Serrington was quiet in the spring evening. The air was fresh but long longer biting. Flowers and trees bloomed all over the fields with the crops growing healthily. I recognized the wheat as having been planted about a month ago from my recent research into the topic. The farmers were mostly back in the city already only a few still tending to the fruit trees to cut off excess blossoms. I remembered there was something about trees not getting enough nutrients to have plenty and large fruit.

I made my way in through the gate, mostly to be polite, and found myself in Nymph’s Comraich soon after. Banélin was sitting on a foldable chair next to the grove, his wife next to him. They greeted me with nods as I felt [Telepathy] reach out to my mind.

“Welcome back, Fio. I hope you had a productive time!”

“That I did, thank you. Hello Banélin. And I believe we did not have the pleasure yet.”

“Hello, Fio”, Banélin said, “This is my wife, Sandraj. She’s Nymph’s second Protector.”

The woman nodded at me. She wore a wide robe hiding the figure of her body. Her face looked kind and wrinkly like a favourite grandmother. Her hair was a dark brown with a hint of grey at the roots. She was likely a little younger than her husband.

“It’s nice to finally meet you”, she said, “I have heard a lot about the new friend our local recluse made.”

“Hey!”, Nymph complained.

“You’re a recluse, alright. Not unwarranted but still…”

Everyone chuckled as the mantis peeked out from behind some leaves.

“Oh, how wonderful! She really made you come out!”

Nymph rubbed her scythes together.

“I don’t leave because of the node. Primarily. Fio has a solution for that.”

“Is that so?”, Banélin asked, “And what does that entail?”

“I can move nodes around”, I sent, “with a special thaumaturgical construct. It’s been working out great, so far, though I’m curious what will happen with a guarded node.”

“Maybe we should test that somewhere else, first?”, Sandraj suggested.

“I planned for that. I’m going to find a node with a non-sapient Guardian tomorrow and try it. Hopefully, I can find a place where I don’t have to kill.”

“Indeed. That would make the whole experiment useless.”

“So, tell me about your project”, Nymph asked, “How are the goblins doing?”

With that, the evening was filled. It turned out the Protectors had come to catch up Nymph with all the plans for the next while and then stayed for some friendly conversation. They were enjoyable to have around and listened attentively. When I talked about sapient golems, there was a small cry of outrage from Sandraj until I was able to convey the details. She was almost about to fully outlaw thaumaturgy in the Dwarven Hills just for that.

Nymph had not done anything exciting. There was still the weekly course with some of the guards and other skilled dwarves where she guided vis to them from her node and tried to help them with further vis enrichment. Just the week before, two of the students had reached medium and made place for new ones.

We came to talk about going into the city but Nymph did not want to leave the grove behind without taking the node along. I could not fully understand the attachment but I had never been a [Node Guardian]. Settling down this much would not be for me. Talking about Guardians, the mantis once more emphasized how the goblin village should get one. Especially with the additional nodes there, their defences needed to be bolstered. I was not quite convinced but agreed I would bring it up with the village leaders when I went back. They had a very defensible position and should be fine against almost anything that wanted to get to them.

Thinking about the possible approaches, I figured I should make paving stones like those in Borsdown to block the terra node’s clogging from reaching up to the buildings. That might otherwise become a problem in a few months or years.

At some point, the dwarves made for bed and we animals decided to also get some rest.

It was in the morning I set out to hunt for a node with a Guardian nearby. There were many small ones around but with the city, few animals were comfortable enough to settle in an open place. The more hidden nodes were obviously harder to spot from the air. As such, it took me until after noon to find what I was looking for, a small beast and movement node hidden in the branches of an evergreen. A squirrel had its nest close to it and as I approached, it tried to stand its ground for a moment before fleeing with a terrified squeak. Or trying to, at least. I used one of my most neglected Skills, [Intimidating Screech], to freeze the poor animal on the spot. I wanted to see the results, after all.

With how small the node was, I could use less glass at least. The vis it used from my wand was still the same, though. When the Node in a Jar was completed, I held it up in front of the critter. It was still terrified but had not attempted to flee again, even with my Skill wearing off. The squirrel’s eyes followed the jar as I waved it back and forth. As I put it close enough, it even tried to jump at the glass. I pulled away just in time. An angry squeak was the response which I acknowledged with a silencing glare.

The next step was putting the jar into my storage. As it disappeared, I noticed the Guardian keeping its attention on me. I jumped over to the next branch and felt it shake as the squirrel followed. It kept enough distance to make it troublesome for me to hunt but not an inch more. I refrained from taking off since I feared it would jump to its death. With this, it was mostly confirmed putting a node into a jar did not change anything about who was its Guardian and even my storage did not change that. I could not figure out if it changed the way the guardian could utilize the vis but that was not an issue. As long as Nymph was comfortable coming along into the city at my side I would be happy.

I put the jar back where the node was originally and cracked it open. The squirrel tried to chase me off with increasingly aggressive squeaking which I silenced by shrouding it in my shadows. When I let the little beast out, it was clinging to the branch, holding on for its dear life. I shook my head and took off.

Nymph was elated about the news but told me she wanted to prepare some things before leaving. Even when I said we would only check out the city, she was not confident to get started right away. Instead, I got to enjoy some tea with Sandraj, black tea this time. She added a few drops of lime juice for some additional flavour which I enjoyed quite a bit.

The next morning, Nymph was evading all my questions. I could feel she had stalled as much as she could and had no more excuses.

“Nervous?”, I asked.

The leaf next to her was continuously losing hair-thin slices.

“How could you tell?”

I chuckled.

“I didn’t want to leave my nest and I only spent three months there. And it was cramped with my siblings and parents. How long have you been confined to your grove?”

“… a long time.”

I lowered my body and presented the back of my head to her.

“Get on.”

“What?”

“I said: Get on.”

She followed my command this time. I took a step forward into the grove and immediately felt her panic grow from the way her feet were digging into my scalp.

I slowed down. My feet were moving in slow motion to avoid having her feel like I was moving. After a minute, she clicked her mandibles just above my feathers.

“Please don’t cut my feathers. I need those.”

“Yes. Sorry.”

I noticed the exchange of words had a calming effect on her and decided to keep up the conversation.

“So, how do you use [Telepathy]?”

“That’s… rather simple, actually. You need to know the feel of your soul and be able to guide it. From there, it’s just finding others and connecting to them. The hardest part is knowing where your soul is.”

“Hmm. That doesn’t sound very easy for most people.”

“It’s not. Sapient animals most of the time have a good advantage since they normally have a Core or Affinity.”

I refrained from a nod.

“Right. We know where those are within our bodies so it’s much easier to figure out how to move it.”

“Exactly. I have tried teaching dwarves but only one ever managed to succeed. Sadly, he passed away a few decades ago.”

“My condolences.”

“Thank you.”

“What was he like?”

“He was the grandson of my first real friend. My first Protector. He was the last of his line, sadly. They had a special connection to nature. Somehow, they know how to use each and every plant to their advantage. He really enjoyed taking walks through the forest and bringing back new spices or berries or roots. Or bugs.”

“For you?”

“Yes. They were quite delicious.”

“I can see how. We’re there, right?”

I felt the mantis shuffle on top of my head. It felt like she had buried her face in my feather. As her eyes spotted the place before us, she stiffened. I felt a surge of vis exuding from her body and the ground and plants started to rustle and rumble all around us. Vines and twigs closed in on me with roots digging tiny mountain chains that approached my feet.

“You good?”, I asked.

The plants stopped moving. I heard the small insect take a deep breath.

“Yes. I have never let anyone get this close since… Never mind.”

I almost nodded.

“So. Should I just get to work?”

“I… How long will we be out?”

“Until evening at least. I have some acquaintances that can show us around. They’re sapient animals as well. Foxy and Brilda. I think you know Foxy?”

“Do I?”

“He goes by… Arctus? I think?”

“Yes. I do remember teaching him [Telepathy].”

“We might end up staying there overnight but we can go back earlier if you want to.”

“That’s… fine. We will need to find a replacement node if I ever leave for longer. The fields depend on the vis.”

“I’ll keep an eye out. I’m going to get started, then. I’ll be moving slowly, so just say if there’s a problem.”

“Alright.”

As I approached the node, Nymph’s inner sanctum stretched out before me. It was… not very special. Just a small gap in between the trees, the node in the centre. That was until I saw what the wood was. It was greatwood. The magical trees formed a nearly closed circle at least three layers deep. I was confused how they got enough sustenance for a moment until I looked at the aspects a little more deeply. The node was massive. It felt like it was on the precipice of being something more than major. It was also very bright, which indicated a very fast vis replenishment. The aspects were herba, arbor and terra, plants, trees and earth in a 6 to 3 to 1 ratio. No wonder even the tiniest gaps between the greatwoods was filled with some sort of vine or fern. Everything was green.

I breathed in deeply, enjoying the atmosphere for a moment. There were some tiny critters and insects rustling somewhere in the grove and twigs cracked every now and then. Finally, I opened my storage and got out the glass I would need. I moved slowly as not to spook my friend and I felt her tense up every time I moved towards her node. It took nearly an hour to get everything set up properly. When the jar was ready, I took out my second, still charged, wand and asked Nymph.

“Are you ready? I’m going to do it.”

I felt her shift for a moment, eyeing the construct. Then, she made her decision.

“Yes.”

I activated the wand and vis flowed out of it. Reality cracked with that all-too-familiar noise and Nymph flinched, cutting into one of my feathers. Within moments, it was done. The jar floated in place where the node had been. The green light was strong as ever, even behind the milky glass.

“That’s… it?”, Nymph asked.

“Almost. I got to put it into my storage. How are you feeling?”

“Not all that different… I can feel my node but I can not access its vis any longer. It feels like there is a sludge around it. I could maybe break through if I really tried.”

“Please don’t do that when it’s in my storage. I have no idea what that would do to either of us.”

“Of course. Still, I had expected much worse.”

“This is a rather safe method of arranging reality, after all. I know what I’m doing. Mostly.”

The mantis was silent for a moment.

“Maybe I should learn thaumaturgy...”