Adventure Capital
Author: Blaise Corvin
Date: 2017-10-14 04:00:00+00:00
Keywords: Fantasy; Science Fiction; Urban Fantasy; Steampunk; Science Fiction Fantasy
Description: By working together, Henry Sato and Jason Booth have managed to survive their unwanted trip to Ludus, an experiment planet. However, Delvers LLC has made some enemies...if monsters, bandits, mages, criminals, bounty hunters, and even dark cults can be called, "some enemies." After their latest battle, the two have been separated and must adapt or die. Henry in particular faces a trial by fire—perhaps literally—that may be impossible for him to overcome. The two American men will face their greatest challenges yet while working as conscripted Berber Intelligence agents. But even while outnumber

Contents

Title

Copyright

By Blaise Corvin

Dedication

Foreword

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Chapter 24

Chapter 25

Chapter 26

Chapter 27

Chapter 28

Chapter 29

Chapter 30

Chapter 31

Chapter 32

Chapter 33

Chapter 34

Chapter 35

Chapter 36

Book End

Author's Note

SOO Introduction

SOO1 Chapter 1

SOO1 Chapter 2

SOO1 Chapter 3

Goodbye

Delvers LLC: Adventure Capital

Delvers LLC Book Three

By Blaise Corvin

Delvers LLC: Adventure Capital

Copyright ©2017 by Blaise Corvin

All rights reserved.

No part of this work may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.

Also by Blaise Corvin

Delvers LLC

Welcome to Ludus

Obligations Incurred

Adventure Capital

Secret of the Old Ones

Luck Stat Strategy

Dedication

My dedication for this book is fairly simple.

I would like to thank my Patreon supporters. They are all unfailingly supportive, and this book would not have been as good without their input.

Patreon serves as both a motivation and a muse for me. My Patreon page is where my hard-core readers can check out my new content as I produce it (before it’s published), and see all the art I commission, too.

The community there is very special to me.

-BC

Foreword

Hello readers! This book is the third of a series that I would classify as light LitRPG (Portal) Fantasy adventure. LitRPG is a subgenre of GameLit, a new genre of literature that includes game mechanics.

You might be curious what LitRPG is. The acronym literally means Literary (or Literature) RPG (Role Playing Game). These types of stories have been extremely popular in Russia and other countries. They’re just now making an impact in the West!

LitRPG is usually a funky mix of Fantasy and Sci Fi. The types of stories can vary, but what most LitRPG novels have in common is some clear method of progression (like leveling up) as well as a setting that most gamers can immediately relate to.

I really had a lot of fun writing this book. If you’d like to visit my web serial website, the URL is http://blaise-corvin.com/

I also have a writer’s note in the back of the book with a whole mess of links as well as a few reading suggestions. If you’re on Facebook and would like to join a LitRPG group, the best one to join is LitRPG Society (run by yours truly). :)

If you want to connect with me, I have multiple links to connect with me at the end of this book. You can always just search for my name on Facebook, too.

I hope you enjoy your time on Ludus again with Henry and Jason!

Empty Streets

Henry drifted, floating on a sea of nothingness.

Blackness. An absence of light. An absence of thought. Colored lights swirled around, making music, talking to him. It was peaceful but deep. The deepness was terrifying. He didn't want to fall, but he didn't know which way was up. Nothing was clear, he didn’t know who he was at first, but the lights continued to speak to him. Then everything changed.

Henry found himself walking down the streets of Seattle. His thoughts moved slowly; his surroundings seemed to be covered in a gray haze. People moved around in slow motion, none of them noticing as he passed among them like a ghost.

He aimlessly wandered for a while, realizing he was in Chinatown, the International District. Henry shrugged, not caring where his steps carried him. He noticed wisps, dark tendrils trailing his body as he moved, but he didn’t care about that either.

After he hit 4th Avenue, Henry continued towards the water, picking streets to follow at random. The world was quiet, eerily silent until he heard an intensely whispered, “Henry!” He turned.

Tony moved towards him, looking confused. He wore a frown and seemed strangely out of place. The kid didn’t have any black stuff coming off him. Henry was curious about that for half a second until he dismissed it. It wasn’t important. Nothing was important.

“Henry, is that your name?” the kid asked, his voice halting. Henry wondered why he was upset. What was there to be upset about? What had he been thinking about? He didn’t remember.

After another few steps, Tony began following him, and Henry quickly forgot he was there. The other people he saw didn’t look real, but he was fascinated all the same. He could tell they had lives and loved ones. They were connected to the world around them. Henry didn’t feel connected to anything. He walked past an alley, and a homeless person who otherwise saw everything looked right through him.

He’d wound his way through the city streets, heading to no place in particular. Tony followed behind him, muttering to himself. After a while, the boy took hold of Henry’s sleeve. He was wearing cargo shorts and a graphic T-shirt. Henry thought that was strange for a moment, but the thought passed through his mind like a hummingbird with places to be. It wasn’t important.

Before too long, Henry found himself by the water. He hadn’t been trying to get to the waterfront, but he liked it there. The wisps coming off his back were getting longer. They never touched Aodh, Tony, but they writhed around, brushing pretty much everything else, like hungry tentacles.

On the nameless Seattle dock, Henry eyed the ocean. He saw his reflection and took a step back. The man in the water was tired and wounded, wearing strange, metal armor, and bleeding from his eyes. Henry rubbed his goatee and tried thinking. It was very difficult to form thoughts - they kept escaping like bubbles rising from a swamp.

Eventually, he shrugged. The man in the water was scary, but there was something interesting about him. He took a couple of steps forward and fell into the ocean. The teen holding his shirt followed him, muttering all the way.

***

A swirl of images bombarded him. It was hard to make sense of any of it. Most of the time, he didn’t particularly care, but he felt odd spikes of emotion that made it hard just to exist. Panic, fear, anxiety, he felt flashes of terror as if he was experiencing them for another person. It was quite curious.

He caught a brief memory of someone thanking him. His mother? The thought held weight to it, grounding his flitting mind for a moment. He looked around and saw stars, or at least pinpricks of light that moved. Henry strangely felt outside of time, not anchored in a way he’d never realized he had been before.

The past. Time. The concepts held no power in this place.

Suddenly, the stars swirled, and the sky collapsed. There was a rush of sound, both pleasant and unpleasant, all compressed into an instant. When the light came back, Henry found himself standing in a field near a copse of trees, crude drawings carved into the bark. Aodh was on the ground, snoring softly.

Henry noticed a couple of people in the distance walking towards him and waited for them to arrive. As the moments passed, he felt his emotions and his sense of self returning. However, the black streamers from his back he’d seen before were still there.

Henry blinked. What the fuck is going on?

He glanced up again; his mind was returning and actually really looked at the two approaching people. He blinked again.

One was his orb, or at least as it appeared to him. A tall white man in slacks, a shirt, tie, and sporting a dapper sweater. The other person was short and female. Actually, aggressively female. Her curves weren’t that amazing, but the way she walked was like femininity incarnate. She had dragonfly wings and wore...a chainmail bikini.

The winged woman had a bluish tint to her skin, and a couple of small horns protruded from the rear of her jaw. Her hair seemed almost partially made of feathers, and streamed behind her in a deep blue wave. He legs hinged like a regular woman, but she stepped with an airy grace that even Areva women didn’t match.

Henry thought she was painfully hot, and he watched her approach as his thoughts continued to gel together. Eventually, he glanced from the woman and the man approaching, down to the sleeping teen on the ground, and back up. “You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.” Henry sighed. “He’s the one who gets a sexy orb to talk to?”

He frowned and crossed his arms, waiting for the pair to arrive. After a while, Henry realized he’d been waiting longer than he should have been. His orb’s manifestations almost seemed to be walking on a treadmill going the other direction. He squinted and realized the approaching pair were actually moving away from him.

The sky seemed to dim the further away they got, and the black streamers coming off his back whipped around faster. Henry took that as a bad sign. He thought briefly about touching one, but had a feeling that would be a Bad Idea, in capital letters.

Henry briefly wondered if he should go and meet them, but then felt that would also be a Bad Idea. Something inside him made it clear he needed to stay by Tony. He thought about how annoying the whole situation was, and how he wished the two would hurry up and get to him.

Suddenly, the day brightened a bit and it seemed his orb and the chainmail bikini hottie were closer. Now that’s odd, he thought. Henry watched them closely as they slowly started drifting back again and narrowed his eyes.

“This is bullshit. Get over here!” he shouted, willing it to be so. The two sped towards him like they were walking on a motorized walkway at an airport. It seemed only another few seconds passed until they were standing before him.

The woman snapped her fingers and Aodh woke up. The kid immediately stood and looked around. “Where are we? Wait, I recognize this place.”

“Well, I don’t,” said Henry flatly. “Where the hell are we?”

“Well, that is a bit of a delicate subject, neighbor,” said Henry’s orb.

“Listen, motherfucker. I told you not to call me that.”

“But it calms you, and you need to be calm. It’s completely alright; this is a wonderful day. Do you like this area? I certainly do.” As the orb’s manifestation spoke, the petite, winged vixen began to fret over Aodh.

Henry gritted his teeth before asking calmly, “I have no idea what is going on. My memory seems not to be working right either. Where are we, and what is all this?” He gestured at the black trailing from his back, idly waving like paper fluttering in a breeze.

“Oh, that’s what you want to know?” asked the blue-haired woman. She turned and asked the tall orb, “Should we tell him?”

“Yes, I believe we should,” the man in the sweater replied. “Henry, this is very difficult to tell you, but I’m glad we’re friends and we’re together.”

Henry rolled his eyes. “Out with it.”

The man in the tie sighed. “Well, neighbor, we’re dead, but you especially.”

“Well, sorta,” amended the winged woman.

Henry turned to regard Tony and the kid was looking right back at him with wild eyes. The teen spoke for both of them when he asked, “What in the hell is going on?”

Deadlights

The winged woman pursed her lips and placed her hands on her hips. The motion did interesting things to her chainmail covered...assets. Henry felt like his thoughts were still kind of slow. How in the world was he being distracted by tits while existing in such a weird situation? Seriously, what was happening? His thoughts actually even felt a little different than usual. “Where are we?” he asked.

Henry’s orb answered, “This is a memory of Aodh’s, and part of his mind space. Orb controllers like myself generally don’t work together like this, but the situation is...highly irregular.” The tall man seemed apologetic.

“You know this place?” Henry asked Tony.

Aodh thought for a moment; his expression was one of confusion. “Actually, yeah. I used to come here when I was a kid to play adventurer, usually when I was hiding from Vitaliya. Who are these people?” The young man pointed at the two strangers.

Henry sighed. “The tall man is how my orb appears when it needs to talk to me. I’m assuming the woman is your orb.”

"Just so!” replied the woman. “I cannot interact as well as this one,” she said gesturing at the other orb. “Most of my resources are focused on my process.”

“Wait, you’re my orb? Why do you look like…” Aodh frowned before pointing. “You’re Gellab Gettafs Smith, the legendary adventurer! Wait, you look exactly how I imagined you when I read all those old books!”

“Call me Gelly, sweetie.” The woman smiled.

“Well, that explains the bullshit armor. Puberty imagination,” muttered Henry.

“What?” The young man turned to the beautiful winged woman again and asked, “What is going on? Can you help us out, madam? It’s an honor to meet a famous Adom adventurer like you.”

“You’re talking to your imagination, kid,” growled Henry. “These things are just our orbs, but I bet we can get some answers out of them. But before we figure out what the fuck is going on or what the fuck this is,” he snapped, pointing at the black streamers coming off his back, “let’s ask something simple. You, Tony’s orb, what the hell does the kid’s orb actually do?”

The female orb, Gelly, replied, “Oh, so short tempered!” She turned to the other orb, “How is he still alive? With that personality, he should definitely be dead by now.” The tall, male orb shrugged and the scantily clad woman frowned at Henry. “I’m a theoretical probability orb, one of the rarest orbs ever created. I am the latest version.”

“What does that mean?” asked Aodh. “I’ve tried everything, but I can’t do any magic or anything else.”

“My function is actually quite complex,” said the blue-skinned woman. “I take the safety and wishes of my host into account, and based on the strength of his feelings, I allocate power towards nudging possibilities or mutable events. I make an advantageous outcome more probable.”

“Wait, wha—” began Aodh.

Henry held a hand up. “She’s a fucking luck orb,” he said. “That makes no sense, though! Tony hasn’t been lucky! I mean, he’s here with me, whatever this is. I sort of remember some danger. The memories are slowly coming back but they’re still fuzzy.”

“Ah, that is not true, Aodh is not unlucky,” the woman answered. “He found a high-quality bronze dagger lying in the dirt when he was wishing for an attractive weapon like everyone else had.” Aodh blushed. The woman continued, “He has managed to keep distance from his cousin, and he also managed to avoid three near-certain brushes with death during your battle before arriving here.”

“Wait, I would have died without your help?” asked Aodh, his voice breaking.

“Undoubtedly. Through my assistance, you are already incredibly powerful, even at your low rank.” The woman smiled. “I was happy to help.”

“Okay, that’s all well and good but—” Henry’s words were cut off suddenly when the entire world transitioned to night. His vision and thought processes felt scrambled as the darkness surrounding him got deeper.

For a time, he just existed. None of his senses worked. His thoughts moved differently too. The Asian man’s mind felt like it was pushed up against a rough wall. There was pressure forcing him forward, but he had nowhere to go. It hurt, but the pain wasn’t physical. Even if his mind had been working correctly, he would have been hard-pressed to describe the feeling.

The core of the sensation was losing himself. He felt like he was dying. Actually, worse than dying. It felt like something deep inside of him, his very being, was being worn away. It felt like he was losing his soul.

Henry’s mind moved glacially slow, but he focused every bit of his will on a single thought: Fuck this.

The stubborn man pushed forward, pounding against the obstacle before him. It hurt, it hurt terribly. It felt like the very fabric of his existence was being ripped to shreds, and he was desperately trying to find a gap to escape. He didn’t stop, didn’t give in.

Eventually, he found something. Something different. He felt a small breach in the barrier holding him back. A weakness. Henry pushed with everything he had, all his memories, his personality, his thoughts, and desires. He pushed with every bit of himself that he could, and without warning, the overwhelming darkness around him shattered, motes of light exploding outwards, disappearing into the distance.

He was floating in space, the dark place he had been before he transitioned to Tony’s old memory. Pinpricks of light slowly moved in random patterns. Flashes of memories came and went. An enormous pressure settled on Henry’s spirit, but with the same dogged determination he had grasped onto before, he pushed back.

He kept pushing until the pressure abated, and he suddenly felt a deep sense of peace that tickled parts of his mind. Parts of himself that he’d never even felt before. He tried to close his eyes, but realized he couldn’t. He wasn’t seeing with his eyes. The thought was bizarre, but the feeling of the strange place made the fact unimportant.

Henry felt a faint presence and realized it was Tony. The farm boy turned adventurer was failing, his life ebbing away. Henry thought, Can’t let that happen. He reached for the young man, stretching the new part of himself he had never felt before. The sensation was like fumbling around the dark for something small, but eventually, he made contact with Tony.

As soon as his will touched the Ludan teen, Tony grasped the lifeline of Henry’s consciousness and began pulling himself out of the pressure he’d been in. The closer he got to Henry, the stronger his life force felt. Eventually, after what seemed an age, after incredible effort felt through their connection, Aodh reached Henry’s position.

He couldn’t see anything; the view of the deep darkness, moving lights, and distant flashes of color remained unchanged. However, Henry could feel Tony’s existence. He also heard the boy’s Irish accented voice in his head whispering, “What is this?”

Henry tried to speak, but nothing happened. It was like his mind worked, but the body it was usually connected to was out for vacation. He mentally narrowed his eyes, and tried thinking his question. He projected, “Are you okay, Tony?” in the general ‘direction’ he thought the kid was.

“Ouch, don’t yell so loud!” Tony complained. “What is going on? Where did those orbs go?”

Henry focused on thinking a little softer. It was weird for him. Actually, everything about the situation was weird, even for someone who’d spent a few months on Ludus. “I don’t know. Those lights in the distance seem to be getting closer, though.”

“Yeah.”

Henry paused for a moment. The fog over his mind from before was completely gone. He could remember everything. In fact, his memory actually felt much sharper than usual. His mind seemed to be moving faster than it usually did, too. It felt like his thoughts didn’t have any resistance.

He warily watched the lights approaching and pushed at Tony. “Hey, what was that?” the boy mentally shouted at Henry.

“Nothing. Probably your imagination. I can remember everything. Can you?”

“Yes,” Aodh said mentally, his ‘voice’ somber. “Are we dead?”

“I don’t think so,” replied Henry. “This isn’t oblivion, it’s not what I thought hell would be like, and it damn sure isn’t paradise. I see no golden gates, Valhalla, dozens of virgins, nothing.”

“Virgins?” Tony asked, his mental voice curious.

“Yeah, of course you’d be asking that. I saw that blue-skinned hottie earlier. You have a very active imagination, kid.”

“Uh, it made sense at the time.” Aodh sounded embarrassed.

“Whatever. She’s hot and seems nice. There are worse fantasies young dudes can have. The lights are almost here, look sharp.”

The lights approached slowly, spinning and casting brighter flashes at each other. At first, Henry had thought they were all moving together, but he noticed that a large group seemed to be blocking something. Something dark.

As the lights got closer, Henry began to hear whispers around the edges of his mind. He tentatively thought a question at Aodh, “Can you hear that?”

“Sort of,” said Tony, sounding scared. “It’s like hearing a bunch of people whispering in the next room. Like they’re facing away from me.”

Henry paused. He said, “I think they’re whispering at me.” The lights grew nearer, and the whispering didn’t get any louder, but seemed more focused.

When the lights were closer still, Henry began to hear individual voices speaking in concert. Well, a few groups of them. They weren’t saying anything in any language he understood, but he could grasp the meaning all the same.

One group was warm, welcoming. This group’s colors were hard, sharp. Another group was curious, determined. This group’s colors were soft and whimsical. The last, a group he couldn’t see, was dark and insidious. Its collective voice made him feel a chill in his soul, and it seemed the other lights were pushing it back.

What the hell? Henry thought. One time when he’d gotten out of the Army and just started taking some college classes, Henry had gotten really, really drunk at a party and a pretty girl had convinced him to drop acid. Measuring that experience against the one he found himself in now was like comparing a candle to the sun.

When the lights stopped moving, they began to orbit around Tony and himself. Henry focused on the voices. Despite the strangeness of the entire situation, the first two groups of lights didn’t scare him. They felt somehow familiar. Even the third, dark group he couldn’t see didn’t particularly terrify him. It almost felt like a snake, a viper. It was dangerous, but the harm it could cause didn’t feel personal.

Eventually, Henry felt his mind shift, his thoughts slightly turning to better understand the voices. The dark group’s whispers didn’t make a lot of sense. Death, destruction, rot, it just repeated some of the same ideas over and over.

The second group, the light colored, curious group was mumbling offers of friendship, ideas of solidarity. Henry heard, “Friend? Friend? Friend?” repeated under everything else the group said, almost like a baseline.

The first group he’d heard, the rigid group, was the most interesting and the most comforting. Companion. Protection. Power. Honor. Henry felt his spirit, the very stuff that made up who he was in this place resonating with it. The voices whispered, “Let us help.”

Henry mentally shrugged and reached out to the jagged, hard lights. His mind almost felt like it uncoiled and tentatively extended the same way he’d touched Aodh. When he made contact with the lights, he felt like he’d stuck his finger in a light socket. Pain racked his being and his entire existence became agony. Instead of nerve endings lighting up, in this strange place, he felt his memories flashing, the intensity trying to unravel his mind.

With the new connection, he heard the whispers, now voices, much more clearly. “Please hold on, Henry!” they begged. For some reason, he knew he could trust these lights. Rather than trying to reject the connection, Henry dug his metaphorical heels in and instead deepened his connection.

Now it felt like he had all his fingers stuck in light sockets, and some of his toes as well. The agony was overwhelming. Henry dimly heard Tony’s voice in his mind asking if everything was alright. The man from Earth ignored him and channeled every bit of his mind into keeping himself from flying apart. He thought about his mom, how much he loved her, and how much respect he had for her. He focused on how she and his dad had loved each other, on how her heart had broken when his father had died. Henry had just saved his mom from cancer. He refused to die before she did. He refused to leave her without a son, refused to go out without a fight, even if his grave would be on another world or wherever he currently found himself.

Then he thought of Mareen, his sweet, pure-hearted wife. A woman from another world, another ethnicity, another background, another culture who somehow completed him, made him better than he could otherwise be. He knew he made her happy most of the time, and remembering her smile filled him with joy. Mareen was young, and her very youth just made who she was as a person even more amazing.

They’d been arguing before the battle with the zombies. Mareen wanted a child, and Henry hadn’t thought it was time yet. They were adventurers, after all. Their lives were dangerous. He decided if he survived and found his way back to her, he couldn’t deny her any longer. More importantly, he had to survive.

Henry would not leave Mareen all alone; he couldn’t break her heart. He had three choices. His first choice was to let the pain take him, let it carry him off to the distant darkness and pinpricks of light. Second, he could reject the lights he was reaching out to, which he somehow knew would still result in his end. His last option was to endure.

I am me! he thought, shouting his words against the emptiness around him. Henry steeled himself, drawing even more deeply on his connection with the lights. Now the sensation was like all of his extremities were plugged into a hydroelectric dam, like he was riding several bolts of lightning all going in different directions. He raged against oblivion, barely holding utter destruction at bay.

After what felt like an eternity of barely holding himself together, maintaining his personal identity amidst a torrent of power and pain, all the agony suddenly stopped. “Well done, Henry!” he heard a strange voice say in his mind. It still sounded like many whispers speaking in unison, but now he could understand it perfectly.

The voice continued, “Now reach out to the other group! You are amazing! We might be able to save you after all!”

Henry’s spirit felt dull after the fight he’d just had, but he knew with every fiber of his being that he could trust the voices. It was like he was hearing a part of himself. With a sense of fear, he gingerly reached out to the bright, hopeful group of lights.

This time when he made contact, the sensation was completely different. Instead of pain, he just felt warmth. At first, the heat was uncomfortable, like standing too close to a bonfire. However, over time, the sensation abated and Henry heard a new voice, like the previous, hard-edged, precise voice, but with more personality now. “Excellent!” it praised. “We might all be able to survive!”

Henry felt exhausted in mind and spirit. With the new change that had taken place in his consciousness after making contact with the second group of lights, he could sense another group of lights oriented on Tony, lights that were golden and flickered in and out of existence. They whispered quiet, good-natured laughter at him, and he noticed they extended trails of sparks at him, feeding him power.

He could also sense the group of dark, non-lights staying in place. Now he could hear that voice better too. It was saying, “Mission,” over and over again.

He tried to formulate a thought towards the voice in his mind, directing his question to the lights with hard edges. “What now? What about the dark lights?”

“We don’t know,” the voices replied. “We are out of time too. If you remain in this place much longer, you will be lost to us. It was a risk to begin with, one that would not have been possible without the other host’s Dhu cooperating.”

“Wait, what?” Henry began, but the entire world around him began spinning, swirling wildly like he was caught in a universe that was spiraling down a cosmic drain. Once again, his thoughts fractured.

Eternity seemed to pass. When Henry regained his senses again, he was standing in the field on Ludus again in Tony’s memory. The two orbs looked confused, and the darkness that had fallen before was receding as fast as it’d come before.

The dark streamers were still coming out of his back, and he saw them wildly waving around out of the corner of his eyes. Something had them agitated. He turned around to get a better look, and when he saw what was behind him, his eyes narrowed.

Tony fell to his knees, shaking wildly. “Henry, please. Please, we need to get out of this. I can’t do that again. I can’t be in that place.”

The two orbs began opening their mouths, but Henry held up a forestalling hand. His mind was sharp now. In fact, he felt stronger than he ever had in general. “I think we can ask your orb, her name’s Gellab, right? We can ask Gellab and Mr. Neighborhood over here some questions. I’d also like to know what is going on, and more specifically, what the fuck that is,” Henry said, pointing at the giant, enormous shadow standing a few yards behind him.

It seemed to be reaching for the lines of darkness coming from his back, and more worrying, the waving tendrils were all trying to reach the shadow too. Henry didn’t know what it meant, but he had a feeling it wasn’t good.

What it Dhu

The two orbs began to speak, but were interrupted again by the arrival of two more newcomers. One moment they were there, the next, Henry felt a pulling, a tugging, and suddenly a large, shaggy dog made of metal was standing next to him. Aodh’s shoulder was now occupied by a bright yellow, glowing songbird. Tony stared at it in wonder.

The two orbs gaped, and Gellab asked, “How did they get here? This shouldn’t be possible. We are in between time and in a mind space!”

The dog at Henry’s side hissed a chuckle. “We are invited. We have a connection now with the hosts, orb-controller. Check.” Henry felt the talking dog’s voice was oddly familiar.

Mr. Neighborhood, Henry’s orb dropped his smile for a moment while his eyes looked off into the distance. When his focus came back, he was obviously flustered. “Henry, you have a new skill, Orb Communication (Rank X, 5 points). It has no rank, and has a point cost that you never paid for. This should not be possible, that skill doesn’t even exist. This is all highly irregular, neighbor.”

The dog chuckled again. “Something freely given is not needed to be purchased.” With a start, Henry realized what he found familiar about the dog. Underlying the strange, cartoony voice, he could hear the buzz, the chorus of the whispers he’d encountered in the void-place, the ones he’d trusted. Despite the overwhelming weirdness of the entire situation, he felt himself relaxing.

“How did you learn to talk?” demanded Gellab. “Plus, you shouldn’t be here.”

The dog stood on its hind legs, and the glowing bird on Aodh’s shoulder fluttered its wings, tittering. “Connection!” the dog barked in triumph. “Accepted by the host! Wanted!” It fell back onto all four paws again.

“Wait a moment,” Mr. Neighborhood implored. “Everyone is very special, but where did they ever make contact with you? Above where, when did they make contact with you? There have been flickers, but we are between moments in time right now. We are also in Aodh’s land of make-believe.”

Henry mentally groaned at his orb’s obnoxious, half-assed imitation of his childhood hero.

“They came Home, to the Home Place!” the dog yipped, tail wagging. “The firsts! They are firsts of hosts!”

“No, they could not have survived in your world,” argued Gellab. The winged woman shook her head. “If they went there, if you pulled them there, they would have died.”

“Already dying. We not want,” the dog said solemnly. “All attached Dhu help. We make a chance. Other Dhu make things hard,” said the dog, nodding at the shadow thing that was still standing behind them. With a start, Henry realized it’d gotten bigger and closer.

Henry knew he could sometimes be a little slow on the uptake, but his enhanced mental processes helped him understand what was going on. “You’re my Dhu,” he said, pointing at the dog. “You’re Tony’s Dhu,” he said, pointing at the bird on Tony’s shoulder. “And that thing is probably whatever that crazy witch bitch did before Tony and I got hit with the laser thing.” Henry pointed at the roiling shadow creature.

"In general, this is right.” Henry’s orb nodded.

“Okay, fine, but that doesn’t explain what the laser thing was, why we’re here talking to you assholes, or whether we’re dead. I’m tired of interruptions and other fucking nonsense. Talk.” Henry crossed his arms.

Mr. Neighborhood responded, “The weapon that hit you was of ancient design. It used to be lab equipment, but has repurposed as an offensive device. It sends complex organisms to the Dhu World, a place that is like a different dimension. Everything dies there. Everything,” the orb amended, “until you. You must be very special, neighbor. It seems highly unlikely, but my programming makes me objective, and the Dhu do not lie. It is one of their only saving graces. Telling a lie is bad.

“On the other hand, it seems odd that Aodh’s orb and I would suspend time, bringing you both here to plan our next move, but then your Dhu took you to the Dhu World anyway. It was hard enough stopping time, saving your body from the death magic attacking it, and preventing you both from being destroyed in the Dhu world. The attack spell was fighting us the whole time.”

Henry glanced back at the shadow thing, which was even closer now. “So that is gonna kill me, huh?”

The Dhu dog shook its metal head, “After you die, Henry-host, it kills Aodh-otherhost. Must save. Must fight!” The dog showed its teeth in a friendly snarl.

Henry decided to name the dog. He liked dogs. “Okay, Spike, what do I do?”

The dog shook its head. “It is a thing of us. Of Dhu. You know what to do.”

Henry thought back to his time in the Dhu world and realized he might understand. “I gotcha,” he acknowledged.

He began taking a step towards the shadow creature when both orbs cried, “No!” The world began turning grey and Henry’s thoughts seemed to slow. He could feel his mind dulling again, his thoughts slipping away. Fuck this, he mentally snarled. Henry uncoiled his mind the way he had in the Dhu Word and lashed out. It hurt, but when his mind touched the encroaching gray, it shattered and the tableau returned to how it had been before.

“What is going on, please?” asked Henry’s orb. The orb’s impersonated form was still polite and refined, but his eyes had narrowed.

Spike, the Dhu dog, hissed a laugh. “Check your skills, orb-controller!”

Mr. Neighborhood pursed his lips. “Another new skill? Mind Whip (Rank 1, X points)? This skill doesn’t even have a point cost, and Henry got it free again! How are the Dhu even here? This makes no sense.”

“Henry-host bond with new Dhu, baby Dhu.” The metal Dhu dog said seriously, almost reverently.

“How could he even access them?” asked the winged orb in the chainmail bikini. “Blank Dhu are in stasis until we activate them.”

“We help, we save,” replied Spike.

“This is highly irregular. We need to return you Dhu to where you’re supposed to be. I still need to get to the bottom of all this later, but you are not supposed to be out here,” said Gellab. She raised a hand and the gray started to descend again. And once again, Henry uncoiled his mind and slapped the descending dullness away. This time it was harder, though. It felt like getting stung by a bee in the brain. He winced.

“No, stops orb-controller!” pleaded Spike. “No other way for Henry-host. He know how to do what is how. Stop being so boss!” The strange metal creature stamped its front paws into the ground. “Help you we do, talk in host world, break rules.”

The orbs seemed startled. A strange look passed between them and the manifested Dhu. Henry ignored them. He had a job to do. It was obvious at this point that his orb was clueless and he was going to die if he just stood around with his thumb up his spiritual ass. What’s more, it sounded like Tony would also die after he did.

Henry would not allow that, not without a fight.

He warily took a half step to close a bit of the distance with the shadow creature while all the Dhu and orbs were giving each other cloak and dagger looks. The disturbing, unnatural thing was only a few paces away now. It looked vaguely humanoid, but was made of dripping tar, screaming faces, and bubbling darkness.

Henry gingerly reached out with his mind. The closer he stretched towards the shadow thing, the colder he felt inside. Then he made contact.

Darkness.

The world went sideways.

His soul was upside down.

Flash. His fingers clawed out his eyes, trailing viscera down his face.

Flash. He sat in a field with a headless rabbit on his lap.

Flash. He crawled into the open carcass of a large animal.

Flash. He floated in a vat of blood.

Flash. He swallowed glass.

Flash. He sat on a kitten, its bones breaking under his weight.

Henry pushed back hard. It felt like his soul was drowning in garbage quicksand. He was under attack, so he reacted how he always did while being attacked. He fought back.

Flash. He held a human heart in his hand, a chunk missing and a chunk in his mouth.

Henry rallied, defending and counter-attacking. He couldn’t think normally, but fought anyway, creating a return image of a childhood memory. He held a baby bird in his hand, a helpless animal that his elementary school class had saved and nursed back to health.

Flash. He existed in a world of pain, pulling ropy trails of intestines out of his own stomach.

Henry returned an image of himself holding his sister’s hand during the birth of his nephew, being there for her despite their mutual dislike of each other. She was family, and she had needed support. Her boyfriend had left her, but Henry refused to leave his sister to give birth all alone.

Flash. He threw an infant off the top of a tall building, watching it all the way down.

Henry was starting to get angry. He still couldn’t properly form thoughts, but he pushed back even harder with the sound of the first song he could actually remember his mother singing to him.

Flash. He was pouring acid on emaciated, naked people, their weak voices pleading with him, writhing in a pit before their mouths and eyes were filled with chemicals.

Henry was definitely angry now. His counterattack was the memory of his first kiss, exchanged behind the bleachers in high school with Darlene Fletcher.

The back and forth seemed to continue for eternity. Henry was bombarded with increasingly disturbing images, eventually including sounds, smells, and even other sensations. He fought back with increasingly important moments from his life, moments when he was happy to be alive or proud of who he was, of who he’d become. He dredged up moments that made him Henry Sato and flung them at his adversary. The attacks strove to destroy him, so Henry kept rebuilding himself, strengthening himself through memories, weakening his attacker with love and honor.

He could feel that whatever it was, it was getting weaker.

Finally, Henry’s world of pain, torment, and exhaustion cleared. He was hovering in the sky with a confused looking Aodh, both orbs, and the two Dhu animals. The orbs were looking at him strangely, but the Dhu didn’t react at all other than Spike giving a doggy grin, tongue lolling out.

Henry’s orb cleared his throat, and said, “Alrighty, neighbor, you aren’t out of the woods yet, but you have a chance to live now. I’m surprised but very, very happy. Aodh will be safe now. However, we didn’t have many options of where to guide your bodies. Without the Dhu actively helping, you might have even ended up in an ocean. That would have been bad.”

The tall man with the tie and sweater vest waved, and their entire group began floating to the ground. Henry noticed that time seemed to be standing still, evidenced by a leaf on the wind hanging motionless in the air. It was just as well, because he spied a few monsters prowling around the forest they were now in. He knew he should have an opinion about everything that was going on, but he was just too exhausted.

He felt like he might have literally just gotten into a boxing match with hell. Either way, he wouldn’t do it again. Not for anyone or anything, at least not willingly. If he lived, his nightmares were going to have nightmares for the rest of his life. The things Henry had seen would make Freddy piss himself.

Mr. Neighborhood guided the entire group into a cave, the opening set into a cliff before a little clearing. At the rear of the cave, Henry noticed his body next to Tony’s lying on the ground. His body’s cheeks looked sunken, his skin an unhealthy pallor. Even in the frozen moment, he could tell that his physical body was sweating terribly, his eyes scrunched in unconscious pain.

Great, he thought. He forced himself to notice everything, forced himself to think.

“We cannot keep time frozen much longer,” said Mr. Neighborhood. “As it is, we are not actually doing anything other than allowing your consciousness to communicate with us between moments. However, if we maintain this any longer, your brains and spirits will break from the strain. You actually both should be dead many times over. I am not aware of anything like this ever happening before.”

The golden bird on Aodh’s shoulder somehow looked extremely smug.

“We will make a log,” Gellab said. “We must note all the circumstances. Henry’s extra, unassigned Dhu, you and I working together, the Dhu working together, the two men being sent to the Dhu World, the inclusion of death magic that was actually composed of malevolent Dhu, the fact your host is Terran…”

“Yes, of course,” responded Henry’s orb. “Henry, do you need anything else? I would prefer you continue not to die since my existence would end too, but based on the monsters we saw outside, our odds don’t look good. They might have smelled your physical bodies.

“You will not be able to protect yourself for quite a while. I do not know what will happen with you, your sickness, or the death Dhu that are still attacking you.”

“Yeah, well, I’m not dead yet,” growled Henry. He snapped, “Tony! Stop gawking and look alive! You have a job to do, kid. I’m going to tell you exactly what to do right now before we get thrown back into our own bodies!”

Aodh nodded, wide-eyed and terrified. The boy obviously had no clue what was going on, but despite his obvious terror, his gaze met Henry’s and he listened intently. Tony’s a good kid, Henry thought with some pride. I hope we get out of this so I can tell him so in the flesh.

Defensive Posture

Aodh woke up with a start, panicking for a moment when his lungs seemed to have forgotten how to function. Eventually, he coughed and looked around himself in confusion, fumbling in the dim light. When his hand found the rough wall of the cave, everything came rushing back to him.  The orbs, the Dhu, all of it was strange, terrifying, and wondrous. However, his memories of the time before he returned to his body, and Henry’s instructions sobered him immediately.

He had a job to do.

Aodh gulped and felt around in the dim light for Henry. When he found the man’s boot, he put his fingers on his bare ankle. Henry was way too warm, but he was alive. For now. The orbs and Dhu had made it clear that Henry might still die.

Either way, if Aodh didn’t protect their cave, they would both die. He’d seen all the monsters closing in outside. He didn’t have much time.

The former farm boy scurried to the mouth of the cave, following Henry’s directions. As plans went, it wasn’t great, but Aodh agreed it was the best they had. At least, he couldn’t think of anything better. His breathing picked up as he exited the mouth of the cave. There was absolute silence in the woods; the pre-winter air nipped his cheeks as he completed his tasks.

He felt eyes on him, and shivered. He really didn’t have much time. He thought he saw movement in the trees and thought his eyes might be playing tricks on him. He didn’t want to imagine the monsters were already lurking, waiting to surge together in one giant feeding frenzy.

Unfortunately, that was probably exactly what was happening.

Aodh scurried back into the cave, not daring to waste time looking over his shoulder. His eyes had begun adjusting to the dim light, so he had a slightly easier time picking up rocks and stacking them in a pile about fifteen feet into the cave. He worked furiously, but still felt the seconds ticking by. He suddenly panicked as he realized he’d left his staff near Henry’s still body, but ruefully realized it wouldn’t help him much.

The monsters he and Henry had seen in the surrounding forest had been feline, lithe and deadly, sporting long claws, spikes along their spines, and lizard tails. Aodh had heard of them. Called Scaly Spiny Naked Tailed Fierce Cat Demons, or spiny cats for short, they were far more deadly than the horned demon wolves near Mirana.

Aodh gulped. He wasn’t sure he’d even be able to get a hit on one of the monsters, much less fight off a whole pack of them.

The young man got lucky. His impromptu wall was almost complete by the time the cave opening began to teem with stalking, stealthy monsters. Aodh suppressed a yelp and darted back into the rear of the cave, dragging Henry with him. He really wasn’t sure what would happen next, and he wanted to get himself and his employer as far away as possible.

After a few more moments, when Aodh thought the cautious monsters were a few feet further into the cave, Aodh held his pointer finger with one hand and concentrated. He used bloodfire magic to light a scrap of paper on top of the wall he’d built. The sudden flash of light in the dim cave made him gasp in fright; the monsters were already to the wall! He couldn’t count how many there were; they were so densely packed.

The felinoid creatures’ slitted eyes dilated and the monsters recoiled, pressing tightly together near the mouth of the cave. Aodh realized he wouldn’t get a better chance for the next phase of Henry’s crazy plan. He grasped his pointer finger again and concentrated. The bronze grenade he’d placed at the mouth of the cave detonated with a muffled whumpf, the shock wave washing against the bodies of the monsters clustered around it.

The spiny cats that weren’t immediately killed were slammed against the cave walls - some were even thrown against Aodh’s hastily constructed wall of rocks. Aodh quickly prepared himself to use one of the last two remaining grenades he’d had on him and managed to place, but what happened next was beyond any outcome he’d imagined.

The teen gulped and watched in sick fascination as the closest monster, sprawled over the rock wall, glared at him over its twisted, broken front leg. The creature hissed and showed its fangs as it began moving forward, dripping blood from multiple places. Aodh began the mental trigger for the next grenade, but halted when the monster’s eyes flew open in shock, howling in fear and rage.

Aodh eyes tracked up and saw another monster on top of the injured spiny cat, its claws and jaws ripping into the injured creature. He watched in sick fascination as the entire cave entrance turned into a massive melee of flashing fangs and claws. The tiny bloodfire flame at the top of the impromptu wall provided just enough illumination to see a handful of uninjured creatures overcome their damaged brethren before dragging them out of the cave.

Some of the feasting began before the weakened monsters were dead. Aodh felt sick and wanted to turn away. The sounds were horrible, but he stayed resolute and watched. He wasn’t brave, but he knew what it looked like. The young man tried to imagine what Henry or Jason would do. He wasn’t brave, but maybe he could pretend he was enough to save his life and Henry’s.

Eventually, the last of the monsters and broken bodies were out of the cave. The sounds coming from outside were truly horrible. Aodh hoped the grenade had done its job and the creatures would think twice about coming inside the cave again.

He carefully watched the entrance of the cave, but given some respite, he began to fish around in his little pack. He had some extra bloodfire papers – the sort he usually kept in a pocket - some basic adventuring gear, the new gear he’d gotten in Pilk before the huge battle with the undead monsters, a fire making tool and a light tool. The magic torch ran on magic stones and he couldn’t waste it.

Aodh checked what other gear he had that might help, and hissed in frustration. He had had plenty of useful items in his real pack, but that was back in the Battlewagon. All he had left in his little satchel was an extra shirt and some rags. He also had his staff that he’d retrieved, and of course the dagger he’d found.

Thinking of the dagger, he drew it from the sheath at the rear of his belt and examined it in the dim light. He’d always wondered about finding it, and his orb telling him that she’d made it possible for him to find the blade rung true. Aodh’s cheeks colored as he remembered the beautiful woman’s skimpy outfit and he shook his head to dispel Henry’s amusement. He had more pressing things to worry about.

The young man re-sheathed his dagger and stared once more at the mouth of the cave. He’d already placed a number of bloodfire papers around his little wall, and he would be able to light them one at a time, barely casting enough light to see by.

Sitting on a handy, natural rock shelf in the cave, Aodh leaned on his staff and settled in to watch over the feverish Henry. The teen knew he was no hero, but he would guard his injured friend and sell his life dearly if it came to it. He refused to let down the quirky man who’d been the first to really believe in him other than the late George...even if the powerful ‘Bonded did call him, ‘Tony’.

Tony. Aodh really didn’t like that name.

***

Aodh wasn’t sure how much time had passed. The horrible noises and the snarling that followed from outside the cave had stopped long ago. He was pretty sure almost a day had passed, but he was so tired he wasn’t entirely sure. He vaguely remembered that he hadn’t had to light any blood fire paper when it had gotten brighter outside at one point, which had been lucky.

He was running out of light.

His last option would be using the magic light torch he had in his pack, but he really didn’t want to waste power. The tool’s magic stone wouldn’t last forever, and Aodh didn’t have any extras.

As he watched, despite his sleep-addled brain, he began to feel hunted. He tried to remember what he’d heard of spiny cat monsters. They were vicious, vindictive, smart, and patient. With a sinking feeling, Aodh realized the remaining, living monsters were probably wary of his tricks and were waiting him out.

He and Henry both had water bottles, but only Henry’s had anything in it, and Aodh had been dribbling water into the other man’s mouth. The unconscious man felt like he was burning up, and strange tendrils, lines of darkness, extended from his throat. They were spreading.

Aodh tried desperately to decide what to do. He needed some sort of security so he could focus on Henry. He needed some water too, but there was no way he could leave the dubious protection of the cave. Most of all, he needed to act on the next phase of Henry’s plan. He needed to eliminate more of the spiny cat monsters.

The young man did his best to consider his next course of action. It wasn’t easy to think straight. He was tired, so very, very tired. Aodh glanced around the cave that had become both his refuge and his prison once more.

Night had fallen outside the cave, and his eyes had adjusted to the deeper shadows some time ago. He knew every rock, every crevice between himself and the mouth of the cave at this point. He knew the cave extended behind him, but he didn’t dare explore. The spiny cats could take advantage of his distraction. He had no doubt they were watching him.

Aodh just had to hope that nothing nasty lived deeper in the cave, or at least nothing that was curious enough to pay them a visit.

Either way, he had to deal with more of the spiny cats before he blew the entrance of the cave. That had been the last step of Henry’s plan. However, Aodh agreed that he had to eliminate more of the beasts before he did that or they would just dig them out.

He sat and pondered the problem until finally, his sleep-deprived brain happened upon a plan. He was so used to thinking he wasn’t a real orb-Bonded that he had partially forgotten his strange, dream-like journey among the orb controllers and Dhu with Henry. Now Aodh knew for sure he was ‘Bonded, and he knew what he could do.

The young man slowly stood, his mind made up on his next course of action. He knew he should be terrified but he was just too tired. His plan relied heavily on the use of his newfound power and he hoped it would work.

Slowly at first, but quickly gathering speed and volume, Aodh beat on the wall of the cave with his staff and began screaming. At first, he shouted nonsense, but his frustration and fatigue began adding words to his noise. “Come eat me!” he shouted. “I’m here, you stupid monsters! I’m a new adventurer! What are you afraid of? Cowardly cats!”

At first, nothing happened. Aodh grew more frustrated and just shouted louder. He also began wishing that all his commotion would anger the monsters outside the cave. As he pushed effort into hoping, he began to feel a curious sensation he’d never noticed before, almost like a pulling…tension straight into the sky, like some of his weight was being lifted. The sensation was unlike anything he’d ever felt before.

A few moments later, he could only conclude that his power had worked as several lean, feline shapes charged into the cave, teeth bared and eyes wide.

The monsters were fast.

Aodh screamed and dove to the ground, triggering his second to last grenade. The weapon had been buried towards the top of the rock wall he’d assembled, and the explosion threw jagged bits of stone everywhere. The monsters nearest the explosion were riddled with wounds and crumpled to a heap. The lit bloodfire paper’s light was snuffed out by the violence of the grenade’s reaction. Aodh felt the ground begin to tremble before he felt a sharp pain above his eye. His face met the ground and the world went dark.

***

At first, Aodh wasn’t sure whether he was asleep or awake. Absolute darkness greeted his vision. He even closed his eyes and opened them a few times, the lack of any difference between the two was eerie.

The young man lay on the ground for a while, wondering what happened. He thought he might still be alive, but after the journey he’d been on earlier with Henry, he wasn’t making any assumptions. With a sigh, he levered himself up from the stony ground, his back aching from where he’d been lying on rocks. Actually, his whole body hurt, and as he ran his hands over his face, he felt dried blood.

Blood. It smelled like a slaughterhouse. Once he realized how strong the smell was, he began taking shallow breaths, slowly and methodically looking for the magic torch, or ‘flashlight’ as Henry called it.

Eventually, he felt the metal tube and when he clicked it on, his blood ran cold. A dead spiny cat lay only a body length away, its eyes glazed in death, a hole punched through its skull. Aodh shined the light around and could barely remember to breathe.

The cave’s entrance didn’t exist anymore. Aodh had never activated his last grenade, but somehow the second caused a cave in. Most of the monsters had been crushed and were covered by rubble, but four more spiny cats had almost escaped.

Two had been pinned close enough together that they’d begun fighting each other. Both lay dead now. Another had been pinned up to the shoulders and slowly crushed to death. The last had had its legs pinned by a huge rock. The claw marks all over the ground bore grim testament to its drive to get free, and probably get to Aodh and Henry as well. The creature had even chewed one of its own legs off, and had been partially through the second before it succumbed to its injuries, bleeding out. In death, its fierce, hateful eyes glared menacingly at Aodh.

The young man swallowed.

He gently reached out with his senses to feel where his last grenade was, and was mildly surprised by how close it was in all the rubble. Aodh shook his head and examined the aftermath of the cave-in more closely, absently rubbing at the knot on his forehead.

Eventually, he figured out what had happened to him. A piece of stone from the explosion or the cave-in had been speeding towards his head, but had impacted a spiny cat first, punching through both sides of its skull and slowing down before it hit Aodh in the head.

The young man felt a chill. If the monster had not been killed, or the stone had not hit something first before hitting him, he would have been as dead as a hare on feast day. He wasn’t sure if it was appropriate, but he offered silent thanks to his orb. So many coincidences had taken place, leading to his survival, he thought his orb might have been involved.

Slowly, Aodh scooted over to Henry and checked on the man’s condition. The black tendrils had been pushed to a spot right above Henry’s collarbone, barely visible over the man’s armor and collarbone.

As the youth watched, eyes wide, the dark blot began moving. It disappeared under Henry’s armor and Aodh wondered if his eyes had been playing tricks on him. He continued shining his light on Henry, holding his breath. What is going on?

He got a start as the blot slowly became visible again, traveling down Henry’s arm. Aodh also began to hear whispers, seemingly sensed more than heard. “Knife, knife, knife,” they chanted.

Before Aodh had been to the Dhu World with Henry, the entire experience would have frightened him to death or, at the very least, made him question his sanity. Now, it merely scared him so badly he shook. He watched the black dot move until it was on top of Henry’s forearm, where it eventually came to rest.

“Knife, knife, knife…” Aodh felt. The words felt like they were resonating with the beat of his heart. Almost in a trance, the young man drew his horse head, wavy-bladed dagger. The weapon had been fixed up by Henry, Aodh’s friend. It was fitting that he would try to help save him with it.

Aodh remembered how his father had cared for the animals on the farm. Vitaliya had shown him how to lance a boil. Sometimes a wound has to be punctured to let out whatever was inside. He now understood what he had to do.

Slowly, but with determination, Aodh lowered his blade until the point touched the dark mark on Henry’s skin. The mark seemed to pulse, and he could almost imagine that it was trying to escape to attack the rest of Henry’s body again. There was no way to be sure, but his gut was telling him he didn’t have much time to act.

Aodh took a deep breath. He was not brave; he couldn’t be like Henry, or Jason, or Mareen, or Uluula, or even Bezzi-ibbi, his junior. He was scared and nervous, but he couldn’t back away. It turned his stomach to cut his friend, but he knew he didn’t have a choice, at least not if he wanted Henry to live.

The whispers terrified him, but they also calmed him. It felt like he was being embraced. His thoughts suddenly flashed to the yellow, glowing songbird that had been in the between-dream. He could almost feel its dainty little feet on his shoulder.

Aodh exhaled and pushed the point of the dagger into Henry’s skin. There was a lot of resistance at first. The new adventurer was reminded that Henry had a ‘Bonded ability that made him tougher than an average Terran. He gritted his teeth and pushed harder. It might have been his imagination, but the dark spot seemed to push back.

Aodh kept pushing, the entire experience making him feel sick to his stomach, when finally he breached Henry’s skin. The effect was immediate. Darkness from Henry’s arm climbed up the bronze dagger in an instant, touching Aodh’s skin and ascending up his arm.

The youth screamed. It felt like his entire arm had been plunged into an icy river. He was scared, falling back and dropping the magic torch, its light going out as it switched off. Aodh landed on the ground of the cave; his lungs felt too small. He was having difficulty breathing, but before he lost consciousness again, he felt an odd sense of comfort. The feeling of a bird’s feet on his chest even made him smile a bit before passing out.

Choices and Cheating

Henry stood with his arms resting on the metal railing, staring at the water below. The concrete structure of the Grand Coulee Dam squatted before him, a mute testimony to clever engineering punctuated by tons of concrete.

“Hey, neighbor, nice to see you again.” Henry didn’t even turn his head. He’d been expecting the voice.

“You know, I really wish you didn’t look like my childhood hero. I keep expecting you to talk about a trolley heading to the neighborhood of make-believe.”

“I took this form because it is most—”

“Yeah, whatever. We both know it’s bullshit because every time I see you, it pisses me off. Like, why the fuck did Tony get a hot alien bikini babe?” Henry sighed. “Whatever, anyway, thank you for helping to save my life. I’m assuming I’m not going to die now and this is why we’re talking.” Henry finally turned.

His orb’s controller stood a few feet away, looking dapper in his long-sleeved sweater, slacks and tie. Henry shook his head and said, “So was I right? Am I going to live?”

Mr. Neighborhood smiled and nodded. “You know, everyone is special, but you’re the most special of all, Henry. I’m glad we get to spend some more time together.”

Henry rolled his eyes and said, “Yeah, hugs, kisses, brofist, whatever. Just tell me what happens now.”

“Well, something entirely unexpected has happened. Also, when you wake up, you should thank your young friend Aodh. He is a very brave man and without him, you could have died several different ways.”

“I’ll keep that in mind. Now can you please get to the point?”

“Impatient as ever.” The orb controller sighed, appearing very human despite his inhuman nature. Henry hated when it did that. Mr. Neighborhood continued, “Something unexpected has happened. In fact, I have no records of anything similar ever happening before.”

“And…?”

“The death magic attack on you actually contained Dhu. It was not a regular magical ability, but one that Liangyu must have chanced upon as a last-ditch defense during her long life. At least this is my best guess.”

“Wait, you know about that crazy bitch?”

“I have a file on her, Henry. Also, you should watch your language, young man.” Mr. Neighborhood sniffed. “I have a file on every notable ‘Bonded on Ludus, and it will be updated in a year if you happen to live that long. And no, I can’t share any of the information with you. Anyway, somehow, you’ve cheated.”

“What?”

“I’m appearing to you now because you are ready to advance to Rank 3. You have your full 13 points to spend on your advancement. However, you have somehow picked up Darkness school magic too...for free.”

Henry gestured in a circle and urged, “First off, free my ass. Also, I know there is more to it than that. Keep talking, bub.”

The orb controller held out a hand and the concrete at his feet rose into the form of a chair. He sat and crossed his legs. “This situation is entirely unprecedented. It was probably a combination of your abnormally close relationship with your Dhu, Aodh’s involvement, and perhaps even the fact you were carrying extra spirit stones in your body. With most orb types, advancement is instant. Having extra, neutral Dhu already attached to you is not normal for most orb-Bonded.

“When the death magic hit you, your Dhu worked to protect you. With all the other help you got, you managed to survive, but some darkness Dhu decided to stay attached to you and are attempting to bond.”

“Wait, what? You said that crazy witch bitch spit death magic at me. Why do I have darkness magic now, not death?”

Mr. Neighborhood shrugged. “As you now know via your own research and Jason’s, there are ways to combine magic schools. I can tell you have not been studying all the different combinations, though. Death is a combination of darkness and time magic. It’s rare for a magical working to separate, but it does happen. I was not aware the Dhu themselves could separate, though.

“So while you have Darkness school magic now, it is still not properly attuned to you… and it is unintentionally killing you. Your metal magic is more or less completely engaged in keeping you sane and alive while the transformation happens. This means that you will not have access to your metal magic for some time.”

“That’s not good news,” Henry said, thinking furiously. His orb was in an unusually helpful mood. Well, he amended the infuriating thing was always helpful, but wasn’t always all that useful. Henry needed to find the right questions to ask. “What about my earth magic?”

“You should still have access to your earth magic, but as you know, you’ve specialized in metal magic.”

“Yeah, this is really fucking inconvenient, especially since as soon as I wake up, I’ll probably be first on the monster menu. What about the darkness magic? Do I have access to it?”

“Well...yes,” Mr. Neighborhood said hesitantly. “However, it might be a bit unreliable, and since you acquired the power in such a strange way, its power is not where it will be eventually. Plus, unlike when you attain new magic the standard way, you will have no list of abilities you can perform with it.”

“So I’m on my own, huh? Why can’t you just give me the list?”

“I do not have access to this information until it’s needed, and since I had nothing to do with your new power, nothing was unlocked. I would like you to keep living. I would help if I could.”

Henry tapped a finger against his lip in thought. He started thinking out loud, “I was going to branch out into a new magic school, anyway. Magic seems to be much more flexible than physical powers.”

“That is a fair assessment,” said Mr. Neighborhood.

“I was actually really thinking about Water school or Life school like Mareen so I could unlock nature magic or metal animation. I remember those and they sound cool as hell. But if I already have darkness and I don’t know how to use it...what if I leveled up with Light school magic? It comes with Darkness, right? If I do that, what will happen?”

The orb controller paused and thought for a while. Then he exhaled loudly and said, “Henry Sato, you don’t make my job easy. I’m glad we’re neighbors, but I can’t answer your question very well. I am somewhat sure you will be much stronger in darkness magic than normal, perhaps even close to two ranks of focus, plus the more powerful Light school. You will know some Light school abilities, but Dark school may still be alien to you. I’m afraid I might encounter a glitch in my programming.”

Henry grimly chuckled. He wasn’t a huge nerd like Jason, but he still understood the concept of min-maxing. He had also always been good at solving puzzles. He knew he was onto something. “Okay, what is the combination of light magic, darkness magic, and metal magic?”

“Light metal and dark metal.”

“Oh, that sounds fucking cool! I don’t figure you can tell me what that actually means?”

Mr. Neighborhood shook his head. “You know I cannot. It could be considered swaying your choice.”

Henry grumbled, “That’s a stupid rule.” He patted his leg before asking, “I know I need a shit ton of power and control to mix magics together. If I picked up Light school magic, and another rank of magic power, and a rank in light magic control, would I be able to use light metal and dark metal?”

The tall man in the sweater vest looked up for moment before meeting Henry’s eyes again. His face was devoid of any emotion. “Henry, neighbor, I have to admit I am at odds with myself. On the one hand, I’m pleased that you could have some unprecedented opportunities, and I have a vested interest in your success and survival. On the other hand, your circumstances are highly irregular and...unfair.

“Third rank is when most orb-Bonded become truly powerful, true, but the potential power you could have at third rank is a little over the top.”

“Yeah, whatever,” Henry growled. “I can’t really give a fuck less about fairness when my life is in danger on such a regular basis, and my wife and my friends’ lives. Plus, I’m guessing my metal magic being tied up is going to screw everything up.”

“Yes. Until your darkness magic is fully integrated and your metal magic can be used again, you will have limitations. Some of your other magical abilities might be affected too.”

“Like what?”

“I don’t know. This is all highly irregular.”

Henry thought a moment longer and asked a few more specific questions about how many points all his possible upgrades would cost. Finally, he made his choice. “Okay, Mr. Neighborhood,” he said. “I’ve made my decision. For my third rank, I’m going to use all 13 points I have. Let’s go with Light Magic (5 points), Magic Control (Light Rank 1, 2 points), Magic Control (Metal Rank 2, 3 points), and Magic Power (Rank 3, 3 points). I'm buying only magic upgrades for this level up.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes.” Henry nodded.

“Alright, neighbor. I’ll work on it. Go to sleep now.” Henry’s world darkened, and the EMT-turned-adventurer dreamed of the Dhu World.

***

Henry awoke to stale, dusty air and absolute darkness. He slowly moved his arm and verified he literally couldn’t see his hand in front of his face. His head hurt like hell, and his body was sore. A spot on his arm burned like fire, but he was alive, dammit!

Henry lay on the rough ground of the cave, his armor protecting his back from the worst of the jagged rocks and he ran through his mental list of new powers. He had new magic! However, as he mentally went through all his new abilities, he realized he only had light magic, not darkness. Mr. Neighborhood had been right. Oh well. I’ll figure it out.

When he reached out for his metal magic, he could feel it, but it almost felt like it was behind a wall. He got the very clear impression that actually drawing on it would be Very Bad, in capital letters. He mentally shrugged. He'd known about it before waking up, at least it wasn’t a surprise. He would just have to improvise. Not having access to his metal magic was going to fucking suck, especially after sinking more points into metal magic control, but at least he had three other types of magic now to draw on - earth, light, and darkness. Plus, choosing Light school magic was going to free up his metal magic faster.

All in all, everything had turned out pretty well. Now he just needed to survive to enjoy the full benefits of his new level up in the future.

With a soft groan, Henry sat up. He felt like shit, but he knew he was probably in great shape for a dude who should really be dead. Sitting in the dark, Henry ran through his basic list of light magic abilities again. After already learning to use earth and metal, figuring out a new school was already proving to be easier. He reached down and fumbled around a little bit before finding a loose stone, then using a combination of light magic and a bit of earth, he made the rock glow. Using earth magic allowed him to keep the rock glowing for a long time instead of pumping magic into it nonstop.

With the new illumination, Henry took in Tony on the ground, the cave in, the monster bodies, and all the obvious violence with a muffled curse. He felt around his waist for a weapon, but realized the only weapon he really had was the pocket knife on his ankle. Not being able to form steel weapons at will was going to take some getting used to. He warily watched the monsters, ensuring they were corpses and not tricky bitches that might come back to life.

He thought about how he really needed to learn how to actually hit something while throwing rocks. Standing in the cave, he felt almost naked without his metal magic.

His arm still burned. There was a black, jagged, ugly scar on the top of his forearm. Well, that’s new, he thought. There were definitely some mysteries he needed to unravel, but the first order of business was to make a weapon.

Henry knelt down to the ground and put his hand to the stone. Then as he had months ago in a prison cell with Jason, he fashioned a spiked weapon from a solid piece of rock. Unlike the crude thing he’d created for Jason, his new makeshift weapon was actually serviceable as a long knife. It still wasn’t great, but it was better than nothing.

He tucked the stone knife into his belt and bent down to wake up Tony. The kid obviously had one hell of a story to tell, and Henry had some heartfelt thanks to give.

Henry decided that just a raise definitely wouldn’t be enough for Tony. He had to do something else for the young man, like build him a small tank or something. Maybe an especially big bomb? Henry began planning new war machines he could build as he gently shook Aodh awake.

***

Aodh stood awkwardly as Henry stared off into space, muttering to himself. Aodh had been awake for a while and Henry had even dug Aodh’s last grenade out of the rubble at the mouth of the cave. The explosive weapon hung from his belt now, and Aodh’s life was so crazy now that it didn’t even worry him that much.

He shook his head and wondered if he would ever be anything like Henry. Did the Asian man ever feel like a fake adventurer? Aodh doubted it. In fact, he wondered if Henry even considered himself an adventurer. The man had already fashioned a crude weapon out of stone and just standing there, he looked more dangerous than the dead monsters partially buried in rubble. The thought was profound to Aodh, that his employer looked more deadly just loafing around than purpose-built killing machines that most people lived in fear of.

Henry had said that he had to review his new magic before they set out, whatever that meant. He’d probably gotten even more powerful. Aodh had felt embarrassed when the man had thanked him for saving both of their lives. The fact that he’d been sincere made it even more embarrassing. Aodh hadn’t done anything heroic. He’d just been trying to stay alive. Anyone would have done what he did.

Eventually, Henry’s eyes focused again and he nodded. “Okay, Tony. I’m not at my best, but I think we have some options available now if we run into trouble. We need to get the hell out of here, though. Based on what you heard and saw these cocksuckers,” he said, pointing at the dead monsters, “are cannibals. Killing these things might have just attracted more of them, and I really don’t want to be tangling with a bunch of freaky, pissed off cat-lizard things right now. What did you say they were called?”

“What, you mean the spiny cats? They’re Spiny Naked Tailed Fierce Cat De—”

“Okay, never mind. Forget I asked.”

“But that’s what they’re called. You said you wanted to know the names and—”

“It’s fine, don’t worry about it,” said Henry.

Aodh hated when the man did that, ask a question then get frustrated with the answer. It was one of Henry’s most irritating habits, but the young man held his tongue. Instead, he asked, “What now?”

“Now we head deeper into this cave and hope we can find water and a way out. I could dig us out of the front of the cave, but it’d probably be suicide. We need to move our asses and cause another cave in on the way too or these freaky things will be on our tail.”

“I understand. What should I do?”

“Take this; the light will last for about a day. This way you don’t need to use your flashlight,” Henry said and handed Aodh a new glow stone. “Also, play with your magic while we walk. We could probably use a bit of luck right now.”

Aodh silently agreed and began following Henry deeper into the cave. After only a few minutes, it became obvious that they were heading into a vast subterranean system. True to his word, Henry collapsed the tunnel behind them. The sound was so loud it made Aodh’s bones jostle. He sincerely hoped they were alone in the cave system. If not, something had to have heard that.

Unfortunately, a few minutes later, his predication proved accurate. He and Henry were walking, carefully placing their feet to avoid twisting an ankle, their glow stones providing just enough illumination to do so. Suddenly, Henry held out a hand to signal a stop and put his finger to his lips. He cocked his head, obviously listening, and Aodh suddenly remembered that Henry had enhanced sense.

After a few seconds, Henry hissed and wrapped his glow stone in a rag before shoving it into his pocket. He shuffled over to Aodh and whispered, “Stow your light the way I just did. Hurry!”

“What’s going on?” Aodh whispered back.

Henry’s voice was quiet but grim. “Some assholes I’ve run into before. I recognize the language and the voices. Goblins.”

Aodh hastily put away his light. Spindly cave demons, or goblins, could be very, very dangerous! Now he understood Henry’s reaction. However, as the cave was plunged into darkness again, Aodh wondered if his employer actually had a plan or not.

Goblins, Redux

Henry exerted a tiny bit of magic and his eyes adjusted to the darkness. Normal night vision didn’t work if there was no light at all, but he’d figured out how to use darkness magic abilities to reverse light-based night vision. He decided to call it darksight. The best part about it was it wouldn’t impede his normal vision, so a flash of light wouldn’t blind him like if he’d been using standard low-light vision.

Tony clung to Henry’s clothing from behind, the young adventurer had refused to be left behind. Henry had needed to admit the young man had had a point. All by himself and especially without any light, the kid would have been all but helpless. With Henry, at least he’d be close by and could even help if necessary. If at all possible, Henry planned to act by himself, though. The odds of sneaking by the goblins ahead weren’t great. Henry would probably have to destroy them.

The tunnel they were in was not very wide, and even Aodh could probably hear the goblins ahead of them now. With his enhanced vision, Henry was starting to notice telltale signs of long-term inhabitation.

He really, really hated goblins. When he’d encountered them before, he’d thought the cave just reeked, now that he was in another goblin cave, he realized it was just how the little bastards smelled.

Henry mentally went through his list of new abilities as he walked. He hadn’t realized how heavily he’d been leaning on his metal magic, but he felt naked without it. The fact the only weapon he had was his stone knife didn’t help. If he made something bigger it would be too brittle and not very useful. He briefly thought about adding more material to the stone to make it denser, but he wasn’t sure if it’d work and he wasn’t willing to bet his life on it. The knife would have to be good enough.

Still, Henry had to admit he was in a hell of a better position than he had been when fighting the goblins during his first day on Ludus. Now he was wearing armor, he had magic, he wasn’t armed with sharpened sticks, and more importantly, he had precious experience. He wasn’t just a freaked out dude on an alien planet, he was a professional monster hunter now.

Henry smiled as he rounded a bend, moving slowly. However, his face fell and he muttered a quick, “Oh fuck.” The tunnel moved on fairly straight ahead, and about fifty yards away, a group of nearly a dozen goblins were slowly approaching. A few of the creatures held poles with glowing fungus on the ends, too dim for a human to see by very well, but apparently enough for the vicious creatures. The goblin at the front of the procession held a small candle.

Light from the candle danced along the walls, casting weird shadows in its tiny pool of light. The yellow flame contrasted weirdly with the off-green glowing lichen. None of the light sources extended very far, but they were enough to give a more sinister appearance to the small stalactites on the ceiling.

Henry briefly wondered why the creatures weren’t carrying torches, but soon realized that the materials to make them might be rare in the caves. Plus, there might be limits to oxygen. He wasn’t sure.

While these goblins were cousins to the ones he’d run into before, they were obviously not the same. For one, these ones were more muscular. Most of them also wore armor and real clothes, too. They also had better weapons and seemed overall less primitive. Henry had caught glimpses of bronze blades and spear tips. Perhaps worse of all, the creatures were talking softly, but were obviously alert. They’d probably heard some of the racket Henry had made further up the cave system.

Henry gently pushed Tony back and retreated around the corner. That is a lot of goblins, he thought. He rubbed his thumb across the handle of his stone knife while thinking. Time was definitely limited to come up with a plan, but he was pretty sure the goblins hadn’t seen him. They had also been moving slowly enough he had a few minutes to consider his options before acting.

He briefly remembered Jason’s moral issue with killing the first goblin when they’d arrived on Ludus. It felt like a lifetime ago. Henry shook his head and narrowed his eyes. It wasn’t like him to trip down memory lane, but he knew why the memory had surfaced. If he attacked these creatures, he’d basically be killing them in their home without provocation.

Then again, he was about 99.9% sure that if he just walked up to them and said hello, they wouldn’t be friendly. They’d probably be happy to eat him. It was either them or him. He mentally shrugged his shoulders and planned some creative murder.

He was holding a decent amount of strength from the earth, and he was much tougher than an average human, but he didn’t have his metal skin armor. His bronze breastplate was better than nothing, but he wasn’t willing to fight nearly a dozen scrappy fighters in close quarters without cheating like crazy. He wished he had a machine gun.

The thought gave him an idea.

He looked at his idea from multiple angles as he retreated back the way he’d come, pulling Tony along with him. Henry knew he had shitty control with earth magic, but also had loads of power now. Also, he had terrible aim with chucking rocks, but he was effectively in a tunnel. He could probably kill the goblins, but most of them were wearing armor. In order to really mow them down, his attack would have to use a lot of power and probably be hypersonic.

It was going to make a lot of noise. Noise attracted attention.

So what he needed was a way to hide. Henry quickly put his hand to the wall and concentrated before releasing some magic. He hummed in appreciation when the rock wall seemed to bend inwards, reacting to his will. Yes, he could carve a room out of the cave wall. It wasn’t something he would probably have been able to do before his last level up, but now he practically felt like he was brimming with raw power.

Henry held out a hand and exerted more magic, the effort creating a tightness in his gut. With less noise than he would have thought possible, barely enough to hear over the distant muttering of the goblins, the depression bowed out level with the rest of the wall again. With another minor flex of magic, Henry made the portion of wall look the same as on either side of it, blending in like it’d never been modified.

He glanced at Tony, the young man seemed scared but resolute, glancing around in the dark and looking nervously in the direction of the goblins. The boy didn’t say anything, didn’t make any noise, and didn’t move. Kid’s got spine, Henry thought approvingly. He patted Tony on the shoulder, and the young man was startled at first, but then silently nodded. Tony seemed to understand that Henry was trying to reassure him.

Henry knew he had a choice now. He could probably craft a room, get inside, close it off with Tony, and wait for the goblin patrol to pass by. Then he could either leave behind them, or wait for the patrol to eventually go back to where they’d come from.

However, neither of those options was all that attractive. One option left enemies behind them, and the other just meant they’d have more enemies ahead of them. Plus, they needed food and water, and Henry needed weapons.

A preemptive strike seemed to be the only logical course of action. Henry mentally sighed. He really didn’t like killing, didn’t like violence, but sometimes there was no other good choice.

He pulled Tony back again and began picking up fairly large stones to cradle in one arm. After heading back another few yards, he whispered in Tony’s ear, “I’m going to put them down, but I need your help to kill them all. After I yell ‘light,’ throw your glow stone forward and help me deal with them.”

“What you mean?” Aodh’s whisper was full of stress. Henry figured the increasingly loud goblin muttering was part of it. “Deal with them?”

“You’ll understand, trust me.” Henry tried smiling but let it drop when he realized that Tony couldn’t see him in the dark. The Asian adventurer shrugged and used a bit of magic to modify each stone. He added a small hollow in the center of each that would cause them to crumble into bullet-sized fragments as soon as enough force was exerted on them. The process was pretty easy and only took a moment to get each stone ready. Henry was ready to go in plenty of time. “Hug the wall and get low,” he whispered.

He and Aodh hunkered down and didn’t have to wait long. In another couple minutes, he could see the light from the goblins’ candle and glowing fungus coming around the bend in the tunnel. Henry smiled grimly, his adrenaline spiking, wondering if he might die. If he did, he hoped Mareen could find happiness. He shook his head and dispelled images of his beautiful wife from his mind. Instead, he intentionally suppressed his adrenaline as best he could and let his thoughts grow cold. There was killing to do, and it was best done without emotion.

Just like taking out the garbage.

The goblins rounded the bend ahead and Henry waited. He needed all of them to be fully in the tunnel ahead before he acted. He tried to stay completely still against the wall and hoped the creatures wouldn’t spot him. He didn’t know how good their vision was. Without his own vision enhancements, Henry might have seen some points of light ahead, but not much else. In fact, that was probably all Aodh was currently seeing.

The last of the procession of goblins was almost in the tunnel and Henry tensed to move. It looked like there was a straggler hanging back, though. He figured it would only be a few more second before he could get all of them at once. Narrowing his eyes, he clutched a stone in a white knuckled grip.

Aodh sneezed.

Henry wasn’t sure who was more surprised, him or the goblins, but he was the first to act. He jumped up and threw his first stone, dumping a significant amount of earth magic into immediately accelerating the projectile. The shockwave from the magic hitting the stones broke them into bits, rocketing the projectiles down the tunnel at hypersonic speeds. The sharp whip-crack of the sonic booms cracked down the tunnel in each direction, echoing with violence.

As usual, Henry’s aim was terrible, but this time it didn’t matter. He threw one projectile after another, and when he missed, the stones just ricocheted off the walls, in some cases breaking apart other bits of rock or demolishing stalactites, adding to the sheer volume of deadly missiles pelting the goblins. One after another the creatures went down. A few managed to take a handful of steps forward, their armor blocking some of Henry’s attacks, but eventually they fell too.

Henry quietly cursed. He was pretty sure that at least one of the creatures had gotten away. Either way, they still had a job to do. He had to make sure all the goblins were dead. “Light!” he hollered.

Tony threw his glow stone forward and turned on his magic flashlight, too. The boy ran forward behind Henry. “I’m sorry!” the young adventurer panted. “It just kind of came out!”

“Don’t worry about it, kid,” Henry snarled. “Just don’t do it again. I won’t kick your ass unless you make the same mistake twice.” Henry punctuated his last sentence by savagely stabbing a downed goblin in the throat with his stone knife. The creature’s mangled body wouldn’t even support its weight, but the armored warrior still glared daggers at Henry as it died. Henry’s heart just grew colder. Just taking out the trash. He heard a sharp whacking sound from behind him as Aodh brought his bronze-shod staff down on the goblin’s head. The kid had experience at this sort of thing now.

Henry quickly stowed his stone knife and picked up a goblin’s bronze sword, ensuring the creatures on the ground were all dead. He absently noted they were all male again. Unlike humans and the other races on Ludus, goblins seemed to have a male-centric warrior caste, at least Henry assumed so.

He could hear a goblin screaming in the distance and softly cursed. One had gotten away and would be going for reinforcements. Henry was distracted as he thought about the escaped goblin, and it almost cost him his life.

One of the last goblins, a big, scarred, mean looking bastard jumped up, swinging a sword. He must have been playing possum from the start, the creature didn’t have a scratch on his body. Henry hissed, caught completely off guard. He managed to block the goblin’s sword swing, but the scrappy warrior managed to slam the dagger in its other hand into Henry’s stomach, right underneath the bottom of his bronze armor.

Henry felt numb at first, then heat and cold at once. He didn’t feel pain right away, but he could feel things cutting and tearing when the goblin yanked the dagger out of his gut and jumped back. “Henry!” Tony screamed.

Henry gritted his teeth and narrowed his eyes. Pain was starting to set in. He was tough, but fighting would be a bad idea. He really didn’t want his guts to fall out from moving too fast. His healing ability had limits, and he didn’t want to test them again. When a horned demon wolf had munched on his leg, it’d been bad enough.

How in the fuck did that thing gig me so bad? Henry thought. The goblin grinned, displaying sharp teeth. It barked something in its guttural language and waved its dagger mockingly. That explains it, thought Henry. The dagger was some sort of reddish material and glowed softly in the dim light. The goblin was also bigger than the others, not much shorter than Henry, and wore a headdress of some kind.

As the goblin and Henry stared each other down, Henry noted a few of the other goblins on the ground were still alive, but he didn’t allow himself to be distracted. Arrogance and lack of focus was why he had a hole in his stomach in the first place.

The goblin wasn’t just taller than the others, he was also more muscular. He wore armor made of bone, bronze, and some kind of chitin. The goblin’s sword was a fairly standard bronze weapon, and held a wicked, glittering edge. The goblin wore shin and wrist armor made of the same chitinous material that edged his armor.

The creature had already proven to be an expert fighter, and had also been smart enough to avoid Henry’s stone projectiles.

Henry briefly thought about trying to nail the thing with another rock barrage, but he knew trying to bend down and pick up rocks wouldn’t be the best idea with a wound in his gut. His priorities had just changed. He needed to rest and let his healing do its mojo.

The wound hurt, and Henry was tired, thirsty, hungry, and probably needed to sleep off all the weird shit he’d just been through with the Dhu. The possibility that a single goblin might do him in was frustrating, but reality was staring him in the face with green skin, pointy ears, no forehead, and sharp teeth.

Henry decided to take a gamble. The longer he and the goblin stared at each other, the more time the little bastard’s friend had to go get reinforcements. Henry gritted his teeth and held up a hand, triggering a new Light school magic power. He closed his eyes as his palm flashed bright white. Then he took a couple quick steps forward, slashing with his blade at the goblin’s unprotected head.

He hissed as the damned thing got its long blade up in time to defend. The goblin warrior must have closed its eyes in time to avoid the brunt of the attack. This roided up fucker is good, thought Henry. The goblin wasn’t as strong as the giant lizard woman he’d fought before, but he was still managing to parry Henry’s attacks. Henry wasn’t nearly as strong as he could be, but he still had the strength of at least two or three men with the help of his magic.

He growled in pain as he shuffled back to avoid the goblin’s glowing dagger. Henry desperately wished he would have been thinking more clearly. If he’d taken the time to draw more strength from the earth, he wouldn’t be having so much trouble. The wound in his gut hurt like hell, and he was afraid if he tried to concentrate, his inhuman opponent would be all over him in a heartbeat.

He’d made a lot of mistakes before this fight. If he survived this encounter, he wouldn’t make the same mistakes twice. If Jason was around, it wouldn’t have been an issue. Fuck, I need to survive to see Mareen again. Next time if at all possible, he wasn’t going to go toe to toe with a large group a fantasy monsters without Jason’s help, or the Battlewagon, or both.

Henry warily watched his opponent, skillfully blocking or parrying a few of the goblin’s exploratory attacks, and shuffled backward to simply avoid some of them. He knew the wily creature was trying to make him stumble, or was just waiting for his wound to slow him down.

It was a good strategy.

Suddenly, the goblin slapped his chest and the creature began to glow a ruddy orange. He held up his glowing dagger and Henry tensed, but didn’t understand what was happening until it was too late.

The goblin’s dagger unleashed a jet of flame and Henry barely got his arm up in time to protect his eyes. He could hear the goblin surging forward, so he blindly lashed out with his sword.

The goblin blocked it with his own blade and bowled Henry over onto the ground. By luck, Henry managed to grab the goblin’s arm with the dagger, and spent a few endless seconds wrestling with the enemy warrior. Christ, so heavy and strong!

Whatever the goblin warrior had done to start glowing had obviously made him faster and stronger. Henry knew he was probably going to die. He’d been complacent and hadn’t been thinking straight. He’d been arrogant, thinking these goblins would be like the things he and Jason had beaten with sharpened sticks in Tolstey. He’d paid for underestimating his enemy, and vowed that if he lived, it would never happen again.

As Henry grappled with the goblin, he grew frustrated with his armor. Not only was he not as strong as he could be, his armor was interfering with his life and death struggle, too. The goblin’s face suddenly lunged forward, trying to snap Henry’s nose in his sharp teeth. Henry snarled as he head butted the dangerous fighter in the face, making the goblin growl in pain.  This fucker’s breath is rank.

Henry wished he had access to his metal magic. As the goblin’s dagger inched closer to his throat, straining against Henry’s slightly inferior strength, the Delvers LLC leader began reaching for his metal magic anyway, knowing it would kill him. If he was going to die anyway, he might at least be able to save Tony. Henry warily watched the goblin, ready to head butt the bastard if he tried to bite him again when suddenly the creature went limp and his eyes went totally black.

Henry blinked in surprise and looked over the dead goblin’s shoulder. Tony stood above them both, pulling his horse head dagger from the creature’s back. He’s stabbed it right through its armor and somehow instantly killed it. Tony looked dazed.

With a grunt of effort, Henry pushed the dead goblin off himself and looked around. All the other goblins were dead. Tony had killed them all. The young adventurer’s broken staff lay on the ground a few feet away. It looked like the kid had even fought one of the creatures that had been wounded on the ground...and won. Henry was impressed and happy to be alive. He was curious about what Tony had done, but figured it would have to wait till later.

“Good job, kid. Now we need to hurry. We don’t have much time.” Henry gingerly squatted down and grabbed two dead goblins by the ankles. “Grab a goblin and follow me. Pick up your light if you have to.” Aodh nodded and followed while dragging his own dead goblin.

Henry dragged his burden about ten yards back the way they’d come from, then turned around and retraced his steps a few yards before stopping. The pain in his gut was getting worse as he kept moving around, but Henry ignored it. He held his hand to the cave wall and began channeling magic, making a small tunnel of his own. He slowly walked forward, ignoring his growing pain, and began hollowing out a small room.

“Tony, go grab all the other goblins and drag them up the cave first. Get blood everywhere. Make everything look confusing. Then drag all their bodies in here except one of the smallest ones.” Tony nodded and immediately left to his task. Henry smiled. Tony had saved his life, and the kid was becoming increasingly more reliable.

With a shake of his head, Henry got back to work. He knew there wasn’t much more time, and he still had a lot to do. He was injured now. If a single goblin could almost do him in, he’d hate to see what all the reinforcements would be like.

Weight of Stone

Aodh watched Henry in concern as the man reclined on his back with his knees up and applied pressure to his wounded stomach. He knew Henry was tough, but everything they’d just been through had to be taking its toll. Aodh was worried about Henry, and also very aware of the fact that if the man suddenly keeled over, they’d both be stuck in a room made of solid stone.

After all but one of the goblin bodies had been pulled into the room, Henry had dragged the last goblin corpse further down the tunnel and dumped it. Then he’d helped Aodh ensure they’d grabbed everything the dead goblins had dropped. That done, Henry had thrown a few large handfuls of gravel everywhere outside and sealed up their little room, creating a new wall covering where the entrance had been with several inches of stone that blended in with the cave outside.

The goblin bodies lined one wall. Aodh had been doing the grisly job of going through the creatures’ weapons, armor, and belongings. The room was being lit by the glow sticks the goblins had had, and the glow stones that Henry had created earlier in the day. It was dim, but was enough light for Aodh to see by.

He made stacks of weapons, gear, and other things he looted off the bodies. Once he was done, he turned to Henry and began saying, “Okay, we have food and water sort—”

Henry waved his hand down and hissed, “Shh!” He looked like he was listening. “You can talk, but keep it to a whisper,” he said softly.

“I found some water in stone bottles,” said Aodh. It looks clean, or at least I don’t think it will get us sick, but I’m not sure. There is food too, dried meat and hardtack. There isn’t much. It was probably only for emergencies.

“The pile of weapons is over there,” Aodh whispered, pointing, “and I found some other things too, like containers with more glowing fungus stuff.”

“Good job and thank you,” Henry said. “Can you bring me the dagger that the big bastard shanked me with?” Aodh nodded and fetched the weapon from where he’d put it off to the side, secure in its sheath.

After Henry accepted the weapon and began examining it, Aodh carefully avoided looking at Henry’s stomach and asked, “Are you going to be okay? What are we doing? Why did we drag the bodies?”

Henry cocked his head first, obviously listening again before he whispered in reply. “I think I’m going to be okay, but it will take time.” He pulled the dagger from its sheath, and the blade stayed dull for several moments before suddenly glowing. It had accepted its new owner. Aodh could feel the heat from where he was standing.

“Just as I thought,” Henry said quietly. “If this thing had been left inside me much longer to cauterize all the damage, I’m not sure my healing skill would be enough. If it’d been a regular dagger, it wouldn’t have penetrated so easily in the first place, but a regular stab wound would have been worse than I got. This blade burned me enough to keep the wound from bleeding too bad, but didn’t hurt me so badly that I have no chance of healing.”

Aodh’s blood ran cold as Henry spoke. He didn’t know what he’d do without the honorable, grumpy man.

Henry gestured toward the cave system outside their room. “I’m listening right now so I’ll know when all our new goblin friends are out there. I’m using my earth sense ability right now and putting more juice into it. I can sense all the little pebbles I threw around in the tunnel out there and I’m hoping I’ll be able to more easily tell how many there are, how fast they’re moving, and other stuff.

“I couldn’t chance leaving a hole between our room and outside. If I can smell them, they can probably smell me.”

“Is that why we spread the blood everywhere?”

“Yeah. It should be extremely confusing for them. It’s also why we dragged that one goblin further down the tunnel. If I’d known it would take this long for these little fucks to reach the party, I would have dragged it even further. The goal is for all of them to rush past our location, further back the way we came in order to look for us.”

“Why?” Aodh didn’t understand. “Are we going to sneak past? Wouldn’t that be really risky? Why can’t you just tunnel us out of here?”

Henry grimaced and whispered, “It took a lot out of me to make this room, kid. Just this room probably would have completely done me in before my last level up. I don’t specialize in Earth school magic either so my control is crap. As for what we’re going to do...I have a plan. I’ll let it be a surprise. For now, why don’t you go purify the water? You have a canteen that can do that, right? Just use the magic stone from your flashlight to power it.”

Aodh had forgotten all about the canteen’s function. He hadn’t really had to ever use it that way since, while traveling, the Delvers members all got the water purified in larger containers. As he set about his task, he gingerly bit into a bit of dried meat. It was tough and gamey, but it was food. At least it had a few leftover scales so Aodh knew he wasn’t eating people or something.

As soon as the thought cropped up, he remembered the gruesome kitchen in Yanbei Cavern, the ork dungeon he’d explored. He ruthlessly suppressed the memory so he wouldn’t grow nauseous.

Suddenly Henry waved a hand to get Aodh’s attention and held a finger over his lips to signal for quiet. Aodh nodded and stayed completely still. Henry cocked his head and seemed to be listening, but nothing happened for a moment and his thoughts drifted back to the chaos in the tunnel a few minutes before.

He’d thought he might die several times as wounded goblins lunged at or attacked him. He’d felt terror for Henry as the man was injured. Aodn hadn’t been able to do anything to help his friend...until he’d killed the goblin boss and discovered the new power of his dagger.

The attack had been made out of desperation. Aodh’s staff had broken, Henry looked like he was about to die, and the young man had just acted. In hindsight, stabbing the goblin’s armor had probably not been a great idea. However, the blade had slammed into the creature’s back like the armor hadn’t even been there. Then the weapon had grown darker than night for a moment. The goblin had just...died.

Aodh hadn’t touched or examined the weapon since. He knew something might have happened when he’d cut Henry before, but he didn’t want to talk about the dagger with the man. Aodh hated keeping secrets, and he knew he’d probably still tell Henry eventually, but he felt guilty for cutting his employer’s arm.

The young man thought he might be imagining things at first, but after a bit more time had passed, he realized he could definitely feel some sort of vibration in the ground. Henry’s eyes were closed and he obviously had all his attention focused on his various senses. Aodh wasn’t sure if the goblins were still approaching, or were right outside their hidden room. He would just have to trust Henry.

After a while, the vibrations faded, and after what felt like an eternity, Henry blew out a breath and gingerly pushed himself up from the ground. “Okay, Tony,” the man said, hiding his pain, “we need to be quick. They milled around out there for a while, and I’m not sure how much they really bought our little trick. Plus, they were moving really fast.”

Aodh nodded and followed Henry as he melted the solid rock wall and stepped out into the bloody tunnel again. The way the man from Earth could bend the rock to his will was impressive. Aodh tried not to feel awe. He tried to remember he had his own powers...even if they weren’t as flashy.

He suddenly thought of the mysterious dagger riding in a sheath at his back and felt a chill. He’d deal with that later.

Henry hadn’t told Aodh to put away his glow stone, so the young man used it for light as they walked back the way they’d come. Henry said, “There is an opening in the tunnel up here that will be perfect.”

Aodh had no idea what he meant, but he couldn’t focus enough to try figuring it out. The darkness, the danger, his worry about Henry’s injury, all of it was taking a toll.

A few minutes later, they came to a small room, a natural opening in the tunnel. The cave system had many of these, and this one wasn’t special. About the size of a living room, it sported jagged walls and a few stalactites in the center of the ceiling. The light from Aodh’s glow stone made weird, multi-directional shadows around the space.

Suddenly, Henry cocked his head and whispered, “Shit. I think they’re heading back. We need to hurry.” The man gingerly walked to a wall, holding a hand to his gut, and began tracing his other hand along paths in the wall only he could feel. “You might want to back up, Tony.”

Aodh nodded and retreated up the tunnel, but stayed close enough that he could still watch Henry. The man went around the natural room, touching the stone and appearing to concentrate. Then he began heading back towards Aodh. He was breathing heavy and his face looked pale, his jaw clenched.

When he was almost to Aodh’s position, weird sounds began echoing down the tunnel from the direction the goblins had gone. Faster than Aodh would have thought possible, he could already see movement in the distance.

“Fuck!” Henry shouted, awkwardly ambling forward. He made it to Aodh’s position and slammed his hand against the wall. A slow rumbling started in the walls, and Aodh suddenly understood what Henry was doing. It was a deliberate cave in.

Fear warred with unease as he felt more than saw the mass of enemies rushing at them in the darkness. In the distance, a growling roar sounded that was so low and loud, it was felt as much as heard. Aodh’s blood ran cold, the bellow triggering a primal, fight or flight instinct. Whatever had made that sound was something he definitely did not want to meet.

He saw pinpricks of glowing fungus on sticks in the distance, the goblins were coming. Suddenly, seemingly from nowhere, a huge, canine monster lunged out of the darkness at Henry. The man lashed out with a solid, earth-strength enhanced kick, and the creature was knocked back a few solid yards, rolling against the wall. When it stopped moving, Aodh heard the terrifying roar again in the distance, but closer.

“God fucking dammit!” Henry screamed in pain. The man from Earth panted and placed his hand against the wall again. Aodh didn’t know what to do. He could only watch with conflicting emotions as Henry bowed his shoulders and the distant ceiling began to slowly fall. Through the chaos and the falling rock, Aodh could barely make out more movement in the dim light. He felt sick.

He and Henry took a running shuffle away from the cave in and kept their backs turned so they wouldn’t get a face full of dust. After moving further up the tunnel, Henry created another cave in as well. His voice was satisfied as he said, “There. Now they’re having a very, very bad day.”

Aodh was quiet for a while as they headed back to their magic-built shelter. “I understand you might have needed to do that,” Aodh said, “but that was wrong.” The young man remembered what it felt like to feel trapped, to feel hopeless in the cave. The goblins were their enemies, but now a larger number of them were probably going to starve to death, or fight the spiny cats in an enclosed space, or any number of unpleasant ways to die.

He couldn’t help but feel empathy for being trapped in the dark, afraid.

“Yeah, it’s unpleasant and fucking savage, kid,” Henry growled. “But so are they. Now how about we eat, drink, and I pass out for a while and hope I don’t die in my sleep?”

Aodh stayed silent as he matched Henry’s slow, shuffling pace back to their shelter. He reflected on his new life. The Fideli-blooded young man loved being an adventurer, it was his dream, but sometimes he felt strong, conflicting emotions. He was glad to be alive, but he couldn’t help that he felt dirty too. Henry had used his power in a clever way, he’d probably saved their lives, but...there were some fates Aodh would literally not even wish on his enemies.

***

Henry awoke from a dreamless sleep and took a few moments to realize where he was. The little room he’d formed out of solid stone was pitch dark. Lying in the darkness, he gingerly felt his stomach and sighed in relief when he realized his wound had healed. That meant he’d been asleep for a while, though. His healing ability was a little bit stronger now that he’d leveled up a couple times, but it still took time to fix serious damage.

Now he’d have a gnarly scar on his stomach to match the ones on his leg.

He groaned as he fished around on the floor for a handy rock. After finding one, he created a new glow stone and examined the room. Aodh was lying on the ground a few paces away, fast asleep. The young man was using his little pack as a makeshift pillow, but the way he’d fallen asleep, it was obvious he’d stayed up as long as possible.

Tony sure is a serious dude, Henry thought fondly. They were alone in the room, which was great, nothing had found them. Being alive was good too. Henry had been more nervous than he let on for building vents from the room to the tunnel outside, but he hadn’t had a choice. It would have sucked to live through everything he’d survived just to die of suffocation.

He’d still created the vents in a somewhat clever way, at least he thought so. Each vent had a series of right angles between the room and the tunnel outside. This would prevent light from escaping as easily, and also probably make it harder to smell them.

He’d hoped.

The new wall he’d built in the room was unmarred too. Before falling asleep, Henry had used some of the last of his magic power to wall off all of the goblin bodies from the rest of the room, forming a makeshift mausoleum. Sleeping next to corpses in the dark would have been a little too creepy, even for him.

The battered man slowly got to his feet and did a few stretches. After he was relatively certain he wouldn’t topple over, he adjourned himself to the tiny side room he’d built with a hole in the floor to do his business. That done, he investigated all the loot and gear Aodh had gathered from the goblin bodies.

Henry thoughtfully armed himself with a wicked, stone-tipped spear. Since he couldn’t use his metal magic, and he didn’t know how long that would last, he wanted a weapon he could repair. He also grabbed a bronze short sword, a shield made of bone and hide, and a couple small throwing axes that he tucked into the back of his belt. He couldn’t hit anything, but he figured it couldn’t hurt to carry them. Last but not least, he examined the dagger again that had put the wound in his stomach.

The dagger wasn’t actually all that large, but it was finely made and of a material he hadn’t seen before. However, now as soon as he pulled it from its sheath, it immediately glowed a ruddy orange and kicked off heat. He had no idea how to trigger the ranged attack that had almost taken out his eyeballs, but he vowed to figure it out soon.

He re-sheathed the enchanted dagger on his hip opposite his new sword and went to wake up Tony. Upon closer inspection, he realized that the kid had grabbed a couple of weapons of his own. A bronze-tipped spear and shield like the one that Henry carried rested next to the youth as well as a light, bronze short sword.

Good choices, thought Henry. He nudged Tony awake with his boot and the young man sat up in a panic before seeing Henry and calming down. “Are you alright?” he asked.

“Yeah, I feel about a million times better,” replied Henry. “Any idea how long we were out for?”

“Maybe. I wound up a little clock from my pack, but it only works for a couple days after being wound.” Tony examined his strange, old-timey-looking clock. “I wound it before you fell asleep. According to this, it’s been over a day.”

“Okay, that’s about what I expected,” sighed Henry. “Alright, get ready to move out, and let’s get the hell out of here.”

Aodh nodded and went off to do his business. Henry busied himself opening up the room to the bloody tunnel outside. As soon as the wall was open, he was hit by the cloying smell of old blood. Thankfully, Henry couldn’t see nor hear any enemies. He felt extremely fortunate to be alive. Again. If he kept staring death in the face, it was going to have to buy him dinner or something.

After a short time, Aodh joined him in the tunnel. The young man appeared exhausted despite all the extra sleep, and had the shell-shocked look that Henry associated with young soldiers who’d seen combat. Tony had definitely seen some shit at this point. Henry knew what they’d done to the goblins in the collapsed tunnel behind them bothered the young man, but he was glad.

It meant that Tony still had a soul. It sucked he’d probably have nightmares the rest of his life about it, but Henry already knew how that felt. It was unfortunate, but he’d rather the kid be scarred than dead.

Henry grunted. He was doing too much thinking too soon after waking up. God damn I’d kill for some thick, twice-brewed, nasty ass coffee, he mentally grumped. There was no use putting around, they had to get a move on. At least now he knew a way to escape danger if they really needed to. It took a lot of his magic to make a stone hidey hole, but it sure had come in handy.

Henry began walking, and ate gamey dried goblin rations with Tony as he did so. He’d made another glow stone too so the youth could see better, but Henry had used his darksight ability again. Darkness magic was proving to be extremely useful. He wished he had time to properly develop it.

Henry triggered his earth sense ability out of habit and didn’t feel anything out of place. However, the quiet and the darkness started getting to him after a while. To combat the feeling, he began to go over his entire surreal experience with the Dhu and orb controllers in the place that was not a place.

With a start, Henry suddenly remembered his new Mind Whip ability. He wondered if it would work in the real world. Well, I won’t know until I try.

Henry wasn’t sure if he was doing it right, but he imagined unfurling himself like he had before in the Dhu World. He didn’t feel anything different. In fact, he felt a bit sheepish and almost stopped the exercise. It felt like he was playing pretend. On a whim, he directed his Mind Whip at his spear. Suddenly, sensations exploded in his head.

He hissed, stopping and leaning against the tunnel. “Are you okay, Henry? Is it your stomach?” Tony asked in concern.

“I’m okay, just give me a second,” said Henry. After the vertigo passed, he slowly began walking again. He didn’t reach out with his Mind Whip again, but realized he might understand what just happened. He’d heard an overwhelming number of whispers all at once, so many his brain had felt like it was going to explode.

Could it really be? Did I just hear...Dhu? Henry was excited, but he tried to mute the feeling. He didn’t want to get his hopes up. However, if he had finally figured out how to touch Dhu, maybe he could finally achieve his goal of directly crafting enchanted objects! At the very least, he could build more interesting vehicles.

Henry’s spirits lifted a bit as he and Aodh continued their steady pace forward. After some time, the tunnel began to widen out into a cavern again. Suddenly, too late, Henry noticed this cavern was different.

He realized he hadn’t been cycling through his magic-enhanced senses like he normally did. The Mind Whip experiment and its implication had entirely distracted him. His mistake might have been costly.

In the distance stood a square, open doorway carved around the continuation of the tunnel, and two heavily armed goblin warriors stepped from behind hidden nooks in the walls.

Tony must not have been able to see them outside his little circle of light, but Henry readied his shield in a panic.

“Not fight now for us and you, soft one,” a high, raspy voice warbled out of the darkness. Tony gasped and despite himself, Henry froze. From behind the two goblin warriors, a new figure emerged, a goblin woman. She wore a skirt made of leathers and sinew, not unlike the loincloths the male goblins had worn. However, her skirt had beaded decorations, claws, and feathers attached.

She wore a beaded top, constructed similar to her skirt. Ornate, carved bone symbols adorned the fringes of the brief top, more of a shawl. She also had hair of sorts, more like long, course dog fur the color of smoke on top of her head. Henry realized that the male goblins must shave their heads.

The goblin woman carried a staff topped with an eerie, fanged skull. She jangled the staff at Henry and spoke again, “Soft one, talk. We not fight, you not kill. Break laws, break oaths, but I save others.” The other two goblins moved around uneasily, but the female goblin growled, “I lead. This is rule.”

And just like that, Henry understood. He noticed things he’d missed before, like the fact the male goblins were both smaller than normal, probably young. He saw the fear in their eyes.

They’re afraid of us! Henry realized. He blinked and mentally went back over the events of the past day or two. Just how many fucking goblins did I kill or trap in that cave-in? he wondered.

Henry stared at the female goblin for a moment. Now that he understood the situation, he didn’t fear they’d attack. These creatures were terrified that he and Tony were going to wipe out their entire people, just like they probably would have if they’d been assaulting a dungeon. In fact, Henry had a pretty good idea that that’s exactly what the distant doorway was, a dungeon. He and Tony had just come across a dungeon’s back door.

He realized that if he found out what dungeon they were in, and got some sort of map, he could probably even figure out where they were. His map of Tolstey wasn’t going to be much help.

The goblin female spoke again, “You not slay?” Henry just stared at her, processing the situation. Suddenly, the goblin’s eyes filled with desperation, she knelt on the ground and angrily gestured for the other two goblins to do the same. “You not slay? We give treasure. All treasures. Not slay.”

Henry pressed his lips into a thin line and wondered what they should do. Next to him, Tony sighed in relief. In English, the young man said, “They aren’t attacking. Thank the Maker.”

Henry wished Jason was there for multiple reasons. Fuck, he thought. I am really beginning to hate goblins.

Community Disagreement

The goblin woman kept glancing over her shoulder impatiently, growling to herself. Aodh felt his heart pound as he followed with Henry. He had never heard of anyone even seeing goblin females, much less talking to them. The goblin guards brought up the rear.

Aodh wasn’t sure if Henry understood the danger they were currently in. The Terran man seemed to know that goblins were dangerous and violent, but perhaps he didn’t fully understand their reputation for sneakiness.

The creatures couldn’t be trusted. They would probably be more than happy to eat him if they weren’t also afraid Henry was going to wipe them out. The young man was glad not to be fighting again, but his tense feeling grew stronger the further they walked into the goblins’ territory.

Ahead of the little procession, the tunnel ended and the area beyond glowed. Curious despite himself, Aodh was astonished when they reached a natural cavern that housed a goblin village.

The procession slowed down to descend a switchback of stairs to the cavern floor. Even Aodh could tell the approach would be easy to defend. However, everywhere he looked, he only saw goblin females and children. Some went about their business, but most of them were staring, stony faced.

Just how many male goblins did Henry kill? The thought triggered a number of conflicting emotions, but Aodh didn’t feel ready to deal with them yet, so he shoved them away.

The goblins seemed to wear clothing mostly for utility. The women wore skirts, but they had pockets sewn on. Some of the goblin women were bare chested. If they’d been human women, Aodh would have blushed, but as was, he just found it interesting. Some of the goblin women wore suspender-like vestments made of leather that held pouches or tools. A few bound their breasts in strips of cloth. Most of the children wore baggy shorts and sandals.

The goblin village was much cleaner and more orderly than he would have expected. Neat rows of stone and waddle-made structures lined the cavern. Doors and windows were hewn from the solid stone of the walls, indicating additional dwellings. At one side of the village, a large, ornate relief was carved into the rock, noting the biggest building Aodh could see. He figured it was a temple. The decorations were strange, and somewhat disturbing.

The temple’s carvings featured crude, skeletal goblins dancing among various animals and humanoids impaled on spikes. The windows of the temple looked out on the village like dark, vengeful eye sockets.

As the group moved down the stairs, Aodh triggered his luck magic again. He was getting better at channeling it on purpose. He’d noticed it was easier to use when he was feeling strong emotions. Using his ability consciously was getting easier, but learning how to adjust the intensity to bear it for longer was still a work in progress.

Every time he used his magic, he felt a tugging on his stomach. Thinking back, he realized that after becoming ‘Bonded, he’d thought it had just been indigestion or something. Weird. Everyone else got awesome, flashy, impressing magic. Meanwhile, Aodh got stomach cramps. It was the story of his life.

Sometimes he felt silly for randomly triggering his power, but every time he did, he thought back to what his orb controller had said. If his orb had made it possible for him to find his dagger, survive death more than once, save Henry’s life, and Maker knew what else, he could only imagine what it could accomplish if he actively helped. But whether he was actually helping or not, he wasn’t sure.

When the group reached the bottom of the stairs, their escort moved out a bit to serve as an obvious barrier for the other goblins, none of which actually tried to move in. Now that they were closer, Aodh could see fear and anger on the faces of the goblins surrounding them. A few other male goblin guards moved out to join their original two escorts, but it was obvious almost no adult males were left in the village. The tension was growing so thick, the still, cave air practically hummed.

Suddenly, Aodh pitched forward onto his face. It had felt like he tripped over his own feet. He turned to look behind him and verified the cave floor was smooth. Frowning, Aodh wondered how in the world he’d tripped over nothing, but in the dim light, he managed to see a flash of motion. The distinctive hiss of an arrow sounded as the missile passed right where Aodh’s heart would have been.

The young man swallowed and tried to keep a clear head as the world immediately went mad around him. Goblins boiled out of nearby buildings and out of alleys to throw themselves at their kin. The violence was as sudden as it was brutal.

Aodh laid on the ground, covering his head as all the goblins screamed and growled, flinging themselves to and fro with a variety of weapons. Henry moved to stand over Aodh, his shield and new spear at the ready, menacing any goblins that came near. He needn’t have bothered. After a time, it was obvious that the goblins were intent on killing each other. The two humans were all but forgotten.

The surrounding violence was extremely confusing, but Aodh was able to determine there were two different groups. One was a new group of dark-robed goblins wielding wicked looking knives. A few of them were throwing around purple bolts of force with bone wands, but their aim was terrible. The other group was pretty much all the other goblins, including the children.

The dark-robed goblins all had some sort of dark symbol worn as a brooch. A few of them were obviously male. The other handful of males involved in the fighting were guards surrounding the female that had called a truce with Henry.

Aodh gulped as a goblin child’s head was blown off by a stray purple bolt of energy. Its mother yowled in rage and sprang onto her child’s killer, clawing at his face with her bare claws. She bit down on her enemy’s throat and went down to the ground, rolling around in a primal fight to the death.

The scene was pure chaos and madness. Goblins screamed and boiled out of doorways like ants. Female goblins wielded everything from swords, to pots and pans as they attacked the dark-robed goblins. Most of the robed fighters seemed to be pushing towards the female goblin the Terran men had been following earlier. However, with a sudden obvious shift, some began eyeing Henry and Aodh as well. Aodh remembered the arrow that had almost hit him and shivered.

As the young man watched the battle from the ground, the world seemed to slow down. He felt a strange sensation, a tugging at the pit of his stomach. Acting on instinct, Aodh reached for his magic. It was a strain since he’d already recently used it, but he was able to touch his power again. His bowels roiled as he infused himself in power.

Suddenly a large, robed goblin appeared on top of a nearby rooftop, gesturing with an ornate staff and screaming in the goblin language. Aodh got a flash of the new figure’s face and confirmed the new arrival was male. The big, robed goblin’s staff was black, porous, and seemed to be made of stone. It was topped with a painted goblin skull with dark gems winking in its bony eye sockets.

With no warning, the closest robed fighters turned as one and threw themselves at Henry and Aodh. The first goblin held a hide shield up, but Henry thrusted with his spear and the head punched right through the attacker’s shield, going through his stomach and out his back. He was obviously enhanced with earth magic strength and the hapless goblins were no match.

He couldn't pull the spear free in time, so Henry snatched the dying goblin’s club as the creature fell back, screaming. Then he stepped forward, placing himself between Aodh and the advancing goblins. Aodh hastily got to his feet, holding his new spear out before him awkwardly.

The next goblin to reach Henry screamed and swung a wicked looking stone axe. The Delvers LLC leader batted the strike to the side and caved the attacker’s head in with his club. Another robed goblin jumped towards Henry, knives extended, but the Asian man slammed his shield forward, sending the creature reeling away with a broken neck.

Aodh wildly waved his spear around, trying to guard every direction at once. He noticed the goblin townspeople retreating from the fighting, slowly disengaging or in some instances, untangling themselves from the robed group. The women and children hissed and growled, but the robed attackers merely turned and began moving towards Henry and Aodh.

A robed goblin wielding a spear rushed at Aodh, and the young man panicked. He almost held his weapon like a staff, but managed to remember Henry’s past instruction in the nick of time. He kept the pointy end towards the enemy.

The goblin ran toward him...and stumbled forward, impaling itself on the young adventurer’s spear. The creature’s own spear was too short to reach Aodh, and the weapon clattered to the stone ground as the goblin fell back, fountaining blood.

Yet another robed goblin lunged at Aodh, but before the young man could even react, Henry ran forward and pummeled the creature to the ground, using the edge of his shield and his club both as brutal weapons.

Henry whirled and threw a stone at a group of the dark-robed goblins, and the missile broke apart as it flew forward. Henry missed most of them, but a few pieces hit with devastating effect. Splintered bones and severed goblin limbs flew through the cavern as the creatures screamed in pain and terror.

The goblin on the roof with the ornate staff had continued yelling the entire time, and he suddenly gestured upwards, his guttural language taking on the cadence of a chant, growing shriller. The robed goblins all drew back, warily eyeing the two Terrans. Henry panted and glanced around before saying, “Not that I mind a break, but what do you think this is about?”

Aodh could only shake his head. He took a step back...and fell down again. His head hit the stone ground and he saw stars.

The Asian man glanced back before almost casually batting a hissing arrow out of the air with his shield. “Be careful, kid,” Henry growled. “This is a bad place to be falling over.”

Aodh rapidly blinked, planning to tell Henry it wasn’t like he was trying to keep tripping, but then he looked straight up and gasped. “Above us!” he yelled.

To his credit, the man from Earth reacted almost instantly. After turning his eyes upwards, Henry ran forward and grabbed Aodh’s arm, yanking the youth with him. He had acted just in the nick of time.

A giant grey spider landed where the two had just been, its enormous bulk settling impossibly lightly. The nightmarish creature turned its glowing eyes on Aodh, and the young adventurer swallowed, almost peeing himself in fright. I guess it’s not really a spider, he thought.

The hideous thing had eight legs and eight eyes, but it also sported a couple of tentacles where a spider’s fangs would normally be. Its massive body had one more segment than a spider would have, and the misshapen, bulbous head on top of its body had a mouth full of serrated gray teeth. It moaned softly, the sound making Aodh’s hackles rise.

Henry reached down to grab a stone, then threw it using his magic. The terrifying creature was large enough that even Henry could hit it...but nothing happened. The stone shattered and didn’t even leave a mark. “Well, that’s new,” Henry panted.

With growing horror, Aodh realized the monster had what looked like a layer of stone skin. Perhaps it was even made of stone. Henry ran forward and thrust with his spear, but the weapon had almost no effect. Aodh felt growing helplessness and looked around wildly, noticing the goblins all watching from the sidelines as the robed goblin male on the rooftop continue to chant.

The young adventurer noticed motion out the corner of his eye and dove just in time to avoid a stony tentacle. He rolled away, losing his spear in the process. The knobby, heavy tentacle passed over his head with a rush of air and Aodh managed to dodge a couple of sharply pointed, stomping feet too.

Henry had not been so lucky. The Asian man yelled as he was borne aloft by a tentacle wrapped around his body, crushing the shield to his chest and pinning one arm. With his other arm, Henry had freed a bronze knife and slammed it into the stone tentacle, bending the blade and rendering it useless. “Henry!” screamed Aodh.

The terrified young man ran to where he’d lost his spear and felt his heart drop when he saw its splintered shaft. He turned back in time to see Henry snarling in pain, lifting his new, fire enchanted dagger over his head and slamming it into the monstrous appendage that was steadily crushing the life out of him.

The dagger slammed home and the beast finally stopped its endless muttering to scream in pain. It flung Henry away, and the man somehow maintained his grip on the dagger. The wound on the beast’s tentacle smoked and an acrid cloud of burning stone hung in the air. The hideous monster chased after Henry.

Henry is going to die. The sudden realization gave Aodh a chill. He knew he was right, too. The seemingly unflappable man had been through a lot. He didn’t have access to his normal magical power and he was untrained in his new power. He was dazed, injured, and being chased by a giant, invulnerable creature that looked like it could eat a yucka pack beast and still be hungry.

Henry wasn’t going to make it, and if he was brought down, Aodh was definitely going to die. In the past, all of this reality might have left the shepherd-turned-adventurer frozen with indecision or fear, but not anymore. He’d faced down a terrifying, ancient light weapon and he’d spoken to the Dhu. Aodh had survived time and again when he should have died.

Giving up was not an option, but he wasn’t quite sure what to do. What he really needed was some kind of powerful magical attack. Aodh only had his useless luck magic. He felt a burning, aching rage at the injustice of the situation. If Jason were here, he could have already teleported up and cut the monster’s—

Use your dagger, stupid! The voice of Aodh’s orb controller, Gellab Smith, cut through his frustration like a knife. There was no mistaking that he’d clearly heard her, it was as though she was shouting in his ear. He could almost imagine her standing nearby with her hands gripping her feathery hair in frustration.

Aodh owlishly pulled his horse head dagger from behind his back and regarded the blade before narrowing his eyes. Yes, the weapon made him nervous, but he still remembered what it had done to the dangerous goblin that had almost killed Henry. He wasn’t sure why he’d forgotten about it or what was going on with his orb, but he knew what he had to do.

The young man ran forward; his Fideli eyes narrowed in concentration. The terrifying spider monster was looming over Henry, about to strike again. Aodh leapt up and used his free hand to grab onto protrusions or cracks in the creature’s stony carapace to help pull himself up. Once on the creature’s back, he ran forward, and jumped forward with his whole body weight, thrusting at the back of the monster’s head.

Improbably, the bronze blade slid forward with barely any resistance at all. Just like the last time he’d killed with it, the whole weapon turned black, and this time Aodh couldn’t pretend he hadn’t seen it. The hilt pulsed in his hand, and he felt more than heard a strange sound, almost like satisfied whispering.

Black tendrils radiated out from the puncture wound, shooting out all over the monster’s body. The creature screamed, bucking backward. Aodh retrieved his dagger and ran back down the way he’d come, jumping to the cavern floor and rolling away from the stomping, thrashing, arachnid monstrosity.

Aodh got up in time to see the creature fall, frothy foam oozing from the side of its mouth. Henry was groaning about ten feet in front of the giant dead thing, leveraging himself upright. Aodh ran forward to help him up. The nearby, howling robed goblin had not ceased his chanting the entire time. Now the figure was pointing his ornate staff at Henry, shrilly spitting and screaming in its harsh tongue.

Once he was upright, Henry shook his head and shouted, “Will someone shut that motherfucker up?” He pulled a throwing axe from the back of his belt and hurled it at the robed goblin on the nearby roof.

The weapon flew end over end like a homing missile, smashing right through the robed goblin’s chest. His macabre staff fell to the street as he gargled and thrashed in death throes, eventually falling off the roof. Absolute silence rang for several moments, all the surrounding goblins staring at the Terran and the former farm boy.

Henry picked up a rock and gingerly leaned against a stone outcropping. Aodh protectively placed himself between the injured man and the majority of the goblins. He felt terrified, but resolute. His free hand trembled, but the hand holding his dangerous, mysterious dagger was rock solid.

Behind him, Henry wheezed a laugh. “I really wasn’t expecting to make that throw,” he chuckled, panting. “If we survive this, Jason will be a lot more likely to believe you just killed a giant, fucked-up-looking spider demon thing with a little dagger than me throwing something and actually hitting my target."

Henry continued to breathily chuckle, but Aodh had bronze-hard focus. They’d come this far now, he was going to help Henry get back to Mareen. The young man felt his shoulders and arms tense. He was still scared, but now he had a purpose, and more importantly, he had discovered that he had some power of his own.

Aodh glared at the surrounding goblins over the dull orange, wavy blade of his dagger and wondered if he would have to turn the weapon black again.

Suddenly, the goblin woman in ornate clothing that had led them to the village yelled something in goblin language...and got on her knees, bowing towards Aodh. The rest of the goblins quickly followed her example until the entire village was prostrate. The only sound to accompany Aodh's growing confusion was Henry's dark chortle.

Understanding

Henry stared at the goblin woman, who stared right back. He felt a bit naked without his armor on, but it had been completely destroyed in the fight with the spider monster and he didn’t have his metal magic to fix it. After the fight, it had made sense to just ditch his armor, especially since parts of it had been cutting into his body.

That fight had been nasty. He’d been really close to reaching for his metal magic again and basically killing himself before Tony intervened.

He still hadn’t healed all the way even with his unnatural healing ability. Every movement hurt. He could feel his bones shifting around as his body forced them back into the right places, and he did his best to ignore the sensation.

The goblin woman muttered something in Gohlis, the goblin language, and gestured. The short, thin young male goblin next to her pushed his glasses up his nose. The glasses themselves had no lenses and were made of sticks, bones, and sinew. He said, “Shaman Hask said she isn’t sure what to think about you two. Especially you.” The goblin pointed at Aodh. “You wielded the pure power of Death and the tribe’s priests agree that you are the return of the Voice.” The goblin translator paused for a second before gushing, “I think they’re right! To think the Voice would be Fideli!”

Henry’s nose twitched. Every time he thought he couldn’t be surprised by Ludus anymore, he landed in the middle of a goblin society power struggle, resulting in his employee being declared some sort of religious messiah.

The goblin speaking fluent Luda was not exactly normal, either. The male goblin had introduced himself as Trask. He was on the small side from what Henry could tell, and he suspected he was teenaged for his species, however old that was. How Trask could speak Luda so well was a mystery, as was why he was wearing fake glasses, a button-up shirt made of thin skins, and a pair of crude slacks of the same material. A couple of wide, buckled suspenders of leather completed the bizarre look. Now all he needs is a little hat, thought Henry.

Henry leaned back and thought about the events that had led them from their battle with the freaky spider demon thing to the goblin shaman’s sitting room. At least now he had a name for her. Shaman Hask truly did lead the village. As soon as they’d met up with Trask, the bespectacled goblin had quickly filled them in on facts that Hask would have had a hard time communicating on her own.

Shaman Hask led the tribe and was believed to speak for the ancestors. However, the head of the village temple to Memory, or death, held an equal amount of power as Hask. The decision to meet the Delvers and escort them through the village had not been popular with Head Priest Bov, the chanting goblin that Henry had killed.

Henry was still very proud of that throw. He mentally smiled and focused on the conversation again.

“But I didn’t do anything, I just killed a spider monster,” Aodh argued. “And I’m not Fideli, I’m Terran, well, Ludan.”

The bespectacled goblin hunched forward, talking with his hands and grew noticeably animated. “No, you don’t understand, Voice. You killed the Devourer! It lived above the village for longer than anyone can remember and only the temple’s head priest could control it. We still had to sacrifice several young to it a year so it could be appeased.

“Generations of gob-folk have tried to kill the Devourer. Parents that didn’t want to give up their young would organize war bands to free the tribe. The priests never stopped them from fighting. Every time the Devourer was challenged it killed all its attackers and just got hungrier. It proved who had the real power. The tribe shaman speaks for the ancestors, but the priests wielded death, and they followed the head priest. If there was a disagreement that came to fighting, the tribe shaman usually lost...until you came along.”

“Wait, how did the Devourer come around in the first place?” asked Aodh.

Trask grew somber, his voice hushed. “Voice, the priests met with the Great God Dolos, who announced himself a friend of our god. His covenant with us included control of the Devourer in exchange for our tribe, the Gobskulls, to watch over the god’s relics, keeping them safe from intruders. This was an accord struck between Dolos and Memory, our god.”

“It is a dungeon isn’t it?” asked Aodh in English.

“Yeah,” Henry responded in the same tongue. Trask looked confused, but intense. His gleaming eyes let Henry know that the young goblin was interested in languages, but had no clue what they were saying. Excellent.

Henry switched back to Luda, musing out loud, “So we have completely changed the power structure of the whole place, huh? Well, Tony did,” Henry amended. He had to give credit where credit was due. The huge, freaky spider thing had been about to punch his ticket. He still wasn’t sure what the kid had done, but as Henry’s metal magic was tied up, Tony was potentially more dangerous than he was.

“Yes, exactly! So now Shaman Hask is the true ruler!”

“Okay, so that’s all well and good. She told us before we were going to walk through here and be on our way so we wouldn’t kill all of you...gob-folk.” Henry remembered to use the term that the goblins had used for themselves. “So why are we here? We dealt with your little...problem. Can we leave?”

Trask quickly turned to Shaman Hask, engaging in a rapid fire back and forth in the harsh goblin language. Henry found the whole thing rather interesting. It had to be stressful for Trask to be translating since Hask understood and even spoke broken Luda. The young goblin seemed to be handling it well, though. Maybe he just doesn’t care, thought Henry.

Eventually, Trask turned back and cleared his throat, his lips peeling back from a mouth full of teeth. Henry had a hard time reading the young goblin’s inhuman face, but he thought he saw excitement mixed with nervousness. “Shaman Hask has decreed she wants every trace of the god Dolos gone from her tribe and this village. The Great Aodh is the Voice of Memory, and she feels he will approve of this.

“She wishes to pass all of these relics on to you, but has a request.” Trask licked his lips with a long, pointed tongue. His long green nose twitched and his deep set, dark eyes grew shifty. “Shaman Hask has gotten reports of the collapse down the tunnels you came from. We thought our kin had all perished by your obvious power. But the shaman has seen the enchanted dagger you wear, enchanted with fire. It used to be worn by the village champion, Varca, her mate. His body was never found, nor any others of our tribe. The fact you wear that dagger means you came into contact with them and explains the gob-folk blood all over the cave walls.”

Trask swallowed, his already green skin growing a shade lighter. “Shaman Hask wishes to suggest a trade. She does not believe that her mate still lives, but her first born left after the alarm was sounded. She wishes to know if there is a chance he lives. If he does or not, she would like the opportunity for our tribe to recover the living, or the bodies of the dead.”

“And you said it would be a trade?” prompted Henry.

“Yes, once this is done, we will show you all the relics of Dolos we have been guarding for so long, including a tribe secret.”

“But you already told us you were going to give us everything of Dolos, you wanted to be rid of it. How is this any different?” Henry asked.

Shaman Hask spoke up, growling in Gohlis and slashing her hand through the air. Then in Luda she said, “No, never have without price of life. Old as tribe.”

Trask pushed his fake glasses up his nose and elaborated, “The inner sanctum is hidden. Its secrets have existed since before the covenant between Memory and Dolos.” He sighed. “All the gob-folk in the tribe will die to the last of us to protect it, well, except me. I’d hide. But you wouldn’t find it without our help in the first place.”

A few seconds of silence passed while Henry processed that. Suddenly, Tony spoke up in English. “Henry, I think we should help them.”

Henry blinked and slowly turned to regard Tony. The young man was as serious as always, but he had his shoulders squared. He looked a lot like he did during a fight. Uh oh, thought Henry. “Why do you say that?” he asked.

“Because it’s the right thing to do.”

That made Henry pause. “You know they might just turn on us if any of their warriors are still alive and we free them, right? The smartest thing for us to do is grab whatever they’ll give us, probably this dungeon’s rewards, and just get the fuck out of dodge.”

“Yes, I know. It doesn’t matter. I probably know better than you how they are, but leaving all those goblins behind in that cave, in the dark…” Tony shook his head. “It’s not right, not when we have another way. War and fighting is one thing, but we have a chance to do something...I don’t know. A chance. These goblins are talking to us, talking like people. My heart is telling me to do this...and my stomach.”

“What the hell does your stomach have to do with this?”

“It doesn’t lie, at least not anymore.” Henry had no idea what that meant, but Tony’s gaze was direct and unshaking. The kid wasn’t going to waver.

Henry sat back and thought. He could tell the two goblins were getting uncomfortable with how he and Tony were speaking another language, but Henry couldn’t really give a shit about their feelings. The only person’s opinion he cared about was Tony’s. The young man had earned both his respect and his loyalty.

In fact, Henry wouldn’t be alive several times over if not for Tony. From that perspective, he was already living on borrowed time. He wanted to live and he definitely wanted to get back to Mareen, but he owed the kid. Plus, he had no way of knowing if the goblins would turn on them. If they didn’t, they could walk away with more loot, and since they were still on Ludus, and seemed to be in an even more dangerous part of Ludus than before, any advantage they could get would be helpful.

It was a risk, but Henry decided to respect Tony’s request. He’d earned it. “Okay,” Henry sighed. “Let’s hurry up and get on with this shit before I change my mind.”

***

Shaman Hask hissed. Her response started a chain reaction among the other goblins accompanying them, about thirty in all, ten of them male guards and five robed priests that stuck near Tony like glue. And Trask, the goblin with glasses, followed Henry around. Lucky me, he thought. He wondered if the hissing meant he was going to have to try killing a bunch more goblins.

They all stood in the blood-soaked tunnel that he and Tony had fought in what felt like ages ago. He’d opened up a stone side tunnel into the little room that he and Aodh had slept in, and moved the wall entombing the fallen goblins. Some of them had begun the early stages of decay. The smell had not been pleasant. Hask and the others had hissed upon seeing them.

“What is this?” The goblin leader asked, her hand held in a strange way to the side. The goblins behind her copied the gesture.

“We wanted to bury the gob-folk,” said Aodh. “After I took their gear, I laid them out, crossed their arms, and Henry gave them a stone burial.”

That’s kind of true, thought Henry. Actually, he had to amend that Tony was probably telling the truth from his own point of view.

“You laid them down to remember?” asked Shaman Hask, her voice quiet and choked.

“Yes, I hope it was okay. It seemed like the right thing to do.”

Hask said something and the goblins behind her all muttered, staring at Tony. “The Voice,” whispered Trask, pushing up his glasses.

“So, are we moving the bodies now, or…” asked Henry warily.

“No, they may lie here.” Shaman Hask said something in Gholis in a slow cadence, sounding like a prayer. Then she switched to Luda and said, “The ancestors are pleased. Please, let them rest as they were. Let my mate lie forever, slain in battle, safe from scavengers. Hidden in the stone for all time. Fire of life cut short, forever. All in Memory.” Her voice choked a bit.

Well, I did kill her husband or whatever. Kind of surprised she is holding up this well, thought Henry.

Aodh stepped forward and gestured at the big bastard that had almost done Henry in. “This one was your mate?” he asked.

“Yes,” replied Hask.

Tony nodded. “He was strong. He almost won.” Tony touched his dagger.

Hask hissed again, “You killed him?”

“Yes. I had no choice. But he was truly strong. I feared for our lives.”

This time, Trask said something in Gholis and the rest of the goblins began hissing too, especially the priests. The sound raised Henry’s hackles, but he pretended not to notice and continued rebuilding the wall, entombing the goblin warriors again.

After the original cave wall was restored, the entire procession moved further down the tunnel to the first cave in.

“Our workers have said that this would take us far too long to clear to get through,” said Trask. “We have tribe members outside the village, but calling them all would take days. You are our only hope.” The young goblin made a strange gesture with both hands and stepped back.

Henry sighed. He could feel the weight of Tony’s gaze as well as all the goblins. He never would have imagined he’d come back to this place, much less be freeing goblins. This is truly one fucked-up world, he thought.

Clearing the rubble would take too long and use up too much power for the same reasons he couldn’t just tunnel to the surface. He couldn’t move the cave-in rubble or tunnel through it like he had in the solid rock of the cave wall.

Henry put his hand to the broken stone and thought, reaching his senses out around him. The solution eventually presented itself. He needed to move forward by creating a reinforced tunnel through the cave in.

Once his course of action was decided, Henry started pushing his power, making it happen. Molding the stone was like playing with playdoh in his mind. It was a strange, almost tactile mental exercise, and the familiar fatigue began settling over his body as he began to work. He already hurt so bad and was so tired, all the sensations were a matter of degrees at this point.

Visually, it looked like the stone chunks and debris were melting outwards into a half circle tunnel of solid stone. Henry avoided jostling the other debris whenever he could. He was no geologist, but moving everything around while standing under it seemed like a bad idea.

The rest of the procession was silent and watched him work, slowly walking forward as he bent the earth and stone to his will. After the first cave in was cleared, there was a small space of empty tunnel before the larger cave in. Henry rolled up his mental sleeves and got to work. He sincerely hoped that Tony had been right about the goblins’ intentions. He didn’t want to catch a spear in the back.

He kept pressing forward, and when his makeshift tunnel finally opened up into the tunnel beyond...nothing was there. Well, that’s less exciting than I’d feared.

A few of the goblins rushed forward, carrying their strange, glowing lanterns. Henry and Aodh followed. They didn’t see much of anything for a while. Henry figured some of the fast wolf things that had attacked him during the earlier fight had been crushed in all the rubble.

As the group walked forward, a few of the goblins began whispering until a priest growled and they fell silent. Henry thought the whole situation was eerie. The cave system was deathly silent, completely dark, and they were all just heading back the way he and Tony had originally come.

As they continued, Henry thought ruefully that it seemed to take a lot longer going back than the first time they’d traveled this way. The opposite was usually true in his experience, but he’d also never walked around with a couple dozen murderous goblins that probably wanted to eat him.

Tony stumbled ahead of him, and Henry caught the young adventurer under the arms. He’d forgotten that the kid might be having troubles. Henry had used his darkness magic already to enhance his own vision.

Tony looked back and nodded his thanks, but Henry actually really noticed his inhuman eyes for the first time in a while. He had a sudden realization. “Hey, Tony, can’t you see in the dark? You’re not completely human, right?”

The young adventurer turned around again and looked sheepish. He focused forward before speaking, this time in English. “I can see better in the dark, but it’s not automatic. It’s a thing I can do, but I don’t. I’m not Fideli. I don’t want to be Fideli.”

Henry took a few steps, thinking about what Tony had said. “Why not?”

Tony missed a step. “...Don’t want to be Fideli,” he said quietly. “Fideli are scary and hurt people.”

“Have you ever actually met any?”

“No.” Tony shook his head.

“Aren’t you doing exactly what everyone has done to you?” asked Henry. “You’re just blindly believing what others have told you with no evidence, like a dumbass. I’m Asian. People assume all kinds of shit about me, like I know martial arts and I’m a bad driver.” He grimaced and amended, “The fact I do know martial arts and I’ve had a few accidents doesn’t matter. They weren’t my fault. The truth is that I am more as a man than just my radical eyes and a natural tan.”

"What do you mean?” Tony asked.

“You have no control over how you’re born. If people have a problem with it they can go fuck themselves. The only thing you can control is how you live your life. What you look like doesn’t need to have anything to do with who you are unless you let it. If your dad was a crackhead, you don’t need to be a crackhead. The first step of being whatever you want to be is to make the decision to do it. Isn’t that what you did with becoming an adventurer?”

“What’s a crackhead?”

“Someone who does really addictive drugs and stuff.”

Henry was getting frustrated. To him, the entire conversation was silly since the concept was obvious, but Tony glanced back again, looking thoughtful. This fucking planet needs Sesame Street, he thought. After that, he noticed that Tony’s steps had become surer. About time.

After the conversation lulled, the goblins grew less antsy since the two Terrans weren’t speaking in English anymore. Suddenly, Henry’s enhanced hearing picked up the sounds of battle. He turned to Shaman Hask and said, “Your people are fighting ahead.”

The goblin woman held up a hand and gave Henry a searching look. She pulled her lips back from sharp teeth, wiggled her ears, and barked something in Gholis. The rest of the goblins surged ahead, and the Henry picked up the pace too. After a minute of jogging, Aodh said, “I can hear it now.”

“I think I can too,” panted Trask. The young goblin had given up on keeping his bulky glasses on his nose and merely held them in one hand as he ran.

Tony must be using his enhanced ears now too. Henry approved. The tunnel system made a few more twists and turns before the group finally found the missing goblins. Henry took in the scene and gritted his teeth. He wasn’t at 100% physically, not even close. He was still hurt and he really needed to sleep, but dammit, he had a job to do. Tony was calling the shots on this one, and Henry had a debt to pay.

Sometimes, you had to be a good follower before you could be a good leader. Henry drew more strength from the earth and sprinted forward, leaving all the goblins behind. His course of action was obvious.

“Tell your people not to kill me,” he hollered over his shoulder at Shaman Hask. The goblin woman began screaming in Gholis and Henry hoped her voice would be heard. He didn’t have time to worry about it anymore either way as he ran forward into bedlam.

The remaining goblins were in a group, watching their rear and front, bunched together with the warriors in the middle pointing their spears straight upwards. It looked like they’d dug through the collapse at the tunnel mouth and the feline monsters outside had been there to say hello.

The area around the tunnel opening was littered with the dead wolf-things the goblins seemed to use as war hounds. Dead and dying goblins were everywhere, as well as a number of cat monsters. As Henry watched, one of the feline beasts ran past the group of its brethren guarding the mouth of the newly opened tunnel, sprang up to the ceiling and ran all the way to the rear of the goblin formation, flattening itself to avoid the gob-folk spears. Then it dropped down among two of its kin, further flanking the defending green warriors.

Henry made a quick count and figured only a few dozen more goblins were alive. There were a lot of dead goblins on the ground, but he still must have killed a lot of them in the cave in.

Henry hollered as he stabbed the closest of the cat monsters from behind with the new spear he was carrying. The giant beast writhed as the weapon skewered it from tail to neck. Henry didn’t pause. The goblins before him were astonished, their eyes darting from Henry to the running mass of gob-folk behind him.

“Cover me! I think I can close off the new opening from here!” Henry shouted. He laid his hands on the bare rock of the cave wall and began to concentrate. Yes, he could feel far enough to do his work, but only because a cave in had already happened recently.

He spared a glance behind him, and his jaw dropped. Tony was fighting the two remaining cat monsters. The young man slashed at one cat monster’s eyes with his strange knife, but it sprang back, yowling and spitting. Then Tony half tripped over a rock, and one beast’s claws barely missed his neck. The youth took the opportunity to spin around, slamming his dagger into the other monster. His weapon flashed black, instantly killing it. The dying creature fell, its shoulder knocking Tony backward, and the motion barely saved him from the gnashing teeth of the remaining monster. He took a quick step backward to regain his balance, and the movement caused the spiny cat’s tail to pass harmlessly wide, completely missing the teen adventurer.

Henry wasn’t sure how Tony had gotten ahead of the goblins, but the green creatures arrived a moment later with a flurry of violence, several of them slamming their spears into the last spiny cat monster at almost the same time.

Henry shook his head and turned back to the wall. The feline nightmares were pouring into the tunnel like a wave of pissed off feline fury. He couldn’t waste any time. Ignoring the screams and other noises coming from behind him, focusing on his task was extremely difficult. His lack of armor made him feel incredibly exposed.

Finally, with one last effort of will, he closed off the reopened cave mouth. There was a low rumble, and a vibration in the ground as the debris shifted again, closing the entry and crushing a few more of the spiny cats.

I think I’m just gonna sit for a while, Henry thought, his mind growing fuzzy. Dimly, a part of him knew he’d overdone things. His body was telling him to fuck off; he didn’t get to decide when to sleep anymore. That’s fair, he hazily acknowledged.

Henry lay down on the hard stone floor of the cave, the last of the battle with the giant monster cats still raging around him. Kind of ironic I’m passing the fuck out in the same place I woke up after almost dying. The thought was the last he had before losing consciousness.

Hunger

Henry woke up on a bed of straw. He groaned, and Tony asked, “Henry, are you awake?”

“I think so. At least I don’t think it’s possible to hurt this much if I’m unconscious...or dead.”

“Okay, good!” Tony sighed in relief.

Henry didn’t know what universe the kid lived in, but it was definitely not good. He could tell that his healing ability had taken care of some of his issues, but not as much as he would have expected after a nap...or passing the fuck out. Of course, he didn’t know how long he’d been out either. “How long have I been—”

“You were out for a few hours at least. It’s hard to tell time down here, but it’s been a good while. Some of the goblin males carried you back on a stretcher. The shaman made them do it. I think she’s afraid you are testing them, and you’ll destroy them all if she doesn’t keep her word.”

“Works for me. What about you?”

Tony rubbed his face and exhaled. “I’ve been standing guard. I fell asleep for a little bit, but I wanted to stay awake just in case. I’m glad we did the right thing, saving the goblins, but I guess there’s no use in being stupid.”

Henry approved, but instead of saying so he grunted. He levered himself up to a sitting position, wincing at how weak he felt. “Where are we?”

“I think we are in an old stable that hasn’t been used in a long time. I think Shaman Hask put us here to keep an eye on us and protect us, or protect them from us. I’m not sure which. When I killed a couple of monsters, the priests got excited again, and Trask wasn’t much help with translating. He was yelling at the other goblins we’d saved.

“The shaman’s son was still alive, and he stood next to her to support her. Otherwise, I’m not sure what would have happened.”

“Has Trask visited?”

“Yes.” Tony nodded. “He said the leaders are all meeting and having a religious ceremony or argument. For goblins, it might all be the same thing. A new head priest is being chosen, and then they will figure out what to do with me.”

“Yeah, about that. How are you insta-killing everything? I’m assuming it has something to do with your dagger.”

“Yes.” Tony looked shifty, and drew his bronze dagger out, turning the blade to examine in the dim light of goblin glow torches. “I don’t know what it is, exactly. See…” Tony gulped, and his voice grew soft, “Please don’t be angry with me.”

“Just say it.”

“When you were unconscious the first time, before you woke up in the cave with me, you looked really bad. But eventually, there was this black spot that moved down your body to your arm and I...cut it with my knife.”

“I was wondering about that,” said Henry, holding up his arm, rotating it to show Tony the scar. “I don’t usually scar this much anymore, and this isn’t a big cut, but it’s a nasty scar. So this was you?”

“Yes,” Tony said, dropping his shoulders and looking at the ground. “I didn’t want to hurt you or scar you, but I wasn’t sure what to do, and I thought you might die.”

Henry laughed. “Kid, calm down. You might have saved my life again. Whatever you did, it put one hell of a lot of mojo in your dagger. I guess it was just lucky how everything shook out, otherwise, we’d both probably be dead.”

“Yeah, lucky I guess,” said Tony, holding his stomach.

“Anyway, when was the last time you heard any news?”

“I’m not sure. A couple hours I think?”

“Don’t you have an alarm clock in your pack?”

Tony facepalmed. “I didn’t even think to use it or wind it up. I’m sorry.”

“It’s more than okay, kid.” Henry ruefully shook his head. “I don’t think I’ve been too useful on this little fucked up adventure. In fact, you were—”

“Oh, you are awake!” Trask said, walking into the stone building and pushing up his fake glasses. “The guards said so but I wanted to check. Don’t worry; everything is almost over.” With that, the little goblin turned around and stomped out.

Henry looked at Tony, but the young man just shook his head. “How in the hell does that little sonofabitch survive down here? It’s not just me, right? Like, that’s one weird little dude.”

Tony nodded. “Yeah." He hesitated, then asked, "Uhh, my eyes are heavy. Do you think you could take watch now?”

Henry opened his mouth to reply, but the young adventurer was already curled up into a ball, well on the way to oblivion. After a few moments, he started snoring.

Henry grunted and scooted himself backward until he could put his back against the stone wall. His energy felt seriously drained. I wonder how much worse I’d feel without my endurance or healing abilities? I’d probably be dead.

The thought was grim. He patted his scarred leg while he thought about it.

One thing was clear. He was gimped like crazy with his metal magic locked away. Henry absently reached down and scooped a couple handfuls of stone up out of the solid floor. Then he fashioned a few missiles that looked like stone whiffle balls, hollow inside with plenty of holes. He hoped there wouldn’t be any more fighting, hell, he had actually struggled with this small effort of magic, but it wasn’t in his nature to just sit around, either.

His eyes alighted on the sheath at Tony’s back that held his strange dagger. Henry reached towards the dagger and then thought better of it. Both his brain and his gut were screaming at him that it was a bad idea. If it was an enchanted weapon now, it could only have so many owners. If it was something else...he’d seen how it had instantly killed multiple creatures now. Getting made dead was not on Henry’s to-do list.

Instead, he awkwardly, tentatively reached out again with his Mind Whip, imagining himself extending his awareness.

Now that he knew what to look for, the contact was interesting. Tony’s dagger was like a ball of death magic, feeling like a dark party he listened to through a wall. The longer he maintained the connection, the more Henry felt like he was actually getting a message from the thing, almost like a greeting.

When he felt the dagger reaching out towards him, following his Mind Whip, Henry terminated the connection. His curiosity was piqued, but he was playing with forces he didn’t understand. There was a time to learn how to use his new ability, but while he was exhausted and laid out in a goblin stable now was not that time.

Henry shook his head. The mystery could wait. His pressing concern was his own lack of power, not Tony’s new toy.

He knew what he really needed to do was master his light and dark magic to help offset the loss of his metal magic. Figuring out the simple stuff hadn’t been too difficult, but he had no illusions that actually learning to use his new magic would be easy. It had taken him a while to figure out metal and earth, after all.

Actually...illusion. Hmm. Henry frowned in thought. Something was on the tip of his mind, something he thought Jason might have said before. Light, concealment, lasers...he might be able to bend and manipulate light too, like create illusions and make himself invisible.

Invisibility! That was what he'd been trying to remember! The thought was staggering. Henry imagined if he could make himself invisible. He quickly ran through the short list of starter abilities he got with his light magic but frowned, disappointed. Pretty much all of it was just ways to see, protect his vision, or alter his vision.

Now that was interesting. Henry pursed his lips. What if he used light magic to absorb of all the light, and darkness magic to see in the dark? He didn’t have time to figure out how to do it, but the possibilities were interesting.

No, right now he needed to think of something he could actually figure out how to use that would be useful in his current situation. Henry nodded. It was obvious he needed a bluff.

After running through the list of powers he could learn quickly, and figuring out the natural opposite ability with dark magic, Henry formed a plan. With no realistic alternative, he adopted Jason’s process, sitting quietly and thinking about magic. The whole thing felt alien to him, but he didn’t exactly have power to burn. He also didn’t want to make any displays of power. A bluff only worked if it was a surprise.

He really hoped he wouldn’t need to bluff, but better to be safe than sorry. He wasn’t sure how much real use he’d be in a long fight, as beat up as he was. His abused body needed at least a few full days to rest and recover.

Henry didn’t know how much time had passed before Trask came back, the young goblin’s face unreadable. “You should come with me,” he said. “The leaders will see you now.”

“Hey, kid, wake up,” Henry said, shaking Tony awake. The young man woke with a start, his hand going for his dagger, looking around wildly. Henry felt sad, but proud, the reaction bittersweet. I guess the kid isn’t innocent anymore. He’s a warrior now. Henry was too experienced to feel guilt; he knew Tony had made his own choice. He also knew he’d have to think about the young man differently now, though.

Tony didn’t deserve to be called a kid, not anymore.

After they were both up, Henry said, “Hold on a second. I need to piss.” Trask merely nodded and walked out of the stone building.

“I’ll be out here!” the young goblin called back.

With no more prying eyes, Henry began a series of stretches, pushing his groaning muscles, but not straining them enough to hurt himself again. Tony looked confused, his hand on the top of his pants.

“You can go ahead and piss if you need to, but we don’t know what’s going to happen, and we’ve been laying around. Let’s try to warm up a little bit before we leave, at least stretch. We’re not out of this yet.”

Tony nodded, his eyes growing flinty before the young adventurer turned to do his business with an economy of motion Henry had seen many times among young, battle-hardened soldiers.

Yeah, he’s definitely not just a kid anymore.

***

Aodh walked with Henry through the goblin village again, this time the atmosphere was completely different. Once they'd began following Trask, a handful of goblin warriors had taken up positions around them and a couple of the village guards flanked Trask. The gob-folk were watching again, but this time they seemed a strange mixture of afraid, excited, and some other emotion that Aodh couldn’t identify.

It felt like all their eyes were on him.

Henry stumbled, and Aodh stole a nervous glance at the man. The Delvers LLC leader looked like hell, like he’d fall over again any moment. It was obvious he wasn’t going to be his normal, invulnerable self. Aodh felt determination welling up inside himself, willpower he'd never known he had. Someone had to be strong, and there was no other option. It had to be him.

Their procession marched through the stone village, gob-folk standing in doorways and perching on roofs watching them go by. The group kept heading towards the distant temple, eventually arriving at the foot of the giant, disturbing reliefs carved into the solid rock.

A quartet of guards stood outside the temple and joined the end of their group after they entered. “Hey, so they’re all in here?” asked Henry.

Trask just nodded, the young goblin only looked back briefly. The longer Aodh spent around the goblins, the better he got at reading their body language. He thought Trask was worried and if Trask was worried, that made him worried.

Aodh thought about his dagger and actually felt it with his mind. He could just feel where the dagger was at all times now. The sensation was new, beginning while he’d held watch over the unconscious Henry. At first, the contact had scared him, but in an amazingly short time, he’d accepted it. There was nothing he could do about it, and it didn’t seem to be causing him any harm.

The procession of goblins and the two men followed a large hallway until they came to a set of bronze double doors. Aodh did a double take, realizing that the doors reminded him of the huge doors they’d encountered in the ork dungeon before.

Trask knocked, and the doors opened, revealing a large, square room. A large chair, basically a goblin-sized throne, sat at the far end of the room. An older goblin male sat upon it, his dark robe stretching over his girth. He picked his sharp teeth with a small bone, glaring at the newcomers.

Shaman Hask stood to one side of the room, some other goblins, mostly women flanking her. She glared at the goblin on the throne. On the other side of the room stood a group of goblin priests wearing robes. Another smaller group of priests clustered near the doors the procession had passed through, and followed them forward. Uh oh, thought Aodh.

He was only a simple farmer, but the situation looked like a group of chickens, gorhis, and sheep all fighting over the same feed.

The goblin on the throne stood up, spreading his arms and saying something in Gholis, clearly a planned speech. Trask translated, “Head Priest Verrk welcomes you to his temple and his hall, fake Voice and defeated enemy demigod. You have truly been worthy adversaries, but I know that the accounts of your deeds are embellished. Especially you, demigod.” Trask paused and said, “He is talking about you, Henry.”

“I got that,” grated Henry, taking a couple steps forward. The surrounding guards didn’t actually level any weapons, but they noticeably shifted, looking uncertain. Aodh eyed the man, noticing him palm one of the strange rocks he’d made from a belt pouch. Aodh shook his head. No, it couldn’t come to that.

The young adventurer held up a hand and spoke, “I want to know why I am a fake Voice. Why am I not the real Voice? I challenge this.” Trask began translating, and after he was done, the priests behind Aodh hissed. The priests near Head Priest Verrk muttered.

Aodh had no idea what the Voice of Memory was. He should have asked Trask on the way back to the village after Henry had passed out, but he’d been worried about the newly rescued warriors attacking them. He could only see one way to resolve the current situation without a massive fight. He had to improvise.

Aodh spared a glance for Shaman Hask, but she resolutely stared at the opposite wall, her jaw clenched. Verrk responded, and Trask translated again. Trask said, “Head Priest Verrk says he rejects your identity as the Voice because you are Fideli, and Memory would never task a non-Gob-folk as the Voice. Plus, instead of traveling with a demigod of violence, you are paired with a tired Terran. Head Priest has rejected accounts of your companion's power and believes all the Gob-folk to recently die were done in through trickery.

“Lastly, Head Priest Verrk rejects that you, the Voice, killed the Devourer. He believes there is more trickery at play, evidenced by the fact that the fake demigod is a priest of Dolos, the deceiver!”

After Trask stopped talking, Verrk dramatically pointed at Henry’s arm where rips in his clothing displayed the purple triangle of Dolos engraved into his flesh.

Uh oh, this is bad, Aodh frantically thought.

The surrounding guards and warriors began edging closer, some of them showing their teeth. The atmosphere grew incredibly tense. Before Aodh could speak, Henry barked, “He wants to see a demigod, I’ll show him one!”

Henry’s skin lit up; the brilliance made even more startling in the dim lighting of the goblin village. Patterns and lines of darkness crawled over his skin, and his face was masked in shadow. “How about this motherfuckers!?” Henry yelled.

Aodh only goggled for a second. He appreciated what Henry was trying to do, but he knew it probably wouldn’t be enough. Goblins only respected power. While the gob-folk were equal parts dazed and distracted, Aodh ran forward, his legs pumping like blessed steel springs. None of the goblins near Verrk registered his presence until it was too late.

The young man snarled, jumping up and drawing his mysterious dagger in midair. He landed on the new High Priest and held his weapon up in the air dramatically. What was the name of the goblin god? Memory. Aodh said aloud what seemed appropriate for the moment, “You will never be remembered. Be forgotten!”

He slammed his dagger home. The weapon flashed black, and the old goblin’s eyes instantly lost their light. Aodh withdrew the blade from the late head priest’s corpse and blinked. The dagger was still black, an inky black so deep, it almost seemed to suck in the light. Its form seemed to move like water.

Aodh spun around, and every goblin in the room stared at the black dagger. Slowly at first, then with growing speed, the priests fell to their knees, then the rest of the goblins followed suit. In only moments, Henry was the only figure still standing.

The young adventurer opened his mouth, but nothing came out. What had he done? Suddenly, the connection with his dagger pulsed, and he heard a voice in the back of his mind. It was faint, and very obviously alien. “Hello, partner,” it whispered.

Aodh's eyes grew wild as he met Henry’s confused but relieved gaze. Meanwhile, Aodh’s heart felt like it’d dropped to the floor. His stomach pulsed, and he reflexively pushed for his magic, opting for a quick spike of power instead of a slow burn. What the hell is going on?

“Feed me more,” sighed the dagger.

Goblin Secrets

Henry sat in a child-sized goblin chair, watching in exhausted amusement as Tony fumbled his way through taking spiritual control of the Gobskull tribe. It seemed the new adventurer had scared the living beejesus out of all the priests. They had interpreted everything he’d done as fulfilling their prophesies.

The priest caste currently had Tony cornered, using Trask to translate as they asked him questions about Memory, their god of death. They were also busy inducting him as the official Voice of Memory and the de facto high priest. Tony looked flabbergasted and completely out of his depth. Henry chuckled. He knew it was a dick move to laugh, but there was nothing he could do to help, either.

Shaman Hask sat next to Henry. In heavily accented Luda she muttered, “Much change now. Much moving around.”

Henry thought he understood. “You need to cement your new power now that Tony basically just handed you the entire tribe, eh?”

“Yes,” Hask replied, confirming Henry’s suspicion she could understand Luda better than speak it.

“How do you know the Luda language in the first place, much less Trask? He speaks it fluently.”

Hask grimaced. “Trade. Close town. Trade with Terrans. Gob-folk give stone, metals, cave plants. Terrans give food, animals, bronze. Some have to talk to trade.”

“That makes sense.” Henry thought out loud, “So we need to get out of here quickly probably so you can do your thing. That works just fine for us. We need to get going too, probably to this town you mentioned. I need to get a message to my friends. Actually, do you have any gold?”

“No. No need gold,” Hask said, shaking her head. The movement made her ornate clothing click as it shifted. “Trade all away.”

Henry sighed. Of course not, that would have been too easy. “So what’s the catch? Why are we still here? You haven’t just given us the Dolos loot and sent us on our way yet, there has to be a reason why.”

“Waiting.”

“Waiting for what?”

“Waiting for pain in the leg. Pain in head? Pain in neck?” Hask grimaced as she tried to find the right expression.

“A pain in the ass?”

“That is working,” said Hask. “Sister of Trask, niece of me. Gob-folk shaman being trained but not for Gobskulls. Need to see larger world.”

“In other words, you want to get rid of her. What do we get out of it?”

“Voice is important. If I believe or not believe not matters. Gob-folk believe. Cannot let Voice die with animals close.”

Henry looked up for a moment in thought, putting the pieces together. He knew if he was less cynical and less used to military and hospital politics, he might not have understood. However, he said, “Tony has to stay alive for the priests here to keep believing in him and keep the Head Priest position in his honor, huh? So you can’t let him die now, at least not close enough to the town that others will know.”

Shaman Hask nodded, no shame visible on her inhuman face. “Niece of me is named Rekkla. She can help through forest, help not get eat by animals.”

“By animals you mean monsters?”

“Yes.”

“Okay, I get it. Good talk, but if it’s all the same to you, I want to get the hell out of here. We can get all the Dolos stuff while we wait for this Rekkla. I’m tired of sitting around.”

“So you say. Let us prepare.”

Henry grunted and stood up, hiding his slight wobble. He absent mindedly patted his leg while he watched Shaman Hask issue orders to her kin. It was time to get Tony, get the loot, and get the fuck out of dodge.

Henry never knew he could hate caves so much.

***

Trask, Shaman Hask, a few of Hask’s administrators, a handful of priests, and a couple guards made up the entire group of gob-folk as Henry and Tony traveled deeper into the bowels of the temple.

Henry was glad they hadn’t had to fight the entire village. He still thought it was weird that the freed goblin warriors weren’t trying to kill him, but Shaman Hask really did seem to wield great power over her people, especially without the priesthood opposing her anymore. If it had come down to a fight, Henry wasn’t sure he and Tony would have survived, but even if they had, he would not have wanted to explore this big assed temple.

Finding the loot in this dungeon would have taken longer than clearing it in the first place.

Eventually, after a few more twists and turns down identical looking stone hallways, the procession came to another set of bronze double doors. Shaman Hask pressed her hand to the wall and tapped it in a complex pattern. Henry’s slightly enhanced hearing caught the sound of gears turning and mechanisms obviously disengaging.

She just disarmed traps, he thought with a chill. The whole hallway was probably rigged. This dungeon was definitely more dangerous than Yanbei Cavern had been. Henry would make sure to remember this information.

Next, Hask pressed her hand on another nondescript place on the wall, tapped again, and the huge doors slowly swung open. The entire group moved forward, and the gob-folk leader grated, “Anything you not take, warriors will dump in the forest outside.”

“Got it,” replied Henry. Tony just nodded and moved forward to inspect the tables. Henry moved to the other side of the room to check out the items on display. The goblins didn’t say anything about it, but he immediately noticed a slight haze over all the items on the table. “Don’t touch anything!” he called back to Tony.

“Don’t worry I saw it too,” the young man responded.

After he’d made a complete circuit, being careful not to touch anything, Henry frowned. There was definitely less loot than he had expected for such a large, dangerous dungeon. But more importantly, he wondered what was going on with the energy field over all the items. It made sense that the loot would be protected since the goblins knew how to get into the chamber. Otherwise, they probably would have stolen it or gotten rid of it all ages ago. “How do we remove the protection?”

Hask spat something in Gholis, and Trask translated, “We do not know. It is a secret and a mystery from the time of the covenant. We are sure the Voice will know what to do.”

Henry rolled his eyes. More tests, Christ. Instead of arguing, he decided to try an experiment.

“What do we do now?” Tony spoke English.

“Just give me a minute,” replied Henry in English.

“What language is that?” Trask’s eyes gleamed.

Henry switched to Luda. “Don’t worry about it, kid. Uh, young goblin, gob-folks, whatever.” Trask didn’t move so Henry growled at the young goblin, squaring his shoulders and taking a step forward. Trask’s green face grew dark, and he scurried back, folding his hands and slumping his shoulders, looking weak. His mannerisms resembled a dog that had just been nipped by another dog. Henry didn’t believe the show for a second. He knew the interpreter was still watching and listening like a hawk.

Cautiously, Henry reached out with his Mind Whip ability, bracing himself before he touched the strange protective field. He felt a buzzing, a strange pressure between his eyes, but he could handle it. The sensation was almost like touching an electric fence that was hooked to his brain. He smiled slightly as the underlying feeling registered and he realized it felt familiar.

Hell of a coincidence, he thought. The field felt just like the sensation he’d gotten from Tony’s dagger. “Tony, wanna try touching that field with your dagger?” Henry asked in English.

“Are you sure? Messing around with magic is dangerous.”

“Maybe, but I’m going with my gut on this one. I think it will be okay.”

“Well, alright.” Tony took a few quick steps forward, unsheathed his dagger, and plunged it into the field. The protective barrier immediately dropped, and the dagger grew even darker, generating a kind of dark cloud around Tony’s head. The young adventurer quickly put the weapon away, his expression unreadable.

The goblins all bowed, one of the priests gibbering something about apologies and test in broken Luda. Henry ignored them and took a quick inventory of the loot.

Looks kind of lame. A handful of what he assumed to be enchanted daggers, a box full of Chinese comic books from Earth, a basket of magic stones, some blessed steel tools, including a complete set of tableware, a blessed steel shovel, a few blessed steel spears, and one different looking, probably enchanted spear.

Henry looked around and didn’t see anything else that really stood out, just a few more little gadgets and adventuring tools. The lone, unique spear had a black metal blade that was long enough to be used as a hewing weapon. Henry frowned and reached out with his Mind Whip.

When his ability touched the weapon, he saw text scroll over his left eye:

Vampiric Stabber

Enchanted Spear

0 past users

Magic level: Medium

Vampiric Stabber? Is that its name? Who the fuck named it, a middle school student? Henry honestly wasn’t that surprised that his ability had given him the information, but the stupid name threw him for a loop.

He was starting to realize that his Mind Whip ability might be the single most powerful tool he had on Ludus.

Henry looked around one more time before muttering, “What the fuck is this?” He frowned. “There has to be more than this, right?”

“Yes, now go to most secret,” said Shaman Hask.

The Terran man eyed her wearily. “Lead the way.”

The gob-folk leader walked to the far wall and touched a portion of it like she had earlier. By Henry’s understanding, she disarmed three sets of traps, the faint noises only discernable because he was listening for them. His blood ran cold. This dungeon is nasty.

Finally, Hask touched one final place on the wall, knocked in a complicated pattern, and a hidden door opened. “Every Gobskulls shaman learn this code. I will be glad that never pass it.” She gestured, and Henry strode forward, the rest of the group following him.

At the end of the short hallway was a perfectly round room, the stone covered in alabaster. A portrait of Dolos adorned the far wall, and Henry groaned. I’m never going to get away from that motherfucker.

Two pedestals stood in the center of the room. Whatever was on top of them was shrouded in shadow. Henry reached out with his Mind Whip again and smiled. “Tony, go do your thing, please.”

The young adventurer nodded, moving forward to dispel both fields. After he was done, his dagger was so dark it seemed to suck in the surrounding light. Half of his body was shown in roiling shadow before the blade was sheathed again. Henry thought he should be worried, but he just didn’t have the time or energy for it. Staying upright and conscious was top on his priority list.

He moved forward and cautiously examined the tops of the pillars. On one was a strange weapon, the likes of which he’d never seen before. In profile, it looked a lot like a Somoan war axe or club, but was made of a dull, silvery metal with dark script traveling up its haft. The grip looked like a layer of ivory, or maybe crystal.

On the other pillar was a small animal, about the size of a puppy.

Henry was confused. “What is this?” he asked, glancing back at Tony. Behind the young man, the goblins were all prostrate, oriented towards the little animal. What the hell? He eyed the creature, but it seemed to be sleeping deeply, so he examined the weapon again.

Using Mind Whip, he reached out and tried to make contact gently, but as soon as he touched it, it felt like his brain was on fire. The weapon was different; something special...something like Tony’s dagger. It was not a normal enchanted weapon, not even close.

Henry took a step back, but suddenly Tony was at his side, a hand on his stomach. The young man’s eyes gleamed strangely and his voice buzzed, almost like he was in pain. “You should take that weapon, Henry,” he said. “It isn’t meant for me.”

Almost in a trance, Henry stepped forward, placing his hand on the weapon’s handle, his Mind Whip was still attached. As soon as he touched the grip, he saw a name:

Meteor Origin

Henry’s natural snark was replaced with wonder. He could somehow feel in his bones that the weapon he held in his hand possessed awesome power. Acting on instinct, he pressed the side of it to his hip...and it remained in place, riding as if it was firmly attached to his body through his clothing.

“Okay, now that’s cool,” he muttered. He thought he heard some commotion back the way they’d come, but his thoughts felt disjointed. Henry turned to the animal and reached out with his Mind Whip, curious if he could figure out what it was.

As soon as he made contact, his entire spirit rang like a gong. The animal yawned, displaying pearly white teeth, and opened its brilliant purple eyes. *I am awake.* The thought was more of a feeling than words, but Henry understood it all the same.

With a lazy flick of its paws, the creature righted itself and stood up, stretching. It looked like a badger...sort of; a badger with grey and purple coloring, bright purple eyes…and if badgers could float. The creature had hopped a bit and slowly drifted over to Henry. When it got close enough, it daintily hooked its claws in Henry’s clothing and swarmed up to his shoulder.

Henry’s jaw dropped. “What in the—”

The goblins on the floor were hissing, sounding terrified, all of their eyes fixed on the creature riding on Henry’s shoulder.

“What in the fuck is this thing?” Henry asked nervously. He turned to Tony, but the young man just held his stomach, smiling sickly.

Does he have a stomach ache? This is some seriously terrible timing. Henry opened his mouth to ask another question when a female goblin burst into the room, almost flouncing.

She was young, probably only slightly older than Trask. The goblin girl wore sandals, what looked like leather overalls with colorful beads sewn on the bib, terminating in a skirt. She also wore a bright yellow shirt, the first true, cloth clothing item Henry had seen any goblin wear. She wore a garland of fake white plastic flowers on her head. A satchel decorated the same as her leather overall dress completed the outfit.

“What is going on here,” she said in Luda, looking around. She barked something in Gholis and Trask looked at her from the floor, frantically gesturing.

“Rekkla, you must…” the bespectacled goblin whined.

The goblin girl, Rekkla, ignored him. Her gaze wandered upwards, finally settling on the creature sitting on Henry’s shoulder. She screeched and stumbled. “A memory badger! Graft zra lasltlr hagz na! It is the end of days!” The goblin girl took another step backward, tripped over a rock and fell on her butt, her eyes huge.

Well, that’s not exactly comforting. Henry could feel the creature’s fur on his cheek. He tried to think calm thoughts and stay absolutely still.

The strange animal poked Henry’s cheek with a cold, wet nose.

“Oh hell,” Henry muttered. “Can I ever catch a fucking break?”

Nibbles

Aodh stood in the light of the early morning sun, rising in the western sky, and felt like it’d been years since he’d seen it. They were alive...somehow still alive. The surrounding forest was sure to be dangerous, but at least he wasn’t in a cave any longer.

Shaman Hask and the other leaders of the Gobskulls had come out of the main tunnel from the goblin village to bid them farewell. The priests, in particular, seemed upset that Aodh was leaving. None of the gob-folk seemed particularly concerned about Trask...and they all avoided even looking at his sister, Rekkla.

Eventually, all the gob-folk from the Gobskulls village had finished saying their goodbyes, leaving Aodh’s small group by themselves to start their journey.

Behind Aodh, Henry stretched, the last night of sleep he’d had in the goblin village had done him a lot of good. Instead of appearing like he’d die at any moment, now he only looked exhausted, like he’d just fall asleep.

The Asian man had somehow managed to shave and trim his goatee. Henry’s new acquisition, the stout, furry animal with purple highlights was playing with a pinecone at his feet. All the goblins seemed either terrified or in awe of the creature but wouldn’t discuss it. If Aodh brought it up with the priests, they suddenly had something urgent to do.

Aodh had asked him about the creature the night before, but Henry said he didn’t know anything about it and was still deciding on a name. Sometimes when the creature was mentioned, the grizzled adventurer would look distracted, almost like he was listening to something.

Henry’s clothes had definitely seen better days, but he was armored once again. Since the goblins didn’t have any armor that would fit a Terran, the Asian man’s bronze cuirass had been repaired enough by gob-folk smiths to be worn again. The battered armor seemed to match the rest of him now, everything except the strange, gleaming weapon at his waist.

Aodh had a new weapon too. He spared a glance for the enchanted spear in his hand, his eyes traveling up to its dark metal business end. Henry had said its name was Vampiric Stabber. Aodh was just glad the thing didn’t talk to him, unlike another weapon he wore.

Thinking about the dagger brought it to mind, and he felt where it was, sheathed at his lower back. It hadn’t talked to him since he’d killed the late Gobskulls head priest. Aodh had been avoiding thinking about it as much as he could ever since. He had a feeling the entire dagger would still be an inky black and would obscure him in shadow.

Aodh really wasn’t ready to deal with that new development just yet.

“Voice, we are ready to go now,” said Trask, hefting his pack. The young goblin held a spear with an obsidian point, and one of the enchanted daggers from the dungeon’s loot stash hung from his belt. Aodh had insisted that Trask and Rekkla both get a couple daggers from the loot. Both siblings had accepted, but when Aodh had tried to offer a new dagger to Shaman Hask or any of the priests, they’d looked like they might die of outrage.

Perhaps Hask and Rekkla accepting a dagger was a sign of just how different they were and why the rest of the tribe was more or less exiling them. The whole thing was strange, and Aodh wanted to figure it out. He felt a growing responsibility towards the Gobskulls.

What a strange world. Goblins were ruthless, crafty monsters. They were responsible for untold amounts of suffering and death on Ludus. All of that was still true, but Aodh couldn’t deny that he cared about this particular tribe now. They felt like HIS monsters. He wasn’t sure what to do about his new feelings yet.

“Okay, let’s get going. Rekkla, you can make sure we get through these woods without us turning into monster food, right?”

“Of course, Demigod,” she said to Henry. “Anything to keep the Voice safe.” Then Rekkla slowly, deliberately winked at Aodh, turned around, and swayed her hips as she walked over to her pack. She bent over in an exaggerated manner while picking up her gear. Her clothing rode up her hips and… I can see everything!

Aodh quickly looked away, pretending to watch the tree line for threats. What in the bloody hell was she doing!? He knew he was special to these goblins, but mostly to the priests. Rekkla was acting aggressively flirty. But...she was green and came up to his chest. Was she teasing? That must be it; she was teasing him.

Aodh glanced back and saw Rekkla had shouldered her pack, but was steadily looking over her shoulder at him. He smiled at her to let her know he was in on her joke, but she leered back, her smile showing all her pointed teeth. Her green cheeks and forehead darkened, her pointed ears quivered.

“Hey, Tony, I need your help over here. I want to leave in ten minutes!” called out Henry, working with their provisions. The goblins had given them water and dried meats for the journey.

“Coming!” Aodh responded, grateful for the distraction. He jogged over to Henry and tried to ignore the feeling of being watched. The space between his shoulder blades itched. He had an uncomfortable feeling that if he turned around, Rekkla would still be staring at him.

The look in her eyes was utterly alien, a mixture of predatory hunger, awe, and something he couldn’t identify. She had to be joking with him...right?

Suddenly, there was a flash of light, its origin only twenty feet away. Aodh was startled, but leveled his spear and stood his ground, covering his eyes with his other hand. The reaction seemed natural now, but was definitely not how he would have responded a year earlier.

The entire group was still for a moment, waiting for signs of danger. When there was none, Henry asked, “What the hell?” He cautiously plodded over to where the light had come from and grunted as he bent over to pick something up. The goateed man returned holding a small wooden box.

Aodh was puzzled until Henry said, “It’s a spirit stone, compliments of our favorite flying asshole. There’s a little note inside.” Henry read:

Was hoping you would not survive. Oh well. Here is the petty reward for your little kill. Work hard on producing more data. Kill more test subjects or get killed. Whatever

-Great God Dolos

“I really, really hate that guy,” muttered Henry.

Rekkla growled and folded her arms. All of her flirty body language from before had vanished. “Dolos? The Dolos? The deceiver god?” she asked.

“Don’t worry about it,” replied Henry. “Tony, what the hell is this thing from? We haven’t killed any ‘Bonded or anything lately.”

Aodh wasn't sure at first, so he held a finger up in thought. The answer came to him in a flash as he reviewed his memories before getting hit with the light weapon. “You killed that one woman right before we both almost died.”

“Oh, that’s right. With that big circle weapon, too. Why the hell didn’t Dolos give this thing to us earlier?”

“I don’t know why Dolos does anything.” As soon as the words left his mouth, Aodh looked around nervously.

Henry patted his leg, looking off into the distance. He said, “Well, it doesn’t do anything for me, I need like three more stones to level up. Why don’t you take it? You should level up with one. Just make sure you swallow this thing before bed.” Henry held out the box.

Aodh slowly took it, his hands trembling. “Are you sure?”

“Yeah, go ahead. You’ve saved my ass multiple times now. It’s yours.”

As Aodh stowed the spirit stone in his pack, Henry grimaced and mumbled, “I really need to start always carrying one of those. If I’d had my health potion, this whole cave SNAFU would have been less FU, if you know what I mean.”

Aodh hesitantly responded, “No, I don’t really know what that means, but if you think you should carry a pack, why don’t you just carry a pack?”

Henry gave him a level look before finally saying, “Now you sound like Jason and Mareen. It must be spreading. God, I miss my Battlewagon…” The man walked off while muttering to himself.

Aodh watched him go, wondering if he’d said something wrong. He absently scratched his arm and turned to find Rekkla staring at him again. Her previous body language had returned full force.

Oh, bloody hell.

***

Henry scanned the forest around the little worn path he was following. The countryside was different than Tolstey, wherever it was they currently were. He still wasn’t sure—the goblins didn’t care about the city races or their maps, a fact they had not been shy to tell him many times.

At least it didn’t seem like they’d really lost much time by traveling to the Dhu World. It was still deep fall, the leaves were falling from the broad leaf trees, but there were definitely less of them in this part of Ludus. Towering pine trees framed the path they walked, some of the tallest had massive, jagged looking pine cones unlike anything Henry had ever seen on Earth.

A few of the more squat pine trees had short, wide needles and dense branches. Most of the bushes lining their path had already lost their leaves. Henry figured it might feel a little chilly if he wasn’t walking with armor on. Then again, now that he thought about it, he hadn’t really been all that cold or hot on Ludus since he’d been ‘Bonded. Maybe it was a side perk.

The nasty tasting Ludus vegetables were still everywhere, though. Henry knew what to look for, and he saw them from time to time. He’d never starve on Ludus, but if he ever had to eat those fucking things again, he’d almost rather be dead.

Henry let his senses ghost out ahead through the earth. He was using power to map the surrounding terrain for maximum coverage. It didn’t take him much magic power to do it, and he was not going to be caught unaware again. He was cycling through his enhanced senses too, but mostly focusing on hearing. He was able to hear Rekkla muttering or chanting to herself at the rear of their group, presumably doing whatever was keeping the monsters away. Then again, she might have been hanging back just to keep checking out Tony.

The goblin girl wasn’t exactly being subtle with her interest, something that Henry had not been expecting at all. Tony was a big deal now with the Gobskull tribe, so it wasn’t necessarily that crazy. Henry heard footsteps approaching before Trask appeared at his side and began keeping pace with him.

“Demigod, we should probably make camp earlier today than you might normally do. It will take time for Rekkla to prepare for the night.”

“To keep the monsters away?”

“Yes.”

“How does that work anyway?”

“I am not sure. I know it is because the Gobskulls have lived in this area for a long time. The shamans speak to the land. Surrounding monsters can’t see us. They do not know we are here with a Gobskulls-trained shaman as a guide.”

“Wait,” said Henry. “You said monsters could’t see us. Aren’t goblins monsters too?”

Trask’s long, pointed nose twitched, and his nostrils flared. For the first time since Henry had known the young goblin, his eyes narrowed, and his mood shifted. Trask growled and said, “Gob-folk are not monsters. We are thinking beings with civilization. How dare you say these things, Demigod.”

Henry didn’t back down. “Oh really? My first day on Ludus, my friend and I killed some goblins. They’d killed a little boy and were butchering him to eat.”

Trask immediately deflated. “Well, not all gob-folks are—”

“Do your people eat humans, I mean Terrans?” Henry looked Trask directly in the eyes, but the young goblin turned his head.

“We sometimes will eat others for strength, to worship Memory. I haven’t. I can’t after learning Luda and knowing them. But we are traded prisoners and bad people by other city races...mostly.”

“Oh really? So you never do anything to your prisoners but kill and eat them?”

“What else would we do?” asked Trask uncertainly.

“When I killed those goblins with my friend, a few of them had been busy tearing my future wife’s clothes off.”

Trask’s ears laid back and his entire posture changed, instantly looking dangerous, even in his crude attempt at fancy clothes. He growled deep in his chest, all previous uncertainty gone. His lips pulled back from sharp teeth, and his eyes glowed. “You killed them all, yes?” he asked.

“Yes, Jason and I killed them all. They were in a dirty, nasty cave with totems out front.”

“What did the totems look like?”

Henry told him, and Trask’s normal, genial personality was completely gone. “That is a related tribe of the Gobskulls. Every race on Ludus, even gob-folk, give death for rape. When I tell Shaman Hask she will build a war band to wipe out the Mountainskulls. We will destroy them all, or they will become our slaves.”

Henry wasn’t sure that this logic made sense, but he decided to keep his mouth shut about it for the time being. Trask was all kinds of worked up and looked like he was about to pop a blood vessel. He said, “Yeah we killed them. Going back would take a while, though. I don’t know where ‘here’ even is, but here is definitely not there, if you know what I mean.”

Trask’s eyes were still flinty, but he calmed himself with an obvious effort of will. “Yes,” he said. “I will need to tell Shaman Hask. Then it will be her responsibility. I am sorry.”

“Don’t be sorry, just be glad Shaman Hask wanted to play nice. It wouldn’t have hurt my feelings to kill your entire tribe. You still eat people, and Tony and I didn’t get the warmest welcome.”

“You killed many gob-folk, Demigod. Your kind kill even more gob-folk. You kill many more of us than we kill of yours.” It was Trask’s turn to stare Henry down. “We eat meat, meat that is available. We eat what we kill. Terrans just kill and leave gob-folk bodies for the animals."

Trask straightened his button-up shirt with a bit of force and continued, “Are gob-folk worse than Terrans or Areva or Mo’hali or Adom? Especially Adom. Have Terrans never eaten other Terrans?”

Henry shrugged. “Well, yeah I guess. Some cultures on Earth. But every race has bad apples, right?”

Trask shook his head. “No. Only Terrans, ‘monsters,’ Fideli, and Adom...and all are feared. Terrans have cities. If you had caves, you could be like gob-folk to other races."

That thought struck a nerve with Henry. He remembered the insurgents living in caves in the desert, coming out at night to attack other humans; arguments over religion that led to bloodshed and destroyed entire countries. These memories led to other, darker thoughts, and he was lost in contemplation until the group found a good place to camp.

***

Aodh woke the next morning with the strangest feeling of danger he’d ever had. He was an experienced enough adventurer now that he didn’t lose his calm or immediately try to get up. He mentally ran through reasons his senses could be screaming at him. Was it the spirit stone he’d taken the night before? No, he didn’t actually feel any different. He definitely didn’t feel sick, either.

He couldn’t hear any commotion. In fact, Henry should be on watch with Trask. The men and goblins didn’t entirely trust each other yet, so Aodh and Rekkla had taken first watch together, and Henry took the last watch with Trask. The situation wasn’t ideal, but they did the best they could. The goblins had both understood and agreed.

Thinking of his mysterious dagger assured Aodh that it was in its sheath at his side right where he’d left it, ready to be deployed. The bedroll the goblins had given him had done a surprisingly good job of keeping the cold ground at bay during the night, so the feeling of danger was at odds with Aodh’s overall feeling of comfort. In fact, he felt strangely warm.

He slowly searched the camp with his eyes and finally located Henry and Trask. Trask was pointedly not looking in his direction. On the other hand, Henry was obviously amused and grinned widely when his eyes met Aodh’s.

What the… Aodh scrunched his brow and moved to roll over, but something was wrong. There was weight on his arm. His sleep addled brain tried to catch up with his instincts as he reached over with his other arm under his blanket. His hand encountered something soft.

Aodh frowned and squeezed. Whatever was on his arm was soft and warm. Suddenly, he felt teeth on his hand, similar to a tunnel cat’s nibble if they got a belly rub. These teeth were bigger, way bigger.

With a screech, Aodh shot off his blankets, revealing a very sleepy, very naked Reekla on his bedroll. The young adventurer could hear Henry trying to stifle laughter.

Aodh stood with his hands on his head, breathing heavily, trying to make sense of the situation. From his bed, Rekkla blinked owlishly and glanced around before looking directly at Aodh. The goblin girl asked, “What is wrong, Voice?” Then she yawned, showing her mouth full of sharp teeth and a long, pointed tongue.

“What the holy hell are you doing?” he shouted.

Rekkla frowned at him, not self-conscious of her nudity in the slightest. “I am making it known that I am your mate if you want me, Voice. I am not sure how I can be clearer.”

In the background, Henry said in a strangled voice, “I think she likes you, kid.” Then the man finally began laughing so hard he started choking, Trask still kept looking the opposite direction. The fussy young goblin’s back was straight, his arms crossed. He sniffed.

“Go put on some clothes!” Aodh wheezed. He pointed at Henry to prove his point and said, “Everyone can see you!”

“Oh, I do not understand city races. So you do not wish Demigod or others to see my body? I will remember.” The young goblin woman turned on her heel, swaying her green bum as she moved towards her own bedroll. Aodh turned to look away, knowing Rekkla would probably bend over again like she had the day before.

Goblins...goblin girls are nuts!

***

Aodh trudged along at the front of their formation; the group was getting close to the edge of the forest. Henry had taken the second to last position so he could move up to the front or drop to the rear if they were attacked. The gruff man looked much better now, almost back to normal. His healing ability was amazing.

Meanwhile, Aodh didn’t have any powerful healing or endurance abilities, he just got stomach pains. He held his gut and grimaced. The young adventurer had gotten a feeling he should use his magic, so he had been, but he was paying the price for it.

He could feel Rekkla staring at him. Aodh knew if he glanced back quickly enough he’d find the young Gobskull shaman’s strange orange eyes on him. The feeling was disconcerting and wasn’t getting any better.

I really need to do something about that girl… Aodh thought. He had to admit he didn’t have a clue what to do, though. He didn’t have a lot of experience with Terran girls, much less monster girls...or Adom, he amended.

He wondered how Trask was doing at the rear of the formation. The particular young goblin appeared entirely out of his element out with an adventuring party, and seemed even more confused than Aodh was about Rekkla’s recent behavior.

Aodh cringed when he thought about what it’d be like to watch a sister throw herself at a boy. He didn’t have a sister, but he suddenly imagined Vitaliya being interested in a man. It wasn’t the same, though. In that situation, he’d just feel pity. That poor, poor bastard…

He suddenly realized that one day, Vitaliya and Rekkla might meet each other. Oh no, oh no, oh no! Rekkla was making him a bit uncomfortable, but she seemed honest, sincere, and was actually kind of cute, which was bizarre to think about a goblin girl. The fact she might have eaten people before was extremely disturbing, but he’d heard about how the Gobskulls only killed and ate bad people. They had religious rules for how bodies were prepared, too.

That was all horrible, but a lot of girls had rough spots, right? Vitaliya had killed people before. Oh no, Vitaliya! She wouldn’t possibly kill Rekkla, would she?

Aodh was lost in thought as he broke out of the tree line into a meadow. He wasn’t paying attention to his surroundings like he should have been, so he was intensely startled when a scream tore through the otherwise quiet evening.

He felt a twinge in his stomach and realized he’d stopped using magic a few minutes before, but immediately had a feeling he needed to push it now, HARD. Aodh’s stomach churned as he embraced his magic and simultaneously looked up.

A beautiful girl was running over a distant hill, her blonde tresses flowing behind her. The image seemed too slow for Aodh. The girl was alluring, Terran, and about his age. She wore a pretty blue dress tailored for travel, and had flowers in her hair. Her delicate features mesmerized Aodh and the moment seemed to last forever. The spell was broken when a group of orks crested the hill behind her, hot in pursuit.

Orks...Aodh remembered the terrible kitchen in Yanbei Cavern and felt sick to his stomach, even more so than he already felt while using his magic. Then he focused again, on the terrified expression of the beautiful girl, her eyes swimming in fear, her helpless, willowy movements, on the snarling faces of the orks behind her...

Something welled up inside of the young adventurer, something dark. Aodh savagely pushed his magic, ignoring the pain in his abdomen. He sprinted forward, long grass slapping against his legs. His spear was leveled, his teeth bared.

He distantly heard Henry shouting behind him, then sounds of someone falling down. Aodh ignored all of it. His vision was focused on the beautiful fleeing girl. He couldn’t do anything about the people in that terrible kitchen in Yanbei Cavern. The same thing would not happen to this girl, though.

No, not ever. Not if he could help it.

Vampire Stabber

Henry had been rotating his enhanced senses. His sense of smell had been enhanced, not hearing, so he hadn’t noticed anything amiss until he had heard a scream.

His head snapped up, and he immediately knew in his gut that the girl before him had to be one of the fiercest people he had seen on Ludus so far. She appeared about Tony’s age and was almost as tall as Jason. However, where Jason was kind of a slim guy, this girl looked like a volleyball player. She was all corded muscle, visible even under her utilitarian dress as she ran.

The scene was surreal to Henry. They’d had a relatively peaceful two days while traveling out of the dangerous forest from the goblin village, well, other than Rekkla sexually harassing Tony. Then out of nowhere was a random human girl in mortal danger.

The girl was fast, even in clothing not suited for running, but the orks were so damn big they were still catching up to her. The blonde girl whirled and snarled, holding out a palm and launching a jet of flame into an ork’s face. The leather-armored, tusked warrior howled, holding his eyes, and the girl hit him in the head, hard, with a stick she snatched off the ground, screaming in rage and frustration. Then she turned and bolted again.

Henry’s jaw dropped. The girl’s expression had been cold and flinty, and she had been smiling slightly! Who the hell does that? Henry wondered. He had no idea where she was running to, but the orks were starting to catch up again

About that time, Tony took off like a bat out of hell. “Tony, get back here!” Henry yelled. Of course, the focused adventurer ignored him. Henry shook his head and sprinted after the spear-wielding young man. In mid stride, somehow, his foot slipped.

He went down hard. Henry got up, cursing, but Tony seemed to be running even faster, already much closer to the orks. “Tony, get back here!” Henry yelled again. The kid was still completely ignoring him.

The purple badger creature from the Gobskulls caves had been following Henry at a distance all this time, and as he got up, he noticed her watching him with beady eyes. Everyone’s a damn comedian, even the magic animal-thing.

“God dammit!” Henry seethed. Finally up, he took another couple steps and somehow fell yet again. “What the fucking fuck?” he snarled. His employee, his friend, was tearing off alone towards a group of like ten orks, and he couldn’t even chase the fucking idiot!

He pushed himself to get up and his foot somehow slipped on nothing. To add insult to injury, we was pretty sure he’d landed in some animal’s droppings. He’d worry about that later, though. Tony needed his help...but the fucking universe seemed hell bent on keeping him from actually doing anything.

Trask and Rekkla both pounded up together and helped Henry to his feet. He took a few experimental steps and didn’t eat dirt again, which was an improvement.  However, the badly outnumbered Tony had already reached the orks. Henry started running again to catch up, but knew that the whole way there, he’d have to watch helplessly as the kid fought all on his own.

***

Aodh was halfway to the orks when he realized he didn’t have a plan and was running towards a group of hulking, muscular, inhuman warriors on his own. His heart leapt into his throat, but after one faltering step, he focused on the girl’s face again, her obviously sweet, innocent demeanor screwed up in fear and despair. Aodh felt his resolve harden.

The orks had almost caught up with the girl again, and the gorgeous creature generated another weak fire magic attack like she had before. Aodh admired her spirit, fighting back even while so frightened. Unfortunately, while she was a much stronger mage than he was, she was no Vitaliya.

If Vitaliya had been there, Aodh would feel sorry for the orks. But thankfully for the creatures, his cousin wasn’t there. A sweet, delicate girl needed help, and he had to answer the call.

Aodh snarled, pumping his adventure-hardened legs and shot forward even faster, all hesitation dismissed. He drew deeply on his magic, hoping that whatever it did would be enough to save the girl. He’d find out in a few seconds.

Before he knew it, time was up. Panting, he completely blindsided the closest ork, ramming his spear into the mottled warrior’s side, the blade managing to deftly penetrate a gap in the enemy’s armor. Aodh didn’t expect what happened next.

The ork screamed, convulsing madly as the spear punctured his heart, and fell limply to the ground. However, Aodh felt a warm, sticky-feeling rush of energy. He’d been out of breath from sprinting before, but now his pulse was only slightly elevated and he wasn’t breathing hard anymore. In fact, he felt great.

The young man’s eyes widened in shock, but he didn’t have any time to otherwise react. Now the other orks knew he was there.

He quickly counted nine remaining enemies, and all of them had turned around, heading straight for him. Aodh relaxed a bit. He’d probably be overwhelmed now, but at least the girl would get away. He could die happy.

His contentment was shattered when the girl whirled around, chasing after the orks that were already running towards him! She picked up rocks from the ground and threw them at the mottled warriors all while screeching and shooting blasts of fire. She must have been so terrified it addled her wits! Aodh had to save her.

He gritted his teeth and pushed harder on his magic than he ever had in the past, harder than he knew he even could. The spirit stone that should have elevated him to a second rank orb-Bonded must have worked. Now that he was trying to, he moved several times more magic than he ever had before.

His stomach cramped so hard he almost doubled in agony, but Aodh endured it, tears standing in his eyes. He screamed in pain from his stomach hurting so badly, his bowls spasming, and launched himself forward at his foes.

***

Henry’s running slowed until he came to a stop, so surprised his brain took a short break and all he could do was stare. The two goblin siblings stopped next to him, doing the same.

Tony had gone apeshit.

The young adventurer had torn into the remaining orks with a ferocity Henry had never seen in him before. He was randomly screaming too. Tony even put a hand on his gut from time to time to taunt the giant, mottled-skin warriors trying to surround him, acting like his stomach hurt or something.

Tony spun, slashed and stabbed like a madman. “The kid’s like a fucking drunken master…” whispered Henry.

Every time an ork attacked, Tony blocked, or simply wasn’t there. He tripped, he got bumped, his blocks slammed him around, but he always managed to avoid getting hit, and his strikes found vitals more often than not. What’s more, he didn’t seem to be getting tired. Three dead orks were on the ground, and Tony wasn’t slowing down...or even breathing hard.

The tall, fierce blonde girl was throwing rocks and had picked up another stick from the ground. Every time an ork got too near, she launched a small jet of flame at his face. The warriors had no choice but to cover their eyes or be damaged by the magic. The girl took advantage of this to either pelt them with more stones or hit them with her improvised club before darting away.

She would have died several times if not for Tony. The boy was everywhere, weaving around like a maniac, stabbing orks, and even somehow avoiding the magic that the tall girl kept throwing around without any regard for her new ally. It was total chaos.

Suddenly, another ork fell, gasping out the last of his life, his throat torn open by Tony’s spear. At Henry’s side, Rekkla took off, sprinting towards the fighting again, leaving Henry and Trask behind. The little goblin girl was fast and growling in a way that Henry was starting to associate with goblin bloodlust. Every time he heard it, it reminded him of his first day on Ludus. It was not a pleasant feeling.

Trask took a hesitant step forward but Henry grabbed his shoulder. “I wouldn’t if I were you, kid,” cautioned Henry. “Tony hasn’t even pulled out the big guns yet. He still has that dagger. I’m going to run up and help, but you should stay here. ”

Trask’s expression was difficult to decipher before he said, “I will trust in the Voice.”

Henry nodded and began to run forward again, knowing that in a fight, a second could be an eternity. “God I wish I had my rifle,” he muttered. The battle wasn’t very far away, but even as Henry used magic to draw more strength from the earth, shooting forward like an Asian rocket, he knew it would still take a few seconds to reach his friend.

Luckily, it seemed Tony didn’t really need any help.

***

Aodh desperately needed help. He whirled, avoiding a spear thrust from a massive, stone-tipped spear wielded by one of the remaining orks and tripped over a rock on the ground, rolling backward with barely enough momentum to get back to his feet. Another ork he hadn’t seen had swung at his head before he was down, and was off balance.

The young man screamed, stabbing forward with his spear. The tip headed for a plate of the crude armor the tusked warrior was wearing, but the ork panicked and stumbled, accidentally placing a vulnerable armpit in the path of Aodh’s weapon.

The spear blade slammed home, penetrating the enemy’s heart, and Aodh felt another cloying rush of energy, dispelling his fatigue and dulling the pain from the bruises he’d just taken while falling. There was no doubt about it at this point, his spear, Vampire Stabber, was an extremely rare sort of enchanted weapon. He’d originally thought the name meant the weapon was meant to be used against vampires, the terrible monsters of myth and legend.

But now Aodh was stealing life. Every kill gave him a rush of energy and replenished some of his magic power, too. The weapon was suspiciously well suited for his orb abilities, and he spared a brief, suspicious thought about his chainmail-clad orb controller.

The young adventurer screamed, another stomach cramp actually dulling his thoughts for a moment, and the last two remaining ork warriors were suddenly before him and to the side, raising mighty arms to deliver crude weapons to Aodh’s skull.

They never got the chance.

Rekkla jumped onto the back of one warrior, savagely burying her dagger into the hapless enemy’s neck. The enchanted blade emitted acid, and the weapon sizzled as the ork screamed and stumbled to the ground.

The other ork just disappeared into red mist as bits of metal exploded sideways. Henry stood behind where the ork had been, his small goblin shield in one hand and his new, impressive weapon in the other. He stared wonderingly at Meteor Origin before regarding the carnage strewn across the field.

“Who are you? Are you friend or foe?” The blonde girl stood tall, holding her stick before her like a sword, chin held high and clear eyes soft, but sharp. She was so beautiful. Aodh suddenly had a hard time speaking and sheepishly lowered his bloody spear.

He’d never wanted to talk to a girl so badly in his life, but he didn’t know what to say. He felt doubly stupid because he was covered in blood and standing on a battlefield, but his tongue grew even more tied and he kept resisting the urge to blurt out random sentences. Get it together, Aodh!

***

Tanushree narrowed her eyes slightly as the fierce young warrior dropped the tip of his sinister-looking weapon, his posture making it clear he didn’t consider her a threat. The young noblewoman was not used to being dismissed so lightly, but she paused before lashing out. This man, not particularly tall or muscular, had almost effortlessly slaughtered near a dozen warthog-toothed, thick-hide man-demons with ease. In fact, he had even acted foolishly to taunt them, pretending to trip over things that weren’t even there and moving strangely the whole time.

And now he was openly disrespecting Tanushree, a noble-born Berber lady. Her house was obvious by the crest on her dress and pendant at her neck.

Everything about the boy was dangerous, dark. He had Fideli features, pointed ears, small but sharp canines, dark hair with a white lock, and a second set of eyelids that blinked independently at times. However, his eyes were unlike anything Tanushree had ever seen.

They were all black, no pupils, just black.

He was the single most dangerous person Tanushree had seen in a long while, and her heart sped up. What was this feeling? Fear. She had not felt this way in a long time. Even the warthog-toothed, thick-hide man-demons would have only killed her. Perhaps they would have tried to rape her first, but she could have killed herself if necessary. Meanwhile, the young warrior before her made her feel self-conscious just by standing there.

The young man put a hand over his stomach, and Tanushree wondered if he was holding in his mirth. Was her situation truly so laughable?

She took a step forward, gathering her dignity and reclaiming her spine. If her grandmother ever saw her acting so weak, the old crone would belt her personally. Tanushree held a hand out to point at the warrior, about to order him to assist her, but snapped her hand back. The hideous female creature with him had snapped at her hand before smiling, her eyes glittering.

What is the warrior doing with spindly cave demons, two of them in fact? The female spindly cave demon advanced on her, magic dancing within her eyes. Tanushree pulled her lips back from her teeth and readied her makeshift weapon. She would not go down easily!

“Rekkla, stop that,” barked out the young warrior. The spindly cave demon female, rare to see outside of their cave strongholds, grinned servilely before moving behind her master, glaring at Tanushree the entire time.

“Control your slaves better, warrior,” ordered Tanushree. She brought all of her breeding and training to bear, spitting out the command with every speck of authority she could muster.

The black-eyed young warrior was entirely unaffected. He scratched the back of his head and said, “Rekkla is not a slave, she is a friend. She’s with us. We don’t take slaves.” He gasped, “Oh, don’t worry, we won’t make you a slave either. Oh, ah...forget I said that.” The dangerous man laughed, looking at the ground, making his disdain for her power even more obvious.

Tanushree bristled but held her tongue. The threat had not been subtle, but she wasn’t exactly in a position of power. She didn’t care if she died, but she had a chance to save some Bobrik house armswomen.

“My caravan was attacked. We were on our way to Chapal.”

“Where are we?” asked the Terran man. He was armed and armored but looked scruffy. Tanushree decided he was probably the young man’s armsman, and a mage. She’d seen what he had done to the last warthog-toothed, thick-hide man-demon.

His question had been silly, though. The man was obviously not newly transported to Ludus. He must be simple in the head. Unfortunately, Tanushree needed to ask these...people for help. It wouldn’t kill her to humor a simpleton. “This is the country of Berber, about two days from the town of Chapal and four days from Makovo. My group was heading from Makovo to Chapal when we were ambushed.”

Tanushree swallowed and decided to just be blunt. “Please, you must hurry. I was convinced to run away because the fight was grim. I almost died for it. This would have been appropriate, and I will never let my armswomen convince me of such a thing again. But please help me save them.” She looked the young warrior in the eye. “My name is Tanushree Bobrik. You have great power. Please help me save my armswomen.”

The black-eyed warrior narrowed his eyes at the Asian man who cocked his head and said, “Yeah, I can hear them over the hill. We should probably help. Also, you know your eyes are fully black right now, right?”

“Huh?” The young warrior gave a questioning look, probably irritated that his guardsman was asking obvious questions.

“Don’t worry about it, we’ll talk later, Tony. Let’s go run towards the fighting...again.” The Terran man sighed.

Tanushree inwardly grimaced but held her tongue. What a craven man. She’d seen him out of the corner of her eye earlier, hanging back from her own fight too. She could not stand cowards or weaklings.

Tanushree couldn’t wait to get her own orb. She was so close… Just another reason she was in the debt of the mysterious young spearman.

“I think we should go, Henry,” said the dark warrior, Tony.

“Of course you would say that,” sighed the cowardly Asian man. He was wearing battered armor. Tanushree wondered if it was just for show. He continued, “Okay, follow me. I actually have sort of a plan.”

With that, the man began running and the two spindly cave demons followed. The warrior with the black eyes, Tony, brought up the rear. Tanushree decided her place was next to him since he was in charge of her mottled group of rescuers.

As they ran, Henry picked up a huge rock from the ground. Tanushree was surprised that he handled such weight so easily, but her eyes fluttered with surprise when he began manipulating the rock with magic, making it grow several times larger, hollow out, and form a lattice work of sorts, like an ornate, hollow ball.

The man yelled back, “I figured it out, Tony! Rocks aren’t really different than bullets. I don’t actually need to throw them. I’ve been thinking about this all wrong.”

Then improbably, Henry scooped up another rock with his other hand and began doing the same thing to it as he had to the first. Tanushree goggled. She’d never seen an earth mage do such a thing. “Where did you find such a talented mage?” she panted.

“Oh Henry isn’t really a mage, he’s orb-Bonded. Me too,” responded the warrior. He grinned, showing his sharp Fideli canines, issuing a clear admonishment or threat. Tanushree almost tripped and fell but managed to correct her stride. She hadn’t seen information scroll over her left eye for either of them. That could realistically only mean one thing.

They were nobles, like her, or very highly placed within their government. Suddenly, it didn’t seem so stupid for the other man to have asked where they were. She briefly considered they could be from enemy Fideli lands, but they were far too inland for that. She’d have to unravel the mystery later.

The group ran over the crest of the hill and Tanushree’s heart dropped. The last of her guardswomen were in a tight cluster, protecting each other with enchanted shields while a sea of man-demons besieged them. Without the wagons at their backs, they probably would have already been overrun.

The guardswomen were well trained and kept spears out, shields interlocked, fighting in the Berber fashion. A few soldiers stayed at the rear, popping up and loosing arrows. They could not stay up for long, or the man-demons return fire would take their heads off. It was a losing battle, and every single warrior involved knew it.

The group continued running forward until Henry slowed down and stopped. “What is he doing?” demanded Tanushree. There was practically no chance their little group could save her women, but she still had to try. She didn’t want to die, she’d been looking forward to getting her orb and attending an academy, but she knew her duty.

The dark-eyed warrior, Tony, shrugged and said, “Just watch Henry. I think he’s been looking for some way to get some payback.”

Tanushree narrowed her eyes and watched. She was skeptical that the craven Terran man would do anything notable, despite his skill in magic, but she would humor Tony. She really had no choice, either.

Henry raised an arm. He carefully seemed to sight down his limb for some time, long enough that the distant orks had time to notice their group. A flying ork mage shot up from the rear of the mass of ork soldiers, soaring high and fast over the field, heading for them.

The supposedly orb-Bonded Terran man ignored the approaching ork. Tanushree fought her helplessness and her fear, opening her mouth to ask what the man was doing. She knew she would probably die, but suffering fools was too much to ask, especially in her last moments of life.

Suddenly, the giant, magic-worked stone disappeared from the man’s palm, the air before him bent and twisted. A huge crack tore the across the soundless sky and made Tanushree’s ears ring. The effect on the distant enemy warriors was immediate, and she could barely believe her eyes.

Over a dozen warthog-toothed, thick-hide man-demons just came apart into pieces, their limbs blown multiple directions. Heads exploded. The man-demons’ armor, leather, wood, bone, bronze, and other materials were shredded. The field turned to a bloody swamp in an instant, and the remaining, living man-demons recoiled in horror.

While he was distracted, the flying warthog-toothed, thick-hide man-demon mage came screaming down towards Henry, but a random gust of wind buffeted the mage to the ground before he actually reached them. As silence otherwise reigned on the battlefield, the man-demon mage rolled several times, directly towards Tony. The slim man widened his eyes in obvious anger and whipped a dagger out from behind his back, the motion enveloping him in a cloud of darkness.

The ruthless warrior quickly stabbed the attacking mage in the arm and sheathed his dagger, making the cloud disappear. The man-demon slumped down, completely dead, the light gone from his eyes. What in creation is happening? Tanushree was utterly stunned. She’d never seen anything before like what she’d just witnessed. What magic is that?

If anything, the battlefield grew even quieter, both sides of the previous struggle staying absolutely still until the tense scene was broken by an old ork man scrambling forward from the rear of the enemy warriors.

“Har-ri!” he cried. “Han-ri!” He shouted a string of words in his native tongue. Tanushree’s jaw dropped as every ork turned and dropped to their knees, bowing towards Henry. The goblin girl, Rekkla, sniffed and said in accented Luda, “All should kneel to the Voice and the Demigod. Proper.”

Henry groaned and exchanged glances with Tony. “What now?” he said. “I have a feeling I’m not going to like this. I’m not worship material.”

“It’s better than fighting, though,” muttered Tony. “Let’s give them a chance.”

“Like you gave that mage a chance?” Henry asked, pointing toward the dead man-demon at their feet.

Tony sighed and said, “Rekkla, Trask, can you stay behind with Tanushree. That is your name, right?” The young man turned, and Tanushree’s breath caught.

Where Tony’s eyes had been all black before, now he had small pupils in the center of his eyes, just like Fideli people. What is happening? It has to be magic.

“Hey, volleyball girl,” said Henry, pointing at Tanushree. “You got any gold? I need to make a MMB call.”

“No, I...we used it up sending missives and…a MMB? I...” she trailed off, staring past the strange men to the kneeling orks and the completely stunned and immobile surviving Bobrik house guardswomen.

Henry sighed and lightly punched the spear-wielding Tony in the shoulder. “Come on, kid. Let’s go make nice with some psychopathic orks. Again. All in a day’s work, right? God, I hate this fucking planet.” With that, the Asian man began ambling towards the two score remaining, kneeling orks. Tony shrugged and followed, his lethal, dangerous looking spear casually slung over a shoulder.

Tanushree carefully calmed herself and focused on squaring her shoulders, and maintaining an air of strength and confidence for her watching subordinates. She was not sure what was going on, but she knew she had to radically reevaluate her relationship and station with the strange group she’d just met. Their casual displays of power reminded her of the high nobles in the capital city.

Just who in creation were these people?

Whispers in the Water

Jason faced the group, giving the tiny scrap of paper that Mareen had handed him earlier one last read. The Delvers had had some time to process the fact that Aodh and Henry were still alive. When Mareen had made her announcement the day before, Jason had broken down. When he’d gotten ahold of himself, Bezzi-ibbi had been dancing and hissing, Mareen was an emotional mess, and even Gonzo and Vitaliya had seemed relieved. Uluula had quietly sat at Jason’s side, offering wordless support.

The initial emotional reaction among the group had been fairly intense and Jason decided to wait until the next morning before formally addressing everyone about it. Now the time had come to do so. He hated doing stuff like this. He wished Henry was around. Despite all of Henry’s quirks, he always knew what to say to the group.

Jason felt incredibly awkward and cleared his throat lamely before speaking. “So as we all know now, Henry and Aodh are both alive. Mareen got a message yesterday from an MMB. I’ve read the note too, and I’m going to fill everyone in. Mareen is...she’s not going to do it.” Mareen was still softly crying to the rear of the group and just nodded.

“So...Henry is...kind of all over the place. There was a lot in here. He must have written this note with the world’s tiniest pen.” Jason shook his head. Henry sucked at communicating in writing and he’d obviously been excited while writing the note. It was actually a good thing he’d been able to write so tiny, because probably twenty percent of the note was about how much he loved and missed Mareen. Another five percent was about how stupid he thought names for monsters were on Ludus.

Luckily, Henry must have known someone else might read the message. Nothing he wrote to Mareen had been too personal, but it still had made Jason feel like he had been intruding. He sighed with the memory. At least now he knew his stubborn friend was still alive to keep vexing the people who cared about him.

“So based on Henry’s note, he and Aodh wound up in a strange place, something about a hot girl in a chainmail bikini and orbs, something about mind whips, and appearing in a cave.” Mareen’s sobbing paused for a second before resuming. Jason thought Henry should have probably worded his message a little more carefully. He could sense that Mareen would have some fairly pointed questions for her husband when they saw each other again.

“Aodh was able to keep both of them alive while Henry was near death, fighting against a swarm of dangerous, feline monsters. Actually, Henry called them ‘fucked up cat things.’ After that, Henry and Aodh explored the caves, killed a bunch of goblins, fought a giant spider demon thing, which Aodh killed...then Aodh became a goblin religious leader.”

“What?” asked Gonzo. The deadpan question sort of summed up how Jason felt about that part of the note too.

“Yes, that’s what this says,” replied Jason, shaking the thin paper. “After Aodh became a goblin leader, which settled a power struggle in the goblin village...” Jason paused and traded a flat look with Gonzo and said, “Look, I’m not making this up. That’s what it says.”

“Is Aodh safe? Is he eating properly?” demanded Vitaliya.

Jason groaned. “Look, I’ve answered this question like three times now, once before I had even read the note. All I know is what Henry wrote, and based on the sound of things, Aodh is doing just fine. In fact, he seems to have some admirers now.”

“What? Elaborate.” Vitalya’s tone hadn’t changed, but Jason felt a bit of danger tingling at his shoulder blades.

“Uh, sure. After leaving the goblin caves, a couple of goblin siblings joined them for reasons Henry tried to explain but I can’t understand. The female goblin got them through some monster infested woods. This female goblin seems to really like Aodh and isn’t shy about it. Henry thinks it’s hilarious.” Jason softly chuckled, imagining naive Aodh being pursued by a monster girl, but Vitaliya’s glacial silence and curious lack of an expression made him cough into his fist.

“You said ‘admirers’, plural, right?” asked Uluula with a raised eyebrow.

Jason scowled at his wife. “Thank you for helping, Lula. I really needed that.”

“Of course. If I were not here, you would forget to eat and sleep.” Uluula’s tone was light and she smiled.

Jason wanted to be irritated, but he knew his wife understood how her smile affected him. She was obviously teasing. His wife also kind of had a point about reminding him to remember basic things. Chances were, the stoic, tiny, white-haired woman was also relieved and happy that Henry was alive, but she was not one to openly display emotions. This was her way of supporting Jason.

He’d take it.

Jason rubbed the back of his neck and glanced at the scrawled note before continuing, “Henry and Aodh came across a noblewoman from Berber being attacked by orks.”

“Orks?” asked Bezzi-ibbi, his eyes lighting up.

“Yes, orks. Henry said most of these ones were bigger and stronger than the ones we saw in Tolstey. Anyway, Henry and Aodh killed the orks, actually, Henry said Aodh went HAM.”

“What is HAM? That is English, right?” asked Vitaliya.

“Uh, don’t worry about it,” muttered Jason. “Anyway, Henry calls this woman Princess Volleyball player, or just Volleyball. I don’t know her actual name. She asked him and Aodh to save her people. This is where the note gets weird.”

Jason paused and tried to think of how to translate Henry’s scrawl. The man should have been a doctor, not an EMT, except doctors just had bad hand writing. Henry’s entire story had been difficult to understand. Finally, he said, “After Henry killed some orks with earth magic...oh yeah, he can’t use metal magic right now but I am not sure why. Anyway, he killed some orks and the orks began to...revere Henry.

“It turns out that one of them met an ork from Yanbei Cavern, one of the ones that we left alive. They have started some kind of cult. To these orks, Henry is some sort of prophet or something. Some of us here are too. How this ork got all the way from Tolstey to Berber, nobody seems to know and there is currently a language barrier with the orks. And yes, I know this all sounds completely crazy.”

“Is that it?” asked Gonzo.

“No. Henry said Volleyball owes them a favor and he needed gold to send a message via MMB. He and Aodh accompanied the caravan to where it was originally traveling to. He got gold there and sent this MMB, which took a few days to reach us even though Henry figured out roughly where we should be, so he gave good instructions for message delivery.”

Jason scowled, “Speaking of which, MMBs are weird. I still don’t understand why people would call little flying demons that deliver messages for gold, ‘Magic Messenger Birds’.”

Gonzo shrugged. “That’s just Ludus.”

Jason made a face. It didn’t feel right not to have Henry around to complain about Ludus names. Sometimes he even had a point. The tall man said, “Henry said one more thing. He doesn’t have his papers for his title or his land from Berber, but he said he found out he doesn’t need them. Volleyball told him that he’s been imprinted if the title came from a legitimate representative of Berber.”

“That’s true,” Gonzo said, nodding. “It’s easier if you have your documentation, but I used a simple cantrip when you accepted your positions, sort of like you use to summon a MMB.”

“Okay, it would have been nice if you had told us that before, but anyway, when Henry sent this note, he was soon going to leave with Volleyball’s caravan towards a city called Makovo. Mine and Henry’s new land isn’t far from there so Henry wants to visit before heading to Mensk, Berber’s capital. He and Aodh are actually closer than we are now, so they should still arrive before we do.”

“So Henry is absolutely sure he is in Berber?” asked Gonzo.

“Yes, there is no doubt. He also verified Volleyball’s identity even though he didn’t name her in the note.”

“That’s a pity,” muttered Gonzo. “If I knew the Lady he is with or even what house she is from, it would be helpful.”

“Yes, well, I don’t have information I don’t have.” Jason held up the paper and shrugged.

“Can I read the note?” asked Gonzo.

Jason glanced at Mareen to confirm her feelings, but noticed she was gone. He glanced around but didn’t see the dark-skinned beauty anywhere. Henry’s wife could be really sneaky like that sometimes. The woman walked like a ninja.

Where the heck did she go? he wondered. It didn’t matter, though. She’d already made her wishes clear and as far as Jason was concerned, it was one hundred percent her call. “No, the note was meant for Mareen. There is some personal stuff in here, and she’d like to keep it that way.”

“But you read it. It isn’t personal anymore, is it?” Gonzo asked.

Jason blew air from his nose, preparing to be firm in his stance and shut down Gonzo. The Berber spy was always trying to get his hands on more information. Jason hated to argue, but there was no way he was going to disrespect Mareen by betraying her wishes. She was his friend, and she was married to his best friend. Jason liked Gonzo, but his loyalties were clear.

As he replied politely, but firmly, he wondered again where Mareen had gone.

***

Mareen idly wandered by the river, her powerful bronze bow in hand, an arrow nocked. After the Delvers had hit the Stem River, it hadn’t taken many attacks by dangerous, aquatic monsters to realize her hammer wasn’t all that useful in or around water. Luckily, her bow and dagger still worked just fine.

With the mood Mareen was in, she would be more than willing to gift a bronze bladed arrow to a river monster.

She idly kicked a rock into the water and physically deflated, realizing she was actually hoping to be attacked so she could vent. What had happened to her? She was happy, ecstatic to know that Henry was alive and they would be reunited, but...would he even recognize her anymore? Would he still want her?

Mareen squatted down and touched the water of the river, using some of her meager water magic to ensure no monsters were nearby. The river was infested with monsters, but it helped she could always easily tell if any were nearby. It was ironic that she was a Body school mage and had been expecting a good life because of that, but as an adventurer, her weaker water magic was much more useful on a regular basis.

It had even allowed her to kill Jeth.

Lost in unpleasant memories, she started softly sobbing again and let her mind wander, leaving her hand in the river. As before when she’d let her connection with the water linger for too long, she heard a voice. It was soft, seductive and dark.

It knew. It knew her secret.

Mareen cried out and jerked her hand out of the river. The moment her shock wore off, she muted her surprise, hoping none of the others had heard her distress. She didn’t want to answer any questions. There were entirely too many people in the group that were too good at discovering secrets.

The truth was, she knew what the voice from the water was. She knew what it had to be, and more than just her secrets, it knew her heart. Mareen was being offered power...for a price.

The voice somehow knew everything. It knew she’d lost her baby. The voice knew about her shame and her powerlessness. It knew about her anger. The anger at herself.

It seemed like no matter how hard Mareen had tried to be useful to the group, to be strong, the others kept moving forward ahead of her. She was still a burden. Despite all of her drive to be helpful to her husband, to be a good head of her new household, to walk shoulder to shoulder with her friends, she had just kept getting in the way. She hadn’t even been able to win her fight against a single Terran swordswoman during the battle with Liangyu and her band of would-be ambushers.

Meanwhile, Henry had managed to survive certain death multiple times, been sent to another country, and not only managed to survive, but thrive. He’d dominated an entire goblin tribe and made allies with foreign nobility. Somehow, he’d even made allies of monsters. He effortlessly grew in power, wealth, and influence. Why had he accepted a wife like Mareen on a world full of powerful, graceful women?

Mareen hadn’t even told Henry she’d been pregnant before he disappeared. Deep down, she knew why. She had wanted to find Henry another wife to grow their household as quickly as possible, but she was also self-conscious. She was young, and she knew Henry could attract much more qualified, much better first wives than her. What if he didn’t support her and another woman tried taking the position as first wife? No, she had to prove her place.

She had been afraid that if Henry had known she was pregnant, he would have asked her to be more passive, to be taken care of and protected. Mareen didn’t want that, she couldn’t have it. She needed to get stronger so she could be the wife that Henry needed and deserved, even if he didn’t know it himself.

She was deeply in love with her husband. Her heartsong had not lied. Unfortunately, keeping up with him so far had been out of her reach.

She’d wanted to do it on her own. She’d turned down spirit stones from Henry and even done so with Jason in the past week. When she received an orb for killing Jeth after he tried to...hurt her, she’d chosen power, but then she hadn’t worked as hard as she could to get stronger. Oh, she’d fooled herself about it, but she really hadn’t. It was all clear in hindsight. She’d accepted greater power, but then refused to embrace it, to grow as the person she’d chosen to become.

Her weakness had almost gotten her husband killed.

Mareen punched a tree, denting the trunk and leaving her knuckles stinging. She looked at her hand and made another tight fist, gritting her teeth. All this strength, all this power from her Dolos orb, and she had still been all but powerless before.

It was oddly, perversely fitting that the stress and grief from losing Henry had made her lose their child too, a child only she knew about. Her heart hurt, aching for the life she would never know. All of it was her own fault.

She bore the pain and the shame alone. It was her penance for her pride, her mistakes. Mareen had chosen to be the wife of a great man. This meant she had to be just as great… No. She had to be greater than he was. It was a head wife’s job to guide the household, to watch out for her husband and her sister wives. She could not do so if she couldn’t evolve from the stupid young girl she knew she still was.

At least now she knew Henry was alive. Her heartsong had exploded. She’d felt deep happiness and relief, but she also felt anxiety. All of her insecurities were magnified now, highlighted. She couldn’t hide from them anymore.

And the voice in the water knew this. Mareen understood that the thing in the water was bad, was evil. She knew from myth and legend that it rarely brought any happiness to those that dealt with it. It only approached those that were desperate or pained enough to bargain in the first place.

Mareen knew what the voice belonged to, but she dared not speak it out loud. This was her burden. The only person she could have shared it with, Henry, was in Berber with his own problems.

The Deepwater Rose was offering her a deal...and she hadn’t refused yet.

Mareen sniffled a bit as she stood, but her heart steeled. She felt a little wiser, but a little sad, too. In life if there are no good choices, one must choose the least bad one. If monsters have you trapped, you run towards the monster you might be able to overcome. Otherwise, staying still, not choosing at all was a surefire way to be eaten.

It was time to take Jason’s offer for a spirit stone. She still had some time to think about the Deepwater Rose’s offer. In the meantime, she would swallow her stubborn pride and claim the tools, the weapons available to her.

Regardless of what she decided, the Deepwater Rose’s offer both excited and terrified her, as it probably should. The message was always some variation of:

Come see me. Come bargain. You lost your child from weakness. Come see me, pay my price, and you will never be weak again. You will lose a little if you receive my gift. You will lose everything if you are not strong.

Mareen knew the words were dark, simple, and manipulative. The Deepwater Rose had its own purpose, its own agenda. Now that she knew the Rose was real, she had no reason to doubt any of the legends about it. However, she also couldn’t deny its seductive message might be factual.

With a glint of determination in her eye, Mareen went to find Jason to ask for a spirit stone. It was time to stop crying, and time to stop feeling sorry for herself. Monsters don’t care if you cry. If someone gives up, Ludus will grind their bones to powder. Henry was alive. It was time to do what she had to do to protect her husband. She would never, ever lose him again. He was the only family she had left.

She wouldn’t be able to protect her husband, solve her parents’ murders, or take revenge on her grandfather’s murderers if she stayed how she was. She needed to grow up. She needed to face reality.

It was time to make some difficult decisions. It was time to be strong.

Mareen grimaced as she fingered the gray line around her neck. One other thing was for rotting sure. She was going to force that man of hers to turn on the rotting location tracking ability for their servant bond. Mareen refused to be left wondering if her husband still lived again.

Never again.

El Gato Fuego

Jason got ready for bed, going through his power up choices in his head. He had a feeling that he’d be seeing a certain purple cartoon cat soon.

He had to admit that he’d been putting off swallowing spirit stones again out of fear. His limitbreak had scared him, both because of what he’d become, and because it highlighted how Ludus had been changing him.

Most of Jason’s adult life had been an exercise in control. When he’d been younger, he’d recognized the anger in himself, the darkness, and he put it in a box. He wrapped that box in chains, and he buried it deep inside himself. Even as a skinny guy, Jason was still a tall man. He had lived most of his life looming over people. He hated that. If he had let himself lose his temper and hurt people, people smaller than him, it would have felt so, so good...but he wouldn’t have been able to live with himself.

Then Ludus had happened.

The longer Jason survived on Ludus, the more he kept tapping that dark part of himself, the sleeping anger that his soul practically swam in. He had thought he could control it. It had seemed like a necessary tool to live on Ludus and protect his loved ones.

Then he’d turned into a raging shadow-thing and fought a demigod.

Jason put his arms behind his head and stared up at the alien night sky. His bedroll was already lulling him into sleep, despite his aching arms. He’d spent his entire watch practicing sword forms with a Breeze-sized stick, the hours of practice made possible due to his endurance ability. The stick had been necessary to practice with. Using live steel for forms was kind of dumb anyway, but he definitely couldn’t draw his sword just to do drills anymore. Breeze had changed.

Just like Jason had.

The lanky man from Earth made a face and started counting stars. He was tired, but his mind was still racing. He couldn’t help thinking about everyone in the group. He’d never realized how much Henry had helped with morale until his friend had been gone. Even Uluula had felt the Asian man’s absence and she didn’t like him very much.

Then there was Mareen. Jason frowned. Mareen has been acting oddly. He didn’t know why, and he didn’t have enough reason to ask her, but he was pretty good at sensing when women were not themselves. He knew he was better than a lot of guys at sensing if something was wrong, but most men had not spent a few of their formative years in women’s shelters.

I’m doing it again. Jason shook his head. Stewing on sad memories was not going to get him to sleep any faster. He’d just swallowed two spirit stones, dammit. He wanted to see if he could level up.

Jason focused on counting stars. From the bedroll next to his, he distantly felt Uluula’s slight Areva frame pressed up against him, her arms around him. He felt peace and comfort. The sensation of his wife’s white hair tickling his nose accompanied him as he drifted off into sleep.

***

A piano was on fire. Jason sat at a table wearing a zoot suit, a mixed drink in his hand. The center of his table sported a hand-blown glass flower, holding a lit, purple aromatic candle.

He sat in the middle of a dark room, in what looked like an old speakeasy club, and the purple cartoon cat was playing the flaming piano in the corner. The cat’s chubby, stubby little fingers somehow flawlessly played ‘Friend like Me’, but modified with a 1920s Americana flair. The sound of brass instruments and a bass came from nowhere.

A detailed, model train ran around the room on a track near the ceiling. Candles similar to the one on Jason’s table dotted the walls of the room in sconces, and a shrine to Gandhi was set up behind the empty bar.

“Okay,” muttered Jason. “This is officially weird.”

From the corner, the music stopped and the purple cartoon cat waddled over, his round, lighter-colored chest and stomach partially covered by a little tuxedo vest. “Greetings!” said the cat.

“What the hell is this place? Why did you bring us here?”

The purple cartoon cat twitched his crooked whiskers. “...Really? Haven’t you accepted by now that we are in your mind? Whether I chose this place or not kind of doesn’t matter. It had to exist somewhere in your memories first.”

Jason rolled his eyes. “Yeah, whatever. I’m pretty much convinced at this point you’re low key trolling me. I have a hard time believing this place could set me at ease.” The tall man put his hands to his hips in annoyance, but felt something that made his eyebrows climb. Breeze was in its sheath, hanging at his side where it usually did. “Why is my sword here?” he asked.

“Beats me,” said the cat, climbing up into the chair opposite Jason’s. “You and your friend both are doing some odd things. I am sure Dolos is happy.”

“I really don’t find that very reassuring,” groused Jason. “Speaking of which, you’re a jerk for not telling me Henry was okay. The way orbs have to be connected, you must have known.”

“Yeah, because we have casual chats so often, right?” The cartoon cat blew a raspberry.

Jason narrowed his eyes. “You are more...cheeky than usual.”

“Not really. You are growing in power, so I am too. I am developing more of a personality.”

“That’s...great.”

“Oh come off it, tall, dark, and clueless. Without me, you’d be lost. I’m happy to be of assistance, though. It never hurts to help!”

Jason facepalmed and resisted the urge to hit his head on the table in front of him. The purple cat was irritating him, but beating himself up in his own imagination wasn’t going to solve anything. He was starting to relate to Henry’s frustration with his own orb, though. On the other hand, at least Henry’s orb was a bikini model. Jason was stuck with this goggle-eyed, cartoon cat.

What did I do to deserve this?

“Okay, whatever. You’re here to help me with my level up, right? I have given this a lot of thought.”

“You know, it’s not really a level up, but I guess that is close enough if you…” Jason cocked an eyebrow at the cat. The orb controller sighed and said, “Oh alright, take all the fun out of it. Fine, what did you decide?”

Jason began to think out loud, “Okay, so I already have consciousness, well, space magic. I also have time magic. It seems like there is no clear cut prerequisite for getting hybrid magics, so—”

“Hybrid magics?”

“Yes, this is what I am calling the hidden magic schools I know about now, mixing the magic schools to create, like...death magic. Like Liangyu used with her army of zombies.”

“Hmmm…” The purple cat put a hand to his chin. “That name actually makes sense. Okay, continue.”

“I thought about all the hybrid magic we talked about before, like mixing my Time school with Water school to have friction magic. Most of these hybrid magics sound interesting, but since you refuse to tell me anything about them other than the name, it’s hard for me to min-max.”

“Min-max?”

Jason sighed. “You are literally in my head. I have a hard time believing you really need me to clarify anything out loud.”

“Well, this is true, but it’s so much easier to be friends when we talk things out!” The cat gave a winning grin, transforming half of his face into huge, blocky teeth.

Jason didn’t say anything for a second. “Can we just move on? I know you know what I know.”

“Yes, but this is a big decision, and thinking through it one last time helps with making the choice, right?”

“See!” Jason pointed. “You literally just proved you are in my head right now! Do I really need to tell you what min-maxing is?”

“I would prefer you do. Otherwise it will hurt my feelings.” The cat’s whiskers drooped.

Jason massaged his eye sockets. He’d interacted with his orb controller enough now to know that sometimes it was just easier to play along. “Fine. Min-maxing is a gamer term for increasing an ability in a way to make the most powerful or specialized characters possible. It’s using the system to find synergies and loopholes that can work to your advantage.”

“Oh, how daring!” The cat’s tail stood straight out.

Jason ignored the reaction and continued his earlier thoughts. “Some of the other hybrid schools were really interesting too. But all my points in magic control so far have been in Consciousness school, or Space, I guess. This means I need to find some sort of pairing with that side of my current magic, not with Time. Otherwise I probably don’t have the points for any hybrid magic.”

“Do you remember how many points you have now?” asked the cat. “Do you need a rundown of all your choices up until now?”

“I don’t think so. We talked about this last time. Last rank I had twelve points and I used eight of them. I picked up more magic power for two points, magic control for three points, speed for one point, monster lore for one point, and a first level of mind enhancement for one point too. This left four points to carry over to now. I should have gotten thirteen points with this rank. Rank three, right?”

“Yes! This rank gives the most number of advancement points you will ever have at once! It is a very important choice, critical even. Rank three is when—”

“You aren’t helping.”

“Oh, sorry.”

Jason continued, “So with the extra four points, I have seventeen points to work with. While thinking about what I wanted to spend them on, I focused on the hybrid magics you told me were associated with space magic, my strongest school. Some of them like ‘spirit,’ and ‘sleep’ sounded interesting, especially ‘mind enchantments’. Like, what the hell is that? I thought about picking up Air school, but I can already kind of half assed fly. In fact, my flight is probably better than most air mages in some ways. The hybrid magic with the air route was like, ‘mind’ and stuff, but I’m already enhanced that way.

“I have to hedge my bets. I think I’m going to choose the Psionics hybrid school. This means I will need to get fire magic. Well, I’ll actually be getting Matter school magic, then spend some points in Matter school focus, right?”

“Kum ba yah! What a strange choice. Why are you working towards psionics magic?”

Jason looked at the purple cat with no expression. The cartoon merely grinned. Jason asked, “Can’t I just spend the points now?”

“Nope! Part of my job is to make sure you reach your full potential! Talking through these things helps you. You should keep talking! It never hurts to help!”

Jason sighed. “Fine. Something about the name of it caught my attention. Psionics usually means psychic powers, like telekinesis, stuff like that. However, I have magic, which uses the power of the Dhu. It’s really not the same thing at all. So logically, this hybrid school must mimic psychic abilities using magic, not actually impart psychic powers.

“Not only is that interesting, but I started thinking about what type of mage I am. This entire world and this level up system was based on games, or games are based on it, or something. Anyway, Henry is like a tank with ranged abilities. As he progresses in power, he’ll probably be able to shield himself and get really tough. ‘Tank’ is not truly accurate because he has guns and stuff, but that’s mainly because he’s been thinking outside the box and doing his own form of min-maxing.

“My build is kind of a fightermage, jack of all trades sort of thing, but I’m objectively a little overpowered right now because like Henry, I’m using my magic in new ways. This is good. I want to be even more OP. Since any magical gains I get will keep strengthening my existing abilities, it makes sense to cover for my existing weaknesses with new magic.

“Between Henry and I, and even within our entire group, we’re lacking with subtlety. Gonzo is a spy, sure, but he’s not really part of the group and I don’t really trust him. Henry is great at breaking and killing things, but he’s about as subtle as a car crash. I’d like to think I can have a light touch, but I don’t really have any magic to use for that right now.

“Meeting Governor Holtz, then fighting a zombie-user ‘Bonded made me realize that I’m kind of limited right now.  Thinking about that, I remembered some of what I can recall from my limitbreak. I have a theory I used some hybrid magics while in that state. This made me really start thinking about what directions my power could go.

“Choosing psionics magic is a bit of a risk, but I took a risk choosing my original magic to begin with and it turned out well. At least I’m still alive, anyway. Plus, fire mages aren’t exactly uncommon so I know what matter magic actually is. Creating temporary duplicates of things, or temporarily subtracting or adding from things is a really interesting ability, even if one that is not utilized much on Ludus. If there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s that creativity is important, or even more important than the actual magic someone can use.

“So all of this added together makes psionics magic the most logical choice, at least without the addition of any additional information. I already know asking you for any more data would be useless. And based on my asking around for the last few weeks, understanding on Ludus of hybrid schools is even less common than the rarer schools of magic like my consciousness and space choice.”

The cartoon nodded. “I see, that is some impressive thinking there...if you are right. So how do you want to spend the points?”

“Let’s see,” said Jason, rubbing his hands together. “I have a lot of points to work with, but I don’t want to dump it all into magic if possible. So far every single power I’ve acquired has been useful. I think I am actually stronger for it, too. So let me ask you something. Picking up a new magic school is five points, right?”

“That’s right!”

“And choosing Matter school will also give me fire magic, right? My first magic choice actually gave me two schools with one being weaker. This is a…two sides of the same coin sort of thing?”

“Effectively, yes. But that’s your perspective as an orb-Bonded since you can choose any magic you want. If you were a regular mage, you’d consider subschools, well...subschools.”

“Yeah, yeah, whatever.” Jason waved a hand. “Okay, so if I choose Matter school magic for five points, and I take another level of magic control for my consciousness/space magic, and two levels of control for Matter, how many points would that cost?”

The cat answered, “Five points for the magic school, two points for the first level of control, three points for the second level of control, and four points for your third level of control for your Consciousness school. So a total of fourteen points.”

“That’s what I thought.” Jason nodded. “Is this enough to unlock psionics magic?”

“Yes. Barely.”

“Great!” Jason smiled. This had been the part he was a little unsure of. Luckily, he’d been able to grab a hybrid magic school and now he could use his last three points in utility. “Okay, I think I also want to take ‘Infrared Vision’ for two points.”

“Why?”

“It’s pretty simple. Some of our group members can see pretty well in the dark, but Henry and I can’t. Plus, and more importantly, I’ve been thinking about conversations I had with Henry about how magic users could hide themselves. It seems like it would be pretty handy to have Predator vision. The fact this ability costs two points is a big clue that it can be really powerful, too.”

“If it makes sense to you, it makes sense to me. Are you going to spend your last point?”

“Yeah. This one was actually easy to decide on, and if I had been left with less points, I would have ditched something else for it. I want to take ‘Etiquette’ for one point.”

“I figure you have a good reason for this one, too?”

“Yup.  Picking up ‘monster knowledge’ really made me realize truly how little I knew. Then on top of that, Henry and I got into trouble all the time in Tolstey due to cultural problems, and we are heading to Berber where things could be even worse. We’re also going to be pretending—well, I guess we really will be aristocrats, so acting like uneducated morons is not an option.

“We could have avoided a ton of trouble on Ludus if we’d known how to act, especially Henry. But I can help us both out in the future if I can identify cultural pitfalls. Plus, this could work well with my new psionics magic.”

“Why do you say that?” asked the purple cat.

“It’s kind of a gamer hunch. I won’t be able to choose paragon or renegade dialogue options in real life if I don’t even know the options are there.” Jason grinned. The rest of his choices he was still not entirely sure about, but this one had seemed obvious.

“Okay!” said the cat. “This is going to take me all night so you need to sleep now. We can talk later! It feels good to help!”

“Wait a minute, can’t you—”

The burning piano receded into the distance, the purple cartoon cat waving goodbye. Jason felt like he was falling down a dark tunnel until he knew no more.

***

The next morning, Jason woke up before dawn and immediately went through his list of available magic abilities, verifying his new schools of magic. His scalp tingled with surprise and delight when he saw some of the new things he could do. Choosing a simple psionics magic ability, he closed his eyes and lay in bed next to the sleeping Uluula for a couple hours before Bezzi-ibbi, who’d been on watch, started waking everyone up.

When Jason finally opened his eyes again, he could sense where everyone was in the camp. “This is awesome,” he whispered.

The tall man from Earth squeezed his eyes shut and smiled. I was right about psionics! He knew in his bones, knew as a life-long gamer, that he’d just grown enormously in potential power.

Now he needed to focus hard on developing his new abilities. If he did, maybe he could protect the people he cared about without losing himself in the process. The rage was a useful tool, but he couldn’t deny how dangerous it was anymore. It wouldn’t do him any good to protect all the others if he still ended up losing himself. He didn’t understand why, but he knew Uluula really loved him. He didn’t want to lose her, and he didn’t want her to suffer a broken heart like Mareen almost had.

Jason sighed, casting aside the negative thoughts. He needed to think about these things, but he couldn’t afford to dwell on them. The sun was rising in the west, it was a new day, and Henry was alive.

As usual, Uluula had promptly gone back to sleep after the last watch woke her up. Jason shook his beautiful, softly snoring wife awake again and grinned. He had an entirely new school of magic to explore, two actually since now he also had fire magic. It was time to get to work.

Jelly Spitters

Killing river monsters was becoming stupidly easy. Jason teleported back to the bank of the river near the Battlewagon and placed his hands on his hips, surveying the carnage he’d just wrought. The newest batch of monsters to appear looked something like scaly jellyfish that popped up and spat acid. Gonzo had said they were called ‘thinly armored spitting water ambush demons’. Jason had been calling them jelly spitters.

He understood how the creatures could be a pain in the ass for adventurers, and completely deadly to most travelers. The creatures lived where cliff sides rose from either side of the water, offering no escape except to follow the river either way. The jelly spitters could submerge extremely quickly, pulling themselves down to the bottom with a pair of tentacles, and they could pop up just as quickly using the same appendages.

It was hard to hit the monsters with projectile weapons. Even in peaceful circumstances it could be hard to hit a target in water, especially at an angle. On top of that, the creatures stirred up the bottom of the river so the water was murky. Melee fighters would be completely screwed against the aquatic monsters; the jelly spitters could easily drown two people at once in the silty water with their long pairs of killing tentacles.

Heat and cold magic were of limited use because of the flowing river. Wearing armor wasn’t much help because of the goopy acid that the monsters spit. Gonzo said the creatures were known for blinding people or animals alike and dragging them into the water to eat. Jason believed it.

Apparently, most adventurers just avoided jelly spitters altogether. At the least, they tried to get away from them as quickly as possible if they were encountered.

Then again, most adventurers weren’t Jason.

The surface of the river was dotted with the corpses of dead or dying monsters being slowly swept away by the current. Jason used his new psionics magic to quest out with his senses. The river monsters were not very smart, but they had just enough thinking ‘noise’ and the river was otherwise empty enough that he could sense them. There were only two left.

Suddenly, a jelly spitter burst out of the river, launching a blob of goopy acid almost the moment it broke the water. The monster was fast, but Jason was faster. He erected a quick null-time shield and stopped the projectile in its tracks, preventing it from hitting a very surprised looking Vitaliya. Bezzi-ibbi’s hissing chuckle slithered around the large rock the youth hid behind. “Stay in cover. Let Jason-ibbi handle this,” the Mo’hali hero drawled.

Red faced, Vitaliya didn’t respond, but she did hide behind her own rock. Jason sighed in relief. Now he was the only member of the group out in the open, meaning he didn’t need to worry about protecting the others as much.

When the group had first been ambushed, things had gotten a little hairy, but luckily most everyone had been able to hide in or behind the Battlewagon. Jason carefully watched the surface of the water as he walked backward towards the group’s floating, bronze-plated vehicle.

Mareen popped up from her position in the turret, her powerful bronze bow drawn. Jason didn’t fault her for trying to help. She’d been otherwise very effective on their journey so far, especially after leveling up and becoming a second rank ‘Bonded a few days before. Now she was stronger and tougher than ever, and she’d been getting really good at archery.

But the jelly spitters were just a huge pain in the ass. One popped up and lobbed a sizzling blob of acid at Mareen at the same time she loosed an arrow. Then both the monster and the dusky-skinned woman ducked, dodging each other’s projectiles.

“Hmmm.” Jason glanced at the water in thought. He could easily kill the last two monsters, but this was a learning situation, both for the group and for himself. Should he just take care of them or practice some new abilities?

The tall, sandy-haired man crossed the last dozen feet to the Battlewagon and rested his hand on the vehicle’s bronze plating. It had been a few days since he’d gotten his new magic. He’d been practicing hard, though, and he was even already learning Matter school magic.

The man from Earth used a handy new ability he had just learned. With an effort of magic, the first layer of bronze on the outside of the Battlewagon replicated itself, pushing the sizzling acid out with it. Then with a pop, Jason let the new material disappear, allowing the caustic monster goop to fall harmlessly to the ground.

This is nasty stuff, he thought, eyeballing the bubbling green slime on the sand of the riverbank. Once again, he was struck by how crafty and dangerous the jelly spitters were. The creatures had waited for the group to be deep into their territory before attacking. On top of that, hiding behind rocks and things would normally only offer temporary safety. The creatures could spread along the river, hitting a hiding spot from multiple angles. They had those long, barbed, squid-like killing tentacles they could whip out of the river, too.

Normally, the merciless creatures could probably massacre a small army. Unfortunately for them, there wasn’t a lot they could do versus Jason.

The Delvers leader narrowed his eyes as the last two monsters popped up at the same time, launching salvos of acid at him from different angles. “Nice try, guys,” he muttered. Then instead of teleporting, he used another new ability he’d been practicing. Jason erected two null-time shields at once. The monster goop halted in midair before falling to the ground, and Jason beamed. He had been ready to teleport if one of the shields had failed, but they’d both held. He was getting better.

Now it was time to work on some of his attack abilities. He readied himself to teleport, but paused as Vitaliya briefly left the relative safety of her rock, scything a stream of fire across the river before her. The gesture was useless, of course, and Gonzo’s arm snaked around to pull the young woman back into cover again. Jason shook his head. He still knew next to nothing about Vitaliya and she acted...oddly sometimes.

Jason sprang forward, teleporting above the river. The muddy water offered zero visibility.  The steam that Vitaliya had created with her angry fire attack wasn’t helping things, either.

Jason’s new infrared sight wouldn’t help see the monsters under the water. He didn’t even bother activating it. It took a lot of energy to maintain, and he knew it’d be useless. Luckily, none of it mattered. He just continued tracking the nearest monster with his psionics magic.

He pulled a knife from a sheath on his leg where he kept a few really good ones.

“There you are!” he crowed, teleporting directly above the closest creature in the river. Jason knew exactly where each monster was, and while they were great at dodging up and down, they were terrible at moving quickly from side to side.
The tall programmer-turned-adventurer used another of his new abilities he’d been practicing and cloned a copy of his perfectly weighted throwing knife. The new version rested on top of the knife in his open hand. Jason grinned and flipped the copy into the air. He caught it, applied a null-time edge, and sent the blade spinning straight down toward the river.

As soon as the weapon left his hand, Jason concentrated, extending the null-time blade all around the copied weapon, turning it into a magical, bronze frizbee of death.

“Destructodisk!” he yelled, teleporting higher to watch his handiwork. Neither the copied throwing knife nor the attached null-time would exist very long, but they’d last long enough to give this river monster a very, very bad day.

The throwing knife hit the water with a violent spray of liquid, the silty water rushing to escape the unstoppable, spinning null-time field. The reaction was so energetic, the rotating blade almost bored a tunnel straight through the water. Jason could catch a glimpse of the startled, brown predator as the projectile hit. Then the water sloshed closed again, and the lazy current grew dark with blood and ichor.

Jason teleported higher and shook his head, continuing to watch the river. A few moments later, the monster’s bulbous body floated to the top of the water. Jason had hit it square in its mushroom-looking head, its tapered mouth full of sharp teeth gaped open in death.

This is almost too easy, Jason thought, teleporting above the last creature. If these things weren’t quite so nasty, ugly, disgusting, and brutal, I might even feel a little bad.

In moments, Jason had practiced his new, deadly abilities again and the last monster was jerking in its death throes, floating down the river. The tall, orb-Bonded man teleported back near the Battlewagon, timing his vectors perfectly to touch down on the shore with a gentle drop. “It’s okay to come out now!” he called. “They’re all dead!”

Bezzi-ibbi was the first to leave cover, bounding out and jumping up and down, hissing in excitement. “Jason-ibbi is great hunter! More sneaky than Henry-ibbi, make enemies just as dead.” The dancing young Jaguar Clan hero was wearing a new green vest, green slacks, polished penny loafers, and a cream colored shirt. He looked like a 60’s era pop star, and Jason shook his head to dispel the thought.

Ludus was already weird enough with any running mental commentary.

The rest of the group left their hiding places as well, staring soberly at the distant, bobbing bodies. Mareen drew, aimed, and loosed an arrow into a corpse and grimaced. “I should not have done that,” she groused. “Waste of an arrow but I hate those things. This river is…bad”

Jason gave her a sidelong glance, struck again by the thought she was acting strangely, but not able to put his finger on how, exactly. He felt bad for doing so, but with a slight effort of magic, he focusing on adjusting his thinking, pointing his mind in a new direction. After the transition, he was able to pick up the surface emotions of anyone he looked at as long as he was relatively close enough and their feelings were strong enough.

His eyes rested on Mareen again, and he felt her fear, disgust, and resignation. Jason frowned. These were not exactly illogical emotions for his friend to be having. He made a face before feeling a small hand on his arm.

Jason turned, and met the bright blue eyes of his wife looking up at him. His magical senses were metaphorically hit between the eyes by intense love, respect, awe, lust, and…

He shook his head and let go of the ability. It was one thing to read the surface emotions of strangers or enemies, or when he was concerned about someone, like Mareen. He wasn’t quite ethically comfortable with regularly reading the emotion of his friends, much less his wife. He smiled at Uluula and did another quick scan to check on the others.

Vitaliya glowered at nothing, staring out over the flowing water. Gonzo whistled. “That was impressive,” said the Hispanic Berber spy. “I am third rank myself. You’ve been third rank for less than a week, yes? I have no shame in saying I can’t do anything like this.”

Jason’s mouth moved before his brain could catch up, or rather, his mind was working so fast on multiple things that it just forgot to check in with his tongue. “That doesn’t mean you aren’t still keeping a shit ton of tricks in your spy bag, though.” As soon as the words left his mouth, he inwardly cringed but tried to act natural. Telling the spy in his group out loud that he didn’t fully trust him, and believed the man might be sandbagging squarely fell under the ‘Dumb’ category.

Gonzo didn’t try to hide the speculative look he gave Jason. The taller man began to feel uncomfortable, and he randomly wondered how much blood Gonzo had on his hands. The spy carried a mournful, dark aura with him wherever he went.

Uluula tugged on Jason’s clothes. “I was very impressed, my love. Thank you for taking care of us.”

Suddenly, Jason heard a familiar voice above them. “Yes, that was very impressive, Jason Booth, but we need to talk.” He glanced up and saw Keeja descending from the sky with a new woman he’d never seen before.

As other members of the group gasped in surprise, Jason studied the two women. He was not surprised that his magical senses had not noticed Keeja earlier and still couldn’t lock onto her mind. Despite the cooling climate, Keeja wore a yellow floral summer dress with spandex shorts and laced sandals. She had on an enormous, floppy yellow hat with a black band that matched her shorts, poking out from under dress.

The other woman...Jason’s mouth went dry. He had trouble focusing on the fact she was wearing black shorts, a cream colored top, and suede ankle boots. She was drop dead gorgeous. Her dark eyes, her jet black hair, her pale skin, her full, pouty lips, her long legs, her voluptuous frame, her bone white horns, and…

Her horns? Jason shook himself. What the hell is wrong with me? With an effort of will, he forced his mind to focus and noticed that the woman’s eyes were not human. Her sclera were black, her pupils white, and her irises black. Her horns were small, but noticeable, peeking out from above her oversized ears.

She gracefully touched down on the ground and Jason noticed a moon shaped symbol on her cheek. His mind in disarray, he asked out loud, “What is the mark on her cheek?”

Keeja answered, “Every nymph has a natural crest on her face to identify her familial allegiances.”

“It’s like a real life cutie mark,” breathed Jason. He stared at the mark on the new woman’s face, and distantly realized that Gonzo and Bezzi-ibbi seemed to be staring too. What is wrong with us?

The tall, beautiful, dark-haired woman stepped forward, opening her mouth, but Keeja stepped in front of her. “I was afraid of this,” announced the Areva demigoddess. She held a hand out, not quite touching the raven-haired beauty. “Philana, calm down.”

The horned woman, apparently named Philana, narrowed her inhuman eyes. “Keeja, I love you like an older sister, but we are peers now and you are beginning to annoy me. I already told you I am not going to jump the first man I see. In fact, I don’t know that I want anything like that in my life anymore at all. Sure, I had my wild younger days. But I behaved that way because of what I am. You did because you were running from what are. Which of us is the greater threat to males?”

The two women frowned at each other, and Jason finally saw that the newcomer wore a golden necklace similar to Keeja’s.

Suddenly, there was a splash from the river and Jason’s befuddled mind took a moment to register what the sound meant. Before he could react, Philana blurred sideways, moving so fast she generated a slight wind. She threw up a shield of golden energy, blocking the sizzling acid from a new jelly spitter that must have made its way downriver.

“Dirty thing,” she snarled. Then the horned beauty held out a hand and launched a ball of glowing yellow energy that detonated with a thunderous crash on the surface of the water. Defying the laws of physics, the water from half the river and the entire opposite riverbank was destroyed, blown outward by the massive concussive force of the explosion. The wreckage and energy from the attack all projected outwards, the blast somehow not reaching the group on the riverbank.

Jason’s pupils dilated and his heart sped up. His addled brain was having difficulty understanding what was happening, but part of him recognized the energy, and knew that attack. Something ugly stirred within him. He snarled, “Biivan!” and moved without conscious thought.

A moment later, when Jason came back to himself, he blinked and swallowed. The tip of his sword was inches from Philana’s throat. However, Breeze’s spitting, crackling blade was held in an iron, bare-handed grip by Keeja. Philana stared at the blade and the hand holding it, her dark eyes wide.

Jason’s ears were assaulted by the roar of the distant cliff falling in on itself, tons of dislodged rocks and dirt being disturbed after hundreds or even thousands of years, and the rushing river beginning to fill the massive crater created by Philana’s attack.

Keeja spoke, her terse voice somehow easily heard over the background noise. “Philana, that was unnecessary and you are still not trained. You will not use your power again without guidance, or I will spank you. Publicly. I am your trainer and you will obey. Do you understand?” The Areva woman’s eyes were steely.

“Yes—yes, mistress,” Philana meekly replied.

“And you, you fucking idiot Terran,” Keeja snarled, turning her furious gaze on Jason. He swallowed as the demigoddess continued, “You fought one High Priestess, one time. You were in a special state and still got your ass kicked. I don’t care how upset or emotionally damaged you are, you will control yourself, both for your sake and for mine. I happen to love this idiot dryad, here.

“I have known her for hundreds of years. She has served me faithfully. I have known you for less than a single Terran year. If you had somehow managed to hurt her, I would have personally ripped your penis off and shoved it down your fucking throat up to my elbow. Do I make myself clear?”

Jason didn’t make any sudden moves. He was almost afraid to speak. “I understand,” he managed to choke out. Keeja was not much taller than Uluula, but in that moment, she seemed to loom over him and he fought to control his bladder. He knew she had meant every word.

“In fact,” snarled the ancient Areva woman, letting go of Jason’s sword with a shove and smoothing her pretty sundress, “this is a good time for another practical exercise in humility. Create one of your ‘null-time’ shields, Jason. Up in the air.”

Without hesitation, Jason did as he was told, using his ability to generate a shield above them, the air distorting with energy. Jason’s brow scrunched as he concentrated on holding it. Then casually, staring him in the eyes the whole time, Keeja raised a hand, not unlike she had done what felt a lifetime ago while riding next to Jason in a wagon.

The man from Earth heard a snippet of a strange, classical sounding musical score, Keeja’s soul song. The area in front of her hand shimmered, and a brilliant green beam of energy lanced out, not only piercing Jason’s null time shield, but shattering it into a million pieces. Jason cried out, his mind stinging, almost like he’d gotten brain freeze from eating too much ice cream.

“You are strong, Jason,” said Keeja quietly, “but you have a long way to go. Never, ever lose your humility, your caution, or Ludus will kill you.” Jason numbly nodded and Keeja said, “Now I heard you got confirmation that Henry is still alive. Where is he? I have things to tell you and I’d prefer that you were together when I did. I also need to find that boy for other reasons.”

“He’s in Berber. He sent a message to Mareen,” answered Jason.

“Mareen! Get out here, girl!”

“Yes, madam!” answered Mareen, scampering forward.

“What did your devilishly handsome husband say? Actually, never mind, I’ll just read it later. You sent a message back, yes? When was that? When will you get a new message via magic messenger bird?”

“He should be getting my MMB any day now, I think,” replied Mareen, turning her bronze bow in her hands nervously.

“Okay fine. Some of what I have to tell you can wait, Jason. Some can’t. Hurry up and get your people together and let’s leave. I’ll formally introduce everyone to Philana after we’re away from thinly armored spitting water ambush demon territory. I will also start filling you in on what I can. Everything has changed, and I don’t even know where to start. I’m not even sure where to begin to give you the context you need to understand...anything.”

The High Priestess sighed and shouted, “Bezzi-ibbi! Come here!” The Jaguar Clan heir ran out and stood to attention before the Areva demigoddess. Keeja reached forward and pulled her music player from thin air. “Go attach this to the Battlewagon and put some music on. I want to hear some disco, dammit. Make it happen.”

Bezzi-ibbi bobbed a nod and ran back to the Battlewagon. “Keeja is back,” the Mo’hali boy chuckled.

“Yes, I am back,” muttered Keeja. “I’m glad we know Henry is alive, but I wish he was here so I could just tell everyone everything at once. I hope he doesn’t still manage to get himself killed. Knowing that idiot, he’s probably knee deep in battle, blood, and chaos right now.”

To the side, Mareen made a strangled noise, covering her mouth. Keeja turned and patted the taller woman’s shoulder. “I’m sorry, dear, but you know it’s probably true. Carnage follows that man everywhere he goes. Well, the same is true for Jason.”

Jason glanced at the altered river, the destroyed landscape, and could only silently agree.

Meal, Interrupted

“Hey, Tony, this is kind of nice isn’t it? Kind of peaceful?” asked Henry around a mouthful of food. The younger man sitting across from him nodded and tore into his own food with relish.

I could get used to this, thought Henry. He held up his chopsticks and appreciated his morsel for a moment. When it had been alive, his food had been some sort of giant shrimp, scorpion thing called a sharp claw miniature stinging shoal demon. Henry thought this name was thoroughly fucking stupid and called them shoal shrimp. Now this shoal shrimp was a lightly breaded, lightly fried delicacy about halfway between a prawn and a lobster tail.

Henry dipped his morsel in the sweet, mustard-ish sauce supplied with the meal and closed his eyes in bliss as he bit and slowly chewed. Then he added some sauce to a few of the unfamiliar green tubers that had come on his plate and nodded in satisfaction. He glanced up and saw Tony doing pretty much the same thing, but awkwardly using the strange, two pronged, aluminum spork popular in Berber instead of his chopsticks.

Henry chuckled for a half second, almost just an exhalation of breath. Jason was going to feel stupid when he got to Berber. His friend had never quite mastered chopsticks, a fact the taller man had always been strangely self-conscious about.

Tony put a hand to his stomach, and Henry felt some concern. He’d noticed the younger man doing that a lot, lately. “Is the food bothering you?” he asked.

“No, sometimes my gut hurts when I use my magic.”

“You’re using magic right now?” Henry frowned. “Why?”

Tony shrugged. “I get the idea I’m supposed to, you know, since what I do can affect stuff in the past like finding my dagger.” The young adventurer went back to eating and Henry took the hint the younger man didn’t really want to talk about it.

His magic affects the past, huh? Henry hadn’t really thought about that. He quickly went through a mental list of every lucky break, every crazy coincidence that he and Jason had had on Ludus and felt a chill. If Tony’s power could affect the past, maybe he was the most powerful member of their group, especially if he would keep growing in power in the future. How far back could his magic reach? The implications were mind blowing.

Could Tony have been partially responsible for Henry and Jason coming to Ludus? Without the two of them, Tony would probably still be a farmer, after all. Henry shook his head and dispelled the thought. Even if it had been true, Tony was his friend, and would never do anything to intentionally hurt him. Henry absently patted his leg and gazed out at the magnificent view while he munched on some more shoal shrimp.

The outdoor dining area that Henry and Tony sat at was part of the Bobrik estate, taking up an entire plateau near the city of Makovo and overlooking Blackmarsh Lake. Henry couldn’t see the other side of the lake from where he sat, but after pouring over some of the Bobrik family’s maps, he now knew it fed a massive swamp as well as the river that flowed to Berber agricultural lands.

Discovering that Tanushree’s family was many times more powerful and influential than the Jaguar Clan back in Mirana had been a bit of a shock. Henry had realized that he really didn’t have a good frame of reference for infrastructure on Ludus. As an example, Mirana had seemed like a large city, especially since electrical technology was forbidden.

However, Makovo was a properly large city, at least as big as some of the modern cities Henry had visited back on Earth. It wasn’t the biggest city he’d ever seen, but he was definitely impressed.

Being used to Tolstey, and Mirana in particular, it was also strange to see dolosbots so often now. He could spot one roaming around every few days, and every time it happened, all the surrounding people became muted, frightened. Henry hated the things on principal.

A frustrated growl jerked his attention away from the view. He raised an eye at the goblin siblings, Rekkla and Trask, where he’d seated them at a kiddie table. Rekkla held her spork up, eyeing her cooked shoal shrimp with open disdain. “Look,” growled Henry, “I know you don’t like seafood, but this is what we were given. Eat it.”

Trask eyed his own food warily. “At least we are given something to eat, even if it is not great. But must we sit here? This is humiliating. I am not a slave, or a servant.”

Henry pointed with his spork. “Now that you mention it, I don’t know what you are...well, other than Tony groupies and an enormous pain in the ass. As for why you don’t get to sit at the grownup tables, are you thinking it’s because you’re gob-folk? Fuck no.

“Don’t get me wrong, I would have no problem killing either one of you, but until you actually do something to deserve that, I promised Shaman Hask to treat you like my crew.

“You get to sit at the kiddie table because your retarded sister can’t stop trying to bite the Bobrik servants, especially around Tony. Regular people sit at the grownup tables. Monsters that can’t keep their fucking teeth to themselves, especially monsters I am responsible for, get to take a timeout at the special table for special people.”

Trask tensed but didn’t respond right away. He smoothed his crude, homemade clothes, straightened his fake glasses, and finally asked, just a hint of a whine in his voice, “That’s Rekkla. Why am I being punished?”

“Coward. Traitor!” growled Rekkla at her brother, gesturing with her half eaten food.

“Because I know you can help control her more than you are, and you aren’t. I’m stuck with the two of you. Her failures are your failures now and vice versa,” said Henry.

Rekkla growled and threw her spork. The morsel of meat fell off in midair and the Asian Delvers leader deftly caught the eating utensil. “See, this is the behavior that landed you in time out in the first place—” Henry paused in mid-sentence as the metal tool in his hand...spoke to him in a way that no metal had in some time.

Is my magic back? Excited, Henry reached inside himself to check on his magic and verified that yes, his power was restored. “I’m not dying anymore!” he crowed, waving around the spork in his hand. The two goblins were confused, but Tony gasped and smiled.

Henry continued exploring within himself and laughed. His metal magic was stronger than ever! On top of that, he felt something new within himself. Something smoky, something that felt familiar and...right.

On a whim, he reached inside himself with his mind whip ability and touched his magic. He quickly pulled away when the feeling was uncomfortable, but looked around himself in wonder when he realized what had happened.

He could sense metal.

The sensation was strange, and Henry could tell the effects would be temporary, but he glanced around, excited as he realized he could sense all the metallic objects in the room. Most of his little group’s weapons rested on a table on the other side of the room, but with his new ability, Henry could tell that Trask kept a little bronze dagger in his boot, and Rekkla had a push dagger secreted between her breasts. Henry turned towards Tony but quickly looked away. He could sense the young man’s dagger at his lower back, and it had felt like it was looking back at him. He didn’t want to deal with that just yet.

Henry felt his eyes moving to the horizon too, sensing something, something interesting in a direction he hadn’t traveled before. The feeling was strong, and he felt an urge to explore it.

The door to the room opened, and Tanushree entered, her manner much more refined and less murder-stab-kill than she had been while traveling. Henry absently noted the young noblewoman’s presence, but kept exploring his new senses, trying to make the most of it while the effect lasted.

The interaction between the others in the room barely registered. At a glance, Henry could tell it was just more of the norm that had taken place for the last few days. Tony was stuttering, focused on Tanushree. The tall, muscular woman stared at Tony with startling intensity. Rekkla glared at the blonde noblewoman, and Trask pretended to ignore everything that was going on, but his ears wilted in discomfort.

Henry continued to examine all the metal in the room, just enjoying the wonder of it all. The feeling of his metal magic being back was like having a limb returned to him. The strange feeling under his magic now felt good too, like the air before a thunderstorm.

Tanushree broke off from talking to Tony for a moment to instruct a servant to fetch refreshments. By now, Henry knew the Bobrik noblewoman enjoyed drinking syrupy-sweet fruit wines. He made a face and rolled his eyes, but looked up when a group of four women wearing white Bobrik servant outfits entered the room.

Two were bigger, older. One was blonde and the other taller woman was racially ambiguous. The blonde woman briefly looked up and scanned the room, her demeanor very unservantlike. All four of them wore lacy white ornaments around their eyes that matched their dresses. A lot of the Bobrik servants added individual flair to their uniforms, but these four were all the same, and the additions looked like...masks.

Time seemed to stutter for Henry, and he narrowed his eyes. Why are all these servants carrying daggers? Sure enough, all four women carried daggers within their clothing. At least one of them was enchanted, another might have been blessed steel. To Henry’s senses, it glittered.

As the four women began surrounding Tanushree, the pieces clicked and Henry shouted, “Rekkla, bite them!”

The goblin girl immediately jumped from her child’s seat and pounced on one servant, biting the woman in the face like she’d been waiting her whole life for the command. Rekkla savaged at her victim’s ruined nose and lips with glee, blood spattering everywhere as the gob-folk shaman shook her head from side to side like a dog.

Henry was already moving, his adrenaline and hard-won battle instincts triggering his body to draw on magic and fortify his strength without requiring conscious thought. One of the fake servants screamed. The one closest to Henry was skilled. She stayed silent, calm, drawing her dagger and slashing at Tanushree in one motion.

Henry dove forward, unleashing his metal magic and letting out the dangerous shadow from under his magic as well, guiding it by instinct. He managed to block the blade with his arm, and in the next moment, wasn’t sure who was more surprised, him or the would-be assassin. His arm was now covered in metal, but instead of a second layer of steel skin like his armor had appeared before, now it looked like a proper gauntlet; a gauntlet made of smoky darkness.

This must be darksteel! Henry gleefully let the power cover the rest of his body, reveling in the feel of it. Using all of his other magic had been something he’d had to learn, almost like practicing dancing or understanding a math problem. The darksteel felt as natural as breathing, though.

Henry went to grab for the assassin’s weapon, but he’d been distracted and didn’t pay attention to the other fake servants. Another of them rushed forward, stabbing with her enchanted dagger. Henry managed to deflect the blow, but the woman’s other fist slammed into Henry’s chest hard enough to hurl him across the room, hitting the opposite stone wall with enough force to crack it.

Henry snarled and used one of his new abilities, simultaneously plunging the room into absolute darkness and giving himself darksight. One of the attackers that had been lunging at Tanushree was thrown off, missing completely. “Get down, Volleyball! You idiot!” Luckily, the noblewoman must have gotten the message because she gracefully dropped to the ground and rolled to the wall.

Rekkla rolled around the floor, still biting and clawing at her foe while somehow avoiding being stabbed. The fierce goblin girl didn’t seem too bothered by the dark room. Henry began moving to the side, trying to get a clear view of the dangerous, inhumanly strong attacker. Unfortunately, the woman whose arm he’d blocked earlier raised her hand and generated a painfully bright, condensed sphere of flame. The darkness wasn’t dispelled, but it did get thrown back as the fire magic collided with Henry’s magic.

“Oh shit,” muttered Henry. He sprinted forward, sure now that whether mages or ‘Bonded, at least two of the women were incredibly dangerous. He heard sirens in the distance but sneered. By the time any help arrived, it would all be over one way or another.

He jumped forward, trying to reach the fire mage. He didn’t have any particular plan in mind, but knew he had to do something. Unfortunately, he’d lost track of the strong woman with blonde hair. She moved incredibly fast, and next he knew, her arm was around his throat from behind in a sleeper hold.

Even with his enhanced strength, the woman’s arm felt like an unyielding steel cable. Without his new, full body armor, she probably would have squeezed Henry’s head right off. As it was, it was a struggle to avoid panicking and blacking out. In his field of view, the fire mage leveled her hand, snarling as she prepared a magical attack. Henry was helpless while her teammate held him.

His heart sunk. The stubborn man’s oxygen-starved brain slowly put words to the thought, It would really suck to die right after getting my metal magic back.

Suddenly, the darkness behind the fire mage grew deeper and the woman stiffened before falling to the ground, stone cold dead. The darkness had the same basic height and build as Tony. The disturbing visage had deep, somehow even blacker eyes staring back at him, and the dagger he held in his hand was terrifying, a weapon so dark it was like gazing into a hole in the universe.

As the woman died, her fire orb disappeared, but Henry could still see with his darksight and noticed the other dead woman lying on the ground, probably also done in by Tony. The blonde woman holding Henry loosened her grip just enough for the Delvers leader to snap out of his stupor, and he remembered his last coherent thought. Metal magic.

With a snarl, the furious Asian ‘Bonded generated razor sharp, steel blades from his elbows and began slamming them into his attacker behind him. One hit, two hits, three hits, four hits, she held tight. On the fifth, inhumanly powerful strike, the woman let go and began falling backward.

Henry spun, ignoring the agony in his throat and punched out with a closed, gauntleted fist. The blonde woman slammed backward through a set of tables, sending wood and pottery flying everywhere.

Leaping forward, Henry batted aside a weak thrust from the enhanced woman’s dagger, properly seeing her face for the first time. She’s only a kid, he thought sadly. She was dangerous, though, and he didn’t know if there were others.

With a regretful heart, Henry formed a steel needle projecting from the front of his smoky gauntlet and slammed the blade into the girl’s forehead, his great strength overcoming her natural armor. She must have an orb like Mareen’s, he thought. His eyes filled with unshed tears, and he angrily turned.

All the attackers were dead except for the woman with the ruined face that Rekkla kept rolling around on the floor with, growling and biting and tearing. The wounded assassin’s dagger had been lost in the scuffle and Henry noticed it, just out of her reach now. He jogged over and kicked it away.

“Rekkla, get off of her,” he growled and released the darkness from the room, sighing as he stopped expending energy on maintaining it.

Rekkla rose, beaming, leaving her whimpering enemy on the floor. She bounded over to Tony, asking, “Did you see, Voice? Did you see me tear your enemies?”

Trask had pretty much not moved the entire time. The young goblin sat with his back straight, his arms crossed, looking like he disapproved of the whole affair. Henry figured the translator was just good at hiding the fact he had probably almost pissed himself. Trask was not a fighter.

Tanushree slowly stood up, avoiding the bleeding, crying woman on the ground, her lip curled with distaste. However, when she looked up, her face drained of blood and her eyes grew huge.

Henry slowly nodded as he realized what the girl was probably seeing. He was covered in some sort of smoky armor. He didn’t even know what it looked like yet, but he had blades coming out of his elbows and fist. He was also covered in blood.

Tony was shrouded by darkness. He had wisps of it following him now, and it almost reminded Henry of the dangerous stuff that had been coming out of his own back when he was dead. In fact, now that he thought about it, they were probably related. The young Fideli-looking adventurer must have realized what he looked like at the same time Henry had, because he hurriedly sheathed his deadly dagger with a yelp, dispelling his dangerous aura.

A flash in the center of the room made everyone jump as two wooden boxes appeared, presumably courtesy of Dolos.

Henry could hear the approaching Bobrik armswomen, but they still weren’t anywhere close. He looked Tanushree in the eyes and the woman gulped, but squared her shoulders. Henry’s voice sounded distorted as he spoke, and he realized that his new, magical helmet covered his mouth.

“Your security fucking sucks in this place. Good food, though.”

Paths Less Traveled

Henry glared at the yucka pulling his wagon. He’d been feeling surly the entire morning, and the creature’s smell was not helping. “I seriously swear that yucka are half monster. I was hoping to never deal with these fucking things ever again,” he grumbled as he sat, gesturing at the huge beast of burden.

Tony nodded. “I don’t like them, either.”

It had only been a couple days since they’d thwarted the assassination attempt on Tanushree. The night after the fighting itself had been a clusterfuck with all the Bobrik people running all over the place and asking stupid questions. Henry had a sneaking suspicion he would have had to fight someone or just leave altogether if not for Tanushree herself ordering people to leave him alone.

The difference between how the Jaguar Clan functioned from the much larger Bobrik family was like night and day. Most of the Jaguar Clan had actually been related. In the Bobrik family, Tanushree’s parents including her father and three mothers, her two sisters, her Aunt, her aunt’s sister wife, her uncle, and her four cousins were the only actual Bobriks living in the estate. Everyone else was an employee or a retainer.

Something else Henry was getting used to was how often he got ignored in Berber. He was starting to feel like a robot. Everyone in the Bobrik estate knew he was ‘Bonded, some of them even knew he was technically a noble, but quite a few of the women just kind of glazed over when he talked, looking for confirmation from Tanushree. Henry felt kind of treated like...dangerous machinery.

He was starting to understand this was all just how Ludus worked, and he kind of couldn’t blame most of the women for ignoring him. Most Ludan men he’d met so far had been lazy, stupid sad sacks. Most of the men he’d met didn’t even know how to fight. They literally let the women fight their battles for them.

Tanushree’s father painted all day while her mothers actually ran the estate and took care of family business. Tolstey had probably been a bit different because there were more Mo’hali around, and the Mo’hali men weren’t as useless as most of the Terran men Henry had met in Berber.

The beast people had apparently been a good influence.

Henry couldn’t tell whether the Terran men in Berber decided on their own to be giant wastes of space, or if the women actually wanted them that way. Either way, the whole state of affairs was alien and uncomfortable for him. The only person with a penis he actually talked to regularly that he didn’t want to punch on general principal was Tony.

Jason is gonna have a fucking field day figuring out all this messed up bullshit. The tall, geeky man might enjoy learning about the politics and culture of Ludus, but Henry didn’t. He liked being ignored even less.

Most of the women were not exactly rude to him, but, at first, it was hard for him to put his finger on it. And then he’d figured out what really bothered him about it. When he had realized that he’d somehow gotten used to people deferring to him, to respecting him, even caring about his opinion...he’d felt disgusted with himself.

Nobody in Berber was really being mean, they just...weren’t falling all over themselves, giving a shit about what he had to say. Henry kept stewing about it. People should care about what he said. He was right most of the time, after all. But the fact it bothered him when they didn’t made him want to kick his own ass. When the hell had he gotten so full of himself?

At least a couple good things had happened the day before. One of the assassins hadn’t been killed, just chewed up by Rekkla, probably wishing she was dead. The Bobrik’s probably had not been kind to her, either. She’d attempted to kill the Bobrik heir, after all. Somewhat unsurprisingly, she’d cracked under her inevitable torture.

Henry had heard from a servant that Tanushree had killed the would-be murderess herself, using a ceremonial Bobrik family axe. Ludus is a harsh world. Henry had seen some hairy shit back on earth, but teen girls dispassionately killing condemned criminals was a new one for him.

Now the Bobrik family presumably knew who had sent the attack, but Tanushree hadn’t really said anything more about it. And unlike the Jaguar Clan where Henry had been accepted as part of the family itself, the Bobriks seemed to be treating Henry and Tony both like Tanushree’s retainers. Henry thought it was a little weird. Everyone in the estate knew that Tanushree was still alive because of them, but he still hadn’t even really talked to her parents other than briefly saying hello.

The Bobrik family seemed to be a lot more cold and impersonal about raising their kids. It bothered Henry’s American sensibilities, but he had to admit that Tanushree was tough as nails and smart as hell. Perhaps her upbringing had something to do with that.

Henry absently reached up and petted Honey where she sat on his shoulder, her favorite place to travel. The purple badger creature had passively followed him before reaching the Bobrik estate, and she’d seemed content to hang out with all the other animals in the stables there, even though she made the rest of them nervous as hell. But she’d appeared out of nowhere and swarmed up Henry’s leg to his shoulder as they had left, and he had just rolled with it.

Unfortunately, Tony didn’t understand why Henry had named her ‘Honey’. The one time Henry had joked, “Honey Badger don’t give a shit!” and begun laughing, Tony had been confused.

The young man had asked, “She doesn’t defecate? That’s amazing! I’ve never heard of that type of magic before!” The whole exchange had killed the comedy, and it made Henry grumpy just thinking about it. He was looking forward to meeting up with Jason again. His friend would think the name was stupid, but at least he’d get the joke.

Henry and Tony had gotten used to Honey being with them, but pretty much everyone else they’d met in Berber so far had given them funny looks. Henry was beginning to understand that the practice of keeping pets in general wasn’t very popular in Berber.

The other good thing to occur the previous day had happened around dinnertime. Henry had gotten an MMB message from Mareen. He’d excused himself to read the note and keep any emotional nonsense he might have experienced to himself. Nobody would have wanted to see that.

Actually, now that Henry thought about it, he hadn’t filled Tony in yet! The young adventurer hadn’t tried to remind him, either. The kid must have the patience of a saint! “So you’re probably wondering about the MMB, right?”

Henry immediately had Tony’s full attention. The young adventurer’s subtly inhuman eyes with tiny pupils lit up. “Yes, please!”

“Well, I suppose you’re worried about your cousin, right?”

A complicated expression passed over Tony’s face. He replied, “Yeah...worried. But tell me about everyone!”

“Well, Vitaliya is fine. She’s apparently worried about you.” The same complicated expression passed over Tony’s face again, but Henry didn’t know what it meant. He just continued, “Thirsty left the group before everyone else started heading up the river towards the mountains.”

“What? Why? Is he okay?”

“Yeah. Mareen said he didn’t want to be an adventurer, anymore. Well, he never wanted to be an adventurer in the first place. He went to the Mirana capital to do something there. Jason gave him a lot of money to get started, so that was cool.

“Jason is third rank ‘Bonded now like me. Speaking of which, are you going to use those spirit stones?”

Tony reached into his pocket and pulled out the spirit stones Henry had insisted he take. After the assassination attempt, Henry had pocketed both reward boxes for killing two orb-Bonded. Tanushree had seen him do it, but none of the Bobrik people had asked about it despite knowing that some of the attackers had been ‘Bonded. Henry and Tony had just received a brusque, “Thank you.”

It had turned out that both boxes had a spirit stone inside, and Henry had given them to Tony. Tony rolled the spirit stones around in his palm and said, “I think so, I mean, what you said makes sense. It’s just…”

“Look, it’s simple. I’m already third rank, and I doubt my controller will let me level up for a while. I haven’t even scratched the surface of my new powers yet. You might be able to rank up immediately, though,” explained Henry.

“Yeah, but this is so much wealth,” said Tony, his voice soft.

“Look, kid, you’ve saved Princess Volleyball like twice now. Her family is weird as hell and won’t really acknowledge it, but from my perspective, you’ve earned it.”

Tony shook his head. “Her family isn’t bad, they’re just preparing her to be a noblewoman on her own in the capital,” he replied absently. “If she can’t deal with that sort of thing, she won’t do well there.”

“Yeah, I kind of figured it’s a tough love thing. Anyway, just use the spirit stones tonight. You’ve saved my ass multiple times in the past few weeks. Keep doing it and I’ll keep feeding you more spirit stones. But speaking of Tanushree, you two have been spending a lot of time together, right? I bet Rekkla isn’t happy about that.” Henry smirked.

Tony’s face colored and he reflexively looked over his shoulder, probably to check that none of the others were nearby. They weren’t. Henry had needed some time away from Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum and had wanted to talk to Tony without Lady Iceveins around. Just taking point as security in their little caravan had been enough to ensure that.

Henry felt a little guilty about engineering time away from their benefactor since Tanushree was effectively doing him a huge favor. They were heading to his Berber estates to officially become a noble. But Tony was his friend and his battle brother. At least once in a while, he needed to have a real conversation with the other man without Trask moping, or Rekkla trying to bite someone.

Tony scratched his face. “There isn’t anything with Lady Bobrik, you know, anything with...um…”

“I’ve seen how you look at her, dude. You’re about as subtle as a fucking car crash. I can’t tell how she feels because she’s got a poker face from hell, but you might as well give it a shot. I mean, unless you would rather have Rekkla. She’s got green skin but she’s actually kind of cute if you like ‘em short...and carnivorous, and not human...and psychotic.”

Tony put his hand on his stomach and grimaced, probably using his magic. He did that a lot now when he was flustered. Henry would think it was funny if the kid wasn’t probably changing the past. Actually, if it’s already the past, could he change it, or was he just creating the past? All of it still freaked him out.

Tony said, “Henry, I’m not you. I can’t just...talk to people. Plus, she is a noblewoman, a powerful one in Berber! I’m just a farmer from a parcel in Tolstey.”

“Bullshit. Look, I know I’m American and not really down with ye olde class system. This won’t mean anything to you, and it doesn’t apply to this world anyway. But what does matter is that you are an adventurer now, and more importantly, you are orb-Bonded. You’re a powerful orb-Bonded at that. The lines between different types of power are always hazy, and Ludus is no exception. In fact, all nobility are orb-Bonded, right?”

“Yes, if they have enough wealth. A lot of noble families won’t give an orb to a family member unless they’re important enough and have gotten old enough. That is why Lady Tanushree is about to get hers.”

“Why?”

“Little kids can grow up too fast or too slow with an orb, and a lot of noble children die young— assassinations, monsters, stuff like that. Tanushree said they don’t want to waste resources.”

“Oh,” muttered Henry. Well, that’s shitty, but makes sense. “Anyway, the point is, you should at least explore whether it could be an option. Do some research. Poke around. At the very least, you could find out if the girl likes you in the first place, otherwise this whole conversation is kind of pointless.

“Still, I bet being orb-Bonded is a lot like being really rich back on Earth. Back in the day, sometimes people bought themselves titles or married into the aristocracy on Earth...I think, anyway. Ask Jason when you see him again, he’ll know. But being ‘Bonded makes you more powerful and extends your lifespan. I have a hard time believing that powerful families wouldn’t be all over that like white on rice.”

“White on rice?” asked Tony.

“Never mind. It sounds better in English. Hold on, I’m gonna check the map.” Henry rummaged around in his thick leather pack, courtesy of the Bobrik family. “Oh, I am going to send an MMB to Mareen tonight. If you want to send any of your own, you know how to call them. I’ll give you some gold if you need it. That way you can message your cousin and tell—”

Henry’s voice trailed off as he unfurled the map and saw something completely unexpected. As he stared, he realized that the strange sensation he’d experienced before the attack when he could sense metal had been pulling his senses to a new area marked area on the map, too.

On the map, showing up in exactly the same way as dungeons had in Tolstey with Henry’s power, somewhat like a hologram, was a rotating, silver pyramid over a specific mark. The indicated point also happened to be in the same direction they were already traveling. Henry gave Tony a suspicious look. “How many times a day did you say you randomly use your magic?”

“What’s the matter? I don’t know, probably around a dozen.”

“Because,” said Henry pointing at the map, “this is one hell of a coincidence.” Henry quickly reminded Tony of his locations of dungeons power, but further explained that it hadn’t been working for him in Berber, probably because the ability still only had one level. Berber dungeons were higher level than Tolstey dungeons, so he couldn’t see them, at least that was what made the most sense.

Henry continued explaining, “But now I can see this pyramid thing. I’m assuming it has something to do with my metal magic.”

“And are we going to check it out?” asked Tony, betraying only a hint of excitement.

“Well, I don’t call the shots here, but I’d like to. Why don’t you go inform Miss Volleyball that I’d like to veer left about an hour ahead?”

Tony’s cheeks colored a bit but he smiled and began clambering off the slow-moving wagon. “I’m on it,” the young man called, already heading towards the rear of the caravan where Tanushree rode with her guards.

Henry watched him go and was amused by how fast the lone armswoman in his path got out of his way. They might all be scared of Henry, but they were fucking terrified of Tony.

***

Aodh gaped at the ancient stone structures surrounding his group, and felt tiny. Tiny and young. The dilapidated, long-abandoned buildings were the oldest evidence of people’s existence on Ludus he had ever seen.

The buildings had harsh, angular lines, constructed with sharp points and round decorations on the walls themselves. The ravages of time had put cracks and fissures in the stone, and vegetation broke up some of the surroundings. Empty, dark windows stared out at the invading caravan like empty eye sockets. Small trees grew up through cracks, the surrounding forest reclaiming the area slowly over time. Moss and lichen cascaded down from every rooftop, adding to the overall hush, the alien atmosphere of the place.

Aodh glanced back at his party and felt shame. Nobody else seemed impressed, not even Trask. The fussy little goblin was taking notes in a notebook he’d somehow gotten ahold of at the Bobrik estate, but otherwise showed no reaction. Rekkla seemed bored except for when she noticed Aodh looking. She straightened and her ears actually perked up. Aodh quickly averted his gaze.

Most of Tanushree’s armswomen were awkwardly standing around, looking uncomfortable. The majority of them had refused to even enter the ruins. One of them had said even monsters wouldn’t usually enter, and so far, it seemed she’d been correct.

Tanushree herself stood talking to Henry, pointing at the pillar in the middle of the abandoned city and shaking her head. Aodh wondered what was going on so he began ambling over, continuing to gawk at his surroundings. As he got closer, he could see that the pillar actually jutted out of a massive, metal disc, partially obscured by the passage of time. Clumps of dirt and grass hid the once magnificent metal, now dull with age.

Aodh wasn’t an expert, but even he could tell the surrounding buildings had been constructed around the disc and the pillar. When he’d almost reached Henry and Tanushree, the purple accented creature on Henry’s shoulder sharply turned her head and stared at Aodh.

The animal’s piercing gaze was unsettling. Aodh wanted to say something to Henry about it, but he knew the other man would make fun of him for it. Plus, Aodh did feel a little ridiculous. He was a second rank orb-Bonded, soon to be third rank. He had two powerful, enchanted weapons the likes he’d never even heard of before. It was getting to the point that Aodh had to finally admit to himself he was becoming a powerful adventurer in his own right.

He was also the Voice of Memory, or so the Gobskulls told him.

But despite all of that, he could not deny that the cute little animal on Henry’s shoulder scared the hell out of him. Aodh felt dread in his bones and wanted to just run away screaming. He cleared his throat and as usual, he suppressed his flight instinct, ignoring the creature. If anything happened, he was going straight for his dagger, though.

His dagger...that was another problem. He still didn’t really know anything about it and he hadn’t talked to Henry about it much, either. Henry hadn’t pressed, probably because he knew Aodh didn’t want to discuss it, but the other man’s patience would only last so long. Aodh sighed and stood next to Henry, listening in to the conversation.

Henry gestured at the metal disc before them. “Look, you don’t know for certain that it’s dangerous. What are we going off of here, anyway? Myths and legends? You don’t even know what it does.”

“No, you don’t know what it does, Lord Henry. On the other hand—”

“Please don’t call me that.”

“Okay, Henry. I told you I know what legend says this array does. It’s a gate of sorts, but they haven’t worked for generations. We’ve known these ruins were here, but there is nothing of value here. The place is creepy, the monsters won’t even come here, and sometimes people go missing nearby too. We really should leave.”

“I want to go check out the pillar.”

“Did you hear what I just said?” Tanushree frowned and balled up her hands. Aodh thought she looked beautiful even when she was angry. Actually, maybe she was even prettier when she was angry. Aodh felt an itch between his shoulder blades and looked around, trying to act casual. Sure enough, Rekkla was standing off to the side with Trask, still being avoided by the Berber Terrans. She was glaring.

Aodh turned around, trying to act normal. He felt bad for the goblins. There were quite a few Berbans that would like nothing better than to kill the two green siblings. Aodh knew that the only thing stopping them was Tanushree’s orders, and their fear of Henry. The Delvers leader had made it very clear he didn’t like the gob-folk very much, but they were part of his crew for the time being. If anyone hurt them, he would destroy them, or die trying.

The Bobriks and their retainers knew he was serious about this, and news of what he’d done to the orks had spread. Aodh wished people would take him seriously one day like they did Henry. Aodh was treated very differently. When people saw him now, they turned around and walked the other way. They wouldn’t even talk to him. He probably wasn’t important enough.

“Okay, look,” said Henry. “I think I’m going to go check that thing out, and there really isn’t much you can do to stop me, so let’s stop arguing about it.”

Aodh shook his head and stepped forward, saying, “Henry, you should listen to Lady Tanushree. She is from here and we aren’t.”

Tanushree frowned deeper when Aodh spoke, her cheeks coloring. He wilted inside. They talked a lot, but he just seemed to make her angry. She was always frowning and acting stiff when he was around.

Henry looked at the two of them, blinking. “The two of you should really just bone,” he said.

Aodh’s entire world turned upside down. He flushed with embarrassment down to his toes, and would not, could not look at Tanushree. As he stared at the ground, he could almost feel her presence near him like a shock of static electricity. The situation got even worse when Rekkla materialized at his side, pulling on his hand, careful not to scratch him with her long nails. She had obviously been listening in.

The young goblin shaman pleaded, “Voice, if you wish to mate, mate with me! I will be a powerful and loyal shaman forever. We can send enemies to Memory and gain strength from their flesh.”

Then Trask was there, pulling on his sister. “Please, Rekkla. Please stand with me over there? I want to stop sitting at the little tables.”

“Get off of me! The Voice is being tempted by this giant Terran bvastik. She cannot even use magic. Young males like the Voice are weak to soft females like this. Shaman Hask told me. It is my duty as a Gobskulls shaman to—”

Aodh still felt Tanushree nearby, silent as the grave. He couldn’t look at her, and he didn’t want to deal with the goblins, so he glanced up instead...just in time to see that Henry had already walked over to the distant pillar without anyone noticing him do so.

“Hey, wait, Henry, we—” Aodh called out, but it was already too late. Henry laid his hand on the strange obelisk and... nothing happened. Since Aodh had yelled, everyone in the area had their eyes on Henry as he continued pressing his palm to the strange stone pillar. There was no sound and nothing moved, but Aodh felt his heart in his throat, waiting for disaster to fall. Nothing continued to happen.

Finally, Henry turned and the impulsive man nonchalantly walked back to Aodh and Tanushree, patting his thigh. His eyes were unfocused and he wore a thoughtful expression. When he reached talking distance, the powerful ‘Bonded said, “It had a help menu. Seriously. And it was actually helpful. Tanushree, do you have any other ‘Bonded in your group?”

“Yes, one. A few of my guards have enchanted gear, but just one is ‘Bonded. I will be orb-Bonded when I take this tonight.” She produced a small box, presumably holding an orb. Even being ‘Bonded himself, Aodh gasped.  So much wealth in that little box…

Henry walked the last few steps over to them, coming to a stop. On his shoulder, Honey looked curiously down at Aodh, then scanned the rest of them. The goblin siblings edged back when Honey trained her gaze on them. Henry was oblivious to all of it and said, “It’s a shame you aren’t bonded yet, Tanushree. You should have your ‘Bonded armswoman go touch the obelisk. Tony, you go do it too, and be quick. Like seriously, hurry up.”

“Why?” asked the blonde noblewoman.

“Because now I know what this thing is. It’s a teleporting transport device, like a...a waypoint from one of Jason’s games. If you touch them, you can travel to another one that you’ve touched almost instantly, and you can use them every two days.”

“Okay, but why do we need to hurry?”

“Because...see those cracks in the stone?” Henry asked, pointing to some straight furrows on a nearby building.

“Yes,” answered Aodh.

“Those aren’t cracks. They’re claw marks. Something really big lives here. From the pillar, you can see that all the buildings around here are scratched up. We got lucky,” the Asian man said, looking Aodh directly in the eyes, “but we need to get the fuck out of here before whatever it is comes back. Plus, I want to start traveling again so we can see my new house, or land, or hovel, or shack, or whatever the hell it is I supposedly own now. Let’s go. We have work to do.”

Henry didn’t need to tell Aodh twice. He’d been an adventurer long enough now to know when it was time to act, not ask more questions. And mysterious dagger or not, he didn’t want to meet anything that left claw marks twenty feet up on the side of a stone building.

Henry’s State

Henry nodded, impressed despite himself. “Okay, this is a cool little place.” He thought briefly about what he’d just said. Yes, he hadn’t actually called the place, “cold” and had used the correct slang. Jason would have been proud.

Of course, the area was not exactly little. The land had obviously been occupied for some time, the surrounding forest pushed back and the land covered in gently waving fields of grass dotted by the occasional fruit tree. He reached up to pet Honey on his shoulder before remembering she wasn’t there. The odd, purple creature had already randomly taken off earlier and run into the surrounding woods, probably to kill and eat something.

Henry was surveying the grounds, his grounds, after taking official ownership of the land. The ownership process itself had been anticlimactically simple. He’d just picked up a little token on a table in his new house, well, more of a mansion...and the place had belonged to him. That was it! The magic in the token had reacted to whatever Gonzo had done to him, and created a match, almost like a key. At least that was how it had been explained to him.

When he’d taken ownership, he’d felt something shift inside himself and the crystal surfaces on the wall of his parlor, above the front door, and the gate of his homestead had all begun to display his name.

After the place was his, he could look at these crystal surfaces, almost like round televisions, and get information about his land if he thought about it. The setup was super slick, and he discovered, by asking Tanushree and his majordomo, that the information came from both a few automatic, and a few manual sources. For instance, his budget was entered by the majordomo herself.

The land and the house had been held in stewardship by the majordomo and her family for the last few years. She’d met Tanushree’s caravan at the gate, and had seemed legitimately excited to meet Henry. The Berber government had alerted her to the land’s new knight. That had been another shock. Henry knew he had been made a noble, but it turned out he was a noble-noble.

His majordomo, Ellen, had sat down and explained it for him, even while obviously intimidated by Tanushree. She had even used pictures...which had helped. After she’d givien him the rundown, filling in the holes in his education that had still existed after a crash course with Gonzo in the past, he’d understood why Ellen was nervous around Tanushree.

Berber’s aristocracy was weird, but kind of made sense, too. Berber had strategically placed fortifications ringing the entire country to protect against monsters, bandits, and other countries, if necessary. Each fort and the surrounding land was considered a barony. Usually, two or three baronies were ruled by a viscount from an adjoining city. Tanushree’s parents were viscounts. The largest cities in the country were overseen by a count or countess, and the whole country had four dukedoms. The dukes and duchesses lived in the capital, Mensk, near the palace.

Henry was a knight, which was a step or two up from the lowest rung of the aristocracy. The actual amount of land he owned was small, but his title wasn’t bad, not bad at all. The Berber government must have needed to give him a ritzy enough title to actually infiltrate the social circles in Mensk. Henry had to admit he’d probably need some rank to figure out what was going on in the capital. Now that Tanushree knew what Henry’s rank actually was, she’d started calling him ‘Sir Henry’.

Both the fact she knew she outranked him, and that she had become orb-Bonded herself that morning seemed to have given her a lot more confidence around both him and Tony. Henry needed to talk to her later. She was keeping things from him. He was no Jason, but he had also figured out how they might help each other.

Thinking about his official elevation made him consider his majordomo again, and he turned to regard Ellen where she walked beside him. She was a redhead, and about average height for Ludus, so maybe a little shorter than women back in the US.

She wasn’t fat, but she was thick, like she was used to hard work. Henry thought of her as kind of pretty in a stout, could-kick-your-ass sort of way. So far, he had been impressed by how effortlessly Ellen had handled his elevation and with meeting everyone in their party. She’d remembered everyone’s names, even all twelve of Tanushree’s guardswomen. Ellen’s mind was obviously like a steel trap.

Henry knew she lived on the estate in her own little home near the mansion, and she had a husband and a sister wife, but not much else. Everything had happened so fast, he figured it was time to pump her for more information. “Ellen, what does your sister wife and your husband do?”

“Do? They do many things, Sir Henry.”

“I mean, what are their jobs?”

“Oh, I understand now! Gavra leads the guards for your demesne. He is making rounds today on zebraback and I am sure he will fill you in when he gets back. He doesn’t know you’ve arrived yet because of the timing. Meesha manages our home and makes sure the children are cared for most of the time, but she used to be an engineer. If we ever need anything measured or calculated for repairs, she helps out.”

“Oh really? How many children do you have?”

“Meesha has two, and I have one,” Ellen said proudly. “A boy, Vern. Meesha’s are Nan and Celize.”

“Those are pretty names,” said Henry, and he meant it. He still hadn’t exactly figured out the wide array of names in Ludus, but he had a hunch it had something to do with people being randomly transplanted from other planets.

“Thank you, Sir. Gavra has a knack for naming and has chosen the names of all three children.”

“How many guards does Gavra lead?”

“Seven. Two families of three, and Charleen, Gavra’s second in command. Charleen is sister wife of the two maids in your manor, and wife to your gardener, Ross.”

“Two maids?”

“Yes, Sir, but Marjeet, the youngest, spends most of her time teaching all the children of the estate. Meesha, my sister wife, has more education so she helps out with lessons sometimes for the older children.”

Henry was doing his best to remember everything, but he knew he was going to forget all the names. His main goal was to understand the gist, and he thought he did. Something was still bothering him, though. “Wasn’t this place basically just existing without an owner for the last few years? Who pays for all this stuff?”

Ellen’s expression changed, looking nervous and not hiding it very well. “We get a modest stipend from the capital, but it wasn’t enough to keep everyone cared for. In the past, the owner of the estate would invest funds to keep it running smoothly. Without a Lord or Lady of the estate, I would have had to stop paying people, and we already run with a small staff. I...did what I had to do.

“What did you do?”

“My husband, Gavra, told me when the two active dungeons on the estate were populated by monsters again, and I informed local adventurers. They were allowed to come on the land to deal with the dungeons for a percentage of the profit they made. Both dungeons are not likely to ever spill out into the wild and pose a direct threat to the manor, but this way I prevented that too.”

“Sounds smart to me. I would look at all the finances and that sort of thing but I kind of don’t care. Did you make smart decisions with the money?”

“Yes, Sir.” Ellen looked surprised, like she’d been expecting to get hit before and didn’t know how to deal with the fact she wasn’t. “I had hired another family of guards. Every guard has at least one enchanted weapon or enchanted piece of gear and they specialize in their use. There are also three air rifles, one kept in the estate house, one is carried by Gavra, and one is locked up in the basement of my home with the air pump. The pump runs on magic stones. I had to save for two years to purchase it.”

“So you basically used all the money to make the estate better, safer?”

“Yes, Sir.”

“Good job. I know you were going to take me to the estate garden and the water well next, but I don’t really need to see them yet. Do me a favor and show me the closest, open, flat ground near the house.”

Ellen looked puzzled but answered, “Yes, Sir.” As she led the way back towards Henry’s new house, the majordomo asked,” Forgive me if I overstep myself, Sir, but are there any ladies of your house? And are you by chance orb-Bonded?” She didn’t cringe like she had before, but Ellen still tensed.

Her reaction irritated Henry. He might have a title, but he was not a dick, and the nobles he met so far hadn’t been, either. Tanushree might be wound as tight as a spring and probably desperately needed to get laid, probably for the first time, probably with Tony, but Volleyball had a good heart. It bothered Henry that Ellen had obviously been mistreated by her masters in the past. “Yeah, I’m orb-Bonded. And yes, I have a wife. She won’t be coming by any time soon, though. Well, I guess that actually might depend on that old city we passed on the way here.”

“What, you mean Veritasholm?”

“Is that the name of the creepy place with sharp buildings set in a circle around a metal disc with a pillar coming out of it?”

“Yes, Sir. You should not go there! It is not safe! I saw it once when I was a girl with more tales than sense, and we still didn’t get close enough to see anything other than the buildings in the distance.”

“I’ve already been there,” muttered Henry. “Nobody was home, but I doubt it’ll be that way next time. What I really need is…” he trailed off, thinking about his plans. Ellen left him in silence.

A few minutes later, they’d passed Henry’s new home and Ellen came to a stop, gesturing around at a small field of grass and wildflowers. “This used to be an herb garden, Sir. It went into disrepair not long after I first came to work here as a maid, and now it’s not used for anything.”

Henry looked around and smiled, taking mental measurements. “This is perfect!” he exclaimed. “Do you know if there are many metal deposits nearby?”

Ellen shrugged. “A few years ago an earth mage was passing through, the same that dug the well we use today, actually. She did a survey of the land and said the entire area was rich with metal, but far too deep for most to reach other than with a huge mining operation. We don’t have money or manpower for that.”

“I see,” mused Henry. “How long did it take her to dig that well? I’m assuming she used magic.” Henry figured it would take him about a minute to dig a well like that these days.

“It took her about a week.”

Henry stopped and turned. “A week? How powerful of an earth mage was she?”

“I am not sure, Sir. Maybe average?”

Now that is interesting. Henry paced the flat area again and patted his thigh in thought. “Where is Tanushree at?”

“Lady Tanushree is not far from here, practicing her magic.” Ellen’s voice practically glowed with awe.

Henry snorted. “Lead me there. I’ve heard about her new power but I’ve never seen it.”

“As you wish.” The red-headed woman bowed her head and began walking away, her grey, divided skirts swishing.

Henry shook his head. “Actually, let’s stop by the house first. You said there was a library earlier, right?”

“Yes, Sir.”

The pieces were starting to fall together in Henry’s mind. What had started as a nebulous idea, almost just a thought when he’d seen the abandoned city, was beginning to turn into a fully-fledged plan. He was tired of reacting to things, tired of people on Ludus yanking him around by the short hairs. Fuck that. If he was ever going to get home, he needed a shit ton of power. And if he decided to stay on Ludus, he needed a shit ton of power too, but for different reasons.

He refused to ever be anyone’s bitch again; anyone, including Dolos.

Ellen led him back to the house and he quickly passed the table he’d taken ownership of the estate at. She led him to the back of the building and respectfully moved aside as Henry stepped into the library. The room was lined in dark wooden shelves holding tomes of all sizes. The air smelled of leather with just a slight, underlying odor of dust. A small table with a couple comfortable chairs took up the center of the room, and bronze candle holders hugged the walls at regular intervals.

Henry soundlessly whistled and began examining the book titles. Written Luda was a little harder for him to make sense of sometimes than the automatic translation he got from speech, but he was still able to skim the books, his books, pretty quickly.

When his eyes rested on a particular shelf, he stopped cold and chills ran up his spine. He removed one of the books and flipped through, noting diagrams and words for various elements. “It’s interesting that there are books on magical devices and magic technology here.”

“Yes, the second to last master of this place took an interest in the subject. The last owner of the estate didn’t much care for reading but she liked keeping the library for appearances. She left all the books in here as-is.”

“I see,” said Henry. “Just how far back does the kid’s power reach?”

“Come again, Sir?”

“Don’t worry about it,” replied Henry. His entire body felt tense. “Okay, let’s head over to Tanushree, now.”

“Yes, Sir. Just follow me, please,” instructed Ellen and began to lead the way.

Henry was thinking furiously. There is just no way. He’d basically just been handed a title with land, land that sat on top of natural deposits of metal, and a house that had an entire shelf of huge, old books about Ludus magical tech in his fucking library. There was no way. When Henry began thinking of all the coincidences, all the trials, all the battles that he’d just barely survived to get to this point, his blood ran cold.

He knew that if he spent too much time thinking about it, it could drive him crazy wondering how much of what had happened to him, or how many times he’d avoided death had been influenced by Tony’s power. The kid didn’t know himself what he was doing and wasn’t actually directing his ability. His orb controller was calling the shots, and Henry had met her. He had no doubt she, or it, or whatever, was completely committed to Tony. Henry’s happiness or survival was not on the agenda except perhaps as a means to an end.

This was the type of thing for Jason to ponder, not Henry. He wasn’t cut out for unraveling the mysteries of the universe. But what he could do, he could do well. Henry kept working on his plan, fleshing it out in his mind until he reached the area where Tanushree was practicing. It turned out it was also where the caravan’s wagons were lined up and the yucka were tethered.

Rekkla and Trask sat in the grass together by themselves. Tony stood to one side, leaning on a barrel that had been moved from a wagon. He’d found some silly looking, wide-brimmed hat somewhere to wear. At least half a dozen armswomen loitered around the area, including Ceevil, the orb-Bonded fighter.

One thing was certain, not much phased Ceevil. She constantly looked bored. Her expressions seemed especially skeptical around Henry. With her reputation as an excellent healer, Henry figured she probably had skill to back up her 'tude.

The short, curvy brunette Terran woman had a plain face with Latin features, but was thick bodied—thick in a good way. If curves were currency, she'd be rich. She looked middle-aged, and carried herself with the self-confidence of someone who had led a full life.

Henry had no idea what rank she was. Her LEDF, or Left Eye Data Feed had been hidden at some point in the past, probably because she was a personal guard of Tanushree.

Tanushree herself currently had no such protection. After he’d seen her that morning, Henry had heard a chime in his head and seen,

Tanushree Bobrik, Terran, Berban Peerage

Dolos Orb, Animation, Evolving Type

First Rank

The newly orb-Bonded young woman was currently standing in the middle of the small field, drenched in sweat. She wore a workout uniform that Henry had seen the armswomen wear - simple pants and a tunic made from the local equivalent of cotton. Two armswomen faced Tanushree with live weapons. The display made Henry cringe, but he remembered Ceevil was a healer, plus, people on Ludus generally didn’t go easy on training as a rule.

As Henry watched, the two guards rushed forward, but Tanushree held her hands out, lifting them up. The ground erupted in front of her, and two chest-height figures that were roughly the shape of men took form, created from dirt.

Tanushree’s guardswomen were very well trained and highly proficient with their weapons, but sharpened bronze didn’t do much against animated earth. The other armswoman had pulled a hammer of sorts and struck her animated opponent, but it didn’t have much effect, either. Soon, both armswomen were pinned to the ground by the great strength of Tanushree’s thralls.

Henry slowly clapped, and the blonde girl, startled, whirled around, the two clay figures falling apart behind her. The armswomen got up, dusting themselves off and looking sheepish.

“Can you only control two right now?” asked Henry.

“Yes, Sir Henry. I started with one this morning, but I’ve been improving my focus.”

Henry nodded, impressed. “Not bad, but you need to change your thinking. You should keep at least one of them near you at all times if you’re fighting like that.”

“Why? I kept both of my opponents away from me and they were defeated.” Tanushree frowned.

“And what if one popped up behind you?”

“It is not like I am defenseless on my own,” the fierce woman said, setting her jaw.

Henry gave her a level look. “And what if the person popping up behind you was me? Or Tony? You used all of your power to neutralize two regular fighters. They are dangerous, yes. But if you’re orb-Bonded and fight other orb-Bonded, you can’t just throw everything you have into a single attack.”

Tanushree narrowed her eyes. “Would you have a bout with me, Sir Henry?”

“I guess. I came here to try something out, so I need to ask you to help me with that next, though.”

“That is fine.”

“Do you want Ceevil to help you? She’s a Body school mage or something, right? I know she has some mojo.”

Tanushree gritted her teeth. “That will not be necessary.”

Henry shrugged. “Okay, let’s get this thing started, then. It seems like everyone is always wants to duel me for some dumbass reason.

***

Tanushree gathered her power and waited for the match to begin. Sir Henry just stood and faced her with his hands on his hips, smirking. The man’s manner irritated Tanushree immensely.

By this point, since Henry was a knight, Tanushree had decided that Aodh must be an esquire. It was the only situation that made any sense at all. But they were both so, so powerful! She was much higher ranking than they were, a fact that was muddied by the reality they had saved her life more than once now, and had never asked anything in return.

Henry’s land being part of her family’s jurisdiction brought some very ugly implications to mind, and raised dozens of questions that Tanushree had no answers for. The determined young woman had no idea what was going on. She’d been raised her whole life to swim in the world of the peerage, to be strong and independent. And yet, it seemed she was relying on others more and more!

Then there was Aodh himself. She spared him a glance. He looked dashing. His rough, Fideli-like features at odds with the Berber gentleman she knew him to be. His hints of a Tolstey accent gave him an air of mystery, too. She had to admit she was falling for the honest, rough-and-tumble youth.

He was so powerful, though! How could she look at herself in the mirror if a boy was stronger than she was? It was her job to be the strength of a family. Unfortunately, her rank didn’t matter in this situation as much as she wished it did. Plus...she was a coward.

As a woman, Tanushree knew it was her job to communicate her interest to any boy she liked. Men were more passive than women, and there were so few of them of marrying age that didn’t already have a family, it was really their prerogative to just say yes or no to approaching women. Tanushree usually thought of herself as fairly self-confident. She’d been told how brave she was her whole life...but she just couldn’t get the words out! Every time she spent time with Aodh, his dopey expressions and honest aura were adorable and made her completely tongue tied!

She glanced over again and noticed his attention was on her. Tanushree quickly averted her eyes and frowned, her cheeks coloring. She frowned even more heavily to hide her embarrassment. Why couldn’t she just ask him if she could court him?

The only answer was because of real power, of violence. It was the only explanation that made any sense to her.

Aodh obviously respected Henry and even took orders from him, which was appropriate if they were knight and squire. So maybe if she showed some skill in fighting Sir Henry, perhaps she would look strong and... she could feel braver. Or maybe Aodh would hold her hand.

Tanushree’s heart fluttered until she heard a familiar growl. She didn’t even need to look. It could only be that horrible creature, Rekkla. Somehow the little monster girl always knew when Tanushree was thinking about Aodh, about his gently curving eyebrows, or his cute nose, or his lean arms, or his long, dexterous fingers, or his pointy eye teeth, or his—

She heard the growl again, and the proud young woman felt a moment of murderous fury before calming herself. Never in a thousand years would she have believed she would be getting romance-blocked by a, a, a goblin! Why was such a creature even walking around, living with normal people?

The answer was obvious. Tanushree turned her gaze on Henry, where he still stood with his hands on his hips, wearing a grin like he knew what she was thinking. The fact he was unflappably self-confident, somewhat handsome, and effortlessly commanded the respect of those around him made it worse. If she didn’t know he was a knight, she would have placed him as at least a viscount based on mannerisms alone. It could only come from real power.

Tanushree flexed her hands. She may be new to her ‘Bonded powers, but this orb had been held in stewardship for her for the last ten years, if she survived that long. She’d had years to study everything she might be able to do with it, to practice mental exercises to control it. In less than a day of hands-on practice, she was confident she had the equivalent of at least a year of training for most other young nobles.

Besides, she didn’t need to beat Sir Henry, just make a good showing. It might help with when she eventually corrected the balance of power as well. She wanted to smile, but she only let her lips twitch.

Tanushree called out, “Sir Henry, are you going to draw your weapon?”

“This?” the Asian man asked, pointing at the strange gray mace on his hip. “Nah, that would be overkill for this. I’m kind of avoiding using it while I still don’t really know what it is, too. Seems smart.”

Tanushree’s lip quirked again. What a fool. It was a shame that a wonderful young man like Aodh O’Breen was forced to attend such a dullard. Henry had just seen her power. Fine. It was his choice. “I am starting then.”

Henry just nodded.

Tanushree pushed her magic into the earth and formed two animates out of soil, instructing them to climb up and pin her foe. She had expected Henry to struggle, to battle against the two animates and probably eventually win free. Instead, he jumped forward. The next thing she knew, a long blade was kissing the side of her throat.

“This was why I told you that you should keep one of your minions close to you,” Henry said conversationally. “See, they’re both over there,” he said, pointing with his other hand, “where they can’t do you a single fucking bit of good. Plus, you are seriously overestimating your power. You have flexibility, yeah. With a few more of these things, you’d be hell on wheels against regular soldiers.”

Henry sprang back, covering twenty feet in a single bound, and, in an instant, he was between the soil animates again. “But against most of the orb-Bonded I’ve seen, you’d be fucked.” The steel blade extending from Henry’s forearm had already sunk back down out of sight, and the man lashed out with both fists at once.

The two animates were blown apart, exploding into a cloud of debris and rock behind Henry’s hammerfist strikes.

Tanushree used every scrap of spunk and spine she had to stay upright and not simply sink to her knees. How strong was Henry? Maybe sixth rank? How in the world was he so overwhelmingly powerful? And if Henry was that strong, how strong was Aodh? She turned to look at the dark haired, dashing young ‘Bonded. He was just looking on with a gentle, encouraging smile.

The young noblewoman felt humiliated. Tanushree’s first impulse was to yell at Henry, to hit something, but no, she was stronger than that. Working past her hurt, she had to acknowledge that Henry had saved her before. He’d probably taught Aodh to fight. Perhaps he would teach her, too. She could worry about his allegiances later. “What would you advise?” she asked.

“Like I told you,” said Henry, walking over. “Keep one of them close to you. Even if you can make ninety of those things in the future, keep at least one or two nearby. Plus, why are your golems people-shaped?”

“Golems?” Tanushree tasted the unfamiliar word. “It is the most versatile shape.”

Henry eyed her out the corner of his eye and shook his head. “Can you make an arm and a hand? Or a blade?”

Tanushree tried to make an arm, and she was able to produce something larger than her own limb, but it was lumpy and malformed. “I need to focus on the form, and it’s easier if I already memorized the shape in my mind and meditated on it.”

“So you have to spend energy just keeping these things together?”

“Yes.”

“Hmm. That brings me to what I came over here for in the first place.” Henry pointed at the ground, and a pillar of earth rose from the ground, as tall as he was. Then the Asian man began crafting the pillar, passing his hand over it in intervals. By the time he was done, an easily identifiable finger stood from the bare ground.

“Can you control that?” he asked.

Tanushree frowned, but she could see where the man was going with this. She might have no idea what to do about Aodh, but she was not a complete idiot. The young noblewoman pushed and pulled on her magic, easily flexing the finger coming out of the ground. She gasped, “How is this possible? It’s common knowledge that a mage cannot control the automata of another mage!”

Henry just grinned. He placed his hand on the finger and suddenly Tanushree’s control was ejected, the whiplash stung a bit. The man ran his hands over the figure again, changing it to a near-formless pillar. “I rejected and then took ownership of my creation again. Can you move it again?” he asked. “Like, thinking about this as a finger?”

Tanushree crossed her arms, but tried to take control of the earthen figure again. With a little concentration and a trickle of power, she made it flex. Just like before, it was much easier than forming her own automata. “What does this mean?” she asked.

“What it means, is that I’m going to have one hell of a deal for you soon,” crowed Henry. “Everything is all coming together. It’s too much to be coincidence. Tony, you beautiful bastard! Follow me! You too, Ellen.”

Tanushree had forgotten that the new Sato estate mojordomo had been behind her. The woman was very good at her job, and could be quiet as a miniature scythe-armed assassin demon if she wanted to be.

Without any hesitation, Henry turned and began walking back the way he’d come. Curious, Tanushree swallowed her shame and followed along. Her armswomen followed. Tanushree had seen no reason to stay behind. She still couldn’t figure out who Henry really was or what he was doing, but things were rarely boring around him. Plus, she could still be near Aodh. The young man currently wasn’t looking at her, though.

It was a bitter pill to swallow, but Tanushree had just learned a lesson in humility. She decided to begin thinking of Sir Henry as an armsmaster. In fact, from this moment on, he was her armsmaster. He just didn’t know it yet.

Finally, Henry stopped at an unremarkable field a few stone’s throw from his new manor. Tanushree’s brow furrowed in confusion.

Henry grinned and pointed straight down. “Okay, this is it. I’m going to be hanging out here most of the next couple days.

“Ellen, this is what I want you to do. Go get me some food, some lights…actually never mind. I don’t need the lights. Just bring me food, my traveling pack, everything I had with me in the wagon, and keep everyone away while I work. Give Tony all of the money in the estate we can afford to give him.

“Tony, I want you to get me every magic stone for power that is not nailed down. Bring them all here. I also need some more enchanted items. They don’t have to be special or do anything that even matters. I also need some blessed steel, like a dagger or something. See if Tanushree’s people have any of those weapons that the assassins were carrying a few days ago.”

Then Henry did something entirely unexpected, even for such an incomprehensible man. He bowed, and said, “Lady Tanushree, give me three days. Please just stay here for that long.”

“Why should I stay?” Tanushree didn’t ask her question as a challenge, at this point she was honestly curious.

“Because I may have a deal for you that is too good to refuse. I need your resources, and I’m going to prove to you that you should work with me. Plus, after today, with all the pieces falling into place, I have a feeling we are going to be classmates. There are no coincidences.”

“What do you mean?”

“This school you keep talking about in the capital that you need to go to soon, the one you need to leave for in about a week in order to reach in time—I don’t suppose that you’re talking about the Mensk Officer Academy, are you?”

“Yes.” Tanushree wanted to demand how he knew. But she realized if he was an agent of her parents, or of her enemies, of course he would know. And if he was a Berber noble, he’d have been able to figure it out. She’d been dreading attending the Officer Academy. Heading to the academy basically ensured the coming of a long, lonely, dangerous existence. The fact she was about to swallow a spirit stone that night to immediately become rank two ‘Bonded and drink her tincture to hide her ‘Bonded status wouldn’t help much.

There were scary people in the capital, and a lot of them were in the Officer Academy, in particular.

“She’s going to school with us?” Aodh’s honest face was painted in shock.

Suddenly, Tanushree didn’t feel quite so frightened anymore. If these two were going to school with her, and if they attended as her allies, perhaps she would not be at such a disadvantage. Maybe she wouldn’t be so lonely. She made up her mind.

“I will wait three days,” she said, giving her answer. Her magic might still be weak, but her intuition was strong. It was how she’d survived this long in the first place.

Origin of Species

Vitaliya rode her magicycle and wondered when the group would stop to make camp. High Priestess Keeja still needed to tell the rest of the party a number of things that Vitaliya probably already knew.

She glanced back and noticed Mareen in the turret of the Battlewagon, looking mopey as usual. Vitaliya turned back to driving and rolled her eyes. The other woman was about her age, but she always acted so dramatically.

Mareen’s husband was alive. The ‘Bonded woman knew this and she should be happy. Was she? No. She just acted more tragic. Meanwhile, poor little Aodh was out there somewhere with Mareen’s idiot husband and nobody was there to protect him. Nobody was with him that even knew his secret.

Of course, others couldn’t know his secret, even Aodh; it was too dangerous. But that was why Vitaliya needed to be with him, to protect him. The sweet, weak boy wasn’t ready for some things. Some lies could be kind, after all.

Vitaliya clenched a hand and willed her emotions down, preventing her magic from manifesting. She couldn’t wait until she earned an orb one day. Most people, if they got a choice of orb, avoided orbs like Mareen’s. Strength and endurance was useful, but usually presented a cap in realistic power.

However, Vitaliya had more magic than she could handle. Other mages needed to practice growing their power, building their potential. Vitaliya had always been the opposite. She had to limit her magic so she never accidentally killed herself or scorched the entire landscape.

If she could get her hands on a toughness orb of some kind, she’d be unstoppable. Meanwhile, Mareen, the crying child, had gotten exactly the type of orb Vitaliya wanted and used all that power to just pull back a bow.

What a waste.

Vitaliya didn’t hate Mareen, but she found herself increasingly irritated by the other woman. At least everything would be okay after they all found sweet, defenseless little Aodh again. But the longer he was all by himself, in Berber of all places, the less patience Vitaliya had with people that weren’t actively contributing to getting there faster.

If anyone had hurt little Aodh, she was going to kill them. She’d mercilessly torch them. It would feel good to hurt her enemies, to keep hurting them, but Vitaliya was better trained than that. The faster a woman killed her opponent and put them in the ground, the faster she could move on to the next enemy. It was more efficient that way.

The red-haired young woman grinned, showing all of her teeth. Her eyes were wild as she drove at the head of the group, magic dancing in her pupils.

Nobody must touch Aodh. He was one of a kind. He was more important than the rest of them put together. He was more important than her.

***

Jason had a lot on his mind. It’d been about a day since Keeja had come back to the group, and he was getting antsy. He’d been on Ludus for going on a year, and still felt like he hadn’t really found any meaty answers to his endless list of questions. Keeja had shown up, said she was going to fill in some of those holes, and then promptly floated above the group for the next day.

It was maddening.

He glanced up and was almost startled out of his skin when he noticed Keeja’s apprentice, Philana, soundlessly hovering above him. “It is early, but stop and make camp soon. Keeja is ready to talk.” With that, the beautiful, inhuman woman was gone.

Even in that short amount of time, Jason had felt his thoughts and body changing. He shook his head roughly. It’s like being a thirteen-year-old boy at the beach around her, but she’s like the entire beach. With a toot of the little horn Henry had mounted next to his driver’s seat, and a few hand signals, Jason directed the group to a location to start setting up camp. He was both looking forward to, and dreading the coming conversation.

The Delvers moved through a thin stretch of trees to a clearing that Jason had seen. The next hour or two would be spent setting up camp, clearing out monsters, and setting some basic magic alarm systems.

Two hours was a long time to wonder what Keeja would say. Oh well, Jason could wait.

***

A couple hours later, Jason stood with his hands in his pockets, leaning against the side of the Battlewagon. The camp was set, the surrounding area was relatively safe, and everything that needed to be done before nightfall was already complete. The sun was just beginning to set in the East.

All the Delvers and the two spies were in a loose semicircle around Keeja. Bezzi-ibbi, on watch, was the only member of the Delvers missing. The Mo’hali boy was far enough out that he could still be seen, but he also maintained a bubble of hero negation power around himself. It was paranoid, but they were a paranoid group lately. Philana was up in the sky somewhere. The males of the group had still not quite gotten used to her presence.

Keeja stood with one hand on her hip. Her other hand held her enormous, all-metal halberd. Jason had seen it before, but most of the group hadn’t and were goggling. It wasn’t doing anything special, but this close it was possible to feel that the weapon was not ordinary.

“All right; pay attention. This talk is long overdue, but this is the first time I’ve been able to give it. I’ve just spent an entire day actually going through all the things that I can actually say, and what might get us all killed.

“The fact is that this group, and Henry and Jason in particular, are special.”

“We already knew that,” said Uluula, shaking her head.

“I don’t mean you value your lives and love each other and all that sort of thing.” The demigoddess rolled her eyes.

“I know exactly what you meant. You may be old and powerful, Keeja, but we are not stupid, either. I highly doubt that Dolos personally visits other adventurers. I also highly doubt that many other women have experienced watching their orb-Bonded husband turn into living starlight and duel a High Priestess to a standstill in the sky.”

Keeja waved a hand. “Fine, Daughter of the Blue, point scored. You are correct. Dolos has been getting better than average data from this group as well as a small number of others. This is why I was assigned to watch over Henry and Jason in the first place. But in addition to the data getting more interesting...some things have changed.”

The ancient Areva woman paused and thought for a moment before she spoke again. “I have spent the last day finalizing how to explain some of this to you. I think Uluula can help.”

“Me?” asked the white-haired Areva woman, frowning.

“Yes. I can tell by your expressions sometimes that you want to say things but think better of it, which has been wise. There is a reason why Dolos has encouraged the countries on Ludus to be so large and stay segregated by race. Terrans make better test subjects if they are ignorant of how the universe works.”

“I feel like I should be offended here, but I’m not even bothered,” said Jason. “I also noticed that Gonzo is over there looking entirely unfazed. I figure at least some of this will be a recap for him?”

“Pretty much, but you never know,” said Gonzo. “Plus, being given information directly from a high priestess, much less Keeja herself? That’s worth listening to.”

There was a pregnant silence before Keeja spoke again. “Like I said, I will have to start with the basics. The universe is old, older than Terrans can ever imagine. The first thing you need to know about the history of the universe is its controlling powers. I have to be careful in how I list these due to the rules I am still under.

“We believe that the first, long-lived, intelligent life were the Old Ones. Later, the Host came into existence and locked the Old Ones away. However, the Old Ones are so old and powerful, they can still affect the world sometimes, like a prisoner sticking fingers through a cell grate.

“Later in the history of the universe, The Host fought against the greatest enemy this reality has ever known. Let’s just call them The Enemy for now,” Keeja said, giving Uluula an arch look. Jason’s wife nodded in understanding.

“Wait,” Jason said, holding his finger up and cocking a brow at Uluula. “You knew all this stuff?”

“It’s common knowledge in Quadrant, my love. Most of this conversation is for your benefit, it looks like.”

“Joy,” muttered Jason.

“During this war, the First War,” continued Keeja, “The Host realized they were not enough to stop the enemy, even with their great technology and personal servants fighting for them. Planet after planet fell.

“New sentient beings were created and elevated. Among the first of these were the Areva, uniquely suited for living on starships.”

Jason blinked. “Huh?”

Uluula answered. “We are slight, smart, and pragmatic, my husband. Most of us also have an inborn talent for physics.”

“Yes, but Areva also breed slowly,” said Keeja. “This is not ideal for mortal soldiers. And altering us was not most efficient for The Host. Out of necessity, other peoples were born. Mo’hali were created. The various races of Adom came to be.

“Also at this time, tools, powerful weapons were forged to arm the mortal allies of The Host. These included cage blades,” Keeja said, shaking her halberd, “and even some of the oldest starships among the Areva Quadrant fleets. But the greatest achievement of this age, the single greatest invention among The Host was by Hephaestiel. I cannot actually speak the name of these weapons. Perhaps Uluula can.”

Every eye in the group swiveled to Uluula, and the white-haired woman nodded. “Artifices. If I am not mistaken, you are an Artifice Holder, are you not?”

Jason’s eyes turned back to Keeja and the demigoddess answered, “Yes. I cannot say that name, and I would caution you not to speak it again, either. This world only had a set number of these ancient weapons, actually a high concentration compared to the rest of the universe, and they are all held by a High Priestess. If mortals talk too freely of these devices, people have been known to disappear. Dolos can be petty.”

“What a shock,” groused Jason.

“When the war ended, Hephaestiel vowed to never craft another weapon again. However, there is a great need for such things, especially as the universe grows. There would be great opportunities for rewards and influence among any that were able to recreate such a feat.”

Mareen, quiet until now, held up a hand. “So Ludus, the orbs, all of this...is just so Dolos can find a way to mimic these...Artifices?”

“More or less. And everything was working on Dolos’ timeline in the past. That was before his kin issued her challenge. That was before dark gods began meddling on Ludus, and it was definitely before the last news I got from Dolos, news that changed everything.”

Keeja closed her eyes. She slowly opened them and announced, “The Enemy might be returning.”

Uluula gasped, and even Vitaliya and Gonzo looked disturbed. Jason took that as a bad sign. He asked, “So this planet just became a lot more important all of a sudden too, eh?”

“Jason Booth, this planet may be one of the most important in the entire universe right now. As such, it is no longer a mystery why so many powers seem to be finding this place recently and attempting to exert some kind of influence.”

“Speaking of which,” said Jason, folding his arms, “what exactly is Dolos? He calls himself a god, but I’m not sure that he is. Then there is The Host you just told me about, and the Old Ones. Is Dolos one of those, or something else? Are gods real? What about God? Is God real?”

Keeja sucked in a breath through her teeth. “You ask dangerous questions, Terran. I cannot answer them. Perhaps you can ask your wife.”

Uluula said, “My guess is that Dolos is Griseus, one of the Host that Fell but did not turn to the dark. The Fallen that are not dark and still hope for some sort of redemption are generally referred to as Griseus. They call themselves by this name as well.”

“Wait, what?” Jason’s mind swam with all the unfamiliar words he was hearing.

“During the First War, some of The Host, about a third, abandoned ranks, joining with The Enemy. They were cast out, abandoned by the rest of their race and their home. These beings became The Fallen. However, there were others, researchers and scientists that didn’t take either side. During the backlash over The Fallen, these Host were cast out too. They became Griseus, gray, neither light nor dark.”

“And what about God?” asked Jason, his voice small.

“We have talked about your religious beliefs. Your idea of God is so limited, I don’t know if I can even answer your question yet, my heart,” said Uluula, shaking her head. “Plus, there are still arguments among Areva about the nature of the universe and the creator.

“Gods, as in extremely powerful, mysterious beings do exist, and they take several forms. That is an entirely separate discussion. I think Dolos is too powerful to be one of them, though."

Jason shook his head, not saying anything for a while. Finally he asked, “Why the hell am I just hearing about all this stuff now?” He was frustrated, and tried not to be angry at Uluula as a rule, but hearing that the entire universe was a shit show of war and weapons was grating on his nerves.

“It’s not like we’ve exactly had a reason to talk about the history of the universe, my love,” Uluula said, unfazed. “Plus, I have noticed a distinct lack of other Areva discussing these things, and felt they were better left alone. I am Areva and you are orb-Bonded. We have at least a couple centuries to get to know each other unless we get killed. If that happens, it wouldn’t really matter if you knew or not, right?”

Jason’s brows drew together. He didn’t want to argue about the matter in public, but he’d definitely be having a terse, private discussion with his wife later about what is and is not important enough to bring up in conversation.

“So Dolos is, what? A fallen angel?” The idea seemed absurd. Then again, they were talking about a giant man who wore all the colors of the rainbow and created his own personal fantasy world.

“By the very limited Terran understanding and frame of reference…” Keeja paused, opening her mouth and closing it again. “Actually I can neither confirm nor deny that.”

“It seems highly likely,” remarked Uluula.

Vitaliya stepped forward, hands on her hips, shaking her head. “None of this is the best part, though,” she said.

Gonzo nodded. “Yes, Keeja hasn’t explained yet why all the other races are so afraid of us Terrans. Well, most of the people you’ve met so far haven’t been, Jason Booth. But just wait and see how cold the reception is if you step foot in an Areva country on Ludus.”

Jason already knew that Areva didn’t like Terrans, but Gonzo was making it sound much worse than he’d thought it was. He did always get the feeling that Uluula was holding back on him in regards to what Areva really thought of Terrans. “Yeah, it’s like a racial thing, right?” He glanced at Uluula for confirmation but she turned away.

“You’ve come this far, you should tell him,” said Gonzo, nodding at Keeja. “Tell him why Dolos is sending so many Terrans for guinea pigs on Ludus. In fact, tell him why we keep getting transported here, moved from one experiment to another.”

“What is he talking about?” asked Jason, his mind reeling.

Keeja sighed. “Before the First War was won, the prospects of victory were grim, and more and more desperate plans were explored. The first Terrans were the perfect engineered soldiers. Big enough to use serious weapons. Strong enough to kill with muscle power alone. Small enough to fit into most small places and still use Areva weapons. Hardy enough to survive almost anywhere with a few modifications. Smart enough to create their own technology, even developing atomic weapons every time after their species was wiped out, their race begun anew.”

“After the First War was won, your people were confined to a single planet,” said Uluula dully. “Terra is under quarantine.”

“What...what are you saying?” asked Jason.

Gonzo grinned without humor. “We Humans are a Griseus experiment, Jason! Always have been. You and I got transported from one experiment planet to another. Congratulations! Now you know we are freaks, the boogeymen of the universe. We’re lab rats with access to plutonium and a high birth rate. Even demons fear us! They consider us the most dangerous, warlike race in the universe.”

“No…” replied Jason softly.

“Want to know the best part?” asked Gonzo. “We used to have the same male to female birth rate as Areva and most of the other civilized beings in the universe. Unfortunately, we bred too fast. We also offered fewer generations for research and testing.” The Latino spy began to laugh, turning and walking off. “Lab rats!” he crowed.

Vitaliya’s eyes tightened and she walked away as well. Mareen wandered off to her tent when it became clear that Keeja was done talking for the time being, floating into the sky.

Jason didn’t know what to think. Some of what he’d heard didn’t bother him that much, at least he didn’t think it did. But if that was the case, why did his heart hurt? Why did he feel so lost?

A small hand slipped into his, and Uluula stood beside him, not saying anything. Jason felt unshed tears in his eyes. Where is all of this coming from? I shouldn’t be emotional. What the hell? I’m glad Henry’s not here to make fun of me.

“You are my husband,” Uluula said, her tone giving an air of finality to her words. “You are a good man. Your soul is filled with light, despite the darkness you carry within you. I chose to spend the rest of my life with you. Why your ancestors were created does not matter to me, and it shouldn’t matter to you.”

Jason wasn’t so sure about that, but he stood with Uluula for a long time, staring into the sky as night fell, wondering what other wonders and horrors existed among the stars.

One thing was for sure, though. Jason had no reason to doubt the information he’d been given. He’d seen Dolos. Hell, he had magic power of his own now. If The Enemy, whatever their real name, was had almost conquered the universe before, Jason’s mission was clear. He needed to get back home, and return with the maximum amount of power he possibly could.

He had things to protect now, people dear to him. He gave Uluula’s hand a squeeze. He definitely still needed to have that talk with his beautiful, white-haired wife, though. The fact he’d been on Ludus for so long but was just now hearing all of this was not cool, a fact he meant to explain at length with Uluula. The conversation may be clothing optional.

That decided, Jason headed to his tent. He was ready to talk, and wanted to work through some of the things he’d heard with her. She was older than he was, and he had to admit she was more sophisticated. He knew she’d know what to say to set his mind at ease, a process she’d already started.

Jason looked down at Uluula and met her eyes. She smiled up at him. In that moment, he knew again that he was the luckiest man in the universe.

He also didn’t envy anyone who had to explain this stuff to Henry. His friend was probably not going to take it well. Jason smiled briefly as he led his wife into their tent.

The stakes were raised, and he felt like he’d lost a lot of his ignorance, but his short-term goals hadn’t changed. He needed to get to the city of Mensk, and hopefully meet up with Henry on the way.

Worrying about The Enemy wouldn’t do much good if his lanky ass got eaten by a monster before even getting to Berber.

Girls with Shine

Mareen looked up from her bronze hammer, scanning for any monster threats. She’d been glancing at the weapon fairly often where it rested in her turret. The weapon was a connection to Henry, and she wondered how he was doing. She worried about him. The dusky-skinned woman sighed as the Battlewagon soundlessly hovered forward over shallow water near the bank of the Stem River.

Out the corner of her eye, she noticed some movement in the tree line on the opposite shore. She readied her bow, but then slowly relaxed her draw. The familiar outline of a long legged jagged toothed alligator demon was too far away, and too slow to pose any real threat. There was no point in wasting any energy to kill it.

Her mood grew more melancholy as the vehicle left behind the hungry, struggling monster. The situation reminded her of how the rest of the group was leaving her behind.

She shook her head, trying to dispel her negative thoughts. What was wrong with her? Why couldn’t she be happy? The rest of the group seemed to be in relatively high spirits. Jason was getting over the shock of Keeja’s reveal. Keeja’s information had all been news to Mareen, but it hadn’t bothered her. When she’d asked Uluula why her husband was so upset, the Areva woman had said that Jason spent his whole life struggling between evolution and creationism, only to find out that he was an experiment, a born killer.

Mareen still hadn’t understood the issue. They were still alive, they had free will, and if they could avoid getting killed, their life was still theirs. Why question that?

The aching hollow in her stomach mocked her, throwing her hypocrisy into her teeth. As a Life school mage, she had felt her child. Every limb, every feature. But then she’d been too distraught, too tired to save her, to save her baby. She had all of her power and everyone was still leaving her behind. All her strength, and she couldn’t even save that which was most precious to her; Henry or the child.

As usual, Mareen schooled her features, presenting a blank face to the world. The only time she could let her grief show at all was when someone mentioned Rark-han and the group became solemn. Then she could let some of it show on her face without risking discussions she did not want to have yet. She wasn’t ready.

The group had gotten a few MMBs from Henry and Aodh the day before. Henry had written Mareen and Jason. Unlike his last message, this one had more or less been a quick scrawl to let her know he loved her, he was checking in on his new land, and he would make sure that she had a nice home to come back to eventually. It was just like Henry, and just thinking about the note made her briefly smile. She’d immediately sent her own message back.

Bezzi-ibbi got a note from Aodh. Vitaliya had seemed to be waiting for an MMB of her own, and when none came, she’d been in a terrible mood ever since. The red-haired girl stalked around like a near-cat that had been denied a songbird meal. If she’d been Mo’hali, she would have been twitching a tail.

Mareen shook her head. Gonzo’s motivations for his mission seemed fairly obvious, but Vitaliya was always quiet and standoffish. She didn’t understand the young spy at all. Thank the creator for Uluula. Mareen deeply valued her relatively new friendship with the white-haired Areva woman. The more she grew to know her friend, the more she admired her. Uluula might be Areva, from another world, but if Mareen had had an older sister, she would have wished that she’d been like Uluula.

Actually, maybe Uluula could help get her thoughts in order. Mareen had not exactly been avoiding her friend, but Uluula had been busy taking care of Jason, and Mareen didn’t want to intrude. Maybe it was time to change that.

Mareen paused her pondering to smoothly draw the massive draw weight of her bow. She released on an exhale, sending a bronze tipped arrow buzzing into a giant fish monster lurking beneath the surface of the river ahead. The arrow struck true, and the water erupted in violent splashes that showed flashes of fins, teeth, and spikes. A few of the other Delvers glanced up at the commotion and went back to what they’d been doing before. Jason nodded back at her from the driver’s seat.

The creature probably wouldn’t have been a threat, but it was better safe than sorry.

The Battlewagon passed through the wet air above the river where the monster had died and Mareen thought she heard a whisper. She shuddered. The Deepwater Rose was still calling her, and she had still not rejected its offer.

She knew Uluula was busy and she didn’t want to bother her, but she really needed to talk to someone. Mareen nodded and vowed to chat to Uluula that night. Her friend was wise beyond her years and was already twice as old as Mareen. She would give great counsel for sure.

That decided, Mareen’s heart felt a little lighter. She nocked another arrow on the string of her metal bow and scanned the trees again. Now that she could actually hit what she was aiming for, killing monsters could relieve stress. It was just too bad she had to ration her arrows so carefully. Better yet, having a power like Henry’s or Jason’s, or even either of the spies would be amazing. Mareen stewed and watched for more monsters. She still had a job to do.

***

“You wanted to talk?” asked Uluula, sitting next to Mareen. They had second watch together—Mareen had requested it. She hadn’t been able to sleep and had just stayed awake, staring at the stars. The young woman traced the line she knew was on her neck and wondered which star was Henry’s, the one where her father had come from, too.

“Was I that obvious?” Mareen couldn’t help a small smile.

“None of us exactly love doing night watch, and these days Jason and Bezzi-ibbi are best suited for it. So to make a point of requesting a watch I already had? Yes, it was obvious.”

“That makes sense. Heh.” Mareen snorted a quick chuckle. She was thankful for her friend’s power of observation. It actually made getting to the heart of what she wanted to discuss easier. She skipped small talk entirely and said, “I need some advice.”

“Oh? I could tell something has been different with you recently. I’m sorry I haven’t really been available to talk much. Jason has needed an ear, lately.”

“Of course!” Mareen waved her hand, dismissing Uluula’s words. “I completely understand. I feel bad as it is asking for your help, but at least you have to be awake and not really doing much right now anyway.”

“That’s right. So what is bothering you?”

Mareen wasn’t quite sure where to start. She wasn’t even entirely sure what sort of advice she was looking for, either. Finally she said, “You have chosen not to claim an orb after all this time. You’ve also managed to be a powerful member of the group and watch Jason’s back. I want to know why and how.”

“You are one of the most important members of this grou—” Uluula began, but Mareen just shook her head. “You’re not going to listen if I go down that route, are you?”

“No,” answered Mareen. “I love you like a sister, but I don’t always agree with you on everything. More than anything else, I’m interested in how you have made your own place in the group. I need...I just need to understand why you have made your choices. I want to know how you do what you do.”

“Ah, I see,” muttered Uluula. “This is one of those types of conversations, then. Okay, I can only speak my own mind, and it’s obviously up to you what you do with this. I just want to be clear that my path is not necessarily correct for any other woman. I also may be making things harder for myself, by making these kind of choices.”

“I will remember that.” Mareen appreciated what her friend had tried to do, and she also valued Uluula’s usual candor. The disclaimer the Areva woman had just voiced had not been necessary, at least not for Mareen. She understood Uluula and knew how methodical her friend could be. Uluula’s entire personality was built on logic mixed with caveats.

“Then I will say this,” began the Areva woman. “It is helpful that you now know what Keeja is, and a bit of what the rest of the universe is like. You don’t have any way to understand what my life was like before I came to this...place. Keeja is very powerful, but people with power like hers, less than hers, even greater than hers exist among the stars. In my military career, I wanted to work towards that. Mind you, I am not saying the names of these weapons based on Keeja’s warning earlier.”

“I understand and I’m following along just fine.”

“Good. I’m not implying you’re an idiot, this is just hard to talk about. I’m starting to understand a bit of what Keeja feels every time she talks about anything with us.” Uluula shared a wry smile with Mareen. “None of the high priestesses have orbs that I can tell. I have a feeling that orbs and...the weapons I am striving for do not mix. I may be wrong, and it would be ironic if I died while refusing an orb, but I am not willing to give up on my dream.”

Mareen frowned. “Why don’t you just ask Keeja?”

“I really should, but it’s kind of become a core part of my identity now on Ludus. Trust me, Jason has asked me this same question. We’ve talked about it a few times and it is my decision. I mean, you of all people should understand. Didn’t you say that your father refused to ever take an orb?”

“Yes,” Mareen’s tone grew thoughtful. “He said that such things were not for him. My father specialized in enchanted equipment because he felt that it gave him more flexibility. Grandfather George always said my father thought orb-Bonded people could grow to see problems through the lens of their specific powers. They missed things.”

A shadow passed over Mareen’s face as she mentioned her grandfather, and Uluula gave her a moment of silence to collect herself again. Mareen was deeply grateful for the gesture, and touched that her friend was always so considerate that way. The last year had brought both the greatest joys, and also the greatest sorrows of her life. She had to admit that Uluula’s friendship and her consistent, calm personality had helped immensely.

Henry’s love had been important too. The man was ridiculous, but he was also unfailingly loyal. Mareen knew that Henry would give his life for her without a second thought, and knowing that was part of why she could not, would not take that sort of fidelity for granted. She felt ashamed sometimes that they’d argued, but...even though nobody knew but her, she’d been pregnant. She gave herself a pass.

Uluula suddenly grinned and reached behind her belt, withdrawing an aluminum flask out of a hidden pouch. She unscrewed the cap, poured a small shot, threw it back, and refilled it, offering some to Mareen.

“Uluula!” Mareen gasped. “I didn’t know you carried things like that!”

“Neither does Jason, and we’re going to keep it that way.” The Areva woman uncharacteristically stuck out her tongue. “He doesn’t approve of any drinking while traveling. Says we have to stay completely alert while in monster-infested Ludus. He’s right, of course, but even I need a little crutch from time to time.”

Mareen studied the cap full of alcohol for a moment before downing the liquid. She made a face and coughed a bit, hitting her chest with a closed fist. Uluula laughed and asked, “Didn’t drink much back in your village, eh?”

“No, not really. What we had was kept for celebrations and we usually didn’t even use it then. Alcohol was useful for washing and disinfecting things. And as Henry would say, our still sucked.”

Uluula shook her head and took the makeshift cup back from Mareen. The petite, blue-eyed woman began to pour herself another cap of spirit and asked, “Is this about Jason offering you more spirit stones? You know he has plenty left. He has plenty even after he finally used a couple to rank up. He swallowed four of them in case he ever has to limitbreak again, or in case he can ‘level’ again. The whole thing is bizarre to me. He is carrying four fortunes around in his body right now.”

Mareen was curious. “How many are left?”

“Three, I believe. If I remember correctly, you would need two of them to reach your next ‘Bonded rank, yes?”

“Yes, that’s right.” Mareen stared at her hands for moment, thinking again about the whispers in the river. Compared to the offer of the Deepwater Rose, even the enormous wealth she was causally being offered by her husband’s friend paled in comparison.

Finally, Mareen asked, “Even after your decision not to take an orb, you have remained one of the most valuable members of this group. I want to know how you did it.”

Uluula eyed her sideways and Mareen silently willed her friend not to waste her breath telling Mareen what a valuable member of the team she was. Mareen already knew that. She wasn’t useless. Just doing the company books was helpful, but she needed to be strong. Just strong for a normal person was not enough. She had to be strong for a member of Delvers LLC, and that became more difficult every day.

Bezzi-ibbi was a little boy and he was already well on his way to being a famous hero written about in plays and poems. Mareen on the other hand had almost lost while fighting a mortal swordswoman with no enchanted gear.

Uluula blinked a few times, looking left and right as she did so. Mareen recognized the tic as one of her friend’s habits when she was deep in thought. After a moment, the Areva woman offered another cap full of liquor to Mareen and said, “It’s about using what you have. I have basically been learning from Jason’s example. I take the tools that I’ve been given and polish them until they gleam.”

Mareen shook her head. “What do you mean?”

“Our husbands aren’t only powerful because of their orbs. They’re powerful because they use their brains and innovate. When I realized that I had the opportunity to use enchanted gear and weapons, I researched it. In fact, I studied accounts of your father too. It’s notable that he is still considered one of the greatest adventurers who ever lived and he was not orb-Bonded.

“When we went shopping in Mirana, I was not only looking at what each individual item could do, I was also thinking of what Jason calls, ‘power synergy.’ If I can use items in tandem, I can be a better warrior. As an example, my bracers were probably meant to scale walls, or assist in climbing. Using them for mobility due to my smaller size was definitely not what they were intended for.

“Instead of finding one really expensive, powerful piece of weapon or armor, I got several that would work together, and I used my skill of haggling to my advantage, too. Basically, being powerful is not—it doesn’t exist. What matters is refining the power you have, owning it. Using your wisdom and knowledge to examine who you are and how you fight from other angles.”

Uluula slashed a pale hand through the air, saying, “But enduring Ludus has made survivors out of all of us. Sometimes it is necessary to take a step back and look at ourselves with new eyes to stay objective too.”

“I see.” Mareen sipped her booze and thought. She reflected on her whole journey from a proud, but mousey girl in a farming village, tormented by an out-of-control boy, to killing that rotted bastard with the very dagger she still wore at her back. Her memories traced the path of becoming orb-Bonded, to watching Henry get stolen away from her. Now she was a decent archer in her own right, and as a second rank ‘Bonded, even with a common orb, she would never fear being ravaged by an average person ever again.

But would all of that be enough? Would it be enough to protect her husband, much less be his first wife? Would she truly earn her position, or would she be a charity case, just a silly farm girl with delusions of grandeur?

Could she do it all on her own power, grit her teeth and reach deep inside herself to find even greater conviction?

Eventually, Mareen nodded and stood up. “Thank you. You’ve given me a lot to think about. Now excuse me, I need to check the river for monsters.”

“Do I need to come with you?”

“No, you’ll be able to see me from here. I can jump straight back a long way, too, so if anything comes out of the water at me I’ll be okay.” Mareen began walking to the water, preparing herself for the voice she knew would come.

Sure enough, the Deepwater Rose spoke to her again, just like every other time she’d touched the river. However, this time Mareen finally knew her own heart and had made a choice. This time, when the Deepwater Rose whispered in her mind and asked its question, she sent back a reply.

Volleyball Death

Aodh walked slowly, following Henry’s majordomo, Ellen, towards the meeting Henry had scheduled with Lady Tanushree. It was time for the Delvers leader to convince Lady Tanushree to give him her support. Aodh wasn’t entirely sure what this meant, and he got the feeling Tanushree wasn’t sure herself.

If anything, she seemed to be playing along. Granted, some of the things Henry had accomplished over the last couple days had been incredible. The man was driven and seemed to be everywhere at once. On top of that, his magic power seemed limitless.

He’d built several structures, raising earthen walls to form simple shelters for Tanushee’s armswomen and the caravan animals. He’d also fashioned a workshop of sorts on the patch of land he’d first asked Tanushree to give him two days before to prove himself.

Aodh had not stepped foot in Henry’s workshop—nobody had. After Henry had disappeared into the small building he’d made of earth, he’d barely come out, only leaving to rummage around his house or ask Ellen for more food or other random things. Once he’d wanted to know if the estate had rubber on hand. Henry had acted like an excited child when he’d found out they actually had some.

The door to the small building was unlocked, and the hallway Aodh actually found himself in was...surprising. He’d thought that the building was about the size of a small house. At least, that was what it had looked like from the outside. However, since he’d entered the thick double doors of the building, the hallway had sloped down into the earth.

It became immediately obvious that the small building outside was just the entrance to Henry’s real laboratory, which seemed to be underground. Far underground, Aodh amended.

The hallway led downwards at a gentle angle, switching back to lead even further down. The path itself was interesting and unlike anything Aodh had ever seen.

The walls were smooth, earthen, almost like the surface of a plate for eating. Regular recesses in the walls sported domes of glass that offered pale light. The illumination was dim, but more than enough to see by while descending underground. Aodh recognized what the walls looked like, too. He was reminded of what Henry had done to the rock walls back in the Gobskulls caverns.

At regular intervals, huge double doors were recessed into the hallway walls. Aodh had missed them at first, but after he noticed, their purpose was clear. They were defensive measures. If each barrier was closed and locked, it would make descending deeper into the laboratory very difficult for anyone that didn’t have Henry’s unique magic power.

Majordomo Ellen walked nervously, taking everything in with obvious awe. She held a stick with a socket for a magic stone on the bottom end, and a ball of glass on the top that emitted a pale light. Aodh had never seen such a thing before, and assumed that Henry had made it for her.

How had he done all this in two days? Aodh was shocked. He quickly glanced at Lady Tanushree and verified that yes, even she seemed impressed. The young adventurer quickly glanced away. He didn’t want to risk her seeing him look. The last day had been...awkward.

Aodh wished he was better with girls. Well, normal girls. He was just skilled at avoiding psycho cousins like Vitaliya. He wasn’t sure what Lady Tanushree wanted. She had been giving him conflicting signals. It seemed like she was usually casually interested in chatting, or annoyed at him. But the night before, she—she’d kissed him. On the lips.

Remembering it, it took Aodh a brief effort of self-control to avoid touching his lips. He still didn’t know what the kiss had meant. The only other girl to kiss him had been Vitaliya, and that had been when they were so young that Vitaliya could still be mistaken for a boy at a distance. While his cousin had obviously been teasing him, he wasn’t sure what to make of Lady Tanushree’s action. Had she been teasing him, too? He wanted to believe otherwise, but maybe it was just wishful thinking.

One moment, she’d been speaking to him normally, bidding him a good night. The next thing he’d known, she was leaning forward, her soft lips against his for a split second. The tall, blonde girl had stood up straight and looked him in the eye for several seconds while Aodh had just goggled, his brain frozen in surprise. Then she’d briskly said, “Goodnight, Esquire Aodh.” Then the girl had whirled, heading to Henry’s house where she had a room, not sparing a backward glance.

First, Aodh didn’t know how to deal with the fact she’d called him an esquire. Second, she’d barely spoken at all with Aodh since, so over half a day now. It was currently mid-afternoon.

Aodh didn’t get it. He wished he could be good with women like Henry and Jason were. But they were older men, wise and... cool. Uluula was a beautiful Areva, strong and smart. Mareen was the daughter of Thato Jacobs, for Creator’s sake! To meet such amazing women, much less interest and marry them, both men must have been amazingly charismatic and romantic. Aodh made a mental note to ask for their stories one day when he saw his friends again.

After the fourth hallway switchback, a last set of double doors was closed. Aodh snapped out of his daze and noticed the doors were emblazoned with the letters, “S.I.” in English.

Ellen knocked and after a slight pause, the red-haired woman seemed increasingly nervous. At the pressure of the knock, somehow the thick, ponderous doors swung inward. Aodh gasped, and all thoughts of Tanushree, kisses, and social awkwardness vanished, at least temporarily.

The room was huge, at least five times larger than the Delvers Garage had been. It was also at least twice as tall. Just like in the hallway, there were recessed domes of glass in the walls that offered some light. However, globes of glass hung from the ceiling by thin copper wires, emitting a bright, steady glow. Aodh traced the wires up the ceiling to one wall, down to a box made of bronze. He figured there was a magic stone in there powering them.

Tables made of stone ringed the room. Rolling carts made of metal and stone stood in random places, laden with tools. Seriously, how did Henry do all of this in two days? Aodh was aghast.

Near one wall, a large object was covered with a sheet. Scattered around the area were tools, papers, chunks of metal, and parts fashioned from a variety of materials.

There was a banging sound from behind a smaller set of double doors at the opposite end of the large room. As soon as the noises started, Ellen spun on one heel and retreated as quickly as propriety allowed.

Aodh cautiously walked deeper into the room, tensing in case some horror were to jump out at them. Tanushree could take care of herself, but he’d make sure to protect majordomo Ellen if they were attacked. She couldn’t be that far back up the hallway.

Suddenly, the smaller doors on the opposite wall were thrown open and Henry stalked out, holding a cup of steaming liquid. “Oh, you’re here!” The Asian man glided forward, grinning, his demeanor manic. His facial hair was uncharacteristically unkempt and his clothes looked rumpled and dirty, like he’d been working and sleeping in them for days. Aodh amended he probably had.

Henry gestured with his cup. “I finally found some coffee on this fucked up world! Ellen helped. I have no idea where it came from, but it was in the house, and I will go to war if I have to in order to get more. I’m not even joking.”

Henry grinned again and Aodh felt dread. What was coffee? Based on how Henry was acting, it must be some sort of extremely powerful magic. His friend’s appearance and energy made him nervous. Had the powerful ‘Bonded even slept in the last two days?

As if reading his mind, Henry chuckled and said, “I haven’t slept since we got here a few days ago. How long has it been? Two or three days? Doesn’t matter. Feels like a year. I made a toy for you, Volleyball!” he announced, pointing at Tanushree.

“My name is Lady Tanushree if you please and—” the blonde girl’s clipped words were cut short as Henry yanked the sheet off the object to the side of the room.

“I’ve always wanted to do that,” said the Delvers leader. “The big reveal! Oooh!” He took a sip of his coffee.

What am I seeing? Aodh wondered. What Henry had uncovered was... it was unlike anything he’d ever seen before.

It was some kind of humanoid figure, but stood at least nine feet tall. Each arm had some kind of machinery on it and the left one was bigger, ending in a gray cylinder. The hands didn’t have fingers, just clamps capped with bronze. Aodh looked more closely and noticed that most of the figure seemed to be made of earth of some sort, looking almost like pebbly, hardened clay.

The man-machine thing, it couldn’t be anything else, had clearly articulated joints. But the strangest thing about it was how it was opened up. The body, and even the legs had doors that opened outwards. It was obvious that something was supposed to go into it, but Aodh couldn’t figure out what. Maybe more machinery?

“What is this, Sir Henry?” asked Tanushree.

“This is what Jason would call a mecha. He forced me to watch Gundam once. It was retarded, but that sort of thing gave me the idea for this.”

“Uh…” Tanushree’s voice trailed off and she gestured helplessly. “Like I said, what is it?”

“It’s a robot. Well, sort of.” When Aodh and the young noblewoman continued to give Henry blank looks he snorted and said, “Like the dolosbots, but this one can be piloted inside by someone with the right kind of earth magic. Someone like Volleyball, in fact.”

Tanushree’s sharp exhale was audible and Henry grinned, his eyes wild. In that moment, Aodh was a little afraid of his employer. Given enough time, what else would this man create?

***

Tanushree’s jaw dropped as she understood what Henry’s creation was for, what it meant. Once he’d said ‘pilot’, she remembered the quick experiment he’d done with the finger made of earth. She could control things he’d made...probably even something like this...device.

Suddenly, the strange metal boxes and protrusions on the arms of the figure were of much greater interest to her. This is a war machine!

“Go ahead, Volleyball. Give it a spin. I tried using it earlier but my magic doesn’t work like yours. I can make it move, but I can’t animate it. I was afraid I was going to destroy the fucking shop, so I gave up.”

“Do I just...climb in?” Tanushree felt uncharacteristically shy and uncertain. Granted, if the finger experiment was any indicator, Henry might be able to eject her control. Even so, if this contraption worked the way she imagined it would...the possibilities were staggering. She was rank two ‘Bonded now and she could control up to five earthen animates. Henry had started calling them mudmen. The name didn’t make any sense, but it seemed to have stuck among the armswomen.

She clenched her jaw and reined in her wandering thoughts. When Henry nodded in response to her question and pointed with his chin, Tanushree channeled her pride and her determination, stalking forward and climbing into the body of the strange, hollow, earthen man. Her weight didn’t make the figure move in the slightest.

When she curiously poked one of the inner walls, Henry chucked. “Yeah, that thing is fucking solid, heavy as hell. I added a ton of material and a bunch of sand. It’d probably stop a fifty caliber round. On top of that, I have copper wires running through the whole suit that transfer power from the magic stones in the rear of the suit. I think they might even stop things like Jason’s scary-ass null-time blades. Well, maybe a chop or two.”

Tanushree was a little overwhelmed. “Magic stones?” she asked dumbly. “I don’t need magic stones, I can control it with my ability, right?”

“Sure, but the magic stones are for the weapons and the lights. You’ll see in a second. The suit itself wasn’t all that hard to build. It really only took me like an hour or two. Most of my time the last couple days has been working on the weapon systems and other mechanisms. Some of that shit was really fucking complex.”

“Have you slept at all, Henry?” Aodh asked. Tanushree turned and regarded the young man. His obvious concern for his friend and mentor was honorable.

Henry said, “Nah, I already said I hadn’t. I’ve had too much to do. Plus, I finally have some fucking coffee!”

Tanushree clenched her hand. Aodh confused her. When she had kissed him the night before, and did so right after telling him she was ready to go to her bed, her invitation had been obvious. The mysterious, ‘Bonded young man hadn’t moved at all. His face was usually so full of emotion and life, but he’d stared her down, expressionless, like she had been unworthy.

She hadn’t known what to do and finally just retreated to her guest room, angry and frustrated. The next day, Aodh had acted normal, and had been pleasant, right up until she’d just climbed into this monstrosity that Henry had built.

Her whole life, Tanushree had never backed down from an enemy. Being a young Berber noble could be dangerous, but never boring, and she’d been raised to know how to conduct herself. However, around these newcomers, she felt like...like a cobbler’s daughter!

Tanushree’s frustration galvanized her.  She reached out to the suit around her and touched it. The sensation was just like when she took control of the finger Henry had made before. It was easy to fill the vessel with her will, and she immediately saw all the magic pathways that Henry had talked about earlier.

Her feet reached the knees of the figure, and her hands were about at its elbows, but she could already feel that she’d be able to control it like an extension of her body. How had Henry known? She experimentally twitched an arm. It was slow, heavy, but her second rank ‘Bonded magic had great depth now. She knew she’d be able to operate this tool all day. Wow.

Henry gestured down with both hands. “Hey, Volleyball, wait! Christ, wait for the fucking briefing before you go tearing around in your shiny new death machine.”

Tanushree stopped moving the suit and noticed that Aodh had jumped back, his hand behind his back near the handle of his mysterious dagger. The young man had looked extremely dangerous for a moment. Tanushree thought it was... dashing. She turned her attention back to Henry. “Okay, how does it work?”

“In front of you, you have a few doors that you pull into place to seal yourself up. You can see them if you look down. There are little handles on the inside of each one to shut them, and you can open the latches from inside.

“If you look up, you’ll see that the top of the suit is made of thick bronze bars to protect your head and allow you to see. Inside each bronze bar is a core of iron, something I’m not sure anyone else can do on Ludus.”

Tanushree gasped. “How did you do that?”

“Trade secret.” Henry grinned. “But it obviously makes your protection stronger, and might help against electrical attacks. I have smaller versions of these bars throughout the suit. Can you feel them?”

“Yes.”

“Good. Anyway, you close the top of the suit the same way as the doors in the front, just pull it down. Do it last, and it latches the same way as the other openings, but with two latches, not one. Since you felt the bars inside the suit, you can feel the switches I put inside too, right? They have their own little boxes. Don’t do anything with them yet if you can find them.”

The young noblewoman closed her eyes as she explored the suit with her mind, and once she knew what she was looking for, she found what Henry had been talking about. “Yes, I found them.”

“Whew, that’s a fucking relief. I wasn’t sure if your power worked that way. I had a backup plan but this thing would have looked less cool with levers.” Henry stretched before continuing, “You have three magic stones powering your weapon systems. This new, modified magic circuit is one thing I’m really proud of myself for. It wouldn’t have been possible without my Mind Whip skill.”

“What are you—” Tanushree started to ask. She was having a hard time following along.

“Don’t worry about it. The point is that magic stones have elements. Usually, people don’t give a shit. I wouldn’t have even thought about it if it wasn’t mentioned in my books.” Henry pointed to a stack of books on a distant table. “Anyway, your systems are really efficient now, but you have to use the correct type of magic stone in them.”

“Magic stones have elements?” Aodh asked. It was news to Tanushree, too. They all looked the same to her.

“Yup,” Henry answered. “It’s pretty obvious if you know what to look for. Anyway, you have an earth stone, a fire store, and an air stone slotted behind you in your suit. I figured out something weird, too. Each greater element also supports light magic just fine, and it’s just as efficient for all of them.”

Tanushree blinked at Henry, not following. When he noticed, he rolled his eyes and said, “Just close the thing up and follow me. We need to go to the other room so I can show you the other stuff this thing does.”

Reaching out with shaking hands, Tanushree did as she’d been told and felt warring emotions. Confusion, fear, curiosity, but above all else, excitement. The longer she stood in the suit, the more it fit her, the more it seemed like an answer to a question she’d never even asked. After a few moments, she was able to figure out how to close up the front of the contraption. She marveled at how tall and massive she felt. The bars around her head allowed her to easily see, but offered a good amount of protection.

She wriggled, putting her limbs back into the hollow spaces in the armored arms of the suit. Then she let her magic run through the earthen armor surrounding her, taking a few experimental steps forward before relaxing. The armored suit really did feel like an extension of her body. Amazing.

Henry laughed and said, “Now that’s awesome. When Jason sees this he is gonna pop the biggest geek boner on Ludus. So Lady Tanushree, how do you like Volleyball Death? I’m thinking we can call it V-death MK1 for short.”

“Wait, what—”

“Don’t worry about it right now. Let the name sink in, marinate a bit. It’s fucking genius, you’ll eventually love it.” The scruffy man took another sip of coffee. “Follow me.” He gestured and began walking to a wall of the room with a large sliding door.

Tanushree followed, each footstep banging the floor like a battering ram. The suit felt enormous and a bit cumbersome, but she knew she could learn to control it well. In fact, when she moved, it was easy to forget her arms and legs were even inside at all. What had Henry called the suit? V-death? That was a terrible name. She needed to change—

“This is my shitty range,” announced Henry. “I didn’t have time to make a good one so this is what we got.” The Asian man gestured around and Tanushree let her gaze wander.

The room was longer than it was wide, and there was a hardened clay, man-shaped target at the other end. A few low walls ran between the target and where they stood, going all the way up each wall and to the ceiling too. It gave the room a ribbed look. A full wall stood directly ahead of them that spanned half of the width of the room. A hole in the wall and a built in shelf was presumably where weapons could be fired from.

“I doubled the ventilation to this room and the door behind us can easily be closed and locked in case anything crazy happens. We won’t have that problem, though. Follow me.” Henry led the way to the open side of the room and after passing the wall, he stopped at the first low, stone barrier. “All these little barriers out there are for safety. That’s why they’re on the ceiling and walls too. Should catch any shrapnel in the future.”

None of that made any sense to Tanushree, but she nodded.

“Okay, hold your left arm up and point it at the target. Then flip the switch inside the suit near your left elbow,” Henry instructed.

Tanushree did as she was told, and got her first good look at the top of her left arm. There was a canister of what looked like thick aluminum, and that component was about all that she could identify. When she flipped the switch on her elbow, a small, blue flame appeared in front of the tube sticking out of the device on her arm.

“That’s your pilot light,” said Henry. “Now to fire the weapon, flip the switch in your suit near the left wrist. Do it just for a second and then flip it back to turn it off.”

Tanushree was nervous, but she did as instructed. There was a clicking sound and a sudden whoosh as her arm projected a column of flame towards the target. When she flipped the switch back, the flame cut out, but a few spots were still burning on the floor in front of her.

“What in Creation was that?” she swore.

“That, my dear Lady Volleyball, is a flamethrower,” said Henry with glee. “I got the idea by studying the local air rifles. Actually, I got a few ideas, but we can talk about that later. Anyway, it wasn’t that hard to put some oil and alcohol in a canister and make a piston. This world has better rubber than Earth, too. I’m not sure that’s possible, but it’s true. It was easy to make a good seal. Did you know that militaries in Ludus use slingshot weapons?”

“Of course I know that,” said Tanushree absently. She explored the suit with her senses. “What do the other switches do?”

“The switch in your left shoulder operates the spotlight on your left wrist just behind the nozzle of the flamethrower. The switch in your chest is your chest lamp. The switch in your right shoulder turns on the light in your right shoulder. As for the last switch in your right wrist, hold your arm out first and flip it. Oh, you should probably cut out your pilot light too. It doesn’t use much energy but there’s no point in wasting power.”

Tanushree turned off the small blue flame on her left arm’s weapon. Then she moved her suit’s right arm out in front of her. With an even mixture of nerves and excitement, she activated the switch. In a blur of motion, a huge blade flicked open from the box on her arm and locked in place with a snap. She narrowed her eyes, looking at the wicked, tapering point before asking, “Is that steel? Blessed steel?”

“Yeah! Cool, huh?”

“Where did you find such a thing?” Tanushree was curious. She’d never heard of a blessed steel blade like this one. There was no way that Henry could have used a regular blessed steel short sword blade. There was no tang.

Henry said, “I’ll show you in a second. First, open the suit up and get out. It’s yours now, by the way. I’m never taking back control. I’m also building a cool, custom glaive for it, too. I’m still finalizing the design.”

In a daze, the young woman moved just one arm out of her suit and began undoing all the clasps to let herself out. It turned out to be easier that way. As she worked, Henry said, “I didn’t have time to figure out a way for you to easily close this punching blade. I got the idea from the weapon I used to kill that one assassin like a week back or whatever. It’s a pain in the ass to close this thing once you open it, though. It really needs someone standing outside the suit to close it right now, so it’s more of a last ditch weapon.”

Tanushree absently nodded and climbed out of the suit. After she was back on the ground, she looked back at the giant, empty machinery, her new weapon, and felt a sense of loss. It was awesome.

Henry had handed her a truly astonishing weapon, one that could shake the very bowels of history. “So much more can be done with this too,” she whispered.

“Yeah, like we could make it a lot bigger, for starters,” chuckled Henry.

With wide eyes, Tanushree regarded Henry. “What did you say?”

“Well, you’d probably need a lot more power than you have now to control it, but there’s no reason we couldn’t make something taller than a building for you to pilot. You could probably crush a city by yourself. Just imagine the size of the weapons we could attach to something like that!”

What kind of mad god is this man? What is in this coffee potion he is drinking? Tanushree’s thoughts were wild. For a bare instant, she imagined herself as a giant, crushing her enemies underfoot. It was too much. She shook her head and began following Henry as he led them out of the range room.

In that moment, if she did not already have feelings for Aodh, she might have given herself to Henry just to solidify an alliance. One thing was sure, she couldn’t afford not to give him anything he wanted at this point.

She was in a daze as she followed Henry to another table, this one with a blessed steel nut, bolt, and a couple washers. Blessed steel items like these were still expensive, but more for the novelty than anything else. They weren’t really very useful.

“I saved these to show you what I figured out two nights ago. Check this out.” Henry put each item on his palm, folded his hand and closed his eyes for a few seconds. Then he opened his hand, and Aodh gasped out loud. On the center of Henry’s palm was a single, blessed steel sphere.

“I still can’t make the stuff from scratch, but with Mind Whip, I can convince it to join together or move apart. I’m kind of ashamed I never tried to mold it in the past like other metals. I might have been able to. Suppose it’s just because the weapons made out of this stuff are so fucking rare and I didn’t have much to mess with.

“I think I’m close to figuring out a lot of stuff about blessed steel, actually. Anyway, the iron in the V-death suit came from a couple old blessed iron candlesticks I found in my new house. The blade is from a bunch of random blessed steel I cobbled together.”

“This is…” Tanushree didn’t have words. Henry could be one of the richest men on Ludus now. This was an amazing, once in a lifetime opportunity. If she joined forces with him, sponsored him somehow, however he wanted; maybe she should attempt to marry him after all. Her heart was against the idea, but he was waving power and wealth around casually in a way that made her mouth dry. She had not been raised to ignore possibilities like this one.

Henry looked up at the ceiling and nodded. “Oh yeah, I know. This would be an easy way to make cool stuff and sell things, I guess. But I have a really fucking cool plan. I’m not on this fucked up planet to make better weapons for people to kill each other with. I’m thinking bigger than that, way bigger. Here, follow me.”

He took off, sipping his coffee, patting a leg, and humming as he moved towards the door he had first come out of. Tanushree slowly turned and exchanged looks with Aodh. The youth’s expression was similar to hers, but he eventually just shrugged and followed his mentor. His tone was sheepish as he said, “If you spend enough time around him, you eventually kind of get used to this sort of thing.”

Tanushree and Aodh followed Henry into an office of sorts. A makeshift desk and chair had been crafted from solid stone. “How did you make all of this stuff in such a short amount of time, Henry?” asked Aodh. “You had a hard time with the tunnels back in the Gob-folk caves.”

Henry nodded. “Yeah, but I realized that I could use Mind Whip to help convince some of the stuff to work with me. The new ability, being personally more powerful, and having my metal magic back has made everything way easier for me. Plus, I figured out I can make glass pretty easily now. There’s plenty of sand, and I understand light magic now so the fake fiber optic lights on the walls were a cinch.”

Aodh frowned, “What is a mind whip—”

“This is what I want to build!” crowed Henry, showing Tanushree a crude drawing. At first, she didn’t understand what she was seeing. When she leaned back, her eyes widening a bit, Henry said, “Yeah, I see you get it now. This is a concept drawing. I think I can make everything work really efficiently based on what I know about magic systems now. It should run a long time on basic magic stones, just like the V-death does.”

Tanushree took a deep breath, calming her racing heart. “And you are sure you can build such a thing?” she asked.

“Of course. I looked up what kind of stuff the Berber government is using for military vehicles, and this would kick the shit out of all of them, too. Well, eventually.

“If it works, I can start recreating a lot of earth technology in the future, too. Maybe even Areva or Mo’hali stuff, but I’d need to understand what their technology even looks like first. This shit can be pretty fucking complex. I’m just cheating like a sonofabitch.” The man laughed and drank the rest of his coffee, setting the cup down gently on the stone table.

With both dread and awe, Tanushree thought of how Henry could change the world, or at least her country with only what he’d created in the last couple days. She felt so deeply shocked, she forgot how to speak for a moment. “What do you want from me?” she asked. Tanushree felt it, the sense of destiny. Her entire world hung on the man’s answer.

“I need access to your resources. You are not your parents, but you’re still rich and well connected. Your folks kind of pissed me off by not even talking to me and by treating you like shit...so fuck them. I’ll just deal with you. I need you to buy me a bunch of magic stones. I also need every piece of scrap blessed steel you can find. Blessed iron too. Maximize your money and get deals. It obviously doesn’t matter what shape the stuff is in.

“I also want to build this land up, so get me some carpenters and some other earth mages out here. I need more people to work the land, too, and I don’t have time to build walls. I was thinking about maybe keeping some adventurers on retainer to farm my dungeons, depending on how much they’ll make me.

“I know you’re supposed to be at school soon, but I’m confident we can spend a few weeks on this stuff, and I can still get you to Mensk with time to spare.”

Tanushree barely trusted her voice. She was living in a focal point of history. In fact, she was even an active participant. “You will have every scrap of my resources that you need,” she managed to get out. “If it is in my power, all you must do is ask.”

“Radical! So business partners, then?” Henry said, holding out his hand.

Tanushree recognized the gesture. It was still used on Ludus. She held out her hand and shook Henry’s, sealing the deal. It was more than she could have dreamed. She wasn’t sure what she had been expecting, but an offer of partnership was surprising to say the least. The partnership did make a certain amount of sense, though. In one fell swoop, her ascension as the Bobrik heir had just been guaranteed. In fact, at this rate, why settle for that?

If she tied herself to Aodh and Henry, she might truly see the face of the entire world change, and be able to leave her stamp on it as well. She swooned, and only kept from fainting through an effort of will.

“This is awesome!” yelled Henry. “Sato Industries has officially been born! Now excuse me, I need to make more coffee. I seriously need to figure out where the fuck this stuff comes from, too. I also either need to get Ellen to stay down here, or hire a secretary.” The Delvers leader left the room, heading through another door in the back of the office.

After a few seconds of pregnant silence in the little room, Aodh muttered, “Like I said, you eventually get used to this stuff, but I don’t think it will ever be normal. If we get to really talk later today, remind me to tell you about ‘grenades’.” The dangerous young man pointed at the bronze cylinder hanging from his belt.

Tanushree could only shake her head. It was nice to be on a winning team for a change!

Tense Negotiations

Henry hummed softly to himself, building channels with his fingers into an aluminum bar. He was getting really, really good at shaping metal and now he could do most menial tasks without even thinking about it.

Most of his attention was on the floor, or rather, deep in the earth beneath him. He needed some more bronze and probably some iron. Henry concentrated, breaking apart and drawing bronze to the surface. Since he was in his underground workshop, it was easier to do.

As he worked, he let his mind wander. Perhaps he should clear up the misunderstanding with Tony. A few days before, when he’d shown Volleyball the V-death for the first time, Henry had said that creating his awesome workshop was made possible due to his Mind Whip ability. While that was true, he hadn’t mentioned that there had also been a natural cave. He’d sensed the cave once he’d created the first few feet of hallway, and it had also been why he’d descended so deep in the first place. The existence of the cave had meant he really hadn’t needed to do all that much to widen out his main room. Some of the original cave still existed, too. He’d just walled off the workshop from it.

Remembering the goblin caves, he’d made the wall extra thick too just in case something was living deeper in there. Surprises were only good when they were female, wore lingerie, and had an accent.

After a few moments, Henry drew up some bronze through the ground at his feet, combining the composite before it reached him, then turning it into a pool of metal. Even after all this time, it was weird to melt metal with no heat, but he knew he would eventually accept it as commonplace.

Henry touched a finger to the metal, willing it onto his palm in a ball after summoning strength from the earth to support the weight. He frowned. Creating the vehicle he had promised Tanushree wouldn’t be too difficult. It was creating all the systems and weapons that he wanted to add to it that would be a pain in the ass.

The Asian man molded the bronze for a while, trying to imagine how the weapon he wanted to build would actually work. The biggest problem was that he was still manipulating metal directly with his hands. He really needed a form. Creating forms out of bronze wouldn’t work well, other metals were too soft, and blessed steel would be a waste of resources.

Henry pondered the problem, setting down the lump of metal on the ground and drumming his fingers onto his chin. The hair of his goatee was somehow reassuring.

Currently, he just kind of shaped everything by eye. What he really needed was a way to create quick and easy metal forms. He would be making so many strange new parts that using his magic ‘As Is’ would be inefficient and the pieces might not even work correctly. Speaking of which, he glanced at the box full of blessed steel odds and ends, figuring he should start joining them all together soon.

He also still needed to figure out if joining together blessed steel affected the temper or the Rockwell hardness…his thoughts trailed off and he felt an itch on his back.

Absentmindedly, Henry used a new trick he’d learned a few days earlier. With a thought, he created a darksteel gauntlet up to his elbow. Then he formed a long hook of darksteel out of his knuckle. He slotted the makeshift tool down the back of his tunic, using it as an improvised back scratcher.

After he’d dealt with the itch, he held the ad hoc darksteel tool and regarded it thoughtfully. Physical metal could only actually be formed by his hands or by pressure. Steel he generated from his body could make weapons and armor, but he couldn’t get it to form any other tools.

But what about darksteel?

Henry cautiously thought about changing his back scratcher into a screwdriver. When the recognizable tool formed out of the strange, smoky, magic metal, his eyes widened in surprise. Next, he concentrated on creating a perfectly uniform tube about two inches in diameter and about a foot long.

After he thought about it, the darksteel formed a cylinder that perfectly matched his specifications. Henry smiled and picked up the bronze from the floor. He made it into a sheet and gently pressed the darksteel cylinder down, cutting a piece out like a cookie cutter. After experimenting this way for a few minutes, his smile grew wider.

Now this...this he could work with. Suddenly, the weapon systems he’d been thinking about would be less daunting for him to create.

Darksteel is cool.

Henry paused to examine his handiwork around the workshop. He couldn’t stay constantly buzzed on caffeine anymore, but was still getting a lot done. Still, he’d been putting something off for a while and knew he should take a quick break anyway.

Henry sighed and turned, regarding Honey where she sat in the corner, gnawing on a bone. “Okay, we need to talk,” he said. The tired man gestured down at the ground, a bubble of stone rising so he could sit. From the corner, Honey responded to Henry’s voice by pausing in her chewing, glancing up with wide, curious eyes.

Henry rolled his eyes. “Cut the bullshit, Honey. I wasn’t sure at first, but I’ve been watching you. I’m not stupid.

“The goblins are terrified of you, you just happened to show up out of nowhere, well sort of, and you’re way too smart and well-mannered to be a normal animal. I mean, hell, you look like something that should be living in a red and white ball.”

Honey cocked her head and regarded Henry curiously. Then she licked her crotch.

“Seriously, Honey. Just stop. I actually wasn’t sure when or how to bring this up before. I kind of wanted to make sure that you were a friend first, not an enemy. You might notice I’m not armored up and I don’t have any weapons nearby, so I obviously think you’re a friend. At the very least you are my friend. I kind of like having you around, but we seriously need to have a real discussion after you’ve dropped the act.”

The purple, badger-looking creature lost interest in Henry and twitching her nose, sniffed her improvised bed of old shirts.

“I’m gonna say this one more time.” Henry ran his fingers through his hair. “Please stop making me talk to you like you’re just an animal and I am a crazy person. I may not be Jason, but I still have seen some shit, like shows and games and stuff. There is always some animal sidekick that is smarter than they act and the stupid heroes don’t notice. There’s some small, animal-thing in practically every show Jason has ever been in to.

“I noticed, Honey—all those times you let it slip you could understand what people were saying. I was watching for that shit since the moment you appeared. I’ve seen the interest in your eyes when people talk. You are not just an animal.

“It seriously doesn’t bother me. This is Ludus. I mean, fuck, I use magic now and my best friend is married to a fucking elf. It’s not going to wig me out that you are a person.”

Henry chuckled and continued, “In fact, I watched every season of Futurama. I have trained for this sort of thing, dammit.”

Honey gave no sign that she was paying attention at all and began tracking a bug climbing up the wall.

“Fine,” sighed Henry. “Be that way.”

For the next few minutes, Henry went back to a different project, one he was actually using blessed steel for. The rifled barrel was coming along nicely. He got into a rhythm, working until his body grew completely relaxed with the ebb and flow of manipulating metal.

Suddenly, Henry turned and hollered, “There’s a monster above you!”

Honey sprang to her feet, startled, and looked up. Henry pointed and crowed, “I got you, bitch! There is no fucking way you would have reacted like that if you didn’t understand what I was saying! I may be a lot of things, but I am not crazy!”

At first, the purple creature’s eyes widened and she started to scratch herself, pretending to be a regular animal. However, Henry couldn’t stop laughing. The situation was the funniest he’d encountered since he came to Ludus and accidentally cock blocked Jason in the Jaguar Clan bath. The Delvers leader laughed so hard, tears streamed down his face.

Honey grew agitated, eventually moving in a blur towards Henry, jumping up on the table directly before him and baring her teeth. Her fur began to crackle.

“Oh, shut the fuck up,” said Henry, rolling his eyes. “You were perfectly okay with lying to me even after I called you out. I’m sorry for tricking you, and I’m sure you have your reasons, but I want to have a partnership with you if you are going to be part of this group.”

Honey stared Henry in the eyes, her unsettling gaze made the hair on the back of his neck stand up. The air in the workshop began to grow heavy, and Henry could feel the power gathering. “If you want to duke it out, whatever,” said the Delvers leader. “But I’d rather be friends. In fact, I’ve known you are not an animal for a while, and I’ve started to think of you, well...kind of like the daughter I never had.”

The pressure in the room cut off like a switch had been thrown. Honey took a step back and regarded Henry, her nose twitching in apparent confusion. Henry slowly reached forward with a hand, keeping his face neutral and his entire demeanor calm. His palm came to rest on Honey’s head, and he gently scratched.

“I know what it’s like to be alone,” said Henry softly. “I don’t know what your past is like, and I don’t know why you were hiding what you really are from us, especially when the goblins already seem to know, but I know you don’t mean us any harm. And...I happen to like you.

“Now do you think we can have a chat? Just nod yes for yes and shake your head for no, at least for the time being. Do you understand?”

After a pause, Honey nodded yes.

Henry blew out a breath. He asked, “Do you want me to keep this stuff from everyone else for a while? I won’t force you to let anyone else know.”

Honey nodded yes again, and pushed her head into Henry’s hand, closing her eyes in obvious thanks and relief. They stayed that way for a while, with Henry offering comfort the best way he knew how.

God, this planet is strange as fuck. Henry shook his head, but as he pet Honey, he spared a smile. One wounded soul could sometimes recognize another.

***

Thirsty crossed his legs, steepled his fingers, and tried to calm his racing heart as he sat in his special, most fabulous chair.

His shop had been doing well. Amazingly well. The fact that Jason had given him generous seed money and Yanno-ibbi was a handy contact with the Taretha Mo’hali clans had been a godsend.

In an amazingly short amount of time, Thirsty built his own shop and had a steady, enthusiastic client base. It turned out that his enchanting power was rare. Soldiers wanted regular clothes that protected them as effectively as armor for obvious reasons. The rings he’d made that created little flames had been a big hit, too. Little gizmos he created all sold out immediately, and with all the practice he’d been getting, they’d barely taken him any time to make.

The first week or two had been rough, though. He’d gotten some tough customers that wanted to run him out of town for business or for personal reasons. If Thirsty had encountered that sort of thing before being part of Delvers LLC, before fighting hordes of fucked up monsters, they might have succeeded. Unfortunately for them, Thirsty was orb-Bonded and did not put up with that shit.

Enchanting new weapons and shields to scare off thugs took time, though. Thirsty had hired a couple of muscular men to deter the rabble; one look at his guards, and most of the jealous-ass women on the street selling shitty magic gear had scrammed. Jesdan and Benjamin had been extremely helpful, they turned out to be great salesmen too. It was too bad they were straight...but whatever.

Yes, Thirsty had been doing extremely well, but he hadn’t expected to attract the attention of the queen herself! Thirsty was a fierce bitch, a savage queen, but he’d never met a queen-queen before. He honestly wasn’t sure how to act, and eventually decided to just be polite and respectful as if he were meeting RuPaul herself.

Suddenly, Jesdan, one of Thirsty’s guards came running into the shop from the street. “Thirsty, I think she’s coming! There are like a couple dozen zebra knights out there guarding a carriage!”

“Okay, sweetie, get in the back please. Be ready in case I need you,” said Thirsty. The other man scurried through the double doors to the rear of the building, all rippling muscles and nervous energy. Thirsty composed himself. It would have been comforting to have one of his employees and friends out with him, but he wanted to look strong for the queen. He’d learned the importance of appearances on Ludus from Jason.

In another minute, the door was thrown open and two men wearing armor, including full helms and Tolstey tabards, rushed into the room. They both carried shimmering, enchanted weapons. One had a sling pistol on his hip. The men held up black boxes to their eyes, scanning the room before announcing, “Clear.”

Next, a woman walked into the room, decked out in some of the finest Taretha fashion, reminiscent of a flowing toga. She was drop dead gorgeous, with features from at least four celebrities back on Earth that Thirsty could name. The woman was also tall and leggy in a way that made him jealous as hell. Thirsty thought her clothes were ugly and impractical, though. The weather was starting to get too chilly to show much skin. Fuck that, he thought. Fashion is all well and good, but I ain’t got time to be cold.

The woman in the toga announced, Queen Smrithi of Tolstey!”

The next woman to walk into the room was of average height and racially ambiguous, with big, clear brown eyes, full lips, and light brown skin. She looked like she was in her mid-twenties. Her clothing consisted of a light green jumper with a cream colored, long sleeve top underneath. She also wore a pair of knee high socks and some cute green shoes. Simple, but adorable outfit, thought Thirsty. He approved.

Thirsty stood. “You must be the queen, right?” he asked.

“I am,” she replied.

The queen didn’t seem haughty or arrogant to Thirsty, only curious. He took this as a good sign.

The woman in the toga bristled. “You should bow and—”

She was interrupted when Thirsty noticed the queen’s hand and rushed forward, lifting her wrist so he could look more closely at her fingers. “Girl, these are some beautiful rings! Where did you get these? Oh my God, they’re so cute!”

The two guards took an angry step forward and the elegant woman in the toga growled, her eyes blazing. The queen raised her other hand and said, “Peace, Cora.” The other woman immediately backed down and the guards took a step back as well.

Queen Smrithi regarded Thirsty’s hand on her wrist and her eyes twinkled. “Which one do you like most?”

“Oh, girl, this one with the seashells and the little pieces of gem that make the waves sparkle is gorgeous!” Thirsty said, pointing at one of the queen’s rings.

“I made that one before I took the throne, almost eighty years ago. I had to give up my hobby after I took on all the new responsibility. Well, for the most part.”

Thirsty looked up. “Eighty years? How old—actually, never mind. I ain’t gonna be a rude enough to ask a girl her age. But damn, these rings are cute.”

The queen shook her head and lightly rolled her eyes. “Thirsty—I believe you go by Thirsty, yes? You knew I was coming here, and even had a runner outside to alert you. We have been watching you. Some of the business agreements you have made in the last couple weeks in particular have proven that you are not a fool. So why would you rush up to me like that and touch me?”

Thirsty released the queen’s wrist and took a step back, bowing slightly. “Sorry about that. I think I got some bad habits from some people I traveled with. I’m kind of an all or nothing girl these days. I figured if you were coming, it was about my ability and I wanted to see what kind of person you were.”

The queen’s eyes sparkled. “That was very reckless. Perhaps brave—or stupid of you.”

“Yeah, but like Henry would say, it worked didn’t it?” Thirsty fetched his second most fierce chair and brought it over to the queen. “Would you like to sit, Your Majesty?”

“Oh, so you do have some manners?” The queen’s small smile had widened into a grin. She placed her chair in front of Thirsty’s and sat. “You may sit as well.”

“Thank you, Your Majesty,” Thirsty replied, seating himself as he’d been told. His palms were sweaty. The tall black man figured that he might have died, but the queen would probably end up being his new employer. He had wanted to test her. Plus, he’d guessed that if she was coming to fetch him, his orb power was valuable enough to keep him alive.

He’d still been nervous as hell, though. Luckily, he could do anything as long as he thought of it as a performance.

Queen Smrithi mused, “I understand that you have not been on Ludus long, but I didn’t see your ‘Bonded status when I saw you, and I know you have orb powers. On a related note, you said you got bad habits from people you traveled with, and you mentioned a Henry; were you talking about Henry Sato and Jason Booth?”

“Yeah, they kept me alive but I think they might have strengthened some of my more...random personality quirks. And trust me, I’m quirky already, honey.”

The queen chuckled. “What kind of people are they? Actually, never mind. That conversation can wait. I have heard that you have been doing well for yourself?”

It was time for Thirsty’s second gamble. “Look, Your Majesty, I really appreciate you coming here in person. Honestly, I’m honored. You are beautiful and fabulous, but we both know this is business. I have a rare ‘Bonded power, and you want to grab me for your kingdom and keep me from selling stuff to people that might not be your friends. I wouldn’t have figured this out before I came to Ludus, but I got a crash course in reading between the lines right up until a fuck ton of zombies tried eating my face off. Why don’t we just talk business?”

“Ah, I respect directness,” the queen said, her eyes glittering. “Speaking of being direct, I heard you enjoy wearing women’s clothing, but you have not done so in public since you have been here. Why not?”

Thirsty didn’t even try to figure out how she’d known that. He huffed. “Honey, when I first landed on this wack-ass planet, I realized I could tone down who I really am and it would probably make everything easier for me. But another thing I learned from Henry and Jason is that I’d rather be who I really am, maybe even die for it, than let this fucked up planet beat me down, turn me into someone I’m not just to survive.

“And this is all true, but there’s a difference between being true to myself and practically begging a whole city to kick my ass. I’m fierce, not stupid.”

The queen threw her head back and laughed. She said, “I think I like you. Okay, well said. But I need to ask one more thing. Did you know that you might die when you casually approached me?”

Thirsty’s expression was serious when he answered, “Yeah, but I might die every day on Ludus. Plus, you’re the queen. There ain’t no way you aren’t packing some major orb power, especially after what you just said about your age. I bet I have about as much chance of hurting you as hitting high notes like Whitney Houston.”

“Correct,” said the queen. She held up a finger and sang softly, her voice lifting into a wordless melody with perfect pitch. For a few seconds, a blue flame formed on the tip of her finger, narrowing to a sharpened point. When her voice faded, so did the magical flame. “I am a seventh rank ‘Bonded. There may be other ‘Bonded more powerful than myself, but I have not met them in person. Once ‘Bonded grow more powerful than around rank four, endurance and willpower dictate whether a person will survive the elevation.

“Additionally, my orb power is as rare as yours, and considered one of the most powerful and versatile on Ludus. Unfortunately, I have still never been able to figure out how to enchant anything.” The queen smiled, and Thirsty’s blood ran cold.

Seventh rank? Holy fuck.

Thirsty cleared his throat and said, “Well, thank you for not turning me into some charcoal or something.”

The queen leaned forward and patted his shoulder, reaching up due to the difference in their height. “Do not worry. I have been getting reports on you for a while, and you did not disappoint my expectations. To answer your earlier question, I would like to slowly elevate you to fourth rank ‘Bonded. Even fourth rank is too much for some.

“You will be paid well for your services, and supplied with a great deal of security. In return, I’d like for you to live in the palace and work directly for me.”

“This isn’t really a choice, is it?” asked Thirsty.

“No, but let’s pretend it is. Plus, I’d rather have you as a friend than an enemy. You are probably resourceful enough that you could eventually escape. Plus, you already have powerful friends. I have a feeling I am going to regret giving Henry and Jason to Berber. I’d really rather not make an enemy of them on top of that.”

Thirsty sat in thought for a while. The deal seemed to be about what he’d been expecting, and wasn’t too bad. He had to ask for more though, for appearances if nothing else. “Okay, but I want you to make me some fierce-ass jewelry like you’re wearing, and for my friends. I told them I’d give them some gear I’d made the next time they see me.”

“That can be done. In fact, it would be nice to create again. Is there anything else?”

“Yeah, the two men I’ve been employing, can they have jobs too? They have families and I don’t want them to be unemployed because I gotta take my fine ass to your house.”

“Of course,” said Queen Smrithi. “And additionally, after you have been in my service long enough, perhaps we can talk about opening your own club, some place you can practice your drag. That is what you call your hobby, yes?”

Thirsty smiled. “That doesn’t sound too bad,” he said. “Not bad at all. If I’m gonna be bought anyway, I might as well get a new drag home out of it. Okay, Boss Queen, where do I sign?”

***

Yelm stalked through the subterranean warren of tunnels that the cultists used to hide themselves. He was furious.

After a half hour of searching, he found his quarry. “Hiisa,” he almost snarled, barely controlling his tone in time, “why didn’t you tell me that your people found Henry and Jason? I just found out from Celina!”

The blonde Areva woman stood with a few of her toadies before a thick, aluminum cage. In the cage, a young girl, perhaps thirteen, cowered, naked. Hiisa turned and narrowed her alien eyes. She gestured at the cage and the captive inside, saying, “Can’t you see that I am busy? Your issue can wait.”

“I don’t believe it can. Plus, you are usually busy and can be difficult to find. What are you doing, anyway?”

The high priestess of Asag smiled, showing off her teeth she’d filed to points. “I am waiting for an acolyte to bring me a Dolos orb. Sometimes enemy ‘Bonded we kill yield a gift from Dolos of an orb, not a spirit stone. We don’t currently wish to elevate new priests, but strengthen the ones we already have. So if we get a new orb, we give it to a prisoner, wait until morning, kill them, and then have another chance at a spirit stone reward instead of an orb.”

Yelm frowned. “And you are here to oversee?”

“Of course. Orbs are priceless, after all.”

Yelm eyed the prisoner in the cage. The girl was whimpering, pressing herself to the rear of the filthy cage. Yelm mused out loud, “Seems like a waste. Why don’t you let some of the men, or the women for that matter have a few turns with the prisoners first if you’re going to kill them anyway?” He gestured at the girl in the cage. “In fact, why not just bleed her until she’s almost dead? She doesn’t even need to be conscious to be ‘Bonded, right? It seems like we always need fresh blood for something.

“In fact, you could probably let some of your demon pets just eat her limbs. She just has to survive to be ‘Bonded. Without limbs, she’d be even easier to kill. All the prisoners would be.”

Hiisa’s eyes widened and the priestess of Asag hissed. Yelm immediately knew he’d made a mistake. It’d been extremely difficult to keep rising up the ranks of the Asag cultists. Jeopardizing all of his progress would be unforgivable, especially with an offhand comment about how inefficient the cultists were being. He was supposed to be helpful, not critical.

“Terrans,” snarled Hiisa. “Vile. Some of the methods we use to build the return of Lord Asag are dark, but some things are also unnecessary.”

Yelm kept his face blank, but he was mentally snorting. The cultists literally already did feed limbs of living prisoners to their captive demons. They’d force the prisoner’s arm or leg into a cage, then stop the bleeding with a tourniquet. They did this for a week until it was time to throw the still-living torso to one of the larger beasts.

What made these orb prisoners different, Yelm didn’t know. But for some reason, the Asag cultists still apparently had some sort of reverence for orbs. Yelm suspected, deep down, they feared bringing the wrath of Dolos down upon themselves before their own god could protect them.

Hiisa’s outrage was hollow, but Yelm had come too far to throw everything away. “Of course,” he said, further modulating his earlier tone. “It was just a thought. But, Priestess Hiisa, I request that I be kept informed of any new developments with Henry and Jason. They are important targets.”

“Yes, I know you have personal interest in them. But they are targets of Asag before any concern of yours,” Hiisa said, waving her hand. As she spoke, an acolyte scurried into the chamber, a box in her hands. Hiisa opened the box and removed the Dolos orb inside. She pointed and a couple nearby cultists opened the cage, dragging the young prisoner out. The girl tried to scream, but it came out muted, raw. She’d had her tongue cut out.

Yelm tried a different approach. “It would not cost anything to keep me informed, correct? And I am going to be involved in neutralizing them anyway. If I am told of new developments, I can better prepare.”

“Fine, but don’t be tempted to do anything on your own. You are being constantly watched. I am sure you know that,” said Hiisa, her plain, Areva features twisting in mirth. She casually reached down and yanked the prisoner’s head up. The air around the young girl’s mouth solidified, connecting to Hiisa’s arm.

The priestess used her magic to pry open the girl’s mouth, and another cord of air lifted the orb from her other hand before diving down the girl’s throat into her stomach. The prisoner’s eyes watered, tears streaming down her face. She looked at Yelm, pleading with her eyes, but he ignored her. There was no room in him for pity, not for a long, long time. Plus, everything he did now, he did for Jeth.

“Thank you, Priestess.” The words grated, but he said them anyway. He had to remind himself that the cultists were tools, and tools could be discarded after he was finished with them. “There is news?”

“Yes, our eyes and ears report that Delvers LLC has almost arrived at Rose Lake. Once they reach the main roads in Tolstey, they should travel much faster. We are planning an ambush for them. Our spies report they will be guarded to pass the mountains, so the timing will be important.”

“Excellent, Priestess. Thank you for telling me. I will be ready.”

“Yes, yes, of course you will. We are all aware you have an axe to grind. Now go make yourself useful and dispose of some of the new gunpowder.”

Yelm made an effort not to openly grit his teeth. “Yes, Priestess Hiisa. Priestess Celina also mentioned that you were planning another raid soon?”

“Perhaps I should have a talk with Priestess Celina, but yes we are, and yes you can come. I know you are eager to practice your magic. Just be sure not to let your own goals ever come before the will of Lord Asag.” Hiisa pointed at the captive being shoved back into the cage. “You have been useful so far, but if you lose your way, at least you can still provide us with a spirit stone.”

The threat clear, Yelm bowed his head. “Yes, Priestess,” he said, backing away. His heart burned with hate, and he yearned for the day that he could watch the cultists perish. He’d watch everything crumble.

Everything for Jeth.

Crimson Travel

Not long after starting her nightly watch shift, Mareen stared out at Rose Lake. Even after giving the Deepwater Rose her answer, she’d felt it pulling at her for days, reminding her of its offer. The tugging had been a constant distraction over the past week while she otherwise discussed Henry’s strange situation with Jason and Uluula.

While the group had traveled up the Stem River, they’d exchanged a few more messages with Henry and Aodh. So many MMBs had been summoned, Mareen could swear that she was starting to recognize some of them. She’d first noticed one that had a missing feather on its set of arm wings. Another one had a heart-shaped mark on its beak. Yet another had an extra spiky, feathery crest on top of its tiny, avian head.

The mysterious little creatures had been acting more friendly towards Mareen, too. It could have just been her imagination, but she was starting to think their croaky voices were getting warmer. Maybe they liked regular customers. Creator knew they’d been getting a lot of messages between Mareen and her absent-minded, endearingly oblivious husband.

Now Henry was completely aware of the developments among the rest of the Delvers, and had let them all know he was building contraptions again. Others had exchanged more messages, too. Aodh had been hit hard by Rark-han’s death and had sent Bezzi-ibbi an MMB message about it, privately.

The flurry of messages both ways with Henry and Aodh had served to make Mareen surer about her decision concerning the Deepwater Rose’s dark offer. She stared pensively out at the water, some distance away. Rose Lake was enormous, and any large body of water on Ludus was bound to be populated by some truly massive monsters. For safety, the group had set up in a sheltered pocket next to a cliff, far away from the shore.

Mareen took one look back at the camp. She knew Bezzi-ibbi was in the trees somewhere nearby, watching for threats with his vastly superior vision. The boy was doing his job, and Mareen suppressed a pang of guilt. A small, quiet corner of her mind wouldn’t shut up, feeling like she was betraying her friends. However, she’d made up her mind. Mareen began walking to the distant shore.

She glanced back again and noticed a small flower, petals the color of blood unfurling where she’d been standing. The Deepwater Rose was keeping its word. The rest of the group would be protected while Mareen was away. In fact, the protection should last until they left the vicinity of Rose Lake, the Deepwater Rose’s area of influence.

This had been Mareen’s price she’d demanded just to meet with the thing. The fact it had so readily agreed still made her nervous. At least she hadn’t needed to doubt its word. Beings like the Deepwater Rose followed a code more rigid than even the High Priestesses on Ludus or Dolos himself, a truth that every legend and song Mareen knew of agreed on. After thinking about Keeja’s revelations a while back, mulling over them, Mareen thought she even might understand why.

Perhaps if her suspicions were correct, she would even be able to save her soul, or at least her life. The thought was grim, but as Mareen grew closer to the water, she was under no illusions. She was placing herself in danger. Mareen had learned from Henry not to delude herself, to face her decisions head on even if they were foolish, perhaps especially if they were foolish.

Her life belonged to her. She would live it as she felt best, even if she knew she might regret her decisions one day. The prices demanded by the Deepwater Rose were always high, they were sometimes downright evil, but offers of power were always genuine. At least the stories all said so.

Mareen’s options were more limited than some of her friends’, but the fact she had a real, tangible way to attain more power was undeniable. Her friends like Uluula had made do with what they were given the best they could, struggling to find their own place while being true to themselves. Mareen could accept no less from herself. She just wished she could remember a single figure out of legend that hadn’t met with tragedy after meeting the Rose.

The dusky-skinned woman gritted her teeth. Maybe she would be the first.

Suddenly, the surrounding land hushed, donning the quiet of an approaching predator. Even the mournful howls and hunting sounds of monsters in the far distance stilled, quiet as the grave. The very land itself seemed afraid. The waves before Mareen churned as something massive approached beneath the murky surface of the lake.

The water heaved, and an enormous, living nightmare broke through the surf, crashing onto the beach.

The creature was so large, some of its bulk extended back into the lake behind it, but what Mareen could see was ghastly and alien. It had no visible eyes, and its body was long, but swelled massively near the head. A pair of dark, fleshy lips peeled back from a massive, elongated jaw full of sharp, serrated teeth. Small, antenna-like, fleshy masses wriggled about and oriented on Mareen.

The creature had two rings of massive tentacles. The group higher up on its body, like a disturbing halo behind its bulbous head, were long, thick, and ended in fleshy pads. The rear set had a sharp claw on the end of each tip, shimmering with venom.

After its massive head swiveled towards Mareen, the nightmare’s pale body flashed with dark patches moving underneath its skin and it levered itself forward, using its larger set of tentacles to pull its bulk closer. The mouth opened wider, and a massive tongue lolled out, the end looking like a fleshy flower of wriggling muscle.

Mareen’s fear reaction was just a spasm at the back of her mind, muted by the decision she’d already made to talk with the Deepwater Rose. How to actually meet with it had been a question that had not even occurred to her. Rose Lake was the size of what Henry had called a ‘state’ back in his country on Earth.  The Deepwater Rose was rumored to exist in the very center of the lake. It would take days, or even weeks to travel there by boat.

The horrible creature before her stopped moving, but she could still smell its rancid breath from its huge, glistening jaws. Some of its jagged teeth were almost as long as her arm. Suddenly, the terrible mouth opened wider and a horrible, but strangely familiar voice assaulted her ears, pressing in on her soul.

YOU HAVE COME, DAUGHTER OF FADED GREATNESS.

Mareen winced, but she didn’t bother covering her ears. She could sense that the gesture wouldn’t do any good. Luckily, her ‘Bonded abilities were at second rank now, and she was tougher both mentally and physically than she could have imagined a year before.

THIS SERVANT WILL BRING YOU TO ME. STEP INTO THE PORTAL ONCE IT HAS FORMED AND WE WILL BARGAIN.

The terrible, pale, fleshy creature before her moved again, closing its massive jaws with a snap and rearing upwards. Mareen swallowed as her eyes followed the thing. The only weapon she still wore was her blessed steel dagger. She’d left almost everything else back at the camp, so if she died her friends could still use or sell her gear.

But thinking about the dagger now was laughable. Attacking this creature with anything less than Henry’s cannons on the Battlewagon would be like trying to kill a draft yucka with a toothpick.

Huge, pulsing tentacles arced forward and Mareen’s eyes widened as the fleshy tips began glowing. It is using magic. Her blood ran cold as she thought about how much damage a monster like this could do to a coastal town or city. Could anyone even kill it? No wonder port cities always had such powerful defenses.

The creature moved the tips of its tentacles together, and the space between flashed red, creating a sheet of energy. The hair on the back of Mareen’s neck stood on end. The doorway that the huge abomination had just created for her looked like a gateway into hell. The huge, disfigured head loomed over the portal. Its sinister, elongated jaw and disturbing eyeless gaze tracked her every move.

Mareen’s eyes narrowed and she gripped the hilt of the dagger behind her back, the same dagger that had almost ended her life. She had survived that situation, and she would survive this one. Her husband and her friends were all pushing to be more powerful, to be stronger. She could expect no less of herself.

And, more importantly, there were people out there somewhere responsible for the death of her parents, and more recently for her grandfather, George. Mareen could not fan the flame of justice or avenge her family if she refused every offer of power that was dangled in front of her face. She knew there would be a high price, she could live to regret her choice or even die. But ultimately, she had unfinished business, and Mareen was finished ever being in need of saving again.

Henry had always been right about one thing: Some people just needed killing. Whoever had murdered her sweet, caring, honorable grandfather deserved to be exterminated.

Mareen walked forward into the portal and was gone.

***

Bezzi-ibbi watched Mareen vanish from the lake shore and shook his head. Developing his abilities over the last few months had been slow, but steady. His uncle, Yanno-ibbi, had passed down hidden wisdom and training techniques for Mo’hali Heroes that Bezzi-ibbi hadn’t even known existed.

Yanno-ibbi was gone now, crippled for the rest of his life, but he’d taught Bezzi-ibbi everything he’d needed to know. The Jaguar Clan heir was growing strong. He could not shake the very heavens yet like Jason, but Bezzi-ibbi was no longer unsure of his own potential.

His Hero senses had alerted him to the power setting over the camp, and Bezzi-ibbi hadn’t even been affected by it. He’d been using enough of his Hero ability to cover just past his body. His enhanced control was partially a product of his constant practice, keeping a low-level negation field around his personal space.

He had a feeling that he’d have been unaffected even without it, though. Bezzi-ibbi was beginning to understand that his Hero ring, received directly from Dolos himself, was not normal.

Bezzi-ibbi watched Mareen vanish into the glowing red portal created by a gigantic, terrifying looking monster in the distance. The Jaguar Clan youth frowned, committing the scene to memory. He was working on a song, his first as a Jaguar Troubadour. Bezzi-ibbi hoped that Mareen’s section would end well, but the future was not known. For the time being, Mareen was his friend and his Clan brother’s mate. He would extend enough trust to wait before deciding what to do about the nightmare spectacle he’d just witnessed.

Plus, if the Mo’hali boy extended his senses, he could tell that the aura around the camp wasn’t hostile. The energy of it, the taste made his whiskers bristle, but could tell it was actually protective in nature. Strange, very strange.

Bezzi-ibbi took one last look at the red flower that bloomed where Mareen had been standing before and shook his head slightly. He knew Mareen had a good heart, and he hoped she knew what she was doing. As someone who had donned a Hero ring, Bezzi-ibbi knew he had no right to criticize the risks other hunters took, but if Mareen did anything to get herself killed or corrupted, he worried for the world. Henry-ibbi’s wrath would be like a force of nature.

Bezzi-ibbi was a curious boy. He couldn’t wait to be a true troubadour. However, some things were better left as thoughts, never coming true. Some weapons were so poisonous they would kill the hunter along with his prey.

The young Mo’hali Hero rolled his shoulders, making the starched fabric of his dress shirt rustle. He loved the sound. No matter what happened around him, it would always be comforting to control what he could wear and to dress his best. With that thought, Bezzi-ibbi resumed walking the perimeter of the camp, doing his job as the group’s night watch.

Everyone had secrets. He hoped Mareen would be able to handle her own. If not, Bezzi-ibbi might need to get involved, possibly to protect the world from his Clan brother.

Being a Jaguar Troubadour and an adventurer sure could be complicated.

***

Disorientation. Mareen flashed through darkness, bits of light sailing past her vision. She could not see with her eyes, though. In fact, she couldn’t move. Some of the lights had faces. They scared her. In a moment that spanned an eternity, Mareen traveled. Then suddenly, she stopped.

When the world returned, Mareen found herself in total darkness, cold liquid pressing in on her from every direction, and massive pressure crushing down on her body. She held her breath, her head jerking as she tried to make sense of where she was.

Suddenly, something slimy, huge, and... wrong made contact with her belly. She didn’t even have time to react before the thing touching her jerked forward, punching her in the gut. All the air in her lungs vomited out of her mouth in a cloud of terrified bubbles. Her eyes widened and she knew she was going to die as she inhaled water…

And found she could breathe.

The pressure on her body started to fade and slowly, a haze of red began outlining the space around her, allowing her just enough light to see by.

She wished she had still been blind.

WELCOME TO MY DOMAIN ON THIS WORLD. The awful voice pulsed through the water, vibrating Mareen’s entire body with its power. She felt slimy fingers rifling through her thoughts, stirring painful memories.

Scenes were forced through her mind. Her mother’s half-remembered laugh. George’s warm smile and his patient lessons. Her father’s protective embrace. The day she found out her parents had been killed—

“Get out of MY HEAD!” she screamed. The bubbles coming from her mouth didn’t make much actual noise under water, but she put every ounce of her identity, every bit of her personality into the rejection.

The dark sensation in her mind retreated, and Mareen felt immediate relief. Unfortunately, the renewed clarity of her thoughts allowed her to process where she actually was again, what she could see.

She was surrounded by tentacles, waving around like a sea of veiny, crimson fingers. The tentacle that had sucker punched her floated around her body, caressing her face before it languidly pulled away. She shuddered. Huge, nightmarish creatures swam in the distance, lazily traveling through the deep, no doubt waiting for orders from their master, the Deepwater Rose.

Mareen couldn’t see any natural light filtering through the water; she was deep. The crushing pressure she’d first felt probably would have killed a normal person. She had a feeling that the Rose had known exactly what she could tolerate and had acted to make her uncomfortable, but not kill her. The thought had a twisted sort of logic.

Mareen looked down, and immediately regretted it. Deep below her, a tear seemed to exist in reality itself. Water rushed in one side and out the other, creating a current that stirred the tentacles. Her mind struggled to understand what she was actually witnessing, but she knew something enormous, something utterly unknowable and awful, existed beyond the rent. The longer she looked, the more she thought she could see details, might be able to discern a massive eye staring back at her, an eye devoid of any recognizable emotion, devoid of pity, and large as the horizon—

She tore her gaze away and forced herself not to vomit. Mareen gritted her teeth and looked directly ahead at the sea of tentacles, not focusing on any one. The changes she was experiencing, the warmth from breathing in the surrounding water continued in her body, and she found she could speak after a fashion. She screamed into the water, and the shrieks had meaning.

“I’ve come. You offer power. I want to know what kind of power you can give me, and what the price will be.”

YOU AMUSE ME, WOUNDED BIRD. WOUNDED BIRDS LAND IN THE WATER. DO THEY ESCAPE, OR DO THE TENTACLES PULL THEM DOWN INTO THE DEPTHS? WHERE ARE YOU, WOUNDED BIRD? ARE YOU FLYING?

Mareen’s fear felt so thick, she could barely continue to breath. When she remembered she was breathing some sort of fetid water in the Deepwater Rose’s lair, she almost tried holding her breath, maybe indefinitely. Then again, she wasn’t ready to give up on life, yet. She thought about what Henry would say in this situation and replied, “You obviously want something from me! If you just wanted someone to feed to your pets, you could have gone through a lot less trouble than finding me.”

WELL REASONED. POWERS ARE MOVING, POWERS LONG DORMANT. I CAN SEE SOME FROM HERE, BUT NOT ALL. I WISH TO ROAM THIS WORLD.

“You still have not said what I get out of this, if I even agree!” shrieked Mareen. The style of speech she was compelled to use was disturbing and hurt her throat.

YOU HAVE ALREADY MADE YOUR DECISION BY COMING HERE, DROWNING LITTLE BIRD.

“I haven’t decided to do anything but have a discussion!”

YOU SPEAK OF PRICE. WHAT CAN YOU GIVE THAT I CANNOT JUST TAKE?

“My cooperation! You would not have promised gifts to come here if you didn’t need something. I don’t care if I die, at least not enough to beg. Just tell me what you want.”

The surrounding tentacles pulsed, and Mareen got the feeling the Rose wanted to retort, but thought better of it. She could only imagine what complex, alien calculations it did while choosing responses to their conversation. Finally, the voice spoke again. I OFFER POWER.

“What kind?”

POWER TO SHAKE HISTORY. POWER TO DESTROY NATIONS. POWER TO REND YOUR ENEMIES. POWER TO KEEP ALL THAT YOU HOLD DEAR.

“Nothing is free. What do you want in return?”

I WISH TO WITNESS THE COMING CLASHES. IT IS AMUSING TO ME. I WILL PUT PART OF MYSELF IN YOU AND YOU WILL CARRY ME OUTSIDE THIS LAKE. MY SIGHT WILL BENEFIT GREATLY FROM THIS. YOU WILL BE MY AGENT.

“What if I say no?”

YOU MAY NOT REFUSE.

“I can always refuse. I have Body school magic. I can end my own life whenever I want!”

YOUR THREATS ARE AS TINY AS YOU ARE.

“You are a rotting liar!” Despite the situation she was in, Mareen’s temper flared. “You are probably an Old One. That means you are limited, most of you locked away. This is probably why you need my help in the first place. If I kill myself, you get to sit down here in your rotting lake, missing out on all the action that you know is coming!”

There was a slight pause. I COULD FIND ANOTHER. YOU WERE JUST CLOSEST.

Mareen noted that the Deepwater Rose had not denied being an Old One. She was still assuming it couldn’t lie. That didn’t mean it couldn’t omit things or stretch the truth, though. “Then find another!” she replied. “But it took a long time for me to get out here. You also called me. I bet you can’t just call any ‘Bonded, and even if you could, who would be crazy or desperate enough to come?”

The tentacles around her waved in agitation, swirling the current, and Mareen snarled. She screamed, “You have to bargain with me unless you want to wait for another! You may be vast, but events may happen fast, and you will enjoy the show, rotting away in your rotting lake.” Mareen inwardly smiled. After she knew what the Rose wanted her for, she knew how to haggle.

After all, she’d spent time with Uluula, learning from one of the best. Maybe she’d get through this after all.

The tentacles continued to wave and the enormous, disturbing creatures half-seen in the distance seemed agitated. Finally, the voice said, WE WILL BARGAIN. I OFFER POWER IN EXCHANGE FOR YOU TO BE MY EMISSARY TO THE WORLD. YOU NEED NOT DO ANYTHING OTHER THAN LIVE YOUR LIFE.

Mareen narrowed her eyes. “I don’t want you spying on me or my privacy.”

PETTY CREATURE, I CARE NOT FOR YOU OR YOUR EXISTENCE. I WISH TO WITNESS THE COMING STRUGGLES. YOU ARE A CONVENIENCE THAT IS ALL. YOUR LIFE IS OF NO INTEREST TO ME.

“So you basically want, no, you need me to boost your sight in order to view the show better. In exchange you will grant me power. That actually doesn’t seem too bad,” Mareen mused aloud into the depths.

BARGAIN STRUCK

“Wait, I never said I agreed! We were—”

WORDS HAVE POWER. WORDS CAN MEAN MANY THINGS IN MANY DIFFERENT LANGUAGES AND WAYS OF THINKING. I HAVE SIFTED YOUR PRIMITIVE SPEECH THROUGH MULTIPLE FILTERS IN ORDER TO BEST UNDERSTAND YOUR MEANING. The voice didn’t actually have any emotional inflection, but Mareen was sure she could hear a smug undertone.

“You rotting—!”

Mareen’s protest was cut off as a small, pulsing tentacle reared up in front of her, sinuously writhing back and forth. Then, with a flurry of bubbles, it lashed out and a sharp tip pricked Mareen’s chest below the collarbone, then jerked back before she could even react. Her body immediately felt hot. Hot and strange.

YOU WILL CARRY MY WILL IN YOUR BODY. I DO NOT WISH FOR YOU TO DIE, BUT AS YOU SAY, MY POWER IS LIMITED AS I AM NOW. WHEN I ESCAPE MY PRISON, I WILL MAKE YOUR END SWIFT AND PAINLESS.

OUR PACT IS STRUCK. YOU ARE THE VESSEL OF MY CONSCIOUSNESS ON LUDUS. WITH THE NEW POWER I HAVE BESTOWED, YOUR WOMB HAS CEASED TO FUNCTION. YOU WILL NEVER BEAR CHILDREN.

Mareen’s heart sunk. No, no, no, no, no. “You never said anything about that!” she screamed.

YOU NEVER ASKED.

“You rotting—”

WELCOME TO EXISTENCE AS A NEW MAREEN JACOBS, BLOOD MAGE.

A handful of smaller tentacles swarmed up, immobilizing her. She thrashed around but even with her enhanced strength, she was helpless. The tentacles around her started glowing red. Mareen wordlessly shrieked, venting her sorrow and rage. She should have known better than to deal with the Deepwater Rose after Henry and Jason failed to get the upper hand on Dolos.

Her reason, her senses were still reeling when the surrounding tentacles erupted with a flash of light. In an instant, Mareen was no longer underwater and she experienced the same disorienting sensation of travel she’d felt before.

Uninhibited Explanation

Mareen hung her head as she trudged along. She was dripping, listless, and utterly defeated. The tears had stopped coming a while ago, and she’d stopped crying. Now she was just numb.

After the Deepwater Rose had deposited her on a stretch of beach some distance away from the Delvers LLC camp, she’d started heading back to camp. She was not even paying attention to the world around her.

It wasn’t like she could be in danger. There wouldn’t be any monsters nearby with the Deepwater Rose’s agents and influence around.

She was drowning in her own thoughts, reeling from the events of the past few minutes, so it took a moment to realize when her life was threatened yet again. A blade tapped her shoulder, and a sharp edge barely touched her throat. The edge was so sharp, she bled a little, cut despite her orb-granted toughness. Of course, she was being suppressed, too.

The moment the blade had kissed her throat, she’d also felt the telltale sensation of a Mo’hali Hero’s negation field. Her skin crawled like she was covered in insects, and she felt weak. The energy in her body receded, and the difference between how she normally felt nowadays versus closer to an average Terran woman again was profound.

From behind her, she heard Bezzi-ibbi’s voice. “Stop, Mareen. We must talk.” The young Jaguar Clan heir was speaking in English, and his words were terse.

Mareen stilled, not daring to move a muscle. How much does he know? One thing was sure, the Hero had her at a huge disadvantage. Bezzi-ibbi was still young, but Mareen had no illusion about the danger she was in. The Mo’hali boy had killed at least one person that she knew of, and probably more. What’s more, his sense of honor was unshakable.

However, despite being suppressed by the Hero field, Mareen realized she still had access to her body and water magic, which both felt stronger now than before her pact with the Deepwater Rose. She also had her new blood magic. The power roiled around, coiling behind her soul, feeding off of her endurance.

She was not exactly helpless, but she was also technically in the wrong, and Bezzi-ibbi was a friend. It bothered her that she’d had to suppress an urge to lash out at the young Hero with her magic. Where had that come from? She said, “You want to talk? I have a blade to my throat. Talk.”

Bezzi-ibbi chuckled, the sound harsh. “We are not in current danger, but you left watch to disappear with monsters. Smell different now. You are my Clan brother’s wife, so I will give you respect, ‘Benefit of the doubt’ as Henry says. I was not sure what to do, so we will see Jason. He is chief of this group. His watch is next anyway.”

Mareen paused and thought about it. The more she considered the idea of talking to Jason, the more it appealed to her. “Alright, let’s go. But can you take the sword off of my neck? It feels like it’s curving around, even.”

She could feel Bezzi-ibbi grinning behind her when he answered, “My mother always said a wise hunter will not give away advantages because the prey seems won. I will loosen the blade, but we will go like this.”

“Fine.” Part of Mareen wanted to be frustrated with the way she was being treated, but a larger part of herself felt shame for leaving her watch post, and deeper shame for being so effortlessly played by the Rose. “Let’s go, but I would appreciate it if you don’t accidentally cut my throat.”

Bezz-ibbi growled in mirth. “Mate of Henry-ibbi,” he said, stating it as a fact.

…

Mareen stood before Jason’s tent and was beginning to feel some anxiety. She still had a blade around her throat, Bezzi-ibbi behind her. “Can you take the sword away so I can get Jason?” she whispered.

“Use your foot,” said the young Mo’hali. His shoulders shifted, and the sharp edge of his silvery, hooked sword came so close, Mareen imagined she could feel the blade.

“Don’t shrug. You just about sliced me open.”

Bezzi-ibbi grunted an apology as Mareen stood in the dark, trying to figure out which wooden tag was Jason’s. Long ago, Uluula had gotten tired of being woken up whenever someone wanted her husband. She’d come up with a system where a string was tied to both their legs, terminating with a little wooden tag placed outside the tent. Each tag had one of their names carved in big, block letters. This system allowed someone to wake either of them individually.

Eventually, Mareen figured out which tag was Jason’s and tugged it with her foot a few times. She backtracked slowly, allowing Bezzi-ibbi to move with her, and waited.

In a few minutes, Jason came crawling out of his tent, yawning under the dim light of the stars. He rubbed sleep from his eyes and softly asked, “Is it time for my watch already?” Then he saw Mareen standing there with Bezzi-ibbi’s glittering, silver blade on her neck. The tall, rangy man blinked. He shut his eyes, took in a large breath and fished around in his tent behind him, pulling out Breeze and buckling it around his waist.

“Okay, this is new. I’m assuming you want to have a chat somewhere else?”

“That would probably be best,” Mareen responded, her voice low and terse.

“I don’t know what’s going on, but are you going to follow me, Mareen? Bezzi-ibbi?”

“Yes.”

““Okay. Bezzi-ibbi, you can let Mareen free and sheathe your blade. Let’s go.”

Bezzi-ibbi immediately removed the sword from around her neck, the curve in the blade straightening by his will before he withdrew it. Mareen turned to regard the Mo’hali boy. He didn’t look apologetic or sheepish in the slightest. He grinned at her, showing all his teeth. Mareen shook her head. Mo’hali people were harder to understand than Henry was, sometimes.

“Why did you tell Bezzi-ibbi to let me go?” she asked Jason, keeping her voice quiet. “You must have known he had me under guard.”

“True,” Jason said. He didn’t sound sleepy anymore at all. “But I don’t know if he is in the right or not.”

Bezzi-ibbi loped forward, pulling abreast of them. He was continuing to speak English, stating, “Jason-ibbi does not fear any of us.”

“That isn’t a very nice way to put it,” said Jason, a bit lamely.

Mareen thought briefly and concluded that Bezzi-ibbi was probably right. Jason had even fought a High Priestess of Dolos. He and Henry both were legends in the making. They could not be judged the same way as normal people, not that orb-Bonded were usually considered ‘normal’. Even now after receiving the Deepwater Rose’s dark gift, she would probably never be a true match for either of them.

Jason sighed. “I hate asking for favors,” he muttered. Then a bit louder, he turned to the sky and loudly whispered, “Keeja, could you watch the camp for a little bit, please? If there is any danger, just wake everyone up.”

Keeja floated down in the darkness and smiled. “You’re lucky I was nearby.”

“Yeah, sure. I bet you just happened to be close, awake, and watching. It’s quite a coincidence and I am sure has nothing to do with all this interesting stuff going on.” Jason snorted. “I have watch with Uluula next, but I’m going to let her sleep for now, I think.”

“Fine, fine. But you owe me a small favor.” Keeja smiled.

“I guess I can’t get around it. You’re still keeping the other high priestess up there, right?” Jason asked, pointing upwards.

“Philana? Yes, she is still keeping her distance.”

“Good. Okay, let’s go you two.” Jason gestured at Mareen and Bezzi-ibbi, then began heading towards the lake.

The three of them walked along the beach, hugging the edge of the cliff that sheltered their camp. After a time, Jason came to a stop and turned, asking, “Okay, so what is going on?”

Mareen felt numerous conflicting emotions, flashing at once, all fighting for her attention. Finally, she remembered her friendship with Jason way back when they’d first met, recalling his blunt advice to her about Henry. Mareen was tired of deceptions, weary of keeping everything bottled up inside. Ultimately, she decided to be honest with Jason, and as soon as the first words fell off her tongue, it was like she’d released a flood. She told Jason everything that had happened, from losing her baby to trying to bargain with the Deepwater Rose.

After the words stopped, Jason rubbed his eyes with his knuckles and slouched. “Holy shit, that’s heavy,” he said. “Let me think about this.”

While her friend was lost in thought, Mareen felt oddly exposed, but also free. She felt like she’d been carrying a weight for a long time that she had finally been able to drop.

Jason cleared his throat a few minutes later. He crossed his arms and looked seriously at Mareen and Bezzi-ibbi. “For now, we are going to just take things day by day. But...I hate to say it like this, but I have an order for both of you. Mareen, I’m sorry, but this may be harder for you.”

“What?” she asked.

“You are not allowed to tell anyone else about any of this, but especially not Henry. If Henry finds out what happened to you, any of it, he’d probably actually try to go to war with an Old One, the lake, hell, all of Ludus. I don’t want to lie to a friend, and I don’t think you should lie to your husband, but...please don’t tell Henry if you can avoid it. I think he might give everything up, use anything, even us, in order to protect or avenge you, Mareen.”

Mareen didn’t know exactly how to react to that. It bothered her that she was being asked to not tell her husband things, but she had to admit there was some logic to what Jason was saying.

Bezzi-ibbi nodded. “Henry-ibbi would start a war for his mate, Mareen.”

Jason shook his head. “That’s the problem. I have a pretty good idea we’re already heading towards a war as it is. We really don’t need another one, especially one we can’t win. What do you say, Mareen?”

The dusky-skinned woman bit her lip. “I will not agree to lie to my husband. However, I will consider what you’ve said.”

“I guess that’s the best we can hope for,” said Jason. “I mean what I said, though. Everything is going to get crazy on Ludus really soon. When that happens, we need Henry working with us, not off trying to pick fights with interstellar tentacle monster god things.”

***

Henry ushered his audience forward into the large, open air room he’d constructed for that purpose. “Okay, folks. Here it is, the Delvers LLC, PMSing Mosquito!” He turned to gauge the reactions of this audience where they all stood in the double doorway.

His majordomo Ellen and her husband Gavra, the captain of the guard, looked confused. Volleyball pursed her lips, appearing thoughtful. Tony leaned on his spear, eyeing the contraption skeptically, and the two goblin siblings’ eyes were huge with awe. Rekkla was the first to speak. She asked, “Can I ride it? It moves, yes?”

Trask cleared his throat and pushed his fake glasses up his long nose. “I believe it is a vehicle, but what does it do?”

Henry grinned. “I’m glad you asked!” He couldn’t help it; he was enjoying himself. The EMT-turned-mage had worked his ass off underground for weeks, but damn did he have something to show for it.

As Henry moved towards his contraption, Tony muttered, “It’s so big.” Henry smiled even wider.

“That’s what she said!” he chuckled. Of course, nobody else understood the joke. When he looked back, they were all just staring at him. He shrugged and took the last few steps towards his beautiful new vehicle.

This is going to be fun.

As he climbed up the ladder on the side of the Delvers LLC Mosquito, Henry began talking over his shoulder. “Over the last couple weeks, there have been a few times where I got stuck, or I wasn’t sure which direction to go with something, but I had a secret weapon! I just had Tony use his magic while I asked questions. I don’t know if that’s how it works, but man did this thing come together fast!”

“How is Aodh’s magic relevant to this at all? He controls darkness, yes?” Tanushree asked. Tony looked sheepish and made a noncommittal gesture. Apparently, he was keeping his actual abilities close to the chest. Probably smart.

“Don’t worry about it, Princess,” said Henry. “Just try to follow along. The Mosquito is an airship. Well, it’s actually more a gunship, or even just a really high flying hovercraft...sorta.”

Ellen goggled. “But nobody can make airships!”

Henry reached the deck of his new invention and pointed. “That’s what everyone thought, but that’s because they were thinking about it all wrong. They didn’t know how to make it fun for the components!”

Blank stares met that pronouncement and Henry decided on a different direction. Maybe he should have taken a nap before actually talking to anyone, too. “Most vehicles on Ludus push off of something. I figured this out on my own a while back when I made the Battlewagon. I’ve heard that there is a transportation system to and from the Tostey and Berber capitals that utilizes this type of magic technology, too.

“If anyone tried to use this type of tech to make something fly, it would effectively just be floating really high up, and it would require a ton of power. But the Dolos high priestesses, or whoever made the official airships, cheated, and I figured it out. I noticed!”

Henry placed his hands on the wall around the Mosquito’s main deck. “What do the big, Ludus airships do when they are not actually moving? They hover over the cities, right? What happens when they run out of power? They don’t crash, do they? Nope, they hover. So as a storage and a safety mechanism, those huge ships can hover without any real energy. Why doesn’t anyone ever ask how they can do this? Well, I did, and I figured it out.

“It doesn’t actually work that much differently than the pushing action I built before. You just have to convince the magic circuits to stay a certain distance away from whatever they are resonating with. Gold is still all over on Ludus, so the Mosquito resonates with it just like the Battlewagon.”

Henry clapped his hands and asked, “Is everyone understanding this?” The group shook their heads. “Fine, what you need to know is that this airship will go up to about twelve hundred feet, maybe fifteen if you really push it, and down to ground level. It probably won’t work well over water past a depth of about five hundred feet. Ascending and descending is a little slow. For propulsion, I have some standard, pushing mechanisms in the fore and aft, and a couple high powered propellers. They use air magic stones and run damn near silently.

“It takes a while to get up to speed, but I took it out for a spin last night and I think it hit about forty miles per hour. That’s not only faster than the Battlewagon, you wouldn’t have to deal with terrain or monsters anymore.

“It’s super power efficient, and—”

***

Aodh barely listened to Henry drone on about the vehicle’s specifications. The young adventurer just kept looking at the contraption, taking it all in.

The Mosquito was at least twice as long as the Battlewagon. It shared a few similarities, but not many. For one, Henry had apparently figured out how to craft glass, and the forward section, what Henry called a cockpit, had thick glass windows in a bubble shape to the front, the sides, and downwards.

Sticking out of the front of the cockpit, attached some way Aodh wasn’t familiar with, was an obvious cluster of weapons. One long pipe and two smaller pipes all came out of a leather cone. The smallest pipe had a large glass orb attached to it, glittering in the noonday sun.

The tail of the craft jutted up, holding a propeller inside that faced horizontally. A small platform with a safety railing rose above the walls of the craft, offering a sniping platform for someone at the rear of the gunship.

The entire vehicle rested on four support struts, each one sported a tube on top. The purpose of the tubes was a mystery to Aodh. The struts were kind of tall, the bottom of the craft was higher than Aodh’s waist.

Extending behind the cockpit for about half the craft’s length were a pair of aluminum racks, standing a bit higher than a tall person would. Aodh couldn’t figure out what they were for either. Two thick, stubby wings stuck out of the air machine’s sides, with a smaller set at the rear. Behind the rear wings, near the tail, yet another pair of supports protruded, these ones mounted with propellers.

On top of the midline, second set of wings, a little door led into the main portion of the aircraft, serving as an easy entrance and exit. An aluminum, waist-high fence ringed the platform, obviously built so that a person could stand there. A boxy contraption sat on top of the fence on both sides of the vehicle.

Aodh looked closer, and realized he’d seen the boxy thing before. In fact, it was the first weapons arrays that Henry had created in his laboratory over a week ago. The manic Delvers leader had asked Aodh a bunch of weird yes-or-no questions while he’d been working on them.

Henry had attached several different weapons together and integrated the entire thing into the top of the rail. The goateed, orb-Bonded man was currently standing behind one, busily explaining its features. Aodh focused back on Henry’s excited, non-stop technical explanation again.

“See, these rear emplacements are for a gunner on either side of the Mosquito. The weapon cluster can be adjusted for elevation, windspeed, and the gunner can fully traverse it.” Henry demonstrated by moving the weapon cluster around. “You can also unlock its position on the rail and move the whole damn thing!” Henry pulled a lever, then slid the entire weapon emplacement around the top of the rail, moving it to the rear position.

“Each emplacement has three weapons. The first is a magazine-fed air rifle. It holds seven gold slugs in the underbarrel magazine. It’s bolt action, and is attached to the centralized air system for each platform that runs on an air magic stone. And yes, I already know that none of you can tell the difference between magic stones, which is why each platform has a spare, too.

“These airguns have a lot of power. Magic lets me cheat a little bit, so these guns will nearly match a fucking hunting rifle back on earth for kinetic energy. The gold slugs all have a copper gas check so they won’t come apart when you fire them. They can break the sound barrier.”

“What is a sound barrier?” asked Gavra. The swarthy man was covered in swords, obviously interested in weapons, so his rapt attention as Henry explained his new death machine made sense.

“It is the maximum speed that sound travels, my heart,” Ellen answered her husband. “I have never seen it, but there is a crack if anything goes faster than this speed.”

“Is it fast?” Gavra asked.

“Very fast.”

Aodh had already respected Ellen, but now regarded her even more highly. He wondered if people in Berber were just more educated in general than people in Tolstey. Aodh sure as hell hadn’t known what a sound barrier was.

“That’s right!” crowed Henry. “These things pack a punch, and they’re easy to aim! They also use the same targeting system as this sunlight weapon. I’m calling it a day laser, or ‘daysler.’”

“Daysler?” asked Tansushree, her mouth forming awkwardly around the unfamiliar word.

“Yeah. I actually have an easy time messing with light stuff now because of the new magic mojo, and this was surprisingly easy to make. Being able to create glass helped a lot. These weapons charge as slow as hell, but they fire real daylight in a super thin, concentrated beam for about a second or two. They will straight up light shit on fire and burn through flesh without a problem. They’re more effective if you aim at one spot, though.

“During daylight, they charge a lot faster. Maybe one shot per ten seconds. They don’t use much power then, either. At night, they use magic stones to power up, maybe thirty seconds per charge, and the glass balls to the side will start shining like a flashlight. That’s why I put some shiny tin, pretty much a mirror between the ball and the gunner. They’ll work like a spotlight and not blind any of us while the weapon is ready to fire. When it’s fired, the ball stops shining.

“Each weapon cluster has a simple spotlight, too.” Henry demonstrated the light, but during the day, it wasn’t very impressive. Then he continued, “Last but not least is the Angry Honeycomb.”

Aodh blinked. Angry Honeycomb? The young adventurer wished Jason was there. Without the other Delvers leader around, there wasn’t anyone to tell Henry how terrible his naming sense was. Plus, if this weapon was the same one Aodh had seen Henry testing before, ‘Angry Honeycomb’ was an even worse name than anything the Asian man had come up with before.

“Angry Honeycomb?” asked Tanushree, skeptical.

“Yeah, I got the idea from the air guns here in Berber and from a Chinese fireworks weapon I saw on a TV show once. See, there are bronze magazines on the hull of the Mosquito here,” said Henry, pointing to the hexagonal devices. “The weapon itself was a lot easier to figure out than I thought it could be, mainly because magic systems make setting up the air resistors easy. Each tube gets the same amount of air.

“The way it works is once the magazine is slotted into the launcher,” Henry said, sliding the magazine into the weapon and clicking it into place, “firing releases a burst of massively compressed air. It hits every tube in the launcher.” Henry pointed at the end of the box where there were many holes.

The excited man fished around on the ground for a moment, coming up with something in his hand. Aodh nodded. Henry was showing off the weapon he’d seen before. The rest of the audience was going to get quite a show.

“This is what the Angry Honeycomb shoots,” Henry said. The projectile he held was a heavy bronze spike, almost a hand long. At its base, it flared into a tin cone, and within the cone was a canvas skirt that stuck out farther than the metal did. Henry smiled. “These are basically giant darts. When they come out of this thing, they have a fuck ton of power, and each dart blade is reinforced. I put small iron cores in some of them, too.”

“Iron?” asked Ellen’s husband, Gavra.

Henry ignored the question. He pointed to the opposite, hastily constructed wall of the building they stood in. The open topped structure had only existed for a few days, built for the sole purpose of putting together Henry’s new vehicle. Even with his strength and magic, the driven man had had to assemble it in pieces.

On the far wall, Henry had placed a few dummies made of clay. “That wall is over ten feet thick,” the ‘Bonded Terran said in a matter of fact tone. Then without warning, Henry fired the Angry Honeycomb.

The sound was like a furious god blowing a raspberry. A cloud of air and small particles mushroomed out from the deadly weapon, and a hail of bronze darts slammed into the clay targets, blowing them apart and perforating the backstop wall.

Henry stepped away from the weapon cluster and stretched, smiling. He said, “I’m pretty fucking proud of this thing. I needed to make a weapon that could take down air targets or ground targets, one that could still hit something while in motion or the target was moving. This thing is basically a fucking dagger shotgun.”

Gavra whistled and Trask looked faint. Tanushree’s eyes shined as she asked, “What about the tubes coming out the front?”

Henry answered, “That is the weapon emplacement for the pilot. It’s the same as the gunnery platforms, except instead of an Angry Honeycomb, it has a big, thick barrel for me to use with my special ammo. See, I will be the one driving this thing most of the time. In fact, the weapon platform on the back is for more mobile fighters to use, like my teleporting, dickhead, dorky-ass friend.”

Aodh nodded. That made sense. It seemed he was not the only one who had been doing a lot of thinking about the battle where they’d been separated from the rest of the group. He didn’t want to lose any more friends. It was bad enough that Rark-han had left them. If Henry or Jason was killed...Aodh didn’t want to think about it.

Pointing at the grinning Tanushree, Henry said, “I didn’t forget about you, Princess. The V-Death can be mounted to the bottom of the Mosquito. I tried to keep the weight down as much as possible since we will accelerate and decelerate more slowly the heavier we are, but I figured that packing your mecha was a good idea.”

“Why would you do such a thing?”

“Because you are coming with us, Lady Volleyball. This is our ride to school. It’s also how you or your family is going to make shit tons of money and owe me a lifetime of favors.”

Tanushree kept grinning. Ellen shook her head, her hand on her chin. Rekkla was bouncing on her toes, and Trask’s mouth moved, forming half words with no sound coming out. Henry’s new guard captain, Gavra, folded his arms and respectfully asked, “This is very, very impressive, Sir Henry. But how much have you tested it? Wouldn’t it be bad if this vehicle fell apart in midair? Can it truly withstand combat?”

“Good question! I’ve done some basic flying around for the last couple nights. Hell, I put some of this shit together in midair last night. That’s how I got the height this fucker wants to stop at.

“As for combat…” Henry smiled, the expression predatory. “See, I happen to know of a nearby ruined city with a really huge monster that lives there. I think it might be a good test for Delvers LLC’s PMSing Mosquito.”

Even as Aodh imagined again what Jason would say about Henry’s terrible naming sense, his heart sank. The giant monster they had gotten lucky enough to avoid before, a monster powerful enough to leave gouges in solid stone, a monster that all the surrounding area had been terrified of for generations...Of course it figured that Henry wanted to hunt it.

What could possibly go wrong?

Waking Up

Aodh nervously stood on the deck of the Delvers LLC Mosquito. He avoided channeling magic, just to be safe, but only with an effort of will. He wasn’t sure exactly how his power worked yet, but he still thought it would be a good idea to save his magic for the coming conflict.

At least Lady Tanushree had convinced Henry to change the PMSing Mosquito’s name to just Mosquito.

Tanushree was an enigma. She’d been acting cold towards Aodh for a while, and he didn’t understand why. She’d surprised him the previous day by stiffly asking what PMSing meant. After he’d explained what acronyms were and what PMS meant, she’d whirled around to confront the vehicle’s inventor.

The blonde noblewoman had pointedly asked Henry what his wife would think about the name. When Henry had finally officially made the name change, Aodh personally thought the combination of Henry running out of coffee plus finally getting some sleep had done more than Tanushree’s words.

The Mosquito really didn’t make much noise as it glided through the air. The propellers on the back of the craft were very powerful, but since they were blowing the air behind them, Henry had said that they wouldn’t be as noisy on deck. The vehicle wasn’t up to full speed yet, but it wouldn’t take long to get to the old ruins of Veritasholm. Not long at all.

Aodh glanced around at everyone else on the deck and didn’t understand why they weren’t all visibly showing dread like he was. The goblin siblings actually looked excited. Well, Rekkla did. Henry had taught them both how to use the weapons in the gunnery emplacements, and even Trask had perked up. He’d liked the dayslers in particular.

Henry piloted the Mosquito from the cockpit. Honey sat on his lap, looking at the ground through the thick glass with obvious curiosity.

Gavra, Majordomo Ellen’s husband, had joined them on their mission, too. He seemed to have taken a liking to Henry, and also appeared to have the same terrible level of survival instinct. He’d actually asked to come along for the hunt!

That’s what they were calling it too, a hunt. Aodh hid his eyes with his hand and shook his head. It was all madness. But he definitely had to go. Without him there, who would watch out for Henry and Tanushree?

Lady Tanushree was with the hunting group too, of course. She was armed with a high-end air rifle she had borrowed from one of her guards. The sleek weapon looked formidable in her very capable hands.

From where he stood near the front of the craft, Gavra seemed to be studying the two propellers to the rear. Suddenly he gasped. “Sir Henry,” he said, “are the propellers made of blessed steel?

Aodh knew without having to look that every person on the Mosquito was listening in to the conversation. Henry responded, “Yeah, I kind of had to do that. The props have a lot of stress on them, and blessed steel actually repairs itself if it’s damaged up to a certain limit. It’s cool as hell.”

“You can manipulate blessed steel?” The guard captain goggled, sounding incredulous.

“Yeah, at this point it’s like any other metal, just more expensive. You just need to convince each part to either join or leave the larger portion. It’s all about making it fun for them.”

“Fun, Sir Henry?” asked Tanushree. “Actually, never mind. I should know better than to ask about what you do. Now,” she mused, “did you really use your ability to turn boxes of spoons and blessed steel scrap into... machine parts instead of swords or armor?”

Henry eyed the young noblewoman sideways. “You think it would be better to create a few sharp weapons instead of flying vehicles that nobody else has? You’d rather arm a few soldiers with normal weapons, albeit slightly more effective ones, than traveling faster and avoiding most monsters? That’s fucking retarded.”

Gavra looked like he was thinking about just jumping off the Mosquito. Aodh understood the man’s reaction a bit better than he might have a few weeks before. In Berber, the nobility was a serious part of the country’s culture. People didn’t usually talk to their betters the way Henry was speaking to Tanushree. Then again, most Berber nobles were powerful ‘Bonded.

In Henry’s case, Tanushree was betting her future position as head of the Bobrik family on the Terran man’s ideas and abilities, a fact she’d explained to Aodh before she’d kissed him and everything got weird. Henry was also individually more powerful than Tanushree, even with all her armswomen, a fact that was not lost on the beautiful blonde noblewoman.

She really was beautiful. Aodh could still remember what her lips had felt like. What had he done wrong? Now he was so worried about messing up again that he had ended up not even approaching her to talk anymore. She kept acting so cold to him. He just didn’t understand it. The more he tried to avoid making her angry, the angrier she got.

Aodh’s attention snapped back to the present when Tanushree said, “What I meant, Sir Henry, is you could be one of the wealthiest people on Ludus with the ability to manufacture blessed steel weapons from junk. You could just go off on your own and make plenty of wealth without me. I’m also at least somewhat surprised that you didn’t create a few weapons to sell later on.”

“Oh, well, I guess you have a point about making money later. As for taking off and getting rich, that wouldn’t help my friends, or my mother. Plus, that asshole Dolos wouldn’t let me live a nice, comfy, peaceful life. Hell no. He’s all but said he has plans for me. God, I hate that cocksucker.”

At Henry’s offhanded comment about speaking to Dolos, every person on the Mosquito had a moment of silence as they digested what the Delvers leader had just said. Even Tanushree was visibly shocked. With nobody saying anything more, Henry shrugged and went back to polishing the tops of his gun emplacement while he scanned the ground below, piloting the Mosquito to follow the general direction of the road.

Aodh wasn’t sure this was the best time for the rest of their group to know about Henry’s special relationship with Dolos. He searched for something to say and narrowed his eyes as he noticed a change in Henry’s clothing and gear. “You didn’t make any new exoguns, Henry?” he asked.

Henry shook his head. “I don’t really need to anymore. Exoguns are still just a tube for me to use magic to fire a bullet. I’ve been tired of running out of bullets all the fucking time, so now I carry these,” Henry said, pointing to a belt and crossed bandoliers full of gold projectiles. He also had several pouches. Aodh could only imagine what was in those.

“But what are you going to shoot them with?” Aodh was lost.

“Well, I have my sniper rifle,” Henry said, pointing to his long, sleek rifle in the corner made of several different types of metal. “I can also do this now.” The Asian man grinned and formed a fist. A darksteel gauntlet covered his hand and arm. Then above the armor, a multibarrel exogun formed, made of the same magic metal as the gauntlet.

Henry winked and quickly fit a gold bullet from one of his bandoliers into each tube of the darksteel exogun. “These darksteel versions are weightless, and they’re basically just tubes, so it’s easy for me to create them.” Henry held his other hand behind the magic exogun, then dispelled the construct, catching the bullets as they fell; the magic vanished like dark smoke. He quickly put the bullets back where they belonged in his bandolier.

“I’ve been working on this, too,” the Delvers leader said. He held up a hand, and a sleek shape started forming in his grip. Aodh recognized the fuzzy shape as some kind of weapon, like a shorter version of a rifle. It kept solidifying until it suddenly fell apart, the diffused darksteel magic moving towards the ground like water vapor before disappearing.

“I still haven’t completely figured it out,” admitted Henry. “I can’t make weapons out of this stuff, but I can make tools. Apparently, a gun doesn’t count as a weapon by itself, just the bullets do. This is obviously really fucking cool, but I can’t make anything better than exoguns yet. That’s why I made the sniper rifle for precision shots.” Henry pointed at his rifle again.

Tanushree shook her head. “But what—”

“I see the buildings! I see them!” Rekkla announced, bouncing on her toes. Aodh glanced over and sure enough, the Mosquito was approaching their destination.

Henry grunted and piloted the flying vehicle closer to the ruins, slowing the engines and peering through his cockpit windows. “I don’t see the monster. Do you?”

Rekkla and Trask moved to the little doors leading to the firing positions on either side of the Mosquito. After a few moments, Trask’s voice floated up over the wall between his position and the deck, “I can’t see anything over here.”

A growl came from Rekkla’s position. Henry leaned forward, moving his own gun emplacement around and absently placing a huge gold slug in the back of his largest cannon, twisting a knob to close the weapon up. Even with the presence of Henry’s huge, upgraded cannon, Aodh felt his nervousness rising.

Suddenly, the low-hanging cloud they were flying through parted, and a huge, reptilian head burst through the vapor, its jaws slamming shut. The enormous monster turned its rocky face and glared at the Mosquito with hate-filled, bestial eyes.

“Wyrm!” shouted Gavra, his voice shrill. “A giant rock crusher stony skinned wyrm demon! It can’t be anything else!”

As soon as he saw the gigantic, angular monster, Aodh immediately started channeling his magic. His fear was so great, he didn’t immediately notice the terrible stomach cramps resulting from the amount of magic he pushed at once.

The creature was gray, craggy, and was like a living mountain of angry destruction. Its long tail vanished into the cloud below, and its enormous snout puffed a blast of air, presumably from the exertion of jumping. Aodh thought the creature looked like an iguana he’d seen from an old Terran encyclopedia that George had owned.

Hanging in midair, almost in slow motion, the rock wyrm grumbled in displeasure that it had missed the Mosquito with its massive jaws. It took a lazy swipe with a front limb before its body fell back to the ground. Rekkla screamed in fear and excitement, and then fired her angry honeycomb. The weapon belched a cloud of razor sharp projectiles, and most of them hit the flank of the wyrm. Unfortunately, even with all their speed and sharp blades, most of them didn’t penetrate very far.

The young goblin shaman didn’t stop there. She quickly triggered a blast from her daysler, but the formidable laser weapon just wasn’t enough for the powerful wyrm. It was like attacking an elephant with a magnifying glass.

Tanushree fired her air rifle over the side of the vehicle. Gavra had been surprised, but he was still a fighting man. He’d run to the rear, elevated position in the back of the Mosquito and fired his air rifle as well. Neither weapon had a visible effect.

Henry’s vehicle-mounted weapons were oriented wrongly to target the beast. As soon as it had appeared, he’d scrambled back with everyone else, forming his large, multibarrel exoguns and loading them before firing at the falling rock wyrm. Each golden slug was accelerated with a sharp crack, breaking the sound barrier and causing bloody divots to form on the rock wyrm’s hide. The creature roared in pain and irritation as it fell out of sight.

“I think we’re going to need a bigger boat,” said Henry, his voice deadpan.

“What was it?” shouted Trask over the wall. The fussy goblin had been the only one that had not seen the Rock Wyrm. Nobody answered him. They all just stared at Henry.

Henry’s eyes widened. “Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit,” he muttered, scurrying back to his controls. The weapon on his arm melted and reformed into one large tube, similar to his old exogun, but with a longer barrel. Henry slammed the throttle of the Mosquito forward and manipulated the lever that adjusted elevation. He loaded a massive, finned, gold projectile into the magic-formed cannon on his arm.

“Did we get it?” asked Gavra. Aodh had to give the guard captain credit. He was clearly in a situation unlike any he’d ever encountered, the swarthy man was shell shocked, but his hands were still busy reloading his air rifle. Tanushree was doing the same, but Aodh was accustomed to the blonde woman always being impressive.

“I don’t think so,” said Henry. “I have no idea where that thing came from. We’re like six hundred feet up.”

“It might have jumped off a building,” offered Aodh, remembering the claw marks.

“Yeah, you’re right, kid. We fucked up. Well, I fucked up. I should have been more cautious. Anyway, the good news is that as long as the Mosquito is working, that big motherfucker won’t be able to pull us down. This sucker can carry any amount of weight. The bad thing is, if it can fit us all into its mouth, it doesn’t matter.

“We got lucky as hell that we started flying through this low hanging cloud. It won’t protect us for much longer, though.”

Almost as if on cue, the gigantic rock wyrm burst through the cloud again, its head swinging over and jaws snapping shut near the Mosquito. Aodh yelped and drew even more magic. He channeled so much power, it felt like his guts were being ripped apart.

Henry frowned and muttered something as he lowered his arm, sighted down his cannon, and fired the massive projectile he had loaded at the Rock Wyrm. This time, the resulting wound was not a divot, but a massive, gaping hole blown into the creature’s shoulder. The monster bellowed in rage. One massive, clawed hand flashed forward and barely reached the Mosquito, taking gouges out of the deck. The tip of one claw ripped open Aodh’s chest and stomach before mashing his foot into the deck, severing it. The impact spun the young man to the side and the momentum of the huge limb kept it moving forward, the claws sliding past Aodh.

For a split second, nothing existed in Aodh’s world other than his mortal wound. He wasn’t feeling any pain yet. He just felt cold. Cold and surprised. The surrealistic nature of the moment combined with the giant, scaly claw-hand surrounding him, the sensation of his entrails beginning to fall out all made him feel numb, tired.

In that moment, in the space between seconds, Aodh watched the approaching web of the rock wrym’s hand and almost gave up. He almost just stood there and accepted his fate.

After all, this was a giant rock crusher stony skinned wyrm demon. Rock wyrms were rare, dangerous, and sometimes entire armies were not enough to kill one. They weren’t as big or as powerful as a true dragon, but even Dolosbots were said to avoid dealing with rock wyrms. Other monsters gave their territories a wide berth, too.

Aodh’s magic thrummed, painfully pushing in on both sides of his brain. The moment stretched on and the young adventurer felt his life ebb away as his body fell apart. He watched certain, impending death approach him. The magic filling him pulsed and while the world seemed to slow down, he thought he heard a female voice say, “The time is now. Fight on, my host. Everything rests on this moment. The choice is yours.”

Vampiric Stabber felt like it weighed a ton in his hand. How he’d still hung on to the weapon while being eviscerated and spun around was a mystery, but Aodh’s eyes narrowed and he tightened his grip. He had too many things to do and he couldn’t leave this world yet, at least not without a struggle. It would have been nice to first lose his virginity before dying, too.

Now that he finally had some power of his own, he wanted to help his friends. He didn’t want to die without knowing that George had been avenged. If he had to perish, at least he could help the others move forward to reach justice for the kind, dark-skinned man who had helped Aodh become the adventurer he was today.

His resolved hardened into something huge, something new in his heart that might have always been there, but only came to life in that moment. As Aodh stared death in the face, he looked back and decided he had finally had enough of being scared of things. He was done being timid. It was time to truly be the adventurer he always wanted to be. The voice had been right; he had the tools, it was time to use them.

He might still die, but he wasn’t going to go out like livestock waiting for slaughter.

Aodh jumped as high as he could, ignoring the budding pain in his tattered ankle and ruined stomach. He barely got high enough to avoid being thrown off the Mosquito by the rock wyrm’s attack. Then before the creature’s claw-hand could start sliding off the Mosquito, pulled by the rest of its falling bulk, Aodh stabbed the hand. He ignored the shooting pain and his dizziness from blood loss, trying to pull himself higher up the scaly ridges of the beast’s body.

The Vampiric Stabber didn’t penetrate far into the massive, armored monster’s pebbly hide, but it was enough. A trickle of healing power rushed up Aodh’s arm. It wasn’t enough to save him, he still knew he was going to die. His chest cavity and stomach were open and his organs were starting to hang out of his body. He could feel parts of himself sliding around in a way they were never meant to move. However, the healing energy did allow him to think a little more clearly and dulled some of his blossoming pain.

Aodh was on top of the beast’s hand now, about to slide off the Mosquito into midair. The young man laughed. He thought wildly, Glory, what a hell of a way to die! For the first time in his life, Aodh truly felt like an adventurer. Maybe death wasn’t so bad. He’d never felt more alive!

Behind him, he heard Tanushree scream, “No!” Aodh smiled, showing his small fangs without any self-consciousness. For the first time ever, he truly liked who he was. He’d just faced the worst trial of his life. He knew his time was done, but at least he’d proved once and for all that he was not a coward. Aodh couldn’t deny the regrets that filled his heart—well, he wasn’t sure he had a physical heart anymore—but there were definitely some things he’d left unresolved.

But as Aodh raised Vampiric Stabber up high, he knew that life sometimes was about how you chose to react to things. He couldn’t control the world, he could only take responsibility for his place in it. With a feeling of absolute peace and contentment, Aodh slammed his enchanted spear down with all his fading strength.

The weapon stuck solidly this time, and the combination of the anchor point and the life and strength running into his body from ‘Stabber allowed him to hold on. He fell through the air on top of the rock wyrm’s wrist, hanging on with everything he had, dedicated to draining as much of the monster’s life force as he could. He’d give his friends all the advantage he could before he died.

His magic pushed in on his temples again, painfully forcing him to keep thinking. Aodh grinned wildly as a crazy thought occurred to him. He let go of his spear with one hand and his body started to float up from the rock wyrm’s body. His hand snaked around to grab the hilt of his horse head dagger. As the blade came free of its sheath, he heard an excited voice echo around his mind. Use me!

Using the last of his strength, Aodh pulled himself down with his hand on Vampiric Stabber and slammed his mysterious dagger into the rock wyrm’s flesh. The entire world darkened and grew light at the same time. Lights flew across Aodh’s vision and he could feel his eyeballs exploding across his cheeks. Massive amounts of raw life force flowed up his arm from his enchanted spear like a raging river of power.

The rock wyrm bellowed, rattling in agony as it died, and the black dagger throbbed in Aodh’s hand. Yesssss. The weapon’s satisfaction echoed.

Aodh clung to both weapons as massive amounts of conflicting energy rampaged through his torn, abused body. It would have been easy to give up, to let go, but he held on with everything he had. Aodh knew he was killing the rock wyrm, and his life may be over, but he could save everyone else. He could save Tanushree.

The sensation of the wind around him grew stronger as he fell, the seconds stretching into minutes, then into hours. Time seemed to crawl, but Aodh clenched his teeth and held on through sheer willpower. He was an adventurer. True adventurers like Aodh didn’t give up on their friends. They also didn’t give up on themselves.

After what felt like an eternity of agony, Aodh began to feel a terrible impact. The world exploded and then faded to black.

***

Aodh woke up on top of a massive, cooling corpse. Most of his shirt was missing, and one of his trouser legs. Astonished, he checked his face and his body. He was whole, and he could see. His ruined eyes were back in his head. Steam rolled off of his skin, and he felt different, but good. His body felt full of life, full of energy.

In the distance, he noticed the Mosquito had settled to the ground. One side of the craft had been mangled and a swath of claw marks had penetrated deeply into the hull. It was a miracle the vehicle hadn’t been destroyed. They’d all gotten lucky.

With a start, Aodh realized he was still holding Vampiric Stabber. Somehow, his dagger was back in its sheath at his back, too. He really needed to name his deadly weapon. Its background, what it did, what it even was, was still a mystery, but now it felt like a part of him. Time to accept what I am. All of it, he thought.

His friends were jogging towards the enormous, obviously dead rock wyrm. The creature’s stinking, flaccid tongue hung out of its mouth in death. Aodh hadn’t been spotted yet. In the past, he wouldn’t have known what to do, but now, he leapt down from the beast’s body, knees flexing to absorb the impact, and went to meet them.

Tanushree was running ahead of everyone else. It was obvious she had been crying. Her face went through several different expressions when she saw Aodh and eventually settled for a serious demeanor. “Did you kill that monster all by yourself?”

“I had some help.” Aodh grinned. His body was still steaming, but not as much as before. He felt good.

The blonde noblewoman’s eyes widened and her mouth worked a few times. Then heat came to her cheeks and a different look entered her eyes. “You did all of that?” She pointed to the huge dead monster. “And you lived through it?” Tanushree shook her head in frustration. “If you don’t...you stubborn—”

Her words were cut off as Aodh took a step forward and kissed her. She was taller than he was, and strong, but he wasn’t weak himself. Not anymore. He lost track of how long they kissed, the moment was interrupted when Henry cleared his throat.

Aodh reluctantly parted with Tanushree, but kept his arm around her waist. The beautiful woman was panting, her eyes slightly unfocused. Aodh had never been prouder in his life.

“So you’re alive,” Henry said, stating it as a fact. Honey rode on the muscular Asian man’s shoulder. The animal looked frazzled, and her little paws were wrapped around Henry’s neck.

“Yup, I’m alive.”

“In case you were curious, it’s been over an hour since you fell. I also fell off the Mosquito. I’m okay, too—I’ll explain how later. Rekkla lowered the Mosquito by herself. She’s bawling her eyes out at the controls as we speak.”

Aodh blinked. “That’s... a lot.”

“Yeah. I just thought you should know.” Henry looked meaningfully at Tanushree.

“Ah, got it.” Aodh understood, but he was also done with hesitating. Around Henry, the rest of their group stood goggling, still trying to process the fact that Aodh was even still alive. Only Henry seemed unfazed, probably because he and Aodh had already died together before.

Henry said, “Okay, I’m going to take a while fixing the Mosquito before we head back. You have some time to do... whatever you want to do.” With that, the powerful ‘Bonded turned and began walking back to the Mosquito. “Come on, everyone. We can check this big, dead motherfucker out later. We have stuff to do.”

“But, Lord Aodh and Lady Tanushreee, and—” Gavra began.

“No arguments; come on.” The steel in Henry’s tone caused the group to immediately hurry after him.

Aodh shook his head ruefully. He felt like he’d taken an important step, but he had a long way to go before he could be like Henry or Jason. Suddenly, he felt fingers on his chin as Tanushree gently turned his head until he was staring into her bright eyes. “I believe you started something. Shouldn’t you finish i—”

Another kiss interrupted what she was going to say. Aodh didn’t need any more prompting. He knew what he wanted. After breaking off their embrace, he took Tanushree’s hand and began leading her away from the clearing and the broken trees from the rock wyrm's fall. They needed some privacy.

Nothing was certain in life, and everything could end so suddenly. Aodh was done waiting for good things to happen to him. Done being worried all the time. It wasn’t like Tanushree seemed to actually need any motivation or help, though. The tall, blonde noblewoman already had her tunic off before Aodh could even touch her. That suited him just fine, though. His eager hands found her breasts as they both kissed each other hungrily.

More clothes came off, and Aodh had no idea what he was doing, but he’d stopped caring. It seemed that Tanushree knew the basics, maybe even a bit more, and that was definitely enough. Aodh hoped he had lots of time to practice with her in the future. But even if he didn’t, if his days were numbered, he was learning to live without regret.

He devoured every inch of Tanushree, her body was entirely mysterious and wonderful to him. As he nibbled on the gasping noblewoman’s ear, Aodh quickly scanned the surrounding forest but mentally shrugged, going back to enjoying the passionate moment again.

Some worries couldn’t be completely ignored, but at least monsters weren’t one of them, not right now. They were in the rock wrym’s territory, and Aodh had just killed it.

Now was the time to enjoy the fact he was still alive. Tanushree’s warm, inviting embrace felt like home.

Next Steps

Jason drove the Battlewagon over to where a Berber soldier was guiding him to park.

Just like Gonzo had said would happen, as soon as the Delvers had cleared Rose Lake and finally reached the Berber main road, a detachment of Berber military had been waiting. Their mission had been to escort the Delvers to the edges of Berber farmland, deep inside the country.  Almost thirty trained soldiers, most of them women, all of them veterans, comprised the detachment.

As soon as they’d been nearby, Gonzo had gone out to meet them and smooth over the introductions. The Berber spy had been communicating with the group’s captain for weeks via MMB. Since then the two groups had traveled together.

The Delvers were nearing the point when their escort would end. Jason had found the entire experience both comforting and maddening.

Unfortunately, the military detachment was definitely slow. Their lack of speed was annoying, but it came with benefits. While they moved along at a fraction of the speed they could have traveled alone, the Delver’s escort did make the entire trip very safe. The soldiers wore masks so Jason wasn’t sure what their actual strength was, but he could guess that their number included at least one orb-Bonded and several mages.

They all showed deference to Gonzo, and Jason wondered how well-placed the man was in Berber intelligence. It wasn’t like he would find out by asking, though. The soldiers had all remained extremely tight-lipped the entire week they had traveled together.

About half of the soldiers rode zebras. The animals looked exactly like zebras from earth except for the fact they were a bit larger. At some point in his life, Jason had heard that zebras were ornery. He bet earth zebras didn’t come close to the bad attitudes of Ludus zebras. They were like black and white and furious all over. The Berber soldiers regularly repeatedly punched their mounts in the head or snout when the creatures tried taking a bite out of their riders. Despite their surly natures, the steeds seemed to do their jobs, though.

The other guards rode in magic vehicles, the first that Jason had ever seen that Henry hadn’t built. To say they were crude was an understatement. One of them was just a floating platform pulled by zebras. The bored soldiers riding the makeshift vehicle carried bows, powerful rubber slingshots, and an NCO carried an interesting, powerful-looking air rifle.

Three guards, one on each side, one in the rear, operated a manual brake - pretty much just a thick, bronze lever with a ratchet system that could be slammed into the ground. Since the platform floated, the zebras could maintain speed easily once inertia kicked in, but that meant the vehicle needed help stopping or it could cripple the animals pulling it...or anything else in the way.

The other magic machine seemed to function as the command vehicle. It looked a lot like a jeep, and seemed to function like one too. There were three crew - a driver, the group’s captain, and a gunner that manned the magic-powered plasma cannon in the rear. Jason had seen a demonstration of the weapon once, and he’d been impressed. He thought Henry’s inventions were on the same level of power, maybe a little stronger, but he definitely wouldn’t want to be on the receiving end of either weapon. The plasma cannon was effective, but very expensive to operate, consuming almost an entire magic stone per blast.

After the Battlewagon had been parked, Jason gave the Delvers group a nod and they all moved away from the soldiers to have a private chat. This was unremarkable to the Berber troops—the Delvers had still pulled guard shifts when they’d been escorted. The group didn’t really trust anyone else, after all.

In fact, if Jason were entirely honest, he kind of wished they could ditch Gonzo for their private chats, but despite the lack of trust, the man really had earned his position in the group...even if he wasn’t really a part of it.

As the Delvers headed to where Jason had gestured, he surreptitiously glanced at Mareen. She looked normal...and that concerned him. Before the group had met up with the Berber military, Jason knew that Mareen had ventured out at night to find monsters. She’d gone out like she was going to relieve herself, but hadn’t come back until much later. Bezzi-ibbi had tracked down where the beautiful, dark-skinned woman had headed a couple times and reported back privately to Jason what he’d found.

It hadn’t been pretty. Mareen had been learning to use her blood magic.

Jason still didn’t know what all of it really meant. He’d asked Bezzi-ibbi about blood magic but all the Jaguar Clan heir knew was that it was bad, evil, and completely taboo. Jason wished he could ask someone else about it. Even his orb-granted knowledge of monsters didn’t include anything about blood magic. Perhaps even monsters and demons were afraid of that sort of power, whatever it was.

He’d briefly considered asking Keeja about it, but Jason was getting wary of sticking his foot in his mouth again or violating some esoteric rules that the High Priestesses played by. Better to just live in ignorance a bit longer.

Shaking his head, Jason dispelled that thought. If he really wanted to know, he could actually just ask Mareen. The truth was, he really didn’t want to know, which meant pondering the issue was counter-productive. His loyalties were already too divided, and he didn’t wish to be placed into any more of an awkward situation. He just hoped that they could meet up with Henry before anything came to a head.

Ultimately, he did trust Mareen. He’d just have to continue trusting her and leave it at that. Jason knew he might regret it in the future, but he’d had to make a choice, and second guessing his friends wasn’t a life he was willing to live. Betrayal and appropriately reacting to it was one thing, but he was not going to distrust those closest to him.

Once the group was gathered, Jason didn’t start with small talk. Everyone was tired, and the sooner he gave them an update, the sooner they could all start breaking camp and starting dinner. “As most of you know, our guards are leaving us soon.”

“Why don’t they stay with us the entire way to the Berber capital?” asked Uluula.

Gonzo crossed his arms. “They’re too important for that. Soldiers are hard to come by and it’s a dangerous job. The only reason Berber is even civilized - in fact, the only reason this entire continent is not overrun by monsters - is because of the Berber military. They guard the mountains and the portways.”

“Portways?” asked Jason. This was the first time he’d heard that word.

“Doorways to other worlds that spit out large monsters or groups of monsters. Without the military there to stop them, they would advance and destroy city after city before we even knew what had happened. In fact, that did regularly happen in the past before the country was formed and the military was built up to contain that area.”

“Okay, makes sense.” Jason nodded. “I actually agree with UIuula that they should just come with us to where we’re supposed to be going anyway, but then again, I figure there’s more to it than just going back to their posts.”

Gonzo nodded. “Berber is a safe country near the cities. We are getting close. Berber is far, far more dangerous than Tolstey in the wilderness, and even more dangerous in the mountains, but we’re about to hit farm country. This area is regularly patrolled.”

“Alright.” Jason sighed. He wasn’t entirely sure he bought Gonzo’s explanation. His gut was telling him that there were politics involved, too.

He prepared himself to field more questions from the group about why the guards couldn’t just stay with them, but he was secretly glad they’d be leaving. He wanted to hurry to Mensk. It had been ages since he’d had a proper bath, and the sooner they reached their destination, the sooner they’d meet up with Henry again.

In fact, Henry would be heading there soon with his crazy new flying machine he’d informed them about via MMB. Jason smiled slightly and thought, What will that bastard think of next?

***

Henry scratched his goatee and stared down at the ground. “I can’t think of anything right now,” he admitted.

Tanushree stood behind his seat in the Mosquito’s cockpit. She shook her head. “I can’t either. I think we need to follow the roads.”

“Yeah, but that will take forever and add a lot of time to the trip. But there just aren’t enough landmarks on the map to let us go cross country.  We’d get lost as fuck.”

The blonde woman just nodded and left the cockpit for the Mosquito main deck, probably to spend time with Aodh. Ever since those two had gotten together, the young couple had been inseparable. Good for them. At least someone is getting laid.

Henry absently pet Honey as she slept in his lap and thought back to the last couple weeks. He’d repaired the Mosquito from the damage it took in the fight against the rock wyrm and used the combat experience to upgrade the vehicle’s weapons. He’d also started giving his orders to Tanushree in the form of advice.

Luckily, the young noblewoman had a good head on her shoulders and she liked the plans Henry had finally explained to her. Veritasholm, the ruins around the transportation array that the rock wyrm had been living in was being restored. Tanushree had been discreetly moving her entire personal guard force as well as any artisans they could find into the ruins, offering a lot of promises and more than a few dreams.

The money they’d made off the corpse of the rock wyrm hadn’t hurt, either.

Henry massaged his leg, feeling old wounds beneath his trousers, and considered their current problem. Luckily, the travel route issue wasn’t high priority because the Mosquito could move so fast and be relatively unimpeded by monsters. Still, he had quickly learned that figuring out exactly where they were was difficult, especially from up in the air. It might not be the biggest problem they had, but it was still a problem.

It would sure be nice to have GPS.

With a grimace, Henry wished he’d paid more attention to shows on TV about old school sailing and flying navigation. It would also be helpful if he had had a compass, but they didn’t work well on Ludus, and the position of the sun was a shitty way to navigate.

Suddenly, Henry had an idea. “Bring me one of the bigger maps!” he called back.

“Yes, Demigod,” answered Trask. In a few moments, the little goblin delivered a large map, pushed his fake glasses up his long nose, and disappeared back to the deck. He was probably spending more time consoling Rekkla. The fierce, would-be shaman had been moping around ever since Aodh and Tanushee had got together.

Henry had been expecting the two females to come to blows, but apparently, as usual, he didn’t know shit about Ludus culture. Instead of wanting to clash with Tanushree or fight for Aodh, Rekkla had seemed to immediately acknowledge her defeat, an attitude Tanushree had been expecting. It was weird to Henry that the wack-ass Ludus dating customs even transcended species, at least in this case.

Then again, in regard to cultural differences, at least some angry Jaguar lady wasn’t trying to tear his throat out again.

Henry rubbed his neck at the memory of meeting Bezzi-ibbi’s family and studied the map. He knew about where he was...sort of. He wanted to try an experiment. With luck, maybe he could replicate the trick he’d pulled back at the Bobrik estate before he’d sensed the portway at Veritasholm.

He cautiously extended his Mind Whip, and after a second of vertigo, he grinned as little holographic looking symbols popped up on the map. This particular map was large, showing half of Berber, and a dozen little portways were marked. What’s more, Henry could sense them, at least the nearest few.

He could navigate now! Plus, he was reminded of another phase of his original plan and he chuckled a bit. Honey grumbled on his lap, but didn’t wake.

Suddenly, Tony was at Henry’s shoulder and the Delvers leader suppressed a startled reaction. “Don’t fucking do that, kid!” he snarled.

“Ah, sorry, Henry.” Tony looked bashful and Henry’s expression softened. Volleyball was probably running the boy ragged. Plus, Tony was an adventurer now and had saved their lives. Henry reminded himself not to think of the kid as a kid as he absently patted his scarred leg.

“Okay, what do you need, Tony?”

“Ah, this is a little strange,” the young man began, then fidgeted, looking out the cockpit windows.

“What’s up? Just say it.”

Tony sighed and seemed to stand straighter, then turned to look Henry in the eye. The young man had been doing that a lot more often lately, and Henry approved. Tony said, “We’ve been heading one direction for a while, and I have a feeling we should go that way.” He pointed slightly to one side, but definitely a different bearing.

“Did you feel this way when you were channeling your magic?”

“Yes. I do that a lot now. It doesn’t hurt me much anymore.”

“Good to hear.” Henry considered briefly, but not very long. Tony hadn’t steered them wrong yet. “Okay. We’ll go your way, but you need to pop in here a few times a day to guide me. I am going to take little side trips from time to time. I think we have plenty of time, so it should be fine.”

“Alright; thanks, Henry.” Tony looked relieved and headed back to the deck. After he was gone, Henry scratched his goatee again. This world really needed trains or something. Maybe one day he would build some.

He could probably mount some truly massive guns on a train. The former EMT from Washington state wondered if he could build exploding ammunition in the future. Henry pondered how to make larger magical weapons as he adjusted the Mosquito’s course.

Volleyball was going to be upset. It would take longer to get to the capital now, but since the idea came from Tony, she shouldn’t bitch too much. Plus, they’d still be on time for school.

This time, Henry was just a driver. He was definitely willing to follow Tony’s directions as long as the kid kept steering them well. At the end of the day, Henry was a pragmatic man, and he enjoyed how he continued living as long as Tony was around.

***

Yelm snarled as he stalked away from the meeting chamber, but quickly schooled his expression when he heard footsteps. It wasn’t much longer until he could stop pretending, stop acting like these cultist vermin were anything more than pawns.

He couldn’t wait.

Still, they’d had their uses. For one, a true attack on Henry and Jason’s group was being planned. And Yelm was going be involved. At least these religious fanatics were taking Henry and Jason seriously. However, that was probably more due to religious instructions from their dark god than through any sort of logic. Either way, it served Yelm just fine.

Jeth’s father smiled, mentally rubbing his hands in glee. Yes, everything was moving exactly as it should. It wouldn’t be much longer now.

Everything for Jeth. My murdered little boy. I can’t wait to see that bitch’s face. Yelm chuckled to himself. He noticed that his thoughts were not as clear, not as solid as they had been before, especially before he had dwelled with the dark cultists.

But he didn’t care. Ludus had a tendency to drive people insane anyway. Yelm was both orb-Bonded and working arm in arm with true evil. He did not lie to himself on that front. The Tolstey bandit-turned-farmer-turned-bandit-turned-insurgent was even willing to admit that Jeth had been a little monster himself. He’d been Yelm’s monster, though. Jeth had been the only family he had left in this world after Jeth’s mother had died of sickness.

Now that had been a woman. Jeth’s mother was the only woman Yelm ever respected. It figured the broad had went and gotten herself killed while she was piss drunk. Of course, she'd beaten him that night and at first, he'd been glad she was dead, that she'd started something with someone she shouldn't have. However, he'd later realized what he'd lost.

Avenging his wife had been the first time he had murdered anyone.

Yelm shook his head. Focus. Focus. He carefully stepped around a hulking demon standing in an alcove, apparently guarding something. Yes, his situation was less than ideal, but the outcome would be glorious.

He’d help kill Henry, Jason, and especially Mareen. He’d burn it all, burn everything down. His thoughts were still clear enough that he could admit he might not get to see everything, all the planning to the end. He had faith that his masters, his real masters would get their way.

The price had been high, but Yelm did not regret his service. Every bargain required loss on both sides. What was his sanity or life when compared to power and revenge? Yelm closed a fist and briefly let power run over his knuckles.

Yelm had worked as a double agent or in some sort of position where his whole identity was a lie for most of his life. Acting as a triple agent now was wearing him down, but he could handle it. Everything would be worth it when Henry, Jason, and that traitorous bitch were killed. Everything would be worth it when Ludus burned.

Everything for Jeth.

Choices on the Fly

Jason flew through the air, enjoying the freedom of his momentary weightlessness. Doing patrols and scouting ahead were responsibilities that would never actually be a chore for him. No matter how many times he teleskipped, the name he’d recently come up with for traveling in the air with his magic, it never got old.

Some lessons could be hard-earned but also set in deep once learned. One of those lessons for Jason had been the value of scouting ahead. His abilities gave him unique advantages while doing so, too.

In retrospect, the assault on the bandits in Tolstey would probably have killed them all if not for the recon Jason had done beforehand. He had always intellectually known that information was important, but now he had practical examples of why.

When he’d asked Henry about it in the past, wondering why Henry wasn’t more proactive in gathering intel, the laid back but prickly man had said he had always worked as a medic or an EMT. Jason translated that to mean that planning ahead was not Henry’s strong suit except in specific, random circumstances.

Jason didn’t get it. He had concluded his friend was an idiot savant or something. At least Henry’s personality and his military training allowed him to quickly react to hairy situations, though.

Unfortunately, repeating a mistake he always seemed to make, Jason had been too passive in the past and had gotten complacent during the long journey out of Tolstey. The entire group had almost paid the price. Liangyu’s ambush could have easily cost them all their lives, and even now, the group was split up and Henry had almost died several times over. Jason held himself personally responsible.

When he realized he was getting lost in thought again, Jason focused. It would be silly to ponder the importance of scouting so much that he didn’t actually scout.

After focusing again, Jason thought he saw movement in the sparse trees below. He frowned, and looked more closely. His job was to tell the rest of the group about monsters ahead, and sometimes to deal with them himself.

The movement he was seeing was odd. It was notable in the first place because the Delvers hadn’t seen any monsters for days this close to Berber civilization. Plus, something about what he was seeing just didn’t seem right. Jason interrupted his current weightless flight and teleported in for a closer look.

The decision probably saved his life.

After he’d acted, he caught a flicker of motion from the corner of his eye where he would have been before changing his flight pattern. It was just a shimmer in the air, but Jason reacted with months of survival instincts honed by constant danger on Ludus, and situational awareness hard-won by surviving battle after battle.

He didn’t waste any time wondering if he was seeing things. Jason just acted, slamming his infrared vision into place and scanning where he’d been. His blood ran cold.

Two large, winged creatures showed up in his augmented sight. One of them had whipped its claws and a wicked tail through the space Jason would have been. Months before, he would have been temporarily frozen at the sight, requiring time to process what he was seeing. But now, the Terran man’s combat instincts had been beaten to a savage edge. With a burst of magic, he teleported up above the attacking creature, angling his forward trajectory straight towards it.

When Jason came out of his teleport, he immediately sped up his thinking, allowing himself to process information faster and slow down his perception of time. The buff was incredibly useful, and underutilizing it had been another of Jason’s past failings. He was fixing all of his mistakes one by one.

Jason drew Breeze and cut in one smooth motion. Traveling about sixty miles per hour, he flashed past the winged monster in the air, leaving a visible trail of blood and viscera in his wake. A gurgling roar sounded behind him, and his target tumbled out of the sky.

As the creature died, it lost its invisibility and Jason got his first look at what had attacked him. In infrared, the monster had just been hues of warm colors, but as after it became visible, Jason swallowed in horror. The thing was horrible, even to Jason, someone who killed monsters almost every day.

The creature’s large, insect-like wings trailed behind it as it fell. Its bulbous head was covered in multiple, dimming eyes, and a long, curling tongue trailed from a mouth full of sharp, crooked teeth. Long, spindly arms ended in a mass of angular fingers that all had wicked claws. The creature’s legs were like those of a cat, and its tail had a stinger like a scorpion.

It was...wrong. Most monsters on Ludus were powerful, dangerous creatures, but they still fit into the greater world somewhere. The thing Jason had just killed had no greater purpose other than to kill. To cause pain. This was a fact he instinctively knew when he saw it.

Jason got goosebumps. He’d heard about such things. True-demons, demon-demons. Creatures that existed to destroy, to consume.

The second creature turned and flashed towards Jason, still cloaked to visible light. Jason’s enhanced mind ran through several scenarios. He could create a null-time barrier on its side to slice the thing in half, but then the demon might still reach him. Stopping it with a proper null-time barrier would be very helpful, probably, but he’d be uncomfortably close.

Jason’s compressed thoughts were cut short when he noticed a light approaching him. He didn’t know what it was, but with his sense of time sped up, it was obvious that the light was moving quickly and heading right for him.

He teleported, and identified the light as a blast of fire from the ground. There were orb-Bonded or mages down there, and they were gunning for him. Jason felt his pulse hammering, the rage inside him slavering at its chains, wanting to escape, but he ruthlessly suppressed it. He needed to keep his wits about him.

The situation was greater than just himself. The odds of finding a powerful group of magic users and demons that attacked without provocation, effectively in the middle of nowhere, was too much of a coincidence. Delvers LLC was being targeted again.

This meant someone or something was trying to take Jason out too, or keep him away from the fight. He’d learned his lesson fighting Liangyu’s zombies. Jason needed to get back to his friends, and his wife, as quickly as possible.

As if to punctuate his train of thought, the streak of fire from the ground continued on, leaving a sooty, expanding tail of smoke. Jason sensed he would not be able to teleport through it. His eyes narrowed and he realized he needed to end his fight with the flying demon as quickly as possible and immediately retreat.

He reached out with his mind, gritting his teeth. The demon’s presence wasn’t like any person or animal he’d felt before with his psionics magic. It was slippery and dark, like rancid oil. Jason still managed to lock onto the flying nightmare and attach himself with an invisible tether.

Jason slingshotted around, his inertia causing him to orbit the demon even as it changed directions again. He grinned without humor, drew a throwing knife from his sideways space storage, and then cloned it several times. He threw blade after blade, cloning them yet again in midair, creating a hail of sharp, bronze projectiles heading for the demon.

He’d been practicing.

Then Jason threw several more cloned blades teleporting them to the sides of the creature, adjusting the vectors of the blades at the demon’s vulnerable wings.

All the wickedly sharp metal hit at once. Not a single blade did enough damage to actually threaten the large demon’s life, but they succeeded in tearing apart its wings. Jason took advantage of his target’s confusion, noticing it reel from the attack in his infrared vision. With a thunderclap of sudden vacuum, Jason teleported behind the hideous, winged demon, attacking with a null-time edge on Breeze. The attack might have been a little overkill, but Jason wasn’t taking any chances.

One sweeping cut severed the demon’s tail and half of its leg. The return stroke neatly lopped off the wings on one side of its body. Jason noticed the telltale glow of more fire attacks coming from the ground, and immediately teleported away again.

Behind him, the demon fell from the sky, mortally wounded. Jason nodded in grim satisfaction and began teleskipping back to the Battlewagon. He adjusted his goggles as he flew as they’d shifted during the mid-air battle. The fight had seemed to last ages to him, but had only been a few moments, too short to even realize his goggles had come loose.

Jason maintained his infrared vision. He’d learned his lesson. Paranoia was only paranoia, and overkill was only overkill when invisible demons weren’t prone to attack.

Unfortunately, he was not living a demon-free life these days.

***

Bezzi-ibbi could sense something was wrong before Jason even returned. The surrounding land was too quiet, too hushed. The very air made the Jaguar Clan heir’s tail bristle, and the wind smelled like expectation.

The young Jaguar Troubadour carefully put his parchment and pens away. He’d been working on his first, great song for weeks now, and was almost done. His work was precious, and had to be protected. After his work was stowed away, Bezzi-ibbi took off his fashionable shoes - a common action for him now whenever he thought there might be violence.

He’d learned the hard way what it was like to be improperly dressed for combat.

As Bezzi-ibbi took off his vest and loosened his shirt, he said, “Mareen. Trouble. Might be. Readying.”

The dark-skinned woman had been staring into space with her arms crossed over the side of the Battlewagon. She looked up in surprise. “Trouble? Gonzo and Vitaliya are making the rounds on guard duty. Nobody has seen any monsters in days.”

Bezzi-ibbi just shrugged and continued loosening his clothing. The Battlewagon still had plenty of explosives. The Mo’hali youth wished Aodh was still with them. He wished Rark-han was still around too, the thought causing a momentary pang of sadness.

He shook his head. Not for the first time, Bezzi-ibbi vowed to survive, to reach the Berber capital with his friends so he could start figuring out how to address Rark-han’s wish. The dead wolf-race man’s note lay folded in a pocket on the inside of Bezzi-ibbi’s vest.

Everything in due time.

By the time Bezzi-ibbi had loosened his sleeves, Mareen had narrowed her eyes and nodded. She began putting on her heavy wooden armor and hollered, “Assemble! Everyone group up!”

Uluula was the first to appear, as she’d been meditating nearby while Jason scouted ahead, a twice daily occurrence. The white-haired Areva woman cocked her head curiously. “Jason is not back yet. Why are you preparing for battle? We have not seen a monster in days.”

“Bezzi-ibbi thinks it would be a good idea,” said Mareen, giving her friend a shrug. Uluula merely nodded and began her own preparations.

The last few days, the group had been acting more casual, not dressed to fight all the time, and it had been nice. Bezzi-ibbi had particularly enjoyed it as he’d had more time to work on his songs. In his hunter’s heart, he’d known it wouldn’t last, though.

Bronze needed fire to be shaped. While traveling with legends, it was logical to expect flames.

Next, Vitaliya and Gonzo came jogging over. They took one look at the group donning armor and weapons, then both began grabbing a few extra pieces of gear as well. Since they’d been on guard duty, they’d already been prepared to fight.

When Bezzi-ibbi was completely prepared, he could tell that the rest of the group could feel some of what he had sensed. The air crackled.

Suddenly, with a whoosh of displaced air, Jason teleported nearby. He’d come in with just a bit of upward trajectory, and after a split second, his feet found the ground again. The tall man was breathing hard and had his naked sword flashing in his hand, its blade crackling with electricity.

“Everyone, get ready for—” He paused as he noticed the entire armored group gathered together, already armed. “Why are you all geared up?”

“Bezzi-ibbi felt something was amiss, so we are prepared,” stated Uluula.

Jason blinked, looking at Bezzi-ibbi. The Jaguar Clan heir grinned back, hissing in amusement and pride. He was pleased to show his hunter’s instincts to his older brother Jason-ibbi. Bezzi-ibbi was not a hero just for show. His line was true, full of great hunters.

“Well, that’s convenient,” muttered Jason. “Sometimes I wonder if you all really need me for anything other than driving the Battlewagon.”

“I can do that now better than you,” reminded Uluula. “But, husband, you have your weapon out and look frazzled. Perhaps that can wait?”

“Yeah, definitely,” Jason agreed, nodding. “We have a large, hostile group heading this way. I caught glimpses of them. There are demons and people wearing dark robes. I think they were expecting us to be on the road and were thrown off by the fact we were taking this long valley instead. Our paranoia paid off.

“And when I say demons, I mean demon-demons, not Ludus demons.”

“True-demons?” asked Gonzo, his voice sharp. Bezzi-ibbi’s lip curled and he suppressed further reaction. Everyone on Ludus knew about true-demons, creations of malice and hunger.

“Yes, two invisible ones tried to gank me in the sky. I killed them while the welcoming committee on the ground lobbed fire at me. They almost got me, too.”

Uluula’s entire demeanor changed, becoming completely serious and cold as ice at once. “They almost got you?”

“Yes. They were invisible and the ambush was a good one. I definitely almost died. These guys are serious.”

“Describe the demons please, Jason,” asked Gonzo.

Jason began explaining what the demons had looked like, and Bezzi-ibbi’s hackles rose. True-demons were awful, and rarely seen on Ludus. The situation was not sounding good. What was worse, it was late in the day and the sun would start setting soon. Secret Jaguar Clan hunting lore cautioned against being near demons at night.

“Yes, those were definitely demons,” said Gonzo.

“Shall we run?” asked Uluula.

Gonzo gave a sidelong look at Jason before saying, “If it was my decision, I would say no.”

“Why?” asked Jason.

“Remember our conversation in Mirana about Asag?”

“Yes,” Jason replied, drawing the word out.

“I’ve been receiving reports that the cult is confirmed and has also been active. People have been disappearing and a small village was wiped out.”

“This would have been helpful to know before,” said Jason, scowling. “But why would you not run away? I saw a shit ton of cultists and demons coming this way.”

“Because they are probably after us, and because we just passed a little village.” Gonzo shook his head sadly. “And telling you about this earlier would have been unnecessary and meant sharing a burden with you for no reason.

“You may not know this, but to keep true-demons satisfied, so they don’t turn on their summoners, they must be constantly fed. If we run, the village and anywhere else the cultists go will just produce victims. Berber is my adopted country. I am a spy, not a soldier, so I will run if I must, but sometimes doing what’s right is worth doing.”

Jason sucked in a breath. Bezzi-ibbi remembered the village. It had smelled terrible, a tanning village that processed furs from the surrounding hills. The people had been friendly and come out to look at the Battlewagon. They’d given Uluula and Mareen little gift bags of local, hand-picked berries.

Jason put a hand over his face. “I doubt this was a coincidence.”

“My thoughts exactly,” said Gonzo. “But for what it is worth, this is Berber soil. Vitaliya and I were under orders before to hide some of our abilities, if we could. Due to the circumstances, we are no longer under these orders.”

“Wait, you were holding back before?” Mareen’s voice was dangerous. “What about the fight with Liangyu? We all almost died.”

“Yes, that was different,” Vitaliya smiled coldly, her eyes glittering. “First, I was legitimately worn out by the end of the fight. Second, the undead don’t feel pain. I am a fire mage. Gonzo is an orb-Bonded specializing in ice magic. We are not well-suited to fight things that can’t be truly damaged.”

Gonzo frowned, but Vitaliya shook her head at him. “The time for hiding is done, teacher. We must survive this to reach little Aodh. He must be all alone and frightened…” the woman’s voice slipped, and her serious mask broke for a moment before returning. Bezzi-ibbi’s whiskers twitched. Terrans are odd.

The Hispanic Berber spy nodded, “So be it, Vitaliya. If we stay to fight, I will tell you more of what I can do, Jason. But I suggest you decide immediately. They’ll probably be on us any moment.”

Jason thought for a moment. “Okay, we stay,” said the tall man, iron in his voice. “Some people might say we don’t owe those villagers anything, and it’s true from one perspective, but we’re all people. I have to live with myself. I couldn’t exist in my own skin anymore if I let things like the creatures I just fought come and eat helpless people when I could have done something about it. I hate bullies, even the kind with claws. Plus, if we ran, Henry would kick my ass.

“But I am not feeling good about this. You should have seen the things I killed.” Jason shuddered.

Uluula pointed and said, “My suggestion is to set up a quick defensive position on that high ground over there, but be ready to run at a moment’s notice.”

“Fine, let’s move,” said Jason. “We don’t have much time.”

Bezzi-ibbi happily loped over to the position Uluula had indicated. The coming battle would add material he could draw from for more Jaguar Troubadour songs. Of course, he would need to survive first, but that would always be true of any conflict.

Uluula hopped into the Battlewagon and drove it to the top of the small hill she’d indicated with rocky outcroppings they could use as cover. As the rest of them walked, Gonzo said, “I am third rank orb-Bonded. My orb is similar to yours, a modular type, and mine is second generation. I am a water mage. When I had swallowed my orb, ready to try anything to survive, I’d been dying of thirst.

“My choices for orb powers have varied. For the sake of this discussion, I will inform you that I am specialized in both water, and body magic. I am not an endurance mage, my focus is assassination and dueling. However, I have a great deal of magical power.”

They all reached the defensive position and Gonzo pointed. A massive wall of ice grew out of the ground, pushing dirt and rocks up to either side. Then the ice crumbled, turned to water, and seeped into the ground. Another wall of ice erupted from the soil, this time at an angle. The resulting shift and addition of more dirt began building a wall.

“Give me five minutes, and I will have a basic defensive structure for us to use,” said Gonzo. “Let’s get the Battlewagon behind it for something Vitaliya and I can stand in, and I promise you, we will give them hell. I have had to do some terrible things in my life. I am glad that this time, I can do what’s right.

“That village may never know that we made this stand, but we will.”

“Yeah, I suppose that’s what matters,” said Jason, nodding.

Bezzi-ibbi had never really liked Gonzo very much. In that moment, though, he realized the spy might not be such a bad person. After all, most people had to do bad things to survive on Ludus at some point.

Now it was time for Bezzi-ibbi to admit to something.

The Jaguar Clan youth hissed, getting everyone’s attention. “I am special Hero,” he said without preamble. Then he switched to English so he could explain better. “I can adjust my Hero ability to reach out like a shadow instead of using a bubble. If the enemy has orb-Bonded, I can help. Just try to keep them in one area. If they move around too much, I will not be able to touch them without maybe affecting you.”

There was a moment of silence before Jason spun around, muttering, “Nobody ever tells me fucking anything. Leader of the group? Hah.” Then Jason pointed at Gonzo, “Let’s get that wall up. If we’re not going to run, these thing could be here any second.”

A shadow crossed Jason’s face and he added, “Pull out all the stops on this one. Trust me. You don’t want these things anywhere near you. I will be everyone’s eyes, well, me and Bezzi-ibbi. I think he might be able to sense invisible stuff, too. I will—”

“I also have infrared vision,” said Gonzo.

Jason gave him a flat look. “If we survive this, we are all going to have a long chat about what everyone can actually do these days. Count on it.”

The tall man cleared his throat and continued, “We are about to be fighting for our lives. Can we get some focus here? I’m assuming everyone agrees that we should be staying, not running, right?” The whole group gave their assent.

Bezzi-ibbi drew a sword from his quicksilver arm and grinned. He wondered if anyone else noticed how quiet Mareen had been acting. They all still had secrets, even Bezzi-ibbi. But at least he was not in the same position as Mareen.

Ludus was a world of secrets, even sometimes from friends. The aspiring Jaguar Troubadour wanted to be present when the larger group learned Mareen was a blood mage. Time would tell whether the song he wrote from that event would be a triumph or a tragedy.

As the members of Delvers LLC and the two spies quickly and efficiently prepared for battle, Bezzi-ibbi felt proud of his Clan brother and his friends. The entire group would soon be facing nightmarish monsters, protecting people who didn’t even know they were being protected, and nobody in the group even flinched. They just did what needed to be done.

Bezzi-ibbi had met battle-hardened warriors before, but nobody quite like this group. Delvers LLC could stand around calmly discussing an impending demon attack. When the first howls were audible, nobody in the group so much as twitched, and the Mo’hali youth wasn’t surprised in the slightest.

Bezzi-ibbi was nervous, but pride drowned it out to a dull murmur. If he died this day, he would journey to the hunting lands in good company.

Demonic Violence

Celina gritted her teeth in frustration as she watched her demonic forces engage the tiny, stubborn group in the distance. Just who were these people?

She’d been warned not to underestimate the Delvers by multiple people and even Dark Asag Himself. Unfortunately, one of them, the most unbearable, annoying one was standing right next to her. As they continued to observe the elevated clearing the Delvers had chosen to make their stand turn into a raging conflict of flashing energies, exploding demons, and burning magics, Yelm said, “Told you so.”

Celina hated the man, but she most hated that he’d been right. She couldn’t say a thing in response. Still, while Yelm was a fool, she would have been a greater fool not to heed the instruction of Dark Asag. Because of her obedience, luckily, the current situation was merely a setback.

It was frustrating that what should have been a simple elimination—orb-Bonded enemies or not—had turned into a fully-fledged battle. The Asag Triumphant were wasting their carefully grown force of demon soldiers like blood down a temple drain.

The situation would correct itself as soon as the backup forces arrived with one of their precious gates. The helldoor would decisively end the battle. Celina didn’t want to waste it, but she wished to fail her dark god even less.

She shuddered, and wished she could lash out at the smug fool standing beside her. Unfortunately, they needed him alive. If she or her brethren killed Yelm, their tentative ally might send a smarter, exponentially more competent spy. That would be bad.

Celina watched the battle rage on, witnessing demon after demon be impaled, cut down, roasted, or blown apart and shook her head. Truly, who in the deepest hells were these people? They must have at least one truly powerful orb-Bonded among them to be decimating Asag’s foot demons like this.

But as always, the dark god would prevail. That realization was why Celina had become a priestess of Asag in the first place. Ludus was a difficult world, but joining the winning team had helped.

Being on the losing team was not a situation she ever wanted to experience again.

***

“I don’t think we are winning,” panted Uluula. The white-haired warrior knelt, loading a hand crossbow crafted for Areva use. She couldn’t remember anymore exactly where she’d acquired the weapon. All she could recall was that it had been an impulse purchase, albeit one she’d gotten a great deal on. She’d never really expected to use the complex, powerful little crossbow as a serious weapon, and yet here she was, activating the complex gears to cock the device.

“Well, rot, what gave you that rotting idea?” gasped Vitaliya, her voice dripping sarcasm. The red-haired woman popped up from the cover of the Battlewagon, which was in turn behind the earthen berm that Gonzo had created earlier. The Berber spy growled and unleashed a burst of flame before ducking down again.

All the vegetation in front of the Delvers’ position was ablaze, which luckily caused problems for the attacking demons and cultists. Unfortunately, it also created a lot of smoke, and the reduced visibility was making everything more difficult for both groups.

“What is stopping these things from going around us and flanking?” asked Mareen. The dusky-skinned woman stood, loosed an arrow, and ducked back down again. A moment later, multiple venomous, chitin barbs rattled off the Delvers’ earthen protection and flew through the empty air Mareen had just occupied.

Chuckers, so many of them, thought Uluula. There had been three main types of demons to attack so far. One had been humanoid, fast moving, clawed, rotting things that Jason called creeps. There were also bigger, powerful, slow moving demons that they’d begun calling bashers. Then there were the smaller, reptilian, venomous, ranged demons - chuckers.

So far, only a few more of the flying demons that had originally almost killed Jason had appeared. Both times one had shown up, either Jason or Gonzo had seen it, and they’d been dispatched.

While no enemy orb-Bonded or mages had actually shown themselves yet, they were definitely out there, launching various magical attacks at the entrenched Delvers. Some attacks were more powerful than others, and Gonzo occasionally had to repair the protective berm.

Gonzo himself was busy popping out from either side of the group’s protection from time to time, launching ice spikes at the larger demons. If a big enough group of creeper demons showed up, he created an ice spike in their path. Then Vitaliya would loose a jet of flame that caused the ice to explode into steam, scalding the disturbing creatures to death.

Large groups of demons were peppered by Jason’s throwing knives, and if more than one basher demon moved together, Jason took them out with one of his destructodisks. He also teleported around the battlefield, cutting down enemies with Breeze.

Jason was probably the main reason why the enemy orb-Bonded and mages were hiding thus far.

Uluula thought about Mareen’s question, and responded, “We probably are actually being flanked. The demons are not smart enough to flank or they’re too hard to control. That isn’t stopping the others, though. If they aren’t flanking us, they’re stupid or overconfident.”

“What do we do about it?” Mareen stood up again to shoot another arrow, and before ducking down again, a bellow sounded from one of the bashers. She’d had a good hit. The orb-Bonded woman looked glumly at her steadily emptying quiver. “I’m running low on arrows. We need Jason to restock us.”

“I do need more bolts, too.” Uluula took a deep breath and rose from cover, scanning the battlefield as fast as she could. It was a scene from a nightmare.

Night was quickly falling, the twilight fading as the stars began to come out overhead. Flashes of light in the sky accompanied some of the magic being used by either side. The demons had been whittled down, but many still hunkered down behind cover or crouched down, waiting for an opportune time to rush the Delvers.

Charred and broken bodies littered the ground everywhere. The first rush of demons had been thick and fierce, but so had the Delvers’ response. Since then, the attacks by new demons had been less numerous with more time between. Now Uluula thought she knew why. The various rushes were probably just a feint, a distraction to keep the Delvers in place.

The Areva woman took quick, but careful aim, and her bolt snapped a creeper’s head back, killing it. She ducked before the chuckers could hit her with the barbs from their tails. “We need another wave of fire out there. Some creepers are massing behind that rock formation they like to take cover behind. We also need a signal for Jason to come stock up our arrows again.”

“Choose one or the other,” growled Vitaliya. “I can’t do everything, Areva.” The Berber spy punctuated her statement by delivering a scything stream of fire across the battlefield before ducking down again. Her regular, systematic bursts of magical fire kept everything burning and prevented their position from being overrun. The fire was also helping with light to see by as night fell.

“Fine.” Uluula didn’t like how the spy had talked to her, but she couldn’t deny the other woman’s logic. Vitaliya was using her magic to kill enemies and keep them all alive. It didn’t make sense for her to also signal Jason on top of that. Uluula triggered her enchanted halberd to life, and waved the fiery faux-jaalba in the air. Then she turned the flame off to save power and waited.

Presently, Jason appeared, teleporting behind the Battlewagon. “Sorry it took me so long,” he apologized. “I’m still not sure if these evil bastards know about my teleporting weakness but I’m not taking any chances. I can teleport through the light smoke, but if it’s so heavy I can’t see through it, it’s a no-go.”

“We need more arrows and bolts, Jason,” explained Mareen, holding up her quiver. As Vitaliya burned the battlefield again to keep their enemies honest, Jason nodded and stepped forward, using his magic to create temporary copies of the group’s projectiles. Each copy would last about an hour—not long, but long enough for the fight.

“We think they might be flanking us, Husband,” said Uluula. After the words left her mouth, she inwardly winced a little. She didn’t always know how to preface important information. Especially in combat, it seemed prudent to just say what she meant. Sometimes others could find this rude or abrupt. Luckily, Jason just nodded. Her husband was sensitive, but luckily he was also very intelligent and used to Uluula’s quirks by now.

“I was thinking the same thing,” he said. “Bezzi-ibbi is in the rear, using his ability to check for any orb-Bonded that might make it behind us. Gonzo and I are basically watching the sides of our position and keeping an eye out for any more invisible demons, but we obviously can’t keep this up forever.”

Vitaliya rose and delivered two powerful jets of flame over the battlefield. She took cover and snarled back at the rest of them, “So nice you all can have a rotting party back there, but we are in a fight. In case you forgot, demons are trying to kill us on Berber soil. We absolutely must survive this.”

“Yes, you—” Mareen began, raising a hand, but Vitaliya cut her off.

“Poor little Aodh is out there, alone in this cruel, merciless world and—” Vitaliya stopped, shook her head, and sent a truly ferocious stream of fire out into the distance. A couple of chuckers wailed, their distant keening as they burned alive was horrible but satisfying. With a harumph, Vitaliya knelt and glowered, not making eye contact with anyone else in the group.

Well, that was odd, thought Uluula. Vitaliya’s point had been a good one, though. Even though Uluula had recognized they were fighting a losing battle, the problem hadn’t seemed urgent to her since they were fighting from the back of a vehicle they could escape in. Plus, the enemies they’d killed so far had been relatively easily dispatched. Well, at least for Delvers LLC. The group really needed to come up with a serious plan, probably a serious escape plan. She had a feeling the enemy was waiting on reinforcements.

When a crimson glow erupted in the darkening sky past the battlefield, Uluula hated that she was usually right. She had a feeling that the enemy’s reinforcements had arrived.

“What in the hell?” breathed Jason.

As the glow grew brighter, the advancing demons drew back. The members of the group all looked at each other uncertainly behind their barricade.

Uluula heard pounding feet before she saw Gonzo and Bezzi-ibbi running up. Gonzo opened his mouth to talk, but before he could say anything, a disc of light rose in the distance. Two people stood on the distant platform, farther than any of their weapons could reach. Glittering motes of light surrounded the ascending light.

“Do not go, Jason,” Uluula warned. The bits of light made her feel nervous, and by now, the enemy had to be aware that Jason could teleport.

“Don’t worry, I learned my lesson fighting the zombies,” Jason muttered. “Teleportation is one of my powers, not my main tool anymore.”

Suddenly, a female spoke, her voice carrying across the entire battlefield. Uluula squinted, and could see that both people on the platform of light were Terrans. One, a woman, was pointing, and Uluula figured she was the person speaking. “Delvers LLC, Henry and Jason, we met as enemies, but Grim Asag wishes me to relay you an offer.

“Join us, join the forces of Asag, and your lives will be spared. You will also live luxuriously, and your talents will be appreciated.”

The other figure on the platform looked agitated. “This was not part of the plan,” the man said. His regular speaking voice was also amplified by whatever magic the woman was using.

“Oh no, that voice,” whispered Jason. Uluula cocked her head. What was her husband talking about? Why was he staring at Mareen?

“Yelm.” Mareen spoke the name softly, but with all the venom and malice of the deepest, darkest curse.

***

Mareen had been glad she was proficient with her bow during the battle so far. Every time she had felt a surge of fear, or adrenaline, the blood magic inside her had strained at the chains she’d placed on it. Luckily, she’d been able to contribute with her mundane skills, helping protect their position with arrow after arrow.

She’d been practicing her magic, but she still hadn’t wanted to reveal her new power to the rest of the group, especially after having discovered what she could do with it. It had scared her that the Deepwater Rose could offer hints and tricks on how to wield her magic better the more she used it, too. If she started to draw heavily on her blood magic, who knew what she could do? Who knew what she’d be tempted to do?

It was not time for her to use her forbidden new power yet, if ever. She’d figured the battle was a lost cause, they’d all eventually retreat, and maybe make another stand in front of the village they were protecting.

All of these thoughts and concerns vanished the moment that Yelm had appeared. Yelm. Outwardly, Mareen was calm and composed, watching the scene unfold before her. Inwardly, she was a sea of cresting emotions, all vying for dominance.

“You were supposed to kill them all,” snarled Yelm, his voice still amplified as he shared the platform with the woman. “Those fuckers that killed my son are out there, and we can just exterminate them. Don’t even try to make them suffer, just kill them. That little stuck up, arrogant bitch, Mareen, is different, though. Let’s keep her alive and introduce her to some of the demons, especially the ones that like women.

“I wish I’d had the option to give her useless, soft-headed grandfather to some demons before. We had to make do with smashing all his bones and bleeding him out before the rotting bastard managed to choke on his own tongue. Shame. My Jeth didn’t get that kind of mercy.”

Celina’s voice cracked out like a whip. “You fool. Bringing you up here was a mistake, and I cannot believe I let you convince me otherwise. No mortal may deny the will of great Asag. Be thankful I allow you to live.” The woman in the dark cloak waved her hand, and Yelm floated back down the column of red light. The way he flailed and shook his fist, he was probably not going quietly, but his voice was no longer amplified.

The woman continued, “I am Priestess Celina, and I have been instructed to parlay with you. Now you know our seriousness, but we have not crushed you yet. You have held out well until now, but know that you face an army of loyal Asag followers including orb-Bonded and mages. Plus, we are about to open a gate, a helldoor.

“When this is done, you will truly have no hope of survival if you oppose us. This entire region is being sacrificed to Dread Asag! The children of Asag will spill into the world. These children will include those too difficult for us to usually summon, or too special to exist in this world for long. When they join us now, their time on Ludus will be enough.

“Join us, or die. These are your choices. If you make the intelligent move to worship Dread Asag, you will conquer the world with us! As one of the Asag Triumphant, if you have unfinished business with the fool I just dismissed from this platform, know that blood feuds are allowed within our ranks.”

The priestess of Asag paused for dramatic effect, then said, “This is all. I care not which choice you make, but I suggest you choose wisely. To join us, throw down your weapons and armor and walk forward unarmed. Any other action will seal your fate.”

With that, the woman’s platform lowered. The red glow in the distance grew brighter, and the sky flashed with oily, unnatural lightning.

Rage bloomed in Mareen’s heart, creeping up, devouring her reason. She fought it at first, but her will eroded as she asked herself why. Why was she fighting her hatred? The war within her raged on, and she barely heard her friends talking.

Jason said, “I have a hard time believing this isn’t a trap, despite the offer to join up. There is no way they could be stupid enough to think having Yelm up there would do anything other than piss us off. These people haven’t been brilliant yet, but they also haven’t been complete morons.”

“What do you think is going on then, Husband?” Uluula asked.

“I think Yelm is being used. I’m guessing the priestess was playing it straight that her god wanted to offer us a job, but she doesn’t have any intention of actually doing so.”

“Politics,” said Gonzo, nodding. “Your hunch feels right.”

In the distance, the red light grew deeper. The feeling of dread in the air grew stronger, more insistent. Natural lightning flashed in the darkening sky for a moment before all of it spiked towards the ground, terminating at the same point.

“That’s probably the helldoor opening,” said Uluula. “I have heard of such things. Areva marines sometimes encounter wormhole gates on truly evil worlds. These gates generally lead to the realms of one of the Fallen. I am guessing that a helldoor is the same sort of thing, but created with magic.”

“I have heard the same,” said Gonzo. “Helldoors have not been common on Ludus, but they have appeared at times. In most cases, many heroic orb-Bonded have given their lives to close them. Unfortunately, I’m not sure that anyone knows how they did it. I never expected to encounter a helldoor in my life.”

Jason breathed deeply and covered his eyes. “Great. This was actually a well-planned attack when you think about it. If the Asag cultists are experimenting with their helldoor, or they really want to kill us, they knew just how to keep us around. Uluula, Gonzo, do you have any reason to believe they were lying that this area would be destroyed?”

“No.” Gonzo’s voice was flat. “We aren’t very far from the edge of Berber farmland, either. It will be a massacre. Our little group is definitely not enough to deal with a helldoor. I just summoned a MMB. I’m going to dispatch a message to the Berber military, and hopefully it will get through. If we are going to survive this, much less hold these things off, we need a plan.”

“How do we know the new demons aren’t going to just run all over the place?” asked Vitaliya. “They don’t need to come for us.”

Uluula shook her head and said, “The demons that come through a gate from a hell realm are mindless killing machines. They’re usually sent in a single direction. We have no reason to believe a helldoor will be any different.”

“Well, one thing is sure,” said Jason. “We are all tired. I think we all agree to stay and try to hold these things off until reinforcements arrive.” Jason frowned and turned to face Gonzo. “Wait, if you can use a MMB to summon help, why didn’t you do it before?”

Gonzo looked embarrassed. “I actually did. This new message will be a report of the increased threat. Hopefully it will make everything move faster.”

Jason put a hand over his eyes. “If Henry was here, he’d say the army never changes.”

With no warning, a magic messenger bird flew down to land in front of Gonzo. The spy immediately began giving it a coded message to deliver. Mareen barely even noticed. The overwhelming tide of righteous anger inside of her kept growing, and she wasn’t sure that she cared. Her blood magic pulsed in sympathy with her darkest emotions.

Uluula moved over and touched Mareen’s hand. “Are you well? That man was connected with the murder of your grandfather, yes?” As attempts to comfort went, it was fairly terrible, but Mareen knew her friend was trying. The gesture even helped stem the tide of her rage slightly. She was about to respond when the first of the new demons appeared across the burning battlefield, the light from the flickering fires illuminating parts of them, but the night hid other portions in shadow.

Mareen’s friends hissed or sucked in a breath at the sight. The demons they’d been fighting before had been horrible and dangerous, but these new creatures were on another level.

No single demon was alike. They were covered in plates, muscle, scales, fur, spikes, and claws. Some had pulsing, exposed guts. Many of the ones with humanoid heads were missing cheeks, exposing their teeth.

Some carried weapons, and some wore armor. “Hellknights,” spat Uluula. “Shock troops of the Fallen.”

“Wait, you’ve seen these things before?” Jason was aghast.

“Yes, but not in person. Areva marines sometimes encounter colony worlds that have been overrun by these things. At least these ones are young. They get larger and more powerful as they grow older.”

Jason shook his head. “How in the hell are other races scared of Terrans, humans from Earth like me, when there’s shit like this out there?” he asked, pointing at the massing demons.

Uluula turned fully towards her husband and said with complete seriousness, “Because Terrans are more frightening. Hellknights are savage, but stupid. Terrans are also savage, but can cobble together atomic weapons. This fact is common knowledge. I love you, Jason, but Terrans are used to scare Areva children into obeying their parents.”

Jason blinked. “I definitely want to talk more about this later. More importantly, we are about to have a huge fight on our hands. We only probably have a couple more minutes until those things charge, and we need a plan. Nobody should do anything until then. We have to move as one and—”

Mareen had stopped listening. The rage had finally overtaken her reason, fed by the dark magic within her. Her world had simplified, separated between allies and enemies. A growing army of enemies was facing her, and now this fact was all that mattered.

She finally allowed her blood magic out of its cage. The liquid in her veins became part of her will, entirely controlled by her need. Mareen’s eyes blazed red, and her body floated up as she levitated all of her own blood.

Her friends all fell back, gasping, but Mareen ignored them. All that mattered now was getting to Yelm, creating justice for her good-hearted grandfather, George.

Mareen distantly heart someone yelling behind her, but ignored it. Her friends might be upset, but she needed to do this. As she touched down on the battlefield and began walking forward, the gathered demons on the other side of the killing zone charged. Mareen ordered her blood to carry her forward, and her body obeyed.

Power sang through her body, carried everywhere by her magic, surging through her veins. She remembered every lesson she’d ever had, every fact she’d ever learned. But more importantly, she felt the creatures before her. They were evil, alien, and terrible, but they were still alive, at least in the loosest sense.

The first demon finally got close enough for Mareen to reach it with her power. It never even had a chance. The dusky-skinned, red-eyed woman clenched her fist and pulled, her third rank orb-Bonded strength using the attachments made through magic to rip the demon’s body apart. With her power, Mareen gathered up all the blood...and absorbed it.

Her eyes grew deeper, and Mareen turned her terrible gaze towards the rest of the incoming enemies. The moment stretched as she instructed her brain to think faster.

Increased strain on her body created tears, micro wounds throughout her tissue, but Mareen repaired them with her enhanced body magic as soon as they appeared. Blood magic sang through her limbs as she began processing the life force of the demon she’d just ripped apart. Aspects of its bestial nature were absorbed along with the power of its essence, but that was unavoidable, just a price of using blood magic.

The next hellknight to get close to Mareen didn’t have a chance, either. She hit sideways with her bronze hammer, the heavy metal backed by her superhuman strength caving the demon’s skull in. It fell, and Mareen absorbed its blood too.

In the space of seconds, dozens of chitin barbs slammed into her body from nearby chucker demons. Mareen wasn’t even fazed. She suppressed the pain, isolated each barb, ejected the venom, and then pushed the projectiles themselves out. Each tear, each rip in her skin closed up, aided by the power of the blood she was still collecting, still processing.

Mareen held up a hand and her fingertips erupted into deep wounds before sharp crystals of blood, forged by her will, erupted outwards to impale the distant chuckers, tearing them apart.

Then the main force of hellknights were upon her, attacking, and Mareen let her power run wild. The blood magic responded like a living thing, eager to kill.

That suited Mareen just fine.

She moved like violence incarnate, hammer flashing, destroying the bodies of towering, slavering demons. For each demon she killed, she absorbed at least a portion of their blood, building her own reserves back up, expanding her limits, her power responding to the new stimuli.

A couple of speedy demons jumped over the gaggle of their fellows, claws and grasping hands reaching for her. Mareen saw them coming, like they were moving with glacial slowness. She gestured, and the blood on the ground around her turned to a crimson blade that she scythed through the air, cutting the attacking hellknights in half.

Part of her had always admired how Henry could make armor and blades for himself. Now she could too. Mareen instructed the blood on her body to form armor plates, replacing the wood armor she already wore. More blood flowed up, connecting to the armor and strengthening it.

She turned, bringing some of the blood she’d absorbed through her body and out her mouth, injecting it with magic. Phlegm mixed with the volatile, crimson fluid erupted from her mouth. Each projectile launched with incredible speed, driven by her enhanced strength and her magic. The caustic spittle exploded on impact, creating bloody, steaming, horrific corpses of demons. The hideous things screamed and bellowed, still attempting to reach her as they died.

Mareen waded through the hellknights, teaching the unnatural things to fear. Her blood magic witnessed everything she did and approved, growing with her, giving her tools to destroy her enemies.

She lashed out with the hammer in one hand, and rents in her fingers allowed her to launch wave after wave of hardened, crystallized, crimson shards. Her power tore her enemies apart.

Suddenly, she sensed something new, a human heartbeat. Mareen ducked underneath a muscular, powerful hellknight’s swing, ripped its arm off with her free hand, and tore the blood from its body before she levitated herself, zipping over the battlefield to the heartbeat she’d felt. Her eyes saw nothing, but her blood magic didn’t lie.

As she closed, she launched several crystallized blood spears at the new source of blood. A Terran woman in a dark robe appeared in an instant to the naked eye, erecting a magic shield that stopped the crystal attack, the impact shattering the spears.

A LEDF crossed Mareen’s vision:

Nesee Gerile, Terran, Berban

Dolos Orb, Light Barriers

First Rank

“Blood magic!” the cultist, Nesee, screamed. Her blue eyes were wild, her blonde hair was burned and in disarray. “How dare you profane the most holy of magics with your—”

Mareen grabbed one of the woman’s wrists and crushed the bones. The cultist screamed, and Mareen hooked her hammer around the woman’s back to pull her close and prevent her from running away. The orb-Bonded cultist tried erecting a barrier between them, but Mareen just clamped down on the woman’s ruined arm again, making her convulse and lose concentration. Then Mareen let go of the arm, her hand going up to the cultists’ throat before she efficiently tore the woman’s throat out.

Mareen used her magic, ripping the life from the cultist and absorbing the dying woman’s blood and power through her mouth. Then she turned, covered in dripping crimson, her lips wet with the blood of the slain woman. The shiny, red armor around her body gleamed in the firelight, and her eyes glowed in the darkness of the newly fallen night.

Retribution had come to Ludus. Mareen had not been able to protect George. She had failed her grandfather, but at least she could avenge him.

Magic power and her enemies’ life force stirred inside Mareen, climbing out of her skin, changing her appearance. Mareen smiled, showing her new fangs. She moved forward silently, hovering above the battlefield. Her bronze hammer dripped, and she let blood flow out of her wrist down to the hammer, forming an enormous, steel-hard blade of crystallized crimson from the head of the weapon.

Using her new, terrible blade, Mareen moved onward, inexorably heading toward the glow of the distant helldoor. That was where Yelm would be, she was sure of it.

She split two demons at once with her new, giant weapon, lifting her whole arm until the hellknights were cut in half, their awful, steaming innards forming pools on the ground. Caught up in her bloodlust, Mareen absently absorbed the blood around her and levitated up high enough to twist the head off a humanoid hellknight. Everything around her seemed slow and weak, like the whole world was turning to paper. Paper made of meat.

With every beat of her heart, the blood magic explained new ways to destroy her enemies. Mareen listened.

Eyes in the Sky

Keeja hissed in a breath as she watched Mareen wield blood magic, absorbing the essence of demons and descending into a kind of focused madness. “So that’s what ‘Ol-Tentacles-in-the-lake was up to.”

Philana looked puzzled. “What do you mean? Xethuaniistcka shields its domain. We couldn’t watch the meeting they had, but we’d already seen Mareen practicing with blood magic. We knew she had forbidden power. More surprising than that, I can’t believe Dolos refuses to do anything about the shield over the lake.”

“That is not what I meant.” Keeja shook her head. “There are different types of blood magic, in fact, many different types. The type Mareen has is rare. It will grow in power as she kills with it, and during life or death struggles, it will even grow stronger during the fight itself. The tradeoff is that it leaves a permanent mark on the user. The actual process of absorbing blood and essences can drive a mage mad, too.”

Philana scrunched up her brow and gestured for the other high priestess to keep talking.

Keeja said, “We felt Xethuaniistcka’s awareness inside Mareen. It seems the old charlatan has a vested interest in Mareen surviving on Ludus, but doesn’t particularly care how it may harm her in the process. As for the shield, Dolos usually doesn’t directly interfere in much of anything on Ludus unless he is directly irritated by something.”

Philana grumbled, “I guess I can also somewhat understand why Dolos doesn’t do anything about the ‘Deepwater Rose’. He supports just about anything that causes conflict on this planet, especially violent conflict. But beyond the blood magic, letting an Old One take hosts, even passively? Why?”

Keeja shrugged. “I don’t think Dolos cares at this point. The entire universe is probably about to become a goat rope. Ludus is just the opening act. I personally think Dolos is hoping the added interest in this place will help his cause and get him more allies.

“Meanwhile, the Old Ones are…they just are. Dolos is more interested in collecting every last bit of data than picking a fight with beings more powerful than he is. I think that is why he’s basically delegating saving this world to several teams of orb-Bonded. It just isn’t important enough for him to handle personally.”

Philana looked troubled. “That is both very pragmatic and extremely cynical. It sounds just like Dolos, actually. But the fact you can figure all of this out so easily, and that you’re not more bothered by it is also somewhat disturbing.”

“Welcome to being a high priestess of Dolos,” said Keeja, her voice oozing with sarcasm. “It is truly wonderful. Especially once you accept you are stuck on this planet forever, functioning as little more than a servant. We populate dungeons with monsters and treasure for mortals to throw themselves at and die. The only way we will ever be released from our prison is if the First War repeats itself.”

Philana shot her a frown and shook her head.

“Yes, I know,” said Keeja. “That might actually happen now. The good news is if it does, we can leave…maybe. The bad news is that existence as we know it may end. Or better yet, we could wind up as a living battery, tortured for thousands of years.”

“Seriously, how can you be so cavalier about all this?” asked Philana. “You care about some of those below us, do you not? Some have even been becoming friends. And the First War…I’m not even really part of your world, this world, and even I fear such a thing.”

Keeja sighed. “Philana, we have known each other a long time. You are old. Unbelievably old to most mortals. But despite your age, you still have an optimism and youthfulness that colors how you see these things. Me? I’m old inside and out. For being a Holder, I still haven’t existed even a fraction of the time that others have, but working for Dolos all this time has had an effect.

“You’re also new to being a high priestess.” Keeja gestured vaguely around them. “You feel the others out there?”

Philana cocked her head. “Yes, there are…two, right? I mean in this general area.”

“That’s two you can identify. There might be another using her power to keep herself hidden. We can do that, sometimes. Chances are, at least one of them has an agenda. Word spreads quickly on this planet, and most know by now that I killed Biivan. Maybe one out there has even taken a bribe to kill my charges and is just looking for an excuse to make it happen. It could be they are just curious and watching.

“The only thing for sure is that I do care about those below, and the best thing I can do for them right now is do nothing.” Keeja felt the old frustration, the old hurt well up inside her. What use was power if she didn’t truly have her own will? A slave is a slave. She pushed the emotions down. Philana was new. It was bad enough the woman had needed to process this much ugly truth at once.

“Is that why you have not gone to watch over your charge, Henry?” asked Philana.

Keeja nodded, impressed that the nymph had thought to ask the question. Subtleties were not generally Philana’s strong suit. “Yes. I have been monitoring him. Henry has a gift for getting into trouble, just like his friend, but his challenges up until now have been more mundane. He will either handle them or he won’t. On the other hand, Jason has attracted the attention of half the high priestesses on the planet.

“Plus, Dolos just elevated you and told me to handle your training. I can’t do everything at once. Something had to give, and I decided that Henry is probably in the least danger now that he’s alive and building his own power base. Well, he’s in the least danger from everything but himself, and we can’t protect him from that.”

Philana nodded slowly. “I see. I am looking forward to meeting this Henry you seem so intrigued by.”

“I’m intrigued by all of them. Mareen as well. Unfortunately, depending how this plays out below, her blood magic rampage may irreparably damage her. It’s a pity.”

“Yes, that magic is generally forbidden for a reason,” agreed Philana.

Keeja held up a finger. “Mareen has a chance, though. I’m sure you’ve felt the other pieces moving around us too?”

“Yes, but I’m not sure what they can do now,” muttered Philana. Keeja inwardly smiled. Little Lana was probably the best of them now. The nymph was quiet and slow to open to others, but had a pure heart, even after hundreds of years on Ludus. Keeja hoped the other woman could resist changing even after being elevated.

Keeja did think that Philana was selling the Delvers short, though. But that was natural since she didn’t really know them yet. Keeja said, “You may be surprised. Let us continue watching over them and do our jobs. Hopefully they can do theirs.”

***

Bezzi-ibbi and his friends had truly descended into hell. When Mareen had begun killing demons by the handful earlier, moving towards the helldoor, Jason had yelled, “Follow her!” The fact the Delvers had only been momentarily stunned by the sudden savagery of Mareen's transformation and the violence of her new magic was probably testament to how much they'd been through over the last few months.

The whole group had sprung into action. Bezzi-ibbi grinned as he ran. Jason-ibbi may not have the same command presence as Henry-ibbi, but he was still decisive when he had to be. Plus, his intellect, logic, and loyalty to his friends meant every member of Delvers LLC trusted him completely.

Bezzi-ibbi had always watched Henry and Jason closely. Between his father, his two Terran brothers, his uncle, his mothers, and even Keeja, the young Jaguar Clan Hero was receiving one of the greatest leadership educations in all of Ludus, and he knew it.

Now he just needed to survive so he could use it one day.

A small, goat-sized demon burst out of the swirling fire and smoke, its wide eyes in a skeletal face above sharp gnashing jaws fixing on Bezzi-ibbi. The Mo’hali hero grinned back, showing his teeth. These smaller demons targeted him often as the group followed Mareen’s trail of broken, inhuman bodies.

Bezzi-ibbi hissed. He was small, but not defenseless by a large margin. This monster would learn like all the others had.

The demon barreled forward, making a noise like claws on tin. The ground underfoot was squishy and slippery, the surrounding area littered with the offal of Mareen’s handiwork. None of it mattered to Bezzi-ibbi, though. He’d long since taken off his shoes, and his toe claws gave him perfect traction as he smoothly pivoted out of the demon’s way. In the same motion, he whipped his sword up, lopping off one of the creature’s legs.

With a tangle of limbs and a grating screech, the demon went down, rolling with inertia. Bezzi-ibbi pursued, and when he was close enough, he pointed the index finger of his left hand, aiming, then elongated his arm. His entire limb turned into a spear with a wicked point. The quicksilver weapon punched through the creature’s skull. Bezzi-ibbi retracted his arm in distaste.

He pointedly did not watch when his quicksilver hand absorbed the demon’s blood that had still clung to his fingers. The young Hero wasn’t sure why his arm did that, and he really hoped that ignoring it would not come back to trip him while stalking.

Sparing a glance for the battlefield, he swallowed. Red lightning flashed in the sky. Up ahead, Mareen was still single-mindedly carving a swathe through the greatest concentration of hellknights. Bolts of energy, arrows, and even body parts flew around the battlefield.  Vitaliya seemed entirely unaffected by the hellish surroundings and increasingly horrible enemies. Her fire lanced out, at times shining strangely. Even the demons that seemed resistant to fire melted or were set aflame by her power.

Around the Delvers, a haze created by burning and charred bodies hung in the stale air. Small fires burned all over the destroyed landscape and torn bodies. The ground was littered with the corpses of demons. Blood and offal squished under Bezzi-ibbi’s bare feet and he grimaced in distaste. All the others were busy fighting demons or cultists, so the young Hero glanced around, looking for a place to ply his claws.

Nearby, Uluula was dueling a cultist mage to a standstill. Bezzi-ibbi sprinted towards her and realized the enemy was orb-Bonded when his LEDF activated. He saw:

Tyrees Gilbert, Exile Born Areva, Berban

Dolos Orb, Body Enhancement, Generation Two

First Rank

Bezzi-ibbi had clear line of sight to the enemy and extended a finger of his Hero field as quickly as he could. The special ability was very useful, but still somewhat slow. As soon as the invisible force touched the Areva orb-Bonded, Tyrees, he stiffened.

A male Areva orb-Bonded, thought Bezzi-ibbi. That’s not common. Running up behind the temporarily powerless man, the well-dressed Jaguar Clan Prince ran him through with his sword. The enemy gasped and slumped forward, his heart destroyed. Bezzi-ibbbi twisted his blade as he withdrew it and noticed Uluula’s pained, complicated expression.

Bezzi-ibbi knew that the others didn’t like it when they saw him kill. He didn’t understand why his youth mattered. Bezzi-ibbi was a born hunter and an adventurer of Delvers LLC. It was simple, common sense that he would assist in the hunt, especially during an apocalyptic demon invasion.

He glanced around and realized the group was being split up by the weight of the advancing demons. If not for Mareen, they’d probably all already be dead. Bezzi-ibbi could hear Jason-ibbi fighting somewhere in the distance, the telltale thunderclaps of his teleportation giving away his position. Flashes of rosy light penetrated the random fog banks and meant Vitaliya was probably still alive out there as well.

Bezzi-ibbi fell into a Jaguar Clan trance, his focus on surviving as the Delvers did their best to keep up with Mareen's rampage, killing demons of their own as fast as they appeared. Suddenly, Bezzi-ibbi was directly behind Mareen. He was confused for a moment until he realized that he hadn’t caught up, the enraged blood mage had been driven back.

Mareen was locked in a titanic struggle with a truly enormous, bone-plated, four-armed demon. The terrible monster bled constantly, and every time Mareen did damage, no matter how great, it just healed itself. The giant monster slammed down bladed forelegs, but Mareen either dodged as she gracefully hovered over the ground, or deflected the limbs with her great strength.

With a gasp, Bezzi-ibbi realized that the helldoor was within sight now. The huge, crimson portal hung in the empty air like a sore on the world itself. Demons poured out of it, smaller demons now. Humanoids with back-bending canine front legs, and heads with no face, just a massive maw of serrated teeth.

Spikes of ice lanced out from Gonzo’s hands, slamming into each of the lesser demons. Numbly, Bezzi-ibbi raced forward, slashing at downed enemies, ensuring they’d stay down. He’d do his part. Jaguar Troubadours were all great warriors, they just preferred to discuss a matter instead of using tooth and claw.

The giant, undying demon facing Mareen was not going down, but the newly-revealed blood mage just hit it harder with no strategy. Bezzi-ibbi didn’t want to use one of his mysterious new abilities, but he knew he didn’t have a choice. Jumping on the true-demon’s back, he extended the fingers of his metal left hand and made them form needle-sharp points. Then he slammed his weaponized hand into the demon’s back, siphoning its energy.

The demon screamed in agony, its back arching, bony plates shifting under pebbly skin that constantly wept blood. While Bezzi-ibbi weakened the beast, Mareen struck, a disturbing blade of blood erupting from the ground, nearly cutting the powerful demon in two. This time it stayed down for good.

Bezzi-ibbi jumped down from the back of the dying demon and ignored the sensation of power coursing through his arm. He forced himself to look up, studying Mareen’s changed appearance up close for the first time.

It was…intimidating. Bezzi-ibbi feared no mortal, but he still gulped when he fully beheld what his friend had become.

Mareen, or whatever Mareen was now, stood over two feet taller than she had before. Her original body showed in places, but her form was covered in rigid plates of dark, shiny armor. Gel-like, congealed blood ran over everything. Tubes formed of stolen blood and muscle covered her chest and limbs, weaving in and out of her armor plates.

Her head was topped with a spiked, crimson crown, and her pupil-less eyes glowed bright red. When her lips parted, a pair of wicked fangs displayed themselves. All her teeth had turned black.

Talons on her feet, made of the same armor that covered her body, flexed as she hovered in the air. In one hand, she held her old hammer, but it had been transformed. The bronze weapon had been ribbed with chitin ridges, and artificial veins wound its whole length, connected to Mareen’s arm and pulsing with her heartbeat. The top of the hammer sported a large, shiny blade made of metal-hard blood and guts, compressed to a shiny crimson surface.

Mareen’s other hand ended in a nightmarish limb of claws and spikes, no doubt stolen from one of the hellknights she’d slain. The new arm and claws extended far past where her own hand should have ended, almost dragging on the ground.

After cocking her head at him, she hissed, “Ally. Protect.” Then she turned towards the helldoor where several new demons had appeared. “Enemies.”

Suddenly, a man-sized blur flashed out of the darkness. The figure threw up a hand, spraying a blast of ice and snow into changed-Mareen’s face. She roared, and the figure sprang forward while she was distracted. A sword flashed at Mareen’s side, clanging off of her armor. The attack had missed one of her vulnerable, unarmored areas.

The figure jumped back, and Bezzi-ibbi got an LEDF after a chime in his head.

Yelm Swan, Ludan, Berban

Dolos Orb, Glacial Speed, Generation One

First Rank

Mareen must have seen the LEDF at the same time, because she took off after the evil man. Bezzi-ibbi tried to keep pace with her in order to offer assistance. He kept his hero field extended a few feet from his body as he ran. If Yelm tried to dart in and kill the Mo’hali adventurer like he had with Mareen, he’d get a nasty surprise.

Unfortunately, Yelm completely ignored Bezzi-ibbi. All of his attention was focused on Mareen as he dodged and ran away. He taunted, “It’s a pity you’re as difficult a bitch now as you ever were when you were just the teen, village whore. My Jeth wasn’t good enough, but every other man was, I’m sure. I saw how those other, married men looked at you. It serves you right that you turned into an ugly demon. Now the outside matches the inside.”

Then Yelm turned and grinned nastily, holding up a hand with sharp, icy knuckle armor. He drew a finger across his throat and said, "At least you are lasting longer than your idiot grandfather."

Mareen roared, throwing spikes of crystallized blood at Yelm. Then she reared back and spat a missile of acidic venom that punched through a smaller, skull demon after Yelm dodged. The orb-Bonded man was just too fast, even at first rank. Yelm laughed at Mareen, and she chased him towards the helldoor.

Bezzi-ibbi wanted to keep helping, but he had acquired some of his own problems. He dodged an attack by yet another smaller demon, changing his quicksilver arm into a wicked hook, then ripped the savage creature’s head off. He watched for every other member of his team out of the corner of his eye, but didn’t realize what was happening until it was too late.

Mareen chased Yelm closer to the helldoor before the orb-Bonded man suddenly hooked to the side. Mareen turned her head and threw more blood blades at the retreating man, floating closer to the portal. “Mareen, no, don’t go!” he cried.

The Bezz-ibbi could only watch helplessly as a couple of huge, powerful demons erupted from the growing gate, grabbing Mareen and throwing her through the portal. After that, even more demons appeared from the helldoor, bigger and stronger than the last.

With a sinking feeling, Bezzi-ibbi understood what was happening. The helldoor was getting larger, and when it did, more powerful creatures could come through it to Ludus. The smaller demons before had just been crossing over during a lull before the larger ones could arrive.

In just a few seconds, the surrounding area was full of huge, powerful, nightmarish demons. Meanwhile, the Delvers’ greatest, if most disturbing, fighter during the fight had been taken out and might already be dead.

Bezzi-ibbi’s hunter’s heart trembled. The young Hero knew better than to cry for his friend now. That would have to wait until later. But still, his faith felt under strain like the tips of his fingers if he pressed his claws into something hard. He was no war chief, at least not yet, but it didn’t take a great mind to see the inevitable.

The Delvers were losing. It was only a matter of time until they were overrun, and after that, the entire region.

The young Jaguar Hero snarled savagely and raced forward towards the nearest lumbering demon. His concerns about hiding his power, or what evolution his abilities might eventually take were no longer important. Now the only thing that mattered was survival.

It was probably too late for Mareen. He couldn’t imagine breaking that news to Henry, but if the group couldn’t survive long enough to close the helldoor, the entire issue was moot anyway.

Bezzi-ibbi watched numbly as a huge demon to his left turned its head and fixed a cluster of eyes on him. The giant monster walked like a lizard, but with eight sets of legs. Its two tails lashed separate directions, leaving furrows in the earth with bony blades.

A pair of small limbs terminating in whip-like, barbed tendrils guarded the demon’s back. There was no way for Bezzi-ibbi to even get near the thing to harm it, and it was probably fast enough that he couldn’t run away. Not for the first time, Bezzi-ibbi stared certain death in the eyes, baring his teeth in challenge.

He could smell the stinky fear on himself, but he ignored it. If this was his time to die, to greet his ancestors and Rark-han in the next hunting grounds under the sun, then he would leave this world like a true Family member of the Jaguar Clan. He would neither bow his head nor show his neck to an enemy.

The demon lumbered forward, a cruel look in its many eyes. From the corner of Bezzi-ibbi’s vision, a golden glow appeared in the clouds above, but the young Jaguar Troubadour couldn't spare any attention for it.

Then without warning, the nightmarish, reptilian demon was transfixed by a brilliant beam of light from the sky, blasting a hole through its body and setting it on fire. The true-demon thrashed and screamed, its enormous throat and lungs making an anguished bellow that shook the earth.

Bezzi-ibbi panted in shock as a huge shadow fell from the darkness above, blocking out the red lightning flashing overhead. The figure landed with a curse…a familiar curse. “Fuck doing that again,” snarled Henry. He let go of Aodh in front of him and the young adventurer fell to the ground, nearly crying from relief. A little purple animal hopped down too, and Bezzi-ibbi sucked in a breath.

Just standing there, the diminutive creature made his fur stand on end. Her menacing aura, even at this distance, was like a physical pressure. How could Henry tolerate standing there so casually?

The shadow extending behind Henry snapped forward around his body, forming articulated armor even darker than the surrounding night. The protection formed just in time to block a crossbow bolt that pinged away harmlessly to the side.

A cultist reared up out of a bank of fog, her empty crossbow pointed at Henry. After a chime, an LEDF message started scrolling across Bezzi-ibbi’s left eye.

Fellis Trahuley, Ludan, Tolstian

Dolos Orb, Specialist Type, Generation 1

Secon—

The scrolling immediately stopped and the words faded as the orb-Bonded cultist’s head disappeared, half of her face exploding into red mist. With wide eyes, Bezzi-ibbi glanced at Henry and noticed a new exogun extending past his hand made of the same material as his new armor. The Terran orb-Bonded sniffed and said, “Shooting crossbows at me? Get the fuck out of here with that shit.”

The reality of the situation finally settled past Bezzi-ibbi’s whiskers. He had no idea how it was possible, but Henry-ibbi was truly there. His Clan-brother had come to offer support in their time of need. The young Hero grinned savagely. Demons were terrifying, but he knew from experience that the more hopeless a situation got, the harder Henry-ibbi fought in response.

Henry leveled his exogun at another lumbering demon and four cracks split the night as he fired. The monster, a huge bull with the head of a man, its tail like a scorpion stinger, was blown apart. Each bullet Henry fired created gaping, violent holes in the demon’s body as it fell.

As Bezzi-ibbi watched, the exogun melted back into Henry’s arm, and the Terran man removed a strange, wicked-looking club from his leg to hold casually in one hand. Behind him, a huge, bipedal, earthen figure slammed into the ground from the sky before standing up. When the new figure turned, Bezzi-ibbi could see a blonde Terran woman’s face behind the metal bars of its head.

The woman in the bulky armor carried a massive halberd. She pointed one arm at the face of a nearby demon and a jet of fire burst forth, blinding the lobster-looking monstrosity for a short time. The distraction lasted long enough. The armored female took a couple crushing steps forward before swinging her massive, bladed weapon one-handed. The strike wasn’t particularly fast, but the sheer momentum and strength behind it cleaved the true-demon in half with a wet squelch of ruptured organs and breaking bones.

Two smaller demons nearby were suddenly grabbed by a couple of earthen figures that erupted out of the soil. As they struggled, rolling across the ground, the woman in the massive armor skewered both demons with her enormous weapon. The two figures of dirt and clay melted back into the ground.

The woman inside the deadly fighting suit let out a wild whoop. “Demons!” She yelled. “I never thought I’d get to kill true-demons!”

“Hang on to your tits, Volleyball,” growled Henry. “We have no idea what is going on, well, other than my friends are in trouble. That and monsters are bad and killing them is good. “ He turned to the young Jaguar Clan adventurer. “Bezzi-ibbi,” Henry said.

Bezzi-ibbi could feel his brother's steely gaze, almost like a physical pressure. Henry demanded, “What in the fucking fuck is going on here? And more importantly, where in the hell is my wife?”

The young Hero's heart leaped to his throat and his whiskers drooped. Uh oh.

Shattered

All around Henry, the large monsters he’d seen from the air, which had been about to overwhelm his friends, all died one by one, bellowing in pain and confusion. Each creature was blasted, impaled by beams of light fired by the crew of the Delvers LLC Mosquito. The gunners’ airguns seemed to be effective too, but were not even on the same level as the daysler weapons.

One nearby creature, standing at least the size of a Buick, went down with a hole in its head. Then the monster’s entire body burst into flame as either Rekkla, Trask, or Ceevil, zapped it with a daysler. Whatever these monsters were, they didn’t like concentrated light.

Ceevil, Tanushree’s short, middle aged, orb-Bonded guardswoman, had insisted on coming along with Tanushree for their trip to Mensk, which had worked out rather well. The Bobrik bodyguard had quickly learned to fly the Delvers LLC Mosquito, and was doing so now while the goblin siblings, Trask and Rekkla, manned the guns. Henry had expected her to want to go with Tanushree, since she was the young noblewoman’s bodyguard, but Ceevil had shrugged and muttered that Tanushree was a big girl. Henry suspected that the guardswoman just wanted to fly the Mosquito and shoot things.

At least the crew had had plenty of time to prepare for the current violence. They’d needed it after getting rusty on the rest of the trip.

Other than Henry’s occasional side trips to attune to new transportation platforms he found while navigating, using his accidental map-based ability, the journey on the Mosquito had been largely uneventful except for killing the occasional flying monster. Everything had been more or less peaceful until they’d seen the red lightning in the distance. Once Henry had realized that Aodh’s mysterious directions had them heading straight for the strange lights, and saw the glow of fire, he assumed that his friends were involved somehow.

Henry, Aodh, Tanushree, Ceevil, Trask, and Rekkla had had a quick meeting, and Henry had quickly laid out roles for the coming shenanigans. Even if he hadn’t believed his friends were involved with whatever they were flying into, turning around and not following Aodh’s directions had not been an option.

Flying high above the violence on the ground, Henry had observed the fighting below with a grim expression. It seemed like the Delvers had been fighting for some time. Staying at a decent altitude had been risky due to the lightning, but turned out to be useful as Henry observed Jason fight, dispatching flying monsters that were invisible until they were killed. Hopefully, Jason got them all.

Henry was glad they’d risked the freaky lightning instead of invisible monsters with stingers the size of his head.

Then he’d instructed Ceevil to begin lowering the Mosquito so they could come to the Delvers’ aid. As it turned out, they’d probably been just in time, reaching the optimum engagement distance as larger, more dangerous monsters had started appearing.

The Mosquito had had to hover fairly low to the ground to drop off Tanushree in the V-death. The armor easily attached and detached to the bottom of the Mosquito for transport, but Tanushree couldn’t survive a fall from too high up - even with the strength of her magic and protected by the V-death.

While Tanushree climbed into her earthen mecha suit, Henry grabbed Aodh, who’d in turn carried Honey, and darkglided all three of them down to the ground. Henry thought he was getting good at naming things. Darkgliding had been kind of an accidental discovery when he’d fallen off the Mosquito during the battle with the rock wyrm.

His first thought as he had fallen through the air was that he really needed to install better safety measures to prevent falling. Then he’d realized that to survive to do so, he’d need to think of something fast.

The first thing he’d done was slam into place his new metal mind ability, using magic to focus his brain. He’d gotten the idea from the way Jason’s magic could speed up thoughts. Henry couldn’t do the same thing, but he could filter out all distractions to focus entirely on one thing. As it turned out, this ability was probably better than just thinking faster - at least for him.

On the way down, a solution had presented itself to Henry. He’d conjured darksteel armor around his torso, then generated a monowing, almost like a hang glider. Henry had hang glided a few times in his early twenties, so leveling out and slowing his descent hadn’t been terribly difficult. However, with even more time to think about the problem, he’d figured out another issue.

In the air, he couldn’t imbue himself with strength from the earth. Being at regular human strength would make landing potentially more painful than it had to be. The solution, and by extension a new ability, had occurred to him before he’d landed.

When he’d been close enough, Henry had extended a line of darksteel towards the ground, stretching the maximum amount of material he could manipulate to the limit. As soon as his tendril of darksteel had touched the ground, Henry had been able to draw strength from the earth. The experience had also taught him that he could use darksteel to form a limb of sorts.

All these thoughts flashed through his mind while Bezzi-ibbi just looked at him instead of answering his question about Mareen. Henry felt his skin grow cold. His thoughts immediately went to some dark places, but he forced himself back into the present. He absently noted that Aodh was standing guard to one side, presumably protecting Henry’s back while he tried to interrogate Bezzi-ibbi. Honey was staying near their feet, examining the carnage around them with an air of curiosity.

“Bezzi-ibbi, could you please answer my question? You can speak in English.” Henry felt his patience fraying, a fact that was not helped by the end-of-the-world weather, a glowing portal nearby, and the death screams of creepier than normal, dangerous monsters from every direction.

The Jaguar Clan Hero just continued to stare at Henry. The scene would have been comical if Henry weren’t so worried, and if the boy weren’t covered in blood and holding a sword he’d pulled from his metal arm, standing in the middle of a terrifying, burning battlefield. When Jason appeared nearby with a rush of displaced air, Bezzi-ibbi scampered off. The young Jaguar Clan Hero dodged a firebolt from out of the swirling smoke and jumped onto a monster being roasted by Vitaliya, slamming his sword into its back.

“Did the kid just run off and fight monsters instead of answering my question?” asked Henry.

“Nice to see you too,” said Jason wryly. “We’ve been exchanging MMB’s for a while, but it’s still crazy to see you in person. How in the hell are you even here? It was starting to look grim for a while. I thought we were about to get overrun, but your new machine is really making the difference. It’s...honestly really a relief that you’re here.” Jason gestured at the hellscape around them and awkwardly shifted his weight from foot to foot.

Henry looked at his friend, aghast when he realized that Jason was feeling emotional. In the background, their team fought for their lives, and stray bolts of deadly magic sped out of the darkness, sometimes narrowly missing one of the Delvers. Giant monsters continued to pour out of the red glowy thing in the near distance. Granted, a lot of them were getting cut down as soon as the crew in the Mosquito above them could light the things up with dayslers, but the entire surrounding area was a wasteland of nightmares and violence under the cover of night.

“Are you seriously thinking about hugging me in the middle of all this shit?” Henry asked, vaguely gesturing around them. “There are literally monsters all over the fucking place. The only reason I’m even here to help in time is because of Aodh’s ridiculous magic.”

Jason frowned. “They’re true-demons, not standard monsters. And come on, man, you’re my best friend and we thought you were dead for weeks before we started sending letters back and forth. Stop trying to act like a hard ass all the time.”

Henry huffed, “Fine. Hurry up and hug me, but then you need to tell me where the hell my wife is. I want to see Mareen. If we all end up dying here, I’m not doing so before I can tell her some things and finally fix the servant collar stuff.”

Jason had grinned and he’d started forward to hug Henry, but then froze when Mareen was mentioned. The taller man’s hesitation made Henry’s stomach drop, and he felt his self-control threatening to break. This is bad.

“You were watching above for at least a while, right? How do you not know?” asked Jason slowly.

Henry opened his mouth, not knowing what he was going to say, when a loud announcement rang out across the battlefield. The contralto female voice cut through the surrounding bedlam, creating a hush and causing the fighting to come to a sudden pause. The nearby demons stilled, and the stray bolts of magic from out of the darkness paused.

“This is your last chance to join us. The hellgate grows larger, and there is nothing you can do about it. The larger the portal grows, the larger the demons will be. The elite forces of Berber are no doubt on their way, but by the time they get here, it will be too late. Definitely too late for you.”

The woman was standing on a glowing disc, surrounded by some sort of force field, hovering above and behind the portal. The woman wore dark robes like all the other cultists Henry had seen, but hers were much more ornate, with black on black decorations of terrible imagery and glyphs that were just fundamentally wrong. She also wore a hood that hid most of her features.

Henry guessed the glowy thing was the hellgate, which made sense with all the demons coming out of it, and a few things immediately clicked into place again. Jason’s jaw was set and he looked grim, the dancing shadows from a nearby flame playing over his face.

“You have Yelm with you! I saw him! If he’s a friend, you’re an enemy!” shouted Jason.

Henry muttered, “Really? Yelm was with them? That’s a pretty crazy coincidence. Please tell me you killed that son of a bitch.”

“No, he’s still alive, and I don’t think it was a coincidence he was here. Remember the Asag stuff all over George’s cabin? Yelm attacked Mareen and she took off chasing him before...before we lost her,” Jason answered softly. “I was saving Vitaliya when it all happened and only caught the last bit of it. I saw when she...was taken.”

A few more things clicked into place for Henry. The crew of the Mosquito had stopped firing. Henry’s thoughts felt like they were treading through honey, and he absently added combat training for the Mosquito crew to his future to-do list. The goblin gunners in particular should know better than to stop firing unless ordered to. He noticed that while everyone was distracted by the woman on the platform, more demons were slowly coming out of the portal.

The woman on the platform held up her gloved hands, announcing, “Yelm disobeyed orders. He will be punished. If you join our ranks, you can still have a legal feud. Our God understands hatred.

“Come serve Asag and know what it is like to be victorious! Even now, agents of Asag work to open a helldoor above Mensk, the capital of Tolstey! Our plans are clever and our will is strong! We will triumph! Triumph with us, or die as you struggle!”

As the woman in the air droned on, Henry frowned and unlimbered his sniper rifle. He’d been practicing with the weapon a lot. “Fuck this,” he muttered.

The cultist standing on the glowing disk in the sky was still ranting. “If you will lay down your arms and pledge your souls to Asag, we will—” Her words were cut short, turning to a shrill scream as Henry’s max power bullet tore through the priestess’ shield, shattering it, and took off her leg at the knee. Motes of crimson light from the broken shield joined drops of blood, spraying out behind the woman as she reeled backward.

Henry grunted in satisfaction, opened the bolt, and inserted another special round. His sniper rifle rounds were still largely made of gold, but also had an iron core that had never been exposed to air in any way, even while leaving the earth. It was Henry’s secret method to make his armor-piercing rounds, allowing the use of non-blessed iron. Each bullet had a thin layer of silver at the tip too, protecting it from the friction of hypersonic flight, and maybe even providing a bit of spooky mojo.

The bullets sure seemed to be doing their job on the cultist in the air. Henry managed to get another shot off before the woman fell, destroying her shoulder in the process. As part of the priestess’ arm disappeared with the exit wound, her screams redoubled.

The Delvers nearby all turned to look at Henry, blinking. He growled, “Why the fuck are you just standing around? While that psycho bitch was ranting, more monsters or demons or whatever keep coming out of that fucking portal! Get your thumbs out and kill things!”

Almost immediately, three daysler beams stabbed down from above, immolating an equal number of large demons. Then while the dayslers charged, cracks of the Mosquito gunners’ air rifles began punctuating the red lightning and thunder in the sky.

Henry sprang forward, destroying the entire forward section of an insectoid demon’s body with a mighty swing of Meteor Origin. The very air seemed to tremble with the power of the strike.

“We are going after my wife.” Henry had figured out what had happened. Everyone was too chicken shit to tell him, Mareen had gone through the portal. “Bezzi-ibbi, Jason, come with me. Let’s go kill some cultists and grab that mouthy priestess bitch or whatever she is. The one I just shot.”

Jason threw a knife, and after a quick weapon teleport, one of the last, man-sized demons in the distance went down with a bronze blade in its neck. “You are taking this better than I thought you would. I thought you’d go tearing off through the helldoor the moment you heard or understood.”

“Oh, I’m going after her.” Henry clenched his jaw, ignoring how his stomach felt like it’d just dropped out the bottom of his body. He felt despair, sickly fear, and a touch of desperation. But he refused to lose Mareen. Giving in to his shock would probably just get him killed and not do her a bit of good, either. If he was going to help Mareen, he had to use his head, not his heart. His time in Iraq had not been fun, but it had been educational.

There was nothing like tying tourniquets on some poor Joes who’d gone to save a buddy, who’d gotten fucked up for their trouble, to teach a valuable lesson. Henry had saved some lives, and he was proud of what he’d done as a medic. But on Ludus, as long as someone survived a fight, most wounds could be cured with magic, or orb powers. It seemed the most valuable knowledge Henry had taken with him was what not to do in combat.

The Asian adventurer slung his sniper rifle, designed to look like a Walther WA-2000, and conjured an exogun on his hand with multiple barrels. He loaded them all quickly without having to look, and began shooting demons as his little strike team headed towards the downed priestess. Some more cultists were presumably protecting her. Most of the magic attacks out from the darkness were coming from that direction now.

Henry said, “We are going to find the chick I just shot, we are going to figure out what in the fuck is going on, and we are going to rescue my wife. Then we are going to stop whatever it is these assholes are doing.

“But first we’re going to kill all those fuckers throwing magic at us, and take care of all these demons. Before we go tearing off anywhere, we need intel, and we need to secure where we’re coming from. We should also do something about securing our ass, so let’s make sure the Mosquito crew has everything set up to guard our backs, ASAP.” Henry just assumed that Jason would go with him. His friend was a better man than Henry would ever be, and Jason had recently proven himself a deadly sonofabitch.

“It’s good to have you back, Henry.” Emotion choked Jason’s throat, and Henry shook his head. He could tell his friend’s feelings were genuine, and the truth was Henry was glad to be back among his comrades too. The Delvers were like his second family. He could never say so, though. For now, it was more important to help keep them all alive. The possibility that Mareen was past saving was not worth contemplating yet.

“I’d say it was good to be back, but that would be a lie,” growled Henry. “I’d much rather be eating shoal shrimp in Makovo. But we are going to do the right thing here. We are going to rescue Mareen. And if these FUCKING COCKSUCKERS!” Henry shouted before taking a calming breath, shaking from the sudden anger coursing through his veins. “If they hurt her, we are going to burn their whole goddamn planet to the ground, helldoor or not.”

“Sounds like fun,” said Volleyball gleefully, stomping up in her armor that had been splashed liberally with demon blood.

Jason goggled. “Who is she? Is that a mecha? Henry, what in the hell did you do?”

“We can talk about that later. In case you hadn’t noticed, people are trying to kill us.” Henry punctuated his words by rattling off a few shots from his exogun in the general direction some bolts of green fire came from, but inside he was smiling grimly. Jason had reacted exactly as he’d expected him to.

Henry couldn’t wait to show Jason and Mareen the Mosquito. Mareen was definitely alive. Henry was going to find her, and he was going to apologize for ever leaving her alone. And more importantly, he was never going to do it again.

As Henry dodged magical attacks and shot demons with gold bullets on a fantasy world, fighting for his life with his best friend, shoulder to shoulder with some of the best battle buddies he’d ever met in his life, he struggled to stay calm. The former EMT fought to keep the tears out of his eyes. Going to pieces wouldn’t help Mareen at all. His power was useless without a calm mind to control it.

Henry jogged forward, killing everything in his path. He snarled as he let his emotions grow cold and distant, but some thoughts leaked through, thoughts full of fear and despair. Oh God, or the universe, or whoever is listening, please don’t let me be too late. Please. Thank you that Jason is okay, but Mareen...please.

Please, God. Please don’t let me fail her again.

Outwardly, Henry snarled and unleashed pent up aggression. Inside, he worried and prayed.

Girl Talk

Tanushree stomped forward in her powerful armor, absently flicking her arm blade out and retracting it. Henry had figured out how to solve that problem a while back. Now there was a little jointed lever on the wrist of her armor so she could retract the blessed steel blade.

The rest of the battle had been anticlimactic. Tanushree shook her head as she thought about the last few minutes. She’d believed Henry was powerful, but after meeting his friend Jason, her perception of what orb-Bonded could do had been forever changed. She’d seen powerful ‘Bonded in the past, all members of the gentry, but Henry and Jason were just different. Their methods weren’t particularly flashy, but when they worked together, and with the help of everyone else, including her, the entire battle had been over in moments.

Now a few straggler demons were loose on the world, but almost all the cultists had been killed. Once the Mosquito crew had been watching over them, Jason had been free to teleport around the battlefield, cutting down cultists before they even knew what had been happening. The natural light that the daysler orbs gave off had both revealed and repelled the invisible flying demons, so they hadn’t been a problem, either.

The tall, blonde young woman bit her lip as she thought about the battle. Jason had been terrifying. He could be anywhere, anytime. Armor, weapons, even most magic had not even slowed the powerful, precise cuts of his sparking, two handed sword. Henry’s guns had barked in a staccato rhythm, mowing down demons.

Tanushree was disappointed that she hadn’t been able to do more. Her first orb-Bonded battle, and she’d basically been a retainer. Then again, logic and honesty compelled her to admit that as long as she attached herself to this new group, this role might continue to be her lot in life. At least it came with a great deal of power. Playing support beat being dead, too.

Unfortunately, for such powerful men, Henry and Jason were still men, prone to indecision and lack of direction. The proof of that was currently playing out before her eyes.

The former EMT and programmer from Earth stood staring down at the cultist that Henry had shot out of the sky. The woman was snarling around her gag, her arms tied behind her. Presumably she was orb-Bonded and had a LEDF blocker. She obviously didn’t have any physical abilities, though, or it wouldn’t be possible to restrain her with rope, ruined shoulder or not.

The woman had bandages on her shoulder and a tourniquet on her stump of a leg. She was no longer bleeding out. If given proper medical attention, she’d probably live...unlike the dead cultists nearby.

Henry scratched at the ridiculous hair on his face and patted his leg while he regarded the woman. He said, “I stabilized her. She’s gotta be in shock right now, though. We’re wasting time but I’m not sure what else to do. Mareen is out there and we need to know more but I don’t—” Henry blew out an angry, frustrated breath.

Jason looked intense and thoughtful. “I bet she’s been through a lot as an Asag priestess. I’m assuming she’s a priestess. I wonder if we could even faze her with anything we’d do. You messed her up pretty bad and she’s still snarling at us.

Tanushree eyed Jason sideways. She didn’t know him well yet, but he was even stranger than Henry. The tall man seemed to have the budding power of a god, but his mannerisms screamed awkwardness. Both men had an enemy at their feet and yet they stared at her...talking.

For all their strength, Henry and Jason were still men, strong of body but weak of spine.

Speaking of men...Tanushree spared a glance for Aodh where he stood to one side, looking dashing and handsome as usual. She smiled and her pulse quickened as she considered her budding plans to marry that one. Normally, a woman of her station would never choose to be anything other than a first wife, and definitely not the first wife of a lower station man. However, she viewed it as an investment. Aodh O’Breen was going places.

Maybe she could impress him. Men liked capable women who could guide them through confusing or uncomfortable times.

After Tanushree walked the last few steps in her armor, she began undoing the clasps that would allow her to exit the V-Death. “Aodh, please be a sweetmeat and come help me get out of this?” she called.

The boy smiled and headed over, helping her with the access to her suit. However, as she was about to step down, a red-haired girl wearing a scowl seemed to appear out of nowhere. She snarled, “Who are you and why are you talking to little Aodh so casually?”

Ah. This bitch. Aodh had already told her about his cousin, Vitaliya. Tanushree knew exactly how to handle her type. Vitaliya moved her intense regard from Tanushree to Aodh and began rushing over, gushing, “You’re safe and you finally came back! You should not go off on your own! First becoming an adventurer, and now this!? You—”

Her words were cut off as the mudman Tanushree had conjured clotheslined her to the ground. Another mudman stood behind her, holding both her arms in earthen hands. Yet a third construct stood above Vitaliya, pulling her hair back to lever the redhead’s face up from the ground.

And just because Tanushree never forgot a lesson, nor needed to learn one twice, she had conjured another figure of earth to stand next to her. Henry’s lesson had hurt her pride, but that was what armsmasters were supposed to do.

Vitaliya’s eyes opened wide in shock, then swam with venom. Tanushree could feel some physical heat even where she was standing. Good luck burning my mudmen, idiot. Out loud, she said, “What makes you think you can address me with no title? Who dismissed you?”

Tanushree mentally instructed the mudman holding Vitaliya’s hair to pull a bit harder, to make it more uncomfortable. The other woman had to be exhausted from fighting a pitched battle for so long, but if so, Vitaliya didn’t show it. She continued to struggle. Tanushree had to admit that Aodh had not been embellishing about the fire mage. This girl would be impossible to break in a short time.

Aodh looked uncertain as he scuffed his boot on the ground, saying, “Is this too much, Lady Tanushree? I mean, Vitaliya was just happy I was safe. She hasn’t actually done anything…”

The tall, blonde noblewoman didn’t reply. She just stared at Vitaliya on the ground, projecting all the self-confidence and power she could muster. The fact her orb-Bonded magic completely nullified Vitaliya’s had been a lucky coincidence. Eventually, the light of reason returned to the other woman’s eyes and she hesitantly asked, “Lady Tanushree? Lady Tanushree, as in Lady Tanushree Bobrik?”

Tanushree ignored her, responding to Aodh instead. “I should take her life for such disrespect. An agent of Berber speaking to me like that? It’s preposterous. However, I know you care for your family, Lord Aodh. I will spare her for you.” She ordered her mudmen to painfully twist Vitaliya’s limbs before letting the girl go. Then the constructs picked up the redhead and shoved her forward. In a gesture of power and self-confidence, she let all the mudmen melt back into the ground.

Tanushree summed up the red-haired mage’s existence with a dismissive gesture. “Simpleton, you are Vitaliya, yes? Get out of my sight. You may attend me in an hour or when we move out from this location, whichever comes first. Don’t dare speak with such disrespect to another member of the Berber peerage. If you do so, losing your foolish tongue will be the best you can hope for. It is not your place to be too familiar, and that applies to how you speak to Lord Aodh as well.”

Yes, Tanushree knew how to deal with silly bitches like Vitaliya. The powerful woman was used to being in control, and truth to tell, was probably still incredibly dangerous. However, she was also part of the system, a system that benefited Tanushree. The right move was to bind Vitaliya with her own self-identity, and establish some ground rules to boot. Simple.

Vitaliya’s face was an interesting mix of colors and expressions as she processed the last few moments. Eventually, wisely, proving she was not a complete moron, she stalked off without saying another word. Tanushree watched her go, noting she had a rather nice ass. Perhaps if she found the other woman a man to play with she’d stop acting like such a fool. Stupid people made terrible vassals. Maybe Vitaliya just needed someone to screw her brains out so she could get some.

It was a good thing the fire mage had gotten some Berber Intelligence schooling, otherwise she might have been stupid enough to push the issue, and Tanushree would have had to kill her. It was easier to keep her alive. Men were difficult to console and she didn’t want to see Aodh get all weepy. It’d be even worse if the man went on some sort of rampage…. Tanushree shuddered.

She would always try to keep Aodh happy. Creator knew she couldn’t stop him if he lost control. Speaking of control…

Tanushree turned back to the pitiful sight of the Terran men standing over their prisoner. The cultist on the ground had stopped snarling and was now warily regarding Tanushree. She still had eyes full of defiance, but she seemed to have recognized the danger that was currently walking away from her war suit.

Jason looked uncomfortable. “Was it really necessary to pin her to the ground like that? I mean, you two had barely even spoken to each other.”

“Sir Henry, please inform your friend that I am your sponsor.”

Henry shrugged, most of his regard focused on the distant helldoor. “What she said, dude. This is Lady Tanushree Bobrik. I sort of owe her a lot of money and she’s a huge reason we’re even here right now. She’s also a Berber aristocrat and pretty raw. I’m kind of just glad she’s on our side.”

Jason shook his head. “You built her a mecha, though?”

“Well, yeah. It was part of the deal. Plus, it was kind of fun.” Henry’s voice was short. He met Jason’s eyes while talking, but his mind was obviously elsewhere. His body radiated stress.

“Do you ever wonder whether you should, or just whether you could?” Jason paused and scratched by the side of his mouth before asking, “Uh, any chance you could build me one?” Jason’s tone was light, but it was obvious he was hiding tension, too. Both men were worried about the one called Mareen, but didn’t know what to do about it.

What idiots. Luckily, they had help.

Tanushree ignored the two the men prattling on. It was time to do grownup work. She knew what torture felt like. She’d experienced it for the first time at thirteen or so when one of her family’s guardswomen had begun conditioning her for pain. Men of the peerage were spared the lash, but women had to be strong. Women had to be capable of doing the hard things.

The time for a woman to act was in situations like this one. The two men from Earth went through the motions of banter, pretending they weren’t stressed and worried, avoiding the fact that a rotting Asag cultist on the ground wouldn’t give her up secrets freely. Tanushree considered the bound woman for a moment before heading back to the V-death and fetching a bag.

She stalked back and pulled a knife from her belt, examining the other woman thoughtfully again. Jason and Henry paused their pointless conversation and watched her. All the others were away, either watching their perimeter or assisting in killing the demons coming out of the gate. The true-demons still did so, just slower now.

Jason said, “Ah, if you are going to hurt her, she is the cultist for a dark god. I mean, she’s probably used to all sorts of messed up stuff. We need to figure out some other way to—”

“Silence,” snapped Tanushree. “You have avoided your responsibility to have any say in this matter. Just watch or leave. Some things simply must be done. That is, unless you wish to just jump through the portal after your friend Mareen? I know that is the eventual goal, and I may even go with you, but Henry was right. Information is necessary.”

With that, the young Bobrik heir bent down and slashed the priestess’s arm with one precise, economical movement. Then she upended a vial of liquid from her pouch onto the wound. The open cut greedily soaked up all the magic potion. Then she thoughtfully took out another vial before pouring again. The prisoner thrashed, trying to avoid the liquid, but she was bound properly and couldn’t.

Yes, she knew what that was. The thought was grim.

“What is that?” asked Henry. His tone was much more thoughtful than Jason’s had been, more resigned.

“The first vial was to keep her conscious. The second was a healing potion that would help build blood and repair damage that’s done. This combination prevents the captive from passing out, and allows more damage to be done without killing her.” The cultist was definitely starting to look nervous. Good.

“Healing potions... We have those, but I don’t think anyone’s ever used them...right?” Jason asked.

“That’s because in some ways, you are all far too powerful for your own good,” Tanushree muttered. Then she bent down and began removing the Asag priestesses’ clothing with her knife, being careful not to touch the bonds restraining her. The razor-sharp blade made short work of the cloth.

“Is that really necessary?” asked Jason. He gestured vaguely. “She’s our prisoner. Shouldn’t we treat her with respect and stuff? Henry?”

Henry answered, “If we were in the military and this was a war, yes. But this is a fucking fantasy world. Honestly, the rules shouldn’t be any different here. They should be based on what we believe, but sometimes Tanushree is right even though it’s, uh, uncomfortable. I really don’t know how to get any information out of that cultist chick, and I really am ready to go after Mareen in about ten more minutes if we don’t get any new intel. I'm not sure there are many lines I wouldn't cross right now. I want to get my wife back. Failure is not an option.” The man’s voice sounded tired now more than angry. Tanushree knew it was probably a byproduct of extreme emotional distress. She imagined Aodh being on the other side of the helldoor by himself and shuddered.

People of action oftentimes had a difficult time staying still. Experience could temper that, but Tanushree knew she had a long way to go. She was still young, but luckily, her training had been harsh. Henry, though...every bone in his body was probably urging him to jump through the portal right now. He was only controlling himself with will and sheer stubbornness, it seemed.

Henry was a strange man, but Tanushree did feel budding loyalty for the man who’d built her V-death and given her solid claim to her family name. The least she could do was help him find his wife after he’d single-mindedly crossed most of the country for her.

Tanushree removed the last of the cultist’s clothing. The woman was lighter skinned than she’d been expecting. Middle aged. Scarred. The brand of Asag on her thigh. Missing a few toes, probably to feed to demons when she was still an acolyte. Tanushree had heard about these Asag people. Missing toes spoke of past emotional scars. She’d start there.

“Are you absolutely, really sure this is necessary?” said Jason, his voice pained. Henry just stood with his arms folded, stony faced.

“She’s just naked,” Tanushree scoffed. “I can assure you that she’s done much worse to others, probably personally, by her own hand. This cunt gave her entire life to a dark god that thinks feeding demons human flesh is an appropriate way to worship. Human sacrifice is popular, too. I’m starting to understand why reports were coming out of the capital of missing people, especially children. A lot of these rotting bastards are fertilizing the ground around us.”

“But...torture? She’s a woman!”

“What does that matter?” Tanushree frowned. “I agree it would be nice if we could simply kill her, maybe even just cut off her limbs and throw her through the portal for the tender mercies of the demons, but you want information, yes?”

Jason’s mouth hung open, and he closed it with a snap after a moment. The young noblewoman understood she’d missed some subtlety there, but it didn’t matter, not really. The man would either understand or he wouldn’t. This was one of life’s harsh lessons, like death.

Tanushree stared dispassionately at the priestess for another moment before conjuring four mudmen. One of them she kept near her, remembering her lesson again. However, two of them laid hard, soil hands on the woman’s arms and legs, securing them more thoroughly. Tanushree didn’t want the bonds to come off so the priestess could start lashing out with any kind of power.

Then she instructed the last mudman to start crushing the prisoner’s toes one by one. Slowly.

The priestess began shrieking around her gag, writhing. Tanushree nodded, her eyes cold. That was the trick. If you could figure out any insecurities, any fears, then exploit them, it could make everything move much quicker. She was glad that the priestess hadn’t given off certain tells towards Henry or Jason. Tanushree could simulate rape with the mudmen, but the more involved this torture got, the more it would weigh on her soul.

There was always a price. Always.

Tanushree conjured another mudman from the ground, this one smaller, and instructed it to remove the woman’s gag. “What is your name?” she asked, her tone normal, like she was talking to a guardswoman.

“Terrible Asag take you, you rotting, mewling, marked whor—” The woman’s voice was cut off as the small mudman stuck its fist into her mouth. Tanushree instructed the larger mudman to crush another toe. The smaller construct started putting pressure on the back of the prisoner’s throat. When the priestess threw up, the bile made it even harder for her to breathe. Adding drowning to the pain could be really terrifying, Tanushree knew.

Henry had a green pallor and looked like he wanted to walk away. Tanushree knew him well enough to assume only honor kept him there. In his heart, the man was a healer. The man was all bark and no bite. He was a deadly warrior, but war was different than...what Tanushree was doing. He probably felt responsible and wouldn’t, or couldn’t, try to dodge the burden.

Jason had stopped complaining and didn’t look comfortable, but hadn’t turned away. His expression was complicated. Tanushree knew that look. She’d worn it herself. He had the eyes of someone who knew they were witnessing something terrible, something wrong, but perhaps necessary. He was studying, learning.

When Tanushree’s mudmen had finished crushing the toes and began pulling them off, Jason became noisily sick. Even Henry turned away for a moment, taking a break and breathing heavily through his nose. The Bobrik noblewoman ignored them. She was waiting for just the right time, the moment when the priestess would break and do almost anything to end her suffering.

Since the helpless cultist had been serving a dark god and probably feared what would happen to her soul more than anything Tanushree could do to her physically, the moment of opportunity would probably be short. A keen eye would be needed to spot it and know how to take advantage.

Yes, it was lucky for Henry and Jason that they had her help. It would cost them, though. Hurting the prisoner like this was bringing back some very unpleasant memories for Tanushree. Her training had made her strong, but she could feel her heart hardening as the mudmen began twisting the woman’s other ankle in a way it wasn’t designed to move.

Crushing every bone from the bottom to the top of the woman would be a good place to start. If necessary, she’d have the mudmen fill the woman’s orifices, going deeper and wider slowly as they continued to destroy her limbs. The key to torture like this, in the open, with lives on the line, was to be as methodical as possible. All the effort was wasted unless they got the information they needed. As she continued, Henry finally vomited too. The man was shaking and had tears in his eyes.

The Asag priestess’s throaty, panicked screams were so loud they got around the small mudman’s fist. The woman threw up again, and Tanushree had to pause to flip the prisoner onto her side before resuming again. The potions she’d used would keep the prisoner alive and conscious, but she could still choke to death.

It would almost be time to remove the cultist’s improvised fist gag and ask if she was ready to talk. Tanushree had a legitimate healing potion in her pouch as well as a painkiller. Soon, she could start using it as the temptation of a reward. First, she had to make the prisoner feel as if she’d spent the last few days in agony, having every moment drawn out.

Tanushree’s heart was like ice as she brought the naked woman on the ground closer to the breaking point. The mudmen were very effective for this sort of work. Tanushree’s magic was very versatile, and that thought made her feel a kernel of pride. The fact she could be so good at doing what was necessary, excelling at things others wouldn’t or couldn’t do made her hate herself a little less.

It would have to be enough.

Bad Trip

Vitaliya stood with her arms crossed, trying to suppress raging emotions. She warred with herself between frying the huge, blonde bitch—powerful noblewoman be damned—or being happy that sweet little Aodh had found such a powerful...friend.

Everything about the thought was galling, but also made her incredibly proud. Vitaliya had not been so confused about any one confrontation in her life. Her duty was not complicated, nor was her family loyalty. Her training as Berber Intelligence made the matter razor-clear. Even her brain was in agreement. But was that nasty, aggressive, Bobrik....opportunist, truly even good enough for little Aodh?

The humiliation that Vitaliya had been held on the ground like a child by constructs was not helping matters. If that bitch had known how close she came to being roasted alive, perhaps she wouldn’t have been so smug. But attacking a noblewoman, and one that sweet, precious little Aodh likes as well? Could she do it?

Vitaliya gritted her teeth and warred against her emotional turmoil. Her magic responded to her feelings, making the situation worse, but the Berber Intelligence operative had an iron will. It was why she was ranked at the very top of the new agents and had been partnered with Gonzo, after all.

For the time being, she’d just have to imagine burning the satisfied look off the blonde hussy’s face. Anything for little Aodh. But if Vitaliya had to save Aodh from himself, that was a choice she would make when the time came. If part of her duty was to kill that condescending, noble-born woman, well, wouldn’t that be a shame?

***

Henry struggled against his overwhelming compulsion to jump through the nearby helldoor. No new demons had come through for a while now despite the portal growing larger.

Looking at the ugly thing brought back flashes of what he knew about the other side. Brecken. Asag’s world.

Now Henry knew that the atmosphere on the other side was breathable and that the portal always opened up to the same spot. Without knowing that, just crossing through could have been suicide. He had the information he’d needed to go after Mareen, but the same life experiences that had tempered his urges earlier to go tearing off after his wife were forcing him to act rationally now.

It hurt his heart and actually caused him physical pain to imagine what Mareen might be going through. But at the same time, he wanted to rescue his wife, not die trying. That meant being smart and taking his friends.

The damn fools had all volunteered.

He and Jason had worked fast after interrogating the prisoner. They’d gotten the answers they’d needed from Celina, the Asag priestess that they’d captured. Henry didn’t really understand his friend’s fancy new mind magic, but Jason had helped verify that the priestess had been telling the truth. Volleyball had mercifully put the woman out of her misery after she was questioned, and they’d immediately sprung into action.

About the priestess’s torture...Henry knew his nightmares’ nightmares were going to have nightmares. Witnessing—that—had been terrible, and he might not ever view Volleyball the same way again. Different world, different rules. The thought was grim and not comforting in the slightest.

But when the captive cultist had confessed some of her crimes earlier, including murdering and eating children to appease her dark god, Henry had felt better about the whole thing. None of it was still okay, not at all, but at least he didn’t feel like the villain of his own story anymore.

He shook his head and stepped on top of a box to address the gathered people. His people. They all knew they would be heading into the unknown through a demon portal. They all had their own reasons, but none of them were running away. Henry thought they were all both ridiculously stupid, and incredibly brave.

The flickering fires all around and the slower, large flashes of red lightning in the clear night sky gave everyone a nightmare cast. The reaching shadows plus the seriousness of everyone’s expression made the mood even more somber than it would have otherwise been, no mean feat with the corpses of demons littering the ground around them. The air smelled increasingly more acrid as the helldoor continued to grow nearby.

Henry cleared his throat, suppressing his anger, his frustration, the worry gnawing at his gut, and other emotions he couldn’t even describe. This was not time for feelings. He knew the personal fallout later might be intense, but he and his crew had a woman to rescue and a portal to close.

“Okay, people, this is what we know,” Henry said, making eye contact with everyone in turn. Bezzi-ibbi looked tired but dapper in his fancy clothes. Uluula was small and fierce as always, her hair singed and colored in spots with demon blood. Gonzo stood exhausted and wounded but resolute. The Berber spy had made it very clear that his duty was to stop the demons and close the helldoor.

Volleyball stood next to Aodh, armored in the V-death. Vitaliya, the only member of the briefing group not looking at Henry, glared at Volleyball, staring at the other woman’s back like she might bore a hole through the armor with an intense frown. Henry ignored her.

He said, “This portal is going to keep growing until really big stuff can come through. There is a way to close it on the other side, a temple or something. Our mission is to get through the portal and shut it down. As you all know...we are not coming back through this one.” Nobody reacted, they did already know.

Henry sighed. “These Asag-worshipping assholes are creating another fucking portal in Mensk, the Berber capital city. Because of some mystical mumbo jumbo bullshit, it’s opening in about a day. The thing is, we should be able to see a beacon in the distance in Brecken, the other world on the other side of the helldoor. In Brecken, the distance between these two gates is shorter than in Ludus, this world.

“It’s at least a few days to Mensk from here on Ludus even if we fly with the Mosquito. For those that don’t know, the Delvers LLC Mosquito is the machine hovering over us. MMBs from here will probably take more than a day to reach the capital, too. I already talked to Gonzo about it.” Gonzo nodded. “Then there’s the shield too, but we will get to that later.”

Henry continued, “Basically, even if these Asag assholes don’t win, they’re going to hit the capital with a surprise attack.” He paused before stating, “We are going to stop them.”

Aodh held up a hand. “Why are they even doing this? Isn’t the capital really big? What is the point?”

Henry scratched his head. “This is where things get a little weird. The cultists have been planning this for a long time. Apparently there are lots of little groups like this on Ludus that want to do something. They all have different goals, but they’re basically all dicks.

“These chucklefucks attacked us because someone in their group foresaw us being a threat to their main plan with magic...somehow. Don’t ask me how they came to that conclusion.

“Their plan is to attack the Mensk palace while the queen is going through a ritual to take control of the country. This retarded-ass ceremony is done every ten years or so. The cultists have some bastard acolyte with royal blood that they want to elevate to be queen. This will let them basically take over the country. Well, magically anyway.”

“But how is that even possible?” Uluula asked, scrunching up her brow. “It’s a city with a military and a full guard, and it’s the largest Terran city on Ludus. And more importantly, why? Where did Yelm go?”

Henry facepalmed for a moment before saying, “Those are good questions. I wish I’d been here to shoot Yelm. That rat fuck got away. Where to, I don’t know.

The reason the cultists are doing all of this is because of paranoia in the past. Some king or queen of Berber ordered a kill switch be placed in all the country’s war machines. This will allow all the tanks, or whatever, to be shut down remotely by whoever is running this shit show. Obviously, that way they could neuter a coup.

“Even the ten-year ceremony is a safeguard so monarchs can’t just be held in a basement somewhere indefinitely. Before the ceremony takes place, a shield goes up around the palace to protect it.. In fact, I think the shield might already be up. This would be smart, except these cultists have figured out a way to open a hellgate inside of it.”

Uluula nodded. “Which means most of the Berban security would be cut off from the fighting. Now I understand.”

“Yeah. As evil plans go, it’s actually pretty good.” Henry sighed. “Basically, the cultists could shut down all the military’s big weapons, fill up the inside of the shield with demons before it comes down, and destroy the city at a minimum. They might even be able to take out the whole country, gaining a huge foothold on Ludus. And from what I understand, if Berber falls, there’s all kinds of nasty shit this country keeps in check that would be let loose. Asag would no doubt be pleased.”

“How did we just stumble into this?” asked Volleyball. “As a noble of Berber, I’m obviously honor bound to fight just like the Intelligence agents are. But the rest of you...why did the cultists attack you?”

“We have, ah, a sort of history.” Henry coughed. Now was not the right time to rehash all they’d done or seen on Ludus so far. “Don’t worry about it, Volleyball. We can talk about all this shit later. Right now let’s go save my wife and your backward-ass country.” Volleyball nodded.

Uluula nodded as well and said, “Indeed, time is wasting. I am hoping my friend is still alive. If she is not, I am holding all of us responsible, including you and myself. So what is the plan? What next?”

Henry felt a chill as Uluula’s expression didn’t waver. She was dead-ass serious, and she was right. Especially now that he knew he could have just jumped through the portal, the seeds of doubt concerning his decision to gather information before rescuing Mareen nagged at the back of his mind. But he gave himself a mental shake. Doubting himself in the middle of a crisis was a great way to be a piss-poor leader, after all.

All the night terrors, drinking, and staring at the wall could wait until later.

“Alright, pay attention because we’re leaving in like five minutes. Vitaliya and Gonzo’s bikes are already on the Mosquito. Jason has been transporting some more stuff from the Battlewagon to the Mosquito, too. It’s what he’s doing now. The Mosquito is gonna stay here, crewed by the goblins and Volleyball’s guardswoman. They’re going to watch the helldoor until it closes, or the cavalry comes, whichever is first.”

“Goblins?” asked UIuula.

Henry dodged the question. “Uh, yeah, so then the Mosquito is going to head towards Mensk to meet up with us if we survive this. The rest of us are gonna take the Battlewagon through the portal. Jason is putting a shit ton of ammo into magical storage for me.”

“I understand the basic plan. Now do you have any more information for us?” Uluula asked. “Also, how do you know that the cultist you tortured was telling the truth about any of this?” Henry could see a few other members of the group nodding to that. They’d been wondering the same thing.

Henry said, “That’s a good question. Volleyball?”  He gestured at the young women in the huge armor.

Volleyball said, “I am Lady Tanushree Bobrik. We were able to verify the cultist’s words with a combination of Agent Gonzolez’s knowlege and some of my own. Jason’s magic, too.”

Henry patted his scarred leg and said, “Plus, it turns out that Volleyball is a priestess for some church or other and she converted the cultist, Celina, to a mainstream religion of Berber—Creator-something… I didn’t know before that a bunch of nobility women are also religious leaders. Anyway, the combo of Celina believing she was avoiding Asag’s anger after death plus a lot of painkillers encouraged her to talk.” The memory still made Henry sick. It was yet another thing he’d have to work through later.

He continued, “Brecken is a weird place. Once we go through the portal, we’ll probably be surrounded by demons. What’s more, the world affects everyone differently. Some people lose their powers, or magic, but some orb-Bonded get stronger. The same thing happens to equipment and enchanted gear. It’s all random. This is why Jason is moving a lot of extra enchanted stuff out of the Battlewagon before we go.

“The plan is to find the other portal, which will take us about a day of travel, then kick the shit out of everything. Bezzi-ibbi and Uluula will guard our backs once we’re back on the Ludus side and the fighting starts there. Jason will be running air support. I already talked to Gonzo about the layout of the palace and the most likely thought is that the helldoor will be on the grounds, so the rest of us will just move towards the ceremony chambers as quickly as possible.”

Henry crossed his arms. “Okay, that’s it, people. Go piss, get your gear ready, do whatever you gotta do. We’re going to Hell. Well, a hell. You have less than five minutes.”

Like the hardened adventurers they were, the group didn’t ask any further questions and all scattered to prepare for their suicide mission. They might be spending their last few minutes on Ludus. If they failed, at least they’d know they tried. But if they succeeded, they’d probably save thousands, if not millions of people. Henry had never had finer friends. The stoic man from Earth pretended to scratch his cheek and wiped a single tear away.

Mareen, please still be alive, he thought. We’re coming. Everyone is coming for you, Baby.

***

Uluula suppressed her jitters through a lifetime of experience. The hellgate loomed ahead, and it still hadn’t produced any new demons in the last few minutes. The small hairs on the back of her neck were standing on end - both from the electrified air and the fear in the pit of her belly. A hellworld. Brecken. Who would have thought she’d be doing something so insane before she was even sixty standard years old? She’d been meant to fight this sort of thing in a starship, not on foot with a jaalba.

If my sister could see me now...

Uluula triggered her magical weapon to life and braced herself as the Battlewagon slowly started forward. All her comrades around her had the same level of tunnel vision, thinking their own thoughts. Tanushree’s armor was so heavy as it clung to the back of the vehicle that there was a noticeable slope to the floor.

Keeja and her companion Philana followed behind the Delvers, both demigoddesses stony-faced as they hovered in the air. The High Priestesses had shown up a few minutes before, about the same time a number of boxes had flashed into existence, holding orbs and spirit stones as rewards for all the defeated orb-Bonded enemies.

Jason had told everyone to just grab the boxes and stow them away to sort out later. Even Uluula had a spirit stone now, which was a strange feeling. It wasn’t useful to her at all, but having that amount of wealth casually rolling around in a drawstring pouch on Ludus was a first.

From behind them, Keeja suddenly said, “There is no way you are going to a hellworld without some sort of music. I gave up too much to live without it anymore.” The ancient woman waved a hand, and her music player, back on the Battlewagon, came to life. The tune was jaunty, happy, and light. Uluula believed Terrans called it ‘Pop’.

“This is Owl City!” exclaimed Jason from the driver’s seat of the Battlewagon. “This stuff is totally inappropriate for the situation!”

“Yeah, this is that song with what girl, what’s her name,” mused Henry from the turret. “The one who did that annoying song about giving her number to someone.”

“Call Me Maybe?” asked Jason. Carly something, right? I think this song is Good Time or something.

Keeja drifted forward to the side of the Battlewagon. “I want to listen to this song,” she said before silently hovering back to where she had been.

“Well, you heard the lady,” said Henry. “Fuck it, whatever, let’s just go. It doesn’t matter and we fucked around enough.”

“This is so dumb,” Uluula heard her husband mutter. Then without warning, the Battlewagon surged forward and through the helldoor.

Uluula’s world exploded in violence and pain, images of madness.

Flashes of red.

Baleful eyes.

Thousands of people being eviscerated. Hungry camera lenses devouring every scream of agony.

Children coughing up blood.

A horse impaled on a spike, kicking at the air.

Eyes wide open, slowly inserting a needle into her eyeball.

Abandonment, grinding her teeth for eternity. The raw nerve endings mocking.

Rivers of blood and the wails of women.

Babies wailing. Cutting her own wrist with a dull knife.

Tears mixing with raw organs on the floor amidst feelings of betrayal.

Coughing in the dark.

Phantom pain inside, the sensation of insects all around. They begin burrowing into her flesh...

Being watched while doing something dark, shameful.

Throwing up for eternity.

Images and sensations flashed through the Areva woman’s mind, dozens of them all compressed into a single moment as the Battlewagon crossed the threshold of the helldoor. Every endless moment of the transition was set to the background of the never-ending, peppy beat of pop music by Owl City.

I think I might hate that song now with every cell of by body, Uluula thought. She felt horror deeper than any sensation before in her life, mentally clawing away from her memories of traveling through the hellgate. She shut down and compartmentalized the experience with the desperation of someone drowning.

Uluula snapped back to the present when the Battlewagon crunched down, skidding forward across the ground. The stars and red haze cleared from her vision as the vehicle came to a stop. On Brecken. A hellworld.

The first thing she understood was that there were demons everywhere. The second thing that went through her mind was they’d landed in the middle of chaos. True-demons were everywhere, but they were rushing around, distracted, some were even fighting each other. The third thing that she processed was when the music changed and got several times louder than it ever had before.

Sorry For Party Rocking. She recognized the song. The music swelled, growing even louder, eventually seeming to attract the attention of every hulking, fanged, hideous true-demon within sight. They all turned their eye stalks, tentacles, claws, maws, and horrible heads to stare directly at the newly-arrived Delvers.

Other than some commotion in the distance, the area around them grew completely still, the silence only broken when the first demon screamed and pawed at the ground, turning to rush at the stalled vehicle full of adventurers.

Oh, Creator, guide my blade, Uluula prayed as her military training finally reasserted itself. She scrambled to get out of the Battlewagon as Henry’s cannons, once again manned by their creator, spat fury into the surrounding demon hoard.

Uluula felt a strange sensation on her hand as her enchanted spear ring began to glow. The tool surged with power, making her hand tingle. At the same time her shield bracelet sparked and went dead.

Her enchanted jaalba and mobility gauntlets were luckily still working normally, and she cut off a demon’s leg at the knee as she flashed past. A roar in the distance made the ground tremble and she caught a glimpse of what had been causing all the demons to fight or panic earlier.

Mareen darted around in midair, battling a giant demon, so large its feet were the size of a small house. Uluula’s friend was almost unrecognizable now, a dark, primal fury of blood and bone, challenging the enormous beast of nightmares. The true-demons around her tried attacking, but more out of self-preservation than aggression. Mareen flashed down into the surrounding monsters to drain them of blood or messily destroy them as she dodged the giant claws and energy blasts of the behemoth she fought.

Crimson lightning flashed overhead like it had back on Ludus, illuminating the bare bone and enormous, grinning teeth of the unnaturally huge true-demon that Mareen battled to a standstill. Its enormous body crushed and minced smaller demons as it surged back and forth with single-minded rage, trying to kill the goddess of meat and fury that Mareen had become.

“An infernal destroyer,” breathed Uluula. It had to be. Such monsters were used to break cities or crush the forces of light and were incredibly tough. They usually required the sustained, combined efforts of large Areva war machines to kill. A powerful Holder could kill one too, but Keeja and Philana had already disappeared.

Uluula wasn’t accustomed to feeling despair, or fear so strong she had difficulty thinking. But as she stood on a hellworld, witnessing her berserker best friend fight an infernal destroyer, Uluula’s other friends surrounded by demons, and their vehicle grounded, she felt a flash of true helplessness. Then just as quickly, she rejected it.

I will not bow. She was named Uluula b’ Anami b’ Pairose of the Blue, daughter of Amani b’ Pairose b’ Heseth of the Blue. Her powerful, loving husband fought beside her, and some of the best friends she’d ever known were at her side. She fought for the lives of countless other people, and for the future of Mareen, lost in combat with a demonic nightmare.

The fierce, white-haired Areva woman triggered a magic spear from her ring into the face of a goat-headed demonic monstrosity. Uluula snarled in defiance as she cut down the demons around her. She was born for battle, and so far, taking part in this fight was the most important thing she’d ever chosen to do in her life. She fought for her friends and perhaps an entire world. There was no time to be weak, there was work to do.

Sorry for Party Rocking continued to play in the background as the frantic battle, perhaps to decide the fate of Berber on Ludus, truly began.

Red Zeds

Aodh darted forward, too amped up and terrified to even focus properly. Instead, he relied almost entirely on his magic.

Ever since his fight with the rock wyrm, he’d been full of life, full to bursting, in fact. He’d been stronger, faster, and more alert. Little cuts had healed almost instantly over the last week or two, and as he was discovering during his fight on Brecken, larger wounds healed fast, too. This was a good thing, because even with luck magic, he was still getting laid open to the bone.

His regenerative powers were also handy because he was drawing so much magic that he was harming the inside of his body. He spit up blood from time to time, but there was no time to feel the pain or the horror of the hellworld he stood on. There was no time to think or feel much of anything. Aodh just acted, over and over again.

He gave himself a general sense of direction, but was otherwise fully lost in the magic that pulsed through his veins. Instinct guided his movements, and no true-demon he faced was any match for his dark dagger.

As he fought, Aodh caught glimpses of the other Delvers fighting near him, almost creating their own islands of violence. Henry poured shell after shell from the downed Battlewagon into the packed ranks of demons, sending dozens of them to oblivion with each shot. Uluula darted around the battlefield, triggering spears from her enchanted ring into the ranks of monsters reaching for her with fang and claw.

Gonzo seemed to have benefited from a power increase on Brecken, the hellworld. Everywhere he gestured, huge spears of ice burst from the ground or flew from his hands to impale nightmare creatures. The Berber Intelligence agent was strong and fast, his superhuman strength allowing him to shove enormous demons back even as they died.

Suddenly, the music blasting from the Battlewagon changed, turning to another pop song, My Humps. Even in the midst of his battle trance, Aodh inwardly blinked at that one. Overhead, Jason teleported nearby, cutting the wing off a huge, draconic demon. Before he disappeared again, the tall Terran yelled, “This music is so inappropriate! We are fighting in hell. For fuck’s sake! Change it, Henry!”

“I’m kind of busy over here!” yelled Henry, his voice barely audible over the din of battle and the loud music. “Besides, I think Keeja has it locked. It keeps changing on its own!”

Aodh killed another demon and was pushed back when it fell, the shove causing a blast of acid from some other creature to barely miss him. He avoided a reaching tentacle by ducking, then came up slashing at a scaled hide with his dagger. The demon died, screaming and thrashing around, but Aodh had already sprang over the vanquished foe to plant his spear into a new enemy. This one looked like a plant with legs and had a huge mouth instead of any kind of head.

Absently, the young man wondered where Keeja and Philana had disappeared to. They’d come to Brecken behind the Delvers, after all. He got his answer a few moments later as the clouds above, lit before with red lightning began flashing green, yellow, and other colors. Massive amounts of power were being unleashed high in the sky.

A stray blast from Keeja and Philana’s unseen battle landed far in the distance, vaporizing a large hill and making the entire landscape rumble. Aodh thought he could see a few tiny, impossibly fast fighters descend from the cloud cover near the destroyed landscape, zipping around in a deadly dance. He couldn’t watch for long, though. Being surrounded by murderous demons was requiring most of his attention.

Nearby, a sudden explosion of demon bodies launched twisted forms in every direction as something big, angry, and purple reared up, roaring. Aodh did a double take as he recognized an enormous version of Honey, crackling with energy, pouncing on top of true-demons and literally ripping off arms and heads. Every time she got damaged, she’d grow bigger and angrier, her aura making the entire area smell of ozone. A demon with long talons clawed Honey’s face, but the wounds almost immediately healed. After being wounded, the huge purple badger just grew slightly larger and batted her enemy away with a paw, turning its body to paste.

If Aodh had not been fighting for his life and submerged in the throes of magic, the sight would have been shocking. Henry’s pet Honey badger carved a path of destruction directly through the masses of demons before her, ripping apart enemies the size of elephants on earth. The other large demons within sight bellowed, taking Honey’s sudden appearance as a challenge.

Aodh caught glimpses of Mareen fighting a huge, terrifying demon in the distance, their noisy, destructive battle still attracted a large number of the demon hoard, but not as many as it had before. The Battlewagon crashing through into this world had presented a new challenge, more targets for the mindless monsters surrounding the portal to Ludus.

The chaos of the battlefield grew, violence and madness reaching a fever pitch. All the stunted trees on the baked plains of Brecken were splintered, demolished as waves of demons climbed over each other to get to the Delvers, but the force from Ludus held firm, defending the area around the helldoor.

From the Battlewagon, Aodh heard the music change again and grow even louder. Now it was playing, Gangnam Style. In the back of his mind, he wondered if Keeja was actually controlling the playlist or if the device was just running wild. In the distance, Jason was fighting, teleporting from point to point, cutting down demons in midair. Aodh assumed the tall, powerful man was probably still complaining about the music.

Aodh ran his spear, Vampire Stabber into the side of a long, snake-like demon. Then he jumped on top of the slithering thing, its powerful body as wide as he was tall, and slammed his dagger into its side. The rush of life energy made him light-headed for a moment, a portion of the power immediately disappearing as it repaired his damaged shoulder as the dying demon wrenched it out of its socket.

Then the whole battle seemed to slow to a crawl and the sky grew dark. The world around him grew to higher contrast than usual. Colors could take on strange hues when he was surrounded by the cloud his horse-head dagger generated, but this new effect was even more pronounced. The dagger spoke to him then, thundering, “USE ME!” in his mind.

He understood. The weapon had awoken, he’d awoken. In that moment, he understood what the dagger actually was. It was too late to go back, though. He could help his friends. He knew how now.

Aodh felt the resistance within himself, the cautiousness built from the scars of old hurts. The hesitation was already weakened by his magic and his experiences as an adventurer, but now he blasted through the wall, demolishing it. It didn’t matter what people thought of him, or what he looked like. All that truly mattered was what he thought of himself and how he could protect his friends.

That truth reverberated through his bones and mingled with his magic, swelling together with the incredible power from his dagger. The large, serpentine demon he stood on was dead, its life sucked out by the dagger, but Aodh could feel it now. He took hold of some life, some death, and he put it back into the true-demon’s body.

It moved, not alive, but responsive, an extension of Aodh’s will. His mind fractured and he felt incredible pain. The experience might have killed him if not for the amazing reserves of life he still carried, healing his body and his mind almost immediately. Aodh drew even more deeply on his magic, and the world swelled with possibilities. His instinct that he’d been running on before focused, becoming sharper.

Aodh guided the serpentine demon forward, and its head lashed out, fangs punching through the throat of an avian, bipedal demon to one side. The young, wild-eyed adventurer, obscured by a cloud of inky darkness, lashed out with dagger and spear, his strikes finding weak points, his attacks lethal almost every time.

USE ME! screamed the dagger in his head, the weapon throbbing in his hand. Aodh slammed his spear into the scaly hide of a large, lizard-like demon with two heads. As the life began trickling into his body, he cut the creature with his dagger, sucking in its power all at once. Then like before, he filled the body with death.

What did Henry and Jason call creatures like this? Zombies? He would call them zombies, too. Aodh directed the newly formed zombie to begin tearing into the true-demons around it and it complied with great gusto.

Suddenly, Aodh had a strange feeling, and working on instinct as he was, he immediately heeded the premonition. He rode his snake demon forward, moving around groups of demons while his large, second zombie followed behind, damaging the enemies in his wake. Through all the confusion and chaos, he saw Vitaliya ahead of him, throwing waves of fire before her, frying the eyes and limbs of entire groups of true-demons.

Behind his cousin, Aodh noticed a tall demon, a crazy hybrid of bird and giraffe about to ambush his cousin. “No!” Aod yelled. His snake mount put on a burst of speed, colliding with the attacking enemy. The young adventurer screamed as he jumped forward, pounding his weapons through the resistance of the demon’s thick hide. The creature died instantly, and Aodh raised another zombie.

His legs had broken when he’d jumped, but the life filling him almost immediately straightened and healed his limbs. He got up, and came face to face with Vitaliya, her eyes wide and unbelieving. “Aodh?” she whispered in wonder. “Little Aodh? What have you become?” The red-haired girl reached forward, questioningly, and the raging battle around them served as a bizarre, surreal background for the awkward moment.

Aodh stepped back out of his cousin’s reach. He knew she probably couldn’t see him very well through the roiling cloud of death surrounding him, so he grimaced without reservation. We don’t have time for this. “We can talk later, Vitaliya,” he muttered.

The former farm hand turned and absently killed another demon before commanding his snake zombie to raise him up higher. The elevation improved his sight radius. In the distance, he could see a large group of huge, terrifying demons approaching. He also saw Mareen still fighting against the largest, fiercest demon within sight. If that monstrosity had been free to act, all the Delvers would probably already be dead.

Hell, the gargantuan true-demon was even larger than the rock wyrm had been. Aodh’s eyes widened as a truly wild idea occurred to him, and his magic gave him a push. Continuing to follow his winning strategy, Aodh let his magic keep tearing apart his stomach and followed the whims of instinct through the battlefield.

…

Henry triggered another round of golden grapeshot through a crowd of demons and cursed. The old Battlewagon weapons were still effective, but he missed the weapons clusters on the Mosquito. The dayslers in particular would have been useful on a Halloween-themed planet crawling with fucked up, demonic killing machines.

Mindless, hungry enemies just kept coming, and merely surviving was obviously going to be a losing strategy. The team had gotten lucky, and Henry didn’t explore the niggling thought that perhaps Tony’s power had created that circumstance. Were they all still alive because of Aodh, or were they fighting in hell because of Aodh? Thinking about Tony’s magic would drive him bonkers. But standing in the turret, Henry could see that it was only a matter of time until the bigger, slower, more powerful demons began arriving to the fray.

He still had plenty of ammunition, but that state of affairs wouldn’t last forever, either. His frantic, artillery-level fire from the Battlewagon had definitely thinned out the demons around the Delvers’ position, though. It was time to move.

His objective was still to rescue Mareen, and he knew where she was, now. Sure, she didn’t look like Mareen very much anymore. She also wasn’t exactly a helpless victim, fighting some kind of fucked up kaiju thing that could probably take apart Olympia all by itself.

Mareen needed him, and that was all that mattered. She was his wife, and he loved her. Plus, ever since Jason had sucker punched him while they were captured in Mirana, Henry had stopped wallowing in self-pity. He had power, and he had a responsibility to use it for something positive. In this case, he got the added benefit of rescuing the woman he loved, too.

Henry gathered darksteel on his back and launched himself into the air with a solid push, then transformed the material into glider wings. He formed an exogun of darksteel on the steelskin of his arm in time to kill a flying demon as he flashed past.

He had no idea what he was going to do when he got to Mareen. The true-demon she was fighting looked like it could crush him like a bug, and his wife didn’t seem to be in her right mind, either. She was covered in blood, guts, and bone. It honestly wasn’t a good look.

The Asian adventurer didn’t have a plan, but in this case, he didn’t think he needed one. Henry knew Mareen was strong. Honestly, she was probably stronger than he was. She’d never needed her best friend to knock sense into her before she wanted to help people. As long as he could get to his wife, everything would be okay.

In the midst of flashing lightning, surrounded by demons on a hell world, demigods fighting in the sky, his friends battling for their lives nearby, Henry had to have faith. Objectively, they were all probably well and truly fucked, but Jason had already taught him how that way of thinking led to a dead end.

Henry believed, and as he glided towards his wife, he underscored his convictions by blowing the brains out of true-demons with high velocity, twenty-four karat bullets of justice.

***

Mareen could remember being a woman. Thinking about the past was difficult sometimes, but she had had a lot of time to spend on random thoughts while fighting. The combined experiences and body parts of the demons she’d absorbed could actually handle all of her combat functions for her, which was a curious sensation. It was almost like she had multiple minds working at once.

The sheer power she was wielding was nice. It really was.

She’d almost met her end before, when she’d first come to this place. After she’d been pulled through the helldoor and had been surrounded by demons, she’d accepted that she was about to die. However, the consciousness riding in the back of her mind had extended her a lifeline. The Deepwater Rose hadn’t exactly given her more power, it’d just jump started her ability to learn magic faster while she used it. Doing so had just cost shutting down other parts of her mind, though.

However, Mareen healed fast now, really fast. She’d been able to repair all the damage the Rose had done, but recognized that her survival depended on the changes it had made. So she’d decided to take a back seat with her upper brain activities, separated through a layer of emotional detachment from some of the things her body continued to do.

Remembering her mental state before she’d effectively fractured and rebuilt her mind was a bit worrying. She knew she couldn’t indefinitely maintain her identity the way it was, but she’d have lost herself even faster if she’d continued evolving into rage and bloodlust incarnate. Mareen watched herself reach down and tear a small, impish demon in half before absorbing its bodily fluids and launching a wave of blood spikes at the enormous beast she still fought.

Blood magic was brutal. No wonder the power was taboo. Now that Mareen had experienced both extremes of blood magic, she thought she understood it a lot better. Most blood mages would probably get lost in the power and even kill their friends and families around them. Luckily, the once-beautiful daughter of Thato Jacobs didn’t have any family or friends around anymore to worry about harming.

She dodged another fast, powerful strike from a huge tentacle on the back of her demonic opponent and retaliated, but her strike wasn’t very effective. Even backed with all of her current strength, the huge blood blade on her hammer barely penetrated the creature’s hide. The giant true-demon’s toughness was impressive. Impressive and annoying.

Mareen knew she didn’t have much of a future anymore, but spending the rest of her existence endlessly fighting a towering monster while her body stayed on autopilot and her mind explored random subjects was not her idea of a fulfilling existence. She just wished she could have seen Henry one last time before fate had punched her in the nose.

Suddenly, a dark figure glided down from the sky some distance away, touched down, and began running towards her. Mareen didn’t know what to think of it, and watched with curiosity as her body reacted, launching hardened spikes of blood at the strange looking demon.

The demon was covered head to food in a dark, smoky-looking armor. It leapt to one side, avoiding most of her attack. A couple spikes that had hit it harmlessly glanced away. Something about the way this new demon moved picked at her memory, but she couldn’t figure out what it was.

Oh well. Not much on this world so far could stand up to her power. She drifted down to tear apart the new demon and maybe another one nearby. The lumbering, near-invincible foe she’d been constantly fighting bore down on her again, and she needed more blood reserves. However, when she got close enough to rip the creature’s blood from its body...it resisted.

This is new, she thought. Her body reacted predictably, rushing down to mutilate the man-sized demon tooth and claw, but the armor on one of its arms unexpectedly reformed into a limb of sorts, snaking out and catching one of her ankles. Then it whipped her to one side, slamming her to the ground before she could actually attack.

This new demon was incredibly powerful! Mareen knew if she let her body maintain control, the unusual enemy would eventually die, though...just like all the others. However, as she hit the ground and rolled, springing to her feet, she noticed the demon’s limb snap back, creating a multi-barreled gun. The figure shook its head, and the gun melted away, becoming armor again.

Now that got her attention. Even through a haze of non-emotion, fractured memories, and distant bloodlust, Mareen recognized an exogun. When the figure’s helmet armor flowed down, revealing Henry’s face, it wasn’t entirely a surprise.

“Come on, Baby. We’re all here! Come back to me!” Henry pleaded. To one side, the huge, unstoppable creature Mareen had been dueling with got closer.

Mareen’s body tensed, and she knew she was about to try killing her husband again. That was unacceptable. Totally unacceptable. The idea that Henry had come to save her in this state was laughable, but as he stood there, surrounded by monsters, literally having come to another world for her...somehow, Mareen felt the ghost of an emotion. Love. She didn’t know how any of this was possible, but she knew what it meant.

This was loyalty, and the pain in Henry’s eyes as he obviously searched for any sign of the woman she had been before made it echo further through the separation of her various minds.

In moments that seemed to span eternity, Mareen pondered what to do. She could still feel the Deepwater Rose back there, watching. It didn’t seem to be interfering, though. Apparently, the ancient trickster just wanted Mareen to survive and probably get back to Ludus. Thinking of the ancient monster reminded her of what she’d said to it, her threat to kill herself while she’d been suspended in Rose Lake.

Inwardly, Mareen slowly smiled at the memory. She was still a body mage, after all, and a somewhat powerful one, now. Before her body could take two more steps towards her husband, primed for violence, it was relatively simple for Mareen to shut herself down.

She observed as her body crumpled to the ground, trusting Henry to handle the rest. Well, either that or they’d die together. Her last conscious thought before her mind went to a truly strange place of intellect and possibilities was, Now I can try putting myself back together again. Good luck, my love. I hope we can meet again in this lifetime, and greet you as myself.

Mareen’s heartsong swelled, bursting through her emotional disconnect before everything went black.

***

Henry watched with dread as Mareen stalked towards him. He formed an exogun, but then thought better of it and turned the darksteel back into armor. I’m not here to kill my wife.

But getting killed by his wife was a real possibility, it seemed. Henry knew he was pretty powerful these days, at least he thought so, but in a few seconds of fighting whatever Mareen was now, he’d been floored by how much power she was throwing around. Her body was almost as large as the V-death, and sheer malice surrounded her like a powerful aura.

Her attack before had almost turned him to hamburger, and he had the impression that she hadn’t even been trying hard. She still carried the old hammer that Henry had made for her, but now its entire length had been transformed into some sort of nightmarish, biomechanical, pulsing meat weapon.

Henry braced himself to avoid death again. He took the risk of removing his darksteel helmet to try talking Mareen down, but he wasn’t really optimistic about it. But then with no reason, no warning, Mareen crumpled to the ground. Some of the bone and hardened blood portions of her new body or exoskeleton immediately began to blacken and fall off. Henry goggled and muttered, “What the—” He looked up as the footsteps from the huge thing his wife had been fighting got closer.

The enormous true-demon, one Uluula had called an ‘infernal-destroyer’ was only a few paces away. The thing looked like what would happen if a T-rex and a centaur had an unholy love child, which then mated with a squid. Its front half was reptilian, with a huge, tooth-filled dinosaur head, and giant, lobster-like pincers for arms. Then its body extended, its rear legs were scaly, but otherwise equine-looking. Its tail was long and prehensile, with a stinger, and it had four huge tentacles on its back.

One gigantic pincer opened, revealing a mouth inside. The horror of the approaching infernal-destroyer galvanized Henry into action. He hefted Mareen’s giant, crumbling form onto his shoulder, pushing his enhanced strength to the limits. I’m not going to be able to get away, not from that thing, he thought sadly. Oh well, at least he had given it his best, and he’d die with his wife, the woman who had been putting him emotionally back together again through sheer honesty and decency.

Henry didn’t try to run. He faced the inevitable head-on, so he was actually watching when Tony suddenly broke through a distant line of demons, near the foot of the infernal-destroyer. The dark cloud that surrounded the young man was roiling, thicker than usual, but the flashes of red lightning in the sky showed Tony’s silhouette with a kind of strobe effect. Henry blinked when he realized that the young man was...riding a demon. “What the fuck?” he whispered.

Tony dashed full tilt towards the infernal-destroyer, right up to its massive foot. The slithering demon he rode reared up as high as it could go, and flung the young man onto the top of the huge foot. Then Henry watched with wide eyes as Tony worked his spear under a scale like a shovel before slamming down his dagger into the foot. The scene would have been comical if not for the immediate bellow of fear and agony from the infernal-destroyer, the sound so loud it shook the ground and temporarily deafened Henry.

Henry felt a shock, but he had seen Tony kill the rock wyrm before. He knew that Tony had probably just somehow killed the enormous true-demon and he expected the huge beast to collapse. It would probably kill a lot of things in the process of falling, maybe some demons, maybe even some Delvers. The gigantic beast slumped and stood still for a moment. However, instead of toppling over, it suddenly began lashing out all around itself with the long, powerful tentacles on its back, effortlessly tearing apart the smaller demons nearby.

The former EMT was stunned at the unexpected display of power, and his jaw dropped as he caught Tony’s manic grin. The cloud of darkness that normally surrounded the young adventurer when he wielded his mysterious dagger was almost gone, or at least noticeably less dense.

Henry’s scalp went numb in surprise when a huge tentacle reached down and gently scooped Mareen’s body up from his shoulder. What the fuck is Tony doing? But Henry was not one to look a gift horse in the mouth, especially on a hell planet. He suppressed his confusion and rushed forward to join his young friend. He’d gotten this far by trusting Tony, it would be stupid to change things up when the kid had just done something impossible and saved his ass yet again.

Remuneration

Frelda stood respectfully with her arms at her sides, schooling her facial features. She wanted to scream. Her spine was stiff and terror coursed up and down her body, using her nerves like a ladder, but she had to maintain appearances. The strange thing was, she knew both ancient beings before her could probably tell exactly what her mental state truly was. However, she also knew that if she didn’t try to hide her fear, she’d be considered rude.

She didn’t want to be considered rude...that would be bad.

Working as a researcher for over a hundred years on Ludus had been boring. In the past, getting promotions, acquiring more responsibility had seemed like a good idea. However, now that she was functioning as a site host, standing in the same room with two of the most powerful, selfish beings in the universe, Frelda was frightened from her head down to her painted Areva toenails.

Dolos sat on his throne with one leg thrown over an armrest. He and Asag had been staring at each other for some time. Suddenly Asag spoke - the terrible, hideous being’s speech cracking out like breaking bone, like slurping guts, the sound so disturbing it actually caused Frelda physical discomfort. “This meeting is coming to nothing. If you will not peacefully give this planet to me, then I will leave.”

Dolos smiled and waved, causing a complex-looking device to float over to his hand. The object lit up as he played with it. He exclaimed, “Oh, we can’t have that! I take my duties as a host seriously! Plus, I spend most of my days wasting time with these disgusting mortals, especially Terrans. Have you ever had to talk to Terrans? It is a truly vile experience, I don’t recommend it. However, spending time with a peer, sharing wisdom, this is enjoyable, yes?”

“I am not your peer,” groused Asag. Frelda was supposed to be paying attention, ready to be responsive in case anything was asked of her, but she could not bring herself to look at Dolos’ guest. Asag continued, “I came because of your assurances, and now I wish to leave.”

“Oh you do, do you?” Dolos’ eyes gleamed. “You were motivated to talk before. What changed? Could it be you heard something, perhaps learned of something happening on your world?”

The room grew still, and Frelda felt all the hair on her body stand up as the tension built. Dolos said, “As you know, you have nothing to fear from me, but our kind are rather paranoid. You can’t be sure that I don’t have some unexpected power, and I wasn’t sure that you would be a polite guest. We both agreed to temporarily limit ourselves unless we must act in self-defense against another peer.

“I must say that I believe we should give peace a chance, and wait the entire week of our agreed upon time to discuss matters! Of course, if you came here with the intention of demanding I surrender this world, I’m sure that this probably won’t happen, but we can still discuss it over the length of our quality time together.” Dolos grinned.

“I must go.”

“But this is so sudden! I must protest,” said Dolos. “What is so pressing that you have to leave before the end of our time that you agreed upon? In fact, you practically demanded this meeting before. Perhaps you were expecting something to happen on Ludus that is not happening quite the way you had expected?

“You should definitely stay. I’m sure nothing so unexpected has happened that you would need to leave, like an attack on your seat of power. But even if that were the case, I’m sure your tools will be able to handle it. After all, we all have agreed to let our mortal tools handle power conflicts. I’m sure you wouldn’t be tempted to directly intervene in mortal matters between us, right?

“No matter what happens, we should make the most of our quality time together!” Dolos buffed his nails on the front of his multi-colored vestments.

Asag oozed out of his matching throne and moved towards the exit. “I have agreed to this pointless meeting, so it is as you say, I would lose too much by leaving. I do not wish to stay, but I have no choice but to follow your ridiculous insistences. I do not wish to speak with you any longer, though. I will be in the space you supplied me. Know that I will not forget this. I plan to destroy you, now.”

The terrible, disturbing, evil being walked through an archway and vanished, transitioning to the pocket dimension that Dolos had supplied as a guest chamber, all of which had been meticulously checked for traps by Asag’s minions before he’d actually arrived.

“You planned to destroy me before, you cretin,” muttered Dolos, sitting up straight. “You, Frelda, bring me something new to play with. I am concentrating on reports from Keeja and Philana exclusively right now. Let the other attendants know that I do not wish to be disturbed unless the news they bring has world-affecting importance or greater. Everything else can wait.”

“Yes, Lord Dolos,” said Frelda, still terrified but in better control of herself again. Dolos was powerful and unpredictable, but at least his motives made sense…most of the time. “Shall I remain as an attendant for you and Lord Asag?”

“Asag’s pouting. The Dark are powerful, but a number of them don’t use their minds for anything other than impressing each other with even more appalling worlds. That vile sycophant with delusions of real power just realized that I got the best of him and was reminded of my natural brilliance. The Dark hate when Griseus prove yet again that we are superior.

“He won’t come out again for a few days because I’ll just mock him and he won’t be able to do anything about it. Pity. He meant what he said, though. Before, he wanted Ludus. Now he will probably try above and beyond to destroy me, as well.” Dolos grinned. “Excellent. I needed more of a challenge. My minions are feeding me fantastic data! I’ve already been able to put some of it to use!”

The Areva woman had no idea what Dolos was talking about, and felt conflicted as she scurried away. Dolos was bizarre and could be incredibly cruel, but if the alternative to Dolos was Asag or others like that… In her heart of hearts, Frelda decided to begin praying for Dolos to remain in power forever. For over a hundred years, she’d gone through her work without any real passion, only ambition. Now she understood how someone like Philana could have worked so hard, so diligently as a researcher.

Frelda had attained a new perspective, and the entire universe was no longer as simple.

“Attendant, you, pathetic little Areva!” Dolos called after her.

“Yes, yes L-Lord Dolos?” squeaked Frelda, spinning.

“Don’t forget to prepare for my pending world-wide announcement. I have something to tell the filthy mortals on Ludus, soon.”

“Yes, Lord Dolos!”

***

Aodh stood on the head of the infernal-destroyer he controlled, his attention was split dozens of ways. His zombie army kept growing as his monstrous steed raced across the landscape. One of his flying demons winged closer, pulling another smaller, squirming demon to his position. Aodh casually flicked his dagger hand out, cutting the sacrifice. Then the zombie dropped the dead demon’s now-lifeless body to be crushed under the huge, thudding feet of the infernal-destroyer.

He was recharging his death magic enough to make a new zombie. He’d been doing this for hours.

Behind him, Henry and Jason argued about what they should call the infernal-destroyer. “‘Infernal-destroyer’ is a stupid name,” said Henry.

“It’s shorter than all the names you hate on Ludus, but I kind of agree with you. Who names these things? Then again, you really don’t have a leg to stand on. I mean,

‘Volleyball Death?’” Jason punctuated his statement by throwing a knife that vanished with a small clap of filled vacuum. In the distance, a small demon in the sky plummeted downwards, a throwing knife in its back.

“This suit’s name is strange, but it has grown on me,” said Tanushree from where she stood behind the Battlewagon. The Battlewagon itself was being held in place with one of the infernal-destroyer’s tentacles, and Henry manned the turret. Tanushree guarded the rear of their enormous steed in case any demons managed to climb up or land.

One of the first things Aodh had done after taking control of the massive creature was order it to pick up the Battlewagon and place the entire vehicle on its back. After that, using one tentacle to keep it in place was simple. If the true-demon had been alive, holding the Battlewagon in place for hours would have been problematic, but it was dead, so it tirelessly plodded on with no complaint.

After Aodh had ascended to the top of his new mount, locating the helldoor temple had been simple, and his huge zombie had utterly demolished the structure almost instantly. When the helldoor had been closing, he’d followed his magic-fueled instincts. He’d picked up the rest of the Delvers and guided his mount towards the beacon on the horizon where the new helldoor to Ludus was forming.

The Delvers had been traveling for hours now, with Gonzo sending wave after wave of ice spikes to one side, and Vitaliya constantly throwing waves of fire outwards from the other side, incinerating any true-demons roaming around Brecken that got too close. Meanwhile, Jason had cut down all the large flying demons they’d come across, and Henry had used the cannons on the Battlewagon to gun down larger demons in their path. It was hard, grueling work, but somehow the two Delvers leaders were still finding time to bicker.

Aodh had not been paying much attention and was completely focused on guiding his zombies and creating new ones, but he understood. This was how these two handled stress. Aodh knew that Mareen’s unconscious body was at Henry’s feet in the turret, and the man wouldn’t let anyone, or anything, come anywhere near her.

Everyone was exhausted. Uluula and Bezzi-ibbi were the best-rested, but they were practically dead on their feet, too. The Areva woman and Mo’hali boy helped where they could, supporting their comrades with violence and in other ways, like fetching water for the two Berber spies. Honey had reverted to her smaller form, and was sleeping deeply on top of Mareen. Sometime in the last couple hours, Henry had said she’d done it to herself, and Aodh had realized that this was probably how she’d ended up in the goblin cave they’d first found her in.

At least, he had a hard time imagining anyone catching the fierce, magical beast while she was enraged.

“Volleyball Death is a great name!” argued Henry. The gruff adventurer fired a couple large rounds from his cannons and said, “If you’re going to spend so much time arguing about the awesome names I come up with, at least pass me more ammo.”

“That doesn’t even make any sense, but here,” said Jason, pulling huge gold shells out of midair to hand to his friend.

“Thanks. Are you going to change the music? It just went to pop again and Keeja is still up there,” said Henry, pointing upwards to the green flashes in the sky. About an hour earlier, Keeja had zipped out of the cloud cover, her huge halberd in the gut of a demonic-looking woman, both combatants crackling with energy. If Aodh wasn’t riding multiple types of magic, the sight would have been breathtaking and terrifying at the same time. Both demigoddesses. Keeja and Philana had been fighting above them since they’d come to Brecken.

Jason said, “Yeah, hold on.” He adjusted the music player for a few seconds, and a new song started playing. “Here we go! Crazy Train. Seems appropriate to be playing Ozzy in this situation.”

“I’ll allow it,” Henry sniffed. “But let’s get back to the subject of the fucked up thing we’re riding. If you could, what would you name this big, ugly ass demon, like, what would you call it? I bet you can’t come up with anything better than ‘infernal-destroyer.’”

Jason paused for a moment, then said, “Let’s call her Sue.”

“Why?”

“Sue is the name of an awesome Tyrannosaurus rex in a Chicago museum. It was also the name of that same dinosaur being turned into a zombie in one of my favorite series of fantasy books back on Earth. The demon we’re riding kind of looks like a T-rex, so it seems like a good name.”

“That all sounds really stupid,” muttered Henry. “I mean, a zombie dinosaur? Who the fuck comes up with stuff like that?”

“We’re currently riding inside a bronze APC being carried on the back of a giant zombie demon across a hell world,” said Jason with a level look. “Our lives are the most bullshit thing I would have ever heard of in my life. Also, Aodh’s dagger and magic are total hax.”

It was difficult for Aodh not to pay more attention to the conversation, but his zombies were bringing him another demon to kill. He needed to generate more life energy and death magic from at least a couple more sacrifices before he could make a new zombie minion. His hoard currently followed Sue, the name he decided to adopt for his zombie mount, or flew through the sky to either side. Aodh was building an army. He would protect his friends.

Henry chuckled. “You started thinking about Tony’s magic, huh? I just completely avoid the subject now because it’s a total mindfuck. You know, every single thing we’ve done on this planet might have been influenced by his power, maybe even from the future.”

“You’re right. I don’t want to think about it.”

Jason kept talking, but Aodh tuned out the rest of the discussion. He had a job to do, and he had to keep killing demons to keep repairing his body as well as staying awake. Without the constant supply of life energy, controlling this number of zombies would eventually kill him, and he planned to make more.

In the distance, a couple of howling funnel clouds full of razor-sharp rocks began to form, and Aodh adjusted Sue’s course slightly. In a world like Brecken, heading anywhere in a straight line was a death wish. In the distance to one side, a pit, home of a truly colossal worm-like demon was probably too far away to give them trouble, but Aodh eyed it warily. As usual, he ran magic through his body, harming himself in the process, but the payoff had been staying alive this long so far.

The magic burned in his gut, and Aodh followed its call.

***

By the time the Delvers had reached the helldoor to Mensk, the Berber capital city, they were already too late. Even after riding Sue the whole way across the barren Brecken landscape, the rend between worlds stood tall, crimson, and spinning. The portal was very open, and streams of demons pushed their way forward, trying to make their way through. Just like at the last helldoor, larger demons trundled forward in the distance towards the gate.

Aodh was exhausted, more tired than he’d ever been before in his life, even with the advantage of draining life from demons the whole ride. The last few hours had been harrowing and disjointed, much of it lost to fragmented memory. Aodh had controlled his zombies, clearing the way for Sue to keep running forward, charging towards the red beacon on the horizon, towards the newly forming helldoor.

Flashing magic, the screech of dying demons, the thunder of huge true-demons, the crunch of nightmare creatures being crushed under Sue’s heavy feet...all of it ran together. During the last hour, in particular, the effort had been a grim testament to all the Delvers’ conviction and endurance. If Sue hadn’t already been dead, the hell ride across Brecken probably would have destroyed her mighty heart...or hearts. Whatever she had in there.

All the Delvers were practically dead on their feet, but like Henry would say, they had a job to do.

After the group arrived at the open helldoor, Aodh wasted no time. He controlled over one hundred zombie demons now, and he immediately sent them foward into action. Larger minions were sent to secure the area in front of the gate, smaller demons supported them, and flying demons kept the skies clear.

Sue was like a battering ram of snapping claws and whipping tentacles.

The surprised demons, larger at this helloor than the last one, and the handful of Asag cultists barely knew what hit them. Dozens of furious undead bodies that felt no pain and had no fear crashed into the defenders like a wave of zombie retribution. A handful of cultists screamed, and true-demons bellowed as they were torn apart by Aodh’s creations.

Aodh directed Sue directly to the temple, though it was more of a hidden gazebo made of stone. The building wasn’t much to look at, but it held the gate open. Aodh knew from experience that after the little temple was destroyed, they’d only have a few minutes to make the transition to the other world. Considering that Keeja’s battle in the sky hadn’t abated the entire time, closing the helldoor and getting through to Ludus as soon as possible seemed like a good idea.

The next few minutes ran together for Aodh. There was just violence. Violence everywhere, and he directed his zombies towards it. As the gate began to close, Aodh instructed Sue to set the Battlewagon down in front of the fading helldoor. Still in the turret, Henry triggered his last two blasts from the Battlewagon’s cannons, decimating entire ranks of demons before the rest of the Delvers scrambled out of the venerable vehicle.

Henry carried Mareen, her body looking much closer to that of a human woman after a few hours of being unconscious. Honey was awake again and followed her friend. The group ran through the helldoor one by one while the zombie demons kept their living kin at bay. A few stray bolts of magic from cultists or the Brecken equivalent of mages zipped through the air, but amidst so much other chaos, Aodh couldn’t determine the source.

A couple figures flashed down from the sky, one of them briefly recognizable as a battered and wounded Keeja. The demigoddess was burned, and otherwise looked like hell, but she flashed a smile as she retrieved her music player from the Battlewagon. Then both she and Philana darted through the helldoor.

“Have Sue step on the Battlewagon!” shouted Henry as he jumped through the portal. Aodh mentally shrugged and instructed the enormous zombie to do so, the result looking like a bronze pancake. Then he prepared to leap through the crimson slash in reality next, to be followed by Vitaliya. Just in case, before he entered the portal, he gave one last command to his zombie demons.

Every zombie that could fit through the portal was instructed to attempt following him. Zombie creatures that were too large to fit through the helldoor, like Sue, were given orders to destroy everything around them that wasn’t a zombie.

Flashes of memory, disturbing imagery, and random thoughts bombarded Aodh just like the first time he’d gone through a helldoor. This time when he stepped out on the other side, he didn’t need time to recover. He ran forward with his friends, Uluula and Bezzi-ibbi peeled off to climb a rooftoop near the hole punched in the palace to watch the other Delvers’ backs. The barrier surrounding the entire palace was barely visible, but flickered against the night sky.

With a dying hiss, the helldoor closed behind them, cutting off the final resting place of the Delvers LLC Battlewagon. Even through his exhaustion, Aodh was glad to be free of Brecken. That place had felt like it had been changing him. All the demons hadn’t really been pleasant, either.

Flashes of combat, roaring demons, splashes of blood... A bolt of fire flashed past Aodh, only a portion of his consciousness registering its passage. About fifty zombie demons had made it through the helldoor before it closed, and they were a huge help, but were being destroyed too quickly. Every time one of them was neutralized, Aodh noticed his connection being cut off.

The Delvers weren’t exactly standing still, though. Henry and Jason were as terrifying as usual. Henry had stashed Mareen’s unconscious form in a small room he’d created inside some solid stone somewhere, Honey watching over the unconscious woman, so his hands were free to deal death. Jason was everywhere, Breeze crackling with electricity.

Bezzi-ibbi snarled, the young Jaguar clan heir neutralized and killed orb-Bonded enemies, just like his powers were designed to do. A cultist mage materialized out of shadow, about to knife Bezzi-ibbi in the back, but Aodh was in the right place at the right time to impale him with his death-dealing dagger.

Madness and confusion settled over Aodh’s mind like a blanket, but guided by his magic, he wasn’t as lost as he might otherwise would be. He didn’t need to know what was going on to follow his instincts. Slashing attacks and bolts of energy all seemed to mysteriously miss him. While he rarely took any damage, when he did, the massive amounts of reserve life energy in his body healed the wounds almost instantly.

Tanushree and Vitaliya followed behind, both women generating jets of flame to hurl at their foes. Gonzo took the lead, guiding the way to the royal ceremony chamber. Aodh’s undead minions continued to be torn apart, but made a huge difference on the tide of battle. The zombie demons ignored Berber defenders and tore into their startled, living brethren from behind. Whenever the Delvers group came near a defender, Gonzo shouted something like a passcode, and the Berber soldiers largely ignored them. They had their own problem, after all.

After a nebulous amount of time, passing as several coherent flashes of violence for Aodh, the group drew close to their destination. Aodh pulled his deadly dagger from the arm of a now-dead cultist, and started forward, his steps taking on a dream-like quality. The next few moments were especially surreal. He drew deeply on his magic, his stomach twisting so hard he coughed up blood. When he burst through the double doors into the ceremony chamber, he quickly realized that he was alone.

Well, alone except for a trio of cultists and a beautiful woman wearing a gown and a crown. The handsome, regal woman, obviously the queen, was busy getting her throat cut. In that single moment, Aodh could tell that she was meeting her fate with bravery. “No,” Aodh shouted, running forward. Even as he ploughed ahead, he could tell he was too late. The queen’s eyes, still proud and full of defiance, had glassed over in death before she hit the ground.

Through the strange numbness that his extreme use of magic created, Aodh felt the echoes of emotions, memories of horror and outrage. His movements seemed slow, but his enemies were even slower. He darted forward, catching one cultist in the throat with his spear, and stabbing another in the leg with his dagger. The last, living cultists gasped, “How are you—”

Aodh ignored her. He caught the glimmer of the crown on the floor out the corner of his eye and felt distant sadness. They’d come to save the queen, but she was dead on the floor. Aodh picked up the circlet and started towards the other side of the room, still guided by his instincts. Behind him, he heard yelling, and turned in time to see Vitaliya running towards him. “Little Aodh!” she cried out, desperately. Then the young woman hurled herself in front of the cultist that had been creeping up behind Aodh.

The young woman stopped the slash of the robed cultist’s dagger using only her arm, keeping it from hitting Aodh’s unprotected back. The cut immediately turned dark.

The red-haired woman’s hand began to bubble and grow mottled green. “Rotting rot!” she screamed. “Plague magic!” Vitaliya snarled and hit the last cultist with a blast of fire to the face. Aodh was distantly aware that his cousin had probably just saved his life. Then Vitaliya gritted her teeth, closed her eyes and her arm flared with flame. The fire grew brighter and hotter, filling the room with the sickly scent of burning pork. Vitaliya fell to the floor with a cauterized, charred stump for an arm. The combination of the pain from taking her own arm, and her general fatigue seemed to have been too much for her.

At the back of his mind, Aodh felt dismay. He was also tickled by the seeds of anger. Vitaliya was a troublesome psycho, but she was his troublesome psycho. Burning herself had obviously been to sacrifice her limb to save her own life. Aodh wasn’t sure if he could have so quickly made that choice for himself.

He ambled over to the downed, steaming, screaming cultist, and cut the woman’s throat with Vampire Stabber. Then the young adventurer walked the last few steps, placing the crown in his hand on a stone head atop a pillar.

The sound of bells began mixing with the thunder of alarms through the palace. Aodh had tuned them out before, but the new noise reminded him that they were there. The cacophony would have probably knocked him out if he had not just endured a half-day, running fight on a hell world and controlled over one hundred zombies with his mind. As it was, Aodh’s mouth just dropped a bit in confusion and wonder as he read something only he would see.

Text scrolled across his left eye.

In reaction, he dialed down on how much magic he was drawing, the change seemed abnormal after holding power for so long. He started slowly at first, but eventually, he was able to stop the flow of magic. Once the magic stopped, the strange feeling he’d had before began to clear. Finally, eventually, he was himself again, and he ran forward to kneel next to his downed cousin, checking her pulse.  Aodh realized he had many, many questions, and no answers.

The Delvers had accomplished their mission, but at what cost? What personal cost? “I need help in here!” he shouted back over his shoulder. He knew that others would be coming soon anyway, they had to be after seeing the message he just saw. He had to do something, though. Aodh cradled Vitaliya’s head on the floor and tried to be strong for her sake.

***

Henry shouted, “I need more bullets!”

Suddenly, Jason was standing next to him, tossing knives with deadly, teleported accuracy into the eyes of a couple enemies. “Here,” his friend said, handing him a bag of golden bullets for his exoguns.

“Thanks,” grunted Henry. He felt like death walking. They were right outside the entrance to the ceremony chamber. Henry turned, about to jump through the open double doors when he heard a chime in his head, sort of like an LEDF but louder, and a different tone.

Then he saw new text stream over his eye.

Congratulations to Aodh Anthony O’Breen for ascending as ruler of Berber!

Aodh Anthony O’Breen has met the requirements for taking the throne of Berber, and completed the Ritual of the Crown.

Please show your support for the new king of Berber!

Volleyball appeared that moment in her huge, battered armor suit. She didn’t even slow down as others read their messages, disappearing into the Mensk ceremony room. Her clopping footsteps almost immediately stopped. Henry didn’t know whether to take that as a good sign or a bad sign.

“What the fuck?” asked Henry. “Did you just see that? The message?” All around them, the fighting inexplicably began dying down, and Henry caught a glimpse of a cultist trying to run away. “They must have seen it, too.”

“Yeah,” said Jason, eloquently. “Wait, how is this even possible? How did Aodh get in there so much faster than us? Also, I thought someone needed royal blood to complete the ceremony…” He trailed off as the implication of that statement hung in the air, and both men stepped into the ceremony room.

Aodh knelt next to his grievously injured cousin. Lady Tanushree stood behind him in her massive armor, her face impassive, but Henry could tell that Volleyball was shocked to her core. Vitaliya was half conscious as the two men from Earth walked in, and she turned her head towards them, one half-swollen eye squinting in pain. The fierce fire mage smiled, revealing that several teeth had been knocked out of her mouth or broken at some point. She said, “Long live King Aodh O’Breen. I always knew that little Aodh would find his destiny.”

Then the red-headed young woman, once beautiful, began to lose consciousness. Half of her face was burned and she was missing an ear, presumably all damage taken while protecting Aodh. Henry had seen her during the fight into the palace, watching his back every step of the way. Henry watched Vitaliya’s head loll and mentally added up all of her injuries with a clinical eye.

Aodh began pleading, “No, stay with us, Vitaliya. Stay with me. You’re my family. Don’t you want to stay and keep annoying me? I’m sorry I thought all those mean things about you. Please stay awake. Please hold on long enough for a healer.”

This is going to be close, Henry thought. “Volleyball, guard the entrance to this room. Jason, help me elevate Vitaliya’s feet, then find something to put under her head.” He stepped forward to help Aodh’s fallen cousin when another, deeper chime sounded in his mind.

Oh fucking hell, what now? he wondered.

Henry saw text scroll over his eye, but the font was different than usual. Fancier. Bigger.

Congratulations Henry Sato and Jason Booth!

You have completed

[Gain control of Berber]

A subquest of your main task

<[Conquer Ludus]>

Aodh Anthony O’Breen has taken control of Berber and is in your employ. You now have massive influence over the entire country, and have satisfied the requirements of completing this subquest.

You will receive your reward within the next three Ludan days.

Thank you for collecting data for the Great God Dolos!

“You have got to be fucking kidding me,” Henry said. He turned to look at Jason, and his tall friend appeared just as floored.

“It looks like Dolos wasn’t joking when he gave us that first crazy quest.”

“Sure seems that way.” Henry absently loaded the exogun gold ammo into the darksteel exogun he’d just created with a thought. “We definitely need to talk about all of this, but first, we should probably try to save some people, kill the last of the fucking demons in this place and find somewhere safe to sleep. I’m seriously about to pass out. We can probably trust Volleyball to run interference.”

Jason still looked gobsmacked, but the former programmer shook himself. “At this point, I’m not about to take chances. Maybe we should go get Mareen and you can build us all a sleep chamber in some rock or something. After surviving all of this, I’d like to have a secure place to pass out...maybe for the rest of my life. You can do that, right—burrow into rock now?”

“Sure, maybe that’s not a bad idea.” Henry knelt, going through the motions of helping Vitaliya through her obvious shock. Tony was out of it, holding onto the pieces of himself with all he had left. Henry was proud of the young man. Tony had proven himself not only a great warrior, but a hell of a man.

“Gonzo is a body mage, right? Well, he has body magic. Maybe he can help,” said Jason.

“Why don’t you go find him? I’ll work on stabilizing Vitaliya and I’ll keep an eye on Tony.”

Jason paused in thought before leaving and said, “Alright, but if we can, let’s take Aodh with us if you do the whole hidden sleep chamber thing. His life is probably going to get even more complicated than ours in the next few hours. He could probably benefit from some rest, too.”

“Good idea,” said Henry. Then he busied himself with treating Vitaliya. Helping people and healing people made him feel good. He knew that his team had just saved thousands, maybe millions of people. The entire series of events still felt surreal. But in that moment, bandaging the broken and battered body of a young woman he didn’t even really like, but respected, Henry knew he was still making a real difference.

He’d vowed to himself before that he’d continue bringing good to the world, never stop until his last breath. That was the truth Jason had showed to him what felt like a lifetime ago while captured in a little cell in Mirana.

All of them would probably need a lot of time to recover, especially Mareen. Based on how her body was reverting, she’d be physically alright, but Henry could only imagine her trauma when she woke up.

Actually, he didn’t even know yet that everyone was alive. Hopefully, all the Delvers had survived their insane mission. But it was true that even if all his friends still had their lives, none of them would ever be the same again. Henry firmed his resolve. He would be resolute and as unchanging as possible, a beacon for his friends if they ever needed to find the way back to themselves.

Jason had been his guiding light during one of the darkest times of his life. The least Henry could do was provide the same sort of anchor for all the people he loved, even if he would never be able to tell them out loud how much they really meant to him. The Delvers had accomplished their mission, but in war, there was always a price to pay, even for the victors. Henry understood that, and he vowed to never forsake those he’d literally gone to hell with.

Henry’s hands stayed busy, bringing a bit of relief to at least one person on Ludus. Vitaliya might still end up making the ultimate sacrifice in having protected Tony, the least Henry could do was try his best to keep her alive until a magic healer arrived. Tony looked on, watching everything the former EMT did with exhausted, concerned eyes. Aodh O’breen, the new monarch of Berber, technically Henry’s new ruler and quite possibly one of the most dangerous men on the planet, began to cry. Henry pretended not to notice Tony sob as he held his critically wounded cousin’s remaining hand.

Lingering Past

Yelm frowned as he studied Mensk in the distance. The Asag cultists had botched everything. He’d warned them not to underestimate Henry and Jason. He hadn’t even been able to really hurt that little bitch Mareen…whatever the hell she was now. At least she was demon food by now.

He wasn’t sure how the Delvers had made it to Mensk, probably the same way Yelm had, by waygate. But he was sure, as he used his enhanced vision, that the fire and violence around the palace had something to do with those rotting men from Earth. The fact the hellgate closed made it even more likely.

The plan was ruined, but it was still amusing watching all the guards from the city trying to get through the shield. Yelm also took grim solace in the fact that other plans to bring down Mensk were still in motion. He knew of some that didn’t involve the Asag cultists, so there were probably others too.

Yelm formed a fist and let his ice magic create spikes on his knuckles. He punched a tree, the gesture pointless, but satisfying. It was tempting to stay behind, to reconnect with the cultists since they were probably still the most powerful insurgent group in Berber, but Yelm had fulfilled his mission.

It was time to finally meet his true masters, to stop pretending, and to finally stand shoulder to shoulder with the winning team. Yelm shrugged and vanished into the underbrush, confident in his powers. If any monsters tried to take a bite out of him, he could easily kill or outrun them now.

He had plans, big plans. Luckily, his true masters actually listened. His true leaders were not incompetent, religious lunatics like the Asag cultists were. They’d reduce Ludus to cinders.

Yelm smiled grimly as he traveled in the dark, getting lost in memories, feeding on hatred.

Everything for Jeth.

***

Liangyu stood in stony-faced silence as she read the message she’d just gotten by magic messenger bird. After she was done, she crumpled the small paper in her fist and spat. Cowards.

Her current mission came first. She was tracking down Mourad. The cow-like woman had stolen from her, which was unforgivable. The group that she’d ambushed before with disastrous results, she held no ill will towards them. That had just been business.

But Mourad had betrayed her. The big, cow-like woman had made off with a fortune of orbs and spirt stones. It was unforgivable, and neither Liangyu’s reputation nor sensibilities could tolerate it. She’d track the big thief down, kill her, and turn her into a thrall.

Still, that was her short-term goal, but Liangyu knew that planning ahead was the mark of a great general. She sat on a rock in the mountains between Berber and Tolstey, but after killing Mourad, she’d need new direction, a new plan. Elevating her descendants would not be the end of her life.

Unfortunately, most groups she’d contacted knew of her reputation, but didn’t want to risk working with her because others knew of it, too. Cowards, she thought again.

Earlier, she’d gotten quite a surprise when she’d seen the new message cross her vision.

Congratulations to Aodh Anthony O’Breen for ascending as ruler of Berber!

Aodh Anthony O’Breen has met the requirements for taking the throne of Berber, and completed the Ritual of the Crown.

Please show your support for the new king of Berber!

Amazing. Who would have suspected that her ambush target before had been a royal, and was now king of Berber? Liangyu should have known that Dolos would never play fair. That had been a terrible mistake.

Just the fact that Aodh O’Breen had made it to Berber, assassinated the former queen, and taken her place in such a small amount of time was very impressive. Liangyu had no idea how he’d done it, but she planned to find out. Knowledge was power, after all.

Since she was still technically in Tolstey, not Berber, the elegantly dressed Death Witch decided that she’d probably gotten the message because she technically lived in Berber, or at least, she considered it her country of residence.

She’d had time to think since seeing the message about Aodh O’Breen. Perhaps she was not ambitious enough, aiming too low. Why not Queen Liangyu? She liked the ring of that. After all, taking the name Qin Liangyu after arriving in and adapting to Ludus had been a sign of her decision to conquer, not be enslaved.

Suddenly, the contemplating orb-Bonded woman heard a chime in her head, but a different tone than usual, just like the sound that had proceeded the message about Aodh O’Breen. Liangyu perked up, but instead of more text, she heard a voice, one that made her freeze like a zebra surrounded by demon wolves.

This is the Great God Dolos! I have an announcement to make! People of Ludus—

Actually, are mortals really people? Do experiments or livestock have rights? That doesn’t seem accurate. I will have to think of a new way to refer to all the limited races on my pleasure planet—especially those Terrans. Ugh. I could almost forget what a terrible chore it is to provide for all these creatures if not for the Terrans, mucking about in their own filth and violence.

How do mortals even tolerate their own existence? It is good that all the simple creatures don’t just kill themselves since that would not serve my greater plan. But if they did, it would probably be logical. Alas, or luckily, the drive to eat too much, fornicate too much, or take too many drugs is probably too strong. Ironic that little creatures that claim to revere life so much are always trying to escape it. Bewildering, disgusting things, mortals.

I loathe speaking to such primitive beings, but I have a message. In my great wisdom, the alert and classification for a Dolos orb-Bonded or Mo’hali Hero is deactivated as of this moment. Since mortals are slow, I will explain this in simple words. None of the major sentient species on Ludus—Areva, Adom, Mo’hali, Fideli, or, ack, Terrans—will hear a chime or see any notifications anymore while laying eyes on Dolos orb-Bonded or Mo’hali Heroes.

The bounty for all these types is still in effect, though. As before, any Mo’hali Hero or Dolos orb wielder slain will result in a spirit stone or Dolos orb as a reward for the killer. How exciting! As before, each reward will be random.

This should be interesting. Have fun continuing with your little game, mortals. The Great God Dolos is merciful and indulgent! I have given at least some small meaning to your otherwise pointless, insignificant lives. You are welcome.

The message ended, and Liangyu’s eyes widened before she became thoughtful. Yes, this change presented some challenges, but would ultimately benefit her. It would be harder to track down targets, but she wouldn’t have to hide anymore, either.

Liangyu took off the mask she’d been wearing all the time, and dropped it to the ground. She ground it under her heel before ordering a nearby thrall to dispose of the thing. It was important to leave no evidence of her passing.

Yes, she could work with this! Liangyu smiled. Things had just become a lot more interesting. She’d kill Mourad, then move on to greater things. There had to be interesting places for a brilliant, powerful woman to apply herself.

Yes, indeed.

End of Delvers LLC: Adventure Capital,

---Book Three of Delvers LLC

Please read on for a note by the author.

…And don’t forget to review this novel!

School--::--Subschool:

Earth-:-Metal

Air-:-Void

Water-:-Life

Fire-:-Matter

Consciousness-:-Time

Light-:-Darkness

Force-:-Attraction

About the Author:

Blaise Corvin served in the US Army in several roles. He has seen the best and the worst that humanity has to offer. BC is a sucker for any hobby involving weapons, art, or improv.

He currently lives in Texas with some silly animals, and enough geeky memorabilia to start a museum.

Blaise likes talking about himself in third person for author biographies.

It’s all very eccentric.

Cheers!

Continue on to connect with Blaise Corvin, reading recommendations, and a sample of Secret of the Old Ones, Luck Stat Strategy!

To Readers,

PLEASE, PLEASE LEAVE A REVIEW!  You are wonderful, and reviews are amazing for all authors, but especially indie authors like me.

I really hope you enjoyed this book!

Ludus is a part of something huge, a universe I’ve been working on for over ten years and can probably explore for the rest of my life.

Please make sure to connect with me on my mailing list or on social media!

1.  My website

If you’re interested in checking out my website, the URL is http://blaise-corvin.com/.  You can find news, Delvers artwork, and merchandise to buy there (coming soon). You can also join my mailing list if you just scroll around a bit.

2. These are my social media accounts where you can connect with me!

Twitter - @Blaise_Corvin
https://twitter.com/Blaise_Corvin

Facebook - Leave me a like on facebook!

https://www.facebook.com/BlaiseCorvinWriter/

LitRPG Society Facebook Group
https://www.facebook.com/groups/LitRPGsociety/

Blaise Corvin fan group
https://www.facebook.com/groups/BlaiseCorvinBooks/

GameLit Society Facebook Group
https://www.facebook.com/groups/GameLitSociety/

3. Recommendations:

If you liked this book, you may like other LitRPG stories too!  Some authors I interact with often and can recommend are:

A friend, William D Arand, who I will be writing with some time in 2018! His book Super Sale on Super Heroes has been extremely well received.

https://www.amazon.com/William-D.-Arand/e/B01AY7PSG4/

Check out Luke Chmilenko’s Ascend Online series! He writes some epically long LitRPG.

https://www.amazon.com/Luke-Chmilenko/e/B01LZ2769R/

Michael-Scott Earle is a NYT Best Selling Author and the author of the adult fantasy series, Destroyer! His LitRPG series, Lion’s Quest, is one of my favorites!

https://www.amazon.com/Michael-Scott-Earle/e/B019QSNVA2/

4. My email

If you want to drop me a line for any reason, you can email me at:

Blaise.Corvin.Art@gmail.com

5. Until next time (and please leave a review!)

Thank you for joining me on this adventure! I couldn’t continue on without all the knowledge and encouragement I get on a daily basis from everyone in this wonderful community.

I can’t wait to spend time with you again in the fourth Delvers book, Delvers LLC: Golden Handcuffs.

:)

-BC

Continue reading for an exciting sample of Secret Of the Old Ones, Luck Stat Strategy!

I have another LitRPG series I am currently writing, Secret of the Old Ones.

SOO is a hard LitRPG novella series, which is to say there are stat tables, XP earned from kills, and linear character advancement.

I really wanted to write something different, and I think SOO fits the bill! It takes place in the near future and follows a hard core gamer of dubious moral character. The story is set in a world where gaming streams are the primary form of entertainment, and most of the action take place in a Virtual Reality (VR) game.

The game itself is a mash-up of a Victorian, Lovecraft, and Steampunk flavors. There are gun battles, sword fights, and freaky monsters galore!

The book’s blurb reads:

Secret of the Old Ones is a deep dive VR game the likes of which the world had never seen.

Trent Noguero, a hardcore gamer, has been playing for a year and is about to get his big break. He is about to catapult himself into the ranks of the most powerful players in the world.

However, power comes with a price, and celebrity creates enemies. Trent has the keys to massive success, but he also accidentally painted a target on his back…both in, and out of the game.

Continue reading for a sample!

The World Tree

The character sheet read:

Name: Vale dePardon

Class: Occultist

Subclass: Explorer

Level: 10

Experience: 536542

XP to next level: 123468

Stamina: 49/49

HP 49/49

Mana: 70/70

Stats: (Total/Original/Level Ups/Bonuses)

Strength: 3/2/1/0

Agility: 7/3/4/0

Stamina: 5/4/1/0

Intelligence: 7/7/0/0

Willpower: 6/6/0/0

Luck: 15/8/4/3

Class Skills: Fencing, Ancient Body Magic, Paranoia, Ancient Occult Lore, Map Reading/Cartography

Permanent Bonus Source: Mystic Clover (Luck +3)

Trent Noguero smiled in satisfaction. It had been a long, hard road to hit level ten, but now his character, Vale dePardon, finally had a subclass!

He’d been playing as Vale dePardon in Secret of the Old Ones for a year and had just hit level ten a week ago. It was quite an accomplishment. Of the millions of people who were playing the game around the world, less than a couple thousand players had made it to level ten so far.

Level ten was a huge milestone and allowed a player to choose a subclass. He’d chosen Explorer, which allowed him to choose his fifth skill, [Cartography].

Now he only had a few more steps before he could start his grand, mystical experiment. He carefully tiptoed around the ornate sigils he’d drawn in powder on the floor. He was trying to find one of the reagents he’d taken out of his inventory earlier.

Where is it…where is it? Ah, there it is! He found the glass tube of glowing blue liquid and grinned. He didn’t have many more preparations to make. Vale carefully moved to the most concentrated area of the designs and symbols on the ground, some of which were glowing.

He took a deep breath. He only had enough *Distilled Azure Essence* for one try. He was about to make or break his complex magic gate spell. He uncorked the blue liquid and mumbled a few spells. The liquid began to bubble, and Vale threw it up in the air in a circular motion. In less than a second, the entire vial of liquid had turned to smoke. The sparkles in the air left over from the mystical reaction slowly settled to the designs on the floor.

Vale smiled and tilted his head back for a moment in triumph. Finally, he thought. He squatted down and carefully regarded the center of the spell network. The old, cracked parchment had probably been the luckiest thing he’d found in the game so far…if it actually was what he thought it was.

It was a big “if.”

It had taken him a month to figure out what the map might do, and after he knew, his mouth had gone dry from excitement. However, preparing to discover if he was right had been very expensive and time-consuming. He’d spent every coin he had to buy all the materials for the arcane accelerators and intricate symbols drawn on the floor. All his wealth had been used to cover his hidden cellar in ancient hoodoo.

At least the cellar had been free. He was just hiding in an obscure, out-of-the-way area and would leave when he was done. He wasn’t sure if the cellar actually belonged to someone, and he didn’t care. Their building was helping further science—or magic, whatever.

He traced a finger along the mystic sigils rimming the map’s edges and smiled. He’d been waiting a long time to test his theory. Now that he was so close, he felt anxiety building, the pressure crawling up his spine.

His subclass and his new [Cartography] skill were all part of a plan that he’d been working on for half a year. Secret of the Old Ones deviated from other games with unique bonuses, skills, even rumored one-of-a-kind classes. In a game with 30 starting stat points, a level cap of 30, and only one additional stat point every level for a possible total of 60 stat points at max level…

It was obvious that bonus stats would be a huge advantage.

When Vale had heard about these design decisions prior to playing SOO, he’d decided on his strategy before even creating a character. He’d put as many points into the Luck stat as he could. In a game where stats were so important, where his character sheet even showed his original, level one choices, finding anything that could give him permanent bonuses would be amazing.

Luckily, two months in, his gamble had paid off. What’s more, he was able to find an amazing item that conferred a permanent attribute bonus of +3 Luck. Unfortunately, finding the Mystic Clover had been part of a long, involved adventure that had gained him a full-blown enemy.

Suddenly, he got a flashing system notice:

DANGER!

Unlike other notices, this one popped up and faded away on its own. Vale’s stomach dropped and he whispered, “Oh no.”

His [Paranoia] skill was currently letting him know an enemy was nearby, and he knew it had to be Brutus Vann, his nemesis, his enemy from the expedition where he’d found the Mystic Clover. Vale crossed his arms and tried to decide what to do. It would be a few minutes before Brutus found him…just like he always did.

They had shared history, after all.

In the past, he’d always fled from Brutus, managing to escape through luck and guile. Combat in SOO was a strange combination of in-game skills and real-life abilities. A character couldn’t do things in the game very well unless they had a skill or class for it. On the flip side, if a character had a skill, they performed actions better if they had real-life skill and experience. The game’s system helped for skills that players were unfamiliar with, but there was no substitute for real training…

The strange combat and skill system had actually motivated players to learn how to make antique crafts, pursue knowledge, and practice martial arts outside the game—presumably, as the mysterious designers of Yggdrasil Entertainment had intended.

Unfortunately, Vale was almost certain that Brutus had at least three skills devoted entirely to combat. He was also a skilled fighter, almost unnaturally so. Brutus’s player had to have real skill in ancient weapons and armor. Sometimes Vale wondered who Brutus could be in real life.

Who the hell trained to use a longsword, anyway?

In a game where player deaths forced a mandatory one-week lockout from the game, Brutus was notorious. He’d been challenged by full adventuring parties in the past and still came out as the victor, helping himself to all their gear and becoming an even more formidable player.

Normally if Brutus showed up, Vale would run; he’d have no choice. Unfortunately, the whole reason he was so eager to get his tenth level, his subclass, and the [Cartography] skill was currently filling his laboratory. Six months of work was glowing on the floor.

His back was against the wall. If he fled, he’d lose half a year of progress. He couldn’t let Brutus just have it. Eventually, he made the only decision he really could. His spine steeled, he ascended the stairs out of his borrowed cellar.

He reflected on his chances as he walked out into the moonlight. Luckily, Vale wasn’t a terrible fighter himself. His high-quality Rapier of Twilight was an excellent weapon. Plus, his [Fencing] skill, 3 years of Fencing Club in college, and a year of hands-on combat experience in SOO had made him fairly dangerous in his own right.

Unfortunately, Brutus was a superior fighter in every way, except for one—Vale had magic. He usually avoided using it because of the risks, but the only way he was going to win this fight would be to cheat.

Sure enough, Brutus was standing outside. The shadows on his craggy, brutish face moved as he grinned. His heavy armor shimmered with enchantments, and his enormous sword glowed with fiery runes.

As amazing as the hulking man’s gear was, it was common knowledge he had an even better set stashed away somewhere. The last time someone actually managed to kill Brutus, they’d taken his gear. They’d believed him brought down for good, or at least for a long time. The community had celebrated. However, a week later when Brutus had logged back into the game, he’d hunted down those who killed him. He’d killed them, taken out their friends, and even slaughtered the players who’d planned the celebration of his death.

He was ruthless.

Brutus stood a few inches taller than Vale and outweighed him by at least fifty pounds. It was a jagged pill to swallow, but Vale had to admit that the man was incredibly intimidating. Brutus wore full armor while Vale was dressed as an Occultist adventurer. He was wearing the game’s latest adventuring fashion. He had to admit he liked how it looked.

As Vale drew his rapier, Brutus smiled and crowed, “So, we finally meet again and at last—”

Vale wasn’t interested in talking. He sprinted forward, using his [Ancient Body Magic] skill to cast <Arm Speed>, <Leg Speed>, <Superior Aim>, <Enhanced Reflexes>, and <Explosive Strength>. The combination of spells exhausted a great deal of his mana, and he felt the mental strain pushing against his paltry six Willpower.

He fought to stay conscious. If he went under, he would pass out and no doubt Brutus would kill him. He’d be locked out for a week. It was unacceptable to go down now, to lose everything. Vale fought through the pain.

As he closed, he focused on his target and his strategy. SOO supported massive criticals for killing blows. Hitting someone normally took away their health, but particularly deadly attacks could usually kill a player in one shot.

It was obvious that Brutus had not even expected Vale to defend himself. Arrogant bastard, Vale thought, and he snarled. Even just standing there with his sword sheathed, Brutus still almost managed to recover.

He pulled just enough steel and turned his body to block Vale’s first attack. Then Vale dodged Brutus’s hasty, surprised punch and sunk his rapier up to the hilt in the brutish man’s eye socket.

The big man fell; the fight was over amazingly fast. Vale panted and wrenched his sword out of Brutus’ skull. He had been awarded with the kill. The feeling was surreal. Vale closed a window that popped up without looking at the XP he’d earned.

He was a little shocked he was still alive. In any other circumstance, he was sure he would have lost. Only the full combination of all five spells had let him win, but it had been an enormous risk, one that most players, including himself, would usually not have been willing to take. He had come close to passing out just from the spell backlash, and he wasn’t sure if he’d be able to replicate the feat ever again.

Ancient magic, the magic Occultists used in SOO was no joke. Each spell cast in quick succession got increasingly difficult to control.

Vale didn’t pause to gloat. He didn’t even stop to loot. He just dragged Brutus’s corpse into his cellar laboratory and locked the door. He couldn’t know who else might have been watching, and he had to move forward with his plans immediately. All the reagents, the careful planning, everything had to be used now.

The proper stars were even in alignment. There would be no better time, and he didn’t want to further risk losing all his hard work.

Vale moved to his carefully inscribed circles and realized he was bleeding from somewhere. Oh well, it could wait. All his spells from the fight before were still active, so he was riding a high of magic. He paused for a second, breathed deeply, and called up his [Ancient Occult Lore] activation menu.

Do you want to activate your arcane portal?

Vale chose YES.

Are you sure?

The map tethered to this arcane portal is demanding a
permanent loss of -5 Intelligence to proceed.

Vale paused and thought for a while. The map was asking for an insane loss of Intelligence. It hadn’t even occurred to him that he could lose any stats, that it might cost him more than he’d already given up to use the map.

He should have known there’d be more to it. He’d been a fool. It even made sense that he would have to give up Intelligence, the one stat necessary to have deciphered the map in the first place. It was the core stat for his primary class, too.

He stared at the prompt a long time, but finally gritted his teeth and chose YES. This was going to hurt. He had the bare minimum Intelligence necessary to use the map in the first place, but he had to know where this map led. He had to know if he’d been right.

Suddenly, he felt nothing but pressure, like the entire world was pushing in on him. Flashes of lights and color bombarded him, even with his eyes closed. He felt the brush of catastrophe a number of times. He wasn’t quite sure what was going on, but he knew he was barely avoiding death. He hoped his Luck stat would be enough.

The map had been meant for the transport of a player twice his level, after all.

Eventually, the colors stopped spinning and Vale opened his eyes. He was greeted with the sight of an enormous, ethereal tree.

“Yes, I was right!” He whooped with joy.

He stood on a walkway leading directly into the World Tree. To his left was the aspect of Autumn, the surrounding forest, all shades of honey gold and red. To his right was the aspect of Spring, trees dripping with lush vegetation and radiating the vibrant glow of life. Majestic mountains loomed in the distance, framing the World Tree like supplicants.

He slowly walked forward, giddy from his success. He had no idea what to expect. Over the last year, players had heard rumors of the World Tree, but nobody had found it. Vale was the first.

He stepped into the tree and got a flashing prompt:

Congratulations!

You have found the fabled World Tree!
You have a choice…of Power!
The World Tree is ancient and must gift some of its power!

Choose between:

Fire – +Strength +Intelligence

Air – +Agility +Intelligence

Water – +Willpower +Intelligence

Earth – +Stamina +Intelligence

Upon your choice you will receive:

-A Legendary class

-A legendary, elemental magic skill (required, takes one skill slot)

*Please note that this magic skill can be used without affecting player sanity.

*(Does not require a Willpower check)

-Additional awarded XP

-Additional stat points allocated

Do you wish to accept this power?

Vale chose YES.

Choose your Element

Each element can be chosen once by one person

The World Tree’s energy only grows to this level every 1000 years

Vale thought carefully. He’d been working on his character being something of a gentleman scholar with a magical flair, and he decided to stick with that. He also didn’t like the idea of choosing Water, although it would have been a good element for him too.

He chose AIR and all hell broke loose.

Stat points awarded

400,000 XP earned

Level Up!

Level Up!

New title earned: Legendary Air Adept

New legendary class earned: Air Adept

System Alert! Vale dePardon has found the World Tree. Vale dePardon is the Legendary Air Adept of Secret of the Old Ones!

Mandatory skill awarded

It was all a little overwhelming at first, but Vale quickly grasped what was happening. He grinned as he allocated his two stat points from gaining two levels and examined his new character sheet. All his health, mana, and stamina were maxed out again. He’d gotten lucky too. His new attribute points from his new class were applied before he leveled up so he’d gained more mana per level.

Name: Vale dePardon

Class: Occultist

Subclass: Explorer

Hero Class: *At level 20*

Legendary Class: Air Adept

Level: 12

Experience: 940542

XP to next level: 69458

Stamina: 59/59

HP 59/59

Mana: 90/90

Stats: (Total/Original/Level Ups/Bonuses)

Strength: 4/2/2/0

Agility: 10/3/4/3

Stamina: 5/4/1/0

Intelligence: 10/7/0/3

Willpower: 6/6/0/0

Luck: 16/8/5/3

Class Skills: Fencing, Ancient Body Magic, Paranoia, Ancient Occult Lore, Map Reading/Cartography, Elemental Magic: Air

Permanent Bonus Source: Mystic Clover (Luck +3), World Tree Tithe
(Int -5), World Tree Boon (Int +8, Agi +3)

Smiling from ear to ear, he called up his [Ancient Occult Lore] activation menu.

Do you wish to return?

Vale chose YES, and the World Tree instantly teleported him back to his dank cellar. His eyes glowed as he mentally went through the list of all his new abilities. It was all amazing, completely amazing. He’d made back the Intelligence he’d sacrificed and then some.

Giving up that five Intelligence hadn’t been easy. In retrospect, he figured it’d been a test to determine if he was a real Explorer or something. If he’d been wrong about where the map took him, he would have been screwed.

He immediately folded the precious map and decided he needed to hide it as soon as possible. There were three more elements that the World Tree could give. He had to decide whether to gift them to friends or sell the knowledge. Each element would probably be worth over a million US dollars, but he’d have to sell them all at once. After someone else got an element, he would no longer be the only player that knew how to get to the World Tree.

He was tired, but he got moving. First things first, he had to loot Brutus’s body. After being stalked for so long by the huge psycho, it was going to be super satisfying to sell all his gear. He’d have to find an NPC with decent rates, though. No players would touch it.

Brutus was scary even while he was dead.

Vale knew he was one of the most powerful players in the entire game now. Unfortunately, because of the system alert, the rest of the world knew it too.

Let them come.

Wanted

Trent tried to pay attention in class, but ultimately gave up. He couldn’t fight the inevitable; he had way too much on his mind.

His virtual university classroom didn’t have the same level of realism as Secret of the Old Ones, but it was still fairly immersive. Everyone in the class looked as they did in real life. Avatars and cosmetic alterations were not allowed.

The professor droned on, displaying incredible skill. The man could somehow even make Astronomy boring, a subject Trent cared about deeply.

Trent secretly smiled as he overheard one of the other students whispering about Vale dePardon. SOO was such a popular game, important news was even more highly regarded internationally than the largest e-sports.

The whole world knew the name of Trent’s in-game avatar. It was a strange feeling knowing that his virtual self was so famous.

Trent still had to figure out what he was going to do with his hard-won knowledge, though. Should he procure real-world money, or in-game favors?

The decision was even more complicated due to how so many players actually made money by selling items in-game. The line between wealth in the virtual world and wealth in the real world was a bit fuzzy.

Part of the problem was that Trent wasn’t sure how he could sell such expensive information at once, nor even what path to take. There were websites dedicated to trading things in-game for real money, but they were all third party and relied heavily on trust. One player sent money, the other player met the paying party in-game to give them what they paid for.

This worked fine for most items, but for information worth a fortune, it would be risky.

Trent tapped his finger on his virtual desk while he thought. The feeling wasn’t quite as satisfying as tapping a real desk. Still, if any of his classmates looked at him, he knew they’d see him exactly as he looked in real life; just shy of tall, dark hair, dark eyes, lean face, an air of wariness.

The virtual classroom perfectly captured the clothing he was wearing, too. He had on jeans, a t-shirt, and his Bluetooth-connected sneakers. Nothing fancy. He wasn’t sure how his persocomp told the VR classroom what he was wearing, but it was hard to hide from something in your own head. He really wasn’t sure why he needed to wear any clothes at all in the real world.

Whoever had built the VR infrastructure for private and public education had obviously not liked the idea of students hanging out at home naked while virtually attending class…or something.

Of course, students without persocomps, usually for religious reasons, and students who just wanted some social, face-to-face interaction went to the public pod facilities, but Trent usually couldn’t be bothered. He wanted to log into SOO as soon as he was done with class.

He also hated public restrooms.

After class was done, Trent logged out. He glanced around his little dorm room before sitting up in bed and rubbing his eyes. He knew some people liked to Dive while sitting, but Trent preferred to lie down.

He knew some people thought colleges should do away with dorm rooms since classes were virtual, but Trent actually enjoyed staying in a dorm. If he wasn’t living in student housing, he probably wouldn’t have any in-person friends at all. The birth rate for the world was down enough, too. He agreed with the politicians who said that young people should still actually interact with other—Trent just didn’t like to do so too often.

He got up and poured himself a drink while he thought about what he should do in-game. He needed to hydrate before Diving anyway, so he sipped his sports drink while thinking about the game itself.

Secret of the Old Ones, the second global deep dive VR game (DDVRG) was a multiplayer RPG with some very distinct differences from other games.

One of its greatest strengths was its realism. Players could not differentiate between Secret of the Old Ones and reality other than the in-game mechanics. It was even more immersive than Strength and Magic Online had been.

The first DDVRG, Strength and Magic Online, had been a revolutionary experience. For almost forty years before SMO was created, various companies had tinkered with deep dive VR tech. The gaming industry had always been huge, and it didn’t take a genius to understand how much money truly immersive gaming could make.

One of the greatest hurdles developers had to overcome was hardware constraints. VR headsets and haptic suits had become incredibly advanced, but still couldn’t offer a full deep dive experience. It wasn’t until the invention of the persocomp, a personal computer link implanted in the brain, that true deep dive VR was possible. Plus, the United World Council’s decision that a persocomp was a human right was a godsend for gamers.

Strength and Magic Online had been revolutionary, the greatest game made for its time. However, Secret of the Old Ones, or SOO had surpassed it in every way.

The design decision by Yggdrasil Entertainment to build its new game in an HP Lovecraft-style horror universe had made some early industry pundits scratch their heads. That was before the game came out. The emphasis on personal skills and learning, the difficulty in leveling, the compelling world and quests…it was all amazing.

Trent personally loved the game’s setting. It was the perfect mix of fantasy, horror, and the familiar. Players who didn’t like the combat aspect could play a largely social game in towns and cities. Meanwhile, power gamers like Trent could explore ancient ruins, poking around for buried treasure.

Trent suddenly realized he’d killed his sports drink. He knew he’d have to pee eventually, but luckily, his persocomp slowed most of his body’s processes to a crawl after Diving.

He reclined on his bed and decided to visit a market while Diving. He still had all of Brutus’s shit to sell.

***

Like always, Diving was a riot of colors and sensations. It almost felt like an out-of-body experience, like being connected to the universe. Trent tried to keep his mind as calm as possible. He didn’t want to be one of those people who acted high their first 30 minutes in-game after Diving.

***

Trent found himself back in his body as Vale dePardon. He’d logged out before on the outskirts of one of his favorite towns, so he only had a short trip to the market. He’d already stashed his precious map. The map itself acted as a mystical anchor in the game. He couldn’t just get away with memorizing the information it held.

He couldn’t chance it being stolen if he was killed. Hiding things was always a risk in SOO because anything hidden could be found, but more experienced players like Vale all had special stash spots.

Vale smiled grimly. Anyone who went after his stash spot would get a very nasty surprise.

He trudged forward, his loot sack so full it actually felt heavy. Compressed packs were one way the creatures of SOO had bent reality that Vale was deeply thankful for. Lugging gear and loot around in wheelbarrows would not have been very immersive or dignified.

Eventually, Vale cut across one last field and found himself on the main road into Gabenz, a coastal town, and one of his favorite places to trade. In-game, it was near sunset, and the town’s buildings made an interesting backdrop against the multicolored sky.

He made his way through familiar back alleys, dodging other players and troublesome NPCs alike. He didn’t feel like dealing with an encounter or learning of a new quest. He was here to make money.

Gabenz was a coastal town, and most of the markets, the best markets known to adventurers, were near the docks. Trent continued to keep a close eye out, warily watching shifty men in top hats and ladies in bustles go about their business.

Vale ruefully thought about how easy it was to tell female players from NPCs. Most modern women hated bustles and petticoats. There were some hardcore role-players or female gamers who liked how they looked enough to put up with the inconveniences, though. The thought sobered Vale. There were plenty of female assassins.

His head was on a swivel as he grew even more paranoid. It wasn’t too much longer until he got to the docks and the fringe of the commercial district.

Vale cautiously passed couples arm in arm, nearing the location of one of his favorite NPC fences. However, as he turned a corner, a piece of paper caught his eye. It said, “WANTED!” and it had a picture of his face.

Oh fuck.

Vale jumped as he heard a voice behind him say, “Just keep walking. Don’t turn around or things will get really bad, really fast.”

Vale didn’t move at first until he felt the barrel of a pistol pressed into his back. “Go straight, right up into that alley up ahead. We wouldn’t want to involve the town constables in any unpleasantness, right?” Vale heard laughter from at least a couple other people.

How had he missed them? He took a mental step back. His face was probably plastered all over town. If groups were actively looking for him, they could be sneakier than he was being vigilant, or they could be using special skills.

Vale was not in a good position, not at all.

Oh fuck, indeed.

Slaughter Alley

Vale slowly plodded forward, his mind racing. He wasn’t sure if his ambushers were after the World Tree map, or whether they were just trying to score a bounty. Their motivations were important. If they were just after a bounty, they wouldn’t expect him to risk a week of logout time by resisting. Most players were very cautious about dying after the first time they got locked out for a week and had all their gear stolen.

On the other hand, if the bastards behind Vale were just after a bounty, using his new magic to escape would spread like wildfire in the rumor mill—if any saw it and lived to tell about it. Getting locked out would prevent that, though. The only hope he had was to kill every single person who saw him use his new abilities.

Players could not post from verified accounts while locked out. The TOS of SOO forbade players from talking about events leading to their death while they were still dead too. Yggdrasil Entertainment enforced their rules with an iron fist. Most players were smart enough not to risk being banned.

Vale’s mind raced. Every possible thing his attackers could be planning ran through his head, checklist style. They could be planning to restrain him, or run a trace to find out who he really was, or try torturing him for information.

Torture of a kind did work in SOO. Of course, a player could always choose to log out, to stop Diving, to Surface. However, if a player Surfaced while in the middle of combat or conflict, they had 20 minutes to return or they would automatically die.

Most players thought the system was fair. Players who didn’t want to engage in dangerous situations usually stayed away from them, and if a player didn’t want to play anymore, they could log off. The penalty kept it from being abused.

The possibility that most worried Vale was the trace. He was just a poor college kid. He wasn’t completely naïve. He knew that there were some people in the world who would be willing track him down in real life to get his secrets. There were quite a few individuals and several businesses that made a very lucrative profit off SOO, after all.

In fact, Vale had even been thinking about exploring ways to monetize his own play time in the next couple days. Of course, that might not happen for at least a week if he ended up dying.

As he walked into the alley ahead of his captors, Vale’s heart sunk and his hand itched. He desperately wished he had room to draw his rapier. At the other end of the alley was another set of seedy characters. There were three of them in all, each of them grinning nastily.

Vale’s pulse quickened. The rope held by one of the men in the alley meant the group was probably trying to collect on his bounty. He wasn’t sure if the bounty had been created by someone who wanted to know about the World Tree, or by Brutus himself; maybe both. The man was locked out of the game for a week, but he obviously had connections.

Time seemed to slow down as Vale examined his options. He had his Rapier of Twilight, a decent enchanted weapon, two fire-enchanted throwing darts, and a crossbow in his pack that would not do him much good.

He had Ancient Body Magic, which would be helpful, but also taxed his Willpower. However, now he had his [Elemental Magic: Air] skill. He wasn’t sure how much mana its spells would eat up, but like all magic in SOO, he could dump more mana into abilities in order to make them stronger.

He carefully examined his spell list and began to inwardly smile. He had a plan.

He walked forward a few more paces with his hands up, appearing to go peacefully to his capture. He figured there were at least three behind him, so he was facing six enemies at once, at a minimum. He needed to free himself from his enemies at the rear, especially if there were more than three.

When he was about halfway down the alley, he shrugged off his loot sack and used [Elemental Magic: Air] to cast <Gust> on himself from behind. He only put one mana point into the spell, as much to test the strength of his magic as to give himself some space from his attackers.

His eyes widened as the spell shoved him forward almost ten feet, practically into the second group. All his attackers began yelling. He spared a glance behind him, laying eyes on the three scruffy people who’d gotten the drop on him earlier. He snarled and cast <Gust> again, this time cranking up the power to seven mana.

The three thugs were bowled over like nine-pins, the powerful spell almost throwing them out of the alley. He barely turned in time to draw his rapier and block an attack by the first goon to reach him. Vale grinned, the expression showing all his teeth. He shoved with his free hand, casting <Gust> again for three mana.

As the second group tumbled back onto their butts, he checked his mana.

Mana: 79/90

He had used up eleven mana. Vale took a gamble and used [Ancient Body Magic] to cast <Arm Speed>, <Leg Speed>, and <Enhanced Reflexes>. He only used two points of mana for each spell, effectively raising his stats by three points in agility and his [Fencing] skill by an amount that was too difficult to calculate.

Natural stats were king, and Vale was already running a natural ten in Agility. His spell brought him up to around thirteen points in Agility, plus several combat bonuses that he couldn’t see on his stat sheet, but he knew were there.

The first man to get up in front of him was a big, burly guy with a beard. He held a practical short sword and parrying dagger. Unfortunately for him, his dagger hand was on the ground as he pushed himself up. Vale lunged forward, the tip of his rapier punching through the man’s mouth and out the back of his head, killing him instantly.

Vale’s eyes narrowed in satisfaction. This was why he built towards speed and precision. Strength fighters like Brutus were terrifying, but there was something to be said for expert precision in SOO, just like real life.

Another man was up and rushed Vale with a couple nasty-looking hooked weapons. They were probably some sort of nautical drops. One glittered with enchantment.

Vale dodged one slash. He caught the man’s second attack on the forte of his blade, riposting with a thrust to the chest. The Rapier of Twilight’s keen tip punched through the ruffian’s light leather armor with almost no resistance at all, destroying his heart and exiting out his back.

He kicked the stunned, dying man off his sword into the wall and stalked past him. Two down, he thought.

The last bandit before him was female, little more than a girl. Vale’s thoughts turned cold and dispassionate. She should not have fucked with a Legendary Class scholar having a bad day.

The girl drew a couple throwing daggers, but her movements were glacially slow to Vale. He almost casually whipped his rapier in a glittering arc, the last two inches neatly severing the girl’s carotid artery. Her hands reflexively went to her throat, dropping her daggers. To be thorough, Vale lowered his center of gravity and stabbed her through the diaphragm at an upward angle.

The girl died, her eyes clouding over, but her last expression was one of defiance and anger. She died well. Probably a serious PVP gamer. Vale respected that.

He turned towards the last three threats and sprinted towards the closest to him, a man with a mustache. The man’s pale skin was heavily tattooed; his bare scalp sported some sort of occult sigils. The man growled, “You must think you’re really hot shit but—”

I wonder why so many of these predatory types want to waste time talking? Vale danced to the side and tried to get a clean, killing thrust, but the man was too experienced. With a start, Vale realized he was the person who had demanded he march to the alley. He was probably their leader.

The bandit muttered something before holding a hand out that began glowing red. Shit. Vale dove to the side and barely had room in the alley to dodge the fire-ball. The thug leader obviously had some skill in magic, probably [Ancient Thermal Magic]. It was a popular type of magic for mercenaries, fighters, and other feisty players.

Vale didn’t want to give the man a chance to get off another spell. He tucked a hand into his vest, and threw one of his darts in one smooth motion. The mustachioed, tattooed man had his long dagger’s blade up, but he had no time to react. The dart took him right through the bridge of the mouth, the heavy steel spraying broken bits of teeth.

The man stumbled backward, snorting in anguish. Vale put him out of his misery with a precise thrust through the heart.

The last two bandits, a tall, older man and a middle-aged woman, both gaped in fear. The woman held up a percussion lock pistol in a shaking hand. Vale could actually see the hammer falling as she pulled the trigger. He dodged to the side, hoping he correctly judged where the bullet would fly. A cloud of gun smoke filled the alley, and Vale didn’t feel a gaping hole in his body. Either he’d been right, or he’d gotten lucky. Either way, he’d take it.

Through the smoke, he saw the tall man with pinched features begin running away. The woman with the pistol still had it extended; the now empty gun kept shaking until she dropped it.

Vale whipped his hand forward with his last enchanted throwing dart while running forward. The dart nailed the woman in the sternum and she burst into flames. Must have been a critical, thought Vale.

The woman was thrashing around, dying as the fire ticked away her remaining hit points. Vale kicked her down to the ground and stabbed her through the chest to put her out of her misery.

“Don’t shoot at me again,” he muttered as he ran past.

The tall man was almost to the end of the alley and relative safety, but Vale was too fast. He was easily three times faster than the last would-be bounty hunter. When the man was only a few feet from the mouth of the alley, Vale crippled his legs with an economical flick of his rapier. The man slammed to the ground and Vale stomped down on the man’s back—hard.

The man tried to scream, but he had no air in his lungs. It didn’t stop him from trying to draw a pistol, though. Vale snarled and thought, What is it with these people and pistols? They’re actually hard to use…

He cocked his arm back and slammed his blade into the back of the man’s skull. The tall man’s body stiffened and grew limp beneath Vale’s foot. He snarled in disgust. He really didn’t like PVP. Why couldn’t other players leave him the fuck alone?

He looked up and down the alley at the carnage and the strewn bodies. He checked his mana again.

Mana: 73/90

He had just killed six other players in decent gear, probably between level seven to nine. He had only used up seventeen mana, and he hadn’t even gotten a scratch. He’d probably overspent a lot of mana. He needed to learn to optimize his [Elemental Magic: Air] skill better.

He whistled soundlessly at all the gear just asking to be taken. “Well, if it’s just lying around…” he grumbled. He wasn’t going to enjoy carrying everything in his loot sack, but at least it was only a short distance to his favorite fence.

***

“2,142 gold! Holy crap!” Vale exclaimed. He’d had a good haul indeed. The shady merchant just smiled. Vale had no doubt the unctuous man would make a killing reselling all the gear. Well, he would have if he wasn’t an NPC. The NPC’s name was Vernon Carlsmit, a name Vale always thought was a bit over the top.

Suddenly the shady merchant Vernon leaned forward and winked conspiratorially. “You’ve been a good customer to me, and I always see you wearing that pig sticker,” he said, gesturing to Vale’s rapier. “I actually heard about a weapon like that lost in some ruins some time back. A powerful one, too. It was probably nothing, but I can still tell you about it, though.” The man guffawed.

In Vale’s vision, a window popped up:

You have been offered a unique quest by an NPC due to your relationship with the shopkeep and your status as a Legendary class.
Do you accept the quest?

Well, that’s a no-brainer. Vale chose YES.

Congratulations! You have started a quest for a legendary weapon!

Listen to the shopkeep’s tale and watch for other
opportunities to further this quest line!

Vale smiled as the sweating merchant began telling his story.

***

Trent was in the great mood when he logged out and Surfaced. His mood lasted right up until he checked his messages on his persocomp and saw several missed calls from his best friend Steve. The latest just said, <Seriously, watch the news.>

Vale was confused. Steve knew that Trent played as Vale, but he’d already seen almost everything the media was saying about him; most of it was just speculation.

However, after Vale used his persocomp to generate a telescreen in his field of vision and turned to a news station, he cursed.

Most stations were playing in-game footage from two hours ago. The FPR, first-person-recorded, video had caught a very pissed off looking Vale dePardon utterly dismantling the criminal bounty hunters in an alley.

“Well…shit.”

This is the end of the sample.

Thank you for spending time with me!

-BC