☤ Chapter 8.

Each sigil represents intent, shaping the summoned power in specific ways. The more powerful you grow as a magus, the more sigils you will be able to hold in your mind at once, giving you access to a host of more and more complex spells and precision work only available to those who can command many sigils at once. What limits us is our capacity to tap into the Æther and draw upon that power through our own personalized power sigil. Everything follows from such a power sigil, and if the first sigil in the chain is broken so too will be the magic.

If your sigils are unconnected, magical power leaks will disrupt your spells, causing you undue strain. It may also induce fainting in the caster as a means of preventing caustic exposure to raw Æther energies. As you should know by now, such Æther energies will damage and corrupt you, since none but the primal beings may wield the Æther unchanged and untreated.

The power sigil is therefore the most important sigil to get right, since it is the sigil through which the raw Æther shall be filtered and treated to your specifications. The more elegantly you can do this, the more power you shall have for the following spell.

Do take heed to not give in to the call of the void, and do not linger on. Draw swiftly and with precision, lest the power consume you, corrupt your flesh and turn you into an abomination.

But fret not my potential students, for in such circumstances a priest or priestess of Rothinia or Ralt shall be on hand to put you down. I recommend a gentle priest of Rothinia, since the worshippers of Ralt can be rather harsh on magic users in general, to say nothing of the corrupted ones. I recommend looking up the trials of Sargium in case you are unfamiliar with the horrors perpetrated by the followers of Ralt.

- From a textbook titled Sigils, sigils, sigils. By Justas Vanderbilt Armengandr (249-478 ABS), honorary professor of the Silvergem Academy of high learning in Colla (311-478 ABS) and founding lect of the Golden auditorium in Colla (400 ABS).

Mina had just finished changing into a new dress and freshening up. She was a little miffed that Ves had taken Jack to the river, leaving her stranded here with a bunch of smelly men waiting their turn.

She promptly resisted the urge to spray them with water. It would drain her alot to rinse them off, not to mention that it was a breach of the rules. There was a good reason for such rules, for when ordinary people were exposed to anything infused with magical energy, they became sick.

The more magical energy they were exposed to, the sicker they got. Some even died of magic poisoning before, so certain rules and restrictions had to be placed on the casual use of sigils.

Since Mina was also a member of the church of Rothinia, the limitations imposed upon her were more strict, not to mention the duties which she was to complete. She had a big backlog to get back to, which was why she wanted them to make haste...

Her necklace glowed with a soothing, cold light. No matter what upset her, it would slow her heart beat and calm her down.

She left to go see Tifana about dinner, while Barnas and the others cleared away the corpses. The men grumbled about unfairness and muttered about why Jack was receiving special treatment from the Princess. Mina restrained a smile.

She'd never seen her friend so energized before. The fact that she took the initiative and dragged him off to the river to get clean first, told her more than enough. She knew her friend wouldn't do that to just anyone.

Mina saw Tifana packing away a giant meatcleaver which she'd no doubt pulled out just in case a goblin got through their defenses. That reminded her of the mysterious Jack again. He had obviously impressed the Explorers. Even Barnas had somehow grudgingly come to respect the man. Or so it seemed from their muttered conversations.

She wished, not for the first time, that she could just talk with them. Ves' words from last night still hurt and when Mina was reminded of them, she teared up a little. She loved her friend dearly. Ves would do what she said she would, but Mina just found the whole thing incredibly baffling. Who becomes Queen just to help her friend? Ves would take the throne and force everyone in Dorwine to learn handtalk... for her sake. Mina reached up and wiped at her eyes with the sleeve of her new dress. Well, it was identical to the one that got splattered with Gob blood, but still new.

Mina went over to tap Tifana on the shoulder and relay a simple message. Tifana knew the command for preparing dinner vs moving on.

"YOU STUPID IDIOT!" A womans shout echoed through the forest. Mina froze, and all the men stopped what they were doing and looked towards the forest aswell.

Barnas had already thrown down the goblin corpse he was carrying. Mina saw him reaching for his axe, a look of fury on his face. Suddenly, panic took her again. She couldn't shout out to tell Barnas not to go in there, or that Jack wouldn't do anything untoward to Ves.

But did Mina truly know that? Did she really trust her new friend that much? She barely knew the man, and had come to think of him as a bit of a charlatan and maybe a liar too. Biting her lip, Mina drew a few sigils and the ground underneath Barnas turned to ice. The man skidded and fell. "Son of a!" Barnas shouted but then he went completely still.

Mina approached the enraged man, who just stared at her with wide eyes, gripping the handle of his Axe so strongly Mina thought he might snap the haft with his bare hands.

A vein popped and his eyes were bloodshot... she... wanted to run off aswell, to personally castrate the man if he'd done anything to Ves. But she knew if Barnas went, there would be bloodshed regardless of what Jack had done. As a priest of Rothinia, Mina could not stand by and overlook justice in favour of a personal vendetta.

She looked down at the shaking, raging Barnas and slowly shook her head. She had to believe. Her whole being told her Jack would never do anything to Ves. Besides, her friend was a strong warrior versed in both unarmed combat and good with her sword. In addition to that, she had the skill of a rank 6 mage. No matter how good Jack was, Mina doubted he could beat someone that was strong both in melee combat and with magic, since that was a very unusual combination.

Her friend would be fine. Of course she would. Mina knew it to be so, but that knowledge did not comfort her in the least. She bit her lip and stood there beside Barnas, glaring at the tree line whilst waiting for Jack to emerge and explain himself.

As the minutes stretched, Mina grew more and more anxious. For some reason she'd forgotten that Jack drew sigils back then to save Ves from the arrow. Even now it was like a dream. She had a hard time imagining the dubious Jack drawing strangely ethereal sigils with a crazy reaction time to save her friend. Mina bit her lip. She hadn't even seen the arrow, not to mention that she couldn't draw fast enough to protect her friend. Perhaps it was that shortcoming which bugged her most of all, and prompted her to take a step towards the forest.

She was just about to go in there and find out what the hell had happened to Jack and Ves when they emerged.

Ves walked ahead of Jack. Her face was red, her eyes were like sharp daggers. Her silence was an angry silence, and it was never good when Ves was so angry that she was silent.

As for the mysterious Jack, he had the audacity to look unconcerned as he strode forth shirtless into the camp to stand before her and Barnas. Mina could see out of the corner of her eye that Barnas was forcefully restraining himself from immediately attacking Jack. Mina fared little better, and Barnas voiced her question for her.

"What did you do. Why are you walking about shirtless!" Barnas shouted, taking a step forward as if to attack Jack but at the last moment restraining himself. He was like a vicious animal on an invisible leash, snapping at the enemy whilst frothing at the mouth, fury barely contained.

Mina looked over at Jack to find him staring back at her. She nodded her head stiffly and motioned with her hand to [Explain].

Jack sighed. "The shirt was beyond saving." He said with a shrug. Barnas growled. "Fuck the shirt! What did you do to Ves?!"

To Mina's surprise, Jack actually looked a little repentant. He ran a hand through his long black hair which was still wet and clinging to his face, then he sighed. "I may have taken my prank a little bit too far and angered her, but it's not what you think so stop glaring at me like I've violated her or something."

"Prank? Stop mincing words. What. Did. You. Do?!" Barnas said, hefting his axe. Mina could tell. One wrong word and Barnas would swing with all his might to decapitate Jack. Before she could intervene, Ves appeared behind Barnas like a ghost, placing a hand on the mans hairy forearms to get his attention.

When Barnas looked back, Ves scowled at him and shook her head once. "Leave it." She said in a quiet, calm tone. It was flat and cold, and Mina knew what that meant. She needed to get Ves alone and debrief her friend. Last night aside, Ves had been showing signs of breaking down for some time now, and Mina felt in her heart that this was a turning point for them and their journey. To say nothing of the pursuers, of course.

She thought they left them behind in Tabrygg when they pulled the boat trick and disappeared on the lake. Apparently, it was not so, and Mina was growing more and more anxious for her friend. Not just her sanity, but her life. If Jack hadn't... Mina shook her head. Don't think like that Minsy! She told herself, using Ves' happy voice in her head. With a faint smile, she thought that perhaps Ves wasn't the only one who was going crazy on this journey.

Rothinia guide her hand, oh but she would find a way to bring peace to her friends heart. She swore she would.

"But my lady, he-" Barnas said, but was cut off by Ves. "Silence. Your turn now." She said, flicking her hand at the forest. Barnas looked like he was struggling with himself, but finally gave with a sigh.

Glaring at Jack all the way to the edge of the forest, Barnas, with a final growl, disappeared to go wash himself. Morgan and co soon followed, and Mina was left alone with Jack and Ves.

She walked over and grabbed Ves by the hand, leading her away to their caravan. To her surprise and trepidation, she felt Ves' hand tremble in hers. Ves did not even look at the handsome, shirtless Jack once.

Once they were back in the caravan, Mina immediately drew a complex series of sigils to ensure that no sound or prying eyes would disturb them. Anyone who tried would get a nasty surprise. Ves just stared emptily over at her. But beyond that forced calm, Mina sensed a lake of roiling emotions. She wanted to just hug her friend forever and tell her that everything would be alright. But... she couldn't do that.

[What happened? Tell me what's wrong.]

The tears appeared so abruptly in her friends eyes that Mina almost wanted to just jump out of the caravan and deal with Jack herself. Shaking and silently shedding tears, Ves lowered herself onto a pillow with a whimper.

"Am I a monster?" Ves asked, and Mina hurriedly shook her head. Of course her friend wasn't a monster, what had gotten into her all of a sudden. "Heh, you tell me what you think Mina. The truth."

[Always, my dear friend.]

"A girl gets angry when her older brother flirts with one of her personal maids at a ball. She stomps over, but in her anger she accidentally bumps her older brother and he spills his wine all over her new dress. " Ves had almost calmed her tears at this point, and sounded like an empty husk, which worried Mina greatly.

"The... the girl, she got angry you see. And since they were on a balcony and she.. she.." Ves covered her face with her hands and just whimpered like a tortured animal. This dummy. Mina lunged forward and embraced her friend in a hug. As She held her friend close, Ves whimpered and sniffled quietly. She pushed her friend away and looked at her sharply.

[Simian had it coming. The fact that you were on a balcony was just bad luck. It wasn't really your fault that he-]

"I crippled him for life Mina!" Ves shouted. "He could've died because of my stupidity and my impulsive behaviour. I ruined his life! The former crown prince now spends his days in grey melancholy, sitting alone in the library pouring over old books and fantasy tales trying to escape reality! And who can blame him? I made his life a living hael!" Ves howled, her breathing came in chops and hacks as she sniffled and whimpered. At this time, Ves had her face full of snot and tears.

Mina frowned, placing a hand on her friends shaking clenched fists. Oh how she wished she could speak, whisper comforts in her friends ears, rock her back and forth and tell her that everything would be okay.

Steeling herself with a frown, Mina replied. [What does this have to do with what happened at the river?]

Ves did not immediately reply, instead seeming to slowly, slowly pull herself together. Mina grabbed the nearest piece of clean cloth she could find and handed it to her friend.

[You have to be the messiest princess that ever lived, you know?] Mina replied, trying to cheer her friend up with a smile. Ves wiped at her snot and tears, and Mina observed her friend coming back to herself. It was unusual for her to be so emotionally broken, but Mina knew that Ves wasn't the cold, hard warrior princess that everyone thought she was. Well, she was too, but she was also much more than that.

Clearing her throat, Ves looked over at her with red eyes and a tired smile. "I never learn, do I Minsy? Always the haughty airhead, always committing the same mistakes."

[I barely see you hurt anyone in a sparring session nowadays. That's something isn't it? I've lost count of the amount of people you knocked out with your fists or sliced up with your sword by now, but it's gotten better right?]

Ves sighed. "Maybe. But I'm such a numbskull. It feels like I keep blundering in the same way over and over again, never learning. I think Master was right to call me a dumb girl."

Mina started to flourish her digits, to tell her friend that she was not dumb but smart. She envied her friends smarts...

"No Minsy, It has to be true." Ves said shaking her head with frustration. "Today I punched Jack exactly the same way I punched Simian, right in the Jaw. If there'd been a balcony behind him, it would've been history repeating itself all over again, except..." Ves trailed off, beginning to shake all over again. Then she laughed a defeated sort of laugh. A self deprecating, self hating sort of laugh. Mina gently slapped her friend on the cheek.

[Stop this. I can't stand to see you like this.What made you shout so loud that even we heard it?] Mina questioned her friend. She was truly curious now. Jack looked fine. As a matter of fact, he'd looked very, very fine without the shirt.

No don't you start now too with that nonsense Mina.

"So when I hit him in the jaw, his head snapped back and he fell into the river unconscious. At first I stood there seething, looking at his sinking body like an idiot. Then airbubbles brought me back to myself, and I hauled his large ass frame onto the riverbank." As Ves spoke, her face was turning deeper and deeper shades of red.

She cleared her throat. "Well, again I stood there like an idiot just glaring down at him. It felt cathartic you know? But then I noticed that he wasn't breathing." Ves said. Mina frowned. Jack hadn't looked the worse for wear despite having been knocked unconscious and nearly drowning in a river.

"When I leaned down to listen for his heartbeat, I couldn't hear it. I felt his pulse but there was none. He had died and I had killed him."

[He seemed fine though.]

Ves nodded. "So he was, but I didn't know that so I revived him. When I moved to blow air into him, he... he... he kissed me!" Ves said. She shuffled on her little pillow mountain and looked down at her feet before turning an even darker shade of red.

[So big deal, he woke up and kissed a beautiful girl. It's not like it was your first kiss.]

Ves looked like she'd explode from embarrassment. Mina worried for her friend. She had never seen her so crazily emotional before over a man.

"Then he slung an arm over me, and held me as he kissed me..." Ves said, then she let out a high pitched shriek. "When he removed his arm, I didn't escape. There were no thoughts in my head. I just turned into a complete idiot. So... I kissed him back. I didn't escape, oh no. This idiot princess kissed him back just as passionately as he'd kissed her!" Ves was laughing now.

"My father would have my hide! Not just that. But seriously though Minsy, that was my first kiss with a man. Our little cherry practice sessions don't count." Ves said with a smirk. Mina felt her face cramp up.

It was fine that her friend had regained her jovial mood. But could she be a little less embarrassing maybe? Ves had only been 12 years old during their cherry practice sessions, but she hadn't seemed to mind... suddenly, Mina felt a hand slapping her on the shoulder as Ves laughed. "Come now, got you all fired up over those memories of seducing and corrupting a young princess?"

How had the conversation taken this ridiculous turn? She had to stop her friend before things got out of hand. Again.

[I don't see how this has anything to do with Jack.]

"Oh yeah, the story's not finished. We ki-kissed, then I asked him how long he'd been awake and, well... Apparently, he'd been awake the whole time." Ves said. Mina's eyebrows rose. She now understood the source of her friends anger.

[Scoundrel.]

"Rogue." Ves replied with a smile. "Anyway, the men should be about done with their dip and I'm hungry."

[You think the perpetrator will join us for dinner?]

"Oh he will." Ves said. Mina felt something tickling the back of her mind almost as if something was scratching the the wards, but she ignored it. "And I'm thinking about poisoning his food! A little diarrhea should teach him to not go around kissing princesses in the middle of the forest! Hah." Ves said still grinning. [I fail to see how that would help. Seems a little childish. Besides, you were the one who brought him along on that trip. You and him alone. It's not like he's all to blame, you need two to gango.]

"I hate gango, reminds me of Sebastian." Ves muttered. "Forget that. I have to prepare the great diarrhea enlightenment for Jack." her friend said with a disturbing smile. Now that she'd forgiven him, it seemed to be her turn to get back at the strange man. Mina wondered if she should warn Jack of the coming Diarrhea enlightenment or leave Ves to her shenanigans.