I was awake before Dorian knocked on the door. I never slept well when I drank, and last night was no different. Frequent arousals had plagued my sleep, and each time, I had awoken with a characteristic dry mouth and mild throbbing in my head, hinting at something more. It was the price I paid for indulgence. However, I had managed to avoid waking up a complete wreck the following morning, even if it took draining the last of my water. Still, while Dorian’s pounding on my door didn’t cause my head to pulse, an unpleasant ache had taken residence inside my skull.

  “Rough night?” Dorian grinned when I opened the door.

  “Harsh.” I was dressed, ready to go, and had opened the door before he had called my name a second time. “Honestly, I thought it would’ve been worse. If that ale’s quality had been lower, I am sure it would have.”

  “You do look better than I would’ve guessed.”

  “I wasn’t that bad.”

  "Sure.” Then he pulled something from his pack. “Then you don’t want this.”

  “Gimme.” He laughed as he tossed me a waterskin. “Oh, god, thank you." I unscrewed the cap and gulped down the cool, refreshing water.

  “As I was saying, I’ve seen Oresian children hold their ale better than you.”

  "I tell you, it was from the blood loss."

  He laughed. “I am sure we will have another opportunity to find out, but I think honey wine may be more your speed.”

  I would argue, but he was probably right. Instead, I chose to smile and appreciate the offer of another night of drinks together. I was a stranger in a strange land, but I could now say that I was making a new friend. I smiled. “Having another option might not be a bad idea.”

  He laughed even more but then waved me to follow. I shut the door and jogged to catch up. “Let me show you the well. It isn’t that far away, but it will be a trek with full buckets. I doubt you will have time to fill a pair this morning if you are going to the [Healers].”

  “I am completely out.”

  “I can get some water and supplies while you head up to that way.”

  “Thanks, Dorian.”

  We swung around the edge of the longhouses to a well-worn path that headed to the left of the mine’s opening. The path seemed to disappear in the dark rock of the cliff wall; however, we passed more than a few ?ttir and Volki walking back with pails of water. As we neared the cliff face, the cause of the path’s disappearance became apparent: an optical illusion. As with the mine’s entrance, the cliff wall hid another alcove. People with empty buckets were lined up before a large stone circle.

  “Is there a different well for Oresiani?” They had been conspicuously absent so far.

  ”No. We sank our own wells.”

  “Was that hard?”

  “Not when you have our favorite [Tailor] with you, but even without her, we have other [Mages] who could have done it.”

  “And the other groups don’t?”

  “In a way. It wasn’t deemed a worthwhile use of their time, not when those same [Mages] could be used for mining.”

  “So none of the ?ttir or Volki have running water in their homes?” He answered my question with a shake of his head. “Not even the Alfa?”

  “He and his soldiers had a setup fit for his and their station.” He spoke in a manner far too formal.

  “That—” my voice faltered as I caught sight of almost every Volki in line having turned their heads our way. We hadn’t even spoken that loudly. “Seems very fitting.”

  Most turned their heads back to the well, though a few lingered on us. Dorian didn’t head closer. “When you come for water, you’ll need to wait your turn. The water is clean, though most of the pails used here have an enchant to help ensure that as well."

  I hadn’t spent much time examining the pails in the longhouse, but I had noticed the markings on them that I had come to equate with enhancements.

  “So I just bring a few of the pails from the longhouse here when I draw the water?"

  “Yes.”

  He turned back, and I followed. Something itched on the back of my neck, and I looked backward before passing behind the cliff wall hiding the alcove. At least two Volki had continued to watch us as we had left. Their gaze never wavered, their yellow eyes tracking me until I passed behind the ridge of the cliff face and out of sight.

  Dorian and I parted not far from the fork leading back toward my home and the entrance to the mine. However, before he did, he pointed to a cluster of buildings that I had not yet visited. It was another cluster of buildings on a small hill closer to the gate. "Don't go that direction. You will not be welcomed. The Volki have a hierarchy and a very liberal policy about how they can teach it to other people ”

  “Because I am Human?”

  “If only. They have an inborn need to prove dominance. Even we give them room out of ‘respect.’ Honestly, it is easier than having to fight. It is tolerable here because the Alfa has set down expectations. Still, at the end of the day, only the Alfa’s will and those who enforce it keep this place from devolving into chaos. If we could have found a different guard force, I would have preferred it, but the risk is too high for most mercenary companies.” He sighed. “Not that it matters. Though I am loath to admit it, no company has the Alfa’s strength. Given what we have faced here, this encampment would be crawling with monsters with anything less than the power the Alfa and his troops can bring to bear. It is fair to say that this expedition not only exists but also only survives because of them.”

  “Another necessary evil.”

  “You know my opinions on that. But now that we are out here…” he shrugged, “it’s best to let them do their job.”

  A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

  “Speaking of that, was last night bad?” For all the concern he expressed last night, he had made no show of it this morning.

  “Could’ve been worse.” He stared off towards the walls. “Much worse.” He shook away whatever he was thinking before reminding me, “You better hurry and see the Vísir. I will take care of the supplies for the day.”

  ***

  The walk to the healer’s lodge afforded me a chance to examine the Alfa’s and his soldiers’ quarters—at least from a distance. The location made sense. They were nearly equidistance from both sides of the wall. Getting water would be a pain, but of course, they didn’t need it. While the homes had the same barracks-style layout as the general quarters housing most of the ?ttir and the rest of the Volki, the size of the soldiers’ homes exceeded the others despite needing to house fewer people. Even from this distance, I could make a good guess on which house was the Alfa’s. Only one two-story house stood inside that cluster. It also happened to sit right in the center.

  I shook my head at the typical trappings of power. Wasting space to prove that he could, just like that table in the Commons.

  When I arrived at the healer’s lodge, the door was closed, but muffled voices still slipped past the door. I knocked, and the voices stopped. A small thump announced the removal of the bar locking the door. I continued to wait as the door creaked open, revealing only the Vísir, who promptly gave me a severe scowl.

  “Do you not learn? I sense no illness or injury about you. Go before I decide that I do have time to teach you a lesson.”

  The door was open enough that I could see most of the room. Despite the chatter that I had heard, I did not see anyone else in the poorly lit room. I either had misheard or whomever she had been talking to had stepped into the other room. As much as I wanted to know, my curiosity wasn’t something the Vísir would indulge.

  “I’m here to get a salve recommended by Kyria Rhaptis.”

  I fished out the wooden chip and held it before her, barely hiding my smile at her look of surprise.

  “How?” Her familiar scowl found a new level, eyes narrowing so much that it seemed impossible that she could still see me. “It doesn’t matter. What do you need it for?”

  “A biops—” I cut the word off as soon as the familiar twist took over my tongue. Another word lost in translation. At least I could use it to break my bad habit of always using medical jargon. “She needs a piece of my Mark, but she said it was too immature.”

  She barely glanced at my Mark. “Of course, it is. At least, she had the good sense to come to me rather than those Oresiani playing at being a [Healer].”

  The sheer arrogance contained in her words exceeded anything I had heard before, and I had worked with a lot of neurosurgeons. Still, I plastered on my most obsequious smile. “Can you do it this morning? She needed my Mark ready by tonight.”

  As if it pained her to agree, “Yes, though I don’t know what you did to get her help. Wait here.”

  She shut the door in my face, leaving me staring at the wooden planks and shivering in the crisp morning air when a small breeze swept past. The top of the ridge shone with the light of the sun, but it would be some time before this hut escaped the ridge’s long shadow.

  Time ticked by, and I checked my wrist out of reflex, even though my watch remained tucked away in a drawer in my longhouse. She had to be making me wait on purpose, but even so, I could do nothing but stand here shivering. I tried to distract myself by watching people stream into the mine. In different circumstances, the clusters of log cabins backed by towering trees wreathed in greens and purples would have a rustic charm. Of course, forced labor diminished a place’s wonder. Boredom, impatience, and a thick layer of dirt were nails in the coffin.

  I traced a finger along the wall. The wood was coarse, but my swipe left a fine sheen of yellowish dirt on my finger. I brought it to my nose but then thought better of it. This particulate matter wasn’t dirt, or if it was, the source came from a very different type of soil than any I had seen around here. I rubbed my fingers together, studying the fine dust.

  From last night?

  It had the same yellow-green tint of pine pollen. I had never actually studied pollen before, but I had lived near a pine forest. I couldn’t forget the color, not after having to wash my caked car countless times. I scanned the tree line visible from above the wall. Their shape had always suggested evergreens—though, can a tree with purple-tinged needles be an evergreen? I would go with conifers, but I would need to get closer to confirm.

  Is it even pollination season? Better question: what season is it?

  I hadn’t paid attention to it earlier, but even if the cliff face blocked most of the direct sunlight, the days were long, suggesting summer—likely at a high latitude. The temperate climate went with that, though that could be from being at elevation. The list of things I needed to figure out kept growing longer.

  “They may lack honor, but those fleabags know how to defend the walls.” I jumped at the voice coming from behind me and spun to come face-to-face with the Vísir and her smug satisfaction at catching me off guard. “At least, they carry their own weight, unlike some people. Now, if you are done staring at the walls, come here so that I may apply the salve.”

  This woman grated my last nerve, but the lines to the mine had already begun to thin. I didn’t need to give the Verndari more ammunition. So instead, I turned my cheek, figuratively and literally.

  She applied a thick slave to a portion of my Mark that was above my hairline. The characteristic tingle that I was rapidly learning to associate with Energy spread through my Mark. Then it stopped as a sharp pulse ripped from my temple down to my toes.

  I winced and pulled away from her touch. “What was that?” The pain had passed, but now only a small portion of my Mark still tingled.

  “I would recommend limiting your Energy use. Normally, utilizing Energy wouldn’t be a problem; in fact, it would be required. However, because of your level and long exposure to the density of Aether in the mine, your Mark will convert enough Energy to provide the required growth without any intervention. With too much Energy use, the growth might be excessive.”

  ”That would have been helpful knowledge before you applied it.” [Healers] here seem to have a nasty habit of not informing patients of any of the risks.

  “[Archmage] Rhaptis needed it done, and that was the only way for me to guarantee that. I shall not disappoint her.”

  And if you left me with a hideous growth, that is just a bonus…

  “Is it safe to touch?”

  She nodded, and I walked my fingers along my Mark. The skin around the part that had tingled had none of its normal feeling. It was as dead as skin after an injection of novocaine, though I couldn’t make out any obvious swelling. “How does this work?”

  She paused as if surprised by my interest. “It is complicated, but if you must know, most simplistically, it accelerates the maturation of a Mark by increasing its receptivity to Energy. Foolish people use it to access skills they have not yet earned. They risk stunting their growth for quick gains. You need not worry about that. I limited its effects to a small fragment of your Mark. That part will mature out of step with the rest of the Mark. I also constrained its direction of growth to make it an ideal size for harvesting and prevent contaminating the rest of your Mark.”

  I took a second to process that. “So, essentially, you made it so that a small part of my Mark will grow outward rapidly.”

  “Yes.”

  That sounded frighteningly close to a tumor. I would need to keep my Energy usage to a minimum. “Is there anything I need to do after she harvests my Mark?”

  “No. She will be able to shave off growth without any damage to your Mark. A healing potion is permissible to close the wound, and if she needs a proper tool, she can come to me. Depending on why she needs the Mark, I may have a few she can borrow.”

  “I will let her know,” which, of course, I wouldn’t. I knew that Kyria Rhaptis had what she needed, and if I happened to leave the Vísir wondering, that would be fair payment for her wonderful bedside manner. I turned to walk away but stopped. “Is your apprentice available?” I had not imagined hearing a conversation, and that other voice had to be Esper’s. “I wanted to talk with her quickly.” It would make me late, but some things needed to be done as soon as possible.

  She stared at me far longer than when I had inquired about how the salve functioned. “No,” she said before stepping back to shut the door in my face.

  It took me a few seconds to close my jaw. That woman was a piece of work; however, I didn’t have time to beat on the door and make a scene—not that it would do any good. The stream of people entering the mine had turned into a trickle. For the second time this morning, I wished I had my watch. I sighed. I would have to try speaking with Esper when I had more time.