Kotta attached himself to the group heading north to testify about the crime. The soldiers couldn't say no to him and he had some fighting experience. "It'll be fine," he assured everyone.

As he boarded the cramped sailboat, Vonn said to him, "I thought you didn't like Grandbridge."

Kotta donned a necklace advertising how very loyal he was to the state religion, and not to filthy wicked Kobold beliefs like those of the western foreigners. "I didn't get to see the big theater last time."

They sailed and poled upriver with the usual struggle, dodging faster downstream traffic all the way. It took days. Vonn paced the little deck. When Selen landed after her umpteenth practice flight, he said, "I should be making things."

"Let's train."

They compared notes on their mechanical and alchemical work. Selen was a messenger and innkeeper by family trade, but she had started a little business in dyes and colored chalk and had her talons in several other projects. "I'm running into friction with the official Alchemist Guild and the Clothiers, neither of them happy about an upstart wanting to create new products. The Mages are more open, but I haven't got special knowledge to share there. Just the ongoing suggestion that the different scholar tribes interact for more than wine and cheese parties."

"Are Aves lactose tolerant? I'd been wondering."

Selen laughed at him. "Where was this on your list of mysteries to solve?"

"Number thirty-four."

"The answer is yes."

"But you don't have --"

"Yes we do. You just didn't look closely."

Vonn blushed. "Oh no, there's someone I forgot. The barkeep at the Crashing Rock." She'd been the informant who tipped Bogstep off about the evil in the west.

"The Baron told me she got hustled out to the east. Might need a new job but she's okay."

"Whew."

The ride also gave Vonn the chance to spar with the soldiers. He was a poor melee fighter but had at least used a staff before. An over-enthusiastic swing from one man knocked Vonn into the river, minus five Health points, but he came up sputtering and crawled ashore quickly enough to run up and rejoin the boat.

He tried to apply magic to the problem of drying off. Water was part of the "cold" element, so he had some ability to conjure some Mana between his hands and try tuning it to a certain type so that it'd affect particular kinds of matter.

"Like this," said Selen, helping him to focus the spell by holding her hands near his and herding stray threads of energy into place. Slowly he convinced the magic to flow across his pants, shirt and vest to push the water away. It came out in an all-direction burst that splashed onto a soldier, and he had to apologize, but that just gave him an excuse to try again.

Selen said, "You met the wizard Ralator, right? He taught me to practice all of the elements and think of them as one, though I haven't yet caught them all."

"Yes, but I still can't do the full set either. Even Tazo can't and she's a level ahead."

"But the flexibility practice helps. Do you think we can make any useful breakthroughs in magic, or will it always be a sideline for us?"

Quietly he answered, "There's the one thing." They'd made sure not to bring any of the special gold magicite on this trip for fear of confiscation. "Otherwise we might find innovative uses for it, and that's worth the effort. What's Polestar's class anyway?" He'd been too busy to ask.

"Just Agent 3, Farmer 1. If we get him to Grandbridge my family can help him raise Agent. I have plans for you, too! You'll see." She tapped her talons together.

#

The city in the north straddled the Starry River, its uneven walls higher in the west and marked by spikes. Vonn arrived by day this time, declaring just a few wooden toys at the gate. Selen had bought some trade goods in Shieldpoint: a barrel of honey, a spice that her merchant aunt wanted, dyes for her own work, and some marshmallows. Kotta and Vonn had chipped in what little money they had, to invest in Selen's cargo. Vonn had added a few wooden toys. The fact that this was a noble-mandated visit meant free travel, so this ought to be a profitable trip. The Baron's own men were transporting some silver on their lord's behalf. Whether to pay taxes or grease palms, Vonn wasn't sure.

They'd arrived by day and the Duke's men would need to be told of the witnesses' arrival. So Vonn and Kotta got permission to have Selen take them home for now. That meant entering the four-story tower called the Two Hoots.

A red-feathered Aves waved down from the raised desk in the big central room. "You're back! How bad was it out there?" A crowd filled the tables and the little bedrooms around them.

Selen said, "We had a rough time, but this isn't a good place for gossip. Upstairs?"

"Your dad's got me working the front desk." The bird puffed out his chest. "They're all busy so it'll have to wait. You're okay, though? Oh, and the inn's packed tonight. Just one free room. You might need to make space upstairs; I assume your friends are staying the night."

Selen bobbed her head. "Thanks. Need me to fill in for a few minutes?"

"Please." The red guy hopped down and left to fly upstairs.

#

Selen soon got them set up on the third floor in an awkward corner between the apartments of Selen and her family. While they were there, they looked into Selen's room. Vonn said, "You've cleaned up."

The clutter of alchemy equipment had gone. Selen had gotten some extra clothing and was using her desk mainly for writing, with the fountain pens she kept there. "I'm confident enough in the basics of the Alchemy skill that I'd like you to print this basic guide," she said, pointing to a sheaf of paper.

"An intro for prospective Alchemists? Nice."