Ruyo was looking forward to reaching the city, selling everything in the cart that carried her slowly east, and seeing what other treasures she could bring along. This run had been modestly profitable so far. The dirt road ahead was open to her, the springtime sun shined, and she didn't much mind having no one to share it with. Seeing other people was what towns were for.

On a winding, hilly stretch of road with light oak forest to either side, her plodding horse slowed and looked around, ears flicking. Some of the trees had crashed and a tiny stream that crossed the path had changed course. The air smelled of sap and mud.

Ruyo hopped down from the cart with a flourish. She was dressed practically, in a long tunic from her family's home in Starshore, but with hems of vivid green to advertise the dye she was bringing from the west. She patted the mare and examined the water, then let her drink. "Must've been a big storm here."

Taking a break, she looked around upstream. Maybe there'd been a flood or a rockslide since she was last here. Vaguely she wondered about what that might do to trade. There could be gold revealed in the hills, or monsters for that matter.

She stopped walking. She'd just gone for several minutes into the upstream forest without knowing why, besides her daydreaming. And now she heard a low whistling noise as the wind played through her long brown hair. Not a wild beast; it was like a breeze blowing across a bottle. Another minute's hike revealed the mouth of a cave with mossy rubble around it.

Ruyo's eyes widened. A newly opened cave? She could delay her trip a bit to look around, for fun. She certainly wasn't fantasizing about it being some lost bandit treasure-hoard. She rummaged through various pockets, found a self-lighting candle, and flicked it with one fingernail to spark it. Though she was ready to bolt at the first sign of trouble, she crept ahead with an excited grin on her face.

The cavern had a narrow entrance and an uneven, mostly downward tunnel that widened to several paces across. Ruyo set foot on level ground, and paused. The walls were straight, the ceiling was smooth, and there were regular cracks in the floor. She crouched to look. Not cracks, mostly; this was a mosaic. Tiles of blue, green and white formed wave patterns. The tiles covered part of the walls ahead, too.

"What was this place?" she said.

Her candle went out.

Ruyo squeaked and hopped. Her hands trembled on the candle and flicked it to activate its tiny spell, but nothing happened. She could retrace her steps as soon as her eyes adjusted to the darkness.

She turned and held out one hand, hoping to shuffle back toward the exit. Already her vision was recovering to catch traces of light from outside. Except... there was a shadow in front of her.

She spun again and was face-to-face with a flickering blue-white light. Barely there, it hovered like an absence of flame, a bonfire made of water and making the air around it cooler. It spoke in a whispering, burbling voice of no known language, as though from the bottom of a well.

When Ruyo stood there stunned, fumbling for the knife on her belt, it spoke again and drifted an inch closer before darting back again.

Ruyo shivered. "You can talk? Is this a will-o-wisp? What do you want?" There were stories of the Lost World, always either vague or ridiculous, and none spoke of a ball of light that could talk.

The creature slowly approached, repeating a word that sounded like a question.

"I don't understand," Ruyo said, and tried holding out the candle. The ball hissed and drew back. "What, then?" She let go of her knife and offered her other hand as though to pet an animal.

The light slowly approached her hand and touched it, chilling her fingers. Then its distant voice spoke again, garbled at first but then forming clear words. "Can you understand me?"

"Yes. Whatever you are, I didn't mean to trespass. I'll just go in peace."

"Wait! I can't... there isn't much left. Please help." The orb had grown smaller and dimmer.

"What do you want?"

It hesitated before answering. "I need someone to restore my mistress' shrine. It shouldn't be broken like this."

"Who is your mistress?" asked Ruyo. The ball remained perched on her hand.

"The goddess of water! This was one of her homes. She used to bless the people, make things for them, heal them."

Ruyo knew nothing of the gods of the Lost World, but for those same wild tales everyone had heard. There were fragments of another culture in these lands that had greater magic, better tools, yet had somehow destroyed itself.

The ball said, "Please! What can I offer you for your help?"

"Stories," Ruyo said impulsively. "The real ones."

"I don't remember very much, but what I know I'll share."

"Then what are you trying to get me to do? Bring blood sacrifices?"

"No. Can't you see this wasn't that kind of place?"

Ruyo walked over to the wall mural. "Since you're glowing, come here."

Her living light source obliged, letting Ruyo peer at the ancient artwork. The talking orb moved slowly along it. In the cracked tiles and paint Ruyo saw people fishing from a boat with no sail; dolphins leaping; a man riding a cloud; a group of robed figures with arcs of water splashing in the shape of complicated knots around them. No smiting of the wicked, no bound captives being killed for power. If the shrine held some evil force, it was well hidden. "It looks nice," Ruyo said. "But why did it collapse?"

"That, I don't much remember. But I'll tell you what I can, if you'll help."

"Help, how?"

"There's a circle on the floor. Touch it and say, I claim this place, with the blessing of Nusina. That's Nu-si-na."

"Was that the goddess' name?"

"It's mine. I can't speak much longer; there's very little power left." The spirit's light had grown dimmer.

"Claiming the place, you say?"

"Someone has to, if there's any chance of restoring her abilities. You'll be able to use similar ones before long. I don't know how common magic is these days, but isn't that something valuable too?"

It was. Ruyo shut her eyes for a moment, then tested the spirit. "Could I use some of that power to get rid of a certain person I want dead?"

"I... I suppose so, if you really wanted. But that's not what it's for."

The spirit's worried tone interested Ruyo. "I didn't really mean that," Ruyo assured it.

Ruyo had dealt with silver-tongued merchants before, trying to rush her into a deal or into someone's bed. This was different, though, like hearing someone dangling from a cliff. She'd never forgive herself for not trying to help. And not learning the secrets this place held.

Finally she said, "Where is this circle?"

The creature drifted away from her hand and down to the floor nearby, lighting it enough to show the circle of swirl-patterned tiles. Ruyo followed, crouched so she could touch the dusty floor, and spoke. "I claim this place, with the blessing of Nusina!"

The dim light surged around her until it was unbearable, hot and cold at the same time. She felt like she'd been hurled into the sky to float weightlessly, in pale void, in sleep.

#

She woke up with vertigo, sprawled on dusty stone. She lay flat until the world stopped spinning.

The glowing creature drifted into view, laying on the floor with her. It was a little more stable now, squashed where it touched the tiles. Like an oversized droplet of water with the suggestion of glittering pearl eyes.

Its voice sounded closer now and more distinctly female, tinged with watery burbling. "Thank you, thank you! As I said, my name is Nusina. Right now I'm drawing on your own life energy, but don't worry; we'll fix that very soon."

"What did you do to me?"

"You forged a connection to this place, and that also means to me. Right away, that should give you the power to draw on what little mana is left here. Magic energy, I mean." Nusina paused. "What is your name?"

"Ruyo."

"Ruyo? Please get up. You're now a magic user, and there's work to do."

Magic! thought Ruyo, as she stood. "I've never had the talent for more than activating the most basic enchanted items."

Nusina sounded perturbed. "Yes, I noticed you brought a fire spell in here! No more of that, please."

Ruyo laughed at the creature. "What are you, anyway? Are you really the goddess yourself?"

"Me? No, no! I'm the guardian spirit of the shrine. I oversee its mana level and equipment. But as you can see, the place has decayed. And so have I. I'm not sure what woke me up."

"I think there was a storm outside, something that uncovered the entrance to this cave."

"That could be it, in connection with some sort of emergency signal from how drained the place is. So, miss Ruyo... let's begin. I hate to ask this, but do you have any water?"

She took a canteen from her belt and shook it.

"Open that and hold one hand above it. Make the water come to you."

She held her palm over the opening and mentally commanded the water. Nothing happened. Nusina had to coach her for several frustrating minutes, but then the contents of her canteen splashed upward onto her hand, around it, and back down again to form a wobbling glove around her skin. Ruyo held out her hand and stared.

"Good! Now the other hand."

Ruyo sort of pushed the water away from one palm to the other, then back, then cupped it into a ball that drifted unsteadily between her hands.

"Congratulations!" Nusina said. "Now, feel for a sort of energy of warmth in the water, and draw it out."

After several attempts, the water gave a sigh of mist, and what was left of it swelled into a block of ice. Ruyo startled and dropped it, and it shattered on the floor. "I've hardly ever seen ice."

"Well, now you can have as much as you want. If you're patient."

Really, that spell alone could make her substantially richer, in these sunny lands where even an icy drink generally meant hiring a mage. But that wasn't important right now. "Thank you, Nusina. But shouldn't I get my reward after I fix whatever needs to be done here? If it means repairing the mural, I'm going to need better light than just your glow."

"I needed you to be able to channel this place's magic. Down in the basement there should be an artifact to restart."

She drifted away through the air, toward the back of the cave. The wall parted to reveal a hidden downward stairway and a puff of humid air.

Ruyo walked cautiously forward. Her boots were loud on the tiles. "Deeper in, huh?" She ran one hand along the stone wall as she descended, relying on the spirit's light.

"What?" said Nusina, and paused. "Come look at this."

The two found themselves at the entrance to a dimly lit circular room. Then Ruyo realized most of the floor was missing. There was a ledge, overlooking a deep shaft with glowing water far below. It was all dull yellow metal, barely corroded despite countless years of disuse. "Whoa! What is this?" Ruyo said, backing away from the cliff.

"I don't remember! There should be a basement, and a crystal."

"More like a mineshaft. How am I supposed to get down there?" She tested her footing and walked onto the broad ledge. "I have some rope back at my cart... My cart! I've left it right next to the road, and my horse! I need to go back and deal with that."

The wall at the top of the stairs rumbled shut, leaving her trapped.

"Nusina, why?!"

"I didn't do that, I swear! Let me try..." She floated back upstairs. "It's not opening. This place is barely functional. Maybe if..." She pulsed with light.

After a few moments of frantic magic and Ruyo tugging at the stonework, Ruyo sighed. "Save your energy. It looks like this is a one-way trip."

"Only until you activate the shrine."

"Really? Are you as confident of that as you were about leading me into here? I wasn't going to abandon you."

"I trust you, Ruyo. You've come this far. But please trust me. I'm doing the best I can."

"Then how do I get down and back in one piece?"

"Ice is also great, and would suffice."

"What?"

"I don't know. A scrap of old poetry. I mean, you can freeze the water into stairs and ledges."

"The water which is down there." Reluctantly she peeked over the edge and shuddered. "It doesn't look deep enough to dive into, not that I'd want to."

"Let me see." Nusina flowed over the edge and fell to the bottom, reforming just above the water. With a faint slurping noise she pulled up several bucketfuls of water into her ghostly body, and flowed up the wall to rejoin Ruyo. "That's as much as I can hold at a time. Can you do anything with this?"

"You're counting on me being a quick learner." Ruyo held out her hands and pulled the water toward her like rope. It wobbled all over her arms, heavy yet not pulling her forward so long as she concentrated. "Do I have to be touching it the whole time?"

"No. By the way, there's a door at the bottom, so we're on the right track."

"What's behind it?"

"I can't open ordinary doors."

"You could carry around an octopus."

"I'm not going to comment on that one."

As though doing a card trick, Ruyo spread her hands and let the water float back and forth between them. She set it down at one side of her sturdy metal ledge, and willed it to freeze. The water crackled and became a clear ledge mottled with white, wreathed in chilly mist. "Is that at all safe to stand on?"

"I strongly advise not sloping it downward like that. Let me fetch more water to make it thicker."

After a couple of tries, Ruyo had a platform that could survive being punched and gingerly stood on. It was still a narrow, slippery platform glued to the side of a curved wall above a drop. All her muscles locked in place as instinct told her this was a bad idea.

Nusina called to her, several times, before getting her attention. "That's good, Ruyo. Now let's have you make a second one a little lower."

Ruyo tried not to look down. She grabbed the next glob of water and froze it the same way, anchoring it as hard as she could to the shaft's wall.

"And step..."

Letting out a frightened whimper, Ruyo stepped left and downward onto her second ledge. It held.

"And I'll get more water to do it all again."

"We're going to be at this for a while, huh?"

"Hopefully."