When Elach stepped through the door, nothing was different. But everything had changed. He couldn’t quite put a finger on what the changes were, most likely due to the fact that there were countless murderous wisps converging on the little building, but something in the back of his mind was screaming at him to find out what was new. As the wisps got closer and closer Elach expected the hollow one to lash out at the group and eviscerate them, but instead they turned back to the building and sealed any entrances or cracks with their grey core material before grabbing Elach’s shoulder and pushing him to run in the path of the gilded pyramid.

“How long was I out?” Elach asked as he ran, the hollow one a few feet ahead of him.

“Only a handful of minutes.” They responded. “A faultless bond takes mere moments to complete; I assume the rest of your time was spent trying to figure out how to leave your headspace or ascertaining if you had actually bonded or not?”

Elach blinked in surprise at how right the hollow one was. “Is that normal?”

“It’s what I would have done if I was in your place.” The hollow one replied. “Expecting a struggle to prove yourself and receiving what you sought without conflict would be quite disorienting.”

The forest suddenly broke into a vibrant meadow of waist high grasses and flowers, with air that smelled of mint and black cinnamon; two scents that had no reason to be here and did not mingle kindly. The primal spring sat in the center of the clearing, radiating waves of Issi that were far more intense than years prior. An entire village worth of intruders were standing in formation attempting to fight off the gilded pyramid on one side, newborn Issi beasts on another, and a multitude of different wisps sprinkled in between. But Elach saw nothing of Kayvee or the kids.

“I will join the gilded pyramid to make way for you to find your partner. Stay out of sight until a path is cleared.” The hollow one instructed. “The spring is important, but the damage done to it is already catastrophic. If you must decide between it and the lives of your partner and vessels, let the spring fall.”

“If it comes to that, I will.” Elach said, and the hollow one gave him a long look before flowing off to join the battle. A call was sounded at their approach, and one intruder armed with a spear made of black wood with a milky white glass head swiped at them. A tendril of grey intercepted the strike, pulling the intruder out of formation when they refused to let go of the weapon. The hollow one grasped the intruder around the neck and pulled, rings of flesh tearing out as their fingers effortlessly slid through the intruder. A decapitated head still shrouded in a black hood fell to the ground, a wave of terror washing over the invaders as the hollow one broke through their lines. Death followed them wherever they went, pulling away flesh and bone as if the intruders were made of soft clay, tendrils of bone-clad grey lashing out to deliver ends to anyone who drew near.

It wasn’t hard for Elach to go unnoticed. The wisps, Issi beasts, and intruders were in a constant struggle for survival that meant anything not currently biting a leg or swinging a weapon was below notice, and Elach used that to slowly circle around the meadow looking for an opening. It would be flat out impossible to go in where the hollow one and gilded pyramid were fighting considering the absurd amount of carnage they were bringing. Some of the Issi beasts were circling overhead, and Elach noted that sometimes a yell would sound out and one or more of the flying beasts would just disappear. So the intruders either had weapons that could bring them down, or they had Issi practitioners hidden somewhere inside the mass of people. And neither of those options spelled anything but trouble for Elach’s rescue attempt.

His opening came in the form of a wolf with a pelt of bubbling tar tearing through two spear wielders, the retaliatory blows met with sticky resistance that tore spears from hands as a hole formed in the ring as people went chasing the stuck wolf. It was only a moment, but a moment was all that Elach needed as he rushed forwards and through the intruders before they clambered back into formation a dozen seconds later. But Elach couldn’t rest easy now, and what he saw in the middle of that ring was far worse than anything outside of it.

Kayvee and the kids were alive, but they were chained to a six-ish foot tall pulsing green obelisk by tubes that sparked with electric blue Issi. Whenever an airborne beast dove down to try and attack the group of invaders that surrounded the primal spring proper the obelisk buzzed in response; creating light green rings of Issi around it’s length that snapped with a sound like breaking glass. And when all the rings had snapped, a barely visible shimmering wave of force tore through the air and slammed into the Issi beast, killing it instantly. And the people chained to it twitched and writhed in agony, muscles spasming under too-tight skin with soundless screams trapped in closed throats as the now empty tube refilled itself from its living batteries.

Aside from that moment of terrifying activity, Kayvee and the other prisoners didn’t so much as move a muscle. Elach crept up to the obelisk, taking care not to make any noise or sudden movements, and stopped next to a severely dehydrated Kayvee. He leaned in to get a better look at the cuffs wrapped around Kayvee’s wrists and stifled a curse. The links were made of the same tubes as the rest of the chain, and there was a single smaller tube inserted into Kayvee’s wrist and running up his arm that glowed stronger than anywhere else along the chain. He didn’t know how they were doing it since Kayvee didn’t have any Issi of his own to work with, but they were using him and the others to power this device.

Tugging gently on the tube running up Kayvee’s wrist and forearm didn’t get a reaction, so Elach slowly pulled on it until it slid free in a splash of blood. The wound closed moments after the tube was removed, leaving no trace that it had been inserted in the first place. The intruders must have been pumping Kayvee and the kids full of something to keep them alive while the obelisk did it’s thing. And now it would keep them from bleeding out while Elach figured out how to get them out. He pulled Kayvee’s other tube out and tried to cut the cuffs with a knife, but the tube was too strong for that, so Elach moved on to unhooking the kids from the obelisk.

A screech alerted Elach to the Issi beast’s descent moments before it happened, and the obelisk did it’s job as normal to avert the attack. The retaliation drained the last of the blue from the tubes to form one last set of rings, killing the beast but finding nothing more to power future attacks. Now Elach was on a timer. The next time a beast worked up the courage to attack would open the floodgates and blow his cover. But he had a quartet of insensate people strung up to a green rock in the middle of a field with no idea how to get them free. He tried to call on his bond with the lotus bud to see if maybe there was a drop of Issi there he might be able to use, but there was nothing there and he wouldn’t know what to do with it even if there was.

Elach ripped at the point where the tubes connected to the obelisk, tried to stretch the tubes over the prisoner’s hands, and sawed relentlessly with his knife to try and free the prisoners. Nothing was working, and the beasts circling above made lower and lower passes by the second. They could break off and dive any second now. All he could hope was that the invaders surrounding the primal spring would be more concerned with the beasts attacking them than why their anti-air obelisk suddenly stopped working.

“Elach?” Kayvee said in a raspy voice. “Are you there? I can’t see anything.”

“I’m here.” Elach said, putting a hand on Kayvee’s shoulder. “The big rock isn’t draining you anymore, but I can’t get the cuffs undone.”

“Take the entire thing.” Kayvee weezed. “It’s anchored to the ground, but I saw one of them carrying it over here before they started messing with the spring. Only one person carrying this entire thing.”

Elach nodded and got to work looking for whatever was anchoring the obelisk. “What the hells happened here? It seemed pretty normal when I left to go get a new group, but I came back to evolving wisps and people trying to steal an entire primal spring.”

Kayvee let out a short breath that sounded a little like laughter. “They aren’t trying to steal the spring, Elach. They’re trying to destroy it. I don’t know why, but they don’t like that it’s here.”

Elach frowned as he dug out the ground below an iron spike. “Why does it matter where a primal spring is? It’s not like we charge to get kids their wisps.”

“Eternals, I have no freaking clue.” Kayvee muttered. “And I don’t think I’d understand even if they flat out told me their plan.”

“One down.” Elach grunted as he pulled the footlong spike out of the ground. “Only… five to go.”

A rumbling from the primal spring tried to draw Elach’s attention, but it just made him work at the remaining anchors with a renewed fervor. The first Issi beast descended when he pulled out the fourth anchor, swooping in low and carrying off one of the intruders who screamed in terror as they were whisked into the air and out of the meadow. All the hells broke loose. Somehow in the whirl of spears and talons the obelisk had been forgotten, the intruders now fighting Issi beasts from inside and out as the airborne attackers forced them away from the spring and into the backs of their own forces.

Ripping the last anchor out of the ground in a panic took mere seconds, and Elach crouched down to get both hands under the obelisk to try and lift it. It wasn’t as light as Kayvee had made it out to be but it also wasn’t unmoveable; the crystal must have weighed at least a hundred pounds, but no more than one fifty. What would prove difficult was the fact that Kayvee was still the only one of the prisoners who’d regained some sort of consciousness; the rest of the kids were knocked out and would have to be dragged through the grass if Elach wanted to get out of here. But there were no more openings.

Words swam over Elach’s vision before he heard them, quiet as a whisper. “Retreat to the spring. We will join you there posthaste; Resthollow has noticed the disturbance and comes to protect her potential vassals.”

Elach looked to Kayvee to see if he’d gotten the same message, and a short nod confirmed that he had. Kayvee struggled to his hands and knees to lighten Elach’s load even just by a little bit, and Elach strained his legs to try and drag the three kids along with the obelisk towards the primal spring. It was slow, torturous work that ate at Elach’s back, legs, and arms with every short step forward he managed, but with the inevitability of a glacier grinding a mountain to dust he continued forward.

Posthaste turned out to be around fifteen minutes, during which Elach had covered around three quarters of the distance to the primal spring. Kayvee raised an eyebrow at the hollow one’s new form, shooting Elach a silent question that he shook his head at as exhaustion threatened to take him at any moment. The gilded pyramid and the hollow one looked no better for wear, their forms drooping with a similar weariness as they scooped up the three unconscious kids to lighten Elach’s load. It still felt like his muscles were going to burst out of his skin and tear themselves to writhing ribbons, but now he could make better time. Within two minutes they were standing at the edge of the spring, a large pool of shimmering Issi that bubbled up and popped like boiling water while also freezing over at random points and blowing upwards with the force of a waterspout at others. Many more phenomena occurred as Elach set down the obelisk and the used-to-be wisps dipped their hands into the Issi, holding the tiniest amount in their palms and settling into a seated position to wait for whatever reinforcements Resthollow was sending.

“How do you know Resthollow’s sending people here?” Elach asked as he lay down next to the edge of the spring.

“You would feel them coming if you had any Issi in your container.” The hollow one responded, carefully setting down the still unconscious forms of the kids. “And Resthollow is not sending anyone. They themselves are coming.”

Elach shook his head, rubbing his hair in the dirt. He wouldn’t be doing that again. “What are you talking about? Resthollow’s a city.”

“You yourself refer to it as a living city. Do you not know what that means?” The hollow one asked, and Elach shrugged. He thought back to the story his dad used to tell him, the one where Pyreheld nurtured a primal spring back to life.

“I thought it was just an expression. A city can’t be alive; it’s just a cluster of buildings.”

“The buildings themselves might not be alive, but whatever it stands for certainly is. In the same way that a volcano produces pyretic Issi, and can use that Issi to manifest beings from thin air, so can a city. When a city produces a manifestation it becomes a living city, the Issi previously inert in the area transforming everything to better suit what the city is seen as rather than what it was.” The hollow one explained.

“So what you’re telling me is that the city itself was like a wisp that gathered enough power to manifest a form like you and the gilded pyramid did and transform itself completely?” Elach stared at the sky above, feeling the intense concentration of Issi from the spring washing over him. “What’s the difference between a tyrant’s grounds and a living city, then?”

The hollow one made a disgusted noise and crossed their arms. “A tyrant comes in and takes the Issi a city has been gathering and makes it their own. Like an empty vessel bonding a wisp on the cusp of sentience, taking a medium sum of power for themselves at the cost of the true existence of another. But not all tyrants are like that.” The hollow one hastily added. “Some come in when a city is in its infancy and take a serious role in its development. But then they pass on, and their children come into power that they don’t appreciate, understand, or deserve. But most tyrants alive right now are Issi beasts of immense power that bent the Issi of a budding city to their own gain.”

“Glad I didn’t try to bond with you a few years ago. You’d probably be trying to find a way to murder me from the inside at this point.” Elach chuckled.

“I wouldn’t have accepted the offer, and you wouldn’t have pushed.” The hollow one said, a surprising amount of pride in their voice. “And that touches on what myself and the gilded pyramid need to talk to you and Kayvee about. We cannot be here when Resthollow arrives. Newborn Issi manifestations are normally like those attacking the intruders right now; mindless and driven only by the desire to gain more Issi. Resthollow will not risk any prospective vassals by sparing what they see as feral, dangerous animals.”

“Then you need to leave.” Elach replied. “We’ll figure it out from here.”

The hollow one’s shoulders slumped, though from relief or disappointment Elach didn’t know. “I’ll come find you when I’m whole enough to support a bond. Save room for my bond in your container until then.”

“Some practitioners go their whole lives without completely filling their containers. Eternals know you don’t have to worry about that.” Elach said, smiling through his exhaustion. “Guess this is goodbye for now.”

“It is.” The hollow one replied sadly, looking over at the gilded pyramid who was quietly talking to Kayvee. “Goodbye, Elach.” They said, bending over to give Elach a bony hug.

Elach returned the hug, bristling at the discomfort that came with it but ignoring it thanks to the sentiment. “Goodbye Hollow.”

The hollow one said a much shorter goodbye to Kayvee, and the gilded pyramid spared only a nod for Elach before they ran off in separate directions. Elach had expected them to go together, but it made more sense that they would travel apart. They were beings of completely different Issi, and their objective was to get stronger as fast as possible. If they traveled together they would spend half as much time on twice as many things, delaying their bonds with Elach and he assumed Kayvee for longer than necessary.

“So now we’re just supposed to wait?” Kayvee said with a much less hoarse voice, rubbing his wrists now free of their tubes. “For the manifestation of a city to come and save us, hoping that they can tell us apart from the other people currently trying to mess this place up? Sounds like a long shot at best.”

“Not much else we can do.” Elach said, pushing himself to a sitting position as a golden ribbon he hadn’t noticed fluttered down off of his chest and dissolved into thin air. “By the way, I got myself a wisp while you were stuck here being tortured.”

“Lucky. Now you gotta help me get one before we get sent back to the town.” Kayvee said, staring off into the distance above the treetops. “If I go back without one, I’ll be stuck here for the rest of my life. And I’m not letting you leave me behind.”

Elach felt something brush up against his leg, and looked down to see a long strand of shadow rubbing up against him. “Wanna give this one a try?” Elach offered the shadowy wisp to Kayvee, who shrugged before motioning for Elach to hand it over.

The wisp wrapped itself around Kayvee’s arm like a snake, and he held up what looked like the wisp’s head to his forehead and whispered some words Elach didn’t have to hear. They were the same words he had used, after all. As Kayvee’s eyes were overtaken by shadow, Elach shifted his attention to where the Hollow one had said Resthollow would be coming from. He needed to be ready to defend Kayvee if Resthollow decided keeping them alive was a risk not worth taking.

The crash that echoed through the clearing was impossible to miss. Elach looked around in a panic to try and find what had made the noise, only to see that an entire section of the forest had disappeared. And in place of the trees, plants, and Issi beasts there stood a single heavily armored figure, plates of bone-like metal interlocking to form a suit of armor without any join points. Lines of white steel shot through the bone, creating a pattern that conveyed both beauty and destruction. The helmet was a close-fitting casque, the steel lines leaving an obvious oval of untouched plate that whoever was inside must have been able to see through. A steel scarf billowed out behind the figure, dissolving into motes of Issi a few feet behind them as the wind tried to take hold of the unrelenting piece of metal cloth.

A sound like countless knives being sharpened on countless grindstones drowned out everything else as the figure strode through the ring of intruders, spikes of the bone-like metal bursting through the ground to impale anyone who dared to get close, lifting their dying moments to the sky to be witnessed by all. The devastation spread quickly through the ring like a chain reaction, Issi beasts and intruders utterly devastated in a matter of moments as the figure continued on undisturbed without a single drop of blood staining their armor. Elach swiveled his head to track the ring of spikes that spread quickly, leaving no intruder or rampaging Issi beast alive in its wake and wondering if he and Kayvee were next.

“A little old to be out here bonding a wisp, aren’t you? Yet I feel a fledgling connection in you. Fascinating.” The figure said from across the clearing, their voice coming as if they were right next to Elach. “Don’t bother responding, boundless. Whatever you might have to say will have no effect on the outcome of your judgment.”

The figure Elach assumed was Resthollow crossed the distance at a leisurely stride, but even that was three or four times faster than his top speed. “And this one is in the process of bonding.” Resthollow tilted Kayvee’s chin upwards with one hand and gently lifted his eyelids one by one with the other. “No sign of a polluted bond, and the wisp is still hale and hearty.” They mumbled, opening Kayvee’s mouth to take a look and then rotating him to the side to see into his ears. “Is this their first attempt at bonding a wisp?”

Elach didn’t realize Resthollow was speaking to him, and so he didn’t respond. “You may speak, boundless.” They said, their tone patient and calm.

Not knowing what the right answer was, Elach told the truth. “It’s his first time. We came out here to help the kids get their wisps and got sucked into all of this.”

Resthollow nodded to themselves and released Kayvee, returning to their full height and turning their attention to Elach. “You two are the guardians of this spring, correct?”

“We’ve been called that.” Elach responded with a sneer.

“Ah, forced into the position.” Resthollow said, circling Elach like he was wounded prey. “Though not by actual force, I think. No, responsibility and obligation are the chains keeping you here. Your work has brought many vassals into my guild that would have never traveled to the likes of Pyreheld or Freshetfall without having to remain there as a cost for the privilege of bonding a wisp.” Resthollow nodded to themselves, taking a moment to think before reaching a decision. “I will escort you, your partner, and the boundless that have survived back to your town. But the spring must remain closed for the rest of the festival; the Issi emanating from it is growing more dense by the minute and will begin to prove dangerous for anybody nearby. The spring needs time to repair itself, and there is a chance that we will need to evacuate your town while it does so.”

Resthollow summoned a cart made of bone-steel and gestured for Elach to help them load Kayvee and the kids onto it, sparing a glance at the green obelisk and shrugging as they grabbed it with one hand and placed it onto the cart. Elach directed them back to the shed where Resthollow obliterated all the wisps and Issi beasts in a storm of bone and steel, loading the remaining kids onto the cart and leading the way without needing Elach to provide directions. There were only nine bodies on the cart, Kayvee included, which meant that seven kids were either missing or dead. Not bad for a complete invasion, Elach thought to himself as he returned his gaze to the path while they stepped through the invisible threshold to the airlock.

The trip back was ghostly silent, not a single wisp or Issi beast popping out of the woodwork to attack them. Adding onto that was the fact that Resthollow didn’t speak a single word until the gate leading out of the garden came into view, and even then they only said two words: “Be ready.” And Elach was as ready as he could be, and honestly? He was excited. He was finally free. And he was standing next to the embodiment of the city he wanted to take the trials of bonding for.

He could leave. But not without Kayvee.

He still hadn’t come out of his bonding trance, even though it had taken twenty minutes to get back. Resthollow must have been enhancing their speed without Elach noticing it. And as they got closer and closer to the gate, Elach prepared himself for the mob of people he expected to be milling about just a piece of metal away.

But there was no one there. He could still hear the festival even from this far away, so there were still people here. He’d at least expected to see the kids he’d abandoned on his way in, but there was absolutely nobody there. He must have muttered something obscene under his breath because Resthollow slightly turned their head, motioning at the empty space around them questioningly.

“I don’t know either.” Elach said. “The clinic’s down on west street. I can pull the cart if you need to go find the town council.”

Resthollow nodded and stepped aside, motioning for Elach to take their place. “Then this is where we part ways, boundless. I cannot give you special privileges for your services, as some of the other great powers would, but know that my trials open one month from today. If you wish to join my guild, prove yourself and only then could I show my gratitude.” Resthollow took one step away, her stride carrying her as far as five normal steps would have before they called back at Elach. “When your partner wakes from their bonding, tell them that my offer extends to them as well. Goodbye.”

Elach dropped the kids off at the clinic then took Kayvee back to his house, skirting the edges of the festival to avoid as many people as possible. Resthollow had said that they’d pass a decree that the garden was off limits for the next week, but until that went public he didn’t want to risk getting hounded by the group that was supposed to go next. The front door was unlocked, as usual, and Elach walked with a practiced grace through the dark and up the stairs. He shouldered the door to his room open and set Kayvee down on his bed, flicking on a lamp for light and settling down at his desk. He planned on writing down what he wanted to try with his new container, but within minutes he was face down and passed out on his desk.

---------------------------------------------

He woke up thirty hours later, lying in his parents’ bed as the sun peeked through the curtains to announce the morning’s arrival. He already felt the telltale signs of the Issi stimulants’ side effects, pushing himself out of bed with bones creaking and muscles straining to even keep him standing. But he pushed himself to the bathroom to brush his teeth and get a drink of water to fight off his bone-dry mouth and aching throat.

“Never taking one of those again.” Elach swore, smiling to himself at the thought of enhancing himself with his own Issi instead of the packaged garbage he forced on himself during the festivals.

Elach checked in his room for Kayvee, finding him sound asleep in his bed. But someone had pulled the covers up to his shoulders, his breathing constant and not a wisp to be found. Elach hoped that meant Kayvee had bonded successfully, since he didn’t want to go out and find Kayvee another wisp while they weren’t supposed to be near the spring.

And then Elach remembered that he wouldn’t even be able to go near the spring again. Not only would the wisps scatter like ashes on the wind if he came within a kilometer of them, but the Issi of the primal spring would stop him from going past the gate, never mind getting anywhere close to the spring itself now that his bond had settled. That left the question as to how Resthollow had broken in, but Elach was too sore to care at the moment. He meandered into the kitchen and groaned as he bent over to open a drawer that contained packages of dried meats and fruit, grabbing handfuls of each and setting them onto a plate he pulled out of a cabinet on the way to the table.

As Elach ate, he pondered nothing but the feeling of much needed sustenance hitting his stomach. When he finished his portion, and two more after that, he finally had the peace of mind to think of the future. Resthollow’s trials were a good place to start, and once he passed he’d climb the ranks of the guild, whatever it took to do that. He’d grow more powerful, get a whole bunch of coin, find a girlfriend, and live the good life. All things he either didn’t have the time or ability to do up until this point. But Elach’s fantasizing was cut short by the sound of running water, and a few minutes later Kayvee strolled into the room with far more vigor than Elach had managed to muster.

“Did the bond take?” Elach asked as Kayvee pulled up a chair. “And do you want any breakfast? We’ve got dried meat and fruit, and a bunch of other stuff I’m not willing to make right now.”

“Meat and fruit sounds great right now, thanks.” Kayvee said, and Elach pushed his chair away to grab Kayvee his share. “And the bond took! We’re full blown practitioners now!”

“That we are.” Elach slid Kayvee’s plate across the table, settling back into his chair as Kayvee slowly started eating his food. “So what’s your container like? Got a cool headspace to go with it?”

“It’s a pretty standard darkness Issi container, and my headspace is a little hilltop in perpetual night.” Kayvee said, a distant look in his eyes. “There’s a moon in the sky, full and bright, but it doesn’t cast any light. I don’t actually see things in there, I just kinda know where they are. It’s hard to explain and a little weird, but it’s mine. How about you? What kind of wisp did you bond?”

“How do I say this..” Elach sighed, resting his cheek on his right hand. “Did you know that the flowing lotus died defending the shack you holed up in?”

“Yeah.” Kayvee replied. “Why does that matter?”

“Because it turned back into a wisp when it did for some reason. The gilded pyramid...”

“Gilt. I renamed them Gilt.” Kayvee interrupted.

“Alright, then. Gilt pushed the lotus bud on me and instructed me to bond with it. It’s pretty much a newborn at this point, so my container and headspace are really small. My headspace is literally a closet without a floor.” Elach chuckled.

“Will the bud grow back into the flowing lotus? Or is this wisp something else entirely?”

Elach shrugged. “No idea. There’s an outline of the flowing lotus in the center of the closet, so maybe? Or it could just be a decoration.”

“Hmm. Maybe the lotus will get stronger when you do. But that’s something we can’t test until you get a bond that gives you some Issi to play with. Resthollow’s trials start soon, so that’ll be our chance.” Kayvee nibbled on a handful of dried berries as he spoke, his eyes focusing on a point behind Elach. “It was Resthollow that saved us, right? How did they do it? What did they look like? What kind of powers did they have?”

Elach recounted Resthollow’s rescue to Kayvee, who nodded along until the point that Resthollow decreed the primal spring was too dangerous to even go near. Then he just sat in silence as Elach finished with Resthollow telling him that their trials opened in a month, and that if he succeeded in winning a bond he would be handsomely rewarded for all the time he put in helping kids get their wisps. And that the same offer was extended to Kayvee.

“Guess our path’s been opened to us then, hasn’t it?” Kayvee said with a smile.

“My thoughts exactly. So what should we do until Resthollow’s trials open up? We still have one week of festival to help out with, but what do we do with the three weeks after that? Go to Resthollow for a little vacation and wait for the trials?” Elach threw the option out, and Kayvee latched onto it immediately.

“There’s nothing left here for us. I’ll take some coin from my parents and we can look for a place to rent for a few weeks. Do you think Resthollow gives her vassals a place to live, or are we going to have to find somewhere on our own?” Kayvee asked, jittering with excitement. “Does the guild give us time to get stronger, and will they give us the tools to do so? How are we even supposed to get stronger, anyways? My parents don’t care enough to tell me, but do you think your mom and dad would be willing to give us a little lesson before we go?”

Kayvee’s enthusiasm was infectious, and Elach couldn’t help but smile. “I sure hope so. Mom would not be happy if I did anything but my best at the trials. And she hasn’t kept any secrets from me that I know of.”

“But she also didn’t tell you anything without you asking.” Kayvee added, and Elach nodded in agreement. “Then let’s delay our trip by a few days so your parents can give us a little guidance. I’m sure Resthollow’s guild will teach us way more, but it’ll be good to know a little more than the basics if the bonding trial has a quiz portion.”

“That’s probably another reason to go to resthollow before the trials start; we might find someone willing to give us a few pointers on the bonding trial itself. Have you kept in touch with any of our old friends who’re living in Resthollow?” Elach asked, since he himself hadn’t kept in touch with anyone. Work had superseded everything else for a long time now.

“Nope. But maybe the town hall has a list of addresses we could borrow. Send a few letters ahead and see if anyone remembers us.” Kayvee suggested. “On my parents’ coin, of course.”

“Of course.” Elach said seriously.

The conversation devolved into fantasies of what was to come, Elach and Kayvee weaving a tale of their successes and riches that they hoped would come to be. Eventually even that wore thin, and they fell back into their routine idle chatter over a game of cards. And even later, once the cards had been all played out and time stretched on, did Elach’s parents come home from the festival to see that their son was finally awake and doing well. They agreed to teach Elach and Kayvee a little about their futures without a second thought, offering Kayvee a place to sleep if he didn’t want to return home. Kayvee accepted but left to fetch his things, leaving Elach alone with his parents while he was gone.

“Are you sure you’re fine?” Preht asked, her eyes full of concern. “The stimulants you took are meant for people without a container, which isn’t you anymore.”

“I think I’m fine.” Elach replied. “But if I feel off at all I promise I’ll tell you or dad.”

“Good. Now, tell us everything that happened.” Preht ordered, her tone shifting from concerned to serious in an instant.

“Didn’t you guys see Resthollow?” Elach asked, and Preht shook her head as his father nodded.

“I caught a glimpse of them walking outside the festival limits. The bonesteel armor was unmissable. But what we don’t know is why they’re here, why the wisp garden is off limits, and why you have a bond now.” Jven took Elach’s hand in his own, his characteristic tenderness contrasting with his callused hands. “What happened out there, Elach?”

“A whole lot.” Elach sighed and squeezed his father’s hand. “The short version is that people showed up, tried to destroy the spring, killed one of the old wisps, I bonded with the reborn version of that wisp, Resthollow showed up and saved all of us. Well, most of us. Seven kids ended up dead or missing.”

“We’re just glad you and Kayvee survived.” Jven said, standing up and ruffling Elach’s hair. “Now, have you two eaten dinner yet? Because mom and I are starving.”

“We have.” Elach said, not divulging that all of their meals for that day had consisted of any food they could eat without preparing it.

“There will be leftovers if either of you get hungry during the night.” Preht said as she pulled out ingredients while Jven lit the stove. “And we’re sorry we can’t help you out until after the festival. We would love to, but even a half-day away from the stall could mean a tight month down the road.”

“I know, don’t worry.” Elach said, standing from the table and giving his mom a hug, then his dad. “It’s not like we’re leaving tomorrow.”