Sweat was dripping down Anaya's chin as she focused all she was on the stone and on the magic. It was the hardest spell she had ever even thought of attempting, but the past few weeks had made them a lot easier. The first time they'd cast it, it had all but backfired when her magic and strength had faltered almost as soon as they'd begun. The only thing that stopped it from being a complete disaster was the fact that Tiu's and Madiza's magic were... well, if not strong and steady, since the spell was beyond their abilities too, but stronger and steadier than hers.
The weeks had done wonders to all their skills. They were all good enough that they were only getting better very slowly nowadays, but this had forced them to use everything they had and then some. They had gotten better because they had to get better.
Anaya would have been proud and amazed at her new skills if she wasn't so very tired.
She caught her wandering thoughts and channeled it all back to the spell. They were almost ready. She gave it one last push, and let the magic fade away, the last of it seeping into the soul stone.
She let her attention go and looked up at the other two. They didn't look quite as unsteady as she felt, but they were just as tired. Anaya smiled at them, a silent thank you. It was all she could give, but it was enough for the others. They knew what she meant.
'It's done, this round,' she sent thoughts out to Kaneq, weaving them into the tapestry in their shared mind, letting almost the full force of her weariness into the weave, as well as the stone in front of her.
The bond had gotten stronger over the weeks, too. She was weaving their fabric with practically no effort now, although she still couldn't do it for long periods of time. And the instances Kaneq shared more of herself than what you would hear a person talk, it made her dizzy fast. And yet, she felt like she didn't truly know Kaneq yet. That there was so much more to her that was under the surface that they would only be able to share after the anchoring. It was infuriating: their connection was already deeper than was even possible with any of her friends, thanks to literal emotion sharing and telepathy, but she still found it uncomfortably lacking. It was supposed to be more, she knew it intuitively, and it was grating that it was taking such a long time being unable to make it so.
She knew this was nonsense. The only thing she had been doing was working towards making it so.
Only a moment later Kaneq answered, her presence vibrating the tapesrty. 'Well done.' She wove colors of pride on the loom. 'Bring it to me to see. I think we may be ready.'
Anaya was about to answer, but Kaneq continued before she had the time, already sensing what she had been about to say.
'Tomorrow, Anaya. Now you should rest. All of you should rest.'
Anaya nodded, out of reflex, and the gesture made itself visible in their shared mind.
"Kaneq thinks it might be ready. I'll take it to her tomorrow."
The others nodded. Tiu dragged herself to her hammock and up into it, not bothering to get up. Madiza did get up, gave Anaya a tired but warm hug, waved good night and left for her own room.
~x~
They waited for Kaneq under the uroxoo tree. It was the place they were now meeting, the most practical place in town. Kaneq could have fit in other places too, she didn't have to be huge if she didn't want to, but it was most comfortable for her to be somewhere with plenty of space. The first few times a crowd had gathered to gawk, but as time had gone on passersby barely stopped to watch Kaneq land, then continue on their way.
Kaneq had been away from town for most of the time. She had come back every few days, to work her own magic on the stone, but otherwise it had seemed best for everyone if she didn't stay in the town. She'd stayed close, though, only ranging far enough that their connection wasn't interrupted. The radius had grown significantly, but she still remained close. It she went too far for the connection to work, she said, there was a chance she wouldn't find back. They weren't anchored yet. The only time she had gone farther was when she left for the mountains, to find a place to do the anchoring ritual. She had found one she believed would work, but it had taken her four days to find her way back to the right place and time.
Anaya could feel her getting closer. Then a glint off her scales in the sunny sky. A few minutes later Kaneq landed next to them.
In their minds they wove a greeting. It wasn't a hello, exactly, it wasn't any word, but more a feeling of warmth and affection and the joy of seeing each other again.
Anaya took out the soul stone from her pouch and held it out for Kaneq. She looked at it for a moment, then closed her eyes, feeling it. Wordlessly she asked Anaya's description of how the stone had felt during and after the last spell, and she sent it to her in as much detail as her then-tired brain had memorised.
The strings on the loom hummed.
'I believe it is ready. Strong. And it knows both of us already, that it always good. We may have attempted this already before, but I was not certain. Now it is ready enough I believe we will be able to do it. It will be hard, still, with a new stone, but we will be able to do it.'
Anaya smiled at her friends, then nodded. The questioning looks on the faces of Tiu and Madiza turned to joy and relief.
'You should take another night to recover. I know the spells have been hard on you. Tomorrow we will go.'
~x~
Anaya knocked on the Madam's doorway, a little hesitant, but knowing it was the right thing to do.
"Come in," a voice came from inside, and Anaya pushed the heavy curtain aside and stepped inside. The Madam looked up at her as she entered. She bowed at her briefly, but respectfully, then straightened. The look on the Madam's face didn't give away anything of what was going on through her head.
"I wanted to thank you," Anaya said. "I know I was never your favorite student, and that this whole thing with a dragon must have caused you trouble, or at least been bothersome to deal with. But since we came back, you have been incredibly helpful when you didn't have to. You didn't have to let us take time off our classes, or chores, or tell the teachers to not be too hard on us when we failed at our spellwork because we had been using so much magic already on the stone. I don't know why you did it, but thank you. I also wanted to let you know that tomorrow morning we're leaving with Kaneq, to perform the anchoring ritual. I mean to come back home as soon as possible, but I don't know when that will be."
She bowed again, then turned to leave. Just as she put out her hand to pull the curtain aside, the Madam's voice stopped her.
"My father always told me stories about the dragons. He remembered a time when they were not quite common, but they were seen occasionally."
She paused.
"I always thought those stories were amazing, that the dragons were wonderous creatures. I always wanted to see one myself. And I would like to see those times return."
She fell silent again. Then a small, amused smile appeared on her lips. It was such an unfamiliar expression on her face it startled Anaya.
"And besides, my task is to make sure you learn all that you need for adulthood. If a dragon is what it takes to get you to learn your magic, and learn to focus, then so be it." The smile disappeared, although it lingered as a twinkle in the corner of her eye. "As long as you don't encourage this sort of reckless behavior in others, of course."
Anaya smiled.
"Of course," she said, bowed, and left.
~x~
The wind whipped her hair around her face. In her mind she saw what Kaneq saw, or at least flashed of it. Their bond wasn't ready for constant vision sharing yet. Tiu's arm was on her side, there to stabilize her and give her strength. Somewhere behind her she could hear Kimo's voice. She couldn't make out what he was saying, thankfully, most of the voice taken away with the wind, but the excitement in the voice was audible in the notes that reached her. Whatever it was he was going on about was Madiza's problem. She knew how to shut him up more efficiently than Anaya could anyway.
They had all come with, of course. As much as Anaya wanted, it hadn't seemed right to leave any of them home, not after everything. They had taken even Kimo along. He had found the new stone, after all. But they had made him swear he would behave himself and not be a huge pain.
Instead she focused on the movement of the muscles under Kaneq's scaly back and sides, the view from high up in the air as the snowy caps of the mountains were getting closer at a speed that would have been mind-boggling still not so long ago. She had been riding with Kaneq only a handful of times since they had returned to Estirão, but she was getting used to it. She may not be an anchor, yet, but she was already a rider.
And then they were on the high, snowy peaks, not yet where they were going, but gliding over the white icy ground. They weren't far now. Butterflies fluttered in Anaya's stomach, and her grip on Kaneq tightened as an ancient temple came into view from behind a peak, on the other side of the valley, and Anaya knew that was where they were going.
________________________________________
I have no idea what's going on with the schedule anymore. But here's a part for you, fourteen hours late. I don't know how many more parts there will be, and I don't know when. So... come back to check soon?
Either way, the topic is The Anchor.
~matleena
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