Sjal and Ankora both looked at the approaching woman. She looked normal, except that she was naked. What was up with that? When she explained that she'd come through a portal, Sjal furrowed her brow. How? She hadn't seen anyone like that come through.
"So you saw a portal and just… went through it?" Sjal asked in disbelief. "I think I would have noticed if a naked woman came through my portal. I was the last one to enter it, after all." She pursed her lips and wondered how big of a deal this was. A foreigner was here, but then again foreigners did tend to find themselves here. Magic was basically outlawed in most of the country.
"Raya? Nice to meet you. I'm Sja and this is Ankora. You're in a safe place. I've never been to Avernus, else I would open a portal for you to travel back. Err… why don't I run in and get you some clothes?" She needed to change as well – she was covered in dried blood.
Ankora snickered and said, "well, when you two get changed we can get started."
Sjal would go into the barracks and get a change of clothes for Raya and herself. If Raya followed her then she'd show her to a bathroom so she could change. Aterwards, Sjal would come out and found Ankora still waiting in the same spot.
"Like I was saying before, this is Motoku, in Jian. This is a pretty safe place for mages, but you shouldn't use magic outside of Huo territory. You'll get in trouble or killed or worse. If you want to stick around for a while until I figure out how to get you home… I'm sure we can set up some accommodations for you."
"And Ankora, I'm ready whenever you are."
"This isn't something that we should do here, you're going to be out for a few hours at a minimum. We can go back to my home." She waved her hand and conjured a cloud of sand that she sat on. She patted the space next to her so that the others could join her. Sjal took a seat and looked to Raya expectantly.
Assuming Raya joined, they would fly off to Ankora's home which wasn't that far away. They would be led to a guest bedroom where Sjal would be told to lay down. She'd do so.
"Alright, now we begin."
Ankora marked Sjal on the ankle using her aether and blood. After that, Sjal started to change. She started to shake as if she was a tuning fork. Her skin, muscles, then bones started to vibrate in ways that ought to have caused cracking in most living beings. Yet Sjal's body managed to stay together and repair itself through the process. Sjal screamed, but a bubble of magic around her head prevented any sound from escaping.
It wasn't just pain. Sjal tasted metal. It was like blood, almost. She thought she was literally tasting blood until she started tasting spices as well. Was that salt? She smelled sulfur as well… So this was what it was like to be a terrari. This continued for about an hour, afterwards Raya left Sjal to calm down on her own. The younger woman passed out at some point, leaving her body to heal and adjust as best as it could.
In the meantime, Ankora would offer Raya some food and water, and would also clear out a spare room. The woman was fairly well off, having earned a pretty decent living as a mage in these parts. She was good at what she did and often took to training the more promising students. She'd had her reservations about Sjal, but it looked like the girl was turning out to be quite the useful asset for the country.
Sjal would sleep through most of the rest of the day. A couple soldiers would swing by to make sure she hadn't died yet, as her death would be bad for plans. Rain had had to fight for a time slot for Sjal to take off and his reputation was on the line if she died under his command. But he was a risk taker and knew that having a more powerful mage under his wing would be crucial to seeing the end of this war.
When Sjal woke it was late at night. She could barely move her body but she had survived, not that she was surprised. She had an increased constitution thanks to being dragonbound, which she attributed to her survival. Ankora came around every hour or so after that to make sure that Sjal understood what was happening to her body and that she shouldn't try using magic quite yet.
"So, what does training look like?" Sjal asked when she was comfortable enough to hold a conversation.
"It's not that bad. You have an increased capacity for aether, which is going to be incredibly useful. Beginners tend to make sense of various minerals and to judge the composition of various materials. I'll bet tomorrow morning you'll be able to start manipulating small chunks of stone and by the evening maybe even copper. Of course, we'll have to bind you to something as well… There's a lot of things to do."
"I see, that does sound like a lot," Sjal said, holding out her hand and looking it over. She didn't feel all that different, now that the pain was subsiding. "What metals do people usually bind to?"
"It depends. Most only end up being capable of binding to a handful of materials… you'd probably do well to think hard about what you'd like to bind to. Though for someone with your talents, I'd suggest something that might be useful in a fight. Maybe a gemstone or copper. Later, when you're stronger, you would probably want to bind to something like steel so you could make a weapon on the fly."
"Hmm, I'm not going to pretend to know much about materials, but I do know iron and steel would be useful. Then again, I don't know how to actually smith anything… I knew a smith once but I didn't learn as much as I should have."
"Yes, you would need to learn how to form a weapon so that swords you make are actually capable of withstanding blows without shattering. This will all come in time, don't worry your pretty little head about it."
Sjal yawned and said, "okay, I won't." She really wanted to try out her new powers but she managed to keep herself from doing so. "What happened to Raya?"
"I offered her food and shelter… Not much else I can do. It's not unheard of for people to wander in and leave without ever being seen again. It doesn't sound like she knows her purpose in life yet and all we can do is to give her the opportunity to discover herself. I'm an optimist, however. I believe she can be an asset."
"An asset?"
"Yes, she's obviously using some sort of miasmata. If she learns how to use it properly… she could be very useful. I don't have much practical experience, but I'm sure we can find a ghost or onryo that is willing to help us out."
