Plumed Dynamo was probably the most balanced of the three and it probably had the ability to do the most damage at once if she had time to prepare, but that wasn’t really Sophia’s style.

  Actually, she was really bad about it.

  She also didn’t want to give up her aura-based Abilities; they weren’t really all that useful as they were, but they had a lot of potential and she liked them. Sure, Plumed Dynamo probably wouldn’t give them up the way Featherstorm Mage would, but at the end of the day the real question was what she wanted to do with her future. Controlling the area around herself seemed like an excellent choice.

  “Plumed Domain,” Sophia answered.

  Sophia must have been the last person to choose, because the moment the words were out of her mouth, the world seemed to twist around her. She was traveling through the Void, yet not at the same time. There was a film between her and reality that distorted everything.

  Things appeared in the distance, even though she shouldn’t have been able to see them without light. Some were probably real, while others were clearly figments of her imagination as she tried to make sense of the space around her.

  She blinked once and it was over. They stood in a courtyard filled with plants.

  That was all Sophia had time to see before she started to fill the courtyard with the contents of her stomach. Dav, Amy, and Taika all had the same reaction, but Los’en seemed only a little shaken by the experience.

  Sophia tried to find something to distract herself, but all she could find was Taika. Who’d have thought that the cute little fluffball actually vomited rainbows? She wouldn’t have expected that.

  The world went fuzzy around the edges, then black.

  When Sophia woke up, she was lying down in a comfortable bed. That was the only thing comfortable; she ached all over and she was pretty sure she had a fever. Her eyes were blurry, but she was pretty sure there was someone else in the room with her.

  He didn’t have red hair.

  Sophia blinked at him, then tried to speak. It came out as a croak.

  The other figure in the room seemed to vanish from where it was and reappear at her side holding something. He helped her sit up, then held the glass of water for her to drink.

  It was a good thing. She wasn’t certain she could have managed not to drop it.

  She felt absolutely awful.

  “Where’s … Blaze?” This time, the words came out clearly, if a bit haltingly.

  “I’m sorry, miss. I don’t know who you mean.” The words were almost incomprehensible at first, not because of the man’s soft accent but because of their content. Blaze was always there when she got sick!

  It took a long moment before she realized, once again, that she wasn’t on Earth. Of course Blaze wasn’t here. “Um, right. Dav?”

  “I’m afraid he’s also suffering from Wisp-sickness,” the man said apologetically. “All you need to do is rest and let your body adapt.”

  A bolt of alarm went through Sophia. “Dav … sick?”

  “He’ll be fine,” The man said soothingly. “So will you. Lay back down…”

  Sophia was out again before her head hit the pillow.

  Time passed in a blur of illness. She wasn’t exactly sure when the second bed appeared in the room she was in, or maybe she was in a different room, but she was certain Dav was in the other bed.

  The green glow and soothing feeling from that bed made it obvious.

  After that, Sophia knew she was conscious longer and slept for less time; her shivers were also a little better. It wasn’t nearly as fast as the healing from an injury; this really did feel like recovering from a major illness.

  At least, she thought it did. She couldn’t be entirely certain; she’d never been this sick before.

  The creak of the door opening pulled Sophia out of restless slumber. She looked up and saw Amy walking into the room. She didn’t look like she’d been ill.

  “You’re awake?” Amy whispered towards Sophia as she walked up beside her bed. “I’m glad; you’ve been asleep every time I stopped in before. How are you feeling?”

  If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

  “Terrible,” Sophia answered honestly, “But I think I’m getting better. Slowly. You didn’t get sick?”

  Amy shook her head. “I didn’t spend two levels’ worth of Wisps and an Upgrade all at once. I mean, I would have if I’d been given the option, but I wasn’t.” She shook her head and huffed slightly. “It’s a good thing the Transcendent told Los’en to expect it. It’s usually only seen in people who get stuck trying to find the Upgrade they want then go wild with their Wisps. That happens more than you’d think.”

  “With how wretched I feel, I’m amazed it happens at all.” Sophia tried to smile, but she was pretty sure it was more like a grimace.

  “I’ve only seen one person do it twice,” Amy admitted, “And even Uncle Los’en admitted he wouldn’t try it a third time!”

  Sophia laughed at that. “Why did he even do it once?”

  “Same reason most people do, I guess,” Amy said with a shrug. “He overestimated how many Wisps he could spend at once after his Upgrade. It wasn’t bad; he was only sick for a few hours. The second time was a promise to his Patron, and that time he was sick for a tenday. Sort of like you and Dav and Taika.” She paused, then grinned at the memory. “We had a big party where we all made fun of him once he was up and moving again.”

  Sophia managed a smile at that, but it wasn’t the party that caught her attention. “A tenday? Is that how long we’ve been out?”

  “What? Oh, no, it’s been three days,” Amy admitted. “We thought you’d be out for a tenday, you were just as sick as Uncle Los’en was, but you’re recovering faster. Healing’s not supposed to help with Wisp-sickness, it just takes time, but Dav’s seems to help.” She paused, then added, “Uncle thinks it’s because he’s healing the aftereffects of dealing with the Broken Sword. He makes me come and sit in here when Dav’s awake to see if he can help me too. I’ve put off taking my Upgrade until you’re recovered just in case.”

  “You’re ready to, though?” Sophia knew she’d completed the last Challenge she needed; Los’en had taken her through the Wyld Hunt Challenge while Sophia and Dav drew the runic inscription for the isolation barrier. “You got enough Wisps?”

  Amy made a noise somewhere between a chuckle and a snort. “And to spare. All my Abilities are leveled. I should be able to pick up a few of the key NightOwl Abilities immediately once I upgrade and I’ll still have Wisps left over. I just, ah, don’t want to do it too fast.”

  Sophia yawned. “I’m sorry, I just…”

  “No, I get it, you need to sleep.” Amy really didn’t seem bothered by Sophia’s exhaustion. “It’s good to see you awake, at least for a bit. I’d talked to Dav but not you.”

  Sophia and Dav talked several times when they both happened to be awake, but most of Dav’s energy was used by summoning his Healing Beacon, not that that was what it was anymore. He’d apparently picked an Upgrade that centered on the Embody Summon Ability he’d picked up, so he actually glowed and healed people who were within his glow. It was the strangest thing, but Sophia fell asleep again before she was able to quiz him for details.

  Los’en was busy the entire time, but he stopped by several times when Sophia was awake. One of those times, it occurred to Sophia to ask where they were. She knew they were in “a safe place,” but that wasn’t a real location.

  They were, as Sophia knew she should have guessed, in the Aurora Clan compound in Izel. It was definitely a safe place, but it was a little weird to get used to Los’en calling Amy Ci’an. Sophia figured she’d probably better get used to it; if they did head out to meet up with Amy’s brother, she’d probably be called Ci’an there as well.

  When Sophia was finally able to stay awake for more than a few minutes at a time without feeling like she was shaking or the world was spinning around her, it was six days after they dealt with the Broken Sword. Both Dav and Taika were already up and about; Taika had actually been moving around for a couple of days, while Dav had only been up for about three or four hours.

  The first thing Sophia did when she woke up, other than stretching and finding out that she was sore from days of inactivity, was go find Dav. He was out in a courtyard, moving through a kata. He wasn’t moving at speed; if anything, it looked like he was trying to get everything just right as good practice.

  His armor had changed significantly. It no longer tried to imitate dragon scales; instead, it seemed to be enameled with the sort of false-color images of stars and galaxies. Sophia was pretty sure that it couldn’t actually be enamel, because some of the stars actually seemed to be moving.

  The scales on his face had also changed, especially the ones on his forehead. They seemed more like cracked and broken ice than scales now; Sophia wasn’t sure what to think about that. It didn’t look bad; in some ways, it seemed to fit his eyes and ears better than the scales.

  It took several minutes for Dav to notice her, but when he did he sheathed his sword and swept her up into a hug. “Sophia! You’re awake!”

  “Yeah,” Sophia admitted. “You are too. I’m glad. That was unpleasant; I’m not sure I’d have said yes if I’d known that was going to happen.”

  “I would have,” Dav contradicted her. “Sure, it wasn’t fun, but we basically slept through it, and I’m pretty sure Eldritch Invoker is going to be a better Sphere for me than Eldritch Summoner was. However much I might think I want to be a spellcaster, that’s not the tool I actually reach for when I’m in a fight; I reach for my sword.”

  Sophia frowned. “Are you sure? I know you really wanted magic at one point.”

  “And I got it … and never used it,” Dav admitted. “Well, almost never, other than Eldritch Weapon for my sword. No, this really is better. The Wanderer offered me a Mage Sphere; I don’t think he really wanted to from what he said, but he did offer it. It wasn’t hard to turn it down.”

  “What was the third choice?” Sophia was certain the Wanderer would have given Dav three choices, the way he gave Sophia three choices.

  “Controllable fighting summons.” Dav grimaced. “I can see the power in the choice, if you can get good enough summons it’d be like piloting a drone. If it gets killed, you just summon another one. It just … I don’t know. It was a logical expansion of Eldritch Summoner, but of all the parts of Eldritch Summoner I didn’t like. You know, I picked the simplest Sphere; I can boost myself and to some extent others and I can fight, that’s all. Did you have a choice like that?”

  “I didn’t take it,” Sophia admitted. “Featherstorm Mage would have been simple like that, stab things ‘til they’re dead. I’m not sure which of the other two is more complicated; they’re different. Plumed Dynamo would have had exploding feathers or something like that, but I went with Plumed Domain. I don’t exactly know how it’s going to work.”

  “You haven’t checked yet?” Dav sounded floored. “Why am I the one reminding you to check your Status?”

  The Voice would never let something like Wisp-sickness happen. The Guide has no issues with it. That says something about how different the two are.