Frogs are getting to be a trademark of mine. So I’m switching to spiders. Don’t want to be typecast as the slimy amphibian guy. Sitting on the table in front of me are three identical origami spiders. I’m getting ready to experiment with them.

  I pause for a moment, wondering if switching over to creepy spider guy is a good idea. I reach no good conclusion before I get interrupted. Rio coming back from his morning snog session. He thumps a thick book on the table and says, “What’s up?”

  “I’m experimenting.” I motion to the three spiders in front of me. “Want to see what kind of control I have over size.”

  “I’ve heard that size doesn’t matter.” I hear a giggle from over in the corner where Jane and Tara are preparing tea.

  “Well, for some things it probably doesn’t. For other things, it probably does.” More giggles from the maid gallery.

  “Okay. So … in this case…”

  “I think sometimes very small is good. Other times, bigger will definitely be better. Enough jokes. I need to try this.”

  Rio goes silent but I can tell he’s watching. I touch the middle spider, inject my Spirit Energy into it. Instantly, it comes to life and crawls up onto my hand. I lift it up to my shoulder and let it sit there.

  Then I touch the spider on the left and do the same thing. Only this time, I will it to become small. The spider that crawls into my hand this time is … exactly the same size as the other one. With a sigh, I let it crawl up my sleeve.

  Finally, I touch the remaining spider. This time I try to make it big. I feel it growing under my hand until it is the size of a small cow. Nothing new; I’ve done big before. It reaches up one of its front legs to stroke my face. I smile at it and whisper a request.

  The spider hops down from the table and skitters rapidly over to the maids. I hear them gasp. It stops there and reaches its front two legs up to gently take a cup of tea from them. Then makes its way back and slides it onto the table in front of me. I smile again and give it a pat on the head. “You’re right. Size does matter for some things.”

  “Master, I don’t understand Hexes.”

  Master grunts, as if to say what don’t you understand about Hexes? Or maybe, of course you don’t, you’re a moron. Or possibly, I don’t care. Or even, shut up! Okay, I admit it, I have no idea what Master means when he grunts.

  “I mean, how does it work? Let’s say that I go to a Hex and chop down a tree. How long would it take the tree to grow back so I could harvest it again? Everybody around here talks like it only takes a few days but that doesn’t make sense to me.”

  Master grunts again, then speaks, “You are laboring under a misconception. The trees don’t grow back. They are replaced.”

  Now I’m really confused. “Replaced by whom?” Surprised you there, didn’t I? Kari can grammar!

  “Replaced by the Hex. Each Hex is different, but each one has a reset time. It might be ten hours or ten weeks but when a Hex resets, everything that has been taken away, killed, or destroyed instantly regenerates. All at the same time.”

  “Master?”

  Grunt.

  “That’s weird.”

  ###

  Immediately after the old bastard releases me from morning practice, I run to the library. Penny confirms what he told me and then hands me a book. It is called Flora and Fauna of the Dark Forest Hex, a Compendium. It lists every type of plant and animal that can be found there.

  Then it breaks down each of them by harvestable parts. Then gives known uses for each part, along with market prices as they were listed when the book was printed.

  Wow. Some of the stuff is pretty pricey. I can see making a living as a Harvester. Just the kind of thing I enjoy - fighting, collecting, trading, and partying.

  The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

  Well, I’m just assuming there’s partying when you get back and cash in. Why wouldn’t there be?

  If you want to understand Emulgren, you have to understand Hexes. Almost all of the surface area of the world is covered in Hexagons with sides approximately 15 km long. These Hexes are then grouped in sevens called Hepts - a central Hex where there is a town and the six Hexes surrounding it, which is called the inner ring. Then there is an outer ring of twelve Hexes surrounding the inner ring. The total combined area of these nineteen Hexes, called a Triacont, is over 11,000 km2. Roughly twice the size of Delaware or about the same size as Lebanon. Most of the population lives in the central Hex of the Hept.

  And that is usually the size of the countries here. One Hept. Countries may or may not claim the entire Triacont. Most don’t claim control of the outer ring, though. Too much border to patrol.

  It is not unknown for an ambitious ruler to bring a larger group of Hepts under their control. Grado, for example, is a group of four Triaconts in a cluster. However, the Hept is by and large the most common size of a political unit.

  Not all Hepts have a population. Or at least not enough of a population to make a country out of. From what I’ve read, there is at least as much wild unclaimed territory out there as there is settled, governed territory.

  The governments run the gamut of every type you can imagine. Grado is a monarchy of some kind. The most common type of government is what they call a Free City here. Free Cities are governed by a council which is economically based. Guild representatives, merchants, Divers, and Harvesters working together to make an economically viable place to live.

  Which sounds like just what we need. An economically viable place for us to move to and make a new home for ourselves.

  It is the night of the full moon when I meet her. The first time I’ve seen her since the second day we were Summoned. We were in a loggias with thick columns spaced regularly down the open side. Their shadows crossed the paving at angles. I’m not supposed to meet her. Or rather, she isn’t supposed to meet me.

  I was supposed to be hiding in one of the long shadows. A skill given to me by my Sigil which allows me to cover myself in darkness. Skulking in the shadows. But she sees right through it. Pins me to the low balustrade with her sparkling dark gaze like it’s brightest day. “Good evening, Tia,” she says.

  For some reason, I’m a little bit frightened. I swallow self-consciously and answer, “Good evening Addie. How have you been?”

  “I’ve been well. I hope you’re well also. I’ve been hearing rumors about the Great Hero Tia and her exploits. Seems like you’ve stepped up as a leader.”

  “Yes, I suppose I have.”

  “Not a surprise, I guess. It’s part of who you are.”

  How does she know that? My boons haven’t been publicly announced, but two of them are for leadership. Maybe because I was class representative before coming here? My silence is growing uncomfortable. “What brings you out here so late?”

  Addie gives a little laugh, almost a giggle. “I’m practicing. Just like you. It seems we have some similar skills.”

  I’m confused for a moment. This whole conversation has me off balance. “Similar skills?”

  “Yes. Hiding in shadows. Is it a skill you’ve developed? Or does it come from a Sigil?”

  I debate trying to hide the ability for a moment but opt for honesty. She clearly knows already, anyway. “It’s one of my Sigil abilities.”

  Her interest intensifies, “I don’t really know much about Sigils. Does it give you a comprehensive set of shadow abilities?”

  “A few. Only one for hiding. The others are oriented toward ambush attacks.”

  “Interesting. I never imagined you as an ambush hunter. Did you choose the Sigil? Or did it choose you? Or did someone else choose it?”

  “A combination of all of those. It fits my Role.”

  “Ah.” Addie is silent for a moment. “Can you learn other shadow magics? Or are you stuck with only what the Sigil gives you.”

  “I’m not sure. How would I know?”

  “I’ll do some research on it. You’ll get a message when I know something. It was nice seeing you again.”

  And with that, I feel the shadows gather around her and she disappears. Hearing a noise behind me, I spin around and see her down at the end of the hallway in her chair. Rolling away around the corner.

  I’m shocked for a moment. When I come back to my senses, I realize that my heart is beating like a set of bongos and my face and neck are covered in sweat. Is it shock at seeing non-Sigil magic for the first time? Or is it something else?

  Excerpt from Saki’s Journal

  Addie came to me at the end of the evening with a strange question: Can someone with a Sigil do regular magic?

  For once I could immediately answer her. Whatever channels that allow us to do magic are completely hijacked by Sigils. Once you have a Sigil installed, it’s impossible to do anything but the weakest spells with regular magic. Which I find to be really sad.

  Magic without Sigils is harder to learn at the beginning. But once you get over that steep initial learning curve, whole worlds of possibility open up. Even if you’re limited to one affinity or even one branch of magic within an affinity. To me, accepting a Sigil is equivalent to self-mutilation.

  The only bright spot I find is that Sigil’s can be removed. It's painful, but it can be done and most people completely recover their magical potential afterwards.

  Which leads me to wonder who Addie ran into with a Sigil. It’s not like we have much contact with the others right now.