After the ritual was done, the Grandmother led us into a sitting room and served us tea. Ylva had returned to her Hallow, Lenore was for once the one more interested in the outside world, and stayed on my shoulder.

"Well, that was interesting, wasn't it. The two of you are truly compatible - such a connection is rare. Sadly, I need to tell you something." The Grandmother started.

"Sigmir, you are targeted by a quest. I can't scry who created it but you have to deal with the one who did. If you were stronger and willing, I could shelter you in Neyto but I doubt that you would want to separate from Morgana, would you?" She continued on, while looking at Sigmir.

"No, I will not separate from her. When I felt my thread unravel, she stepped in and saved me. Only death will part me from her. Nothing else.” Sigmir said with conviction. At the same time I took her hand and simply held it in a show of support. I didn't want to lose her. My rational side was screaming once more but was shouted down. We would bomb that bridge when we got to it.

“No, I didn't think you would. Hold onto each other with both hands, when I see you, I want to believe in destiny.” She said with a smile.

For the first time since coming here, I spoke up. “We should leave soon. Sigmir, the only one who, in my eyes, could claim dominion over you would be your old clan chieftain. The Travellers we have seen have most likely taken the quest and we should take care of it before it becomes a large problem. Those four might have connections we can't see. I would fight the world for you, but I'd rather fight on my terms.”

“Yes, sadly you will have to leave soon. Kallista tortures herself with seeing the young dryad and I am unable to scry anything about Adra's soul, my vision is clouded. There is another thing you should think about.” The Grandmother looked at me.

“When you rescued Adra, you unwittingly destroyed Tegi by unleashing a Nether-Devourer, it's a fully formed Nethersprite and quite powerful, but if you use your wit, you can destroy it. Destroying it would be quite the boon for you as it would bind Adra tighter to you and grant you a nice chunk of power. Think about it.” she continued without any reproach in her voice.

Quest Alert! Destroy the Devourer Quest Difficulty Impossible Destroy the Nether-Devourer that was unleashed in Tegi. Quest Reward no special Reward

I looked at the Grandmother and the Quest that had just popped up.

“You believe I could do it?” I asked her, there was no reason to go onto an impossible quest but I trusted her advice.

She nodded so I also nodded my assent and took up the quest.

“If you don't manage, don't worry. The devourer is locally limited, it spreads but at a glacial pace. I will keep an eye on it and if you do it, the quest will complete without seeing me. It's enough if I know about it and I will know.” With that remark, she stood.

“We will probably not meet again. But remember, Morgana, your way is your own. You might take detours on your path but it is still your path and in the end, it will serve you best. Never forget that.”

Sigmir and I stood as well and I surprised myself when I pulled the Grandmother into a short but heartfelt hug. She had been a bit of a pain in the beginning with her taunts and tests but she had helped me a great deal, giving me guidance without pressuring me into following her lead. Just like a Grandmother should, I thought to myself with a smile.

We said our goodbyes at the door and I knew that I had only spent a short time with her but it meant a great deal, at least to me. When we left the house, I realised that the ritual had been longer than I thought, it was late afternoon by now. We slowly made our way around Neyto, just walking hand in hand, in a way it had been home for almost two months. Lenore was not happy with the cold, so she returned to her Hallow. We hadn't spent most of our time here in Neyto, but we always knew that Kallista would have a warm meal, a bath and a soft bed for us.

Tomorrow, we would leave and probably never return. At least not during this life, as I started to think about the beta.

As we walked, I slowly guided Sigmir over to a tree with a little less snow below it. I made her sit down and took a seat on her lap, snuggling up to her and just letting the world around us be. Sitting there, peacefully, in the snow, I told her about the favour Kallista had asked of me and explained my reasoning for accepting. She readily agreed that we should ask Adra to join us and didn't mind giving her one of the Vitality-Crystals.

With that out of the way, I took one of the crystals out and told Sigmir to open her mouth. I had asked this morning and according to Kallista, to use one, you had to place it within your body and let it be absorbed. She had recommended the mouth but had gotten the giggles when she winked at me and told me that there may be other ways.

After feeding Sigmir one of the crystals, I placed one on my tongue as well and within moments flavour exploded in my mouth. The crystal tasted of apple, a few spices and something I could not identify. I had never tasted something this intense but also this mellow. Normally, intense flavours had a bite to them, getting slightly too intense with ease but not this one. No matter how strong it was, I wanted more, wanted it stronger. In addition, something was flowing into my body, heating me up all over. Sigmir and I held each other as we gave out soft moans, overwhelmed by the intensity We shook in each others arms for some time before settling down, simply enjoying the afterglow. If I could bottle that feeling and sell it, I would be the queen of two worlds. Once more, a slight shudder went down my spine, this time for a wholly different reason.

A bit later, Sigmir jokingly complained that we were sitting here in the snow, when there was a nice hearth close by, somewhere she would not freeze her butt off. She laughed as she said it but I felt a bit bad using her as a pillow in the snow. I stood and gave her a hand up, secretly feeling surprised as she felt a little heavier than before. No way I'd say that to her, no way, no how, I knew at least that much about relationships.

Hand in hand, we walked over to Kallista's house, looking for Adra as we walked. As we came closer, we heard crunching snow and soft grunts close to the house. Curious as we both were, we walked over and saw Adra training with her spear. She was good, seriously good. Fast as a striking snake and, if the sounds were any indication, there was a lot of power within her strikes. A glance with Lenore's sight showed that there was more to her fighting than simple physical prowess, she was surrounded by multiple, distinct glows, forming a complicated formations around her. It covered most of her body, mainly wrapping around her arms and legs but also connected along her spine and hugging her torso and hips.

Sadly, I was unable to make out anything useful for my own magic, I was just able to see the formation purposefully move with each of her strikes and moves.

As we stood there, Adra realised that she had spectators and stopped her training. She came over to us and after greetings, I gave her our proposition.

“Adra, I believe you have been told that you can't stay here long. Sigmir and I have completed the task we had come here for and now we need to move on. While you travelled with us from Tegi, we felt that you would be a good companion on our travels. Our journey will take us quite far, you would probably see quite a lot of the world, which was the reason for your own travels, wasn't it?” I asked her with a smile.

Adra looked me over with a penetrating gaze before shifting it to Sigmir and giving her the same scrutiny. “You know, when I first met you, I thought I was jumping from the forge into the forest-fire. I talked to Kallista a bit and she thinks you are a good one. There is something in Kallista that I want to trust; she is an ancient of my race, but there is more. I will join you for now, travelling on my own has not been as exciting as I hoped it would be.” She said before pulling me and Sigmir into a short hug.

“Now, Sigmir, do you want to spar again? Yesterday, we had a draw but I feel like I can take you today.” Adra said with a smile on her face.

“No, I will pass. The two of us have been in a ritual for hours and I am not sure if my strength works like I want it to.” Sigmir declined.

“I will probably lose but I would like to try. Your style looks quite interesting, the mix of magic and martial fighting.” I told a surprised looking Adra, she obviously did not think of me as a fighter, just a spell-caster.