Devyr paused for a moment as if considering how best to put it. Her violet eyes with golden tendrils shifted back and forth a few times as she put her thoughts together. "I feel much better than I did when I first woke up, though I'm not entirely sure how to describe this," she said, gesturing to the root-like cage around her lower body.
"When I first woke up, I was confused by where I was, or even who I was with. Once Athar came and managed to explain everything to me, I knew I was being well-cared for," she gave my mother a toothy grin, as her sharp fangs, like her mother's, protruded just a little. "I'm glad to hear you're doing better, marra. Did they say how much longer you had to stay here?" Kalia asked nervously.
"They said I should be cleared to leave by tomorrow, though I don't know my way around this place," she said, glancing around the infirmary as she lifted her hands in confusion. "Well, if you're up for it, we have a mission to go on soon. Do you think you'll be alright to go?" I asked. As I did so, her expression immediately brightened, and she nearly leaped from the bed as the last words reached her.
"Egeshe krag! Yes! I don't know how much longer I can sit here like this," she said excitedly. "Marra, you've only just healed. Are you sure about this?" Kalia asked calmly, though I could feel the concern behind her words through our connection. "Of course, Murra! Is… Athar going?" Devyr asked sheepishly, causing Ysevel to snort and stifle a laugh at Kalia's expression.
"Yes, he's going, too. In fact, every member of The Order is going," I said with a bright smile, much to Kalia's chagrin. "Murra, I'm going. Freshly-healed or not," Devyr said with avid determination. Kalia sighed, but I could tell she was glad to see her daughter back to her former self. "You remind me a lot of Ysevel. Almost too much. Very well, then. We'll come get you in the morning," she relented. As soon as she did, Devyr quickly reached out and wrapped Kalia in a tight embrace.
"I guess we'll have to see Maikell about another set of armor," my mother said with a single chuckle through her nostrils. "Wait, you've already had them made? When did that happen?" I asked. "It was nearly a week ago, now. She thought it would be a good idea for Kalia, Irun, and Athar also to have armor that matched ours," Ysevel added with a knowing grin.
"You do realize that their bodies are already armored, right?" I asked my mom chidingly. "It's more of a disguise for Kalia and Irun, since I'm sure people would ask a lot of questions if they saw them outside of Caegwen. Come, Kalia. We'll need your help to measure out Devyr's armor as well," she replied, which caught me off guard.
Since I'd already grown so used to seeing Kalia and Irun, it never occurred to me that anyone else outside of our group was still entirely unaware that we had a hegraphene and a daemonically augmented human with us.
We bid Devyr goodbye, though Kalia said something to her in their native language that I didn't quite understand, but I did hear Athar's name mentioned, so I figured it wasn't any of my business. There was a strange mixture of frustration and happiness coming from her, which told me it couldn't have all been bad.
I think Kalia's still adjusting to the fact that her daughter's in love with Athar, Ysevel sent playfully. It's been a few years since that reveal, though I suppose she's just being protective, I shrugged. Like your mother was when she read that letter She Who Shall Not Be Named sent? Ysevel asked with a raised eyebrow. I guess, but I don't know if Kalia realizes that yet, I chuckled lightly.
We continued through the many halls of the palace, eventually meeting up with Irun and Athar, whom we led to Maikell's workshop. There was a mild tension in the air between Kalia and Athar, but it wasn't anything we hadn't dealt with before.
As we approached the workshop, I could see the smoke from his forge rising from the chimney that poked through the massive, root-like structure. However, there was a loud crash that sounded like a piece of armor being struck, so we quickened our pace to find out what happened. "Maikell, are you alright?" Mom called out from the large doorway, stopping at the threshold as she swung the door open.
"Argh, I can't figure it out, Siraye!" he shouted frustratedly, immediately confusing the rest of us. When I managed to get close enough to see what was going on, I realized he was doing a destruction test on my armor that Kalia had infused with her kataki.
"It just doesn't make any sense. How can this kataki be so damned strong? Here, look at this," he said, quickly grabbing the armor off the support he was using to hold it up, and another from the workbench. "See this? This is my armor. It's made of twytanym, which, to the uninitiated, is almost as tough as a dragon's scales. However, this one is my armor with that kataki stuff infused into it, and look! Not a single sign of damage to it whatsoever!" he thrust each one in my mother's face, respectively.
"I-It's incredible. I just don't know ho-..." he cut himself off when he saw Kalia standing next to me, his eyes growing wide in amazement. "By the First Flame, i-is that…?" he asked, nearly shoving my mother aside to get a better look at her, reaching for her armored hand. "I-I've never seen something so beautiful," he said, his glowing eyes shining even more brightly against the light of the forge behind him.
I could tell Kalia wanted to pull away immediately, but at my mother's behest, she resisted the urge to do so. "Were you the one who did this to their armor?" he asked excitedly, twisting her hand this way and that, finding it difficult to decide which part of her to look at.
"Y-Yes, it was. His armor was slightly damaged during our training, so I used some of my kataki to mend and reinforce it," she said awkwardly, but his response to her words was one of pure befuddlement. "H-How? How did you do this, and with such high-quality craftsmanship?" he asked breathlessly.
She seemingly understood what he was asking for, though there was a slight hesitation present in her core that I felt I needed to gently encourage to be set aside. She sighed, but both she and Ysevel followed my lead to create our kataki blades, slowing the process enough so that he could see what was happening.
His eyes widened, and I could tell he was using as much mana as he could to better observe what he was looking at. After a brief explanation of what it was and how it worked, he nearly fell backward in shock, supporting himself on the stand he'd taken the armor from.
"I-I see. I'm astounded that such a thing even exists outside of legend. Even so, it was an incredible display of your talents, and I humbly ask you to do what you did to their armor to these pieces I've created for you," he said with a bow, then quickly turned to grab a handful of boxes.
There was one for each member of Nightfall's Blade, and one extra that struck my mother as odd.
"Who's that one for, coal-eater? Did you make one for yourself?" she said playfully. "No, you brute, this one's for someone named Devyr," he said, prompting Kalia to freeze solid. "Who ordered that?" Mom asked with a raised eyebrow. "He did," he gestured to Athar standing behind me.
I could feel Kalia's displeasure at the knowledge, but knew there wasn't much I could do, since the damage had already been done.
"He found out you had put in the order, and even gave me all her measurements so there shouldn't be any adjustments that need to be made," he said, causing Kalia to shift from being frozen solid to a boiling pot of nearly unbridled rage.
"Eg karaeda juka erugo," she hissed, similarly to when she'd first found out Devyr's faceplate had retracted around him. "Guto, Kalia," I said, hoping to calm her down, while Maikell and my mother stared at the two of us in confusion. "It's fine. I'm fine," she said, raising both her armored hands as if surrendering.
Athar nearly died again, Ysevel chuckled, forcing me to beat down the shit-eating grin that was trying to surface.
Thankfully, Kalia sighed and unclenched her jaw as she did so. "I accept your earlier request, Maikell, and I will show you how I did it in full detail. Perhaps you might find a way of adding your own techniques into this," she said, begrudgingly taking a step forward to the sets of armor.
As she lifted the first lid to my mother's newest set of armor, we all gathered around her to see what she was doing. Maikell had moved up closer to her than I think she liked, but she ultimately knew he wasn't doing it to be weird.
At least, that's what I thought, anyway.
"Wait, what's that?" Mom asked, pointing to a trio of engravings near the top of the chestplate. "Ah, well, after the strange lad appeared, Aurae stopped by and asked me to add these to the armor, trusting me to put them in a place I felt they deserved to be," he said, gesturing to the engravings.
I leaned in closer to see what he was talking about, and on the left side of the breastplate, there was the Phrys family crest, as well as my own, though the third I didn't quite recognize.
"Athar, you son of a bitch," I grinned, looking over at him when I realized he'd designed a crest for The Order; an upward-facing sword backed by a crescent moon near its base, with seven stars arrayed near its point. While none of the crests had their words engraved, I shuddered to think about what he'd come up with.
"It's beautiful, and very fitting, Athar. Thank you," Ysevel said diplomatically. "I have to agree, it is beautiful, though I feel we may need to make more room for the stars once we acquire more members," Mom added with a light smile. "Hush, you two! Let her work!" Maikell snarled, more interested in whatever Kalia was doing than our idle conversation.
As she produced a decent amount of kataki, she slowed its movement down significantly, allowing him to inspect its flow as it wove itself into the fibers and metal of the armor, as if absorbing them. Maikell's eyes flared with mana once more, and he quietly observed its flow into the materials he'd used for the armor, making it a much darker green than before.
"Incredible," he said with a half-chuckle of disbelief. She continued to the following pieces, prompting him to watch just as intently as before. There was a slightly warm feeling coming from Kalia as she continued her work, though I couldn't place exactly what it meant.
Within a few minutes, she'd completed the sets of armor, including Devyr's, and let out a satisfied grunt. "I hope that was a sufficient demonstration of the technique for you. Bear it and pass it on," she said in a tone that matched the feeling in her core. "Th-thank you, Kalia. I will," he said, his eyes glistening with what I thought were tears.
What just happened? I asked my mother, whose eyes widened in surprise. That phrase she just used was one his wife used to say to him before she passed over a century ago, she explained briefly. I noticed Ysevel must have known her, too, since her expression shifted warmly.
I guess we all have our secrets, I thought idly.