And from what I understood, they t the requirent.
There were already nodes woven into the vines—points where mana naturally flowed and circulated—and anchor points built into the structure where the garnets could be set and linked without forcing the connection. Jael hadn’t just thrown those walls together; he had designed them with intent, shaping the network so that sothing like this could slot into place when the ti ca.
All he needed was the garnets and the chance to use them.
But that chance never ca.
"I’ll continue your work, Jael. Watch this poor goblin from the afterlife."
I muttered it under my breath, my gaze drifting toward the window, where the dark sky stretched quietly beyond the base, the stillness of night settling over everything.
Then sothing clicked.
Right.
The daily quests.
I almost forgot.
For a mont, I just stood there, letting that realization settle, before I let out a quiet breath. Fortunately, there was still enough ti left in the day to complete it, so I didn’t waste it. I stepped out of my quarters and got straight to it, moving through the tasks one after the other without dragging things out.
It didn’t take long.
By the ti I was done and made my way back, the base had settled into a calr rhythm, the earlier tension long gone, and as I approached my quarters, I noticed movent.
Zarah had just woken up and was about to step out.
"Chief."
She called out the mont she saw , and before I could respond, she closed the distance in a quick stride, then jumped slightly, wrapping her arms around my neck as she pulled into a hug.
I caught her easily, my arms coming around her without hesitation.
And for a mont, I just stayed like that.
Holding her.
Feeling the warmth of her body against mine, steady and real, the kind that grounded you without needing to say anything.
It was... soothing.
We broke apart slowly, and she looked up at , her expression shifting as she asked if I was okay. I answered, but sowhere between that and the quiet that followed, the distance between us closed again, slower, until it turned into sothing else entirely.
One mont it was just a brush of lips, light and uncertain, and the next it deepened, the pace changing as the tension we hadn’t addressed found its way out in a different form.
It didn’t stay gentle.
It built, shifted, and before long, we ended up tangled together on the bedding, the weight of everything—from the fight, the exhaustion, the relief—bleeding into it. And by the ti it settled, by the ti the energy burned out of us, sleep took over just as naturally.
Morning ca quietly.
I woke to the sound of knocking, steady and deliberate against the door, pulling out of whatever was left of my rest. It didn’t take long to recognize who it was.
Narg.
He had co to check on .
I sat up, letting the last of the grogginess clear as I answered him, telling him I was fine, before giving him instructions to pass along to the others—we’d be having a eting soon. There were things that needed to be addressed now that we had the garnets, and at the sa ti, I made it clear that we needed to discuss what he had been doing in the cave before I appeared.
It was of utmost importance that anything capable of benefiting the clan involved , not because I needed control, but because I needed awareness. And if it turned out to be sothing that leaned in the opposite direction—sothing that could bring harm instead of strength—then I would rather it be stopped entirely.
Once he left, I turned my attention back to the room, moving through the usual motions as I prepared for the day, Zarah already up and getting ready as well.
"Did anything happen while I was gone?" I asked, glancing her way.
She didn’t hesitate.
"Well... Thok was everywhere," she said, her tone carrying a faint trace of amusent. "He kept asking if there was anything he could do to impress you. He thought you were angry at him."
I paused slightly at that.
"So Gobbo stepped in," she continued. "Decided the best way to help him was to train him, make him stronger so he could ’earn your approval.’ Thok agreed to it."
She let out a small breath, sowhere between a sigh and a laugh.
"It didn’t go well. He ended up being more of a punching bag than anything else... and passed out before it was over."
That wasn’t the kind of update I expected.
But it was fine.
The gigolo getting beaten up was... good news.
"Anything else?" I asked, keeping my tone even.
"I went on a hunt with Talia," she said. "We were trying to find creatures like those monkeys that attack in groups, but we didn’t co across any. I did take down a massive bear, though... but Talia didn’t want to keep going, so we turned back."
She paused briefly, then added quickly, "It was Talia’s idea."
A small smile ford on my face.
She was trying to avoid what happened last ti—when she ran after Zivra with Zonk and Gobbo, and I had to step in. She rembered that. Took it seriously enough to make sure I understood she wasn’t acting recklessly on her own.
But the truth was... I hadn’t been planning to scold her.
Even if it had been entirely her idea.
And I didn’t tell her that.
Because this was the line I had to walk.
I wanted to protect her—but I couldn’t cage her.
If I told her to stay within the base, she’d grow restrained, hesitant, second-guessing herself. If I told her to go out freely, then I’d be the one pushing her into risks she didn’t need to take.
So I did the only thing that made sense to at the mont.
I said nothing.
"Is that all," I asked after a mont, "or is there sothing else?"
She hesitated this ti.
"...There is," she said. "An explosion happened."
I looked at her properly now.
"But it wasn’t anything important."
An explosion? That was definitely not sothing to brush off.
"What caused it—and where did it happen?"
"Well..." she began, far too casually for what she had just said. "It happened in Flogga’s workshop."
I stopped.
"What? Flogga got into an explosion?"
"Yes," Zarah replied, still composed. "She mixed sothing wrong, and it went off. It wasn’t that big, it just blew a hole in the building."
Just blew a hole?
Either Zarah was downplaying it because no one got seriously hurt, or her sense of scale for "not big" was completely different from mine. Because anything strong enough to punch a hole through a structure wasn’t sothing I’d call minor.
"I’m going to see her," I said, already moving toward the stairs.
"She’s alive and fine," Zarah added, her voice calm, almost reassuring, as if that alone should settle it. It didn’t.
It was like hearing your mother got into an accident and choosing not to check on her just because soone said she was fine.
I couldn’t do that.
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