Chapter 39 – Haven.
The garden glowed with a soft purple light, Callie’s magic flowing through it, as the rain continued to thunder down outside, the occasional bolt of lightning lighting up the sky. It felt kind of reassuring in a way, familiar and comforting, even if it was wild and deadly. And this place, it was nice. Homely. Familiar.
“Yummy food?” Stella asked, poking one of the freshly grown pumpkins with her finger, frowning at how hard it was, and then trying to push it, and failing. She turned back to Callie, giving her the cutest pout.
Callie laughed, beaming at her daughter. “Yes, darling. They are very nice, as long as they are cooked properly, and you will be eating some.”
Stella looked at Callie, back at the pumpkin, gave it another poke, her tail swishing in annoyance, and then back to Callie. “Want milk. Blood. Pleease...?”
Callie rolled her eyes, leaned over and ruffled her daughter’s hair between her ears. “You are giving those up darling. And pumpkins are nice. Sweet. You’ll like them.”
That got a sparkle in Stella’s eyes, Stella likely just ignoring the first part of what she’d said. They had quickly learned that, like any child, Stella liked sweet things. It had taken some time and patience, but now their daughter would quite happily munch on a slice of apple or three. She had all her teeth after all. But amongst all that, she had developed some other rather strong tastes as well.
“Mumsy, want meat!” Stella declared, clenching her fists and staring hard at Callie.
And that was one of them. She was trying to look staunch and defiant, or something, but all that she’d managed was to look even cuter. Callie giggled, trying to keep a straight face. A week without any meat was apparently torture for her. Not that they had really been lacking, but she had made it abundantly clear the few times that it had happened. Stella really had no idea how lucky she was, especially given their situation, but she was only a year old after all. Well, her growth rate though put her closer to two years, but even still.
“Daddy and majji did go out earlier,” Callie informed her as a peal of thunder boomed through the sky, followed by another streak of lightning that illuminated the walls around them. Stella didn’t flinch at all, still staring at Callie. “Not sure what they found though.”
The hunt had been cut short by the arrival of the storm. The weather in this region was quite different from what they had experienced last winter, and she wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or not. Not having to deal with the snow was nice, but the constant rain and gale force winds were another issue entirely. And it made going outside a lot of the time unfeasible.
‘No bets on what she’s about to ask next,’ Felicia sent her, an amused smile on her face as she ran her hand down Callie’s back, and then pulled her into a hug and gave her a quick kiss. Her company was always nice, especially when she sat snuggled up against her. Just being there with her, even if it was something as mundane as her growing food for them.
Stella walked over to them till she was standing right in front of Felicia, looked up at her, and made the expected request. “Foxy. Where Daddy?”
Felicia tilted her head, giving their daughter a measured look. “We could just walk, you know. It’s not like home is that big.”
“Fluffy,” Stella tried, giving Felicia her cutest pleading eyes.
“No. I think we’re walking this time, little one. You can hold both our hands, okay?”
Stella seemed to ponder that for a moment, before coming to a conclusion and holding out her hands. “Okay.”
Callie stood and dusted herself off, and then took one of her daughter’s hands, Felicia taking the other.
“Want meat,” Stella declared again with a huff, all but trying to drag them forward, and failing. She settled instead for walking between them as they headed away from the garden and into the building proper.
“We’ll see,” Callie said with a chuckle. Perhaps they would humour her this time. It was her birthday after all.
Arianna had been correct on a number of things. That they would be spending another winter here, and that, if they went through the pass, that there would be a city that they could shelter in during the worst of the seasons. Summer and autumn had been nice, especially once they had emerged on the other side of the mountains. The terrain hadn’t been a lot different from what they’d been used to either, but that wasn’t really surprising. It wasn’t like they’d changed continents. More plains that stretched out in front of them, some lush and a deep green, others a lot drier and golden in colour once they moved away from the rivers, and forests that stretched for a few days and then just ended abruptly, often hugging the sides of mountains. There had been a few more of those, that they’d just walked around, none as big as the range that they’d passed through, and some sections of the landscape had been rather hilly as well. The amount of wildlife had increased too, but there had been no signs of anything resembling the children of the totems.
The earthquakes had gotten stronger, and larger shadows had started appearing as well. Not that they caused them any trouble at all. The only one that had managed to be an issue was the titan grade from the first earthquake, and there had been no more of them since. And while some of the other larger shadows were a bit of a challenge, and provided good practice, that was the extent of it. Not that she was complaining. Callie would be more than happy to never see another titan grade shadow again. It was just plain creepy. At least Stella didn’t seem to be phased by the earthquakes or shadows at all, just another regular aspect of her life. Her giggling and laughing as she watched the fights from Felicia’s arms was both reassuring and worrying in equal measures. What exact impressions were they giving their daughter?
The sense of the totem’s presence was getting a lot stronger as well. It was still hard to tell how much further they had to go, as they didn’t have any measure for how strong it was meant to be, but Callie was pretty certain that this would be their last winter here, in this realm. Arianna hadn’t said anything else since Callie had contacted her about the pass, but she guessed that there really hadn’t been much need. Especially since, as the totem had said, the city that would be their winter haven lay directly on their route.
The city was certainly something, and if it hadn’t been for the enchantments on some of the buildings, it would have long since disappeared and been little more than a pile of rubble that nature had taken over. But there it stood, defiant to all that was happening to the realm, a relic of what had once been. And in some ways, rather beautiful too. It could crudely be described as being at the edge of a rather large lake, if you ignored the very steep cliff that it sat atop of and sprawled out from, rising as high as the lake was wide.
In some aspects, it didn’t look natural. It was the kind of thing that Callie would have expected to see at the edge of the coast, where the waves battered away at the land, taking its price and leaving the landscape uniquely sculpted. Except that there were no waves here, the water of the lake still, even while some of the edges had sandy strips to them. Strips that were tinged red. Of course, the other possibility that came to mind was that at some point in the history of the land, a meteorite had impacted, its crater becoming the lake. Or a magical event that had had a similar effect.
The lower cliff face was pocketed with shallow caves and stone limbs that stretched out into the water, home to a variety of birds and fish, the upper reaches shear stone. The land on the slopes around the lake was still green and lush, pockets of trees within a half a day’s walk, the river that they had been following flowing both into and out of the lake, wide and lazy. The land further north of the city, or at least the direction that they had labelled as such, was covered by dense bush and plant-life and spindly trees that barely grew higher than a few meters, too difficult for them to try and travel through, but which did seem to be very much alive, even as the seasons changed. A city of potential.
Defying all logic, the buildings that were the most intact stood near the top of the cliff, their forms visible even as they had approached. Strong and sturdy, they were only a little higher than a story, instead preferring to sprawl out, each a complex of interconnected rooms. The reason behind that became quite obvious as the season clicked over, and winter took its hold. Thundering downpours, gale force winds, the weather itself trying, unsuccessfully, to wash it all away. Paths were carved deep into the slopes, the water rushing down them and into the lake, or sometimes into the earth as well, tunnels taking them to the cliff face, spectacular waterfalls cascading from them and into the lake, for anyone silly enough to be out there in that weather to actually watch them.
The winds howled, but did little more than flow around the buildings, the rain streaming off the roofs and downhill. Inside, it was warm, dry, and secure, and while they didn’t have a prepared garden space for Callie to use, it didn’t take them long to put one together. Nor did it take them long to make it their home, even if they only ended up using a portion of it. It was amazing what magic, and having time to prepare, was able to achieve.
Like last winter, and really, like most of their time here in this realm, they fell into a routine. Without the walking, more time was spent studying and training, something that seemed to throw Stella off initially. But when she realised that she could have more of her parents’ attention, and the concept of playing started to sink in, she more than threw herself into it. She was still far too young to be taught anything proper, but she was still picking up on things, her understanding rapidly growing. And her personality was starting to show a lot more as well. If there was one attribute that she could state with confidence that their daughter had, it was that, just like Julia, Stella was headstrong. As to if that was a good thing, that was a different matter entirely, but Stella would be Stella.
Callie hadn’t been slacking off on her training either. While last winter she had spent much of it feeling off or looking after Stella, this time round she threw herself into it a lot more. There was a sense of fulfilment to it that she hadn’t felt before, especially with the martial training. Sparring with Uriah and Julia was more than just enjoyable, and she was rather surprised to discover that she hadn’t lost her edge. Sure, she spent a lot of her time when fighting shadows just throwing lightning around while the other two got a lot more physical, but even so, when going hand to hand with her lovers, she was able to keep pace. Well, not with their speed, but technique helped her out there, and they all did have to limit what magic they used. Hurting each other was not on the cards. Even Felicia wasn’t half bad now, though it was less of her thing. And fair enough. Callie was more than happy to have her as support, and they both worked well together. Well, they all did, just in different ways.
Callie was also fairly confident that she had finally deciphered the rift spell. She was rather surprised that all it had taken was hours upon hours of studying the memory and surviving headaches, the arrays becoming clearer. But she understood all aspects of it now, what parts did what, and she was fairly certain that she could cast the spell and open a rift. But that she was not going to do. Not yet. Not till they had reached Arianna, something that they all agreed on, even though they were very much aware of her progress. This was their journey, and they would see it through to its end.
It didn’t take them long to make their way through their home, Stella keenly trying to pull them to where she thought Julia and Uriah were. She wasn’t wrong either. Ignoring that Callie could sense where they were, all of the rooms had a purpose, and Stella had picked up on that. Their daughter had a vague understanding of what going out entailed, and what room they came back to afterwards, and sure enough, that was where they were.
Stella stopped in the doorway, still holding her and Felicia’s hands, eyeing one, then the other. Callie quite happily took in the view as well, a smile on her face. They hadn’t escaped the rain, both of them stripped down to their underwear and sitting together in front of a burning fire, purely generated by Uriah’s magic. Julia’s hair was still damp and would take a while to dry out. Their clothes, hanging nearby, would be a lot quicker. They were enchanted after all.
Stella eyed them for a bit more before she looked back up at Callie, and then back at Julia. “Naughty!” she sternly declared.
Callie burst out laughing, Felicia giggling. Where on earth had she picked that one up from?
“No, it’s not naughty, nor have they done anything like that,” she finally managed to say once she had calmed down, Julia looking highly amused as she ran a hand carefully down Uriah’s chest for effect, Uriah blushing with embarrassment.
‘She never ceases to amaze me,’ Uriah sent, equal parts proud and confused. ‘Let me guess though...’
“Daddy! Want meat!” Stella then declared, finally deciding to drag Callie and Uriah into the room.
“Well, little fox,” Julia purred, leaning forward, “we might just have something special for you.”
Stella’s eyes went wide, a smile forming on her face. Getting her hands free of them, she took a couple of steps forward, and reached out. “Want.”
“Please,” she added a moment later.
Uriah laughed. “Good girl. But you’ll have to let us prepare it first.”
Patreon
So adorable I want to protect here
She is very adorable, and deserves all the protection and love ^^
She's so adorable!!!
Finally managed to catch up, if my rough calculation are correct, Callie fell pregnant 4 months in, then 6 months of pregnancy and now 1 year after birth so it's been roughly 1y10m ! I think riddling underestimated their capacity to train, understand magic and generally becoming stronger, even if he seems really powerful much more than them so maybe he just doesn't care.
She fell pregnant a few weeks in, but didn't realise it till about 4 months in ^^ other than that, your calculations aren't far off. It is getting close to two years since they arrived in the realm.
Riddling may have messed up. ^^
And Stella is very adorable.
I'm worried that Stella will continue to age faster and will grow older than her parents
No worries there, her growing will slow down. She will always be younger than her parents.
@mogust thank you! I'm glad
sooo cute!
She is, she is!
Omg she is adorable. 🥰
She is! I'm glad she's come across so well!