After I sat close to the edge of the community’s wards and studied them for about ninety minutes, Lia returned. She was moving quietly enough that I didn’t notice her presence until she was just about on top of me, proving once again how capable she was when it came to concealing herself. As we had done on the way to the community, or maybe calling it a town would be more appropriate, there was no trace of her passing left, no tracks in the snow, no scents to detect, nothing but a brief disturbance in the wind. That was something I had not been able to avoid, though given that such a disturbance disappeared from my senses within a few seconds of its occurrence, I doubted many people would be able to perceive them at all. Still, it was a fascinating project for some other day, as the eternal race between concealment and detection continued.

  “Did you find what you’ve been looking for?” I asked, my voice barely a whisper. If not for Lia’s excellent ears, she wouldn’t have heard it while being right next to me.

  “Yes,” she answered, her voice just as hushed as mine, “They’ve got a creek running through their village, but I think they mainly use that water for irrigation. I’ve climbed on a few trees to get a better look, and I saw one well and something I think is another. Not sure what I’ll mix into the creek, but I’ve got a few interesting ideas.”

  Her voice had a dark, malicious tone, and the tilt of her head made me think she was just about ready to sink her fangs into some villager’s throat, just to see the life literally drain from their eyes. Idly, somewhere in the back of my mind, I wondered where her hostility came from. She hadn’t had contact with the followers of Sunna before, so there shouldn’t be any direct and personal animosity; this hatred was directed at the group as a whole, not any individual within it. But whether the hatred stemmed from the things I had told Lia about these people or because she carried Sunna’s curse and simply reciprocated it, I wasn’t sure. And, quite frankly, it didn’t matter all that much. Unless my hatred for them influenced her through the magical bond I hadn’t considered before my earlier realisations. If that were the case, I might have to rethink things a little, but not too much.

  “What do you have in mind?” Lia asked, drawing my attention back to her.

  “Something subtle and quiet, though I’m not sure how or against whom,” I admitted, “I’ve got a few ideas of the methods I want to use, but those only work if someone is outside. Otherwise, I’d have to push things far harder than I’m willing at the moment. Remember, I want to keep things subtle and, well, mortal, for lack of a better word.”

  “If you want someone outside, they’ve got a few guards making their rounds. I saw a pair earlier. Those guys seemed to stay in a relatively narrow area; perhaps it’s where they store their food or some other important location. Depending on how far whatever you have in mind can reach, you should be able to get those guys,” she suggested, making me nod in response.

  “Say, you did make sure to stay out of the ward, right?” I looked at my daughter, realising that she might have stepped too close to the town, though given that nothing bad had happened, I doubted it.

  “It’s obvious enough that even I wouldn’t miss it. Even standing here, I can feel it sting, like heat radiating off a fire,” she replied, making me nod. At the same time, I started to wonder where that particular sensation came from, if it was something intrinsic to the ward, some sort of defence against vampires, maybe, or if the curse Lia carried was reacting to the ward, or possibly the divine energy provided by Sunna. Regardless, I was quite confident that interacting with the ward would be decidedly unhealthy for my daughter, so it was a good thing she could sense it as easily. It also proved once again that Sunna was many things, but subtle wasn’t among them.

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  “Show me where those guys patrol. I’m curious if my idea will work,” I told my daughter, following her when she moved away from the ward, carefully keeping her distance as we circled the town.

  We easily found a nice copse of trees, not too far from the wardline, and both jumped into it, silently landing on a pair of branches roughly halfway up the tree.

  “Look over there,” she pointed towards one of the larger buildings. “I saw them circle that building, following those paths,” she continued, gesturing to make sure I knew where the guards should appear. “You’ll easily see their lights, though I’m not sure how those things work. No flickering, no fire, just continuous, steady light,” she added, and I nodded in response, a grin already forming on my face. This was even better than I had hoped. A harsh, cold wind was blowing through the tree we were sitting in, flowing down from the mountains, through the forest and our tree before chilling the town a little further. Perfect for my idea.

  Spotting the guards was utterly trivial. Stealth was no option when carrying bright, glowing stones. They were likely enchanted or blessed by Sunna or something along those lines, allowing them to move around with ease, despite the darkness. Maybe they also shed warmth, but I couldn’t tell clearly from a distance. I just noticed that the guards didn’t look as cold as I would have expected, and their breath wasn’t misting as much as usual.

  Nodding to myself, I closed my eyes, infusing my breath with a tiny amount of magic. The air was flowing from my lungs as I softly sang, my voice nothing but the faintest whisper, a deep, humming sound I could barely produce. Those sounds, and the power I was infusing in my breath, mingled with the wind. Not to influence or control, I wasn’t looking to be that obvious.

  The wind continued to blow, as if nothing had happened, moving through the ward without any reaction and eventually reaching the guards. They, too, didn’t notice anything; they simply continued on their way, occasionally shivering from the cold, but other than that, they didn’t react.

  They didn’t notice that the wind had changed, that it was now carrying that soft, inaudible hum. The natural wind had a trace of Astral Power; it was merely a result of a normal interaction between the natural world and the Astral River. However, in this case, that natural Astral Power was joined by the Wind Astral Power I had used to carry my song, infusing it into the wind. The Astral Power I had added didn’t change anything; it merely carried my quiet, wordless song, shifting it in pitch and volume until nothing was audible. But the song remained present, and despite not hearing it, the guards were influenced by my voice. And the Mind Magic I had channelled into the song, blended into the sounds and the Wind Magic used as a medium.

  I kept singing for about a quarter of an hour, until I felt my throat get dry. Looking at the guards, I had no idea if my magic even did anything, or if the amount of power I had used hadn’t been sufficient, if it had been dispersed too much by the blowing wind, but, in this case, this was perfectly fine.

  My goal hadn’t been some massive, immediate effect in the first place, which made it so incredibly hard to tell whether it had worked or not. The effect should do nothing but increase the paranoia of those affected, maybe give them a nightmare or three. Nothing severe, nothing obvious, nothing anyone would notice, unless they were incredibly thorough and sensitive.

  “I’m done,” I quietly whispered to Lia, my voice a little scratchy from the singing.

  “Let’s go home,” she replied, gracefully jumping off the tree and gliding down, her feet making no sound as she started to move across the snow.

  I followed suit, jumping down and using my magic to avoid disturbing the snow, muffling any sound it might have produced in the process. Then, I followed after my daughter, easily catching up with her until we were well away from the town, and she started to speed up once more. Then, it became a race, both of us careful to leave no traces while trying to move as swiftly as possible. It was exhilarating and just what the doctor ordered after we had spent hours skulking around that town. A part of me was disappointed that we had to be subtle, but another part of me was eagerly anticipating the fireworks we’d undoubtedly get once we were done with them. If all went to plan, their town would become a wonderful swamp of distrust, paranoia and madness, until it all boiled over.

  And that was when the true fun would begin.