Chapters 31-33

Chapter 31: Storm on the Water

As Rienna built her boat, her mind slipped in and out of consciousness. Sometimes, she would look up at the crystal sky and see Xio peering down at her. Sometimes, she was in the middle of binding pieces together when she blacked out and would see a fuzzy image of crystal panes all around her.

Her boat was made of fallen wood and giant leaves. She wasn't very sure that it would work, but hopefully, in the dream world, it would be okay. With Aya's guidance, she was able to meld leaves together to create a sail and later fuse the wood together to seal any holes.

A week later, the boat was almost finished. The sail furled and unfurled with ease; the boat itself was solid and had proven capable of floating. The only thing that was really stopping Rienna was her reluctance to leave Aya and the peace of the island. Despite her increasingly frequent visions of the real world, she hung onto the feeling of comfort she'd felt for the first weeks she'd been on the island.

"Rienna," Aya said warily, "If you don't leave soon, you will be in no condition to sail your boat."

"I know! I know! But the hull is not finished," Rienna assured her mentor.

"Oh? What part isn't finished? Show me," Aya called her bluff.

"Uh… It has a hole I haven't found."

"Do not lie to me, Rienna," Aya said. "I know your boat is perfectly capable of traveling the sea around us." She ran her hand over the edge of the boat. "Why are you waiting so long? You're putting yourself in danger."

Rienna sighed. "I don’t know. This place is just so peaceful. If I could stay here with my cats and my family…" She trailed off as she realized she had experienced months without her family, and almost a couple of weeks in reality.

"Maybe one day you can visit this place. But you can't bring your family if you never leave." Aya let go of the boat and turned to go. "You’ll leave in two hours; I won’t let you delay any longer.”

Rienna didn't understand how Aya told time. She talked about days and weeks as if she could actually measure them. Rienna, on the other hand, was plagued by her slowly waking mind, so she couldn't even tell if she had spent a minute staring at the boat, or an hour. Even when she had been fully in the dream, she hadn't been able to tell the days apart.

So, Aya came back to the cave two hours later, even though Rienna had thought it'd only been thirty minutes. A recent episode of waking faded back into slumber in time for her to notice Aya entering.

"Has it already been two hours?" Rienna asked tiredly. She frowned slightly at the thought of being tired while asleep.

"Yes, Rienna. It's time for you to leave."

"How do you even tell time in this place?"

"I’ve spent enough time here to notice the subtle changes,” Aya said with a shrug.

Rienna started pushing the boat, but suddenly her vision turned fuzzy and she tripped, her knee falling and scraping against the sand. She winced as she stood, blinking until she could focus on the dream again.

Aya stepped forward, grabbing one end of the small boat. "Here, let me help you get the boat in the water."

They pushed the small sailboat into the shallow water, the boat leaving a path of compacted sand in its wake.

Aya held the boat still as Rienna climbed in. Once she was safe inside, Aya let go and handed her the gnarled paddle that'd been made from a fallen tree branch. With a final push, Rienna was floating on the water away from the island.

She turned around in the boat to look back at Aya. "Goodbye! I'll remember what you taught me,” she promised

Aya gave her one last smile. "I am proud of how far you've come. Thank you for the company you have given me. Now hurry! Unfurl the sail, and paddle, return to your world!" She began shouting as Rienna drifted further away. Her voice faded, and Rienna soon could no longer hear her.

Rienna released the leafy sail and picked up the paddle. She waved to Ay, then dipped the oar into the water.

She did not know how to work a boat. Not even a funky one of her own creation. She pushed the water back with the paddle multiple times with seemingly no effect. The oar was heavy and she could hardly lift it. Also, there wasn't any wind, so the sail was practically useless.

Rienna looked up and saw both of her cats watching her. She began to paddle harder against the small waves. She was able to make some progress, but there was still the matter of the sail.

She smacked herself mentally and reached into the plane of magicka. The glows of magic lay on top of the boat and the scene around her. A dim magic was to be seen in the softly blowing wind. Rienna added to the magic and shoved it at the sail.

A gust of wind blew past her and ruffled her hair as it caught the sail and shot the boat forward. She turned to smile at Aya, but already she was so far out that Aya was only a small silhouette on the shoreline. She waved again anyway, hoping that she could still be seen.

Rienna staggered as the world blurred around her and darkened. She forced herself to relax so she could stay asleep. She wasn't sure how far she'd have to sail, but she didn't want to get stuck in the in-between state Aya had mentioned. She took another breath, and her vision came back into focus.

She turned her mind to the sail and paddle. It was obvious that the paddle wasn't going to be useful at this moment, or possibly ever. She was realizing now that the sail should be able to do all the work, since she supposedly just needed to go in one direction. With that in mind, she began to shoot wind into the sail with more force.

Soon, the island shrank to a small dot on the horizon and Rienna was surrounded by endless calm sparkling blue water. She looked down at the water and smiled at the sight of the sun reflected off the smooth surface. The water was so perfectly reflective that she didn't feel any worry at the knowledge that the ocean went down for an unknown distance; it almost looked solid, like glass, even with the sailboat cutting through the water.

She yawned as drowsiness overcame her and the dreamworld faltered. Everything turned a pink hue, and the crystal sky split downwards to cover everything. Rienna? A high-pitched voice echoed around her. She blinked, and it all disappeared and returned to its regular state.

"Xio?" she whispered, glancing up at the crystalline sky. There was no answer.

She shook her head and returned to the task at hand. She traveled for hours with periodic moments of waking. The farther she got, the more and more frequent they became. Eventually, she had to sit down in fear of falling during one of the episodes.

She heard Xio's voice again, louder than ever. Rienna looked up at the sky, trying to find his face. Instead, she saw a cloud. A singular white cloud floated in the distance, striking in the purple-pink sky.

The cloud remained in the same spot, no matter how far Rienna sailed. It only grew bigger and bigger the closer she got, slowly darkening. Suddenly, there was a rumble of thunder, and the winds picked up, making the sail useless.

In an act of desperation, Rienna shut the sail and picked up the paddle. She didn't know where to go. The cloud became a storm before her eyes, and the only place left to go was backwards.

Her hair swirled into her face as the winds became more violent. The mirror-like surface of the sea was gone, and she was suddenly struck by how dark and empty the water looked.

A wave reared up and splashed into the boat, soaking Rienna. When she got her bearings again, it was pouring rain. Besides the occasional flash of lightning, she couldn’t see what was going on around her, waves abruptly crashing into the boat and taking her by surprise.

With nothing left to do, she sat down and closed her eyes as the storm surrounded her. She focused on the memory of Xio's voice and the feeling of waking up. Maybe she could wake up if she thought about it hard enough. She looked around with half-opened eyes and dimly saw the crystal vehicle she was inside. She was so close, she could feel it. Yet she just wouldn't wake up.

A wave slammed into her and pushed her into her boat. Her eyes shot open, back in the dream. She yelled as the boat rocked violently back and forth. She was pushed against one side of the boat, then shoved to another. Her shoulders hurt as they started to bruise.

Lightning flashed somewhere far off, and a moment later, thunder roared in Rienna's ears. A giant wave grew from the sea, and she was just barely able to block it with her magic. Her magicka didn't have enough time to recover before another wave crashed against the boat.

"Rienna?! Rienna, are you waking up?"

“Xio?! Xio!” Rienna looked around for Xio's voice, but found no source. The sky was completely covered by the rolling clouds, and there was hardly any light to see by. She yelped as she found the giant, unnatural water tornado spinning towards her from the middle of the storm. It was giant, and lightning, the color of the magic crystals flashed within it, creating false shapes of monsters inside. Or maybe there actually were monsters within.

She couldn't do anything. Not even a scream. She just sat there as the tornado drew closer, sucking up the salt water into its growing mass. It reached the boat, and too late, Rienna returned to her senses. She yelled and screamed and tried to use her magic to protect herself and push the boat away from the monstrosity.

The world collapsed into complete darkness as the tornado slammed into the boat. Water flooded Rienna’s senses, and a flash of pinkish-purple lightning blinded her. The world froze, and she was suspended in the air in the freezing cold water.

"Rienna, what's wrong?! It's just a dream! Rienna!"

The bright light dimmed, and the cool water turned solid around her. She felt her magic spark like an ember in her chest as the dream world faded.

She was finally waking up.

Chapter 32: Leaving the Caves

Rienna's eyes snapped open. The crystal bugs scuttled around above her, opening the hole in the crystal cocoon. The moment they left, Xio's small head popped over the opening.

"Rienna! You are awake! I have been yelling at you for an hour! Your eyes kept fluttering like they were about to open." If a cat could grin, that's what Xio did; his tiny kitten fangs showed, and his large eyes sparkled. "Rienna? You are awake, right?"

Rienna blinked. "Mm... Yeah, sorry. I am awake." She rubbed her eyes and yawned. Why was she so tired? She’d just slept for multiple days; she shouldn’t be tired.

"Good! You kept looking all scared-like and making some such human noises," Xio huffed. "It was very annoying. I was made very worried."

Rienna smiled lightly. "Sorry about that. There was a giant ocean tornado," she explained as she climbed out of the crystal. The longer she was awake while inside it, the more uncomfortable she got.

"Hrmmg. Well, we ate all of your food. So, there," Xio said, wrinkling his tiny face in annoyance. "Then we had hunt stuff. Very hard."

Rienna rolled her eyes and stretched her hands high up into the air. The multi-day sleep had left her bones aching and sore. Yet the knowledge that magic was coursing through her veins made her somehow feel like she’d never been better.

She lifted her palm so it was flat in front of her. She thought of the magicka that lay inside of everything. It took her a moment, and she had to close her eyes, but she managed to summon the realm of magic inside her mind. She saw her sky blue magicka inside herself and stretched it to lay outside, in her palm. She shut off the flow and opened her eyes to look at the orb of light that now lay in her hand.

She gasped as the magic was cut off from her body. Her arm stiffened in pain as the feeling of a rope tied tightly around her arm flooded her senses. This time, the magicka didn't return immediately to her arm. She felt it slowly creeping back through the path it had once flowed, almost ticklish. The feeling stayed, and her only relief was her numbing to the pressure.

"Oo! Sparkle light!" Xio mewed enthusiastically.

A crystal bug skittered across the floor, and Rienna startled. The light fell to the floor with a muted ‘pap’ sound. She winced and bent to pick it back up. Before she was able to, Xio pounced and started batting it around the cave.

"I WILL EAT YOU!" he shouted at the light.

"Nope! No!" Rienna yelled, chasing after the glowing ball. "Don't eat that. Give it back to me, please!" She caught up and snatched the light. She focused for a moment and absorbed the magic, relieving her arm of the pressure. "There. It no longer exists."

"You are no fun," Xio pouted.

Rienna shook her head, amused. She turned to the crystal bugs that were watching her. Her eyes widened slightly at the sight of their silent gaze. "So... Now what?"

You must sabotage the miners. We cannot risk ourselves, so it's up to you, they said. Collapse the main tunnel and find a way to get rid of the pickaxes. We won't be able to guide you beyond this point, but we will be watching.

Rienna bit her lip. She was sure they were trying to be comforting, but honestly, it sounded kind of creepy. "How do I collapse the tunnel, though?" she finally asked.

You have magic now, their voice chimed.

"Not enough to collapse an entire tunnel!" Rienna protested.

There was a moment of silence as they thought. They have explosives. If you can steal those explosives, maybe you can collapse the tunnel. There was scuttling, and a group of bugs came forward with a white, clear crystal. This crystal is emptied of magic. Use it to collect your own magicka and store it.

Rienna frowned slightly as she picked up the crystal. Aya had explained how useful diffusion could be, but after how she felt when creating a mere light, she didn't like the idea of losing magicka just to store it. "Thanks," she said, trying to smile. She was afraid it looked more like a grimace.

She sighed and tapped into her magic. It quickly came into view, and she stretched it down into the crystal. She stopped at the point she'd done when making the light, then cut it off and inhaled sharply as the remaining shot back up her arm. The terrible pressure returned, but this time it wasn't quite as bad. It hurt, but she could mostly move her arm without wincing more than she already was.

As the magic was transferred into the crystal, it began to glow a sky blue like the light had. The different panes of the crystal made the magic seem to be subtly different shades of blue. It was awe-inspiring for Rienna to see her new magic inside a crystal she had long associated with everything magical. She felt powerful, like she could do anything.

Except her arm still hurt.

She shook herself out of her daze and looked around. "Um... could you make a path for us?" she asked them.

The walls to the right of her shifted and revealed a new tunnel. This will lead you to the main entrance that the miners use. Beware, it is daylight hours, and they are still searching the outer tunnels.

"Wait! Then where do I go while I'm waiting for them to leave?" Rienna asked as most of the crystal beings disappeared into the walls.

There was no reply.

Rienna clenched her teeth in annoyance. "Alright, Xio, Xia, let's go."

They walked through the crystal tunnel in silence. Rienna no longer stared at the crystals in awe as she’d done when she’d first entered the crystal caves. She still thought they were beautiful, but she kept imagining the bugs that could camouflage and change the walls. She shuddered, wondering how much of the tunnel around her was actually just bugs that were guiding her to the main entrance.

As patches of bare rock began to appear, though, it was obvious that the insects were no longer manipulating the passageways. The crystals no longer provided enough light, so Rienna brought out the crystal with her own power to help light the way. Her magicka hadn’t replenished yet, but the pain had dulled enough for her not to mind it, encouraging her to add more magicka into the crystal.

Soon, the blue-glowing crystal was the only one left in sight.

The shadowed silence didn't last long. Sharp sounds of metal against rock echoed up ahead, and grey light made the walls somewhat visible. The trio stopped, and Rienna shoved her crystal back into her pack. She stepped close enough to the wall that her arm brushed the rocks.

"Xio, Xia? How far off do you think the people are?" she whispered quietly. She tried to listen for herself, but her ears weren't good enough to determine how far away the noises were.

Xio cocked his head, and his ear twitched as he focused on the sounds. "Methinks that people are maybe five dozen meters aheads. The tunnel make the sound weird, though."

Xia nodded in agreement.

Rienna thought for a moment. "Do you guys know what time of day it is?" she asked.

"Afternoon, before dusk," Xio responded promptly.

Okay, so they'll probably still be working for a few hours. Rienna stepped back. "Let's go backwards a bit and wait them out," she said.

They quietly walked back a dozen meters and sat down on the cold ground. Rienna poured out a tiny marble worth of magic for Xio to play with, making sure he understood that he couldn't eat it, and searched in her pack for any remaining food. She suspected that when Xio said 'all the food,' he wasn't counting any fruits or vegetables. She was right and was able to find and eat a sufficient amount of food that had been provided by Rildie. The fruits weren’t any good, though, so she was forced to limit herself to only a portion of the vegetables, even if she was practically starving from her days in the crystal.

Wait.

Her birthday must have passed by this point. She had turned eleven while inside a giant magical crystal. Without her family. What were they thinking now? Were they aware that she'd gone through the Suppression? Did they think she was dead?

Rienna sat and stared at her crystal while chewing a purple carrot slowly. She brought out the split crystal that still contained its original magic. They were both so similar, just different colors. And their purpose was completely different: one stored Rienna's own magic, the other would be her key back home.

She just needed to collapse the tunnel first.

When the sounds of pickaxes dwindled to a stop and voices faded, she stood and snuck closer to the bend in the tunnel. She peeked around the rock and peered around the softly lit area. She saw no one, so she continued forward while still keeping a lookout for other people.

The light brightened as she reached the entrance, and lingering rays of the sun pierced through the gloom. She felt the cats' fur brush against her ankles as she stood just beyond the opening in the cave. She could hear workers continuing to pack up for the day just outside.

She risked peeking outside and saw two carts full of rocks and small crystals. Mostly rocks that seemed to glitter a little in the setting sun. A group of three men stood around the area, dropping pickaxes in a crate or moving materials into the carts. Off to the side, watching the workers, was a fairyeld guard with crossed arms, leaning back against a wooden post. He looked bored.

Rienna had the sudden impulse to send a bolt of light whizzing past his face. She summoned the world of magicka and shot a simple thread of light right at the guard's nose. She smiled as he startled and looked around wildly. He turned toward the caves, and she hastily backed up out of sight.

She glanced outside to make sure he didn't notice and leaned against the cool rock when she saw that he hadn't. She quietly breathed a sigh of relief and grinned down at her cats.

"That was stupid," Xio scolded.

"It's fine, though," Rienna whispered back. "It didn't hurt him or anything, either," she added.

"That's not the point," Xio grumbled. "He could've seen you."

"It's not like he has magic!" Rienna protested.

"Do you know that?"

Rienna paused. At the very least, something about them was enchanted since they could get through the Suppression. Also, there must be something special about them for the people of Westrikov not to have revolted by now. "Alright," she admitted. "I won't do it again." She didn't regret it, though.

After a few more minutes of waiting, they heard the carts being pulled away. Rienna watched the guard yawn and begin following the townsfolk out. Once they were almost out of sight, she crept out of the cave and began following them. She double checked that there wasn't any storage right outside the cave, just in case, but as she suspected, they didn't keep any explosives in such an unattended area.

They followed an ill-kept dirt road up a hill. Tall grass grew on either side of the path that Rienna ducked behind whenever she was worried that the group might see her. Once the town came into her vision, she also noticed a small developed area off to the side where the path was headed.

A center house-like building stood in the middle, its triangular roof holding a bell that was just beginning to ring. Rienna saw the bell swaying back and forth more than she heard it. The two, thinner buildings that stood to either side of the main one appeared to be both storage rooms. She waited at the top of the hill and watched the miners drop off the crystal-filled carts at the left one.

The group climbed into a caravan of sorts with about five other people and rolled away, pulled by a set of two lean horses. In total, there were three guards and five miners on the vehicle.

Rienna slowly started her way down the slope. She didn't notice any more fairyeld guards standing outside the buildings, but she had a feeling that there might be some in the center one.

Reasoning that since the miners had dropped off their materials at the left structure, the tools probably were stored in the rightmost building, she crept through the long grass and around to the back of the right storage room. It was made of wood and just as badly kept as the road. Moss and lichen grew in the creases of the wood, and it smelled old and somewhat rotten.

Rienna pushed the door open and winced as it creaked loudly. She took a moment to make sure no one was around and slipped inside, Xio and Xia right behind her. She summoned an orb of light and made it float beside her. She tried to ignore the pain that was starting to become less pronounced as she used more magic in the real world.

The blue light revealed stacked crates and barrels, and racks holding various tools. It was a relatively small structure, only about the size of a room, but two stories. A set of stairs in the back led up to the small secondary level that was still shrouded in darkness.

Rienna searched through the boxes in the lower level, but found no explosives. The second level was strangely designed. There was no floor in the center, and instead, a couple of meters wide pathway lined the edge of the room. There were a few sets of crates, one on either side of the area, and another right at the staircase.

The first crates were full of regular supplies just like the first-floor boxes. The second set of crates Rienna checked, though, had clusters of stacked boxes inside each. Carefully, she opened one of the smaller boxes and peeked inside.

Inside was a set of what were obviously explosives lying inside it. She gingerly turned the explosives over and tried to figure out how they worked. They didn’t seem overly complicated; it appeared that all she needed to do was light a fuse.

She shut the box and shook her head at how remarkably unsafe the tool was. She turned to Xia and said quietly, "Can you make this smaller crate light enough to carry? I don't know how much I'll need, but it shouldn't be more than this."

Xia nodded solemnly and concentrated on the box. Rienna closed her eyes and watched Xia's magic swirl around the box and melt into the material. Magic kept flowing from the cat, never running out.

Quietly, Rienna picked up the crate. It was so light she had to double check that she ‘miss-grabbed’ in the dim light. She had to grip the edges tightly to make sure it was still there while she walked down the stairs.

She just made it halfway to the door when it opened, and sunlight came pouring into the room. Rienna froze and looked around for a spot to hide. Quickly, she dropped behind a stack of barrels and held the crate of explosives in her lap.

Someone stepped through the door, and too late, she remembered her magic light still floating in the air. In an act of desperation, she reached up and absorbed the magic.

"Hey! Who's there!" There was loud clamoring as the fairyeld guard rushed into the room.

Rienna held her breath as the guard stalked through the storage. He reached the spot where she was hiding, and she hoped the darkness hid her well enough. As he walked past her, she let out a relieved sigh. And immediately regretted it.

The fairyeld guard turned around sharply and grabbed Rienna by her hair. He looked at her closely. "A girl?! What are you doing here?!" He released her hair, and she dropped to the ground with a crack as the wooden boards beneath her shifted angrily. The explosives floated gently to the ground, where she hoped it would remain unnoticed.

Rienna struggled to find words to explain herself. "I… um. I'm looking for my father!" she exclaimed suddenly.

"They just left! How did you not see them?" he glared at her suspiciously.

"Er… What?" she asked, standing up. Maybe she could just feign ignorance.

The guard muttered something under his breath. "I said, Why. did. you. not see him when. he. left. just. now?" he asked, enunciating each word.

"Uh..." Rienna glanced down at the box nervously.

The guard noticed and bent down to open the crate. "Why do you have this box? Wait- Are these explosives?!" His gaze shot to Rienna's. "You're coming with me."He grabbed her wrist and yanked her towards the door.

"No!" Rienna flung her hand out and shot a bolt of glowing force at the man's face. He dropped her arm and she dived behind some crates.

"What was that!?" the fairyeld guard yelled, drawing his sword.

Shoot. Rienna turned and threw another bolt of force at the guard.

The guard yelled in pain and rushed forward to her hiding spot. He raised his sword to point it at Rienna's chest, and she created a shield to deflect it back at him.

He was preparing to hit Rienna with the flat of his sword when suddenly, he shot into the ceiling. He crashed to the ground a moment later, unconscious.

Slowly, Rienna stood up, her breath shaking. "Xia? Was that you?" she asked, carefully making her way to the crate of explosives.

"Mew," a cat's voice said in affirmation.

"Okay, good. Right. Of course it was you," Rienna said, shaking her head. She picked up the box and slowly made her way around the body. "He's not dead, right? He'll wake up. I'm sure he's fine. Let's just go, yeah? Yes, let's go." She shut the door behind her and hid behind the building.

She slumped down and leaned against the old wood. She was shaking, and her heart was beating wildly in her chest. It's okay, she told herself. He's unconscious. He wasn't even trying to kill me or anything… just take me prisoner for the explosives I'm now going to use to blow up a cave entrance… She giggled nervously and clamped her hand over her mouth.

Gradually, she lowered her hand, took a deep breath, and stood. She took a deep breath and forced herself to focus. "Okay, let’s go blow up the caves.”

Chapter 33: Sabotage

The journey back went quicker without the need to stay behind any traveling wagons. Unfortunately, they were running out of daylight. The sun had already passed below the horizon, and all that was left was a dim lighting of the world. Just opposite of where the sun had set, Rienna could see darkness starting to take over.

Preemptively, Rienna drained some magic from her crystal and created a light. She was so drained from her encounter with the guard that she felt like she was the embodiment of sore. She knew it would take days for her to feel normal again.

Laying the crate at the cave entrance, Rienna began taking out explosives and tying them together. She didn't know how much she'd need, so she began tucking explosives in every nook she could find inside the cave. Once she ran out of spots to put them, she just piled the rest in the crate.

She went around and made sure everything was connected. She ended by going to the strand that would start it all. "Are you guys ready?" she asked the cats.

“Yes," Xio responded.

"Back up then," Rienna warned. She closed her eyes and drew power from her crystal, forming a small candle-sized flame that lit the fuse. She darted backwards and behind a platform outside the cave entrance. She watched the fire crawl up the string with apprehension and prepared herself for the explosion.

The flame reached the first set of explosives and momentarily went out of sight. There was a blinding flash, and the sound of a thousand bullets going off at once filled the air. Rocks flew out of the cave, and Rienna was forced to duck under the platform to avoid being hit. The sound was deafening, and she knew there was no chance that it hadn’t been heard, nor seen.

The noise stopped momentarily, and Rienna looked up in time to see the next explosion go off. She realized she had wildly underestimated the power of the explosives.

As another set of explosives went off, she remembered the box full of all of the extras. "Oh, no…" she whispered. "Xio! Xia! We have to get out of here!" she yelled, tumbling backwards out of her hiding place. When the next break in explosions came, she sprinted as hard as she could and as far as she could.

She collapsed in a pile of tall grass and looked back at the cave entrance. The fuse didn't even reach the box; the next explosion set off the rest, and the cave was engulfed in smoke and fire.

There was so much noise as the explosives went off and rocks began to crumble and fall. It was terrifying, and all Rienna could do was watch as the fires flickered and died against the rocks.

When the boulders that were what remained of the entrance finally settled, Rienna shakily stood and looked at her cats. Xia had picked up her son by the scruff of his neck to haul him away faster and was now grooming him intensely.

"We can't stay here," Rienna said. "I don't know how many fairyeld are at that camp, but there's no way they didn't hear that. We have to get to a town quickly, and we can't follow the road."

Xio shook off his mom and ruffled his fur. "When we get there, I want food." He tramped off into the grass towards the Four Towns. He seemed weirdly unfazed by the explosions. Rienna suspected he was quite the opposite and was doing that cat thing where he was pretending everything was okay.

Xia ran off to catch up with her son, and Rienna followed. Unfortunately, the light Rienna had made had since been exploded. The last light from the explosion was fading, and she was soon stumbling around, blind.

"Guys, wait!" she called out. "Can we wait for the moon to rise?" she asked, recalling stories of the travelers who journeyed under the light of the moon in the early days of magic. Except the moon wasn't actually magic, apparently.

She heard the grass rustle in front of her as the cats tracked backwards to Rienna. "Okay, but I'm going to sleep now, then," Xio mewed.

"That's alright," Rienna assured the kitten. She sat down, crossing her legs in front of her and leaning back on her hands.

It was a clear night and there were stars in the sky. There were never stars inside the Suppression; it was just… darkness during the night, only ever penetrated by the dim lights of 'candle fairies.'

Rienna was fascinated with the stars. Thousands of pinpricks of light spread through the otherwise pitch black sky, some brighter than others, some in clusters, and then there was a beautiful swath of light across the east sky. She couldn't believe that everyone, or at least every civilian, hadn't once seen a star. She could no longer understand a world like that, despite living there her whole life.

A star shot a line in the sky and disappeared without a trace, causing Rienna to sit up with a gasp. She scanned the sky for another line of light but saw none.

"What was that?" she whispered.

"Hrmm?" Xio asked sleepily.

"Don't mind me. It's nothing," she told him, knowing he wouldn't care about a runaway star in the sky.

"Mmhhkay."

An odd red star caught her eye. All the other stars appeared white, but this one had a red tint to it. It shone brightly in the sky, framed by smaller stars creating a 'V ' shape around it. She wondered why that particular star looked so different as she sat, staring at the sky and the stars in awe.

A light appeared far off in the distance and revealed the silhouette of a tree line in front of it. The silver circle rose into the sky and lit up the world in a greyscale light. It was oddly oval-shaped.

Even so, Rienna knew it was the moon and stood to wake her cats.

"We can go now; I can see," she told them.

They continued tromping through the grass towards where they thought one of the towns lay. Occasionally, Rienna thought she heard the river, but it never came into sight.

Wispy grey clouds began forming in the sky, and she started to worry that her light source might be obscured. She hoped they'd reach the town soon so she could avoid staying outside in the dark and cold. And that there was an inn that was still open and accepting people.

Sometimes the moonlight dimmed, but eventually buildings started to poke up out of the darkness. A warm glow of firelight still glowed from many buildings, including a familiar-looking inn. She gladly entered the warmth and started towards the innkeeper.

"Hi," she said. She realized that this was the same inn from before she'd gone into the caves. Was it five days ago now? "Could I have a room again?"

"That'll cost you twenty," the man said after a moment. He watched her curiously as she fetched her money. "What brought you back here?" he asked as she handed the money to him.

Oh, I just finished blowing up that crystal mine, Rienna thought sarcastically. "I'm traveling through a circular route and am on my way back now," she said instead.

"Alone?"

"No, my cats are with me."

"And your parents?" The innkeeper pressed, filing away his money and crossing his arms to listen to his response.

"They didn't come with me, but they’ll expect me back soon," she said. "I need to get up early tomorrow. Could I have my key?"

The man frowned but sighed, handing the key over. "Alright, here you go. Third door on the right."

"Thanks." Rienna took the key and made her way to her room.

Immediately, she locked the door behind her and set her bag aside so she could collapse on the bed. Drained as she was, it didn’t take long for her to pass into slumber.

The sun had just risen when Rienna woke up. She was still dreadfully tired, but a good portion of her magic had been restored, and she didn't feel nearly as sore. Which was good, as she needed to do more traveling today.

She switched into cleaner clothes and shouldered her backpack before quietly opening her door and making her way back to the front of the inn.

As she walked down the hallway, an angry voice echoed from the entrance. "What do you mean, 'There's no list today?!'"

Rienna turned the corner to see two fairyeld guards standing over a couple of men. One fairyeld was obviously the one yelling, with his crossed arms and infuriated face. The innkeeper eyed the group warily but said nothing while he scrubbed the dishes.

"I said there's no list today! They took it down and left a notice saying the mine's been blown up!" one of the townsfolk responded. He was acting awfully confident for someone yelling at an angry guy with a sword.

"It's true," the other townsfolk piped up. "I've heard that there's a rival sorceress that's getting after Jenni."

"That's ridiculous!"

Rienna gulped and kept her head down as she approached the innkeeper. "Hi. Here’s your key back. Is there a chance I could buy some breakfast?" she asked, trying to stay unnoticed by the fairyeld.

"I'm not a liar!" the second civilian said loudly. "They said her light was as blue as the sky on a clear day and that she was as powerful as the Crystal one herself!"

The innkeeper glanced down at Rienna. "Sure thing. Don't worry about paying, though,” he added as she made to open her money pouch. He walked off to the kitchen, sending one last look towards the men before disappearing behind a curtain.

The second guard finally spoke up. "They aren't lying. I was at the base late last night, and Jonny came in all beat up and bruised. He didn't talk to me, but I was told later that the woman sent him up into the ceiling with a flick of her hand. I heard the explosion later, too. Smoke rising in the distance. There won't be any mining work for a while."

"Why didn't you tell me that?!" the first guard yelled.

The other guard smirked. "I like watching you make a fool of yourself."

The angry fairyeld grumbled. "Where'd this sorcerer even come from, anyway?" he asked, changing the subject.

"I think she must be from across the desert and is older than the Sovereign," one of the townsfolk said.

"No way she's that old. I bet they've been training her up in Rufdand."

"You two are idiots. She's been trained by Trusten herself for as long as the Suppression has been up."

"Stop talking about her like she is some kind of hundred-year-old witch," a new voice said.

Everyone's head turned to see another fairyeld standing in the doorway. Rienna immediately whipped around to face away from the men and towards the kitchen.

"Oh, Jonny… What are you doing here?"

"I'm here to tell you two you're required to go back to the base for a briefing," Jonny said, then paused. Rienna imagined him glaring at the group of people. "And apparently, stop the spread of rumors. The sorcerer was a child. No older than ten years."

Rienna frowned. Rude.

"You got beat up by a ten-year-old?" one of the guards blurted before he could stop himself.

"She had magic!" Jonny said defensively.

The innkeeper came back with a plateful of pancakes and a baked potato. Rienna picked up the food and plopped a few coins on the counter, despite what he had said. "Thanks. I have to go now." She stuffed an entire pancake in her mouth and started towards the door, holding the food in her hands and leaving the plate on the counter.

"Why, she probably was near the size of that girl. Couldn't you have just restrained her? Wouldn’t she need her hands to do magic?" the other guard said, pointing at Rienna.

Rienna's eyes widened as Jonny's narrowed on her. She smiled warily, lips pressed shut to hide the mouthful of food. She waved slightly and reached for the door handle.

"Hey," Jonny said, grabbing Rienna's wrist. His eyes widened with recognition. "You're her. You're that girl!"

"Wh-Who?" Rienna asked.

"The one with magic! The one with the Vierian look to her. You did this to me!" He gripped her wrist harder, and she winced, the pancakes in her hands squishing together.

"Xia…" she pleaded quietly.

Jonny started to float, and his expression formed into one of surprise and then anger. Rienna felt a gust of wind forming behind her. She leaned down to bite his hand. He yelled and let go of her wrists, and Xia released the wind, shooting the guard into the group of people.

Rienna only saw the broken table and the surprised faces of everyone in the room before she opened the door and ran down the street, clutching the food she bought tightly.

She didn't stop to see if they were being followed. She almost ran into early risers a couple of times as she ran through the town. Xio and Xia ran at her feet, and she felt Xia's magic making them all lighter.

After turning many corners and running behind houses, Rienna finally stopped near an empty boat at the docks. She knew she probably hadn't needed to run that far, but she wasn't taking any chances.

She sat down on the grass and looked at the cats. "Where do we go now?" she asked tiredly.

"We go home," Xio said simply. He pushed his head against her arm supportively. "You get to see your parents again."

"Right, yes. But what happens after that? Sovereign Jenni is still in control, I've been missing for weeks, and now I have magic! Jenni still needs to be stopped, and everything's too different anyway. What will we do?!"

Xia meowed sternly, and Xio translated, adding some of his own thoughts. "Rienna, we don't have to know exactly what will happen. You're overacting. Your parents will help you, I'm sure."

Rienna sniffled. "What if we can't do anything, though?" she asked, stuffing another pancake into her mouth to distract her.

"Rienna! We've come this far. We'll go back and try and it be fine. We try. It not like we can just decide to live out here for the rest of our lives, especially after you've gotten magic specifically for this purpose. Think of your family, too."

Rienna's head swam. This always seemed to happen. She wanted to help change the world, but faltered whenever she actually thought about what was happening. I can't just assume everything will fall into place once I get there! Her mind protested.

But I also won’t get anywhere just by sitting here, she realized. We can figure it out as we go.

"Rienna, are you alright?" Xio's high-pitched voice said, breaking through Rienna's thoughts.

"Yes! I'm fine. I was just thinking about what you said. You're right," she said, wiping the tear that had threatened to fall from her eye.

"Of course I'm right. I am a cat," Xio said smugly.

Rienna chuckled hoarsely. "Well, then. I'd say it's about time we head home."