We returned to the residence the next day. Circe greeted Alex with a tight hug. I got one as well but she was very careful with my feathers. Hera gave a curt bow and Cerberos waved at us from the back. Jane had been driving our carriage to pick us up.

“What took you so long?”, Circe asked, “You couldn’t come back?”

I shook my head.

“The Church has lots of tunnels underneath. We were so deep down that it would’ve taken too long to come back just to sleep.”

“Is that where they’re doing the dangerous magic?”

“Yes”, Jane said, “But not the really dangerous magic. That is done far away from any people.”

“You got more labs elsewhere?”, Alex asked.

“Yes.”

“Why didn’t anybody tell us?”

“They’re doing research into highly warping theories there. It’s dangerous to meet those [Thaumaturges].”

“Are they going to attack?”, Circe asked.

“No. People with a lot of warp often influence their surroundings. It can be very harmful. I heard of someone that would hurt anyone they looked at. Or the mind spiders that attack without discrimination. It’s just better to keep away.”

“Are they working on anything specific?”, I asked.

“Not that I know of. They’re just looking for anything that could be useful.”

We moved on and settled in the living room. Circe had a lot she wanted to talk about.

“So, when you left with the Clerics, we went up the side of the Cathedral and got to see all the cool places. There were lots of thaumaturges working on all kinds of magic. They had fields with golems and these green lamps and there were large blacksmith rooms with even more golems and people working metal and there was a place where you could observe the stars, I looked through the telescope, and then we were on top of the whole building and I saw all the places around. Is that what it looks like for you when you fly, Fio? And…”

“Slow down”, Alex chuckled, “One by one, okay? We’ve got some time to talk about everything.”

Circe took a deep breath.

“I’m sorry. It was just so much fun. But the best thing is still coming.”

She stopped to smirk at me. I returned her stare. After almost half a minute, she broke.

“Come on, ask what happened!”, Circe complained.

Alex laughed.

“Well, alright. What was that ‘best thing’ that happened in the Cathedral?”

“So, we were on top of the building, right? And there are a ton of birds all over the place. And there was a flock of ravens resting not far from the… sky-watch-thing.”

“Wouldn’t that be a murder of ravens?”, Alex smirked.

“I’m pretty sure that’s crows”, I said.

“No, no. It works for both. You can use some other things for ravens, though. The main term is actually unkindness. I think horde works, too?”

Circe pouted.

“Ah, sorry. Flock should be fine.”

“I’ve never heard of any of those other terms”, Jane said, “It’s a flock.”

“Right. Anyway, as I was saying. There was a flock of ravens. And I happened to have some dried meat in my pockets so I offered it to them. And there were three that took it! They even let me pet them!”

I blinked.

“That’s great. I don’t really see how it’s better than magic, though?”

“Well, by itself that wouldn’t be too special. But we went back the next day and I fed them again. This time, I brought some fresh food. Jane got me some from a storeroom. And we want to go again, today.”

I tilted my head.

“Do you want to make one of them your familiar?”

She grimaced.

“Maybe? I mean, you’re great. And I still want to bond with you. But…”

“Circe. If we were to ever bond, it would require us to have a much closer relationship than can be formed in a few months. On top of that, I have no intention to commit to something like that before you are a proper adult. And I’m not talking about the system’s definition. I want you to be at least 18 years old. Better 21. I’m not offended if you want to choose a familiar that will in fact be yours.”

“Really?”

She glanced up at me, her fingers playing with her thumb.

“You won’t be angry?”

“Not at all. I would be happy if you can find a familiar. It’s incredibly difficult to find a suitable partner. Mira told you that it would be much easier to just go with the first one that will accept you. It will significantly help your Class as well.”

She nodded.

“I’ll think about it. For now, I just want to make friends with the ravens.”

“Should I come with you and [Identify] them? Maybe there’s a sapient one. Wouldn’t surprise me with all the nodes around here.”

“There isn’t”, Jane said, “We check regularly and bring the sapient animals away to be taught the basics of civilization. It’s… not very successful. But we don’t get many sapient animals around the Corpus Saxi, anyways. Most nodes are behind walls, after all.”

“Doesn’t that anger them?”, I asked.

“Yes but they forget within a few hours.”

“So, what did you guys do?”, Circe asked.

“Well, there was quite a bit…”

Alex and I took some time to explain our experiences with the Clerics. Of course, we made sure to keep the Crimson Church’s secrets. I did not want to make Circe panic about the end of the world. Or speak about it to the wrong person. Still, we talked about the huge workshop with the Crimson Heart. I noticed Cerberos was listening almost as intensely as the girl.

After lunch, Jane took Circe to the ravens once again. Cerberos decided to stay with us. He wanted to get some rest after the exciting days.

I spent some time with Alex just talking about things. We solidified our plans to move out into the world and look for more potential solutions while practising her vis sense.

“I’m going to move into the Deep Green after all”, I said, “There’s really nobody else who could go there. That huge tree might be interesting as well. If it’s magical, I wouldn’t be surprised to find silverwood nearby.”

“Right”, Alex grunted as she tried to poke my orb of shadows floating slowly around her head. Her eyes were closed and her face scrunched in concentration.

“I’ll be working on getting the dwarves and humans to cooperate, then.”

“I should probably introduce you to Nymph, as well. And I’ll have a body there that you can talk to with [Telepathy]. Hopefully.”

Catori had been able to move the starling into the Dwarven Hills proper. She had explored Trade Town for a bit but Serrington was much more interesting to her.

“What about Truth?”, Alex asked.

I sighed.

“No sign of him. I don’t know how he’s connected to all this but I’m starting to think he doesn’t really want to help us. If he even can.”

“Sucks…”

“Idiot…”, Catori sent into my head.

Alex just barely missed the orb right next to her ear and poked the side of her head.

“Are you dodging?”, she grumbled.

“Nope. You’re just slow.”

“Oh, you!”

She jabbed at me without opening her eyes. And promptly fell over with a squeak. I had moved while holding the arcane speaker in place with my shadows.

“Hey, that’s mean!”, Alex complained.

I chuckled at her glare.

“You should’ve sensed the difference in my position.”

“I’m focusing on vis, not essence!”

“Even then, there’s barely any darkness around the speaker. You should have noticed the wing-shaped bit at my position.”

She dropped on her back and rolled over. A sigh escaped her purple lips.

“Hey, Fio?”

“Mhm?”

“Do you think we can save the world?”

“With just the two of us? No way. But we’re not alone. There are smart people working on this problem for centuries. They’ve nailed down a possible solution and are only looking for something better. If we can’t find anything we’ll just have a ton of work with the cleanup.”

“Do you want to know why I joined the military?”

The look in her eyes stopped me from complaining about the sudden change in topic.

“Why?”, I asked.

“Because I thought I could make the world a better place. There’s so much injustice. So many terrorists. So many warlords. Child soldiers. Pillaging. All that shit. I wanted to be a social worker. Or a doctor for the Red Cross. But I was only good at fighting. So I joined the army.”

“Are you asking me what a soldier can do to a metaphysical black hole?”

She smirked.

“I guess I am.”

“A soldier isn’t a killer. Not even a destroyer. A soldier is someone that has found a reason to fight. They’re loyal to their generals, their kings. But in the end, they want to be able to go home. And for that, they are willing to change themselves. That’s how I see it. I honestly can’t say that you’re a soldier. I only know you as a friend. And I think you can help a lot with saving the world. Even if that help ends up gunning down tainted zombies after we nearly doom the world.

Alex chuckled.

“Thanks, Fio. That’s very nice of you to say.”

A knock on the door interrupted our conversation. The butler stepped in, behind him a familiar Cleric.

“His Honesty wishes to see you, Lady Alexandria, Lady Fio.”

“Hey, there”, Alex drawled.

I nodded a greeting.

“Thank you, Scrooge”, the Cleric said.

The butler left and closed the door behind him.

“What’s up?” Alex asked.

“… well. We have been forming plans for further testing with that hungry node of yours. I wanted to ask for your opinion on their feasibility.”

“Sure thing. Shoot.”

The man nodded after a moment of hesitation.

“We are intending to send a team of Clerics along with two Paladin squads and Knight escorts as soon as possible. We wish to study the small hungry node from a temporary base. That temporary means the next 25 years, most likely. For that, we need a supply line. We were thinking about building a road directly there from Eterios. It would be very helpful if you can provide us with a location.

“For the matter of the dwarves, we are hoping you can help us in getting their agreement. They do not trust easily. I have here a list of things we can easily provide.”

He put down a thick folder of neatly written papers.

“What do you think?”

Alex made a waving motion with her hand.

“For one, I’m gonna be talking the dwarves into helping. Or at least I’ll try. We got some connections. Fio will help me get a foot into the door before flying off to look for silverwood trees and other civilizations that might be willing to help.”

The Cleric nodded.

“About the node examination, you’ll have to ask the local goblins, of course. They are fine with Fio but don’t really like strangers. I’m not going to give you any location before clearing it with the closest dwarven city, which is Borsdown. We’re friends with the council, there, so it shouldn’t be a problem. Still, if need be, I’ll do the experiments myself.”

“I… see. Please do your best.”

Alex gave him a thumbs-up.

“For the size of your expedition, it won’t matter to the dwarves. They’ll accept it or they won’t let you in anyways. The goblins might have issue with it, though.”

“That is something we can deal with if need be.”

“I don’t think it’ll be an issue”, I said, “The chief is a talented [Thaumaturge], if a little careless. She’ll be happy to have something important to work on that helps her village survive. She’ll be even happier if it lets them thrive. The bigger issue is that the ork valleys are direct neighbours. You’ll need to set up proper defences or find some diplomatic success. The latter isn’t really a thing orks do.”

The Cleric was standing upright by that point.

“That is wonderful. I trust you two to bring us forward much faster than we have been moving before.”

The butler took that moment to come in with some tea. Alex sat up and we settled around the table. Our discussion moved on to the details of the expedition’s goals. The tests they would do and what we were hoping to gain from it. It appeared the Clerics could move very quickly if they wanted. I was starting to feel some hope.