Tanda’s tail wagged slowly as she trimmed a few plants by pinching her own claws, leaves going into her little basket looped around her arm. She smiled as she lifted up a gem lettuce leaf, inspecting it with her golden eyes.

  “It’s great we could get this upgrade to the Booty Call Chamber. This will be so useful.”

  Jake chuckled at the other name for the temporal chamber wryly, his hands on his waist as he reviewed everything in his Umbral Gaze. “I’m just glad it won’t just be sitting around collecting dust any longer. It was pretty rare for us to find a situation where it was worth using it. A few hours per week isn’t all that valuable with all the other restrictions–it couldn’t even really be used as a Booty Call Chamber anymore after Faye was no longer in the Battleground. But allowing you to significantly speed up how fast you cultivate your plants…that’s valuable.”

  Fhesiah helpfully added, [We used it a few times, and it was very useful! But you’re right. I think it’ll be more valuable in the Third Tier, when we can soup it up a bit more.]

  The add-on chamber had lines and glyphs inside and very much resembled a greenhouse with Fhesiah’s formations flowing all around it. Various energies ran through the different plant boxes and drip feeders, allowing plants to be cultivated with sped-up time.

  When people were inside, time moved at normal speed. Once they left and closed the door, 1 second on the outside was 5 on the inside due to time dilation, permanently. The idea that sentients or sapients were not inside somehow made it simpler, and so it required less temporal energy to run constantly.

  Tanda replied, “Yup! I’m excited for it. Do you really think this thing can handle everything? I’m worried if we’re away for a long time.”

  She looked over at the small automaton that was much like a golem flittering about, also trimming some plants with its slow-moving, lanky limbs. The primary purpose of the golem was merely to maintain the mana and Qi crystals and power the formations.

  Unfortunately, they did not truly have an auril and nethril storage method that could work well enough inside, the temporal distortion causing a loss of connection to Highlands. They had high-auril water and some means of generating it, but it wasn’t quite at the density the more powerful plants required.

  For the few plants she would utilize, they had to rely on opening and closing the chamber periodically to allow the energy to flow in through the formations–which would also be managed by the golem.

  Jake leaned in front of a bush growing some delicious-looking, succulent red berries that were nearly ripe. “I think it’ll be fine. It’s rather simple in what it can accomplish, but it is rated to where it can grow and harvest fruits and seeds at their optimal time. Then, it will place them in the stasis storage or replant them if necessary. At 5 to 1, even if something goes wrong, it’s not that big of a loss–you’ll check on things frequently enough. If and when we upgrade it, we could have issues with how big some of these plants could get–but by then, I’m sure we’ll just upgrade the golem, too.”

  Tanda nodded as she dusted her hands off. “And Ava can check on it too. Plus, Moxy and some of the other girls have taken an interest! I’m sure I’ll give her some of her own space once we’ve figured things out, and then they can monitor things too.”

  Satisfied with how she had set up her little grow room for now, they left and closed the door, then teleported to her primary grow area, located deep within their Sanctuary. This area had the more powerful and more dense auril and nethril, which wasn’t appropriate for their youngest children.

  Avalara’s primary avatar was here, smiling as she sat in the center on a stump in front of one of the largest trees. She was looking over the numerous plants in their vast area. In total, there were several acres of tended trees, herbs, and plants of various kinds. But she was at the center of a special area in which the numerous areas and formations met.

  It was a little bit like the center of a pizza, each slice or area that of a specific season and landscape. While the formations largely controlled the environment in both the temperature and the energies flowing through them, a lot of the regulation actually occurred from the insects, flora, and fauna living within.

  Avalara had vine tendrils coming from her in a web of directions, some feeding auril into plants and others feeding nethril into plants and formations.

  Jake found the nethril plants and trees in the autumn and winter locations interesting. Petrified wood, a deathly swamp full of rotted wood and mushrooms, and various insects and scavengers to go along with them. Then the frost-covered area, which included special flowers and plants that emanated a deep, cold, and powerful nethril aura, brought anything near into winter’s embrace.

  He noticed that a lot of the insects and even some vines crossed the areas, including the carnivorous plants. There were even wasps killing the bees and a handful of beasts fighting for dominance. “I’m surprised you aren’t treating this more like a greenhouse. Don’t you lose a lot of what you’re growing this way?”

  Tanda smiled. “This is mostly Ava’s section. It’s like this because it’s meant to be more like Highlands itself!”

  Ava nodded. “That’s right. Conflict is the driver of progress, just as your dragon wife would say. It is through these struggles that these plants adapt, making them much stronger than if they never struggled at all.”

  “Or they die.” Jake noted.

  Ava shrugged. “And become fertilizer. Such is the law of nature. But that does not imply that I cannot lend them a helping hand and give them a better chance. Or, nature will do so on its own.” She nodded over to where Jake had seen the wasps slaying the bees–and now, some flowers near the hive blasted some pollen, engulfing the wasps and bees alike in a fine mist.

  It didn’t seem to bother the bees overly much as they continued crowding the wasps, but the wasps slowed and tumbled to the ground, the fight evening up. The wasps floating outside the hive eventually retreated, finding that the bees’ defenses were too strong.

  Tanda smiled. “A lot of the plants that grow in this area are extra hardy! And the energy feels even more harmonious than in other areas. Auril and Nethril both seem to prefer to linger where conflict is present.”

  “But you were using them in the time chamber.”

  Tanda giggled. “That’s right! I need a lot of plants for countless things, from mulch for the soil to grafts to making partners for other plants. That chamber is great for selective breeding and propagation, and especially for many Qi-based plants that take forever to grow. Those are the ones I’m most worried about.”

  Jake frowned as he had a thought. “Can’t you just use Rampant Growth? You seem to be able to make a small tree within minutes with that.”

  “I can for some. But Rampant Growth is not good for all plants, and one might say it’s harmful for a plant or tree’s long-term health. The plants I use for fighting the most have been selectively bred or chosen because they benefit the most from the spell so that it can propagate before it dies and allow me to use it again. That, or just accomplish some task or goal efficiently. It may be fair to call it hollow growth instead of rampant, and it may be best to compare what the spell does to what our healing spells do.”

  “What happens when you use that spell on treants, spriggons, or, say, Bree or Avalara here?”

  “The growth is largely focused on their outer bark and their vines, their cores and true bodies not affected. When the spell ends, a lot of the new plant flesh just decays rapidly and sloughs off, their bodies shrinking back to their original sizes.”

  That made some sense to Jake, and it fit with what he would see in battle. He knew on some level that the various treants would also maintain the extra flesh with their own mana, preventing it from decaying at an inopportune moment. “I see. Auril, mana, and the goddess’s fertility power might be enough for the plant to grow quickly, but it is like a weaker plant flesh with barely enough plant blood or vitality to function–like our healing spells. It won’t have the strength or longevity of a plant that grew naturally over time. Is that right?”

  Her tail was wagging even faster, and she nodded as she gestured to the various plants around them. “Yup! So you can see, these plants here are extra hardy, and the energy concentrated within them is that much more. When they create fruit or we refine them into special resources like Fhesiah’s pills, they are that much more valuable.”

  Outside of the four-season area, the growing area was massive and more haphazard, having various ongoing projects. It felt like an arborist’s version of a massive painter’s studio, with plants, herbs, and trees of all kinds everywhere in various states. Potted plants sat with those planted in the ground, formations drawing energy into the area and causing it to linger and nourish the plants and soil.

  There was a method to the madness, Jake supposed. The issue was simply that her projects for others were often impromptu, Fhesiah or Nessa, or even their guild members needing something special worked on. And she stuck them where she felt they belonged or might benefit both plants the most. Nature was intrinsically chaotic, so perhaps her grow area only reflected that.

  Jake turned to Tanda, “So what did you want to work on? You called me here; I assumed you needed my help with something.”

  Tanda smiled and shook her head. “Nope! I didn’t have anything in mind.” At his dubious look, she giggled. “Hehe, I was hoping you would see and feel all of this and maybe get inspired. I know you’ve been working hard to figure something new out with your magic research!”

  Jake had already made some progress in the last few days. He had already played with some patterns as he tried to learn from the hints he had already gained. And he had even managed to create the magic missiles spell he had witnessed from the Norse casters, as well as recreate several spells with neutral mana. They were a bit lackluster compared to some of their elemental counterparts for most purposes, but he was happy to have them in his repertoire.

  There were also numerous other minor spells he discovered, but nothing was really worth adding to his main lineup of spells he frequently used unless he ran into an enemy that the elements were especially poor against. Still, he shipped off all his findings to Amara, and perhaps some of their fledgling mages may benefit.

  Jake grabbed Tanda by her waist with both hands, giving her a kiss, which she eagerly enjoyed, her tail wagging fiercely. “Thank you for trying to cheer me up, my beautiful mate. I guess I’ve nearly locked myself in my lab lately, huh?” He scratched between her fluffy, black ears atop her head, causing her tail to wag even faster than it already was, her wings fluttering behind her.

  Tanda beamed. “And when we’re done, Ava here has some ideas of things we might want to work on too.”

  Jake looked over to Ava, the girl giggling at his look. “That’s right, my love. Together, I just know we’ll help you find something. Or if nothing else, a well-earned break.” She crossed her long leg in front of her, drawing his view to her short tribal skirt.

  He scratched his head, giving a wry chuckle. “Alright, that all sounds great, and if nothing else, a great break from me hammering my head on the desk, as you said. I know you’ve been working hard finding your way with this profession, Tanda, and you’ve really managed to accomplish a lot now. What was the skillbook Hestia gave you?”

  “It was a really neat skill. Just like you have Hearth Enchantment and Bloodberri has Savage Boneforging, I now have Verdant Weaving! My magical botany profession upgraded as a result, changing to match the skill’s name.”

  “What does it do?”

  “It’s magical horticulture! Using auril, mana, standard techniques, and harmonization, I can create entirely new plants.”

  “Standard…horticulture techniques? Like grafting and budding, or layering?”

  “That’s right! Hehe, you’ve been paying attention to what I do.”

  “Of course. I may not always be watching or listening, but there’s no way I’d ignore all the things my precious wives do. So when you say entirely new plants, you mean that these hybrid plants can become something entirely new–like the DNA has been altered.”

  In almost every case, a simple grafting or budding would result in the parent plants of…essentially wherever the seed or fruit came out of. No new plant was created with these techniques under normal circumstances, without genetically modifying a seed.

  There were still benefits to some hybrid plants, such as increasing fruit yields and propagation rates, as well as creating resilient hybrids and allowing plants to grow where they wouldn’t be able to otherwise. Many plants over Earth’s history had evolved into being very specialized, and this was no doubt true even with magical energies being introduced, so it was easy to see how hybrid plants could accomplish amazing things.

  Tanda replied, “That’s right! I can now combine the lineage–the spirits of the two plants–into one. Or more!”

  Jake noted, “That seems valuable. But you can’t just combine any two plants with little effort, right?”

  Tanda nodded. “It requires quite a bit of compatibility and energy investment. And truth be told, while being able to propagate a hybrid plant is convenient, it’s not always all that necessary–you can simply just graft as many plants as you want once you have a process that works. But my skill allows me to take advantage of the new lineage’s special propagation attributes, in addition to sometimes gaining all new properties.”

  Jake realized another important implication. “And also, your seed nurturing in your hearthvines couldn’t really use hybrid plants before this. It sounds like it gives you new things to take advantage of. What are you working on?”

  “Hehe, lots of stuff! But I wanted to create a neat combo. Right now, I don’t have the most defensive plants, and some of the offensive plants are rather middling in strength, only able to affect trash enemies or lower-level ones. In all, they are a bit weak without my spriggon buddies to beef them up. Maybe with your help, I can make some more useful things.”

  Jake chuckled and shook his head. “Not sure how much I can help without knowing what all you have to work with, but it sounds fun, and I’m eager to learn more about what you’re doing. I may have some ideas.”

  “I’ll show you more of my special plants, and we’ll see if anything is worth using. Let’s go!”

  She grabbed his hand, tugging him through her giant garden with a smile and a laugh. He followed her wagging tail through her nursery, and they worked together for a time. The dark-skinned ravenwolf girl was happy to get his mind away from his own lab, and he enjoyed the fresh air and his wife’s mood.

  The truth was, he had truly hit a wall with creating some kind of means to trap interplanar beings, or at the very least, protect against them. It was frustrating, and he wondered if it was even possible within this Tier.

  Perhaps the most likely route was to use the powers of the Divine, as this was where their unique properties could manifest more easily. Even then, it was likely going to require a Mythic-grade unique item. He already had his feelers out for some materials with unique sealing or interplanar properties and more on order, but he wasn’t convinced it would be enough.

  Usually, Jake’s method was to make something almost capable of accomplishing what he needed. And then souping everything up with higher-grade materials to push it the rest of the way, ensuring that he wouldn’t just waste the expensive, difficult-to-obtain materials. But at this point, he hadn’t managed to make anything that even slightly impeded Ira, and he really didn’t want to blow something he could not replace on a dead end.

  The creature in question was absorbing its treasure, which meant that each time they went out to close Rifts, they kept to working with allies as large groups or humanitarian work on the wind continent instead. It was the continent hit the absolute hardest, as much of the earth or fire continent was handled without involving most of the population centers.

  The two made a few hybrid plants, but it was clear she had prepared most of the obvious options, and Jake hadn’t really provided that much input. Eventually though, she made what Jake felt was useful for both offense and defense.

  It was a fast-growing shrub mixed with some vines–hearthtree vines and a third and fourth plant with a powerful, hungry root base, and another that had a territorial, carnivorous instinct. But the mouths, or suckers, of the carnivorous plant were removed. The goal was to make the plant’s roots be the ones that ate the plant’s prey–through the blood and ashes that arrived in the soil.

  And Jake did help–by using their Fusion Ascension skill and becoming Janda. Their powerful, cyclical heart beat an excited song as they infused a dense hearth mana mixed with auril into the plant.

  This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

  While Tanda only had deathly hearth mana, Janda had Jake’s flames of Hestia joined within. And with the combined being, having the hearth mana and auril mixture leave the body for usage was a possibility that Jake was interested in exploring.

  The special energies combined, wrapping around the plant’s numerous grafts and buds meant to combine the plants with the perfect balance. The spirits of the plants combined, such as they were, the resulting plant surging in power from the immense energy investment. Janda pulled plenty of mana from their hearth bonds, converting it and infusing it into the plants as they transformed.

  Janda’s tail was wagging, and the larger being was smiling at the outcome in front of them, their heart singing a prideful song of triumph as it beat heavily. The plant could draw various energies from its magical root system or branches, converting the energy and igniting it, pushing it out through its flower buds. The vines and branches alike had thorns of their own, the plant having a special vitality that made it difficult to break through, and it would attack anything that came near that wasn’t an ally.

  Even if a spell like Rampant Growth was used on it, it would still be effective enough at both harming the enemy and restricting them, even if a little more brittle when enhanced in that way. Ultimately, it was like a living version of the Tier 2 spell Jake had created, the Hearthtree Vines.

  The two parted from their shared being, appearing in motes of light next to each other as they continued looking at the new plant proudly.

  Tanda’s hearth remained connected to Jake’s, and her tail continued to wag. “We did it! Thanks for the help, my mate. I couldn’t have done that last one without your help!”

  Jake grabbed Tanda’s hip, pulling her closer to him. “Thanks for that–this was fun. I don’t know that I learned anything useful for my goals, but it’s always good to get some fresh air.”

  Tanda swung her hip around as she wrapped her legs around him, kissing him fiercely. Her soft lips and warm, soft body felt amazing in his arms, along with her joy sending pleasant sensations fluttering through his chest.

  They enjoyed each other for a while, but she eventually pulled back and said, “Now, I just need to get this to seed, which it should do quickly, and I’ll put them in my hearthvines in my chest to nurture them with tons of energy.” She lifted her finger to the air, adding, “I figured it was a long shot that it would really help you, but now it’s Ava’s turn! She seemed confident.”

  He put the girl back down, and their hearths disconnected, and they went back to where Avalara was waiting for them. She looked up from where her hand was out, auril drifting into a flower that almost resembled the special one within her cave. “You two had fun, I felt.”

  Jake chuckled. “We did. So, what was it that you wanted to show me, Ava?”

  Avalara smiled and sat back down on her stump. “I wanted to show you something…that I noticed. I thought there was something to be learned from it. Especially if it was you, my love.”

  Jake arched his brow at that. “I don’t know–you two girls are already amazing at using Auril, and you have the wisdom of the ages, Ava. It feels like it’d be rather arrogant for me to think I could figure out something your people couldn’t.”

  Avalara shook her head, her doe ears fluttering. “I was young when the world had been stronger–before the curse of the Death God. Knowledge was lost, and I am only beginning to reclaim some of it as the nethril warriors are reborn. Then, there are properties of auril and nethril that don’t fully show themselves at lower strengths–we lost a millennium of progress, stagnant for much of that time. Let me show you–you may have seen some of this from Jasmina, but this should build on that.”

  Ava began to sing a wordless song that sounded like a lullaby of some kind. As her auril and nethril hearts beat, the energy within the area stirred. Jake watched with interest as the two energies moved differently, a reaction to her very song and voice and not her will, he realized. She stopped.

  Jake was thoughtful. “Ah, you’re right that it’s just like what Jasmina can do. Soothing. Not many beastkin can get the auril to react with their voice alone like she can.”

  “That’s right. And our Celtic runes you’ve researched, you’ve found they react well to our songs, have you not? Have you wondered why that is?”

  Jake frowned in thought. “Of course, I’ve wondered. I guess it’s likely it’s related to the song of the world itself and how auril connects to it. You did say that Cernunnos and Brigid sang to you as you were young. But the rest of the power of the Celts relates to the cycle. The seasons, life, death, and rebirth. I’m not sure how music or song fits into this.”

  “I don’t know everything about my parents’ Pantheon’s history, for I was but a child born after or during many of the major events that shaped our peoples. But I do know that in both the creation of the Framework and the events that followed, the Celtic Pantheon had lost many Divine. You’ve noticed that many of those in your Earth’s myths no longer exist, right? I do believe that those who remain have taken on some of their mantles, their domains, and their power where possible. And some were lost forever to the enemy. But the rest…went into creating me and our people.”

  That made quite a bit of sense to Jake. They were down to a little over a dozen Celtic Divine on The Alliance side, which was a far cry from what they started at if Earth’s myths were even remotely accurate. The Celts were hit hard enough that Cernunnos, their eldest, most powerful god, had almost fallen. And perhaps Avalara’s creation was what made them exceedingly vulnerable. A gamble with a heavy price that they had paid dearly for.

  Avalara continued, “Perhaps the song of the world is the piece of my mother and father’s Essence that went into the world and the beastkin’s creation itself, but that is just my guess more than anything, hearing many sad songs from my mother and father. Now, let me show you something else. I know you’ve been doing a lot of research on this lately.”

  “This song is one my mother and father both used to sing to me.” She smiled and closed her eyes as she began to sing her slow, soothing song with an even rhythm.

  “Bud of spring, so small and bright,

  Grow strong to meet the summer’s might.”

  The auril within the nursery began to stir, a weight descending on the surrounding area.

  “Leaf of autumn, turning gold,

  Gather wisdom as days grow cold.”

  A pool, or wind, began to separate into a second area before she sang the final verse.

  “Seed of winter, waiting deep,

  Hold your strength through frozen sleep.”

  As she finished the verses of the Framework-translated Celtic song, it was clear that three spirals of energy had formed around her, like hazy trails of smoke. One of auril, one of nethril, and one of both snaked around one another.

  She repeated the song, and the three spirals thickened and drifted around her, cycling over all the plants. While the song contained a cycle of the seasons, of life, stillness or death, and rebirth, it felt more like the intent of the song carried a wish of growth and success.

  Tanda smiled at it and began to sing along as she repeated the verses, the song a loop on itself. The energy within the spirals increased with every loop, and the plants of all kinds around her were being nourished. It was like the song itself was a spell, albeit a weak one.

  It was nothing near the level of Tanda’s Rampant Growth, but Jake could nearly visibly see the plants grow with the naked eye, new buds and leaves forming slowly. Several minutes passed, and it became clear that they grew much more than they should in a short time. Even the murky swamp area and petrified forest grew larger or had more energy within.

  She stopped her song when she thought she had demonstrated it enough.

  Tanda beamed. “What a pretty song! I know I’ve heard you sing it to our babies sometimes.”

  “I do, but never in a room with as dense of auril and nethril as this. The effect is much lesser, but it is there.” She turned to Jake. “I have some more songs my mother and father used to sing to me. Learn anything from this one yet?”

  Jake sighed and shook his head. “The triskele is appearing naturally from your song alone. I’d tried it before, but I had trouble balancing it with the Celtic Runes, the runes dissipating instead of establishing a spell. I’ve only gotten single phrases to work in all my enchantments, and those work well enough. Perfect for armor and weapons.”

  Tanda nodded, her tail wagging. “They work really great. So easy for our people to use.”

  Avalara was thoughtful. “There is a balance in nature as a whole, but it is not as if everything within it is. Maybe you do not need to balance it at all?”

  Jake let out a breath. “And make it into a spell that manifests into something more? The meander patterns help solidify unbalanced phrases, but there is a limit to it. Sing it again for me? This time, share the heartbeats with me.”

  “Of course, my love.”

  Jake found harmony with Avalara, taking on the State of the Archon, and listened again. It took some time listening with many repeats, but what he eventually realized was that each part of the song was recursive. Each section contained a smaller part of the song repeated, just like the fractal patterns in nature, played by the two instruments–the auril and nethril hearts.

  The auril and nethril hearts and the words of the song being recursive were not something Jake had considered. Now, he had some pretty new things to try, but first, he was going to recreate Avalara’s song as a spell.

  In the State of the Archon, Auril and Nethril moved at his beck and call nearly as well as mana. He lifted his finger and began gathering the energies into the Celtic Runes that matched the song, three at a time to match the three spirals.

  As he began forming the runes and she sang her song, it was as if the runes wished to establish themselves in the very same pattern. He had established the first, but the rest nearly formed on their own as auril rushed in. After he had created the first set in their entirety, the second set continued to swirl around in the spiral, waves of green and black light cascading in the surrounding area.

  This time, the amount of auril and nethril responding was even more drastic, as much as he could throw into the spell. The plants definitely grew fast enough to see with the naked eye, consuming the nutrients in the soil and the energy Jake’s spell was supplying rapidly. When it almost seemed like it would be detrimental to keep growing, the soil visibly going grey or having a sandy consistency, the energy just moved on, the plants no longer absorbing it.

  Tanda clapped, her tail wagging furiously. “You did it! Woohoo!”

  Jake chuckled, smiling at that.

  The implications of this were massive. While the triskele was a special symbol of the Celtic Origin, it was not all that unique. Most Pantheons had symbolism involving three, as well as spirals, recursive or fractal patterns like the meander, and more.

  When it came to the Divine, many things came in threes. Past, Present, and Future. Life, Death, and Rebirth. The Maiden, The Mother, and The Crone. The Creator, The Preserver, and The Destroyer. The list went on and on, countless iterations of three forming some kind of special divine balance across all pantheons.

  And Jake had been testing out the Valknut symbol but hadn’t really seen anything especially worthwhile. The balanced pentagons and hexagons just produced better results than the Valknut; the triangle symbols allowed for fewer runes to be crammed inside and thus were less complex. Or at least, Jake hadn’t been able to balance more runes in the simpler shape anyway.

  But what if the interlocking triangles didn’t need to be balanced individually or even as a whole like some kind of equation but through some form of recursion or through some other mechanism? He definitely had a lot that he wanted to test and try now.

  Tanda quickly formed the runes just like Jake, creating her own spell without singing the song out loud at all. “I like this spell! It’s a bit more gentle than the Rampant Growth. I can even use it in the garden. Let’s call it Nourish.”

  Jake smiled at Avalara. “Let’s hear some more of those songs, Ava. And let’s call in the other girls and see what they can all make.”

  Bloodberri, Bree, and Ophelia showed up, the latter in between works on the forge. Nessa and Fhesiah were both busy with their alchemical concoctions and had practiced the least with auril among them.

  Ophelia’s raised finger showed the Celtic Runes, and when she finished the first loop manually, the effect was established. She smiled at the result, but her eyes were narrowed in concentration, her wings fluttering oddly as she focused. “It’s challenging, but I can do it even without the heart!”

  Bree frowned. “I don’t have access to Nethril. But I wonder…” She hummed as she created the same effect with her auril in the runes, though hers felt a little different. The nourishing effect was even more powerful, the auril having a more flaming flavor.

  Tanda clapped. “It’s using her Divine Trait! It feels even more like Brigid’s magic.” She tried the same thing with all auril runes, and while the spell was still established, it was quite a bit weaker–unlike Bree’s. Either songs had a little more leeway to be established, or perhaps the song was a strong enough reflection of life and growth as opposed to life, stillness, and rebirth that it could still function. Maybe Nethril was just a stronger representation of autumn and winter and thus increased the power of the spell, Jake reasoned, or it had higher spiritual influence to match Auril's physical.

  Bloodberri’s spell worked with both singing, and while Berri could make the effect all on her own, Blood could not, following what Jake would guess.

  Avalara sang a few more songs, some of which even sounded like nursery rhymes and even poems, and Jake and the girls recreated them with some effort. One actually produced a fiery response, which Jake was excited about, the magic creating a pleasant heat that melted away the cold rapidly–perfect for counteracting enemy frost.

  But when Bree used the song, it became a much more offensive spell that sent out a wave of flames from her fiery flowers in all directions, like a constant damaging aura. They called the spell Ember Wave, and she could nearly keep it running at all times–it was even enhanced by Jake’s Presence and their special State together.

  Considering that these spells were what Jake considered Tier 1 spells, he was practically giddy with excitement at how effective they already were and what they could accomplish with more work.

  They also learned that mana could be used to enhance or fuel the effects of the song once the runes were established. This meant that if they learned more powerful Tier 2 Celtic Rune spells, then the Beastkin Druids of Brigid and Arawn that had hearths had drastically increased in strength.

  After hearing enough of them, they all set about trying to make their own spells, having better understandings of the rules, or being able to use working ones as a framework for making new ones.

  Replacing the words worked, and even reversals to make a life-giving song be a damaging one with nethril instead. It was hard for Jake to pick an overarching rule for what worked and didn’t, but the trifectas that were not recursive were all about balance, but not in the way Jake would try to balance them.

  The trifectas, rather than being balanced by weight or outcome of three individual spells, were balanced by purpose or a greater piece of the whole, like a story’s narrative. The hunting song, which allowed Tanda to produce a much more powerful wolf bite manifestation, was separated into breathing or preparation, tracking and chasing, and then eventually pouncing or attacking.

  As an individual spell, the preparation or breathing spell would do nothing, and it was the same with the tracking piece of the song. Only the bite or attack part of the song or spell would enhance an attack, and this was what made Jake stuck, he thought.

  Because the Nordic spells he made were each spells that would accomplish something on their own. He would then piece and balance them together as a whole–larger spell based on their placement and which runes touched in the formation–where the two or more hexagons interlinked.

  And the more powerful enhancements, like those that added the element, involved songs that influenced the body, the spirit, and the mind–the land, the sea, and the sky, among other things. The story wasn’t about making something bigger, stronger, and better–it was more balanced to prepare, align, and then become. The looping of the songs often allowed for a larger energy investment, which was what allowed them to manifest into something greater.

  Or, in Berri’s case, a summon that established, bound, or defined and then unleashed or resolved the creature’s purpose.

  Berri sang as her auril heart beat, her voice carrying a profound love of the words, “Snake of holy light, come forth from your awesome slumber.”

  “Let silver scales and holy venom mark your sacred, magnificent form,”

  “And rise as the greatest serpent who swallows the endless sky.”

  It took three cycles of repeating her little story as auril gathered into the spiraling, repeating runes. Eventually, a large amount of auril in the area had combined with her own investment, and a bright silver snake established itself, large and powerful–Jake would even call it a Second Tier manifestation of a creature.

  Blood gave the snake a slightly bitter look, her own song and series of runes she was working on fizzling out. “And…of course she made an awesome snake manifestation on her first try.”

  Berri nuzzled her manifested creation. “Don’t be salty, Sister. You know you can probably make your own by just changing the words. A win for me is a win for you. Now hurry up and try it so you can help me make the biggification song next!”

  Blood did manage to manifest her own snake of holy darkness, a creature that would last for an entire minute even without any additional investment. Their hearts could continually sing the song to keep it going seemingly as long as they wanted. It was much like what Tanda could accomplish with her ravens.

  Ophelia struggled to make a manifestation greater than a tiny owl, needing to use her Expert Energy Control, trying to harmonize and infuse her will into moving enough auril to establish it. She eventually managed it, but it required far too much effort to be worthwhile. An auril heart was truly necessary to benefit from this new form of casting.

  As they were working on more spells, to Jake’s surprise, Amara contacted them. He activated the voice communication in the Refuge, speaking to the air as he sat next to Avalara on the stump. “Go ahead, Amara. What’s going on?”

  “It is not urgent, but I wondered if you knew. Our research benefit just increased–did you learn something, or am I going to have to hunt down someone else to figure out why?”

  Jake chuckled. “We just figured out a bunch about Celtic Runes. There’s no question this will be valuable for the guild. I’ll send you my findings soon, but I think I may have even more to send you soon enough.”

  Amara’s voice was filled with excitement. “How wonderful! We’ve long since been looking for some way to advance our beastkin brethren’s spellcasting capabilities. Well done, Milord–and this is with so many other recent findings! What did you learn this time?”

  Jake was happy to explain some of the details and what to expect. There was a clear benefit to Celtic Clergy, especially those with hearths, as mana could still be infused along with the auril, perhaps their faith energy being the glue that allowed it. Because Tanda had no difficulty accomplishing it, but Ophelia could not–at least not yet.

  Perhaps her narrative needed to include some imagery that matched her own Divine better. But it would take quite a bit more trial and error–as Tanda could easily do it for the Ember Wave spell and the Nourish spell, perhaps because she was Brigid and Cernunnos’s Clergy.

  His call with Amara eventually ended, and the girls were continuing to play with their songs and poems, trying to make new spells, with them taking down everything for transmission.

  Tanda beamed, her tail wagging lazily behind her. “Amara sure was excited! This was a big find for the beastkin.”

  Ophelia added, “And even the treants and more that activated their own auril hearts. The more martial warriors can create larger manifestations than ever or enhance themselves in bigger ways than just infusing the runes on their armor. No doubt the clergy can make more powerful auras that influence more, too.”

  Jake nodded. “This has big implications for their maximum capacity for strength. It does mean they can burn their auril much faster, but that is something they were missing. A bigger auril blade had limits to how much damage they could dish out.”

  Avalara smiled at Jake, her ears and her tail tuft fluttering behind her. “So hearing my songs was worthwhile, then?”

  “Your pretty voice is worth listening to all the time. But this did help a lot. Thank you.”

  “No problem! Now, I have my own songs to craft–do not allow the beastkin’s songs to burden you. I will let them all know to sing many songs and tell many stories. Just as we always did–but differently.”

  Jake was interested in her creating her own spells. “I can’t wait to hear what you come up with, and you’re right–I do have a lot to work on and test for the Nordic Runes and Demonic Runes now. It’s great to make some progress, even before we get access to the items we won over from the enemy. With those, maybe I’ll be able to make something truly fearsome.”

  It was an important step, and Jake was hoping to take some bigger leaps soon enough. He had a lot of decisions to make soon, but he now thought he had a deeper understanding of the bigger picture when it came to Runic Magic.