Damien channeled the energy, forming a gravity sphere and tossing it across the considerably larger room. It hit the far wall. The dust covering the room whooshed through the air and condensed at the orb.

The boy was tugged towards it as well, but the force wasn’t enough to do much more than that. He felt momentarily breathless, but the magic dispelled a moment later, leaving the dust in a large pile.

Damien let out a laugh. He formed another orb and tossed it at the ceiling at the far side of the room. He lifted into the air for a moment, then dropped back to his feet as the magical force waned.

The boy continued creating the gravity spheres, tossing them against the wall and growing closer to gauge their strength. They seemed to be mostly effective within a five foot area around the impact zone.

Anywhere outside of that, the air was still sucked towards the gravity sphere, but it did little to actually move Damien more than a foot or so.

As Damien continued practicing, miniscule changes started to happen within him. The Ether coursing through his body left minute traces behind, seeping into his muscles and veins and infusing them with energy.

The amount entering him was so small that he didn’t even notice it. However, with every spell that Damien cast, his body grew slightly stronger. In addition to growing physically tougher, the reservoir within his chest where the Ether was stored seemed to grow in size as well, accepting slightly more Ether.

Damien practiced for hours, not relenting once. His mind homed in on the task and the rest of the world fell away, leaving him in a trance. Sylph peeked into the training room once or twice, but he didn’t acknowledge her.

At some point, Henry darted through the shadows of the room and reentered Damien’s body. Damien, who was mid cast, allowed the spell to peter out and fade. Sweat trickled down his forehead and a dull throbbing headache had become a new companion.

“I’m back,” Henry said cheerfully. “The void creature closest to us is still around a hundred miles away. They are not aware of our presence, and they appear to be well sealed within a cave.”

Good. Do anything else while you were gone?

“Just took a look around a small town,” Henry said. Damien suspected that his companion was shrugging his shoulders. “Nothing too interesting.”

I see.

There was a short pause as both of them observed eachother.

Say, do you remember when I summoned you and made a mistake in the runes?

“Yes,” Henry said, chuckling. “And a foolish one it was.”

Right. When did you arrive? Were you aware of me before I was aware of you? Or did we see eachother at the same time?

“I heard your call the moment you sent it out, but I was not present until we both saw eachother,” Henry said, curiosity tinging his tone. “Why do you ask?”

Damien thought as hard as he could about his new conviction of magic, forcing himself to focus on it rather than the real reason for the question.

Just curious.

“I see,” Henry said, copying Damien’s words from a few moments before. The creature peered at Damien from within him, a small frown crossing his face. “You’re different.”

I made a decision.

“I can tell,” Henry said, shifting through Damien’s mind like he was rummaging around in someone’s musty old storeroom. “Hm. The part of my soul that is connected to yours has slightly escaped its bindings. That’s not good.”

Leave it. I think whatever that change did is helping me.

“It could have serious consequences,” Henry warned. “The memories locked up in there in addition to my own power will almost certainly change you.”

Then I’ll get changed. They’re my memories, Henry. I don’t think we should release them all at once, but they’re part of me. Eventually, I think they should return to my control.

“If you insist,” Henry said. “I’ve never actually seen what would happen to a mortal that joined with an eldritch soul, so I’m quite curious. If you start going insane, I’ll do my best to seal everything away again. Just remember that it’s much simpler when its fresh. Once the memories return to you, they won’t go as easily.”

Damien just nodded.

“Your new friends are coming,” Henry said. Then he chuckled. “Actually, they’re waiting outside the cave. Your roommate knows they’re there, but she’s pretending that she doesn't.”

Damien chuckled. He tossed one final gravity sphere at the wall a short distance away from itself. He drew in a breath before it hissed to life, ripping all the dust away from Damien and the floor and condensing it into a single spot again. He exhaled as the spell faded and rolled his neck before walking back into their main room.

Sylph sat on top of her bed, her knees tucked in with her book balanced on top of them. She’d unrolled the rug that Mark had given them and laid it out on the thin open strip of rock between their beds at the center of the room. She glanced in his direction as he arrived, covering a yawn.

“Have fun sucking all the air up?” she asked.

“It barely took any air from more than a few feet away from me,” Damien replied. “You must have barely felt it.”

“I’m quite sensitive to changes in the atmosphere,” Sylph replied, lowering the book.

“Oh,” Damien said, a small frown crossing his face. “Would you like me to practice elsewhere?”

Sylph blinked. Then she laughed, shaking her head.

“It’s okay. I was mostly just pulling your leg,” she said, setting the book aside and getting out of bed. She jerked her chin towards the door. “Did you realize that we had company?”

“I only came out because I finished training, but I said I’d go to dinner with them,” Damien said with a small shrug. “You want to come?”

Sylph cocked her head. Then she nodded once. “Sure. I’m out of Ether anyways, so there isn’t much more progress I can make with the book Delph gave me.”

Her words were jovial, but Damien noticed the traces of bitterness within them. He settled for a small nod and the two of them headed out of the cave.

Mark and the Grays were leaning against the stone outside. When Damien and Sylph emerged, Reena jumped slightly before clearing her throat and glancing at the sunset, pretending as if they hadn’t just scared her.

“The rune circle works great. I’m quite new to rune magic, but it seems quite powerful. Is it difficult to learn?” Mark asked Damien, baring his teeth in a snarl. After a moment, Damien realized that the boy was trying to smile. His features were disturbingly wolflike, and the dull shadows of the evening didn’t help.

“It’s just a lot of studying and practice,” Damien replied. “It’s not the best for anyone interested in combat magic, since it takes up a lot of time to learn and isn’t the most effective in a fast paced fight.”

Sylph snorted beside Damien, but just glanced away when the others gave her questioning looks.

“So why did you learn it?” Nolan asked. He flushed. “No offense meant, of course. But your companion is quite powerful, so I’m sure you could have a very lucrative career as a combat mage. Why study runes?”

“I wasn’t always planning to be a combat mage,” Damien replied. “That decision was quite recent.”

Reena nudged Nolan in the side.

“Ah, our rune circle was also very helpful,” Nolan added, flushing. “Forgive me. I should have thanked you earlier – I just got a little distracted, and…”

“Oh, stuff it,” Damien said, massaging his brow. “I think I almost preferred when you were acting like a throbbing prick. Stop sucking up to me and just treat me like a normal person. It’ll get you farther than anything else.”

Nolan’s mouth flapped for a few moments. Then it clicked shut and he gave Damien a single nod. The others sent surprised looks at Damien. It was like the person before them was completely different than the meek boy that had been in their wagon.

“Shall we go?” Damien pressed. “I’m getting quite hungry.”