Aether Beasts

Once Sandra was calmed down she and I ended up heading over to the bounty house to collect our rewards and hand in the bounty. She had to be the one to do that as she had been the one to take it, and while I had helped, I hadn't been there when she'd taken the bounty so I couldn't be the one to hand it in.

"You never did say why you took the bounty?" I asked.

It had been something I'd been wondering about. I could understand her frustration and anger at the fact that Zirani had confronted her, but why she'd then taken a suicidal bounty was beyond me.

"I wasn't really thinking at the time, and well it was more to prove to myself that I could do it alone."

She let out a deep sigh. "But as you saw, that didn't work out too well."

"Well lucky you don't have to, not anymore, though if you don't mind me asking, how is it you don't remember how you got lost? I get that you were young, but considering you knew a technique you couldn't have been that young."

Sandra chuckled. "Aiden, Zirani's right when she talks about the gap between the plains and the lands below the great scar. To answer your question, yes I wasn't that young, but probably younger than you think. I was only seven when it happened. I don't remember how it happened. It's like there's something missing. A memory of my sister and those I was travelling with and then there's a gap, like a piece that's missing and it just cuts to the years I spent begging and learning to steal to survive."

I paused momentarily. "You had to do that?"

She nodded and her eyes became distant for a moment as I assumed memories flooded back. I reached over and grasped her hand in my own.

She seemed surprised at first but then she squeezed and the distant look in her eyes vanished.

"You don't have to worry about any of that anymore," I said. "We'll make it beyond the great scar and you'll have your answers and hopefully I'll get mine."

"Answers?"

"I'm looking for my parents," I said. "Apparently they're beyond the great scar."

"They abandoned you?" She asked with sympathy

"Apparently not," I said. "They gave me to my aunt so she could look after me. From what she told me they left for my own safety, though they did leave behind something."

I pulled the necklace from under my shirt and showed it to Sandra. She leaned in closer and a flash of recognition appeared in her eyes.

"I've seen this marking before," She said.

"You have?" I asked in surprise.

She nodded. "Yes, but I can't remember where. This was your parents?"

I nodded and a thoughtful look appeared on her face before she reached down and pulled out her own necklace that was similar to mine, in that it was a coin shape, but her's was pitch black with an odd shifting symbol on it that I didn't recognize.

"This is a mark of blood," She explained. "Like a badge to prove who you are, except yours isn't tied to you. If that belonged to one of your parents then perhaps one of them was a member of a clan or prominent family. I didn't learn much in my youth, but people from my house were taught at a young age, and this is one of the first things we're given. They're not common, but neither are they uncommon."

"What do you mean tied to you?" I asked. Was she saying that my father was a member of some sort of noble clan or family? My mother certainly couldn't be.

"It's like a bound item, although beside my own necklace I've never seen any of them in the plains. You link it to yourself by dropping some blood on it. These are created in such a way that only a member of the family can be bound to it. How do you think I've kept it all these years and it hasn't been stolen? The necklace will always return to me if taken."

I looked down at my necklace and them at my hand. Why did I suddenly feel nervous?

"You don't have to do—"

Her words were cut off as I bit my thumb then smeared some blood on the necklace. There was a flash of light then similar to my ring, I felt a connection form, only this one was far greater and permanent as long as the necklace remained whole.

I let out a sigh. It may have seemed stupid but I had been worried nothing would happen and that my parents weren't my parents.

"Aiden, we're here."

I looked up to see that we'd arrived at the bounty house.

It was night now, so it wasn't as busy as it had been, but there were still a few people here and there. It was a simple matter of handing in the contract and some proof that the beast had been defeated. This had been worrying me until I'd found out that Zirani had taken one of the trolls' eyes. The women at the counter seemed shocked that we'd actually done it and congratulated us before handing over a large bag of kor crystals. While most people used coin when trading, arcanists preferred to use kor crystals as currency.

We also ended up getting our rewards which were just a dozen crystals each, a basic kor gathering elixir, and a basic infusion enchantment pill. Compared to what Zirani could probably do, it was trash but here in the plains, these were worth quite a lot.

"I think we going to end up selling these," I said when we left and Sandra shot me a look that said 'are you stupid."

"You know Zirani's a master alchemist right?"

Sandra paused. "She is?"

I nodded," She is, and she's a four-hundred-year-old nature beast. Do you think anything here in the plains can match what she can make?"

"Oh," Was Sandra's only reply. "Now I'm even more glad you're letting me come along."

"It's not going to be easy, you know," I replied. "Especially for you. Zirani can probably reach you a lot, but at the end of the day, she's a nature beast. Speaking of which, your first core is dark right?"

She nodded. "For the most part. My bloodline sort of enhances my core and makes subtle changes, essentially perfecting it as I grow. There are other aspects to it, but I have no clue what."

"What are you planning for your next core?" I asked.

"That's tricky," Sandra replied. I'm thinking wind since that will be a major boon to speed and is very versatile, but death would allow me to deal a lot more damage. I'll probably get Zirani's opinion on things. She may be a nature ether beast, but she's also a hundred years old and a Zigan. She's like a walking library probably. I don't remember much of… back then, but I do remember that one of my older sisters' tutors was a dark affinity aether beast. They understand their affinity on a more base and primal level than we do. They were born with their affinities."

When we made it back to the tent we found Zirani adding to Misty arrays. The blonde looked very different now. Her hair was closer to silver now than blonde now and her body seemed paler not to mention that she'd definitely gotten taller and while I couldn't see her eyes since she was facing away from the entrance of the tent, I assumed they'd probably gone through a change as well. Another part of me, which I tried to suppress, couldn't help but admire how beautiful she looked. Her body was easily one of the most beautiful I'd seen and her skin was practically shining. I'd never known what jade-like skin meant until now.

Zirani made a shooing motion when we opened the tent, and we quickly placed our things down before we headed to get something to eat. Sandra was feeling hungry after expending so much of her aether and misusing her bloodline, while I just liked food.

Surprisingly enough even though it was late at night there was still a wide variety of food and people working in the eating area. When I asked why they explained that at all hours there was someone working on something or doing a job and that meant there were always hungry mouths to feed.

"Are you sure you're going to be able to eat all that?" I asked Sandra as she piled a plate high with all sorts of food.

"I haven't been that hungry since I was a beggar. That life taught me not to waste, so trust me when I say I can eat all of this."

I shrugged and piled my own plate with food and then we headed to take a seat. Sandra dug in with gusto not bothering with any form of etiquette, not that I cared about any of that. I had basic table manners but that was enough.. I wasn't going to add extra steps to eating, that was just unnecessary.