This had to be Arken’s mail sprite.
Stepping over the glowing, semi-corporeal canine and into my townhouse, I unraveled the scroll to confirm my suspicions.
My turn to harass you, Captain. Hope you had a decent day off.
She’d kept it short and sweet, clearly just looking to show off her latest skill in complex arcana. And to be fair, I was impressed. Mail sprites weren’t particularly easy to summon, or maintain for however long the fox had been waiting for me.
I started boiling water for tea before scribbling back.
Well, well. Look who learned something new in class today. It wasn’t much of a day off, unfortunately.
The fox is cute.
I didn’t have the energy to think of much else, but still found myself smiling despite the day I’d had as I sentmysprite back to her. Let her little friend take a break for the evening.
Isn’t he precious?? His name is Bluebell.
I shook my head as I poured myself a cup of tea, still deliberating on the idea of finding something stiffer at the bar down the road. Instead, I wrote back to Arken.
Of course it is. Apologies in advance if I fall asleep on you, Little Conduit. It’s been a long day. I am quite impressed that you’re summoning mail sprites within a day of learning how, though.
I could hear the teasing tone as I read her quick response, absently wondering what she was doing up so late. It had to be nearly two in the morning.
What, is it supposed to be hard or something? I haven’t quite figured out how to make him look real, like your raven. How in the Hel do you do that?
Shewouldnotice something like that.
I’m going to go out on a limb here and say that patience isn’t your strong suit. I think Bluebell looks very pretty as is, but I’ll teach you, if you like.
Her response was immediate.
Yes, please!
I chuckled softly, fairly certain that she just wanted an excuse to show off to her peers or the scholars.
I’m free after four tomorrow. Swing by the guard headquarters in the admin district, and we’ll put young Bluebell to work.
Yawning, I began to stretch and shrug out of the uniform I’d put on in haste earlier this afternoon.
Excellent... I’ll stop pestering you now that my ulterior motives have been met.
Rest well, Captain.
I fell asleep before I could even reply to her, quill still in hand, hoping that her dreams were as sweet as this newfound, unexpected friendship of ours.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Arken
Today’s lecture in Arcane Theory was hitting a little too close to home.
The subject matter at hand? The difference between human Resonance and the magick of the Aetherborne.
“It has yet to be determined whether the difference is primarily physiological, or if it’s more based in the compatibility of the magicks themselves, but one thing has been proven: The human form cannot sustain itself on aether alone,” the scholar droned on.
It was once theorized that the only limitation on human Resonance was the amount of aether we held in our bodies. Unlike the gods, we needed blood to live—our hearts and organs relied on the more mundane, organic fluid as a means totransport oxygen, circulate nutrients, and carry away the waste products of our slowly decomposing bodies.
It was a bit morbid to think about it that way—but that was the primary difference between the humans and the Aetherborne, was it not? Their flesh was eternal, their bodies did not age or degrade with the passing of time, and no blood ran through their veins—only aether.