Drusil POV

  Returning to the top of the ziggurat after my elongated absence, I see a very drenched Zauberfee keeping watch and taking readings for our continued attempts at escaping this pce. Or perhaps she's just searching for enemies to take out her annoyance and boredom on.

  Zauberfee has always been one of the more unusual people I've met. Though I don't rightly know if the Faerie count as people, even if they're only half. With a water-wraith for a mother and a gnoll for a father, her appearance has always been exotic, yet she's never looked more at home than since we were sent to the Fognds. Her slender and gray-skinned form shows it's subtle irridesence with the cloying moisture. Of course the rest of us use simple enchantmented adornments to ward it off, but Zauberfee seems to enjoy it. Bah, I don't have time to be wistful.

  "I'm back. We need to have a family meeting, unless you have something more important to report."

  "Welcome back, Mistress. Nothing new or unusual. The creatures seem to be... avoiding us... although I'm not certain as to why. The amibient mana has risen slightly, but nothing else."

  Divines, I knew Strax had an absurd wellspring of power, but enough to raise the ambient levels of mana all the way to the top of the ziggurat? Astounding.

  "Alright, Zau, well done. Go gather Kalisa and Sonne. I'll see if I can pry Freki from whatever bone she's gnawing on."

  I step back to the ptform and head towards the area most likely to house Freki. With the gardens barred from passage in case I needed to take Strax there, the most likely pce to find her is in the simution room, honing her skills.

  Sure enough, the simution room is in use, and I knock hard; otherwise, she's liable to miss it. Opening the door, I'm greeted with the dissipating scene of what can only be described as a battlefield. She must have been practicing for if we eventually get back to the mountains. Eventually I'm hugged around the waist by a warm, furry, and lithe body belonging to my cuddliest familiar. People often mistake Freki for a Wolfkin with her white fur. They always miss the subtle blue fmes enveloping her hands and feet. The way her fingers and toes end in wicked curved cws made for shredding. The veins of magma that peek through her fur around her ankles, wrists, and neck.

  "Dru! Where have you been!? After you said there wasn't anything wrong and banned us from coming down, we thought something had broken! I missed you!"

  Smiling down at her, I scratch her behind her ears. "When have you ever had to worry about me, my little hellhound? You're the one who disappears any time there's a fight to be had. Now come along; no time to clean up. We're having a family meeting."

  ***

  Back in one of the common rooms with Freki curled on my p, enoying some ear scritches as we wait for the others, I find myself musing on the absurdity of the situation. Ripped out of the sky above my mountain home and sent to the Fognds, with no clue as to the perpetrator, although null mages are absurdly rare. Especially ones powerful enough to move an entire structure that far. Then, after nearly a century of fighting the abominations that live here, with only the four of my familiars as company, suddenly a world traveler shows up. Not just any world traveler but a druid, and what a cute little druid as well. It really was quite hard to control myself around her; the urge to hug and cuddle and pinch her for the entire day I was evaluating her casting was almost overpowering me.

  It didn't help that Strax is oddly shy but also blunt and straightforward. Yes, the start was a little rough, but it'd been centuries since a stranger had treated her as just a person. Strax, for all her insecurities, did just that, completely ignoring etiquette and common sense when in the vicinity of a vampire matriarch. Carrying Strax back nude after she had fallen asleep in the baths and depositing Strax in her bed was... satisfying. Especially if she woke up flustered.

  "Mistress," Zauberfee stated.

  "Dearest?" Sonne asked.

  "Dru!" Freki poked.

  "Pervert," Kalisa insinuated.

  "What was that, Kalisa?" I asked.

  "You weren't paying attention, and you had the same look as Sonne when she sees a pretty little thing. Who are you lusting after now?"

  I felt my brows furrow. Lusting? Sure, I might have had some thoughts about Strax that were... less than pure. Yes, I would really enjoy eating her and then eating her out. Yes, I may have been staring at her whenever she wasn't looking, often lingering on... What were they saying? Oh right. Hardly lusting after Strax—what an exaggeration.

  "You'd do well to keep some thoughts to yourself, Kalisa. I called you all here for an official meeting. Not to insult my character."

  "Yes. Well. We're here, and you were in your head."

  "Dearest, it's alright, you can just carry me to bed!"

  "ENOUGH! This is serious. As Kalisa is aware, we have a passenger. No, be quiet, Sonne. She's absurdly powerful and may be able to help us leave this forsaken pce. She's... unaware of a great deal in retion to casting, and I am getting her back up to speed; therefore, I may be missing for a longer period. This is me informing you that anyone found within three levels of my bedroom will be punished. Quite severely. I love you all, but this is too important for you to ruin. Questions?"

  Zau is the first to ask, "Was the passenger the cause of the fluctuation?"

  "Yes. Her arrival was the cause. She's a world traveler. A very shy one."

  Silence. Even Sonne, for all her perkiness and kitsune nature, understood the implications.

  Freki is next. "What's she like?"

  Bless the hellhound for caring more about the person than what this might mean.

  "She's very nice. Quite blunt and straightforward, once she gets past her initial shyness. She seems to have problems with eye contact, but I can't comment on why. She's of a race that looks almost identical to a succubus when they retract their wings.She's also very easily distracted if something interests her."

  Dru nods, like that makes sense, and leans into my chest, rubbing her cheek against me. Kalisa is the next to follow up.

  "So, she's powerful and inclined to help, but might not want to be around everyone? What exactly are her powers then?"

  "She is yes, and she probably won't no. As for her powers, all I can comment on is that her wellspring may be even rger than mine, and she has an almost pure nature affinity that's been oddly tempered by fire. I believe you've seen simir cases in the Dunes."

  She nods and coils up on herself, leaning her arms on her long body, thinking.

  "So is she who you're lusting after?" Sonne finally asks.

  I casually cast a spell that makes her feet itch, and she yelps.

  "No, Sonne. She's the person who might save us."