"Come on, don’t be petty!"

While I thought myself rightfully justified to feel indignant, Grisella’s smile didn’t falter in the least. “Pot calling the kettle black, much?” She exploded in a peal of raspy laughter.

I, for one, wasn’t too amused, so I just glared at her.

After cackling for a while, the witch eventually came to a stop, which was probably unrelated to my attempts at intimidation.

“That’s a nice face you’ve got going there! But maybe, wait until you grow a few feet taller before trying to use it?” She wiped the corner of her eye. “Ah! Now you see it’s not so fun when the joke’s on you, don’t you?”

I may or may not have grumbled a few expletives under my breath, concerning senile witches and their cackles, but she definitively ignored them. Paying me no attention, in fact, she flicked her hand and a wisp of fire ignited on top of her index finger. Apparently, her pipe had gone cold at some point in time, and that took precedence over dealing with me. The sad part is that I couldn’t even really blame her.

“Alright, since you’re bound to find out later, anyway, let me be the better old fart. Again!” Grisella grinned. “So, nodes. As the Lower is a reflection of the Higher, so our mortal shell is a reflection of the Source and its journey. Thus, our Nodes share the names of the Realms. From bottom to top, there’s Zabal, the Eminent; Xerbal, the Fair; Tuobal, the Glorious; Qimar, the Victorious; Femar, the Pleasant; Termar, the Puissant; Lahnav, the Ruler; Klenav, the Unveiler; and Parnav, the Liberator-”

“So,” Despite myself, I couldn’t help cutting her off. “If the whole ‘nodes’ thing ‘follows the Source’s journey’, since back then you mentioned you had access to ‘the Unveiler’... You’ve opened at least eight of them?”

If I hadn’t gotten things wrong, being able to make active, conscious use of pneuma -I still refuse to call it Breath- and opening just a few nodes was rare, the ‘about one in a hundred’ kind of rare, let alone having access to almost all of them. In other words, Grisella had to be quite the powerhouse.

Yet, how to put it... Well, for one, her house was significantly shabbier than ours, pitifully so, even. Granted, Munok seemed to be particularly wealthy by local standards... But still, even leaving that aside, the entire hamlet we lived in seemed to be about as backwaters as it comes, even though she had previously revealed that the Zerian Empire we lived in had cities, like Zabala, its capital, that -from her descriptions- probably were about as big as ancient Rome...

In short, her situation did not really fit with what one may expect of someone who, presumably, should belong to an elite of sorts. Not even one in retirement.

Then again, most of that was only speculation on my end.

“No way!” The witch chuckled, as if what I had just said was entirely ludicrous. “I’d still look like a young lass if I had that much power!” Her eyes twinkled with a playful glint. “The Source is merciful and gave us, mere mortals, the chance to take a bit of a shortcut! As you may have deduced from their names, the Nodes form triads of power; legs and groin, arms and torso, and finally the mouth and the eyes. Engaging any Node in a Triad allows a practitioner to start working on any Node in the Triad immediately above it. So, theoretically, you could access the Unveiler by just opening two other Nodes before it. Of course, that's easier said than done! Still, most practitioners do try to rush their way to it as fast as possible! After all, it is generally agreed that the Unveiler is by far the most useful one, as far as the Practice in general is concerned.”

She clapped her hands, seemingly delighted at some joke I wasn’t privy to.

“Anyway, unblocking a Node is not even that hard! You just have to connect to the Higher Will, that divine spark of the Source within yourself, and follow her guidance. Those who are lucky can pull it off in just a few decades! Some are even born with a few Nodes already active!” She gave me a schadenfreude-filled smirk. “Although, those of us who are not among the few blessed by lady Luck first need to gain enough control over Breath. Oh! And then we might have to spend a few centuries living in accordance with the Source and its Will...”

Having heavily emphasized the last word, the witch stopped, only to methodically refill her pipe, closing her eyes as she lit the new load.

After a few minutes of silence, only interrupted by the soft whistling made by her trinket every time she drew from it, I came to suspect the senile old thing might outright have forgotten all about my presence.

A bit miffed, I cleared my throat. “Hello?” Earth to Narnia, you fucking junkie!

“Wha-” The witch startled, hazy eyes taking a while to focus on my own, and the raised eyebrow above the right one. “Oh, right, the pesky little shit’s still here!” She coughed. “Sorry, I got lost while communing with the Source. It happens. Anyway, where were we?”

Sure, ‘The Source’ my ass!

I sighed. “Living in accordance with the Source, or something like that...”

“Right! Right, well, there’s nothing much to it, and it’s not like it’s an exact science...” She chuckled. “I’m sure my Order has an entire section of a library dedicated to the subject, somewhere in Sedila. Scholars debate and philosophers speculate, but in the end, it all amounts to ‘acting with virtue, speaking with truth, respecting your peers’, and all that crap. Some will probably tell you it also involves chastity too, or even avoiding vice altogether!” She took a drag off her pipe, as if to mock her own words.

“Seriously?” I regarded her with obvious, and -in my humble opinion- quite justified skepticism. “Even if not eight, you’ve managed to open a fair number of nodes yourself, haven’t you?”

“A handful.” She conceded, giving me a side look. “Although I’m not telling you which ones, nor how many. Asking any Practitioner worth their salt about that is a serious breach of etiquette, young lad!” Again, she started laughing, as if what she had just said was just about the best joke of all times.

I scoffed. “Well, I know about one already, right? But, never mind that, how does that even work for you? You essentially extorted me into entering a contract, in hopes of stealing my knowledge! Not exactly a paragon of virtue, are we?”

She snorted, dismissing my accusation with her hand. “Oh, shut it! I wouldn’t have harmed you anyway, not unless I deemed you dangerous to our kind, which, by the way, is a notion I had already discarded by then. I’ve been keeping an eye on you pretty much since your birth, just to make sure.”

“Oh, but I am dangerous!” I frowned, somehow irked by the assessment. Even though, a part of me noted, I had to concede she did have a point, sort of. “Well, not right now, true... but I can be dangerous! Very dangerous, I tell you!”

Should have seen me when Temujin ordered we bring an end to that ungrateful dog, Toghrul. I still can’t believe how he and his little shit of a son thought they could get away with betraying the Sword of the Steppe, ha!

Pretty sure more than one Keraite had nightmares starring me, after we were done with them.

“No need to get so agitated, little friend!” Grisella once again started laughing out loud. “I wouldn’t dare doubt it! For one, I’m sure your linens are plenty scared of your prowess! Until you recover the rest of your memories, though, or at least until you become able to do more than that colorful party trick of yours...” She shrugged, giving me a smug grin. “Well, let’s leave it there, shall we? I believe it’s already time to take you back to mommy~, anyway, I bet you’re getting hungry!”

Once again demonstrating agility that grossly belied her age, Grisella shot to her feet, clapping her hands as she did. “And, isn’t our little agreement helping you too? As a matter of fact, so far, it’s helped only you, hasn’t it? Do you gather it’s a sin for a frail old lady like me to expect a little something in exchange for her relentless efforts?”

“That’s fucking shameless, and you know it, you ancient freak! Harpy!”

Well, I guess it would be, anyway, did I truly have anything to offer in exchange...

“Alright, alright, stop whining!” Blatantly disregarding my somewhat hypocritical remark, Grisella quickly headed for the door. “Seriously, your voice gets on my nerves, can’t you do something about the pitch? No never mind, the faster you’re out of here, the better! Let’s go! Or would the baby rather get carried?” Giving me a side glance, she added. “By the way, try putting a leash on that tongue of yours, being rude won’t help your cause with the Source!”