The birch tree engraved into the woman's thick metal breastpte stood strong and proud, the universal symbol of the worshipers of Brigeth. The tree's white paint was covered in bck lenticels, so many so that the tree itself seemed more bck than white. This was somewhat common among the high ranking Brids, each spot marking an honorable deed. Less common, however, were the golden yellow leaves atop it. This color was only ever granted to the soldiers of Brigeth. She was a padin.

  A padin on an escort mission, in this case, delivering tomes at the request of the Autumn Tower. It was rather common for deliveries like these to require escorts, mostly to keep run-of-the-mill bandits away from something that might be valuable. Far less common was sending a padin, a warrior respected and feared by even the strongest knights, as that escort.

  A padin who was very impatiently waiting at the foot of the aforementioned tower, for the woman who requested the aforementioned tomes.

  ___

  Lusa hated the sunlight. She hated the way it shined through her window, the way it reminded her the time when she's up too te, reminded her that she, too, needed sleep. She hated how it would interfere with her brooding, her scheming, her plotting, her ruminating. How it would immediately cut into any thoughts she had. And most of all, she hated how many of her spells it unfurled the formus of. You can spend an entire evening working on the most genius dark magic, just to lose it all, because you forgot to keep track of the time.

  She had, of course, forgot to keep track of the time this night. Forgot that, despite her sun-proofed window, strands of light could still make their way through the cracks in the bricks which of her wall. One such strand was all it took for her research to meet a major setback. A week's worth of progress, gone, just like that.

  "Ugghh," she grumbled, and her head thumped down against her desk. She was tempted to fall asleep on the spot, try to forget about the whole thing, when another reason she hated the sunlight was brought to her attention: other people. This time, it took the form of a knock upon her door.

  "Whaat?" she asked, as she looked across, to her right, towards the small wooden door.

  "There's a padin saying she's got a delivery for you, waiting outside the tower," a familiar voice sounded from the other side of the door. Vera. Lusa's apprentice. Her tired mind did not quite put the pieces together fast enough, so she took a moment too long to respond, and Vera picked up on this and asked, "Hello? Teacher?"

  "Padin?" she grumbled, then, "Oh, fuck."

  ___

  The woman who walked out of the tall, scorched bck tower, was short. Well, really, she was probably closer to average height; it just so happened that I was tall, most people were short to her. She had dark brown skin and bck hair. Bck, slightly disheveled, hair, much of which was hidden under her hat. It was obvious she usually put some care into maintaining it, but at the time it was tangled, messy. She was clearly in a rush. That was, at least, a small condolence to I, given how long she had been made to wait.

  The woman wore a white, slightly wrinkled nightgown, made from a clearly high quality material, though I couldn't tell at a gnce what it might be. Above it, upon her head, was a bck hat with purple trim upon which lic stars were embzoned, stars which made up magnificent consteltions and nebue. Much can be learned about a mage by their hat (or ck thereof); the woman before I clearly specialized in dark magic, but not exclusively so; the presence of the night sky showed as much. Likely an astronomer of some sort, perhaps involved in astrology. This naturally carried with it an understanding of light magic. Plus, the beautiful purples hinted at her prestige among mages. She had to be rather powerful to don a hat as nice as that. And she clearly went to great lengths to maintain it; while her nightgown itself was worse for wear for her having owned it, the hat was kept like a treasure, well preserved, no doubt riddled with enchantments.

  She didn't carry any of the usual implements of mages. This was either due to the rush she was in, or, perhaps, she simply didn't need them. It wasn't possible for I to divine that, at present.

  The st feature I took note of was, well, the rest of her. She was clearly skinny, moreso than the usual mage, who would often forego exercise and had enough money to eat all they like. She looked tired. Haggard, really, the dark bags under her eyes reminiscent of someone who had been afflicted by the horrors of the otherworld. Not uncommon for mages. Another hint towards this were her purple eyes, generally only possessed by those who have looked into the beyond. Or mages who liked the color; there were a few of those.

  Most notable to I was this piercing gaze of hers. She had been looking I up and down, taking in all her features, appraising the heft of her armor, the weight of her sword, resting particurly long on her armored arms, the helmet which covered much of her face, and her face itself. Even for an experienced padin, being appraised by a powerful mage was unnerving. And this woman took her sweet time doing so.

  After a few more moments, I couldn't handle any more, and asked, "My dy? Are you the mage who requested my presence?"

  The woman looked a bit flustered, offended, even, at her appraisal being interrupted. She took in a sharp breath. "Yes," she said, pausing, "Lusa. Magician of the Autumn Tower."

  I smiled, though she was slightly irritated by the ck of honorifics, "I, padin in service of her divinity, Brigeth. The texts you've ordered are kept safely in my bag." Lusa seemed to be looking beyond her as she spoke, not making eye contact for a moment. "I just need confirmation that you are indeed Lusa, and confirmation that our contract has been fulfilled."

  Lusa blinked, waved her hand around in a routine, almost exasperated manner, and a purple light shone before them. Their contract, with her seal now on it. "I trust this will suffice, yes?"

  She seemed to either be very confident or very trusting, given that I hadn't even shown her the tomes yet. "That will do. Well, would you like me to deliver these to your study, or, should I leave them somewhere?"

  "No. Keep them on your person."

  "I'm sorry?"

  Lusa took a deep breath, looked I in the eyes, finally. Finally gave her at least that much respect, as an equal, not someone she looked beyond, above. "Come inside, we'll discuss it over tea."

  ___

  "Is the armor uncomfortable? We might be talking for a while," Lusa asked, pouring the self-heated kettle into her guest's cup first, and then her own.

  "It's fine, I'm used to it," I said, her gaze shifting across the mage's messy room.

  "Suit yourself. Any sweetener?"

  "No."

  Lusa put the usual nectar in her own tea. It was from a delightful pnt of the nearby vilge, though she never did catch its name. With a little blink, she cooled the tea down, just to the perfect temperature for her to sip. It tasted delightful, as it always did. She didn't do the same for I, as the padin seemed to prefer that she do as little as possible. Which really was fine by her, as that's what Lusa tended to prefer, in turn.

  She was having a good deal of trouble talking to the woman. Even from the first moment she gnced upon her, she was intimidated. In a good way, of sorts, because I was hot. She hadn't asked her to take her armor off as a proposition or anything--she was genuinely concerned for her comfort--but she'd be lying if she said that she didn't want to see the woman a little more exposed. Knights tended to wear clothes under their armor, anyway, it's not like she would have been nude.

  She blinked. "Yes, well, you probably found it rather unusual that a padin was requested for this delivery, given that the tomes you carry are not exactly at high risk of banditry," Lusa started, "That's because I need a padin, and more than that, I need a powerful one. Brigeth's padin." She didn't really need Brigeth's padin specifically, though that was her preference, since she was more sane than the other zealots.

  She took a moment to pause and look into the padin's eyes again. Her deep, green eyes. Took a moment to focus on the task at hand, to finally state why I was here: "I have located the Sunset Tower." I's eyes widened.

  "Well, located it in theory, really, because, well, I haven't been there yet," she could see the surprise draining from I's face, "But I'm confident it is there." She really wasn't that confident, but I didn't need to know that. She was speaking quicker now, excitement exposing itself just a little in her voice, as she continued, "I need to visit it. It is essential to my research. But," she paused to breathe, "I need a padin to accompany me. I need you to accompany me."

  I's tea had cooled enough for her to take a drink now, and she clearly needed one, as she gulped it down. Then her mouth puckered at the bitterness, a little taken off guard. Cute.

  "Why do you need a padin?" she asked, curtly, "And why a Brid?"

  Lusa smiled at this. "Many reasons. First, I am a mage, and though I am capable of it, I am not specialized in harming others. Someone capable of fighting for me and with me is needed," ciming she was 'capable of it' was a bit of an exaggeration, really; she had never harmed anyone. She knew the theory, of course, but using magic for that wasn't something she was particurly comfortable with. "Second, I need someone who I can trust to not leak information or betray me. I don't have many connections outside the tower, and, since I need a stranger, a padin is really the only one I could put that faith in. Especially Brigeth's padin, that's sort of, antithetical to your whole doctrine, hmm? Third, although I myself am not a follower, obviously, I have a lot of sympathies towards your Goddess and her teachings." She kept out the detail that she happened to be a huge fan of I, who's well known as Brigeth's only padin. Mostly, because it was embarrassing. "Lastly, we will be crossing through the great bog."

  Neither spoke for a time, as I was deep in thought. They waited there, sipping their tea, until I was ready to speak.

  "You've asked something that requires great dedication from me. I am a follower of Brigeth first and foremost, and there are certain duties that entails. I can't just up and leave for however long this journey will take."

  "Much of the journey will be along a simir route to what you normally patrol. I am not averse to accompanying you on your duties during our travel, either. Here, I have the route mapped out," she rummaged through her desk, cursing under her breath as she found the wrong paper time and time again, until she finally pulled out the map and passed it to I.

  I looked it over. "We'll have to spend a lot of time in the bog," she replied.

  "Unfortunately, that part is an unavoidable sacrifice."

  "And what of you? Your responsibilities at the tower? Have you ever left the tower before?"

  "The Autumn tower will function just fine without me," then, a little bit of a mumble, "I hardly do much anyway." She continued, "I haven't left the tower, aside from my first pilgrimage, no, but, I have read a good deal about surviving in the wild."

  I raised an eyebrow. "Do you really think reading about it is sufficient?"

  "Well, there's only one other way to learn," she responded curtly.

  I had no rebuttal to that.

  Once she had finished the st of her tea, she finally gave Lusa the response she had anticipated: "I'll have to spend some time to think on it."

  "Take as long as you need. Mages are rarely impatient, and I'm no exception," she said, lying through her teeth, "I will wait for your response, however long it takes."

  "And, I've got you a room at the nearby tavern in Luan. It's the only tavern. Tell them you're there on behalf of the tower, they'll manage the rest," she said, pausing a moment to yawn, "And, leave the books with me. That part of your contract is fulfilled, regardless of what you decide on next. If there's nothing else, I need to get some sleep."