wigworms at the trinity

"But if you don't stay behind, who will protect the shrine? Or feed Stella?"

"But I wanna go too! Can't Auggie stay behind!?"

Rav looks at me with a big smile. "No, Auggie has training to do with the great Sage Rav. So do you, Deek! I'll tell you what. If this place is clean and proper when we get back, I'll make you a level two Sage-in-Training. Deal?"

"Level TWO!? No way!" Decoy is fully exhilarated. It looks like she's just been promised godhood. Rav 100% just made that up.

"Wait, how many levels are there again, Mr. Rav?"

Rav chuckles. "Now, now, Deek. Don't you worry about all that. Just focus on your training."

"You got it, chief!" She salutes Rav as he steps away from her, over toward Kieran and I. 

"You boys ready to head out?"

Kieran and I are fully packed and ready to go. He's got his Arcanics, I've got Sola perched on my shoulder. Couldn't be more prepped than we are now - I even have Exoran Holla, my corestone, in my shirt pocket. Can never be too cautious.

"We're ready."

It takes the better part of the day to travel to the Ferin Village, and so that's where we're going to stop on our first night. From there, we could pass through Asteria, taking the same path Adma and I did when I first came to the planet. Rav tells us of another place to cross the Divide, further north. It'll chop a few hours off our travel time, as it's a more direct route to where we're headed. By his account, we'll be there in three days, arriving early on the third day at the gate.

As we traipse down the mountain, Kieran and Rav are engaging in friendly banter. Something about 'catching wigworms at the Trinity'. I recognize the name as a club of sorts in the Ferin Village - a place where people go to dance. No idea what wigworms are.

I don't get to go to the Ferin Village very often. I try to limit my trips there, as I never know if a stray Encephalim will come around, attracted to me. Though I will say, it's been a while since I've seen an Encephalim. According to Rav, they don't like the mountain we call home. He says no matter how tantalizing my mana is to them, his mana keeps them at bay.

I let them chat it up - for all the time the three of us spend together, the two of them hardly get to bond. Kieran keeps up most of the chores around the summit, and spends most of his time training alone. Bree's given Kieran some great advice about improving his capacity as my Vessel, and for building stamina. But, at least for training's sake, I get Rav's full attention. After all, Rav doesn't know how to help a Vessel. His specialty is magic.

I look at them, both walking a few strides ahead. Rav is walking backward, pantomiming something and making faces at Kieran. Kieran seems to find it hysterical. 

By the time I look back over to them, Rav is onto something completely different. He's walking side by side with Kieran, showing him some new cards he has. I recognize them. It's for a game Rav likes to play called "Summation". It's a competitive deck-building game with cards, each marked with an element and a number. Based on how they are played together, they have different effects. Whoever wins a match gets to 'steal' a card from the other player. When he showed it to me, he said his favorite strategy is to build Ice to seven, which makes his opponent have to discard the card of Rav's choice. He says it's his secret path to victory.

I'm not much into card games - though Rav and Kieran play sometimes, Kieran with Rav's 'extra' deck. When we still lived on the moon, there was a game I loved to play - a strategy game called 'Planet Patrol'. It's all about taking over different planets, growing armies, and screwing whoever you're playing with out of getting bonuses. I'd play every Sunday with Rosaria and Rylin - they both loved it. Sometimes Kieran would join, too - but he always got angry when I attacked his base.

I look over to them again. Rav is onto another conversation, and he's lighting up some of his Calico Herb. I guess walking down a mountain is too stressful for him, and he needs something to take the edge off.

Before I know it, the Ferin Village is in view. As we come up to the outskirts of the village, Kieran hangs back and bumps me on the shoulder.

"You okay, Augs? You were quiet the whole way down."

I smile at my friend. "Just thinking."

Rav is swaying and barely lucid as we walk into the village, but that doesn't stop him one beat. He jumps onto a nearby food vendor's stall and raises his arms to the sky. 

"Attention, fellow Ferin! It is I, Rav! Great Sage of the Clouds! Legendary hero of the people!"

The reaction is immediate. The stall is swarmed with passerby, each one holding their hands out to Rav and offering him their blessings. Rav hams it up, beckoning the crowd closer with his hands. "Please! You may shower me with praise! And if you have any donations, my two Nephilim disciples shall be happy to receive them!"

After twenty of the most awkward minutes of my life, I have received seventeen silver coins from the joyous Ferin people. Kieran received thirty-nine - what the heck? Why'd he get so many?

Rav jumps down off the stall after the commotion dies down, counting the coins in our hands. "Not a bad haul, that'll pay for rooms and dinner for the night. Maybe even a little extra?" He winks. 

"This isn't...how you make money...is it?" I stumble trying to find the correct words. 

"I'm a legendary hero, Augs! I don't even have to pay for things." 

We make arrangements at the inn, first. Rav is surprisingly cheap on the rooms, opting for a discount room with three beds on the first floor. 'Easy to remember where it is', he notes. With his 'Legendary Hero' discount (this is printed and posted on the wall, for the record) we only pay 10 silver for the night.

Then Rav takes us to a bar. We get dinner there, but Kieran and I aren't too hungry so we just have something small. Rav eats a whole feast and gets, according to the locals, 'wasted'. 

After the bar, we go to a 'Calico Bar'. It's a basement 'restaurant' filled with Cat Ferin and smoke. Rav does some ungodly things with his cloud magic and forty minutes later he stumbles out of the establishment.

Then we go to another bar. Rav eats and drinks some more, and Kieran and I quip about the interior design. 

"You kidz gotta learna live-a little," Rav slurs. "We'rez goin' to a dangerous place. All snowy and hazardous with the hazards. And a famine so the food's gotta suck. It's not overindulgence if you underindulge for the next week! Heh, heh."

"You know, you're right!" Kieran says, slamming his hand on the table. "I'll take a drink. On you, of course!"

I get lost in the moment, watching Kieran and Rav let loose together. It's nice to see Kieran like this. All the stress that accompanies being my Vessel...it has a grip on him. I know it does. He's happy to let his guard down around me and Deek, but in a public venue like this? Unheard of.

I watch as Kieran has his first-ever drink, struggling through the frothy mug. I'd had my first-ever drink the night before. Rav's really on a corrupting spree.

A couple more drinks and we're off. Kieran and Rav spill onto the busy road, and I follow behind, their responsible chaperone. I casually note the time as displayed on an overhead clock in the alley.

"Almost nine-thirty," I say. "We should get some rest, soon."

"Whaat? The night is young!"

"We can stay a little longer, up." Kieran's forgetting how to talk, great.

Rav cracks his fan and does a dramatic pose in the middle of the street. "I am the great Sage of Clouds! And I think we should go dancing at the Trinity! They love me there! I'm a celebrity!"

 "Absolutely not." I grimace at him. 

"Sure."

My eyes dart over to Kieran. "What do you mean, 'sure'?" I snap. I look at Rav with disdain. He's far from a responsible party right now. We should hunker down at the inn. There's no telling if any dangerous characters are around.

Kieran frowns at me. "I'm going to go dance with Rav. That sounds fun! Don't worry. I'll meet you back at the inn, and I won't stay up too late."

And then they skitter off excitedly down one of the busiest streets in the village, leaving me alone. 

Have I ever even wandered around this place alone, before? I come so infrequently, and always with either Kieran or Rav with me...

I look up in the sea of Ferin walking through the streets. Feels more like a 'Ferin City' than a village, sometimes, - Ferin tend to have big families. Deek herself has four older brothers.

Everyone here is a stranger to me, and I, a stranger to them. Even me, a non-Ferin, is invisible in a place like this. Or at least, that's how it feels. Streets that felt somewhat familiar now look completely foreign to me. I blink several times and have a moment of slight panic, wondering if I can even remember where the inn was from here. 

I steady myself. I can do this. It's on the northeast side of town, just a few minutes from here. A quieter neighborhood. Less distractions around, so I'll find familiar landmarks quickly. Alright.

I take a step in the direction of the inn and look back toward the direction Kieran and Rav went in. Funny. When I woke up today, all I wanted was to be alone for a little while. And now, I am surrounded by people, and I feel alone. And I don't want to be.

I walk down a side street. It's a bit of a shortcut to the inn, and at this point, I just want to sleep. I cut through the next street. This part of town is dead at this time of night. A residential district in the far north part of town.

All I can hear is the sound of my boots clicking on the hard cobblestone road. The rustle of my swordsman's jacket. The noise and festivities of the night market are far away - I can't even hear them now. 

Sola flutters in front of my face and readies herself to say something, but I don't need to hear it. I can sense it. A chill as the wind grows silent and stale.

"Fancy seeing you here, August."

I turn my head, my glowing eyes meeting his. "Leoni Pursantte. I was wondering when you'd finally show up."

My sword whips out of my scabbard, glistening in the moonlight. "By the authority of the kingdom of Asteria, I sentence you to death."