My discussion with Sigmir and Ylva went roughly as I had expected it to go. Sigmir was quite happy to help her companion become stronger, easily agreeing to suffer what I could only describe as horrifying pain on her behalf, though, also as expected, she was quite wary of putting me through the same torment. Given that we, Lenore and I, had only the slightest idea where to start that project, namely by trying to detect the Divine Bloodline present in all three of us, it was purely theoretical for now anyway, but it moved to the top of my priority-list. Not only was it interesting, but it also might be a way to gain the attention of a certain Pantheon.

What surprised me about the discussion was just how difficult it was to merge the darkness I used for concealment and to prevent magical intrusion into an area with the magic Lenore used to prevent eavesdropping. We had to carefully layer the different magical constructs to keep them from interfering with each other, or more precisely, I had to keep the magic-devouring darkness I used from doing just that with Lenore’s sound-muffling magic. It worked, somewhat, but the ensuing construct was only good for a very short time, while actively controlled and monitored by both Lenore and myself. A stable ward, it was not.

The other thing we did, while Sigmir and I had retreated a little to get some privacy, was to set up my Throne, as it was the third day since leaving the Arachnids behind. While I had given up on the idea to go there and learn from them, mostly due to time-constraints and the new, interesting idea Ylva had given me, I still didn’t want to just not show up. That seemed needlessly rude, especially given that Lenore and I were still working on and improving upon our take on magical distant communications.

As always, we settled on the Throne, Lenore within her Hallow, keeping an eye on my body and providing a guide-post to help me find my way back and I delved into the Astral River, letting the weird, floating sensation wash over and around me. Just this realm might be able to keep me interested for years, the sensations, the strange way Mundus was reflected into the Astral River, the mysteries of the deeper layers that I had barely begun to glimpse at, there was a pattern to it, a rhyme on reality that I found fascinating, that I wanted to sink my mind into, trying to figure it out. Alas, it would have to be a long-term project, handled between different necessities, because, as interesting as I thought it was, it wasn’t something I could really make content from. Mostly because it didn’t translate into recordings, if I were to take the record of my evening’s activities, it would be of me, sitting on my Throne without moving. Not the most interesting of content.

But those were considerations for another day, for now, I had a courtesy-visit to make. By keeping close to the top-layer of the Astral, I was able to follow the ancient road, especially as it was constructed following a powerful flow, what some might call a Ley Line, and use it to navigate. It slowed my travel down quite a bit, compared to the way I had been able to travel using landmarks such as the Nexus in Neyto, but when comparing movement within the Astral to movement outside, it was still vastly faster.

And so, after about an hour of asserting my will within the Astral River, I was reasonably certain that I had reached my destination. Not wanting to accidentally slip into some sort of trap the Arachnids might have spun within the Astral, trying to ensnare unwary wizards, trying to scry on their secrets, I strenuously wove my magic from within the Astral, into Mundus, creating a pseudo-corporeal magical construct, essentially a shell of Darkness-Magic that I could push my mind into. It had no more mass than ordinary shadows, but it wasn’t any more sturdy as well. The light from the moon and the stars above didn’t disrupt it, but even the light of a torch, hell, the light of a bright candle might be enough to disperse it. Working over such a distance, even creating such a construct was incredibly difficult.

Flying to the arachnid-area was a weird experience, though a lot easier than expected thanks to the time I had recently spent flying with Lenore. It took another thirty minutes to reach the area, which looked completely restored, or maybe they had just recreated their concealment-magic.

“Ah, there you are.” A rather deep, female voice greeted me, as a magical construct similar to the one became fully visible. “Greetings.” The voice was smooth, almost artificially so, reminding me of the tone and cadence used by professional voice-actors. Obviously trained.

“Greetings.” I replied, turning the Raven-shape I had used into one that hopefully looked like the Avatar Lenore and I formed together. It was surprisingly difficult to create and maintain, the form even less familiar than Lenore’s but as long as I didn’t try to make it move naturally, it should work.

“We are afraid pressing matters forced us to attend this meeting this way.” I continued, using a prepared line, having gamed out a few ways this conversation could go, together with Lenore. Trying to imitate the way we spoke together, especially with my fragmented memories added another layer of difficulty to a supposedly simple conversation.

“That is regrettable.” the arachnid-shape replied, moving in a way that might have been a nod, but where trying to read the body-language of a raven or wolf was difficult, doing the same with an arachnid magical construct was outright impossible.

“Could you tell me what originally brought you here? We noticed traces of you nearby for a few days but were never able to make contact.” the being asked. There was some more movement but I had no idea what it might mean. The communication was even more difficult than I had thought, especially when I realised that I was speaking Common, the language Sigmir and Lenore had taught me. With my mind separated from Lenore, I couldn’t understand the clicks and clacks flowing with her voice that might be language as well.

“Certainly. We were fascinated by your weave of magic and just had to take a look. Its magnificence drew me, the complexity made me linger. It made me think of our Teacher, though we are somewhat able to decipher your workings, whereas Hers merely gave us a headache when we tried.” I explained, ‘accidentally’ revealing that there was a more powerful being behind me, just in case things turned hostile. I doubted there were easy ways to strike at me, with my body over a hundred kilometers away, but that didn’t mean there were none. Paranoia and Vigilance, the line between them was often very narrow.

There were more clicking sounds, and the being moved around some more, before she continued to speak. “Thank you, for your compliment. But I have a feeling there is more to it than mere fascination with our work.”

“Indeed. After we left, we met with some of our companions, heard tales of a group of Travellers, from a place further afield than anyone can fathom. In those tales, they spoke of a raid, an attack on some, as they called it, crawlies. We had seen some, who we suspected to be of that group, head towards this place so it seemed prudent to take a closer look. Which brought us back to this place, allowed us to witness… what happened.” I explained, pausing for a moment, mostly for effect, before continuing. “We can’t really call it a battle, can we? They danced within your web from the start, hopelessly entangled without even noticing.” I continued, when a weird sensation, almost like the small feathers I had since Lenore had crossed the second Divide trying to fluff up, caused me to tense for a moment, instinctual fear giving me pause. I had no idea if the sensation came from my mind, my body or my soul, but it made me afraid, urging me to flee.

Without thinking deeply about it, I decided to trust the impulse, abandoning the construct, letting the Astral Power that had been used to create it disperse into the Astral River, scattering it as widely as possible. At the same time, I took the mental tether between my mind and my body and pulled, trying to rip me through the Astral, back into my body. Pain, similar to the pain I felt when using Blood Magic, surged through my mind and for a moment, there was only blackness before my eyes.

Blackness, that was suddenly replaced with the gentle light of the fire Sigmir had built, while she kept watch over me. Before I could even call out for help, I bent over the side of my throne, vomiting up everything I had for breakfast, lunch and dinner, maybe even the food I had the days before. Not a fun experience.