January 16, 2019, 12:33 pm. Right after tea.

I stare at where Rufka stands, knife in hand.

When the knife flashes I throw myself to the side, smashing against a pile of furs and blankets.

There's no thunk from the knife. Looking up, I see Rufka isn't moving forward.

Instead, I hear her laughing.

"Sorry, sorry. I couldn't resist," she apologizes as she casually tosses the knife back and forth from paw to paw.

"But there is one final test," she states as she pauses with the knife held against her paw.

"One final test to really prove you're not Aetherium," she continues, drawing the knife across her palm, leaving it dripping with crimson fluid. "We need to complete the rite."

"What?" I sputter as I watch her blood slowly bead along the edge of the knife.

"Oh, sorry. I guess I should've known you wouldn't be familiar with the rite of Astra if you've never heard of the Aetherium," Rufka says holding the knife loosely in one of her other hands. I know that name. Astra, goddess of family, bonding and rebirth.

"Rite of Astra. Right," I reply as I tentatively lift myself from the floor. I guess she's not going to try to murder me.

Which I guess should be obvious. She's had several opportunities that would have been much easier than coming at me with a knife. Even if she is the daughter of Crimson Death. Who says something like that with a knife in their hands? At least I wasn't drinking.

"Yeah. The rite of Astra. A sharing of flesh to bind ourselves to do no harm," Rufka shrugs as if cutting one's hand open is no big deal. In Uthica's time, the rite of Astra was for honouring the dead. I guess with everybody turning into blue sugar dust when they die, the tradition changed.

"Uhm, okay," I say as I brush myself off while I stand, "how do I do this?"

I'm not looking forward to cutting my hand open, but it beats getting shot. Or stabbed. I know I can't bring myself to blast her, so that's out. Even when I thought she was going to attack, all I wanted to do was escape. The idea of retaliating with Lightning Torrent didn't cross my mind. Until now that is.

While I'm thinking, she continues, "it's easy. Since I'm the host, you partake of my flesh first. Just lick my blood," she informs me, handing me the bloody knife, hilt first.

My stomach gurgles as I take the knife from her. Staring at the bloody knife, then looking up at her expectant face, I slowly bring it to my mouth.

She watches me patiently even as I hesitate.

Closing my eyes, I lick the blade.

......

......

Cherry.

It tastes like cherry.

That's when Rufka loses it, no longer able to contain herself.

Nonplussed, I watch as she collapses on the floor, literally howling with laughter.

Oh my God. She's just like my cousin Thomas.

"Hahaha. Your... Haha. Face... hehe," she manages to get out between her peels of laughter. Righting my chair, I sit back down. Any sense of threat I felt from her is gone now. A minute later she finally calms down, setting herself in the chair across from me with a big grin on her face.

"You're going to make me another cup of tea. Then once we're done, you're going to guide me to my companions," I declare, looking her in her lower eyes. If she's going to act like Thomas, I'm going to treat her like I would Thomas.

"Well, I'll make the tea," Rufka counters, starting the kettle again as she speaks, "but I have no idea where your friends might be. Never met them. It's pretty quiet out here. Only user who ever makes their way out here is Theria."

"They're being held by a group of K'tharn up in the mountains, led by a giant K'tharn named Ivicka who rides a dragon. I need you to get me to that mountain," I reply, watching her carefully. Clearly, I'm not as good at picking up K'tharn body signals as I thought. Either that or Rufka is a skilled liar. Probably both.

"Oh Vaus from above. Your friends are in the custody of an Aetherium flight. Who are probably here to investigate the mana strikes that hit a couple nights ago. Pretty spectacular light show," Rufka comments as she pours me another cup of tea, "you wouldn't happen to know anything about that Lex?"

"Not really," I reply, which is technically true. I wonder, could the magic that brought us here have caused it? Or did the 'mana strikes' themselves bring us here? More useless conjecture.

"I can find them," I mention, getting back on track, "my companions, I mean. I have a way of tracking them."

"Really?" Rufka asks while stroking her chin, "and it works past the Aetherium's anti-infiltration measures?"

"I didn't know they had those. I think so. I can only do it once an hour though." I reply, trying to take another sip from my cup, but finding it empty. It really is good tea.

"And you're trying to, what, rescue them? Alone?"

"Yes. And not alone. I have Smoulder, a mana-hare who's been watching my back," I defend with some indignation.

"Oh, a mana-hare. Truly one of the great threats of the reach. I think I know of a wolven who choked on one once," she says, with mock seriousness.

Before I can defend Smoulder she continues, "So just to be clear," a mild frown appearing on her face, as she leans forward conspiratorially, "your companions have been captured by an Aetherium flight. Who have a dragon. Your only help is a small hare. You have a way to find them, but it only works once an hour. And you don't know anything about where you are or the Aetherium. Does that about sum it up?"

"Yes," I confirm, suddenly feeling much less sure of myself. Why did I think I could do this?

"Sounds like fun," Rufka says with a big grin, reaching her paw across the table taking my hand before I can stop her, "sign me up."

Shaking her paw, I try to process what just happened. Is this the same K'tharn who brought me into her home at arrow point. Then sat me down to play checkers and drink tea. Before pretending to cut herself. Did I just agree to have her help me? What was I thinking?

"Crazy," I mutter while shaking my head back and forth. I'm not sure if I'm referring to her or myself.

"Probably," she agrees while shrugging.

"Now, before we leave. A drink. To celebrate our new partnership," Rufka proclaims as she stands up, searching around in a pile near her bed. I watch as the pile arches over her head, held up by unseen forces. As she pulls her head out, bottle in hand I see the pile settle back into place.

Of course. Magic housekeeping.

Setting the bottle down on the table, Rufka picks up both our mugs, squinting inside. Then she stares at me with a considering look.

"You're a water mage, right? Clean these out for me? Tea doesn't mix well with this stuff. Tastes awful."

Indulging her, I summon a small ball of water which I use to clean not only the mugs but my hands, face, onesie and boots as well.

Properly cleaned I look around for a place to dump the debris before deciding Rufka's head would make an excellent trash receptacle. I float it above her head, dumping it while she's distracted. To my disappointment, she doesn't acknowledge my reprisal beyond a quick shake of her mane.

"That's pretty handy. I knew I should have gone, controller. They get all the best utility stuff," Rufka says completely ruining my revenge by not just ignoring it, but giving an appreciative nod as she fills both our cups with an orange bubbling liquid.

As she sets the cup in front of me I focus on it. Because why would I start trusting her now.

"Substance analyzed: Muthica's Magnificent Moonshine.

Description: Like most alcohol, this beverage will bolster an iron rank's courage by reducing their caution. Also increases iron rank health edge by ten. Both effects last for ten hours. Reduced effectiveness on copper rank or above. Toxic to mortals.

Survival tip: This is a potent alcohol for an iron rank substance. Consumables of this potency require an exceptionally skilled alchemist with a maximized subclass to create."

"Seems like just the thing for charging in recklessly. Cheers."

Wyonna's comment causes me to pause. I don't want to do this recklessly. But then again. Ten health edge. That's huge.

Lifting the mug, I take a cautious sip.

Gaaaghhh. It burns. It's so much worse than I expected.

"Oh, yeah. I could have warned you about that," Rufka apologizes with a grin that suggests she damn well decided not to. Then she raises her own mug while brushing some of the leftover dust off her shoulder. Despite trying to keep a straight face I notice her cringe as she swallows it. Which makes me feel a little better.

Checking my status, I confirm the liquor hasn't granted me it's buff yet, so I take another drink. I try to make it a bigger one, so this is over quicker, but it backfires when I end up spitting it up.

I've never been a big drinker. Sab and I snuck a few coolers from my mom once, just to try it, but we'd never been that big into partying. We'd both seen my mother in her strung-out state often enough to never want to be like that.

That said, it only takes me two more sips before my status updates, raising my health edge into the positive. First time for everything. As I'm checking my health edge I notice something else. The tea didn't just double my health regeneration, it seems like it restored my base regeneration.

Opening up my conditions I find two new ones.

"Muthica's special tea blend. "

"Doubles rate of all resource regeneration. Temporarily suspends all iron rank negative conditions affecting resources. Time: 25/30 minutes remaining."

"Muthica's Magnificent Moonshine."

"Increases health edge by 10. Bolsters courage, rendering users immune to iron rank fear effects. Provides lessening resistance against copper rank or higher fear effects. Time: 10/10 hours remaining."

Ah, it's just temporary. Too bad. I was hoping I'd found a magical solution to my temporal inconsistency. Not having to relive my memories would be great. I mean, I've been able to do a lot of other things with magic, so why not.

I'm almost regretting not letting Roberts make an attempt at healing me. Almost.

With my conditions reviewed, I turn to Rufka, my words only slightly slurred as I say, "okay. Let's get going. If we start walking now, we can get there by nightfall."

"Walking? You really aren't from around here, are you?" she laughs as she shifts the heavy wooden bar out of the way. Stupid bar.

Stepping outside I see Smoulder sitting on the edge of the porch, waiting for me. Heading over, I pick her up giving her head scritches as a thank you, a hello, and an apology for making her wait.

Head scritches, the ultimate in communication.

As I'm offering Smoulder her due, Rufka walks up beside me. When she looks at Smoulder her hackles raise in quite an impressive array of fur as she exclaims, "you said you were being escorted by a mana-hare, not by a mana-warped monstrosity."

"What? Smoulder's not a monstrosity. Are you girl? No, you're not," I say as the head scritching intensifies, leading Smoulder to start thumping her leg.

"She is a ball of doom though," I concede as I look up at Rufka who's taken a couple of steps back. Reflecting for a second, I ask, "what do you mean, mana-warped?"

"That little thing has clearly been deformed by a massive surge of pure elemental fire mana. Most creatures are killed when struck by that much pure mana. The ones that survive become twisted monsters. Mum said there are a few, a very rare few, that come out blessed with new powers but are otherwise unchanged."

"Oh. Well, she's been a blessing for me, that's for sure. Wish I knew how to make her my pet. She deserves some sweet system love," as if in response to my statement, I receive a notification from the system.

"Quest received: My Very Best Friend. Description: Make Smoulder your pet. Requirements: 0/1 pets added. Reward: 5 Smoulder bound iron rank integration points, 1 familiar. Time: 1/1 day remaining."

What the hell? Only a day to add her as a pet? Don't suppose there's an instruction manual for this.

"You want to make a mana-blessed your pet? You realize you wouldn't have control over her as you would with a normal pet, right?" Rufka asks making a motion with her hands that has no meaning to me.

"So?" I respond with some exasperation.

"Clearly Rufka doesn't appreciate having an actual connection like we have," I say to Smoulder as I hold her up in front of me. I can practically feel her smugness as she turns to look at Rufka.

"Okay, whatever. It's your pet. Plus, I guess you can always bond more," Rufka concedes, turning away with a shrug. I watch her pull a familiar-looking harness from a barrel on the porch as I think.

"Wait, do you know how I can make her my pet," I wonder, stepping closer.

Looking up from untangling the harness Rufka nods, "sure. If you've got a beast tamer you can have them do the ritual. I'm no beast master so I just use an iron plus sufficient focus. Then I..."

"An iron?" I can't help but interrupt.

"Sure, an iron rank integration point, plus about fifty focus or so depending on the pet. Tuffie, my first, cost me 54 focus I think."

Rufka draws all four paws together into a point as she continues pointing all four at Smoulder, "then you just focus on the creature you want bound. If it's typical wildlife like Tuffie, it'll be yours at that point. You can't bind mana-spawn. Damn things are so ugly I don't know why any-user would bother trying, but some user must've" she informs me while looking north.

Returning to her task, she adds, "with a mana-blessed, I have no idea what'll happen. You're going to spend the point whether it works or not. Waste of an integration point if you ask me. Rather not have to hunt down twenty Pothlin just to have a chance to bond a pet."

I've stopped listening by the end of her spiel. I got the important parts. Iron integration point and focus. I've got plenty of both at the moment.

Looking at Smoulder I don't even question my decision as I focus on her, offering up the integration point as my focus drops by over a hundred points.

The result is immediate, Smoulder's status screen appearing in my interface. Ha. I knew it'd be fine. I blow a silent raspberry at Rufka before checking over Smoulder's stats.

SMOULDER ATTRIBUTE VALUE ADJUST STRENGTH 12 (+/-) CONSTITUTION 14 (+/-) AGILITY 95 (+/-) ENDURANCE 45 (+/-) INTELLECT 11 (+/-) SPIRIT 21 (+/-) PERCEPTION 82 (+/-) RESOLVE 75 (+/-) Integration Points 5

Welp, that explains a lot. No wonder she's a death ball. The only stats I have that are higher than hers are Intellect and Spirit. How is it I can carry her in one arm without getting tired but she still has a higher strength than me?! Shouldn't attributes be absolute? Does this mean Smoulder can outlift me?

RESOURCE CURRENT/MAX [EDGE] (REGEN) Health 228/228 [10.8] (139)/day Stamina 257/258 [24.8] (193)/day Mana 240/240 [12.2] (149)/day Focus 318/318 [25.5] (240)/day Matrix Ignis 68/70 [4.3] (47)/hour

I have to read her resources three times before I accept the truth. Smoulder is simply overpowered.

You know what? It doesn't matter. More scritches.

Because I'm a sucker for punishment, I open up her ability page too, looking over her special attacks.

Ability Name Scaling Effect and Description Range Duration Affinity Flaming headbutt Yes Does immense fire & physical damage to a single target Short Instant Fire Fire blast Yes Damages all creatures and objects in the area for substantial fire damage. Short Instant Fire

Huh. Her Flaming headbutt does immense damage. Is that more or less than massive? Probably more. Either way, I've seen the effect. It's brutal.

I don't think I've seen her use her other ability, Fire Blast. Then again, she hasn't needed to. It seems best for taking down several weak creatures at once but that's what I'm here for.

Looking at Smoulder, I admit, she deserves to be smug. She nods her head in agreement. Which is when I realize I've been getting clear mental projections from her. She's very happy I figured out how to work the pet system. Finally. She was starting to worry I wasn't serious about our partnership. Sending reassurance her way, I give her a few more head scritches.

Curious, I mentally project the idea of increasing her stats. She responds by placing all her points in agility, setting it an even hundred.

Before we're able to communicate further, Rufka roars, interrupting us.

It's a very appropriate roar for a large cat. It feels like it should send chills down my spine as I look over at her, but I'm unaffected. A moment later, a large wolfadillo steps into the clearing. As it approaches the stream ringing the cabin, I prepare a lightning torrent while I start looking around for its mates.

Where there's one…..

"See, Tuffie here? He's a real pet," Rufka comments stepping up to the wolfadillo. It's only at this point that I notice it has a harness already in place. It's also missing the quills which the ones that attacked us in the clearing were packing.

As I allow my spell to dissipate I inspect it, discovering it's a less volatile version of the wolfadillo. That's literally what it says in the description. Thanks, Wyonna.

Approaching me, I notice Rufka has a spare harness in her hands.

"Come on. It'll be a lot faster to reach your friends on wolf-back than by walking," Rufka says holding up the harness, then shaking it suggestively.

Looking down at Smoulder, I can feel disdain rolling off her. But there's no fear. Taking my cue from my fearless familiar, I move forward, letting Rufka put the harness on.

....

It does not go smoothly.

"No."

"Not like that."

"Here."

"Just hold still."

I'm pretty sure every time I tried to help I made it worse. I do get a new skill once Rufka finally manages to get me in place on the wolfadillo's back though.

"Skill unlocked: Riding (1)"

Secured to our ride, Rufka turns to me, asking an obvious question, "Which way?"

"One second," I reply.

I'm a little reluctant to send the pulse this time. Hopefully, I won't be shocked by another of Beth's memories. The first ones weren't so bad, but that last one was intense. I'm going to try something new so it shouldn't be as bad this time.

Probably.

When I connected to Beth last time, I copied her, reinforcing the link. But that gave me an idea. If I can make it stronger, maybe I can weaken it as well.

Closing my eyes, I wait for a pulse to hit. I don't try connecting though. Instead, I try to focus on my facet, narrowing its bandwidth. When the next pulse arrives, I connect, holding tightly to my facet.

It's a partial success. The facet cost is only five a minute and I've restricted myself to a single sense. But it's her sense of smell. There's not much I can do with the sense, but whatever she's having for lunch smells delicious. I'm getting tired of wolf jerky and berries. I should ask Rufka if she has anything to eat.

Later.

Dismissing the connection, I try again, but this time in addition to throttling my facet, I focus on hearing what Beth is hearing. A moment later, when the connection stabilizes, I wish I'd included volume control.

The booming voice assailing Beth's ears is, amusingly enough, calling for silence. There's a couple of murmurs, but whoever's in the room with Beth quiets down quickly.

Continuing at a normal volume, I recognize the voice of the K'tharn who was teaching Beth while calling the giant one names.

"I'm sorry to interrupt your lunch but Ivicka thinks you've all been growing fat and lazy sitting around while she searches for the last outlander. So, as per her instructions, lunch is cancelled. You're to meet at the base of the mountain where she will give you further instructions," she calls into the now quietly grumbling room.

"Oh, did I forget to mention? You only have thirty minutes. Starting from when I started talking," the grumbling intensifies as she pauses, before continuing, "At least you won't have to prep your kites as I've already set them loose. So you'll be working on your diving skills too. Best of luck," she continues which causes the grumbling to transition to sharp cries of dismay and what I'm guessing are several frantic K'tharn heading for these kites.

I stop paying sole attention to Beth, focusing on the direction of the connection instead. "They're that way," I say pointing in a generally western direction.

"You ready?" Rufka asks turning towards me with a large grin on her face before I can refocus on Beth.

There's something about her grin that alerts me, so I secure my arms in the harness right as the giant wolf springs forward, loping through the forest with ease. Watching as the ground rushes by, I can't help but wonder at how much faster we're moving. It's slower than driving, but with the wind whipping through my hair, it doesn't feel like it.

I try talking to Beth again, but I can't hear her over the wind. I try adjusting the volume, but it doesn't seem to work. The rushing wind just rips the words away.

Huh, I wonder.

With a thought, I create the umbrella rune in my head, but instead of water, I complete it with wind mana. My hair stops flopping as my barrier protects me from the wind. Deciding it would be more useful if we were all shielded from the wind, I expand the barrier bringing it down in front of us. Unfortunately, the wolf is thrown by the sudden lack of resistance, sending us tumbling into a nearby bush.

Rufka spins to her feet with a snarl, her bow already drawn. But she's not looking at me. Her eyes are fixed on the forest, scanning the woods.

I hold my tongue while I pick myself up, ridiculously embarrassed. I want to tell her it was my fault, but I can't seem to find the words. After nothing appears to attack us, Rufka moves to check over her wolf, soothing it while helping it back to its feet.

Since I can't hear anything from Beth while we're riding, plus I don't feel using wind barrier would be wise at the moment, I decide I should 'hang up'. While we're stopped I whisper, "I'll be there soon," into the link. To which Beth responds, "understood," before I let it fade. I am able to confirm she's near full in all resources.

I check on Josh and Roberts quickly as Rufka straightens the harness, they're still in the negatives, but only barely and I don't hear anything while checking on either of them.

Once Rufka is satisfied with the harness, she apologizes, "sorry about that. Sometimes you get random air elementals out here that like to play."

"Uh, it's not your fault. Don't worry about it," I reply. Great. Perfect time to tell her, but I chicken out. Mounting up again, I wisely keep my magic to myself this time.

For the first time since I started, I'm finally making good time, I don't want to ruin it. At the pace we were going, we should see the others soon.

I only hope I'm right.