Bronwyn read the description again, her excitement still flushing her cheeks:

***Mirage Double - Improved: You use your specific Energy pattern to create a double that will act in your defense or attack a target that you designate. Further mastery of this spell will allow for more functionality. Energy cost: 400, Cooldown: Medium.***

“I did it! Mirage Double advanced to improved, and I can use it to attack now! Um, but it costs twice as much? That doesn’t seem like an improvement!”

“Maybe creating more complicated constructs that can act on your orders takes a lot of Energy.” Morgan shrugged. “If all goes well, you won’t need to cast it more than once for our plan to work.”

“Hopefully.” Bronwyn turned back toward their little camp at the base of the long stairway and saw that Olivia was busily sketching into one of her notebooks. “Should we give her the good news?” They’d been working on trying to improve their skills for over a week, though time was challenging to track in the strange dungeon environment.

“Yeah, let’s.” Morgan started striding over, hooking his shining sword onto his belt. He was so different than when she’d last spent time with him—not only was he physically larger, more lithe, and full of powerful, strange Energy, but he seemed terse, preoccupied, and even sullen much of the time.

“Probably missing his girlfriend,” Bronwyn muttered, following a good distance behind him. When she walked up, Morgan was sitting down, stretching out his legs. “Hey, good news, sis. My double improved, and you were right—I can use it to attack now.”

“Really?” Olivia looked up with a bright smile. “That’s fantastic! I was worried we were wrong in our theorycrafting!”

“Hah, well, you never let on.”

“Power of positive thinking!” Olivia sighed, smiling. “Speaking of which, I have some exciting news!” She turned to regard Morgan, who raised an eyebrow. “I’ve written out what I think is a proper spell pattern for creating a void-attuned gateway that will span any distance given enough Energy.”

“Really? Did you solve the problem with targeting?” Morgan asked.

“Not yet, but I have an idea. My spellcraft text has the basics for a scrying spell, and I was hoping you could copy the pattern for your Void Vision spell. Using the two of them, I think I can make a spell that will allow you to scry someone you know. Like Issa!”

“Oh, now you’re talking! I’ll start on it tonight. Can I borrow your drawing supplies again?”

“Of course! That’s only one part of the problem, though. We’re also going to need a lot of Energy, and I mean a lot, unless we can find a way to amplify the spell as your tower does for the portals it houses.”

“So we’re screwed,” Bronwyn scoffed.

“Not necessarily, but maybe. If only we had something that could store Energy in large quantities …” She trailed off as Morgan began to squirm in his seat, looking rather uncomfortable.

“I may have something.” His face was red, and he continued, “I swear I just thought of this, so I’m sorry I didn’t mention it before. I killed an ancient ‘gem snake’ in my tower. It had hundreds of gems on its body that Tiladia said are very good for storing Energy. She said artificers prized them.”

“And you have them?”

“Yeah, but I don’t know how to put Energy into them.”

“It’s trivial, I’m sure. I have my artificing text, and I’m sure I can figure it out. Let me see some of them, please!” She held out a hand, and after concentrating for a moment, Morgan produced a handful of darkly glittering gems, some yellow, some orange, and a blue one. “Do the colors do anything? Can they only store certain types of Energy?”

“Not according to Boris, but he’d planned to do more research. I never had the chance to follow up with him.”

“We’ll need to confirm they can hold void-attuned Energy, but that should be easily done after I come up with a charging device.”

“You’re a damn rockstar, Olivia,” Bronwyn said, favoring her friend with a bright smile. “You know I’d like to hear more about your school—your classes, your friends. You know what I mean?”

“Yeah, Bron, of course,” Olivia smiled at her, and Bronwyn’s heart melted a little. She was so damn pretty!

“Hey, before you guys start reminiscing, can you pass me those drawing supplies? I want to get started on that pattern you asked for.” Morgan stood up and hovered impatiently while waiting for Olivia to pass him the pencils and paper. As soon as he had them in hand, he wandered off, presumably, to have a quiet place to concentrate.

“What’s with him?” Olivia asked.

“I think he’s missing Issa.”

“Oh, yeah, good point. He’s desperate to get some news about her. You know, love and all that,” Olivia said, almost wistfully.

“I can’t really relate, I guess.” Bronwyn frowned down at her feet, which were outstretched and crossed in front of her. She leaned back on her hands, basically looking everywhere but at Olivia.

“Really? I remember when we first met, I thought you had a crush on me. Or, to be more mature, feelings for me.” Bronwyn’s face suddenly felt very hot. Who was this woman, and what had she done with Olivia? She couldn’t imagine Olivia saying something like that so bluntly. She started to say something at least four times before she managed to look at Olivia and put together a coherent sentence.

“I’m not good at relationships! I don’t know what I feel, to be honest.”

“I think that’s one of the reasons we were drawn toward each other, Bronwyn. I’m the same way. Or I was—I’m finding it easier to express my feelings these days. A side effect of merging a primal fire elemental with my soul, I guess.” Olivia chuckled, and Bronwyn, trying to avoid her eyes, found it difficult; her friend was doing everything she could to look directly at her.

“Olivia, I felt like my feelings were just a crush, and then you were always kind of at arm's length. I think it’s my fault, really. I tried hard to keep busy doing what I’m good at, which makes it easy to avoid things I’m bad at, like feelings.”

“I know, sweetie, and I think we both settled on being platonic because it was easier, right?”

“Yeah, I think so.”

“Well, let’s stop being easy on ourselves! Let’s confront our feelings and give things a chance to happen. What do you say?”

“So you didn’t run off to the academy and get married?” Bronwyn chuckled.

“No! But some other students were definitely flirting with me,” Olivia said with a giggle, batting her eyelashes at Bronwyn.

“Of course they were! You’re amazing!”

“You know you are too.” Olivia was all smiles and seemed very relaxed. Bronwyn didn’t recognize this side of her friend, and it drove home just how much they both had changed.

“Well, tell me about your friends. Tell me about my competition!” She scooted closer to Olivia, and they sat together talking about Fainhallow Academy for hours. All the while, Morgan sat on the other side of the marble platform and scribbled painstakingly onto the sheets of paper Olivia had given him.

#

Issa knelt in front of the toilet, heaving out her guts. She was grateful for the perpetually running water in the smooth, clean bowl, but she wasn’t grateful to be alone. She’d made it back to First Landing just a few days ago, and she’d been getting sick every morning since she’d left Tarn’s Crossing. She was not stupid or naive—she was pregnant. So far, the only person she’d confided in was Tiladia, and she’d sworn the dragon spirit to secrecy. What would she do if Morgan never made it back?

She’d heard the news about the portal and about Olivia and Bronwyn going after Morgan, so she felt better in that regard. The refugees had reported about Morgan and his exploits among the captives outside the gargoyle lair, and she knew he was giving them hell, as he would say. Tiladia had warned her that she didn’t have enough Energy to reopen the portal. Even if she had, the keystone that Bronwyn had supplied had begun crumbling shortly after the portal closed, reduced to a pile of fine, warm sand by the time Issa had made it to the tower.

Finally feeling the nausea pass, she stood and gently rubbed her belly. Could it really be? Her cycle was a week overdue, and that, combined with the sickness, was clue enough. She loved Morgan enormously, and she was happy to be having his child, but it was something of a surprise; she’d been taking Shadow Lilly tincture since she was sixteen, which should have kept her infertile for another few years. Still, she’d been unable to continue with the doses while in the Crucible, and, after Blake’s bird creature kidnapped her, she’d missed a few days. “But it’s supposed to last for months or years,” she said softly, looking at her profile in the mirror.

“Miss Issa, might I suggest that your racial enhancements most likely purged the tincture’s residual effects.”

“Tiladia!” Issa spun to see the misty, shimmery form of the spirit near the entrance to the bathroom. “You startled me! And, yes, I had considered that, and you’re probably right.”

“Lord Morgan will be very pleased, don’t you think?” Tiladia chimed.

“I don’t know! I know so little about his culture. I’ve been pushing him to adventure and gain strength, and now I’m throwing this,” she gestured at her stomach, “at him!”

“Oh, Issa, worry not about Morgan. He adores you and will be pleased, trust me.”

“If I could hug you, I would, Tiladia,” Issa said, walking toward the door. “Any news?”

“Miss Maria was here last evening tutoring Ykleedra. I told her you were resting, and she left after only two hours. Other than that, I’ve not heard from the other colonists.”

“Thank you, Tiladia. I’ll be going into the town to meet with the council; I want to take a more active role around here while I await Morgan’s return. It will be good for me to become more familiar with the human culture.”

“That’s a sound plan, Issa. I do hope Morgan returns soon; it’s not right that you aren’t in the master suite, especially in your condition.”

“Nonsense; these rooms are more than adequate. Never you worry, though, Tiladia. Morgan will return, and he’ll be ready to claim the rest of this tower when he does. I’m sure of it.”

“Your confidence warms me! I can feel the hunt calling to my dragon heart,” Tiladia said with a bright chime, taking on her dragon form and swooping around the bathroom as Issa walked to the bedroom door and out.

“Tiladia, I would like to invite the council here for a dinner. Do I have the authority to do so?”

“Yes! Morgan told me to, and I quote, ‘give Issa full access to the tower.’ If I’m generous in that interpretation, I think I can extend to you the permissions to invite others.”

“Thank you, Tiladia. I’ll buy supplies for the kitchen, and hopefully, you can help me get things working in there.” After making a list of the cooking instruments and ingredients she’d need, Issa left the tower and made her way over to where she’d staked Munch and Gopp near Olivia’s mount, Blue.

A young livestock tech had been taking care of Blue, but Issa had taken over when she’d arrived with the other two roladii. “Good boys,” she said, patting them and putting out fresh water for them. “I’m going to commission a stable for the tower. We’ll get you boys nice and comfortable, don’t you worry.” Then she turned to the cobbled road and walked along it to the hilltop with the Colony Stone.

She strode purposefully up the steps to the stone, happy for the warm summer morning and the fresh air. She loved the bustle of First Landing; the town wasn’t nearly as populous as Tarn’s Crossing, but it had a certain energy to it that filled the air with excitement and potential. Everyone was busy innovating, building, exploring, and learning. Nothing seemed stagnant or stale, and Issa wanted to be more a part of things here. She wanted to be one of the leaders of this place.

With those thoughts in mind, she rested her hand on the Colony Stone and requested citizenship, making it her home stone. Her father would be upset that she was giving up her position on the Tarn’s Crossing list of citizens, but who knew if she’d ever see him again. According to the refugees who’d made it through the portal, the odds were pretty grim. Besides, she thought, gently pressing a hand to her stomach, she now had more important ties.