Shaya shambled out of the cave and back into the afternoon’s sunlight, finding its natural warmth refreshing when compared to the unnatural furnace of the cavern. She was exhausted beyond the point of feeling pain, the sleeping gryphlet held in her arms with care. Despite its youth, the creature was far from light, weighing a bit more than a suit of chainmail. She had no doubt that her body was going to hate her something fierce tomorrow.

Jax and Lorral were already outside, leaning over the body of one of the Cinwolves. They busied themselves with breaking it down for parts: monster hide made for strong, tough leather; their bones could be harder than iron and sometimes hold a better edge; and their organs contained aether that could be used in thaumaturgic rituals. All of the parts could also inherit a monster’s traits, and Shaya assumed any armour made with those hides would be more resistant to fire. Especially anything made from the Ur.

“Anything I can help with?” Shaya asked as she passed by the duo.

“Nope,” Jax replied.

“Go settle down somewhere, I’ll look into those quills once we’re done with this one.”

“Fine, fine,” Shaya set the gryphlet down at the base of a tree and shambled towards the row of packs they left at the cave’s entrance. Kneeling before Gazno’s, she rummaged through it until she pulled out a reflective sheet of metal.

“Perfect.” She said to herself, her lisp growing even more pronounced.

I’m not going to be a burden on my friends. I’m sure I can handle this myself while everyone else is busy, then get back to pulling my own weight.

Settling next to the gryphlet after brushing away some rocks and branches, she examined herself with the mirror. One eye was still swollen shut and half her face looked like a beet red pincushion from all the Cinwolf quills. The longer she looked at it, the more the pain resurfaced – a blistering heat just under the surface of her skin.

“Awesome,” she slurred and leaned back against the tree, taking a moment to relax. “Alright, let’s see how bad these are...”

She gave one of the quills a tentative tug, and regret surged through her alongside the pain.

“Sons of Titan whoring pieces of shi- You would! Wow! Screw that.” Shaya slowed her breathing as she regained control of her senses.

Of course, the Cinwolf quills were barbed. Because why wouldn’t they be?

“Everything alright over there?” Lorral asked, not even turning from her grisly work.

“Yep, absolutely fine!” Shaya replied with more enthusiasm than she felt. Then she turned back to the mirror with a whisper. “Alright, let’s see if I have one last spell in me then. Phaedra!”

The angelic form appeared above her, looking down at her.

Shaya remembered a similar instance with a porcupine, back when she was young. Her mother had laughed at her just desserts, but she had still done everything she could to heal her daughter. After the laughter had died down anyway, to be replaced with care and soothing words.

As much as she wanted to, Shaya couldn’t picture her Esper’s face conveying any such thing.

Victory in mind, Shaya opened her spirit to the Aetherium and drew in Amber. It didn’t recoil from her, but something felt different. The aether only trickled into her spirit, as if something was blocking her connection. She refocused on her confidence in the situation, acknowledging that losing the gryphons was a tragedy, but not one she could control. Shaya let those frustrations go and drew in more Amber.

Nothing changed. At this rate, it would take a minute to draw enough Amber to ignore her pain again.

‘You are holding poison.’ Phaedra spoke into her mind. ‘Release the bane.’

What?

Oh crap, the mirror is polished steel – there’s plenty of iron in there.

Shaya set the mirror aside and tried again, the aether flowing into her readily now. Within ten seconds, she had the required Amber to power the spell. She drew in more, just in case being near iron interfered with her ability to maintain the spell.

Krebo only said iron was bad for mages like us, I had no idea it could be this hard to cast in contact with it. I’ll have to fully explore its impacts on my casting...maybe when I have fewer injuries to worry about.

“Phaedra, soothe my pain!” She incanted, then took extra time constructing the spell’s circuit to make sure it was as efficient as possible. Her headache worsened as she channeled the aether, but then the spell took effect and all of her pain went away.

Shaya sighed with relief, then tested the circuit. It felt right to her, the aether flowing through it without issue. She had a small reservoir of Amber left, and hoped it would be enough. She doubted she could draw more aether today, even if her life depended on it.

She braced herself, then picked up the steel mirror.

It strained the circuit, adding resistance to it and forcing her to channel more aether into it to sustain the spell.

Good to know.

Mirror in hand, she proceeded to pluck the quills from her face and toss them away from her. It was almost surreal doing something to herself she knew was excruciating, and yet feeling nothing at the same time. Krebo was right about this spell, she would have to be very careful relying on it in battle lest she cause herself greater harm.

Job done, she rested her head back against the tree. She set the mirror down and felt the spell circuit return to normal. She used the remaining time on her spell to apply salve to her face – regretting the fact that the awful smell didn’t count as pain, apparently – and then braced herself for the pain.

“Alright, I’ll just deal with this, maybe rest a minute, then go help the others with the collection...” Shaya muttered to herself, enjoying the sun’s natural warmth and the tree’s shade while she could. “Then I’ll get out of all of this sweat-stained equipment and see how damaged my armour really is... I should see if Rel can make me an ointment for repairing armour, that’s what I really need...”

Shaya blinked and looked around in confusion. The light had dimmed and her friends milled about, packing jars full of organs and preserving liquids back into their bags. The clearing no longer smelled like sulphur and brimstone, but the smell of blood and guts had worsened.

Typical post-monster clean up. She thought to herself, then looked down at the fluffy, sleeping gryphlet resting its head against her lap.

Alright, only somewhat typical.

Then she thought about the sheer number of aberrants in that cave.

Very atypical. Very worrisome, actually. Not good at all.

“She’s up,” Lorral said from nearby.

“How long was I out for?” Shaya asked, turning her head to face the other woman.

“Only a few hours.”

“Why didn’t you wake me? I could’ve helped with the collection.”

“You needed the rest,” Krebo replied, walking over to her.

“Krebo threatened to beat us if we woke you,” Pelark added, “so we had to do your portion of the work. You owe us, obviously.”

Krebo shot him a glare, to which Pelark shrugged in response. “You didn’t say nothing about rubbing it in after.”

“Well, let’s get to paying off that debt.” She raised a hand, and was surprised when Krebo took it to help her out. The gryphlet chirped in protest, but remained asleep. “Why are you helping m-Oh, all the works done, isn’t it?”

“Yup, only reason you’re allowed up.”

“Damn it,” Shaya glared, “Mark my words Krebo, I’ll get you back for this.”

“Ah yes,” Krebo replied, “I’m sure Astoria has codified a truly righteous punishment for those who inflict rest and recuperation on their wounded allies.”

“Maybe not Astoria, but Astoria the Third? I wouldn’t be surprised.”

The big man’s eyes narrowed, “The Imperial Church frowns upon mentioning the Successions. Given that you’re going to study in Arcadia, home of the Inquisition, you might want to rein in that flippant tongue of yours.”

Shaya bit back a retort.

You know, he’s completely right.

“Fair point Krebo, fair point.” She acknowledged, “Did you learn anything more about the Eclipse here? Any evidence that ties it to the village, or maybe even Rutana?”

Krebo shook his head and looked back towards the cave, “They failed to leave any convenient notes that incriminated anyone, and the Titan spawn didn’t leave more than hollow, ashen bones to identify the dead with. We just know this was a cache for goods, likely to be smuggled into Lythrana.”

“Damn, why is it never easy?”

Krebo chuckled, “An expression your father is fond of.”

Shaya brought her hands up to cover her mock gasp. “Oh gods, am I starting to sound mature?”

“Not in the least.” Krebo said, hands on his hips.

“Phew. Until we learn more, I suggest that we not tell Rutana or anyone back at the village about where we found the Cinwolves. No need to let anyone know there’s a sizable stash of illegal goods here so they can steal back what little evidence we have.”

“I concur,” Krebo replied, “They haven’t done anything to make me trust them.”

“Let’s not treat them unduly until we have actual evidence though, Krebo.”

“Hmph, we’ll see. Perhaps they should treat us with the respect we’re due.”

“Respect is earned in Kelahk, my friend. We’re not designed to bow to titles here, my people didn’t even have nobility until Arcadia conquered us centuries ago.”

“We have earned it, as you say. Duke Lumir has done everything in his power to restore this duchy to some semblance of order. Not everyone can be the top priority.”

“Sure, but that doesn’t make the people at the bottom of the barrel feel any better Krebo. But let’s not philosophize any longer, we should set up camp somewhere nearby for the night. I don’t want to stay in a village full of people we don’t trust.”

“Should be do-able, boss,” Jax said, approaching the group alongside the rest of the squad, “but someone is going to have to carry the gryphlet. It shouldn’t walk with the mangled leg.”

“What do you even plan to do with it?” Gaz asked.

“I don’t know,” Shaya replied, “I’ve been unconscious most of the time they’ve been with us. Jax, is it too old to train?”

The old man shook his head, “I don’t think so. Older than the ideal, since you want them to bond to you upon hatching, but there have been plenty of cases where a gryphlet was trained as a mount or companion.”

“Well, that’s something to consider then.” She shrugged. “Hopefully we can find a skilled Jade healer that can treat the leg. Will it be okay to leave as is?”

Jax shrugged, “Beyond my ken. I’ve heard of pets left lame for a few weeks before they could be treated, it should survive that long at least.”

“What are you going to name them?” Lorral asked, eyes sparkling as she looked at the sleeping gryphlet.

Shaya blinked. “I have no idea. The only gryphons I’ve encountered are in stories,” she swept her hand up through the air in a dramatic gesture, “where they had fantastical names befitting their role as epic mounts for their heroes.”

“Well, you should figure one out, so it knows what to respond to when you get to training it.”

“Alright, alright, I’m open to suggestions. But we should get moving.” She looked at the entrance of the mines, “Krebo, any chance you can collapse the entrance? Make sure no one else gets to use it for smuggling without a lot of effort?”

“Yes, actually. That’s something I wanted your help with.”

“Oho,“ Shaya said, eyes lighting up, “Are you going to teach me ritual magic?”

“Indeed.”

Shaya took a moment to get a sense of her body, and felt that her nap had given her enough stamina back for a bit more casting. But not too much more.

“Okay, but Gaz is going to have to carry the gryphlet.”

“Deal,” Krebo replied.

“Don’t I get a say in this?” Gaz complained.

“Nope,” the two mages said as one, already moving towards the entrance.

“Damn mages,” the giant grumbled, Pelark patting him on the back in solidarity.