To say that a night in Elkif was restful or comfortable would be a severe overstatement. While it was true that Alma and Surdi have both slept at worse places, which included a warehouse in demolished Rotler, Glavas' old room did not exactly stand up to the standards of certain inns and hotels. The room was tiny. There was barely enough room for a single bed, a wardrobe, and a desk. The remaining free space was then scarcely enough for one person to lay down on the floor, and should they decide to stretch, chances were pretty high that they would bump into something. Nevertheless, there simply wasn't any other choice. Glavas let the children share his old bed, while he cushioned the floor as best as he could with any free blankets he could find. The comfort, however, was still minimal. More than once did he wake up after he shuffled too much and hit his head against the wardrobe, or stubbed his toe against the desk on the other side of the tiny room. A much worse night, however, awaited Surdi. Since the bed was too small, Alma came up with a plan that she will sleep on the edge, so that if Surdi would kick and push, he wouldn't toss her down onto the floor. In theory, such a plan seemed logical. The reality, on the other hand, was far too different. It was true that Alma's immovability made it impossible for the young dragon to take up too much space in the bed, but the same wasn't true the other way around. When Alma tossed and turned, she would often push Surdi against the wall with so much force he felt like she was trying to press him through it and onto the other side. Even worse than this were then her arms. If one of them landed on the dragon when she stretched, he was simply doomed to let it pin him down.

"Good morning! Slept well?" Sina asked the trio when they finally left the room.

"Yeah. It wasn't half bad," Alma remarked and sat down at the dining table.

Surdi rubbed his eyes. He noticed that Sina said something, but even trying to read her lips seemed like too much work. "Morin'" he muttered and sat down beside her friend.

"Aww. You look terrible," Alma said and pat him on the head when she saw the boy rest it on the table.

"Well, that night could've been better," Glavas sighed and scratched the bumps on his head.

"Then have some of this. It'll spring you right on your feet!" Glint served a plate on the table.

"Oh hell yeah!" Glavas exclaimed and immediately reached for one of the slices of bread with an almost toxic-green jam on top. "Twy fome!" he mumbled with his mouth full and slid the plate over to Alma. She reluctantly reached for a slice and took a nibble. The taste was almost indescribable. Sweetness, unlike those of the jams she had tasted before, accompanied by a slight sour bite, which quickly disappeared, only to keep reappearing again the more she chewed it.

"Ugh!" her face scrunched up. "What the hell is that?!"

"Seia jam. This thing can even wake up the dead. I'm pretty sure it's Sizzy's secret to her necromancy," Glavas smirked.

"It's so... much!" Alma tried her best to put the experience into words.

"But you do feel more awake now, don't you?"

"Huh... yeah, I kinda do."

"See. Works great." He winked at her and took another generous bite. She watched with horror as he visibly enjoyed the taste so typical of his hometown. How he managed to not only stand eating something like that but also find it pleasurable, was beyond her.

"Surdi!" she called to him and gently tapped on his shoulder.

"Hrrrmph..." the dragon responded without opening his eyes.

"Yummy! Have some," she practically sang to him and pushed a small, torn-off piece of the bread right under his nose. She grinned a little when his nostrils widened for a moment. Only after smelling the fruity odor did he finally open his eyes. First, he quickly glanced at the strangely-colored jam, and then over to Alma.

[Tasty. Try it,] she signed. For a moment, he pondered whether or not he was in the mood for trying new food, but eventually gave in and bit into the snack.

[Gross! What the fuck?!] he started signing the moment the taste stopped bothering his tongue and he could think clearly again. [How is that tasty?!]

[It's not, but it woke you up, no?]

Surdi took a moment to think it over. Truly, his previous fatigue was mostly gone now. [Yeah... I guess it did.]

In the meantime, Glavas managed to finish his slice and without a sliver of doubt in his mind, he immediately reached for another, which, to the horror of the children, disappeared in his mouth even faster than the first.

"So, what are your plans for today?" Glint asked. "If you wish, you can help us with the preparations of the Extinguishing feast."

"Actually, I would like to go back to Sizzy's place. I feel like we should spend some more time together since we're finally... you know, on decent terms again." Glavas replied and turned to the kids. "You coming with me?"

"Nah, I wanna help prepare stuff. I haven't celebrated anything properly in ages, so I'd like to enjoy it, prep and all."

"Ah, okay. What about you, Surdi? Will you come with me to Sizzy?"

[To Sizzy? Not... really. I wanna stay here, if that's okay.]

Glavas had no trouble agreeing. Although he was worried about the safety of the children, he figured that with the demon so severely injured, it would take at least a couple of days before they would hear from him again. Still, that did not keep the hunter from giving the children lengthy and rather annoying safety instructions.

"So if you want me to come for an emergency, just..."

[Fireball into the sky like a flare or scream really loudly to get someone's attention. Yeah, we heard you the past three times.]

"Right... Okay, I'll be off then. Stay safe, alright? And don't get into any trouble." The hunter packed his gear and headed off toward the funeral parlor.

"Okay, I'll go chop some wood for a fire. You two can start helping Glint with..."

"Actually, can I come with you?" Alma interrupted Sina.

"Really? It's not gonna be easy. The rockbark wood we get here around Elkif is tough. Chopping it ain't easy work."

"I'll manage."

"Heh, alright, fine. I'm curious to see that strength of yours in action. Show me what you got then?" Sina smiled and handed Alma a rather large axe she usually used to chop firewood. Even though Glavas explained the girl's unstoppable ability to his parents, Sina still couldn't believe her eyes when someone as small and at first glance frail as Alma tossed the heavy tool over her shoulder and carried it outside with minimal effort.

When the door shut behind the two, Glint and Surdi stared at each other for a moment without exchanging a word.

"Fuck, I don't know human sign language," the old elf thought to himself when he finally realized that communicating with Surdi may be a problem. He slowly approached and waved his hands in the air. The young dragon stared at him with eyes wide open when he saw a faint, translucent string as it formed in the space between them and began twisting and bending to loosely form a few letters. Glint's face scrunched up as he desperately tried to use his magic to write something that wouldn't be elvish.

"H E L O" the letters eventually spelled for a brief moment before disappearing.

[That was so cool! How did you do that? Can you teach me?]

Glint scratched the back of his head. "Man, I did not think this through."

"Oh, you don't know sign language? I can talk if you want," said Surdi. His words sometimes blended together or certain sounds did not leave his lips as he intended, but the meaning was loud and clear.

"Wait, you can understand me?"

"Yeah. I can read lips quite well."

"That actually works? I thought it was just a myth. That it was really difficult to tell different sounds apart just based on the movement of the mouth."

"Kind of. I..." Surdi paused for a moment, trying to find the best way to explain what he saw. "It's like when you speak, there is this... smoke coming from your mouth? It changes based on what syllables you say. I've learned to tell them apart."

"So that's how you do it! Your magic assists you. That's awesome!"

"Heh, thanks. But I don't do that on purpose. At some point, it just started happening."

Glint scratched his chin and his eyes slid to the side, staring into nowhere. "Makes sense actually. From what Glavas told us last night, you can control chemicals, mostly of gaseous form. And since innate magic is a natural extension of your body, your subconscious desire to understand what people are saying was answered by your mana. Ha! One could write academic work about such a phenomenon. Could help a lot of people in the future."

"You know a lot about magic, don't you?" Surdi assumed, based on how passionate Glint seemed to be about the dragon's ability. "Your hair is almost gone. Did you use up all your mana?"

Glint grinned at the boy and rubbed his almost completely bald head. "Hehe, yup. You see, I've been doing a lot of experimentation with it. Remember the construction process you've seen yesterday? I came up with that. All of it. The stone they use does not exist in the natural world. I came up with a way to synthesize it. Malleable, yet sturdy when the supply of mana is cut. Cheap to conjure, yet not lacking in quality. Centuries well spent on something like that, if you ask me. Though my spellcasting days are over, my legacy will live on for generations. That was definitely worth it."

"You actually created a new material? Just with magic? Is something like that even possible?"

"Yes! I was born a geomancer and wondered what sorts of rocks I could summon. Eventually, I learned that even the sky isn't the limit when it comes to magic! And that despite all our scientific development, we still know so little about what we can actually achieve."

A warm, stinging flame of excitement burned in Surdi's chest so strongly now that he could no longer withhold his question. "Can you teach me?"

"Teach you? You mean... to make the bricks?"

"No, in general. You seem to know a lot about innate magic, and I can't really learn it anywhere else."

"Why don't you ask Glavas? He was always very creative with the way he used his."

"Because he... well, let's say that he doesn't want to use it. It's still too early for him."

"Ah, I get that. One shouldn't rush themselves into trusting their own magic again."

"Exactly. But I need to learn. I need to get better. To get stronger!"

"Why? What makes you hurry so much with it?"

Surdi clenched his fists, firmly grasping the edge of his tunic. "I don't want it to happen again."

"Again? You mean what happened in your hometown?"

"No, I mean all of it. Sometimes, when something reminds me of home, I... I feel like I am there again. And I am scared. I can't move or do anything. And when I saw that demon, I ran. Instead of protecting Alma and helping Glavas, I ran. She's unstoppable and Glavas has years of training and experience, but I'm just someone that always needs protecting. I want to change that. I don't want to hold them back." There was something determined flickering in his eyes. The way he started at Glint made the old elf feel like he was willing to do anything just to obtain a few scraps of wisdom.

"Surdi..." he smiled and sat on a chair next to him. "You're not holding them back. Neither of them. Remember what Glavas wrote on the wood in Rotler? Your name! You helped him push through those difficult times. Who knows if he would've made it without you. You saved my son from a very dark place. That doesn't seem like holding anyone back. If anything, you help him carry on forward."

"But..."

"Not to mention that the fear you feel isn't something that magic would resolve. Of all the wonderous things it can do, and all the injuries it can heal, the scars you carry, I'm afraid, can't be mended by it. For that, you'd require the help of someone more qualified than a construction worker from the middle of nowhere."

"I know! But... I'd still like to learn. I want to be able to defend myself next time something might happen. So that if we're in danger, they wouldn't have to worry so much about me. So please! Can you teach me anything? Anything at all?"

Glint sighed. "Wait here for a moment." He stood up and walked outside the main door. Across the street, he saw his wife and Alma, chopping wood at a small building she usually used as her workplace. "Hey, Sina? Mind if I do the preparations in the evening? I wanna show Surdi around the town a bit."

"Sure, but don't spend a whole day like that," she called back shortly before bringing her axe down through another sizable chunk of wood and turning to Alma. "Ha! In one swing!"

"Thanks!" Glint replied and retreated back into the house. "Okay, Surdi, I'm gonna show you something that might help you. Come with me."