Tala, Rane, and Mistress Odera sat around a table, in the fading, late afternoon light of the forest campsite.

Dinner was done, and the guards were bringing out the light constructs as the Mages continued to study Tala’s inverted Archon star.

Rane scratched the side of his head. “Every test I’ve run seems to indicate that it’s identical in use.”

Mistress Odera nodded. “I have to concur with Master Rane.”

Tala found herself nodding. “Well, the only thing I can still reasonably test is recombining the two stars.” She looked to the two other Mages. No way am I trying to form a bond using an inverted star.

They each took a moment to consider, before nodding.

“So, what’s the worst that could happen?” She looked to each in turn.

Rane shrugged. “They could negate each other, and your soul could be harmed in the backlash.”

Tala’s eyes widened, and Rane hurried to continue.

“But that shouldn’t be much, given how weak they are.”

Tala grimaced. “Soul damage is soul damage…” She looked to Mistress Odera.

“Master Rane is correct, that is likely the worst-case result.” She hesitated. “But some, even weak, spell-form interactions can be catastrophic. I once knew a dissolution Mage who could create devastating effects with the smallest amount of magic I’ve ever seen.” She shook his head. “He claimed that his theories would have allowed him to wipe out an arcane city, if he found the right materials to work with, but he died before ever bringing that horror to reality.

“That’s…certainly terrifying.”

She patted Tala’s arm. “I highly doubt that your blood is that theorized material.”

That was small comfort, but Tala still chuckled, attempting to break the tension.

Mistress Odera pointed to the iron vial in Tala’s hand. “Do the combination in there, so in the worst case, it shouldn’t blow up the camp."

Tala blinked at the older woman. “Would the iron vial really help?”

The Mage gave a small smile. “The depths and wonders of magic should not be restricted.” She shrugged. “But we should be fine, yes. There is a whole range of things that could wipe out this camp but would be redirected by iron. The number of things that wouldn’t be so deflected is vanishingly small.” After another moment’s thought, she added, “I’ll put a shield around it as well, just in case.”

Tala nodded her head reluctantly. That’s not actually that comforting. Still, it was better and wiser to test this here than in a city. She briefly thought about walking a ways into the woods, but anything that would be negated by such a short distance that she could walk it, wouldn’t have ever been a threat to begin with. Not with Mistress Odera’s shields on hand.

Tala moved both miniscule stars into the vial and held it above her head as they came into contact.

Mistress Odera created a miniscule shield around the vial, hugging tight to Tala’s wrist, sealing off the space inside.

After a long moment, it was clear that nothing was going to happen.

“Huh.” Tala lowered the vial and looked inside, Mistress Odera’s shield vanishing. The two drops of blood sat side by side, unmerged. “Well, that was anticlimactic.”

“What?” Rane leaned closer, trying to take a look.

“They’re just resting side by side.”

“So, they’re acting as Archon stars are supposed to.” Rane held out his hand.

Tala grinned. “I suppose.” She handed over the vial, letting the other two Mages examine the contents.

Finally, Mistress Odera sighed. “Well, this tells us nothing except that they are no longer as compatible as your stars normally are.” She snorted. “But that really doesn’t say much.” After another moment’s thought. “The researcher we’re resupplying might be a good Archon to ask. Until then?” She stood. “I need to get some sleep. Master Rane, you have first shift?”

Rane nodded. “Sure thing.”

The older Mage bid them goodnight and returned to the cargo-slot for the night.

Terry lifted his head from the far side of the table where he’d been resting.

“You planning on hunting tonight?” The avian had been going out most nights, taking advantage of the caravan’s fixed location to range further than he did during the day.

He trilled, standing and stretching.

“Well, be safe, alright?”

Terry flickered over and lightly headbutted her cheek.

“Thank you.”

Rane looked between them and smiled. “What about you, Mistress Tala? Up for a bout before sleep?”

She grinned. “That, Master Rane, sounds wonderful.”

* * *

Tala swept Flow upward, towards the inside of Rane’s right knee, even as one of her bloodstars dropped towards his right shoulder.

Force, which had been about to slap into the side of her neck, was jerked away as Rane’s inscriptions moved him backwards, out of range of both strikes. Or, it would have, if Tala didn’t push Flow into the form of a glaive at the last moment.

Flow impacted Rane’s leg, throwing it outward and eliciting a pained grunt from the big man.

Even so, Rane didn’t slow, using his muscles to spin with the hit and reduce the damage he took. As he did so, his right leg, that had just taken the hit, shot out behind him, counterbalancing his torso as he leaned forward, thrusting at her.

Force’s tip cracked into her sternum, throwing her backwards, the bone groaning in protest and only her ending berry power keeping it intact. There was a nice little dip in the reserves, too.

Tala gasped at the impact as she landed, rolling with the momentum to come back to her feet.

Rane had followed close after her, Force already descending for another devastating blow.

But Tala had seen him coming and anticipated his tactic.

A bloodstar imposed itself in the striking line for the big sword, and Tala mirrored Flow’s defensive abilities into the star. I really need to have this in place as standard.

Force stopped cold on the slightly flattened-out drop.

Rane grunted again, in surprise this time.

Tala grinned. It worked! She’d ensured that her aura was beyond the blocking drop, and pulled hard on the soul-bond even as Force was intercepted. The pull had prevented the drop from being knocked aside or forced down. She laughed, launching back onto the offensive.

They strove back and forth for another minute or so, before they called the engagement a draw.

Rane’s leg was beginning to give him difficulty, and Tala’s head was aching from mirroring Flow’s defenses into her bloodstars. I really should be doing this alongside my inertia and magical weight. She’d considered it before, but until now, those two aspects had been enough to exhaust her. Time to add in defensive mirroring.

Rane slumped down on one of the benches still out from dinner, and awaiting breakfast, and drank deeply from his canteen. “You are getting much better.”

Tala sat facing him on another bench and shrugged. “I’ve got more weapons than you do. I effectively have four hands, and still can hardly take advantage of any holes in your defenses.”

Rane chuckled. “That’s a part of it, sure, but you are genuinely getting much better. Your form is better every day. You are well braced to take hits and move smoothly between attack and defense. If I had your skill after three months of practice with just one weapon, I’d be proud. You’re working with three distinct forms, plus hand to hand combat, and the use of your bloodstars. You’ve only been learning this for, what? Two months?”

“So, barely better than you’d expect.”

He shook his head. “You aren’t a prodigy, no, but your mental and physical enhancements are making this easier for you to both pick up and implement. In a year from now? You’re going to be a terror.”

Tala gave a small smile. “Careful, Terry’s the only terror we have for comparison.”

Rane laughed loudly, then. “True enough. But even so, you might just be a match for him in a year or so.”

She fell into contemplation at that. Is it true? Maybe. Only time would tell.

He frowned, then. “Your manipulation of your stars.”

“What about it?”

“How are you doing it through the iron on your skin?”

Tala cocked her head. “What do you mean?”

“The iron blocks magic, right?”

“Yeah.”

“So…?”

Tala shrugged. “An aura is, by itself, not really magical. It can be expanded via magic, Mistress Elnea’s lessons, and Master Jevin, prove that. But the aura, itself? It’s basically just an area of rule and authority for one's soul, and a soul cannot be stopped by iron.”

Rane was nodding by the end of her explanation. “I hadn’t thought of it that way.” He smiled. “That does line up with what Soul Work says.”

Tala grinned. “Well, I have been reading that book quite often.” Unfortunately, no other book had unlocked along with Soul Work, but she had continued to read those that came to her, ready to read. I need to at least know where to go for information, if I need it. She grunted, then. “Go, catch Mistress Odera before she’s asleep and get that leg seen to. You’re on watch, and I want my protector in top form.”

He nodded his thanks as he stood. Even so, he had to comment, “The day I have to protect you from harm, is a day we will all fear what’s coming.”

He took a few slightly hobbling steps away before pausing.

“That came out a lot darker than I intended.”

Tala nodded. “Yeah, that was a bit grim.”

They both grinned.

“Hurry up. I want to get some sleep, too.”

“As you say, Mistress. I’ll be back, shortly.”

* * *

Tala slept fitfully that night.

Nightmares woke her up a half-dozen times.

On the plus side, they were varied. She had the usual ones associated with her crushing debt, and her family’s abandonment of her, but there were others that left her weeping, until she was able to wake up enough to get past them.

The first was that her eldest brother, just two years younger than she, herself, was now in the exact situation she, herself had been in.

After she left home, they’d acquired more debt, and eventually sent Xale off to the Academy, saddled with the new debt.

There, he tried to find her, but she ignored all messages from him or her family, and their paths never crossed.

That was a silly fear for more reasons than she could count.

Primarily, it would have taken long enough to build up such debt, that it would have had to be one of her younger siblings, if not the youngest. Also, if Xale had been sent to the Academy, then there was really no way that their paths would never have crossed. Unless he didn’t want to see me and actively avoided me…

That was possible, but still unlikely. She shook that concern off.

Another horror consisted of her returning to confront her family, and them simply not remembering her. Nothing she said or did could convince them that she was once a part of the family. They were polite, but utterly baffled as to who she was, and why she was bothering them.

That had taken a lot longer to calm down from.

A third new nightmare was much simpler. It was just that Master Jevin had been evil, and that she was still in Makinaven. He was manipulating her senses, making her think that she was free, but in reality she was his prisoner and would be forever.

She shuddered. It didn’t help that the least realistic part of those dreams was that Master Jevin had made a mistake, which allowed her to realize the predicament that she was in.

Nearly a week without nightmares, and suddenly, they’re back, and they brought reinforcements.

Cups of chamomile helped, but in the end, she abandoned sleep well before dawn.

Even after her morning routine, the sky was still dark, the gray light of pre-dawn barely beginning to color the sky.

Even so, the cooks were in the chuckwagon, working away.

She just had to charge the cargo-slots to be done with her required activities for the morning. Still probably a bit too early, though.

Mistress Odera was on second shift for the night, and Tala waved to her, deciding to head towards the smell of cooking food, first.

Amnin greeted Tala warmly as she approached. “Good morning, Mistress.”

“Good morning, Amnin.”

The chef’s eyes flicked to Mistress Odera, sitting on top of the cargo wagon, but quickly returned to Tala.

As Tala considered it, she hadn’t been around the woman without others around this whole trip.

“Would you be willing to come inside for a moment?”

Tala smiled. “I’d love to.” She kept her breathing steady. I’m being invited into a cook’s wagon! She walked around to the back of the vehicle, where Amnin opened the door and ushered her inside.

As Tala stepped in, she suddenly remembered that she needed to charge the cargo-slots, and that she was hungry, not really that interested in whatever was in here. I have so much I need to do. “Hey, could I get something to eat? I’ve got a lot to do this morning.”

Amnin grinned, holding out an inscribed wooden coin. “Here.” The wood was nearly the same color as the copper inscribed within it, making the magic nature of the coin hard to discern.

Tala glanced at it, then sighed, shaking her head. “I really have a lot to do-”

Amnin cut across her. “Hold this for me, and I’ll grab your food.”

Tala sighed. “Fine.” She took the coin.

Amnin looked at her expectantly.

“So, are you going to get my food?”

Amnin frowned, then closed her eyes, putting a hand to her forehead. “My apologies, Mistress. I need you to power it.”

“I don’t know what it does. I have no mental construct.” Tala grimaced. “I just want food, Amnin. I can get myself something if you’re not willing.”

Amnin held up her hands. “I know it will be inefficient, but please? I’ll get you an extra chocolate puff-pasty.”

Tala considered. Those are really good. Finally, she sighed and connected a void-channel to the coin. Power pulsed outward from the inscription, and Tala blinked. What was that? She looked down at the coin. What is this?

“Better?”

Tala frowned. “What’s going on, Amnin?”

“Welcome to the Guild, Mistress.” She was grinning. “I was asked to officially induct you to some of our more obvious secrets.”

“More obvious?”

“Well, those that would be, without interference.”

Tala looked around, seeing…something in the air with her mage-sight. “You will tell me what is going on. Now.” She didn’t raise her voice, but Amnin visibly paled.

“Right. Right.” Amnin swallowed. “Abstract Guide spell-forms.”

“That’s Conceptual magic.”

“It is.”

Tala had Flow in her hand, in the form of a sword before she could think. The blade pointed at Amnin’s chest. “Explain."

Amnin raised her hands. “Please, put that away. You are in no danger.”

“How are you affecting me?” Is the magic so pervasive, so powerful, that it’s getting through my iron salve?

“We’re not, at least not as it was described to me, and not as was guessed.”

“Well?”

The cook looked down at the sword. “Can you put that away? Please?”

Tala thought back to Brand, how he’d tried to knife her at nearly their first meeting. Is this how that will end? She frowned. “One moment.” She took the wooden token with her and stepped back out, sheathing Flow. “Mistress Odera.”

The Mage glanced her way unnecessarily. “Yes?” She didn’t shout, but the word carried to Tala with ease.

“Can you and I chat in a quarter hour or so?”

“Certainly.”

Tala nodded and stepped back inside, sure that the older woman had seen her enter the chuckwagon. I’d have said she was seeing me in the chuckwagon, but these scripts probably make her uninterested in what is happening within.

“Was that really necessary?”

“If anything happens to me, she will come looking.”

Amnin sighed. “She really won’t.”

Tala frowned. “Explain.”

“I can’t without making you jumpy again.” She held up her hands as Tala placed her hand back on Flow’s hilt. “Can I just explain from the beginning, please?”

“Be quick about it.”

“The interior of the wagon is inscribed to make it uninteresting, not worth examining, and easy to forget. It’s a kitchen. Everyone’s seen a kitchen before. Amplifying that isn’t hard. It also tones down the interest added by it being a mobile kitchen. The working isn’t sufficient on its own to make those genuinely interested forget about us, like the Wainwrights.” She gave a small smile. “They make overtures in every inter-Guild meeting for access to our wagons. The other guilds don’t understand the Wainwrights' obsession.”

Tala felt herself smile, but it was without mirth. “Because they see nothing interesting about your wagons at all.”

“Precisely.” Amnin cleared her throat. “I say that we aren’t affecting you, because you never let it drop. Brand conveyed that you never lost interest or stopped talking with him about what we do.”

Tala’s eyes widened. “But other Mages…”

Amnin nodded. “By Brand’s report, just as expected, the other Mages in your previous caravan slowly lost interest in the oddity of eating arcanous meat, and never investigated further. If you were to bring it up to them, it wouldn’t be new information, simply something that they’d never gotten around to investigating.”

“But I didn’t lose interest.”

“No, you didn’t.”

My iron-salve. “So, passively the scripts make everything about your Guild seem uninteresting.”

“Not the whole Guild, just parts of our facilities and our wagons.”

Tala waved off the correction. “And actively, you push on Mage’s minds so that even if they do notice something, they won’t ever get around to investigating.”

Amnin nodded.

Tala sighed, falling into contemplative silence. This doesn’t make sense. How is this possible? She didn’t know, but she would find out.