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Duskclaw grimaced as she applied another dose of a healing poultice on her ribs. It wasn’t just the ribs that hurt though, but pretty much everything else as well. The spatial disturbance had inflicted a rather huge shock to her system. Healing a singular wound or injury was usually relatively simple with enough mana or qi, even if you didn’t know proper healing spells. However, if your whole system was suffering from shock and an overload…well, things became much more difficult.

Despite the pain, she managed to apply the poultice and leaned against the wooden frame of what was left of the airship they had been traveling on. The vessel had suffered extensive damage, and it would require just as extensive repairs before being able to fly again, not to mention travel between worlds. Repairs that would be much easier to perform if they had someone with the necessary skills to do the work. She took a glance around the room she was in and shook her head at the sight of the surviving crew members, who were lying on makeshift beds in worse condition than she was in.

It seemed that anyone that had been on the deck of the ship had been transported along with most of the ship through the rift. That meant Duskclaw, the majority of the crew members, and Prince Cendirion. Most of the crew had not fared well, as they didn’t have the skills or power to defend themselves from the spatial forces involved. Duskclaw had a bit of both, which is why she was in better condition, but she had still been seriously injured. The crew had not been as fortunate. Many of them had already died from their injuries.

The only good news was that the ship itself had provided some protection to the people inside, so Duskclaw had reason to believe the others were in a better condition. The ship wasn’t enough to truly protect anyone from the forces involved, but it had provided the precious few moments that were required for the people inside to be transported through the rift before getting injured. They might be lost, but at least they had not suffered the worst of the spatial tidal wave.

“How are you feeling?” Cendirion came closer with a bowl of the same poultice Duskclaw had just applied to her side. Neither of them was all that skilled in healing and most of their stock of healing elixirs had been spent to save as many of the crew as possible during the worst moments. The prince had shown surprising stoicism when applying triage between those that most needed the precious resources, and those that were too far gone to save.

“I’ll live. For now at least. Any luck finding help?" She asked while accepting the foul-smelling concoction. She had plenty of other wounds and she'd suffer through the smell if it helped her heal faster.

"Yes and no." The prince gave a small sigh before pursing his lips in distaste. "I found some locals that ‘helped’ me find more herbs. They're not going to be much more help than that though. And the odds are that I'll have to fend off their scavenging parties if we don’t leave soon. The locals aren’t exactly…all that civilized.” It was quite clear from his words that the help had not come willingly.

Duskclaw grunted in displeasure. It was somewhat ironic that the only reason she was still alive was the prince saving her. The reason she had been on the airship’s deck in the first place was to give him a piece of her mind. She could see the man had not completely given up on Karna, and his persistence was becoming a little creepy. Now the guy was doing his best to keep all of them alive, and he had his work cut out for him. It was hard to muster the anger to berate someone in a situation like this.

“Have you managed to figure out where we are at least?” She asked.

“Not exactly. As I said, these people are not very civilized. I've narrowed things down, but the problem is that I'm not even certain we're on the same Plane anymore." The prince admitted.

“That’s not great. As long as we find that out, I can call for help.” She explained once again. She had a talisman that would allow her to communicate with Arjuna almost completely disregarding the distance between them. Once. And then the talisman would be spent. And she couldn’t really use the talisman until she had some information to give to help Arjuna find them. Otherwise, what was the point? He already knew she was alive thanks to the soul jades. He’d do his best to find them anyway. She was tempted to try and use the talisman to contact Karna, just to make sure she was alright, but that would not help either. She was worried, but she wouldn’t allow that worry to drive her into making mistakes.

“We’re going to have to make some hard choices soon.” Cendirion frowned. “I’m quite sure that if I want to find that information, I’m going to have to travel further out to find civilization. However, that will leave all of you vulnerable.”

“We could wait until I’m in good enough condition to protect the place. I am improving, if slowly. The problem is…” She left the rest unsaid and took a meaningful look towards the wounded crew members.

“The problem is that by that time many of the crew will be dead from their wounds.” The prince finished for her.

“I have some pre-built formations in my bag that you can use, but they’re mostly for concealment and to protect against singular heavy attacks. They can buy time, but…” She suggested. Even setting up pre-built formations took some power from the person doing it. And if you wanted to cast a high-ranking spell or a formation that was pre-built, the required power could not be contained in a simple gem or a talisman. At least some had to come from the user, and she was currently not in a condition to provide that power.

"It's still a risk, and the mana signature can draw unwanted attention from something really dangerous," Cendirion noted. "It's a risk, but one we’ll have to take. I haven’t seen anything truly dangerous nearby, so the biggest risk comes from the locals discovering you. I’ll start with shorter trips out, but we don’t have all that much choice if we want to make any progress.”

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Duskclaw had to suppress a grimace as some of the marsupial looking local creatures started sniffing closer to the area the remains of their ships had crashed at. The stealth formation made them invisible and harder to detect, but it was impossible to hide all signs of the crash with a formation that wasn’t dedicated to the purpose. There had been damage to the surroundings, and even though they had tried to cover that damage, some signs remained. And the locals seemed to have a rather keen sense of smell. Most illusions relied mostly on sight and sound. Smells were harder to account for, especially since certain species had a sense of smell that worked in a completely different way. Trying to fool their senses was like trying to paint a portrait while having no idea what colors were.

Cendirion had been gone for a few days now, and would likely not be back for several more as he had gone out a bit further in order to find some civilization. Duskclaw had managed to recover a bit more and was now resting on top of the wrecked ship to have a good vantage point to see if anything tried to approach them. It was rather easy to notice any intruders since the area was relatively barren. The ground was rocky and dry, while the local plants consisted mostly of dry looking and spiky plants that somehow managed to eke out enough water and nutrients from the ground to survive.

“That explains why the prince had such trouble finding plants with healing properties. Though I can’t be sure what the area further out is like.” Duskclaw muttered while keeping an eye on the marsupial looking thing that was wearing some kind of leather jerkin and carrying basic metal weapons. She’d never seen a creature like that. The thing was clearly not powerful, nor very intelligent. Yet it existed in the Higher Plane. Sometimes weird creatures managed to make their way through the spatial cracks, and it’s not like all creatures on the Higher Planes were powerful. Still, it made one wonder. Had the creature and its kind been something more before degenerating to this point? Or had it been something even less intelligent that had developed due to ambient mana?

The thing stood on its hind-legs like a humanoid would, and it was currently sniffing its way closer and closer. Clearly, it had caught some scent, and now it was trying to find the source. Even in her current condition, Duskclaw could kill the thing with a snap of her fingers, but that wasn't the problem. The problem was that there were other marsupial creatures not too far away, and they'd likely notice if their companion suddenly disappeared. Secondly, she couldn't really blame the things for being curious, and just outright killing them off didn't really sit well with her conscience. Sure, they seemed to be scavengers of sorts, but she had no idea if they were the murderous kind. For all she knew, they could be rather friendly.

The prince had warned against the creatures. She wasn't sure how good his judgment was, but she wasn't sure she should really risk her and the remaining crew's life on some vague concept of morality, especially against his advice. "Oh, shit. That kinda settles it." Duskclaw muttered as the other creatures managed to scare out some sort of animal and descended on the animal with almost needless savagery. They seemed to enjoy causing pain and had actually wasted some materials that could be harvested from the dead creature just to cause more suffering to the animal.

She took advantage of the distraction and used a bit of air magic to yank the nosy creature closer, inside the field, where she used earth magic to drop a stone on it to crush its neck. Then she used a bit of air magic to push the thing far enough outside the field again. Hopefully, the crushed neck was plausible enough to not arouse too much suspicion, while at the same time covering any odd smells with the smell of blood and the stench of the dead rodent.

At least it seemed to satisfy the creatures for now, as they carried away the corpse with little care. Still, Duskclaw knew she’d only bought a bit of time. This wasn’t a solution.

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“Finally, some life in this barren desert!” Anaire shouted in relief as they landed in front of a group of what could only be described as moving houses. Large constructs made mostly of wood and cloth tarps were placed on large sleds and pulled either by magic or by large green beasts of burden that looked a little like lizards. The beasts were huge and strong enough to easily pull the sleds but seemed extremely docile as well. They were covered in large chitinous plates that almost made them look a little like insects, but the large mouths and cloven hooves told a different tale.

The people surrounding the sleds were all clad from head to toe in cloth robes and armor made from the plates of the beasts that pulled the sleds. Little aside from their eyes could be seen, but they were taller than normal humans or elves, had long arms and legs, and it seemed like their heads had either horns or other similar protrusions jutting from the backs of their heads. They seemed a bit more lithe than humans as well, more akin to elves, though they seemed to have some sort of a hump on their upper back, which made their shoulders seem larger. There were around three hundred of the humanoid beings outside the sleds, and there was no way to tell how many were inside with just a quick look.

The people had seen them land and seemed to be scurrying around to prepare just in case combat was necessary, though their reaction was relatively muted, as if well-practiced. There was no panic, and it seemed they were all merely going through the motions just in case. A group of four from the nearest sled approached them first while the others were gathering. “Greetings strangers. What brings you to the Garian Tribe?” The being spoke in a language that was translated by the spell Karna had cast on them earlier.

‘Oh, this is an older language.’ Karna realized, understanding the man even without the spell, though her knowledge of the language was out of date. “Greetings. We have come to you in search of information, and maybe to conduct trade.” She replied using the same language.

“Trade is always welcome, especially since our usual partner is late. Information I can’t promise. It is power after all. And such power can be pricy.” The man removed the piece of cloth on his head and made a face that was supposed to be something like a smile. The mandibles outside his mouth and the metallic looking carapace somewhat spoiled the impression though.

“Is your trade partner supposed to come from another world?” Karna asked.

“Naturally. Outsiders bring us what we need in exchange for our wares. Palaven is a harsh mother and Qunara an even harsher father. We have many riches, but we also lack certain things. Which you should be aware of if you've come to trade with us…" The man’s voice was a little curious.

“In that case, we might have some bad news. There was a spatial disturbance that disrupted planar travel not too long ago. It led to us crashing on your world, and I would not be shocked if others were similarly affected.” Karna explained the predicament. Just those names told her enough to figure out where they were. That made things easier. It was also somewhat good news, as they were still on the same plane, albeit barely.

“That…complicates things. If what you say is true, then I would assume you seek passage home? We do not have such capabilities. We rely on traders. And if those aren’t coming, then…” The man seemed genuinely apologetic. It seemed the desert environment here bred a certain type of natural empathy as you had to pull together to survive. Some beings in similar situations became insular, but some, like the person here, became more willing to help anyone.

"I don't believe the traders will be delayed indefinitely. We would appreciate it if you could help us in the meantime. We have supplies for ourselves, as well as for trade if necessary. We can also make ourselves useful. I'm a skilled artificer and a mage myself. She's a druid, and I would assume a desert planet like this could use her services." Karna made her pitch.

“If what you say is true, then I’m sure we can make arrangements.” The man nodded eagerly. Both of the strange girls posessed two of the most useful skills they could possibly have in this place.

“We would also appreciate it if you could get a word out to the other clans. Others like us could've crashed on this world, and we would appreciate it if we got word of our friends. I assume we just flew out of the Great Desert." It had been called the Great Desert of K’Tun the last time she’d been here, but the name could’ve changed a dozen times since then. As likely had the desert.

“If you agree for some trades, then yes. Supplies and your skills can be used for those trades. We do not deal with money.” The man explained. Food and water were always in short supply in the desert, even if they knew how to survive here.

“Sounds like we’ll get along.” Karna smiled, pleased. She’d known that would be the case. Now all they needed was to make sure they were not taken advantage of, and keep the good will of the locals.

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“What the heck happened here?” Cendirion asked as he landed next to Duskclaw. The entire area around the ship was devastated, and he could see what looked like the remains of thousands of the little rodent creatures that made up one of the local species. Duskclaw also looked seriously injured, as her right arm was charred black by something.

“They found us.” Duskclaw grimaced in return while leaning heavily on the side of the ship. A bit of blood leaked from the side of her mouth.

"I can see that much," Cendirion said dryly.

“Well, I had to defend the ship. I used one of the spells my master had prepared beforehand. Don’t have too many of those left by the way. It was…a bit more effective than necessary. And I really shouldn't have cast it.” She had not meant to wipe out all the attackers. Normally it was enough to break the enemy's morale. In addition, even using a spell from a storage gem like that had been too much for her body to handle. The magical pathways in her arm were completely shattered. Fixable, but something that would take time and a skilled healer. The real problem was that her mage core had a crack in it now. That was much harder to repair. That one could take years if you didn’t know the proper methods. She seemed to recall Karna mention something about the subject, but that was a long time ago.

“What’s done is done. I have some good news though. I found civilization at last. No way out, but I at least found where we are. This world is known as Ragh. And more importantly, other worlds know it by that name as well. So that should be enough to find us if you send the message.” Cendirion explained.

Without waiting, Duskclaw pulled out the communication charm which crumbled as she allowed the magic to carry away the mental message she had pushed inside the spell. She soon got a reply. “On my way. Found the other students besides Karna and Mayumi already. Kids alright, Mayumi’s master is injured but alive. No Karna or the princess yet. Will be there in a few days with healers.”

She relayed the message to Cendirion. "Good. Too bad there's no news of my sister or Karna, though I believe they might be together if the rift dispersed us based on who we were closest to."

“Let’s focus on defense and keeping the others alive until we get rescued then.” Duskclaw decided. The crew were not in great shape and would need some help to survive the upcoming days. She was in bad shape but she was not in danger of dying, unlike the others.