The next few days passed in a relatively peaceful flurry of activity. Visits to Tender continued, and I was already feeling the difference from repeated visits on the agility path. Not only could I touch my toes, a feat I’d never been capable of on Earth, I could lay my hands flat on the ground.

Sure, I knew I probably could’ve pulled it off with proper stretching, but it was a nice bonus considering the prime reward was the extra mobility.

While we were all running around inside the forest paths, I had Inertia erect some sheets combined with several filtering enchantments to keep the worst of the fumes from spreading. A happy side effect was that several of the compounds that didn’t make it through the filters were useful, once they’d been plucked out of the air.

While Inertia and her crew were implementing their industrial scale enchanted air filters, I visited Xoth in Verdant Point. We’d received word that Spellford would be happy to trade low tier Worlds materials for our tier-3 heartwood, but only so long as I personally visited Spellford to meet with Thozgar, their High Shaper.

“I am more than happy to have Xelinda escort you upon our yacht,” Xoth said, shortly after he’d informed me of the reply from the Shaper’s guild. “It will save you several days travel, compared to most of the vessels that venture this far.”

We were standing near the edge of Verdant Point, the morning sun painting the veritable forest of trees just off the cliff emerald and gold. While the forest remained, the new dock had been moved to another valley that had a natural harbor roughly sixty miles down the coast. There was still a dock off of Verdant Point, but it was a smaller one, without the extra infrastructure a trader might want.

“Appreciate it. Does Xelinda want to go back to Spellford?” I asked, squinting through the early day’s light.

There was a single Tethered out in the trees, running a new strain of vines back and forth. Ones that could easily be grown with Bloom but served as sturdy ropes without needing any extra attention. A modification of one of the underlayers of the mat that Myris had encouraged our farmers to experiment with over the course of the Howling season.

“She has been pestering me about visiting her friends,” Xoth admitted with a quick bow of his head, both hands fold into the sleeves of his robe. “While she has enjoyed testing herself against your Knight Exemplar, I did not raise her for a life in such rugged conditions.”

I raised an eyebrow at that.

While we might’ve been struggling to bring people in, we had running water, sewage plumbing and even hot baths and showers.

Compared to the sorts of conditions Tetherfall or most of the people in our part of the Frigid Peaks had, we were the epitome of luxury. Even compared to my old shop back on Earth, things here were nicer in most respects. The only thing we didn’t have was the internet, and I honestly counted that as a positive by that point.

Guess I’d have a better idea of what he meant once I took Spellford up on their invite. There wasn’t much chance I wouldn’t, since having those Worlds materials would make so many things easier. Plus, I really did want to meet the neighbors as well as poke around their city. It sounded like a pretty amazing feat of magical engineering.

I didn’t say any of that. Instead I simply responded with, “Rugged conditions, huh?”

“We do the best we can, with what we have,” Xoth said, offering me a small smile. “But she has rather pointedly reminded me on several occasions that the ability to peruse wares is somewhat lacking here. As are destinations to enjoy music or theater.”

“Ah. Yeah, that’s… not something I think about very often. Usually too busy to worry about stuff like that,” I said, rubbing my neck.

“Only natural. Also, I do not mean to misrepresent my daughter. While Xelinda will enjoy a return to Spellford, from my understanding, she is quite happy with her life here. In fact, allow me to show you her latest project,” Xoth said, gesturing for me to follow him back to his nearby home. With the Howl over, the former bunker-like structure now had a large garden area out front. An area which stretched over the roof of the dwelling below.

There were a lot of similar gardens being built, but Xoth’s was one of the only ones already showing signs of life.

The luxury of being an ensouled.

I hadn’t been inside Xoth’s place since it’d still been a basic shelter. Before we even took a step inside, I could tell things had changed.

The very first thing to greet us was the beaded curtain that hung across the door. Each of the beads was tiny. The beads were fashioned to show a picture of what I was guessing was him and Xelinda visiting a body of water. They were on their ship, leaning over the side, holding out fish to some sort of seal like creatures.

With a subtle motion of his wrist, one of Xoth’s green vine-like enchantments retracted the curtain, revealing his home.

Inside, the furnishings continued in a similar theme to the curtain, with most being engraved with either his special version of enchantment, or an image of some moment of their lives.

One thing I picked up on very quickly was that the woman I was assuming was Xelinda’s mother was only in a single picture in the front room. A picture that was relatively crude, compared to the rest, despite being left in a place of pride.

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My eyes must’ve lingered on the picture too long, because Xoth paused, commenting, “Celinda, my wife. We lost her before Xelinda’s naming.”

“Rough,” I said, knowing there wasn’t anything better I could say.

“Quite,” Xoth agreed, with a soft chuckle.

“So, what did you want to show me?” I asked, redirecting the conversation.

“Ah, yes,” Xoth said, waving me deeper. As we went, I admired how the roof was made of paths of transparent stone. It wasn’t clear enough to see through, the material having been mottled somewhat, but it meant that even as we moved back into the depths of his home, it remained well lit even without the numerous enchantments he could’ve activated.

It was apparent he’d dug deeper than it’d been originally, since we passed at least a dozen separate rooms before he came to a stop. One of them was a bath chamber with enough enchantments I was surprised it wasn’t glowing as we walked past.

With a twitch of his hand, the beaded curtain pulled to the side and he led me into the room. Another beaded curtain was roughly three-quarters complete, the completed strands hanging on a rack clearly designed for the purpose, with an assortment of beads in neat containers throughout the room.

The new beaded curtain showed Mount Aeternia in the background, with Calbern and Xelinda leaping between rooftops each of them with their blades held back, ready to collide.

There were several other figures beneath them, most of whom I recognized, though didn’t know particularly well. The sentries she trained with, if I wasn’t mistaken. The only two I’d claim any familiarity with were Selvi, who was standing just in front of the large form of Tanis. The big man was depicted smiling and giving a wave of encouragement.

“While our visit hasn’t been the best for her humility, she is fond of her new compatriots,” Xoth said, giving a short bow in the direction of the unfinished curtain.

“This is her work? These curtains?”

“Every one of them, yes,” Xoth said, with no small amount of pride in his voice.

“Impressive,” I said, kneeling down to look closer at the one she was working on. The amount of effort it required. The patience to put a single bead on then line them up, making sure they actually formed a proper pattern…

There were second Order enchantments that were simpler.

“As you can see, she does-”

“Father, you home?” Xelinda called out, her voice loud enough to carry from the very front. “Hey, do we have guests?”

“In the back, dear heart,” Xoth replied, projecting his voice without really raising it much.

“What’re you doing in my bead… Magus Protectus,” Xelinda said, her hand on the hilt of her sword.

“I was showing the Magus how much you appreciated your time training with the others,” Xoth explained, giving her a small bow, smile tugging at his lips.

“Father…” Xelinda said, a faint tinge of pink on her cheeks.

“I know you do not like to brag, but allow an old man his indulgences,” Xoth said, reaching over to lay his hand gently on her arm.

“It’s not even finished,” Xelinda hissed, stepping into the room and placing herself between us and the curtain.

“It’s very well done,” I said, which only caused her cheeks to brighten further. “Anyway, this only came up because your father offered to lend me your ship to visit Spellford, and he suggested you pilot.”

“Father?” Xelinda asked, her grip on her sword loosening. “You said you couldn’t afford to go back to Spellford at the moment.”

“And that remains true,” Xoth said with a shallow nod. “However, you know the enchantments. You can sail her on your own.”

“You’re letting me go to Spellford on my own… no supervision?” Xelinda asked, her hand tapping rapidly on the hilt.

“You will be escorting the Magus, so you will not be entirely alone,” Xoth said, a hint of amusement in his voice.

Xelinda’s gaze shifted towards me, quickly flicking up and down, before returning to her father. “I’ll keep him safe.”

“I know you will,” Xoth said, nodding. “Now, come, we shall check the runes. It has been a rather strong Howling season.”

With that, Xoth led the way out of his home. I bid farewell to them for the moment, making my way back to Mount Aeternia.

Vendil was there, waiting. Unlike when Tamrie was my assistant, Vendil spent most of his time in the mountain, instead of running around. Made it a lot easier to find him, and it meant he didn’t have to spend as much time chasing people down. It also made him the main point of contact when any member of the council was looking for another.

After a few quick words, I found out Tamrie was out with the refugees, organizing work crews.

When I arrived, she was directing several hundred people, via assistants of her own. The camp was alive with activity, and it was a lot more organized than the last time I’d visited.

It helped that the scan had let us pick out the warlords who’d been keeping their heads down before they could cause trouble.

I simply watched her work for a few minutes, quietly admiring her confident directions. Even as she worked, she kept one hand on her new grimoire, channeling a very weak Mana Draw.

As people came up to her, asking for clarification, or with some new problem, a realization struck me. I’d been thinking we might make the trip to Spellford together. It would be nice to have her show me around.

But Tamrie was important here. Would she even want to go?

Shaking my head, I finally kicked myself out of my reverie and approached her. There was no way she hadn’t known I was there, considering the gossiping of the nearby refugees. But she’d managed to avoid looking until I approached.

“Hey,” I said, stopping next to her.

“Drown it all, today’s been exhausting,” she said quietly with a smile that didn’t match her tone. “More’n half of these folk are asking questions they already know the answer to. And the other half are dickering over… well, nevermind that.”

“Well, I don’t have a solution to that… but I was wondering…” I trailed off as I put my arm around her shoulder, pulling her close.

“Mhmm,” Tamrie mumbled, leaning into me, her slight frame putting a surprising amount of force into the movement.

“Well, it seems Spellford wants me to stop by personally. And I thought you might want to come with. Though if you want to stay and oversee their dickering, I understand,” I teased.

“Hmm,” Tamrie hummed out. She simply remained against my side for another few seconds, and I was starting to wonder if she’d heard what I said when she suddenly stiffened. “Well, bundle my knickers and shove em up a waterspout…”

“That… is a very non-specific answer,” I said, chuckling.

“Aye, I’ll come with you to Spellford,” Tamrie said, finally pushing away enough to look up at me. “Though I’ll thank you not to track down my mum while we’re there.”

“Deal,” I said, leaning in to give her a peck on the lips. “Though it’s a shame to leave all the embarrassing stories on the table.”

“If’n that’s all there was, I’d wade through it, well enough,” Tamrie said with a long sigh. “But my mum’s… well, she ain’t exactly on the right side of the law, if you catch my meaning.”

“Your mom’s a criminal? How bad are we talking here? Like, tax evasion? Theft? Murder?”

“Don’t rightly know. Got out soon as I could,” Tamrie said, shaking her head. “But if she catches a whiff I’m there… well, best she don’t.”