“I’m not goin’ in there,” Shela said firmly.

  Rayna would normally agree with the sentiment. The cave was pitch black. Even with her Night Vision skill, she couldn’t see more than a few feet past the entrance.

  But despite how creepy it was, Rayna couldn’t feel any monsters coming from inside. There was energy and a lot of it, but only the occasional spark of what might be a weak monster. Every time she tried to pinpoint how strong the monster was, it vanished.

  Her curiosity was getting stronger by the second.

  “What’s in there?” Rayna asked Salice.

  “Nothin’ good, that’s for sure,” Shela snapped.

  “I don’t know,” Salice admitted. “My roots can’t go through the rock. But ever since it showed up, my forest has been crawling with monsters.”

  Rayna conveyed the spirit’s words to Shela.

  “There’ve been monsters in the Aeteraut Forest since the cataclysm,” Shela said. “Whatever’s in this here cave, it had nothin’ to do with it.”

  Salice frowned at Shela. “This one isn’t very bright, is she? This thing appeared right before the cataclysm. I’m certain it’s related.”

  “You don’t have to be mean,” Rayna said. “Lack of information is not a lack of intelligence.”

  Shela narrowed her eyes. “What did she say?”

  “The thing in the cave is from before the cataclysm,” Rayna repeated. “And it isn’t a monster, by the way.”

  Salice looked exasperated. “I never said it was a monster. It’s a thing. There are a lot of things in my forest, but this is the biggest one.”

  Rayna pursed her lips. “I don’t suppose you could be more specific?”

  “Being specific is your thing, Sapling. Mine is taking care of my trees, and it’s hard to do with monsters running around.” Salice looked like she was on the verge of tears. “Small white monsters eat my plants, and the big cats scratch up the bark on my trees. The angry little red ones like to spit on players, driving everyone away, and don’t get me started on the spiders!”

  Rayna felt a pang of sympathy for the Forest Spirit. Garden pests were a pain in the ass, she couldn’t imagine dealing with monsters instead of caterpillars.

  “I’m going in,” Rayna said, switching out her satchel for her staff. She didn’t want to lose her scry glass like she lost her amulet.

  “Are you insane?!” Shela grabbed Rayna’s arm and pulled her back. “Whatever’s in there is way too much for us to handle.”

  “It’s not a monster,” Rayna said again. “I doubt a six thousand year old monster is just chilling in some random cave.”

  “A six thousand year old monster would most certainly be chillin’ in a random cave. That’s how Ember works. And the longer it has been chillin’ the hungrier it’ll be!”

  Rayna shook her head, searching for an explanation before she decided to just take a chance with the truth. “I’m a Lerian, remember? I have monster sense, or whatever you people call it, and that isn’t a monster.”

  A flash of monster sense made Rayna momentarily doubt if what she was saying really was the truth, but it disappeared a moment later.

  “I live with Lerians,” Shela said. “Monster sense isn’t a thing.”

  “It is too,” Rayna said. “There’s a pack of Pekas in a clearing over there and a Jaranin who’s been stalking us for half a mile.”

  Rayna was only guessing about what type of monster was following them. Pekas were easy enough to distinguish since there weren’t any Robis in the area, but there were any number of mid-sized monsters that could be following them right now.

  “You just made that up,” Shela accused.

  Salice crossed her arms. “Sapling doesn’t lie! I’ll show you!”

  Before Rayna could tell Salice not to, a yelp sounded from a nearby bush and a tree root appeared, showing a skewered Jaranin.

  “Should I bring over the white ones as well?”

  “No, Salice, that’s fine. Thank you,” Rayna said quickly.

  “You’re welcome, Sapling.”

  At first, Rayna thought the nickname was just a way of calling her a child, but the more Salice used it, the more specific it felt. She was too scared to ask Salice if she had done something to earn the name Sapling.

  Shela glared at the dead monster. “It doesn’t matter. I’m not sendin’ a child—” She paused. “—an Initial—” She shook her head. “I’m not lettin’ one of the Chosen go in there by herself. You don’t know a thing about Ember.”

  “I’m not helpless just because I’m one of the Chosen,” Rayna said. “And the fact that it took you three tries to come up with something that even applied to me just invalidates your argument. Your prejudice is showing. Now, I’m going into the cave and you’re welcome to come or you can stay out here with Salice. Either way is fine with me.”

  Salice made a few tree roots emerge from the ground, turning the last statement into a threat when Rayna really hadn’t meant it that way.

  Shela growled in frustration. “Are all humans suicidal?!”

  “Are all Emberians racist pricks?” Rayna shot back.

  Salice frowned. “Are the two of you going to stand around arguing all day?”

  “No, we’re not,” Rayna said. “Are you coming or not?”

  “Fine!” Shela drew her sword “Let’s get this over with. But Rayna, promise me you won’t do anythin’ reckless. If there’s a huge monster in there, we turn tail and run, all right?”

  “Deal,” Rayna said.

  It’s not like she was planning on just letting herself get eaten.

  She led the way into the cave, holding a fireball on her palm for visibility.

  Shela made her put it out. “Magic can be unstable if there’s too much Miasma in the air,” she explained, pulling out an oil lamp and lighting it. “Better to go with natural lightin’ when you’re explorin’ new places.”

  She handed the lamp to Rayna and lit another one for herself.

  They walked in silence for a while as Rayna figured out how to phrase her next question.

  “So… Lerians… Why are they in hiding?” she asked, failing to come up with anything more subtle than that.

  “What makes you think Lerians are hidin’?” Shela asked, sounding nonchalant, but Rayna could see the way the woman’s hand tightened on her lamp handle.

  The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

  “The wards on that village nearly blinded me on the way out,” Rayna commented. “Unless your village specifically is the one hiding out, but then it struck me as odd that no one knows what a Lerian is except for you.”

  Shela relented. “We’ve been hidin’ for a few millennia. Folks didn’t take too kindly to learnin’ that the ones who made the System—their descendants, anyway—were still around.”

  “I thought the people of Ember worshiped the System,” Rayna said.

  “Not really,” Shela said. “They need the System. Lerians can use their abilities without the System—it’s a function of their core—but Emberians don’t have a core to use. The System is holdin’ the spell in reserve for them. If the System goes down, so do all of their defenses.”

  “And you’re… part Lerian?” Rayna guessed.

  Shela chuckled. “Yeah, that’s right. The System designates race based on which part is dominant. I got enough Cervinale in me to show up as such, but I’ve got an odd spatterin’ of Lerian magic. I don’t have a core though, that’s second plateau and I don’t know if I’ll even make the first one.”

  Rayna frowned. If core was second plateau, why did she have one? Did it come with the body? She pushed the thought away, not wanting to remind herself of that unpleasant bit of personal lore.

  “How did you become a Lerian, anyway?” Shela asked. “I’ve heard of soul-switchin’, but I thought the magic was lost, not to mention it’s highly dangerous. Folks don’t just do it on a whim.”

  “You know a lot more than I do,” Rayna said. “I would’ve been happier if the Administrator just brought my body.”

  “That’s true,” Shela mused aloud. “That woulda been easier, and that’s the way he normally does it. Did somethin’ happen at initiation?”

  “It’s a long story and I’m kinda tired of telling it,” Rayna said. “Why don’t you tell me about soul-switching instead? Are there side effects I should be worried about?”

  Shela shrugged. “I don’t know anythin’ solid, just the stories. You’ll have to play with your magic to see which ones are soul-based and which ones come with the body. I guess you already confirmed translation, magic sense and whatever you’re calling monster sense.” Shela’s tone said she still didn’t believe that one, but Rayna didn’t bother arguing. “There’s also the soul-realm, which despite the name, can come with either. You shouldn’t get a core, but you can obviously absorb Essence.”

  Rayna paused. “I shouldn’t get a core?”

  She already had one, though.

  “I mean, body-based cores exist,” Shela said. “But they’re rare, and they don’t always have the same effect as soul-cores. You’ll have to wait and see, I guess.”

  It sounded like she was trying to make Rayna feel better. Rayna let the matter drop. She would have to come up with some subtle questions about the topic later. Or maybe she could ask a lot of pointed questions on a variety of subjects so the question about her core could fly under the radar.

  So far, Rayna thought that the only time she had used her core was to help the fire sprite. But the way Shela described it, she was using her core every time she cast a spell without the System, which meant she used it plenty in the few days that her System had been reinitializing.

  She wasn’t sure if the damage to her core had any effect on her ability to use it. The recovery rate was ticking slowly upwards, so Rayna would just have to wait and see if anything changed when it hit a hundred percent.

  Shela was in the middle of a basic safety course on using Essence in Miasma rich areas when they reached the end of the tunnel.

  The path opened into a large cavern lined with solid black obsidian. The black surface glittered with the silver light coming off of a portal in the center of the room. It looked similar to Rayna’s portals, except that the edges were frayed, glowing silver tendrils floating lazily as if suspended in water. It almost looked like a piece of torn fabric.

  Rayna approached the portal cautiously, cringing every time her shoes clicked on the black glass.

  “Rayna! No! Come back here!” Shela snapped, trying to grab at Rayna’s arm.

  “It’s just a portal,” Rayna said. After a moment’s thought, she changed her mind. “I think it’s a boundary anomaly.”

  “I don’t know what you’re talkin’ about,” Shela said. “But that room is lined with crystallized Miasma!”

  Rayna paused. “Miasma?”

  The black crystal beneath Rayna’s feet pulsed with the anomaly and Rayna knelt to run her hand over it. It wasn’t the source of her monster sense. The stone looked foreboding, but it felt almost comforting; like a warm blanket right out of the dryer.

  The crack behind Rayna pulsed again, bringing with it a wave of dread.

  The feeling was coming from the anomaly? Or more specifically, the energy coming out of the anomaly.

  She put her hand in front of the crack, feeling the energies around it as they ebbed and flowed. Her sense of magic had grown even stronger after she evolved and she could actually see the magic flowing around her hand instead of just the vague glow she had seen before.

  Rayna pinpointed the source of the feeling. With each pulse the Miasma and Essence met, mingling in what could only be described as explosive soup, but a moment later, the Miasma crystals pulsed, dragging the black energy down and leaving the white energy to hang in the air, undisturbed.

  “They’re a filter,” Rayna said. “The crystals are absorbing all of the Miasma coming through the anomaly.”

  “That doesn’t make it less dangerous,” Shela said. “Miasma is toxic to Lerians, and it has a tendency to explode when mixed with Essence. Don’t even think about usin’ spells in there.”

  Rayna nodded. “I know.”

  “If you know, why are you still standin’ in there?!” Shela asked, bouncing with nervous energy.

  “I need to find a way to close this crack,” Rayna said, examining the frayed edges. “If it’s making the monsters in the forest, we could clear a whole area just by dealing with the anomalies.”

  Shela shook her head. “That doesn’t make any sense. Monsters are the result of Miasma and Essence minglin’. They’re not made; they’re spawned.”

  “I thought your people made the System,” Rayna said. It seemed some knowledge had been lost over the generations. Rayna made a note to take everything Shela said with a grain of salt.

  “What’s that supposed to mean?” Shela demanded.

  “Monsters are made as a filter,” Rayna said, still examining the portal. “Like the crystals, only less permanent. If this was closer to a dungeon, the Miasma would get pulled in and turned into a monster. When the monsters in the dungeon are killed, the Essence is brought back to Ember and the Miasma is sent to Ashen.”

  “This isn’t a story for youngin’s,” Shela said. “Ashen is a fairytale to help children sleep at night. Dungeons aren’t real.”

  Rayna’s gaze snapped to Shela, temporarily distracted from her task. “You can’t be serious.”

  “Where did you even hear that story? I didn’t think the Emberians knew it.”

  It took Rayna a moment to realize that Shela was serious.

  She shook her head. “I’ve cleared a dungeon myself and I’ve been to Ashen, if I’m right about my portals. It’s not a fairytale.”

  Shela snorted. “I’d have an easier time believin’ you met the Administrator.”

  “Did that too,” Rayna said absently, returning her attention to the portal.

  “Not his projection,” Shela said. “That’s just a ghost of the real man. System programmin’ and a few millennia of misinformation.”

  An image flashed in Rayna’s mind: the Administrator writing furiously on a chalk board, bags under his eyes and his clothes fraying.

  A second later it was gone.

  Rayna shrugged off the feeling of deja vu. “It doesn’t matter. It’s true, whether you believe me or not.” Rayna reached up and tried to grab one of the strings. To her surprise, it worked. She held the strand in her hand, tugging on it to test the strength.

  It stretched and snapped back into place. So, she could mess with the strings. Would tying them be enough? Or did she have to perform some sort of magic?

  Rayna retreated to the tunnel, much to Shela’s relief, but she wasn’t planning on leaving.

  She pulled out her tablet and turned to the section on closing boundary cracks.

  Closing a boundary crack is simple: the threads at the edge of the crack must be woven back into each other. After it’s been closed, it may take time for the crack to heal itself, but it should fully heal eventually. Larger cracks might resist being closed, or they may have degraded to the point that the threads of the crack no longer reach the other side. A boundary patch can be applied to these (see Manual VII pg 184 for how to make one). The patch will slowly be absorbed into the boundary. A new patch should be applied every three months until the crack is fully healed.

  Underneath the passage was a bunch of diagrams that showed how to weave the threads back together. Rayna copied them into her notebook, not wanting to bring an Essence-charged device into a room full of Miasma, and put her tablet away.

  “You’re goin’ back in there?” Shela said incredulously.

  “I am. Wait here, I’ll be out in a sec.” Rayna had already spent enough time in the room to convince herself that Shela’s estimation of the danger of Miasma was overblown. Not to mention, she had spent some time in Ashen. It had felt stiflingly low on Essence, but she didn’t get sick from what must have been Miasma-soaked air.

  Shela didn’t follow, but Rayna wasn’t sure if that was because she had asked her to wait or if Shela was just that concerned about the Miasma. To her credit, she didn’t try to physically stop Rayna.

  Consulting her notebook, Rayna grabbed one of the topmost strings and started to weave. It wasn’t a difficult pattern. The hardest part was keeping the weave closed long enough to make it stay. Rayna had to knot a couple strings every so often to hold it together. When the weave was finished, she untied her anchors and wove them in.

  Rayna stepped back to admire her work. It wasn’t the cleanest weaving job, but it should hold. If Rayna was right, this was kind of like stitches. The boundary just needed the wound held closed so it wouldn’t fester while it healed.

  A notification popped up, startling Rayna so much she jumped.

  A Community Event has begun!

  The largest anomaly in the Aeteraut Forest Dungeon has closed. The System seeks to dismantle the dungeon in order to minimize the possibility of a dungeon break. To that end, all monsters within the Aeteraut Forest Dungeon will award double Experience for the duration of the event and special prizes will be awarded to the highest contributors.

  Event Duration: 07d 00h 00m 00s

  The Stubborn Light of a Dying Flame!

  Kiera Wulfe, Dyna Jannes