Chapter Fifteen

On the Road Again

I rested on top of a boulder, a large cup of tea in one hand, while I watched Nalithor gut a beast. The creature was long since dead. Our interest was in the elemental power radiating from it. Once Nalithor cut open its stomach, a torrent of crystals of almost every alignment spilled onto the ground. I grimaced and crossed one leg over the other, willing the wind to carry the stench away from us.

“Where in the hells did it find all of these?” Nalithor muttered, nudging one of the crystals with his booted foot. Most of them were close to the size of his torso. Some were smaller, likely pieces that had broken off their neighbors while being bashed around inside the creature’s stomach. “I’m rather certain these came from the forests.”

“Someone must be teleporting the beasts to various places, but why?” I tapped my foot against the air. “Well, it confirms our suspicions at any rate. No wonder it’s dead with all that in its stomach.”

Nalithor rejoined me and lifted his cup of tea off the boulder, taking a deep swig before shifting to look at me. “I’m not keen on leaving these crystals here, nor do I think we should bring them with us.”

“That doesn’t leave us with many options.” I tilted my head, letting my gaze drift away from my nylziis and over to the crystals. “Well, we can’t have them laying around after being covered in beast blood like that, either. Destroying crystals from the Aledacian Forests won’t be easy.”

“Destroying them would be a waste.” Nalithor followed my gaze and leaned back against the boulder beside me. “I suppose we will have to purify them and have the Vulin transport them for us. Pick them up with your darkness. We’ll transport them far from the beast before working to purify them. The less we have to be exposed to that smell, the better.”

I nodded to him and enveloped the crystals in darkness before sliding off my perch. We had been following the Vulei River for the past several days, so it wasn’t terribly far from where we had found the dead beast. Once close to the water, Nalithor conjured several seats of stone for us and sat down with a heavy sigh. I settled onto mine, dumped the pile of crystals on the ground, and then glanced up at the sky. The myriad of colors reflected in the clouds made it quite clear that it would be night soon, and we still hadn’t found a place to make camp for the evening.

“I’ll handle this batch,” Nalithor offered. “You did plenty of work this morning.”

‘Well, we are meant to share the responsibility of Balance…’ I considered it for a moment longer before nodding to him. “Alright. What do you want to do about making camp for the night?”

“We may need to travel the night.” Nalithor coated his arms from his fingertips to his shoulders in darkness before picking up one of the smaller, broken crystals. “I sense no caverns or tunnels beneath us and creating one safe enough for us to take shelter in is beyond my ability for now.”

“What about your domain?” I suggested, earning a brief frown. “Or even our temple?”

“You’re suggesting I open a portal to one or the other for us?” Nalithor raised an eyebrow.

“Is there some rule against that?” I smiled sweetly, knowing full-well the Jivyador weren’t keen on the idea. Their rules didn’t matter to me, nor should they have mattered to Nalithor. “I don’t recall our bosses banning us from either.”

“My domain it is then, once we find a proper place for me to bind the portal to.” Nalithor nodded to me before focusing his attention on the crystal in his hands and shutting his eyes.

“Proper place?” I prompted, this time receiving a mildly frustrated look in response. “I know, I know. You need to concentrate. Maybe I can find an ‘appropriate’ place while you work?”

“It will need to be a secluded place that the tribes are unlikely to stumble across.” Nalithor shook his head. “I will search for or make one once we are done here. You should keep lookout for beasts and irt’chkali while I work.”

“Yes, Master.” I swatted at him with my tails as I stood up.

With Nalithor absorbed in his work, I summoned a series of shadowy platforms and leapt up them. At the apex, I took a seat and looked out over Falrrsald’s plains. Even in this part of the region, it was nothing but endless grass, interrupted on rare occasion by a solitary boulder or by tribal stones. I’d hoped that I might spot something to hunt, but I had no such luck.

‘No animals still.’ I pursed my lips, sending tendrils of darkness to probe my surroundings. ‘Most traces of the rot-rain are gone…but where have the fauna gone?’

My attention snapped back to Nalithor when I heard something crack. He had his hand flat against one of the largest crystals. It fell away from his hand in two halves, split cleanly down the middle. Going by the look on his face, it hadn’t been intentional.

“Having trouble?” I slipped off my platform and landed beside him.

“A preexisting fracture, it would appear.” Nalithor grabbed one of the split halves and tapped lightly on another section, pulling my attention to a subtle line. “I’d say these crystals were in the stomach of that beast for a long time.”

“Hmmm…” I ran my fingers down the fissure, frowning. “Maybe we should grind them all into a powder and wash them after? I’m not confident that beast blood or other corruption wouldn’t have seeped into the cracks.”

“Returning to our domain would be prudent, then.” Nalithor nodded, sighing. “I should have the necessary tools to pulverize the crystals, and the Vulin have many cleansing reagents we can utilize.”

“Our… It is, isn’t it?” I blinked up at him for a moment, watching a smile spread across his face.

“We are going to need to grow used to that fact—and soon.” Nalithor reached up and tugged one of my ears, chuckling. “Here, carry the crystals again while I search for a suitable place to bind our portal.”

“We’re in open plains,” I pointed out, engulfing the crystals in shadow again. “Granted, I didn’t see any traces of life from up there.” I paused to point up toward where my perch had been. “How about we move closer to the Vulei River? You could make a hidden cave on the bank somewhere, right?”

“That will be our best option, I suppose.” Nalithor nodded and slid an arm behind my back. He fell silent for a few minutes, then glanced down at me. “Yumeko and Daijiro will meet us at the riverbank. They are bringing further enchantments that will hide the entrance.”

Before long, we reached the Vulei River and began our search for a suitable place for Nalithor to create a cave. Yumeko and Daijiro helped us locate a bank tall enough to create an entrance. I stood back with the Vulin pair while Nalithor worked, watching his aether arc through the air.

“That should be good enough.” Nalithor walked out of the cave mouth a while later and pushed his hair back. “Yumeko, Daijiro?”

“I believe it will be sturdy enough, Rely’ric.” Yumeko nodded, patting the opening with one paw.

“What if floods?” Daijiro poked the wall and then looked back at the Vulei River. “Rain, rain, and more rain. Rainy season, yes?”

“Then I will adjust the entrance.” Nalithor made a sharp upward motion, causing the stone and dirt to thrust into the air, completely changing the angle at which we would need to climb into the cave.

“Now I’m going to get my fur all muddy!” I grimaced.

“We need a bath anyway.” Nalithor shot me a suggestive smile.

“I’m still flying!” I huffed, summoning a cloud of darkness to lift myself over the earthen wall. Nalithor chuckled behind me, vaulting over the wall to join me once I was clear.

“Once we’ve finished hiding the entrance, I will have dinner brought to your rooms,” Yumeko called to us, smiling brightly. “Reiz’tar, you may leave the crystals at the entrance when you arrive. Our alchemists will handle them after.”

Nalithor placed his hand against the back wall of the cave and closed his eyes briefly, summoning darkness. I watched his magic spread like liquid across the surface. First, it formed a sigil thrice the size of his hand. Next, his power spread around it to create a “door” in the wall itself.

“That’s different from the last time you took me to your domain,” I remarked, tilting my head.

“Those were more rushed creations.” Nalithor grimaced, pulling his hand away from the shimmering darkness. “A proper portal such as this is far less draining and is the way we are ‘meant’ to use our domains.”

“Mmhmm. ‘Meant’ to.” I snorted as Nalithor put an arm around my shoulders.

I let him lead me through the liquid-like darkness and into his—our—domain, using my power to pull the crystals through behind us. When we arrived seconds later, we were greeted by a dozen Vulin. They bid me to set the crystals down on the stone path beneath us.

“There are more,” Nalithor informed them, opening his shrizar to dump more crystals on the ground. Spoils from our morning kills. He nudged me, indicating that I should do the same.

“And more.” I sighed, adding to the mountain of crystals. “It seems like a pity to grind them all to powder.”

“It is the best way to ensure they are purified.” Nalithor shrugged before looking to the Vulin. “Make certain the elements are kept separate. I want the reagents usable once they have been cleansed.”

“The requests, reports, and other documents sent to your temples have been copied and brought to your rooms, Rely’ric, Reiz’tar.” A gray Vulin bowed to us. “There is much work for you. How long will you be staying?”

“Nightly visits in lieu of places to make camp.” Nalithor crossed his arms and sunk into thought for a moment. “Our business in Falrrsald takes priority over all else, for now. We will review what we can after we have bathed and had dinner.”

Nalithor gave the Vulin a few more orders before leading me into his palace by the hand. Smoke coiled through the air from ornate incense burners, creating a blueish haze in the wide hallways.

“That…is far more reports than I expected.” Nalithor frowned when we entered his suite. I peered around him at the stacks of parchment. “Perhaps it would be prudent for us to make certain there is nothing dire we must tend to?”

“No relaxing night in, hmmm?” I sighed and began peeling off my traveling clothes. “Well, I say we bathe first. These look like neatly-penned reports, so I doubt there’s any real rush.”

“They appear to be from different units within the Claws and Fangs,” Nalithor remarked, flipping through some of the pages. “Ah, and our fathers sent along details of how they wish to proceed in the upcoming war. The rest appear to be more mundane matters. Requests for additions to Dauthrmir, adjustments to the refuge’s ‘town’ within the crater…”

“Well, if we’re going to make visits to your domain ‘nightly’ we can work through the reports over the next few nights when we’re finished with traveling for the day.” I strode over to him and took the papers, setting them on the stack again, before tugging at the front of his clothes. “Assuming we don’t find more draining tasks to deal with, anyway. What do you think of the beasts we came across today?”

“I find myself wondering if they are our enemy’s next phase,” Nalithor answered almost immediately. “They were similar to X’shmiran beasts, yet the region has been oddly beast-free since its return to the surface.”

“That could’ve been because we were there,” I pointed out. “Or because of the display the Lari’xan made in destroying the ‘eye.’”

“For now, I would prefer we stuck to what we know for certain.” Nalithor shook his head. “We can speculate all night, but it will not get us any closer to answers.”

“As you wish.” I pulled at his clothes again and gave him a pointed look.

“Through that door—I will join you soon.” Nalithor gave me a brief kiss, strode past me, and gave me a sharp spank when I didn’t move.

I swatted at his hand with my tails and shot him a sultry smile before making my way to the bath ahead of him. A nice long soak sounded wonderful after a day of travel. A smidgen of relaxation before delving into work, and later returning to Falrrsald, sounded even better.

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