The rest of the flight passed by with Ryan bouncing in his seat and discussing with his father and servant some of the plans for the trip. When their flight ended, the trio moved into a car, Tyler helping Ryan into it, then loading their luggage as Ryan buckled. Ryan heard his father move into the driver's seat, which surprised him, as normally, a servant or personal driver would drive his father around.

Tyler sat in the back seat with Ryan, then the car began moving.

"Driving instead of having a servant drive?" Ryan asked.

"It isn't often I get to drive," his father responded. "Keep in mind there are no paved roads on the islands, Ryan. You and Tyler will be walking everywhere, or taking a boat between them. And keep in mind that you need to pay attention if they don't do something right away."

"I understand," Ryan responded. "How far until we reach the docks?"

"Only a few minutes," his father answered.

"Okay," Ryan responded, then turned his head to give the appearance of looking out the window. From what he knew, their cars couldn't be seen inside of, even if its passengers could usually see outside. "Hey, Tyler – doesn't that man look like your brother?"

"Who?" Tyler asked, and Ryan laughed. "Ryan!"

"I'm not the one who looked," Ryan grinned, turning his head in Tyler's direction. "If only you could see your expression right now."

"Ryan, stop teasing the poor boy," his father chuckled. "I'm sure you'll be doing plenty of teasing everyone once you get to the islands."

"I need to warm up, first," Ryan told his father. "By the way, try not to hit that trashcan, I know how they like to jump out and surprise drivers."

His father sighed, causing Ryan to chuckle. The next few minutes passed in mostly silence, then the car stopped, and Ryan heard the others exit. He unbuckled and waited for Tyler to open the door beside him and touch his arm. With his servant guiding him, Ryan exited the car and began walking, smelling the salt in the air and listening to the crashing of waves against the shore.

"Hello, Samuel," a deep voice spoke as Tyler stopped Ryan's walk. Ryan stretched out his empathy, feeling relief in the other man. A moment later, he felt amusement in his father. "I was not expecting you to come with such a light guard."

"An agreement was made," Ryan's father spoke. "It would not look good to disregard that."

"As if disregarding agreements is not natural," the other man spoke. "This must be Ryan."

"Pleasure to meet you, sir," Ryan said, then felt a touch of embarrassment in the other man. "I'd shake your hand, but I'm not sure where to aim."

"Before we board the ship," his father spoke. "I'd like to make something clear, Damien."

Ryan heard his father pull something from his pocket, then a light tapping sound. A moment later, he felt curiosity in the other man as he looked at whatever it was the Novar Family head was showing him. The video, no doubt. As the video was watched, the teen thought over why the head of the Mieria Family would meet them personally.

Especially with relief in his mind.

"By the way," Tyler whispered in his ear as Damien's mental state shifted to shock. "You've aimed your head at your father."

Ryan extended out his senses for air and water, and discovered that he was, indeed, facing his father. He shifted a little, allowing Tyler to guide him gently into looking at Damien. The other man was looking at something on a rectangular object, which Ryan guessed was his father's phone. No sound was playing, but he supposed none was needed.

Especially not with the screams he had heard when Tyler watched the video. Those screams would terrify a normal man, and had even made Ryan waver for a moment.

"I am in possession," Ryan's father eventually took the item back from Damien. "Of the sole recording showing who was responsible for that, Damien. If you want to keep it that way, nothing will happen to my son. Am I clear?"

"Perfectly," Damien responded, and Ryan became confused by the other head's emotions.

Relief. Damien was relieved the Novar family was using the video for Ryan's protection rather than to force them into something. That didn't mean things wouldn't change down the line, but it meant for the moment, Damien had nothing to worry about.

Unless the other head knew they had empathy – which Ryan knew was impossible – his mental state was genuine and not something he was forcing. His father would likely be able to know for sure, but Ryan was confident Damien's emotions were honest.

Which raised the question of why he was relieved by that. Why he was willing to allow Ryan to stay for so long. Something strange was going on, and he could tell it made his father confused and curious as well.

"You're sensing it, aren't you?" Ryan heard his father's thoughts in his head as they began walking. "Damien's relief."

I am, Ryan thought.

"Don't focus so hard on making sure I can hear you," his father told him. "Anything that crosses your mind, I'm hearing. I'll help you learn to filter that, once you return. That way, you choose what is heard when a telepath reads your thoughts."

Okay, Ryan thought back. So does that mean if I think about the soft skin of a beautiful lady-

"Ryan, I need you to keep an extra ear out," his father interrupted him. "It is strange that Damien – whose family is against ours – would be relieved that I am just worried about your safety. On top of his willingness to let you come here, there is something strange going on, not just suspicious."

I'll keep two ears out, Ryan told his father. Plus an open mind and magical senses.

"Steady now," Tyler said as his grip tightened on Ryan's arm. "We're about to cross the bridge to the boat."

"Okay," Ryan responded, then heard two pairs of feet tapping against what sounded like hollow metal. "Interesting sound."

They stepped onto the metal sheet which spanned from the dock onto the boat, Ryan noting how it felt slightly unsteady under his feet. The air there was full of moisture, and he could sense a mass of water beneath him. The ocean.

On the boat, Ryan found his legs unsteady, and was quickly moved onto a bench, Tyler sitting beside him. He listened as others moved onto the boat as well, carrying their luggage, then the servants left.

"I will be on the islands for part of your son's visit," Damien told Ryan's father as the teen listened in. "I had actually just arrived yesterday morning, and was planning on staying through to the start of the year."

"While I know the islands are quite nice," Ryan's father responded, and Ryan removed his jacket. He was quite warm in it, the air there much warmer than at his home. "It isn't usual for you to stay there for so long during winter. Issues?"

"Not the sort you need to worry of," Damien responded. "This isn't public yet, as we're not certain of the full status of it, but a Heisar opened up on one of the islands two days ago."

Ryan found himself immediately curious about that. Heisars weren't all too common, even if they weren't all too rare, either. They went by many names, but Heisar was the most common, named after the first mage to fully explore the largest one within human ability. The dragon in Russia was said to lord over an even larger one.

Holes in the ground, they were full of resources that renewed themselves. Most commonly, they were full of magical crystals. The smallest known Heisar produced enough lightning crystals and mana crystals every day to power a small town's needs. Twenty feet in width and around one hundred deep.

Magic crystals were essential to using technology – with normal electricity inoperable, it was magical energy that powered things. Magical energy usually found in the form of lightning crystals. Mana crystals could be used as well, and were what powered expensive cars, planes, trains, and other modes of transportation. The boat they were on likely had a mana crystal or two powering it.

Fire crystals could be used to cook or forge things, among other uses. Earth crystals could be used to make soil more fertile. All crystals had multiple uses, and were exploited largely by the Guilds, who managed to acquire most of the Heisars before other organizations began to crop up, such as the Families.

Ryan's family owned a large Heisar, though, and it was part of the source of their strength and power. His great-great-great-great grandfather, the first Novar, had laid claim to it before anyone else could.

"What's in it?" Ryan asked, his curiosity piqued.

"We've found a few things already," Damien answered, and Ryan noticed that the man had turned to face him, his father doing the same. Many ignored him or looked to his father before responding, and the teen appreciated those who didn't. "Mana crystals, as can be found in all Heisars, as well as water crystals, as to be expected of one on an island. We haven't been able to explore it completely yet, as caution must be held in case of monsters, but we suspect something that might be of even more interest: manalirate."

Ryan felt the surprise rise in his servant as his father's suspicion rose. It could be posturing, claiming they might have manalirate to show off, with the ability to say they had only suspected it if someone seized the Heisar and found it wasn't true.

A rare plant only found in a single Heisar, its string-like flower could be used to cut magic crystals without destroying them. The only known Heisar to grow them was owned by Raxvar Corporation, the largest Guild in the world, and they used their monopoly of it to charge high prices for anything which used cut or shaved magic crystals.

Even the Families purchased said products. The wealthy were the only people to have cell phones anymore, because powering them with a simple battery failed. They required using lightning crystals, but cut into slim strips to act as batteries. Only Raxvar Corporation could supply such goods.

Suddenly, the reason for Damien's relief and cooperation came to Ryan. If they really did have manalirate, then every major Family in the world would want the Heisar as their own. Only one of two Families would win that fight. In addition to the Families, however, the Mieria Family would also deal with Guilds and Orders wanting to lay claim to the island.

Befriending one of those two Families – or at least, initially showing friendship towards them after discovering a possible rare and valuable resource – would go a long way to having protection from the squabbles that would break out. It would keep them as squabbles, at least, for a time. Enough time for the Mierias to build up their own power and become a major player.

Revealing their suspicions of the manalirate that early wasn't necessarily a smart move, but it wasn't necessarily a bad move. It meant that Ryan's father would want to keep an eye on them, but would also make him more suspicious. Why would the Mieria be okay with the Novars knowing that early? Especially with how opposed to the Novars they were?

Advertising it to the Veloas Family would have made more sense. Even if the two weren't allies, they at least didn't have conflicts between them as frequently as the Mierias did with the Novars.

Ryan came to a conclusion as he thought about it. The Mieria Family needed something the Novar Family had and the Veloas Family did not. Both of the major Families owned a Heisar, and both produced goods using resources obtained from them.

The Mieria Family was one whose dealings Ryan didn't actually know. According to his father, much of what they did was unknown. They weren't a large Family, and most of their strength was devoted to protecting their main estate, a single set of warehouses, and the islands.

Ryan knew his father suspected that they simply disliked the Guilds and Orders and did their own thing, which would explain why most of their 'crimes' were usually skirmishes with the Guilds and Orders. They had illegal weapons and dealings, of course, but to the Families, what was the law of outside forces?

As the boat's motor started up with a low hum, Ryan decided that unless he knew more information, all he would know was that they wanted something from the Novars. Something beyond just protection.

His father didn't ask during the trip, but they did discuss what was known of the Heisar so far. It spanned forty yards in diameter with an unknown depth Like most Heisars, the first twenty feet of depth was a giant openness in the ground. From there, tunnels and drops formed leading lower, giant holes in some places acting as caverns.

The Mierias would carve out paths to form a connected maze leading to the bottom of the Heisar, mapping it out as they went. Mages with an earth affinity would be useful there, as their powers would enable the tunneling to be performed quicker, in addition to knowing where other tunnels, drops, and caverns were.

It was a process that could take a few months, however. Even if the tunnels made by mages were artificially-made, they would begin to grow and develop the same resources as the rest of the Heisar. That included any monsters that might develop within the Hesiar. Caution was needed, for safety's sake.

The teen found himself tapping his leg as he thought it over. Some resources would only be discovered further down, but could provide substantial items to the Family. The Mieria Family could begin to stand on its own as a powerful Family within a year if they managed to keep the Heisar a secret, especially with it forming in an island.

His mind wandered back to why they would want to have the Novar's protection while building up their power. Why they would want something from them, and what they wanted. What could the Novars provide which the Veloases could not? It baffled the teen.

As the boat began to slow down, however, Ryan realized why the Mieria Family might want to play nice with the Novars, despite their past conflicts. There were two possible reasons for it.

The first was that – impossibly – the Mieria Family knew about Samuel Novar's magical might and feared it, wanting to play nice to avoid having it used against them.

The second – and more reasonable – possibility was that they knew about the upcoming marriage of the two Families.

If it was the latter case, then it made sense. The Novar Family would effectively rule the Families after the marriage, which meant the Mieria Family would be forced to play nice anyway. His father happened to call them right after a major discovery, and they decided to work with it. They no doubt would have rather talked with the Veloas Family first, but Ryan's desire to be among the water elementals changed that.

All of that was a theory, but he knew it was the most likely possibility of what was going on. The Mieria Family realized it needed to play nice with the Novar Family, and so Damien allowed Ryan to visit for a few months.

That did, however, raise a question in Ryan's mind.

From what was known about manalirate, it only grew past two hundred feet beneath the surface. They would not have had enough time already to dig that deep and stay cautious.

Why did Damien already suspect there was manalirate in the Heisar?