Fer as if something was terribly wrong, but she couldn't figure out what it was - and once again, the feeling faded. Fog was too difficult; everything would slip in and out of the grayish mist that surrounded her the moment she tried to grasp it.

  She was safe, at least. The hexagram under her feet assured her of that much; gleaming silver atop the featureless dark gray, pulsing with power - so much power! But outside the shimmery curtain of darkness it projected, there was nothing but that mist; ly unpleasant, but... fusing, founding. She couldn't make out anything in its depths.

  Occasionally she reached down tht side, feeling a phantom twinge of pain; but nothing was ever there. The sensation bothered her, but only a little; slightly less than the rest of her situation. It would e and go, like everything else. How many times had it repeated? She wasn't sure.

  Time seemed to pass without her realizing it. The ambient light didn't show any ge; her day nht, but some odd half-dim twilight that barely illumihe rolling curtains of mist that brushed up against her dark dome.

  Sometimes she heard voices, but they were often so faint and indistinct she couldn't tell whether they were real or merely phantoms of her imagination. Every now and again, though, they would pierce through the otherwise peaceful silence of... whatever this pce was.

  "You'll be fine, I promise." It was Ravenna's voice, in a half-whisper; Fern smiled, and tried to respond - tried to reach out, to go past the curtain, to find her - but something barred her way. She couldn't seem to make a sound; and her body... wouldn't mht. She couldn't go past the edge of the hexagram; her body refused to move wheold - when she asked it to.

  It was alright, she thought after a moment. Sitting down aing was easier, anyway. It didn't bother her; she was already tired enough as it was - that's strange, she mused, how did I get so tired? But her partner said she would be fine, so she surely would! After all, Ravenna wouldn't lie to her.

  Fern closed her eyes a out a soundless breath.

  Time passed again.

  Time passed.

  Again? Fern thought. She looked around at the grayish mist and the long, unduting form hidden within it. At least she assumed it was long. She couldn't quite tell what it was - maybe there were scales on it? It seemed likely, with the sinuous way the thing moved, but she only saw parts of it, brief glimpses. And it was very dark, darker than the mist.

  Well, whatever. It wasn't b her, and she wasn't in a position to bother it. She wasn't in a position to do much of anything, really, and had been for... for...

  How long had she been here, e to think of it? And when did she get here?

  Where was 'here', for that matter?

  The thing in the mist moved suddenly, curves bobbing up and down. It drew Fern's attention away, just before a pain speared her right side and drew it baward, thhly shattering her tration. She hurriedly checked herself with one hand, but there was nothing there that would have caused the spike in her nerves.

  The unanswered questions disappeared into the mist, like everything else. Fotten.

  She stared listlessly out into the mist, brow furrowed ever so slightly. Something still wasn't right. ... Still? How long had things been this way?

  One of the indistinct voices sounded in the mist. Then Ravenna's, more clearly: "It's going to be okay. Just rex."

  Fern rexed, her expression serene, her heart calm again. Whatever was going on, it didn't matter. Her partner had things under trol. She took a breath, a out, her eyes closing on their own. Her body seemed heavier afterward; so heavy, like she had just finished a long journey and was just finally getting to rex. Just like Ravenna had said; rex.

  And she...

  What was she doing?

  Wasn't there something she was supposed to...

  She almost had it. But then it vanished into the mist again; and she was too heavy, too exhausted to pursue it.

  Time passed again.

  Fern was uneasy. Her barrier was holding, but she had no idea how long it would st.

  Every now and then the bck serpent would slide out of the mist and grind against the shimmering curtains of darkness. She could feel the tact as if it was her own skin being touched, and it was a disgustiion: harsh and abrasive, yet also oily. Whatever else the serpent was, with the strachwork of metal ing around its scales, it was something unspeakably foul.

  The acrid odor burned her nose and made her eyes water, and only occasionally did she have the strength to lift a hand to herself up. She could see the bck tide pping at the outside of her dome, held back at the perimeter of the hexagram; too viscous to be water, with an iridest sheen to it. It could almost have been a pretty thing, if not for its dreadful smell.

  Fern didn't know what was going on, and it made her nervous. She didn't remember casting the barrier. She k was hers, somehow; that much wasn't iion, for reasons she couldn't expin. But it was the only thiween her and this unknown threat. Was it some sort of spellcraft opposing her? A magical beast, perhaps? She felt like she should know it, but it just refused to be reized.

  Her head hurt so much, like someone was squeezing it in a vice grip. Everything was so... slippery. Her thoughts refused to ect, like they were sliding out of her grasp whenever she tried to put things together. If only she could figure something out, what any of this was, where this pce was, how long she'd been sitting here, weeping from the inescapable smell...

  But every time she tried, it just...

  Faded.

  She was so, so very tired. This was all too much to bear. Her eyes started to close again. She couldn't-

  "Just a little longer," Ravenna's voice promised. "I'll see you soon, okay? Just hold on. You're almost there."

  Almost where? She thought the words with all her heart, but they refused to e out. Why couldn't she just say what she wao say? Why was everything so difficult?

  "It's done." That wasn't Ravenna; it was a quieter, more serious voibsp; "Give her some room."

  Fern's eyes went wide as the gray mist burned off in an instant, revealing the serpent's full length - and it was terrifyingly massive. But it was already dying; thrashing around, leaking the oily substahat was washing against her barrier. Something had pierced through it in multiple pces, leaving gaping wounds - and as she watched, it heaved o time, opes jaws in a silent scream, and colpsed, the impact creating a wave of oily... was it actually blood?

  And still her barrier held, miraculously, as the bck tide crashed into it, leaving streaks for a moment before they slowly slid off.

  The sky was getting brighter too; tht to even look at. Golden rays started to shine down, and wherever they fell, the bck blood burned away in an instant. Fern tried to hide her face, to cover her eyes, but her hands refused to move. It was sht - painfully so, washing everything else out of sight in the overwhelming golden glow.

  No more serpent, no more blood. Even the curtains of darkness disappeared, the hexagram along with it. She couldn't see anything at all. It was just-

  "Tht," Fern mumbled, barely audible, between chapped lips.

  "Oh thank the gods, you actually made it." Ravenna's voice - the real thing, not some dreamy echo. Her hand against her cheek, soft, warm, weling.

  The light dimmed with a quiet shf of curtains, to her relief. "Frankly, she shouldn't have," came that voice again - the serious one. "Poison like that goes for the brain, and o gets up there, it doesn't usually stop. Force of will dey it a bit, but... this goes well beyond that."

  Poisohought, fused. Her mind was still trying to grapple with the reality of... well, reality. "Where," she murmured, then after a moment, "who."

  "Should I expin things?" Ravenna asked, her voice softer as it was directed away for a moment.

  "Mm, it's probably fine, now that she speak. I wouldn't go too deep into the details though, she still o rest."

  "Okay." Her partner's haly rubbed her face, fiips stroking along her cheek and temple. "Fern? I'll try to make things simple. We're in Port Finally, in one of the inns - upstairs. A nice quiet room. We were going to the port - do you remember that?"

  Fern's eyes narrowed slightly in thought, the room going from blurry to only mostly-blurry. Port. Journey. Ravenna. Liarted f between the words, turning into thoughts, thoughts triggering fshes, fshes merging into memories-

  "Yeah," she murmured. Her head hurt again. Remembering was su effort. "All the way... north. From your... your pce." Her eyes closed. "Tired. Thinking is hard."

  "Oh..." Ravenna sniffed quietly, and Fer somethi sprio her other cheek before it got wiped off. "If you o rest, darling, that's- that's perfectly alright. You've been through a lot."

  "Mmh." Her brow wrinkled just a little. "Who... is she?"

  "Ah- that's yuardian angel, dear. Ember, I think you said?"

  A quiet step on wooden floorboards, just loud enough tister in her ears. "Ember Grace, yes," that serious voice came again, a little closer this time. "I'm a healer... of a sort. Enough of oo take care of you, anyway."

  Fern opened her eyes. The room was still blurry, but she could make out Ravenna h over half of her vision; and iher half, a different figure. Height unknown, build unknown, clothing an indistinct smear of different colors; but bright fme-red hair gleaming in the light from the window, that much she could she clearly enough. It seared into her mind, into her memory. Ember Grabsp; Guardian angel. "Thank you," she murmured softly. "For... care."

  "You're wele. I'm still surprised you made it, but versation wait. You should probably rest."

  She left out a breath, softly. "... Yeah. Rest. Sleep."

  "Everything's going to be okay, darling," Ravenna half-whispered. A few more droplets hit her cheek and were wiped off. "I'll watch over you while you sleep - I won't go anywhere."

  "... mmkay." It was barely more than a breath, her eyes already closing.

  "You probably shouldn't-" she vaguely heard Ember say, but it trailed off, or faded into silenbsp; Sweet, sweet silend darkness; a wele embrace, sier all, she knew ohing for sure.

  The shadows are my friend.

  Fer.

  "-push yourself with promises like that," Ember finished with a sigh. "Look - I know we've just met and all, but you haven't left the room since we got here. I don't want to have to py doctor for two, so do us both a favor and go get yourself something to eat and drink before you fall over. Okay? At least that much, if you're not going to take a."

  Ravenna slowly slid her hand away from the sleeping woman's cheek, a out a sigh of her own. "... I know," she murmured softly. "I get it. It's just..." She paused, her jaw tightening. "If I hadn't let her fend for herself, if she hadn't pushed herself so hard - none of this would've happened. It's all my fault - it's because of me she nearly died, Ember." The word was almost a hiss in its iy, but she kept it low and soft for Fern's sake. "The least I do for her now-"

  "-is make sure you don't fall apart too," Ember interrupted, sternly. "I'm serious, mage. Surely you don't think I haven't seen lovers at bedside before, and what they do if left to their own devices."

  "Wh- no, it's not-" Ravenna's cheeks colored a faint pink. "She- we're not..." A lengthy pause. "We... don't have anything that... solid between us. Not in so many words."

  "Yeah, okay, if that's how you want it," she returned with a subtle roll of her eyes. "But I'm serious. She just fell asleep, you're not going to miss anything. Go feed yourself, lovebird."

  The dark mage huffed quietly - but she stood. "It's not like that," she grumbled as she moved to the door, though her heart clearly wasn't behind it. Her hand on the doorknob, and the movement of the door itself, were whisper-quiet.

  Alo for her sleeping patient, Ember sighed, looking down at the brown-haired woman. "Whatever secrets are hiding in your head," she mused softly, "I io learn them for myself. You owe me that much, at the very least."