The rest of the night and the coming days pass without any fanfare, though we wind up getting delayed by a heavy snowfall by one day. When morning comes, the little shelter in the lee of some rocks we made is nearly snowed in. The sky's dumped close to six feet of snow last night, adding to the already existing knee-high snow. Which makes our next half-day of travel until we make it to the skyglide stop at the extreme edge of the Kharbon city limits taxing.

  With winter in full swing, Ignia isn't abundant anymore. Hydrus dominates the world for the season and since it's antithetical to Ignia, it leaves people like me fairly reduced in terms of essence availability. Nothing that will cripple me — I can always draw from within at greater cost — but it's not enough for me to draw it to myself to make use of to clear the road ahead of us. So, instead, I'm using Aero to push a sort of weak wedge of air ahead of us, and Serafina is using her own magic to bolster it. It's ultimately faster than just trudging through the snow or waiting for it to melt as the day carries on and the sun looms high, but it is exhausting.

  Eventually, though, we do make it to the skyglide stop and find a group of six Vigil knights sitting in the hutch waiting for the next ride into the city — trying to deal with this snow over such a large distance going into the city would be a nightmare. In time, the road crews will clear all the way out here, but that'll probably take days for snowfall this heavy — and that's assuming more doesn't fall in the meantime. Which it surely will. Eldara has harsh winters to match the harsh summers. It's a small price to pay for the rest of the year being beautiful.

  The knights spot us the same time we spot them — as soon as the cloudy plume of upthrown snow clears. And… I'm not thrilled. I know and recognize all of them — there's few people in the Vigil who don't know one another.

  May stands out first — her ruby, armored longcoat standing out among the group of black-armored knights. She looks between me and Serafina with a very guarded expression that sits at odds with what I'd normally expect from her, but maybe she's just in a bad mood. Sitting next to her, yammering away until we step into the building, is the recruit, Marcis, who looks up to me with a positively radiant smile beneath his straw-blonde hair. His armor looks like he fell out of a tree and hit every branch on the way down and he has some visible bruising that it seems like May had been treating until our arrival.

  Otherwise, there's Rae, a vulpin seer. They're equipped very similarly to Serafina overall, but with much heavier runic focusing enchantments and a wide-brimmed, equally runed, steepled hat that falls down to block their eyes that is pinned in place by openings for their tall, white, pointed ears to jut through to contrast their dark attire. They're leaning against a rear wall next to a pair of vending machines cradling their staff with their head back and eyes closed. Possibly sleeping. Probably sleeping. Rae is usually sleeping.

  Next, sitting on a bench, there's Wanwan, lightly armored and simply equipped with a longsword and barrier buckler, looking on with a warm smile and concerned eyes. Her rounded canid ears atop her head drooping a little in deference as she takes in Serafina.

  Beside her is her other half — Allora. A lupin warrior wearing the heaviest of Vigil mail with her similarly oversized flanged mace and slab tower shield leaning nearby. She had been in the middle of flexing and posing at Wanwan, apparently — something that is less impressive in Vigil plate, not that slows her in the slightest. She's gotten the title of "Wrecking Ball" in the Vigil for a reason.

  She hops to her feet and rushes over to me, immediately scooping me up off the ground into a spinning hug. She's over a foot shorter than me, but better built than most and wearing strength-enhancing armor, so she does it with ease.

  When I'm sat back down, the excitable wolf falls back a little sheepishly. "Ah, sorry, I was worried at what May said and got a little out of pocket there." She holds her hands together and half bows in apology. "I'm…uh…glad you're alright! Hi Dame Serafina!" Her momentary introspection ends as she greets Serafina with gusto.

  In response, Serafina gives her a calm, erudite smile — the sort of calmness that everyone expects of her. "Hi, Allora. It seems your armor is undented, I think this is a first."

  May chimes in, sounding cold. "That's because our recruit here dove in headfirst to fight some wargs without waiting for the rest of us to prepare." She's not tattling, but instead just making an effort to audibly criticize his decision. Only being wargs, even the most green recruit should be able to handle some, but it's behavior that increases risk and needs to be trained on. "Ally did the "thing" she does while the wargs were busy beating the drek out of Marcis here."

  Rae, still possibly asleep, mumbles an addition without raising their head, "Good learning experience. Den was younger than expected. Good place to do something stupid."

  Marcis stands up, indignantly defending himself, "Ally dared me ta' do it! She was makin' fun a' me so I tried ta' prove myself!"

  Serafina chooses the moment to chime in, as the group collectively start to fall over one another in good-natured blame games. Everyone made it back whole, so it's just ribbing. "Then, tell me, Marcis, what did you learn from this experience?" The group quiet immediately, all turning to look at the recruit.

  He hesitates for a while, clearing trying to gage how serious the question is, and decides to take a "risk". "That ta' armor Theron makes is second ta' none?"

  Serafina, in response, glares for a moment before sighing. "How any of the knights in the order survive past sixteen is beyond me. Someone must be taking good care of you folks." She nods at May's still very unamused face.

  She relaxes fractionally at the compliment, still periodically stealing glances at me. She's mad at me, then. Good to know. "I get plenty of practice. It's only natural I'd be good at my job."

  While everyone continues going back and forth over the events of the den-clearing expedition, I make my way to the rear of the building where the two vending machines sit — one for food, one for drink. My quiet walk is watched by May, who I try to avoid eye contact with until my back is to her and everyone else as the volume starts to build while Allora starts to recount the blow-by-blow of the fight in her typically animated fashion — using Wanwan as an unwilling demonstration dummy.

  The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

  I punch the sigils for a hot chocolate and a cheese pastry and wait for the synthesis to run its course while tapping my foot expectantly. "Glad you're alright, Nyss."

  The soft words almost don't register until I turn and see Rae peeking from beneath their hat at me with a sleepy expression. "Thanks, Rae. Things were touch and go for a little while." I offer a curt response. Rae and I have never quite gotten along since we were kids. Never antagonistic, but I always thought they were bitter that May wound up latching onto me as hard as she did back then. I…make an effort to be nicer than normal. It can't hurt, probably. "How…have you been?"

  Small talk is not my strong suit. It's never been my strong suit. and Rae chuckles at my awkward question. "Been worse. Been better. Planning a trip into Asu soon to see my family. Even got train tickets for it." They always speak in a clipped manner — like forming a sentence with two parts is just slightly too much effort. Commas simply aren't in their vocabulary.

  The reminder of family also needles me with where I've been mentally recently, and when the word is mention I feel my gaze drawn towards Serafina — purely in remembering our recent conversations. She smiles at me, which sees May turn back around at me to decidedly not smile at me.

  "I'd like to know how the train ride goes. I've been curious for a while." I offer.

  "I'll let you know when I'm back."

  The building makes a few chimes before a soft announcement plays.

  The awkward conversation comes to a close when both machines ding in sequence. I nod at Rae again, putting a ribbon on the discussion, and grab my drink and snack and walk towards the front door to wait on the platform. "I'm getting too hot in here, gonna wait outside."

  As the door closes behind me, I'm reminded that the outdoors is cold enough to sting my face as the wind whips at me. But in order to drink and eat, I suffer it. A warm drink will do more than my helmet will anyways, and I'm starving after all of the energy expenditure today to get here through all the snow.

  Far off in the distance I can see an oncoming blast of snow being thrown up by the approaching skyglide. It's moving at less than half their normal speed, having to stay so high in the air to go over the snow is surely affecting it in all kinds of ways. But such is life. It just means it'll be a longer ride. I plan to sleep anyways.

  The door behind me slides open and I grit my teeth without turning when one pair of boots steps out behind me.

  "You okay, Nyssa?" I loose a breath and when I hear Serafina's voice my growing tension starts to bleed off more or less instantly. Even through the cold, I catch a momentary whiff of the perfume she's been wearing and it makes me smile as I look back over my shoulder at her.

  "I'm just not feeling much like interacting with anyone right now. All of that spellcasting workout all morning has me feeling testy." I lie, blatantly, as the door finishes closing.

  "Mmm, that's reasonable. May I stand with you, then? I promise I won't intrude on your peace."

  I nod at her and she stands alongside me, just inside my field of vision while I look out over the snow-coated plains. There's a crisp silence here. Snow muting all of the sounds around, seeming to drink in every noise as soon as its made except for the omnipresent winds. I draw in a deep breath and hold it, feeling the sting in my lungs from the freezing air for a ten-second count before releasing it.

  I'm a bit surprised to feel a hand settle on my shoulder before giving a performative squeeze of my armor. I feel the passthrough sensation and move a half-step closer to Serafina without really thinking about it around the same time that the silence is destroyed by the huge jets of snow being thrown by the approaching skyglide like a little localized blizzard.

  A moment later, a cutting chime rings out, announcing the arrival of the foretold transport. It slows to a stop against the raised platform in the next couple minutes and begins regularly dinging as the doors slide open and a green-looking adventuring party of six teenagers — various beastkyn and a single elf — files out. They shoot all of us bright and cheery waves — seeming to focus almost entirely on Marcis as someone they know. Before long, though, they hop off the platform and strike off into the countryside, disappearing behind snow banks as we begin to board.

  "After you, Dame Serafina." Wanwan makes a sweeping gesture at the open door with steam wisping out of the hot interior and Serafina separates from me and steps into the waiting transport. May boards immediately after her, and I wait for everyone else to get on so I can sit down last — or stay standing if needs be.

  I step into the Skyglide and the doors immediately seal shut behind me as the central controls start to chime a warning that it's going to start moving in a few seconds. The four benches inside each sit two people comfortably. Ally and Wanwan are sitting next to one another with the wolf animatedly recounting a fight that the canid surely took part in to her. Rae is sitting with Marcis in the rearmost bench. Leaving May and Serafina both sitting alone in the forward two benches.

  Why is the world like this?

  May is pointedly looking at me out of the corner of her eyes, but not giving me any sort of yay or nay in her posture, meanwhile Serafina is sitting at the front, as befits her station, and not looking at me.

  Do I sit with May, who's clearly mad at me, and make the entire ride awkward? Or sit with Serafina and look overly familiar with her, risking making the entire ride awkward?

  I've been traveling with Serafina, and plan to sleep anyways, so—

  The skyglide tires of my delays and sets into motion. At the same time, Serafina turns around and gives me a bemused smile, gesturing behind her, "Why are you standing? Take a seat, Nyssa. I know you're exhausted. May, do you mind giving her a once-over? She got banged up on our way back and could use your skills.

  Taking the cue, I lower myself into the bench beside May with reticence, keeping my eyes low. "Of course, Dame Serafina. I wouldn't want to risk Nyssa getting hurt or anything for want of something I could have done." I taste the venom on the words and flinch when May puts a hand on me.

  Over the next five minutes, May forces her life essence into my body to get a clear picture of my general status and wellbeing. The taste of juniper, wintergreen, and counter-septics fill my mind and senses while some parts of my skin crawl around the wound on my leg as she starts to tend to the wounds there. It's a very familiar sensation and she makes it past my defenses with practiced ease, despite me not really making an effort to allow it. Some combination of familiarity with me and her general expertise.

  All the while, the tension in the air between us is palpable and neither of us really commit to actually looking at one another until I say something as she finishes. "Thanks, May." I feel the remnants of her Victus essence finding and scouring the last bits of remaining Venenum from my system and shudder as it finish its work and sends a chill up my spine.

  "Don't worry about it." She turns away and looks out the window, her tall, black-furred, ears drooping noticeably. I stare for a couple seconds trying to think of anything to say, but decide that my original plan of sleeping sounds a bit less torturous.

  Someone will wake me up when we get to the keep. I'll deal with…whatever this is then.