The young woman left the post office, having just brought her second letter of the day. Today was her last day in Arboren before she was back on her route. There were only a few things she had to take care of; she was looking forward to one in particular.

  She had waited months at this point for Declan to be adequately prepared. He had never taken on a project such as the one she had suggested, but he was confident in their success. He had consulted others with experience in crafting aetherjewlery to ensure he made as few mistakes as possible.

  She was very fortunate that she was able to attain his services. Those with more experience were rare, and far out of her price range. She suspected that the Governor would not have offered her Declan’s time had he known that she would request something so time-consuming and expensive.

  Then again, maybe not. Training someone in the art of aetherjewling was an expensive investment, and not usually profitable for quite a while. The failure rate was high, and the most valuable components were lost. Even with his innate talent, the Governor’s contract with Declan was likely made with the long-term benefits in mind. This way, the Governor would be returning Harper’s promised favor from winning the duel and giving Declan experience in a more advanced craft.

  Harper entered the crafting guild’s building, nodding at the receptionist and heading to Declan’s workshop. She had been here several times over the last couple of months, ensuring all was proceeding smoothly and getting updates on his progress.

  Knocking on his door, she only had to wait a few seconds for him to let her in. He immediately started speaking and gathering things. “Good, you’re here. We can finally get started.”

  He was moving with an almost frantic energy, clearly excited to finish the ring. She had seen some of this enthusiasm in their previous interactions, but not to such a degree. It was infectious; she found herself antsy to get started as well.

  He sat down at one of his workbenches, gesturing her over. She acquiesced and came over to inspect the nearly finished ring. The ring was not a smooth band of metal, but instead one with protrusions for various purposes.

  The most immediately noticeable of these was an empty notch for the gem. The second was a lip forming a circle on the other side of the ring. It would serve as the ‘nozzle’ she knew.

  The next thing she noticed was a small arch forming another small ring on its surface. This would be used for connecting this ring to others to form a gemglove in the future.

  The last was less practical, and more for aesthetic purposes. Declan had engraved a pattern into the metal of the ring that looked not unlike flowing water. It was thematically appropriate, if slightly uncomfortable for Harper. She had not had the greatest experience with water lately.

  The metal itself was a greenish-silver color. Harper didn’t know exactly how it was alloyed and the scale of the tyragator was included, nor if it was particularly durable, but she trusted the crafter’s judgment. She wasn’t planning on using the ring as a blunt instrument anyways.

  The gem they had picked out sat on the side. No preparation had been done on it, most of the enchantment was built into the ring itself with the gem in mind. Declan took the gem and set it into the ring, using a specialized tool to clinch it in tightly, before handing it to her.

  Harper picked up the ring, looking to Declan for his readiness. At his nod, she opened her aetherspace, ignoring the pain, and began infusing the gem with the Aquatic Domain.

  The gem glowed a dark, frigid blue. She raised her eyebrow in mild surprise. Most people’s Domain had a color that tended to be in a certain range. The Solar Domain for instance was usually represented in orange and red colors. The Domain of Sea’s colors were blue and green.

  Her mother had a gemstaff with an infused sapphire that glowed with a teal light; she had expected hers to be the same. Brushing off the unimportant detail, she began the bonding process.

  She stuck the ring into her aetherspace’s opening. She felt a ‘tug’ from the ring; the enchantment activating. It felt as if her aetherspace was being tugged on. Despite the unnatural feeling it gave her, she relinquished control, allowing the gem to take whatever made up the aetherspace.

  This was the most dangerous part. If the she lost concentration, or the enchantment on the ring was unsuitable for the gem, the gem would shatter. Her chance at a new enchanted item, and one as powerful as a piece of aetherjewlery would be gone.

  As the minutes passed her connection with her aetherspace began to become increasingly painful. She did her best to ignore it, worried about losing her concentration. It may not have been the wisest idea to do this until she was fully healed from her ordeal, but it was too late to turn back now.

  Declan watched with anticipation. His fingers twitched, itching to do something, but his job was over. However well he crafted before, it was out of his hands now. While not unheard of, successfully making a specialized piece if aetherjewley on one’s first try was rarely done.

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  He could have started on a lesser gem, something that would have not been as big a loss if it failed, but that would be many hours wasted on a lesser piece, something that was too general and weak to be worth much to anyone, had he succeeded. Aetherjewlery was almost always made with a specific person and need in mind.

  When it almost become too much to bear, Harper felt the end in sight; her relief lasted only moments, until she felt something slip. She wasn’t sure whether it was a weakness in the ring or herself, but the connection wavered.

  Crack! A loud noise came from the gem, and Harper looked at in panic, seeing a crack widening on its surface. She took control of herself, shoving her aetherspace at the ring and trying to salvage the failing project.

  The cracking continued for a few seconds, before stopping in its track. Only seconds later, it was complete. She jerked the ring out of her aetherspace and slumped into a nearby chair, exhausted. Her aetherspace was sore again. She wouldn’t be surprised if doing this had added several days to her healing time.

  After collecting herself, Harper lifted the ring for inspection. Both Declan and herself stared at it. Neither looked very impressed, it appeared the same as it had before, other than a new crack marring its surface, of course. “Did it work?” he questioned, confused.

  She nodded. “I think so.” Ignoring the pain, she infused Sea into. It glowed like it did before.

  “Ah,” Declan intoned in understanding. “Just a minute.” He left the room. Harper took the opportunity to close her eyes and recover. She had other things that needed to be done today, but she felt the deep desire for a nap.

  Declan came back shortly after. The sound of the door opening was enough to snap her out of her reprieve. She had nearly fell asleep right there. I’ll head back to my room, after this, she decided. Her other errands could wait an hour or two.

  Declan had a pitcher of water in his hand. “Here, try filling it with this.” Harper slipped the ring on her finger. As expected, it was a perfect fit. She grabbed the pitcher from Declan’s hand, and feeling somewhat silly, stuck her hand in.

  “So how am I supposed to do this?” she questioned after a few seconds of nothing happening.

  “Open your aetherspace like you always do, except do it through the ring. An opening should appear and begin sucking in all the water.” Harper did as he instructed, taking a few minutes to succeed. They watched with interest as the water lowered to just below the level of the ring.

  She took her hand out and shook off the excess water. Flexing her hand, she once again inspected the ring. A miniature whirlpool looked to be flowing within, dragging everything on the surface down, to be held in its watery grasp. Harper shuddered and looked away.

  Declan stared at it victoriously, the smile on his face being the widest she had ever seen it. “Well, what are you waiting for?!” he exclaimed excitedly. The crafter gestured at a nearby wall. “Test it out.” At seeing her look, he made a waving motion. “Don’t worry about it; it’s just a bit of water.”

  Harper sighed but nodded. She held her hand out, palm forward. The ring’s nozzle was facing in that direction. Finding the control, she experimented with it. They had opted for a simple, but flexible effect. Harper could eject water out of the ring.

  Unlike most enchantments, the controls were less like a button and more like a lever. Harper could choose to shoot the water in a straight line, or as a wide blast. She also had control of the power it came out at, and would gain more as time went on and she increased the space inside.

  Right now, she had only a little more space than a canteen. This type of enchantment was called a Domain reservoir. By sacrificing some of one’s own aetherspace, or rather repurposing it, someone could store a material related to that Domain in a gem. Gems worked because they could serve as a bridge between the aether and the material in a way few other things did. It enabled her to store mundane water in a separate space.

  Some likened it to having a spatial pocket, but that was not quite the case. Folding and manipulating space was still incredibly far off from what anyone had managed. Aetherspaces and aether reservoirs worked on a conceptual level, not on a physical one.

  When she stored a Domain creature’s hide in her aetherspace, she wasn’t sending it elsewhere, more like dematerializing it down to a concept and storing that. It didn’t work with mundane items and material because without being aether-imbued, they could not be broken down to a conceptual level.

  Aether reservoirs got around that limitation by relying on a materials connection to a Domain to have the necessary conceptual ‘weight’ to dematerialize it. Many Domains did not have a storable material that would work, such as the Umbral Domain. You could not store darkness, conceptually or not.

  Harper experimented with the enchantment, intending on shooting a jet of water at the wall. Instead, all that came out was a stream falling to the ground. Harper tried to stop the flow, but failed. After a few seconds, the former contents of the pitcher formed a puddle on the ground. She grimaced.

  Far from being disappointed, Declan laughed joyously. “It worked!” He looked between her and the floor animatedly. “I have got to make myself one of these.”

  He continued excitedly, looking around his workshop as if for his next project. “Imagine how useful this would be for day-to-day work. If I could make an Earth Domain reservoir that can carry metals, I’ll be able to easily move large amounts of materials. If I could make my mother one that does the same thing, she could store coins in it.”

  Declan was almost rambling to himself, clearly lost in his own thought and speaking more out of excitement than anything else. “She wouldn’t need to be as secure when carrying around coin, and could deliver all of it herself. She’s a tax collector you see, not very popular among the people. It would be great if this could help her.”

  Harper smiled at his enthusiastic rambling, overall happy with her acquisition. “Thank you for your help with this Declan.” He stopped for a moment and turned towards her. “I’m glad to have helped. I didn't expect to be making things like this for a few years. Come back sometime and tell me how that does when you have time to test it,” he said, jerking his head towards the ring.

  Harper readily agreed and began her walk home. She was excited to do exactly as he said, test her new device. There were things she needed to do first, though. Mainly, have a nap.