Ember had phings out already with the precision Fern was starting to expect from her; the bodyguard she'd mentioned earlier would carry her pack, making sure she didn't overstress her still-healing body, and Ember would carry Ravenna's pabsp; "As training," she'd said by way of expnation when she slipped it over her coat, though why or for what, she didn't eborate.

  The bodyguard himself was something of a surprise - to Ravenna as well, judging by the look she shot at Ember upon catg sight of him. The dark brown X-shaped scar on his left cheek stood out rather strikingly, but apart from that he looked to be entirely unmarked; simply a fairly attractive young man with long and flowing blond hair, his sun-tanned skin practically glowing with vitality and his eyes hidden behind a pair of odd-looking dark spectacles. Hardly the sort of grizzled beef sb she was expeg, but she wasn't oo question the healer's judgment, at least nht now.

  "o meet you, Miz Skysh," he offered to Fern. "If you find yourself in need of anything from your pack, just let me know and I'll put it down for you. The good doctor tells me you should avoid lifting too much."

  "That's very kind of you, Mister...?"

  "Oh, just Bernie is fihe young maurned with a quiet ugh that - judging by the ck of wrinkle - didn't quite touch the eyes behind his shades. "Unless you're in trouble, then call me by my business name. Bloodhound."

  She blinked. "I... see."

  Behind her, Ravenna shot Ember another look. Ember simply smiled, uurbed.

  With the introdus all sorted, the party of four made their way dowairs of the inn and outside, Ravenna taking a moment to settle ats with the barkeep before joining them. The te m still held a little chill in the air, but nothing too cold; and the sight of the clear blue sky overhead lifted Fern's spirits markedly, after being cooped up indoors for so long. She took a nice deep breath, taking in the various smells of food and humanity - for better or for worse - a out. Eyes wide, a smile on her lips, she looked over at her partner.

  "So, where to?"

  The dark mage began walking, and everyone else followed. "There's a on the west side of town that will get us to the marine library," she answered, with a gesture toward where the buildings started to thin out. After a moment, she looked back over her shoulder. "If you start having trouble today, Fern, please say something as soon as you don't feel right. I don't want you pushing yourself to your limits while your body's still trying to heal."

  "I will," she promised. "But right now, I feel pretty good - great, even!"

  Ember smiled faintly. "I think you'll be fine." As they passed through the streets and finally made it to the edge of town with its sole guard tower, she calmly looked over at Ravenna with half-lidded eyes. "If you're still worried about it, why don't you have her take the lead so she set the pace for us? It's a nice day and she won't get out of yht that way."

  "... I suppose you have a point," the dark mage admitted after just a moment, turning to Fern. "Just follow the road, darling; there's only one, after all."

  The fallen hero nodded and walked a little faster in response for a bit, getting out in front of the other three some distanbsp; The sery wasn't quite as breathtaking as the vieroag the port had been, but looking out onto the sparkling o was a new experience for her. She drank it all in as the road slowly wound up the gentle ine, the grass gradually giving way to rock as she asded.

  "So... 'Bernie,' is it, now?" Ravenna murmured, once Fern was reasonably out of earshot and distracted. "You look rather different than I remember you."

  "Ah, well, Miz Grace offered to give me a disguise of sorts, ma'am," he returned. "No magic, so it 't be detected or dispelled. It's just how I am now."

  "Fasating."

  "Yes ma'am, I thought so too. All that 'n I feel better than I have in years," Bernie added with a little flex, showing the powerful muscles lurkih his pretty exterior.

  Ember just smirked at the resulting look on Ravenna's fabsp; "Is it really that much of a surprise to you? Or are your healers limited in what they're allowed to do, like the lised fleshcrafters are?"

  "I suppose in theory this sort of thing is possible," the dark mage murmured, "but I'm not a healer myself, so I couldn't speak to the difficulty. But to see it in the flesh, this close... is there any limit to your craft?"

  Her smirk faded somewhat. "I do bodywork, but I 't restore a mind - not the memories nor the gray stuff. That sort of thing is way outta scope for me, and for most fleshcraft. Maybe some genius doc out there ha, but I'm no genius." She paused for a moment, the out a quiet breath. "Other than that, I do most things, just... not the eyes. ans are fine, but I've never been able to get the hang of those. No brain, no eyes."

  "Still... that's impressive work, and no mistake. If not for the name and the circumstances, I could've easily mistaken him for someone pletely different," she admitted.

  "Yeah, that was the idea. Don't need his old pals getting any ideas."

  Ravenna pondered for a moment, her eyes rarely leaving Fern's baore than a moment or two as they tinued walking some distance behind her. "So, are you going to tell me what else you ged, dear? Or must I do the digging myself?"

  Ember grinned a little crookedly. "You're a sharp dy, I'll give you that. Bloodhound, tell the dy your mission."

  Bernie's demeanor shifted instantly at the name, from casual and jocur to a razor-sharp focus. "Yes ma'am. Presently on escort duty. Priority one, guard Fern Skysh. Priority two, guard Ravenna Direfrost. Priority three, ensure my own personal safety. As beyond that are left to my discretion unless ordered otherwise."

  The dark mage blinked. "Huh. And whehat end?"

  "Current mission has no expiration and will tiil new directives are issued."

  "Does that satisfy your curiosity, Ms. Direfrost?" Ember purred, then dropped the smugness from her voice when she saw the dark expression on Ravenna's fabsp; "Or - does he need some adjustment? That's easily done."

  "No, no, it's fine, just..." She sighed. "I old you my... st name, and I don't particurly enjoy the implications of him already knowing it. But none of that is your fault, so never you mind, dear."

  "Mm. If it bothers you then I won't mention it again, no problem there." She looked over. "Settle down, Bernie, you're fine for now."

  "Aye-o," came the flippant reply, the shift iher dire just as instantaneous as the first.

  As the sea breeze rolled ihe low cliffs, carrying the not unpleasant tang of salt, Raven her eyes on Fern and pondered all that had happened - and all that remaio be done. The dey iravel pns wasn't the problem, but rather the revetion that the Bckgss guild was behind this whole affair. Of course they would be the ones, she thought with a grimabsp; It wasn't as if the eastern nobles would bother with anything past the mountains, even if they did hate her; she simply didn't have anything they wanted.

  But Bckgss Bastion... gods, what a miserable pbsp; She'd have to slip through Pinsgate, end to end, and cross over the Red ns, and trek through part of the desert just to get there; and even if she did, what then? The Lightsiders were so much more prevalent, so much more fanatical there, she'd be lucky to have even a moment to herself while hunting down those responsible. No, she'd have to figure out another way.

  The guild kept trying to draw her from the tower, didn't they? That's what Fern's inal visitation had been about; they wanted her to e at them - to be somewhere vulnerable, somewhere they would hold the advantage. The tower was too well-guarded by both magid nature for them to sider attag her, and she k. So perhaps she should just wait there, and resider her options.

  "Fern!" Ember called, shaking the dark mage from her thoughts. "e back this way for a moment please."

  "What's going on?" Ravenna inquired, looking over to see a slight tension in the healer's face that hadn't been there earlier. It was mostly hidden, but too many years of noble politig had taught her to be extremely sensitive to the smallest tells.

  Fern trotted over, seemingly he worse for wear. "Is something wrong?" she asked, with a little tilt of her head. "I've beeending my senses every now and then, just to keep up practig, and haven't discovered anything particurly worrisome."

  If anything, the tension in Ember's face got even more strained. "Very possibly. Like - my kind ." She tapped her nose, meaningfully, then looked up ahead where the top of the marine library could be seen - some stru of stone colored in blues and greens. "Real faint, but - smells like something from the west up there."

  The entire group stopped for a moment. Suddenly the day didn't seem sht and pleasant, the sea breeze not so enting as it was moments ago. The mere possibility of western problems had soured it all in an instant.

  "Anything you wanna tell me about this library or who runs it before we get into a mess?"

  Ravenna shook her head in respoo Ember's question. "Geoffrey has always been a ral party who keeps to his books. That much has been true ever since I met him; I 't imagihat he'd allow the guild to make problems within his... personal territory."

  "You did say it had been a few years though since you saw him st, right?" Fern nudged. "Are you sure he still... er, lives, works, or whatever, here?"

  It's true that I've been all cooped up iower for quite a while. If so much has passed me by ierim that he's not eveo greet us, after I got Fern's hopes up, I'm going to e out of this in a very pht, she thought, wing internally. "I... 't say for certain," the dark mage admitted after a moment. "I doubt he would just leave, at least, but I suppose there's no way to know for sure without going and having a look for ourselves."

  Ember nodded, eyes narrowed. "Well, no sense in doing it incautiously, at least. Bloodhound, take point. Priority list still applies."

  "Yes ma'am." Berepped forward without a moment of hesitation, a noticeably different rhythm to his steps than in his casual walk. The rest of them followed after a moment, Ember leading them just slightly. The casual talk from before was gone, repced with a thick silence.

  Fern particurly hated the tension, knowing she would be expected to keep out of whatever happehat even after all the training she'd doh Crimson (and a little with Sapphire), she was well out of her league among the rest of the group. paring herself to Ravenna was utterly embarrassing. Bernie doubtless had skills of his own as a bodyguard hire. Ember... was something of a mystery, e to think of it.

  She couldn't read the healer well at all; uhe circution in Ravenna, or the faint glow in Berhat mirrored what most other people possessed, there simply wasn't any sort of aether arouo sense. That in itself was odd enough, but she'd just sort of accepted that Ember was an oddity in some way. But there was something else about her, too; maybe that iy, that ahat had bubbled up earlier without warning. Whatever it was, it just made her nervous. She wouldn't want to cross the woman at any point, let alone in battle.

  They crested the hill after a little longer, Berill in front a short ways, and finally beheld the front of the library with its rge double doors covered in nautical designs. Upon the broad stoeps sat a rge, muscled woman with heavily scarred arms and long and u hair, dressed in loose dark green trousers, a sleeveless bck shirt, and bck boots with thid heavy tread.

  And Ember bristled at the sight of her - sly that Fer it in the air, on her skin, even without any hint of aether stirring. She shied away slightly, and tried to stay calm - but something was going to happen, and right now, it seemed like it would be pletely beyond her trol.