I could feel the questions ready to burst out of Starna.

  She was trying to contain herself, but the tanned Elf was bouncing her leg against mine as she tried to decide which question to release first.

  “Doesn’t Amabus’s Tower have more magical artifacts?” I decided to start somewhere since my girlfriend was having trouble formulating a question.

  “Weapons is a better word.” The commander huffed. “If that fool would spend half the time on making people’s lives better than he does on building weapons, then we might not be living on a prison world.” She shook her head. “We specialize in understanding magic and how to integrate it into our daily lives.” Hinbali frowned. “Since the Camadt control the ports, we are able to keep most scavengers from stealing our artifacts. As they would break the moment that they tried to get them on a ship.”

  “What about the coast or an airship?” I looked around. The walls were still visible even though we were so deep into the city.

  “It’s a 5,000-foot drop into a very rocky coast.” The commander tapped her finger on the cloth seat. “There are some traders who are willing to fly that far for what we can sell, but there’s enough coastal predators around that flying up to the city is just offering yourself to be a monster’s meal.” She sighed. “It’s the same with an airship. The cost of operating one and the danger of attracting a Wyvern, or worse, is too great. Plus, New Kazadt is a no-fly zone for any type of flight.”

  “Where are your research labs?” Starna blurted out. “Like alchemical recipes?

  “A young brewer…” Hinbali rubbed her chin. “We have a sector that is devoted to gardens and growing the best plants we can.” A hint of mischief flashed in her yellow eyes. “Have you ever heard of steelweed?”

  “YES!” Starna almost jumped out of her seat. She put her hands in her lap as she settled down. “I mean, yes. But I’ve never been able to brew with it. It grows in high altitudes and needs the right amount of metal in the soil or else it dries out…” Her eyes widened as she took in the commander’s meaning. “You have steelweed here?!”

  “Yes—” A bump in the road cut off her reply. “Stupid potholes. I’ll need to get maintenance here to take care of that. Anyway, I’m sure I can arrange for you to take a trip to our gardens before you leave.” The Nevnua woman shifted in her seat as she tried to get comfortable again.

  “What about spells?” I turned my hand over and gathered a spark. “I recently awakened magical talent, but we haven’t had a lot of time to train.” I frowned. “Having my brother around is great, but I can’t seem to really gather any magic because of it.”

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  “We’ve had a lot of experience with having to Camadt proof our artifacts.” The commander thought for a moment. “But the process is expensive and takes a while. I doubt you’re going to be here long enough for us to commission a custom item for you.”

  “It’s okay, I just thought I’d ask.”

  “We have a few manuals that should be useful to you. You should be able to learn how to build up your magic even while being around one of the voids.” Hinbali bit her lip. “I know that our researchers have been investigating the Camadt for centuries to try to learn what allows them to absorb magic like they do, but as far as I know, we’ve never gotten close to figuring it out.”

  “What do you mean absorb magic?” I scrunched my brow. “I thought Camadt destroyed magic, grounded it out.”

  “No, it’s definitely absorption.” The rhino-woman smiled. “We learned that a long time ago, but it seems that even a baby has an infinite amount they can absorb, with the entire race not having a single drop of ability.” She let out a nervous chuckle. “Could you imagine though? If a Camadt could use the magic they absorbed? That would be…” She swallowed. “Magnificent.”

  “Have there been any experiments to do that?” Starna shivered.

  “Master Krav told me about a Succubus breeding program from before the time of the Camadt War, but that didn’t go well.” Psider shook his head. “Camadt are even more fanatical about racial purity than the Elven Senates, which isn’t much of an issue because there’s only a handful of races that are viable options for them to mix with.”

  “Like?” I started going over the different types of females that my brother had spent time with. One of the reasons our dad hadn’t been as strict with him as he had been with the rest of the crew when it came to responsibility was that we didn’t think he had to worry about leaving a child behind at any of the many ports we’d been to.

  “Succubi and Inccubi are an easy one. Rumor has it that the Kimor were viable, not that there have been any around in a long time. Cat Sith and Manticore are two more I’ve heard mentioned, but I’ve never heard of a child actually being born to one.” Hinbali sighed. “Nevnua aren’t compatible.”

  “O-kay…” I scrambled to find a way to change the subject.

  “Nymph should be in theory, but since only queens can reproduce, it makes it hard to test.” Psider chuckled.

  Hinbali frowned. “Yes, and the Camadt and Faetiros have been hostile or at war since the Camadt War, so it makes that one a very difficult theory to test.”

  “Right… Um, about the magical artifacts, isn’t there a way that we could buy a prebuilt one?” I patted the pouch on my belt. “We made a little bit of money helping clean out the cultists in Gedu.”

  The Nevnua woman laughed. “I’ll ask around, but almost all of those pieces are custom made, so you’d have to compensate the original commissioner as well as pay extra for the piece.” She tilted her head. “But I’m sure if you have enough gold, I can connect you with some people.”

  “That’s great!” Starna smiled. “Sectum broke his sword and could really use another one.”

  “It’s okay.” I patted the pair of diamond-bladed daggers on my hips. “I can use these just fine.”

  “I’ll see what I can do.” Hinbali motioned at the giant white building the vehicle was heading towards. “We’re almost there!”

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