Table of Contents

- Chapter 1

- Chapter 2

- Chapter 3

- Chapter 4

- Chapter 5

- Chapter 6

- Chapter 7

- Chapter 8

- Chapter 9

- Chapter 10

- Chapter 11

- Chapter 12

- Chapter 13

- Chapter 14

- Chapter 15

- Chapter 16

- Chapter 17

- Chapter 18

- Chapter 19

- Chapter 20

- Chapter 21

- Chapter 22

- Chapter 23

- Chapter 24

- Chapter 25

- Chapter 26

- Chapter 27

- Chapter 28

- Chapter 29

- Chapter 30

- Chapter 31

- Chapter 32

- Chapter 33

- Chapter 34

- Chapter 35

- Chapter 36

- Chapter 37

- Chapter 38

- Chapter 39

- Chapter 40

- Chapter 41

- Chapter 42

- Chapter 43

- Chapter 44

- Chapter 45

- Chapter 46

- Chapter 47

- Chapter 48

- Chapter 49

- Chapter 50

- Chapter 51

- Chapter 52

- Chapter 53

- Chapter 54

- Chapter 55

- Chapter 56

- Chapter 57

- Chapter 58

- Chapter 59

- Chapter 60

- Chapter 61

- Chapter 62

- Chapter 63

- Chapter 64

- Epilogue

Empire of Cards

A Fantasy LitRPG Adventure

by Andrew Karevik

Empire of Cards (Book 1)

Copyright © 2022 LitRPG Freaks

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means without written permission from the author.

Chapter 1

The woman towered above me, perhaps at eight feet in height. I stood before her, head down in reverent posture, knowing full well that the Maiden of Moss was one worthy of respect. She was matriarch. She was Queen.

“Arthur!” my grandfather called out from his office. “I am prepared for you, boy. Come in.”

I tore my gaze away from the painting and hurried to speak with my grandfather. Turning my back to the woman felt strange, as if she were boring her gaze deep into the back of my head. I quickly ducked into the office, thankful to break line of sight. What if she were indwelling that painting? What if her Esper was sealed there?

“You look troubled, my boy,” my grandfather said as I scuttled into his spacious office. The old man had an open floor plan with a couch, a bearskin rug and even a table for dining. He was currently at the table, enjoying his breakfast of eggs and toast.

“Just…that painting in the foyer,” I said. “She seems more real today.”

“Espers are always real, if that’s what you mean,” he replied, taking a bite of his eggs and chewing on them for a moment. “The better question is where does the Maiden find herself today? I’ll give you a hint. She’s close by, but not in the painting.”

“Her card?” I asked. I glanced over to where my grandfather kept the family eidolon. It was missing from the usual spot—a large glass case high above the desk.

“Indeed. In fact, the Maiden of Moss sits with us right now, as we eat,” the old man said with a laugh. “Boy, you look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

“Sorry,” I said, trying not to look at him. “It’s just that she is so venerated at home.”

“Ah yes, I know all about her worship back at the Moss clan hall,” he said. “Relax, boy. Your parents fear the card because they don’t work with Espers. They get hold of one’s power and that’s enough for most people. For Convokers like myself, Espers and eidolons are a common thing, no more out of the ordinary than breakfast. This isn’t to say they aren’t wondrous, for breakfast too can be a wonderful thing. If only your grandmother had decided to make waffles this evening, but alas.”

My grandfather grinned at me, his leathery smile never really changing. The old man had always been a bit odd, but my parents always spoke about Grandpa Lendrick with respect and reverence. After all, he was the family Convoker, the man who could call forth the Maiden of Moss in times of trouble. So when he sent a summons for me, you can bet they packed my bags and sent me northward as soon as possible.

Fortunately it was only a day trip for me to get there. I wasn’t much for travel, at least not by rail, and the ride had been rather bumpy. The engine-slave had broken free of its bonds and the elemental spirit had to be rebounded by the train conductor, causing quite a stressful ruckus. There were more than a few Convokers in the passenger cars, but that didn’t make the affair any less enjoyable.

“So then,” my grandfather said, pulling me out of my reflections. He finished his breakfast with one more bite and slid the plate forward, patting his stomach with true appreciation. “You’re probably wondering why I sent for you.”

“I figured it had something to do with your estate?” I said. “You wish to employ me to work here?”

This made the old man scoff and he waved dismissively at such a notion. “Ugh, heaven forbid! Why would I ever condemn you to such a banal life! You’re a Moss!”

“I’m afraid that name doesn’t mean much back home.”

“I’m well aware of that,” he replied. “Your parents are good people, my dear Linda’s a good girl but they don’t have the heart to engage with the matters of Convokers and Summoners. Most people don’t. It’s a shame that the Emperor has outright worked to ensure the people stay ignorant of such things.

“Once it was rumored that they would begin teaching the subject in schools! Could you imagine that? An entire generation raised to understand what kind of power is available at their fingertips? But ignorance is always the preferred tonic for the elite to bottle feed the people.”

I found myself nodding at this. Convoking was always spoken of with great fear by my parents, but I always found the idea interesting. That and my grandfather always made a point to send us literature about the exploits of such people. Mom couldn’t quite ban such tomes because of who sent them, but she certainly tried to distract us from them.

“Anyway, why are you here?” Grandpa Lendrick asked rhetorically. “Well, I’ve pulled a full report from your father on the whole of your family. Your sisters are all enrolling in medical schools, your brothers have joined either the state army or the clergy and you…continue to do nothing at home.”

“No nothing,” I said. “I’m just trying to figure out where I’m going in life.”

“I meant that more as a compliment,” Lendrick said. “You’re a young man! You should be free to do a bit of nothing, wander around, learn about your place in the world before signing up for some long tour of a god-forsaken country.”

My head hung low at this. “The recruiters speak differently about that. They promise heroism and medals for joining the Emperor’s warriors.”

“Bah, those medals are meant to be handed to your parents after you die in the field,” Lendrick said, slamming a fist on the table. “You’re made of different stuff, Arth.”

“You think so?” I asked.

“Sure! For one, you could sense the Maiden’s proximity! That requires a bit of an open mind, for Espers touch our imaginations. And second, you’re the only one to keep up with those letters I sent every year, detailing my trips to Antervana.”

“They were interesting adventures,” I said. “I always grew up wanting to someday join you on an expedition.”

“You told me as such. I remember when you were maybe ten, you decided to prepare for a trip to Antervana without anyone. You made it as far as the woods before the city guard found you and brought you home.” My grandfather began to laugh as he retold the story. “Your gear was a hardened ball of bread, a slingshot and a crude drawing of a woman covered in seaweed. Hah, you genuinely thought you could make an Esper join you.”

“My parents hate that story,” I said. “I think I do too.”

“Nonsense. What we do as children often hints at where we go in life. And you, my dear boy, have a bright future ahead of you. It’s time for you to get your inheritance, earlier than your brothers or sisters. I’m going to be giving you the Maiden of Moss in eidolon form. The family Esper is going to you. Today.”

Chapter 2

My jaw hung for quite some time. He was giving me the Mother of Moss card? “Wait, wait,” I said. “You can’t just hand me an eidolon, don’t I need a license?”

“The eidolon is the license, kid,” the old man said, slapping his knee. He was laughing at my reaction, delighted to an almost cruel level at my fear. “If you have the card in hand, no one’s going to take it away from you. There are still rules and regulations to follow, of course, but you’ll learn those quickly enough under my tutelage.”

“You’re going to teach me? How to summon and convoke?” I asked.

“Frankly, those two things are easy. It’s putting the Esper back into its cage that’s the hard part. Or taming wild ones,” he said. He waved a hand at that. “Bah, too many things to teach in theory. The truth is, necessity is gonna teach you a hell of a lot better than anything else.”

My heart was pounding at this news. Was this some cruel joke? A punishment for refusing to pick a path after finishing school? Or was my grandfather sincere in handing me the family heirloom? The source of our safety and security?

“So…so what do we do? I mean, how do we start?” I asked.

“Eager as always! Your parents thought you lazy, but you always struck me as rather bored. And why shouldn’t you be? Life without magic is boring,” the old man said. He stood from the breakfast table and dusted himself off.

“Come on, let’s get you equipped for your first quest.”

“Quest?” I repeated, the word almost jumping out of my mouth. I felt as if my head were floating, like I was being yanked away from the mundane world beneath my feet.

“Indeed,” he said, shuffling over to a wall where a stag’s head was mounted. He grabbed on an antler and pulled, causing the fireplace to open up, revealing a separate room. “Your grandmother protested adding this extra room because of the engineering cost, but I have to say, it was worth it.”

I said nothing, because I was too flabbergasted to even speak.

The room was full of cards behind glass frames. It was a veritable gallery of eidolons. “Woah,” I whispered as I came face to face with a card that read Night Blade. The card itself was wreathed in dark energy and it pulsed as if ready to escape at any moment. Another card had a rather revealing pair of mermaids in the water, reading Ladies of the Lakes.

“Don’t touch any of that and stop ogling my ladies,” Lendrick said as he approached the table. He rapped on it a few times, pulling my attention to the table itself. Four cards were on the table, as well as a coin bag and a dagger.

“What is this?” I asked.

“You know her already,” my grandfather said as he tapped on the first card in the pile. It was the Maiden of Moss herself, her form shimmering and ready to unleash itself. The eidolon keeping her power preserved glowed with a dark green energy. “She is going to be your first Esper.”

He picked up another card and placed it in front of me. Flames of Vengeance appeared above and when I focused on the card, I could see the flames moving inside the card, crashing towards some invisible target.

Another card. Sword of Victory.

“Make sure you read the instructions by focusing on the card itself. Most don’t realize that it’s no special talent to see how an eidolon works.”

I squinted at the Sword of Victory, and just as my grandfather said, words appeared over the card.

Sword of Victory

Equipment Card

Giving this card to an Esper grants them a +1 to attack and adds piercing damage.

“Interesting,” I said. “So it’s used to increase the power of my Espers. Like I could give it to the Maiden?”

“Indeed you can,” Lendrick said. “Not just that, you can also manifest the sword to just exist in the real world. So if you need an item for any reason, just unleash the card.”

“So I can use the sword instead of giving it to an Esper?” I asked.

“Exactly. Just be careful. The weight and height of some of these things are way bigger than you can expect. Never test an equipment card in the heat of battle, at least not for yourself.”

“Battle?” I asked. “Why would I ever be in a battle?”

“What, you think your quest is going to be some kind of ‘fetch some wood’ bullshit?” my gramps said, laughing once more. “Son, you’ve got to go on our lineage quest!”

This caused me to take a half step away from the cards on the table. Lineage quest? Such a thing was not for the Moss family to undertake. At least, that’s what my father had always said to me.

A lineage quest was some bold adventure that every family would eventually undertake, sending a son or daughter as a champion to represent the whole clan. The quest was sometimes commissioned by an Emperor or Magistrate, other times it was imparted by the Host Esper through mystic means. Regardless of how the job was assigned, these missions were vital for a family to receive an actual standing in the world.

By undertaking a lineage quest, our family would be able to change their last name from Moss to something new, a name given by the adventure itself. And in having a name that wasn’t bound to an Esper, it meant our family would become nobility unto themselves. The Moss clan would turn into a Noble House, giving status, power and above all, the rights to own land.

“Woah, hold on,” I said, putting my hands up. “Dad always said we weren’t to do such a thing. That no one in the clan was ready yet.”

“What my dear son-in-law meant to say was that he thought no one was ready. Now, I’m the actual patriarch of the Moss family, by right of owning the Esper’s eidolon and I say it’s time. I abstained from the quest because I didn’t want to have all the fun. Acquiring the Maiden of Moss was hard enough, but to go on a quest after that…eh, I didn’t have it in me. I figured one of my six grandkids would be able to go. And now? Here you are!”

“Gramps, lineage quests are something you have to train for your whole life, I don’t even know how to convoke a card!”

“Oh, that’s easy. You just hold the card and intend for the power within the eidolon to burst forth,” he said. “There, that’s your training. Now stop being a whiner and get suited up!”

“It’s not whining to oppose being thrown into a huge quest without knowing a thing or two about how this power is supposed to work,” I replied. “And I don’t even know if I want to go on this grand expedition or not.”

“Son, I can appreciate your cautiousness. I suppose this is a lot to take in, but here’s the situation. The news came in a week ago that one of the Emperor’s daughters, Celestine, was captured and trapped in some kind of tower. The captor isn’t political in nature and the Emperor put out a bounty to rescue her. Now, that kind of thing is the perfect lineage quest! It’s got all the classic tropes and hey, you might find a suitor in the whole scenario. If not Celestine, maybe one of her hot sisters!”

I put my hand over my face. “Gramps I’m not going to try and rescue some woman because she might be interested in dating.”

“Dating, bah! Back in my day we tested our potential mates by getting into life threatening situations and seeing how they reacted! You know how your grandma tested me?”

I sighed at his words and spoke along with him. “She was kidnapped by a wizard.”

“Damn straight!” Lendrick said, slapping me on the back. “Wizard fighting builds character and gets you in shape!”

“Right,” I said, trying to move the conversation back to the absurdity at hand. “Either way, a grand quest like this…I wouldn’t even know how to start.”

My grandfather grew quiet, the joviality fading from his face. He wasn’t angry or stern, but seemed rather matter-of-fact. “Arthur, you have two choices in this life. Only two. Will you walk the path everyone else takes, or will you carve your own? Both are fine choices, one isn’t better than the other…but what would make you happiest? Because it sounds like you don’t want to follow anything your family puts in front of you.”

Those words sank in for a moment and I pondered them. It was true that I never wanted to do what my parents advised. Not from rebellion, of course, but from lack of interest. School was a fine option but going to become a scholar at the Great Colleges sounded miserable. The military, while noble, was too much for my delicate senses, and becoming a tradesman did not interest me.

“I don’t really know what I want,” I said.

“Then take this path and see if it suits you. The lineage quest can be failed or stopped,” my grandfather replied. “There’s no shame in realizing something isn’t for you. But you’ve been sitting around at home, waiting for something to happen. That something is here and it’s maybe not what you expected but I doubt you knew what you wanted either. You’re a good kid, Arthur. Smart and well intentioned…but too skeptical and slow to act.”

My grandfather lifted one card off the table and held it up towards me. It was the Maiden of Moss’s eidolon, the thin barrier of magic that contained the full power of the mystic matriarch that was the source of our family’s success, power and safety. Seeing such a thing in person was rare and I felt my knees buckle at the sight of it.

“This card is everything to us,” he said. “But if we don’t use it, what’s the point of having it? The Maiden of Moss empowers us to convoke, but I and I alone stand as the Moss Convoker. What, am I going to live forever? That’s not nearly as tempting as it sounds. Take the card, Arthur. Walk into the center of the stage and claim your place as the next generation of a convocation specialist.”

I reached a hand out, slowly, and pondered taking it. What power would I unlock? Was it something I could reasonably tame or would I be holding onto the reins like a terrified coachman, with horses uncontrollable? “I must admit, I’m frightened to even behold such a power,” I said.

“Many are. But that’s because they have little to no idea what it means to summon an Esper. I sure as hell didn’t when I found my first,” Lendrick replied. He placed the Maiden gingerly back atop the table and picked up a different card.

He revealed a jester to me, a merry idiot with red tassels and a staff of bells. “This was my first Esper. A jocular fool whose spirit harassed the hell out of my village. He would come once a fortnight and run his cruel jokes upon the people, animating cabbages, breaking locks and turning water into snakes. All cruelty just for a laugh—his own and no one else’s.”

“I thought the Maiden was your first,” I said.

“Nonsense! The Maiden was the first Legendary Esper I had received, but I had a handful before I was able to find her,” he said, handing the card of the fool to me. “Anyhow, I left home at an early age, against my parents’ wishes, and sought out an eidolsmith, one who makes cards designed to house or trap such a spirit. I apprenticed under him for three years to afford one of his empty eidolons. Then? I returned and captured that son of a bitch you hold in your hands.”

I looked down at the card. A red energy glowed around the border and I could read the stats.

Jester of Cruel Laughter

Rarity: Common

Health: 3

Attack: 1

Defense: 1

Ability: When the Jester of Cruel Laughter is unleashed, one target Esper will break into irresistible laughter for one round.

“Huh…” I mused. “It’s easier to read now.”

“Indeed! That smug bastard thought he was so funny, but now he serves me when I need it and never again will he prowl across the world, making the suffering of others into a joke,” my grandfather said proudly. “I forged my own path and in the process, ended up with a weapon that could be used against other Espers. I became a Convoker purely out of spite, without even knowing such a profession existed.”

Chapter 3

I stood on the stump, trying to keep my balance as the wind blew rather hard against me. “See?” Lendrick shouted from where he stood—a stump across from me. “The spell cards have an effect on the corporeal world, so you must be careful when using them.”

A deal had been struck with my grandfather. I would test some of these lesser eidolons out, using the cards in mock battles, just to see how it felt. I would not be taking on the Maiden of Moss unless I felt that convoking was something I’d want to do. And…I must admit, it sounded fascinating. Conjuring Espers to battle on my behalf? That was certainly something most folks would adore having. My grandfather was giving me a huge opportunity here and I best not throw it away without understanding it first.

“Now then,” my grandfather said, pointing to the card in my hand. “A card with a spirit within is known as an Esper. A card with power but no spirit within is known as an eidolon. And a card that unleashes magical effects is called a spell. Got it? Now throw out that Esper!”

I riffled through the cards in my hand—four total, and took note of what I had. One fireball spell, two eidolons and one Esper.

“Are there any uses for eidolons? They just seem like empty cards,” I said.

“Nah, they’re just for catching loose spirits, though some eidolon cards can actually change an Esper’s abilities,” my grandpa replied. “Now hurry up and summon that jester before I die of old age.”

“Sorry,” I said, hastily grabbing the red gleaming card. It shimmered with power and I could feel a faint buzzing sensation through the card, almost as if the paper were humming. “So I just…intend it to come out?”

“Focus. Look at the area in front of you and think about the sensation in your hand. Try to stretch out your fingers but go past them,” Lendrick said, illustrating with his own hands. “And once you get to the tips of your fingers, try and force the energy out.”

I followed the man’s instructions, feeling a little silly as I pointed the card at the empty space before me. I had mimicked such actions as a child, pretending like I could summon something to clean my room, though when a few of my friends saw me doing so, they mocked and cajoled me until I stopped.

A cruel laugh snapped me out of my reverie as a spark of power leapt from my hand to the outside world. The buzzing passed through me, like my body was a gateway, and in the blink of an eye the Jester was summoned.

“There you are, you little bastard,” my grandfather growled. “Okay boy, now that you have the Jester out, you need to maintain concentration. If you lose focus, the Esper will slip back into its eidolon faster than you can say ‘where’d the meatshield go?’”

“Got it,” I said, watching with curiosity as the squat humanoid rattled his jingling staff. He was short and hook-nosed, with a dozen tassels atop his head, though only some came from his hat. The Jester was indeed a cruel thing for the laughter was unnerving and almost painful to hear.

“Alright, now then, I’m going to summon one of my old Espers and we’re going to have a simple fight,” my grandfather said, pulling out a card from the side of his hip.

Lendrick was wearing what he called the Convoker’s deck, which was a belt that could hold up to fifty cards at one time and had four slots where specific cards could be placed for quick and easy retrieval. He said he’d give this particular one to me, if I impressed him during the fight.

Raising the eidolon high, my grandfather let out a triumphant cry, summoning a rather large dragon’s head.

My eyes went wide at the sheer size of the beast; it was ten feet tall and could easily snap both me and the Jester up in a matter of seconds.

“Holy crap!” I yelped. Losing focus, my Jester immediately slipped back into his eidolon. The energy burst back into my hand and it snapped me like a mousetrap. “Gah!” I yelped again, the pain overtaking my fingers.

“Ahahahaha, that never gets old!” Lendrick said, hopping off the stump and dismissing the Esper at the same time. “You were expecting a fair fight, but I’ve got Espers that could run circles around the Emperor’s army. Always play to win, my boy, no matter what.”

I bent over and huffed for air. It felt as if someone had stolen the breath straight from my lungs. “Why…am…I…breathing so bad?” I grunted.

“You’re bound to your Espers. One overpowered your will, so you burned your energy out quick. It’s like your entire body ran up a flight of stairs without you noticing. It’s nothing fatal, but take too many losses like that and you’ll pass out, ceding to your opponents. And let’s hope they’re not brigands or wild Espers.”

I sank down to the ground and leaned my back against the stump. Black and yellow spots were right in front of me and the urge to puke was quite real. But still…I had just summoned an actual Esper. How cool was that?

“It’s gonna be a long adventure, my boy,” Lendrick said as he stood over me, hand stretched out to grab mine. “You’re going to learn a lot on the road. My advice is to avoid getting into any life or death situations before you get some cards that’ll back you up.”

“Can’t I just borrow that dragon?” I asked.

“Nope. Espers we rely on become keyed to us and eventually begin getting stronger the more we use them. The Dragon’s Head of Durston was once just a Biting Lizard Head. Sure you might get lucky by finding a rare or legendary card, but most of your cards will improve by you using them and using them well,” my grandpa replied.

I took his hand and stood to my feet, glancing down at the cards that were still in my hand. In all this time, I hadn’t let go of them. A good reflex to have, I suppose.

“Thanks, grandpa,” I said. “Man, this is a lot to take in. Going on a quest? I mean, I should be training for quite some time before even thinking of undertaking something like an actual save-the-princess type adventure.”

“I’m afraid you don’t have the luxury of time,” my grandfather replied, clapping a hand on my shoulder. In his hand was the Maiden of Moss once more. I could feel her presence grow stronger, even stronger than before. “Because if you shun this Esper, she will shun you in return. Not all Espers are wild, uncontrolled spirits who cause trouble for humanity. Many choose to serve mankind for one reason or another. But only the worthy keep the strongest ones. This is our family’s sword of destiny. Are you really going to shove it back into the stone until some arbitrary time where you suddenly feel ready?”

“No but…I mean this morning I was pondering if maybe I’d be going to join some kind of professional club for archeology...” I trailed off. “But even that wasn’t a life-changing decision. This is too much.”

“Ah, the true adventurer must sometimes bite off more than he can chew! Because son, you don’t know your limits cause you’ve never tested them. I blame your mother for that. Go get your face punched in! Argue with strangers about pay! Learn about the world in a firsthand way. I mean, should you come back to me in three weeks and say hell no, I’d be fine with it. But this? Come now, no one roots for a coward!”

Those were simultaneously uplifting and harsh words. I could see the desire in my grandfather’s eyes though. Or was it desperation? He was our patriarch and had worked his entire life to support our family, risking life and limb to even find a legendary card to serve us. To see not a single grandchild move into the Convoker role must be heartbreaking and…well, he was up there in years. Perhaps he was wanting to secure his legacy by passing the tradition along. But why me?

“Answer me this one question,” I said. “Before I make any choice. Are you asking me to do this because you believe in me? Or am I the only option you have?”

The old man grinned at the shrewdness of the question. “You are a smart one, Arthur. I will tell you this: there are shortages when it comes to finding a young adult who would accept this power and this opportunity. Getting them to change their last names will take no toll on them. I am asking you because you are my grandson and I love you. Enough to give you a chance, whether or not you’re right for this. You do what’s best for yourself. But don’t doubt my motives. Trust me, my boy, I see things clearly. You can be a hero, a zero or something in the middle. Just don’t be a wet bag of sand that refuses immense magical powers, okay?”

Chapter 4

Grace. That was the only word I could use to describe how the right side of my hip felt. Graceful, supple even. It was a weird sensation and it caused me to sway as I moved through the crowd, but I wasn’t wobbling. I was perhaps sauntering, walking with a noble strut instead of my normal head-down peasant shuffle.

My grandfather had been right. I was a young man with no ambition or anything holding me down. Why shouldn’t I try my hand at convokation? It would be fantastical to be able to summon all manner of Espers and spirits to serve me and if I could perhaps impress a girl (or a few!) while I was at it, why not? It’s not like this was an internship or an apprenticeship program. Lendrick had shoved the belt into my hand, along with the Maiden of Moss, and told me to go out into the world. There was no oversight. I was free to be whoever I wanted to be.

I gently touched the Maiden’s card as I walked through the crowd, making my way to the tavern. Her presence was unmistakable, her power mighty and unflappable, but there was restriction in her powers. It wasn’t that she was restrained, but rather I was. On some unconscious level, I could sense that this Esper, this Legendary spirit wasn’t accepting of me quite yet. She would most likely manifest in small ways until I had managed to impress her.

“You don’t just get to the other side of the board and declare yourself the winner by finding a Legend,” my grandfather had warned me. “She’s watching and waiting. If she takes to you, you will find her powers emerging with ease and her grace will draw her forth from the eidolon that holds her. But if you are lazy, foolish and downright improper with the power given…she is not a jester. She is a regal power in the realm of the Swampfae. Her attention will dwindle until you can no longer see her upon her card.”

The door to the tavern swung open as I approached it, a hefty man pushing through it with a rather foul attitude. “Outta the way,” he grunted as he shoved me to the side. I tried to dodge his blow, but he was too fast and next thing I knew, I was sitting on the ground, ass stinging.

A few people laughed. “Ay, look at the peasant boy,” someone said. It was one of the drinkers who was sitting at the benches in the outdoor area of the pub. “Can’t keep his own two feet beneath him.”

“Shut up,” I said, climbing back to my feet and dusting myself off. “Judging from the way you drink, you’re probably an expert at losing your steps.”

More laughter erupted and the drinker raised his mug to me. “Cheers to that. Come now, fella, sit and drink with me.”

At first I thought he was being sarcastic, but no. I had given him a good repartee to his insult of me and he was offering peace. With a shrug, I walked over and sat on the bench across from him.

A barmaid came out and was quick to place a mug of ale down in front of me. She gave me no regard, mechanically placing the drink and turning her attention to thirsty patrons who were all yowling for her to come to their aid.

“Name’s Frenkle,” the patron said, his voice echoing from within the mug as he was drinking as he spoke. The man was quite the quaffed and he reminded me of my uncles during the Holiday of Nitenberd.

“I’m Arthur Moss,” I said.

“Oh, you gots a surname, do ya?” Frenkle asked, finishing his drink and slamming it on the table. The man had a long, leathery face, with deep pockmarks scattered across his cheeks. He looked to be a miner of some sort—his clothes were filthy but not with regular dirt. He was a cokeman for sure, for the black soot around his body was darker than anything I had ever seen on the surface.

“Indeed. You’re a miner?” I asked, taking a ginger sip of the ale. I wasn’t picky when it came to drinking but this was a drink unasked for. “Ugh, this is swill.”

“Good swill at that,” Frenkle replied, grabbing my cup and downing it in one go. “And yes, I’m a cokeman. Thought the clothes, soot and pickaxe were a dead giveaway. You’re a pretty boy but not well dressed, so my guess is you’re a tradesman’s son.”

“My father is a cobbler and my mother a seamstress,” I said. “I think they married to save space on renting a shop.”

This caused the miner to laugh and he raised his drink up once more, though he became deeply disappointed when he realized how empty it was.

“So what’s a tradeboy doing in a company tavern? You know this is a swillhouse, right? We work all day and drink all night. Some legends say there are bedrooms available to our lot but I’ve never seen anything outside of a ditch!”

Frenkle chuckled at his own joke, so hard that I thought he might pass out with the way he was gasping for air. The barmaid zipped over to us and placed the two drinks down without a word and kept on her route.

“Oh, I thought this place was…open to the public,” I said, rubbing the back of my head.

“Tis’,” Frenkle replied. “But only if you’re invited. But fear not, you’re drinking on my non-existent coin tonight. They don’t keep count of how much we drink, just like we don’t keep count of how many of us get the cokeman’s lung!”

“I see. Well, I fear I’ve made a mistake in coming here, I was actually trying to find some…I mean, I was looking for work.”

Frenkle lowered his cup at that. “Work? Son, I can get you deep below the ground and into a life-threatening situation at the drop of a hat, just say the word.”

“No, no, I mean…” I trailed off. Oh, how silly it sounded to say aloud. But it technically was a profession within the Empire and there were many successful adventuring companies out and about. “I’m trying to find some work as an adventurer,” I finally admitted.

“Wow, tradeboy wants to leave home? Your living arrangement must be awful. Let me shave and we can trade places if you want some adventure.”

“It’s not from discontent. It’s more like…I’m on a quest. For my lineage.”

“My pa did that once. He never came back. I figure he either died or ended up so successful he didn’t bother to come back for my mom and the rest of our lot,” Frenkle said, lowering his mug and placing it quietly on the table. He leaned forward on both arms, staring at me intensely.

I squirmed under the man’s scrutiny, unsure of why he was sizing me up so much. “Well, I suppose I can give you a tip, since you’ve been such good company so far, what with letting me drink double my portion. There’s no cost but there’s a limit and you, my good man, have let me surpass that brilliantly,” Frenkle said with a slight hiccup. “So, while I’m still sober, here’s what I heard. Way out in the hills, there’s this witch-lady. All the villages around that area, the Grium Hillside, use her for medical help, poultices and potions, that sort of thing.

“Anyway, this witch-lady’s always asking people to take on work, but few do. She’s sent runners out as far as here, trying to find people of talent, courage or ingenuity to seek her out. I can’t say what the work is, but I’d imagine a fledgling adventurer would have a blast doing it.”

A witch! That would be an interesting meeting. Witchery was one of the Four Noble Ministries of Mysticism within the Empire. They were naturally magical from birth and over time would learn how to use their powers to interact with nature and especially with herbs and potion making. They were protected by imperial law and their mystic ways were considered to be wholesome and above board (as opposed to a few other forms of magic out there.)

“Thanks for the tip,” I said.

“Don’t thank me, I’m not the one who sent a shrieking banshee wailing out this request all hours of the day and night.”

Chapter 5

I spent the evening asking around town for more tips but nothing was as definitive as the tip about the witch. She wasn’t my first choice because of how far she was. I’d have to leave the District of Cinnay, my homeland, and head out to the hills. That was far beyond the wall surrounding this city.

Traveling was an overwhelming idea, but what other option did I have? It’s not really adventuring if you never leave your home, let alone your city.

And so, I undertook many preparations to venture forth on this mission to find the witch. I had a bag of silver, compliments of my parents who always made sure I had money to spend within the city. They had made the bag a little heavier this time, leading me to believe that my grandfather had already spoken to them about what he had intended. Either that or they were hoping I’d bring back some better gifts than last time (in my defense, scented soap is a good gift.)

Map, backpack, a good pair of boots, potions of stamina and health, the dagger my grandfather gave me and my Esper-belt known as the Convoker’s Deck; all of these were secured and loaded up upon my rental horse, Persnickety.

Persnickety was a fine horse, with a white coat and a long, brown diamond on his nose. He was well trained, an imperial horse from a time when men waged war on the back of such beasts. Peace coming to the realm allowed these horses to enjoy a life of luxury, serving as beasts of burden or rental horses at official Imperial Waystations.

The Waystations were an ingenious development from the Central Magistration. Every city and town had one and horses were available at each station. Travelers could rent a horse in the south and return it to a waystation up north. The horse would then be outfitted with mail, news and packages, and it would be sent back to where it came from. This network allowed for our cities and towns to be exceptionally efficient at moving information. In other nations, magic was used to handle the mail, but in the Empire, we bragged that our methods were better than magic, they were the power of the bureaucracy.

My horse neighed a little as I climbed atop it. She was ready for the adventure, her mighty legs brimming with energy that needed to be released. A few moments to saddle myself in and then we were off, making our way straight towards the Grium Hillside.

The roads were equally as well designed as the Waystation Network. Even tiny villages were accounted for, though that was more for taxation purposes than anything else. “No one escaped the watchful eye of the Imperial Guard, who were aids to all” is what the Magistrates like to say, but we all know that it is the watchful eye of the Taxman upon our backs. The guards? Perhaps, if they were around.

I rode for several hours, leaving the city behind me. No one was there to wave me off; there was no fanfare or tearful goodbyes. Just a lone rider passing through the open gates of the city, making his way to the east.

I was leaving The Grand City of Cathode, but not the Chalicean Empire. The actual empire itself, sans the civil wars happening in the south, stretched across the entire continent, my known world almost completely unified. There was a neutral power to the north, near the Frozen Tip, but that was a neutral ground for Wizards and Philosophers to convene during times of great crisis.

Still, leaving my home and the gigantic city behind…it felt so strange. Forests surrounded me now. The hustle and bustle of the city replaced with the chirping of birds and the calls of the squealer hogs that were endemic to this area. It was almost relaxing, if not for the fact that as I turned on the road, my horse reared up and brayed loudly in a panic, almost throwing me off.

“Woah!” I shouted, trying to ease the horse, but a large log had been placed on the roadway, cutting us off from moving forward.

I fell, unable to hold myself as the horse bucked once more. Once I was on the ground, a blade was shoved right in my face. “Woah!” I said once more, my voice far more strained. “Hey, take it easy!”

“I was going to say the same to you,” a gruff voice said, keeping the weapon pointed at my throat. He tossed a rope down to me. “Tie your hands together, I’ll take what I like and we can both move on. I’ve no intention on killing an imperial horse, so if you’re calm, we’ll be fine. Understood?”

I nodded half a dozen times. Everything had happened so fast. One moment I was riding under the pale moonlight, the next I was on the ground with a sword pointed right at me. This was a bandit! But there was just one, hence why he wanted me to tie myself up.

Just comply. That was the best thing to do. “Sir, there’s a dozen silver coins in the horse’s right bag,” I said. “Just take that and let’s call it a day. The rest of these goods are just my trade tools.”

“Oh sure, I’ll skip searching every part of the luggage then,” the bandit dryly replied. He was carrying a torch in one hand and the fire made it hard to see his features. “Tie yourself up, don’t make me repeat myself.”

Right, right. Self-preservation at all costs…

As my hands went down to the rope, my right wrist brushed against my Convoker’s deck. I had four cards readied and one of them was a fireball spell. By the gods…this was my chance to use my new power!

My heart began to pound so hard that I felt like vomiting. If I failed to do this right, I’d be dead…but this was all part of the journey, right? I had to be careful not to immolate the horse…

“Hya!” I shouted as I suddenly yanked the card from the belt. At once I felt a burning heat surge through my hand and with a mere thought, flames came bursting out, striking the man right in his head.

“What the hell?” the man screamed as he burst into flames, his hair and tunic catching fire quickly. My horse did not like the scene and scampered off, but at least she was uninjured.

I jumped to my feet and pulled out another card, the Night Blade. With a focus, the card itself shifted into the sword and I held it tightly. The damn thing was heavy, but I could feel there was power within the weapon beyond its mere slashing capabilities. The more I focused, the lighter the blade became.

I glanced down at the other card in my hand, the fireball, to see that it was pulsing slowly. Traces of mystic energy were slowly recollecting back into the card and I could sense it would take a few minutes before I could use it once more. Fascinating.

“You…you burned me! You’re a wizard?” the man gasped, holding up both hands to show his surrender. He was severely charred and his hair was completely gone. The spell was strong enough to burn but the magic itself ceased after a few seconds, causing the fire to fade as well.

“Close,” I said. “I’m a Convoker.” I stretched out a hand towards him, pointing my index finger at him. “Now then, what should I do with a bandit as cruel as you?”

“Cruel? I was merciful! Should you not give me the same?”

“You really should have just taken the silver,” I replied, throwing the rope to him. “Your turn. Tie yourself up. Any funny moves and I’ll use more than my mere parlor tricks.”

“Of course, master wizard,” the bandit said, catching the rope in midair. He was quick to bind his hands together, then submitted his work for inspection.

As I tightened the knots, I wondered what the hell I was going to be doing with this guy. Should I bring him with me? Or could I just tie him to something? I had no idea if the guards were patrolling these roads…damn, these were probably things to account for when going on a trip. So much for the poetic lone adventurer leaving in the dead of night. Hell, the fact that it was night doubled the risk of getting jumped by a bandit.

“Well, the road back isn’t too far,” I said. “On a horse, at least. Maybe someone will help you out if they see you, but otherwise you’re on your own. Go turn yourself in or wander these woods until you find someone willing to give you aid. But just know that this is a second chance given to few. Run afoul of the innocent again and I shall find you and show you my true power.”

Chapter 6

To say I was shaken up was a massive understatement. Though we were safe, my stomach was still in roils and I couldn’t keep anything down. Fighting for my life…it had been exhilarating, but also the single most stressful thing that had ever happened to me. But I had no other choice than to keep going, as the night’s moon was still shining down, giving me ample cover to travel. I had planned on camping somewhere overnight, but I doubted that sleep would come to me now.

Hours passed as the horse traveled along the road, occasionally stopping at forks for me to choose which path to take. The first fork in the road was a sight for sore eyes, because that meant I was only a mile away from the nearest village—Horath.

I knew little about Horath other than that it was rated a 1 in the Rapscallion’s Guide to the Empire, Volume III. A one usually meant that it was just an average village, very few exports, very few imports and very, very low tolerance for miscreants and aforementioned rapscallions.

Regardless of its rating and status, I was just looking forward to going somewhere safe to rest for a while. I needed to rest from what had happened almost a day ago at this point. My nerves were shot and I needed a stiff drink. A curse on me for not asking gramps for an alcohol eidolon (of which he most certainly had!).

By midday, I had arrived. The town was at the bottom of a steep hill and Persnickety whinnied a bit as she took me up to the top. At first, I thought she was unhappy with the steepness of the hill, but she was a huge, imperial warhorse. A beauty like Persnickety could charge up a mountain if so called up. No, something was up.

My nostrils detected a faint scent…charcoal…wood burning…a fire?

We reached the top of the hill and sure enough, there was a fire. The town was sitting on a river and half a mile away from that town was a watermill that was burning. I squinted, looking for signs of a bucket brigade, but saw none. Was no one aware of such an event happening?

“Hold on there, champ,” a man said, catching my attention. I had been so entranced by the flames that I didn’t think to check where I was and sure enough, a guard of some kind had caught me unawares.

The man was a smug fellow with raven black hair, a mustache that curled upwards and a strong chin. He wore heavy chainmail armor and a gambeson, rapier at his side. Both hands clutched the weapon, though it was still within its hilt.

“Ack!” I said. “Sorry, that fire, what’s going on?”

“Oh that’s just some village business, nothing for you to worry about,” the guard said with a sly grin. He was certainly armed to guard something but he wore no colors nor did he have a flag upon his breast. A mercenary? Another bandit?

“I doubt any village would be pleased to see a watermill burning down,” I said. “Pray tell, may I enter the city?”

“Pray tell, no,” the man replied back, speaking in a mocking tone. He took a half step back and put his hands on his hips. “This village is under the ownership of Magul the Strong. The new miller has tried to end a preexisting business agreement and now is suffering the costs of breaking a contract.”

“That’s no way to run a business,” I dryly replied, letting my hand gently touch the fireball card.

“Well, we’re not privy to the inner workings of management, be glad for that,” the goon replied. “But either way, I’d steer clear of Horath. Half a mile from here is Unac, they’re a cooperative village that will happily attend to whatever you need.”

“Are you bandits?” I asked bluntly. What was the protocol here? Clearly they were up to no good, but I wasn’t about to just waltz in and mess up an entire village’s structure. The imperial guard was unreliable in some places, especially the small ones. Sometimes one had to submit to the local thugs. Sure, it was expensive but they’d be safe from independent criminals and raiders.

“Bandits? Nonsense, we’re a village security force,” the man replied without missing a beat. He grinned widely. “I haven’t seen a road in ages.”

This was too much. Fighting one bandit had been terrifying enough, going up against a group of professionals? No way.

“Which way was…” I started to say, but before I could get the words out, a deep sense of woe radiated in my heart. It was a yearning for a wrong to be righted, for a wound to be healed. The sense was overwhelming and I almost wept. It was the Maiden of Moss; she wanted things to be set right here. The burning of the mill was not just an ordinary dispute. There was something unjust going on, something beyond the mere politics of robbers and villagers.

I swallowed hard. The Maiden wanted me to get involved? Then she’d bless me by showing up, right? With her on my side, I could probably take these people down. They were only flesh and blood, after all. I had an Esper on my side and eidolons in my arsenal.

“I can’t accept this,” I said.

“Ooohooo,” the man said, raising his hands up as if he were being caught. “The sheriff is here. It was me, I stole Miss Martha’s blueberry pie!”

I responded to this taunt by pointing my sword eidolon towards the man and activating it. The blade instantly appeared, shooting out as if the sword was retractable.

“Woah!” the man shouted. He tried to reach for his rapier, but stopped since the blade was inches away from his right eye. “How…you…”

“I don’t want to get into a fight with you,” I said, puffing myself up as if I knew what the hell I was doing. “And you sure don’t want to get into a fight with me. Take me to the big guy or find out what other tricks I’m able to do.”

“Okay, okay,” he said, quickly undoing his belt to drop his rapier and daggers to the ground. “Why am I always the one to get the wizard?”

I opened my mouth to say I was a Convoker, but decided against it. I shouldn’t rely on the reputation of the power until I was fairly confident in using it. Besides, they might figure out that taking out my deck would strip me of my power, and I couldn’t have that happen, could I?

The man, Rupert, guided me up through the village and towards the burning mill. The village windows were boarded up and all the doors were shut. Sometimes I could hear some whispering or see an eye peek out of a peephole in the walls, but other than that, not a soul could be seen. This village was certainly ‘cooperative.’

“Hey! Magul!” Rupert shouted as we crossed the bridge leading to the mill. The flames were slowly burning the mill down, the smoke pouring upwards, higher and higher. My eyes watered at the presence of the flames and I wheezed for air. Being an adventurer sure was hard on the lungs.

“What?” a burly man shouted, turning around to face us. He was huge, with a barrel chest and arms the size of tree trunks. Behind him were a man and a woman on their knees, mouths gagged and hands bound behind their backs.

A few men with halberds were hanging around, leaning on their weapons, idly chatting or even eating their lunch. They were armored with whatever they could find, so the force was certainly irregular. I wonder if they even trained together.

“This wizard has a problem with your manner of governance; I thought it best you talk to him so I don’t have to repeat a message with an eye missing.”

“You lazy bastard,” Magul said with a hearty laugh. He turned his bald head towards me and sneered. “So you’re here to be the hero, is that right?”

“No, I just happened to be passing by and wanted to make my life more complicated,” I snarked. There was a bit of glee from the Jester at this line and I felt its desire to leap out and cause chaos.

Magul balled his hand into a fist and snarled, baring his teeth like some feral animal. “This isn’t any of your concern.”

“Those tied up folks seem like something to be really concerned about,” I said. “That and the fire.”

Magul pondered this for a moment. “Ah, I see you don’t know the situation here. The miller and I had an understanding that for as long as he paid me fifty percent of his profits, he’d be allowed to operate his watermill in peace and harmony. His shipments would never be in danger again.

“Well, that old man croaks and now the new blood comes in whining about their integrity. This idiot son tries to stand up to me, tries to get the village to stand up and they’re far smarter than him, opting to just hide and cower. So now, I gotta teach the village a lesson by burning down the town’s only source of income.”

“And they’re tied up because…”

“Because I want them to watch the whole thing,” he said. “A slow burn makes for a good show, doesn’t it?”
Take the words from him, a gentle voice whispered in my head. Take the words and open the gate. Let not the fire burn but draw it to yourself.

The voice could only be the Maiden. I felt as if electricity had shot up my spine and I almost automatically seized an eidolon. The empty card burned a little to the touch, but that’s because my thoughts were on the flames themselves.

“Is that so?” I said, raising the card up high. I intended the gate to open and felt the fire moving towards me instead of away. The fireball spell was easy to shoot off, so I tried to perceive this as the same, just inverse.

The flames engulfing the entire mill suddenly shifted, turning and collecting into one long column of fire. The column flew towards my eidolon and I focused intensely, drawing all of the flames towards me. Not a single ash or ember would be left upon the mill for as long as I focused.

“What in the hell!” Magul shouted as he dove to the ground, narrowly avoiding the pillar of flame that rushed to my card.

“Wizard!” one of the guards yelled, throwing his lunch and halberd away, fleeing as fast as he could. The others weren’t so afraid and drew their weapons up and surrounded me.

I held my other hand out, more as a bluff than anything else. “This isn’t your fight,” I warned the guards, my horse trotting in a circle as to not be surrounded. “Back off.”

Magul groaned and clambered to his feet. The flames finished imprinting themselves into the card and a notice appeared above.

Esper Tamed!

Flame Stalk

Type: Fire

HP: 1

Attack: 2

Defense: 2

Special: When summoned, Flame Stalk consumes all fire within the area; the more flames consumed the more HP it will have.

“Very nice,” I muttered. The burning heat was urging me to release the Esper and…I did! Why not? The guards wanted to fight and I wasn’t about to soil my hands with a swordfight. Well, that and I had no idea how to fight with a blade beyond slashing and stabbing.

The Esper leaped out on the field. It was a shimmering figure of fire, like a sketch of a human shadow come to life and set alight with flame. One of the guards, perhaps the bravest of the bunch, swung at the Flame Stalk but the thing was supple and easily ducked beneath the swinging polearm.

In a counter, the Stalk reached forward, the flames wrapping around the man’s wrists. He screamed as the burning hot fire melted his arm guards, forcing him to drop his weapon and fall onto his knees.

At once I felt woozy and sick to my stomach. Once the blow had hit, it was as if something had drained me of all of my energy. That’s right, controlling these things were a conscious effort. I didn’t have the energy to sustain this thing for much longer. Not when I had just tamed it.

“Anyone else want some of this?” I shouted, directing the Stalk to twirl around in defiance of the encroaching guards. The men dropped their weapons, grabbed their still screaming companion and made their way towards the river, the only place they’d be safe from the burning flames.

Before I could celebrate my victory, however, something from behind seized hold of me by the tunic and yanked downwards. I was unhorsed instantly, wrenched to the ground by the big brute known as Magul.

The bald man was furious about what I had done and had me pinned to the ground, a knee in my ribs as he began punching me in the face, over and over again. Bones crunched and cracked as he struck and I’m pretty sure I lost a tooth.

The pain was brutal; I had never been hurt to such a degree. I tried to fight back, ineffectually punching at his chest, but this guy was built like a wagon, unable to be assailed.

“Hey! Hey!” Rupert shouted, catching the big man’s attention.

“What?” Magul said, ceasing his attacks. I tried to grab one of my cards, but the world was spinning too hard, I couldn’t figure out which hand I was controlling.

“Look, I’m all for cracking this guy’s head in, but he’s a wizard. How do we know he’s not gonna haunt us or something?” the thug asked.

This caused the giant goon to pause for a moment to contemplate that situation. “Hmmm, now that you mention it, I’m not sure. Perhaps if we burn him at the stake?”

“He’d just control the fire,” Rupert said. “Let’s drown him.”

Magul looked down at me and sneered. “Yeah, drowning sounds like a proper solution.”

He climbed off of me and scooped my battered and broken body over his shoulder, carrying me like some fresh game he had just caught. Blood poured down from my nose and filled my mouth as he walked me down towards the river.

Come on, Arthur! Get it together! I had to focus. I didn’t know how to swim; hell, I had never even seen a body of water as large as a river like this before. They’d all laugh as I drowned and that would be the end of my great adventure.

I blindly groped my hip, trying to grab a card. Blood stung my eyes and it was pointless to try and look anyway. One card burned me as I touched it. It was the fireball spell. The energies were too jumpy and even though I was touching the spell, I couldn’t get it to fire off. Probably because I was too close to the target.

My hand tried to find the Maiden, but she did not respond via touch, so I had no clue which card I was touching. But as I desperately worked, trying to find a way to get out, my wrist tapped something on my hip. My dagger!

With a sharp breath, I grabbed hold of the knife, trying not to lose it due to how slippery my hands were from all the blood, and drew it out of its sheath.

“Ack!” Magul cried as I stabbed him in the back of the neck, driving the blade deep down into his spine area. I knew not where to strike but it didn’t matter, I just needed time to get a card out.

I was thrown onto my back, causing a few more bones to make cracking sounds and sending fire down through my left leg. Gritting my teeth, I held firm, focusing on getting the Maiden out.

“Please help me,” I said.

The card pulsated a soothing energy. It was calm and collected, far more centered than I could hope to achieve with my own mind. The pain in my body ebbed away and I felt perfect clarity at that moment.

I grabbed the Maiden of Moss and raised her high up, pointing the card towards the goon who was now charging towards me, knife sticking out of his back. Writhing moss tentacles came pouring out from the card, seizing hold of the man and lifting him high into the air.

Everyone gasped at the sight of this and Rupert was quick to intercede before the vines snapped the man in half. “Woah there, okay, okay, we lose!” he said, running in front of me. He showed both hands in an act of surrender. “Just don’t kill the bossman.”

I had no control over these moss vines, for the Maiden was uninterested in what my thoughts were on this matter. But she was a fair creature, so she listened to Rupert’s plea.

“Why shouldn’t I?”

“B-because uh, well, we haven’t killed anyone here, we’ve just done some property damage and you’ve put an end to that. And he also hasn’t paid me, so that’s basically me losing a ton of work for no good reason,” Rupert said. “Come on, this doesn’t warrant a death penalty.”

“Says the guys who were trying to murder me seconds ago,” I growled. “Or did you forget that you wanted him to drown me?”
“I’ve always heard drowning is a much better way to go, than say, being punched to death. So really, I was doing you a favor!” Rupert said.

The moss vines slowly lowered the man to the ground. I let out a sigh of relief, because really, killing this man would have put a sour taste in my mouth since…well, since it wouldn’t have been my choice.

At the last second, right before the vines retracted into the card, they stiffened and with a crack crack they broke the man’s wrists—both of them!

“My arms!” Magul cried as he fell to his knees, gasping for air. “He broke my arms.”

She broke his arms. I suppose that was proper justice, since we were far from the imperial courts and there was no way they’d ever turn one of their own in.

As the vines retracted into the Maiden of Moss’s eidolon, there was a warm flash before my eyes.

Your Esper has granted you a spell!

Select an empty eidolon to transfer it or preserve it for later.

I was quick to grab one of the blank cards, of which I had one left. The energy crackled to life and one card burst dark green energy into the other. The two cards connected for a few seconds, their energies comingling, until one was full of the other’s power.

Spell Gained: Mossvines

Description: Creates up to 6 whipping vines made of moss. These will function as limbs for you to control, allowing you to grab, lift and throw targets. Will last as long as your concentration can.

Right on! A brand new spell! And it had some utility to it as well. I could use this to lift obstacles and to even do menial labor, if needed.

A sense of pride and accomplishment washed over me as the bandits took flight from the watermill. With the fire gone and the brigands repelled, I had done quite a good job defending this place. Not just that, I had also pleased the Maiden, as I could feel a deep sense of her satisfaction come over me while the darkness began to set in.

Chapter 7

My right eye was able to open first. The left one gave a great deal of resistance, as my face was rather swollen. Light shined down upon me and I struggled, trying to sit up. My ribs burned greatly at this attempt and I fell back.

I was resting on something, a bed maybe? Perhaps a couch of some kind. The cushions were rather comfortable and so I let out a deep breath and relaxed. This was probably the village doctor’s hut or perhaps a room in the miller’s home. Either way, I was safe. At least, I hoped.

“You’re awake!” a young woman said, prompting me to open my good eye once more. The hazy lights parted to reveal a woman wearing all black, with bushy red hair, standing above me. She wore a button down coat and atop her head was a conical hat, pointed straight up and with a wide brim.

“You’re a witch?” I asked.

“How astute! I see the newt drops are working to get that swelling down,” the woman said, gently patting my jaw. “Now hopefully that’s a sign that you don’t have any further injuries in your brain. I don’t quite have the art of trepanomancy figured out yet.”

I slowly sat up, forcing my left eye open as well. It felt as if a heavy lid had fallen across my face but after a few minutes I was able to regain control of my limbs, eyes and legs.

“If you’re feeling sluggish, it’s from all the pain root I had to pour down your gullet,” the witch continued as she scuttled over to a table that was full of bubbling potions, tonics and mixtures.

“I’ve been…” I coughed for a moment and felt the full fury of my busted face surge through my whole being. “I’ve actually been looking for you.”

“Everyone’s looking for a witch these days,” she said with a laugh, her back still turned to me. The woman was expertly lifting bottles and mixing liquids together, pouring from so high that it had to be a bit of a stunt to impress me. As the green liquid expertly poured into the clear beaker from so high up, I grinned. It was indeed impressive.

“So what is your business, honey? Other than getting into life or death struggles with an outlaw group?”

“I’m a Convoker,” I said, tapping my side deck. It was still in place, so that was a good sign. It would be a real shame if someone had absconded with my belt. I needed to figure out some way to secure it so no one could rob me of it.

A deep sense of protection washed over me as the Maiden suggested that it was her job to ensure my deck stayed in my possession. That was a relief!

“Oh!” the witch said, ceasing her potion making and sitting beside me. “I had wondered if it were true, since you carry those cards on your hip. I tried to remove them but alas, I couldn’t figure out how to undo the mechanism.”

I frowned a little. She didn’t seem impressed by the fact that I was a fellow magic user. Was there a hierarchy within magedom?

“Why the pouty lip?” she said.

I quickly changed the subject so I didn’t have to answer that question. “Actually, I have some business to attend with you. I’m on a grand adventure, I suppose, and I’m looking to undertake some quests to strengthen me for my lineage quest. I hear you have troubles?”

The witch nodded. “Oh, I see,” she said, rubbing her hands together. “Well this is fortuitous, because my problems keep getting worse the longer it’s taking to resolve. Tell me, are you afraid of the undead?”

“No,” I said. This wasn’t quite a lie—I had never seen the undead before, so why would I be afraid of them? They were just reanimated skeletons and corpses; what was to fear, especially when I had the power I now hold?

“Spooky dark forests?”

“Not particularly.”

She smiled and patted me on the shoulder. “Then perhaps you’re the right candidate for the job. I’m Sophia, by the way.”

“Arthur,” I greeted, shaking hands with her.

“Listen, Arthur, my hut is in a very important place on these hills. The way the winds blow, I catch a lot of wayward magical energy flowing across the land. Natural forces carry natural magic and so I put out all sorts of fun traps to capture the excess power and divert them into my spellbook.

“This also acts as a buffer against mutation, since we witches are able to prevent areas from being oversaturated with too much magic. If we weren’t around, there’d be a lot more cursed forests, as uncontrolled magic plus an animal population usually twists things around. Nature is delicate and the winds that carry magic are indiscriminate.”

Oh! So that was why witches were sanctioned and protected by imperial law. They were filters! How fascinating. Sophia continued. “In the woods nearby, a cabal of necromancers has set up shop. They are diverting the natural magic to themselves, twisting and contorting its power so that they may bring back the dead through all manner of horrific rituals. I don’t know what they’re working towards, but they’ve been bad news for me ever since they arrived.”

“So you want me to go in and get them to stop?” I asked.

“I want you to slay them, yes,” Sophia replied. “Necromancy is a capital crime within the empire as it twists the natural order of things. Those who deal with such dark things cannot be allowed to live. Are you up for such a task?”

I nodded. I wasn’t sure what I’d be getting myself into here, but these foul wizards would be perfect for testing out my new spells and Espers. “I am, Miss Sophia,” I said. “Though, I do wish to ask your aid in return for mine.”

“Of course, one hand washes the other,” she replied with a smile and a wink. “What is it that you’re looking for? Potions? A love spell? Perhaps a cream to solve a rash that vexes you eternal?”

“Not quite,” I said with a laugh. This woman was rather pretty and the way she said ‘love spell’ kind of left me a bit embarrassed. My cheeks grew flush and I tried to focus on business. “I’m a Convoker, but a new one. I mentioned being on my lineage quest, which is true, but I’m not ready for anything serious just yet. I’m looking to expand my power.”

Sophia nodded. One of the potions back at the table began to bubble over and she was quick to grab the blue bottle before it spilled itself. “I see,” she replied, handing me the warm potion. “Drink up.”

I quaffed it without hesitation. At once, I could feel the bones in my body repair themselves, my cracked rib healing, my eyes no longer swelling and my busted jaw returning to its usual form. “Wow, this is good stuff.” I said.

“A witch’s brew beats any penny apothecary,” she said with a laugh. “Now then, I’m not terribly familiar with Convokers but I know you bind and tame spirits, right?”

“Espers specifically,” I said. “If there’s any kind of taxonomy within the spirit world.”

“Ah!” she said, clasping her hands together, pleased with hearing this news. “Indeed there is, but I deal in Espers all the time. Just as humans come to my hut looking for help, so lost little Espers come to see me, seeking that same kind of help.”

“Really?” I asked.

“Indeed! I think we could have quite a friendship going,” Sophia said. “Especially after you stuck up for that poor miller and his wife. I think I can trust a man like that.”

I opened my mouth to ask if she could call any Espers to aid me right now, but realized I had no empty eidolons left. “Say, do you know how to make eidolons, by any chance?” I asked.

“Ah, eidolsmithing! No, afraid not, but I’m sure you can find one in the Great City you came from. They’ll be rather expensive though. Everything in that damn place is expensive.”

I nodded. Maybe I could visit Gramps and give him puppy dog eyes until he gave in and handed more of those empty cards over. I bet he’d be delighted to see my progress thus far.

“Very well,” I said. “I suppose I’ll have to figure that out after handling these necromancers.”

“Just be careful, okay?” Sophia said. “I don’t want to have to restitch your face again.”

Chapter 8

The forest was way colder than I had expected it to be. The woods back home were open and inviting, allowing plenty of sunlight in, keeping it nice and warm, but this place? The Desolate Woods had trees that were tightly packed together, their grey leaves forming great canopies above, blocking all sunlight.

The breeze felt…off. It’s hard to describe, but as the wind blew, I shuddered and shivered, feeling as if there was no life within the wind itself. Undoubtedly this was from the necromancers’ work draining the magic from the air.

There were no directions within the forest, no signs or footpaths. I wasn’t a woodsman, but I knew a few things about navigating without losing your bearings, so I had no fear of getting lost. That and the woods themselves weren’t terribly large. The danger within was far worse than merely getting turned around.

I had left my horse behind, in the care of Sophia who had immediately squealed in delight at the sight of Persnickety. The horse seemed to like her and the two conversed in some strange way, with Sophia speaking clearly to the horse and Persnickety whinnying back as if she could talk. Perhaps the witch could talk to animals. I wonder what my horse would say about my track record. I can’t imagine it being pleased with the route I had taken thus far.

As I searched, I could not help but get a sense that I was being watched. Someone from behind was following me, clumsily stepping on branches and twigs, moving from tree to tree. I was unsure if I should pretend as if I did not see them, but something told me this wasn’t related to the necromancers.

“Hold!” I yelled, spinning around and pointing a hand straight towards none other than Rupert. The rogue was halfway hiding behind a tree trunk.

“Hey, woah there!” he said, leaping back and raising his hands. He did have his weapon at his side, but it was in its hilt.

“The hell are you doing, following me around?” I demanded.

“I was trying to figure out the best way to make myself known without getting my arms annihilated by you,” Rupert replied. I could hear the genuine fear and awe in his voice. This man believed I had real power.

“And why do you want to make yourself known?”

“Well…you kinda ruined a good thing back in Horath,” the rogue said. “The villagers have armed up and they’ve run us out of town, since Magul was really the best warrior we had…soooo…” he trailed off, wringing his hands together sheepishly. “You hiring at all?”

Hiring? “What in the hell are you talking about?”

“I’m a goon, yes, but I work for monies,” Rupert explained. “And now without an employer, I’m back to being a wandering mercenary. You seem like the kind of guy who would treat his people right…so why not?”

“Look, I’m about to enter into a nest of necromancers,” I said. “Does that sound like something you want to deal with?”

“Necro…mancers? Damn it, more wizards?” he groaned.

“Yes, more wizards,” I confirmed. “So unless you want to fight them alongside me, I’d suggest you get out of here, okay? I’m not hiring anyone…” I trailed off. Hmm. Maybe it would be good to have an armed soldier around.

When Magul had grabbed me, I was in physical trouble and I was not a fighter in the least. I wasn’t a scrawny man but no one would ever refer to me as being particularly robust. Having such a vulnerability could be troublesome when facing groups or skilled martial fighters, so perhaps it would be a better idea to have a hired hand.

But I didn’t want him with me here in the haunted woods. Not simply for his sake but because he may very well be here for some kind of harebrained revenge. If that were the case, adding him to a pile of necromancers was not a good idea in the least. How would I be able to trust his loyalties?

“You know what?” I said. “I’ve an idea that should help. If you truly are seeking employment, then I have work for you. Go back to the village that your band was terrorizing and get to helping rebuild the mill. You’ve got a strong back, that’s pretty much all you need when building housing.”

Rupert groaned at this. “Come on, man, that’s not what I want to do with my life.”

“You’re not doing it for the rest of your life, it’s just to tide your time while I handle these necromancers—alone. I’ll pay you. One silver per week.”

The man’s jaw opened. “Silver?”

“Yes,” I said. I was well aware of how valuable silver was to the poor living out in these backwater villages and hamlets. If I was going to secure his loyalty, I was going to need more than a mere fear of me. Financial incentive to follow along, terror to keep him in line. That would make for a rather loyal lackey. “Is that deal copacetic?”

“I don’t know what that word means, but yes, I’ll accept this deal!” Rupert said, reaching out to shake my hand.

We shook and I turned my attention back to searching for the center of the necromancers’ headquarters. Rupert departed quickly, rushing to earn his pay, I’m sure of it.

Hours passed as I searched. Most of the woods were dead silent, the dread darkness looming above each and every corner. The sun was going down and what little light protruded through the canopy above was starting to fade even more, forcing me to bring out a lantern.

As I worked to affix the lantern to my backpack, a voice traveled my way. “Sixteen damnable corpses and not one with a brain undamaged. This is why we must not loot battlefields exclusively.”

“Argaaa!” another voice shouted, the sound raw and horrible. It was a wet, gurgling shout, as if someone without control of their tongue and mouth were speaking.

“Finally,” I whispered, putting my hand atop the Flame Stalk. This was going to be an interesting fight.

I slinked forward for a few steps, until I realized I was wearing a lantern and thus it was impossible for me to hide myself. With that realization, I simply rushed forward, following the complaining.

I broke through the treeline to discover a rather rancid pit full of dead bodies. The corpses were of men, women and all manner of horrific beastly abominations, all of them contorted and bloated as if they were in the sea for a great deal of time.

“Urg,” I groaned, trying to wash back the urge to vomit, but the smell was too great for me. I leaned over and released my lunch, feeling a hot sense of embarrassment at this.

“Hahahaha!” a grisly voice in the distance laughed. “You don’t like what you smell, boy?”

Rather than try and compensate for my weakness, I decided to play things a little naïve, to see if I could get some information from this guy. “W-who are you?”

A grey-robed man emerged from a tent. He was tall and bearded, with gaunt pale skin and yellowed eyes that came from decades of working with the unnatural. An aura was around him, something just beyond the edge of sight. Dead, twisted souls hung around his body as if they were a shell protecting him.

“I am Cassius,” he introduced himself, mockingly bowing to me. “And it would seem you have the most unfortunate luck of stumbling in here.”

He reached a hand out and muttered a spell. The magic did not come surging out at first, he had to complete his spell, meaning I had time to counter it.

A fireball would work! I quickly grabbed Fireball and, in the blink of an eye, lobbed a ball of flames right towards him. “The hell?” Cassius shouted as he narrowly avoided the fire, throwing himself onto the ground. His spell fizzled and hissed, the energy releasing itself.

“Maybe you’re the unlucky one,” I said, quickly switching out to Flame Stalk. I didn’t activate it yet, I wanted to see what the necromancer’s next move would be.

“Damnable…what are you? A Convoker?” Cassius said from his position on the ground. He had pulled a wand off of his hip and aimed it towards the pile. “Awaken, you fiends!”

Bodies began to rise at the activation of the wand. A black stream of energy flew across the pit, striking random corpses, causing them all to lift themselves up. Some bodies were horrifically maimed and had trouble standing, while other corpses were fresh enough to climb up as if they were still living.

“It’s nice to meet someone who knows what I am,” I confessed, activating the Flame Stalk.

The flames zipped out of my fingertips, dancing and jumping into a jubilant collection of flames, forming into a silhouette of a human. The smoldering fire struck out immediately, firing burst after burst of yellow streaks towards the bodies that were now rapidly approaching us.

“I must admit, I’m rather thrilled at you being here,” Cassius said as he hopped up to his feet, casting another spell. I had to maintain my focus on Flame Stalk and thus couldn’t counter whatever he was casting. “Too much theory and not enough field testing makes for poor magic.”

“I think we can agree on that,” I said as I watched my field test annihilate zombie after zombie. They were unable to encroach me with the faithful stalk of flames moving across the battlefield. It wasn’t bound to the ground and instead soared high above the fiends, dropping long columns of flames as it flew.

Sweat began to pour down the side of my head as scores of the undead were felled. Focusing was growing a little harder.

“Maiden, give me strength,” I pleaded. There was no reply, no sense of acknowledgement or warning. I was alone on this one.

As my concentration weakened, the stalk grew smaller and smaller, burning itself out as it continued to strike the undead. The corpses smoldered and cooked, their wretched smell growing even worse. Thankfully the smell of smoke was enough to mask their full scent, preventing me from getting sicker.

Cassius finished his spell, hands moving and weaving into an intricate pattern to form a geometric shape in midair. The shape was of a cage and the moment the cage dispersed, a dozen hands from the ground burst beneath me, grabbing hold of my arms and legs.

“Hah! How do you like that?” Cassius said as he advanced around the pit of the undead, strolling towards me with a long, sacrificial dagger in hand. “This forest was built upon corpse after corpse of warring tribe. Their bodies have long ago returned to the earth, but my power can call them at a moment’s notice.”

I struggled, trying to break free of the hands, but there was no way I could get out of their grip. They held me tightly, wrestling me down to the ground.

I couldn’t panic here, I had to focus instead. These arms were just there to immobilize me. They wouldn’t kill me, not when Cassius had that dagger out. No, what I needed to do was get a hand free so I could use the Mossvines on him.

Instead of fighting more, I closed my eyes and focused on the Flame Stalk. I reached out to it and imagined a stream of energy pouring from my body into the Esper, giving it power and strength. After I filled it with a great deal of magic, I directed it to return to me.

Opening one eye, I could see that the stalk was still alive and was complying with my directions. It wasn’t as powerful as I had imagined it, but no longer was it draining all of its power on the battlefield. It was slowly getting larger and larger.

“Oh no, you don’t!” the necromancer shouted as he began another spell, this one much faster. A single bolt of dark energy zipped from his fingertips and crashed into Stalk, causing it to crash into the ground. I lost focus and at once, the energy came hurtling back towards me.

The excess energy struck my hand and dispersed into me, causing me to yelp in pain as the energy jolt burned me a little.

My plan had failed and I began to thrash as hard as I could, fighting against the undead arms holding me down. I stretched my right arm as hard as I could, putting all my energy into it. This caused the arms to all focus on dragging that arm back. While everything focused on pulling my right arm back, I snapped my left arm to my right hip, fast enough to grab an eidolon, though I didn’t know what I had.

Whatever this card was, I was going to activate it. With a thought, the card shivered and shook, releasing a powerful burst of red energy.

“Ahahahahaah!” a voice said, laughing with a mixture of sadism and joy. “You’re sure in a bind!”

“The necromancer!” I ordered. “Take him down!”

Cassius had drawn near but was now rapidly backing up, unsure of how to handle the squat jester with the jingling staff. The necromancer had spent a lot of magic and I could see he was focusing hard to ensure his restriction spell was still holding. The more I struggled, the more he strained.

“What an unsightly abomination,” Cassius grumbled as he raised the blade in one hand, aiming it towards the Esper. “And they say we create monsters.”

The jester said nothing but instead dashed towards the necromancer at top speed, leaping high into the air and divebombing his legs into the man’s shoulders. Cassius had tried to swing his knife in order to stop the jester, but the blade did nothing as gravity ensured my Esper would win this altercation.

As the man hit the ground, my hideous restraints vanished in an instant. I climbed to my feet and drew the Sword of Victory card, activating it. This time I aimed the blade towards my jester. I watched as the jingling staff in his hands transformed into a longsword.

“Now this will kill the audience!” the jester said, laughing as he danced left to right, easily avoiding Cassius’ blows.

“I yield, I yield!” the necromancer shouted. He threw the weapon down and raised his hands, but I did nothing to stop the Esper from doing his work. I was not here to capture prisoners but to put down abominations who were twisting the natural order of life. There was to be no clemency.

The jester spun in a circle and swung the blade straight into Cassius’ neck, lopping his head clean off. The necromancer’s body fell to the ground at once, twisting and twitching.

I immediately returned the Esper to his eidolon and summoned a fireball to burn the corpse, just to be sure that this necromancer would not have some way to defy life and return in some undead state. If he was going to come back, he’d be a head.

Chapter 9

Cassius’ tent was full of esoteric pieces of knowledge. The man was a consummate researcher, studying all manner and forms of magic beyond necromancy. His notes alone would be worth hundreds in the right hands. I could probably wrap up the whole adventure right here, return home with these spoils and show the city Magister, Cronen Alnine, what I had captured.

Perhaps this fantasy was a by-product of my exhaustion. Sitting in the dead man’s tent, I felt no other desire than to crawl into bed and sleep for the next few years. Being a Convoker was exhausting. Like a muscle, to stretch is to break down, only to strengthen on the morrow, the Maiden whispered to me.

The Maiden’s tutelage was fascinating. She spoke as she pleased, arrived when I needed her most and cast judgment where things were murky for me. It was if I had a teacher in my pocket at all times. That was why Grandpa threw me out into the world with barely any knowledge. He wanted the Matriarch of the family to guide me. Because that would shape the kind of Convoker I’d become.

I wearily looked at the bed sitting beside the necromancer’s desk. My exhaustion was great, but sleeping in enemy territory was insane. I’d need to figure out where the rest of his allies were.

According to Sophia, there were about three major necromancers present. Those were the ones she could sense. “Don’t forget about the apprentices and such. They won’t be any good at magic but if three rush you, that’s three humans you’ll have to fight off while defending from magic.”

As I gazed at the bed, the edge of a journal caught my eye. It was on the desk right beside the bed. And it was open…

Fourth Sunwind, 1501

I will kill them. Not for any reason other than their most inane chatter. These are not classical men of the corpse, no, they are these idiots from that new college that seems to think necromancy is as easy as any of the classic forms of magic.

Our work within the cavern is of the utmost importance and yet I find myself out by the pit, working on a way to increase our workforce so the mining goes by faster. These young lads are driving me to great madness with their crude jokes, their discussions on all manner of improper things such as their popularity with womenfolk and how much alcohol they can shove in their gullet.

What has happened to the Cruel Tradition? Have we grown so desperate we take in any numbskull with a passing interest? I should take my leave as soon as I can, but alas, I must oversee the mining operation to its finish. The Heartgem is here, this I know. And the sooner we can get a hold of it, the sooner I can slay these idiots and turn them into proper servants.

Reading this entry caused my exhaustion to wane somewhat. These necromancers weren’t just living in the woods, as I had thought. No, they were searching for something called the Heartgem. I wonder what that was.

“Judge! Judge!” a voice cried out from outside the tent. This caused me to snap the book shut and stuff it in my backpack for further examination. My breathing grew shallow as I drew my grandfather’s dagger.

“Judge! Come!” the voice cried once more. It was an ethereal, echoing voice that was both male and female at the same time.

Hand on my fireball card, I slowly opened up the flap of the tent to discover a dozen blue spirits flying around the pit. They were shapeshifting constantly, transforming from man to woman, to child, to animal even. In the center of these spirits was the grey, bound spirit of Cassius.

The necromancer was chained up, his mouth restrained as his arms and legs. The ones holding the chains looked to be those dead souls that had once been chained to him. It looks like they were waiting for this opportunity for quite a long time.

“You slew him! Set us free by pronouncing judgment upon him! Seize his soul and make him your slave! Let him learn the evils of what he has wrought!” the voices all said at once. Damn, I didn’t have any eidolons available, or else I might have tried to siphon the power from Cassius’ spirit (though I wouldn’t enslave him!).

Instead, I merely raised a hand. “Release him and move on. You’re clearly still enslaved by him if you demand his suffering in order to gain satisfaction,” I said. “I’m sure the afterlife will have something for him.”

The spirits all yowled and howled at this, but my words were backed up by the fact that I could summon an Esper to fight them if they remained. One by one, these spirits vanished, moving on to the afterlife.

Cassius’ spirit slowly drifted in the air, energies dispersing from his grey soul. He was coming apart, piece by piece, bit by bit.

“Anything you want to tell me?” I asked as he faded. “Before you move on?”

“Filo, one of the master necromancers, is a >Convoker who believes himself to be a brilliant duelist,” Cassius said. “He keeps his spare eidolons buried beneath his bed, for fear of us stealing them.”

That was good enough for me. I gave the spirit a half bow and returned to the tent. If I was going to fight another Convoker tomorrow, then I definitely needed the sleep.

It was a risk to rest, but even if I woke up captured, I’d be able to challenge Filo to a duel, thus giving me a greater chance to escape. Yawning, I laid on the slain necromancer’s bed and fell into a deep, deep sleep…

I awoke in the early morning, the sound of birds chirping gently rousing me from my slumber. The forest had been silent previously, but with Cassius dead, it seemed life was returning to this place.

“Urg,” I groaned, getting out of bed and yawning once more. I should have packed coffee for this trip. Why in the world had I forgotten the most precious liquid substance known to man?

I slowly gathered my wits, packed up whatever I could carry and set off to search for the nearby cavern. Despite how tired I was from the long sleep, my senses were sharp and I could feel the magic within me humming with life. It was as if that sleep had recharged me fully.

A crude path made of dozens of scraping footsteps, probably from the zombies, led me towards a large cavern hidden deep within the forest. A sign was posted beside the cavern. “Trespassers will be killed.”

“Looks like I found it,” I muttered.

Justice must be done, the Maiden told me. A warmth and strength wrapped around me and at once, I could feel my jester card transform.

Jester Has Upgraded to Harlequin!

HP: 5

Attack: 3

Defense: 5

Special: The Harlequin requires no concentration but cannot be mentally directed.

Fascinating. There was also an option to focus and shift the card back to the Jester, if I wanted to. Like having two faces on a coin. This would be really handy for the fight ahead.

“Thank you,” I said, bowing a little to the Maiden. She gave this gesture no regard and left me to figure out my own plans.

There wasn’t much planning to do, honestly. I had nothing that would allow me to set an ambush and frankly, I was looking forward to an actual duel with a fellow Convoker. Though I suppose it would be a duel to the death…

A bit of fear overtook me at this realization. I was about to cheerfully walk into a potential life and death situation. My first encounter with the necromancer had started so quickly that I hadn’t really the time to consider my options. I wasn’t even able to talk to the man before he started attacking me.

Here was different. I’d be willingly walking right into a combat scenario. But I suppose this was what adventurers did. These things are what made them actual adventurers. Entering into the unknown and battling terrible forces of darkness. The army didn’t handle that unless it was on a large scale.

I forced myself to march forward, knowing that if I spent all my time going back and forth, I’d just make myself miserable. The decisions had already been made with my being here. Now was the time for action, not internal dialogue.

The cavern was well lit, with candles and torches lining the walls, preserved with magics that kept them burning near eternally. There was only a main tunnel that led to a large flat area with a huge pit in the middle. Carts were being lifted up out of the pit and workers were being lowered into it on the other side, the crane mechanism perpetually moving.

Despite the large population that was climbing into the mine elevator, there were only two tents in the whole area. The stench within confirmed what I had already known: these miners were undead, zombified and animated to work eternally within these mines.

“You there!” someone shouted at me. I turned around to see a man my size strolling up to me. He was reading something on a clipboard and was paying little attention to who I was. “Go tell Filo at the bottom that we have a problem.”

I squinted and realized that this man was wearing robes just like Cassius. He glanced at me. “What’s keeping you? Damn apprentices, are you forbidden from speaking? I told Filo that was counterproductive.”

The man’s eyes fell down to my belt and he narrowed his eyes. “Oh no!” he gasped, reaching up his hands to cast a spell.

That was enough for me to confirm this was a necromancer. By pure reflex, I drew my dagger and plunged it straight into the man’s heart, covering his mouth with my other hand as I drove him to the floor.

The necromancer writhed and tried to free himself, but the wound was too great. He died quickly after that.

“Damn, I really need a bodyguard,” I concluded. Despite all this man’s power, one little oversight and he was now dead. Though, I had to get rid of the body before he reanimated himself or something like that.

I glanced at the line of undead that were patiently waiting to enter the next elevator. Looks like they were about to get a morning snack…

Chapter 10

Two down and one to go. My stomach was churning from having thrown the necromancer’s body to the undead, but they had done just as I hoped. The corpse was disposed of, though no spirits came to demand there be some cosmic justice done. Maybe he hadn’t been around long enough to bind spirits to his own self.

While the undead had been feasting, I was able to catch one of the elevators going down without them really taking notice of me. They were all outfitted with mining equipment, pickaxes and such, and so they didn’t see me as an intruder. All they were concerned with was eating and mining.

The bottom of the mineshaft was significantly smaller than the top. Lined up and down the walls were zombies, standing on constructed platforms, mining away in search for the Heartgem. I could see actual gems falling down as they worked; sometimes emeralds would come loose, tumbling down as if they mattered little to these people.

The elevator reached the bottom and I was quick to hop out. Where was Filo? He had to be…

“You there!” a man shouted. I spun around to see a necromancer adorned in a golden broach and an emerald studded crown pointing at me. “Who the hell are you?”

I glanced at the necromancer’s hip to see that he had a Convoker’s deck, similar to mine. The difference was that he had small skulls and black gems adorning the belt itself.

“A Convoker, looking for a challenge,” I said quickly, stopping him from drawing a card.

Filo squinted at me for a moment and then nodded. “Aha, I see. No wonder Eshtal’s spirit came to me so upset. You killed him with the superior way, he didn’t have a chance, did he?”

“Not even close,” I replied.

“Hey, master! Who’s this guy?” a young man shouted. Several others came out of tunnels and pockets in the sides of the walls.

These were young folks, probably in their early twenties, roughly around my age. There were six total and I could tell they were apprentices due to their robes being brown and patched up. They were not dressed with any manner of elegance and some were filthy with ash and dirt. Two wore helmets for mining.

“He is going to be a lesson for you all to learn,” Filo said, motioning for me to follow him. We walked to an open area, away from the elevator shaft. “For this man follows after my own tradition. Though it would seem we are destined to fight, we shall do so with worthy conduct.”

The apprentices followed as well, spreading out into a circle surrounding us. Filo was grinning from ear to ear, his rough and weathered face showing a mirth he probably hadn’t felt in ages. I could see that he was brimming with excitement, eager to test his own power against mine.

I swallowed at his eagerness. This man carried himself like a Convoker of great power. I was just starting out. How in the hell was I going to beat him? No, no I couldn’t think like that. I had the great power of the Maiden beside me and she had called me to perform justice by slaying these foul master necromancers. She would be by my side during this battle.

“So then!” Filo shouted to me as he walked twenty paces away. “You came here looking for a fight, but now you have found yourself in a duel. Let us conduct ourselves as true Convokers. We shall let our spells and Espers have the fight, until one of us has broken from strain. Then the killing blow will be delivered, for you are not welcome here and I am unwilling to negotiate with one who has seen this operation.”

“You read my mind,” I replied.

“Shall we set the ground rules?” Filo said.

“Rules?”

“Indeed. We are fellow casters, we must observe protocol to allow our abilities to truly be tested. One. Let no convocation bind your foe’s ability to convoke, for we are made of weak flesh. Two. Send no Esper after your foe until all enemy Espers are slain. Three. Steal not the Espers of your enemy nor capture his spells,” Filo listed. “Are these acceptable to you?”

“So basically we’re letting our Espers determine the winner,” I said.

“Until one of us breaks concentration and can no longer summon,” he said. “I yearn for a proper duel. So what do you say?”

“It’s a deal,” I said, bowing slightly to him. My heart began to pound and my hands shook with anticipation. The adrenaline was coursing through me. I had two Espers to summon but a whole host of abilities to use here.

“Wonderful. Then we shall begin!” Filo said, throwing back his cloak dramatically.

He was the first to act, grabbing hold of a card and raising it high. A dark green mist came seeping out, and with it emerged a strange hook-armed creature that was missing its legs.

The beast was on the ground, traveling on its hooks, suspending its body in midair as it walked. Where the legs should be was a shimmering ball of energy that was slowly growing.

“The hell is that?” I mumbled, drawing forth my Fireball spell. With a thought, I convoked the fireball in hand and focused on it as much as I could, pumping more power into it than before. The ball grew at my command, though I could feel my energy being drained by such an action.

Once the fireball was large enough, I lobbed it straight towards the encroaching creature. It hissed and leapt aside, but with enough concentration, I found I could curve the ball, smashing it right into my foe.

It shrieked as the flames overtook it, setting the beast on fire. The flames roasted it thoroughly, causing it to hit the ground and roll left to right, unable to do much other than die from the flames.

“An excellent counter,” Filo said, bowing to me. “But this is only the beginning.”

With that, he drew another card and threw it on the ground before him. A hive of sorts emerged from the ground and undead corpses began climbing out, groaning and moaning as they marched towards me.

With the flames dispersed, I held off on summoning the Flame Stalk, instead waiting to see how many of these creatures would be coming out of the hive.

Five total burst out of the ground, their flesh throbbing and pulsating, skin wet and slick as if they had been experiencing some kind of primordial birth into this realm. Shivers ran down my back as I watched these things stumble forward, slowly gaining their footing and marching right at me.

I grabbed Mossvines and focused, concentrating hard on allowing six whipping vines to burst forth from the ground. The sensation was strange. As the vines came up through the earth, I could feel each one as if it were a limb of mine. It took concentration to get these limbs to behave like arms and hands, but after a few seconds, I was able to get a handle on moving them.

“Damn it,” Filo shouted as I grabbed all five of his zombies by the legs and began smashing them against the ground. There was a bit of comedy in seeing them so easily annihilated, as they fell apart after the second or third smash and I felt more energized. Success, it seemed, gave me a clearer sense of concentration and strength.

The hive vanished and Filo’s hand whipped back, stung by the release of his zombie spell. Since the Espers were gone, I sent the vines straight towards the necromancer.

“Hah, really?” Filo said, whipping out a spell card that created a burning shield around him. The vines were moving too quick for me to pull back and they passed through the fire, burning to a crisp instantly.

Energy surged back and I tried to catch it, but the recoil was too quick. I found myself stumbling back a few feet, head spinning from the attack.

“We’ve barely started fighting and you think you can get one over on me?” the necromancer shouted. “I’m not someone you can sucker punch, believe you me!”

The flame shield continued to blaze as Filo summoned a hulking ogre made out of hundreds of corpses.

This massive beast was made of stiches and bodies, his head full of eyes and mouths that were tightly sealed. It roared in muted anger, the sound coming from multiple throats but unable to escape from the stitched together mouths.

I had an opportunity here and was quick to capitalize on it. I summoned Flame Stalk and watched as the fire shield was instantaneously pulled away from Filo. The flames rushed into the Flame Stalk and it grew fatter and thicker, its body full of ten hitpoints now. Flame sources around us also began to trail towards my summon, snuffing out everything except for this single source of light.

The ogre roared and smashed its forearms towards the Stalk, but my fire summon was simply too lithe. It slipped to the side and slashed with its hands across the beast’s torso, lighting it on fire. An arm on the back of the ogre caught Stalk by surprise and connected a fist to the center of the flaming silhouette.

Fire dispersed as the creature flew backwards in the air, trying to re-orient itself. The blow had dropped it down to 8 HP and threatened to break my concentration.

I glanced over at my foe to see that he was on one knee, finger to his forehead, tightly concentrating on controlling the creature. I had an opportunity here with my newest card!

I summoned the Harlequin and watched as he popped out of the card, rolling forward silently. He wore a mask and made no sound, but pantomimed as he leapt across the field towards the ogre.

As the fire poured down onto the ogre, it reached into its own body and tore out a corpse, throwing it as hard as it could into my summon. The Esper tried to dodge but this was too much of a surprise. Another hit, this one hard enough to stretch the summon towards me, but I forced it back onto the field, feeling the earth tilt beneath me. No, the world wasn’t shaking, my legs were straining to keep me upright.

One last piece to the puzzle to kill this wretched thing. I drew my last viable card, the Sword of Vengeance and sent it straight into the Harlequin’s hands.

The silent Esper knew exactly what to do. It leapt high in the air and plunged the blade into the back of the ogre, holding on and using his legs to wrap around the third arm, stopping it from pulling him off.

“Damn it, hold! Hold!” Filo shouted. He was on both knees now and was focusing as hard as he could.

I recalled Flame Stalk, pulling the fiery silhouette into my outstretched hand. As soon as the card returned, I felt my legs stabilize. I didn’t have to maintain control over the Harlequin, so I didn’t need to worry about directing his actions.

The silent joker was easily outwitting the ogre, running circles around it as it tried to strike at him. While the Harlequin dodged, it struck blow after blow, burying the blade deep into the chest of the creature, striking a different chest each time, presumably looking for the hearts.

Filo lifted a card to release something new, but nothing happened. He slumped down and breathed hard, trying to gain his concentration back. I, on the other hand, had plenty of energy left. I could use the vines to grab him and snap him to pieces while he was so focused on winning through his arbitrary rule set.

Agreements were made. When you break him, you break your word. Shall you be a rogue? The Maiden impressed upon my mind. This wasn’t particularly judgmental, however. I didn’t feel any kind of guilt or sense of punishment. Rather it was a simple question about what kind of man I wanted to be.

I did nothing and instead just waited. Filo lost concentration a few seconds later and the ogre zipped back into his eidolon, knocking the Convoker over.

The Harlequin needed no orders. It rolled and leapt towards its target, sword in hand and speed building. Filo tried to stand but was unable to, having spent too much effort in keeping the ogre up and running. “I yield!” he tried to tell, but even if I were accepting surrender, I didn’t have direct control over the Harlequin. It stabbed him in the heart quickly and within seconds, the duel was over. I had won.

Chapter 11

Six terrified apprentices were cowering in front of me, kneeling as I had commanded them to. The chief necromancers were dead and that meant this operation was more or less over. But what was I to do with these younger ones? They were apprentice necromancers, from some kind of hidden college that was teaching the dark ways to those who were seeking such power. Sure, they were wielders of dark magic, but were they so far gone?

Mercy for those who repent, the Maiden emoted to me. Repentance through labor. That sounded good enough for me.

“Alright, elect a leader,” I said. “The rest of you start killing these undead. If anyone tries to run, I’ll send a flaming column of pure hatred after them.”

Everyone at once pointed at a gangly, tall man with ginger hair. He had many freckles and a pair of spectacles that were the size of his face. “Er, hi, I’m Jeremy,” he said, waving a little. “I was the master’s chief apprentice.”

“Good, let’s talk then, Jeremy. The rest of you? Every last corpse here, kill it and burn it. And burn your ex-master as fast as you can,” I said. They all hesitated, but I snapped my fingers a few times, causing them all to flee to their work.

“Sir?” Jeremy asked as he walked up to me, dusting off his knees.

“Tell me about the Heartgem,” I said. “And don’t waste time by pretending it doesn’t exist.”

Jeremy hesitated, hemming and hawing for a second. “Er…well, it’s some kind of artifact that was buried in this cavern a long time ago. They say one of the Emperors had this entire cavern dug up and the Heartgem placed in some secret case with a mystic lock on it and a spell that prevented anyone from being able to find the item. Then he filled the pit back up, raising stone and earth with magic so that no one would ever be able to find it.”

“What’s it do?”

“Perpetual regeneration,” the apprentice explained. He raised his hands and made a grabbing motion in the middle of the air. He squeezed in and out. “Like a heart, the gem is designed to pulse out life-giving energy. It pumps out power that can restore just about any army, or a hospital or…a single piece of flesh into a full corpse.”

“I see. So you’re saying that this thing could keep a lot of people alive with its presence, but it also restored the dead’s bodies.”

“One corpse could make a thousand!” Jeremy said. “Our cruel masters were determined to find it so they could have quality bodies and the highest number of them. They could use such power to take over the world.”

“That’s a bit ambitious for three men,” I said. “You’re from a school. Where is it?”

“That was carved from our minds. We were all inducted at the Necromancy College, yes, but our memory of where it was and who taught us is completely missing. We knew that going in. The place must be preserved at all costs.”

“They sent you out on this mission though, didn’t they?” I pressed. “They funded the whole operation.”

“Yes, yes,” Jeremy said, nodding. In the distance I could hear some horrific noises as the undead began to shriek as they were lit on fire. He turned to look up at the top of the mine. “It’s a shame you’re making us kill the labor force. I think we’re close to the gem. You could get it if you wanted.”

“If the Empire had it buried and took such pains to hide it, I don’t think I’m in a rush to undo that decision.”

“Spoken like a true lackey,” Jeremy said. “You can serve the Emperor all you like, but they don’t care about you. That gem would turn you into a minor god. At best you could become a Magistrate over any land you like, all without having to muster an army.”

It was easy to see that Jeremy was a necromancer. He spoke plainly and was a little anxious, but it was clear that he had somewhat of a superiority complex. “Says the man who was bound to literal slavers who wouldn’t have batted an eye if you were slain. They’d just raise you up and send you to do more work for them.”

“The world is made up of predators and prey,” he said with a shrug. “Sometimes you have to be prey before you have the resources to be a predator. If we had succeeded in our task, I’d be made a commander general of my own army. Then who would dare stand up against me?”

“I suspect any who believe in goodness and virtue,” I said. How careless this man was when it came to speaking about the ways of the world. Predators and prey? This was the core of cynicism. Though, I suppose it made sense that necromancers would be cynical. It wasn’t like they were out to make the world a better place.

“Is there anything else you wish of me?” Jeremy asked.

“Yes. How skilled are you all with magic?”

“We don’t know how to harness the natural magic of the world. That’s the one thing the college keeps up blind to. Instead, we were given scrolls and single spells infused within us as they were needed. Our masters kept us in line that way.”

“So you’re basically empty on magic?”

“Yes.”

“Good, keep it that way,” I said. “Lest I be forced to utilize my cards once more.”

Chapter 12

Cleaning up the mining operation took a great deal of effort. Fortunately, I knew of a village that had an able-bodied work force. The people of Horath were delighted when they heard of the emeralds that I had seen and were quick to gather parties up to go and help me finishing neutralizing the mine. I had left my new lackey, Rupert, behind to watch out for the safety of the people he once robbed, which was rather ironic, but he took the orders well enough.

The necromancers’ apprentices were thrown out once the main workforce arrived and they were dispersed, each one sent in a different direction with a backpack, three days of supplies and a map of the area. My hope was that mercy would change things for them, but who knew?

The work was simple: disable the mine’s operation so that no one could continue searching for the Heartgem. I wasn’t about to try and find it myself. If the Emperors of past wanted it buried, then buried it shall remain. But this was also a tactical move on my part, to gain favor with the local Magister, Cronen Alnine.

Magisters were appointed rulers over the lands that were under the Empire’s control. These men and women were extremely powerful, given the abilities to regulate the laws and militaries of the domains they watched over. While the Emperor and his Council were unapproachable to the common man, Magisters represented the direct, day-to-day operations within a realm. He would accept an audience with anyone, provided their business was important enough.

Locating this Heartgem was certainly important enough, at least in my view, to report in person to the man. Having this team of villagers break down the equipment was a token of good faith, to show I was dedicated to the Emperor’s cause. In reality, I didn’t much give a damn about politics or what the Emperor was looking for. I was just hoping to gain some accolades and maybe even some eidolons for the work. Even a ‘good job’ would be worth hearing.

And so, with my eyes now set back at my home city, Cathode, it was time to depart. Before I left, I had managed to scrounge around Filo’s tent and discovered two empty eidolons, ready to be used at a moment’s notice. I had tried to take the man’s other cards off of his body, but they just burned up when touched. It was a shame to have lost the secrets of his deck, but alas, that was a small price to pay to get rid of such an evil force.

The witch was pleased with my work. I had somewhat forgotten about her during the course of that dangerous adventure, but she had appeared to speak with me right before I had left for the city. “You have saved this realm from dark shadows and cruel forces,” she had said. “And for that, you have my gratitude. I am no cardcaster such as yourself, but I collect little trinkets here and there. This I found long ago, perhaps it will be of use to you.”

What she spoke of was a gem-studded glove that shimmered with the clear power of Invocation energy. Slipping it on gave me an instant bonus.

Ring of Crystal Focus equipped!

When worn, this enhances your ability to focus on two summons at once. Does not work for spells, however.

I thanked her kindly for the gift, pleased to see that it was indeed useful for me, and then made my way towards upper Cathode, where the Magister abided.

The road to Upper Cathode was different than the one I had left home from. The city itself was huge and a train was often required to move between districts, as it could take all day to walk through each borough. This route would let me make it straight to the Magister’s office, where I could hopefully gain an audience with him.

I rode for hours on the main imperial passageway, occasionally seeing guards who were more than happy to wave to me and ask if I needed aid. Of course, these men would be plentiful once out of bandit country. But I merely smiled and thanked them for their concern, not mentioning the amount of chaos that was happening beneath their own noses. I couldn’t afford for anyone to learn of the Heartgem and become ‘ambitious’ about it.

The clouds above rumbled and grumbled, tightly packing themselves together into a muddled grey mess that brought darkness down to the valley I was riding across. A chill wind blew and I found myself shivering violently as the first few droplets of rain touched my face. The water was freezing cold.

“We better find a place to hole up for the night,” I said to Persnickety. The horse neighed in great agreement.

We quickly turned around and headed half a mile back from where we came. A tavern, the Rusted Nail, was sitting at the crossroads and at the time, I didn’t think we needed to rest. But now, the shelter of the stables and the idea of a warm meal sounded wonderful for the both of us.

As soon as I entered the building, lightning flashed, thunder cracked and the rain came pouring down with a full fury that suggested the world may flood at any moment. The tavern itself was empty, save for a squat man in a big burlap coat, sitting at the end of the bar.

“Just in time to miss the rain,” a young woman said as she ushered me in, taking my coat and hanging it up. “Please, sit and I’ll get you something warm to eat.”

“Thanks,” I said, sitting down at the bar. I glanced down at the man in the thick burlap coat once more. He was a mysterious figure. I could not see a single detail about him, not his head, nor his face or arms, since everything was obscured by his clothing. Odd.

“Here you are,” the barmaid said, placing a bowl of meat and potatoes in front of me. The tapping of the rain against the roof, combined with the warmth of the crackling fire made for a wonderful place to rest and recover from such a weary journey. One thing adventurers never mention is how monotonous and painful riding a horse can be.

The woman vanished into the kitchen, leaving me and the stranger alone. We both sat in perfect silence, eating our meals. I couldn’t see what he was enjoying but he mostly stared at his food, not lifting fork nor bowl to eat. Instead, I could hear a schlup sound every few seconds.

Eventually the stranger took notice of my scrutiny and turned to face me. My eyes went wide at the surprise of what I saw. This was not a man, but a frogman! A round toad-person with small arms and legs. His tongue darted out to eat what was on his plate and his dark yellow eyes locked onto mine.

“You can see me?” it said.

“Of course,” I replied. Wait, was this an Esper?

“Fantastic, then perhaps I can leave this place,” the frogman said. He took a few more slurps of his plate and then hopped down, waddling up to me on unstable footing.

“Crux don’t bother the guests,” the barmaid said as she came out from the kitchen.

“Madelyn, this one can see me!” Crux said, croaking a little as he spoke.

“What?”

“Yes, yes, I can!” I said. “My name is Arthur Moss and I happen to be a Convoker.”

“Oh,” Madelyn said. She looked slightly alarmed at this confession. “Don’t convoke him, please. He’s a friendly Esper.”

“I’m the house servitor of this place and messenger of the Toad King,” Crux explained, croaking a little. His throat bubbled outwards with each croak, causing me to subconsciously touch my own throat. “Perhaps you are the one I have been waiting for.”

“Well, if you have a tale, this would be the perfect time to tell it,” I said, settling back into my seat. “With a proper drink, of course.”

“Right you are, one drink, coming up,” Madelyn said as she rushed to the tap. Crux sat next to me, bringing his bowl of what looked to be flies trapped in honey close to his side.

“Well, allow me to explain who I am,” Crux said, lazily picking up one of the flies and popping it into his mouth. “I am Cruxnominous Leaper of the Third Pool. Or Crux for short. I was summoned from my habitat to this place a long time ago, by a wizard who thought it necessary to bind a friendly spirit to watch over his daughter while he went out and adventured.”

“So you’re a spirit? Not an Esper?”

“I am indeed an Esper,” he said. “But it was good timing to be brought here, for our little swamp had indeed fallen into quite a bit of chaos. Our king was kidnapped by some terrible force and we were all trapped within the swamps, unable to exit for fear of losing our power. For the Toad King gave his magic to us freely, allowing us to travel as we pleased. But with him gone? There was nothing we could do.

“So being brought here was a kindness, as I would be able to wait for the right person with the right senses to come in and aid me. And now, it would seem that fate has lined up a great meeting tonight, bringing you and I together.”

The frog paused after that and picked up a few more flies, popping them into his mouth, one by one. The last one he grabbed with his tongue, ribbiting with satisfaction. “A Convoker is an excellent ally to have.”

“I figured Espers would fear me,” I said.

“Idiot ones, yes, but I know how to segment my power. If you wanted to gain my services, I could easily give you an aspect of myself and remain outside in the spirit world. It is only the weak and the cowardly who think themselves imprisoned by Convokers,” the frog replied. “Now then, would you be interested in taking this job in exchange for said aspect?”

“You want me to find the Frog King in exchange for an eidolon?” I asked.

“Toad King,” Crux corrected. “The Frog King is doing just fine. But yes, find him and I will happily reward you with an aspect of my power. You can choose the power as well. How does that sound?”

I wanted to say the job sounded perfect, but I was already on a mission to see the Magister. Could I afford to lose some time by undertaking this quest? Then again, it’s not like the mine would seal itself up any faster. What the Magister would be undertaking would probably take years to rebury. What was a few more days?

Chapter 13

My boots were soaked to the core and I could feel the cold slosh of bog water with each step I made. I had thought these boots were graded to be waterproof, but apparently not. I’d be having a stark conversation with the man who sold me these boots when I got back from my grand adventure.

I had arrived to the Swamp of Weary Souls a few hours ago, following the instructions Crux had given me. He was overjoyed when I agreed to rescue their king. Fortunately, the question of where the King had gone was already answered. They knew that he was trapped in the center of the Swamp of Weary Souls, a place that sounded like the absolutely worst place to adventure. But what trapped him was the question. And how could I fight whatever it was?

I spotted a dry patch of land and hurriedly made my way over, fighting through the green water. The trees that towered overhead were reaching their branches down, touching and sometimes scraping my face as I fought to get out of the water. But eventually I made it onto the dry land, huffing and puffing as if that had been the hardest task in the world.

“There’s gotta be an Esper of physical fitness or something,” I gasped, bending over to catch my breath.

Once recovered from my weary state, I glanced up to see that I was standing before a great ziggurat, with steps leading far up to an opening. The opening had a purple wall of energy and two statues were standing before the wall, one carrying an axe and the other holding a warhammer.

“Interesting,” I mused. “What are the chances those are going to come alive?”

I put one foot on the first step of the ziggurat and my question was answered. Both statues looked at me and took two steps forward, raising their weapons high to fight me.

I quickly hopped back. This caused them to cease advancing entirely. They shuffled back to where they started.

“That’s a bit odd,” I said, tapping the Mossvines on my belt. Should I spend my energy now? Or was there another way to overcome these two? It almost felt like a puzzle with the way they went right back to their starting position, each move perfectly in sync with one another.

I stepped onto the first step once more and the two marched forward. Standing still, I waited but they did nothing. I stepped again, another floor up. They came down. I shuffled to the left, still on the second step and to my surprise, they shuffled to the right. It was a puzzle!

Once I realized I could get them to shuffle to the right of me with my leftward movements, I was quick to race up the stairs. The two statues clunked down each step of the way, but completely missed me due to my prior movements. I made it to the top at the same time they made it to the bottom.

The statues immediately disintegrated as I reached my destination. Loose bits of energy swirled upwards, rushing towards me. At once, I could sense my convocation powers drawing these energies to me and I had a choice. I could let the energy disperse back into the world, fading from this place, or I could capture what raw magic had animated these statues to begin with. I had the free cards, so I may as well use them.

I raised the empty eidolon and focused, drawing the power into the card. Energies burned and a purple flash of light confirmed the Espers were now trapped.

Esper: Twin Warriors of Stone

Rarity: Uncommon

Hit Points: 5/5

Attack: 3/5

Defense: 5/3

Special: Activating this card summons two Espers that function together in unison. They do not require additional concentration.

“Right on,” I muttered. Stone warriors that were summoned in a pair? That would be an excellent way to frustrate an opponent. My arsenal continued to grow, more and more with each passing day.

I approached the purple energy blocking the passage into the ziggurat, inspecting it curiously. What exactly was this? There was a wild hum that grew stronger the closer I got and upon almost touching it, the energy began to distort and warp. I pulled my finger back, not content to have it torn off of my hand if this energy was indeed a shield.

Instead, I grabbed a nearby broken branch and tried pressing it against the wall of shimmering power. Predictably, the branch burst into flames upon touching the wall. I was blocked out from entering this place.

Casting the flaming branch into the bog water, I walked round the top of the ziggurat, looking out for anything of interest. Each side of the building was the same, two statues guarding a purple wall and a long stretch of stairs leading upwards.

What was this place, to have such a heavy amount of security? Though, the statues did not react to me, so perhaps this was more about finding passage in than winning a fight.

Wait! I stopped short as I spotted one statue where the weapons were differently placed. The warhammer, which was usually on the right, had swapped places with the great axe. This must be another puzzle.

Fortunately I was able to connect the dots on this one quickly enough. Both weapons were loose in the grasp of the statues, allowing me to pull them out and switch them. They were surprisingly light, considering they were stone replicas of weapons.

After a few seconds, I was able to place both weapons back where they belonged. This caused a tremendous amount of grinding in the ground, followed by a singular voice. “Enter.”

The purple shield in front of me faded and I was quick to hop in, before the wall drew itself right back up.

The interior of the ziggurat was dark, though it wasn’t entirely absent of light. From above, a great beam of yellow light passed through the ceiling glass, illuminating the path down to the bottom of the temple.

The platform I was standing on was the top of a single stairwell that lined up the walls of the entire building, wrapping around like one giant snake. There were platforms every few dozen steps, leading into new rooms, but those, too, were sealed with magic.

Standing atop those platforms were tall lizardmen, hunched over and carrying long spears in their hands. I shivered as their piercing yellow eyes gazed up at me.

“You have come so far,” one of them said as he walked up the stairs to meet me. “You are adept at finding the Hidden Path.”

The spear in the lizardman’s hand was neutral, gently hanging down as if there were no problem here whatsoever, but I couldn’t take my eyes off of it. I carefully put a hand on my Mossvines card, just in case.

“Er, I’m not really looking for the Hidden Path,” I replied. “I’m here to find the Toad King. This place seemed like a good spot to look.”

“He too tried to walk the Hidden Path,” the lizard said as he continued to ascend towards me. “But he could not make it, because he was too weak. As we speak, he is tormented by the weakness that he bears in his heart. If you walk this path, you will find him easily enough. But will you be able to leave with him is the question.”

The rest of the lizardmen hissed in agreement to this. “I see,” I replied. “And where must I go?”

“From path to path,” the lead lizard said, waving towards each patch on the stairwell. “And with each path, you must face a new threat.”

“What threat is…” I started to ask, but the lizardman answered this by raising his spear.

“We guard this place. You must fight us each level to progress. Come then, bear your strongest weapons and spells!”

Chapter 14

One moment we were engaged in civil discussion, the next, the lizardman came charging at me, spear raised high. He moved fast, dashing up the stairs with ease, almost as if there were no incline whatsoever.

I was quick to activate my sword eidolon, summoning the blade in time to block the spear thrust, casting it aside.

“Very good!” he hissed as I kicked him in the torso, throwing him back. “You know how to fight!”

I had some classical training in sword fighting, and by that I mean my brothers used to thwack at me all the time with blunted blades while they were practicing to join the army. Fending them off was about as good as I was at sword combat. Maybe a spell would work.

I cast fireball towards the lizardman and, much to my surprise, he leapt high into the air, floating for a moment as to avoid the blast. “You can fly?” I asked.

“As a spirit, I am bound to no law of gravity,” he replied, floating above me. He aimed his spear downwards and plunged, hard as he could.

Damn it! I rolled out of the way, narrowly avoiding his attack, but his green tail lashed out and hit me in the back as I rolled, throwing me off balance. I stumbled towards the edge of the platform, unable to stop myself.

“Woah!” I gasped, trying to steady myself. But it was too late, the ground vanished beneath me and I was falling through this great temple, straight towards the cruel ground.

“Alas, you tried,” the spirit called to me from above as I fell. “Fare thee well.”

“Not quite,” I muttered, grabbing my Mossvines card. With a flick of the wrist, I sent the power down into the ground, prompting the long vines to burst forth. They all reached up, waiting to seize me as I fell.

One second I was in the air, falling like a ragdoll, the next I was caught and pulled down to the ground, gently placed on the floor as the vines easily did their job. I released their power, returning them back to their home.

“Holy crap,” I muttered, bending over and stress breathing for a few moments. “That was intense.”

“You live?” a bouncing voice called down to me. “That is an accomplishment on its own. But prepare to fight your way up. We are bound to guard this place, as you are bound to seek its power.”

I wasn’t seeking anything other than a big old frog. Well, a toad, but I can’t really tell the difference, I suppose. Though, if there was power to be had here, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to look around a bit.

I inspected the bottom of the ziggurat, turning around to see there was a huge opening behind me. It was a magnificent thing, nearly twenty feet tall with a grey shimmering shield encasing what looked to be a woman. The interior was shallow, so it must have been a prison of some kind.

The woman within was beautiful, naked and asleep. Her skin was ashen grey and her hair was long and white. She stood before me, hands across her chest, holding her shoulders as if she were cold.

“Woah…” I whispered at the sight of this prisoner.

The entrance to the prison was full of runes and symbols, some of them glowing, others flashing red and white every few seconds. I couldn’t read this magical language, but I suspected it was keeping this person trapped.

“Hello?” I said, trying to wake her up. Maybe she could tell me how she came to be imprisoned. Should I mess with the runes? Or would that possibly hurt her? Or trigger security?

There was no response from the woman. She was dead silent, standing in repose, waiting to be revived. Her chest rose up and down, so I knew she wasn’t dead.

I took out my dagger and tried messing with a few of the runes, but the stone refused to budge as I carved into them with all my might. The ziggurat was an ancient artifact of power and it was uninterested in being changed by a simple piece of iron..

I gently put a hand on the grey wall of power, hoping it wouldn’t light me on fire. It did not. Rather, it merely hummed with an energy that felt familiar. Almost like it was composed of the same energy within me…

“An Esper?” I whispered, looking up at the wall. It shimmered at the words Esper, as if confirming what I had said. Well, if the lizards upstairs were all spirits, then I suppose it wouldn’t be a surprise that a mystic wall would be an Esper.

I raised my last eidolon and focused, drawing the wall to me. It responded instantly, leaping into my card with such a fervor that it actually threw me onto my back.

“Gah!” I shouted as I slid a few feet.

Esper: Grey Wall of Givald

Rarity: Rare

HP: 10

Attack: 0

Defense: 10

Special: The Grey Wall can form any shape and cover anything, preventing passage in or out.

Finally something defensive! But this wasn’t a spell, however. It was an actual summon, meaning I’d have to keep my energy dedicated to it. But still, this would come in handy fighting those damn lizardmen.

“Hmmm?” a weak voice said, snapping me out of my card reading mode.

I was quick to hop up and make my way over to the staggering woman. She had woken up instantly and was now stepping forward, wobbling as she walked.

“Easy there,” I said, taking off my cloak and wrapping her in it. “You’ve been trapped behind some kind of mystic prison.”

The woman didn’t seem to acknowledge me, she merely stood still, shivering as she held the cloak tightly. Behind her, I could see that there was something within the prison itself. There was a carving in the back, which had been concealed by the woman earlier.

I approached the carving and squinted. There were a few symbols. The ziggurat was on fire. Beneath the building, there was a toad tied to a post, a woman tied to an altar and the lizardmen standing around her with daggers in hand.

“What the hell does this mean?” I muttered.

“It’s the prophecy,” the woman said, turning to face me. “Or so they say. They think this place is meant to become ascendant, freeing the dead spirits who have been trapped here for a millennium.”

“Are you okay?” I asked, forgetting any mention of prophecy.

“Yes, I was perfectly preserved inside of that awful shield,” she replied. “My mind’s a bit numb but I can feel myself returning to normal.”

“How’d you end up here?” I asked.

“It’s not a terribly interesting story,” she said with a shrug. “I’m a runesmith by trade and an archeologist by hobby. This ziggurat was always a place of myth and legend, so I decided to check it out. There were a few puzzles to get in, but once I was inside…some awful spirit seized me and placed me down here. Said I was going to be the key for their return to the world of the living.”

“I take it the spirit wasn’t a lizardman?” I asked.

“No, those are just indigenous holdovers, unable to pass on to the afterlife,” the runesmith confirmed. “Victims more than anything. No, there is a dark power here that…that runs everything. I forget who or what it is, the trauma of seeing such a spirit is great and painful.”

The woman went to say something else, but began coughing instead, bending over and kneeling on the ground as she tried to get her breath back.

“Here,” I said, handing her my canteen. “Drink.”

“You are most kind, adventurer,” she said, taking the bottle and draining it in seconds. I beamed at the words. Adventurer? She acknowledged what I was? That was amazing!

“What makes you think I’m that?” I asked, pressing for more compliments.

“Why else would anyone be here? How you opened the grey shield, I don’t know, but I’m thankful for your help.”

“I’m Arthur Moss,” I said, reaching out to shake her hand.

“Emelia Luther,” she replied, shaking my hand firmly. “You wouldn’t happen to have any extra clothes, would you?”

Chapter 15

“You certainly like buckles,” Emelia murmured as she followed me up the stairs. Her new outfit was one of my adventuring uniforms. I didn’t know much about how they dressed, but assumed buckles would be useful for fastening stuff, which had turned out to be quite useful over the days.

“It’s the fashion of the time,” I replied. “Say…who was the Emperor when you were captured?”

“Oh gods, it better be the same person. His Imperial Majesty, Emperor Hargreave.”

“Yup, same as today,” I said.

Emelia let out a sigh of relief. “Thank goodness. Like I wanted to add another crisis to this situation. I have a lot of things that were left unattended at home.”

“So if you’re a runesmith, you have magic?” I asked.

“If I had my kit, yes,” she replied. “But now I’m as useless as a gigolo without his di—”

A rumbling above us interrupted her rather crude joke. A few chunks of stone fell downwards towards us. I was quick to avoid it, as was Emelia. She was alert and focused; her chattiness did not distract her from avoiding dangerous obstacles.

“You were not supposed to retrieve her!” an angry voice called down. It bounced around the great ziggurat, reflecting a few times, the voice growing distorted with each bounce. It was the lizardman who had greeted me at the top of the temple.

The spirit appeared before us both, emerging from the stairs directly above us. He was armed with a spear and a shield this time. “I fear we must cease with the riddles and games,” he said. “For you have taken what does not belong to you.”

“Newsflash, scaley, I don’t belong to anyone,” Emelia said. Despite her tough words, she stepped up behind me, hand on my back as if I were her shield.

The lizard looked down at me and hissed. “Hand her over and we shall allow you to leave this place.”

“Hand me over and I bite your throat out,” Emelia whispered, though there was a slight bit of playfulness in her voice. Very slight.

“How about we do this instead?” I asked, throwing out Flame Stalk in an instant. The burning spirit appeared and flashed brightly, bringing a great deal of light to the ziggurat. With the extra light, I could see dozens of strange and disturbing images on the walls, mostly illustrations of people being slain by armies of twisted darkness.

“Oh no you don’t!” the lizard said as he raised his shield in time to prevent the burst of flames pouring from Stalk’s hand from striking him.

The two immediately engaged in combat, flying towards one another. More spirits appeared around Flame Stalk and began throwing their spears at it, but the Esper was more nimble than they.

“That’s not going to be a winning fight,” Emelia said. “Let’s go!”

I focused, keeping my Esper alive as he fought the lizardmen off, but Emelia was right. I couldn’t fend them off forever…but I could trap them in the grey shield!

I grabbed the top of my deck and riffled through, sensing which card was the Grey Shield. Touching it, I instantly knew it was mine and I threw it out, pleased to see the shield warping into a huge bubble around the spirits.

“What is this? You think of using our own powers against us?” the lizard leader cried. He flew towards me but smashed into the wall, bouncing off as if he were an ant attacking a mountain.

“Have fun in there,” I said, releasing Flame Stalk back to its position. Keeping the shield up was less mentally demanding than keeping Stalk alive.

I could almost feel a presence within Flame Stalk’s eidolon emote something. A sorrow, or a regret? Perhaps it was displeased with being unable to fight those enemies. That was a strangeness. Did eidolons develop personalities over time? I knew they would grow in power, but…it would be interesting to see if they could become more intelligent over time.

We rushed up the stairs, making it to the first platform. There were eight platforms to go, but each platform had a door leading somewhere else.

“In here?” I asked, pointing to the door.

“I’d rather run all the way up,” Emelia said. “I am done with this place.”

“I can’t keep the shield up that long,” I said. “And I’m searching for one other person. The Toad King.”

“Ah yes, part two in their prophecy,” the woman grumbled. “Supposing you had to fight your way from the top, this would be the floor where you’d find him. Does he have any powers?”

“He’s a great spirit,” I said. “He gives the frog-folk their magic, so theoretically he could help me maintain focus.”

Emelia sighed but was quick to get the wooden door, opening it wide. “Alright then, let’s get going.”

We rushed through the door, making our way through what looked to be a more classical dungeon. There were many prison cells with iron bars preventing anything from leaving. There were dozens of skeletons within these cells, with only a few of them human.

“I swear this better not lead us to a dead end,” Emelia groaned as we passed through another doorway.

I said nothing. Sweat was pouring down my head. Even though I was far away from the shield, I was still keeping it up. I could sense that it was dwindling in power, as its defense points were being sapped away, cutting into its base HP. It was impressive that I could keep the shield up this long and at this distance.

“Here!” Emelia said, grabbing me by the wrist, breaking my focus. In an instant, I could feel the energy break and the Grey Wall shattered. The energy did not come rushing back. Instead, I felt as if the power was gone for quite some time. As if the eidolon needed to recollect the magic over time. Well, that was a one trick pony.

I looked up to see that Emelia had pulled me into a room with a tall shrine that glowed with a white energy. It was an obelisk with hundreds of runes up and down the sides of it, some of them glowing, some of them not.

“These were what I had been searching for,” Emelia said as she grabbed the dagger from my hilt. With both hands, she began to violently chip away at the edges of certain corners, striking in extremely hard blows.

“You’re gonna break my grandfather’s dagger,” I said. “He wants it back when I’m done with all this.”

“Done with all what?” she asked, ignoring my pleas for gentleness.

“My big adventure, I guess,” I said. “Though it was kind of open ended. It was more of a ’here, take these cards and go see what happens’ kind of thing.”

“Oh, so you have no reason to be in this temple?”

“Well, a frog spirit hired me, but…I’ve just been kinda wandering from scenario to scenario.”

“That is the textbook definition of adventuring, Arthur,” she replied. There was a final blow against the tip of the obelisk and suddenly, the white light flared up. It was so bright I had to shield my eyes, looking away as it burned.

“Here we go! Come on, come on!” Emelia cried out in joy. A whum whum whum sound emanated from the obelisk and in an instant, we were surrounded by a green light.

Energy began to return to me as soon as the green light touched my skin. I could feel my cards sing out in joy as they sucked up this power as eagerly as they could. My own physical and mental energy began to recharge as well.

“What’s going on?” I asked, looking at my hand. It was shimmering with so much power, I wondered if it would swell up and burst.

“I’m a runesmith,” she replied. “With an active source of mystic energy and the runes themselves, I can sort of reroute them and make them do what I want. Right now, they should be recharging your energy, masking our presence and reaching out to find this toad of yours.”

“All of that?” I said.

“What, you think some talentless hack would wander into a ziggurat this huge?” she asked. “I am a seasoned runesmith, the only trouble was that I wasn’t expecting this place to be crawling with spirits and such.”

“That makes sense,” I said, sitting down for the first time in what felt like days. My energy was returning, but I was still fairly tired from all of this rushing around.

Emelia sat opposite of me, cross-legged. “It’s important to note the source of power too,” she said. “This obelisk is connected to that awful spirit that’s indwelling this place. So, there’s a lot of power to siphon from it.”

“What is this spirit?” I asked. “And why hasn’t it shown itself yet?”

“I don’t know what it is. A smothering flame is all I can describe it as. Like a darkness that chokes you while burning your throat. The lizardmen accosted me, sure, but they were playful and interested in the sport of things. This Prime Darkness, it…it only wanted to return to the world above. So I was seized for a sacrifice.”

“You and the Toad King,” I said. “I’m wondering if it was waiting for someone else to show up.”

“It’s possible,” Emelia replied. She yawned and stretched her arms out. “I was sleeping for so long in there…I don’t know what the plan was. But the fact that I wasn’t sacrificed yet means something. Who knows, maybe I was just bait.”

I shivered a little at that. If we had to face this power, I had to be sure I could fight it off. You are in a place of power, the Maiden of Moss whispered to me. Meditate upon your cards and upgrade one of them, before the light goes out.

My worries faded away in an instant at that admonition. New powers? Don’t mind if I do! I focused and instantly, three options appeared before me, each one tempting me.

Upgrade One Card:

Fireball -> Flame Spheres

Description: Creates three fire spheres that you may control independently of one another. Each sphere does the same damage as a fireball.

Flame Stalk -> Fire Spirit

Health: 5

Attack: 5

Defense: 5

Special: When released, Fire Spirit creates a whirlwind of flames moving towards a target of your choice.

Sword of Vengeance -> Blade of Majesty

Description: Grants wielder +2 to attack and +1 to defense.

Flame Spheres looked amazing…but a pang of slight sadness overtook me as I considered my options. Flame Stalk had underperformed last battle and while it was useful, the upgrade was far heartier and more able when it came to fighting. Perhaps this would even out the Esper’s mood as well.

Perhaps it was foolish to consider the emotions or primal thoughts of such things, but…this was a partnership. I wasn’t a slave-driver, I was simply a Convoker, summoning these things to aid me. If they were to give their power willingly to me, then I should consider what their desires are in these moments.

And so, I selected the middle option, transforming Flame Stalk into Fire Spirit. At once, there was a bright flash above me that read Esper Bond Created! This Esper’s loyalty has grown. The Esper may now summon itself in reaction to danger.

I raised an eyebrow at that. An upgrade on top of an upgrade? That was perfect! It would seem that considering the needs of these Espers would increase the strength of our bond. Wasn’t that something my grandfather had mentioned? Bonding and building trust? Well, I suppose it was working! Now let’s hope that would be enough for us to get out of here alive.

Chapter 16

“I think we’re lost,” I said, passing the same pillar that I swore we had passed four times already.

“Nonsense, the architecture here is just uninspired,” Emelia replied as she brushed a hand against another pillar.

“I think you got us lost and you’re too arrogant to admit it,” I said.

“If we were lost, would admitting it do anything to help us?” she asked.

I opened my mouth to say yes, but in truth that was…yeah, that info would do nothing to aid either of us. We had no mapmaking tools, nor anything that could mark our trail. I didn’t really think those things would be needed.

So now we were winding through the ziggurat, following pillars and entering random passages in the hopes of finding the Toad King.

“I thought your runework was going to take us to the king,” I said.

“Once again, I may have been mistaken on that rune. It’s not like chipping away at those things is how you’re supposed to get a magical effect out of them.”

We squabbled as we walked, perhaps due to our irritation and hunger as well. I had no food to eat; anything I had Emelia had devoured in order to get back on her feet. She had drank most of the water and wolfed down the meager day supply of food I had left, leaving us both in an irritable mood.

“There!” I said, pointing to a green door. It was covered in leaves and stood tall above the other doors we had seen in the ziggurat. It was wider as well. “I’m willing to bet that is where they keep the king.”

“Be my guest to check it out,” Emelia replied, drawing her (mine) dagger. “And let’s hope you’re right.”

I nodded and approached the door. There was no handle on it, so I pushed against it instead, causing the wood to creak. It wasn’t that strong of a door and after a few seconds of pushing, it gave way, cracking as it burst into splinters.

Pushing my way in, I was quick to notice the smell of a bog. It wasn’t foul, but the scent of peatmoss was unmistakable.

Water greeted my shoes as I entered, once again rendering my supposedly waterproof boots soaking wet. I groaned, but pressed on, knowing that we had found the Toad King.

There were iron bars in front of me, but they were easy to peek through. While the bars did not give way to any kind of pushing or pulling, I was able to see the Toad King on the other side.

He was a majestic creature, huge and bulky with green and yellow spots all over his body. He wore a crown atop his head and a red cape upon his back. He sat squat in the center of the bog, eyes shut as he slumbered.

“Hey!” I shouted. “Hey!”

The king opened one eye and looked at me. “You are here to escort me to my fate?” he asked in a deep, rumbling voice.

“No, no!” I said. “I’m here to bust you out. I was sent by Crux to rescue you!”

Both eyes opened at the mention of the name Crux. The gargantuan toad hopped towards me twice, splashing the waters everywhere as he jumped. “You speak the name of one whom I have not heard in a long time. Does he and do the others fare well?”

“Not particularly,” I admitted. “He is bound to a tavern where he asks others for help and the others are trapped within their own swamp, unable to leave without your magic.”

“That is not what I wanted for them,” he bemoaned. “Such is the danger of overdependence and overindulgence. They wanted such power so eagerly and I let them drink it all up, never thinking of the consequences. Now they starve, unable to generate their own magic. Such was my folly as a leader.”

I nodded along, unsure of what exactly to say. The king was thinking out loud at this point. “Your, uh, Your Highness, we need to get you out of here,” I said.

“Then destroy these bars,” the king replied. “For you have the one thing I do not. You speak to a spirit. I have no effect upon the physical world, save for my magic which has been thoroughly drained. If you are a flesh and blood creature, then you can free me from such a place.”

I glanced at the bars and noticed that they were slightly shimmering. They didn’t respond to any physical touch, but as I pulled on them, I could feel a mystic energy try to resist. These were enchanted.

“Any luck?” Emelia asked from outside. She had opted to stay outside and keep watch for trouble.

“Yes, I’m freeing him now,” I said, taking a few steps back. “Watch yourself, Your Highness.”

I raised up the twin statue card, releasing them into the world at once. The two hulking statues appeared directly in front of me, rising up from the ground. Both turned their heads to look at me in perfect synchronization.

“Pull the bars open,” I ordered.

Both statues placed their weapons aside and seized hold of the metal bars. The bars began to spark and shriek, letting out bursts of raw energy, but these tremendous statues paid no mind to the damage dealt. Instead, they just stepped backwards, ripping the entire bar frame out, opening the path for the Toad King to escape—without even having to duck down to get out!

“Nice work, guys,” I said, patting one of the statues on the shoulder and returning them to their eidolon.

“You are a Convoker,” the Toad King said, stating this more as a fact than a question. “You shall be delighted with the rewards I shall shower upon you, should we escape this place alive.”

I went to say something about not needing rewards but another rumbling occurred in the building. This one was far greater than the mere tremor we had experienced earlier. “Oh no, this feels familiar,” Emelia said as she rushed us out of the room.

“I sense the presence of the Shadowed One,” the Toad King said. “He sent dark dreams to me, fascinating me with visions of power and gifts, and yet it was merely a lie, meant to trap me in this place. I wanted to bring such things to share with my people, but he intends only to devour our souls so that he may leave this place.”

“Yeah, I’ve uh, been hearing that a lot lately,” I said, putting my hand on my deck. I quickly shuffled my cards, putting Fire Spirit into the deck, since he’d come out when I needed him. I lined up my quick holster with the Statues, the Grey Wall, the Harlequin and of course, Fireball. The rest I’d have to search for manually during the fight.

Chunks of stone broke off from above, smashing into pillars and collapsing them. A shadowed voice came from above, painfully speaking as if it were trying to push the sound out through the walls themselves. “You have finally come,” he said. “Long have I waited for the third.”

“Yeah, sorry but I’m not in your prophecy,” I said.

“Any who wields magic is in my prophecy,” he replied. “I have waited so long to have all three of you here. The time is now at hand that I am able to elevate myself and leave this wretched place. I have the spirit of a Great King, the mind of a curious creature and the heart of a hero, delving in to rescue those who have been lost. Spirit, mind and heart. All acceptable sacrifices to the dark gods who listen and watch from below.”

A shiver ran down my spine as I stared up at whatever was emerging from the ceiling. It was a hideous face, gnarled and pressed together as if it were covered in cloth, trying to break its way free of some eternal torment. Red and dark green streaks ran across the folds in the cloth, randomly illuminating his facial features.

“You know I’m not going to let you take them without a fight,” I said, putting my hand on my cards. Damn, I wish I had an empty one. It would be cool to capture this guy. Though, I wonder if I were that strong.

“A fight? How do you fight that which is everywhere?” The Toad King asked.

Not a great vote of confidence but I could tell the spirit was strained due to his lack of magic. Fortunately, thanks to Emelia’s runework earlier, I was full of power and ready to unleash it upon the world.

A hand tried to break out of the ceiling, grasping down towards us, but I was quick to activate the Grey Wall once more, throwing the energy up to block the entire ceiling. “Run!” I shouted as I turned around and booked it.

“The entrance is this way!” the Toad King said, taking the lead as his spirit hopped across the ground. Emelia and I followed him with no hesitation whatsoever, but a fist smashed down from the side of one of the walls, breaking free from the prison I had created.

I dove forward, throwing Emelia out of the way of the fist, tumbling down to the ground. She yelped in pain but was quick to climb back up, dragging me along with her.

Another fist came flying out, but we dodged this one, understanding that attacks could come from anywhere. I brought the Grey Wall down to wrap around the three of us, creating a tight dome that floated just an inch off the floor so I was able to push it forward without it taking root.

Two fists punched the dome head on and I grunted, feeling the energy drain from the hit. My focus was ironclad, however, and I was able to pour more energy into the wall. Having summoned this thing a few times, I was already feeling more at ease with it; the act of concentrating to keep it up and running was almost second nature.

We made it through the winding corridors of the dungeon, surviving the assaults by the laughing and shrieking darkness from above. Emerging from the door, we skidded to a halt on the platform connected to the stairs.

“Go, go, go!” I shouted, pointing to the stairwell, but a bevy of spirits appeared right in front of us, cutting us off.

Before I could do anything, the Fire Spirit summoned itself in a flash, leaping out of my deck and zipping straight towards the lizardmen, hurling bolt after bolt of flames. It was faster, leaner and stronger, the silhouette of the being looking more humanoid than before.

The enemy lizards scattered as we ran up the stairs; they were far too distracted to intercept us.

“I see the light!” Emelia said as we cleared platform after platform. From below, I could hear a deep bellowing laugh that flew up towards us like a torrent of cold air.

“Run! Run!” it cackled. “Surely you’ll make it!”

As we made it to the penultimate platform, the earth around us shook and the ziggurat once more quaked with fear and terror. The stairwell leading up to the exit fell to pieces, tumbling down into the darkness of the abyss that was growing beneath us.

I wasn’t about to be fazed by this. I summoned the Grey Wall once more and ordered it to stretch into the stairs leading out of this place. Emelia ran forward without a moment’s hesitation and since she didn’t plunge into the darkness, I followed after her.

More hands tried to intercept, but the Fire Spirit took exception to those and intercepted, throwing itself in between us and the hands coming from the walls. The shadowed fingers caught the spirit quickly, and with little fanfare, tore it apart.

Energy crashed into my deck and I felt my concentration waver. But I kept my focus, biting down on my lip so hard that I was starting to draw blood. I couldn’t let go of this shield while we were running across it!

We made it to the exit! There was no shield blocking us from going out. “Go!” I shouted, waving Emelia on. She complied, immediately dashing out of the ziggurat, finally finding freedom.

The Toad Spirit attempted to pass through but was unable to.

“I feared this much,” he said, glancing down at me. “The power below has seized hold of my essence. I cannot escape this place.”

“Well, I’m not going to leave you behind,” I said, turning and glancing down at the shadowy thing brewing from below. A dark, writhing mass of energy was climbing upwards, advancing slowly. “How do we fight this thing?”

“I do not believe you can fight this thing,” he said. “You must leave without me.”

“Oh, come on!” I said, holding one of my cards up. “Can you jump in here?”

“If it were empty, yes,” he replied. “But I fear that this situation is dire. My hope was that the spell binding me here had weakened, but alas, I am still a prisoner. You must preserve your own life. Do not die trying to face a horror so powerful it was bound and sealed within this ziggurat. If the people who bound it could not slay it, neither can you.”

I opened my mouth to say something encouraging, but realized the truth of it. The Toad King was wise in this matter. “I use the tiniest shred of magic I have left to bid you to leave,” he said. “If common sense will not save you, then compulsion will.”

And with that, he waved a hand over me, throwing mystic dust into my face. I hacked and wheezed, feeling my limbs suddenly come to life without my permission. I spun on a heel and marched straight forward, leaving the Toad King behind.

“You are a noble man, Arthur Moss. Return when you have the power to rescue me, I will be going nowhere,” he called out. I looked back, still unable to stop walking and watched in horror as the dark shadows wrapped around him, pulling the spirit back into utter darkness.

Chapter 17

Emelia and I sat on the bottom step of the ziggurat, huffing and panting, exhausted from fleeing the scene.

“You couldn’t save him?” she asked after a few minutes of silently collecting her thoughts.

“No. His spirit was bound by that awful darkness,” I said. “He tried to leave but couldn’t and I wasn’t strong enough to force the darkness to release him.”

“Well, I don’t blame you for not being strong enough. The hieroglyphics surrounding this temple show that whatever dwells within was a world-threatening abomination a few thousand years ago. Apparently age has drained it dramatically of its power, but still... That was certainly harrowing.”

I didn’t say anything more. I just stared at the ground, cursing my own weakness.

“Hey, you saved me!” Emelia said, clapping me on the shoulder. “That counts for a lot. Seriously, you stuck your neck out to rescue a total stranger, even when it wasn’t your mission.”

“I’m glad to have helped,” I emptily replied. Water began to fill my eyes and I tried not to cry but damn it all, I started to shed some tears.

“Hey now,” she said, gently rubbing my back. “It’s not like he’s in any worse of a position now. But you’ve got a tremendous opportunity now.”

“And what’s that?” I asked, wiping my eyes. The shame I felt for failing after coming so close was overwhelming, I could hardly take it. This wasn’t crying over spilled milk, this was a soul that I had lost. A genteel being that was so kind he used his last magic to force me to escape, rather than stay and be captured along with him.

“Well, you know what you’re fighting, you know your limitations and you have all the time in the world, since you’re an unemployed bum known as an adventurer,” Emelia explained. “You’re going to take some hits in this world, but what your kind excels at is coming back from the brink. You’re like roaches in a way. Always surviving no matter what, then returning at the most inopportune time.”

“Thanks for the comparison,” I dryly said, wiping my tears away. It was hard to face the woman while looking and feeling so weak. “But tell me, how do you feel? You were locked away for so long…”

“It’s like everything that happened was a dream,” she replied. “When you woke me up, I kind of forgot all of it. The being trapped for so long, the sensation of being preserved, all of it. It was sort of like I was having the most vivid of dreams, the kind that were ultra-realistic, but seconds after I woke up…it was all gone. I can scarcely remember a single detail.”

That made sense. No wonder she was so unflappable. “So what’s the plan then?” I asked. “For you?”

“You mean for us!” Emelia replied, slapping me on the back. “You’re coming back home with me. A gentleman of your caliber deserves some rewards. My shop is loaded with runic items and you’ll be free to take your pick of one or two.”

“One or two?” I echoed. “I should be allowed to clear out the whole shop after all that!”

“See, that’s why I try to avoid being rescued, so my shop doesn’t go out of a business,” she said with a laugh. “But seriously, I’m from the Stanish Borough in Upper Cathode. I have a very nice storefront, you’ll love it.”

I perked up. “I’m actually headed to Cathode for some business and to visit my grandfather.”

“Perfect! Then let us commence with the journey,” she said, hopping up. “Because if I stay in this godsforsaken swamp any longer, I’m going to lose my mind.”

Persnickety was happy to see us, neighing as we emerged from the woods. He liked Emelia immediately, nuzzling and licking her on sight. We mounted up and rode across the Imperial roadways, taking the direct route to Cathode.

A week later, we arrived to the immense city. The walls, big grey monuments of mankind’s industriousness, were larger than I remembered, looming over me like great, endless towers. Hundreds of merchants were passing through customs, bringing their wares and horses through the main gate.

“Ahhhhh,” Emelia said, hopping off Persnickety as we brought her to the Waystation Post. “It is so good to be back home.”

I handed my ticket in to the custodian working the post and requested a ride back ticket so I could get the same horse when it was time to leave the city. If he were available that is.

“Upper Cathode always feels so much bigger than Lower,” I said, following after the woman. We walked up to the open gates where residents were able to pass through freely. The customs gate was purely for taxation purposes—the free city was open to all who came, regardless of race, religion or even criminal status in other nations.

“Extra! Extra!” a newsboy shouted out as he stood atop a post, waving a paper and ringing a bell. “The Emperor’s daughter remains missing! Any who should find her will receive a castle built in his name! Weather reports indicate that a great and terrible storm is heading this way, all who value their peace and safety best not travel on the next few days!”

“Emperor’s daughter…” Emelia said, jabbing me in the ribs with her elbow. “Sounds perfect for you. Jump in, kill the ogre or wizard and pow! She’s all yours.”

“Yeah, I don’t want to win a woman.”

“Screw the woman, I’m talking about that castle!” Emelia said. “I’d come with you if you want to try your hand at it.”

I cocked my head. “Really? Why?”

“I’ve always wanted a castle. We’ll split it. You get the North and East Wing, I get the South and West!” she said, laughing a little. It was hard to tell whether this woman was serious or not. But the idea planted a little seed in my heart. It would be amazing to have a family castle. That would be the proper conclusion to the lineage quest. And wouldn’t my grandfather be delighted to hear of that accomplishment?

I mused over the viability of castle ownership as we walked through Upper Cathode, doing our best to avoid the nobility who were walking about. The men and women in the upper classes lived their daily lives here in the Marili District, where the highest concentration of noble estates were located. Running into one would almost certainly cause some trouble, so it was just easier to avoid them at all costs.

Eventually we reached a large shop with a rounded window display and a red door. Atop the roof was a pointed spire and all across the frame of the door were intricately carved runes, though none of them glowed like mystically infused ones.

“You don’t have a license to use magic here?” I asked, pointing at the dead runes.

“Nah, too expensive. The license to craft magic items was expensive enough,” she replied as she dug through a potted plant that sat beside the shop. “Where is that spare key…here!”

She produced a large brass key and held it up triumphantly. “This is the key to our future, Arthur! With it, we’ll be able to equip ourselves with some fancy gear and then we’re off to get that castle!”

I was still unsure of whether she were joking or not, so I merely nodded at her ambition. My thoughts were more about seeing the Magister here, then finding an Eidolsmith and then getting some much needed advice from Grandpa Lendrick.

“Odd. Key won’t…door seems to be jammed,” Emelia mumbled.

The door was giving up a fight and the runesmith seemed stuck trying to get it open. I noticed out of the corner of my eye that there was a notice—several in fact—stuck to the window of the store.

“This building and its property has been reclaimed by the Imperial Magistrate until such time as the owner pays their required taxes,” I read out loud.

“I’ll show you reclaimed!” Emelia hissed, kicking the door as hard as she could. The sound was rather loud and we were not in a lonely part of the city. We were in the merchant square and some people were starting to look our way.

“Hey there!” I said, grabbing her by the shoulder and yanking her back. “Let’s not get arrested twenty minutes into entering our homeland.”

“Taxes? I was imprisoned! And they want their damn taxes? This is theft!”

“I’m sure the Magistrate will understand if you tell them your predicament,” I said. “And besides,” I turned and put my face to the glass, trying to peer inside. “I don’t think any of your items are in there.”

“Oh, damn it all, there was at least ten gold worth of runesmithing in there,” she moaned. “And I paid two gold’s worth of material to make it all.”

“Hey, don’t sweat it,” I said. “I’ve got some good news. My business is with the Magister of the city himself. I’ll see if I can’t get your debt paid off or some kind of deal worked out. I mean unless you have the money.”

“Didn’t you notice how naked I was inside that temple?” Emelia growled. She paused. “And for how long did you notice that?”

“Er, I was a gentleman,” I said.

“Damn well better be,” the runesmith grumbled, crossing her arms.

It was fascinating to see that this woman was able to escape a life-threatening, soul-stealing ziggurat without being fazed, but run into an administrative issue and she was suddenly falling apart. Well, that’s the government for you.

Chapter 18

Bureaucracy was perhaps one of mankind’s greatest sins, and Emelia and I suffered greatly for it. Getting a meeting with the Magister himself was nigh impossible, I found out, after being referred to six different supervisors who all had the exact same thing to say.

“He’s a busy man and he can’t afford to meet with everyone who comes in saying they have some urgent news,” they would say, tutting a little as they turned their noses up at me. “I’m sure there’s someone below him who would be happy to listen.”

The trouble was that I trusted no one here other than the Magister himself. He was the highest authority in this land and it was his judgment that would be needed to determine what to do about this Heartgem and the necromancer college. If word got passed to him secondhand, who knows what details would be left out?

I managed to get a lucky break on the fourth day of visiting the Imperial Courthouse when a court wizard spotted my deck.

“Excuse me, young man,” the old, bearded fellow asked. “But are you a Convoker by any chance? Or are those cards just for show?”

I laughed. “Indeed I am, good sir.”

“Ah, then perhaps you can settle a debate between me and a friend. He says that Convokers gain their power by tapping into the Ethereal Stream and then force it to separate into esoteric power. I am of the opinion that Convokation draws power from the land itself, making it more natural than anything else.”

I nodded along at his words, having no clue what the first idea meant. “Er, well…Espers,” I said weakly. “You know, they come along and we tame them or they offer their aid.”

“Yes, yes, I’m aware of what the spells are, I’m asking about what the magic does in the background,” he said.

“Well, if I told you,” I said with a curt laugh, “then you’d be both a wizard and a Convoker. Doesn’t seem very fair to me, does it?”

The old man didn’t seem amused by this. “Young man, it would appear you have no idea how your magic works.”

“I point a card and then magical stuff happens?” I said, gritting my teeth.

This was not well received by the man and he tapped his wooden staff against the ground, then pointed it straight at my face. “Your generation is so damn lazy! When I was your age, I had to learn the 87 alchemical elements, and I’m not even an alchemist! What are they teaching you in school these days?”

“I’m actually a free agent,” I said. “I inherited this deck from my grandfather.”

For a moment, I thought the wizard was going to whack me, but he deflated after hearing that. “Ah, I see. So you’re just figuring this all out as you go along.”

“Yes! Yes I am, sir.”

“Then perhaps I was too hasty in chiding you. It’s just…well, there is this Convoker within the court who has been getting my goat lately and I was hoping to maybe learn how to take him down from you.”

My heart skipped seven beats. “You want to kill him?” I hissed.

The old man laughed. “No, I wish to duel him. Dueling is how you get noticed in these courts. The Magister loves to watch spellcasters blast one another. Do a good job and you get a seat at the dinner table.”

“Is that so?”

“Who doesn’t like some good sport?” the wizard continued. “Anyway, this one fellow has managed to beat me every time I’ve gone up against him and now Magister Cronen is beginning to wonder if I belong in this court at all, since I’ve had four consecutive losses.”

I could smell the opportunity here. If dueling was a good way to get the Magister’s attention, then perhaps I had a way in the court after all.

“I can’t teach you much, I’m afraid,” I said. “But what if you picked me as your proxy? To duel on your behalf?”

“I don’t see how that would help me out, seeing how I’ll still need to fight him at some point to keep my position.”

“Well, for starters, you’ll get a third person view of how the fights go. And I can give you notes on what I’ve learned about his summoning style after I’ve had a serious fight with him. And, best of all, it’ll be a humiliation if I beat him. You don’t really need to prove you’re the best wizard, you just need Cronen to think the opponent is a bad Convoker compared to another one.”

“I feel somewhat foolish sending in a novice who doesn’t know his trade very well,” the wizard said. “What’s in it for you?”

“I need to get in good with the Magister, to deliver him some news. I’m being blocked out by the bureaucracy, as no one seems to care that I have something serious to give to the man. They all treat my requests as minor annoyances.”

“Yes, the system is designed to weed out most everyone—well, everyone who isn’t wearing noble finery,” the wizard said, reaching forward to tug on my tunic. “You’re in court, lad. Dress up.”

“Right,” I said. Memories of the prices of even the most modest court appropriate clothing rushed to my mind, causing me to shiver. “Look, we both need something. I’m not saying it’s the best idea, but I’m an adventurer. I’m tested. Can you say the same about this guy?”

It took a long time to whittle the old man down into agreeing, but eventually I exhausted him and he said yes. The duel was scheduled for that night and I eagerly prepared by arranging my deck and then sat around meditating on the Maiden of Moss, seeking her wisdom in this matter.

Pride grows in you, she uttered. The proud man is crushed by his success, while the humble man is elevated by it. The one you will face has such pride. Let his devastation be a lesson to you.

Mossvines have upgraded into Whipping Vines!

Whipping Vines

Rarity: Rare

Description: Summons eight vines of moss that function independently of one another. Two vines require no concentration to maintain and may last as long as you please.

I soaked in the new knowledge, but did not cheer or leap in excitement. The Maiden gave me this power to teach me something. Her lessons were subtle and quiet, but there was purpose in the powers she handed to me.

Eventually someone came to retrieve me, a court servant who was as interested in this fight as he was interested in the back of his hand. He scuttled in, shouted a few things at me and escorted me to the Imperial Courtyard.

The center of the courtyard was an arena of sorts, with checkered tiles made of marble denoting the battle area. Four columns surrounded the tiles and I could see small pulsing waves of magic creating barriers that formed a mystic wall around the arena. No doubt a way to prevent spells from causing collateral damage.

A lone man sat atop a throne, sitting upright and leaning forward, eager to watch the game that was about to unfold. That must be Magister Cronen Alnine. He was older than I imagined, with a grey beard and a deeply wrinkled face.

I was led to one corner of the arena, where the wizard, Mecius, was waiting for me. “Aha!” Mecius said, patting me on the shoulder. “I’m pleased to see you didn’t panic and flee!”

“I wouldn’t leave you hanging,” I said.

Across the way, a middle-aged man with a dragon tattoo on his forehead strolled to his corner. He was gaunt and pale, with a gleaming yellow eye that looked to be draconic in nature. His right arm was severely burned and he wore a deck that wrapped around his entire waist. Damn, I didn’t know they sold decks like that.

“There he is. Ferrus. Be wary of him,” Mecius whispered. “He packs a real punch right out of the gate. His goal is always to smash you down with shock tactics, overwhelming you before you can snap a spell off.”

I nodded. A referee entered the middle of the arena and waved us both on. We entered the tile and at once, I felt a smooth sense of energy wrap around my body. It was cool and refreshing, like taking a cold bath on a hot day.

“This is a gentlemen’s fight between Convokers,” the ref said. “You are both encased in a mystic shield. When your shield is shattered, the fight is over—you have lost. There are no limitations nor rules on what may be done within this arena. Are you both prepared?”

“I am,” I said, bowing towards Ferrus.

“As am I,” the man said, his voice harsh and deep. He bowed back towards me.

The ref held up a red flag. “Then begin!” He threw the flag on the ground and no sooner than it had been thrown, my opponent pulled a card out and cast a spell right towards me.

A flaming ball came hurtling towards me, but the Fire Spirit leapt out and easily caught the ball, soaking up the intense heat. Man, bonding with that thing had really turned out to be one of the best things I could do.

I called the spirit back, rather than expending the concentration to go on the offensive. My goal was to tire him out a little, since Ferrus was someone who attacked with all his might at the beginning.

My opponent pulled another card and released its power. This time an Esper emerged, it was a long, snakelike dragon with two wings and two hind legs that were clawed and vicious-looking. It flew up into the air, high above me and circled, waiting for an opportunity.

“Oh, don’t mind him,” Ferrus said with a laugh. “He’s just here to watch.”

More fireballs came at me, but I opted to physically dodge them instead. I instructed the Fire Spirit to only emerge if I was going to take a direct hit.

“Stop running, it’s embarrassing,” Ferrus said as he continued to hurl blast after blast at me, raising cards that just unleashed hell on me. But for all of his fire bursts and spheres of flame, the man couldn’t touch me. Why? Because he was used to fighting stationary targets trying to cast spells. Accuracy is a whole different game than speed.

I grabbed hold of my first card and readied it. The Twin Statues manifested directly in front of him, their grey forms rising up from the ground. Their weapons came down after a single beat, slashing and bludgeoning him within seconds.

There was a satisfying kerpop as the man’s shield took a hard hit, the energy sparking as I ran in a circle, getting behind him.

Ferrus panicked and pulled a spell out, teleporting on the other side of the arena, where I had started. My statues turned around and began to lumber towards him and I willed them to march directly next to each other, allowing me to use them as shields while I regained my breath.

Above, the wyrm came crashing down, trying to sneak attack me, but I was quick enough to activate the Sword of Vengeance and stab straight up. The creature came down hard, legs stretched to grab me, but the blade struck in the belly, cutting it open. Mystic energy poured from the creature as it landed atop me.

My own shield crackled and burned as I fought with the now panicking creature, its wings flapping as it tried to get up. My statues continued to advance, leaving me to fight this thing off on my own.

“Graaah!” I cried out, slashing upwards more with the sword, more or less carving the beast open. It vanished in a purple light as I cut it to pieces.

My opponent, likewise, was having trouble fending off my own summons, throwing fire bursts at them, only to realize they were made of stone and had no fear of fire. Once again, he teleported back to where he came from.

Now we were facing each other, my statues turning around to return to my side. Ferrus was stumbling from his teleportation; he had been in motion at the time of vanishing, so now he was having trouble getting his bearings. I used this opportunity to throw my own Fireball at him, watching as the steep irony flew into him, throwing him hard against the wall.

Both the wall and his shield buzzed loudly as he bounced off of it and onto the ground. He rolled and got up, though still, unable to control his momentum. “Come on!” he huffed, yelling more at himself than me. Was I winning this one?

No, no, I didn’t want to think like that. This was a serious competition, the winner was to be declared; until then, I was fighting tooth and nail.

Now was the time for Mossvines. I grabbed the card and threw it on the ground, summoning the eight whipping vines that immediately seized Ferrus, slamming him into the floor repeatedly, cracking both the tile and the man’s shield.

A card flew out from the whipping madness of the vines and a creature emerged in midair. It was a wicked howling spirit, with long bladed hands and a lower body made like a scorpion. It had wings and once again, flew up above me, circling as it threatened to strike at any moment.

My statues started to make their way to the moss but my concentration waved. Keeping two spells up at the same time was exhausting and I began to groan, trying to keep the energy going just a little longer.

The statues vanished, though the energy gently went back to their eidolon. I had been unable to hold the power, but I was able to at least release them before they were forced to return. It would be a few minutes before I could use them again.

The scorpion-beast saw this as an opportunity and came diving towards me, but two of my vines stretched out, seizing its wings and smashing it into the ground. The eight vines were having a profound effect on the fight, thrashing both beast and man with incredible speed.

Ferrus’ concentration broke and the beast shattered into a thousand pieces, the energy smashing itself back into his deck. He was lifted high above the ground once more by the vines and then driven deep into the earth, head first.

The shield around him crackled and fizzed, but still it held. Unfortunately that was the last of the energy I could maintain for this spell and I was forced to dismiss it. Only two of the vines remained, both of them wrapped around his ankle.

In an instant, Ferrus was on the other side of the arena, teleporting with ease. But this had come at a cost, for he was panting for breath, gasping and huffing as he knelt on the ground, trying to gather energy.

I, too, was panting for air, my focus shot from having to expend so much power in such a short amount of time. My recovery was stunted, but Ferrus was able to get to his feet and aimed a fireball towards me once more. I tried to dodge but my legs weren’t able to propel me forward fast enough.

One of my vines, however, grabbed me by the torso and lifted me up, yanking me away from the trajectory of the flaming ball. I was lifted high up by both vines, and with some focus, I found I was able to move through the air almost as if I could fly.

Ferrus tried throwing more fire at me, but I dodged easily, left to right, up and down, bouncing around the entire arena without a worry in the world. These vines maintained themselves, so I was able to regather my energy.

The twin statues rose up from behind Ferrus and that was the end of that. He had spent so much of his energy on the offensive that he didn’t even notice that behind him were two heavy hitters. He was crushed beneath the warhammer and finally the shield broke.

“The duel is over!” the ref shouted. “Return all summons immediately. Arthur Moss wins.”

Chapter 19

Ferrus limped up to me, his entire body shaking. The poor man looked fried. “That was one hell of a fight,” he admitted. “You’ve got some wild cards. Those vines! I half thought I’d break right there.”

I was surprised by the man’s friendliness. I thought he’d be upset but the man took the loss with humility. I wonder why.

“Thanks, you did well too. Those fireballs were unending,” I said.

“I’ll trade them to you for the vines,” Ferrus replied. “I’ve got four fire cards, two of them rare.”

“I’m afraid that’s not for trade,” I said. We could trade cards? That was interesting. “But I do have a Sword of Vengeance I wouldn’t mind parting with.”

“Screw the sword,” Ferrus said. “How about those twin giants? I’ve never seen a card like that before.”

“Afraid not,” I said, repeating myself. Ferrus was a little aggressive here and he made no efforts to conceal his growing agitation at me.

“Come on now, we dueled, you won, you can at least be a good sport by trading with me. Frankly, with the cards you used, it’s clear that you only won because of them!” he growled.

Aha! So there was the man’s pride coming out. He was only being civil and polite when he thought he’d be able to get what he wanted. “Buzz off,” I said, waving him away. “If you’re going to insult me like that, then I have no interest in dealing with you.”

The man put a hand on my shoulder and squeezed it tightly, preventing me from walking off. “Don’t you dare try to walk away from me. I am your superior in these courts!”

“Not for long you are,” my wizard ally, Mecius, said as he approached. He thumped the man in the chest with his staff, pushing him off of me. “No one likes a sore loser, Ferrus. And no one likes you. So I would say those are two reasons for you to leave before I’m forced to ask the Magister what he thinks about your unsportsmanlike conduct.”

“You must have rigged the game somehow,” Ferrus grumbled as he released me. “I’ll figure it out.”

“Just take the loss and move on,” I called after him as the Convoker turned and walked away. He responded by sharing a rather rude gesture involving his middle finger.

Mecius gave me a congratulatory slap on the back. “Congratulations, not only did you win, you embarrassed him as well. That’ll take the bastard down a peg.”

“Right,” I said, ready to be done with these petty affairs. “So, can I speak with the Magister now?”

“Indeed, indeed,” the wizard replied, pointing towards the man sitting atop the throne. There were eighteen steps leading up to him. “Go up about halfway. Address him properly as Magister, avoid speaking casually and no matter what, do not express any kind of strong emotions. The man’s not much for outbursts.”

I thanked the wizard and made my way to the throne, looking up to see the Magister staring down at me. The man’s face was hard and unconcerned; he had the kind of face that I always imagined the Emperor to have—forever scowling.

I carefully walked up each step, doing my best to count out how many steps I was taking to avoid getting too close. I stopped at the ten step mark.

“Sir Magister!” I said, bowing to the man. “I am Arthur Moss and I have come to deliver you the most sensitive of news.”

“Your conduct was admirable in that fight,” the Magister said, his voice deep and gravely. He sounded somewhat like my father and I guess that put me in the right mood to behave. My dad was always made of sterner stuff. “As was it after the fight. Ferrus thinks he’s a genius, but in reality he’s the only Convoker we have left. The army snapped up the rest of them.”

I raised an eyebrow. A draft for Convokers? Uh-oh. I better not be one of those numbers. Oh gods, what if this was some kind of recruitment effort? A test to determine if I was any good on the battlefield?

Magister Cronen laughed at my face. “Relax, young man, that draft was a long time ago, in a time when we thought the war would be a quick affair. Now that it’s become a boondoggle, I refuse to let anyone take my citizens or my court. Military be damned.”

“Oh, that’s a relief sir, I don’t think I’d be of much use in the army,” I said with a sigh.

“You’d be surprised. The speed and adaptability of a Convoker puts them ahead of any other caster class out there,” he explained. “Wizards need to cast their spells, which take time and can be countered. Summoners just bring more boots on the ground, which is valuable but doesn’t bring utility. Witches never bother to show up and if you try to force them to, well, you grow warts in every spot you don’t want.”

I nodded at that, unsure of where this man was going. “Anyway, what news do you bear? A Convoker dressed like a tradesman doesn’t really command authority and I doubt you’re a spy,” he said. “So please, tell me why you saw fit to kick the ass and the ego of my sole Convoker in order to gain my ear.”

I shared the entire story with him, filling him in about the necromancers, the secret school and the Heartgem itself. He listened to this entire story without making so much as a single facial expression, taking in the information without betraying how he felt about it.

Once I was done telling him the story, he spoke. “That is quite the tale, young man. But supposing it were true, I want to thank you on behalf of the Emperor himself. For you took it upon yourself to cleanse the land of the scourge necromancers and even gained some intelligence that would be useful to our mages. On top of that, you saw fit to bring the information about the Heartgem, sacrificing your own claim to something so powerful. With the mining operation running, you could have tried your hand at seizing it. Who knows? Maybe you would have found it.

“Either way, this report is a serious affair and must be checked out at once. I will send an Imperial scout team to handle it. Should they confirm your findings, we will amply reward you for your service. And if we find nothing, well you’ll be imprisoned for life for wasting my time.”

My eyes went wide at that. “Sir, I assure you, you’ll find the mine.”

“Then you have nothing to worry about,” he said.

I nodded nervously, taking in a sharp breath. Here I was talking to the most powerful man in Cathode and he was toying with me. I had to stay calm.

“Sir, there’s one last matter I’d like to address,” I said, looking down at the ground.

“Of course, you have my ear, adventurer,” the Magister said. He leaned back in his throne and adopted a more casual look.

My heart soared once more at the word adventurer. A high level government official called me the title! That meant it was now official, right? My grandfather was going to lose his mind when he heard this news.

“Well sir, in my return trip here, I stumbled across a citizen of Upper Cathode who had been kidnapped. I freed her and escorted her back home, to her shop, only for her to discover that due to taxes, the entire store had been repossessed. She was unable to pay her tax bill due to being imprisoned and now she has no money to buy it back…would it be possible for you to absolve her debt and return the shop to her?”

The Magistrate slowly pondered that. “You get the ear of the most powerful man in Cathode and you ask for tax forgiveness?” he said with a laugh. “Truly, this new generation is wonderful. Very well, as a measure of good faith due to your loyal service and thoroughly entertaining me this afternoon, I consider the debt paid. The shop will be returned to her as soon as possible. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ve a lunch to attend to.”

Chapter 20

“Cheers!” Emelia shouted as she raised another bottle of wine, pouring it straight into my cup. My head was already spinning from the first three glasses, but hey, we were celebrating the opening of the runesmithee once more. She was back to her trade and I was well on my way to getting some enchanted items. What wasn’t to celebrate?

“I have to say, this is some exciting news,” Emelia said as she walked around the shop, dusting the shelves, the tables and the artifacts. Everything had been put back exactly where it had been, showing off the state’s administrative ability to give and take with an equal hand. “You’re going to be rewarded for discovering a vulnerable secret, I got my shop back and best of all, the taxes I owed before being kidnapped are also gone! You sir, are the best thing that has ever happened to me.”

I was leaning against the wall, trying to stay upright as I downed the cup of whatever crude wine she had found. The bottle had no label and there was a hard burning sensation after drinking the stuff, leading me to wonder if this were actually wine. But that didn’t matter, the spinning sensation in my head was what I was enjoying, not the taste.

“My grandfather…” I said. “My grandfather was the best thing to happen to s’mee. To smee. To me. He…he gave me the cards. Told me to go and see the world.”

“Damn straight he did,” Emelia replied, collapsing on the floor. I slid down against the wall as well, finishing off the last few drops in my cup. “You gotta go thank him.”

“He lives in Lower Cathode,” I replied. “I can’t leave Upper until the magister man tells me I can.”

“Yeah cause if you’re a liar then pow!” Emelia made a slashing motion across her neck. “You’re dead! I’ll watch you hang!”

“I’m not lying,” I said, giggling. “At least I hope not!”

We both laughed as Emelia crawled up to me to refill our drinks. I wasn’t much of a drinker before this but…well, seeing a ton of violence and danger up front had a way of making booze a bit more appealing than perhaps it should be.

“No, no, none for me,” I said, putting my hand over my cup. “Don’t get me drunker. More drunken.”

“Fine, I’ll finish it,” she said. “Trapped for two years in a damned cell. Naked too! Why did they take my clothes off? It doesn’t make no sense.”

Emelia chugged the rest of the metal bottle and threw it at the wall. It clattered harmlessly onto the ground, rolling towards the entrance, right as the door swung open.

“Oh sorry, we’re closed,” Emelia said, hopping up to her feet. She stumbled a little but managed to find her footing long enough to stay upright.

A man wearing the most frilly hat I had ever seen entered the room and raised a scroll. “Is the man Arthur Moss here?” he asked.

“Yo,” I said, waving a hand up. “I’m here, officer.”

He walked over to me and handed the scroll over. “Good day, sir. Ma’am.”

“Thanks, runner man!” Emelia said. As soon as the door closed she laughed. “What a stupid hat.”

“I know, right?” I said, as I glanced at the seal around the scroll. It was the Imperial Administrative Office’s seal, the Octopus reaching out around the entire globe. The sight of such a thing was enough to sober me up.

Emelia plopped down beside me and laid on the ground, closing her eyes. “What’s it say?”

I cut the seal and opened it up.

To the Attention of Arthur Moss,

In regards to the matter of reporting the location and nature of an illegal mining operation to find Imperial Contraband, we have found significant evidence confirming your story. The Imperial Court wishes to acknowledge the vital work you have done in support of your Emperor and your Country. Enclosed you will find a medallion for a level one adventuring license. Carrying such a medallion allows you to enter into contracts with any local Imperial establishment. In addition, your medallion entitles you to utilize a Waystation Horse without needing to pay. We wish to thank you for your assistance in this matter.

The medallion was of the same image, the octopus encircling over the globe. The craftsmanship on the bronze medal was amazing. There was another note within the seal, on a separate section of the scroll.

Arthur, our scouts have confirmed what you said and I am pleased with your work. Consider the matter to have been resolved, as we will be turning the mine into an outpost for the Imperial Guard. Your mention of the lack of protection of the local villages rang true and so I will be taking it upon myself to ensure the area is free from bandits and ne’er do wells. I thank you for the work you have done and look forward to hearing about your exploits, now that you are licensed to take on government contracts. Good luck, young man. And remember, The Empire Reigns Victorious.

-Magister Cronen Alnine

“So, good or bad news?” Emelia asked.

“Good news!” I said. “Really good, in fact.” I showed her the medallion, my hand swaying back and forth. She opened one eye and looked at it.

“A big squid?”

“The imperial seal,” I said. “The octopus. It’s a medallion that grants me status as an adventurer in the courts. Now I can go and get work from the government. Quests and such.”

“That sounds like fun,” Emelia said. She sighed heavily and closed her eyes again. “I didn’t want to always run a shop, you know. I wanted to…I wanted to adventure but without the fighting. I liked the idea of archeology, delving into ancient civilizations, finding artifacts and selling them for a fortune back home…but alas, my first foray out there and I end up trapped.”

“It’s unfortunate,” I said. A gurgling within my stomach was also unfortunate as I realized that there were many hard and fast consequences to drinking so much in so short a time. My concentration skills should be good enough to keep it down, right? “But maybe you don’t have to quit.”

“I almost lost my life and then livelihood. That’s a sign that I better quit,” she replied.

“Bah, who listens to signs?” I said. “You survived. So that means you just gotta do better the next time.”

“There is no next time. This shop is my tomb now. I can’t risk losing it again.”

“Listen to you, being all down,” I said. “Look, Emelia. You can just hire someone to run the shop while you’re gone. Find someone who needs the work and will do right by you, like a tradesman of some kind, and then you’re free to do as you like.”

“I did hire someone! And they bailed after I didn’t return for two years,” Emelia said. “And I can understand why.”

“You have no family?” I asked.

“None I can trust. They’re drunk as bad as me, but unlike me, they never sober the hell up. They’d drink this shop away in a week.”

I fell silent at that. Not everyone had family they could trust. That was unfortunate. What was even more unfortunate was my stomach’s sickness. “Excuse me,” I said. “I’ll be back in a few, erm, hours…”

Chapter 21

The hangover made my search worse. It was bad enough that Upper Cathode was gigantic and always busy regardless of the time of day, but my spinning head made looking at each brightly lit sign and shop burn my retinas.

Never again. I would never drink that much again—if I had business the next day, that is. In truth, cutting loose with Emelia had been quite enjoyable. I felt bad for the woman, because she had lost so much in two years and now she had to rebuild all alone. Part of me wanted to see if perhaps I could solve her manager problem, so she could come adventure with me. The other part was worried she might see that as charity. Something told me that she wouldn’t respond well to being given a handout.

Still, she would make a valuable team member. If I collected that ex-bandit, Rupert, I could hire her as well and have a perfectly well rounded team. A fighter to guard after us and an archeologist to translate runes and disable traps…we could have quite the adventures out there.

The idea ran through my head as I continued to search for an eidolsmith. I knew there was one in the city, I just couldn’t find him. My stomach was tense, not from the drinking but from the meeting of someone so important. An eidolsmith was the link to growing in power, as he knew the secret to making new cards. Cards I’d need if I were going to go back into that ziggurat.

Shop after shop passed my vision until finally, up in the corner of the Mermaid District, I found exactly what I was looking for. A large dark purple storefront. A sign hung above reading “The Convoker’s Corner Store.”

Adrenaline spiked through my heart at the sight of the store sign. A store just for Convokers? How much money did I have? Twelve silver. Would that be enough? Let’s hope so.

I approached the door and twisted the handle, which turned easily enough. But when I tried to push the door open, something jammed it. The lights were on inside the store, though the displays cut off from seeing inside the actual store itself.

“Hello?” I asked as the door opened a half crack from my shoving. Was there something blocking the entrance? I didn’t see a closed sign anywhere.

An eye glanced out of the crack, staring at me. “Get outta here, kid, you don’t want to be here,” a gruff voice said. I could hear some tense words in the background, followed by a cracking sound.

The door slammed shut, pushing me back. That wasn’t good. I put my ear to the door, but only heard the sounds of scuffling and a voice shouting something. Whatever was happening in there didn’t sound particularly good.

Glancing around, I noticed that this store seemed to be in a pocket of town that was deserted. No one was nearby. With a shrug, I tossed out the Twin Statues and instructed them to open the door for me.

The two hulking forces reached a hand out and shoved the door forward, knocking the man on the other side clean onto the ground. The door swung open, revealing four huge men surrounding a charcoal-skinned man whose head was being held down on the counter. The man’s mouth was busted and he was bleeding pretty badly.

“What in the hell?” one of the goons shouted as he turned to see my statues. I slipped between the pair and emerged dramatically, card in hand.

“I don’t know who you guys are, but I’m here on business,” I said. “Beat it.”

“Har har,” the man I had knocked down said as he stood up. “Don’t try to be a hero, kid. It ain’t worth it.”

“I’m not here to be a hero, I have important business with the eidolsmith. So if you men are here to rough him up, I suggest you come back at a later date,” I said, crossing my arms. It was hard not to feel confident with the two hulking statues standing behind me. They would easily decimate these guys.

Everyone glanced at one another. The big goons all looked towards their leader, who was still on the floor. He rolled his eyes and shook his head no. A few of them helped the big man up and one by one, they left the shop, leaving the poor smith alone.

Once they were gone, I was quick to help the man find a seat. His eyes, jaw and teeth were busted up quite a bit and he seemed to be out of it. No doubt he was smacked silly. “You okay, man?” I asked, applying a cloth to the bleeding part of his mouth. There wasn’t much I could do in the way of medical work.

“Don’t waste your time,” a voice in the back said. I glanced up to see an exact copy of the man before me, sans the injuries.

“What the—”

“Doppelganger spell,” the man said with a laugh. “These goons try to shake me down and all they do is smack around a ragdoll for twenty minutes and congratulate themselves on it. I just hang out in the back and do my puzzles.”

The eidolsmith was full of mirth and the warmth of his laughter quickly spread over me. The doppelganger vanished, leaving us alone in a shop full of wonders and curiosities.

“Welcome to the Convoker’s Corner, I’m Ian,” he said, walking up to shake my hand.

“Arthur Moss,” I replied.

“Moss…from the Maiden of Moss lineage, but only the one name meaning you come from a family with Maiden of Moss herself!” Ian said, his voice rather impressed. “And you’re a youngster. So I’m guessing lineage quest?”

“How do you know all this?” I asked, taking a half step back.

“I’m an eidolsmith. I do a lot of work learning card genealogies, or what we call eidolchains,” he explained. “That has told me everything about you, Arthur.”

“Woah,” I said, holding my hand up to my face in awe of his knowledge.

“Kid, I’m messing with you, I know your grandpa. He warned me about your indecisive ass coming in here without adventuring first,” Ian said with a laugh. “I’m not to sell you a damn thing until you go get into trouble on your own. But seeing how you scared those goons off, something’s telling me you’ve been around a bit.”

I took out my medallion and slammed it on the wooden counter. “Here’s your proof! I am officially entitled to getting government work!”

“Now I’ll be damned! That’s quite the proof I’d be looking for…if I had any respect for the government,” Ian said with a harsh laugh. “But those Imp bastards just don’t take my complaints seriously.”

“About those shakedown artists?” I asked.

Ian tried to look as if he didn’t care, but I could see some concern on his face. He looked away for a moment and sighed. “These fellas aren’t shaking me down. I took something of theirs a while ago, something I was just as entitled to as they were and they want me to hand it over.”

“What was it?”

Ian shrugged and made his way back behind the store counter. He disappeared in the back room for a few minutes and returned with a small metal box. There were four chains wrapped around the box and a gleaming gem atop it. I could see the mystic energy pulsing within the red ruby.

“This, my friend. One of the rarest treasures in all of eidolsmith history. A Grenix Box.”

“What’s in it?”

“That’s anyone’s guess,” he replied. “And why it’s so valuable. Grenix was an old Convoker who laid a ton of groundwork for the rest of us. He’s the one who came up with the terms we use, taught the eidolsmiths their ways and ensured the smiths were separate from the Convokers to ensure there were checks and balances in their power. He was one brilliant man.

“Anyway, he had a habit of hiding and concealing cards across the land, as tests and missions for Convokers to improve their skills and their power. He was the kind of man who’d give his kids nothing as an inheritance, just to watch them make it on their own. I suppose that’s why he died alone, but hey, who am I to judge?”

“Right,” I said. “And he hid these boxes?”

“Oh yes! He made a few dozen silver boxes known as a Grenixicion, though we just call them Grenix Boxes since he’s long dead. They contain unique cards that have no copies whatsoever. They are said to contain, not spirits, but aspects of his own power. So quite literally, to have a Grenix card is to have a piece of one of the most powerful Convokers who ever lived.”

My eyes went wide at that. “Are you for real? Or are you just pulling my leg again?”

“Cross my heart and hope the Emperor dies,” he said, uttering a rather profane oath. “It’s truth. Well, me and those goons were all part of a big expedition to go out and find such boxes and we found one! After three years of searching. By then, I was ready to go back to my shop and so, I decided to check out with my share early.”

“And your share was the whole box?”

“Absolutely, my partner was a jackass and refused to share any of the treasure we earned with me, saying that we’d split things after we found the second box. But I decided if he wanted to hold onto the treasure, then I’d at least get the box. So I stole it and came back home. Now he sends his goons to my shop every so often to try and get it back. Your arrival was fortuitous, though I suppose those goons will want to bash your head in as well.”

I shook my head at such a story. “So you ripped your partner off after three years of searching together?”

“Yup,” Ian said, patting the box. “And I have no intention of opening this damn thing either.”

“Why not?”

“It’s not for an eidolsmith. It’s for a Convoker. My job is to just get wildly rich by selling it to the right man. My partner never understood that. He never agreed with the division of power and wanted the cards to use himself. Bah, there’s no respect for tradition amongst people like him. A curse and a pox on his name.”

This was quite the tale. I didn’t know how much was true, but then again, I don’t know how much I cared. All I could see was the gleaming box before me. The silver chains glinted in the light and all I could think about was what secrets were within such a thing. No wonder these boxes were highly coveted. The mystery made them ever the more tantalizing.

“How much?” I asked. “Since you’re planning to sell it.”

“For you? One silver,” Ian said.

Fortunately I was able to resist this joke. “Har har,” I said. “No, I’m serious. Give me a firm price. I’ll return to buy it someday.”

“This box is worth a castle easily,” Ian replied.

“How about half a castle?” I said.

Ian laughed. “Sure, if you happen to get your hands on half a castle, I’ll happily trade it.”

“Is that firm?” I asked.

Ian laughed once more. It seemed he got a real kick out of my seriousness, not knowing that a castle was actually on the horizon for me. “Firm indeed!”

Chapter 22

The Convoker’s Corner Store had everything I could possibly want. There were dozens of eidolons for sale, some of them specially designed to capture more than one spirit at a time, others made so that they activated after some kind of delay and one eidolon worked in reverse, spitting the entire Esper out, freeing it instantly.

The only thing stopping me from buying all of those cards was the letter g behind each number. Gold. The cold, hard currency of the eidolsmith was gold. The cheapest thing available was a six slot deck, which cost ten silver. No wonder my grandfather had to work for three years under an eidolsmith to get one empty card.

Empty cards! Ian the Eidolsmith had hundreds of them, lining up the wall. Each one was unique, with intricate art surrounding the borders. Some had runework, others had etchings and each was colored differently from one another. The man was as much as an artisan as he was a crafter of ways mystic.

Their prices were one gold each. Each. Such prices were astronomical. For a tradesman, silver was about the best one could get. Perhaps with diligent work and a high level client, the trader could get a gold piece, but if you found some gold, in the lower classes, you held onto it no matter what. Gold was too rare otherwise. Sure the upper classes spent it like it was water, but for us schlubs at the bottom and in the middle, we could only dream of getting such a resource.

But Ian wasn’t without some mercy. As a reward for ‘scaring off’ the thugs who had been wasting their time beating up a spell, he gave me two eidolons and a strange piece of licorice.

“This licorice,” he said, “is made from the concenifer willow. Biting it down immediately restores your focus and concentration. The only trouble is it tastes terrible, so try not to puke while chewing.”

With those items (I decided not to spend all my money on the improved belt) in my possession, I thanked the man for his time, wished him well in his struggle against those goons and made my way back to Emelia’s shop.

The woman had sobered up marvelously, showing no signs of a hangover or any regret at chugging such foul wine last night. Rather, she was alight with activity, hanging banners and putting down price tags by her runecrafted weapons and armor.

“Ah, there’s my knight in absolutely no armor!” Emelia said as I entered. She tossed a pair of gloves at me. “Here, those are on me.”

The gloves glowed with a faint energy. They were thin, brown and leathery. Slipping them on immediately caused them to shrink into my hands, becoming like a second skin. It was as if I had nothing on my hands at all.

“Those are my popular climbing gloves. You know how spiders go up walls? Well, your hands can cling onto walls like a spider. Though climbing is a bit difficult to do since you gotta be strong enough to haul your upper body up with one hand at a time. Most can’t.”

“Still, they’ll be useful for holding onto things,” I said.

“Exactly! Lots of utility. Now, I’ve been holding off because I wanted everything to be ready and I think it is. My dear friend, Arthur, please, look around and pick anything you want, regardless of price. This is your official reward for saving me.”

I wanted to say ‘oh, no rewards needed’ but my eyes immediately latched onto the vast sea of treasures before me. There were many items, but I settled on a sword, because I was constantly using the Sword of Vengeance for my own personal use, which was a waste of good concentration. I should be equipping my Espers with the sword, not myself.

I quickly looked at the weapons available.

- Blade of Burning: This sword has runes of fire and protection from fire engraved upon it. Wielding this weapon renders you immune to all fire damage and turns your melee attacks into burning attacks. Striking a target with this sword has a chance of setting them on fire.

- Truestrike Sword: Enchanted with runes that lighten the blade significantly, the Truestrike Sword always hits the target, no matter the skill of the wielder. The blade not only strikes true, but with proper technique in order to deal the maximum amount of damage possible.

- Sword of Destruction: This sword disintegrates non-organic targets with a single hit, though this causes the runes on the sword to burst. After five runes burst, the sword is no longer usable.

- The Eversinging Blade: This blade, when swung, sends out high-pitched frequencies that confuse and confound the people hearing the weapon. The singing disorients any opponent within ten feet and those within five feet become confused and cannot act rationally. The sword must be swung without relent in order for this effect to continue.

“So many delicious options,” I said as I surveyed the swords on the table. Emelia, on the other side, hovered a hand over each sword as I looked at them.

“You sure you don’t want armor? You’re kinda squishy,” she said.

“My Espers are my armor,” I replied. After a moment of thinking, I pointed down at the Truestrike Sword. “That one.”

“Are you sure? There’s no takebacks,” Emelia replied.

“Yes, I’m positive.”

“Damn it! That was the most expensive thing I have in here,” she swore.

“More expensive than your freedom?” I asked as I grabbed the blade and held it up high. The weapon was beautiful with a blue hilt and an emerald jewel pommel. I swung it in midair and it moved so easily that I barely felt the exertion.

“I bet you freed me to get this sword,” Emelia grumbled. “All part of some long, intricate con.”

“You’re onto me,” I said back with a laugh. “Sorry, but a weapon like this is too good to pass up. I’m not much of a fighter, so when someone gets up close, I’ll need a way to defend myself without burning up all my concentration.”

Emelia nodded at that and tossed me the sheath. “Don’t forget this. And don’t take your weapons out when you’re in town, it’s considered crass.”

“Got it.”

There was silence for a moment and we both looked away from one another. A beat passed before she spoke. “Sooooo…are you off on your new adventure? Or maybe you wanted to visit your grandfather?”

“I decided not to visit Grandpa Lendrick,” I said. “I’d rather him hear about me being in town for reasons other than running to him for advice. I think it would impress him.”

“Oh, great…so I guess you’re heading out then?”

“I guess I am…but…” I trailed off. “Look, yeah this store is your livelihood, but what’s stopping you from coming with me? Just hire someone better and don’t get trapped for a countless amount of years. It’s that easy.”

“And do what? Come with you to stand around while you use vast magics to solve your problems?”

“You have magic of your own,” I said. “The runes. Build a new kit, armor up with some of your own crafts here and come adventure with me. We can head straight to the Imperial Court to find work. I’m sure there’s some kind of dungeon out there that needs taming.”

“You’re nuts, Arthur,” Emelia said, shaking her head. Still, I could see the half-smile on her face, the gleam in her eye at the idea of being free.

“Maybe, but at least I’ll be out doing what I love,” I said. “Tell you what. I’ve got to go collect my ally in the mines. It’ll take me at least two weeks to come back. Then we can talk about how you feel about being cooped up in this shop all the time.”

Emelia nodded. “Yes! That’s perfect. It gives me enough time to make some money too. I’m sure my wanderlust will fade as soon as I have some coin to fuel my regular lusts.”

“Ew,” I said. “Well, I suppose this is goodbye for a bit.”

“Indeed,” she replied, throwing her arms around me. “Thank you, Arthur. You’re a good man and I sincerely hope you’re going to be able to kick that ancient demon’s ass.”

“Oh right,” I muttered. “I had almost forgotten about that.”

Chapter 23

The Imperial attendant was pleased to open the door for me, upon seeing my medallion. “Oh, an adventurer?” she asked. “We don’t get too many of those these days. Or at least, not many come back. Come on in, the job board’s at the back. Just go up, grab a ticket if you like one and head out. There’s a common room for an armory and make sure you take a loaf of bread for the trip.”

The Military Wing was different from the other part of the Courtyard. While the court was full of attendants, nobles, argumentative representatives and harried servants, this place was a place of tranquility, with a reflecting pool in the center of the wide, open space. In the back was the job board, a large metal board with dozens of assignments hanging from them.

The goal was to find something along my way back east, something suggesting the activity of an Esper on the loose. I had two empty cards right now and that meant I had the opportunity for two new Espers of great power.

I had considered going back to the ziggurat to use the empty card to ‘capture’ the Toad King, but I was unsure of what state the spirit would be in. Plus, what if there was no way to release him? I didn’t want to free him from one prison only to trap him in another.

My eyes swept the board, looking for work in the eastern zones.

“Gotcha!” I said, eyes falling across one job in particular.

Needed:

A spellcaster who is able to perform binding magics upon a most foul sorcerer’s creation. The village of Horath has recently come under siege from a nightspirit that steals the dreams of children, provokes nightmares in the daytime and turns the cow’s milk sour. An exorcism or banishment of the spirit must be done. The bounty pays 50 silver to permanently remove the nightspirit with an additional 25 for bringing in the head of the one who created such a thing.

I almost choked at the pay. “Seventy-five silver?” I gasped.

“I know, right?” a man on the other side of the board said. “They’re getting cheaper and cheaper these days.”

75 silver was…was what my father would make in a year, before expenses. Adventuring paid off! Well, I suppose it paid off if I came back alive. My father was certainly in no danger making and repairing shoes. While I, on the other hand, would be locked in combat with something called a nightspirit.

But if it were a spirit, it would be an Esper, right? So I could just suck it up into my eidolon and be done with the job. At least, so I hope.

Below the job advertisement was a series of tickets with numbers on them. They were made to be torn off, allowing me to take ownership of the quest. Though since there were multiple tickets, anyone could take the job. One ticket was already missing, so I best hurry it up.

Ripping out the ticket, I stuffed it into my pocket and rushed to find my horse. Wait! I skidded to a halt as I realized, I almost forgot the most important thing. The free bread! Of course, with seventy-five silver in my pocket, all bread might as well be free. There was no reason to worry about the Eidolsmith’s prices now. I just had to do a few quests and the money would flow like milk and honey.

Persnickety was available, which pleased me, and my permanent pass allowed me to check him out without worrying about paying for him. He was happy to see me and playfully neighed at me as I mounted him and kicked off. “Hya!” I cried, prompting the horse to run towards the east. We were going on another adventure and this one was going to be extremely lucrative!

We rode across the familiar path leading to Horath, encountering no obstacles along the way. It was unfortunate that the poor town that had once been beleaguered by bandits was now living under the terrifying presence of some terrible nightspirit. Hopefully I’d be able to liberate the town, capture the creature and figure out who was summoning it.

Thoughts about the witch cropped up in my head as I rode. She was kind to me, yes, and was helpful towards the villagers, but…communing with spirits was one of their special abilities. I wonder what she’d have to say about such a thing going on.

The days passed as I rode, stopping to camp each night, no longer worried about being ambushed. I encountered three imperial patrols while on my journey and it would seem that the Grium Hills were safe and secure from now on.

Eventually, we arrived at the town during the mid-day.

The entire place had changed from when I had last seen it. There were dozens of people outside, walking about, talking, building and buying from the market square. The doors and windows were no longer shuttered and barricaded; being free from the bandits had given the people the freedom to do as they pleased outside.

The watermill was doing well too—I could see that everything was just about patched up, save for a spot on the roof that looked too tall for anyone to reach and the incline was too steep to risk using a ladder. Ah well, you couldn’t fix everything but a least the mill was running.

I rode into the town square, unsure of how to begin my investigation. “Greetings,” I said to one of the men who were hammering away on a doorframe. “I’m here to handle the nightspirit that’s been bothering you all?”

The man froze at the words spirit. He spun around and squinted at me. “Hey, you’re that fella what’s come and scared them bandits off!”

“Yessir,” I said, bowing from atop my horse.

“Well, welcome back,” he said. “Name’s Glim. Sorry you hafta come back to clean up another mess.”

“Oh don’t worry about it—” I said, almost saying that I was being well compensated. But if I said that, I might turn this man into competition. After all, the throne would reward anyone who solved the problem, not just me.

“I do worry about it. That damn thing comes out at 2 in the morning every night, shrieking and wailing. It doesn’t seem to hurt anyone but the sound keeps most of us up.”

“That’s all it does?” I asked. “Just makes noise?”

“Well, it also causes our cows’ milk to curdle, terrifies the children’s’ dreams and provokes screaming fits in the men during the daytime,” Glim replied. “Only the womenfolk seem spared its haunts during the day, but they’re so tired from having to manage all the chaos it creates.”

I nodded silently, looking out at the people once more. They were working, yes, but upon closer examination I could see the dullness in their eyes, the slowness in their movement. Many were just repeating actions over and over again, such as hammering a spot where the nail had gone in a while back. This town was indeed under siege of some kind.

My investigation was light, because really there wasn’t much I could do during the day. Instead, I went to the local inn, The Broken Bottle, got a stable for Persnickety and settled in for the day so I’d have adequate rest for the night ahead. Hopefully whatever I was going to face would go down quickly and easily, but I had a sneaking suspicion that it wouldn’t.

Chapter 24

The wailing was like that of agony, not anger. The spirit was clearly crying out in some pained expression of a sorrow or betrayal. That was all I could think as the loud shrieking woke me up. A dread chill ran through my entire body at the sound of such a thing. How could anyone take this sound for more than a day? It was impressive that the town hadn’t deserted when this began taking place.

I rushed out of the inn and followed the noise. It was coming from the center of the village, right above one of the chapels to some local harvest god. The night was clear and crisp; the moon was full and shining down upon a tall, pale specter that flowed like cloth in the sky.

A skeletal face was pressing out of the cloth, shrieking and screaming as a ghastly hand rose up to point at me. While the rest of the creature was indeed a skeletal banshee of sorts, the pointing hand was still the flesh of a human.

“You…you!” it hoarsely screamed. “Countless times I have appeared and only you come forward to look at me!”

I opened my mouth to say something, but the banshee immediately plunged down towards me, flying like a dart right at my head. The Fire Spirit emerged instantly, throwing up a flaming wall to scare the creature off.

Indeed, the banshee did not like the fire and flew back to where it had come from. The spirit chased after it, throwing bursts of flames, but the banshee was able to change its size and shape on command, allowing it to dodge the attacks.

As the concentration began to kick in, I called the Fire Spirit back. If it could talk, I wanted to see what it had to say.

“So now you see that I am no mere peasant, but wield great power,” I shouted. “Will you speak to me earnestly? Or must I send the whole of the host I control after you?”

“You are a binder of spirits,” the banshee hissed. “But so is the one who called me forth. They knew how to summon, but their ability to bind was weak. I cannot return to the grave and I will not be taken as a slave.”

“If I were to find out how to send you back to death, would you cease bothering this town?” I said. “Would you lift the curse you have placed upon their cows and their children?”

“Why should I?” it hissed again. “They all ignore my pain! None will step out and face me.”

“And rightly so,” I said. “For you would attack them instantly.”

There was silence on the undead being’s part. I was unsure of what more I could say. It seemed confused, vindictive and angry beyond belief. Someone had summoned it without properly binding the banshee…so I think my only option was to seize its power with my eidolon.

“You’ll find rest within my grasp,” I said, showing it the empty card in my hand. “I won’t enslave you with my power, but if you wish to find peace, this is the best I can offer you. This or destruction, it’s your call. For I cannot allow you to harm these people any longer.”

The banshee replied with a shriek so loud that my eardrums threatened to burst. The world spun around me and the earth tipped up and down as I staggered forward, dropping the card. I fell to my knees to grab the damn thing but everything was spinning like a madhouse.

Another scream continued to oppress me and I could feel my ears begin to bleed. I covered both of them, desperate to block out the sound. The banshee seemed to be enjoying this as it screamed again and again until finally, a shadow passed across the moonlight and it vanished.

The hour had passed. It seemed to only come out for an hour each night.

“What a relief,” I muttered, slumping over on the ground. The ringing in my ears was getting worse, but at least I could still hear something. I worried for a great while that there’d be a moment where I could hear nothing, but as the hours passed, so my hearing gradually restored itself. Well, enough to the point where things were only sort of muffled.

“Good sir!” Glim asked from behind his window, peeking out from the blinds. “Did you slay it?”

“No,” I groaned.

“Well, better luck tomorrow, yeah?”

“Get dressed,” I said, slowly sitting up. “You’re taking me to see the witch who lives around here.”

“I suspected as much. Last time you came here, we had to use a whole cart to get you to Miss Sophia’s house. Will I need to fetch it again?” he asked in earnest.

“No, Glim. We’ll take my horse. I just need the directions and someone to help me ride straight.”

We mounted up and rode out to Sophia’s house without incident. The witch was rather well hidden, off the beaten path, though Glim knew exactly where she was located.

Most of the townsfolk in the various villages around here had gone to see the witch for one reason or another and all spoke very kindly of her. What were the chances she had summoned this banshee? I frowned. Wait a second, if the person caused this whole incident by mistake, for they weren’t able to bind the creature, then I’d only be able to get 50 silver, because I certainly wouldn’t be taking in Sophia’s head if this were all some big accident. Damn. Too bad. Perhaps I could get her to pay me the fee instead. Or was that extortion?

Thoughts of money vanished as we approached the quaint little hut. The lights were on inside and puffs of smoke were coming out of the chimney. A steady, gentle breeze cooled me down quite a bit and I noticed that there were two cups of tea sitting by the porch, a kettle in between them.

“Alright, I’ll take it from here,” I said, hopping off the horse. “Take Persnickety home.”

Glim departed without a word and rode off, leaving me along with the hut.

The door swung open and Sophia emerged with a plate full of cookies and the world’s most guilty look upon her face. She spied me and let out a huge sigh, however.

“Oh thank the gods, Arthur!” she said. “I was expecting, er, someone else.”

Sophia was quick to motion to the chairs on the porch and I sat down, taking some of the tea and drinking it. There was something deeply soothing about the drink and I found myself drinking rather slowly.

“I am in a ton of trouble here,” she continued as she started to eat the cookies at a rather rapid pace. “I tried one little thing, something new just to see how it all works and oh…oh I’m so glad you’re here.”

I finished sipping the tea and placed it back on the table. “You summoned a banshee?”

“I didn’t mean to! Well, I didn’t mean for it to escape,” she said. “After you cleared out those wretched necromancers, all those books needed to be taken care of. I was going through most, burning the ones with forbidden lore and such, but one book was actually just a book of summons. And I thought to myself, why not become a summoner and a witch. It should be easy, right? I have magic mastered already, so what’s so hard about adding a new discipline?”

“Ah yes, that sounds like a great attitude to have when playing with fire,” I replied, trying to get one of the cookies before Sophia devoured the whole plate.

“Don’t tease!” the witch bemoaned. “Turns out, summoning is way harder than it looks because you also have to bind. And binding is where all the secrets of summoners are. So it’s a useless book in anyone’s hand except for actual summoners who know the right rituals.”

“You couldn’t have tried to summon…I don’t know, a cat or something first?” I asked. “You just had to jump to banshee?”

Sophia rubbed the back of her head sheepishly and sighed. “Some of the Imperial guards round here have been harassing me. Poking their heads into my hut, demanding to see licenses and paperwork, stuff that I don’t need because I’m not in the city. I’ve been raided three times so far and when I try to talk to the captain, he just laughs me off.”

“So you wanted something to scare the hell out of them?”

“A banshee would be perfect! The horror it inflicts is so deep that those jerks would never return!”

“Or they’d return to arrest you for attacking them,” I said.

“Then they’d have to deal with the banshee again,” Sophia said with a laugh. She snorted at that. “It’s the perfect defense. The only way the matter could be resolved is through the bureaucracy and good luck getting permission to raid a witch in the middle of nowhere.”

I sighed and rubbed my forehead. “Miss Sophia, your plan was…ambitious, but you’re causing real trouble with that thing. It’s taken to harassing the hell out of an already troubled village and the cows are cursed to put out bad milk.”

“I’ve been trying to reverse it, but there’s nothing in this book that mentions how to unsummon,” Sophia explained. “It’s literally just a book of rites and methods of conjuration.”

“So you’re saying this spirit is wild? There’s no way it can return to the afterlife?”

“Banshees already shun the afterlife,” Sophia said with a shrug. “Hence why they keep their gruesome hands. They know how to return but they all refuse because their desire for revenge is most great.”

“That liar!” I shouted. “I didn’t want to capture it at first and it reinforced that reluctance by saying it wanted to go back to the grave.”

“No,” Sophia said quietly. “It just wanted to toy with you.”

“Well now all gloves are off,” I growled. “Don’t worry about this, Sophia. I’ll take care of it. But burn that summoning book with all the others.”

“Already done,” she said. “It was to get rid of the uh, evidence.”

Chapter 25

The wax in my ears was deeply uncomfortable, but it would be my only defense against that banshee’s awful wailing. There was nothing else to do, other than wait all day and night for the creature to reappear. I tried to get some rest or to prepare, but in reality I was just loafing around, nervously waiting for my second shot at fighting this thing.

The night passed slowly until the shrieking began. I jolted up in my bed, fully dressed and ready to go.

Rushing outside of the inn, I saw the banshee was back where it had been before, floating high above the chapel.

This time there was going to be no conversation, no back and forth. I was going to capture it instantly, using my eidolon before it had a chance to attack.

Grabbing my card, I held it tightly and rushed up to where the spirit hovered, feeling the burning power in my hand. The eidolon was swirling with a purple energy and I could feel something tugging at my core, like something grasping for a greater sense of concentration. I forced as much energy as I could into the card and raised it high in the air.

“Spirit, I command you to enter!” I shouted.

Purple swirls came out of the card, rushing upwards to seize the banshee, but it grew in intensity, the colors around her becoming blood red as she resisted. The grasping tendrils of magic sought to seize her, but she flew higher and higher up.

I focused as hard as I could, but the energy was draining out of me rapidly. My concentration was shot and I…I…I collapsed on the ground, losing control of the eidolon, the energy vanishing instantly. I was on my knees once again, wheezing and gasping.

There was no time limit save this time, as the banshee flew down and seized hold of me by the head. It lifted hard, flying upwards as I dangled from my neck. Her shrieks and cries failed to penetrate my ears, but with her fleshy hands digging into my skin, she didn’t quite need to deafen me.

We flew upwards, above the chapel. My energy and concentration were so drained that I couldn’t do a damned thing. Not even the Fire Spirit would come out.

It released me. One moment I was high above the chapel, the next I was falling and then smashing into the sturdy, stone steeple, rolling down onto the ground. Bones cracked and I could feel my left knee burn as it had struck everything first.

Rolling over, I seized hold of my Maiden of Moss card and looked at it. “Please…help,” I entreated as the banshee came flying down towards me again, ready to finish me off.

A gentle white light pulsed from the card and then, there was a flash, repelling the spirit instantly. It tried to dive down but an aura of pale white fended it off. The banshee tried again and again but found each time the aura was only growing stronger and stronger. Eventually, the banshee grew weary of this and simply vanished in a puff of smoke and shadow, same as last night.

I lay on the ground, gasping and groaning, the pain in my left leg so bad I was gnashing my teeth. Gentle words of wisdom came rising up from within, the Maiden carefully instructing me. Woe to the warrior who tests his first weapon in his first battle. The man who has never captured must not attempt to do so when life is on the line. Let your limp be a lesson to you.

“Thank you, wise spirit,” I said, tears of both pain and sorrow filling my eyes. “For your words and for saving me.”

Eventually Glim and the rest of the village found me. I was awake and able to speak, but the pain wracked my entire body. They wanted to take me to the witch once more, but I declined. I had been saving a potion of health for a situation like this and it seemed to be the best time to use it. It didn’t heal bones but it would at least restore the rest of me.

There was something wrong in my approach each time. The first was understandable as I did not know the nature of what I was fighting. But the second approach? I had failed majorly and almost died for it. I could not expect the Maiden of Moss to intervene and save me again (though I did wonder if she would). I had to stop thinking about this problem like a limited Convoker. I needed to face this issue like an adventurer.

On a crutch, I hobbled to the single chapel in town to speak with the friar. The man working the temple was a portly fellow who wore a pumpkin-colored hat and was friendly enough to bring a chair up for me to sit when he spotted me entering.

“Ah, dear stranger!” he said. “Nameless defender, please, sit and rest. Do you wish to participate in the Rites of Agraina?”

“I’m afraid not,” I said. There were too many gods and goddesses for me to keep count, so I just followed the Imperial way and didn’t worship any. “The creature, the banshee, keeps manifesting over your church each night. Why is that?”

The friar shrugged. “There are profane energies within our church. As Agraina is neutral in spirit, all are welcome, good or evil. There are many clerics who come through who leave offerings one could consider to be evil. Such things give us an odd aura. I would wager to say the creature gets power from being near us. Though the holiness probably keeps it at a distance.”

Interesting. “So holy energy bothers it and profane powers it…” I touched the sword that was hanging off my back. “Do you have the power to bless weaponry?”

“Of course, I am a priest,” the friar said. “But I caution you about fighting the banshee toe to toe. A few men tried that before and they were eviscerated. The creature is fierce up close and personal.”

I leaned back and pondered the situation…this damn creature moved fast and flew, something I couldn’t do. My injury was certainly going to slow me down and I had no idea how long it was going to take for me to physically recover.

A few stones nearby caught my eye. “Say, can you bless rocks by any chance?” I asked.

“I suppose so. Anything with the proper holy symbol inscribed upon it can be considered blessed,” the priest replied. “It’s just a matter of spending the time.”

I grinned at that. Perfect. I instructed the man to bless my blade and twelve rocks to form a little trap. He seemed bemused by the idea but agreed to do so, since there wasn’t much for him to do, as it wasn’t the harvest times yet.

While he worked, I walked around, trying to adjust to my knee injury. I could step, but fully placing my weight on the knee would cause it to spasm, sending me right to the ground. The crutch helped somewhat, but that would be an easy target in the middle of battle. Hell, the spirit might just use its power to rip the crutch out from under me, throwing me at an instant disadvantage.

Could Sophia fix my knee? Or would that result in her summoning something awful? I suppose I should risk it, because my stone trap wouldn’t work out if I couldn’t move quickly.

I walked back to the witch’s hut, trying my best to exercise my busted knee, hoping that maybe some stretching would do it some good. It only seemed to make me more tired as I hobbled along.

“This is not appropriate of guardsmen!” Sophia’s voice shouted from the distance. I immediately looked up to see that several horses were tied to a nearby tree. Imperial horses.

“Ah dammit,” I muttered, moving as fast as I could up the hill to where the hut was. Sure enough, as soon as I reached the top, I could see three guards had surrounded the witch. One of the guards was holding a book high above her head and she was jumping to try and get it.

“Come on, just grab it and we’ll go!” he said. “Easy as that.”

“Hey, what the hell is going on?” I demanded.

All three men turned to face me at once, hands on swords in an instant. I quickly put my hands up to show I wasn’t here to start any trouble. The last thing I needed was to become the enemy of the Imperial guards.

“This witch here has been practicing illegal magics,” the leader, a tall bald man with a thick orange mustache said. He was holding a yellow book that read Summonica Esoterica. “Lookie! This kind of thing’s been banned in the Empire for hundreds of years.”

“So your response is to dangle it above her head and taunt her?” I said, crossing my arms. “Regardless of legalities, I thought there was due process to this kind of stuff.”

“Oh, shut up, you git,” one of the other guards, a fat fellow with heaving metal plate, said. “Get on out of here, lest we teach you a lesson for interfering with state activity.”

“I’m actually a member of said state,” I said, pulling my medallion out to show them. “I’m an adventurer and this witch has been aiding me on my mission.”

“Feh, adventurers,” the leader said with a laugh. “Look at you, you’re not even able to walk properly. What happened, didja fall down a hill? Maybe took a little tumble while searching for adventure?”

My blood began to boil at these men’s words. They weren’t just bullies to the witch, it seemed their target was anyone they came across. I immediately understood Sophia’s desire to terrify them with magic. Perhaps the vines might have something to say about this.

“This conduct is so unbecoming, I’m worried that perhaps you are merely bandits who have slain the original guardsmen,” I said. “And now you travel around, immune to the law and able to abuse people openly because of such freedom.”

“Hey!” the third one said, drawing his sword and pointing it towards me. “We are all true guardsmen! We swore an oath to the throne to protect his empire and his people.”

“Good job you’re doing, bothering the local witch whom the villagers here all adore,” I said. “She treats their illnesses and aids midwives with potions and such. I see no reason for you to come here and harass her.”

The leader lowered the book down and nodded. “That’s a good point. This woman is an upstanding citizen. Perhaps she should be given a medallion. Yours will do.”

And with that, the man chucked the book right into my head, causing me to lose balance and fall over, my medal flying out of my hands. The loss of balance made my knee twist and I yelped, falling to my side. “Ah damnit, my knee,” I groaned, trying to regain some semblance of my dignity. There was no way to recover from this.

All three guards were around me at once, kicking and laughing as they thoroughly beat me. At some point the pain got so bad that I just grew numb to it and accepted my beating. The urge to grab a card and show them who was boss was great, but three stories against one would be hard to beat in the courts. I might win here but lose later on.

Eventually they lost interest in me and Sophia, remarking about how foolish I was before leaving me to recover from my wounds on the ground.

“Oh goodness, you looked wretched,” the witch said as she knelt beside me, already applying salves to my battered and bruised face. “But you were quite the knight stepping in like that.”

“I…had no idea they’d beat the hell out of me,” I said. “What kind of guard acts like that?”

“It’s these posts in the backwoods where there’s no accountability. There’s a single office with usually some screw-up captain who ended up at his post as punishment for some big failing. So he’s either vindictive, petty or worse, inattentive.”

“I won’t say a word if you crack that summoning book open and just start bringing everything out to hunt them down,” I moaned.

“Now you see what I mean,” she said with a laugh. “Well, be of good cheer, I’ll have you up and running in no time. Just let these herbal ointments sink into your skin. And I’ve put raw eggshells on your knee to repair the bone structure. Once I cast my spell that is…”

Chapter 26

Sophia was not a miracle worker. She had a few spells to heal but her power was limited in either healing most of the damage done to my body or repairing my broken knee. The guards had wailed on me rather hard, but they hadn’t broken anything, so I opted to live with bruises rather than a broken bone that I desperately needed to function.

By the late afternoon, I was standing upright, able to walk freely once more. The witch was sitting on the front porch, watching me with a frown on her face. She had been growing more solemn the longer time had passed.

“Why the frown?” I asked. “Other than that humiliating experience we both underwent?”

“I’m thinking about your struggle with capturing the banshee,” she said. “You’re a Convoker and yet you couldn’t capture a wild spirit? That seems a bit like a carpenter who doesn’t know how to make a table kind of situation.”

“Well, I’m still learning on the job,” I said.

“How will you know if you can grab the banshee tonight if you couldn’t yesterday?”

I drew my sword and tapped it against the ground. “I’m not trying to capture it now. The fact is, this thing is causing trouble and my job is to put it down. If I could capture the Esper, that would be great, but I have other things to pursue over here. So I may as well just destroy the spirit.”

“Seems like a waste,” the witch said. “A banshee would be incredible to have in your pocket at all times. Imagine how those guards would have reacted to you pulling the wailer out!”

“It’s too draining,” I said.

“Maybe you just need some practice,” Sophia said. “You said you have two eidolons right?”

“Yes,” I said. “Just two.”

“Well, I was reading through the summoning book to find wild spirits—you know, the kind who don’t have distinct personalities—and I found a few elementals that would be perfect for you. So maybe…and this may be a very bad idea, what if I summoned an elemental of your choice and you captured it? With your Convoker magic?”

“Seems extremely dangerous,” I said with a frown.

“Oh nonsense, I’ll summon one of the smaller ones. All elementals come in several stages, so you don’t have to fight a big nasty rock elemental. You’ll just have a stone trying to bully you.”

“That seems like an interesting idea,” I said. “Provided you can actually summon the right one.”

“I’ve been reading the book nonstop since you left. I still can’t bind, but I can be precise in my summoning, that I can promise!”

“Precision in summoning doesn’t mean much if what you’re pulling up is going to tear me to pieces.”

“But you’ll have a chance to develop your muscles, so to speak. You couldn’t capture the banshee. Try catching a small level elemental. Worst case scenario, we just blast it before it can cause any damage!”

There was a decent point behind this plan. It did indeed feel like I was pulling a muscle when I used my eidolon the first time. But this would expend a card and that meant I’d be all out of free cards once I grabbed hold of the banshee. Though…those were probably strong enough to seriously aid me in my attempts to free the Toad King.

“Alright,” I said, waving a dismissive hand. “Go on ahead, let’s do it.”

“Yes!” Sophia cheered. She quickly opened the spellbook and flipped through the pages. “So, do you want air, fire, earth or water?”

Hmmm, good question. Fire was out of the question as I had the Fire Spirit. Water didn’t sound terribly intimidating. Same with air. But earth? I could see some massive elemental emerging from the ground, roaring with rage as it stomped towards my foe. I could probably even ride it into battle. Once it was leveled up enough, of course.

“Earth!” I said, rubbing my hands together. All anxiousness aside, this was actually kind of exciting.

“Alright, here I go!” the witch said as she began chanting out ancient phrases. As she spoke, wisps of energy jumped off her lips and onto the ground before her, forming a golden magic circle. The energy burned brightly as the circle grew wider and wider.

A small head poked out of the ground. It was like a dense clump of stones all packed together. I grinned; it was kind of cute at this size. I stretched out and waited for the spell to finish, assuming it would be done in a few seconds. That wasn’t the case as the stone kept growing out of the ground, getting taller and taller.

“Oh no!” Sophia said. “Uhhhh, I think I read the wrong section.”

“You what?”

The ground shook as a much larger entity emerged from the earth, its small head rapidly growing bigger. Arms and legs emerged, giving form to a huge, hulking gorilla-like being.

“Okay, so apparently it’s all the same words, it's inflection that matters and I said one of the words too hard,” Sophia said. “Don’t worry though, I can dismiss it.”

The beast roared as the energy circle faded. It towered high above me and came charging straight towards me.

“Oh come on!” I yelped, diving to the side, barely avoiding the violent pile of rocks. Fire Spirit emerged from my deck instantly, flying high up and throwing flame after flame at the thing. The flames washed off harmlessly. Stone did not care about the great power of fire.

“Just keep it busy!” the witch said as she flipped through her book. Why in the hell did I fall for this? What was broken in my brain that led me to think summoning another wild entity was a good idea?

“Graaaaah,” the elemental roared as it turned to swing a fist at Fire Spirit. Spirit was quick but the fist of the elemental was wide enough to get a glancing blow, knocking my Esper backwards.

I drew the eidolon and aimed it towards the great elemental. “Enough already!” I bellowed, raising the card high. Purple tendrils came snaking their way out, wrapping around the massive frame of the beast and yet, I could feel resistance once more. I instinctively tried to pull with my mind, but this thing would not budge.

Sophia took notice of what I was doing and was quick to shout at me. “Arthur, don’t just pull with your magic! If he’s resisting, you need to change your point of focus. Stop pulling and push!”

“What?” I said, dodging another swinging punch from the big beast. “Push?”

“Oh goodness, you’re just an infant when it comes to magic,” she groaned. “Look, magic is a flowing energy, you can’t just statically do something. You tried pulling, it failed. If you pull more, you’re just draining your own energy. Instead, you need to move your power around, extend it, grow it.”

“How the hell do I do that?” I asked, grabbing the Twin Guardians card and throwing it on the ground. The two statues rose up to block off the elemental from crushing me like a grape. They fought back and stone met stone in a rather fierce clash.

“It’s a focusing state. Just think of magic like your hand but you don’t want to touch anything, like you’re guiding water without getting wet,” Sophia said. “Come on, it’s easy if you just try to focus.”

I pushed out thoughts of being smashed to pieces and instead focused on what Sophia was talking about. Extending my energy once more, I tried to seize the great elemental, but as soon as I was blocked, my concentration shifted. I imagined water flowing around it and sure enough, the purple tendrils spread across the being.

“Good, good, keep focusing, make a net, not a lasso,” Sophia instructed. She was now standing beside me, no longer bothering to find a dismissal spell.

My mind stretched out in a way I had never experienced before, lights swirled before my eyes and in an instant, a reddish-pink film came across the entire world. Everything had a shining color that made no sense. The trees were yellow and flashing like a lantern, the earth was blue and red.

“Wh-what am I seeing?”

“What a mage sees!” Sophia said. “The magical underpinning of the universe. Now look for the weakest area on the big guy. Come on, don’t get distracted, every moment you stay in this mode costs you in terms of energy.”

I nodded and turned attention to the elemental. It had smashed the first guardian to pieces and was working on wailing down the second one, reducing it to a pulp with both fists. The entire being was covered in green, save for one small area on the right of its shoulder. There was…nothing. A black gap, a hole of some sort.

Instinctively, I concentrated on the hole and my tendrils spread across the being entirely, hooking into the gap. Once I was connected, a flash came over me. I could sense the beast’s relentless, fierce mind. It was a mere automaton, fighting because that is what the energy inside compelled it to do.

“You’re doing good, now I’m no expert but since you’ve made a connection, now is the time to pull,” Sophia said. “And put your mental back into it, okay?”

The elemental ceased smashing my statues down into powder and came running at me full speed. I let my mind spread across the entire being and raised the empty card up once more. With all of my might and focus, I let out a holler and pulled the power as hard as I could.

There was a purple flash, so bright it blinded me for a moment. When the light faded, the entire world had gone back to its mundane coloring and in my hand was a burning hot card. Nothing else was before me.

Wild Esper Acquired!

Greater Rock Elemental

Rarity: Uncommon

Hit Points: 10

Attack: 7

Defense: 10

Special: Once summoned, the Greater Rock Elemental will select a target. Until that target is defeated, the Rock Elemental requires no concentration to maintain.

This card was tremendous! Another high defense heavy hitter and one that is concentration free for a while? Perfect! Send him out with the twins and it’ll be one hell of a pairing. Heavy defense from all three? I could watch them just mow down anyone in their path.

“Nice work!” Sophia said, clapping me on the back. Oh right, there was the small matter of attending to the woman who almost got me killed.

“Are you kidding me? You guaranteed me it was going to be a safe summoning,” I said.

“And I meant that, but what am I going to do when inflection turns out to be a major role in a summon? That’s so pedantic, it’s unreasonable!”

“What does reason have to do with anything? This is magic!” I said.

“Well in my defense, I had no idea you were completely inexperienced with magic. My default assumption was that you could at least do a few basic things. I mean, if you can’t even see the Ethereal underpinnings…are you even a spellcaster?”

“Don’t try to blame me!” I said, waving a finger in front of her face.

“I’m not blaming you, I’m just saying that there were some things unaccounted for. But now you can confidently capture that banshee with your newfound abilities. It’s gonna be the same to grab her. Just follow the flow, look for the weakness and never stop your magic from moving. All spellcasters follow these rules. Stagnation is death to a caster.”

“I’d say summoning giant rocks with no idea on how to get rid of them is death to a caster,” I dryly replied. “But you’re right. I did learn some useful things here. Thanks for having my back.”

“Always! You know it's funny, witches tend to be perceived as the ones who know the least about magic, so it makes me feel kind of cool that I’m the most knowledgeable person in the room.”

I shrugged. “How do I remedy this problem?”

“Reading. I don’t have any of the books on hand, but I’ll give you a list. Go to the Imperial Caster Academy in Cathode and you can read them at the libraries,” she replied. I started to open my mouth but she cut me off quickly. “And before you ask, yes, those books are required reading. You’re playing a dangerous game when you barely know how magic works. Your system might be self-sustained but when you run into other casters…who knows what’ll happen? At the very least, you’ll know what principles they operate off of.”

“Ugh, and here I thought I’d be able to escape going to college in my lifetime.”

Chapter 27

Sophia was gracious enough to allow me to sleep off the exhaustion from the ass-kicking and the Esper-catching from earlier. A few hours, that’s all it took for me to wake up feeling refreshed, no doubt in part to a beverage she had given me. “It’s speedroot,” she had said. “It accelerates recovery but don’t take too much or you’ll have severe shakes and be paranoid for at least a few days.”

This admonition didn’t stop her from teaching me how to identify the plant and turns out it wasn’t that terribly uncommon. If I came back from the banshee with it captured, she’d teach me how to make a potion out of the herb.

I had one card left, one free eidolon to capture the banshee. Twice I had faced this creature and both times I had failed to drive it away or to capture it. But now, I had three plans in place, each one of them meant to work independently of the other, so I wasn’t putting all of my eggs in one basket.

I approached the town of Horath, just in time to hear the screaming begin. Even with the wax in my ears, the screaming was so loud that it was impossible to miss. I drew my Truestrike Sword and walked in the town square, looking towards the banshee.

“You return?” it howled. “You will die on this night, unless you flee from me now, giving unto me your fear!”

“That would require me to be afraid,” I said, raising my sword high and pointing it towards her. “And that’s not the case.”

The banshee did not need any other invitation. It immediately swooped down, charging at me from above. I raised the blade and turned it sideways to fend off the momentum of the attack, but at the last moment the ghoul changed its trajectory and easily zipped around me.

An icy hand struck my back and I gasped for air as something ripped through my entire system. There was a temptation to give into the numbness that was spreading throughout my body, but I ignored it, focusing instead on pulling the rope hanging off my belt.

The rope pulled taut, causing a small bag on my hip to open up. A dozen stones came spilling out and at once, I could hear the banshee let out a shriek, though this one was weak.

I leapt forward, rolling to free myself from the phantom’s grasp.

“What are you doing to me?” the banshee cried as I spun around to face it.

The holy symbols on the rocks were glowing bright white and had created a small mesh network of energy that was suspending the spirit in one place. It was trying to push past two rocks, but the sheer presence of the holy energy was sapping its power.

I drew my eidolon and aimed it at my foe. With focus, the strange colors fell across my eyesight once more and even though this was nighttime, the ethereal world was bright with all manner of strange, mystic lights.

The purple tendrils snaked their way out of the eidolon and rushed towards the pinned spirit. It thrashed and tried to scatter the stones, but the unholy power of a banshee could do nothing against the holy blessings the friar had given it. Say what you will about the gods but at least their priests deliver.

My mind anchored onto the being and I felt its will push at me, trying to force me to release my grasp on it. Instead of pushing back, I merely dodged, rolling the tendrils around the back of the banshee’s head, still searching for a weak spot in its armor.

The back of the head! A vulnerability was growing, I could feel it getting wider as the banshee grew more wild, screaming and howling, slashing its hands purposelessly in the middle of the air. It wanted to be free, but there was no freedom in this twisted mockery of unlife. If the banshee wanted to cling to the living world, so be it, but I was not about to let it harm these people any longer.

The tendrils hooked and I drew them back, easing the energy back to the eidolon. Every time the banshee’s mind went to fight with me, I sidestepped or changed my area of focus, reeling the creature in like a fisherman drew a fish. Eventually the tendrils returned to my eidolon and in the flash of purple, the banshee was gone.

Wild Esper Acquired!

Banshee

Rarity: Common

HP: 0/2 (immune to nonmagical weaponry)

Strength: 3

Defense: 3

Special: Upon summoning the Banshee, a loud wail will stun all foes within a hundred foot radius.

“It worked?” I yelped, realizing that I was now alone. “Haha, it worked!” I couldn’t believe it! My whole plan had gone swimmingly. The feint with the sword, the holy rocks…everything went according to plan and I had captured it.

A strange sense of glowing content rose within me as well. It felt as if the banshee’s presence was pleased to be here. It was an odd feeling. Hadn’t I imprisoned the spirit? Shouldn’t it wish to break free at once?

The ties of undeath break within. I have allowed my child to finally experience the rest that will heal its mind, the Maiden explained. You will have no further problems with her.

One of the doors opened up, pulling me outside of my mind. It was Glim. “Hey, so did you kill it?”

“Something like that,” I said. “Don’t worry. You won’t be plagued by this thing any longer.”

“And how about the bastard who summoned it? A nightspirit like that has to be summoned, right?”

I gave him a weak shrug. “Afraid I don’t have anything to tell you there. My job was to make the creature go away. If you want to sanctify your village, maybe ask your priest to consecrate everything so nothing further bothers you. But I doubt anyone was targeting your village on purpose.”

“So Horath is just unlucky then,” Glim grumbled. “Of course. It’s always us for some reason.”

“I do apologize about that, but hey, things are getting better!” I replied. “Bandits are gone, imperials are around and now you’re ghost free! Your lives will be going back to normal soon enough.”

“Actually…” Glim said, looking around for a moment. He shuffled up to me and bid me to follow to the town fountain. “That’s another issue I was hoping you could look into…perhaps discretely?”

Oh great…I knew where this was going.

“Let me guess, the guards are causing problems?” I asked.

“They don’t ask for money, but they seem to think they get to eat and drink here for free. Normally we’d be fine getting the tab for them, but they keep coming back and drinking more and more. Our innkeeper, Svetlana, tried to tell them to stop drinking so much, but they just backhanded her and declared the building to be under imperial jurisdiction and therefore rations and quartering were allowed.”

“How many of them do this?”

“Just three, but they’re stopping by more and more often.”

“Bald guy and a fat guy with a lanky goon, right?” I asked. “I had the unfortunate pleasure of running into them. They come across as rather…corrupt.”

“That’s putting it lightly. But at the same time, we had a bandit attack a few weeks back and an entire platoon of men showed up and put the thieving bandits into the ground. Hung them outside the entry to the town too, letting everyone know that Horath ain’t meant to be messed with. Of course, we asked politely for the stinking corpses to be taken down and that’s when the three arrived, thirsty as ever.”

“I’ll try to figure something out,” I said. “It’s possible imperial command doesn’t know about this.”

“Don’t implicate us in this,” Glim said. “The council would throw a fit if they knew I was asking for someone to go up against the guards like this.”

“Well, I got my ass kicked for speaking up to them once already, what’s the harm in going for round 2?” I asked, gently tapping on the newly acquired Banshee card. “Perhaps I can talk some sense into them.”

Chapter 28

The road was surprisingly well constructed. A lot of soldiers were busy digging on the imperial pathways, turning them from dirt roads into properly built brick paths. Persnickety didn’t care for the constant navigating off road, but the engineers were working to make travel even faster. The Imperial Pathway Corp paid no mind to us as we rode, though one did stop to wave as we ran by.

“If you’re looking to mine, you’re wasting your time,” he called after me. “They just shut the whole operation down.”

“Thanks for the heads-up,” I replied, not stopping to engage him any further.

The wilderness grew more civilized the closer we got to the mines. The brick road allowed Persnickety to run rather fast and he was pleased to have such speed, no doubt this made up for the detours we had been making earlier.

Large, wooden spikes greeted us as we arrived at the fortress. These logs were tilted at an angle that would skewer any horse that dare tried to do a charge on the base. Two tall guard posts stood behind the walls of the fortress, with four men guarding each one.

“Halt!” one of the guards said as I rode up. “This area is closed off to the general public for now. If you have something to report, please take it up with Patrolman Harrison who can be found two miles down the southern road.”

I raised my medallion high. “Er, hi there!” I said. “I’m here on adventurer business? I mean, I have a license.”

“You have a what?” the man shouted back.

“License!” I cried out louder.

“Damn it all, I can’t hear you. Go south,” the guard said, speaking slowly this time.

“Adventurer!” I replied, shouting the words at the top of my lungs.

“Well you don’t have to shout about it,” he replied. “Alright, we’ll open the gates but leave your sword on the horse.”

I disarmed and patted Persnickety. “You be good while I’m gone, okay? Don’t fight any Espers without me.”

Persnickety licked the side of my head, confirming he’d restrain himself.

The gate doors swung open and I was invited in to a half-constructed fortress. “This place looks more intimidating on the outside,” I said as I approached the guard, medallion in hand.

“Hence why we’re closed,” he said back. “What’s your business here, adventurer?”

“Two things, I’m looking for a man named Rupert and I need to speak to the highest commanding officer here on a private but very serious matter.”

“Emerald Hands Rupert is currently in the stocks south of here,” the guard said snickering. “You’ll never guess what his crime was.”

I had wondered about that. There were plenty of gems within the mine and even I had been tempted to take a few but…if the Imperial State declared the mine to be their property then those gems belonged to the emperor and I did not have the psychological fortitude to carry contraband around and then sell it.

“As for Captain Red, he’s over there,” the guard said, pointing to a tall man who was wearing a red coat of arms on his tabard. He looked like proper nobility, from the grace in his posture to the proper grooming his mustache had.

I thanked the guard for his help and walked up to the captain. The man was overlooking some plans with an engineer. “And then we can add some kind of gryphon ward, when the rest is finished.”

“Gryphon ward? Name one other nation that uses gryphons to fight,” Captain Red said to the engineer. “I think you’re a little too paranoid. Go back to the drafting board on this, I don’t like how claustrophobic it all feels.”

The engineer seemed displeased but he merely grunted an okay and left the scene, mumbling to himself the whole time.

“Sir, I’m Arthur Moss, an adventurer,” I said, holding up my medallion.

“Aha! Are you here for adventure or to report work done? By some accounts I believe there are two contracts here, a banshee and a loose ogre somewhere out there. Check the board.”

“Oh, I actually solved the banshee problem already,” I said.

“You have proof?”

I held up the Banshee card, showing it off to him. “I trapped the spirit inside. I’m a Convoker.”

Captain Red inspected the card for a moment. “Fascinating. You’re the type of wizard who goes around throwing cards at people, right?”

“Well, I don’t need to throw them, but yeah, we summon and cast spells from these things.”

“Ah, well, it would be good to have a wizard in the region,” he said. “Is there any way I could pay you to stick around? Join a patrol or two? Though I suppose you could just patrol by your lonesome if you wanted. Summon all sorts of nasty things.”

Well, if there was ever a perfect segue, this was it. “Speaking of nasty things, sir, I have some improprieties to report, before we discuss any business.”

The captain frowned and crossed his arms. He immediately became hostile in body language, almost as if I had just threatened to stab him. “What do you mean, improprieties? Be careful with your language, boy.”

“Sir, I’ve been firsthand witness to exploitation and assault by three of your guards on patrol,” I said. “They’ve overstepped their patrols, violated the rights of one of the most important figures in the area and when challenged, they physically assaulted me.” I pointed to the bruise on my right eye. Hopefully it hadn’t healed. “They knocked me down and kicked me repeatedly.”

“What do you want me to do about it? Call in the whole patrol team and tell them to knock off the shenanigans? These are men of war, fighters and goons who are working off their debts to society. Just learn to stay out of their way.”

“I’ve received reports of this behavior in villages as well,” I said. “Are you seriously going to side with them?”

“I’m not siding with anyone here, I’m just saying that this behavior can’t really be controlled. No patrol is going to report each other for what goes on. The countryside is so large and we’re stretched thin. These are two or three man groups at the most. It won’t be hard to figure out who turned you in in a two man patrol.”

I sighed at that. “Captain, I’m a Convoker. If I wanted to, I could have ripped those men apart with so much as a single command. But I held back in the hopes of doing things the right way. And now I’m coming here to find out that you all pretend not to see this behavior?”

“If you ripped those men apart, you’d be a fugitive,” the Captain replied through his teeth.

“Nonsense, it’s well within my rights to defend myself from bandits who stole guard uniforms,” I said. “And you can damn well be sure that’s the argument I’d make in court.”

“Look, what do you want from me? You want the heads of the three who attacked you? You want me to put them in the stocks? Every man here counts. If we lose even a single patrolman, we lose coverage of an entire roadway.”

“So it’s a supply problem,” I said, raising an eyebrow. “If you had more people, you wouldn’t tolerate this behavior?”

“Of course not. But if I have to choose between a pack of bullies or a swarm of bandits, you should know I’ll go with the bullies every time. Those three have killed more thugs and goons than I’ve seen in my life. They even took down an armed knight from Brania.”

Brania? Wasn’t that the country we’re at war with?

“How the hell did a knight get this far from his country?” I asked.

“You’d be surprised. A few of them band together and go sneak into a sparsely defended area and kill off the local population, then smuggle spy villagers inside. It’s a strange tactic, but still. A knight.”

“I understand the predicament,” I said, going back to the topic at hand. “But I can’t quite accept it. So what do you propose we do?”

“Hah, we. Like you’re any kind of person of command here. You’re an adventurer, your job is to go out and do things no man in his right mind would do. Battle a banshee? You think anyone in the army is trained to do that? Stick to your roles and I’ll stick to mine.”

What was I going to say here? What could I say? The man was a high-ranking Imperial official and I was just a random adventurer. Sure, I was powerful, but there was no beating the entire empire.

“What if I got you some conscripts?” I said. “From the villages here? They’re local so they know the area, they won’t hurt one another.”

“There are dozen reasons why we won’t work with conscripts,” Red replied. He sighed deeply and shook his head. “You’re not going away until this is resolved, are you?”

“I mean, one of my friends is being picked on regularly and it’s only a matter of time before someone gets seriously hurt,” I said. “You can only push people so far.”

The captain sighed once more. “Alright, how about we make a trade? I’ll handle these three yokels and ensure everyone on the patrol plays nice with the other kids in the sandbox and in exchange, you go take care of something my unit has been unable to crack so far.”

I tilted my head. “Like a mission?”

“Indeed. I want you to destroy the so-called Bandit Kingdom and bring me the head of the Bandit King. It’s a heavily armed fortress due north of here. It’s where most of the fleeing bandits escape to. The ruler is a strategic fellow and our efforts to lay siege to the camp without taking casualties has failed. Hence why I’m so short on men right now. But since you are a man of great magics, destroying an entire base should be a cakewalk for you, right?”

Heat rushed to my ears and I found myself speaking rather rashly. “You bet it will be,” I said. “Just give me what I ask for and I’ll be happy to clean up the situation.”

“Hah, you don’t have a chance in hell,” Red replied. “But maybe you can scare them a little on the way down. That would be worth it to me.”

“If I do this for you, I want more than just three knuckleheads disciplined. I want some pay,” I said.

“Oh of course, what’s the going rate for a fortress these days? How about, say, four gold pieces. That’s enough to hire a group of mercenaries to do the job,” Red said. He shrugged. “Don’t know where you’d find them, since most mercenaries are under the Bandit King’s hire. Man is a damn brilliant tactician, I’ll give you that.”

“The one thing I’m going to need is the services of a man you might have heard of. Rupert?”

“Oh, Emerald Hands?” Red said with a laugh. “That idiot. We find him guarding the place and his pockets are just bulging with treasure. He acts surprised to see us and says that he was on his post and had to get back to his commanding officer. When asked where his uniform was, he said it was in the wash.”

“Not a very smooth cover-up,” I said.

“We gave him credit though, told him to lose the jewels he had on him and he could leave a free man, as we aren’t here to bother anyone working the mine just yet. He slims down, takes all of the gems out of his pockets and then tries to palm an emerald. Literally thinks he can hide it in his hands as he walks away. The damn thing was glinting as soon as sunlight touched it.”

Chapter 29

“I can’t believe you came back!” Rupert said, rubbing his wrists as we walked down the northern road.

“I still need a bodyguard,” I said. “And it seems like you needed some help. Why could you possibly think you could steal an emerald from them?”

“Because I dare to dream,” the crook replied with a half-laugh. “I thought I had it figured out but that damn captain was watching me like a hawk. Oh well, let bygones be bygones. The stocks are a lot better than summary execution.”

I nodded. The Captain had been kind enough to let Rupert into my custody, allowing him to take a chainmail uniform along with a longsword to keep me safe. I didn’t quite trust the ex-bandit quite yet, but he would have time to prove himself. My powers were strong enough to where I wasn’t terribly worried about him. He was just there to serve as the ‘meatshield’, as my grandfather would say.

I wonder what my gramps would think about me right now, wandering from adventure to adventure, on my way to destroy a bandit enclosure. He’d probably be very proud. Hopefully he wouldn’t tell me I was biting off way more than I could chew.

“There it is!” Rupert hissed, suddenly dropping down as we emerged from the forest road. “I’ve been there a few times, you know. The Bandit King is absolutely nuts. But he has the gold to swing his weight around, he tells everyone what to do and they certainly do it.”

The fortress was made of stone. It was a proper military building with walls surrounding it and what looked to be a small town on the inside. Two guards were lined up on the walls and I could see a few people were entering the main gate of the fortress.

“That is certainly more sturdy than the Captain led me to believe,” I said.

“Yessir,” Rupert said. “It’s an actual leftover fortress from the old days when this region was operated by an actual king, instead of some absentee Emperor.”

“The Emperor is not an absentee,” I said. “His influence spans everywhere.”

“Oh yeah? So why did we bandits have free rein over here? Until you came along, we were free to do as we pleased to any village. It’s what led the king over there to set up his reign,” Rupert said. “So stop shilling for your beloved Emperor, he’s just a politician same as any.”

I shrugged. I wasn’t here to talk politics. I drew in a shaky breath as I crouched down too, crawling forward to get a better view of the building.

“How many guards do you think he has?”

“Guards? No idea, but you don’t need to worry about only guards. There’s going to be a lot of people coming out to fight you. Bandits, mercenaries, outlaws and escaped convicts…a lawless place like that is gonna be full of people who want to keep their haven,” Rupert said.

That was a good point. I had talked a big game to the captain, but now as the reality was setting in, I was starting to realize that maybe walking up and fighting everyone at once wasn’t a good idea. Perhaps I needed to do something a little more clever.

“So you know anything about this Bandit King’s temperament? Does he have an ego?” I asked.

“No idea, the man just stays inside the fortress at all times. They say he’s wildly paranoid. I’ve never met the guy.”

“Think everything would stay together if the Bandit King was captured? Or killed?”

“It’s possible,” Rupert replied. “If there’s a power vacuum, there’s going to be a lot of in-fighting over who gets to be in charge. But I’d have to know the political going-ons to see who would take over in the end. You might end up getting a more militant psycho. The current leader is just content to shelter us.”

“Them,” I said. “You’re not on the wrong side of the law anymore.”

“Yeah, yeah, whatever,” Rupert said. “You’re probably dead anyway, so I’m clean for as long as you aren’t a corpse. Then I go right back to the fortress and have some delicious criminal-brewed ale.”

I didn’t reply to that. I was formulating something instead. There were plenty of tactics that I could employ, as my cards were now plentiful. I just had to figure out the right approach…

“Aha!” I said, thumbing through my deck and stopping at my latest addition. The Banshee! Why bother fighting everyone when they were fresh?

We waited for night to fall. The guards changed shifts every six hours, though that didn’t matter much to my plan. Rupert and I found a tree to hide behind, one that had a clear line of sight towards the fortress. There were no guards facing this side, as they were only concerned with those approaching from behind and the front. The sides were completely unguarded. I wonder why that was.

The moon slowly rose as Rupert snored away, blissfully unaware of the nightmare I was about to unleash upon the entire fort. I drew the card out and looked at the symbol of the white banshee twisting, mouth open to unleash its torrential scream.

“Here’s hoping,” I muttered. I raised the card high and aimed it towards the sky hanging above the fortress. With an intention, I stretched my own mind far enough to reach the space above the fortress and sent out the summon. To my surprise, this actually worked! The summon flew out from me in a bright beam of white light, manifesting directly over the top of the fortress.

At once, the banshee let out a wild howling scream, causing many guards to start shouting. I could see torches light up as men rushed out to face whatever strange thing was causing this noise. “The hell is that?” Rupert gasped as he woke up with a start. “W-what is that up there?”

“It’s what keeps men like you honest,” I said. “It’s power.”

The banshee continued to scream, though I kept it neutral for now. Men were firing arrows but they were flying right through the incorporeal creature. Nothing could strike it and the banshee continued to howl and scream, over and over again.

Sweat poured down my face as I maintained this summon. It was a very strong spell and I found my energy and concentration draining rather quickly. The extra range of the summon must have cost more in terms of focus than I’d initially realize.

Still, I managed to hold on long enough to wake everyone up in the whole damn fortress. Quite a few people came rushing out of the gates, clothes barely on and weapons drawn as if under attack. But no one was waiting for them.

This confused the bandit folk, though the screaming forced them to continue to flee for quite some time. After a while, I was forced to relinquish the summon and return it, leaving the camp in a state of panic. Some returned once it was clear, while others packed up and left for good. Hopefully the roaming patrols would catch these vagrants and arrest them.

Three days passed as I continued with these tactics, the difficulty of projecting a ranged summon growing easier and easier with each passing day. More people were leaving, unable to handle the disruption of their sleep and even the guardsmen had stopped trying to attack it. A few messengers on horseback had been dispatched, probably to find an exorcist or wizard, but until then, the bandit kingdom was mine to keep awake at all hours of the night.

On the fourth day, something major happened. In the morning, after the banshee faded, the gates opened wide and a huge party of men and women emerged, all heavily armed. They had hunting dogs and swords raised high, ready to find the person responsible for summoning the undead shrieker.

“Are those dogs?” Rupert gasped. “They’re going to find us instantly. We stink from sitting out here for so long.”

“You stank before that,” I replied. “But don’t worry, it’s to our benefit if they find us. Just arm up and keep anything from sneaking up on me.”

“You’re a crazy bastard,” Rupert said, clapping me on the back. “But I gotta say, I like your initiative.”

The hunting dogs picked up our scent immediately and began leading the party towards us. About thirty people were coming straight towards our little encampment. I waited a good while, until they were within range and then, I released the Fire Spirit.

At once, the spirit came bursting out flying overhead, hurling bolt after bolt of flame at the incoming posse. A few archers managed to return fire quickly, striking the spirit with arrows that dealt damage to the summon, but they weren’t enough to stop the flyby.

A burning pillar of flame crashed into the earth and scorched over the front and center of the posse, setting many people on fire. The dogs, loosened from their leashes, fled at the fire and the archers tried to flee, only to be struck in the back.

Chaos reigned as the posse fell apart, running in all directions to avoid the flames. They would not be returning to fight me again, not today, perhaps not ever.

But before I could declare this to be a total victory, a torrent of blue water came firing out of the sky, striking the Fire Spirit and sending it to the ground. The water fizzled as the spirit instantly evaporated, the energy hurtling back towards my deck.

“Gah!” I said, dropping to one knee. The feedback from the damage sustained was more intense than before.

“Uh-oh, looks like you have a uh, what’s the word? Contemporary?” Rupert said, pointing to a tall man strolling towards us. He was wearing beige robes and carried a staff with a polished white orb atop it. A wizard.

“Ah dammit,” I groaned. “I was hoping to avoid anyone like this.”

“It looks like he just teleported here,” Rupert said, pointing towards the scorch marks on the grass a half mile away. “Of all the times to show up…”

Despite the wizard’s arrival, the posse had dispersed. They were not going to be coming back to the fight. This meant that I could perhaps meet this foe on the open field, one on one. Toe to toe.

A thrill and a spike of adrenaline rose up through my stomach at the thought of fighting this man. He looked to be young, about my age, with blonde hair and a scraggly build. The robes hid his physique but I could tell that he was skinny the way the sleeves hung off his arms.

I approached. He paced himself, making no effort to cast a spell or hurry to meet me. I kept my silence until we were ten feet apart. It was there that the wizard ceased and leaned against his staff while he spoke.

“A Convoker?” he said. “That is a rarity in the countryside. I suspect you are the one summoning the nightspirit that has terrified this camp of rogues.”

“Aye,” I said. “There’s no hiding it from you. This place has been condemned by the Imperial Guards and I’m here to exterminate the rats’ nest.”

The wizard nodded. “A do-gooder or a mercenary?”

“A mixture of both, I suppose. I’m an adventurer,” I replied. “The name is Arthur Moss. Who do I have the pleasure of speaking to?”

“Names have too much power to share, methinks. At least, in my profession anyway. You may call me Shine.”

Shine? That was an odd name. “Are you mercenary or a do-badder?” I asked him, smirking a little at my own joke.

“Neither. I am a man who owes a debt and must fulfill past obligations,” Shine replied with a sigh. “So let us get on with this fight.”

“Are we to duel for the rights to keep the fortress safe?”

“We are to fight to the death, I’m afraid,” Shine replied. “For my obligation goes deep and I cannot see you walk away alive.”

“Well, if it’s up to me, I’d rather not kill a debtor for owing something to forces greater than he,” I said. “Though I’d be curious to know how you came about owing the Bandit King your services.”

“It is an easy story. I was young, in love, and she was hopelessly captured by the law. The King has long-reaching fingers and easily plucked her out. Simple enough. Now I must pay for what was done. All things considered, fighting you doesn’t seem to be the worst, since you have no honor.”

“What’s honor to a thief?” I said. “These men are gutless dogs and I have no problem tiring them out and drawing them into my web of traps.”

“I do not wish to argue the point,” he said. “Shall we fight? Or will you attempt to parley with the Bandit King? He may be more interested in your talents than having your corpse.”

I shook my head. “Never. Let us begin.”

Shine raised his staff and swung it, catching me by surprise. He cracked the side of my skull with the sturdy wooden rod, sending me spiraling backwards. This gave him time to step back and begin a spell. He spoke words aloud that caused the earth to rumble and the wind to blow around him.

Fire Spirit did not emerge as it was recharging itself. The damage done was so powerful that I probably wouldn’t be able to summon it during the fight. But that didn’t mean I was unarmed.

While on the ground, I grabbed the Fireball spell and threw it forward, watching as the flaming ball burst out and rushed Shine. The wizard held up one hand, still chanting, and blocked the ball, catching it in midair with a force around his hands. He raised the ball up high and with a flick of his wrist, sent it flying back towards me.

I rolled out of the way, but the ball was aimed towards the earth. It struck the ground and exploded, burning my whole right side as I rolled.

I yelled in agony as the flames scorched me. Shine continued to cast his spell, gathering more and more power with each second.

“Don’t die ten seconds into the duel!” Rupert shouted from the distance. It was clear my assistant would not be rushing in to disrupt this fight.

I climbed up and spun around, grabbing the Harlequin card. He worked independently and I had no time to focus, not with the pain searing through my leg. I released the silent joker and at once, the knife-wielding Harlequin went loping after Shine.

The wizard stopped uttering his spell, sending the gathered energy inside of his staff orb, where the light began to gleam brightly. He turned his attention to the encroaching man and with a swing of his staff, knocked the Harlequin back.

This opened up room for me to make my second attack. I had to go big here and that meant bringing out the big guy. I focused and seized the Greater Earth Elemental card, raising it to release its power. At once, the massive gorilla-like rock monster arose from the ground, instantly locking on to its target.

The wizard blocked a knife jab from the Harlequin with his staff and then spun around, hitting the mime in the side of the head, knocking him to the ground. In one fluid motion, Shine aimed the tip of the orb towards the Elemental and released a beam of pure white energy.

The Elemental stomped forward, enduring the energy beam as it tried to burn all the way through its body. I could sense the Elemental taking damage, quite a bit too. I had to intercept.

Mossvines time. Drawing the vines, I called upon the Maiden of Moss’ power to rise up and seize the wizard and his staff. The vines burst out of the ground, grabbing hold of Shine by the legs and arms, as well as by the staff.

In an instant, he was pried away from his precious spellcasting equipment and the beam went wild, striking out towards the sky for a moment before fading away. I willed the vines to bring Shine straight towards the Elemental, who was winding up for a punch. The wizard tried to break free with a spell but was too slow. The punch connected and sent him reeling back, the force so strong that it tore him free from the vines.

“Damn, a little too much power,” I muttered. “Harlequin, finish the job!” I ordered.

The silent assassin nodded at this and followed after the fallen wizard. The man struggled to get up for a second and then, in an instant, he was right beside me. “Do you think you can mess with a man who knows how to stop time?” Shine asked, grabbing me by the throat with an arm made out of iron.

I gasped, choking as he seized me, lifting me up high and crushing my throat so hard I could feel the air being squeezed out of me. I kicked, over and over again at his chest, but to no avail. My focus vanished and with it, so did the Harlequin and the vines. The Elemental remained, but it was searching for the target, not knowing where to look. I couldn’t direct it mentally, as I was too busy fighting for my life.

I raised my right fist up and punched as hard as I could, striking the wizard in the eye, but his skin was like iron. He must have cast a few spells when he stopped time. Dammit, I had no idea that kind of power was available to a wizard. That was kind of unfair in terms of scale.

A loud clang echoed out as Shine suddenly jerked to the left. His grasp loosened for a second and I was quick to kick off his chest using my legs, prying myself free of him and launching me away. I quickly summoned the Elemental to move over to me.

Behind the wizard was Rupert, sword drawn and ready for action. There was a slight amount of blood on his blade, as if he was strong enough to strike through Shine’s iron skin.

“Now that’s my employer, so if you’d kindly beat it,” Rupert said. “I won’t have to add yet another wizard to my kill list.”

“You dare intervene in a contest of might between spellcasters?” Shine bellowed, reaching a hand out. He muttered three short phrases and Rupert was yanked into the air, his arms and legs stretching out. The popping and cracking of the bones was rather audible and I grimaced at the man’s agony. Still, he had done his job and now I was safe to summon the stone twins. They should be able to solve this problem.

The Elemental rushed forward and grabbed me, following my mental command to hoist me upon his shoulder, so the wizard could not catch me off-guard anymore. The Twin Guardians arose and I was quick to throw the Grey Wall around the wizard, to ensure he couldn’t run off, even if he stopped time.

“Damn it!” Shine yelled as the warhammer of the first twin struck him, smashing his iron body into the ground. Dust flew up and poor Rupert was freed from the spell, sending him crashing to earth in a heap. “This was pure sabotage!” he cried as the greatsword slashed across his staff, severing it in two.

“Maybe it was,” I said, “but you’re trying to kill me, so what did you expect? A good clean fight?”

Shine raised his hands to create a shield of magic, but the light sparked and fizzled. He couldn’t speak any words without being interrupted and he stayed in place on the ground, showing he was done for.

“Yield and we’ll put an end to this,” I said. “I’ve no reason to kill you unless you insist on fighting to the bitter end.”

“You did not win this one! Your ally interrupted. This was a joke of a duel. I could have slit your throat when I had stopped time, but I refrained.”

“Oh right, you wanted to just crush it instead,” I replied. “You have ten seconds before I drop the shield and let my Elemental finish this.”

“Fine! I yield, I yield,” the wizard cried out.

I released all my spells at once, trying to land on my feet. This didn’t work out as I was driven to my knees, the amount of concentration and energy burned going to my body immediately. It was impressive that I was able to push out so many spells at the same time. I guess the adrenaline of being so close to death can really make a difference.

“Good,” I said, huffing and puffing. “Now take what’s left of your staff and go. I don’t want to see you again.”

“You will,” he said. “I will report this to the Bandit King and he will demand your head once more. And I will come and take it. This peace lasts only today. So you best leave before I find you.”

Chapter 30

I wish I could say that I was a tough guy, staying in place after the wizard warned me, but the truth was, I was terrified of running into him again. Shine was powerful. Really powerful. He held a power I could only dream of and it was cheap tricks and quick magic that had defeated him. In reality, he underestimated me and now, he would be coming after me without holding back.

I couldn’t afford to fight a wizard who was ready to throw everything at me instantly. I barely held my own. That time stop spell…everything would have been fine if he didn’t have something so damn powerful.

“My ankles too!” Rupert complained as I led Persnickety through the shrubbery. We were off the beaten path in order to avoid being seen by the bandit patrols that had been dispatched immediately after we fled.

I wasn’t afraid of being caught and defeated by said bandits, I could handle them fine with my magic. The trouble was that they might be under the surveillance of Shine and then…well, I’d be screwed.

“Relax, he could have done a lot worse to you,” I said, patting the horse as it carried the whiner.

“I think he was in the process of doing the worst,” came the reply.

“We’ll take you to the witch and she’ll patch you up.”

“And after that?”

That was a good question. I wasn’t sure what the next step was. If it wasn’t for that single wizard, I’d be able to make a heyday out of destroying the enemy fortress, sending the Elemental in to smash the walls down. Then it would be easy to stage raids on them. The best part was, all this working out was improving my ability to sustain these summons. Each day I raided, I grew stronger in terms of mental stamina.

The trouble was the wizard. Now I understood why they were at the top of the hierarchy. They were slow to cast, but if they came prepared, with a few spells ready to launch…it wouldn’t end well. And that had been the case for me, as I had discovered.

The old wizard back at Upper Cathode came to mind. Mecius was a good man, a bit grumpy but he treated me with kindness and respect. If Sophia could teach me some basics about controlling magic flow, perhaps he could show me some tricks on dispelling or avoiding wizard magic. Maybe there were some spells that I could learn.

But there was a problem with this thought. I wasn’t a regular spellcaster, so I’d need to put the spell inside one of my cards…all of which were full. Damnit, this was frustrating to be limited by my finances. But I suppose this is what all adventurers must face.

Dropping Rupert off at Sophia’s hut, I took a quick trip back to the imperial camp to look at the job board. The Captain had mentioned something about an ogre in the area and that sounded like a great way to earn some coin. Hopefully I’d have more success with this than with the previous job.

Thankfully the job board was outside the camp, easily accessible without having to explain to the Captain that I was still working on the other job.

An Ogre has taken up residency within the Brown Bear Forest and has become a frequent harasser of passersby, traders and guard patrols. The forest has been blockaded for now and the detour is several miles alongside the forest. The Merchant’s Guild of Upper Cathode is willing to pay 2 gold pieces for the head of the Ogre and the reopening of the route. Furthermore, the Imperial State has offered a supplementary reward of 25 silver for performing this valuable task for the Empire.

Two gold and twenty-five silver! That would be perfect, enough for two empty cards, meaning I’d be able to learn two spells from Mecius. All in all, this would be a successful venture, should I be able to take down such a beast.

I noticed that one of the tags had already been removed from the quest. That meant someone else had taken on the job. Hopefully they weren’t successful. I didn’t want to lose out on such a lucrative job.

I returned to Sophia’s hut to see how things were doing. Rupert was on his way to recovery, having two broken ankles and a snapped wrist from Shine’s telekinetic attack. He was laying in the recovery area, on a hammock that gently swung back and forth in the breeze.

“Man, you’re putting me through my paces,” Sophia said, wiping sweat from her brow in a pantomime. “I’ve never had to do so much work before.”

“Yeah well, it’s been a busy few days,” I replied. “I’m going to be heading towards the Brown Bear Forest and then after that, I’m heading back to Cathode.”

“Don’t you have a fortress to fight on your own?”

“That’s going to have to be after I learn some dispelling magic. There’s a single wizard over there who almost annihilated me,” I replied.

Sophia nodded at that and sighed. “Wizards are at the top of the heap, always. Give them enough time and they can do quite literally anything.”

“Indeed. Speaking of magic, give me the summoning book.”

Sophia laughed nervously. “What? Oh I burned that, remember?”

“The chances of you having burned that book are infinitesimally low. But I can use it to trade with the wizard Mecius to learn some defensive spells,” I replied.

“Well, why should you get it?” she fussed. “I’m the one who went through all the effort to get such an artifact.”

“Because I feel like it’s only a matter of time before you try to summon something else only for it to all go horribly wrong again,” I said. “You’re a bit too curious, Miss Sophia.”

“It’s the witches’ credo to be curious, even to the point of it being a terrible idea,” the witch replied with a laugh. “But alright fine. Let me fetch this accursed book and get it out of my hands for good.”

Sophia entered her hut and began moving things around as she looked for it. A few minutes later she came out with the book in hand, gingerly stretching it out towards me. “Do I really have to give this up?”

“I’ll make it up to you somehow,” I said. “I’ll see if maybe there’s something for witches in the city. Or better yet, you could come with us on this adventure. I wouldn’t mind the extra company.”

“Oh I’m not really a witch who’s meant to leave her home,” Sophia replied. “Herbalism, teas and mystic extracts, those are my specialties. Adventuring is too rough on the digestion.”

“Fair enough,” I said, bowing to the woman. “Then I thank you for your time and your aid.”

“Good luck on your ogre hunt. I hope you don’t have to come back with only half an arm, because I can’t regrow limbs.”

Chapter 31

“Pal, it’s an ogre,” the guard manning the detour had said to me as I showed him the medallion. “Do you really think it’s worth the pay?”

I had told him that the pay was indeed worth the danger and besides, I wasn’t scared. I didn’t particularly know what an ogre was, other than a big, scary monster, but I had my own assortments of big scary monsters in my employ. Hopefully I would be able to take it down quickly.

“So you’ve never seen or really studied an ogre, but you’re positive we can kill it?” Rupert asked as he walked next to me, limping a little as his injuries had not yet recovered fully.

“I’ll be able to kill it,” I said. “I just need you here to cut off the damn thing’s head once it’s dead. Ugh, that’s so gruesome.”

“Well, how else are you going to verify it?” Rupert said.

We continued to chatter as we walked down the road, the forest eerily silent. The trees surrounding us were heavily damaged, bent over and twisted as if something had been rubbing up against almost all of them. I heard bears liked to rub against trees, but I didn’t think they were big or strong enough to fully bend these big, sturdy pines over.

“Hey!” Rupert said. “Look at that, meat!”

“What?” I asked, looking up to see that there was a pile of meat in the middle of the road. Before I could say anything, Rupert rushed up to look at it. His foot snapped a tripwire and immediately two logs came swinging down from above, both on opposite sides of him. I dove forward, driving him to the ground as the logs smashed into each other.

“Oh gods!” Rupert yelped. “My ankle!

“You absolute dumbass!” I shouted. “How did you fall for an animal trap?”

“Seriously,” a stern voice said from the woods. I quickly climbed to my feet and watched the woods to see who it was.

A tall, bearded fellow with an eye patch and a cutlass in hand emerged from the wood, looking right at me with suspicion. “I would not expect anyone with half a brain to go after a pile of meat in the middle of an abandoned forest.”

Rupert said nothing and sheepishly rubbed the back of his head.

“You’re a fellow hunter, I take it?” I asked, making a show that I had no intention to draw my own weapon.

“Perhaps,” the stranger said. “What are you after? Bear?”

“Something much bigger than bear,” I replied. “We’re after the ogre of the woods.”

“Ah. Then we are in competition, for I’ve been relentlessly hunting such a creature for weeks now. It is strong and very resilient. Most of my traps have been wearing it down, but I’ve yet to make a clean injury that would make close-range engagement viable,” he said.

“Oh, isn’t that a shame,” I replied. “I’m sorry to hear that.” I paused. What was I supposed to say here?

“This job is already claimed. I’ve done a number on the ogre already, so you have no rights to come in and take control,” the hunter calmly explained. He raised his cutlass up a little. “By hunter’s rights, I can fight you if you try to poach my game.”

“I’m here as a lawfully employed adventurer,” I replied, showing him the ticket I had pulled from the job advertisement. “This is just as valid as yours. If you want to work together, I might consider it, but otherwise, this is a competition.”

The man snarled. He took a half step forward. Rupert, much to his credit, drew his sword and stepped in front of me. “Easy there, pal,” Rupert said. “What I lack in common sense, I make up for in brutality.”

“Hey, easy, both of you,” I said. “We’re still in the Emperor’s Land. That means the law still applies and that means murder and assault are off the table. Look, Mr…”

“Sanderson,” the man said.

“Mr Sanderson, an ogre sounds like serious business. We can split the reward easily enough.”

“I’ve no intention on giving up two whole pieces of gold and a half-cart of silver,” Sanderson said. His voice was so stern and irritated, as if I had ruined his entire plan by arriving.

“Then it’s a competition,” I replied. “Because if you won’t share, neither will I. But I warn you, if you try to fight for your ‘rights’ to this game, you’ll lose. Badly.”

Sanderson replied to this by reaching his hand back like lightning, drawing a hand crossbow from his back and firing it right towards me. In the blink of an eye, the Fire Spirit appeared to take the shot. It raised its burning hands and fired a bolt back, striking the man square in the chest.

“Enough!” I ordered the Spirit, mentally directing it to hover over the man. “You really tried to take a shot at me.”

“The hell…how…are you a wizard?” he coughed, gasping for air as the heat above him began to smother.

“I’m a Convoker. And up until now, I was willing to work together, but now I’m taking this job as my own. If you get in my way, I will take you down. Understood?”

“Yeah!” Rupert said, thrusting his sword in the air.

Sanderson gasped and dropped the crossbow. “Fine, fine,” he said. “You damn sorcerers. Coming in and stealing all my hard work at the last moment. I riddled this forest with traps. I directed the ogre into an area that would become lethal for it…and now you come to take all of my hard work from me? Just pry it out of my hands with a snap of your fingers?”

I felt a little bad about that. Then again, I wasn’t the guy who just tried to murder someone over a job dispute.

“You can play the violin somewhere else,” Rupert said. “Cause it’s clear if you had gotten Arthur in the throat, you’d be laughing it up right now. In fact, I’m wondering why we don’t just administer some street justice right here?”

“No, Rupert,” I said. “You’ve gotten your warning, Sanderson. If we see you again, it better be under more polite circumstances.”

With that, we left the man to ponder his actions. Though I talked all tough, the fact was, I was shaking pretty hard after that exchange. The crossbow bolt threatening to hit me square in the face was terrifying and the only reason I was safe was due to Fire Spirit taking the hit. I needed to find some better way to keep myself guarded from physical attacks. Maybe there was a magical artifact that could be acquired at the Cathodean Auction House. Something to shield me perpetually.

Rupert took the lead, since he was a man of the woods. He was good at tracking and spent the day scouring the land, carefully searching for spore that would lead us to the ogre. Eventually, we were in range to hear a strange and hideous roar.

The sound was awful; it sounded like a trumpet blaring with sandpaper scratching the sound, warping and twisting it. I could feel my courage fade quickly at such a sound and Rupert’s knees started knocking together too.

“M-maybe we go back and ask that trapper man to help us,” Rupert said as the roar sounded once more. The direction was straight ahead, past a particularly dense line of trees—trees that were all bent over.

“Relax, just hang back. Your only job is to drag me away if I get knocked out. Or maybe shoot the thing with arrows. But only if it looks like it’s going down. I don’t want you to get killed before you can cut the head off.”

“Har har,” Rupert said. “Damn, I can’t believe I’m following you around now. Fighting fortresses, wizards and ogres…why oh why did I think this would be a good idea?”

“Because of the money I dangle in front of your face,” I replied, shuffling through my cards to put together my quick access deck. The Grey Wall, the Twins, Earth Elemental and Fireball. These would hopefully be the right combination to put this beast down quickly. Or at the very least, keep it occupied while I summon other things.

I also pulled out the licorice that had been given to me by Ian the Eidolsmith. It would refuel my concentration abilities when chewed, and I couldn’t think of a better time to use it than now. I’d wait until things got hairy and then would take a bite. I strapped it to the front of my vest in such an angle that I could just lean my head down and chomp. I’m sure my mother would be proud to see such innovation.

We climbed over the bent trees to see a huge, hulking beast on the other side. My eyes went wide at the sight of the sixteen foot tall giant humanoid. It wore horns atop its head, curled like that of a ram’s and carried an immense club made of a tree in its right hand. The beast was flesh-colored, with a big white patch on its bulging belly that overhung the rest of its lower half. The legs were like thick tree trunks and I could see the knees were made of thick cartilage with bone protruding out as if forming some kind of defensive cap.

There was a thump beside me. I glanced to the left to see that my ally had passed out upon seeing a beast of that size. I must admit that my adrenaline spiked at the sight of something so large, but I ignored the fear. There was nothing to worry about, not when I had my magic at my side.

The ogre turned in my direction, its single eye locking onto me. It let out a hoarse yelp and slammed the ground with its club. This sent a shockwave of earth towards me, uprooting the tree I was standing on. I was thrown wildly into another tree, my bones cracking as I struck a branch.

I fell to the ground, but managed to catch myself, rolling forward and leaping up. The massive club came down towards my head this time, but I was faster than the beast. I drew the Grey Wall and formed the shape up right above me, creating a forcefield that endured the smash of the club easily.

The beast bounced off the swing, stumbling backwards, confused by what blocked it. I stretched out with my mind and summoned the Earth Elemental, though it was unfortunate that this thing only came up to half the ogre’s size.

The ogre paid no mind to the growing collection of earth and stone, instead slamming on the grey shield once more. I endured the blow, concentrating to keep the Grey Wall nice and strong. In fact, I had an idea! On the third swing, I wrapped the shield around the club itself, trapping the ogre’s arm in midair. It tried to pry itself free but was stuck, one arm suspended in thin air as the shield held firm.

The Greater Earth Elemental bellowed as it bull-rushed the ogre’s kneecap, smashing and punching as hard as it could, though the armor plating seemed to protect the beast. The ogre switched attentions to this elemental and with one hand seized the stone creature, lifting it high into the air.

The beast raised its arm so high that its underarm was perfectly exposed. No better spot to strike! I raised a hand and cast Fireball, slinging the burst of flames straight into the creature’s underarm, the strike catching the creature off guard. It shrieked in pain and fell over, the other arm twisting and snapping as the shield continued to hold it suspended in midair.

The grey shield couldn’t hold the whole of the beast’s weight coming down and flickered, forcing me to release it before my concentration started to drain. Things were going well, the beast was on the ground now.

I riffled through the deck and drew Harlequin out. “Go!” I ordered the silent assassin as it appeared out of thin air, white energy flashing to herald its arrival. The clown rushed across the land and climbed on the back of the fallen beast and stabbed its blade straight downward, eliciting a yelp from the great creature.

The ogre rolled over with lightning speed, crushing the Harlequin instantly, giving it no time to escape. The energy struck my deck, but my concentration was not sapped, the Harlequin was too lower level to really bother me at this point. What did hurt was the ogre bringing both fists together, smashing the Earth Elemental into pieces.

The stone beast broke and the energy returned to me, hurtling like a boulder. It struck me square in the chest and drove me backwards as I fumbled through my deck. That was a lot of cards down in a rapid succession. Who next?

Fire Spirit emerged as soon as my thoughts went towards it. Our symbiosis was growing stronger, for the spirit was able to sense when I wanted it to come out versus when I needed it to rescue me. I was needing to focus less and less upon the spirit when it came out as well, allowing it some level of autonomy on the battlefield.

The spirit flew high up in the air and began bombarding the ogre with flames. The ogre roared at this and raised its arms to shield itself, the fire bouncing off its rubbery thick skin.

“Come on,” I groaned, watching as the ineffectual attacks continued. The heat did nothing to dissuade the monster, as it was too tough to feel any of the heat. Instead, it swung its club at the spirit, though my Esper was able to dodge left and right in midair, keeping the beast distracted.

I groaned, looking at my two cards left that I hadn’t thrown out yet. Mossvines or Banshee. Banshee was incorporeal, meaning it wouldn’t be hurt by the ogre’s attacks. That might work out better than Mossvines, since all I’d be able to do was pin the thing down—and I doubt that would even work for long.

I drew the Banshee card and gasped as I tried to summon it. My legs trembled and I fell to one knee, trying to keep myself upright. It was a strong card. Pulling it out took too much power. I remedied this by taking a bite out of that licorice.

In an instant, I felt as if a bolt of energy had struck me right in the head, sending power all the way through each nerve ending in my body. I leapt up and with ease summoned the Banshee.

The phantasm arrived, shrieking at the top of its lungs. The sound wave pulsed out, immediately striking the ogre. The noise was enough to stun the creature and it ceased swinging its weapon at the Fire Spirit. Instead it merely stood still, head rolling around in a circle as it tried to recover from the stun effect of the shriek.

The Banshee flew up with long fleshly claws, slashing and cutting across the ogre’s body, rending the flesh and drawing blood for the first time. The big beast roared in anger and tried to swing its club at the undead monster, but the club harmlessly passed through the Banshee.

It was working! The Banshee flew circles around the ogre, slashing and cutting, flying down to where I directed it, cutting arm, tissue and sinew. The hideous beast eventually gave up on swinging at the Banshee and turned its attention to me. I could see in its eye that there was a dim light of recognition, that I was somehow the one responsible for the Banshee hurting it. That wasn’t good…

I dodged as the club came smashing down beside me, but the resulting shockwave hurled me and I was thrown face first into a tree. My head cracked against the trunk and in an instant, both summons were gone.

I fell to the ground, on my back, wheezing for air. I still had plenty of energy, but my body was battered quite a bit. I drew Mossvines and quickly summoned the eight whipping vines. They rose up from the ground and wrapped around the ogre, grabbing his wrists and his neck, wrapping around his knees as well.

The beast was dragged to the ground, thrashing back and forth, but the Vines held it in place. This was working, but only for a moment, because I had nothing out that could damage it…nothing except the sword on my back.

It was a crazy plan, but the beast was restrained and its throat was wide open. I rolled over onto my knees and climbed up, grabbing my Truestrike Sword. Here was where I’d find out if this was the right weapon to have chosen.

I ran forward, hard as I could, the adrenaline crowding out the immense pain stabbing my ribs and knees. I leapt atop the stomach of the beast, keeping my footing steady by springing with each step. The vines yanked down harder and harder, keeping the neck exposed.

With a shout, I raised the Truestrike Sword and swung it down with all my might. The blade adjusted itself midswing, perfectly slicing the throat of the ogre open. Blood came rushing out, boiling blood that was so hot steam rose, despite the warmth of the forest. The beast roared one last time, gurgling and choking on its own blood before ceasing to move entirely. It was dead.

“I…I did it?” I asked, gazing down at the gigantic corpse beneath me. The blood was still flowing and the body was twitching a little, leading me to continue gripping it with the Mossvines.

Thwip! Something sharp struck me in the side of the neck. It was thin and painful. I grabbed at it, realizing it was a dart of some kind. “Aye, I suppose you did. Excellent work,” a familiar voice said. The world began to spin as the dart’s poison started to take hold. “It’s a shame that you fell asleep on the job.”

Chapter 32

The world swirled around me endlessly. Darkness came in and out, followed by a flashing silver light that seemed to push its way into my eyes over and over. Eventually that silver light began to turn into shapes and those shapes became people standing over me.

“There he is!” Rupert said, patting me on the shoulder. “I knew you’d pull through.”

I said nothing; my tongue felt swollen and sick. I turned to see that there was a stranger over me, a woman wearing a uniform of the Cathode Grand Hospital nursing staff. Was I…in the city?

“Haglagh,” I tried to say, the words in my mouth unable to get out properly.

“Easy dear,” the woman said. “You’ve just come out of a dreaming root coma. Your body needs time to adjust.”

“Feh?” I asked.

“It was that damnable Sanderson!” Rupert said. “I was sorta playing dead during the fight, but then he comes out of nowhere at the end and shoots you with a poison dart! I didn’t dare try to stop him because I had to get you to safety. Sophia couldn’t do much to bring you back but the hospital had the right equipment to help.”

“Sander…son?” I asked. The name sounded familiar. What or who was it? Sanderson! Dammit, of course, the hunter! He had attacked me after I killed the ogre. “Did we get paid?” I asked.

“Nope, he took the head. He’s probably living it up right now,” Rupert grumbled.

“Sir, please, you need to rest. Everything will sort itself out later,” the nurse said.

I closed both eyes and groaned. “Rupert, go to Middle Cathode and find my Grandpa. Lendrick, he’s not hard to find. Bring him here.”

“I hope your grandfather knows how to track down scumbags,” Rupert said, clapping me on the shoulder once more. “Because this isn’t over.”

“Agreed,” I groaned as the power of speech returned to me.

It turns out that I was poisoned with a very strong dreaming herb that would more or less render one unconscious until the antidote was administered or the victim died of starvation or dehydration. If Rupert hadn’t been around, I’d have been done for.

Time passed and eventually my grandfather arrived, excited as ever to see me. I was well enough to sit up now and was able to give him the whole of my adventures thus far. I told him of the ups and downs,, the successes and the failures.

To say the old man was delighted would be an understatement. He was beaming at the news of all the things I had done. And when I showed him the medallion, he had wept!

“Look at you, my boy! Adventuring is in your blood, I knew it! You were never a lazy kid, you just needed freedom to wander the world. To do your own thing!” Lendrick had said upon seeing the medal.

Then the topic turned to the most recent part of my adventures. The incident involving the wizard and the ogre, two losses in a row.

“Yeah, wizards are bastards all right,” my Grandfather said as I told him about Shine. “You’ve got to overwhelm them with speed and dirty tricks. A shot to the nuts is never a bad idea when dealing with them. If you let them start to mumble, you’re in trouble.”

“I’m actually hoping to learn some traditional dispelling magic,” I said. “From one of the wizards here.”

“Learn from a wizard? Bah, why not come ask me? I have all sorts of dispelling cards,” Lendrick said.

I looked at him curiously. “You’d give them to me?”

“Not all of them, but with what you’ve been up to, you’ve more than earned a few cards from my private collection. Let’s say two rares and…oh what the hell, two rares and an exotic. You’ve done a lot with what I’ve given you. It’s time you were properly rewarded.”

“Really?”

“Of course. And after that nasty business with that hunter, you’ll need something to put you ahead of where you were. The goal is to always advance with each action you take. I can’t let you do something as heroic as slaying an actual ogre without being rewarded. Sure that jackass is going to steal your reward, but face it, you were just going to spend that money on eidolons, weren’t you?”

“Am I ever going to be free of the urge to spend all my cash on cards?” I asked.

“Afraid not, it’s the Convoker’s Curse,” Lendrick said with a laugh. He dug into his side satchel and riffled through it for a moment, pulling out a deck. “Alright, gimme a second.”

He began to go through the deck, looking through and pulling a card out every few minutes. “You brought the cards with you?” I asked.

“I always travel fully armed. What, you think I gave you the cream of the crop?” he said with a laugh. “I’ve got a deck that could slay two ogres for breakfast.”

“We should duel sometime, when I’m more advanced,” I said.

“Hah, I don’t duel, it’s too much ego at the table. A lot of whining afterward on either part. You lose and next thing you know, you’re at Ian’s looking for all sorts of cards that’ll give you an edge. No way. That is a young man’s pursuit…”

My Grandfather stopped searching and handed eight cards to me. “Alright, pick three. Two rares and an exotic. And I better not hear you beg for just one more. This isn’t a candy store.”

“It may as well be,” I said, eagerly grabbing the cards.

Dispersion Bolt

Rarity: Rare

Description: Fires a bolt of anti-magical energy that dispels anything it touches. When it strikes the target, ends all active spell effects.

Wall of Blankness

Rarity: Rare

Description: Creates a wall of magical ‘static’ that prevents spells from properly targeting. The wall may be adjusted to any size or shape. Spells that pass through the wall become wild and randomly strike the area. Any active spells that pass through are shifted to another target completely.

Quiet Dispel

Rarity: Rare

Description: Dispels active spell effects on a target without them noticing.

Spell Absorption

Rarity: Rare

Description: When you are struck by a spell, you convert the magical energy into raw focus. This spell lasts for sixty seconds, regardless of how much you concentrate.

Counterspell

Rarity: Rare

Description: If activated while an opponent is casting a spell, immediately counters the spell and causes mystical backlash.

Redirect Bolt

Rarity: Exotic

Description: Creates a shield of redirective energy. When a spell effect strikes the shield, you may redirect the spell to go towards any other target.

Link Effects

Rarity: Exotic

Description: Secretly creates a link between you and target spellcaster. Any spell effect that strikes you is passed through the link to them instead. The stronger the spell effect, the harder it is to maintain the connection.

Lockdown

Rarity: Exotic

Description: Creates a square of null magic where spell effects cannot activate no matter what. This does not affect Espers nor eidolon spells.

These were incredible! The exotic rank was new to me; I didn’t even know there was something between rare and legendary. But here were three fascinating spells that would aid me greatly in fighting that damn wizard.

Lockdown was perfect. A square where spell effects don’t activate at all? This, when combined with something like Mossvines, would mean that Shine would be stuck in a useless box. Then I’d be able to finish him off with ease. If he didn’t yield, of course.

I was quick to grab Lockdown, then turned my attention to the other rare cards. The choices weren’t hard here either. Counterspell, Absorption and Dispersion Bolt all looked promising. They would give me flexibility depending on the type of spellcaster I’d be fighting.

“Do any of these work on other Convokers?” I asked.

“No, technically Convokers don’t use spell effects, they Convoke, so unless the language includes convoking specifically, counter-magic won’t apply,” he replied. “You seemed to snap those cards up awful quick. Is my collection not good enough for you to agonize over your decisions?”

“It’s more like I can see direct solutions to several problems I had with Shine,” I said. “And if that was a problem with one wizard, it’s a problem with all wizards.”

“Well said, my boy,” Lendrick said, punching me in the arm. “I’m glad you’re sharp about this kind of thing. Now then, I’ve a little quest for you.”

“Oh? Your gambling debts causing problems again?”

“Don’t be a smartass,” he replied, smacking me upside the head now. “Here’s the quest. Go find that Sanderson fellow and bring him to justice.”

“What? He’s long gone by now. He probably brought the head straight to the Imperial Palace and got paid,” I said. “That job is long gone.”

“Arthur, you are a Moss. Are you going to let someone dishonor the entire family name by attacking you from behind, with a poison, and stealing your hard work?” Lendrick said. “Think about it, boy. I’m not asking for you to do this out of spite or some misplaced need for revenge. It’s about maintaining the honor of our lineage. You were wronged and now you must make it right. And if you happen to get your gold back, all the better.”

Chapter 33

“This is seriously freaking me out,” Rupert said as we continued to walk up the stairwell. The attendant was leading us into the Chambers of Clairvoyance, where my Grandfather had demanded I go visit once I was out of the hospital. “Magic stuff spooks me.”

“Everything seems to spook you,” I said. “I can’t believe you passed out at seeing that ogre.”

“I’ve never seen anything that big in my life. I mean…how could you maintain your composure? All I had to defend myself was a measly sword and a bow with eight arrows,” Rupert fussed. “You at least have magic.”

“If you had kept your courage, you could have stopped that damned Sanderson and then we wouldn’t have to be in a wizard’s castle, freaking you out, as it were,” I replied with a smirk.

“Yeah, yeah, at least I carried your sorry ass all the way to the city.”

“How else were you going to get paid?” I replied.

The attendant led us up to the top of the tower, where a tall woman with pointed ears was waiting for us. She wore a long blue dress with a deep V cut in the middle, revealing quite a bit of herself. A beautiful golden broach with emerald and ruby jewels hung from her neck, capturing my attention.

Something was sparkling within the broach. No, not sparkling…moving. Was it a spirit?

“Greetings, adventurers,” the elven woman said. “I am Shashanna. It is a pleasure that you have sought out my clairvoyant services.”

“I am Arthur Moss,” I said, bowing deeply to her. “And I am thankful you are willing to have an audience with us.”

“Of course,” she said. “And my fee?”

I took out a bag containing twenty silver and handed it to her. “Here it is, ma’am.”

She held it up for a moment and bounced it in her hand, causing the coins to clink. “Thank you. Come, sit. We shall begin at once.”

Shashanna walked us over to a small table that was on the floor. She sat cross-legged at the table and looked down into it. As I sat, I realized the top of the table was entirely a mirror. I could see myself staring up back at me. I had certainly lost quite a bit of weight from my travels and I was growing a bit of a rugged-looking beard. When was the last time I had shaved?

“Now then, my services are simple,” the elf said. “I will conjure the location of the one you are seeking. You will be allowed to actively view them for a few minutes and then I shall embed upon your wrist a mark that will guide you towards them. But first I must ask a crucial question. Do you intend to harm the person I am seeking for you?”

“He is a lawbreaker,” I said. “I intend to bring him before the courts for his crimes against me.”

“I will hold you to that. I am not an accessory to murders and assassinations,” she said. “I will look in on whom you seek from time to time. When you get near them, my charm will alert me and I will observe how you interact with them. If I see anything criminal, I shall report you to the Imperial Courts and you best believe a farseer such as myself carries a great deal of weight in the courthouses. They will believe my testimony based on words alone.”

I nodded. “You have my word, I intend to bring him to justice. Violence may happen but that will be his decision. He stole from me and that must be made right.”

“Damn straight,” my companion muttered as we both gazed into the mirror.

“Stars and seas, shining brightly, reflect upon us the visage of the one who these men seek,” the Farseer said, her words flowing out of her like a song.

The table shimmered and a fog crept up across the glass, obscuring everything for a moment. Scales formed across the table and slowly melted away, each scale revealing a different image. These images were all of the same man, the hunter who had struck me down by surprise.

Sanderson’s images all slowly consolidated into one singular picture: that of the hunter holding up the giant head of an ogre to a bored-looking attendant. Words echoed around us. “A beautiful kill, isn’t it? Was one of the harder fights I had.”

“Yes,” the imperial attendant replied back. “A rank and foul trophy. Please, put it on the cart over there.”

“That looks familiar,” I said, gazing at the background of the scene. I could see the Imperial Job Boards and the large fountain that was present in Upper Cathode’s court district. “He’s here. In city! Is this real time, my lady?”

“It is actually a few hours in the future,” the seer replied. “It is no good to find out where a target has been. It is far better to know where they will be.”

“You hear that, Rupert?” I said, hopping up from my seat. “We’ve got ourselves some time to catch the bastard.”

Rupert rubbed his hands together. “And more importantly, we can still get paid for that job. Two gold!”

“Quite a payout,” the Far Seer murmured. She took out a rag and began to polish the glass. “Though too risky for my blood. Still, if you want to spend the coin as quickly as you earned it, my brother has a magical item shop in town. It’s on the corner of West and Third. It’s the kind of place that adventurers like you love.”

I opened my mouth to say no thank you, but realized it couldn’t hurt to check out a magical store at some point. Just not now, since I was intending on spending that coin at the eidolon shop to get an empty card.

We departed from the seer and were quick to ready a trap by the entrance of the imperial courtyard. Violence, of course, was forbidden by local law but the threat of it would be enough. Time passed until finally, Sanderson emerged from the crowd, whistling as he carried the enormous ogre’s head.

The damn thing reeked and the surrounding crowd quickly thinned out as to avoid the terrible smell. My own eyes watered at the stench of something so wretched and I could see Rupert from behind the corner, holding his nose.

“Hey!” I said, stepping out in plain view of the hunter. “You!”

“Aw hell,” the man said, halting in his footsteps. “How’d you find me so damn quick?”

“I have my ways,” I replied. I put my hand out towards him. “You have something of mine. Hand it over and we go our separate ways. I forget all about your assault on me. Or we can get into it here and now.”

“Piss off,” Sanderson spat, not noticing that Rupert was slipping up from behind him. The ex-bandit was stealthy, that was for certain. “This is the capital, you can’t just attack me in the streets. Guards will be all over you in an instant. And then it’s your word against mine.”

“I’m a registered adventurer,” I said, showing my medallion. “My word carries some weight here, at least when it comes to taking these jobs on.”

“Yeah, well I’ve got a hunting license for the state as well, so you can right bugger off!” Sanderson replied, showing me a medal of his own. While his hands were tied showing me the medal, Rupert drew his knife and cut the cord that secured the ogre’s head to the man’s belt, then took off.

It took Sanderson a few seconds to realize what happened. He turned around and shouted, but his reflexes were too slow. Rupert disappeared down an alley within seconds, carrying the head far from view.

“There goes all your ‘proof’,” I said. “Now, you can chase after him if you like, or you can call it quits now.”

“Yeah and I’m willing to bet there’s a few people waiting for me in that alley,” Sanderson replied. He growled at me and put his hand on his crossbow. “You’re really just aiming to be shot by me, aren’t you?”

“You shot me already, remember?” I said, gently putting a hand on my deck. “The question is, do you want to face the brunt of my magic?”

The man pondered this for a moment and for a second, I thought he might draw his bow and fire, but he held off. Instead, he merely shook his head and snarled at me. “If we cross paths again in the wild, be prepared to fight to the death.” And with that, he slunk off, scowling and muttering to himself.

Chapter 34

My business in the city concluded rather quickly, as I hadn’t intended to be in Cathode for terribly long. Turning in the ogre’s head and collecting the money had gone well. Since I had the proper documentation ticket for the quest and evidence of completion, I was paid promptly. That money instantly vanished at the Convoker’s Corner Store, where I purchased an eidolon hopefully to be of some use out in the field.

My goal was still aimed towards the ancient ziggurat, to rescue the Toad King, but I wasn’t sure if I was ready to face that ancient evil just yet. There was a temptation to just use the empty eidolon to capture the King’s essence, but that felt like a hollow victory. There had to be some way to defeat the evil inside. I just needed to be powerful enough to last being down there.

I had briefly visited Emelia on the way out of the city, to tell her to start doing some research on the temple itself. There had to be some story behind such an evil power and I wanted to know what I would be facing. She gave me some lip, but ultimately agreed once I told her that my plan was to evict the evil force within so that we could then be free to raid and delve through the temple as we pleased. That seemed to catch her attention quite a bit.

While she studied, Rupert and I were headed back to the bandit kingdom to finish what had been started. My visit to the wizard Mecius had been unfruitful, as he wasn’t able to teach me any dispelling tricks whatsoever.

“Magic is not something you can learn in an afternoon, boy!” the old man had said. “If you want to learn how to defeat a wizard at his own game, then you’re going to have to give a lifetime to the practice of wizardry. Best stick to the cards. Those are your best bet.”

Those words still echoed in my head as we rode back to the bandit kingdom. I had a few dispel abilities at my disposal now, including one that would protect me from that damn time stop spell. Hopefully this would be enough to even the playing field against such a powerful foe as Shine.

“There it is,” Rupert said as our horses pulled to a halt on the main road. Ahead was the familiar trail leading to the forest we had been hiding out in before. “I’m thinking I’ll take to the top of the trees this time. When that wizard comes out, I’ll shoot a bolt right between his eyes.”

Rupert motioned towards his brand new crossbow he had gotten from the city. Much to his credit, as soon as I paid him, he went out and purchased new gear entirely. Gone was his old studded leather armor—now he wore chainmail with a burgundy gambeson that would easily deflect most slashes. With his longsword and wide brimmed hat, he looked quite swashbuckling.

“Wait until I have him pinned with the vines,” I replied. “You don’t want a repeat of what happened last time, do you?”

The rogue rubbed his wrists instinctively. “I suppose not.”

We secured our horses a good ways from our target and made our way through the forest, readying for another long term assault on the fortress. Of course, the fight would probably start much sooner thanks to Shine’s presence. I’d wager the moment I start attacking, he would arrive to minimize the damage.

Emerging on the other end of the woods, I spotted the fortress, still in the same condition as I had left it. There had not been a lot of effort to repair things. The walls were still broken, doors shattered open and windows broken. There were guards patrolling the outside areas where the walls had collapsed in from the elemental’s prior attack.

“Odd,” I muttered. “You’d think they would have done some work to get those barriers back up.”

I tapped on the Banshee card for a moment, considering whether it would be a good idea to go back to my terror tactics from earlier. It would be a solid feint, alerting Shine to my position without wasting anything particularly powerful. Or I could just go full force and send out my Earth Elemental to smash the remainders of the walls…

A gleaming light from atop the fortress caught my attention as I pondered these options. It blinked a few times, slowly, as if trying to get my attention. What was it? My eyes fell across the light and for a moment I became fascinated with it. Something was trying to compulse me to move forward, towards the light itself.

Fortunately, I caught myself in time and looked away. A trap placed by Shine. It must be. Well, it wasn’t strong enough to—

“Back already?” a familiar voice said as Shine appeared right before me. “I figured you’d be gone for at least a few months. Maybe even a year to collect a few more trinkets to face me.”

Damn, it wasn’t a trap, it was a warning device. And I made eye contact right with it.

“I’ve unfinished business with this place,” I said. “But not with you. As I remember, you were the one who yielded last time.”

“See if I’ll do so again,” Shine replied. He held up a hand, however, to stay me. “But before we delve into crass arguments and fight with one another, I do have a message from my employer for you. He wishes to speak to you on a personal matter.”

“Oh?”

“Indeed. He has needs beyond what I am capable of doing and has found your abilities to be something he’d like. The pay would be exceedingly high, far more than what you’re making right now,” the wizard explained. “Probably ten times as much.”

“Ten times would be forty gold,” I said.

The wizard did not blink. “Oh, I didn’t realize you were being paid so low for such an insanely dangerous job. Your employer has certainly underbid this project. You’d be better off working with the Bandit King.”

I opened my mouth to say ‘never’ but…a plan crept up. My goal wasn’t to defeat Shine. It was to destroy the fortress, and what better way to annihilate the place than from the inside out? I could go along with this opportunity, hear out the Bandit King and then assassinate him, destroying the entire operation. Plus I’d be free to loot before the army arrived, finding that treasure the man was promising.

“I see treachery in your eyes,” Shine said. “Do not think yourself to be as smart as to fight the king on the inside. He has many defenders and I am only his fist. Do not dare anger his shield.”

I shrugged. “I’m just running numbers in my head. How do I know this isn’t some trap?”

“I give you my word as a wizard that you will be unharmed, as long as you behave,” Shine said. “The Bandit King must honor his invitations as well. So until you try something stupid, you are to be protected by his hospitality.”

“Ah yes, the famed hospitality of bandits and thieves,” I said.

“It counts for little amongst civilized folk, but between thieves it’s one of the only honors out there. Invite a man into your homestead and you may not rob him nor do him harm. It is one of the oldest laws out there,” Shine replied. He raised his staff up high. “Are you prepared?”

“Yes,” I said without hesitation. I had to prove that I wasn’t up to anything by agreeing instantly. That way he’d never see my real plan coming.

“Good. Then let us embark at once. Grab my staff. And I warn you—if you reach for those cards during the audience, you will die a quick and painful death. If not by my hand, by the hands of the countless other defenders within the palace.”

Chapter 35

Teleportation was blinding. I had never experienced such a jarring transition before and after the first one, I felt very much so that I didn’t want to do it again. Moving from one place to another without physically changing space was like being thrown upside down after eating a heavy meal. Everything within my stomach lurched and I felt nothing but sickness.

The flash of light faded and I was standing within the cold, dark walls of the fortress I had been laying siege to a week earlier. The place was terribly drafty, filled with darkness in every corner. A few braziers were scattered around, lighting up the walls where portraits were, but otherwise the place was covered in shadow.

There were many faceless people hugging the corners and the walls, gathered in the Bandit King’s court. They were all watching me with curiosity as Shine escorted me through the hall, up to the king’s throne.

The Bandit King himself was no one impressive. He was a scraggly fellow, wearing wolf furs and a tin crown atop his head. His teeth were mostly missing, and chained to his arms and legs were several slave women, all of whom looked as if they had seen better days. They attended to him, pouring wine into his goblet and feeding him grapes while fanning him.

“There he is!” the king crooned as I stepped forward into the light. “The man who thought himself clever enough to destroy my little kingdom!”

“I am Arthur Moss,” I said. “And who may I have the honor of speaking with?”

“I am King Eldred,” he replied. “Bandit Ruler of these lands. All who steal, steal under my name. All who plunder, do so with my permission and pay my taxes to take haven in my homestead. You wage war against me for what reason?”

“What other reason would there be?” I replied. “Pay. The Imperial Guard has given a bounty on your fortress and I intended to collect.”

“So you seek no vengeance for a loved one slaughtered? You are not here to make a name for yourself amongst the commoners?” the king wheezed.

I shook my head. “No, sir. I’m merely a mercenary adventurer, taking jobs where I can find them.”

“A madman adventurer,” Eldred added. “To think you can take on an entire kingdom alone. Sure, it may be one fortress, but I have great power. There are four men in this room right now who can easily strip you of your magic and annihilate you within seconds, should I give them the command. You never stood a chance of destroying us.”

“Then I suppose I should ask you to pardon my folly,” I replied.

“There is no need for pardon,” the king said with a laugh, wheezing once more. “If anything I should thank you. Your attacks caused a few who were overstaying their welcome to flee in terror. Good riddance to them. Now then, Shiny here is one of my best fighters and he came back with his ass so thoroughly kicked, it’s made me want to know if you’d be up for a bit of a job.”

“What’s the work?” I asked.

“Princess rescue,” the king said, grinning a wide, toothless grin. “Or really, princess relocating. I’ve managed to receive a map of where the Emperor’s princess happens to be held. A wandering knight sought my aid and when the survivors returned with his remains, they had a map leading right to Celestine’s location.”

I raised my head at that. “You know where the princess is being held?”

“Indeed! In the mountains of Cragneous, a dark and foul place where beings of the ultimate evil reside,” the king replied. He held up a cloth map and waved it up and down a few times. “I’ve sent several adventuring parties in to retrieve the woman but to no avail. They never return.”

“Why do you want the princess?”

“What concern is it to you?” Eldred replied. “I have the map, I’ve done the groundwork. All I need is for someone to go in and get the damn girl. Think you’re up for the job? I’ll be sending a few of my men with you as backup—and to keep an eye on you. A man as bold and ambitious as you should have little trouble retrieving her.”

This was quite a twist! I had heard plenty of rumors about the princess and her capture, including the Emperor’s offer of giving a castle for her safe retrieval, but this was completely outside of my expectations. This was certainly a job opportunity worth more than four gold. I could take the map, find the princess, bring her back to the Emperor and then have an army deployed to mow this place down and pave over it for good. Why bother fighting myself when I could have the most powerful man in the world take up the job?

“No doubt you’re pondering whether you could just turn the girl in to the Emperor,” King Eldred said. “But rest assured, whatever he promises I will give you double. He offers a castle? I shall give you enough wealth to purchase two. I’ve a dragon’s hoard of gold, my boy. Do not think that I am going to skimp out on an opportunity of a lifetime for myself.”

“I must ask, what do you have to gain from this, if not wealth?”

The scraggly king sat up and slapped a feeding hand away from his mouth. “Statehood. They call me a bandit king but only because the Emperor does not call me magistrate. I wish for this little patch of land to become its own sovereign power and I to be the sole ruler of it. Of course we’ll still bend the knee to the Emperor, but for the first time, I will become a legitimate ruler. And then I can begin to expand my domain, instead of always fighting back against the state itself.”

So the petty king wanted to go into the big leagues. This was quite the reach up. “I see. What’s my guarantee that you won’t just execute me when I return victorious?”

The king waved a hand at me dismissively. “Why waste a valuable resource? You do this job for me and I’ll have work for you for life. You will become a very rich man. And if you fail, what’s the harm? That’s an enemy of mine long gone. I win either way.”

I glanced over at Shine, who was nodding at me. As far as I could tell, this wasn’t a trap. The man was sincere in sending me. Though I’m sure his allies would be tasked with keeping a close eye on me. It wouldn’t be hard to take them down during the adventure, however. Or perhaps I could even convince them to side with me.

“Very well, if you are dealing fairly with me, I’ll take the job,” I said.

“Excellent,” the Bandit King said, clasping his hands together in glee. “Then the matter is settled. I shall make the preparations for your journey and you will depart in the morning.” He paused and grew a little more grim, leaning forward. “And I caution you, Convoker. Men here have memorized your face. Should you think to disappear with the prize, they shall be dispatched to end your life. Do not trade a hoard of treasure for a lifetime of looking over your shoulder.”

With that, I was dismissed and escorted to a holding cell where I would rest for the night. Shine was the one to escort me, along with a few mysterious men who wore hoods over their faces and carried scimitars that burned with blue energy.

“Not bad,” Shine said as we entered my cell. I would have preferred to have a regular room, but I could understand their desire to keep me locked up. After all I was a danger. Though, to be honest, if they didn’t take my cards away, there was little the cell could do to stop me. “You genuinely took the deal.”

“Yes, I did,” I lied. “No reason to pass up that kind of money.”

“Mhmm,” Shine said. He looked me square in the eye. “Just be careful. The team you’re going with isn’t one to be trifled with. It’s a classical party setup, rogue, cleric and warrior. All they needed was a caster. I wouldn’t try to get any bright ideas around them.”

“You aren’t coming?” I asked. “Seems like there’s plenty of money to be had on this adventure. Not to mention there’s probably plenty of treasure in those mountains.”

Shine laughed. “I put the adventuring life behind me a long time ago. No, my friend, now that I’ve gotten rid of you for good, I’m free to return back home and go about my business.”

“Until the next crisis, in which he pulls you back to him,” I said.

Shine stiffened at those words. I could see right away that I was correct on this matter, though he acted as if what I said made no sense. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Your debt,” I said, walking over to the cot that was resting against the stone wall. “It hasn’t been paid yet. Will it ever?”

“As long as my beloved draws breath, I owe him,” Shine replied slowly. I could see his fists were curling up at this. Quite the touchy subject, wasn’t it?

“Well maybe we can change that,” I said. “Surely the capture of the princess would be worth freeing you for good, right? Send one of the others home and come along with me. Two casters could work wonders together.”

Shine shook his head. “Eldred won’t give up one of his most powerful mages just like that.”

“What’s the harm in asking him? He craves power more than anything. Enough so to put his trust into a stranger who was thoroughly wrecking his fortress earlier,” I said. “Come join me and work your debt off.”

Shine looked around and held a hand up. A small wisp of energy enveloped us as he muttered something in a foreign tongue. The world around us became utterly silent, as if everything in the world had ceased making noise.

“You’re planning something,” Shine said. “I know it.”

I shrugged. “You can know whatever you like. My invitation is innocuous. You seem like a decent man, Shine. There’s no reason you have to keep serving as an attack dog to some third-rate bandit king.”

Shine frowned but said nothing. “What do you have in store?”

“Now why would I give you fuel to burn me with?”

“Because I talked you up to Eldred. Told him that you’d be better as an ally than an enemy and proposed this alternate solution. He ate it up quickly enough, since he’s been desperate to send another expedition out. I talked up the rarity of the Convoker’s power enough to convince him this would be different from all the other times we sent people out,” Shine said. “That’s as close as you’ll get to me saving you from this dumbass quest to destroy the fortress.”

“Is that true?” I asked. “You really convinced him?”

“It didn’t take much work. Eldred is not a bright man. But he compounds power quickly and rewards his allies amply, giving everyone a reason to keep him in power. When he feasts, everyone’s invited to the table. A rare trait in a bandit king, but one that’s kept him alive,” Shine replied. The silence around us grew stronger in between each syllable, as if it were actively interfering with our ability to speak.

“I see…” I said, wincing a little from the static sound in my ears. This silence was painful. I found myself tapping a finger against the metal bed to make some noise. “Very well. The Emperor wants his daughter back and is willing to pay just about anything,” I said. “My plan is to retrieve the girl, overpower my escorts and then inform the Emperor of the Bandit King’s plans, authorizing an invasion of the fortress.”

“Thus annihilating your foe while empowering yourself at the same time,” Shine said. “And you think that will work? You’ll be followed the whole time. Spies will keep tabs on you from a distance.”

I shrugged. “It won’t be hard to lose them if I’m with someone who can teleport us.”

Shine laughed. “You’re just making this up as you go along. Two minutes ago you didn’t have any teleportation ability. What would you have done then?”

“Who knows?” I said. “I’m an adventurer and a Convoker. I adapt to things as they come up. Planning ahead is the way of wizards.”

“I don’t fear the king, but I fear his allies,” Shine said.

“If the king goes down, his allies no longer matter,” I said. “You’re worried about a paper tiger. Hell, I’d wager the two of us could take him down together right now. That would solve a lot of problems easily enough.”

Shine shook his head. “No way. That escort who followed us in here? They’re Savian Spellcutters. Some of the fiercest wizard fighters on the globe. A unit of theirs ended up stranded in local area and Eldred took them in and gave them the highest honors. Now they hang around, get drunk and occasionally kill spellcasters.”

“Why didn’t they come for me?” I asked.

Shine shrugged. “They never leave his fortress. Man’s paranoid like that and they seem content to stay within the palace at all times. But they aren’t docile. The moment we try anything, we’re dead.”

“Then I guess we’ll make that the Emperor’s problem,” I said. I stretched out my hand. “Come on, what do you say? You and me together! Get that debt taken care of for good.”

The wizard hesitated. I leaned forward a little more. “You realize that a man with such big ambitions will almost certainly be calling you more and more, right? The moment he has power, you’ll be leaned on constantly. Don’t think it all ends when you go home. Who knows? He might just call you into his bigger court permanently.”

Chapter 36

The carts squealed as we rode in silence. There were six of us total: Jackson, a thick barbarian who barely spoke a word of Cathodean, let alone any other intelligible language; Louisa the Bleak, a cleric for some plague god; Tannic Lore, the pathfinding rogue who was our navigator and scout, and of course, myself, Shine and Rupert, whom I managed to take along with me.

Cragneous was far from here, to the north where the Tipover Peaks and the Hasling Swamps met. Getting there would take a few weeks of travel by wagon. The map was localized to the Cragneous region, leading to some place known as the Barrid Estates. There weren’t many notes on the map itself, just a passage leading straight to where the princess' last known location was. Whatever waited for us there was a mystery.

There were a few interruptions on our journey, mostly guard checkpoints. While the three traveling with us were ruffians, I was a licensed adventurer, so a show of my medallion was usually enough to get the guards off of our case. In some situations, however, the guards wanted ‘fees’ to pass by, but thankfully Jackson always knew exactly what to roar at them to get them to scatter. Not everyone in the imperial uniform followed the laws of the land and it was fortunate that we had some brigands who had little respect for said uniform on our side.

The first major interruption happened a week in, where our wagons came across a huge, overturned caravan that was filled to the brim with discarded merchant material. Silks, spices and consumer goods were scattered everywhere, along with half a dozen bodies, most of them torn to shreds by large rending claws.

“Woah!” Tannic cried, steadying the horses as they reared up, neighing in fear. They were not reacting to anything in front of them, but rather from the stench that had settled across the entire area.

“Gresha’s eye, what is that stench?” Louisa said, covering her face with her hood to block out the smell.

Jackson dismounted from the caravan and landed on the ground, taking in a deep breath. “Sphinx,” he grunted, drawing out his twin axes. “Biggun.”

“Are there any survivors?” I asked, looking at the bodies. No one was moving and the wounds didn’t look so fresh, though I wasn’t much of an expert when it came to injuries and how to tell their age.

“Not anymore,” Jackson said, swinging his massive axe into one of the bodies. It jerked at once and spasmed in the throes of a death knell. My eyes went wide at how quickly the man could dispose of life—without even seeing how bad the injuries were.

“Good move, any treasure is ours now,” Lore said, snickering as he dismounted, drawing his shortbow. “Of course, I’m guessing we’ll have to hunt this lion down before it gets the drop on us.”

“I vote we just go around and stop wasting our time with this,” Louisa said. “There’s plenty here for the beast to eat, no reason for it to risk its life on hunting us any further.”

“You’re assuming the creature hunts for food,” I said, pointing to the corpses. “I don’t see any bite marks.”

“It’s an animal, it probably dragged the dinner back to its den,” the cleric countered. “Let’s move on.”

Jackson ignored her and began to follow after a trail of drag marks. He veered off the trail and into the rocky hillocks where a wild overgrowth of bushes and trees obscured most movement. It was like a desert jungle of sorts, with winding curves and limited visibility.

“Looks like he’s on the hunt, come on, I’m willing to bet that Sphinx brought shinies back to its cave,” the rogue said, rubbing his hands together.

The pair departed immediately, prompting our cleric to cross her arms and sit down on the cart, refusing to get up. “Those two idiots can go and get themselves killed,” she said. “My job is to find that princess. Not chase animals around like a forest ranger.”

“I’ll go with them,” I said, waving to my other companions to stay behind. Shine looked quizzically at me, but said nothing. Rupert, on the other hand, seemed relieved at getting to stay back.

“Good luck,” Louisa said. “Don’t lose too many fingers.”

I didn’t intend to lose any digits, but if I could somehow arrange it so that Jackson didn’t make it back on the trip? That would be brilliant.

The barbarian was easily the one I feared the most. He was gigantic, brimming with muscle and wore a blue shimmering fur-skin that was immune to many forms of magics. I knew this because Shine warned me ahead of time about the big man.

“Jackson doesn’t speak much but be careful. He’s an accomplished magekiller and manhunter. I’ve heard tales of him hunting entire parties of adventurers for months on end, slowly picking them off, one by one, never relenting from his hunt until all were dead.”

Those words echoed in my head as I followed after the large man. The best way to take him down would be to stage some kind of ‘accident’ during the fight with something much stronger than him. I didn’t know what kind of creature a Sphinx would turn out to be but if it were big enough to take down an entire caravan of merchants with armed guards, then maybe it could put up a fight.

Lore was the least of my worries. He seemed to be a normal human who wore unimpressive leather armor and a face mask that concealed his identity. From what I could tell, he would be easy enough to take out. Perhaps the beast might handle him without any additional assistance from me.

We traveled in silence, following after the big man. Jackson swiftly rushed across the land, moving without making a single sound. His speed was marvelous and even Lore struggled to keep up with his pace.

The stench grew worse the further we moved off the trail. Blood, guts and fur permeated my nostril, sickening me to the core. Never in my life had I ever smelled something so disgustingly strong. It was almost nauseating enough for me to stop my march but I pushed through. I couldn’t afford to lose ground in this hunt.

Eventually we reached the bottom of a hill leading straight to a large cavern. Dried blood and scratch marks were everywhere, greeting us at the mouth of the cave.

“Looks like here is where the big kitty lives,” Lore said, drawing an arrow and placing it on his shortbow. “You gonna draw it out, Jack?”

Jackson said nothing. He merely knelt on the ground and traced his fingers against one of the scratch markings. His eyes focused intensely on the darkness of the cave and I felt a shiver run down my back as I watched him think. What was going on in that head of his?

“Trap,” he grunted.

“What?” Lore asked. But before he could get another word out, a hideous roar bellowed from the cavern.

The sound of half a dozen legs rushing greeted us as not one but three Sphinxes rushed out from the cavern, their large, lithe bodies lunging forward at incredible speeds. These catlike creatures had the long bodies of lions, with thick talons jutting out from their legs. Their wings were matted back, keeping the creatures aerodynamic for the charge.

Atop one of the creatures was a man! He wore nothing but furs, same as Jackson, and carried a lance in one hand. He lowered the weapon and angled it towards Lore as the beasts rushed forward. Though the rogue was able to dodge out of the way of the animal’s charge, he could do nothing to avoid the weapon surging towards him.

In an instant, Lore was in the air, skewered by the lance. The barbarian rider roared out in a hoarse tongue, mocking the man for being so weak. Blood sprayed everywhere as Lore struggled for a moment, then ceased moving entirely. He was dropped onto the ground and one of the other Sphinxes pounced atop the wounded or dead man and finished the job.

Jackson reacted to this attack instantly, raising both axes and bellowing out a deep challenging roar. He had no fear of these creatures, nor felt any loss towards his companion and merely darted towards the beasts, slashing his weapons in a flurry, striking left and right without hesitation.

His first blow quartered the hind leg of a charging Sphinx, dropping the huge beast to the ground. It rolled towards me, shrieking and hissing as it snapped its humanlike face towards me. It was recovering, but not faster than I could draw Fireball.

I threw a burst of flames towards the rolling beast and it ignited on fire instantly, yelping and shrieking in pain. This caught the attention of the Sphinx-rider, who turned his lance towards me.

“Die!” he bellowed in hoarse Common, rushing his ride towards me at full speed. I was prepared for this, however, and quickly threw up the Grey Wall around me. The lance came hurtling towards me but as soon as it struck the wall, it shattered into a dozen pieces. The Sphinx slashed a few times at the wall but found its talons to be useless against my defenses.

I groaned, holding the wall up as best I could. Jackson was busy fighting the other Sphinx, hacking it to pieces rather quickly, but not fast enough to come aid me from the two. My best hope was to hold this wall up and perhaps summon…

The Twin Warriors of Stone! They quickly rose up from the ground, their immense bodies looming over me. I stepped between both of them so that I was covered on both sides, then released the Grey Wall.

The shield vanished in an instant and the warriors were quick to take advantage of the freedom to strike. The warhammer swung hard towards the Sphinx-rider, knocking him back hard. He almost fell free from his mount, but at the last moment, the cat leapt back and kipped up, catching him on his back.

The longsword was effective at fending off the other Sphinx, driving it backwards as it advanced with large, unwieldy slashes of the blade. These two cats were huge, but so were my guardians. Sweat poured down my face as I maintained them, focusing as best I could to empower them with my excess concentration.

Jackson jumped into the fray, finally, leaping on the back of the unmounted Sphinx, catching it off-guard with his immense speed and stealthies. Two swings to the back of the neck were enough to bring the creature’s head off and the cat was on the ground, dead.

The rider took notice of this loss and was quick to retreat, falling back into the cavern. He vanished into the darkness, his roars of agony echoing everywhere. I fell back too and dismissed my summons, nearly collapsing from the strain. Holding that shield up then the stone warriors had been too exhausting to handle.

The barbarian took one look at me and snorted, then turned and rushed into the cavern. The sounds of violence, screaming and yowling from all sides echoed out, blending into a horrible cacophony of savagery. I stared into the darkness for minutes, watching and waiting for the end result.

Silently, I was hoping that Jackson would not emerge again. That all would go still and that would be the last of the man. But watching him in action…I doubted that was the case. His ferocity also made me wonder if perhaps it would be useful keeping him around until the end. After all, a tenuous ally who charges face first into battle every time would be exceptionally handy when facing all manner of horrific foes in service of saving the princess.

Time passed and eventually the barbarian emerged, covered in blood and guts. He was breathing heavily, bearing slashing wounds across his face and stomach. His right side looked to have been pierced with a dagger and that was where the most blood was pouring down from.

He pointed at me with one of his axes. “Potion,” he grunted, his red axe indicating towards my healing bottle that I had hanging from my belt.

The man’s injuries were great. I could see he was barely holding onto his axes, let alone standing up. I could finish him off right here and now…but that would be somewhat unsporting. It felt more like murder than anything else.

I found myself tossing him the bottle without hesitation. If anything, I didn’t want to piss him off any further. And besides, a man this strong was too useful to give up…yet.

Chapter 37

The cavern was full of blood and guts. Jackson the Barbarian had done an excellent job of rending his foes in half, then turned those halves into quarters and so on. Truly, he did not know the art of restraint.

I tried not to retch at the smell of fresh viscera freed from animal and man, instead focusing on what Jackson had been so interested in examining.

It turned out that the cavern had been this Sphinx-rider’s headquarters, where he robbed many passersby, feeding his animals and storing anything particularly precious. There was a king’s ransom worth of silver piled up in sacks upon sacks, totaling out to nearly three gold in total. There were some gems and jewels, but the one man who could analyze such things was now dead. Their value would remain a mystery until we got to town.

Aside from the coin, there were collections of fine silks, nice, royal-looking clothes and hundreds of bones scattered everywhere. The man lived in a state of madness, his bed next to piles of dead bodies that were mostly gnawed upon by this point. The meat that hadn’t been eaten was rotting, dozens of flies spreading around the area constantly buzzing.

“Treasure,” Jackson grunted as he lifted up a bag full of silver. “Lots.”

“Indeed,” I said. “How do you say we go about splitting this?”

The barbarian snorted at those words. He threw one bag at my feet, then dropped a bag at his. Another at my feet, then another at his. This repeated until we had half the coins properly divided. He then took the gems and jewels and placed them into his side pouch. With no effort to share those, he turned and left the area, taking his spoils with him.

“I guess the finery is mine,” I muttered, looking over the clothes. Most of them were taken off the dead bodies of victims of this Sphinx bandit. This I could tell from the way the clothes were tattered, cut and bloodied. Still, a tailor and a good wash maid, and these clothes would be good as new. And if I were going to be making an audience with the Emperor, it would be necessary to get some nice-looking clothes. No reason to let these go to waste.

As I looked through the robes, shirts and pants, a crinkling sound interrupted my thoughtless search. One of the pants had something in it. The pockets were empty, but the crunching of paper was almost certainly inside the clothing. I fumbled around for a bit until I localized the source of the sound, then with my dagger, carefully cut the stitching open.

“A map?” I said aloud, holding the paper up to the torch.

Levi, take this and hold on to it for a few months, until the heat dies down. Once it’s all clear, find it and bring it to the rebels, I’m sure they’ll have more use for it than I. Good luck, brother.

Below this note was a carefully drawn map of a farmland, somewhere just east of Cathode. What an interesting find!

I glanced up to see if Jackson was around, but the big lunk had already gone off. I pocketed the map and formed a little plan. I didn’t have time to be mucking around in some random farm in Cathode, but if I sent this to my dear friend Emelia, she’d no doubt have a fun time digging in and finding whatever these rebels had once been using. Who knows, maybe there was historical value behind the map itself?

Your mind is growing stronger, the Maiden of Moss said as I collected what valuables I could carry. Like a diamond, you held yourself indestructible against great forces. You raise impenetrable warriors from the ground and stand between two mountains of power. Choose now what it is better, to be an unstoppable force or an immovable object?

Select Card Upgrade:

Grey Wall of Givald -> Omnishield

Spell: Changes the Wall Esper into a Spell effect that shields you or a target for two minutes at a time. This shield is as strong as the Grey Wall.

Twin Warriors of Stone -> Titans of Rock

Hit Points: 10/10

Attack: 7/9

Defense: 9/7

Special: Activating this card summons two Espers that function together in unison. They do not require additional concentration.

My eyes grew wide at the Titans of Rock. The Twin Warriors were already my mainstay, since you got two for one…their upgraded health and strength was unreal. The Grey Wall was more useful to me as an Esper as well, since controlling the shape gave me a lot of different things I could do with it, such as building bridges or blockading enemies from certain angles of attack.

There was little hesitation on my part. With treasure in hand and a burning new card, I returned to my team to find them all eagerly awaiting my report.

Louisa was the first to walk up to me. Jackson was already sitting by the fire, eating a haunch of Sphinx loudly, paying no mind to anyone or their impressing questions.

“What in the hell happened? The big guy has said nothing to me,” Louisa said, putting her hands on her hips. “He’s covered in blood and reeks. And where’s Lore?”

I could see the mistrust in the woman’s eyes. She already didn’t like the fact that we had wandered off and seemed to have some kind of dislike of the barbarian, often making comments about how he smelled during the trip. I’d have thought a plague cleric wouldn’t mind bad smells, but this woman seemed to revile the man.

Perhaps there was an opportunity for me to sew a little more mistrust here. After all, this cleric was certainly not on our side. She had said as much to me on the first day of our departure.

“I know it was you attacking our fortress,” she had said to me, pulling me aside as we loaded up into the wagon. “And I will have you know that I worship a foul deity whose entire purpose is to bring dark plagues upon the earth. If I suspect even as much as a single bit of disloyalty from you, I’ll bring a pox upon you that will rot out your eyes from the inside, replacing them with worms. Understood?”

Her suspicion was great, but not necessarily poorly placed. But maybe it would be better to get her off my back altogether.

“Lore…er…he…” I hesitated, playing up my reticence greatly. I glanced over at the big lunk who was mindlessly chomping away on his meal, paying no mind to anyone.

“He what?”

I lowered my voice and turned my head away so we were facing opposite of Jackson. “He took a bad hit during our fight with the Sphinxes. It turned out to be a whole pack of them, led by some maniac barbarian. I wanted to bring him back to camp because you’re a cleric but…”

“But what?” the woman demanded.

“Jackson said he’d only slow us down and finished the man off as a ‘mercy kill’,” I lied. “It was gruesome, but he didn’t care. He just treated the man like a wounded animal and gave it not a second thought.”

Louisa gasped. Her face darkened as she glanced back at the big man and then back to me. “Maybe the man was beyond saving, my healing magic can only do so much.”

I shrugged. “Do you trust that monster man’s judgment? Because I watched him throw himself into combat without a single thought in his head. Nearly killed himself but didn’t care.”

The cleric sighed. “He’s a wild card. I’ve never trusted him. Just…keep your wits about you around him. And no more side missions. We just lost our navigator. Albeit we have a map, but still.”

“I propose you call the shots from now on,” I said. “I’m not much for overland travel and I know the others wouldn’t mind following your lead.”

“Don’t be such a bootlick,” she spat. “I know you’re just scared of my plagues.”

“I’m also scared of Jackson too,” I said. “I can at least understand why you’d turn on me. But him? He almost seemed to take glee in killing Lore.”

Chapter 38

The expedition continued for weeks after the loss of Lore. Tension was great the entire journey, and no one really spoke. Louisa ran the caravan at a near breakneck pace, but all complaints had been silenced by the first week, when it became clear that she would not be slowing us down.

Jackson knew nothing of my deception. The big man merely stayed ahead of the group as our lookout, marching for days on end without tiring. He moved nearly as fast as our caravan did and only returned to camp during the evenings when it was time to eat. Sometimes he’d come back covered in blood, but there was never an answer as to what he had encountered. Occasionally we’d pass slain imperial guard patrols to answer that question. Other times we’d pass nothing at all.

The Cragneous Mountains loomed over us, growing greater and greater with each passing day. Cold and bitter winds were beginning to blow the closer we got. We bundled up as best we could, but few of us were expecting to deal with inclement weather. The cold air grew worse when the rain began.

Four days we traveled alongside the Hasling Swamps, enduring long stints of rolling, ice-cold rains that fell over us every few hours. When the rain stopped, the wind picked up to keep us freezing in our seats. Things grew so bad that even our barbarian scout had to return to the caravan to sit and warm himself in his furs, shaking so bad that his teeth chattered for hours on end.

Our mood weakened considerably and exhaustion set in. I, having never ventured so far in my life, was on the verge of losing my sanity. There was nothing to do while traveling at such a great length. When you’re miserable, there is little to talk about and when the crashing rain comes down, all one can think about is what you would do to escape such a terrible situation. But nothing could be done. The plague cleric drove us forward and cared little for being so waterlogged. The only time we stopped was when the roads grew too muddy for our caravan to pass. Even then, I was forced to use my magic to create bridges to let the horses across.

Eventually, we rolled up to where the map began. The Valley of Cragneous.

The Valley itself was a desolate place, a world of scorched earth and blackened trees. No life grew within the valley, despite how much rainfall came down each day. The legend was that the cruel wizard Cragneous had given life to dark creatures that came down from the mountain to feast upon all living things within the Lifegiven Valley, so long ago.

Eventually these beings devoured all possible life from the lands, leaving it barren before returning back to the mountains of their creation, to settle down and sleep for an eternity. Some of those monsters were kept awake by Cragneous, placed within large dungeons to protect his experiments and treasure from those who dared to try and rob him.

Our target was one such dungeon, located in a secret entrance within the Valley itself. Getting up into the mountains would be a suicide mission, because the creatures that lived there were numerous and teeming. They would awaken the moment life entered the mountains and every manner of monster and monstrosity would be vying to feast on the precious scraps of living energy before returning to their perpetual slumber. Few ever returned from the mountains.

Those who did were adventurers who often came back with riches beyond all imagination. They had managed to find access to the many dungeons of Cragneous and through sheer determination, skill and perhaps even supernatural ability, conquered dungeon after dungeon, growing powerful enough to fight the hordes and escape through the mountains themselves.

Our secret access would take us into and out of the same dungeon, the one where the princess was supposedly being held. The trouble would be fighting our way through such a dark place, especially without our rogue.

“There!” Louisa triumphantly cried as she pointed to the large, skull-shaped rock by the long black tree. “The entrance!” She held up the map to show the crude illustration of the skull rock with the X beneath it.

“About time,” I groaned while the horses grinded to a halt. We all clambered out of the wagon, clothes still soaking wet from the last rolling wave of rain that crashed across us. We had almost made it a full day without getting rained on.

“No loafing about,” the cleric demanded as she immediately began unpacking crates. “Gear up, arm up and get ready to go. Take only what you need, anything else we can forage inside.”

“Not a lot of supplies left anyway,” Rupert said. “Not when half of it got ruined by those worms.”

“They aren’t worms, they’re maggots and they’re sacred,” Louisa replied. “Far more valuable than your ass.”

Rupert said nothing more and merely wrung out his socks, drying them out in silence. He shot an annoyed look at me, but I shrugged. Nothing I could do to make her less nasty to the team.

Shine approached the skull rock and examined it for a moment, waving a shining hand around. “Here, in the dirt,” he said, reaching down. With a heft, he pulled up a trapdoor, revealing a deep tunnel into the darkness.

“Well, it looks like this is it,” I said. “No backing out now.”

Jackson grunted and shoved me aside, walking up to the tunnel. He dropped down quickly, grabbing onto the ladder and climbing his way down. Shine cast a spell animating a ball of light to follow after the barbarian, ensuring that he’d be able to see.

Rupert went next, followed by me, then Shine and finally Louisa. The darkness swallowed us all, despite Shine’s powerful light. It was almost as if the darkness itself were alive, trying to push its way into the sphere of energy that kept it at bay.

We descended into a wet cavern full of dirt and mushrooms. They glowed a little, reflecting the light from the bobbing orb that followed the barbarian as he marched forward.

We fell into line almost automatically. The cleric followed after Jackson, Shine and I walked side by side and Rupert covered the rear with his crossbow. Tension grew as the silence of the underground overtook us all. The only thing we could hear was footsteps against moist dirt and an infernal dripping sound.

Eventually, Jackson spoke. “Split,” he said, pointing at a fork in the road. There were two tunnels. One led down another cavern full of dirt and mushrooms, while the other was smooth and paved with cobblestone. There was a large door waiting at the end of one tunnel, whereas the other kept going infinitely in the darkness.

“Man, we don’t know what we’re working with here,” Rupert complained. “Any choice is arbitrary, left or right. It doesn’t matter.”

“Not quite,” Shine said. “We know that the wizard who built this dungeon actually constructed it, so left would take us into the actual dungeon. The other tunnel looks somewhat natural. Perhaps some burrowing creatures dug through it or maybe it’s just a natural fixture.”

“Still doesn’t answer the question of which way the princess is,” Louisa said. “Most likely this will just be a trial and error kind of situation. I’ll keep a map going and we’ll mark every area we take until we are able to find the girl.”

“Well, we don’t know if the girl’s actually being held inside of the dungeon itself, right?” Rupert said. “It would be less dangerous to check out the tunnel on the right first. Maybe some bandits or some gang built a hideout here, knowing most people would stay away due to the reputation.”

This didn’t sound like a bad string of reasoning. “Plus the tunnel might not be as deep as the dungeon, so if anything, we at least have some time to get our bearings as a team,” I added.

Jackson grunted and immediately began walking to the right, heading down the natural cavern outgrowth. We followed after him.

The big man took six steps forward but was interrupted by a shlurk sound. A long spike came firing out of the wall, stabbing him right in the shoulder and pinning him to the wall. We all froze in our steps.

“Dammit, a trap!” Rupert said, stumbling forward. “No one move! There might be more!”

The ex-bandit was quick to examine the ground, lifting up a tripwire that had gone slack. “Just the one.”

Jackson was stuck to the wall, the long spike having gone all the way through him. But much to our surprise, he was still alive.

“It must have missed his vitals,” Louisa said, cautiously approaching the big man. We gathered around and grabbed onto the large, sapphire blue spike and pried it out of the man while Louisa healed him. Dark tendrils of magic warped around his shoulder, sealing the wounds up with a horrid squelching sound. The smell of pox and disease was everywhere after her spell finished.

“That was disturbing,” Shine whispered to me.

“As it should be. Gresha’s power over life and death should always be accompanied by suffering of some kind. Just be grateful that it is merely scent that sickens you this day,” she taunted.

“Let me take the lead,” Rupert shakily said, drawing his sword. “I know a thing or two about detecting and disarming traps. Not enough to volunteer at first, but…damn it all, that was too close.”

Jackson snorted, but said nothing. He wasn’t shaken by the attack and seemed to care little about the help he had received. The moment he was free from the wall, he shoved everyone aside and merely turned his attention to following after our new rogue, axes drawn this time. Whoever set that trap would certainly be paying for it soon.

Chapter 39

Tripwire after tripwire was found by Rupert. The man was like a machine, walking forward every few inches and spotting something in the ground. Whatever was down this tunnel was either extremely precious or was a dead end deliberately designed to deal as much damage as possible to invaders who took the wrong path.

At one point, our cleric complained that we were going the wrong way, but we were too far down the corridor at that point to really consider giving up. The traps in place only seemed to make both Rupert and Jackson eager to find out what was on the other side.

Eventually we reached a large opening that led to several different tunnels, each one paved like the one we had seen previously. A strange skittering sound ahead caused Rupert to come to a halt. He raised his crossbow up.

“Did anyone hear that?” he asked.

“Above,” Shine hissed, raising his hand to send a beam of light towards the ceiling. Dozens of gigantic spiderwebs were strewn about the top of the cavern, with hundreds of bundles of man-sized websacs. Some were wriggling as if they were still alive while others were husks, cracked open and drained of their fluids.

The skittering grew more agitated from the shining of the light. I could see half a dozen spiders the size of wagons crawling around on the ceilings, their long bodies glinting from the light. They were multicolored creatures with dozens of shimmering rainbows reflecting off of their back pods.

“Ohhhh noooo,” Rupert said, shuddering as he backed up, crossbow raised high. “I draw the line at giant spiders.”

“They seem docile,” Shine said, moving the orb around to reveal around thirty of the creatures. They were skittering to move away from the light but made no movement down towards the ground. “Perhaps they rely on ambushes.”

I drew two cards out at once. “Well, I’ve got an ambush for them.”

The Banshee emerged at once, flying high into the air and letting out a shriek that sent a white shockwave across the entire cavern wall. The spiders all ceased their moving at once, stunned and stuck in place. Emerging alongside the wailing spirit was Fire Spirit who began shooting bursts of flames along the webs and at the stunned spiders.

With so much flammable material around, the destruction was a foregone conclusion. The spiders were all caught ablaze, curling up and dying along with their webs within a matter of seconds. The heat was strong enough to send a wave of warmth our way and for a moment there was reprieve from the cold, draftiness of the dungeon tunnel.

In the distance, there were shouts. Human shouts from the sounds of it. Immediately everyone drew their weapons and spread out, anticipating the arrival of those who were crying out. From each of the tunnels men in black robes emerged, carrying daggers, knives and ceremonial short swords.

“Interlopers!” one of the men cried out as he spotted us. “Get them!”

“Of course, it’s a spider cult,” Louisa said as she drew her morning star. She waved her hand and a noxious cloud of fumes covered the weapon, enchanting it with all manner of terrible plagues and poxes.

Jackson did not need to wait for permission to fight. The moment the men emerged, he charged forward, hacking and swinging his axes like a blur. One of the cultists was casting something but he didn’t have time before the barbarian hacked him in two, spinning around in time to catch two more knife-wielding men who tried to jump him from behind.

The Fire Spirit came flying down to support the barbarian, shooting cones of flames towards the open caverns as the men came pouring out. There had to be nearly thirty men, perhaps one for each spider we had seen above, but they were frail and died quickly to crossbow fire, banshee touch and barbarian strikes.

Minutes passed and the fight was over. The shouting had stopped. A few were left alive and I had to quickly intervene before Jackson could cut them all down.

“Stop! Let me talk to them first!” I protested as the big man axed two at once, leaving only one standing.

The big man grunted and pointed towards the one who had been least injured from the fight. His leg was missing but the fire from above had cauterized the wound, leaving him on his back, hands up in terror.

“I save,” he muttered, shoving me towards the man. Louisa came alongside me as well, cackling a little.

“Look at that wound. No doubt he will catch any number of horrid diseases from it,” she said. “The cost of stopping bleeding can be great.”

“Let me do the talking,” I said. “At least, until we need to threaten him.”

The cleric nodded. “Very well. We shall save the intimidation for last.”

We walked over to the young man. He was in his twenties, spry and well fed, with a bushy black beard and several ritualistic tattoos of spider legs carved from beneath each eye. The tattoo work was not well done and looked to be a rush job.

“I yield,” he said, holding his hands up to prove he was unarmed. “Please! Please don’t hurt me!”

“That really depends on what you tell us,” I said, kneeling beside him. “Now, who are you and why did your group find it fit to attack us?”

“I’m Ladio…first acolyte Ladio of the Spindren Order. Please, man, I’m just a grunt. I do what I’m told.”

“And what were you told to do?”

“Kill the invaders,” Ladio replied. “Same as always. You’re in our sacred grounds, those spiders you killed were divine icons in service to our goddess. The only penalty for that is death.”

“And you didn’t think to put up a sign that cautioned such a thing?” Louisa asked. “I’m a cleric and I am not here to piss on anyone else’s god.”

Ladio grew silent. “The spiders feast on those who enter looking for treasure. And for those who join our cult and prove to be unworthy.”

I glanced over at Louisa who shrugged and took over. I was unsure of what to ask the man next. An acolyte on defense duty wouldn’t know the inner workings of the temple. It wasn’t like we could just ask about the princess.

“We’re looking for Princess Celestine,” Louisa said, apparently not knowing the subtleties of investigation as well as I. “Tell us where she is and we’ll let you live. Lie and I shall summon maggots the size of your arm to eat your entrails until you die from sheer agony.”

The man grew alarmed at those words. His eyes went wide. “I have no idea where she is! I’m just a temple sweep, I do guard duty as a means to keep them from sacrificing me!”

“So they have her?” Louisa asked. She drew her morning star and aimed it right towards his head. “Where are they keeping her?”

“The princess came of her own accord, I swear it!” he said. “She came right up to this tunnel and called out until we came to greet her. I don’t know anything past that.”

“The princess entreating a cult of some dark spider god?” Louisa said to me. “This is starting to get good.”

“You and I have different definitions of good,” I said, rubbing my forehead.

“Please, let me go,” the young man said. “I’m just gonna escape, fast as I can. They’ll torture me and turn me into one of those spider monstrosities if I go back anyway. No one will know what you’re looking for.”

“I don’t think he has anything else for us,” I said. “Let him go.”

“Indeed, I think this well has run dry. But someone like you has some uses,” Louisa said. She immediately swung her morningstar down, smashing him in the side of the head.

“Woah!” I shouted, leaping back. “What was that for? He wasn’t a threat.”

“Yes, but I needed a host for this plague I’m going to summon. His corpse shall make for an excellent carrier,” Louisa replied. “There is no reason for us to fight an entire cult in order to get our hands on Celestine. Instead, I shall entreat up Gresha the Graveplague and bring a disease to this body. We draw back and wait a few days. Those who come in contact with him…will carry something effective and ruthless into the temple. Then it will be easy to storm the place and kill these foul cultists.”

“And if Celestine contracts such a disease?”

“Then she is unworthy to be Empress, let alone even live,” Louisa said. Her eyes were glowing with a pallid green and I could see the fanatical hunger on her face. The damn woman was out of her mind.

“Absolutely not!” I said, grabbing her by the shoulders and shaking her, trying to snap her out of her bloodlust. “We are not risking the payout of a century just so we don’t have to expend ourselves of any energy to rescue her.”

“Unhand me,” she growled, shoving me off. “I’m the captain of this operation.”

“What’s the problem?” Shine asked, intervening between us. Just at the right time!

“This psycho wants to create a plague that will kill everyone in the temple. Everyone including the princess.”

Shine shook his head. “You were warned about this, Louisa. She needs to come back with us unharmed. Our employer would flip his lid if he discovered she were infected, even if you were able to cure it.”

“It is against my faith to cure any disease,” the foul woman growled. She looked at the both of us. “But if Gresha truly blessed my path, Celestine would be untouched.”

“I’m not willing to put my eggs in that basket,” I said.

“Neither am I,” Shine said. “If this cult has the princess in their possession, then we best press on and try to find her. Perhaps if we pose enough of a threat to these people, they will return her.”

“It’s a little more complicated than that,” I said. “The, er, princess came here willingly. From what the acolyte told us.”

“Oh damn it all,” Shine grumbled. “And here I was hoping for a classic rescue.”

“Perhaps she bit off more than she could chew,” Louisa offered. “It may be a rescue just yet. Who knows? But alas, we should keep moving. All of these unattended bodies are driving me mad.”

Chapter 40

The doors before us were sealed shut with several runes scribbled upon them. They glowed with ancient power, shimmering with a poison green energy that felt threatening to look at. My stomach churned at the sight of such a glyph and I had to look away.

“You okay, scrub?” Louisa asked as she analyzed the glyphs.

“Something about those things look wrong to me,” I said. “Profane and sickening.”

“Yeah, these are definitely wards to keep out anyone with half a brain,” Shine said. “One touch and it’ll melt your hand off. Try to break them and you’ll be injected with venom. Not fun stuff.”

“This cult certainly has a powerful runecaster,” Louisa agreed. She shook her head and turned to face us. “We’ll have to find some other way around. That door won’t open up without those seals coming off and I’m not going to risk it. Not when there are two other passages we haven’t tried.”

“Bad news then,” Shine said as two orbs came floating back to him. They had appeared from behind us and flashed as they touched his staff. “My little scout rays found doors with the exact same runes on them.”

“I didn’t know you could scout ahead with pure light,” Rupert said.

“It’s a spell that requires me to stay still for an extended period of time,” Shine explained. “Only handy in a few scenarios. Like right now.”

“What if we just smash the doors open?” I asked. “Forget about the glyphs and their skin melting entirely?”

“Then you’d alert everyone,” Louisa said.

“Good,” Jackson grunted. He drew his axes and cut them against the cobblestone, leaving deep gashes in the floor.

I shrugged. “It’s either that or go back the way we came.”

“This was what Lore was supposed to do,” Louisa grumbled as she backed away from the entrance, waving me to go on. “Get us into places quietly. Any idiot can just smash his way in.”

“I guess today I’m an idiot,” I said, drawing forth the Greater Elemental.

With a flash, the great stone beast emerged from the card and ran forward at full speed, arms raised high in a charging maneuver. The stone door in front of him didn’t stand a chance and the runes flashed with warning lights of green and purple, but nothing could stop him.

The wall exploded as the elemental charged through, roaring at the top of his lungs. Shrapnel scattered everywhere and we quickly poured in after the giant, preparing to get the upper hand on whoever was on the other side of the door.

Hundreds of bodies greeted us. At first, we raised our weapons to fight, but quickly realized that these bodies were not living. Rather, we seemed to be in a mausoleum of sorts, with hundreds of corpses entombed in webbing. Their twisted and rotted faces were visible, as were hands and feet, but the rest of each body was covered entirely in webs.

“Where in the hell are we?” Shine asked, his staff glowing brightly enough to illuminate the features of each corpse.

“The bodies look to be somewhat preserved by the webbing,” Louisa said, half amusement in her voice. “Almost as if they were embalmed from the inside.”

One of the mouths near me began to move. “A thousand years and we shall return,” it whispered. The voice was so weak it almost sounded as if a gust of air was blowing in my ear. “A thousand years and she will awaken. We shall feed her and be reborn.”

“I think they’re saying something,” Rupert said. He was twenty feet away from me and leaned in close to listen to one of the bodies. “Something about being reborn.”

“Creepy,” I said with a shudder. “Let’s leave them alone. The last thing we want is for spirits to burst out and try to kill us.”

“You’re no fun. If we desecrated this place, we might weaken whatever goddess they worship,” Louisa said. “And you’ve not counted on meeting it here.”

“Why would a goddess be here? Shouldn’t it be in the underworld with all the others?” Rupert asked.

“Not all gods are strong enough to shed their flesh,” Shine said. “Many twisted and cruel ones are forced to slowly grow their power here in the mortal plain until they are able to transcend their bodies.”

“Indeed,” Louisa said. “I am thankful that Gresha’s watchful eye ascended long ago. To spend all my time cloistered in a cult like this would be such a waste.”

We fell silent as Rupert walked across the mausoleum, carefully looking for signs of traps. There was an exit on the other side of the bodies, but no one wanted to risk moving on their own. Instead, we all walked single file behind our rogue, careful not to touch any of the whispering bodies.

Eventually we made it out on the other side, free from triggering any kind of traps or attacks. The door in here was thankfully unsealed, allowing us to pass without making much noise.

The next chamber was a large circular room with a great pool of water. Steam rose from the waters and we could see huge clusters of eggs sticking out of the center of the pool. The water appeared to only be ankle deep.

Attendants were everywhere, washing the eggs, splashing them with strange green goop and even massaging the eggs. At first we readied for an attack, but no one seemed to notice us.

“They’re blind,” Shine pointed out. “Look. Their eyes have been plucked out.”

Indeed, these attendants were slaves, tending to these presumable spider eggs without the ability to see anything. They did not react to our presence. One drew near us but said nothing, merely carrying a bucket of goop to some other pool in the distance.

“Hey there!” Rupert said, grabbing hold of the passerby.

“M’lord?” the attendant said at once. He froze in place, gripping his bucket tightly in anticipation for some kind of punishment.

“Go find your boss and bring him here at once,” Rupert said. “On the double.”

Jackson grunted and raised his axes, but I waved him down. Rupert was on the money here. We wouldn’t get very far wandering around from chamber to chamber. We needed some kind of information. Maybe these slaves would be willing to help if they knew we would be able to free them.

There was no hesitation from the man. He dropped the bucket and rushed towards a cluster of servants who were busy carrying a batch of what looked to be fresh eggs.

“Where do you think the eggs are coming from? The goddess incarnate or maybe some kind of spider queen?” Shine asked.

“My money’s on a queen,” I said. “You’d think goddess hatched spiders would have put up more of a fight earlier.”

“Either way, if we find it, we have a hostage. These spider worshipping jackasses wouldn’t dare do a thing to threaten their livelihood,” Rupert said. “So I say we skip searching room to room for the princess and just get out weapons aimed at who really counts. Trade, one for one.”

“An audacious idea,” Louisa said. “But not a bad one. A parley might spare us weeks of agonizing hunting and fighting.”

“Feh,” Jackson said. “Weaklings.”

“Calm yourself, Jacky-boy, you might get to kill yourself a goddess,” Rupert said, slapping the big man on the back. “I bet you’ve never dreamed of a hunt like that.”

The big man grinned a little at the idea. I could see the shine of psychopathy in his eyes, that bloodlust that drove him to hunt and kill. I’ll be damned if maybe this guy really could kill a goddess.

A servant wearing red robes approached us at once. He had only one eye missing. “Who are you?” he hissed, hands clasped together in fear. He was quaking. “And what are you doing in the royal birthing chambers?”

“We’re just here to talk,” I said, stepping forward. “For now.” I gestured towards the hulking man behind me. “But if you give us any reason to put up a fuss, it’ll be those eggs we go for first.”

“I understand!” the servant said, raising his hands up. “Please. We are just slaves here. Royal attendants. We have no treasure or anything else in our possession.”

“Who is making these eggs?” I demanded.

“Who else would be? The Queen Spider, Neggadine. She produces hundreds of eggs but only the blessed ones are brought to these chambers.”

“The ones blessed by your spider goddess? What’s her name?”

“Dineah! I don’t understand why you would be here if not to entreat upon Dineah’s blessings. This is not a place for outsiders, as her people are unforgiving and cruel. You will be taken and turned into monstrosities or worse, sacrificed to the royal den! Leave this place now, before you are set upon by the inner guard!” the man warned.

“We aren’t afraid of whatever you bug worshippers have to offer,” Louisa interjected. “Tell us where this Neggadine is.”

The man shrank down, putting his hands above his head. “The Queen Spider is blessed! You cannot set your eyes upon her!”

In the distance, there was some stirring. One of the doors opened up and a few men in dark red robes with long green halberds came marching out. They appeared to be on patrol, moving in a circular pattern around the pool, moving in our direction.

One of them took notice and raised his halberd towards us. “Hold there, strangers!” he shouted. “Leave the dredge alone.”

Weapons were brandished and spells were readied, but the patrol did not rush towards us. Rather they seemed to approach as if they were simply making the rounds. Their approach was cautious and from about ten feet they stopped.

“Who are you?” the leader of the band, a man whose face was concealed with a wooden spider mask, demanded. “And what are you doing in the birthing chambers?”

“Shouldn’t it be hatching chambers?” Louisa snickered. I raised a hand to silence her. Something was off here. These men were the inner guard. Shouldn’t they be charging towards us? After all, the outer guard didn’t even give us a word edgewise, they just committed to complete and total destruction.

“We’re here on behalf of the Emperor,” I said. “To retrieve the captured Princess Celestine.”

The guards all stood up straight, readying their own weapons in perfect synchronization. We were outnumbered; they had ten on their side, but with Jackson, I highly doubted the numbers mattered.

“I see,” the leader said. “This is a sacred place. Dineah would curse us all for shedding blood upon her birthing pods. If you’ve come to fight, do it elsewhere.”

I raised an eyebrow. There was fear in the man’s voice. Fear of something beyond mere combat. “You won’t fight us?”

“Not unless you force us to,” he said.

“Dineah’s curse is that indiscriminate?” Shine asked.

“Her curse is our strength,” came the grim reply. “But that supposed blessing is permanent. Something that cannot be undone and something few of us are eager to experience. But such is our lot as guard-thralls. Do us all a favor and leave.”

“Weak,” Jackson grunted. Before anyone could say anything else, the barbarian leapt forward, brandishing his axes and hacking the man in half. Like a whirlwind, he spun into three more men, cutting their heads off before they even had a chance to react.

The die was cast. Our team jumped into action, unable to do anything else now that Jackson had made the decision to recklessly attack. Dineah’s curse be damned, I suppose. Though I could not help but fear that it was us who would be damned by such a thing.

Chapter 41

Blood rushed into the waters as the bodies fell to the ground, one by one. These guard-thralls had no chance against a well prepared team of adventurers. Jackson alone took half of them down, with Louisa and Rupert finishing off the rest with speed and ease.

I stood, stunned at what had just gone down. The red blood poured from the headless corpses, draining into the birthing pool and turning the water murky. The bodies were twitching still, far longer than any dead corpse should twitch.

“Hah,” Jackson grunted. “Big talk about curse.” He kicked one of the corpses beside him and laughed once more, burying his axe into the side of the man’s body.

“You madman!” Louisa hissed. “Have you any idea what you just did?”

The big man ignored her. He merely turned his attention to the servant who had been standing helplessly near us this whole time. “Take us to Spider. Now.”

As the servant began to gibber and fuss that he had no chance of possibly knowing where the Spider Queen actually was, the bodies behind Jackson began to thrash and twist.

“Look out!” I warned, calling for everyone to back up. “Something’s happening.”

“It’s that damnable goddess, she’s reanimating them,” Louisa groaned. “Oh how I loathe the undead. Unlife is an abomination before She Who Snuffs Out All Candles.”

The corpses grew grey and bloated, bulging and spasming as they rolled into the waters, splashing in the blood-soaked pool. Pure red water encapsulated them in a geyser, the hot steam obscuring our vision of these bodies for a moment.

When the steam faded, what remained were terrible creatures with the bodies of spiders, but the torsos of men. Their heads were human still, but with red fractal eyes and long fangs jutting out of the sides of their mouths. They walked on six legs, with the last two raised up as weapons to strike at their foes.

In each of their hands were long, wicked spears that curved slightly, razor sharp teeth down the side of both shafts. Ten had fallen into the waters and now ten of these monstrous spidermen were facing us, standing well over eight feet tall.

The leader, who was still somehow recognizable, spoke with a dry, remorseful tone. “I told you that the spilling of blood would bring the curse. Now gaze upon your folly, and our unending torment!”

Jackson was unfazed by this transformation and let out a beastly roar, raising his weapons once more, but for once, he was too slow. Webbing fired forth from several of the spider soldiers, wrapping around his arms and weapons, binding him together.

They charged, all at once, rushing forward with ease as their newfound legs carried them quickly towards us.

“Now’s your time to shine dammit!” Shine shouted to me as he fell back, staff raised high. I could see the alarm in his eyes as he began to prepare a big spell. I had to play interference here, or we might get overpowered almost instantly.

I drew Fireball at once and lobbed one straight towards Jackson. His body was almost entirely consumed with webbing and I figured that would be the best way to free him. A little fire damage was the least of our worries.

The flames crashed into his body and as I hoped, the webs burned instantly. The warrior let out a mighty roar and leapt high into the air as soon as he was freed, landing atop the back of one of the spidermen. He stabbed and cut with his axes, but his adversary was able to twist his entire torso around and lance the barbarian with his spears.

Rupert yelped as two flanked him, firing his crossbow uselessly as he tried to run and shoot at the same time. Louisa was muttering something in a strange tone, bringing up mists of green noxious fumes around her ankles as she waved her weapon around.

I quickly drew the Titans and prayed that they would be strong enough to overcome this wave of monstrosities, or at the very least, provide a long enough distraction for Shine to get whatever spell snapped off. Why the hell he wasn’t stopping time right now was beyond me.

I threw the card in the center of the swarm and at once, there was a flash of bright beige light, followed by rumbling. Emerging from the bloodied pool were the Twin Warriors, though they were huge now, hulking at sixteen feet in size each. These expressionless titans immediately began to swing their weapons in huge arcs, striking the encompassing spiders with ease.

“Summoner! Get the summoner!” the leader shouted as he leapt clean over the titans, rushing right towards me.

The Fire Spirit flew out instantly and ignited the world before me, unleashing a cone of flames towards the charging foe. But my opponent’s reflexes were quick; he was in the air seconds before the fire touched anywhere close to him. The spirit flew up to face him, but the manspider ignored the spirit’s attack, enduring a blast to the thorax as he came crashing down towards me, both front legs angled towards me.

I tried to dodge but everything happened so fast. Next thing I knew, I was on the ground, impaled by the twin legs. They stabbed clean through me, into my midsection.

“Help!” I gasped, grabbing one of my cards. I had no idea which one it was, but the blinding panic followed by the intense sensation of numbness rushing through my entire body had me scrambling.

The Harlequin appeared beside me. Immediately it took note of my condition and with a pirouette, it slashed the legs clean off the spider, leaving me impaled but unattached to my foe. The latter yelped in agony from the blow and was thrown off balance, giving my Fire Spirit a chance to rain down bursts of fire upon the back of the creature.

The flames consumed the man and he screamed most horribly as the fire devoured him within seconds. The Spirit faded instantly after that, having consumed all of my focus in order to channel such an intense spell. My assailant was dead, however, burned to a crisp from such an all-out attack.

I gasped for air, the numbness not going away.

“P-poison!” I yelped, feeling everything get slower. My breathing was growing lighter and weaker as well. It would only be a matter of seconds before I was unable to breathe. “Help!”

“Poison is the fabricated disease of man,” Louisa said, standing over me. She raised a hand and drew a green substance forth from my body. “A weak and laughable thing compared to real illness.”

At once, feeling returned. A great deal of pain came along with sensation, but I didn’t care. I could draw breath!

“Thanks,” I grunted, pulling the shriveling legs out from my stomach. They had punctured me pretty bad, but Louisa’s spell was also healing me at the same time as curing my paralysis. She may be a madwoman, but she was at least a good cleric.

“Got it!” Shine said, raising his staff high into the air. “Begone!”

The white orb atop his staff grew brilliant for a moment and all sound ceased, as if it were being pulled inward. Then, a half-second later, a burst of energy came surging out of his staff, a burning white light that struck each and every soldier at the same time, piercing right through their hearts.

Corpses fell by the wayside, one after another, instantly dead at the hands of Shine’s spell. Their bodies collapsed over into the waters, slowly dissolving back into the blood red waters that had once birthed their new and twisted forms.

“Is…is it over?” I asked, climbing to my feet.

“It better be,” Shine said. “That was not an easy spell to cast.”

The wizard was leaning against his staff and breathing hard. Casting something of that magnitude had taken a lot out of him. Certainly more powerful than just stopping time.

“Rupert, you alive?” I asked, looking at the body of the man. He had collapsed on the ground, but I could see he was breathing still.

“Just playing dead,” he said, eyes still shut. “And trying to forget those nightmares.”

“Good man,” I said. Losing a second rogue this deep into a dungeon would be the worst possible scenario.

“Looks like we’ve got a man down,” Louisa murmured, pointing casually towards the waters where Jackson was kneeling. He was bleeding heavily from all over, his thick, sinewy arms drenched with blood. He was breathing heavily and had one eye shut.

“Heal him,” I ordered.

“Should I?” Louisa said, waltzing towards the man slowly. She stepped into the waters and walked in a circle around him. “Because the way I look at it, this entire fight could have been avoided had you not flown off the handle.”

“Don’t be dense,” Shine said. “We need him to fight.”

“Kill me or heal me,” the big man grunted. “Don’t care.”

Though he tried to talk a big game, we could see him all heaving hard for air. Jackson was struggling to stay upright, perhaps relying upon his axe buried into the ground more than anything. He closed his eyes for a moment and took a deep breath, then stood up, sheathing his weapons. The wounds continued to pour blood, but he paid no mind.

“Damn,” Rupert said. “Just heal the man. Unless you want to fight six of those monsters at once.”

Louisa waved her hand, releasing a burst of healing mist that caused the man’s wounds to reverse. I could see that she was growing uncertain about him. In truth, so was I. A huge hulking warrior without a leash was worrisome. Who knows what he’d do next?

“You need to control yourself,” Louisa said. “Next time, I’ll let you die.”

Jackson glowered at her, but said nothing. He merely pointed at the doors the guards had come from.

“We should get moving,” Rupert agreed. “After that commotion we just made, there’s no way we won’t have support troops showing up. And I do not want to see any more of those spider things.”

“Dineans,” the servant said. “That is what they are called. Blessed children of Dineah who have accepted her power.”

“No one seemed too thrilled about such a power,” I said. “How many of you people are slaves here?”

“We are all slaves to Dineah’s desire,” he replied dryly. “Her whims and choices influence who is in power and who becomes her blessed children. Few know this until they have erred and learned how little forgiveness there is in this place.”

We tried to pump the slave for more information, but he was difficult to speak to, as he was unwilling to betray any vital information. Threats clearly wouldn’t work, not when it was clear his body would just warp and become one of those hideous Dineans. Instead, we merely left him and the rest of his ilk to tend to the eggs, trying our best to ignore the strange sounds that were coming from within the pool, now that blood had entered the waters.

Chapter 42

There seemed to be no alarm as to our presence. Room after room we had passed through had been either empty or full of thralls who were uninterested in dealing with us. Unless we directly interfered with their tasks (which seemed to be entirely composed of religious rituals in service to Dineah), they ignored us almost entirely.

We snaked our way through many service halls and strange ritual sites until finally, we came across something that looked to be of real importance. Stairs leading upwards! We had spent our entire time on the ground floor, with our map progressively eliminating just about every crossroad we had come to. But the stairs were different, they were marked with many religious symbols that Louisa had identified as belonging primarily to Dineah’s domain of spiders and misery.

There were no glyphs to guard these stairs, rather there was a tremendous stone spider standing at the top of the stairwell, its long legs closed in front of the door leading up into what was presumably the holier chambers. Our hunt for the princess was getting closer to the end, I could feel it. The only question was whether it involved fighting the goddess, her chosen spider queen or some mad cult leader first.

Shine raised a hand up to illuminate the area a bit more, giving more detail to the spider statue that loomed above us. It had the face of a human woman, though the face was split in two, one half was snarling and feral, the other laughing and pleased. There was no hair atop its head, rather there were long spines jutting out from the back of the skull, three of them total. Each glistened with a different shade of green and purple.

The face contorted and the eyes came to life with a red glow. The head looked down at us. “You are not my kind,” it said quietly. “Why do you come to my chambers?”

We all glanced at one another. Was this the spider goddess? What was there to say? Louisa took the helm, perhaps for the best since she was a cleric and was versed in the ways of the divine. “Your followers were too weak to stop us from barging our way up here,” she said. “It is a pity they deny your will so easily.”

The face twisted at that, anger growing upon its visage. “You have come to mock me in my own realm? Do you wish damnation and torture? For I shall feed upon your souls, should I please it.”

“Nay,” Louisa said. “I have come to offer you a sacrifice. One worthy of becoming your blessed child. This sacrifice shall serve you everlasting and in exchange, you will give us what we seek.”

I glanced at Rupert. The man’s face had gone pale at the mention of sacrifice, but I didn’t think it would be our least valuable team member.

“A long way to come to make a bargain,” the goddess-statue said. “But perhaps I will be willing to hear what you have to say. What do you ask of me?”

“We wish for the woman Celestine. We know that she is within this temple, though whether she be here of her own volition is a question,” Louisa said. “Give her unto us and we shall grant you the sacrifice you crave.”

The spider shuddered. Though it were made of stone, the movement created the illusion of its skin crawling for a moment. Or maybe the stone itself was crawling. Either way, I found myself shivering at that sight.

“Ah yes, the beloved daughter of the Emperor,” the statue said, its voice dripping with cruelty. “She indeed came here of her own free will, in search of a power that few mortal beings possess. She found no such power here but merely became a fly in my many webs. Tangled up in lies and intrigue instead of death.”

‘What’s that supposed to mean?” I asked.

“You speak in riddles, is the woman alive or not?” Louisa echoed.

“She is resting in her first state right now, cocooned in a nightmarish slumber,” the spider goddess replied. “I have seen fit to reforge her mind but not her body. She will emerge as a loyal slave to me, without a shred of what once was.”

Shine tapped me on the back of the shoulder. “If she gives this info so freely, I doubt we’re going to walk out of this place without serious resistance.”

I nodded but said nothing. What the hell had I gotten myself into? This was certainly not what I had in mind when it came to adventuring.

Louisa laughed. “Even a petty goddess cannot resist getting involved in the Empire’s cogs and wheels,” she said. “You are naive if you think you can infiltrate the Emperor’s courts with a pawn, devoid of all personality.”

The face scowled and the spider statue shuddered once more. “You may call me petty but I am eternal compared to something as small and weak as you. A mere human is nothing compared to what lies on the other side of these doors.”

“Then open them,” Jackson growled, slamming a fist against the stone wall.

“Silence,” Louisa ordered. “If you wish for greater influence, then an alliance with our employer would do you better. He is a king who seeks Celestine so that he may grow his own state. The man is powerful and influential, with a knack for gaining many allies. You cannot simply leap into the courts of royalty and expect to be able to win the games of shadows and spies. But there are ways to step up from this pathetic hovel you find yourself in now.”

I found myself gritting my teeth. Louisa spoke without fear or worry, boldly making statements that I’d never dare say to a goddess of any kind, let alone the one who control the very world around us. But the cleric seemed to know what she was doing, as there was no sense of uneasiness in her words, or even treachery. She spoke matter-of-factly. Perhaps this was not some grand scam.

“I am intrigued by your offer,” Dineah said. “You represent a deity of great power and I can see the divine favor upon you. Tell me, what is your sacrifice? What would you bring me to seal a pact between us?”

Louisa grinned and motioned towards us. “Them, of course. These idiots have little value to me, but to you, they possess great power. A Mage, a Convoker and a Barbarian with strength of ten of your finest men, quite the deal, no?”

I held silent at this. Was this a bluff? A lie meant to convince the goddess to open the doors so that we may enter and slay her? Or was this the cruel cleric taking advantage of a sudden opportunity to go up in the world, taking us down to advance her own power? It was impossible to tell.

Unfortunately, my question did not last very long. As she spoke, a fever began to set in. Sweat poured down my brow and everything within my lungs set alight with fire as I began to hack and wheeze, unable to do anything other than cough violently. More coughing surrounded me as Shine and Rupert fell to their knees, gasping for air.

Jackson merely stood still, oblivious to what was going on. A green pallor surrounded his eyes, I realized, and I could see the trace elements of charm magic affecting him. Damn it! Louisa had indeed betrayed us. I tried to reach for a card, but the wheezing was too intense; without air I could do nothing but fall to the ground.

“You all stood around me for so long, ignoring all of my spells,” Louisa said with a cruel laugh. “You breathed in the air, as if I wouldn’t place something latent within your bodies. Incubation can be a cruel mistress, especially when it is I who calls it forth.”

Chapter 43

Unconsciousness took hold of me for a time as I passed out from lack of air. Many hands seized me in the darkness and I dreamt of only skittering noises and agonizing wounds to my stomach. For a while I was being dragged along the cold ground, I think, until finally, I awoke with a gasp.

“Where am I?” I groaned, sitting up as my head spun. The world around me tilted up and down for a bit. The blood was rushing to my head and I realized at once that I was upside down, bound by the spiders’ webbing.

“Good morning,” Rupert said. He too was hanging beside me, his face worn and exhausted from the pressures of being upside down for so long.

“Shine, you with us?” I asked.

“Here,” he groaned.

“Jackson?”

There was no reply from the barbarian.

“The big guy didn’t get plagued. He just followed after Louisa. I think she’s keeping him around for security until whatever deal is struck,” Rupert said. “You know I did not see this coming in the least.”

“Why are you so calm?” I groaned, wriggling left and right. It was no use; the webbing around me was tight to the point that even moving was painful. I tried to summon the Fire Spirit from my bond, but it did not appear. No doubt my cards were gone.

“There comes a point in terror where you just get past it, I guess,” Rupert said. “I’ve been scared witless for so long that now I just kind of feel numb.”

“There is a stark irony in all of this,” Shine said. “We wanted to turn the tables on the Bandit King’s goons but in the end, Louisa gets the last laugh.”

“This isn’t the end,” I grunted, still writhing despite how useless it was. “We’ll figure some way out.”

“My staff is gone and they took your cards,” Shine said. “All I can do are minor tricks and I need my hands for them. Unless you’ve got an emergency card shoved up your ass, we’re dead.”

An emergency card! Why the hell didn’t I think of that? Obviously I’d hide it somewhere else, but that would have been a good idea at the time.

“I’m not giving up until I’m dead,” I replied. “And you’re not allowed to give up either. Now focus on helping me figure out a plan.”

“You are tenacious,” Shine said with a heavy sigh. “But I don’t know what you could possibly scheme here.”

“Any thoughts, Rupert?” I asked.

“Eh, I’m no escape artist,” he replied. “Else I wouldn’t be in this mess to begin with.”

My heart sank as I fought to no avail. There was no getting out of this webbing from inside. What about the Maiden of Moss? Could I call out to her? Surely she should be able to transcend her card’s location, right?

I focused hard as I could, asking for her to send aid, a spell or just even a hint, but there was nothing but silence. So much for that avenue.

I grew silent after a while, still struggling to get out, but it seemed that each wriggle only made me more and more secure. Time passed by and I lapsed in and out of sleep, fighting off the aftereffects of whatever terrible illness had beset us.

At some point, there were people beneath us. Thralls from the looks of it. These bald men wore grey ceremonial robes and carried with them buckets of that strange goo we had seen in the birthing pools. A few of them had ladders and others were carrying mops soaked in the stuff.

“Looks like our preparation committee is here,” Shine said. “That material is going to break down our bodies but keep us alive. It’ll be like becoming a butterfly in a sense. We break down but still remain ourselves until rebuilt by…well, whatever the goddess intends for us. Well, I suppose I’ll remain myself, since you can’t strip a wizard’s personality and keep his power. The rest of you? No idea.”

Rupert groaned. “Man, the last thing I want is to become one of those awful Dineans.”

“Then figure something out,” I said. “And quick.”

The first ladder was placed, leading up to me. I swallowed hard as I watched the emotionless thrall climb up, step by step, bucket in hand. What could I do to get out of this?

“Hey there!” I said as the man reached eye level with me. He stared at me for a moment. I took the opportunity to keep talking. “Look, I know you’re a slave but let me level with you, that man over there is a mage who specializes in teleportation magic. If you cut him loose, he’ll teleport all of us out of here at once. We’ll be free for good.”

The thrall replied by smattering the side of my body with the goo. It glurched as it slowly began to spread across my body while he worked on it. “Are you serious?” I said. “You’re so happy with this life that you won’t even take a risk that you can escape?”

“Don’t bother,” he mumbled. “It is pointless to try and get out of this stage. You will be sacrificed as a great honor to Dineah.”

“If it’s such a great honor, why don’t we swap places then?” I growled. Something shifted as more of the goo was applied to my pod. The webbing was getting weaker! The substance was breaking apart the webs in order to encase my body. I had spent so much time wriggling back and forth that my legs and arms were decently apart, giving me some more wiggle room as the webbing eroded.

The trouble was that the goo was hardening slowly as it expanded. But I wasn’t about to give up. I kicked my legs downwards hard, feeling the webbing peel away, leaving nothing but that sticky substance wrapped around each leg. The substance hadn’t hardened yet, and I slipped down a little, sinking deeper into the web sac.

“Hold still!” the slave ordered. He tried to grab at my head but I was too busy wriggling around like a maniac. The further I resisted, the deeper I sank into the ooze. Maybe this wasn’t the best idea, but damn it, this was the only thing I could do!

My leg broke free from the bottom of the forming shell, swinging freely in the air. I was sightless from being inside the sac, but I knew something was nearby that I could kick. I swung my foot around, kicking the air as hard as I could, over and over, until finally I struck the wooden ladder, knocking it backwards.

The slave yelped when the ladder went tumbling away. I heard a creaking sound followed by people shouting from below.

“Let go of the webs, you idiot!” one of them yelled from below. “You’re pulling one of the sacs open!”

“Gotcha!” Rupert cried out. I couldn’t see what was happening but it sounded as if the slave had grabbed a web to hold still, only to break Rupert out by accident.

I continued fighting my way out of the gel, my second leg breaking free within seconds. I thrashed and pushed, fighting my way down like a worm burrowing underground to escape a predator. There wasn’t enough gel to reinforce the egg and I broke free, falling nearly twenty feet to the ground.

I landed on my right leg first, shattering it instantly. I cried out in pain, but forced myself to stand up, grabbing the nearby fallen mop and using it to prop myself up. The three slaves on the ground all looked at me in terror, but raised their fists to prepare to fight me.

A burst of light struck them in the eyes, however, coming down from on high, blinding them in an instant. I glanced up to see that Rupert had crawled across the webbing and managed to break open Shine’s pod. We were free!

The slaves scattered at the first sign of magical resistance, leaving me to grab the ladders left behind and prop them up so the pair could get down.

“Holy crap, you did it!” Rupert said. “You actually got us out of that!”

“Don’t count your victory just yet,” I said, wheezing. My right leg was on fire and I was only able to stand thanks to the mop I was leaning against. “We’re still trapped deep in enemy territory without our weapons.”

“Maybe you’re unarmed,” Rupert said, showing his knife, “but I always keep something handy.”

“Hard to see how one knife is going to get us out of here,” Shine said. He stomped on the third fallen ladder hard, breaking the rungs off. With some of the webbing, he made a makeshift splint and was quick to get my leg bound up. “Here, this will at least help you keep it straight while we run for our lives.”

“Thanks,” I groaned, looking down at the mangled leg. A break this bad was going to most likely leave me permanently injured. Healing magic could only do so much and the older the injury got, the harder it was to reverse the effects.

“Well, what’s the plan now, boss?” Rupert said. “Part of me hopes you weren’t lying about Shine being able to warp us out of here.”

I looked at Shine. The man shook his head. “Not without my staff.”

“What’s the point of being a wizard if you need your staff for everything?” I asked. “I mean, I’m reliant on my tools but that’s my whole gimmick.”

“Let’s not nitpick my profession,” Shine grumbled as he pointed to a group of shadows on the wall. People were moving in our direction, the torches betraying their presence before they arrived. “And let’s just get the hell out of here.”

Chapter 44

We fled the dark cavern where our transformation had been scheduled. None of us had a clue where we were going, but that didn’t quite matter. All that mattered was that we were in the opposite direction of the soldiers who were now looking for us.

Eventually we reached a large shrine of the spider goddess, in an enclosed garden with dozens of plants scattered about. There were a few benches within this shrine room, allowing us to seal the entrance we had come through.

“I can’t go on,” I gasped, sinking down against the now barricaded door. The pain in my leg was unbearable and I was on the verge of unconsciousness.

“Just rest then,” Shine said, patting me on the shoulder. “This place seems quiet enough. Only one other entrance on the other side and it would take them a while to reach us going around.”

“How do you know that?” I asked.

“I am just making that up to comfort you,” the wizard replied with a smirk.

“Look at all these plants,” Rupert said as he examined the various species scattered throughout this garden. “A lot of poisonous ones.”

“Oh yeah? You an expert on poison?” I asked.

“Trust me, when you forage for a living, you learn real quick what greens you can’t eat,” he said with a laugh. “Hmmm, numbnettle! This should be good for the leg.”

The rogue bent down and carefully plucked out green pointed leaves from the ground, lifting them up to show me. “These suckers can leave you unable to walk for days if you eat enough of them. One or two bites just numbs out the tongue, but if you make a salad? Say goodbye to mobility.”

With that, he approached me and knelt beside my leg. “But in a pinch, nothing makes for a better, localized painkiller. Sorry about the stinging sensation.”

And with that, he rubbed the plant up and down my leg. The burning of my leg seemed to ebb away as he slashed away, making sure every bit of the plant edge cut into my skin. The stinging was nothing compared to the pain I had been experiencing earlier and with each passing second, the agony faded.

“Oh my goodness, that is more like it,” I said, letting out a deep breath of relief. “I can barely feel anything.”

“It looks like this is an alchemical garden,” Shine said, motioning to a few more plants. “These berries can be distilled into paralytic agents. And these ceet plants…interesting. These ceet plants are exceptional at bolstering physical resistances to poisons. You just boil them down and drink the extract.”

“I thought herbs was a witch’s trade?” I said.

“Any good wizard studies a few years of alchemy,” he replied. “This is quite the garden here. If we can get some cooking tools, I could whip up a few boons.”

“Why use cooking tools when you could use a whole lab instead?” Rupert said as he pointed to the shrine of Dineah. The long altar in front of the spider goddess’ statue seemed to be innocuous at first, but he fiddled with a switch beneath the altar, revealing a hidden alchemy bench.

“Hot damn!” Shine said. “Finally a lucky break!”

“Yeah, I wouldn’t call being in enemy territory with an uncertain amount of time before we’re caught ’lucky’,” I said. “Even if we find a few bottles of moonshine.”

“Oh, shut your yapping,” the wizard said. “With a set up like this, I can get things going in no time. Rupert, start gathering herbs. If we cut some corners and ignore worries about certain side effects, we can get a lot done in a short amount of time.”

I watched uselessly from my position amongst the barricades as Shine worked like a madman. He had very little patience for Rupert, shouting at him constantly, barking orders like a drill sergeant. The poor rogue put up with the wizard’s suddenly harsh and angry temperament as best he could, but I could see tension rising between the two.

But the abuse was worth it. Soon the potion cauldrons were bubbling, the distillers were dripping and the calcinators were burning away, producing batch after batch of all manner of multicolored liquids.

The only thing we were low on were actual bottles, but we remedied that by hollowing out unripen fruits, turning them into temporary potion vessels. That one had been my idea and it gave me something to do as I sat and cut through fruit after fruit, hollowing out the cores so they could contain the precious potions we were creating.

Shine worked for hours. No one entered the alchemy laboratory in this time, but with each passing hour we could feel tension rise. It was only a matter of time before someone would come here, either an attendant, an alchemist or the guards who were searching for us.

“I’m out,” the wizard-turned-alchemist announced abruptly, causing Rupert to halt in his tracks. The man had been running over with an arm full of palm fronds.

“What do you mean? There’s plenty of plants here.”

“It takes magical energy to make potions,” Shine said. “I’ve spent everything I’ve had in my reserves. The only way I could make more is with a few more hours of rest and we don’t have that time. We need to get moving. Frankly, it’s a miracle we haven’t been caught yet.”

Bottles were distributed, then fruits were given out and secured to our waists by using ropes that Rupert had made from the various weeds that were growing in the garden. We were fully armed with all manner of interesting utilities.

The first potions we all drank were the fortification boosters. These were anti-poison, anti-paralysis and boosted the immune system against disease as well. In short, we were resistant to just about anything we’d be running into for the rest of this dungeon.

Rupert had a few stealth oriented potions, as well as a few bombs, since he could sneak around and get the drop on large groups. I had been given three potions of fire breathing and one stoneskin that would last for approximately two minutes.

Shine didn’t bother to explain what his potions were. Instead, he grabbed the staff he had carved for me, threw it my way and ordered us to prepare to move out. A few more rubs of the numbnettle helped me get to my feet and we were off, moving through the next door.

The other side was a gigantic library, so large that you could barely see the other side of it. Books lined the walls and seemed to move upwards forever. Dozens of ladders were attached to the walls and many an attendant was atop these ladders, pulling out books or placing them back.

“Who are you?” a man shouted, snapping his book shut as he looked up from his reading desk. There were a few robed men within the library, but they were all seated and studying quietly. We were far enough away from them to only have been confronted by this one man.

“That’s no way to talk to your superior!” Rupert growled, stepping forward before any of us could do anything. “Now you best get back to your reading before I cut your eyes out and throw you to the birthing pool!”

Time stopped. We all stared at the man and at Rupert. “Oh, er, sorry,” the man stumbled, quickly looking away. He opened his book and pretended to be reading it, holding his hand up to his face to block sight of us.

“Holy crap, did you see that?” Rupert hissed.

“Yes, now let’s go that way,” I said, pointing towards the door to the right of us. We got lucky once but someone inside that library was bound to point us out as invaders. Rupert’s confidence wouldn’t fool everyone.

We took a hard right and rushed to the door, opening it to find burning hot steam pouring out. At first I thought it was an attack, but realized instead that it was merely the heat of what looked to be an underground hot springs. The heat was far more intense than the one hot spring I had visited, but perhaps this was because we were further underground.

There were many men in the waters, resting and reclining. Robes were scattered everywhere, lining the shores of the water.

“Rupert!” I said as we took cover behind a large rock. “We can skip a ton of trouble if you get some robes for us.”

The rogue grinned. “I like the way you think.”

Shine nodded. “Good thinking. But we don’t know the significance of the colors.”

“The dull colors are slave colors,” I said. “Maybe that would be best. I doubt people even notice thralls anymore.”

“No, then we can’t get into places of authority,” Rupert said. “Let’s go after some of the ornate ones. As long as we act the part, no one will question it.”

“But what part are we playing?” Shine said. “It’s too risky. Go get thrall robes. And quick.”

Rupert grumbled, but finally agreed, downing a potion that turned him translucent at once. He wasn’t fully invisible; I could see his outline. But anyone who wasn’t looking for him would undoubtedly be unable to notice the slight shimmer as he moved about.

The man departed, leaving Shine and I alone.

“The moment we get my staff, I’m out of here,” Shine said. “This is too hot for me.”

“Are you serious?” I said. “We just dodged a horrific transformation and now we’ve got the element of pure surprise. Do you really want to give up?”

“Element of surprise? Are you nuts?” Shine said. “I did not sign up to fight a spider goddess.”

“Well, we can just search for Celestine and break her out. I’m sure the court healers can reverse whatever happened to her.”

The wizard shook his head at my suggestion. “Look, you may have a death wish, but I’ve got people to go home to. This entire operation has turned into a disaster. The Bandit King won’t fault us for failing, especially when we tell him what transpired.”

“That’s a bold assumption,” I said. “The man doesn’t trust me. I doubt he’ll be so easily accepting of whatever story we give him, regardless of the truth. It’s better to keep pressing forward.”

Shine sighed. “You’re nuts.”

“Perhaps, but we’ve got a real shot at greatness here, man,” I said. “Think about it. Rescuing Celestine from this situation is perhaps the best thing we can possibly do for the Emperor and for her, since I doubt she wanted to be webbed up and brain-drained. The gratitude of two powerful political figures? Our reward will be immense. Besides, I’m pretty sure we don’t want an evil goddess mucking about in our local political structure, right? That’s gotta bite us in the ass at some point in the future.”

Shine slightly nodded, conceding my last point. “I suppose you make a good argument. There may be peril in the future should we not act…still, do we have to act now? When we’re at our weakest?”

“I don’t think we have any other choice,” I replied. “We can’t flee like cowards. Not when we’re in the thick of things. We just gotta keep moving forward.”

“Still, without our tools we’re useless,” he said.

“I’ve been thinking about that. It seems like we’re in a more residential area. Libraries, hot springs and alchemy benches, there’s probably some kind of magical lab or armory nearby too,” I said. “We just need to play it cool and wander from room to room until we find what we’re looking for.”

Our conversation was interrupted by the sudden appearance of robes. They came from thin air and flew atop our heads, covering us instantly. I stifled a yelp, realizing it was Rupert’s returning antics.

“Got three of them! Nice and big too, easy to cover our faces,” Rupert said, the camouflage wearing off as he appeared in his own robe. His face was perfectly obscured by the shadows of the hood; he looked exactly like any other thrall in the temple.

“Good,” I said, suiting up. “This should take the heat off of us. Now, come on, let’s find our gear.”

Chapter 45

Our gamble had paid off. No one paid any mind to three thralls who were traveling about the rooms, heads down and shuffling forward without making a sound. We were perfectly incognito, allowing for us to listen in on more than a few conversations as we went from room to room.

“Archwizard Nanthor is on another tirade again,” one man muttered to his colleague as they painted the archway leading into another library we had just exited.

“What’s his complaint this time?” the other asked. “Are all the shelves in his study too crooked?”

“No, it’s something about cards and a staff being delivered to the wrong room. Apparently he wanted to study some new artifacts that came in, but some idiot thrall relocated them to the depository.”

“Hah, I’d hate to be the one who messed up that order. No doubt they’ve already turned him into one of those awful organizing skitterers.”

They were referring to these terrible half-man half spiders that were less combative and more administrative. They were smaller than the Dineans, more humanoid than spider, but with eight legs that allowed them to climb the walls of the libraries and maintain the books better.

There was something fascinating about how much knowledge this cult had aggregated. Thousands upon thousands of books were everywhere, with a library every third room. I was no slouch when it came to reading, sure, but I had only seen the Grand Cathodean Library once and I don’t know if it even had this much information accessible.

“There!” Rupert said, pointing to one of the doors alongside the corridor we were slinking through. “I’m willing to bet that’s the depository. Look at the drag marks on the ground leading into it. Probably all sorts of heavy weaponry were dragged into it.”

I shrugged and gestured for him to go ahead and check. A few seconds later, the door was open and Rupert was proudly nodding. We had finally found where our gear was being stored.

The room itself was full of weapons, armor and artifacts, though everything was locked behind cells. There was a straight corridor to walk through, but each cell had its own key mechanism and the ones that contained stranger-looking items (artifacts no doubt) were absent of keyholes entirely.

An attendant was sitting by the entrance, slumped over by his desk. He wore the same robes as us and thus glanced at us with the least of suspicions.

“What is it?” he grunted.

Rupert was swift to speak up. “The archwizard sent us. Apparently there was a mix-up. He wanted the newest artifacts brought to his office for examination.”

“Papers?” the man said, extending a hand.

Rupert shook his head. “The man was too busy screaming at the top of his lungs to write anything down. I figured I’d beat him here before he started skittering anyone he saw.”

Suspicion fell across the servant’s face. “You damn well know I can’t open anything without papers.”

“And you damn well know that Nanthor has no mercy,’ Rupert said. “Now you can help me out right quick or you can be the one I blame for why the Archwizard has to wait to get what he demanded hours ago.”

Silence hung in the air for a moment and tension mounted. The servant looked at us in the back and then at Rupert. “You’re lying.”

“Do you want to take that chance?” Rupert said, leaning against the desk. “Because I’d be thrilled to see if I could land your job, sitting around all day at a desk instead of dodging Nanthor’s rageful fits.”

That last bit seemed to energize the man and he quickly sat up. “Er, fine, fine. You’re looking for…”

“A staff and a deck of cards,” Rupert said. “My colleagues will fetch them.”

The man stood and nodded. “Fine. This way.”

Shine and I glanced at one another, holding our breaths as we followed after the servant. Would it be this easy? Well, I suppose sneaking our way through dozens of rooms, starved and exhausted, was far from easy. But still, with so much resistance earlier, this would be a real treat to have our gear back without a hassle.

We were escorted to a large chest at the end of the corridor. The chest was locked within a cage and there was a staff leaning against the nearby wall. “When the hell is ascension day ever going to happen?” the servant grunted as he fiddled with the lock of the cage. It swung open and he gestured for one of us to go in.

“Cards are in there, don’t touch anything else. Staff is fine, I don’t think it works. Seems to have a seal on it that prevents anyone from using it other than the user.”

“Thanks,” Shine said as he went to retrieve his staff. He grabbed hold of it and lifted it high, causing the orb to flash instantly.

“Why the hell did it do that?” the servant yelped.

I quickly opened the chest, grabbed my cards and spun around, putting a knife to the man’s throat. “Shut it!” I hissed.

“I knew it!” the man growled through clenched teeth. Still, with the weapon against his neck, he couldn’t do anything.

“Get in the cage,” I ordered. “And give me the keys. All of them.”

We switched places quickly enough and I slammed the doors shut, quickly locking the mechanism. The servant put his hands against the bars and leaned forward. “Damn you! I trusted you.”

“Sorry,” I said. “But it’s really your fault for joining some evil spider cult.”

“You’ve no idea the kind of power we are going to be raising someday,” he warned. “And that power will belong to all of us, even those at the very bottom. You will be like ants in my eyes.”

“Keep thinking that,” Shine said. “That’s how it works. Leadership promises you the world, yet gives you nothing. Let’s see how things go when they find you locked in here due to your own incompetence.”

The keys were only able to open the cells leading to mundane gear, but Rupert was thankful to have an upgraded set of weapons and armor. There were assassin’s leathers that were meant to defend from the deadliest of blades, but still keep the body perfectly silent as it moved around and he was pleased to change into them. With a new crossbow, two short swords and throwing daggers, he looked rather sharp and dangerous.

As for me, I was just happy to have my cards back in hand once more. The holster had been inside of the chest as well, putting me back to full capacity within seconds of getting reequipped. It was nice to have the source of all my power back and I could feel the approval of the Maiden glow as we were reunited.

You have done well, it said. To be reliant upon only the cards is to be awaiting weakness someday. It is a great test to be separated from me and to return unscathed. Take this blessing then.

Whipping Vines Has Upgraded to Vinestorm!

Description: Summons a storm of 15 mossvines that all function independently. 4 vines function without requiring concentration, allowing them to exist indefinitely.

“Now that is what I’m talking about,” I said.

“Oh?” Shine asked, turning his head my way. The man was busy cleaning the top of his staff, wiping grime and muck from the orb.

“Just some power upgrade,” I replied. “Enough to make a big difference in a fight.”

“I see,” the wizard said. He held his tongue for a moment, but after a moment spoke. “So, then. Are you to insist we see this through? Or has reason taken hold of you?”

“I’ve been doing some math,” I said. “Do you notice how many books are in this place? And how many people we’ve encountered? This cult has to be ancient. And with so much knowledge…they’ve got to be well equipped to achieve what they intend. They’re lax in security, sure, but it doesn’t look like they’re amateurs to me.”

“Meaning?”

“Meaning that we might have a chance to disrupt or even destroy the cult for good, if we can take down the spider goddess. It’s a physical incarnation, right? So that means we could destroy it and if so…this whole place would fall apart. I mean who wants to worship a dead goddess?” I said.

“And you think the three of us can do it?”

“The four of us if we can find Jackson and free him from that lunatic’s grasp,” I said. “Frankly, if there’s anyone to kill a goddess here, it would be that hulking beast of a man.”

Shine frowned and leaned against his staff. “Godkillers, eh? Your ambitions seem to increase each time we broach this subject. Why can’t we just find the princess?”

“Frankly? Because it might not be enough,” I said. “This Dineah seems like bad news, period. Let’s put her down before she becomes a problem for the entire world.”

Rupert laughed. “See? That’s why I follow this guy around. He doesn’t let up. You know the kind of dough we’ll get from an abandoned temple? This place has to be loaded with coin. We’ll leave this whole place richer than the Emperor if we can take down the leader.”

“You’re seriously going along with this too?” Shine said.

“Well, it’s not like we can just pop out of here,” Rupert said.

Shine glanced at me. “That’s the exact argument here,” he said. “I can teleport us.”

Rupert made a face. “Oh. Well…I still vote in favor of pushing our luck. Because if we don’t get rich soon, this man’s just gonna make us delve into another deadly scenario in pursuit of wealth.”

“I’m not after coin,” I said. “I’m genuinely trying to look out for the fate of the Empire. You know, the place where we all live?”

“Man, I lived out in the sticks, where the Emperor is just some name you swear at when you’re drunk and surly,” Rupert said. “Let’s be less noble with our goal. What do you say, Shine?”

The wizard tilted his head. “I hadn’t considered the financial gain to be had…” he muttered. “It would probably let me pay off my debt to the king. After all, gold pretty much solves every problem.”

Are you kidding me? Rupert’s selfish arguments on gain were working better than my noble cause?

“Come on, let’s stop wasting time then,” Rupert said. “We’ve got a princess to save and a goddess to slay.”

Chapter 46

With Shine’s magic restored, navigating through the massive, winding temple was easy. His power to scout and to clairvoyantly learn where things were gave us a stronger map and with the notes we had already kept, we were able to make a comprehensive strategy of where to go.

Everything pointed towards a cavernous area that held its own independent castle, separate from the temple. Shine had seen this in his scouting visions and was adamant that there was some great power lurking within the castle. Leaving the temple looked to be difficult, as there were Dinean guards posted by the exit leading to the clearing, but Rupert boldly just walked forward and took the exit as if no one were standing nearby.

The man’s complete nonchalance gave the guards no reason to mind him and as such, we quickly followed suit, shuffling after him as we exited the temple.

“How does that keep working?” Shine asked.

“It’s easy,” Rupert said. “You just gotta believe you’re beneath notice. Own the role and no one will know.”

“I’ll be happy to get these itching things off,” I murmured as we made it towards the entrance of the castle.

The castle itself was a bleak fortress, a black, twisted thing with walls of brambles and thorn, impossibly enlarged to block anything off from being able to enter, save through the entrance. The gates were open and the drawbridge was down. Below the bridge was murky, black water that bubbled and burbled with who knows what sorts of awful creatures awaiting us.

More Dineans were present here, patrolling the area constantly, their wicked weapons raised high as they marched in circles around the entire castle exterior. One patrol spotted us and quickly scuttled our way.

“I don’t think we’re powerwalking past these,” Shine said. “Ready up.”

“Slaves!” the lead Dinean shouted as they approached. He was a fierce-looking one with two of his red eyes missing—gouged out, from the looks of it. “What is your business in the inner sanctum?”

Rupert stepped forward and gestured towards the staff in Shine’s hand. “This artifact was requested by the Archwizard.”

Quite the gamble. Was the wizard in the castle? How would Rupert even know that?

“Nanthor is not permitted within the inner fortress,” the spiderman said. He raised himself high above us. “And you bring an artifact of power all this way?”

“Look, I’m just following orders,” Rupert said. “If you want to take it up with someone, talk to Jakor.”

The Dinean moved to bring his weapon down, but Shine was faster. A flash of light arced from his staff, washing over the group completely. They stood docile, unable to move, their eyes whirling with bright light.

“Wait here for an hour and then forget everything you saw!” Shine said. “Come on, you idiots, let’s get out of here.”

Another patrol had arrived, but they were merely stopping to guard the entrance, cutting us off from leaving. There was only one way forward: deeper into the nest.

We rushed across the castle bridge, making our way towards the gate. Two Dineans were posted by the entrance, but they paid us no mind, as they had seen us speaking with the patrol. I guess the magical spell wasn’t visible from too far away.

“So you can control minds?” I asked.

“It’s a suggestion spell. It’s not normally very strong, but these creatures have had their bodies and minds broken down already,” Shine said. “So I theorized that we might be able to persuade them easier with magic.”

“Well that saved our asses,” Rupert said. “Well played.”

We entered the courtyard of the castle, moving past the guards with ease. Their eyes were glazed over and blood was dripping down the sides of their mouths, yet there were no signs of battle or injury. Had they recently fed? Or was the wounding part of their curse?

The courtyard was huge, easily large enough to house most of the worshippers that we had encountered in the temple. In the center was a large statue of the spider goddess’ avatar, a half-woman half-spider who towered over the entire world. Her hands were great diamond claws and they sparkled in the torchlight as she held them above us all.

“How much do you think those diamonds are worth?” Rupert asked.

“Focus,” I said. “We’re not in the looting stage just yet.”

“Hey I’m just getting motivated,” he replied.

A bell rang out, clanging loudly with a somewhat ominous sound to it. The sound was haunting and I could feel it in my spine.

“Tis time to worship! Tis time to worship!” a man crooned as he emerged from one of the side doors attached to the walls. He wore deep red robes that seemed to be perpetually dripping some blackened substance.

More men poured out from the walls, hundreds perhaps, all encroaching upon the great statue in the center. They all fell to their knees and began to worship, praying to their goddess and shrieking out all sorts of strange noises.

Amidst the sea of red dripping robes, one man stood, wearing the finest of golden silks I had ever seen. He had a golden scepter in his hand, with a ruby pommel and a green orb atop the head, and was raising it high. “Yes! Yes! Give your power to the goddess! Dineah hears your prayers! The time shall be soon!”

Blood began to drip from the hands of the statue, the diamond-tipped fingers filling up with red before pouring down into the crowd. The cultists reacted to this like madmen, crooning and shrieking with delight, lapping it up from the ground with their tongues. Those who tried to block the stream with their hands or mouths were leapt upon by others and beaten savagely.

“I suggest we, uh, find somewhere else to be right now,” Shine said.

“Agreed,” I replied, pointing to the large set of doors leading inside of the main castle. “Let’s go around and see if we can’t get in through there.”

We were quick to take the side passages and managed to move around the general chaos of this maddened hour of worship, avoiding contact with anyone who would question our presence. The shrieks and yelps of worshippers grew more twisted and we could see that some were falling to the ground, warping and changing into Dineans. The blood of the ritual must have given them such power to change.

“Looks like it’s not a curse to everyone,” I muttered as we reached the main doors.

The doors to the castle were huge, stone walls, immovable save for a lever on the side of the wall. None attended the lever, because all were busy indulging in the fervent worship. Before we could weigh the pros and cons of attempting to open the doors, Rupert yanked the lever down.

Much to our surprise, a smaller door in the bottom of the giant doors opened up, allowing us entry into the castle. We were quick to rush in, pulling the stone wall behind us as we entered.

“Holy crap, remind me to find a nice, wholesome religion after this,” Rupert said as he leaned against the wall, gasping for breath.

Shine and I both nodded, leaning against the wall too, trying to catch our breath. Rushing over hadn’t been taxing on our systems, but the sheer horror of what we had seen had left us unable to breathe well.

“Ah wonderful,” a familiar voice said. “Some slaves. Just when I ran out of my current stock.”

I looked up to see none other than Louisa standing high above us…oh my goodness…she was a Dinean!

The plague cleric’s entire body had changed. She stood tall with her spider carapace and legs, her slender torso now blackened and covered in chitin. Her head was the same as it had been and her hands were still human, but the rest of her had become as Dinean as the first group we had encountered.

We all bowed our heads at once, hiding our faces. “What do you wish of us, master?” Rupert grunted.

“Oh good, you know how to address me properly. That will not spare you my experiments,” she said. “Go down to my chambers in the third room at the southwest corridor and await my instructions. I shall be there shortly, after I attend this wretched service of observation.”

With that, the hideously transformed woman climbed up the walls of the gates, leaving through a hatch made special for her kind.

“Well, I’m out,” Rupert said.

“Shut it,” Shine said. “If her chambers are unattended, I’m willing to bet Jackson’s guarding it. We might be able to free him from a spell effect if I can get the right counter frequency.”

“I’ll do you one better,” I said, tapping my deck. “I have an arsenal of dispel effects. We’ll break his mind out quickly enough. Let’s just hope he’s amiable to us in his spider transformation.”

We rushed down the hallways of the castle, taking the southwest corridor all the way to the end, where Louisa’s room awaited us. We crowded around the entrance. Rupert put his hand on the door handle and I drew my dispel card.

“You ready?” he asked.

“Let’s do it!”

The door swung open, releasing a green mist that immediately wrapped around us. However, our potions of increased immunity protected us from whatever effects the mist would have, for while the air we inhaled burned, none of us so much as even coughed from it.

The room was a laboratory filled to the brim with beakers, bottles and bubbling cauldrons. Dozens of thrall corpses littered the room, their bodies bloated and contorted from all manner of horrific experiments.

Standing amongst the corpses was Jackson…in perfectly normal condition. The big man was unchanged. He stood stalwart, staring straight forward at the three of us without a hint of recognition in his eyes. In fact, he didn’t move at all. He merely stared forward.

“Looks to be a heavier amount of mind control magic than before,” Shine said. “I can sense a tremendous amount of effort put into keeping his brain on lockdown.”

“I got it,” I said. I aimed Dispel at him and activated the card, firing out a silver bolt of energy into the man. At once, I could see red energy shatter around his head and the barbarian shook himself vigorously, as if waking up from a deep, deep slumber.

“Huh?” he grunted.

We quickly pulled down our hoods to show ourselves. “Jackson,” I said. “Do you recognize us?”

“Yes,” he said. “What happened?”

“I fear that our cleric pulled one over on us. She sold us out and betrayed you, taking control of your mind,” Shine said. “She allied with Dineah, the spider goddess.”

“Kill her then,” he growled, motioning towards his axes. “Where is she?”

“She’ll be back soon,” Shine said. “She thinks you’re still under her spell and that we are just slaves, since we are wearing these disguises. Just wait.”

The big man grinned fiendishly. He resumed his prior stance, staring forward mindlessly. His focus grew intense and I could see his muscles freeze up as he waited.

“This is going to be good,” Rupert said. “Now come on, let’s loot the hell out of this room before Louisa gets back.”

Chapter 47

The lab was mostly just full of vile vials and foul potions, all meant to reflect the woman’s cruel obsession with plagues. It would seem that even though she had the spider goddess’ blessing (or curse for that matter), she still served Gresha, the Plaguebringer.

“I wouldn’t touch any of that,” I warned as Rupert greedily sorted through all the shelves. “You have no idea what kind of diseases she has this place covered in.”

“Silence,” Shine said. “She’s coming. In position, gentlemen.”

We all pulled our hoods down and gathered behind Jackson, standing at attention. The skittering of Louisa’s approach caused shivers to run down my spine. Hopefully Jackson could take her down quickly.

The doors swung open as she pressed herself through, squeezing through the narrow frame with some difficulty.

“What a wretched session,” she grunted. Her eyes fell upon us and she grinned widely. “I see you did not react poorly at the sight of your brethren. This goddess breeds good slaves, I will say that much. Now then, each of you are to—”

Her words were cut short as Jackson immediately drew his blades and drove his axes into her torso, severing her in half with ease. The woman gasped as she fell, her body split in two.

Green blood sprayed out from the spider carapace as it fell to the ground, twitching and spasming, no longer able to control itself. Louisa landed on the ground and yelped, somehow still alive, despite having been cut in half. She raised her hands to cast a spell, but a flash of the twin axes removed both hands.

“You bastard!” Louisa cried. How she was still able to live, split in two, was beyond me, but it seemed that Jackson wanted long revenge. “Help me!” she called out to us, but we merely stood in silence.

“Be done with it,” Shine grumbled.

Jackson swung the axe at Louisa’s head, but stopped inches from it. “Where spider god?” he grunted.

“What?” Louisa asked.

“Where?” he barked. “Tell me.”

“You idiot, she’s in the upper chambers, but you’ll never—” the woman’s words were cut off as the barbarian lopped her head clean off, leaving the corpse to fall over on the ground.

Jackson spun around and looked at us, his face grim and angry. “We trapped. Kill snake’s head. Snake dies.”

“See?” I said. “Even the barbarian gets it.”

Shine grumbled. “Yes, yes, you’ve proven your point. Let us enter the upper chambers and die most horribly.”

We exited Louisa’ laboratory, leaving the dead cleric scattered amongst her victims. She had been a cruel and contemptuous woman, with great power but no moral compass whatsoever. Her death would not be mourned by anyone with a right mind.

Jackson’s presence seemed to make us more invisible, since he was well known by the castle at this point. Since he was Louisa’s pet bodyguard, no one questioned him as he demanded entry into the upper chambers. We, still in disguise of course, followed after him, keeping our heads down low. Jackson carried Shine’s staff on his back in order to keep suspicion of us lower.

The upper chambers of the castle slowly contorted and twisted as we made our way up. The stairs changed from being made of stone to webbing over time, and by the end of our journey upwards, we were marching across pure, sticky webs. Skitterers were nearby, rushing back and forth on the ceilings, walls and floors, unhindered by the webbing, since their legs allowed them to move freely. They carried egg sacs and buckets of goop that we had seen previously, bringing them downstairs, sometimes moving past us without a word.

There were no Dineans on this floor, only skitterers. These smaller spidermen gave us no trouble and in fact, one was so helpful as to even open a door, allowing us entry into a large chamber that housed another pool, similar to the one we had seen below in the temple.

“Can you feel that mystic presence?” Shine said as we entered the pool chambers. This place was dark and in the distance we could see something red and shining staring right at us. “It’s powerful. And I think it’s in this room. Hard to tell.”

I couldn’t sense anything, but I strained to focus, trying my damndest to see the mystic world around me like Sophia had shown me. The world began to change color and bright green lights flared all around me. The greatest source of that light was where the red shining light was, at the far end of the pools.

“I think it’s coming from those lights,” I said. “Does it feel like…like it’s calling to you?”

“Yes,” Shine said. “It’s a compulsion magic. But not terribly strong. At least at this distance.”

A few skitterers appeared around us, moving towards the pool to place new eggs. These sacs jiggled and wriggled as they were installed in the water, moving as if they were trying to break free of their prison. What would emerge? Something told me it wouldn’t be more Dineans.

Jackson moved forward, trudging across the webbing, using his axes to lightly slash ahead of him, splitting the webs apart so he could walk better. We followed after him, unsure of what his plan was.

We circled the pool, moving closer to the red lights. I held my hand against my deck, ready to draw at any minute. An ominous sense filled the air the closer we drew to the end of the chamber, though no one dared stop moving. We were in too deep now, nothing else to do but keep sallying forth.

“Ah the interlopers have finally arrived,” a voice said. It was a deep, rumbling voice, emanating not from the air but rather from within my mind.

“Do you hear that?” Rupert hissed. “Talking in my head?”

The crimson lights ahead grew brighter and began to shift, left to right as something moved forward. The light, we realized, belonged to two gigantic sets of eyes, glowing with a murderous red that filled me with terror. The entire end of the chamber was not covered in darkness at all, but was rather the darkened carapace of a gigantic spider. It moved and twisted, making itself visible fully to us as it came down to loom above.

The long legs unfolded and slammed into the earth around us, putting the creature directly above. Curled beneath the thorax of the spider were dozens of Dineans, attached upside down. They were inert, eyes closed and bodies slack, but for how long?

“Long have I sensed your presence,” the voice of the spider queen said. “Moving about through the temple, killing my children and fooling my fodder. Now you come here with murder in your hearts.”

“We aren’t here for you,” I said, stepping forward. “But for the goddess that threatens our empire. If you wish to produce offspring and live in this place, so be it, we have no quarrel with you.”

“The goddess?” the spider queen said, scoffing with its voice. “Truly, you are fools to want to slay a god. Her power is great. She birthed me. She brought dark twisted visions to all who lived within this realm, drawing the most loyal to this place. It was by her direction that all that you see was created and her power has given the most natural of creatures such as myself abilities beyond all imagination. And you seek to slay her?”

Jackson grunted and raised his axes. “You too, if not move.”

“Forgive our barbarian friend,” I said, hoping that perhaps diplomacy could win out here. Why was I trying to negotiate with a giant spider? Well, we were in her territory. And those Dineans looked to be elite; they wore armor atop their chests and carried golden swords on their hips. “His mood has been soured by recent events.”

The voice laughed in our heads. “I should say. That cleric caught you all by surprise. It was I who fashioned a new body for her and let me say that the cruelties within her own beliefs should have you thankful that it is Dineah that you face and not that which she served.”

“So what then?” I asked. “Will you let us pass? As I said, we seek no quarrel with you.”

“If you slay Dineah, you destroy the dream she promised us all. A world where we reigned above the darkness of this underground lair. A place where the spider is worshipped and sacred, rather than stepped upon. I cannot allow you to pass. I do not rush to send my children to their death, however, so you may take your leave. You’ve already slayed many of what I consider precious. Let us have peace.”

Jackson snorted. “Never.”

“I fear I must concur with my ally,” I said. “Unless you let us pass to the upper chambers, we must fight.”

“Are you nuts?” Rupert hissed.

Shine had already grabbed his staff and was readying himself for a battle. I had the perfect card in hand already. Jackson’s weapons were drawn.

“Then I suppose you will shed the blood of my children once more,” the spider queen hissed. This time the words were in the real world, emanating in a raspy, high-pitched squeal coming from the thorax of the creature as opposed to its head.

The sound caused the Dineans to immediately awaken. Thirteen of them in total, they unfolded their legs and leapt downwards towards us, weapons angled to spear us through. But I was faster.

The Grey Wall immediately appeared above us, spreading out wide enough to catch every last one of the Dinean attackers. They landed uselessly on the wall, their weapons spearing the energy field but doing no damage. Seconds after they landed, I released the energy and threw Vinestorm down, using my newest power.

Fifteen glorious vines of moss came bursting out of the ground beneath me, rushing up to seize the now-falling Dineans. The spidermen had little chance to get their bearings as they had not expected the ground to fall out from beneath them, and the vines snatched them easily enough, grabbing them by the torsos or thorax, then yanked them to the ground in a lightning fast maneuver.

A few who were caught fully off-guard were smashed to pieces, the force of gravity and the vines combining into a lethal combo, causing the spidermen to burst into splotches of green and black blood. The others fought to free themselves, slashing and cutting, landing on the ground upright but still entangled.

Jackson did not hesitate. He was upon the nearest foes, slashing like a madman, his anger even greater than before. He moved so fast that I could barely keep track of him. He was reckless, however, and struck through my vines, rather than around them, destroying each other with a slash to the enemy. I couldn’t scold the man for his attacks though, and instead turned my attention to drawing out more cards.

Fire Spirit emerged and began to shoot gouts of flame, but was intercepted by a huge glob of web that fired down from above. The spider queen was not going to stand passively by. Instead, she released bursts of heavy webbing from her body, almost as if they were artillery, sending them crashing down atop us.

I was able to dodge but Shine had been too caught up in casting a spell to avoid the hit. He was entangled instantly, buried deep beneath a mountain of web.

“I’m on it!” Rupert said, drawing his sword and rushing to aid the man. A Dinean leapt in between the rogue and his ally, but I threw a quick Fireball to intercept. The blaze struck the man in the back of the head and he turned immediately to face me.

“Damn it!” I huffed, scrambling to draw another card. I didn’t have time. The spiderman moved incredibly fast, rushing me on all eight legs at full speed. Instead of drawing a card, I unsheathed my Truestrike Sword and swung towards one of the joints of the front leg. With a slash, I managed to dodge the incoming sword blow and cut the front leg clean off, throwing the Dinean off his balance.

He tumbled over and I was on him in an instant, bringing the blade down deep into his exposed underside. I didn’t know how their anatomy worked, but the blow must have been fatal because the upper torso of the man jerked and suddenly ceased moving entirely.

“No! You kill more of my children!” the queen shrieked, her voice causing the entire chambers to rumble. One of her legs came slamming down towards me and I narrowly avoided it. The shockwave that came afterward, however, I could not dodge and I was quickly thrown across the room.

Thankfully I stopped short of the wall by a few feet and merely hit the ground with a thud. I took a moment to catch my breath and reorient my focus, preparing to summon the Twin Titans. They might be able to take down the queen’s legs.

Jackson continued his furious onslaught, cutting his way through anything in his path. Globs of webs that crashed into him did little to hold him still; he merely thrashed his body and broke free in an instant, then continued upon his murderous rampage.

More Dineans were arriving from the other end of the chamber, coming to defend their mother, but a great wall of shining light erupted in their way, burning any who tried to pass through. Shine had anticipated reinforcements and had adjusted accordingly.

I held the Titans card in my hand and aimed towards one of the spider queen’s giant legs. With a heft, I threw the card, summoning the twin Espers. The ground shuddered and quaked as once again the mighty stone giants emerged from the earth, ready to serve me again.

Hammer and blade struck the leg, causing the giant spider to let out a shriek. The entire world around us shook from the sound. A beam of light came arcing upwards into the creature above us, striking the queen’s thorax with a burning intensity that must have been agonizing, judging from the intense shrieking and quaking that ensued.

The Dineans were getting thinned out thanks to Jackson’s fierce attacks and with the wall of light still burning, nothing else was coming our way. The twins were fighting fiercely, breaking leg after leg of the spider queen, forcing her to the ground.

I could do little at this point beyond maintain focus. It had been exhausting to bring the twins out after using so many cards subsequently and I couldn’t risk losing them. This was fine, as no Dineans were coming my way. I was relatively safe.

Rupert had drawn a grappling hook and threw it upwards onto the back of the queen, catching something solid enough to climb. “Toss me those fire breathing bottles!” he yelled as he grabbed onto the line. I complied, throwing one bottle after another, careful not to go too hard, lest the burning ingredients break out.

“Be careful!” I said.

“Yeah, I’ll exhibit the utmost caution while fighting a giant spider queen,” the man replied as he holstered the bottles and began to climb.

The rope swung back and forth as the spider queen shifted and moved, slamming her feet down to strike at the stone twins, but Rupert held on without a problem. He scurried upwards until he was on her back and then vanished from sight.

Seconds later, bursts of fire were streaming from the tops of the spider queen’s head and the creature was jerking violently in response to this. One of the strikes from the legs caused the creature to finally fall flat, forcing all of us to run out of the way, lest we be crushed to death beneath her colossal frame.

Rupert was atop the spider queen, drinking potion after potion, spitting flames at the back of the spider’s head, burning just about everything precious. Jackson, having finished off the last of the Dineans, took the opportunity to leap upon the back as well and began hacking away at the queen’s midsection.

“Enough!” the queen said. “I yield! I yield!”

“Jackson, enough!” I shouted. The barbarian paused midswing and turned to face me. I could see he was displeased with my order, but not enough to ignore it. Maybe he was grateful for us rescuing him from his mental oppression, enough so to trust me.

“You’re really going to accept the queen’s surrender?” Shine hissed. “We have no way of knowing if we can trust her.”

Ignoring him, I spoke. “Where is the princess?”

“She is trapped within one of my reformation pods,” came the reply. “I am breaking her down so that the goddess may fill her mind with something altogether new.”

“If you truly surrender, on your honor as a queen and mother of these spiders, then I demand you break her free and escort her here. On top of that, all of your Dinean kin must not raise a hand to harm any of us. And you must show us the way to the goddess’ sanctum,” I ordered.

There was silence for a moment. “And that is the price to buy my life and peace for my kin?”

“As I said at the start of this, my quarrel is with this cult, not you. Whatever you are, you are no threat to mankind,” I replied. “You have a kingdom here. Live in peace and we shall be at peace. But ally with a dark force such as Dineah and there will be consequences.”

“Very well,” the voice said, returning to its mental state. There was submission in its tone and I could sense a great amount of sorrow present. The spider queen was truly defeated.

Above us, the ceiling began to shake. No, not shake, it was twisting, contorting and opening up, a long strand of thick webbing dropping down. These strands formed themselves together, combining to transform into a circular stairwell.

“There,” she said. “Go. Your fates be damned.”

Chapter 48

The webs had proven to be solid to the touch, allowing our party to make our way into the uppermost chambers of the castle. Once we were atop the stairs, the webbing faded and we found ourselves to be surrounded by a surface far more disgusting than spiderwebs.

The ground and walls were made of flesh, pulsing, red flesh full of veins and arteries. It squished beneath our feet as we wandered forward, inspecting the surrounding nightmare.

“What is this?” Rupert gasped.

“Don’t ask me,” Shine said. “My only guess is that it’s a reason to leave this place and never come back.”

“Meat,” Jackson suggested.

“Who knows,” I said, pressing the group forward. “We’re almost there. Just keep moving forward and be ready for anything.”

There were no doors around us, just a skin hallway leading forward for what seemed to be an hour. Eventually we came to an opening that led to a more cavernous area. Winding around the corner, we gasped at the sight of what lay ahead.

The flesh of our surroundings was connected! It all led towards one gigantic ball of what I could only describe as living tissue. The ground and ceiling pressed into this ball tightly and every second the ball pulsed like a human heart, sending small shockwaves through the floor beneath us.

There was a thump beside us as Rupert passed out. Of course.

“Weak,” I snorted, getting a nod from Jackson.

“I’d say we found our goddess,” Shine said, pointing his staff towards the huge sphere.

“That’s Dineah? Shouldn’t she be…I don’t know, some massive, glowing spider woman the size of a colossus?”

“She hasn’t ascended yet. And it would appear she is still in her proto formation,” Shine explained. “This is good news for us. Without any conduits around, she’s more or less helpless.”

As if waiting for those words, the ground across from us shifted and six figures emerged from below, all wearing jet black robes.

“Who are you and why do you dare enter the holiest of ground?” one of them asked. “Dineah is not to be approached directly!”

Jackson gripped his weapons and started to move forward. A flash of green light from one of the hooded priests sent a ripple across Jackson’s body and he froze in place. His eyes darted left and right, and I could see he was still breathing, albeit shallowly.

“I am Arthur Moss,” I said. “And we are here to destroy your supposed goddess.”

With that, I threw out Fire Spirit. The great flame being flew towards them, hurling lances of flames at the dark priests. Several of them were struck, bursting into flames and sending them to the ground in a screaming mess of heat and death.

Those who dodged counter spelled, throwing water bursts into the spirit, quenching it instantly. My deck shivered as the spirit returned, but my concentration was still like iron. I threw Harlequin towards the remaining three priests. The silent joker leapt out of the card and rolled straight towards them, distracting one of them from countering Shine’s spell.

Three bursts of penetrating light crashed from Shine’s staff, sending the priest guards to their knees. The quick slashing work of the Harlequin finished them off with ease.

Once the priests were dead, Jackson returned to life, able to move once more. “Damned magic,” he grunted, kicking one of the bodies.

“Focus, Jackson. We have no idea how strong that orb is going to be, but you’re the man to kill it.”

“That’s the goddess?” he asked.

We both nodded. This prompted the man to spin around with his axes and go charging straight towards the beating orb. He leapt in midair and slashed downwards hard, cutting deep into the pulsing tissue.

The entire world around us shook. Hell, I’m betting the entire castle quaked, as the flesh shrieked in agony. A voice from the skin around us spoke at once.

“And so you find me,” the cold, calculated voice of Dineah said. “Yet you do not make demands, nor elicit bribes. You strike me mindlessly, unaware of what I can give.”

“Give?” Jackson said, stopping from his attacks. That wasn’t good.

“Finish her off!” Shine shouted. “Remember, she’s the reason we’re trapped.”

The big man ignored our wizard and merely looked up at the ceiling. The voice continued.

“Indeed, I am a goddess, am I not? Ask and I shall grant it to you, easily enough. All of you. Stand down and allow me to grant you anything your hearts desire. Forget the princess, she’s yours. Take more!”

Shine glanced at me. “I’m not putting my money on that monkey’s paw,” he said. “Be ready to intercept Jackson. I’ll get a spell ready to end this once and for all.”

I nodded and sorted through my cards, grabbing Vinestorm. Jackson was fast but he couldn’t beat that many vines intercepting him at once.

Jackson looked to us. “True?”

“No, she’s lying. The moment our guard is down, we’re dead,” I said. “Finish her off.”

The barbarian nodded and resumed hacking away at Dineah’s core.

A brilliant flash of light arced through the area, blinding me for a second. At first I thought it was Shine’s spell finishing up, but when sight returned I could see my assumption was wrong.

Jackson was on the ground now, his body sizzling and blackened as if lightning had struck him. Standing a few feet behind him was another man in robes, though his clothing looked less religious and more arcane. He had a long, bushy beard and was wielding a metal staff with a star at the end of it. The star was crackling with electrical power.

“Archwizard Nanthor?” I asked, quickly drawing my dispel cards.

“Indeed it is I,” the man said, turning to face us both. He raised his staff and aimed it towards us. “It would seem that no one can enter the Spider Queen’s chamber, hence why you are not drowning in a sea of warriors right now. It’s dire times indeed, that Dineah would reach out to my mind and beg for my aid. But I have heard her. You must leave this place.”

“You seem rather reasonable,” I said. “Why not threaten to kill us?”

“Because it would not be a threat,” he replied. “It would be a mere reality. I do not wish to spend my power if not need be. Go and consider your adventure a success. You will not be bothered on the way out.”

I glanced past the wizard, at Jackson. The man was not moving at all, not even breathing. If the person we were facing was an archwizard…chances were the barbarian was dead. Looks like this was up to me and Shine.

“I’m afraid we aren’t going to turn tail,” I said. “This goddess is wicked and cruel, a threat to our world above. We’re putting an end to this problem before it becomes any bigger.”

With that, I raised my Fireball card and waited for a response. Shine quickly hissed to me. “Lightning magic moves fast, so don’t waste time dodging. Shield or counter.”

Noticing that we were whispering to each other and readying our gear, Nanthor sighed and raised his staff as well. “Very well. Let the best archmage win.”

Bolts came flying out of his staff in all directions, but I was quick enough to cast Grey Wall, putting a barrier between me and the archmage. The lightning bolts splashed harmlessly against my shield, unable to generate enough power to break through.

As soon as I was safe, I drew Banshee and threw it straight towards the wizard. The ghastly woman emerged from her bindings and let out a horrid shriek that echoed around us all. Whatever spell Nanthor had been casting was disrupted as he reeled back, shaken by the dizzying effect of the Banshee’s cry.

Shine fired two spears of light from his staff, both moving in separate directions from one another, but bending at the last moment to cross each other as they moved towards the same target. The weaving light struck Nanthor from the front in a dual assault and he was thrown hard into the wall, his body crashing into the flesh that schlurked and gulcked as blood sprayed everywhere.

“Finish the job!” Shine said, stepping back and drawing out a scroll. He began to read from it as I threw a Fireball towards the wall our foe had been thrown into. The flames crashed into nothingness—the man was already gone.

“Behind you,” a voice said. I tried to spin around but was too slow. A hand jabbed into the back of my neck and tons of electricity came pouring into my system. My entire body twitched and shuddered, thrashing as the electrical impulses jerked everything around with ease. My heart felt like it was going to explode.

Fire Spirit leapt out instantly and came crashing down, tackling the man. This broke the line of connection and I found myself free from the electrical pain, though my limbs were useless. I fell to the ground, spasming and coughing, unable to do anything other than recover.

“I’m on him,” Shine said as he stepped over me. His staff was aimed straight at the archmage, shining brightly. In a flash, the light from the orb faded and the archmage was on his back once more, stunned.

I was quick to climb up and draw my sword. No reason to draw this out longer than it needed to be. I charged, still stumbling a little as my limbs were dead numb. But perhaps the numbness helped me ignore the pain in my leg, for I was able to charge forward fast enough to get to him before he stood. I had not the coordination to avoid falling atop him, but that seemed to cancel some spell he was in the middle of casting.

We rolled over, struggling to gain control over the weapon in my hand. Shine shouted something at me but I couldn’t hear over the mage’s grunts and groans as we wrestled. He was not nearly as strong as me and I was able to pry myself and the sword free for a moment.

Taking the opening, I instantly jabbed down with the blade, causing the man to cry out in pain as his life’s blood sprayed out across my face. My right eye was stung by the blood, forcing me to close it. In spite of that, I pulled the weapon out and slammed it down again, brute forcing the sword into some other vital part of the man’s body.

The wizard put a hand against my face and pushed up, uttering some words in some ancient tongue, but he began hacking and wheezing in the middle of it. In an instant, he vanished, leaving nothing but blood behind.

“Where’d he go?” I asked, hopping up as quickly as I could. I spun around, looking for signs of the wizard, but there was nothing I could see.

“He had an emergency spell ready, in case of almost dying. I presume it’ll teleport him somewhere safe,” Shine said. “Most wizards of that level have such a measure.”

“Hah! Archmage my ass,” I said. “We annihilated him.”

Shine nodded. “Be warned, friend, any wizard in isolation will eventually name himself archmage. Whether he actually is can only be tested in the field—and I’m afraid Nanthor learned he crowned himself far too early.”

Chapter 49

Jackson, much to my dismay, was still alive. The big man was standing and dusting himself off by the time our fight with the Archwizard had ended. Things would have been a lot easier if the man had died there, before we had to find a way to ditch him after this adventure was over.

Once recovered, he returned to slashing into the walls of the so-called goddess, eliciting shrieks and cries with each blow.

“I don’t understand,” I said. “So this whole time, Dineah was just some big egg?”

Shine nodded. “Protoformic beings aren’t gods just yet. They’re just mortals who have transformed their flesh into something greater. A body like that can control some incredible spells but until they’ve gained enough devotion and sacrifice from their followers, they’re just well kept secrets. It’s why cults tend to be hidden away in secret. If Dineah possessed a deity form, she’d not need to be in such seclusion. She’d be able to have an altar in Cathode if she wanted.”

“I’m guessing only the inner priesthood knew this,” I said.

We watched as one last blow crashed through the toughened exterior of Dineah’s corporeal form. Bright green blood began to pour out of the egg and the entire world around us shuddered.

“So that’s it then?” the voice cried out. “You’re giving away the opportunity of a lifetime to slay me?”

I shrugged but said nothing. There was nothing to say to this creature. Instead, I merely threw a fireball into the wound Jackson had made, catching the goddess’ body on fire. Flames spread across the flesh and the world beneath us began to retract, shriveling and warping into dried up husks as Dineah died.

The entire castle shook for a good minute, the tremors so strong I wondered if perhaps this was the end of the castle. Shine thought this was the case as well and had begun weaving some kind of spell with his staff, hopefully to teleport us out of here.

“The princess!” I said. “We need to find her!”

The rumbling ceased soon after I said those words. “The spider queen said we’d be able to find her without a problem,” I continued.

Shine nodded at me but looked at Jackson who was busy skinning the egg. Or at least what parts of it hadn’t shriveled and burned up. “We gotta solve that problem first.”

I gritted my teeth. Jackson had been a valuable team member and was somewhat loyal but showed all the usual signs of being a remorseless murderer. If he caught a whiff that we were going to betray him or the Bandit King, we’d be dead. I didn’t trust my ability to cast a spell faster than he could come charging towards us.

“Strike now,” Shine said. “And we win.”

“Seems unsporting,” I whispered back. “Especially the way he’s fought alongside us.”

“Fair isn’t the way to fight against something like him,” was the reply. Shine raised his staff and aimed it straight at the big man’s back.

“Wait,” I said. “Let me just try. Maybe he’ll see things my way.”

Shine shrugged. “Fine, I’ll go wake up Rupert. I can’t believe he’s still out.”

I left my compatriot and gingerly approached the large man who was exploring the insides of the corpse. He fumbled with something, pulling on the insides. With a ripping sound, he pulled a body out! It was a human woman’s body, or at least, what was left of her. Most of her insides were exposed, having contorted and twisted to expand into the sphere itself.

“Gross,” I said, looking at the lifeless corpse. Telltale shimmers of energy flickered through the charred body.

“Princess?” Jackson asked.

“No, I think this was whoever Dineah was before she ascended,” I said. I glanced up at the near expressionless barbarian. “Hey look, I’m gonna be honest with you. This entire trip turned out to be way more of a hassle than anyone planned on.”

Jackson grunted and nodded enthusiastically at those words.

“The Bandit King did not set us up for success here,” I continued. “Sending us with a traitor who had no bones about turning us over to wicked powers. And enslaving you.”

The big man said nothing, he merely continued digging through the larger corpse. “And so, we were thinking, the three of us back there, that maybe we don’t want to get paid only a fraction of what work we did. I mean, we aren’t just retrieving the princess, we just slayed a terrible threat to the world. If anything, the Emperor would reward us twice for our work.”

Jackson stopped at that. He turned to face me, eyes glaring. “Betray king?” he barked.

“Well, less of a betrayal and more of a recognition of his inability to compensate us well enough for the job we did,” I said. Why was I using so many words? This guy wasn’t a thinker. Let me try again. “What I mean is, Emperors are bigger than kings. And our king wouldn’t pay us well. Why go smaller?”

“King told me you’d try this,” Jackson said. “Sent his most loyal man—me. We return princess to him. End of story.”

The big man’s hands dropped down to where his axes were hanging. Well great. I put my hand on my own belt, to summon the twins. “Afraid not,” I replied. “We’re going after a bigger prize.”

Before I could even blink, the blades came flashing towards my head. I dropped back and threw the twins in between us, bringing forth the gigantic figures from the ground.

Jackson was faster than the summon and opted to ignore them, pressing his assault towards me, instead. A flash of light struck him in the back, throwing him off balance for a moment. This gave me enough time to draw out the Greater Earth Elemental.

I threw the card on the ground beneath me and leapt, allowing the great elemental to grow up below me. I landed on the right shoulder of the great elemental and held on tight, getting some distance from Jackson.

The barbarian swung his axes at the large clump of earth and stone before him, but they did little damage against something so dense.

“We don’t have to fight,” I said. “You stood by us this whole time. No reason you can’t get paid too.”

There was no reply from the barbarian. Instead he leapt up high, dodging the first punch from the elemental and landing atop the other shoulder. He swung at me as I rolled off the body. I landed on the ground and stumbled backwards, drawing out Vinestorm.

Dozens of vines came crashing out of the ground, reaching up to catch Jackson as he jumped off the side of the elemental’s body. They curled around him in midair and seized him by the midsection, then his arms and legs.

Two vines wrapped around his neck tightly and with a direction, all the vines began to pull at once. Jackson roared and thrashed but was unable to do anything. The force of the vines crushing him forced his grasp on his weapons to release, sending the twin axes to the floor, clattering. I wanted to release the vines and issue one last warning, but a crossbow bolt struck Jackson right between the eyes, ending him instantly.

“Bull’s-eye!” Rupert said. “Good plan, holding him up that way.”

“That could have gone a lot smoother,” Shine said. “He almost had your head clean off.”

The vines dropped Jackson’s corpse and retracted into the ground. My summons all faded as well, my concentration dropping. The barbarian was dead. We checked him over, just to be sure. He was gone, that was for sure.

“A real shame,” I said.

“Him or us,” Rupert replied.

Shine murmured something in agreement to that. “Now come on, let’s retrieve Her Highness and then get the hell out of here.”

We gathered our gear and returned to the stairwell that was waiting for us. The webbing was still as solid as before and we were able to return to the spider queen’s resting place.

The pools were empty. A great deal of eggs had hatched and we could see dozens of Dineans gathered before the entrance to the building, their weapons held high. We could hear fighting and screaming on the other side; the sound of cultists desperately trying to fight their way in echoed throughout the entire building.

“You return having ended Dineah,” the spider queen said. “She had not the power to stop you.”

“Too much reliance on her followers,” I replied. “Without anyone around, she stood no chance.”

“Such is the illusion of autocracy,” she said. “I have retrieved the woman you have sought. She is conscious but without thought.”

A large egg sac dangled down from the ceiling, slowly lowered by a great strand of webbing. The pod split open, revealing a woman in a green stained dress. She was battered-looking, her face bruised and her legs deeply cut.

“Some cultists attempted to slay her as a sacrifice when they became aware of Dineah’s cries for help,” the queen explained. “Hence her wounds. I was able to retrieve her and bind them decently enough to stop their bleeding.”

Rupert hopped into the water and was quick to retrieve the woman. She stood up easily enough and leaned against the rogue, letting him lead her back to our party. The blonde woman was alert and aware, but said nothing. Her eyes fell on me blankly, as if she had not a clue nor a care who or what I was.

“Battered but alive,” Shine said after examining her. “Looks like we’ve got what we came for.”

“What about treasure? We gotta loot this place clean!” Rupert said.

“Sure, we’ll leave you here, secure things with the Emperor and come back for you in a few weeks,” I replied.

Rupert swallowed. “Erm, well, I mean…”

“Nothing here is worth risking the main prize,” I said. “Shine, get us out of here, asap.”

The wizard nodded. “Ten minutes, tops.”

I turned my attention back to the great spider queen who still loomed above us. “You didn’t have to block the cultists from coming to help Dineah,” I said. “Why turn on her so thoroughly? It’s one thing to surrender but that was aiding us.”

“I was made great by Dineah, it is true. My children were made many because of her indeed. But for the humans who came to this place, being transformed into a spider was considered a punishment. A curse. Dineah called herself the goddess of spiders and yet detested us enough to make transforming into us a terrible punishment for those who stepped out of line. Dineans were not blessed unions but were harsh reminders of obedience,” the queen said. “That never sat well with me. And when Dineah called out for aid, she tried to psychically compulse all of my children to abandon their posts and die for her. Not something I was privy to in the least. She may be fine with devouring her own, but I prefer the company of my spawn.”

Chapter 50

A flash of light and we were strewn out across the cold, hard ground. “Hey!” a guard yelled, kicking me in the boot. “Watch it! This is not a designated teleportation area. You coulda hurt someone!”

I opened my eyes to see a Cathodean guard standing over me, his mustachioed face frowning deeply. We were laying in the market square of Lower Cathode, in Burison! “We made it!” I cried, climbing to my feet.

Rupert and Shine were beside me, rubbing their eyes and climbing up as well. Princess Celestine remained seated, her eyes whirring from the teleportation effect. “That was a hard jump,” Shine said. “Four people is pushing it.”

“Hey, we landed somewhere safe!” I said. “And we’re in city.”

“I’m not invisible today, am I?” the guard said. “I said, this area is not for teleportation!”

“We’re not currently teleporting,” Rupert said. “So we’re not breaking any rules.”

“Sorry officer,” Shine said. “But we have more important things to worry about. This young woman here is Princess Celestine herself. We have just rescued her from a terrible dungeon and are here to return her to the Emperor.”

The guard crossed his arms. “Oh sure, that’s the princess alright. I don’t need a line from every adventurer. Just don’t teleport in non-approved areas or next time it’ll be a fine.”

With that, the man walked off, leaving us alone with our blank princess.

“Well, I guess we’ll have to take her in alone,” I said. I reached down and took her hand. She willingly grabbed hold of it and let me pull her up. I looked into her eyes once more, gazing deeply to see if something was in there, but there was little recognition.

“She’s pretty busted up, ain’t she?” Rupert said as we made our way to Upper Cathode. Fortunately the administrative center of the city was more in the center, so we didn’t need to take a train all the way up.

“Her vitals are fine and I don’t detect any magical impairment,” Shine said. “I’m willing to bet that her mind’s been too scrambled to come back without aid. That’s the court’s job though, I’m sure some house magician will fix it.”

“Well, we better not get half the reward or something like that,” the rogue replied. “Because this is the best possible condition we could return her in.”

“You say it like we’re turning in a lost wagon or something,” I said. “She’s a human being. We should just be happy that we’ve done some real good in destroying something so evil and saving a person’s life.”

“And what, we’re just gonna ignore the tiny detail that she arrived willingly?” Rupert asked. “I’m saying we stopped one evil, sure, but this little lady is gonna be trouble, guaranteed.”

“Bah, leave politics to the aristocracy,” Shine said, waving his hand. “Nobles are always doing some kind of plotting. No reason to worry about what she was up to.”

We theorized and philosophized about nobility and their actions as we made our way to the outer courtyard, where a few attendants were gathered, preparing for their regular day. We interrupted them, pointing to the semi-conscious woman and asking about official confirmation that we had retrieved the correct person.

As one could guess, the princess' appearance caused quite a stir and within a matter of minutes, our party was standing face to face with none other than Magistrate Cronen.

“I should have known it would be you,” the man said, laughing from atop his throne. We were standing at the bottom of the stairs—the usual position to take when supplicating the local magister. “Arthur, was it?”

“Arthur Moss,” I said, bowing to him.

“You found the needle in the haystack,” the Magistrate said. He was leaning back in his chair, slouched a little, showing that there was no real interest in this situation beyond what was his required duties. “And for that I congratulate you. From here, the princess will be taken into my custody and released to the Emperor. Your reward, a castle, shall be given in time. Until then, I should be thankful it was one of Cathode’s resident adventurers who solved this ordeal. You’ve earned me valuable facetime with the Emperor. You may not think it, being peasantry and all, but gaining the ear of the most powerful man in the Empire isn’t the easiest thing to do.”

Of course. We were furthering this man’s agenda just by being here. But if that were the case, then perhaps I could use his authority to aid me. “If that is true sir, would you be willing to reward us with a gift?” I asked.

The Magistrate laughed at this once more, even though Shine shot me the most incredulous look. “Of course, Arthur. Since you asked so nicely. What do you wish of me?”

I told him of the Bandit King’s base and of what was necessary. I told him of the slack office kept in the Grium Hillside, leading to the harassment of residents and such. The man did not look pleased to hear that his people weren’t keeping things disciplined. “If you wish this base eradicated, so be it. I shall dispatch my swiftest units to overrun them. The Gryphon forces shall come crashing down from the sky and unleash a hell those bandits would not have thought possible.”

“I caution you, Magister,” Shine said, bowing his head while he spoke. “They may be bandits but their leader is well connected and has many strong warriors at his behest. Be aware of the danger.”

“I have known of this man’s petty kingdom long enough to know what he is capable of,” the Magistrate said. “Not all enemies must be snuffed out at once. Some are useful to have around to give the cockroaches a place they think they’re safe. But if he’s overstepped his bounds, it’s time to put an end to that little hovel.”

I bowed once more. “Thank you, sir.”

The Magistrate raised a hand towards me and saluted. “I thank you for your hard work. In a few weeks, you will receive an invitation to the Emperor’s Court. There you will receive your rewards from the Emperor himself. All three of you shall be given title of the castle, for it was your party who brought it in.”

Rupert’s head leaned up at that. “Hey, what? I’m actually getting rewarded?”

The man nodded. “And I’m sure there will be other accolades and honors to be given as well. Just dress as best as you can afford and conduct yourselves as gentlemen. You will be representing Cathode, so make sure you wear their colors. Until then, you are dismissed. Don’t go too far from the city, you don’t want to miss your invitations.”

And with that, we were dismissed by the Magistrate, sent out the way we came in.

“That felt a bit hollow,” Rupert said, crossing his arms. “No pay?”

“Pay? You’re getting a castle,” I said. I glanced at Shine. “Well, I guess we’re getting a castle.”

Shine shook his head in disbelief. “I…I frankly am at a loss for words. I had heard the rumors of the castle reward but to actually hear it from the Magistrate himself…”

I elbowed him in the ribs, jabbing him heartily a few times. “See? What did I tell you? It was worth the risk!”

“I suppose it was,” Shine said. “Provided the Bandit King doesn’t send assassins after us, since we have a home they’ll be able to track.”

“Well, thankfully we have a paranoid wizard who can cast all sorts of defensive spells on the perimeter,” I said. My heart skipped a beat with those words. The reality of owning a castle started to sink in a little more. A castle. A perimeter. An actual place where I could build up a village and defend with my power, like a vassal lord in the days of yore. With Shine around to look after the place magically and Rupert to ensure security was top notch, we’d have ourselves an actual estate.

“You alright?” Rupert asked. “You’re looking pale.”

“I think the reality’s just sinking in,” I said. “Gentlemen, we’re going to own our own land! Together!”

“Yes, that is unfortunate,” Shine said with a rather wide grin. “But I suppose we’d have to get used to it.”

“Then it would seem our fates are intertwined for good,” I said, extending a hand to the wizard. “Care to officially join my party?”

Shine hesitated for a second. “You’re not going to quit?”

“Adventuring? Where’s the fun in that?” I said. “We just got ourselves a base of operations. If anything, we can expand into an actual adventuring company! Think about it, hire our own people to hang around and get sent on their own missions, bringing back the spoils to us.”

“I like the sound of that, outsourcing my own terror,” Rupert said, rubbing his hands together.

“You’re staying in the field with me,” I said. “No retirement for you, Emerald Hands.”

“Har har,” the rogue said. “The moment I see that castle, the only thing I’m going to be doing all day is sleeping in and hog farming.”

“Hog farming?”

“I’ll still earn my bacon,” came the reply, eliciting a laugh from the rest of us. All things considered, the next few weeks were going to bring some much needed rest and relaxation before the night of great honor…

Chapter 51

The bell to Emelia’s store jangled as I entered, carrying flowers and some fine chocolates I had found at the market earlier that day.

“Arthur?” Emelia asked, looking down from working on one of the pieces of armor hanging on the wall. “You’re alive!”

“In the flesh!” I said, bringing the items to her. She was quick to accept them, putting them aside before giving me a big hug.

“I’m glad you’re here! I’ve been dying to show you what was in that field. You know the map you sent me?”

“That’s why I’m here,” I said, rubbing my hands together. Hopefully there’d be some treasure worth a few gold coins. It’d be nice to buy a few more eidolons before leaving town.

The woman was quick to go in the back of the store. “It took me forever to find the damn farm. Everything was so derelict that I’m fairly certain this letter is at least thirty years old. I wonder what kind of rebellion they were planning.”

“Maybe they still are,” I said.

A large crate appeared in front of the doorway leading to the back and Emelia fought to get through the narrow frame, trying not to catch her fingers in between while moving the box. I was quick to get on the other side, grabbing it and helping ease it into the middle of the shop.

The crate was full of shimmering chainmail glowing in colors of all different kinds. “A veritable treasure chest full of good armor,” she said. “I’d value it to be worth a solid five gold per uniform.”

“How many in there?”

“Ten.”

“Twenty-five gold each,” I said, rubbing my hands together once more. “That’s a good deal.”

“We’re doing an even split? It was my ass who was out there in the field, digging for hours. It took me nearly a week to even narrow down the field based on that awful map you gave me,” she said.

“Yes, but it was that awful map that led us here,” I said. “Fifty-Fifty is more than fair.”

Emelia crossed her arms. “Over my dead body.”

“Are you seriously going to haggle with the man who saved your life?” I asked.

“Are you really going to use my life as an anti-haggle tactic?” she replied.

“Easily,” I said. “Fifty-fifty or there will be no more treasure maps coming your way. And you won’t get your own room in the castle.”

“The what?”

“Oh right, I forgot to mention something…”

By the end of my conversation with Miss Emelia, she was more than amenable to splitting the price of the armor in half. After all, she was a member of the party, so it was only natural that she should be entitled to her own quarters. Plus her runework meant we’d be able to pay her to improve our gear over time. She might not come into the field with us, but that didn’t mean Emelia wouldn’t be incredibly useful to have around.

As we discussed the ins and outs of the new living arrangements, there came a serious pounding on the door. “Open up in the name of the Emperor!”

“That might be my summon to see the Emperor!” I said, rushing to the door. Without a moment’s hesitation, I pulled it open.

Several spears came rushing towards my face. I yelped, holding my hands up. “Arthur Moss, by Imperial Decree, you are to be arrested and brought to face trial before the Emperor himself,” one of the spear owners shouted at me.

“What? What are the charges?” I demanded.

Weapons dropped since I showed no sign of resistance and I was seized by the gang of soldiers, dragged to the ground and bound with tight cords around my wrists. Two gloves were shoved onto my hands as well, locking them in one painful spread out position. They were rigid, making it impossible for me to use my digits for anything. Anti-spellcaster gloves, no doubt.

“Kidnapping and extortion of the Royal Family,” came the reply.

“What are you talking about? Kidnapping? We returned Princess Celestine to the Cathodean Court! The Magister can vouch for us, we turned her over to his custody,” I explained. The men paid little attention to this and merely dragged me out of the shop, throwing me in the back of a large cage wagon.

I landed atop someone, their knee digging into my spine, eliciting groans from us both. I recognized the sound. “Damn it, Rupert?”

“Present,” he mumbled beneath me.

“I’m here too,” Shine said. I glanced over to see he was seated in the corner, face pressed against the wall, his hands bound in the same way as mine.

“What in the hell happened?” I said, fumbling to get onto my feet. The wagon began to roll and I stumbled, crashing into the wood walls of the cage. “How could they get mixed up like this?”

“It’s not a mix up, it’s a set up!” Rupert said. “That damn Magistrate Cronen, he took all the credit. Must have made us out to be the kidnappers in order to get in real good with the Emperor.”

“That seems a terribly petty thing to do,” Shine said. “The man is Magister of one of the most powerful cities in the Empire. To try and steal credit from nobodies would be ridiculous. The Emperor would never believe a Magister was able to find his daughter all on his own.”

“So what else could it be? Our benefactor accidentally sent in the wrong forms? Wrote condemn instead of commend in his letter?” Rupert growled. “We put our eggs in the really wrong basket and now we’re dead men.”

“Calm down,” I said. “We’ll figure something out.”

“We are going to trial. They’re gonna declare us to be the kidnappers and execute us on the spot. We won’t even get proper graves!” Rupert said, his voice rising into hysterics. “We’ll die as nobodies, dumped into a pile of other nobodies, all who had the same faith in their Emperor!”

“Relax,” Shine said. “We aren’t a lawless land, they can’t just summarily execute us. There needs to be a judgment first. We’ll have a chance to speak our piece before the Emperor and his court. All we need to do is stick to our story and refuse to deviate.”

“What is our story exactly?” I asked as I looked out the barred window of the wagon. We were rolling away from Cathode. To where? I suppose it would be The Saltswept Castle, where the Emperor resided along with the rest of the Royal Family.

“We rescued her from a spider cult,” Shine said. “Her memories were affected by her time in captivity. If she’s claiming we did the kidnapping, it may just be confusion from her recovery process. She may not even remember the cult.”

“So as long as we all stick to that story, we’ll be fine?” Rupert said. I could hear the hesitation in his voice, as if he wanted to argue the idea but almost preferred to believe it instead.

“I don’t know,” Shine replied. “It’s not like any of us are particularly well connected. The words of the princess versus the words of three random schmucks…we may not get out of this one okay.”

Chapter 52

“I knew things were too good to be true,” Rupert fussed as we were marched down the long corridors in single file line. Our chains were stuck together, linking us like common prisoners on a chain gang. The guards surrounding us did not speak; they were of a higher caliber than the imperial guards who worked on the streets of the cities. These men, these Knight Protectives, wore golden armor with the finest of fur capes upon their backs, long halberds and swords hanging from their backs as they marched. They were as ostentatious as the rest of the Royal Castle.

It was hard to take in the sights with any wonder or awe, however. We were being brought before the Emperor’s throne in the most shameful of ways. I never thought I’d ever see the Emperor face to face and I most certainly never expected to be imprisoned like so.

“This is it, boys,” Rupert said as we approached a doorway that opened wide to greet us. Within we could see the entire royal court gathered to watch the initial proceedings of this trial.

The courtroom of the Emperor wasn’t much different from the Magistrate’s chambers of judgment. The Imperials had a methodical way of developing their cities and structures; almost all government buildings were made identical to one another. The biggest difference here was that the throne was made of solid gold and had a seat beside it for the Empress.

The Emperor was a magnificently overdressed man, wearing frilly stockings, a long red cloak that hung over his shoulders and a pompous rounded hat that looked rather ridiculous. He looked far more foppish than I was expecting, but I dared not grin or chuckle in amusement. Not when the charges coming my way were going to be of the utmost seriousness.

Beside the Emperor sat his wife, a woman in a far more refined outfit. She wore a dress of gold sequins that sparkled like the stars, bringing elegance to her posture. She was cool and collected, staring out at us with judgment already upon her lips. No doubt she was sharp, the way she took the world in suggested that she knew many things were going on in her courts. Perhaps she might understand our tale.

On the other side of the Emperor was his daughter, Celestine. She was sitting by his feet, waiting patiently for the opportunity to speak. She clutched his leg like a child and my stomach turned as her eyes met mine. A scowl greeted me and I flinched. This wasn’t going to go well, I could feel it.

“Kneel before the Emperor,” the guard captain demanded as he stopped us before the throne. Before we even had a chance to comply, sticks jabbed us in the back, forcing us to our knees.

“You three,” the Emperor said, clearing his throat a little before he spoke, “are in a great deal of trouble. Magistrate Cronen returned my daughter to me, saying how your adventuring group had rescued her from some cult in the middle of forbidden and dangerous lands. A good fiction to spin, but a fiction nonetheless. Celestine has told me the truth. There was no cult. Just three kidnappers who had an idea on how to get rich. You abducted her and waited until the bounty became big enough. And then you turned her in, as if she wouldn’t remember. Some third-rate memory clearing spell wasn’t enough to break her mind. She’s of royal stock, you should have known better than to rely on such cheap tricks. Now your greed will cost you your lives.”

He ceased speaking and gripped the scepter that had been leaning against his chair. He lifted the golden, ornate rod up and aimed it towards me. “You. Arthur Moss, the ringleader of the group. Speak now as to these charges.”

“Your Highness,” I said, taking a deep breath before I continued to speak. “I am thankful for the opportunity to speak. I deny these charges and proclaim them to be entirely false. These two and I are innocent of what has been spoken. The circumstances are far more intricate than one would think and it would be easy to see how Princess Celestine would become confused.”

“How so?”

“Well…she was bound and trapped by the spider goddess Dineah, her mind turned to mush. So, it’s possible that she became confused after we set her free. We didn’t have anything to heal her thoughts so we brought her back to the courts, knowing the great Emperor’s court would know how to heal her,” I said. “To proclaim that we kidnapped her is…it’s impossible. Sir, we are but three peasant adventurers. How would we even have been able to find her, let alone get her away from her guards and protection?”

The Emperor glanced down at his daughter. She shook her head ‘no’ at him. “You are saying my daughter is lying?”

“I am saying there is a mistake somehow,” I said. “She was in a bad way when we rescued her. There is no shame in confusion being caused by magical chaos.”

“But there is shame in false claims!” the Emperor growled, though his tone was a bit more high-pitched, leading to a less than intimidating timbre. “And either you, a random peasant, or my own flesh and blood are lying to me. What are the chances it’s her?”

Shine opened his mouth to speak. “Sir, what my colleague means to say is that there are forces greater at work than what we can account for. If you would be so kind to bring in someone who is skilled in augury and truth magic, we would happily submit our minds to compulsions to speak only what is true. You will find our testimonies to be perfectly in line with what we say now.”

“Auguries? You want a trial?” the Emperor scoffed. He slammed his scepter against the ground, thumping it rather hard. “This is your trial!”

“And if you will not believe us, then you condemn us without ever knowing the truth,” Shine said. “What is the harm in allowing powers arcane to show us what is real?”

Celestine whispered something to the Emperor, but his wife too leaned over to murmur something to him. He took the words from both of the women and weighed them for a moment before speaking. “The crime for interfering with the life, sanctity or safety of a royal family member is immediate death. To even waste time with a trial is an affront to the power and prestige of this position. It should be enough that the word of a royal pronounces something as true for it to be true. Bringing in augury would break precedent,” he explained.

“Then what, you have decided our deaths well in advance?” I asked. “What is the point of asking our words if you don’t wish to believe them?”

“To give you a chance to own up to your crimes, of course,” the man replied. “You have a chance to keep your dignity. But I see you will stick to your story as from before.”

“Look, this whole thing is a misunderstanding,” I said. “I’m a registered adventurer! I’d have no reason to do this. Please, check in with the people of the Grium Hillsides, I’m known over there as someone who helps out! I’d never turn my back on the crown!”

Shine and Rupert echoed in agreement with those words.

“Reputation matters little in light of what you have done,” the Emperor said. “I do not find anything you have to say compelling enough to warrant further discussion. I sentence the three of you to hang on the morrow, for the crime of kidnapping and extortion of a royal family member. May the gods have mercy on your soul, for here there will be none.”

“Sir, this is a huge mistake!” I protested, but a spear end to the back of the head shut me up. Our chains were seized and we were forced to our feet. They dragged us through the castle, hoods thrown over our heads so we weren’t even sure where we were going. Endlessly we walked until finally, the rattling of a cage door greeted me, followed by a sharp shove inside.

I fell to my knees, coughing as the hood was yanked off my head. The fresh air came in, but I gagged a bit, because it was a rank, foul dungeon air. I was inside a prison cell, free from my hip chains that connected me to the other prisoners, but arms still bound and fingers trapped in their painful spread out vigil.

My stomach growled as hunger began to rear its ugly head. Two weeks we had been traveling in suboptimal conditions, but my anxieties had mostly kept the hunger at bay. But now, as the darkness of the dungeon settled in, all I could feel was my pain, exhaustion and starvation. I’d kill to eat something…anything.

“We’re being hanged,” Rupert said. “I knew it was going to be the gallows for me. Always the gallows. That’s what my mother always warned me about. Stop doing that, Rupee or else you’ll go to the gallows. I should have listened to her.”

His voice echoed around, making it hard for me to place him. The darkness was too great to see the other cells, so his location was anyone’s guess.

“My mother always said I’d be in the Emperor’s court someday,” Shine replied. “I guess she wasn’t wrong, but she’d die if she found out the reason why.”

“Both of you calm down, we’re not dead yet,” I said. “We just gotta think. There’s some way out of this, I know there is.”

“Yeah, it’s simple, we pin it on you,” Shine said. “If Rupert agrees, we’ll just say you controlled our minds.”

“It’s only fair,” the rogue agreed. “You’re the one who convinced us to go after Celestine.”

“Why not just claim the spider queen controlled all three of us? Let’s pin it on her,” I replied, leaning my head against the bars. My knee was burning from the pain of being forced into one position for so long. The wound had healed somewhat, thanks to a few healing potions, but I was supposed to keep it in a neutral position for the next few weeks. Being dragged around had done me no favors there.

Silence fell over us. Rupert began to snore and I could hear Shine muttering to himself as he too fell asleep. I remained awake, staring out into the darkness. How in the hell had things gone so bad so quickly? Something wasn’t quite right. But what?

Time passed as I sat in the darkness. Eventually, the sounds of the cellar door opening up caught my attention. Was it time for food? I was still starving, desperate for something to put in my belly. Quiet, calculated footsteps indicated that this was not the guardsmen. It was a civilian.

Two eyes flashed in front of the bars before me and I quickly sat back. They glowed bright red, shimmering with unbridled power. But they were human eyes, giving off enough of a glow to illuminate the face of none other than Celestine. And yet, I knew instinctively that it was not her I was looking at.

“You thought you had won,” the woman said, her voice harsh and cruel. “Didn’t you?”

“Dineah…” I hissed. “How?”

“Oh please, you really don’t know? You were attacking my gestation chambers. I was desperate to find some way out and wouldn’t you know, I had spent so much time unwinding Celestine’s mind, preparing it to host some dark power, I figured why not use her before it’s too late? I hopped into her mind and left my ‘corpse’ to be desecrated by you fools.”

“And then you feigned blankness until it was time to turn on us,” I said through gritted teeth. “You’ve got the Emperor completely fooled.”

“It’s less than ideal,” Dineah admitted, raising her hand to examine it. “Being back in a mortal frame limits my power greatly and the spider queen decimated my idiot followers, so I’m not in the best of shape. But things are changing in my favor. As the daughter of the Emperor, I shall gain much reverence. Enough to perhaps convince them to worship me as well. The Empress Spider. That is what they shall call me.”

“You’re mad if you think you won’t get caught,” I said. “The Emperor isn’t an idiot.”

“He is an idiot,” came the reply, harsh and unforgiving. “That man wages an unwinnable war to expand his already gigantic realm, forgetting how to administrate his people and instead relying upon the rigors of tradition to keep everyone in line. Hardly a worthy foe.”

“I see. Well, gloat all you like,” I said. “We’re getting out of this.”

“Doubtful. You will hang tomorrow and it will be a delight to watch. And since this is done to satisfy me, it will count as a sacrifice,” Dineah said. “A delectable sacrifice indeed.”

Chapter 53

“Yeah, this isn’t good,” Shine said once I had finished relaying all of what I had learned in the earlier part of the night. The two had been asleep during Dineah’s revelations but I woke them up as soon as she departed.

“Why bother telling you?” Rupert asked. “Seems to me it would be far more satisfying to have done this in the shadows.”

“Dineah’s an egotist,” I said. “It’s no good if she doesn’t rub it in our faces.”

“Plus she feeds off fear,” Shine said. “So our worries will now go straight to her, growing her power.”

“I’m not afraid,” Rupert said. “Well, at least not until a few more hours pass, when the reality sinks in.”

“Look, we need to figure a way out of here,” I said. “Now that we know Dineah’s behind this, it means we have to stop her, lest she sink her claws deep into the Emperor.”

“Should we maybe pray to the gods and ask for help?” Rupert asked. “I’m no theologian but I’m sure there’s some good god out there who’d be willing to intervene.”

“Clerics call upon the gods to intervene,” Shine said. “Rational people use magic. I can get us out of these cells if I had free access to my hands. Rupert, your hands aren’t bound, are they?”

“Nope, I’m just in chains,” he said.

“Is there anything you can sharpen, like a rock or a piece of metal?” Shine asked. “Because you could make something to cut my finger binds.”

There was a moment’s hesitation, followed by some clacking and digging sounds. “I found some broken stones, give me some time, I’ll sharpen them.”

While Rupert worked to sharpen the stone, I tried to see if there would be some way I could free myself from the finger bonds. I had no cards on me, but I needed the use of my fingers if I was going to escape this place.

I rolled onto my back, yelping and groaning as my fingers jammed into the earth. I tried to gently prop them up, but I was too heavy and it was rather painful. Still, the splints on my hands, the rigid gloves, strained under the weight and I could feel them bend somewhat. As they bent, I could curl my fingers more, adding more strain to the overall bindings.

I tried my best to break them at first, but the binding was too resolute and I was in too much pain from the position to get it in one go. It took a few tries, little by little, wearing and tearing down the fibers in the gloves to get them to finally break open. The crick-crack was a surprise and my fingers immediately fell slack, freed from their rigid prison.

“Aha!” I said, rolling upright and raising my now freed fingers up to examine them. They were bright purple from the amount of strain I had put them under and they ached to move, but they were free. “You don’t need a knife,” I explained. “Just roll on your back and stress the gloves until they snap.”

After some instruction, Shine was able to do what I had done, albeit a lot slower than me and with far more breaks in between, followed by lectures on how one must be delicate and cautious with one’s fingers. By the end of it I was near convinced we’d never get it to work, but Shine casually announced, “Oh. I am free.”

“About time,” Rupert said, manifesting my thoughts into reality. “That was taking forever.”

“Okay, my hands are free…let’s see if I can do this right…” Shine’s words fell silent for a moment, then he began to start chanting in ancient tongue, muttering words of power.

A flash of light nearly blinded me as it manifested inches away from my face. “What was that for?” I yelped, looking away just in time to avoid getting my retinas burned out.

“Touch the ground,” Shine said.

I complied, reaching down. My hands brushed a stack of cards…

“My deck!” I exclaimed, grabbing the cards and raising them to my face as if they had been my lost child. “How?”

“I put a Mark of Recall on your card deck after we reunited with our items,” Shine said. “Cards are small enough of an item for the spell to work, as it’s a cantrip usually meant for books and such. I can’t pull my staff but this is good enough.”

“Oh it’s more than good enough,” I said, flipping through the cards, looking for the Greater Earth Elemental. “This is our ticket out of here.”

“I suggest we escape through the wall and make our way for the woods,” Shine said. “It’ll be our best bet to hide out in the forest until the heat dies down. They won’t look too hard for us after a few days.”

“I know a place we can hole up,” Rupert said. “Well, I know of a supposed safehouse for rapscallions in this area. It’ll be in the city of Leskar, though.”

“No city,” Shine said. “Too risky.

“But it’s dense. We’ll blend in,” Rupert said. “And if the safehouse is there, we’ll be fine. The folks harboring us will cost us a pretty penny, but they’re criminals who have nothing to gain by working with the law.”

“Why run away?” I asked. “We should be preparing to prove our innocence here.”

“How do you intend to do that?” Shine asked. “Grab the princess and shake her until she admits she’s an evil spider goddess? Arthur, you push past your limits too hard. If you want to solve this crisis, do it from a place of strength. Being prisoners inside of the Emperor’s own castle is not a place of strength.”

That was a good point. “Fine,” I said. “I say we escape to the woods. Going into the city is risky and we don’t know the area. At least in the woods we can escape with minimal worries about being surrounded.”

“Fair enough,” Rupert said.

“Alright gentlemen,” I said, drawing out the Earth Elemental. “Get ready for a quick escape! If we’re fast enough, we’ll be out of here before they even know what happened.”

The earth shook as the stone elemental arose from the ground. He smashed the cell door in front of him easily enough, taking it down with one single blow. I directed him to the other two doors and he smashed them down, freeing my compatriots. Another direction and the wall had exploded, leading us to freedom.

Guards were shouting from above and I could hear the cellar door open up. “What the hell is going on down there?” someone called, but we did not bother to respond. Instead the three of us hightailed it outside, running past the elemental.

We were in the southern side of the Imperial castle, still stuck on the inside of the wall. This area was flat and wide, with a variety of trade goods packaged and stored in the yard. Dozens of workers were packing items at various stations, going about their daily business with little supervision.

“The wall!” Rupert said, pointing to the huge stone wall in front of us. “We gotta break through!”

“There’s no way in hell we’re getting through that,” Shine said, dissuading me before I could order my elemental to handle it. “It’ll be far too thick. We must climb.”

“I’m on it,” I said, throwing out the Grey Wall, calling its shape to become stairs leading up to the top of the wall. The shimmering light was a bit too bright, it would attract guards soon enough.

“This does not look stable,” Rupert said, inspecting the stairwell. I pushed past him and clambered up the stairs, giving the impression that they were indeed strong enough to bear weight. Shine and Rupert followed after me.

We reached the top of the wall and peaked over. An archer was standing nearby, staring out at the free world. Rupert motioned for us to wait and silently climbed over the railing. Without making a sound, he was upon the guard, catching him in a headlock and squeezing until the man passed out. He laid the body low and searched, finding only a few coins.

Shine and I climbed over the railing and readied to come down on the other side. “I can feather fall us,” Shine said, waving his hands. A light breeze seemed to envelop my feet, flowing around me as if it were affixed to only one area. “Come on, it’s as easy as jumping.”

Shine leapt off the wall, gliding downwards as if a thousand clouds were beneath his feet. Rupert cautiously followed, jumping down to minimize fall damage. He looked pleasantly surprised as he floated down.

I followed them, keeping my hands upon the next card, in case we needed it. But no one found us. The castle was more focused on keeping people out rather than keeping them in, making for a quick and easy escape.

The woods nearby were known as the Tragwoods, where troll and gnoll alike lived, seeking human flesh to devour. I had heard many stories and legends about this place, but it seemed safer here than anywhere else at the moment. Besides, I had some empty eidolons; it would be interesting to catch a wild spirit here.

We found shelter in an empty cave deep in the woods. After thoroughly checking for bandits, bears and trolls, we concluded that this would be our temporary headquarters while we figured out this whole mess.

“Now we’re back to my kind of living,” Rupert said. “Being outside the law meant living in places like this. Don’t you fellas worry, I’ll have this place fixed up in no time. You’ll barely forget the conveniences of living within a house!”

“We can’t stay here long,” Shine replied, shaking his head at the idea of living here. “Once the Emperor has gotten word of our escape, they’ll come to comb this place over. We’ll need to keep moving in the woods until a few days go by, when the search will ease up.”

“Stay put, stay hidden,” Rupert countered. “We build some hidey holes here and then we don’t have to worry about getting caught. Trust me, you’re better off staying put during a game of hide and seek. It’s the ones running around who always get snagged.”

“Arthur, care to weigh in?” Shine asked.

I shrugged. I had been looking over my card collection and had been barely paying attention to their argument. “Staying would be the easiest,” I said. “If we get caught, we’ll just escape and move somewhere else. No reason to waste energy moving around if we don’t have to.”

“Escaping might involve fighting guards,” Shine said. “Do we really want to add those charges to our sentence? Because we might be able to absolve our name, but if we kill royal guards, we’ll still be murderers in the eyes of the state.”

“Vinestorm will just keep them occupied, I promise,” I replied. “No casualties.”

“So you say,” Shine murmured. He was silent for a moment before he spoke some more. “This whole thing has been a disaster. We should have been hailed as heroes, now we’re wanted men.”

“It’s a cruel twist of fate,” I said. “But we can fix it. Somehow.”

“Should we even bother?” Shine replied. “The Emperor would look foolish for falling for such a ploy, he’d be embarrassed by our aid. We’d be punished anyway.”

“I doubt that,” I said. “I’m sure he’ll be grateful to have the real Celestine back.”

“Restore her? I’m not sure if that’s possible,” the wizard said. “I mean, I’m not much on possession magic but I’m sure a goddess would overtake everything available. Plus her mind was being molded…”

“There’s always some kind of cure for this stuff,” I said. “Heroes are always telling stories of them finding impossible cures.”

Shine frowned. “That is true. But we’d need access to a magical library. I’d be able to figure something out, given enough time.”

“Cathode’s library is out,” I said. “We can’t show our faces in that city.”

“I’ve lived in that library enough to know the exact area I’d need to check out,” Shine countered. “Why not try to infiltrate?”

I frowned, thinking back to what Dineah had said. “The Spider Queen killed the rest of Dineah’s followers,” I murmured.

“Yes? And that was a great service to the world,” Shine said. “What does that have to do with anything?”

“There were dozens of libraries there. Huge libraries too, bigger than Cathode’s archives! You said it so yourself. And now that place is completely empty, save for the Queen and she knows not to bother us anymore,” I said. “You teleported us out, but can you teleport us back in?”

Shine put up a hand. “You want to dive right back into that terror hole? I think I’d rather take my chances on the gallows.”

“You’re not thinking it through! Dineah’s followers assembled those texts. I’m willing to bet there’s some information on this possession. Maybe there might even be a way to reverse engineer the spell or something, so we can release Celestine without a direct confrontation…” I trailed off, thinking of the various things that might be possible back in the dungeon.

“That is a solid point,” Shine said. “I suppose I could send us back. But that means I’m going to need my staff.”

“You can teleport my cards but not your staff,” I grumbled. “Seems like a big oversight.”

“If I hadn’t been yanked out of my home at two in the morning, I would have been able to spend some time weaving spells that would have solved that conundrum,” the wizard replied. “But alas, here we are.”

“You don’t have a backup?”

“A backup for an ancient staff of great power? No,” he replied. “I do not have a backup.”

I groaned. This wasn’t ideal. “We still have the map,” I said. “Go the long way?”

“I’d rather die than make that trip again,” Rupert called out from the cavern. He had been busy dragging rotted wood around to make a firepit. “You’re both overthinking it. We don’t need books, we need paladins. They’ll be able to sense Dineah’s true allegiance and bam, we’re free and clear.”

Shine and I exchanged glances. “Is that true? Paladins can sense her?”

“Possibly,” Rupert said. “The only downside is that they might not and then we’ll look like jackasses and be right back where we started.”

“I’m not putting my money on some blind faith paladins,” Shine said. He growled a little and drew up his right sleeve, revealing a tattoo of a circle with a dot in the middle. “There is one way we can teleport without my staff. This tattoo is a teleportation scroll inked into my body. Touching it will allow me to warp us back to the libraries but…this will burn the tattoo. It cost a fortune to make something like this and losing it…”

“So you were just going to teleport away during the execution?” Rupert asked. “And not stick around with us? Hardly the team spirit.”

“I have to touch the damn artifact,” he replied. “So as long as my hands were locked, I was out of luck. But yeah, I was planning to ditch as soon as we got caught again.”

“As long as you agree to come back with keys,” I said.

“Oh sure, that would be first on my to-do list,” Shine replied with a chuckle. “So you really think this library is going to have something for us?”

“It better. You and I are going to be coming through it while Rupert handles the most important job. Cleaning the coffers of that now empty temple. There has to be a fortune waiting for us in there.”

Chapter 54

We appeared inside of the library instantly. Teleportation the second round didn’t bother me as much as before, I wasn’t jostled or thrown off by it. Perhaps that was a testament to the quality of the tattoo that the man had inscribed onto his arm. A shame that it had faded the moment it was called upon.

“Well, that’s it,” Shine announced. “I am officially out of tricks to escape my fate. And unless anyone wants to give me a thousand gold to get another tattoo, it’ll be that way for a while.”

A thousand gold? “For that kind of money you could have just bought another staff,” I said.

Shine shot me a murderous look, but turned his attention to the numerous books surrounding us. The texts were vast and endless. “Well, I suppose this is where we get to work. I’ll start by scouting the collections out. It’s a shame everyone’s dead, for we could certainly use a librarian.”

I nodded, gazing at one side of the walls. There were many titles, but none of them struck me as of interest. As I searched, a voice sounded off in my head.

“You return. Did you forget something? Or do you wish to torment me further?” the Spider Queen asked.

“No, ma’am,” I said, keeping my voice down as to not alarm Shine. “We are here because Dineah survived.”

“That is unfortunate, but she has no power. I have slain her followers and taken back this place. The temple shall be a home to my children to wander as they please. Fleshlings like you will be devoured on the spot by them. And I suspect you will not wish to be eaten and so you will slay them. Take your leave. There is nothing here for you.”

“You can recall your children for a while,” I said. “We’re just here to find a way to stop Dineah. She took over the princess’ body and in the process, condemned us on our lands. So we basically need a way to reverse the possession. Otherwise we’ll live in exile.”

“You spin an interesting story, but not one I am interested in. Do what you must, but stay away from my birthing pods,” the voice said. “Lest we no longer speak on friendly terms.”

“Understood,” I replied. The voice faded from my mind and I returned to searching for some kind of answer.

Books were not my strongest suite. I was skilled as a reader and was an avid learner, sure, but the vast amount of work that went into study of greater subjects had always left me uninterested in taking my education to that of the collegiate. I would read one book on a subject and would leave pleased enough; to think about reading hundreds of books on the same subject was mind numbing.

But now I wished I had spent some time in the college world, as it might make sifting through these ancient books easier. They had so many titles that were interesting and eye catching, but picking them up often revealed nothing even close to what I was searching for.

Rupert had a better time with his exploration, at least. He would return every few hours with a huge sack full of treasures. He’d pour them all out onto the table for us to investigate. He said he wanted our keen eyes to judge the value of gems and such, but I think he just wanted to impress us with these hauls. And to be honest, I was quite impressed.

“You might be getting that tattoo after all,” I said as Rupert left, leaving behind another pile of shiny objects that would sell for a fortune at the auction houses.

“If I knew these cultists had such great taste in silver and gold decorations, I wouldn’t have protested returning,” the wizard said as he raised two books in the air, looking at both of them. “Here. I’ve got something.”

I was quick to slide down my ladder and rush over to where he stood. “What?”

The man began to read the book aloud. “On the matter of transmogrified possession, we have seen great success with transferring spirits to hosts who have had their personalities suppressed. It would be easy to rationalize that the base personality would eventually be destroyed or subsumed by the possessing spirit, but no amount of time has proven this to be true. The host’s mind always remains intact. Sanity, however, is a different story…”

“Well that’s reassuring,” I said. “What’s the other book?”

Shine grinned. “This one’s got an interesting theory. ‘In the matter of handling adverse spirits who have seized hold of hosts who cannot or will not fight for their own freedom, the suggested course of action has traditionally been to exorcise the spirit through holy magic. Exorcisms, however, are limited only to unholy creatures. Fey, natural spirits and wizardry may allow for possession of a host with complete immunity to exorcism. In those cases, it is recommended that the spirit be drawn out through arcane processes, instead of divine.”

“Are you reading that passage to me just to prove the superiority of magic over clerics?” I asked.

“There’s more,” Shine said. “But it couldn’t hurt to state some serious facts aloud. ‘There are various proposed spell types that are meant to draw possessed creatures out without harming the host. The most successful spell has been a soul in a jar technique that is listed in these specific volumes…’

The man read for hours to me, excitedly explaining each and every bit of the spell technique to me. He was babbling about immortality, liches and something called a phylactery, as well as the consequences to meddling with such kinds of necromantic techniques.

“Technically this is necromancy,” Shine explained. “But it’s not necessarily unethical. Generally necromantic magic is banned because of profane raising of the dead, not other types of spells. A lot of interesting abilities are kind of lost in the necromancy ban.”

“You sound like a bit of an apologist for dark magic,” I said.

“Nonsense, I just think it foolish to ban power simply because you don’t like the outcome of it. It’s not like necromancers are any more deadly than the lunatics who wield fire magic,” Shine said. “We should be free to study all of it.”

“Well, aren’t you lucky to be in a place of such enlightened philosophers as freedom of study,” I said.

“I would not say we are lucky,” he replied. “This place still gives me the creeps. Now come on, I can create a scroll of these spells if they have some spare paper laying around. Help me find some…”

Hours passed as we worked. Shine had found a scroll station tucked away in one of the libraries and was pleased to spend his time carefully writing out the spells that he had discovered in these books. He had enough supplies to make four copies. “I’ve written down what are called laymen’s triggers,” the wizard explained as he handed me one of the scrolls. “When you break the scroll open, you’ll see a phrase written in common. Just read it out loud. When you do, the spell will work as if you were a wizard.”

“Why so many copies?” I asked.

“Well, it’s a failsafe. Because this spell will only work within twenty feet of the target,” he said. “So that means the three of us are going to have to try and get within range and cast that spell. Because we cannot afford to screw this up. If we are able to pry Dineah’s spirit out and shove her into a bottle, Celestine will easily speak to our heroics. So that means we must take a great risk in getting close to her.”

I nodded at that. “I was worried that might be the case. But it’s a risk I’m willing to take if it’ll get us back in the Empire’s good graces. To be honest, I don’t even care about the castle anymore. I just want to be able to go back home without hiding my face to the world.”

Shine concurred. “Indeed. I too would like to live without fear of being accosted by the guards at any moment. We’ve just got to figure out the right way to go about this.”

Chapter 55

Opportunity arrived rather quickly. After our research trip proved fruitful enough to send us back home with a method of restoring Celestine back to her body and kicking Dineah’s spirit out, we returned briefly to Cathode to stock up on supplies (and to buy our wizard a new staff, since we had the gold for it now.)

As suspected, wanted posters containing our likenesses were placed around town, but few people bothered to ask our lot any questions, as we did business in the shadier parts of Lower Cathode, where the law tended not to look. It was there that we heard news that Celestine and her family would be in Upper Cathode to participate in a big feast to herald her return.

This feast was open to the public, a gift to show the peasantry the glory of the royal family and reinforce the idea that their prosperity was for the good of all people. Of course, when I say open to the public, I mean a portion of the feast would be open, an area where all peasants could attend to eat and drink to their fill—far away from the actual nobility.

But regardless of where the peasants were allowed to eat and drink, there would still be the presence of the royal family in the epicenter of the feast. They’d be residing in the nearby Imperial Castle, but during the daytime they would be present in the Imperial Courtyard, to attend the feast. Three days was the duration of the event, enough time for me and my team to figure out how to infiltrate.

The easiest way to do so would be to disguise ourselves as guards. Royal guards would be impossible to impersonate, because they were hardly accessible from the outside; we’d need to be somehow inside the imperial courts to get a hold of their uniforms and that was near impossible right now. Rather, it would be easier to just get our hands on a couple of city guard uniforms.

Rupert was the one able to procure the outfits. He knew how to navigate the criminal world of Lower Cathode easily enough and after half a day of absence, he returned with the regular red and white armor set of the town guards, including their half-helmets. Our faces wouldn’t be disguised, but Shine was able to cast a spell that altered our appearances enough to where we didn’t look like the wanted posters that had been posted just about everywhere.

I had to admit, the capture of my likeness was rather picture perfect. Of course, this probably meant that my family, including my grandpa, had seen such pictures and were presumably worried/ashamed of me for what happened. Briefly, I had considered visiting my grandpa for help, but I wasn’t sure if he would be on my side. I hate to say it, but you never know how people react to the idea of you being a fugitive from the law. My grandfather was a good man but loyal as ever to the Emperor. Even if he believed I was innocent, I could just imagine him trying to get me to turn myself in and explain my actions, as if that would solve the whole problem.

No, we were on our own for this. The only person sympathetic to the cause was Emelia and she was kind enough to harbor us in her store while we prepared for our attempt to infiltrate the feast. But even she kept her distance, closing the store down with a sign stating that due to a terrible pox she’d be out for a few weeks. That would be enough to keep any curious folk or city inspectors from entering the area.

As Rupert worked on figuring out a way in and out of the festival grounds, Shine spent his time buried in his books, making him unavailable to speak with. Stuck by myself, I found that I had very little to contribute to the team. However, I did have quite a bit of gold in my pocket, thanks to our raid of the spider temple. If I wanted to help us out more, I’d have to risk a trip out into the open and see if perhaps the Corner Store would have some cards that could be of help for me.

In the early morning, when traffic was lightest, I donned a cloak and hood, then made my way to the Convoker’s store, being careful to only take back alleys and avoid the main streets. Fortunately, the store was tucked away deep into the city, far from just about any major traffic route. It was the kind of shop that was meant only for a specific kind of clientele: the kind that knew to look for it.

The bell jangled as I slipped in. Hopefully Ian wouldn’t be so keen to throw me out if he knew I was a wanted man.

“Good morning,” Ian groaned as he leaned up from behind the counter. The man had a black eye and looked rather weary. Both eyes opened wide at the sight of me. “Well I’ll be damned! If it’s not the Emperor’s favorite son!”

I held up both hands to show I was unarmed. “I was framed!”

“That’s what they all say. But don’t worry, I won’t call the guards on you,” Ian said. “If you did rip off the government, who am I to judge?”

“It’s worse than that,” I said. “I rescued the princess with my team but then…well, things went south and she’s claiming we kidnapped her in order to collect a reward.”

“Sounds convoluted. It would be easier to just ransom her,” Ian said. “Not saying I believe you, but it doesn’t much matter to me. How can I help you today? You looking to change that face of yours? I’ve got some cards that’ll warp you.”

“Really?”

“Sure thing,” he said. He walked over to a shelf behind the store counter and grabbed a deep red binder. The front of it said ‘Transmogrifications and Shiftings’. “Here,” he said, thumping the binder on the counter. “This is full of eidolons meant to aid you in changing your image. From illusions to straight up physical transformation. They aren’t permanent, of course. Like all eidolons, you’ve got to maintain concentration, but it should be enough for you to get out of town.”

“Well, I’m not…” I paused, realizing it wouldn’t be a good idea to share my ideas with the man. There was no reason to believe he didn’t have a loose tongue. “Let me take a look,” I corrected.

I cracked open the binder and began to read the cards. The first thing that struck me was the prices. The lowest cards were 10 gold pieces each and I only had 20 on me. Purchasing the guard uniforms had not been cheap and Rupert had more than a few operating expenses with bribes in order for us to be able to get inside of the inner chambers of the feasting hall. I didn’t have much here to work with.

The cheapest cards weren’t terribly useful compared to what Shine could already do with his magic. Face changes, shape changes, even one that swapped genders, all that seemed to be handy but with the caveat that they could only last as long as I could focus.

The higher priced cards, however, caught my attention quickly. One such card, called Group Invisibility, had a duration of two hours before concentration was required. The only trouble was that card cost 50 gold pieces. But compared to Shine’s own invisibility spells, this was far greater. We could interact with objects and even fight without the spell wearing off. Any kind of action was covered by the spell and even our sounds were muffled to a mere five feet distance, meaning we could speak in isolated areas without fear of being overheard.

“This card here,” I said, pointing to the one in question. “I like it.”

“I like the price more than the actual card,” Ian replied. “But you don’t have the dough.”

“It’s true,” I said. “But maybe I could be of some help?”

“Oh sure, why don’t you sweep around the store for an hour, that should be more than enough to pay for such a card,” Ian dryly replied. “I don’t barter, kid. This isn’t a poorhouse.”

I pointed to my eye, illustrating his injury. “How’d you come by this?”

Ian frowned. “You’re aware of my prior dealings…let’s just say they figured out my doppelganger trick faster than my ex-wife did.”

“They took the box?”

Ian nodded and sighed. “Yup. Kicked the door in, beat the hell out of me and took the box. One of my greatest prizes gone. Plus that was my retirement fund. I know a few private collectors who’d pay a fortune to get a hold of it.”

“Perhaps an adventurer could be of assistance then,” I said. “How about this. I’ll go and retrieve your box and in return you give me the Group Invisibility card.”

“Friend, that box is worth a lot more than one card,” Ian replied. “A lot more. There’s no reason for you to return with it.”

“Well, in truth, I don’t need gold. I need that spell,” I said. “It’s a good bargain for you, because I’m in a tight spot myself.”

Ian pursed his lips. “Well, it’s in dangerous hands right now. Brineheart is the man’s name, or at least that’s what he insists others call him. He’s a powerful Convoker who’s been around for decades. You think you can take him down?”

“I’m willing to at least give it a try,” I said. “Otherwise, I’m out of luck.”

The man grinned a little. “Just don’t mention my name. There’s no reason for Brineheart to think that you’re affiliated with me. I mean, having the box alone makes him a target for other Convokers, right? So just get the box and bring it back here.”

“What if he’s opened it?” I asked.

“Then I suppose you’ll need to collect the card and the box,” he replied. “Because they’re a collector’s set, they go together. So don’t come back without one or the other.”

I nodded. “Very well. Where can I find this guy?”

Ian ducked beneath the counter for a moment and then popped back up, bringing out a map of the city. “Brineheart’s a thug at heart and runs with a seedier element. You can find his lair here…”

Chapter 56

Finding Brineheart’s so-called lair wasn’t particularly difficult. The man was a wealthy Convoker who owned a few villas in Lower Cathode, where he and his lackeys lived. They congregated at one particular building, known as the Brinehouse. This was where I would find the man who had taken the prized card that had once belonged to Ian.

Time was of the essence, so I had to make my way to the house as quickly as possible, doing my best to avoid being noticed by the guards. Once I arrived to the district where the villas composed most of the housing, there was a considerable change in the guards’ clothing. They were private soldiers, mercenaries paid to protect the property from anyone, including the government should it ever come to that.

“The power of wealth,” I muttered as I approached the main gate that blocked the entrance to the house itself. Two guards were posted there, equipped with long, sharp halberds.

“What do you want?” one of them spat, snarling at me. It would seem that these men had little sense of politeness.

“I’m here to speak to Mr. Brineheart,” I said. “About a Convoker’s matter.” I patted the cards on the side of my belt in order to illustrate my point.

“You invited?” the other guard asked.

“No, but I’m sure he would wish to speak with me if he knew what I was here in regards to.”

“Brineheart’s a busy man with a lot of things on his plate,” the guard replied. “I don’t think he’s interested in whatever it is you’re selling.”

I took out a few pieces of silver. “You think he’d be interested now?”

The two guards looked at each other. I held my breath, hoping the bribe would work. “Maybe for a few coins more,” the other said. They extended their hands and I reluctantly took out a few more pieces of silver, placing them in each man’s hand.

The pair nodded at each other. One turned and opened the gate. “Wait here,” he said before disappearing behind it. I stood idly by for a few minutes until he returned. “Go on in,” he ordered. “Boss is waiting for you in the upper room to the right. Don’t wander around and don’t bother any of his guests.”

Perfect! The bribe worked! Now I just had to figure out how to get that damned box back without causing a major incident that would attract the real city guards. The last thing I needed was to get caught so early in our planning phase.

I made my way through the gate, into the grand villa. I was awestruck at the sight of the topiaries in the courtyard. They were beautifully cut hedges turned into all sorts of interesting animal shapes—elephants, giraffes and even a few mythical creatures, such as the unicorn. A whole fleet of gardeners were attending to the bright green plants, paying no mind to me as I wandered up the long stairwell leading to the manor itself.

There were many people inside of the house. Men and women of all sorts were gathered about, all wearing clothing that suggested the mimicry of nobility. They didn’t wear gold or silver, but their clothing was gold colored and they wore sparkling jewelry that was both gaudy and unrefined, suggesting that their sense of fashion was born off of the idea of imitation rather than sincerity.

There were many rooms throughout this villa and I spent some time wandering about, trying to find the upper levels. Most of the people were there to eat and drink, reclining about in various cushions, talking about politics or the weather as if they were indeed people of import.

This place reminded me of my childhood, when we would all gather together to pretend we were members of the imperial court. We talked about all sorts of local topics as if we truly were in charge of the city and the government, but we were just kids playing pretend. These people seemed to be similar in a sense. Lowlifes who aspired to be like those at the top of the castle. An interesting observation. Perhaps Brineheart was the same. After all, one could be judged by the company they kept, could they not?

I made my way up to the man’s office, easily identifying it as it had two guards posted in front of the large iron doors. They nodded to me, clearly expecting me. Without a word, one of them cracked open the door and grunted something, then opened it wide.

I entered the office to see a rather skinny man standing by a window, staring out at his garden. He held a wine goblet in his hand, sipping from it occasionally. His hand was trembling as he grasped the cup. But it did not look as if he were afraid. Rather the tremble seemed to be coming from some malady. Perhaps a tremor or the after effects of a recent illness. I hope it wasn’t communicable.

“A Convoker’s matter,” Brineheart said, not bothering to look back at me. “That is what my men told me you were here to discuss.”

“Indeed,” I said as the door closed behind me. The man’s office was large enough to house two couches, a desk and a clerk’s stand for someone to take notes and dictation. “My name is Arthur Moss. I’m here to discuss a serious matter.”

“Moss,” the man said. “I’ve heard that name before. I believe you won some duel against a colleague of mine. Ferrus. He spent a good three days here, drinking and crying on and on about how you embarrassed him before the magistrate.”

My ears perked up at that. “So my reputation precedes me then,” I said.

“It does. But Ferrus was never a particularly good Convoker, just skilled at finding people to duel who were weaker than him. You came out of nowhere and thus he had no time to gauge your skill or not. Otherwise he’d never have taken the duel,” Brineheart explained. He sipped from his wine once more and then turned to face me. “I’m not the same as he. If you’re here to challenge me to a duel for some egotistical reason, I have no interest. I’m not a Convoker with the urge to prove himself superior.”

I shrugged at those words. “I’m not necessarily here to duel you, friend. Rather, I heard on the grapevine that you’ve acquired something rather rare recently. Something any Convoker would kill to get his hands on.”

“The Grenix Box?” he said, his voice slightly monotone, indicating no great surprise.

“Indeed.”

“It’s not for sale, trade or up for a prize in some foolish duel of wits and skill,” he replied. “I’m afraid you have wasted your time coming here.”

“You haven’t even heard my offer yet,” I said.

“You could offer me a country and I would not take it,” Brineheart replied. “This is a collector’s item that is valuable for its own sake. The man who created such a thing was a genius, the founder of our field of magic. To give it up would be losing a piece of living history.”

“You don’t intend to use the card?” I asked.

Brineheart laughed. “For what end? I’m a rich man with great power within this city. Every crook and lowlife in this district knows my name and admires me for my power. I hold my own court! What would I do with one more card in my deck? I’m not here to rule the world.”

This story conflicted with what I had been told earlier by Ian, but I was unsure of who to trust here. Ian seemed to have his own way of spinning things and I couldn’t be sure that a thief would be so honest with me about everything. But the truth didn’t really matter here. I needed that damn box.

“I see,” I replied. “So there’s nothing you’d trade in exchange for it? No favors, no special requests?”

Brineheart shook his head. “You are not the first man to come along with offers in hand. You will leave empty-handed, same as the rest of them.”

I put my hand on my deck. “You sure about that?”

The man’s eyes shifted as they darted towards my waist. “Are you serious?” he said. “Threatening me in my own home?”

“You stole it,” I said. “I have word that you took the box by force. That’s a precedent. Why shouldn’t I return the same favor to you?”

“Ian sent you,” Brineheart growled. “Damnit all. It was only a matter of time before he’d find some muscle to back him up. He has no rightful claim to the box. I financed the expedition, I paid him for the work in finding it. It is by all rights my property.”

“That’s a dispute I’m not going to touch,” I said. “All I know is that Ian had possession of the box when I first met him and the next time we spoke, he was sporting a black eye and a sob story. Are you saying you didn’t steal it back from him with force?”

“I had no other choice,” the man replied. “Ian gave me no other option.”

“Then you should understand that I have no other choice…unless you want to make a deal,” I said.

“Your threats are cute,” Brineheart said. He placed the wine goblet down and shook his head. “But I’ve got a collection that would annihilate you in a matter of seconds. You think that you can come into my own home and threaten me? One flick of my wrist and my cards would shred you to pieces.”

“You’ve no idea what I’m packing,” I said, my hand gripping the top card of my deck. “I might have a counter to whatever you could throw at me. I might have something equally devastating as you.”

The Convoker’s eyes shifted down at his desk and back up at me. The action was quick, almost reflexive. It was then that I noticed that Brineheart wasn’t wearing his deck on his belt. Had I caught him unawares? His hands were shaking quite a bit, but I still don’t think that was from fear.

“What’s with your hands?” I asked, abruptly changing the conversation.

This caught Brineheart off-guard. He stammered for a moment, but answered. “They’ve grown weak over the years. The physician says that I’ve got some degenerative disease. Makes my hands shake and eventually they’ll stop working.”

“That’s unfortunate,” I said. “Is there a cure?”

“Doubtful,” Brineheart replied. “It was contracted on one of my expeditions. Some ancient disease from a long forgotten race or world. No physician or mage alive can treat it.”

“What about witches?” I asked. “They’re handy healers.”

“I hadn’t considered the lesser casters,” he said. “If wizards cannot treat it, why should a witch?”

“Witches deal with mystic properties of plants,” I said. “And many speak with spirits of the dead. Perhaps they could conjure someone who knows of such an illness.”

Brineheart paused at that. “An interesting thought. In truth, I had given up on finding any kind of cure. I’ve spent a great deal of money on such efforts already. One can only throw so many coins into a wishing well before giving up.”

“I know of a witch who might be able to help,” I said. “Perhaps I could make an introduction?”

“Kind, but not nearly enough to get this card from me. I’d rather stay ill than hand over what I have worked so hard to acquire,” Brineheart said.

“A shame,” I said. Without a moment’s hesitation, I whipped out the Grey Wall card and activated it, sending it to form perfectly around the man’s desk. He was too slow to the draw and tried to reach for the upper drawer of the desk, but was blocked by the great wall of force.

“Damn it!” he shouted. “Guards!”

“Don’t bother,” I said. The wall had extended itself from the desk to the door behind us, as well as the windows, forming a box that sealed us in. “They can’t get in.”

Brineheart scowled at me, but backed up. “So this is how you conduct yourself as a Convoker? Without honor? You deny me my cards, you are choosing to simply beat up an old man with a degenerative illness. Is that what you want to be?”

“I’m not here to hurt you,” I said. “I just want that damned box. So hand it over and everything will be fine.”

“Never,” he said. “You’d have to kill me to get it.”

“Are you for real?” I asked. “You’re locked out from your deck, standing before me completely trapped and you’d rather die than just give up the box? Look, I’ll level with you. I need this stupid item because it’s going to get me a card that I desperately need. I’m returning it right back to Ian as soon as I get my hands on it. So if you want to get it back, just send more goons to thrash him, you’ll be back to business as usual. As for me, I just need the box for a short while.”

“What card are you looking for?” Brine asked. “Perhaps I can give you something from my collection. Would that be enough to stop you from accosting me?”

“Group Invisibility,” I said.

“Damn, that’s an Ultra-rare one,” Brineheart replied. “Can’t think of anyone who might have a copy.”

“Ian does. And he’s going to trade it to me for that box. So give it over and then go get it back in a day or so. At this point, I don’t care anymore.”

Brineheart narrowed his eyes as he looked at me. I could see him doing the math in his head. “Hmph. You’re telling the truth. I remember now. Your name’s familiar for more than just that duel. You’re a wanted man. You and your gang. You hoping to get out of town with that invisibility spell?”

“Hardly,” I said. “I’ve got to clear my own name. I need the card for an operation related to that.”

“Clear your name? You mean you weren’t a criminal mastermind who thought to kidnap the princess and then return her for the reward?” Brineheart laughed. “Frankly, that idea makes no sense. What happened?”

“It’s a long story,” I said. “But it involves the usual amount of magical chicanery. Let’s just say that the princess isn’t herself right now. And we’ve got to fix that before it gets out of hand.”

“So you’re stuck between a rock and a hard place,” Brine said. “I think I can sympathize with your desperation. Still, it’s despicable to deny me my tools of self-defense. Drop the shield and let’s fight this out like true Convokers. Winner gets the spoils.”

“I’m not interested in a fair fight,” I said. “My apologies.” I drew out another card but did not release its power. “Must I summon my first Esper? You won’t like it.”

Brine looked at the card and scowled. “Fire. You’d burn this whole place to the ground just to clear your name?”

“I’m sure you have insurance,” I said. “It’s your call. Lose your precious box for a few days or deal with a severe headache.”

Brineheart sighed and sank back into his chair. “Fine, fine. You win. I’d think you were bluffing if not for the fact that you’re the Empire’s most wanted right now. No reason to push you any further.”

He gestured towards the wall with a large horse painting on it. “May I?”

I nodded, but kept my card out, just in case. My other hand was on my sword hilt, waiting for any sign of danger. Brineheart strolled up to the wall and tilted the painting, causing a secret door to swing open.

There was a hidden closet filled with all manner of knickknacks and trinkets. I could see more than a few cards on display, but they were kept sealed behind glass. Two silver boxes glinted as daylight touched them. Brine grabbed them both and turned to face me.

“Is this enough to buy my safety?” he snarled.

“I’m not here for your other box,” I said. “Just the one you took.”

The man looked a little impressed but said nothing. He put one back on the shelf and turned around to face me. He reached out, extending the box towards me. “It’s all yours then. Here you go.”

I cautiously reached forward and took hold of the box. He gripped it tightly for a moment. “Do you really want to make an enemy out of me, boy?”

“I’m afraid I’ve made one too many enemies as it is,” I replied. “And they’re a lot stronger than you.”

Chapter 57

I left the Corner Store with Ian’s eternal gratitude and the Group Invisibility card, as well as the improved holster belt that allowed me to keep up to ten cards on my hips, as it wrapped all the way around. I organized the defensive cards on the left side and the offensive cards on the right, allowing me to quickly attack or protect myself at a moment’s notice.

Returning to the team, I discovered that Rupert’s efforts had been somewhat successful. He was able to bribe a few guards ahead of time, getting the keys to the inner gate that would lead us to where the nobles would be feasting. According to his intelligence, the Emperor and the rest of the royal family would be eating in the Imperial Courtyard which was surrounded on all sides by the walls of the Magister’s castle.

The feast began in the early morning and my team waited until the mid-afternoon, right after lunch had been served.

“Man, this is quite the spectacle,” Rupert muttered as we approached the outer walls of the castle. A fair had been set up with many games to play. Performers were everywhere, juggling, fire-eating and performing acrobatic feats that looked to be sheer magic, though they were just products of human ingenuity as opposed to anything mystic.

Guards were everywhere as well, wearing the same uniforms as what we had donned. Shine walked close to me, struggling to walk in the chainmail armor. “Damn it, I’ve never had to wear a piece of armor in my life,” he grumbled. “They’re going to notice me.”

“Relax, we’ll just say you’ve been sampling the wine a bit too much,” I said. “Besides, no one’s noticed us yet. Everyone’s too busy with the festival.”

“Not everyone,” Shine said, pointing to a pair of guards who were standing in the center of the festival area. They were scanning the entire crowd like hawks and one of them had taken particular notice of us.

I tried to downplay our presence by looking away, but a finger pointed right at us. “Damnit,” I hissed. “We’re spotted, just play it cool.”

The two guards rapidly approached us, both of them scowling with suspicion. Rupert was quick to get in front of me and held his hands up. “Gents,” he said. “Some party, eh? Almost makes you wish you weren’t at work.”

“The hell are you three doing here?” one of the guards asked. “There are no roamers set to be here.”

“Er, our post was a bit altered,” Rupert said. “Cranston told us last minute to wander around a bit, to throw off anyone trying to memorize routes. We’ll be back to the western gate in an hour.”

“Cranston?” the guard asked. “Who died and put him in charge?”

“Look, all I know is that he gave me an order and I’m not paid enough to argue with him,” Rupert said. “If you want, he’s over by the jousting arena, talk to him.”

The guards looked at each other. “Very well, wait here,” one of them said. “I’ll go verify.”

Rupert nodded and turned back to look at us. He did not look pleased. The other guard pointed for us to stand post in the center with him.

“Fellas, this isn’t good. Cranston’s just a regular guard I bribed to get some info,” Rupert whispered to us. “We gotta handle this asap.”

“I’m on it,” Shine said. He walked up to the officer and waved a hand. A subtle light flashed and the man’s eyes went dull. “Officer, are we free to go?”

“Huh?” the guard said. “Free to go?” He looked around as if he were in a daze. “What were…what was going on?”

“Your partner went off to get a drink and tried to saddle us with guard duty, you best go get him before he comes back wasted,” Shine said.

“Damn Jacob, such a lush,” the guard muttered, the bewildered look in his eyes only growing stronger. “Go, get back to your posts.”

And with that, the man wandered off in a random direction, walking forward like a man staggering out of a drunken slumber.

“That should buy us some time,” Shine said. “The spell works until someone slaps him out of it, so we should be good.”

“This way then,” Rupert said, pointing towards the southern side of the castle. “And quick.”

We hustled to the castle walls, where a small door was waiting for us. It was a side passage meant for service personnel and guards. It would lead into the walls, putting us in dangerous territory, for only royal guards would be allowed past that point.

Normally there were supposed to be guards stationed at these doors, but Rupert’s bribes had paid off quite literally, as the men who were required to be there had both opted to go to the restroom at the same time, leaving it wide open.

“Let’s just hope these keys work,” our rogue said as he drew out a keyring and rushed to the doors. With a click and a pop, the doors swung open, revealing the interior of the castle walls: long hallways with dozens of weapon racks everywhere.

We rushed in and closed the door behind us. The darkness of the castle interior enveloped me and for a moment things were too dark to fully see. Eventually my eyes adjusted to the torch lighting and I could see we were alone—for now.

“Okay, so according to the floor plans, the outer walls lead to one main gate,” Shine said. “And it’s manned by some heavy firepower. Our best bet is to find some other way through.”

“Word on the street is that there is a tunnel connecting the courtyard to the wall basements, as some kind of emergency escape,” Rupert said. “But it could take forever to find it.”

Footsteps echoed down the hall, coming towards us. From the sounds of it, there were four men, marching in lockstep with one another.

“Damn it, patrol, hide!” I hissed.

We quickly spread out and hid behind the various objects within the hallway. Thankfully there were many nooks and crannies to tuck ourselves away behind. A large statue of a knight in heavy plate armor served as cover for me and I crept down, watching for the soldiers.

The patrol passed through slowly, as if they were searching for something. Had someone tipped them off to our presence?

“No sign of anyone,” the leader said. “It’s pointless. The princess is just paranoid at this point.”

“At this point? We’ve been on high alert for a week now and nothing,” one of the others said. “She’s just traumatized from her kidnapping. I mean what are the chances the kidnappers are going to come back for her?”

Very high, apparently. Once the patrol left, we all returned to the hallways to convene. “Did you hear that?” Rupert said. “High alert.”

“What did you expect? It’s not like Dineah isn’t afraid of us,” Shine said. “She knows we aren’t the kind to just leave her in power. No doubt she’s locked herself away.”

“Can’t you just teleport us to her?” Rupert asked. “Or better yet, teleport her to the middle of the ocean?”

“No, I can’t do anything like that,” Shine said. “I’ve told you. Teleportation magic requires a significant amount of precision.”

“Easy guys,” I said, interrupting their argument. “We need to focus. Let’s climb the top of the wall and scale our way down into the courtyard. It should be easier than finding some secret tunnel.”

Shine went to say something, but a loud bell rang out, causing the entire ground beneath us to shake. The bell was familiar and haunting, a cruel sound that made my spine crawl.

“That sound!” Rupert gasped. “You remember hearing it back at the temple?”

The bell rang out another time, sending more reverberations through the walls. I shuddered hard, trying my best to keep myself upright. Something about this bell was even worse than before. It felt like something was trying to force its way into me.

“This isn’t good,” Shine groaned. “I’m sensing a significant amount of magic is emanating from that bell. It’s transformative magic for certain.”

There was the sound of more footsteps down the hallway, coming towards us again. We ducked behind our respective hiding places once more. “There’s something happening in the courtyard!” a guard shouted down the hallway. He skidded to a halt right in front of us, shouting to some group we could not see.

There were more shouts from various other men, echoes of strained voices calling out in confusion and fear. Something was happening in the courtyard and it was big.

Chapter 58

If ever there was a time for Group Invisibility, now was it. I cast the spell on the three of us, watching as the light around our bodies warped and shimmered before turning us completely translucent. At first it was a bit bizarre to get used to, as I could not see my own hands or the rest of my body. Or my cards. I could feel them just fine, but I had not memorized which ones were where. Certainly a drawback that had not been advertised by Ian.

But there was no time to complain about refunds. We rushed down the hallway, following after the group of harried guards who were still shouting to the others, rousing everyone from their normal patrols. The bell kept ringing, over and over again, sending more shockwaves through the earth and our spines.

We followed the soldiers to the main gate leading into the imperial courtyard to discover the most horrid of things were happening. Hundreds of people were on the ground writhing in pain, their bodies twisting and contorting, becoming fat and bloated with pale skin. Green blood oozed out of eyes and ears as they thrashed about in agony.

The tables of the feast were full of food that was half eaten, but something about the meat did not look right. The sausages were shriveled and blackened, the ham hocks pulsating and shivering as if they were alive. It was a nightmare meal made manifest.

Bottles of wine were overturned, spilling out green liquid that looked like poison and thousands of spiders were crawling out from the fruit baskets that were scattered around each table in the grand banquet. The people who were suffering were nobles, servants, peasants and guards alike; all who ate and drank of the feast looked to be transforming as the bell continued to ring.

The Emperor and his men, who were seated at the head of the feast, looked on with horror, though they remained unchanged. In fact, all who were present at the princess’ table were unmorphed, their food looking clean and pure.

“My gods,” Shine gasped. “She found some way to poison them all.”

“It’s a sacrifice. The whole damn feast was a sacrifice in her honor,” I murmured. While everyone else looked shocked and horrified, Dineah was grinning, the infernal deity within her eyes sparkling as she took in the energy from the people who were dying in the most horrific of ways.

The bell continued to toll and more people fell over, unable to do anything other than perish from what they had consumed.

“We have to stop this!” Rupert cried. “Quick, let’s use those spells Shine gave us!”

“I wouldn’t bother,” Dineah said as she stood and pointed right to the three of us. She grinned widely and raised her other hand. A long green ray of light struck us at once, dispelling our invisibility in an instant. I felt the snap back as my card’s power returned to where it belonged.

“Ah hell,” Rupert yelped as he leapt behind me and Shine.

Shine was first to act. He threw out a blast of energy towards the princess, but she simply ignored the attack. The bolt struck her, but did nothing.

“You idiots,” she said with a laugh. “Do you really think that I wasn’t prepared for your arrival? I must admit that I’m surprised by how late you are to the party. You gave me far too much time to prepare and now whatever methods you have procured are going to waste.”

“She’s bluffing,” Shine hissed to me. “We just need to get within twenty feet of her.”

“That seems harder than it sounds,” Rupert said, pointing to the large swarm of Dineans that were beginning to emerge from the corpses of the men and women who had perished. These spiderfolk were not transformed people, but rather they appeared to be hatched in a sense from the dead bodies, coming out as full grown hybrids that were armed with spears and shields made of bone.

“I’m on it!” I said, throwing out the twins at once. The two stone guardians immediately emerged from the ground, growing upwards higher and higher until they towered over the swarm of spidermen.

Dozens of guards poured out from the walls, surrounding us, but they looked confused at the spectacle of the corpses and spiders everywhere. The Emperor himself remained silent, merely sitting in his seat along with his retinue, staring forward blankly. He had been bewitched, clearly. Dineah was clearly the one in charge here and that might mean these guards may go against us.

“The princess has been possessed!” I shouted out to the soldiers. “She has been indwelled by a great evil who seeks to undermine the throne and destroy us all!”

“Feast my children!” Dineah cried out, ignoring my attempts to sway her guards. The Dineans immediately launched towards us and the royal guards, swarming them as fast as they could. Thankfully my Titans were there to intercept on our behalf, swinging their great weapons into the horde, taking out a group with a single blow.

The guards were not so lucky, for they were too shocked by the horrors present to put up a fight. The Dineans were upon them at once, spearing them or stabbing through their armor with sharpened legs, some spraying out webbing to bind the fleeing soldiers and others spitting poison that infected upon contact.

The chaos of battle broke out and I was quick to summon more aid, calling forth the Fire Spirit and the Banshee, drawing both cards simultaneously. My Espers appeared like lightning and immediately set about fighting off the Dineans surrounding us. The Titans moved forward towards the princess, carving a path for me to move forward.

Shine followed quickly after me and we rushed as fast as we could towards the banquet table. I clutched the scroll that was on the inside of my vest, hoping against hope that this spell would reverse the possession.

The tables became animated and threw themselves at us, one of them striking Shine hard in the head, knocking him down in an instant. His helmet had done little to help him, because while it had absorbed the impact of the blow, he was not the most sturdy of men.

“Shine!” I shouted, kneeling beside him. “Are you okay?”

The man said nothing, he merely burbled something incomprehensible and stretched a hand out towards me, blood pouring down the side of his head. Of all the things to lay the wizard down, a table? That was unacceptable. “Rupert, heal him with a potion,” I ordered before leaping to my feet and drawing out the scroll. I guess this was up to me.

I ran forward, in between the two Titans who were still fighting off the spidermen with ease. These newborn monsters were not skilled, but they were numerous enough to overwhelm just about everyone else in the courtyard.

Dineah laughed some more at our efforts and raised a goblet of wine, drinking it back as if she had not a care in the world. “I see you have come prepared with a scroll,” she taunted. “Do you think it will be enough to destroy me?”

“We’ll find out, won’t we?” I said, activating the Grey Wall. At once, the shield wrapped around me, just in time to fend off a dozen more animated objects being flung towards me. They harmlessly bounced off the immense energy field, allowing me to rush right up to Dineah.

The woman threw her goblet aside and merely pointed another finger towards me. “Die, fool,” she crooned, releasing a burst of dark green energy towards me.

The pulse struck my shield and at once, it shattered. My concentration bucked instantly and I found myself gasping for air, the blow so strong that my senses were jarred. Everything around me grew dark for a moment and I fell to the ground, coughing and wheezing. But the scroll was still in my clutches.

This had all gone to hell, but maybe there was still a chance. I was close enough, I just had to read the—

My thoughts were interrupted as another beam of energy struck my scroll, disintegrating it at once. I tried to stand but a foot kicked me in the side of the head, laying me low. Dineah stood over me, laughing cruelly as she placed her foot on the temple of my head, her heel digging into me.

“That was your plan this whole time? Sneak up on a goddess and cast a surprise spell on her? Did you think that my powers were somehow limited to this mortal frame? I am a goddess, you fool,” she gloated. “I’m not going to be laid low by some sneak attack. You caught me off guard in my own temple because I had relied upon others for my own safety. But out here? I knew that I could only rely on myself. Perhaps I should be grateful to you. As in a way you taught me that there are no reliable followers, no matter how devout. They are all bugs, beneath me.”

“Don’t you mean spiders?” I asked, grunting with pain as she dug her heel harder into the side of my head.

“I am still the spider goddess,” she said. “And spiders eat bugs, do they not?”

My hand wormed its way to my belt and I fumbled for a card. I moved slowly, trying to keep from shifting my shoulders, as to not give away my actions.

“You still don’t give up, even though I stand atop you, like a conqueror with a flag planted in the ground?” Dineah asked. “I must say that is impressive. But alas, your efforts are in vain. Your magic cannot save you. Nothing can.”

And with that, she released a spell that sent a burst of webbing around my entire body, pinning me to the ground. “You shall make for a good sacrifice,” she said. “Your defiance only strengthens your soul. Should you escape again, it will only make you tastier for when I eventually catch you. And believe me, I will always catch you.”

I wriggled my left arm and it moved with ease, courtesy of the rune that had been stitched into all of our undergarments. The rune of freedom of movement. Going up against an enemy that used webbing to restrict us, Emelia had figured that we could use something like this. She stitched the runes into our underwear in case we were captured. The three of us had claimed we’d never be caught again, but she didn’t seem to be so confident.

Dineah removed her foot from my head and turned to watch the carnage. “So much terror. It’s almost more intoxicating than admiration. You must know that many people looked at the princess with that admiration. It’s almost like worship and in some cases, when it comes to the peasantry, it is worship. As all the people on the outside of these walls eat and feast, thinking of how wonderful I am, they fuel my power.”

“You aren’t going to turn them into those abominations?” I asked.

“Nonsense,” Dineah replied. “I’ll always need human chattel. The working class will have little trouble adjusting to slave labor, but these noble powers here, they all needed to go. What better way than to poison them with my own children?”

My hands easily reached my deck and I was quick to thumb through, trying to find Fireball by touch. Thankfully I had also figured I’d need the spell if bound like this, so I had bent the corner enough so I could identify it. I just needed to wait for the right moment to free myself.

I swept the battlefield, moving my head left to right until I found Rupert. The man was shaking in his boots, but was still alive, crouched down and moving slowly throughout the area. The thrown furniture, dead bodies and general chaos made it easy for him to creep towards us and I could see that he had the scroll in hand. Perhaps he could be the one to pull this off.

I waited and watched, listening as Dineah ordered for Shine’s body to be brought to her for inspection. I gripped the card tightly and made eye contact with Rupert. The rogue mouthed the words ‘when?’ and I gave him a count down. Three…two…one!

Flames engulfed me immediately as the Fireball burst out, lighting the webbing up in an instant. Fire went everywhere and my nerve endings cried out in agony as my arms and legs burned from the head. Thankfully my armor had insulated the rest of me, but the pain was still debilitating.

Despite the agony, I was freed from my prison and I took the opportunity to deliver a sturdy kick to the side of Dineah’s legs. The woman yelped in pain and surprise, falling to the ground as I broke her knee.

“I thought you weren’t limited by your human frame?” I taunted, hopping up and casting Vinestorm.

Fifteen vines erupted from the ground and seized the mortal princess’ body, wrapping it up so tightly I could see nothing but green vines. They crushed as hard as they could but I knew this was a fool’s endeavor. Razor sharp energy flashed outwards, slicing all of my vines apart in a split second.

Dineah landed on the ground perfectly and laughed, pointing straight towards me. “Did you honestly think that would work? This body can heal in a moment’s notice. You cannot kill me.”

“Maybe that wasn’t the goal,” I said.

Rupert, with scroll unfurled, shouted out the scroll-phrase, causing bright yellow rays to burst forth from the parchment. The magic struck Dineah in the back and she cried out in surprise once more. She fell to the ground as the yellow energy wrapped around her and began to pull. She held out both hands, holding tightly to the floor in resistance to the power that was evicting her.

I rushed over to Shine and quickly nursed a healing potion into his mouth. The Dineans around us had all ceased their motion once Rupert had cast the spell, giving me an opportunity to heal my comrade before anything got worse.

As I helped him sit up, I watched while the goddess struggled with Rupert’s spell. The binding powers were greater than she, but her resistance was immense. “Y-you idiots,” she gasped. “You think to bind me? That is your great plan? I-I am a goddess, you cannot capture m-me.”

The energy streaming from the scroll intensified, sending brilliant rays of bright yellow energy that were too strong to look at. We shielded our eyes and heard a loud shriek as Dineah’s spirit was torn free from the princess’ body.

Celestine fell over onto the ground, inert and limp but breathing. The goddess’ spirit form was that of a pale Dinean, though immense and looming.

“The royal hell is that?” The Emperor shouted, pointing up at the sky. As soon as Dineah had been pried out of the princess’ body, the entire royal family came back to life.

Dineah let out a deep hiss, causing the air around us to reverberate. The unholy energy that radiated from her spirit was intense and I could see all that was green around us, the hedges, the grass and the flowers, turn black and wilt in the presence of such evil.

My own energies felt oppressed and my entire body was forced to fight in order to keep standing. Rupert and the others weren’t as determined and quickly fell to the ground, shying their faces away from the divine avatar.

The scroll was still streaming out power but something was wrong. Dineah was holding her hand up, blocking off the rays of energy with her own blackened aura.

“That’s not good,” Shine said.

“What’s happening?” I asked.

“In short, we yanked her free but she’s strong enough to manifest on the spiritual plane now,” he said.

“She’s an Esper!” I gasped, grabbing the blank card at the bottom of my deck. “Right?”

“You want to capture her?”

“Cast the binding spell again,” I said, “But direct it towards my eidolon. I’ll distract her in the meantime.”

“You’re insane,” Shine said. “But it’s all we have, I guess.”

Chapter 59

Dineah seemed stunned by her ascension at first. She gazed at her translucent, silvery hands and glanced down at me. “What do you know? I gained enough power in order to stay in spirit form. Perhaps I should thank you for ripping me out of that corporeal body.” The goddess paused to laugh hysterically. “Let’s see how you break my knees now!”

Long strands of silver webbing came flying towards me, seizing hold of my legs. I had tried to leap out of the way but they were too fast. This webbing wasn’t really made out of spiderweb but was instead a manifestation of the goddess’ divine power, meaning I couldn’t wriggle out of it.

She dangled me high above the ground, laughing as the webs tightened around my kneecaps. “Fear and terror feed me, you know. And the terror of the Emperor himself? It tastes better than any wine you could ever dream of.”

I gritted my teeth, but nothing prepared me for the pain of having both my knees snapped at the same time. The world went dark for a few seconds, the agony so great that I had blacked out, perhaps more than a few times.

But in spite of this pain, I stuck to my plan. I drew out the one card that would be able to thrive right now. The Banshee.

The unholy spirit came pouring forth from the card, howling in spiritual pain, sending a shockwave of stunning energy into the air. This struck Dineah and she released me at once, letting out a loud shriek.

The fall was great enough to break a few more things, but I was so injured by this point that I could barely feel anything other than a singular sensation of agony. The extra pain just seemed to blend in with the rest of it. I didn’t care though, because I was winning the fight right now.

The Banshee was powered by unholy energy and what was this evil goddess if not pure, unholy power? She was new to her spirit form and I felt that inexperience might serve my Espers well. I was right, for the Banshee was quick to strike Dineah, slashing with its mournful claws and screaming out sonic attacks that drove the spirit backwards.

The dark energy from the spider goddess did little to dissuade the Banshee; instead each blow or ray of energy that struck the ghost was absorbed, giving my summon more strength. At least, so I hoped.

“I’m ready,” Shine said as he walked up beside me. “You think it’ll work?”

“A spirit is a spirit, right?” I said.

“Here’s hoping.”

I raised the eidolon towards the distracted minor deity and extended my mind towards her. Connection was made at once and I felt a surge of dark thoughts move towards my mind, trying to break my will at once. It was as if she sensed a conscious mind and instantly sought to seize control of it, rather than bother to understand it at first. This was her sense of self-importance and it was her greatest weakness in this moment.

I drew those controlling thoughts, the conscious mind of my foe, toward the eidolon and focused as intensely as I could, drawing a connection between the two. The card’s energies flashed as it began to try and pull the divine spirit of Dineah into itself. Of course, Dineah’s power was far greater than my own and at once she began to resist.

“Binding me into your own card? You truly are a fool of a man!” Dineah said, laughing.

Shine completed the spell, touching the top of the eidolon to enchant it. Rays of yellow energy came surging forth once more, wrapping around the spirit. My mind continued to pull and it felt as if the burden had grown immensely lighter. The binding spell Shine had cast was strong enough to pull her to the card and the eidolon grew alight with power the moment her spirit grew near.

“It’s working!” I cried, raising the card as high as I could from my position on the ground. The great spirit loomed over me, but she could do nothing to fight. The Banshee had tired her out and now the binding magics we had learned in her own home had turned against her.

“N-no!” Dineah cried out, fighting with all of her strength. Her efforts were in vain and in a great flash of silver and yellow, she vanished, trapped inside of my burning eidolon.

“Holy crap,” Rupert said as he rushed over to me. The card had fallen out of my hand and was on the ground, twitching and bucking as if Dineah were trying to break free. Shine, Rupert and I crowded around the card, holding our breaths as we watched it for a few minutes. Eventually the fighting ceased and the card fell inert. Light flashed once more and a picture of the spider goddess appeared upon the card, followed by a description of her powers. She had been trapped.

“We won!” Rupert cried, leaping in the air. “We caught her! Hahaha, we actually bound her ass!”

“Yes we did,” Shine said, handing the card to me. He glanced up at the Emperor who was issuing out orders to a contingency of guards who had just arrived. These men were wearing heavier armor and looked to be pure military. “Let’s just hope we can get out of this without another execution sentence.”

I took the card in hand and glanced down at it. The power inside was great and raging; I could sense the energies within were untamed.

You will not be able to bind her for long, the Maiden of Moss said to me. You are not strong enough to tame her and she is a divine entity. Time will see that she will break free.

“How am I supposed to stop her?” I asked. “It’s not like you can kill a god.”

Destroy the card in fire. She will be reduced to essence and it would take a million years for her to regain the power to send out a single thought. That is the best you can do.

Chapter 60

Emperor Hargreave stared at the three of us as we finished our tale. Things had been chaotic after Dineah was captured. With the Emperor’s wits returned, he was horrified to discover what had been happening and was quick to act, putting an end to the remaining Dineans and closing out the feast. Princess Celestine was taken to a cloister in order to be examined and protected from the spirit that had taken control of her, and the rest of the Royal Family dispersed, returning to their home castle as quickly as possible.

Only the Emperor remained in Cathode, to clean up the mess and learn what the hell had happened. We three wanted criminals were locked up the moment Dineah had been captured and were held for a few days while things settled down. Our imprisonment wasn’t so bad; while we were placed in cells, the food delivered to us was quite palatable, perhaps showing that the Emperor wasn’t interested in killing us.

Shine had wanted to escape once again, rather than risking the Emperor’s wrath, but I told him we had to stay and convince the man we were innocent. Rupert was on my side, namely because he was positive we wouldn’t be able to break out a second time.

Now, we were kneeling before the great man himself, the Chalicean Emperor Hargreaves. He was sitting in the Magistrate’s throne, high above us, staring down with equal parts incredulity and skepticism. “You are meaning to say that my daughter’s soul was host to a wretched being that calls itself a deity?” he thundered. Though he was still dressed in his finery that made him look a bit foppish, the hardened expression on his face and his aggressive stance gave a grim air to his words.

“Indeed,” I said. “Your Highness, we have all been victim of a great and intricate plot. The horrors that you saw the day you awoke, back at the feast, were all from Dineah’s plans. She was the one who intended to seize control of the throne and the royal family.”

“And you three just so happened to be in the area to save us all?” he asked.

“Nonsense,” Shine said. “We had gone to rescue Celestine and, in the process, became responsible for what happened after the fact. We are not the kind of men who would leave a job unfinished. Once it was clear that the spider goddess was not defeated and your daughter was not safe, we made it our utmost priority to free her and defeat that dark spirit.”

“Hmph,” the Emperor growled. “I don’t like it. I don’t like this at all. But there are so many gaps in my memory. The court barely remembers how we all came to be here as well. So I’m supposed to just trust you random adventurers?”

“Well, sir, your daughter is home, safe and sound, thanks to us,” I said. “We have done a great service to the Empire. There may have been a great deal of casualties at the feast, but in the end…your family is safe and sound. Surely you can’t be angry with us for being embroiled in all of this. Without us, your daughter would still be in the clutches of Dineah, trapped within a terrible spider temple.”

“Thanks to your service, we have a lot of dead nobility on our hands,” the Emperor countered. “And that is going to cost me a great deal politically.”

“I fail to see how that’s our problem,” Rupert said. We both looked at him in surprise at his boldness. “Your word was that whoever returned the princess home would be rewarded. She has been returned and better yet, restored to her previous state. Now, you can’t tell me that you’re going back on your word just because you didn’t like the end results.”

“I suppose not,” the Emperor agreed. He sighed deeply. “This has become an entire mess. One that will take an eternity to clean up. But…if what you say is true, so be it. Your crimes have been forgiven and you shall all be granted ownership of Castle Geist. But be warned. You are to tell no one about what has transpired in these recent weeks. I cannot afford to have rumors and whispers about dark goddesses and my daughter swirling around the Empire. Is that a fair deal?”

We all nodded in unison.

“Very well. Go then, the castle shall be prepared. It is located in the Highlands to the west. A messenger shall be dispatched to fetch you when it is time for you to take possession. In the meantime, I suggest you return to your families and prepare them for the transition to their new estate.”

And with that…we were free. The Emperor waved us off and our binds were loosened. The guards escorted us out of the Magistrate’s castle and the three of us found ourselves standing outside in the open air.

“We…we did it,” Shine said, gasping and laughing at the same time. The poor wizard looked more stressed than Rupert and me, his gaunt face barely keeping it together. “We actually did it!”

“Did you have any doubts?” I asked.

“Yes. An endless amount of them,” he replied. “But I suppose it worked out in the end.”

“Damn straight it did,” Rupert said. “We’ve got ourselves a castle, all of our own.”

“Indeed,” I said, rubbing my hands together. “Castle Geist. Never heard of it but the name suggests it’s a place where spirits are present.”

“I’m sure it’s not haunted, if that’s what you mean,” Shine said. “Could you imagine the backlash the Emperor would get for hawking off a possessed castle to those who saved his daughter? The name’s probably just meant to keep people away.”

“Well, I vote we rename it,” Rupert said. “Castle Rupert.”

“No,” I said. “Names have history behind them. And besides, Geist sound kind of cool. After all, I do have spirits within my cards. It’s appropriate.”

“Either way, I’m at least glad all of this business is behind us,” Shine interjected. He patted me on the shoulder. “I’ve got to return home to do some business and then I’ll need to track my staff down. You did an excellent job, friend. I’m glad I threw my lot in with you.”

“Likewise,” I said, shaking his hand. “It’s been a pleasure working with you. I hope this is just the beginning of a long, fruitful relationship as an adventuring company.”

“Company? You got a castle and you still want to go out and adventure?”

“Hey, keeping a castle up and running isn’t cheap,” I said. “We might be landed men, but we’re not nobles. Something’s gotta pay the bills.”

“Something indeed,” Rupert said, rubbing his hands together. “I bet we could go plunder that ancient ziggurat for some treasure.”

“You know, that might not be a bad idea at all,” I said. “The three of us together could probably take down that ancient force…and we could bind it again to one of my eidolons. In fact, let me go see my contact in the city and see if I can find something strong enough to keep that dark power within the temple.”

“Wait, you want to go spelunking into darkness already?” Shine said. “We just barely survived the goddess.”

“Yeah I was talking about doing that sometime way later,” Rupert agreed. “For now, let’s just get some rest. I’m sure our new castle will give us plenty of space to recover for a few weeks. Then we can figure out how to loot that ancient temple.”

Chapter 61

The team split up for a few days to take care of their own business. Shine needed to track down his staff, Rupert said something about clearing some old debts, and I had decided to visit my grandfather to tell him all about my adventure. More importantly, I wanted to tell him to pack his bags because we were moving to my new castle. No doubt he’d be thrilled with the idea. His estate here could be a vacation home for times when we felt like visiting the big city.

I’d be getting my parents and the rest of my family members later, once the castle was all ready for them. I didn’t know the condition or size of the place, so I wanted to be cautious before bringing home all the way over to a place that might not have sufficient room for everyone. Or was that peasant thinking? I don’t know, I never had my own castle and the ones I’d been to so far were places I was trying to escape or infiltrate, so I didn’t have the time to think about how many people would comfortably fit inside.

Thoughts of my new life swirled around in my head as I made my way through the busy streets to my grandfather’s manor. How much things had changed, ever since I had first stepped into that old man’s home some months ago. He had believed in me enough to give me a chance at learning the family trade and now he’d be proud to see what I had become.

Something shifted within me as I reached the front gates of his estate, however. A cold pallor fell over me at once as I realized the gate was wide open, the side of it broken as if someone had forced their way in. “What the hell?” I muttered, looking at the damaged metal parts. That didn’t look good.

I glanced up to see that the wooden door leading into my grandfather’s home had been smashed open as well. Eyes wide and hand on my deck, I rushed in to see what was going on. Had there been a robbery? Was it still ongoing? I didn’t know but panic filled my heart at the idea of anything happening to my grandfather. But…couldn’t he take care of himself? He was still a Convoker, was he not?

Fear filled my heart as I entered the home to find that there were indeed signs of great struggle. Walls were scorched with fire, doors smashed to pieces and glass was everywhere as window, vase and porcelain artifacts had been shattered in some colossal struggle.

“Grandpa?” I shouted out. “Lendrick?”

There was no reply. I drew out one of my cards and kept it ready to deploy as I searched the home, making my way towards the upper level where the majority of the old man’s collection had been stored. A creaking upstairs caught my attention and I immediately shouted. “Who’s there? Identify yourself!”

“Arthur?” my grandfather called out. “Is that you?”

Oh thank the gods, he was alive! I rushed up the stairs to his office, finding the old man tied to a chair. The walls had been busted open all over the place, usually revealing nothing but insulation, save for the secret door that had led to Lendrick’s grand collection.

“Lendrick!” I cried, rushing up to him. “Are you okay?”

The old man was beaten and bruised, his face more black than his usual leather color, with a swollen lip and an eye so puffy he couldn’t see out of it. “Oh yeah, I’m just peachy,” he groaned.

I was quick to cut the ropes, freeing him. “What happened? You were attacked?”

“What gave off that impression?” he replied, rubbing his wrists once he was freed from his bonds. The old man was sore, but hadn’t lost his sense of burning sarcasm.

“Grandpa,” I said. “Come on, tell me what happened.”

“You happened to me, you idiot,” he growled. “A few days ago I was having my usual eggs when some jackass arrives at my front door, yelling about the Moss estate having done him wrong. Called himself something stupid…like Picklehead…no, no, it was…”

“Brineheart?” I asked.

“Yeah!” Lendrick said, snapping in agreement. “Brineheart. He was furious and was trying to find you, said that you stole something from him and he wanted to repay you in kind for your actions. I suggested that he search for you in my ass and he didn’t take that terribly well. Drew his cards and we had it out like proper Convokers, though I wish he’d have relocated to my garden where I suggested. But alas, such is the heat of revenge.

“I didn’t do so great against him, not when my best cards have been locked up in my collection so long ago. But what was I going to do, politely ask him to wait until I could get my good deck out? I put up a decent fight but this fella is one hell of a Convoker. Took me down hard. Then to boot, he tied me up and had his goons wreck up the whole house till they found my stash. The only saving grace was that your grandmother’s out this week for her usual trip to the performance halls across the city. Otherwise who knows what would have happened to her.”

“Son of a…” I trailed off, clenching my fists. “That bastard Brineheart! He’s going to pay!”

“Pay for what? Seems that you were the one to strike first,” Lendrick said. “Stole his prized possession, some box or something, right?”

“I retrieved it for a friend whom he had stolen it from,” I explained. “It’s not so cut and dry.”

Lendrick frowned at me. “The man’s anger came from the fact that you denied him a chance to use his cards against you. Said you had refused to duel him in order to settle the matter. Is that true, Arthur?”

I shrugged. “I was in a seriously bad situation at the time, grandpa, I didn’t have the luxury to risk losing.”

“Luxury?” the old man spat. “Luxury? You’re a Convoker! You’ve got a duty to yourself and to your contemporaries to fight fairly! Denying a man his deck is like kicking him when he’s on the ground. Or stabbing him in his sleep. I didn’t take you for an honorless kind of chap.”

“It had nothing to do with honor,” I said.

“Well, now it does,” Lendrick replied. “Because that Brinehole fella left me tied up as a message to you. He’s pissed and wants you to face him like a man, like a proper Convoker.”

My blood began to boil at these words. “That bastard really wants to face me?” I said.

“Indeed he does. And said that he’d be back some day if you didn’t come to his estate for a proper duel.”

“What if it’s a trap?” I asked. “And he doesn’t have any intention on actually dueling me? It would be easy for him to have an assassin shoot me from the sidelines while we’re busy with the fight.”

My grandfather shrugged. “Then I suppose you’ll have to fight him and the assassin. But the Moss name is on the line now, boy. You messed up and besmirched our honor. Now you’ve got to go make it right.”

I sighed at that. “If you had been in my situation, I think you would have done the same thing.”

“It’s possible,” Lendrick agreed. “I don’t know the full details, but now the question is no longer about the past, but the future. Are you going to handle this? Or back away from the challenge?”

“I’ll handle it,” I said.

“Why do you seem so glum? I figured you’d be thrilled at the idea of fighting a contemporary with all those fancy cards of yours.”

“I’m just exhausted, Grandpa,” I said. “You would not believe the week I’ve had.”

And with that I shared the story of what had happened. I gave the shortened version, considering the fact that there was a lot of cleaning up to do in the house (which he urged before grandma came home and killed us both). The old man listened patiently and laughed the whole way through, especially at the times when I was triumphant in my efforts.

“A spider goddess, a possessed princess and now a brand new castle!” he gleefully cheered. “That’s the ticket, my boy! I told you, the adventuring life is in your blood and I was right. I’d say you’ve about completed your lineage quest. Once you take possession of Castle Geist, you’ll be a full blown noble! By the rights of the lineage quest, the Maiden of Moss shall grant you a new last name, one that means something unique to what your accomplishments have been.”

I had forgotten that nobility was the final reward for a lineage quest. I had been so busy adventuring that I hadn’t quite thought about the idea of becoming some kind of high ranking member of society. “I don’t know if I’m ready to be declared a noble,” I replied. “Frankly, I’d rather keep adventuring.”

“Feel free to do as you want,” the old man said. “But nobility isn’t just for you. It’s for the entire Moss clan. Our last name will change and our stations will be elevated. Your brothers, sisters, uncles, aunts, all of them will become nobles. In a single moment, you will have elevated us all.”

“And you think that’s a good idea?” I asked.

“You’ve got a castle, don’t you?” he said. “That means you have your own domain. Our own domain. We can finally get this family on the map!”

I slowly nodded. “I understand. Well, I suppose you best pack your bags then and go collect your children and grandchildren. They’ve got a castle waiting for them.”

“Sure thing,” Lendrick said. “I’ll put out the word. As soon as you win this duel against your rival; otherwise, I don’t see much reason to move.”

“Seriously?”

“Dead serious. If you can’t defend the family honor, then what good is it to have an elevated status?”

Chapter 62

I arrived at the Brineheart estate in the afternoon, washed and presentable, looking and feeling better than I had in weeks. My grandfather was insistent upon returning here as soon as possible but was willing to at least let me get a weekend’s worth of rest and recuperation. Grandma came back during that time and her cooking was enough to restore my energy and my spirit, which was good because I’d need to be in peak mental condition to face Brineheart.

The man had defeated my grandfather in what seemed to be an honest duel. Lendrick had his usual deck on him but wasn’t skilled enough to defeat the Convoker. I had ventured that if the old man had his best cards on him he would have won, but my grandfather chided me on that. “Cards are just tools, and tools don’t decide a winning game,” he had said. “The only true decider is the man wielding the cards.”

I don’t know if I agreed with him, but it didn’t matter because my deck was rather top notch by now. Or at least, so I felt. I hadn’t fought another Convoker in a while, but after having come through such a rough few weeks, I felt confident that what skills I had would allow me to have the upper hand.

The two guards standing at the front gate recognized me immediately. They clashed their long halberds together to block me from entering. “Hey!” one of them said. “You honestly have the guts to show your face after what you did last time? I ought to skewer you right now!”

“Tell your boss that I’m here to face him with honor this time, in the battlefield of his choosing, whenever he pleases,” I said.

“I think he’d be happier to see you gutted like a trout,” the other said, scowling.

“And I think he’d be displeased to know I offered you fellas some coin last time to get in this place.”

They both turned pale and quickly coughed, stammering excuses as they looked at each other. One finally sheathed his weapon and was quick to enter the villa to fetch his boss. Time passed and eventually he returned, a crooked smile on his face. “Looks like the boss is more than thrilled to have you here,” he said. “There is a dueling grounds out in the back, I shall escort you there. No funny business though, as I have full authority to stab you should you try anything remotely close to subterfuge.”

“I’m here to fight honorably,” I said.

“That would require you to have honor first,” the guard said. “Which Brineheart insists you have none.”

“I suppose I’ll be proving him wrong today,” I replied. A red shame fell across my cheeks in spite of my tough talk. I had not thought through the repercussions of what I had done to Brineheart; my head had been too preoccupied with other things…but things did not happen in isolation in this town. If I continued to conduct myself in such a careless manner I may end up with a severely tarnished name, noble or no. Thankfully this was my chance to make things right and prove that I could conduct myself with honor.

I followed the guards to the dueling grounds, surprised to see that Brineheart had actually developed a rather large arena for the explicit purpose of fighting. There was an arena square made of the smoothest marble I had ever seen and was wide enough to host a plethora of gigantic summons. Four pillars surrounded the arena, similar to the Magistrate’s dueling grounds. In fact, the whole thing looked to have been copied from that floorplan. I wonder if that meant there was an official set of rules regarding a Convoker’s dueling space.

Benches surrounded the arena, though far enough away to protect spectators from any attacks that may fall off the edge of the surface. These benches were packed too; many people had gathered to watch the spectacle. I recognized them as mostly the rabble that congregated within Brineheart’s villa. They were abuzz with energy, excited to see what would happen today. Some looked as if they hadn’t seen the sun in months and were shielding their eyes from the burning orb above them.

Brineheart was waiting for me in the center of the arena. He was dressed in a spectacular blue gambeson that bore a crest of a boar charging into a thicket, a bright red heart glowing in the center of the boar’s torso. The Brineheart family crest, I suppose.

The older gentleman’s hands were still shaking quite a bit, but that didn’t stop him from going through his deck rather quickly, flipping through card after card, pulling certain ones out and putting them on his belt. He looked ready for war today.

“There he is,” Brine said, looking up from his cards. I could see an expression of mild amusement upon his face. “Judging by the look in your eye, I’d say you met with your grandfather already.”

“I can’t believe you went after an old, retired man,” I said.

“Not my fault. I sent my contacts out to find me a Convoker named Moss and they found one. Sure it wasn’t you but I figured the name couldn’t be a coincidence. Now, I would have simply just left a message worth remembering if he wasn’t so eager to duel, mind you. Unlike you I’m a gentleman. But he had the spirit to fight back and I thought why not. He put up a decent struggle, mind you. But in the end I won.”

“And you left him tied up in his own home. Do you have any idea how long he could have been there?”

“Oh boo hoo,” Brineheart said. “You’re playing with the big dogs now, so you best get used to the consequences of your own decisions. It’s not like I woke up and decided to go after your grandfather for no reason. Frankly, I would have liked to keep this between you and me, but you play dirty, I play dirty. Simple as that.”

“I want your word that this fight settles the matter between us,” I said.

“I don’t think so,” Brine replied. “Win or lose, you’ve still made an enemy out of me.”

“Then at least promise to stay away from my family,” I said. “Else this duel is little more than an exercise in ego.”

“It’s a lot more than that, Moss,” the man said. “It is a way to right the great wrong you have done me and by extension, our entire profession. We are Convokers. If we cannot engage in honest battle with each other then we are no different than anyone else out there. Wizards follow such a credo, as do many other great professions.”

“You’ve made your point,” I said through my teeth. This man’s holier than thou attitude was beginning to grate on me. You’d think I kicked a bundle of puppies by the way he was acting, as opposed to just ripping off a slimy criminal who had already stolen from someone else. “But I want your word. If you want to come after me, you only come after me. Elsewise, I just walk and make you look like a fool before all these people here.”

Brineheart scowled at that. “Very well,” he said. “You have my word that I shall not take my revenge upon any other than you. But be warned, I have little intention of leaving this matter settled, regardless of the outcome.”

“So be it,” I said. “Carry whatever grudge you want, just keep other people out of it. Now are you ready to get the fight you so desperately crave?”

“The better question is, are you?”

I didn’t bother to answer that. I merely headed to one end of the arena and waited. Brineheart shrugged and snickered a little, then made his way to the other side. I waited, looking for the referee.

“What’s got your attention?” Brine asked.

“Where’s the officiant?”

“Officiant? Friend, this isn’t that kind of duel,” Brineheart said. “Anything goes here. No holds barred, no techniques outlawed. Sure, you’re allowed to yield but if you die before you’re able to surrender, oh well.”

“Is that so?” I asked.

“What, do you want me to call for a referee and ask him to make sure we both play nice? I’m sure he’ll bring some warm milk for you too,” the Convoker taunted.

“Hey, I’m just curious, that’s all. I’m fine with death being on the table, because it sure as hell won’t be mine,” I replied.

Brineheart laughed but I could see a slight glance betray his confidence. A twitch of his lip indicated that maybe he was not expecting me to accept this reality so easily. But the truth of the matter was, with going up against a spider goddess and narrowly surviving my own execution twice, I wasn’t particularly worried about the danger of this duel. It wasn’t me trying to act tough, but just a byproduct of spending so much time out in the adventuring world.

“Well then, let’s begin!” Brine said, drawing out his first card with lightning speed. He might have shaky hands, but they were quick to draw. A flash of light burst forth from the eidolon and a long, snaking creature emerged.

It was a ferocious beast with the head of a serpent but the body of a human. The head was attached to a long, slithery neck and it bobbed and weaved, never staying in one position for too long. A flat, black hood spread out behind the head of the serpent man and it hissed, raising a long spear made out of what looked to be electrical energy.

I threw out the Harlequin first, figuring that he’d be the one to handle a creature like this. The silent jester appeared, blades in hand. Without a moment’s hesitation, he charged towards the serpent man, but he was not nearly as fast as the lightning spear the creature wielded. It raised the weapon high and released a burst of electricity that struck my summon square in the chest, sending him flat on his back.

Smoke rose from the burned Harlequin’s chest, but he managed to leap back up, though unsteadily. I drew out Fireball next and waited a beat, watching as Harlequin charged forward again. The serpent summon fired another bolt of electricity, but my summon had feinted with his charge and instead dodged to the left, rolling around with ease to avoid the attack.

He changed his roll into a handspring, leaping across the field and into melee range of the serpent, slashing his blades down as he landed. The serpent hissed, raising his spear to block the attack but was too slow. Blood sprayed everywhere as the blades sank into the side of the creature’s head. The blow was not fatal, however, allowing for the serpent to quickly riposte by launching its head forward and biting into the side of the Harlequin’s neck.

I took this distraction as the opportunity to throw the Fireball straight towards the pair, knowing full well that my summon would not survive whatever poison was coursing through his body. The flames crashed into the pair and ignited them, sending the Harlequin back to my deck and annihilating the serpent in the process.

I wiped the sweat from my forehead and grinned. “Is that all you have?” I asked.

Brineheart merely watched me with a slight smile. He had several cards in his hands already and seemed to be conflicted on what to summon next. “You throw your cards with recklessness,” he said. “Patience is a virtue in this field.”

He waited, doing nothing. I scowled at this. What was he playing at? Did he want me to summon my next Esper? Then he’d play a counter that could take it down quickly…no, I didn’t want to be stuck in a fight where he had the luxury of making the decisions…but how could I throw him off?

I waited too, until my Fireball had recharged itself, and threw out another one straight towards him. If he wanted to stand there as a target, fine. Let’s see how well he fends off this kind of attack.

The bolt of flames surged towards the man and he was quick to throw down a card, releasing a long wall of fire that caught the burning sphere with ease, draining it of its power. The wall of flames circled around Brineheart for a second before retracting into a ball, floating in his hand.

“This yours?” he asked, releasing the flaming sphere from his grasp. It darted towards me but before I could react, Fire Spirit unleashed itself and took the hit, growing larger as it absorbed the fire burst.

“Seems like a bit of a food chain,” I replied, watching as the Spirit flew up high into the air and began to release a torrent of fire towards the old man.

He was fast enough to draw another card, releasing a great wind upwards that dispersed the flames and threw my Spirit higher into the sky. At the same time, he threw down another card with his left hand, releasing an elemental spirit of his own, one made of water.

The watery spirit was humanoid like my own, with its entire body made of liquid. It could not fly but did not need to; it reached both hands upwards and released a flood of water, spraying towards the Fire Spirit with an intense speed.

My spirit wasn’t fast enough to react, not with having been blown back so hard, and it was struck with the water, its body sizzling with vapor from the contact. The deluge took it down quick and I was forced to throw out the Greater Earth Elemental before the creature had a chance to turn its hoses onto me.

The large bouldery beast emerged from the ground and let out a grunting roar. Water greeted it but it was of no effect, since my summon was made of pure stone—unless that water was going to spray for a good few thousand years, nothing was going to affect it. I directed the beast to charge forward towards my opponent, as opposed to the summon.

The stone elemental ran forward on all fours like a gorilla, gaining a tremendous amount of speed and cracking the ground with each step. Brineheart threw down a card at his feet, creating a large cage of iron around himself. The iron cage was made of sturdy material, for the rock elemental smashed into it headfirst but had no lasting effect on the metal, other than rattling it a little.

I went to draw another card but before I could, a burst of water struck me in the chest. It might seem like the water elemental was firing out streams of water, but it was more like pressurized geysers as my chest screamed out in agony when the force hit me, sending me onto my back and sliding across the arena floor.

The world spun around me for a moment and I fumbled through my deck, grabbing the Group Invisibility spell from the bottom. I hadn’t thought I’d need it for this fight but if I was being targeted, good luck finding me.

The spell activated at once and I was translucent once more. Thankfully I had figured out that with a bit of focus I could sense the energy in each card that I owned, giving me the ability to pull what I needed, as opposed to just blindly throwing out Espers and hoping for the best.

The water elemental became inert the moment I vanished, no longer striking at me. “The hell? Did he run?” the old man said, looking around the arena. “Are you there?”

I didn’t bother to answer. He had said there would be no rules to this thing, so there would be no rules. Instead, I decided to play a bit of a clever trick. If the man was safe from everything outside of the cage, how safe would he be on the inside?

I rushed up to the cage, trying my best to keep my footsteps quiet. The good news was that the fervent thumping and smashing of the earth elemental, who had made no progress whatsoever, concealed my sounds, allowing me to get in nice and close.

Quickly, I drew the Harlequin card once more. It had fully recovered by now, making him the perfect summon. I tossed the card inside the cage and watched as it materialized, no longer hidden from view due to my invisibility spell.

The card flittered to the ground and activated, releasing the silent assassin once more. Unfortunately there was a bit of a noise that the card made as it released its power, causing Brineheart to turn just in time to see the motley fool appear, blades in hand once more.

“The hell?” he exclaimed in surprise as the Esper rushed him. The blades came forth and thrust into his torso hard, skewering him with ease. The Harlequin charged while pressing the blades forward, driving Brineheart’s back into the cage. He struggled to fight back, gasping and writhing, unable to get free of the twin swords within him.

However, I could not see any blood, nor any trace of a wound upon the man. He must be wearing armor strong enough to take a stabbing without breaking.

The Harlequin withdrew one blade, sensing that this was the case, and raised upwards to slash, but Brineheart was quick. He dismissed the cage instantly, falling backwards, becoming free from both the blade buried in his chest and from being pinned. The slash of the sword missed and the old man rolled aside just in time to dodge the enormous fist of the Greater Earth Elemental as it swung.

My Harlequin Esper, however, wasn’t fast enough to avoid the attack and the big monster wasn’t particularly discriminating in its blows. The large stone fist struck him and in an instant, he was back inside of his card.

I let out a gasp as sweat poured down my head, leaking into my eyes. Concentrating on so many things at once was tough. Even though the invisibility spell lasted an hour free of focus, it had taken a considerable amount of mental energy to activate it.

There was little I could do in the moment, other than watch as the elemental tried to smash down on the fallen Brineheart, but a torrent of water struck the beast at such an angle that its fists were repelled. The water elemental had dove in front of its master and was pushing the earth elemental backwards with sheer pressurized force.

There was a brief power struggle between the two, but the water elemental’s body thinned out as it sprayed, unable to sustain itself for very long. The fists came crashing down on it, dispersing the water into a large splash that went everywhere. The creature did not reform after that.

Chapter 63

Unfortunately the water elemental had worked as enough of a distraction to allow Brineheart to retreat and get back on his feet. The old man was quick to draw another card, releasing an earth elemental of the same size as my own.

The large stone beast emerged from the card without any hesitation, roaring and charging my summon. My Esper responded in kind and smashed into it, the two throwing fists into one another with wild, reckless abandon. They were furious monsters, punching and slamming, grasping and tearing chunks of stone out of each other.

I had enough time to recover and considered my next move. Brineheart was breathing heavily at this point, shaken up from the attack I had sent his way, and he looked to be unsure of himself. Without the cage surrounding him, he was carefully looking around, waving a hand out everywhere to ensure that I wasn’t sneaking up behind him.

There was a temptation to do such a thing, to sneak up and stab him with my sword…but my grandfather’s words came back to mind. My honor as a caster was on the line and that meant I wasn’t supposed to be just attacking with anything at hand, like a wild animal. Instead, I’d let my Espers do the talking.

After taking a breather, I decided it was time to bring out the Twin Titans. They were my strongest card so far, capable of dishing out a significant amount of punishment. I threw the card at my feet and watched as they appeared, the grey guardians ready for action.

“Magnificent card!” Brineheart gasped as the twin statues rose up from the ground, towering over us all, even the fighting elementals.

The first twin, wielding the warhammer, marched forward stoically, winding up an attack to strike the enemy elemental. Somehow it instinctively knew which one to strike, which was good because I had lost track of who was who, since they looked identical.

The hammer came crashing down onto the back of the big boulder, sending chunks of rock everywhere. Stone debris struck me in the side of the head, causing me to shimmer a little. The rock didn’t hurt but it gave away my position for just a second.

“Aha! You’re invisible!” my opponent shouted. “Not a bad trick, but let’s see how you like this!”

He drew another card an aimed it towards the sky. A great grey fog came billowing out of the card, moving upwards into the air above. The fog condensed itself into a stormy cloud, causing lightning to crackle in the air. Water began to pour down in an intense rain, covering the entire battlefield.

I could see my outline become visible immediately as the water rushed over me. My translucent limbs shimmered from the constant touch of the rain, making them easy to identify and more importantly, to locate.

One moment I was struck by water, the next, a swarm of batlike creatures were flying towards me. They were strange beasts with elongated wings and huge talons that outsized their small bodies. The claws shined with a green, eldritch energy and their fangs dripped with what looked to be poison of some kind.

I yelped in surprise and fear, for such a terrible horde of creatures was deeply disturbing to look at. Thankfully, the longsword titan stepped in the way, blocking off their trajectory towards me. He swung with one mighty heft, slicing through the group, cutting more than a few in half.

Those who were able to, however, dodged out of the way and continued in a beeline straight towards me. I tried to leap aside, but there were too many of them. A rain of claws came down against me, raking my arms, legs and back. The only thing that was protected was my torso, because I too was wearing armor.

Blood sprayed down my arms and legs as the claws rent my flesh. I fought and slapped at the beasts, drawing my sword and slashing around like a madman once I was able to at least get my hand free of the swarm. Bat after bat died as I cut my way through them, but more than a few were able to bite me on the sides of my neck in the process.

Poison had been delivered to my system. Immediately I felt myself grow numb, but…I’ll be damned if the effects of the poison weren’t as harsh to my body as I had feared. Consuming a great deal of antipoison properties while on mission in the spider temple had left my body somewhat adapted to the substances, it would seem, and the milder stuff wasn’t nearly as effective as it could be.

I fought off the sensation of numbness, focusing on the task at hand. The chaos had enveloped me, but I had a way out of it. The Grey Wall of Givald! I released the great grey shield of energy and extended it to the length of the cloud pouring down above us. The water immediately ceased touching me and I became invisible once more.

The bats swarming me grew confused, flying around in spirals, trying to locate me. I was bleeding still, but thankfully my blood did not give away my position.

I turned my attention to my Titans just in time to see them both shatter to pieces at the exact same time. Brineheart had thrown out two spells in unison, releasing a burst of sonic energy that vibrated so hard that the stone could not keep itself bound together. The statues fell apart, though I should be thankful that they had managed to take the enemy earth elemental with it.

My remaining elemental was still there. It had taken a beating and was missing huge chunks of its body, but it was still around and ready to find mindlessly. The large beast lumbered forward towards Brineheart who was trying to draw a card, but failing for his concentration was waning as well. I could see the exhaustion on his face and the weariness in his stance. He was burning just as much energy as me when it came to drawing cards.

The mighty elemental struck the man with a hard blow, crunching bones and sending him flying backwards. The old man slid to the edge of the platform, laid low by such an intense hit. The elemental charged forward once more, roaring with a mighty rage.

“Do you yield?” I shouted out.

“Yield to this!” he replied, drawing another card. A brilliant flash of light arced out from the card, so bright that it almost blinded me, forcing me to look away. When I glanced back, I could see that there was a mighty boar perched on the edge of the arena, standing in the way to protect its master.

This boar was huge, the size of a horse and not a small one either. It had long, razor sharp tusks that were made out of thorns and its entire body was covered in coarse fur that shimmered with rainbow bands of magic.

As the earth elemental charged, the boar counter-charged, smashing itself headfirst into the gigantic force of stone. Much to my surprise, the boar tore straight through the beast, ripping the creature in half with ease. Rock, mud and clay fell apart and the earth elemental finally broke, unable to keep itself bound together.

Brambles and briars began to grow all around the boar, rushing out to take control of the battlefield. Vines and thatches of grass grew up and everything became as a jungle of thorn and wood. The boar snorted and paced back and forth, searching for me. It sniffed the air for a moment and then, with perfect precision, locked onto my exact location, its nose aimed right at me.

“Ah damnit,” I muttered, drawing my sword and readying for the charge. This wasn’t going to be fun. I should summon something, but I was running out of energy. This was one hell of a fight, that was for sure.

The boar charged, shrieking as it ran at full speed. Briars came surging forward out of the ground as it sped up, moving towards me faster than the pig. I tried to dodge but I had not been expecting the ground to erupt into thorns and was unable to leap out of the way. Thick, sharp pieces of wood stabbed me all over, coils of thorn seizing hold of my legs and arms as they wedged themselves into my body.

I was stuck, unable to move. Grunting, I pulled out Vinestorm and tried to activate it, but I wasn’t strong enough mentally. The pain of the thorns pressing into my body, combined with the panic of needing to get the hell out of the way had overtaken me, and I could do nothing but watch as the pig ran straight into me.

Tusks struck me in the gut, piercing through my armor. Brilliant streaks of rainbow light flashed around me as I was thrown clear out of the briar patch and onto the edge of the platform.

“How the tables turn!” Brineheart laughed, standing to watch what he believed to be the finale. I could feel the blood pouring from my stomach and my entire body was on fire. The pig was snorting and turning about, searching for me once more, snuffing the air in the hopes of finding my scent.

I dropped the Grey Shield in the hopes of gaining some more energy. After all, there was no reason to hide if this beast could track me via smell. But even with the concentration released, I was weak. Vinestorm might save me but…it took so much energy to muster.

I could yield, but something told me Brine might pretend to not hear my words. And that boar would have a field day with my body for quite a while until I was dead. My back was against the wall here…I had to do something.

I swallowed hard and focused, looking deep within myself. There was one way out of this fight…if she would listen.

“Maiden of Moss,” I whispered to myself, intending as much as I could to bring forth the great entity that lurked within the legendary card. “You are our patron, our powerful and wise guide. I have learned much from you, I have learned how to conduct myself, how to fight and how to do that which is right, even at the cost of my own personal safety and protection. Every step of this journey has given me much to learn and I have done everything in my power to memorize the lessons you have taught me. But now, in this moment, I have found myself overwhelmed and weakened. I have not the energy to go on any more…please, great spirit, have mercy upon me and come to my aid.”

You seek to summon me, the Maiden replied, her words gentle and calm. Yet you will cast off my name soon enough. I have watched over this family for a generation. Shall you shuck my namesake off like the husk of corn?

“It is tradition,” I said through gritted teeth. The hog had locked onto my scent and was preparing for another charge. “But one that I would have no trouble throwing away on your behalf.”

Very well. You are sincere in your call to me. But be warned that my power is too great to call upon for every trifling moment. I shall seek to spare your life in this time, but there will be others in which you will only hear silence from me until you are strong enough to pull my spirit free from the eidolon in which I rest.

“Just tell me what to do,” I said, watching as the hog rushed towards me, the briars bursting forth from the ground once more.

Do nothing. Just watch.

Chapter 64

A great horn bleated out into the air, causing the hog to stop in its tracks. The horn sounded once more and then again, heralding the arrival of something great. The Moss storm card in my hand grew a mind of its own and leapt out of my fingers, floating to the ground gently. More music came out from the card, ringing a haunted melody that made the entire world around me grow silent.

Tendrils of moss came unfurling out of the card; long clumps that grew out as if we were in a swamp, overtaking the entire arena. The hog tried to charge but vines crept up and seized hold of it, keeping the squealing beast in place as the entire arena slowly grew into a bog of sorts.

Water rose to my ankles and I held my breath, watching in awe of what was happening. Never in my life would I have thought that I’d be able to actually summon my family’s patron spirit. But now it was happening. The Maiden of Moss was arriving.

A silver figure formed from the card, slowly growing into that of a woman. She was pale green, with a dress made of writhing moss that seemed to shift and warp all over her, moving as if they were alive and breathing. Her hair was covered in a crown of moss as well, tightly wound together around several blue emeralds that sparkled with a near divine radiance.

Energy pulsed from her entire being and I felt the urge to fall or run or scream at the sight of her. She was a powerful being, something far greater than anything I had summoned thus far. Only the terror of being in the presence of the spider goddess Dineah could compare to the sensation of being near such an ancient and powerful spirit.

“My gods…” Brineheart gasped, his eyes wide and mouth agape at the sight of the glorious woman. She was taller than the both of us, nearly eleven feet in stature, with long, slender arms that carried a sword in one hand and a censer in the other.

The censer was made of jade and exuded a moldy scent, one reminiscent of water damage to a house. It sparkled with light and burned perpetually, smoke rising high into the air.

The hog shrieked and squealed, trying to free itself from the vines that held it down, but it was no use. The more the Maiden manifested, the stronger the vines became.

She finalized her appearance and stepped free of the card, barefoot and regal. The great spirit held her head high and paid no mind to the thorns that were sticking out from the watery arena. She walked without hesitation towards the pig, raising her long sword high. With a single gesture, she brought it down, stabbing the creature in the side of its body, killing it with a single blow.

Brineheart couldn’t take his focus off of the woman. He fumbled with his deck for a moment, hands grasping through the cards, trying to find something but he didn’t bother to look down to confirm what he was pulling. He tried to summon something but the Maiden raised a hand, causing the energy around the card to fizzle and dissipate.

“W-what…you…you have a legendary card…” Brineheart said. “How could you possibly summon something so strong?”

The Maiden spoke. “Torvald Brineheart. I can see into your soul. You have committed many crimes against your fellow man. You conduct yourself with little regard for the consequences your actions bring to others. And worst of all, when you receive the same treatment you have given, you become incensed as if you commit not the same crimes.”

The censer burned brightly at this and even more smoke poured out. She raised it high in the air and allowed it to swing left and right. The billowing smoke moved towards the man, swirling around him, enveloping his body. “The cards you carry are strong but you lack the inner fortitude to call forth your own familial spirit. You lack the strength of character and the heart to do so.”

The old man said nothing at that, he merely tried to summon another card. The smoky mists around his body seized his wrists and forced them to their sides, causing his deck to fall upon the ground in the process. “You seek the power that I wield,” the Maiden continued. “But live as a hypocrite. Only dark spirits will look to a soul such as yours and they are not going to deal kindly with you in the end. Even now, I sense your lust for power as you try to reason with yourself as to how my son is able to conjure me.”

The ancient spirit strolled up to him and towered over the man. He was driven to his knees by her sheer presence. “The truth of it is that he has not the power to issue even a single command to me. I am greater than his entire lineage and with but a thought, I could smite him and all that he loves. But he has given his heart over to doing that which is right and good. And in return, I have gifted him with my presence. It is unfortunate for you that he chose this moment to ask for it.”

“Let me go,” Brineheart pleaded. “I yield.”

“Yield?” the Maiden asked. “To whom? The duel ended the moment he brought me forth, for there is nothing a mite like you can do to stop me.”

Vines of moss sprang forth from her body and wrapped around the man’s neck. He fought for a moment, but the mists around his arms pulled them down, leaving him at her mercy. The vines tightened and he gasped, his face turning red from the pressure.

“Wait!” I cried out. “He yielded, let him go.”

“You would allow him to continue living?” she asked, not facing me. “In spite of the fact that he shall remain your eternal foe? It would be foolish to allow him to live.”

“He yielded,” I repeated, not changing my stance. “That means this duel is over. It means that I won.”

The Maiden said nothing at that. She merely released her vines around the man’s neck and turned to face me. There was a slight smile upon her face. “You have done well,” she murmured. “To stand up for a man who has greatly wronged you. I should consider this test to have been passed as well. For you will soon find out, young Arthur, that the true test of a man’s morality is when he has the power to end a life with a mere word. You passed this time. Let us hope that you continue on this path.”

A brilliant ray of light struck the card on the ground and in a flash, the woman was gone. The entire arena had returned to normal, leaving us dumbfounded at what had happened. The Maiden of Moss had arrived, defeated my foe and tested me all at once. The expression upon Brineheart’s face indicated that our rivalry was officially dead. I had won.

Epilogue

Our wagon arrived in the early morning to Brinmore County, where Castle Geist was waiting for us. Rupert and Shine were with me, as well as Emelia, who had already begun the housewarming celebration by drinking a great deal of wine. She had offered me some but I was too nervous to drink. A castle of my own…what would it be like?

The wagon came to a stop and the coachman called out. “We’re here.”

“This is it!” Rupert said, eagerly opening the door and hopping out. “Home sweet…home?”

“What’s the matter?” I asked, climbing out after him. The rogue was pointing towards what looked to be a huge pile of rubble. Upon closer inspection, I realized the rubble was what had been left of Castle Geist’s walls.

“What in the hell?” Shine groaned, coming up beside me. We gazed at the castle in abject horror. The place wasn’t haunted but it sure as hell wasn’t well kept. The entire building was damaged, with great holes in the walls, some so large that you could easily fit a siege engine in there. Not that a siege could do much more damage.

The main gates were shattered, the courtyard was full of debris and rubble, and the building itself looked tattered and worn. One wing had collapsed entirely, the grey stone strewn everywhere and the tower spire toppled over onto the ground.

“What happened to our castle?” Rupert said. “It…it was destroyed!”

A man in buttoned black coat was waiting for us by the entrance of the castle. He was a grim-looking fellow, pale and displeased by natural disposition. He wore the insignia of the Imperial Court and looked to be a butler of some kind. I had seen a few servants dressed like him back in the Magistrate’s castle.

“Sirs,” he said, approaching us with a slight bow. “I am Armand, the estate custodian. This here is the Castle Geist, awarded to you three for your service to the Empire. All members shall take equal custody of the estate and none shall have the power to sell the land without vote from the other two. Who shall you vote to be your executive?”

Shine and Rupert pointed at me simultaneously. “Oh come on, I don’t want to be the guy in charge,” I groaned.

“I’m too busy as it is with all of my magic and experiments,” Shine said. “If you’re going to drag me along to go adventuring from time to time, then you’re going to have to run this place.”

“Yeah and I’m barely qualified to run in a straight line, let alone run an estate,” Rupert added. “It’s all yours.”

“You’re only saying this because the place is a wreck,” I grumbled. “But fine. Whatever.”

Armand bowed to me. “Very well, Master Arthur. This letter is for you then.”

He extended an envelope with the Royal Seal to me. I was quick to take it and break the letter open, curious to see what was inside.

To the Estate Manager,

You may have noticed that Castle Geist is in terrible condition. This old building is a relic from a time when civil war was a common occurrence amongst the nobility. One great battle laid this mighty fortress low and the cost of renovation was too great for House Geist. They abandoned it, leaving it in possession of the Empire itself.

I believe this to be a fitting reward to you three, for you rescued my daughter but in the process, handed me a disaster that almost cost me and my family our lives, as well as threatened the stability and peace of the Empire. I am a man of my word in that I will grant you a castle, but I have no motivation to see that you take possession of something valuable. You scoundrels botched the rescue, of that I have no doubt. And so, I am giving you exactly what you deserve. A castle that shall cost a fortune to revive.

You may believe this to be petty and perhaps it is, but Celestine’s anger over what has happened is great. While her memory is fuzzy, she wishes to see you punished for what transpired. I have convinced her that this embarrassment shall be enough. Count yourselves lucky that none of my family was hurt in this ordeal. Enjoy Castle Geist and all that it contains. You deserve it.

Emperor Hargreaves

“Sheesh,” I muttered, reading over the letter a few times. “This guy has some issues.”

“What’s it say?” Rupert asked, trying to lean over my shoulder to take a peek.

“More or less that we deserve this wrecked up castle,” I said. “The Emperor’s not too pleased with what transpired.”

“And so we get a castle that will cost a fortune to rebuild,” Shine murmured. “This isn’t particularly good news.”

“It could be worse,” I offered. “He very well could have had us imprisoned.”

“Sirs,” Armand said, his voice passionless and monotone. “The estate is currently in dire need of roof repairs. I regret to inform you that until such a thing has taken place, the building is unfit for any to live.”

“Are you serious?” Rupert said. “Isn’t there a library or a study that’s sturdy enough to keep us?”

“Unless Sir wishes to spend his time soaked to the bone, as the rains occur often here in the Highlands, he would be better of waiting until the roof is repaired,” came the reply.

Rupert groaned at that. Shine sighed heavily as well. Both of my allies turned to face me. “So…” Shine said, trailing off for a moment. “What was it you were saying about that ancient evil in a treasure filled ziggurat?”