'Tis my job to tell the tales

Way back when this story was conceived, I imagined it in comic form, more than writing.  So with someone posting a January Comic Month challenge, I thought, ‘why not give it another shot?’

The elves were kind enough, the next morning, to bring not only Dembera, but a few other herbs that Kirlith needed, and that helped Maxine out a good deal when her next attack of stomach issues arose.  The lady elf, when passing the items over to her, whispered to the redhead quietly what apparently was a slew of instructions.  They made sense enough that as the group returned to a Southerly path, towards the kingdom of Tyaneel, they noticed that Maxine had no more issues, and relaxed about her health.

They were focusing on making sure Tanner knew about as much as could be expected of him regarding swords, considering he was fairly sure he’d be a fool to go back to the College and take it up as a primary weapon.  But at least he was good enough that he didn’t hurt himself swinging the weapons, and managed to do a fairly decent amount of damage to the creatures he was allowed to strike at when the group hunted or was attacked by wild animals.  He was still doubtful of Miriana’s style of fighting in comparison to what he could do, but he had the luxury of feeling that way, as he had been switched over to learning from Mitch.  And no one had been over-stating what they meant when they said the man was a difficult teacher.  Tanner learned that his friendly nature held even as an instructor, but it actually made it worse for him to be smiling in his usual manner and asking why in the world Tanner couldn’t get a handle on the lesson.  He knew Tanner was a bright kid, and he knew Tanner could move the way he’d shown him, Mitch had seen him do it against an Atourit a day or so ago, so what was wrong with doing it now, was the typical way thing went.  He wasn’t mean or rude, but the disappointment was what made it near impossible to learn from the green-eyed man.

Maxine occasionally stepped in and told Mitch to tone it down.  She was usually slipping in to the lesson by thwacking Mitch on the back with the flat of her sword and asking him to show of something or other that ws years beyond what tanner would ever do, and proceeding to remind the elder male of how long it had taken him to get to where he was currently.  It helped Mitch out, and made Tanner feel a little better at least, each day, hearing someone keep Mitch from getting too disappointed in him.

Before they quite reached the end of the forests, on their way to the coastal kingdom, they were stopped by a group of Ethrans who shared word of the village they’d gone through on their way to Aridh.  None of the messengers had met any of them before, but apparently knew them by descriptions.  The leader mentioned Azala speaking of a woman with skin so pale, the sun hitting it just right made her a blinding sight, and Maxine could only laugh.  The Ethrans spoke of how well Azala and Neth were doing, and asked for updates to take back to them.  One of the younger ones mentioned having owed Azala a favor, and with the relay, the debt would be paid.

After they left, Tanner couldn’t help but wonder why Azala would use a favor to have a group of people told that she was okay, and to hear that they were too.  Of course, that was the night he had a ‘breakthrough’ in regards to the Visions.

He woke up to the sunlight shining gently through the tent he’d slept in, but couldn’t do any more than curl into a small ball, whimpering.  As gentle as the light happened to be, it was still stronger than his poor head could take.  Moments later, there was a rustling sound as Kirlith peeled the tent open and crawled in.  She checked him over and then crawled back out.  A wait that Tanner couldn’t say how long of, and the woman crawled back in, gently bullied him into gulping down some water, and then fed him one of the herbs they had harvested the night before, for over-extension of a person’s powers, and she told him to try sleeping it off.

When he woke next, Maxine was sitting in the tent with him, gently combing her fingers through his hair.  “Hey there,” she whispered, “It’s gone midday, and they decided that we were staying until you’d recovered.  It didn’t help any that I may have relapsed into whatever illness I was fighting off when we encountered the elves.  But as long as it takes for you to be able to move around again.”

“I think I’ll be okay come tomorrow, as long as the Vision doesn’t repeat itself,” Tanner mumbled, then peered out at her, “You’re sick again?  Should we talk to the Healers in Tyaneel?”

“If it doesn’t clear up by the time you’re recovered, Kirlith threatened to drag me to them,” Maxine snorted, “With full backing from Jaeth, Miriana and Anneth.”

“They’ve not got Mitch’s backing?” Tanner gaped.

“As far as he’s concerned, I should go even if I’m better by the time you are,” was her grumbled response.

“I think I agree with Mitch,” Tanner nodded, “If it came back.  You’re not just sick with something simple then.  It’s not allergies.”

“I think it might be allergies,” Maxine denied, “I mean, Tibeny’s almost totally a plains-land.  We’re in forests of all kinds right now.  There’s who knows how many different plants for me to experience.”  She bit her lip a little, and then changed the subject, “So you had a strong Vision?  Can you talk about it, or will that cause a flash-back?”

“You’ve heard of those?” Tanner paused.  That wasn’t something commonly talked about, outside of the College.

“I… might have heard about it from Rick,” she shrugged, “Or something that sounded close enough that I decided in the back of my mind to call it that.”

“I’d almost forgotten you were a friend of his,” Tanner huffed in place of a laugh, “But I think I can talk about it without a flash-back.” He drank some of the water left near his bed roll, and started off, “You know about the triplets in the building, with the little tower thing that they add to and get stuck to.  And you know about the dream where the three are waiting for someone.  This time, I saw them, waiting, and then spotting the person they were waiting for.  They were… they looked like Anneth did in the Visions I had before Aridh Tower, but their fourth person didn’t.  It was the guy that had come up with them, walking into the room again.  One of them smiled so wide it was like he’d seen another brother.  He held his arms open and while I couldn’t hear a word, it looked like he was welcoming him and trying to get him to come closer.  The second, still happy to see him, wasn’t as demonstrative about it.  But he seemed to agree with the first that their friend should come closer.”  Tanner paused, “But the third one.  He’s the one that worries me.”

“How so?” Maxine paused, “Was he telling their friend not to come, or to go away?”

“No, he was trying to step to his friend, trying to grab him, pull him closer,” Tanner played a short game of strings ‘round the fingers as he thought, “The other two, when they saw him do this, grabbed him by his jacket and pulled him away, and stopped trying to coax their friend closer.  In fact, started telling him to leave.  But their friend, and I’m sure there were others with him, all seemed to not hear, see, or feel them there, because he completely ignored the rushing spirits.  At least until one of the people from the new group- even if I can’t see them or count them, I know they’re there, makes the mistake of touching one of the walls nearby.  I woke up before I could see what happened, but I know it was bad.”

“Oh my,” Maxine breathed, “That sounds dangerous.”

“The part that really confuses me is how could their friend show up?” Tanner asked, “They were dead several hundred years ago.  He can’t still be alive, can he?  And I don’t think that a ghost would seem like he had.  There wouldn’t have been people trying to protect him so hard if he were dead.”

“I,” she paused, “There.  If you believe in it.  There’s a thing that might actually exist.  Reincarnation, perhaps?”

“I don’t think that that happens,” Tanner gasped, “It doesn’t really make sense to me that it would, I’m sorry.  Just no.”

“I don’t have proof either way, I was just providing it as an option.  Or maybe it’s someone who’s magic signature is so close to his your Vision is reading them as the same person?” She rubbed her nose, “I don’t know enough about Sight to have a concrete answer.”

“Magic…” he thought about it for a moment or two, “That actually almost makes sense.  It still doesn’t answer everything, but it helps.  I might have to ask Kirlith a few questions.”  He looked around a little more, and then asked, “Any way I could get some water and something to eat?”

She leaned to one side and grabbed a water skin, then leaned back and held it to his hands.  He gingerly drank from it as she reached out for a bit of dried meat and fruits to hand to him.  When he finished with the water, he ate a little of it at a time, until he felt comfortable asking, “What about your illness?  How are you doing now?”

“As long as I don’t actually smell the food, I’m okay,” she snorted, “It’s kind of depressing, really, because I like food normally.”

“I’ve noticed,” Tanner snickered, remembering how well she ate.  She could almost compete with Jaeth for eating.  The two fell into silence for a while, until Tanner finished eating, where he then laid back down and fell back to sleep, to try and chase off the lingering aches and tiredness in his head.  When he woke later, it was Mitch offering food to him.

“I brought it in and Maxine turned green,” he shook his head even as the blond sat up and took the offered bowl, “She’s going to lose weight she can’t afford to at this rate.”

“Well, we’re going to stop at the Healing house in Tyaneel, aren’t we?” Tanner asked before eating a little of the food in the bowl.

“If we can drag her over there.” Mitch grumped, “She’s remarkably good about distracting everyone from things about herself when she puts her mind to it.

“We just make sure we don’t forget about it, and sneak it up on her at some point in the town attached to Tyaneel, that’s all,” Tanner grinned.

“I hope it’s that easy,” Mitch snickered, “But knowing her, she’ll catch on to the plan before we get there and block it.”

  “How are we supposed to find this Tower,” Jaeth groaned, elbows on top of the table where he was seated, and let his head drop into his hands a few times, “No one knows anything, no one is answering questions,” he breathed deeply, “We’re never going to find it at this rate!”

There was silence immediately following his rant.  They didn’t stop eating, but no one was speaking any more.  The other patrons of the inn where they were, were still going about their business, so he was thankfully not being too much of a bother to other people.

Just long enough after to be sure that no one else was paying him any heed, Maxine sighed, “When I was younger, I found a place.  We haven’t gone there.  I can’t promise it will get us what we need, but it might.”

“You were in Tibeny before the triplets were born,” Mitch asked, “How can you be old enough to have-“

“I keep telling you, I’m older than I look.  One of these days, you’ll believe me,” she drawled.

“Where do we need to go?” Mitch held his hands up, part apology, part attempt at appeasement for her anger otherwise.

“We cross back over the bridge into the College’s territory, and then go South.  It’ll be several days, but it’s a cavern complex more stable than the dwarves are watching.”

“Okay,” Kirlith blinked, “The Caverns are more stable.  Are they safer?”

“I’ve been there once or twice,” Maxine shrugged, “I know my way around, should be able to keep the worst paths untrodden.”

“And you don’t know for sure what we’ll find?” Mirirana wrinkled her nose.

It’s been a while since I was there,” the redhead sighed, “Just because it’s not easy to get to doesn’t mean impossible.  There may be no items left there to be of use.  There may be a good deal.  I don’t know.”

“Well, aside from going to Tyaneel,” Kirlith, Mitch and Jaeth looked at each other, We don’t have any other options.  I say we stop and pick up supplies though.  Maybe get sturdier gear, trade in the skins, bits and bobs we’ve collected from creatures along the way.”

That had been an interesting discovery made somewhere between the Elven Village of Adajharie and the Ethran forest range.  They’d had a fresh skin from a Wygen, and the Ethrans suggested trading it in Tomovie.  Mitch had vaguely remembered something like that as his mother and father had spoken of.  A person had to find the right items and the right people, but a number of uncommon things could be bartered for.  So as they’d found small villages along eh way, they’d traded for things as they could.  It gave them more opportunities to canvas for information, and had incidentally made a bit of a name for Tanner and Maxine.  And after they’d started trading these things, they all sheepishly wondered why they hadn’t thought of it before, aside from Tanner’s parents having been traders, and being lost to him because of it. 

Who’d have thought that the two could be so sharp with deals, Jaeth’s silly question was quickly answered with a reminder that the swordswoman had been the trader for Tibeny, so there was prior experience.  Tanner’s excuse was a learned value of items and information; especially after the Centaurs.  Not to mention the hint that it might have been in his blood, with his parents having been traders.

As they headed to the new location Maxine mentioned, they poked at her for as much forewarning as they could get.  She spoke of dry caves, with clean, solid walls; and of places to set lights spaced regularly, though no lights had been present when she’d last been there.  Sadly, these were the only details she could be fairly sure wouldn’t have warmed, faded, decayed or been destroyed in the meanwhile.

By the time they set food on the bridge again, Maxine’s stomach had settled.  Enough so that she was able to keep the others from taking her to Tyaneel’s healers, or those in Viret.

Miriana was proving more than a little bit of a mother hen To tanner and when he next had a Mother of a Vision as she called it, she made them stay a day, again, to give him time to recover.  Much like they’d done before, but this time Tanner was protesting, rather than going along with it.

The new details from the Visions showed that the triplets and their friend had matching pendants about their necks.  He wanted to study them, but all he could do was give the vague description of ‘rope-looking chain, with some kind of stone that rested on the tops of their chests.’  He got the feeling however, that the pendants were important, as the boys were careful about them being in place as they climbed the Tower.  His biggest discovery though, had to be a tie between learning that the Tower of Recording didn’t have as linear a path as Aridh had had; and learning that one of the triplets apparently had seriously been fond of their friend.

They met with little success in regards to trying to find out concrete information about the Tower, and how to get there safely, sanely.  They’d tried Tyaneel’s library even, with permission from the King, and strict supervision of the librarians and caretakers of the books.  The best they got were more tales suggesting that King Roka had been planning something that would have made himself immortal, and had no good effects for anyone else.

Occasionally, Maxine asked questions, either of things they read or of people they were talking to, that made Tanner wonder if she didn’t know more than she let on.  For one thing, she brought up the idea of not hearing, and shutting out psychic talents a few more times than coincidence really allowed for.  But there was just enough vagueness that he let it be.  He thought about her suggestions, and with the name of the Tower in question, wondered if that wasn’t the point of them.  Recording.  What could it record, and what might make it stop?

Those questions led him to go looking for her one night, as they wandered some of the most Northward forests they’d encountered.

“Maxine?” he crouched near her, where she was keeping an eye out around the camp, and asked, “May I ask you a few questions?”

“You can ask, but I can’t guarantee answers,” she countered, keeping her eyes focused on the line of trees surrounding them.

“What do you know of the Tower of Recording?  You’ve suggested a couple of things that sound like you know more than you’re saying, but,” he trailed off.

“What I know, I can’t prove.  So it’s better not to be direct about it.  Simple as that,” she shrugged.  Then she winced, “Do you think there are any Dembera herbs in this section of the forest?”

“Your stomach still bothering you?” it was a new development, and they were wondering if it had something to do with food, but it wasn’t predictable enough to pin it as any particular staple of the meals they made, but she’d been suffering from nausea and general discomfort in the abdominal area since they’d reached the forests that were even further North than the Enda claimed.  Only a few days, but it was still something they worried about.

“Still, again, take your pick,” she grumbled, “I’m beginning to think I should just get a supply and chew on them raw.”

“I don’t like it,” Tanner wrinkled his nose, “I’m wondering if it’s not a food thing as it is something around here that maybe you’re allergic to.”

“I doubt it,” she shrugged, “There really isn’t anything in these forests that doesn’t correspond to the ones on the other side of the bridge this far North.  And they don’t make me sick on that side.”

“But we haven’t been able to-“

“I know, Tanner.  I know,” she sighed, “Actually, I think you might want to wake up Kirlith, as dangerous as that usually is.  I think we’ve got guests.”

There was a rustling that made Tanner nervous.  He wondered why Kirlith specifically was needed, but the semi-gentle shove administered to his shoulder made him move to go get the small woman.  He really didn’t like waking her up though.

Good thing was, she had a tent to herself, so he didn’t have to wake anyone else up.  Even better, she woke easily enough to him patting the flap of her tent.  A few seconds later, she blearily looked at him, “I thought Maxine had just gone to her turn at watch.”

“She had, and is, and we’ll probably need more Dembera soon, but she sent me to get you because she figures we have guests.  I don’t know why you over anyone else, except maybe you’re the best at diplomacy, even over Mitch, but she probably wouldn’t mind me stopping babbling at you so you can get over there.”

Kirlith laughed lowly at him, disappeared back into her tent and then came back out a little bit later, her staff in hand and hair left loose, “I’ll go investigate.  See if you can wake Mitch quietly.  Tell him that we’re looking at blue birds unless he hears a bird call.  He’ll know what it means.”

“Okay,” Tanner blinked, and thought it was one of the most absurd messages he’d ever heard, but then remembered something about codes from the College, and realized that he’d gotten his first practical-ish application of one.  Then he scooted over to the tent that Mitch had to share with Jaeth, and pulled open the flap quietly.  Mitch usually took a little more than Kirlith to wake, but not much.

After making sure he had the right side of the tent, Tanner tapped one of the ankles under a blanket and backed back out of the tent.  A few seconds later, Mitch crawled out and raised an eyebrow.

“Kirlith says we’ve got a blue bird unless you hear a bird call?  I think I said that right,” Tanner wrinkled his nose and squinted an eye in thought, “It didn’t make a lot of sense to me, but that’s not really a surprise, is it?”

“That’s close enough,” Mitch nodded, and sat down, “I’ll keep an ear open.”

When Tanner finally got back to the part of the forest Maxine and Kirlith were at, Mitch was already there, carefully with his hands away from the blades at his hips.

Kirlith was breathing a little heavily, surprise deep in her features, and was trying not to be giddy.  When Tanner looked a little harder, he saw why.

Their language was stilted, and yet somehow fluid.  They were suspicious and Tanner figured they wanted the humans gone.  But they were standing there, slender, muscular, about as varied as humans got, and looking much as humans did, only having ears that gently jutted out past the line of their heads, and reaching points.  Sidling closer to Maxine, he asked, “Do you understand them? They’re using-“

“Sh,” she hissed, “I can only tell that they feel we’re trespassing.  And we need to be quiet,” Tanner then spotted the exasperated look from Kirlith that relaxed when they stopped talking.

A voice sounding next to him made the youth freeze.  He turned to look at the speaker, who spoke her words again, slower.  Tanner looked at Kirlith, who smiled, “She asks if you Saw anything about the Tower.”

He nodded, looked at Kirlith and added, “I See a set of triplets trapped in there.” He said it slowly and tried to be a s clear as he could with it.

The female nodded and spoke again.  Kirlith translated it as a question about the triplets.

“Their names were Kerrick, Layton and Malcom.  They went to the Tower, and set something on something there, then were locked or frozen there.  I don’t know what happened after that.”

The female nodded, and then looked at another elf.  A quiet conversation and the one nearest Kirlith spoke.  Slowly, but in words Tanner could understand, “They were investigating the Enda.  They were sent by the King of Divrain.  Our leader, to give them information, sent them to the Tower to try to fix it.”

“To fix it?” Mitch repeated, “How was it broken?’

“If you try to hold something that never stops flowing, with something of finite size, you get over flow,” the new speaker explained, his face grim, “They were sent to increase the size of the device containing memories.”

“The device clung to them, and absorbed them,” Tanner gasped, things finally slotting into place in his mind, “So that might mean they’re additional containers.”

He’d unfortunately spoken too fast in his excitement for the elves, so Kirlith had to translate.  The one nearer him and Maxine gaped.  The other spoke up again, “No, not container, power.”

“P?” Tanner puzzled over that a few seconds.

“The people getting lost around the Tower,” Mitch mused, “There’s getting lost, there’s going mad, and the difference is the boost the brothers provided.”

“We have tried to keep watch,” the elf who could speak comfortably with them all pointed out, “We have only heard of lost.  No returns, no more madness.”

“That’s a point,” Jaeth, having finally approached the group, blearily moving, but more awake than Tanner would have expected, patted the swordsman on the shoulder, “There haven’t been any tales of mad folk washing ashore.”

“Is your leader the same as when the triples came through?” Tanner asked.

Shaking his head, the elf regretfully added, “When they heard of the deaths of the triplets and their friend, the Scouts and Elder of the time all locked themselves away.  Guilt like that becomes overpowering.”

“Was there a reason for them to feel that way?’ Kirlith was confused.  To her knowledge the elves had had little to do with it.  Tanner was even more confused, being locked away didn’t seem very permanent.  Unless they’d done more than just lock themselves away, he thought to himself, but resolved to wait for an answer instead of interrupting.

“They found us, asked for information,” the speaker paused, “They were given a request from us, and tols meant to make the trip safe.  It all failed.  Ended with them dead.  The guilt-“

“Locked away,” Jaeth was trying to ask without being rude, and Tanner knew that he’d hear what the question in his own mind was asking, but was glad it wasn’t him, “Is that different from dead?’

“A bit,” Kirlith sighed, “Andarie elves who lock themselves away tended to become stones of untold beauty and power in the regards of humans centuries later.  Adajharie elves who do such a thing become part of the grove they called home.”

Tanner stared at the trees around them, partially panicking.

“No, none here,” there was a warmth in the elf’s voice, like speaking to a child who was reacting with more pleasant innocence than expected, “Too much chance of danger.”

“So we can’t ask them any questions,” Jaeth muttered.

“You would not understand the answers.” The elf explained.

“How do you think we can get to the Tower safely?” Kirlith asked, “If their power is making the Tower stronger?”

“We can offer a night among our trees,” was the answer, “We will find you come the morn and tell you what our Elder says.  Sleep here, you will be safe.”

Tanner sidled over to Kirlith and spoke as quietly as he thought he could, and still have the dark-haired lady hear him, “Would they know of Dembera, or would they have a different herb for it, or a different name for it?”

“Is one of you ill?” the concerned eyes flitted over everyone in the group, “Why do you travel with a companion in bad health?”

“Because I’m stubborn like that,” Maxine drawled, “I eventually made the decision to be on this trip, I’m not about to let them leave me behind.”

“It is not,” the elf looked at Kirlith a few seconds, spoke a word that only the elf-blooded knew, and then waited for an answer.

“Near as we know, she’s not dying,” Kirlith shook her head, “Not a poison or a wound.”

They reached the College again, a few days later, and by that point, Tanner was pretty clear that it was Thaliss left behind.  He kept Seeing the Ritualist- he thought the youth had been- watching his friends reluctantly, but it was never clear if he ever touched the pillar his friends did.

If he didn’t’, it would explain the looks on the faces of the triplets at least.  Looking for him.  The thought that connected when they’d made it back to the College and Tanner was checking with the Abbess to make sure what he thought he saw was true, was that while all three were looking. They seemed to have different reasons for it.

“Thaliss didn’t’ start off friends with the three of them,” the Abbess nodded, “In fact he had a rivalry with M he’d obviously not intended to have happen, before it was learned that this lack of a forma fantasy was causing him trouble with one of the teachers here.

Much as they’d like, the College couldn’t guarantee completely un-biased teaching, so sometimes things like that happened.  It didn’t help that at the time, the College had been less stable, some of the students that had attended that hadn’t any family hadn’t had any loyalty, and had done things with their education that the Abbots and Abbess’ that followed would not and could not condone.

“But he eventually made friends,” Tanner was thinking aloud, “Was he trying not to, did it look like…” and then Tanner winced at the awkward sentence structure.

“No one was sure,” the Abbess smiled, “But some of the things he’s noted to have said about them suggest he was trying not to be noticed by anyone, but his talents in Rituals were hard to ignore.  Especially as he was good at a few things but generally not very strong.”

“Trying not to,” Tanner blinked, “That, sounds a lot like, he was-“

“No proof was ever found, but he was skittish enough, at least until the triplets folded him into their midst” She laughed.

“Their trip, according to our records?” the youth tapped his fingers on the table top, “They say the quartet was sent to the Tower as a defensive thing.  Others we’ve spoken to-“

“As much as I hate to admit it,” she shrugged, the gust of air making one of the coils on her desk move a little. “I have seen signs of tampering.  So, thanks to this investigation, one of our near-graduating Ritualists is going to turn in her project about tampering prevention for documents.”

“Anita?” Tanner grinned.

“Yes,” the answer was accompanied by a laugh, “She was already working on it, but she was positively incandescent at the thought of getting to turn that in as her graduation project.”

“Especially as it means she doesn’t have to leave the College,” Tanner added, well aware that she was one of the students that had no intention of leaving the College grounds ever again if she could help it, once she’d graduated.

“Yes,” there was a knock and then a head peeked around the half open door.

“Tanner’s group is ready to leave,” Rick smiled at them both.

“Ah yes,” the Abbess nodded, “I shouldn’t keep you any longer, since I can’t give you anything else concrete.”

“Thank you,” Tanner stood and moved to the door, “And fare thee well.”

“Fare thee well,” she agreed.

On the other side of the door, Tanner looked at Rick for a few seconds; even as they walked to the gates.  In a metaphoric sense, Rick seemed to no longer have a weight or presence looming over him.  He seemed happier, lighter.  Tanner was happy to see it, but it was a little odd.

“Jaeth and the others have gathered the supplies you all will need,” the darker male in formed the lighter.

“That’s good,” Tanner nodded, and then made a random guess, based off of something he’d heard from Jaeth, and Rick’s less morose mood, “How’s Mariss?”

Rick flushed and said nothing for a bit.  He took a breath, and then could only spit out, “Ah.”

“Who started it?” Tanner teased.  He was having a little fun with it, but was gladder that he’d been able to put the clues together the right way.  Maybe now Rick and Mariss would just be happy.

“Y-“ Rick huffed, tried to glare at the boy, and then huffed again, “Jaeth opened his mouth, didn’t he?”

Tanner just snickered.

“Wait ‘til you’ve got something to keep to yourself.” Rick started, aiming for ominous, but getting it mixed up with indignant because of the embarrassment.

“I just won’t tell it to Jaeth then,” Tanner cackled, grinning widely at the elder male, “Since he seems to have issues with keeping secrets.”

“Hey now, I’m perfectly capable of keeping secrets,” Jaeth yelped.  The two College students had gotten close enough to the others to be heard.  Jaeth then pulled together a better glower at the blond boy, but it was still lacking something, “I haven’t told anyone ab-“ catching himself, he bit his lip.

“Pff!” Maxine snickered, bringing a hand up to her nose to half hide her grin, “That’s not helping your point.”

Jaeth worked his jaw up and down once or twice, shot a look first at Mitch, and then Kirlith to try and get their support, and then just huffed a third time.

“Let’s get going,” Kirlith was trying not to be loud about it, but she was laughing too.  It was the reason she couldn’t provide much support to Jaeth’s problem.

“You can’t leave without me!” Miriana whimpered, Mariss leading her over.  She’d gone off to do some research of her own, and had apparently gotten turned around somewhere.  The silliness of the others had made Tanner not notice her absence as quickly.  But even if he’d not already prodded the information from Rick, the look Mariss and Rick gave each other was enough of a clue.  At least, Tanner would claim that, even if it weren’t actually true.

“I suppose not,” Kirlith sighed, “We’d better head out, or we won’t make good time to the bridge.”

“Oh,” Mariss grinned, stopped wordlessly teasing Rick, and pressed something into Kirlith’s hand, “If you can find a good Ritualist, they can copy it down so that you have more than one of it.”

“Pity you’re the only one we know,” Jaeth whined.

“Oh, that just means you might have to actually pay for it to get done,” Mariss pushed at him with her freed up hand, “It’s not the end of the world.”

“Maybe we can get Tanner to-“ Jaeth peered in the Seer’s direction.

“No, not a good idea,” Mariss giggled, “He’s tried before.  All of the beginners’ Rituals backfired or inverted.”

“Does that happen with Seers all the time?” Kirlith looked at Tanner for a few seconds, as though she thought he might have been doing the inversions on purpose- but then grinned, telling him she was teasing.

“We’ve not had enough Seers try to do Rituals to know,” Mariss reached over and scrubbed her hand through the boy’s hair.  Since it wasn’t cropped all that short, it tangled a bit.

“Mariss,” he hissed, “You’re knotting it up!”

“Fine,” she stopped, but then took up combing out the knots she’d put there, “In any case, the few Seers we’ve got recorded all tended to focus exclusively on their Sight.  This one wants to be a teacher, so he’s learning everything he can think of.”

“Trying to,” Tanner sighed, “Of course it doesn’t always work.”

“What are you going to do if no one is going to take you on as a teacher?” Mitch joked.  Though Tanner took the question to a more serious level of his mind, and started fretting.

“I don’t want to think about it,” Tanner shook his head, and tried to shake it out.

“Well, you’re still a ways from graduating, so you’ve still got time,” Mariss waved, picked up one of Rick’s hands, and then shooed them over to the Abbot.  After both Dorm monitors gave the traditional greeting, they left.

They approached the Abbot, who smiled, “It seems you’ve been given a number of messages and well-wishes already.”

“Yes sir,” Maxine smiled, the humor from the previous conversations still lingering.

“I haven’t much to add, so I can only say, Fare thee well.”  The old man’s face was broken open by a wide smile, and that almost hid the worry Tanner could see in the Abbot’s eyes.  They matched the wishes and headed out.

Tanner was enjoying the trek more this time, as it wasn’t something new and nerve-wracking.  And that didn’t count how entertaining it was for him to listen to the banter between the others.  It wasn’t quite as entertaining when they held to the offers of teaching him, though.  She might not have years of experience, but Miriana was a demanding teacher.  Though Mitch swore he was worse.  Tanner figured he had more than enough bruising as it was to argue the idea, but not too hard, lest the man decide to prove it.

They reached Tomovie and Mitch dragged them to his home.  His mother couldn’t provide rooms for everyone, but she spoke with one of her friends and an exchange was made for the stay.

Tanner, the next morning, wandered over to Mitch’s house, where Kirlith had stayed and unintentionally spooked the dark-skinned woman when he spoke up, intending to tell her about the latest development in the Vision.

“If nothing else,” she gasped, “the lessons from the others are teaching you to move quieter.”

“If nothing else,” he repeated, “Because I apparently don’t have a knack for swords.”

“I don’t know that it’s swords,” Maxine returned the favor the boy had accidentally done to Kirlith, and nearly made his heart stop for a few seconds, “Perhaps you’re just not suited to Miriana’s style.  I ‘m no expert but she may be only a few steps away from Spell Blade.”

“S-“ Tanner’s brain took a few extra steps to process that, but he got there, “Oh.  That would explain a bit.”

“You won’t like this then,” Maxine patted him on the shoulder, “But I think that means you’re going to be stuck learning from Mitch.”

“What about me?” the man wandered in, and rubbed his eyes blearily.

“There’s a sword student in your future,” Kirlith laughed, “that’s what about you.”

He blinked.  Then he blinked again, “Run that by me again?”

“I didn’t think you had waking issues like Jaeth,” Maxine snorted, “Or at least, you haven’t before.”

“I didn’t actually sleep,” sheepishly, the man admitted his problem.  His eyes were drifting closed as he spoke and he was listing a little, but still catching himself, “I wound up cleaning the weapons and armor my dad left behind when he left.  Next thing I knew, I heard voices in the kitchen and the sun was up.” By the time he finished talking, he’d leaned in Maxine’s direction enough he was using her as a place to lean.

Ignoring the weight on her shoulder, she looked at Kirlith, “We going to delay and let him sleep? Or have everyone else go out asking questions while he sleeps?”

“I should have checked on him,” Kirlith was trying to tone down the smile showing on her face at her friend leaning on a living person instead of a wall to sleal some sleep while standing.

“I think both suggestions amount to about the same thing,” Tanner offered, “So Maxine probably would do just as well tucking him in.”

“You’re just trying to delay the lessons,” Kirlith chortled.

“A little, yes,” Tanner gave a look to his left, and then his right quickly, pretending he was trying to be sneaky, “But he’s also sleeping on her shoulder already.”

“Well, that’s cute,” Miriana cooed as she walked in, “Maxine’s a living pillow.”

“She’s actually fairly warm,” Jaeth said, froze, and then looked between the redhead and his long-time friend as though asking what kind of trouble he’d just gotten himself into.

“You’ve stumbled into my back enough times to know, haven’t you?” Maxine snorted, shifting just a little to adjust Mitch’s head on her shoulder.

“Yes,” Jaeth blushed.  Tanner knew he’d been knocked into her front too, and figured that that was where the red came from.

“So he’s asleep?” Miriana tilted her head in Mitch and Maxine’s direction.

“He didn’t sleep last night,” Kirlith explained, “So we were going to make Maxine tuck him in.”

“Maybe she can keep being his living pillow?” Miriana giggled, “He’s looking like he doesn’t want to let go.”

“Well,” Kirlith shrugged, “It will take longer, but we can ask the questions without both of you.  There’s still four of us.”

They could see the rubble that must have been the collapsed cave from a fair distance.  In fact, Tanner figured it was actually one entry to a set of catacombs.  When he suggested the idea, the others thought it had merit, but hoped they’d be lucky enough not to have to go into the depths.  One collapse meant others could happen after all.

“I think we ought to have Kirlith bring out the talisman,” Maxine suggested, “And see if we don’t’ get her closer to the front.  I’m not feeling the urge to grow arrows.”

“Nor I,“ Jaeth stepped out of the way, letting Kirlith switch him places.

They passed the signs of the cave and there was a whistling sound.  Sharp; a single note; it had many of them looking around for the source, even if they couldn’t see it yet.

It took a bit, but they were approached by a small group.  Tanner took a few extra seconds to recognize that the group wasn’t just small in number; they were also short.  Very short; as in Kirlith was tall in comparison short.

They were led by a brown-bearded individual who looked between Kirlith and Maxine.  He finally settled on Kirlith, and nodded, “You are one of the lf-children that live nearby.”

“Yes sir,” Kirlith nodded, keeping clam even though her being taller than someone was highly unusual.  Or at least, Tanner would tease her about the fidgeting being due to that reason later, and hope she took the joking right.

“What brings you to our village?” he asked.

“We are seeking information,” Kirlith started, “Regarding the Tower of Recording and about the collapsed cave.”

“The Tower?” the spokesman paused, “We have heard that a deaf person or a Null may safely make the trip, but have not had a chance to verify this.”

”That’s a better suggestion than we’ve gotten before,” Jaeth mumbled, careful not to say it loudly.

“Why do you seek this information?” the short man slid his eyes in Jaeth’s direction briefly, but back to Kirlith.

“We have two companions with questions that can only be answered at the Tower,” Kirlith explained.

“The presence within the band around the pale woman’s neck,” the man guessed, “And your cat-girl over there.”

Kirlith nodded, even as Mitch settled his hand over Mirirana’s mouth to keep her from saying anything out of indignation.  The men from the village they were attempting to visit looked at Miriana warily.  Tanner wanted to speak up, but it seemed like there was a reason no one else was speaking.  As though they weren’t supposed to.

“There are records, of many years ago,” the voice for these villagers nodded, “Of a man with a band about his neck.  He made his home among us, until there was a misunderstanding between us and the dragons.”

Kirlith blinked, “Are we supposed to know the reference?  I’m sorry, but your village isn’t on any maps, so we don’t know anything about you.”

“It was an arrangement made between us and the Head Mage of your village.  Only those with the medallion can find our village.  Anyone else will just get lost.  So you not knowing is just fine.  I wanted”

“You all don’t want to be found,” Kirlith noted, looking briefly at Maxine, Jaeth and Tanner.

“No, we are guarding the remains of the Lost Tribe.” He smiled, “Their cavern, the one they would have had shelter in, if they’d not died out, has several entrances.  One collapsed a number of years ago, but there are many left.”

“Lost tribe?” Kirlith bit her lip, “We’ve heard of them once or twice.”

“They had a name, but it was lost,” the man was solemn as he listed, “They were a peaceful people unless attacked.  Mother’s line was their tracing path, and they were blessed with much skill in the field of charms.  But that was lost.”

“Charms?” Kirlith looked around her travel mates and asked with her eyes if she was asking the right question.  It seemed the consensus, and Tanner agreed, that it was.

“They were easy on the eye for humans, yes,” the man chuckled, “But they could also weave things to have spells that were  effective, and long –lasting.  Not just cloth things.  We may still have on of the chains their last Chief gave us that was to be a show of good will between our peoples, given as she took power.  We’ve taken its continued strength as a sign that the chain will hold until our people pass as a whole, or until we break the treaty.”

“But other than what you’ve already said, you don’t know anything about the Tower?” Kirlith sighed.

“No,” he looked among his group; and after the others nodded he added, “We can give you permission to wander some of the paths in the caverns; from one of the other entryways.”

“How dangerous is it?” Kirlith ignored Jaeth’s momentary glee.

“Unless one of you is distantly related to the Lost Tribe or ours somehow, it could be very dangerous,” the spokesman nodded.

Tanner was back on the page of them having agreed that going into the caverns could be needlessly dangerous.  Collapsing walls and ceilings after all.  But Jaeth was apparently more on track with considering the adventure, and Kirlith and Miriana were interested in the possible information.

“With that in mind, I think we had better not,” Kirlith sighed, “Even above and beyond our earlier decision not to, based on structure, if it’s going to be dangerous for other reasons, I don’t know if the possible information we might get would be enough of a reason.”

“You are wiser than some,” the spokesman chuckled, “There have been wanderers who venture into the caverns, not seeing our villages, of course, who get themselves killed.  There was a young man who roamed in the collapsed tunnels, a generation or two ago, who somehow made it back out, but as he got out on his own, we allowed it.  He must have had an unbelievable amount of luck.”

“Unbelievable sounds about right,” Kirlith seemed to be speaking for Mitch, who’d opened his mouth.  She glanced at him and then sighed, “We had probably better go back, so that we can make it there before the sun sets too far.”

“Clean ore to ye, children, and next time you come looking for the village of the dwarves, you don’t have to all keep deferring to just one person.  We understand that not every person in a group has the same mind!” the spokesman laughed.  The rest of his group smiled as well.

“I wasn’t sure, and since you limited yourselves to one voice,” Kirlith shrugged, “But clean ore to you, and fare thee well.”  She turned and gently guided the others to turn and leave.

Jaeth made faces at Kirlith as they walked, but when they got far enough out of hearing range, he admitted, “We don’t have the equipment for a trek like that.”

“Let’s not forget that Tanner’s not fully trained.  Taking him along would just get him and us killed,” Mitch shrugged.

“Thank you for the reminder,” Tanner grumbled.

“We’re not in a hurry, like our first trip to a Tower,” Maxine offered, “We could teach him as we go.”

“What about his teachers at the College?” Jaeth looked like he was only half- joking. “Wouldn’t they get a complex?”

“One way or another, I’ll learn it, and then be tested to show that I learned it,” Tanner held the bangs of his hair away from his head for a bit, and then added, “So it’s up to you what and whether I learn from you.”

“I’m willing to teach sword work,” Mitch snickered, “But I’m not exactly a nice teacher.”

“You’ve met Hivea,” Tanner countered.

“He’s worse,” Jaeth cackled, “He’s patient in everything else, just about.  But not that one.  One kid tried to learn from him, specifically wanted to learn two swords.  A week later the kid swore Mitch was nigh on a monster with how demanding his was.”

“Oh,” Tanner gaped.

Mitch laughed at the expression on the boy’s face. “I think, your style with the stick, would be better getting lessons from-“ Mitch was going to suggest  something ,but he was interrupted.

“I could try teaching him,” Miriana offered.

“I still refuse to believe that you can even use a sword.  I haven’t seen it and thus will not believe it,” Jaeth snorted.

“It’s not my fault you haven’t seen it,” the girl drawled, “If you’d just-“

“Okay, fine,” Maxine shrugged, “I’ll switch you.  It’ll give you a chance to show off, and Anneth one too.”

“Meanwhile, I’m laughing at Maxine not offering her services as a teacher,” Kirlith giggled.

“She worked with me some,” Tanner smiled, “Before we’d reached Tomovie.  I think she tends toward movement teaching over specific weapon lessons, though.”

“Oh really?” Jaeth perked up, turning to look at the redhead closer, “So you’re more than a sword wielder?”

“A little,” she dodged, not meeting anyone’s gaze, in embarrassment, Tanner thought, “But I’m not near as good.”

“What else can you do?” Jaeth persisted.  He looked about to reach out and poke her.

“Staves, spears,” she shrugged, “I tend to try using them all the same way though, so it really isn’t much of a declaration.”

“No axes?” the big guy teased, reaching back towards the example strapped to his back, perhaps as though he was going to offer it to the tall woman.

“Again,” she reiterated, “I tend to use them the same way.”

“Fine,” Jaeth mock-pouted, “I won’t challenge you to anything.”

“I wouldn’t have let you anyway,” Anneth’s voice cut through the air, “That would delay us more than the teaching of Tanner.  We might not have the same time limit, but you’re all short-lived or half short-lived.”

“Highly ironic that you say that,” Mitch chuckled, “Since you’re dead.”  Tanner vaguely wondered if that had been Anneth’s real reason for the intent to halt a spar between the two, but then again, as stubborn as both were, if they’d started, it could be a good day or maybe even two before they’d eel like it was time to stop.

“At least you didn’t call me a ghost,” Anneth seemed to sigh, “Again.”  There was still some banter passed back and forth among the group as they headed to Kirlith’s village of birth, but Tanner was thinking more about the information they’d gotten so far.  There were the conflicting stories about the kingdom of Roka, and of Tyaneel or Divrain as it was now.  There was the suggestion that some of the missing peoples of their world were still around, just in hiding, behind barriers and walls that made them more difficult to find, even on accident.  His attention was caught by the sight of the clouds in the sky.

It made him realize that he’d been so lost in thought, he’d lost track of much of the journey.  The sun was setting, but there was still enough light in the sky that even Tanner could clearly see Kirliths’s mother waiting for them in front of the large house that was the Healer’s childhood home.

“I more than half expected you all to go exploring the caves,” Zyrre smiled at them, “Pleasantly surprised that you didn’t.”

“They said it was rather dangerous,” Kirlith looked at Jaeth, “And we’d already figured on tunnel collapses, so added danger made it not worth it.”

“Oh, Alita.  I think you might have finally taught Jaeth a little caution,” the elder woman teased “He’s still so far from tame, but it’s a step in a good direction, I should think.”

“Why doesn’t anyone ever talk of taming her or Mitch?” Jaeth groaned, aiming the semi-sour look he had on his face at everyone who was currently teasing him.  Luckily there was no real heat to it, which suggested he knew he was being teased and wasn’t taking it personally.

“Because it’d be more like turning them wild in comparison,” Maxine snickered.

“That works,” Zyrre smiled, “I was going to suggest that it was because they both tend not to rush into things.  Jaeth’s missing eye is a good-“

“Hey now!” Jaeth yelped, “If I had been cautious, it would have been Mitch being dead instead!”

“Well, all right,” Kirlith’s mother patted him on the arm, calmingly, “I will yield that one to you.”

“I think I have to grant that as a point in Jaeth’s favor too,” Maxine wrinkled her nose, “I rather like Mitch.”

“Thank you?” Mitch blinked, trying not to stand wide-eyed and gaping at the odd sort of compliment.  Tanner wasn’t sure if it was a character endorsement or a back-handed compliment, and he guessed Mitch was having the same confusion.

“There’s more to that statement, I’m sure,” Jaeth waved a hand to prompt her to say more.

“Well, of course, if he’d died and everything else had gone the same, I don’t know if you, Jaeth, would have  made it to Aridh Tower,” she grinned, showing off her teeth.  Tanner wanted to think she was joking, but the blatant white of her grin made him wonder.

“I can’t know whether to argue with you about whether or not you could take me out if we never spar, you know,” Jaeth snorted.

“You take a long time to wake up,” she left it at that for a minute, and everyone else shuddered.  Then she started laughing and shook her head, “No, I’d have just turned around and gone back to Tibeny.”

“You’re a little too good at that,” Mitch eyed her sharply.

“I’ve done a bit of roaming,” Maxine crossed her arms in front of her chest, “In some cases, I’ve had to scare bandits away from the trade good s in the wagon.”

“Oh, you do trading?” Zyrre’s ears visibly twitched, “Tibeny, you said? I should see about getting a line set up between us and Tibeny.”

“You don’t have to on my account,” Maxine shook her head.

“It’s probably about time that we rejoin the rest of the land in circulation” Zyrre sighed, “We’ve lost touch in a number of ways.  The dwarves won’t like it, but they’ll recover.”

“Their suggestion for reaching the Tower and coming back was to not hear, or to be immune to magic.”

“Those are ideas,” Kirlith’s father approached, “I would suggest making contact with Adajharie or Andarie if you could,  But you can’t.”

“We would proabbaly benefit from their advice, if not items,” Kirlith agreed, “But no one is even sure they exist anymore.”

“Adajharie?” Miriana bit her lip, “Wasn’t that one of the elven villages?”

“Yes it was,” Zyrre agreed, patting her husband on the arm as he drew close enough, “Up until they sealed themselves away, we had regular trade with them.”

“They?” Mitch squinted his eyes, “Growing up, most of us are told that they died off.”

“The locations may have changed, but one of their towns was far North of the Ethran village, and the other far South of ours.”

“Further even than the dwarves?” Jaeth blinked, and shook his head in disbelief, “But in both directions, there are mountains.  Huge ranges of them.”

“Some magics are so strong, they can fool all sense,” Maxine muttered, “Especially if they have a strong enough focus.”

“You know an odd amount about magic,” Jaeth shook his head.

“I told you, not in so many words, that I’d tried learning to become a spell-caster.  I never stopped looking for information just because I can’t use it.”

“Okay, fine, point made,” Jaeth sounded regretful, but he was grinning.

“But how do you keep it…” MIriana trailed off, looking at the small pack Maxine carried.  No way that had enough room for the number of books the taller woman would need- or the other supplies.

“Give me a reason to tell you, and I will.  Right now?  No reason,” the redheaded woman shrugged.

“As it’s late enough,” Zyrre offered, “We could house you for the night again?”

The town South of the College, past Viret, was their destination after Lhour.  It looked like a quiet village, barring the happy playful shrieks of kids as they ran around.  Tanner thought it might be a good place to settle maybe, if they didn’t already have a teacher.

It was also pretty clear within a short bit of time being there that Kirlith was related to a fair few of the inhabitants, Tanner figured.  Either their ears were similarly shaped, or their skin was as dark.  When a woman in deep blues approached that matched on both counts, Tanner had a second to suspect before she called out.

“Alita!” she bustled up to the Healer, and ignored the sour look as she hugged tightly, her moving speed having been enough that her skirt swished around her ankles to catch up to her when she had Kirlith caught up, “You don’t come home nearly enough.  We’re still waiting on news about-“

“Nothing yet, Kimi,” Kirlith butted in, then sighed deeply, “I suppose I should let everyone call me Alita while we’re here.  Since Kirlith is our family name.”

“Oh, that explains the look,” Kimi smiled, “Mitch, Jaeth, you’re bad boys for letting her play that game for so long.”

“Aw, Kimi,” Jaeth mock-whined, “Life goes so much smoother for us if we don’t fight her on things like that.”

“I don’t know the other three,” Kirlith’s relative looked them over carefully, “But the boy’s a Seer, so that’s one thing.  You should really stand up to her, for his sake, at least.”

“Miriana Tellisade,” the half Ethra grinned widely.  Her posture radiated her self-confidence, and the thought she had of making friends quickly.

“Kimi Kirlith,” the woman nodded, “Alita’s big sister.” She then turned to look at the palest woman and the Seer with a smile.

“Tanner Aisen,” he smiled back, “It’s good to meet you.”

“Oh, you are one of the College trained,” Kimi’s smile got even wider, and her hands, no longer holding her sister in place flew through the air to clasp together in front of her chin, “So polite they always are.”

“Maxine,” the redhead nodded, shifting her weight.

“No second name?” Kimi asked, a second or two later, when Maxine didn’t continue, “If you need one, one of my nephews probably wouldn’t mind giving you hi-“

“Kimi!” Kirlith yelped.  She was half-laughing, but still shocked at her sister’s words.

Maxine blinked.  She stared for a second or two, processing the sentences and reactions, and then started laughing.  She kept laughing for a bit, nearly doubling over, much to Kimi’s glee.  “I’m sorry,” Maxine said, around the breaths she took to stop laughing, “I don’t think I can accept that offer second-hand.”

“Pity,” Kimi chuckled, “At least you weren’t offended.  I’ll have to see if I can’t get him over to make the offer in person.”

“First time someone’s said that, I can’t really take offense at this point,” Maxine shrugged, “And if he does make the offer in person, I’ll think about it for more than a few seconds.  That’s the only promise I can make.  For the record, I have a second name, but it was one I chose for myself rather than having inherited.”

“Oh,” Kimi tilted her head, even more curious now, showing off little loops in her ears that had previously been hidden by the hair she had clipped to just above her shoulders.

“Tyler,” Maxine shrugged, “I picked it at random.”

Miriana spluttered and opened her mouth to rant, hands flailing and claws slipping from finger tips, but a sharp look and a smooth set of gestures from Kimi left her mouth moving without sound.  She was thankfully not moving any closer to the red-headed woman, but her mouth movements were clearly enraged and getting wilder.

Tanner looked at Kimi a bit closer.  Her ears weren’t fitted with anything familiar, so Tanner couldn’t tell if she wore signs of her rank.   With her obviously not being College-trained he had no idea what else would mark her experience, but that action, as smooth as it was, said she’d trained for years already.

“I’m what would be classed as Journeyman, sweetie,” Kimi smiled at him, “She apparently studied a different path of magic.”

“How long is that going to last?” Jaeth sighed in relief, and then again in dismay; she’d only be noisier when it wore off after all.

“A few minutes,” Kimi looked at them, “If she’s such a bother, why travel with her?”

“She’s supposedly got information about the Tower of Recording,” Mitch shrugged.

“Mitch,“ Kimi patted him on the arm “I feel so sorry for you.  But what had her so angry?”

“We’re looking around, right now, for ways to get there,” Kirlith clasped her hands in front of herself, “And not come back mad.  And we will find out when she’s no longer rendered mute, I’m sure.  For now, I think it better left alone.”

“That would be good,” Kimi agreed, “My son likes all of his Aunts, and would love to keep this one especially around for a while.  So would I.”  Kirlith laughed a little in return.  After a moment of pause, they decided it was time to start asking around.

As in Lhour, they split up, and asked around, to try and not take the whole day up with questions.  Tanner found a couple of older men who’d heard of Roka; and how his kingdom ended, but all they could say was that the plan attributed to Roka hadn’t ever sounded like what they’d known of the King.  But then again, they admitted, it didn’t sound like Divrain or Tyaneel to lie about it either.

After that, Tanner wandered around a bit.  He’d picked, by accident, a non-residential portion of the town, so he had fewer people to see to ask.  He was a little surprised then, when he was found by a cluster of children, who were playing a game that needed a set number of players, and they decided that he’d be the one to make the numbers work.  Thankfully, since they weren’t taking no for an answer, they were willing to teach him the game.  It involved a small ball made from an animal skin and a lot of tossing and running.  He’d admit that the game had been engaging enough that he had forgotten what he’d been doing before the young, apparent elf-mix children found him.

“You look like you’re having fun,” Maxine grinned, having found him in the midst of a toss of the ball.  The children froze at what they were doing, including Tanner, and then a brave boy spoke up.  “You’re too big for this game,” he sounded like he’d tried to be diplomatic, but it didn’t quite work.  His face scrunched up after his words, dark eyes closing halfway in consternation.

“I know,” she laughed, “I wasn’t trying to ask if I could play.”

“Why not?” one of the girls demanded, complete with hands on hips, “It’s a fun game, you said so yourself.”

“I saw this game once or twice before, that’s why,” Maxine explained, as the girl relaxed, and patted her dress down, “I learned then that I really am just too tall for it.  Unfair advantage and everything.”

“Oh,” the first boy blinked, “I thought you were going to be cross with me for saying that.”

“You could have worded it differently,” she shrugged, “But no, you were only speaking the truth.”

“I think I like you,” the boy laughed, “You’re not like a lot of grown-ups.  They get all huffy when we don’t say something as nice as they think it needs to be said.”

“Well,” she paused, crouched down to be closer to his eye level, and pointed out, “When you don’t say it nicely, some will just get upset.  And sometimes, something you didn’t think was mean will make a person cry.”

“That sounds like what the grown-ups always say,” another boy, a little bigger in size grumbled, and walked a little closer, scuffing his hands along his short pants’ hems.

“Hm,” Maxine reached a hand out, holding it there, in front of him as he watched, but made no other move towards any of the children, “When someone has a burn, do they get very close to fires?”

“No,” the first boy bit his lip, “So it’s a sensitivity thing, not a word thing?”

“It’s a lot of things,” she sighed, “For some, it’s a matter of the words used; for some the words don’t mean the exact same thing. And for others, it hurts because they’ve already been hit there once.”

“It still doesn’t really make sense,” the second boy sighed, crossing his arms.

“I suppose the easy way to say it would be, “if it would hurt your feelings, don’t say it that way.  If it wouldn’t, ask yourself would it hurt the feelings of anyone you know?”

“I suppose,” the boy scrunched up his nose.  He looked at some of the other kids.  They showed various levels of getting it or not, but none of them were looking at her angrily, or like she was being too grown-up.

“Sadly,” Maxine stood up, “I have to borrow Tanner here.  The people he is traveling with need him for something.”

The Seer grinned hopefully, passing the ball to one of the kids in the group, “Did someone find something?”

“A place to stay the night, “ she answered with a wry expression on her face, “A few people who thought Roka had been up to something, others that figured it was Tyaneel that had been up to no good.”

“I found a couple of older men who didn’t really think either offside of the story was right.” Tanner inserted, “But shortly after that, they found me.” He gestured to the kids around him.

“Ah,” she laughed, “Well, I’ve at least got to show you to the house kind enough to put us up for the night.”

“Okay,” and the other kids agreed, “We’ll let you do that at least.”

Tanner chose to take it as a luck thing when he then started to smell food on the air, and hear calls of birds.  The children all seemed to know the call they were listening for, and split up accordingly, though Tanner was puzzled at the sounds of birds.  Still, it left the field of play a bit empty.

“I didn’t think I’d ever seen you do something like that before,” Maxine marveled, almost looking like she wanted to pat him on the head, but holding back, “You’re so often trying to act full-grown.”

“I almost am, though,” he shrugged, scrunching his face up a bit, an unconscious echo of the little boy from a bit eariler, “Even if I don’t yet look it.”

“And now I’ve had my own moment of not meaning my word to sound that way,” she laughed as she waved her hand to have him follow her.

“Well, you never said to the kids that you’d mastered it,” Tanner pointed out.

“Fortunately,” Maxine shook her head, “I don’t like lying.

They walked the paths of the village until they reached the house in question.  It was a fairly tall house, especially for that particular village, and had a solid roof.  As he looked around the ground surrounding the house, he spotted some of the others and that was when Tanner figured that everyone else was staying there as well.  Kirlith spotted Tanner, noted his expression and grinned.

“It’s my family’s home,” she explained, “They had six kids, and they’ve all since moved out.  So there’s plenty of space.  When my parents heard that I was in town, and had people traveling with me, especially since they are people other than just Mitch and Jaeth, or Mariss, they offered the house for us all to stay the night.”

Tanner thought it looked the most comfortable of anywhere they’d been to date.  He liked the browns and dark reds that covered the floor and walls.  There were quiet patterns along the walls that he was trying not to get too fascinated by, but he was pretty sure he was failing, if the hand on his shoulder, gently pulling him along was any indication.

“Sadly, my parents redecorate this house pretty frequently, with their own work,” Kirlith’s voice held a smile of its own, “So while I want to say you shouldn’t try to memorize everything as it is, it may just look totally different when you’re next here.”

“Of course you think it’s frequent, dear Alita,” a woman that actually made Kirlith look tall stood in one of the doorways, “You’re not here very often anymore.  I wait for the day that you come home and settle in.  None of your siblings left.”

“They also married their sweethearts about as soon as they finished schooling, mother,” Kirlith shook her head, “I’m still working on finding mine.”

“Oh, you’ve found him, you’re just reeling him in and waiting for him to see the hints,” her mother’s smile was more than a little sly.  Tanner was again fighting the urge to ask questions, but it wasn’t his business.  The woman then looked at him directly, bright green eyes flashing, “But I haven’t gotten to introducing myself to either of you.  I am Zyrre Kirlith.  My husband is the human half of the family, and it is through him that we understood that we needed to use the words ‘mother,’ and ‘father,’ for our children to not get into trouble for disrespect among human villages.”

“It’s good to meet you, ma’am,” Tanner nodded, “Tanner Aisen, from the College of the Gifted.  I would have graduated by this winter, and been looking for a place to teach, but for this trip.  Now, I might finish school by summer of next year.”

“Oh?” Zyrre smiled, “I take it, you’ve taken a liking to our little village.  One that we’ve kept nameless for a reason?”

“Ah, yes,” he nodded, “I can’t quite explain it, but it feels like it would be right for me to teach here.  Probably history, if you’ve need of it.”

“Well, I can discuss it with our village leader after you’ve all left.  After all, you have to come back to take on the job, so if we don’t have room, I’d rather not make it happen if you won’t be returning.” The tiny woman smiled at him.

“I’ll certainly be keeping that in mind,” Tanner nodded.

“And you?” Zyrre nodded, looking up quite a ways to see Maxine’s face.

“Maxine,” she left off her second name again.

“Ah yes, you’re the one the cat-girl has ranted about,” a head shake, which was matched with a slight tinkling sound, suggesting that there were earrings hidden by the curtain of hair that hung to just below her ears, “She swears she’d not have been so antagonistic if you’d just admitted to being someone’s sister.  She couldn’t give a name, but swears that you having the same surname, made up in the same way, means you are his sister.”

“Well, I suppose that’s better than what she thought of me before,” Maxine sighed, tapping the belt wrapped around her torso at a bias, “She thought I’d killed or robbed the grave of the man she figured this sword belonged to before I had it.”

“And you were all traveling with her?” Zyrre’s eyes shot back and forth between the three.

“I’d been trying not to be traveling with them,” Maxine snorted, “I have a home to get back to.  My garden’s going to be overrun by weeds by the time I get back at this rate.  Even with Gerain and Modus slipping over when they can and weeding and harvesting things so they don’t go to waste.”

“That’s a pity,” Zyrre sighed, “But, as I can see that Tanner’s a Seer, I suppose you’re being dragged along because you were part of the vision?”

“That was true for the first leg of the journey,” Maxine laughed, “This second leg, I’m only going along because Miriana demanded I prove that I hadn’t killed the man she’s been- what was it, stalking?”

“We’ve been calling it that, at least,” Kirlith nodded, “She lost track of him years ago, when he left her home village to go, apparently to Tomovie, and join up with Mitch’s father to go to the Tower of Recording.”

“Oh my,” Kirlith’s mother gasped, “They went there?  Obviously they didn’t come back.”

“We don’t know if they even made it there in the first place,” Kirlith shook her head.

“Well, at least I’ve some explanation for why that Miriana child has hissed your name so many times, Maxine,” Zyrre waved them to follow her, as she turned and walked to a different room of the house.  She may have been short, but she made pretty good pace, and she must have taught that to Kirlith.  Unlike the blond Seer, she’d never needed anyone to wait for her to catch up during the time he’d spent traveling with Maxine and the mercenaries.

“I’m not sure I want to tell her, but I’m not that man’s sister,” Maxine said under her breath, “I think I’ll like the quiet from her better than the scathing words you’re all so upset about.”

“But you don’t like lying,” Tanner pointed out.

“Right,” Maxine huffed, “I guess I could go with the idea of not saying anything unless she asks.  She is the one who seems to enjoy assuming things.”

“Pfff,” Kirlith snickered.  “That won’t stop her ranting later, if she finds out.”

“Not if, when,” Maxine sighed, “I suppose I should get it over with then.  Though I’m going to preface it with a question.”

“Oh?” Tanner blinked.

“There you are!” the flurry of blonde hair and red clothing caught their eyes quickly enough.  The fact that she stopped just shy of Maxine and had an expression of actual regret on her face surprised Tanner, maybe more than it should have, “I wish you’d have said sooner that you were his sister, I could have-“

“I didn’t say I was because I’m not,” Maxine rolled her eyes, “You assumed I killed him.  You assumed I stole from him.  And now, just because the name I gave myself as a second name matches his, and for the same reason, you’re assuming I’m his sister.  How are you any kind of a mage if you’re this-“ She cut herself off, and hissed a sharp sound through her teeth.

“I- you’re not his sister?” Miriana blinked, “But, how would you have not had a second name, needed to make one up, and chosen the same one, using the same process?  There actually was some logic behind my assumption this time.”

“Oh, you’re willing to admit that you weren’t reacting logically when you assumed I’d killed him?” Maxine snorted.

“Y-yes,” Miriana looked to the ground, “I’ll admit that.  But.  If you’re not his sister, and you didn’t get the sword in any of the ways I originally thought, how did you get it?”

“What has you actually asking now?” Maxine leaned back, squinting her eyes at the blonde girl, and tilting her head to one side a little all in one motion.

“I talked some sense into her,” the voice was deeper than even Jaeth’s, which Tanner had previously been using as his ‘deepest voice ever’ marker.  And the man issuing it was only a little taller than Kirlith, suggesting that maybe the Healer had been short from both sides of the family.  Or at least, that was Tanner’s guess, as Zyrre was looking at him with a type of warmth one didn’t direct at their children.

“Thank you,” Maxine nodded at him.

Miriana danced in place just a little, wanting to ask Maxine, or demand that the taller woman answer her question.  Maxine shifted her weight a little, and sighed, “I already said, I found it because someone directed me to it.  It wasn’t that guy you’re looking for, and it wasn’t in a shop, or anything like that.”

There was more dancing, and Kirlith was trying not to laugh.  Apparently the elf-woman’s father was good at getting people to behave in a particular way.  Tanner found it both awe inspiring and intimidating.

With a huff, Maxine pointed further South, “Fine.  There’s a cave, about half a day’s walk, by my pace, maybe a little on the Westward side more than Southwest.  That is where I found it.  It took the better part of a day delving its depths to get there, but the voice wouldn’t stop talking to me after I found the cave on accident, until I found the sword.  I honestly thought for a bit that I’d gone quietly mad.”

“That cave,” Kirlith’s father looked at Maxine more sharply than curiously, “If it’s the one I believe it to be, that cave has been collapsed for a number of years.  I don’t believe you’re old enough to have ventured there.”

“I’m older than I look,” Maxine sighed, and rubbed her face.  She obviously didn’t want to talk about it or dwell on it, but was it a subject they could afford to ignore?

“The marks trailing under your shirt, from under your choker,” Zyrre drew lines on her own front, matching the ones on Maxine, “Are those marks of how old you are?”

“In a fashion,” Maxine nodded hesitantly, “They don’t mark a certain number of years, but they do hint at things.”  Tanner wanted to not ask any questions, because she didn’t want to talk about it, but there were just enough things he didn’t know that he wanted to that he was finding it rather difficult.  So instead he set his teeth to his tongue, no real pressure, but the setting was a reminder to him that he wasn’t going to ask questions.

“To be honest, that was another reason I came to the conclusion of you being his sister,” Miriana pouted a little, “I remember them being on his chest too.  Or maybe just one side.”

“I don’t know that I ever met him, so I can’t say.”  Maxine shook her head.  She was starting to get fairly wound up.

“Alita, dear, would you show Tanner and Miriana to the rooms?  Your mother and I need to speak with Maxine a bit longer,” the man stared his daughter down, through a pout and the equivalent of children begging- all done silently.  Finally, Kirlith nodded and set to waving her hands at the other two.

“Let’s go,” she called out, and bundled them off to rooms to sleep in for the night.

The Vision was a little clearer the night they spent among Kirlith’s family.  He could tell that all three triplets were dark-haired.  Even if common sense suggested to him that one being darker would set the others as also, Tanner preferred not to assume.  They were similar to the initial glance, but since he didn’t seem to be as directly involved in this one, he could start at them apparently.

Ne held himself loosely, confidently.  The second wore the confidence like a shield, and the third was tense, and nervous.  They kept looking around, and were standing very close to a raised block with a strange-shaped box on top.  They never moved far from it, and tanner began to wonder if they could.

He thought he woke up, but then he saw the three, plus a fourth, in the same room apparently.  The jutting rock was the same, but he couldn’t really make any other details out, even in this clearer dream, it was so dark.  The fourth was also dark-haired, but he made the nervous triplet look calm.  This time, he could see markers that told him a lot about the boys, as they were markers the College used.  He could tell which one was which brother.

They reached the stone, which wasn’t a large in this dream, and looked at it a bit.  They pulled something from a pouch, and one of the brothers set it on the pre-set stone, even as the other three seemed to reach out for him in surprise.

He watched them, one by one, become stuck, but for the fourth boy.  The fourth one, visibly torn, tried to stay away from where the others were stuck, but somehow seemed unable to leave.

When he woke this time, Tanner groggily wondered if he was going to have another vision slip in.  But the warm-toned walls he saw said otherwise, and he relaxed.  Looking over to his temporary roommate, Tanner noted that Mitch was still asleep, so he quietly gathered himself up and ventured off to find Kirlith or Maxine.

He noticed that the room they’d been assigned to had an open door, and walked past it, taking that as a sign that all the women were awake.  So he headed to the front room and kitchen muzzily.

“- has it been?” Kirlith’s voice was somewhere between worried and curious Tanner thought, when he could begin to hear it clearly.  It told him that they were in the cooking space, so he kept going.

“A month and change,” Maxine was relaxed. “Aren’t you worried?” Miriana was and Tanner was still confused by that change.

“Sometimes there’s a gap of three months,” Maxine seemed confused to, “I generally only watch for it when-“

And there Tanner was, waving blearily at them, and accidentally interrupting whatever conversation they’d had going. “Hello.”  He wondered if they would continue, vaguely, though he wasn’t awake enough to think much about the topic, and what it could be.

“Are you okay tanner? You look like someone tied you to the back of a horse and dragged you along behind them,” Maxine stood up from the chair she’d been planted in, and patted his shoulder.  He vaguely figured that their previous conversation was good and derailed with that greeting.

“I think I had two Visions,” Tanner scratched his temple gingerly.  His head was aching a little, and he felt like there was something soft and fluffy between him and his thoughts, but he was fairly sure he could function.

“How would you do that?” Miriana yelped.  Her hands lifted from the table top and she reached for him, but aborted the movement about halfway.

“I don’t know,” Tanner let Maxine push him to the chair she’d been in, and rubbed his hands on his knees.

“Let’s get you fed, you early riser,” Kirlith fetched some food and set it in front of him.  Oats and soft fruits, and it sounded and looked good.

He explained what he Saw as he ate, and when he finished talking, he was also done eating, “The question I’ve got is about the fourth boy.  If they’re the set of triplets I think they are, then his name was Thaliss.”  Not that he really doubted their identities, there weren’t too many stories of people going to the Tower, what with the horror behind the stories there were.

“Thaliss?” Miriana scrunched up her nose, “Never heard of him.”

“Of course not,” Kirlith snickered, “He was friends with a set of triplets.  Who’d remember the name of their friend, when the triplets are the historical figures?”

“What if he’d made friends with them knowing that, or counting on it?” Miriana tapped her finger on the table top.

“What if he’d never meant to make friends with them at all?” Maxine offered, seemingly just to put the question out there.

“Why not?” Miriana looked at the redhead, “I mean, we…”

“The reasons you listed,” Maxine laughed, “Maybe he knew that if he made friends, people would assume those as why.”

“Point,” Kirlith nodded.

“Like the Abbess said,” Tanner recited, “Layton, Kerrick, and Malcom were all really good at each others’ weak points.  One was listed as horrible at defensive magic, and excelling at offensive.  So for Thaliss to have gone along, oh, maybe we should go back to the College, and talk  to the Abbess.  She’d know for sure if it was Thalis, or if I was seeing mixed shades.”

“Well we’ll swing back that way when we get ready to go back to Tomovie, so why not?” Miriana pointed out.  She then looked at Maxine, “That cave you mentioned yesterday, can we go there?”

“Kirlith’s father said it had collapsed, remember?” Maxine shook her head.

“Oh,” the blonde girl deflated, apparently she’d temporarily forgotten.

“There’s a village on the other side of the site of the collapse,” Zyrre walked into the room, reached for an amulet on the wall in the kitchen, and pulled it down.  Handing it to Kirlith, she added, “That will let them know where you’re all from.  Just be sure and bring it back.  The people there should be able to answer a number of questions for you, about this Vision or note.”

“Well that’s something,” Maxine sighed.

“Don’t know if the Vision is exactly what we need to be asking about, so much as the people in it, and if we can get more information about getting to that tower,” Kirlith bit her lip.

“And back,” Maxine added.

“It’s worth asking at least,” Kirlith’s father showed his face in the room, followed by Jaeth and Mitch.

“What are we saying is worth looking into?” Jaeth leaned over Kirlith’s chair and peered at the food on the table hungrily.

“There’s a village beyond the collapsed cave Maxine told us a little about yesterday,” Miriana laughed.

“Non-hostile, right? Mitch was trying to quietly stretch his arm and back.

“If we’ve got a thing that Kirli- Alita’s mom passed over to us temporarily,” Maxine pointed at the object in Kirlith’s hands.

“I don’t really remember hearing about this cave,” Jeath spoke up, even as he quietly chewed on food given to him. .

“Remember Miriana asking about Maxine’s sword?” Kirlith was trying off one of the front sections of her hair with a bow, and reaching for a second ribbon.

“Yes,” Jaeth was at least good at making sure he wasn’t speaking with his mouth full, “That I remember.”

“She apparently found it in a cave,” Miriana pointed in the general direction, “It’s since collapsed, but there’s a village on the other side.  We were going to check it out.”

“Okay,” Jaeth shrugged, and took another bite of food.  His meal of choice seemed to have more meat than Tanner thought it needed.  Tanner thought it was meat anyway, it all vaguely unsettled his stomach..

“Tanner’s a bit flattened for his typical day after a vision,” Mitch, also eating, tapped the still lethargic youth on the shoulder.

“I had two Visions,” Tanner looked over at the taller male.

“That explains a lot,” Mitch nodded, “Anything new?”

They’d left the morning after Maxine had arrived from Tibeny, and headed North.  Bypassing the town the triplets had come from, the group slept under the stars for each of the five days between the College and the Centaurs’ domain.  When they were getting close, Maxine warned them, “Some of the Centaurs roam at night, hunting.  If you feel like someone’s following you, chances are pretty good that they are.  If you speak up about how you mean no harm, they’re likely as not going to venture off to elsewhere to hunt.  They don’t eat humans, but people roaming their lands if they don’t know them, are definitely cause for investigation.  The first four or times I made my way up here, I had someone following me up to Lhour for the final day, and for the first day back towards Tibeny.”

“With us being a larger group, we can’t count on them to recognize you, either, can we?” Mitch asked.

“Not necessarily,” she shrugged, “The last day’s trip, we’ll probably be best off if we just eat of the things already in our packs.  Hunting, if they don’t know you, isn’t the greatest idea.  I’m still not completely sure which animals are ones they’re farming and which ones are truly free-roaming, when I get this close.”

And true to her warning, that last day’s trek North, even Tanner had the feeling of eyes pinned to the back of his neck at times.    Because he was not walking by himself, he chose not to speak up, but noted that Mitch and Jaeth, at one point or another had rather loudly spoken up about how they weren’t exactly harmless in general, but weren’t meaning any harm.  If it were any other situation, the Seer might have laughed.

They reached the outskirts of Lhour, and Tanner only recognized it as such because there were buildings set up, made from skins sewn together and held off of the ground via logs stuck into the ground.  The skins were vibrantly colored, and the stitching was only noticeable because the centaurs had meant for it to be, he was sure, but it was still a beautiful effect.

“Maxine?” a deep voice sounded from a grey-bearded male, who approached on deep brown legs, “You were here trading with us not long ago.  Too soon for Tibeny to be sending another wagon.  Not to mention you have people instead of a wagon.”

“We’re here, for two reas- no, three.  First off, is Regen still here?” Maxine started to answer his question in not so many words.

“Yes, he is,” the Centaur paused, and looked at the group, “Mercenaries, a Seer, and an Ethran.  This looks like a Quest.”

“Pfff,” she snickered, “Yes, Bertram.  One that we hope to come back from.”

“Ah, thus the need to speak with Regen,” the man nodded, “Well, you said there were two other reasons.”

“The questions we’d like to pose to Regen, we’d also like to pose to the village in general, and we would like to get supplies, to make our trip at the end, that much easier,” Maxine stood about as straight as she could, but she still only came to the centaur’s collarbone, Tanner noticed as he approached.  He stood even taller than Jaeth.

“Well, what questions would they be?” The smile on Bertram’s face suggested he was used to pulling details from Maxine one bit at a time, and thought it a fun game.

“Have you heard of the Tower of Recording?” Maxine started.

“Ah, I have, yes.  But I have never heard of someone going to the Tower and coming back sane.  They’ve all come back mad, and s- ceased living within a month of their return,” he shook his head, grey hair that matched his beard flopping in his eyes a bit.

“Do you have any idea how someone would go about going to that Tower and stand a chance of coming back sane? Maxine bit her lip.

“I do not.  You will unfortunately, have to ask around the village, and ask of Regen to make sure no one else does,” Bertram laughed, “Of course, I don’t have to tell you, but your friends that asking the children would be pointless.”

“Are Centaur children … children as long as Ethran children are?” Miriana asked.

She was ignored, pointedly, by the Centaur, and Tanner wondered why.  After a pause, Mitch spoke up, “Sir?”

“Oh?” Bertram blinked in Mitch’s direction, seeming as though he’d just noticed him.  The smile on his face was cooler, but still friendly.

“Would you mind answering a question so we can make sure we don’t ask children needlessly about the Tower?” Mitch continued.

“Ah, you will find it difficult to not know a Centaur child, unless you’re not really looking,” Bertram laughed, “but if you share your name, lad, I’ll tell you, all the same.”

“Mitch Ereven,” green eyes met the centaur’s grey ones, and the gaze was met with a nod.

“Bertram Lhour,” he smiled, “In this village, we are all given the second name of Lhour.  It is how we honor our ancestors.  I remember hearing of an Ereven about fifteen years ago.  He traveled with another swordsman, and they were looking for something, but I cannot remember what it was.  He spoke of his wife in warm tones, and of his son.  Might you be that child?”

“Y-yes,” Mitch hissed, in surprise.

“Your name will garner positive response, as will Maxine’s face, and sight of the Seer,” Bertram explained, “Most will be ambivalent to the darker-skinned woman, but the third mercenary, his one eye may cause trouble.”

“Would it help to say my name’s Jaeth Vokron, not Granath?” Jaeth guessed, “I think I’ve heard of Granath giving Centaurs a hard time, to say the least of his actions.”

“Ah, I have not heard of a Jaeth, or a Vokron, but if you are willing to patiently repeat that you are not Granath, you will get ambivalence,” Bertram smiled.

“Thank you, Bertram,” Maxine smiled, “I’ll see if I can’t get someone to include a little extra licorice for you the next time the wagon swings by.”

“Oh bless you!” Bertram’s face became a grin so wide, Tanner wondered about those teeth.  The centaur guided them into the village proper and there were a few curious folks approaching.  Most of them were simply hovering, waiting for some kind of acknowledgement, but there was one, a tiny little thing, that came running right up to Maxine and latched on to her hand.

“Massine!  You’re back!  You have any candy?” the tiny voice finished off Tanner’s guess that this was one of the children in the village, and when he looked in Bertram’s direction, the grey-haired male nodded, smiling.

“Not this time,” she shook her head, “I’m not here as the trader from Tibeny.  I’m here because I need to ask the grown-ups questions.  Would you mind if I bring you candy next time?”

“Okay!” There was a pause as the little one thought about leaving or staying, and then the child gently patted Maxine on the abdomen and said, “I won’t ask for extra candy next time, I promise.  You told me too much will give me belly aches!”

“I’m glad you remembered.” She laughed as the child dashed off.

“Tibeny’s children are scared of you, but Lhour’s love you?” Mitch raised an eyebrow.

“I’m allowed to give the children of Lhour candy, but the parents in Tibeny feel that’s their privilege, not mine,” She smiled, then added, “Not to mention, Centaur children aren’t nearly as fragile as human ones.  Still best to be gentle, but they’re more prone to running full-tilt into things and then just scrambling up, looking around to see if anyone saw them and their folly.”

“Ah,” Jaeth laughed, “Sounds like me when I was a kid.”

There was a tug on Tanner’s arm at the elbow, and when he turned, there was another small Centaur standing beside him, “You’re a Seer, right?  The Bard’s been telling us about Seers.”

“Could you lead us to him?” Tanner asked.

“What can I get in exchange?” the question was accompanied by a sly little smile.

“Oh, that’s what I forgot to warn you all about,” Maxine pulled a small, clear, glass bauble from her pouch, “Centaurs like haggling.  Anything is haggle-worthy.”

“Oh yes please!” the child spotted the bauble in Maxine’s hand and trotted over to her, “You always remember what everyone likes as toys and exchanges.”

“I am the one in charge of the trading around here, honey,” Maxine chuckled, “I’d hope to have a knack for it.”

Holding the bauble carefully once the redhead gave it over, the youngling looked back at Tanner, “Follow me, and I can take you to the Bard.  Regen just finished telling us stories.”

The child held good to their word, and Tanner was refusing to think in terms of boy or girl, because he honestly couldn’t tell.  The hair was cut short, around the hairline, and fanned slightly into their eyes, which were a warm shade of amber.  They approached an older-looking human, who looked up at the sounds of excited children, sounds made at the sight of Maxine, above and beyond the fact that the other people with her were strangers.  The kids almost crowded around her, but they stopped at the sight of the other adults.  One looked at the one who had Tanner loosely by the elbow, and tilted their head.

This gave Tanner the opportunity to notice that all of the children wore their hair the same way.  The colors varied a bit; several were brunets of just slightly different shades, and Tanner was now fairly sure what Bertram had meant by ‘you’ll know the children when you see them.’

“Maxine?  I didn’t think it was- no wagon,” Regen looked around, “And I think I recognize a few faces in this group.”

“What do you know of the Tower of Recording, Regen?” Maxine asked.

“Ah, not much.  I’ve heard that it’s about five days travel by boat South of Tyaneel,” Regen started, “And that somewhere along the way, anyone who goes looking gets lost, or comes back mad.  There’s a tale somewhere about someone, many generations back finding a way around the problem, but it doesn’t say what the method is.”

“That’s more than we had,” Kirlith nodded, “Do you think anyone here is going to know more than you?”

“Only one way to find out, lass,” Regen laughed at the sour expressions, “Ah, it’s not that bad, a little information bartering doesn’t hurt anyone.  Goodness knows, Maxine’s good at it, when she wants to be.”

“We can’t expect her to do all the information-seeking though,” Jaeth sighed, “But about half of us will get negative reactions from the adults.”

“Ah, that’s right,” Regen nodded, “You, my lad, should probably stay with me.  Help me clean my instrument.”

Jaeth blinked at him, “I don’t have a-“

“It’ll help keep the Centaurs from getting upset,” Kirlith pointed out, “Might as well get Miriana to stay too.”

“I don’t see why I should,” the girl pouted.

“Lass, they’re going to read you as a child, and not answer your questions,” Regen shrugged, “It’s not that they subscribe to the ‘children should not speak,’ rule of thought, but that they cannot bargain with children.  So a child asking questions for an adult, that will be ignored.”

“They didn’t ignore Tanner, and he really is still a child,” Miriana looked confused, rather than straight out petulant, so Tanner chose not to take offense.

“He’s a Seer,” Mitch nodded at the band around the boy’s head, “That’s another category entirely.  He might have a Vision in town.  That’s a bit of information to trade that would be worth a lot, I think.”

“Good, you’re getting into the line of thought,” Regen laughed.

“I haven’t Seen anything since the Vision before we reached Tomovie,” Tanner sighed, “There’s a chance that I was a one-Vision Seer.  They happen.”

“And if that’s true, that’s another valuable bit of information,” Kirlith smiled, “But it’s a matter of time will tell whether or not it is true.”

Tanner rubbed his face with his hands and nodded, “Okay, I think I can work with that.”

They returned to the main part of Lhour, and Tanner watched the centaurs for a bit.  Maxine had approached a dark-skinned female with her light-colored hair bound up in a braid that sat high on her head and yet still trailed to her hips.  He thought the contrast in their coloring was interesting, and might have let his mind wander off of the topic he was supposed to ask questions for, until someone tapped him on the shoulder.

The man was about as red-headed as Maxine was, and his eyes were brown, but his horse-half was white, with pale blue-ish spots.  Tanner looked up and up at him and smiled sheepishly, “Sorry, I got lost in thought.  I didn’t mean to be in your way.”

“Oh, that’s all right, Seer,” the man nodded, smiling, and showing off a chipped tooth, “I was just making sure you were okay.  You look a little like you had been trying to See a bit too hard.”

“Oh, I haven’t tried to See since,” Tanner stopped to think about how long it had been, “Well, in a while.”

Laughing, the man nodded, “My name is Ulin, Seer.  May I ask you a question?”

“Another one?” Tanner couldn’t help it.

“Good point,” luckily, Ulin just laughed some more.

“I suppose.  I can’t promise an answer, though,” Tanner pointed out.  “I may be a Seer, but it doesn’t mean the power’s always working.”

“Another fair point,” his smile, with the chipped tooth, didn’t seem as unnerving to Tanner as Bertram’s had at the mention of licorice, “You are on a Quest, yes?  Would it be one I could ask permission to travel with you on?”

“I can say yes to the Quest part.  But the permission part isn’t my decision,” Tanner shook his head, and then inclined it in the direction of the pale-skinned redheaded woman, “I’m traveling with a group, and it’d have to be decided among everyone.”

“Ah,” Ulin set his eyes to Maxine’s face, and studied her for a bit.  Long enough that she shot a look in his direction and raised an eyebrow, “In that case, I think it would be better if I did not go with you.  She and I had a conversation that did not end well for me not terribly long ago.”

“I shouldn’t ask,” Tanner sighed, “Although I want to.  Instead, I have to ask a different question, and it’s up to you as to whether or not my name would be enough of an exchange for the answer.”

“What’s the question, lad?” Ulin smiled at him.

“Have you any idea how a person could travel to the Tower of Recording and not get lost, or come back minus their sanity?” Tanner hoped he didn’t have to have too many long conversations, Centaurs were feeling unfairly tall to him.

“Earplugs?” Ulim shrugged, “I’d heard there were noises on the water that could turn a boat around.  And yes, your name will be fair trade as I cannot give you a confirmed answer.”

“Tanner Aisen.” The boy nodded.

“Aisen?” widened brown eyes shot down to meet newly confused grey-blue, “Your name is Aisen?”

“Yes, why?” Tanner blinked.

“I’d heard of the tragedy that was your parents,” Ulim gently set a hand on the boy’s shoulder, “They were killed by wild animals as they were traveling between towns, according to the tales.”

“That’s what I’ve grown up hearing.” Tanner agreed, “I went to the College of the Gifted, and have learned plenty there.”

“I’m glad you found a home,” Ulim nodded, “Your family were friends to the Centaurs, much like Maxine is.  If anything happens to her, we will miss her as we did your parents.  If we could be as helpful to her family as the College was to yours, we would feel our unspoken debt made up.”

“Debt?” Tanner was getting very confused, “There shouldn’t be a debt, if it was wild animals that killed my parents.”

“Ah, but we couldn’t take you on,” the Centaur pointed out, “And that is where the debt accrued.”

Tanner clacked his teeth together around the sentence of ‘but you don’t owe me anything.’  He’d picked up on the balances of things around the Centaurs, and if he said that, he knew that the feeling they had would erase right off.  He wanted to make sure what the others traveling with him thought of the situation before he said anything like that.  He noticed Ulim’s smile, and got the feeling he’d been somewhat tested with all of that.  He walked himself over to Maxine and the female centaur, and stood beside the human woman, quietly waiting.

The Centaur female smiled at him during a break in their conversation and then greeted him, “Hello, lad.”

“Hello,” he answered back, also smiling, but maybe not quite as widely.

“Ceil, this young man is one of my traveling companions,” Maxine nodded her head in Tanner’s direction and then looked at him, “Did you learn anything?”

“Got a suggestion for using something to plug our ears,” he grinned, “And that’s about it.”

“That had to have come from Ulim,” Ceil laughed, “He dreams up the most ridiculous answers.  Good thing is that sometimes they actually work.  Bad thing is that sometimes they don’t.”

“Well, I guess we can keep it in mind, as well as see if we can’t find something from the elves,” Maxine nodded, “Thank you Ceil, for the suggestion.”

“Least I could do, considering the suggestion you gave about my garden worked,” Ceil waved and trotted off.

“You make it look easy,” Tanner shook his head, “I swear that Ulim was testing me.  He brought up my parents’ death, saying that the Centaurs felt like they owed me something because they’d not been able to take me in when my parents were killed.”

“You didn’t say they don’t did you?” Maxine asked.

“No, I wanted to run it by someone else what I should say,” Tanner sighed.

“As far as it goes, I think you should keep them in the belief that they owe you.  You never know when you’ll need something,” she shrugged, “Besides, maybe you’ll learn something in all this mess that proves they do or don’t.  Sharing that with them will accrue a debt anyway.”

“Such an odd way to look at all of this,” Tanner sighed, “I don’t think I like this system of bartering.”

“Facts instead of belongings?” Maxine grinned, “Some don’t fare well with it.  Usually, if you have goods they’ll give goods.  But since we’re asking for information, favors and information will be the method of payment.”

Fortunately for Tanner’s head space, they didn’t need to stay in Lhour for much longer after that.  They left the grounds of the village, having gotten about as much information as anyone had expected, and camped.  It was a touch uncomfortable because they could tell they were being watched, but there wasn’t a lot they could do about it.

Ironically, Tanner thought, the next morning, he proved to not be a single-Vision Seer after all, because as he slept that night, he saw a set of male triplets.  All he could tell was that they were male, and they were triplets, but it was a Vision, and when he woke up, he rolled over to poke Kirlith in the shoulder.  Or would have, but for remembering a detail that meant it was really better not to.  So he rolled the other direction and poked Maxine.

“Hmm?” she hummed, dark eyes opening slowly.  Tanner noticed finally, that her eyes were more than just dark.  The irises were black.  But her- “Tanner, you woke me up for a reason, might want to get to it, or I’ll roll over and go back to sleep.”

“Oh,” Tanner paused, “Well, I had another Vision.”

“Right after you’ve told yourself you’re probably a Single-Sight, eh?” she chuckled lowly at the irony, “What was it about?”

“It didn’t get specific enough for me to know that.  I just know I saw a set of male triplets.” Tanner sat on his knees and ankles as he spoke to her in low tones.

“Full-grown, or still growing?” she shifted in her bedroll.

“Grown, and,” Tanner closed his eyes, trying to get as many details as he could.  His head started aching.

“Stop,” Maxine tapped him on the knee, “You’re hurting your head, stop.  We know they’re triplets, male and adults.  That’s a good start, so stop.”

“Fine, but, I thought I almost had a hair color,” Tanner hissed, “I was sure it was something darker, but-“

“She said stop, Tanner,” Mitch, from Maxine’s other side, leaned up and over Maxine and poked Tanner on the shoulder, “You’re going to see plenty of that Vision, I’m sure.  Enough that you’ll be sick of it.  Don’t rush it yet.”

They did take a small handful of days to rest up from what turned out to be just the first leg of their trip.  Tanner quietly found Mariss and asked her if she wanted to tell him what happened.  She looked at him and said he was only the second person to ask like that.  Then she sat him down and told him she’d found out she wasn’t ever going to have children the traditional way, and apparently Eavis hadn’t been okay with that.  They’d not thought to have that discussion earlier, both sides figuring it to be a non-issue, until Mariss mentioned it in passing.  And then everything went downhill.

Luckily, Eavis lived in Viret, rather than at the College, so it wasn’t hard to just leave the man be.  Even luckier, Eavis knew that the vast majority of the people at the College weren’t going to be at their friendliest with him, and while he’d enjoyed visiting before, he was more prone to sending his younger brother to carry out the trading that Viret did with the College, much the same way that Tibeny sent Maxine.

Speaking of Maxine, who’d turned out to be the first person to ask Mariss if she wanted to talk about it, the red-headed woman had headed to Tibeny, taking Anneth with her, to do a little information relay.

Mayra, Kayla and Dana, after almost a month at the College, were starting to settle in, though Rick still had a firm shadow.  Which he was actually getting used to, even as he told himself that it was only a matter of time before the girl stopped shadowing him.  Not to make a pun of it, but Tanner couldn’t see her stopping.  He rather thought she might take over for Mariss when she was old enough, actually.  In which case, there was no better person to shadow, maybe not even Mariss.

Mitch and Jaeth were doing wonders for some of the older kids, giving them first-hand shows of how the swords and axes worked, and Hivea dragged Tanner to watch a little more often than before.  The young man knew it was her trying to coach him to pick a weapon to actually focus on, instead of him learning a little about all of them.

And then Miriana revealed she was also a sword-wielder.  One of the types that dashed in, sliced and dashed out, which was technically what Mitch did, but with the second sword, he could sneak in a few strikes before he had to scoot out of the way.  There was an impressive display of the green-eyed man sparring with Miriana, which blessedly didn’t end in her victory.  And that was one of the things that led to Tanner finally picking up the nerve to ask Hivea if he could try learning something about swords.

“You’re probably the sort who’d have to fight the way Miriana does, if you’re going to use a sword,” Hivea’s tone dropped some on the blonde girl’s name.  For all that Maxine wasn’t there, the half-Ethran was still hard to be around most of the time.  Perhaps it had something to do with her having been an only child, and unlike at the College, she’d been spoiled some.

“Not the way Maxine fights?” Tanner paused.

“You’d take a lot of practice to get there,” Hivea was brutally honest.

“I’m going to take a lot of practice no matter what I do,” Tanner snorted, and watched one of the kids run across the training room.

“Oh good, you’re aware of this,” Hivea laughed.

“How could I not be, with nearly everyone reminding me that I need to pick something to specialize in for self-defense, rather than learning as much as I can for all of them?” Tanner whined, teasingly.

“You’re not specialized yet?” And there was Miriana, trying to add her own point of view to a conversation, “I thought that that staff you were carrying around in the village was your choice.”

“It’s the one I’d been working with last,” Tanner sighed, “I just like learning about the histories of them all, and learning how to move with them.”

“But you’re a Seer.  Not a Fighter.  You don’t need to try becoming a Weapons master,” Miriana tilted her head in confusion.

“So?” Tanner looked at her sharply, “A person can’t be curious?  Isn’t that how you learned the offensive and defensive spells you learned?”

“But I still picked a specialization!” she countered, “You’ve got some magic skills too, have you thought about making use of them?”

“I can usually control what I See better if I’ve not used my magic for anything else in a while,” Tanner shook his head, “I’ve thought about learning magic, but I like being able to make the Visions focus on things like the voices of the people I’m traveling with.”

“Well, you haven’t had a Vision in a while, have you?” Miriana grinned.

“Sure, but I also don’t know when the next one will happen,” Tanner laughed, “I don’t have a Controlled Vision skill.”

“Oh,” the blonde paused, “So, you’re never going to try learning to do anything with your magic?  Not even to increase the amount of things you can do with it?”

“If I work with it, to increase my magical endurance, I’d be,” he paused, “The word isn’t ‘compelled,’ but it’s close.  I’d have a need to keep using my magic for spells, instead of Visions, and Visions, Sight works much the same way as Magic and other Gifts.  If you don’t use it, it either fades or goes Wild.”

“One of the things we’re trying to teach those triplets right now,” Hivea sighed, “They’re enjoying their physical classes, but they’re terrified of the magic, at the point where it gets out of theoretical.”

“I heard from Maxine that that may have been because the Bard unintentionally scared them,” Tanner blinked, “He told the bad stories of what happened with Triplets.  And when he noticed how bad they were getting, he told happier ones.  And Maxine tried to tell stories about happier sets, but the damage had-“

“Already been done,” Hivea sighed again, and rubbed her chin.  “He knows better for next time, right?”

“Oh, he won’t be the one meeting the next set of triplets, they’re not likely to be born in this lifetime, and he’s old enough he probably won’t see the girls graduate,” Tanner shook his head, “At least, according to Maxine, anyway.”

“She sure knows a lot for someone with no noted formal education,” Miriana’s nose wrinkled in distaste.

“Same could be said of you,” Hivea raised an eyebrow, “Or are you saying that in the mountains there’s a formalized school of magic?”

“Ahm,” Miriana paused, “Point taken.”  The girl dithered a little longer, and then asked, “Something about her doesn’t ring right.  How does she have as much magic as she does that she can’t use?  I mean, you were just talking about how magic doesn’t just develop without being used for something, and it has to continue to be used if it’s going to not drive a person mad.  What is she using her magic for?”

“Before Anneth bound herself to her?” Tanner blinked, “I figured it was a bond with the sword.”

“The… sword?” Miriana blinked, “It…  That would make sense if it were actually her sword.”

“Who says it wasn’t?” Hivea hadn’t heard the story, apparently.

“I know the man it belonged to, and he wouldn’t have just given it to her.  She couldn’t have won it from him in a fight, and-“ the rant started.

“How do you know it’s one of a kind?” Hivea snorted, “I’ve seen some Sword Smiths who enjoy making blades look all kinds of strange, why not a blade with word inscriptions, and a twin for it?”

“But the design on it is too exact!” Miriana hissed, “It’s too similar to the design on her white glove!”

“Maybe they both hail from the era of the Lost Tribe?” Tanner shrugged, “Or what… did Yevin say they were called, the Enda?”

“How would she have gotten it then?” Miriana hissed again, “Those kinds of relics come only from places the Lost Tribe were suspected to have lived.  And there’s only one of those left that hasn’t been looted into dust.”

“And it’s protected by the dwarves now,” Tanner nodded, “So?  Maybe she was able to do a favor for someone who had a relic, and they paid her in kind?”

“She said she was led to the sword though,” the girl flailed her hands in the air, almost whacking Hivea and Tanner both.

“Okay, so maybe she found the sword and was gifted the glove outright,” Tanner sighed.

“Doesn’t it just sound odd? That she would-“

“I was told you’d be here, Hivea, and that you were the one who was to get this,” Maxine, apparently back from her trip to Tibeny, was holding a pack in one hand and had a broad sword strapped to her back, in addition to the one she’d been carrying before.

“Eek!” Miriana gasped, hands going to her throat in surprise.

“That’s a new reaction,” Maxine snorted, unbuckling the broadsword, “Smithee decided that this sword needed to come to the College, in case any of the students took it into their heads to learn it.  He also sent a few smaller things.” She held up the bag.

“Oh that’s a nice surprise,” Hivea grinned and took the bag, leaving the blade in Maxine’s hand, “Maybe you can talk to these two.  Tanner seems to think he needs to learn swords now.”

“S- and why are you pointing him at me?  Mitch would be a better teacher,” Maxine snickered.

“He doesn’t want to learn the slash and run tactics,” Hivea drawled.

Tanner opened his mouth, only to have Maxine talk over him.

“He’s got the build to possibly go either way, but unless he’s going to invest in heavier protective gear, he should learn slash and run,” the redhead was peering at him with a tilted head, and he couldn’t help but notice the band around her neck had lightened in color.

“What happened to the band?  It was black,” he tried not to point, but it almost couldn’t be helped.

“Anneth decided purple was better.  Sits with my tunic color better, apparently,” not that the pale-skinned woman cared.

“So maybe we should fit him with a heavier set of gear, and have him walk around with that until you’re all ready to leave for wherever the next stop is,” Hivea joked, and dragged the topic back to where it had started.

“The Tower of Recording!” Miriana called out, “That’s where we’re-“

“No, we’re going to go looking for information first,” Maxine snorted, “I want to know all I can about the Tower before we hop on a boat.  I would also like to see if we can’t visit some of the other villages and get stronger gear and medicines.  Like the village of Viret, even if it’s got that fool in it, they’ve got very good medicines.  Lhour’s well known for the staves they make being solid.  Those would both help Kirlith.  Tomovie’s pretty good for blades and leather materials.  We could get larger packs there, and maybe have them as total replacements of what we have now.”

Tanner nodded, “I can get the others and let them know you’re back.”

“We might still not leave tomorrow,” Maxine laughed, “I wanted to visit with the Triplets a bit.  Share some stories with them that I got from Tibeny.”

“That’s okay,” Hivea agreed, “After all, there’s a chance you all won’t be coming back, like anyone else who goes to the Tower of Recording.  Might as well make what you can of the time here before you go.”

“Well, that’s why I’m going to lean heavily in the favor of roaming ourselves all over the place first.  I’d like to come back from this trip,” Maxine snorted, and  shook her head, “Come on you two, I’m going to talk to the others, see what we can’t get either or both of you taught, and then get a night’s rest or two.”

“We’re all rested up,” Miriana pointed out.

“You won’t be if they get to teaching you,” Maxine snickered, “And I still need the day or two myself.  Remember, I headed straight back to Tibeny while the rest of you stayed here.  I’ve been pretty non-stop this whole time and would rather have a night’s sleep or two.”

She led them to where Mitch was chatting with a few students, and talked to the man for a bit, through the conversations he was having with the kids surrounding him.  They enjoyed the shop talk as it were, since the people talking were both sword users, and the differing points of view were fascinating.  Even Tanner got caught up in the discussion, until Kirlith showed up and called out loudly, as she smacked her hands on his shoulders with a thump that was more sound than impact, “Welcome back, Maxine!”

Instead of jumping, the taller woman just waved, “Hello again Kirlith.  Got any suggestions for where we could go to gather up information?  I’ve got Tomovie, Tyaneel, Viret…”

“I’d rather not go anywhere near Viret, if I can,” Mitch grumbled, “Might start something.”

“If we’re looking for information, we’ll need to go everywhere we can,” Maxine sighed, “If nothing else, you all can camp outside town and I can do the looking.”

“I’m a good girl, I promise,” Kirlith’s grin suggested, at least to Tanner, that she was still plotting things.

“I don’t trust that smile,” Maxine snorted, “So I’m not going to grace that with an answer.

“Well,” Kirlith feigned a mopey face, and then smirked, “We could always go to my home town.  Pirev’s going to be an experience for everyone but Mitch, but it’s worth looking into.  Some of the people there are old.  Really, really old.  Maybe old enough to remember the same time frame as Elder Yevin.”

“That would be useful,” Mitch nodded, “What about Lhour?” He looked at Maxine.

“I only got as far as Tibeny,” Maxine shook her head, “I couldn’t get any further in the time I had given myself.  If we want to head that way, we can.  I just can’t promise that they’ll be any more help than Tibeny was.  Which was none.  They had only heard what Mitch’s opinion matches about the Tower.  That it was a tale and no more.”

“The Bard?” Mitch asked, “You’d said he had left Tibeny for Lhour.  Would he maybe have stories?”

“That’s a good point.  I don’t know which village he roams to after Lhour, so if we want to catch him, we’ll have to head there first.” Maxine suggested, “And we’ll have to take off sooner than I figured on originally.”

“Like tomorrow?” Jaeth looked eager.

“Yes,” Maxine was weary, “I’d love to take a couple of days, but if we want to catch him, we don’t really have much time.”

“At least the trip to Lhour should be quiet enough we can pester Tanner into learning something with weapons that isn’t flail a stick at its head?” Kirlith teased.

“I’m not that bad!” Tanner yelped, “Not quite!”

“I’ve never met centaurs before,” Anneth spoke, oddly without showing her shape for once, “It should be an experience.  And Tanner, if you like, I can show you some techniques to expand your magic parameters without having to use magic.  They’re some Rituals that it seems they no longer teach at the College.”

“Run them by someone like Kirlith first, would you Anneth?” Maxine suggested, “They might have stopped teaching them for a reason.”

“Oh, of course!”  Anneth’s voice was part exasperated and part pleased.

“I think I’ll go get myself packed up, so that we can be ready by early morning light,” Tanner nodded his head in the direction of his dormitory.

“I was going to talk to you!” Anneth sounded a little annoyed, “Right after I talked with Kirlith and-“

“Let him get his things, would you?” Mitch snorted, “We’re not leaving until tomorrow.  He’s got time to listen to you yet.”

Tanner had taken a couple of steps, and now had something occur to him that he just had to ask.  It wasn’t the first time the thought had popped up into his head, but this was the first opportunity he had, so he took it.   “Anneth, you went with us, a day’s travel from the Tower.  Now you don’t even venture more than twenty feet away from Maxine.  Is it a range issue- ah, even though you’re not a ghost?”

“Nice save,” Anneth’s tone was now warm with laughter, “Some of it is a matter of ambient magic, actually.  The Tower had been bathed in my magic, and had soaked it up.  I had a larger source to draw from.  Maxine, while fairly strong for someone who has no actual spells she can use, is much more limited.  Plus, I would rather not take the chance of draining her.”

“Oh,” Tanner could only blink in response, “Less of a tied to situation, and more of a limited resources one.  That makes even more sense.”

Then he turned and dashed himself off to the Dorm, where he quickly packed up the bag of supplies, leaving out the extra sets of robes for the College this time, entirely.  He packed a couple of the books he needed for studying, and blank writing materials, so that he could take notes and write out any assignments he’d be collecting from the instructors as he made the rounds before the last meal of the day.

The Ethrans were again kind enough to see the small group was fed, before sending them on their way.  Elder Yevin spoke with Mitch, Jaeth and Kirlith about paying a fee for the task he’d snuck upon them.  In what seemed a reversal of their usual behaviors, Mitch and Jaeth were arguing in the negative, and Kirlith was voting for it.

They worked it out, with the fee being mainly the part-elf’s but with a little to go to the College, as they’d effectively piggy-backed a task from them to get two pups graduated.

Neth found Tanner and passed a packet of herbs over, “Here.   I think these will be useful in some context.”

Looking at them, Tanner nodded, “I’ll get them to Kirlith.”

They nodded at each other and left it at that.  Tanner had a feeling Neth didn’t want to let everyone know he knew why Kirlith needed the herbs, and it was just easier that way.  The blond could pretend ignorance a little too well sometimes, after all.

Azala was wrapping Kirlith in a hug, and giggling when the Seer caught up to them.  He passed the herbs over, to the tune of more giggling, but took no offense.  He’d rather not think about it too hard, really.

They weren’t too far from leaving when a loud voice called out, “Hey you!  Man in the cloak!” Which caught everyone’s attention, revealing a so that they turned to spot a medium-height blond girl waving angrily as she ran up.

“That sword,” she snarled, showing off fanged teeth, “It doesn’t belong to you, grave robber!”

“Gra-“ Maxine stepped back, keeping the buckle of the shoulder-strung sheath away from grabby hands, and reacting to the latter comment first, “I robbed no graves.

“There’s no way you could have gotten it otherwise,” The girl kept reaching, belatedly realizing she was talking to another woman, “No way you could have bested him in a fight, lady.  He doesn’t gamble, and he doesn’t drink!”

“Who’s this he you’re talking about?” Mitch asked, even as Kirlith stepped in between the two women with something of a snarl.

“I was a little kid when he left, so I can’t remember his name, but I recognize the sword,” another reach, around the tiny frame of the dark-skinned woman.

“Wait, you don’t’ remember his name, because you were  too little, but you know his sword design, that he doesn’t drink or gamble, and he’s supposedly a great wielder of the sword?” Jaeth scoffed,.

“I’ve been searching for him for years!’ she hissed, and even more than before it was clear she was a cat-type Ethran, but for the shape of her face.

“Miriana, you will cease making a spectacle of yourself!” another voice called out, from a woman who was catching up, “Your father would be ashamed if he saw you now.”

“Mother,” the blue eyes flashed over to the noticeably older blonde woman, who was a cat Ethran, face shape and all, so no doubts or second thoughts.  Tanner was asking himself how that worked, as he listened to them talk.

“You stalked that poor man around your father’s village as a child, and haven’t stopped since,” an exasperated huff from her mother showed her feelings on the matter, “If I were him, I’d be hiding too.  I might even have gone so far as giving a blade as distinctive as that away for better anonymity,” a look in Maxine’s direction, “Were you gifted that blade, miss?’

“Yes and no,” Maxine stepped back a few more paces, especially with Miriana reaching again, “It was something I found, but I’d been given directions to find it, so it could be considered a gift.  Of sorts.”

“The elder blonde woman snickered.

Miriana hissed, “Not possible!”

“How are we supposed to prove it to you, you obsessed little,” Jaeth huffed instead of finishing his rant.

“Show me where he is,” the blonde tilted her head up challengingly.

“Quick question,” Tanner cleared his throat. “How is it she’s of-“

“We weren’t exactly approved of by our parents,” the elder woman smiled wanly, “They are a small village North of here, nestled in the mountains.  They disavow any knowledge of us Ethra, so it was decided that the Ethra would return the favor.”

“So the reason she latched on to this guy she’s talking about, is that he was the first human who was nicer to her?” Mitch guessed.

“Yes,” Miriana’s mother nodded.

Blowing aout a gust of air beyond what Tanner wanted to call a sigh, Mitch asked, “This guy wouldn’t happen to have been a lean build sort, with red-brown hair that he kept over one eye, would he?”

Miriana nodded frantically, “You’ve seen him then?’

“When I was a kid,” Mitch snorted, “no older than ten.  He and my father were going to investigate the Tower of Recording.  They never came back.  No one who goes looking for that fae story ever does.”

“He can’t be dead!” Miriana wailed, “I swore to him that I would get good at magic, to fight along with him because while he had a lot of raw magic, he couldn’t use it, no matter who taught him!”

“How do you remember things like that,” Jaeth grumbled, “You were what, four?  And you can’t remember his name?”

“I’ll thank you for the compliment about my age, but as part-Ethran, I’ve lived longer than I look. I celebrated my thirteenth year when he showed up, and yes, I was young, but I also only heard his name once.  It was really short and almost sounded like a sneeze, so I wasn’t ever sure what I’d heard.”

“You’re,” Mitch shook his head, “Ridiculous.”

“I have goals,” the woman shook her head, “I can’t just give up on them because someone says he’s missing or dead.  So I’m going with you, to get proof.”

“we’re going to the College, not to the Tower,” Jaeth shook his head, “There’s a wedding in a few days.”

“Well then,” Miriana grinned, “I’ll come with you to the College, and then we can go to the Tower of Recording.”

“What makes you think we’ll let you?” Kirlith snapped, from the point of the person almost sandwiched between the half-Ethran and Maxine.

“Well, I can hire you,” Mirian held out a back of coins; a heavy one.

“Does wonders for the mercenaries,” Maxine chuckled, “But I’m not one.  I have a home, garden and trade work to get back to.  We get to the College, and I’m turning North to home.”

“Y-you can’t just!” Miriana yelped and made another lunge for the sword, which knocked her into Kirlith, who pushed her back before they could topple half into the red-head behind them.

“Nothing you’ve done has given us a favorable enough impression of you to want to go with you, paid escorts or no,” Mitch shrugged, “So you’ll have to either excuse us, or come up with something reasonable.”

“I’ve got information about the Tower!” she squawked, obviously not having figured the negotiation would be this hard, “There’s a family of shipwrights who pass down a story about a quartet on a ship they build, that their family navigated.  I’ll tell you the secrets they share in their family if you go with me.”

“If we’re curious enough,” Jaeth drawled, “What’s to stop us from finding the shipwrights in Divrain ourselves?”

“D-“ she took a deep breath,” Oka, so the where is figured, but do you know the who?” “It’s not hard to learn who all has been in business that l-“ Jaeth started.

“Why not let her come along?” Anneth’s appearance caused nearly everyone to yelp, “She’s a mage, and that will be a break on my drawing of Maxine’s untapped magic.  Plus, like my travels so far have done, it will open her eyes to the world.’

“Mitch, Jaeth and Kirlith looked at each other for a solid minute.  Tanner even stared counting it in his head to be sure.  Finally, Kirlith nodded, “Fine, Jaeth, Mitch and I will take you towards the tower, but all of the gold in that pouch and all of your share of anything we find along the way that isn’t sustenance related, is ours.”

With that agreed upon, the group left the main part of the Ethran Village, and headed Southwest, even though it didn’t matter overmuch which direction they actually headed, with the spell Kirlith was going to use.  It would have been nice had Miriana been quiet, cowed after the bargain struck with the mercenaries, but they couldn’t be that lucky.

They traveled far enough away from the village, that even with the short-term renewal of the sight spell provided to them as they left, they couldn’t see even the slightest sign of the houses in the trees.  And more or less as soon as they were out of rand of the girl’s mother, Miriana was digging snide comments in Maxine’s direction.  Even if she wasn’t outright calling the other a graverobber, she was hinting that it wouldn’t be hard to believe it.  She was alternately hushed by Kirlith or Mitch, and scowled at by Jaeth, but Maxine never responded.  Not verbally.  But Tanner could see that she twitched a few times with some of the commentary, and when he spotted one of those twitches, the boy would usually ask Miriana if she was omniscient to know such things.

This hushed her for all of about fifty paces, before she started in again, from a different direction.

Then they got far enough away that Kirlith stopped them, and cut Miriana mid-word, “Okay, time to get ourselves to the College.  We might be a few days early, but Mariss is probably going to be wound about as tight as a spring can get before it snaps, so us being early will be one less stress.”

“I’m all for that,” Mitch nodded, “And when we’re there, we can dump the loudmouth off for a while.”

“Forget dumping her,” Jaeth snorted, “I suggest we stuff an empty coin pouch in her mouth and dare her to keep quiet until we can prove her wrong.”

“Well, if someone would admit that I have a point, I wouldn’t have to harp on it.  I mean it’s rather suspicious that all she can say is she was led to the sword.  No names for who led her to it, or why,” Miriana grumbled.

“Enough,” Kirlith looked around, “I want you all to step about as close as you can, shoulder to shoulder would be best.  I’ll activate the spell and we’ll be there soon.  It might feel like a few minutes of disorientation.”

Tanner was standing on one side of Maxine, and Mitch quickly took up the other side.  Jaeth stood beside Mitch, and Kirlith, after setting a small blue stone in the middle of them, took up Tanner’s other side, leaving Miriana to be between the dark-skinned woman and the axe-wielder.  There was a second or two of blankness, and then they were there.

Tanner wasn’t sure if he ever wanted to experience travel like that ever again.  His stomach was still making up its mind whether it was at the Ethran Village or at the College.  Not exactly the most pleasant experience he’d ever had.

No one else seemed to be having problems, so he suspected it was either something that got better with time, or he was just doomed.

Mariana was going so far as to grin and dance around a little bit.  She was just fine, and the young man couldn’t help but cast a resentful look or three her way.

“Some people just take time to get used to it,” Maxine’s hand on his shoulder snapped Tanner out of the funk for a bit, ”And others are just good at pretending to not be affected”

“And we already know I can’t hide things,” Tanner nodded, oddly feeling better.

They were, to be honest, just outside of the campus, an Tanner knew that was several levels safer than if they’d shown upright in the middle.  Who knew who and how many people would be walking the grounds at this time of day?

“The school’s always been a place I wanted to visit,” Mariana grinned, until her eyes lit on Maxine, where they darkened, “Just a pity I have to visit with you along.” Very pointedly in the redhead’s direction.

“I’m still trying to figure out how we were conned into bringing you along,” Mitch grumbled, “Your rude and-“

“Oh, like Jaeth’s not?” Miriana nodded in the bigger man’s direction.

“Oh I am all right,” Jaeth snorted, “But I’m not maliciously rude, nor am I directing it, full-stop, no subject changes, to one person.”

“So it’s better to be rude to a lot of people, if it’s just a little? The girl cackled.

“No” Kirlith hissed, you’re being unreasonably rude, he’s generally unintentionally rude.  And even when he means to be, he stops when he knows he’s hurt someone.”

“Just because you’re refusing to believe that I didn’t kill the man or something like that,” Maxine huffed, “You really hold a grudge, don’t you?”

“You’re back!” the voice was a welcome change from what Tanner was otherwise going to hear, and he grinned as he saw Mariss dash up to wrap first Kirlith, then Mitch in a hug, and when she was done, she reached out to bop Jaeth on the arm.  Her face was smiling, but even Tanner could see that her eyes weren’t.

“What’s wrong?” he asked.

“Oh good grief, if I’m so transparent you can see through me, it’s worse than I thought,” Mariss sniffled, already trying to hide the tears the young man’s words brought to the surface.

“Oh,” Maxine paused, “I think we need to be on campus grounds for this.  Some of it is not the business of a few of us, and the rest is information that needs to be passed to the Abbot and Abbess.  Please, Mariss, don’t think that I’m belittling your pain, I just know that,” nodding in Miriana’s direction, “She’s so new to the situation, it really wouldn’t do you any good to have her hear what caused it.”

“Thank you, Maxine,” the shorter redhead nodded, “I’ll let you all on grounds, and I’ll have one of the kids go fetch Rick, the Abbot and the Abbess.  Then we can all divide up our own ways and-“

“No,” Maxine shook her head, “After you tell the youngster to fetch people, you drag Mitch, Jaeth and Kirlith off and talk to them.  You need that.  The only parts of the story they could pass on that I or Tanner couldn’t would be the parts that came from Tomovie.  And by the time we get that far, I think we’ll be ready for a break anyway.”

Miriana was looking at the pale-skinned woman with a fair dose of surprise on her face, almost as though she’d not expected that kind of a reaction- or take charge.  Tanner sure hadn’t.  Not that he thought Maxine wouldn’t deal well with another person in need of comfort, but she’d seemed so uncomfortable with children that it almost had made sense that feelings in general made her nervous.

Mariss nodded, and led them through the gates, waving to a few faces when they got on the inside.  She called out to a brunet boy walking rather slowly, “Nemis, would you go fetch Rick?  And if you see a couple of your friends on the way, ask them to go get the Abbot and Abbess?  Tanner’s back from his run to the Tower, and there’s apparently a fair bit to tell.”  She then, according to Maxine’s advice, pulled on Kirlith’s arm, with the two males following, and left the area.

Miriana looked at Maxine even more sharply, and finally said, “Are you sure you want to be alone here with me, considering how I’ve been around you?”

“I frankly don’t care what your opinion is of me,” Maxine snorted, all softness in her gaze from Mariss’ emotions dropping like a rock, “You’ve been painfully clear about how little you think of me.  Once I got my mind around that, I stopped listening to anything you said that wasn’t attached to a warning about a creature attempting to gore someone.”

“Yo- how,” the blonde girl huffed, and stamped her feet, “How can you not care?”

“I know what I’m like, and while I have a village of children who are scared of me because I’m scared of them, I’m not the horrible person you’re trying to convince yourself I am,” Maxine just sighed, “So it really doesn’t matter.”

“If only more people could convince themselves of such things,” Rick walked up from the direction opposite where Mariss had taken her friends, and nodded in Tanner’s direction, “Welcome back, Tanner.  Good to see you in good health.  Should we get the stone in your diadem set?”

“Sooner or later,” Tanner nodded, “But not right now.  I think I need to talk about the Tower, and a few other things, and I might need you to tell me off for wanting to find out what happened to Mariss.”

“Simply put, her wedding’s been cancelled,” Rick sighed, “Anything past that, if you haven’t the nerve to ask her yourself, you’re going to definitely be considered nosy in my head, rather than concerned.”

“Ah-“ Tanner paused, “Yeah, that makes sense aplenty.”

“So,” Rick looked at Miriana, “You’re new.  Are you a late-coming student?”

“No, I’m already fully trained in my magic,” Miriana’s tone was proud, and she tilted her head at the dark-haired man, “What would you have said if I had said yes?”

“I’d have told you that the Abbot and Abbess were on their way, but you’d have to wait to register, why?” Rick just looked at her, puzzled.

“Pff, you’re no fun,” Tanner had no idea what the girl was up to, but he noticed Rick shaking his head, even as Maxine crossed her arms in front of herself.

“Ah, welcome back, Tanner,” the Abbess called out.  She was apparently closer than the Abbot this once, and had arrived first, “I see you and Maxine made it back safely.  But where are- Oh, Mariss must have found them and been talked into dragging them off to tell them about the situation.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Tanner nodded, “She’s going to be okay, right?”

“I would hope so, she’s a strong woman,” the Abbess nodded, “But if you don’t beat me to it, I’ll let her know you’re worried, and are thinking of her.  She’ll appreciate that, even if she teases about why couldn’t your first Vision have helped her.”

“We all know that Visions are more arbitrary than that, my dear,” the Abbot made it over to the small group.  He paused and looked at Miriana closely, “Oh my, your ears are an interesting set.  Not quite the same shape as Kirlith’s but still, quite intriguing.”

“My mother is an Ethran,” no pause or delay in sharing that, did this one have, “My father a human, in a village along the mountains to the North of the Ethran village a day away from Aridh Tower.”

“Oh my,” the Abbess paused, “We had no more record of them.  We’d thought they’d passed on, the way the elves and dragons had, according to legend.  Well, but for the ancestry that Kirlith has, of course.”

“So, Tanner, you bring us a new face, and judging by her age, I’m going to hazard that she’s not in need of tutelage, which is a puzzle of its own, for another day and time, I will wait,” the Abbot started, “But you have made it back to us, whole and hale, or so it seems.  Please humor me as I ask about the ghost.”

“I’m not a ghost!” Anneth squawked, per normal when that word was used to reference her, “I bound myself willingly to Aridh Tower to save my people.  Why is everyone so sure I was a ghost?”

Rick was blinking madly, crouched just low enough that it looked to Tanner like the man had been about to swing at the spirit when she appeared, until it was made very clear- thankfully, this was done quickly- that she wasn’t going to feel it, so why bother.  The Abbess was staring at the emblem on Anneth’s chest, and the Abbot was laughing.

“Oh, my dear, it’s not that we thought you a ghost, not you in specific, in any case,” The Abbot chortled, “We only knew that Tanner Saw a pillar made of black stone, and when he touched it, it revealed a woman that couldn’t have been living there.  The only conclusion we could come to based on what we know of history was that it was a ghost, from someone who’d wandered their way up the tower in bad health and passed on after not being able to get treatment.  After all, since we’d lost track of the Ethrans as well, we weren’t to know that it would be less than a day’s work to get from Tower to a place of shelter.”

“Fine,” Anneth relaxed, “And that further proves what you’ve said, Maxine.  I begin to suspect that the only way I’ll get an actual answer will be to run myself off to the Tower of Recording.”

“You’re binding yourself to someone else if you do that,” Maxine snorted, “I’m going ho-“

“Maxine, please,” the Abbot looked her straight in the eyes, “I’m sure that Kirlith and Jaeth, and Mitch will be going, and none of them have any raw magics to have Anneth bound to them, and Tanner-“

“I would like to go along, sir,” Tanner fidgeted a little as he said that, “I know it’s an even bigger delay on my graduating, but I got this started, I’d like to see it to its finish.  Please?”

“Well, that’s about what I was going to say,” the nearly bald man chuckled, “I was going to suggest that you gather what materials you can of and from your studies that you may catch up and get ahead on the trip.  This one is liable to take longer.  There’s the days traveling that will get you to Tyaneel Kingdom, but there’s a number of days to be spent on the water as well.  And who knows how long it will be before you actually find the Tower, presuming you actually do?”

“What are we supposed to do if we don’t find it?” Tanner’s eyes went wide at the very idea.

“Well, with any luck, you’ll have the idea that you need to turn back before you run out of supplies, so you’ll be able to return to Tyaneel, and get yourselves mended.  If you’re all stubborn enough to keep investiga-“

“I have to know, so even if he doesn’t keep trying, I will,” and Miriana proved that she could be rude like that to anyone.  Tanner hoped that Jaeth at least wouldn’t interrupt the Abbot.

“You said you were fully trained,” Rick snorted, “But apparently that excluded lessons in who and when not to interrupt.”

“Rick,” the Abbess scolded, “You’re her elder, show her how to be rather than just telling her about it.”

“Yes ma’am,” Rick flushed just a bit, and looked off to the side, “Am I needed for anything?”

“To be honest, Rick, if you would do us the favor of leading these ladies to the Dining Hall?  Not that we’re going to starve Tanner, but he is the first one I wish to hear the tale from, and we might as well get some of these weary travelers fed if we’re going to be picking their memories.”

Rick nodded, looked at the two women and waited for their agreement.  The blond nodded first, though she shot a dark as usual scowl in Maxine’s direction.  The redhead just shrugged, saying, “I could do with some food.  I might see if I can pick some up for the other three, just to make sure they get fed too, in case Mariss doesn’t think of it first.  And as bottomless as Jaeth’s stomach is, I imagine that even if she does, he’ll happily eat anything I might bring to them.”

“Thank you,” the Abbot nodded, “Rick, if you would make sure the cooks know she’s doing other folks a favor, visitor folks, in fact?”

“Will do, sir,” Rick turned and led the two women off.

Tanner watched for a bit, and then followed the two Elders of the College towards the water fountain that was a good meditation spot for some of the earlier levels of the skill.  He sat down on the ground in front of the stone bench in front of the fountain, and waited for the two to sit down on it.

“While most of it is my own doing, sir,” Tanner started, “My first observation of this whole thing is that it is a really bad idea to let any of the students be as cloistered off as I was before this.  I didn’t know a lot about traveling at all.  I still don’t really, but I know more than I did, at least.”

“Good to know,” the Abbot smiled, “And I appreciate the honesty.  Go on.”

“We made decent enough time to Tomovie, I suppose.  Being that I slowed it down a bit, anyway,” Tanner continued, “And we met Jaeth through him barreling through a door and into Maxine.  Then Mitch and Kirlith came out.  My jacket- oh, I’m not-“

“It’s just fine child,” the Abbess nodded, “Continue.”

“My jacket was how they recognized us.  And the circlet,” Tanner tapped his forehead, and vaguely remembered that it would still need to have a stone set into it, “We talked for a bit, gathered the needed supplies, and headed off for the forest.  When we got into the deeper part, we learned that the Mage Lights many use in the deeper sections were actually part of a treaty with the Ethrans, as in, to not use them, because they hurt their eyes.  And that was also how we learned of the Ethrans.”  He took a deep breath, “We were aided by two of the villagers, a pair of scouts, and went to the Tower, where, much like the Vision showed, we woke Anneth by my reaching out and touching the eye-shaped emblem near the top of the pillar.”

“And the other young lady?” The Abbess just barely made an expression, but Tanner could tell it was disapproving.

“We ran into her- not as literally, when we had returned from the Tower with Anneth, and she more or less demanded to come along because she’s sure Maxine’s sword came from someone else, and in a less than moral fashion.  She’s not been very kind to Maxine the entire time,” Tanner sighed, “I’m not sure why she was so stuck on that guy that she’s been chasing after, but I hope that her heart doesn’t break when or if she learns he’s long since dead.”

“And you’re fairly sure he is?” the Abbot prodded.

“Most of us are, at least,” Tanner paused, then drew a little bit in the dirt he was sitting on, to distract himself from his words, “Mitch’s father and the guy Miriana’s looking for apparently went off in search of the Tower of Recording.  And all the tales tell that no one ever comes back.  Even if they don’t say why.”

“So you’re worried about going to the Tower, even as you want to, to see this whole situation through,” the Abbot leaned over and patted the youth on the head.

“Yes’m,” Tanner nodded, even though her hand was still on his head, patting, “If I’ve got one serious weakness in the fashion of my emotions, it’s a debilitating sense of curiosity.  More often than not, I can keep myself from acting on it, but in this case.”

“Hmm,” The Abbot set his fist under his chin, and sat in thought for a moment or two, “Well, I say, go about this slowly.  You’re all going to be going to the Tower of Recording, might as well take as much information as you can.  Don’t rush it.  Maybe you should spend a few days here, rest up, and then head around to places that have decent troves of information, see if you can’t find out something from them that might increase your chances of coming back.  Because we really do want you to return to us Tanner.  You’re a good student, a good boy.”

“In short, love, he’s adopted you as one of his million and one grandchildren,” the Abbess smiled warmly, “Not that the sheer number should make you think any less of our attachment to you, I hope you know.”

“Well, that’s good, because I’ve kind of thought of you two as grandparents for a while,” Tanner laughed a little in return, “I mean, you and Rick, and Mariss have watched me grow from a short, whiny brat, to a taller, less whiny brat-ish bookworm.”

“Tanner!” the Abbess choked back her laughter, “You shouldn’t speak of yourself that way!”

When they woke the next morning, Tanner made a resolution to himself that he was going to avoid towers for the rest of his life if he could at all manage it.  There were beds, and the ground, and then there was stone to sleep on, and he liked the last not at all.  Of course, he was newest to any real kind of traveling, so he was the last awake.  Per normal.  He saw Maxine packing up her things and getting ready to stand up, though Neth seemed determined to ask her every question under the sun about her white glove, which was causing her to have some notable delay.

When he moved his gaze to Jaeth, Kirlith and Mitch, he noticed that Jaeth was treating the tiny woman with an unusual amount of care.  Very carefully did the big man speak that day, and Tanner didn’t understand why at first.

“You don’t happen to carry any herbs with you, do you Tanner?” Azala hunkered down in front of him, half-grinning.

“Uhm, just the cooking kind that have been put in there from when we have gone into a town and bought them,” he responded.

“Pity, means I’ll have to ask Maxine.  Maybe she’ll know which herbs are needed without me having to spell it out like I would for Neth.  Except, I’ll have to ask knowing he’ll hear anyway,” Azala mumbled, and moved to stand.

“You could always send Neth over to ask Kirlith a few questions?” Tanner suggested.

“Oh no, I wouldn’t do that to them,” the cat’s eyes were slitted in humor, “She’s the one I’m asking for the herbs for, actually.”

“Wh-“ and then it sunk in.  That would actually explain a lot.  Azala snickered a little as she spotted the thought crossing his mind, and finished standing.

She swung over to where Neth and Maxine were, and asked a question of Neth that made the wolf’s ears perk and shortly the grey-fuzzed male was walking over to Tanner.  “Azala says you have cooking herbs?”

“Ah yes, some of them,” Tanner nodded, “The ones that react the most to the oils and things that the others had in their packs, so that they stay edi- useable.”

“Oils?” Neth blinked.

“Well, Jaeth and Mitch both use some kind of oil on their blades, to help them not get caught as they pull them from harness or sheath.  Maxine uses an oil for her brown glove, to keep it from creasing, flaking, something like that.  Kirlith’s got the herbs and such that are best used for healing and poultices, so they really didn’t want the cooking herbs being mixed up with those,” Tanner shrugged, “Did you want to see some of them?”

“Please?” Neth nodded his head, “We Ethrans don’t use herbs so much, as we tend to eat our food fresh only.  What we hunt and grow is harvested and eaten the day its gathered; shared among the rest of the Village.”

“And that also means you don’t need the seasonings when you’re away from the village,” Tanner nodded some more, and dug into his bag for a couple of the herbs, “Humans have a knack for needing some kind of variety, even in their food, or it becomes monotonous, or even sickening.”

“Hm,” Neth paused, gently, gingerly taking the plants from the blond, as though not sure if they would poison him or not, “They smell sharp.”

“Some of them will, they’re meant to be sharp to get through the taste of the foods they’re often used for,” Tanner agreed, and took the little packs back, “Others are soft, meant to enhance existing flavors instead of making new ones.”

“You are a good cook then?” Neth looked at the youth, tilting his head in such a way that Tanner couldn’t quite figure if Neth was doubting him having such a skill, or just plain surprised.”

Shaking his head, Tanner just sighed, “No, this is just what I’ve learned from Mitch and Maxine as we’ve traveled.  Note to you, if you’re going to eat the food cooked, be careful when Jaeth’s the one at the fire.”

Jaeth called out, “I heard that!” But still laughed.

“You were supposed to!” Tanner called back.

“Oh good, you’ve gotten to where you can tease people,” Mitch laughed, “I was hoping you would eventually.”

Tanner noted that Azala and Maxine were now surrounding Kirlith, instead of her fellow mercenaries, and his eyes must have communicated his concern, because Jaeth waved a hand across the boy’s vision, adding, “Best not to hear or think about it Tanner, it’s something squeamish-making.”

“I knew that already,” Tanner sighed, “But they’re okay, right?”

“Do you think we’d be over here, relaxed as we are if they weren’t?” Mitch raised an eyebrow, and squinted the other eye.  The expression was a little ridiculous, but still told the boy that the swordsman was a little disappointed with him for that line of thought.

“Ah- I- uh,” Tanner stuttered, “Sorry, that was a bad question.”

“Pff,” Mitch snorted, “I think you were meaning to ask something along the lines of, are we still leaving the Tower today, right?”

“Ah, yeah,” Tanner agreed quickly.

“Might be a little later getting to the Village,” Jaeth looked to Neth and shrugged, “But we’ll get there.  As long as Miss Ghost shows up and does her thing so we can go when the problem’s alleviated.”

“I am not a ghost!” Anneth appeared right behind Jaeth, bending over in such a way that even as tiny as she looked, she was looming over his back, and peering at him upside down.

“That’s not going to get me to fear or respect you any more than I already did,” Jaeth looked up, and Tanner was trying not to laugh at the sight of the one eye rolling so high it looked almost as white as the long-since blinded one.

“Of course it won’t,” she mumbled, “You can’t multiply anything with zero and expect growth.”

Neth, Mitch and Tanner snorted in laughter, and the Seer thought he heard even Azala and Kirlith laughing.  Maxine’s face was mostly blank, but a little curious, indicating she’d not heard the comment.

“Do I want to know?” she called over.

“Ah, it was just a math problem between Anneth and Jaeth,” Mitch laughed.

“I don’t get it,” the red-head shrugged, and stood, patting Kirlith gently on the shoulder, then hoisting her bag and setting it on her shoulder.

“Well, you don’t have to, necessarily,” Mitch was still snickering.

“I think it’s about time for me to change my bind sources,” Anneth had settled herself back down so that it almost looked like she was standing on the ground, even as she moved towards her obelisk, “Maxine, would you do me a favor and tap the pillar?”

“Why?” the redhead was skeptical, and Tanner figured she had good reason.

“I think, as stable as you are, you are my best choice for a new binding location,” Anneth paused, “It won’t hurt you, it won’t be permanent, and I won’t be any kind of parasitic.  In fact, the magic you’re not using may actually prove useful, in that I can provide you with spells to cast, under the right circumstances, like yesterday.  With practice, that could become controlled enough that you can take charge, instead of me using a combination of adrenaline and your magic to force it.”

“Oh yay, just what I always wanted,” the woman drawled, “To go back to school for magic when I’ve no real knack for it.”

“Wait, you’ve studied magic before?” Tanner asked, leaning up to stand as well, so he could gather his belongings to put them away.

“Very briefly,” Maxine sighed, “I have the raw power in there somewhere, but I’ve never had a gift for calling it; using it,” she shrugged, “Most of the teachers I got gave up after a week.”

“They certainly weren’t trying very hard,” Anneth sounded rather proud of herself now.

“They didn’t have a reason to teach me,” the swordswoman responded, “No dire circumstances of my being a triplet, no wealthy family to push it, no religious bent to explain it.”

“No want to be a healer?” Kirlith prodded.

“I have no knack for anything but the medicinal aspect,” Maxine’s eyes were even darker than normal, “They tested that too.  I wouldn’t mind knowing healing magics though.”

“Well then, that is what I will call a definite trade for the option of having you carry the bond for me,” Anneth smiled.  It was actually a warm one, “I was figuring that the easiest way to go about it would be for it to look like that choker ‘round your neck.”

Said choker was a black band that had two more hanging down along the sides, and disappearing into Maxine’s tunic.  She nearly reached up to touch the skin near the bands and sighed, “Fine.  If no one else has a strong reason for why it shouldn’t happen.”

No one did, and with oddly little fanfare, the tall black stone in the room disappeared, and became a black band around Maxine’s neck, only a little thicker than the one that had already been there.  Even though she’d had a band around her neck all along, it looked like she was trying not to fiddle with the new one.  Maybe it was due to a difference in weight on her neck, Tanner thought, or it could be something else, but he tried not to think too much on it, as it really wasn’t something he could ask her about.

That done, they made their way down the stairs, to the grass and headed back to the Ethran village.  Thankfully there weren’t any Wygans this time around.

Anneth showed a burst of usefulness no one was expecting and proved she’d known a variety of magics, by digging up a spell from memory, to generally increase everyone’s speed and endurance by enough that they reached the tree-bound village before the sun started to set.

“That’s no actually the sun setting,” Azala giggled when Tanner mentioned that fat, “The sight spell is wearing off.”

The guards to the village, upon spotting them, let out happy howls that fortunately didn’t bother Kirlith the way Neth’s had a few days before.  The sounds seemed to actually be rather infectious, because she was grinning widely.

It wasn’t much later before Elder was in front of the group, smiling at Neth and Azala before nodding to the rest.” It is good to see you again.”

“Judging by our greeting, I’d say Neth and Azala are now adults by your standards,” Anneth appeared before the Elder, and several of the Ethrans flinched, crouched, or raised claws in her direction.

The Elder had flinched, but after a bit, looked closer before sighing, “I should know you, a thought in the back of my head says.”

“Anneth Roka,” she stood tall, as if actually standing on the ground, “Elder Yevish, I would speak with you of my people.”

“Oh,” the Elder blinked, “That’s what it was.  So good to see someone who- oh my.”

Anneth nodded, as the Elder reasoned it all out.

“That means nothing goof for the history as I knew it, of your people,” Elder Yevish sighed, “Roka was declared to have sent the triplets Malcom, Layton, and Kerrick to the Tower of Recording to use the magics of all four to destroy a few things in his way to ruling more than simply Roka.  Tyaneel sent his people to Roka to get the latter to cancel the plan, but there was a barrier around the kingdom that had to be shattered before the conversation could take place.  The sad side effects were that everyone in the kingdom was killed.  Or “

“How did the Tower come to be known as Aridh Tower, and it was forgotten to have been part of Rokaha?” Tanner’s eyes were squinted as he tried to think all of this in place in his head.

“It was always called Aridh Tower,” Anneth nodded, “At least, that stayed the same.”

“And the rest?” Mitch scratched the base of the back of his neck.

“Well,” Yevish smiled, “As you said to some of my older scouts, after a hundred years, who among the humans would remember?”

“And this was nearing half a millennium,” Kirlith sighed.

“Well,” Maxine shifted her weight, “That’s two of your Sources, Anneth.  Are you sure you still want to speak to the Abbot or Abbess?”

“I need to,” Anneth whimpered, “I need him or her to confirm that the shield did what it was supposed to, and that when I am ready, I can actually detach all of my anchors and rest in peace.  That I didn’t accidentally cause the damage to my people when I was trying to keep them safe.”

“So now you’re worried that with all of the other things proving off from what you know, that your status as Spirit instead of Ghost will also be in question?” The Elder suggested.

“Yes,” Anneth crossed her arms over each other at her abdomen, and cupped each elbow with the opposite palm.

“Rest the night here, and then you can head toward the College come the morn,” Yevin offered.

“We’ve got a spell that will take us there quickly.  Is that something that would cause a problem with anyone’s hearing or other senses?”

“It shouldn’t cause a problem,” the Elder shook his head, “Not if it’s the spell I think it is.  But it might be safest if you travel outside of the ring of houses before activating it.”

“We will,” Mitch agreed.

“It’s not exactly that I’m a chatterbox, just that I can find a lot to talk about, and that I can find eve more as I talk,” Azala said, grinning over at Tanner.

“No, she’s a chatterbox,” Neth countered, in a rare use of his voice.

“Well,” Maxine’s voice was showing her wish to laugh, “Maybe you can use those words, or some of them to tell us what we can look forward to in an encounter.”

“Hm?” the cat-girl blinked.

“Defense, offense, do you use claws?” Jaeth listed off, “Or did we by some chance get someone who uses magic?”

“Nope, no magic,” Azala laughed, “Sorry, I don’t’ really do much fighting.  I prefer running.”

“I’m more fond of books,” Neth contributed.

“So neither of you will be able to help us if animals ambush us?” Mitch asked.

“Well, we’ve got natural defenses,” Azala answered, “But we’re scouts not meant to get into fights.”

“Glad I asked,” Maxine was outright laughing now, “That could have been a bad surprise.”

“Are you good for watches?” Mitch asked, “Without the Mage Lights we might actually encounter prowling animals at night.”

“Neth’s got a beautiful howl, it’s great for scaring people and animals away.” Azala suggested, grinning.

“That’ll wake us all up,” Mitch snorted, “I don’t think that’s what we want to do for this.  The goal is to get some sleep for everyone.”

“I know,” she cackled, “But you should have seen Neth’s face.”

Are you sure that we can’t spook critters off by having her natter at them?” Jaeth nodded his head in Azala’s direction.

“I think that would also keep the rest of us awake all night,” Kirlith countered.

“Hm,” Jaeth hummed, ignoring Azala’s indignation.

“I can take first watch,” Neth offered, “And I am easy to wake up, so don’t’ worry about when we get ready to leave for the next lef of the journey.”

Which will be the tower, right?” Kirlith asked, “Our maps put the Tower three days into the forest when we reach the deep, dense sector.”

“Our village is a little over a day away from it, “Neth offered, “Just as we are two days in, to protect our village from Mage Lights.”

“Does that mean you don’t catch all visitors to the forest as they travel toward Aridh Tower?” Mitch queried.

“No, we don’t,” Neth answered, “We leave bands of soldiers alone, they get too violent.”

“Yea, I’m not surprised, “Jaeth snickered, “King Heaal has been training them as though there’s another kingdom out there, going to try taking over.”

“With there being a set of triplets born in the last generation,” Azala flailed her hands in the air as she spoke, “Is it any wonder?” and then she and Neth shot amused looks at one another, as though they often ended up on opposite sides of discussion.

“How do you all know of them already?” Kirlith gaped, “Tanner said nothing, and the rest of us said nothing.”

“You aren’t the only ones with Seers,” Neth tilted his head, slightly challengingly.

“That and some of the other visitors we have gotten have brought word from Lhour, and they speak of them as adorable little girls,” Azala grinned, “I’d like to meet them, see if they’re as strong as legends say triplet tend to be.”

“They’re only just starting their lessons,” Tanner shook his head, “The best they could do when I left was make a Resistant sneeze.”

“That you saw,” Maxine smirked.

“Wait, they showed you something?” Tanner’s eyes flew over to the red-head.

“Of course, they wanted me to advocate them getting visitors, or going home,” the smirk slid to a smile, “Mayra was unconsciously drawing energy to herself, and there was the part you’d seen with Kayla.”

“It sounds like they’d be entertaining to watch as they learn,” Neth smiled.

“I think you’d get along with Kayla,” Maxine suggested, “She likes quiet people.” Neths’ smile slid into another expression, but it might have been a near blush.  Tanner couldn’t tell yet.  But some day he hoped to be able to.

Conversation fell silent for a minute or two, as they walked in the direction the tower should be.  Right as it was going to pick up again, there was a rustling in the low-resting bushes they were passing.  Much of the group tensed up, but for Neth and Azala, who both laughed.

“You’d best head on home, little sister,” Neth grinned, “Your mother will be looking for you.”

“And you’d best not tell her you saw us.  She knows where we are going, and if you say you saw us, she’ll know where you went,” Azala added.

The little cat-eared girl meeped, looked up at the humans and dashed off, “Please don’t tell when you come back!”

“Only if you swear you won’t ever try going there again until you’re an adult,” Neth spoke over Azala’s demand for some kind of repayment.

“You weren’t kidding when you said the children weren’t supposed to go there, eh?” Jaeth grinned, “Kind of like the military barracks back home.  Kids weren’t supposed to go there; we’d only be in the way.”

“I’d guess you were constantly underfoot anyway?” Maxine raised an eyebrow.

“Nope, I was always in a classroom.  Didn’t dare leave, lest I get my mother into trouble along with me,” Jaeth countered.

“Where I grew up, the forbidden place was the old Dwarven Range,” Kirlith giggled, “There used to be a village of dwarves where we lived, and they had an entire field flattened for their smithing and crafting.  When they moved to hillier mountains, my ancestors took up tending the land.  The Range was still considered unsafe, because of who knew how many fragments of metal in the soil.”

“Our unsafe spot was the nearby river,” Mitch shrugged, “no guesses as to why.”

“What about you, Maxine?” Tanner asked, “The College’s closest to a forbidden place is leaving the grounds without permission.”

“We weren’t supposed to venture too far into the caverns,” Maxine sighed, not seeming eager to share too many details.

“You grew up near mountains?” Mitch asked, tilting his head to look at her from his vantage of being at the front of the group of travelers.

“Hm,” she wasn’t giving any more than that, no matter who heckled her.  In fact, for much of the rest of the trip, she was quiet.

When the light filtered out to the point that Neth and Azala felt it was time to camp, Jaeth and Mitch roamed around just a bit, to gather some fruits and berries they recognized as edible, and carried them back to the impromptu camp.  They shared them, as well as some of the remaining grain-foods they still had, and while the Ethrans looked at the food with a slight disdain, they ate.

Neth took first watch, and he and Azala argued Maxine into taking a later one, saying she had been among the first awake that day, and should sleep longer.  Instead, second watch was Jaeth, who fortunately, was at least good at being quiet for this part of the day.

The next morning, they packed up and headed out again, continuing in the same direction as before, knowing that only part of the day would be spent in the forest.

When the trees started thinning out, Tanner started looking around a little more.  It was a little brighter than he was used to, but then he remembered that spell that had been placed on his eyes.  He saw an increasing number of stones that looked like they’d been broken off of something, instead of having been naturally formed and weathered down.

A quiet huff from Neth had the youth looking straight ahead, where he could begin to see the block-staggering structure that said they’d found the tower.  They got closer, enough that the width of the tower was almost half of their field of vision and paused.

The tower stood tall, showing some weathering in the cracks through most stones he could see.  There looked to be moss growing along the side nearest the group too, but that actually wasn’t the thing Tanner found himself focused on.

That dubious honor belonged to the glowing lights floating around the base of the tower.

“No spirits?” Jaeth pointed, “So what are those?”

“They’re as bright as Mage Lights,” Neth winced.

“Wonder if no one’s seen any of this because they had the Mage Lights, and the floating Lights couldn’t be seen, or were scared off?” Kirlith suggested.

“Could be,” Tanner mumbled, “But if all we’ve got are lights.”

“They’re not just lights,” Maxine hissed, “They- I don’t know the name.  They’re not alive, but if you get close enough to them, you see someone in your past, someone you miss.  It doesn’t have to be a dead person, just someone you wish you could see again.”

“And they’re scared of Mage Lights?” Azala demanded.

“I already said they’re not sentient,” Maxine shook her head, “The Mage Lights wash them out.  Like trying to see white next to yellow.”

“So why haven’t any Ethrans spoken of them?” Jaeth countered.

“Because most often a person you wish you could see again is a dead person, and the Ethran children aren’t supposed to come out here.  So they’re not going to talk about clandestine trips.” Maxine snorted.

“And the grown-ups?” Aala nodded, “Why do they say nothing?”

“Because when you know what it is, it’s a non-entity,” Maxine shook her head, “A way to see how well the kids do at following the rules.”

“I suppose that makes sense,” Neth nodded, “So what’s up in the Tower,” he then looked in Tanner’s direction.

“I doubt I’m related to the spirit I’ve seen in my Visions,” tanner blinked.

“I’m not related to anyone I’ve ever seen thanks to one of those Lights,” Maxine sighed.

“Are you related to anyone?” Jaeth burst out.

Maxine flinched and shook her head.

“So we’re her, “Kirlith obviously didn’t care how abrupt it was, she knew Maxine wouldn’t want to carry on with the subject.

“What are the chances of there being wild animals here, and no one says anything?” Mitch asked.

“Well, cover your ears,” Neth grinned, showing of every last sharp tooth in his mouth, he was actually warming up to this adventure, evidently,” Azala wasn’t kidding about my howl.”

Tanner’s eyes reflexively widened even as he set his hands over his ears.  He caught a glimpse of the others doing so as well.

Even through his hands, it was an eerie sound.  It was deadened by his hands somewhat, but it still climbed unbearably high in pitch, even as it was incredibly loud.

When Neth gestured with his hands, first  setting them to, then pulling them away from his ears, Tanner followed the latter half of the gesture.

“That scares animals off, instead of summoning them,” Jaeth shook his head, “I can at least believe it stuns them.”

Neth grinned, “Imagine how your ears would ring if your ear hadn’t been covered.”

“I’d rather keep it an imagined, thing,” Kirlith was still holding her head.

“Oh,” Neth’s face fell, “You have elven hearing.”

“Mm,” she nodded.

“Are you going to be okay climbing the Tower?” Maxine asked.

“I’ll be slow to start,” Kirlith sighed.

“Well, with no animals in the Tower, it shouldn’t be a problem to have someone carry you,” the redhead offered.

“And what if the passage isn’t wide enough?” Kirligh balked.

“I was talking about them carrying you on their back,” Maxine snorted, “But if you’re against the idea, we won’t do it.”

“I’d rather not,” the dark-skinned woman replied.

“Fine enough,” Jaeth almost looked disappointed.

They approached the Tower closer, and were interrupted by the sound of Mitch groaning. “I see what you mean about someone you wish you could see again.”

There was a Light floating right in front of the entry to the Tower, and Tanner thought he saw his parents- oh, that was what Mitch meant.

“How do we get it to move?” Jaeth looked from Mitch to Maxine.

“There isn’t a way to do that, not guaranteed anyway,” Maxine sighed, “We’ll just have to-“

And then it floated off, leaving Maxine to lead the group up the stairs and quickly Tanner moved to walk up right behind her.

He wasn’t sure how many steps there were, but his legs were getting sore.  He could still see some weathering on the blocks that made up the walls, but it was minimal.

They wound up having to take two breaks as the climbed.  One because Tanner just couldn’t climb any more for a while, and the other because Jaeth decided that it would be prudent if they took a break right before the top, to make sure they were as close to fresh as they could be when they got there, just in case.

They got up to the room finally, and Tanner looked around before anything else; at least after he got out of the way of the others climbing.

The walls matched, mostly, but they were also adorned in tattered drapes, that made the boy wonder if this had been a meeting room, or a tower connected to something at one time.  There was a soft color to the material, but the time wearing it to shreds and the dust from time killed any chance he had of knowing what color.  Then his eyes, because he finally let them, caught on the raised platform and pillar on top, and he felt the compulsion from his dream.

“There aren’t any of those Spirit Lights,” Kirlith’s voice was a little muffled to his hearing.

“There he goes,” Mitch’s was a little exasperated, but he couldn’t pick up much past that.

Suddenly, as he was reaching to the second level of the dais, a red head of hair slid into view, followed by a white glove, “Hey now. Remember, it’s not safe to blindly reach out and poke things.”

Tanner just side-stepped her, and heard her sigh.

“Can’t we pin him in place?” Jaeth grumbled.

“Oh and it’s not as though the rest of his Vision hasn’t come into play,” Maxine drawled, a hand gently on Tanner’s shoulder

It was as his hand reached out to the eye shaped into the stone that Tanner regained control of himself.  Of course, by the time he thought to pull his arm back, his fingers were settled through the emblem as it was resting on the Spirit’s chest.

“You can move your hand at any time,” she spoke quietly, “I won’t strike at you.”

He pulled his hand back, even as Maxine wrapped her arms around him and pulled him up back and off of the structure.

“My name is Anneth Roka.  This is Rokaha Tower, in the lands called Rokahash.  My father sent soldiers to defend our lands against Tyaneel Kingdom, and then we were ambushed.  I sacrificed myself to save my people,” she paused.  If she’d need of it, Tanner would swear it was to breathe, “This is the Southwest tower of Roka Castle.  It is a lookout tower we have bargained for with the Ethrans; and when my father heard of my intent, he reluctantly aided me in this.  The obelisk is a physical manifestation of my magic.”

“Oh my,” Neth whispered, “Either she’s delusional in death, or historical events got rewritten.”

“Please tell me how my people fare?” Anneth’s face, translucent as it was, took on a cast of begging.

“They are no more, my lady,” Maxine had let go of Tanner, and looked apologetic at the spirit, “If you died when I suspect you did; they were gone- perhaps exterminated within a month.”

The sprit’s face contorted itself through the hoops of shock, fear, despair, and then jerked into disbelief, “I want proof of this.”

“No one’s met a Rokahashan in ages,” Mitch shook his head, “Tyaneel eventually became known as Divrain, but the histories say that King Roka sent a set of triplets to the Tower of Recording to tap their and the Towers’ powers, and they never came back, so the plans he’d had backfired.  Got the whole castle killed by the backlash, and the citizens scattered.”

“I demand to see proof of this!” Anneth hissed, “Until I see this for myself, I refuse to believe it!”

“You’re a ghost,” Jaeth paused, “You can’t-“

“I’m not a ghost!” she yelped, “Ghosts are stil on this plan involuntarily, I chose to stay behind to protect my people!”

“Guess it didn’t work so well,” Jaeth said under his breath; or sort of.  It was loud enough for Tanner to hear, and evidently, for Anneth as well.  She moved forward to do or say something, but Maxine stepped in.

“Let it go,” she drawled, “He’s good at riling people up and you’re his target right now.”

“I take it you’re his usual pick?” Anneth shot the redhead a loo,k and then looked closer, “That mark, how did you get anything for the Enda?”

“I don’t’ know,” Maxine blew it off, “I’ve always had it.”

“So,” Mitch had reached out and gripped Jaeth’s shoulder, apparently a sign for the taller man to hush; and looked in Anneth’s direction, “What do you need as proof?”

“I want to see the castle,” Anneth started listing, complete with finger- counting, “I also want to speak with the Ethra Elder, and the Abbot or Abbess of the monastery of the Fait.”

“How far are the grounds of the castle?” Kirlith leaned against Jaeth’s other side.

“It is one day North East,” Anneth nodded her head, “You can’t miss the flag flying in the wind, once you’re within an hour of it.

The group camped the night in that tower room, getting Anneth’s declaration for its safety, and upon waking, got the Spirit’s reassurance that the castle wasn’t too far away for her to venture, she’d just been asleep all that time, and the Seer’s poking had woken her.  They then ventured down the stairs to scrounge up some food.  Neth had Azala had been content-ish with dried goods the day before, but needed some actual meat soon.

It didn’t take too long for the two Ethrans to bring back an animal large enough for everyone to be able to eat meat to do so.

Anneth, even if she were a ghost, wrinkled her nose at the meat as it cooked, “I never realized.”

“What that the meat you ate really once was an animal of some kind?” Jaeth joked.

“That and just how messy the preparation is,” she agreed, strangely enough.

“Well, you were a princess, it’s no wonder if you never did any menial work,” Mitch shrugged.

“I-“ Anneth stopped herself before she spoke, then continued, “I learned sewing, embroidery, surely that counts/”

“To some extent, maybe,” Kirlith shook he head as she prodded at the cooking meat.

“Well, I don’t suppose any of you eve had to learn anything of statesmanship, or stewarding,” The Spirit tried to banter back.

“My mother is a chambermaid to the queen,” Jaeth grinned, “Of Divrain.  I was meant to be lead manservant to the prince.  I learned a lot about diplomacy.”

“You just choose to ignore all of it,” Maxine snorted, “Or at least use it highly selectively.”

“Exactly!” He cackled.

When they finished eating , and had cleaned up they trekked in the direction  the former princess indicated.  The grass showed vague signs of not having always been there.  There were large, jutting beams, broken planks and patches of sand crossing their path.

With each sign of decay, the Spirit’s shape wavered.  When they reached a point where the piles of stone got larger, Anneth reappeared with a cry.

“Where is the flag? The gates, the walls,” she wailed, making Neth, Azala, and Kirlith wince, “The animals?’ A howl answered her question in a fashion that displeased most of the group.  Turning in the direction of the sound, they saw a Wygel slinking up to them followed by a handful of others  of its kind.

“Oh this is lovely,” Jaeth snarled, “Thank you Anneth for summoning them.”

“This is- these aren’t,” Anneth stuttered, in shock.

“Neth, Azala, keep Kirlith company, would you ?” Mitch called out, “Jaeth, Maxine and I are going to see what we can-“

“No, I’ll help, Neth interrupted, “Maxine would do better keeping an eye on our flank, with Kirlith, Azala and Tanner.”

I thought you guys didn’t’ fight? : Maxine asked, but there was no time for a response, as the first Wygel attempted to seize Mitch’s arm in its teeth.  It instead got Jaeth’s axe.

Neth zipped forward, teasing at the Wygel’s sides with is claws, distracting them.  This made it easier for Jaeth and Mitch to take down the remaining vive.

They thought the cluster was finished and those who’d fought the creatures were cleaning the blades and claws used.  Azala’s call of “Behind you!” prefaced the roar and then yelp.

Maxine had whirled around, pulling her sword from its sheath, swinging it- but wouldn’t get it in place in time – when Anneth flashed from her spot of dejected moping to right in front of Maxine, screaming something, judging by her face.  But there was no sound.

The Wygel’s yelp revealed that her soundless scream had frozen it long enough for the sword to come to bear; both knocking it away from Maxine and to the ground, and hacking its head and shoulders apart from one another.

Gasping for air, Maxine sat heavily on the ground, “Never got that close before.”

Neth, Azala, and Kirlith swarmed her, setting hands to her shoulders an back, until the elf-blooded woman could say, “Physically, she’s just fine.  Let her sit a bit to calm her nerves.”

“Oh give me a-“ Maxine, flapped her hands at the three and moved to stand, “It’s not that bad, it was just a moment of shock. I’ve honestly never had one of those critters sneak up on me like that before.  Speaking of, thank you Anneth.”

“Considering it seems my cry called their attention,” the Spirit was subdued in her response.

Neth offered his arm to help Maxine stand, even as Azala tried to keep her low to the ground.  “Will you stop?” Maxine hissed to the cat-woman, and accepted Neth’s help.  Once she was back on her feet, she swiped at as much of the dust on her backside as she could.  “So are we returning to the Tower, or heading to the village?”

“The Tower would be the best bet,” Kirlith suggested, “For one, we have a place there to sleep-“

Tanner was still more than a little fascinated by the structures of the houses.  Some of the older trees proved to be hollowed out.  He was told that it had been harmless to the trees themselves, because the deepest cores were left intact, words accompanied by gentle strokes to the central walls of the rooms.  He didn’t mind the lower-level rooms, and was even okay with the ones higher up, as long as he didn’t have to navigate one of the rope ladders to get there.  Climbing up that high was hard on his nerves.  He hadn’t had that sort of daring deep in his bones as a child, and had only grown even further out of it.

Luckily, no one else seemed to have a problem with him wanting to climb to the higher rooms from the inside, but for some of the Shifter- no Ethra- youngsters his age.  That was something else he’d been told during the ending hours of the day that they’d arrived in the village.  They preferred the name ‘Ethra’ to Shifters.  They’d been pleasantly surprised he had known anything of them at all, and even more pleased that the name he’d remembered was Shifter rather than Weres, but it was still not quite right.

Of course, like pretty much any other species on the planet, the word they used to describe themselves meant ‘the people.’

Tanner had started taking notes on things like this, only to be greeted with a puzzled look.  First mistaking it for the material he was writing on, as it was a skin shaved thin, he’d held it gingerly out towards the person giving him the odd look. They hadn’t reached for it, but asked him why he was writing things down.

“To take the information back to the College,” he’d answered, and had gotten an even stranger look afterward.

The first conversation with the Elder, after Tanner had told him about the details of the Vision had amounted to the Elder saying they were free to stay the night.  They would be given rooms, one for the adult males, one for the females, and Tanner to himself.  Come the morning, the Elder would send young Ethra guards-in-training to their rooms to either roust them or gather them for breakfast.  After breakfast they would speak again, this time about what would happen with the investigation of Aridh Tower.

The odd looks in regards to Tanner taking notes were during the time between, and thus made no sense to him until they were speaking with the Elder. 

“Ages ago, it was agreed to never use Mage Lights in the depths of the forest,” The Elder began, “Agreed between Human, Elf, Dwarf, Dragon and Ethra. The Centaurs have no interest in the forest come this deep so we never had need to worry about them.  We asked this because the light hurts our eyes.”

“So the price of us not knowing this and breaking this apparent pact?” Maxine raised an eyebrow.

“Well, since humans seem to have forgotten the Ethra, Aridh Tower’s history, and of the pact, we don’t believe it would be safe for us to let you return,” the Elder started, taking a deep breath, “But at the same time, you were ignorant of this, and have complied with our requests as best you can.  I have roughly half of the younglings in the village utterly besotted with the idea of following you on your adventure, or going out of the forests to investigate the villages of humans.  This could be a good thing.  A very good thing; or it could be a very, very bad thing.  The trouble I have is that I know not which it is at this time.”

“Maybe in small groupings,” Maxine drawled, “And don’t let them wander without someone who’s more in control of themselves, or a human who is in the know.”

“Which would be one of you,” The elder’s eyes were lighting on Maxine in a way that made Tanner think he was asking her questions with his eyes.  But of course, she wasn’t going to answer.  She probably needed to hear the questions to give the answers, if nothing else.

“So, if we’re here, and you’re contemplating letting some of your kits and pups go out into the wild blue yonder, why not let us continue to Aridh Tower, finish our task, and then we can work out-“ Jaeth was leaning back in his chair, instead of sitting upright in it.

“We had just about decided to do that, yes,” The Elder interrupted the man, and Kirlith and Mitch both looked at each other with a smirk.  Maybe the Elder knew that Jaeth had a tendency to do that and was just getting a head-start?

“What’s stopping you?” Jaeth’s face was a little sour.

“We’re going to send a couple of our scouts with you, to help get an idea of whom all among our younglings would be safe to send out into the lands of humans again,” the dog-man nodded, “The scouts I have preference for are curious in nature to start with, so asking questions will be no challenge for them.  It will only be a matter of adding a direction to the questions, as opposed to talking someone who is reticent into acting the chatterbox.”

The conversation eventually waned, and the travelers were given rooms for the night.  When they woke, they were guided back to the room where they had spoken with the Elder.  There was a fair amount of food spread out across the table top that had been set against the wall the night before, and was now pulled out to hold the food in the center of the room.  They were invited to sit and eat or stand and eat as they pleased, and they were introduced to a few faces of the Ethra village.

After everyone had eaten their fill, most of the people scattered off to carry out their assigned tasks.  The Elder, the group Tanner had been traveling with, and two other Ethrans were there.  Studying them in turn, Tanner noticed that the female’s cat-like face looked like there might still be some baby fat on it, like Tanner’s had, but he wasn’t sure; hadn’t been around the Ethra for nearly enough time to tell if she really was that young, or if she just had a baby face.  Her skin was light brown with paler stripes and her hair a dark red.  Slitted grey eyes danced over the shape and details that made up the humans of the small group in front of her even as she grinned up at them.

The male might have been as tall as Mitch; Tanner wanted to say they were the same height, but one or the other was always slouching a little, so he couldn’t be sure.  He had darker skin than the female, but it also went into the sandy tones, and his hair was just a little more on the red side, as opposed to the yellows found in his skin.  He was setting more of his focus on Kirlith, which gave Tanner almost a perfect view of his face from the side.  So the youth could definitely see that like many of the other Ethrans, his face extended further out, in his case, pretty well in the shape of a dog or wolf’s snout.

He seemed content to just stand and stare, but the girl sure wasn’t, “So we’re traveling with you to the Tower?  I’ve never been there, never was curious about it.”

“Why are you going now?” Kirlith asked, looking a little discomfited with the stare form the other Ethran.

“I’m curious about humans,” she grinned, “Just as you’ve not seen us; many of us haven’t seen any of you.”

“Her name is Azala, and his is Neth,” the Elder nodded in their directions, “He is traveling with you because he is curious about the tower though he has never gone out to look, because it is supposed to be off-limits to children.”

“They’re kids?” Jaeth boggled, “They’re so tall.”

“Our children stay children for a number of years longer than yours, even after their bodies are done growing.  Our lives last longer as well, you should remember.  I believe by year count, all of you would yet be children for us.”

“All?” Mitch laughed, “How long do Ethra live?’

“I remember the set of triplets born to the College,” the Elder laughed, “Not in person; I never met them, but that was because King Roka had ideas in his head that weren’t good for him, or them.  He sent them out to investigate the Tower of Recording.”

“It doesn’t exist,” Mitch grumbled.

“Well certainly no one has seen it in many, many years,” the Elder was neither agreeing nor disagreeing.

“There’s something out on the waters, that makes people get lost as they try to find it,” Azala started.

“So you remember that far back?” Kirlith changed the subject?

“Yes,” the canine grinned, “I’m nearing the end of my time, and I’ve lived a nice long life.  Oddly, I’ve been the Elder so long I can’t remember what my name was before, and no one alive now knows what it was before.  It happens often enough to those of us who become Elder.”

“None of your children lived to use the name?” Kirlith asked.

“Our culture is like that of the humans, a child never calls their parents by given name.  And I never had children,” Elder explained.

Tanner blinked.  Which culture would the Elder be referring to that didn’t have children call their parents by honorifiics?

“Ah,” Kirlith nodded, “That explains it.  That was always a contention in my home,” looking at Tanner she added, “My family has elven blood tied in, so we could call our family by given names as well as the titles, depending on audience.”

“Really?” Azala asked, her eyes flying wide, suddenly no longer fussing silently about the topic change.

“Yes, really,” Kirlith just shook her head.

“As it seems you’re ready to go,” the Elder nodded at the gathered gear, again, changing the subject on Azala, much to her consternation, “We shall guide you to the direction in which the Tower lays, and cast the spell for your sight to be renewed.  Take care with Azala and Neth’s eyes should you be there long enough that this second application wears through.”

“We’ll come up with something,” Maxine assured him.

“When you return, “The elder looked at the red-headed woman, “I would like to speak with you.  I have a few questions I suspect you can answer.  If you’ll humor me.”

“I might be able to,” she hedged, “But I can’t be sure until you ask ethos e question.”

“True enough,” he agreed, “We’ll find out then.  May your Hunt be fruitful.”

Azala and Neth called it out in return as they left the room, and the humans called ‘Fare thee well,’ as they had differing parting phrases.

When they were back on the ground, just before they left the scope of the tree homes of the Ethra, one of the older females gently reached out to Kirlith’s shoulder with a cat’s paw.  After the dark-skinned woman turned, the paw was slowly extended towards her eyes, giving the woman a chance to know what was coming.

“With a direct application such as this, the spell should last for several days,” moving to Tanner, who was short enough she could reach him easily enough, she kept on talking, “You will notice it fading. It will fade first by shadows being deeper than before.” Tapping on Mitch’s arm, she gestured for him to lean down; instead, he crouched, “When you notice this, you will have half a day left of the effects. From there everything will lose brightness,” stepping away from Mitch she moved to Jaeth, who did only lean over, “You will know it to have faded completely by the lack of seeing Neth’s hair as a separate color from his fur,” finally she turned to Maxine. The red-head paused and then crouched down like Mitch had, but the woman stared at her for a few extra seconds, “There is something different about you, like with Kirlith, I shall have to use a modified version of the spell.”

“So long as I’m not going to be a bother,” the dark eyes focused on the gently wrinkled face in confusion, “Nor am I eager to be unable to see in the forest.  I think I would as well stay here in that case.”

“Maxine,” Tanner started.

“No, there’s a modification, easy enough.  But yours will not last as long, anywhere from a half day to a full one less. And I’ve not cast it much more than in practice, so I apologize if your headaches the entire time it is affecting you.”

“I might be more snappish,” Maxine shrugged lightly, “But it’s not the worst I’ve ever lived with.”

“May your Hunt be fruitful, and your Den be safe,” the woman said as she pulled her hands from Maxine’s face.  Azala and Neth double-blinked before they repeated the message sans the second half.

He couldn’t say that they were suddenly all friends, Jaeth and Maxine still argued a lot.  But Maxine had just learned to say anything important to the man early in the morning, and if she had to add anything later, she’d pin his jaw in place until she was done talking.  Jaeth learned not to sneak up on Maxine, because one instance of him doing so left him curled on the ground for a solid minute or three.

Kirlith learned that Tanner would talk about the Visions if she caught him right as he woke, something about her tone being very close to that of the Abbot’s in his ears that early, and he couldn’t help it.  And like the Abbot, she made sure the other three heard the details.

It was how they learned that Tanner had seen Mitch’s dark hair and jacket two nights before they’d met in Tomovie.  And as the details clarified, they learned that first Kirlith, and then Jaeth had solidified enough that he could hear their voices and see their faces.  Mitch was the clearest of the four, with Tanner being able to see little stains and slices in the man’s jacket that were and weren’t yet present.  Maxine stayed as resolved as before, the boy couldn’t ever get a close look at her eyes, to see what color they were, regardless of how much she leaned in every Vision, trying to get him to not reach out for the stone.  And Jaeth sometimes had a new-healing scar on his arm as Tanner looked back, and sometimes didn’t.

When they reached the edge of the deeper forests, where the trees grew so tall and so thick that very little light peeked through, Mitch and Jaeth pulled blocks from their bags, and held them out to Kirlith.  She tapped them lightly with her hands and they took to glowing gently.  Mitch’s glowed a little brighter, but as Tanner remembered that they were Glow Lights, he knew it was because Jaeth had no magic of his own.  The Light was feeding from the initial tap, and only had itself as a source, so it couldn’t get as bright.  Also from that point, Mitch and Maxine traded the other two.

Stepping fully under the canopy of green spread across the sky scape by brown arms thicker than Jaeth’s chest at some points, the Glow Lights proved even brighter than they had with other light surrounding them, which told Tanner that they were built to be re-usable.

“How many charges are on the Lights?” he asked Kirlith, with a short look back in her direction.

“We’ve got four in each pack to cycle through.  They’ll last about eight hours and need twenty-four to recharge,” She listed, “And with any luck, they’ll still have a charge left by the time we reach the Tower.”

“Three charges each,” Mitch called back, “And Kirlith’s got a set of four in her pack as well, for emergencies.  We’re hoping that we won’t have to bring them out at all, but if we have to, we’ll use them for the tower itself.”

“So we’re camping shortly before the second set of Lights goes dim each night?” Maxine asked, “Or are we going to clear spaces for fires?”

“We were thinking a small fire would be safe, at least this first night,” Mitch responded, “The second, since we’d be nearly there, we were probably going to camp earlier, eat cold food, and wake early to get to the tower in time to use it as a place to have no chance of ambush during the night.”

“What kinds of animals are we watching out for?” Tanner didn’t want to voice the idea that the animals might attack, but he knew it was possible.

“Most of the animals in the forest would rather run from us,” Jaeth snorted, “At least during the day.  At night we might get a few visitors.”

“So, someone on watch at night?” the stories always talked about someone posted to keep watch for a few hours, and then someone to take their turn, so he was just going to keep asking until someone said yes, he guessed, but the nights they’d spent on the way to the forest had somehow been safe enough to have them all sleep the night through, and he didn’t know how this was working.  Maybe he should ask.

“Here in the forest yes,” Kirlith sighed, “I don’t have the protections for Forests mastered, so I can only ward them off.”

“Wait, that’s how we’ve been okay to sleep all night through?” Tanner blinked.  He was a little upset at himself for not thinking of this sooner, really.  It had been covered in class that you could ward some animals off, depending on terrain.

“I thought you were asking because you wanted an excuse to call yourself a sentry for a night,” Jaeth snickered, reaching forward to pat the young man in what the axe-wielder probably thought was a gentle fashion.

“I’m sorry,” he bit back the urge to remind them of how he’d not left the College ever; at least not since he’d first arrived after his parents’ death, but he’d said that often enough, he worried it was beginning to be seen as a crutch.

“It’s no big deal, we just don’t know what all you don’t know yet,” Mitch shrugged, “Jaeth will probably start assuming you don’t know anything next, and will be explaining every little thing, so maybe you should just tell us what kinds of classes you’ve had for interacting with the rest of the world?”

“Ah I hadn’t yet.  I wasn’t rushing through my classes.  Figured it was a better idea not to.” Tanner shrugged, “So most of my classes had been based on orientation for the school, learning the basics of centering, grounding, and how to actually use gifts, if we had them.  Uhm.  I’ve learned the basics of casting, but I’ve never been past those.  Most of these classes take a year or three to complete.”

“Well, there was planning at hand,” Kirlith laughed, “Since you had no idea that you might need to plan for wandering the world, it’s not your fault that all of your planning was around getting a good grounding.  You wanted to teach, right?”

They slept that first night in the forest, and Tanner woke up early enough to be the one to wake one of the others.  Based off of the previous days, Tanner knew that being the one to wake Mitch was about as much fun as trying to wake one of his old roommates by the name of Gires.  The other boy had been jumpy, and when people tried to wake him, he flailed wildly.  Which lead to bruises.  Mitch, while not a flailer, had a tendency to grab at the space around someone’s neck and pull them over his shoulder so as to level the playing field- according to his fresh-waking mind.

They were nearing the middle of the second day of travel in the deeper section of the forest, when Tanner noticed the others getting unusually tense.  This made him look around trying to see what might be causing it.  He’d made a second pass across his point of view, only seeing the same trees, plants and mosses as they’d been seeing all along.

Then he heard a light noise; one that he couldn’t identify, and whipped his head in the direction of it.  There was a cluster of people, in the shadows of the trees not in immediate range.  They were staring at the five travelers, and occasionally muttering to one another.  They were far enough that not only could they not clearly be seen, they couldn’t be headr well either.

Eventually, one stepped forward and approached Mitch, “What brings you to this forest?’

“We’re just on our way to Aridh Tower,” Mitch answered, looking curiously as the other got closer.

A female, with dark skin and darker hair, he thought.  She stood no taller than Tanner, but there was something about her that made the young man nervous.

“Aridh?” he looked between them “There is no treasure, no writings, nothing to make it a venture to make a name for any of you.”

“No, but there’s a Seer with a Vision about the place,” Mitch tilted his head, “We’re in your territory, certainly ,but none of your people have declared it as such, so we didn’t know.”

“There’s a Vision about the Tower,” she paused, and looked over their shoulders.  Tanner turned to look, and saw another group.

“What’s in the Vision?” a male from the second group came closer.

“So far there’s just the inside of the tower, and the Memory Stone, and a spirit appearing from within it,” Kirlith spoke as though she were the source.  Tanner figures she was trying to keep I out of trouble, which didn’t bother him.

“There are no spirits in or around Aridh Tower,” the male drawled, the ‘r’s trilling a little.

“Why do you think we were sent to investigate?” Mitch smiled, trying to look about as harmless as he could, s far as the subject went.

“Your people have lost contact with ours,” the female spoke again, “Or your elder would be sending you to relay this to us, and no more.  You would not have brought the Mage Lights and-“

“The Shifters!” Tanner’s brain put the pieces together, and his mouth spat the words out before he realized the conclusion had been made.  He then clapped his hands over his mouth and sheepishly apologized with his eyes to Maxine specifically.

“If you know we still exist, how do you not know to not have the Mage Lights?” A third one spoke up, sounding a little like he was hissing.

“We knew your people yet lived,” Maxine sighed, “Bu the stories lost track of where.  They spoke of deep forests, lush and green; dark and calm, but the two days into the forest from anywhere of the Southward inclined, all of the forest becomes this densely packed.”

“Because it is all ours to protect,” the trilling ‘r’ spoke again, “We have tome to guard all of this forest, especially as you humans had seemed to have forgotten us.

“We’re a short-lived species,” Jaeth was amazingly diplomatic about it, “And our memories don’t go into a genetic bank like for the Lost Tribe.”

“You speak as if that excuses it,” the female was just shy of hissing herself, now.

“Well if no one’s encountered one of your people in a hundred years, “Mitch started, “There are no sightings to say you all yet live.  Two generations of this and any who had a grandparent who had seen any of you would be skeptical, because, again, no sightings. Come a third or fourth generation still possibly only about two hundred years, and you become legends, bedtime stories, tales of note without substance.”

“This is what happened with the elves and the dragons?” the sibilant male’s done sounded like he was raising an eyebrow, but the groups were staying well enough into the shadows, no features could be seen, barring the few on the one female they had noted.

“Except their stories are so fantastical, the children can’t forget about them,” Mitch sighed.

“We cannot cast magic, nor do we fly, or mine, so we fade into nothingness?” the female snorted, “It’s not worth it to care.”

“In any case,” the male with rolling ‘r’s spoke once more, “We cannot let you pass.  Not peaceably.”

“Return to the lighter forests; camp for a few days,” the third voice suggested, “We will investigate the  tower for you, and report back.  Then you may go back to your short, short lives.”

“We can’t,” Maxine walked backwards, closer to Tanner, “Since you’re better informed than us as a whole, you should remember how the College arranges Graduation.”

“The College of the Gifted?” the female laughed, “It is not possible that you came from there.  Fewer than half of you would be student-possibles, and Graduating students are still required to wear the robes.  Nor will you convince us that any of you are from the Monasterial side of their purpose,” The female continued.

“So it’s impossible for the Seer to investigate the elements of their Vision,” Kirlith drawled.

“Why is this rule in place?” Misth asked, “First you’re upset by humans forgetting you, and then you say we’re not allowed in your forest.”

“For one thing, you’ve not come in the right way.” The female snarled, “Those Mage Lights are not allowed.”

“Our alternative is a wooden torch,” Jaeth squawked, “And that’s even worse, we don’t see well in darkness like this.”

“None of you can spell your eyes for it?” the female demanded.

“I’m a healer,”Kirlith grumbled, “And that’s not in our skill set. None of the others practice magic like that.”

There was a nod between two in the shadows, and one broke off, heading away somewhere. Then they were waiting, “We will see what the Elder says,” as per the rest of the conversation, it was the one female speaking.  She was apparently the spokesperson, Tanner realized.

Kirlith reached out with the hand not holding the Light, and tapped it, “If we’re staying here for a bit,” as it blipped out, “We might as well turn off one of the Lights.”

The five travelers clustered a little more closely together to wait.  Tanner wasn’t sure exactly how long the wait would be, but they were apparently set for it.

When the shadow that had broken off returned, he approached the female.  They had a quiet but heated discussion, for a few minutes.  When it was over, the female reached out with one hand, and shortly after, Tanner had to blink rapidly for a moment or two.  The woods were suddenly a fair bit brighter.  This revealed the female to bear fox-like features to go with the proven dark hair, and slightly lighter fur.  She didn’t quite have ears perched atop her head, but the ones on the sides of her face were tipped, and wiggled a little as he watched.

Tanner quickly turned his eyes towards the one he thought had had the rolling ‘r’s in his speech, and he proved to have an even furrier face, with a shorter nose, and slitted pupils.  What caught the youth’s attention the most was the tail swishing behind the man, who proved to be nearly black in color.  Meeting his eyes, Tanner was grinned at.  A sense of humor?

“The Elder would like to speak with you,” the female spoke up, “So we will guide you to the village, on the condition that you extinguish that other Mage Light.”

Kirlith had moved to do so as soon as she’d realized the effects of the other woman’s actions, and held the darkened orb in her hand, “Done.”

“Follow us,” the hissing male spoke up.  Tanner was a little surprised to not see scales, but perhaps the hissing was because the man’s face seemed rigidly in place, and unlikely to move anywhere, “We’ll try to move slow enough for your group to keep up.”

“It’ll be appreciated,” Maxine took a lot of bluster out of both sides of the discussion with her comment.  And she knew it, judging by the sharp look she cast Jaeth and the man that hissed.  Both looked scolded, and Tanner absently wondered what it was about her gaze that had done it.  It hadn’t ever seemed to work before on the axe-man.

They really didn’t have too much further to walk, the hardest part was following the Shifter people in front of them, without falling too far behind, enough so that the ones behind them started to get huffy.  Tanner was the closest to a biggest offender in general, because he was still getting used to the travelling speed of his four normal companions.  The Shifters weren’t holding back, and so he was nearly running the whole time.

“How is it you have someone so unfit for long-distance travel with you?” one of the males who looked wolfish muttered to himself, mostly.  Just loud enough that Tanner heard.

“Just because most of us couldn’t be students at the College of the Gifted, doesn’t mean that none of us could have been or ever were,” Jaeth grumbled back.

“So he’s your real Seer?” asked the man with a cat-like face that had spoken to them before the directive to meet the Elder had been given.

“Go figure it wouldn’t be kept quiet for long,” Kirlith sighed, “Yes.  He’s the one having the Visions.”

“That will make the conversation easier.  I wondered if we were going to have to send messenger birds to your Abbot after all, even if he might not remember us just as much as you all have forgotten.” The talkative female chose her words to dig at nerves, Tanner felt.

There was a hissing sound from one of the others, and the female twitched.  She tensed, and then she relaxed, nodding.

Tanner wanted to curl up around his belly and gasp for air by the time they reached a clearing, but then again, he was going to be gasping for air for a while when he saw what there was to see in that clearing as well, so he was just going to hope not to hurt himself with the deep breaths.

There were strands of vines and planks that Tanner wanted to swear made up rope ladders that could be shimmied up and slid down.  He knew for a fact that there were high-level bridges strung between particularly large trunks of trees.  Rope or vines, he wasn’t sure what made up the suspension parts, but they were keeping thin slats of wood in place.  And wrapping around various parts of branches sinking into the trunks of trees were what looked like houses made of smaller branches woven together.  Yes, he was unabashedly doing the ‘new to the area gawp,’ but he was also out of breath so he thought he had some genuine excuses for it, ready to toss back to someone if challenged for them.

There was an older man standing at the base of one of the biggest trees.  He was so old looking that his back was hunched, like parts of his back had given up and curled him around his belly for the rest of his life.  He had gnarled fingers wrapped around a long stick of wood that seemed to be holding up his weight, and he was dressed in multi-colored robes that hung to the ground, hiding all of his legs and most of his feet.  His face was distinctly in the shape of a dog’s, and his ears drooped around the sides of his head, and hung just a little under his jaw.  He was grey-colored, and Tanner wasn’t sure if it was because of age, or if it had been his natural color.

The Elder, Tanner was sure the old dog-man was him, stepped slowly forward, and scanned the group.  His eyes passed over most of the Shifters that had traveled with them, but for the talkative female, the male that hissed, and the one that rolled letters.  Each of them got a weighed look, one that Tanner was sure had some emotion in it, but he wasn’t empathic, nor had he ever met a Shifter face to face, so he wasn’t sure what that emotion happened to be.  Then those old eyes passed over Kirlith, Mitch, and Jaeth, and held for a few seconds each on them.  They reached Tanner, and he wanted to believe the shift was a shift to the warmer.

“Ah, our local Seer,” his voice didn’t sound nearly as old as he looked, so Tanner blinked, before nodding.  Before the young man could speak up, the Elder turned his eyes to Maxine.  They widened, and he looked like he was about to laugh about something before his face sobered up and fell back into the semi-stoic wrinkly-face Tanner had been trying to study before.  “I hear we have a Vision about Aridh Tower?”

“Yes sir,” Kirlith spoke up, and would have continued, but for the Elder’s free hand going to the air.

Tanner was trying not to gawk.  He’d always felt a little sorry for the new students to the College who did that.  But this town was so different from the school.

Sure, there were still walls, but they were part stone, part mud, and part something else.

“Sand,” Maxine nudged his shoulder, “It seals the stones together.”

I was trying not to g-“ he sighed, looking away from the walls, and glancing at a man brushing a horse’s sides in front of a house they passed.

“I gawped the first time I was here,” she shrugged, and then made her way deeper into the town.  “As long as you don’t stare at people too long, they’re not going to make much of a fuss.  Just be careful of people running into you.”

“Oh,” he knew why he’d need to be careful of that, “Okay, so what are we looking for?”

“To start, a supplies shop,” she looked left and right, “Food, clean clothes, mending tools, and then a shop for the protective gear.  I know the jacket’s a requirement at the school, but it won’t serve you well in the realm of protection.”

“Oh,” he blinked up at her, and stepped out of someone’s path.

“You can probably keep it in your pack.  Not many people will have much use for them,” she added, also shifting out of the way.

“But I’ll only need one set then, right?” he asked, “Keep the one that’s in the best shape, and the rest, maybe a shop will take them as scraps or rags?”

“It’s a decent idea.  Might not yield any coin, but at least you’ll have more space,” she agreed, dark eyes finally alighting on a building that seemed to match their needs. “There we go!”

She walked over to the store and moved to walk inside.  Just before she could reach for it, the door flew open and a man stomped out, barreling right into her.

“Oh hey!” Maxine called out, trying to regain her balance, “Let’s not use the oldest pickpocket trick in the book this early in the day, thanks!”

“I’m no pickpocket,” the man hissed, holding out burly arms with a ‘healthy’ amount of scars on them, “Do I look like the sleight of hand sort?”

“I prefer not to assume on the foolish side,” Maxine crossed her arms in front of herself and hissed back.

“Well I suppose you’re not as goofy a man as you look,” he drawled, facing back towards the shop he’d just left.

Tanner blinked.  He’d tried not to make a big deal of it, but though Maxine had a deep voice, she wasn’t flat.  So this guy had to practically be blind.  And how’d he miss the squish on impact?

“Wow you’re perceptually obtuse,” Maxine drawled, “And you’re blocking the door.  Mind stepping out of the-“

“Hey move, would you?” the man interrupted her, and Tanner caught a glimpse of his right eye.  It had a large, thick scar crossing it, top and bottom, and all the color had leached out, “You’re in the way.”

“You’re obnoxious,” she growled back, but moved.

“Glad you at least know when you’d be in over your head in a fight,” the man stepped further out of the building.  After a couple steps, it was clear he had someone with him, and that he was now purposely crowding Tanner’s traveling companion.

“Jaeth, stop it,” the female voice sounding from just inside the building matched the one from his dream the other night, Tanner thought, so he began wondering.  Shortly after, a tiny (especially in comparison to Maxine and the newly named Jaeth) woman with dark skin and even darker hair tied at the front of her shoulder with pale ribbons, “She’s being polite, you need to-“

“She?” Jaeth blinked, looked closer and blinked again, “Well, don‘t that beat all?”

“Are you starting things again?” a man followed the woman, and moved out of the doorway as fast as he could, standing off to the side.  He seemed to be studying both Tanner and Maxine.

“Aw, Mitch, it’s not that bad,” Jaeth grinned, “She started –“

“Are you really only five?” Maxine bit out.  For all the time they’d spent in the sun, and her skin not shifting tone, now her pale, pale skin wash sliding towards red.

“Well, I’ve been five,” Jaeth chuckled, “A few times even.”

“Jaeth,” the darker female hissed, “Stop it.”

“I’m making a wild guess here,” the other man, Mitch nodded his head in Tanner’s then in Maxine’s direction, “But his clothing looks like the stuff Mariss wears on her visits.  So you’re from the College of the gifted.  And as far as I know, students don’t leave often.”

“Oh,” Jaeth grinned, “I get it.  Hey kid, are you Tanner Aisen by any chance?”

Tanner nodded instead of speaking out loud, this guy had a horrible tendency to interrupt.  Tanner didn’t forsee much peace between Jaeth and Maxine at this rate.  Even without the gender flub.

“Well, as you probably figured, we’re friends of Mariss,” the female held her hand in the direction of one man, “Jaeth Vokron, specializes in axes, no skill in magic, but not particularly sensitive to its effects,” holding her hand towards the other, “Mitch Ereven.  Swords, yes, two, and has only enough magic to get ‘gut’ feelings,” she let her hand fall to her side, “And you can call me Kirlith.  My magics are focused on healing.  And I sure need it with Jaeth around.”

“No one with offensive or defensive magics?” Tanner looked between the three.  Jaeth’s face slid to sour, and Mitch just shrugged, his brown jacket rustling all the way to his ankles.

“Never really needed them,” Mitch spoke in a quiet voice, “Most of the magic users who’ve tried working with us don’t’ get along well.”

“With him?” Maxine nodded her head in Jaeth’s direction.

“Ah,” Mitch started. “You’re not exactly easy to get along with yourself,” Jaeth countered.

“I never said I was,” at these words, Kirlith spoke up again.

“Mariss’ message wasn’t sure whether or not you were coming with us,” she paused, reached into a pouch, and pulled out a rolled up missive.  Then she stepped closer to the redheaded woman as another person passed by her, aiming to go inside the building, “But the ‘Official’ letter we got from the Abbot says otherwise.”

“Ah,” Maxine sighed, “He’s got a vision that seems to have me as there on the trip.”

“Seems?” Mitch raised an eyebrow.

“Tall, red-headed woman, pale skin, dark eyes,” Tanner listed off, then added, “Sword wielding, left-handed.”

“Sounds about right,” Mitch paused, “Though we can’t confirm the left-handed right yet.”

“You can’t, but I can,” Tanner nodded, “The gloves are also in the dream.”

“Oh that must be new,” Maxine tilted her head.

“Ah,” Tanner blinked, “I’m used to telling the Abbot, and it filters down to everyone else.  Not so much telling anyone else.  Sorry.”

“Well,” Maxine sighed, “I don’t know about anything else, but I definitely need to get supplies.  For me, and,” she took a breath, and released it, “I suppose Tanner too.”

She then slipped inside the supply store, or at least opened the door before pausing, “Could you take him to get better protective gear?  Maybe a different weapon?”

“He’s not going to be able to sell the staff,” Kirlith nodded, “But we might be able to put it in holding.”

Tanner followed Kirlith, and Mitch, who pulled Jaeth along, as they took the youth to the store in question.  When they got there, Kirlith posted Mitch and Jaeth at the doors to flag Maxien’s attention when she caught up.

“Hello!” the shop keeper smiled.  Then he leaned forward on his counter, resting the elbows of his slender arms on the top, “How can I help you kids today?”

“He needs something to wear that isn’t the uniform of the College of the Gifted,” Kirlith patted Tanner’s shoulder, and the keeper nodded in agreement.

The man leaned away from the counter and studied the boy for a few moments, before stepping around the counter and approaching, “Looks like you’re middle of the road for it.  Can’t say as you’d want anything too heavy.”

“No,” Tanner agreed, “I like lighter things, but most of that is leather, and I also like the level of-“

“Chainmail,” the man nodded, smiling a bigger smile, one that crinkled his eyes closed, “And some simple, heavy cotton shirts underneath.”

“Ok, kay,” the blond paused, “I don’t.  I don’t really know how that’s lighter.  Don’t the links wind up heavier than the solid plates?”

They finally got the situation worked out, and Tanner walked out of the shop.  He had new protective gear, and a better understanding of the differences each type had.  And learned that chain mail was actually lighter than plate mail.  He followed Kirlith, to see Maxine waiting for them, though she was ignoring Jaeth.

“Jaeth,” Kirlith sighed, “What did you start this time?”

“Why are you assuming I started something?” he squawked.

“Because you nearly always have,” she drawled, and walked so Tanner could also get out of the way of anyone that might want in the building.

“To be honest, I think it’s pretty telling if the two times I’ve seen them come out of a shop where you’re already on the outside, the first words out of their mouths are asking you what you’ve started now,” Tanner noted.

Jaeth’s mouth worked for a bit, soundlessly, and the other three just waited for his response.  After a few seconds, he sighed, and shrugged, “Point taken.”

“Tanner, you found some gear,” Maxine spoke up, holding an armful of material, “These are clothes you can wear under the chainmail.”

“How do you know a person is best with a certain type of equipment?” Tanner asked.  She knew, the link-style armor was wrapped in a soft cloth, so it didn’t catch on anything before he could put it on, so she couldn’t see.  That meant she had to know that that was the type he’d have been told to get.  Were there lessons for this?

“I’ve watched the way you move when dealing with the critters in the fields, Tanner,” Maxine tilted her head in the direction of the fields they’d been traveling across, “It’s generally a matter of movement.  For a person like you, who moves nearly every part of their body, all over, you want as wide a range as possible.  Especially in those cases, if you can get light weight stuff, you’re doing well to match them.  Someone like Jaeth would wear heavier stuff.  In his case, while he’s heavier built, he also is probably the one that wades in first, and needs the heavier materials to add to his ability to take damage without falling.  Him being an axe user would possibly suggest he needs something with more movement, but he could also-“

“Nope, I’m a bit of a flailer, really,” Jaeth ignored the twitch Maxine gave at being interrupted, “So I need more mobility in my shoulders at least.”

“Oh,” Tanner thought he understood it a little better, “So none of us would be walking around in plate mail, full armor, right?”

“What makes you so sure?” Mitch’s grin was the only reason Tanner was sure he was teasing.

“Well, if you were, you’d be wearing it,” Tanner nodded at Kirlith, “Someone as small as you would need to always wear it, to not ever stop being used to the weight.”

“More like I’d be wearing it because I never know when Jaeth’s going to get us into a fight, but you’re at least going in the right direction,” the short woman chuckled, teeth flashing briefly as she spoke.

“And using two swords doesn’t sound to me like a style that wants you to just horizontally slash, vertically hack,” Tanner added.

“Pretty much,” Mitch snickered, patting the belt that kept the blades cinched to his back and waist.

“I have a quick question,” Maxine looked at the other three, “Do you have everything of yours with you, or did you stop of at one of the inns?”

“This is my hometown,” Mitch smiled, “So we stayed at my mother’s house.  She has some spare rooms she lets us stay in when we’re here.”

“Ah,” she nodded, “Makes sense.  So your gear is over there?”

“Yes,” Kirlith acknowledged, “We were going back to get it all gathered, and to see if we can’t talk Mitch’s mom into parting with a second tent.  Especially as there are two females now, instead of just one.”

“We can then eat, and leave about midday, then set up camp with watches come nightfall,” Mitch suggested.

“That sounds reasonable, though we’re not exactly in a hurry, are we?” Maxine blinked.

“Well, I don’t know about you, but Mariss told me she was hanging me up by my rat-tails if I didn’t make it to her wedding in a month, so yes, we have a time limit.” Mitch pulled said bundles of hair forward and the others laughed a little, “And I didn’t spend the ten, almost eleven years to grow this out only to get it ripped out of my scalp because I missed a wedding.”

“No, I can understand that,” Maxine sighed, “But the Tower, through the forest, that’s about a two week venture, each way.  Add the extra five days to it to get from here to the College, and you’re over anyway.”

“Luckily, we have access to a shortcut on the way back,” Kirlith grinned, “Mariss’ magic bottles up nicely, and she sent us one of her castings of a ritual that will allow us to return to somewhere we’ve already been.”

“Good grief, that’s not common,” Maxine blinked a few times, then looked at Tanner, “Did you know she could do that?”

“Not in so many words, but I’m not surprised.  There aren’t many who can, but the College tries to have at least one Dorm monitor with the ability at all times.  And Rick being Rick,” he shrugged, “She’s not liable to churn out too many of them in her life, but Mariss has the raw magic for it.”

“Rick’s the other Dorm monitor, right?” Jaeth blinked, “Big guy, or at least around Mitch’s height?”

“Yes,” Tanner tilted his head, “Why?”

“I always thought he’d be the guy Mariss would marry, but instead it’s someone from some teeny village South of the College.” Jaeth shrugged.

“Wait,” Tanner scrunched his eyebrows, “Rick and Mariss?  Why?”

“He seriously has a thing for her,” Jaeth laughed, “Said as much to me a year or two ago, when Mariss was just starting her relationship with the guy she’s marrying.”

“Why’d he tell you, when he hasn’t said anything to anyone else?” Tanner asked incredulously.

“Probably because he had to tell someone, and didn’t dare let anyone else at the school know,” Maxine snorted, “Just looking at Jaeth’s reaction, and he doesn’t seem to know Rick all that well.  If it were someone at the College, the poor man probably would have been hounded.”

“You’re not pining for Rick, are you?” Jaeth leaned into Maxine’s personal space, looking like he was going to weigh her moral fiber or something.

“Pfffff,” she laughed, backed up a step, and nearly doubled over, “Noooo.  I am not pining, longing or, wishing for him.  He’s a friend.  A good friend.  And I wish he could have the lady he wants, but he never spoke up, so he has to live with the circumstances.  And I wasn’t about to hound him into speaking up or he’d have regretted telling me how he felt.  And then what kind of a friend would I be?”

“You’ve got a point there,” Jaeth nodded, “Sometimes it’s better to keep quiet about feelings, sometimes you just need to open your mouth to get what you want.”

“Or be willing to put up with the person that won’t ever shut theirs,” Kirlith teased.

Jaeth shot her a look.  Tanner wasn’t sure he wanted to decipher it.  It looked a little too much like a pout, and a pout on that guy’s face was a kind of frightening thought to the younger male.

They gathered the supplies and belongings the mercenaries would be needing, and redistributed the general things they’d need between the five of them, and headed out to the forest lands surrounding Aridh Tower.  Mitch made Kirlith laugh by pulling a scrolled paper out and brandishing it like a weapon, saying, “See, I do know how to get maps and keep them.”

“If only you could read them right,” she teased back, “Then we’d be set.”

“Do you really have a problem with that?” Tanner asked.

“Hnnn, mess up once and you never live it down,” the man rolled his green eyes and shook the paper in his hands at the tiny woman.

“Hey, at least it isn’t like you guys asking me what kind of trouble I’ve-“ Jaeth started.

“It sounds like his issue was once, maybe twice, but as Tanner pointed out, your trouble-making seems to be a more frequent thing, or perhaps even a guaranteed problem,” Maxine took a shot at returning the favor Jaeth had been dishing out to her all day with her interruption.  He quickly proved to not like the shoe on the other foot, and shot her a dark look with his one good eye.  Though Tanner had to wonder.

“Do you see out of only the one eye?” He’d apologize if the question was too rude to be borne, but he had to know.

“Sadly yes, I do only see out of the one eye,” Jaeth nodded, winking the eye that could see, and then re-opening is, “That much damage?  I’m lucky the whole thing didn’t need to be removed.  As it was, there was just this lovely slice that damaged the pupil, and so they cast one of those wonky spells that leeched out the color of my eye, and healed the scarring so that it wouldn’t irritate me as long.”

“I can only imagine what you’re like when you’re in pain,” Maxine muttered.  Luckily, Jaeth only gave her another look like he’d eaten an unripe berry.

“Okay, let’s stop picking on each other while standing still, and get going,” Kirlith looked at Mitch, and it was almost as though they were conversing with their eyes.  Eventually, Mitch rolled his, and the warm browns of Kirlith’s glinted in humor.  She promptly latched onto Jaeth’s arm and started walking.

“Tanner, do you mind if we keep you sandwiched in the middle of our traveling party?” Mitch sighed, scratching his scalp.  Even as he asked that, he followed his friends, which led to Tanner and Maxine following as well.

“Uhm,” the boy thought about the question for a bit as he walked, “Is it because I’m the least experienced in anything to do with fighting?”

“It has to do with it, but it’s not the only reason,” Mitch semi agreed, “It is also because it’s your quest as it were.  We need to make sure you-“

“I don’t know that I’m comfortable with the idea of you all acting like bodyguards for me.  Really,” Tanner interrupted, “Sorry, but I had to get that out.”

“You’re not near as bad as Jaeth,” Mitch snorted, “Only time of day he’s not prone to it is first thing in the morning.  He’s not awake enough yet.  Kirlith and I have taken to holding the really important questions with him first thing in the day.  He’ll process it for the rest of the day, but we’ll say our pieces without him stopping us every third or fourth sentence.”

“Am I hearing you telling people to talk at me in the mornings?” Jaeth called back.

“Exactly,” Mitch laughed, “Only time to get a word in edgewise.”

They laughed a little longer as they walked, until they got outside of the walls surrounding Tomovie.  Turning to walk in a more Northerly direction Jaeth and Kirlith led the small group, with Tanner in the middle and Maxine and Mitch taking the back.  It was only after a couple more hours that Tanner thought of the question he looked back to Mitch to ask.

“Why are they in the front?  Wouldn’t Kirlith be better in the back?”

“In all technicality, they are in the back,” Mitch grinned, “If we’re going to be attacked, it’ll be by people or animals from the south, rather than the North.  At least until we get properly into the forest.”

“I,” Tanner paused.  It almost made sense, but there was something not yet clicking.

“You hadn’t had a battle strategy class, had you?” Maxine tilted her head to the side.

“Oh.  No,” Tanner shook his head.

“At least in this part of the countryside, the greatest dangers come from the town we just left.  It’s got guards and all, and they do their job, but the people that would attack and steal from travelers will go back to Tomovie to sell their loot,” Mitch laughed.

“Which effectively makes us the ones on the front line of attack, even if we’ll be semi-surprised by it,” Maxine finished.

“I swear I paid attention in classes, why is this all new?” Tanner shook his head.

“Like I said, that’s the sort of thing that’s covered in Battle Strategy,” Maxine laughed.

“Did you ever attend classes at the College?” Tanner had turned back to watch the frontward direction as he watched, lest he trip on a root.  Or something.

“No, but it’s true of nearly any school that does more than just teach letters and numbers,” Maxine’s voice sounded like she wanted to laugh.

“I learned it the direct application way you are, Tanner, if that helps any.” Mitch wasn’t holding back his.

“Saaaaame!” Jaeth cackled.

“We can tell!” Maxine snorted.

“Oh hey!  That’s harsh!” Jaeth called, and Tanner could see him acting like there had been a bolt of some kind shot to his back.  He’d seen people mime it to their heart, but never their back.

He’d been warned that the bridge was large, but somehow, the concept paled against the sight of the real thing.  It was wide enough that two wagons could pass each other, along the whole length.  There was a way station at the start of the bridge on their side that Maxine said was for travelers what arrived near sunset.  The stones making the floor of the bridge were a medium to dark grey, and arranged in a pattern that took Tanner about five minutes to notice.

“That had to have been a lot of planning to get enough stones of just the right tone to put them into a pattern,” he mumbled.

“A what?” Maxine blinked at him.  No one else was on the bridge at this time, but they were still trying to cross as quickly as possible, knowing that that could change at any time.

“The bricks we’re walking on are all arranged to make a v-shape of a particular shade,” he pointed his finger towards the blocks in question and made sure she saw what he did.

“Huh,” she paused, turned around to look behind them, and then looked back to the way they were going, “I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve crossed this bridge, and I’ve never noticed that.”

Tanner laughed a little, “Sorry?”

“No, that’s a good way to make this trip less boring,” she laughed back, “a pattern.  I never would have guessed.  Thank you for sharing.”

“You’re welcome,” Tanner nodded, a little confused.

“Sorry, that does sound like an odd thing to be enthusiastic about, but I really have crossed this bridge a number of times.  It’s grey.  It’s blocky.  What is there to keep yourself from getting vertigo at the fact that you’re spending almost a full day on this grey path, with water to either side, and unless other travelers happen to cross your path, that’s all you’ve got to look at,” she grumbled, “Now I can count how many block rows it takes to make the pattern, and how many times it rolls over, and, well, you get the point.”

“Oh. That does make a difference, doesn’t it?” Tanner smiled, “In that case, I’m glad to help.”

She laughed a little, partly at herself, he thought.

Other than that, she was right, the crossing was dull, boring, and a lot of grey or blue to look at.  It didn’t mean that they weren’t careful about the crossing, as there was still the possibility of things approaching.  Just not very common.  The only other thing of note was that when they reached the center, Tanner noticed that there was a design carved into one of the bricks along the wall.  He paused, stared at it, and then noticed that it was on the other side too.

“What’s this?  It looks a bit like the marking on your glove,” Tanner asked, tracing a finger lightly along the circular shape.

“They were both originally designed a looong time ago,” Maxine looked at the glove, “The bridge and the mark.  Some people attempt to recreate the mark, but don’t succeed very well.”

“So why’d they put the mark on the bridge?” stopped tracing the shape.

“The mark is said to give blessings of longevity,” she smirked.

“Lon-  Oh.  Trying to make sure the bridge sticks around,” Tanner nodded, “Though, the materials they used, shouldn’t they do enough of a job?”

“They have,” she agreed, and they resumed their trek.

When they finally reached the other end, Tanner’s feet were about as sore as Maxine had predicted, and he was very glad to see the way station on the other side.  Maxine approached it first, and knocked.  She told him it was to make sure that there weren’t inhabitants already, and if there were, they would answer to say if there was room.  Most of the time there weren’t problems, but there had been enough in the history of the bridge and its way stations that the travelers with manners observed this habit.

When no one answered, the two slunk in through the unlocked door, and settled in for the night.  When they were getting ready to sleep, they barred the door, so that a person who might approach during the sleeping hours would have to wake them up to get inside.  And those were usually people it was smarter to not let in.

The next morning, they resumed the trek to Tomovie.  On this side of the river, the number of animals they encountered increased.  Some were small enough that he and Maxine were able to eat meat with the remaining rolls they had, and some were big enough that the red-head’s advice was to run, rather than attempting to face it.  On one hand, Tanner thought they were lucky to not encounter people, as it meant they had less chance of running into thieves, and on the other it was unlucky because Maxine really wasn’t the most talkative person in the world.

There was a little time before the sun set that night, when Maxine stopped walking, and looked around.  They’d reached a sunken in section of the terrain, and Tanner realized that it was deep enough they could possibly sleep in the depression and not be noticeable to the people that may pass by.  He voiced that thought, and Maxine nodded.

“Even better, there’s a shelf nearby, where we can hide even from the people who pass by close enough to see into the sunken area.  It’ll be a pretty safe place to sleep tonight,” she proceeded to settle her pack onto the ground at a spot in the sink that had looked like an outright hole.  It didn’t drop far, and Tanner blinked.

Do people not know about this in general?  And what about animals?” he asked.

“That’s what dropping my pack down there was for.  It would have either scared off anything down there, or roused it enough we would be scaring it off.  The shelf’s small enough that we can sit upright, but not stand, so there really aren’t very many animals that make it their home.  Most that like holes want bigger or smaller ones to live in and have room, or live in and have no chance of being snuck up on.  First, before we call it a night, since you were asking about it, we can work on training you for defending yourself.”

“Oh!” he’d wondered why they were stopping so early, not that he really minded.

What followed was more than a little painful, and ridiculously embarrassing.  Tanner was middling fair with the staff, he’d admit he was far from the best with the thing.  But when Maxine started him with his routines, the piece of wood that had become a familiar weight in his hands, nearly an invisible one, suddenly became the most intractable object in all existence.  When he tried to swing it, it flew out of his hands.  When he jabbed, it wiggled.

Maxine’s only response during all of this was to tell him, over and over, to relax.  This was practice, she wasn’t one of his teachers, this wasn’t a test.  But it really didn’t help.  Finally she yanked it from his hands and said, “Let me show you something,” and proceeded to swing it like she did her sword. 

He yelped and flailed, “Heeeey!”

“Staves can be used like this, but they’re not meant to be, I know that, you know that, we’re both on the same page there,” she drawled, and stopped using the stick wrong, “Relax.  Really.  I’m just trying to make sure you get practice at fighting things that might actually try to kill you.”

“Oh, that doesn’t make me feel any better,” Tanner breathed, “You’re going to-“

“No, I’m not going to attack you,” she snorted, “At this point I’m a little worried about accidentally killing you when trying to train you.”

“That’s such a relief, really,” Tanner had to snip back; he just couldn’t let that stand.

“So, start over and show me what you know, so I can see what we can accomplish tomorrow when we camp,” She waved her hand at him.

This time, it wasn’t as bad.  He was still a little jittery, but after a little bit, he was able to shut it out of his mind that he had an audience.  It was about the way it worked when he was left to do presentations in classes, and even for training.  When he thought his mind was clear enough, he tried working out some of the things Hivea had been trying to teach him on grounds, but he hadn’t yet grasped.  He managed to get more comfortable doing some of the movements, but he was sure he was still getting it wrong.

Maxine agreed, apparently, saying, “I think you might want to leave off of that last one until we can get ahold of someone who’s a staff user.  I know there’s something wrong with that, based on the way you flinch as your shoulder rolls with it, but I can’t fix it.”

Sighing, he nodded and restarted, this time without the maneuver he wasn’t sure on, and got himself good and comfortable with the ones he did know he could do.  After that, he felt worn enough to crash, so that was exactly what they did.

Another night, another dream, and the blond was tickled to wake up knowing even more information.  He knew that one of their companions was a brunet male from the night before, but this time, he knew that the same man was another sword-wielder.  He also knew that there was another female going to be traveling with him and Maxine, though he didn’t know what she looked like.  He’d only heard her voice.  A tone that clear and high couldn’t belong to a man, right?  Well, he knew the dangers of assuming, but still was sure it was a woman’s voice he’d heard in the dream.

The day passed much like the other four ahead of it, and Tanner was actually feeling comfortable enough around Maxine to try joking with her.  She proved to have a very dry sense of humor, and Tanner found some of her return jokes a bit sharp, but at least she wasn’t vicious.

The terrain was almost flowing in the opposite direction now that they were on the other side of the bridge, and Tanner laughed at himself for thinking of it that way.  The grass was taller here, and had different plants growing among the blades.  Trees had a different shade of brown to their trunks, and there were a number of small ponds that Maxine led them around and along that had birds resting on the surface.  Some scattered as the two got close, but others did as good as pretending they didn’t exist.

He could see how close they were to the next town, which had to be Tomovie, but Maxine stopped them and said they were camping that night outside of town.

“Why?” he blinked, “We don’t necessarily have to meet the mercenaries right off, but sleeping in town can’t be that bad on the timeline, can it?”

“It’s not timeline I’m worried about at this point, Tanner,” she snickered, “We’re here, there’s no timeline to fret over.  But that town’s got two inns.  One is always expensive,  the second hikes the prices on people who have obviously never been there, and the third is always full because of people leaving the other two alone for those reasons.”

“Oh,” he scratched behind an ear, “Makes sense.  Okay.”

Except, where were they going to sleep, this close to town, but still out of the borders?  Maxine seemed to feel safe enough, but Tanner couldn’t fathom it.

“If you’re worried, it’s okay,” Maxine sighed, rolling out her sleeping roll, “There are guards posted along the walls, because the guards know about the habits of the inns.”

“Why don’t they do something to make the one inn stop?” Tanner asked.

“Because the money goes to the town’s upkeep,” she shrugged.

“And then, why don’t the guards try to force the issue?”

“Because the land is open to any who travel.  At least on this side,” she sat on the bedding and twisted to look at him, “Any more questions?  The earlier we sleep, the earlier we wake.”

“Ah, no, I think that’s got all of them,” Tanner quickly mimicked her, and settled onto his own roll of blankets.  After a minute or two, he tilted his head towards the sky and wondered, “I’m sorry, but.  Are you turning back to the College?”

Maxine had said she wasn’t going to be too harsh on Tanner, and he understood that she might see it that way.  He’d done plenty of walking and exercising at the College and had thought himself prepared for traveling.  He was not, however, prepared for Maxine’s pace.  She was a bit taller than him, and moved her legs like she knew exactly where her feet were going to land, and Tanner just couldn’t match that.

Knowing this, and knowing that she couldn’t know it unless he told her, he should have spoken up about how tired he felt, even just an hour into the trek.  But he felt like if he was dragging her into this trip, even though she wasn’t convinced to go all the way to Aridh Tower yet, he might as well go at something closer to her pace.

By the time she called a halt, come midday, so they could eat, he was flagged out to the point of just collapsing to the ground in a heap.

“Why didn’t you speak up?” she hissed, “You said you would if I was pushing you too hard.”

“I thought I’d develop a problem later, or it’d be a ridiculously clear thing that I wasn’t keeping up,” he winced as he stretched his legs out in front of him.

“Well, I guess you thought wrong, huh?” she snorted, “If we take this at a typical walking pace, we’ll be just about to the bridge in a week.  We need to go faster.”

“I know,” Tanner shook his feet from side to side and stretched toward them, “Just let me eat something and have a bit to recover.”

“How long do you think you can keep up the pace you use when you’re liable to be late to class?” she asked.

“Ah,” he shrugged, “I don’t know, I’ve never had to keep it going for very long.  And the pace we use in the physical classes, I think I can keep for twenty minutes.”

“Well, we’ll just have to see how long you can keep that rush pace,” she opened her pack and pulled a roll from its depths.  Taking a bite and chewing, she waited to say her next words, for when she finished, giving Tanner time to do the same, “You’ll be setting the pace then, so keep that in mind.”

“Oh boy,” he mumbled, and took another bite.

“It’s not that bad,” she snorted, “I can figure out how to match your pace better than you can dash along and wear yourself out.  I can also figure out better points for us to pause and breathe if I know when you’ll need to.”

“I’m sorry I haven’t done much traveling,” he rolled his eyes and mumbled around the remains of the bite he’d been chewing on.

“Not your fault,” she took another bite, and they fell into silence for a while.  Even after they’d finished eating, they sat for a bit.

Tanner enjoyed the feeling of the ground cradling his legs, and stretched them out again, before tying his bag closed once more.  He crossed his legs and patted the grass a bit.  “Suppose we should get started again, right?”

“If you’re ready,” she smirked at him.

“Fiiine,” he stood up dusted off blades of grass that might be clinging to him thanks to him having sat on them, and started moving.  She didn’t take long to stand and catch up, and as he walked- it was a brisk pace for him, but he could tell she was bored with it- he voiced a question, “I’m not going the wrong way, am I?  I mean, I don’t know where the bridge is in relation to the College.”

“Nope, you’re going the right way.” She chuckled, “I will warn you though, in a couple of hours we’ll be ranging out of the lands of the College enough that the wild animals won’t feel the natural caution they have in regards to that much magic.

“So, we’ll start seeing things besides bugs?” he couldn’t help but ask.

“Oh yes.” She nodded.  “Hopefully, we’ll get enough warning that we can avoid them, but some of them may be nervy enough or hungry enough to approach us or attack.”

“What do we do with the,” he trailed off, not sure what word to use to end that.

“If it’s something we can use, we’ll turn it into a meal, simple as that.” She drawled, “If not, we’ll leave it for the other animals in the field.  The scent will draw them, and the amount of the scent that the remains will have will draw them more than the traces that will be on your staff or my sword.”

“Oh.  Okay,” Tanner didn’t really like the idea, but he knew that it was a matter of scare it off, or make sure it couldn’t keep pursuing, or be killed, and he really didn’t like the last or first option either.

He couldn’t even say what made him feel it later.  Long after the rush was back out of his system.  But as he was going along, tiring down to where he would have to walk at a much slower pace, he got the feeling they were being watched or followed.  That feeling was confirmed when Maxine hissed out, “Duck.”

There may have been a delay, but he did, all the way to the ground, letting the staff fall with him.  He then pulled to a crawling-able position and crawled a little ways away, and turned to stand when he thought he was clear.  He turned to look and decided he might be better off digging in his pouch for supplies to wrap her injuries in.  The creature had sliced open one of her legs, and she’d returned the favor with a swipe that seemed to have done a fair amount towards removing its tail.

But as it was one of those animals that could re-grow its tail, that wasn’t meaning much, at least at this point.  He knew that those creatures were better dealt with via bladed weapons, but he didn’t like standing around and doing nothing.  But he’d likely only be a distraction to Maxine’s efforts, at best, and would only get himself clawed to pieces, at worst.  And then where would he be in regards to this trip?

That tail was still causing Maxine problems, even though it was nearly hacked off a third of the way down.  And between it and the claws and horny growths jutting from its head, the woman was challenged to keep it from doing much more than the swiping and dashing it was managing.  Based off of what he’d learnt from Hivea that made the boy believe Maxine might be a power striking sort, rather than speed, but she was good at long distance running, so maybe not?

Still, the animal was faster than she could always swing, so Tanner figured he’d better just get to it.  He stood, and swung the staff exactly the way everyone said he shouldn’t, like it was a club, and pinned what was left of that tail with it, bringing all of his weight to bear.

The shrieking was nearly enough to make him let go, but he held on, adding his feet to it to keep it from whipping that tail away, even as Maxine stepped up her attacks to make sure it couldn’t whirl around and knock him senseless.

When it was downed, Maxine stood up, reached around for a cloth tied to her waist, and started cleaning the blade, oddly shaped as it was, Tanner could now notice.  She then looked up at him and asked, “Really?  Pinning its tail?”

“I know it might have not worked or backfired, but it was all I could think of,” he sighed.

“Not even any spells?”  she countered.

“Oh- oh yeah,” he rubbed his nose with one hand, and hefted the staff to parallel to the ground with the other, “Forgot about that.”

“You were going to stay in the school after you’d finished your studies, weren’t you?” Maxine’s blade was nearly cleaned but for the grooves carved into a space just shy of the edges of the blade.

Tanner peered at it a little closer, and sighed, “Probably.  I didn’t know exactly what the dream would bring, so I trained in self defense past the basics that are required, but I never quite considered myself up for being a mercenary or anything like that.”

“How did you not have the thought that the trip would be dangerous?” the woman blinked at him, and sheathed the sword.  She waved her hand toward the direction they’d been heading before, indicating that they leave the carcass behind.  Tanner knew that the only useable things, for humans at least, from those critters was their venom.  Not that they could harvest it.

“Hey, remember, I’ve never left the College.  All of the animals and people that prey on people were mostly theoretical to me,” he started walking again, this time at a slower pace.  He couldn’t maintain his other one anymore.  He could tell that Maxine thought he was moving too slow, but he really couldn’t go any faster at this point.  And since she knew it, she only scowled a little, and kept glancing back.

“So, how do so many people graduate from that school and not get killed?” she drawled.

“Most of them actually make trips back home?” he sighed, “There’s also a trip at graduation that’s required.  Those who are getting close enough start practicing for trips that have more required of them like that.  The walking longer, faster… The hunting, scavenging, gathering supplies.”

“Am I going to be able to leave you by yourself in Tomovie as I try to find the mercenaries, or am I going to have to mother-duckling you?” she seemed like she was at least half teasing, so Tanner relaxed his shoulders a little, and started scanning around them more actively.  It didn’t seem like the low-lying grass was hiding anything in the distance.

“I can tell when someone’s spinning a yarn at me,” he took a breath and added, “I may not always be able to tell where the yarn is, but I can tell there is one.”

“That’s a good thing at least,” she paused, even going so far as to stop walking for a second or two as she turned to face the direction they’d come from, “Well, I know you’re tired, Tanner ,but it would be a good idea if you brought yourself to move a bit faster.  We need to get out of visual range, as our no longer kicking friend has company over.  If we’re still visible, they might try to invite us as well, and I don’t know that your trick will work again.”

He groaned, but he started moving faster, per the request.  After all, he didn’t want to get into another fight so soon.

Later; much later, he was fairly well out of breath when Maxine called up to him, saying, “Go ahead and slow down.  We should be on the lookout for a stone grove.”

“A stone grove?” Tanner was imagining trees made of stone; he’d even admit that, if asked.

“Somewhat of what you’re thinking,” She chuckled, “It’s arranged like a grove of trees, but none are shaped like trees at all.”

“Oh,” he scanned the area around them some more, not yet seeing anything of that description, “About how far away might it be?”

“Hopefully within the next degree of the sun’s travel,” she sighed, “Or we’re much further behind than I thought we were.”

“I’m sorry,” Tanner started.

“I should have asked you what kinds of exertion you were used to, I’ll admit that.  In all likelihood, by the end of the day, your feet are liable to be blistering,” she nodded her head in his direction absently, “Hopefully I’m wrong, but I’m working on the assumption that you will have that problem.”

“A-are the rest of the days of traveling supposed to be slower then, or what?” Tanner couldn’t figure out what difference she’d make based on whether his feet were quite that sore or not.

“I don’t know.  There will be adjustment based on the fact that if you have blisters, you’re not going to want to go as fast, but we still need to move at a reasonable pace, to get there.”  She shrugged, “Maybe we’ve done well enough that you’re not going to be too miserable, but your shoes aren’t exactly the ones I’d suggest for treks like this.”

He oh’d and then blinked.  Pointing at what he thought he saw, he called out, “Is that the rock grove?”

“Yes,” she replied and they changed directions a little, to approach.

As they got closer to the rocks, it became apparent that there was a pond there, and as Tanner looked more closely at it, he realized that it looked like it was warm, instead of the cold that was typical of the season.  He wasn’t sure yet, but it may also have had alcove-looking shapes in it.

“It’s more or less a traveler’s haven, roughly halfway between the College, and the bridge.” Maxine explained, “It’s got one of the few hot springs of the continent, and mini-caves for people to take shelter in.  Some wonder if it weren’t constructed by hands other than those of the gods.  I prefer to just make use of it when I can.”

“The hot springs may help my feet, right?”  Tanner asked, pointing in the general direction of the water.

“Not going to be a problem to get you to help in the thinking department, that’s for sure,” She grinned, “Yes, but we’ll have to be careful about where we put you.  Get too close to the source, and we’ll just burn your feet off.”

“Ah, yeah,” that hot water was actually sounding pretty good about that point, and judging by the tone of eagerness he’d probably broadcasted, Maxine could tell.  It wasn’t so much blisters that he could tell, but soreness.  He wasn’t lazy, but he certainly didn’t spend that much time on his feet in one go.  And to think he had a fair month or more ahead of him.

They reached the grove of rocks and settled in for the night.  The water felt quite nice on his feet, and when he managed to get situated, he was happy enough to sneak a bath.  Or at least soaking the rest of him too, because all of him was sore.  There was a stream branching out from the rocks on the side they’d be leaving from the next morning, and the fact that it seemed to be a full-fledged water source of its own, well, Tanner was pretty sure that the reason the water was so warm was because it bubbled up from deep in the planet.

They munched on a little bit of food and found an alcove to sleep in, only to start their trek about as early in the morning as they had before.

“So, we’re not quite halfway?” Tanner asked, setting the pack on his back once again.

“Not quite.  The pace we’ll be going at will likely get us to the bridge still in early morning tomorrow, so I’ll need to think up a reasonable place for us to camp tonight.  Out in the open won’t be safe, obviously.”

“What are the chances of us finding someone else traveling and getting them to watch part of the night while we take the other part?” he’d heard about that, it was an option, right?

“Not on this bridge,” Maxine snorted, and kept walking, “On this side of the bridge, as well kept as the College is, there tend to be more brigands and such.  It’s harder for the next nearest kingdoms to send men and woman out this far, and holds true for Lhour and Etravi.”

“Oh,” Tanner blinked.  Well, that meant they’d need to be careful of other travelers in general, but didn’t off-put him to splitting watches all the same.  He just wasn’t sure if he could take first watch.  “What if we stopped earlier in the day, so that it’s not so hard for me to stay up for, say, first watch and you have second, and then we show up to the bridge closer to midday?”

“I’m supposed to let you be the watch?” she snickered, “I’m not going to trust you that far yet.  You’re too green.  If we had another person with us, I’d have them watch with you.”

“I-“ he wanted to be mad, and he was, somewhat.  But she had a point.  This was his first trip anywhere, so he couldn’t say that he wasn’t as bad as it sounded.

“Look, when we get across the bridge, I’ll think about it.  We’ll have more of a chance of safe passage, for one thing, and I’ll have a better idea of how well you’d hold up.”  She called over her shoulder, “Okay?”

“All right,” he agreed, though there was some reluctance in his tone, “How long on the other side of the bridge until we’re to Tomovie?”

“Another two days,” she sighed, “The bridge itself can take a day to cross, just to warn you.  And since it’s made of solid rock, it’s going to be worse on your feet than possibly any other part of the trip.”

“Thanks for the warning,” he part laughed, part whimpered.  The thought wasn’t pleasant, “If the bridge takes that long to cross, how did they get it built?”

“The river wasn’t always as wide as it is now, nor as deep.  They put the pillars up to make it possible to put the body of the bridge down, and as they built the actual bridge, they cut away chunks of the land to widen the river.  It was overflowing a lot more back then, so the cutting away decreased the rate of flooding,” her hands moved a bit as she talked, even though Tanner could only see the furthest out of her movements, “Either they didn’t cover that in History at the College, or you weren’t paying attention the day it was.”

“Ah, well, I will probably have to go with the latter,” he sighed, “I wouldn’t be surprised if it happened on a day I had some kind of Vision, or while I was preoccupied with something else.  Or even on a day where the inside of my head was more interesting than the school at the time, so I can’t say.”

“At least you’re honest about it,” she laughed, “I don’t know how many people who’d balk at admitting they were daydreaming and missed something.”

“With my power being what it is, I’d rather be honest,” he watched the sky, a clear blue, with only the slightest of wispy clouds, pass over head as they walked, “I mean, if I get a reputation for fibbing, or full-on malicious lying, how am I going to get anyone to believe me when a Vision hits and I have to share the news?”

“Is that something you can control?” she asked, “I’ve heard from some people that it’s beyond all control, all anyone can do is attempt to be always in a location where having the Vision won’t hurt a body.”

“Ah,” he thought about it, letting his feet keep moving more or less automatically.  He had the distracted thought that he should watch out for incoming animals more ,but he was walking with Maxine, who was a few years his senior in pretty much all ways, so he should be a fair bit safer, “In my case, I have it mostly in control.  It shows up randomly while I sleep, I can’t do anything about that, unfortunately, but when I’m awake, I can concentrate, and focus to the point of getting a headache, and force a Vision.”

“That much pain?” she sounded surprised, “I could have sworn I’d heard of Seers for whom it was basically painless.”

“Well, there are suspicions that I’m half-blocked,” Tanner grumbled, “Half-blocked because of what I saw happen to my parents.  Or because I’m scared of using all of the power.  I don’t understand the points of view, quite, but they generally agree that I can’t use my power when I want, and feel pain when I’m exerting it.

“So, stop pushing it maybe?” Maxine suggested, “I mean, not that I’m an expert or anything, but the way I understood it, the harder you press on something that hurts, the worse it gets.”

“Ah,” Tanner blinked, that has to be the strangest metaphor I’ve heard, but it makes sense at least,” Tanner sighed, and scratched along the nape of his neck gently.

“It wouldn’t be a trek across the land without a handful of attacks, would it?” Maxine grumbled, and Tanner shot a look in her direction, to spot where she was looking.  A pair of animals were sort of stalking them.

“So, run?” Tanner blinked, trying not to look away.  He didn’t know if these things would take it as a sign to attack or not.

“Actually, not with these,” she sighed, “While we don’t want to fight them, if we run, we’ll just get them to be chasing us, which really won’t be healthy in the slightest.  They run faster, and have claws that will rend through my gear, forget about yours.”

“So what do we do then?” Tanner asked, “Can I look away?”

“We try to scare them off, which means no, don’t look away,” Maxine took a breath, “It’s going to get loud.”  With that she started shrieking, like some of the girls at the College, when they were surprised, or extremely happy to see each other.  Or when they saw bugs they didn’t like.  She kept doing it, and slowly lowering the pitch, so it wasn’t as shrill, but was still loud.  It made the animals start creeping backwards, and Tanner felt ridiculous watching it all.

But since she’d said ‘we,’ he took a breath after a bit, and started yelling too.  His voice at that volume was almost in the same pitch as hers, but just different enough that it started making for some really dissonant sounds.  That more than anything made the animals shake their heads and turn around.

As soon as they did that, Maxine dashed forward a little, and the one that was slower to turn, yelped and dashed off, seeing her sudden movement.  The other followed, and the two ran away.

It took a little bit for Tanner to recover his breath enough to ask, “Do those show up often?”

“Not on this side of the bridge,” Maxine was breathing heavy too, “Thank goodness.  They usually hunt and scavenge in packs, and two people alone are not going to fare well.”

“So, keep going?” Tanner nodded in the direction they’d been moving.

“Yes,” she re-started the semi-jog they’d been traveling at, “If we’re lucky, all that ruckus will have scared them off for a good long while, and no other critters will take it into their heads to investigate.  Or hunt.”

“Would it be better for us to fight some things, since we might want the meat, and I definitely should get practice at fighting?” Tanner blinked when she shook her head.

“Most of the animals we’re going to see at this point, that will approach us aren’t good hunting fodder,” she sighed, “And I would much rather you get your practice in a controlled way.  These things could kill us both.  And don’t go thinking that just because you’ve got that prophecy to fulfill, you’re immune to things like death.”

“I hadn’t had that thought, no,” he shook his head a little, “They teach that out of us in our early classes.  Esepecially if we don’t already know our focus or our powers.”

“Glad to hear that,” she sighed, “I’ve seen some folk who don’t ever learn that lesson.  Well, they do, but it’s at the cost of the life they thought was guaranteed.”

“I’m so glad I wasn’t struck by the adventuring bug,” Tanner shook his head, “It’s not an easy life.”

“Nope,” she agreed simply.  A little bit later, she asked, “So if you’re intending to just return to the College after this Vision quest thing is done with, what are you going to do? After you finish your education?”

“Well, I don’t want to adventure, but I was thinking of maybe moving to another town and taking up educating the kids there,” Tanner shrugged, “Just hadn’t picked where.”

“Aside from not at the school,” Maxine drawled, though it was a questioning tone.

“Aside from not at the school,” he nodded, “I’ve lived there the last nine, ten years, never leaving.  It’s a home to me, but I want to make one of my own.”

“Sounds like a plan,” she agreed, but gave no suggestions.  It was a nice change.  Usually when he told people of his goal, they suggested subjects for him, or places.  Trying to be helpful he was sure, but it was more annoying than anything else, he felt.

They continued quietly to a point where she felt it safe enough to make camp again, and they were surrounded on three sides by rocks again, which were becoming more and more prevalent.  Before, they’d been on grassy plains and had seen occasional lines of trees suggesting a forest, but now the trees were standing singly, and seeming a little straggly.  The grass was growing bushes, and becoming littered liberally with rocks of various sizes.  They set up for the night, and Tanner expected it to be quiet.

Except it wasn’t.  He made his way up the Tower again, watching the stones pass through his field of vision to show that he was climbing. There was the obelisk again, but this  time, before he even approached it, the deep tones of the woman he was traveling with sounded in his ear, cautioning him against it.  Saying that it might not be safe.  Seers and spirits didn’t always mix well, after all.

For once, he was able to catch a glimpse of one of the others traveling with them, and saw a brown-haired male wearing a brown jacket.  Still, he couldn’t get strong details, nor could he hear the man, but he had already seen more than he normally did.  And when he stepped towards the black stone, against the advice of the red-headed woman, she stepped in front of him, and tried again to stop him, with a white glove reaching out to his shoulder, that bore a design on the top- the side away from the palm, that was so detailed, he knew he’d never seen it before.  But he ignored that too, and stepped up the levels of dark-colored stone and touched the eye shape in the middle.

When he woke, Tanner tried to shrug off the excitement.  But it wasn’t easy.  But he had to, since he didn’t have the Abbot to tell the dream to, all the new things.  It never occurred to him to tell Maxine.

They traveled the last leg of the journey before the bridge, and that part luckily was actually quiet.  No animals sneaking up or roaring at them.  His feet hurt, but that was the worst of it.  And he could live with that.

The next morning, Tanner found himself more than a little restless.  He woke long before the sun was to rise, made his bed, and gathered the pack he’d filled with what he knew he’d need.  Then he wandered over to the dining hall to gather foodstuffs he could carry with him, that would last until they reached Tomovie- at least as far as still being edible.

He found Maxine there, and Rick, chatting quietly as they sat at a table.  The expression on the man’s face made the blond youth pause for a second, before he shook his head and continued to find the cooks.  If Rick wanted him to know, he’d tell him.  Else there’d be a Vision about it.  Oh, but he was curious, so curious.

“Hey there, Tanner,” Rick called out, ending the conversation the elder two had been sharing, perhaps abruptly, as he spotted the boy.

“Good morn, Rick,” Tanner responded, “I’m trying to gather food that won’t spoil before we reach Tomovie.”

“You won’t need so much of that,” Maxine shook her head, “It’s a few days travel, but there’s plenty of foragables along the way.”

“Ah,” Tanner paused, “I know them in theory, but I don’t know them in practice.  I’d rather have a few rations guaranteed.”

She laughed, “Fine enough.  Fair point.  Though I can find them just fine, I’ll let you have your insurance.”

“Not that it wouldn’t be better cooking than you manage,” Rick muttered.

“I’ve never claimed to be any good at cooking,” she tilted her head sassily at the dark-haired man, “In fact, any time anyone suggests cooking is needed, I anti-volunteer myself due to a lack of skill.  I can hunt them down, skin them, and remove the entrails, but doing anything more complicated than setting it on a stick to roast over a fire, or jamming said stick direct into it?  Not in my skill set.”

Rick just grinned.  It was more expression than he’d had over the last several days, and yet dimmer than the ones he could show off when he was of a mind normally.

“So you’ve got clothes and other supplies packed?” Maxine nodded to the pack Tanner was setting on the floor near her and Rick’s table, “Do you have any kind of weapon chosen for this adventure?”

“Ah,” Tanner scratched behind an ear, “No.  Remember what Hivea said?”

“Oh yes, it was less than a day ago,” she answered, “But even if you enjoy them all, surely there is one you’re generally most comfortable with, or one you’re working with right now that you need more practice?”

“Ah.” Tanner huffed, “Last one I was working with was an axe, actually.”

“Axe, or hatchet?” she looked at Tanner’s arms.

“Fiiine, hatchet,” Tanner let his voice slide into a whining sound, “Hivea says I have a ways to go in practicing with hatchets before she’ll let me near an axe.  Says they take a lot more upper body strength than most people think.”

“With what kind of sword have you trained?” Maxine tilted her head at him.

“Hivea won’t let him use swords yet,” Rick shook his head, “At least, not since the last time he tried, right after working with staves.  He kept trying to-“

“Oh boy,” Maxine’s face fell flat, “That must have been fun to watch.”

“It wasn’t that bad.  I dare you to go from learning staves to swords and not try to use swords like a staff, or the other way around,” Tanner made a face, and then let it go, “I’m going to go get the food now.”

He didn’t even give them the time to tease him any more before he was off to the other half of the dining hall.  The cooks were waiting for him, and loaded him up on bread rolls that were fresh made, some that were made in a way to make them last several days still soft-ish.  They also pressed into his hands a couple that were made with sweet things tucked into them, and meats, and told him that the meats were for today, and the sweets were to keep him going as he traveled.  It was a fairly typical set up for any of the students who had a reason to leave for some kind of pilgrimage. Though, it was usually the magic students searching for ingredients to rituals or some kind of rare object that might be needed.

He returned to the main part of the dining hall finishing a roll made expressly for eating now, and opened the sack, to load the food into it.

“Waait,” Maxine was obviously looking over his shoulder judging by her comment, “You’re going to want to re-pack that.”

“What?” Tanner blinked, “I packed it pretty well.  Don’t have too much-“

“I’m not commenting about the amount of stuff.  I’m rather pleased with how economical you’re being in the amount of things in there,” she waved a hand and reached around him, grabbing the bag, and then hoisting it into the air.  It was a little lumpy, and listed just a bit to one side, “That means that the distribution’s a little off.  Imagine that on your back for hours.”

“Oh.” Tanner paused, “Didn’t think of that.  And the lumps won’t be good either, will they?”

“Right,” she nodded, “So you’ll need to rearrange everything in there to make it fit more evenly.  Heft it up every so often and look for the tilt.  Set it on your back and take a few steps.  We’ve still got a bit before we have to head out.  The Abbot hasn’t shown yet, for one thing.”

“He’s seeing us off?” the Seer blinked, “Why?”

“For one, it’s protocol,” Rick shrugged, “anyone who leaves the school while still a student has to have the Abbot’s consent, given fresh as they leave.  It’s why he sees off all of the kids for their visits home.”

“Oh.  They haven’t covered that in classes,” Tanner was digging items out of the pack and setting them on the ground.  Lifting them again and re-loading them differently, he looked over at Rick for a bit, “Do they ever cover that?”

“Your situation’s a bit different, seeing as neither of your parents are alive and their families can’t afford to take you on,” Rick sighed, “So no one ever talked about it with you before, and then I guess everyone forgot you didn’t know.”

“That makes sense, I guess,” Tanner paused, “By the time we had the first Home Visit I was here for, I was used to seeing the Abbot greeting everyone that arrived, so it didn’t register as a formality.”

“That one’s because most people who come in here are going to be talking to the Abbot or the Abbess.  Or both,” Maxine sat back down on the bench she’d been perched on before.

“So it’s only students leaving?” Tanner had the bag re-packed, and lifted it up.  It was better, but still lumpy, so he took everything out again and started over.

“Yep,” Rick grinned, “Graduates included.  So if I tried to head home to Narada, I’d have to have a face-to-face with him too.”

“You know,” Tanner blinked, “With you being a Resistant, it never occurred to me that you attended here for anything other than normal schooling.”

“Most people don’t think I studied magic, just because casting on me doesn’t work without my permission,” the man grinned, “But Resistant isn’t the same as Null.”

“Oooooh,” Tanner’s eyes went wide.  That was true.  No one had ever said Rick was Null, or Blank. “I guess.”

“A lot of people figure Resistants are Blank, yes,” Rick chuckled, “It made it so much fun when I was a student, in classes where we were going to have to cast.  Most of the others wanted to practice with me because they could watch the effects of the spells without seeing them do harm.  And then they thought that the lessons were over, until the teacher said it was my turn.”

“To be fair,” Maxine paused, “When most people hear about people for whom magic has no effect, it’s a person that can’t cast it either.  Not as many have magical talent for it to be as easy to figure they’d know that Resistant does not equal Blank, and Null does not equal Blank.”

“I’ve never heard of a person who was Null that wasn’t also Resistant,” Tanner stopped refolding a pair of pants into the bag, and looked Maxine in the eye, “That’s.  That’s really got to be painful.”

“I ran across one instance, when I was a kid,” she sighed, “and it was a big problem for him, too.  Worse than being a Null who couldn’t cast, but had magical reserves, he was nearly half-again as vulnerable when people cast spells to make him sleep or to become confused.”

“He wasn’t a fighter, was he?” Rick jerked his head back in surprise.

“No, he didn’t live long enough to do more than decide he wanted to learn to defend himself,” Maxine tapped her fingers on her thigh before adding, “The poor kid was just born under an unlucky star.”

“Okaaay,” Tanner paused, looked at the bag, and looked up at Maxine and Rick.  He pointed at the bag and then asked, “I think I’ve got it.”

She walked over, hefted it again and after a few seconds, nodded, “You’ll get better with practice, but at least it isn’t as likely to off-balance you as you walk.  All to the better.  Now you can load the food too.”  She passed the pack back, and lifted the plate she’d been eating from, “Might as well go get the Abbot.  I think we’ll be leaving soonish.”

“All right,” Rick stood as well, and when Maxine took his plate, he left the room.

“I’ve heard of some people who travel that are relentless and,” Tanner paused, “I’ve never traveled outside of the College.  At least, not since I was nine.”

“I might need reminding every so often, but we’re not exactly in a great rush.  We’re waiting for the mercenaries that were contracted to guide you the rest of the way to be able to make it to town and get their own supplies ready.”

“Oh,” Tanner tilted his head to one side, “I didn’t hear that they’d gotten word back from them.”

“Well, you were focusing on your studies, weren’t you?” she laughed.

“Yeah.  I was trying not to dwell on the trip,” Tanner smiled, stood and then hefted the pack.  He looked around the room.  It was still pretty empty, too early for the eldest students to trickle in by a little bit still.

“My pack’s nearer the gates,” Maxine nodded that way, “No one’s going to take it, and even if they tried, nothing in it is of any value to anyone but me.”

“You’re, suspicious of other people if you’ve even considered that much.” Tanner blinked at her.

“I’m a hunter, and I’m being charged with your health.  I’ll be as paranoid as I need to be,” Maxine just shook her head at him and put the plates where they needed to go, then led him out of the dining hall to where they would be meeting the Abbot.

Tanner walked behind Maxine as they went, setting the bag where it would rest for the next several hours, and adjusting its weight so it sat better.  She was currently still letting hers hang from her hand.

The Abbot was nearly at the gates when the two arrived, and he stopped to greet them, “Getting an earlier start?”

“Well, we’re both awake,” Maxine shrugged, “and packed.  I see no point in waiting.”

Rick, who’d been walking with the Abbot, passed over one of the sturdier staves the school had, “Here.  You weren’t making up your mind, so I went with the weapon you seemed to have the firmest grasp on.”

“Oh, thanks,” Tanner blinked and took it, “I was distracted from fetching it by re-packing my bag.”

“And you’d never made up your mind,” Maxine teased.

“Well, that too,” Tanner agreed, sheepishly smiling.

“Plus, if it had been you reaching for a tool of self defense, you’d only have been allowed the ones that students can borrow,” Rick smirked.

“Ah,” Tanner looked at the staff in his hand closer.  It was the same wood that was used for any he’d ever handled, and carved with the same designs- at least in style.  The color was still the normal, dark brown of the wood, and the youth looked up at Rick, puzzled, “What’s different?”

“Not your field or anything, but it’s been given charms to hold up to wear and tear better, and to make it easier on you to swing it and use it to break swings,” Rick grinned, “Told Hivea I was voting for a staff and she passed me that.  Said it was naturally distributed to your particular quirks, and had been charmed for your tendency to us staves to break others’ weapon swings.”

“Eh,” Tanner was even more sheepish as Maxine shook her head and set her forehead into the raised palm of her white-gloved hand, “I’ll work on that, yeah?”

“Oh yes, you will,” Maxine nearly growled, “I may not have met this band of mercenaries, but I’m not leaving you in a situation where you have to wait for them to rescue you or fight for you because your staff snapped.”

“It could do that regardless,” Tanner balked.

“And it will only happen faster if you’re using it like you should a shield.  Remember, even shields snap, shatter, crack and break, and they are meant for such things,” she countered, pointing a finger at him almost as though stabbing him with it.

“Okay, okay,” Tanner wilted under her glare, and held the staff in one hand, while waving the other in what he hoped was a placating fashion, “I’ll work on that too.”

“Am I bringing the staff back after we reach Tomovie and have a chance to get him something to replace it?” Maxine looked between Rick and the Abbot.

“Are you talking about returning here at some point, with the mercenaries?” The Abbot asked, dodging around her potential intent with the question.

“I was actually referring to the idea of leaving him in the care of the mercenaries, and coming back to drop it off before heading back to Tibeny.” She smirked.

“You’re still determined to try avoiding the prophecy?” Rick shook his head, laughing a little.

“I’m sure going to try,” Maxine shrugged, “It should at least be an entertaining trick, right?”

“Max,” Rick shook his head “Why are you trying so hard?”

“Because I can?” She just shrugged, “I’m just not feeling the reason to say, ‘oh, a Vision says I’m going to do this, so I will.’  I’d rather have a reason of my own.”

“Well, I can’t blame you,” Tanner sighed, “I kind of wish I didn’t have to, but I’m just too curious about the tower, what may make it haunted, even though it’s not supposed to-“

“Oh ho,” Maxine cut in, “Am I finally allowed to hear why you’re traveling, in detail?”

“Wait,” Tanner blinked, “No one told you?”

“Who would have?  The Abbot?  Rick?  Mariss?” Maxine drawled, “Mariss can barely remember her head at this point, she’s so frazzled about her wedding.  Rick’s probably only about as in the know about it as I am, and the Abbot really does have other things to do.”

“Still, we probably would have gotten more cooperation had we told you,” The Abbot smiled, even as Rick flinched and looked off to the side.

“Probably.” She agreed, “I make no promises.”

“You know about Aridh Tower, right?” Tanner started.

“Yeah, supposed to be something of a memorial for the Roka family,” Maxine tilted her head a bit, and shot a look in Rick’s direction.

“Well, my Vision’s a really small one, near as I can tell.  It’s not about some war, or something spectacular.  Just, me and a group of people walking up Aridh Tower and finding the Memory stone at the top,” Tanner paused, “And when I touch it, it, well.  A ghost shows up.”

“That’s odd,” Maxine blinked, “People have touched it before and nothing ever happened.”

“I know,” Tanner rubbed his hands together, “We were going to leave it alone until I finished my schooling, and then I would go investigate, but it started revealing details.  Like, what the ghost looked like, and what one of my companions looked like.”

“Oh?” she paused, “That explains the odd look on your face when I brought the girls in, and that question about whether or not I’m left-handed.”

“Yeah,” Tanner smiled sheepishly at her.

“Well, I can’t say that I have a burning need to go, but I can see why you’re all needling me,” she shook her head.

“Do you know anything about the Roka family?” the Abbot asked.

“Ahm, not much more than the typical citizen in this age,” she shrugged, “The line ended when the last king sired a daughter.  War happened and the daughter sacrificed herself to bring protection for her people.  Moot point because a set of triplets gone mad razed the kingdom afterward, taking a different path.”

“The ghost in Tanner’s dream sounds to resemble stories that circulated of the princess,” the Abbot added.

“Oh,” Maxine blinked, “Well that’s good to know.  I suppose.”

“You’re still not convinced,” Rick shook his head.

“Nope,” she smirked, “But as I said, I’ve at least agreed to take Tanner to Tomovie.  When we get there, if I haven’t changed my mind, I’ll turn back.”

“So I’ve got to convince you?” Tanner blinked.

“If you want to look at it that way, I suppose.” She just shrugged, and pointed towards the gates, “We’d better get going or we’ll wind up leaving later than we wanted, even after being ready a fair bit earlier than we’d intended.”

“Fare thee well, Tanner Aisen,” the Abbot’s words were the formal ones, and still full of the emotions that made them sincere, but Tanner felt like there was still something else to them, just under the surface. “And fare thee well, Maxine Tyler, on this trip which you have not yet decided the length.”

“Travel safely,” Rick added, nodding once towards each traveler.