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~~((National Corn on the Cob Day - page 8 of 10))~~
The aura that seemed to pervade the entire forest was being melted through by the Lord Goffe's, carving out a much larger area for the two of them.

This had two immediate effects that were of great use for Pauline.

First, it further lessened the oppressive disorientation that she had to constantly fight against. While the Beast's innate hostility towards them was present in its aura, Lord Goffe's welcomed her as an ally. And as it grew in size, the aura's nucleus also grew more potent.

The feeling of protection washing over her now reminded her of her own father. When Lord Goffe had said earlier that he would do his best to keep her safe, those had not been empty words. She had known that even then, but never was it more evident than now. The strength of his intent, his will, permeated his aura, draping her in a metaphysical sense of safety was difficult to articulate, even to herself.

Secondly, she could sense farther into the forest than ever. The friendly aura pushing back the oppressive one was like a psychic amplifier for her abilities. While she still couldn't sense as far away as if there had been no hostile aura at all, this was certainly a dramatic difference.

It even extended underground, though with diminished results. The ground was a naturally more difficult medium for auras to penetrate, but there were many cracks in the earth here that led into the collapsed cave beneath their feet.

Perhaps it also helped that this area was a minor point of geographic resonance. Where before it had resonated with the Beast's aura and allowed her to extract that vision of its psychic history, now it was beginning to resonate with Lord Goffe's aura instead.