44.4 Formal Family

General Summary

Day 755

  As we descend the mountain again, we get our first look at Yneir's new spirit form. She's some sort of raptor, with a metallic gradient of colour across her feathers like metal being worked. The edges of each feather go iridescent like tempered metal. Her humanoid hair is like this as well, and it's a shock to see the formerly golden crow becomes so multi-hued. She looks more elven as well, and requests that I accept her oaths to the Empire once we rejoin with the rest of the family at the base of the mountain.   We say our goodbyes to Hou Rili, and she gives me a single feather that will let me return to her space when needed. The elderly Vermillion Bird has largely stepped back from her tribe and handles her own business, so gaining access to her will let us avoid all of the politics.    By mid-afternoon, we have made our way to the base camp (which is surrounded by an illusory barrier clearly constructed by Liliales and Starfield). And Starfield herself is in her full dragon form - resplendent with dark, starry magic. As she transforms back and Liliales waves the barrier away, I realize that it was something like a window into the Dreaming itself - Starfield was using the piece of the Dreaming to manifest as a dragon and speed her healing along.   We settle down for a meal as Magdalena catches us up on what the kids have been doing. To my surprise (and Bran's consternation), Magdalena has encouraged Mireen to take up gambling. She is losing quite handily to Skyen as we watch them rolling dice. She is learning how to lose with fake money, which is actually a very good idea.    

Day 756

  The next day, Magdalena takes some time with Ausha and I to offer us each a reward. Ausha's will take time, but she already has an idea for me - something to do with No Moon's legacy. Magically, Magdalena things I'm an exceptionally strong elf, maybe 70 points of elf and 30 points of fae. I sacrificed some of my elfness to become fae, but I need more of both sides to stand firm against No Moon's legacy.   Being 'just' a fae of day and night is not much different from any other fae - it is no stronger a legacy than anyone else. From Cereus, she procured a part of his essence that would intensify my fae legacy as though I was one of the first fae to be born from his tree. It is nothing new, just stronger than what I am already.   From herself, she offers a very long scroll. She wants to offer me a piece of her own magic that would make me similar to her and Uncle Red and the other fae who can collect song and carry them elsewhere. The runes have to be imparted the same way my apprentices carved into my arms to send me across the Barrier...it would take a long time, it would hurt, and there is uncertainty in them to allows me to fill in the gaps with what I will need to become. And it is something she won't force on me, just a door she wants to open.   But the taproot comes first - if my legacy bleeds more into Ausha then she might end up with wings. And if she gets wings, I want it to be her own doing.  

Days 757 - 772

From here, it will take just over a month to reach the Grove of Red Thorn, and we spend the first five days gathering the lotuses Kaide will need to heal Wildfire.   I also get a chance to talk to Starfield about how to overcome Eclipse's influence on him. It's a harrowing conversation at first - the thought of her (our?) relative's bones being used like this is enough to make both of us ready to tear down the Barrier altogether. But her ideas are much better than mine - Scorch and Firestorm are 2nd generation (Darkness and Fire, Fire and Sky) and even Pyroclasm is a 2nd-3rd generation just like Eclipse himself. All of them are from Cataclysm - the same clan as Ember.   They are certainly better ideas than mine, which included taking on No Moon's legacy, trying to release Abyss, and cajoling Void into helping. Once Ausha has crafted the jewelry we will need, we can tell Trillium and Rainbow and arrange for transport.   As we continue West down the river, Magdalena formally takes on Qing Chen as her apprentice and welcomes him into our family. This also means arranging ourselves for our various future field trips: The Zephyr city and another trip North to her junior brother's domain.   We will have to kidnap Kaide. It seems like a poor idea to have both the Empress and Imperator leave the Empire unattended but surely between Catena, Shrouded Petrichor, Ikshafael, Mistress, Doraal, Lyssa...surely they could handle the Empire for a year or two after all the wars are finished.   Before that, Magdalena tells me, I will need to figure out how to heal 2000-year-old wounds inflicted by the Ingan. I recall the withered, scorched form I saw in Deldrin and nod silently. Teacher says it will be a project for the next ten years, though I quietly remark to Ausha that surely I won't actually get around to it until the last year.   Our new academic family also means that Magdalena wants to think about the formality of our arrangement and how to give us titles, formal access to her Library of Lost Magic ("With capitals?" Qing Chen asks - he has not yet clearly been told what Teacher's job is), and how to create our own legends as a unit.   Now included in all the secrets, Qing Chen seems like he has new life.  

When our formality is all laid out, I'm going to tell my father. I'll tell him that he can't demote me to Demon King when he dies - my work is too important.

  Magdalena offers to come along when he delivers the news. After we visit the stump of Drifting Seeds, she and Qing Chen will travel alone for a while before meeting up with us at the Grotto.   The next logistic problem is improving the way that my letterbox works (dragons, not birds). And then, creating spontaneous travel between guide posts so that we can fully access one another as needed.   Soon we will be very near to Rainbow's mountain and we will try to visit both so that Ausha can craft jewelry in their workshop and we can tell Trillium what is happening.