Wilder returned to the spot near the pool where she'd been finding some peace, lately. The water was cool and clean and the air of this cave was...soothing. The plant life made this place, too, feel like a place of healing and flourishing. Perhaps...that's what she could find here. She hadn't found it in the cave near the Spire - that had been nothing but oppressing, trapping in all the bad memories and energies - nor had she found it in Pegasus - simply running from her problems to the wilds away. But here, where she was close to those Echoes, in a place steeped in strange magics, maybe she would find something like peace.

She took a deep breath, retreating a few paces back into the undergrowth and sat down closing her eyes. She reached for that reservoir of energy in the back of her mind, focusing hard so that she had control. She didn't want to blast away too much, nor herself. The resounding violent force that expelled from her as she released it was, as she intended, small. Only a few feet around in all directions. All the plant life was ripped from the ground, the grass and top layer of soil thrown far away into the small forest, any stones sticking from the ground were quickly expelled, leaving Wilder sitting on a flattened, bare part of earth. A good size and cleaned for her next intentions.

That had been the easy part. What was coming next...ugh. She swallowed and glanced into the trees where she could just see the beady eyes of Vaati looking out at her from the shadows. Reassuring her, but staying a distance away for safety. House construction, after all, wasn't extremely safe.

She turned back to face forward, focusing on the ground a few feet in front of her. She imagined opaque crystal rupturing from the earth and sliding up, creating a small cave-like home around her, but despite the magic she thrust forward, no such display occurred. She huffed and leaned back, releasing the failed spell.

She frowned and focused again, ears folding back as she tried thrusting more magic in the earth, to force the crystals to rise. Damn her magic now, for being so hard to reach! Damn Emuh for weakening her severely! Anger boiled up and over for a moment and it felt like a hammer strike sliding off the edge of a nail, curving the metal, and slamming into the wood.

A sharp pain sliced into her paw and she jumped up with a surprised yelp. Blood spattered the ground. A tiny, thin black crystal had come out of the ground, but right into her paw-pad. It hadn't gone far, but it sure had hurt.

She glared at the small wound in her paw, taking a moment to roughly lick the blood away and kick the gem out of her circle, frustrated with herself.

Wilder sat down in her spot again once the bleeding had stopped and tried to calm herself. She took deep breaths, taking some quiet moments before she tried again. The earth under her paws was warm and waiting, the air was cool and quiet. One more deep breath and her claws unsheathed, digging into the earth as her magic was willed smoothly into it.

She tried not to flinch at the sound of shifting rock. She just continued to focus, willing the magic to shape to her command, the effort of it burning through her entire body until she couldn't hold it anymore and she released it with a gasp, panting from the effort.

Opening her eyes, she saw the fruits of her effort - a gigantic mookaite crystal had risen from the ground next to her, wider then thick, stretching diagonally up until the point of it was over her head. Her eyes gleamed at the success - finally!

One wall was a good start, but it wasn't exactly a house if it only had a single wall. So she settled back down and closed her eyes again, focusing on more, just like that one. Effort made her fur stand on end as magic flooded further into the ground, feeling like it was coming out of her very bones. A shiver ran down her spine as the magic clicked and there was a further shifting of rock - louder, more numerous this time. There were loud, unpleasent sounds overhead as they met each other and Wilder distantly felt bits of crystal raining down on her.

By the time it was over, she felt weak from the effort the spell demanded. But around and above her were four more spears of crystal - smaller then the massive wall of mookaite, but giving the house a bit more of a shape. This crystal, while still opaque, had a more crystalline sheen and was a deep, rich red in color. They met at the top, sealing tight, some of them having ground themselves right into each other and the original mookaite wall.

Now almost completely surrounded, Wilder turned to the opening and tried one more time. But the exhaustion was setting in deep. She strained for magic, but it was barely welling anymore, much less casting anything useful. After a few seconds of effort she stopped, panting and sunk to the ground.

She wasn't disappointed - honestly, she was shocked that it had cooperated enough that she had been able to make a fully-functional shelter! But she was so close.

She caught her breath. She took time. She felt a gentle mentle probe and Vaati's beady eyes appeared in the doorway. She looked up at him and smiled, struggling back to her feet. "I got this. One more, right?" The rat sniffled and disappeared, giving her the room to finish her work.

One more deep breath and she pulled again, that well of energy that was so deeply and fundamentally tied to the earth. And the remainder of the energy she had sunk deep into the earth and ran forward towards the open space. The sound was a little different this time - shifting stones, still, but followed by crystalline clicks and she watched as crystal after crystal of smoky quartz gemstone pulled their way from the ground, rising and getting bigger and joining at the top with an unpleasant screech and grinding against the ceiling, casting her almost completely in shade. And when the spell was over, it was complete.

A jagged opening of thousands of crystal peaks made up the entryway of the little house Wilder had made. She breathed out one last gasp, the last bit of her energy gone, but satisfaction remaining. She immediately slid to the ground and passed out in that spot, too exhausted to move a muscle.

*exit