A Second Generation Whateley Academy Story

Born in Fire

by

Astrodragon

Part Three

Thulia's Home, Plane of Fire

Bruce made sure Thulia was occupied with her preparations for visiting her parents before sneaking off and contacting Tanau.

"Mistress? I need a word."

The woman looked up at the image of an obviously-worried imp and frowned. "Something is the matter with Thulia?"

Bruce thought about that, before nodding. "Not exactly, but it's very likely something will be soon. We've finished what we had to do on Earth, and it's time for her to tell her parents what she's been up to, and sort out what's going to happen with her studies. So we're getting ready to visit."

Tanau looked thoughtful. "Well, while I applaud her bravery and the decision to at least talk to her parents, it could all go horribly wrong. Far too easily." She gave the imp a keen look. "Now if I 'happened' to be there to help the conversation along and perhaps talk some sense into people...?"

Bruce gave her a very toothy smile. "I can't see how that could possibly hurt. If you just happened to be visiting, of course."

Thulia had already told her parents she would visit them this morning. Their reply hadn't thrilled her, it was just a brief acknowledgement that lowered her spirits even further. She knew that she should have spent her time preparing her arguments, so she could explain what she'd done, and why, and make them understand. Instead, she'd been working herself into a nervous wreck, starting from knowing it would all go badly and going downhill from there. If the worst happened - well, she could stand on her own feet, she'd proven that. But this was her family, she didn't want to just run away from them even if they did act like idiots towards her some of the time. She wanted them to understand, to accept her back. The conflict between the two outcomes made her feel like something was tearing her apart.

Finally, the time she'd been dreading had come. She nervously adjusted her robe, and opened the portal to her parents' home, summoning up her courage to walk through it with her head held high. If her father didn't want her back, she wouldn't allow herself to show how that made her feel.

"Thulia?"

She hesitated, looking down at Bruce. "Yes?"

The imp sighed. "Look, it's your family, your life. Just... don't burn any bridges until you have to, right?"

She bit her lip and nodded. "OK, Bruce, I promise. Not unless I have to. But I won't beg for forgiveness for what I did."

"Never asked you to."

Earlier, Thulia's Parents Home, Plane of Fire

"It's always nice to have you visit, Grandmother, but perhaps this isn't the best time."

Tanau looked at Hurmiz with an innocent smile. "Why ever not? Is there some reason my presence here is a problem?"

Mirdaz gave her a look that was almost a scowl, before finally admitting he had to tell her what was going on. "Thulia is coming over to talk with us. She'd just returned from that... whatever she's been doing... on Earth, and we need to have a serious family talk."

Tanau just smiled brightly. "Well, then, I'm family, so I'll be happy to help." She gave him a sweet grandmotherly smile that had teeth barely concealed inside it. "Or don't you want an old woman to know what you intend to discuss with Thulia?"

Both parents tried to look as if that was the last thing they would think of, which Tanau found amusing. It was obvious to her from their body language that they were intending to bear down hard on Thulia, and would far prefer to browbeat the girl without any other witnesses. Too bad for them she was here. So she gave each of them a long, measuring look, before shaking her head sadly.

"You're being fools. You, in particular, Mirdaz."

The man jerked upright in his seat. "Who are you calling a fool!"

She considered sneering, but that would not have achieved her aim. Instead, she kept her voice calm and level. "You're going to tell Thulia off, yell at her, tell her what a fool she's been and demand she comes back home and does as she's told, aren't you."

He opened his mouth and then closed it without speaking. Yes, she remembered that look from when he was young, he'd been even more stubborn back then than Thulia was. That was exactly what he'd intended to do.

"It won't work. If you lecture her like that, you'll just drive her away from you. Unlike you, I know what Thulia has been doing - and, in general, I approve. Do you really want your daughter to run away? Because I assure you, she's shown she is capable of looking after herself, push her too hard, and running away is exactly what she will do."

"But she's our daughter! She's young, she needs to do as she's told."

Tanau waited for Mirdaz to finish spluttering before she replied. "Yes, she's a teenager. But she's been acting like an adult, and telling her she is still a child is about the worst thing you can do. Especially as what she's been doing has been taking on adult responsibilities and handling them. If not perfectly, as well as could be expected."

This time it was Hurmiz's turn to lean forward. She glanced at her husband, and her mouth set. "Tanau, we don't want to lose her - she's our daughter! We just want what's best for her."

Tanau sighed deeply, feeling her age. Had she ever been so naive?

"Perhaps I should tell you what she's been doing, and why she did it after you yelled at her and tried to stop her. If you ask her right now, the two of you will just start yelling at each other again."

Thulia's parents traded looks, then nodded. "Perhaps that will help."

It had taken Tanau a while to explain what Thulia had been doing, and although her talk had been interrupted occasionally with ejaculations of surprise - and an occasional curse - it had gone better than she'd initially hoped. Of course, she'd accidentally omitted to tell them about the trip to Hell, that was probably a little too much for them to handle right now. Both parents were now looking far more thoughtful. Finally, Mirdaz looked up at her.

"I hadn't realised why she felt she had to go back the way she did."- he looked down at his hands as if trying to read something on them - "She's my child, what she did was foolish and dangerous, but it was the right thing to do."

Hurmiz just looked at Tanau, her eyes looking suspiciously damp. "I still can't believe all she did. If we'd only known" - she gave her husband a sideways glance - "if we'd not had that row, we could have helped her."

Tanau smiled inwardly at the progress, but made very sure none of that was visible on her face or in her voice. "Maybe, but maybe not. As I know, Thulia is a stubborn girl, and she wasn't faultless either. But now you need to make a decision. Do you want her to leave you or not?"

Her mother was the first to answer. "No! Of course not, she's my daughter"

Mirdaz nodded. "She's my daughter too, and yes, she's prideful, but we still love her, we don't want her to run away from us in anger."

Tanau eyed them both. "You do realise, that whatever happens today, she will not stop with her experiments?" Mirdaz opened his mouth, but she held up a peremptory hand. "Let me finish. Yes, I know you find what she does objectionable, and far too progressive for your taste. I'm not asking you to stop feeling that way, not at once. But you need to understand, Thulia has a calling. Not the sort you are likely more familiar with, for a craft, or music, or a trade. Her calling is to push forward the boundaries, to find and develop new ideas. She can no more stop following that calling than she could cut her own arm off. When she was younger, it might not have been quite so obvious" - at least to you, she thought, it had been very clear to her - "but now she is older and it is quite plain. If you push her to give that up as the price of returning to her family, she won't return."

Mirdaz was still looking stubborn, so she addressed him directly. "You don't have to encourage it. Just accept it as a part of her, ignore it if you feel more comfortable, just don't try and deny it to her." The man's expression softened slightly, as he thought through her arguments.

Hurmiz eyed her hopefully. "You think that will work? I don't want to lose my daughter!"

Tanau finally smiled properly. Not perfect, but this she could work with. "Good. Then this is what I suggest we do..."

Thulia stepped through the portal to her parents' home. As expected, they were sitting there waiting for her. What was unexpected was to see her grandmother there. She gave the woman a considering look, only to have it returned with an innocent, grandmotherly smile. Oh, that wasn't suspicious at all.

"Daughter, welcome home. Please sit, we have much to talk about."

She eyed her father warily, before carefully seating herself. Well, at least he wasn't shouting at her yet, it was a better start than she'd been expecting. He still sounded very serious, maybe this was just the calm before the storm?

"Tanau has been telling us about why you left, and what you've been doing."

Oh. She gave her grandmother a very sharp look, noting she was still doing her best imitation of an innocent bystander, which was about as unbelievable as it got.

"I see, father. I hope she convinced you that it was necessary."

Her father shot a quick glance at Tanau, who was still sitting there looking like someone who had no part in the discussion, and just happened to be sitting there by accident, before turning back to his daughter.

"Thulia, your actions have shown you are old enough for me to be honest with you. I had deep reservations about your initial experiment, and when you returned the first time, I had more. I didn't fully realise how responsible you felt, and yet Tanau has explained how you acted to redeem the situation as far as was possible. While I still have serious doubts about your methods, I cannot, in all honesty, argue against the way you acted to correct it." He held up his hand. "I am not condoning all that you did; you did make some rather foolish decisions, and they led to some unfortunate results. But I accept that you do seem to have learned from them, and" - he shot Tanau a look - "learning not to act foolishly is part of growing up."

Thulia looked at her parents and bit her lip. She wasn't quite sure where this was going - she'd expected a lot more shouting, at least - so she just nodded, doing her best to keep her voice quiet and even. "So, what do you intend to do?" Just that simple question was enough to twist her stomach into a knot again.

Her father sighed very deeply. "You didn't ask our permission before setting up this experiment, and you disobeyed us when you returned. You are still not yet an adult, so your mother and I are responsible for you, and feel that we need to set you a punishment. However we also realise that you are becoming an adult, and so punishment needs to be made to help you understand you made mistakes and hopefully be a little more prudent in the future. Now, I still don't approve of your experiments or understand what drives you to explore new things, but I will not actively oppose you." He actually smiled very slightly. "In any case, it would seem that would be futile in any case. Are you prepared to accept our punishment?"

Thulia licked her lips. "Uh... what is the punishment?" She needed to know if it involved giving up the things she lived for, she knew that she would have to refuse, and that would mean estranging herself from her family. But if it was reasonable... she could accept something reasonable, as the price of reconciliation.

"Well, you are a week late for resuming your studies. Master Siveth has been enquiring, and we haven't yet explained in full. As punishment for your actions, which are all involved with being on Earth, we expect you not to travel there until after Samhain. That period will allow you to reflect on your actions, and catch up with your studies."

Thulia gave Tanau a very quick glance. The older woman said nothing, but her head tilted in an almost unnoticeable nod. She still felt hard done by; granted, things had gone wrong, but they hadn't really been her fault, and she'd done everything she could to put them right. She thought she had the right to feel aggrieved. But she also loved her family, and this wasn't a terribly onerous punishment, Samhain wasn't that far away. And while it would stop her gating to Earth to contact Morgana, they hadn't forbidden her to contact her, so it wasn't as terrible as it could have been. Finally, she trusted Tanau.

"I accept your punishment, father."

He nodded formally, although her mother was considerably more emotional, standing and pulling her into a hug, as she whispered into her ear. "I'm glad my daughter is back, I didn't want to lose you."

Later, alone with her grandmother, Thulia had finally given in to the urge to grumble. "I'm an adult, I proved that! I should be able to do what I want."

Tanau just smiled. "You are growing into a fine young woman, but remember the word young. Your parents mean well, they love you and your father wants to keep you safe. It's what fathers do, even if they often do it very badly. Yes, it impinges on your freedom, and you chafe against that, but don't think too badly of him for it. It's hard for him to let go of his children, and let them fly free. But give him some time, and your parents will be a help to you rather than a hindrance."

Thulia sighed. "I guess. I mean, I love them, I just want them to stop treating me as a child, rather than punishing me!"

"Well, take things one step at a time. And yes, I suggested the punishment."

Thulia looked at her in surprise, as she continued. "Let's be honest here, a lot of what you did was chancy at best, dangerous to you at worst. And you are late back for your studies. So punishment was appropriate. But a small punishment makes your parents feel you understand the things you did wrong, without causing you too much of a problem."

Thulia looked disappointed. "I guess. I was looking forward to seeing Morgana, this means I can't visit Earth until Samhain. That's so long..."

Tanau drew her into a hug, smiling to herself at the slight whine in Thulia's voice. It was so obvious to her at least that she was still a teenager, despite all her protestations. "It won't be as bad as that, Morgana needs to get used to her new school, you know. And just because you can't visit, doesn't mean you can't find a way to talk to her, does it?"

Thulia sighed against her shoulder. "I guess. Well, at least she's safe now."

Academy of Training, Plane of Fire

"So, Thulia, I hear you've been having an interesting time during your break?"

Thulia blushed slightly as she heard the somewhat amused tone in Master Siveth's voice. She'd rather hoped that no-one had heard about exactly what she'd been getting up to, but of course various people - some of whom didn't know when to keep their mouth's shut - had been involved at different times, and Siveth was anything but stupid.

"Ah... it was a change, Master."

"Ah, good, good! It's always useful to explore new concepts and places, isn't it?"

Thulia eyed the man more warily. She was rapidly getting a worried feeling about all the jocularity; after all, she was returning a week late, surely she would be in trouble, not a source of amusement?

Siverth returned her look with the smile of someone who knew something she didn't, and that did absolutely nothing to reassure her.

"I'm very sorry I'm late, Master. Some things came up, and I couldn't return without completing them."

"Oh, don't worry, I fully understand. Now, though, we need to talk about your training for the next few cycles."

Thulia made an effort to look as innocent and obedient as possible. A look that Siveth recognised quite easily, as a smile tugged at one side of his mouth,

"Now, I don't feel that we should be concentrating on purely academic studies in the short term. You have done very well in them - indeed, the word excellent would not be inappropriate. However, there is more to a well-rounded education than just academic studies, important though they are."

She nodded obediently, still worried about where all this was leading. He was still being far too cheerful for her peace of mind.

He put an arm around her shoulder, leading her over to a display unit that currently seemed to be projecting a number of maps.

"I hear one of the things you've been doing is travelling. That's good, travel is always a rich experience which helps to broaden your view of the world."

She just knew it, he had something in mind she wasn't going to like. The more he smiled, the more she knew it wasn't going to be good.

"I have had some conversations with your parents" - oh damn, she thought - "and after consulting some of the faculty, we have decided that we will - under the proper supervision of course - arrange for you to travel and explore some of the different regions of the Planes. Such knowledge and experience will be of use to you after you leave here, I am sure."

She almost forgot herself enough to perk up, that did sound interesting. Then he smiled broadly and told her exactly where she would be visiting and what she'd be doing there.

The next day, Thulia's Home, Plane of Fire

"Ultima Thule! They're sending me to Ultima Thule! For survival training!!"

Bruce had to hide a smile as Thulia wailed at her fate. It could have been worse, at least she'd learn something from this, even if she was probably going to be uncomfortable. And it might help take her mind off Morgana for a few weeks. He wasn't sure in his own mind exactly where the girls' feelings were going on this, but maybe a few weeks apart would clarify things, one way or another.

"Well, maybe you should look on the bright side?"

The glare she gave him as if all this was his fault could have stripped paint off the walls. "There's a bright side?"

The imp shrugged. "Hey, I know it's going to be cold" - he couldn't hide his grin this time as Thulia shivered in unpleasant anticipation - "but at least it's not as wet as Earth was."

"Of course it's not wet! All the water is frozen!"

Thulia was still muttering complaints about life, the Universe, and her academic instructors as she went through the pile of equipment she was supposed to take.

"Boots... cloak... furs...just how cold is this place I need furs?!"

Bruce shrugged with the nonchalance of someone who'd be staying nice and warm at home. "You're supposed to be learning how to cope even if you don't have access to most of your magic, remember."

The girl scowled at the fur-lined clothing. "Doing without fire magic, it's not natural!" she sighed deeply as only a put-upon teenager could. "Weapons... just my bow and knife again, what's wrong with my staff?"

"Maybe they don't want you blowing big holes in anything that annoys you? You know, ecological purity and all that stuff. Anyway, you're allowed to use it in an emergency."

Thulia's response was a very rude phrase suggesting exactly what Ultima Thule could do with its ecology.

"Rations...rations!! Why can't I just take food!?"

Bruce listened to the way her voice was rising and decided at this point that maybe discretion was a good idea before slipping quietly away. Before she threw something hard at him, like one of those ration packs.

Thulia's Workroom, some weeks later

Thulia raised her head from the table she'd fallen asleep on, peering blurrily around as she tried to get her eyes to focus. Something had disturbed her, and it probably wasn't the hard surface her face had been resting on, she'd been working much too hard since she got back from the freezing empty spaces of Ultima Thule, and it had caught up with her at times. But the work had at least partially distracted her from worrying about how to communicate with Morgana, which was mainly the point of the overworking. She'd worried about her all the time she was away, and now she'd returned she was even more worried because she hadn't yet worked out a way of getting in contact without violating her parents' punishment.

Still, something was bothering her, she could feel it nagging at her, rather like something was dragging a rough dry cloth over her skin. She sat up, trying to get a better idea. It didn't help the feeling on her skin but added an oddly discordant humming in her ears. She frowned, digging at her ear with a finger, but that didn't do anything to stop the noise.

At least whatever it was had now woken her up completely, and as she finally started to think clearly, she recognised the sensations. Someone was trying to summon her. Which was confusing, since she was sure no-one had enough of her name to do something as powerful as this. Frowning, she stood up and re-wrapped her robe around herself, wondering what she should do. She considered resisting - the call, while insistent, wasn't demanding enough to force her to answer it, but she was curious. There was a nagging familiarity about it she couldn't place. So she walked over to the circle in the corner of the room, activating it with a gesture, then stepped inside it. She still wasn't sure about this, but it might be something important, and if not she'd simply leave.

The call was getting stronger, and she noted with interest that the air inside her circle was starting to glow. Just as a precaution, she cast a protection spell on herself, in case whatever this was intended her physical violence. Finally, the glow faded, or rather grew to form a circle around her.

"Who calls me?"

She forgot to wait for the answer to her formal question as tradition required, as the glow cleared to show the circle also contained a form and aura she was very familiar with, and who - she remembered at last, with embarrassment - she'd last seen in very similar circumstances. She barely heard the figure identify herself as Morgana, as she just looked at her with eyes wide.

"Morgana!"

Morgana didn't answer, just opened her arms, inviting Thulia. She didn't hesitate, almost screaming in relief and joy, hurling herself into the other girls' arms, pressing herself against her to reassure herself this was actually real. Pulling Morgana close, she pressed her lips to hers in a long kiss.

Morgana finally pulled back, looking a little short of breath, and smiled. "I was going to ask if you remembered me, but I think you just answered that. Her smile widened. "And it was a silly question anyway!"

Thulia nodded, arms still around Morgana as if you make sure she couldn't get away. "But how did you invoke me so easily?"

"Remember the candle you used while I was in London? There was still some left, so I dug up a ritual to help it along. I used my blood, I figured as we'd shared blood it would substitute for your name."

"Oh! That's smart of you, I'd forgotten about the candle. But how did you get through the wards around the school? They're quite good."

Morgana looked smug. "Simple, I'm not on the school grounds! A group of us came on a picnic, and we're outside the wards."

Thulia smiled and gave her another soft kiss. "Clever! I was hoping you could find a way of calling me, but I'd begun to think you didn't have one."

Morgana nodded, but then looked puzzled. "Um, Thulia? Can I ask...couldn't you contact me?"

Thulia blushed, trying not to look terminally embarrassed. "I'm so sorry! I was going to, once you'd got settled in, but... well, I got in a bit of trouble for staying on Earth."

Morgana looked concerned. "Oh! Oh, Thulia, I'm sorry. I never intended for you to get in trouble for me."

Thulia silenced that silly objection with another kiss. "Nonsense. I decided to do it, and I managed to patch things up with my parents. But they had to give me a punishment, so I was forbidden to travel to Earth until Samhain. But I'd forgotten I'd assumed I would be able to do that; I couldn't contact you through the wards, and as I couldn't get to Earth I couldn't just get in touch that way. But summoning me like this doesn't count."

Morgana nodded, still looking guilty. "I was... well, I was afraid you didn't want to see me."

Thulia shook her head, before taking shameless advantage of the situation to get in some more kissing and cuddling. She could feel her body responding to the intimacy, and just let herself relax into it. She wished she was actually there, but that wasn't possible yet. Finally, it was Morgana who pulled away slightly, a serious look on her face.

"Thulia? Much as I love this, the candle isn't going to last much longer. How can I get hold of you without one? I, uh, really want to be with you again..."

"Oh." Thulia looked disappointed but then nodded firmly. "You're absolutely right." Looking at the candle flame, she pursed her lips as she made a quick estimate. "We don't have much time." She looked thoughtful as she got an idea. "I can't visit physically for a little while yet, but...yes, give me your address. Your physical address. I'll send you something to make it work, at least we can talk." She gave a lopsided smile. "Not what I'd like, but a lot better than nothing."

Morgana repeated her address twice, just in case, as Thulia committed it to memory. Then giggled as Morgana dragged her close, kissing her deeply. Neither girl stopped until the glow of the candle flame surrounding them died into the darkness as the spell finally ended.

Thulia stood in her circle for long minutes, eyes closed as her lips and body remembering the taste and feel of Morgana before at last she smiled happily and went to find Bruce. She didn't hurry, while there were things she needed to do, she wanted those memories to last as long as possible.

Bruce raised his eyebrows when he saw her. "OK, that's a good smile, so what did I miss?"

She almost giggled, to her consternation - oh no, she thought in dismay, I'm not turning into a giggler am I? - before sitting down, wriggling herself comfortable before telling him. Well, most of it. The technical bits. Not the more... pleasant... parts. There were things she wasn't going to tell Bruce about, at least not right now and not like this.

Thulia's Workroom, Plane of Fire, 3rd October (Earth Standard Date)

Thulia looked up at the graphs being displayed in the projections above her desk, giving them a critical examination. She'd gone through several possible models to get here, and given how important it was to her to get this right, she wanted to make sure she hadn't made a mistake.

Bruce wandered over and eyed the images. "So, got a solution yet?"

She nodded slowly. "Yes, finally. It's a bit of a tricky problem, getting past their wards without setting all sorts of alarms off."

"I guess a brute-force approach isn't on?"

"No... their wards are actually very good, and while they aren't impenetrable - no wards are - they are comprehensive, and strong enough that trying to smash through them would just raise all sorts of warnings and alarms. That would rather defeat the object."

"So how are you going to go about it? You look like you've found a solution, you're looking smug again."

"I am not looking smug!" Bruce just grinned wider at that plaintive response, forcing her to continue. "I'm just pleased I've found a viable solution. Like all wards, there is a level at which an attempt to intrude is so low it gets down into the noise level. Of course, that also means you can't actually do anything useful at that power level, and the noise corruption is terrible. But what I have in mind is to use a quantum-entangled way of passing data. That should slip through the wards without raising an alarm, they will be so low powered, but their nature means a lot less corruption. Since I only want to talk with Morgana, that's all acceptable, and when it's operating no one will be the wiser."

Bruce thought that through, then nodded. "It sounds good. But aren't quantum-linked communicators rather hard to make?"

"Well, yes, usually. But I have an idea to make it go a lot faster." She looked up at the images again, a hopeful look on her face. "I don't want to wait."

Thulia looked up critically at the oblate spheroid slowly turning in mid-air as it was held above the spell circles controlling it, looking for any small deviations that would ruin the next step. So far so good, the obsidian had formed into the correct shape quite easily, but now she needed to inscribe the spell patterns on it. That was going to need a lot more care.

Keeping one eye on the hollow sphere, she gestured expertly as another spell circle glowed into life beneath the sphere. She'd taken great care to make this one earlier, it contained the symbols to be transferred to the obsidian. She took a few slow breaths to calm herself, then activated the transfer spell.

The sphere glowed around its circumference, and she watched, barely breathing, as the symbols from the circle vanished, one by one, as they inscribed themselves inside the glowing band of magic. Finally, the glow faded, and she took a deep breath. All the symbols had vanished from the floor, and as the sphere slowly turned she could see them incised around it. Nearly done, now for the tricky part.

First, she activated another pre-prepared circle, the symbols glowing brightly as a shape formed in mid-air close to the sphere. A ring of fire, itself rotating slowly. Then she poured more power into the spell, slowly at first, then more as the ring grew brighter and turned from red, through yellow, until it was a spitting circle of blue-white flame, spinning like an angry buzz-saw.

Thulia took a final look at her circles and controls, then nodded to herself and activated the final two spells. First, the circles containing the sphere and ring glowed, then moved together as they merged into one circle containing both the objects. Then she made the final gestures, and the burning ring slammed into the sphere, the keening sound of rock being split filling her workroom as fire sparked and jetted from where the two met. It only took seconds while the light lit the room and flickered across the walls. To Thulia, watching anxiously, it seemed far longer before the ring flickered and died, leaving two hemispheres floating in mid-air, the edges still glowing yellow with heat.

She examined the two forms minutely, then looked over at her controls, giving the displays her full attention. It seemed as if all had gone well; the two hemispheres were still entangled at a quantum level, acting as if they were still a single sphere, and the spellwork had inlaid itself properly on both forms. She finally allowed herself to smile as she recovered the hemispheres, setting them carefully down on a table.

"So, it worked properly?"

She nodded to Bruce, who'd been watching the whole procedure, but staying quiet so he didn't distract her. "It all looks good. I still have to activate the spellwork and power them up, but that won't be hard."

The imp nodded as he walked over to inspect the two bowls. "They look good." He glanced over at the now-quiescent spell circles. "A lot faster than doing it by hand."

She nodded, running fingers over the bowls as she checked they'd made it through OK. "Well, I want Morgana to get these as soon as possible, and making them by hand does take quite a while."

Bruce snickered slightly. "Just think of all the gossip you two will have to catch up on."

She turned and gave the grinning imp a mildly-murderous look. "It's not so the two of us can gossip! It's for serious talk about...uh...things!"

Bruce was still grinning unrepentantly. "Of course they are, I wouldn't think you'd use them for anything else."

She studiously ignored him as she got out what she'd need to fill in the inscriptions. No way was she going to admit that what she really wanted to do was to cuddle up with Morgana and chat, and as long as she couldn't do that in person, these were the next best thing.

Thulia held the pot containing the alchemical mixture in her hand for a moment, heating it again so the contents were properly liquid again, as she dipped her brush in it and started to fill in the final inscriptions. This part of the work wasn't difficult, but it required precision to fill the symbols with the right amount of molten metal. Finally finishing the last symbol, she put her brush down and sighed in relief wriggling her fingers to ease the stiffness. She'd been working all night on this, but after missing talking with Morgana for so long, she wasn't going to waste time in frivolities like sleep until this was ready.

"How's it going, boss?"

"That's the symbols all done, now I just need to enchant it all properly. Once that's done, you can get the courier to collect it. They do deliver to Earth, right?"

Bruce nodded. "Yeah, I checked, they said no problems. Shall I arrange FedHex to come to collect it today?"

Thulia looked at the two bowls and nodded. "Please, Bruce. I want to get this to Morgana."

The imp considered another rather snide comment about girls and their gossip, but seeing the wistful expression on Thulia's face, decided for once to keep quiet, given the way Thulia had been driving herself to finish this as quickly as possible.

Friday 7th October (Earth standard date), Thulia's Home, Plane of Fire

"Do you think she'd ready to contact you yet?"

Thulia looked at the bowl sitting on her desk and shook her head. "I don't know, Bruce. She did have to make some preparations, but I'm not sure how long they will take her. Being ready last night was probably optimistic, but I didn't want her trying and failing because I wasn't here."

Bruce gave her a long look but decided to ignore the wistful tone in her voice. "Well, I'm sure you'll be able to gossip soon."

"Bruce, I didn't do all this just so we could gossip! I mean..erm..it's so we could talk about stuff."

"Stuff?"

"Important stuff!"

"Oh, right. I'll let you alone then."

She sat watching the bowl quietly. It wasn't as if a few more days would be that important, but after the candle summoning, she'd been more impatient about talking with Morgana again. Her reverie was interrupted as she felt a small twist of power from the bowl. Eagerly she turned to it, looking down into it as she fed her power carefully into it. The liquid shimmered, then slivered slightly before clearing to show Morgana's anxious face.

"Thulia? Can you hear me?"

She smiled widely, feeling the delicate feel of Morgana's aura through the bowl. "Oh yes! Of course, I can. That was the whole point of this, after all!"

She had to repress a smile as Morgana blushed slightly, looking a bit stuck for words "It's so good to be able to talk to you again. Even if this is a bit more complicated than using a phone."

Thulia nodded. "True, but it's a real pain trying to get a decent connection from here to you. Do you have any idea how hard it is to get your phone people to handle an interdimensional account? Getting the internet was hard enough. And these bowls have another advantage - they can't be overheard."

Morgana blinked. "You get our internet?"

"Yeah, it's pretty useful, I used it a lot when I was getting ready to visit." She decided maybe now wasn't the time to describe some of the sites she'd visited, perhaps later when they were together.

"So, just what is that school of yours like? I didn't have time to find out much about it before I had to come home, but I don't think most schools have that level of magical defences, for a start?"

Morgana smiled. "Oh, it's anything but a normal school! Let me tell you what it's been like for me..."

"So, you've been listening to me, what have you been up to?"

Thulia looked slightly embarrassed. "Well, you remember I said I'd got into a bit of trouble after what I did? Well, my teachers decided that while they wouldn't give me a specific punishment, they would teach me a lesson."

Morgana looked curious. "What did they make you do?"

Thulia put on her best look of teenage angst. "They decided that as my studies weren't the issue, it was time to take me on a trip, a sort of training exercise. They claimed it was to broaden my experiences off-plane, but I think that mostly they were lying through their teeth!"

"Wow! But wasn't a different world interesting? It sounds amazing!"

Thulia gave Morgana her best 'you have got to be shitting me' glare. "Amazing?! They sent me to Ultima Thule for a field trip!"

Morgana looked thoughtful. "We have legends about a place called that... then she thought some more, and looked a little worried. So, what's this Ultima Thule place like? Isn't it supposed to be cold?"

Thulia shivered at the memory. "let me tell you what happened..."

Thulia's guide gave her a critical look over, before nodding reluctantly. "Well, I suppose you'll do. We'll see, anyway."

Thulia eyed the man. He wasn't what she'd been expecting' Like Bruce, he was an imp, but his scales were dark, almost black. He was dressed even more warmly than Thulia, in gear that looked well-used and she wasn't sure if she should be reassured by this or not. She fidgeted slightly. "Ah... what should I call you?"

The imp shrugged, giving the distinct impression he could care less about what Thulia did. "Call me Arrokoth. Or Sir. I don't care."

Thulia sighed. She was already realising that this expedition she'd been forced on would take a long two weeks. The imp turned, holding out a wand as he pointed it at the circle on the ground in front of them. Magic flared, and the ring of a working portal shimmered into being in front of them. Thulia wasn't happy to realise that instead of the usual fire, or sometimes energy, that surrounded the portals she normally used this one was circumscribed by a ring of frost and ice. She suspected this was an omen, not that she needed another one.

"Well, come along then." The imp strode forward, not bothering to look to see if the girl was following him. Thulia gave a deep, put-upon sigh, shouldered her pack, and followed him.

The world through the portal didn't disappoint her expectations. The landscape was a bleak rocky wasteland covered in frozen gravel. The air itself was dry, and as Thulia breathed she could see her breath forming a cloud of mist. She decided very quickly that she didn't approve. She drew her cloak more tightly around her; although she'd been told not to deliberately draw down fire to warm herself, she could still feel some warmth from her link itself, but it wasn't doing much to help. For the first time, she was glad of the fur-lined clothing she'd been equipped with.

Her guide looked at her, then gestured with his thumb. "This way."

The pale red sun gave her enough light to see - well, nothing but lots more bare plain, the only movement being dry puffs of snow lifted from the ground by the wind."

Thulia looked at him, then protested vehemently. "But there's nothing there!"

He gave her a look. "So? I never said we were going anywhere close, did I?"

Thulia was having a hard time deciding how long they'd been walking for. The landscape was pretty uniform, with no real features that stood out, and while the bloody sun was slowly sinking, she had no idea how long the day was here. The monotony of their progress had made her sense of time blur. Finally, in the distance, the landscape changed, showing a series of ridges. Her guide grunted and changed direction slightly to head for them.

The sun was almost touching the horizon when her guide indicated a stop, lifting his pack off his back and putting it down with a grunt. "Time to make camp for the night."

Thulia looked around. Granted, the ridge of rock they had stopped against did make a windbreak, but apart from that, there was nothing special about it. "Isn't it a bit, well, bare?"

His teeth flashed as he grinned. "Survival training, remember? Now, we have several things to do. First up, heat." He looked around, then walked over to a medium-sized rock, bringing it over. "You're going to warm this up and keep it warm. Can you do that?"

Thulia took a moment to look offended at the question, then slipped her gloves off and started to gesture. She was surprised to find how difficult it was to draw heat essence down into it; there was almost none, and she had to draw most of it through her link, and even that was hard. It took longer than she'd expected, and by the time she'd finished with the essence flow to keep the rock hot, her hands were freezing. She gave her guide a dirty look as she held them close to the rock to try and get them warm again. He just nodded. "Not bad. I suppose you've just found out there isn't much fire essence around here, and it's harder to draw it in, right?"

She nodded, still warming her hands. "Good. Lesson 1, depending on where you are, the availability of a type of essence will vary, and when the world is not attuned - or like this one, opposed to - fire essence, even with a link to the Heart of Fire it can be hard to get. Your options are either to learn how to use other types of essence more effectively or use the fire essence more efficiently. Now, next lesson. This place might look lifeless, but there are some nasty beasts roaming around, and the heat will attract them. So you need to put a ward around us unless you want to wake up half-eaten!"

Thulia sighed and nodded. Wonderful, no sign of life all day, and as soon as she got a chance to rest, some annoying animal would come along and eat her. Next time she did one of these excursions, she was going to demand they camped in a comfortable hotel. Still, she did as instructed, laying out a spell circle around their camp, then froze her fingers again when she powered it up. The sole response of her guide was a grunt, followed by him pulling ration packs out of his pack. "OK, time to eat."

Thulia jerked as she woke suddenly, for a moment not remembering where she was, and shocked to find she was lying on hard rock with only a warm bag surrounding her. Then her situation jerked back into focus as she heard a long, low howl in the distance. She looked up cynically. No moon, so she had to wonder what whatever-it-was was howling at. Still, she sat up - and immediately slithered back down into her sleeping wrap until she could drag her cloak over herself.

"Better get up, we might have visitors soon."

Oh joy, she thought. Sighing in frustration, she tried to get the rest of her gear out and then grab a weapon. Annoyingly her guide had managed to do both in half the time.

"So what was that?"

He pointed out into the distance. The one advantage of this ice-coated wilderness was that there wasn't much, if anything, to hide behind. She could see two low-slung shapes moving towards them. She had no idea what they were, but they looked vaguely like a greyish-white ferret. Except they were about fifteen feet long, and she got a distinct feeling they weren't wandering over to welcome them.

She looked down at her bow and sighed. "Are you sure we can't use proper weapons?"

"Not yet. Remember what I said about essence here? Well, there are worlds where it's nearly impossible to draw enough to power a weapon, and stored essence only goes so far. And these beasties are fairly resistant to magic, so the best way of dealing with them is good old-fashioned weapons.

Still looking put-upon, Thulia strung an arrow. Making a metal note that next time she was on Earth she was going to find out about the weapons they seemed to use with gay abandon in their movies, they'd looked quite efficient. The two creatures closed with them surprisingly quickly, and she licked her lips.

"You take the one on the right."

She nodded, lining up her shot, and waited until it obliged her by closing. She could see the brilliant blue of its eyes, and as it speeded up, took careful aim and released. Her arrow took it in the shoulder - she'd been trying for a more lethal shot, but despite their size, their speed made them an elusive target - and it gave a howling scream as dark blue blood streamed from the tear in its shoulder. She strung a second arrow as fast as she could, she knew she'd only get one more shot, and even that would be tricky. She had to rush her second shot - it was that or let it hit her, and the arrow opened a rip in the beasts' side. It still wasn't stopping, so she dropped her bow and hurled herself to one side, pulling out her knife as she cursed the heavy clothing she was wearing.

It hissed at her, twisting with impressive agility, and closed, its maw open to show some quite impressive teeth. She slashed at it, which only annoyed it more, and it responded by trying to bite her. She almost dodged as the razor-sharp fangs slashed her jacket and opened a shallow cut on her arm. OK, dangerous but not that dangerous, she could cope with this. She snarled at it and pushed its jaws aside with one hand as she twisted her head, horns slashing the side of its neck. It howled again, but her horns had been the distraction as her knife slid through the thick fur and muscle protecting its throat, causing blood to spout as it collapsed. As soon as she was sure it was down, she turned to see what the other one was up to, to find it lying close with its head almost severed, her guide leaning on a halberd as he watched her.

He nodded at her corpse "You're more competent than I thought."

She looked at him, then at his halberd, and raised an eyebrow. He just grinned. "You didn't need my help, did you? Most of the people I bring here aren't so good without magic or proper weapons, it's nice to find not all you kids are neglecting the traditional method."

She kicked the corpse - serve it right for disturbing her sleep - and shook her head. While she'd always enjoyed hunting, as she got older she'd decided that overwhelming firepower was by far the most efficient way of dealing with attacks, and this really wasn't going to convince her otherwise.

"Is this sort of thing going to happen every night?"

He just laughed at her aggrieved tone."Probably not, there isn't enough food here for a lot of them. Still, you never know your luck!"

Luck. Wonderful, she was being led around by a crazy who enjoyed killing things with a halberd. She made a note to keep a calendar of how many days this trip had left, she was already freezing, unhappy, and really longing for a blisteringly hot bath...

Finally finished with her tale, she looked at Morgana. Then glared at her. "It's not supposed to be funny!"

Morgana shook her head as if trying to pretend the grin on her face was purely accidental, something Thulia didn't believe for a moment. Still, she half-smiled herself. While the trip had been frustrating and often uncomfortable, a lot of it had been interesting, and she had learned a lot. Didn't mean she was planning on going back there any time soon, though.

"I'm sorry, but at least you didn't get hurt, did you?"

"No, we got attacked once more, but it was only one of them and we dealt with it easily."

Morgana looked wistful. "Cold or not, I wish I'd been with you. But..." she looked to one side out of Thulia's view. "It's getting very late here."

Thulia nodded, realising that she needed to repress a yawn herself. "I know. Best to stop before one of us falls asleep in the bowl."

"Yeah, I guess. But I've got the schedule you sent with the bowl..." she smiled. "See you soon."

Sunday 16th October (Earth Standard Date), Thulia's Home, Plane of Fire

"Boss?"

Thulia looked up at Bruce's puzzled tone. He pointed at her quantum bowl, sitting on a table. It was glowing very faintly to her magesight.

She frowned, standing up and walking over to it. The bowl was bound to its other half, the only thing that should be able to activate it was Morgana's spell, but this was nowhere near the time the two of them usually talked. She bit her lip; this wasn't normal, and she hoped nothing had gone wrong.

Sitting down, she took a few moments to prepare herself, then stabbed a finger with a claw, letting three drops of her blood trickle into the clear water. She blinked; instead of curling randomly in the liquid, the three streamers of blood were trying to align themselves. More surprises.

A few moments later, the water glazed over silver, then cleared to show her Morgana. And not just Morgana - she was in a room with a number of people, and it looked like the bowl had been tied to a magic mirror, judging by the perspective. Too many different things, she was starting to get a lot more worried now.

"Morgana? Are you in trouble?"

Morgana looked at the people around her before meeting Thulia's concerned gaze. "Well, not exactly. Well, yes, but it's not because of contacting you, it's because of what happened to me yesterday."

Thulia frowned deeply, eyes flicking across the other people in the room with Morgana with a degree of suspicion. "Oh. Then perhaps you should introduce me to your friends, and then tell me exactly what's been going on."

A simple enough request, but it took a surprisingly long time to answer. Morgana's account was somewhat disjointed; she obviously hadn't considered some things important at the time, and had to keep backtracking. The staff present were also adding in details Morgana hadn't been aware of, as well as what they had thought the explanation was. Thulia had to keep asking questions about specific things, trying to build up possible solutions in her mind from the sadly incomplete data.

Finally, no one could think of anything more to add, and she sat there for a few minutes as she tried to make the details fit into some sort of pattern. It was obvious something was wrong with Morgana - possibly very wrong - but nothing in her earlier examinations had indicated anything which would have resulted in this melange of issues. She looked at the lady Morgana had identified as Grimes, who seemed to be in charge.

"You were right to contact me, from what you've said there is something very wrong. I tested Morgana in considerable detail before I was forced to leave her, and there was nothing in my results to indicate this sort of problem. While I expected her to take some time to integrate and learn to use her power, that should have gone smoothly, and the exercises you described should indeed have helped that process. From what you've shown me, the only logical explanation is that something is affecting Morgana that shouldn't be present, and since you seem to have ruled out an external cause, it must be internal."

Grimes nodded in agreement. "We had hoped you could provide us with a set of examination data from right after Morgana changed so we could isolate whatever it is."

Thulia thought furiously about that. The request was straightforward and obvious - she knew her early data on Morgana was clean, so anything different would show up clearly. But she wasn't happy at the idea of examining Morgana on Earth. She didn't know exactly what arrangements they had, but to prepare ones similar to hers would take some time, and given what had already happened to Morgana, she didn't want to waste that time. So perhaps a solution which would be much faster would work better.

"I do have earlier scans of Morgana, from even before she manifested. However my equipment isn't here, it would take time to set it up with you, and after what's happened, time would seem important. However, I can easily do another set of scans in my workroom, and compare them. That will hopefully isolate the problem immediately."

A good and obvious solution, but she'd forgotten how odd humans could be at the idea of visiting another plane. It provoked immediate and often heated discussion among the watchers, while she sat there and tried not to worry too much about what might be wrong. Until she had more data, she was as much in the dark as they were. Finally, the arguments came to a sensible conclusion - Morgana could visit and she would do the scans, and provide them with the results.

"It will take us a little while to activate a portal to you, Thulia. There is also the matter of specifying you and your location..."

Thulia nodded to Grimes. She'd been expecting that, and no, she wasn't going to give away enough of her True Name to allow such easy access of her.

"I believe there is a simple solution, Ms Grimes. Use Morgana's blood as the identifying mark. She shares her blood with me, so that will be adequate for the requirements of a portal. After all, I will be expecting it, it's not like you need to drag me through against my will."

Thulia had used the time to gear up her workroom to her old analysis setup. She was starting to appreciate the smart circles a lot more; instead of having to redraw the circles, she could use the data library she had stored in her computer. Even Bruce had to admit that when you needed to re-do things, it was a lot faster than the old methods. She had also taken Bruce's advice to change, getting out one of her formal robes to make the best impression when she arrived. He'd pointed out that looking the part of a powerful and experienced sorceress would probably re-assure them than looking like a teenager in a casual robe. Granted, they hadn't seemed hostile, but Morgana had introduced them as teachers, so looking older and more responsible would probably get her a better response. Having done that, she spent the rest of the time worrying. She knew she didn't have enough data yet, but that didn't stop all sorts of scenarios - each darker than the one before - working through her mind as she worried about Morgana.

At last her portal started to glow, the glyphs surrounding it activating and glinting with fire, and she stood eagerly; at last what had seemed an interminable wait was over. She waited until the shimmer in the centre showed a connection, then took a deep breath before stepping through, staff in hand. The veil of flame parted around her as she emerged, looking around curiously. Obviously a ritual chamber of some size, with enough ritual diagrams and symbols scattered around to impress even her as she bowed politely to the woman facing her.

"Greetings, Lady Grimes." She looked around the rest of the audience, breaking into a smile when she saw Morgana, then schooled her face into propriety once more. "So, shall we get down to business?"

Grimes replied with a formal gesture, which hardly surprised Thulia; it was obvious from the woman's aura she was a mage of power. "Certainly, Thulia. But I'm not a lady, I'm just a teacher here."

Thulia blinked. How odd, but maybe the title of teacher carried more authority here than in her home. Still, she needed to be polite to this woman, who seemed to control what Morgana was allowed to do.

"Ah, my apologies. Mistress Grimes, then?" Her innocent-sounding statement was followed by a quite obvious *snerk* from Caitlin, which caused Thulia to look at her, puzzled by the interjection, missing the withering look Grimes shot at Caitlin. Not that that return look discommoded Caitlin in the slightest.

Grimes gestured to regain Thulia's attention. "As we discussed, Caitlin will go with Morgana to keep an eye on her."

Thulia nodded, and this time looked a Caitlin properly. Her eyes opened wide in surprise, as she realised what the woman had to be. Even if it was impossible. But the strange tattoos and eyes made it impossible for her to be anything else, surely? She wished now she'd paid more attention to some of her ancient history classes.

"You... you're an Artificer, aren't you!"

Caitlin nodded, casually buffing her nails on her sleeve. "Yep. Do you have a problem with that, girl?"

Thulia shook her head, still trying to believe what she was seeing. "I just never expected to see one, I was taught that none still walked the Earth."

"Rumours of my demise have been greatly exaggerated, kid. But we'd better get back to the business in hand, right?"

Thulia shook her head to clear her thoughts of the distraction of coming across a legendary artificer. She mustn't get distracted; she needed to examine Morgana as soon as possible. Talking to an Artificer was not important right now. She turned to Morgana, offering her hand, and the girl smiled widely as she took it and stepped forward to the portal. Something inside Thulia cringed at the trust in her showing plainly on Morgana's face, she still had no idea what had gone wrong. Then she stood up straighter. No matter what, she would find and fix whatever the problem was. "Come, Morgana, I need to examine you again."

Thulia looked at the displays in front of her, making a complex gesture that closed or shut down the spells she'd been using to examine Morgana. Luckily she was facing away from the others, right now she was struggling to keep the expression on her face under control. She clenched her fists so hard her knuckles showed white under her dark skin, as she forced herself to look as if she was under better control. She couldn't allow Morgana to see what she felt, not yet. Not until she had an answer to what she feared the real problem was.

"Are we all done now?"

She looked at Morgana, keeping her face expressionless. "Yes, I have all the data I need, now I need to correlate it with the scans I did of you when you manifested."

"It could take me an hour or two to compare the scans and calculations. You may as well go back with Ms. Bardue, and I'll join you when I'm done."

Morgana gave her a sharp look, as if she was about to say something, then sighed, deciding to stay quiet. Thulia paused from her examination of the data to re-open the portal to Whateley for Morgana and Caitlin, trying not to say anything as Morgana gave her a final appealing look. She didn't trust herself to speak right now, so she waited until the two had passed through and the portal had shimmered and closed before she allowed her composure to shatter. It was all she could do to remain standing, as Bruce hurried over and put his arm around her. "What is it, Thulia?"

She gulped back tears as she gestured at the displays. Morgana needed her right now, she didn't have the time to fall apart as she wanted to, no matter how strong the appeal. Despite her insinuation to Morgana that it would take some time to analyse the results, her computer had presented the results almost in real-time. Even so, her voice sounded broken as she explained to Bruce.

"I wish they'd been wrong, but they aren't. Morgana has a parasite, and it's a particularly nasty one. I don't think they realise how bad it is."

Bruce looked at the screen, read it, and winced visibly. "So it is a psychofágos?

She nodded, finally allowing a tear to run down her cheek. "Yes, a hellspawned soul eater." She looked at the screen again and shivered in disgust and dread. "A powerful one, I don't know how she's still alive. Those bastards must have put it in her after I left."

Bruce sighed. "I bet they thought it would be a way of taking her out if they couldn't control her. It's the sort of imbecilic idea they'd think was clever."

"They were idiots. When that thing goes, with all the power it has stored up it's likely to take a serious chunk of the landscape with it, and that would have included them."

Bruce shrugged. "What did you expect, these were the morons who decided to use someone pulled in off the street to be a power conduit for them, rather than one of their own who at least might have been cooperative."

Thulia wiped her eyes clear as she moved to a crimson crystalline slab, stroking the corner and causing it to display a set of glyphs, a look of determination replacing the fear and despair. The situation was desperate, but not yet lost.

"So what are we going to do about it?"

Thulia started to manipulate the symbols in front of her as she considered Bruce's question. "I want to consult someone with more knowledge of hellspawn than me." The screen above her console shimmered in crimson fractal patterns, then cleared to show an older woman. "Grandmother, I need to talk with you. Right now, it's very urgent."

A tall woman walked out through the fiery annulus that defined the gateway. Tanau wore a dress that, while looking like it should have been decorous, was in practice intended to have a seriously incapacitating effect on any male seeing the voluptuous body contained in it. Her hair, unbound as usual, fell to her hips in thick waves of vibrant purple, as she drew her granddaughter into a hug. Then put her hands on her shoulders as she examined her, looking keenly at her face as she felt the tension and trembling in her body.

"So, what is this problem you need an old woman's help with? You look very troubled."

Thulis nodded miserably. "It's Morgana. That cult? They inserted a psychofágos in her before we could rescue her.

Tanau's hissed in surprise. "And she's still alive? I think you'd better tell me all you know, a psychofágos is not something to meddle with casually, especially if it has had time to establish itself in its victim." She let go of Thulia, then sat herself down, giving the girl a moment to try and regain some of her composure.

It took Thulia a while to explain what had happened, even though she was trying to be dispassionate, it wasn't working and more than once she had to stop and bring herself back from despair. For once, she had no answers herself, and the need for Tanau to have a solution was obvious in her face and body. Tanau listened closely, only interrupting on occasion to clarify a detail, until Thulia had finished. She sighed to herself as she saw the desperate need on Thulia's face. It wasn't an expression she was used to seeing on her, and she was sure she knew why it was there. Thulia had never been the best at hiding her heart, especially from Tanau's particular skills.

"You want to help her, don't you?"

Thulia looked at her with the expression of a girl who had nearly run out of hope. "I have to, Grandmother. I need to, if I don't she'll die!"

Tanau nodded. For a moment she debated pulling her granddaughter close for comfort, but hearing her voice, she realised the best comfort she could give would be a solution. It was already quite obvious to her why Thulia was so desperate to find one, and... there were some possibilities. It was hardly a normal situation, but then that was the time to try something unusual.

"Very well. Yes, there are a number of ways of separating the parasite, but some of them we are too late to use. From what you've told me, she is in the final stages. So just severing the connection would cause far too much damage, even if it didn't kill her outright. We have to be a bit more subtle."

Thulia looked at her, finally allowing hope to show on her face. "But it's possible, right?"

"Yes, it's possible. It's not easy by any means, and it will need all her strength and willpower, as well as all the help you can give her, but it can be done."

"Whatever it takes, grandmother."

Tanau heard the determination in Thulia's voice, and a pang of worry spiked through her. Whatever it takes could hide a multitude of risks, and while she loved Thulia she was by no means blind to the sort of levels of risk the girl found appropriate. Still... a cutout could be slipped into the ritual, without her knowledge. Not to kill Morgana, but in case of disaster, it would save Thulia. And if that cutout became necessary, Morgana would already be doomed. She would not sacrifice her granddaughter for a hopeless cause, even if she hated her for it afterward.

"Hmm. Very well, you'll need to bring her here and the actual rituals are quite complicated - while time is of the essence, you'll need a day to prepare. I suggest you go and arrange to get her here tomorrow with her teachers. While you are doing that, I'll start noting down what you'll need to do."

Thulia nodded. "oh yes!" Then she stopped and pulled Tanau into a hug. "Thankyou thankyou, grandmother!"

Tanua smiled. She'd hoped that giving Thulia a chance of a solution would bring back the enthusiastic girl who'd been hidden under the sadness; that was far more likely to succeed in the endeavour. Demon's thrived on hopelessness and despair, starting in that frame of mind would not help the chance of success.

"You're going back to tell them?" Thulia nodded, and she chuckled. "Then give me a few minutes to cover the signs of those tears. Never show weakness in front of humans, and seeing you looking like this would just upset Morgana."

Thulia stepped through the portal, pad in hand and a grim expression on her face. She sat down as Grimes indicated a seat for her, refusing to make eye contact with Morgana. Not yet, she needed to make these teachers understand what needed to be done. And there was always a chance they had a viable solution; after all, they had a Sidhe mage and an Artificer, maybe they knew a safer way of saving Morgana.

"I've finished analyzing the scans of Morgana." As Thulia spoke, she was tapping her pad, as a set of holographic displays shimmered into pseudo-solidity above the table. "You were right to be worried. The cult inserted a psychofágos into Morgana, probably sometime soon after I was forced to leave. It's been active - and growing - ever since."

While a couple of the people around the table obviously recognised what she was talking about - Ms. Grimes had visibly winced - there were others who's faces showed they were still confused, so she continued with her explanation.

"Let me explain. A psychofágos is commonly termed a soul-eater, it's a nasty little piece of hellspawn, and its purpose is to drain power from its victim - hence the name - until they die. I assume they put it in Morgana in case they couldn't control her. It would have been fairly quiescent at first - until Morgana was freed, she was using very little magic, which is its preferential source of sustenance - but once she started to draw significantly on the Fire Plane energy, it would have siphoned off more and more of it."

Dr. Tennant looked perturbed. "I can follow it draining energy, but if it's taking it from her external source, why is it draining her?"

Thulia looked even grimmer. "The big problem is Morgana's tie to the Heart of Fire. With a human mage, they basically get drained of power and wither away, it takes a few weeks. But with the energy available to her, it's been building up its power without actually stealing from her personal resources - at least, not directly. But what's happened is that after this time it's sucked enough energy to make itself very powerful. As a result, the rate of the draw is increasing, and as you've noticed, it's interfering with the way Morgana draws and processes energy as it starts to pull essence out of her well. That's why you've seen the odd effects of her using magic in her energised state. It's already powerful enough it's causing damage to her, and in a short while the damage will be so great as to kill her. Even without causing her further burnouts, its power will distort and damage her well and energy channels until they can no longer support themselves. However, based on what has already happened, the more likely course of events is further burnouts, each one more severe until one kills her."

She finally turned to look at Morgana, reaching out to hold her hand. "I'm so sorry, Morgana. I never meant for any of this to happen to you in this way." The sick expression on Morgana's face almost make her break her composure, but she had to hold firm until these people had agreed on a solution. Losing control in front of them would make them assume she couldn't handle the problem.

There followed a discussion of possible solutions, which Thulia found of little help. It seemed that neither the Sidhe mage nor the Artificer had any solutions that could be deployed in time, and when she pointed out the size of the explosion that would result when the parasite finished its work, the general mood darkened considerably. She looked over at Morgana, who'd been sitting there listening quietly, but after the lack of a solution from the teachers became obvious, she looked at Thulia, a tear slowly trickling down her cheek. Thulia couldn't take it any longer, she stopped trying to be the calm rational expert and slammed her hand down hard on the table.

"No."

The sheer force of her statement brought abrupt silence to the arguing voices, as everyone turned to stare at her. She waited a moment while everyone in the room stared at her as if she'd grown a second head, before continuing in a voice like hammered iron.

"I will not let Morgana die, and especially not by this thing that foul cult put in her. It is possible to remove it. Not safely - there is a risk, and there may be some damage - but it's the best chance Morgana has to live." She reached out and took Morgana's hand, squeezing it as she tried her hardest to project confidence and reassurance, despite the curl of fear twisting inside her. "You dying is NOT an option!"

Her interjection seemed to have broken the circle of ineffectual ideas at last, and after a short time, Grimes had agreed to let Thulia try her solution. It wasn't as if there was an alternative that offered any hope for Morgana. Thulia had been thinking of what needed to be done, when looking at Morgana's miserable face had given her an idea; if it worked, it might reassure Morgana. There had been some talk earlier of her being a demoness, and while inaccurate, she hadn't bothered to waste time correcting their misconception. However if they did think that, she could make use of it. Demons needed a contract to be safely used, and that contract included payment. She would never accept payment for saving Morgana, but if they thought one needed to be made, maybe she could get some benefit for Morgana and herself out of this. Of course, lying would not be sensible, but allowing them to make assumptions was a different matter. She put aside the feeling that doing this while Morgana's life was in danger was hardly appropriate; obviously, she would succeed in saving her, so this was a positive step.

"While I am more than happy to do this for Morgana, there is the matter of payment."

Grimes didn't seem at all discommoded by my statement, although Morgana was looking very upset.

"Morgana, Thulia is bound by certain constraints on what she can do on this plane. I assume she cannot do a service, no matter how well-intentioned, without asking for payment."

Well, that was true enough for Thulia's purposes, and she hadn't actually agreed that Grimes was correct. She wasn't bound by magic as a demon would be, but there were issues of tradition to consider. Of course, that meant the applicable payment could be nothing, but as the opportunity was there anyway...

"Very well. Then this is the payment I require." Thulia looked at Morgana again, then back at Grimes. "I want - I believe you call them visitation rights - with Morgana while she is here at Whateley."

That led to a certain amount of confusion, argument, and disagreement. Thulia was considering telling them she would accept something much simpler, even nothing when she was asked to wait outside for a short time while they came to a decision. She nodded, offering her hand to Morgana. At least this meant they would come to some sort of arrangement, and she knew that she would agree to it. Not that she would tell them that yet, of course.

There was a small lobby outside the room, where she made Morgana sit before slipping down next to her and putting her arm around her. The girl was trembling uncontrollably, and Thulia could feel the dampness of her tears where her face pressed against her. That made her worry grow; she'd seen Morgana bear up under all sorts of strains so far, but this time she seemed to have lost hope. Slipping her hand under the girl's chin, she brought her face up so she could look into her eyes.

"Morgana...whatever happens, you aren't going to die. I'm not going to permit it."

Morgana shivered. "But what if they won't agree?" The quaver in her voice sent a stab through Thulia, but what Morgana needed now was her strength.

"It doesn't matter. I meant what I said, while things would be easier with their help, I'm going to take you with me and destroy this parasite."

Morgana's eyes widened. "But what about the rules you mentioned?"

Right now Thulia wished she'd just agreed to do it, but it had been said now.

"Screw the rules. If they get in my way, I'll ignore them. There are always loopholes, and if necessary I'll create some. Trust me."

Morgana looked at her face, as if searching for reassurance, then nodded and pressed close again. "I trust you.

It wasn't that long before the door opened and the two girls went in again. The agreement suggested was interesting; it seemed they had done deals with demons before, and while the restrictions they insisted on were fairly strict, they weren't unreasonable under the circumstances. It reassured Thulia that Morgana's teachers were both competent and concerned for her, both qualities would help in what she was intending to do. She did insist that any summoning would be done by Morgana, using her own blood to identify her. At least that wouldn't cause so much family trouble as giving enough of her true name would. Granted, what she was about to do would likely cause a new argument with her family, but that could wait until after she'd saved Morgana. Besides, she wasn't quite breaking the rules she'd agreed to; being summoned wasn't the same as visiting Earth, or at least that was the argument she was anticipating using.

Sunday 16th October, afternoon (Earth reckoning), Thulia's workroom.

While it had been agreed that she would open a portal for Morgana on the following day, that still left a not-inconsiderable mountain of preparation to be dealt with. Tanau's notes were detailed, although Thulia still had some questions for her, but the immediate problem was to get everything done that had to be finished in the limited time. Well, it wasn't as if the tension still eating away inside her would have allowed her to sleep anyway. She was vaguely aware that Tanau and Bruce were talking about something, but their voices were low and she tuned them out. She needed her work to be perfect, this operation was on the edge of possible as it was, the allowance for errors was minimal. Her smart circles were making all the difference; she'd slowly been building up a library of useful enchantments in her computer for some time, and that left her able to concentrate on the ones she had to build from scratch.

It was early morning before she'd finished. In addition to the spell circles needed for the extraction of the parasite, Tanau had insisted on an extra precautionary circle in case the energy the demon had been capturing from Morgana and storing was released. If that happened, the circle would direct the energy up, and Thulia had put a corresponding circle above it on the roof. That would activate and open a portal, shunting the energy somewhere safe. If that didn't work, likely they'd all be knee-deep in molten rock, but then everyone involved was fireproof.

Thulia rubbed her back to get rid of the kinks that kneeling for so long to do the extra circles had put in it.

"You want something to eat, Boss? You've been at it all night."

Thulia thought for a moment, then shook her head firmly as her stomach roiled at the thought. She was so tense she couldn't even think about food right now.

"No. I need to get myself ready as well before I go and get Morgana." She turned to her grandmother, who'd been sitting quietly watching. "There's something I need to ask you - in private."

Tanau raised an eyebrow, but nodded and patted the seat close to her. "Of course, dear."

Thulia waited until Bruce had moved out of earshot, then walked over and sat down next to Tanau. She wasn't quite sure how to discuss what she wanted. She knew her parents would object, but then, they weren't here and she thought Tanau might be more receptive. Still, this needed to be done soon, so she went straight in.

"I've been going over the plan, and I can see a problem. Assuming that Morgana has to finish the parasite off, I don't see how she will have enough power to do it."

Tanau looked at her. "I see. Yes, that was always a possibility." She gave Thulia a closer look. "You think you have a solution?"

Thulia looked down at her hands, then back up at her grandmother. "Yes. There are a number of possibilities. Waiting while we find a way of strengthening her isn't an option; if anything, she will get weaker, and it's not like we have any time. The second is to find another source of power for her to draw on when she needs it most."

This time Tanau said nothing, obviously waiting for her to continue.

"While any fight will take place between her astral form and the demon, it would be possible to design a power source she could draw on. But again, we don't have the time. But there is one available source she could use."

Tanau looked at her and nodded. "You mean yourself."

"Yes. She shares my blood, and so I could arrange things so she could draw on my energy. But a blood-bond is an issue as we are already entangled, and we'd have to modify things. Again, no time. There are other sorts of bindings that could be done, though."

Tanau raised an eyebrow. "A demon mark? I'm not sure..."

Thulia interrupted her before she could finish. "NO! Not a demon mark." She looked down at the floor as she tried to explain her feelings. "That would bind her to me, make me my servant at best, my slave at worst. I can't do that to her, not after all she's been through." She finally raised her eyes to look at Tanau. "And I don't want her like that. I want her to be with me because she wants to, not because a spell compels her."

Tanau smiled and rested her hand on Thulia's shoulder. "I'm glad of that, little one. Shackling someone like that would affect you as well as her, and likely not in a good way."

Thulia nodded miserably. "But if I can't loan her my power, she'll die."

"There are a couple of other possibilities for binding the two of you, you realise?"

Thulia nodded, blushing deeply. "I... had considered that... but I don't know what she'd say!"

Tanau chuckled softly. "Not to mention your father probably would explode if you came home and told him you'd just got married, or even engaged! No, I was thinking of something else - not used much nowadays, but it would solve your problem, and while it would be a commitment it wouldn't be possible to annul it either of you wanted to. It's called a leman bond."

Thulia thought furiously. "Oh... yes, I remember reading about them, they've pretty much gone out of fashion, haven't they."

"Yes. But while it would involve a commitment between the two of you, it can be revoked, and it's mutual, so you wouldn't be controlling her. If you want to do that, I can get you a copy of the ritual and the chain you'll need."

Thulia threw her arms around the older woman, hugging her tight. "Oh yes! That will let me save her, and it's so much better than a controlling mark."

Tanau smiled. "Very well, I'll go and get the items you'll need. How are the rest of the preparations?"

"Nearly done. I just have to assemble some tools, and prepare some healing spells." She sighed sadly. "Even if everything goes well, she'll need to channel a lot of power, and her essence channels are already suffering from the parasite. I can't see her coming out of this without injury, maybe seriously so. But that I can heal."

To Be Continued