“When are we expected at the celebration?”

Her inquiry failed to garner a response. Frustrated, Cali walked up to the spreiban and prodded es shoulder, breaking es reverie. “The celebration, when are we expected?”

“Oh, uh, honoured one! We are not expected until the chimes stop.”

Cali gritted her teeth; that wasn’t an answer. “How LONG do we have?” Cali spoke slowly, and deliberately, emphasizing the pause between each word.

“Not so long, but not so short either,” Passi replied. The spreiban cocked es head to the side. The motion was accentuated by a tinkling sound, as the gemstones adorning es antlers collided.

Oh for fuck’s sake. What did that even mean? Where were the hours, or minutes? Wait, what if the spreiban didn’t measure time? The more she considered it, the more plausible it sounded. If Cali was going to stay in the enclave —IF— time would be the first thing she introduced. That was problem for later though, right now she had to remedy her magical misstep. “Passi, let’s talk.”

“Yes, yes!” Passi replied enthusiastically, stepped aside, and gestured for Cali to enter.

Cali ducked through the door, and was surprised to discover that she could stand unhindered within. Once Cali had entered, Passi shut the doors behind her. “Forgive me for that unseemly display. I did not expect... I mean, I was ill prepared to witness ancient magicks.” As e talked, Passi’s eyes darted around the room, avoiding Cali’s, and es bark took on a golden hue.

Having completed es apologies, Passi hurriedly led Cali across the large central chamber, and through a curtain into a side room. Within was a table flanked by two wooden chairs. One of the chairs and the table were intricately carved, and showed signs of years of loving use. The remaining chair felt incongruous. It dwarfed the rest of the room’s furnishings, and bore marks of fresh construction; evidently it had been hastily fashioned for Cali.

Cali sat, and Passi busied emself pouring amber liquid into a pair of wooden cups. Throughout the process, Passi’s eyes remained downcast. Even when the drinks were poured, and the spreiban took es seat, Passi’s gaze did not rise to meet Cali’s.

The two sat awkwardly for several moments as the chimes continued to ring. Finally, Cali spoke, “When I arrived at the enclave, Fen used magic on the stairway; was that not ancient magick?”

“It was, and yet it wasn’t,” the spreiban replied. “What you witnessed was a ritual, an echo of the ancient magicks. Rituals were passed down to us by very first primeval ones.” At last Passi looked up and met Cali’s gaze, the spreiban’s eyes were alight with wonder. “But there is no ritual for what you did, nor a conduit. It was pure ancient magick. Irrefutable proof that you are fheadhain.” As Passi continued to speak e leapt to es feet, voice rising with fevered intensity. “Reveal it at the celebration, and even those who seek to drive you out will be forced to believe. You must do so, YOU MUST!” Passi practically shouted the final words, and then stood panting for breath.

Cast a formulae in front of the entire enclave? Absolutely not! Even considering it gave Cali diaphoresis, she could already feel cold sweat running down her back. Keeping her magic concealed was essential. She’d made the mistake of thinking that lesson didn’t apply on Llyr, and inadvertently sparked a fanatical belief in Passi. She could hardly imagine the calamitous consequences of revealing her magic to the entire enclave.

Would it be calamitous? Part of her mind insisted that the spreiban would treat her like a goddess. Cali quickly cast aside the notion. No, despite Passi’s implications otherwise, Cali was certain the Auld would be anything but worshipful. More like furious. She needed an excuse to avoid demonstrating her magic; something to maintain the status quo until she could get her information, and —fortune willing— leave for a nice kith city. Somewhere where she wasn’t at the heart of a power struggle.

The ideal excuse would have bit of the truth mixed in; unfortunately, the fact her magic was acting abnormally was too dangerous a truth to include. Cali couldn’t afford to reveal any weaknesses, which meant she’d have to put on an act.

The silence had stretched on for an uncomfortable length of time, before Cali finally replied. “No. The ancient magicks are not for show,” Cali affected a severe tone for her statement, and was quite pleased when Passi fell back into es chair, visibly shaking. Seizing the initiative, Cali continued, “At the celebration you will not speak of the ancient magicks or even introduce me as fheadhain.”

Passi shook es head, “No, I will make no such promise. Many here already believe. They expect me to welcome a fheadhain, and I will not falsely rob them of that hope.” The fire burned in Passi’s eyes once more as e leaned towards her. “You represent hope for the enclave, hope it sorely needs. We are all afraid, unsure of the future, those who would drive you out, most of all. They fear you will be a catalyst for change, not realizing we must change to survive.”

“Why? Why is everyone afraid?”

“The enclave is dying. Every year fewer pups sprout. When I was a pup, the leisternig platform was full of hundreds of young’ns playing; now there are half-a-dozen pups in the enclave.”

Passi shook es head remorsefully, and paused to down the cup of amber liquid before resuming, “Though spreiban still perform the twf, most seeds putrefy—”

Cali’s attention wavered, as a translation implanted itself in her mind.

Twf -

1) A ritual performed by one or more spreiban, wherein: they hang a gift on the tree of life, and enact a formulae which causes the tree to bear a fruit. When planted, this fruit develops into a spreiban.

“—Those who would drive you away believe my reforms caused this putrefaction by displeasing the vold—”

Recognizing another unfamiliar concept, Cali prepared for a definition, but nothing came. Instead, Cali felt dread, and then the nothingness began to expand, becoming a vast emptiness that threatened to consume her mind. Cali frantically untangled the skeins maintaining her translation magic, and as suddenly as it had appeared, the hungering emptiness vanished.

Cali shuddered. What the hell was that!? It was like the word had actively resisted translation; like it had tried consume her for the impudence of daring. Cali took a deep breathe to collect herself. Calm, she needed to be calm. It had failed to harm her. She could focus on that mystery later. Right now she had to focus on Passi, and on the celebration.

When Cali’s attention returned to her surroundings, a silence hung in the air. The chimes had stopped. Passi was watching her with concern. “Honoured fheadhain, are you well? It is time for the celebration.”

Cali nodded. “I’m alright. I just... just need time to think.”

Passi shook es head. “No, no time. We must go to the celebration now.”

Reluctantly, Cali followed Passi toward the leisternig platform. She’d gone into the meeting hoping to gain information about the enclave, and on Passi’s goals. She’d acquired both; yet, it felt like she’d failed. The enclave was dying, which made her plan to develop civilization worthless. On top of that, her misstep had cemented Passi’s interest in using her, which was going to make leaving... complicated.

Passi led Cali onto a raised dais at the edge of the leisternig platform. Before her, a crowd of hundreds of spreiban were gathered around charcoal fires. Atop the fires, the carcasses of large birds were roasting on spits, filling the air with the aroma of grilled meats. Cali’s stomach growled. When had she last eaten? Yesterday? Hopefully she wouldn’t have to wait too long to eat.

With the arrival of the guest of honour, the platform filled with cheers. It took several moments before Passi was able to capture the crowd’s attention and speak. “Friends, today we are blessed. A fheadhain has visited our humble enclave.” The crowd erupted with applause, Cali could even see spreiban weeping tears of joy. Leaving was going to be very complicated.

Once the applause had died down, Passi continued, “With the return of the fheadhain, there is hope for our future. Let us celebrate, and show em our warmest welcome.” Once again the crowd broke out into raucous cheers.

As Cali gazed at the crowd she saw Fen. E stared towards the dais, expression grim. On the bright side, if she wanted to leave the enclave, the Auld would likely be eager to help.

After leaving the dais, the celebration was blur. Excited spreiban crowded around her, bringing food, which she gratefully devoured, and an endless stream of introductions. Despite the occasional mysterious word, Cali found she could speak adeptly and the spreiban proved all too happy to talk about themselves. By suffering through a torrent of trivialities about their lives, Cali managed to extract a steady steam of pertinent information. It was mostly generalities about life in the enclave, worries, fears, and the current tensions.

Perhaps the most useful fact she uncovered was that the last spreiban to see a kith had already become a primeval one. Which meant no one had seen any kith in... a very long time? None of the spreiban provided a useable estimate of how long ago that was.

However, there had also been an intriguing rumour —discussed in mocking tones— that Jax —apparently infamous for es tall tales— had recently claimed tohave seen a kith amongst fheadhain ruins. So, if her meeting with the primeval ones proved fruitless, she’d have something else to investigate.

When next Cali had a moment to breathe and look around, she discovered that Passi had wandered off, a fact she wasn’t given the leisure to consider. Moments after her discovery, a pair of adult spreiban, the younger of which carried a pup in es arms, approached her. The younger spreiban was unfamiliar, but she recognized the elder of the two. E had been first to speak at the Auld meeting. After a gentle push from the elder, the younger spreiban bowed and offered introductions, “I’m Yev, and this my pup Ara. Would you bless em, so that the córas may smile upon em?”

What was going on? Had the Auld manufactured this situation to assess her reaction? If so, implying she was ordinary kith, and refusing to offer a blessing seemed safest. She’d feel better if she had any idea what córas meant? It felt like the key to understanding what was going on, and acting appropriately.

As Cali tried to settle on an approach, her eyes met with Fen’s. E must have approached while she’d been distracted. Cali’s confusion apparently was evident, because Fen asked, “Do you not know what the córas is?”

Shit, this felt like a trap. But, if Fen pressed her, she’d be forced to guess. Cali hesitated, then shook her head.

Fen’s eyes glinted like naked steel as e offered an answer. “The córas, gifted to us by the fheadhain?” Fen’s voice was loud, more so performing for the crowd than answering her unspoken question.

This reeked of political maneuvering, and Cali had stepped right into it. As Fen continued, es voice rose to a crescendo. “How could you be fheadhain, yet unaware of the córas?”

Around them countless arguments erupted, as, triggered by Fen’s rhetoric, spreiban fervently debated: was Cali fheadhain or kith?

As the intensity of the arguments rose, Cali saw Fen gesture to someone, and the crowd parted around her. Revealing the gate wardens, who had pushed their way through the mass of spreiban. At the fore was Head Warden Aia, who looked at up at Cali and declared, “Come with us, we’ll show you to your residence.”

Cali nodded. It was a set up, but she was grateful nevertheless for an excuse to escape the situation. As she followed the wardens out of the growing pandemonium, she noticed that Fen had fallen in beside them. E wore a smug smile, all but confirming Cali’s suspicions that e’d planned the entire stunt.

Once they were out of earshot of the crowd, Cali turned to Fen. “What is córas?”

Now unhampered by es need to rile up the crowd, Fen spoke softly, “When we grow up, the córas assigns us a role, like warden, or cysug warder.” Fen gestured first to Aia, then to emself. “When you are ready, you sit and think, and then you see it. Words, etched into your mind, words that tell you what you are.”

Fen’s description reminded her of learning to stare past the veil, but with words instead of mathematical equations. Cali felt her heartbeat quicken. She rarely looked past the veil, as it was only necessary for developing, and analyzing formulae. If the underlying principles were altered on Llyr, it would explain the magical side effects. Cali quickened her pace, eager to begin experimenting and the rest of the walk passed in silence. Finally, she was deposited in front of a large warehouse like building.

Aia smiled and bowed to her before departing, the rest of the wardens falling in behind em. However, to Cali’s frustration, itching as she was to being experiments, Fen stayed behind. “Sorry for all that. We had to counter Passi. There was no other way. I swear you’ll still get answers to your questions. Tomorrow morning you’ll be taken to meet the primeval ones.”

Cali nodded absentmindedly, muttering an affirmation. Her mind was already elsewhere. Taking her nod as a response Fen bowed, and hurried after the wardens.

The inside of the building was a large, open hall with ceilings high enough for Cali to stand. In the corner, a thick quilt had been spread for her to sleep on. Wasting no time, Cali plopped down on the quilt, closed her eyes, and focused beyond the veil.

At first, everything was normal. Equations floated across her vision as they always did; quickly, however, a pattern became evident. The skeins of magic were subtly twisted, like they all flowed into something. Tracing their paths proved fruitless. Wherever their destination was it was too distant. Was that all? Where were the words the spreiban saw? What produced them? Cali threw her hands up in frustration, and her fingers grazed something intangible. A second set of skeins, unrelated to the first. Tracing their path, she found they led to the very cusp of the veil and coagulated into something. A blurry mass of magical treads all tangled, no, woven together.

If only she could see it better. Slowly, she brought her consciousness back toward the veil and the material world beyond, as she did so, the vision cleared. Finally, when she was on the cusp between the aetherial and the material, practically straddling the veil, the woven mass was crystal clear.