March 3, 2019, 3:47 pm. Between two nerve-racking screams.

Even as the poor K'tharn screams, I can see the broken bones in her arms shifting, each one moving under the circle's power. There's an audible snap as one returns to its proper position. It's at that point when her screams cut off. Not because the pain is gone, but because Cinther's passed out.

When we acquired the circle from the old healer, we'd been told the pain could be alleviated. 'It's possible to use without causing pain, but that requires training. If you serve as my apprentice, that's only one of the things I'll teach you.' Considering everything else we have to do, there was no way I could accept her offer. We did agree to help where we could, though. And Tipan told me she's considering taking the healer's offer. But only after the rest of us are safely on our way home.

"What've you done to her, Voidbrat!?" Curthy demands, tearing my attention away from my crude healing. But she's held back by the other two while Smoulder stands guard on my shoulder, staring her down. I can see the doubt in their eyes as Cinther writhes on the ground, even unconscious. There's no time to reassure them, I need to focus on Cinther. If I don't maintain the transfer, the healing won't finish properly. I'd rather not leave her with anything in the wrong place.

Once most of her injuries have been addressed, I sigh in relief as I check my mana. Almost half of my over twelve-hundred mana expended in little over a minute. I've gone days without letting my mana get this low.

"Okay. She should be fine," I say, inclining my head to the three K'tharn behind me. Despite the fact they were the ones holding Curthey back, she stays where she was struggling while the other two squat at my side. I move away as they check her over. "It might be a few minutes before she wakes up. It's a stressful experience."

"Thank you. Without Zetha, we didn't have any-" Mothey's words are cut off when Cinther's eyes flutter open with a cough, rolling to her side to heave silently.

"We're glad we could help," Rose says from somewhere over my shoulder as I’m putting the healing circle away only to discover it’s cracked. Damn. I must have channelled my mana through too quickly.

"Okay. They healed Cinther. Now what? We're here to arrest them, Mothey!" Curthey is pulling at her fur with all four arms while pacing back and forth with long strides.

Mothey answers without bothering to look away from where she's holding Cinther's shoulders, "They healed Cinther, Curthey. Besides, you saw them against Obelix. They destroyed him in seconds. What chance do you think we have?"

Curthey sputters as she spins back and forth, "There's no way Nightstar will forgive us if we let them go!"

I shuffle away from them, taking Rufka's hand, Smoulder still in place. I hope they don't try to fight, but if it comes to it, we can easily escape. As Rose takes my other hand, Mothey steps away from where she was checking on Cinther, grabbing Curthey, forcing her to meet her eyes. "Nightstar won't need to forgive us, because we never saw them."

"What are you talking about? They're right there."

"Are they? Those look like helpful travellers. They certainly don't look like Voidborne terrorists."

"But… they..."

"They what?"

"They didn't…" Curthey stares at Mothey for a second then looks at where Obelix's body fell. Finally, she directs her gaze to where Cinther is hugging Lathry. Something seems to go out of her as she slumps slightly before bobbing her head slightly. "They… they're travellers. Just helpful people we happened upon."

"Good. Now, what say we gather up our gliders, see if we can't figure out what went wrong." Mothey follows this up by clasping Curthey on the shoulder, before starting down the nearby slope, pulling Curthey along with her.

"Huh. Kinda didn't expect them to be reasonable," Rufka admits as they move away.

I don't make out Rose's response, as my attention is elsewhere, watching Lathry help Cinther to her feet. Cinther wavers slightly. Once she recovers, she takes several steps towards us before stopping directly in front of me. She takes a deep breath, then says, "I wanted to thank you. You're probably not Astrean, but I wanted to say a prayer. If that's okay?"

"Uhm sure?" Despite Astra's dominant role in their culture, I haven't met a single practicing worshiper since I've arrived on Akilo.

She starts reciting a short but unfamiliar prayer, asking that all our families remain safe and that those we deal with treat us with honour. To my surprise, Rufka joins her in the prayer. Is Rufka an Astrean? It occurs to me that I never asked. Honestly, I thought that if she worshipped a god, it would be Vaus. She certainly uses her name often enough.

When they finish, I thank Cinther politely while observing Rufka out of the corner of my eye. She seemed to take the prayer with a seriousness I've only seen her display when she feels the need for a 'real talk'. Her words.

As we wait for their companions, Lathry and Cinther properly introduce themselves as well as their erstwhile companions. During the introductions, I create temporary furniture, startling them slightly. Despite being briefed on our abilities, apparently there's some gaps in their intel. Which I find reassuring.

Once we’re settled in, Cinther discloses the whole reason they're in the area in the first place is because they were searching for us. "There are only two kinds of orders coming out of command these days. Find the Voidborne Outlanders and evacuate civilians to Aethire. There hasn't been a single mention of striking back at the Lords, even though they've killed hundreds."

"What do you mean killed hundreds? The M’tari are attacking? And what does Voidborne even mean?" I ask, the news ruining my attempt to lounge in one of our chairs right as I’d thought everything was kosher. Rufka is inspecting one of their gliders, already setting out her tools so they can get home at a reasonable speed. I want to watch, maybe even take a crack at helping her, but my attention remains on Cinther.

"I'm not entirely certain. Curthey could probably explain it better. She was always closer to Zetha than the rest of us. Zetha is...was our Flight-Captain."

"Oh. I take it she didn't…"

Lathry grits her teeth before answering, "She was on Obelix's back when he… changed. I've heard of it happening to those who descend into the rifts. But I've never heard of a bonded dragon becoming warped on the surface. It caught us all off guard. He's been serving longer than I've been alive."

I pat her hand, not sure what to say.

Cinther shifts in her chair, clearly uncomfortable. "We should have expected something when the System blocked our messages. But Zetha insisted we had a duty."

"She was worried about what Nightstar would do if we returned against orders. Especially without word of the Voidborne," Curthey interjects, dropping her end of the makeshift stretcher she'd been carrying behind her, causing several of the gliders to bounce out messily across the dark blue-green grass of the hill.

"Why're you so afraid of this Nightstar?" Rose asks as Mothey cries out before chasing one of the loose gliders that caught the wind. It flips and nearly escapes her as she chases after it. But she leaps a dozen feet in the air, successfully wrestling it around before guiding it down.

Curthey doesn't even glance in her direction, all four hands pressed against the table as she meets each of our eyes in turn. "If Nightstar finds out we're keeping you from her, she won't just kill us. She'll turn us into light-bound. Then, not only will we have no choice but to tell her everything we know, we'll be forced to serve her, following in her shadow until she's decided we've fulfilled our duty. And even then, once she's satisfied we've done our part, she won’t free us. She’ll just allow us to die for the good of all K’tharn."

"Harsh," Rose says, leaning away as Curthey deflates.

Lathry hits the table, "Doesn't matter what the Nightstar wants. Not anymore. Now that we've lost our dragon, our captain and more than half our squad… Command's not going to question us. We've already lost too many sisters."

"At least we don't have to fly home with any Fallen," Cinther offers with a weak smile reaching out to Curthey.

"Heh, yeah," Curthey agrees, taking the offered hand.

Rose continues talking with the others as I join Rufka. Now that she's ready to start, I'm going to assist her.

Well, I'm going to hand her tools while watching her work. While I do have an enchanting class now, the skills don’t allow me to do the sort of fine work she’s doing here. Mostly. She does get me to do a couple simple enchantments. Which she has to touch up, but she assures me it’s faster than doing them entirely herself.

Even as I ponder the usefulness of my subclass, I hand Rufka a small tool that's like a flathead screwdriver but with three sharp bends in it. Somehow, each bend restricts her personal mana, allowing her to redirect the flow of the enchantment without contaminating its core structure.

I watch her work, listening as she describes what she's doing, taking notes in my Journal tab the entire time. Unfortunately, I already know most of this. What I really need is to spend time practicing in a proper crafting room.

Rufka's final touch is creating a cradle where anyone can set a mana essence to power the glider. She doesn't say it, but she doesn't want them to be able to charge it with their own mana. I know enough to know she could have set it up that way.

"All finished. You're probably going to want to get rid of these once you get back to the Aetherium. They've got my pawmarks all over them," Rufka advises Mothey as she hands the last of the modified gliders over.

Cinther gives Rufka a half-hug in thanks, provoking a surprised squeak. Smiling in their direction, Mothey extends her hand in a less intimate gesture. "Thank you again for all your help. I'm starting to think that what command's been saying about you isn't true. Either way, the Nightstar is hunting you. I hope she never gets her paws on you."

"Let me guess. That we started the war with the Lords of the Deep? No mention of Ivicka and her Fallen attacking Lord Thansome?" I ask while pulling Smoulder from where she was about to leap onto Curthey.

"Uh. Not exactly," Mothey says, floundering.

"Ivicka's a hero. Everyone knows that," Curthey states, not noticing the way Rose shifts. Rufka and I both tense, prepared to stop him. It wouldn't be the first time he acted out in response to that statement. He and Tipan got into an argument about it just before we left. She still hasn’t told him about what she’s read in the book.

Rose draws himself up but releases a slow hiss before saying, "Maybe she used to be. I doubt it. But those Fallen serving with the Flights? They're no better off than the Nightstar's Light-bound. They used to be normal people, like you and me. Then Ivicka stole another's research, turning it to evil. She turned them into those monsters to serve her."

"What? Ivicka would never do that. Look, you might not be as bad as command says, but you're wrong about Ivicka," Curthey declares before stomping away.

Mothey crinkles her whiskers, glancing after Curthey, "Forgive her. She was saved by Ivicka. Ivicka's the one who inspired her to sign up."

"Me too," Cinther says, with a helpless smile. "She was so cool. Everything I ever wanted to be."

"I'm sorry, I can't forgive her. But it doesn't matter. We'll be gone soon," Rose pauses as he sits, before adding, "She was like a sister to me. Ivicka, I mean. She used to take me into Aethire during the Wilved festival. She'd bring Ablabix, and we'd enter the races as a team. She'd even let me guide Ablabix. Not that I was any good. The last festival, right before Celthi was born, we even won first place. I remember her swearing that she'd never let anything hurt me… And then she betrayed my family."

"Oh. I'm so sorry," Cinther exclaims, reaching over to take two of Rose's hands in her own which causes him to go still. "It's hard enough when you lose family. But to have them turn on you. That's the worst."

"Uh... yeah," Rose tilts his head in a barely perceptible nod. Is he scared of Cinther?

"We should be going. Places to be. Users to avoid," Rufka says, grabbing mine and Rose's shoulders.

"Totally. We, uh, need to go," Rose agrees.

"It was nice to meet you, Rose." I hear Cinther say as Rufka and I pack away our luxuries.

"It was nice to meet you too, Cinther." Rose blinks several times.

"I'd say the same, but we never met." Mothey winks then sticks her hand out to me again. Distracted, I take it while trying to figure out what's going on with Rose. Which leaves me extra startled when she pulls me in for a half hug. "Thank you again for saving Cinther. She'd never admit it, but she really is the best of us."

"Uhm. Best is best," I respond while slowly patting her on the back. I guess it's my turn to be tongue-tied.

Then we're in the air, waving goodbye to an Aetherium flight.

"Oh. Almost forgot." Rufka pulls me towards the defeated dragon.

Nodding, I loot the dragon, netting us a handful of mana Essence while cleaning up any sign of our involvement. As the dragon turns into blue dust, several small lizards run away, their long hind legs chewing through the churned earth, chunks of dragon flesh clutched possessively in their foreclaws. They disappear into the surrounding terrain quickly, their dark hides blending easily amongst the low scrub and rock of the foothills.

I shiver at the idea of eating raw warped dragon.

Just… no.

After our encounter with the Aetherium Flight, conversation is surprisingly light. Rose and Rufka are both joking again. Maybe we needed a break from each other, if only for a bit.

A few minutes later, Rose looks back, then turns to us. "So, I didn't want to mention it while we were with the Aetherium. But the Nightstar, she's not some random K'tharn."

"Yeah. Mum says she's dangerous, even to her. Hard to defend against."

"Well, yeah. There's that. But that's not what I meant. I'm pretty sure she's Tipan's father."

It takes my brain a second to wrap around that sentence until I remember that when K'tharn use the word father, it's to mean the other parent who might have also been their teacher. It's not a word that fits neatly in their language.

"Mum never told me the Nightstar had children."

"It's not widely known. She was forbidden from interacting with her," Rose informs us.

"Figures. People never get that powerful without going crazy in some way or other."

"Are you calling your mum crazy?"

"Have you met her?" Rufka asks.

"Yes," Rose and I answer together.

"There's your answer," Rufka laughs, deep and full. It probably echoes for kilometres. Even as I join in, it occurs to me that now that we can't escape via teleport, perhaps we should be using more caution.

So, as the conversation continues, both of them speculating on what sort of powers the Nightstar has, I wrap us in a bubble of invisibility. It's less perfect than turning each person invisible, but it allows us to see and hear each other without any other spells. As they discuss the Nightstar, one thing becomes clear. The only things they know are that the Nightstar is fast, she uses light, and, not counting any Light-bound, she always works alone.

The discussion peters out as we fly higher into the mountains. As the sun is starting to set, Rufka calls for a halt. "Do you feel that?"

Rose is nodding at the same time I ask, "Feel what?"

"The cold. It's stronger here. I'm taking health damage."

"Well, I can fix that," I say as I extend a gentle flame, infusing my aura with warmth inside the stealth sphere.

"Thanks, Lex," Rose rubs his hands together before holding them out towards me even though he's inside the sphere.

"No problem. Let's stay close together though, keep the mana cost down."

"Sounds good," Rufka exclaims, throwing her arms over each of our shoulders then sags as she weakens her flight, forcing us to hold her up.

I roll my eyes, but don't let her pull us down as we continue through the broken peaks of the Southern Upheaval. Most of the mountains here were never named. At least, not by anyone with the Explorer subclass.

It might be a good opportunity.

We're here anyway.

Why not do a little exploring?