarity. The potter, Nesti, introduces herself and happily takes an order for full place settings to equip my cottage in Dreamfall. Her work is diverse and I settle on a deep blue-green for the exterior and a creamy interior speckled with dark flecks and strands of ochre. I promise to return with individual teacup designs later - I'll surely need one for everyone I might ever host.   Nesti directs us onwards to another elf-owned stall, this one selling hammocks and breezy scarves to tie above them to produce shade. The owner, Ashwind, recognizes me and kneels before I can stop him. I don't recognize him but he tells us that he made the banners that hung at my Dread Lord ceremony and that his grandfather is Norwell. This name I do recognize as being a former military man who transitioned to the Court and has long been one of the most sensible and straightforward members of the nobility. He also gives us a name to seek - Linier, a woman he hopes still loves him.   After making some purchases (hammocks, blue scarves that I think will give an underwater cast to our sleeping quarters, and an ingenious portable pavilion), he directs us further on to the final elf-owned stall in the marketplace. This one owned by a woman who goes by Anna and who seems to carry many secrets from back home.   The way he says this sends a shock of hope through my chest and I hurry towards the shaded stall with my family in tow. It has been many years since I heard from Vestil, last I knew she had vanished somewhere amongst the Collective and the odds of her being found by either us or them were so low that it wasn't worth worrying. Part of me knows this wouldn't be her - projecting the image of someone with secrets has never been her style. Still...maybe it's someone who knows her.   Beneath an awning I find a young elvish woman about Alder's age, sharp angular features and dressed subtly in dark greens and browns.  

May your feet fall ever in darkness and shadows cloak your movements. May your blade ever find its target. May darkness hold your secrets.

  With our greetings exchanged she brings us into her tent, shielded with magic, and drops her guard. She introduces herself as Dendra, one of Vestil's students! But she left home thirty years ago and so all I can tell her of our shared loved one is that she is working behind enemy lines, last I heard. Dendra is surprised to hear of Caravel's presence on this side and I wave it off - there are still more surprises to be shared I'm sure.   Her mission here was to track down many people who the Shadow of the Empress wished to get information on. Some are noteworthy practitioners of magic whose skills I can see being sorely missed in military organization against the Collective. Others are children and relatives of various noble families, presumably wanted as favours or as a means of gaining support. Of the fifty names on her list she has found 20-30 and hidden them safely in Deldrin or further North in the Republic of Eir. While she intended only to find, protect, and gather information, my mind is instantly picking through the list of resources and thinking about who we could send back home to aid in the war.   Haze can carry the five family members on his own - Tira, Alder, Knotrael, Hella, and Miriam. I had intended for Onyx to carry Caravel, Rina, and Knotrael's armour and give them some leeway to bring back Alwen or any others who we might want here. But Onyx is larger and stronger than Haze...I think he could carry five more. Until now I have quietly hidden away the thought of sending anything home to Doraal or to Mistress...what could I possibly write or send that would make a material difference beyond the love I have for them? But this...in addition to the dragons and skilled fighters and tacticians who are strictly on-loan...a fist of lost resources? That's worth sending.   Together Dendra and I sift through the list as Hella, Kadia, and Kaide watch in silence. I can select four of the wizards and mystics who I think would be useful but I want Caravel's most recent opinion on what Mistress might need. At Dendra's advice we can also return one of the nobles - this one a son of a noble family I find particularly annoying. They have long been dismissive and unsympathetic towards whatever anyone in Mistress's family is doing. I almost wish I could see their faces when their lost son is returned with a bow and my best wishes. I'll have to make sure Tira knows how to cast an illusion from her memory before she goes. I'll want to see that moment.   For now I will confer with Caravel and then stay in touch with Dendra by letter. She intends to head towards the Golden Micro Empire next, where she has heard rumours of an elvish cavalry and thinks a particularly animal-oriented mystic might be responsible.   We part ways and my mind is abuzz with information and letters to write.