---[ POV: Flynn ]---

Flynn remembered all too well one of Herman's first comments; the charm that allowed him to understand - and be understood by - people from this planet would not last for long. At best, he could expect it to work for two days. Such a providence would probably not present itself again unless the old man had other amulets or magic tricks of the same sort. It was the perfect opportunity to learn and compile the native language.

"Athena, from what I understand, I still speak in Imperion, right? And that man speaks in a foreign language? But despite all that, we are still able to understand each other? Sorry if the question seems strange but my perception of what exactly his magic is doing is probably not accurate."

"No," said Athena. "I'd say it's pretty much it. You each speak in your own language but that does not seem to be a problem. I've already identified some patterns and deduced the meaning of some of their words based on what you were saying and what they answered but at this point, it's just guesses and conjectures."

"I see. Then if I was to ask him to repeat words or phrases I say, how much time do you think it would take you to compile and translate enough of their dialect so that I would become fluent in it by brain-loading the language pack you would create?"

"Well, it depends what you make him say. If you just continue to converse normally, it could take a couple of days, maybe weeks depending on just how much you communicate and if the subjects of your conversations are repetitive. Conversations about similar topics have diminishing returns on just how much insight they provide. If we use dictionary lists and optimized sentences pattern designed for the express purpose of compiling a language, however, it would take a couple of hours. A day at max. But again, it would also depend on how good your interlocutor is with his own language and its rules. If he doesn't have at least some linguistics skill, that might be a bit hard."

"Perfect, then we"ll try to do that. I'm not worried about Herman's skill. He is, by his own words, a well-learned man." Flynn turned back toward the old wizard. "I suppose you understood a bit of what I'd like to do?"

"I think," said the old man. "You want your spirit companion to learn our language?"

"Yes, so that she can then teach it to me afterward. I know it will be strange but would you mind simply repeating word for word what I will say to you from now on, even if it doesn't make any sense. We simply need to go through a lot of words that do not get much use in regular conversation."

"That's fine with me. There's not much else to do anyway and there is still a lot of time left before dawn." Herman directed a concerned look toward the second deck where the princess and her Warden were.

"Good, then let's start."

For the following hours, Athena would tell a sentence or list of words to Flynn for him to repeat to Herman, and for the old man to in turn say out loud. This strange routine repeated for a long time. The words were simple at first. Lists of fruits and vegetables, animals, furniture, terrain features, etc.

Herman knew about most of those words but Flynn realized that he had also never heard of some of them. This was expected since things like 'apple', 'turtle' or 'fox' were supposed to be from Earth so it would have made sense for those words to be unknown. The strange part, however, was that those people knew about apples and foxes. They had a word for almost everything one could find on Earth.

The divergence only appeared when words that appeared later in humanity's history started to make their way into the lists Athena was providing. Words like 'uranium', 'spaceship', 'computer', etc.

Those people also had words for most things one could only find referenced in old folklore or legends of primitive Earth. Flynn found it profoundly disturbing, especially since he was now convinced this planet was not one that had been ever visited by the Unified Stellar Empire. He kept his concerns for himself as he would have time to ask about such things later, after, he at least had a reliable way to communicate with the people of this planet.

Athena quickly caught on to this particularity and stopped to include more modern words in her lists, concentrating only on those she believed Herman would know.

After they were done with the 5 000 or so most commonly used nouns, Athena switched the focus of her interrogation towards verbs and pronouns. This time she had to make some foray into grammar and sentences construction to get a better grasp of the rules that structured this language.

This once again took a couple of hours. Seeing that dawn was fast approaching, she completed the session with everything else she judged essential to be able to build a language pack complete enough for at least basic day-to-day interactions.

Everything went well. As an AI, Athena was fast to learn. Her deduction power was impressive and the speed at which she could understand and compile the language had grown exponentially as the night progressed.

Herman had been a good sport and simply done what was expected of him even if it meant spending hours repeating boring lists of words or silly sentences.

Gwenvar had stayed at the princess' side, only coming down twice to get new water bottles. Each time, Flynn had inquired about the young girl's condition and got the same answer; the heat from her hands only kept on growing, the fever had dropped slightly but was still there, she had regained some colors but still seemed in pain. All in all, better than at the beginning of the night, but far from saved.

This had worried Flynn a bit but Herman had tried to reassure him by saying that, if Valsevor could not save her, then, no one could. Flynn was not sure he found it 'comforting' but at least he knew he had done everything he possibly could to give the girl a fighting chance.

The first colors of dawn started to make themselves known and Flynn could observe the outside sky lose its inky tones.

The young man had kept the cargo bay access ramp open all night to appreciate the fresh air and to avoid giving the impression he was trapping Herman and Gwenvar inside. Those people could not lower the ramp by themselves - or open any other doors or hatches of the ship, for that matter - unless they were equipped with a neural stack of the ISF, entered the required code manually, or the ship AI had been instructed to treat them as if they had the required access by someone that really did. Since Flynn did not want to give them the codes or access and they had no stack, they had to rely on him.

Herman observed the outside world and offered a small smile to Flynn.

"It's been a long night, Lord Flynn. Mind if we stop for now and maybe eat something?"

Flynn nodded. He didn't have much to offer the old man other than some warg meat - he had just learned those wolf-like creatures were called wargs - but apparently, it was not considered safe to eat by people of this world. Flynn could understand. His lymphites allowed him to digest and survive on almost anything without much indisposition but he would not be surprised if the meat of those beasts carried some diseases or parasites that normal people would suffer from. Instead, he proposed to Herman one of his ration pills, taking the time to explain their purpose and how to consume them in order to avoid a situation like the one he had with Gwenvar earlier.

The old man accepted, intrigued. He observed the pellet for a good five minutes before finally swallowing it with a sip of water.

The wizard then produced a wooden pipe from one of his pouches and took his time stuffing it with aromatic tobacco. The pipe seemed a bit rough around the edges as if the artisan that had produced it had decided to stop his work midway. Despite the unusual and rugged finish, it was smooth and patined by years of use. Herman produced a small flame on the tips of a finger to light it up and sucked from the pipe lips to make sure the tobacco in the chamber had lit adequately. With a satisfied sigh, he changed his position on the crate for a more comfortable and relaxed one and offered the pipe to Flynn.

"Wanna try some? I paid a fortune to have it imported."

"No thanks," said Flynn who was not in the habit of smoking.

"Don't know what you're missing on," smiled Herman as he brushed the ravine with an absent but content gaze.

"Probably," said Flynn. "There was this superior officer of mine, Regus, that always smoke the cigar. He had me try, once, when I was young, and I almost choked to death. I've been reminded about it for years afterward so it kinda turned me away from trying again."

"This one's really soft," said Herman. "Like the caresses and songs of a Zedjukian mistress on a mellow summer night."

Flynn smiled. "I'll keep that in mind. Maybe next time."

Herman was about to say something else but as the first ray of sunlight made its way into the corvette, a painful scream echoed from above. Flynn jumped on his feet and looked in the direction of Gwenvar and the princess. There were flames and smoke coming from the second deck and Gwenvar's alarmed screams mixed with the agonizing wails of the young princess.

Oh God, what is happening?! I swear by the Emperor's name, if that poor girl burns alive I'm going back to Valsevor and I'm blowing his mountain down on him.

Flynn started to run toward the second floor, soon followed by Herman.