March 6, 2019, 3:17 pm. Emptiness.

I scramble to re-establish my connection to Smoulder, but there’s nothing to connect to. Nothing but emptiness. I can’t sense the link, and the Temporal Resonance condition has disappeared from my Status.

Screaming doesn’t help but it does express my frustration. The echo also reminds me that we’re in a small room under the statue of Uthica. I take a deep breath, getting to my feet. There's no sense of weakness this time, though Rufka’s arms which are fastened to me securely do hamper the effort slightly. She’s helping as much as hindering, so it’s not so bad.

“I need… I need…” I’m not sure what I need. I just want Smoulder back.

Rufka soothes me as we stand there for a minute, until I notice Rose standing awkwardly by himself. I gesture him closer and pull him into the hug, Rufka shifting to accommodate him. I lean my head against them as I mutter, “I think I just left Smoulder in the past with Uthica.”

Rose stiffens, not breathing for a couple seconds until he says, “Well… if you created an alternate universe… I call dibs on the goatee. Besides we haven't gone full McFly and been deleted from the timeline yet… so at least there’s that.”

I give a choked half-laugh as I finally pull away. “Yeah. At least there’s that.”

Rufka stares at Rose, clearly unimpressed, “Not funny. I just got her back.”

“I think you mean ‘we’ just got her back.”

Rufka huffs, but she does nod.

“So… did you guys check inside the door?” I ask, desperately trying to change the subject.

At this, Rose walks to the door and holds his hand against it, flashing the same message we saw before. I totally should have asked Uthica about the door. It was on the list, but there was just so much I wanted to ask her about. I probably didn’t need to know about her favourite books, but she was so eager to talk without being judged, I could hardly resist.

“It doesn’t seem to want to open. No matter what we try…” Even as he's talking, I lay my hands on it, and it opens minutely with a creak.

Surprised, I look through the dark crack, wrapping my eyes in twilight.

“What the?” I wonder as I push the door further, revealing an empty room. Everything Uthica gathered is gone. There are no maps of old Akilo, no tombs of clan warfare. Not even the trade invoices of the pu’shaha tea commune remained. Are all her caches empty?

“Huh. All this for one measly crystal?” Rose remarks as he reaches for something I missed. I look closely at the dark crystal as he plucks it from the floor. It’s unremarkable. It almost reminds me of an essence crystal, but there’s no energy inside. Then Rose turns it and I see a marking on its side that makes me realize it’s a recording crystal. Like the ones Uthica used.

“Guess someone beat us to it.” Rufka scoots past me, tapping her fingers on the wall as she inspects the empty room. “Unless there’s another hidden passage.”

“Could try to stone-shape the walls. See if anything happens,” Rose suggests, handing me the crystal before moving to the opposite side of the room from Rufka and knocking on the wall.

“Hmm. Might need my mum for that. These are solid.” Rufka leans against the wall, closing her eyes as she searches with her mana-sense.

Since they’ve already got the room covered, I Focus on the crystal.

"Object analyzed - Resonance Crystal - *&#@. This crystal is a recording of the period *&#@

….

…

Error. Date not found.“

I stare at the burgundy surface of the crystal while wondering if I should try to access it. Doesn’t seem like a great idea. But it’s a possible link to Smoulder.

“I don’t think there’s anything else,” Rose notes as he returns from his inspection of the room, Rufka close behind him.

Rufka nods as she looks at the crystal I’m still turning in my hand, “We should get my mum to look at that. Looks like a damaged recording crystal.”

“I’m just gonna, ya know,” I say, motioning at the room as my throat tightens. I move inside, brushing past Rufka with a squeeze of her shoulder. Then I turn my own mana-sight on the walls. I’m not expecting to find anything. At this point, I’ve come to accept that Rufka’s mana-sense is as good as mine. But there are times when I catch things she missed, especially if it’s related to temporal magic. And just the chance they might’ve missed something… Some clue as to what happened with Uthica or how I can get Smoulder home…

I resolutely search the room, grasping at every minor oddity. But after half an hour, the only thing I’ve discovered is that the stonework is incredibly strong. I have the crystal in my hand again, and I’m thinking about accessing it when Rufka pulls me into a hug, forcing me to stop. After a minute of dampening her shoulder, I’m forced to admit that there’s nothing to find.

So we make our way back to the surface, where I turn to stare at the statue. The statue! That’s what started all this. If I remember correctly Uthica took her own hand, and pulsed it with magic, then…

Infusing the statue with a combination of Twilight and Facet, I wait, hoping to re-establish the resonance.

But nothing.

Standing there, I can’t help but ask, “Do you think Uthica is going to be okay? I mean, Smoulder’s there to help but… How did that even happen?”

“We should… go to the others,” Rufka suggests, pulling me away.

“Yeah. We should. I just… Ya know?” I respond with a helpless wave at Uthica’s statue.

Rufka only nods as she lifts off the ground, prompting me to follow her. As we ascend from between the buildings, Ukila dominates the horizon, the green and blue, a brilliant contrast against the dark mountains ahead.

Which means we're flying directly east. We adjust course, rising in the proper south-easterly direction, as directed by my tether.

The next couple days are quiet and uneventful other than the number of mana-swarms we have to avoid. Which is unfortunate because it gives me time to think. Too much time.

While secured within our latest underground bunker, I sit, staring at the damaged recording crystal. Rufka’s leaning against my back, playing a game of Astra’s Stride with Rose. As she shifts, I feel my mana begin to surge. Again.

Ever since I lost Smoulder, it’s been doing that more. So far, I’ve mostly been able to keep it in check, but at our last stop I lost control. It was only a small spark, and the others didn’t even notice, what with how often I’m playing with my magic. But I hadn’t been doing anything. It’d just happened.

Sighing, I turn the crystal in my hand, studying it. There are layers upon layers of runes inside, all interacting with each other. And several are broken. My studies aren’t particularly useful. It’s not like I can figure out how to fix it. I have a basic understanding of runecraft now, even expanded it somewhere, thanks to Rufka and Tipan’s efforts, but that’s like saying a person who knows how to change their oil knows how to… I don’t know, fix a broken engine?

Bad analogy since I know less about cars than I do runecraft. Also, I think runecraft might be closer to quantum mechanics in terms of complexity. At least on the challenging end.

Even as I’m gazing into the crystal, I relax, passing into sleep.

I wake with a start, my mana churning within me and the smell of burnt fur and roasted meat in the air. Spinning around, I find Rufka and Rose are eating some seasoned vhethal. But they’re both fine.

“You okay Lex?” Rufka asks, patting the bench beside her.

“Uh, yeah. Yeah, I’m fine,” I answer, slipping in next to her while calming my mana.

With a satisfied grunt, Rose finishes his portion before looking at me. “You sure? You’ve been distracted the last couple days. More distracted than usual, I mean.”

“Yeah, it’s fine I’ve just been worr… wait, what do you mean more distracted than usual?” I glare at Rose.

Rufka laughs, slipping both her left arms around me. “You know how you get.” She tempers her words with a kiss on my cheek. While she has earned a reprieve with her sweetness, I maintain my glare at Rose. Which has zero effect.

“If you’re feeling good enough to glare, then you’re finally feeling better. And I think the storm’s passed.” Rose punctuates his sentence by standing then placing his hand on the stone wall above us.

At this, we continue.

Since we’ve spent so much time resting during the mana-storms, we’ve been trying to make up time by flying at night, which means that even as we emerge it’s still dark. It's just before dawn when we finally come into view of Burnesq. The Builder’s city remains mostly as we left it, the towering silver engines the only easily visible landmarks from this far out. Rufka and I are holding hands as we approach when I notice something seems to be off.

There are waves of movement beneath the towers. Giant undulations, swelling and waning.

At first, I think Josh has been playing with his powers, causing the local vegetation to grow out of proportion. But as I watch, part of the wave separates, soaring into the air. Thin translucent horns trace back from the nose of a sinuous creature that glitters under the effects of my twilight-sight. It has no legs, instead propelled forward by fluffy white fins. Flying above the others, it emits a keening wail as it crests one of the dull grey buildings. The wail is answered by a warbling crackle as the entire herd filters through the city. The wail and warbling resonate with each other, achieving a counterpoint, as though there’s a message I can’t quite understand beneath the surface. “It’s beautiful.”

“A Ralshid occurrence,” Rufka mutters, barely audible. For once, my understanding of Vausian fails me. When I turn to the System, the creature identifies as an Elswyrm. I have no idea what Ralshid means.

“Are you sure?” Rose asks, “I thought that only happened in the north.”

Even as we fly over the undulating herd, Rufka answers, “Mum says it can happen anywhere. There are just more users living in the North.”

“Uh. ‘Scuse me. What’s a Ralshid?”

“Ralshid occurrence,” Rose clarifies, “is when a bunch of mana-mutations occur at once.”

Rufka shakes her head, denying his explanation before he’s even finished. “They’re nothing like a mana-mutation. Mana-mutations are dangerous.”

“Okay, so not dangerous. That’s good.”

Rose flips about, flying directly in front of us as he objects, “Not dangerous? Strongholds have been destroyed in the wake of a Ralshid occurrence.”

“Well, they can be dangerous. If a user disturbs the affected creatures,” Rufka admits as she pulls to the side, my hand firmly in hers as she flies us around Rose, closer to the herd.

“Didn’t you just say they can be dangerous if we disturb them?” I don’t fight her, instead watching as the herd continues their journey through the city, swimming through the air together.

Rufka gives me a wink and a quick squeeze of my hand but doesn’t change course. Rose attempts to interpose himself again, but Rufka just grabs him with another hand, tugging him about instead. “Best we don’t get separated.”

When we’re only a few metres above the herd, Rufka sparks lightning over her upper hands. But she doesn’t attack or discharge the magic. Instead, she causes it to crackle in time to their warbling. In response, several members of the herd spread apart, leaving a small gap. Rufka guides us into place, maintaining her crackling warble. We drift further into the city, surrounded on all sides by the sky-snakes. The air tastes metallic, a tang of power in every breath.

The nearest Elswyrm drifts closer, a dull grey sky-snake, large enough it could swallow me with a single bite. It turns a single eye on me as blue lightning sparks beneath its grey skin, running up and down its body in time with its warbling.

Despite myself, I reach out to it. It’s so magnificent.

It floats just a little closer, and I watch as a spark leaps from its skin, running up my arm. It’s barely a tingle, not enough to hurt, but it seems to scare the Elswyrm away.

As it draws back, I turn my attention ahead, where we’re flying over the edge of the building. The rest of the herd (flock?) is splitting around the centre of the city. The ruined tower lies there, and at its base is a familiar transparent barrier. Roberts is standing calmly, observing the Elswyrms as they flow around his shield. I can tell when he notices us because he starts waving enthusiastically.

I wave back, but then I realize the only person with him is Trellani, the daughter of one of the Fallen we cleansed.

With Rufka still flashing at the surrounding Elswyrms, we land just outside his glowing dome.

“Isn’t this amazing?” I ask him, the light flickering as he reshapes his barriers to bring us inside. Their bonds are still pointing to the centre of the city. In fact, even my bond to Roberts is still pointing toward the city centre. When I focus on this fact, I realize I can’t feel a bond to Roberts where he’s standing.

If it weren’t for the barriers, I’d be worried this wasn’t the real Roberts. Also, the fact that his name is no longer greyed out in the party interface.

“I’m glad you’re safe too, Lex.” Roberts quirks his eyebrow as the last of the barriers separating us dissipates into nothing.

“Oh, right. Hi. Good to see you. Where’s, uhm, everyone?” I don’t need a mirror to know that my cheeks are super red.

“Your friends have gone to find Demo. They think his ship’ll be helpful now that the System’s busted teleportation and messaging.” Her voice is low, her eyes scanning the surrounding Elswyrms even as she answers. Can’t really blame her.

“Really?” Rose asks, squinting all four eyes at her even as she continues to ignore us.

Roberts nods as he starts preparing tea on a table hidden behind his barriers. “They’ve been gone for a couple days now. I was starting to get worried you weren’t coming.”

“Only starting?” Rufka asks, giving Roberts a playful push.

Roberts raises a single eyebrow. “Starting. None of you are known for your punctuality.”

“Ouch,” Rose mutters, and I find myself nodding alongside.

We spend a few minutes in quiet conversation before Roberts turns to me, saying, “Now that you’re back, there’s something I need your help with.”

“Oh?”

Roberts smirks at me, his bushy eyebrows rising and falling as his grin widens. “We think we’ve found the remnants of a control console.”