MAGNUS

I was right. Professor Siodha demanded in no uncertain terms that I was to document and identify Talent bindings when I came across them. We had expanded the library of known Talents thanks to the other students, but there were always going to be new ones we hadn’t seen yet. She was more interested in the Talent growing in the youth’s aether flow. I really couldn’t blame her either as it had piqued my curiosity as well.

The rest of the trip to Mountain’s Rest was uneventful, aside from some rumors of increased monster sightings in the area. I wasn’t too worried about the rumors, as most people couldn’t tell monsters from migration. The various guard forces and town militias were keeping watch, and if anything happened I knew the six of us would be obligated to jump in; so there was limited reason to worry excessively about it.

We stayed overnight at Richard's family's farm, I had no desire to attempt the hike up the mountain after dark. His parents, his two older sisters, and younger brother were all happy to see my large friend. The terrible twosome, his three year old siblings, a set of twins, one male and the other female, alternated between happy to see him and unhappy to give up their room. We ended up setting up in the barn loft he used to use as a hideaway. It was big enough for us all to bed down comfortably, and still hang some old horse blankets to give the ladies some privacy.

Martha and Joseph Schmidt weren’t thrilled that their boy was going up the mountain right away instead of spending time with the family, but they understood when he told them we were going to try and do a creature hunt on the mountain. It was a rare enough opportunity that they packed us a supply of freshly baked pies to take to the old man, so long as Richard promised he would come back down after and spend some time with the family.

I was a bit surprised that we didn’t see Fenris on the trip up the mountain. It wasn’t until we reached the clearing and I both heard and saw my grandfather seated on a stump near the little headstone of his late wife that I understood why. A quick count of the days confirmed that it was the anniversary of my grandmother's passing. There was no bitterness in the music that flowed from his voice and the guitar across his knee though. Just a deep longing for the one who had gone before.

The song he sang was one I had heard before, but I was surprised when Jessica’s own melody joined my grandfather for the second verse of the song. He had told me that the first time he heard the music, a song titled “Broken,” that it was a female vocalist that sang the second verse. Now I understood why as Jessica’s high rich voice carried over the clearing in perfect accompaniment.

As we approached I took a stick of incense from a box near the gravestone, lit it, bowed to the grave, and placed it in the little cup of sand atop the gravestone. My companions followed suit, including Jessica who continued singing along with my grandfather, occasionally on her own as he plucked out notes.

It took about half an hour for the incense to burn down. When it had, my grandfather placed the guitar back in a hard leather case and dusted the ash from the headstone before he said, “Thank you my dear. That was a lovely tribute for a lovely woman.”

Jessica smiled a little sheepishly and replied, “It was no problem. I haven’t heard that song in years.”

He studied her with a small smile of his own before he said, “Well then, welcome to my humble home all of you. Magnus, thank you for getting that message to me warning me that more than you would make it up here.”

I dramatically wiped my brow and said, “Oh thank the powers that the message made it through. I was afraid Fenris would chase off the messenger.”

Morgan chuckled and said, “Luckily it was young Thomas who brought the letter. He was the one who was with these two back when you went off to college and knew he could just tell Fenris who it was from. Didn’t even lose his pants this time.”

Mai and Tak looked on quizzically as the rest of us laughed. Tak raised a hand and said, “Excuse me sir, does that mean the rumors are true?”

“Easy there lad, I stopped being called sir a long time ago. To answer your question though I will need to know what rumors you are referring to,” my grandfather said.

Takahashi Kono, a man I had seen face down a deadly predator unarmed, gulped before he stammered out, “That the great wolf that ate a dragon still hungers, and will eat any who trespass on his territory?”

Fenris, who had been hiding in the woods nearby, snuck up behind the islander and stuck his massive head over the boy's shoulder and said, surprisingly to everyone, “Only if they smell good, or don’t give me treats. You have treats right?”

I laughed as I saw Tak instinctively channel aether into wind currents around his feet and leap sideways a good five yards, his hands coming up in a guard meant to protect his throat. It was always amusing when a wolf that was bigger than a draft horse snuck up on someone. I never could figure out how he could be so quiet, but times like this made it worth it.

Vara spoke up in a teasing voice, “I think we brought treats, but I only give treats to huge furballs that give me a proper hug after so long.”

Fenris’s head whipped around so he could stare at the girl, and I could see when his nostrils twitched and he parsed her scent. The huge wolf shouldered Richard aside as he leapt for the girl, splaying out in front of her like a puppy and making it easier for her to wrap her slender arms around his furred neck. His mental voice still transmitted to everyone present as he babbled, “Vara is that really you happy happy happy cuddle toy is back hey grouch why didn’t you tell me cuddly was coming happyhappyhappy.”

His tail was wagging so hard that I winced when it slapped into my shin. That thing was a weapon all on its own, and it was causing a dust storm with it’s speed. Morgan patted the big wolf on his massive head and said, “Because I wanted to surprise you old friend. And don’t worry young man, the rumors are exaggerated.”

Mai said, “I don’t know, he seemed pretty scary up until he started imitating a puppy. Now he’s just adorable.”

“You I like. You can pet me if you want,” Fenris said, his tail still wagging.

Mai, acting like a much younger girl than the battle hardened warrior I knew she was, leapt forward to bury her hands in the wolf’s fur. Fenris for his part rolled over to accept belly rubs while his great tongue lolled to one side.

Tak looked on in amusement as his sister petted the big wolf and said, “I don’t see how rumors of a bloodthirsty wolf got spread after seeing this.”

Jessica scoffed, “If you saw him after he came back from dealing with that Red Ogre you wouldn’t have any doubts.”

Morgan chuckled and told the young man, “We also let the rumors spread so people would avoid us. Some aren’t as overblown as they might seem, especially if you have context. In this case Fenris does love eating, but he actually has a trophy tree of the pants of messengers.”

I laughed at Tak’s incredulous expression and said, “It’s true. I’ve seen him add to it. I had to help him get that silk pair up to a higher branch since it was more likely to survive the elements here.”

“Well it was Jade Spinner silk, it had to take pride of place in my collection,” Fenris justified.

We all laughed at that one, the mood lifted from the slightly melancholy tone it had originally taken when we arrived. Morgan gestured to the house, “Come inside all of you. Don’t worry I have enough room to put you all up if you don’t mind sharing rooms.”

He looked at Jessica for a minute before making a decision and saying, “There is also a hot water shower off the hall.”

I watched as the girl’s eyes lit up in anticipation as she called out as she took off for the cabin, “Dibs on the shower.”

I murmured to my grandfather, “What was that about?”

He smiled and said, “I’ll tell you later. Run along now and unpack, I’ll get these two from the islands to help me get dinner going. I caught a Wind Fisher today and was thinking of making sushi.”

A quick glance with my sight confirmed that my grandfather did in fact have the harvesting talent like the hunters we had encountered before. I grinned at him and said, “You mean the Harvester Talent works for food too?”

He patted me on the shoulder and said, “I got reports of what you and your friends accomplished during your first semester of school. Yes you can get meat from Harvester. I’ll explain it a bit more to you when we discuss your studies.”

I drug my toes along the ground and said, “Yeah, about that. The professor’s wanted me to be a glorified messenger also.”

He gave me a stern glare for a moment before it softened and he said, “Who wants what, and how many cookies are they offering?”

I could tell from the tone that he was quoting something, but I couldn’t guess what, so I replied, “Professor Stormleaf wanted your input on identification for the operatives. Professor Siodha though wanted me to drop off a book that would allow communication.”

He sighed, “That woman, well at least she isn’t sending me a phone that will ring with telemarketers. We can work on the badges later, I have a few ideas and I think you will have more when we start working. Anything else you want to let me in on before we join the others.”

“Well there is one more thing. Vara wants to do a hunt,” I said, I continued before he could interrupt, “I’ve seen her crystals. They are very similar to how Varis’s is set up. She has to dissolve the binding herself, but the creatures aren’t restricted like most.”

He shrugged and said, “I don’t have an issue with it. You know my thoughts on binding sentients though.”

I grinned and said, “It gets better. She has a Talent that lets her communicate emotions with creatures.”

“Aetherical Empathy? That’s a good one. Her grandfather has the same knack. I wonder if it's more likely to develop in family bloodlines,” the old man mused.

I grinned and replied, drawing him out of his introspection, “That’s a good theory, considering I saw a hunter from Kerrick’s Hill that looked like he was developing Harvesting. It looked like his brothers and father also had it.”

“Hey, quit talking shop. It’s food time, you have the rest of the break to, how did you put it, geek out over aether bindings,” Fenris’s mental voice arrived to snap us out of our own little world.

The two of us laughed and headed into the house, my grandfather calling out to the Kono siblings, “Are either of you familiar with sushi?”