Kanin Fyre: Chapter 2 - Next Steps

When we get back to the Dainty Drake, Noli is already waiting for us at a table with her wife, Rezira. The inn has become familiar stomping grounds by now; enough so that people have stopped staring at me every time I walk through the door. We’re in Harrowood at the moment, as we’d come back here to get help from Caesius, my glass mentor, after 95% of my body was destroyed in the Yedzaquib fight. Once she’d stopped laughing at what was left of my pitiful form, she’d helped me collect more glass to Attune.

“So I see you guys didn't kill each other,” Rezira says.

I slide into the seat across from her. “A miracle, once again.”

“All injuries are minor.” Noli squeezes her wife’s arm. Or, tries to. As an orc, Rezira’s arms are so wide around that Noli’s hand doesn’t even make it a quarter of the way around. “And if anything did happen, that's why we have you here!”

Rezira grimaces. “I'm supposed to be a last resort, not part of the plan.” 

“We haven’t hurt each other so far, ” Zyneth assures her.

“Much,” I add.

Rezira gives us a flat look.

“Zyneth might have a few bruised ribs,” I admit.

“I’m fine, really!” Zyneth elbows me, shooting me an amused warning look. He knows I can’t help but tease Rezira whenever given the chance. It’s okay, though, because the feeling is mutual.

Rezira shakes her head. “How long are you guys going to keep this up?”

“I'm not sure,” I admit. After Caesius helped me build a new, stronger body, we’ve been sparring every night for the last month. We try to avoid doing so during the day because Ink is going to draw even more attention than I already do, and its form doesn’t exactly give “pet me, I’m friendly” vibes. Noli had suggested we hold our sparring sessions inside the city to practice spatial awareness and damage control. I don’t know why she thinks Ink and I can’t fight without destroying things.

The warehouse where we fought Yedzaquib doesn’t count—a lot of that was because of the other remnant. And destroying Emrox was Gillow and the predator’s fault. And the Athenaeum was Raz’s fault; he’s the one who blew up the floor.

After I let him out of his cell.

“We’ll keep training as long as it takes for me to get stronger,” I continue. “Or until I can find someone else to spar with who understands what I am and won't try to kill me.”

“Great,” Rezira murmurs, taking a sip from her mug.

“We probably could find someone else to spar with you.” Zyneth drapes an arm over my shoulder, signaling to the bartender to bring a drink over. “Someone more experienced than us.”

“Like a martial arts master!” Noli signs. “Similar to Caesius.”

I lean into Zyneth’s side, fiddling with some pieces of glass that I orbit between my fingers. “Perhaps. Although I'm not sure if anyone would know how to spar with us the way Ink fights.” I add a fleck of void to the glass, dancing the two elements around each other as I think back to the sparring session. “What I really need is to develop my void abilities.”

And not just for practice fights. Even with my strengthened body, I doubt my glass could hold up against a god like Blair. Since my core is my weak point, it would be best if I could keep it at a distance during fights—or at least more maneuverable. Developing my Displace spell, so it cost less mana and I could use it more times in one fight, could help with that.

More importantly, though, I might be able to use the spell to free some of the imprisoned Lost Souls—or Travelers, as the gods call us.

I’d been able to use Displace to escape Blair’s wards when she first tried to trap us. I might be able to use it to free imprisoned Travelers, too. (Assuming, you know, I can even find a way to get to the Heavens in the first place.) But first I’d need to develop a way to teleport without having to pre-position a volume of my void.

Ever since meeting Blair, I’ve been focused on getting stronger and learning as much as I can about the Heavens. Both so I can avoid being captured, and so I can find a way to free the other Earth souls who have been imprisoned there. Unfortunately, research hasn’t been as fruitful as I’d like. There’s not a lot of info about where the Heavens are, (if it’s in any physical place at all) and I’ve found even less information on void-based magic. Leveling up by sparring with Noli and Zyneth has been going well, at least, but it’s starting to feel like I’m spinning my wheels on everything else.

“A void master then,” Noli suggests.

I raise a proverbial eyebrow. “Do those exist?”

“Yes,” Zyneth says, nodding thankfully to the barkeep as he pulls his drink over. “Of course. There are masters in all types of arcana.” He takes a drink.

“I thought void was practically impossible to Attune.”

Except for void monsters, apparently.

“You don't have to Attune an arcana in order to be an expert in it,” Rezira says. “I'm pretty adept in healing magic, but that's not something you can Attune.”

Right, I knew that. Zyneth uses fire and lightning arcana, but he can't Attune either. Well, maybe fire, as he's mostly fireproof, but that doesn't seem advisable.

“Where would we find one?” I ask, interest piqued. I’d much rather learn from an individual than books, anyway.

The party looks at each other.

“I'm not actually sure, ” Noli admits.

“Telepads are common in Valenia,” Zyneth says, thinking. “I'm sure there are quite a few null arcana masters on this continent. Though any with a void specialty, I'm not sure about. We could revisit the library of Miasmere and see if there’s anything we could find there.”

“Miasmere? ” I say, alarmed. “But that's where…” That's where Yedzaquib was. Though I suppose he's not really a problem anymore after whatever horrifying thing he’d done to himself with the captured remnant—not to mention, Blair sort of abducted him.

 Zyneth also sobers at the reminder. “Yes, it would be a risk. I’ve heard that the Scholar’s guild has seized the Anetheum in Yedzaquib’s absence, which would probably be our best bet at finding the information we’re after, though I don’t know if it’s yet reopened. It’s also possible some of the bounties Yedzaquib placed on us might still be active. And of course, there would be Gillow to contend with.”

You know, after everything we’ve been through, the notion of running into Gillow really doesn’t bother me anymore. In fact, I’m pretty sure Ink would enjoy a rematch.

Ink stirs, a spark of eagerness rippling through its mind. Yes, it would enjoy another fight with that nereid very much.

“Miasmere isn’t the only city with a library, you know,” Rezira cuts in. “I mean, it’s definitely the best in Valenia. But there’s also Simora’s Academy of the Arcane, which has plenty of scholars you could talk to.”

“Oh,” Zyneth says, glancing at Rezira in surprise. “That’s quite a good idea. I hadn’t even thought of Simora—never been there myself.”

“You haven’t? Oh, it’s beautiful!” Noli signs. “I’ve visited a couple times. It’s not terribly far from my host family, actually. And that’s where Rezira studied healing. Tell them!” She shakes her wife’s arm.

Rezira actually looks embarrassed, which isn’t something I often see from the gruff orc. “I spent a few years there.”

Zyneth seems impressed. “That’s one of the most prestigious universities on the continent.”

“I dropped out,” Rezira objects, fiddling with her mug’s handle. “Didn’t feel like I was helping as many people as I could. Went up north after that and fell into a clinic that needed more hands. Definitely not as prestigious, but it was good to feel useful.” She turns to her wife, eyes softening in a smile. “I don’t have any regrets. That’s where I met Noli.” 

Noli beams back up at her.

Well aren’t those two just adorable. “A magical university sounds like a promising place to start,” I agree. “Not only could it help with developing my void abilities, it might also be good for more research on the gods.”

Rezira’s expression abruptly darkens. “None of that talk here.”

I hold up my hands. “Right, sorry. God talk later.”

In the last couple months, Zyneth has given me a crash-course on all the main gods. Blair indicated there were some who would be willing to help Travelers like me, so we’ve been putting together a list of potential divine allies. We also have a list of, well, not enemies, but ‘gods we should probably try to avoid.’ The two lists can be difficult to sort. A god that’s known for kindness might be sympathetic to our freedom, but too loyal to Lorata, the head of the pantheon, to subvert her orders. For obvious reasons, Lorata is on the ‘probably try to avoid’ list.

But while Zyneth is dedicated to helping me maintain my independence, I can tell he’s equally uncomfortable with the notion that he might be working against the will of the pantheon. I think it’s only because he learned there’s division in Heavens, that things aren’t so clear cut, that he’s helping me with this at all.

Rezira doesn’t share his sentiment.

She and Noli weren’t present when Blair spoke to Zyneth and I. And while they both do believe us (after getting over their initial skepticism and bewilderment,) Rezira has made it clear her line in the sand is “plotting a divine incursion.” I don’t think she’s particularly scared for herself, though; I suspect she’s mostly worried about Noli getting involved.

A few nights back, Noli had privately confided in me that Rezira had implied—but not outright asked—that Noli should step back from the god research as well.

“She isn’t usually like this,” Noli had said. “We used to be entirely comfortable doing things independently from each other. But she’s been acting more protective lately. Like she thinks I’ve suddenly become as brittle as an egg shell.” She smiled guiltily. “I’m sorry she’s taking it out on you.”

I brushed off her apology. “We worked through our differences in the Drifting Isles.” Well, it had been a start, anyway. “But I don’t think this is about me. You know, when we first met, you were always so sure you’d see Rezira again. It kept you hopeful and moving forward. But Rezira didn’t have that. She didn’t know what happened to you. For a whole month, she thought you were on the verge of death—or already gone. She probably went through some degree of mourning in that time.”

Noli’s face fell, and she went still. She raised a hand as if to sign something, then aborted the motion.

“I know it’s been a while now,” I signed, guessing her thoughts. “But I think our most recent mission underscores how fragile life can be. She doesn't want to lose you… again.”

“I can take care of myself,” Noli objected.

“I'm sure she knows that. But that doesn't stop her from worrying.” I thought of Zyneth and how helpless I had felt when we were in the submarine and he was suffering from his unfulfilled debt.

“Ultimately, it’s up to you,” I signed. “You can do whatever you want. But you don’t have to help with this research. We can still train. I mean, it's not like Rezira asked you to not be friends with me or anything, has she?”

“No!” Noli exclaimed. “Neither of us would ever ask that of each other.”

“Well there you have it. This isn't about me. And I can't really blame her for not wanting to see you get on the bad side of gods.”

Nolly reached out a hand to squeeze mine with a wink. “You can't get rid of me that easily.” She took a moment to think through things before continuing. “But I don’t want Rezira to worry. And I’m not sure this is really my specialty, either. I guess I'll just have to train with you twice as hard."

“At any rate,” Zyneth says in the present, pulling the conversation out of dangerous waters, “the Academy will be a good place to start investigating more applications of your void. We can continue training while we visit, too.”

“This is exciting,” Noli signs, perking up. “It will be wonderful to go back south again. Maybe I can visit my friends! When are we leaving? Tomorrow?”

I chuckle. “We can leave soon, but I want to stop by Cassius’s shop first. We were working on some new spell circles a week back and I… sort of forgot to check in.” I'm sure she won't let me forget it, either.

“If we're all in agreement then?” Zyneth glances at Rezira.

She smiles, sighing out her nose. “Who am I to stop my wife from going on an adventure?”

The four of us spend some more time chatting, and the three of us with digestive systems spend some more time drinking. It's starting to get late when Ink nudges me to go on our nightly patrol.

We've both been loosening up on our original split-time agreement, and it sometimes even lets me spend the evening researching without too much complaining. Tonight we're well past the time we usually switch over, but Ink doesn't mind that much since we were able to spar with Noli and Zyneth earlier.

Ink thinks we should spend the whole night participating in such play fights. It would be more interesting than wandering around the forest in hopes of encountering other predators.

Encountering predators is not the goal, I think. If you're bored of the woods we can always stay here and I can get some more reading in.

Ink grumbles unhappily. That is even worse than the forest! It doesn't understand why I enjoy staring at these flat squiggles. Let's do another fight.

It does, in fact, understand the concept of spell circles, and knows that studying these glass theory books are for the benefit of both of us; it's just looking to complain. Noli and Zyneth need to sleep. We’ll spar again tomorrow.

It doesn’t understand the appeal of sleep. It seems very boring.

People have to sleep, it’s not a choice, I tell it.

Why?

It refreshes you for the next day.

Why?

Because giving your mind a rest lets your body recover.

Why?

What are you, a five year old? I don’t know, I’m not an expert. That’s just how it works. Living things need to sleep.

We do not sleep.

Yeah, thanks for the reminder. Though I suppose letting Ink take the reins is kind of like giving my mind a rest, if you squint and don’t think too hard about the existential horror of it all.

I endure more of Ink’s pestering until everyone retires to their respective rooms.

“Be safe,” Zyneth says, tapping his forehead against mine.

“See you in the morning.”

I leave my clothes and translator in the room, since none of it is useful to Ink. And then, like the weird shadow-glass-amorphous-werewolf I seem to have become, I hand over control to Ink and let the monster take us out into the night.

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If you haven't read the short story about how Noli and Rezira met, you can do so here: https://BookHip.com/BSNLGPD