Olivia cast one last Wind Gust, driving the fumes and smoke toward the far side of the hall and out through the open doorway. The bubbling black tar, all that was left of the massive insect corpse, had cooled enough to stop smoking. Sighing happily at a job well done, she turned to Morgan and asked, “Are they any good?”

“Hmm?” he swung one of the six identical swords back and forth, “They’re tough and sharp. I’m not sure what metal they’re made of, but they don’t seem to be enchanted. I’ll take them to someone who knows more, I think.”

“Sounds good. Shall we see about that chest?” She glanced over to the large marble chest where Bronwyn sat eating a sandwich.

“Yeah, I’ll charge another gem while you check it out.” He started walking over to sit near Bronwyn, and Olivia followed. Once again, her Surveying Breeze revealed hidden runes and lines of Energy on the chest, and Olivia carefully used a sharp knife to scratch out some of the runes. When the Energy pathways faded away, and she felt it would be safe to open, she sat on the chest and waited for her friends to finish what they were doing. Bronwyn had made her a sandwich, so she picked up the little wooden plate and started munching on it.

“This is good, Bronwyn, thank you,” she said around a mouthful of sourdough, veggies, and creamy sauce.

“No problem; I’d say we earned a hearty lunch after that effort.” She nodded toward the black pool on the far side of the chamber.

“Rald would love this bread,” Olivia said, taking another bite.

“He’s the big Shadeni in your cohort?”

“Right.” Olivia frowned slightly. “I’m going to be really late getting back to school. I hope they don’t give my spot away or kick me out.”

“Fat chance, you goofball. They’re lucky to have you, and they know it. Didn’t you say the headmistress or whatever was going to change your schedule so you could get more one-on-one time with higher-tier professors?”

“Yeah, she did. And, not to sound conceited, but I think you’re kind of right about them not wanting to lose me—I earned a lot of points with the administration when I completed the Proving Grounds.”

“Exactly! You’ll be fine, but I bet your friends are going to miss you. Especially Adaida,” Bronwyn said, smirking slightly and giving Olivia a crooked smile.

“Oh hush, now.” Olivia took another big bite, throwing Bronwyn an exaggerated scowl.

“God, how am I supposed to concentrate with you two carrying on?” Morgan chuckled, picking up the charged gem from his plate and storing it away. He looked around, disbelief on his face, and continued, “You didn’t make me a sandwich?”

“I was going to! I just got distracted eating mine and watching Olivia while she tickled that chest.”

“Tickled?”

“Yeah, with your little wind fingers.” Bronwyn giggled and pushed her loaf of bread and ingredients toward Morgan over the blanket she’d spread out.

“You should be a writer, Bronwyn! You have a very figurative way of viewing things,” Olivia said.

“Well, better a writer than a chef because this is terrible service,” Morgan said, scooting over to the sandwich supplies.

“Morgan, when you’re done eating, can you scry Arthur? I want to see what’s going on in First Landing,” Olivia said, changing the subject.

“Yeah, sure, but what if he’s in the bath?”

“Oh, God!” Bronwyn burst into laughter.

“Great point!” Olivia shook her head, smiling broadly. “You look first and close the window if you see something like that!”

“Oh, so I have to sacrifice my sanity? I get it!” Morgan looked at his sandwich piled with veggies and slathered with Bronwyn’s creamy dressing, then snapped his fingers. He stared into space for a minute and produced, presumably from his storage ring, a package of sliced, smoked meat and started to pile it on top of the veggies.

“Hey! You’re ruining your veggie sandwich!” Bronwyn glared at him.

“Well, not really; the veggies are still there.”

“How many gems do you have now,” Olivia asked.

“That one makes thirty-two.”

“Gosh, we’ll need to stop and really buckle down on those if we ever want to get out of here. I think you’ll need more than two hundred if you’re ever going to cast that portal spell.”

“Do you have the spell done?” Bronwyn asked.

“Almost. I just need to integrate his scrying spell with the portal spell to give it a target location.”

“Well, if it takes me an hour per gem, considering my regeneration rate, and we do it for twenty hours a day, we could be ready to try the spell in less than ten days.”

“Yep. I say we take a vote after we loot this chest. We can camp in this room, gather the gems necessary, and then portal home, or we could continue into this dungeon, risking God-knows-what,” Olivia said, looking from Morgan to Bronwyn and meeting each of their gazes.

“Alright, after the chest.” Bronwyn nodded, standing up and brushing crumbs from her pants.

“You sure you got the trap?” Morgan asked around his half-eaten sandwich.

“Yes, there were two more runes to deface than the last chest, but I’m sure I got them all.” Olivia stood and turned to look at the chest, then continued. “I’ll open it. You two should back up for safety, just in case.”

“Alright,” Morgan grunted, standing up, sandwich in one hand. His shiny metal armor was so flexible that it didn’t seem to restrain his movements at all. “Guarding you anyway,” he said, walking back a few paces. Olivia didn’t think he needed to guard her, but she figured it was better safe than sorry. He’d only take half of whatever damage came her way if his explanation of the skill were accurate. Bronwyn also moved back, and Olivia turned to lift the lid of the chest. It didn’t surprise her when it opened easily with no explosions, but the contents were another matter. She caught her breath as she saw the glowing silver orbs hovering over several intriguing items.

“What are those?” Bronwyn asked in a hushed voice, having quickly slipped up beside her when the chest failed to explode.

“I don’t know!” Olivia said.

“They look like advancement orbs, at least in their shape and the way they hover. Issa and I found some in dungeons; they give you an instant level. The ones we found were golden, like pure Energy, though,” Morgan said and quickly grabbed Olivia’s wrist as she reached toward one of them. “Hold on; you can’t move or store them if they operate like advancement orbs. Once you touch it, the effect hits you.”

“Alright, well, let’s see here,” Olivia said, pulling her hand back and leaning to scrutinize one of the orbs closely. “It’s silvery, and within it are tiny motes of black that are in constant motion. I don’t detect any runes. What does your Void Vision tell you, Morgan?” She glanced at him; his eyes were black as he stared into the chest.

“First of all, there’s a rainbow of bright Energy in that chest. The orbs are . . .” he trailed off as he leaned closer, “the orbs are brimming with potential, but their actual Energy signature isn’t that bright. I get a feeling of . . . possibilities.”

“That’s weird,” Bronwyn said.

“Well, who wants to touch one first? I’ll go,” Olivia said.

“Hold on! You’re always risking yourself; you’re not responsible for us, you know,” Bronwyn said, stepping forward and looking Olivia in the eyes.

“I know,” Olivia sputtered, “I never meant to give that impression; I just, I don’t know, I just care.”

“You’re not the only one,” Bronwyn said softly, reaching out to squeeze Olivia’s wrist.

“Ahem,” Morgan said, “well, what do you want to do? Draw straws?”

“No need,” Bronwyn said with a wicked grin, then she reached into the chest and grabbed one of the orbs.

“Bronwyn!” Olivia reached out, but too late. Bronwyn suddenly straightened, her eyes focused a million miles away, as silvery Energy flooded through her arm and into her body. Olivia watched as it spread through her, illuminating her exposed skin and shining out of her eyes. Bronwyn started to topple backward, but Morgan caught her and gently laid her on the marble. He and Olivia stood over their friend, watching as her body began to vibrate and steam started to rise from her in thick white-gray gouts.

“Is her race advancing?” Morgan asked.

“Is that what it looks like? I’ve felt it but never watched anyone; my cohort and I all did it together.”

“Sort of; I definitely remember the steam and the passing out part. Issa said the steam is impurities leaving your body.”

“It’s so fascinating! The first thing I’m doing is checking out a book on this subject when I get back to the academy!”

“Gimme a pencil, quick!” Morgan said, holding out his hand. Olivia called out a pencil from her ring and handed it to him. Morgan began tracing Bronwyn’s figure on the pale marble floor with a mischievous grin on his face.

“Haha, good idea!” Olivia bent down and put a hand to Bronwyn’s forehead, hoping that she and Morgan were right about what was happening with her. Her skin was strangely cool on the surface, though a tingling buzzing sensation came to her from deeper inside. She wasn’t sure if she was actually feeling something or if she perceived some sort of Energy activity. She straightened up and looked at the line Morgan had drawn—was it possible Bronwyn was already growing over it or had Morgan angled the pencil under her?

“Jesus, she’s already outgrown my line!” Morgan said, taking the pencil and starting a new outline.

Olivia watched Bronwyn's face, happy to see that the red-haired woman looked peaceful, her skin smooth and untroubled, even serene. While she watched her eyelids, noting the darting movement of her eyes beneath them, something caught her eye, and she reached down to pull Bronwyn’s hair back from her ears. “Holy shit!” she exclaimed, “Her ears are pointed!”

#

Ykleedra was stressed out. Her sisters’ eggs had grown warm and started to form soft hatch lines along the hard shells, but her brother, oh, her brother’s egg, was something else. It was now more than twice the size of her sisters’ and still coated in a thick, hard shell over every square centimeter. Would she be able to handle him when he finally emerged? If her sisters came soon enough, maybe they would be able to help her.

Part of Ykleedra wanted to ask Tiladia or the lovely blue lady for help, but she was still scared of what they’d do. Everyone seemed nice to her, but she’d read about how her people had been treated by the other races of this world. What if they killed her siblings out of fear?

She glided between some damp ferns, several large, ripe fruit clutched in her tentacles, and slipped down into her burrow. She ducked to avoid the big root sticking out of the roof of the short tunnel leading to the den and smiled when the cool blue light of her Energy orb came into view. The color was so much easier on her eyes than the yellow of the artificial sun in Morgan’s atrium. Her siblings were tucked into soft black soil along the back wall, and Ykleedra placed her burden around the eggs, piling them on top of other overripe fruit and soft, decaying meat—it was good to have a meal waiting and tempting her siblings forth. She’d read that in one of the texts also.

She moved over to the little bed of soft fern boughs she’d made for herself and settled down, folding her legs under her. The pouch Morgan had given her filled with magically fresh meats sat beside her, and she pulled out a large, raw, featherless bird. Holding it between her hook palps, she lifted her robe with her tool tentacles and then fed the fowl to her nether beak. It crunched through the flesh and bone, and a comfortable warmth spread through Ykleedra, originating from her lower abdomen. She sighed in pleasure and watched her siblings, wondering which would be the first to join her.