They arrive at the city’s entran the early evening as the sun dips below the horizon. Emily gently shakes Juliana, waking her up as the car’s eurns off and they e to a halt before the t city wall.

  “We’re here,” she says gently as Juliana lifts her head and wipes the crust from her eyes.

  “Okay,” Juliana responds with a yawn. “I’ll go talk to the guards.”

  “Do you need pany?”

  Juliana lightly shakes her head as she stands up and pces a kiss on Emily’s cheek. She steps up to the door and fshes a fident smile over her shoulder.

  “I’ll be fi’s just ay check as a precaution,” she says as she slips out of the vehicle.

  Emily nods and remaied, watg through the window as Juliana approaches the guards. She talks to them, with a friendly smile, for a few minutes and, after a few familiar procedures, cheg her mana just like they did with Oscar on their st return to i, she walks back over to the car calmly.

  “It’s all sorted. Please head for Southern Edge Station,” she says to the driver on the ast before climbing into the passenger partment again.

  Juliales back down against Emily as the car engine rumbles to life again, carrying them further into the city. They fall silent again as the car rolls along, only waking their other sleeping panions when the door to the heavy-duty statioor es into view.

  They leave the car, thanking the driver before joining a few wealthy-looking merts and filing into the elevator to rise into the upper yers of the city. They step out of the elevator just in time to see a train roll into the station, and head straight for the noble’s partment at the front.

  Only one of the booths is filled, holding a few mages Emily doesn’t reise that barely spare them a sed gnce as they pass, so they quickly grab ay one ale down for the st leg of their trip back.

  “Do you guys have any pns now that we’re back?” Emily asks as they wait for the train to move, keeping Tom from drifting off again as he rests his head against the window.

  “Sleeping in a real bed,” he grumbles, the exhaustion of the long trip weighing on him heavily.

  Emily chuckles, and everybody else nods, agreeing with the se of his words.

  “I’m thinking about going home for a bit,” Dante says thoughtfully, drawing his friends’ curiosity. “I haven’t been ba a little over four years now, so I was thinking I should go visit.”

  “You haven’t visited your family in four years?” Juliana asks with slight disbelief.

  “Yeah.” Dante nods, tilting his head in slight fusion. “That’s normal, isn’t it? When did you st visit home?”

  “Ah, about two years ago,” Juliana admits shamefully. “I haven’t gone back to visit since Emi came to The Dome. I’ve talked to my parents a few times, but they enced me to stay here since I’m improving now.”

  “They didn’t hold high hopes for you?” Dante asks with a teasing grin.

  “Not really,” Juliana says with a shrug, leaning into Emily’s side more. “If it wasn’t for Emi, I’d still be skipping my b theory lessons, and they khat. In fact, the st time I went back, I asked if I could just stay home. But, Dad told me to stay in The Dome at least until I reached sed circle, si would be shameful for a member of the family not to. I’m gd I did, but I think I may be heading home food soon.”

  She turns her fato Emily’s neck, and Das the message to stop pushing, quickly turning his focus to the others instead. They spend the short train journey discussing pns for the week. Tom falls asleep against the window, not joining in with the versation, but Hester mentions pns for them to visit home again soon when Dante asks her.

  As they approach The Dome’s station, their versation dies down as they prepare to move, everyoed to get a prht’s rest. Hester wakes her brother by ing her hand in a thin yer of water and pressing it to the back of his neck, making him jump awake with fright and giving the rest of them a good ugh.

  The train slides to a halt and they quickly disembark, walking through the quiet station and out along a suspended gangway, with the members of the other occupied booth, to re-ehe city’s magical hub. The quiet entry corridor eg their steps brings Emily an odd sense of fort as she bathes in the familiar magical light leading their way.

  It’s strange, but I think I’ll miss this pce a little once I leave.

  She gnces sideways at Juliana, walking hand in hand with her, and smiles a sad smile.

  Maybe more than a little bit.

  ***

  The m, Emily slips out of bed at the crack of dawn. She gently pces a kiss on Juliana’s cheek, smiling as her girlfriend pulls in a pillow to repce her, before quietly getting dressed.

  With her armour, boots, and Cws prepared, leaving the Spitter in her belt, she moves to the door. Pg her palm ft against it, Emily closes her eyes and pushes her mana into it. She quickly feels out the runes making up the entment engraved into it, before attributing her mana with spad charging the es around the activation ruh her mark. With a light pulse to the activation ruhe door fades out of pce as usual, but her mark remains.

  Good. Jules should still be able to get out.

  Emily takes off down the corridor as the door appears ba pce. She leaves The Dome and boards a train heading towards the airship docks. Sitting alone in her partment, she watches the city through the window, admiring the way the early m light pours betweeowers of metal and mist surrounding her.

  I wonder if they took inspiration from The Gde?

  She calmly steps off the train after it slides into the extravagant station ected to the docks, taking in the vast hall arouo figure out where to go . She ss through the crowd of people, busily shuffling about their business despite the early hour.

  There’s more people here than before, despite it being so early.

  Looking around, Emily notices several details she ignored o visit when she was far more ied irains themselves thaation. The wall she ehrough upon her first arrival to i is lined with doorways, varying in size from small, single-person pathways down to hangars up to wide els leading further into the city’s wall. There are several guards stationed along the wall watg the doorways, all of them a mix of first and sed circle mages, judging by the mana signatures Emily sense.

  I guess it makes sehat they’d station some of their struards at the city’s mairance. I even feel a few third circles nearby.

  She turns around, gng at one of the doors she feels a strnature behind, marked with ‘staff only’. tinuing past it, she sees the far wall is lined with shops: some take the form of open holes in the wall mouth-watering food, the st of which Emily faintly deteder the stenetal, oil, and coal filling the room; the others are enclosed with wide windows dispying their wares to draw in the passirians.

  Emily turns back to the exit wall, leaving the ptform as she tries to locate the staff desks where she ask about the iures. She spots her target down one of the rgest els leaving the main hall and quickly weaves through the crowd, barely brushing against the surrounding people as she nimbly slips past them.

  However, as she steps into the wide hallway, she feels a hand reag for her shoulder from behind. Instantly, she spins around, her hand fshing up to csp the unknown assaint’s wrist before they make tact with her. Emily looks at the surprised face of the man who has approached her, and quickly adopts a simir expression.

  “Anton?” she asks in slight disbelief, taking in the short man and the familiar rat’s on his head.

  “Hey, Emily!” he greets, wing slightly as she releases his wrist. “It’s been a while. Have you put on some muscle?”

  “Clearly more than you,” she scoffs, looking over his greasy overalls c his sy frame with a look of disdain.

  Anton ughs, and Emily immediately breaks into a grin.

  “It’s good to see you again, kid. How’s the big city treating you?”

  “Well enough,” Emily says, rolling her eyes at his use of Ange’s niame for her. “You say that as if I’m from a small city.”

  “Haha, fair point. So, what are you doing here? Heading somewhere?”

  “I was going to check when there’s a ship heading to Eimdon. I want to go visit my sister,” she responds, watg his rea closely.

  “Really?” he asks, his friendly smile unwavering. “We’re heading by there on one of our routine cargo runs in a few days. You catch a ride with us if you want.”

  “That would be perfect, thank you! Are you taking anything iing back? Any guarded cargo?” she asks with a mischievous grin, prodding for more information.

  “No, no. Nothing like that. We’re just taking some standard textiles, minerals, and preserved food. We make a fair profit by selling simple stuff from i to desert-locked cities: there are aleople there willing to pay for things from far afield.”

  “What a shame,” Emily responds, rexed now she knows the Mandragos are not involved irip. “Doesn’t sound like there’s anything fun to take even if no one’s proteg it.”

  “Maybe I should have Tony stand guard after all,” Anton says, narrowing his eyes in mock caution.

  “Like that big softy would ever stop me! Anyway, when will we be leaving?”

  “We’ve pnned for 8 am in four days' time. I’m not sure which hangar we’ll be in, we may get moved arouween now and then, so I’ll eet you at the train.”

  “Got it. I’m looking forward to being on Calypso again.”

  “Of course you are! No one resist our beautiful ship!” Anton beams with pride as he waves goodbye and starts off into the crowd again.

  Four days to finish my business in The Dome. Not long now. I’ll see you soon, Anna.

  ***

  Emily returns to The Dome and heads straight to the information hub to gather materials. She purchases a small colle of items, from sandworm bile to rocktha, before returning to her room.

  She walks in through the still unlocked door, finding Juliana still fast asleep, clutg a pillow tightly. Chug silently, Emily removes the remnants of her tampering from the door, re-engaging the magical lock, before moving to the workben the middle of the room.

  She quietly sets up her equipment for potioion and prepares her materials. The m passes quickly as Emily pours her focus into the plicated brew, mixing pieces from almost a dozen different creatures and pnts in a delicate process that fills the room with the sound of bubbling water and a warm, earthy fragrance.

  It’s midday by the time she finally pours the tents of her cauldron into three small gss vials. The viscous, dark-brown liquid fills them all to the brim before running dry, and Emily’s focus is finally broken by a voice behind her.

  “ you even put a cork in those?”

  She turns around and sees Juliana sitting up in bed, her resting on the pillow still in her arms, watg ily.

  “Not yet,” Emily says, fshing her a smile auring for her to e over.

  Emily turns back to the workbench, as Juliana crawls out of bed, and picks up three fiip-sized, white-spotted, green seeds, resting in a bath of murky, sand-coloured liquid.

  “Earth Drops were named after the final form the potion takes when you add these little things, my seeds soaked ihworm bile,” Emily expins, holding out the seeds for Juliana to see.

  “Those horrible vines are used for Earth Drops?” Juliana asks in surprise, taking one of the seeds from Emily’s hand and holding it up to i. “No wonder we were told to be careful not to step on their seed pods.”

  “The vihemselves don’t get used that much, only for a few poisons as far as I’m aware. But the seeds are very useful. Depending on how you treat them, they react with potions in some iing ways. Drop that oo one of the vials and watch,” Emily says, stepping aside to allow Juliana access to the potions.

  Nodding, Juliana raises the seed above a vial and drops it in, watg it vanish into the opaque liquid within. Instantly, the brew starts to quiver, f a small vortex around the seed as it falls to the bottom. The water level lowers slowly as the rea tinues, and Emily reaches over to pce a cork oop just as it hits halfway.

  The moment the airflow into the vial stops, the water level freezes, and the mixture shifts in colour until it’s a translut light brown, revealing the seed within. The seed has grown to twice its inal size and transformed into a faintly glowing brown orb.

  “Woah!” Juliana excims, staring at the vial in wonder.

  “Impressive, right? It’s my first time seeing the rea too,” Emily admits as she drops the other two seeds into their vials.

  “Very!” Juliana agrees with ahusiastiod before turning to Emily and ing her arms around her waist. “Are you done now? We should probably head to lunch soon.”

  “Yeah, I’m ready,” Emily says as she corks the vials with one hand, the other resting around Juliana. “More ready than you in fact. Unless you pn on going dressed like that?”

  Juliana blushes at Emily’s teasing smile, pulling back a little and gng down at her nightgown.

  “This is your fault,” she grumbles, looking back up with an adorable pout. “If you weren’t so pretty when you’re focused I would have gotten dressed ages ago.”

  “Ha,” Emily ughs before iher arm around her girlfriend and pulling her in for a kiss.

  “Go get dressed while I up then,” Emily says after they separate. “Unless I look too good while doing that too. Then you’re wele to keep watg.”

  Juliana sticks out her tongue and turns around, walking towards the bathroom. Emily chuckles as she does, but a pang of sadness quickly dampens her mood.

  We only have four days left.

  KeroKeron