Delyth caught Etienne smiling into his breakfast, though she had missed whatever joke had passed between them. She took another deep breath. “Why don’t we call it three and a half? I think that's still an improvement.” It wasn’t exactly playful, but Delyth could try to be a decent companion.
“A half death?” Meirin nodded, seeming to like the idea. “Which part of you would you like to have died, Etienne? Lower or upper? Your spleen? Your heart? Perhaps your left foot. It’s the one you keep tripping over, Etienne.” Her eyes were bright against the yellow paint drawn across her lids as she looked at the mage, inviting some sense of comradery.
✶
Etienne pretended to give this some consideration. “I suppose I wouldn't need a left foot to be a cheesemaker. Or a mage, for that matter.”
That was if he found a way around Enyo’s spell— No, when he found a way around it. He would not let the Goddess take that from him as well.
He glanced over at Delyth, but she was looking down at the loaf in her hands, chewing steadily. Probably already itching to be on the move.
“A fine choice. I’ll keep that in mind if it ever comes to that.” Meirin settled back on her rear and stared up at the canopy overhead. She watched a few leaves fall from their moorings and float down to join their brethren on the forest floor. “If we keep going south, we will be in the grasslands soon. It will be difficult to stay hidden from view, from what I hear. They are all flat and open. Will they run if they see us approaching? Do we need to set some sort of… trap?”
Etienne was silent for a moment, taking another bite of bread and chasing it with water. “There is a way to trap her. Possibly even to bind her. If she still has her basin.” Once, he could have done it. But now… He turned to Delyth, who had looked up at the change in topic. “Is there a way to bind her using your magic?”
Her brow pinched, and she shifted, pulling her wings tighter against her body. Really, nothing made the warrior look more bird-like. “I don’t know,” she said. “Perhaps. I could certainly keep her out of a place I wanted to protect. Maybe it could also work in reverse?”
Etienne ran his hands through his hair. “What do we do if she doesn’t have the basin? Or if the trap doesn’t work now that she has more of her powers back? The binding spell should still work… I think it's more your magic than the kind taught at the academy. It's from the same book that unleashed Enyo in the first place.”
“We have to try,” Delyth said, and Etienne was nodding before she finished. Of course, they had to try.
“So we’ll see if we can design a rune-trap to hold her so that we can separate her from the basin and bind her.”
“What if she doesn’t have it anymore?” Delyth turned northward, towards Thlonandras.
“I don’t think she would have left it. You heard the explosion. There can’t be much of Thlonandras standing any longer, and Enyo would want a fitting place for her artifact.”
Delyth was nodding. “That makes sense.”
“What about her companions? Tristan and Maoz? I don’t know about Tristan, but I saw him fight. He is very swift. And Maoz, of course, is the Hunter. He won’t take an attack laying down…”
Etienne turned to Meirin thoughtfully. She was right. He and Delyth had just focused on Enyo out of habit. “Three rune-traps then? Maoz will have his artifact, so we should be able to bind him as well. And it will make things easier to have Tristan out of the way.”
Three rune-traps, though… That was a lot of blood.
“Can it be done?” Etienne asked Delyth frankly.
“With both of us, maybe.” And then, again: “We have to try.”
Meirin swallowed her last piece of bread and wiped her hands on the knees of her trousers. “What I don’t understand is why they are going into the grasslands. Enyo is of the mountains, as is Maoz.” Her face contorted in obvious dislike, and he was reminded suddenly of Enyo. It was odd to think of the Goddess willingly leaving her mountains.
“I’m… not sure,” Delyth said, looking at Etienne.
He shook his head. “Best that we catch them before they find what they’re looking for.”
Delyth stood up, wiping her hands on her pants. “Which means we ought to get going. And that we’ll have to redouble our efforts to get you battle ready and decently adept at the old ways.”
Meirin smirked at Etienne’s crestfallen expression, but she didn’t say anything, instead standing to haul her pack over her shoulders. They would have to teach him on their way if they were ever to get close enough to the Goddess to trap and bind her.
Chapter VIII
Tenth Moon, New Moon: The Tower
The view changed. The flashes of forest morphed into open planes and a rocky river. The sun, high overhead, made the dark golds and browns of autumn blinding at times, and Alphonse would feel herself turning away. The light was so powerful compared to the gentle darkness that she nestled in most of the time, yet, as Enyo walked, Alphonse couldn’t help but watch. She was interested in what a Goddess would choose to do with her new freedom. It was strange that she would just stroll through Thloegr, leaving her beloved mountains to enter the grasslands instead.
It took much watching, but finally, Alphonse could pick up something more than
