Nat decided that the best way to practice stabilizing the theromagnetic field he used as a carrier wave for Moira's voice, was to try invoking it twice, one in each hand.

  It was a bit of a leap of logic, but he theorized that having a second wave, even doing the same thing, would let him compare any changes he made to his test wave visually. The more it resembled a flame, the worse he was doing. He didn't know what it was supposed to look like if done properly, but if he couldn't be sure what good looked like, then doing whatever was opposite of bad seemed solid.

  His initial attempts to summon a second identical field resulted in both of them sputtering and then winking out at once. He re-summoned just the one, and asked the one person who could tell what he was doing wrong from the inside.

  “Moira? What am I doing wrong here? I can summon two blank waves, but the moment I try to summon two of your voice patterns, both sputter out.”

  Oh, I can tell you that right away. You're trying to invoke me twice. I can't be in two places at once.

  “How does that work when you like to say you're everywhere, and nowhere?”

  Simple, I am potentially anywhere, but only in one place at a time. I can just swap between different places very quickly.

  “So, can you just switch between the two fields?”

  I could, but then you would have to conceptualize me as switching between the two. It's the difference between trying to hold a ball in two hands at once, versus throwing it from one hand to another. Completely different intent.

  “Oh, I get it. Let me try again.” He unsummoned the flame, and then tried a few times to create a new pattern that was predicated on the intent that Moira move between them. It still failed, but in a new and distinct way, which told him he was definitely trying something different, but still unsuccessfully.

  Ceress and Novek walked back into the camp a short while later — the tiger had on an enormous grin showing way too many teeth for Nat's comfort.

  Just visible behind his neck ruff, Siya was struggling to gnaw on a meter long… stone-colored leg?

  Nat's curiosity got to him, and he gave up on practice and just re-summoned Moira's flame the way he knew how. “Successful hunt then you two? Lyn said they saw a retrieval flare.”

  Lyn commented from their bench, “I'm surprised there's enough of anything for your team to take back if Soot's gotten a hold of it.”

  Novek almost giggled — a distinctly disturbing sound — before answering. “Oh, no, Soot's on the first catch. The flare's for the second.”

  “Oh? What'd you find?”

  “Well, we didn't find it, so much as it found us. You should ask Ceress.”

  “Please don't.”

  Lyn raised an eye ridge, “Oh, this sounds good — what happened? And why are you covered in sand?”

  Ceress indicated Siya and the leg the kit was enthusiastically gnawing on, “So, we found a Bri'gir'da on a rock pillar. Took that down, no problems.”

  The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

  “I hear a ‘but’.”

  “Well, it turned out that was a bud from a larger one nearby.”

  “Okay, what's so funny then?”

  Novek rocked back and forth as he burst into laughter. “She stepped right on it. Buried in the sand. Threw her at least thirty meters.”

  “Ah. Yeah, you've got to watch out for any suspiciously long flat sections of ground. I take it you're not wounded?”

  “Only my pride. Anyway. Leg?” She held out a couple of sand covered legs as long as her arm.

  Lyn reached out and took the proffered leg, “Oh, absolutely. Bri'gir'da might be a little rubbery, but I prefer it to scrav, personally.”

  “Well, we've got tons. Literally. Though I'm going to take most of it back to base camp with me as soon as they've got it loaded on the wagons. Soot will have to fly back.”

  “That sounds great, I'll absolutely take you up on that.” Lyn was talking around bites, shell and all, then continued by sucking the meat out. Nat tried to focus his mind elsewhere, with limited success.

  “Yeah, just get Novek here to lug it back for you — he loves grunt work. I'm going to haul my pack and Soot's harness out and help load. I want to be on the road as soon as possible — it's not that I haven't enjoyed my time here, but I've ‘responsibilities’”. She said that last word with an accompanying eye-roll. “Novek, come grab some new flares — and the ones for Lyn.”

  Lyn perked up and looked over at their name. “Ah, sensible. We'll be here or in the immediate area a few days yet. When shall I watch for flares?”

  Novek reached back and picked Siya off of his back. “Just after dawn, noon, dusk. Nat, Lyn, can you keep an eye on ‘the maw’ here while I go grab us lunch, and dinner, and lunch?” He set the kit down, which was seemingly oblivious to everything except devouring the leg nearly three times his own size.

  “Oh, sure.” Nat reached over to pet Siya, then halted the motion midway when confronted by a pair of green eyes giving him a possessive warning glare. “From… over here. Yes, I'll keep watch from over here.”

  “Hey Novek, can I have one of your iron rods? I want to try something with it — it may not survive the process.”

  “Sure, Lyn. Just grab any of them you like.”

  “Thanks.” Ambling over to the small pile, Lyn picked through the rods, testing each one in a way that Nat couldn't discern. They weren't tossing them or testing weight — just holding one by both ends for a moment, then moved to the next rod. Something electrical, then?

  Novek and Ceress went a few meters away to Ceress's bedroll and started packing up her relatively basic travel gear; other than the harness itself, she'd only had her go-bag. Nat assumed that Hekkan was out with Soot.

  Meanwhile, Lyn had selected a rod they were satisfied with, and they went back to their seat with it. Once there, they then started tossing the rod a meter or so into the air, with both hands so it stayed horizontal. After a dozen throws or so, they started arcing electricity from one hand, to the rod, and then back to their other hand; each throw was accompanied by a loud buzzing that would suddenly stop with a zap sound.

  Well, now Nat's curiosity was well and truly piqued. Lyn did this a dozen more times, then stopped and looked over towards Nat, meaningfully.

  Ceress and Novek had finished hefting Soot's harness over one shoulder — her travel pack was on the other side. Nat stared — he couldn't imagine carrying just the harness on his back, let alone over one arm.

  “Okay folks, duty calls. I am going to head out, but will be back in a couple of days. I don't believe we're done with these pulses, and frankly, Lyn, I think that if there's anyone in the area with a chance at understanding what's going on, it's you.”

  Lyn nodded and gestured agreement. “It's unfortunate, but I agree. The frequency of them is concerning. As I said earlier, we'll be in the area, though maybe not right here — this is a relatively well known rest spot, and I'm not sure that I want to be so easy to find.”

  “Yeah, that's a good idea — as much as the Ber disruptions concern me, I'd suggest heading away from the Human holdings into the wilds. Just because no Humans have come around looking so far doesn't mean they won't.”

  Novek turns his head, “Yeah, as soon as Ellie comes back, we can pack up, and I'll help you move. Then I've got a few things to handle myself.”

  Turning to Nat, Ceress then added, “And you, don't let these hooligans get you killed. I'd like to talk to you when I get back about your future plans.”

  Nat tilted his head to the side, “But I don't have any future plans.”

  With a nod of her head, Ceress turned and started walking towards the retrieval site, “Exactly. Okay folks, it has honestly been both fun and relaxing. See you soon! Come on old man.”

  Novek turned, “I'll be back shortly. Don't try to take the leg from the kit — he's not quite socialized yet, you could lose a finger.”