Awake well before the dawn, Riley and Tobias were back on schedule.

  Quietly, she meditated, watching the motes and threads of ether dance around her. With a flick of a paw, she moved the threads, all while her mental gaze flipped to the upper right-hand corner of her perception.

  The timer and the burning flames surrounding their health bars were gone. Fully recovered now and waiting to go, waiting to be summoned, instead there had been nothing. That first day, time stretched out like a cutting blade of anticipation, but by the second, tension had given way to building ease, an exhale.

  It was exactly what they needed.

  There had been an inevitable flow to life since being recruited to the blackblades, and its one hallmark was that there had never been enough time.

  For almost as far back as she could remember in her short life in Calaria they had existed without a schedule, save for the foundational parts of it. Tobias had his sword forms, and she had her meditation; that is when they weren’t running for their lives, charging toward battle, hunting for Chadrick, or making their way back home after finding themselves on the other side of the world.

  The flotsam and jetsam of their daily routines, what scraps of it they could hold to, is what kept them moored and gave them the fragments of stability they had needed to survive this last year.

  Riley’s eyes snapped open when she realized it hadn’t even been a year.

  “How has it only been ten months?” She scoffed, projecting to no one in particular.

  It seemed impossible, so she did the math.

  ”The trials and getting to know Tobias was the first month. They do their trials at the beginning of spring; then the Blackblade training, we were at Timbergarde in late summer, and then everything went down in the early fall, I think. Wait, do they even have a twelve-month year? Are my calculations off?”

  Tobias came walking in, shirtless after sword practice, toweling himself off. “We have a 13-month year. You arrived in the last two weeks of Solmonath. It’s Blodmonath currently, next month is Gal.

  “Ok?” She blinked up in confusion.

  “Ten months. That’s how long you’ve been here,” Tobias smiled and sat down in a chair across from her own. The towel vanished as he set his hands on his knees.

  “How could it be that short of time? It seems impossible,” She scoffed.

  “Well, our months are 36 days along,” Tobias added.

  Riley boggled, “How do you know it’s 36 days? Is my understanding of an hour the same as your understanding of an hour? How would I know?”

  Tobias stopped, “Uh, I can read a calendar, and my watch?”

  His treasured pocket watch flashed into his hand as he shrugged.“It is what it is, but it’s half past four bells. Shall we do our meditation?”

  Riley squinted, trying to work out the time in her head, before taking a centering breath, letting go, “Sure.”

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  Tobias leaned over and sat one hand behind her ears, “what matters is that we’re together. It doesn’t matter the time, or what it was like in the world you remember. You’re here now, and next month is what you would call Christmas time.”

  The spreading grin on his face seemed to rise in concert with her ears, “Christmas? The Ashenvale has a Christmas?”

  “The celebration of Galdor and his victory of light and order over the dark. There’s only one thing you need to understand. Lots. Of. Food,” His smile only broadened as he emphasized each word.

  “What are you waiting for? It’s meditating time!” Riley bounced excitedly on her chair.

  This was a new bit of flotsam tossed into the water of their stormy sea. Each day since returning from Vensomioor, they practiced together, pulling at the ether. It was something to do while waiting for the summons that, so far, hadn’t come.

  “Ok, I’ll pull, you push,” Riley began, tugging at threads she had already been familiarizing herself with all morning.

  “Push,” Tobias echoed, gripping the thread of ether that Riley, herself, was pulling.

  Their breathing synchronized as an hour melted by while they conducted the ether together. Back and forth, weaving strands, consolidating, casting circles only to dispel them, tracing out the intricacies of mana.

  Tobias’ mind danced in fascination and utter rapture as he touched the threads of magic itself before turning inward.

  There was no pain now as he pulled from within, a small flame forming on his upraised index finger.

  Riley’s eyes fluttered open, “It feels good to be back to our version of normal.”

  “Better than normal, with ether sight, I can see it now, see the mana that exists inside me; I can see how it flows,” he sighed, dispelling the flame, leaning back in his chair, wistful and happy.

  “I’m looking forward to getting back to Astor Hall, to setting up, and really finding a rhythm, digging into study,” he continued.

  “You mean actually building a life? What would that be like? It sounds terrifying,” Riley snarked.

  Tobias nodded, “I dunno, but I think it would be fun to find out. These last few days have been nice.”

  “They’ve been quiet and speaking of quiet. Hey Sparky, anything we need to know?” Riley asked, expecting a chaotic bomb to now drop on the morning.

  “I’m not that bad!” The Wisp flared to life in their shared vision, “And good job taking it easy for a change. Your souls have fully healed from the soul burn, and what’s more…”

  In a similar flash, she vanished as quickly as she came while prompt windows flared to life.

  You have fully recovered from soul burn. Congratulations!

  Having had full time to heal and recover from deep spiritual trauma, it has not left you unmarked, nor have your recent trials failed to bear fruit.

  You have reached Level 1-4, Congratulations!

  Your ability to channel ether has increased due to the nature and totality of the spirit trauma you have undergone. Upon recovery, it has toughened you. Be warned, like a callous shields you, it can also blunt your perception of pain, allowing for more serious injury. Your ability to withstand spiritual attacks, or ether burn, has increased; however, it will also be harder from this point forward to tell if you are doing serious damage to the foundations of your being.

  So, congratulations… I guess? You’ve gone and toughened your souls…

  A distant trumpeting fanfare sounded as the prompt window fell silent.

  “Wait, that’s it?” Riley felt cheated.

  Another prompt window flared to life.

  You have successfully incorporated a remnant of a dead God and got all kinds of cool new powers. Maybe read some of those books Ecbert left behind or absorb a crystal something. You could also go gank more monsters. Don’t get greedy or lazy on me now! Geeze, the nerve of some people….

  Tobias laughed. “That’s a fair point.”

  Pulling from their inventory, two spears of Tenganut appeared in his hand; as he chewed, he offered one to Riley.

  “She’s definitely got my sass,” the hare glowered, taking the offered fruit between her front paws.

  “But we’ve still an hour or so before Humbert arrives with breakfast. Shall we practice some more?” Tobias grinned.

  Second Tier Sorcery