Tala and Thron finished their larger-than-usual meal, chatting about small things.

As Tala finished up her portion and Thron nursed his third tankard of acid, they finally came back around to more serious topics.

The dwarf started, “I did finally find an artificer who was able to give me more than platitudes and generalities about the white metal from that guild’s hold.”

“So, you finally got an appointment with Cerdai?” Tala grinned. That was the artificer who’d helped combine the void-sword with Flow.

Thron quirked a smile in return. “Yeah. He really does seem to be the best.”

“So, what did you learn?”

“It’s an unknown alloy that responds to magic and will-power to change state and shape without the need for heat or outside force.”

He pulled out the bar that she had given him. As he held it, Tala saw his magic move through it, and it changed form, lengthening into that of a crude sword.

“It acts like an infused item, but without any spell-lines either forced or naturally imbued. It simply works this way by nature. It can be made harder or more durable. It can’t really be flexible without joints, and I don’t have the mastery to make something articulated. It seems to be its own skill, similar to aura, power, or will control, while being distinct from them.”

“Fascinating.” Tala reached out and pulled a bar of the metal from the air. Thanks, Kit.

“If integrated into items, it can theoretically have preset states that it will return to, allowing for self-repair without the need of a will to guide the shaping.”

Huh, I don’t suppose I ever left one of the automata alone with an injury long enough for it to heal.

-Yeah, you pretty much destroyed them once you engaged them. Except Io.-

Except Io, but Io was so different in all regards that I thought that its self-repair was a feature of the more advanced model rather than the metal itself.

Tala focused on the bar in her hand and tried to push power into it. She felt meta-physical pathways with the metal, that were similar to those in her elk-leathers and in Flow, but they seemed…less defined? Rather than forest paths each leading off in a different direction, they seemed like a prairie after the passage of a herd.

The paths crisscrossed back and forth in seemingly random patterns, while all generally moving in a similar direction.

Fascinating.

-Well, we can begin experimenting with it. It would be good for our overall control.-

I knew you hated the magic-nest as much as I did!

Alat grumbled slightly. -Fine. Yes. That thing is devilishly difficult.-

“Cerdai also made an interesting claim.”

That got Tala’s attention. “Oh?”

“He said that the void magics in your equipment should allow the absorption of this material directly into any item it is present in. He warned that it would likely do nothing for your weapon, except maybe change its color when not in void-form, but your clothing? He was quite sure that it should be integrate-able.”

Her eyes widened. With expectant hands, she pressed the ingot to the sleeve of her left arm.

Nothing happened.

Thron cleared his throat. “He did say that you would have to will the integration, specifically focusing on the void-power within the garments.”

Tala grunted and did so. I suppose I shouldn’t have it expected to just take in anything that touched it. I really wouldn’t want that to begin with.

The metal seemed to liquify, being drawn down into her elk-leathers, where it vanished.

Does this mean…? She tried to manipulate the clothing, to make armor, starting with a left vambrace.

White armor blossomed into existence around her left arm, but no more came.

So, I’m limited by the mass of metal I’ve absorbed? She felt like she could stretch it out some more, but she’d specifically focused on it being armor, and so it wouldn’t become too thin.

-It seems so.-

The armor itself was a bit odd. It seemed to retain some of its liquid properties.

Tala felt like she could force it into the form of standard plate armor, but the elk-leather’s direct connection to her soul, to her will, allowed for something far more…flexible.

As she focused on the garments, she could feel the metal that was a part of it, like a reserve of material, all being utilized at the moment.

So, I can’t grow more like I do with the leather. Good to know. She thought for a moment. Seven or eight of these ingots should be enough. To make a full set of armor.

Thankfully, Thron knew she had more than that. I think I told him that I have twelve?

-Yes, yes you did. How do you not know that? You have perfect memory.-

Perfect memory doesn’t mean I remember everything all the time. It means I can remember everything, and that is what I was doing, when you supplied the answer, and made it unnecessary.

-Rust me, I’m spoiling you.-

No, you’re helping.

She quickly pulled out seven more bars and willed them to meld with the elk-leathers.

They melted into the material with ease.

Tala then followed her connection with the elk-leathers and flexed her power and her desire, causing her outfit to change, metal flowing over the surface of her clothing as well as her previously bare skin to cover her completely, even coating her head.

From the outside, she could see through her mirrored perspective. She looked like she had been dipped in metal, fully coated.

She knew it hugged her closely on the inside, but it seems that her desire for ‘armor’ had influenced the shape, and the exterior was much more uniform, being thicker around her vital areas, leading to a much less nuanced visage.

“That’s…disconcerting.” Thron was staring at her, wide-eyed.

It felt odd to move in it, and she was forced to maintain a constant connection and funnel of power into the armor.

She also couldn’t breathe, but that wasn’t too much of a problem. If she needed to, she could make air holes, or retract it from around her nose or mouth entirely. All the better to exhale destruction with, my dear.

-You’re talking to yourself again.-

I’m talking to you.

-So, I’m your dear?-

…Yes, my dear Alat.

Alat snorted within Tala’s head. -Fine. Have your fun.-

When she tried to withdraw her will, the metal locked into place. It was a terrifying moment before she reestablished constant control.

Well, that’s irritating.

-It’s nice that it can allow you to move, though.-

Yeah, one more thing to train my endurance in, I suppose.

She altered her connection, forcing the armor into a more traditional shape.

It wasn’t nearly as covering, but it didn’t require constant input in this form.

It also uses a lot less of the material.

Thron grinned. “Seems like you should test it out. Want to spar?”

She quirked a smile. “Sure, I think we have time.”

* * *

Tala, Thron, and Be-thric arrived at the exit to the House of Blood’s hold at nearly the same time.

Tala and Thron exited Kit, allowing Tala to pull the dimensional storage off the wall and hang it from her belt.

Be-thric came from deeper in the hold, sturdy boots in evidence on his normally slippered feet.

Tala had left her siege-spheres within Kit, deciding that having to pull them from the pouch was better than allowing their inertia to slow each of her movements.

She had chosen to only manifest the white metal as bracers for the time being, not really wanting to walk around in full armor at the moment.

Be-thric looked to her bracers and smiled. “Well, those are quite lovely, my dear Eskau.”

“Thank you.” She pasted on a smile that was convincing enough, blessedly.

Gallof entered the hold a minute later. “Good, good, you’re all here.”

Tala frowned. “How did you arrive right about when we did?”

“I’ve been checking every so often. I had some tasks in the neighboring holds, so it was easy enough to do.”

She grunted. That made sense, she supposed.

The gray man smiled. “Shall we?”

There were no objections, so off they went.

Gallof lead them through the relatively busy streets to the south-eastern edge of the city.

Both Tala and Tali had stayed mostly in the core of Platoiri, so the sights were relatively new.

The outer portions were actually very mundane, though the buildings looked much older than Tala was used to. I suppose that’s the result of human cities having such a short lifecycle. The oldest building I’ve ever seen was less than three hundred years old.

She hesitated. Wait, Makinaven was older, right? But those aren’t really buildings. I doubt they re-hollow out the tree every cycle.

They soon reached a large work yard, in the center of which rested a massive ballista.

Though, if it’s shooting four hundred miles, it’s smaller than I’d have expected.

The four of them crossed the yard and found a squad of five Elders, decked out for war, surrounding the siege weapon.

They shouldn’t be needed as the magical resonance should clearly be moving away from the city, but the guards are likely wise.

In addition to the Elders, there were a dozen workmen, adding last minute bits of magic to the machine and the projectile.

Incongruously, a door was set, hard up against the side of the ballista, connected to the bolt by strings of power.

Thron spoke under his breath so that Tala could just barely hear him with her enhanced ears. “The door will vanish once we are inside, and we will be ejected from the pocket-space when the bolt shatters on impact at the far end.”

“Thanks.” Her response was a bit louder than his, but not much. She’d learned that his hearing was insanely good. Apparently, all dwarves had super-human sense. Not very fair, that.

She supposed that she had a limitless source of power in her back, so she likely won out on that one.

Gallof talked to a workman, and the four of them were ushered through the door.

The entrance was closed behind them, and the door vanished, leaving only a singular hole about the size of Tala’s finger. The link with reality.

The space inside was incredibly sparse.

The walls were entirely edges of reality, with a bench made up of the same running around the outside.

There was just enough room for each of them to sit, legs pointing towards the middle. It was just enough that they didn’t feel terribly cramped.

Be-thric looked to Gallof and cocked an eyebrow.

Gallof reddened. “My apologies, my lord Pillar. This was the only one available before the conclave.”

Be-thric just sighed. “I would have loved for my Eskau to see outside as we flew, but this will do, I suppose.”

“See outside?” Tala hadn’t expected that possibility.

Gallof turned and awkwardly bowed to her in the small space. “The more luxurious bolts are designed to allow the passengers to see outside in all directions. It feels very much like flying but without the wind or danger.”

“Interesting.” She bit the side of her lip in thought. “If I may, how much did this cost.”

“This one?”

“Yes.”

Gallof quoted a price that caused her to pale. It was equivalent to around a hundred ounces of gold, back in the human cities.

“And a luxury one?”

“About three times that.”

“Well. That is certainly good to know.” There is no way I will ever be getting one of these on my own.

The sound from outside was coming through the small hole, muffled and a bit distorted.

It sounded like a countdown, but even with her enhanced hearing Tala was only mostly certain.

There was a surge of power, the backwash also traveling through the opening, then the light coming through the opening changed, and a low, melodic whistling began.

It was a soothing, deep note. Deeper than any human mouth could generate with a whistle.

Gallof leaned back. “And we’re off.”

Tala nodded appreciatively. “Fantastic inertial isolation. I didn’t feel even a hint of movement.”

Thron grinned. “We’d be in a bad way if it wasn’t. We hit full speed in under a second.”

“What is full speed?”

“About four hundred miles per hour.”

So, just more than eighteen times gravity? That wouldn’t have been pleasant, but I don’t think I’d have died.

-You would probably have died. You would have come back, but it would have been at least a low-level healing across your entire body, and I’d bet I’d have had to rebuild your mind from nearly scratch. Your brain would definitely have fared the worst.-

“Well, I’m grateful for the isolation, then.” Tala smiled genially.

“Indeed.” Thron leaned back, pulling out a book.

Gallof and Be-thric did the same, so Tala decided to, as well.

What she really wanted to read was ‘Automata,’ but doing that in front of the three other passengers would have been…unwise to say the least.

So, instead, she pulled out a random book, and had Alat super-impose ‘Automata’ overtop of it, based on her memory of scanning through the entire thing.

The no-longer-Io body seemed to be nearing maturation, and Tala wanted to know what she could do with the automaton.

As they flew, Tala felt the reverberation of power coming through the opening and could only imagine the level of magical resonance they were creating outside.

This would be an insane way to travel in the human lands. Can you even imagine?

-Well, if there were squads ready to defend the occupants and cargo upon landing…- Alat conveyed uncertainty. -I suppose it would depend on how it looks when we land. Here isn’t exactly analogous to home, but it isn’t that far off.-

Tala grinned, playing it off like she’d read something entertaining. You know, it might be a good way to clear out a region.

-I do think the City Builders lure in all the magical beasts of an area before they start building, purge the lot of them to avoid issues later on.-

Yeah, I remember reading that. How do they make the purging permanent?

-We were going to find out when we visited the city construction sites…-

We’ll get around to that. Tala put a bright spin on her thoughts. She needed to stay positive. This very trip was to arrange for the return to a human city. So, so soon.

-I know. It’ll be fun to see.-

The rest of the flight passed rather uneventfully.

After nearly an hour, Be-thric looked up. “Be ready. We should be impacting in less than five minutes.”

They all put away their books, and Tala cleared her throat. “I have a plan for our landing, based on what I understand of the situation and our capabilities.”

The other three regarded her in silence, clearly interested in her opinion and plan.

“Gallof will make a defensive structure in which Pillar Be-thric will wait out the fight in comfort with Gallof at his side. Thorn should provide a layer of protection overtop the creation, from inside naturally. I will deal with the magical creatures.”

Gallof shrugged and began building a working.

The gray man’s specialty was larger working, specifically with rock.

Thron cocked his head to the side. “Yeah, that seems like a fine plan to me. There really shouldn’t be anything above Elder, right?”

Be-thric seemed to consider. “No, there shouldn’t be. Are you sure, my Eskau? We could all deal with the attacking beasts together.”

“I am sure. This is what I am here for.” After a moment’s thought, Tala added, “That said, you all will be locked under stone. Thorn should leave an opening in his defense on the far side of the first enemies we spot. If I get into trouble, I’ll come around and cut into the stone. If you sense that, come out and support me.”

Assuming I can get enough time to do that… sure.

-Hey! That means Terry can fight with us. I think he’s been getting bored.-

Be-thric nodded and grinned. “That sounds like an excellent plan.”

Less than two minutes later, a wave of power washed over them, and Tala found herself standing near the top of a rise in a relatively flat plain, surrounded by splintered wood.

There’s not even a crater from the impact. Fascinating.

A city was partially visible in the distance. And, we’re just over ten miles from the city, I’d guess.

That was some pretty accurate targeting.

Thron, Gallof, and Be-thric stepped over to the side and Gallof released his working, causing a bowl to be hollowed out below them, and a thick dome of stone to grow over top.

It looked almost like a great hemisphere of stone, slowly rotating up out of the ground until it finally met new stone on the other side.

From Tala’s brief glance, she would bet that it was at least three or four feet thick.

Nicely done, Gallof.

A moment later, Tala saw power that was distinctly Thron’s wash over the surface, stabilizing and forming a barrier of corrosion.

She walked around the new, mini-fortification and found the gap in the acidic protection on the south-eastern side.

That makes sense, most of the creatures should come from the opposite direction.

In retrospect, assuming that they’d wait until the first creatures were spotted, in order to position the gap had been a bit silly.

I’ll learn and have a better plan next time.

-Progress, not perfection. That’s the goal.-

Tala just smiled.

After a deep breath, she walked the dozen or so feet up to the top of the rise and looked around.

I don’t detect any far seeing magics or anything else indicating observers.

-Neither do I.-

Tala saw the first magical beasts approaching from the surrounding lands. They’ll be here in less than a minute.

Most were coming from the north-west, along their flightpath.

With a smile, Tala opened Kit, looking down into it as she spoke. “Hey, Terry! Want to do some hunting?”