Chapter 43 – A New Page.

Petunia Arwen grimaced as she tried to turn over, failing, instead remaining as she was. Her body ached something fierce, and by all rights she was pretty sure she should be dead, but instead she was stuck here in this bed, slowly recovering. And bored out of her mind, with nothing to do. She would have been reading, if she could have managed it, but she was neither able to hold a book for long nor concentrate on the words, and having others around her talking had irritated her no end. So she was alone, silence her companion, the ceiling her friend.

Coming out to see the site had seemed like such a novel idea. A chance to get away from the dramas of the city and her bore of a fiance, curry some more points with her parents, and perhaps even acquire something from the finds that she could use for her advantage. That her fiance decided to come along and her parents agreeing should have been the first warning sign that it was a cursed endeavour.

They had received notice that the team had scoured most of the site, a mostly buried factory complex deep in the heart of the plain, and were preparing to wrap up and ship all of the scavenged items back to the city. The family was going to send a delegation to check on what had been found, liaise with Seth who had been overseeing the site, and provide extra guards to protect the shipment on its way back. Her father had asked her if she wanted to go, and after a little reluctance she had warmed up to the idea and agreed.

The delegation had ended up consisting of herself, Seth’s fiance Leena and her two sons, her brother Miguel and his associate Eugen, and Oscar from the branch family. Along with numerous family guards, as well as some of their family, and members of the Eastwind Cartel. And Solgen, who had taken it upon himself to accompany her for her protection. Fat lot of good that sentiment had ended up being.

The trip out had been quite pleasant and uneventful. Clocky Erswyrescale had been overseeing the train section, accepting no nonsense from group and even managing to get Solgen to shut up. Clocky was a strange man. Son of the powerful Channeller Merianne, who, while she spent most of her time rogue, still had enough social influence to have her way when she saw fit. Which was a lot of influence. While Petunia didn’t know any of the details of it, the evidence was indisputable. Clocky certainly didn’t act like any noble she knew of, and he was even a little attractive, and would have readily been accepted into any family. Heck, even she would have been happy if he’d been paired with her. Which made it such a pity that his chosen partner wasn’t a pure-blood. The wagon ride to the site had been a bit bumpy, but manageable. Nothing really compared to the comfort of the car that she had back in the city.

They had ended up spending two weeks at the site, appraising the finds, and trying to get everything organized. They might have been finished up within a week if it hadn’t been for the fluffing around of Miguel and Solgen, and the fact that they had brought along enough supplies for the team to survive that long. Overall the haul had been disappointing for her, though she did have to admit it was a decent haul, in terms of worth to the family. She’d seen much more interesting things from other sites, or on the markets. Even the occasional item filched from Shusoku had looked better as well, but that city was considered off limits for most teams, due to the sheer number of Wildlings present, as well as Merianne’s frequent appearance there. Something had happened there a decade ago, possibly associated with the Pulse, that had significantly altered its environment.

The team had been in high spirits on their return to Cannonsgate, celebrating a successful job upon their return. The entire town had seemed more alive as well, as if it was celebrating along with them. To her it just seemed like an excuse for the others to dress up and drink, press their influence, and do things that might be regretted. There were a few pretty ones at the tavern and she had seen how her brother had been looking at them.

Then those two had showed up from whatever hell they had crawled out of. She had to admit it, they were both beautiful. Very beautiful in fact, a sacrilege for their kind, even calling them mixed-bloods would have been too good for them. It had made her feel somewhat inadequate, even with her dislike for Solgen, especially with the way that the rest of the nobles had gawked at them with such desire, her fiance included. Their clothes too had been rather unique, not something that she had seen before, and just added to their appeal.

She wasn’t too sure why she actually decided to mess with them. It wasn’t normally her thing to even grace mixed-bloods with her thoughts, let alone be in their presence. Probably to put them in their place. There was no way she was going to let the two whores have their way with any of her family. Perhaps she may have also wanted the gear that they had for herself as well, something to take away from the trip. As grand as her own custom armour was, she instinctually knew that theirs was better, and that grated. Hello again inadequacies.

It hadn’t been too hard for one of her guards to track their movements and find out what they were up to. The stablemaster hadn’t given her any issues, and her guards were more than happy to cooperate with her. Perhaps some of them had even had the same thoughts as Solgen and the rest, but she hadn’t really cared.

She had been stupid, and naive.

What had the girl said that they were? She couldn’t quite recall. They were definitely the most inhuman of any mixed-blood that she had ever seen. And they were very dangerous. She’d taunted them and pushed them. It had felt good for some reason, right up until they had revealed their true demonic nature. Then it had been pure terror. The red one had smashed her through two walls, and not thin ones at that; stables were built sturdy. She was fairly certain she had broken at least her back and all of her ribs, if not everything else as well, definitely some head trauma, and there had been a massive pool of blood under her afterwards. She had felt on deaths door, her mind cloudy and body unresponsive.

Then the other one had done something to her. She had felt a warmth, pulling her away from the abyss, and she’d had a vision of two figures, briefly flashing through her mind. One was a massive reptilian like creature, with a wicked grin on its face. The second... had been the Avatar. She’d heard about her. The beautiful goddess of the mixed-bloods, the vision of the pulse. She would never tell anyone about either of those, especially the second one. They’d make the association, and her life would be over, for real this time.

Her guards had managed to help her walk back to the inn, and she’d been stuck in the bed since. Well, those guards that were capable of doing so. A number of them were in a worse state than she currently was, and most of them had been out for the count. A physician had looked at her, and said that her armour must be something special, as her wounds were minor considering what she’d just been through, She had massive bruising and some broken bones that would take some time to heal, but no head trauma, broken back, or shock from blood loss. He’d said that she had been really lucky.

More like cursed.

It would be a relief when they finally made it back to Brightswater and she could forget about all of it. Perhaps she’d find something interesting at the market that she could focus on instead.

If she didn’t die of boredom first.

She’d also be really happy when those two spots on the top of her head stopped itching.

Crystal couldn't help but watch the small dragon as it walked circles on her lap like a cat looking for somewhere to sleep, before stopped, tucked it’s tail around it, wrapped its wings close, and then settled down, staring back towards Myne. Who just looked at it like it had betrayed her, before then looking indifferent. It was really cute, and also hard to comprehend. Right now it was perfectly suited for her lap, but just earlier it had dominated the surroundings with its share size. Crystal did wonder if they were related in any way at all. It was probably complicated though.

“Let me make it clear. I’m only interested in securing Velvet’s return,” Myne stated bluntly, as she sat against one of the trees at the side of the road, looking at the others. “Of everything else, I couldn’t care less. Your thing with this Channeller is yours alone and I will not be involved in it.”

She then sighed.

“However, it appears that I have a vested interest in you two,” Myne continued, indicating both Rachael and Crystal. “I need you both in order to bring her back.”

“Then why not work with us?” Crystal asked. Myne confused her somewhat. She had all this power, and yet was not willing to use it to stop the Channeller’s murders and inhumane experiments. Granted they didn’t have concrete proof that he was behind it all, but the circumstantial evidence was pretty strong.

On the other hand, she wasn’t sure if she actually wanted Myne’s help in that way either. While she might be their patrons lover, she was still scary, and they didn’t know her at all.

“It’s yours to resolve. I’m not some hero or do gooder. I’m selfish, and happily so. So no. I’ve already been dragged into events and paid the cost. Not to mention that you need to prove to me that you are worthy of being her daughters.”

“I think that decision had already been made, by others,” Rachael interjected. “We are her Champions.”

Myne shrugged. “What they say, and how I view you is completely separate. Velvet and I on the other hand are a thing, at a fundamental level I might add, and you will find your self having to deal with me as well. We are all going to be around for a very long time.”

“You wouldn’t be the only ones,” Rachael said quietly with a smirk.

“So what now then? There’s not going to be another train for weeks yet,” Crystal looked to Clocky, Clocky nodding in confirmation, “and we do need to get back to Brightswater. A whole lot of walking I guess?”

Myne chuckled. “I am neither going to spend my days traipsing across the countryside, nor am I going to let you go face the Channeller as you are. Granted I have no idea of his capabilities, but from what Clocky has told me he must be somewhat competent. He has held his seat for decades. I need you both to survive. While your priestess is probably somewhat competent with her magic, you on the other hand are probably just as Velvet once was – mostly naive.”

“...maybe.” Crystal looked down at the ground. She had achieved quite a bit over the last couple of days, but she had a long way to go. At the very least, she did need learn the use of reinforcement magic before they went to face Bowser. She had the skill to fight, thanks to Warrior’s gift, but against anyone powerful her current capabilities wouldn’t be enough to make proper use of it. That, and she had the urge to grow stronger, probably a side effect of being a Chosen of Warrior.

“So, I will train you all,” Myne declared. “Till I decide that you are ready, or circumstance dictates otherwise.”

“What about the others?” Crystal queried.

“What about them?” Myne replied.

“Should we not find them first?”

Clocky shook his head. “They have gone their own way for the moment. They are free people, and we will meet up again when the time is right.” He then sighed. “I worry for them, but the certainty is there. Saylin I worry about the most, but her reading was the most clear of them all. So, it is just us at the moment.”

“This is certainly not how I expected us to be though,” he added with an amused smile. “Interesting times indeed.”

“Where then?” Crystal asked. “They aren’t very welcoming of us in Cannonsgate, and training in Brightswater seems like a bad idea.”

“What about back at the temple in the mountains?” Fairweather suggested. “All of our gear is still probably there.”

“The nexus?” Myne looked thoughtful. “Yes, that would suffice, as long as food supplies hold out for you all.”

“There will be plenty. We found some fruit trees while we waited for the others, and combined with the supplies it should last a while.”

“Good. We do have one other issue however...” Myne looked at Spectre and then Kitsune.

‘We’re not tasty,’ Spectre said, Crystal giggling in spite of herself.

“Are they able to connect with Odinsphere up there?”

That was a rather specific question, and it appeared that she was already aware that they both could connect with the floating sphere and its systems, and that it had limitations.

Rachael nodded. “Yes. They did so last time we were there.”

“Who do they serve? You, Odinsphere, or Angel?”

Crystal looked at Spectre.

‘I am bonded to you. My priorities are in the said order. Your directives override any conflicting ones, unless it would compromise the existence of Odinsphere, though I am the sole judge of that. We are largely autonomous, and I do not detect any fail safes having been planted. We do have Angel’s arrays, but while I cannot do anything with them, perhaps she can scour them? Anyway, if you wish me to withhold any information from transmission then I will do so.’

Crystal relayed what Spectre had said to the others.

“That will suffice. If something does leak through it’s not the end of the world, but I’d rather Velvet’s plan be kept secret. I will see what I can see of the stored arrays though. Come here little one.”

‘Remember me if these are my last minutes alive...’ Spectre looked wistfully at Crystal before he walked over to Myne. He was being unusually dramatic.

Myne picked up the cat-fox, looking at it carefully, before she closed her eyes. Crystal couldn’t see anything, but she could feel powerful magic emanating from her. Myne had a thoughtful expression as her magic flowed.

“Hmm. They’re not hidden, and there doesn’t seem to be anything untoward coded into them. Some of them are beyond even me though. We do need to extract them, as there is the possibility that we can send them through to Velvet. From what you’ve said I’d guess her understanding of them now surpasses mine. Probably even Alysia’s too.”

Myne placed Spectre back down on the ground.

‘Okay, maybe that wasn’t so bad.’ Spectre made his way back to Crystal, who grinned with amusement.

“It’s settled then. Don’t get used to the ride though. You’re going to need to find your own methods of travel if you’re going to outside of your sphere of comfort.”

Myne stood up. The little dragon looked at her, sighed, and then hopped of Crystal’s lap, wandering out onto the road.

“What’s its name?” Crystal asked.

“Ashling,” Myne answered. “The other one, which is with Velvet’s statue, is called Light. They are manifestations of Velvet’s magic, a part of her if you will. Her magic still retained it’s Rider aspect after all.”

That would make them sort of siblings or cousins then. Crystal got up, Spectre back on her shoulder. She had always like dragons, part of the reason why she wasn’t at all worried about that side effect of becoming herself.

“Can we stop somewhere first?” Rachael asked.

“I’m not a taxi service you know.”

“And we’re not just a key either,” Rachael retorted. “There is a patch of taint at the crash site in the mountains that we need to deal with.”

Clocky looked thoughtful. “The recovery team should be there at the moment, but if we can deal with it we should. That would prevent any further complications, and it’s not far from the temple.” He then turned to Myne. “Please.”

“Fine.”

"There is no way that we are going to be able to land down there, not without taking the entire pass out."

Myne was of course right. Ashling was massive, and he dwarfed the crash site. Crystal found it hard to believe that the same creature had been sitting in her lap not so long ago. At least Ashling didn't maintain his mass when he shifted forms. That would have been uncomfortable. Fatal actually. Myne had also taken the time to point out that Light and Ashling were special, even in regards to the Dragon Familiars that Riders had. They were in fact rather intelligent, and capable of talking to both Velvet and Myne, in the same way that the cat-foxes did. Not surprising she guessed, given that they were part of Velvet's primal magic. Myne had also stated that Ashling was lazy, which the silver Dragon had only made a half hearted attempt to protest via some snorts, which Crystal had found that she actually understood the meaning of.

Myne had gotten Ashling to land some ways up the mountainside, perched rather stably with his claws dug into the rockface. They were in view of the crash site if anyone looked up, but they would have been seen flying over in the first place. Ashling was after all hard to miss. Not that Myne was worried about being seen at all. Clocky had stated that her presence in the Outerlands was going to cause a stir, to which Myne had shrugged. While Velvet may have avoided being seen last time she was out here, Myne did not care to take such measures herself.

However what was odd was that they hadn't noticed any movement down there at all. The recovery train was there, so it had indeed arrived, but it was still there and from the brief look that they had had, the operation was far from complete. Rachael had said that the engine that they had arrived on was also there, but there was no engine present for the recovery train itself. Crystal felt Myne's magic wash over them as they waited, the vampire staring down into the narrows as she did her thing. It was a strange sensation, but perhaps only noticeable because they had magic of their own.

"There is definitely no one there. Alive at least. There are some bodies, but they've been dead a few days. There are some people much farther down the line, outside of the mountain itself, and they are afraid. Perhaps another of your team has been here?"

"Perhaps." Clocky's brow creased in thought.

"Can you sense anything unusual with your magic?" He then asked.

"No. And that includes any taint. It's gone. I can feel a residual trace, but what you found there no longer is."

Crystal wasn't sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing. Something had happened to it, and it had gone somewhere. Taint didn’t just go away – that much she knew from her purification at the site.

“Is that sensing thing that you did learnable by others?” Crystal asked. It would certainly be a useful ability to have.

“Sensing, yes, if you have the right alignment, which Dawn is not. Seeking is unique on the other hand.”

Ah well. It was worth a shot. Not that she didn’t have other things that she needed to learn anyway.

you both have abilities that are unique to you as well,

ignoring the multiple aspects that you also possess.

your potential is staggering.

i can see why arcane chose you both,

even if she has been somewhat manipulative in her execution.

mogust

The noble has a name. And the fact that she has a section to herself bodes well?/ill? We shall see ^^

Lots of hidden info in this chapter as well (or perhaps not so hidden as it is actually there), giving some context on things that have happened, or are going to happen.

You'd be right in assuming that some information is missing. The message from Velvet that was passed on to Myne has been skipped over twice now, but never fear, it will come to light eventually ^^

The long awaited training chapter is up net (44 - Training and Stuff), and unlike last book I will spend a little time going over some of what happens during that time (though to be fair, this will be Crystal's second training stint, following Cannonsgate). It will be up early next week. It's not all just training however (hence the stuff part of the title).

As always, thanks for reading. Feel free to comment, it's always good to hear from people :)