When I woke up the following morning, I found Glu sleeping on top of me. To be more exact, she was lying on her back while snoring contently and drooling all over my duvet. Meanwhile, Amber was snoozing beside me. As much as I would like to let them both sleep, we still had a long trip ahead of us. “Alright, you two, get up. We have other things to do today.”

Amber grunted, and there was no reaction from Glu, though she began drooling on the duvet. Alright then, hard way it was. “WAKE UP, YOU LAZY PIECES OF SANDSTONE!” The result was immediate as both flew awake from my magically amplified voice. “So nice of you to wake up, now come on, uncle should have breakfast ready any second now.”

As if on cue, there was a knocking on the door. “Breakfast’s ready, come and eat.” Ursus’ voice was muffled but audible through the door, and I could hear the amusement in his voice. “Just give us a few minutes, and we’ll be there.” I put Glu down and glanced over at Amber. She hesitated for a few seconds, then jumped out of bed with an annoyed huff. “Fine, you win.”

It was indeed only a few minutes before we were all enjoying a piping hot porridge and some eggs and bacon for those who wanted seconds. Or a sixth helping, like Glu did. As we finished up, uncle cleared his throat. “Alright everyone, we have a long day ahead of us and the deluge hasn’t let up. Expect a wet day in the saddle.” Uncle nodded to Ursus, and the left to prepare the Bloodstalkers.

Nari and Narja followed. “Guess we are stuck with the Dishes, eh, Ashes?” Glu shot her an inquisitive glance. “That’s the downside of being last ones. We have to clean up after breakfast.” Glu nodded. “Glu understand, Glu help!” In a blur of motion, she had the dishes over in the sink and was already getting water from the tap. Huh, convenient. “Mind doing the dishes, while Amber and I pack up the dried clothes?” Glu began scrubbing a plate with a gleeful grin, instead of giving an answer.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

“…el …ael… Rael, wake up, darling.” A soft, familiar kiss dragged me out of my sleep and back to the waking world. “Oh, good morning, my beloved vixen. How are you this morning?” Yrsha was sitting on the bedside and was smiling down at me. “I’m great, all things considered.” She gently patted her belly, where our child was becoming ever more visible by the day.

I sat up and hugged her close, then looked over towards the entrance. “Alright, you little troublemakers. I see you over there.” As if on cue, everyone gave up on hiding and wandered into the room. “I told you we shouldn’t spy on Mom and Da!” Millina glared at her older siblings, a sure sign it was her idea.

“Well, we were asked by the courier to tell Da to meet Lady Labyrinthia as soon as possible.” Kai glared back at Millina with such ferocity that my youngest took a step back and hid behind her older twin. “Alright, you two, enough of that. Your father will go soon enough. For now, why don’t we all eat breakfast?” Eight pairs of ears perked up at Yrsha’s words, and they all scrambled from the room as they called dibs on different seats.

“You’d think we had raised them better than this.” Yrsha shook her head as she spoke, not appreciating their behavior. “Now, now, dear, they are all still kids. Kai and Chi should know better, sure, but still.” Yrsha’s expression softened. “You’re too lenient with them, Rael.” She had a stern tone in her voice, but her expression and wagging tails betrayed her true emotions.

I hugged her gently before I hopped out of bed. “Why don’t you join the little ones? I’ll be with you shortly.” Yrsha nodded and left. No doubt hoping to avert a similar result as yesterday, when Kynje and Aria began a quarrel which ended with half the kitchen blown up by a foxfire bomb.

Was I too lenient? Doubtful, sure, I was more lenient on minor transgressions, but they all knew that if they went too far, they would get no pity from me. Then again, Kai and Ci were nearing the age where learning some discipline would be useful. I should discuss it with them and Yrsha later, for now, breakfast. I threw on the last piece of clothing and left the room, hoping the kitchen wouldn’t be in ruin.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

“You wanted to see me, Kid?” I looked up from the book I was reading and nodded. “Ah, Rael, come in, I would offer you some tea, but, you will decline anyhow, so I will cut right to it.” Rael gave a slight smirk at my jest as he sat down in one chair meant for guests. “I need you to travel to Ondul with some bottles of Panacea. It’s a matter of life and death.” Rael’s smile faded as he went from expecting friendly banter to all business.

“Who’s the recipient?” He asked as I handed him a letter of introduction to the Seneschal of the forest. “You’ll know when the time comes. Let’s just say it involves an old acquaintance of ours. Rael paused for a moment… then seemed to get what I was hinting at. “I’ll see to their safe delivery. Mordred would have my head otherwise, I suspect.”

I gave a weak nod. “If we are lucky, you will only need one, but I suspect even the three I am sending with you will be needed before all of this blows over.” Rael rose to his feet, now looking quite agitated. “Just what could require three bottles of the strongest healing potion available to mortals? And shouldn’t you send someone who can resurrect, in that case, like Minos?”

I rose to my feet and walked over to Rael from my plinth. “Under normal circumstances, you’d be correct. However, things have been going awry of late, and I will need Minos for other tasks that only he can do. Rael, what I am about to tell you cannot leave this room, understood?” Rael hesitated for a moment, then nodded. “Fine, you’re not someone who keeps secrets from your friends without a good reason.” I handed him a small note. He opened and read the contents, then dropped it like it had burnt him.

“You can’t be serious.” He had gone pale. “Afraid I am, so take Nicomphus with you, you’ll need his expertise, I fear, and he has already been briefed about all of this.” Rael took a deep breath, then nodded. “What do I tell Yrsha? You know I can’t lie to her.”

I closed my eye for a moment. “You can’t tell her, Rael.” He looked at me for a few moments, then finally pieced two and two together. “She already knows.” That should have been obvious, considering how long the two of them had been married. “As if even I could keep a secret from her when you had been told. She would find out the moment you tried to give an excuse, so I informed her beforehand.”

Rael seemed to realize something, but it wasn’t my place to pry. “I require the two of you to be leaving by sunset, and remember to drop by the Draconian village. I asked Ssatassha if she could get some rain gear ready for you two, and it should be done by now.”

Rael’s tails bristled a bit at the mention of the rain, but he then quietly nodded. “I appreciate it. If there was nothing else, I should go get ready.” He turned towards the door, but he found it wouldn’t open, so he turned back towards me. “One more thing before you go, Rael. The trip would go faster if you took the Rail to Caelyn and then used a Magicart.

I could see him visibly shudder. “Rael, I know you’re not a fan of the Magicarts, but if you go by foot or by horse, you won’t make it in time. Besides, a Magicart has the advantage of keeping you dry while driving.”

My words seemed to calm him down somewhat as he opened the door and left. As the door closed behind him, I incinerated the note he had read. Better not leave stuff like that lying around. “Indella, please verify that three bottles of panacea are delivered to Rael before he leaves.” Indella looked up from where she had been sitting, unnoticed in her private alcove.

“Sure thing. By the way, Pearl, I’m surprised you’d go that far.” I looked over at Indella. “If it became public knowledge, it would cause panic, and the Embodiments would take the brunt of it. A witch hunt caused by fear and paranoia that would see many injured and dead, and all it would accomplish would be to aid our enemy.” Indella put her own book down. “And you are only moving a small force to deal with it.”

I took a deep breath. “You know why, Indella, you saw the same vision I did, since we were sharing our dreams when it happened.” She froze or a moment, then nodded, though I could clearly see the reluctance in her face. “It doesn’t make it easier to accept, though.” I gave a bitter chuckle. “Welcome to divinity, where you have to make choices like this all the time. It’s why I didn’t want to ascend back then, but as you know, circumstances dictated otherwise.”

Indella just shook her head. “And yet, after you became the goddess of innovation, there have been new breakthroughs on the tech front almost every day for a century.” I turned fully towards Indella. “A word relying too much on magic won’t make it if magic were to fail, as we both saw back then. Magitech, however, is proven to function fully even when conventional magic does not.” Indella smirked for a moment, and I could feel amusement through our bond.

“You know, it’s been a while since I have felt that amount of passion from you, Labyrinthia.” I blinked, really? I mean, I suppose the dullness of my job had kicked in, but had I really become that detached from it all? Judging from Indella’s expression, that was indeed the case. “If I could, I’d have a holiday to not get burned out. As it is, I guess I should get out of my quarters more, to get inspiration.”

Indella gave a light nod. “That would probably be a good idea, or even take a few incognito trips to Caelyn. I don’t think either of us has really taken a day off to just enjoy ourselves in almost a decade now.” That did indeed sound tempting, but could I afford to slack off right now? I really needed a day off to refresh myself because this was going to get worse before it got better.

“I should probably confer with Grandpa before attempting such a thing. I’d hate to get an earful from him. Especially given the current situation.” Indella hesitated for a moment. “That’s… probably wise, yes. See you later, then?”

I nodded and left for the Heavens. Refreshing my mind and getting new ideas might just be what could help us right now, especially since my inspiration of late had been flagging. “Here’s hoping Grandpa is in a good mood…” Hmm, maybe I should check in on Mother as well while I was here? It had been a while since I last saw her. Well, first things first.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Departure from the cabin was as wet as one might expect, given the continued downpour. As expected, it didn’t take long before the rain gear got overwhelmed again, and it was back to being soaking wet. On the upside, uncle had hasted the Bloodstalkers, so with some luck, we might reach the forest tonight. Not that it would be any drier there, according to uncle, at any rate. “Is it just me, or is this even worse than yesterday?”

Narja didn’t respond to my question immediately, probably because she didn’t have a back to cover her mouth, so she might risk drowning if she wasn’t careful. She halfway turned against me and nodded silently. She was wearing some kind of mask to keep the water away from her mouth, that I hadn’t noticed before.

After about three hours, we had to take a break. We were wet, miserable, and the others were freezing. Even the Bloodstalkers were visibly shivering. “We will stop for a while. Considering the sudden drop in water temperature, the deluge should end soon, and we’d be better off inside when that happens.” Ursus looked at Narja and Nari, who both nodded in agreement.

Uncle grumbled as he pulled out the cabin. “It’s not recharged yet, so I will need some cover to infuse it, so we can use it as a shelter.” It took a bit of work, but eventually, we huddled together well enough to give uncle adequate cover to pull out the vellum he needed and create a small infusion circle without the rain washing it out instantly. “Just give me a moment here. Nearly got it… there!” he tossed the cabin down, and it grew back to its usual size.

Nari grabbed the reins of her Bloodstalker. “Let’s get into shelter before the Deluge’s finale, shall we? I’d rather not be out in that mess.” Nari led her Bloodstalker to the stables, with Ursus following behind with the other two, who were so eager it was more correct to say he had to keep them in check.

Meanwhile, Narja ushered the rest of us inside. Mere moments after we set foot inside, the sky was split apart by a giant flash of light. A few moments later, Nari and Ursus entered, shivering and wet. There was a flash of light and a loud buzzing noise surrounded the cabin. “Moor, can your cabin withstand a lightning strike?” Moor looked out the window. “Anything short of a dragon’s lightning breath it would shrug off in that regard. It’s far sturdier than it seems.”

Another flash and another buzzing noise. My hair began rising upwards. “What’s going on?” I looked over at the others, whose hair was acting the same way, while the fur on our Beast-kin companions was standing straight out in all directions. Nari looked at her striped tail with annoyance. “The lightning hits the deluge, which then carries it to the ground. Anything inside the deluge itself will be hit by it, and anything in cover from it, well.”

She motioned to everyone. “Most creatures living on the northern plans either find shelter or are highly resistant to lightning.” She grabbed her tail and tried in vain to get the fur to stop sticking out. “Once this racket ends, the deluge should stop. Until then, we should stay inside, unless you fancy being electrocuted.”

The lightning strikes got ever more frequent until uncle had to put down darkness spells on the windows and the door if we wanted to see anything at all. That didn’t stop the constant booms of rapid-fire lightning from being deafening, however, much to the chagrin of our Beast-kin companions. Ursus, in particular, seemed quite miserable as he sat at the table with a mug of ale. He wasn’t complaining, and was trying to hide it as best he could, but every time a bolt hit close by, I could see him flinch, ever so slightly. Uncle put a hand on his shoulder. “You alright there, Ursus?”

Ursus looked up at uncle. “I… will admit I have been better. These constant-” His next few words were drowned out by another tremendous boom. The noise was so loud I was certain the cabin was hit and the ground shook. Uncle furrowed his brows… “That wasn’t a lightning bolt.”

The rest of us gave him skeptic looks. “Are you certain, uncle?” He gave a scoff and put his mug down. “That bang was from an impact of something massive. Just give me a moment while I check it out.” Before I could respond, he rose from his seat and marched out of the cabin.

As he slammed the door shut behind him, Narja just shook her head. “Fair enough that he’s immortal, but that’s still reckless, and without doubt painful beyond belief.” I looked towards the door with an uncertain expression, as I pondered Narja’s words. “I… don’t think I have ever seen uncle in pain, cold or hot, sure, but not in pain. Even when he got an injury, it would usually heal almost immediately.” Narja gave a sullen sigh and grabbed her mug.

“Well, it wouldn’t surprise me if he can’t feel pain, since pain is your body telling you, you’re in danger or injured, and he’s Immortal, so injuries mean nothing.” She downed the rest of the ale in her mug, then flinched as another bolt hit close by. Amber looked up from her own mug, containing tea in her case, and up at Nari.

“How long do these lighting storms usually last?” Nari stopped drinking and looked down at Amber. “Shouldn’t be more than a few more hours tops, and even that’s a rare event, as it usually plays itself out over an hour or two.” As Nari answered, the door opened and uncle stepped inside, drenched to the bone and with an annoyed expression.

“Whatever crashed had the tenacity to get back up, no trace of whatever it was when I got there.” He disappeared into his bedroom and appeared shortly after, having changed clothes. “Whatever it was, it was massive and there is a pretty decent crater from the landing.”

Ursus and Narja exchanged glances. Nari drained the rest of her tea, then stood up. “Any ideas what might have made it?” Uncle shook his head. “No clue, ‘twas clearly alive, but the rain has erased all traces of where it might have gone.” For a moment, I could swear uncle seemed worried.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Damnable deluge. It was hard enough to track them in this horrid weather without the rain turning electric. I had barely made it inside the barn of the cabin after the shock I’d received, and there was no way I was going back out until the hail of lightning stopped. One of the other beasts snarled at me. “Oh, stuff it, kitty, or I’ll fry you.” The beast took a step back, realizing it was outmatched, despite my diminutive frame.

With nothing better to do, I found a pile of hay and laid down. Might as well just get some rest while this racket played out. The beasts eyed me warily, but even as I began dozing off, they wisely kept their distance.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The Rail entered the station, and we hopped off. “Been a while since I’ve been in town. Meros better have been taking care of my Magicart, or I’ll gut him.” I looked down at Nicomphus. “You have a Magicart?” Nicomphus met my gaze with a cold grin. “That I do, Fox-Man. I’m a racer in my spare time, since the Boss keeps everything running smoothly, my normal services are obviously not needed, so I took up racing to pass the time.”

That explained why she asked me to have him tag along. He actually knew how to drive those things. With a sigh, I went quiet and instead inspected the surrounding town. I hadn’t been here since Erem’s funeral, since the rest of the party had moved full time into the labyrinth, and it had changed drastically since then. “Caelyn’s changed since I last was here.”

Instead of horse carts, Magicarts dominated the streets, hovering along with their prominent “woup” sounds. I had little doubt the sound wasn’t needed, but Labyrinthia had pointed out that having the Magicarts be completely quiet was a hazard to pedestrians. Nicomphus paused for a moment, before he responded. “For the better, I mean they are quite the marvels they are, wouldn’t you agree, Fox-Man?”

Nicomphus looked at them all with a hint of a smile on his lips, which was unusual for the stone-cold Redcap. I’d take a horse every day, or a horse cart, myself. However, I couldn’t disagree that Magicarts were quite efficient, since you could drive them even at night without risking injury.

Likewise, manalamps had taken the place of the normal streetlamps. They would light up when night fell and cast a far better light than what normal streetlamps did. As we continued down the street, we could see a large statue of Labyrinthia standing outside what had to be the College of Caelyn. Underneath the statue was a plaque which in large letters proclaimed; “Welcome to Caelyn College of Innovation and Magi-Science.”

Magi-Science, Labyrinthia’s way of removing the need to capture cores. Where we before had relied on cores for most of our living, Magi-Science now did the same, Magicarts, Rails, lighting, water heating, medicine. Most of these days it was Magi-Science doing all of it. “It feels surreal, you know?” Nicomphus gave a mirthless chuckle. “Hard to see your birthplace change so much, eh?”

Nicomphus was, as always, right on the money. “Indeed, if you had told me a century ago that the living standard of your average citizen of Caelyn would improve this much…” I shook my head. The living standard had improved so much from Magi-Science that I almost couldn’t believe it. And the best part was, Magi-Science improved the natural area around us. It would use ambient mana for their effects, circulating it, causing a better mana flow in the surrounding area, thus improving the natural life around us.

“The Boss is a genius, Fox-Man, pure and simple. Creating something so efficient yet useful? It’s a marvel, I tell ya.” There was more to it than that. I had asked her about her intent with the tech, and Labyrinthia had told me of her own reality. The tale still gave me chills. Tech running on natural resources had destroyed the environment and for a time nearly driven them to extinction.

“Creating tech that helps the environment… eh?” Nicomphus looked up at me. “Huh? What’re mumbling about, Fox-Man?” I took a deep breath. “It’s nothing. Are we at your storage yet?” Nicomphus nodded. “It’s just down this street.” He led the way and knocked on the door to a storage facility at the end of the street. A few moments later, the door opened and a Wolf Beast-kin opened the door. “Hmm? Oh Nico, long time no see. Come in, come in, I’ll fetch Grandpa!” The kid ran inside.

“Hey Grandpa, Grandma! Nico’s visiting. He has a fox with him!” A moment later, the door opened and two Beast-kin entered. “Ah, Nico, glad to see you again. It has been a while and… Rael, now THERE is a rare guest!” Irontooth, was leaning on his cane, his hair and fur, what little remained, had turned white.

Mint was standing beside him with a cane of her own. Her own hair had long since gone silver. I walked over and gave them both a hug. “It’s been a while indeed. Sorry I didn’t come sooner, been so busy I haven’t noticed the time pass.”

Irontooth gave a bashful chuckle. “It’s fine, Rael, you’re a father now. I know how it feels. My son and my daughter-in-law are out of town, so if there is something you want to do with the Magicart, I’m afraid you have to do it yourself. He patted the young Beast-kin and smiled down at her. Mint smiled down at her as well and put her hand on her shoulder. “Mirin is a remarkably skilled Magitechnician. Despite her young age, she’ll do her parents proud when the time comes, but I am not letting her near the Mentor.”

Mirin looked up at her grandparents. “Hey, I’m not a kid anymore, gramps, I’m almost twenty.” Irontooth arched an eyebrow. “So you are still a welp that’s wet behind her ears. You are not an adult until you reach forty, young lady, and you know it.” The kid growled, but said nothing else.

Nicomphus walked up to Irontooth and shook his hand, and now he showed a smile. It was a sight I did not wish to see again. “Need to grab the Magicart, Irontooth. Boss has a job for the two of us.” The old wolf nodded slowly. “Sure thing, Nico. My son fixed her up yesterday, so you should just need to hop in and drive.”

I gave Mint and Irontooth a friendly nod, then followed Nicomphus into the Magicart storage. There was a black lacquered Magicart, oval shaped and with the latest in mana propulsion if the dull pale blue crystal plates on the bottom were anything to go by. “Isn’t she a beaut, Fox-Man? The Mentor 250, best there is in the current market. She’s so efficient she never runs out of power and is so sturdy even a dragon would have a hard time scratching her.”

He affectionately hugged the bottom of the Magicart before he snapped out of it. “Now, get in, so we can get under way. It’ll take a while to get to the forest even with this marvel.” I hopped into the passenger seat and tossed my pack into the luggage compartment.

Meanwhile, Nicomphus hopped into the Driver’s station and hooked up to the control bracelet. A quick Mana check later and the Magicart lifted off the ground and began hovering at waist height, then slowly exited the storage. Once we joined the main road, Nicomphus sped up, and we were on our way.