A Jaded Life

Chapter 1311

A soft groan escaped my lips as my eyes blinked open, briefly fighting against the crud that had encrusted them overnight. By the time I had managed to finish things up and go to sleep, it had been late at night or early in the morning, depending on your perspective. The continued focus required to work the precise, carefully crafted magic to finish the buildings had drained me, leaving me exhausted. I barely remembered falling into bed, though the night’s rest had helped me recover.

Taking stock of my surroundings, I suddenly noticed that I wasn’t alone in the bed I had fallen asleep in, making me briefly wonder if I had accidentally crawled into the wrong bed or if somebody had joined me. That uncertainty, alongside memories of Luna, or even Lia on a rare occasion or two, crawling into my bed was enough to still any response beyond finding out who had cuddled up to me.

A quick sniff of the air told me more than enough; it was a scent I instantly recognised as Luna’s. That realisation turned any aggressive response into an amused sigh as I relaxed back into the mattress, one of my arms moving to my daughter’s back and petting her hair as she softly mumbled something in her sleep. This wasn’t too bad, especially when Luna snuggled into me a little deeper, softly nuzzling my chest as she did.

Smiling, I quietly conjured a few fresh ravens, sending them out of the small hut Maggie had prepared for us. Nearby, I saw a second bed, as if someone had slept in it, making me briefly wonder if there had been a third person in the room, but the clothes on the chair beside it told me Luna had slept there. Maybe my dear daughter had gotten up in the night and stumbled into the wrong bed, or maybe she simply felt lonely. Not that it truly mattered.

Once I had enough ravens conjured, they took flight, easily leaving the building through a few gaps near the door. While I didn’t morph their shape often, they were mostly amorphous. Only the feet and the beak were made from Ice; the rest was just shadow. And shadows didn’t care about their shape, making me wonder if I should start experimenting with different shapes. It would likely be useful but also a hassle. I was used to using ravens and had an instinctive understanding of how they operated, likely a remnant of my bond with Lenore. If I used a different shape, I’d have to start from scratch, which would mean paying much more attention. It might even mean that my Bound Spirit wouldn’t be able to interface with them. I wasn’t sure how deep the interaction between spirit and construct actually went. Did the Bound Spirit learn and get used to controlling the ravens, or would it be able to interact with another with the same proficiency?

Maybe I should invest some time in that project, simply because it would open up possibilities in the future. One never knew when using a different shape to scout would be important. It was quite possible that there’d be a time I wouldn’t want to be connected to certain efforts, and, by the looks of it, ravens were becoming something of a signature creature for me.

Morphing the ravens into amorphous blobs of darkness wrapped around the solid beak and the claws was quite a weird experience. It worked, at least while they were this close to me, but the difference in operation and cost was significant. Just moving them through the door made me wonder whether I should have gotten up and opened it instead of taking this path, but learning how inefficient this was might be important in the long run.

Once the constructs were outside, I reinflated the blobs back into ravens and had them take to the sky.

The sun was already up, giving me a fair idea of how long I had slept. The little village was filled with activity, numerous people moving around, and I could see a distinct pattern to the people. Multiple groups were moving together, with a single person leading, while the others followed, being shown where things were in the village. In other words, it was a guided tour for newcomers, helping them find their way in their new home. Hopefully, the integration would continue, and the newly added group wouldn’t remain separated from the rest. So far, the efforts Maggie had prepared looked good. Ultimately, only time would tell if the integration would succeed.

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Eventually, as I was scouting the surrounding area, I felt Luna stir against my side.

“Good morning,” I greeted her, feeling quite amused by the confused expression on her face as she was waking up.

“Mom?” she asked, her voice thick with sleep, “What are you doing in my bed?”

“I believe you got that wrong, sweetheart,” I replied with a grin, “By the looks of it, this is my bed, and you somehow managed to stumble your way into it during the night.”

“Oh,” she mumbled, obviously not fully awake just yet, “Do you mind?”

“No, you know you’re always welcome,” I assured her, feeling content with my daughter next to me. “But we should get up, I think Maggie and her people want us to continue our efforts today.”

“Yeah, they are cutting it quite close with their resources. If things go just slightly wrong in spring, they’d have to ration their food, even without the new additions to their town. With these additions, they’ve got no chance,” she told me, making me ask how she knew that detail. While she had some impressive abilities, she wasn’t all that capable at gathering information; that was my speciality.

“Oh, I just asked,” she giggled, making me groan at the simplicity, “They showed me their store rooms, they are quite organised.”

“Which means they probably have some additional supplies,” I reasoned, “People are liable to squirrel away some personal emergency supplies, you know, just in case something bad happens. Hidden somewhere only they know about, so I’d guess the village had enough food, until we added that many people to their population.”

“Right,” she accepted my reasoning with a nod, “Still, I’ll get back to fertilising some freshly cleared fields and plant some crops afterwards,” she paused for a moment, “Think you could help me with that? Getting things nice and level, maybe loosening the soil, that’s Earth Magic, not something I can do.”

“I’ll see what I can do,” I felt a little disappointed that we had to continue our own projects. “I’ve got to finish up the buildings, maybe add a few more, so they don’t have to house a hundred people under the same roof. People get annoyed if they are crammed together.”

“Makes sense,” Luna sighed, “We’ll probably need another day, maybe two, just to clear enough forest while I turn the downed trees into fertiliser. But your help will be needed; otherwise, harvesting the field will be a massive hassle.”

“As I said, I’ll see what I can do,” I repeated myself, “But first, we should go and look for some food. Or do you need to freshen up, maybe have a shower? Remember, these people don’t have the same enchanted facilities just yet, though I have a feeling Maggie will plead with me to add them to every house, not just to the newly built ones.”

“Bit of freshening up would be nice, yeah,” Luna nodded, “But I think they have something similar, you aren’t the only smart cookie out there, you know? I’m sure some enchanter has figured out how to provide running water and dispose of it afterwards.”

“Let’s do it,” I told her, pushing myself up from the comfortable cocoon we had been wrapped in. Then, we both got ourselves cleaned up, freshly dressed and comfortable before heading out.

Finding food was simple thanks to my ravens, though walking around was quite the experience. People were staring at us, obviously unsure how to react. I could hear a few people gossiping about us, talking about our incredible abilities and wondering just how far they reached.

In a way, it was a little weird. Some spoke with profound awe and amazement; others seemed a little uncertain. Uncertain and afraid, not necessarily a good combination of emotions, as it could easily turn into something less pleasant. It was the kind of mental state that could make people do something foolish.

Sadly, there was no good way to assuage those fears; they had seen what we could do, and had begun to extrapolate what we might be able to do if we turned our abilities towards a more destructive purpose. If I could raise buildings within minutes, how long would it take me to destroy those same buildings? If Luna could turn fully grown, healthy trees into fertiliser in minutes, what could she do to crops? Or to people?

It was a simple fact of life that we were extraordinarily dangerous, something these people would have to live with. Or we would leave.