There was one part about baths that was definitely bad. Drying. The water just did not want to leave my feathers. And using a towel would be very uncomfortable. I did manage to slowly undulate my shadows to get out the worst of it but flying would be difficult for another hour at least. I almost shifted to my metal form just so I could take to the air if need be but just stopped myself. The dwarves were good folk. It was highly unlikely to get into a fight or having to flee.

I joined the girls returning to our inn where they had a relaxed lunch. We were just discussing what to do with the rest of the day when Servin joined us.

“Hello, girls, Fio. How are you doing?”

“Great!”, Harra answered, “We just had a wonderful bath!”

I nodded a greeting as well. I was hesitant forming a connection since I did not know what he was here for. With his next words, I knew and activated the supersensory matrix.

“Now, I just got this letter here. It’s for you, Fio.”

“Thanks”

I took the envelope and opened it carefully with a talon. Inside was a single sheet with clean writing. It read the following:

To Miss Fio, citizen of Borsdown.

Greetings, Fio of Borsdown.

I have received word from my friend you would like to meet me. As you are an acknowledged citizen, I believe such a meeting should be possible. Though from his observations he believes you are an evolved species, we may still have some information to exchange. That is why I am willing to take this risk. Under one condition. You will accompany Banélin on a tour within my walls. I will observe while the two of you talk. You must understand that my species is normally at danger from yours and with the stories of your exploits having reached my ears, I cannot help but feel a tinge of fear.

My friend will wait for you on the last Wendran of this month. Please come to the southern Protector Gate one hour past sunrise. If all goes well we may see each other later on that same day.

Regards,

Nymph, Guardian of Serrington

What an interesting letter. The Guardian seemed very careful. Was she some kind of rodent? Or maybe a songbird, with that name? I could understand her feelings. As an originally wild animal, the food chain was something difficult to disregard. With Vivi, we were somewhat equal. Even if our overlapping hunting grounds could have led to rivalry we would not have aimed for each other as a source of food.

“What does it say?”, Selvie asked, pouting. She was trying to catch a glimpse of the words but I simply formed a wall of shadows on top only making myself able to see through.

“It’s from Nymph. I’m gonna meet her, probably.”

Servin raised an eyebrow.

“Probably? That’s more than most dwarves could say. She’s probably the most reclusive Guardian of them all.”

I nodded.

“She wants me to talk to Banélin while taking a walk inside her walls. Though I don’t get how she can listen in if I’m using telepathy with him.”

“Ah, she’s a Guardian. She probably has a way.”

I gave a half-nod. Maybe she just wanted to make an emergency plan before meeting me. I would see when it was time. Speaking of…

“When’s Wendran?”, I asked.

“Wendran is the day most of the city has time off. Only entertaining establishments are still open. It’s once every seven days.”

‘Sunday? I… might just translate that in my mind.’

“And when is the last of this month?”

“That’s…”, Selvie visibly counted the days in her mind, “nine days from now. Right?”

She was still unsure after taking so long? Maybe being a merchant was not her calling…

Servin nodded.

“That’s right. You still have some time. We’re most likely gonna leave the day after that. Though, if you’re unlucky, Stormbringer might pass by around then.”

That would truly be unlucky. Should I meet the Guardian or follow Stormbringer? If I honestly thought about it, Stormbringer passed by twice a year. He had done so for centuries or maybe even millennia. The Guardian, on the other hand, might be unwilling to meet me if I did not show up on her terms. That was not the best first impression but I knew nothing about her. I’d give her a chance. I mostly wanted to follow Stormbringer’s trail of destruction, anyway. I would have to wait for a day after he passed by at the very least. Otherwise, I ran a serious risk of meeting the feathered wyverns.

“That’s fine. But… what are we doing until then? I could just read day in day out but is there anything interesting I should see in Serrington?”

“That’s something I wanted to talk to you about as well. I would appreciate if you can come to one of the minor nodes within the city. The dwarvlings trying to gain their minor vis enrichment could always use some help and as I understand you’re a genius at that.”

Dwarvlings? Their children? Why not, I kind of wanted to see how they taught their young about vis.

“Sure, we can take a look. Though I don’t know how much I can help. I’m a natural. I don’t really understand the nuances all that well.”

Servin smiled at that.

“That’s all I ask for. Thanks, Fio. How about you girls enjoy the rest of the day. We don’t have anything to do for the caravan besides moving wares around. Tomorrow we can go see the little ones.”

The three of us nodded. That sounded fine to me.

The next day Servin took us to an Ionad. That was what the dwarves called their buildings holding minor nodes. It doubled as a school for general education, though most dwarves only learned there for three years at most. They were taught the basics, like writing, basic maths and general history. The clans then took over higher-level education unless the dwarvlings wanted to learn a different trade. In that case, they would learn in the library until reaching a basic understanding.

Dwarvlings, as it turned out, was a term for everything between newborn and minor enrichment. They were only real dwarves once they could use basic artefacts on their own. That normally happened before adulthood but on rare occasions, someone had so little talent they could not reach minor enrichment before their 21st birthday.

This particular Ionad was a large building with a U-shaped footprint. One wing held the node and places for the dwarves to rest between sessions, the other wing and the main part were the school. In between the wings was a large open space doubling as playground and park. Several dwarves were getting rest on benches. Servin told me they were older members of the clans taking care of the dwarvlings and had just brought them here. Most of the time they would spend the day, ready to help those that harmed themselves on the node.

We were greeted with interest but nobody walked up to us. Only when we entered the node wing, someone walked up. It was an older woman with a gentle face and defined crow’s feet.

“Welcome, Servin. I see you brought your daughters but who is this one?”

“This is who I told you about, elder. Fio, the owl from Borsdown. She’s agreed to help out.”

I hooted. It would be detrimental to create additional flux in the bodies of the people working here so I decided not to use the supersensory matrix with them. The sisters would translate instead.

“Why, you are beautiful!”, the woman said.

I feared she might walk up and start petting me but luckily she held back.

“Thank you for coming, dear. I heard you were very talented with handling vis. We can always use someone to help the young ones along on their first steps. Why don’t you follow me? Thank you, Servin.”

She dismissed the merchant with a nod. He said his goodbyes and soon we found ourselves in the room holding the node. I made sure to keep some distance, lest my body just drains it empty. It was a small earth and fire node, definitely minor in size, but it was much brighter than normal. The elder explained how they chose to build the Ionad here because of that property. It could sustain far more pull from inexperienced dwarves than normal minor nodes. Other places often had a much tighter limit on how many dwarvlings they could cater to.

A few children and teenagers sat along the wall of the room as well as another old dwarf. Comfortable benches provided them with places to rest. Two were currently sitting right in front, holding what looked like a primitive wand and slowly draining some vis into their bodies. Their faces were cringing from discomfort. The elder noticed as well and called out.

“Enough, children. You’re overcharging!”

The kids blinked and quickly lowered the wands. A sigh escaped their lips almost simultaneously. As they found a place to rest, the other dwarvlings in the room looked expectantly at us.

“Now, we have some guests. Don’t worry, they already have their enrichment. More importantly, Fio here came to help you out. She has reached further than most dwarves even though she is still quite young in years. Let her take a look and maybe she’ll be able to help.”

The dwarvlings’ faces lit up with every word. Harra then addressed everyone in my name.

“Now, Fio can only use telepathy but that would create additional flux so she’s gonna talk to us and we’re translating. I’m gonna say I’m just as interested as you in what she can teach us. Let’s get started!”

The girl was clearly motivated. From the dwarvlings’ expressions, I almost saw them rushing the node to be the first one receiving my instruction. Still, they waited until the elder called up two children. They were shorter than I was and a quick query with Selvie told me they had to be around eight to ten years old. The two walked up to the node as I got a little closer myself. Everyone looked at me expectantly but I did not really know where to start. After a moment, I decided to have Harra just tell them to start doing what they usually did. If I could understand what was happening I would be able to help. Maybe.

The children picked up the crude wands and hesitantly pointed them at the node. I paid close attention with all my senses when they started to pull on the mana. To me, it almost looked like they were extending their soul through the wand which created some sort of magnet for vis. Then a thread of mana formed from the node, slowly going into the wood. I saw how it connected with the souls of the children and started to get dragged to their bodies. And I quickly saw the problem. While in the wand almost all of the vis was turned into flux. That was not just a problem, it was also an advantage. The flux did not build up in their bodies all that much with having only a tiny amount of vis going into them. I was a little surprised the vis even made it to their inner gate but I could not see very well inside their bodies. I would have to connect my soul somehow and that was not something I considered a good idea.

Still, I had come to try and help but I did not know how. That meant, it was time to figure something out. The obvious problem was the flux. While the method with the wand prevented a quick build-up, I still saw it was less efficient than direct contact. They would have to be much more careful but could they not just touch it?

My question was met with incredulous stares. Then the elder calmly reprimanded me. They were not trying to kill the children. Before the situation could get more awkward I explained myself.

“She’s saying… the children should be able to properly guide a quick burst more efficiently if they can see their inner gate while using the wand?”, Harra repeated my words.

She sounded very hesitant. Still, I was convinced it could work.

“What’s an inner gate?”, one of the kids asked.

Everyone looked at me.

That was what they were stumped about? Really?

Once again, Harra repeated my words aloud with some hesitation in her voice.

“It’s the place… the vis goes to when absorbing it? Wait, there’s one place for that?”

I nodded.

“The soul. The inner gate is the entrance to the soul. It’s what gets enriched in the first place. It would be too risky for me to try and show. As a thaumaturge, my warp might infect others if our souls touch. You’ll just have to try and find it yourself.”

This time, Harra held back most of what I said. She reduced it to the important bits for right now instead of scaring the children even more.

One of the kids sitting in front of the node right now looked interested.

“I want to try!”, he said.

After almost a minute long glare, the elder sighed deeply. Then she gave the okay.

“But be very careful, alright?”

He nodded with a huge grin on his face.

“You should take the wand, again. Use it and look for your inner gate. Fio will keep an eye on your flux level.”

Harra translating worked much better than I expected.

The boy nodded and picked up the wand. He pulled some more mana and I saw him focus deeply. After nearly ten minutes, just before I wanted to stop him, he dropped his hand dejectedly.

“I can’t see it.”

I hooted with a sagely nod.

“She says that’s expected. It will take a few tries. Even the best thaumaturges don’t see their soul, normally.”

“And this will really help?”, the elder asked.

“If the children can see it… Fio says it’s much more efficient. On a node like this, it would take no more than a week to get minor enrichment from direct touch. As long as no vis is wasted by not guiding it to the… inner gate. I still don’t believe that’s real.”

Selvie threw herself into the conversation at that point.

“I think… it is. I felt something like it. I think.”

Hoot.

Of course it was real! I had gained my enrichment this way, after all.

“Well, if you say so…”

Harra was not convinced.