Talau slipped from Oskar’s grasp, which was fine by him. He had no plans to fight for control of the power in the middle of an earthquake. The real problem was that the surrounding dunes were collapsing around them. They had to abandon the hose leading to the Wayspring, and he felt the Wayspring dissolve in all the chaos.

  Flustered, Oskar wished he’d been able to watch exactly what happened; he’d never gotten the chance to watch a Wayspring disappear with Sora active, and despite the ground shaking, he felt the loss of potential knowledge.

  Lifting a few feet off the ground using a bit of his power instead of fighting to balance himself, Oskar took stock of the situation and his companions. Erik was wide eyed and had dropped his center of gravity, his single arm stretched out as if to grab hold of something that wasn’t there to hold him steady. Panny came up out of the ground near him, and Oskar could see Sara looking irritated at the interruption in her endless naps. Both Kobolds were fine, and though clearly surprised, neither one looked panicked. That helped calm Oskar’s fear somewhat.

  Guessing this isn’t exactly unheard of.

  // No idea on my end. I have no records of such things happening in my own memories. //

  The shaking settled, Oskar called out to check on the others. They responded with a kwinn, a nod, a thumbs up, and a middle finger. Shaking his head, Oskar used Sora to climb just above what remained of the collapsed dunes to look around. He was pretty used to feeling life all around him in the desert, but he could now see so much more than he had ever seen.

  Off in the distance, he saw a black and green scorpion to the southwest that was the size of a minivan. It was working its way back into the sand, and Oskar faced a stark reminder that he still didn’t know enough about this world despite the hard months he’d spent here.

  Dozens of other creatures were doing the same, thankfully none quite as intimidating as the scorpion. The small leathery birds he’d seen most often who might have been nesting somewhere were in the sky as well, circling around looking for displaced creatures they could eat.

  Another bird, a pterodactyl looking creature by the looks of it, was much further off in the distance, diving from much further in the sky. It was a lot bigger than the other birds, and to Oskars’ surprise, it looked to be suffering from the same type of sickness or rot the Griffith Vulture had been suffering from.

  That’s not good. Should we be trying to do something about that?

  // Want me to check your calendar for an opening? //

  Good point.

  // I have a lot of those. I’m like a trident. //

  Wait, do you think I could turn my spear into a trident?

  // I mean, maybe? I guess that’s up to you. Sounds kind of neat, I guess. //

  He reluctantly allowed himself to slowly drop towards the ground. Below, Penny was going under the sand and the now gone Wayspring after their syphon hose.

  Well, since I see nothing we should be specifically worried about, I guess it’s time to stop mid-air theory crafting and get to walking again.

  // At least you got to fly some. You just mentioned you wanted to fly more. //

  Yeah, I know, and you said this world has a way of giving you what you want in ways you don’t want it. You were right. Was that why you brought it back up?

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  // I dunno. Doesn’t sound like something I would do. //

  Ignoring the PUB, Oskar landed and walked over, giving Sara a quick petting while Penny was still underground. The big cat pushed into the scratches and didn’t stop purring, even when he pulled back and shifted his spear back over into his right hand.

  I shouldn’t feel guilty for giving attention to one of my companions.

  // No one told you to feel guilty. You did that to yourself… but you did just deal with an earthquake, so I’m sure Penny would forgive you for wanting to pet a cat. //

  Slowly, cautiously, Oskar called Talau back to him. Like the Sora in the sky near Bluebottle, it had a little more “personality” to it. The power felt much stronger than usual, like the earthquake had evolved it in some way. The Seed Forge inside him responded to this higher quality Talau, drawing it in with the Sora that remained from the night before, shifting the balance of power.

  Now that there was more than just Sora inside the Forge, it became clearer to him what the Forge was capable of. Grow, Empower, and Absorb were an over-simplification, but he’d known that much from the get-go. He could, one day, use any or every part of the Forge. Nothing would hold back the magic held within the Seed Forge except his Oskar himself.

  And that’s quite a limit as things stand. I don’t know exactly what’s holding me back, but everything depends on me overcoming my limitations.

  // I think you’re doing a great job, but Valla and this world don’t plan on giving you the time to figure it out in peace. //

  The sand swirled as Penny came up, the hose in her mouth. She shook off the sand and looked to Touwon, proud of herself. He grinned at her and took the hose from her gently. He tossed her a treat he had ready for her, and she caught it in the air with a happy little kwinn.

  “Two things, guys. I saw a huge scorpion back behind us, and a bunch of birds. That wasn’t what was weird, though. One bird, a big dinosaur-looking one, was suffering from the same rot as the Gryphus Vulture.”

  “Questions upon questions,” Fox grunted, looking back behind them in the direction Oskar pointed with furrowed brows.

  The Curiosity Hydra grows another head.

  “Obviously, we can’t go searching the world for corrupted creatures right now, but there’s a reason it’s happening, and we can’t ignore that forever.”

  Fox replied, sounding frustrated. “We leave problems behind us chasing the problems before us.”

  “Want to go for a walk to calm down?”

  The glare she shot at him had him apologizing immediately and putting his hands up in surrender, but he caught her smirk when she turned back around to Touwon, saying something in Kobold that made Touwon laugh.

  Why don’t you ever translate Kobold?

  // I only know the curse words, like you and Spanish. //

  I know more than just the curse words!

  // I’m not going to count ‘Your mother is a library.’ That doesn’t even make sense. //

  It’s still more than just curse words.

  ***

  They walked a few more hours until the two PUBs worked together to calculate they had gotten close enough. Thankfully, they were no longer walking with the wind at their backs, and therefor didn’t have to go as far out of their way as they thought.

  A quick plan drawn out in the sand with a clawed, purple finger had Fox moving within scouting distance to the lantern camp. Penny would follow underground and behind her to relay if there was trouble. If it looked like she couldn’t get away, Fox would tap out the number of enemies on the sand for Penny. Depending on how far away the camp was and how many enemies there were, they could be there to help in less than a minute.

  Faster if Oskar went alone, so that was to be avoided outside of a last resort.

  Pointlessly, Oskar stopped her and said, “Look, just be careful, okay.”

  Luckily, she didn’t take it the wrong way, and to show she’d be fine, used her Fade ability as she moved away. If not for knowing about the ability and her being in his Collective, he had to admit he might not have seen her coming, even with his Druidic ability to feel life and the elements shifting. He could, however, see the disturbance or “void” the ability caused, and he wondered if that was in any way similar to how Valla’s shadow creatures hid from him.

  // You’re mentally rambling. //

  It’s a defense mechanism.

  // Is it working? Are you no longer worried about her? //

  No, PUBs. It is not working.

  Beside him, Touwon and Erik seemed fine, but Erik was deathly still and Touwon was fidgeting aimlessly with his Bracer. Opposite signs of the exact same thing.

  Kneeling down, Oskar took the opportunity to pull out the T-handle and tighten the screws on his foot. A sudden rush of adrenaline from Penny had Oskar standing, securing his precious T-handle back in his bag and pulling his spear into both hands.

  Beside him, Erik stood, but Touwon took off ahead of them before Oskar could even relay what had happened. Nothing further from Penny, but Oskar could feel her chasing after Fox.

  Damn it, I guess we’re going, he thought as he and Erik chased after Touwon.

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