Side A – Yasgrid
Yasgrid found it somewhat odd to speak to her existence as a Sorceress. The conversation she was ensconced in had drifted over and nudged up against the topic but had spun away onto other matters and observations just as quickly.
Which was why Kyra had brought it up again. Part of the impetus for their trip had been to seek out Naosha to discuss what Yasgrid’s status meant. On the surface that seemed somewhat absurd. Naosha was many things, and undeniably powerful in her own manner, but the sort of things Yasgrid had touched on seemed so apart from the solid normality Naosha projected that Yasgrid wasn’t sure there could be any dialog between them at all.
“Sorcery follows many paths,” Naosha said. “More than a few of which are perilous, some in the extreme. Depending on the nature of the paths you have walked and the ones you plan to walk, secrecy may be your best option, though there is strength and stability in openness as well.”
“You’ve spoken with Sorcerers before, haven’t you?” Osdora asked, though there was a certainty in her tone.
“There are not many of them,” Naosha said. “Few in any age, and fewer still who have ventured as far as our Yasgrid has. While she is sure to share some commonalities with those who have come before her, I doubt there is anyone who can tell her exactly where her roads will lead.”
“Do they need to lead anywhere?” Gossma asked. “I mean, you were pushed to do what you did because this Elshira was a menace and a half. With her gone, you could step away from the dangerous stuff, right?”
“I could,” Yasgrid said. She’s had her fill of peril and world shattering stakes.
“But you’re not going to?” Osdora was far less certain of that statement for all that she was entirely correct.
“I…I’m not sure I can explain it but I think I’m not at the end of a journey but more the beginning,” Yasgrid said. “Nia found something that filled in a missing piece of herself in Shatter Drumming. I still love drumming, but it was never that for me.”
“And Sorcery is?” The was no disapproval in Osdora’s tone. Her voice held an odd note of hope more than anything else.
“Not what I can do,” Yasgrid said. “I’m not fully sure I even know what that is yet in fact. No, it’s more who I can do things for, if that makes any sense?”
“It does,” Naosha said with an understanding nod.
Osdora simply chuckled.
“You should have taken that bet,” Osdora said.
“Bet?” Kyra asked.
“This one,” Gossma thumped Osdora on the shoulder, “wanted to wager on who each of the girls would pick if they had to choose between the two of them.”
“Why would they have to pick?” Kyra asked.
“Because this one’s sure she’s going to wind up with no daughters at all,” Gossma said.
“I am not,” Osdora said. “What I said was I could understand if they both picked Mrs. M’Kellin as she is far better at the whole ‘mother’ thing that I ever was.”
Yasgrid hadn’t heard Naosha snort in laughter before. She wasn’t sure Naosha ever had snorted in laughter before.
“I can’t possibly have you all fooled that deeply?” Naosha said, shaking her head in disbelief.
Side B – Nia
Nia knew better than to argue with the spirit of the Darkwood. She felt very proud of that. It showed, she felt, fantastic personal growth. That she was also distracted by hearing Osdora’s voice in the Darkwood’s mild scolding was possibly a large part of what kept her from speaking before her brain fully processed what she’d heard, but she did process it! So, improvement!
“I hadn’t intended peril this time,” she said. “But I also wasn’t avoiding it all that much either. I acknowledge I should work on that.”
“I expect your lovely partner will appreciate that,” the Darkwood said.
“You know Margrada?” Nia asked, surprised though on reflection she had no reason to be.
“Through you at first and then through her song,” the Darkwood said. “Your love for her spoke true, as our encounter confirmed.”
“I…hmm, I don’t know why but I thought you couldn’t sense things that were outside your borders? We’ve always been told that you’d only protect us if we remained within your embrace and that if we left were would be a part of you no more?”
“I am a part of the world and all of the parts are connected into one,” the Darkwood said. “It is true I have little influence in places crafted by other gods, and I can protect my children far more when they are within my boughs, but I have never denied you passage in or out of my borders. No hedges block your paths, and while my borders are well guarded I have only rarely turned away those who would enter in good faith.”
“Then…oh, right, you didn’t forbid us from leaving, that was the Elders and the Mayors and the people in charge who wanted to make sure we stayed under their control.”
“You may make what rules for yourselves you wish,” the Darkwood said. “I am shelter and home and sustenance, but it is not within my scope or purpose to determine the paths you follow or the ones you blaze for yourselves.”
“And…” an idea occurred to Nia, one she hadn’t even imagined until that moment, “you would welcome in outsiders, if they came in good faith? I mean as more than just visitors?”
“The boughs and burrows, the brooks and bright glens are open to all who walk within me in good faith,” the Darkwood acknowledged. “Those who are already my children may choose to see things differently, but that is something to be discussed with them.”
Which would complicate things.
Nia was pretty sure making a home with Margrada in the Darkwood would entail an endless array of problems.
But it was possible and something her thought were happy to play with as the Resonance began to fade around her.