Date: 2019-03-31 07:00:00+00:00
Keywords: Fantasy; Fiction
Description: Malem is emperor. He has an army of monsters at his command, and a harem of beautiful women at his beck and call. He should be happy. And yet he is restless. He yearns for the nomadic existence he left behind... the laid-back days spent roaming the countryside, sleeping under the stars, free of the burdens of rule. Careful what you wish for... When an old friend flees Malem's kingdom, bringing with him the secret to escaping the demon that binds Malem forever, our restless emperor must pursue. Unfortunately, this particular friend is not what he seems, and when Malem finally catches him, the m

Fighter

MONSTER TAMER BOOK 5

Isaac Hooke

Copyright © 2019 by Isaac Hooke

All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

www.IsaacHooke.com

1

Malem sat on his throne, the crown weighing heavily upon his troubled brow.

“My emperor, are you listening?” Gregory asked.

Malem glanced at the orak, who was dressed in a rich livery of red silks, the sleeves and collar outlined in purple ermine. Gregory’s face was green, like a gobling’s, though of the lighter shade most oraks possessed. His eyes were similar to a man’s, except the sclera were green, and the irises yellow. His nose was flat, all nostrils, and upper canines curved down from his open mouth, reaching to his chin. Only a few strands of white hair protruded from his scalp. All oraks had thin, white hair like that—it wasn’t an indication of age.

Scars crisscrossed the orak’s face, a testament to Gregory’s former life as a soldier. According to eyewitnesses, he had fought bravely in the battle against Vorgon and Denfidal, saving many lives when he singlehandedly took down the biggest mini-Balor on the battlefield. Malem had rewarded Gregory with a new name, and an elevation in position to that of personal servant.

Though the orak wasn’t currently bound to him, Malem had Broken Gregory at one point, so if the monster ever tried to attack him, it wouldn’t be very hard to Break Gregory again. Malem preferred monsters among his closest servants and advisors, versus men, because at least he could sense and control the former, whereas the latter were complete unknowns to him.

Malem’s eyes drifted to the long scroll the orak held open in its hands, and shook his head. “Nope. What were we talking about?”

Gregory frowned. “You have seemed exceedingly distracted of late. What is wrong?”

“Nothing,” Malem said. “Got a lot on my mind.”

“Well,” Gregory said. “I was simply proceeding through your agenda for the day.”

“I know that,” Malem said. “I meant, what item were you reciting? Repeat it.”

“Yes,” Gregory said. “Well, I was merely saying, after lunch with the ambassador from Fallow Gate, you have an appointment with the mayor of Redbridge. And then, in the afternoon, you’re scheduled to sit down with Aurora and Wendolin.”

“Such a regimented day,” Malem mused. “How did I fall into this life?”

“Mmm?” Gregory asked, confused.

“Never mind,” Malem replied.

“The palace was only finished two weeks ago, and already you’re getting antsy,” Gwen said from where she was seated beside him. “You are the emperor. You can change the schedule as you deem fit.”

Malem glanced at her. The green-skinned half gobling had her hair down from her usual ponytail, and it draped across her bare shoulders. Below that, she wore a modest gown of white and blue that complemented her figure. She definitely looked good in a dress.

She looked good in anything, in fact.

As a courtesy, he allowed each of his companions to sit on the throne beside him; they alternated, so he had a new face seated beside him every hour. He did this to show them they were all equal in his eyes. They all dined with him for breakfast, lunch and dinner, of course. That was fair, in his eyes.

They also alternated in his bed, with a different woman joining him every night.

Variety. The spice of life.

He had no complaints in the sexual department. None at all. But that could be expected of an emperor.

Malem nodded, and returned his attention to Gregory. “Aurora and Wendolin, you say?” He rubbed his chin. “Is Wendolin making any progress with her?”

So far, Aurora hadn’t been very forthcoming about how her powers worked, even when he applied his will and drained her of stamina. She was strong. He would have never Broken her without that magic collar, considering that she was human. So he had tasked Wendolin with befriending her, and learning the secrets of her, and the crystal sword. That weapon had allowed her to slay monsters in waves upon the battlefield, using the stamina it drained to rejuvenate Denfidal.

Malem had tried to wield the sword himself, but could not. Nor could any of his companions. Brita, who had some skill in identifying items, hadn’t been able to get a read on it.

Aurora, and her cooperation, were the key to understanding that weapon.

“She has made some progress, yes,” Gregory said. “However, I believe you personally asked the tree elf the same question yesterday. And the day before. When Wendolin joined you on the throne…”

“I suppose I did,” Malem said. “Remind me.” Why can’t I remember?

“Aurora doesn’t try to leap at her and pull out all of the tree elf’s hair anymore,” Gregory said. “I suppose the wooden floor you installed helps: Wendolin has trained Aurora that attempting to jump her is not a wise move, not when the floor can come alive with wooden stakes that will either restrain or inflict pain. Speaking of the latter, Wendolin still hasn’t resorted to torture. If you like, I know a good orak I can recommend, who is skilled in such matters. This orak has all the tools of the trade—teeth pullers, eye clamps, you name it. If you supply a healer, my friend can fill her days with pain. She will break by the end of the week.”

Malem shook his head. “Don’t you understand, she’s already Broken. She will resist you.”

Gregory shrugged. “Few can resist what my friend can deliver.”

“No,” Malem said. “I won’t resort to torture. I’m not the Defiler anymore.” Saying that name sent a shudder down his back. Gwen, too, trembled at the mention of it.

“After you’re done speaking to Aurora and Wendolin, you’re to meet with the dwarven prospectors from Caverna,” Gregory continued.

“Caverna…” Malem said. “Yes, that sounds familiar.”

Gregory nodded. “Timlir told you of them last week, when you were discussing your treasury woes. He offered to send dwarves to contact them, and you agreed. The envoys returned last night with three willing prospectors in tow, and Timlir treated them to a typical dwarven welcome, replete with food, fine wine and mead. When I passed by the dwarven dining hall last night, the debauchery was in full swing.”

“Yes, I could hear the singing,” Malem said. He frowned. Why couldn’t he remember what these prospectors were going to do for him?

Seeing his confused expression, Gregory volunteered: “The dwarves are going to help us survey the land we have claimed from the monsters of the Midweald. According to Timlir, Caverna dwarves are the best prospectors in the business—if anyone can unearth the location of valuable mineral resources on our property, it is them. They’ve already told Timlir they expect to find either salt or copper deposits, since the region is known for both. No gold or silver, unfortunately, but there’s still good money to be made.”

“Ah yes,” Malem said. “Did Timlir give you a hint on what their fees for this discovery service are going to be? Considering how low our treasury is at the moment.”

“He did, in fact,” Gregory replied. “The dwarven prospectors are willing to offer their services for free, but they’ll be expecting ten percent of any revenues produced from the resultant mines. For life.”

“Ten percent,” Malem said. “I’ll give them one percent. If that.”

“That is for you to discuss at the meeting later,” Gregory said.

“I suppose so,” Malem told the orak. If I remember.

He listened distractedly as Gregory went through the remaining list of items, and was relieved when the orak saluted and left.

Malem still had fifteen minutes until his first meeting of the day. He glanced at Gwen, who smiled at him supportively.

Before she could say anything, he looked away. He gazed at this grand hall, the hall his monsters had built, creatures taken from Vorgon when he had broken free of the demon’s influence. The pillars were not made of fancy marble, but rather bricks and mortar. The Eldritch had created beautiful art and sculptures to decorate the walls, however, and those at least gave the place some semblance of the throne room appropriate to an emperor.

Still, he was vastly lacking in basic resources. Clothing, for example. The silk that Gregory had worn? That was looted from a merchant caravan along the way home. Malem had realized what his oraks were doing too late, and he managed to intervene before the merchant was slain. Most of the oraks had vanished into the shadows at his arrival, so he wrote the aggrieved merchant a bank deed, postdated by six months, to repay the man. Hopefully by then Malem would have some sort of revenue generating system in place.

He shook his head.

It’s such a burden to be an emperor or king…

He knew this going into the job. Which was why he so vehemently hadn’t wanted it.

And yet it kind of fell into his lap.

His gaze drifted toward his personal guard—a group of ten elite orak troops who stood with their pikes resting against the stone floor. Only one of them wielded dark magic, an orak named Rathamias whom Malem had fought with before. Rathamias was really the only orak Malem trusted with magic in his presence. In theory, Rathamias and all of these oraks served directly beneath Ziatrice, as evidenced by the purple and red tunics they wore over their chest armor. In practice, they were his. Still…

“Sometimes I wonder if they are guarding me,” Malem murmured. “Or keeping me imprisoned.”

“You can Break them all, to the last orak,” Gwen said. “So it’s definitely not the latter.”

His eyes moved to the open window on the far side of the hall beyond, where a songbird had alighted. He stared at that bird longingly, remembering earlier days.

Gwen followed his gaze. “Maybe this life isn’t for you.” Her words were soft. She rested a comforting hand on his.

“I should be happy,” Malem said. “And yet, why am I so miserable? I’m surrounded by luxury. Beautiful women who’ll have sex with me to my heart’s content. I have power over an army.” He sighed. “And yet, there are so many problems. The stress of wondering how I’m going to pay and feed the men. The stress of dealing with envoys from other realms. And then there’s this.” He waved at his surroundings. “I have to stay here all day, cooped up in a throne room.” He rubbed his forehead. “I miss the forest. The open steppe. Soaring above the clouds on dragon back, or even seeing it through the eyes of a bird.”

“You were doing that last night, weren’t you?” she said. “On the balcony?”

He nodded. “I Broke a thrush, sent it flying over the rooftops of the city. Until it was rudely shot down.”

She shrugged. “Your army has to eat.”

An orak servant came inside, and offered him a goblet of red wine.

“Taste it,” Malem told the servant; he made a mental note of how much liquid was in the cup as he did so.

The orak expected this, and lifted the drink to its lips. When the monster lowered the goblet, Malem noted that the liquid had gone down an appropriate amount.

Malem accepted the chalice, and waited a few moments to confirm that the orak wasn’t poisoned, and then he took a sip.

“That’s another stress,” Malem said. “Having to constantly worry about assassins. There could be an Eldritch in the room right now, waiting to strike.”

“They have no reason to assassinate you, at the moment,” Gwen said. “You treat your men well.”

“Yes, at the moment,” he told her. “And those are the key words. That changes when the treasury empties.”

“It won’t,” she said. “The prospectors are going to find a mine. We’ll get through this. And if not, we’ll just have to conjure up a war to keep the men busy.”

“You’re joking, I hope?” he said.

She shrugged. “Kind of.”

He took another sip. “Ziatrice is rubbing off on you.”

“Maybe,” she said. “But I admit, I kind of like my position, even if you don’t. And I’d definitely hate to see someone else sitting on the throne of this kingdom you’ve carved out of the jungle for yourself.”

“Even if that someone was appointed by me?” he asked.

“Well that’s different,” she replied. “That I could handle. I guess I’m trying to say, I don’t want to lose you. I don’t care if you rule from a gilded chair in a room of brick and mortar, or from the seat of a dragon’s back on the open plains. As long as I’m at your side.”

He smiled. “I appreciate the show of devotion.” He took another sip, and spilled some of the wine across his hands. He lowered the goblet, and was about to wipe the wine away, but he found himself fascinated by the substance. It looked almost like blood, how it flowed down his thumb, to his wrist.

Spilled blood.

And, then suddenly, he had the solution to all of his problems.

Gwen was right. She wanted to manufacture a war? That was the best idea he’d heard all morning.

Malem glanced at his royal guard. “Muster the dragons. We ride to Redbridge.”

“Yes, Emperor!” the lead orak, Rathamias, said. He dispatched another orak, who promptly dashed from the room to relay his orders.

“Redbridge?” Gwen said. “But the mayor is here. You’ll be talking to him this afternoon.”

“Fuck the mayor,” Malem said. “Fuck them all. We’re going to loot their city, and distribute the spoils among the men. We don’t need mines.”

The nearby oraks exchanged excited, avarice-filled glances.

“But you just said—” she pressed.

“Forget what I said,” he told her. “This solves everything. The treasury problem. My restlessness. The army’s restlessness. You were right to suggest war.”

“But what about all the innocents who will die?” Gwen said. “Redbridge never really recovered from the toll the war took upon its young men. They won’t be able to defend themselves.”

“All the easier for me to conquer it,” Malem said. “I’ll tell my troops to be lenient. Those who give up their belongings willingly will be spared. And once the city is sacked, Redbridge will be absorbed into my empire.”

Gwen rubbed the sides of her temples with both hands. “This can’t be happening. I thought the Defiler is gone?”

“He is gone,” Malem said. “This is all me.”

An orak courier dashed into the room. “The dragons are ready!”

“That was fast,” Malem said. The daily training sessions Solan was putting them through were paying off, then. “And their designated riders?”

“Loading up as we speak!” the courier said.

“Good.” He stood, and glanced at Gwen, who remained seated. “Well, are you coming?”

“Not for this,” she said.

He shrugged, and hurried from the room.

He didn’t bother to invite any of his other companions. When their inquiries came, he muted them. He didn’t need them to talk him out of this. The Metals were out hunting for breakfast somewhere. Probably a good thing.

When he arrived at Breaker Square, the wide plaza in front of the palace was filled with the dragons who had gathered with their riders. A sizable number were missing—presumably hunting, like the Metals. That explained why they had mustered so quickly. Still, there were at least fifty of them. More than good enough for his needs.

Ziatrice was already there, waiting next to Nemertes. The blue-skinned woman was dressed for battle: magical green and blue corset, skirt of black blades, and her halberd Wither resting over one shoulder. The queen of the night elves wore her hair in a tight ponytail, all the better to reveal her pretty features.

“Get back, I’m going to war,” he told Ziatrice darkly. “And I won’t be talked out of it. Tonight, I’ll be having dinner in the main hall of Redbridge, where I’ll be crowned its king.”

Her face lit up. “Yes! I was wondering when you’d come around. I’m coming with you, of course. I ride with you.”

He smiled at her. “Finally, someone who can appreciate a bold move, and the rewards that come with it.”

“Oh, I always appreciate boldness,” she said, her voice taking on a deep, seductive rasp. “And just wait until you see the rewards I’m going to offer you between the sheets tonight.”

“Can’t wait.” He clambered up the wing of Nemertes.

“What’s this about war?” the great blue dragon asked. “I’m getting too old for this.”

“Come on, Big Girl,” Malem told her. “You’re never going to tire of pillaging. You’re a dragon! You live for loot and the thrill of adding to your hoard.”

“Well, sure,” she said. “But you’re just going to take the spoils of war and distribute them to your men, like you always do. And don’t call me Big Girl.”

“I give a fair portion to you and the dragons,” Malem said. “While I don’t know where you keep your stashes in the forest, I know you have them.”

“And you’re not going to find out where!” Nemertes said.

He sat in the saddle on her back and strapped himself in. Ziatrice joined him, squatting in the spare seat.

The mayor rushed out onto the square, joined by Xaxia and Wendolin. The bandit and the tree elf wore worried expressions.

“Rise!” Malem said, before any of them could shout up at him. “Spread the word!”

Nemertes rose, and barked his orders to the Blues and Blacks in the square with her.

He felt Wendolin struggling against his will, trying to break through the mental block he’d put on their communications, but she was unable to penetrate.

He smiled. Weak-minded girl.

He Broke the Blue Dragon so that he could communicate mentally with her. Even though he had Broken Nemertes many times before, and she ceded willingly, he still felt a drain, given how powerful she was. It wasn’t nearly as bad as it had been the first time, of course.

Where are we headed? Nemertes asked.

Redbridge, he replied.

She turned to the northeast, and shouted the directional change to the dragon army.

The buildings below were mostly complete. It was interesting, seeing how the architecture varied from neighborhood to neighborhood. The men with their gable-roofed, stone-walled rectangles. The night elves, with their towers. The Eldritch had built similar towers, though theirs were arranged to form courtyards accessible only by the residents. The dwarves had made rock mounds that reminded him of barrows. The oraks and goblings meanwhile lived in huts, essentially.

The city receded beneath him. On its outskirts, the branches of the surrounding trees had been completely cleared of leaves, leaving only the naked wood. The dragons used those trees as perches; each one was claimed by a different dragon so that those bare trees were essentially their homes. All of them were currently unoccupied of course.

The leafless trees gave way to the greenery of the Midweald, whose trees canopied the horizon ahead for as far as the eye could see.

He gave the order to travel high above the treetops, not wanting to be struck by the magic of any creatures that might be hiding beneath the canopy. Nemertes spread the word, and the dragon company rose into the air.

As her height stabilized, he looked to the south, and saw a small group of dragons in the distance, circling above the trees. They seemed oblivious, their gazes downward, intent upon whatever it was they were hunting.

He flew for only a few minutes before he sensed Abigail approaching, along with the other Metals.

In moments, she and the five others were flying at his side.

“What’s going on?” she asked in her thundering voice. “You weren’t answering my mental requests.”

He ignored her. She wouldn’t like it.

“Where are we going?” she pressed.

“To Redbridge!” Nemertes shouted in response.

Don’t tell her! Malem sent.

Sorry, Nemertes replied.

“I see,” Abigail said. “And what, perchance, is a war party of fifty armed dragons doing flying to Redbridge, when their mayor is in our city?”

“Maybe he pissed off the Breaker?” Solan suggested, the voice of the Bronze thundering in and of itself.

“That would seem to be the case,” Abigail said. “I suggest turning back. Let your anger subside. You’re making a rash decision, one that you will regret, later.”

I didn’t speak to the mayor, Malem sent her. I’m fighting, because I want to fight. Because I want to conquer them.

This is Ziatrice’s doing, isn’t it? Abigail replied. She’s wormed her way into your good graces, and into your very morals. Or perhaps the Defiler has returned.

That angered him. The fucking Defiler is long gone. Now stop harassing me. Either turn back, or join me in this fight. I don’t care what choice you make. But just shut up.

She flew in silence at his side for several moments. And then she swooped toward him, a talon reaching for the saddle.

He forced Nemertes to dive out of the way, and narrowly avoided those claws.

The hell are you doing? he asked her.

Can’t let you do this, Abigail replied. The citizens of Redbridge deserve better.

You all feel the same way? Malem sent, glancing at the Metals.

I do, Sylfi sent.

And I, Weyanna said. We’re going to fight you on this.

The others didn’t answer. They didn’t have to.

You want a fight? Malem said. Then I’ll give you a fight.

He turned Nemertes toward Abigail, and had the dragon clamp its jaws around her throat in midair.

2

Don’t hurt her, Malem told Nemertes. I just want her out of the battle.

That’s kind of hard, Nemertes said. Considering that at this point, hurting her is the only way to stop her!

Then do so gently, Malem said.

But Nemertes was being too gentle already, apparently, because Abigail was able to slide her neck free, and she raked a talon across the big blue’s flank as she did so.

Gah! Nemertes said. That bitch!

The other Metals intervened, coming in at Nemertes as well, all trying to haul him from the saddle.

Dive! Malem sent.

The great blue obeyed. The Metals followed him down toward the forest.

Summon the others! Malem said. It’s time for the Metals to learn the cost of disobedience.

Nemertes stabilized her altitude just above the forest, and skimmed the treetops just below. As the Metals approached, Malem drained them of stamina so steeply that all six fell from the air, and crashed into the forest immediately below. He felt full of energy—he had taken so much endurance at once, that it almost seemed like he was glowing inside. He felt like he could do anything in that moment.

Blues and Blacks landed on top of the fallen Metals and pinned them to the broken trees underneath.

Land on Abigail, Malem instructed Nemertes.

The great blue did so, knocking aside the Black that had pinned Abigail, and taking its place. Nemertes wrapped its jaws around her neck, and began to squeeze. At the same time, the blue worried its teeth back and forth, so that Abigail’s entire head wobbled. She was too weak to resist. Overhead, the other dragons circled impatiently, waiting to continue the planned raid.

He sensed concern from Ziatrice.

Maybe we should leave them, Ziatrice sent. They’re down. We should go to the city.

Not until they learn a proper lesson. Malem switched to Nemertes’ viewpoint, so he could watch the blue work on Abigail firsthand.

It was strangely satisfying to observe the silver dragon struggle beneath the ancient Blue that. It was…

Something snapped inside of him.

What am I doing?

He released the viewpoint of Nemertes, and gazed at the other Metals, currently pinned beneath Blues and Blacks.

He loved Abigail and the others.

This wasn’t right.

What had come over him?

He focused on Nemertes. Release her, now.

Nemertes obeyed immediately.

Give the word, he continued. Release the Metals. We return home. Now!

“Let them go!” Nemertes roared, rising from Abigail. “We go home!”

The disappointment was almost palpable among the dragons as they released the other Metals, and the company turned back.

Malem returned all the stamina he had taken from Abigail and the others. He unmuted them all, including the women he had left behind in his city. Though he was far from the city, he wasn’t so far that he couldn’t communicate mentally with those he had left behind.

I’m sorry, Abigail, he sent. I don’t know what came over me.

So it wasn’t Ziatrice? Abigail asked.

I didn’t tell him a thing, Ziatrice replied. He made up his mind to attack Redbridge, so I told him I’d join him. I still think it’s a good idea.

No, Malem said. It’s not. And I thank you, Abigail, for turning me around. If you hadn’t come, Redbridge might be under siege right now.

When you saw the death and destruction you were causing, you would have stopped, Weyanna said.

I’m not so sure, Malem said. It was only the sight of seeing you, the most important people to me in the world, subdued by my own hands, that caused me to realize what I was doing. It was like some demon had seized me, or the Defiler had returned. And yet, that can’t be possible.

You still have a demon in your head… Wendolin sent.

You think this is Banvil’s doing? Mauritania asked.

Who else could it be? Wendolin replied. Malem always knew that one day Banvil would assert control. It was the price Malem paid to free himself from Vorgon, by allowing Banvil inside once again.

But Banvil is supposed to be too weak to assert himself for years, yet, Malem said.

Yes, but you forget, we recently banished two Balors to the Black Realm, Wendolin said. When Denfidal and Vorgon fell, the remaining nine Balors shared in the essence that was released from the pool. Including Banvil.

So I inadvertently strengthened the demon in my head, you’re saying? Malem told her.

That’s right, Wendolin said.

The Paragon Corinne had reduced Vorgon and Denfidal to mere shadows of their former selves—they existed as mist somewhere in the Black Realm, supposedly so weak at the moment that they didn’t even possess consciousness.

Banvil, while weak and recovering himself, had attained consciousness, and it was very likely the demon was strong enough to seize some of this extra essence Wendolin spoke of. Oh, the other Balors would have taken the lion’s share, no doubt, but Banvil, he was a crafty one: he would have lurked in the shadows, taking the scraps.

So Malem had inadvertently strengthened Banvil by killing Denfidal and Vorgon. Suddenly, he understood the keenness Goldenthall had shown when it came to defeating the two Balors—Goldenthall served as the demon’s vessel, more-so than Malem, and hinted at the future that awaited the Breaker. Goldenthall was the former king of Mulhadden, whose capital, Tartan, had fallen at the hands of Mauritania.

My realm will fall at the hands of some usurper, too, and I will become Darkness.

No.

I thought Corinne closed the doors the Balors were using to enter this realm? Gwen asked.

Banvil circumvents those doors through his links with Goldenthall and Malem, Wendolin replied.

Damn it, Malem said. Why can’t anything be easy? I just want to be left alone.

Actions always have consequences, Wendolin said.

He gazed at the treetops in the distance, waiting for the city to appear. All right, well, as soon as we get back, I want Goldenthall brought into my presence immediately.

I’ll arrange it, Ziatrice said.

* * *

But, to Malem’s dismay, Goldenthall was nowhere to be found in the palace, nor any of the guest quarters.

“Have the guards search the city,” Malem said from his throne.

“It will be done!” Rathamias replied. The orak dispatched a messenger, and stepped back to join the remaining guards.

“We probably won’t find him,” Wendolin said. “If I were him, I’d be long gone.” The tree elf sat beside him on the throne; his other companions also lingered around him, convened for an emergency meeting. The scar above her brow seemed particular purple and ragged today, the only imperfection on that beautiful face. She wore a slightly diaphanous white dress, which revealed the silver tassels of the bra underneath, and her waist was belted by a silver band shaped like interlocking vines.

“Why?” Malem asked.

“If Banvil has grown in power, as we suspect, then Goldenthall is probably completely in the demon’s control,” Wendolin said. “The demon will want to enact its own agenda, whatever that is. Ever since we defeated the two Balors, the demon has stayed here, biding its time, lurking in the shadows. Perhaps it was merely gathering its strength. Or perhaps it was making plans to further accelerate its return. But whatever the case, there isn’t really any advantage in staying here, not anymore, now that you know Banvil is growing in power. It was a gamble on its part, to test its control over you so early. Though the demon probably figured that since it was leaving anyway, it might as well try to see how far it could push you.”

“It could also be that Banvil is vulnerable in some way, through Goldenthall,” Gwen said.

Wendolin nodded. “It’s possible. Killing Goldenthall might weaken the demon severely, depending on how much Banvil is relying upon the man to serve as his anchor in this realm. His death could bring you a few more years of peace, with Banvil mostly banished to the Black Realm.”

“But eventually the demon would return again to take my mind,” Malem said. “I’m going to become the Defiler all over again. Worse than the Defiler. After what happened this morning, after just one small taste of what that’s going to be like, I have no intention of ever letting that happen again. No, Banvil must be stopped now, while I still have some control. And I don’t want merely a few more years: I want to be rid of the demon entirely.”

“So you want to lose your powers, then?” Ziatrice asked.

“No,” he said. “Let me rephrase that: I want to be free of the demon, but keep my powers.”

Wendolin nodded. “I’m not sure that’s possible. You need the demon for your powers.”

“Yes,” Malem said. “But it wasn’t always like this. Before I allowed Banvil to return to my mind, I had Broken the demon, and conquered it entirely. But something changed when I let it take Vorgon’s place in my head. The demon somehow got the upper hand, as part of the so-called price I promised to pay in order to get my powers back. But I was cheated, because Banvil also hinted Vorgon would try to take my mind back, and that Banvil would protect me if that happened. But Vorgon never did. Anyway, I want to go back to the way things were before, when I was the master.” He glanced at Grendel, who stood apart from the others. “Is there a way to end the demon’s influence over me, while still keeping it in my head?”

Grendel wore thick white robes that concealed her figure, with the hood raised to hide most of her face in shadow. When he addressed her, she lowered the hood to reveal the two small buns she wore her hair in, and the youthful, pretty face below. Despite the young appearance, those haunted eyes belied an age well beyond most of those present.

“I don’t know,” Grendel said. “We’d have to capture Goldenthall, I believe, and interrogate the Balor inside of him.”

“But Banvil will lie,” Ziatrice said. “The demon won’t speak the truth.”

“Let me do the interrogating then,” Grendel said, her voice cold, emotionless. “When light meets dark, the agony is not something to be trifled with. I will get the truth out of him.”

“I’m not so sure,” Wendolin said. “When under extreme duress, most creatures will say anything to stop the pain. I can’t imagine Balors will be any different.”

“Well, finding Goldenthall is the first step,” Malem said. “After that, we’ll have to contain him, which I suspect won’t be easy. And then we can try to interrogate the creature within.”

Abigail stepped forward. She wore her favorite style of dress: a red gown with a gold-trimmed bodice. Her hair was in a regal ponytail, and her face was made up so she looked very much like the half dragon princess she was.

“Your random memory lapses make some sense, now,” Abigail said.

He frowned. “Why?”

“This is speculation on my part,” she continued. “But if Banvil has been testing its control over you, those times the creature took your mind, it’s possible your own would lose the ability to form memories.”

“But I was in full control of my body during such times,” Malem said. “And I completely remember leading the attack on Redbridge earlier, for example.”

“Do you?” she asked. “Then describe it to me.”

And so he did.

She nodded. “All right, you remember. The demon may have been merely observing through your eyes when you experienced the memory loss, and somehow that interfered with the formation of new memories. When Banvil took over entirely, however, your mind moved to the passenger seat, and was able to record memories.”

“Or he’s just becoming forgetful!” Gwen quipped.

“No, she might be on to something,” Malem said. “Banvil was experimenting inside my head, that much is certain. I could definitely tell something was wrong. I just didn’t know what.”

They continued to discuss the ramifications of what had happened well into the next hour.

And then a courier appeared at the entrance to the throne room.

“Come in,” Malem told the orak.

The soldier rushed inside. “Emperor! I have an update.”

“Let’s hear it,” Malem said.

“The soldiers and dragons sent to scour the outlying forest still haven’t found the man,” the orak said. “Nor have the troops who are conducting the building to building searches in our city.”

“Goldenthall is long gone,” Wendolin said.

The soldier glanced at her, before returning his attention to Malem. “I did hear something of interest, however. One of the human soldiers told me of a traveler he found wandering in the forest close to the road to Redbridge. This traveler spoke of a man with streams of darkness coming from his eyes, a man who turned an entire merchant caravan ahead of him into dust with those eyes, and took their horses. The traveler told the soldier he survived only because he hid behind the trees.”

Malem pursed his lips. “If true, it means Goldenthall heads to Redbridge, which would make some sense: it’s the fastest way out of the forest. He won’t be difficult to track. Not if he’s leaving a trail of death and destruction in his wake.”

“Or scaring everyone off with those black eyes of his,” Xaxia commented. She wore her usual magic corset, which had the flexibility of a tunic and the durability of plate mail. It also highlighted her hourglass figure.

“But we have to assume that he can turn those eyes off and appear completely normal, just like he used to do,” Gwen said.

“I suppose so,” Xaxia commented. “That makes things a little harder.”

“Well, at least we have somewhere to start,” Malem said. “We’ll fly to Redbridge with the mayor, and see what his network of eyes and ears can tell us. We’ll ask him to inquire about a lone man, traveling with a bunch of spare horses.”

“It’ll be good to hit the road again,” Mauritania said. “I’ve acquired somewhat of a taste for adventuring, since joining up with you.”

The tall, pale-skinned Queen of the Eldritch towered above everyone else. She wore a stunning black satin gown that had silky blue swathes wrapping the ribs and shoulders. The two blunted horns on her temples carried a tiara of gold, silver, and emeralds. Her eyes shone bright green, a testament to the Eldritch magic within her.

“Not you,” Malem told her. “You won’t be coming.”

“What do you mean?” Mauritania seemed crestfallen.

“I need you here, with Ziatrice, running my kingdom,” he said. “I’m not sure how long I’ll be gone. It could be days, or it could be weeks. However long it takes to track down Goldenthall. You are my Black Swords—my top lieutenants.”

“Hastor did a good job last time,” Mauritania said. That was the black dragon under Nemertes’ command.

Malem shook his head. “Not this time. We only planned to be gone a few days last time, though it turned out to be longer. But Hastor doesn’t really know how to run a kingdom. The treasury was almost depleted by the time we returned. If it wasn’t for the loot we’d gathered from the fallen armies of the Balors, the men would have revolted.” He glanced at Ziatrice. “I promised you once that I’d leave you in charge of my kingdom, if ever I decided to leave for a short time. Well, you’re going to have to share that duty with Mauritania and Abigail, forming a triumvirate of sorts. They will also serve as your checks and balances, to ensure you don’t go invading other realms with the army in my absence.”

“I wouldn’t do anything so untoward, my sweet Emperor,” Ziatrice said, her eyes glinting mischievously.

“I’m serious,” he said.

She sighed. “Fine. I won’t do anything you wouldn’t do.”

“You’re saying that because I almost invaded Redbridge, aren’t you,” he said. “And you’re implying you plan to do just that. Which is why Mauritania and Abigail will be ruling with you.”

“Not me,” Abigail sent. “Choose someone else.”

“And pick someone else for me instead,” Mauritania said. “I go with you.”

“No,” Malem said. “It has to be you two. You’re the only people I know who’ve run kingdoms before.”

Mauritania pointed at Wendolin. “She has run a kingdom.”

“I thought you’d be honored,” Malem told Mauritania and Abigail.

“We are,” Abigail said. “But our place is at your side.”

“Look, I’m not going to be gone for long,” he said. “Two or three days, a week tops. It will be like I never left. And to be completely honest, I think a break would do us all good. Sometimes I find myself a bit overwhelmed, trying to manage all the different relationships between you all.” He ran his gaze across his companions. “I feel like I’ve neglected some of you, while paying too much attention to others.” He gazed at Abigail, Mauritania, and Ziatrice. “You three have mostly received the lion’s share of my attention. It’s time for me to get in some good bonding sessions with everyone else.”

“Sexual sessions, you mean,” Abigail commented darkly.

“No, bonding,” Malem said. “As men and women do when they adventure together, and fight together.”

“Maybe we want to get in some more bonding, too,” Mauritania said.

“And you will,” Malem said. “In future adventures. But for now, your skills are better served here, running my kingdom.”

“I see how it is,” Abigail said. “We get to do the secretarial and administrative duties that come with being an emperor, while you get to go out and have all the fun, using up all the money in your treasury, and expecting us to refill it for you.”

“Actually, I don’t plan to take very much money with me,” Malem said. “Just enough to cover expenses at a few select inns along the way. We’ll be sleeping mostly under the stars, and dining on animals I lure with my skill.”

“I thought you didn’t like using your skill like that,” Gwen said.

“I don’t,” he agreed. “But we have to eat…”

Abigail sighed. “Fine. I agree. I’ll do what you want. I’ll stay. Only because I want to make you happy.”

“Thank you,” Malem said. He glanced at Mauritania.

“I’ll stay too,” she said, looking down at her feet.

“Good,” he said. He glanced at Ziatrice.

“I guess I should put up more of a fight, shouldn’t I?” she asked.

“No,” he said. “I know you want this.”

She grinned. “Don’t get me wrong, I want you, too. But it will be good to rule alone for a while. It’ll be like things used to be, for me.”

“Except you won’t be ruling alone,” Abigail reminded her. “We’ll make sure you don’t do anything the rest of us will regret.”

Ziatrice scowled at her. “You have no power over me, Dragon.”

“No, I don’t,” Abigail said. “Mauritania, you and I have equal power. We’ll keep each other in check.” She glanced at Malem. “And we’ll keep this kingdom running like a well-oiled machine while you’re gone.”

“Thank you,” Malem said. He hesitated, and ran his gaze across her and his companions. “I’ve been planning to do something like this for a while. Getting away from the city I mean. Being Emperor isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. Ruling was fun at first, but lately, it’s been getting me down.”

“We know,” Abigail said. “We could tell. All of us. Why do you think I agreed so readily to let you go?”

“That was readily?” Xaxia quipped. “I’d hate to see what hesitant agreement looks like.”

Abigail gave her a dismissive look before returning her attention to Malem. “Go find Goldenthall. Go find yourself.”

“Thank you for understanding,” Malem said.

“Am I to come?” Wendolin said. “It wasn’t clear…”

“Yes,” he told her.

“What about Aurora?” she asked. “I’d like to keep working on her.”

Malem tapped his lips. “Both of your magics could be useful, where we’re going. Assuming I allow her to unlock it.” He paused, then made up his mind. “Yes, we’ll take her with us.”

Wendolin nodded. “A change of scenery will probably be good for her.”

“I do have one concern,” Mauritania said. “The eyewitness claimed Goldenthall was able to disintegrate an entire merchant caravan with the darkness from his eyes. That means he is growing in power. Worse, the amulet that could absorb that dark magic, given to you by the undead king, is gone. So my question to you is: who will protect you from the Darkness?”

“I will,” Grendel said, stepping forward.

Malem nodded, and turned toward Abigail. “If Goldenthall shows up, send word to me.”

“I will,” Abigail told him. “Good luck.”

3

Malem flew on Sylfi’s back. She was a chromium, her iridescent scales glinting with all the colors of the rainbow beneath the sun. She was just as beautiful to look at as in human form. Those great wings rose and fell on either side of him: the saddle was secured between them.

Brita flew alongside to the left, and Weyanna the right. Those were the only other two Metals he’d elected to bring with him. Nemertes also stayed behind. The great blue had done enough the last few battles, and Malem couldn’t justify bringing her along: she deserved a much-needed rest. He also couldn’t justify bringing along any other troops or dragons: the task at hand seemed better suited to a smaller force. They were hunting a man after all. A man possessed by a Balor, true, but a mere man in the end. If Malem felt the need for more scouts, or combatants, he could merely Break more birds or monsters along the way.

Also, he didn’t want too many troops with him, in case Banvil ever asserted control over him again. In fact, it was probably best to get as far away from his army as possible. He could still do damage with his Breaking abilities, but hopefully his companions would stop him before things got too out of hand.

It was probably for the best that he was leaving the army behind to protect the city anyway, because when he had taken away the men and monsters under his command to fight Denfidal and Vorgon, leaving only a skeleton crew of guards behind to watch the city, he had returned to find that crew under attack by the local gobling tribes. The crew had holed up in the treasury building to make their last stand when Malem’s dragons swooped in and chased the goblings away.

Grendel sat behind him, sharing a proper two-person saddle with him. The dwarves had come up with a new design that would allow for two to fit on the smaller dragons like the Metals, and Malem was eager to try it out. Some of the Blues had been fitted with it, but until now, none of the Metals. So far, it seemed comfortable, though Sylfi and the others complained of the added weight another rider brought to the picture. He assured them that the flight wasn’t going to last very long.

Grendel had a buckle to hold herself in place, and she didn’t touch him in any way. When Sylfi changed directions a little quickly, sometimes she brushed against him, but she always quickly repositioned so that the touch lasted only for a split second. It was curious behavior, but he wasn’t going to comment on it. She still didn’t wear a proper riding dress, and had to hike up her robes in order to sit in the saddle, which afforded him a nice view of her bare legs whenever he decided to furtively glance to the left or right.

Xaxia and the mayor rode atop Brita beside him, while Wendolin and Aurora were on Weyanna. Gwen and Timlir hitched a ride in the claws of Brita and Weyanna respectively. Malem had almost invited Hastor along to carry the dwarf and the half gobling, but decided a black dragon might prove too conspicuous where they were going. He’d have to constantly dismiss the creature when they entered cities, for example, whereas Metals could blend in with everyone else—once they donned clothing.

Malem kept Aurora’s crystal sword strapped to his hip, opposite Balethorn. The translucent blade was surprisingly light, and he barely noticed its weight at all.

Once more he flew well above the canopy below. He kept his beast sense on the lookout for potential threats down there, but found nothing that could take down a dragon, especially not at their current altitude.

He could still sense the other companions he had left behind, though their energy bundles were distant. No matter how far away he traveled from them, he would still have the slots their Breaking granted him; he would, however, soon be too far to influence them in any way, or to communicate. He had already said his farewells, however.

Malem, a voice came in his head. It sounded weak, distant. Abigail.

What is it? he asked, filled with a sudden panic. He was ready to turn back, fearing the worst.

Oh, sorry to startle you, she said, apparently hearing the fear in his voice. Everything is fine here. I just wanted to say goodbye personally. You left so fast, with little more than a parting kiss.

Yes, sorry about that, he said. I would have liked to give each of you a more intimate goodbye, but there didn’t seem time.

No, it’s fine, she said. I will miss you, though. I’ve grown attached to you. We all have. I hope you come back soon, that’s all I can say. I don’t suppose I’ll still feel it through our mental link when you have sex out there?

Not once I pass beyond communications range, Malem said. At least, I don’t think so.

Too bad, Abigail told him. I suppose I’ll always have Ziatrice.

WHAT? he told her in disbelief.

I’m joking, she sent. Take care out there, Breaker. Don’t Break off more than you can chew.

Oh, I intend to do just that, he said. Don’t tell me what I can’t chew.

I know I shouldn’t, she told him. But I had to try. She somehow managed to make a smooching sound in her head, and he tried to emulate it, but couldn’t.

And that was that.

Mauritania and Ziatrice offered similar goodbyes before he was out of range, whereas Solan and Gannet gave more manly equivalents, calling him brother and boss in their respective farewells.

Soon, Redbridge became visible on the horizon ahead. Malem could see the bridge it was famous for rising above the canopy in all its arcing, red glory.

Malem sought the Darkness inside of him as Banvil had once taught him. Doing so would only allow him to send a one-way message to the demon, but that was all he needed at the moment.

I’m coming for you, Banvil. You killed my father. You hunted me my entire life. You’re not going to take me. Instead, I will take you. I’ve Broken you before, and I will Break you again, worse than you’ve ever been. You see, you’re going to end. It’s inevitable. You’re not going to get away from me. And this time, when you die, your death will be permanent.

He didn’t truly plan on killing the demon, as that would mean the loss of his powers, but he wanted to strike fear into the heart of the Balor. When it was afraid, the demon would make a mistake.

At least, that was the theory.

Malem had the chance to kill Banvil before, multiple times in fact, but he hadn’t. One would think that the fact the demon killed his father would be enough of a spur for Malem to take vengeance, but it was not. The thought of losing his powers, and the women he had bound to him with those abilities, was more than enough to hold his hand. No, he could not kill Banvil, even if he wanted to.

And that was the conundrum.

The dragons passed over the island portion of the city, which squatted in the middle of the river, and the namesake bridge. The buildings of the island district were too crowded for a dragon to land, and while there was a chance the rooftops would hold their weight—these buildings were made of expensive travertine, after all—Malem decided it was safer to land in Northern Redbridge, where the squares were big enough to hold three dragons.

In the center of the island, he could see the palaces where the wealthy members of the senate resided. He wasn’t precisely sure how the political system of Redbridge worked, but he did know that senate shared legislative power with the mayor. The main hall wasn’t far from those palaces, a big, sprawling structure in and of itself, which served as the mayor’s ruling center and residence.

Soon, they were crossing the river on the other side of the island, and heading toward Northern Redbridge.

He could already smell the stench of sweat and feces floating up from the throng below.

Man, I forgot how bad this place smelled, Gwen said.

Packed with the stench of humanity, Sylfi said.

In Northern Redbridge, there were wide squares filled with jugglers and musicians and hawkers of all kinds. The residents wore bright clothes, and the buildings here were faced in gypsum rather than travertine. Soon, those types of homes gave way to dwellings made of wood, likely chopped from the surrounding forest, and the bright clothes became ragged and tattered.

Now this is my kind of neighborhood, Wendolin said.

Because of the people? Gwen asked.

No, the wood, Wendolin replied.

While waiting for his army to complete his own palace, Malem had boarded here, on the further edge of Northern Redbridge, in a savory inn called the Rutting Cat Inn and Diner. It was too bad the place had burned down during Vorgon’s urak attack. Anyway, everyone in this city was familiar enough with his dragons by now, as the Metals had departed every morning in dragon form to fetch fresh meals from the farms on the outskirts of the city. So while many people pointed, none were really in awe, or afraid.

They approached a large square that could fit three dragons, and slowly approached the surface, the dragons giving ample time for the hawkers to pack their kiosks, and for everyone else to otherwise move out of the way.

Malem spotted a horse seller down there, set up near the line of buildings on the south side of the square. The man moved frantically from stall to stall, trying to calm down his horses, which were going wild within—bucking and rearing, the terrified animals were trying to get out to escape the dragons.

Malem sent soothing vibes out to those horses, and they calmed somewhat. They still snorted nervously, but they’d stopped rearing, at least.

Brita set down Gwen before landing; Weyanna also released Timlir from her talons so that the dwarf could leap down and move out of the way.

A street musician—an old man wearing only a turban and a loincloth—was playing a flute, oblivious to everything around him, and remained in place while the dragons landed. When he finally looked up to see Sylfi’s large head a few inches from his own, the man’s eyes widened, and he quickly gathered up his flute case and fled. He turned to look back only once, his eyes still wide, before he vanished into a side alley.

You didn’t have to scare him, Gwen said.

What? Sylfi said. He had all the time in the world to move his sorry ass.

You made him spill all his coins, Gwen said, pointing at the drachmae that had fallen out of the case when the man picked it up. That was somewhat of a dick move. Are you looking to get a head start on your new hoard or something?

Ha, Sylfi sent. I’d be embarrassed to use these trifling coins in my hoard.

Then get a manicure? Gwen suggested, pointing at Sylfi’s long talons.

You’re lucky the Breaker values your presence so highly, Sylfi said. Or I might give your head a manicure.

Easy, ladies, Malem said.

He opened his buckle and stood. He tried to help Grendel out of the saddle, but when he touched her, she pulled her arm away as if burned.

“Sorry,” he said.

She nodded quickly, not meeting his eyes. He gazed at her bare legs with longing until she pulled herself out of the saddle. When she stood, the robes concealed her exposed skin.

I wonder if the rest of her is so delicious.

He slid down Sylfi’s wing, and onto the cobblestone below. Grendel came behind him, and when she lost her balance at the bottom, he resisted the urge to steady her, knowing she would only yank herself away yet again.

While he waited for the others to dismount, he surveyed the square. The horse seller wasn’t far: the animals were still nervous in their stalls, so Malem sent out more soothing vibes, and further calmed them.

Next to the horses, there was an inn, named the Portly Pig, with a picture of a happy pig licking the foam from the top of a beer flagon.

“That was exhilarating!” Mayor Townshed said as Xaxia helped him off Brita’s wing. “You’ll have to sell me one of these dragons sometime!” He patted Brita’s scaly foot.

Brita slid her foot away from him. “We’re not for sale.”

“Try riding in the claw,” Gwen commented. “You probably won’t find it so exhilarating, then.”

Timlir held his ax over one shoulder, instead of letting it hang from the loop in his belt. When he noticed Malem’s curious gaze, he said: “Almost lost me ax during the flight. Hoop broke.”

“That would be bad,” Malem agreed. He turned toward the mayor. “So, how long will it take for you to find out if a man with several spare horses passed through Redbridge or the outlying territories?”

“Not long,” the mayor said. “The jungle patrols report in every eight hours, so if any of them encountered a lone man of his description in the night, I’ll know shortly after I arrive.”

Malem nodded. “Good.”

“Wait here in the Portly Pig,” Townshed said. “I’ll send word in an hour or two.”

The mayor walked pompously to the horse seller.

“Lend me a horse,” Townshed said loudly, likely for Malem’s benefit.

“Fifty drachmae,” the seller said.

“I’m your mayor, filthy bastard!” Townshed said. “The horse will be returned to you within the hour!”

“Fifty drachmae,” the seller repeated. “I sell horses, don’t loan them.”

The mayor muttered a few choice curses, and then produced a coin purse, and handed the seller the prerequisite drachmae. “You’re a seller of horses? More like a thief! Charging prices like that for subprime horseflesh. I’ll see that you’re shut down before this day is done, I will!”

The horse seller shrugged. If he was shut down, the man would probably move to another square and open up again.

Townshed pulled himself clumsily onto the back of the horse, and gave Malem a happy smile as if nothing had happened. “Wait for my word!”

With that, he trotted away.

4

A little boy came rushing up to Malem. His face was dirty, so he knew the child was a denizen of the streets.

“Coin to spare, Mr. Breaker?” the lad asked.

Malem smiled, and pointed at the coins the street busker had dropped, and the kid’s eyes lit up. He dashed to the coins, and began retrieving them.

“Mr. Breaker, now, huh?” Gwen said, as she went into the inn.

“You might as well change back,” Malem told the dragons. “You’re drawing too much attention.”

“Right here, in front of everyone?” Sylfi asked.

Malem glanced at the throng that had gathered to watch along the outskirts of the square.

“Position your backs to them,” Malem said. “So when you change back, the big saddles on your backs will hide your nakedness. Xaxia, Timlir, Grendel, get ready to help them dress. Aurora, Wendolin, you’re with me.” He realized after giving the orders that Grendel might not be so keen on helping anyone dress, since it involved touch, but hey, it would be good for her.

He beckoned toward the inn, and Aurora scowled at him before stepping inside. She was dressed in a red robe—it was a darker shade than the robes Abigail usually wore, almost the same color as blood, so Malem believed she wasn’t a fire mage. She still hadn’t revealed what power she wielded, nor had she tried to use it to escape, as the collar prevented her from touching her innate magic. She had long, straight black hair that fell beneath the lowered hood of her robe, hiding the aforementioned collar.

As he followed after her, she turned to glance over her shoulder at him. Her eyes were a bright blue, like sapphires that almost seemed to glow—no one had eyes as blue as that. Her face was beautiful, yet seemingly set into a perpetual frown, with the brow wrinkled—that expression ruined the beauty somewhat. His eyes involuntarily drifted to the collar at her neck, which was revealed when she turned her head, the hair momentarily swishing out of the way.

By using that collar to Break her, he had not gained any slots. Nor did she use any in his head, like a typical monster would. The same would probably hold of any human he Broke with the help of that collar. He still wasn’t sure if he would lose the Break when he removed the device, which was why he had left it on all this time. Wendolin had given him the key, which essentially looked like a long icepick, and taught him how to use it, so he could remove the collar at any time. When he finally did, he’d have to make sure Aurora was well away from that sword of hers. The weapon basically made her invincible. He almost hadn’t taken it along, but the weapon was too powerful to leave behind. Something told him he might need it in the days to come. Assuming he ever decided to release her.

He entered the common room of the inn, which served as a tavern, and walked to the table Gwen had taken. There were only a few other patrons at this hour, and they had all gotten up and moved to the far side of the bar—Malem could tell because of the way the chairs at some of the tables were pushed outward, with one chair toppled entirely. The barkeeper would be fixing that shortly, no doubt.

Malem broke a few nearby songbirds outside, and placed them along the rooftop to watch every direction—a little early warning system. If the birds spotted anything untoward, they were ordered to let him know.

He sat down with Gwen, as did Wendolin and Aurora. Gwen sat with the chair leaning back, and had her feet up on the surface.

“That’s dangerous, you know,” Wendolin said.

Gwen shrugged. “I’m all about living dangerously.”

The barkeep came over. A short woman with red hair in pigtails and cute freckles. She put her hands on her hips as she addressed Gwen.

“We’s got rules,” the woman said. “No feet on the tables.” She had a large gap between her two front teeth. Malem always found that to be a sign of sexual promiscuity.

Gwen shrugged, and lowered herself to the floor.

“It’s for yours own safeties,” the woman said, waggling an admonishing finger back and forth.

“My safeties?” Gwen said.

“Yes,” the woman said. Before Gwen could answer, the woman sent her gaze Malem’s way. “Well, hello there handsome!”

Malem grinned widely. “Hi.”

“What brings you to the Portly Pig today?” she asked.

“I came for you,” he replied flirtatiously.

Gwen kicked him under the table.

“Well, that’s mighty fine of you,” she said. “Yours famous around these parts. I remember watching as yous came into the city, with your army camped on the outskirts. We weren’t sure if you were coming to make friends with us, or conquers us. Some thought you merely intended to pass through with your army. But imagine everyone’s disbelief, when, a few days later, we saw your army crossing the river on flatboats, made from the forest. A rumor passed through the ranks that you offered to pay for the wood you took from the forest, and that really cracked a lot of us up.”

“Well, I’m glad I could entertain you,” Malem said.

She nodded. “Yes, so while I’m happy and all that you came, I do have one favor to ask, Mr. Breaker.”

He waited for her to explain this favor, and when she didn’t, he said: “What’s that?”

“Please don’t burn down my mother’s inn,” she said.

“I’ll do my best,” he told the proprietor.

“Thank you!” she said. “So then, what can I get yous all? You look like a thirsty bunch!”

“I’ll have a flagon of your best beer,” he said.

“Coming right up,” she said.

She spun about, but then he said: “I’d like to pay upfront.”

She glanced over her shoulder at him. “Drinks are on the house! Remember that ‘fore you burn the place down!” She winked, and left.

“She likes you, Mr. Breaker,” Wendolin said.

“Wouldn’t be the first time,” Malem quipped.

Another kick from Gwen under the table wiped the smile from his lips.

He glanced at Aurora. “Do you drink?”

She didn’t answer.

“She does,” Wendolin said.

“Good,” Malem said. “Maybe it will loosen her lips.”

Or would you prefer we talk privately, like this, he sent Aurora.

Again, no answer.

Don’t resent me for Breaking you, he told her. You left me no choice. Denfidal would have disrupted the balance of power in the Black Realm, and returned to destroy the world.

You destroyed everything I ever knew, Aurora said. You reduced me to a slave.

You’re not a slave, he sent.

Really? Can I go, then? she asked.

You know I can’t let you go, he told her. Not until I know what it is I will be unleashing upon the world.

Then I am a slave, she said. These other women, do you make them stay against their will, too?

No, they are free to leave at any time, he said. But they’re not dangers to the world, like you are. If I did let you go, it would be without your sword. And you would remain collared.

Then I would find out how to break free of the collar, and I would return to retrieve my sword, she sent.

I figured as much, he said. Why do you think I haven’t set you free, yet?

“I think someone’s having a private mental conversation,” Gwen commented, causing Malem to look away from Aurora.

The proprietor arrived, and set down the flagon Malem ordered, along with four glasses.

At that moment, Xaxia, Timlir and Grendel entered with Sylfi and Weyanna, who were fully clothed. Grendel was rubbing her hands on her robe—she obviously hadn’t liked handling the clothing of the dragons.

“You’re going to need some more glasses!” the barkeeper commented.

“And another flagon, if you please,” Malem said.

“Coming right up,” the woman said as she left.

“Where’s Brita?” Malem asked.

“Watching the saddles,” Weyanna replied.

The newcomers sat down. Xaxia and Grendel had to move chairs from nearby tables, as there weren’t enough.

Timlir sat next to Malem. “Us men have to stick together!”

Malem smiled.

“Between you and me, though, we could certainly use some more male energy to balance this group out!” Timlir continued.

“I don’t know,” Xaxia said. “I think the energy is about right.”

Timlir frowned. “It’s too bad none of you are dwarves. Otherwise I might even be interested in you.”

Xaxia raised an eyebrow. “You think any of us are interested in you in return?” She laughed.

Timlir scowled, and leaned toward Wendolin beside him and whispered something in her ear. She promptly slapped him in the face.

“Guess I deserved that,” Timlir said.

“What did he say?” Gwen asked.

Wendolin shook her head. “Nothing I care to repeat. He’s an obscene little man.”

“I certainly am!” Timlir said proudly.

The barkeep arrived with more glasses, and the second flagon.

Now that everyone could drink, Malem poured himself a glass, and the others did in turn.

All except for Grendel and Aurora.

“You don’t drink?” he asked Grendel.

“Haven’t in years,” she said. “I doubt I could hold my liquor.”

“Maybe you should try,” he suggested. “Might be good for you.”

“I’ll have to pass,” Grendel said.

He glanced at Aurora. “What about you? Have a drink. Relax and loosen up for once.”

She glared at him, but then grudgingly grabbed a glass, and filled it with the flagon. As she took small sips, that permanent frown she wore relaxed somewhat.

“That’s right,” Xaxia said. “A way to forget your ills.”

“All of you are my ills,” Aurora said. “Your Breaker is keeping me a prisoner.”

“For good reason,” Xaxia said. “You almost killed all of us with that sword for your master. One day you’re going to have to tell me how you slew that lich. Assuming you told the truth about that.”

The latter woman merely shrugged mysteriously.

“Maybe we should go back to the Khroma mountains and check,” Sylfi suggested after a long swig.

“You go and check,” Gwen said. “I’m not going under that particular mountain ever again. Undead.” She shuddered. “Hate them. I’ve seen enough death in this life, and I certainly don’t need to start seeing un-death.”

“Why do you fear the undead?” Aurora asked her, tauntingly. “There is so much you can learn from them.”

“Oh, really?” Gwen said. “You talking from experience?”

Aurora again performed that cryptic shrug.

“She already admitted to talking to the lich, when she followed us into the tunnels beneath the mountain,” Xaxia said.

“You really have no memories of who you were?” Grendel asked Aurora.

The blue-eyed woman shook her head. “I remember awakening a year ago in the Black Realm. That was my birth date, as far as I’m concerned.”

“You were born fully grown, and with the ability to think and reason like an adult…” Xaxia said. “I don’t think so.”

“I’ve heard of some races that can summon golems,” Timlir said. “The Tempest witchdoctors far to the south, for example, could create molds out of clay, and then animate those creatures, so that they became flesh. These golems would be birthed in that moment, fully grown, and with the ability to think and reason, as you put it.”

“Gobling witchdoctors can do it, too,” Sylfi said.

“What are you saying, I’m a golem?” Aurora asked.

Timlir shrugged. “It’s possible. Perhaps Denfidal carved you out of clay.”

“Funny,” Aurora said.

“I wouldn’t discount the power of the Balor,” Weyanna said. “Before we banished him, he was one of the most powerful in existence.”

Aurora’s face darkened. “Yes. You destroyed my life on that day.”

Wendolin laid a comforting hand on Aurora’s knee. The latter woman didn’t recoil.

“It needed to be done,” Malem said. “For reasons already explained to you, many times.”

“Denfidal was evil,” Gwen said. “And deserved to die.”

Aurora gave her a cool look. “But you see, from my point of view, Denfidal was not evil. You were.”

“You say that, though you indiscriminately killed man and beast to feed your master through that crystal sword,” Xaxia said.

“You were the ones who attacked us first,” Aurora said.

“Not true,” Gwen told her. “You followed us into the dungeons beneath the Khroma mountains, and destroyed the Light Pearl.”

“I never attacked you directly, though,” Aurora said.

“That’s because you were saving us for Vorgon, I forget,” Gwen said.

“How did you even know we had it?” Sylfi asked. “The Light Pearl.”

“The lich told me,” she said. “Denfidal sent me to this realm to search for the last Light Pearls—the only objects he believed would harm him. When I heard a rumor that one was located beneath the mountain, guarded by a lich, I went to retrieve it. But you beat me to the mountain. Your presence there only confirmed for me that a pearl was indeed hidden somewhere under the mountain, so I joined Vorgon’s uraks and followed you inside. As I said, you beat me to it, but I quickly rectified that.”

“You certainly did,” Sylfi said.

“By the way, does the sword have a name?” Xaxia said.

“Denfidal called it Arathal,” Aurora said. “Apparently it means Killer in the demon tongue.”

The conversation died after that.

“What kind of mage are you?” Malem asked Aurora in the silence that followed.

“Does it matter?” Aurora answered. “I can’t use my magic anyway.”

“It matters,” he told her. “Because the type of mage you are will influence whether I remove your collar or not.”

She shrugged noncommittally.

“Well, we can tell what kind of mage she isn’t,” Xaxia said. “She said that none of us could wield the crystal sword, and it’s true: we all tried. That means only a mage of her particular bent can use it. So, process of elimination: she’s not a dark mage, a light mage, fire mage, Eldritch mage, or earth mage. Did I miss anyone?”

“Ice mage,” Weyanna said. “With healing powers.”

“Ice mage healer, yes,” Xaxia said. “Aurora is not any of those.” She glanced at the robed woman. “From the color of her robes, I’d say she’s some kind of blood mage.”

“Blood mage?” Sylfi said. “I’ve never heard of such a thing.”

Xaxia shrugged. “Neither have I. Made it up.”

“Figures,” Sylfi said.

“So what are you?” Xaxia asked Aurora.

As expected, she didn’t answer.

“You’re going to have to tell us one of these days,” Xaxia said.

“Why?” Aurora asked.

Malem was the one who answered. “Because I’m not removing your collar and letting you go until you do.”

Aurora was silent for several moments.

I don’t trust her, Gwen sent. She’s going to attempt an escape. Gwen was using a special mental band that Malem had set aside for the team, which excluded Aurora. Of course it also excluded Grendel, Xaxia and Timlir, who weren’t bound to him.

Actually, she already has tried a few times, Wendolin said. We’ve always caught her before she could leave the palace. It’s going to be tricky where we’re going, especially if we decide to camp in the woods.

Maybe it wasn’t such a good idea to bring her along, Gwen said.

We can still bring her back, Sylfi added.

No, this will be good for her, Wendolin said. By having her share in this adventure with us, we will bond her to us. She should begin to open up. I also believe she’ll start remembering who she was, at some point, now that her connection to Denfidal has been severed. Anything can trigger a memory. A breaking glass. A shout. I will watch her for the signs. And I take full responsibility for her.

Yeah, but even you can’t watch her at all hours, Gwen said.

No, Wendolin agreed. But here’s how it works. If she escapes on your watch, I’ll still take the blame.

“Why do I get the feeling you’re all in each other’s heads again?” Xaxia asked.

“That’s because they are,” Aurora said. “No doubt talking about me.”

“They can do that?” Timlir asked. “Wouldn’t you hear?”

“Apparently they can,” Aurora replied.

“Has he let you experience our unique brand of shared sex yet?” Gwen asked Aurora.

5

Malem smiled inwardly as Aurora gave Gwen a confused look.

“I’ve kept her muted,” Malem told Gwen. “It seemed the right thing to do.”

“See, Dwarf?” Aurora said. “The Breaker can mute me at will. So I cannot hear all the things they say behind my back, in their minds.”

“You’re missing the point,” Gwen said. “You have no idea what I’m talking about when I say shared sex, do you? No idea what you’re missing out on.”

Aurora shook her head very slightly.

“Well, Malem is going to have to unmute you some time,” Gwen said. “Because you see, when we have sex, it’s—”

“Yes, yes,” Xaxia said. “The fuck of the century.” She looked at Aurora. “I can’t tell you how many times I have to listen to them bragging about how great the sex is.”

“Well, that’s because there’s nothing like it,” Gwen said. “There really isn’t. When he beds one of us, the rest of us can feel it, if he allows us. And then he in turn experiences the pleasure in us as it echoes back at him, which makes his own bliss stronger, which we also feel, spiking our own pleasure yet again, and back and forth it goes… it keeps becoming amplified like that as it passes back and forth between us, until it’s just this all enveloping feeling of pure bliss.”

“You mean you experience sex with him, without actually touching him?” Aurora asked.

“That’s right,” Xaxia said. “But don’t look at me, I have no idea what’s that’s like.”

“Nor I,” Grendel said.

“It’s mind-blowing,” Weyanna said. “Once you’ve tried sex this way, you can’t go back.”

“I want to make sure you’re understanding this,” Gwen told Aurora. “One of us has to fuck him, yes. So someone has to ‘touch’ him, as you say. But the rest of us will feel that lovemaking.”

“What happens if he masturbates?” Timlir asked. “Do you feel that, too?”

“I don’t know,” Gwen said, looking at Malem questioningly. “He never has, that I know of.”

“I have no reason to, not with all of you around,” Malem said. “But in theory, yes, you would feel my pleasure, and it would jump back and forth between us, amplifying each time.”

“So as I was saying,” Gwen told Aurora. “He’s going to have to unmute you sometime, so you can feel what it’s like.”

“Only if she wants,” Malem said.

“Why does it matter what she wants?” Gwen said. “She doesn’t know what she’s missing. Maybe you should just do it. That’s one way to covert her to our side real quick. Once she feels that.”

“Because it’s also tantamount to rape, in a way,” Sylfi said. “If you do it against her will.”

“She’s right,” Malem told Gwen.

The half gobling nodded. “I suppose.”

“Would you like me to unmute you, next time I take someone to my bed?” Malem asked Aurora earnestly.

She gave him a disgusted look. “I’ll have to pass for now, thanks. I’m not very big on remote sex.”

Malem shrugged. “You’re loss.”

“Can we talk about something else?” Grendel asked. “Brighter topics maybe? Subjects that the rest of us who haven’t been Broken by you can relate to?”

The table fell quiet. No one was quite sure what to talk about.

“How about that beer!” Timlir said.

Everyone looked at him. Gwen and Weyanna were frowning.

“What?” the dwarf said. “That’s a brighter subject. And it’s not a bad ale, you have to admit. Not as good as what dwarves make, but hey, it does the job.”

The conversation essentially died out after that.

They continued to drink. None of the other patrons approached them. A couple of new patrons did come inside, men and women who called themselves news gatherers, and they asked Malem a series of questions on the kingdom he was building in the jungle.

“How big is it?”

“How many monsters do live there?”

“Night elves?”

“Dragons?”

“Have you Broken all of your army with your mind?”

“Can you control them all like the pieces on some game board?”

“Will the Balors return?”

“What brings you to our city?”

“Where are you going next?”

“Do you have any plans of conquering Red Bridge?”

“What about other cities?”

Malem answered as few questions as he could, and those incorrectly or as vaguely as possible. Thankfully, the “news gathers” soon left him alone. But they were quickly replaced by others who wanted to shake the hand of the famous Breaker, or punch him in the face. He could tell the latter from the dour expressions they usually wore.

“You killed my family in Viridian!” one of the latter men said. Viridian was a city to the north of the Midweald, which Malem had conquered as the Defiler.

“I’m sorry,” Malem said, and meant it. Filled with shame, he added: “Why don’t you give me your name, and I’ll prepare a bank deed? A small restitution for your troubles, to be redeemed in my city in the forest. Or here, once we set up a banking branch in Redbridge. I know it won’t bring your family back, but maybe—”

“I don’t want your blood money!” the man interrupted. “I just want to spit in your fucking evil face!”

And the man managed to do so before leaving, forced out by the tip of Xaxia’s sword.

Malem wiped the spittle from his cheek. “I actually prefer to be treated this way, than like an emperor.”

“Whatever for?” Gwen asked.

“I feel like an imposter sometimes,” Malem said. “Most of the time.” He sighed. “I’m not an emperor. I’m just an ordinary man of questionable morals.”

“We all have questionable morals, if you want to look at it that way,” Gwen said. She nodded at Aurora. “Especially her.”

Aurora bared her teeth in a feral grin.

Xaxia was shaking her head. “You are an emperor, even if you won’t admit it. Someday you’ll come to terms with that truth. You have to. Your army follows you, not Ziatrice, Abigail, or Mauritania. You. You know why? Because you defeated Balors! No one else could ever do such a thing. No one else could even dream of it!”

“That’s where you’re wrong,” Malem said. “I didn’t do it, the Paragons did.”

“Still counts as a defeat, since you’re the one who summoned them, and paved the way for their victory,” Gwen said. “I agree with Xaxia. You outsmarted the Balors. Used sound strategies and tactics to beat them. Something that no one else has done, not for a long time.”

“Not since the Balor Wars,” Wendolin agreed. “Back when the Balors had first come to our realm, when they were far weaker. We didn’t know then that killing the Balors would strengthen the remainder. We learned our lesson quickly.”

“How did there get to be so few of them?” Gwen asked.

“When the Paragons sealed off this world to them,” Wendolin answered, “and the Balors returned to the Black Realm, they realized how powerful they could become if they eliminated their brethren. And so they began an unending series of wars against one another. Bloody, terrible wars. Only when Banvil became powerful enough to break through the seals the Paragons had placed, did we learn just how brutally successful these wars had been. The Balors had reduced their numbers to twelve. Twelve!”

“And now there are nine,” Malem said. “Well, eleven. But Denfidal and Vorgon aren’t going to be bothering anyone for a long time yet.”

“That’s what we said about Banvil,” Wendolin said. “And look at what happened.”

“Maybe we should go into the Black Realm, and destroy Vorgon and Denfidal permanently,” Xaxia said.

“No!” Aurora said. “Please.”

“It’s all right,” Malem said. “We’re just talking. We’re not going to actually do it.”

She blinked rapidly, as if holding back tears, and then swallowed.

“Denfidal was like a father to me,” Aurora said. “I couldn’t bear the loss of losing him forever. At least now, there’s a chance I might see him again.”

Malem nodded. “There’s no reason to kill Denfidal or Vorgon. Even the Paragons want them alive, to preserve their precious balance. Denfidal is safe in the Black Realm.”

Aurora exhaled in relief.

“At least, as long as no other Balors discover where he’s hiding,” Weyanna said.

Malem sensed a sudden panic from Aurora.

“We have to go to him!” Aurora said. “Protect him while he’s defenseless!”

Wendolin frowned. “I doubt we’ll be able to find Denfidal… the Black Realm is as huge as our own world. And even if we do, our presence will only lead the other Balors to the demon. No, Denfidal is safer on its own.”

The flagons were nearly empty at that point, so Malem ordered another for them to share. He almost requested two, but was feeling a little queasy, so decided not to push it.

After the barkeep was gone, Gwen gave him a cautious look.

“You know,” Gwen said. “At some point, once we get our treasury built up, we can look into gifting coin and builders to some of the cities we helped destroy. To help make reparations for what we did. It would certainly make me rest easier at night.”

“I agree of course,” Malem said. “Assuming they’ll take our help.”

“Why wouldn’t they?” Gwen asked.

“You saw the guy that just spat in my face?” Malem replied. “What were his words? He didn’t want our ‘blood money.’”

Gwen downed the last of the beer that remained in her mug. “Good point.”

“And they probably wouldn’t accept any builders we sent their way,” Malem continued. “Unless we dispatched men only, or those races similar to men, like the dwarves. Something tells me they wouldn’t want to work side-by-side with oraks.”

“Probably not,” Gwen agreed. She tapped her chin. “For the money part, maybe we can make the donation anonymously.”

“That would probably work,” Malem said.

“Why would you give money to those you helped destroy?” Aurora said.

Gwen scowled at her. “Because we feel bad about it?”

“I didn’t participate in any of that, just so you know,” Xaxia told Aurora. “I ran away.”

“Coward,” Weyanna said.

Xaxia shrugged. “I’m the one who came back with the Dark Eye. Without me, Malem would have died as the Defiler.”

“Yes, and you’re such a good person, because you didn’t have a hand in the destruction of all those cities,” Gwen said. “And of course, you’ve never assassinated innocent men for money, not ever, right?”

Xaxia grinned. “I never claimed to be faultless. And the men I assassinated were hardly innocent. They were thieves in and of themselves, and they pissed off some powerful people. I think of myself much as the Paragons do: I restore balance to the world with my assassin’s blade.”

“Ha!” Gwen said. “Balance, my ass. Soldier of fortune, more likely.”

“Those days are over for me now,” Xaxia said. “The only creatures I assassinate these days are oraks. And Balors.”

The new flagon arrived, and Xaxia was the first to refill her cup. Wendolin followed. The tree elf took a long sip, and then wiped her lips.

“I’d be willing to lend the tree elves to help with any rebuilding efforts,” Wendolin said.

Malem nodded. “I’m sure the cities wouldn’t refuse your help.” Unlike the other members of his dark army, the tree elves were renowned throughout the land as beings of the light: altruistic and enlightened.

“Benevolent of you,” Sylfi commented to Wendolin.

“Yes, but also selfish,” Wendolin said. “You see, by having the fortified cities of men scattered across the realm, cities that are well funded and well defended, we buy ourselves time in the case of an invasion. While they fight, we may prepare. Why do you think we were so ready when Vorgon arrived at our doorstep?”

Sylfi pursed her lips. “I never thought about it like that.”

“It probably wouldn’t take too long for the elves to rebuild these cities either,” Malem said. “Assuming the people relied on wood. I remember when we flew past the Dothweald on the way to fight Denfidal and Vorgon, the forest looked pristine.” The Dothweald was the forest where the hidden entrance to the elven kingdom of Dothloron resided. Vorgon had attempted to burn it to the ground in order to drive out the elves.

Wendolin nodded. “We managed to grow most of it back. However, it did drain the mages for many weeks thereafter. So it will take some time to restore the different cities throughout the realm. Depending on how many fell to Vorgon.”

“Quite a few.” Malem took a long quaff, and shook his head. “We’ve been so busy building our own kingdom, and I’ve been so preoccupied trying to get the hang of this emperor thing, that we never actually brought up how we were going to make amends.”

“Actually, we did,” Wendolin said. “A few times now. You just don’t remember.”

He nodded slowly. “Banvil.”

“Do we have to worry about you having gaps in your memory going forward?” Grendel asked. “Or about you losing your mind in and of itself?”

“I haven’t had a bout of forgetfulness since we left,” Malem said. “But yeah, I probably will again at some point. But hopefully not for a while. I believe the demon drained itself greatly, when it attempted to force me to lead a dragon assault against Redbridge. It will try again, no doubt. You’ll have to be on the lookout for behavioral changes in me, and act appropriately.”

The conversation stalled thereafter, and they drank for the most part in silence. Timlir joked once or twice about how they were all sorry drunks, and that if they were dwarves, they would all be laughing and singing right about then.

But neither Malem nor the others felt like laughing or singing.

“Party poopers,” Timlir said, waving a dismissive hand at them. He went instead to sit with the proprietor at the bar, and their laughter occasionally drifted across the common room.

One of the songbirds alerted him to incoming troops, and Malem switched to the animal’s viewpoint to watch. The troops arrived on horseback, and formed a ring in front of the building, where a crowd had gathered. These troops dismounted, and promptly proceeded to erect a barrier, forcing back the gathering crowd. No doubt the mayor had ordered this, and Malem was grateful.

No more fans or haters arrived at the inn, thanks to that barrier; meanwhile, the other patrons left Malem alone. Thus, he spent the next hour mostly in peace and quiet. Brita came inside after half an hour, and swapped with Sylfi, who took over watching their saddles outside. Malem thought the big bags were probably safe with the city guards watching over them, as well as his songbirds, but it didn’t hurt to have one of their own taking direct care of the bags.

At the end of that hour, the mayor’s courier arrived with news.

6

Malem studied the courier, who was clad in burnished plate mail with a white plume running down the back of the helmet. Malem knew the man was a representative of the mayor, because of the tunic he wore over his chest armor, which was embroidered with the city’s symbol: a red arc over a blue line, meant to represent the main bridge and the river it traversed.

“What news?” Malem asked.

The courier bowed. “Breaker. The mayor sends word: a man matching your quarry’s description arrived at the western entrance shortly after midnight. He traveled with four spare horses. The guards allowed him to cross the bridge into the city—he claimed to be a horse seller of some sort. An hour later, the sentries on duty at the eastern gate of Northern Redbridge encountered the man once again, as he exited the city with his four horses and proceeded into the eastern Midweald.”

“So he’s being more circumspect in his travels after all,” Wendolin said. “And not leaving a trail of death and destruction for us to follow. Maybe it’s better this way. At least for the potential victims.”

“But not for us.” Malem rubbed his chin. “If that was Goldenthall, then he heads toward the eastern perimeter of the Midweald.” He glanced at the courier. “You say he left about an hour after midnight?”

“That’s correct,” the man said.

“By horse, if he headed due east, he could have made it out of the forest by now…” Malem glanced at Xaxia for confirmation.

“Easily,” Xaxia said.

Malem sat back. “I was hoping to camp out upon the eaves, and ambush him when he arrived. But he has too much of a head start.” He glanced at the courier once more. “No other patrols spotted him after he left the city?”

“I’m sorry, no,” the man said.

“How about anything untoward?” Malem pressed. “Murdered merchants on the road, or the like?”

“Again, no,” the courier said.

Malem nodded. “All right, thank you. You may go.”

The man bowed. “Mayor Townshed offers his full support. If you need anything, send word, and the mayor will do his best to fulfill your request.”

As the courier left, Xaxia said, softly: “Of course he will. He has a city of monsters almost on his doorstep. He’ll do anything to appease its ruler.”

Malem said nothing to that, and instead thrummed his fingers on the table. “If I were Banvil, where would I go? What’s to the east of the Midweald?”

“Mulhadden isn’t all that far to the southeast,” Xaxia said. “Perhaps he’s headed to Tartan.”

“What’s in Tartan?” Wendolin asked.

“First of all, it’s the city Goldenthall once ruled,” Xaxia said. “In ruins now, unfortunately. It’s also the city where I first discovered Banvil still lived.”

Malem considered that. “You mentioned you spotted the Darkness there?”

“Yes,” she said. “It was seeping from the flagstones of the very rooftop where Banvil created the portal to this world in its attempt to snatch you with the Darkness. The same spot where that portal appeared, in fact.”

“I used that portal to pass through into the Dark Realm, and Break the Balor,” Malem mused.

Xaxia nodded. “You did.”

“You think Banvil is trying to enter the Black Realm through there?” Brita asked.

“Either that, or transfer more of itself into Goldenthall,” Malem replied.

“We might have to fetch Ziatrice, and a Dark Eye,” Gwen said.

“Or Rathamias,” Malem said. He rubbed his chin. “We’ll go to Tartan, first, and decide what to do from there. I highly doubt Goldenthall would enter the Black Realm, however. It would be too dangerous to him and the precious cargo he carries. The other Balors have grown in strength, remember, and there are also countless denizens of that evil realm eager to hunt down a lone man.”

“Not an ordinary man…” Xaxia said.

“All right, let’s go,” Malem said, standing.

Timlir approached with the barkeep.

“It was nice having you in our inn!” the woman said. “Come again, anytime!”

On the way out, Malem noticed the battle ax known as Hamstringer was once more hanging from Timlir’s belt. “I see you fixed your belt.”

Timlir nodded. “I borrowed a needle and thread from Matilda and fixed it good as new.”

“So you weren’t just laughing and joking with the bartender after all,” Brita said. “You were getting something useful done.”

“I didn’t know dwarves could sew,” Gwen said. “Are you sure this Matilda didn’t fix it for you?”

“All dwarves can sew,” Timlir said. “We’re craftsmen. Mending things is our nature. Clothing. Armor. Weapons. Sewing is a manly pursuit.”

“Whatever you say,” Xaxia commented.

“Come now, lass,” Timlir said. “You know the thought of me sewing is making you all hot and bothered where it counts.”

“Actually, no, it’s not,” Xaxia said.

When Malem walked outside the inn, he saw that the crowd beyond the barriers had grown even larger than when he’d last checked. If they had wanted to, they could have easily overwhelmed the troops standing guard in a half circle just outside the inn.

Malem approached the soldier who looked like he was the leader.

“Can you clear them back?” Malem said. “I have three Metals here who want to transform into dragons.”

“We got you,” the soldier said.

The man shouted some commands, and the guards stepped forward, using their tower shields to push the crowd. “Get back, unless you want to get crushed by dragons. Back, I say!”

The crowd ceded.

Sylfi was standing next to their saddles, which were arranged in three piles, spread apart with enough distance so that it would be relatively easy for the dragons to transform into the gear.

Weyanna, Sylfi and Brita used those saddles to shield themselves from the crowd as they undressed. Wendolin collected their garments, and shoved them into the saddlebags.

Then the dragons transformed, their bodies slipping into the ropes of the saddle. Except for Weyanna, who hadn’t placed herself correctly; she materialized underneath the straps, so that when she changed, the saddle tumbled off her back.

The crowd beyond the line of guards oohed and aahed when the dragons appeared, and watched as Sylfi scooped up the fallen saddle in her mouth, and dropped it on Weyanna’s back.

“Mommy, what’s it doing?” Malem overheard a little girl near the front ask.

“It’s helping the other dragon put on its clothes,” the mother said.

Timlir scrambled up onto Weyanna’s back, and then kicked down the binding cords of the saddle so that they fell down either flank. Xaxia maneuvered underneath Weyanna’s belly and secured those cords in place.

Wendolin led Aurora to the big white dragon that Weyanna had become. Weyanna let down one wing to allow them to clamber onto her back, and Wendolin gestured at Aurora to go first.

But then Aurora broke away, racing toward the surrounding guards. Malem was about to drain her of stamina when branches erupted from the wooden surface of the building next to her, and enveloped the woman.

You never learn, do you? Malem asked. There’s no escape. At least until you start cooperating with us.

Then I guess I’ll be your prisoner forever! she said defiantly.

Guess so, he agreed. He glanced at Timlir. “Cut her down.”

Timlir went to her, and hewed away the branches that bound Aurora. The dwarf led her back to Weyanna and Wendolin.

“Now then, let’s try that again,” Timlir said.

Aurora scowled at the dwarf, and then at Malem, before clambering onto the proffered wing and pulling herself onto Weyanna’s back.

Malem climbed his own mount—Sylfi—and secured himself in the saddle with Grendel.

“Maybe we should just let her go,” Grendel suggested when she had secured herself.

“If I knew what kind of magic she wielded,” Malem said. “And there was a guarantee she wouldn’t plot to someday return and take her sword, I probably would. But as it stands, I can’t in good conscious let her go.”

“I suppose I get where you’re coming from,” Grendel said. “But I also understand her viewpoint as well. She feels unjustly imprisoned. You killed Denfidal, whom she regarded as a father figure. And you took her sword, which belongs to her. If I were her, I’d want it back. And vengeance as well.”

“All the more reason to keep her close,” Malem said.

He gazed at Sylfi, who was listening attentively, her head turned toward them.

“Sylfi, take us up!” he ordered.

In moments, Malem and the others were flying above the city, riding two per dragon—save for Timlir, who was forced to travel in Weyanna’s claws once more, since there weren’t enough saddles for them all. Malem could almost imagine all the grumbles and curses Timlir was sending Weyanna’s way.

Head southeast, he told Sylfi. And take us higher: let’s not give any forest-dwellers a target they might actually be able to hit.

Sylfi obeyed, and soon the city was fast receding, replaced by the canopy of the Midweald.

Malem dismissed the songbirds he had Broken, since they were no longer of any use to them. He gazed at those treetops far below, and smiled. He was free, finally. Free of the burden of emperor, if only temporary. Soaring above the forest, on dragon back. There was nothing like it.

He resolved to do this more often when he returned, rather than simply Breaking songbirds to experience flight remotely. Maybe it might even be something he could consider charging for, to boost treasury revenues. Once the news spread, tourists would come from across the land for a chance to ride a dragon. Hell, his own soldiers might pay for a ride as well, effectively giving back the money he paid them with. Yes, he’d have to run the idea by Mauritania and Abigail when he returned, to see how feasible it was, logistics-wise: safe transport would have to be provided through monster territory, from Redbridge to his kingdom, among other things.

In about an hour’s time, the forest gave way to the plains beyond. He saw the different farms and villages the Eldritch had ransacked on their way to Tartan’s Vale in Mulhadden. Most of those farms were still burned out, though a few had been rebuilt, or were in the process of being rebuilt. A lot of the villages were inhabited once more as well, though they bore the scars of invasion: many buildings were burned-out husks or collapsed piles of rubble. But on the whole, the rebuilding seemed to be going well. By the time Malem’s kingdom was in a financial position to start helping out with the rebuilding process, this entire region would have probably bounced back. Except for Tartan itself.

There would be no coming back for that city. The population had been exterminated, to the last man, woman and child, underneath Mauritania. She had been her own Defiler then, firmly under Vorgon’s control. The city’s army had been fighting on the front lines at the time, and when those lines were broken, the army had scattered, its men becoming sell swords to the highest bidder, or joining the armies of others cities that hadn’t fallen.

No, the only denizens he would find in Tartan would be bandits. If that. Men and women who would scatter upon sighting dragons descending upon the city.

None of the people he saw in those farms and villages down there would know him. The region had been abandoned the last time he came this way, its country roads patrolled only by the conquering Eldritch. And he had not marched through these lands when he led his dark army south after defeating Vorgon, instead entering the Midweald from the northeast.

That no one would recognize him was good in a way, because it meant if he had to stop, he would be left in peace. Assuming he didn’t spook the townspeople with the dragons first. As it was, they didn’t seem too alarmed to see dragons passing by overhead. True, the Metals were fairly high, but he did spot a few people stopping what they were doing to look up, or to point.

He supposed they had become accustomed to dragons flying overhead occasionally, now that the treaty with the Metals had been repealed, allowing them to travel across the land without those collars. Members of Malem’s own dragon army probably roamed this way now and then while hunting for food. Though Malem had ordered the Blacks and Blues not to raid the cattle kept by farmers, he had no doubt that some of his dragons defied that order and did it anyway. There were probably a few farmers readying pitchforks and bows at this very moment, not that it would do them any good.

The farms and villages thinned out as the dragons moved farther away from the Midweald and into Mulhadden. He spotted a merchant caravan moving on the road below.

You see that caravan below? Gwen asked.

Yes, what about it? he replied.

What if it’s Goldenthall’s? Gwen said. Or the man is hiding inside one of the wagons?

Given how much of a lead he had, Weyanna said. Goldenthall has probably already reached Tartan by now.

At the very least, he might have seen something, Gwen said. And can tell us if we’re heading the right way. For all we know, Goldenthall turned due east upon exiting the Midweald.

I suppose it’s worth a try, Malem said. All right, let’s land within fifty yards of that caravan. Try not to spook the horses too badly.

That’s what we have you around for, Gwen said sweetly.

He reached out to the horses of the caravan, and calmed them as the dragons landed in the middle of the road, blocking the path.

But then the caravan drivers and the mercenaries escorting them came to a halt, and promptly spun about.

They’re turning around, Brita said.

Malem considered Breaking all of those horses and commanding them to stay put, but there were enough of them to make the process onerous.

Sylfi, take to the air once more, Malem ordered. Head them off.

She leaped into the air and flew rapidly across the caravan. Some of the mercenaries carried bows, and they fired up at her, but the non-magical weapons bounced off her scales.

Morons, Sylfi said. They don’t understand that tickles.

Maybe they hope you’re ticklish? Malem suggested.

You’re the only one I allow to take advantage of that fact, Sylfi said.

Memories popped into his head, of tickling Sylfi before making love to her, as a way to calm her performance anxiety. She hated knowing that all the other women could feel her pleasure: it made her very self-conscious of the whole sex act, wanting to do everything perfectly.

As Sylfi landed in front of the retreating caravan, the horses once more became spooked, and Malem calmed them.

The caravan turned west, as if intending to travel off the road and into the uneven land next to it.

Tell them we come in peace, and only want to talk, Malem sent her. And that if they travel off the road, they risk damaging their wagons, and whatever goods they carry. Tell them I am the Breaker of Balors.

Sylfi repeated his words almost verbatim, her voice carrying between her and the caravan.

But the wagons ignored him, and continued off the road.

Malem sighed.

Always the hard way.

He Broke a few select horses dragging each wagon and had them bite at the other horses closest to them, while at the same time disobeying the orders of the drivers. He kept Breaking horses, draining from those bound to him, until soon he had enough of them under his command to return the caravan to the road. The sell swords, who rode individual animals, were forced to follow the wagons back. It helped that he had Brita breath flames along their former paths, giving them yet another incentive to return.

The caravan came to a halt. From the wagon in the middle of the group, a man in flamboyant red and blue robes emerged. “What do you want?” he yelled.

“Let me down,” Malem said, realizing there was no need to use mental communications now that they’d landed.

“Are you sure?” Sylfi asked.

“I’ll be fine,” he replied.

“I’ll go with you,” Grendel told him.

So she followed him down Sylfi’s wing, and together the two of them approached.

The sell swords surrounded Malem and Grendel with their horses, and led them toward the central wagon. One of the men actually leered at Grendel.

“I’d wipe that lascivious look off your face, dipshit,” Malem told him. “Considering I have three dragons waiting to rip apart you and your caravan. It wouldn’t be wise to piss me off.”

The man’s face darkened, and his grip tightened on his sword, as if he was actually considering using it, but then apparently he realized the stupidity of what he was about to do, because he looked away and spurred his steed onward.

Grendel gave him an appreciative look.

When they reached the central wagon, the man in the flamboyant robes stood there in the vehicle with his arms crossed, looking down at them. “Well? What do you want? Are you here to rob me, Breaker of Balors?”

“In a way,” Malem said. “You see, the only thing I wish to steal from you is knowledge.”

“Ah, how so very witty!” the merchant said. “You stop my caravan to deliver jokes! Now may I be on my way, please? I have a very tight schedule!”

The man kept glancing nervously toward Sylfi in the distance, and occasional at Brita and Weyanna on the other side.

“Certainly, as soon as you answer my questions,” Malem said. “Have you seen anyone, or anything, suspicious? In your travels?”

“Of course I have!” he said. “I’m a merchant! I always see suspicious things on the road!”

“Recently,” Malem said. “As in, the past day.”

The man stared at him, seeming suddenly hesitant.

“Actually,” the man finally said. “There was something this morning.”

“Tell me,” Malem pressed.

“Well, I stopped the caravan in one of the designated rest areas along the road, planning to spend a few hours recovering after traveling throughout the night,” the merchant explained. “At least until I saw the blackened corpses lying around a spent campfire. And so I pressed on, and have been riding since morning. When I spotted your dragons, I assumed it was you who killed them. Your dragons. And I’m still not sure it wasn’t. Have you come to kill me because I saw something I wasn’t meant to see?”

“No,” Malem said.

The man slumped. “That’s a relief. Well, it has to be another set of dragons that did this then. There has been an uptick in dragon numbers in recent months. Ever since the Defiler returned to the forest.”

“The Defiler?” Malem said.

“Yes, the servant of Vorgon,” the man said. “Do you know of him?”

“I am him,” Malem said.

The man paled, and took a step back, almost falling into the opening in the wagon’s canopy. “But you said you were the Breaker of Balors!”

“I guess not many people know we’re one in the same,” Malem said.

“Impossible,” the man said. “The Breaker of Balors is a hero! He killed the Defiler, and then slew the Balors!”

“I suppose he did, at that,” Malem said. “Are you sure these blackened corpses you saw were actually burned? Or was it dark magic that reduced their bodies to the state you saw?”

“I suppose it could be either dark magic or flame,” the man said. “I didn’t actually get close enough to examine the bodies. As soon as I spotted them, I fled!”

“Do you even know what death by dark magic looks like?” Grendel asked, speaking for the first time. “Versus death by dragon fire?”

Her melodious voice seemed somehow incongruous among the rough men. Yet it was also calming.

The merchant must have been thinking the same, because when he looked at her, his expression seemed more serene.

“No,” he admitted.

“Thank you for your help,” Malem said.

With that, he and Grendel returned, unmolested, to Sylfi. He recalled Weyanna and Brita, and allowed the caravan to continue on its way.

When the others gathered to him, he shared the news.

“Yup, we’re definitely on the right path,” Xaxia said. “Goldenthall heads toward Tartan.”

“Is it worth it to fly back to the rest area the merchant spoke of?” Gwen asked. “To confirm it was dark magic that killed these men?”

“Dark magic or flame, this stinks of Goldenthall’s hand,” Malem said. “I’m confident the possessed man came this way. I feel no need to backtrack.”

“I agree,” Grendel said. “We should continue forward.”

“Uh huh,” Gwen said. “And who made you second in command?”

“She appointed herself,” Xaxia said.

Grendel shrugged. “It seems the most logical course of action.”

“Logic now, huh?” Xaxia said. “You’re a creature of emotion just like the rest of us.”

“Not me,” Timlir said. “I’m a dwarf. Ruled by logic. Emotions have no sway upon me!”

“Whatever, Timmy,” Xaxia said.

“Timmy?” the dwarf blustered. “Don’t call me Timmy!”

“Emotions have no sway upon you, huh?” Xaxia said.

The dwarf offered some incomprehensible, stuttering words, but otherwise had no response to that.

“We continue forward,” Malem said. “Mount up. We fly!”

7

Malem stood upon the rooftop where he had fought Mauritania. The ruins of the once great city of Tartan lay scattered across the cityscape around him.

The dragons perched on towers next to the main palace, where they had landed after dropping off Malem and the others. The rooftop was big enough to hold two of the Metals at once, but that left little room for maneuvering, so he had them unload their passengers one at a time before taking different roosts.

He stared at the three dead horses in the center of the roof. Their bodies were completely black, their flesh riddled with veinlike runnels.

“Definitely dark magic,” Xaxia said.

“Or the Darkness of Balors that gives rise to it,” Malem said. “It has to be Goldenthall.”

Xaxia stepped forward, between the horses, to a bare spot at their center. “The Darkness appeared right here.” She kicked at a flagstone. “Last time I walked this way. Right where you stepped through the portal to the Black Realm.” She seemed tense, as if ready to leap back in case that portal, or the Darkness, decided to return. Grendel also seemed ready for anything.

But nothing transpired.

“There’s no Darkness here now…” Timlir said.

“No,” Malem agreed. “I believe Banvil transferred the rest of his essence here, into this realm. Into Goldenthall. If only so that he could grow his power in relative safety, away from the other Balors, all of which were no doubt hunting him. As the third weakest after Vorgon and Denfidal, he would have been an obvious target.”

“Why the dead horses?” Sylfi asked from where she observed on the adjacent tower.

“Maybe Goldenthall wasn’t enough to contain the Balor’s essence, and some of it spilled over to the horses,” Wendolin said. “The animals weren’t linked to the Balor, and thus died when the Darkness touched them.”

“Or maybe Goldenthall merely lashed out with his newfound power,” Grendel said. “Sometimes, when I fought during the Balor Wars, and an influx of the Light would take me as a Paragon channeled its essence through me, I would find myself overwhelmed by power lust, and would strike out at both friend and foe, just destroying everything.”

“You fought during the Balor Wars?” Wendolin said. “I didn’t know that.”

Grendel smiled sadly, nodded, and looked away.

Malem glanced at the sky. “Well, it’s late evening. We’ve been traveling all day. The trail has stalled for now. We might as well call it a day, and we can continue tomorrow.”

“Which direction will we travel?” Xaxia asked.

“I don’t know,” he said. “All directions? I’ll break birds, and send them out to act as scouts.”

“It could be days until we find anything,” Gwen said.

“What if he’s here?” Grendel said.

“That’s a good point,” Malem said. “I’ll break some night animals, and have them explore right now.” He reached out, searching for animals. “Hm. That’s odd.”

“What is it?” Xaxia asked.

“I’m not detecting any animals in the city,” he told her. “Or monsters, for that matter.”

“That is indeed odd,” Xaxia said. “Last time I was here, I encountered a local panther that had taken up residence.”

“Maybe something chased them all away,” Grendel said.

Malem glanced at the three carcasses. “I wonder if there are more corpses like this scattered throughout the city.”

“Blackened by dark magic?” Wendolin said. “I don’t think Banvil is that powerful, not yet. Unless Goldenthall moved from building to building, purposely hunting everything down.”

“Either way, it’s probably not the best idea to camp here,” Malem said. “We should head to one of the farms on the surrounding ridge, instead.”

And so the dragons leaped onto the main rooftop in turn, and loaded up their passengers. Then they flew to the southeast, and landed on a farm located on a ridge overlooking the valley.

It was mostly intact, having survived the ravages of the Eldritch invasion, and after going from building to building and room to room to confirm that no monsters or other nefarious entities had taken up residence, Malem and the others chose different rooms for themselves in the main farmhouse and its guesthouses. Malem changed out of his dragonscale armor and into a tunic for supper.

Malem Broke several nearby birds, including a few owls, and sent them into Tartan to search for Goldenthall. Meanwhile, the dragons went out for a late evening hunting session.

Malem sat on a log outside the farmhouse while he waited for them to return. He switched between the viewpoints of the different birds as they moved from house to house by flying through the broken windows and doors. The buildings were usually empty, but sometimes there would be the nest of an animal or monster. Without fail, the denizens of such a nest lay dead, their bodies blackened by dark magic.

But otherwise, there was no sign of the former king. Malem wasn’t sure how much of the man was still left inside that possessed shell, and he wondered if the king was somehow resentful that monsters had moved into his once great city, and had gone on a personal vendetta to cleanse the city of all of them.

Or maybe Banvil just liked killing things.

He ordered the birds to continue searching, and to alert him if they found anything living.

The dragons returned an hour later with a red deer. They dropped it off next to the main farmhouse, and Sylfi skinned the animal with her claws, and then ignited a firepit with her breath, skewering the animal with a branch, and then roasting it above the flames as a human might toast a sweet pastry.

When it was ready, she lowered the animal to the ground in front of Malem and the others. “Have fun.”

“What about you?” Gwen asked. “You’re not going to eat?”

“We dragons had our fill,” Sylfi said, transforming back into a human.

Brita and Weyanna had already changed, and they helped her dress.

Malem was too hungry to gaze at her naked body, and instead cut away a piece of juicy meat and devoured it.

Sylfi, Brita and Weyanna sat with the others

“What did you eat?” Xaxia asked Sylfi.

“A deer, a boar, and an antelope,” Sylfi said.

“Where do the bodies go when you transform back into a human?” Xaxia asked. “Surely you don’t digest the food so quickly.”

Sylfi patted her belly. “It stays here. I’m not really sure how the transformation magic works, I only know that the dragon part of me still exists partially in some higher realm.”

“So essentially, you’re still a dragon,” Gwen said. “But only look like a human.”

“Something like that,” Sylfi agreed.

“And when you become a dragon, where does the human part go?” Xaxia asked.

“Again, same principal,” Sylfi said. “The human never really goes away. It just gets tucked away into a higher realm.”

“That’s… really weird,” Xaxia said.

“It’s part of the duality of being a Metal,” Sylfi said. “You get used to it.”

“But you have the same personalities, regardless of whether you’re in human or dragon form, right?” Xaxia asked.

“Haven’t you noticed?” Sylfi asked.

“Not really.” Xaxia chewed into a big piece of meat leg meat. “Other than you seem to be somewhat grumpier when you’re a dragon.”

Sylfi laughed. “That’s probably just perception. Though I admit, when I’m a dragon, I want to make sure everyone knows I’m not one to be trifled with, and well aware of the power I wield.”

Malem finished eating, confirmed who would be taking the first, second and third watches, and then went to the farmhouse. He wasn’t sure who he was going to invite to his bed tonight, and so he was a little surprised to find Grendel already lingering in front of the quarters he had picked out for himself. She had gone inside before him, to “go to the bathroom.” But now he wondered if something was amiss.

He went to her.

“What’s wrong?” he asked.

She shook her head. “Nothing.”

“Then why…” he paused. “Would you like to join me in my bed tonight?”

She smiled patiently. “No. We’re not going to make love.”

“Then what’s on your mind?” he asked.

“I just want to talk,” she replied.

He nodded, and gestured for her to enter. He almost touched her on the back to gently guide her inside, but remembered she didn’t like being touched.

When they were inside, he gestured for her to sit on the chair near the bed, and he grabbed one from a study nearby, and set it down in front of her.

“Let’s talk,” he said.

“I don’t think this life is for me,” Grendel said.

Malem frowned.

“I know it’s not what you want to hear,” she continued. “But, well, I’ve come to realize that I’m not who I used to be. I just… I can’t allow anyone inside. I can’t become attached to anyone. It’s just not possible. I have too many bad memories of what happens when I allow it.”

Malem sighed, and bowed his head. “If you want to go, you’re free to leave at any time. I just wish you would have told me before the mission began. Because then I would have brought Nemertes along, so that her light magic could counter Goldenthall’s.”

“Oh, don’t get me wrong,” Grendel said. “I intend to stay. I’ll see this through. But as soon as we’re done, I’d like to go back to Dark Wood.”

“I’ll see that one of the dragons takes you,” Malem said. “And I’m glad you’re not someone who quits in the middle of a mission, leaving the rest of your team holding the bag.”

“I wouldn’t do that,” Grendel agreed.

“All right then,” Malem said, standing. “If that’s all…”

He waited, but she remained seated.

Puzzled, he sat down once more.

She seemed to be struggling with something. Her brows were contorted, as if deep in thought.

Finally her expression relaxed.

“I haven’t felt the touch of a man in so long,” she said, her voice slightly raspy.

He stiffened, in more ways than one.

“I know I told you I don’t want to get attached, and it’s true, I don’t,” she said. “I also told you we wouldn’t make love tonight. And we’re not. We’re going to fuck. There will be no emotions, no feelings involved. Are you capable of such a relationship?”

Hell yeah, he wanted to say. But instead: “Yes. Of course I am.”

She stood up, and took a step toward him. Malem arose as well, and wrapped his arms around her waist, pressing into the robe. She flinched at his touch, but stood her ground. A good sign.

He leaned forward, and kissed her full on the mouth. But her lips were frigid in return: she didn’t match his movements, her mouth remaining motionless, as if he were kissing some inanimate doll.

He stepped back, breaking away.

“What’s wrong?” he said.

But she merely trembled in answer, her eyes moist.

“You’re always avoiding my touch?” he said. “Why?”

She shook her head, looking away.

“And even now you flinched from my touch,” he said. “Even after you consented. And when I pressed my lips against yours, I might as well have been kissing a statue, for all the movement and emotion I stirred from you in return. Why are you like this? What happened to you?” He paused. “Were you abused?”

The sigh he heard from her was heartbreaking. It contained the weight of a hundred years. A thousand. Years full of loneliness, and pain.

“I don’t want to touch you,” she said, not meeting his eyes. “Because I’m afraid of what that touch will stir inside of me. Already I’m feeling something I haven’t felt in decades. And I fear, if I allow you to continue, I won’t be able to stop myself. I’ll travel down the same path I have taken a thousand times before, a path that can only end in sadness for me.”

“You’re worried about getting attached to me…” Malem said.

“Yes,” she said. “I’m not sure I can simply fuck you. I thought I could. I convinced myself of it. But now, when you touched me, there…”

“Why not take the risk?” Malem said. “If you get attached, so what? It’s part of life. And it won’t be so bad.”

“It will be,” she said. “Not now, maybe. And perhaps not even for the next fifty years. But you will die, someday. Whereas I, a mage of the light, will live on for the next thousand years or more. I’ll have to suffer the pain of losing you. As I have suffered the pain of loss so many times before. Too many.”

“I understand now why your eyes are haunted,” Malem told her.

She nodded.

“There will be no bond between us,” Malem said. “We won’t let ourselves grow attached. This is only sex, nothing more.”

“Is that your dick talking?” Grendel said. Her gaze momentarily darted to his crotch, and her nostrils flared, ever so slightly. A sign of desire. An ordinary man wouldn’t have noticed it, but Malem, skilled in the seductive arts, picked it out immediately.

“No, but this is,” he said. “And my dick says: Give in. Surrender to your desires.”

She smiled, and rubbed her eyes. She took a step toward him, but then shook her head. “No. I thought I could do it. I really did. But I don’t think I can, not anymore.”

Malem nodded, turning away. “Then if you prefer…”

He went toward the door, and paused as he wrapped his fingers around the handle. He glanced askance slightly, not looking at her.

If she calls me back, I’ll stay.

But she didn’t say a word, so he opened the door and walked through. He shut it behind him without looking back.

8

As Malem stood there, outside the door, a sudden sadness gripped his heart. Like he’d missed the only chance he’d ever have with her.

He hesitated.

What the hell am I doing? Playing juvenile games. ‘If she calls me back…’ You can’t rely on her words! Never rely on what she says.

He was forgetting everything he knew about seduction. She wanted him, but she feared attachment. He was giving up too easily. He had to ignore what she said, and stick it out, assuage her fears. When she had said no, it didn’t mean get the fuck out. It meant, not now.

Get back in there!

He spun around, and opened the door.

Grendel was on the bed, holding her head in her hands, her features full of regret. But when she looked up at him, her face shone with joy.

She stood, and began disrobing.

See, you fucking moron!

She opened the belt at her waist, and let it drop to the ground. Then she hiked up her robe, revealing the moist spot between her legs, and lifted it up over her chest, releasing her small, jiggling breasts, and then finally slid it over her head, and set the robe down on the bed.

“You don’t wear underwear,” he said, his gaze squarely upon her privates.

“No.” She reached up and removed the pins that kept her hair bound into two buns, and her beautiful locks tumbled down either side of her face. “It’s too bad there’s no water in this place,” she said as she placed the pins on the nightstand. “I stink.”

“I don’t care,” Malem said, pressing himself against her.

This time when his lips met hers, Grendel responded passionately. Her mouth moved frantically, as if she truly hadn’t tasted a man in decades. Her hands explored beneath his tunic, touching everything: his nipples, his underarms, the small of his back. He had the impression she wanted to grope his body from head to foot, and feel each and every part. It turned him the hell on to feel this wanted.

He pulled his lips away from hers, but she latched on again, desperately, savagely.

“Take me!” she said. “I need you so bad!”

His teeth clicked against hers, repeatedly, so violent were her kisses. He opened and closed his mouth during those kisses, full of lust, pressing his crotch against her thigh. She responded by pushing that thigh harder against him; no doubt she felt his hardness, because she repositioned so her center was rubbing against it.

She began to gasp softly now as she rubbed her mound against him, and she ripped her mouth away, wrapping her arms and legs around him for a better grip, and resting her chin on his shoulder as she ground away.

Malem thrust against her in return through the fabric of his breeches. He wanted her just as badly.

They continued like that for a few moments, but then he paused. “You know, it might work better if you let me take off my pants.”

“Oh.” She gazed into his eyes, and giggled in slight embarrassment.

Then she released him, dropping to the floor.

He sensed her unease lingering in the air, and was worried the sexual bubble was going to break.

“I’m not very good at this,” she said, dropping her eyes. “It’s been a while.”

“You’re amazing.” He quickly slid off his tunic, and dropped his breeches, lowering his undergarments at the same time. His member leaped out in anticipation. Her eyes dropped to his crotch, and she licked her lips in anticipation.

“I want to taste it,” she said. Before he could stop her, she was on her knees, sliding her mouth over his center.

He straightened as she worked him. She was the master at the moment, controlling his pleasure; a part of him bridled at the thought of ceding control to anyone, and yet it felt so good. She claimed not to be very skilled, but she brought him to the edge with a mastery that spoke of much experience. Whether that experience came from bedding one man, or many, he didn’t know. Didn’t want to know.

His Broken companions would know he was having oral sex, except Aurora, who he kept muted. They would all feel it. The pleasure rose exponentially as it echoed between their energy bundles, as those bound to him fed off of each other’s pleasure. There would be no such magnification for Grendel, since she wasn’t linked of course: she could have no idea what she was doing to him, and how close he was already.

And then he couldn’t hold back any longer, and erupted inside her.

She pulled away, gagging.

“Damn,” she said. “I told you I wasn’t very good.”

“No, my fault,” he said. “I should have warned you.”

She swallowed lasciviously. “Actually, I don’t mind. You taste so good.” She rubbed some of his spilled seed suggestively across her chin. She pouted. “Though I did expect you to last a little longer.”

“It’s because of the pleasure link I have with everyone else,” he said. “It amplified what you did. You couldn’t know how close and how quickly you brought me to the brink.”

She stared at his crotch in disappointment. “I guess I’m not going to feel you inside of me tonight, huh? I was so looking forward to it, too.”

He ripped stamina away from the others and promptly rose to attention.

She looked away, but then did a double take. “Oh!”

“Yes,” he said, smiling. “Come here.”

She approached demurely, but then Malem wrapped his arms around her, and pushed her back, so that her butt was on the nightstand. All the items on it toppled over, and the nightstand nearly tipped as well, when he slid inside of her.

“It hurts!” she said. “You’re too big!”

He paused. “Want me to pull out?”

“Fuck no!” she said, squeezing her fingers around his buttocks. She wrapped her legs around the back of his thighs, to further prevent him from escaping.

He began thrusting against her as she leaned against that nightstand, and she reached up with her mouth, seeking his lips.

He gave her a kiss and then pulled away. She was left kissing at the empty air, wanting more, and she opened her eyes, begging.

He smiled, and pressed his lips against hers once more, and pounded into her. Hard. He felt the pleasure echoing back and forth among the energy bundles once more, quickly becoming unbearable.

She kept her mouth firmly planted on his, frantically opening and closing it, not even in time to his touch, and she stared into his eyes as she did so, the lust, the sheer bliss, so obvious in her pupils.

“I want you to explode inside of me,” she said between ferocious kisses. “Give me your seed!”

And that took him over the edge.

He kept pounding as his release came, forcing himself to work through the pleasure. He felt her own core squeezing repeatedly around him, and knew she was climaxing at the same time. She shuddered, arching, and then collapsed in his arms.

He lifted her onto the bed, but then she said: “No, not the bed, it’s dirty.”

“But you put your robe there,” he said.

“Open up my robe, and we can lie on it,” she said.

He did as she asked, spreading the robe across the coverlet with one hand, and then lay her upon it. Then he slid down beside her.

She leaned against him, snuggling. She wasn’t so different from the others, then, who all enjoyed a good post-coital snuggle.

“What is it like?” she asked. “The shared pleasure you experience with the others?”

“Incredible.” He paused. “Maybe I should transfer Aurora’s collar to you sometime.”

She touched her smooth neck with one finger. “I’m not sure I want to be bound to anyone. Let alone a man.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” he said, looking at her.

“Nothing.” She sighed. “I guess, I’ve always thought of myself as independent. And not reliant on anyone, especially men, who I was taught would always be my provider.” She smiled sadly. “I sure showed the world how independent I could be, didn’t I? Becoming a hermit for fifty years.”

“Is that how long it’s been?” he asked her.

“Honestly, I don’t know,” she replied. “I lost track of time long ago. I used to follow the years with the changing of the seasons, but even those blurred together.” She paused. “Is the pleasure that good?”

“Yes,” he said.

“Ah, it’s too bad the binding is permanent,” she said. “Otherwise, I might be tempted to say yes. But losing my freedom forever to someone else isn’t an option.”

“You wouldn’t lose your freedom,” he said. “You could leave whenever you wanted. Just like all the other women. Aurora is the only one I won’t let go. Not yet. And I’m not sure if the bond is permanent, either. Maybe when I remove the collar, she’ll be released from it.”

Grendel nodded. “We should find that out, because then it’s an easier prospect to swallow.”

“Speaking of swallowing, you certainly like to do that,” he said.

She grinned. “I do.” Her eyes became distant. “Though I suppose, even if the collar did not remove the bond, someday, when you died, it would sever.”

He looked away, and gazed at the ceiling. “Do you still want to go back to Dark Wood when this is done?”

She shifted in alarm. He could feel her eyes upon him.

“We agreed this was just sex, didn’t we?” she asked. “No emotions?”

“Yes,” he said quickly, meeting her eye. “Just sex, of course.”

She lay back. “Good. You had me worried there.” She paused. “And to answer your question: Yes. I intend to go back.”

He was relieved that she wasn’t bound to him in that moment, because he didn’t want her to sense the disappointment he felt.

He returned his gaze to the ceiling, and closed his eyes, intending to sleep.

But then she spoke.

“I can still see his eyes,” she said. “Blue like the sea. Full of intelligence, tenderness. He was a prince, you know. Destined to be a great king. The adventures we shared. The love. And to lose him, the way I did… so suddenly, without any warning at all. Slain by a troll whose den we decided to explore on a whim. Such a monster should have never been able to defeat him, not with me at his side. And yet we were unlucky.

“I can still see his eyes, looking at me as he died. A mixture of shock, pain, and something worse: accusation. As if it was my fault. Maybe it was. I’ve relived the event in my mind so many times… there were so many things I could have tried, so many alternate courses of action that might have saved his life. Many of them would have resulted in my own death, and I sometimes wonder if that would not have been better.”

She shook her head before continuing. “Afterwards, in my grief, I could not reach my powers, and the troll took me and tortured me. It fed me a liquid that suppressed my powers, and I stayed there, a prisoner. A part of me wanted to be punished for what happened. For letting him die. I finally escaped when a party of bandits invaded the cave and distracted the troll. But there were many of them, and the bandits took me back to their camp, and… what followed wasn’t pleasant. Needless to say, when my powers returned, not one of them lived. Theirs were slow, painful deaths.”

“That’s a terrible story,” Malem said.

She nodded. “I suppose. But it happened so long ago, that what the bandits did, and the troll, have no power over me. Only my prince’s eyes do. Even now, it feels like he’s looking at me accusingly. Like I’m cheating on him in some way. Even though he’s been dead for so very many years.”

“You’re not cheating on him,” Malem said. “He’d want you to be happy.”

“Would he?” she said. “How do you know this? Can you read a dead man’s mind? I think he would have wanted me to remain loyal to him to the end. And love no one else. But I failed him already, so you need not worry yourself in that regard. I’ve had four lovers since. Four men that I had to let go when death finally came to stake its claim. I won’t do the same with you. I refuse. Now do you understand?”

“I understood from the first,” Malem said. “What you’ve described is the same pain Mauritania, Ziatrice, and even the Metals I’m bound to will someday experience. I can only hope that I can give them something to remember me by. Maybe children.”

She smiled. “Children. But even they must fly from the roost someday.”

“Yes,” he said. “But they’ll be as long-lived as their mothers.”

“Will they?” she asked. “Children aren’t guaranteed to inherit their mothers’ longevity. Especially a child of mine, who would be human. If this child had no ability to access the light, then he or she would live an ordinary lifespan, and would die well before me. I could not bear it.”

“How did you keep from having children?” he asked into the silence that followed.

“There is a root one may take,” she replied. “It prevents a woman from becoming pregnant.”

“You’re taking it?” he said.

She shook her head. “Not now. But I will, if we decide to continue this little dalliance. Before I return home, that is.”

She snuggled against him, and Malem closed his eyes, letting a restless sleep take him.

9

Malem awoke to find himself lying alone on the bed. He had a vague memory of waking in the night as Grendel gently turned him over to slide her robe out from under him, but then he fell asleep again shortly after.

He reached out and conferred with his birds. They had been searching the city all night, but hadn’t found Goldenthall, and had given up a few hours ago. He wasn’t sure how thorough their search had been, but he decided to release the tired animals anyway. He doubted very much that Goldenthall was still in Tartan, considering that the possessed man probably expected Malem to follow him here. Even so, Malem Broke several more birds, and sent half of them to continue exploring the city, just in case. He launched the remainder in all directions, ordering them to search the outlying farms, villages and plains for signs of Goldenthall.

Meanwhile, he pulled on his undergarments, and instead of donning his tunic and breeches, opted for his dragonscale armor.

When he had donned the armor and attached his sword belt, he slid his pack over his shoulders, and then went to the common room.

Xaxia was there, booted feet up on the table, as she ate a bowlful of some gruel. Timlir and Brita were also present. His beast sense told him the other dragons were afield seeking breakfast, while Wendolin and Aurora were still in their shared room. Gwen was on the rooftop, keeping watch. He didn’t know where Grendel was.

“Where’d you find that?” he asked Xaxia, nodding at her bowl.

“One of the cupboards,” Xaxia replied.

“I’ll fix you some,” Brita said.

“You’re not having breakfast?” he asked.

“Ate already,” Brita said. “When Gwen took over from my watch. I spotted a small ghrip earlier, and tracked it down.”

“Mm-hm!” Xaxia said. “Gotta love ghrip meat!”

Brita shrugged. “It’s better than gruel.”

Malem sat down and waited for Brita to prepare the meal. She emptied out a small bag of some kind of cereal crop into a bowl, and then grabbed a bucketful of water—no doubt fetched from the well. She poured the water into the bowl and then she went out back, where a bonfire was burning, probably lit by one of the dragons at dawn. Through the window, he watched as she held the bowl over the fire and stirred its contents.

“Did your birds find anything in Tartan?” Xaxia asked.

He shook his head. “Nothing but dead monsters.”

“Goldenthall went on a killing spree?” she pressed.

“It would seem that way,” he replied. “Or Banvil.”

She pursed her lips, and finished her bowl. She set it aside and looked at him expectantly.

“So,” Xaxia said. “She was good, I hear.”

“I definitely had an earful last night as well!” Timlir said. He raised his voice so Brita could hear outside. “You dragons kept me awake with all your panting and moaning!”

Brita shrugged, and called back: “We aren’t quiet love makers.”

“Except ye weren’t even making love!” Timlir said. “You were living vicariously!”

Brita came back inside and handed Malem the bowl and spoon.

“You don’t understand,” she told the dwarf. “It’s not vicarious. It’s like we are him. And feeling the same pleasures he does.”

“What about the woman?” Timlir said.

“She’s not bound to him,” Brita said.

“Oh,” Timlir said. He shook his head. “Maybe one of you would like to try sex the traditional way sometime.” He gave Brita a wink.

She rolled her eyes. “We can’t go back. No matter what we do, we can never have traditional sex. We’ll always have the Breaker, and those bound to him, to ricochet our feelings of pleasure off of.”

“But you’ve never personally had sex with him,” Timlir said. “Or have you?” He glanced at Malem for confirmation.

“She hasn’t.” Malem tried his gruel.

“How is it?” Brita asked.

“As good as gruel can be,” he said.

“I suppose that’s a compliment,” she said.

“Not really,” he told her with a grin.

“Wait, why haven’t you had sex with her?” Timlir asked.

Malem shrugged. “I’ve tried. Believe me. She doesn’t want to.”

The dwarf glanced at her.

Brita shrugged. “I’ve always had a rule: I don’t sleep with the guys my sister is bedding. It seems kind of wrong, you know? Besides, I get all the sexual gratification I need when he fucks everyone else.”

“I thought he could mute you?” Timlir pressed

“Oh, he can,” she said. “But ever since he forgot to mute my sister and I that one time, I’ve decided I might as well enjoy what he has to offer. Free pleasure, without any work or commitment on my part. Can’t go wrong there. He’s like my personal vibrator.”

Timlir frowned. “What’s a vibrator?”

“Never mind,” she said.

Malem finished the bowl and set it aside. “I can’t believe that’s all I am to you. Just a vibrator.”

Brita smiled patiently.

“What’s a vibrator!” Timlir pressed.

“It’s a magical item, specific to us women,” Xaxia said. “We use it in place of a man.”

Timlir frowned in confusion. Then dawning seemed to come over his face. “Ah. You fuck this item!”

“More like, it fucks us,” Xaxia said.

Again Timlir frowned, but then shrugged. “You women and your sexual toys. When are you going to learn that your hand is good enough?”

“Sometimes it isn’t,” Xaxia said.

The dragons returned, dressed, and everyone gathered in the common room. When Grendel arrived, she couldn’t meet Malem’s eye. She seemed to purposely sit as far from him as possible, as if embarrassed by what she had done the night before. Or at least regretting it.

“Did you see any signs of Goldenthall while were you were hunting?” Malem asked the Metals.

“No,” Sylfi said. “Though we did spot a few caravans heading north.”

“So you were hunting to the south?” he asked.

“Yes,” she answered. “We tried stopping a few of the caravans, to ask them if they passed by anyone suspicious.”

“Really?” Gwen said. “And they actually answered you and didn’t bolt?”

“Most ran, yes,” Sylfi said. “But we managed to flag down a braver merchant among them. He didn’t see anything suspicious. Only other caravans.”

“Other caravans. I wonder…” Malem tapped his chin. “If I were Goldenthall, and wanted to cross these plains without arousing too much suspicion, I’d stow away aboard the wagon of a caravan.”

“So we look for caravans, then?” Weyanna asked.

“I think so,” Malem replied. “We spread out, forming a long line from east to west, to scout as much territory as we can. When we spot caravans heading in the direction of our flight, we gather, and force them to submit to a search.”

“Sounds reasonable to me,” Brita said.

“Wait, I thought you were going to launch birds in all directions, first?” Sylfi said.

“Already have,” Malem said. “So far, the only caravans my birds have spotted have been to the south. The north, west, and east are empty. At least so far.”

“What directions do these caravans head?” Gwen asked.

“Some north, toward us,” Malem replied. “Some south, and away from us.”

“Sounds promising,” Gwen said. “The latter, anyway.”

“Maybe,” Malem agreed.

“So we travel south?” Timlir asked. “And stop those heading in the same direction?”

“I believe so,” Malem said. “It’s a start, anyway. If we don’t find anything after a few days, I guess we’ll try north, until we pick up the trail again.”

“I have a question,” Aurora said. She finished eating the bowl Wendolin had prepared for her.

“Go ahead,” Malem said.

“When are you going to fall on your sword?” Aurora asked, wearing a sweet smile.

Malem returned her smile, and then stood. “All right, let’s go find this Balor.”

“It was a serious question,” Aurora protested. She glanced at Wendolin. “Why won’t he answer me?”

Malem ignored her and stepped outside.

Soon, he was roaming south across the plains on top of Sylfi. Grendel had swapped positions with Gwen, so that the half gobling rode behind him. Weyanna and Brita were specks on the eastern and western horizon, respectively. He could still fully sense and communicate with them, however.

What’s up with your new lover? Gwen asked.

She regrets it, I think, he told her. And she doesn’t want to get attached.

Probably a good idea, Gwen said. Being with you can be dangerous, sometimes. Especially when you go hunting Balors.

But that’s why you like me so much, Malem said. The sense of danger.

It probably is, she agreed.

They encountered a southward traveling merchant caravan escorted by sell swords, and surrounded it, forcing the merchant to submit to a search. They checked inside the wagons, and below the undercarriages, but found no sign of Goldenthall. Malem gave the indignant merchant a small amount of coin for his troubles, and had his dragons take flight.

If you give money to all the merchants we stop, we’ll be penniless before this is done, Gwen complained.

Yeah, I know, he said. I just felt really bad, probably because that was our first stop. Hopefully it gets easier.

It didn’t, but he stopped giving coin to the next two caravans the dragons spotted.

Maybe he’s not heading south after all, Weyanna suggested after the third fruitless stop.

Malem decided to start checking every caravan and wagon, regardless of direction, and they stopped two more, but also found nothing.

The road wound away to the southeast, and Malem almost took it, but something stopped him.

We continue south, he said.

We’re not sticking to the road? Gwen asked.

Look at the shrubs there, near where the road loops, he sent. Do you see how the undergrowth seems trampled? I think a caravan, or wagon left the road here, and continued due south.

What’s due south? Gwen sent.

Wendolin was the one who answered. That would be the Tetranite mountains.

Are there any known passes through those mountains? Gwen asked. Or any settlements of note?

No, on both accounts, Sylfi replied.

Then why would a merchant caravan travel to those mountains? Gwen said.

Why indeed, Malem told her.

And so they continued due south, leaving behind the road. They stopped encountering caravans of any kind.

They traveled for about an hour, until small peaks appeared on the distant horizon. The peaks were blunted, as if ground down by giant wheels—or just the wind and the rain.

Tetranite? Gwen asked.

These are the Tetranite mountains, yes, Wendolin replied.

Well look at that, Malem said.

A small cloud of dust rose from the distant horizon, near the shoulders of those mountains.

It looks like we found the caravan we’ve been looking for, Weyanna said.

I’m not sure it’s the one we’ve been looking for, Malem said. But it is a caravan, certainly. Increase your pace, dragons!

He couldn’t help the sudden pounding he felt in his chest. Because if it was the caravan they were looking for, then Goldenthall, and thus Banvil, awaited ahead.

Balor, it’s time to face your doom.

10

Malem slid off of Sylfi’s wing and helped Gwen to the ground. Then he approached the three wagons that sat abandoned ahead, wagons that squatted there in a neat row on the shoulder of the mountain. They had stopped before a small, rocky trail that wound up the scree of the sloping cliff.

He sent ahead some cliff thrushes he had Broken to act as scouts.

The drivers were all dead, covered in black veins. Inside the wagons, amid the different cheap curios, he found the bodies of soldiers, and a man in rich silks—the merchant and the sell swords he had hired to protect him. Some of them had dark veins crisscrossing their features, while others had stab wounds.

He shared the vision of the birds with the others bound to him.

“Dark magic,” Wendolin said. “Definitely has to be Goldenthall.”

“Is it safe to approach?” Xaxia asked.

“Just a sec,” Malem said. He had the birds check the undercarriages of each wagon, and confirmed no one was hiding beneath them.

“It’s safe,” Malem said. “But you’re not going to like what you see.”

She shrugged, and approached with Timlir and Grendel to investigate.

Malem followed after them.

“You’re going to climb that winding trail to the mountain, aren’t you?” Aurora said.

“Good guess,” he told her.

“Why do you have to drag me along?” Aurora said. “Can I wait here? With the wagons?”

“No,” Malem said. “It’s not safe. Goldenthall could be lurking anywhere here, waiting to strike. If we leave you, we could return to find your body lying on the ground, covered in black veins.”

“Fun,” Aurora said. “Okay. I’ll come.”

“Like you had a choice,” Timlir commented.

“Shut up, little shit,” Aurora said. “I don’t need some dwarf talking down to me. Or talking up, in your case.”

“Oh, ho!” Timlir said. “The bitch is getting lippy now! Maybe I should show you the business end of my ax!”

“You’re welcome to try,” Aurora said. “Because then I’ll introduce your genitals to the business end of my boot heel.”

“Sounds like a fair trade,” Timlir said, unlooping his ax.

“Timlir…” Malem said warningly.

The dwarf glanced at Malem, and then reattached the ax to his belt. “I was just playing with her, Breaker.”

“Of course,” Malem said, turning his attention to the wagons, and the rocky trail beyond it.

Xaxia glanced into the caravans in turn, and removed her head in disgust each time. “Well, that’s certainly not pretty. I was hoping to grab some loot, but there’s nothing valuable enough to warrant moving those bodies.”

“Isn’t the merchant carrying a coin bag?” Weyanna asked.

“Well, sure,” Xaxia said. “But it’s covered in feces. His belly is split right open. I’m not touching it.”

“A squeamish bandit…” Sylfi said.

“The question is, are we going to fly to reach that terrace, or walk the trail?” Weyanna asked.

“I’d prefer to walk it,” Malem said. “The three of you will be exposed to attack if you approach the terrace by air.”

“Goldenthall’s dark magic won’t be able to penetrate our scales…” Brita said.

“It’s not Goldenthall I’m worried about,” Malem told her.

“All right, guess we’re walking,” Sylfi said.

The dragons transformed, and dressed in the clothes they had left in their big saddles. Weyanna wore a white dress, but otherwise had no weapons. Sylfi and Brita both donned leather leggings and chest pieces, and slung bows over their backs. Gwen gave them arrows drawn from her Infitas Quiver.

“All right,” Malem said. “We climb the trail.”

He beckoned toward the path, and waited until everyone was ahead of him, and then followed on the rear.

“Why do you dragons bother to wear leather armor?” Xaxia asked Sylfi as they clambered onto the trail, which could only fit them in single file. “When your flesh is basically armor enough? Weyanna wears only a robe, after all.”

“It’s all about perceptions,” Sylfi said. “And managing expectations. If an enemy thinks the armor is protecting us, they’ll spend extra time and effort trying to strike us in those areas where they perceive us to be more vulnerable, such as our faces and hands. Plus, it will also come as an immense surprise when they do hit us in those exposed areas, and discover they can’t do any damage.”

“Or I’m sure they’ll be surprised when you suddenly turn into dragons,” Grendel said.

“Yes, see?” Sylfi said. “She understands.”

“What about magic weapons?” Gwen asked Weyanna. “Those will hurt, won’t they? Maybe you should wear at least some armor.”

Weyanna shook her head. “Armor won’t help against those types of weapons anyway.”

They continued the march in silence, trudging upon the rocky, winding trail. Sometimes, someone stepped too close to the edge, causing a small section to cave, sending tiny rocks tumbling down the scree. Ahead of him, Xaxia lost her balance when the brink yielded beneath her foot; Malem steadied her by grabbing onto her hips.

She pulled herself back onto the trail and gave him an appreciative glance.

Malem sent his birds ahead to scout, and discovered a small cave near the top of that trail, about a mile or so up the mountain.

“There’s a cave,” Malem said. “It’s a bit of a hike.”

“Oh, joy,” Sylfi said. “You know how much I like caves.”

“Why don’t you like caves?” Grendel asked.

“Well, some are all right,” Sylfi said. “It’s the confined ones that we Metals despise. I’m sure you can imagine why.”

Grendel seemed puzzled at first, but then understanding dawned on her face. “You can’t transform.”

“Bingo,” Sylfi said.

“I don’t think I can take another cave myself,” Gwen said. “After the last one… undead, kobolds, gazers, a lich.” She shuddered.

“Hey, an esteemed member of our party killed a lich,” Xaxia said. “May I present, the great Aurora, master of unprovable boasts.”

Wendolin and Aurora were walking in single file ahead of Malem, so he easily saw the latter woman shrug.

“We’ll be safe in her hands, don’t you worry,” Xaxia continued. “With her sword, she can down a thousand foes at once.”

Aurora looked back at Malem. Her eyes were lit with hope. “I agree to help you! Now take off this collar.”

“Doesn’t work like that,” Malem said. “You can’t just ‘agree’ to something I didn’t ask for.”

“But I’m offering you my help,” Aurora said.

He chuckled. “Sure. But as soon as I give you the sword, you’ll use it against us. Kill everyone here.”

She frowned. “I give you my word not to do this.”

“That means nothing to me,” Malem said. “I don’t know how good your word is.”

Aurora glowered at him. “I’ve never gone back on my word.”

“Again, we don’t have a history,” he said. “Other than when we were on opposite sides of the battlefield. So I can’t trust you. Sorry. No sword.”

She opened her mouth, and he thought she was going to start cussing him out, then she bit her lips and looked away.

In twenty minutes, the cave mouth appeared in the distance.

“That’s fairly big,” Sylfi said. “Why didn’t you say so? We’ll have no problem transforming in there.”

As they got closer, Weyanna announced: “It’s a dragon’s den.”

“How do you know?” Xaxia asked.

“The smell,” Weyanna replied.

“Why would Goldenthall… Banvil… be invading a dragon’s den?” Grendel asked.

“Has to be to acquire some item the dragon has,” Wendolin told her. “A magical artifact of some kind. Though how Banvil knew this particular dragon had it, is anyone’s guess.”

“He’s been traveling to Redbridge often since we returned,” Malem said. “Perhaps he heard a rumor in one of the taverns.”

“Perhaps,” Wendolin agreed. “Though in my opinion, it’s more likely Banvil personally placed it with the dragon for safekeeping when the demon invaded this world twenty years ago. Before your father banished the Balor.”

Gwen, in the lead, was the first to reach the wide opening. The trailed widened before it, forming a terrace of sorts in front of the cave entrance. That terrace was covered in a thick layer of iron, with the stony waste matter of slag all along the edges.

“I hate mountains,” Gwen said, staring into the partially illuminated cavern beyond. “They hide so many nasty things under them.”

“Didn’t we just have this conversation?” Xaxia asked her.

Gwen gave her an indifferent look. “Doesn’t mean I can’t bitch about it when I please.”

“And bitch about it you certainly do,” Xaxia said.

Gwen turned toward the Metals. “So if this is a dragon’s den, where are all the monster bones littering the cave entrance?”

Wendolin was the one who replied. “This dragon obviously cleans up after itself.”

“Either that, or it only eats out,” Brita added.

“Or it’s not a dragon…” Xaxia said. “What’s with the iron?” She tapped the metal terrace with the heel of her boot.

Timlir knelt to examine the iron layer. “Looks like someone set up an outdoor kiln here. Perhaps for cooking purposes.”

Malem reached out, and sensed an energy bundle deep inside the cave. A powerful bundle. “There’s definitely something in there. And it’s powerful. We’re talking dragon level energy.” He paused. “I think… judging from the activity levels, it seems to be asleep.”

Malem didn’t dare attempt to touch that bundle with his mind, not wanting to awaken it. Instead, he sent his birds inside, but they didn’t get very far before he had to turn them back—it quickly became too dark to see.

He reached out, searching for a mountain lion or anything else that might have suitable night vision, but found nothing.

“Hm, this is a problem,” Malem said. “I can’t find any acceptable scouts.”

“We’ll just have to explore it ourselves,” Gwen said.

“Wait, we have another problem,” Malem said. “Abigail and Mauritania are the only ones who could create light globes. Unless any of you can?” He glanced at Wendolin, Weyanna, and Grendel in particular.

“Not me,” Weyanna said.

“Light globes aren’t my specialty,” Wendolin said.

He looked at Grendel, but before she could say anything, Xaxia said: “Guess we’ll have to use good old-fashioned torches. I think I saw some lamp oil in one of the wagons down there. Timlir, come with me.”

“Me, why?” Timlir said.

“I want you to climb over the dead bodies in the wagons,” Xaxia said, heading down the trail.

“What!” he said. “What do you think I am? Some obedient monkey to do with as you please?”

“Just come on,” she said.

Grumbling, the dwarf followed.

“You forgot to ask me,” Grendel said, raising a palm in front of her. A globe of pure light formed above her open hand.

Xaxia came to a halt. “Well, that’s handy.” She and Timlir returned to the opening, and then she gestured toward Grendel. “Lead the way.”

Malem considered sending the birds inside to scout along the periphery of Grendel’s light cone, but he’d have to keep turning them back to stay within the illumination, so their usefulness was questionable. Also, they might accidentally slam into the cavern wall when they turned around. Plus, their flapping wings would add unnecessary noise.

So instead, he instructed the birds to stand guard outside and to alert him if anyone untoward approached.

“Xaxia, Timlir, I want you on either side of Grendel, leading the way,” he said. “Aurora, Wendolin, you’re next. Sylfi, Brita, Gwen, you follow after them. Weyanna, you’ll join me on the rear.”

Grendel entered with her escorts, and walked into the dim light of the cave entrance. The others followed. The cavern extended on either side of them, its far walls cast in shadow.

Grendel brightened the ethereal sphere in her palm so that those walls lit up, and the frontal portion of the resultant cone of light extended at least twenty yards ahead.

The party advanced.

The walls were relatively smooth, as if worn down over the years by whatever creature lived in the cave, no doubt when it rubbed against the walls while traveling back and forth between the depths and the surface. The stone was a mixture of gray and black, though the darker colorations came in strange, splatter-like designs…

Apparently Xaxia was thinking the same thing, because she said: “Is it just me, or do the black veins on those walls look like splattered blood?”

“Maybe it is blood,” Wendolin said.

“That’s gross,” Gwen commented.

“Think about it,” Wendolin said. “If this is a dragons den, it can be expected that blood would splatter and soak into the walls when the dragon fed, or staved off intruders.”

“Let’s keep all conversations mental going forward,” Malem said.

“That means excluding those of us who aren’t bound to you,” Xaxia said.

“It does,” he said. “Watch for hand signals.”

They continued forward in silence, their eerie footfalls the only noise in the darkness. Those footsteps echoed from the walls, and from the way it diminished as the party continued, he knew everyone was trying to step as softly as possible.

Should the Metals transform? Gwen asked. There’s enough room in the passage to fit one of them… or all of them if they spread out in a line.

No, Malem replied.

Why not? Gwen pressed.

Brita was the one who answered. If we transform, our advance will be a lot noisier, with each footfall rumbling throughout the cave. If stealth is our objective, then it behooves us to remain in human form. However, if you want to wake the dragon, then yes, we can transform.

Ah, Gwen said. Never mind. Let sleeping dragons lie, as they say!

Who says that? Wendolin asked.

Rustics like myself, of course! Gwen quipped.

The tunnel eventually opened into an expansive cavern. The floor was covered with gold coins and other valuables, from magic weapons to chandeliers. Stalagmites protruded from the treasure at intervals, and provided several potential hiding places for Goldenthall.

Malem sensed the energy bundle coming from somewhere on the far side of the room, but couldn’t otherwise see anything in the darkness past Grendel’s light cone. It’s still asleep, as far as I can tell.

Does anyone see it yet? Gwen asked.

No, Wendolin sent.

I see it, Aurora said.

Where? Malem asked.

Up your ass, Aurora told him.

Malem frowned. He drained some stamina from her in punishment for the comment, but felt only defiance in return.

He sent her a private thought. Behave when you speak into my mind. Or I’ll cut off your access.

Go ahead, she sent.

As you wish. He muted her.

He surveyed the cavern, trying to find a way to advance without disturbing the treasure. He noticed a thin aisle between the wall and the hoard, offering a route free of treasure. He pointed at it.

We circle the treasure pile, Malem said. Keep a look out. Goldenthall could be hiding behind any of these stalagmites. Don’t touch anything, unless you want to wake the dragon.

That’s a myth, you know, Gwen said. That dragons can instantly detect when someone takes their treasure.

Actually, Weyanna said. Some dragons have the ability to lay detection spells on their hoards, and they do indeed awaken when someone touches it.

So I guess that rules out Goldenthall hiding inside the treasure itself, Gwen said.

Unless this dragon doesn’t have the detection abilities Weyanna mentioned… Wendolin commented.

Malem made a circular gesture at those not bound to him, and pointed at the wall. Xaxia frowned as if she didn’t understand, and she waited until the others moved ahead of her before nodding her head, and falling in behind them with Timlir and Grendel.

As usual, Malem followed at the rear of the party with Weyanna. As he advanced along the narrow aisle, he gazed at the stalagmites, searching for signs of Goldenthall.

Timlir kept glancing down at the treasure beside them and licking his lips. He even extended his hand once, reaching for the haft of a particularly nice bejeweled battle-ax, but Xaxia slapped his palm, and he guiltily withdrew his arm. Xaxia herself was distracted by the hoard, and gazed at it just as often. Even Gwen seemed to be enraptured, glancing at the treasure, and turning her eyes away only after long moments.

But gold and jewels had little allure for Malem, a man who had lived most of his life in the forest. They were trinkets assigned an arbitrary value by man, a valuation he did not share. Trees, shrubs and the animals that harbored in them were worth more to him than any gems. The woods offered everything he needed to sustain himself: food, shelter, and companionship. Yes, these coins did little to tempt him.

Just as these thoughts flitted through his head, something caught his eye above the hoard, near the periphery of Grendel’s light cone. From the pile of gold coins there, a dark mist arose, darting toward the party.

“Grendel!” Malem hissed.

But it was too late.

Those lethal works of dark magic were going to hit Grendel, Gwen, and Aurora.

11

Malem realized he could sense those darts as if they were living entities. Or rather, a single living being. On a whim, he reached out in the split second before they arrived and wrapped his will around that entity.

The darts froze in place, hovering in midair; meanwhile, the entity struggled in his grasp like a fish freshly pulled from the stream. And then he subdued it: the alien consciousness expanded into his mind, using up four slots, a single entity responsible for the different black ribbons that hovered beside him.

I control the Darkness.

The fact that he could Break it told him Banvil was the source, as that was the only Darkness Malem could dominate, owing to his link with the Balor. That Darkness, along with its equivalent in his head, were essentially one and the same.

All of that had happened in a split second. Grendel had turned toward the Darkness when he said her name, and whips of pure white light erupted from her in that moment.

“Wait, they’re mine,” he told her.

But she struck out, and when her whips connected with the Darkness, they canceled each other out.

Malem slumped as his link to the alien entity severed.

But then more streaks of Darkness emerged from that pile, a whole lot more. As did Goldenthall, his eyes completely black, and dark mist pouring from them in malevolent waves.

Ten oraks erupted from the treasure around him as well: big, ugly, armored things equipped with pikes. The monsters raced across the hoard toward Malem and the others, their feet sinking into the coins, sending them clinking away.

Once more Malem Broke the Darkness, and this time turned them all back on Goldenthall. The veins struck the man’s flesh, but did nothing, and he laughed. Malem slumped as his connection to the absorbed Darkness severed; meanwhile Goldenthall turned about, and hastily waded across the hoard, toward the cave entrance.

Malem reached further with his mind, and realized he could now sense Goldenthall, or rather Banvil—the demon had entered the former king’s body fully. But since the vessel was uninjured, he could not yet Break the Balor.

Grendel struck out at the oraks with whips of light and wrapped the creatures up, hoisting them off the ground. She also sent tendrils of light after Goldenthall, but the man kept running, and the tendrils thinned rapidly as they neared him; before the light could touch, Goldenthall launched short ribbons of Darkness and slapped them away.

Grendel slumped from the effort of chasing Goldenthall while restraining the oraks, and she grabbed onto Gwen’s shoulder to sustain herself.

The energy bundle Malem sensed on the far side of the room stirred.

He heard it then: from the murk came a sound like an avalanche of coins, as if a huge monster was stirring amid the treasure on the opposite side of the cavern.

“The dragon!” Malem said.

He tried to Break that bundle of energy now that the dragon was awake, but his will evaporated when he made contact.

Grendel gasped, and the whips of light that held the oraks in the air vanished, and the monsters dropped onto the treasure.

“What is it?” Malem asked.

“Some kind of debuff!” Grendel said. “It was as if my magic ability was ripped out from underneath me!”

“I can’t transform!” Weyanna said.

“Nor I!” Sylfi said.

“Let’s go!” Malem said.

The party retreated as loud footfalls reverberated across the cavern, accompanied by the noise of cascading coins as something very big approached.

Malem and the others were able to move rapidly because the aisle between the wall and the hoard was free of impediments. The oraks had to wade through the coins however, and when a dragon’s head appeared from the murk behind them, they screamed as it latched onto them with its jaws in turn and swallowed them, two at a time.

Malem and the others exited the main cavern and darted into the tunnel. Ahead, Goldenthall continued to run away. Gwen, Sylfi and Brita unleashed their arrows at the man, who zigzagged as he sprinted away. Gwen scored several blows, pincushioning Goldenthall’s back, but the man seemed unaffected by the magic arrows.

“Why isn’t he falling?” Gwen said. “Those arrows have enough stopping power to take down an unarmored monster twice his size with a single hit!”

“Must be the debuff!” Wendolin said. “Negating its magical properties!”

“Or Banvil has grown that powerful!” Xaxia said.

In moments, Goldenthall reached the opening that led outside; Malem stumbled—he felt the boomerang effect as the birds he had deployed at the entrance died instantly.

Behind them, the dragon exited the main cavern, and pursued them into the tunnel. It was fast closing.

Malem kept glancing over his shoulder, and soon saw a head peeking from the murk behind them and into the cone of light from Grendel’s globe.

The exit was just ahead.

The dragon opened its mouth, and released what could best be described as molten liquid. It was a bright, red hot ingot of matter streaking rapidly toward the party; it threatened to engulf them and send them to a fiery end.

They dashed through the opening, leaped off the terrace, and landed in the scree next to it; Malem grabbed onto a larger rock to halt his descent, while the others dug in their feet and came to a halt various distances from the platform; scree continued to slide down for some distance beneath them.

The bodies of some of his birds lay beside him, their feathers blackened with dark veins.

Above him, the molten ingot struck the metal terrace just outside the entrance.

“Well, now we know the source of the metal!” Timlir said from where the dwarf was dug in beside him.

Malem spotted Goldenthall racing away down the trail through the scree to his right. A portal of light suddenly appeared in front of the man, and Goldenthall dashed through, vanishing. The portal disappeared a moment later.

“And just like that, he’s gone,” Gwen commented.

Hanging onto the rocky slope with one hand, Malem drew his sword. “It’s time to fight this dragon.”

Can any of you transform yet? he asked.

Can’t, Sylfi replied.

No magic either, Wendolin said.

From the cave, a huge reptilian head emerged. The rest of the body emerged shortly thereafter as the dragon slowly stalked onto the terrace, until it stood before them on the terrace in its full glory. It was a massive, four-legged thing, with wings folded over scales of rusty gray.

A gray dragon! Weyanna sent. They breathe molten iron and are renowned for their anti-magic abilities.

“Where are you, thieves?” the dragon intoned in a deep, angry voice.

Balethorn began to hum.

Silence, Broken blade!

But it hummed all the louder. Malem was going to have to go inside the blade again at some point and show the blade who was boss, apparently.

Drawn by the sound, the dragon turned its head toward him.

Malem glanced at Wendolin; hanging from the slope beneath the terrace like everyone else, she was the furthest from him.

Wendolin, a diversion, please…

“Hey, shit breath!” Wendolin called from hiding.

The dragon’s head snapped toward her, and it stalked toward Wendolin.

Malem chose that moment to strike: he pulled himself over the edge and, carefully sidestepping the fresh molten iron below, which was spreading across the terrace, he raced toward the dragon’s hind leg. Balethorn, satisfied that it would soon be sated, became quiet in anticipation.

Meanwhile, the dragon peered over the edge above Wendolin to see who had spoken.

Malem reached his target and swung Balethorn, striking the monster in the leg. He drained a good amount of stamina before the dragon yelped and swatted him away with its stricken limb.

Malem landed tumbling on the terrace, next to the molten iron. His dragonscale armor had spared him from the brunt of the impact. As he came to a stop on his back, a huge leg descended from above, preparing to crush him.

He rolled away; the crystal sword, still belted to his hips, clattered loudly on the terrace as if to remind him of its presence. Too bad he couldn’t use it.

He scrambled to his feet as the dragon’s foot smashed into the terrace beside him; its jaws were already descending toward him. He dodged to the side, but the dragon extended a talon from its foot, and he tripped over it. Those jaws swerved to intercept his prostrate form.

Before he could roll out of the way, two strong hands latched onto his feet and roughly dragged him over the edge of the terrace. He landed in the scree.

Behind him, the dragon’s muzzle smashed into the bare surface.

He came to a stop in the loose stones next to Aurora, who crouched there in her red robes: she was the one who had pulled him out of the way. She was gazing up at the dragon in concern, waiting to see what it would do next.

Ordinarily, he probably would have been shocked that Aurora had saved him; she, this woman who ostensibly hated him, but he had no time to contemplate what had just happened. Instead, his mind compartmentalized the moment away for future reference, and he leaped aside as that reptilian head came lunging down once more. Aurora dodged in the opposite direction, slipping further down the slope.

The dragon missed them both, and only scooped up rock chips for its efforts. As it withdrew its head, it unleashed another stream of molten hot iron, and Malem vaulted away down the slope. The others in its path similarly bounded away, with each step causing them to slide further down the scree. Above them, the fresh iron painted a jagged molten line across the slope.

The debuff zone is gone! Wendolin sent as she slid past him. It must have been restricted to the den and the area immediately surrounding it. Perhaps due to some magic item the dragon has in its hoard!

Can you transform, Metals? Malem asked.

In answer, Weyanna doffed her dress as she slid down the scree, and became a white dragon. Meanwhile, Sylfi and Brita similarly unstrapped their own gear. They moved with surprising speed, and in seconds had even their undergarments resting upon the ground. They transformed, faster than he had ever seen them change before.

Above him, the gray dragon seemed to be moving in slow motion relative to everyone else.

He glanced at Grendel; she was glowing a bright yellow. Apparently she was bestowing some kind of speed buff to the party.

Weyanna reached the gray dragon first and barreled into it. Brita and Sylfi joined the fray a moment later. The three Metals were roughly half the size of the enemy, but they used their speed advantage to dodge those snapping jaws and talons and got the upper hand. It took all three of them to subdue the dragon, however: Brita wrapped her teeth around its neck and pressed down, while Weyanna and Sylfi used their weight to pin the gray and ensure it couldn’t break free of her hold.

From the brambles growing from the scree, branches sprouted upward, reaching the terrace and wrapping around the dragon, further pinning the creature.

Malem gave some of the stamina he had drained from his first strike to Wendolin so she could maintain her magic. Then he reached out, but the dragon wasn’t injured enough to allow Malem to wrap his will around its mind, so he decided it was time to feed Balethorn again.

Make sure it doesn’t move! Malem told the metals.

All right, Sylfi sent. But watch its hind legs, and the tail!

Mindful of the body parts she mentioned, Malem approached from the front right. Wendolin redirected some of the branches toward the hind legs and tail, and bound those loose appendages.

Malem broke into a run; Balethorn droned hungrily. When he reached the dragon, he plunged the blade into its forearm, and allowed the sword to drink.

The gray screamed, and flailed about in the grasp of those that pinned it. The movements only further agitated the wound, and the blade fed Malem more stamina.

He withdrew it when he felt the creature’s will flagging, and fed most of the stamina to the three Metals that held down the dragon. He stepped back, and then reached out, wrapping his mind around the weakened monster, and Broke it. The dragon used twelve slots in his mind.

“Release it,” Malem ordered. “The dragon is mine.”

The three Metals let go of the gray, and stepped back. The dragon shook its head indignantly, and stood. The monster still seemed to be moving in slow motion, so he glanced at Grendel.

“Cancel the buff,” he told her.

The glow around her body subsided, and the gray dragon seemed to move at a more normal speed.

It feigned a lunge at Sylfi, and she backed away in fright.

“Easy,” Malem told the dragon. “What’s your name?”

It looked at Malem and snarled. The gray opened its mouth to breathe that liquid iron at him, so Malem drained stamina from the creature and instead, it collapsed.

Motion drew Malem’s gaze to the right. Aurora was retreating down the trail at breakneck speed, a blur of crimson and black.

“Brita, fetch Aurora,” Malem said.

The chromium nodded, and took to the air.

He returned his attention to the gray.

Blood oozed from the wound in its legs, so he glanced at Weyanna. “Heal it.”

Weyanna released streams of white mist into the two sword wounds Malem caused, and stitched them up.

“Where did Goldenthall go?” Gwen said while she worked. “Did you see that portal? Did it open to the Black Realm?”

“I believe that was the realm of Light,” Grendel said. “Of Paragons.”

“Paragons?” Xaxia said. “Won’t they kill the Balor?”

“Probably,” Grendel agreed.

Brita returned, carrying Aurora struggling in her talons. The chromium deposited the crimson-robed woman on the scree next to the trail and landed on the sloping surface beside her. The dragon’s weight caused Brita to slide several yards down that scree, and Aurora was nearly buried in it—Brita had to scoop her up again, and this time set her down on the terrace.

Aurora scowled at Brita, and then Malem, and turned her back on everyone. He could tell from her energy bundle that she was weeping.

Malem didn’t have time to deal with her right then. He returned his gaze to the gray.

“What is your name?” Malem tried again.

The healed dragon promptly stood up, and then struggled in his mental grasp.

So Malem drained stamina again.

The creature promptly collapsed.

“Zachorius Arlantius Malfeasiansor the Third,” the gray wheezed, lying there on the ground.

“I’ll call you Zach,” Malem said.

The dragon grunted in annoyance.

12

“Did you help Goldenthall, Zach?” Malem asked the dragon.

“Who?” Zach said.

“The man with the eyes of black mist,” Malem said.

“You mean Banvil?” the gray said. “He left a certain artifact in my possession, yes. Years ago. I never expected the demon to return to retrieve it, however, as I relocated my den here to the Tetranite mountains, and left no trace behind. I can’t tell you how many trips it took me to transfer my hoard from the Khroma mountains. I wasted a good portion of a year.”

“What is this artifact?” Malem asked.

“The Luminsol,” Zach said. “A ring. It can carry its bearer to the Light Realm. For a price.”

“And what is the price?” Malem asked.

Zach shrugged. “That is negotiated between the bearer and the ring. It can be used only once per bearer.”

“So how does Banvil plan to return?” Malem asked.

“I don’t know?” Zach replied. “He doesn’t?”

Malem glanced at Wendolin. “Could he be planning to conquer the Light Realm?”

The tree elf frowned. “I don’t think so. A lone Balor, especially one of his reduced strength, is no match for even a single Paragon. I’m not sure why he’d journey there in the first place: by traveling to the Light Realm, he’s essentially committing suicide.”

“Actually, they won’t kill him,” Grendel said. “So as not to disturb the balance. But they will banish him to the Black Realm, likely by physically destroying his current vessel. Still…” She tapped her lips. “If he stays hidden inside his vessel, it’s possible the Paragons won’t even know he’s arrived,” Grendel said. “He could stay there for years, centuries perhaps, slowly recouping his strength, unnoticed.”

Wendolin nodded. “It’s the perfect place for Banvil to recover. None of the other Balors would ever think to look for him there. Not that they could actually travel to the Light Realm, even if they did.”

“Meanwhile, he’ll eventually grow powerful enough to take over my mind completely,” Malem said. “It could be a few months. A few weeks. Hell, even a few days.”

“Goldenthall seems afraid of you,” Xaxia said. “Or Banvil, rather.”

“For now,” Malem said. “That’ll change when I become Banvil’s completely. Until then, the demon knows I can Break it if I weaken the containing vessel: Goldenthall.”

“Are you sure that’s the reason?” Xaxia asked. “Do you know for certain that injuring Goldenthall is the same as injuring Banvil? Goldenthall is merely the demon’s vessel, after all, but not Banvil itself.”

“No, I don’t know for certain,” he admitted.

“By your logic,” Xaxia said. “Injuring yourself would also weaken Banvil.”

Malem pursed his lips. “I never thought about it that way.”

“So next time we meet Banvil, maybe we should try beating the shit out of you,” Gwen said.

He smiled. “No thanks. Because you have to keep in mind, even if it does weaken Banvil, it will also weaken me, to the point that I won’t have the strength to Break him. Whereas the reverse could quite readily happen—he might conquer me.”

Gwen shrugged. “Then drain us for stamina after.”

“I’ll still be injured,” he said.

“Then Weyanna will heal you,” Gwen pressed.

“But healing me will also restore Banvil, if this is correct,” Malem said. “So no, I don’t think injuring myself is an avenue we’ll pursue when next we encounter the demon.”

“So we’re going to pursue?” Timlir asked. “There’s a wee problem. How are we going to get to the Light Realm?” The dwarf glanced at Grendel. “Unless you can open a portal, Light Witch?”

“Call me mage, not witch,” Grendel said. “And no, I can’t open a portal.”

“There has to be a way,” Malem said.

Grendel nodded hesitantly. “There is a path, but it is guarded by a terrible creature. Euryale. The Gorgon.”

Wendolin shuddered. “I have heard of Euryale. She’ll be impossible to defeat.”

“Why, what can she do?” Gwen asked.

“She’s like a basilisk, but worse,” Wendolin replied. “She can turn you to stone not just with a look, but a touch as well. Or if you’re hit by her magic. She has also amassed quite a large number of servants, utterly devoted to her.”

“Why haven’t these servants turned to stone?” Gwen pressed.

“Like a basilisk, she can control who is affected by her gaze, or touch,” Grendel said.

“Okay, let’s say we somehow defeat Euryale, and reach the Light Realm,” Weyanna said, still in dragon form. “What then? How will we find Goldenthall? He could be anywhere. If the Paragons can’t sense him, then how will we? Or do we know if the Paragons can sense him or not.”

“I’d say no,” Grendel said. “Since Banvil is within a human vessel. However, there are creatures known as Trabeculae that exist in their realm. These creatures are capable of tracking even the most minute traces of the Dark. The Paragons lent them to men during the Balor Wars.”

“So they’re tracking Banvil already then, I assume?” Gwen said. “The Trabeculae would have alerted them, right?”

“No,” Grendel told her. “The Paragons once kept them as pets, until they realized the Trabeculae had the intelligence of men. So they ceased the process of capturing and enslaving them, and set all of those in captivity free. It was a mistake perhaps, but the Paragons always assumed if a Balor entered their realm, it would be in its natural, readily detectable form. They also assumed that a Balor would be mad to enter their realm in the first place. ”

“All right, well, we’re getting too far ahead of ourselves,” Malem said. “First we need to seek out this Euryale, and bargain with her to allow us through to the Light Realm. And then we find ourselves a Trabecula.”

“Euryale does not bargain,” Grendel said. “Unless by bargain you mean with your sword.”

“I have no qualms with bargaining by the sword,” Malem told her.

“Wait, didn’t you hear what Wendolin said?” Gwen asked. “Euryale will be impossible to defeat.”

“Never tell me something’s impossible,” Xaxia said, petting the shaft of her sword.

“So what do we do with this one?” Sylfi asked, nodding toward the gray, who remained obediently perched on the terrace.

“We could bring it with us,” Timlir said. “That debuff ability could come in handy against Euryale.”

Malem nodded. “It certainly could.” He glanced at Zach. “Is that debuff an ability you have, or produced by some item you keep in your hoard?”

“An ability,” Zach confirmed.

“Then why did it wear off when we left the cave?” Malem asked.

“When I use it, the debuff forms a zone that extends outward from my position,” Zach said. “The range is limited. I created it at the center of my cave, and so you were able to travel beyond the extent of this zone. I couldn’t create another because it takes half an hour to recover.”

“Ah,” Malem said. “Good to know.”

“Should we go home, pick up reinforcements?” Wendolin asked.

Malem rubbed his chin. He glanced at Grendel. “Where is Euryale’s den?”

“It’s located in a small keep, carved into a mountainside,” Grendel said. “Where she once ruled as queen. Though her people are long since dead. Killed by her own magic.”

“This keep, how defensible is it?” Malem asked.

“We’ll be able to enter, if that’s what you mean,” Grendel said. “But the hallways are narrow, so if you’re hoping to bring a dragon, the creature will have to wait outside.”

“That means we can’t transform,” Weyanna said.

Grendel nodded. “If you sent in your army, Euryale and her minions would be able to hold them off for quite a while—there are many choke points in the keep. The bodies of those who fell would only further block the advance, tightening the choke points. I would suggest a small force, no larger than our current group. Maybe a few extra mages, if you feel so inclined.”

“You know quite a lot about the design of her keep,” Weyanna said. “You speak as though you’ve visited it.”

“That’s because I have,” Grendel admitted. “Long ago, before Euryale became what she is.”

Malem paused to consider Grendel’s words. “I’m inclined to agree with you,” he finally said. “I’m not convinced throwing bodies at Euryale is the way to go. I think we have everyone we need here. We have three dragons. Three mages. A skilled bowwoman, axeman, and swordswoman. And I have some skill with the blade myself.”

“Four mages, if you count her,” Gwen said, nodding at Aurora, who still had her back to them.

“I’m not sure she’ll be participating in the fight,” Malem said.

“When are you going to take off her collar?” Gwen asked, lowering her voice.

“I don’t know,” he replied. “I’ve been avoiding it. I still don’t feel I can trust her.”

“She saved your life back there,” Gwen pressed.

“I know,” he said. “Though I’m not sure what her reasons were. I do intend to find out. But that’ll wait until we’re in more comfortable surroundings. There have to be some inns between here and this Euryale.” He glanced at Grendel. “Where can we find the Gorgon?”

“Her city is to the northeast,” Grendel said. “East of Mulhadden, in the corner of the region known as Ptolemy.”

“Ptolemy, ruled by two kings?” Gwen asked.

“That’s the one,” Grendel replied.

“We won’t be encountering those kings, if I have my way,” Malem said.

“We shouldn’t need to,” Grendel agreed. “Especially considering we’ll be riding in on dragons, and traveling well away from the capital city.”

“Good,” Malem said. He glanced at the dragons. “Do you know how to get to Ptolemy from here?”

“Of course,” Weyanna said.

“Then take us back to the saddles,” he told her. “Zach, you’re coming too.”

“Can’t you release me?” Zach complained. “And leave me to my den?”

“No,” Malem said.

“But who will protect my treasure while I’m gone!” Zach said.

“I’m sure it will be safe for a few days,” Malem told the dragon.

“Days?” Zach said. “A few days? I can’t be gone for more than a day!”

“I’m sorry—” Malem began, but then felt Zach fighting against him in his head. He squeezed tight, and gave the dragon a warning look. “I’ll drain your stamina…”

The gray ceased its struggles and turned away resignedly.

The three Metals scooped up their non-dragon companions in their talons, and flew back down the scree slope toward the caravans.

Zach, in front of us, Malem ordered. Where I can keep an eye on you.

Zach took the lead, and shortly thereafter landed next to the wagons.

The Metals deposited the companions on the ground, and then helped each other secure the saddles to their backs.

In a few moments, the lot of them were headed to the northeast, toward the territory of Ptolemy, with the gray dragon leading the way.

* * *

As the evening grew late, and twilight descended on the land, Malem spotted a quaint glow in the distance ahead.

Does anyone know what that is? he asked.

Some random village on the outskirts of Ptolemy, Wendolin replied.

A village? he said. Good. We’ll stop here for the night. Metals, fly low, and let us down a mile outside of town, near that forested area. Zach, you’ll stay in that forest tonight.

I hate forests, Zach said. I prefer caves. Birds and other animals are always crawling into my orifices in forests.

Then keep your sphincter puckered! Gwen joked.

Not that orifice, Zach said.

You’re staying in the forest, Malem sent.

Very well, the gray said.

The dragons flew close to the ground, almost skimming it with their wingtips with each flap, in order to reduce their profile against the sky as viewed from the city. There was a road ahead, but they purposely stayed away from it, not wanting to be spotted by any passing merchant caravans.

The dragons made a quick pass over the outskirts of the forest, and Malem reached out with his beast sense, confirming there were no monsters hidden within: only animals.

The Metals let down their riders next to the eaves of the forest, while Zach landed in a small clearing some distance inside.

Not going to hunt? Malem asked Zach.

Not hungry, the gray returned. Wake me when you’re ready to leave.

That’ll be in the morning, Malem sent.

Suits me, the dragon replied.

Metals, feel free to scavenge for supper in dragon form, but stay low, and avoid the village if at all possible, Malem said. I don’t want to alert the villagers to your presence. Things will go easier for us, if you can avoid detection.

Last thing we need is a dragon-hunting mob scouring this forest with their pitchforks, Gwen said.

It would be kind of entertaining for us, though, Brita said. You have to admit.

We’re here to rest, not for entertainment, Malem said. When you Metals are done your supper, change back, and stow your saddles in the forest. Then meet us in the village. You’ll find us at the closest inn. Probably the only inn, given how small I expect this village to be.

We can use our sense of you in our heads to track you down, Weyanna said.

You certainly can, Malem agreed.

The Metals took flight, hanging low in the air as they swept across the forest in search of prey. Zach remained in the clearing, already snoozing, judging from his energy bundle.

Malem and the others meanwhile headed toward the village. The distant lights welcomed them in the growing twilight.

13

While walking to the village, he sent a private thought to Aurora. Why did you save me? Dragging me out of the way of that dragon… I thought you hated me.

You want the truth? she asked. Or the lie?

The truth, preferably, he said.

But the lie is so much more interesting… she told him. Have you heard about that syndrome where prisoners sympathize with their captors? That’s what’s happening to me.

Okay, the truth now, please, he pressed.

She sighed. Isn’t it obvious why I saved you? I didn’t want to lose my crystal sword. He was keenly aware of the weapon, still hanging from his hip opposite Balethorn. If the dragon swallowed you, the blade would be gone, perhaps destroyed. Plus, you carry the key to my collar on your person. I couldn’t let the dragon eat you, otherwise I’d never be able to remove this collar again.

But maybe you might get lucky and discover the key after spending a few weeks searching through its excrement, Malem sent.

Your other “companions” might appreciate your sense of humor, Aurora said. But I certainly don’t.

Ah well, Malem sent. And for a moment there I almost started to believe we were bonding.

We’ll start bonding when you remove my collar, she said. And you free me to use my magic.

Not yet, he said, worried it would break the bond, and thus the control he had over her.

When are you going to trust me? she asked.

Tell me what your magic does, he replied.

She looked away.

There’s your answer, he told her.

She worked her mouth, and for a moment he thought she was finally going to reveal her powers to him, but then she set her lips in a firm line and remained quiet for the rest of the journey.

It proved to be a moderately sized village, with houses made of wood that had undoubtedly been hewn from the nearby forest. White dye covered most of the facades, though a few had been dyed brown or blue, with contrasting sills. The roofs were flat, unlike the gable design more common to the west, and seemed to be covered in red tiles, judging from the portions visible on the eaves.

Malem reached out with his beast sense and felt a few small signatures that must have been pets in some of the buildings, but otherwise there was nothing else. No monsters. And he couldn’t detect the humans, of course.

The different shops were readily identifiable by the symbols carved into the signs protruding above the doors. A big slab of meat—the butcher. A leaf—the herbalist. A horseshoe—the blacksmith.

The proprietor of the latter shop was leaning on a hitching post in front of the building, and smoked a pipe. He nodded amiably as the party approached, and removed his pipe to speak.

“Welcome to Forskin,” the man said.

Xaxia, at Malem’s side, doubled over with laughter. “Foreskin? You named your village after the tip of the penis?”

The blacksmith shrugged. “It means ‘battle born’ in the ancient tongue spoken in these parts. Besides, we’re at the tip of Ptolemy. The name’s modern meaning seems appropriate enough.”

Not wanting to continue down that route, Malem asked: “Where can we find the inn?”

The man pointed down the street with his pipe.

“You can’t miss it,” the proprietor said. “Continue down the road and look to the right.”

The blacksmith glanced back at Malem, smiling, but the grin left his face when he noticed Gwen for the first time. It turned into an outright scowl when he spotted Timlir.

Before Malem could ask if there was a problem, the man ducked inside his shop.

“Don’t think he likes dwarves, that one,” Timlir said.

“Evidently not,” Malem said.

They continued forward, not encountering anyone else, though he did catch the occasional pair of eyes peeking from a window.

“This village is kinda creepy,” Gwen said. “Maybe we shouldn’t spend the night.”

“We’ll be fine,” Malem said.

They found the inn shortly thereafter and entered. There was a small common room with two tables. One of the tables had five men and two women seated around it, playing some sort of card game. They all looked up when Malem entered.

“We don’t serve her kind,” the innkeeper announced from behind the counter, nodding at Gwen. “Nor his.” The second nod was reserved for Timlir.

“You do tonight,” Malem said.

The man reached behind the counter and set down a scabbard upon the surface. The cord-wrapped hilt of a longsword protruded from it. “Dwarves and goblings are servants of Vorgon. Servants of Vorgon are not welcome here.”

“I assure you, these are not servants of Vorgon,” Malem said. “We would eat and drink.”

“I will not serve you,” the man said.

Malem took a step forward, but the five men and two women at the table stood menacingly. They weren’t armed, so Malem wasn’t sure what they hoped to prove, considering how much better equipped he and his companions were.

“All right,” Malem bowed his head. “We’ll spend our coin elsewhere. Good evening to you.”

They left the inn. Across the street, a woman with an apron stood in the doorway, and beckoned. She was an older woman, with gray hair tucked into a shawl.

Malem and the others approached.

“Are you looking for room and board?” she asked.

“Just a meal,” he replied. “I don’t think we’ll be staying.”

“You can eat with me.” She glanced both ways, as if worried someone would see. She stepped inside, and beckoned for the others to enter.

“How much do you want?” Malem asked, reaching for his coin pouch.

“Nothing,” she said. She beckoned again.

“I’ll go first,” Xaxia said, hand on her sword hilt.

Malem and the others followed after her, but no ambush awaited. The woman shut the door, and a short while later Malem found himself seated at a table with his non-dragon companions, eating the cuts of salted meat the woman had prepared for them.

“What’s your name?” Malem asked.

“I am Hannah,” she said.

He introduced the rest of his party.

When he was done, Hannah kept glancing at Timlir.

“What?” the dwarf finally said.

“You’re a dwarf,” she said.

“My, but you are a keen observer,” Timlir said sarcastically.

“A band of dwarves has been terrorizing villages in the region,” Hannah continued. “They showed up a short while after news of Vorgon’s fall reached us. Some of us think they’re former members of the demon’s army: those who fled when the Breaker conquered the Balor.”

“You’ve heard of the Breaker?” Malem asked.

She nodded.

“Tell me what you know of him,” Malem pressed.

“He was a man, corrupted by evil, yet he broke free of it to slay the top lieutenant of Vorgon’s army, the Defiler,” Hannah said. “He went on to slay Vorgon itself.”

Malem nodded. “Pretty close.” He was debating on whether or not to reveal his identity to her, but chose to hold back for now.

“And you’re feeding us because you want us to help rid the region of this dwarven scum, is that right?” Xaxia said.

“Dwarven scum?” Timlir said. “You can’t condemn an entire race based on the acts of a few. That would be like saying all men are bad because bandits attacked a village.”

“I wasn’t implying all dwarves are bad,” Xaxia said. “You read too much into my comment.”

“I don’t think all dwarves are evil,” Hannah said. “I wouldn’t have invited you to dinner if I felt that. I knew you weren’t, in fact, based on the company you keep. Though what a strange party you are. A half gobling, if I’m correct. And an elf. Two women in robes, as if they were mages, one of them wearing an odd collar. Yes, a very strange party.”

Timlir bit into his salted meat. “Tell you what, I’ll hunt these dwarves down myself, to prove to you not all dwarves are bad. I’ll hand their heads to you on a silver platter, my lady.”

Hannah actually blushed. “That’s very chivalrous of you, my lord.”

Timlir beamed.

“Dude, she’s manipulating you,” Xaxia said.

Timlir shrugged. “Maybe I like being manipulated.”

“We don’t have time to hunt down rogue dwarves,” Malem said. “If we stopped to help every villager in need, we’d never reach our destination.”

“Maybe that’s what our captor intends,” Wendolin said suddenly.

Malem frowned. “Captor? What do you mean?”

“This isn’t real,” Wendolin said. “This village, it doesn’t exist.”

“Of course it exists,” he said. He knocked at the wooden table to prove his point.

“Then why can’t I create branches from this wood?” Wendolin asked.

Malem frowned. He reached out with his beast sense, and attempted to Break some of the pets he had sensed in the other buildings earlier.

But he could not. As soon as he wrapped his will around them and squeezed, they vanished as if they weren’t really there.

That helped him disbelieve it all.

Just like that, the wooden table vanished, as did the house, and Hannah herself.

Malem floated in the air, cocooned in some tight fabric. His head was free of those binds, allowing him to look about. It was dark, but his night vision allowed him to see the giant web he was hanging from, attached to the different trees around him. Beside him were Gwen, Wendolin, and Aurora, also wrapped up. Other humanoid shapes were cocooned in the web, as well as smaller bundles that could only represent birds and other animals.

He spotted a giant spider then, a terrible, eight-legged thing with a swollen abdomen, and a head that was fused with its thorax. It had its back to him, and was dining on one of the larger humanoid bundles. It had its mandibles embedded in the exposed neck, but he otherwise couldn’t see the person’s face.

He was terrified it was one of his companions, but then the spider shifted, revealing the pale face of an older woman. Hannah.

How the hell did we end up here? Gwen asked.

I remember now, Wendolin said. The spider struck from the forest as we passed by. Or rather, its minions did. Look.

Malem gazed at the silky strands that held him in the air, and saw several ordinary looking spiders, about the size of his thumbnail, lounging on the surface. There were hundreds of them. Thousands.

Those spiders crawled up my leg, and injected their venom into my exposed flesh, Wendolin said. I’m assuming they did the same to you three.

What happened to Timlir, Grendel, and Xaxia? Gwen asked.

Hopefully, they got away, Wendolin said. If not, they’re somewhere here.

Malem glanced at the other bound humanoids. All of the heads he could see were shriveled, unrecognizable. There were a few that were facing away from him, and he couldn’t tell if they belonged to his companions. None of them were the size of a dwarf, however, so that was a good sign.

He could sense the other women in his head, but couldn’t quite tell their directions, or distance.

Metals, we need your help, Malem sent to the dragons bound to him.

He received no answer, and repeated the call for help.

Nothing.

The Metals aren’t answering me, Malem said.

It’s probably because of the venom, Wendolin said. Weakening your range.

We’re going to die here, Aurora said. Killed by some stupid spider.

Wendolin, you’re a tree elf, Gwen said. You must have encountered a spider like this in your travels before? What do we do?

I haven’t, Wendolin said. The Breaker is just as experienced with forests as me, and I doubt he has encountered anything like this in his travels, either.

I’ve encountered spiders that ate people, Malem said. In fact, most of the larger varieties do. But never a spider that could summon so many ordinary spiders to do its bidding.

Did you all just dream we were in the village, and dining with a woman named Hannah? Aurora asked.

The others said they did.

Why did we have the same fever dream? Aurora pressed.

That’s probably because of your link with me, Malem said. When we went under, your minds would have been vulnerable, weak, thanks to that venom. And easy to draw into whatever dream I might have been having. Something I didn’t know I could do.

You unlock new abilities all the time, huh? Gwen said.

Not sure it’s “unlocked,” considering I don’t know if I can do it again, he said.

How did that woman get in our dream by the way? Gwen asked. The one the spider is eating?

I must have wakened at one point, and spotted her face before falling under again, Malem said.

So what do we do? Aurora asked. How do we get out of this? I don’t want to die here, trapped in a web, food to some monstrous spider. I feel like I’ve only really lived one year of my life.

None of us want to die here, Malem agreed. Wendolin, can you access your magic? Use it to animate these trees and break us free?

No, Wendolin said. The venom has subdued my magic abilities. I can’t make a single thing grow from the surrounding branches.

Malem reached out, wondering if he could Break the spider. He didn’t sense the tinier arachnids around him, but the spider did in fact show up as a powerful energy bundle. He attempted to wrap his mental tendrils around its mind, but his will evaporated at the touch.

The spider suddenly raised its fused head and thorax, and turned around on that web. It slowly approached, picking its way across the strands toward him with those hooked feet. Each step caused the thick strands to shake violently so that Malem was jolted up and down.

Malem… Gwen said.

Thinking fast, Malem reached further with his mind. He quickly realized he couldn’t range very far, but didn’t need to—he broke the closest bird he found. An owl.

He sent it flying in at the spider.

It slammed into the monster’s side, and ruffled its fur with its talons. The spider spun, knocking the owl away. The bird crashed into the web, getting stuck; the smaller spiders swarmed it, quickly paralyzing the bird, and likely inducing a fever dream similar to the one Malem had experienced. He crushed its will, draining it entirely to take its stamina.

Better that it feeds me, than the spider.

The spider turned away from Malem, distracted by this latest prey; it went to the creature, and began wrapping it up with its spinners, apparently wanting to apply a preservative cocoon until it was ready to feed.

Malem reached out, and Broke several more nocturnal animals and birds nearby.

Let’s see how well you do against a whole lot more forest dwellers…

14

Malem sent the birds in turn toward the spider; they swooped low, not close enough to contact the monster, but enough for their flapping to distract it, so that it tried to swat them out of the air with its hooked legs, or to snap at them with its mandibles.

Meanwhile, the animals closed. They were frightened of the giant web, apparently having learned to avoid this area of the forest. He had two badgers, a panther, and a hedgehog.

He told the badgers to climb the tree closest to his location—warning them to watch out for the smaller spiders—and meanwhile instructed the panther to scoop the hedgehog into its mouth; when the big cat was close to the web, it turned its head to the side and swung toward the spider, releasing the hedgehog. The airborne creature rolled itself into a ball and its spines pierced the hide of the spider upon impact. The hedgehog fell away, leaving several spines embedded in the spider—Malem could feel the spike in pain from the monster’s energy bundle.

The tinier spiders swarmed to the ground, and began crawling toward the animals.

The latter backed away, as per Malem’s commands.

The larger spider leaped off its web, landed on the ground, and followed behind the smaller arachnids, stalking toward the panther and hedgehog. Malem half expected the spider to pounce at any moment.

He gazed at the strands closest to him, and noticed the tinier spiders had all vacated their positions in order to scramble onto the ground and hunt the animals. A quick glance told him that all the nearby strands were rapidly emptying as well as the spiders continued to flow down.

Perfect.

He glanced up, and on cue, his badgers crawled onto the outer section of the web where the top strands connected to the tree. From previous dealings with spiders, Malem suspected those threads weren’t sticky: sure enough, the badgers were able to maneuver across them as if they traveled ordinary cords. They pulled themselves along upside-down, hanging underneath the strands, reminding him a little of animals that were part of a high wire act at the circus.

When they were overhead, the badgers released the topmost thread and landed on two of the very strands that held him. Then they began to saw at the webbing with their powerful jaws.

You’re a sly bastard, Breaker, Aurora said when she saw what he was doing. Using badgers to cut yourself out of a spider’s web?

Trust me, animals have gotten me out of worse situations in the past, he said. I wasn’t always a “monster” Breaker, you know.

Oh, I believe you, she said. Just free me next.

Malem bridled at being told who to free next, and made a mental note to cut her down last.

The strands broke free, rather silently, thankfully, so that the spider and its arachnids didn’t notice. The monster still continued to stalk the panther and hedgehog, which retreated at just the right pace to stay away from the incoming swarm, while keeping the monster interested.

The badgers leaped onto the next two threads and severed them with their powerful jaws. With those particular strands free, the webbing that held Malem’s upper body in place loosened: when he shoved against it, the silk shifted. It also wasn’t sticky. He pressed harder, and rotated his hands outward to get a better grip; in moments he had forced his way through and freed his hands.

He slid the cocoon down to his waist, but was unable to free himself entirely, as the lower strands were still intact and connected to the web, which had the effect of pulling the wrappings taut there.

So he drew Balethorn—the blade had the sense to remain quiet for once—and quickly sawed through the remaining threads that held him, beating the badgers to the task.

He dropped to the ground with a soft thud.

The spider paused, as if listening, and he froze. He waited, unmoving, until the monster proceeded toward the panther and hedgehog once more, following its smaller arachnids, which hadn’t stopped their pursuit.

He slid off the bottom portion of the cocoon—it was like pulling his legs out of a sleeping bag—and then scrambled to his feet.

He proceeded to cut down Gwen and Wendolin, who fell with successive thuds.

What about me? Aurora said.

Coming, Malem replied.

But the big spider turned around.

Shit.

The horde turned back, abandoning the panther and hedgehog, heading toward him.

He raced to Aurora and hacked frantically.

“Open my collar!” Aurora said. “And give me the sword. I can drain these foes, and we’ll be done here!”

Malem was tempted to do just that.

“Where are dragons when you need them?” Wendolin said. She was backing away, having produced the trident that she used when without her magic.

“We could certainly use some fire now,” Gwen said.

The half gobling unleashed arrows from Wasp at the spider. She scored two hits, and the spider screeched; apparently the monster decided it was time to stop playing with its food, because it leaped across the tinier spiders, and landed on Gwen, pinning her to the ground.

Those big mandibles opened, and were about to rip open her throat, when Malem turned from Aurora, abandoning her to plunge Balethorn into its mouth.

The spider screamed one final time and backed away, ripping the blade from Malem’s hands. The sword guard and hilt protruded from its mouth as the two mandibles convulsed repeatedly. The monster continued to retreat, stepping upon the spiders it had gathered, until finally it collapsed amongst its brethren.

The arachnids, no longer guided by the main spider, dispersed.

“Well, that was fun,” Aurora said, still partially hanging from the web. “Can you cut me down now?”

He instructed the badgers to go to Aurora.

Meanwhile, Malem approached the spider, and the smaller arachnids scattered before him, clearing a path. He reached his defeated foe: black liquid oozed onto the ground, spilling from the monster’s mandibles, sourced from the wound the blade had inflicted.

He wrapped his fingers around the hilt, and withdrew Balethorn, drawing out a fresh stream of blade liquid in the process.

He gained no stamina for the kill, which wasn’t surprising.

He turned toward Aurora, but Gwen spoke: “The arachnids!”

He glanced at the things: the horde of little spiders had turned around, and were swarming toward Malem and the others once more.

Another big spider was slowly, carefully, stalking down the tree. This one was much larger than the last.

Aurora dropped to the ground as the badgers freed her. Malem promptly dismissed the animals, and told them to get the hell out of here. He did the same for the panther and hedgehog.

Aurora shucked off the cocoon and scrambled to her feet.

“There’s two of them,” Aurora said urgently as another spider followed the first.

“Not two,” Wendolin said. “A whole family.” She nodded at the treetops.

Malem glanced at where the webbing joined the trees. Other spiders were slowly clambering down.

He attempted to wrap his will around them in turn, but it evaporated for all of them. They’re too strong.

“Aurora, come here,” Malem said. Keeping Balethorn in hand, with his free arm he lowered his backpack to the ground. He reached inside, and delved out the small, icepick-like key to the collar.

When she arrived, he said: “Turn around.”

She obeyed.

Malem inserted the key, as Wendolin had instructed him, until he heard a click. Then he slid the collar free.

Aurora remained in his mind.

Still, she glanced at him, shocked that he had removed the collar. But that shock quickly became replaced with malicious glee.

“Now give me my sword,” she ordered him.

I’m still in your head, he told her.

The glee vanished from those eyes, replaced by panic.

Am I bound to you for the rest of my life? she asked.

No, he replied. At least, I don’t think so. I believe I can set you free, as I would an ordinary monster.

Then do it! she said.

He lowered Balethorn to the ground and unhooked the crystal sword from his side. He tossed it to Aurora, who caught it in surprise.

Weaken these monsters first, he sent. Don’t kill them.

She smiled malevolently, then turned away and raised the blade. Pale mist arose from the ground, curling underneath the large spiders, and the creatures stopped in surprise.

As that mist hit them, the spiders began to spasm, and Aurora’s ruby blade began to glow a bright red. One of the spiders turned around and tried to run back up the tree, but a tendril of mist wrapped around its leg and pulled the spider back down.

In moments, nearly all of them were on the ground, lying on their backs, their legs crimped in death above them.

“I said to weaken them, not kill them,” Malem scolded Aurora.

“Whoops,” she said.

He could feel the fresh stamina literally flooding through her veins. She was gazing hungrily into the sword, its red light flickering across her face, lighting the forest around them.

He drained the stamina from her, causing that light to go out.

She spun toward him. “Hey!”

But he clicked the collar back around her neck as she did so.

“You said you would set me free!” She angrily swung at him with the crystal sword, but he dodged it.

The trees suddenly collapsed overhead, and a chromium landed beside them.

“There you are,” Sylfi said. “Finally. I spotted that beacon you made.” She carried Grendel.

“Just a second,” Malem told Sylfi, spinning back toward Aurora. “Give me the sword.”

“You want it?” she said. “Take it!”

She swung again, and once more he leaped back.

He drained her of more stamina, until she collapsed. Then he pried the crystal sword from her hands. “Sorry about this. I still need you.”

“It’s not fair,” she said. “Not fair! I hate you. I should have killed you when I had the chance.”

“Except you couldn’t,” he said. “Because if you tried, I would have killed you first.”

He reattached the blade to his belt, securing it opposite Balethorn’s scabbard.

On the ground around him, the arachnid swarm was still approaching, so that Sylfi had to step aside, breaking the branches of a nearby tree.

Only the biggest spider remained alive, but barely, judging from how it lay with its legs splayed upon the ground not far from Malem.

He Broke the weakened creature. It used five slots. He commanded the monster to withdraw the smaller arachnids, and watched in fascination as the swarm retreated toward it, crawling up the spider’s legs, only to take up a position on its back.

“We’ll bring it along,” Malem said. “She could prove useful where we’re going.”

“So that beacon, how did you make it?” Sylfi asked.

More crashes came through the trees, and Brita and Weyanna landed a moment later. They carried Xaxia, and Timlir.

“Malem removed Aurora’s collar, and gave her the sword,” Gwen told Sylfi.

“Oh,” Sylfi said.

“Wait, what are we talking about?” Weyanna said. She glanced at the web, and the dead monsters. “Nice spiders.”

“One of them’s alive!” Brita backed away from the spider Malem had Broken, as if it was the most terrifying thing in the world. She opened her mouth as if to breath fire.

“Wait, it’s mine!” Malem said.

Brita clamped down her jaws, and stopped when she realized she was pressing up against something. Turning around, she realized it was the web, filled with dead creatures.

“Ah!” Brita leaped into the air, and landed on a nearby tree, toppling it. She broke away several more trees as she put distance between herself and that web. “I hate spiders!”

“We can see that,” Gwen said.

“How does that sword of yours work?” Wendolin asked Aurora. “You can drain anything?”

“I’m not telling you,” Aurora said. “Set me free.”

Grendel slid down Sylfi’s wing and approached.

“I suspect her ability to use that sword is limited without Denfidal,” Grendel said. “Very likely, she can only drain lower level monsters.”

“Like spiders?” Wendolin asked.

“That’s right,” Grendel replied. “Or weaker willed monsters.”

“I wouldn’t call these monsters lower level,” Malem said. “They were strong-willed.”

“You can have strong-willed lower level monsters,” Grendel said. “But also weak-willed higher-level monsters. She can drain both. But without Denfidal, how much she can drain them probably depends on a combination of their level, and will.”

“But you’re just speculating,” Malem said.

“Yes,” Grendel agreed. “Unless she cares to clarify?” Grendel turned toward Aurora, but the latter woman remained silent.

“I’m relieved you guys are all right, by the way,” Malem told her.

“We’re relieved to find you, too,” Grendel said. “We feared the worst when those spiders took you.”

“What happened to you?” Malem asked.

“The smaller spiders swarmed us when we were walking through the forest,” Grendel said. “We were forced to flee, or we would have succumbed to their venom, like you did. I was bitten, but Xaxia and Timlir dragged me to safety. I only took one bite, so I awoke in time to watch the bigger spiders drag you into the forest, however even with that single bite I couldn’t summon my magic to help you—the venom clouded my ability. The smaller spiders kept us at bay until the dragons arrived, at which point we began searching the forest from the air.”

“Where’s Zach?” he asked.

“Oh, him,” Grendel said. “Still sleeping, as far as I know.” She glanced at the dead monsters around her. “Mob Spiders. They live in colonies, and swarm their prey with hundreds of smaller spiders—their brood mates—allowing them to incapacitate their meals before dragging them back to the nest for later consumption.”

“Brood mates?” Gwen said. “You mean… they’re born at the same time?”

“That’s right,” Grendel said. “But only some of them grow into the larger spiders, while the remainder are destined to serve as part of the swarm.” She glanced at Wendolin. “You’ve heard of them?”

Wendolin nodded. “I’ve heard rumors of such creatures, but never encountered any in person, before now.”

“You’ve lived a sheltered life,” Grendel quipped.

“We all have,” Malem said.

“We never did make it to that village…” Gwen said, gazing through the trees, as if looking for that telltale glow of civilization.

“After the fever dream we had, I think we’ll camp out in the forest,” Malem aid. “Or actually, on its eaves. I think I want to get as far away from this mob spider den as possible.”

They hopped onto the dragons, and flew to the outskirts of the forest. There was some arguing over who would carry the mob spider—all the Metals found giant spiders to be disgusting things—but in the end Weyanna agreed. Brita certainly wouldn’t do it. She positively despised that particular spider.

They made camp, and three of the companions volunteered to take alternating watches. Malem told the women he would be sleeping alone that night, and thankfully no one protested. They were all too weary after the day’s events.

He slept well, free of dreams and awoke with the dawn, refreshed.

The Metals dined on deer, while Malem and the others ate some salted rations they had saved, then the companions hopped onto the dragons and headed toward the northeast of Ptolemy once more, with Zach leading the way.

15

Malem gazed at the stone buildings below. Minarets, domes, and spires dominated the architecture, though there were also smaller, rectangular-shaped structures, with the same low-slung roofs he had seen in the villages scattering the countryside along the way.

Each building looked like it was made out of different materials, like wood, marble and so forth; however, everything was the same gray cast, as if some volcano had erupted and encased the structures in cold stone. The glass windows suffered the same fate, appearing as smooth surfaces of rock surrounded by window frames. Assuming those were actually supposed to be windows he saw: it was hard to tell, given how everything was made of stone.

He spotted people down there, too, among the gray streets. Or former people, rather, their bodies encased in stone, frozen in positions of flight—many looked over their shoulders in mid-step, faces twisted in terror. Some of those bodies had toppled, and lay broken upon the gray cobblestone below.

A mountain range trended from west to east north of the city. There, embedded in the side of a mountain that overlooked the city, was a large, stone keep. The dragons alighted on a wide terrace in front of that keep, and the passengers disembarked.

Weyanna released the mob spider, and then frantically shook the talons that had held the monster.

“What are you doing?” Xaxia asked.

“Damn spiders on its back crawled over my leg!” Weyanna said.

Malem watched those spiders fall away in clumps; on the flagstones, they promptly headed for the mob spider, forming organized lines as they clambered onto its back.

Malem surveyed his surroundings. Ahead lay a courtyard, its fountains broken and gray, its topiary changed to rock. There were also countless bodies of men, monsters, and animals, turned to stone throughout the courtyard. The men wore attire that ranged from antiquated to modern, and included merchant outfits, mage robes, and armor. Some rode upon horseback, others camelback, and still others iguanids. In terms of monsters, there were oraks, goblings, hill giants, trolls, ogres, ettins, and even small dragons. They were all frozen in different poses, sometimes with their arms out as if struck by a blade, other times merely standing with their heads bowed, as if hoping that by avoiding the gaze of the Gorgon, they would live.

“Looks like a few heroes tried to beat this Euryale already,” Xaxia said.

“Not a good sign,” Wendolin agreed.

At the end of the courtyard, steps led up to an entrance. The doors were open, revealing a stone hallway beyond. The inner ceiling was too low to fit a dragon.

“Return to human form,” Malem ordered the dragons. “And get dressed.”

The Metals did as he asked, and retrieved their clothing from the saddlebags. They used the big saddles to conceal their bodies from the watchful eyes of the others, particularly Timlir, who whistled casually, his eyes occasionally darting toward the saddles in the hopes of spotting a prime piece of exposed flesh.

Meanwhile, Gwen stood near the edge of the terrace, and gazed out at the ruined city below.

“Euryale did this?” Gwen asked.

“She did,” Grendel replied. “She was their queen, but went mad when her lover was slain by a rival.”

“What a terrible fate,” Wendolin commented. “Slain by the one who ruled you. By someone you looked up to, and cherished as a hero.”

“Oh, she was no hero, even before she turned upon her people,” Grendel said. “She lived a life of luxury, in excess, removed as she was upon her keep. She always held the common people in contempt, and thought of them only as a means to her lifestyle. She inherited the throne at a young age, and took several lovers, including Mephiticus, the court magician. Euryale’s family was always strong in light magic, owing to a pact made with the Paragons, but Mephiticus taught her earth magic as well. She experimented, combining light and earth, but one day she reached too far, and created elementals she could not control, and they took her, tortured her, and turned her into the creature she became. A Gorgon.

“In her absence, Mephiticus took the throne, seeking to preserve it until her return. But her rivals did not believe she would come back—they thought her dead, and so poisoned the magician.

“When Euryale returned in all her dark majesty, and discovered what they had done, she literally unleashed hell upon the keep. When everyone in the palace was slain, she took her rage to the streets below. Twisted and writhen, her flesh part reptilian and part stone, with snakes seething from her hair, she moved from building to building, killing everything with her terrible magic, until the city became what you see now. A memory, frozen in time.”

Malem reached out. “I sense animals down there, but nothing at all from the keep.”

“Her servants are as twisted as her,” Grendel said. “Once human, now monster. I’m not surprised your beast sense can’t detect them.”

“How are we supposed to do this, then?” Gwen asked. “We can’t look at her, and now you can’t even sense her. Wendolin is right, she’s impossible to kill.”

Xaxia glanced at Grendel. “Maybe we can look at her in mirrors?”

“No, that won’t work, either,” Grendel said. “Any image of her meets your eye, her magic will affect you.”

“Where is the portal to the Light Realm?” Malem asked.

“In this keep, deep inside the mountain,” Grendel said. “Euryale and her forebears were charged with guarding the entrance after the Balor Wars, in a pact made with the Paragons, which guaranteed her bloodline would always be strong in light magic. She has continued to uphold that pact, despite what she has become—despite that neither light magic, nor goodness, has flowed through her veins in centuries. Or maybe this upholding of the pact is unintentional on her part, as she merely kills whatever enters her domain.”

“Sounds like my kind of chick,” Xaxia said.

“You’ll get along well with her,” Gwen said.

“I’m sure I will,” Xaxia agreed.

“Zach, you’ve already created the debuff zone?” Malem asked the dragon.

“The moment I landed,” Zach replied. “It’s centered around my position, and extends a short way into the keep. It will not move with me, if I reposition closer to the entrance, for example.”

Malem and the Gray had had a long discussion about this before arriving, with Zach insisting that its debuff would counter Euryale’s magic, but eventually admitting that it had never run into a Gorgon before, so it could not know for certain.

“How far does the zone extend?” Malem asked.

“About ten yards beyond the entrance to the keep,” Zach said. “And all around this courtyard, of course.”

“So if the Gorgon launches turn-to-stone magic at us from inside, it will dispel?” Gwen asked.

“That’s the theory,” Zach replied.

Malem ran his gaze over the keep, his eyes flitting quickly; he didn’t entirely trust the debuff, and didn’t wanting his gaze to linger in one place for overlong, lest he spot something that would destroy him. The exterior of the keep was the same gray stone as everything else. He noticed that some areas looked like they had once held balconies, but after turning to rock, said balconies had fallen away and crumbled to the ground below.

He studied the main entrance—the doors were open. “Maybe we’ll get lucky. Maybe we won’t encounter her before we reach the portal.”

“I somehow doubt it,” Grendel said.

When the three Metals were dressed—Weyanna in her white robe, and Sylfi and Brita in their leather armor and bows—Malem headed across the courtyard toward that entrance. He had some confidence in the debuff zone, though not a lot. Still, he felt better that it was in place, and probably wouldn’t have dared approach the entrance without it. Even so, he kept his eyes mostly averted from the doorway, as did the others.

Everyone went with him, including the mob spider, except for Zach, who yawned, and squatted in front of one of the broken fountains to settle in for the long wait.

He weaved between the many bodies of those who died, and at the entrance, Malem ordered the mob spider to peer inside. When it didn’t turn to stone, he switched to its viewpoint, and shared the spider’s vision with those bound to him.

The hallway beyond was made of the same gray stone as everything else. He could see tapestries and paintings lining the wall, but they were embedded in the rock, as if carved. There were also more bodies within: hapless heroes who had come to beard the Gorgon, and died, their efforts forever preserved in stone as a warning for future would-be heroes.

“There’s no other way to the light realm?” Aurora asked.

“If there was, I would have told you long before now,” Grendel replied.

“I suppose you would have, at that,” Aurora agreed. She shook her head. “We can’t go in there. It’s obviously a trap.”

Malem pursed his lips. “We’ll have to scout, first.”

He ordered the mob spider forward. He also Broke a few robins and blue jays that nested nearby and sent them into the hall ahead of the monster.

He switched to the spider’s point of view as it advanced through that eerie stone hall. He shared its vision with the dragon, and when he estimated the creature had advanced about ten yards from the opening, he asked: Has the monster passed beyond the debuff zone yet?

It’s past the zone, Zach agreed. If your pet turns to stone now, don’t blame me.

The spider’s smaller brethren remained nestled upon its back, but Malem noticed the creature had the uncanny ability to summon other arachnids. They flowed toward the creature, streaming down from the walls, and forming long lines as they clambering onto its back to join the others. He wondered if it was summoning all the spiders in the keep.

The birds rounded a bend at the far side of the hall ahead, and his connection to them instantly severed.

He commanded the mob spider to halt.

“Just lost my birds,” Malem said. He instructed the spider to turn around, worried that Euryale might peek around the bend at any moment.

“Look away from the opening,” he ordered his companions, not wanting any of them to be afflicted by the Gorgon’s evil magic.

The newcomer spiders continued to flow from the walls for a few moments, but then ceased: apparently that was all the spiders in the keep. As the last of them clambered onto the mob spider’s back, Malem had an idea.

He couldn’t Break arthropods such as insects and arachnids, but he had sensed a mental kinship between the mob spider and its brethren; he suspected there was a type of mind link between them, similar to the connection Malem had with those he had Broken. There had to be, for the monster to be able to direct them to given targets, and to withdraw them at will.

He reached out experimentally to the creature, and attempted to access the vision of one of the spiders through the monster’s link. He sensed resistance from the mob spider—it didn’t want him tapping into this part of its brain. He pressed harder, and broke through.

All of a sudden his vision was filled with a confusing juxtaposition of images from slightly different angles: it was as if he was regarding the world through the facets of some translucent jewel, with one facet for every eye the tiny arachnid had. It took some time for Malem to adapt.

When he accustomed himself to its eyesight, he instructed the mob spider to send a tenth of its brethren forward. Hundreds of the tiny spiders flowed down off the monster’s back and onto its legs, to the floor, where they continued forward. Malem hopped between arachnid viewpoints until he found one that was advancing with the others, so that he could observe their insectile march.

Malem was hopeful the spiders would be too small to attract Euryale’s notice, let alone be affected by her magic. That so many arachnids were gathering to the mob spider from different portions of the keep was a good sign. Also, if insects could be affected by the Gorgon’s magic, there would be stone flies and mosquitoes littering the floor, but there were none. Then again, maybe there were some, or there had been, but they had been pulverized by the movements of whatever denizens called this place home.

The advance group crawled across the floor in random locations, heading toward the far side of the stone hall. There weren’t so many that the entire surface was packed end to end with them, but there were enough that several spiders would die if an animal or human padded through their midst. He wasn’t overly concerned about the latter occurring—he could hop from viewpoint to viewpoint if his selected spider died.

The arachnids ahead of Malem’s unit began to round the bend—stalwart soldiers marching unwaveringly to potential doom. Then his own spider turned the corner, and he saw his robins and blue jays. They had turned to stone and fallen to the floor: their wings were extended as if in mid-flight, but had broken away from the bodies on impact with the hard surface.

Beyond the birds stood eight robed figures, clad in black, vaguely human. Their faces were shriveled and bloodless, including the lips, and their eyes were all sclera. Their pale hands were exposed, revealing long, pale fingers that hung like icicles. They were surrounded by auras of greenish-gray magic, with swirls of that magic circling around their right hands, as if waiting to strike.

In the center behind them stood a figure in a white dress. It had been a woman once, but her exposed skin was now grayish green, alternating between reptilian scales and stone. Her eyes were black, with green slits, and her hair was made entirely of slithering snakes.

That he was able to see her at all told him the tiny arachnids were immune to her transmogrification magic, as expected.

“I believe I’ve found Euryale,” Malem announced to his companions. “She’s waiting with eight of her minions around that bend.”

“How are you able to see her?” Wendolin asked. “Your mob spider is immune? Or you Broke some small animal?”

“Not an animal,” Malem said. “I’m viewing the world through the eyes of one of the arachnids.”

“I thought you couldn’t Break insects and other tiny creatures?” Gwen asked.

“I can’t,” he agreed. “But the mob spider has some kind of mental link with its brethren.”

“Care to share its vision with us?” Sylfi asked.

Malem did so.

“Whoa,” Gwen said, losing her balance. She rested one arm on Xaxia. “It’s like looking through a kaleidoscope.”

“I’m sending the spiders in,” Malem said. “Let’s see how well the Gorgon and her minions take to venom.”

He instructed the mob spider to deploy its brethren, and the monster obeyed.

The spiders moved across the floor, toward the robed figures, and the Gorgon. In moments, they were crawling underneath those robes, and up the legs of their foes.

Malem’s particular spider was near the rear, so he watched as the minions began to stamp their feet. One of them unleashed its magic, throwing a greenish gray vortex at the flagstones. The impacted spiders dissolved, while those nearby were thrown back.

The minions dashed forward, and Malem’s viewpoint arachnid was crushed beneath the heel of one of them.

“They’re coming!” he said. “Get away from the entrance.”

He and the others backed away. He ordered the mob spider to retreat as well.

He hopped to the viewpoint of another arachnid that had survived the initial attack, and used its eyes to watch the minions approach, just in case the Gorgon resided among them. She did not. Only four minions came forward, while the remaining four had stayed behind with Euryale around the corner. Their legs did not move—they hovered an inch off the ground, the tattered hems of their robes gliding over the stone floor.

The mob spider reached the entrance and dashed outside.

“Someone has to test that the debuff is working,” Xaxia said. “I could look…”

“Actually, you don’t have to,” Malem said. He switched to the viewpoint of one of the arachnids on the mob spider’s back and shared it with those bound to him. “I hope you’ve accustomed yourselves to spider vision.”

“What about those of us who aren’t bound to you?” Timlir asked.

“You won’t be participating in this battle,” Malem replied.

He hopped between arachnid viewpoints until he found one with a view of the main hallway, and watched the robed figures rapidly approach the entrance. The four minions dropped to the floor as soon as they hit the fringe of the debuff zone. They paused, looking at each other in confusion. The aura around them had faded, as had the magical swirls around their right hands. One of them threw its arm forward, in the direction of the mob spider. Nothing happened.

They turned around to flee.

“Oh no you don’t!” Gwen rushed the entrance, and began opening fire with her bow. She was using her own eyes, and gazing directly down the hall.

“Gwen, no!” Malem said.

But she let loose several arrows, striking the fleeing minions in the back. In moments, all four lay on the ground, their backs riddled with fletchings; pools of black blood flowed onto the stone around them.

Gwen retreated from the entrance, joining him. “I was never in any danger. The debuff zone protected me.”

Malem shook his head. “That was a risk. If the Gorgon had appeared, you don’t know if the zone would have saved you from her deadly magic.”

She shrugged. “I was willing to take the risk.”

“They’re not getting up,” Wendolin said, still observing the scene through the arachnid’s vision Malem shared. “Your arrows passed outside of the debuff zone, so they packed their full punch.”

“Yes,” Gwen said. “I figured that. Seeing as it didn’t take all that many arrows to destroy them.”

Malem waited, watching the hall via the arachnid. The Gorgon and the other minions did not appear.

He hopped viewpoints until he found an arachnid lingering past the bend at the end of the hall. There was no sign of the Gorgon and her minions. “She’s retreated.”

Malem instructed the mob spider to remain by the entrance this time. He wasn’t sure about the range of the spider’s mental link to its brethren, but he instructed the monster to dispatch arachnids throughout the keep anyway, and told it to alert him if any of them discovered a portal, or Euryale. He also ordered the mob spider to deploy some of its brethren to various spots around the perimeter of the courtyard, to stand guard.

Meanwhile, he watched his current viewpoint arachnid continue down the hallway past the bend. The spider and its brethren moved so very slowly, which only drew out the tension. He kept expecting to discover Euryale or one of her minions with each room the spider gazed into, or with each bend it rounded, but always the arachnid’s eyes were met only by cold stone.

Finally, he had to stop watching, and instead instructed the mob spider to inform him if the arachnids found anything. Or if they traveled out of range. Whichever came first.

Meanwhile, he retreated to the center of the courtyard with the others. He navigated between the stone bodies of the fallen, and sat next to the fountain where Zach lounged. The dragon had crushed several of the surrounding rock corpses, and no doubt pulverized many more underneath it.

“How long will your debuff zone last?” Malem asked.

“About half an hour,” Zach replied. “At which point I’ll simply renew it.”

“Good,” Malem said.

“We should be in there,” Gwen said. “Following behind those spiders.” She gazed longing at the keep.

“You are so eager to die?” Aurora said.

“No,” she said. “Of course not. I just hate waiting around when there’s a fight to be had. I did it once before. I waited. I hid. When my village folk died. And I swore never to do it again.”

“You hid?” Sylfi said. “But you’re the most courageous among us!”

“I wasn’t always this way,” Gwen said. “That day changed me.”

“I don’t think I’ve heard this story,” Sylfi said.

“Neither have I,” Wendolin added.

Gwen closed her eyes. “Even though it’s been so many months. I can still hear their screams.” She shook her head, and a tear trickled down her cheek, overflowing from the closed eyelid. “I’ve heard so many screams since then, on the front lines of the war against Vorgon, and in the many battles since. And yet the screams I hear the most clearly are those of the villagers.” The tears flowed easily then, but she kept her eyes closed, not daring to look at anyone else. Her voice became angry. “I was a fucking coward. I hid in the forest while the oraks butchered those I loved like cattle. I’ll never escape it. I’ll never forget it.” She sniffled, wiped the tears from her cheeks, and rubbed her eyes. She gazed directly at Malem. “I’ll never forgive the oraks for what they did that day. I’ll tolerate the oraks in your army who will fight for you and defend you, yes, but forgive them, no. If any of them ever step out of line, or if ever I see an orak in the wild, I’m going to slay it, I swear I will.”

“And no one would blame you for doing so,” Malem said. “Least of all me.”

She nodded. “Good.”

A feeling of urgency emitted from the mob spider, and Malem sat up straighter. “The arachnids have found something.”

16

Malem allowed the mob spider to guide him to the appropriate arachnid, which lurked on the floor before a glowing portal of light. The monster was able to provide a mental path of the route the arachnid had taken to reach that portal, so that Malem was confident he could lead his companions to the appropriate chamber.

“Okay, it’s the portal,” Malem said.

“Any sign of Euryale or her minions yet?” Grendel asked.

“No,” Malem said. “Though I’m sure she’s lurking in hiding somewhere along the way.”

“So, the question is, do we make a run for it?” Timlir said.

Malem frowned. “Too risky. I have no doubt she’ll emerge somewhere along the way. Without Zach’s debuff to protect us, we’re all doomed. No. We have to draw her out somehow.”

“She was proud,” Grendel said. “If you taunt her, or her former lover, it’s possible you could illicit some sort of reaction.”

Malem chuckled. “So you want me to piss her off, do you? I’m not sure I want an angry Gorgon after me. But then again, we don’t really have much choice, do we?”

“Unless you want to journey inside the keep…” Xaxia said. “And into her waiting trap.”

“No.” Malem gazed up at the stone-walled building, and at those gaps where balconies once resided before crumbling away. He realized what he was doing, and quickly averted his eyes.

“You don’t trust the debuff?” Gwen asked.

Malem shook his head, and said, sarcastically: “Is it that obvious?”

“Pretty much,” she replied.

He raised his voice, and shouted. “Hey, Euryale. Come get me, you ugly bitch! I’m the descendent of the man who killed Mephiticus!”

“The rival was a woman,” Grendel said softly. “Not a man.”

“I’m the descendent of the woman who killed Mephiticus!” Malem called. “Come get me, Euryale!” He drew Balethorn. The blade hummed hungrily for Zach. Malem clamped his will down upon the sword, and the droning stopped. “Come get me!”

Nothing. He hopped to the viewpoints of different arachnids the mob spider had deployed around the courtyard, but saw nothing out there.

“Don’t think it’s working,” Aurora said.

“You think?” Xaxia commented.

Malem felt a sudden inrush of air, headed toward the dragon, like some implosion. “What was that?”

“The debuff zone just expired,” Zach said. “I’ll go ahead recreate it.”

But then the dragon’s body began to solidify. From the tail forward, living scales became dead stone.

“Oh,” Zach said. “Shit.” The transformation accelerated, and in seconds the stone reached its lips, and the dragon froze completely.

Malem slumped, gasping from the drain caused by the boomerang effect. He rolled behind the dragon’s body for cover.

“We’re under attack!” Malem said. “Take cover! Eyes shut! Rely upon the arachnids!”

The mob spider was still next to the main entrance to the keep, so it clambered inside and hid in the hall, which was apparently clear; meanwhile, Wendolin, Aurora, Gwen and Xaxia dove in beside Malem next to the remains of the dragon.

Malem hopped his mental viewpoint between the spiders deployed along the perimeter of the courtyard, until he spotted the Gorgon and her four minions. They were approaching from the west, upon the outskirts of the courtyard, from a pair of doors that had been opened in the ground. They moved between the stone bodies; sometimes, the floating, dark-robed minions unleashed their magic at the dead in their path, and caused their rock forms to crumble, clearing a path for their queen.

Malem shared the feed from the arachnid to the others.

Should we transform? Weyanna asked.

No! he sent. It will just make you a bigger target for her magic! Stay behind cover!

A hawk—not bound to him—darted past overhead. Euryale glanced up, and a ribbon of greenish-black magic spiraled upward, and struck the bird. Even though it wasn’t looking at her—the hawk was facing away—the magic caused the bird to turn to stone. Its forward motion carried it a few yards, until it crashed to the ground, and its body crumbled.

There was no nearby wood for Wendolin to use for her magic. And Grendel would reveal her position if she struck, or attempted to bestow the others with a speed buff. Weyanna faced a similar predicament with her ice magic. Unless…

Weyanna, can you create a hail of ice shards without revealing your position? he asked.

I think so, she replied.

Do it, he sent.

Using the eyes of the arachnid to target her magic, Weyanna caused large ice fragments to rain from the sky.

But the four minions with Euryale merely unleashed their own swirling magic in rapid succession, clearing the fragments from the sky before any of them could hit the Gorgon. One of the minions took a good chunk of ice in the face, and that seemed to stun the creature—it stopped defending Euryale, and merely hovered in place.

Wendolin tried to concentrate her attack on that one, but the others picked up the slack, and defended their companion, until Wendolin gave up.

I can’t get through, Wendolin said.

Save your strength, he told her. We’ll use your magic as a diversion, at some point. Wait for my word.

Remove my collar, Aurora sent. I can help you.

Malem hesitated, then retrieved the icepick-like key from his pack.

Are you sure that’s a good idea? Gwen asked.

I’m not sure we have a choice, he replied. We need all the help we can get right now.

He slid the icepick into her collar, and released the device. He pulled it free, and stowed both into his backpack.

Before he could give her the sword, Aurora was already raising her arms. She was finally going to reveal her power, then.

Beyond the dragon, past the rim of the fountain, the ground split open, and three mini-Balors emerged. They looked like their larger namesakes, except they were only twice the size of a man. Made of shadow and fire, with horns on their heads and vestigial wings on their backs, they wielded different weapons: an ax, a hammer, and a sword.

“Well now!” Xaxia said. “That’s handy. You’re a summoner.”

Through the arachnid’s vision, Malem watched the three demons rush the Gorgon and her minions. They used their weapons to destroy any stone bodies in their path.

The servants of Euryale unleashed their swirls of green and gray magic, but the mini-Balors were unaffected. The Gorgon’s gaze did work, however, albeit much more slowly than Malem had seen so far: the bodies of the mini-Balors very gradually lightened in color, turning gray.

The demons were still able to fight, and launched themselves at their attackers. Euryale retreated while her minions rushed forward to intercept the mini-Balors. With their magic being useless, and without weapons of any kind to defend themselves, the four minions fell quickly to the blades and hammers of their opponents.

Euryale, meanwhile, turned around and fled back toward the entrance in the ground.

The mini-Balors at last succumbed to the transformation, and they solidified in place, bodies freezing in mid-stride.

That was when Gwen got cocky. She leaped to her feet, and ran to the far side of the fountain.

“Gwen, no!” Malem said.

Her eyes were closed, he noticed—she was using the arachnid to guide her. She leaped onto the edge of the fountain, and aimed her bow at the retreating Gorgon.

Gwen fired several test shots to line up her aim, and then found her target. Euryale screamed as three arrows pincushioned her back. The Gorgon flung an arm backward, releasing a wall of that deadly swirling magic.

Gwen leaped down, and tried to duck beneath the fountain edge, but the magic struck her. Though her eyes were closed, she began to transform.

Panic filled her energy bundle.

Gwen! Malem sent.

Forgive me, she returned.

His connection to her severed, and Malem slumped from the boomerang effect. His mental space shrunk as his maximum number of slots became reduced.

“Gwen!” Malem said. He started to rise, wanting to run to her.

“She’s gone,” Xaxia said, grabbing onto his shoulders. “You go out there, you’ll die, too!”

He allowed Xaxia to pull him back down.

Euryale reached the stone doors of the secret entrance.

Malem was still observing the scene through the arachnid, and saw the fletchings protruding from the Gorgon’s back rapidly sprout branches. They formed a barrier around the creature; Euryale turned them to stone, but it was too late, she only further encaged herself, forming a barrier of stone instead of wood. She was trapped.

“I got her,” Wendolin said.

Malem sat back against the stone body of Zach, barely hearing. He dismissed the arachnid’s viewpoint. Shock emanated from the other energy bundles. None of those bound to him could believe what had happened.

Gwen was gone. The very first person he had Broken. The first person he had fallen in love with.

“It’s my fault,” Malem said. “I shouldn’t have shouted her name. I drew the Gorgon’s attention.”

“I don’t think Euryale heard,” Xaxia said.

He shook his head. “I should have forced her to come back anyway. I gave her too much freedom.”

“You can’t be blamed for giving us freedom,” Wendolin said.

He held his face in his hands and wept. The shock he felt from the others bound to him quickly changed to sorrow.

He wasn’t sure how long he cried, at least a minute, maybe more. But then his sorrow was replaced by a sudden rage, and he glanced at Aurora. He was going to tell her to summon more mini-Balors to destroy the fucking bitch, but then Grendel came to his side. She seemed calm, and almost unaffected by Gwen’s death. Of course she would be: she didn’t know Gwen as well as he did.

“Euryale may be able to reverse the change,” Grendel said. “I would advise against killing her.”

Malem stared at Grendel, unable to deny the glimmer of hope her words imparted.

Then he switched to the viewpoint of the arachnid once more so that he could observe the Gorgon. She was struggling against the stone cage—a prison essentially of her own making—but was unable to break through.

“Euryale!” Malem shouted. “This is the voice of your captor!”

The Gorgon ceased struggling, and launched waves of green-gray magic in the direction of his voice, but she struck only the stone bodies between him and her.

“You will restore the woman you have taken!” Malem said.

Euryale stopped releasing those waves of magic, and then stared in his direction in astonishment. She promptly emitted a hideous cackle.

“Restore the woman?” Euryale said. “Restore? I have only ever restored two of those I turned to stone. At great cost to myself.” She pointed out the grayish areas on her exposed flesh. “By returning them to how they were, I turn my own body to stone. Why should I do this again? It will cause me pain, and suffering, and make every movement more laborious.”

“Because I will kill you if you do not,” Malem said.

“I don’t think so,” Euryale said. “If you slay me, the woman will remain stone forever. However…”

“Yes?” Malem said.

“If some among you will submit to my power, and agree to replace the minions you have destroyed, perhaps we can come to a deal,” Euryale said. “Are there any elves among you? Or Metals? They make the best servants.”

“I won’t agree to any deal that sees any of my companions enslaved,” Malem said.

“Then I cannot restore this woman,” Euryale said. “The cost is not worth it to me. I’d rather die, in fact. So kill me, human. Do your worst.”

“You won’t get to escape so easily, Gorgon,” Malem said. “If I do kill you, yours will be a death of suffering. I will send demons to pick away at your flesh, ripping your limbs off one by one, and then skinning the remainder of your body. They will pluck the snakes from your hair one by one, and force you to eat their bodies.”

“Go ahead,” Euryale said. “I dare you.”

“She knows your bluffing,” Xaxia said.

Malem sighed. “I’m not sure what to do.”

“Perhaps I should employ a few whips of light?” Grendel said. “I can inflict great pain.”

“What is this woman’s name?” Euryale asked then.

“Gwen,” Malem called.

“Gwen,” Euryale said. “Perhaps I can offer you another way to restore this Gwen.”

“I’m listening,” Malem told her.

“There is a plain to the east of here,” Grendel said. “Where a certain species of horse resides. If you can bring me this horse, I will restore your Gwen.”

“We also wish safe passage through to the Light Realm,” Malem said.

“I will grant you safe passage as well,” Euryale told him.

“Tell me about this horse,” Malem said. “And how to find this plain.”

“It is a winged horse,” the Gorgon said. “Known as a pegasus. It is the only creature that can withstand my touch. Not even my minions could endure it. I yearn to touch something living again.”

“Where is this plain?” Malem asked.

“It is called the Elusion Field,” Euryale said.

“That’s at the ends of the world!” Wendolin told him. “We can’t go there. The land at the edge is unstable… it could break away at any moment and swallow us up. Even if we’re in the air at the time, we could be pulled down by the resulting vortex.”

Apparently the Gorgon overheard. “You know of it, good. It is only a day’s flight from here by dragon. Come back with the pegasus, and I will restore your friend, and grant you passage to the Light Realm.”

“How do we know we can trust you?” Malem asked.

Euryale shrugged. “I always live up to my word.”

Malem glanced at Grendel, and said, softly: “Is that true?”

“I don’t know,” Grendel told him. “I’ve never heard anything to confirm or deny how true to her word she is.”

“Also, release me from these binds before you go,” Euryale said.

“I never said I agreed to your terms,” Malem called.

“No, but you will,” Euryale said. “For you have no choice. You care for this woman greatly. I can sense that. I will do for you what no one ever did for me: I will restore the one you love to life. Now release me, and go. Return no later than the dawn, two days hence. Thereafter, her change will become irreversible.” She paused. “Go! Every moment you waste here is one less moment you have to complete this quest.”

Malem returned to his own viewpoint and glanced at Aurora expectantly.

“I’ll need stamina if you want me to summon more demons so soon,” Aurora said.

Malem gave her stamina, taking from the Metals, as he was too weak to deplete his own sources, after losing both Zach and Gwen.

“Close your eyes,” he called to Euryale. “I’m sending someone to cut you loose.”

Aurora held her hands in front of her once more, and this time, closer to Euryale, the ground shifted. Malem hopped viewpoints until he found an arachnid closer to the sight, and watched a demon emerge. It carried a flaming ax, which it hefted as it approached the Gorgon. Euryale had closed her eyes, as requested.

The mini-Balor smashed through the stone bindings, taking care not to actually touch the Gorgon with its weapon.

Euryale broke free and retreated down the murky steps. She turned around halfway and sent her gaze upward at the demon, and it began to turn to stone, just as slowly as the latter. Enraged, it struck at Euryale with its blade, but she raced down the steps, cackling, until she was out of view.

Meanwhile, the transformation completed and the demon solidified completely.

“She just couldn’t resist, could she?” Grendel said, shaking her head.

“That’s a bad sign,” Xaxia said. “Are we really supposed to believe this Gorgon is going to live up to her end of the bargain?”

“I’m willing to take the chance, if it means saving Gwen,” Malem said.

He left his companions, and went to her. She was locked in a half-crouched position next to the lip of the fountain, which she had been trying to hide behind before the magic struck. Her beautiful shade of light green skin had become the dark gray of cold stone. Her expression was heart-breaking: full of the fear of death.

He felt himself choking up. “I’m so sorry. I tried…”

He couldn’t bear to look at her like this any longer, and turned away, the tears flowing freely. Over his shoulder, he told her: “I’m going to save you Gwen. I swear I will.”

He rubbed his eyes, and strode steadfastly to the others. “Metals, transform. We fly east to the Elusion Field.”

“Should we leave her here, or bring her with us?” Sylfi asked, nodding at Gwen.

“Leave her,” Malem said. “I don’t want to risk further harm coming to her where we go. She’s probably safest here, anyway, an anonymous statue among many.”

“But Euryale knows who she is,” Brita said.

“Yes, but if the Gorgon harms her, Euryale is never getting the horse,” Malem said.

The dragons doffed their clothes, shoving them into the saddlebags, and positioned themselves underneath the saddles so that when they changed, the seats would be over their backs, ready to be fastened. They transformed, knocking over the nearby statues of the fallen, and then Xaxia moved between them, securing the ropes of the saddles beneath their bellies.

In a few moments, Malem was heading away from the mountainside, flown by Sylfi, with Grendel riding in the saddle behind him. He gazed over his shoulder at the retreating keep.

I’m going to save you, Gwen, I swear I will, he promised. Even if it means dying in the process.

17

Malem and his companions traveled east, guided by Wendolin. Apparently she had journeyed to that place long ago with her parents, when she was a child. She had described some of what they could expect, and it wasn’t pretty. It wasn’t so much that there were monsters they had to worry about: the land itself was a monster.

Thanks for not making me wear that wretched collar again, Aurora sent along the way.

Welcome, he replied. Though in truth, I had forgotten. I only remembered after we took flight. I decided there was no point in turning back to attach the thing. So far you’re behaving, after all, and I suppose I can let you operate without the collar. For now. But no crystal sword.

That’s fine, she said.

If he gave her the sword, there was a chance she would use it to fight against his will. He’d drain her of stamina, but with the sword, she could merely drain it back. Yes, he wasn’t ready to trust her with such power.

Euryale hadn’t been kidding about the journey being a long flight. The plains seemed unending below. The dragons traveled all that day, and through much of the night, until he saw the horizon assume an ominous red glow in the distance.

We’re almost there, Wendolin said. That glow belongs to the volcanos dotting the region. I’d suggest landing somewhere here, away from those mountains, so we can rest for a few hours before beginning the search in earnest in the morning. The mountains can and do erupt at any time, and if we happen to be caught in an eruption, we’ll only have a few moments to escape the pyroclastic cloud. We won’t find a pegasus in the dark anyway. They’re creatures of daylight.

The pyrocla- what? Aurora asked.

A cloud filled with rock fragments, Wendolin said, thrown off when a mountain blows its top and erupts. If it hits you, your body will basically be shredded.

Sounds like fun, Aurora said.

Like you wouldn’t believe, Wendolin told her.

Though Malem was well aware of the time limit Euryale had given them, and wanted to keep searching, he decided the half dragons could use a rest. Let’s land. We’ll look for a pegasus in the morning.

Timlir got to ride in the saddle for once, since Gwen was absent, while the mob spider continued to fly in Weyanna’s talons. Before landing, the white released the spider, and when the creature had moved out of the way, Weyanna touched down. As usual, she flung her talon about to get rid of excess arachnids that had crawled onto her forelimb.

The Metals had already swooped down and dined upon the herds of beasts they’d spotted on the plains along the way, so there was no need for the half dragons to eat. Malem however, produced some of the salted meat he’d carried along, cooked it in a firepit that Sylfi lit with her breath, and distributed the juicy venison among the non-dragon members of the crew. The mob spider huddled nearby, and ate whatever pieces of meat Malem threw its way.

“We’re too close,” Timlir said, gazing at the red glow in the distance. “I’ve heard rumors of this place… the ground could break away at any time, and we’ll tumble into the void.”

“I’ve never seen the edges of the world,” Xaxia said. “Though I admit, I’ve always wanted to. I never thought it was true, though.”

“It’s true,” Wendolin said. “The world does end. Its fringes slowly falling into the abyss.”

“If that’s true, won’t our entire realm be lost, one day?” Aurora asked.

“No,” Wendolin said. “Because on the far side of the world, where the land extends out into space, it regenerates, forming new terrain. It’s like we’re on one big piano roll; for every portion of land lost to the abyss, new territory takes its place on the opposite side of the world. It’s why all races are always migrating westward. We tree elves have moved our domain thrice since founding Dothloron, for example.”

“I don’t remember hearing about anyone migrating westward,” Malem said.

“I’m talking over tens of thousands of years,” Wendolin said.

“I didn’t know you tree elves were that old,” Xaxia said.

“Older,” Wendolin said. “I’m but a child, compared to some of my kind.”

Grendel nodded. “As am I, in the relative scheme of things.”

Malem snorted. “A five-hundred-year-old child.”

Grendel shrugged.

They finished their repast. “Is it worth it to pitch our tents, seeing as there is only three hours or so until dawn?”

“Might as well take advantage of whatever time we have to sleep,” Malem said. “Because we certainly can’t sleep in the saddle. At least I can’t.”

And so they pitched their tents. As Malem was setting up his own, Xaxia came by. “I don’t suppose you could use company?”

“Not after what happened to Gwen,” Malem told her. “I feel bad, having pleasure, when she can do no such thing.”

“But her condition is only temporary,” Xaxia said.

“Unless the Gorgon lied,” Malem said.

“Which could very well be the case,” Xaxia conceded. “So, no company?”

“Sorry,” Malem said.

She nodded, and then pitched her own tent not far from his own.

Grendel agreed to keep first watch, and took up a position near the outskirts of the camp’s perimeter. She was watching just as much for an attack from without, as from within—Malem had warned her to keep an eye on Aurora.

Malem had only just settled in for the night when the tent fabric peeled back.

Under the dim light of the moon, he vaguely recognized Aurora peering inside.

He was surprised to see her.

“May I come in?” she asked.

When he hesitated, she added: “Just want to talk.”

He nodded.

She came in, and settled in front of him. She left the flap open, which allowed the dim light of the moon to illuminate her. With his night vision, that light made her features visible almost as if it were daylight. He repositioned closer to the flap, out of courtesy to her, so that she in turn could see his face.

“What can I do for you?” he asked.

“I’ve started to remember things,” she said. “Glimpses of what I think are my childhood.”

“Go on,” he said.

“I remember traveling the land with my father,” she said. “I think I was the daughter of a merchant. I remember him buying me toys. I was so happy when he gave me a marionette, one time.”

He heard someone clear their throat outside.

“Come,” Malem said.

Grendel peered inside. “Is everything all right?”

“It’s fine,” Malem said.

Grendel nodded. “Just checking.” Malem had told her to keep an eye on Aurora as well, after all.

She excused herself.

When the light mage was gone, Malem returned his attention to the summoner.

“I used to think Denfidal was my father,” Aurora said. “I believed it in my core. But now I know that was a lie. He was never my father. He took away my memories, and fed me a steady diet of lies for the twelve months I served him.”

“Do you remember when you first learned to summon?” Malem asked. “Or when your father sent you away for training?”

“No,” Aurora said. “It hasn’t come back to me, not yet. As I told you, I only get fleeting glimpses of the past.”

“Well, that’s better than none at all,” Malem said.

Aurora nodded. “I thought my past would be forever lost to me. I’ll take whatever fragments of it I can get.” She glanced at his sleeping bag. “Your bed is empty tonight. Why?”

“I can’t bring myself to sleep with anyone,” Malem said. “Not after what happened to Gwen.”

Aurora nodded. “I don’t remember what it’s like to be with a man. In fact, as far as I know, I’m a virgin. I think that’s why Denfidal chose me.”

Malem became aroused as he imagined how much fun it would be to introduce Aurora to the sexual arts.

He forced himself to clear his mind.

I refuse to sleep with her while Gwen is in dire straits!

But Aurora seemed to notice the effect those words had on him, because she leaned forward, and began to slyly pad toward him on all fours, moving like an animal stalking its prey.

“For a virgin, you seem to have some experience at seducing men,” Malem said. “So I doubt you’ve never done it before.”

“Maybe it comes to me naturally,” Aurora said, her voice somewhat hoarse. “Maybe my body is responding to the way you’re making me feel.”

Malem swallowed. He tried to think of Gwen, but she wouldn’t come to mind.

Aurora was still on all fours, and her face was mere inches from his own. He couldn’t help it. He leaned forward, and kissed her firmly on the lips. She returned his kiss expertly, so much so that he knew she wasn’t a virgin. She probably had plenty of practice under Denfidal’s tutelage, playing with the men she captured while going on missions for the demon.

But Malem didn’t care. In fact, he didn’t mind having someone experienced right now. He was reaching forward, for the hem of her robe, trying to hike it up so he could reveal her body in the dim like, when he suddenly felt something sliding along the floor beside him.

He pulled away from her, and saw that Aurora had snatched up his belt, and the two swords it contained, from where it lay, and was dragging it across the ground toward her.

Malem instantly drained her of stamina and ripped the belt away.

Aurora collapsed onto the sleeping bag.

“I just wanted to touch it,” she said, panting, on the ground.

“Why does that sound like a double entendre?” Malem couldn’t resist saying. When she appeared confused, he added: “You know I can’t trust you with this blade.”

“You gave it to me before,” she insisted.

“Yes,” he told her. “And I might give it to you once again, when we are in dire need. But until then, the sword remains in my safekeeping. You are not to touch it, is that understood?”

She lowered her eyes. “Yes.”

“Now get back to your tent,” he told her.

“I still want you,” Aurora said.

“I’m not in the mood, not now,” he said.

She scowled. No one liked rejection.

“You’re an asshole,” Aurora said.

“This rejection will be good for you,” Malem said. “It’ll make you stronger.”

“Like I said,” Aurora told him. “Asshole.” She stood to a weak crouch, and then ducked underneath the flap, exiting the tent. He held the canopy open for a moment to watch her walk away with her head bowed, and then released it.

Maybe I should have just fucked her.

No, she needed to be punished for what she had just attempted.

Malem secured the belt to his waist, deciding he was going to sleep with it on, even if the two swords restricted his movements. He didn’t plan on doing too much tossing and turning anyway. If he couldn’t sleep, he’d simply stare at the underside of the tent. Or join Grendel on watch.

He couldn’t sleep, so opted for the latter.

“Hey,” Grendel said when she spotted him. “So what did she want?”

“Tried to seduce me,” Malem said. “To steal the sword.”

“Sneaky,” Grendel said. “But not entirely surprising.”

“No,” Malem agreed. He stared at the stars beside her.

“Do you see it?” she asked. “The Square of Pegasus?”

He nodded. “I do.” The constellation in question was the box shape that formed the body of the horse. He could see the stars representing the wings, head, legs, and tail arcing outward from the main shape.

“What do you know about the pegasus?” he asked.

“Not a whole lot,” she admitted. “I’ve heard they graze here, at the fields on the edges of the world, because it’s the only place where man leaves them alone. They’re more intelligent than ordinary horses, but they can’t speak, not with language, like we do.”

“But I can communicate with it,” Malem said.

“Well of course, you’re a Breaker,” Grendel said. “But whether or not you can Break this horse remains to be seen.”

“I don’t want to hurt it,” Malem said. “But I will, if I have to. Weyanna will simply have to heal it. I don’t have time to waste hunting down a recalcitrant animal.”

The pair were silent for a moment.

“Gwen means a lot to you, doesn’t she?” Grendel asked.

Malem nodded. “She’s the first person I ever Broke.”

“I’m sorry that you had to lose her like this,” Grendel said. “But we’ll get her back. I promise you.”

“You don’t view her as competition?” Malem asked.

“Why would I?” Grendel replied. “Remember, we both promised never to get emotionally involved with one another.”

“Probably a good policy overall,” Malem said.

She smiled wanly. “I admit it’s a lie.” She looked away.

“What do you mean?” he said.

“I got attached to you,” she said.

“Ah,” Malem said.

She shook her head. “I didn’t want this to happen. I’m not even sure how it happened. But something happened when we were in that keep. And I was terrified I was going to lose you. I was ready jump in front of the Gorgon if I had to, to stop it from reaching you. And that’s when I knew I’d gone over the edge. Now I know for sure that I can’t stay with you when this is over. It will be too painful to live my entire life with you, to watch you die in the end. Better to break off what we have now, and endure the temporary pain, rather than the pain that would come when I lost you after fifty years. A pain similar to what you must be experiencing now, with Gwen, even though you have a chance at getting her back.”

“I’m sorry to hear that,” Malem said. “But the choice is yours, of course. I’d love it if you stayed.”

“I can’t,” she said. She grabbed his hand, and wrapped her other around his palm at the same time, and lifted it to her cheek. She pressed against it with her soft, warm skin. “I can’t. Which is why I can never sleep with you again.”

She released him, letting his hand fall, and turned away. “When this task is done, and we’ve Broken Banvil, I’m going home.”

“Then I hope it takes a very long time to find the demon,” Malem said, before turning around to return to his tent.

18

Malem flew upon Sylfi, with Grendel in the saddle behind him. It was early morning. Below resided a barren landscape pocked by erupting volcanoes. Plains existed on the shoulders of the mountains between those volcanoes, a savanna that stretched all the way to the edge of the world. Beyond it, on the distant horizon, the land abruptly ended in what looked like a starry, black sea at this distance.

He continued approaching, until it became clear that was no sea. Instead, the land literally opened out into the darkness of the night sky. It was such a strange sight, to see night during the day.

Don’t get too close, Wendolin sent.

He turned Sylfi away from the edge, and gazed down as he traveled alongside the brink. As he watched, chunks of land broke away before his very eyes, falling into the darkness below.

Why would a pegasus hang around such an ominous place? Aurora asked.

They like the flavor of the grass that grows close to the edge, Wendolin replied.

Grendel told me they grazed here because they didn’t want to be disturbed by men, Malem said.

Good guess, but wrong, Wendolin told him. There’s something about the air this close to the edge of the world that changes the flavor of the grass in some way. The pegasi can’t get enough of it. Usually, you’ll always spot at least one or two after a day of riding on horseback. And since we’re on dragonback, we should come across them a whole lot faster.

Do they travel in herds? Aurora pressed.

No, Wendolin said. They’re solitary creatures. Not what you’d call gregarious.

It only took a few minutes of flying alongside the edge before someone spotted something.

Got one, Brita announced.

Malem squinted. Ahead, next to the brink, a white, winged shape grazed on the grass. It was very close to the edge. So much so that Malem worried the land would break away and the animal would plunge off.

Begin circling in place, Malem ordered the Metals. Weyanna, Wendolin, you know what to do.

Weyanna dove, heading for a spot about a mile in from the edge. The winged horse raised its head and watched the dragon land in the distance. Wendolin dismounted, and a moment later the white was airborne once more, and flying back to where the other Metals circled. The mob spider was still held in its talons—Weyanna had probably released the monster before landing, only to scoop it up again before take-off.

Malem waited for Wendolin to approach on foot. She moved at a jog at first, but when she closed to a hundred yards, she slowed, and advanced at a crouch.

The winged horse looked up when the tree elf was about twenty yards away, and Wendolin froze. The pegasus stared at her for several moments, and then leaped, flapping its wings to fly away.

Vines burst from the grass beneath the pegasus, and snatched it up.

The winged horse struggled in their grasp, but in moments the plants had subdued the animal, and pulled it back to the ground. More and more vines kept growing, until the animal was thoroughly subdued.

Sylfi, your turn, Malem sent.

The chromium broke away from the circling Metals, and closed with the pegasus below.

Malem felt rising terror from the animal as the chromium came in, and so he reached out, sending tranquil vibes, hoping to calm the creature.

As Sylfi came in, Malem opened his restraints and leaped off the saddle; he slid down the rope that looped underneath Sylfi’s belly to secure the saddle in place, and let go at the bottom, dropping the final yard to the ground. Sylfi didn’t even have to land.

“Show off,” Wendolin said, coming to his side.

Malem held out a hand to her, motioning for silence. While Sylfi retreated, he continued to emit calming vibes, and slowly approached the animal. Meanwhile, Wendolin backed away, giving him room.

Weyanna, retrieve Wendolin, he sent.

Malem approached, and the winged horse stared at him with a mixture of anger and fear beneath its bonds. It issued a soft squeal.

He squeezed a hand between the plants and stroked the soft hide below.

“It’s all right,” Malem said. He tried to wrap his will around the creature, but the animal was strong, and his touch evaporated.

He didn’t want to hurt the beautiful animal, but he would, if he had to. There was no time for him to break the animal the traditional way, as a horse whisperer might. Such men spent weeks and even months breaking the same animal, each day getting a little further with the animal. No, he had to subdue the creature now.

Weyanna arrived, and landed on the plain behind him, next to Wendolin. He was about to ask the tree elf to squeeze the vines that held the pegasus, but before he could do so, the ground began shifting and rumbling. Weyanna plunged as a sinkhole appeared, and he realized the weight of the white had triggered a collapse—they were too close to the edge. Weyanna flapped her wings frantically, scooping up Wendolin in one talon; she lunged toward him with her jaws, but before she could reach him, the collapse spread to his position. His hand was still pressed through the vines against the flank of the animal, and so he was drawn down with the pegasus.

He tightened his grip upon those vines as chunks of dirt and rock rained down all around him. Beside him, the animal struggled against the binds.

Malem drew Balethorn and slid the sword underneath the woody plants. He cut away the binds in rapid succession, until those wings broke free. Then he sheathed the sword and pulled himself onto its back, between those wings, and squeezed his thighs together to latch on.

“Fly, pegasus!” Malem said.

With his hands, he shoved away the chunks of rock and dirt around him as best as he was able, and then he hugged the animal’s flanks with his upper body.

“Fly!” Malem ordered.

He sensed fright and confusion from the animal, but it finally started flapping its wings. Malem discovered he could wrap his mind around the creature—the raw fear had weakened its will. That happened sometimes. He squeezed, but the animal struggled, and he couldn’t quite get a complete hold on its mind. He released it, not wanting it to have to fight two foes at once—the fall, and him.

It pulled away from the collapsing rocks, and continued flapping its wings frantically, managing to make some headway toward the topmost edge of the cliff beside them. Beside him, he could see the rocky face of the world, extending all the way down to infinity.

World without end.

A strong wind gusted contrary to their direction of motion, fighting against the pegasus.

Malem glanced over his shoulder, and looked down, away from the wall; he spotted a huge vortex spiraling in the distance: a swirling, black hole inexorably drawing them.

Soon the winged animal ceased to make any progress, and merely hovered in place, unable to break free of the vortex’s suction.

Sylfi appeared overhead, above the lip of the world; Grendel lit up in the saddle on top of her.

Time slowed down around Malem, and he realized Grendel had granted him and the pegasus a speed boost.

The pegasus made progress once more, pulling away from the vortex, but quickly tired, so that soon its upward movement ceased once more.

Malem wrapped his will around it and squeezed as hard as he was able. The winged horse didn’t resist this time, and instead gave itself completely to him. It was too exhausted to fight.

The Breaking used six slots, and weakened Malem, but he had no time to worry about any of that. He immediately drained stamina from those bound to him, and fed it all to the pegasus.

Fly! Malem ordered the animal.

And fly it did. It continued upward, boosted by Grendel’s buff, and Malem’s stamina. He continued to feed it endurance until it reached the top of the cliff face, and as soon as it flew over the edge, the downward pull ceased, and the pegasus broke free. It swooped upward and outward, moving away from the end of the world. The relief flowed from its energy bundle in waves.

But then it tried to fight his will, so Malem took away some of the stamina he had just gifted, instead sharing it with the others.

The animal’s flight faltered, and it ceased its struggles. It plunged, and Malem quickly fed it more stamina, but the pegasus didn’t right itself.

What are you doing? he sent. Fly!

He sensed defiance from the animal, and gave it more stamina, but it didn’t help. The pegasus was going to kill them both, because apparently it would rather die than serve a man.

Malem tightened his will, squeezing hard, and let his order echo through the animal’s skull.

FLY.

Finally, it began flapping its wings, at essentially the last moment, and pulled up.

Is it just me, or was the pegasus playing a game of chicken with you just now? Weyanna asked.

It was certainly defying me, Malem replied.

Well, you did it, Sylfi said. I’m almost a little surprised. I thought it would be harder.

That certainly wasn’t effortless, Malem said. I know, I make it look easy, but…

He was already flying instinctively away from the edge of the world, and the dragons had taken up positions alongside.

Hey, how is the pegasus able to keep pace with us? Brita asked.

It must be because of Grendel, Malem said. Sylfi, ask her how long she can maintain the speed boost.

Sylfi rotated her head in mid-flight to address the light mage upon her back. She wasn’t glowing anymore, Malem noticed.

Hm, Sylfi said. She says she stopped a while ago. When you drained her of stamina.

Interesting, Malem said. I’m curious to see how long the pegasus can keep up this pace.

But a few hours later, the animal was still keeping pace with the dragons. It seemed to consider it a challenge. He could sense pride welling from the animal whenever it glanced to one side and saw that it was slightly ahead of the Metals.

You know, I think this is going to be my new preferred mount, Malem sent.

He sensed jealousy from Sylfi. At least until you give up the animal to Euryale, she told him.

I name it Lantos, a lantern in the dark, Malem announced.

Don’t be going and naming it, Aurora said. You’ll just get attached to it. Sylfi’s right, you promised the animal to Euryale.

And so I did, he admitted. He stroked Lantos between the ears. I’m not attached to it.

He was lying to himself. The animal had saved him from the vortex at the end of the world. It flew as fast as dragons, and hadn’t yet flagged after hours at that speed. True, he had intermittently fed it stamina, but he had to do the same with the dragons. So either way, it was an amazing animal.

It’s going to be hard to give it up.

He reminded himself that Gwen’s life was at stake. As much as he hated to admit it, he would gladly trade the life of the pegasus for Gwen.

19

Malem stopped every four hours or so, when the animal’s flanks would be soaked in perspiration, to let the pegasus rest and graze. The dragons appreciated the pauses, and sometimes made quick food runs. Malem shared salted meat with anyone who wanted it, and gave extra stamina to the pegasus, drawing from himself, and the other riders.

They rode on all through that day, and late into the night. He had to make more pauses, because the horse, and the dragons, were growing tired from the journey. The Metals were especially weary, since they had essentially been flying for two days straight, with only a short three hour rest after the first day, and the smaller stops in between.

With dawn only a few hours away, Malem forced the dragons and the pegasus to fly faster and further than ever before, not pausing to rest. They arrived at the keep just in time with the rising sun, and when Malem landed, the pegasus, sides heaving, body covered in perspiration, folded its wings and collapsed.

He rolled off its back and quickly fed the animal stamina.

“I never told you to kill the animal!” the familiar voice of Euryale came from the entrance to the keep.

Malem backed away from the pegasus, and hid behind a statue.

The metals had landed behind him, and they transformed back into humans so that they, too, could take cover. So far, Euryale hadn’t struck, but that could change at any moment.

Weyanna had deposited the mob spider on the ground in the courtyard, and it had taken cover. He told it to disperse the arachnids toward the entrance, and he hopped between viewpoints as they crawled down until he found one that had the doorway to the keep in sight. He could see Euryale standing there impatiently.

“The pegasus lives!” Malem called.

He fed it more stamina, and then ordered Lantos to stand. The weakened animal obeyed, its sides still heaving slightly from the effort of the past few hours.

“You have almost driven it to the ground,” Euryale said. “This was not part of the deal.”

“It will recover,” Malem said. “I had no choice but to rush back here, given the terms you laid out. Now, I have fulfilled my end of the bargain. You will fulfill yours.”

“You’re too late,” Euryale said. “I told you to come before the dawn.”

“No,” Malem said slowly. “You said, return no later than the dawn.” He glanced at the light in the distance. “The sun has yet to completely crest the horizon. Technically, it is still dawn. And so you will restore her. You will live up to your end of the bargain. ”

Euryale approached. She went to the pegasus. The animal balked, stepping back, but Malem ordered it to stand its ground. He sent soothing vibes to Lantos, knowing that he was betraying the animal.

I’m going to abandon the poor animal. But I have no choice. For Gwen.

“Look at that, you’re not even afraid!” Euryale told the pegasus. “Little horsy, you’re not afraid! You’re so brave!”

And she caressed its flanks. Malem half expected it to turn to stone. He hadn’t been sure whether Euryale had told the truth about the animal, and wondered if she wanted the pegasus for more nefarious reasons.

But it didn’t turn to stone.

“Come on, little pony,” Euryale said. “Come on.”

She grabbed the animal by the chin, and led it forward. It resisted her at first, snorting in protest. It held its head and tail high.

Malem prodded it forward with his mind. It issued one last snort, flexing its wings and knocking down nearby statues, but then followed.

She led it toward the entrance. Malem glanced urgently at the sun. It was almost past the horizon. Another minute, maybe two…

“That’s far enough,” he called. “Restore Gwen, or suffer the consequences.”

“I told you, you came too late,” Euryale said over her shoulder. “She’s lost.”

“Nonetheless, you will try,” Malem said.

“Fuck off!” Euryale said, continuing toward the doorway.

Malem nodded at Aurora.

She raised her hands, and summoned three mini-Balors, directly in front of Euryale.

The Gorgon cast her gaze upon the creatures, and the demons immediately began turning to stone. But they approached her menacingly nonetheless, and swatted with their weapons. She was forced to back away, abandoning the pegasus. She retreated, but bad luck brought her into the line of sight of the mob spider. Grinning maliciously, she released threads of greenish-black magic, and struck the spider.

Malem’s vision abruptly snapped back inside of himself, and he felt that familiar boomerang that came with losing a monster bound to him. He slumped, drained of energy. He glanced in the direction of the spider, which was crouched behind Zach’s body, and saw that it had turned to stone. Those arachnids that weren’t on its back were scrambling away in random directions.

Euryale cackled; her voice rose in volume, so he knew she was approaching.

Scatter! Malem ordered.

They were fighting blind, now. He had to assume that the three mini-Balors were out there, flushing her toward them, but they wouldn’t be in the game for very long.

How are we supposed to kill something we can’t even look at! Aurora said. Or hear?

Can you access the vision of your demons? Malem asked.

What? Aurora replied. No. Wish I could!

But then Malem realized he had another beast he could use to look at the Gorgon. One that was immune to her power.

Dummy!

He tapped into the pegasus’ eyes, and instantly the scene became clear before him.

Sylfi and Brita had retrieved their bows from their saddles, and were fully clothed; they stepped from cover to release experimental shots in the direction of the gorgon. They kept their eyes closed.

They lined up their shots and scored hits. However, that attracted the attention of the gorgon, and Euryale sent her spirals of deadly magic at them. The two dodged behind the stone bodies of nearby monsters, escaping the magic.

The gorgon rapidly sped toward their positions.

But then Wendolin grew branches from the fletchings still embedded in the gorgon’s body, and formed a cage. This time, Euryale didn’t turn that cage to stone, and attempt to tear through it with her hands and jaws.

But Wendolin kept growing those branches in profusion, until Euryale was firmly bound.

“Now then, you are mine again,” Malem said. “Restore Gwen, as you promised.”

He glanced at the sun. It had just crested the horizon. Was he really too late?

Euryale sighed. “Bring her to me.”

Aurora, another mini-Balor… he sent, since the other three had already turned to stone.

She summoned a demon in front of the fountain, and it grabbed the statue of Gwen and lifted it over one arm. The demon approached Euryale, guided by Aurora, and kept its gaze averted.

“It can look at me,” the Gorgon said. “I won’t turn it to stone.”

Don’t trust her, Malem said.

Don’t intend to, Aurora agreed.

The min-Balor arrived, and deposited Gwen in front of her. Gwen was still crouching of course, so it looked like she was bowed before the Gorgon.

Euryale reached out, between her plant binds, and laid a hand upon Gwen’s head.

The stone coloration began to leave Gwen’s form, starting with the boots, rising up the dragonscale leggings, then the chest, down her arms, her hands, and finally toward the head. Stone flesh became light green. And when her hair had returned to its natural coloration, the Gorgon quickly removed its hand.

Euryale’s skin had taken on a darker shade of gray as she absorbed the stone, her form apparently further solidifying. He sensed pain from the creature, and when Euryale withdrew her arm, her movements were slow, jerky.

“It’s done,” the Gorgon said.

He felt Gwen in his head again.

She raised her head in confusion. Man, I’m stiff. What happened?

Get back, quickly! Malem said.

Gwen leaped to her feet and started when she saw the woman with the snakes for hair bound before her. Gwen turned around and ran between the statues until she spotted him, and ducked for cover.

“What happened?” she repeated. “One moment I’m firing my bow, and then ducking to avoid the Gorgon’s return magic, and the next thing I know I’m standing in front of the creature!”

“Long story,” he told her. Tears welled in his eyes. “Just know that I’m so happy to see you.” He gave her a hug.

She patted him in confusion. “Thanks.”

“You died,” Xaxia said from beside him.

“Oh,” Gwen said, pulling away. “Sorry about that.”

Malem shrugged. “It happens. Now quickly, let’s get inside the keep. We have a portal to enter.” He glanced at Aurora. “Place the mini-Balor directly in front of Euryale. Block the keep from her vision.”

Aurora nodded. “It’s done. She won’t see us.”

“Let me go!” Euryale cried.

Malem ignored her. He glanced at his companions. “Are you ready?”

“Should we bring the saddles?” Weyanna asked.

“No,” Malem replied. “Too bulky. I’m hopeful there won’t be any more resistance inside the keep, but we might not be out of the woods yet. Plus, I’m not sure how big the portal is. The saddles might not fit. We’ll just bring along the harnesses we need to secure ourselves. And stow your clothes in our backpacks.”

Taking care to stay out of the Gorgon’s line of sight, he went to Sylfi's saddlebag and retrieved the harnesses in question, and shoved them into his pack. The other riders did the same. He also stowed some spare clothing for Sylfi, just in case.

He went to Lantos, and directed the pegasus toward the keep. Its footfalls clopped loudly on the stone below.

“My pegasus!” Euryale wailed. “You’re taking my pegasus!”

“She just turned my demon to stone,” Aurora said.

Malem nodded. He switched to the viewpoint of the pegasus, and had the animal look back. He confirmed that the stone form of the mini-Balor still blocked him and the others from sight. He instructed the animal to keep looking back, and to alert him if it spotted streams of green-black magic coming their way. He didn’t want to risk looking back himself, in case he should accidentally catch sight of the creature. Aurora could be wrong about the stone demon’s alignment, after all.

The party reached the keep and quickly rushed inside. They hurried down the stone corridors, heading toward where the mob spider had earlier reported the portal.

Lantos’ hooves continued to make loud clip-clops.

“You got a new friend, I see,” Gwen said, nodding at the pegasus.

“I did indeed,” Malem agreed.

“So when are you going to update me on what happened?” she asked.

Malem did so.

“Sorry,” she said. “You went through a lot of work for me.”

“And I’d do it again, in a heartbeat,” Malem said. He glanced at the others. “For any of you.” He nodded at Lantos. “Besides, like you said, I acquired a new friend along the way.”

“What are we going to do about Euryale?” Wendolin asked.

“Leave her as she is,” Malem said. “I’m sure she’ll chew her way out eventually.”

Wendolin nodded. “You can be cruel sometimes.”

“When I face somebody who would hurt those close to me, yes I can,” Malem agreed.

Grendel and Weyanna led the way, ready to strike in case they encountered more of Euryale’s minions, but the companions met no resistance.

They turned onto the final corridor that led to the chamber containing the light portal. Ahead, the light was nearly blinding, and Malem squinted, shielding his eyes.

He and the others approached warily. Beside him, Lantos snorted nervously. Malem fed the animal calming vibes.

The portal was about the size of a man, though about three times as wide.

“Looks like the saddles would have fit after all,” Brita commented.

“We’re not going back for them now,” Malem said.

“So what do we do?” Xaxia asked. “Just step through?”

“That’s right,” Grendel said.

And so, the party members entered one by one, led by Grendel.

When Malem’s turn came, he stepped through with Lantos—it was big enough to fit them both. He was surrounded by warmth, and his vision filled with light so bright that he could no longer see the pegasus, or anything else but that all-encompassing glow. Though the radiance consumed all, it didn’t hurt his eyes, not in the least.

And when it faded, he was in a new land entirely.

20

Malem stood at the top of a rise. Ahead of him was a bright valley filled with emerald trees whose branches sparkled with silver and gold fruit. A river ran through it, sourced from a bright, golden waterfall that fell from another rise nearby, the spray creating a picturesque rainbow. The rise itself sparkled silver and platinum beneath the brilliant sun. Just as with the glow from a moment before, he found that he could look at that sun without hurting his eyes, which was odd for someone like him, whose eyes were optimized for the night.

He glanced behind, searching for the portal back, but there was only forest behind him. As the remaining companions entered, they appeared in random positions, slightly offset around him.

He glanced at Grendel. “Did you know the portal was one way?”

She nodded.

“Now you tell us,” Xaxia said.

“I assumed you knew,” Grendel said. “Sorry.”

Gwen was staring at the valley ahead of her. “You guys tell me I died… but if that’s true, why don’t I remember coming to a land like this? This is the real paradise! Who cares if we can’t go back? Let’s stay here!”

“All that glitters is not gold,” Wendolin said.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Xaxia said. “Of course if gold glitters, it’s going to be gold!”

“It means don’t always trust your eyes,” Wendolin said. “Fool’s gold glitters just as well as real gold. It also means: don’t drop your guard. You’re in no less danger in this realm than you were in the Black Realm.”

“She’s right,” Grendel said. “There are monsters here to rival any you will find in the Black Realm. And we are not safe even from the Paragons. They are beings of light, yes. Creatures of balance. But that does not mean they are inherently good. Like men, and even Balors, their personalities run the gamut from good to evil. Some Paragons can be so very cruel. Others benevolent.”

There were trees on the rise, and Timlir was standing beneath one of them. He leaned against the bark to adjust one of his boots, and started as a flock of songbirds launched from the branches above in profusion. He unlooped his ax from his belt, and gazed nervously into the branches.

“So, I am in the land where my power is sourced,” Grendel said. “Finally. I never thought my travels would ever take me to this place.”

“How does it feel?” Malem asked.

“Like I’ve completed a long journey, and finally come to its end,” Grendel said.

“Yet our journey is only beginning,” he said.

“So it is,” she agreed. She gave him a sad glance that reminded him of their conversation the night before, as if to say: “Our journey is only beginning, yes, but it will come to an end all too soon, and we must be parted.”

Lantos pressed against Malem, reminding him of the animal’s presence, and he patted the creature’s flank reassuringly. He sensed tranquility coming from the animal. Lantos was completely relaxed in this environment. For the moment.

The sight of the waterfalls below reminded Malem he would have to bathe, soon. Hang out with horses too often, even one as beautiful as Lantos, and you began to smell like them. Not even pegasi were free of the stench.

But now was not the time for bathing.

“Earlier, you mentioned there were creatures here called Trabeculae,” Malem asked Grendel. “Capable of tracking the Dark. Where can we find one?”

“I’m not actually sure,” Grendel replied.

Aurora threw up her arms. “We come all this way, and now you tell us this?”

Grendel glanced at Malem. “You would have come regardless, am I right?”

Malem nodded. “I would have.”

“I can tell you what they look like,” she said. “They are humanoid in shape, though their skin is like that of an insect: an exoskeleton, black and hard. They have long muzzles containing proboscises, and large, insectile eyes.”

“Sound like big beetles,” Xaxia said.

“Essentially,” she said. “Except they can’t fly. They are gregarious nomads, and live together in temporary dwellings made from mud and saliva.”

“Yuck,” Gwen said. “I’m liking these creatures less and less.”

“So you have no idea where to find them?” Malem asked.

Grendel gazed out across the valley. “Maybe on the plains beyond the vale?”

“What plains?” Malem gazed past the edge of the vale, and spotted the rolling grassland beyond. “Never mind.”

“So wait, once we find them, how are we going to get them to help us?” Sylfi glanced at Grendel. “You said they were intelligent creatures. I assume that means you can speak their language?”

“Those who came to our realm spoke common,” Grendel said. “So I’m hopeful the language hasn’t died off among them.”

“We’ll have to wing it,” Malem said. “As always. All right, Metals, transform. Let’s explore this new world, and find ourselves some Trabeculae.”

The dragons changed.

“Timlir, you’ll ride Sylfi with Grendel.” Malem tossed the dwarf the harness necessary to secure himself to the dragon and Grendel.

“Finally,” Timlir said, hefting the gear. “I get a permanent mount.”

“I’m not your mount,” Sylfi said. “You’re my package.”

Timlir shrugged. “Semantics.”

Sylfi undressed, and Malem shielded her from the others with his body. He held his gaze averted, keeping a watchful eye on Timlir, who was on his best behavior. A moment later Sylfi towered over him in chromium form, crowding against the nearby trees and cliff. Malem scooped her clothes off the ground and shoved them into his backpack.

A few moments later, the party was flying across the vale. Malem led the way atop Lantos—he’d modified a spare harness formerly used to secure himself to the dragons, and instead repurposed it to the pegasus. He was confident now that he wouldn’t fall off the animal if he needed to do any aerobatic maneuvers.

He didn’t see any beasts in the valley below, other than avians, but that was probably because the abundant vegetation concealed them. He did, in fact, sense a variety of energy bundles beneath the foliage, some far too big to belong to birds. At one point, he caught a glimpse of the owner of one of the bigger energies when massive, reptilian jaws snapped up through the trees and crunched down upon a particularly big avian; he didn’t actually see the creature connected to those jaws, however.

The valley fell away, replaced by the verdant plain. Its greenery stretched as far as the eye could see in the forward direction.

You know, I wish our world looked like this, Gwen said.

It does, in places, Wendolin said. It used to be like this everywhere. Before man came.

That’s right, blame men, Malem said.

I meant humans, of course, Wendolin said.

So did I, Malem said.

He sensed hesitation from her energy bundle.

Oh, she sent. Well, I suppose the Balors are also responsible. They unleashed many monsters from the Black Realm into our world. I’m surprised the Paragons allowed it. Though I suppose in their twisted world view, the Paragons considered the monsters, and you men, a balance to us elves.

I wonder where the Paragons are, Gwen said.

Malem did as well. You know, Banvil once told me there were many sub-realms in the Black Realm. And that the Balors hadn’t interacted in years because of that. I never really saw any evidence of it. But I wonder if the same is true here in the Light Realm.

Hmm, Wendolin said. It’s possible. But I think Banvil was probably trying to deceive you. Though I admit, there are sub-realms in our own world. We tree elves live within one.

Probably, Malem agreed. So you don’t think the Paragons are dispersed inside sub-realms of this one?

Again, I don’t really know, Wendolin said. If Grendel were linked with us, I doubt she would know the answer, either.

As usual, Lantos was able to hold its own with the Metals, without Grendel having to grant a buff. Malem maintained a moderate pace, not wanting to exhaust the animal too early.

Finally he began to see the creatures that dominated this realm as the dragons passed over the occasional herds on the plains below. The beasts composing those herds all had a similar appearance… they reminded him of elephants with long necks and iridescent skin, mostly, though some species had longer, stilt-like legs. Most of them were spooked into a gallop when they spotted Malem and the dragons, even though he kept his party flying relatively high.

Malem sensed all of the creatures on the plains below. Some were weak-willed, others strong-willed. He Broke a few of the former, just to confirm that he could, and released them. The drain varied from negligible, to tiring, with the slots used ranging from one to four.

The herds continued to run away when the dragons passed overhead, at least until the Metals came across a particular large variant of the species, these ones towering across the plains, vaguely reminding him of the stilt walkers that had served Denfidal. These bigger specimens remained in place when the dragons approached, and tilted their long necks to gaze at him curiously.

You know, a lot of these creatures have long necks, Brita said. But I don’t understand it. You don’t need long necks to graze. And they’re not grazing, as far as I can tell. And there are no trees for miles around. Instead they stand there, snapping at the empty air, it looks like.

I think they’re eating insects, Wendolin said. If you look closely, you can see they exist in stratified layers in the air below. We’re above the topmost layer.

Thankfully! Gwen said. I hate mosquitoes.

Yes, well, the ones in the higher layers are about the size of birds, as far as I can tell, Wendolin said.

Yuck! came Gwen’s response. But I guess that explains the long necks on these guys.

After a while, they did fly over a copse. The trees were normal, at least, like in the valley he had seen before, if a little larger than average. There were some more of the long necked creatures lined up on the branches, but they seemed to be ferreting out the birds—or insects—that existed in those boughs, rather than munching on the actual leaves.

The companions came across a smaller race that loitered outside silvery, hut-shaped dwellings on the plain. They were vaguely humanoid in shape, as Grendel had promised, and seemed to have long muzzles, though he couldn’t be entirely sure at this distance. He thought they were gazing up at the dragons crossing the sky, but otherwise didn’t show any signs of fear.

Those look like potential Trabeculae candidates, Malem said. Big beetles…

They fit the bill, Wendolin said. Except their exoskeletons are iridescent, not black. And those dwellings look like they’re made of silver, not mud and saliva.

Malem glanced at Sylfi. Ask Grendel if they are Trabeculae.

The chromium dragon lifted her head over one shoulder and spoke to Grendel. The light mage, seated behind Timlir between the dragon’s wings, gazed down, then yelled some response Malem could not hear.

She says no. Sylfi twisted her head forward once more. Guess we keep flying.

Guess so, he agreed.

They continued advancing along those plains, encountering no airborne resistance. He did discern flocks of large, birdlike creatures in the distance to the left and right, but they stayed well away from the pegasus and the dragons.

And then he spotted a glittering tower of gold in the distance.

Well, lookee here, Gwen said. What do you think that is?

Might as well investigate, Malem said. I’m sure the Metals could all use a rest anyway. Lantos certainly could.

He turned Lantos toward the golden tower, and the companions made their way toward the landmark.

Shortly, they were flying past one of the biggest buildings Malem had ever seen. Cylindrical in shape, flat-roofed, and made entirely of gold, it was literally the home of a giant.

I estimate that tower contains at least fifty or sixty stories, Wendolin sent.

Could be a Paragon’s home, Gwen said.

Could be, Malem agreed. Let’s land on the rooftop. There’s room enough for all you dragons. Plus, if I’m not mistaken, there’s an opening of some kind we can use for entry.

Remember the warning Grendel gave, Wendolin said. Not all Paragons are friendly.

Noted, Malem told her.

They approached the tower’s rooftop. The “doorway” Malem had seen was huge, able to fit all three dragons at the same time. Within, he spotted large steps leading down. Each one was the height of a house.

Guess we won’t be walking inside… Gwen said.

No, Malem said. We fly.

And so Malem led them down those spiraling stairs on the back of Lantos. The Metals remained in dragon form, flapping beside him, seeming like birds in relation to the size of those stairs.

Why do I feel like a fly hitching a ride on the back of an eagle or something? Gwen said.

The stairs wound around the outer wall, while in the center of the tower, the space was open, giving a view of the next flight below.

Malem flew off the edge of the stairs, and headed straight for the stone floor below. As he neared the bottom, he saw large furniture decorating the place—benches, carpets, tapestries. All of it ostensibly designed for a giant.

Different rooms branched outward from the chamber. One of them seemed to be a bedroom, another an observation room, replete with telescope at the window.

A giant humanoid of pure light sat in front of that telescope. It had an egg-shaped head, stilt-like arms and legs, and iridescent globes where breasts would be.

It turned from the window to face Malem and the dragons.

“I’ve watched your approach for a while now,” the creature said in a kind, feminine voice. “Welcome. I am Iridaceae.”

It was a Paragon.

21

Unlike the Paragons Malem had seen in his world, the glow from Iridaceae didn’t hurt his eyes. Probably some property of this realm, a part of his mind noted.

The other part couldn’t still the sudden rapid beating of his heart.

“Hello,” Malem called, circling to land Lantos just outside the room where the Paragon resided. The dragons landed beside him.

Iridaceae stood up and gazed down upon him. “Why have you come to the Light Realm? Is your world unbalanced?”

“No, but yours is,” Malem said.

The Paragon cocked her head. “How so?”

“Darkness has invaded it,” Malem said. “A Balor has come.”

“A Balor?” Iridaceae said. “Impossible. They cannot pass through the seals into our realm.”

“Yeah, well, Banvil has found a way,” Malem said. “He came via a human vessel. He used a ring known as The Luminsol.”

“The Luminsol,” Iridaceae said. “I have heard of this ring. Though I thought it lost an age ago.” She paused. “If the Balor indeed came inside a human vessel, then it is true, the demon could have entered with this ring. But tell me, when did Banvil arrive?”

“A few days ago,” Malem said.

“I must alert the others,” Iridaceae said. She made some sort of gesture with her hands, and then a globe of light floated from her palms. It darted from the window, and passed from view outside.

“It’s done?” Malem asked.

Iridaceae nodded that glowing head. “They will be alerted.”

“Do you know why Banvil has come here?” Malem said.

“I have an inkling,” the Paragon said.

“Is it to hide from the other Balors?” Malem asked. “And recoup its strength?”

“I don’t believe so,” Iridaceae said. “As the Balor grows in power, it would soon exceed the capacity of its human vessel, and would have to abandon it. When that happens, the closest Paragons would sense the demon, and hunt it down. No, I believe Banvil came here for a far more nefarious reason.”

Malem waited for the Paragon to explain, and when she did not, he said: “And that reason is?”

But in answer, she said: “You should not be here.”

“We’re hunting the Balor,” Malem said. “We mean to bring him back.”

“No you’re not, and you won’t,” Iridaceae said. “The Light Realm is not for your kind. It is a dangerous place for creatures such as yourselves. You have survived thus far only out of luck alone. But that will change, very quickly. You’re not safe on the ground, or in the air. You are dwarfed by most entities here, least of all Paragons. If you stay, trust me, you will die.”

The way she said that latter word, die—a screeching, irritating sound—caused Lantos to snort uncomfortably.

It’s okay, boy, he sent.

“Well, I’d certainly love to return,” Malem said. “However, we have no way to get back. The portal we took was one way.”

“I can open a doorway for you,” she said. “Here…”

“Well, that was easy,” Xaxia commented softly.

“Wait,” Malem told the Paragon. “I never told you we’d take this doorway if you opened it.”

Iridaceae paused. “I already told you, you can’t stay. Especially not unsupervised.”

“Then supervise us,” Malem said.

“When you say it like that,” Gwen said, “you make it sound like we’re a couple of unruly kids in a classroom.”

“Come with us,” Malem pressed the Paragon. “Let us hunt Banvil together.”

He wanted to ensure the Paragons didn’t kill Goldenthall, and thus Banvil. He needed the Balor to stay alive, if he wanted to maintain his powers.

“Sadly, I cannot,” Iridaceae said.

“But you need me,” Malem said. “You see, I’m bound to this Balor. I can Break it.”

Iridaceae cocked her head. “You are the Breaker Malem that Corinne spoke of?”

“That would be me,” Malem said.

“Why didn’t you say so?” the Paragon told him. “Yes, of course, then you must journey with me. Has the demon tried to assert control over your mind, yet?”

“Once,” Malem said. “Which is what kicked off our journey in the first place.”

“It will try again,” Iridaceae said. “And soon, especially if it grows in power. There is a magic talisman you can wear, an amulet that will protect you from the demon’s control, no matter how powerful Banvil becomes.”

Malem nodded. “That sounds exactly like what I need. I believe I had such an item before, given to me by an undead king. However, I lost it in battle—it shattered when Vorgon assailed me with too much Darkness.”

“There is another in this realm,” Iridaceae said. “I will tell Corinne to bring it to me.”

She made that familiar gesture, and another light globe left her palms and floated out the window before vanishing from view.

“When will she arrive?” Malem asked.

“I can’t say,” Iridaceae replied. “An hour. A day. She will meet us on the march.”

“She can track you like that?” Gwen said.

“Of course,” the Paragon said. “Now listen carefully, once the talisman is in your possession, you must wear it at all times. It must touch your skin constantly. When you fight. When you bathe. When you make love. If ever you take it off, you will become the demon’s. Especially when Banvil grows in power.”

Malem considered this. “When I wore the amulet the undead king gave me, it rested on my armor.”

“It would have still protected you from attacks by external Darkness,” the Paragon said. “Preventing a Balor from tracking you, or striking you with its evil power. But it would not have saved you from attacks from within.”

That made sense, given Malem’s experiences against Vorgon.

“I understand,” he said. “So. You were saying you would join us. I guess that means we’ll need to find a Trabeculae to hunt Goldenthall… unless you have another way to sense the demon inside him.”

“Until the Balor grows stronger, no, I cannot,” Iridaceae said. “We will need a Trabeculae. There is a tribe not far to the south of here, if I’m not mistaken.”

“South…” Malem prodded Lantos forward, until he could see the sun through the large window behind her; he used it orient himself, and then pointed at the wall to his right. “Is south that way?”

“It is,” she said.

“We flew here from that direction,” Malem said. “We didn’t see this tribe.”

The Paragon frowned. “Are you certain?”

“Yes,” Malem said. “Well, there were a few iridescent beings lounging outside silver huts, and further south, some—”

“That is them,” the Paragon said.

“The iridescent beings?” he pressed.

She nodded.

Malem glanced at Grendel. “I thought you said that wasn’t them?”

Grendel looked down sheepishly. “They look different than I remember. They were never iridescent like that, and the huts they made were black, not silver.”

“In your realm, their coloration is different,” the Paragon said. “Darker.”

“Oh,” Grendel said. “That explains it.”

“I can’t believe we passed right over them, thanks to you,” Xaxia said. “We could have been out there for days, weeks even, ignoring other Tribeca or whatever tribes like that, just because you got their colors confused.”

“I’m sorry,” Grendel said. “I couldn’t… it was my fault. I take full responsibility.”

“Like that means anything,” Xaxia told her. “The Breaker isn’t going to punish you.” She glanced at him hopefully. “Or are you?”

“It was a mistake any of us could have made,” Malem said. “And it doesn’t matter now anyway. We’ve only lost a few hours. We head south, seek out these Trabeculae.”

Xaxia folded her arms. “And she won’t be punished, like I said.”

“I’m sure you’ll find a suitable way to punish her on your own,” Gwen commented.

“I’m sure I will,” Xaxia said, scowling at Gwen, and Grendel.

A few minutes later, the lot of them were heading back the way they had come upon the plains. The dragons, and Lantos, flew at shoulder level with Iridaceae, who easily kept pace as she advanced at a brisk walk.

It wasn’t long until the Trabeculae tribe appeared in the distance once more. They loitered outside their silvery huts, but this time stood up when they saw the Paragon approaching.

Iridaceae stopped half a mile from the perimeter of the camp. “It’s better to let them approach. Otherwise, if we come any closer, it could be interpreted as an act of aggression. If you land, it will be easier to converse with them.”

Malem and the others descended. This was the first time they had passed through the stratified layers of bugs Wendolin had speculated the plains creatures fed upon—the Paragon’s rooftop had been well above it. Malem was forced to swat away the insects, some of which were as big as birds.

Yuck! Gwen sent. Just ate a huge bug!

I’ve been eating them all the way down, Weyanna said. Willingly.

Gross! Gwen returned.

Hey, good source of protein, Weyanna said.

The insects became smaller as the party closed with the ground, ceasing entirely a couple of yards above the surface. The dragons let down their riders, while Malem dismounted Lantos. The upper parts of the Metals lay within the insect swarms, but their scales seemed to protect them from any irritation. He did see Sylfi and the other two occasionally flick an ear when an insect bothered them, and sometimes they snapped at something with their jaws, but for the most part, they seemed unaffected.

“It looks like the insects don’t descend less than two yards from the ground,” Xaxia said, coming to his side.

“They actually do descend, if there is suitable prey,” Iridaceae said. “Also, your bodies are incompatible with the blood suckers of this realm.”

“Here’s to incompatibility.” Gwen raised an imaginary mug in toast. “But you know, it’s a good thing we didn’t bring Mauritania with us. She’s too damn tall… her head would be permanently stuck in that layer.”

“What about the dragons?” Xaxia said.

“Yeah, that can’t be fun for them,” Gwen said.

“They could always transform back into humans,” Aurora added. “Besides, less imposing that way.”

“No,” Malem said. “That won’t be necessary, I think. Given we have a Paragon with us. The epitome of imposing…”

A small contingent of three Trabeculae approached from the camp. They looked almost like men at first, but as they got closer, he could definitely see they were more insect-like. While they had two arms and two legs, a torso, and a head, they were covered in an iridescent exoskeleton. On their backs were small, folded prehensile wings, the translucent edges visible on either side of their torsos. Their mouths were mandibles, with a large proboscis in the center. Their eyes protruded from either side of the head, and were insectile—spherical in shape, and covered in many smaller, dome-like lenses that were packed together on the surface. Two antennae resided above each eye, long, drooping things that skimmed the ground in front of each Trabeculae.

The smaller insects overhead left the three Trabeculae alone, just as they did most of Malem’s party.

The trio stopped about twenty yards in front of Malem and the Paragon. They gazed up, and one of them, whom Malem assumed was the leader, stepped forward. It wore a small cord necklace strung with a row of sharp teeth, a necklace that the others did not have. In fact, that was the only clothing the entity wore.

When the Trabeculae spoke, its words were obviously meant for Iridaceae, as a series of screeches and clicks emerged from its mandibles.

The Paragon replied with: “Speak the Common of the realm of men, for the sake of my companions. If you have not forgotten it.”

The lead Trabeculae glanced at Malem, and its antennae folded backward before continuing. “We have not forgotten.” It gazed up at the Paragon once more. “I am Jephestaus, chieftain of the Long Maw. Why do you encroach, Seeker of Balance?”

“Darkness has entered our realm in the form of a Balor,” Iridaceae said. “We need your help to find it.”

“A Balor?” Jephestaus said. “You can detect the Darkness of a Balor just as easily as we.”

The Paragon nodded. “Yes. But this Balor has hidden itself within a vessel: a man. We cannot sense the demon. Am I correct in assuming that since you are chieftain, you are also the most skilled in the Scent?”

“You are correct,” Jephestaus said. “However, I cannot help you.”

“Then at least permit someone less skilled in the Scent to help,” Iridaceae said.

“No member of my tribe will help you,” the chieftain said. “I am sorry. Now you must go. You draw attention to us, with your height.”

“The Balance of our realm may be at stake…” Iridaceae said. “If this Darkness takes hold, Paragons might fall. If we fall, the lesser races are next.”

“Lesser races.” Jephestaus almost spat the words. “Your attitudes never change. See, this is why we cannot help you. No, Light Being, it is your job to see to the Balance of the realm, not ours. We are your slaves no longer. Now good day.”

With that, Jephestaus turned about and began to march back.

“We will have to find another tribe,” the Paragon told Malem. “One more amicable to working with us.”

“Can’t you force them?” Aurora asked. “You’re slightly bigger…”

“I cannot,” Iridaceae said. “We have laws against it.” She thought for a moment. “There is another tribe of Trabeculae half a day’s march to the east, if I’m not mistaken. Let’s go.”

But then the ground began to shake.

The trio of Trabeculae looked about in confusion, and then the chieftain shouted something, and broke into a run alongside the others. They were racing back to their camp.

Malem saw them then. These towering, alligator-like creatures with the tusks of boars, rampaging in from the west. Most were about twice the size of the Metals, while the largest among them reached to the thighs of the Paragon.

“They look like a cross between alligators and boars!” Gwen said. “I’m calling them alligaboars!”

“Call them what you want,” Xaxia said. “It’s not going to change the fact that we’re in deep shit!”

“Looks like my presence has drawn a few hungry denizens of the Light Realm,” Iridaceae said. “Get ready to fight. Protect the Trabeculae!”

22

Malem mounted Lantos and drew Balethorn.

“We should flee,” Aurora said.

He shook his head. “No. Besides the fact it’s wrong, maybe if we help them, the Trabeculae will help us.”

“It’s not wrong to save our own skin!” Aurora said as she dashed onto Sylfi’s back with Wendolin.

Three mini-Balors erupted from the ground, and charged the incoming alligaboars. The monsters plowed through them, and dove at Iridaceae.

She punched them aside with her fists, which glowed a brighter white than the rest of her body—this time becoming almost blinding to look at. The monsters flew away, landing on the ground, only to get up again a moment later. They shook their heads, and rushed her anew.

The dragons had taken to the air, and released flames at the monsters. The lit-up beasts snapped at them with their jaws, but the dragons simply flew higher, beyond their reach.

Malem joined in the assault, and flew close enough to an alligaboar to swipe his blade at its eyes. The creature snapped at him, and Lantos dodged out of the way, flying higher.

Some of the smaller alligaboars rushed past Iridaceae and the dragons, drawn by the movements of the retreating Trabeculae—evidently seeking easier prey. The monsters quickly closed with the camp, and thrashed through the silver huts, uprooting them, impaling and swallowing squirming Trabeculae along the way.

“Protect the Trabeculae!” the Paragon said.

Malem steered toward the village, along with the dragons.

When he arrived, Malem realized smaller, opportunistic creatures traveled on the backs of the giant boars; spider-like things with sideways-opening maws located directly underneath their thoraxes. These monsters, about three times as big as ordinary men, were leaping down in waves to wreak further havoc among the camp. They could scoop up individual Trabeculae and devour them in moments. Though once individual spider monsters had eaten, they seemed to be sated, and they retreated into the surrounding grass, or climbed back onto the backs of the alligaboars.

A spider monster was chasing a pair of Trabeculae that Malem assumed were a woman and child, as the former held the later in her arms as she ran.

Malem swooped low, and leaped off Lantos to land on the back of that monster. He plunged his sword through its torso upon impact, and the spider screamed, before collapsing. Malem rolled off the body, withdrawing Balethorn as he leaped to the ground—the blade gave him no stamina for the kill.

Around him, vines grew from the ground and snatched up spider monsters. Light whips appeared from above, and wrapped around others. The flames of the Metals burned groups of them. Aurora’s mini-Balors had apparently survived the assault by the main alligaboars, because they joined in the fight a moment later, bashing aside the spiders as they made their way through the camp.

Sylfi and Brita had leaped onto the back of an alligaboar and were raking their claws across its back, while biting into its head.

A mother wailed above a fallen child, but Weyanna approached and launched healing magic; as her white mist entered the child, the child stood, and the mother shouted for joy, scooped up her child, and joined the others who were running from the camp.

There must have been a mage among the Trabeculae, because lightning bolts fired from a location on the far side of the silver huts. These bolts downed the spiders in waves.

Another mage summoned an earth elemental, and it arose from the ground. It was huge, almost the size of a Metal, and it turned to meet the closest alligaboar.

Near the elemental, Malem spotted Jephestaus—at least, he assume it was Jephestaus, as the Trabeculae wore that familiar necklace of sharp teeth, one that Malem had yet to see on anyone else. Jephestaus was surrounded by two spiders, and was trying to keep them at bay with a strange weapon: essentially a barbed sphere at the tip of a chain. Jephestaus would kick that sphere out and bash a spider in the mouth with it, before pulling it back to repeat the process.

Malem dashed forward. He reached Jephestaus, and hit one of the spiders from the rear, chopping off its leg. It spun about to meet him, but he was already dashing forward. Underneath the creature, he struck out rapidly, swinging his weapon in an arc, and cutting through all four legs on that side. As the upper body toppled on one side, he was there to meet the descending mouth with his blade. Balethorn stabbed straight through its thorax, covering Malem in yellow blood.

He slid out from under it before the spider collapsed entirely. Meanwhile, Jephestaus defeated his own opponent, and then gave Malem a look that could only be one of thanks.

Jephestaus turned around, and ran toward one of the silver huts. Inside, Malem could see a small Trabeculae lingering within. Malem joined him.

But then the ground began to shift. Another earth elemental was emerging.

Unfortunately, its appearance seemed to trigger a collapse of some kind. The silver hut was swallowed.

Jephestaus clattered frantically, and raced forward—the chieftain was swallowed in the collapse as well.

Malem turned around, and summoned Lantos. He saw Aurora there, not far behind him, wielding the pike one of her fallen mini-Balors had dropped. She was defending against one of the spiders.

He hurried toward her.

“Run!”

But it was too late. The ground gave way, and he plunged downward with Aurora in the resultant landslide.

He felt Lantos still incoming above him, but he told the animal to retreat—he didn’t want the pegasus to die, too.

He was surrounded by darkness. A circumstance not entirely unfamiliar to Malem: his life had been dominated by the dark. But soon, he would no longer have to worry about that. He would suffocate as the earth filled in around him. He wanted to send final messages to those connected to him, but he didn’t have the heart. They were occupied, as far as he could tell, their energy bundles intent with concentration—no doubt from facing off against the alligaboars and spider monsters. He still felt Aurora beside him, somewhere in the dark. It wasn’t really a consolation that they would die together. In fact, he felt only regret, at what could have been between them. There was so much that remained unsaid. So much he wanted to do, not just with her, but life in general.

As he wallowed in self-pity, he realized he was still falling.

Why aren’t we dead? Aurora asked.

Good question, he replied.

The soil around him began to slough from his body in chunks as he continued to descend. And then the darkness lifted.

He was plunging through some underground cavern—a brightly lit cavern at that. He only had a moment to orient himself, and then he hit the ground.

He didn’t die.

He and Aurora had landed on a steep, mud-covered slope; because of the angle, he hardly slowed, and the mud helped cushion his impact. He continued sliding downward with Aurora. Ahead, he could see Jephestaus.

Shrubs began to crop up amid the mud, and their branches clawed at him, slowing him down. He almost had Balethorn torn from his grasp, so he quickly sheathed the weapon, and shielded his face as those shrubs scratched at his exposed flesh—his dragonscale armor safeguarded the rest of his body, for the most part. Aurora’s robes seemed to be doing a good job of protecting her as well.

The shrubs increased in profusion as trees began to crop up. He steered between those boles by shifting his weight, and the positioning of his legs, until finally he came to a halt.

Aurora stopped not far from him. She still held the mini-Balor’s pike close to her body in a white-knuckled grip. Malem couldn’t see Jephestaus through the thick undergrowth around him, but he sensed the Trabeculae nearby.

Malem glanced up. The roof of the cavern was very far away, almost like a sky. He couldn’t see any sign of the sinkhole that had brought him here. In the distance, farther along that roof, a bright globe shone like a mini sun, brightening the place. Unlike on the surface, this time that brightness hurt his eyes when he looked directly at it.

“What the hell is this?” Aurora asked, standing. Her crimson robes were black, covered in mud. She used the pike like a staff to steady herself on the angled surface.

“I don’t know,” Malem replied. His dragonscale armor was also coated in mud.

“Can you reach the others?” Aurora pressed.

He could sense his companions above, past that roof on the surface beyond. They weren’t all that far. Certainly not past communications distance.

Gwen, are you there? he tried. Weyanna? Sylfi? Brita? Wendolin?

He glanced at Aurora. “They’re not answering me. The roof must be interfering in some way. Let’s find the chieftain.”

Malem used his sense to guide him toward Jephestaus. He detected other small energy signatures nearby, none matching the monsters he had found on the surface, nor the Trabeculae, however.

When he reached Jephestaus, he discovered the chieftain was wound up in the branches of a particularly profuse shrub.

“You,” Jephestaus said.

“Me,” Malem agreed. “Don’t be afraid… I’m going to cut you free.”

He drew Balethorn and proceeded to cut through the undergrowth that bound Jephestaus. The Trabeculae stood, and flexed its exoskeleton, which was no longer iridescent, covered in muddy patches as it was. Those mandibles bit together when Jephestaus flexed his leg beyond a certain point, and Malem assumed it was the equivalent of a painful flinch.

“Where are we?” Malem asked.

“This is the underworld,” Jephestaus said.

“How do we get back?” Malem asked.

“We must climb the slope,” Jephestaus said.

“That will be kind of hard,” Aurora said, gazing at the slick surface that led upward.

“There are paths,” Jephestaus said. “Or at least, there used to be…”

“Great, let’s look for them,” Malem said.

“Not yet,” Jephestaus said. “First we must find my son.” He was picking his way down through the foliage, scanning the undergrowth for signs of passage.

Malem came to his side. “Your son was in the hut that was drawn under by the collapse?”

“Yes,” the Trabeculae said.

“I’m Malem, by the way.”

“And I am Jephestaus,” the Trabeculae responded.

“I know,” Malem said. “I think… I think I’m going to call you Jack for short.”

Jack shrugged. “Whatever you want.”

Aurora joined Malem, and cursed softly whenever a small branch snagged in her hair, or upon her robes.

“What happened to the actual hole?” Aurora said, gazing at the distant rooftop. “Did it seal behind us or something?”

“Very good,” Jack said.

“Why?” Aurora said. “How? I’ve never heard of a collapse repairing itself like that.”

“It’s the nature of the soil in the Light Realm. Ever shifting and ever flowing, so that if a hole to the underworld develops, the surrounding soil quickly fills the gap.”

“Good thing we fell through entirely then, rather than being stuck in the sinkhole while the gap filled…” she said.

“Good thing,” Jack agreed.

“Why aren’t your companions trying to get to us?” Aurora asked Malem. “They can sense you’re alive, I assume?”

He nodded.

“Then they should be digging…” she continued.

“Maybe they are,” Malem said.

“An earth elemental caused the collapse?” Aurora asked Jack. “If so, your friends should summon another. Create a new sinkhole.”

“It wasn’t the earth elemental,” Jack said. “The sinkholes open randomly every five to ten years. It helps when there are a lot of heavy monsters rampaging in one place like that. I’ve seen five such holes in my lifetime. And plunged through one. Well, two, now. There it is!”

Jack dashed through the foliage, and emitted a clattering sound in his native tongue.

Malem and Aurora followed behind him. Soon they came alongside a trough of trampled undergrowth, marking where the hut had no doubt traveled through the foliage. Ahead, he could see the remains of that hut. It had crumpled after hitting a tree.

Jack searched the wreckage. “He’s not here.”

“What about your wife?” Aurora said. “Or whoever else lived with you?”

“Wife? Else?” Jack seemed puzzled. “I do not have a wife. There was no one else.” He was searching the foliage, looking for further signs of his son.

Malem kept an eye out as well. As a man who had lived in the woods for half his life, he had some tracking ability, after all.

“No wife?” Aurora said. “Why?”

“We reproduce by budding,” Jack said.

“Oh,” Aurora said. “Where’s the fun in that?”

Jack shrugged. “There is no fun in reproduction. Only duty. And caregiving.”

Malem carefully sifted through the foliage, peeling back the branches so as not to disturb them.

“Here,” Malem said, pointing out a small tunnel that had been cut through the undergrowth by the passage of some creature. The uppermost layer of foliage had shielded it, which was why Malem hadn’t spotted it right way.

Jack came over. It extended its mandibles, and leaned forward, as if sniffing. “My son went this way.” Jack proceeded to follow that tunnel, sliding the branches aside as Malem had.

The trio proceeded forward, moving quickly. Malem knew the importance of haste: whatever had taken Jack’s child wouldn’t tarry long before eating it.

If it hadn’t already.

So far, there wasn’t any blood, or any other signs the child had been devoured, but that didn’t mean Jack’s son lived. Jack might be smelling a corpse, for all he knew.

The trees thickened around them, and Malem heard strange calls issuing from the forest around him. He still sensed relatively small energy bundles hidden within the jungle, none of which matched the Trabeculae. He was able to break a few of them, and they proved to be rodents of some kind, so he sent them ahead to search. They moved far slower than Malem and his two companions, however, so he abandoned them shortly thereafter.

He occasionally used Balethorn to hew branches from his path when the foliage became too thick. Aurora followed close behind him. He was a little leery about letting her follow him like that—all too easy to stab him in the back, after all—but he sensed only concern from her at the moment. She wanted to find this son as badly as Jack did.

And then Malem felt an energy source that was close to Jack’s. Weak, though still alive. Next to a more powerful energy bundle.

“Found him,” Malem announced.

23

Sword in hand, Malem led the way forward through the foliage, doing his best not to break too many branches—which would give away their position.

He reached a clearing. The surrounding trees had been gnawed away, reduced to stumps; at the center, the wood was piled in a conical shape, forming a dwelling of sorts. Wrapped around the logs forming that dwelling were several large, white worms. They lounged beneath the rays of light emanating from the top of the cavern. He realized it was not a single, powerful monster he had detected, but several lesser creatures—though still strong in their own right.

There was no obvious entrance, but there were gaps in those logs, which no doubt allowed the worms to enter the dwelling. Those gaps gave Malem a view of the interior: two smaller worms had wrapped their bodies around a small, unconscious Trabeculae, and were apparently sucking its blood, judging from how his sense of the child continued to weaken.

Jack emitted a hideous scream, and dashed forward, weaponless. He grabbed a large worm and ripped it from the dwelling, tossing it aside. Then, Jack shoved one of the logs away from the structure and hefted it over one shoulder, swiveling it in place until he removed it, and let it topple to the forest floor behind him. Then he latched onto another log, intending to move it as well and clear a path to enter, but before he could do so, other worms enveloped his limbs.

Jack tried to shake them off, but could not. Soon, they were all around him, tightening, squeezing.

Malem reached out, trying to Break them; while he could wrap his will around them, he was unable to tighten it. He Broke some of the weaker entities he felt in the forest nearby—those that resided in the boughs—and summoned them for help.

Other worms came in at Malem and Aurora.

Malem hefted his sword, and dashed forward. He slashed at the worms, cutting them open, clearing a path toward Jack. Beside him, Aurora stabbed with her pike, causing the worms to curl up into injured balls. Sometimes, the stricken worms would repeatedly curl and uncurl, convulsing in their death throes.

Malem’s summoned beasts arrived. They were what could best be described as birds, and when they attacked, pecking at the white, slimy flesh of the worms, they proved relatively useless.

As he reached Jack, Malem noticed movement from the corner of his eye. He turned toward the right side of the clearing.

Apparently other worms nested in the surrounding trees, because from them, two of the largest worms Malem had yet seen slithered down from the boughs. These worms were about twice as thick as a man, and as long as a house.

Aurora summon two Mini-Balors. She slumped, weakened from the previous summoning, and he fed her a small amount of stamina to replenish what she had lost. He was unable to take stamina from the other companions bound to him, for the same reason that he could not communicate with them.

The demons approached, and swung a sword and an ax at the worms. The weapons struck home, but the worms seemed to absorb the blows, because they promptly wrapped their bodies around the mini-Balors, and proceeded to wrestle. As they fought, they rolled into the trees and out of the clearing.

While Aurora watched his back, Malem sliced at the worms that bound Jack. He purposely didn’t kill two of them, stabbing only to injure, and then Broke the worms. He commanded them to release Jack, and attack the other worms that were still coming at Aurora.

These two are mine, he warned her as the worms sped past to intercept the others.

Jack, free of his larva binds, hoisted another log from the dwelling, and shoved through the resultant opening. He kicked the smaller worms off his son, an act that elicited a high-pitched hissing sound from the surrounding trees.

“I think he pissed off the parents,” Aurora said.

“Sounds like it,” Malem agreed.

Four more big worms slithered down from the surrounding treetops, coming in from all four sides of the clearing. They were the source of the hissing, and continued to unleash that sharp sibilance as they approached.

“Jack, let’s go!” Malem said. He tried to wrap his will around these bigger worms, but could not.

“Uh,” Aurora said.

The worms flung out their tails, overlapping them, and forming a solid barrier around all sides of the clearing. Malem and the others would have to cut their way through.

Malem unhooked the crystal sword from his waist. “It’s about time I stopped keeping this from you.” He tossed the blade her way.

Her eyes brightened with greed, and she promptly held the weapon aloft. Mist arose from the ground, and entered the bodies of the worms. As the smaller creatures fell, the blade glowed a bright crimson.

But the four big worms remained standing.

“Why aren’t they going down?” he asked her.

“It doesn’t work on everything!” Aurora said. “Grendel was right: without Denfidal to boost my powers, the amount I drain depends on a combination of the monster’s level and will!”

Using the stamina granted her by the sword, she summoned two more mini-Balors, and sent them toward one of the worms.

They began hacking at its thick exterior, but the worm wrapped around the two demons, squeezing them together; that tail swung over Malem and the others, knocking down the dwelling. It squeezed between the nearby trees as it rolled away from the clearing.

The other worms continued to close, tightening their tails, decreasing the size of the clearing.

Malem sensed the other two big worms returning; they had beaten the original mini-Balors Aurora had sent at them. And they were weakened. He reached out, and discovered one of them was injured enough to Break. When it was his, he sent it forward to attack the worm directly in front of Jack, himself, and Aurora.

The targeted monster squirmed, then curled its body backward, wrapping it around the surrounding trees, and Malem’s worm. A gap opened in that wall of tails, giving Malem and the others a path.

“Let’s go!” he said.

Just as he dashed forward, a roar filled the air, and then a giant beak slammed down into another worm behind him. That beak belonged to a large, otherwise apish monster.

“Looks like the commotion has attracted some other denizens!” Aurora said.

The ground shook, and more of those beak-apes tore through the trees. Malem couldn’t Break any of them, which meant it was doubtful Aurora would be able to drain them with her sword.

The three of them fled through the jungle led by Jack. Branches whipped at Malem’s exposed face and hands, and he kept his sword at the ready to hack the bigger branches from his path.

He could feel large energy bundles directly behind them as some of the apes pursued.

Malem glanced over his shoulder, and saw the black, hairy feet of the monsters trampling through the undergrowth not far behind.

“They’re attracted by our noise!” Jack said, carrying his son tightly against his breast.

“Then we duck here!” Malem said. “And let them pass!”

He dodged behind a thick bole with the other two, and cowered as the beak-apes broke through the forest and passed.

Malem kept expecting those apes to realize they had lost the trail, but the monsters kept dashing forward, and soon receded into the distance.

Malem sensed that Jack’s son was almost gone. He needed stamina. Malem could Break the child, or…

He glanced at Aurora. “Can you feed endurance to the child with that sword?”

She nodded. “If I kill all the animals nearby, yes.”

“Do it,” Jack said.

She glanced at Malem for confirmation. He nodded.

“As you wish,” she said, and raised the blade. The sword glowed crimson, so he knew mist was rising somewhere in the forest around him, seeking out the animals that sheltered in the trees.

And then she glanced at the child, and the glow subsided.

The small Trabeculae coughed, and then opened its eyes. The child emitted a small clattering sound, which was answered by an excited series of hisses and clicks from Jack. He looked at Malem.

“Thank you!” Jack said. Drops of moisture trickled down Jack’s mandibles, and Malem thought that was the equivalent of crying for a Trabeculae. Then again, it could have been from the effort of issuing all those noises.

“Can you lead us back to the surface now?” Malem asked.

“Of course,” Jack replied. “I want to get my son home.”

Jack picked his way through the trees, heading toward the sloping side of the cavern to their right.

“Last time I was here,” Jack said. “There was a portal leading to the surface.”

“A portal?” Malem said. “That’s… strange.”

“Yes,” Jack said. “My people believe the sinkholes always lead to the same pocket realm. And given that the layout of this cavern, and the monsters that inhabit it, seem similar to the other underworld cavern I entered years ago, I tend to agree with that assessment. If I’m right, we’ll be getting out of here shortly. If not, then it could be a while, considering it took me weeks to track down the portal the last time.”

“So we’re actually in a different realm?” Aurora asked. “And not simply beneath the surface?”

“I believe so, yes,” Jack said.

Malem glanced at Aurora. “That explains why I can’t contact the others.”

They emerged from the treeline and proceeded up the slope. The foliage was still thick for the most part, though a few sections were sparse, and allowed for easier passage. A trail quickly emerged. Well, more of a partially overgrown trail, really. Malem didn’t need his sword anymore, so he sheathed it. He offered the scabbard of the crystal sword to Aurora.

“You’re not going to take the weapon back?” she asked.

“It’s yours, for the moment,” he replied.

She nodded, and accepted the scabbard. “Thank you.” She secured the sheath to the belt that gird her robe, and slid the crystal sword inside.

“I mapped out this route, and shared it with the others of my kind,” Jack said as he continued up the winding path. “So that if ever any of us got caught in this realm, they would know the way out.”

“So, you’re suggesting that this trail exists only because of those like you who became trapped here, and escaped?” Malem said.

“That’s what I’m saying, yes,” Jack told him.

A familiar roar came from the treetops below. With the foliage so low around them, they were exposed on that slope, and visible to monsters that happened to be glancing that way from across the cavern. He saw two of the beak-apes emerge from the treeline.

“Pick up the pace!” Malem said.

More beak-apes emerged.

The trail wound upward, past a mud-slick portion of the slope. A section of the trail ahead was completely devoid of any undergrowth, and covered in mud.

“Careful here,” Jack said. “You slip, you’re sliding all the way back down.”

Jack took a step onto the surface, and fell. His shoulder hit hard, but he shielded his child from the impact.

Malem reached down, and hooked a hand underneath Jack’s underarm, and hauled him back up onto the path.

“Thank you,” Jack said. “You’re making a habit of saving me.”

“Yes, just don’t make it a habit of nearly dying!” Malem said.

Malem led the way into the foliage that bordered the path, and diverted around the slick section, before rejoining the main path after it. Jack took the lead once more, moving at a jog.

Beside them, the two beak-apes continued to climb the slope. Rapidly.

The apes hit a muddy patch, and plunged down the slick surface before getting up and trying a different route.

Two more beak-apes crashed through the trees and joined their brethren.

The trail was rather slick ahead, and Aurora slipped and fell. The foliage was thick enough beside her to halt her descent, thankfully.

“This is so not fun,” Aurora said, standing. Her robes were covered in mud all over again.

The three of them hurried forward as fast as they were able. The beak-apes kept hitting muddy sections below so that every time it almost seemed like Malem and the others were going to meet an untimely end, they were snapped free from the jaws of death when the apes slipped away.

And, where the trail met with the wall just beneath the roof of the cavern, Malem spotted a bright yellow portal, no bigger than the size of a child. He had to avert his eyes because of the pain that blinding light caused.

Jack hurried to it. “Crawl through!” He lowered the child in front of him, and followed after on hands in knees.

“After you,” Malem told Aurora.

She frowned, apparently not wanting to get her robe—or knees—muddy again, but when the giant hand of an ape hit not far from their position, she promptly dropped to the dirt and crawled through.

Malem switched to his hands and knees as well. And as another ape hand descended directly for his position, he hauled himself into the blinding light.

That familiar warmth enveloped him, as did that all-encompassing white light.

And when it faded, he resided on the plains of the Light Realm he had left earlier. He stood. There was no sign of the portal behind him.

Aurora, Jack, and his other companions stood nearby. The Metals lurked nearby in dragon form, as did Iridaceae. Behind them were the ruins of the Trabeculae camp, along with the bodies of the alligaboars and spider monsters that had died trying to take it.

Many Trabeculae were gathered around Jack, who was clicking and clattering, his arms moving animatedly, sometimes pointing at Malem and Aurora, other times at his child, who clung to his leg beneath him.

Gwen slammed into him, giving him a hug. When she released him, she looked down, seemingly aware of the mud that encased him for the first time. Some of it had smeared onto her dragonscale armor. She smiled. “You need a bath.”

“I do,” he agreed.

He barely finished the words before Wendolin wrapped him in another hug. He felt similar warmth and joy emanating from the others bound to him. Lantos pressed its head against Malem, forcing him to acknowledge the pegasus. Malem stroked the animal’s flank.

Timlir approached, but then suddenly leaped in fright. Beside him, Gwen started at well. Even Lantos pulled away, snorting nervously.

Everyone was staring at something behind Malem.

He turned around.

A giant, mutilated, hairy finger had appeared, and lay there on the ground. Blood oozed from the severed end.

“What the hell is that?” Gwen said.

“That would be the finger of one of our pursuers,” Malem said. “See, this is why you don’t go sticking your finger into random holes.”

“Sort of like what you do to us?” Xaxia said with a wink.

24

Malem sheathed his blade, and approached the group of Trabeculae. Jack turned toward him, and patted him on the shoulders.

“My friend, my friend!” Jack said proudly. “Thank you for your help.”

Malem nodded. “So does that mean you’ll help us in turn? We need someone with, what did the Paragon call it, the ‘Scent’ ability.”

Jack’s insectile features seemed to darken, but then he said: “I will help you. Without you, my son would be dead now. I will personally lead you to the vessel containing the Balor you seek.”

“Good,” Malem said. “I appreciate it.” He glanced at Iridaceae, who was towering overhead. “Did you hear that?”

“Yes,” the Paragon said. She addressed Jack: “When can we leave?”

“Immediately,” Jack said.

Xaxia came to his side. “Your people don’t need to rebuild?”

“No,” Jack said. “We’re nomads. These houses were disposable anyway. However, the lives within them were not. As soon as they are done preparing the bodies, my tribe will march.”

“How will you find them?” Xaxia said.

Jack’s mandibles curled back in either a smile, or a frown. Malem couldn’t tell which, but he suspected the latter. “I have the Scent, Human.”

And so the next phase of the journey began. Jack bid farewell to his tribe, and he touched antennae to each and every one of theirs before departing. Some of the Trabeculae even insisted on touching their antennae to Malem, who bowed his head respectfully and allowed them.

“I wouldn’t let those bugs touch me like that,” Gwen commented when the last of the Trabeculae had their turn with him.

Malem shrugged. “When you hang around animals and the woods as much as I do, you stop caring if insects touch you.”

Malem mounted Lantos, and glanced at the Paragon. “So, will you carry Jack?”

“Jack?” she asked.

“That’s what I’ve named our new friend,” Malem said.

She gave Jack a curious look.

“He is allowed to call me what he wishes,” Jack said. “He saved my son.”

The Paragon nodded. “Very well. And yes, I will carry him.”

“Wait,” Gwen said. “You’re going to let her keep that sword?” She nodded at Aurora.

“Yes,” Malem said. “She’s proven herself trustworthy. She may keep it until that changes.”

Aurora inclined her head. “Thank you.”

“Also, when this mission is over, I’m probably going to let her go,” Malem said. “Now that we know the type of magic she wields, and the extents of that magic. She isn’t the menace I thought she might be.”

He was still a bit worried she would try to mentally break away from him, and that the duo would be locked into an endurance contest, with him draining stamina from her while she drained it from him with the sword in turn. He supposed if that happened, he could always have someone knock the blade away from her.

Plus, he wasn’t certain she would be able to drain from him at all, now that she was no longer linked to Denfidal, and given how strong-willed he was. He decided it was worth the risk, if only to ensure her loyalty during the rest of the mission.

“So you’re saying she’s not as powerful as you thought?” Grendel glanced at Aurora. “I think he just insulted you.”

“Typical,” Aurora said.

“You’re really going to let her go?” Xaxia crossed her arms. “Are you sure she can be trusted, free in the world?”

“Denfidal’s influence is gone from her,” Malem said. “I don’t think we have to worry about her. However… if rumors ever drifted our way, about a woman who used a sword to slay entire villages without laying a hand on them, she can rest assured that we would hunt her down.”

Aurora merely shrugged, and then clambered up Weyanna’s proffered wing with Wendolin.

The others loaded onto their respective dragons as well, two per Metal. Iridaceae meanwhile scooped up Jack and held him before her in an open palm.

Malem spurred Lantos into the air, and hovered the pegasus beside the Paragon’s hand. “So, which way?” he asked.

A sheath descended over Jack’s eyes, before retracting.

I didn’t know he could blink.

“Get back,” Jack said. “I sense the Darkness of the Balor inside of you. It’s interfering with my tracking.”

“All right.” Malem directed Lantos away from the Paragon, until he was well away from her open palm and the tracker it contained.

“This way,” Iridaceae said. She began walking away from the ruined camp, to the southeast.

Malem and the others followed.

They spent the rest of that day following Jack’s Scent ability, and traveled across the endless savannah. They encountered more herds of the peaceful plains animals, which scattered without fail when the dragons and Paragon approached. No further attacks from alligaboars or spider monsters came.

Sylfi spent some time flying close to the Paragon, and they had a discussion that Malem couldn’t hear above the wind from his current location. When finally Sylfi pulled ahead, he asked her: So what did you guys just talk about?

I was asking her why no more monsters were attacking, Sylfi said. And she explained that we were moving farther and farther away from where most of the monsters in this realm reside. Apparently, out here, this is a dead zone. You can see that the grass is becoming thinner the further we march. Less grass, means less insects for the animals to eat. Less animals, means less monsters.

Malem gazed at the plains, and true enough, she was right. There were entire swaths completely devoid of grass, with only bare rock or soil showing. You’re saying the insects feed on the grass? I don’t remember seeing any insects eating it.

Apparently, they do, Sylfi said. At least in larval form. And the insects also return to the grass to mate and lay their eggs.

Ah, Malem said. I suppose I need to pay more attention. In our realm, apparently a square yard of grass contains hundreds of insects, but most of us never notice.

There you go, Sylfi said.

The grassland below eventually ceded entirely to bare rock.

Evening came, and the party camped near a small lake set amid a basin on that rocky plain. The three Metals deposited their passengers and then turned north to hunt a herd of long-necked animals they had spotted along the way.

Malem landed Lantos as well, and pitched his tent, as did the others. Then he retrieved some salted meat from his backpack and shared it with those who didn’t have any. Meanwhile Jack scoured among the grass, looking for insects to eat. Malem offered him the salted meat.

“I can’t eat that,” Jack said. “Insects are my main diet.”

“All right,” Malem said. “By the way, do you need a tent?”

“No,” Jack said. “I usually sleep under the stars when I’m on the road anyway. But thank you.”

“Let me know if you need anything,” Malem said. “By the way, how much farther is it to the Balor?”

“Not far, actually,” Jack said. “Maybe another day’s journey. The demon is far closer than I would have anticipated. Which makes tracking it all the easier.”

Malem finished his meal and hiked out to the lake as darkness fell. The water was glowing; he had seen Iridaceae in the area, so guessed at the source. As he approached, a moment later the Paragon’s head emerged from the depths. As she approached the edge, more and more of her body emerged, until she was standing on the shore.

She seemed to be glowing extremely bright, now that the sun had set. She was providing the only illumination for miles around.

She walked past Malem. Behind her, the waves produced by her exit from the lake lapped softly against shore.

“Went for a food run?” he called.

She paused, glancing down. Then chuckled. “No.”

“What do you eat, by the way?” he asked.

“I’m a creature of pure light,” she said. “I don’t eat. My energy comes from the sun. I entered the water merely to recycle my energy.”

“Oh,” he said. “Interesting. Incidentally, is it safe for the rest of us, to have you glowing like that?”

“As I mentioned, there are less monsters here, probably none,” the Paragon said. “Even so, I will begin my recuperations well away from the rest of you.”

“Recuperations,” Malem said. “That sounds like what Balor’s do after battle. They flee to their nether realms, or the Black Realm, to recover their strength before they return to fight again.”

“It is similar, but not the same,” Iridaceae said. “I decline every night, regardless of whether I have seen battle or not. As I mentioned, my energy comes from the sun. You will see my glow steadily decreasing throughout the night, until I become dimmer than the weakest of candle flames. When morning comes, I will begin to recharge once more.”

“I suppose only the sun of the Light Realm charges you…” he said.

She glanced his way, seeming curious. “How did you know?”

“I remember Corinne fading while she fought Denfidal,” he said. “She battled under the sun, but it didn’t help her.”

“Ah,” the Paragon said. “Yes. It takes much energy for us to stay in your realm, let alone fight.”

He glanced at the now still waters. “Is the lake safe, by the way?”

“For swimming?”

“Bathing,” Malem explained.

“Yes, of course,” she said. “I didn’t spot anything foul in its depths. The water is quite empty.”

He walked toward the shore. “Thank you.” He paused to look over his shoulder at her. “By the way, does time pass differently here, versus my own realm?”

“Yes, somewhat faster,” the Paragon said.

“Ah,” Malem said. “Then that might be another partial reason why Banvil came here. To spite me.”

She gazed at him, seeming intrigued. “How?”

“By giving me less time to be free of the demon,” he told her.

“Could be,” Iridaceae said, before departing. He watched her retreat for some time, until she settled well away from the lake, and the camp made by his companions. Already her glow seemed to have diminished somewhat.

Malem stripped off his armor, and went naked into the lake. It was frigid.

With her glow providing light in the distance like that, his night vision allowed his eyes to see around him as if it were still twilight. But that said, the water below was still a black pool to him, and despite her reassuring words, he was worried there might be some creature in there, waiting to wrap a tentacle around him and pull him down. For that reason, he didn’t venture very far into its depths.

So he tread water close to shore; his feet occasionally brushed the bottom when he got too close, and he forced himself farther back each time. He had learned his lesson while swimming in other lakes: prickly creatures often resided on the rocks in the deeper sections, and they were best not touched. He would have to step upon the rocks when he returned of course, but he would do so slowly, and carefully, until he left behind the deeper sections.

A robed figure approached the lake. He thought at first it must be Grendel, but as she got closer, he realized that robe, and that hair, were too dark. Plus, there was a certain sword clasped to her hips.

Aurora waded into the water a short distance, and then unclasped the sword from her belt, and lowered it to the shore. She moved deeper, still wearing the robe, and began to rub the wet sections of the hem, as if trying to work out the mud.

He realized she didn’t see him. Or at least, was acting like she didn’t. From her energy bundle, he detected no deception however. If she concentrated on her connection to him, she would have realized how close he was. Maybe she hadn’t learned how to do that yet, as he had never taught her.

She moved deeper, letting her robe soak, until she was up to her shoulders. Then she removed the robe entirely, sliding it over her head.

Malem felt his heart rate spike, as did the growing warmth between his legs.

He edged toward her.

She moved back toward shore, so that she could stand up out of the water, and then knelt to scrub the robe. In the dim light from the distant Paragon, he could see her breasts clearly silhouetted, hanging down. They were smallish compared to some of the other companions, but he didn’t mind. He actually liked it when he could wrap his hands around an entire breast, rather than only partially burying it in a big balloon.

He was close enough to shore that he felt safe putting his feet down. He did so, but kept his knees bent so that the majority of his body remained underwater as he continued to approach.

“Well hello,” he finally said, hoping he wouldn’t frighten her too badly.

But she leaped up nonetheless, causing ripples of water to spread toward him. “You scared me.”

“Sorry,” he said.

She immediately sat down, hiding her nakedness.

“How long have you been here, watching me?” she asked.

“Since you arrived,” he said. “Don’t worry, I didn’t see anything.”

“Yeah sure, liar,” she said. “You and your night vision.”

“I can actually lend you this night vision of mine,” he said. “Thanks to our link.” He did so.

Her eyes widened. “It’s like twilight again!”

“Yes,” he said.

“Sometimes, being joined with you isn’t so bad,” she told him.

“There are other benefits, too…” he said, allowing his tone to take on a suggestive allure.

“Oh yes, the much vaunted sex the others are always bragging about,” she said. “You know, I’m kind of glad you’ve kept me muted all this time. That way, I’ll get to experience it firsthand. I mean, uh, if I were interested.”

“Yes, of course that’s what you meant,” Malem said. “If you were interested. Which you’re not.”

“No,” she agreed.

“Neither am I,” Malem said.

“Oh?” she said. “Then why is it when I concentrate on your energy bundle, I can feel arousal?”

“Because I haven’t muted you,” he said.

“Maybe you should,” she told him, her voice becoming raspy. She lifted her robe, dripping, out of the water, rolled it into a ball, and tossed it onto the shore beside her. Her breasts jiggled seductively as she did so, before she squatted back into the water to hide them.

“I’m surprised you’ve learned how to concentrate on my energy bundle, given how much I’ve muted you in the past,” he said. “Which leads me to wonder… if you’re so good at sensing me, how come you didn’t detect my presence in the water? Unless you were pretending not to…”

“Why would I pretend?” she asked.

“So you had an excuse to approach me,” he said. “That way you wouldn’t come off as slutty.”

“I’m not a slut!” she said.

He nodded to himself. That was important to her. As it was for most women.

“But you’ve slept with many men under Denfidal, am I right?” he said. “You claimed you were a virgin earlier, only so you could distract me and take the sword.”

She lowered her eyes. “Yes, I’m no virgin.”

He nodded. “It doesn’t matter. It doesn’t change how I feel about you.”

When she met his gaze once more, hope shone brightly in her eyes. “And how do you feel about me?”

“When someone new joins my companions, their slate is always wiped clean,” Malem said. “It’s appropriate, in a way, that you don’t remember your past before Denfidal, because none of it matters anyway. The only thing that matters is how you comport yourself here and now, going forward. How you behave in this moment. I reward good behavior, and punish bad behavior.”

“Have I been good?” she asked.

“No,” he said. “You’ve been bad. Very bad.”

“Then punish me,” she said, drifting closer to him in the water.

He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her in close. He stood up, drawing her with him, and his upper body emerged from the water. He hardly felt the cold that came from exposing his wet skin to the air, his mind intent on the bliss that would soon come.

She wasn’t muted, so when he thrust his member inside of her, he felt the thrill echo from her energy bundle to his own, enhancing the pleasure he felt. He kissed her passionately, and her lips returned his motions in frantic, hungry gasps. He began thrusting into her while they kissed, fast, hard, pounding and grinding. The pleasure came exponentially as it spread to the other companions bound to him, and he had to withdraw, lest he spill his seed prematurely.

“Don’t stop!” she said, panting. She grabbed onto his pulsing member, and tried to guide it back inside; her touch nearly caused him to explode right there.

He slid away from her grasp, and turned her around, forcing her down so that she splashed into the water and landed on hands and knees. Then he entered her from behind, and she moaned anew.

He grabbed her hair into a ponytail, and pulled her neck back as he thrust.

“Harder,” she said.

He obliged her. He relaxed his lower body as much as he was able, doing his best to ignore the rising pleasure. He meant to stop before the climax, but he couldn’t control himself, and exploded within her.

She shuddered, climaxing at the same time, and then splashed into the water face first. She rolled around to lay on her back in the shallow water.

“That was… paradise,” she said.

“We’re not done yet,” Malem said. He drained stamina from Gwen and Brita, and directed Aurora’s fingers between his legs.

She gave him lascivious look. “You really are a sex god.”

“Spread yourself before me,” he ordered.

She lay back, and obliged, opening her legs wide.

Malem pulled her deeper into the water. She moved her arms to keep her upper body afloat, and when he was submerged almost to his hips, he inserted himself inside her once more. He began thrusting rapidly, sending up splashes of water each time, and generating a pleasing squelching noise with each contact. The pleasure inside of him grew in leaps and bounds, and he forced himself to slow down if only to prolong this agony.

“Faster!” she panted. “Faster!”

He did his best to ignore her want, but when she wrapped her legs around his thighs, and pulled herself up, mashing her lips against his in a kiss, he couldn’t help but increase his pace. She squeezed her fingers into his butt cheeks and thrust her own hips against his in time to his own pounding.

“I fucking want you so bad!” she said. “You’re mine. Mine. Mine!”

She squeezed his butt so hard that he felt intense pain, and he was sure she had drawn blood.

It only turned him on all the more. He thrust faster and harder than he ever had before.

The water washed away the lubricating juices that usually aided in lovemaking, and made the sex somehow rawer; he knew it would hurt when this was done. He wondered vaguely why he never felt pain during the actual act; some numbing agent must be at play. But that thought lasted for maybe a half second, because the bliss had just finished its latest round of traveling between companions, and his pleasure leaped exponentially once more. He erupted inside her again, and collapsed.

He pulled himself ashore beside her, and they lay there, panting.

“It feels so good,” she said. “And yet it’s over so very fast.”

“Like life itself, I suppose,” Malem said.

“We may have created new life tonight, you know,” she said.

“It’s possible,” he agreed.

“What would you do, if I were pregnant?” she asked.

“The same thing I would do if any of the others got pregnant,” he said.

“And what’s that?” she said.

“If you’re expecting me to say marry you, you’re sorely mistaken,” he told her.

She was quiet for a moment, and when she spoke, the disappointment was obvious in her tone. “I guess I was hoping for at least some sort of recognition.”

“If you got pregnant, I’d help you raise the child,” he said. “But he’d be raised in a family of multiple mothers. I’m sorry, but that’s the way it’s going to be.”

“Unless I leave you,” she said defiantly. “And find a man who will treat me right.”

He sighed. “I think I treat you right. At least, I do my best. Listen, as I mentioned in front of the others, if you want to leave when this mission is done, I won’t stop you.”

“But maybe I’ll leave before then,” she said.

“I’ll have to stop you,” he said. “Because I need you yet.” He glanced at her. “You won’t be able to get home if you try to leave, anyway.”

“I’ll find a Paragon,” she said. “Or maybe this one will send me back.”

“She won’t if I deny you,” he said.

“Then maybe I’ll fight you,” she said.

“You make me want to take the sword away from you,” he told her.

She sighed. “I’m just talking. I won’t fight you. I… I feel like we’ve been through so much together. Like I really know you. And you’re actually not that bad of a person. Definitely not who I thought you were. And yes, you do treat me relatively well. Compared to Denfidal.”

“I’m sure any man would treat you better than the demon did,” he said. “But thanks.”

She rose. “Well, it’s getting a bit cold out here.” She slid her dress on. “Maybe we should reconvene in my tent.”

Malem scooped up his armor, and hurried back to her tent. She giggled the whole way.

When they were inside, they had sex again, and again, for half the night.

Finally, exhausted, he fell into a sleep filled with images of those small jiggling breasts, and the smile on her face as he thrusted repeatedly inside of her.

And yeah, his dick was really, really sore.

25

Malem left Aurora’s tent a short while before dawn the next morning, and dressed. His dick felt a little less raw, but he suspected it would be tender for a good day, at least.

As he donned the dragonscale armor, he glanced at where the Paragon recuperated on the rocky plain. True to her word, her glow had diminished to almost nothingness.

When he finished dressing, the first rays of dawn appeared on the horizon. A moment later, Xaxia emerged from her tent a short distance away.

“About time you went to sleep last night,” Xaxia said, rubbing her eyes. “You kept the rest of us awake by your lovemaking you know. That constant moaning coming from all the other tents. Gah!”

“You’re just jealous,” Aurora said, appearing beside him in her robe.

“Actually, I am,” Xaxia agreed. “I have half a mind to let the Breaker collar me. But I won’t allow it. I’m too proud for that.”

“Your loss,” Aurora said.

“This coming from the summoner who kept trying to get away,” Gwen said, approaching. “See, I told you once you felt the sex, you wouldn’t be able to go back.”

Aurora sighed. “I was stubborn. It’s my nature. It’s the one trait I couldn’t shake off after you freed me of Denfidal.” She glanced at Malem. “And you did free me. I know that now. I was merely a tool to the demon. Denfidal claimed to love me like a daughter, but there was no love in the words or deeds the Balor showed me. But that was all I had ever known, or all I remembered, anyway. But now after meeting you all, I realize what true friendship, and love, really is. Denfidal never cared for me. If I could go back, I would banish the demon myself, given what I now know.”

Xaxia stared at her in astonishment. “You were right to bring her along. After all the time Wendolin spent with her, all the therapy sessions, the summoner only really needed to experience true camaraderie and adventure.”

“And sex,” Gwen commented.

“Someone say my name?” Wendolin asked, coming out of her tent.

“Unless your name is Sex, then no,” Gwen said.

“That’s my middle name,” Wendolin quipped. “No, I heard something along the lines of… ‘after all the time Wendolin spent with her.’”

“We were talking about the change in Aurora,” Xaxia said.

“Ah,” Wendolin said. “Yes, I felt the pleasure for half the night. Bliss like that can change anyone.” She glanced at the crystal sword, which hung from Aurora’s hips. “After what I felt from you last night, even I’m not afraid of you wielding that sword anymore.”

“It feels good, to be trusted again,” Aurora said. “To feel like I’m part of something, rather than just tagging along against my will.”

Wendolin nodded. “I suppose it does. I’ll be sad to see you go, when this is over.”

Aurora had nothing to say to that.

The companions packed their tents, loaded onto their respective mounts, and continued the journey southeast across the rocky terrain. Malem flew Lantos some distance from the Paragon, as he didn’t want to interfere with Jack’s tracking abilities.

The barren plains soon gave away to rolling, rough hills. In the distance, a jagged mountain range dotted the skyline.

The Paragon waved him closer. Malem spurred Lantos to her side.

“The Trabeculae says we’re getting close,” Iridaceae announced. “The Balor hides in these mountains.”

“Can you cross them?” Malem asked. He wasn’t sure she would hear him, despite his efforts to carry his voice above the wind. The Metals certainly wouldn’t be able to discern his words at that distance, not unless he was abutting against their heads. So he steered even closer.

But Iridaceae nodded. Apparently, her ears were even more sensitive than dragons’. “Mountains for me are little different than molehills, to paraphrase a famous human quote.”

“I’m sure they are,” Malem said. He shared the news with those bound to him as he steered Lantos to his previous position away from the Paragon.

In a short while, the group reached the mountains, and began to pass between the peaks. As promised, the Paragon was able to walk through the different mountain passes with ease. They weren’t quite molehills for her, but she was able to circumnavigate the thicker peaks with effort. The best metaphor Malem could think of was of a woman trying to cross the broad stalagmites crowding a cave floor—sometimes that woman was able to walk easily between the stalagmites, and at other times, she was forced to partially scale them to squeeze past.

Malem felt a change in the Darkness inside his head. It had a palpable weight at his core, like the others bound to him, so that he could get a directional sense.

He swerved toward the Paragon once more.

“I sense him too, now,” Malem shouted. “I could probably almost take over the tracking from this point.”

“The Balor is getting stronger,” Iridaceae said.

What did you tell her? Gwen asked after he swerved Lantos away.

He mentally repeated the words for the benefit of those bound to him.

So we’ve almost found the demon, Wendolin commented. I’m almost afraid to confront Banvil. Afraid of what he has waiting for us.

We’re all afraid, I’m sure, Malem said.

He reached into the Darkness inside of him, as Banvil had taught him, and sent:

I’m coming for you, Demon.

He sensed the equivalent of a smirk emanating from that Darkness. Malem didn’t like it, not at all, and he did his best to ignore the dark presence in his mind, deciding to allow Jack to track his lifelong enemy. Because in truth, he was afraid.

I won’t become the Defiler again. I can’t.

The Paragon finally stopped after crossing into a smaller ring of mountains that formed a valley. On the far side was a tall tower, or what was left it. A broad rectangular structure formed a plinth of sorts at the base, while the jagged remains of the broken tower jutted from it. A long line of crumbled stone on the adjacent land marked where most of the building had toppled.

“The Balor hides here,” Iridaceae said. “In the mountain beneath the ruins. This was once the domain of Alustris, a Paragon as gentle as she was brave. When she lived, this region flourished with life and joy. It was one of the most abundant sources of plant life in our realm. The slopes of the mountains were ornamented with golden trees, and the plains beyond garlanded with lush grass. But when she died in the Balor wars, her light no longer maintained the region, and the land fell into ruin.” She stepped toward the ruins. “All that remains intact are the servants’ quarters at the base. Partially tunneled into the mountain. It is there you will find Banvil’s vessel. For good or for bad.”

Malem sent Lantos forward, along with the dragons, and they swooped low over the structure to survey it. He reached out, and while he sensed no monsters or animals nearby, he did indeed feel the Balor. It lurked there, outside himself, somewhere beneath the plinth-like base below.

That had never happened with Goldenthall before. Banvil had indeed grown stronger, for Malem to sense the demon inside the man like that.

Malem attempted to Break the Balor, but his will evaporated upon touch.

Yes, very strong.

He wondered how close the demon was to assuming its natural form. He also wondered if Iridaceae would be able to fight it alone, without a proper weapon.

He alighted Lantos on the broken paving stones in front of the base, where an arched doorway led away into darkness. He disembarked the pegasus as the dragons landed around him.

“It’s too tight in there to fit us Metals,” Sylfi said as she let down her riders.

“I cannot fit, either, obviously,” Iridaceae said, coming closer. She sat down, lumberingly, until she resided cross-legged beside him. “You will have to flush the demon’s vessel outside if you wish me to participate.”

“Transform,” Malem told the dragons. They changed, as requested. Malem and the other riders gave them the clothing they had secured in their backpacks; since the Metals no longer had their saddles, they had nothing to hide behind while they dressed. Malem and the others were careful to shield them from Timlir.

The dwarf noticed. “What? Why are you all standing in front of me?”

“You know why,” Malem said.

Timlir threw up his arms and walked away. “You treat me like I’m some pervert.”

“That’s because you are,” Xaxia commented.

“You should talk!” Timlir said. “I’ve seen the way you look at them, especially the blondish pixie one.”

Malem understood that to be Sylfi. She glanced up at Xaxia, and frowned, before making sure her back was to the bandit.

“She does have a nice ass,” Xaxia told Malem softly. “Though mine is just as good, right?”

“Better,” he told her.

She gave him a mischievous look. “I think we’re going to have to sleep together again soon. It’s about my turn in the rotation, isn’t it?”

“You’re next in line,” he promised her. Though in truth, he’d lost track. He was a bit too distracted right now to think about sex anyway. Not by the women who were dressing, of course, but by the darkness that awaited in the building beside him.

When Sylfi and Brita finished donning their leggings and leather armor, they retrieved their bows, and stocked up on arrows courtesy of Gwen. Weyanna had no weapons, save her magic, and her healing, but she wore a form-fitting white dress that revealed her lower back. Her long hair covered most of it, though when she walked, her hair occasionally revealed that smooth bare surface.

He quickly averted his eyes.

Guess I’m not too distracted to think about sex after all.

He walked toward the arched entrance, and gazed at the chamber inside; now that he was closer, he saw that it wasn’t completely dark in there. Different pillars—most of them cracked—held up a low ceiling. It had probably been beautiful in its day, but most of the paint had chipped or peeled off so that the frescos were unrecognizable. There were no windows of any kind.

Goldenthall lurked beyond that chamber.

The others approached, ready to enter.

“I’ll stay here with the Seeker of Balance,” Jack said. “We Trabeculae don’t function well in caves.”

“I understand,” Malem said.

“You can sense the demon now on your own, right?” Jack pressed.

“Yes,” Malem confirmed. “Thank you for all your help.”

“Thank you,” Jack said. “I will name my second son after you.”

Malem smiled. “It’s not necessary.”

“Oh, but it is,” Jack told him. “I will remember you for the rest of my life. As will my first son.”

Malem pressed a hand onto the shoulder area of the creature’s exoskeleton, and peered into that insectile face. He wasn’t sure what to say, so instead he simply nodded, released Jack, and turned to go.

“Xaxia, Timlir, clear the opening,” he told the pair.

The two fighters drew their weapons and entered, each facing opposite directions.

“Entrance is clear,” Xaxia said.

Malem drew Balethorn. The blade was silent today, probably because the Metals were in human form. As he entered, he said: “Remember, our goal is to injure Goldenthall, so I can Break him. Do not kill him. Unless you want me to lose my power.”

Maybe that wouldn’t be such a bad thing, Gwen sent privately. If it meant I could have you all to myself.

Don’t even think such a thing, Malem said.

I’m sure I’m not alone in these thoughts, Gwen said. Though I admit, I’m not sure I could live without the enhanced sex.

There you go, he said. Dismiss all thoughts of killing Goldenthall from your mind.

All right, she said. I’ll spare him. But only because you wish it.

Thank you, he told her.

Xaxia and Timlir led the way, with Malem and the Metals in the middle, and Wendolin, Aurora, and Grendel on the rear. Wendolin had produced her trident and net weapons, as there wasn’t any wood in that chamber—well, other than the unlaunched arrows of the bow women. Aurora held the crystal sword.

The party advanced between the aisle formed by those pillars, and when they reached the far side of the room, they encountered a marble-walled hallway leading away from the chamber. There were cracks in not just the walls, but the floor itself.

It was too dark to see very far into that hall.

“Grendel, some light,” Malem said.

She held out her palm, and created that familiar glowing globe. Even though she was at the back of the party, the reflections from those walls easily lighted the way, and the party proceeded.

Different rooms opened off from that main hallway, the wooden doors mostly rotted away.

At least there’s some wood, Wendolin commented.

He noticed she hadn’t spoken the words. They were all trying to step as softly as possible, as if afraid of waking whatever evil lurked in this place, but they all knew that the light would give them away regardless. Malem would have had Grendel dismiss the light if he thought it would help, but he was convinced Banvil could sense Malem closing, just as easily as he himself could detect the demon.

He had Xaxia and Timlir clear each room they passed, because he was afraid that Goldenthall had laid traps in those rooms—in the form of hidden monsters. But there was nothing in any of them.

Banvil’s signature, meanwhile, emanated from directly ahead.

They continued forward for about five minutes like that, and then Malem saw a dark figure standing at the periphery of the light produced by Grendel’s globe.

Xaxia and Timlir froze. As did everyone else.

Goldenthall stepped into the light and simply stood in place. His eyes were completely black, and overflowed with dark mist.

The Balor’s vessel smirked.

“You’ve finally come,” Goldenthall said in a deep, rumbling voice. “Welcome to your doom.”

26

Malem stared at Goldenthall, momentarily stunned. He had been expecting this moment—waiting for it, in fact—for the past few days, but now that it had come, he was taken off guard by the suddenness of it all.

Goldenthall abruptly spoke. His voice had returned to its normal timbre. “Well, what are you waiting for? Come get me!”

The possessed man giggled with glee, then turned around and ran away into the Darkness.

“Get him!” Malem said.

Xaxia and Timlir rushed forward, but were intercepted by fifteen oraks.

“Lunch time!” Xaxia said.

Her sword, Biter, blazed a bright purple as it sliced through the different oraks.

He glanced at Aurora. Her blade was aloft.

“Can you drain Goldenthall?” she asked.

She shook her head. “Only some of the oraks.”

Indeed, white mist erupted from the marble beneath some of the oraks, and seeped into their bodies. The crimson blade glowed a bright red as it fed her their stamina, and they dropped.

When he saw that blade glowing like that, Malem had a sudden realization.

He stole the stamina from Aurora, then sheathed Balethorn and dashed at her. He ripped the crystal blade Arathal from her hands as he passed.

What— she began.

But he muted her, and ran back the way he had come. He sensed confusion from her and his companions.

Some of them followed him.

“Get Goldenthall!” he shouted over his shoulder.

“Where are you going?” Gwen asked.

“I have to do something,” he told her. “I’ll be right back. Now go!”

She obeyed, as did the others.

His lips set in a grim line, he sped through that hallway. He reached a portion that Grendel’s globe of light could not penetrate, and traveled through the darkness, until he reached the wider, and brighter, cavern beyond.

Then he continued to the entrance, until he emerged. He sped past Jack, who was sitting on an upturned flagstone nearby, and ran toward Iridaceae.

She straightened when she saw him.

“What news?” she asked.

Malem ignored her, and ran right up to her.

She pulled her legs back, suddenly frightened.

But Malem was the quicker, and stabbed the blade home, slicing into the Paragon’s calf. The crystal sword flared a bright red.

The Paragon shrieked, kicking him away. He slammed into the far wall, but his dragonscale armor saved him.

“You can’t fool me, Banvil!” Malem said.

He scrambled to his feet, and arose again.

“What’s going on?” Jack asked, running to him.

“Get back!” Malem said. “She is the demon!”

He rushed at Iridaceae again.

“You’ve gone mad,” the Paragon said, backing away.

The stamina flowed through his body in leaps and bounds. He felt powerful enough to take on the entire world, let alone a single Paragon.

He summoned Lantos, and mounted the pegasus. He guided the winged horse toward Iridaceae.

The creature was in full retreat.

“You’ve been hiding in plain sight all this time!” Malem yelled. “But I won’t be fooled!”

Lantos swooped low, and as Malem dashed past her neck, he swiped at her with the crystal sword. The blade glowed brighter, and fed him more stamina.

She swatted at the horse, but Lantos dodged out of the way. The winged horse rose, circling to come about for another strike.

This time, Malem flew in a dive down the Paragon’s back, cutting a long gash all the way down from her shoulder blades to her lower back.

She screamed, and spun to punch him.

Lantos narrowly avoided the blow, and Malem fed some of the bounteous stamina he had taken to the winged horse.

Iridaceae pulled ahead, but tripped on the shoulder of one of the mountains, and collapsed, rumbling the ground.

By then, the brightness of her body had faded significantly.

Malem quickly flew Lantos low above her body, and leaped off. He landed on her back before she could stand, and he stabbed the blade through, above where he thought her heart must be.

She gasped beneath him, and shuddered. Then her body became translucent, and Malem fell through her, hitting the ground just below.

She faded entirely, her beautiful, once eternal light becoming just a memory.

Malem glowed with the stamina of a hundred beings. A thousand.

But before he could redirect that stamina to anything useful, like helping his friends, it began to fade. All of it was being sucked into the Darkness at his core.

He realized he was feeding Banvil.

The demon was in control.

The demon had made him do this.

Dark mist appeared before Malem, where the Paragon had once resided. And then the Balor took shape from it, appearing in all its dark glory. Flame and shadow outlined a towering, muscular form. Horns curled form its head, and large wings flexed on its back. Its tail waved back and forth, somehow mocking.

What have I done?

He realized it had been Banvil’s plan all along to draw him to the Light Realm. The Balor knew Malem would recruit some Paragon allies along the way. He also knew Malem would bring Aurora, and the crystal blade. Maybe the demon even planted a few subconscious suggestions before Malem left his kingdom, to ensure he brought the summoner and her sword with him.

“Come, Slave,” Banvil said. “Let us retrieve my second vessel. You are to be my top lieutenant, my first Black Sword.”

Malem approached. “Yes, Master. We will conquer the Light Realm. Together.”

Banvil smirked. “I’m so very glad you understand.”

* * *

Xaxia raced down the narrow hallway, chasing Goldenthall. Grendel had increased the brightness of her light cone so that Xaxia could readily see the possessed man ahead. She had feasted Biter on the blood of the last orak only moments ago, and their stamina flowed through Xaxia’s veins, giving her energy. She suspected Grendel had also granted her a speed buff, because Goldenthall seemed to slow down in front of her; that buff, combined with her extra stamina, allowed her to rapidly close with the man.

Branches erupted from the remnants of doors on either side of Goldenthall, courtesy of Wendolin, and attempted to snatch up the possessed man. But Goldenthall ripped through them without breaking stride.

Arrows from Gwen and the other bow women tore past and ripped into Goldenthall’s back. But the man seemed unaffected. Not a good sign.

“Resilient fucker!” Timlir commented from just behind her.

Wendolin caused vines to erupt from the shafts embedded in Goldenthall’s back, but once more he continued to run, breaking through the cords as if they were paper.

A wall of ice appeared in front of Goldenthall and smashed into him, but that, too, did not slow him down.

A mini-Balor rose from the ground ahead of Goldenthall, but he punched the monster, and incredibly, it slammed into the wall, and went down.

The man was cackling the whole time, but then he suddenly stopped. Dark swirls appeared around him, and Xaxia decided it was probably best not to get too close, so she, too, halted.

Goldenthall thrust out his hands and feet so that he was spread-eagled, and he floated into the air a few inches. Dark ribbons flowed into his body from all sides with such potency that the light from Grendel’s globe seemed to dim, the Darkness drawing it all in.

And then he dropped to the ground. He flexed, cracking his neck and shoulders as if limbering up, and then turned around to face Xaxia. The black mist floating around his eyes had grown with such intensity that it consumed the entire upper half of his face.

“The master says playtime has ended,” Goldenthall taunted in his regular voice. He giggled, and then dark ribbons darted out from him, heading straight for Xaxia.

She ducked, turning her body to shield herself with one arm, but then tendrils of light flung past her from behind, thrown by Grendel, and intercepted them.

Light met darkness, and the pair canceled each other out, saving Xaxia.

The man threw even more, and once again Grendel intercepted them; but this time, not all of the dark threads were negated, and several darted past Xaxia to strike Grendel. She was slammed, howling, into the wall, where the darkness impaled her so that she floated a few inches off the floor.

From the spears of darkness, black threads spread across Grendel’s dress, which was glowing a brilliant white. But then her dress flared even brighter, blindingly so, and the dark veins curdled, reversing course, until they dissolved straight away.

She dropped to the floor, her eyes and face glowing a bright, almost demonic white. “That was a mistake. Now you’ve pissed me off.”

She raised her palms, and whirlwinds of bright light began to swirl around each arm, growing bigger with each moment.

But then Gwen threw herself at Grendel, forcing her to the floor, and the brightness winked out.

“What are you doing?” Grendel screamed.

“Malem doesn’t want you to kill him!” Gwen said.

Goldenthall giggled. “That wouldn’t have killed me. But this will murder you.”

More dark threads than Xaxia had ever seen before erupted from the man; they headed for her, Timlir, all of them. There was no way she was going to escape them. None of them would.

She swallowed bravely, and stared at those veins defiantly as they approached, accepting her fate in that moment.

But the darkness dissipated before reaching her.

The smile faded from Goldenthall’s face. “The master wishes you all to live.” He sighed. “A pity, considering how much fun it would be to ravage you all. I would have relished your screams for an eternity as you lay there, convulsing on the floor, dying. Sadly, that will have to wait.”

Black portals appeared all around him, and oraks began to pour out. Xaxia had never seen the man summon so many at once. There was literally a war band of them, at least twenty, crowding the hallway. Xaxia was forced back as she defended against the onslaught.

Oraks rushed past her, to strike at her companions.

She swung, parrying a blow, and striking the orak on the riposte. Biter fed, glowing a bright purple, and strength flowed into her veins. No buff from Grendel was forthcoming, however—she was probably too weak after her earlier show of magic.

Goldenthall rushed past her and the others in the confusion. “See you outside!”

Arrows darted past, striking oraks around her. Branches grew from those arrows, and the nearby doors, impaling and wrapping up the monsters. Timlir hewed through the legs of the oraks, allowing Hamstringer to live up to its name. The floor became slippery under some of the oraks, as Weyanna created areas of slick ice. Aurora held back on summoning any mini-Balors, probably because the area was already too crowded. She remained next to Grendel, but when the latter woman retreated to chase Goldenthall, Aurora followed.

“Wait for us!” Xaxia said between strikes. But they ignored her. “Impatient, disloyal a-holes.”

She downed her current foe, and blood splattered her face. The sword’s glow had diminished slightly, but only because the blade was steeped in the blood of her enemies.

She finished up the remaining oraks with the help of the other companions, and then retreated to pursue Grendel and Aurora. And of course, Goldenthall.

“Something’s changed,” Gwen said beside her.

“What do you mean?” Xaxia asked.

“With Malem,” Gwen replied. “His energy bundle. Something’s different. He… he’s not himself. He feels closer to the Defiler than anything else. I think Banvil has taken him.”

“Oh, no,” Weyanna said. “We can’t have lost him.”

“We all knew this day must one day come,” Gwen said. “We just didn’t expect it to be so soon.”

“If he’s lost, there has to be a way to reverse it,” Xaxia said. “We did it before.”

“If he has turned, only the Paragons can help him,” Wendolin declared.

“We’ll see,” Xaxia told her.

They reached the main cavern. Ahead, beyond the entrance, Xaxia spotted Grendel and Aurora with their backs toward her. They were staring up at something Xaxia couldn’t see from her current angle. From their faces, that something wasn’t very good.

Xaxia burst through and gazed upward. She couldn’t help but come to a halt. Her legs had become rubbery, and it was all she could do to remain standing.

A Balor towered above her, wreathed in red flame. On its right shoulder perched Malem, untouched by the fires. Indeed, he seemed a part of them. He held the crystal sword casually in one hand, pointed downward. It wasn’t glowing at the moment.

“We’ve lost,” Xaxia pronounced.

27

Xaxia noticed motion on the demon’s left shoulder, opposite Malem. Goldenthall appeared there, pulling himself up the demon’s shadowy flesh, and squatted in the flames. The fire also did not touch the man.

Aurora dropped suddenly, as did the three Metals, Wendolin, Gwen, and the pegasus Lantos. Only Grendel, Timlir, and Xaxia remained standing. Along with Jack nearby. The latter slowly edged toward Xaxia and the others.

“What did you do to them?” Xaxia shouted. She knelt beside Gwen, who was wheezing harshly, as if she had just run a marathon.

“We ordered them to kneel,” the Balor said. “They did not obey.”

“Are you Banvil?” Xaxia said.

”Very good, Child,” Banvil said. “Kneel. You and your companions. Pledge loyalty to me.”

She felt the demon attempting to worm into her mind, but she slammed closed her mental door.

“Kneel,” Banvil repeated, with a voice so menacing that Xaxia couldn’t help but obey, as did the others, including Jack.

“Don’t give yourself to him,” Grendel muttered beside her. “Don’t let your guard down, for even a moment!”

“I don’t intend to,” Timlir said.

“Pledge loyalty,” Banvil said.

“I pledge fealty,” Xaxia said.

The others muttered similar replies.

“Let me into your minds,” Banvil said. “Let me take control. You will become my Black Swords, the founding members of my army. And together, we shall take this realm.”

“Where’s Iridaceae?” Grendel asked.

“I took her,” Banvil replied. “And fed upon her stamina.”

“She’s dead, then?” Grendel pressed.

“She fled, a shadow of herself,” Banvil said. “Enough talk. Let me in!”

Xaxia felt the pressure in her mind increase, so much so that it felt like her skull was going to implode. It was all she could do to resist the demon’s presence. It felt like she was hanging off a cliff over the abyss by her fingernails—which she kept quite trim in the first place.

Timlir stood up, struggling, and then gasped, falling to his knees once more. His eyes had turned black, and dark mist flowed from his eyes.

“Timlir, no!” Xaxia said.

The dwarf glanced at her expressionlessly.

Grendel was quivering beside her, so much so that she thought the light mage was next. Xaxia was hoping Grendel’s robes would suddenly flare a bright white, so that she’d save the day, but no such good fortune transpired.

The other companions lying prostate in front of Xaxia were already Malem’s, so there was no need for Banvil to Break them again—they were already the demon’s.

And then, just like that, the pressure in Xaxia’s head subsided. She exhaled, gasping for breath, as did Grendel beside her.

Banvil shifted, turning to the right, and gazing past the mountains there. “A disturbance…”

A whip of pure light flung at Banvil from the direction of the mountains, making a sound like a thunderclap. It struck the Balor, caused a red gash in the blackness of the demon’s torso.

Banvil wrapped his hand around that whip, and though it obviously burned the Balor—smoke rose from the area in plumes—the demon pulled, drawing in whatever wielded the weapon.

Another Paragon appeared, stepping out from behind a mountain, and entered the valley via a pass. She towered over Banvil by an entire head.

“It’s Corinne!” Grendel said excitedly.

Lantos suddenly arose, given stamina by Malem. The pegasus flew to Malem and he leaped off of Banvil and onto the animal’s back, and then guided the winged horse toward Corinne, whose light weapon was still gripped by Banvil.

“Paragon,” Banvil said. “You will die for that.”

“Where is Iridaceae?” Corinne boomed.

Banvil erupted in a terrible cackle. “Dead. Killed by my servant, the Breaker!”

“Then you are the second one who will die today, Balor,” Corinne thundered.

Malem flew high over Corinne. She watched his approach cautiously, so that when he darted in, she was ready, and attempted to swat the pegasus away with her free hand. But apparently Malem was expecting that, because the winged horse changed directions at the last second and slipped past. The crystal sword cut a gash down Corinne’s arm, and she shrieked in pain.

The weapon glowed a bright red in Malem’s hand, and threads of darkness flowed into Banvil from all sides, materializing only a few yards from the demon’s body. No doubt Malem was transferring stamina to the demon from the Paragon, similar to what Aurora had done for Denfidal, though in her case, she had taken the stamina from Malem’s army.

“I didn’t know that weapon could harm Paragons,” Xaxia said. She glanced at Aurora. “Why didn’t you use it on Corinne when you were defending Denfidal?”

“I tried,” Aurora said from where she lay on the ground. “It didn’t work.”

“It can only harm the Paragons here, in the Light Realm,” Grendel agreed. “Where they exist in their natural state. In your world, Corinne was essentially merely a projection.”

Corinne took another hit as Malem dove past her back. Finally, she released the light whip, and stepped from Banvil to concentrate on the more immediate threat to her existence.

The Balor released the whip, letting it fall to the ground. The demon’s hand had become a ruined mass of red; it had stopped smoking, at least.

Moving well away from the ruins, Xaxia dashed toward Corinne as Malem continued to harass her. He kept dive bombing and pulling up at the last minute as Corinne nearly struck him. She was retreating the whole time.

So far, Banvil merely watched, as if in amusement.

As Xaxia grew near, she shouted. “Do you have the talisman?”

Corinne gazed down at her; Xaxia couldn’t really tell what expression the Paragon wore on that bright face, but Xaxia thought it was confusion. Corinne was likely too distracted by pain, and the threat of imminent death, to truly focus on Xaxia’s words.

The interruption allowed Malem to score another hit; Corinne staggered away, swatting weakly at Lantos’ retreating form; her glow was becoming alarmingly dim.

“Don’t distract her!” Grendel called to Xaxia from behind.

“The talisman!” Xaxia tried again. “To protect Malem from the darkness! Iridaceae said you would bring it!”

Corinne wordlessly flung out a hand, and a small amulet dropped toward Xaxia.

Xaxia dashed forward and snatched the artifact out of the air before it hit the ground.

Without warning, that same hand scooped up Xaxia, and lifted her into the air.

“Get ready,” Corinne said.

Malem was coming in for another pass. Corinne extended her arm, and Lantos dodged to the side, believing that the Paragon was trying to strike them. But Corinne was merely attempting to put Xaxia into position.

The pegasus flew past just below, and Corinne released her. Xaxia plunged, and landed directly behind Malem, between the wings.

The sudden added weight jerked the Pegasus down. Malem struck out with one elbow, trying to shove Xaxia off the winged horse. But she had already latched onto his torso, with one arm wrapped around his chest, while she slid the amulet over his neck with the other. She remembered Iridaceae’s words about how the talisman had to remain in contact with his flesh at all times in order to combat the Darkness inside of him, so she forced it into the gap at the top of his chest plate, allowing the jeweled portion of the amulet to touch his skin.

But just then Malem struck her harder than ever before with his armored elbow, and the blow winded her enough that she relaxed her hold. His next strike knocked her off the winged animal entirely.

She plunged down, ever down, toward her doom…

* * *

The cloud that had settled over Malem’s thoughts lifted. Banvil retreated to the core at the center of Malem’s mind, the demon’s tendrils no longer intertwining with his entire being. Malem could see clearly for the first time since leaving the ruins.

Whoever had landed on the pegasus’ back had saved him. He glanced down, over his shoulder, and saw Xaxia.

Plunging to her death.

Corinne was too far away to save her. As was Banvil.

He dove, frantically, but knew he’d never reach her in time.

To save his life, Xaxia had given hers.

And Malem would never forgive himself.

He would slay Banvil for this, the powers the demon granted him be damned. And then he would return to the woods and live out the rest of his days as a hermit, like Grendel. That seemed ample punishment.

Those dour thoughts passed through his mind in the blink of an eye as he continued to descend toward the woman who had saved his life.

And then he noticed a glow from the ground below. Grendel.

He realized that time had slowed around him and Lantos—the light mage had granted them a speed buff.

There was still a chance to save Xaxia.

He spurred the steed on, urging it to fly faster than ever before.

Lantos rapidly closed the distance with the falling woman, and Malem had the pegasus swoop underneath so that he caught her as she dropped into his arms.

Time snapped back to its normal speed, and he felt her full weight in his arms and lap.

“Well hello,” she said. “Glad to see you’ve come back to your senses.”

“Thanks to you,” he told her.

“I kinda want to fuck you right now,” she said.

“Me too,” he told her. “Too bad there’s no time.”

The added weight was quickly exhausting the pegasus, so Malem was forced to land. When he let Xaxia down, she gave him a kiss on the lips. He didn’t want her to let go, so he stayed there, allowing her mouth to press against his a little longer than was necessary, given the situation. At last he ripped himself away.

She gazed at Banvil behind him.

“Go teach that fucker a lesson,” Xaxia said.

Malem turned Lantos around.

Banvil was backing away from him. The demon didn’t dare send any ribbons of Darkness—it knew Malem could readily Break them. He sensed fear from the Balor.

Corinne was keeping her distance from Banvil as well. Probably because her glow had been greatly reduced, thanks to Malem. She was in no condition to tangle with the demon.

It was up to Malem, now.

He tried to touch Banvil’s mind but could not. He no longer sensed Goldenthall, he noted. That only meant the man was no longer the demon’s vessel. But Goldenthall was still Broken by the creature, no doubt: the equivalent of a Black Sword, and thus very dangerous.

Banvil suddenly turned around and ran toward Malem’s companions in front of the ruins. No doubt the demon intended to use them as hostages.

Malem spurred Lantos into the air and fed stamina to Sylfi from his reserves. The act weakened him greatly, and he couldn’t afford to give stamina to anyone else.

Transform! he ordered Sylfi. Get the others to safety!

Sylfi changed, ripping through her clothing, becoming a Chromium. She began tossing the weak companions into the opening in the ruins, scooping them up in her talons, and maw. Timlir and Grendel helped her.

Banvil arrived just as Sylfi finished delivering the last of them; Timlir and Grendel dashed into the opening for cover. Meanwhile, Sylfi took to the air, and flew out of the way before the Balor could stomp her.

“Little dragon bitch!” Banvil said. “I’ll cut off your head and shove it up your reptilian ass!”

“Ha!” Sylfi taunted. “That the best insult you can come up with? Banvil, the Balor with no class. And soon, no balls.” She dove at Banvil, coming in behind the demon so that she could rake its back with her claws. Her scales protected her from the flames that coated the Balor.

Banvil twisted its torso and swung at her in outrage; the demon nearly connected its fist with her belly, but Sylfi narrowly dodged out of the way.

Banvil turned back toward the ruins, reached up to grip Goldenthall, and lowered the former king to the ground. Goldenthall raced inside, no doubt to attack the others who had gotten away.

But Malem had closed by then, and while Banvil still had its back to him, he swooped past the demon’s neck. He swung the crystal sword, Arathal, in an arc, and cut a big gash into the demon’s shadowy flesh. Arathal glowed a bright red as stamina filled Malem.

Banvil turned and swatted at him, but Lantos dodged out of the way, pulling higher.

Malem transferred the fresh stamina to Aurora and Weyanna, hoping the summoner and ice mage would be able to protect the others from Goldenthall.

On the ground below, Xaxia had just arrived as well, and she wove between Banvil’s feet and dashed into the ruins to deliver what aid she could to the companions.

Malem attempted to wrap his will around Banvil, but still couldn’t touch the demon’s mind.

Sylfi came in for another attack run.

Banvil turned to strike at her, and she was forced to abort her attack, swerving away before she could impact with her talons.

Malem used the diversion to come in from the other side, and he swooped underneath the Balor’s arm and cut a long diagonal slash down Banvil’s side. The demon roared, slamming its fist at him, and landed a glancing blow on one of Lantos’ wings.

The pegasus moved away, pain emanating from its energy bundle, and quickly lost altitude. The poor beast released a roar to accompany that pain—it was a sound that horses of any kind rarely made, and it was very unsettling. Malem was forced to land the creature.

He dismounted and ordered the creature to run toward the cave.

Weyanna, heal Lantos when you have a chance, he sent.

Malem distributed his spare stamina among Gwen, Brita, and Wendolin so that they were all up to speed once more. From the tenseness he sensed among them, he knew they were still fighting Goldenthall.

He tried to touch Banvil’s mind, and this time he was finally able to wrap his mental tendrils around it. But when he tried to squeeze, he was unable to get a firm grip. Banvil was still too strong.

The demon marched lumberingly toward him and attempted to stomp Malem. He weaved between those impacts, striking the demon in the foot with the crystal sword, and then moved away swiftly, not wanting to be hit by the expected kick.

But Banvil didn’t kick him. Instead, its tail swung underneath the demon’s body, forcing Malem to dive to the ground. It passed just above him, narrowly missing.

He rolled away as the tail withdrew, and Banvil turned around, and struck down again, this time with a fist.

Malem dodged it, and then dashed forward, plunging the blade into Banvil’s knuckle.

The demon unfurled its fingers, surprising Malem, and knocked him backward. He let go of the sword.

The Balor raised its hand, with Arathal still protruding from between the knuckles. Banvil plucked the blade free with the fingers of its other hand, as a man would remove a porcupine’s quill.

“Now you all die,” Banvil said.

Mist arose from underneath Malem. From the fear he sensed from the others in the ruins, he knew more mist, generated by the sword, had appeared inside. While Aurora was unable to drain strong-willed and higher-level creatures with the blade on her own, in the hands of a Balor, Malem had no doubt that Arathal could operate to its fullest extent.

He and the others were about to die.

He reached out frantically, wrapping his mind around the demon’s. He had to hope that his latest blow had weakened the Balor enough.

Unfortunately, Banvil still squirmed frantically beneath his touch. He would be impossible to Break, given Malem’s current strength, versus the demon’s.

Unless…

His companions were dead anyway if he lost. So, he took stamina from all of them equally, bringing them to about twenty-five percent of their rested strengths. It would hamper them in their battle against Goldenthall, but the others who were not bound to him would have to take up the slack.

With his newfound strength, he tried again. He tightened his will and managed to constrain the mental wriggling of his opponent. He almost had it… almost…

But not quite.

The white tendrils wrapped around his thighs, and he could feel the stamina he had taken draining away, along with his life’s essence.

So, this is how it ends.

Malem had come all this way, fought all these demons, external and internal, only to die here, in a realm so far away from his own, losing to the beast that had hunted—and haunted—him his entire life.

And then Corinne slammed into the demon from behind. The pair toppled to the earth, and the ground rumbled around Malem. She wrapped an arm around Banvil’s neck, placing the demon in a choke hold.

Malem’s will abruptly tightened into a fist as he crushed Banvil’s.

Malem collapsed from the drain.

“Banvil is mine!” Malem shouted weakly. He had to contend not only with the drain of Breaking, but the stamina loss caused by Arathal as the crystal sword leeched his life force.

Repeal the sword’s killing mist! he ordered Banvil.

Fuck you, Breaker, Banvil sent.

And you as well, Malem told the demon. Now repeal it!

He drained stamina and squeezed the vice of his will tighter. Banvil gritted its shadowy teeth, and then the mist retreated. The sheer rage, mixed with defeat, that Malem felt from the demon’s energy bundle as the ghostly tendrils withdrew into the soil was extremely satisfying.

“The demon is mine!” Malem said as he struggling to his feet. He approached Corinne. “Stop!”

Her dim silhouette glanced at him, and then at last she released Banvil. She pushed herself up from the ground and shoved his head down one more time for good measure, and then stood.

Banvil, meanwhile, hauled its body up so that it crawled on hands and knees.

“You have defeated me once again,” Banvil said, head bowed. “You are my master.”

“I am tempted to kill it,” Corinne said. “To hell with balance.”

“Don’t,” Malem said. He didn’t add the reason why: Otherwise I’ll lose my powers.

He restored stamina to his companions, taking from Banvil.

Sylfi landed nearby.

Xaxia and Timlir managed to subdue Goldenthall, Weyanna sent. And Wendolin has bound him in branches from the many arrows Gwen launched. Oh, and I’ve healed your pegasus.

Lantos emerged from the cave, fully healed by Weyanna. The others came behind her, bringing Goldenthall, whose hands were bound behind his back by vines.

Malem retrieved Arathal from Banvil’s feet, where the Balor had dropped it during the tussle with Corinne and tossed the crystal sword to Aurora.

“This belongs to you,” he told her.

“Thank you,” she said.

“So that’s it?” Sylfi said. “We’ve won?”

“I suppose so,” Malem said. “I’m free of the Balor’s influence, while I wear this.” He tapped the amulet tucked into the top of his armor. “I need never fear Banvil again.”

“Oh, it would be wise to fear the demon, I think,” Wendolin told him. “You may have Broken him now, but once he returns to his realm, he will no longer be yours, and will scheme in the shadows.”

“Probably,” Malem said.

And remember, that amulet can be destroyed, if you allow too much Darkness to enter it, Wendolin pressed. That’s how Vorgon ruined your last one.

Yes, except the only way Banvil could cast Darkness at me was if he allied with another Balor, Malem told her. As I can Break his Darkness.

Banvil might very well arrange an alliance like that, one day, Wendolin said.

Then we’ll just have to deal with it when that day comes. Malem switched to voice and said: “It’s time to go.” He glanced at Corinne. “Can you open a portal home for us? So I can have Banvil return to the Black Realm?”

“I’m too weak to open a portal of any kind,” Corinne answered. “Let alone one big enough to harbor a Balor. We will have to wait until more Paragons come. They’re on the way. Though I’m uncertain their arrival will be… genial, given what happened to Iridaceae.”

Malem turned toward the demon. “Banvil, I don’t suppose you can return to the Black Realm from here?”

“No,” Banvil replied. “Only from your realm. All the routes are closed to me in this land.”

“So you can’t open a portal of any kind?” Malem pressed.

“No,” the Balor said.

“But Goldenthall created temporary portals for oraks…” Malem said.

“And he may still create such portals, owing to his human nature, but I cannot,” the Balor said.

“Maybe Goldenthall can make those portals bigger, if you grant him enough stamina,” Malem told the demon.

Banvil smiled grimly. “No matter how much stamina I lend my servant, he doesn’t have the power to create a portal large enough, and long-lasting enough, to hold me. Plus, the portals he creates are one way, leading to this land only. I’m sorry, I’m afraid there’s no way to get back from here. Not without assistance.”

“So, wait,” Malem said. “You came here, all the way to this land, without any actual means of returning to the Black Realm?”

“I always assumed I would simply stay here and destroy the other Paragons one by one from the shadows, until this realm was mine,” the demon said. “Then I wouldn’t have to go back.”

“Shit,” Malem said. “I killed Iridaceae for you. The other Paragons, when they find us, aren’t going to be happy. Hell, Corinne almost killed you herself. Or she would have, if I hadn’t helped you.”

“I had the situation under complete control,” Banvil claimed.

“Sure you did.” Malem felt the ground shaking beneath him and saw powerful beams of light reflecting from the mountains on all sides, sourced from something beyond them, just out of view.

“Sounds like someone’s coming,” Xaxia said.

28

Malem mounted Lantos and drew Balethorn.

“Brita, Weyanna, transform,” Malem told them.

The pair stripped off their clothes, and became a Chromium and White respectively, joining Sylfi in dragon form.

“May I ride with Banvil?” Goldenthall asked.

Malem nodded. “Wendolin, release him.”

The vines that bound Goldenthall’s wrists fell away, and the former king ran to Banvil, who promptly scooped him up and set him down on one shoulder.

Paragons entered the valley, coming in from the northeast and southeast, forming a half circle around the companions, and the ruins. Six of them in total.

“Where is Iridaceae?” a particularly large Paragon asked in an angry voice.

“The demon belongs to the Breaker, now, Glitra,” Corinne said. “We may—”

“I don’t care!” Glitra said. “Where is my sister?”

Malem urged Lantos forward a few paces. He had done the deed, so he would be the one to share the news. “I’m sorry. She didn’t make it. I… I killed her, when Banvil possessed me.”

Glitra stared at him, then the glow coming from her body doubled in strength. Tripled. He had thought that the Paragons could not blind him with their bodies in this place, but he was wrong, and he was forced to shield his eyes then.

“Kill the Balor!” Glitra roared.

The Paragons marched forward, closing the gap. Meanwhile, Malem and the others retreated several paces, as did Banvil. Corinne retreated, too, attempting to shield Banvil from the Paragons with her body.

“Slay the demon!” Glitra said. “Destroy its essence entirely!”

“Can they do that?” Malem shouted up at Corinne. “I thought if a Balor dies outside its native realm, the demon is merely reduced, as already happened to Banvil when Vorgon cut off its head?”

“We have ways to kill a Balor entirely in this realm,” Corinne responded. “By using our whips of light to drain it entirely of essence.”

“Why didn’t you use those whips of yours against Denfidal when you were in our realm?” Gwen called. “Instead of making us retrieve Banvil’s sword?”

“I had no access to the necessary powers in your realm,” Corinne said.

“She has an excuse for everything!” Gwen said. “She’s almost like one of those storybook writers who pull stuff out of a hat on a whim as it suits them!”

“Your demon will not survive this day, I’m afraid,” Corinne said ignoring the comment. “I will do my best to hold the Paragons off, but I am only one against many.”

“You’re not alone,” Malem said, commanding Lantos to rise. “But I do have one last question: what about your precious balance?”

Apparently Glitra overheard, because she was the one who answered.

“In order to restore balance, the Balor must be slain,” the Paragon said. “A life for a life.”

And then Glitra threw out one arm, and a thick whip of light emerged. Malem slid Lantos to the side, but he wasn’t the target. The bright light traveled past him, and skirted by Corinne as well, heading directly for Banvil.

But the demon was ready, and released a ribbon of pure Darkness in return, of equal thickness. When light touched dark, they canceled one another.

“We can do this all day!” Banvil said.

Glitra cocked her head. “Can we, now?”

She launched another whip. But this time, the five Paragons with her also released similar tendrils of light—they had repositioned, so that their attacks skirted Corinne.

Banvil countered with threads of Darkness, but he could only make three of them thick enough to counter the tendrils entirely. The other strands only partially negated the attack, so that three whips of light got through and struck the demon. While reduced, those whips wrapped around the demon’s arms, and torso, and still inflicted great pain and stamina drain. The demon staggered, and smoke arose in plumes from the impact sites.

Malem quickly fed Banvil endurance, drawing from his companions. A moment later, dark streaks appeared along the surface of the light whips, where they contacted the demon’s flesh. Those streaks grew and expanded, until the entire sections touching the demon turned black. They promptly dissolved and Banvil broke free.

Run! Malem ordered the demon. Metals, stall them!

Banvil fled, lumbering toward the far side of the valley. Corinne joined the demon, once more doing her best to shield the Balor with her body. But the Paragons pursued, spreading out to the left and right so as to better aim past Corinne, and whenever they had a shot at Banvil, they took it: whips of light intermittently assailed the demon.

Banvil negated those whips, sometimes before they struck, sometimes after, and tried launching Darkness at the Paragons in turn, but his offensive attacks were always turned back before reaching the targets. Corinne sometime intercepted the darkness with whips of her own.

Malem didn’t blame her; these were her friends. While she might not condone the death of Banvil, she could not condone attacks against other Paragons, either.

So, it was probably best that she didn’t know what Malem was planning to do next.

He dove Lantos toward his companions.

Meanwhile, Sylfi, Brita and Weyanna approached the incoming Paragons, and circled them, breathing flames into their eyes. The dragons were immune to most of the light magic the Paragons launched at them in turn, though Malem suspected if the Paragons combined their attacks, that wouldn’t be the case.

Aurora had also summoned mini-Balors, but they were useless against the light beings. The Paragons merely stomped them into oblivion.

Sylfi was struck in the side when Glitra’s fist connected with her flank, and the Metal plunged toward the ground, the pain emanating from her in waves.

Malem frantically fed Sylfi stamina; meanwhile, Weyanna dove after her, and released healing mist. Sylfi recovered a moment before impact, and pulled up, as did Weyanna.

Withdraw for now, Malem ordered the Metals. Circle them, keep your distance. Don’t antagonize.

The Paragons once more concentrated on pursuing Banvil, who had only gained maybe a hundred yards on them

Malem had closed with his companions by then, who trailed a short distance behind Corinne after Banvil.

Aurora, the crystal sword! Malem sent.

I can use it! she replied.

Can you drain the Paragons remotely? he asked. As you did to my army when you fought for Denfidal?

They are too strong, she answered. The attacks will have to be direct. I can close with them. Let me ride one of the dragons.

The dragons are too big of a target, as you saw, Malem sent. Give me the sword.

He still sensed defiance from her, but then: Take it.

Malem swooped low and Aurora threw him the crystal sword. He caught it out of the air, and spurred Lantos toward the six Paragons.

The demon was quickly taxing, so Malem had to feed stamina to it again. As the Balor approached the mountain pass, Malem was beginning to doubt Banvil would have the energy to surmount it.

Glitra abruptly attacked Corinne, striking her with a whip to the leg; the light wrapped around her ankle, and Glitra pulled, tripping the Paragon. Corinne fell, crashing to the ground. The land rumbled all around her.

With Corinne momentarily out of the way, the remaining Paragons were able to concentrate their attacks on the demon. They whipped repeatedly, drawing out chunks of black flesh from the demon’s back.

Banvil howled in pain, and raised one leg over the mountain pass, but was unable to muster the strength to lift the other.

Malem couldn’t afford to feed the demon stamina, not again. He had already drained too much from himself, and the others—if he took more, they’d all be lying exhausted on the ground, useless.

He sent Lantos toward those Paragons. A malicious smile formed on Glitra’s face as she continued to beat Banvil to death.

Lantos came in from the side, and Malem swerved the winged horse to the back of the light beings, before diving. He brought the pegasus close enough to the back of one of the Paragons so that Arathal was within striking distance. And strike he did, carving a long gash down the Paragon’s back.

The Paragon shrieked, spinning toward him. He withdrew the glowing blade near the small of her back, and when she attempted to strike him out of the skies with an elbow, he sent Lantos first lower, and then higher, feeding the winged horse fresh stamina from the blade. He gave the rest of the endurance to Banvil, and the demon straightened under the assault.

Two other Paragons turned to concentrate on him, this latest threat, while the other three continued attacking Banvil.

Now, Metals! Malem sent. I could use some distractions…

Ribbons of light came in at him. These were smaller than the light tendrils they had cast at Banvil, but they came in much greater numbers. Malem knew Lantos wouldn’t be able to dodge them all…

But then time slowed down around him and the winged horse. He spotted a glow on the ground below and realized Grendel had granted him speed. He darted in an out between those slower whips, and weaved between the three Paragons, striking them intermittently. Their howls of pain sounded deep and low-pitched because of the way time had slowed around him.

The sword took stamina from the Paragons and spiked his own to incredible levels. He began to feed that stamina to Banvil, and at the same time, he reached out instinctively, searching for other animals or monsters to call to his aid. It was then that he felt a presence out there he hadn’t noticed before.

Corinne.

Ordinarily, Malem couldn’t sense Paragons. But for some reason, she showed up: probably because he had weakened her so severely earlier. Or perhaps that final attack from Glitra had brought her over the edge.

Whatever the case, she was the only Paragon on their side. And thus, the only one who could send them home. But she needed strength to do that. Strength she did not have.

Not yet.

He had never tried to Break a Paragon before, and he wasn’t sure it would work. He reached out experimentally and found he could wrap his will around hers. She had been weakened enough, then.

He squeezed.

She fought him.

But with all the stamina he had flowing through his veins—taken from the other Paragons—combined with the speed boost Grendel had given him, Corinne had no chance. The suddenness, and ferocity of his attack, allowed him to Break her in moments.

In fact, it was little different than Breaking Banvil.

He was forced to release Lantos as she expanded to fill thirty-four slots in his mind, the same number as Banvil. That left him two slots away from his maximum of seventy.

The excess stamina flowing through his veins readily absorbed the endurance cost of the Breaking, and he fed the remainder to Corinne, and her brightness grew.

Open a portal home! he commanded Corrine as she rose.

I can create a portal, she told him. But it won’t be big enough to fit your demon. I need more time to recuperate.

Then I will feed you more stamina! he told her.

No! she sent. Do not harm my friends!

29

Malem had no choice and ignored her pleas. Banvil was still being beaten to death by Glitra and two others beside him, and the demon would need more stamina before it could return, anyway.

He had been training Lantos by applying physical pressure with his legs each time he issued a mental command, with the hope that the latter eventually wouldn’t be needed. It worked with ordinary animals, but the pegasus was far from ordinary, of course. However, given that he no longer had a link to the animal, he had no choice but to test that theory.

He squeezed his thighs together and applied more pressure on the left leg than the right; the pegasus responded instantly, flying down, and banking hard to the right, heading toward the closest Paragon. The light being swatted at him, but Malem and his mount still had Grendel’s speed buff active, and Lantos dodged.

Malem sped past the Paragon’s flanks, beneath its arm, and struck out with Arathal. The low-pitched shriek of the light being filled his ears, and he spread the resultant stamina between Corinne and Banvil, giving more to the former, but enough to the latter so that the demon could rise.

Open the portal! he told Corinne when her brightness surpassed even that of her companions.

She hesitated. Perhaps she was angry that Malem was striking at her companions, or maybe she didn’t want to face their wrath when she allowed the demon to escape.

Do it! Malem sent. Or I’ll be forced to keep attacking the others to keep Banvil alive! I refuse to lose my powers, and the link I have to my companions. I won’t let you kill the Balor! You know I’m right in this. You know that balance must be preserved!

Finally, Corinne spread her arms wide, and a vertical line of light appeared behind the half circle of Paragons. It elongated, the bottom and top sections spreading apart until they were the same height as Corinne herself, and then the line expanded, becoming a square of light big enough to fit a Balor.

Banvil! Malem sent. The way home!

He fed the remaining spare stamina in the sword to Banvil. The demon lifted its leg away from the mountain pass and turned to shove through the Paragons. The demon took several impacts from their light whips but stumbled though the portal beyond with Goldenthall still on its shoulder and vanished.

Flee through the portal! he ordered the others. Metals, help any laggards!

With leg pressure, he directed Lantos toward the bright tear in reality.

Below, the other companions on foot were already dashing through, following. There weren’t going to be any laggards for the Metals to aid.

Jack, meanwhile, was retreating along the shoulders of the mountains nearby. He waved at Malem and called: “Good luck!”

Malem nodded and followed the Metals toward the light portal.

Is everyone else through? Weyanna asked.

Yes, Malem replied. Take the portal! Before Corinne changes her mind!

The three dragons entered the portal ahead of him. Malem followed close behind, with whips of light coming in at him. After Grendel had passed through, he had lost the speed buff, so he had to rely on Lantos’ natural dexterity to avoid the attacks.

And then he struck the light rectangle: warmth and brightness enveloped him.

It faded, and he was flying over a forested region: whichever part of his world corresponded with the same location in the Light Realm. He could see Banvil below, the demon’s hips and upper body easily protruding from the tree tops, and he felt the others near the demon. There was no sign of the gate, which Malem assumed was one way, just like the original path to the Light Realm had been.

Corinne felt so very far away in his mind. He could no longer communicate with her.

He waited a few moments to make sure no one was going to follow. Corinne had once told him that the Paragons were too weak to travel to this realm, and those that could needed a conduit to do so, just as Corinne herself had needed Grendel to enter this world. He wasn’t entirely certain how much he believed her. Banvil had been able to pass through with ease after all, as had Malem and his companions. Then again, he didn’t really know much about Paragons. She was probably telling the truth… that the strain of entering this realm was far too great for them to bear.

When he was satisfied that none were coming, he released Corinne. He freed her only now, rather than earlier, because he hadn’t wanted to risk her closing the portal on him before he entered. The last thing he needed was to be trapped in that realm without his companions.

He used his freed slots to Break Lantos again, because he liked having the creature in his head. He took only a slight stamina hit since the animal had been Broken previously and fed it some spare stamina as a reward for not fighting him.

He closed with Banvil, and landed in the small clearing the demon stood in.

“What a journey,” Xaxia said as Malem dismounted beside his companions. Goldenthall was among them, though he stood apart from the others.

“So, you spoil my plans of world domination once again,” Banvil boomed in complaint.

“That’s what I’m here for,” Malem said. “I’m an agent of balance of sorts myself, I suppose.”

“Don’t get a big head or anything,” Grendel said. “He’s comparing himself to a Paragon, now…”

Malem smiled, and then gazed up at Banvil once more. “So, are you able to open a way back to your own realm from here?”

The demon nodded. “I can. Though I’d prefer to stay here with you. We can conquer this world together.”

“You know I can’t allow that,” Malem said. “And I think the Paragons wouldn’t be pleased, either.”

“Who cares about the Paragons,” Banvil said. “With that sword, we can destroy them all if they interfere.”

“Sorry, big guy,” Malem said. “There will be no conquering of this world. I have a kingdom already. I’m happy with it. Hell, it’s hard enough for me to manage that tiny chunk of the world as it is. I couldn’t imagine trying to rule it all.”

“Then let me stay here alone and do as I please?” Banvil said.

“Conquer the world as you please, I don’t think so,” Malem told the demon.

Banvil sighed. A great sound like a hurricane. Then the demon nodded slowly. “I will go back, then. You fought well, Breaker. I thank you for saving me, despite what I did to you, and what I have done to you since you were a child.”

“Yeah,” Malem replied. “You’re welcome, I guess. I do need you. If you didn’t grant me the power you do, I’m not sure I’d spare you. Not with the threat your continued existence imposes. Not just to me, but to the world.” He instinctively reached for the amulet that was wrapped around his throat, shoved beneath his armor, but stopped himself.

“The world is safe, when I leave,” Banvil said. “I cannot return. Well, unless you invite me, by seeking the Darkness in your head as I have taught you.”

“But Corinne closed the way,” Malem said.

“Most ways,” Banvil said. “Except one. Through you. But as I told you, you must invite me, first.”

“That’s good to know,” Malem said. “Though I have a feeling I won’t be inviting you for a long time. If ever.”

“Yes, well, there’s no guarantee I’ll obey your summons, either,” Banvil said. “Even if you do not release me, you will have no influence over me while I am in the Black Realm.”

“Oh, I’ll release you,” Malem said. “You use up too many slots in my head for me to keep you bound while you’re away. But tell me, you’re going to be safe in the Black Realm? If you return here?”

Banvil glanced around. “This territory once belonged to Denfidal, I believe. It is now Manu’s. However, these lands are well away from Manu’s headquarters. I shall be safe. Besides, you’ve returned me almost to my full strength, so any monster, Balor or otherwise, that attacks me will regret the act. I intend to return to my own territory, and resume command of whatever remains.”

“And begin building up your army, no doubt,” Malem said.

Banvil shrugged. “I must prepare for the inevitable attacks the other Balors will make.”

“Farewell, Demon,” Malem said.

“Feel free to remove that talisman around your neck whenever you wish,” Banvil commented.

“I don’t think so,” Malem told the Balor.

Banvil cackled, then turned around. A portal of pure blackness appeared behind the Balor, in a manner similar to the light portal: it started out as a vertical line that grew into a rectangle of darkness.

Banvil stepped through the portal, and then was gone. The blackness winked out, leaving only the empty forest.

The demon felt very distant in his head. He released Banvil from his service, freeing up the slots.

“So, it’s done,” Weyanna said, looping an arm through the crook of his elbow. “We bested a Balor yet again.” She rested her head on his shoulder and sighed.

“We won,” Malem agreed.

“I know there were times where you hated it, but the crown doesn’t look half bad after everything we’ve been through, does it?” Weyanna pressed.

“No, it certainly doesn’t.” He pulled away from her to address everyone. “Well then, let’s go home.”

“Can I ride dragonback this time?” Timlir said. “Seeing as how you have a pegasus?”

Malem shrugged. “Feel free, Dwarf.”

“What about me?” Goldenthall said in his normal voice. “Where will I ride? Well, assuming you’ll still have me? After what I’ve done?”

“Of course,” Malem said. “You had no control over what Banvil did to you. And besides, you’re my direct communications link with Banvil. I assume you’re still the demon’s Black Sword…”

“I am,” the former king agreed.

“You don’t sound too pleased about that,” Malem said. “I could have ordered Banvil to release you. You should have spoken up.”

“No,” Goldenthall said. “I kind of like the powers that come with being a Black Sword. Plus, I wouldn’t be of any use to you if you severed the connection.”

“All right,” Malem said. “And in answer to your earlier question: you’ll ride in Weyanna’s talons.”

Goldenthall slumped. “Very well.”

As the others loaded up, he glanced at Grendel, who lingered next to Weyanna. She watched Wendolin clamber onto the white dragon’s back but did not follow.

Malem waved her over.

“So,” he said. “This mission is done. You told me you would not stay. Is this where we part?” He indicated the forest around him. “Is this to become your new Dark Wood?”

She searched his face, but then her eyes became moist, and she shook her head. “I could not bear it. I already admitted I’ve grown attached to you. I told you I wouldn’t stay, that I couldn’t… but I’ve changed my mind. I go where you go. For now, at least. Maybe I’ll change my mind one day. But until then, I am yours.”

He grabbed her hand in his and squeezed. “Thank you.”

He released her, and she loaded up onto Weyanna’s back, securing herself behind Wendolin with the harness the tree elf provided her with.

Malem glanced at Aurora, who seemed similarly hesitant, standing as she did on the ground next to Sylfi.

What about you, Summoner? he sent. I agreed that you could go once the mission was done. Would you like me to release you? I believe I can do it, since you were Broken by means of the collar.

Then again, he might have been wrong about that. But either way, she could still go, and move far enough away so that she was beyond his influence.

But then she smiled wanly and shook her head.

I think I’ll stay a little longer, she sent. I still have so much more to learn about my past… I’m not sure I want to go out into the world alone without that knowledge. Besides, we have so many more adventures left to experience, so many battles to fight. She glanced at Gwen. Plus, she was right about the sex… it’s too good to give up.

With a wink, she clambered onto the dragon’s back.

The Metals took to the air. Weyanna scooped up Goldenthall as she did so, and the man shouted in outrage, spewing muffled curses.

Smiling, Malem mounted Lantos and spurred the steed above the forest.

The pegasus and the dragons flew across the treetops and headed into the setting sun.

Thank you for reading!

See the next page for an important note.

Monster Tamer

A quick update: the author who had my books pulled from Amazon is once again threatening to sue me for using the word “Tamer” in the series title. He wants me to rename the series and “cease and desist” using the word Tamer because it’s damaging to his brand—even if he has no brand because Amazon banned him from publishing on their site. According to his lawyer, harem readers are a clueless, unsophisticated lot who are confusing my books for his.

I don’t plan to give in, since I’ve never bowed to bullies, even if changing the name will have no effect on sales. It’s the principle of it. He can sue me, but he will lose, just as another author lost when she tried to prevent people from using the generic word “cocky” in their series’ titles. Just google cockygate if you’re curious how that worked out for her.

Anyway, with all that said, the other author’s shenanigans are growing tiring, and are souring me on this series. I hate to say it, but I probably won’t continue writing it. I’d like to thank everyone for coming along for the ride, and I hope you’ve enjoyed reading these books as much as I did writing them.

I do plan to write a spin off series at some point, so let me know what you’d like to see in your review for this book.

Take care, and I hope to see you soon…

Thank you!

- Isaac

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About the Author

USA Today bestselling author Isaac Hooke holds a degree in engineering physics, though his more unusual inventions remain fictive at this time. He is an avid hiker, cyclist, and photographer who sometimes resides in Edmonton, Alberta.

Get in touch:

isaachooke.com
isaac@isaachooke.com

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Acknowledgments

I’d also like to thank my knowledgeable beta readers and advanced reviewers who helped smooth out the rough edges of the prerelease manuscript: Nicole P., Lisa G., Karen J, Jeremy G., Doug B., Jenny O., Amy B., Bryan O., Gary F., Lezza, Noel, Anton, Spencer, Norman, Chris, Bryant, and Trudi.

Without you all, this novel would have typos, continuity errors, and excessive lapses in realism. Thank you for helping me make this the best novel possible, and thank you for leaving the early reviews that help new readers find my books.

And of course I’d be remiss if I didn't thank my dear mother, father, and brothers, whose guidance has taught me how to break free of the Darkness.

— Isaac Hooke

Table of Contents

- Title Page
- Copyright
- 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
- Monster Tamer
- Want Free Books?
- About the Author
- Acknowledgments