Messeras spends the next thirty minutes going through a rough outline of our journey, showing me the different planes we’ll be passing through.

“Let’s make a supplies list,” he states as he presses once more on his ring, turning off the map projection. “It’s going to be a two-week trip but I stand by a contingency of twice that time, so we should plan for four weeks.”

“Didn’t you say you’d get me to Nuremvark in fourteen days, ‘mark my words’?”

“I might have said something like that, but nothing is certain in Eternity. It’s best to plan for the worst.”

“Right. So, what would you bring on a trip like this?” I ask.

Messeras twists the gem on another one of his rings and blinks. A white sheet of paper manifests before him, clearly some kind of checklist in a foreign language.

“Why paper?”

He gives me an amused look. “Paper is wonderful; why not paper? Do you actually prefer to record information on projections and screens? If I could find someone willing to make a dynamic map on paper rather than projected on air, I’d force them to take my money.”

“On my world, it’s ubiquitously expensive and not worth the cost.”

Messeras snorts. “What, are your people running out of trees? Anyway...I’d suggest making a checklist of your own by copying mine.”

I give him a look. “Do you have any paper?”

He withdraws a blank sheet from his ring, along with a thin, unornamented black rod, and passes them over. I roll the rod between my fingers before testing it on the paper, its tip leaving a thin, pitch-black dot.

Messeras clears his throat. “First things first, the prime necessity...entertainment.”

“Isn’t the world entertainment enough?” I retort, my mind immediately gravitating to the questionable reading material in Messeras’ contingency ring. How could that compare to frost dragons, towering snowpeaks, and abyssal magma pools?

“The world becomes exhausting after a while,” the ascendant quips. “Sometimes you might want to escape it. I’d recommend bringing something with you to take your mind off the journey.”

“I already have something in mind; please proceed.” No need to write “giving Crystal wings” on a checklist.

“I am glad giving me wings is your idea of entertainment,” the fish interjects.

I’ll see if I can do more than that, if you’re willing. Enough that you won’t have to worry about being cautious around someone like Messeras.

Messeras points to the next item on his checklist, still unaware of Crystal’s intelligence and our side conversations. I’m definitely going to need to rectify that...later. “The next most important thing is water. Dying from dehydration is horrible, and you’ll continue to die from dehydration until you get lucky enough to find water or find a new way of keeping yourself alive.”

He holds up his pen and grins, his eyes narrowing. “Not ideal!” he says, punctuating each word. “I tend to budget two gallons per day for drinking, washing, and cooking. Some days might end up using more than others, but that’s to be expected.”

“...So four gallons of water per day, including contingency?”

“Sure.”

I write the entry down on my paper. “Great. What’s next?”

—

“This is a lot of supplies,” I murmur to myself. Euryphel’s people packed my void storage full of essentials to last me five to six weeks in isolation, and this two week trip might fill my void storage nearly as much. Now that I have my void storage back, I have a few pieces of clothing, but it’s still a category that I’m running short on. Thankfully, Messeras is charitable enough to let me keep his contingency ring and the sweaters and pants therein.

Messeras lists off everything I’m still missing: “A fire starter, shoes, a set of pots, a portable shower, a portable house...”

“I still cannot believe you bring an entire tiny house with you whenever you travel.”

“Listen,” Messeras retorts, lifting his hands up. “It might take up an entire one of my rings, but you’re going to thank me for sharing it with you, along with its kitchen.”

“It has a kitchen?”

“A tiny kitchen.”

“Anyway, is there any hope of getting me shoes?” I wiggle my toes under the table.

“I have some materials, but I’m no leatherworker. You can try your hand at fashioning a pair before we leave. Now, one last important question...I know you’ve made two new friends, but do you intend to bring them with us?”

I look over at my arm. Little Jimmy is tirelessly holding on for dear life. “Not sure I have a choice with this one, and I definitely intend to bring Crystal.”

Messeras looks over at Crystal’s lounging form. “Not to be rude, but I don’t think it’s going to be able to keep up.”

“Crystal can ride on my bone wyrm.”

“It’s just...Ian, it’s a fish. You gave it legs and, somehow, lungs, but if you decide to bring it you’re going to have to bring more water and food.”

Can you just say something already? I ask, mildly exasperated.

“...Fine.”

Suddenly Messeras jolts in place. He looks to Crystal, then me, and back again. “You leave for two days and come back with a sapient beast.” The words are more statement than question.

“That’s correct.”

The man snaps his fingers. “Damn. And it’s willingly following you?”

“Yes.” Messeras’ pained expression is oddly amusing.

“Double damn. Is Crystal a male or female?”

Uh...

“Female.”

I shifted Crystal’s ovaries around when I was giving her a proper pelvis and yet I’ve been thinking of her as an “it” this entire time.

“Nevermind, she told me,” Messeras murmurs. “She’s a sweetheart, even apologized for being mute. Said she’s shy. Congratulations on finding a sapient beast with a good temperament.”

“You’re speaking like she’s a prized hound,” I point out. I’m starting to get a better sense for why Crystal wanted to be cautious.

Messeras takes in a deep breath. “It’s...rare to find a sapient beast, especially one willing to follow an ascendant. For the past few years I’ve been trying to breed one.”

Breed one? I recall Crystal in the lake; numerous smaller koi fish lived around her, but none even came close to her size, suggesting that whatever made her different was some kind of mutation. “Are you trying to get a sapient bat?”

“That’s right. There’s a very, very small chance that any new bat might possess sapience. If I can raise them from birth, I’ll have a much better chance at having a companion.”

“Why not try for a frost dragon?” They sound more interesting than the bird-bats.

He grimaces. “Do you know how slowly they reproduce? I might be waiting thousands of years before I finally find a sapient hatchling.”

“There are plenty of animals that breed rapidly; why not try getting one of those?” Rodents are an obvious example, but fish reproduce fairly quickly and can have hundreds of eggs at a time.

“Just because they’re sapient doesn’t make them invincible. Rapid breeders don’t typically live very long and sapience doesn’t change this much, either because they have short lifespans or get themselves killed.”

You’re a fish and don’t strike me as particularly young, I muse, directing my thoughts toward Crystal.

She ignores my comment. “Get themselves killed...is an interesting way to describe it.”

Apparently it’s easier for Messeras to breed bats for decades and bond with a baby than to befriend a beast that’s already grown. I can imagine that while sapient beasts may be valuable alive, ascendants might kill or harvest those unwilling to submit...which might be the majority.

I return my attention to the ascendant. “But there are surely methods to increase a sapient beast’s lifespan.” If people could farm fast-breeding sapients, I think they would–it seems likely that there’s something else preventing the practice.

“It is possible,” the man acknowledges. “When I have a companion of my own, I’d be remiss to not visit a Life practitioner–these bats live for one to two decades, but that’s barely the blink of an eye.

“You’re right that for creatures like rodents, ultimately lifespan isn’t the problem. Instead, think of it like this: We’re ascendants, undying champions, the greatest of our respective worlds. Who among us would be satisfied with a frail mouse beast as a companion, assuming they desire a companion at all?”

Sounds like an issue of pride more than anything else. “I wouldn’t mind.”

Messeras gives me a dry look. “I don’t think it would stay a frail mouse for long in your hands; it’s almost cheating.”

I scoff at the excuses. “You could always bring a sapient mouse to a Life practitioner not just to increase its lifespan, but to change its form. You wouldn’t need to do it yourself.”

Messeras rubs at the bridge of his nose. “I’m sure there are people doing just as you suggest, but I am not one of them. Before we digress too far, I’ll note that even though Crystal is a fish–a rather undervalued beast species–she’s a rare entity. Do you know when koi fish stop growing?”

“No.”

“When their enclosure is too small, or...they die.”

I give him a blank look. “Crystal is the size of a shark: big lake or not, there’s no way she would naturally get so big.”

“Never say never in Eternity. Given her size, and the fact that carp species grow very slowly in adulthood, I imagine she’s quite old. I’ll take the fact that she’s silent right now as confirmation. She’s probably unaware of her own age–it’s a very human thing to keep track of.”

“Why do ascendants even desire beasts as companions?” Crystal is interesting and has useful skills, but I wouldn’t have spent decades trying to bond with another beast like her. I’ve already noted that a companion like Holiday’s snake might be able to watch after one’s belongings after death, but aside from that...

Both Crystal and Messeras respond at the same time, Crystal’s thoughts melding with the ascendant’s wistful murmur: “Loneliness.”

“Sounds like it’s easier to just find another ascendant to explore with, someone who will never die.”

Messeras nods. “Some do that.”

“But not you.”

He inclines his head and moves to clear the table, empty soup bowls hovering in the air. “Nope.”

“You seem like a fairly well-adjusted individual,” I reply, raising an eyebrow. Messeras is easy to talk to and seems to walk the border of intro- and extroversion. He’s not the kind of eccentric hermit I’d envision retreating into an unpopulated jungle.

The dirty bowls enter the kitchen; I hear the soft bang of them landing in a sink. “After traveling with ascendants for five-hundred years, I’ve decided that they’re categorically like dessert: a treat on occasion, else sickening. Don’t misunderstand: I’m glad we’re setting off on a short journey together, but there’s a reason I’m here alone.”

—

“This is it,” Messeras calls out, pointing to a seemingly innocuous cluster of trees. Sure enough, my compass needle swivels backward a second later, marking the weak point in the veil.

“Do you have a compass like this?” I ask, holding mine up.

“I do, but can usually use my practice to probe for weak points, so I don’t use it often. It’s good to keep on hand for exceptional situations, like in planes such as Vizier’s Crown. To not have any weak points in the veil for days on end is extremely unusual.”

Suddenly the sky peels backward, revealing a straining hole leading to a gray passage of rock. I didn’t even see Messeras move. Like when he was engaging the enemy ascendant before, the wind looks like something out of a watercolor painting. Translucent, light-blue brush strokes seem to almost tape sections of sky in place.

As I send the bone wyrm into the tear, our party is immediately assaulted by the smell of sulfur and potent heat. Jimmy lets out a distressed gurgle, while Crystal remains silent, but is clearly uncomfortable, her heart rate spiking.

I know from Messeras that the temperature is only a few degrees hotter than the jungle, but it feels more directed, like a fire is toasting me from below. There is only a dim, dusky light coming down from an overcast sky.

“Just through this passage we’ll be passing over a lava flow,” the ascendant explains.

“Feel free to lead us,” I offer.

Messeras nods and begins to direct the wyrm’s path, manually adjusting the angle of its snout. Now that he’s navigating, I can sit back and take in the environment.

There is very little life around us. I sense some insects and a handful of small lizards, but scarce plant life, just spindly weeds and a brown, dead-looking moss covering some of the rocks.

Suddenly we round a switchback and enter a large canyon. Nearly two-hundred feet below us is a sea of magma, its heat distorting the air.

“Look right,” Crystal says.

I turn to behold a river of flowing lava winding down the side of the dark rock, casting everything in a red glow. Parts of the flow on the edges solidify as they cool.

“Where does the lava come from?” What does it even look like for a plane, rather than a spherical planet, to have lava?

“The ground, where else?”

I realize I’m probably asking the wrong question. “Have you ever tried flying up, as high as you can go?”

“Do that and you’ll end up in the same place as when you go off the edge of the plane.”

I nod. “What about digging down? Is there a point where you dig and only find emptiness?”

“That’s not quite how it works. Try digging down and see how far you get; the resistance dramatically increases the further down you go. Even if you were a Sun affinity fire elementalist and tried following lava to its source, bypassing solid earth...even then you’d feel a powerful resistance. It would kill you and melt all your belongings.”

“Sounds wonderful.”

Messeras chuckles. “It’s refreshing having someone new around.”