Tala and Thron shared a brief long look, both seemingly considering the implications of Tala being able to switch targets on her gravity alterations.

As they stared at where the stone block had been, Rob made a throat clearing sound. “I bet that wouldn’t harm me. Let’s test.”

Thron closed his eyes and shook his head as Tala held in a laugh. In both cases, they did their best to ignore the orb.

And the existential crisis it invokes…

-Strength, Tala. We’ll find a way to help all the founts and vestiges, if and when we’re able.-

I know, but it’s still…odd.

-Oh, I know. Rob is very much like me, in a way. I’m glad that you’re still around, and that I’m not alone with just our soul for company.-

That…Tala hadn’t thought of it that way before, but Alat was right. I wonder if Rob is based on the person whose gate was stolen to make that vestige?

-We could ask at some point.-

When the time is right.

Finally, the dwarf broke the silence between them. “How hard is it to maintain the augmentation?”

Tala frowned. “I don’t maintain them, if they have a target. So long as the target and the modified object remain as I conceived of them, it should last forever.”

Thron blinked at her a few times. “Forever.”

“It should, yeah.”

He opened his mouth to comment, then closed it, frowning. Finally, he shook his head. “I don’t want to argue with you. Can you do a working, and we test that theory? You’ve said you’ve never tested how long it lasted, right?”

She shrugged. “No, I’ve never specifically tested it, but I haven’t needed to. Even so, I don’t mind verifying what I know.”

She pulled out two more of the new spheres and began ramping up their gravitational attraction towards each other as two separate workings.

As she was doing that, Terry appeared on her shoulder. “There you are. I’ve—”

A startled cry rose from Thron’s pocket. “It returns! The deep hunger has come for me…make it eat me or leave me alone!”

Thron patted his pocket. “None of that. You promised me silence. I’ve kept my promise. Have you kept yours?”

There was a pregnant pause. “Yes?”

“No. No you have not.”

“I’ll do better! I promise. In fact, I’ll start…now!”

Silence fell over them.

Thron grunted. “Fair enough.”

Tala turned to Terry. The bird was eyeing the dwarf’s pocket, but faced her when she began to speak, “Well? Where were you?”

He squawked with several descending notes then headbutted her and curled up.

“Hunting?”

He looked at her with one eye, imperiously.

“Hunting.” She grinned. “Glad you’re having fun, buddy.”

Thron shook his head. “You have emotionally bonded with that creature incredibly quickly. Are you sure you don’t have any magics towards that end? Some of the descriptions of your abilities were unhelpfully vague. I have a hard time grasping some of it, even after our recent discussion.”

Tala shrugged. “Nope. Nothing to enhance bonding, emotionally or otherwise.”

Terry had closed his eyes, but he let out a derisive trill.

“That’s rude, Terry.”

He cracked an eye open, giving her an incredulous look.

“Fine. I don’t actually know what you said.”

He closed his eye once again, and she would have sworn he wore a smug look.

Thron huffed a laugh. “You are an odd one.”—he paused for a moment, then shook his head—“Both of you are, now that I consider it.”

As Thron opened his mouth to ask something else, Tala held up her hand. “Eskau Pallaun is here.”

The obsidian skinned man walked out of the entrance bunker a moment later.

He wore black leather pants that somehow looked gray against his skin, and the bloodred of his protian gauntlet looked positively ruby at the end of his left arm.

As if a veil had been pulled back, memories from Tali came together with what Tala and Alat knew about conceptual magic and a realization struck her. Darkness. He wields the concept of darkness.

-OH! That makes so much sense.-

“Tala!” The man’s voice boomed out.

Tala froze, her heart rate picking up.

Thron gave her an odd look.

What do I do, what do I do, what do I do?

-Do what Tali would do.-

Tala cleared her throat and bowed, not having to fake the flush to her face. “It’s ‘Tali,’ Eskau Pallaun.”

The man stopped a few paces from her. “Was it? Are you sure?”

“That is my name.”

“Not Talb, Talia, or Tala-b?”

She frowned, genuinely confused. “Eskau Pallaun?”

He waved her off. “Forgive an old man his jokes.”

Does he want me to laugh? She chuckled nervously.

Thron was regarding her with consideration.

“Thron! Good to see you.”

“It’s ‘Thorn,’ Eskau Pallaun.” His words were a telling echo of Tala’s own.

Pallaun cocked an eyebrow. “Sticking with that disgrace?”

“He was my master, and I owe him much.”

The larger man shrugged. “It’s your choice, I suppose. But it is time for you to leave.”

“Eskau?”

“I want a private word with the new Eskau.”

Thron bowed. “With all due respect. This is Eskau Tali’s sanctum, and I am her attendant. I will not depart without her leave.”

The man smiled, his perfectly white teeth somehow looking black for a moment.

That makes no sense. Her mind was having trouble grasping the weight of his magical concept as conveyed by her mage-sight when overlaying her normal vision.

The two turned to regard Tala. She swallowed, then shook her head. “Thorn has duties, here. We can walk the sanctum, out of earshot, if privacy is a concern. I will not have him dismissed.”

Pallaun arched an eyebrow. “Well, that is a pleasant surprise.”

Thron bowed to Tala and to Pallaun. “Eskau. I will attend to my duties.”

The dwarf turned and went into the common building to the north of the dais.

Pallaun grinned. “I’d have killed him if he obeyed my order while in your sanctum.”

Tala’s eyes widened even as he placed a hand to his ear, as if listening for a reaction from the direction that Thron had gone.

“And he doesn’t listen in? You lucked into quite a wonderful servant, Eskau.”

Tala was feeling decidedly off balance. “Um, yes. I believe that I have.”

He nodded once. “Now, send away your pet. We need to talk alone.”

Tala glanced toward Terry, only to find the terror bird already rolling backwards off her shoulder. He landed deftly on the ground and sauntered off after Thron.

Pallaun didn’t comment on the fact that Terry had clearly understood him. “Now, we need to discuss your duties, going forward.”

That brought her focus back and gave her something to ground her swirling thoughts on. Yeah… I was wondering about those.

-They are pretty critical, as we are counting on them to safeguard us, if Be-thric ever discovers ‘Tali’s’ removal.-

“Oh?”

“I have been carrying your share of our duties while your initial upgrades were completed. I don’t know if you remember my checking on you while you were gate-breaking?”

She thought back. “Vaguely? I apologize, but nothing outside of myself and what I was going through really seemed important at the time.”

He grunted. “That’s fair. You did seem to be…otherwise occupied. Even so, the city is requiring more of the House of Blood, given that we have two Pillars, now. That has prestige and benefits, but also comes with more responsibilities. I am more than capable of doing the work of two Eskau."

He grinned, straightening his stance.

“But I won’t. There is much that I enjoy doing and the additional tasks are… boring.”

Well, that’s one way to shift responsibilities back to me. Even so, I don’t actually know what I’m supposed to be doing… She smiled, waiting for him to continue.

“You have no idea what the duties are.”

She hesitated, not wanting to show her ignorance, then shook her head. Tali doesn’t know either. “Not at all.”

Pallaun sighed. “As I suspected. You were raised in a little village on the outskirts, and when your Pillar brought you here, he was focused on training you to win, not for what came after.”

The obsidian man shook his head.

“I suppose I am to blame as well. We never discussed your impending duties when we sparred.”

Tala hesitantly nodded. “I am grateful for the focus on my survival. It seems to have yielded the best result possible.”

He laughed, the sound deep and full, like the rumbling of the earth beneath their feet.

Tala waited for him to finish, feeling awkward once again.

His mirth cut off abruptly. “As I was saying, your duties. You should know that an Eskau is the House’s Sword.”

“That is my understanding, yes.”

He gave a look that said: ‘Don’t interrupt.’

She closed her mouth and looked down at her hands.

His utterly black eyes seemed to fade into endless voids, momentarily highlighting just how inhuman he was.

He’s not just a man with different colored features. He is an arcane, through and through.

Tala kept herself from stepping back, but just barely.

If he noticed, he didn’t comment. He simply continued, “As one of the House’s Swords, you must contribute to the city. Those contributions fall into five categories. Now, be aware, this is in addition to the duties you have to the House itself, which you have also been neglecting due to your ignorance.”

He waited for her to silently nod in acknowledgment.

“First, if the city is attacked as a whole, in any manner, we are expected to muster and fight beside the other warriors in defense of the city. This effectively never happens. Magical beasts occasionally attack, but for the threat to be great enough to muster the Eskau…” He shook his head. “Eskau of this city have only been called on to fulfill this duty three times during Revered Sanguis’s reign as Pillar of the House of Blood.”

Three times, in how many thousands of years? “So, incredibly rare.”

“Precisely.” The Eskau glanced to her hand. “Are you almost done with that? I grow tired of standing in one place.”

She looked down at the tungsten in her hands. That is probably good, yeah.

-I’ll note the level of amplification for later comparison.-

Thank you, Alat.

“I am. Yes.” She sat the pair on the dais and made sure to hold in her mind that she didn’t want them moved. Kit shouldn’t interfere. “There we go.”

Pallaun looked around. “Show me your sanctum while I instruct you, child. I am always interested in the nuances the builders include for new Eskau, and I want to see what was made of my gift.”

Right, he donated this to Be-thric and me.

“Certainly, and thank you again.” Tala had no interest in arguing with the man. He could just ask Be-thric or Sanguis for the plans anyways.

He grunted and began walking.

As Tala and Pallaun moved down some of the side paths, by plants that were already growing at a prodigious rate, Pallaun delved back into the topic at hand. “The second duty that we Eskau perform for the city is a more common one. We are in rotation to officiate high profile duels. Specifically, where the combatants are Elder or above. The City Lord ensures that the Eskau called upon is neutral to the topic under dispute, and then leaves it in their hands.”

That made sense. Eskau were martial in nature, and so using them to oversee duels that could easily get out of hand made a good deal of sense.

I’m not exactly suited to it, though.

“I’m not sure how good I’d be at that, honestly. I’m a fair hand at killing my enemies, but protecting observers or stopping the contestants non-lethally?”

Tala shook her head.

-You know, we’ve had this issue before. We really aren’t very good at defending others directly.-

Best defense is a good offense?

-Only if you can shock and awe every enemy on the field simultaneously.-

Something to aspire to, I suppose.

Pallaun shook his head. “No, no. You misunderstand, child.”

“Tali.” Well, Tala.

He snorted. “Fine, Tali.”

“Thank you.”

He waved her off, continuing as if she hadn’t interrupted. “The duty is mainly in an officiation capacity. The arenas have magics imbued in them that provide for the defense of the onlookers, and even some means of inhibiting the combatants, but you must be there to activate them at the appropriate times and mediate both before and after. You are the force that enforces the outcome, even if those with a stake in it don’t like the results. There is still bribery and attempts to influence the outcome, but that is to be expected.”

Tala felt a tickling from the part of her mind which housed Tali.

Whenever she was interacting with someone familiar with Tali, Tala kept part of her thoughts looking for what the other ‘her’ would do.

Thus, she knew what she needed to say, “I can understand that. If the champion of my cause lost, but I thought that I could still kill the opponent and take what I want, I might be tempted.”

“Precisely. If it is over the fate of a person or item, the Eskau will hold onto it during the clash. Beyond that, it should be fairly self-explanatory. I will accompany you to the first duel that you officiate and explain how to activate the workings, as well as anything else that seems necessary.”

“Noted.”

“Third. One day per month, you will attend the City Lord as one of his guards. This duty is waived if you are traveling for House business. This duty is a show of force and unity, and your shifts of that work will be more often than standard to start, because you are a new Eskau, and the City Lord always wishes to get to know the new Eskau in his city. If your Pillar is ever moved to another city, you should expect increased shifts for the same purpose, there.”

Tala tilted her head. “I can see the logic on one side, but wouldn’t that be a terrible idea if there was any chance of dissension?”

Pallaun quirked a dark smile. “Oh? Do you believe you could truly threaten a half-Hallowed?”

Half-Hallowed…That’s above Reforged, well on the way from blue to Indigo. Her eyes widened. Then, she shook her head. “I hadn’t really thought about it, but with Revered Sanguis being a Pillar of the House of Blood, the City Lord would have to be stronger.”

The obsidian warrior shrugged. “In that regard, it depends on the individual. I once saw an Elder absolutely eviscerate a Revered in a conflict, but generally, you’re right. Universally, City Lords are monsters in battle. That is no exaggeration. About a millennium back every major House in a city united and rose up against the local Lord due to some law or other. She wiped them all out. The City Lords are old guard, every one of them. Most apprenticed under Sovereigns before they achieved that rank, some continued to learn from them even after.”

“What is it like? What sort of things will be expected of me?”

Pallaun shrugged. “You’ll have to learn that for yourself. I am forbidden this duty.”

Tala’s eyes went wide, and she swallowed involuntarily.

He grinned. “Not every member of the old guard is a City Lord, little Eskau.”

“I…” She swallowed again. What is he?

-Someone we don’t want to cross…ever.-

And someone likely to be sent after us, if we simply try to run.

He regarded her for a long moment. “Our association to the same House will not be a shield for you. Don’t cross City Lords. I won’t interfere.”

Her voice was small as she replied, “Noted.” And I won’t, if I can help it.

-Worse case? Make them hit you so you travel a long way from the backlash.-

Solid plan. Let’s never use it.

Alat laughed in her head, and there was only the smallest bit of mania in the mental sound.

“Eskau Pallaun?”

“Tali?”

“Why do you serve Sanguis?”

He cocked his head to the side, regarding her. “Do you seek to master all you might be able to slay in battle?”

“No…”

“Can you accurately assess my abilities, and that of Revered Sanguis?”

“No.”

“Then do not ask foolish questions.” He shook his head and continued walking. “The fourth duty expected of Eskau within a city is again fulfilled on a rotation, Eskau are sent after suspected dens of magical creatures in the surrounding countryside.” The man had a hard look in his eyes.

Why would...? Oh.

-Yeah, a magical creature would be using up power that the arcanes want. Magical creatures are the natural means of cleaning up leaks through the barrier between worlds, and so they need to be suppressed, otherwise this will become a non-magical world, given enough time.-

And if all the gated humans are killed.

-That too, assuming the founts can’t be coaxed into lasting forever. We really have no idea if they ever end for any reason except poor management during a gate-breaking attempt.-

“Finally, once again on rotation, we are asked to deal with untamed holds.”

Tala perked up at that. “Untamed holds?”

“Yes. When a hold is no longer under the control of free-willed beings of flesh and blood, it must be destroyed or recovered. Such loss of control can happen if the owners are too exuberant in their defensive measures, but those are generally not too difficult to recover, especially because the owners usually have a way of bypassing many of the defenses. Those are boring.” He gave her a meaningful look.

“Meaning I will be handling those, if they are assigned to our House.”

“Well reasoned. Slightly harder for most Eskau are those that need to be dealt with when a House falls and no one is left who can work around the defenses to enter the hold. Those must be breached in truth.” The look on his face spoke of amusement.

So, he likes that part of the job.

“Wouldn’t that be the same as assaulting an enemy hold, but easier, because there wouldn’t be defenders?”

He shrugged noncommittally. “I suppose it can be, but usually, there are stronger countermeasures put in place for when the last defender falls, or if the hold has to be abandoned for a time. Most want their hold to be held inviolate until it can be recovered. Those defenses can be undone if a scion of the house returns, but if not?” He shrugged. “It becomes a deathtrap for most.”

“I suppose I can see that. And the city doesn’t want a deathtrap simply sitting there, taking up space.” She felt herself relaxing around him once again. The man was an odd combination of geniality and certain death.

“Precisely.”

“That doesn’t sound too bad.”

-Oh, yes. It’s not too bad to wander through a place designed to kill off hostile arcanes by the hundred. We should be fine.-

Tala ignored her.

Pallaun shrugged. “True enough. It can be fun, but it’s rarely that difficult. Now, the final kind is where things can get… tricky. It is also where the real fun is had.”

“Oh?”

“Untamed ether holds.”

Tala frowned. “What?”

“Come now, Tali. You have to have heard stories, even in an outlying village.”

Tala checked Tali’s memories, and no. There was no mention of ether holds. She frowned. Maybe… “Do you mean false holds?”

“Ahh, yes. That’s what they are often called in folktales. The more widely used name for a false hold is an ether hold. What do you know of them?”

She considered. “I don’t know much, honestly. I’ve heard stories about monsters under your bed, make sure your closet door looks right before you open it. That sort of thing.”

Pallaun laughed. “Well, that’s not wrong, but that doesn’t really happen very often, not anymore.”

That is in no way comforting. “Please explain.”

He glanced her way, then huffed a laugh. “Fine. Basically, sometimes something attaches itself to our world from the ether. Some theorize they are ancient holds that were unmoored from reality and have only now found their way back. Others believe that ether holds are creatures in their own right, powerful beings seeking to grow stronger. Some have claimed deep knowledge and tried to dub ether holds ‘Daughters of the Consumer.’ But most consider that blather.”

He bent to examine a plant for a moment before continuing.

“Regardless, ether holds are simply holds that we did not craft appearing in places we did not place them. They can be as simple and wonderful as a forest glade where a fairy lord will grant you one wish before returning you to our world. In those cases, that hold then vanishes. Such things are so rare as to be widely assumed as a myth.”

“Are they, though?”

“The very idea is boring. Literal fairytales for commoners. An attempt to imagine some good to outweigh the bad that such things normally bring.”

“And what’s that?”

“Horrors. The worst ether holds spill creatures out that snatch the helpless and drag them back to be…used.” He seemed to be watching her closely. “Others are simply evil places, filled with malicious magic and death.”

“So… why not get rid of them from the outside?”

“That would be ideal for most, though again that is the boring path to take. Blessedly, ether holds tend to have more secure anchors than created holds. No one wants a breach in reality within a city, that would be worse than any ether hold. So, we go in and destroy the core, often finding fascinating magics along the way, facing and slaying unique creatures of power. The Eskau who destroys the core is then ejected back into reality where they entered the ether hold, and the ether hold vanishes. Unfortunately, it is a ‘one time’ source of entertainment.”

That…was a lot to take in. “That’s a lot to take in.”

-Why haven’t we heard about these things before? Do they not appear in human lands?-

“Any idea what causes them to appear?”

“It’s theorized that they are drawn to the power in the air. That’s one reason why our cities have their ambient power as low as we do. It’s also why the ascension rooms, which help us achieve higher magic density, are so small. Less area for ether holds to grab onto.”

“That sounds rather terrible.”

Pallaun grimaced. “That is a common view.” The way he said ‘common’ made it clear what he thought of the way of thinking.

Tala felt some of his geniality slip away.

“While at a societal level, it is one of the little evils that must be handled, we should know better. It is a training ground, proving ground, and place to harvest unique experiences and magics.”

He waved one hand absently.

“The common populace knows some small amount about ether holds through tales and stories, but the reality is hidden for the commoners' sanity.”

“I have to agree. I can’t imagine the average person being comfortable with the idea of a doorway to some sort of evil mini-world popping into being under their bed.”

He snorted. “Children wouldn’t be, no. I would welcome the fight, personally. I hope you would as well.”

Tala suppressed a shudder, turning away. “I assume you’re telling me this now, because one of these duties will be required of me, soon. Is that correct?”

He smiled. “Quite correct. You have a hold to tame, and I am not willing to cover for you this time.”

Tala stopped. “I don’t suppose it’s a nice, simple kind?”

“No. An ether hold was found in a nook of the town square. We have until tomorrow morning to send in an Eskau.”

“An ether hold? Don’t you want to handle it?”

“And deprive you of a learning experience?” There was a dark glint in his eyes.

“What’s wrong with this one.” It wasn’t a question so much as an accusation.

He grinned. “If the entrance is any indication, it will be a place of rot and filth. Some of those are…entertaining, but it is too good an opportunity for you to learn. I will, regrettably, have to wait until the next one to have my fun.”

Tala glowered, unable to think of anything to say in response.