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Lindi quietly sighed and ignored her teacher as she brought the pot back over the fire. “I think it has something to do with the origins of my magic. It’s like it runs from the light.”

Her magic was strongest when there were shadows. She wondered if that said anything about Weldir.

Karlann picked up her mortar to shake the crystal dust into a jar, and the sound of chinking ceramic echoed behind her voice.

“No matter what Seraphina believes, I don’t think it’s our holy being that has blessed you.

Yes, she works best in darkness, but it’s the light she loves.

She blessed us in the sun, in the beauty of colour, and we are merely her vessels. ”

It’s why they all mainly wore white to act as colourless conduits for her addition of mana hues.

Their leader, their robes black as night with purple emblems written along their seams, was the overseer of her whims. And, when colours splashed upon them, it seemed even more vibrant with the contrast.

They believed there was beauty in darkness, just as much as light. In death as much as life. In decay as much as the bloom of a newly sprouted flower.

I think Weldir and Uxos would get along well.

“Speaking of the Elvish,” Lindi muttered as she tucked a curl behind her ear coyly. “No one has told me yet why the Anzúli are going out of their way to help them by protecting Earth.”

Karlann’s eyes, all three of them, narrowed on Lindi. “You’re evading the problem.”

Lindi grinned. “So?”

The woman tsked at her before giving a weary sigh.

“You could consider it a transaction of trade. When the Elves first introduced themselves to our realm via a portal, we traded knowledge and minerals. They were interested in our magical conduits and alchemy, and we their magic and mana stones.” Then Karlann turned to her mortar, now devoid of the ground-up dust, and put the pestle back in it in order to move it all away, only to pause.

She merely stared into the mortar’s bowl.

“We need their stones. It’s now a way of our life, as we use them to power our cities.

When the Daekura came and they were forced to shut down their portal to protect us from being infected, we lost that valuable trade.

When one of their gods recently opened up a portal and offered us mana stones in exchange for coming to Earth, it was difficult to refuse. ”

Both Karlann’s expression and dreary tone sunk into Lindi’s heart. “You were forced to come here?” she asked, her voice sympathetic, part of her wishing she could hug the woman.

“Huh?” Karlann’s head shot up, and she darted her face to Lindi.

“Not at all. I couldn’t think of anything better than leaving Anzúla and coming here.

Everyone who came to Earth was a willing volunteer, and there were many of us who were interested in the humans and their culture.

I came here because I had no ties to Anzúla, unlike many others.

” She then offered a bright grin. “Don’t worry.

We’re here because we want to be, however long that may be. ”

“I’m sorry,” Lindi grumbled, turning away when her cheeks warmed in embarrassment. “I didn’t mean to assume the worst.”

“It’s fine. I understand why you might think otherwise.

Most considered it insane to willingly run towards the dangers of the Daekura, but I guess that’s what makes us brave.

” Karlann then smacked the mortar on the table to grab Lindi’s attention, which she graciously gave.

The woman placed her hands on her waist and cocked a hip.

“Now, no more avoiding your terrible skills in my poor alchemy laboratory. Why don’t you work with Furir?

Her primary skill could be within your reach. ”

Lindi almost groaned out loud that Karlann had brought them back to this discussion – when it was so obvious she’d been avoiding it.

I don’t even know Furir or what their primary ability is.

Primary abilities. Every Anzúli had proficiency in just one skill.

Karlann was best with medicine and poisons, Elis in earth magic, and there was a sage who could make fire with nothing more than a snap of his fingers.

The last had stolen much of Lindi’s time, overly curious about her black flames and their cruel and destructive prowess.

She’d been the centre of unwanted attention from many, and had been poked and prodded one too many times than she cared for.

“I have not met Furir,” Lindi admitted. She inserted her hands underneath her apron skirt so she could safely lift away her pot from the hearth. “I didn’t even know there was someone here by that name.”

“You haven’t?” Karlann lifted a hand, and with a curled finger, she tapped at her pursed lips. “I guess I shouldn’t be surprised. She often hides from the rest of us, as if we’re an eye or ear sore. She seems to be more beast than anything these days.”

Lindi cocked a brow and gave her a judgemental head tilt. “Is that nice to say of another person?”

She lifted her hand away with a frown. “What? I only speak the truth. With her ability to animal shift, she spends more time digging in the dirt as a mouse than cleaning like the rest of us.” Karlann rolled her eyes. “Though she ‘claims’ she’s using her nose to search for useful herbs.”

Lindi paused just after she settled the hot pot down, and her gaze slid to the woman. “Animal shift? She can turn into an animal?” A shaky laugh slipped from her. “You’re playing with me. No such thing could be possible.”

“Of course I’m not playing. It really is a primary skill, as rare as it is.

” Then Karlann waved to the strips of bark in a ceramic pot.

“She’s the one who helps us seek out ingredients that are magical conduits that even humans can utilise.

Some humans don’t even realise they’re already using them!

If it wasn’t for her, we couldn’t have been able to share such information with other sectors who don’t have an animal-shifter. ”

Seers and scryers allowed all the Anzúli to speak to each other from across the seas through various mediums, such as mirrors, waters, flames, and crystals.

Lindi lifted a hand to her lips and drummed them with her fingertips. “Shapeshifting... I never considered...”

“Neither had I,” Weldir stated through the bond, his voice distant as always. “But this is something you should explore.”

Lindi didn’t jump, but she did startle after so much silence from him. It’d been a year – upon her arrival here at the temple, in fact – since she last heard from him.

The walls were too thin for her to speak with him freely, and being caught muttering to herself as though she wasn’t sane was unwise. So, they never conversed to preserve the lie that she had no connection to the being who gifted her magic.

She turned to Karlann and raised her arms in supplication. “If you’re so ready to get rid of my presence in your precious laboratory, can you introduce me to Furir, then? I’d like to meet her.”

A smile slowly curled Lindi’s lips. It must have appeared menacing because Karlann’s eyes narrowed into suspicious slits. The woman then laughed, used to Lindi’s oddness and playfulness, both often wrapped into one unique bundle.