Weekly Digest 98 - (#310 - #313)

Sealing The Dungeon

Each of the mine's doors were finally closed, wooden bars slid into place onto brackets to keep them from opening, blocks of stone stacked against the doors for emphasis, and stone pulled from the ground acting as backstops to secure the doors from swinging open at all. The stone around the first door had been reinforced with a binding of earthwisps for a pace in all directions. The reinforcement wasn't as extensive as the one in her own demesne, but she didn't have a core to keep it imbued here.

The multiple layers of barriers seemed to give the militia who had moved the prepared blocks of stone in place peace of mind. No doubt they thought the barriers would be more than sufficient to keep dragon born abominations away from them.

In Lori's experience, this was foolishness as long as the dungeon—or in this instance, the dragon shelter—needed air vents to draw in fresh air to keep people from asphyxiating. The openings could be entered by small dragon born abominations, which had been the bane of her defenses.

At least, they hadbeen the bane of her defenses. Hopefully, her newest addition to her defenses would allow her to stop worrying about them.

Deil and Tackir settled second enormous wispbead into place atop one of the two receptacles set in the third alcove, touching the metal contact point on the bottom.

"All right," Lori said, nodding in satisfaction that she didn't have to be the one to move the wispbead this time. "That's enough for now, you two. I'll take it from here, and then we should be safe until the dragon finally passes." She paused. "Well, at least until the water runs out."

"We have plenty of water, Great Binder," Riz assured her. "Rian's been making sure to keep having barrels built and shipped here. The water we have should last us a week, and Lord Yllian has someone watching to make sure the water is being rationed properly."

Lori nodded absently. "Tell them as soon as I finish here, I'll come over to provide heat to cook by." She paused. "They did remember to bring the cooking things, didn't they?"

"Yes, Great Binder. Right now the ingredients are being prepared for dinner, and water being pulled up from deeper in the mine for washing. Though Lord Yllian is asking what we do with the wash water?"

"I'll get to that after I'm done here," Lori said, kneeling down next to the newly-placed bead to touch the metal contact point of the third receptacle next to it. Through it, she could feel the bindings of earthwisps, darkwisps and lightningwisps being imbued by the second bead. "Keep an eye out for interruptions."

The darkwisps were as well as they could be, and the earthwisps were continuing to reinforce the rock, so she focused on the lightningwisps, finally activating the binding. The lightningwisps began to consume the magic she had imbued into them, and though she heard nothing, Lori imagined the sound of sparks crackling in the air as the activated binding made subtle lightning flow all through the air in the area that the lightningwisps covered. She sniffed at one of the vents from which the air drawn in, but there was no smell of burning wood, so she'd positioned the binding properly and the first door wasn't currently on fire.

Nodding to herself, she let the wire go, eyeing the large bead that was imbuing all the bindings. With the number of other bindings it was supporting, as well as the larger scale of those bindings compared to the ventilation bound tool, she had no doubt that the second bead would run be consumed at a far greater rate than the first one. It was why there were so many spare beads in the alcove. With the bead in place, she took the other wooden panels for the receptacles and slid them into place around and on top of the second bead. The panels were far more for this receptacle, because if it was removed from the metal contact for any reason, all the bindings it was imbuing would dissolve. Given that it was imbuing their primary defenses…

Yes, they wouldn't want that bead to move out of place.

Lori grabbed her staff, imbuing the binding of lightwisps on it. "All right," she said. "Come on, let's see about getting ourselves some lunch."

Riz nodded. "Uh, do you want me to have Deil or Tackir to come here and watch to make sure no one touches your things, Great Binder?"

…

"Yes, get them both. I'll wait here."

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Once the two carpenters arrived and had been told of the importance of not letting anyone touch Lori's things, the importance of immediately getting her if they smell smoke, and the importance of screaming loudly if a dragon born abomination suddenly appeared, Lori went with Riz towards the main area of the shelter. Located next to the food storage, it was where the population of the demesne was intended to reside for the duration of the dragon's passing.

Lori was reminded how much this wasn't her Dungeon as she saw how dark the shelter was. The only light was coming from two of the three wisplights in the demesne, which had been placed in the middle of the space of the shelter to illuminate the space. Everyone was sitting along the walls of the shelter, probably both to keep people behaved and so that no one was blocking the light. The third wisplight was off to one corner of the shelter, illuminating the small food preparation area, next to where someone was cutting up ingredients for what was probably lunch.

The relative darkness meant that when she entered, the binding of lightwisps on her staff immediately made the room brighter and drew everyone's attention to her. She ignored the murmur of the conversation around her as she walked directly towards the vicinity of the third light. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw someone stand and start walking purposefully towards her, but a woman next to him grabbed the back of his shirt and several nearby men grabbed his arms, one of them slapping a hand over his mouth.

The people working on what was presumably their next meal were cutting up hard-looking meat—probably fresh from the cold box of the food storage and still partly frozen—pealing tubers and cracking grains of vigas glanced up at her. She kept her eyes on the knives they held until Riz interposed herself in front of Lori.

Satisfied, the Dungeon Binder knelt down in front of the stone stove. Lori held her staff on the crook of one elbow as she rubbed her palms together, moving briskly until the heat of friction arose. Quickly, she claimed and bound the firewisps that resulted, then held up one hand towards the light anchored to her staff, claiming and binding lightwisps in the air. Lori formed the firewisps and lightwisps together into a single binding as she imbued it, drawing on her connection from her core for the magic.

Once she felt the binding was sufficiently imbued to last long enough to cook something, Lori reached inside the stove and anchored the binding to the bottom of the firebox. Drawing back her hand, she reached down to her belt knife and drew out the blade. With one finger touching the blade, she reached back inside and tapped the tip of the knife until she felt the binding. She activated the binding, then quickly drew back her hand as a bright red light and heat began to emanate from the firebox.

"That should be enough to cook with," Lori said as she sheathed her belt knife. Well, tried to. She got it on the fourth try. "Treat it like a real fire and don't stick your hand inside. if it runs out before you finish cooking, tell—" Lori resisted the urge to reach into her belt pouch and feel around for a rock, "—Yllian or Riz, and they'll bring it to my attention." Had Yllian factored the cooking water into the drinking water ration?

…

Lori decided to just assume he had, and hoped they didn't run out of water as a result.

She vaguely heard their words of acknowledgement as she looked around, trying to remember what she had to do next. Oh, right, the wash water. Yes, that was a problem, wasn't it? They might not have enough water to use on washing—and bathing too—but they did have some water flooding the deeper part of the mine that… well, was probably relatively clean. At the moment, anyway. It certainly wouldn't stay that way if that was where they would throw away their wash water.

Which meant Lori had between now and until the kitchen finished cooking to make something to deal with the issue.

Did they even have anything to draw that water with? Didn't they just use all the buckets to plant the crops they'd taken from the fields?

…

Sighing, Lori absently checked her own demesne, and if Rian had—

She stopped. There it was. The binding of lightwisps on that was anchored to the rock she'd given Rian had been place atop another binding of lightwisps on a little stone shelf next to the door of her Dungeon. It was signal to seal up her dungeon and activate its defenses.

Lori straightened up, grabbing her staff. "Erzebed, with me." She began hurrying back towards the alcove where she had left her things, her temporary-Rian following after her.

She found Deil and Tackir leaning against the wall opposite where the buckets of uprooted crops was… probably because she and Riz had taken the light with them when they had left. Ah… well, at least they were positioned to intercept anyone heading towards her things, though they were unlikely to smell burning wood or hear any dragon born abominations coming unless they were noisy.

Yes… she might have to anchor down more lightwisps when she was done.

Claiming some lightwisps from the air around the illumination on her staff, she anchored it to the wall opposite her alcove before she went over to her niche—he pack was still in place—and lay down. "Don't let anyone disturb me," Lori told Riz. "Same conditions as before. If that idiot doctor comes here—" distantly, she heard what sounded like a heated exchange, though because of the echoes in the tunnel she couldn't tell if it was coming closer or not, "—feel free to use violence to keep him away."

Riz smirked. "Yes, Great Binder."

With one last nod, Lori closed her eyes and reached through her connection to her demesne's core, through the core's connection to the wisps of her demesne. She altered the binding of lightwisps the rock was resting, activating and deactivating it to make it pulse, letting Rian know she'd received the signal. The voids of wisps near the binding moved, and eventually one reached out and removed the rock—Rian, presumably, unless he'd assigned someone to do it. They knew she would be making alterations now.

The first thing she did was look for Lori's Ice Boat. She found it on the riverbank a little ways down from the laundry area, surrounded by voids of wisps that were most likely people. Lori reached out and found the binding of waterwisps that kept the boat's hull solid, and almost dissolved the binding before realizing that would mean the hull simply became ice. Ice that was the coldest it was possible for ice to be. That… wouldn't be safe to handle.

She searched and found some firewisps in the air, claiming that and binding it. Lori  made the binding radiate heat as she moved it down towards the boat, claiming the other firewisps in the air that resulted and integrating them to the binding. As the firewisps reached the boat, she integrated them to the binding of waterwisps.

Then she slowly altered the binding on the hull make it change state from ice to water.

The ice tried to draw in heat from its surroundings, which the firewisps provided, otherwise the air would have become dangerously cold, cold enough to liquefy air. From the way the voids of wisps recoiled from the boat, the air still grew chill enough to be startling. Soon however, all of the hull had been reduced to water. There was just enough water on the wooden frame and planks of the boat for her to be able to distinguish it as the voids of wisps all surrounded the remains of the boat again and, after a few moment, raise up the boat and start carrying it towards her Dungeon.

Lori claimed, bound and anchored lightwisps to the ground to draw a trail towards her Dungeon before she began moving the bindings of darkwisps she had made before leaving her demesne. Because she had claimed them while it had still been dark, the darkwisps covered most of her demesne, with only the areas around her Dungeon where she had lighwisps anchored to buildings, the uppermost reaches of the demesne's sphere where there had been stronger concentrations of lightwisps, and along the river where she had moved the darkwisps so they could navigate being exceptions. Lori formed the darkwisps into a proper dome over her demesne, obscuring the light from the sun.

She claimed the darkwisps that appeared beneath the dome, binding them with the dome above and making sure the darkwisps were in contact with the same contact point as the binding of lightningwisps across the entryway at the entrance of her Dungeon. The wire imbued the darkwisps directly from her Dungeon's core, sustaining it continuously. Now no matter what magic the dragon would throw down at her demesne, the darkwisps would act as an ablative layer, consuming imbuement to blunt and resist whatever wisps, thoughts, vistas or life was thrown at it. And since the dome was wired directly to her core, it would have all the imbuement it could possibly need.

The dome meant that, at best, all she would need to worry about as sources of damage to her demesne's infrastructure would be physical objects such as dragon scales and other objects falling from the sky, fierce winds, and violent dragon born abominations. While damaging, the scale of the damage would be far smaller than whatever the dragon could cause directly. Lori waited for the voids of wisps carrying the frame that had been Lori's Ice Boat to get inside her Dungeon, double checking that all the pipes and entrances were sealed.

Finally, the voids of wisps entered her Dungeon, and there was a change in the distribution of airwisps that she recognized as the front door being shut. This was confirmed when the binding of lightwisps on the rock she'd given Rian was again placed on the little shelf, even though they'd only discussed that doing so was the signal for sealing her Dungeon. Lori made the binding of lightwisps on the shelf flicker again in confirmation. She would need to talk to her lord about this later. Using the signal like this hadn't been in their discussions!

With Her Dungeon finally sealed, she began to make the final alteration for its defenses. The stone floor in the middle of her Dungeon's entryway began to sink. Some of the stone was displaced to further seal off the door of the dungeon from the entryway, leaving the only balcony-like stone platform three paces above the door open to the entryway. Behind the balcony, in the stone above the door, vents drew in fresh are for the Dungeon.

The sinking pit made a shear wall under the balcony, even as a gentle slope formed on the end towards the entrance of the entryway. Once the pit had sunk deeply enough, Lori opened a pipe from the water hub shed that she had sealed earlier, and the pit began to fill with water. When the water reached a sufficient depth, she sealed off the pipe again, then configured the binding of lightningwisps, anchoring it to the stone on either side and the water underneath. Finally, Lori altered the binding of lightning wisps from one that merely irritated and repelled bugs to one that produced circulating currents of lightning in the air meant to kill anything that passed through it… just like the binding she had placed on the vent grates at the entrance of the mine.

If this didn't keep bugs out… well, then she'd have to see what else she could come up with. Hopefully, Rian and the militia would be able to repel whatever did come through.

Lori sighed in relief as she opened her eyes and sat up with a wince at the hard stone beneath her. It was finally done. Both her Dungeon and this mine had been secured against dragons to the best of her ability.

Now all she had to worry about was someone in the shelter with her trying to kill her.

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Between Friends

Karina stopped humming 'Sleep Without Colors' as her younger brothers and sisters all finally fell asleep. Cif, Jivoy, Malli and Siithia were lay on the bedrolls they'd put on the floor of the alcove her family had claimed. Normally it would be hard to get them down for a nap. However, they were all tired since they'd been woken up when it was still dark and had needed to carry all of their family's things into the dungeon. Her brothers and sisters hadn't put up a fight when she'd had them lie down and rest.

Her mother had been lying down on one of the alcoves benches, eyes also closed, but she turned to look when the humming stopped. Her mother gave her a smile and nodded, and her mother let out a sigh of relief.

Karina got to her feet carefully so she wouldn't disturb her sisters beside her. "Inay, I'm going to go and help Shana get everyone settled down. Is that all right?"

Her mother hesitated. "Are you sure, Rina? Aren't you tired?"

Of course she was tired. And hungry, since everyone had been too busy to make breakfast, and even now people were still bringing in what they could so they wouldn't have to leave anything out for the dragon. But she was eleven now, and the eldest of her siblings besides. She had to be responsible, like her inay and itay always said she should. "I'm fine, Inay. I'm not sleepy yet, and Shana will probably need help," Karina said.

"Well… if you're sure."

"I'm sure," Karina said. She walked around her siblings and leaned down to give her mother a kiss on the cheek, which made her mother smile. "I'll be back later."

She left the alcove, heading towards where she thought Shana's alcove was. The magic lights on the stone ceiling were bright as noon, the way they always were, making it easy to find her way. It would probably be hard to sleep later, though. She remembered that Wiz Lori had made it darker last time.

Karina passed by several alcoves, looking inside. Most were empty save for people's things, since a lot of the grown-ups were outside helping bring in the big heavy things they didn't want to live outside, but there were some people. Auntie Johzi was sleeping in one, while her daughter Bharelli was playing lima with Big Yerart. In another, Auntie Astolp was sitting on the bench as she used her distaff to spin thread. Her belly was already big and around from her pregnancy, and would probably get even bigger. A few alcoves down, Yhalta was sitting one of the alcove's benches, holding hands with Matoy. They'd been doing that all the time ever since wiz Lori said they could promise that they'll get married, even when they were fighting. It was weird.

Shana's alcove was noisy. Ateh Koyan and Ateh Kayas weren't there, probably too busy helping carry things to help her take care of the other children who used to live in River's Fork, so Shana was having to settle the other children down by herself.

"Everyone, sit down," Shana said, making that face when she was trying to act like Wiz Lori. It was the same face Wiz Lori made, but without the scowling as she tried to get them to sit down on the benches and niches to get settled. "I know you're all hungry, but people are busy right now. If you'll all settle down, I'll speak to Lord Rian about getting everyone some fruits, but I won't do that until you all settle down."

That quieted them down a little, but not all off them.

"Tota! I want tota!" Adgwyne cried, calling for her mother.

"I want to go home!" Riga cried, stomping his feet.

"I'm hungry!" Loveld cried.

"Yaaaaaahhh!" Febe cried with a big smile on her face, just enjoying being loud.

They were making the other children who had settled down fidget. Karina knew that if they weren't reined in soon, the other young ones would start joining them, and the older ones would start yelling at them to be quiet.

Karina stepped into the alcove, giving Shana a nod. Shana noticed and nodded back as before she stepped forward, picked up Adgwyne under her arms and lifted her up. The little girl's crying cut off briefly in surprised as she was tossed into the air, and Shana let go of her just long enough to wrap her arms around the girl and catch her in a hug. Shana nimbly spun in place as she rocked from left to right and back again, patting the little girl's pack gently. Adgwyne always needed comforting, and while anyone she trusted would do, she always called for her mother when she was upset.

"Riga, you know you can't go home right now," Shana said, nodding to Karina for taking care of the little girl. "We are taking shelter. If you promise to behave now, I'll ask if you and anyone else who wants to can go with them the next time the Coldhold goes there. Loveld, I can't go an ask Lord Rian for food if I'm not sure you're all going to behave. Febe, if you're going to yell, yell into a pillow." She bent down and picked up a pillow, presenting it to the younger girl.

Febe ignored it. "Yaaaaaahhh!"

For a moment, Shana stood still, clearly thinking. Then she nodded. "Anyone who doesn't want to eat breakfast, speak up so I don't ask Lord Rian for food for you."

"Yaa—!" Febe cut off immediately, putting both hands on her mouth.

"No one?" Shana said. "All right then. Riga, you can come with me to help me carry the food, so you can be sure I ask Lord Rian if you can go visit later."

Riga sullenly got to his feet, but he didn't argue. He knew Shana would do what she said. She'd been the one taking care of them, after all, even if she was only Karina's age.

"Karina, could you make sure everyone behaves while we go?" Shana said.

Karina nodded and gave her friend a smile, still rocking Adgwyne from side to side. "Sure, I'll take care of it."

"Thank you. Come, Riga, let's hope Lord Rian has time for us."

She felt a twinge of annoyance as Shana turned away. Still no smile. Even Wiz Lori smiled sometimes, but Shana… she only ever made that face.

Putting her intention to get her friend to smile out of her mind for a moment, Karina leaned back so she could hold out Adgwyne and look her in the face. "Feeling better?"

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After a while, Shana and Riga came back, both carrying baskets with fruit in them. The fruits were wet and cold, meaning they hadn't come straight from the big cold rooms.

"All right everyone, line up," Shana said, taking both baskets and holding them out. "Riga can get first because he helped me carry. The same rules as during meals, you can get two fruits each as long as they're not two of the same fruit, or one of any other fruit and three hairyblueballs."

Everyone lined up as Riga got a happyfruit and a golden bud. They all knew the rules. The littlest one went first, because while they ate they'd be quiet. The tallest one would go last. Karina knew it wouldn't just be the children that Shana was taking care of who'd be lining up.

Sure enough, the line got longer and longer as more children saw there was food. Karina worked together to make sure everyone didn't cause too much of a ruckus. It helped that many of the other children brought their game boards. Soon there were people spread out in front of the alcove, sitting on the ground and playing pincer or that new game Shana had shown everyone, jump. Everyone liked jump. It was a lot quicker than pincer, which meant people got to play more of it, and it needed fewer stones than any other game.

Once everyone had gotten their fruits, Shana gave Karina the basket, which still had some in it. "Can you go and make sure everyone gets some?" she said.

"Sure. I'll be right back," Karina said as she took the basket, giving Shana a smile.

Shana gave her a nod in return, and Karina almost sighed.

Ciy, Jivoy, Malli and Siithia were still asleep, and mother was snoring slightly on her bench. Karina decided not to wake them, just leaving them some fruit in the alcove on the other side of mother.

Then she went looking for any other sleeping children.

Kanan was just waking up when she got to him, and she left him with a pair of fruit and his lap as he yawned and rubbed at his eyes to wake up some more. A few alcoves down, the sisters were sleeping next to each other on a single bedroll, and someone had put a blanket on them. Fortunately, Karina remembered what they liked, leaving the fruits above their head. Walking around, she checked all the rest of the alcoves, but there didn't seem to be anyone else sleeping. But there were still four fruits in the basket! Who hadn't eaten, yet?

…

Oh, right!

"Here, Shana," Karina said, holding out the basket to her friend. "Your turn to pick."

"Oh, thank you Karina," Shana said, taking a golden bud and a happyfruit. Karina took the other happyfruit and the remaining pink lady. Setting the basket aside, the two sat down on the ground—the benches were occupied—as Shana watched to make sure everyone was staying close to the alcove and no one was sitting on the ground further than the nearest pillars. It was sort of allowed to go that far, but any further and you were getting in other people's way.

Karina bit into the pink lady, exposing the flesh underneath. Despite how hungry she was, she took small bits, chewing for as long as possible to get every drop of flavor.

Next to her, Shana started pealing the golden bud, using a fingernail to make a cut in the rind that she peeled open. With slow, careful movements, she pealed back the rind so it was mostly one big piece, exposing the sweet yellow wedges inside. Putting the rind on her lap, Shana pulled apart the juicy fruit inside into two uneven halves and held out the bigger of the two.

"Here you go, Yoshka," she said, and Shana's young cousin took the fruit, pulling off the little wedges and happily stuffing them in her mouth.

Shana ate her fruit more slowly, but she also put each piece into her mouth whole, closing her eyes as she chewed. Soon, her half of the golden bud was gone. She reached down to start eating the happyfruit

Karina took one last bite of her pink lady, then held it out what was left to her friend. The other girl frowned, but Karina just moved the fruit closer to her face.

"Come on, just take it."

"Well… then, thank you Karina," Shana said, raising it up to her mouth and taking a small bite.

Karina nodded in satisfaction, and looked down to begin peeling her own happy fruit, but suddenly couldn't because there was a pink lady in front of her face. She tilted her head to look around it at her friend. "I gave that to you."

"And now I'm giving it back." Shana was making that Wiz Lori face again. "Come on, just take it."

She took the pink and made a small bite. Then she held it out to Shana again.

The two continued eating like that until the pink lady was gone.

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Waiting For The Boat

Slowly, the alcoves around them began to fill up with people. They were tired, sleepy and hungry, and many went straight to the alcoves their family had claimed to go to sleep and let someone else take care of the rest. Others were still bringing things down, carrying more beds into alcoves or other things down to the third level where they had the dungeon farm. Shana and Karina made sure the children in their alcove didn't get too rowdy and disturb anyone. A few of the children had gone back to their own alcoves to sleep too, but they'd left their game boards so the others could keep playing. They knew Shana would make sure it got back to them properly.

Everyone was finally starting to behave, with only a little tending on her and Shana's parts. Karina was able to let herself doze a little, her back to a pillar so she could keep see everyone if needed. She wasn't sleeping, she was just resting her eyes! Her ears could hear everything, and she'd open her eyes if she heard something that she needed to do something about!

After all, her eyes opened right away when she heard Shana stand up and put on her reed tsinelas. People had started making those again when summer had started and everyone felt too hot to wear boots. They were a bit scratchy but a lot cooler, and it was all right to get your feet wet while wearing them. Only Wiz Lori didn't wear them, but she was Wiz Lori.

She supposed Wiz Lori really liked wearing socks.

"W-where are you going…?" Karina asked. That wasn't a yawn. She wasn't yawning, she was taking a deep breath.

"I need to speak to Lord Rian," Shana said. "I believe the boat is returning with more children."

"Oh," Karina said as she straightened and started getting to her feet, wincing as the feeling of the parts of her that had fallen asleep starting to move again. Wait, when had Ateh Koyan and Ateh Kayas gotten here? "Do you want me to go with you?" Everyone had settled down now, and where either playing board games, watching people playing, or playing with the little carved beasts that Shana had gotten from somewhere. She needed to find out if they were going to have food soon, before anyone got really hungry and started complaining. They'd gotten fruits, but she didn't think anyone else did…

"I shouldn't need any help."

"All right, I'll come with you so you're not lonely, then." Karina scrunched up her face to get it ready, then gave Shana a big smile.

"I… would appreciate that, then." She gave Karina a nod of thanks.

Another failure. But Karina would keep at it. Shana had to smile eventually…

Shana nodded at Ateh Koyan and Ateh Kayas, who nodded back. Karina gave them a smile, and the two Ateh smiled back too. See, that's what you were supposed to do!

The two off them headed upstairs, feeling the breeze on their faces from the air coming down the stairs. There were more people in the alcoves since she had rested her eyes, aunties and uncles she recognized as those who used to be militia. Why were they asleep? There seemed to still be work being done.

When they reached the dining hall, Karina looked towards the kitchen. She was glad to see that Auntie Johzi, Auntie Connie, Uncle Puti and other uncles and aunties cutting up food and getting the big stew pots ready to cook. There was already a pot on the stove, but no food smells yet. But there would be. There'd be stew and tubers and flat vigas bread and fruits and everyone would stop being hungry.

Lord Rian was at one of the tables near the doors of the dungeon, holding the flat tablet made of bone that Wiz Lori had made for him. He had a stick that was charred at one end and was using that to draw on the tablet. No, not draw. Write. He was writing. Lord Rian said he was going to teach all the children how to do that soon so they could learn to be merchants and scribes, but Karina wasn't sure she could learn.

Ateh Mikon and Ateh Umu were sitting on the same table, spinning ropeweed fibers into thread. The two of them were always near lord Rian when they could. Karina really didn't understand why some people made fun of them. Ateh Umu always looked lonely, even when she was with Ateh Umu and Ateh Riz. Ateh Mikon was always trying to make her smile, which was always so nice of her. Karina had heard the aunties saying Lord Rian should make them honest women by marrying them, but she didn't think they were the type to tell lies.

Shana walked right up to Lord Rian, Karina trailing behind her. "Lord Rian," her friend said, and he looked up from what he was dra—writing and gave Shana and her a smile, which Karina returned.

"Shana. What can I do for you?"

"I believe the Lori's Ice Boat is on its way back from River's Fork," Shana said.

Lord Rian blinked, tilted her head, and nodded. "Ah. You can feel their… it's called life, right?"

Shana nodded. "Yes. Several concentrations of life are moving along the path of the river."

"Well, that's good to know. How much longer before the dragon gets here?"

Shana took a deep, slow breath, and Karina saw her hands started to shake. Karina reached down and took her hand, giving it a reassuring squeeze. She kept squeezing until the shaking stop. Lord Rian glanced down at her hands, but didn't say anything, waiting for shana to start talking again.

Eventually, Shana said, "I believe we still have half a day, perhaps a little less, though that is purely from the intensity of how the life in my body is reacting to its approach."

Lord Rian nodded, and let out as small sigh. "Thank you. I know she did it to keep us safe in the long run, but since we can't actually see it because Lori blacked out the sky, it's hard to say how much longer we have before it gets here. Still, it's good to know we still have some time. In your opinion, do you think Lori's Ice Boat will be able to arrive here before… it does?"

Shana's hands started shaking again, and Karina grabbed both of her friend's hands. The left hand started to jerk as it tried to move, but Karina didn't let it. The right hand tried to jerk as well, but she held firm. Finally, Shana said, "I believe so. However, this is an uncertain estimate. It believe it would be safer to signal Binder Lolilyuri to seal the Dungeon as soon as the boat arrives. She should have enough perception to not seal off the Dungeon completely when you do, but she will know to start devoting her attention her." Karina glanced at her then warily let go of one hand.

Lord Rian nodded. "I think so too. I'll ask some people to be ready to bring the frame of the boat into the Dungeon when it gets here. At worse, we can remove the steam driver and the cladding, if she doesn't melt the hull…"

"With your permission, I will wait at the docks to take responsibility of the children the boat is most likely carrying," Shana said.

"All right, as long as Karina goes with you," Lord Rian said. "Karina, if she accidentally falls into the river, scream for help and then go after her so she doesn't drown, all right?"

"Yes, Lord Rian," she nodded, giving him a serious look so he knew she was serious.

He returned the serious look with a nod, then broke out into a smile. "Thank you Karina. I feel better knowing Shana has a friend like you with her."

Karina grinned widely to return the smile. See Shana, you can smile after nodding!

"We will be going then," Shana said. "While it will be some time before they arrive, I would rather not miss them, and the children are currently resting, so it is safe enough to leave them alone."

"Be safe, you two. Hopefully the food will be ready by the time you get back. If needed, I'll have fruit brought out again for everyone."

The two headed for the nearby door of the Dungeon, walking hand and hand. At the long tunnel beyond the iron-covered doors, the two pressed up against the walls to make room for people carrying in more beds, benches, tables, and other wood furniture. The walls of the tunnel glowed with colorful, glowing pictures made of light that Wiz Lori and Lord Rian had made showing edible plants. Karina had already memorized each picture so that she'd know to gather them if she ever saw any.

Outside, the sky was black, even as Karina and Shana began to sweat from how hot the air was. Above them, there was no sun, no moons, no stars, not even clouds. It was very strange, but Lord Rian said it was something Wiz Lori had done to keep them safe, so she wasn’t worried. Wiz Lori Light came from the magic lights Binder Lori had put on the corners of houses, and outside of the old shelters and the baths.

The carpenter uncles were at the bath houses, working on something with their tools, as Shana and Karina passed them. She gave them a wave and a smile, but they didn’t seem to see. That was all right. They were busy.

They climbed up the steps over the stone flood wall that Wiz Lori had made. Even though she was wearing her reed tsinelas, Karina stepped carefully, eyeing the stone steps for moisture. As someone who caught seels nearly every day, she’d learned to be careful of wet rocks underfoot. Once they reached the top of the wall, Karina hesitated. The flood wall blocked the light from behind them, and the stairs beyond were dark. They’d all been told—she especially, for some reason—to not go seeling when it was too dark to see through the water since it was dangerous.

Shana, however, reached into her belt pouch and drew out a source of light. The plain smooth rock of the sort easily found along the river banks glowed in her hand. Holding the stone in her hand, Shana held it out, shining light on the stairs in front of them and the stone dock beyond. The water on either side glimmered with light, but Karina didn’t feel like risking falling into it.

“Come on,” Shana said, leading the way this time. “Don’t worry, I won’t let you fall.”

“I can swim,” Karina reminded her. “Lord Rian’s taught me.”

“I am aware. Still, I do not think you would enjoy a swim right now, no matter how hot it is.”

Well… no, she wouldn’t. She and everyone else had been taking at least one swim a day since summer started, but that was when they could see through the water. Even though she knew how deep the water was—she’d swam there before—there was something about doing it when she couldn’t look down and see her feet…

There probably wouldn’t be any swimming in the dungeon while the dragon was passing. Binder Lori had made it very clear that none of the water was for that, not even the cistern in the dungeon farm, which was so dirty−they were all told—that anyone swimming in it would get sick. Well, it probably wouldn’t be needed. It was always cool enough in the dungeon, especially after Lord Rian had told Wiz Lori.

The two of them walked to the end of the dock, and Shana put down the glowing right so it would light up the dock around them. Her friend turned to look downriver and put on a patient face, clearly intending to wait however long it took.

Karina sighed, took off her tsinelas—because it was dark, the stone dock was still cool since the sun hadn’t been shining on it—and sat down with her legs crossed, then took her tsinelas, held them against the back of her head, and carefully flopped down on her back. “Sit down,” she chided. “you’re just going to hurt your feet waiting like that.”

Shana glanced down at her, giving her that Wiz Lori look. “Your clothes are going to get dirty,” she said.

Karina shrugged. “Help me dust it off?”

“Of course.”

Shana looked at her a little more, then smoothly slipped off her tsinelas, and carefully sat down with her back against one of the posts they used to tie the boats to the dock, resting against it so she could continue watching the river.

Together, the two waited for the boat to come home, ready to greet whoever it would bring.

––––––––––––––––––

The New Girls

Karina felt someone nudge her shoulder gently but insistently.

"Karina, time to wake up. I can see the boat."

She sat up, lifting her head from the tsinelas under her head. The stone of the dock has hard against her back. "…wasn't sleeping," she managed to get out as she stifled a yawn, breathing deeply through her nose as she kept her lips closed, even as her jaw opened as far as it would go. She wiped the sweat off her face with the hem of her dress

"It's fine," Shana said. Her face and pale white hair were wet, as if she'd splashed herself with river water to get the sweat off. "You should sleep while you can, since Binder Lolilyuri might not remember to dim the lights on the second level, meaning people will likely be confused about when to sleep. I'll need help keeping watch over everyone at all hours of the day if that happens."

"I wasn't sleeping," Karina assisted. She'd just been resting her eyes again. She got to her feet, trying to slap dust off her clothes from lying on the ground.

"Here, let me do it," Shana said, Karina held still to let her. The other girl started from Karina's hair, running her fingers back and forth to dislodge dust, and proceeded to work her way down. Karina felt her moving down the back of her dress, holding out the skirt so she could strike it to knock the dust off. "There, that should be enough. Be read to grab the rope, Ateh Clowee is almost here."

They both turned back to the river. A light was moving through the dark, and they could hear the strange splashing of water of a boat moving against the current. As the sound grew closer, Shana raised up her glowing rock, waving it back and forth. Eventually, the boat floated into place next to the dock, and did something to make the boat suddenly come to a stop.

"Catch!" Ateh Clowee called, tossing a rope towards the two of them. Karina caught the rope, and began to wrap it around the post sticking out of the dock, wrapping it around the two pegs near the top the way she'd seen the ferrywoman do.

In addition to the Ateh Clowee, there were two other children in the boat.

Karina frowned. "I thought you said there were six children left in River's Fork?" she asked Shana.

Shanna sighed, then shook her head. "There's nothing we can do about it from here. Binder Lori will take care of them. Hello Yrria, Tena. Welcome to Lorian Demesne. While you're here, I'll be taking care of you."

"Ateh Shana?" Yrria said. Karina recognized her from when her family used to live in Lorian Demesne. Yrria was about two years younger than her, and was trying to get to her feet on the boat, only to sway and lose her balance as the boat shifted under her.

"Be careful," Karina said. Shana raised up the glowing rock so that they'd have more light. "Stay on your knees, it's easier to move that way. Come over to me, and Shana and I will help you up onto the duck."

Yrria and Tena both nodded nervously. They both looked scared, and kept glancing at the darkness around them.

"Don't worry," Karina assured them with a smile. "The dark is just something Wiz Lori did to protect us from the dragon. Lord Rian says if it can't see us, the dragon can't hurt us as badly. So don't worry, the dark means we're safe."

The two relaxed slightly on at hearing that, but it still took some work getting them out of the boat. Ateh Clowee eventually had to pick them up and pass them to Karina on the dock. She was strong from days spent helping Shana with her farming and her own seeling, so she was able to pull the two younger girls to the docks safely.

Yrria and Tena each had a pack. The packs had seen betters days and wasn’t very full. Each probably contained clothes, but there was also a small pillow and a bedroll each, probably from River’s Fork. The two children held their packs and pillows and bedrolls fearfully, as if they thought someone would take them, and it was lucky they didn’t drop any of them and it fell into the river.

“Do you want me to help you carry some of that?” Karina offered.

Yrria shook her head fiercely. “Inay said we should carry our own things so they don’t get lost,” the younger girls said. Tena nodded in agreement.

“All right, then. Did your Inay say anything about helping you pick it up to carry?”

As Karina helped the two pick up their things and carry them so nothing fell, Shana turned to Ateh Clowee. “Lord Rian said you should beach the boat near the laundry area,” she said. “I think he had someone waiting there, so he should know you’re back. Beach it and they’ll work on getting the boat dismantled and brought into the Dungeon.”

Ateh Clowee nodded. “I thought I saw someone there,” she said. “Will you two be find with the children, Karina?”

Karina nodded. “Yes, Shana and I will be fine.”

“Then I’ll be going then! If anyone falls into the river, yell, all right?”

Shana undid the rope around the post, and Ateh Clowee did something to the handle she was holding. The ice boat began to move backwards, away from the docks, the lights glowing at its front showing the way as it turned and headed a little downriver to the shore in front of the laundry area.

“Are they ready to move?” Shana asked.

Karina looked at the two girls each had a pack strap over thier shoulders, across their body, and were carrying their pillow and bed roll in their arms. Already the two looked they thought it was too heavy, and Tena’s pillow was slipping to the side of her bed roll, threatening to fall. She let out at gasp of alarm as Karina grabbed it, but sighed in relief as it was put back squarely on top of her bedroll.

Shana sighed. “Here, why don’t we held you with that?” she said. She stepped behind Yrria and used her hands to hold up the bedroll slightly, taking its weight from the younger girl without actually lifting it from her hands. “There, is that better?”

Yrria tried to see behind her and failed, but hesitantly nodded.

Shana glanced at Karina, then at Tena, and Karina nodded. Giving the younger girl an encouraging smile, she stepped behind her and did what Shana was doing.

It was awkward walking back to the Dungeon that way, but Karina didn’t mind, and neither did Shana. The important thing was making the two new girls feel safe, and if that meant letting them carry their own things—with some help—then that’s what they did.

––––––––––––––––––

The smell of good food was starting to spread through the Dungeon as they led the two younger children down to the Alcove Shana had claimed. The girls relaxed when they saw the other children, as well as other people they knew. Yrria and Tena had used to live here, before their parents decided they didn't like living under Wiz Lori and had moved to River's Fork instead, walking along the river so they were close to water. Wiz Lori didn't let anyone use her boats to leave the demesne if they weren't coming back, no matter how much Lord Rian asked.

Their families had left last summer, after the first dragon had passed over the demesne, so didn't know about all the changes Wiz Lori had made to her dungeon. Yrria and Tena had stared at how big the dining hall was, with all the tables and benches and latrines close to the door. Karina glanced at a rack just inside the entrance out of habit, but she wasn't carrying a seeling rod today, and they'd continued back on to the third level.

"Everyone, Yrria and Tena are here," Karina announced as they reached Shana's alcove. She kept her voice down to not disturb the other alcoves, but everyone who was awake looked towards them.

"Tah! You're here, you're here!" Yoshka, Shana's younger cousin, called happily, putting down the wooden beast she'd been playing with. She got to her feet, the pale white hair she shared with her cousin an unruly mess as she rushed to Shana. The smaller girl gave her cousin a hug, and something that might have been a small smile finally appeared on Shana's face as she returned the hug before giving Yoshka a pat on the head. "Is it time to eat yet?"

"Not yet, Yoshka," Shana said as Karina directed Yrria and Tena to put their things in the niche at the far side of the alcove, where everyone's things were already being stored. "But it should be ready soon. Go wash your hair so that your clean by the time we have to eat." Shana paused. "Actually, come with me and I'll wash your hair. Karina and I have to show Yrria and Tena where everything is."

The two had glanced at their things for some reason.

"Don't worry," Shana said, looking up from her cousin. "I promise, no one is going to steal your things. You have my word. If anything is stolen, I will get it back and if that's not possible, I will personally replace it."

Karina had heard that people had been stealing in River's Fork, but Shana's promise seemed to be enough to get them to be willing to leave their bags, bedrolls and pillows in the niche along with everyone else's. Shana had sent a look towards Ateh Koyan—Ateh Kayas seemed to have fallen asleep—and the weaver nodded.

Shana took hold of one of Yoshka's hands, and lead the way to the stairs at the back of the level. "Now, it has been some time since you left Lorian demesne," she said as Karina herded Yrria and Tena behind her, making sure the two girls didn't wander off, "so let us show you where everything is now. Every family has their own alcove, where they stay when there's a dragon or some other emergency, like a storm. I'm sure everyone will be glad to see you again once they wake up."

They climbed up the same stairs they gone down, Yoshka laughing as the breeze sent their hair flying back.

"You have already seen the latrines," Shana said, "and the kitchen, which is where we will be getting our food later. The table we'll sit at is there in the middle, we'll show you were it is later." She pointed to one side. "Those are the baths. We can take a bath there later. Right now, men are using it, so we can't go in. If you need to launder any of your clothes before the dragon leaves, we'll do it here."

"You probably don't have any soap," Karina said, "and it doesn't seem like you have your bath buckets with you, so we'll get you some later." Shana nodded at those words, so she'd probably ask the carpenter uncles for the buckets later.

"We will get you the soap before it's time to eat so you can wash your hands," Shana said. "Over there are the cold rooms. No matter how hot it gets, do not go inside there. You'll hurt yourselves, and you might not be able to open the door from the inside. There's also all the new buildings outside, but we can't show those to you at the moment. We need to stay inside because of the dragon. Now, do either of you need to use the latrine?"

Yrria shook her head, but Tena nodded nervously.

"All right, we'll show you the short latrine that will probably be easier for you to use…"