The Magister's Rage, Part 16

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All thought of the risks in my strategy flooded my mind as my body lay there dying. Given a choice, I would not have gone about it the way I had. The pain you might expect from falling from a cliff was nothing compared to the terrible agony I actually felt upon crashing to the rocks. The magic in the blood I had previously absorbed was all I had to keep my soul tethered to my body for long enough to act. Combining two forbidden schools of magic, I used my remaining power to bind my soul to the black diamond that I held in my pocket. I had no reasonable expectation of my spell being successful, but I had gambled on the long-lost connection between Garanda and myself providing me access to his sparesoul.

Fortunately, I was not mistaken.

Using my soul magic, I discarded my broken body and took up residence in this new shell. The experience of entering someone else's soul was usually one of wandering through a facsimile of a place where that person felt most comfortable. However, Garanda's soul resembled stone landscape beneath an empty void. There were mortal remains littering the ground, some of which I recognized. My soul went cold when I recognized the blank faces of Ethan Reed and his companions. I turned away in discomfort and wandered in another direction until I nearly stumbled over the bodies of people I once recognized as members of my old blood mage coven.

There were no walls around me, but I felt constricted. There was no water around me, but I felt as if I could drown. I had seen and done so much with the coven and during the Archknight Rebellion that I should have been desensitized to these sights, but here it did not matter. Garanda's soul was nothing like the mortal souls I have seen up to and since that day. He was nothing more than the sum of his atrocities, a single-minded monster who lived only to kill. He was nothing like the Maulans who were allied with him, who at least had no free will. He reveled in his purpose. In this moment, I had come to understand my adversary far more than I ever had before. With Maula's sympathies re-aligned with those of her family, this aberration had no reason to exist--but he was too resilient to stop.

It was a mistake to think I could be rid of such a destructive force of nature. After all, is it even possible for Garanda to die? I was convinced then as I am now that he will only do so when Maula allows it and, until that day comes, it was critical to control him. Fortunately, Broger had left me with an invaluable tool that would work for that purpose. So, I knelt down toward one of the fallen blood mages and forced myself to pick him up. I dropped him next to one of our sisters then walked away to grab another body. Seeing nothing else I could do with this soul at present I resolved to clean my surroundings. I was relieved to see that my magic still functioned in this place, as it allowed me to pile these reminders of Garanda's victims and burn them away. 

Throughout my attempts to clear the soul of his crimes, I had hoped for the chance to interact with even the faintest fragment of his soul. But he didn't seem to be present. It was unusual, even among practitioners of soul magic, to see a soul occupy more than a single space. Thus, the existence of his own body would prevent him from appearing here. That was fine, however. Now that I had unfettered access to his soul for a change, I had a power over him he could only have accounted for if he were cooperating more closely with Broger than I thought. There would be no perceived glory in his slaughter any more, nor would he be tainted by the stench of death. Without these reminders of his violence staining his soul, I could only imagine with glee how he would change.

As for an encounter, well that need only have waited until Garanda noticed what I was doing to him. I was certain that when he did, he would come after his sparesoul again. So, I waited. I waited for Kartal to subdue Adaling and restore my cousin's control over her body. I waited for Voltairine to reach my then-dead body and retrieve the stone. I waited for my companions to get to safety. All this time, I remained aware of my surroundings but could see and feel nothing. I could only hear their voices cutting through the silence in my temporary shelter; mourning my passing, reassuring Adamora that she was no more at fault for what had befallen me than I was for Garanda's murders. I called to them, willing them to hear that I had not yet expired in spirit, but my words could not escape the object in which I had imprisoned myself.

I would have shouted myself hoarse had I been in possession of vocal cords at the time. I relentlessly called to them as they discussed alternate plans to defeat Garanda without me and I continued to do so when they exhausted this topic of discussion and went their separate ways for the night. They left the sparesoul with Voltairine, who had grown clearly weary and confused with the recent string of traumatic sights that come with my journey. She picked up the sparesoul and stared into it, inundating my entire view with her sad eyes. I wished to comfort her, to let her know that she had borne the burdens she had taken from me with more grace than I could ever have expected. But I had since given up on trying to talk. I could only think in this place, so I thought of the name of the one who had impressed me so much. As I did so, however, she jumped in her seat and hissed my name in shock. It seemed that holding the sparesoul allowed her to hear my thoughts.

Scarcely believing my fortune, I communicated with her between minds. I informed her that my death was arranged to be temporary and that this was the only I could think of to overcome Garanda's superior strength. I warned her that Garanda would be coming for the sparesoul as a result of what I had been doing with it. She was terrified at the thought of being found with his soul, but I assured her that I could protect her and everyone else in this state, which was true. When I saw him again, I would have sufficient access to his soul to prevent him from harming anyone else--or doing anything I would not approve of, for that matter.

The next morning, Kartal and Adamora returned to inform Voltairine that Garanda was not coming for me. Instead, he had opted to draw me to him by focusing his wrath on my hometown of Palon. Fear for the safety of my daughters was certainly an incredible lure, but quite unnecessary. After hearing this bit of news, Voltairine then told them of my survival and what she could understand of my plot to subdue Garanda once and for all. Now that I knew where he could be found and my companions knew that I still remained to oppose him, there could be no question that I would be coming for him. When we were close to each other once more, I would have the power to interact with his soul fragments and exert even more power over him than I already had. 

So they set out, with me stowed safely on Voltairine's person, toward the culmination of over 60 years'  mutual hatred. I was ready to end this.

Continue to Part 17!

The Boy Who Shouldn't Exist Part 11

First Chapter

Previous Chapter

Despite largely only confirming what he had already heard from the Avatars, Kaleth's first communion with the God of Time was enlightening. He now knew a specific, albeit indirect, cause of the sai'mul invasions that threatened to overrun the world. He even had an idea of what he might try to do to fix it. But he couldn't put that plan into action until Geos allowed him to use the Reservoir again. If he was going to do that, however, he was going to have to master the rest of his new powers. This was infinitely easier said than done.

For starters, he had yet to even figure out the random bursts of altered time flow that seemed to follow him. After days of observation, he had begun to get a sense of when they would occur, but he was only right half the time. He knew now that the power that caused this all to happen lied with him, but he was no closer to consciously controlling it.

The boy turned to look at the dog that continued to snooze on his bed. He ran his hands through the beast's fur, noticing as he did so that it was far rougher than it looked; like massaging a bowl of sand. The beast tensed at his touch, but relaxed after a single glance at his face. Kaleth had seen plenty of geoli like the creature the dog had become, but his father always warned him not to approach them.  It was easy to think of them as simple fauna like the wolves they so closely resembled, but this appearance concealed their power. There was, after all, a reason they were considered a counterpart to the maulans and kerunites. These were creatures whose bites could induce rapid aging, a malady that was made even worse if they should ever be warped by dark magic.

As he stroked this one, though, he instinctively knew that he didn't mean him any harm. The geoli didn't respond with any particular enthusiasm to his presence, but seemed to tolerate Kaleth's presence. He considered that Geos had left the creature with him for a reason. He had always wanted a pet, especially since he had come to understand the fauna in his druidic studies, but he couldn't imagine his parents being thrilled with the animal that he had found himself caring for then.

The door to the room opened as Kaleth fawned over the geoli and Aennin walked in, looking exhausted. Considering the many feats of athleticism he had seen from the Avatar of Death thus far, Kaleth couldn't imagine what had him so drained all of a sudden. But it didn't matter; as soon as Aennin saw the geoli, he grinned widely. 

"I fucking knew it!" the elf hissed as he hurriedly closed the door. He fell onto his own bed and stared expectantly at Kaleth.

"Yeah, I just found out," he offered awkwardly.

"Well, no shit!" Aennin said with a hint of impatience. "The others are going to be thrilled, you know. To be honest, we were backed into a corner by these sai'mul. The Avatar of Geos is our best hope of fixing all of this now."

Kaleth shook his head and said, "I'm sorry to disappoint you, but knowing that I'm an Avatar doesn't tell me how I'm supposed to fix anything. Geos isn't letting me use his power to travel through time until I can master the rest of his power."

Aennin rolled his eyes and shrugged. "Makes sense, I suppose. Maula never shuts up about her precious twin. It doesn't surprise me that he'd make the new Avatar earn his trust after the colossal fuck up we're dealing with."

Kaleth stopped petting the geoli and frowned at this response. Even though everything that they were dealing with was certainly the result of his father's carelessness, he couldn't bring himself to stomach the idea that saving his mother was the greatest mistake anyone has ever made.

"I only exist because of that fuck up," Kaleth growled moodily.

Aennin seemed speechless for a change. After a few seconds of awkward silence, Kaleth said, "I can't fix everything. Even with Geos' power, nobody can ask me to put everything back to the way it was if it means I'll cease to exist!"

Aennin finally found his voice in time to retort, "Nobody's saying you need to put everything back the way it was! I'd take any option that allows you to stick around without zombies threatening to break down our doors!"

Kaleth sighed and resumed petting his new companion. "I didn't think you'd care."

Aennin shrugged and rolled his eyes. "I don't even know why I do. Even if you were erased in history, it's not like I'd be able to miss you. Still, I don't hate you as much as most people. You deserve to be here."

Kaleth pulled his knees up to his chest. "Well, what we want isn't going to matter until I pass Geos' test and earn his time traveling power."

Aennin smiled wryly and nodded slowly. "If he's anything like his sister, he's probably stuck you with some stupid riddle that you have to figure out to prove you think alike."

"I'm supposed to learn to understand the path that led us here and be mindful of the future... so I can make the right decisions in the present." Kaleth repeated with an awkward smile.

Aennin frowned as he mulled over the words, finally he muttered, "Well, unless I'm rusty in my 'asinine divine riddle' language, you are halfway there now that you understand what happened. But it sounds like he wants you to do something about it before he'll give you the time traveling abilities."

Kaleth let go of the geoli and stared at Aennin with his eyes bulging in shock. "You don't really think he expects me to stop the sai'mul, do you?"

Aennin shook his head and rolled his eyes. "What am I, a pasty boil on your ass?"

"What? I don't--!" Kaleth sputtered.

"It seems obvious to me what needs to happen," Aennin said as he jumped back to his feet and crossed the room to Kaleth. "The other Avatars and I are going to have to find our own way out of this mess and you're going to help us."

Next Chapter

Adventures in Comalan: The Solan Lighthouse.

The eastern Restan city of Solan, located somewhere near the country's southern coast, has long been known as a place of secrets. People silently walk past each other on the streets, visitors pass through unremarked, and no one enters a building uninvited. Those unfortunate few who disregard these unwritten, unspoken rules frequently run into something they wish they hadn't, like a hastily buried corpse, human traffickers, or unethical scholars-- magical and scientific alike. The most famous of these hidden secrets are the catacombs carved from the mountain beneath Solan's iconic lighthouse. Originally built to aid templar ships passing by on their northward journeys, ownership of this historic landmark has changed hands several times as a new local governor takes office in the city. In the final century of the second age, however, is when the sinister rumors that have made the place the legend it is today began.

It all began in the year 2E241, with the fall of the Scarlet Starlings. Following the events of the Second Wave of Death, the newly recognized Champion of Salica began a three-year crusade to eradicate the guild of assassins. With templars at her side, she stormed the Governor Estate that had once been her home and turned over the belongings of her former stepmother, Dinorah Winstrom. Among her personal files, Mia found a letter to a long-deceased associate of the starlings, which mentioned an unknown place referred to only as the vault of shadows. From studying the buildings under the governor's control and thinking of places she remembered Lady Winstrom visiting, the champion had deduced that she would find this vault underneath the lighthouse.

In the opening month of winter that year, Mia and the templars stripped the lighthouse bare until they found the secret staircase leading into a maze of interconnecting tunnels below. The catacombs were filled with countless deadly traps and false paths, seemingly designed to keep the explorers lost and terrified for their own lives. If the maze had worked as it should, they might have fled the very next time they happened across the staircase that would take them back in the direction from which they came. But Mia was stubborn and hungered desperately for revenge against the very organization that was responsible for these deadly tunnels. Her obsession overpowered her fear and she searched every inch of this underground stronghold. When she finally found the remaining Starlings in hiding, she initiated a purge of their hideout in order to rid Comalan of their particular evil.

With the Scarlet Starlings eradicated, the lighthouse became a favored haunt of daring urban explorers for the next few decades. While many sought the accolades of surviving a tour of the catacombs, nearly as many would continue falling victim to previously uncovered traps until Mia, then the governor of Solan, ordered the lighthouse sealed. That might have been the end of the legend, but there were practitioners of forbidden magic who sought refuge in a forbidden safe, away from prying eyes. It was first occupied by a small coven of dark mages who had escaped the Purge of Shaville. These mages managed to revive their demon "breeding" operation for some time before being driven out by the Royal Army under Karen Blackstone's Geosian Regime. 

This left the lighthouse abandoned for quite some time until the new queen's son Michael-- recently appointed Solan's new governor-- appropriated the catacombs as the headquarters for his rebellion against Geos. It was there where he coordinated the efforts of the resistance on behalf of the Fadalians until a very public incident forced him to reveal himself as a leader of his own mother's opposition and flee Solan. Many spellwarriors would spend the rest of their years under the Geosian regime, and during the subsequent Archknight Rebellion, combing these catacombs once more for secrets left behind by Michael Blackstone's resistance.

The lighthouse would once again be occupied in the Third Age, by an entity known to most as Erdas, the God of Suffering. It was there where he kept countless prisoners, including the Avatars of Life, Death, and Time and the innocent people that Erdas used to manipulate the Avatars in games against each other. It was believed at first that he was doing this simply for his own sadistic amusement, but he was actually using them to combine the power of the three demigods in order to create new members of the kilgor-- a nearly extinct race which is comprised mostly of the Fadalians themselves. While these three Avatars were manipulated into creating a new god through suffering, Gyanda Maloran, the third Archknight, was held prisoner here to be tortured with the many mistakes of his past.

The Archknight would find himself returning to this lighthouse months later, when-- with Erdas and his prisoners gone-- blood mages began to take up residence in the catacombs. It was only after taking over the coven, a feat famously* described in his memoirs, that the lighthouse was abandoned for the final time, leaving it in its current state. With Resta in a state of uncertainty as the world's eyes center on the Starlight Crusade, explorers have once again found an opening to explore these catacombs again. Doing so continues to yield lost secrets left behind by each of the lighthouse's past inhabitants, which makes this an attractive for brave adventurers who are most interested in the turbulent history of this mysterious city.

* This represents a passage in TMR, which is an actual book in canon. But said passage hasn't been written yet as of the most recent update-- and probably won't for a long time, anyway.

The Confectioner's Demise

HEM ACADEMY POST-ACTION REPORT

Filed by: Samuel Desmond, Peacekeeper Grade 1

Location: Resta City

Date: Ames 28, 3E4

Time: 19:40

People of Interest

• Deidre Dario (Victim-Deceased)  2124 Poppy Lane, Garden District of Resta City
• Camilla Winstrom (Witness) 2124 Poppy Lane, Garden District of Resta City
• David Harret (Witness) 32 Blackstone Avenue, Apex District of Resta City

Warrants 

• Camilla Dario (Accused of Mass Murder Illegal Transformation Magic)
• Serena Dario (Accused of Mass Murder, Illegal Transformation Magic)

Advisories

• Involvement of fey creatures
• Use of unidentified magic

Action Summary:

I arrived in the capitol at 16:22 in order to respond to a Peacekeeper summons at a candy shop located at 2124 Poppy Lane in the city's Garden District, known as Spring Confections. I had been summoned by Camilla Winstrom, an apprentice candy maker employed there to investigate a strange act of vandalism. As it turned out, everything on display in the store had somehow taken on the appearance of hard candy. Sensing nothing unusual about such a sight in a candy shop, I asked for the witness to elaborate to which she responded that the stores wares were usually made with a variety of different candies, including chocolate, marshmallow, and cotton candy. The sight of everything being replaced by hard candy overnight was an unusual sight that even she couldn't explain.

I opted to question the store's owner, Deidre Dario at 16:51 which was within minutes of the store's closing. The witness was uncooperative with my questioning. It would have been easy for one to assume that she had something to do with the vandalism, but certain nonverbal cues indicated she was just as shaken as her apprentice was. Her breathing was quick, she avoided eye contact, and she was constantly checking the windows and exits as if I weren't there. I could tell that she was worried that someone else might show up, but she refused to tell me anything. She was clearly hiding something, but nothing I had seen up to that point constituted legal grounds to compel her to speak.

Seeing nothing else that could be done in the absence of useful information, I began to scan the shop for traces of magic. This was how I learned that everything in the store had been exposed to various forms of magic. Fey energy seemed to coat the walls, but I was more interested in the hard candy, which showed evidence of dark magic. When I asked Ms. Winstrom about it, she seemed aghast at the very mention. She clearly knew nothing about the dark magic, but was willing to confirm that fey magic as a usual part of the store's operation. Both the master and apprentice were then revealed to be feykin.

I chose to follow the trail of the dark magic, which led me to the residence of one David Harret. I knocked three times, seeking permission to enter. I was met with no response, but I could clearly hear thumping within. Fearing the presence of dark magic implied someone might be in danger, I assumed my frostback form in order to break down the door. Once inside, I found Mr. Harret, suspended by chains over what appeared to be a cauldron full of molten candy. I released the man from his bonds and began to question him about his predicament. 

Shaking in terror, he told me of a pair of witches he encountered in the southern hills outside Freedom's Reach who had been responsible for the random capture and murder of the city's citizens. The witches' method of killing was very similar to what had happened to the merchandise at Spring Confections. Based on what he told me and my observation of the dark magic within, I determined that if he had been boiled in this cauldron, his entire body would have turned to candy. The witness was highly distressed throughout the conversation, confused as to why they would come so far out of their way just to follow him. Although the timeline of their previous murders did correspond with the date, I had no answer as to why they had come here. It seemed unlikely that they would come so far just to eliminate one former witness, especially since he had told me that he'd already reported what he knew to representatives of both our order and Galeon's Home Defense League. So, I was left to assume this had something to do with Spring Confections.

I returned to the shop to find a very horrified Ms. Winstrom standing over a pile of shattered hard candy behind the counter that I was positive hadn't been there when I had last visited. Moreover, the hard candy that once littered the storefront had mysteriously vanished. She told me that she had seen the witches, both of whom had addressed the proprietor of the shop as "Mother". They didn't say much, but Ms. Winstrom did quote one of them as having said, "This is the only way to escape you!" They then used magic to liquefy all of the candy in the room and bury Mrs. Dario with it. Although they had attempted to kill both her and Ms. Winstrom, the latter survived thanks to a shielding spell that had fully protected her from contact with the liquid. Mrs. Dario had no time to defend herself, however, so she could not help being turned into a statue of hard candy, which the witches took turns pulverizing before leaving quietly. They left Ms. Winstrom alive only because the candy was too thick for them to see the shield that protected her beneath it.

After recounting what had happened, it was clear that the witness was too overwhelmed to say much else. So, with her consent, I began to search through Mrs. Dario's personal effects. There I found piles of returned letters that the candy maker had written to her daughters. I noticed immediately that one of them shared a name with her apprentice, Camilla, while the other was called Serena. She pleaded on several occasions for them to come back home, begging for their forgiveness, and explaining that her craft had improved. She assured them that she had much to teach them, but her words indicated that neither of them had bothered to reply for over twenty years. The most recent letter was one in which she mentioned taking on an apprentice, but assuring them once again that her secrets would be theirs too if only they would come back to her.

Based on this evidence, I suspect that the daughters in question were the same two witches who had terrorized Freedom's Reach and killed Mrs. Dario. I have collected all of these letters as well as the candied remains of the victim for the elders' analysis. The suspects, Camilla and Serena Dario, are to be considered extremely dangerous and immediate action is necessary if we are to bring them to justice before their confirmed period of yearly activity ends. 

Tales of the Starlight Crusade: Escape of the Tuwara

The following details the experience of Nidarys' future Avatar, the spellwarrior who would be her Adjutant, and the Avatar of Kerun as they were captured by the aquatic warriors of the planet Mennon. The defenders of Comalan had just gained a hard-won victory against the alien invaders, but these three people were swept up in their retreat. The result of this was a peculiar melding of consciousness...

The sound of the Tomag-Na Segisti echoed its call through the toxic atmosphere, loud enough for the entire tuwara to hear. They found what they came for. Extras? It mattered not. They would join them in the trip.

They were the Tuwara Landers. A faction without regard to clan. They were the ferocious Tas, the resourceful Sos, the zealous Sis, and the intellectual Kos. They were the strong and the smart; the fighters and the thinkers; the workers and the commanders. In this state, they were all of these people, and yet something else at once. Their differences did not matter, for in this moment they were all the same being.

The tuwara rolled over the narrowly carved mountain, sweeping up the frozen water around them for fuel. The Segisti was retreating, and they were ordered to follow. There would be no time to return, they must rejoin their ship in orbit and hope the rest of the fleet fared better. There were others in their path. They unleashed an unfamiliar energy onto the tuwara, which caused some of them to heat up and disperse from the rest.

An inconsequential loss, they thought. They were one with the water and each other. As one being, they made their escape from the vicious air-dwellers. The enemy who swam where the dreaded air was thinnest bombarded them with this fire. Fire. The energy was called fire. A new understanding of this place formed in this instant. The creature who spouted so much fire was not swimming. It was flying. She was called a spellwarrior. The one down below had the power to create this energy as well. A pyromancer.

They were unprepared for the fight the people of the planet ‘Comalan’ put up against their mighty strength. But they knew this was not over. They would meet again, next time on their own planet. For now, they must escape this atmosphere.They knew these things and more because of the three guests who joined their collective. They were also Samuel Desmond. They were Telandra Dawnstrike. They were Voltairine Maloran.

Adventures in Comalan: The Bog of Anguish

Deep in the Tanisian wilderness lies a decrepit region where the trees are hollow and the ground reeks with the stench of decay. This bog encompasses a large swath of the country's northern lands. Surrounded by lands of dense, unpopulated forest and an unforgiving ocean, it is said that there is nothing to be found in this region but misfortune, which have led many to accept the "Bog of Anguish" as its moniker. For some reason, this harsh land seems to exist as a refutation of everything the elves of Tanis hold sacred. This is not an area that supports much of the life that Tanisians revere, apart from the tanistriders who feed on the decayed plant matter on the ground.

Discovering what causes this land to reject most life has been the subject of Tanis' longest-running scientific endeavor. Researchers stationed in the area reside in Boggarde, one of Tanis' few above-ground cities. The population of this city has eschewed the traditional caste system in favor of an open democracy because the dangers of the Bog of Anguish far outweigh the priorities that justify the existence of the castes. Everyone in Boggarde wants competent leadership that doesn't exclude any good ideas based on their source. Apart from organizing the study of the local region, Boggarde also exists as a sanctuary for travelers who get lost in the bog, where people may be guided back to the rest of civilization.

While many people have fallen victim to the bog's thick, perpetual fog and random sinkholes, the greatest danger lies in the warlocks who call the place home. Here, dark magic is practiced with impunity because few dare to wander this land to bring them to justice. For as long as the Bog of Anguish has been charted, stories have reached the rest of the Tanisian cities of travelers who get lost, only to return as an image of their worst fears. These fever morphs roam the bog in search of mortals to share in their unending terror. They, and the dark mages who created them, stand as a rare exception to Tanis' legal condemnation of fatal action. Among everything that threatens a Tanisian, they alone are to be killed on sight.

Even in an adventure guide such as this one, it cannot be stressed enough that the Bog of Anguish is to be avoided unless you have business in Boggarde. But even if you don't, this place is the ideal destination for those seeking to learn more about dark magic-- or punish those who dare to use it.

Phoenix Blade Chapter 8

Start from the Beginning

Previous Chapter

After that disastrous mission, we traded jokes about what happened for at least a week. None of us missed an opportunity to recount to strangers and each other of the day we were paid to fuck around with the Archknight and his Avatar friends. It was an embarrassing day, sure, but I think a lot of us were just happy to be alive. If it weren't for our newest recruits being so well acquainted with them, we might have just wandered into a fight we couldn't win.

...

Sure I am, and maybe Saayuko as well, but there was no way the others could have matched up to the people we would have had to get through. If we had gone through with that fight, we would have been humiliated even if we all survived. You know how strong I am, but I can't turn into a magic-wielding gorilla, fly, or summon fey spellcasters to do my bidding. I've only made it as long as I have by remaining aware of my limits and never taking any job that pushes me far beyond them.

...

Surpassing your own limits is a romanticized ideal of the living. Often what happens when you do is you'll injure yourself. Now, for you people who have yet to die, that's fine because you'll heal and grow stronger from the experience. For sai'mul, there is no healing or growing. If I had done more of that before I died, I'd blow away anyone who calls themselves a warrior with my enhanced strength, but the strength I've shown you before is the maximum you'll be seeing from me.

...

Consider yourself lucky I didn't climb to their level before I died, or I'd definitely be able to do that. I can't say whether or not I'd have become the kind of asshole who throws my strength around in that way, but after meeting guys like Roman and Mordecai, I can't say the idea appeals to me now.

...

Well, once we stopped joking about our poor luck, we let the failure of it all sink into our morale. In our line of work, dropping a contract carries a heavy stigma. To the Restan people, one's word is their greatest treasure. Even if your client doesn't survive to execute a contract, a lot of our rivals contended that we should have carried it out anyway and report our success to the corpse. Bastards. If any of them had taken the same contract, they'd have taken their honor to their graves.

...

Well, the one upside to it all was how they chose to go about it. How could a guild thrive in both combat and crafts? The only people who should do business with us are those who need a good pair of gloves, or an amulet, or weapons. What they didn't take into account was that there was plenty more demand in peacetime for gloves, jewelry, and signage. It was the best advertising we could ask for as craftsmen. We became the artisans who could defend our wares better than any of the other businesses that competed with us in the protection of material goods.

...

So we expanded. We ended up hiring another guy that Saayuko knew from Heron who called himself Flint Brokamac. Apparently he fancied himself a modern descendant of an extinct Pyrisian clan. I always hoped that wasn't true, considering what my people had to do to the Brokamac all those centuries ago.

...

No, you wouldn't have. You had your Piers men roving westward, but the Brokamac are the ones who decided that south was the way to go. Unlike you, however, when our ancestors wanted northlanders out of our territory, we killed them all. You could say Flint had a chip on his shoulder about that. To hear him talk, you'd think that Restans robbed him of his identity long before he--or Resta-- were ever thought of.

...

Well, he only came to Resta because he was a journeyman smith who was looking to expand his skills. But there's only so much you can learn in Heron, apparently. So why not come to the land that's rich in everything, including metals? I think he fancied himself as a defender of his clan's legacy. To him, Northern Resta was Brokamac territory, therefore our home was rightfully his.

...

Well everyone, including our Midanian immigrants, thought he was neat, but he had a tendency to annoy Eione and Bene, our other Restan-born members. Some old clan law tricked him into thinking he was better than us, but I didn't really care. For one thing, Saayuko--his fellow Heronite-- was skeptical of the whole thing.

...

They had both grown up in the same part of Heron, and she thought that the chances of a surviving Brokamac living to breed in any other province were virtually nonexistent. They were friendly with the Piers, but too far away from their territory and the Karns and Crowmonts considered them enemies. Not that it mattered to me either way. He wasn't about to stage a new Brokamac occupation of everything north of the Pledge on his own. Whatever his cultural quirks, he was just a dim man with some talent for working metal who could be a little rude. For the most part, he worked just fine with everyone and the few who disliked him stayed out of his way.

...

This acquisition wasn't enough to raise everyone's morale, especially since the only member of the guild less personable than Flint was me. That isn't to say I didn't care how my underlings were doing. As they toiled with their individual projects, I could tell that everyone was growing listless. Eione was the first to complain of being bored, but there was nothing I could tell her. Our most interesting jobs didn't come from nowhere. They were brought by clients who were lured in by word of our martial talents, but our reputation in that field was tarnished by our supposed lack of professionalism. We needed a win.

...

Saayuko and I set out to find a big contract on our own. We focused on the weaker companies who bit off more than they could chew. We found that a rival mercenary guild called Silverfoot had sent two separate excursions into the abandoned Tomb of Maloran to drive out some necromancers who were defiling the corpses there. Apparently you can be ostracized for abandoning a contract you know is designed to get you killed, but taking one that's beyond your abilities and failing so predictably at it is okay as long as you still have bodies to throw at the problem.

...

We went to the clients and offered to sell them our services instead. It was a hard sell with our reputation, especially considering the fact that Silverfoot had ten times our numbers, but I was comfortable vouching for the strength of my people. At least I've never hired a weakling. But Silverfoot didn't give up the contract with a fight. Literally. I had to beat up their guildmaster in front of the client to get the contract. My old Royal Army issue shield didn't make it through the fight, but Flint was waiting with something better when I mustered my team for the new mission.

...

Look at this beauty. The phoenix emblem is wicked enough, but look! It's made from violium!

...

Violium is a thick, heavy alloy made from locally-sourced, rare bluegold and fine red iron from Heron. Flint called it a blend of his Heronite pride and pure Restan decadence. Magic bounces right off of it and it's heavy enough to dent steel with a light jab. Most of you living folks would struggle to even pick it up, much less wield it effectively, but it's perfect for me! And it welcomes any paint you try to coat it with. You can tell its golden color is unnatural, but it's made from real gold after all!

...

This shield was a huge part of our victory in the Tomb. With everyone behind me and my magic-repelling shield, all they could do was throw reanimated corpses at us. With Moruay and Oogura around to stop them with their shamanic and druidic spells, they couldn't stop Saayuko from flanking their leader and holding him hostage until the rest stood down. The spellwarriors revered the place too much to risk going in and damaging inside, but they were able to take care of things when we chased the necromancers out.

...

When we cleared the Tomb, we were given a bonus for managing to take down the intruders without breaking anything. That was a huge point of pride for the guild. The forgotten contract was old news at that point. We had instead become known for efficiently cleaning up after the people who aren't good enough to get the job done.

Next Chapter

It Comes For Those Who Don't Run Part 13

Back to the Beginning

Previous

One wrong turn and it has found you again...

Returning to work for Katim after being manipulated into helping him kill his father broke something in Aennin's resigned cooperation. He still kept his head down and did his job for the most part, but he found it harder and harder over the next week to hide his growing contempt for his boss. Katim couldn't have expected Aennin to remain ignorant of his father's fate forever, which might have been the reason for his patience with his push back. When Aennin shrugged off his attempts at conversation, he would smile. When Aennin said something snarky, he would dispense with his usual veiled threats and put him down with his wit. The more Aennin tried to distance himself from Katim, the closer they seemed to get, no matter how baldly he expressed his disdain.

With Katim's increased attention, Aennin began to worry that he would never see Nazan again. The warning of the boy's only friend that Katim's eyes were everywhere seemed to hold true especially in his case. They were even walking home together.

One day, eight days after Morrin's death, Katim had accompanied Aennin home from the pub after a long delivery that had taken him up to the surface, through the Elder district of Bluegold Way. He was tired, and not in the mood to be on his guard. But Katim had made an excuse of picking up Kana for her shift at the bar, so he couldn't excuse himself. As Aennin reached for the front door back home, though, Katim took him by the shoulders and pinned him to the wall.

"I think we need to have a quick chat," he whispered. "Invite me into your home."

That would certainly be a change of pace for the two of them, Aennin thought. He never wanted Katim in his home less than he did then, but there was nothing to be gained from resisting him now but further terror.

"Come in, then," Aennin replied sulkily. He shoved his way past Katim and opened the door. "Try not to trip over some part of my life you've broken on the way in."

"That's what I'm talking about," Katim moaned dramatically once he was past the threshold. "I just did you a huge favor, but I get the feeling you don't appreciate it."

Aennin closed the door with a scoff. "Please, explain to me how killing my father was a favor to me."

"How would letting him live have been?" Katim retorted with a smirk. "You and I both know that Morrin was a piece of trash. All I did was prevent you from dragging you down with him."

"Is that what you think you did?" Aennin wrinkled his nose. "He already pulled that off when you came into our lives!"

Katim chuckled and nodded in good nature. "You got me there. But things can always be so much worse, like they would have been if the fat bastard had followed through on his plan to collect you and your sister and flee the city without squaring his debt to me."

Had they really been that close to escaping their debtor? Aennin gave away this thought with a gulp. His father had spent his final moments plotting his and Kana's rescue and he himself had been involved in squashing that hope.

"Let's be clear, kid," Katim growled, a faint trace of his usual danger glinting in his expression. "Morrin's plan would never have worked. The people he tried to pay off to help you escape work for me and the guards who watch the city gates are on my payroll. And I do mean for every shift. No one that I have a personal interest in can leave this city without my knowledge."

He glanced toward the stairs and added. "Even if everything had gone exactly as Morrin had planned, all three of you would be dead somewhere on the road to Oasis right now."

Aennin lowered his eyes and sighed, knowing that what he was hearing was true immediately. It wasn't as if he had come to trust Katim, but he knew full well that this man's word was as strong as iron. Katim wasn't the sort of man who felt the need to lie often. He dissembled with the authorities who would occasionally call on him at the pub, sure, and he would intentionally omit any details he didn't want others to know, but nothing Katim has ever said to Aennin has proven to be untrue in the past.

"Hey!" Katim said in a more comforting tone. "There's no need for you to bring back the tortured routine! I was starting to get used to the new you!"

"Should I tell you the truth more often?" Aennin grumbled halfheartedly.

"It would help your position a lot more than this meek shit you first came to me with." Katim smirked and ruffled Aennin's hair, causing him to flinch.

"Gods! You're really terrified of me, aren't you?"

Aennin shook his head with barely restrained fury. "I don't like when people touch my hair."

Katim snickered. "If you say so! Keep up the new attitude at work, Aennin. I'll make you one of us yet and, when that day comes, you'll be making more money than you know what to do with!"

"The only money I want is to pay your damned debt so I never have to see your face again!" Aennin snarled, his anger nearing its peak. Who was this bastard to talk so casually, even positively, about murdering his father? Did he really think he and Aennin were ever going to be friends?

Katim didn't get a chance to return as Kana had chosen that moment to come downstairs. If the incredulous expression she aimed toward her sibling was any indication, she had overheard what Aennin had just said. He would have to explain later, but he had the feeling Katim would do the honors when she blanketed the boss with apologies on his behalf on their way to the pub.

"Ah, there you are!" Katim said cheerfully. "We've got a busy night at the pub, tonight? I hope you plan to bring some pep today!"

"As much as I can spare, sir," Kana said quietly once she was at the bottom of the steps. 

Katim sighed dramatically and shook his head. "That doesn't sound like much. Come on!"

So, Kana and Katim left the apartment and made for the now-familiar pub, leaving Aennin alone to find his way up to bed. He trudged up the stairs, feeling older somehow as he did so. Is this how his mother felt whenever she had to use the stairs? Perhaps this sensation had something to do with why she spent most of her time in that old chair. The boy shook off his fatigue as well as he could even as he pushed open his bedroom door. He may have been tired, but he was too young to feel that tired. 

When he finally put his head to his pillow, though, his thoughts were interrupted by a strange, melodic laugh that sounded like it was coming from a woman. Aennin was quickly able to rule out his sister's sudden return as the voice sounded higher, like the laugh of a teenage girl. He looked around and saw nothing but his shadow cast on a wall by his bedside lamp, a self-made contraption of metal and blue crystals that were formed in the shape of a clock. But still, he stood up to get a closer look. The shadow looked so unlike his own  at that moment. He didn't see the boy he was, but a much taller, bulkier man adorned in what appeared to be a horned helmet. 

"What vermin!" A girl's voice hissed, although no one was around. 

Aennin was startled by the sound, so much so that he dived back into the bed, seeking safety in the comfort of his blanket. The futile gesture only provoked another chuckle from the unseen presence.

"He's trying to change you in a way that suits me," she added in a whisper. "But he is so arrogant that he truly believes he's doing it purely for his own benefit! You should kill him, not only for what he's done to you, but his hubris!"

Aennin folded his pillow around his head, unable to believe what he was hearing. But nothing he did to muffle his hearing made the voice any less audible.

"I guess we'll talk later, then! Stay alive, boy," the girl said in a singsong voice. "You're not allowed to die by anyone's hand but mine!"

Next

The Confectioner's Secret

Walking into Spring Confections is a magical experience. One could say that anything in the Chosen Land is a magical experience, but to say that doesn't do justice to the feeling that filled every second of my first visit. It's quickly become my favorite store in the capitol. It's one thing that Deidre Dario's candy is so delicious and aesthetically pleasing; those are just the properties of any successful candy shop. But there's more to it than that. 

If you look closely enough, you can see some of the more creative pieces moving ever so slightly. Her life-sized chocolate lynx bares its fangs a little sometimes. The fey creatures molded from marshmallows wander around their little diorama of candy flowers when they think no one is looking. The icing on Mrs. Dario's hand cakes seem to glow with an ethereal light. None of her stock has proven to be dangerous as far as I or any of my friends and family are aware, but there is something curious about it all. The most telling fact is that no one claims to see any of this. It would have been easy to dismiss this as mere hallucinations, but I didn't want to let myself belief that there was anything wrong with my brain. That's why I had to see for myself if this was all real, and how it worked. 

Sure that this was no way to prove I wasn't crazy, I decided to hide from Mrs. Dario as she closed her shop. When Spring Confections locked its doors for the night, everything came to life in a way that it never had during business hours. The marshmallow fey were not beginning to dance around in jubilee and the cream puff birds twittered around the ceiling. The chocolate lynx even jumped down from its display and began to pad around the room like a real cat on the hunt. It nearly tore my leg off when it found me hiding behind the hand cake display. Unfortunately this caused a commotion that gave my trespass away almost immediately. 

When Deidre discovered me cowering behind the shop counter, however, she wasn't particularly upset to see me there. I pleaded with her to accept the truth that I hadn't come to steal or break anything anyway. Although she seemed to be grilling me for answers about my intentions there at first, it didn't take long for me to realize that she was only messing around with me. In truth, she had been well aware of my curiosity and had been anticipating this very encounter for weeks. When I asked why, she told me that the fey in the store noticed me staring at them. She complimented me for realizing something was unusual about her store, believing that it was a sign of fate. Then, she offered me a job.

I was so excited to have had everything I ever believed about the store confirmed, but I wanted to know how she was doing all this. That made the choice to become her apprentice an easy one. For the first few months, I had been restricted to selling her products during the day, but I served Deidre faithfully. When I had been working at the shop for half a month, she finally rewarded my loyalty by trusting me to stay after closing and assist her in the making of her sweets. It was then I finally learned the secret of  Deidre's candy making.

As it turned out, the products in this store come to life because of an agreement Deidre has made with fey creatures. She consorts with an unheard of race of flatland nymphs from Flora Field who bestow their magic upon her creations, giving them each a shadow of their own lives. Part of my training with this great confectioner involved meeting these creatures for myself and forming a bond with them. As it turns out, the nymphs enjoy candy more than anything else. For every bit of magic they lent to me, that was their toll.

Since then, I have also begun to create living candy like she can, but what I can do barely scratches the surface of Deidre's talent. She revealed to me that she's something called a feykin. The nymphs' trust in her is so strong that she gained the ability to use their power for herself. This has not only allowed her to produce her magical confections without cost, but she now has full control over the spells that go into them. 

It was truly miraculous to see her magic at work, and a wonderful gift to learn from her. When I asked what I could have done to deserve this, Deidre smirked and told me that she had sought the perfect apprentice for a long time and I had impressed her with my awareness of her fey friends. Even with their powers at her disposal, she couldn't live forever, after all. It is her hope that I will be the one to inherit her vision for Spring Confections because she can no longer trust her daughters to take it over. This store exists to bring joy to all, and I am proud to have been entrusted with its future.

Death Touch Chapter 35 (NO LONGER CANON)

First Chapter

Previous Chapter

Mia

Frustration pounded in Mia’s head as she felt herself awaken at the sound of someone brushing through foliage. She rolled groggily onto her back as she tried to make sense of her position. She saw that the sun was low on the horizon and cursed herself for her mistake. Then she cursed Sara with double the anger for falling for her own tricks. A whole day, lost!

The rustling among the flowers grew louder, stirring her ever closer to full alertness. She turned to see what appeared to be five large men with thick coal black skin towering above her. Seeing the three horns and spiked tail were enough for the assassin to identify these creatures according to Sara’s description earlier. Maulans!

Her drowsiness quickly forgotten, Mia willed herself to her feet as quickly as her momentarily numb body would allow her and looked around wildly for her unlikely companion. Sara didn’t seem to be in the vicinity. In fact, Mia didn’t appear to be anywhere close to the pond that had been nearby when she fell asleep. She staggered backwards while considering running. She should have whipped out her gun and started firing into their necks-- the creature’s only known weak point. But while caught in the grip of this valley’s pacifying magic, fighting back didn’t even occur to her.

Mia watched as the maulans flicked their tails dangerously, daring her to stand still so they could strike. She felt helpless as she began to back away more quickly. The maulans should have been rendered harmless by the fey as well, but it was starting to look like they weren’t even affected at all. Run, damn it! 

Mia finally shocked herself into turning around and running more quickly than she ever had before, realizing as she did just how unusual it was for her to be running away from something. She had only done so for the first time in years a few short days ago when she had to escape from her cell in Beldor. But this was the first time she felt genuinely terrified. Spellwarriors chasing her through open streets could never have hoped to catch her, but this was much different. The flowers in her way slowed her down, but the creatures who pursued her streaked rather quickly through the field by following in her wake. I’m not fast enough!

She was at a loss. They were close to catching up and didn’t appear to be tiring in the slightest. She was alone and unable to fight back. Her only hope was to clear Flora Field and make her stand outside the confines of this damnable field. But there was no telling how far she would have to run. She dared not look up to figure out which way she was going, fearful of slowing down or--

She then tripped over an exposed root to one of the field’s larger, tree-like flowers. She cursed as she scrambled to her feet in a panic, but the chase was over before she could begin to run again. They were already whipping their tails at her. Years of practice at dodging was all that protected her now. Or so it seemed.

Mia’s heart felt like it was about to explode as her panic reached a fever pitch. But just then, a strong gust began to sweep the surrounding plant-life away. The ensuing wind caused the maulan’s tails to flail around slightly, causing their tail jabs to miss even more wildly before. Although, a more logical Mia would have recognized this as a sign of good luck, the gust only intensified her alarm. What the hell now?

As the wind intensified with the assassin’s fear, she could see the creatures struggling to maintain their footing. It was at this point that Mia realized what was happening to her. More storm magic that she’d have to learn to control.

Mia began to laugh as the first of the maulans was pulled toward the tornado small that now circled the ground before her. “I should find myself a phobia!”

Soon, all five of the creatures were drawn into the vortex, but curiously the champion was unaffected by the wind. This didn’t make her completely safe, however, as she learned when they began to whip their tails out at her as she passed. These bastards are persistent!

Mia watched her pursuers as her apparent magic tossed them around for several minutes. She might have used this time to plan her next move if she weren’t taking so much satisfaction in the spectacle before her. Unfortunately, her returning calm began to slow down the wind. She was close to running again when something else she didn’t expect happened. Clusters of thorned roots exploded from the ground and began to ensnare the maulans. All 20 limbs, 15 horns and 5 torsos and tails were bound in stems. Okay, why not?

“I must not have made myself clear the last time!” A familiar voice called out from behind.

Mia turned to see Millie the fey spellwarrior, stomping up to the cluster of wrapped maulans with a livid expression.

“I told two of you that maulans are not welcome here!” She raged as she held her hands up in what Mia assumed was some sort of spellweaving gesture. “This is supposed to be a safe space of communion for mortals and fey, but you people never follow the rules!”

Mia finally found herself starting to like the floral sprite as she walked right up to the struggling beasts. With a swipe of her arm, all five of the maulans instantly disappeared and the roots that held them began to sink back into the ground. Mia whistled as the spellwarrior turned back to her with a smirk.

“What did you do?”

Millie smiled and glanced somewhere to the east. “A quick targeted translocation. They won’t be back for a loooong time!”

“Where are they?” Mia asked, duly impressed with what she was hearing.

“On the ocean floor, hundreds of miles away from the coast.”

Mia snickered and shook her head. “Well, thanks for the assist and… uh…” She began to survey the carnage that had stricken the plants around them. “Sorry for the tornado. I didn’t know I could do that.”

Millie gave the champion an appraising look and chuckled. “Really? An instinctive user of storm magic sounds very uncommon. In fact, since I don’t know anybody who’s heard of one, I’d even be willing to call you unique."

Mia shrugged and nodded awkwardly. “Well, for some reason, Salica thinks I need to be able to do that. She’s shown a lot more faith in me than I deserve.”

“Interesting!” the spellwarrior chirped with an inquisitive stare. “You know, Hem Academy put out the word that we were all to assist some people favored by the Gods as champions. My plan was to put the safety of my home first, but if you’re to be believed, I may have followed that order by accident!”

Mia shook her head impatiently. “This is too weird for me. Two days ago, I was no friend to any spellwarrior, but now you people are all over my business!”

Millie shook her head and chuckled. “Actually, two days ago, you were still asleep.”

“What?!” Mia barked suddenly. “How long have I been out?”

“Almost a week,” the spellwarrior said with a shrug.

“A week?!” Mia screeched in renewed alarm. “If you knew, why didn’t you try to wake us up?”

“Should I have?” the spellwarrior asked indifferently. “Lots of people meet with members of the Serene clergy to have themselves put to sleep here. For all I knew you were both suffering from nightmare-induced insomnia!”

“Wait! What about my--” the next word got stuck in her throat for a moment. “--friend?”

“The woman who put you to sleep carried her out of the valley, somewhere to the north.”

“And you didn’t think that there was anything wrong with two women you knew were looking for one of Maula’s cronies being knocked out and separated?”

“Yeah, I might have been a little distracted in my duties,” Millie replied with a frown. “I may as well redeem myself by helping you find your friend, since I’m supposed to be protecting you anyway.”

Just like that, Mia started to dislike Millie again.

“If you know which way they might have gone, just tell me,” the champion grumbled. “If they’re outside this field, there’s absolutely no reason I can’t save her on my own.”

Millie shook her head. “Unfortunately, I don’t. Unless you have some experience in tracking, you’re going to need my help and I’m happy to give it!”

Mia sighed and growled, “Fine, but you’d better not be wasting my time!”

“I’m hurt!” Millie whined. “I’ve given you no reason to suspect I’m not good at my job! How was I to know that I’d need to protect anyone from a mortal here?”

Mia glared at the spellwarrior. “Your excuses sound like a waste of time to me!”

“Oh fine!” the sprite said as she reached into the cleavage of her dress. 

Moments later, she withdrew one of those tiny, curved cones that Mia recalled were used by spellwarriors to summon their mounts. She blew into the narrow end, but no sound came out. Mia watched as flowers in the distance began to rustle.

“C’mere, Vinca!”

In response, a large wolf with a beautiful mane of white hair flecked with green bounded gracefully into the clearing that Mia had made. The beast seemed to float as she galloped to the spellwarrior and began to nuzzle her affectionately.

“Come on, girl!” Millie said, giggling madly. “I just saw you a few minutes ago! Stop!”

Mia watched impatiently as she struggled to get the enthusiastic wolf under control. When she was finally atop Vinca’s back, she offered a hand to the champion. Mia swallowed her chagrin and climbed aboard and took a seat behind the spellwarrior.

“Hang on!” Millie shouted excitedly.

With the help of the spellwarrior’s lupine companion, it only took an hour to find where Sara had been dragged: a small cavern that Millie had referred to as Resbroka Grotto. Mia felt a surge of excitement as the predatory urges that she had become so used to returned to her. Together, she and Millie dismounted and were just about to enter the cave when a boy approached them from behind and called out to then.

“Sen na sai crana eka grag Maula,” he said with a smile.

Mia narrowed her eyes as she studied the boy who had come to follow her. He appeared to be a teenager--maybe two years younger than her--whose skin was brown and completely hairless and who was dressed only in white cotton shorts that were impossibly clean for all the dirt that surrounded them. He seemed to be marked from head to toe with white tattoos that Mia could surmise were druidic patterns thanks to the expertise of Camellia, one of her fellow compatriots in the Scarlet Starlings. Yes, yes, they’re druidic! No need to go thinking about old memories now!

“I don’t know ancient, kid!” the champion called back. “Can you even speak with modern people?”

The boy shook his head apologetically. “I’m sorry! I have been speaking the old language for so long that it’s become second nature! I don’t even realize I am doing it sometimes!”

“What do you want?” Mia snapped. “We’re kind of in the middle of something!”

“I only mean to warn you that a servant of Lady Maula is hiding within this cave!” the boy said with a cringe. “It falls to me to confront her, but I must counsel you to leave this place for your own safety.”

“I know about the witch,” Mia growled impatiently. “I’m actually here for her, so if you want me to leave, you’d better be prepared to make me.”

“I cannot stop you if you wish to rush into such danger, but please at least stay behind me,” the boy said as he began to walk into the cave.

Millie and Mia shared a look of confusion before jogging to catch up with the boy, who seemed to stride into the relative darkness with a sense of purpose.

“Wait a minute!” Mia hissed. “What does this have to do with you?”

The boy stopped in his tracks and bowed slightly. “I have been chosen by Lord Kerun to help stop his sister and her servants from destroying this land.”

Mia smacked her forehead impatiently with her palm. “You’re a Champion too? Who are you?”

Recognition seemed to flood the boy’s face. “I see! You must have been chosen by one of the other gods! Let’s see… I think I feel Lady Salica’s solidarity in you!”

“How perceptive,” Mia grumbled. “How about you answer my question instead of your own?”

“I am called Kevin,” the newfound champion said with a friendly smile.

“Kevin what?”

“Oh, I have no family name,” Kevin said with a shake of his head. “The druidic commune that found me as a baby didn’t see any need to give me one.”

“Kevin’s a pretty funny name for a druid,” Millie said as she conjured a ball of light to illuminate their way forward.

“My name is all I have left of my family,” Kevin said with a shrug.

“Well, Kevin the druid, it’s nice to meet you!” Millie said with a sweet grin.

Who the fuck has time for this? “Yeah, yeah, let’s get acquainted later! I’m trying to rescue someone!”

Kevin nodded and strolled deeper into the cave silently. He seemed to be an awkward kid, not that Mia came to think of it. He didn’t seem to care that anyone else was there. He appeared to be concerned with his mission and little else. Without any engagement from Millie or Mia, he seemed perfectly content to focus on his objective. It’s nice to have such an efficient ally for a change! As they watched the boy walk from behind, Millie leaned in to whisper to Mia.

“Hey! Do you want to hear something cool about that boy’s ink?”

Mia didn’t bother to speak, but looked at her with her eyebrows raised. 

“Those tattoos are like welcoming messages to me and other fey,” Millie said with a grin. “I think he’s made a contract with the elder of some fey village.”

“Oh, then it’ll probably look pretty when he decides to make himself useful,” Mia grumbled.

Just then, Kevin disappeared around a corner that Mia had nearly missed in the semidarkness. As she turned to follow, she found what she was looking for. The oni priestess who had put her in her current predicament stood over Sara’s prone form, muttering to herself as she waved her hand over the other champion. When she saw the three people who invaded her dank sanctum, she stood up and regarded them with a cruel smile.

“Well! I was planning to come back for you once I finished with this one, but you seem to have decided to save me the trouble of carrying you,” she said with a smile that looked innocent, but reeked of intent that was anything but.

Millie, who had been staring at Sara, asked, “What are you doing to her?”

“There is great power in the soul of one who is favored by the gods,” the witch said with a roll of her eyes. “This is something that appeals to me. Feel free to use your imagination.”

“No need!” Mia growled threateningly. “It’s going to stop now if you’re interested in keeping the same amount of blood in your body!”

Adaling laughed mirthlessly as she gave Mia a lazy wave of her hand. “The Death Goddess dubs thee… Rego! Wargo! Lugo!”

The witch’s incantation caused three burly maulans to appear in the narrow space between herself and her foes, causing Mia to click her tongue impatiently. She was in a position to fight back this time, but she wasn’t left with nearly enough to move around. Avoiding their tails would be a problem. She had to think about how to work around this, but she didn’t have long to consider her strategy before Kevin stepped forward and began to approach the maulans. He did so casually, seemingly without any fear of their tails. 

“What the hell are you doing?” Mia shouted in disbelief.

Kevin made no effort to dodge the maulans’ tail strikes, which in turn failed to even penetrated his skin. He only continued his apparently pleasant stroll until he was close to touch the creatures. When he pressed his palm to the torso of the first, he began to scream in agony as his body began to dissolve as if affected by his own poison. Kevin repeated whatever he had done twice more, leaving Adaling alone with her prisoner once more. With a snarl, she whipped her arm across the room, causing a cold feeling to come over Mia and everyone else in the room.

“I’m not sure what the hell that was, but it looks like you’re outmatched here,” the assassin said with a smirk as she tried to get closer to the witch, only to be stopped in her tracks by Millie.

“Wait! Don’t move!” Millie shouted urgently as she pointed to the ground beneath them.

Mia followed the spellwarrior’s gaze down to her feet, between which a black stalactite seemed to be protruding. She nudged the spike with her foot, which seemed to cause it to grow slightly. 

“If you don’t hold absolutely still, that thing is going to keep growing from your own shadow until it impales you,” Millie said breathlessly. “I hate this spell! It’s too evil!”

Kevin continued to stare Adaling down for a moment longer before opening his mouth. From it, a dozen tiny winged creatures with white fur swarmed out toward the witch. With a hiss of frustration, Adaling floored the majority of them with a spell which conjured a sickle of black light that Mia might have remembered seeing Seth use in one of his RGT matches. Only one of these new creatures remained flying after this assault and, considering the way it began to bob through the air, it didn’t seem unharmed. The creature retreated to Kevin, who opened his mouth and swallowed it once more. Once he did so, the druidic markings that covered his entire body changed from white to black. 

“Those were eversprites!” Millie whispered excitedly to Mia. “Oh my gods! He’s a feykin!”

As Kevin began to walk once more, a spike began to grow from his shadow as well. But he seemed unconcerned as it grew and grew until it should have skewered him. Instead of harming him, the shadow began to phase harmlessly through his body.

“Thanks to those eversprites he conjured, he’s immune to her shadow magic!” Millie chattered, adding to Mia’s irritation.

“Okay, what’s a feykin?” Mia grumbled, more out of frustration with finding herself helpless again than genuine curiosity. 

“Feykin are mortals who have formed a connection with the fey,” Millie explained while Adaling lashed out with her shadow claw spell. “That means he can use our powers! His hands pulse with the light of a kerunite’s eyes, which explained what happens to the maulans! Hell! I bet he can spit lava like a magmadon or even inflict maulan venom with his touch!”

“Eversprite magic won’t protect you from this!” Adaling hissed! “Amul dala!”

Black flames suddenly erupted from Kevin’s shorts, causing him to jump in alarm, howling in pain.

“He’s going to need our help! How do we get out of this spell?” Mia snapped curtly. 

“There is no escape!” Millie wailed. “We have to wait for the spell to wear off or for the caster to voluntarily remove it!”

Mia was already beginning to feel stiff. “Fantastic!”

Suddenly, Mia felt a gentle rush of air as someone ran past them. It was too dark to identify the person who had rushed into the room with a spear, but they moved more quickly than Adaling could react. With a mighty whack of the stranger’s weapon, Adaling crumpled to the ground. The newcomer began to whoop excitedly, revealing herself to be a teenage girl with her voice.

“Yeah, take that you bastard!” she shouted jubilantly. “Thanks for the diversion!”

“My hero!” Millie exclaimed enthusiastically.

“Who are you?” Mia called out as she peered through the darkness to identify the other girl.

As the girl rushed over to help Kevin put out the fire on his legs, the light of the flames allowed Mia to recognize the girl who had fought with the other two champions on Team Salamander. A Desmond. Just then, another voice echoed off the cavern walls behind her.

“What’s the holdup? It’s been over six days now!”

Mia couldn’t turn to identify the voice, but she had recognized it from the festival. Midas!

Seth strode past the two women and kneeled over Sara to revive her. The Acolyte sat up weakly, looking far more exhausted than Mia had felt when she woke up. Still stuck, she could only watch as Seth instructed Sara in how to pull the chain out of the oni witch’s chest. It was hard not to feel bitter as she waited out the shadow spike. Everyone seemed to be doing something that helped in their quest right now besides her. She didn’t like to watch events unfolding around her. It reminded her too much of the night she lost her birth parents and, more recently, the night Mario died.. She had spent her life getting stronger to avoid the sense of uselessness she felt then.

It was then that Mia realized that she stopped being in control of her life when she agreed to be a Champion.

Next Chapter

Death Touch Chapter 34

First Chapter

Previous Chapter

Sara

“Why are we the ones who have to walk?”

Knowing Mia wasn’t just complaining on her own behalf eased the patience that Sara was forcing herself to show at this moment. The two of them had left the capitol behind that very morning, following a night in the Serene temple. Clint was supposed to be with them, but he had changed his mind at the last minute and went with Maya to go look for Seth. This left Mia and Sara alone to continue their trek to Foldo on foot while Clint took their only conveyance with him. Neither of the women were in perfect health after their confrontation with Anthony Clark the previous day, nor had they established a rhythm of conversation that could be considered pleasant.

All told, neither Sara nor Mia was having a pleasant journey, even as they approached the edge of the valley which marked their next goal. Even all of the splendor of Flora Field, which its seemingly endless expanse of various flowers, failed to lift the young acolyte’s spirits. The multi-colored land before them should have been a real-life sample of Serenity’s beauteous touch, but escaping death in the midst of the Summer Festival had left her in a more Chaotic mood. No one ever said this was going to be easy!

“Well, it’s only fair, I think,” Sara answered steadily. “Seth was the one who rented the sky rug, so it was always his to use. Besides that, from what we’ve been told by Lady Midas, Seth may not be reaching our meeting place under his own power.

“If that’s the case, why not go with him?” Mia snapped impatiently. “I’ve heard of this Demon Knight and I’m not even confident that all four of the others will be enough to finish him off. So why are you guys always splitting up?”

“We each have our own paths to walk,” Sara replied with a glance at the spear that jutted out from behind her left shoulder. “Seth’s strength, Clint’s wisdom, and my protection are pieces of a larger puzzle, but they are also individual qualities. We must trust in these qualities, wherever they take us and have faith that it will all lead to the ends we need.”

“And I suppose my piece of the puzzle would be motivating you with fear to keep your thoughts straight enough that you can answer answer a simple question?” Mia hissed testily.

“It doesn’t matter that we aren’t together,” Sara said, holding tightly to her patience. “Seth had no say in where he was going, and Clint didn’t believe that leaving him and the others to fend for themselves was best. For our part, there is another champion of Maula in our path who needs our attention. That’s just the way it is.”

They began to make their way into the field of flowers, many of which rested at the end of stems that were taller than they were. Once they crossed into this magical place, a peaceful calm came over them. Serenity’s power was especially strong here, gripping them with a strong disinclination towards violent thoughts. Sara looked over to Mia with a grin, eager to see how she would handle being pacified. 

“Well, it does no good to complain about it,” Mia grumbled, her expression only a shadow of the annoyance she felt before. “I just wish we had been a little smarter about this, you know?”

Sara gave a careless shrug as they began to lose sight of the plains behind them. “I wouldn’t worry. Our destination lies at the other end of this field and we’re not exactly in danger here.”

“Maybe that’s why we needed to split up,” Mia uttered in a deadpan tone. “I haven’t felt an ounce of aggression since I walked into this place. Something tells me that spellwarrior would be useless without that.”

Sara nodded. “Perhaps. I don’t know Seth all that well, but Clint once told me that his family bloodline is about to die out. It seems that the Midases were a warrior clan known for always rushing headfirst into danger. A place like this would only bore him.”

Suddenly a foreign, female-sounding voice piped up. “It didn’t the last time he visited!”

The champions both froze in their tracks at the same time and urgently scanned for the source of the voice. An impish giggle ensued when both had turned on the spot at least twice each.

“I’m a little closer than that!”

“Where are you?” Sara called out.

“Fuck that! Who are you?” Mia interjected.

“Here!” the voice called out, drawing their attention to a sunflower swaying on the ground in their path.

The flower began to quiver excitedly as it grew ever taller. It’s stem began to widen and take on a pale, fleshy color while its petals began to stretch into long fibers and its head began to expand and reform into the shape of a human face before their eyes. Sara grinned as the flower completed its transformation into a woman close to her in age with flowing brown hair who wore a golden sun dress. Such a chance encounter was only to be expected in this valley, but she was excited nonetheless to finally meet a fey creature. Such was a gift that every Serene cleric longed for, but few ever realized.

“You’re a floral sprite!” Sara exclaimed, for lack of a more auspicious reply to the creature’s entrance.

“Last time I checked,” the sprite said with a grin as she sauntered over to Sara.

“You know Seth, right?” Sara muttered uncomfortably as the strange woman closed the space between them alarmingly quickly.

“We used to go out at the Academy,” the fey said with a smirk, “But who cares about him? He’s long gone!”

“We do!” Mia snapped. “We’re in the middle of something important together! If you aren’t here to help us, you should go back to sucking nutrients out of the ground and leave us alone!”

“How rude!” the fey replied as she pouted to Mia. “I don’t go wandering through your home and snap at you for being a good host, so why would you do that to me?”

“Forget her,” Sara said without looking at the others. She was talking to both of them at the same time, but didn’t want to say so. Figuring that she couldn’t afford to alienate the locals, she added. “You said you went to Hem Academy. Does that mean you’re a spellwarrior?”

Mia sighed as the fey sidled up to Sara and draped an arm over her shoulder. “I am! The first of my kind, no less! The elder bloom thought that’d be the easiest way to get the spellwarriors to pay any attention to this settlement. There’s little call for warriors here, but the magic I’ve learned there has helped to keep everyone safe!”

“So, you defend the other floral sprites?” Sara asked.

“I defend all of the fey that live here. Me and my friend Bear,” the sprite said with a smile. “Lady Millie Flora, at your service.”

“If you don’t know where we can find any champions of Maula, your services don’t matter to us,” Mia growled. “We already have a spellwarrior in the group.”

Millie began to look around while humming to herself. “I don’t know anything about Maula. She has servants in the fey community, but they aren’t welcome here.”

“You mean maulans?”

Millie nodded. “I found a pair of them lurking about earlier and threw them out. Neither of them seemed like champions to me, stalking some woman.”

Sara’s heart skipped a beat. “What about that woman? Did you talk to her?”

Millie sighed and locked eyes with Sara. “Why should we talk about her? She’s not much friendlier than your… friend, here, but I’m pretty sure she’s harmless!”

Sara tried to step away from the spellwarrior, but she moved with her. In her pacified state, even the thought of pushing her away failed to occur to her. With a rueful shake of her head, she said, “We’re here to find someone who serves Maula, who a higher-ranked member of your order confirmed is here. Has this woman been here for a long time?”

“About a week,” Millie said as she released the acolyte with a frown. “I know where she is now. I’ll take you to her.”

The two champions followed their new spellwarrior escort deeper into the thicket of flowers and walked in relative silence for several minutes. Millie constantly shot glances back toward Sara as they walked, which she pretended not to notice. Finally, Millie stopped in her tracks and held a hand up to halt the others.

“She’s just ahead,” she whispered, although neither champion could see anyone else through the flowers. “If you need anything else from yours truly, don’t hesitate to ask the sunflowers! They’re all connected to me, so I’ll be able to come running eventually!”

Before either of the women could respond, the sprite vanished.

“Let’s get this over with,” Mia grumbled as she raised a hand to part their way through the thicket ahead. 

Sara would follow her into a wide clearing which enclosed a pond of the clearest water. On the opposite side of the water sat a woman with her back to them. She was adorned in the green robes of a Serene acolyte and even had the same hair color as Sara. She might have been convinced that she was looking at herself if the woman on the other side had longer hair. The champions circled the pond as quietly as they could. By the time she reached the woman, however, she clearly already knew they were there.

“If you require water, you should take some and keep moving,” she said without looking up. “I came here to be alone and it would be better for all of us if I stayed that way.”

“Can’t do it,” Mia said in voice that haphazardly blended calmness with her usual hostile drawl. “We’re looking for someone with a connection to Maula. So why are the maulans so interested in you?”

The woman suddenly looked up at them with a note of panic in her expression. “Maulans, here?”

Sara studied the fellow cleric appraisingly. She noticed for the first time that she was talking to an oni, like Seth’s mother. This oni looked nothing like a servant of Maula, but the mere mention of the fey who serve the Death Goddess seemed to genuinely terrify her.

“Don’t worry,” Sara said soothingly. “The maulans are gone. The local peacekeeper ejected them.”

The other acolyte shook her head and sighed. “It doesn’t matter. I assumed they couldn’t get in here. If they could, nothing’s going to stop them from trying again in less manageable numbers.”

“Why would they be after you?” Sara asked with a frown. 

“They’re not here for me, but Adaling,” the woman said as she pushed herself to her feet. “She’s a spirit that has haunted me my whole life at Maula’s command.”

Mia narrowed her eyes at the priestess’ sudden movement. “That sounds like what we’re after too! Who are you to be hated by Maula so much?”

“My name is Adamora Maloran,” the priestess said as she turned to the champions. “I am a descendant of both Artix Maloran and Lady Orion.”

Sara’s eyes widened with this proclamation. Lady Orion was the third of the champions who helped to defeat Maula and stop her Wave of Death and Artix Maloran was the Restan prince who convinced her to renounce her previous allegiance to the Death Goddess. Maula had declared at the time that Orion would someday pay a terrible price for this betrayal. Could it be that her rage was passed on to their descendants?

“You seem to understand the significance of my ancestry,” Adamora groaned with a grave expression. “For the crime of being descended from someone with the audacity to betray a deity, my cousin and I have been cursed to have our bodies inhabited by the spirits of two of her most loyal followers from the past. I call mine Adaling, and she’s a very cruel witch.”

“It sounds like you should be locked up,” Mia said with a roll of her eyes. “At least, if you want to avoid any unfortunate events that you’ll absolutely be held responsible for.”

“That is why I came here,” Adamora said with a bold glare on her face. “Maintaining control over the spirit is no easy feat, but at least here, I know Adaling can’t hurt anybody.”

“We were told that the champion of Maula that could be found here would be in possession of something we need to return her to Fadal,” Sara replied with a serious expression. 

This seemed to startle the other priestess. “Maula has returned to Comalan?”

Sara nodded gravely. “She’s here, and we need to follow in the path of the Champions--your ancestors--and forge the Storm of Mercy.”

Adamora’s eyes were set on the ground as she considered this. Finally, she whispered. “You’re looking for the Chains of Orion!”

“Is everyone in the clergy a history nerd?” Mia quipped.

Sara nodded. “The spellwarriors are convinced that we would find one of them here and the other further north.”

“I can’t give it to you, because I know nothing about possessing the chains,” Adamora said with a frown. “Adaling could have it, but the only way to know for sure would be to confront her yourself.”

“In that case, you need to let her out,” Sara said firmly. “We can’t stop Maula without those chains!”

“How bad can it be?” the priestess muttered as she sat back down. “It’s not like she can hurt anyone! Just be careful! This is my body too!”

The champions watched in silence as the woman stood back up painfully slowly. Her face now appeared slightly different. Where she once saw someone who was gentle, but exhausted, she now saw an expression of blood-curdling glee.

“Wow! I can’t believe my fortune! It has been years since I have assumed control so.. easily!”

“You’re here only because we allow it!” Mia snarled. “Now hand over that chain and fuck off!”

The woman who was now clearly Adaling smirked. “So you say! I suppose I should be so grateful, but I’ve been asked to hold onto it by someone for whom I hold much more esteem than you!”

Sara shook her head slowly and replied. “You can be as stubborn as you like. The magic in this area has locked us into a stalemate. You can’t harm us any more than we can harm you!”

Adaling laughed mirthlessly and said, “Sure, I can’t harm you, but that doesn’t mean I am completely powerless!”

Sara saw a familiar look in the witch’s eyes; one she had seen plenty of times in her reflection as she practiced her magic by the pools of Blackstone Monastery. Surely an evil witch couldn’t use the power of the gods against us just because she inhabits the body of one of our own!

“Sl--” she cried out, but she was interrupted by Adaling, who had been much quicker with her incantation.

“Sleep.”

Next Chapter