Out of the Canyon

Ahsch was careful to keep an eye out for the spot where he and Kira had fallen as the two made their way back up the Canyon. There were plenty of large rocks on the otherwise-barren Canyon floor, and he wasn't willing to bet that the tree wolf's corpse was still present, not with all the magical fuckery that was going on. So he'd have to recognize the specific grouping of rocks.

Kira trailed a few feet behind the hrafthi, muttering under her breath. For a minute or two after they had started back for the meet-up, she had tried to get Ahsch to cancel the two orders compelling her, but he had continued to point out that if she really wanted to make sure that she wasn't 'compromised' by Phashak's meddling, they should see how long-term influence by his commands affected her. She didn't have a good reason to reject his logic, especially given that _she _had been the one to push for orders that were uncomfortable for them both, though Ahsch was convinced that the order he had given wasn't as bad as she made it out to be, given how she had been reacting.

He was willing to bet that he would've had quite the show if he had taken Dream Light as one of his Innate Spells. The thought crossed his mind to try and replicate the effects - Heart Pierce dealt with the soul and mind, and he could probably find a way to use the sympathetic bond of Spirit String to link her thoughts to his perception or something...

The mage shook his head of the thought. Making a new spell was a time-consuming process of trial-and-error, and messing around with minds was tricky, potentially dangerous if he wasn't careful. He'd only managed to develop his Heartstring spell by carefully merging the sympathetic bond from Spirit String with the soul/mind/emotional manipulation of Heart Pierce - and he got a lot of aid from Ariin as a calm assistant and target for the spell. And even then, it took the better part of a year to get it working properly. Heart Sight was a lot easier, since shifting Mage Sight into the spectrum that Heart Pierce used was fairly straightforward, taking only a few weeks of work; oddly, replicating that method for a 'Spirit Sight' was somehow a lot more difficult.

So making a faux-Dream Light on the spot was out of the question. Sure, it was probably possible to get something similar, and with enough tweaking and patience, he could do it. But the process wouldn't happen before he rescinded the orders that were the cause of Kira's current state.

"How are you holding up?" he asked, glancing over his shoulder.

The girl glared at him. "Eat a rock," she grumbled.

Ahsch rolled his eyes, then scanned their surroundings. Things were starting to look... "Ah, there it is," he pointed to a familiar heap of rocks and... "Looks like the tree wolf is still there. Could be worth processing it for materials while we wait."

Kira snorted. "I can increase my strength, but not by _that _much - how do you propose to move those rocks?"

"Give me... fifteen seconds, and I can nullify their weight," he said, then started channeling his mana into Float.

"...You're kidding, right? If you could do that, then why..."

"Because even though I can affect the whole cliff and then some," the cliff was probably about half the height of the roughly 120-foot sphere he could make, "it only turns gravity off. We'd need something to kick off of at the top and I don't fancy our luck if I need to turn the spell off for us to land and we miss and fall again. Also, we were both badly injured, and let's not forget the mana burn trap." At this point, Float activated, and Ahsch relaxed - said trap was deactivated. He'd decided to make a fifty-foot sphere, centered past the rock pile, so that he could reach in with a stick and shove the rocks away without getting into the null-gravity zone himself. He continued talking as he looks around for a stick. "This spell is a massive drain on my mana, and I probably would've died before we could escape from the Canyon - though Phashak seems to have turned that nasty trap off."

Grabbing a suitable stick, the mage went back to the pile and started to push rocks aside, sometimes able to simply shove them forward and off the pile, otherwise getting the stick under them to lift before pushing them aside once they were clear of obstructions. He considered that he could have used Spirit String for an easier time maneuvering things, but given the number of rocks he'd have to cast that a bunch of times, and it was a fairly expensive spell. In short order, he had the corpse clear of the rocks and ended Float. A few rocks that were still lazily floating away crashed to the ground, making Kira jump and glare at Ahsch, but the hrafthi was already working on butchering the tree wolf. After a few moments, the girl grunted and went to help.

Much to Ahsch's amusement, they were wrapping up with their work when Mahat contacted him. Master, we are nearing you! there was an adorable amount of excitement in her mental voice.

Smiling, the hrafthi started to pack their tools and loot away while he updated Kira, wrapping most of the resources from the tree wolf within its pelt and tying lengths of rope around the bundle to use as a pack. He also ended the commands for her, which prompted a big sigh of relief and a glare.

"Ahsch!" He looked up and grinned at his sister, who was carefully leaning over the rim of the cliff, and waved up at her.

"Having a nice walk?" he shouted up, getting a laugh of Ariin. She was joined by Noeh and Dahil, who waved down at their son, though they didn't call down anything.

Your mother wants to remind everyone that quiet is important, and we have me, Mahat said.

Right, sorry. What's the plan?

Simple: we'll tie a rope to tree up here, you two climb up.

I'm sure Kira will love needing to haul her own ass up there, Ahsch grumbled, then turned to explain to his companion.

As expected, she wasn't thrilled about having to climb up - especially not with their new acquisitions - but was mollified when Ahsch told her he'd use Float to lighten their loads, and he would take the tree wolf's loot.

A minute later, Float was active as a three-foot bubble, and a rope was dangling down for them to climb. Ahsch anchored it for Kira to climb, keeping an eye up and trying to put Float in her center of mass. The girl got up without incident, and he followed, mainly keeping his spell centered on the big bundle of loot. A few months of practice Floating himself and his siblings around their house made him fairly competent at keeping the bubble of null-gravity where he needed it, and it moved fast enough now that even as he swung back and forth on the rope, he managed to keep it in place without much difficulty.

Once he was up over the rim and safely away from the edge, he was tackled by two eager hugs - Ariin, and...

"Mahat?" he gasped, looking at the lithe, silver-haired girl just a few inches shorter than he was, and who was wearing one of his shirts and pants tied tight on her hip with a short bit of rope.

She nuzzled into his chest when he recognized her, contentment and relief pouring across their bond. "It's good to know you still recognize me, Master." She tilted her head up and grinned at him. _And that you _appreciate this form.

A slight blush came to Ahsch's cheeks. "And this was kept from me... why?"

A shrug was his answer. "Just like with speaking, there wasn't a need for it until now." And we both know what you'd want to do with this body - which will never age - and I wanted to let you get used to sex with 'people your own age,' so to speak. Your mind was still maturing, and even if Euphoria doesn't have your laws, I know you still had some hangups regarding age and sex.

He nodded, then turned his attention to Ariin and gently hugged and kissed her, patting her head. "How are you holding up, little bird?"

She thumped his chest in response. "You had us so worried!" she murmured, hugging him tighter.

He returned her squeeze. "I'm sorry. But everything worked out."

She shot him a look. "So, you're not worried about a _goddess _getting involved with your life? From what Mahat told me, it sounded like she'd be keeping an eye on you, and had some expectations."

Ahsch gave his familiar and vaguely annoyed look. He'd been hoping to relay that particular encounter to his family himself. Diplomatically. Mahat shrugged back at him. "You know how your sister gets when she wants something," she said in her defense, and the mage had to admit that _not _telling his twin what was going on was probably not a valid option for the fox-girl.

Looking around, he saw his mother and father standing near, looking relieved, and a few other adults from the village standing around in a loose defensive circle. A short distance away, Kira seemed to be getting a quiet, if thorough dressing-down from Michlas, and for once, the girl seemed to be taking her bodyguard's words to heart, and looked genuinely upset.

After getting hugs from their son, Noeh and Dahil got everyone's attention, and the party set off back to Savras. It was late, the sun soon to disappear behind a mountain peak, and there wasn't time nor interest in finishing the expedition for Miss Starr today. Everyone agreed to revisit the incident tomorrow, after they all - and especially Ahsch and Kira - got some rest, and the hrafthi boy was promised by his sister and familiar that he would get the best present that night as a reward for coming back from a certain-**** situation.