Ranvir sat aching within his tether-space reconstructing the walls. Instead of recreating the invisible flat planes that previously defined the parameters of the space, he used invisible bricks smushed together with invisible mortar. There was slightly more to the technique Ione had provided him, but the essence was there. It would, supposedly, last longer when breaking down as it didn’t tear down in huge chunks, but instead brick by brick.

It was also tedious. It took care, effort, and vivid visualization to create each brick. With a sigh, he felt someone gently shaking his knee and he left the space.

Blinking in the bright light, he saw Pashar’s form crouching before him withdrawing her hand, “That was an hour.”

Ranvir nodded and grabbed his walking stick. They’d had to gather one from the side of the road halfway through the first day of travel as his side had become too sore. It didn’t fix the issue, but it relieved the symptoms a bit, if not a lot.

Pashar helped him to his feet before nodding to Amalia and the young woman took off. Ranvir sighed looking at the lush greenery that flanked the road. He still knew nothing about the city they were heading to, nor really the country. Traveling like this would’ve been a lot more bearable if they weren’t doing it largely in silence.

He was usually good with long stretches of quiet, but something to distract him from the pain would be nice. His mind wandered to Esmund who couldn’t even have let him walk in silence for ten minutes without yelling at him from the carriage or jumping down to walk beside him when they’d been traveling to the academy.

He shook his head and started trodding along. Not the time. With Amalia ahead of him and Pashar insisting on keeping the rear, Ranvir set to walking. He knew Pashar stayed behind him for fear that his condition would suddenly worsen, a not entirely unwarranted worry.

Ranvir knew he was holding the group back, forcing the others to slow for him. Then again, they were only on this trip for him. Their two day trip to Crotenus was officially on their third day. Amalia had said something last night that Pashar and he collectively agreed on meaning that they were close.

Hopefully, Ranvir thought as he plodded along, his side a constant orange ache. It didn’t help that they wasted so much time in the mornings for Ranvir to do the exercise Ione had given him. The hour long building of walls wouldn’t be that bad if it didn’t take him half an hour or longer to even enter the tether-space.

The city came into view suddenly. Ranvir felt like he’d just looked up and seen nothing, only to raise his gaze at Amalia’s exclaimed “Look!” he didn’t even need to really understand her language to know what she meant. Crotenus had no walls, so the buildings sprawled freely and openly.

From a distance, Ranvir couldn’t judge how big the buildings were, but their construction seemed well made. He doubted they could match Ione’s manor, however. Hers was built with tiny bricks of clay barely longer than Ranvir’s hand. Not even the academy buildings were made with such fine brickwork. Not to mention the mortar and the other requirements for such a building to withstand the trials of nature. Some of the flair he noted on the structures had to be a difference of fashion rather than construction ability, though some of the buildings were undoubtedly more advanced than elusrian or even ankirian work.

Pashar agreed on at least that much. She seemed to think Korfyi was more advanced, older, than Vednar. Ranvir wasn’t sure, but he could see it making sense. Once they reached the outskirts of the city, he noticed lights were rising above the roofs and towers. Four beams of pale blue rising into the sky.

Most of building appeared to be of a similar size to what he’d find in Elusria City, though the streets were far cleaner with designated pathways for pedestrian travel. Ranvir really appreciated that detail. The architecture favored overhangs that provided shade as well as pale cylindrical pillars to shore up such constructions. There were even a few times where buildings on either side of the road were connected by a huge overhang.

Ranvir couldn’t help but be appreciative even if it seemed a little outlandish and overly done, because it provided some much needed shade in the overbearing heat. Something that was sorely lacking on the road, Ranvir’d found. They’d been given some cream to smear on their skin at the end of the day, but he still found himself to be feeling a little sore afterwards, though it curtailed skin burns well.

The wagons weren’t far from what Ranvir already recognized, wheels, a place to sit and steer, and a bed for storing stuff. He felt relief to find another thing that reminded him of home. There were some small attachments around the wheels and other places he didn’t recognize but they seemed like minor stuff, easy to miss.

Ranvir staggered to the side as a whole group of people dressed in leathers similar to Amalia’s passed them by. These also wore the three strips of cloth on their shoulders, though of different colors. They briefly nodded to Amalia, who had reluctantly slowed down once they got between the buildings, before moving on. Ranvir burned with questions that he lacked the words to ask as the group passed.

They all seemed well acquainted with travel and most of them carried weapons of one kind or another. Swords, knives, axes, and a pair with staffs. Were they soldiers? Heading towards a battle somewhere? They were a small group if that was the case, more likely they were out on patrol. Though, as he looked over his shoulder, he noticed they didn’t walk with the structure or rigidity of trained discipline. Was that common here? Was it common back home?

“Pashar, do you know what they were?” Ranvir asked over the din of the people.

“Militia maybe,” she replied, gently pressing on his back to move faster. “I think those ribbons on their shoulders are for denoting rank.”

Ranvir nodded, as stepped up his speed to follow Amalia who flowed through the crowd. He noted the disturbing amount of skirts he saw as they moved through the city, heading towards those blue pillars of light. He looked down as he walked making sure he placed his walking stick carefully, so at first he only saw the sandaled feet and the skirts, but looking up he noticed that as many men as women wore them.

The crowds thinned as Amalia wove them through the streets, until finally they seemed to make it out of the most congested part of the city and the roads quickly cleared up.

“Why were there so many men dressed like women?” Ranvir asked not bothering to keep his voice hushed as none but Pashar could understand him.

The older woman rolled her eyes, “There weren’t. There were a lot of people dressed like it’s really hot for most of the year.”

“You mean they dress like that in Ankiria too?”

“Not as common right now, but ten years ago you could hardly find a pair of pants in the entire capital.”

“Really?” Ranvir asked eyebrows raised.

Amalia yelled at them with her arms crossed a light scowl on her face as she impatiently tapped one booted foot on the stones.

“She’s not though,” he remarked.

“She’s wearing glyphs, or something similar,” Pashar replied as they started walking again.

Soon they reached a large structure of similar brickwork to Ione’s manor, with large arched doorways framed by tiny hand-thick pillars of white stone. A heraldry was emblazoned on the door and on signs that stood out high on the walls easily visible to passersby, of a quill and an eye.

“Psykimes,” Amalia said as she waved at the building and then up at the lights rising from it.

Ranvir frowned searching for the right word.

“Both?” Pashar asked before he could.

Amalia nodded, “Come.”

Entering the building was like stepping back into Elusria. Instead of wet heat that thickened the air and stuck to the skin, it was almost chilly and the air blessedly dry. Ranvir couldn’t help but gape at the difference, turning to look at the door.

“That’s…” he didn’t have words, but Pashar seemed to agree with him regardless.

“Not even in the palace,” she muttered, “too much energy.”

Ranvir turned back just in time to see a clerk behind the desk walk away as Amalia turned back to watch with a sly grin on her face.

“Unfamiliar?” she asked. Ranvir nodded, having already met and shook hands with that specific word on multiple occasions over the last week. Another clerk entered the room and greeted Amalia warmly, smiling brightly. She briefly introduced them, though much of the interaction went over Ranvir’s head.

“Ranvir and Pashar,” Amalia said. “This is Minos,” she paused deliberately picking her words. “Friend at the psykimes.”

He waved for them to follow and Ranvir suddenly realized he was going to have to do the soul imprint thing soon. He knew it would be relatively simple, just an extension of his tether-sense was required. Except his spirit was incredibly tender and sensitive for the moment.

Ranvir distracted himself by examining the clerk. He was in what was supposedly old-fashioned or traditional garb. A single long draping cloth that wrapped around the body loosely. Ranvir found it interesting how, despite the clothing looking simple, it had clearly been devised to still offer near-complete freedom of movement, though, Minos also wore a top pinned at both shoulders that draped heavily over his arms.

The clerk led them into an empty room with a single pillar of gray stone in the middle, a glass cut out revealed blue light traveling through the center. The clerk touched a gemstone set into the pillar for a moment before stepping out of the room.

Once the door closed Amalia put her hand on the same gem. Ranvir really missed his tether-sense at that moment. He could tell that she was doing something, but he couldn’t begin to guess what.

Instead, he started preparing himself to enter tether-space. Amalia finished way before he was ready, but that wasn’t unexpected in his state. He went to kneel in front of the gem as he got a confirmation of his next actions in as few words as possible.

Eventually, he found his way into tether-space. It was much changed from how he’d ever seen it previously. The tether hung like a dead structure of stone through the center of the space colored a dull gray. It didn’t spin, or twist, or move in any way. He sensed a single brick tipped off the wall and fell into the oblivion beyond tether-space. Shuddering, Ranvir took a deep breath.

He reached for the pressure.

It came rushing in like a tidal wave, throwing Ranvir back to his body. He registered the thick ropes of his tether return to movement, seconds before they exploded into bright purple light. Whimpering as the sudden rush ripped at the walls, Ranvir clawed at the pillar as the power of his tether was reflected in his eyes.

Tiny sparks erupted all throughout tether-space, the walls shaking from the force. Some bricks simply fell off but many popped into sparks or simply disappeared. Spots of blackness appeared in Ranvir’s vision and he swayed on his knees as he reached out with his tether-sense.

Blinking for a moment, he wasn’t sure where to put it until Pashar’s face appeared in his vision and tapped the gemstone. Oh, right, he thought reaching for it. It seemed to drink in his touch, warming to it instantly. He started to withdraw, but Amalia appeared opposite Pashar and tapped it insistently.

“Continue?” He warbled, his voice seeming to ring in his ears as he blacked out for a moment. He didn’t even have time to leave his power or slump over before he returned to his senses.

Amalia nodded at him and tapped the gemstone, so Ranvir pressed back onto the stone. He didn’t know if he managed to keep it there for long before he passed out, but he hoped he’d done well.