Tala’s last words echoed through an awkward silence in the cleansing teleportation chamber, “Honestly? I’m feeling ravenous.”

The two other Archons in the room gave her hesitant, speculative looks.

Tala laughed, scratching the back of her head as she felt the oddity of her own words. “I’m sorry. That sounded a bit… ominous, didn’t it?”

Master Grediv smiled, then. “It did at that, but you are quite right. We should get some food in you.”

Tala’s stomach gurgled loudly, but they all politely pretended that it hadn’t.

The Fused who’d been assisting bowed. “I am glad that we could be of service. Master Grediv has covered the bill. He said he would settle it with you later.”

When did he have time to do that?

-He likely has an internal connection to the Archive, and handled it through that.-

That made a sort of sense, and she could ask, but not right now.

She’d been happy enough to ask after random topics before the cleansing teleport, but she was learning that she used inquiry and tangential topics to keep herself distracted in difficult or stressful situations.

-They grow up so fast.-

Hush, you. After a moment’s consideration, Tala added, Are you alright?

-Yeah. I know you tried to be fast, but with the bonding and the subjective time that you experienced going through all the options after my spellforms were purged...- Tala somehow felt Alat shudder. -I don’t like non-existence.-

How can you perceive it?

-What do you mean?-

I mean, I know I didn’t exist before conception, but it doesn’t hurt me to think about time before I existed. That doesn’t account for all the memories I know I lack between then and when I solidified my mental enhancement scripts.

-I think that’s just it. I perfectly remember every moment of my, singular existence. Because of that, I am intimately aware of the times that I ‘ceased.’ It’s not horrifying to not have existed yet, but to know I can so easily be rendered to nothing?- Alat shuddered again.

I sympathize even though I can’t really empathize.

-Well, the sympathy is appreciated.-

That addressed, Tala cleared her throat. She and Master Grediv were walking out of the Alefast, Waning, teleport tower. “Where are we going? Do you know a good restaurant?”

“Oh, good, you’re focusing outward again.”

Tala gave him a flat look. “You know, a lot has been happening internally, for me.”

He smiled softly. “I know, I truly do.” After a moment’s pause, he continued, “I thought I would take you to my family home. The chefs there are excellent, and you won’t cause a scene when you eat enough for a dozen people.”

How does he know I eat so much? Tala frowned for only an instant, then found herself nodding. “Rane talked?”

“Yes, yes he did.”

“That figures.” But she found herself smiling. “Is he doing well?”

“He is. He’s Fused and well on the road to Refining.” Master Grediv paused, glancing her way. “Not as far as you, but quick advancement leads to more broken paths than defenders of humanity.”

“You’ll get no argument from me, Master Grediv.” She shrugged. “I do what I have to, and here I am.”

“Yes, here you are. I know we have a lot to discuss, but I think that a contemplative walk through the city might do you good. We can discuss over, or after, lunch.”

“I appreciate that. Thank you.” If they were going to just be walking, Terry would likely want to join them. Tala pulled open Kit. “Terry?”

Terry flickered out, assuming his larger, ‘juvenile’ size for the moment, his head just reaching her waist in height.

“I’m glad to have you with me, bud.” She stroked his soft feathers.

Terry headbutted her hip and trilled happily.

“Yeah, I think I’ll be okay.”

It was barely noon, and Alefast, Waning, was bustling.

Oh! I should drop through and see Artia, Brandon, and Adrill, but not yet.

-Yeah, food first.-

At the reiteration of ‘food’, Tala had a thought. The blacksmith, master Pedrin, has his shop near here, and he owes me something.

Smith Pedrin was the craftsman who had made her endingberry picker what seemed like a lifetime ago, and as part of that deal, he’d authorized her to come by and collect iron dust if she wished, so long as she warned him first.

Now, she very much wished.

“Master Grediv?”

“Yes, Mistress Tala?”

“Where in the city are we going?”

“Well, with only one ring left, it’s all within pretty easy walking distance. Here.”

-He just granted us access to a map of the city, and a compound is highlighted.- “Is that your family home?”

“It is.”

Tala nodded, mentally comparing it to her memory. “Could we make one stop? It is barely out of the way.”

“Of course. Where is it, if I may ask?”

“A blacksmith, who I’ve had dealings with in the past.” She felt a light shudder run through her at the thought. All that iron…

Master Grediv cocked his head but didn’t comment.

True to Master Grediv’s words, the city was not large. It was far too old to be that.

Tala felt an odd disjointment at the thought. Platoiri was much older than Alefast. Orders of magnitude older, in fact, yet Platoiri was also far bigger.

Humans really have a disadvantage in that regard, don’t we? We have to use so many resources to continually rebuild our cities. I wonder what we could have achieved without that handicap.

Their walk was mostly silent until they arrived at the blacksmith; even Terry’s talons barely clicked on the cobblestones under the noise of the bustling city around them.

Tala suppressed an over-exuberant grin as she called out, keeping her face neutral, “Ho, in the smithy!”

She could feel all the iron within the workshop, but oddly, she didn’t feel a desire for the bar-stock, or projects. Not even the massive anvils called to her. Instead, she felt a vague need for something that was randomly scattered throughout.

The iron dust?

-That is likely.-

The hammering didn’t slow, but she saw another movement within the workshop as a middle-aged man walked out. “Well good-day to you miss-” His eyes widened as he got a better look at her and Master Grediv. His eyes flickered back and forth, in the end clearly deciding that it was best to assume they were both Mages. “-tress, Master. How can this humble smithy serve you, this day?”

The smith’s eyes also moved over Terry briefly, but he seemed more than a little familiar with arcanous pets and companions as he did not do more than smile at the terror bird. Terry’s presence seemed to ease his tension, even if only slightly.

Tala quirked a smile. “No need for that, good master. Do you remember me, Pedrin?”

He looked closer, then frowned. “You look mighty familiar, but I apologize, Mistress, I can’t place you.”

“I ordered an iron fruit picker from you a while back.” Her hands had begun to tremble. Come on, come on. Come on! No, she would observe the niceties. She wasn’t a beast who disregarded those around her for her own gain. I’m no longer an Eskau.

His eyes widened in recognition. “Yes! I do remember, though I apologize, I can’t recall your name.”

“It’s Tala.”

“Well, Mistress Tala, what brings you back? Do you need repairs on that odd commission?”

“No, no. It’s doing fine. I wonder if you recall the last part of our bargain? I asked to be allowed to harvest iron dust if I had need.” If you don’t remember I’m going to— She forcibly aborted that line of thinking and enforced another in its place. I’ll pay you handsomely for what I need.

He tilted his head, considering. “I suppose I do remember that, yes.”

“Well, I have need. May I grab some?”

Master Grediv was regarding her oddly, but he refrained from commenting or otherwise interjecting.

She ignored him. So close. Hurry up!

Pedrin nodded. “I suppose so, all the dust you desire is yours, nothing more than dust mind you. Do you need us to vacate for a time?”

Tala felt something shift at his words. The iron dust was hers.

What had been a mere, vague yearning burst aflame and she found herself utterly unable to tear her focus away from the smithy.

-Tala?-

MINE. A pulse rippled out from her, across the ground and through the entire smithy, it wasn’t quite her aura, but it was something very similar.

Master Grediv frowned, taking half a step forward.

Terry chirped in a questioning tone and took one step back.

Her voice sounded small as she shook her head, “There’s no need. Thank you, though.” There, courtesy.

Then, something within her pulled.

The iron dust—her iron dust—was suddenly fully within her aura. Tendrils were extended farther than she’d ever managed before, seemingly gaining strength from her iron as she encompassed it, and her aura was strong.

The smiths—mundane humans all—seemed to stumble as one, though they did so in random directions.

Her aura was too strong to be so unleashed, but it was done.

Master Grediv was already moving, green power washing outward and somehow steadying all the smiths less than a heartbeat later.

Tala was focused elsewhere, however, and she pulled, retracting her aura and her iron as one.

Each speck streaked towards her in as direct a route to its owner as it could take.

The effect, collectively, appeared similar to black mists rising in a swamp before a strong wind blew them all in one direction as the tendrils streaked towards Tala, weaving around obstacles to reach her as expeditiously as possible.

The iron hit her like a soft breeze, seeming to simply pass through her and occupy the same space she did, but at a deeper, other, level.

The iron then settled into better dimensional alignment with her, physically manifesting around her inscriptions, building out from that which was already encased.

Manifestations of her power in reality blossomed into being under her through-spike illusion, crawling up her arms, over her shoulders, and onward, eventually covering her whole body well before the last of the dark clouds finally pulled free of the smithy.

In totality, it only took the time of a long, drawn in breath, but the mundanes were still left disoriented by her passing aura.

Blessedly, with Master Grediv’s interference, that was all they experienced.

Pedrin shook his head, the dizziness seeming to have either interrupted his sight, or otherwise kept him from noticing what happened. “My apologies, Mistress. Is there anything that we can do to help you get what you need?”

Tala shook her head. “No, thank you, master Pedrin. I have what I need. I apologize for any inconvenience.”

The smith looked confused, but finally shrugged. “As you wish, Mistress. Let us know if we can assist again.”

He clearly didn’t feel that he had helped this time, but he wasn’t going to argue with a Mage.

Tala felt a bit guilty. She hadn’t expected things to go as they had. “Please let me know if anything seems off today. I can be found at the Gredial family compound at least until tomorrow.”

Pedrin smiled. “That is kind of you, Mistress, I can’t imagine I will have such a need, but I appreciate the gesture.”

Tala wasn’t about to explain what he’d apparently missed.

-Your aura seems to have briefly blocked his short-term memory. Is that possible?-

It certainly wasn’t intentional. I doubt I could replicate it purposefully.

-I agree. It felt more like a strong hit to the head than a specific application of your aura.-

Great… I hit all these people in the head really hard.

-Master Grediv kept it from getting out of hand.-

Yeah…

Master Grediv was giving Tala a narrow eyed, scrutinizing look as she turned away.

“Shall we go?” Her tone was as contrite as she could make it.

“Yes. There is much to discuss, maybe even more than I’d have thought.”

The three of them turned and moved toward Master Grediv’s family compound. Once they were a bit away from the smithy, Tala looked towards the Paragon. “Thank you. I did not mean to harm anyone, but I was acting on instinct, and it sort of… got away from me, yeah.”

He nodded. “You’re getting to the level of personal power that mundanes are nothing to you.”

She flinched at that. “I… I don’t think of them that way.”

Master Grediv shook his head. “I didn’t mean it that way. You could kill every mundane in this city with little effort, if nobody more powerful tried to stop you. From what little I’ve gathered, you just came from the arcane cities.”

“That’s a slur, right?”

“A derogatory generalization of all non-human races? Yes. Yes, it is.”

She huffed a laugh. “Fair, I suppose. You know that most individuals aren’t actually against us, right?.”

“Most molecules in a sword won’t cut me, directly. I still don’t want it near me.”

“That’s… an interesting analogy.”

“I don’t hate arcanes, Mistress Tala, but I won’t bend to them, either. Those in the mobile communities are generally reasonable to interact with, but they also don’t seem to mind the label. I think that it’s likely because there aren’t too many distinctions left. They don’t try to maintain bloodlines and type distinctions like the arcanes in the cities and on the other continent do.”

Tala looked at the Paragon in surprise. “Flat out discussing the villages and the other continent?”

“Of course.” He shrugged. “You’d have learned about them soon enough regardless, and I imagine you likely encountered knowledge of them while you were… away. Villages though?” He grinned at that. “You haven’t seen anything until you see their cities.”

The Paragon looked almost wistful.

“I wish we could keep mundanes in such cities, but with most of our population gated?” He shook his head. “The cost and difficulty would just be too great to be feasible.”

Tala was a bit shocked. Cities? Cities that move on their own?

-Likely most of the population is within holds, given what he’s just said, but I agree. That would be impressive to see.-

They fell back into silence for the remainder of the walk to Master Grediv’s family compound.

There was a single guard at the gate who bowed to Master Grediv and opened the wrought-iron entrance for them.

Tala gave the gates a hesitant glance, but found no urge to consume them, or absorb them, or… anything, really.

Huh. Is it because the iron isn’t mine? I have absolutely no claim to it?

-That would track. The iron dust was on the edge of being yours, that’s why you felt the draw to go fully claim it.-

I’m not influencing the concept… Am I?

-Ask?-

That was a fair point. “Master Grediv?”

The Paragon stopped a bit inside the grounds, and Tala and Terry halted as well. “Yes?”

“Did I… Did I affect the concept of ownership, or something like that?”

He barked a laugh. “Oh, rust no, girl.” He cleared his throat, briefly covering his mouth. “My apologies. No. Your power acted on your ownership of the iron, using it like a handhold or anchor, at least that’s my guess. But the concept of ownership itself? You didn’t change that magically.”

She found herself nodding. That was true. It was only when Pedrin granted her the iron dust that it had come to be hers. That’s how ownership usually worked, though now she seemed to have a sense for it. She could feel whether or not she owned something, and that was new. “Should I be able to sense my ownership?”

“Yes and no. You already can, in a way, for magic. Right?”

Tala considered, then nodded. “I suppose so, yes. I can sense whether magic came from me or someone else.”

“Then this is likely just an expansion on that, due to your new bond.”

Tala had a thought. “Can you combine two soulbound items after you bond them?”

“Yes and no, but let’s get inside and get food on its way.”

She smiled and nodded in agreement.

The front grounds weren’t extensive, but they were well cared for.

One thing that caught her eye was the unusually high number of stone statues.

That’s sort of odd. Do they have a petrifier in the family?

-We could ask?-

After we get inside. I am really hungry.

The main house was less impressive than a Major House’s hold, but that was to be expected. This was a family home, not a base of operations for a powerful faction.

Even so, the main hall wasn’t empty as they walked in.

A man who vaguely resembled Rane was standing on an upper balcony when Terry, Tala, and Master Grediv entered.

The man scoffed and called down. “Truly, Master Grediv? Is that to be your new student? I am ready and willing to learn from you, and you pick a monster lover?”

Tala moved her hand instinctively to rest on Terry’s head, even as she looked at the man more closely.

He’s a Mage? Seriously? After a moment, she remembered Rane’s story of becoming Master Grediv’s apprentice. His older brother?

-Aside from a vague similarity around their facial features, I don’t see the connection.-

Indeed, this man was only just taller than Tala herself, and he bore a staff of dark crystal, the magical weight of which was significantly heavier than the Mage’s own.

It was an artifact that was actively consuming the entirety of the older Mage’s throughput, straining his gate all the while.

-Older? He’s got less than a decade on you.-

Yeah, that’s older.

-But most people mean at least forties when they say ‘older.’-

Well, it’s good that I’m only talking to myself then, isn’t it?

Master Grediv sighed, closing his eyes in what seemed to be a bid for internal strength. “Furgal. Are you blind as well as an idiot?”

The man, Furgal apparently, jerked back as if he’d been slapped.

“Use your magesight before you open your mouth and utter stupidity in front of our guest.”

Tala felt the barest tickle of power as the man strained his gate to activate a weak form of magesight alongside continuing to feed the seemingly insatiable staff.

Furgal’s eyes widened and his tone changed on the instant, “My apologies, Mistress, I of course meant no offense to you or your companion. Be welcome to the esteemed Gredial House.”

Tala spoke incredibly softly, trusting that Master Grediv would hear her. “How do you want me to respond?”

His response was immediate. “Simply, please. I don’t like being around him more than required.”

Tala nodded, giving a polite smile up towards Furgal. “Thank you for your welcome. I have business with Master Grediv, so I fear I cannot delay to chat. May you grow in power and find that which you seek.”

The Mage seemed unsure of how to respond, and before he could decide, Master Grediv had led Tala and Terry off to one side.

They walked down a tastefully decorated hallway and to a small dining room.

Master Grediv smiled as he closed the door. “Thank you. He is a buffoon at times, but he is family…” The admission seemed to hurt the Paragon. His next words confirmed as much, even if his tone hadn’t. “I checked his bloodline, and it leads directly back to me, unfortunately. As rare as infidelity is, I’d have welcomed it as a reason to kick him out.”

Tala blinked, eyebrows lifting in surprise.

He sighed. “Before you ask, no, I’m not serious, but the boy does vex me at times.”

Master Grediv clapped his hands. “But you’re hungry! Let’s get that ordered for you.”

Tala smiled in return. “Yes, please.”