“In the early days of exploration between the Cosmic Realms, as the various magical races were learning how to make portals and how to travel to different places, all of the worlds were considered wild worlds. Artifacts like the one you destroyed could be carried along and used to create landmarks, transmitting magical energy for many miles around so that travelers could find their way back to them.”
“Like leaving breadcrumbs in the forest?”
Her forehead wrinkled, so I gave her the CliffsNotes version of “Hansel and Gretel.”
“More permanent than breadcrumbs,” Freysha said. “The magic is designed to be sensed for hundreds of miles in all directions.”
“I’ve noticed.”
Freysha chewed on her lip as she gazed over at the sword. “I do not wish to alarm you, but I think it is possible that someone set that artifact there to draw you specifically to it.”
“Why stick it outside of Long Beach if it was for me? They could have plopped it down in Green Lake.” I waved in the direction of the water, though I was relieved that whoever had done this hadn’t opted for a populated park in the middle of the city. People swam out there on nice days, and you couldn’t skate the paved path without running into ducks and geese. Having flocks of them keeling over all across the busy park would have stirred up the whole city.
“I do not know, other than that a remote location might have had fewer variables to deal with. And someone who knew you might know that Colonel Willard would dispense you to investigate it.”
“And that I’d also solve the problem by beating up the artifact with my sword?” Sadly, I was that predictable.
“Possibly. I only posit a hypothesis.”
“I’ll keep it in mind.”
That Starsinger fop just flew out of the portal, Zav roared into my mind, making me wince. If he has come for your sword, I will utterly destroy him.
Uh. That dragon had sung to me in the past and tried to woo me away from Zav—not because of my irresistible hotness but because his clan found it pleasant to irk Zav’s clan.
He flees! He saw me and leaped back through the portal.
You are fearsome.
He must have come for scheming and inimical reasons. When he saw me, he fled out of fear of being caught. I will follow him through the portal and question him. You are in no danger, correct? I do not believe this will take long, but I do not wish an enemy to attack you while I’m gone.
I almost said I needed him to stay and help me, if only to keep him from walloping on one of the few dragons who hadn’t come across as an arrogant prick, but I didn’t sense any enemies about, and it was possible that the dragon—Xilneth was his name—was up to something.
I’ll be fine. I’ve got Freysha and Zoltan to help me defend the place.
That vampire is no help. He would be too busy complaining and grooming his attire to enter into battle.
I had seen Zoltan throw bears across a scientist’s laboratory, so I knew that wasn’t true, but it was easier to amend my statement than explain. Very well. Then I have Freysha and Sindari to help. I know you believe him a capable warrior.
Yes, the tigers of Del’noth fight well. I will return soon. After I have smote that weasel—that sable!—Xilnethgarish.
I thought you were going to question him.
If he resists my interrogation, I will smite him.
Zav’s presence disappeared from my awareness, leaving me wondering if he was serious or simply having a grumpy evening. I had noticed that Xilneth’s mere appearance could turn him grumpy.
“Val?” Freysha touched my arm. “Your mate has left this realm.”
“I know. I was just talking to him. He’s going to question a dragon who may be scheming inimical things.”
“I hope that no trouble will come while he’s away.”
“Me too.”
“It is good that you have been practicing your magic. You are more capable of defending yourself from enemies these days.” Freysha smiled at me.
I was glad she believed I was making progress during our lessons. It didn’t always feel that way to me. I’d learned to extend my range when it came to sensing magic and communicating telepathically with others, and I was better at resisting compulsion spells others tried to put on me, but I couldn’t smite enemies, hurl fireballs, or knock assailants off cliffs with the power of my mind. Granted, Freysha, with her specialty in forest magic, hadn’t tried to teach me any of those things.
“Let’s hope.” I set the shard next to Zoltan’s microscope, in the hope that it would help him unravel the mystery of the sword.
“You do not believe so?”
“I appreciate what you’ve been teaching me. I’m just not sure it helps me in battles, other than as a means of defense.”
“Is defense not important?”
“It is. But my specialty has always been offense. Strike them before they can strike you.”
“Hm. Let me show you something new for you to work on while our esteemed alchemist studies your sword.” Freysha opened the door, ignoring a dramatic sigh from Zoltan, and we stepped out into the dark misty night.
The rain had stopped, but the air was so thick with moisture that it created a halo around the patio lights. I pulled my duster tighter around me. Seattle never got very cold, with snow being a rarity, but the dampness had its own power to chill.
Freysha gestured toward the boulders at the back of the yard that formed a retaining wall for raised plant beds. “Please have a seat.”
“This lesson requires that we be outside on wet rocks?”
“It does. All forest magic is best employed when close to nature.”
“You may have noticed this is a suburban neighborhood.”
“Fortunately with trees and some appealing ground.” She sat on a boulder and waved at the moss that kept neutralizing Dimitri’s attempts to grow grass in the shady backyard.
“Appealing. Exactly what I thought of it when I first walked back here.” Admittedly, everything around the house looked much better since Dimitri had started working on the yard.
“I did.”
I sat beside her. If she wanted to teach me, I had better pay attention, especially if she had offensive magic to show me. If Zav was gone longer than he expected, I might need it.
“What’s the lesson tonight, Sensei?”
“You will learn to use the ground’s natural materials to form roots that can grow up and entangle your enemies. You have seen me do this.”
“I have. They looked more like vines than roots. I wondered how you turned the dirt into them.”
“On all worlds, the basic building blocks of matter are the same. Magic may alter the arrangement of those blocks from soil into plant matter.”
“Am I about to get a molecular science lesson?”
“Touch the earth. It will be easier for me to show you than explain.”
Since Freysha’s lessons regularly involved me sticking my fingers in dirt, I no longer found such requests strange.
She knelt down, resting her hand on the damp moss, and I followed suit. Her other hand settled on my shoulder, and she did the telepathic equivalent of a screen share.
I experienced her sending her magic into the ground and reforming the dirt into tendrils that seemed half-plant, half-root. Shoots formed and pushed up through the ground. They rose slowly, though I’d seen her create them almost instantly before, because she wanted me to witness what she was doing.