Chapter 27: Crystal Home

Goren sat with his sisters. Ereza seemed to be more or less calm, despite her earlier difficulties, and Tomyra didn't understand at all what had just happened and was excited for her pink collar.

He sighed as the elf went in and came out with more clothes and blankets. At least the soup and bread are really nice, he thought as he watched Kashira continuing to speak with the kitsune. "Ciara, can you tell me where I might be able to settle for a couple of days and look for somewhere we can buy and renovate for the winter?" Kashira said.

"Oh! Moving in, are you?"

"For now, until the spring, at least."

The kitsune looked delighted. She drew in the air with her foxfire, illustrating a loose map of the town as she had done when guiding them to the Gentle Willow Bar. "Up here along the north side. I happen to own some land there, or at least, my family does. You can settle anywhere you like beyond the green hedge."

There was a pause. "You are a Solaris?"

Ciara put her arms behind her back. "Yes. Are you familiar with them?"

Kashira shook her head. "Not more than average. I would like to stay independent of a landlord, though, you know?"

Ciara pouted playfully at her. "All right, then, just on this side of the hedge, there is still space, and it does not currently belong to anyone. The land between the Solaris property and the city is still unowned. I am sure you could simply build something there, and no one would complain; there are plenty of trees creating seclusion."

Goren watched the way Kashira stayed pretty neutral to this. I wonder if this is another one of those dragons are great "friends" things, or if perhaps she just wants to be able to keep an eye on whatever Kashira gets up to. The way that Ciara smiled felt forced. I suppose it is possible that she genuinely wants to help. She was very sweet with Tomyra, and not every smile seems forced, I think. Still, something about her made him feel anxious.

Kashira breathed out. "Thank you. I suppose we will give it a try."

There were a few moments of silence as everyone ate. Kashira had everything packed into her wrist bag, which looked overstuffed now. When everyone else was finished eating, she polished off all the leftovers of the food that had been brought out. Then, she crouched and invited all three bunnies onto her shoulder.

Lukka refused, so the gnoll ended up walking alongside Kashira. Goren was furthest forward on her shoulders, with Tomyra behind him and Ereza in the back. Goren felt like he saw Kashira stare at the auction platform and then look away. "All right, let's go find somewhere quiet to be for a time."

"Don't be afraid to come back and just visit me," Ciara said with a flush on her face that made Goren feel like Kashira could just ask to collar this woman, and she would go with it right away. She definitely feels strange to me, he thought as Kashira responded with an almost nervous laugh.

"I'm sure we will be back. Thank you, Ciara."

They walked a short time in silence until they reached the first area on the map that was marked out for a turn toward the outside of town. "I am sure Lukka and Ereza will be up for a while, so I think I will start with building something that can stand as a shelter against the weather for the four of you at least. Then we will see how everyone's energy is. Lukka, you could start to brew potions, if you want."

"Sure. We will leave Arieton in the spring?"

"We might. I don't necessarily like the way the Exotic Exchange influences this city. It is almost more powerful than the king of our country," Kashira said, glancing back at him and his sisters. For some reason, he felt like blushing.

Lukka huffed pretty loudly through her nose. "It's not that great a feeling here, that's for certain."

Kashira nodded. "But I don't want to keep moving us around in the snow, so for now, we will settle down here. It is far from gnolls, and it is likely to be the most tolerant of dragons without too much effort. I lived here a long time, a long time ago."

I suppose that "tolerant" is one way to put it; mostly it seems like a combination of fear and wanting something from her. Goren felt sour even as he thought it. Then, he breathed in and out slowly. I do not need to get defensive on her behalf.

Kashira walked them through the town that steadily thinned out from shops and streets that had businesses to only houses with big gardens and then nothing at all but wild trees and an almost dense forest. To the north, there were faint lights of a large building that reached quite high up, but it was difficult to see in the dark. The wind was picking up, promising to bring in another winter storm. Are those cherry blossoms that I smell? In the winter?

"This seems like the area that she was describing," Kashira said.

Lukka hummed. "It looks like it is intentionally left wild. Can you see that green hedge the kitsune was talking about?"

Kashira nodded. "Let's go off the road a little way."

The snow off the road was deep. The road had been shoveled clear of snow; the berm crumbled where Kashira walked through it. Goren saw Lukka hesitate a moment too long and then yelp a complaint as she was curled up in Kashira's tail and carried just above the snow as the dragon waded through it.

Ereza breathed out softly and whispered, "I am glad I do not have to try to walk through this."

Goren smiled.

Kashira came up to a rough clearing in the trees. She continued to hold Lukka, who insisted at least once, "You can put me down!" Earth shifted, sliding to one side, taking plants and snow with it, going every direction away from the spot Kashira picked.

It didn't come with an earthquake, though with the way the dirt and stone scraped on itself, it felt like it should. A large rectangular box emerged, more than eighteen feet tall, and next to it a smaller one, something like ten feet tall. They were enclosed on three sides at first. Kashira added shelves to the front right, in the big rectangle, near the smaller one on the right side. That one developed a hole in the roof and an indent in the floor. She made a rough door between the two spaces, and then dirt enclosed the little one.

There was a groan of great focus and effort, and the dirt solidified and smoothed out with the stones, becoming all crystalline, and pale white like the snow.

Kashira yawned. "I am sorry, but I am tired. This will have to be enough for tonight."

"You made a house in about four breaths, and then you apologize that it is not perfectly complete? Kashira!" Ereza chided playfully.

She chuckled.

Tomyra was now wide awake. "We have a house! I want to explore! Let me down!" She squirmed.

Kashira put Lukka down and then crouched. Ereza helped Tomyra to jump down to Lukka, who caught her while she giggled. She waded through the snow to put the bunny down on Kashira's paw. "I can go in and look?"

Kashira granted permission as Lukka doubled back and offered help to both bunnies on Kashira's shoulders. Goren was glad for it; it was always a jump into the snow, but it brought pink to his cheeks because she was so big compared to them.

Kashira got up, stretched, went into the large rectangle, paused, took off her bracelet pack, and then curled up in the back of the box. "You can help yourself to anything in my bag that will help you. I need to rest. I'll close the last wall when you are all inside with me. There is a smaller door on the other side of the small room and a fire pit."

Lukka got into the bracelet pack and got a potion bottle from her own pack inside of it that she shook, and it began to glow. This excited Tomy even more, and the little bunny girl was over the moon. "We live in a gem house! Our lights are potions!"

Goren agreed internally that it was lovely. He smiled as he entered with Ereza. The wall behind them lifted silently, dirt at first, but it crinkled as it hardened to a crystal. The light from the potion bottle reflected off the walls well enough, though. They were not perfectly smooth, but mostly smooth, with facets and angles. It scattered light pretty well, and it was easy to imagine the space soon filling with warmth.

"Help yourselves to anything in the bag that you may need. I know that Ereza and Lukka ended up sleeping through much of the trip, so you may wish to work on things like potions or fire building until you get tired again." She yawned.

Then she met Goren's eyes, and she held open her paws, as if to say, Come here.

Even if Goren felt wide awake after the long journeys, he could not have brought himself to resist that. His face flushed as she put her paws over him and pressed him close.

He happened to catch Ereza's eye and the approving smile that came with it, and that just made the blush on his face harder to manage.