Young Flame

Our first target was last seen to the west, near what was described as a dead forest. The information given by the Forvaal clergy is dated. We’d be lucky if it’s within two months old. The mermineae who’d followed the Beith mercs would have had to run near a month to reach the Forvaal we’ve associated. That’s assuming the ones who collected the information didn’t go somewhere else to share, as is more likely.

It has taken us two weeks of flight to make the distance, so it’s hard to say if the Beith mercs will be anywhere near. Considering the delay of information, we’d be lucky if they are still within a week’s travel.

The trip had been uneventful. Birds of prey mostly left us alone, even when we found ourselves close enough to see them. Those that didn’t, quickly dropped out of the sky from a rain of stone spikes. The amber glow of Imiha’s markings flowing out the tips of her tentacles and forming rock before her.

It was the same with those Henosis water mages. Hyle allows them to store their elements in their bodies without repercussion.

Anyway, it turns out that Imiha has access to a ritual version with far greater efficiency than what I learnt, so I’ve essentially lost my job. She can even create the inscription with her rock, which is something I remember Remus saying most couldn’t do. Was he just giving me false compliments, or is Imiha just one of those rare existences? Well, she’s a Beith mercenary for a reason, so I’ll assume it’s the latter.

I’m not too concerned about not being the one to do it any longer. Maybe if she’d joined us before we’d fallen into the Alps, I’d have felt bad; unneeded or unwanted. But now? My motivations are different. I know I can hold my weight in a fight beside them. I don’t think I would care if they didn’t want me either, I’d just accept it and move on.

Grímr lowers us over what can only be the mentioned dead forest. The name is apt. Thousands of stumps are all that remain of what must have once been an impressive forest. Most of the stumps look like they’re wider than I am tall, but none rise much higher than the same height.

We land amongst the dead forest and, despite the name, there is plenty of life. From the base of each stump, a ring of saplings grows, blooming wide foliage that I’d mistaken for dried grass from the air. While I can’t see any sign of small wildlife, there are plenty of bugs flying and crawling around. On closer inspection, even the thick stumps themselves are alive. The points where the trunks had fallen from have grown over and healed.

I shake my head. We’re not here to look at the environment, no matter how curious I might be.

“So, where were these friends of ours last seen?” Remus asks.

“It should be somewhere nearby. They said on the eastern border of the dead forest.”

“And how big is this forest?” I ask.

“Um, I’m not sure. It usually takes about two weeks of running to go from one side to the other. I don’t know how long it’ll take to fly.”

I groan a little inside. Many of those around me obviously feeling the same annoyance. We’re already so late, and we have such a large search area. How are we supposed to find them without some immense luck?

“We rarely go near the northern side either, as a centzon dwelling is near there,” Aana rambles.

“Centzon?” Imiha asks.

“Huh? Oh. They are horrible creatures. Unlike most dangers of the Euroclydon Hunting Grounds, they don’t kill. No, what they do is far worse. If they catch you, they cut the fur off your back, skinning you alive before leaving. If blood loss doesn’t kill you, it won’t be long before the birds do.” Aana involuntarily shivers.

Ugh. That sounds horrible. I’ve seen how much they rely on their camouflage capabilities. If they lose that, they have no chance out on these plains.

Imiha glances to the north as if she’d be able to see them and hums in consideration.

“What was your plan to find them once we arrived?” Remus asks. “I couldn’t imagine attempting a blind search two weeks later than this and returning with any haste.”

“In that case, we would have been able to remain in contact with their tails. Flying as we have has made that impossible,” Aana says. “If we can find any of my kind in the area, they should direct us toward them.”

Aana has become more comfortable with us over the past weeks. We placated her initial fear after doing nothing to harm her. Though she’s still terrified of Imiha, especially when her temper is tested.

“Then it looks like we better split up. I’ll take our little merminea here and the rest of you will go for a flight.”

I’m no longer the only one who can detect the mermineae. Imiha can sense them through the earth, which means our search will be much easier. Well, it is still just the two of us in this vast expanse, so we have to be lucky to come across one by chance.

“Before you leave, Imiha.” Bunny steps forward. “Could you help me with something first?”

“Of course, Tetsu. What is it?”

I should have known it would be about weapons. Bunny plans to make weapons. She has Imiha pull up a large amount of rock, which soon has iron seeping to the top. Bunny collects it and sorts the iron next to various other minerals, including a type of coal you would usually only find in the deepest mines.

If only the áed back in the wasteland knew how to do what Imiha can do, we’d never go hungry.

As Imiha forms odd shaped tools for Bunny, I ask her about it. “Do you think it would be possible for me to learn to raise a meal out of the ground like this?”

Imiha shakes her head as she works. “No, that’s impossible, as far as I’m aware. For two reasons: first, the higher your binding with a particular element, the more difficult it is to use another. Both you áed and áinfean have surpassed the threshold for your bodies to exhibit aspects of your respective element. The second reason is far more simple; the marking ink cannot survive in your body.”

Ah, damn. That would have been convenient if it was possible.

“Solvei, come here.” Bunny calls me. She places much of the iron in a large, thick pot.

“Could you melt what’s inside without melting the container? If we had the equipment from back home, we could make better quality steel, but this will have to do. Also, if it’s possible, try to cycle the flow of air into the mix.”

I place my hands on the rim of the pot and push my flames into the mixture. Immediately, I realise why she specified not to melt the pot. It’s well within my abilities to turn it to sludge along with the iron if I’m not careful.

As my fire licks over the metal, I notice she’s put in a small amount of coal and limestone alongside the iron. The iron itself, like the spear Imiha made, is… unclean, for a lack of better term.

The mixture quickly melts from my heat, and I have to hold myself back from consuming it. I’ve been spoiled for choice in snacks lately. This small amount of iron is not something I need.

My flames cup at the air and try to push them into the pot, but I just burn through the air instead. How am I supposed to mix air in? I don’t have any better idea, so I lean over and push my arm into the molten metal, careful to keep physical.

The thick liquid doesn’t flow easily, but I can fold it over itself, trapping pockets of air inside. It’s probably not at all effective, but it’s the best idea I have, as Bunny proposes nothing better.

It’s only my arm submerged, but it reminds me of the comfort of the magma I’d experienced in the Void Fog. One day, I want to make a pool of molten rock. I can’t imagine something more relaxing.

Imiha, crouched at my side, watches with interest. “You know, it’s really strange to see a kid throw their hands into such heat.”

I look at her oddly. “What’s strange about it? I’m sure you could do the same without issue.”

“Well, I could, but it’s not at all comfortable. No matter how much you enhance your body, the conditions it favours never changes.” One of her tentacles joins my arm in mixing before she pulls it out and shakes it. “What’s hot is still hot. I can push through it, but my body still screams at me, even if there is no damage.”

“Wait, so you feel pain from this?” I’ve not cared about engulfing my team in flames because they don’t get hurt, but what if they’ve been pushing through agony this entire time?

“Hmm, no. It’s no longer painful in the normal sense. More like our nerves think they should be in pain, so they let us know.”

The ivory markings light up along her body and a thin stream of air pushes down on the molten metal, making it spin even without effort from me.

“There, that should mix in air far better than your labour.”

“What is that?” I ask, pulling my arm out of the spinning liquid.

It looks like she’s controlling the air, but the effect seems different from what the enantiorn eagle or the general’s sword demonstrated. She could throw heavy stone with those ivory markings, so is the wind just that strong? Still, it doesn’t have that same clear distortion in the air that I’d seen from the other two.

“I told you. It’s a secret.”

She stops the stream of air and the swirling liquid slows. A lot of iron falls to the bottom of the pot. It feels a lot cleaner than when we started. Above the iron is a layer of mixed materials.

“Hey, Bunny?” I call. “It’s only the iron you want, right?”

“Yes. We’ll pour out the slag before the next step,” she says.

“Don’t worry.”

I burn at the top layer. It doesn’t taste all too great as it’s a lot of the stuff I’d find in rocks rather than anything that would give much nutrition, but it’s easy enough to remove it from the iron.

“Huh. That makes this easier.” She tosses a handful of powder into the iron and motions for Imiha to start her air gun once more.

Once we let the iron stop spinning once more, I eat through another, thinner layer of slag.

The process continues for quite a while. We pour the iron, now steel, into moulds, and I keep them warm while Bunny hammers them into shape. It takes a lot longer to make weapons than I thought it would, but we replace the weapons we’ve lost, so it’s worth it.

She gives me a spear far heavier than the last she’d made me, but like the one Imiha created, the heft should help me. I just need to get used to it. It’s still not anywhere near the weight of the spear Bunny made for herself.

Besides the large array of weapons for her own use, she also recreated the gauntlets Remus used to have and a pair of tiny knives that could only be for Jav.

“That was surely worth it, but we’ve already wasted enough time,” Imiha says as she moves toward the merminea. “I’ll see you lot once I find our target.”

Aana squeaks as Imiha wraps a limb around her and jumps away, accelerating through the air. I feel bad for her, but it’s better her than me.

“For someone who still considers herself a princess, she doesn’t act like it,” Remus says now that Imiha is far out of hearing range. “She’s changed a lot since I last saw her.”

I climb up Grímr after Bunny, but she lifts me up and holds me before her. I tilt my head back and look at her curiously. She looks away before our eyes can lock.

“Thanks for the spear, Bunny. This is much better than the one Imiha made,” I say.

She nods, still not looking down at me, but the corners of her mouth rise ever so slightly.

“How do you even know her, Remus?” Grímr asks as he slams a gust of wind into the earth below and takes to the skies. “And why does she hate you?”

“Well, after the last queen became bedridden, the princess had her entire guard replaced. I was only meant to be a temporary part of her entourage, but once her mother passed, Imiha became inconsolable. Despite the idea of a reformation being desired by the populace for a good thirty years at that stage, she thought everything was a ploy. When she lost her position, she felt betrayed by everyone. It’s worrying to see she still hasn’t moved on, but at least she’s no longer the mental wreck she was.”

Remus’ summary of past events puts everyone in a reticent mood. But there’s one thing that’s been concerning me since we met Imiha.

“I understand a little from the context,” I start. “But what is a princess?”

Everyone turns and stares at me. Even Jav, who’s been mostly withheld; and Grímr, who should look where he’s flying, turn with stunned expressions.

Remus is the first to speak. “How have you gone so long without knowing?”