Harper walked into the clearing with the bone statue of a peryton once again. As had been the case for a while now, Vayuhn was not here. His absence was starting to worry her. She had not seen him since their last hunt, when they had been rudely interrupted by a bear. They had gotten separated, and she had elected to return with the rangers. He hadn’t even shown up to claim his half from the core they acquired.

  The first fortnight had not worried her. She was busy, and rarely made time to meet with him. That she had not found him the times she had been here had been attributed to bad luck. It wasn’t the first time they hadn't met up for a week or two.

  By the third and fourth week, his lack had started to trouble her. She spent more of her time in-between courier runs at their meet-up spot. Yet, he had not appeared. Fortunately, he was no longer her only source for hunting.

  Gavin had invited her to a hunt on two separate occasions, explaining that it was better she be hunting with them than alone. She had, of course, accepted. Any source of income, even if needing to be split more ways, was necessary. She had rationalized that Vayuhn was occupied with his own workload. Perhaps his owner was in an especially bad mood and was keeping him busy. If that was the case, there was no harm in hunting with the rangers until he had time again.

  Harper supposed it was possible he had missed his quota, but she deemed it unlikely. She knew for a fact that he had already gotten that week’s hunt and still had a backup. She had gotten the impression that he hadn’t missed his quota for at least a year, and her assistance with more intimidating creatures ensured he had a larger buffer.

  No, what worried her more was the possibility of his demise. Hunting was dangerous, and Vayuhn was hunting constantly, more than most rangers. There was even the possibility he had been attacked after they had slain the bear. The surroundings should have been fairly safe; the area’s predator had been taken down, and Harper and the rangers went in the direction that was the most dangerous.

  More likely it would have been on a subsequent hunt. If he had gotten too bold, or he had been in the wrong place at the wrong time- Harper nixed that thought. She shook the possibility away. He’s the most skilled single-Domain hunter I know. The chances of him dying are slim to none.

  The courier had seen him escape some very perilous situations with ease. Even when he took the more dangerous position on their hunts, Harper ended up in more danger than he ever had. She was sometimes surprised at how readily he agreed to hunt with her. It seemed she only slowed him down.

  His instincts were impeccable; it had utterly confounded her how he knew of a danger before any warning sign presented itself. The slave was fast and graceful, easily able to outpace her in the forest environment despite their relatively equal fitness and size. She just could not imagine him perishing to some woodland creature. He was too careful, too clever, and too skilled for that.

  The only other possibility she could think of for his absence was his master, Wessen Lancor. Vayuhn never mentioned the man in a positive light, and though she had not seen the results, the punishment he claimed his master tolled was severe. Her own poor first impression of the man only solidified her opinion of him. Harper had no idea why the Governor allowed such a man to lead the rangers.

  The idea that Vayuhn had run afoul of his master unnerved her. He clearly resented Lancor, and the tasks that needed to be done for him. From what she had seen, Vayuhn never showed open defiance, rather favoring small acts of rebellion.

  If he hunted two creatures in a week, he always used the lesser one to fill his quota. Nor would he pay particular attention to the carcass, making efficient but wasteful cuts. He had never mentioned it directly, but he seemed to consider delivering an inferior quota a victory. It would only lose his master a small amount, but to him, it was worth it.

  Harper put this possibility out of her mind as well. While punishment or even execution at the hand of his master was conceivable, it was very unlikely. Vayuhn had been doing this for years, and knew just how far he could push it. A slave that brought in a core a week was far too valuable to injure or kill needlessly.

  Dismissing the grim matter and thoughts, Harper took off her bag. She let Briar out to roam as he wished. He took off into the forest; the young woman was past having to worry that he would get lost or wander away from her. He always came back, if not for her, then for the easy source of food she offered. To her joy, the more time she spent with him, the more she was sure it was the former. Mostly the former, anyways.

  Harper sat down and prepared. This time, instead of pondering the Domains or expanding her aetherspace as usual, she wanted to brew a basic draught. She had yet to do so outside of her teacher’s supervision. It had taken her months to reach the point of basic competence. The visits to the hermit had been somewhat discouraging.

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  The level he worked at and his wonderous products had hampered her motivation for the craft. Harper had known going in that it was not something she would dedicate herself to and become a master in, but some part of her still rankled at the fact that she’d never reach such heights. Why bother spending time on it when she wouldn't be the best?

  Only the time she had already put in kept her moving forward; she couldn’t let it all be a waste. Once she could reliably brew, the time and resources spent would be well worth it. Harper just needed to reach that point.

  No longer would she have to so carefully watch small wounds to ensure they would not grow infected. A salve would kill any burgeoning infection before it became an issue. A perfume that was cheap and easy to make could be used to mask her scent from lesser Domain creatures in the wilderness. Basic wakefulness draughts would keep her awake and alert for longer and with less downsides than drinking coffee could offer.

  The young woman pulled out her cauldron and readied the ingredients. She had already prepared everything, either finding and refining the ingredients herself, or purchasing the harder to find reagents. The price was still cheap, significantly more so than buying a draught outright.

  Harper filled the cauldron up with the first set of items, including pouring in some lightly infused water, and stuck the cauldron back in her aetherspace. More skilled practitioners were capable of doing most steps within their aetherspace, but she was still far from that.

  She focused on the parts of her aetherspace that had made it into an aethercauldron. Having the expertise was not enough for most aethercrafts, one needed to alter their aetherspace to work with a certain medium. Those with the Solar Domain could form an aetherforge. Practitioners of the Domain of Nature could turn their aetherspace into an aethertannery or an aethergarden. The Magnetic Domain let one make an aether-refinery.

  Not every Domain had an associated aethercraft, but the Aquatic did. The versatile and transformative power of water roiled in her aetherspace, ready to be used for her purposes. Focusing on the aethercauldron within, Harper willed the disparate materials to blend into the water. Her will was blunt and unwieldy, but for this basic brew, it should be enough.

  After the designated amount of time, Harper took the cauldron back out, repeating the process. She did this three times. Finally, she took the cauldron out and inspected the liquid within. For some brews, it was impossible to know whether you had succeeded until you tried the concoction. Some of the more experienced alchemists were said to be able to tell with just a look, able to deduce success and potency based off minor characteristics.

  She had not selected such an ambiguous brew. The once she had decided on had a very clear result. If it was brown, it meant failure. If green, it was a success. Disappointingly, her first brew was definitely brown. Dumping the useless liquid on the ground, Harper tried again. She had brought enough ingredients for two more attempts.

  It took the rest of the day, but both ended up being a success, taking on a bright green hue. She stored both in a bottle prepared for the purpose. It was the wakefulness draught. Harper did not plan on losing sleep anytime soon, but neither had she the last several times. If another situation that kept her up happened, or she took a courier run that necessitated riding through the night, she was prepared.

  Looking around and stretching, Harper considered what to do the next day. She idly scratched Briar, the lizard having returned at some point and resting against her leg, while going over her options. Normally, a hunt with Vayuhn would be the obvious choice, but that was moot with him absent.

  She supposed she could seek Gavin out, rather than wait for him to invite her on another hunt. They were on better terms now, and though she still found him irritating and untrustworthy, building beneficial relations would not be a bad thing.

  Eventually, she decided against it. They were not nearly as profitable as more independent hunts, and she didn’t want to grow too reliant on the rangers. Besides, she didn’t want to let Gavin know how much she valued the extra hunting opportunities. With the proper leverage, he could make it harder to achieve her goals if she didn’t cooperate with his agenda.

  I suppose I could just... stay home? That was an odd thought. She couldn’t remember the last time she had relaxed for an entire day. Harper had spent every day since arriving on Vanax trying to progress her goals. Whether that was acquiring money or finding ways to earn even more money or furthering her personal power.

  She supposed the closest she had come to that had been after the disastrous delegation to the Uweyvi tribe. Harper had been bed bound for the better part of the month. She had tried to spend most of it meditating but had ended up sleeping significant portions of it. Most of it was spent in pain, and she was itching to be back out near the end. Not something that she really considered ‘relaxing.’

  Harper thought about such days back home. Occasionally, there would be no training, political maneuvering, or duties of any sort. She was able to spend the day reading and walking in the garden. Perhaps playing a game with her brother.

  Thinking of her brother brought her back into the present. No, if I’m to keep up with him I cannot afford days lounging about doing nothing. If I stop, I may stagnate. Rejecting the idea of an easy day, Harper stared off into the forest. She had spent many hours hunting at this point. She had learned from fellow couriers, Vayuhn, and even a bit from the rangers. She was far from the fool who thought she could find and kill prey in an area she knew nothing about.

  Tomorrow, she would go hunting on her own. The forests to the south were still disturbed by the roaming wolves, even she should be able to find suitable prey there. Harper was tired of being dependent on others; this was a chance to prove to herself that she was just as capable as Vayuhn, Gavin, or even Diving Salamander. She could do this.