***Tirnanog, Mount Aerie***

***Astra***

We allowed ourselves another day of preparation to get familiar with the new equipment. I also wanted to make sure Magnus would have the time to research what we were getting ourselves into. For that reason, I gave him the same ‘quick guide’ to Mount Aerie’s fauna and flora which my parents used when they took me out hunting for the first time.

Partnered or not, a hunting trip to the natural caverns had to be taken seriously.

My parents had seen to it that I knew everything about surviving in the caverns, so I was certain of my ability to take care of myself. But Magnus was another matter. While he had proven his ability, there was no getting around his inexperience.

Aside from getting familiar with my new sword, I used the remaining time to educate myself on more possibilities for symbionts and additional evolutions. The whip was left to the wayside for now. I had only taken it because I was interested in the weapon even though it was a redundant tool for me, considering my filaments.

In my mind, the whip was more of a backup in case I encountered a situation I didn't want to stick my filaments into. The unexpectedly harsh trip back to Mount Aerie had cost me so many filaments that I couldn't fly properly at this point. A short glide was possible, but soaring above treetops would be put on hold for a few months until the filaments regrew.

After training, Magnus utilized some of his free time to have a private meeting with his sister, allowing me to read and listen to music.

I was sitting in my quarters, perusing my third book. It discussed the downsides of certain pairings between symbionts and evolutions, something to consider before we dove head-first into a relationship with a symbiont.

My studies had covered a good two-thirds of the book when Magnus returned.

He looked thoughtful and closed the door to the living room before locking it.

I smiled and lowered the book, already imagining what he was up to. “Do you want to do something dirty to your princess behind closed doors?”

Magnus blinked in surprise but gathered himself with a smirk on his lips. “If you want to, we can do that afterwards. I am not opposed.”

“Oh?” I raised an eyebrow and waited for him to continue. I leaned back on the sofa and spread my legs suggestively.

“I need to talk with you about the future.” He approached and leaned over me. Then he manoeuvred me into position until both of us lay on the sofa with him on top.

“Okay.” Despite him going along with my suggestion, I recognized the seriousness in his voice and closed the book before dropping it to the floor. The pleasure could wait a little.

“What's the goal of our excursion?” Magnus asked. “I understand you want to hunt something rare that increases our power, but the way we are going about it seems a bit random. Are we going to stumble through the cave system and hope we catch something worthwhile?”

I considered his question for a moment before I answered. “The short answer is 'yes'. You have to understand how vast the natural cave system is. It's like an ever-changing labyrinth. Some creatures dig new tunnels through the rock day and night in search of prey or rare minerals which they need to live. Others are on an endless quest to close those tunnels to protect their territory. The cavedigger is one of the most prominent among them. Not only at digging. They are also very good at sealing tunnels by excreting various minerals that harden like cement in their wake.”

I shrugged my shoulders to show it couldn't be helped. “So, an excursion into the parts of the cave system which aren't patrolled by clan Aerie is indeed a gamble. We can only hunt for specific prey in a very general sense because we can't even guarantee to reach certain hunting grounds. We will have to adapt to the situation we will find ourselves in.”

He nodded. “So there are no guarantees. I just wanted to make sure I understood correctly.”

“More or less,” I affirmed. “As I said, there are hunting grounds associated with certain animals. If we want to encounter a bloodmantle, for example, we have to search areas at the base of the mountain which are close to the surface. The adult bloodmantles release their offspring into the mountain's cave system where the young hide until they've grown enough to venture out on their own. It would be very unlikely to encounter one in the deeper regions of the mountain.”

“I understand.” Magnus stroked his chin. “The reason why I ask is this, I want us to go for a specific mutation, if possible. One which is apparently a secret.”

I could already guess what he was up to and sighed. “You want Thalia's ability. I told her she should be more careful about revealing it. It isn’t something people should know about.”

As if not wanting me to get away, Magnus rested more of his weight on top of me. It wasn't exactly unpleasant, but it meant he was serious about finding out what this was all about.

Instead of just spilling the beans, I decided that giving me a little reward was the least he could do. “I need a kiss on the cheek if I am about to share clan secrets,” I declared playfully and offered him free access.

Magnus kissed my cheek and caressed my neck with his lips. The sensation alone caused me to let out an eager sigh of anticipation.

“When I went to see the city, I had a little altercation with a priestess of Gaia,” Magnus explained his reasoning, recounting a short version of his unpleasant experience. “… combined with what I assume Thalia can do, I want that ability. At the very least to have some form of protection against our minds being toyed with. If you are serious about your desire for power, then we should be as prepared as possible.”

“You may be a little mistaken about the effectiveness of the mindflayer's evolution,” I admitted after listening to his concerns. From his point of view, the mindflayer mutation must be an incalculable threat. “There is no real protection against this particular mutation, but at the same time it also isn't as powerful as you seem to believe.”

“Mindflayer?” he asked. “That sounds plenty dangerous.”

“The monster itself is indeed plenty dangerous and a rare encounter in Mount Aerie's deeper cave systems. A single of the creatures is capable of killing off hunting groups with ten to twenty people if it catches them off guard. I wouldn’t want to meddle with one if it can be helped,” I affirmed. “To our knowledge, the other clans have nothing even remotely similar. The creature is unique to Mount Aerie’s cave system.”

I sighed. “The downside is the monster's flesh doesn't grant you even a tenth of its ability. And the effects are also widely different among the people I know of. Thalia can feel peoples’ emotions and if they are distracted, she can glimpse some of their thoughts. Others gain prophetic abilities – but nothing on a level that would allow them to manipulate events around them. Some can affect feelings as long as the target isn't aware of the influence.”

Magnus grunted. “That's what the priestess did to me when she tried to indoctrinate me into her church.”

I snorted. “I assume that's why my father called you to his study when you returned. What did you do? You glossed over the part of her trying to influence you.”

He looked away from me with a guilty expression on his face. “I might have zapped her once I realized something was fishy.”

I laughed before I realized it would make the family look bad. “But nobody saw?”

Magnus shook his head.

“Yeah, well.” I relaxed. “Dad would've probably popped a vein on his forehead if the incident hadn't already been swept under the rug once you reached him.”

I shook my head, deciding to get back to the topic.

“Anyway, this must have shown you that detecting the influence of someone with a mindflayer mutation is a matter of experience. You were exposed to Thalia for some time and probably built up a lot of resistance. Trust me when I say she is extremely subtle with her ability. It doesn't get any worse than her if you are concerned about someone mind-controlling you. And besides, having a mindflayer mutation of our own wouldn't protect us from other mindflayer mutations. My parents already saw to it that I have the best protection possible.”

Magnus wasn't completely assured by my explanation. “Which is?”

“My caveglider's precognition.” I raised an eyebrow and smirked. “Did you think the feeling in your gut about something being wrong was coming from someone using a mindflayer ability on you? Well, by extension, it was, but the wrongness we experience when it happens comes from our precognition.”

A sheepish expression stole itself onto his face. “Now that you are saying it, it's exactly what you were trying to describe. I thought the strange feeling came from Thalia using her ability on me.”

I clicked my tongue. “Remind me to hold at least half an hour of training each day to get you used to listening to your instincts.”

“Oh?” He looked down on me with a smug expression while he ground his body against mine. Then he kissed me.

Letting out a moan of defeat, I allowed him to give in to his instincts.

The next morning, we got up in the early hours so we could travel as far as possible without messing with our sleeping pattern. Down in the mountain, night and day didn't count for much, but people still had to be aware of their wakefulness.

A tired mind was more prone to making mistakes and mistakes cost lives.

When we entered the carriage that would bring us to the natural cave system, Magnus was still picking at his new armour which I had requested from my uncle. “I think Sullivan gave me one a number too large. The shoulders are constantly shifting.”

I reached over and tightened the loose strap he had forgotten. Once it was sitting tight, the shoulder pieces had no room to slip.

We shared a short moment of him looking at me with a chagrined expression and me fighting back the impulse to say something that could have scratched at his pride as an adult man.

“Just say nothing.” He returned to inspecting his new armour. “What is this?” He knocked on the chest piece which looked like a mixture between medieval plate armour and modern Kevlar. “It's so light, which means it’s certainly not metal and I don't remember Earth having something similar. Why didn’t the blacksmith back at the Old Camp have one of these? I would have taken it over simple leather.”

“It's the carved shell of an iobeetle. Clan Jeng hunts the creatures and sells the shells. It's their main trading good. As for what the material is exactly, I don't know. We don't have the means to analyse the composition of the stuff. But it's as tough as ceramic and bends like chitin instead of breaking. It takes a trained armour smith with water-powered tools a whole month to grind down a single carapace into an armour set. We have no tools to shape them otherwise, since cutting them is an act of futility.”

Magnus looked slightly impressed. “So I take it these aren't cheap. Maybe it’s some organic composite layered with macroscopic diamonds?”

I shrugged.

“It’s good armour and the leftover which is too small can be used for tools. A civilian or unaffiliated exile won't be able to afford anything made from iobeetle shell,” I stated simply. “The upside to investing so much effort into making them is that they often survive the death of the wearer to be handed down to the next in line.”

“Isn't it bad if armour is too sturdy?” Magnus mused. “Back on Earth, they intentionally make it layered to absorb and disperse the force of an impact. Otherwise, a bullet you could survive passing through you might kill you because the force of the impact smashes your tissue and causes trauma.”

I frowned as I considered the problem. “I believe this consideration is only valid if your main concern are projectile weapons. Also, your body is now beyond anything an unaltered human could endure. What we have to deal with are beasts that see us as chew toys. And that’s something this armour is very suited to protect against.”

Magnus grunted and put on the helmet, which was the most complicated piece of equipment to make from iobeetle shell.

The helmet had cutouts that left as much free space as possible for the eyes and ears, making it look like a modern version of a spartan helmet. It wouldn’t do to trade away our senses for added protection.

In our case, the cutouts required a second pair of eyes at our cheekbones, making the design look distinctly alien from what a normal human would require. Thankfully, the nightstalker evolution wasn’t exactly unknown, which had allowed us to draw upon the armoury’s stockpiled equipment.

We reached the end of the human-controlled cave system half an hour later.

The spacious tunnel widened further before coming to an abrupt halt. An enormous blast door barred the carriage's way, so the driver stopped and turned the animals around.

I signalled Magnus that we had to get out of the carriage.

Ignoring the fifty rough-looking women who were camping directly in front of the door, I shouldered my gear and headed to the minimalistic office space which had been hewn into the tunnel’s side.

A huge woman sat in an equally huge chair and opened a ledger as I approached.

“Reason for the hunting trip and names?” she asked in the same bored manner which all gate guardians shared, no matter where I went.

I reached into my pocket and offered her the permit signed by my mother.

The guard only raised an eyebrow and copied the details of our excursion into her files. It was a necessary measure to ensure nothing and nobody managed to sneak into the central cavern. During the clan wars, the Aerie had to fight more than once with sabotage and spies.

Once she was done, she stood up, towering above me. She even had more than a head in height on Magnus.

“Come. I will let you out,” she stated and walked towards the blast door which had a smaller, circular hatch embedded in it.

“What’s that one eating?” Magnus whispered next to me, his eyes locked onto the guard’s back.

“There are mutations which affect a person’s size,” I explained quickly. “Don’t stare. It’s rude.”

When the guard began to open the hatch, several of the present clansmen stood up and readied their weapons in anticipation of a fight. I also reached for the hilt of my new sword. Magnus got the hint and pointed the tip of his spetum ever so slightly in the opening’s direction. He also readied himself to slip off his backpack at a moment’s notice.

The guard carefully swung the hatch to the side, avoiding unnecessary noise. Then she stared into the darkness beyond it for a whole minute before she waved us through while whispering, “I can’t sense any predators, but it sounds like something is digging a new path a few hundred metres down the tunnel.”

I nodded and passed her with Magnus following me.

Once we were through, the guard slowly closed the hatch and locked it behind us.

“How do we get back in?” Magnus asked curiously.

“Just knock S.O.S on the door. Three times short and three times long repeatedly,” I explained. “There are always sensor types with the guard detail, so they will hear you. And from now on we are going to whisper when there is something to say. Sound can carry farther than you might think in these caves.”

I led the way and spread out my filaments, allowing them to explore the tunnel ahead and behind us to their full length.

The tunnel’s walls quickly lost every sign of human workmanship. Fifty metres down the path, we were climbing through a rough cave system that wound its way through the rock in ever-changing directions.

Without being kept clean by humans, we also encountered the first signs of bioluminescent cave flora.

Magnus followed me at a slow pace, but I said nothing when he stopped to inspect a glowing mushroom or stuck the tip of his spetum into one of the drifting orbs we came across. I had been the same when I first saw the alien things which inhabited Mount Aerie.

“What’s this?” he whispered and showed me the ball of glowing sponge which had been slowly drifting along the cave’s ceiling. Magnus had speared it on the tip of his spetum, turning his weapon into a funny-looking lantern thanks to the soft green light which the plant produced.

“I think it’s some kind of sponge if I remember correctly.” I searched my memories. “Absolutely harmless.”

“How does it stay afloat in the air?” Magnus asked.

“Gas. These sponges capture helium and other light gases inside little bubbles which can be barely seen with the naked eye.” I pushed a smaller version of the same sponge out of the way of my face as I walked. “You can find them all over the natural caves as they use the air ventilation along the shafts to float around while they search out water and fertile spots on cave walls to grow and split off new versions of themselves.”

Magnus mumbled in interest as he returned his attention to the sponge on his spear.

“Careful now,” I warned. “We should be getting close to the area from which the guard heard digging noises.”