Zethira led the way toward the tavern’s entrance, with Elsie following a couple paces behind.  Immediately as they reached the establishment’s threshold, they were greeted by a cool and misty breeze pushing outward through the doorway.  To Zethira, the change in temperature mattered little— her draconic physiology was adaptable both to extreme heat and cold.  But Elsie spread her arms and basked in the cool droplets pressing against her face and laughed a bit before following her inside.

Other than being far larger than the taverns she was used to back in Loriae and Alstara, there wasn’t much distinctive about the Elephant’s Tusk compared with seemingly every other tavern on Thirassa.  The rancid smell of vomit mixed with cheap booze, the smell of stew made with cheap local cuts of meat, the sweaty men and an occasional woman offering to sell herself for a few coins and a night’s room, plenty of loud noises and words that’d make a sailor blush, and a bartender who somehow managed to get through all the ruckus.  It was nostalgic, in its own way, reminding Zethira of the life she used to live as a common sellsword, rather than as a princess’s consort.

Elsie, on the other hand, immediately shrank up as she walked inside, whether not used to the smell or the cacophony of all the voices screaming about.  The fact that she was probably also having to divert her focus to speak with Elana likely didn’t help matters either.  Zethira took note and pulled her over toward an empty table near the back of the tavern where the stench was a little worse but the noise a little more bearable.

One of the waitresses came by a moment later and set a couple of small glasses of water on the table.  Zethira ordered a small glass of ale, more out of politeness and expectation than because she expected to actually enjoy the house brew, while Elsie was content to stick to water.  The ale arrived about five minutes later, a testament to how well coordinated the establishment staff was, and, against all odds, it was surprisingly decent.  Elsie didn’t care for it, but that was fine.

“Do you or Elana sense anything?” she asked.

Elsie shook her head.  “It’s too difficult for us to pinpoint exactly who it is, but the Shard-wielder is in this room.  I’m sure whoever it is will make their move sooner or later.”

Zethira concentrated her runology, ready to Push at a moment’s notice.  “Understood.  Hopefully the owners here won’t get too pissed if we make a mess.”  She paused for a moment at Elsie’s glare.  “It’s merely one possibility; if at all possible, I would rather not have to fight in the city limits.  Besides the risk of bystanders interfering, being in an unfamiliar city means our potential enemy will have ample opportunities for escape.”

Elsie glared at Zethira.

“I thought it went without saying that we wanted to avoid unnecessary collateral damage.”

“I’m glad to hear.  Elana says we can just wait here, by the way.  The pull of the Shard you have will eventually attract them over.”

Zethira kept watch while Elsie enjoyed her glass of water, but for upwards of an hour, whoever they were searching for didn’t make a move.  And there wasn’t anyone suspiciously glaring toward them or otherwise trying to get their attention in a more circumspect manner.  She didn’t distrust Elana’s words, as her very being knew them to be true, but she did find it worrying, to say the least.  

From what the goddess had said, the pull of the Aetherial Shards was said to be almost irresistible for those who possessed either an incredibly strong will or had the blessings of her or Raesha.  Or both, in Zethira’s case.  Anyone else would be driven into obsession searching for them or delusions of grandeur over their newfound power.  And yet, whoever this was had something that enabled them to resist both those proclivities.

About two hours passed, during which time Zethira ordered another ale, a darker and heavier brew which still went down remarkably smoothly.  Elsie seemed to be nodding off a bit, though she did her best not to show her fatigue as the two continued to keep an eye out for their person of interest.  Only once the sun had begun gleaming in through the windows and the sky had been tinged with the orange of the approaching twilight did a rather dainty looking waitress approach.

“That was quite a shift, I tell you.  Folks have been extra rowdy these past couple of weeks.  Anyway, apologies for making you two lasses wait on me.  I know you probably have other things to do, but even so, the boss has a real stick up the ass.  He’d ream me so–  Ah, sorry, you all don’t need to hear me complain about my life.”

“We’re fine,” Zethira said.  “At least, I don’t think either of us are looking for another drink right now–”

“She’s the one,” Elsie whispered.

Zethira’s hand moved toward her sword and she focused her runology to the maximum, but this petite brunette, even smaller than Elsie, only remained as she was, neither cowing nor making any aggressive actions.

“I don’t mean to harm either of you two, but I think we three need to have a conversation.  And I suspect here isn’t the best place to do it.”

“Where do you suggest?” Zethira asked.  Zethira could feel the divine energy subtly radiating out of the woman after Elsie had pointed her out, but her lack of open hostility did little to assuage Zethira’s suspicion.  If anything, she was even more worried, that she was being led into a trap.

“Somewhere wide open with few witnesses,” the woman whispered.  “I doubt either of us has much reason to trust one another, and I reckon the fewer people who know about what we need to discuss, the better.”

“Outside the city?” Zethira asked.  “The town guard seems pretty riled up, and they’re already not happy with me due to the whole ‘scales and claws’ thing I have going on.  I don’t think they will be enthused if we just walk out right before dusk with some random local.  Looks a bit too much like kidnapping.”

“We both know that wouldn’t stop you if it came to blows.  The guard is trained, yes, but these golden crystals grant a strange power.  I do not think that they would pose much of a threat to either of you.”

Just what is she getting at?  Not doing a good job of getting us to drop our guard.

“What do you want with us?” Zethira asked.

“I want to be rid of this damn crystal.  But I don’t know how to do that.  I was hoping that you might.”

“You want to be rid of it?” Elsie asked.

The woman sighed and lowered her head.  “That’s right.  I found the thing in the ground about four days ago.  Figured I could sell it for a few silver.  And if not, it’d make a nice trinket for one of my kids.  But as soon as I touched the cursed thing, it disappeared into my hand.  And if that wasn’t bad enough, ever since then, it’s like I’ve been hearing whispers right in my head.  ‘Collect the other shards’ or ‘Go out and claim your destiny’ or ‘The power to do anything awaits you.’  It’s all a bunch of bullshit and hogwash if you ask me.”

Elsie’s— Elana’s, Zethira quickly corrected— ears perked up.

“You are able to resist them?” Elana asked.  “The whispers, that is.”

“I’m guessing the two of you don’t have kids of your own, but if you ever do, you’ll understand.  Things like ‘destiny’ and ‘power’ don’t mean nearly as much to me as making sure they have clean food to eat and a roof over their heads to sleep at night.  And as long as they have the chance to grow up happy and healthy and one day maybe start families of their own, well, that’s all a mother could ever want.”

“Does that mean that you would voluntarily give your Shard up?” Elana asked.

“Of course.  It’s brought me nothing but trouble since I found the damned thing.”

“Then, would you sit down for a moment?  I think I can help with that.”

“You’re not planning to stab me in the back, are you?  I may not be interested in fighting or going on quests like these damned voices want me to, but I’m not going to let my little boys go without a mother.  They already lost their father three years ago in a hunting accident and I sure as hell ain’t going to let them live on the streets without both of their parents.”

“No.  I will simply coax the Shard out of your body.  All of them were once mine, and so I will merely ask it to return to me.  Please, hold still and brace yourself.  I cannot promise that this will be painless.”

“And I should believe you?”

“You were the one who sought us out.  And from what I understand from my partner, you should know my words to be true.  I would not deliberately speak falsehoods.  Now then, would you trust me?”

“Well, I can’t say that either of us has much in the way of reason to trust one another.  And yet, the way you say those words, the unbridled confidence, I guess have no choice but to believe.  Please, ma’am, I beg you.  Anything for my little boys.”

Elana nodded and beckoned the woman to sit down beside her.  And as she sat, Elsie’s body began to glow with a warm golden hue, the same shade as the Shards themselves.  The woman followed suit, and though she grimaced in pain and gripped the table at first, soon her breathing grew deep and relaxed.  Very, very relaxed.  Elana began chanting something in the language of magic, one which Zethira knew little about beyond its existence, and after a few minutes of her quiet chants, a small crystal began poking out of the woman’s right hand.

Elana’s hands then glowed a soft green, as she and Elsie used their healing magic to ease the woman’s pain as they worked in tandem to extract the Aetherial Shard from her body over the course of several minutes.  Zethira, not wanting to interfere, could do naught in the interim save for watching her love hard at work until another ten minutes passed and the crystal was fully removed and laid on the table in front of them.  Elana beckoned Zethira to take the shard for herself, but as she did so, the woman slumped over.

“She’s not dead, is she?” Zethira asked.

“Of course not.  However, when a body is exposed to a massive amount of magical energy and then said energy is suddenly removed, it creates a sort of feedback as the body readjusts to having so much less energy within it.  When dealing with my sister’s or my own energy in particular, the feedback is so great that there is a real risk of the host body dying if they are insufficiently trained in magic.  

Most of what I did, as a result, was healing the body as I gradually extracted the shard, to ensure that she survived the process.  On the other hand, I could pull shards out of you in mere seconds since you already have so much mana within you.  And my blessing will ensure that your body rapidly recovers the lost mana from the surrounding environment.

“Ugh.”  The woman groaned and shook her head as she came to.  “Feels like I’ve got a splitting headache all of a sudden.  When you said it wouldn’t be painless, you weren’t lying.”

“And the voices?” Elana asked.

“I– I don’t hear them, but–  I think I need to go lie down.”

“I agree with that assessment, Ma’am.  I think it would be in your best interest to rest for a few days until you readjust to not having the Shard within you.”

“I– I’ll be fine, miss.  This won’t be the first or last time I’ve had to work while dealing with a headache like this.  But for my two little boys, it’s a small bit of pain to bear.”  

The woman bowed and took off, leaving Zethira and Elana alone in the tavern as twilight descended and the stars began shining through the night sky.  Zethira wanted to hold Elsie but held herself back, knowing her goddess alter ego was still operating the body.

“Should you not keep that for yourself?” Zethira asked.

“No.  Elissa and I are linked, and you and I are also linked through the blessing I have given you.  As you recover more Shards, I will restore my own power bit by bit as well.  But right now, I think it would be best if you kept them.  I am going to depart now and give her control of the body again.  I will do all in my power not to disturb the two of you while you two, shall I say, enjoy each other’s company.”