Rather, I tried to make an exit. However, as soon as I unlatched the door, it swung open. My face had done little to slow down whatever force had propelled the door, and I stumbled backward. It continued to swing on its wood hinges, slamming into the wall with a bang. A howl filled the room, and a dark cloud carried by a fierce wind followed on its heels. Dust devils formed along the edges of the doorway, ready to advance on the pristine cloth.

  Dorian moved before I arrested my backward momentum. He raced forward as if the wind was nothing, grabbing the rebounding door and slamming it shut. The whirling dust fell from the air like rain, leaving perfect concentric circles still whirling on the floor.

  Kyria Rhaptis tsk-tsked. Dorian flipped the door’s latch closed and spun, snapping, “Did you put a sound suppression enchant on this place?”

  ”What? It’s noisy.”

  ”It’s dangerous.”

  “For whom?”

  He glared but didn’t correct her. Again, just how powerful was this lady?

  “What was that?” I grimaced, regretting my question immediately. A throb had spread from the bridge of my nose, and a warm sensation rolled down the surfaces of my nasal passages. I squeezed my nostrils tightly and sniffed until only the ache remained. I examined my hands. No blood. Then, I gave my nose a slight tweak. It throbbed, but that was it. Not broken.

  “That was the Fel Wind.”

  “Don’t give it a label,” Kyria Rhaptis corrected without looking up from the work she had just started. “There is nothing demonic about it. It is just a windstorm.”

  “Tell that to the guards tomorrow,” Dorian muttered.

  “Should we wait?” I asked.

  “No. Because someone used an enchantment that clearly goes against protocol, we don’t know when it started. It could easily go on for another hour, and I doubt our host will be okay with entertaining us that long.”

  “People do interfere with my work. I am now even more behind now that I will have to add cleaning to my list of nightly tasks.”

  They are worse than an old married couple.

  With the back of my hand, I flicked the mixture of brown and yellow off of my sleeve. It fell in a smooth arc, making a pile to add to her chores. She glared at me, but I still asked, “Do any of you have any spare cloth we can use as a mask?”

  “You won’t need it.”

  “I am pretty sure breathing that won’t be good for us.”

  “She’s right. I can take care of it with [Dust Suppression]. Also, using any of the cloth here would be like wiping your ass with spider silk.” I frowned at Dorian’s comparison, trying not to remember what options I had available to me in that department.

  Dorian stepped up to the door and put his hand on the latch. There was not a hint of sound beyond the door.

  “Do you think it is still going on?“

  “Definitely. Now get ready. The wind will still have a fierce kick even with my skill.”

  “Have fun, boys. I will see you both tomorrow. Now get out of here so that I can work!”

  Over his shoulder, Dorian gave Kyria Rhaptis a fitting goodbye, to which she just cackled. He braced and pulled the latch. As he let the door open, the wind howled as it ripped through the growing gap. Dust tried to come in, but anything that crossed the door’s threshold fell to the floor in the small space between the door frame and the door’s edge.

  Outside, the camp had become obscured by a wall of dust. Then, that wall of dust bowed. It started as a small indention at first, but as red flared along Dorian’s back, the radius expanded. Flexing his skill, he split the wind from its contents as if applying a perfect filter.

  “If you didn’t need those enchantments, I would leave this door open just to spite her,” Dorian grumbled.

  Now wasn’t the time for a lecture on the value of respect. I slid past, bracing for strong gusts. With a quick tug, Dorian closed the door. He held it until a quiet thud sounded. Then we walked into the storm.

  I had expected to be buffeted, but even as the wind howled, the intensity was markedly diminished as if the friction against the falling dust slowed down the wind. I still missed a step a few times, but only because I struggled to tear my eyes away from the phenomenon occurring around us.

  His skill was clearly in play, but its effects went against my expectations. The grains of dirt and debris did not just fall straight down. They streaked in a downward arc, keeping some of their forward momentum while being acted on by a new force—either gravity or another method of attraction—that drove them into the ground at an accelerated pace.

  The skill also left a telltale mark on each particle. I had not noticed it in the mines, but Dorian’s skill imparted a subtle halo to a dust particle. With the particulate density here, the halos combined to create a glowing waterfall of sand and dirt that sprung from the middle of the air and ended where motes hit the ground. The glow died the instant the dirt contacted the earth, but his power left a legacy. On the windward side, a small pile of dirt in the shape of half a crescent began to form…and quickly grow in height quickly.

  “Dorian, you going to be okay?”

  “Yeah,” though the strain in his voice belied his reassurance. “This is a bad one, but I can make it to your longhouse. It is easier now that I have calibrated the flow; maintenance is far less taxing than initiation. The guards will have their work cut out for them tomorrow. Now let’s go.”

  He didn’t elaborate, and I didn’t ask as I followed him into the howling dust storm. This was not the time for conversation. The wind, though lessened by his skill, still produced bursts at gale-force strength. I stumbled from the gusts’ impacts more than once, but even when I wasn’t fighting the wind, I still found myself struggling more than I had expected. Our short hike was hard work, but it was nothing compared to mining. Yet, my muscles responded more slowly and burned with each step. I was sucking down air when I shouldn’t have.

  You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

  This wasn’t concrete evidence—no N-of-1 study backed subjective data could be—but our walk raised serious doubts about a healing potion’s ability to correct blood loss, at least in the short term. Maybe they enhanced red blood cell production, but if they did, that effect took time to kick in. It sounded like a devastating negative, but if potions healed instantly, blood loss should be minimal. Amazing and annoying. But it did suggest limits, which left me with mixed emotions. Did that mean [Healers] have the same limitations? Would this be one more way for the world to spite my class choice?

  My mind started to devise all sorts of ways to test it—until I tripped and stumbled into Dorian. A spray of sand and dirt scoured my face before it stopped half a second later.

  “Sorry,” I got out between coughs. He only grunted in response.

  Focus. This is not the time to get lost in thoughts. Though it had been quite helpful in the labs when teasing apart problems with experiments, it had morphed into a bad habit when socializing. Apparently, it was an even worse habit walking through hurricane-force winds.

  We eventually made it to my house, the return lasting three times longer than our walk to the [Tailor]’s. The doorway was on the leeward side of the wind, so I pulled it open without issue. I waved Dorian inside, and he went straight to the chair he had last occupied.

  I pulled and barred the door shut before following his lead. The room had never been so inviting. It had even retained more heat than I would have anticipated by its construction. I settled into the chair I had occupied before our unexpected departure. Our bottle of ale sat unfinished.

  I raised the bottle towards him. “More?” He held out his mug, and I filled it to the top. I eyed the door. “How much longer will that last?’

  “Hard to know. Typically, it would be over already, but this is a bad one. It also looks like we might have caught it right at the onset. Normally, the storms make themselves known, but if you can’t hear what’s happening outside…” he finished with a shrug.

  “I take it her little house isn’t like the others.”

  “It started out like the others, but she has upgraded it a bit more. She has clearly skirted the rules on a few of her improvements.”

  “She as powerful as she suggested?”

  “That and then some. She was already a legend before she merged two or, depending on who you talk to, three of her classes.” He took a sip and eyed my empty mug. “Be sure to talk to me when you hit level 10. I might not know about your class, but it is always helpful to talk it out.”

  “I will do that.” I poured myself some ale, finishing the bottle. I had no worries about it lasting. With my tolerance, I would have to ”savor” it.

  “Power is always hard to quantify, but I would strongly recommend not getting on her bad side.”

  “But you—“

  “My circumstances are…special. I get away with more than most.” He took another heavy drag. “You did well tonight. I think she likes you.”

  “Well, a positive first impression would be a first for this place.”

  “Ahem.”

  “Fine. A second, but that is still depressing.”

  “You are Human.”

  “That shouldn’t matter.”

  The look I received was akin to “where are you from?” It promptly disappeared behind a mug of beer. He recovered quickly. “I wish it wasn’t, but I have never seen it another way, at least not between Humans and ?ttir and Volki.”

  “It has been a bit of an adjustment.” The panel sealing the window rattled with a fierce gust. “You are more than welcome to stay here if you need to. I have more than a few beds available.”

  “Yeah, mine was that one over there.”

  “Right. Sorry.” He tried to hide it, but the hurt was plain as day on his face. The set of drawers next to the bed that he had pointed at had been the only ones without clothes in it. I hadn’t given it much thought at the time, but in hindsight… Looks like he wouldn’t be the only one putting a foot in a mouth. I took my turn at hiding my shame with a long sip. “The offer still stands if it isn’t too painful or won’t cause you grief from associating with a Human.” I tried not to spit out the last words and failed.

  He sighed. “You weren’t dealt an easy hand here. It won’t be a problem for me to stay here, and I may take you up on it if this wind doesn’t die down.” The wind wailed as if to protest that thought.

  “What did you mean by it being bad tomorrow?”

  “Beast and monster attacks. They will try to breach the walls. Even monsters have some sense of self-preservation, but after the storm, they act as if rabid. Speaking of which, if I do leave, you shouldn’t open the door until I come get you the next morning. I don’t care the reason. Just wait.”

  I gave him a questioning look. “What if someone needs help?

  ”You will be a liability. Sorry, but it is true. You can help, but only if you are protected. There will be far more monster activity tomorrow, and it will start even before the wind dies down. We are lucky. We can ride this out in our rooms. I can’t say that for the guards manning the walls right now. They will try their best, but if something is going to slip by them, it will be tonight.”

  “And that would be bad?”

  “Yeah, especially for you.”

  I took another sip, the powerful brew already having an effect despite my limited intake. “I can do that, though I am running low on water. I have enough water for the night, but it will be tight. Can you show me where to get some tomorrow?”

  “Ah, yeah. I forgot about that. They had set up the bathrooms nicely, but they hadn’t set up a cistern. No mage.” I nodded as if that made sense. Probably some magic that let them pull water up from the earth or some B.S. like that. “There are a few wells. We can go early, but you will probably need to draw it in the afternoon if you want to see the Vísir before the shift starts.”

  “I think she hates me.”

  “You think? She most definitely does.”

  “You are supposed to disagree with me.” I thrust my cup toward in mock anger and proceeded to slosh a bit of ale over the rim. “Crap.” He tsk-tsked me, and my face grew hot. “I can’t be getting drunk already?”

  “Looks like it.” He took my mug from my hands. “More for me.”

  I didn’t fight him. Any more, and the room might start spinning. I couldn’t remember the last time I had gotten this buzzed. “In my defense, I am pretty sure that healing potions did not correct blood loss.”

  “Whatever makes you feel better. Though, I think you are right about the blood loss from some of the stories I’ve heard.” He downed the rest of the mug before pounding it on the table. “Ah, that was good stuff. With that, I think I am good to go.”

  “What?” In response, he raised a finger to his ear. Only then did I notice the silence outside. “It’s done?”

  “Yeah. Comes quick and then stops just as fast. Almost unnatural.” He eyed the issued metal blade that remained untouched in its scabbard on the chest of drawers before pointing at the wooden cheese knife. “Can I borrow that?”

  The cheese knife was half the knife’s length, but it was wood. Now the Quartermaster’s comment about upgrading made sense. “Sure. It is yours after all…”

  He picked it up by the wooden blade. “Yeah, but I don’t like leaving you unarmed. Still, it’s best not to go out completely unprepared. And you shouldn’t need it since you won’t be leaving this place unaccompanied.” He eyed me, waiting for a response.

  “I won’t.” Even if I was at an appropriate level, I was not nearly sober enough to be facing danger.

  “Good.” He grabbed his things head for the door.

  I waved. “See ya.” However, he didn’t leave. I belatedly realized what he wanted. These doors didn’t lock automatically. I stood up and almost face-planted as the world rotated. I caught myself. Dorian had the decency not to laugh too hard. “Okay, bye now for reals.”

  He let out another quiet laugh as he exited. True to his words, the wind had died down. The air had an almost impossible stillness. Eerie.

  I slid the bar shut after he walked out and leaned back against the board, eyeing my bed. The lumpy straw mattress and woolen blanket had never looked so inviting. Its draw rivaled that of my bed the morning after a thirty-hour call night. I didn’t even get my clothes off before the sleep overtook me.