The next day, Niala was at Hodge's home, knocking on the door in the early morning bells.

  The old devil answered the door in his usual fashion: hunched forward and squinting at the smudge he could see. “Hi? Hello? Who's there? You seem short.”

  “It's Niala, sir. I'm here to see Anaakendi, if she's available?”

  Hodge grinned. “Oh, hi there, lass. Yeah, she's around. She's always around, can't get enough of old Hodge!” He winked with his blind eye before turning around and trotting back inside, leaving the door open and yelling. “WINDY! THE ABOMINATION'S HERE TO SEE YOU!”

  Niala's ears lopsided in confusion as she heard the old woman's accented voice yell back from within the house. “YOU IMBECILIC FOSSIL, DO NOT CALL HER THAT IN PUBLIC!”

  Anaakendi appeared from around a corner further in the house, walking up to Niala with refined steps more at home at a noble's house than within this old, isolated house.

  The incarnation eyed Niala up and down, giving the barest of nods before addressing her. “Good, I was wondering when you would show up. Follow me to the courtyard.”

  She turned and walked back, not waiting for Niala to utter a word.

  The catkin hesitated for a few heartbeats before ironing her resolve and following the creature that had tried to kill her, in order to learn about the power she had inherited from it.

  It was a sunny day, but so late in Autumn, the air was still chilly out in the courtyard, especially sitting and inactive as they were. Niala pulled on her jacket, while Anaakendi seemed unaffected, wearing nothing but a long-sleeved dark-blue robe.

  Niala voiced the question that had been burning her mouth. “Why did Hodge call me an abomination?”

  Anaakendi shot a sharp glare toward the house, presumably to where Hodge was, before returning her stately stare at the girl. “Because you hold two mana signatures within you, and show no sign of being ill.”

  Niala arched an eyebrow. It was a reasonable explanation, but somehow it didn't feel right. Anaakendi remained impassive under her inspection, however, so maybe she was just imagining things...

  “Leave that aside for now, child. We must first discuss what you want to do with the powers I have left behind inside of you.”

  “I- wait, powers? As in, more than one? What else did you curse me with!?” Niala exclaimed, back straightening, ears pointed up.

  Anaakendi lowered her sight, imposing her will upon the catkin. “Calm, child. These are not curses. These are gifts. Things that mortals should not possess.”

  Niala tried to plumb the old woman's eyes for more, but came back empty-handed. “Urgh! Fine... what are these... gifts?” She asked, the last word dripping with sarcasm.

  “Attitude, young lady.” Anaakendi chided Niala before letting out a sigh. “Firstly, there is the power of enthrallment, as you already know. Secondly, communion with the winds, and thirdly, and perhaps most importantly, the beginning of a shear between your soul and your life.”

  Niala's heart skipped a beat. “What? That sounds horrible! Am I going to die?! Oh no! How do I stop it? Wait, Geralkko might know. But! He's never going to tell me! I need to-”

  Anaakendi spoke with the weight of a mountain. “You need to calm down, child.”

  The old woman looked down and sighed. Looking back up, she met Niala's racing stare and spoke placidly.

  “There is nothing to be afraid of. It is a gift, as I've said. More than that, you can also choose to fix the shear, if you so desire, though I wouldn't know why you would.”

  “But what is it? What does it mean?” Niala said, trying to sound calmer than she was.

  “It's exactly what the words mean; it is the first step in emancipating yourself from the great cycle. Should you pursue this path, you may eventually incarnate, or even attain lichdom, should your will prove strong enough.”

  Niala's jaw hung low, questions clogging up her brain into inaction.

  “Child, I will repeat myself one last time. Calm. Down. Nothing we will speak about today is imminent, nor even in your near future, not unless you actively pursue it.” Anaakendi explained, her tone just ever so softer.

  The catkin closed her mouth, forcing herself to take a deep breath and closing her eyes for a moment. She looked back at the incarnation. “Ok. I'll try. I'll... stay quiet, while you explain. Please?”

  Anaakendi narrowed her eyes, but relented, as she began explaining things as she understood them, though she admitted her knowledge was incomplete.

  Partway through, Hodge joined in, filling in some of Anaakendi's gaps where he could.

  Niala began noting everything down in one of the notebooks she always carried on her person, just for occasions like this.

  From what she understood, in a manner of speaking, Anaakendi had “infected” Niala's mana with some of her own, through a process she wasn't certain of. Her and Hodge's best guess was that David's mana pulse, which he had used to flush Anaakendi from Niala's system, had been imperfect and had cleaved a part of the incarnation in the process, leaving it behind in a very weakened state, which Niala's system then absorbed.

  This shouldn't have been possible, or at least it should have led to mana rejection and the grave ensuing results, but none of that had happened.

  Instead, Niala's mana had gained new abilities, somewhat like how you could graft a tree branch upon another to create a hybrid.

  The end result was that Niala's mana was now effectively part incarnation.

  With incarnations being generally soulless, existing outside of the great cycle, the situation asked for a few questions to be answered, such as what would that mean for Niala's soul, would her mana continue to change, deviating further from what it had started as, or would it eventually revert back, rejecting the graft?

  This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

  Unfortunately, no one present had any clue to what the answers could be. Niala had two slight glimmers of hope, however. The first was that Anaakendi believed that, with the proper mana exercises, Niala could nudge the process one way or the other, according to her wish.

  The second was something that David had told her; Leandro had a doctorate in mana-physiology, which was exactly the kind of problem she had right now. And, even if he didn't have the answers, he ought to have contacts within the academic circles, people who might help.

  In the end, Anaakendi gave Niala the choice; she could accept her new gifts and learn how to control them, accelerating the speed at which her mana would transform. She could reject them entirely and work to minimize or seclude the gifts, thereby slowing, if not stagnating, or even reverting, the changes. Finally, she could do nothing and see how her body would adapt, only consulting with Anaakendi on a regular basis to observe and document what those changes were.

  Niala's first and immediate decision was easy; reject everything, get rid of it all. These were not “gifts”, as far as she was concerned.

  It was Hodge who planted a seed of doubt in her mind. The old devil spoke with a surprisingly soothing tone, the one a grandfather would use to console one of his grand-kids. “Lass, I understand it sounds scary, and you're right to want to reject it. It wasn't your choice now, was it?”

  Niala shook her head, unsure where this was going.

  “Right, but it happened anyway. You're an alchemist, ain't cha?”

  She nodded.

  “And a good one, from what I heard. Tell me, lass, are poisons scary?”

  “They... can be, yes. Some poisons have horrific effects.” Niala admitted.

  “And what's the best way to learn how to prepare the antidotes?” Hodge asked, leaning in.

  Niala's brow arched, finally understanding Hodge's point. “It's to learn how to brew the poison, to understand how it works. You're saying... the same thing David told me.” She groaned, remembering the talk she'd had with her lover on the day she learned she had Anaakendi's enthrallment.

  “Oh oh! The boy might not have your smarts, lass, but he seems to have some wisdom of his own!” Hodge sniggered before continuing, his one valid eye soft and compassionate. “Like Windy said, there's no rush. Sleep on it, learn about it, ask for help. Make a decision based on knowledge, not emotions, right?”

  Niala's emotions were like a ship out in a night storm, but Hodge made sense. She wasn't in a position to make a decision right now. She forced herself to agree, no matter how much she wanted to fix it right now. She looked up at the old devil and dipped her head, still fighting with her own desire.

  Hodge smiled and trundled over to the girl, placing a calloused hand on her shoulder. “That's it, lass. Now go back home to your strapping lad and have him dote on you. You'll feel better within young loving arms than with two walking relics. Now go, shoo!” He said, nudging her toward the exit.

  As Niala walked out the door, Hodge called after her. “Lass, remember you also owe me a slick skin transmuting potion! I want smooth skin already!” He barked before closing the door on her.

  She blinked and stared at the door for a few seconds, the cold late autumn wind tugging at her dress.

  A strong gust made her close her eyes, snapping her out of her daze. She turned south and headed home, one step at a time, not trusting her mind to do anything else right now,

  David did indeed dote on her once she told him about her situation. He might also have cursed Anaakendi a bit, and promised he'd ask Leandro, and seek any sort of information on the topic he could, saying he'd track down Karline and put up a bunch of postings to contact experts on the topic.

  Somehow, he was even more upset than she was, and she had to calm him down. Or maybe his presence had calmed her down.

  She meekly smiled; Hodge had been right, as she realized that, back at his place, even if she was with him and Anaakendi, she had felt alone in this storm.

  But now, in her warm home and within the safe confines of her beloved's arms, she was reminded that no matter what life would throw at them, neither of them would face it alone.

  They remained wrapped within each other for a while, lying on the couch, under a duvet of silence, until David spoke up.

  “There's one thing I'm afraid of if we ask Leandro to help.”

  “What is it?”

  “If he starts poking into your mana, he might learn your secret.”

  She looked up at his face, meeting his gaze. “You think he might discover I'm a weaver? Is that possible, even if I never show it to him?”

  “I don't know, but it's a risk.”

  She pondered the issue, ears softly wiggling. “What if we tell him?”

  “And hope he doesn't kidnap you back to the capital?”

  She blinked. “Would he do that?”

  “I don't know. Maybe. He's dedicated his life to service to the kingdom. Why would he stop now?”

  “Maybe he's tired of it? He did say he'd used your letter as an excuse to retire...” Niala suggested.

  “Hmm. Maybe we could tell him, but edge our bet.” David replied, pensive.

  “What are you thinking?”

  “You won't like this, but do you know any poison that will wipe someone's recent memory?”

  She scrunched her face, squinting at him. “You're right, I don't like it. I don't want to do that to Leandro.”

  He sighed. “Me neither, but if we tell him, and he insists on dragging you back to the Library, what do we do?”

  Her ears flattened. “Even if I brewed the poison, how would we make him drink it? That man can turn both of us into pretzels with one hand.”

  He met her gaze for a few seconds before looking away. “You won't like this either.”

  She unlaced one of her arms and poked his cheek, a pout on her face. “Don't baby me. Tell me.”

  “We ask Anaakendi to be there, and be ready to enthrall him, just long enough to have him drink the poison.” He revealed, braving her gaze once more.

  She kept staring at him, her internal scale unable to balance properly, until she sighed and pressed her head onto his chest. “I really don't like this, but... you're right, it would make it safe. And I can make sure the poison is as harmless as possible.”

  David squeezed her, resting his head on top of hers. “We'll do that then. If you have a better idea, I'm more than willing to listen.”

  “No, I think it's a good plan. I just don't like it, I'd rather believe Leandro won't betray my trust.”

  “So do I, Kitten, but trust is fragile. It's better not to entirely rely on it.”

  She pulled back her head and gave him doe eyes, ears flopping down. “Is that how you feel about me?”

  He smirked, his eyes smiling. “No, kitten. You don't have my trust; you have my faith. You're my religion, and my goddess.”

  They stared at each other, the corners of their mouths twitching, until they couldn't hold it in anymore and laughed out loud in unison.

  “Ha ha ha Oooh! That was sooooo corny! Pfftt! David, where did you pull that out from?!”

  He took on a pained look through his laughter, “Oooh oh ah, oooh! My goddess is cruel! To mock my devotion so!”

  Niala squirmed in his arms, unlatching herself from his embrace and pushing him down, straddling him and bending forward so her face rested a few inches away from his. She gave him a malicious smile.

  “Your cruel goddess requires an offering, or she will smite you.”

  He blinked. “Would a long, wet, loving kiss be acceptable?”

  She purred. “Maybe add some strong, grabby, wandering hands, and I could be satisfied... for now.”

  He returned her smile and pressed his lips against hers.

  And then he went on a pilgrimage.

  why she's doing that? :)