It was nearly morning when another jolt of pain ripped me out of my sleep. As I wouldn't get any more sleep this morning I sat up. The sky was mostly cloudy today, but it wasn’t raining.

What should I do with the magic contract power? Spending a while examining the power there wasn’t anything new I could find out about it. Using it would probably give pointers about the details. Alenae seemed to be sure that the target could refuse the contract and that an unbalanced contract could be ended even from third parties. Another point was that if the contract would actually a boon for both parties, then it might be actually worth it as long as both sides were content with the terms. Unfortunately I hadn’t any idea about what this contract would actually do at the moment. Maybe I would get an idea when I would offer it to someone? It would be nice if magic would come with a handbook. Well a proper education regarding magic would have been even better. For now we were limited to learn while using it. Alenae was a real boon regarding general questions, but it was clear that our magic was kind of different in some ways.

I sat up and stretched for a few moments.

“Morning Lilly!” Tilly waved at me.

“Hi Tilly.” I got to my feet.

“Did you come to a conclusion about the contract?” She tilted her head raising a brow.

“Not yet. I wonder if I would able to cancel the contract anytime.” I went over to Tilly.

“You should ask Alenae. She’s the one with the most extensive formal training with magic. As she volunteered to try it, she’s got a good reason to play it safe.” Till looked down into the valley ahead.

“Hmm.” I crossed my arms under my chest.

“She’s going to wake up soon. As far as I understood such contracts are best when every party gains. While I’m still miffed I’m no valid target, I’d still do it as long as there was something to gain for all. As we’re hunted by a fucking empire, anything that gives us a net advantage sounds good. She has to accept it anyways.” Tilly leaned on her spear.

“I’m not sure if she feels compelled to accept, just because she’s grateful we helped her out of a tight spot.” I shook my head.

“Even then, as long as she feels it’s a good deal for her, who cares?” She shrugged.

“I do care, because if her attitude changes in a few months it might look different for her after a while.” I frowned at Tilly.

“Maybe, but she should be aware of that. Actually you could just tell her about your qualms. Just talk with her.” Tilly pointed to our tents.

Alenae was just crawling out of her tent. After a while everyone was awake and we had breakfast together.

“Is there a way to cancel a contract when the contractors consent, Alenae?” I looked at the young former noble.

“This depend on the contract, but contracts with such an option are considered unstable.” She shrugged with a timid smile.

“I’m wondering how it affects the mind. I’m not happy about messing with someones mind.” I watched her closely.

“The books I read stressed that it’s no change in personality. It makes it difficult for both parties to avoid meeting their obligations. It shouldn’t be much of a problem as you have to willingly accept them. It’s considered useful in tight spots, as it bolsters morale considerably.” She shrugged.

“I’ve no idea what to expect though. When I offer you the contract, I want you to consider if it’s acceptable for you even in the long term, since I don’t want to tie you down into something you may regret later. I won’t judge you if you refuse. Understanding the power better would be a gain, even if you reject.” I looked her into the eyes.

“I understood.” She solemnly nodded at me.

“Well. We’re going to wait for a while, as I want to get going at least till noon for today. We don’t know about how it works. Remember you can go back from your offer any time.” I gave her a smile.

She nodded, smiling back at me.

We had a quick breakfast.

“Let’s get going!” Milly got to her feet.

We decamped quickly and soon we reached the small stream rushing down the valley. The stream bed was full of pebbles, with some larger rocks sprinkled in.

“This is COLD!” Tilly put her hand into the water.

“Let’s get out of everything that would get wet, it a cool day.” Milly started to remove her boots.

“The water will at least go up to thighs.” Loraline followed suit.

I got ready to cross the stream as well. Skin dries much faster than cloth. Soon we crossed the stream at a shallow spot. Milly put the scrying spot of the mirror on a larger rock at the other side. There was a nice view up the path leading down into the valley.

We followed the stream upwards for a while until the valley widened a bit. The stream came out of a small lake at the base of the tongue of a glacier. It was near noon.

“Let’s have a swim, Tilly. Then we have some lunch. We will continue up the glacier later.” I grinned at Tilly.

“You mean?” Tilly shuddered as I got rid of my clothes, save for a thin shirt.

“Come on!” I gave Milly my skirt and my jacket and waded into the lake.

“Lilly!” Tilly looked at me with wide eyes.

The water was freezing cold. I won’t be swimming here for long. I let myself glide into the water, only my head peeking out of the clear water.

Tilly hesitated for a while, then she came into the water as well. We followed the others as they followed the shore of the lake for a while.

“You’re so meaann!” Tilly hissed at me.

“You called for it.” I grinned while swimming. Exertion helped to stay at least a bit warm.

A few minutes later we left the lake again shivering. After drying ourselves quickly we redressed with dry clothes and joined the others for lunch. It help a bit with the tiredness for a while at least.

“It’s going to be cold the night on the glacier.” Milly looked up the sheer ice wall.

“It wouldn’t be the first time. We should make sure to take some stones with us to heat them during the night.” Tilly looked at the scree ramp which would help us to get on top of the glacier, with some climbing at the end.

“Maybe we find some place beside the glacier to hunker down. The glacier stretches up to ridge ahead. Maybe we are up there by tomorrow evening. Since it’s most uncharted wilderness, we have to find a way down on the other side.” I looked at the mountains ahead.

It would be a tough hike from now on and we had to look out for crevasses. At least we could use the spears to poke at the ice ahead and we had enough rope as well.

“Then let’s try out this contract, Alenae. I hope it will not bite us later.” I got to my feet.

“Let’s get up on the glacier first. We have a good view on the valley below and it would be easier to get some distance to someone on our tails.” Loraline got to her feet as well.

I nodded at Loraline.

We climbed up to the surface of the glacier at the eastern side of the valley. It took a while, maybe half an hour. It wasn’t easy to keep track of time on that scale without a watch.

Finally we reached the surface of the glacier. Milly and Caroline monitored the valley below.

“Are you ready?” I looked at Alenae.

“I am.” She nodded solemnly.

“I’m going to watch!” Tilly stood a bit to the right.

“Okay.” I focused on the power.

Then I opened the connection between the storage and the mayor power. A flash of blinding light exploded in front of my inner eye. Then I watched the gleaming violet strands of mana painting an intricate pattern across the power.

After what felt an eternity the movement came to a halt, and there was an urge to choose between three ways to go. One felt very strict while the other very relaxed. The third was something between the others. As Alenae stressed on a balanced contract, so I chose the option which felt most balanced. Then the gleaming strands of mana weaved into an overwhelmingly complex net of mana strands. As I opened my eyes I felt the urge to touch my target. I put my palm on Alenae’s head.

Her eyes fluttered for a few moments. Then they widened up and she looked at me with awe and disbelieve. Then she fell to her knees.

“I Alenae swear fealty to my liege, to serve and protect her with all I have!” She bowed her head.

I was too surprised to catch her, and looked down at her my mouth wide agape as I realized after a few moments.

“What happened, Alenae?” Milly shook her head.

Loraline and Atan were looking solemnly at the scene. It was something they grew up with I suppose.

“Get up.” I finally got back my bearings.

Alenae got to her feet and looked at me with a wide smile.

“What exactly was the contract about? I feel I have to take care of your needs from now on. What was it you got offered?” I tried a slight smile back.

“I’m going to be your vassal from now on. Which means I’m going to do what you order me to. While I’m not feeling anything yet it offered me mana! I’m going to be able to use my magic again!” Her eyes were literally glowing.

“There is a slowly waning magic aura about her.” Tilly was still staring at Alenae.

“What? This is unheard of!” Loraline shook her head in disbelieve.

“It has to be true, as it was part of the contract. Serving you for the rest of my life is something I do gladly for getting back my mana! I’m more than content with it.” She bowed again.

“This. What? How?” I focused inward and had a look at the power again.

There were more details visible, but I would need time to examine them.

“Whatever happened, we should get going. There is a Fire Lizard coming down to the place we rested last night.” Milly came back to the rest of us.

“Well. Now. Then let’s get going. Still. I don’t want you to take unnecessary risks, Alenae. You won’t be able to help me anymore if you’re dead.” I looked at her solemnly.

“Very well, my liege.” She bowed with a smile.

I blushed. This was something I wasn’t used to, and it felt weird. We could talk about that tonight though, as we should use the remaining daylight as good as we could. We started to form a line with our ropes and started to cross the glacier up towards the ridge ahead. We would have to climb the last stretch, but it looked all doable from here. Maybe we would have to turn west a bit, as the ridge was less steep in that direction.

We were in the middle of the open ice as the suns were setting. Setting up a camp was a bit different, as the night would be cold.

“I hope we find a better place to rest tomorrow.” Loraline frowned.

“The crevasses forced us to many detours. Glaciers are a mess to cross.” I nodded at Loraline.

“I hope the other side of the ridge is better terrain.” She nodded back.

“Alenae?” I noticed she had finished setting up a tent.

“Yes, my liege?” She came over to me.

“Well. It feels strange to be addressed like that for one. You’re sure you’re okay with it?” I looked her in the eyes.

“As a proper vassal it’s important to show the proper respect. I could use another title if you prefer. In the end it’s not that different than before, just a bit more formal.” She held my gaze.

“I’m not sure what to think about it, but if you think you should do it, I can cope with that. I still expect you to speak up if you have an idea or vital information.” I furrowed my brows.

“Very well, my liege. I wouldn’t dare to keep something from you that you could make use of.” She nodded solemnly.

“Responsibility could be a burden, especially in a situation we’re in.” Milly laid an arm around my shoulder.

“Well. Yes.” I gave her a smirk.

“Feel free to ask if you have questions. While I’m not a war leader, I’ve got some knowledge about the situation.” She gave me a hug.

“I’ll come back to you, but in the end I am the one who is responsible.” I hugged her back.

“That’s at least a good start. You took responsibility for the rest of us plenty of times, and you did well. As long as you keep in mind that you’re not unfailing, this can be rewarding for everyone involved.” She gave me a peck on the cheek.

Soon we went to sleep, cuddling together to get warm. We put some warmth spells on a few stones we brought. The spells were much more powerful now, which was nice, but we had to wrap them up in cloth.

The next morning Alenae was feeling ill. The nausea she was describing seemed familiar. We improvised a stretcher with two spears and some blankets, put some warm stones into the blankets, and continued our way up the glacier for the day carrying her. We were much slower, but still made some progress. Waiting on the glacier was not an option.

I wondered how this would play out. Would she get back her old mana? This would be quite an asset as she was much more capable than all of us. How long would this nausea last? Would it last longer than the first time as our mana color reset last winter? Would the time somehow indicate how powerful her mana would get?

“Could I learn magic as well using your magic, Miss Lilly?” Atan looked at me as we stopped for lunch.

“Maybe. I need to examine the results at some point. At the moment I don’t have the necessary mana for it though, so it’s not that pressing. We have to see how it works out with Alenae as well. The probing indicated I can use it on you, but maybe the magic was only a thing with her, as she had mana before. I can’t really say.” I smiled at the boy.

“I don’t mind to follow your lead, so I would be happy to try it.” He looked at me with puppy eyes.

“Even if everyone gets access to mana, you would still need to wait a bit before you can use it. You need to be older.” I shook my head.

“Ohh! I can wait!” He hung his head and came back smiling moments later.

“Depending on how this works for Alenae, it might be useful for us as well.” Loraline looked at me thoughtfully.

“It won’t be possible for now, since the mana needed for using it is well beyond the mana I’ve at my disposal at the moment. Maybe after this damned mark is torn apart.” I shook my head.

“Having access to some magic sounds interesting, as long as I only have to swear fealty to you.” She smiled.

“Let’s talk about that when we have the option again. Maybe after the next divine intervention or maybe I might be able put my own mana to use at some point. For me both seems to be quite unlikely in the next time.” I sighed.

At least Alenea seemed to be happy with the contract so far and I’d be surprise if she would want to cancel it. A chance to regain use of magic was a big boon I suppose. I hoped that she would be better by tomorrow. It would be nasty to climb while carrying her on the stretch. At least we would have to take a larger detour.

It was noon when Alenae lost consciousness.

“She has fever.” Loraline looked at me furrowing her brows.

“Then let’s stop for today, even if the situation on the glacier is not the best.” I sighed.

“There is no good point for a rest at the moment. We could scout ahead a bit in the afternoon to find a good way ahead. We’re going to be faster later.” Caroline looked at me tilting her head.

“That’s a good idea. Let’s make a camp for the night here. I’m going to scout ahead with Caroline, while you keep an eye on Alenae and the terrain behind us.” I nodded at her.

“You’ll be back till dusk?” Milly looked at me.

“We should, as we will be much faster without carrying much with us.” I looked back with a nod.

“It’s open terrain, we won’t be out of sight.” Caroline got to her feet.

We came back a while after the suns.

“How was the trip?” Tilly waved as we approached.

“We found a way to a chasm we could use to climb up. We should be able to make it there in about half a day.” I looked at Caroline.

“We won’t make it unless Alenae is fit enough to at least walk. Carrying the stretcher would be much to dangerous. We would have to detour to the west in that case.” She shrugged.

“Alenae is still out. Nothing has changed, but there is magic at work.” Loraline came out of one the tents.

“It’s a mess. It would be nice to have some time to rest. The winter had been boring, but at least we hadn’t any problems with our pursuers.” Tilly came out of the tent as well.

“Since we’ve got no idea when she comes to again, we’re going to continue carefully up to the ridge. We should be able to reach the chasm before sunset.” I sighed.

“The lizard left upstream after reaching the stream.” Milly gave me a hug.

“The posse behind him might be more of a problem.” I gave her a peck on the lips.

“So we’re going to continue tomorrow?” Loraline looked at me.

“We should, but we’re taking our time to check on Alenae.” I nodded at her.

“Well. At least she seems stable so far. Without risking to fall into crevasses it should be okay.” She frowned a bit.

“As soon as we find a decent place to rest, we’re going to wait a few days for her to recover.” I looked at Loraline.

“Let’s eat and get ready for the night.” Milly let go of me.

The night was quiet and cold.