After escaping from the kidnappers, Ruyo lay on a cot in a sunlit room with a vase of flowers. She was bloodied, sore all over, burned and exhausted. A mage fussed over her with healing magic whenever he had a moment free from tending to young Virid in another room. Though the healer couldn't instantly patch Ruyo up, his attention was much better than bed rest alone.

"You'll be fine in a few days," he assured her. "Virid won't stop talking about you. Do you really have one of these elemental creatures, too?"

"Something like that. Can you see her?" Ruyo pointed to Nusina.

"No."

The spirit made herself tangible. "Hello!"

"So it's true! Ah, hello."

Nusina faded. Ruyo said, "Virid's apparently got real talent. I practically got handed my powers but he's had to work at them."

The doctor seemed unfazed. "Innate 'talent' is a bit of a sore subject with me. But it's interesting that you two can do something so unusual. And the fire beast; where did that one come from? Who controlled it?"

The two older Vissio brothers came in, and one spoke. "That, we don't know. But we have the Council's sanction to get to the bottom of it. That was a fairly important commoner family whose basement you raided, miss Ruyo."

"It needed remodeling."

The doctor excused himself. The Vissios said, "We have our brother back, and the Council thinks we did the city a favor by uncovering a..." He wrinkled his nose. "University."

"Is that what they were, then -- some intellectual secret society? One of them called his group 'Inheritors of the Lost World'."

"Seems so. Taking the old relics and ruins too seriously, and using them for who knows what."

The other brother said, "So. How can we repay you?"

Ruyo lay there feeling her every muscle ache. She'd been rehearsing what to say, but nothing sounded quite right. "Gentlemen, you know I can do magic that's said to be impossible. You've also met Nusina, who is something beyond even the basic elementals Virid is making or that horrible fire creature. As I said, my powers are based on people being willing to encourage me. So it would do me a world of good if you'd build a simple sculpture on your property and occasionally go there to... give thanks for what I did and what I might do. Speak, or pour out some cheap wine."

One brother frowned and the other guffawed. The first said, "A sculpture where people come to fawn over who it represents and hope their words will get miracles done for them! Do you realize what you're asking for?"

"I do," Ruyo said. "And before you laugh it off too, consider that I can already prove my powers, and I'll have more of them soon."

"This isn't Steadfast Church doctrine."

"I don't mean them any harm. And I don't think they explicitly rule this kind of thing out. They tolerate the Brotherhood people who don't want anyone to have magic."

"But you're pretending to be a god. That's ridiculous. You did one job for us and you got beaten up badly enough that you're still in bandages."

"I descended into the underworld, battled a monster of living flame with my trusty guardian spirit, and rescued the innocent from the wicked." Ruyo grinned. "I'm also surprisingly decent in a bar fight. How about if you establish this... well, this shrine I'm asking for, and see if it's of any value to you? If it proves worthless, laugh it off and say you pulled one over on me by paying me nothing else."

"Hmm. You didn't ask for gold... At the very least we could make it a nice sculpture for art's sake. A conversation piece. If we agreed, what exactly would you want it to be?"

"A waist-high structure at least, probably stone, with a little cleared space in front. Images of aquatic things. The intent is more important than the exact design." Nusina had talked about mythos and suggested it was a mix of who Ruyo really was, and what people thought of her.

The brothers conferred with each other in low tones, then said, "We can come up with something tasteful. You shall have your shrine, miss Ruyo, and we'll humor you about... honoring you once in a while. We can't guarantee that it will do anything magical."

"I'll handle that part. Thank you, sirs!"

"Don't mention it. In fact it might be best to lay low or leave town for a little while, so we and the Council can sort out the kidnappers' cult. Wouldn't want to have too many of those at a time."

#

Ruyo recovered quickly from her injuries. She hadn't been badly hurt, the hired healer was effective, and Nusina said she could expect supernatural good health. Late on the second day she went to see Virid.

The kid was doing well too, often fussed over by his mother and by the brothers in their quieter way. Nusina had gone to visit him a few times and share stories. He sat up in bed now, reading. "Miss Ruyo! How are you?"

"Pretty good! Everything in my room smells like the orange trees in the garden."

Virid laughed. "I knew I was home when I smelled them again. Are you leaving?"

"I need to, yeah. But I'll come back to Averell before long."

He put his book aside and said, "It sounds like you want people to pray to you."

Ruyo winced. She'd agreed with the brothers that it wasn't an appropriate thing to ask from him. "You don't need to do anything. I would like to talk about the elementals, though."

Wide-eyed, he said, "Oh wow, that fire cat was scary! If I had a rock monster like that nobody would ever bother my family again. Or wind or water. Can you make them?"

"Not yet, but I plan to learn soon. If you could teach me how you do yours it'd help. Actually, maybe you could explain over dinner? Your brothers invited two wizards over to talk with me and they'll want to hear from you, too." Namely Quintus who was suffering without his slave's help, and that smith-mage from the college.

"Sure."

#

Ruyo rode west out of town with some woodworking tools, rope, and as much food as she could carry. The cave was, for now, her home. She thought back wistully to her parents' shop in distant Starshore. The harbor city was a place that could appreciate water magic!

Back on the road she kept watch for trouble. She rested at the village of Sor's Hill, then went onward. She was an hour out from the cave when she began to feel vague unease. She was about to spur the horse on, but paused instead and looked around. "Nusina, does something feel off?"

"Now that you mention it, yes. The shrine is intact though."

"How do you know?"

"You're still conscious."

By silent agreement they decided the problem was southward, off the road. Ruyo gripped the reins tightly and sent Nusina as far ahead as she could go. Ruyo had the faint sense of a tether holding her companion, since she relied on Ruyo's own energy.

The spirit returned and said, "It's terrible! Someone's been attacked!"

Ruyo rode toward the trouble until her horse shied away, alarmed. Ruyo dismounted and patted the mare. Beyond the treeline, a crater had opened in the earth, swallowing a wagon and several trees into a steep pit five paces deep. Ruyo's stomach churned. She smelled freshly turned earth and an iron taint of blood. A few bones lay in the pit and a bloody smear led... "Northwest. Toward the cave."

Nusina said, "I don't see anyone in here, alive or dead. Those are horse bones. But it feels like something magical was here. What, I don't know."

"What's in the wagon? Can you peek under that cloth?"

Nusina reported, "Looks like animal fodder and tree saplings."

Ruyo carefully climbed down and pulled out a double handful of alfalfa, a big bushy mass of scratchy fibers. She pulled a tarp loose and wrapped up more of the stuff, then struggled back out of the pit. Her horse had begun to retreat but she lured the mare back with some of the fodder. "We can deal with whatever happened here once we're back."

They returned due north to the road before heading for the cave again, since something likely lurked not far away. Ruyo kept glancing off to her left.

But they got home without trouble. Ruyo stood at the cave's mouth and called out, "Tulia?"

"Here!" she called back. "Wait." The woman came to the entrance and said, "I set up a tripwire and noise-maker; mind your step."

"I hope it was better than my attempt. How've you been?"

Tulia seemed to be in good condition for someone who'd been living alone in a cave after being used to city life. She had a few cuts on her arms and cheek. Beyond the tunnel the shrine-cave had become a permanent campsite with Tulia's blankets, a pile of belongings, and a crude stack of branches being used as a table. A simple chair and a straw pillow had appeared. Baris and his fiancee were in there too, playing cards.

Tulia said, "It's a change of pace, living on my own. Baris and Cydi here have been visiting, though, to keep me company and lend me a few things. What about you? And Nusina, are you there?"

Nusina appeared. "I am! We have a lot to tell you."

They ate together and retold what had happened on the last trip. Tulia laughed and covered her mouth as she listened, saying, "I did pray at around that time. I wonder if I caused that trouble at the bar."

"Not your fault," Ruyo said, blushing.

"I'm not apologizing! If you're going to collect magic energy from people, it's your job to handle it safely. Wish I could've seen the look on his face though."

"The thugs' leader? I hope never to see him again." Ruyo shook her head. "Baris, what do you know about this attack on the wagon?"

The ranger said, "It's my job to keep watch for these things. As soon as we're done here I'd like to go see the attack site, before it gets dark. I'd say it was some wild animal, but you mentioned magic. That would narrow it down to some of the nastier beasts, or human involvement."

Ruyo said, "Nusina, could something be attracted to this site by instinct?"

"Possibly, milady. There's that slight leak, you know. And mana is a power source for living creatures just as it is for elementals and spirits."

"I've been thinking about our next steps. We're due a second shrine, but this one needs to be defended at all costs right now. And even after the Vissios follow through I still don't want to lose this place. Do you think I can start creating elementals of my own and having them guard the place so I'm not leaning on our friends here for protection?"

Nusina bobbed up and down. "Now that you've practiced and learned more about the theory and have a few people backing you, I think so. The minions will be weak outside of a shrine, but that's fine for your purposes."

"Then let's get on that, after going with Baris."