Zalia stepped back through into the Aurora Grove, breathing the cold air of the north. With plans to go back and forth between the Grove and the far north a lot, she would need to figure out a way of getting there quickly. It had been a long time since she had thought about the teleportation rituals she had figured out by studying Astar teleportation magic because she hadn’t had the power to fully make use of it then. Now, with the scope that her ritual magic was able to encompass having increased massively, she thought about its use again.

  The Grove was the most protected place she had here in the north, but it wouldn’t quite do for what she wanted. Instead, she left the Grove, heading out from the shadow of the two mountains that formed the gorge it sat in. Aylie followed, a curious Lumin tagging along as well.

  The teleportation rituals needed a significant amount of power to activate them when they were long distance, which meant that the area required for all the plants involved in it was huge compared to some of the other smaller living rituals she had created.

  Luckily, they used the two herbs Bitterbalm and Frozen Time. Both of them grew in the north, which meant they were built for the climate, which would make things easier. Normally, she would need to create a miniature environment using other herbs that would mimic the natural magic that flowed through nature here, so that the plant could survive.

  She stopped in an open section of land, then began to alter the ground and plants around herself using Natural Matter Alteration. Trees, bushes, undergrowth and snow all shifted away from her, creating a clear circular space some twenty metres across. She summoned small bits of both Frozen Time and Bitterbalm into her hand and began to grow them with Healing Presence, until she had two full plants. They then split into hundreds of pieces of each plant, held aloft by her magic. These parts flew out from her hands to plant in a complex pattern of runes marked out in shape by the herbs, which grew up into their own whole plants. The process took about ten minutes, with a complicated living ritual the result. It was slow compared to how quickly she could create rituals within Nature’s Reclaim now, yet made a sharp comparison to the hours it would have taken at Bronze. It would even be possible to create these teleportation rituals there instantly now; information she filed away for later.

  Her memory was good at this rank compared to when she had no magic at all, yet she still encapsulated the image of the teleportation circle identifier and stored it in her vault for later.

  “What’s that for?” Aylie asked, once it was done.

  Snow was drifting back in to coat the plants and dirt beneath them as Zalia dropped her control over nature in the immediate area.

  “Teleportation circle. I’m going to set one up out there once we arrive as well. Any time we want to go back and forth from the north, we will be able to. I’m not going to keep this one open though, just in case.”

  “I remember when you were learning all of this back home, before you even had a second Grove. That feels like a long time ago.”

  “It was.”

  They sat silent, watching as Lumin explored the plants. Their glowing coat shone brightly, sending light scattering off of the snow.

  “Let’s go get Boreal and go, then. We can leave the Ancient of War to watch over Glemp for now.”

  Along the walk back, Zalia started to put things into order. They would go north to clear some more of the disease until she reached Gold and perhaps find out why Lumin had come to them again. She bet there was something there that the young god was looking for, though what it was exactly she didn’t know.

  Once she reached Gold rank, she knew Ro would ask her to come with him to Cormaine. There were undoubtedly a number of other powerful people that he had been working to convince to join their assault as well.

  The Ancient of War, who was also Boreal’s partner, was already waiting for them when they arrived back. It appeared that her connection to the Grove’s had summoned him somehow. The Aurora Grove would eventually form its own connection with a nearby being that would serve as the Ancient of War there.

  Seeing that everyone was ready to go, Zalia informed Glemp of their departure and cast the ritual of flight on the group. Before she could cast it on Lumin however, the wolf form changed to that of a beam of starlight that soared into the sky, doing loops as it waited for them. Zalia grinned as she flew up to meet them and begin the journey northwards.

  Even the joy of flight couldn’t maintain its hold on Zalia as her thoughts inevitably turned to Ember. She tried to keep the memories of their time spent together at bay for a bit, but eventually let them flow. There was no point bottling it up to burst later.

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  The flight was long, though it passed like the wind as Zalia’s mind churned. Her focus was dragged back to reality by Lumin coming to a stop in front of them and reforming into their wolf shape, head tilted to the side. Lumin looked back at her and yipped excitedly.

  “What is it?”

  Zalia turned to Aylie, who could understand Lumin’s thoughts much better than she.

  “They say we should follow them, that they sense something nearby.”

  Shrugging, Zalia gestured her agreement and Lumin took off again.

  Their path deviated from the straight northwards route that they had taken, the icy land bridge still beneath them as they went. The stretch of ice was the same as last time, bare and cold with the odd part here and there marked by the lightning of Rozestrazix.

  Zalia didn’t question where they were headed. She assumed that it didn’t matter much which part of the land across the ice they went to, as the worms and their mind controlled animals would likely inhabit all of it.

  Minutes turned to hours before they finally found themselves over real land once more. From their vantage in the sky, Zalia could see more than a few animals down below. She even had to kill a particularly aggressive bird, like a goose with one deformed wing, as it flew at them honking loudly.

  Another hour later, Lumin dove steeply towards the ground. The line of starlight dropped without much warning, towards… a building.

  Curious about what it could be but still wary of the danger, Zalia followed quickly. She wasn’t quick enough to waylay Lumin as she landed heavily beside them, straining all of her senses. The ground was stable and there was no sign of heat or movement so far, so she turned her attention to the building.

  It was a weather worn building made of pure white marble decorated with a deeper black marble that was flecked with spots of white. The front had a set of stairs leading up to a landing, two pillars on either side stretching upwards. One of them was snapped in half but the other stood as it had been built.

  There were remains of rotten wood that suggested a cover had once stretched from the top of the pillars over towards the domed building, yet none of it remained. The dome on top of what Zalia was beginning to realise was a temple was mostly shattered, the whole top open to the sky.

  Lumin padded towards the doorway, the entrance large enough to fit someone three times Zalia’s height. Aylie and Boreal landed beside her, similarly examining their surroundings.

  Deciding that this was as good a place as any to set up the teleportation ritual, Zalia moved some distance from the building and began to perform the exact same actions as she had only a few hours ago. Herbs grew, only to split into pieces and grow once more. This time, however, she layered a second ritual over the top. She didn’t want any of the diseased to even notice this ritual and so she gave it protection against perception. They shouldn’t be able to use it, even if they found it and understood what it is, but it was always better to take extra precautions with these kinds of things.

  She found herself strangely settled, despite where they were. Normally, when she went out to dangerous places like this, there was something inside of her that told her to be careful, to be wary of the danger, to always be on the edge and cautious of everything around her.

  It took her a few minutes to realise that the reason she lacked that feeling now, was that it had never come from inside herself. Those emotions had been a resounding feeling that had come down the bond from Ember, which was now gone. Instead, she found herself more able to admire the beauty around her, despite what might burst out of it at any moment.

  Once the teleportation ritual was set up, she followed Lumin into the temple and looked around in awe. The floor, with rubble from the dome above strewn across its surface, was pure black marble that stretched out near to the walls. It was lined with more white marble that then took the final step to the walls, which were decorated with faded depictions of stars. Corrugated pillars and smooth curves of marble gave a relief between what Zalia began to recognise as constellations from the sky above. All of the beauty of the interior gave way to the final and most central decoration, a set of stars shaped like a wolf, in front of which stood Lumin, head tilted to the side.

  “Is this temple yours?”

  Lumin stepped forwards and tapped a paw to the image and a dim light built up from within the stars, spreading out from the central constellation to the others nearby. Soon, the temple was lit with a beautiful, calm blue.

  “I guess that answers that.”

  Zalia turned as she heard the click of claws against stone to see another wolf approaching them, ethereal and lit from within by stars much as Lumin was. Where Lumin was the same size as Boreal, standing shoulder to shoulder with Zalia, this wolf was smaller, only reaching up to her waist. It approached Lumin, then reached its nose forward to tap it to Lumins.

  There was a resounding ping, and starlight shone down from above them. The rubble on the floor evaporated and the light began to coalesce, reforming the dome above them in an ethereal blue replica of the original stone. Outside, the rotted wood and broken beams went through a similar transformation. Dead wood and broken stone faded away while the starlight solidified to repair the temple. An arching cover grew from the two front pillars and made its way to the front door of the temple, the roiling light settling into its final shape as it did.

  The physical changes to the temple weren’t the only ones, either. Much like the very ground that the fight against the Monarch had taken place on had felt like it belonged to them, this temple felt like Lumin, like it was theirs alone.

  It was beautiful, the temple a symbol of Lumin's rebirth. What was old and broken now cut back and repaired with a new light. Staring around at it all, Zalia couldn’t help but be joyous.