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It was just as well that Kallo had not given Levani a choice as to the salve, prepared as she was to contest the waste of a valuable resource on mere scratches peppering her skin. The protestations of the thorns had been given little thought beyond their insistent sting, to which she was duly well at ignoring. Still, she watched him spread it into a thin film, lifting just barely to inhale several times in assurance of its properties, sensitive as the organ was. The soothe of the berry, which she was very familiar with, coupled with the earthen grittiness of the abundant root, was a scent that she entangled her mind around, archived for another day, another encounter for something new. Lowering her arm to the lap of her crossed legs, she just as quickly forgot the bother. It was with unerring interest that she watched him muddle with the ingredients she’d gathered, stifling herself as she was not to explain to him that bringing forth the natural properties of life was magic enough - uncomfortable he seemed with the subject as a whole. The frantic blossom of chill was met with a poignant quirk of her lips, though an unappreciated rub of her cold arm. “That <i>is</i> impressive,” she murmured, quietly eager to learn the production of more, to traverse ‘magics’ that were not her birthright. Turning back to the fire, she tucked away her curiosity on Kallo’s brief insinuation of enchantments, seeing the apparent discomfort dance across his angled features. <br/>
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“Careful, <i>sul’ima</i>. I would not think you would choose to offend me, but you forget yourself. I am not a woman of simple mind just because I choose to stay isolated within the wood. I have protected this forest for many years, far longer than even your life - of this I am sure you have come to realize. I know my weapons well. I <i>know</i> the fickle natural of raw bone,” she warned, the hard edge of admonishment glittering the horizon of her words, though her tone was not as razor sharp.  <br/>
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Fast as the predator lunging to its unsuspecting prey, Levani drew her bone dagger and tore it through the air in a graceful arc, its trek ending where a sharpened point watched him expectantly. In the comparative silence, just over the spitting of the fire from dripping fat, the blade seemed to sing for a moment, before its call once more slipped beneath the mind. “Perhaps you will listen as I teach now, yes? Bone is personal. Bone holds spirit. If one knows how to speak its tongue, its rage and loyalty can be bound. It can be changed, <i>woven</i> with the arcane soul of its holder. In my hands, they do not break. They do not dull. They cut through flesh as I will it. In my hands, I am the smith without a forge, and I mold them into something they were not before,” she explained in the only way she could. She reeled it back, placed it flat against her left palm, and closed her hand tight around it. “In my hands…” She ripped it, fast and harsh through her fist, then slowly unfurled her fingers. Though some time before she’d gutted the rabbit with the same thing, there was no wound upon her hand. No injury from the blade’s edge. “They have thought.” <br/>
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Levani stuck the rabbit heart she’d set aside earlier on the tip of the dagger, proving once more its continuing sharpness. “I cannot do the same with steel. It was not once living. There is no soul to bind it to my own. I may speak with it, but it is cold and quiet and stubborn,” she added with a short sigh, a soft shrug, brandishing her dagger close to the flickering embers. “I appreciate your thought, Kallo, but I will not bear the metals of the earth as my weapon, and the metals of the earth will not bear me as their wielder,” she finished, bringing the mostly cooked heart to her lips, assured that it appeared seared enough by the flames to keep up a nonferal appearance. “I would allow that you listen to my dagger speak, see what ears virgin to its whispering would hear, but I fear it may brazenly offer you my secrets instead,” she spoke lightly with a mischievous smile fluttering across her lips before she bit into the little morsel of meat. It, and the meat, fat berries, and soft roots thereafter filled her belly with a hearty contentedness that just barely shrugged off the unease she’d been feeling since the death of Kimough. It was unfortunate that the satisfaction hadn’t lasted long, simmering to the surface as she’d excused herself to curl herself among the furs she’d laid out in the hovel. It was only for necessity’s sake that Kallo’s bedding was positioned closer to the door, long as his figure was, and she to the wall. She coiled facing it, golden gaze peeked, exhausted, absent as it was drowned in the thoughts that manipulated the agitated tapestry in her mind. <br/>
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The disquiet from deep within continued long after Levani slept, thankfully undisturbed by the strange dreams that seemed to plague her as of late. It rendered her more reticent than normal. Her focus and grace were still yet hardbent to leave her, following her even to her seeming disturbance. There was little that escaped her notice, and the more that she concentrated on tracking them through to the wilds of Asdenni and the farther that they moved from the resting place of the ancient they’d killed, the quieter she became, the more relaxed she seemed. Completely melded to this great task, completely in her element. The anxiety was replaced by a fermenting knot, passive, patient. She said nothing of it. Would not speak any more of Kimough, lest it unravel prematurely. <br/>
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It took several more days to reach the <a class="link link--external" data-proxy-href="/proxy.php?link=https%3A%2F%2Fi.pinimg.com%2Foriginals%2F93%2F71%2Ff5%2F9371f5a5ace068fe3182808b4039ff18.jpg&amp;hash=3dcf9e4482e2af1672124c0df18c0f83" href="https://i.pinimg.com/originals/93/71/f5/9371f5a5ace068fe3182808b4039ff18.jpg" rel="nofollow ugc noopener" target="_blank">Petrified Valley</a>, so named for its monstrous, gnarled trees, far uglier than her blossoming kamuna tree, along with the tall-reaching formations of rock upon which hundreds of years of foliage grew from the crags. Water poured down the tiers of these, spilling into the gulley that they descended, making humid wetlands that flourished outward into painted beryl swathes. The buzz of insects roared alongside the tittering of birdsong far above in the canopy, colorful dragonflies darting along the surface of shallow waters that beckoned before them. Before they entered the grasp of the swamp, Levani pillaged a brush growing at its edge, its scent sharp with strange citrus. She pulled its leaves and vigorously rubbed them along her exposed skin, offering that Kallo do the same on account of the many bugs that sought to draw his blood. After, she dipped her finger into a patch on the banks of wet clay and mud and swiped it across her face, from one cheek and over the bridge of her nose to the other cheek. She did the same to Kallo and promised he could wash it off soon. From there, she led him downstream, eyes parsing over the emerald shadows that waited beyond rooted water. A breath later and she said, “The Ineasi know that we are here.” <br/>
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It was hardly much longer that a figure darted, quick as a spider, over the mangled trunk of an ill growing tree. They were covered head to toe, a muddied and mossy thatch skirt noticeable amidst a body of leathers and metal pieces. A <a class="link link--external" data-proxy-href="/proxy.php?link=https%3A%2F%2Fimg00.deviantart.net%2F3ec6%2Fi%2F2011%2F288%2F6%2F4%2Fnew_masks_____x___by_torvenius-d4cw0xk.jpg&amp;hash=ee9175235797a87ab49a673d68550a28" href="https://img00.deviantart.net/3ec6/i/2011/288/6/4/new_masks_____x___by_torvenius-d4cw0xk.jpg" rel="nofollow ugc noopener" target="_blank">mask of pale</a> and cracked material covered their face, surrounded by black plumage, giving the individual an inhuman and terribly grotesque appearance; a vision of nightmare, should one view them from afar. Two blades, long and sickly sharp, curled forward from along the outside of their arms, hands holding the unseen handles. They were still as death, watching, even the rise and fall of their chest per each breath hardly perceptible. Slowly, it reached, grasping the mask and peeling it back. A youthful face with eyes of green peered forth, lips parted in surprise. It only took a few steps forward to realize the girl staring at them was hardly blooded, years fresh and new. It was the youngest that moved the fastest in the wood. Though it was not to such scouts to approach, she’d taken exception to the approaching figures. <br/>
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“<i>Danaughend</i>,” the girl muttered reverently, heard only by those intently listening. <br/>
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“<i>Ranest ag’edhin sa nigh?</i>” Levani ignored the name that the Ineasi had given her. A name that had carried through both her lives, both her forms, for they knew the change. Instead, she went straight for the proposition. The girl began to nod, then hesitated, sharp eyes glancing to the powerful man at Levani’s side. “<i>Vespol nes sul’ima,</i>” she gestured, assuaging the girl’s fears. It seemed well enough and she gestured them towards her with a flick of her hand, beckoning them from the waters to the safe pathway. Once they had breached the other bank, more faces began to appear for the astute. Peeking from their hiding places, climbing down from their perches in the trees, feet as quiet as a held breath. <br/>
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The girl moved expertly, a learned path, with Levani close behind, and Kallo given the rear. If they were followed, it was by the few who flitted along either side of them with curiosity, though many remained unseen, stayed within their hiding places. It was a path that only the Ineasi could lead, for Levani explained briefly the majority of their home was kept well-trapped on account of the black. Unwelcome outsiders were led adroitly, unknowingly, away from the territory as a whole, should they have been brought too close. It was only the stripe along their skin that communicated to the Ineasi friendlier intentions, lest they have been left alone to their own devices. <br/>
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The farther they moved, the wetter the land became, the girl taking them over roots to stay clear of the murky waters, writhing with unseemly life. The village was heard before it was seen, the roar of falling water emanating from beyond the stone and wooded veil. It was odd when it did come to view, an enormous hole in the rocky ground, whereupon water spilled down the circumference like a curtain. A gargantuan tree grew avariciously from the crevice of far, <i>far</i> below, its branches blossoming out and bursting into tiers until it breached the canopy into the sky. Several rope bridges, and one of stone, linked the land to the trunk of the tree, whereupon dwellings spouted along its colossal girth. Smoke spewed from several, and lights shimmered from holes within its surface to insinuate hollowed passageways. For the word ‘village’, it was unabashedly sprawling. <br/>
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The girl led them artfully to one of the bridges, bounding quickly along its length. Levani peered back at Kallo to make sure that he was alright with their destination before quickly crossing herself, certain in the Ineasi’s architectural abilities. Guards stood on the other side, large blades awaiting, tips in the earth. They existed to cut the bridge, should they need to. The three entered a hall borne from the tree’s welcoming flesh, surrounded by the witchlights that dripped from its boughs. It broke off into several passageways, some steep that followed the curve of the trunk, others that burrowed deeper into its body. It was one of these that the girl fled after raising a hand to force their pause. Several other Ineasi awaited there, frightening masks lifted, baring the same green eyes in their innumerable hues that the first had shown. Their dress was just as similar, often decorated in some degree of thatch and dark colors, leather and metal. They whispered amongst themselves, thought the words caught most were ‘<i>Danaughend</i>’ and ‘<i>Umyn</i>. The second, Levani knew, was ‘unknown warrior’, their best guesses at Kallo. <br/>
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In the determination not to explain the former, Levani felt relief upon a large figure that ascended one of the pathways with haste and the slender, taller figure that followed after. Both had <a class="link link--external" data-proxy-href="/proxy.php?link=https%3A%2F%2Forig00.deviantart.net%2F42a9%2Ff%2F2012%2F357%2Fa%2F8%2Fa80936583357fce9d1605117e7faf96e-d5owrp5.jpg&amp;hash=3b81f234c7629608ac90999c14e36ab2" href="https://orig00.deviantart.net/42a9/f/2012/357/a/8/a80936583357fce9d1605117e7faf96e-d5owrp5.jpg" rel="nofollow ugc noopener" target="_blank">masks of three vertical slashes</a> along the face and blackening, putrid lips. Pulling these back, a weathered woman’s expression painted the former and a seasoned man’s the latter. “<i>Danaughend</i>,” he addressed her, before his countenance pulled into a smirk. His words were faster from there, shirked of hesitation, and he pressed forward to briefly tap his fist to his chest in greeting. Both he and Levani dipped into curt conversation, his tongue quick in his language, Levani’s obviously learned despite the melody of her voice. After explaining their days and task thus far, his expression darkened. One of Levani’s many necklaces, very carefully chosen, was lowered into his hand and he closed his first around it. From there, he entered into common, his accent thick. “I am Tia’che, <i>umyn</i>,” he explained, offering his hand to Kallo. “This is my wife, Alesul,” he gestured to the strong figure who had prowled to his side, one of her eyes sealed shut by the scar that bit through her flesh. <br/>
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“<i>Danaughend</i> has asked that you are given access to our forges. Come,” Alesul said, and though she had not offered her hand in the same, she spoke so without malice or disrespect. “We may have little to provide as of late. The black may it hard to pull the metals without notice,” she explained, leading them to a hall that furled into the tree.</span>