Monsters Mayhem & Misfits Omnibus: Books 4-6

Jack Spry

Marcus Sloss

Copyright © 2025 by Royal Guard Publishing LLC

All rights reserved.

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

Contents

Monsters Mayhem & Misfits 4

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

Monsters Mayhem & Misfits 5

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

Monsters Mayhem & Misfits 6

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

Epilogue

Untitled

Afterword

Monsters Mayhem & Misfits 4

A LitRPG Fantasy

Chapter One

THE ORC’S armor flashed in the moonlight. Its blade arced toward Josh’s head. He ducked, kicking at the beast, expecting it to stumble back. It held fast, stepping forward, powering into its stroke. Josh countered, holding his magnificent blade up. The creature’s strike crashed down, its clang ringing out. Josh’s knees buckled, but he held fast, his rage coming.

A streak of magic shot across the yard, an explosion following hot on its heels. Cassandra screamed another spell, sending a second bolt of white flames. Melody yelled, “Fire in the hole!” Josh braced. An arrow whizzed past his head, and Lex somersaulted onto the scene, her spear jabbing out, shattering on another orc.

“What the fuck?” Josh cried, countering another sword strike. “Who the fuck are you?”

But he knew. Deep down he knew exactly who they were. They’d come for him. They always would. And he’d had no time to prepare.

We just got home!

His anger grew, his scale armor shining. Frustration welled. He—they—had all been looking forward to getting back to their idyllic farm retreat, and alone too—no Thadius, no Harrogate, no Izod, just him and his Misfits.

I found my fucking utopia, and you bastards want to take it away!

He couldn’t have it. It wouldn’t stand! He unleashed a huge cry, mustering all his energy, his stamina, his vigor, every single thing he had, and he drove forward, his weapon clashing with his evil enemy. The orc gave an inch. It was nothing compared to the ground Josh had initially lost when they’d first burst through the portal. But it was an inch. His first one.

Time to fight dirty!

He took the next strike, giving more ground. Melody’s grenade exploded. Its shockwave punched Josh in the side—got the orc in the back. Josh dropped to his knees, thrusting his sword toward the orc’s ankles. But the orc was in mid-flight, closer to Melody’s explosion than him—caught by surprise, too.

“More, Mels!”

“On it.”

Josh brought his sword down, slicing the falling beast’s back. The mighty blade split the orc’s armor, drawing blood, black in the night.

“Fire in the hole!”

Josh sprang to one side. He twisted, taking the orc’s leg at the knee and trusting that was enough to stop him. Josh screamed, his voice feral, then lunged at Lex’s attacker as Melody’s grenade shot a sheet of shrapnel over him.

Black magic slipped across the land, hatched by an orc shaman, intended for a certain, partially dressed Harmonic. Cassandra painted her next spell, the Everdeep staff spreading its ghostly light. The countering magics met, their power clashing like thunder clouds, lightning forking into the sodden earth, throwing great sods into the night sky and blasting both magickers back.

A shadow moved, crawling one moment, leaping the next. It clung to a magnificent-looking wagon, then flew across the yard, landing nimbly on a water trough. Strangely, the shadow shone milky white in the moonlight, like that shining orb stripped its anonymous cloak. It landed on one fighting orc, and that great warrior fell to the ground, dead as night, pale as day.

Josh grappled with Lex’s orc, the assassin using Josh’s distraction to stab the beast repeatedly with a vicious-looking stiletto. But the orc kept struggling. The fucker refused to die. Josh growled and grunted; the orc too strong for him. It was an unfamiliar feeling, so alien he’d forgotten what it was like. He had one hope. He needed to use his head.

“Hello,” Vella said, slipping from the shadows. “Sleep, Orcy.” She slid away.

Josh grabbed the orc by the neck, but the warrior was limp, cold to the touch. “Did she just kill it?” he asked Lex, who shrugged, and sprang forward, ducking low, jinking to one side.

“There’s more of them,” she cried. “They’re coming out of another goddam portal.”

Josh followed her pointed finger, his heart sinking. “Mels! Can you get that portal?”

His words cracked across the battlefield. Their home, their beautiful home, under attack. The invaders intent on destroying their idyllic retreat—their wagons ablaze. His hopes, the Misfits hopes, of a quiet, peaceful life in Southern Alianthia over. Melody failed to respond. Josh’s heart sank and his rage grew. An orc held the trap smith up by the scruff of her neck.

“Vella, to Melody!” he shouted, scanning the battlefield for the elf. He spied her shadow, close to the portal, five or six warriors surrounding her. He needed time—time to get Melody back. She pulled a grenade from her pocket.

“What the fuck do you want?” Josh asked, trying to buy her the time she needed.

A slick of black, oily magic surrounded Cassandra.

A light then shone. It began as a spec, bursting outward like an exploding star, its points stretching upward. The brilliance drew the orcs’ attention, who began barking guttural commands. The light stretched and widened, forming a rectangle through which a man stepped. He wore a wide-brimmed hat and his coat flared around his boots. Raising his hat, he mussed his long, black hair, gray streaks curling and rolling over his shoulders.

“Which one of you ugly fuckers is in charge?” The man’s voice was quiet, yet it resounded through Josh—a whisper with the power of a whip crack. He pointed at the orc portals, streaks of white light sealing them shut. “In case you deaf fuckers didn’t hear me, I asked you a question, and if I don’t get my answer, I’m going to start killing you all one at a time. And I’m gonna start with…” He wheeled around, pointing. “Not you. Nor you. You!” His finger settled on the shaman. “Yes you. Wanna know why, dumb ass? Let me tell you why. You’re dead anyway. Sure, it looked like you were about to kill her, but she’s more powerful than you, just don’t know it yet.” He tipped his hat backward. “But she would have, and then she’d have shredded your ass.”

He shot his white magic. The shaman exploded, turned to erupting pulp instantly.

The man spun around. “I did tell you.”

“I,” said the orc holding Melody up. “I, Asanga, am in charge.” He dropped her, marching close and facing the man. “And you are interrupting guild business.”

Melody rolled the grenade under the orc then scampered away, diving for the pond.

The man backed away from the orc, then slid, like his body ceased to exist in one place and appeared in another at the same time. He held his hands up and said, “Who’s second in command?”

“I am in charge!” Asanga repeated.

The man clamped his hands over his ears as Melody’s grenade exploded under Asanga. “Second in command?” he asked, once silence returned. “Answer or the next dies.”

“I, Menada,” said another orc.

“Well, this is what you are going to do, Menada. You are going to take your warriors, and you are going to return to your guild house. You are going to tell your guild master you failed to complete your task before a guardian came, and you are going to take your punishment like the magnificent warriors you are. If you fail to do this, I will destroy you. Do I have your agreement?”

“Portal?” Menada asked.

“We have rules, orc, and we have them for a reason. The use of portals outside of guild territory is considered a hostile act. A hostile act is an act of war. If you wish to make war on another guild, you must declare and register your intent in advance. Or does the Koyashi no longer abide by the law?”

“Not a guild. Misfits not a guild.”

The man sighed. “I fucking hate dealing with orcs.” A blast of white light erupted from him, streaking into Menada. As the orc vanished in a spray of dark blood, he shouted, “Who’s third in command?”

The man’s eyes were steely blue, wizened wrinkles radiating from them. His salt and pepper stubble gave him a weathered look, which he wore well. He rested his feet on the table, cradling his ale, his long coat reaching the floor. “I’d like to apologize.”

Vella had finished healing Melody and Lex, who’d borne the brunt of the orc’s attack. Josh sat over the table from the man, Cassandra by his side. The sorceress held her head in her hands, her lips fixed in a firm line.

“Screw that,” she said. “Did you say I was more powerful than that fucker?”

The man held his hand up. “We’ll get to that.”

Elowen set a bowl of stew in front of the man, placing a spoon by its side. “You want some food, Josh?”

Josh nodded. “Please,” and drew a wink from the man.

“That’s the spirit. Never let a minor hiccup spoil your appetite.”

Arabella served the rest of them while Lex fetched a few rounds of bread, and one-by-one, the Misfits ate. But there was one question on all their minds.

“What’s your name?”

The man chuckled. “That, is a very long story.”

Vella sat next to him. “Tell it,” she said.

“One day, if you all last that long. For now, you can call me Lux. Now, to explain. You”—he pointed at each of them—“were all naïve. You thought you could hang up your hunting weapons and live a nice, peaceful life in these idyllic surroundings. And that might have been the case had you not pissed a whole bunch of people off by killing Ravenheart.”

“But he was the bad guy, spider, thing,” Arabella said.

Lux slid his feet from the table, leant over his bowl, his spoon primed and ready. He grinned, looking out from under his falling hair. “A bad guy? Depends on who you talk to. Makes it fun, doesn’t it?” He scooped up a spoonful of stew. “Talk to a Thellophite Flamemaker called Drokrin, and yeah, that spider-morph was one horrible son-of-a-bitch, but chat to one of Drokrin’s enemies, of which there are many, and he was a Goddamn hero. So you see, you lot are neck-deep in shit.”

Josh’s own spoon hovered in front of his mouth as he tried to make head and tail of the man’s revelations. “Folks in The Hangsane would side with something that destroys twenty mountains? That feeds like a plague? That invades a land barely able to defend itself.”

Lux grinned. It appeared to be his default expression, and fitted his face, adding mischief to his already infectious charm. “They positively worship that shit. Takes all sorts, doesn’t it?”

Josh drained his spoon, ripping a round of bread in two and sliding the other half over. “Tastes mighty good when you tear it into chunks and let it soak in the stew.”

“I’ll bear that in mind,” Lux said, biting a hunk off and chewing slowly. “You don’t seem that surprised.”

“Nope,” Josh said, tucking into his meal. “I’ve had a while to think it over. Cass will tell you. So will Arabella, Elowen, Lex, Melody, or Vella. We all knew it would end—that the peaceful life we dreamed of was just that—a pipe dream. Wanna know why?”

Lux dipped his head.

“Because the only way we get peace is by being the strongest. But”—he held his hands up—“I’ll admit. We stabilized Mythelore, made sure Thadius and Harrogate were settled, and that nearly cost us our lives. But things needed to be done, and they didn’t happen as quickly as we’d have liked.”

“Although,” Cassandra said. “We enjoyed every moment of it.”

“I’ll bet you all did,” Lux said. “But tell me. You saw the power available in The Hangsane. Why wait? Why chance it?”

“We had shit to sort,” Josh said. “Ravenheart made a mess of Mythelore. We had to fix it.”

Lux cocked his head, ripping his bread into chunks and tossing it in the stew. “I’ll indulge you. What could possibly be more important than power?”

Josh slurped another spoonful of stew. “First, I had Thadius and Simmalion installed as king and queen.” He grimaced. “That needed a ceremony, and it pissed a few folks off, so we had to throw our weight around. Then we had to install a new governor to Sillia, and if I’m honest, Izod took more persuading than I thought he would. But we got it from a straight no to a grudging yes. We then persuaded Sendor to take over Alianthia and form a mixed council, mixed army, and create a workable buffer between Mythelore and The Hangsane.”

“And I,” Cassandra said. “Had to train seven wizards to their full potential, so they could form an academy to educate both witches and wizards.”

“That all?” Lux said.

“Most, but suffice to say, we couldn’t leave Mythelore until Mythelore was stable. Ravenheart killed large amounts of its population. He drove all manner of monsters into its belly. They are capable of defending themselves now. They weren’t, but they are now.”

Lux spooned up some dripping bread, sucking it off the spoon and nodding as he chewed. “That was one good tip—the trick with the bread—one great tip.” He tapped his spoon on the bowl’s side. “I take it you just got back here today?”

“Yup. We had a little monster hiccup on the way, and we sorted that and came right here. Drove in this afternoon.”

“And the orcs attacked?”

“About a minute later.” Josh inclined his head. “Kind of a coincidence, don’t you think?”

Lux sucked his cheeks in. “Depends. Orcs are dumb. Always have been, always will be. They’re a point and shoot creature. Whenever orcs are involved, you look behind and see who’s pulling the strings.”

“And who is?”

Lux shrugged. “Are you ready for The Hangsane?”

Josh had asked himself the question a few times on the way back to the farm, but hadn’t answered it convincingly. “Unknown, but I know this. I need to see The Emmitance—the so-called Ruins. I have to know what they are. Drokrin said we’d get safe passage there.”

“Did he now? Was that before or after you killed a guildmaster?”

Josh pushed his bowl away, picking up his ale. “Are you saying we’ve got to fight our way there?”

Lux spooned more bread chunks into his mouth. “I’m saying all bets are off. Drokrin might help you, but he’s no guarantee of safety. He’s pissed a lot of folks off.”

“Then we aren’t strong enough to go,” Cassandra said, but Josh held Lux’s gaze.

“There’s something you’re not telling us.”

“There is,” he said. “There are factions, and there are sects within factions. The Hangsane is a kaleidoscope, and its guilds are constantly in motion. It is governed by rules, strict rules, and these are enforced by the likes of me—ascendants who have become guardians. Make no mistake, you are starting from nothing—ring or no ring, Everdeep staff or no Everdeep staff. Not all factions are against you. A hell of a lot owe you, and a good portion are ambivalent to you.”

“There’s still something you aren’t telling us.” Josh wanted to press the point but there was another thing he needed answering. “The orcs knew we’d returned here, so they must have been watching this place. That’s pretty easy to conclude. But how did you know? How did you know to come?”

Lux chuckled. “Perhaps I was watching you too? Did you think about that?”

“Then why didn’t you help earlier?”

“Maybe I wanted to see if you stood a chance.”

“And?”

“And I haven’t turned you around and sent you back to Califire with your tail between your legs.”

Josh drank his ale. “So what aren’t you telling us?”

Lux’s eyes lit up, and his face came alive with wonder. “The prize, Josh. That’s what I’m not telling you. The prize that awaits you if you venture into The Hangsane once more.”

“Is?”

“Out of this world.”

Chapter Two

JOSH LOOKED out of his bedroom window. Mist snuffed out the trail of orc destruction, its tendrils spreading from the waterfall where cold mountain water pooled. It lent their yard, their fledgling farm, their pond and herb garden a magical air that would have usually soothed him.

He needed to become stronger. The ring on his finger pulsed, like it recognized its deficiencies but could do nothing about them because he hadn’t actually failed—he hadn’t been hurt. His body, well, he could see its reflection, and if he’d once dreamed of being buff and ripped, he’d have pictured the exact same body he had.

“I love this place,” he said.

Cassandra lay on his bed. He hated having his back to her, especially when she was naked, drained from their earlier lovemaking. “Darling, this was going to be our home, but it can’t be. That dream is over.”

Her words stunned him, her delivery sharp and cutting. “Don’t sugarcoat it,” he said. He turned, parking his bare ass on the wooden sill. “Had it even begun? Or do we have to leave for a while and return?”

She sat up, pulling her legs in but leaving them temptingly parted, her chin resting on her knees. “We’ll never be like this. We’ll never have the illusion of power this place gave us—not if creatures from The Hangsane can just portal in and kill us.”

“Gave us?”

“Sure.” She pouted. “We thought we were strong. We, Josh, were the pinnacle of evolution before we ventured into The Hangsane to kill Ravenheart.”

“But now we’re weak.”

“Not weak, no. Think about it. We destroyed the lizard men—the Octavia? Was that what Drokrin called them? You killed the harpies, and we all killed the trolls. We certainly won’t be the weakest.”

“No, but we’ll not be the strongest.” He pushed himself off the window, stretching and padding over to the bed where he sat, cross-legged, opposite her. “You’re beautiful.”

“And you’re insatiable.” Her grin was devilish. “And we have time.” She reached for him.

“Was the orc’s magic better than yours?”

Cassandra pulled her hand back, tapping her lips, then sliding her finger into her mouth slowly and sensually. She pulled it out with a pop. “Unsure. Different, certainly.”

“Not mana-based?”

“No, just different. My magic is based on manipulation—I manipulate the harmony of my surroundings, be they metal, rock, living beings. You get the picture. Pure hatred drove the orc’s magic.”

“Anger,” Josh said. “I can relate to that. I drove myself forward through anger. In a way I thrived. But it’s left me empty.”

“Why?” she asked, placing her hand on his knee, then brushing him lightly to his thigh and back. “You got what you wanted, so why the regret?”

He closed his eyes, focusing on her teasing touch. “I cheated my way to power, but it’s not the method that’s the problem. It’s different. Like my power doesn’t fit me.”

“So, when you called on it last night, and it didn’t measure up, you were left wanting.” She grimaced. “Me too, except I didn’t get my power through suffering. I didn’t earn mine. It woke within me, and you know what? It still isn’t me. It’s like a thing I can do, but it’s not something I do.”

He grabbed her hand, steering it to his groin, satisfied, comforted, when she grasped him. “That,” he said. “Sums it up well. The orcs came, and I ran out there expecting to roll them—to bulldoze my way through them one after the other. Nothing has stood in our way, Cas, nothing. Even Ravenheart was feeble by the time we got to him.”

“And I countered fire with fire. He blasted me, so I blasted him. I could have taken him.” She pulled away, straightening and pushing her hair back. He reached forward, unable to resist cupping her breast.

“You could have done it better?”

She thrust her hands down, knocking his out of the way, grabbing it and bringing it onto her womb. She cocked her head, frowning. “I could. I’m a harmonic, and he was all brute force and glory. I should have thrown up a mud wall or dropped him into a pit. I tried to counter force with force, and he was better at that than me.”

“So, you failed.”

She slapped his hand away playfully. “No, I did not. I would have figured it out, but that Lux came blundering in and stole my thunder with his magical death rays.”

Josh chuckled. “Same here. I was just working out how to kill the fuckers when he ruined my plan.”

“Like hell we were!” She grinned, sighing and relaxing.

He unfolded his legs, placing them on either side of her, then pulled hers around him. “So, what do we do about it?”

“Fucking isn’t the answer, but it might help.”

He pulled her close, their noses nearly touching. “The others. What are we going to do about the others? And fucking really would help.”

“How do you mean?”

“They’ll all want to go to the ruins to get powerful. Yet here we are, not even grown into ours, and we’ll be hunting more.”

Her mischievous smile came. “I think our power is like a new coat. You like the look of it. You like the feel of it. But it isn’t yours the first few times you wear it. It’s just a new coat. Takes a bit of getting used to, but when you do, it becomes your favorite.”

“Are you trying to tell me we shouldn’t deny them their power?”

“No, I’m saying we’ll grow into our power. We could have beaten those orcs. Maybe not last night, but soon. We need confidence and competence, but we used anger and arrogance instead.” She placed her arms around his neck. “We need to stop craving power and accept we have it.”

“But did you see Lux?” Josh asked. “The power. The speed.”

She nuzzled his nose with hers, then bit his lip, encouraging his kiss to come. He fell into it easily, never able to resist her, never wanting to, but as his cock hardened, she pulled back.

“What are you? Straight forties on all your attributes?”

“Yeah,” he said, his heart thumping and desire welling. “All forties, a true Golden Defender.”

“And I’m a Sorceress, a true harmonic. I’m the Everdeep Sorceress. What say we don’t hunt more power? What say you stop hurting yourself or poisoning yourself for a few points?”

“You mean stop cheating?”

“I mean, give your mind and body time to catch up with your development.”

“But the ring takes care of that.”

She took his hand, holding it to her right breast. “Feel my heartbeat.” She placed her palm on his chest. “I feel yours. Is it the ring quickening it, or is it because we’re sitting here, about to make love? We’ve grown into our relationship, but we need to grow into ourselves, and we need the others to catch us up.”

“Why? We look after them?” He asked the question, but already understood the answer. He’d felt it. He’d not called on Arabella to shoot more arrows, nor Elowen to attack the orcs. He had discounted all but Cassandra, only looking at her for help. Even Vella, who had killed with little effort, or Melody, who’d blown a few up, hadn’t come into his thinking.

“We need a team, Josh. At the moment, we’re not quite that.”

“You’re right.” He’d felt it. They’d even snuck off to fight Ravenheart, just Josh, Cassandra and Vella.

“You know it. I’m always right.” She pushed him back, coming up onto her knees. “If things don’t even up a bit, then we’ll fall apart.” Reaching down, she held his cock, parking its tip by her entrance. “And we can’t have that, can we?”

She slid down his length. “Shit,” she gasped. “You fill me up.”

Josh could count on one hand the number of times he’d sat and had breakfast with all his girls. “This was my dream,” he said. “All of us together with the day stretching in front of us. Nothing to do—with absolutely nothing to do. But the orc attack has taken that away from us. The sudden appearance of this guardian, Lux, has taken this away from us. They know where we are. How? That’s the real question. How the fuck did they find us?”

“Lux said they were watching the place,” Lex said.

“No. No, he didn’t. We suggested that. He deflected.”

“Did we leave a trail?” Arabella asked. “I can’t see how we would have.”

“They could have followed the dragon,” Melody suggested.

“No,” Vella said. “They know because we killed spidey. Ravenheart. That’s how. This is our place. Not in The Hangsane, but easy to attack.”

Cassandra faced her. “What else do you know about The Hangsane? You need to come clean with us.”

“I know bits. Visited Drokrin. Played with the sprites. Know enough to know it’s a hard place. But we can win. If we all go.” She winked at Cassandra. “Everyone must be the same.”

The sorceress made a feral growl. “I swear you must sit outside that bedroom window sometimes.”

“Was asleep under the bed.” Vella grinned. “Fill me up.” She chuckled. “Fills me up too.”

“Why do I always want to tear you apart and kiss you at the same fucking time?” Cassandra sniffed.

Josh cleared his throat. “We need to make a choice. Our dream of living here is over for now. If the orcs can find us, so can any others. If Lux is right, and other guilds are after us, then can we sleep easy? Can we trust a guardian to show up? They never showed up when the lizardmen attacked. Can we even trust them—the guardians?”

“We can’t trust anyone,” Lex said. “We’re getting pulled into a trap.”

“Yeah,” said Elowen. “Those are my thoughts.”

“But by who?” Melody asked.

“There’s only one way to find out,” Josh said. “We have to walk right into it.”

Arabella stood. She planted her hands on the table. “Okay, let’s get some things out in the open, just so we know where we all are. When it comes to monster hunting, we all know what Cass brings. Lexi is a great fighter—slick, efficient, deadly. Melody blows shit up—enough said. Elowen does our research. She catalogues our victories. Vella, well, we know she does so much more than just heal. So, when we’re talking weakest links, we’re talking about me.”

“No!” Josh said.

“Quiet, Josh. We need to get this out in the open. Here’s the thing. I don’t want to fight monsters. There, I’ve said it. I’ve fought loads, and I’ve hated every minute of it. Every time we go against a beast, I shake—every fucking bone in my body. I think I’m going to lose one of you—all of you. I feel like I’m going to fall apart. And then we win, and you know what? I hate it because it means we’ll go on and try something bigger and badder. I want this!” She swept her hand around. “I want all this—the table, the seven of us. I want the farm, the waterfall, the pond, and the rotting wheelbarrow.”

“So, you want to run?” Cassandra said.

“No! I never want to run again. I want to have this or die trying. Don’t you get it? I need to go into The Hangsane and see those ruins, whether it’s a trap or not. Why? Because I’m fed up with being scared. That’s why. You—the power trio—you have got to help me get there, just like I supported you, helped you, get powerful.”

She sat, cupping her mug and bringing it to her lips, her hands shaking.

“Well, why didn’t you say so, darling?” Cassandra said. “We’ll head off straight away.”

Melody looked from the witch to Arabella, then began giggling. Elowen laughed, Lex joining in. Josh saw it clearly then. The small divide that had formed between them. Not one caused by petty jealousy, or caused by spite, but one that had opened because they were different. Their power had begun pulling them apart.

“Why not? Lux gave us a map. Why don’t we go right now?” he asked. “Bels is right—not about all of it. But I get it. I felt it last night when I tried to bash an orc, and it didn’t even move. I felt fear then. If that’s what you get every time we fight, then we need to stop that. Let’s go. Let’s do this pilgrimage.”

“To the ruins?” Elowen said, her face lighting up.

“We killed Ravenheart,” Josh said. “We’re supposed to be fucking heroes, not hunted prey. Drokrin said folks owed us. Lux confirmed folks owed us. So tell me, why do I feel like every single guild in those mountains is after us?”

“Because they are,” Vella said.

“Explain.” Cassandra uncurled a finger and pointed it straight at her. “Explain, or I’ll give you a wedgie every time I walk past that cute ass of yours.”

“No knickers,” Vella said. “Explain simple. One guild number one. One guild, bottom. New guild can only hurt them all. Strong guild worse.” She smiled sweetly. “No one likes new and unknown, especially if they’ve already killed a guild master.” She tipped her thumb down. “Better to kill before it gets stronger.”

It was Josh’s turn to stand. “Anyone else need to say their peace, or are we ready for a vote? The vote is protect Mythelore and see if we can’t find another slice of utopia, or fight our way to the ruins?”

“I’ve heard enough,” Lex said. “I’ve never run from a fight in my whole life. I’m not about to start now.”

Melody stood. “Me and Els have the least to gain from this. I don’t have any skills than might gain from this practitioner shit, and I’ve no desire to sit on a fucking cloud and hum tunes or whatever they do. I want to blow shit up. I highly doubt anything in The Hangsane is going to make that any better. But fuck, I’m curious if it might. I’d like to become an artificer, if that’s on the table.”

“So, I have the least to gain, because I’m a wicked cartographer, a great study, and I’m a decent diarist. I simply can’t get better, but boy, am I going to enjoy cataloguing all the ruins.” Elowen snapped her pencil, then looked at it in horror. “My favorite!”

“You know as well as I do, you’re great with the sword, Elowen,” Josh said.

“But do I want to get any better?” Elowen stared at the broken pencil. “No. No, I don’t think so.”

“So, you’re happy being weaker than all of them?” Arabella snapped. “Kinda undermined my argument.”

“Oh, not really,” Elowen said. “I just don’t want to get better at the sword. I think I’ll learn something else.”

Cassandra made a point of yawning. “I think we’re going around in circles. Els had just hit the nail on the head without realizing it. We have no idea what’s at the ruins. We’re fighting our way somewhere on the whim of a few words from Izod and a few more from Lux. We have a map, but no guarantee it’s accurate. Hell, we don’t even know if we need permission to venture through guild lands or if this so-called pilgrimage grants us safe passage.”

“So,” Elowen said. “The sensible thing to do would be to travel to Ginstrata and get Izod to verify it, or we could go find that dragon and ask him.”

Josh scratched his head. “Someone might be watching us. Izod or the dragon could be working against us.”

“Why would Izod rat us out?” Arabella asked.

“Perhaps he thinks we killed Nareena and caused Scillian to die,” Josh said. “Look, we’re known for planning shit. The dragon could have used us to get his way and get rid of Ravenheart. Now the spider’s gone, we’re no good to him. We have no idea who our enemies are, so by default, we don’t know who our friends are. But, I trust us. I trust us to get us through all, no matter what we encounter—permissions or none, safe passage or none. We will do it. I have faith.”

Arabella cleared her throat. “The safest way for us to go about this is to—”

“Do it,” Elowen said.

“We just go,” Lex added.

“And we go right now,” Melody said.

“The wagons are destroyed. The horses have bolted.” Cassandra sighed. “It’ll be hell.”

“None of that matters.” Arabella moved to the bottom of the stairs. “We have each other.”

“Do we even have a tent?” Josh asked.

“Better,” Vella said. “We have a witch who can make caves.”

Cassandra grinned. “Don’t you just know it, baby.”

Chapter Three

THE HANGSANE REARED BEFORE THEM, shadows upon shadows rising, clinging to rock, stubbornly resisting the spiteful wind, curling and eddying, fleeing the narrow valley with a relieved breath. Josh looked at the map Lux had given him. It was scant, frugal with its information. It showed the two mountains and others lining its way, and intersecting lines told of area where they might expect the hand of friendship, and others marked with crossed swords. At the end of a long trail, a single word sat inscribed with a flourish.

“Ruins,” Josh said. “Hardly inspiring.”

“Hard to see how the ruins can offer us power,” Elowen said. “Although I have a couple of theories on it.” The archaeologist had her broad-brimmed hat on, its string hanging down, and for once she didn’t wear her spectacles. She’d drawn her hair back in a tail, making her face sharper than usual, but alluring, nonetheless.

“Do tell,” Cassandra said, but the yawn accompanying her words told of complete disinterest. Although the yawn might have been for effect, a way of making Elowen cut her explanation to the bone.

The witch wore her usual inappropriate clothes, and Josh was pretty sure that if he added it all up, there would be more skin on show than cloth covering. Not that he minded. The more the better. Although she had made one concession to the tough journey ahead. A sturdy pair of boots graced her feet. Even so, Cassandra still made them look sexy. They worked.

“Well,” said Elowen, bringing a twist of dried meat from her satchel and chewing on it. “We have the usual suspects. It could be the remnants of an ancient civilization whose power still lingers and that is what The Hangsane feeds off. There could be an artefact powering the alterations and manifestations.”

“I like that one. Shall we get on?” Cassandra asked.

Arabella snapped her a look. “Let her speak. I’m interested, even if you aren’t.”

“Oh, I’m interested alright. I’m just conscious we are midway through the afternoon, and we haven’t stepped foot in the valley yet. Pretty soon, we might as well camp here and be done with it.” She had a point. Even with Cassandra’s ability to break a trail with minimal effort, it had still taken most of the day to get to the narrow valley. “We could have taken Izod’s way. Then we be at Mirror Mountain by now.”

“We talked about that,” Josh said.

“I know, but I still don’t see him as the traitor. You’re right. It’s the way they’d expect us to come.”

Elowen cleared her throat and continued her train of thought. “The next option is a little more nuanced. I propose that what we are looking at is an object that has erupted from the land’s core. A power unlike anything we’re used to on the surface. In doing so, it destroyed the village, town or city it burst through, and there it sits, sending out its power. Thus, it is called The Emmitance by some.”

“That is scarily possible,” Cassandra said. “The powers of The Underworld have been long lauded by the elves. Haven’t they, Vella?”

“Yes.”

“And the third possibility?” Josh asked.

“Well, this one could be your favorite. Something could have dropped out of the sky. Many ancient texts tell of shooting stars falling to the land. It’s possible. The star could emit power from outside the land, thus force the change in the people and the monsters.”

It was a scenario that had haunted Josh’s dreams, but he shoved it to the back of his mind. “If it’s a meteor, it’s likely just a dead lump of rock. Anything else, and we could be in for some fun.”

Fortunately, it was the least likely option. At least, he chose it to be the least likely option. Not that there could ever be survivors. A pod was designed to crash. A ship, on the other hand, wasn’t.

“Anymore?” he asked.

“Just one,” Elowen said. “It could be created power. A witch or wizard might have discovered some enhancement spell and devoted their lives to improving others. A school if you like. Ruins could be a nickname. The Emmitance might be a title.”

“But they all have one thing in common,” Lex said. “They all improve us. So, let’s get our hike on.”

Josh let his gaze linger on the former assassin. She had a pair of pants on, boots, and a bra top. Her jacket hung from her backpack, and she held a spear in hand. There wasn’t an ounce of fat on her. Her dark abs glistened with sweat. Her biceps shone. She was a rare beauty, and he wondered how powerful she could become if she advanced like he had. Their eyes met, and she drew her tongue along her top lip.

“We should get moving,” Lex said.

“Finally.” Cassandra pointed her staff and the undergrowth parted. “Straight up the middle?”

“Into The Hangsane,” Melody said, and pulled a grenade out of her pocket. “As my dad always said, it’s better to plan for every eventuality, but failing that, have something in hand to blow the fuckers up.” She pulled down her goggles and followed Cassandra.

“Harrogate never said that,” Arabella said, following. “But he’d have said something close.”

Harrogate had elected to stay in New Califire with Thadius and Simmalion. He’d tried the rural life, but once a chance to settle in a growing city came along, he grabbed it with both his shaky hands. He was, officially, bomb and trap maker to the Cassandra Day School of Wizard and Witchery. Unofficially, he scoured the few cake and tea shops, looking to start his harem. Josh was fairly relieved he didn’t have to witness it, and he’d also treasured his future with just his girls.

Until the orcs fucked it all up.

He set off with a grunt, following the tang of Lex’s sweat. Closing his eyes, he reined his passion in. Josh had debated whether to take his colossal sword. While it was great for killing large monsters, he had the feeling the greater threat would come from smaller, more agile fighters, and the mighty weapon wasn’t suited to that. After their previous leaning toward preparation, marching into the unknown was quite daunting. He’d kept the sword, of course, but had it strapped to his backpack. Instead, he carried an odd-looking weapon that one of the orcs had dropped. It resembled a spear but had a bladed end. While it wasn’t a good time to learn a new weapon, he’d already seen the orc use it, and so his ring would have a pretty good idea of how to fight with it.

He glanced at the ring. How their fates were interweaved. He’d have been nothing without it. It had propelled him to new heights—made him stronger, faster, more agile. It had given him resistance to poison and magic and given him the ability to plan and command beyond his natural capabilities. It had made him near enough immortal, repairing him multiple times when he’d shattered his body or had it savaged by monsters. They were linked—platted like a tight braid, and Josh had to fight daily, hourly, to retain his identity and not get swamped by the thing called Tremelox-Alpha-Four.

Cassandra turned sharply, their trail meandering around sturdy trunks packed together as The Hangsane Mountains vanished and their world became a humid, warm forest, shaded by a heavy canopy. With his vision closed down to a few feet of undergrowth, Josh’s other senses picked up. Bird caws, the scurry of small mammals, the slither of snakes, filled his mind. His internal warning system blinked red and blue telling him physical threats and poison threats were close. The colors, though, were dim enough to tell him they were minor threats, hardly capable of hurting him. But that didn’t mean the others were safe.

“Keep your eyes out. We have predators around.”

“It’s so thick. So close,” Arabella said.

Lex’s muscles tensed, her head darting in all directions as she assessed her surroundings. “Snakes, spiders, seen one big cat. They’re holding back, like we’re the bigger threat.”

“We probably are here,” Josh said. “Melody, Elowen, move up. I’ll go last. My senses will pick up any imminent threat. Lex can keep her eye out for others.”

“And I’ll blast anything out of the way,” Cassandra said.

They trekked on, the forest’s humidity sapping their stamina, but the occasional cold breeze reminded them they were moving farther into the mountains. It was like two different ecosystems, that of the cruel, cold mountains, and the oppressive heat of the forest floor.

“We need to find somewhere to camp,” Lex said. “The night’s coming, and it’ll come fast here. The valley heads south. That means the sun will set behind the mountains on our right.”

“I could light a torch,” Cassandra suggested.

“Are we in that much of a hurry?” Arabella asked. “River or mountainside. We need to head to the slopes now if we’re looking for a cave.”

Cassandra slowed. “Votes?”

“I vote we follow the next tributary up. We get out of this forest. It’s too close for us to rest safely,” Lex said.

“I’m good with that,” Josh said as his vision suddenly flashed red. “Something’s coming!”

“Fight or run?” Cassandra said.

“Run,” Lex cried. “We can’t defend here.”

Cassandra blasted a path. “Take the lead. Find a stream and run up it.” She scanned the undergrowth as Lex, Arabella, Melody and Elowen raced through. “Where’s it coming from?”

“All around,” Josh cried, pushing her to run after the others. A stone snake burst through the forest’s rich loam, snapping at Josh’s heels as he raced after Cassandra. “Stone snakes!” he cried.

“Like before?” Cassandra replied, then jumped, her magic blasting the ground. “Smaller, but somehow scarier.”

Josh hurdled another as it erupted into his path. Ahead, Melody screamed, falling flat on her face as a snake shot from the undergrowth and grabbed her by the ankle. Vella dropped from above, touching the snake and killing it instantly, then healing Melody and sending her on her way. The elf jumped onto a trunk, scampering up to its lowest branch, then leaping across the canopy always over them.

Another stone snake burst upward into Josh’s path. Despite his enhanced dexterity, he couldn’t avoid it. The beast snapped at his ankle, latching on, another shooting in from the side and biting into his bicep. Ignoring the second, he grabbed the first, pulling it from its hole. The stone snake snapped in two, white blood spraying out. Josh tossed the limp head away. Grabbing the second stone snake as he scrambled up. He squeezed its neck hard, feeling its spine crack and crumple under his immense strength. The creature fell away.

Ahead, blasts of red magic sent up mud sprays. Foliage burst into fire. Arabella screamed, and Vella dropped from the canopy once more.

“Stream!” Lex cried, vanishing to the left.

Melody and Elowen followed. Arabella limped after them, Vella helping the stricken archer. A snake dropped in front of Josh, its open maw striking for his face.

“Scale armor!” he cried, bringing his strange spear around and slicing the creature’s body in two. Its maw smashed into his helm, spraying it with its venom, its teeth shattering. He brushed it out of the way, falling as another curled around his ankle. Josh jerked his foot as he fell, bringing the snake closer. He grabbed it, trying to rip it free. Another snake bit his arm, its teeth breaking on his armor. It whipped around him, trying to pin him down. More came, clearly sensing their prey was down. One wrapped around his head. Another tightened on his neck. Then Josh’s vision changed, the blue poison warning changing to mauve.

“What the fuck?” he cried, as the mauve intensified and a bolt of magic ripped through him, a blast of electrical energy that made him jerk and shake, his teeth grinding together, mouth frothing.

“Up, up now. There’re hundreds of them!” Cassandra’s voice permeated his fog. He jumped up, staggering. Then the pure wave of Vella’s heals and renews rippled through him. His mind cleared, and his all-round vision returned. Snakes poured from the undergrowth, dropped from the trees and burst from the earth. They fizzed and exploded on Cassandra’s magic, but her strain was evident. He gathered up his spear, scooped up Vella and cried, “Let’s get the fuck out of here!”

Cassandra raced toward the stream, jumping straight in, spinning around and sending a huge magical blast past Josh and into the forest. Its force punched Josh in the back, sending him flying. He adjusted midair, pushing his leg out to spring off the opposite bank. Cassandra held her ground as he ran past with Vella, shedding his scale armor to free up his agility.

“Get the others!” she cried, sending a ball of fierce flame into the forest, then leaving an ethereal fire hovering on the stream. She followed Josh up the hillside.

“Arabella! Lex!” Josh called for the others, clambering over rocks and coming to bluff, the stream falling over it. He leaped onto the bank, following their trail, coming out over the top and stopping in his tracks. Three dead goblins greeted him, one missing his head, another with only one arm, and a third with Lex’s spear sticking out. Looking over the bodies, his gaze tested on the dark-skinned beauty, a hobgoblin holding a knife to her throat, a crowd of smaller goblins behind him.

“Welcome to The Hangsane, traveler.” The hob’s voice was thinner than Josh imagined it would be for a creature its size. Its skin was a dirty green, wizened like an old man’s face, but the wrinkles gave him a sinister look. It was a head taller than the Intersian, with broad shoulders, bulging biceps and wore a mix of leather and rusting chainmail armor, its quality better than the surrounding goblins.

“Where are the other three?”

“They are safe, for now. But that all depends on you.”

“What do you want with us?” Cassandra asked, drawing aside Josh.

“What do I want? It doesn’t matter what I want, only what Cedric desires. Set all your weapons down, including that wonderful staff. My soldiers will carry them for you. Save you the strain.”

“Cedric?”

“My king, your captor, and a very good friend of the recently deceased Ravenheart.”

Chapter Four

JOSH HESITATED. The goblins crowded in front of a cave. He’d no doubt they had taken the other three inside. “Are they alive, Lex?”

“They took them below,” Lex spat, struggling, blood dripping from her neck.

“Tell your woman to stop or I’ll slit her throat,” the hob said.

“Make another mark on her, and you’re dead, hob,” Josh spat.

The hob looked around. He raised his patch eyebrows. “Threats count for little in The Hangsane. If you live long enough, you might learn that.”

“I could incinerate you all where you stand,” Cassandra said.

The hob barked a laugh. “But you won’t.” He said something in a language Josh couldn’t understand, and the goblins parted. “You three first. This one comes after. If we don’t arrive at Cortaine presently, Cedric will have your women skinned and burned alive. Don’t think they will die quickly, either. We have magic that can lengthen their pain.”

Josh took a breath, calming. “You do know you’re dead, don’t you?”

The hob rolled his yellow eyes. “Again, with the threats.” He pushed Lex toward the gap and barked more unintelligible words. The goblins chittered back excitedly. But this time, Josh caught a couple, though not enough to make sense of the exchange.

“The ring’s learning their language,” he whispered to Cassandra, as they walked through the goblins and into the cave.

Harsh green light burned into his eyes. It wasn’t bright, but something about it caused him to squint. Once his ring was accustomed to it, he studied his surroundings. They walked single file along a rockface, a black chasm hemming them against the rock. Cassandra and Lex led the way, Josh following, straining to hear the goblin chatter. As they descended into the mountain, he picked up more and more words, finally stringing together sentences.

The goblins talked about food, drinking some form of ale brewed from a luminous fungus, and about Josh and the girls’ up-and-coming execution.

“Quiet!” the hob shouted from the rear, and for a while, silence fell, but the goblin indiscipline quickly surfaced, and the chatter started up again.

Cortaine was their only city, and it was situated on something called the eighth level in a place called the Sparkling Cavern. What Cedric was going to do to them wasn’t worth mentioning. By all accounts, their deaths would be slow and painful. They mourned Ravenheart’s passing, hailing the spider as a hero who had stood against the corrupt council.

Josh tried speaking goblin in his mind, working their inflections, their language chopped and odd—words spat like machine-gun bullets. When they came to some steps that led to a narrow stone bridge, all talk stopped, and their steps fell silent. A goblin grabbed hold of Josh, telling him to be quiet, his own voice hushed. They slid their feet along the rock, barely making a sound, then crossed the bridge in batches of six.

The fissure plunged to black, strange groans and creaks coming from it. The luminous green dulled, like whatever lurked below scared it. And once they were all over and away, the goblins thanked a God called Stravos, and talked of the Gourd, an ancient beast that lurked far below.

“Where the fuck are we going?” Cassandra asked, as they entered a low, flat cavern that looked like its ceiling could fall on them at any time.

Josh wanted to tell her but didn’t want the goblins knowing he could understand some of what they were saying. He spied a tunnel across the cavern, a bunch of goblins all facing it, spears in hand. His escort began chittering excitedly, stopping and pointing.

“Move on!” the hob shouted, and a whipcrack resounded around the cavern.

More chittering came from the tunnel. It turned to screaming. Their escort looked anxiously on as a goblin flew backward, its head at a strange angle. The column panicked, all drawing their weapons. The soldiers crowding around the tunnel retreated, then broke into a run as a huge fist punched through their fleeing ranks. A strange one-eyed beast burst from the dark passage.

“What the fuck is that?” Josh asked, his vision clouding with red instantly.

“Looks like an underground version of a fucking huge ogre,” Cassandra replied, readying her magic.

The monster roared, picking up a boulder and bowling at the fleeing goblins.

The hob pushed Josh in the back. “Move!” it said.

The ogre rained rock down on the goblins, then bounded forward, clearly suited to the low roofs. It picked up one goblin after the other, snapping them in two, sucking the guts from some, tossing others away.

“Move!” the hob cried. “Unless you want to die!”

Josh thought hard, then took the only course of action that made any sense to him. He punched the hob while screaming, “Scale armor!” Scales coated his fist moments before it met the hob’s sour face. Cassandra caught on immediately, sending a blast of red fire along the goblin ranks. Vella touched the hob, sucking his lifeforce as Lex sprang into action, disarming a goblin with a punch and kick, backing it up with a roundhouse before plucking its sword out of the air and sliding it into its guts.

Cassandra made a beeline for the goblin carrying her staff, screaming at the top of her voice and sending a blast of forked lightning straight into its gut. Another mighty roar came from the ogre as it made mincemeat of the goblin squad. Josh ripped the hob’s hammer from his belt, swinging wildly, unused to such a light weapon. Another roar came from the ogre, as it bounded toward their fighting line. Its approach was too much for the goblins, who ran toward the cavern’s entrance.

The sorceress sent a blast of forked lightning toward the ogre, but the magical blast just crackled around its skin and then slipped off.

“It’s resistant!” the witch cried, pointing her staff at the rock under it. A crack appeared, the ogre falling into it. But it sprang back out before Cassandra could slam it shut. “Fuck it, let’s run!” she cried.

“No!” Josh screamed. “It’ll come after us and the others.” He raced forward, ready to face it.

The monster let out a guttural bellow, darting to meet Josh with unbelievable speed. Josh juked at the last minute, dropping to a slide and raking his spear’s strange blade right along its side. Lex joined him, stabbing from the other side. The beast turned to face her, but she was quicker, jinking from side to side, getting stab after stab in. Josh jumped to his feet, driving at the ogre, his spear held like a javelin. The monster’s thick hide resisted, but Josh’s power was too much. He forced the blade in as Lex finally slipped up and left herself open.

The ogre swiped at her, catching her in the midriff. Cassandra screamed at Josh, sliding his mighty sword across the cavern floor with a burst of magical wind. Lex flew through the air, her scream piercing Josh to his core. He cried out in frustration, leaving his spear embedded in the beast and diving for his rapidly arriving sword.

The ogre whipped around, its sole focus on Josh. He reached for his huge sword, but the ogre was closer. As the beast grabbed for the sword, Cassandra sent a bolt of brilliant white straight into its eye. It screamed mournfully, missing the blade and allowing Josh to snag it. The monster found him with a vicious, blind punch, knocking the wind from him despite the scale armor. Josh flew backward, sword in hand. He braced as he smashed into a boulder, but his rage flooded through him as Lex rose, holding her side, broken spear in hand.

“No, Lex!” he cried. “I’ve got this.” He forced himself off the boulder as the ogre charged him again. The pair met with a titanic clash as Josh swept his sword around, burying it in the ogre’s side. He spun, pulling the blade along the cut, slicing it deeper.

But the creature wasn’t done. It roared its defiance, punching Josh squarely on its chin. He staggered back, dragging his sword with him. The ogre lumbered forward, foul blood spewing from a rent in its side. Its ragged breaths speckled blood over its face. Josh readied his strike, his death blow, but Lex’s battle cry filled the cavern as she ignored Josh’s order and sprinted toward the flagging ogre. She launched herself into a jump, peddling the air and landing on the ogre, scissoring its neck and driving her short daggers into its face, its huge eye, nostrils, and mouth. Then, with a mighty scream, she plunged each into its temples and the ogre collapsed to its knees, then fell forward onto its face. She leaped to one side, coming up on her feet and strolling casually to Josh.

“Made a bit of a meal of that, didn’t you?”

He stared up at her, the strange light coloring her sweat with its eldritch green. “I had the fucker covered, but you can’t beat a bit of teamwork.”

She slid her daggers back into their hidden sheathes and pulled him up. “I take it the place gets harder as we venture deeper.”

“That’s the common thought,” he said, grinning and pulling her into a hug as a column of hobs streamed into the cavern. Josh looked around, smiling. “Looks like we’re fucked again.”

“Worse thing is,” she said. “We might just have to get used to it.” She raised her hands, and Josh put his huge sword down and slid it to an approaching hob.

“I know. I know. You have my girls and they’ll be peeled and roasted alive if I resist. Josh Underwood, by the way. But not those Underwoods, you understand.”

“You will come to Cortaine,” the hob said. He kicked Josh’s sword back to him. “We are no troop of feeble goblins. I was dispatched here to deal with the ogre, but I see you have killed it for me.”

“It was him and Lex,” Cassandra said, ambling over, staff in hand. “He’ll try and claim all the credit for it. He once told everyone he’d killed six necrotic wolves, but I killed two.”

“Are you ever going to let me forget that?” Josh asked, unslinging his backpack and tying his sword to it. He shrugged it back on and pulled his spear from the ogre’s side. “Name?” he asked.

“Thellius,” the hob said.

“Well, Thellius”—he surveyed the hob army—“You have my word. Take us to my wives and we’ll comply with your orders.” Vella grabbed his hand. “But, if we get attacked, we always fight back.”

The hob grunted, walking over and inspecting the ogre. He barked an order, and two hobs jogged over, stripping the ogre of anything valuable, then returning to their ranks. “We aren’t goblins,” he growled.

“I can see that,” Josh said. “To Cortaine?”

“You in the middle,” Thellius said.

“Naturally.”

“One ogre,” he shook his head. “Never only one.”

“Got it,” Josh said.

“Why are they letting me keep my staff?” Cassandra said.

“Because I get the feeling we’re going to have to fight our way to Cortaine. I just hope the others got a good head start.”

“And I hope they’re still alive,” Lex said.

Josh drove his spear into the ogre’s guts, twisting its flat blade to maximize the damage. He ripped it out, booting the dying beast away, reversing his spear and using his all-round vision to stab an on-rushing ogre straight in the throat. He cruelly ripped the weapon away, swiveling and slapping the beast on the back to send it stumbling into its fallen comrade. Lex pounced, finishing the creature off as if Josh’s throat cut wasn’t enough.

Cassandra, who’d waited in the wings, clapped appreciatively. “Well, I think you have it all sorted. You make a wonderful ogre-slaying pair. I take it that it’s a matter of establishing a rhythm?”

Vella healed Lex of a particularly nasty cut on her forehead, and sent a renew Josh’s way, even though he’d hardly broken a sweat. He dismissed his scale armor, brushing the sweat from his brow and narrowing his eyes. “They certainly seem fearsome enough, but they have their strong and weak points.” He waved at Thellius. “Survived then. Although, I see you lost a few more men. The bastards are whittling you down slowly but surely.”

The hob leaned on his sword, attempting to catch his breath. The ogres had ambushed them four times in short shrift. Thellius’ troops had lost half its number, and most of the remaining hobs carried one injury or the other. “I have never seen them so eager to kill. I think it’s her.” The hob commander stabbed a dirty green finger at Vella. “I’ll bet they can smell the sweet odor of elf flesh. I’ll be honest, it’s got my mouth watering.”

Josh held his rising temper as Vella chuckled. “Nasty hobs eat elves.”

Thellius shrugged. “We eat anything, and before you get all haughty about it, it’s our way. There’s not enough food down here to waste a good carcass, and dead is dead.”

“So, if you killed me, you’d happily roast me and eat me?”

The hob scrunched his face up. “Why wouldn’t I? You’re dead. By eating your flesh, I stand to gain some of your power. Why? Do humans require their bodies after they die?”

Josh took a step back. Lex handed him a waterskin. He took a slug of the lukewarm water while he mulled the question. But he really didn’t like the conclusion he drew. “Not sure I want to talk about it.”

The hobs looted the ogre carcasses. “I’m not sure who’s escorting who now,” Cassandra said. “I think we might be in charge, Josh.”

“Except,” the hob said. “We have your three friends. You mustn’t forget that, and we haven’t come across their remains yet, so they must have arrived at Cortaine.”

“Are we close, then?”

“Close enough. Now, can I leave you armed? There will likely not be any more ambushes. One more bridge, and we are within our shaman’s wards. They dare not pass through them.”

Josh tied his sword to his backpack. “Why do I get the feeling we’re not captives.”

“Because this is The Hangsane and things change. Perhaps our king is looking to bargain.”

“He hasn’t got anything I want.”

“On the contrary,” said the hob commander. “He has three things you value over everything else.”

Chapter Five

THE CITY of Cortaine sat within a huge cavern, bisected by a languid river of the deepest sapphire imaginable. They exited the tunnels and gazed over it. Josh had always thought of goblins as a lowly bunch, barely able to scratch a word together. But as he’d battled and walked with Thellius’ hob crew, he’d eavesdropped. While the goblins were clearly dim, the hobs had proved quite educated. Cortaine’s society was clearly a tiered one, and if there was a tier below gobbling grunt, it would likely be close to slavery.

Several bridges crossed the river, and from their lofty vantage point, the uniformity of the streets became pleasingly apparent. It was a place of sweeping arc, circles and intersections that reminded Josh of a few ships he’d crewed during his past life.

“I never knew such a place existed,” Cassandra said. “I thought goblins and hobs were—”

“An impression we foist upon ourselves. It is our castes that cause it. The likelihood of you seeing any from an upper cast is minimal. The gatherer is the lowest of the low, reserved for the runts of our litters, and always from the goblin side of our population. You’ll not see an educated goblin withing three hundred feet of the surface. We consider that place dirty—a defamation of the underworld’s purity.”

“A bit like our frontier towns when compared to our cities,” Lex said. “Makes sense, I suppose. But don’t try and tell us you’re all cultured. You kidnapped us.”

“Would you lose sleep if you killed a goblin? We feel much the same way about you. No offence. We might live underground, but the land you passed through is goblin land. Our gatherers collect food there that we cannot grow here. Our hunters bring tender meats. You entered our lands without so much as a polite request, and so you were detained. Unfortunately, you drew the ogres, but the mere fact you killed the first must have changed Cedric’s mind.”

“To what?” Josh asked.

“Well, he clearly has something in mind for you. I’m not privy to what, but I’ll wager it will be worth the lives of your three…did you call them wives?”

“I did.”

“Three?”

“Six in all,” Josh said, puffing with pride.

“Humans are strange, strange creatures.”

The hob commander set off, marching down an outer ring road that steadily descended toward Cortaine.

“What about you?” Josh asked, wanting to understand the goblin culture better. “You appear educated, yet you are part of the army.”

“The uneducated get the goblins to marshal. I command a hob unit. We were sent to engage the ogre you killed. My position is only available to educated hobs, so yes, I have education.”

“This is blowing my tiny fucking mind,” Cassandra said.

“Or,” Josh countered. “Could it be the influence of the ruins? Have The Hangsane goblins changed? Have they evolved into something more than their counterparts farther away from the ruins?”

“If it’s enough to make goblins civilized, what the fuck are we going to run into when we get close?” Cassandra asked.

“Talking rats?” Lex said, but none of them laughed. The possibility was too real.

They descended to rooftop height, tall spires climbing above them, their tops emitting a magical light. Red stone dominated Cortaine, only a few white buildings dotted about, but in its center, a sole black building rose higher than any other. Josh guessed it was the king’s palace, and once more questioned his beliefs on goblin society. Not that he had anything tangible to go on barring a few games played on the Lincanto and other sluggers. As he gazed at the black building, he sensed it met someone else’s—that someone watched them. He looked away, but curiosity drew it back, and he strained to see who. But even with his enhanced eyesight, the distance was too great.

After a short while, they entered the city. It had no wall, no siege protection, and Josh guessed that they didn’t need one. By the time an enemy had circumvented the cavern enough times to get close, their numbers would, no doubt, be feeble.

Thellius escorted them along a busy street, their passing drawing plenty of curious gazes. The goblins were different. For a start, they were all clean, their clothes weren’t ragged and their gait was erect. Their skin shone the color of fresh lime, and the goblin women accentuated their looks with paint and jewelry.

“Don’t you go getting any ideas,” Cassandra said. “Just because their tits are green, don’t make them any better than mine.”

She had a point, of course, and Cassandra’s tits were magnificent, but as Josh passed the demure and savagely attractive goblin women, he couldn’t help but wonder what they’d look like naked—what it would be like to fuck a goblin girl.

“You are looking, aren’t you, darling? Trust me, it’ll be a fad. It’ll be goblin this, goblin that, one minute, then you’ll be back in my arms with Lex sucking on your dick. You’ll forget all about them.”

He grinned and pulled her close. “I would never cheat on any of you. If I want another woman, then I’ll tell you.”

“I’ll be honest, they are quite breathtaking,” Lex said.

“Goblins,” said Vella. “Like goblins sometimes. Not when they’re full of dark magic.”

“These ones?” Josh asked.

“Some,” said Vella, then she skipped away to march with Thellius.

“Do you think she does strange on purpose?” Josh asked.

“Sometimes, darling, I have no idea what the hell she is. Others, I just want to cuddle her and make sure she’s safe.” Cassandra winked at him. “Then there are other times when she’s just to die for.”

Josh knew exactly what she meant. “The way she kills people certainly adds to the mystery.”

“Yeah, that’s as creepy as fuck. The death touch—don’t matter how big they are, they go down like a sack of shit.”

“It’s a crying shame she can only do a few.”

“Fills me up with corruption,” Vella shouted over her shoulder, and Josh swapped busted glances with Cassandra while Lex chuckled.

They came to Cortaine’s center, and Thellius stopped before the black building. The stone shone like polished granite, its surface so smooth Josh could see his reflection in it. He looked up, staring at the lights on its lofty spires, and he concluded that, yes, life within the influence of the ruins would indeed be different from anything he’d witnessed in Mythelore. The feeling someone stared at him came again. He shivered and took Lex’s hand.

“Can we see the others?” he asked.

“Things have changed since we apprehended you, Josh. I will take you to them, and the King will receive you later. The outcome of that meeting will determine whether we fight against each other or with each other. That choice is not mine.”

“Nor is it mine,” Josh said. “Because if he asks me for something I can’t deliver, I will refuse.”

Thellius said nothing. Instead, he turned and walked away. “Follow me. I will take you to them.”

They continued along the street, then down a set of steps and through a low archway into a courtyard. There, in the yard’s center, was a single tree. It grew from a raised, circular bed, its leaves dark green and shining with wax, and from under hung lemons. Josh approached, reaching out to pick one of the fruits, but Thellius stopped him. His grip was strong on Josh’s wrist, firm, but not threatening.

“The trees are new,” he said, his usual chopped tone much softer.

“New?”

“Our ancestors never had them. My parents lived with them, but theirs had only recent memories of them. So, two generations?” He sniffed. “Trees growing underground. It’s a strange thing. You may not take the fruit. To do so is punishable by death. It must drop, and then a collector will come, and they will endeavor to grow the seeds.”

Cassandra approached the tree. She stood, her hands clasped behind her back, and she closed her eyes, muttering inaudible words. Then, the scatterings of a smile slipped onto her lips, and she nudged Josh. He waited, his heart beating as he hoped for some great revelation.

“Fucking hate lemons,” she said, and turned her back on the tree. “You taking us to the others, or do I have to start blasting this place to fucking rubble. Because the ogres might have been resistant to my magic, but you sure as shit aren’t.”

“I will take you to them,” Thellius said, dipping his head with a shallow bow. “I would have loved to witness a harmonic in action. Our magic differs. It is more mana-borne, much more direct.”

Cassandra reached for him, extending her finger and tracing the line of his cheek. “You can tell your shaman that I’ve seen orc magic. It has touched me, and I understand it now. I can’t claim to have mastered it yet, but I will, and when I do, it will make theirs look weak.” She pulled her finger back. “Just a thought. Something to share with them.”

Thellius laughed, its rapid-fire sound filling the small courtyard. “You still don’t understand the tiers of our society. A shaman wouldn’t talk to me. He would cross the street rather than brush shoulders with my sort.”

Cassandra’s mouth hung open, but then her lips curled at the ends once more. “Well then, they’re not bad judges, are they?” Her gaze challenged his, and his laughter rang out again.

“This way,” he said, and led them through a whitewood door.

A small but well-lit tavern greeted them. Yellow lanterns warmed stone tables and stools, stone flags, walls and ceiling, all carved from the red rock. Goblins sat drinking from clay mugs, their conversation muting momentarily as Thellius stepped through the door.

“I’d say you’ll be safe here, but I’ve a feeling you’d be safe in most of Cortaine. So, I’ll say this. I’ve trusted you, vouched for you, and sent runners ahead to prepare for your arrival. I’ve had your companions—your wives—removed from cells and placed here. You fought bravely. Well, three of you did.” He glanced at Cassandra, who stuck her tongue out at him. “Don’t let me down. Keep your weapons in your room and try not to fight everyone.”

“You vouched for us?”

“We killed a dozen ogres together. I lost half my troop. Without you, the ogres would be here already, and I would be dead. I might be a soldier, and shamans might look down on me, but I know a debt when I owe one.”

He approached the counter, leaning in and talking to the serving goblin. She glanced in Josh’s direction and nodded.

Thellius returned to them. “They have allotted you the second floor. Your companions are up there. I will collect you once you are refreshed. It is morning on the surface, so you have fought through the night. Eat, drink, sleep. I will collect you in one half of one of your days. Will that be ample time for you to recuperate?”

“You don’t have night and day?” Lex asked.

“Why would we? We sleep when we’re tired. Wake when we’re hungry. Fight when we have need, and drink when we are thirsty. Night and day? No.”

The goblin showed them to a set of winding steps. “First floor.”

Josh wasted no time, climbing them as fast as his legs would carry him, then diving through an open way into a small corridor. “Arabella? Elowen? Melody?”

Tiny bells rang, and Arabella poked her head through a copper-colored curtain. “Josh!” she cried, darting out and running at him, jumping into his arms and peppering him with kisses. “You made it!”

Her joy vanished. “The others? Lex? Cassandra?”

“Please, darling,” Cassandra said, entering the corridor. “You aren’t getting rid of us that easily.”

Melody slipped through the bell-curtain, followed by Elowen.

“Are we all okay?” Josh asked.

“We are now,” Arabella said, kissing him one last time before jumping down. “This place is odd. They don’t have a vast amount of wood, so everything’s either metal or stone. Take the door—it’s a curtain of bells. No one can come in or out without setting it off.” She pulled him through. “Then there’s the table, chairs, and even a bed made of stone. But here’s the thing, according to Shellion, they also used loads of spider silk that they brought off the Ravenheart Guild. So, the bedding, most of their clothes, their tablecloths, and the like were made from silk.”

“It’s fascinating,” Elowen said, taking over. “A whole civilization functioning without day or night, without wood, paper—gathering certain foods from hundreds of feet away. I could study them for a lifetime,” she said.

“They locked you up to start with?” Josh said.

“Yeah. At first, they treated us like absolute shit,” Melody said. “They pushed and prodded us through the underground, constantly looking over their shoulders. They were shit scared of something. They put hoods over our heads before we could see the city, then we were shoved through the streets, everyone jeering and spitting at us. Eventually, they tossed us in some cells, no windows, nothing, just a bucket in the corner. We thought we were done for.”

“Then everything changed,” Arabella said. “They brought us here. There’s a bath through there. More bedrooms too. They bring food regularly, drink too, and talk to us like we’re royalty. One even said we’re going to see the king.”

“What the fuck happened?” Elowen asked.

“There’s a bath?” Josh said, glossing over the rest of it. “Only I’m covered in ogre puke, ogre guts, and ogre blood. If ever I need a bath, it’s right now.”

“I second that,” Lex said.

“Well,” Arabella said. “you’re in luck. It’s big enough for two.” She glanced at Cassandra. “Three at a squeeze.”

“Darling, I just need to take these boots off and rest my feet. Those two did the fighting. Turns out, if a monster has magic resistance, I’m next to useless.” She smirked. “I know how you feel, Els.”

Elowen bashed her. “Below the belt.”

“It was a joke.” She yawned. “I’m just too tired to worry about the delivery. I heard food and ale. Get me some of that, and I’ll tell you everything.”

“I could live with a bath, but I’m starving too,” Lex said.

“I’ll fetch you some food and drink from the other room,” Melody said. “Then I’ll bring it in.”

Cassandra took her boots off, groaning with delight. “So fucking good.” She stood, walking over to the bed. “Rock-hard. Anyone mind if I soften it up a bit?” She took off her backpack and slung it on the floor. “I am beat.”

“The baths?” Josh asked.

“Through here,” Arabella said.

Josh peeled his clothes off as he followed.

Chapter Six

WARMTH HIT him as he passed through another metal curtain, its bells gently ringing. He closed his eyes, tiredness coming in waves.

“I’ll leave you,” Arabella said, holding onto his jacket. “You must be dead on your feet.”

The curtain rang again as Lex slipped through. “This is amazing.”

Josh opened his eyes. A pool lay sunk in the floor, the water glowing, steam rising. A couple of lamps flickered with their light dim. “This place gets more surprising by the minute.” He bent to tug his boots off, but his strength let him down. He staggered, nearly falling into the pool. “I need food,” he said.

Arabella lowered him to the floor. “You’re exhausted.”

“We haven’t eaten since we entered The Hangsane. We had to fight our way here,” Lex said. “He did the bulk of it, fighting them head-to-head while I stole in.”

“Please, just get me some food and drink. The ring will do the rest, but it needs some help—some fuel.”

He lay down, breathing hard, the room swirling. Lexi pulled his boots off, then struggled with his jacket, rolling him over, pulling it off one sleeve at a time. He grinned at her as she panted and puffed. “Really? You’re as tired as me.”

She sat back, pulling her boots off and slipping her pants down. “We made a good team, didn’t we?”

“We make a good team. Present tense, not past. It was perfect. I played the tank. You kited in, delivering the killing blows.” She stood over him, her body glistening in the lamplight.

“Why do you always look like you’re freshly oiled and ready for sex?”

“Don’t you know?” she asked, stepping over him, her feet planted on either side of his waist. “Just being around you arouses me. It brings me out in a hot flush. Makes me wet inside.” She reached up, her chest thrusting forward, and she untied her short ponytail, her hair falling in a bob. “But you’re dead tired, remember? You can’t raise your head, let alone your cock.”

“For once, you are right, frustratingly right.” He sat up, his head raised, tantalizingly close to her pussy. “But be careful who you’re teasing.” The bell curtain rang as Arabella slipped through with food and ale.

“I would kill for a butt like yours, Lex.”

Josh grunted. “There’s fuck all wrong with yours, Bells.”

“Still. Hers is all muscle.” She set a plate down beside him, taking a slice of flatbread and drizzling meat in it. She rolled it up, passing it to him. “Try it. It’s good. Chicken, I think.”

“I hope,” Josh said, biting into it, the juices flooding his mouth as he chewed. He washed it down with a gulp of ale, then shoved the rest into his mouth. He breathed deeply after he swallowed. “What’s up with this place? You know more about it than me. Goblins? Are they like this? Are they this civilized?”

“No,” Arabella said. “The ones in Alianthia, they were strange little things. They were always nervous. Never washed or bothered about their clothes. Grubbed around like beggars, getting jobs for coppers. Nothing like this.” She sprinkled more meat onto some bread, then mixed in some mushrooms, a creamy sauce, and some greens that reassembled moss. Rolling it up, she passed it to Lex, who’d slipped into the bath and clung to its edge. She took a bite, nodding appreciatively. “This is good.”

Arabella prepared another, passing it to Josh. “I’m going to leave you two alone. You’ve been through hell. Chill, eat, drink. I’ll get the bed ready.”

Josh reached out for her. “I’m so fucking relieved to see you, that you’re okay. I thought we’d made a huge mistake bringing the four of you here. I thought I’d lost you. But I know it was the right move.”

“How?”

“Lex,” he said. “Cass couldn’t help us fight the ogres. But after the first, me and Lex found a way. We used my power and her agility, and we found a way. I couldn’t have done it without her. So, let’s stop all this talk of me, Cas, and Vella carrying you three, and let’s find a way to make it work with all of us.”

She kneeled by him, brushing his roll away and kissing him hard. “That’s the man I fell in love with. That’s him right there.” She stood. “Be careful, Lex. His energy’s already returning. There’s a fire in his eye.” The bells tinkled as she slipped through the curtain.

Lex scoffed her roll down, pushing off the bath and lying back in the water. “I’ll be ready,” she said, stretching and touching the pool’s other end. “This water is strange. It’s almost slimy.”

“It’s the calcium,” Josh said. “Might need to massage some oil into you later.” He pushed the rest of his roll into her mouth, chewing. He stood, his energy returning, and stripped his shirt and pants off, stretching. “I swear, every muscle in my body aches.” Crouching, he loaded up another bread, rolling it like Arabella had. “You want?”

“Please.”

He handed it to her, then made another, draining half a jug of ale before attacking it. Finishing it, he sat on the edge of the pool, dangling his feet in and pulling the tray close. “Another?”

“In a while. Come in. Get clean. Then we can eat some more.” She stood, the water cascading off her, then pulled him in, pushing him down. She sat, reaching for a pot and sniffing it. “Soap?” she asked, offering it to him.

He sniffed. It smelled a little like sandalwood. “I’m guessing it’s soap.”

She took it back, setting it on the side, then pulling him up.

“Hey! I only just got in.”

“And now you’re wet.” She reached for the soap, scooping some out then massaging it into his shoulders. “Fuck, that’s good,” he groaned.

“Gotta get the blood and guts off you,” she said softly. “Gotta get my man smelling good.”

He closed his eyes as her hands massaged him. His strength gave out. Reaching for the side, he rested there as she massaged the soap into his butt, his thighs and upper legs.

“Sit on the side,” she said, helping him around.

Then she massaged his chest, scrubbed his face, and kissed him hard on the lips. “Thank you for what you said. It made it all worth it.”

They brought his energy to the surface, like the bots repairing his spent muscles switched to reinforce his energy. He reached for the bread, not bothering with the meat, and tore a chunk off with his teeth, chewing slowly. “I meant every word. We were a great team. Me, you and Vella. It was—” His words failed him, but then the right one came. “Poetry.”

“Poetry,” she said, her soapy hands straying lower, parting his legs and cupping his genitals. “That’s more like the Josh I know.” Her hands clasped his growing erection.

He grabbed more bread, suddenly ravenous. “Hold on.” Pulling the tray close, he loaded up another piece of bread. “You want one.”

“No, I’m happy,” she purred, her hand around his shaft, working it to a full erection.

Josh lay on his back, sliding the roll into his mouth as Lex slid his cock into her mouth. He chewed slowly, taking his time, trying not to groan as she worked his cock, sucking on his crown, her tongue running around his ridge, flicking his slit. She broke off, gasping for breath, holding his cock upright as she lowered and took his balls in her mouth. Josh swallowed, his groan coming as his energy returned. “Fuck, baby, yeah,” he said, staring up at the red rock ceiling, shadows dancing, the lantern flames flickering. Her hands worked his shaft, up and down, her stroke slow, sensual, leaving him wanting more.

“I need to wash you,” Josh said, but with little intent behind his softly spoken words.

“It can wait,” Lex said, her lips hovering over his cock once more. She spat on his tip, her lips drawing over his crown, then back, then over. She hummed softly, the vibrations thrumming through him. Cupping his balls, she squeezed gently.

“You best stop, or I’m gonna cum.”

She broke away. “What if I want you to cum?”

“Then you just keep going like you are, babe.” He grabbed another slice of bread, dropping it into his mouth.

“And you keep building your strength up, because you’re fucking me straight after you’ve soaped me up.” Her head plunged down, taking him into her mouth, her lips travelling down his entire length as his cock bent into her tight throat. She held there momentarily, then pulled all the way back, gulping a breath, before going again and again.

His breaths became ragged. Her throat so tight, her tongue teasing the underside of his crown. His balls cramped, his pleasure becoming too much. She seemed to sense it, speeding up, her tongue swirling around him. He cried out, his hands slapping down on the stone as he tried to raise himself up. Lex pushed him back, holding him in place with one hand while her other had rose and fell in perfect synchronicity. He cried out, unable to extend his pleasure. She increased her speed again, her grip tightening around his shaft.

The tightness in him fled, every muscle relaxing as he flooded into her, his balls pumping his semen down her throat. He cried out, lifting his buttocks as he tried to force himself even deeper inside her. She held, taking his endless streams, swallowing all and holding him inside her. He relaxed again, his urgency gone, and she finally pulled off him, holding his shaft and licking his cock clean.

“Now I’ll have another sandwich,” she said, sitting beside him.

Josh grinned, slipping into the water and parting her legs, pulling her to the edge. “Make it yourself.” He parted her lips, bending to her. She lay back, her chest heaving. He kissed her lips, his nose nuzzling her glistening pubic hair, but he pulled away, wanting to revel in her beauty a while longer. “We’re partners, remember. One good turn deserves another.”

He ran his hands over her tight stomach, then brought them down, forcing her legs further apart. Her pink slit opened for him as he ran his thumbs up and down before opening her some more, her flesh moist, ready to accept his mouth.

“Fuck yeah,” she said, reaching for some bread and biting a chunk out of it. “Fuck yeah,” she whimpered, as his tongue slid inside her.

“You two nice and clean?” Melody asked.

“Perfect,” said Josh as he walked through the bell curtain. “How come the bed’s bigger?”

“Darling, I’m a geomancer amongst other things. Making stone beds is easy. Making them comfortable is harder, but still easy. Sleeping around here is harder.”

“They still asking you questions?” Lex asked.

“They asked a couple. But it was the noise coming from the bath that’s kept me awake. Where the hell did you two find the energy?”

“Bread,” said Josh. “We ate a lot of bread.”

He sat on a chair, pouring a mug of ale. “So, this is what we know. The king wants to see us. Cedric, his name is Cedric, I think. I get the feeling he wants a trade. Killing the ogres changed things. The trade will be simple. Our lives and passage through his land for something he wants. I reckon it’ll involve killing something. I’m hoping it’ll be a monster, but I’m not ruling anything out.” He slugged his ale. “I think we’re pretty fucked. We could kill a few of them, but not a whole city’s worth.”

“We could take them all. Fire and brimstone,” Cassandra said.

“We don’t want to start a war. There’s only seven of us.” He grunted. “But I admire your confidence.”

“So, what’s the play?” Arabella asked.

“Want my opinion?” Elowen said but didn’t wait for an answer. “We’ve entered an area that’s far more advanced than we’re used to. If that had been Mythelore, and our captors had been able to, they’d have killed us without a second thought. But what we witnessed was the intent of a retribution killing—they wanted to avenge Ravenheart—perhaps had even been ordered to. We witnessed the intent, but then they switched. Circumstance changed, and they adapted. This is not how goblins and hobs work. They carry out orders. They don’t suddenly alter their plans, veer off the track.”

“So, what are you saying?”

“I’m saying we’re going to need more than brawn to survive here. We’re going to need brains.” She beamed. “We’re going to need me. I think we are going to have to navigate a complex, political landscape, and one wrong move can get us killed.”

Josh nodded his head. “It’s what we saw. Goblins wearing fashion. Temples with lit spires. A complex civilization.”

“That’s just it,” Elowen said. “Think about the repercussions of that. If the goblins have a society this advanced, then what will a human guild be like? We’re going to have to be so careful, or we’ll be manipulated into a corner we can’t get out of.”

“So, what do we do?” Josh asked, standing and stretching before padding over to the bed and lying on top of its silk sheets. “Fuck, this is good.” He patted the bed. “Plenty of room for everyone.”

Melody pushed her goggles off, dropping her dungarees and sliding into bed next to Cassandra. “If we’re all going to bed, I’m in. I couldn’t sleep with you three gone. I thought I’d lost you.” She pouted. “I’ve never had a proper family before. I don’t want to lose it now.” She pushed Cassandra. “Shove up a bit.”

“Well, I’m not tired,” Elowen said, stripping. “There’s so many possibilities swimming around my brain. We’ve got to be strong, Josh. We must outmaneuver them. But the problem is, we don’t know the players or the game. I need to think.” She pouted, standing, looking at Josh. “But if we’re all going to bed, then I’m game. I can think all day tomorrow.” She slid beside him, her head resting on his abs. “Of course, you could always take my mind off it if you have the energy.”

“All in one bed?” Vella said, jumping onto it and pulling her two-piece off. “I want to sleep next to Josh!”

Arabella stood at the end of the bed. She set her hands on her hips. “Are you really up for six of us?”

“Let’s put it this way,” Josh said. “Elowen’s right. We must assume it’s much more complex here than meets the eye. So, we also have to assume that we might not live past tomorrow.”

“Then we live for today,” Arabella said.

“In which case, could someone get me some more bread? I think I’m going to need it.”

Chapter Seven

WHEN JOSH WOKE, it confused him. He was used to waking up in the morning. Slanted, golden light might filter through his usually open window, and avid birdsong, filled with enthusiasm for a new day, would greet him. Arabella might be there, looking out of the window, her thin nightdress just shadows about her. But none of that happened. He woke in a tangled mess of nubile, female bodies, of disheveled hair and open mouths. Being greeted by a sea of breasts was a fantastic way of breaking in the day, one he fervently hoped would happen again soon. However, the tinkle of copper bells distracted him from an exploration of said breasts.

He untangled himself and slipped off the bed’s end, narrowly avoiding Vella’s snake-like strike as she reached for him, trying to pull him back in. Parting the copper strings, he realized he was naked. While he wasn’t bashful, he wasn’t greeting one of his wives, as they were all behind him. The goblin girl stared at him, her oversized eyes bulging, and her cheeks flushing aubergine.

“Oh, oh my,” she said, covering her mouth, her gaze fixed on his genitals. “I, erm. I thought you should know breakfast is served. Sausage—” She backed away. “Among other things. Yes, sausage, great bit sausages.” She turned and hurried down the corridor.

“Huh?” he said and stared down his body to his dick. “Oh.” As he turned, the strange curtain fell back into place with a soft ringing, but a foot wedged in it, forcing him to turn back. Another goblin girl stood in the doorway. This one had a smile as big as her cleavage.

“Towels,” she said. “I have fresh towels. Would you like them in the bathroom?”

“I can do that,” Josh said, holding his hand out.

She crouched and set them on the floor, staring straight at his groin. “Magnificent.” She looked up. “Magnificent.” And she hurried off down the corridor.

“Huh?” he said, grabbing the towels and heading off to the small pool that doubled for a bath.

Before he’d taken more than a couple of paces, the bells chimed again. Setting the towels on the stone dresser, he drew them aside. Another goblin girl backed in, turning quickly and hurrying to the bathroom. “More soaps,” she called over her shoulder, disappearing for a moment then returning, pointing at his dick, giggling and running out, letting the bell curtain chime behind her.

“Huh?” Josh said again, collecting up the towels and heading off for his bath.

He soaked in the water. Surprisingly, alone-time had become quite precious to him. While he treasured each of his six girls, time to think things through was at a premium. Had he witnessed his future self reveling in a bath on his own while six beauties lay naked in his bed, he’d have reached through time and would have given that future version of himself a good slap. But what his past-self didn’t realize was alone-time was just as precious. He had to gather himself.

Fortunately, he needed very little to recharge. He’d been dead on his feet the day before and after a few meat rolls and a jug of ale, his body had recovered enough to sate each of them in what had become quite the riotous reunion. It was, he pondered, the first time all seven of them had fucked the night away. But while those memories were still clouding his mind, he needed to shift them and focus on the upcoming day.

What the hell will the goblin king want?

Clearly, he’d want something advantageous to him and his people. Hopefully, it would be a task suited to his band of misfits. Ideally, it would be fighting a monster or two. It was what they did best. He could agree to that, secure safe package through the first part of The Hangsane and enter their first friendly guild territory. What if it was something else? What if the goblin king wanted him to do something against the next guild along? He remembered back to the assassinations he’d carried out on Candour’s say-so. The memories made him feel dirty, even though they were justified. The cultists had, after all, kidnapped Thadius, Arabella and Elowen.

He washed himself down with the oils, ridding himself of the pungent stench of the previous night’s sex, then toweled himself off, dressed and leaned on the dresser as Arabella stirred.

“I’m glad you’re awake. Breakfast is served downstairs. There’s fresh towels and soaps, and I’m hungry.”

She rose from the tangle of limbs, her hair falling partly over her face, heavy lids over her eyes. “Sometimes I hate that ring of yours. You look fresh as a meadow daisy.”

He pushed himself off the dresser, reaching for her and helping her off the bed. “You know full well I’d have loved to stay in bed with you all, but those couple of rolls haven’t cut it for me, and what energy I gained, I kinda used up.” He grabbed her ass, pulling her groin onto his and feeling her nakedness through his pant’s thin fabric. “I need to recharge. So, I thought I’d scope out breakfast.”

“Just so long as you’re not scoping out a bunch of goblin girls.”

He laughed, kissing her. “Oh baby, they’ve already scoped me out.” Sliding toward the bell curtain, he opened it in one fluid motion and slipped through.

“Wait!” Arabella called. “What do you mean—” But the soft tinkle of bells cut her words off.

Josh felt peculiarly upbeat. He’d imagine their first day in The Hangsane as an uphill slog ending in an uncomfortable night camping, rinse and repeat with a few battles sprinkled in for good measure. This was way better than expected. Way better than the distant hope of finding a dry cave. True, it came with added peril, but then, venturing into The Hangsane assured peril. It was what they’d signed up for.

He took the stone steps two at a time, swept up to the counter and grinned at the goblin girl behind it. “Towels,” he said, pointing at her. “You delivered my towels. Thank you for that.”

“Soaps,” she said. “I delivered the soaps. Lace delivered the towels.”

“Oh.” He blushed. “Well, the soaps were very good. Breakfast?”

“In the bar area. We’ve set a large table for you and your…women. Will they join you?”

Josh thought back to Arabella’s comment. While none of them were particularly jealous, they’d be down pretty quickly. “Oh yes. They’ll be down. Just thought I’d get a head start.”

“I’ll inform the kitchen.”

He ambled to a large table, set for seven, and sat, drawing the attention of the dozen or so patrons all huddled over their breakfast. A goblin waitress hurried over to him. He pointed.

“Towels?” He asked.

“Breakfast. I told you about breakfast.”

He grinned. “Ah, yes, the sausages. So, do you have sausages?”

“Yes.” She averted her eyes, that hint of aubergine coloring her cheeks.

“Anything else?”

“Yes.”

He paused, waiting for her to expand. “Okay,” he said. “Tell me, who’s paying our bill?”

“The King.”

“Huh.” He’d expected the army, not the king himself.

“You have a letter of credit from The Great Muldurn. It’s as good as the king’s seal. You can have anything you want.”

“Huh,” he said again. “Well, bring me everything and lots of it. Do you have any juices? I saw you had lemons.”

“We have yinter fruit.” She managed a smile, showing off her small row of sharp teeth. “It’s nice. You should try it.”

“A jug of yinter fruit, too. Tell me…” He returned her smile. “Sorry, I didn’t catch your name.”

“Tant,” she replied.

“Tant. What is The Great Muldurn to the king? Is he a brother? A son?”

She lowered her voice. “Advisor. Wizard, we think.”

“Not a shaman?”

“Not a goblin. No one knows.” She looked about again, then hurried off.

He pondered the exchange. While he’d enjoyed embarrassing the goblin girls for gawping at him, he wondered if he could get a little more information out of them if he flirted a little bit more. Plus, who in their right mind called themselves The Great Muldurn? If it was possible to despise someone you’d never met, a name like that was a good place to start.

Within a few moments, Tant returned with an arm full of plates, scattering them like a card shark. There was a pile of the flat bread, a bowl of eggs, a plate laden with steaming meat, and another full of mushrooms. As Josh started filling his plate, a third goblin girl appeared with another armful.

“Lace?” he asked.

“Yes,” she said, but hurried off after setting the plates down. Hers had a stack of sausages, chunks of something resembling potatoes, and a third of what looked like pasta.

As the heady aromas filled his nostrils, Josh’s hunger came with vengeance, and he began to eat, attacking everything without pause.

“Yinter juice,” Tant said, returning with a jug and seven mugs. “Should we cook more for your women?”

Josh took a breath, looking at all the part-eaten plates. “Do you like The Great Muldurn?”

Her jaw dropped open, soon covered by her tiny hand. “I—I can’t say.”

“I’ll take that as a no. So, as he’s paying, let’s just say keep it coming, eh?”

She grinned. “Yes…”

“Josh.”

“Yes, Josh.”

Midway through his second helping, Arabella and Elowen sat at the table. Arabella scanned the stacked, empty plates. “Hungry?”

“There’s more coming. It’s all paid for too. Apparently, they hate the person picking up the tab, so stuff your faces.”

“That,” said Elowen, “is the best news I’ve heard in a while. Last night really took it out of me.”

Josh stabbed his fork at her. “Well, you were particularly insatiable last night.”

“Because I’m excited. This—” She spread her arms. “It’s a dream come true for me,” she said.

“Well, if you’d told me all I needed to do to get you all hot was find an underground civilization full of hot goblin girls, then I’d have done it months ago.”

“Do we have to go through this again?” Cassandra asked, sitting next to Josh. “Us six are the hottest things you’re ever going to meet, so quit looking. Is that a sausage? Haven’t eaten a sausage in an age.”

“Not true,” said Vella, sitting.

Cassandra rolled her eyes. “I suppose someone had to say it.” She filled her plate then stopped. “Who’s paying for all this?”

Melody and Lex arrived, sitting and grabbing their plates. “Paying for what?”

“Our breakfast, board, and, well, everything,” Cassandra said, stuffing a sausage into her mouth.

“Someone called The Great Muldurn. I’m not sure the character is particularly liked, but he or she are picking up the tab,” Josh replied. “So, we can assume this character is an agent for the king.”

“He is the king’s spokesperson in all things,” Thellius said, walking over to them. “And I’d take care what you say. He has ears everywhere.”

The hob pulled a chair up and sat. “Do you mind if I join you?”

“Not at all,” Josh said. “I’ve told them to keep it coming.”

Thellius helped himself to a plateful of food. He leaned in as he spoke. “It all began a while ago. Cedric wasn’t getting any younger. So talk of a successor began. But his children are weak, feeble goblins. Two of the five died early—too much interbreeding. The third—the strongest—was assassinated by one of the others. All fingers pointed to Grobbler. So, we were left with two, neither suited to ruling. We tried to coax Cedric into siring another child with a common goblin girl. We needed to strengthen the bloodline. But alas, it appears he is unable to perform, and so we’d given up hope of him siring new children. But neither of the two remaining heirs improved. Grobbler became more and more evil, hunting out dire banes. The other, Trin, became weaker and weaker.” He stopped, looking around. “So, the heads of the five families got together and searched The Hangsane for a magicker who could renew our king with his potency. We needed a wizard of the source. Then along came The Great Muldurn. He was everything we had hoped for—unattached, so no guild loyalty. He bore no prejudice to hobs or goblins, and for a while, Cedric grew better. Goblin girls came and went from his chambers. But none fell pregnant.”

“Why don’t you just topple him and install someone else?” Josh asked. “If his family’s useless, then he’s got to go.”

“Goblin society isn’t like that. Unless the chief dies without an heir, then none can move against him. To kill the two remaining heirs is certain death. We have a strict structure that solves the constant infighting that crippled our development. Cortaine is the pinnacle of goblin progress. Cedric’s family are its architects. There can be no going back to the infighting of before.”

“But this Muldurn,” Melody said. “If he hasn’t upheld his part of the bargain, why not just get rid of him and start again? He hasn’t delivered the kids, so off he trots.”

“A good point,” Josh said, taking a drink of yinter fruit and screwing his face up like he was in pain. “Fuck that’s harsh.”

“They say the yinter packs the punch of twenty lemons. But wait for it.”

“And they aren’t far wrong,” Josh said. “Wait for what?” His mouth became warm—a pleasant, crawling sensation that filled him with unbelievable pleasure. “That?” he asked.

“Just so,” Thellius said, as the girls each tried a sip, screwed their faces then said “Ahh,” all together.

“Alas,” Thellius said, answering Melody’s earlier question. “Cedric and The Great Muldurn have become so entwined it is now hard to work out where one starts and the other ends. I fear for our city, Josh. I fear for our future.”

“You can’t let all this culture fall back to grubbing about in caves,” Elowen said. “We will do what we can to help.”

“We will?” said Cassandra. “I thought we were just passing through.”

“It’s very kind of you, but the problem is ours to bear. The five families will have to make up their minds soon. Even the unthinkable might become reality. You, Josh, only have to gain enough favor to move on. I will gladly escort you to our borders. To my mind, you have done enough for our city already.”

“And I thank you for that,” Josh replied. He took a slice of bread and laid some sausages in it, rolling it up and offering it to Thellius before making himself another. “But I do have a problem with it.”

Thellius stared at the roll. He cocked his head as Josh took a bite on his. The hob commander followed suit, munching nervously, and then with more enthusiasm. “You do?”

“Yup,” said Josh. “So far, this is the only place I’ve found that makes a sausage sandwich. I used to live on these fuckers. So you see—” He took another bite, chewing thoughtfully. “There’s no way I can see Cortaine fall.”

Chapter Eight

THEY WALKED THE BUSY STREETS, crowds parting for them, eyeing them up as Thellius forged for the city’s center and the huge, obsidian palace. Josh’s energy had returned, his belly full and his power restored. He owed Thellius, even though it didn’t seem it. This was a part of The Hangsane he’d never thought he’d see. When he’d flown over it with Drokrin, he’s spied some settlements, some towns, but for the most part it and been forests, meadows and rocks. That had been the type of trip he’d expected—a hard slog. If one simple quest saw him through their first section, well, he couldn’t ask for any more than that.

As they neared the center, the streets became even busier. Hob market stalls sold all manner of wares. Goblin runners delivered purchased goods, while hob shopkeepers stared out from shops filled with fineries. They passed teahouses, bakeries, delicatessens and silk shops. Every conceivable product of respectable society existed, and the closer they ventured to the palace, the more lavish the goods for sale.

The palace sat in a five-sided plaza, a large house at each point, which Thellius told them represented each of the five houses. He named them, but the names went in one ear and out the other as the vibrant culture drew his attention once more.

While he wanted to help the hob commander, he had no intention of staying in Cortaine. Their goal was the ruins, the mysterious place called The Emmitance, and anything else had to be a means to get there.

Five wide steps led to the palace’s lofted doors; hob guards dressed all in black on either side. A set of stone doors lay open. Thellius marched through, and they entered a hallway reminiscent of a cathedral, except all in black with dull, green lighting. Their footsteps echoed as they traversed the large, empty space. The goblin commander headed for a door to one side of a mighty black throne raised upon an impressive dais.

Before he could get to the door, a huge hob stepped in front of it. Thellius pulled up short. “I have a meeting with the King and The Great Muldurn.”

“Does he really insist on being called that?” Josh whispered as the hob guard slipped through the door.

“He has always been known by that name, and never offered another.” The hob shrugged. “So, that’s his name. Odd, I know. Although, there are certain rumors as to his origin.”

“Sounds like he’s an acrobat at some tawdry circus,” Josh muttered, knowing no one would understand him. Fortunately, before anyone could ask him about it, or Thellius could explain further, the door swept open, and the large guard bid them enter.

“They will see you now.”

The eight of them all filed through, the guard shutting the door and blocking their exit. The chamber they entered was a smaller version of the throne room they’d walked through. Cedric sat on a raised throne, slumped to one side, his eyes staring vacantly out and his mouth dangling open. Josh wondered if he wasn’t dead, or very close to it. His green skin was gray, dried and crusty, and whisps of gray hair peppered his bald head. A crown sat upon it at a jaunty angle. It was one of the saddest sights Josh had ever seen.

To one side stood a figure Josh presumed was The Great Muldurn. He wore all black, his heavy cloak boasting an over-sized hood from which shone a silver mask. It was impossible to tell if Muldurn was a hob or not, but Josh’s overall impression told him not. Hobs were taller than goblins, and well built. Although Muldurn stood on a dais, it was clear he would be a head taller than Thellius even without that advantage.

Thellius bid them line up pulling Josh to the center. “My King, this is Josh and his team. You requested their presence. They were instrumental in—”

“We know what they did.” Muldurn’s words curled around the room, their speaking like a spell, sending shivers up Josh’s spine. “They invaded goblin territory without suing for safe passage. While under judgement, they fought for their own lives.” He stopped talking, stepping forward and alongside Cedric. “Rest assured, Commander, whatever you think they did, they merely acted to save their own skin. We owe them nothing.”

“Then,” said Josh. “Thank you for breakfast. We’ll be on our way. Unless you want us to fight our way out.”

“You have no weapons,” Muldurn said.

“I don’t need weapons.”

The king grunted, sagging a little more.

“Could heal,” Vella said.

The Great Muldurn turned to Vella. “Alas, little one. Cedric’s body is in turmoil. Simple heals will not work on him. If they could, then I would have healed him a long time ago.” Muldurn returned his attention to Josh. “You might not need weapons, but you would have to break my charms and wards. To attack is certain death. I’m no fool. I understand the volatility of humans. You must learn the ways of The Hangsane.”

“Then why don’t you teach me?”

“It is simple. We allow you passage through our lands and soon enough everyone tramples through. No, you must pay a price for not seeking permission, and then you must pay another for permission. This is our way. The king judges that you will lose one wife for the first omission. Choose which one.”

Josh grinned. “I think not. But let’s hear the king say what he has to say.”

“I speak for the king. The second price is much more straightforward. Across the valley is a camp of vile trolls. Their camp thrives, and it thrives because they have a Sinter Stone. The stone sits in the center of their camp, and from it radiates prosperity and health. Such a thing could heal our king, revive his potency, and bring him the heirs he so desires. Should you retrieve this, then the first transgression will be forgotten.”

“What if I don’t want to do that?”

“Five houses,” Muldurn said. “On the corner of each facet of the plaza sits a House, and each has a Shamanic School within it. All have currently turned their attention upon this place, and all of their studies are waiting for the opportunity to kill you and your women. In case you are under any misconception, you humans are nothing but a curio here. You are lower than an animal. One excuse, Josh Underwood, and you will be erased from The Hangsane like the bug you are.”

Josh moved forward, but Cassandra held him back, her grip firm. “No,” she whispered.

“The Harmonic understands,” Muldurn said. “She can see the power of the magic that protects me. Do you truly think I would leave myself and my King this exposed?”

“No,” said Josh, as proudly as he could.

“Then, here are my terms. You will leave the sacrifice behind.”

“There will be no sacrifice,” Josh spat.

“Not if you bring us the stone.” Muldurn cleared his throat. “You will leave one behind, assuring your speedy return. If you do not return to a place Thellius specifies within five days with the stone, then the girl will be taken and sacrificed to our gods, and our King will feast on her heart. Who will it be?”

Josh hesitated, knowing he was fucked. Cassandra’s grip remained firm, warning him not to lose his temper.

“I am.”

The words cut through Josh like a knife as Elowen stepped forward. “I will be your hostage, but I wish to spend one day with each House that I might study your culture in the hope that my master will be victorious and return to claim me.” She kneeled before the dais.

“No!” Josh said, breaking Cassandra’s grip. But before he could lunge forward, Muldurn, Cedric and Elowen vanished.

“No!” Josh screamed, racing toward the throne. “No! I should have killed him.” He rounded on Cassandra. “Why did you hold me back?”

“Think!” Cassandra said, anger flashing in her eyes. “Think! All that magic in the room. Did you get a single warning that you were in danger?”

“No!” Josh said.

“Because you weren’t. They were all illusion spells. Muldurn was never there. Cedric was never there.”

“But they took Elowen.”

“Translocation magic. Muldurn’s power—”

“Quiet,” Vella said, pointing to her ears. “No speak.”

Josh rounded on Thellius. “Did you know what was going to happen?”

The hob commander paled. “I think you’re overestimating my position in Cortaine society. Commanders aren’t privy to the plans of kings and their advisors.”

The huge hob opened the door and led them out. As they walked through the huge hall, Thellius fell silent. It was only as they passed the plaza’s perimeter that he spoke again. “The elf is correct to quieten you. The Muldurn has listening wards planted everywhere. There will be several in your room. I was probably foolish to speak at the breakfast table, but I hope for my sake, you chose it at random. I know somewhere we can speak. Do you still trust me?”

“Do I have any choice?” Josh asked.

Thellius sat upon a stone bench overlooking the river that bisected Cortaine. He fished in his pocket, bringing out a small bag filled with breadcrumbs. “There never used to be any birds in Cortaine. No one knows when they first came, or even how they found their way down here. Some say that a bunch of scavenged eggs hatched. Others think that the birds simply followed our gatherers down, feeding on dropped seeds. It matters not. They are here, and they are most welcome. The plants began to appear around the same time. Grass clung to cracks in the rock. Moss crawled up from the water’s edge.” He grunted. “Give it another couple of generations and we might see pasture. If we last that long.”

Josh sat next to him, his rage still coursing through his veins with nowhere to go. He rarely felt helpless, but all he could see was Elowen being paraded through the streets, her death gruesome. “If they lay a hand on her—”

“If you retrieve this stone, the Five Houses will demand Muldurn uphold his end of the bargain. She was very sharp in her demands—very clever. In five days, they will each know her. It is easier to kill a stranger.”

“They touch—” Josh said, exhaled and clasped his hands together, staring at the passing water. “You said you could help.”

“I know of the trolls. I know where they are. I can take you to our nearest cave, and we will set that as the meeting point.”

“Is it just a band of trolls?” Melody asked. “Because if it is, then we have a chance.”

Thellius grunted. “Were it just a band. I believe there are around thirty. Their camp is organized, and they hold the entire western bank of the land strip above. We hold the east, them the west. So it’s always been.”

“But trolls? Organized?” Cassandra said.

Josh wondered at the evolution of the species in The Hangsane and mourned the loss of Elowen. Her theories would have been useful. “Assume they’re organized. The ones we beat came from The Hangsane and they had good structure.”

“Ours was better,” Arabella said. “And it had better be again.”

“What’s this stone that he wants?”

“The Sinter Stone?” Thellius asked. “Have you heard of a place called The Emmitance? Some call it Ruins?”

“It’s where we’re headed,” Josh said.

“Figures. Long ago, before the Guardians took control of the place, folks traveled to the ruins to feel good. It had warmth about it. Some left strengthened with power they’d never enjoyed before. Others died. Whatever the ruins held killed them, shriveling their bodies and minds. Others stole pieces of the ruins, hoping to take the power with them. Most were just stone, emitting nothing, but some—Sinter Stones—helped. They bound previously fragmented societies. The trolls stole ours.”

“How?”

“We were careless. Cedric had it embedded in a staff. He believed the stone brought luck, and he sent a shaman with our hunters and gatherers. And he was right. The staff worked. Our hauls increased. Things changed for us. We set up pilgrimages to the ruins in the hope of securing more stones. But the guardians patrolled the site, setting up their headquarters right by it. They became so powerful that none could argue with them. Any that did never returned. So, we settled for one of the stones, and we continued enjoying its influence. We progressed. Our society evolved, and we became complacent.”

“You lost it?” Josh said.

“One day, an advisor called Atticus accompanied the gatherers with the stone. But the trolls attacked, and they were lost. We waited. We sent out patrols, but no one never returned. At first, we thought he’d run off with it—decided to keep its power to himself, and we rued the trust we’d placed in him. But then our patrols found his clothing covered on blood, and bones littered everywhere. The staff lay broken by his side, the top gone—the Sinter Stone stolen.”

“Why not attack the trolls and take it back?”

He scoffed. “Believe it or not, they were far more sensible with it than we were. They hid it away and let the stone’s influence take hold on their pack. They progressed where we stood still. When they emerged, they were more powerful than us. They out-thought our every move. If we attacked, they killed all and sent the bodies back, piling them into our caves to deter us from further attacks. Now, we have no chance. If we threw the whole city at them, they would be victorious.”

“Why? There are thousands of you.”

“They have chosen their camp well. It backs up against a cliff. There is only one narrow path accessing it. Numbers mean nothing. You travel that path, and you face their fury.”

“Do we know where they keep the stone?”

“In the center. There is a large building in the center of the camp. It must be there. There can be no other place.”

“Fuck,” Josh said. “Lookouts too, I guess?”

“We always keep them under surveillance. Their next move will be to take our lands. They patrol constantly. The stone instills discipline.” He sighed. “I have no idea how you can prevail and rescue Elowen. I know you won’t do it, but my suggestion would be to flee and forget her. She’s dead either way. I will make it quick for her, even if it costs me my life.”

A surge of anger coursed through Josh. He breathed hard, calming. “If we don’t return, then it will be a service I ask of you. In return, find my body and take this ring.” He held his hand up. “If it’s going to anyone, then it should go to you.”

Thellius nodded. “I will do this.”

“But,” said Melody. “There’s no fucking way we’re going to let a bunch of trolls kill us. Can you take us back to that place we were first ambushed—the cave near the waterfall.”

“I can. I know the place. Why?”

“Because I tossed my stuff over the edge before the goblins took me. I have a feeling we’re going to need it.”

“Have you got a plan?” Josh asked.

“Of course. Blow the fuckers up.”

Chapter Nine

“FIVE DAYS,” Josh said, “and one is over.”

They sat around a cave, night drawing in. Melody had retrieved her satchel and was busying herself priming her grenades and working her triggers. Arabella had pinned a small boar with a clean arrow shot. She’d skinned and gutted it and now roasted it over warm stones, courtesy of Cassandra’s geomancy. Lex patrolled the cave’s entrance, though barely went out of earshot, while Vella sat on Josh’s lap curling her hair around her finger, pulling it out, then doing it again.

“Have all night,” she said. “Troll camp is a day away, a day back. A day to get back to Cortaine. Gives us one day to get stone.”

“We prepare,” Arabella said, turning the spit. “If Elowen was here, that’s what she’d say.”

“But she isn’t here,” Josh snapped. “She’s in some fucking excuse for a guild house with a group of hobs and gobbos that haven’t got a strong enough spine to sort out one prick in a silver mask.”

“You’re not going to let it go, are you?” Cassandra asked. “Even if Muldurn upholds his end of the bargain, you’re going to kill him, aren’t you?”

Josh glared at her, his frustration boiling over. “Of course, I am. He’s threatened to gut one of you and eat your hearts. You think I’m going to let that stand?”

“Good,” said the witch. “Because I have an idea how we do it.”

“I’m all ears.”

“We have to kill the trolls and retrieve the Sinter Stone faster than three days. They have mapped it out. They know it’s going to take five days at least. If we get back faster, we can take them by surprise.”

Arabella sighed. “How are we going to do that?”

“Simple,” Cassandra said. “We don’t sleep.”

“I, err,” Josh said. “We can’t fight if we’re all half asleep.”

“Arabus is out,” Cassandra said. “He hasn’t answered my call. We’ve got no choice but to hike to the troll camp. We could be there by morning. We all know from previous experience that trolls sleep during the day. We march tonight, scout tomorrow, attack the day after. Sleep? We only miss tonight. We get a full night’s sleep before we attack.”

“I take it you’ve forgotten about the rock snakes and all the other monsters that live here,” Melody said.

“I have not. Josh has his warning system. I have my naturalism. Somehow, we have to muddle through. If we keep to the riverbank, the moon will light our way. Vella knows these valleys. She can scout forward, alert us if there’s any issues. If we’re going to do this, then we do it fast and leave ourselves time.” Cassandra rolled her eyes. “God knows Arabella needs her beauty sleep, but we all have to make sacrifices.”

Melody fished in her sack. “I have this one.”

“We can’t have any explosions alerting them we’re coming,” Josh said.

“I can scatter it if the snakes attack. Cassandra can ignite it. It burns in place. Should discourage them.”

“Last resort,” Josh said, eying the powder. “I can think of better uses for that.”

Arabella carved the boar meat, piling it on a plate and letting them all help themselves. She wrapped up a load, stashing it in her rucksack. They ate in silence. Josh hardly touched the meat, but Cassandra forced some into his hands. “Eat,” she said. “We need you strong.”

He chewed, but his mouth was dry. A sick feeling had gathered in his gut, and it wasn’t going anywhere. They finished eating, all standing, checking their weapons, then moving out. Vella took the lead, weaving along the line where the mountains tucked into the forest, looking out for caves, for bears and wolves. They stuck to the goblin side of the valley, the slight breeze traveling up.

Josh deployed his scale armor, following the flighty elf and hoping that if the snakes attacked, they’d try him first. The moon rose high, lighting their way. None of them spoke. There was nothing to say. Their trip to the ruins, their free passage through The Hangsane had gone sideways, and badly.

Vella dropped from a tree, her finger to her lips. “Big cat,” she said, crouching down. Josh dropped to one knee, his spear in hand. The cat’s growl resounded around the cliff face. His temper boiled. The injustice of it all welling inside him. The cat closed, its yellow eyes flicking in the moonlight. The creature’s hackles rose, its brilliant white hair standing on end.

“Fuck this,” Josh growled, knowing the cat would spot Vella at any time. He swapped his scale armor for stealth, then raced forward.

It must have sensed him coming. He dove, but the creature easily evaded him, jumping onto a rock and regarding him. With his stealth worthless, Josh changed back into his scale armor, facing the beast, stabbing at the creature. The cat cocked its head, pacing up and down on the boulder. Then it sat, regarding him while licking its paws.

“Is it purring? I think it’s purring.”

It closed one eye, opening its other. “Why wouldn’t I purr? I always purr after I play, and that was what we were doing, wasn’t it?”

Josh rubbed his eyes; sure the cat’s face had blurred momentarily. He wanted to scream, talking fucking cat, but as he’d already had a good long chat with a dragon and a spider, he wasn’t quite as surprised as he might have been. “I thought you were a threat,” he said.

“So, we weren’t playing. You can tell your friends they can come out now. I’ve fulfilled my task.”

“You have?” Josh asked. “What task?”

“I have found that which was lost.” The cat shimmered again, and in its place sat a woman, but one with a tail, two cat-like ears and whiskers.

Josh blinked, unsure of his eyes, her tail swishing behind her. “Us?”

“My,” she said. “Isn’t the great Josh Underwood perceptive? Yes, you. The vanquisher of Ravenheart enters The Hangsane then vanishes. Not much happens around here. This is big, real big.”

She cast an eye over the others. “One short? Have you a tale of woe to tell? I have the time.”

Vella sat on the boulder next to the cat. “What’s your name?”

“Affinity,” she said. “My name is Affinity.”

“Goblins,” Vella said.

“Say no more. What have those no-good hobs got you doing?”

“Have you got somewhere we could talk?” Cassandra asked.

“I have,” said the cat.

“We need to get a move on,” Josh said.

“Wherever you are going, I can get you there faster. Sometimes the fastest way is the slowest.”

“That doesn’t make any sense,” Melody said, as they all followed the cat.

A fire blazed, a huge man tending it, and the smell of roasting meat wafted over his shoulder. “The giant is called Pec. He likes to drink, tell stories and do all sorts of giantish things.”

Affinity walked in front of them. She’d taken a human form, but had retained her tail, ears, whiskers, and cute, button nose. She was quite spoken, the ends of her sentences fading to nothing, like thick smoke thinned by a breeze.

“Why are you helping us?” Josh asked, as they settled around the fire, Pec ignoring their arrival.

“Because you killed Ravenheart, and it was obvious you’d get in a spot of bother as soon as you entered the mountains.”

“Because we’re weak?”

“Because you don’t know this place.”

“Tell me the story,” Pec suddenly said as if he’d finally awoken to their presence. “The one where you killed Ravenheart. Tell me that one. A good storyteller, mind. Which one of you is best?”

“Not me,” said Vella.

“Or me.” Cassandra pulled up her hood, like it would exclude her from the conversation.

“I can tell it,” Arabella said. “I’ve heard it enough times, and it will save you Josh’s monotone delivery.”

“You tell it,” Pec said, nodding and rubbing his gray-flecked stubble. “I like a woman’s voice. Should be more women storytellers.” He turned his spit.

“Perhaps you might like to hear the story about the goblins, Pec,” Affinity said.

“Wanna hear the one about Ravenheart.” Pec picked up a mug, sloshing some ale down.

“Then you shall hear it, Pec,” Arabella said, and sat by it, recanting it nearly perfectly.

“That Drokrin is an old rascal. He really gets you to heal him, little one?”

“Does,” said Vella.

“My back?”

Vella placed her palm on Pec’s back, then mumbled some words, a bright green aura bursting from her. Pec lofted his eyebrows, and a gappy smile sat upon his face. “Now tell me the goblin story.”

Josh began, but Pec shut him up, demanding that Arabella tell him instead. At its end, he took another draft of ale and rested his chin on his upturned palm.

“What do you think, Pec?” Affinity asked.

“Hmmmm.” Pec replied. “Hmmmm.”

“What does Hmmmm mean?” Josh asked.

“It means he’s thinking. I’d be carving the snake if I were you. It’s a mighty fine meal if you like that sort of thing.” Affinity passed Josh a carving knife and plate, and Josh began carving as Pec slowly turned the spit.

“We can’t help,” Pec finally said. “It is a dispute between goblin and troll. If we take a side, our neutrality is in jeopardy. While Craka might side with one, or she might side with the other, both are equally despicable that she wouldn’t want to be seen supporting one or the other. So no, we can’t help.”

“Then what—” Josh said, but Pec held his hand up and stopped him.

“Directly. We can’t help directly. But there’s nothing to stop you using our camp. The trolls are just over the river and along a bit. And there’s nothing to stop us helping you back to the camp. But we do have a problem.”

“What’s that?” Cassandra asked.

“If the trolls do have a Sinter Stone, and I’ve no reason to think they haven’t. And if you take it off them, then there is no way we can let you give it back to the goblins.”

Josh shot up. “But we need it to get Elowen back.”

Pec regarded him, his wizened wrinkles deepening. “Then we have a bit of a problem, don’t we? Nothin’ to get all steamed up about. Better I tell you now than when you’re all fired up and think you’ve won. Dear to you, this Elowen?”

“More than you can ever imagine.”

Affinity’s tail twitched. She scrunched her nose up, her eyes darting to a point outside the clearing. “Looks like Flick’s back.”

Josh followed her line of sight but could only see a tree. Then, like Affinity had, the tree blurred, and a woman dressed in bark and leaves dappled with pale green skin stood in its place.

“One missing,” Flick said.

“There’s a story,” Pec said. “A short one, but I enjoyed it. Mind, it’s only halfway through, so not sure if I’ll like the end yet. Might hate it.”

“Kinda hope you do,” Josh said.

The giant grunted. “Get the girl to tell you, not him. He’s a little salty.”

“He’s got every right to be salty,” Affinity said.

“Look, no offence, but if you’re not going to help us, and you intend to rob the Sinter Stone once we steal it from the trolls, I’m not sure we should be swapping stories.”

“I’ll be the judge of that,” said Flick, and sat next to Arabella. “This one?”

“Has a fine, fine voice,” said Pec.

Arabella blushed and told their story again.

Flick shrugged. “I make Pec right on both counts, but I do think you’ve explained it wrong. We won’t steal the stone from you, Josh. You’ll give it to us.”

He growled. “Why the hell would I do that when I need it to get Elowen back?”

“Because you want to live, and if you give it to us, I’ll offer you free passage through our lands, and those lands are some of the hardest to get through.”

“What lands are they?” Cassandra asked. “

“The Magical lands. The land of the magical races. It’s not one you want to venture into without good understanding. Ask Vella. She’s nearly fallen foul of it a few times.”

“Hard,” said Vella, drawing stern gazes from her companions.

“Well, I need that stone to get Elowen back. After that, you can have it.”

“But to take it to Cortaine would risk losing it.”

“Then you’ll have to kill me.”

“Darlings,” said Cassandra. “It’s all academic at the moment. Why don’t we get it off the damn trolls first and then worry about it?”

“Ah, the Harmonic speaks,” said Flick. “Don’t you understand, my dear? If you understood half of your power, you’d beat those trolls with a flutter of your eyebrows.”

“But, tree woman, it’s patently obvious that I don’t completely understand my power, so unless you can give me a speedy lesson in how to control it without destroying the world, then shut the fuck up, because I’m about an inch away from not caring who I hurt and when. So, back to my original statement. It’s all academic at the moment. Plus, didn’t you say you couldn’t interfere in a dispute between goblin and troll?”

“We can’t break our agreements with the troll or goblin without lodging our intent to go to war,” Affinity said.

“And once the trolls don’t exist and it’s our dispute with the goblins—what then? What are your instructions then?” Cassandra asked.

“We were told to come to your aid if you required it.”

“Well, what say we meet then?” the witch said.

“But we’ve already met,” Pec said.

Josh picked up a piece of snake meat and nibbled on it. “Not bad,” he said. “Not bad at all.” He chewed some, then regarded the cat woman, giant and dryad. “I think what she means is this. What if we didn’t meet until after we had the Sinter Stone? Would you, or would you not, be allowed to help us get our friend back?”

Affinity grinned, her tail swishing from side to side. “I believe we would be able to aid you indirectly. Perhaps Pec could have a chat with our friends the ogres, and they might be able to provide a distraction.”

Josh’s pained expression gave his discomfort away. “That might not be possible anymore.”

Affinity inhaled hard, then exhaled slowly. “Are they already dead?”

Lex flicked her knife up in the air, catching its hilt, then throwing it into a nearby trunk. “As dead as the trolls are going to be in a couple of days. You don’t fuck with the Misfits.”

Flick chuckled. “Oh, how delightful. You don’t even know quite how weak you are. Pec, does the presence of the Sinter Stone alter things?”

The giant put his huge arm around Arabella. “I wished it did, but we can’t fight unless they attack us.”

“There’s only forty of them,” Melody said. “We could just—”

“Don’t say it,” Cassandra said.

“Blow the fuckers up.”

Chapter Ten

JOSH VANISHED, his stealth suit on, as he jumped from boulder to boulder to cross the river. The sun rose behind him, warming the valley, burning off dew from the grass tufts lining the riverbank. Vella followed behind him, leaping from the last rock, catching a low branch and squirrelling up into the forest’s canopy. Flick landed beside Josh, her colors melding perfectly with the surroundings as she slipped into the forest, bidding him follow her.

Their inability to directly intervene appeared to hinge around direct action rather than indirect help. It was plain to see the magical folk despised both the trolls and the goblins in equal amounts and were looking forward to seeing whether Josh and his team could really wipe out so many of the fearsome beasts. Of course, much of the talk of killing them all came from Melody’s blow-them-all-up attitude, but that ignored retrieving what was likely a small slither of stone.

Josh followed the dryad uphill. She moved quietly and efficiently, much like Vella, and only Josh made the odd noise, although even he was much stealthier than he had been when he’d first crashed to the land. They eventually came to the forest’s jagged edge, and Flick’s green and brown colors faded to grays and blacks as she climbed the mountainside, coming to a narrow ledge and walking along it like it meant nothing.

Josh scaled the rock face, pulling himself onto the ledge and easing along it. It was, perhaps, only a twenty-foot drop and provided he quickly changed to his scale armor, he doubted he’d get much more than a bruise or two. But the thought of falling plagued him. After all his tough talk, he didn’t want to make a fool of himself in front of Flick.

She vanished into a fissure. Josh followed, wondering where Vella was. Edging around, he squeezed into the crack, then stepped across onto a ledge and ducked into a small cave. Flick pointed to a tunnel around three feet in diameter. “If you’ve a mind, you could crawl through there and it might, or it might not, bring you right out above the troll camp. I didn’t tell you that, though.”

He lent her a funny look, wondering if the three of them weren’t simply playing with them. Every time they said they wouldn’t help, they then helped them. Not only was it downright confusing, it made it very difficult to plan anything. Vella jumped into the cave. “Follow me,” she said, and climbed into the hole.

Josh sighed, pulled himself into the hole, and looked straight ahead. He was rewarded with the fine sight of Vella’s bald pussy staring at him as the pantyless elf crawled forward. “Every cloud has a silver lining,” he muttered, scurrying forward to catch up, then giving her ass a playful bite.

She paused, wiggling her ass and giggling playfully. Josh nudged her forward with his nose, kissing her, and smiling for the first time since they’d left Elowen behind. The tunnel darkened as it took a turn downward. Vella scurried forward, then dropped out of sight. Josh followed, crawling out of the tunnel and dropping face first onto a rough, rock slab. He spun around, sitting and facing a sheer drop. Vella edged forward, peeking over the ledge. “Trolls,” she said.

Josh joined her. He shuffled back. “That’s a bigger drop than expected.” Edging forward again, he peered down. “Fuck.”

The troll village was nothing like the simple arrangement of the one close to Endover. A large d-shaped stockade hemmed it against the mountainside, with huts arranged in an orderly manner. As Thellius had said, the largest was central, and had a stone chimney poking out of a thatched roof. As it was daytime, Josh had not expected to see any trolls, but one stood guard by the closed gate, and another sat in front of the long house. Everything was orderly. The other troll camp had been littered with bones and skins, but below him, not a single thing was out of place.

Josh sighed. If the Sinter Stone was responsible for their organization, if it was the cause of the goblin’s original advancement, then it was precious indeed. It was no wonder Affinity and the others wanted it for themselves.

“We’re going to have to do this differently,” Josh said. “We gotta draw them out.”

“Yes,” Vella said. “You draw. I steal.”

He eased himself out a bit more, looking down at the sheer cliff face. “You could climb down that?”

“Can, and back up again. If you can get trolls out, I’ll steal the stone.”

“Then we have one problem. How do we draw them out?”

They both looked at each other. “Melody,” they said together.

“We’re on day two. The trolls are most active at night, so that is when we must attack, but this time, we want to draw them out rather than kill them.” Josh drew a semicircle, then the river. “What’s in between? Is there anything they covet in between? Perhaps something we can destroy that they’ll want to protect?”

“Fishing,” said Pec, standing. “They like fishing. Let me show you.”

Josh had never seen Pec stand, and he’d never got his head around giants. Some movies he’d seen depicted them as fifty-foot-high creatures, broad as fuck and basically huge humans. Others put them at ten or twelve feet, just tall humans. Pec had extremely long legs and arms, but his torso wasn’t quite so elongated, making him look quite awkward. He had a big head, but a thin neck. He stood, though, at around fifteen feet. So, while he wasn’t huge, he certainly qualified as a giant, at least, in Josh’s mind.

Josh jumped up, ready. Pec bent down, scooping him up, and placing him on his shoulders. “It’ll be faster this way.”

If ever Josh had ever felt completely awkward, it was then. “I can walk,” he said.

“Not the way I’m going,” Peck said, and strolled toward the river, marching straight into its middle then turning downstream. “I can’t walk through the forest. The trees get into my eyes.”

“Fair enough,” Josh said, shifting around and getting himself comfortable.

After a short while, he gauged their distance, judging them to be roughly alongside the troll camp. “It’s just down here,” he said, stopping and taking a deep breath. “I love this part of the mountains. The air’s so fresh and the monsters are so small. Much less stressful.”

“Are you just winding me up? Because if you are, it’s working.”

Pec chuckled. “What are you afraid of? You killed Ravenheart, didn’t you?”

“We had a lot of help. He was next door to dead when we got there.”

Pec brushed his stubble. “But you had the guts to go in there, didn’t you? Many in The Hangsane wouldn’t.”

“Meh! I’ll take that as a compliment.”

“Gotta reel a bite in when you can.”

The fishing simile wasn’t lost on Josh. “How do you know they like to fish?”

“Because I use their spot. It’s very nice and deserted during the day.” Pec continued downstream, coming to a spot where the river widened. “They formed a large dam with boulders and shingle and flooded this part of the valley, then they built all these piers, using the stumps of waterlogged trees as foundation. They spilt the rest of the trees to make the piers. Do you fish?”

“Never have.”

“Why?”

“No rivers or lakes where I came from. I lived on a ship.”

Pec scratched his head. “A ship?”

“That flew in the air.”

“Ah.”

Josh craned his head to try and see more. “We set fire to this lot and the trolls will come running?”

“They’ll tear out of their camp day or night. But they’ll realize it’s a trap the moment they get here. I’ll bet a pinch to an inch they’ll turn and run back. The Sinter Stone might help them, but dumb is dumb and trolls are dumb.”

“So, we’ll have less than ten minutes to steal the stone.”

“Hmmph. You’ll have less than ten minutes to get out of the valley. They’ll rip up every boulder, tear down every tree hunting for it.”

“Let us worry about that,” Josh said.

Pec sighed. “It was such a good spot, teaming with trout, and even the odd eel.”

“No leeches, though?” Josh asked, horrible memories returning.

“Here no. Upriver, you get some big ones. Suck a bear dry in moments.”

Josh shivered again.

“Okay,” Josh said on his return. “We do this during the day. Pec assures me we’ll get the desired reaction day or night. Day’s better for us. The only question is first light or dusk. I’m going with first light, which will mean we’ll all have to get in position tonight. My reasons are simple. First light, they’re tired, but not asleep. They’ll see the smoke and run straight back. Hopefully they’ll assume it’s something they’ve done. Vella can get in and out fast. Once they know the fishing area is destroyed, they’ll return back. So, how do we delay them? Melody, you’re with Vella. Your job is to destroy their village but primarily it is to destroy the hut that they keep the Sinter Stone in after Vella has it. That way, they’ll have no clue if it’s gone.”

“Where am I?” Cassandra asked.

“You and Arabella are in charge of destroying the fishing area. We need loads of smoke, flashes, bangs. Melody with give you a few grenades, but you’ll have to lean heavily on magic and flaming arrows. Any trolls you can take out, great, but don’t put yourself in danger. This is all about the stone. Melody and Vella are in the tunnel. Vella goes in for the steal. Melody launches her grenades from the tunnel once she’s on her way up.”

“What about me?” Lex asked.

“You’re with me. You’ve got the stealth, so have I. We wait close to the camp. As soon as it all goes off, we enter the camp. If any trolls hang around, we must fight. Vella must get a clear run at the stone, or we’re fucked. We have to get in and out before the trolls get back.”

“Got it,” Lex said. “So, what times for positions?”

“We’ve got time for food, some sleep, then we split up.”

“I don’t like splitting up,” Arabella said.

“Me either, but we’ve got no choice. If Elowen was here, she’d agree. We’d struggle to beat thirty trolls without destroying the camp completely. Destroy the camp, lose the stone. Lose the stone, and we’ve got to rescue Elowen from the middle of a goblin city. That won’t be easy.”

“Do you always plan like this?” Affinity asked.

“No, usually much better. But this is a rush job,” Josh said.

“Perhaps we could learn something from you.”

“I will accompany Melody and Vella. While I cannot participate, I will keep my eye on the tunnel. The last thing we need is a wolf sniffing their scent,” Flick said.

“I could accompany Cassandra and Arabella,” Pec said. “Then if they need to make a hasty exit; I could carry them upstream.”

Affinity frowned. “Then I will go with Josh and Lex. But I’ll not help. I can’t help. I can’t even show myself.”

“Then you might as well stay here,” Josh said, but he noticed the look in Affinity’s eyes. She wanted to help. She was desperate for them to succeed. Was a Sinter Stone that precious? If it was, how come lowly trolls and goblins had one?

Arabella killed a couple of hares and boiled up a pot of stew. Pec adding seasoning and some vegetable from a stash. They ate in silence, then settled down to grab what sleep they could. Josh had no doubt in his mind that this was their most dangerous mission to date. He tossed and turned, then gave up. His ring, the constant monitoring of his surroundings, meant he was never really asleep. He wandered to the riverbank, finding a fallen trunk and sitting on it. Looking along the moonlit water, Josh spied the troll fires. He’d known they were close, but they were much closer than he’d thought.

“If you’re thinking of going on your own, think again,” Affinity said, sitting by him. “You have a solid plan. A good plan. It has a great chance of working.”

Josh grunted and ignored her. “Do you know why we came here?”

“How could I?”

“No, sorry, you couldn’t. No one does. Well, let me tell you. Me and Cassandra are over-powered for Mythelore. There’s nothing there that can touch us. Arabella is a capable archer. Lex is a very good assassin. Melody is a fantastic trap smith, and Elowen, well, what she doesn’t know about archaeology and monsters now isn’t worth knowing. Vella? Well, she’s still a mystery. But our power, me and Cassandra, it makes the others feel small. I couldn’t have that, so that’s why we’re here.”

“To get them killed?” she said, but her smile dazzled him.

He grunted. “It seems that way at the moment. But no. We were told the ruins might make them powerful. That it might make us equals again, and that would be nice. Although, here’s a thing. I doubt we’d have even come if the orcs hadn’t attacked.”

“Why? I thought you wanted to be equals.”

“Because my power would have been meaningless if I’d settled down and become a farmer.”

“How do you keep six women happy?”

“By loving them all,” he said, bent and picked up a stone. “By loving each and every one for who they are.” He glanced at the cat woman. “The power gap doesn’t bother me. This whole thing isn’t about me. They need it.”

“Don’t lie to yourself, Josh. You were doing so well before that.”

He tossed the stone into the water. “How do you mean?”

“You’re curious, too. You aren’t the finished article. You want to know what the ruins can do for you.”

Josh fell silent. “Perhaps. And I know that Cassandra wants more control. She wants to understand the butterfly effect. None of us like killing, whatever brash comments we make. She needs the security of guidance. I suppose I do too. Is it right to kill a dozen trolls?”

“Is that a question, because when it comes to trolls, it’s always right.” She reached for him and took his hand. “It’s always alright to kill something that would kill you. The ruins won’t help you there, but they might just tell you who you are, and sometimes, that’s all you need.”

“Have you ever been?”

“No, but I’ve never ruled it out.”

Josh sighed. “This place. This mountain range. It’s so damn beautiful. Why does it have to be so ugly?”

“Power,” she said. “Too much power.”

Chapter Eleven

JOSH MOVED AWAY FROM CASSANDRA. “Change of plan. Cassandra is better placed attacking the camp. Melody goes with Arabella. They can use the exploding arrows to set light to the piers and pontoons.”

“Why?” Flick asked. “The first plan was perfect.”

“Because if we’re going to get any trouble, it’ll be at the camp. If the trolls attack at the fishing ground, then Pec can spirit away Arabella and Melody. It just makes more sense.”

“Apart from me having to crawl through a tunnel. What about this body screams tight, dark places?” She winked at Josh. “Well, you know.”

Affinity lent him a lingering look, but Josh ignored the cat girl and approached Arabella. “You can do this. Remember the Leviathan? You made those shots.”

She pouted. “I think we all know what the easy part of this mission is. You don’t have to sweeten it. Me and Mel’s will handle our bit fine.” She reached up, cupping his chin. “It makes sense that the most powerful go where the action is.”

“It’s not—”

“It is,” she said. “And it doesn’t matter.” She set about stringing her bow.

“Let’s move out then. Remember, we wait for Arabella’s sign. Just after the sunup. Wait a while, give them a chance to clear and get back to the camp. We want them as tired as possible.”

“Got it,” Arabella said. “With me, Mel’s. We get to ride to our target.”

Pec’s wizened face gave nothing away, and he said, “Most of the way, little one. I’ll put you on the bank just outside of their sightline. Just in case there are a few lingerers hoping for that one last bite. You know how us fishermen are.”

Josh didn’t, but one thing did bug him. “They’re trolls. How come they’re fishing? I thought trolls were more your bang-them-over-the-head types.”

“The Sinter Stone? Who knows? But the dam they created gives them a steady source of food. Their tribe has grown gradually because of it. Remarkable, really. If that one slither can organize trolls and goblins so much, imagine what it could do for a fairly advanced society?”

The inflection in his voice, its hidden intent, betrayed the giant. He played at placid and compliant, but there was an undercurrent there. He meant to get what he wanted, and nothing would get in his way. The Hangsane was a land of politics and subtle intent. If Mythelore’s ruling classes had been a challenge to negotiate, it riddled The Hangsane from the base up.

“Surely an advanced society has little need for it,” he said and turned. “With me, Lex. Let’s get the first bit of this quest done, even if we don’t live to see the rest.” He grabbed his bladed spear. “Vella, remember, don’t go until the compound’s clear. Cassandra, if you have to destroy it, leave the central hut. Arabella, Melody, wreak havoc and back off.”

He marched to the crossing, but Affinity grabbed his arm before he could jump on the first stepping stone. “You’re up to something. Why the sudden switch of plan?”

“Just thought it a better one.”

“I don’t believe you.”

“I don’t give two shits what you believe and don’t believe. You lot fully intend to help us right up until we get the stone. Then you’re going to try and take it from us before we can use it to free Elowen. So, don’t tell me to trust you with my plans. We aren’t on the same side.”

“But you don’t understand—”

“I understand plenty. Where I come from, we don’t leave people behind. We find a way, and if it’s a gamble, and if it doesn’t pay off, we regroup and go again. Your people don’t have the stone. Say we get it from the trolls and exchange it for Elowen and the goblins get it. Newsflash! You people don’t have the stone. You’re no better or worse off than before we met. Difference is, we have Elowen back and her innards aren’t on some goblin’s plate. So, do me a favor and shut the fuck up while I get this cursed stone.”

“And once you have it?”

“Then you kill us, because there’s no fucking way on this godforsaken shithole that I’m handing it over.”

She bit her lip, looking down, then over the river to the troll camp. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry it had to be this way. Flick…”

“Save it,” Josh said and leaped onto the first stone, jumping to the next.

Lex barged in front of Affinity, lingering on the first stone and giving Josh some breathing room.

“He loves you all very much, doesn’t he?” Affinity said.

“Jealous?” Lex said, winked, and set off after Josh.

Josh landed on the opposite bank. Concealing his grin and setting a scowl back on his face, he waited for the others to catch up. “We set?”

“All set,” Lex said, pulling her hood up.

“Cool. No more talking.” He flicked a glance at Affinity, who looked away. Leaning in, he gave Lex a lingering kiss. “Stay safe.”

“You too,” she said, her surprise evident.

He deployed his stealth suit, stripping his outer clothes off and stashing them in a bush. “Let’s go. Follow the spear.”

“It’s a glaive,” Affinity said. “The thing you call a spear is a glaive. Good weapon if you know how to use it. There is a master in Felish. She could teach you.”

“Good to know. But I gotta long list in front of me before I get out of this part of The Hangsane.”

He loped up the slope, keeping to an animal trail. By the time they reached the troll camp, a burnt aura lined the eastern mountain ridge, lightening the blue overhead sky. He continued on, looking for a spot he could use as a vantage, but the trolls had built their stockade well. He circled round, then doubled back. The gates were open, a massive troll standing in its center. Josh crouched in the bushes, finding a hollow, and waited.

The troll stood around twelve feet tall. His leather armor was well-kept, oiled, and polished. His weapons glinted in the torchlight. When compared to the trolls they had taken out before, they might as well have been an entirely different race. The troll even looked healthy. So, it wasn’t a leap to assume the fucker could fight. He analyzed the angles, trying to spot a weakness, but only the usual suspects came up—hamstrings, gut, and neck.

“They’re coming,” Affinity whispered.

He glanced around. Affinity had morphed into her cat form, her ears three-sixtying, tracking the trolls as they marched from their fishing area.

“About twenty of them.”

“Shit,” Josh cursed. It meant at least ten were in the camp or unaccounted for.

Hunting party?

He waited, unable to alter the plan. “The other ten might be in the longhouse. Might cause us problems.” He assessed the situation, his ring offering solutions, projecting likely outcomes. “We might have to go in, Lex. If we do, you take the guards outside. I’ll go in the hut.”

“And I thought we’d get no fun.”

Josh grimaced. “Just make sure Cassandra can see you. Then, if you get in any trouble, she’ll help.”

“And you?”

“I’ll stick like this unless I need my scale armor.”

The trolls appeared, traipsing along the path, holding sticks with their catches dangling. Their shoulders sagged; eyes drooped. If nothing else, Josh had picked the right time of day to attack.

The first explosion rocked the tranquil valley. Josh’s smile came instantly, his pride in Melody bursting. More followed, cracking across the mountains, echoing, reverberating through his body. The trolls dropped their catches, swiveling around. They yelled, grunting and pointing. Then as one, they raced back down the slope. The guard hesitated, then ran after them, calling for others to follow.

“Wait here,” Josh said. “Make sure none get back up that path.”

He darted out, not waiting for a response, sliding through the gate, pressing himself against the stockade. He inhaled slowly, taking in the scene. Trolls ran toward a weapons rack, slinging on armor and readying. A huge troll emerged from the longhouse, ambling over to the gate, looking, sniffing, then barking some unintelligible words at the group arming themselves.

“Shit,” Josh cursed.

The group slowed; their urgency gone. A flash came from the mountainside, an explosion following, tossing the trolls in all directions. More magic blasted out, destroying the stunned beasts. The huge troll ran for the longhouse, Cassandra’s magic strafing his path. He dove through the doors.

“Fuck!” Josh said, then ran after him, spying Vella climbing down the rock. Josh slowed purposely, sliding into the longhouse and coming face-to-face with the giant troll.

“I see you Magical. I smell you, Magical. This is war. I’ll call all trolls from every nest.”

Josh looked at his glaive and realized it had given away his position. He shrugged, changing into his scale armor. “Magical?” he said. “Yes, Magical.” He raced forward, jinking to one side then across, rolling and coming up beside him, stabbing out with his glaive and drawing blood.

The troll lumbered around, glaring at Josh. “You deny us this one thing?” He drew a mighty hammer, raising it high and knocking a section of roof away. He lurched for Josh, bringing it down. Josh avoided the strike easily, bringing his glaive to bear as the troll overstretched.

“Stone made you too civilized?” he taunted. “Forgotten how to fight have you?” He jinked again, coming behind the lumbering troll, stabbing out with the glave and catching him again. “Ate a few too many fish too, I’d imagine.”

The troll roared, his face reddening. “I’ll kill you!”

“You can’t even catch me. Don’t sweat it. It happened to the goblins too.”

“The goblins?” The troll chief lifted his hammer again, staggering as he faced Josh.

Josh stabbed him straight in the gut, then rolled aside as the hammer fell. “Yes, they couldn’t even kill a couple of ogres. Had to have me do it for them—” He cut his words off as he spied the Sinter Stone dangling from the troll’s necklace.

The troll rose, struggling to lift his hammer. “Ogres?” he said. “Renna!” he cried.

Josh hooked the glaive around the necklace, cutting its leather string. Vella rushed through the door. “Magicker!” she cried as a troll woman emerged from the shadows, a blast of dark blue magic bursting from her outstretched, bony hand. It struck Josh in the gut, knocking him backward. Vella dove for the huge troll, resting her hand on him as she scooped up the pendant.

The magic pricked and stabbed at Josh. He rose back onto his haunches, grabbing his glaive as the magicker prepared another blast. He threw the weapon, falling forward, waiting as his system cleansed him of the spell’s effect. Leaping up, he raced for the troll shaman, but she fell back on her bedding, the glaive planted in her gut.

“All dead,” said Vella as she cut the stone free. “Go help Lex.”

Josh trod on the shaman, pulling his glaive out, then rounded the dead chief’s body. “You could have done that earlier.”

“Fat and old. Mostly dead already.” Vella shrugged, leapt onto Josh, and kissed him. “My turn soon.”

“Your turn any time,” Josh said, setting her down. “Now, get this stone to Cassandra, and remember what I told you.”

“I remember,” she said, jumped down and slipped back through the door.

Josh raced outside, straight into the thick of the action. Cassandra’s magic rained down from above, ripping through the ranks of returning trolls.

“Lex!” he cried.

Two trolls closed in on the assassin with more pouring through the gates. Josh launched his glaive at one, racing toward the other, his flying kick knocking its strike wide. Lex struck, her knives ripping into the falling beast.

“Thanks,” she said, moving on to the next one.

Josh retrieved his weapon, turning to the on-rushing horde. A huge magical blast tore the gates from their hinges, sending Josh and Lex flying backward. He flipped over, landing on his feet. Lex lay sprawled against the stockade. He scooped her up, dumping her over his shoulder and racing to the gates. Cassandra blasted him a way through the dead and dying, her attacks less powerful, the blasts angled away from him. Lex groaned, struggling.

“Hold on,” he screamed, hurdling scattered body parts, dodging a recovering troll, and then skidding down the bank hopelessly out of control. He fell, tumbling, losing his hold on Lex. The pair crashed through the bushes, rolling over and over. “Oh, shit!” he cried, launched from a small bluff. He windmilled through the air, plunging straight for the river.

The cold water shocked his system. He shed his scale armor as he thrashed around. Lex flew over his head, splashing into the river. Launching himself off a boulder, he dove for her, pulling her to the surface. As he struggled to find his footing, the pebbles under slipping and grating, the water bullied them downstream. He grabbed at a boulder, spinning them around it and forging toward the bank.

“Are you okay?” he asked Lex.

“Yeah. Bit of a headache and I’ve pulled my arm.” She waded away, climbing the bank. “A hundred yards away, I’m guessing.”

He climbed the bank. “Away from what?”

“Your clothes.”

Josh looked down at his naked body. “Guess I’m wearing scale armor on the hike back.”

“No need,” said Affinity, sitting on a low branch. “I’ve got your clothes.” She held them out.

He reached for them, but she pulled them away.

“Don’t you want to wait a moment? Dry off a bit, perhaps?”

“I think we need to get away from here as fast as possible.”

Affinity smiled. “Well, I don’t know about that. Your sorceress didn’t take kindly to those trolls attacking you. Once you were out the way, she leveled that camp. I doubt there’s a single troll left. Quite impressive, really.” She licked her lips slowly. “I know what they all see in you now. Not only do you stick up for them, fight for them, and try and help them grow, but you’ve also got quite the body. And…” Her tail swished as her eyes settled on his groin. “You really are the complete package. That’s some…” She shivered. “Well, you know.”

Josh stared down, then looked up, locking eyes with her. “It’s more impressive when I haven’t just swum in a freezing cold river, and it seems to satisfy.”

Lex draped her arm over his shoulder. “It sure does. Wives only, though. It’s a rule we have. No outsiders.”

Chapter Twelve

“SO, THIS IS THE BETRAYAL,” Josh spat as he walked into the camp. “You had to tie them to a fucking tree? What’s the matter, Pec? You scared we might take you? Were you frightened Arabella and Melody would have smacked your bony fucking ass?” He kicked at the dirt as Affinity distanced herself from him.

“No,” said Pec, carefully, measured as always. He strolled to the camp’s center, retrieving a sword from the fire and strolling back. “Not scared at all. Not of these two, anyhow. I’ll admit, you can handle yourself, but it’s the witch that worries me. She blasts without thinking. The elf? She can put a troll to sleep just by touching it. So, I figure I’ll stand over here, right by this pair. We’ll get what we want and get on our way.”

“I take it, it’s the Sinter Stone you want,” Josh spat. “I take it you’re not willing to let us rescue Elowen?”

Pec’s pained expression told Josh all he needed to know. The giant said nothing, backing closer to the pair and holding the sword close.

“Now hold on, Pec!” Affinity shouted. “We said nothing about this! Flick can counter Cassandra’s magic. She can nullify Vella’s soul suck. Let’s be civilized about this. We’ve explained, Josh. We can’t afford to let the goblins have it back.”

“We can’t afford for you to have it either,” Flick said, striding into the clearing. “But I agree with Affinity. This is a business transaction. There’s no need for hostility. I suggest a fair trade. The stone for safe passage through our lands and instruction on certain aspects of progression within The Hangsane.”

“But…” Josh said as Cassandra and Vella walked in.

“I won’t give them fuck all,” Cassandra said.

“Then you’ll all die now,” Flick said, as casually as if she were ordering a meal at the local tavern. “You’re strong, all of you, in your own way.” She paused. “Beautiful, really, and it is a shame, but we’ll not be swayed on this. Better that one of you dies than all. So, hand the stone over, Vella, and we’ll get on our way.”

Josh deflated. He’d not seen any manifestation of the dryad’s power, but had little doubt it was potent. She carried herself well, never shouting, never needing to, and it was clear who was in charge.

“We’ll hand it over,” Josh said.

“No, Josh!” Arabella cried.

“We don’t have a fucking choice. I’ll figure it out. We’ll find a way to get Elowen back, even if I have to fight ogres for the rest of my life. Hand it over Vella.” He slumped into a crouch. “We always find a way.”

Vella tossed the stone on the floor. It looked like nothing—a black shard, slightly curved, like it had once been part of something bigger. Flick bent, picking it up and inspecting it. She grunted, cupping it in her palm. “This,” she said smiling. “A piece of the ruins. Magic we cannot even understand. See how it shines? It’s black is so dark it might be a void.”

“Doesn’t look much,” Josh said. “Not even a stone.”

“Darling, I’ve read about these things. Like as not, it’s just a piece of stone and the thought of having it creates the effect.”

“Placebo,” Josh said.

Cassandra huffed. “There’s no need to call me names. It’s just a thought.”

“The stone works!” Flick said, stealing it into her pocket. “And I’ll be as good as my word. You get to Felish, and we will help you.”

“You can keep your help,” Josh said. “You’re no friends of ours. I’d rather throw my lot in with the goblins. At least they treated us with respect.” He turned away, walking toward the giant. “You got what you wanted, now fuck off.” Shoving past him, he tore the ropes from Melody and Arabella and pulled them over to the fire.

Pec wandered to the river, striding up it without a second look. Flick sank into the forest, gradually fading until she’d gone. Affinity stepped close, hesitating. “Reconsider. We could help you, help you a lot.”

“You’re worse than the other two,” he said, glaring at her. “At least they didn’t pretend to be my friend.” He turned away, rubbing Arabella’s wrist, cupping her cheek. “It’ll be okay,” he said.

“How?” she asked. “They’ll kill her. We can’t save her.”

“Do you trust me?” he whispered.

“Yes, but…”

“I’ll find a way.” He stood. “Shall we get the fuck out of here?”

“I say yes. Let’s get back to Cortaine,” Cassandra said.

“You’re all being remarkably—” Melody said, but Josh took her in his arms and gave her a long, sensual kiss. “We’ll work it out.”

He took her by the hand, leading her from the clearing. “Cassandra, clear the way. Everyone, look out for stone snakes. Vella, up in the trees please, make sure our friends are headed south.”

Arabella tugged at his arm. “What’s going on?”

He kissed her, too. “I’ll find a way.”

They travelled all morning, then into the late afternoon. Vella found a cave, and they settled inside, making a fire. Arabella pinned a couple of birds, and Lex gathered some plants and herbs. As they ate, Josh finally allowed himself a smile. “They are going to be so pissed.”

“They are, aren’t they?” Cassandra said, backing away.

“Pissed,” said Vella.

“What the fuck’s going on?” Arabella asked.

“We still have the stone,” Josh said.

“You what!” Melody cried.

“How? I saw you give it to them. They recognized it!” Lex said.

“Simple in the end,” Cassandra crowed. “I switched with Melody. Vella retrieved the real Sinter Stone and then gave it to me. I used my geomancy to make an exact duplicate. Even down to the subtle pulses it gave off that Flick pretended not to notice. They knew we had no idea what the stone looked like, so how could we switch it?”

“Why didn’t you tell us?” Arabella growled. “You let me think that we had to leave Elowen to die?”

“No,” Josh said. “I said I’d find a way. I couldn’t guarantee that the plan would work. Fortunately, the stone was so odd-looking, it would have been impossible to find something similar.”

“So…” Melody said, scratching her head. “Where’s the real stone?”

“The last place they’d have looked for it. I added it to my staff. It’s this black band here.” Cassandra pointed to a single black ring close to the staff’s Everdeep jewel. “See,” she said. “It doesn’t go all the way around. By hiding it on the staff, it muddled its emissions. Flick could only see the staff’s power, not the stone.”

“It’s…” Lex said. “It’s fucking brilliant. But it still leaves us with one problem. The goblins are going to double-cross us for sure.”

“But,” said Cassandra, raising her fist and opening it to reveal a third Sinter Stone. “What worked once, should work twice. It’s not like the Magicals talk to the goblins, is it?”

“So, we’ve got a chance?” Arabella asked.

“We have a chance,” Josh said.

“What’s our next move?”

“You five get some rest. I’ll take look-out. And before you argue, I don’t need as much sleep as you all. I’ll grab a couple of hours later.”

“I’m not going to argue,” Cassandra said. “I feel like I haven’t slept for an age.”

“Yeah, it seems a long time since we slept in that goblin inn,” Melody said. “But it doesn’t stop me thinking about it.”

“One hell of a night,” Lex agreed.

“Sleep, all of you.” Josh finished his stew, licking his bowl clean and moving to the cave’s front. Cassandra used her magic to heat up the surrounding stone. “Wake me if you need a break. One-by-one, they settled, leaving Josh sitting alone.

Night drew in. The star-studded sky looked closer in The Hangsane. The moon loomed larger, squatting on a distant ridge. He mulled the events, knowing he was still a long way off rescuing Elowen, but that they’d taken a grand step toward it. The feeling he was once again under-powered swamped him. Flick had kept her power in her locker, but it had been there, bleeding out of every pore.

He’d met folk like her before—powerful folk who didn’t need to boast or display their might. If she ever found out she’d been duped, or more likely, when she found out, he’d be a dead man walking. He had no doubt about that. But it didn’t matter. They’d scored an unlikely victory, and for that, he had to be thankful.

But three folk who could have been fantastic allies had become enemies, even if they didn’t know it.

It’s going to bite me on the ass.

“Can’t sleep,” Vella said, crawling close. “Cold.” She shivered.

Josh drew her close. “It’s not cold at all.”

“No.”

“We need to talk. And not just your one-word answers. I need to know what The Hangsane means to you. You’ve obviously been here a few times before. So, how?”

“I like it here. Was born here.”

“You were born here? There are elves in the mountains?”

“Yes. There are all races here. Before the ruins, The Hangsane was just mountains. After the ruins, everyone changed. My tribe changed.” She shrugged. “Then they died. I was young. Little memory. Just fire and fury.”

“Fire and fury?” Josh pulled her tighter to him. She shifted to get comfortable, her head on his lap. “Your village was attacked?”

“Faces, twisted faces. Angry. See my father, my mother crying. Put me in a small boat and sent me down the river. This river I think.” She shrugged. “Might be wrong. Long, long time ago.”

He pondered her words, having always thought Vella quite young, quite innocent. “A long, long time ago?”

“I think,” she said. “Slept for a long time. Slept with the sprites. It’s why they come and chatter with me.”

“They looked after you?”

“Yes. Then Simmalion found me.”

Josh exhaled. It was quite a story. “Why didn’t you tell me earlier?”

“Told no one. Only Sim knows. Dangerous. Hangsane dangerous. Faces twisted and angry. Want to kill us all.”

“No one is killing anyone. You’re with us now, and we look out for each other.” He shifted as her hands grasped at his leg, wrapping them around and hugging. “We’ll get Elowen back. I’ll never leave any of you behind.”

“Promise.”

“I swear on my heart.”

“On your ring.”

“I swear on my ring,” he said. “But tell me. Tell me what your power is. Because it’s changed since we came into the mountains—since we stayed close.”

She shrugged. “It is power. It is no power. I have no power. I am the wind. I am a river.”

“What?”

“I take. I give. I can only hold a bit. Closer to the ruins, I can hold more. Farther away, less.”

“You’re a conduit?”

“Yes.”

“And you can store mana and vigor, but more the closer you get to the ruins?”

“Yes. More powerful here than Mythelore. Not much good near big monster, just little heals. Beat Ravenheart fine.”

It made sense. It all made sense. Vella wasn’t a healer at all. She refilled, and she took away. When someone was injured, she accelerated their body’s ability to mend by flooding each cell with the fuel to instantly do it. “You know what it means.”

“No.”

“You’re as powerful as the most powerful warrior here. You could drain a guardian if you were close to the ruins.”

“Could, but could also make you powerful.”

Josh pulled her up, turning so he faced her. “We need a name for your power. What do you think? What are we going to call your power?”

“Evil,” she said, looking away.

“Not evil.”

“Can suck the life out of beautiful things.”

“And you can give it. Trust me—” He grabbed her hands—“The power isn’t evil, nor is it good. It’s you that makes the difference. If you never want to kill again, then don’t. We’ll find another way. If you do kill, then kill for the right reasons. Kill because if you don’t, someone you love will die. Those are the reasons to kill. There are no others.”

“Yes.”

He grinned. “So, a name. We need a name. Arcane Conduit—how about that? Or Soul Weaver—that sounds badass as fuck.”

“No. Don’t like it. Sounds like I take from the mind.”

Josh snapped his fingers. “Mystic Syphon,” he said. “You’re a Mystic Syphon.”

“Yes.” She leant forward, reaching around him and drawing him close. Their lips met, and he kissed her softly. “Mystic Syphon,” she said, pulling her top over her head, then standing and stepping out of her pants. She padded to the edge of the short bluff, and raised her arms, spreading her legs and making a star shape. Looking up at the low moon, she bathed in its light as if reaffirming her power and understanding it for the very first time.

Josh felt her primeval call—the urge to join her was overpowering. For a moment, he questioned if it was the presence of the Sinter Stone but discounted it immediately. It was deeper than that. What he witnessed came from the rocks, the aged mountains themselves. It was The Hangsane welcoming back its child.

He stood, wanting to bathe in the power, to share her moment of power. But he wasn’t right. He wasn’t pure. Pulling his top off, he shed his boots and pants, then walked up behind her, reaching around her waist and raising his head to the moon. Its power flooded over him, not warming, but with arcane radiance. Then more power rose, flowing from the stone under him. Filling his calves, his thighs, his groin, genitals and stomach. It melded with the arcane light as that power travelled from his hand to his arms, his head to his neck, all gathering in his heart and whipping around him in maelstrom of vitality and verve.

“You feel it?” she said.

“I feel it.”

“The quickening,” she said, and pushed her butt into his groin, sandwiching his cock against her lower back. “I give you more.”

Heat grew from her, radiating from his midriff to join with the radiance already filling him. His ring grew hot, glowing deep sapphire. His eyes shone, vision spreading across the mountains, a distant pinprick becoming a detailed picture. Notifications blinked within his mind’s eye, something happening, something fundamental altering deep inside him.

He reached around her, cupping her milk-white breasts, his power rising, jamming into her back. The power within him overflowed, coming in waves with no place to go. She turned, her lips open and inviting. He kissed her, kissed her hard, his passion unleashed, her chest heaving.

She tried to turn, but he was too far gone, pushing her to her knees, forcing her onto all fours. “Yes,” she said. “This.”

He grabbed his cock, holding it like a club. Moonlit brushed its glistening head, his power absolute. He held, reveling in the sight of his large, powerful weapon—the manifestation of the strength within him. Vella wiggled her butt, pushing back, desperate for him to take her. He held, squeezing his base and forcing more blood into his already engorged head. She held her position, opening her legs, reaching around with one hand, and spreading her butt cheeks. Her tiny asshole was inviting, feebly small compared to him—a seemingly impossible feat.

For once, he ignored the invitation, wanting a true coupling, needing to engage her womanhood, to seed her womb—compelled to do so, to penetrate her and reach her core power. He rubbed his head, its surface somehow slick and ready, coated in something he couldn’t quite understand.

Was power bleeding from him? Was it pure mana or vigor?

He nudged himself against her entrance, meeting silken slickness, her power coating her. Easing in, sharp pricks dotted his length as their powers clashed like some form of eternal flux. He understood. It wasn’t just sex. It wasn’t a quick outdoor fuck. Hers was a completion, the end of a long path once shrouded in mystery. Hers was the ultimate revelation and would change her forever.

But his…

His was a start—the beginning of a journey that closed one chapter and opened another. Hers was an ending, but for him, it was a beginning. The Hangsane accepted him, had fed him its power, and welcomed him. He was its long-lost son returned. It laid out his path, and he accepted it.

Sliding in, he rested, his length buried to its hilt. Beads of power pocked Vella’s back, her hair glistening, coated in ethereal flux. He savored the moment, resisting the animal within him that demanded its satisfaction.

“I feel it,” he said.

“Yes,” she replied, a wave of immense power bursting from her, travelling along his shaft, into his body and spreading, filling him with a force so potent it threatened to overwhelm him. He gasped, the power bursting from him, lancing into the night. His passion then consumed him. A need so base he thought it just natural urgency, but as he complied, that thought morphed into something more.

He had to finish to be a part of the new thing—to be truly accepted. Vella was The Hangsane. She was a child of war—a creature absorbed by the land’s power, thrown from it, rejected in death. She was the manifestation of the mountains—their agent, and he, and Cassandra, and all of them had one purpose.

To return her to its birthplace.

He powered into her, relentless, understanding. She fed him power, leeching it from the land, from the moon, grabbing it from the air itself. She howled with pleasure, a feral groan coming from him. Cum welled within him, mixing with the power glossing over his satin skin. She pushed back, impaled again and again as her cries grew.

More power filled him, bleeding, fueling his aura. But then his understanding completed, and he fed it back into her, channeling it through his cock, through his hands resting on her shining ass. She filled him, and he filled her, and between them, their power reached a new height, surpassing, dwarfing all.

Spears of light shot into the night’s sky, verve, vitality, vigor—whatever the fuck it was, spread about them, rose into them, cycled between them. His potency streamed from him as his cry filled the valley. A harbinger of what was to come—an announcement of intent.

The Daughter had returned, and her vanguard accompanied her.

It was a statement. It was a beginning.

Their powers mixed, a final burst of radiant light erupting from them as Josh emptied himself into her and she coated him in her juices.

He took a breath, his vision calming, the radiance dimming.

A glit caught his eye. A reflection—a pair of eyes looking from the forest. A silver cat slipping into the shadows. “Affinity?” he asked, as Vella moved forward, spun onto her back and spread her legs.

“Again?” she asked, massaging the silken power into pert breasts.

Chapter Thirteen

JOSH CROUCHED, scanning the trees for a sign of Affinity. If she had watched them, then their deception hadn’t worked. The whole thing about them confused him. His explanations veered from a trio of chancers to highly placed guild agents.

It didn’t surprise him that everyone valued the stone so highly. Nor was it lost on him that something precious—something exceptional—had passed between him and Vella. His notifications blinked. He’d advanced. But he hadn’t looked it up. He was more interested in Affinity.

Of the three, she had opened up to him. Pec had played the archetypal giant, slow, considerate, not really offering anything but a carefully contrived opinion that meant nothing. Flick had clearly been the leader, and her power, while not manifested, was evident. She carried the confidence of a powerful leader.

But Affinity, while incredible, had vulnerability. She was more genuine and had even appeared remorseful—unhappy to take the stone. But why had she returned?

“What’s bugging you?” Cassandra asked, crouching beside him.

“I was making love to—”

“Let me stop you there. You were fucking Vella, and we all heard. You were pounding her, and fuck knows what happened. The whole valley must have seen it, and most should have heard it. Not sure what happened, but you managed to wake me up, which is no mean feat.”

“She told me her life story—or what parts she knows. She’s a—we came up with a name. She’s a Mystic Syphon. Ask her. It’s clear now. Funny. They all heralded you as the most important sorceress to come out of Mythelore, and you are. But Vella is inextricably linked to The Hangsane. Why, we don’t know. But we have to complete this mission.”

“You got all that from sticking your dick in her?”

He grinned. “It’s a great dick.”

“Goblins? Do we have a plan?”

“I did, but last night has changed it.”

“In what way?”

“Simplified it,” he said, standing and stretching.

“Are you insisting on everyone seeing you naked?”

He froze. “Kind of forgot. I think Affinity’s out there.”

“So, your dick fishing?” She peered around him. “Nice hook. Novel.”

“I want to know why.” He retreated into the cave, dressing and sitting by the warm stones. He told the girls about Vella. They tried to question her about her childhood, but she clammed up, snuggling into Josh. He pulled her close. “She’ll get there. The memories are raw and talking about them has left her a little fragile. But I understand her power. You should too. She can feed you with so much more. She can take from me and give to you. I’m not sure how that will work, and we don’t have time to experiment, but this is the plan I suggest for Cortaine. We go in. We get Elowen. We destroy The Great Muldurn.”

Silence fell. Josh looked at each of them, waiting for a response.

“They all took Elowen,” Arabella said. “Why not all of them?”

He raked his stubble. “There’s something rotten with the King. Sure, he’s old. Sure, there are old folk in the Cortaine, but none as feeble and frail as Cedric. It’s like the life’s being sucked out of him.”

“So, fucking what,” Arabella said. “He sanctioned taking Elowen.”

“Not sure he knows anything about it. We aren’t here to change their ways. We’re here to pass through and get to the ruins. But, if we can right a wrong, then that’s great. Thellius is okay. He did right by us, let’s do right by him. Besides, there’s another reason.”

“Which is?”

“I fucking hated the stiff-necked turd. I want to cut the weasel down to size, and a blast up the guts appears to me to be a good way to do it.”

“What about the stone?” Cassandra asked.

“It’s ours. Fuck them all,” Josh said. “We keep it, and then we take the fight to Flick.”

“You sure know how to make a girl wet,” Cassandra purred.

“Keep it,” Vella said. “Keep it and return it to the ruins.”

Josh settled back, checking his notifications, surprised but not shocked to see he’d advanced. Vella had filled him with power. She’d packed it in so tightly that it had surged from him—from her.

Strength = 44

Speed and Agility = 44

Durability = 44

Combat instinct = 44

Arcane resistance = 44

Poison resistance = 44

Average = 44

Senses

Advanced intuitive hazard detection activated

Sub branches

Advanced physical threat detection – red

Advanced arcane threat detection – mauve

Advanced poison threat detection - blue

Rank = Novice Enforcer

Current Tier = Silver Vanguard

Title = Golden Defender of the Novice Enforcer

He would never get tired of reading his title.

“Looks like I don’t have to suffer so much anymore.”

Cassandra sighed. “Just as it was getting pleasurable.”

Thellius sat upon a stump outside the cave. He munched on a sandwich, his sword resting on his knees. Cocking his head as Josh approached, he furrowed his dirty-green brow and stood. “The trolls?”

“All dead, injured, or pissed off. If you have designs on their lands, now is the time to invade. There’s nothing left of them.”

“And the stone?”

“We have it. But we want Elowen—”

“You want her back. Yes. I know. I understand. I have checked on her everyday barring today.” He sat back down. “You killed all the trolls?”

“Most. They left us little choice. They wanted to keep the stone, but that wasn’t an option.”

“Then…”

Josh walked away, pausing before turning back to the hob. “Look, I’m going against my instinct here, but I believe you’re a good person. You’ve done right by me and the others, and yeah, I should kill you for just being there when Muldurn held a knife at Elowen’s throat. But you’re a soldier, and soldiers follow orders. You gotta give me a good reason not to kill that fucker, or I’m going to find a way, and if I have to flatten Cortaine in the process, then I’ll sleep just fine afterward.”

Thellius hesitated. “Cortaine is a good place—as good as any in The Hangsane. We need our stone back. Everyone mourns its loss.”

“They didn’t look like they were mourning anything when I walked through. They all look just fine. Your answer isn’t good enough.”

The hob winced. “That’s because there isn’t a good answer. I don’t know. The King withers and Muldurn’s power grows.”

“It was Muldurn that wanted to stone. Did he come before or after it was stolen?”

“Before,” the hob replied. “Here’s the truth. He paraded it around on his staff, then one day, while he was outside overseeing the gathering and hunting, the trolls attacked, snapped his staff, and stole the stone.”

“Outside, overseeing the gathering.” Josh scratched his hair. “Tell me, how do you oversee that? Isn’t the whole point that you vanish into the forest and gather stuff?”

“Are you sure he wasn’t stealing the stone for himself up?” Cassandra said. “Sounds very much like he was running away, ran straight into troll lands, and got caught.”

“Hmmm,” said Thellius. “That sounds plausible.”

“Sounds a bunch more believable than overseeing gatherers,” Lex said.

“Always see the worst in people,” Melody said. “That was my dad’s mantra after years of being let down.”

“I must summon the five houses,” Thellius said.

“You could do that, but before you do, find us lodgings close to the palace, then report to Muldurn that we have, indeed, retrieved the Sinter Stone.”

“Then he will demand it from you.”

“Tell him no. Tell him that I have it in quantum storage and that I’ll only release it when I have Elowen by my side.”

“Quantum? What is quantum storage?”

“Not a clue. No one does. The whole field’s a mystery,” Josh mused.

“What?” the girls said at once.

“Ahhh, nothing. I have it in magical storage. Magical storage, yes. Two of us are needed to access it. One is me, and the other will remain anonymous. Get us close to the palace, Thellius, because if we have to go in blasting, a hell of a lot of your people are going to die, and that will be on your shoulders.”

“He’ll not do it. He’ll demand his way.”

“He’ll do it if he wants the stone. No counteroffer. A place near the palace. That’s it.”

“I will ask. Will you wait here while I negotiate?”

“Nope. We’re following right behind you. No deal, and we start blasting. That’s my terms.”

Thellius spun on his heels, vanishing into the cave.

“Are you sure we couldn’t just go in blasting?” Cassandra asked.

“The minute we see Elowen. Not before. We don’t know what House she’s staying with.” Josh followed after Thellius, his huge sword resting on his shoulder. “I miss my glaive. I was just getting used to it.”

“Darling, you can fight with any weapon. If an ogre comes along, we’ll pick you up a new one.”

He paused. “You know, I actually want an ogre to show up. I could do with a fight. Got a bit of an energy build-up in my system.”

Cassandra scoffed. “I thought you vented it all into Vella.”

“It was a two-way thing.”

They entered the caves, the air cool, the calm silence a lie. Thellius forged ahead, power in his gait like Josh’s theories had fired his rage. They moved swiftly along the subterranean way, its green glow constant, foreboding. Then his survival instinct kicked in, blinking red. He scoured the walls, the deep creases and fissures.

“Watch out! Something—”

The swish of an arrow, the inevitable thunk, cut off his cry. Thellius staggered, an arrow embedded in his shoulder. It spun him, the second arrow skittering off his breastplate. He grunted, staggering, a third arrow catching him in the throat as the fourth took him down. Thellius fell to his knees, rolling once, snapping the arrow shafts.

“Thellius!” Josh cried, bursting forward as more arrows fizzed across the cavern, headed straight for him. “Scale armor!” he cried in the nick of time, as thunk, thunk, thunk, arrows peppered him. He pulled his sword back, screaming his battle cry. Dozens of black-clad hobs and goblins broke from their hiding places.

Arabella’s bow sung. Cassandra’s magic flashed across the cavern, pulling down sections of roofing, rock exploding up. Lex skidded alongside Josh, the pair working in tandem as they took the brunt of the attack.

“Fire in the hole!” Melody shouted, bowling grenade after grenade at the ambushers.

“Fall back!” Cassandra cried, the smoke from Melody’s grenades obscuring her view, the fighting blinking in and out of view. “Gahhh!” she ground her teeth in frustration.

“Be okay,” Vella said, and touched her arm.

The witch grew straighter, and her shattered smile pieced itself back together. “Oh, yes!” she cried. “Oh, yes!” She slammed the Everdeep staff onto the rock floor, great cracks radiating out. They reached the goblin horde, reversing, rocks rising but not erupting. Sharp stalagmites shot upward, piercing, impaling every one of them. Screams filled the cavern, each abruptly cut off. “Delicious,” Cassandra purred as the smoke dissipated. “Absolutely delicious.”

Josh froze in mid swing, the ground surrounding bursting upward, but only under each goblin. The spike shot through them, bursting from their shoulders, necks, and head. He dropped the end of his great sword to the ground, searching out Cassandra in the thinning smoke. She caught his eye, her smile as menacing as the ghoulish sight facing him.

“I have never seen anything so macabre,” he muttered, a sick feeling welling in his gut. Then he remembered Thellius and made his way to the stricken hob. Pushing him onto his back, he shook his head as Thellius’ cold, dead eyes stared back at him.

“Shame,” said Vella. “Liked him.”

He pulled the elf close. “Liked him, too.”

Air hissed through her teeth as she inhaled. Josh’s eyes widened, his horror completing, as black shadows rose from the skewered goblins and hobs. The smokey mist coalesced, forming sooty strings that polarized on Vella and vanished into her. She breathed out forcefully, then touched Josh.

Power surged within him, filling his every nook and cranny. He wanted to scream with delight, to tear down the cavern walls, but instead he mellowed, controlling the power as he returned to his peak. It was like the fight hadn’t taken place.

“Cassandra,” Vella said, and skipped over to the witch, replenishing her power, and then to Lex, Melody and Arabella.

“My,” said Cassandra. “We can feed from the death of our enemies. How cliche.” She bent and kissed Vella. “I fucking love it.”

“Good,” she said. “Essence bad. One name staining it.”

“House of Grell,” Josh and Cassandra said together.

“The House of Fucking Grell,” Arabella said.

“Hell yeah.” Melody slapped Lex’s palm. “We have our target.”

“Okay,” Josh said. “Plan A was to go in all guns blazing. Then we met back up with Thellius, and plan B came along. We need a new plan.”

Cassandra mumbled a few words, opening up a crack under Thellius’ corpse. The body dropped in it, and she nodded reverently. “He’s at peace now,” she said, clapping and closing the crack. A lot of black blood, flesh and scraps of armor spurted out, painting the ceiling and dripping back to the floor. “Well,” she said. “That didn’t exactly go as planned.” She grimaced.

Melody heaved, emptying her guts on the floor. “That was fucking gross.”

“Shall we move on?” Arabella asked.

“I think so,” Josh said.

“What the hell is a gun?” Lex asked.

Chapter Fourteen

THE CHANGE in the air was tangible. The mundane taint of rock, dust and damp replaced by the cosmopolitan stench of an underground city. There was no way of disguising their entrance. The city was bathed in eternal light, its spires dotting light about like tiny stars. Josh led them down, Cassandra by his side, her Everdeep staff spraying its own light about. Arabella and Melody came next, with Vella and Lex completing the six.

But it wasn’t complete. They were seven.

“Now,” Josh said, and Cassandra inclined her head.

“Are you sure about this?”

“I’m sure.”

They stopped midway along one length of the city, and Cassandra’s staff sang. Ice shards ripped across the cavern, shattering spires and toppling the lights. Screams erupted, filling the cavern, as the lights went out one-by-one leaving only Cassandra’s light illuminating Cortaine.

“The House of Grell will pay!” Josh cried as they walked around the cavern, slowly descending until they reached city level.

Josh led them into the city, black as night, Cassandra’s light brushing the walls, settling over the devastation. They came to the center, the great black palace, but Josh only had eyes for the guild houses. He approached the first, Cassandra blowing its door off.

“House?” he asked.

“Ratset,” came the answer.

After the fourth door, he received the answer he required.

“Grell,” came a sinuous voice that curled like a whiplash. “We have your woman, human.”

“And I have your stone. So, we exchange or I level your house right now.”

A hob emerged, cloaked in black, his hands clasped in front of him. “I have a differing deal. You enter that palace and kill The Great Muldurn and put the King out of his misery, and I will allow the exchange.”

“Perhaps I will just level your house and kill you,” Josh said.

“But then you would kill your woman.”

Josh sniffed. “Except we both know she’s not in there.”

He hesitated. “Perhaps. All you need to know is that I hold her life in my hands.”

“Why did you ambush us? If this is what you want, why ambush us and lose all your troops?”

“Perhaps it isn’t my plan A,” he said, and laughed a long, rasping laugh. “You think you’re so special, you humans, and yet you forget the most basic things. These caves are ancient. Glyphs and runes hide in their folds and shadows. Nothing here is what it seems, and you are never alone.”

Josh inclined his head, searching the shadows of the hob’s hood. “Who can I ask for when the deed is done?”

“I will know. Return to this great house, and we will perform the exchange.”

The hob retreated back into the guild house, leaving Josh and the others standing in the plaza.

“Is anyone else getting pissed off with being a hob’s lapdog?”

“Yup,” Cassandra said.

“Then we’ll decline his polite offer.” Josh took his pack off and tied his great sword to it. “A little tight in there for such a huge weapon. “Melody, do you have any grenades that smoke rather than explode?”

“A couple.”

“Pass me one and set another off. Then I suggest each of you retreat a safe distance.”

“What are you going to do?” Arabella asked.

“Plan D.” He winked and kissed her. “Melody?”

Melody dropped the smoke grenade, handing him another.

“Scale armor,” he said, then raced forward, tossing the grenade into the house and following it.

His all-round vision kicked in as Tremelox adjusted to the new surroundings. A hob blocked the hallway, bent double. Another vanished through a door while a third ran up some stairs. Josh waited for the ring’s presence to adjust some more, and when he was sure his grainy picture was as best as it would get, he attacked.

Launching himself at the hallway guard, his kick landed in the hob’s gut. A sharp uppercut snapped its head back, and a twist broke its neck.

“Tremelox, pick up body heat signatures, please.”

He kicked the side door in, spying a goblin as red suddenly painted its hazy figure. He raced over to it, grabbing it by the throat. “The human girl. Where’s the human girl?”

“I don’t know!” the goblin cried.

“Then you’re no fucking use to me.” He punched the goblin, picked it up and tossed it through a window out onto the plaza.

He raced back, hurdling the hob’s body, searching out more heat traces, ducking through doors, clearing rooms, then taking the stairs two at a time. The smoke cleared, but the darkness was all-consuming.

“Bring her out and I might let you live!” he cried.

He kicked in a door, screams filling the room. A hob raced toward him, a dagger in hand. He ducked, punching out as the creature stabbed at him. The hob's momentum took him by surprise, the blade deflected by his armor. He fell back, rolling the hob, punching, his gauntlet-clad fist pulverizing the hob’s skull. “That all you got?” he growled, jumping up and turning to face the second hob.

“Please!” the hob cried. “If it’s the girl you want, she’s with Zephros. End of the corridor.”

Josh lunged at the creature, punching out, snapping its neck back, and sending it crashing over a desk. He turned to face a smaller figure outlined in red. The figure reached out for him. “This way,” Vella said. “Can smell her fear.”

She pulled him into the corridor, running to its end and stepping aside. Josh didn’t break stride, smashing into the door and shattering its thin stone. He stumbled in, a dozen heat signatures facing him, one kneeling.

“Elowen!” he gasped, as Vella leapt past him, over Elowen, and in among the hobs. “Vella!” he cried as the first hob dropped, but others turned toward the commotion.

A light shot over them, temporarily blinding them, and then Lex was beside him, diving for a hob as Arabella pulled a disheveled-looking Elowen to her feet. Josh sprang into action, kicking out at a hob lurching for Elowen. Melody rushed to Elowen’s side, helping Arabella take the archaeologist from the room.

Josh set to work on the rest as spears of Cassandra’s magic killed one hob after the next.

“Elowen!” he cried as the last fell, a bad feeling welling inside him.

“She’s out here,” Zephros’ sinister voice drifted along the corridor. “You already killed most of this guild. Did you think another few would matter? The stone is back. A new age begins. Now, human, I have three of your women instead of one. Will you do my bidding?”

Josh stepped into the corridor. The hob stood over the three kneeling girls, a sword primed and ready to take their heads.

“Really,” the hob continued, levitating slightly above them in a display of absolute power. “You travel in a land of giants with wives who have no strength at all. What do you expect?”

“I expect them to grow. Something you have no hope of doing!”

Melody threw her hand up, gray powder coating the hob as all three girls dove forward. “Fire, Cas,” the trapsmith cried.

Cassandra sent a fireball straight at the hob, who laughed. “Feeble spells won’t—”

The magic hit him, his cloak bursting into flames as Melody’s powder flared up. Lex hurdled the three girls, plunging her blades into his flaming body, then stabbing repeatedly before jumping back and letting the hob drop to the floor.

Josh scooped Elowen up. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”

She stared up at him, her face smeared with dirt, her grin lighting it up. “Don’t be. Honestly, I learned so much. All the other houses were so good to me. Just this one that was a bit shitty, really, but mostly that fucker there.”

“Well, he won’t be shitty anymore. Come on, all of you. And thanks.”

Cassandra grabbed his arm. “What for, Darling?”

“For not taking any notice of me and helping.”

“Please,” said Lex. “You really think we were going to let you have all the fun?”

“Anyone else had enough of goblins and hobs?” Arabella asked.

“Just one more thing to do and we can move on.”

“Why?” Melody asked. “Why bother?”

“Because I promised a friend. I promised Thellius I would kill The Great Muldurn.”

“No time like the present,” Cassandra said.

“Hold on!” Elowen fished in her pocket for her glasses. She stood, pacing the hallway. “We plan, that’s what we do. We plan. We execute. We walk away in one piece. What we don’t do is rush in.”

“But we don’t know anything, and so how the hell are we supposed to plan?”

Elowen sniffed. “You don’t know anything. I’ve spent the last four days talking to four different families. I know plenty.” She marched down the corridor. “Follow me.”

Cassandra draped her arm over Josh’s shoulder. “She’s a pain in the ass, but we love her.”

“Could be blasting the fuck out of that palace,” Melody grumbled as Elowen descended the steps two at a time, her hand sliding down its banister.

“All these houses are the same layout,” she called out. “All five. It’s a weakness. If you’d have explored one of the friendly ones first, before charging in here like deranged bulls, you’d have learnt a couple of things.” She strolled across the hallway, swerving around the dead guard and ducking through a tiny door.

“Where the fuck is she going?” Lex asked.

Vella raced after her, jumping the corpse and vanishing through the door. “Food,” she cried. “I smell food.”

“She’s changed,” Cassandra whispered. “Got a lot more confidence about her.”

“She knows who she is. After all this time, she understands her power.”

“Absolute nonsense,” Arabella said. “She’s winning at sex, that’s all.”

Josh stopped at the bottom of the stairs. “What? How can you win at sex?”

“You have six wives,” Cassandra said. “You don’t think we compete?” She groaned. “I was winning for so long...”

He frowned, but inside he was glowing with pride. The thought of six of them fighting to outdo each other in the bedroom was just dandy. “Well, you’ll just have to up your game, won’t you?”

“Already thinking about how.” She nudged him. “I have magic, you know.”

Josh ducked through the doorway, descending a set of narrow steps that ended at a pantry. Several goblins cowered in the corner, Elowen standing over them, trying to coax them out.

“We won’t harm you,” she said. “Jestle, you were good to me. You slipped me food. Why would I hurt you?”

Jestle stared up at Elowen, her wide goblin eyes packed full of fear. She was clearly in charge, although not old. Few of the goblins were. “But our masters kept you in chains. We are of the House. We kept you.”

“No,” Vella said. She reached out, a bright aura coating her as she blanketed the goblins in her magic. “The power your masters wielded is yours now,” she said. “You can be the masters.”

“It’s true,” Josh said. “The House of Grell is no more. We exterminated its army and culled its leaders. Grell is done, and this house is empty. I don’t know a lot about goblin society. Hell, all I see is that hobs dominate, and goblins serve. How about a House for goblins? House Jestle has a nice ring to it.”

“They would never allow it,” Jestle said. “And why not take it for yourself?”

Josh closed on her. “Because we choose to, and because you risked your position to feed Elowen. That means a lot to me. Plus, there’s one other reason. The only other hob or goblin I would have given the house to is dead.”

“Is it yours to give?” Jestle asked.

Josh looked around. “Do you see anyone in this city who could take it from me?”

She looked down. “Just The Great Muldurn.”

“Let me worry about him. I need you all to stand up and be counted. I need the guild house cleaned, the corpses gone, and someone stationed on the front door turning any enquiring minds away.”

“Going to be hard without a front door,” Cassandra pointed out.

“I can get someone to fix that promptly,” Jestle said, standing and brushing herself down. “Will you allow us to make you a meal?”

Josh shrugged. “Why not? According to our chief planner, we have to plan our next move.”

Jestle issued her orders, clapping her hands, the place a whirlwind of activity instantly. “I’ll have the place clean and tidy in moments.” She pulled a chair out. “Please sit, Master. Leave everything to me.”

He sat, exhaled, and slumped. “That was intense.” He grimaced. “Glad I didn’t die. I’m dreading getting buried by Cassandra.”

The witch grimaced, sat, then giggled. “I was a little macabre.”

“I don’t think it’s funny to laugh at Thellius exploding,” Arabella said.

Josh laughed. “No, it’s funny all right. Fuck, it was like a corpse explosion.”

“A sheet of guts,” Cassandra added, tears rolling down her cheeks.

Josh took a breath, calming. “But we still owe him. We need to carry out our promise to him. We have to end Muldurn.”

“Then you’ll need to get into the palace,” Elowen said. “And I know how.”

Chapter Fifteen

JESTLE FETCHED a chalkboard from the main study and set it up in the pantry. Elowen stood in front of it, chalk in hand. “Here,” she said, clearly in her element, “is the palace. It is surrounded by five guild houses, which gives the plaza a pentangular shape. That is plain to see from the outside. But what isn’t commonly known is that in times long past, the guild houses acted as lookout towers, and each was linked to the other by a wall which created the first line of defense in the event of a monster attack. Over time, as the city grew and took up the entire cavern, they tore the walls down, modified the lookout towers to guild houses, and paved the plaza.”

Josh inclined his head. “Go on…”

Jestle laid a plate in front of each of them and another goblin girl dished up a meal of meat and vegetables. “Your knowledge of this place is better than mine, Mistress Elowen.”

“Cordova,” Elowen said.

“Ah,” she said, pouring some white ale. “I understand.”

“An ancient elf from House Raffa,” Elowen explained. “Where was I?” She looked at the board, drawing in the palace and guild houses. “And here we are today. Five guild houses, one plaza and a palace, all vastly different from what they were.”

“How’s this helping us?” Melody asked.

“Well,” Elowen said. “It’s like this. In the old days, the lookout towers were linked to the main fort by access tunnels. The idea was that should the wall fail, and the lookout towers were overrun, then they could flee into the fort, destroy the passageway, and live to fight another day.”

Josh tapped the table. “You’re telling me that this house is linked to the palace via an underground tunnel?”

“No. It’s better than that. I’m telling you that the guild houses are linked palace via long forgotten tunnels. Which is much, much better.”

He cut some meat, scooping some vegetables up, thinking as he chewed. “We can get into the palace. What’s next? Do you have any intel on Muldurn?”

“He’s a sorcerer,” she said, “but you know this. Most of the guild members that would talk to me believe him to be an illusionist with some offensive powers. However, the real question is who is he? No one remembers when he came, but they do recall a hob called Atticus. Atticus and the King became great friends while playing a board game called Taillick. Apparently, they used to play all the time in a small café off the main plaza. By all accounts Atticus vanished around the time King Cedric became ill. The Great Muldurn appeared soon after, promising to cure the King.”

Jestle cleared her throat. “Might I say something?”

“Anything you know would be helpful.”

“You’re not planning on harming King Cedric, are you? He is our beloved King. No one knows what illness plagues him, but…” She bit her lip.

“But what?” Cassandra asked.

“I’ve a friend who worked in the café where the King met Atticus. She knew the hob quite well. Said he was gruff, never open or chatty, and while he kept a room and a close by inn, no one ever saw him around town apart from when he played Tallick. While that in itself was quite odd, she reckoned when he returned to the inn, he’d go straight up into his room and not emerge until the same time the next day.”

“That is weird,” said Arabella. “But hardly a crime.”

“There’s more,” the serving girl said. “He paid for his room and board in silver, but not from around these parts. It carried another stamp, one of a woman with three heads.”

“So, he was a hob who came from another city?” Lex said. “So what? There must be lots of them in The Hangsane.”

“There are a few, but we have links with them all. None use coin like Atticus did, and none speak with his accent. My friend believes he’s not from The Hangsane. But there’s more. She saw him dose the King’s drink with a powder.”

“Did she tell anyone?”

“The captain of the guard. But when the guard asked for proof, she couldn’t give him any, and the King wouldn’t hear anything of it, claiming Atticus often gave him tinctures for his gout.”

“Which proves nothing,” said Cassandra.

“But does fall in line with our thinking,” Josh pointed out. “We think Muldurn is keeping the King alive and in some form of stasis.”

“My thoughts too,” Elowen said, and Josh realized she knew nothing about their recent forays or Flick and the others.

“Let me tell you what we’ve been up to.” He told her everything but left out the parts concerning the whereabouts of the Sinter Stone, merely alluding that they had it. “So, from what Thellius told us and from what Jestle has just said, it’s obvious why this Atticus or Muldurn character came to Cortaine.”

“To steal the Sinter Stone,” Elowen said.

“Exactly.”

“We also believe that Muldurn was successful in stealing it right at the outset, but he marched into troll land and had it stolen off him. So, he returned here, carried on, waiting for a moment to steal it back from the trolls.”

“Which we provided,” Elowen said.

“All works for me,” Cassandra said. “All we need to do now is march into the palace and kill Muldurn.”

“Not that easy,” Vella said. “King die without Muldurn.”

“But is there a way?” Josh asked the elf.

“Yes.”

That?” Josh asked, staring down at a hatch in the floor.

Jestle shoved another box aside, revealing more worn flagstones. “This room is the original lookout tower. You can still see its old timber uprights. Wood is precious to us. The effort required to get it all the way down here is phenomenal. We always reuse it.” She swept away a load of dust, then pulled up the hatch. A ladder vanished into darkness, a musty smell wafting over them. “Take care. No one’s been down there for hundreds of years.”

“Magic? Wards?” Josh asked.

“Unlikely,” Cassandra said. “If no one remembers them, why would they protect them?” She sent a ball of light into the shaft. “Deep enough,” she said.

“Jestle, have we had any other guilds visit? Anyone enquire after the Grells?”

“None,” she said.

“Then they’re all waiting for us to make a move. That’s fine. I assume none of them want to be the first to break ranks and become traitors. Do we know where this comes out?”

Elowen stepped close to the shaft. “Center of the old palace. From what I’ve gathered, the new one surrounds the old. Like Jestle said, getting materials down here is a labor-intensive task. Nothing is ever scrapped.”

“No time like the present,” Josh said. “Light the way, Cas, I’m going in.”

He climbed down the ladder, coming to a passageway a few feet wide and slightly taller than a hob. Crouched over, he loped along it. “Seems clear enough. Not sensing any danger—physical or magical. Let’s get this done.”

After a short while, he came to a belled-out cavern in the familiar pentagon shape. Four other tunnels spread from it, and in its center, a set of spiral steps rose to a closed double hatch.

“Anyone see through wood?” he asked, climbing up. He tested the door. “Gives a little.”

“Give it a shove.” Cassandra came beside him. “I’ll get ready to blast.”

“Pretty sure we’ll be okay. This part should be deserted.” Elowen stayed behind while Lex drew her knives.

“I could blow it up,” Melody pointed out.

“Not the answer to everything,” Josh said, pushing harder and harder.

“Admittedly, but it works.”

The door gave way with a crack. Josh pushed the doors out of the way and peered through. “Looks like an old junk room.” He climbed out. “A bit of light?”

“Coming. Patience, darling.”

He tried the door, opening it to an empty passageway. “So, what do your sources reckon?” he asked Elowen.

She shrugged. “They only saw him in the banner room.”

“And that was an illusion,” Cassandra said.

“Then we go in blind.” Josh marched to the passageway’s end, easing a door open and slipping into a courtyard. “There,” he whispered, pointing up at a black tower, torch light bleeding from a window.

“Even illusionists can’t see in the dark.” Cassandra dulled her light.

“We go?” Josh asked.

“We go.”

He pointed to an opposite door. “On three. Straight up. No hanging around. Let’s get this done. We’ve fucked about enough.”

“Three,” Cassandra said, pushing Josh forward.

He stumbled across the courtyard, soon gaining his feet. A burst of brilliant white erupted in front of him, a skull hanging in the air, raging at him. Electric shot through him as his heart stopped, and he screamed in surprise.

Cassandra laughed like a drain as the others scattered backward. “Illusion magic!” she cried, walking straight through the skull. “It’s only there to alert him if there are any intruders.”

Josh checked his pants. “Fuck, that scared the living shit out of me.”

“Nice to see you aren’t a big bad warrior. A little vulnerability’s quite sexy.” The witch winked at him and blasted the tower door off its hinges. “I’m guessing the cat’s out of the bag, and they know we’re coming.”

Another skull burst into life, laughing hysterically like the first.

“Please!” she called up. “Something new!” A huge, silver fist burst out of its mouth and punched her squarely on the chin. She flew back into Josh’s arms.

He looked down as she glared up at him. “Don’t you say a fucking word.”

He chuckled. “Like I would. Looks like The Great Muldurn isn’t quite as useless as he looks.”

She rose, pulling up her sleeves and marching for the door. “I’m going to take that fist and shove it right up his ass.” She stormed up the stairs.

“Everyone, watch out for illusions, but also real traps disguised as illusions.” He pulled his survival instinct to the fore, its dull purple tainting his vision. Then he ran to the tower, storming up the stairs as an explosion rang out from above.

“Don’t sweat! All under control!” Cassandra shouted down. “Just a couple of…Not sures. A couple of not sures.”

Josh charged up the spiral steps, coming to a landing. Two huge beasts cleaved in two, still steaming from the witch’s burning magic. “Hold on!” he cried.

But Cassandra was on a mission, and nothing was going to hold her back. “I’ve got it!” she shouted down, more flashes lighting up the stairwell.

“She’s pissed,” Lex said, catching up, another screeching skull-laugh grating down.

“Pissed is not the word. Trust me.” He sped up, catching her cloak’s tails as she rounded another corner.

A roar filled the tower. Josh sprinted up the steps. White magic blasted from the Everdeep staff, blood, guts, and chunks of armor strafing Josh and Lex. “Some kind of winged demon,” Cassandra called back. “Quite cute, really.”

An explosion followed another flash, then banging. Josh rounded the corner. Cassandra jumped back, a bolt of forked lightning cracking from the door, slamming into the tower’s obsidian stone and ricocheting straight over Josh’s head. “Shrapnel coming!” he shouted. “Heads down.

Another lightning bolt hit the tower. “That’s it, he’s pissed me off now,” Cassandra said. She spun into the doorway. “You wanna trade lightning shots, fucker? Have this lot.”

“Mind the king!” Josh called. “We kind of need—”

Cassandra’s attack cut off his words, her power streaming from her outstretched fingers as she marched in. “Not you? How about over there? There! Perhaps there! I can do this all fucking day!” she said, losing bolt after bolt. “My mana replenishes faster than I can use it.” More bolts peppered the room as Josh entered and witnessed the carnage.

King Cedric sat in the middle of the room, his head lolling to one side, tongue dangling out, a large gob of spittle on its end. He stared gormlessly out from his large, bulbous eyes, but not a flicker of emotion disturbed his empty expression as the battle raged around him. The Great Muldurn stood behind him, then across the room, then directly in front of her. Cassandra blasted each as they popped up, like some bizarre game of whack-a-mole.

Vella tugged at Josh’s cloak. “Come,” she said, zigzagging through the mayhem straight for Cedric. “Stop!” she called to Cassandra. “Let him be.”

“No! I want to rip his head off and jam my stiletto right down his gut.”

“Moment. Block the door. Josh, take the window.”

Muldurn stopped reappearing. He reappeared, then again and again until a couple of dozen of him appeared. “You can’t kill all of me, and I have power.” He began casting, all his representations waving their hands as each mumbled a spell under their breath. Power built between his palms. Josh’s survival instinct flashed deeper and deeper purple.

“Whatever’s coming is big!” he said.

A hundred skulls floated, their combined pierced his brain. Josh held his hands over his ears. “Vella?”

She winked at him, resting her hand on Cedric while grabbing one of the illusions. She lit up, power coursing through. The Muldurns screamed as one, the magic in their hands vanishing. Then, one-by-one, the duplicates popped out of existence, leaving only one Great Muldurn. Vella squeezed his arm, sucking all the power from the illusionist and filling Cedric with it.

The years fell away from the king, his gray hair falling to the floor, wispy green hair replacing it. His wrinkles smoothed, and he straightened his head, pulling his tongue in and closing his mouth. He sat up, looking around, confused.

“Muldurn?” he said. “Why are you screaming, Muldurn?”

The Great Muldurn twisted in pain, tossing his silver mask to the floor. “Stop! Stop, please! I’ll tell you everything!”

“Atticus?” Cedric said, but rage boiled inside the king. “What are you doing to Atticus?”

“Emptying him,” Vella said as the rejuvenated King began struggling.

Vella’s grip held firm as Atticus twisted and turned, his cheeks imploding, skin wrinkling, and teeth falling out.

“Enough, Vella!” Josh cried, but Vella shook her head. “Elowen,” she said, and Josh nodded his head.

Lex moved behind the illusionist, her knife flashing across his throat. Vella let go, the body dropping to the floor. “What’s the meaning of this? That hob was my friend.”

“That was no hob, Cedric,” Josh said. “Look, look at him now.”

But it was Josh who stared down at the corpse, because while it wasn’t a hob, nor was it a human. Atticus, The Great Muldurn, whoever it was that lay on the floor, was part man and part horse. “A centaur?” Josh asked.

“Who is that?” Cedric asked, standing, then falling to the floor, his legs giving way.

“Is he dead?” Cassandra asked.

“No,” Vella said. “Just not used to standing up.”

Lex picked up the king. “Let’s get him somewhere we can feed him up. I’m guessing all the power Vella filled him with is going to need a little help settling.”

“Yes,” Vella said.

They retraced their steps, returning to House Grell, where Jestle made the King a healthy bowl of chunky soup. Josh explained everything that had happened as Jestle fussed and the king slowly recovered his wits.

“So, House Grell was—” Cedric asked.

“Is no longer,” Josh said. “We don’t know their reasons for attacking us and killing Thellius, but there’s a fair chance they were in it to usurp your crown. I believe that any that vanquish a House do, in goblin law, ascend to that house.”

“That is correct,” Cedric said carefully. “But you aren’t—”

“Goblin. No, very astute. You’re regaining your wits. No, I’m not a goblin nor a hob, nor am I a centaur pretending to be a hob. And I don’t want to be in charge of a goblin guild. But I believe I can nominate a leader, and I nominate Jestle.”

Jestle dropped her bowl on the floor. “Me? I’m a servant. I am in the wrong caste. I’m lowest.”

“You helped us,” Josh said. “You stepped in where needed, and you provided us vital information. If anyone deserves it, you do.”

“I accept,” Cedric said. “I’ve had enough of stuffy hobs in my inner circle. A beautiful goblin maid would make a pleasant change.”

The goblin King smiled at Jestle, a fire in his eye.

“So, that just leaves this,” Cassandra said, producing the Sinter Stone.

Chapter Sixteen

JOSH SAT at the head of the table. Elowen and Lex sat on either side of him, followed by Melody and Arabella, then Cassandra and Vella. The inn was alive with the chopped chatter of goblins and hobs, and having spent a few days among them, Josh was beginning to understand them.

Tant served up the Yinter fruit, and the other goblin girls delivered plate after plate of steaming goblin cuisine. Josh thanked the girls, trying his hand at speaking goblin and getting it horribly wrong.

“One thing I don’t understand,” Melody said. “Why did we give the Sinter Stone away?” She scratched her head. “Forget I said that. I’m just tired, I guess. We didn’t give it away, did we?”

“No darling,” said Cassandra. “We gave them as good as. They think they have it, and they’ll progress because the thought of having it will drive them.”

“They have the troll territory now,” Josh said. “They can learn to fish, to gather across the river. Cedric’s already talking about establishing a village closer to the surface as a sort of waystation. The placebo effect is real.” He grinned.

“But,” Melody persisted. “If not having the stone but believing you have the stone is good enough, why do we want to keep it?”

“Ah,” said Josh, “There’s a damn good reason for that. We know we’ve got the Sinter Stone. If we gave it away, we’d know we didn’t have it. So, we’d get none of its supposed developments.”

Melody clicked her fingers. “That’s the bit I don’t understand. I knew there was something, and I’m pretty intelligent. I can’t think how badly Bels is struggling.”

Arabella gave her a whack, then asked, “But how will we benefit?”

“Unknown,” said Josh.

Elowen cleared her throat. “I can add a bit of information. The hobs in Renger House had some tomes on it. They theorized what would happen after the loss of the Sinter Stone. The effects they attributed to the stone were higher societal organization, a desire to progress and develop, better physical attributes and an instinctive understanding when they were in danger. They suggested that without the stone, they’d not foresee ogre attacks, that their society would degenerate, and that they’d all age.”

“Most of which didn’t happen,” Cassandra said.

“They look perfectly youthful.” Josh called over Tant and asked her for another jug of ale. “They look in fine fettle.”

Lex slapped him. “You have six beauties sitting right here. That should be enough.”

“But they’re green,” Josh said with a smirk. He stretched. “It’s a great number, six, too. Plus, the bed upstairs is just the right size.”

“So,” Elowen continued, undeterred. “Some but not all of those things didn’t come true. I deduce that the Sinter Stone slowly turns a society around—like it did with the trolls, but that effect roots in the society, and when the stone isn’t there anymore, it may well fade, but the changes could be so deep-rooted that nothing changes.”

“Getting back to us. If we keep it, what happens?” Melody asked.

“We become even closer, even more efficient, stronger, more youthful, and way more effective than we are at the moment,” Elowen said. “But that’s just a hypothesis.”

“Nope,” Arabella said. “Look at these.” She bunched her biceps. “Strong as an ox.”

“What about Atticus or Muldurn, or whatever the horse is called? Did you learn anything about the surrounding lands?”

“Only this. A little north—just past a pinch point in the valley—we enter another guild’s territory. You met three of them. What were their names?”

“Flick, Affinity, and Pec,” Arabella said.

“Them. One was a shapechanger?”

“Affinity.”

“And Atticus was a centaur. It fits,” Elowen said.

“They called themselves The Magicals,” Lex pointed out.

Josh took a slurp of ale. “We’re thinking they were covering both angles? Trying to get the stone off their neighbors without breaking the fragile truce that held between them, the trolls and goblins.”

“It adds up,” Cassandra said. “As good a theory as we can muster.” She yawned. “I’m beat. Too much spell tossing really takes it out of you.”

“We have an empty room upstairs,” Arabella said. “You could do with a bath, Josh.”

Josh yawned. “Yeah, pretty knackered, too. Stinking as well. Shall we take this food upstairs?”

“You go up,” Ellowen said. “I want to catch up with Bels and Mels.”

“And me,” said Vella.

“And I’m still starving,” Lex said. “You two did most of the fighting.” She cocked her head. “Mind you, Vella did the hard work.”

“You killed him,” Vella pointed out.

“True.”

“Shall we?” Cassandra said.

“Mind if I take the ale?” Josh asked. “I feel like chilling out and getting a little drunk. Not that the ring lets me, but it’s the thought that counts.”

Cassandra led him up the stairs. “You know, it wasn’t right. We didn’t do all the fighting. Lex is getting stronger by the day.”

“Melody’s bombs played a hell of a part, and that burning powder worked a treat. Elowen’s information was invaluable.”

“Arabella needs to learn more weapons. The bow really isn’t suited to the tight situations we keep finding ourselves in.”

Josh sighed. “Not sure we’ve found her specialty. Of all of us, she hasn’t really got a niche. But then, she’s the glue that holds us together. She makes sure we all get some time together.”

Cassandra threaded her arm through his. “Is that what this is? Some time together? Not sure I’ve got the energy to be too much fun.”

“Sometimes,” Josh said, “you just need to chill.”

She scoffed as they walked through the bell curtain. “Not sure I’m that tired.”

Josh shed his jacket and shirt, wandering toward the bathing area. “That will fucking do.” He shed his boots and pants, stepping into the steaming water. “You think Bels got them to fill this up too?”

Cassandra walked in. “Darling, I don’t give a shit.” She stripped and sank into the water, laying opposite Josh. “You believe that shit about the stone?”

“I do,” Josh said. “And I believe in The Hangsane. Can’t you feel it?”

“Feel what? Try and explain what you’re feeling.”

“Why? Just tell me what you’re feeling right now.”

She sniffed. “Can’t do it. Ever since you found me, my life, my power, has been altering by the day—by the day, Josh. So we enter The Hangsane. Guess what? I’m still gaining an understanding into my power. I’m still progressing. Does it feel different? It always feels different. What do you feel?”

“Hmmmm,” he said, shifting so her legs rested on his, feet sandwiching his abdomen and hers likewise. “I’m feeling surer of myself. Vella increased my stats without me having to go through a bunch of pain. I’ve been thinking about that.”

“And?”

“And it wasn’t all her. I played a part. I knew it was coming. My body prepared and it accepted her gift. She could do it to you—I’m pretty sure of it.”

“Confidence, then,” she said, twisted her lips and screwed her face up. “I get that. What I don’t get is how a bunch of ruins can affect the inhabitants of an entire land.”

Josh held his ring up. “One ring,” he said. “One tiny ring that improves my whole body. It sends signals through my entire body. But it doesn’t control me. I thought it did at first—it tried; I know it tried. At one point, I was worried I didn’t know where the ring started and stopped. But the power isn’t like that. It’s all me, but with backup. It’s my spine—does that make sense?”

“You don’t think that’s what I’m feeling, do you? The confidence—your spine—that’s what I’m feeling. When I walked in on the Muldurn, I didn’t give two shits about his power. Mine was better. I was always going to be better.”

He stared at her. “Then you feel what I feel. You have a spine.”

“Do you think that’s why Lex has suddenly changed—become more confident?”

“She was always capable.”

“She was,” Josh said. “But there’s confidence and there’s jumping in when you know you’re weaker than your opponent. She does that, but with the confidence she can prevail. The Hangsane doesn’t influence you, the ruins do. So are the ruins having a similar effect to this ring?”

“You think that…” She left the words unsaid.

“No!” Josh cried. “No, I don’t think it’s the same thing. I think it’s the same type of thing. That Sinter Stone isn’t a stone—it’s made of stone, but it isn’t a stone.”

“It’s a part of something larger,” Cassandra said.

“Yes.”

She rose, getting out of the bath, the water cascading from her naked body. She vanished into the bedroom, coming back with her staff and sitting on the edge of the pool, her feet dangling in the water. “Let’s see.”

“What?”

She waved her hand over the staff, lifting the stone from its mounting. Holding it up, she grabbed his hand and moved his ring finger close. “Not quite the same, but not far enough away to discount the coincidence.”

“Trust me, I know where this came from. I know what happened for me to get here. The chances are too small for it to be a possibility.”

“I’m not saying it’s the same. I’m saying that the coincidence is real.” She snapped the Sinter Stone back in place. “I think we can say that it’s no placebo. There is an effect, and if the effect enhances the effect of a greater stone at the ruins, it’s hardly surprising that the Guardians are almost God-like.”

She sank back into the bath. “But there is one thing that intrigues me.”

“What’s that?”

Her foot slithered up inside his leg, her toes massaging his genitals. “I’m wondering what would happen when you fuck one of us apart from Vella. Will there still be an aura? Was it all her, or were you drawing power from all around? Was it the Sinter Stone?”

He pulled her other foot up, spreading his legs and tucking his dick between her feet. “You think we need to do some research?”

She moved her feet up and down his shaft. “I think that’s exactly what we need. I have to know if I can fire you up the way she did.”

He rested his hands behind his head, looking up at the rock ceiling. “Baby, you fire me up all the time.”

“Not good enough,” she said, pulling away and swimming up to him. “Not fucking good enough, by a long fucking way.” Her body slid up his slowly and sensually, her breasts blessing against his chest, her pussy massaging his cock. She stared into his eyes, hers filled only with lust. “Make me shine,” she said, then locked her lips on his in a kiss so passionate it threatened to overwhelm him there and then.

He wrapped his legs around her as their kiss morphed into a duel of probing tongues, both urgent. As passion filled them, the sensation curiously heightened. His lust for Cassandra constantly bubbled under the meniscus of their relationship, needing only the slightest excuse to punch through its flimsy membrane. But as their bodies slipped and slid against each other, as her pubic bone ground against his exposed crown, so their shared passion grew, surpassing its normal height.

His breaths became ragged as his blood quickened. She pulled at his hair, her passion sitting on a knife edge with the undercurrent of anger always present in her lovemaking. She broke off, standing, pulling him up and into another embrace, raking her nails down his back, across his ass. “Bend me over and fuck my fucking brains out.”

She shoved him back, turning and presenting her ass as she bent over the pool’s side. She parted her ass cheeks, readying. Josh buffed his dick up, ready to enter her.

“You’re glowing,” he said.

“I feel it. I feel it, Josh. My power is brimming. It’s coming from her. She’s feeding me.”

“Vella?” He asked. But he knew it was true. He could feel it too, as sure as the ring that had altered his life, as sure as his love for his six wives. “It’s linked us. The Sinter Stone has linked us.”

“Yes,” she said. “I feel her. I feel all of us. Her power is drawn to our need.”

He moved close, positioning his cock near her entrance, sliding into her silken purse. “Fuck, you're hot!”

She laughed. “What girl doesn’t want to hear that? Let’s light this room up.”

He grinned, grinding into her and finding his rhythm quickly. “Hard and fast,” he said.

“Is there any other way?” she purred.

“Did you feel it?” Josh asked Vella as she jumped onto the bed with them.

“Yes. I fed you. Was good, but strange.” She slipped out of her two-piece as the others filed into the room.

“Is she okay?” Arabella asked. “Only, she went all weird at the table, started glowing and stuff.”

“Thought she was going to blow,” Melody said. “Then she began moaning—making odd sex noises. Drew some strange looks, I can tell you.”

“But she snapped out of it,” Lex said. “Which was good. If they weren’t so afraid of us, they might have asked us to leave. Tant couldn’t muster the courage, kept looking up the stairs and straining her ears. Think she was listening in.”

“That’s cos she’s got the hots for him,” Elowen said.

“She hasn’t got the hots for me. She’s curious about human males is all, and I made the mistake of standing butt naked in front of them. Let’s get back to Vella.”

“Back to me,” Vella said.

“I felt her while me and Cassandra were bathing.”

Arabella coughed. “Cut the crap. You were doing far more than bathing. It’s why I sent you up there. You needed to blow some steam off.”

“Darling, we blew a lot more than steam off, I can tell you.”

“Okay,” Josh said, cutting back in. “I felt Vella while we were fucking, but here’s the curious thing. While I knew we were leeching power from her, I felt each one of you. It was like we were joined, that even though I was with Cassandra, you were all with me.”

“That is either gross or kind of hot,” Lex said, shedding her clothes and sliding into bed next to Josh. Her hand strayed to his dick, encircling his shaft. “I’m leaning toward hot at the moment.” She began massaging him slowly but meaningfully.

“What I’m getting to,” he said, his words coming hard as his pleasure grew. “Is that it was a new feeling. A feeling of complete oneness. All of you were there with me, with us, but only we mattered—only our time together mattered. It wasn’t some tawdry thing. You all wanted us to succeed, to complete our pleasure.” He gasped. “Fuck, Lex, your hand is electric.”

“Whatever that is,” she said, sliding down the bed. “I wonder if my mouth is lectric too?”

He gasped again as he slid into her warmth and her tongue got to work.

“I think I see similarities,” Elowen said, taking over, much to Josh’s delight. “If you look at the goblins and hobs, they formed a much tighter community that all banded together to pull in one direction. From what you tell me, it was the same with the trolls. Rather than a loose grouping of beasts held in place by the power of a chief, they hunted, gathered, fished as a community. What—”

Josh groaned, his pleasure mounting as Vella snuggled in close. He felt her power again, for a third time since coming to The Hangsane. But this time, it was a shared power, like their bodies were conjoined.

“What,” Elowen said, pointedly, “we are looking at is a tightening of societies—a strengthening of bonds to created ones that function on a much higher level. Each then advances beyond its normal possibilities.”

Josh’s breaths came in ragged gasps as Arabella joined Lex. “I think it’s my turn,” she said, easing the assassin away and taking his dick. “I’ve been patient enough.” She rose, spreading her legs on either side of him as she mounted him.

“So, what you’re saying,” Melody said, sitting by the bed and kicking her boots off. “We, as a small society, should expect much the same.”

“No,” Elowen said, as Arabella lowered herself onto Josh. “What I’m saying is that the effected will be magnified a hundred-fold. We are it. We are the society it will influence. Our bonds will grow and become much stronger than they were before. It's why Josh felt us. It's why my groin is getting hot. Not just because I’m watching and hearing Bells getting screwed, but because I’m feeling the pleasure she’s experiencing.”

“Thank fuck for that,” Melody said as she pulled her pants down and spread her legs, her fingers blurring as they set to work. “I thought I was just being a bit of a perv.”

“No, no, you aren’t,” Lex said, her own fingers working her pussy.

“This is going to get out of control if we’re not careful,” Elowen said, stripping off.

“Too late,” said Cassandra, joining them on the bed. “It already is.”

Chapter Seventeen

THE HANGSANE WAITED FOR THEM. They stood in the cave’s entrance, rested and ready for the next stage of their journey. Cedric and Jestle had seen them off, walking to the beginning of the slope up and bidding them goodbye. It didn’t slip Josh’s notice when the pair walked away, hand in hand. He had little doubt that Jestle would be Queen Jestle before too long—quite the meteoric rise for the serving girl. They had a fake Sinter Stone, but Elowen had given a fine, if a little false, precis of how she thought it worked, and how it only exaggerated the existing direction their society travelled in.

“So, what’s next?” Josh asked. “More betrayal. More fighting. More battles to be won.”

He needed to get used to their new dynamic. They were even closer than before. Their last couple of nights had been eventful. Their one-man orgies had tempered a little, with the girls getting used to experiencing each other’s pleasure. It had overwhelmed them the first few times because each experienced the pleasure of lovemaking differently, so each had an entirely new experience as Josh had sex with them. But, as they accustomed, so they reveled in the joy the others felt, and their glows, while polarizing on the lovemaking couple, it diffused across the others.

“All of that,” Lex said, coming beside him.

“It’s beautiful,” Josh said. The rugged mountains, the steep crevices, the cuts and fissures and the pastiche of brutal coloring all served to create something quite stunning. “It still bugs me,” he added.

“What does?”

“That night with Vella. When we fucked at the cave’s entrance. It was the first time the auras manifested, but right at the end, just as we climaxed, I was pretty sure I spotted Affinity in the forest. I’m pretty sure she’d been watching us.”

“Why?” Cassandra asked.

“Why had she been watching us?” Josh shrugged. “I thought it was because they’d sussed out we’d given them a fake stone. But as I thought about it, I decided that all three would have returned, and given the supposed gulf in power, surely, they’d have attacked.”

“So, why didn’t they?” Elowen asked. “I’ve no experience of them, but they sound quite clinical.”

“She had either been sent back to keep an eye on us, or she’d split from them. Of all three, she was the most inclined to help us. Flick was the one who demanded the stone. Pec was the silent, friendly type, but with an undercurrent of viciousness that only surfaced when it needed to. He couldn’t have given two shits whether any of us lived or died—not Flick. But Affinity—not sure about her.”

“What if you’re wrong,” Arabella said. “I know you’re swayed by a nice pair of tits and a cute ass, and she had those. But what if there were four of them and not three? What if Atticus was the fourth?”

“Hmmm,” Josh said. “It’s a possibility. But I don’t think so.”

“Why?”

“Because when Atticus lost the stone to the trolls, it would have caused a war. If Atticus was a Magical, then the trolls couldn’t attack him without serving notice—if I’m understanding the rules of The Hangsane right. Besides, the other three would have been there to help him.” Josh stepped to the bluff’s edge. “Is she out there? That is the question we have to ask ourselves.”

“The other is this,” Elowen said. “We’re using Magicals as a broad term, and we’re anticipating entering a territory with one guild ruling it. What if it’s not? What if it's fractured and multiple guilds sit in bubbling tension? It could explain why they’re on the lookout for a Sinter Stone. There’s bound to be more than one.”

“There’s only one way to find out,” Josh said. “We have to march into it.”

“Unprepared,” Elowen said. “It’s never a good way.”

“It’s the only way when you’ve got no choice.”

“Cedric said there’s a mixed village right on the border—part magical, with a mix of goblin and hob traders. It’s where they trade for metals and some finished wood.”

“Elister,” Elowen said. “He told me to ask for a hob called Lester and give him this introduction letter.”

Josh grunted. “It’s something, anyway.” He held up his new glaive. “Not much of a reward for returning a magical stone.”

“That we didn’t return. Plus, they gave us a house,” Melody said.

“That we’ll likely never use.” He tossed the stave up, catching it smoothly as he marched off the bluff’s side and down a narrow trail. “To Elister to see a hob called Lester. Sounds like a plan.”

Cassandra took the lead as they dropped into the forest, carving a trail as Vella scampered up a tree and began squirreling from one to the next, forging ahead while keeping a lookout. Josh moved carefully, wary of the stone snakes. He scanned the jagged ground, searching out Affinity, wondering why he was so obsessed with the duplicitous bitch.

Within a few hours, they hunted a place to camp, and a few more saw them fed and watered. Josh took first watch on what proved to be an uneventful night and an equally uneventful morning. By midmorning of the next day, just as boredom set in, Vella whistled, directing them all to the valley side and leading them to a bluff. She pointed up the valley and there, in all its glory, was the pinch point.

It was a glorious, natural creation. A tumbling of huge boulders like both mountainsides had been blasted by terrible magic. Greenery mortared the vast block together, trees growing out at odd angles, smoke rising from dwellings perched on rock shelves. More smoke wafted from its center, giving away Elister’s location, but the trees blocked the town from view.

“There we are.” He glanced up at the sun. “We can make it. Do we try or wait until the morning?”

“If Flick and the others are waiting for us, it’s there,” Cassandra said, resting her Everdeep staff across her legs. “Does it matter what time of day we walk into an ambush?”

Josh grunted, “I suppose not, and we’ve no chance of a bed here.”

“We’ve got no chance of scaling those sides without being seen,” Melody said.

“The underground’s out. We’d get lost within the first few hours,” Lex added.

“Then we have no choice. The ruins are on the other side of it. We have to go through. Any chance of altering the color of the Sinter Stone—make it a little less Sinter Stony?”

“I’ve tried,” Cassandra said. “It resists everything. I can’t change it. I can’t cover it with more wood—it just burns through it. I could wrap some cloth around it, but it would just look like we’re hiding something. Nope, it’s here, and it’s like it wants to be seen.”

“Then we march in with our heads high. There’s no other way.” He stood. “We stick together. If it looks like anyone’s trying to split us up, we start blasting. Are you all okay with that?”

They all stood.

“Fantastic,” he said. “Let’s go see some Magicals.”

“So far, four out of four have been wrong uns,” Cassandra said. “I haven’t got high hopes.”

Dusk had drawn in by the time they approached Elister’s stockade. Unlike the trolls simple staked affair, the tall palisade towered over them, at least thirty feet high and made from whole tree trunks. Magic fizzed along its pointed top, sparking and pricking at the wood. The gate was iron braced, with huge scorch marks crazing its large planks. Lanterns hung in a string, insects buzzing around their flickering light. Gusts blew smoke over them, laden with fat and the mouthwatering smell of roasting meat heavily scented with ash.

“One way or the other, we have to get into there.” Josh marched toward the gate. “Ho!”

A head popped up, rat-like, covered in fur, whiskers twitching. The creature was humanoid in shape, a bow and arrow in hand, arrow nocked and aimed at Josh’s head. “A little late to be out there. The Grover will be aboard soon, sniffing at these walls.” He leaned over. “Seven of you, eh? The Grover will be pleased. Such a treat is rare indeed in these parts.”

“All the more reason for you to let us in,” Josh said.

“But,” the ratkin replied, “we have rules, and those rules state that no one enters these gates after the sundown, and it’s after sundown, so no can do.”

“It’s dusk,” Josh countered.

“That’s after sundown.”

“No, it isn’t. That’s night. It’s dusk. It’s different.”

“Rules is rules,” the ratkin said. “No entry. Too many illusionists around. You could be anything. You could be the Grover for all I know. Now, if you were pilgrims, it would be a different matter.”

“We are!” Arabella cried. “We’re pilgrims on our way to the ruins.”

The ratkin chuckled. “Just the sort of thing an illusionist would say. Come back in the morning.”

“If you don’t let us in,” Cassandra said, “I’ll blast the doors off their hinges and march right on in.”

The ratkin looked Cassandra up and down. “I don’t think so. These gates are protected by a powerful ward. Any magic is reflected back with twice the potency of the attack, so unless you’re twice as powerful as yourself, you’ll be in a bit of trouble.”

“Eh?” the witch said.

“We know Affinity,” Josh said, chancing his arm.

“As do I, but again, that’s the sort of thing an illusionist would say.”

“Let us in!” Josh growled, ran at the gates, rebounded off, magic crackling all over him. He stood, brushed himself down, and stood. “Get me someone in charge!”

“No,” the ratkin said and vanished.

“I think we’re fucked,” Arabella said, looking up at the sky. “It’s definitely night now.”

“What the hell was that?” Melody asked.

“What?” Josh said.

“Grunting. I heard grunting.”

“It’s the Grover,” said the ratkin, looking down. “Shame. I was going to let you in. Apparently Affinity vouched for you.”

“Then let us the fuck in,” Josh cried.

“Not when the Grover’s about. They’d have my head.”

As he said the words, the Grover burst from the bushes in a flurry of claws and boiling eyes glowing red.

“Fuck,” Josh cried, leveling his glave. “What the hell is it?”

The grover skidded to a halt, clawed hooves scraping at the trail. Standing as tall as Josh, its head resembled a rhinoceros, sitting within a floret of armored skin. It roared, curved fangs dripping with saliva. Then, head down, horn pointed straight for Josh, it charged.

“Shit,” Josh screamed. “Scatter!”

Cassandra’s magical blast met it head on, knocking the creature off track. It slammed into the stockade, its horn tearing a divot from the chunky stockade. “It’s resistant, but not immune,” she cried as it turned.

Melody fumbled a grenade from her pocket, bringing one out and tossing it straight at the beast. “Fire in the hole!” she cried as the bomb exploded.

Silence followed, and for a moment, still settled. Then the grover exploded from the smoke, headed straight for Melody. Vella dropped from a tree, landing on the charging beast which backed and twisted, trying to unseat her. She clung to its armored skin, power rippling around her. But the power of the creature eventually unseated her, sending her flying against the stockade.

The beast immediately rounded on her, charging as she scrambled up the stockade. She reached its top. Crackling magic surrounding her, just as the beast slammed into the timbers.

“Open gates, Ratty!” She growled, jumping down, landing on the grover again.

“No can do,” the rat shouted as the beast bucked and sent Vella flying into the forest’s canopy.

Then Lex raced toward it, intersecting its path as it raced toward a fleeing Arabella and Melody. The assassin managed to swing onto its back, pulling herself up and crawling forward. It slammed itself into a boulder, but Lex clung on, her knife in her teeth. She crawled to its neck, then pulled her knife out of her mouth and stabbed blindly at its head. The creature howled in pain as her knife slid home, buried hilt deep in its eye. It skidded to a stop, sending Lex flying over its head. She smashed down back first, her spine crunching as all the air left her lungs.

Cassandra jumped into action, opening a fissure under the grover. The beast desperately tried to scramble back, its front hooves vanishing from underneath it. Sweat beaded on the witch’s brow as she widened the fissure. Josh leapt from his perch, racing behind the grover and shoving it as hard as he could. The beast fell partly in, and Cassandra released her spell, the fissure slamming shut.

A curtain of blood shot from the crack as the Grover’s back half keeled over. Josh threw his arms up, blood and flesh washing over him. “I hope that’s not your new party trick!” He shouted, wanting to hug the witch, running toward her arms open. Cassandra backed away.

“No! No, you don’t. You’re…You’re gruesome.”

“Hey, Ratboy!” Cassandra shouted. “If you let us in now, we’ll let the town feast on…” She shrugged. “Half, would you say half?”

Lex rose from the boulder, picking flesh from her hair, wiping blood from her face. She stood. “I’ve got this.” She sprinted toward the stockade, taking a giant leap and plunging her knives in, climbing to the top, her blood-soaked face coming level with the ratkin. “Open the fucking gate or I’ll gut you from your tail to your throat. Do we have an understanding?”

The ratkin peered down, then he rang a bell. “The grover is dead! The beast is no more.”

“Are you going to open the gate?” Lex growled, as more shouts rang down the street.

“Well, technically, it is night, so—”

Lex vaulted onto the platform with her knives in hand, her expression terrifying.

“But I’ll make an exception this time.” He lent her a withering grin.

The gates opened, and a bunch of ratkin guards marched over to the corpse where they milled about, pointing at the half-corpse and whispering. A larger, human commander strolled after them, inclining his head as he regarded each of the Misfits in turn. “Which one of you blood-soaked rabble killed this beast, and how?”

“I killed the creature,” Cassandra said. “But if you ask him, he’ll say he did it. He’s got form for that. You know, once we killed some necrotic—”

“Do we have to go through this every time we kill something?” Josh asked. “I’m Josh Underwood, the fantastic sorceress who finally killed the grover is called Cassandra. But, might I point out—”

“You look like you’ve been bathing in an abattoir’s bath.” He sniffed the air. “The town of Elister is in your debt, Mr. Underwood, Ms. Cassandra, and, err, the rest of you. Might I ask your business? Is it in Elister or are you passing through?”

“We are on a pilgrimage to the ruins. Me, and my guild, The Misfits—”

“Misfits, eh?” He tapped his lips. “Not the same guild that killed Ravenheart?”

“The very same,” said Arabella, offering her hand. “As no one appears to want to introduce me, my name is Arabella Extrael. It seems my companions have dispatched a monster plaguing your village, which should be worth some recompense. Elowen?” She leaned into the commander. “She’s the brains. Elowen, how much is a monster-slaying worth?”

“One that size, around ten gold.”

The commander looked down his nose at the corpse. “But it’s only half a monster. So that makes five gold.”

“It makes ten gold. You couldn’t even open your gates at night,” Elowen said. “We’ll take room and board at a nice inn, too. If you’ll direct us there, you can deliver our money promptly.” Elowen marched toward the gates. “Come on everyone. It’s getting late and most of us need a bath.”

“But I haven’t agreed yet,” the commander said.

“I think you have.” Josh grinned, his teeth shining bright against his bloodstained skin. “I didn’t get your name.”

“Thornton, and I’ll let this slide because you have done me a service today. I would have lost soldiers to that creature.” He paused, creasing his brow. “Yet I don’t detect the power needed.” He walked into town. “Pilgrimage, you say?”

“Yes. I was told by a guardian called Lux that this place would be a safe haven for us.”

“You’re certainly held in some renown by most.” He lowered his voice. “But certain, darker elements sympathized with Ravenheart’s cause.”

“Why? His guild killed everything.”

“Because some people don’t like the guardians, so anyone rebelling against their rule gains followers. You snuffed out a mighty rebellion when you killed Ravenheart. Some folks hate you—here, as well as other lands.”

“Good to know,” Josh said as they passed through the gate. “There a hob called Lester in here? Been told to ask for him.”

A crowd had gathered, parting for the commander, then inching out of town to stare at the dead beast. A street appeared, lined with lanterns and with many magical creatures milling around. There were centaurs like Atticus, fairies, shifters, gnomes, and humans. Every race Josh had ever dreamed of seeing, had read about, or played in a game, was there. It was truly a magical town.

“You in with the gobbos?” the commander asked.

“Just saved their king.”

Thornton harrumphed. “So, the gobbos are on your side, but the trolls will hate you.”

“They sure will,” Josh said, but didn’t elaborate. “Say, where do Flick and the Giant hang out?”

“Don’t know everyone by name, but there aren’t many giants around here. They’re mostly to the South, close as they can get to the ruins. There’re a few taverns up there you could try.”

“A shifter called Affinity?”

He grunted. “Half the townsfolk are shifters. What can I tell you? Folk steer clear of me. I’m the law. You only know me when you don’t want to.”

“Fair enough,” Josh said. “Then take us to the tavern.” He stopped, furrowing his brow. “But you know Lester, right?”

“As I said. I’m the law. I know all the criminal elements in town. If I see him, I’ll tell him where you’re staying.”

“And where’s that?”

“I think one of your ladies has found it.” He tugged Josh’s arm. “Six women?”

“A nice round number,” Josh said.

“How is it a nice round number?”

“I like to go round all six,” he said. “Good to meet you. Enjoy eating the grover.”

“Half a grover. I’ll drop your gold off later.”

“Thank you, Thornton.”

He doffed his cap. “A pleasure. Couple of things before I go. No using offensive magic in town limits. The only magic we like is the creative sort. Second, if you’re fighting, we prefer an honorable match up. Third, well, the third is simple. The first two rules are aspirations. Watch your back. This place is wild.”

As if his point needed driving home, a window shattered, and an elf flew through, smashing a hitching rail and landing in the street.

“Looks like it’s going to be a busy night,” Thornton said, and pulled the elf to his feet.

“It was a witch!” the elf shouted. “A mad witch. She tried to shove her staff up my—”

“Oh no,” Josh sighed, racing in.

Chapter Eighteen

A GNOME CRASHED INTO HIM, spinning away, thumping into a coat stand before falling to the floor, unconscious. An orc threw a punch at him. Josh ducked, countering with two jabs to the gut. The beast doubled over, Josh bringing both hands down on his back with all his might. He moved farther into the room, narrowly avoiding a pair of brawling banshees. He spied Cassandra and Lex, back-to-back, battling a circle of baying elves. Across, Arabella stood on the counter, tossing mugs at dwarves. Melody popped up behind Arabella, cocking her hand, a grenade ready and primed.

“No!” Josh screamed, forging through the crowd, grabbing the dwarves and knocking their heads together. “No grenades. No magic.”

“Better tell Cassandra,” Arabella screamed, kicking a lizardman in the face.

Josh leapt for Cassandra and Lex, taking down two elves and punching them out. “No magic,” he said, rolling over and tripping another, punching him in the side, then chopping at his throat. “Not allowed.”

“And this is?” Cassandra asked, flipping a knife over, her blood on its blade.

Josh’s rage rose, passing from restrain to outrage. He flew at the elves, taking them out two at a time, picking them up, and tossing them out of the window. He roared, his anger overwhelming him. Vella dropped from the rafters, landing on his shoulders. “Calm,” she said, taking his anger from him.

He looked around, fire in his eyes. “Give it back. They stabbed Cassandra.”

She leapt from him to Cassandra. Her aura enveloping the witch. Elowen erupted from a pile of fighting bodies, one eye black and her glasses all skewwhiff. She caught Josh’s eye, grinning, then diving back in.

A leprechaun weaved through the throng, barely able to stand, sloshing his ale about. He spied Josh, wound his fist back, his face contorting in rage, and launched his punch. Josh caught his fist, shoving it hard and upending the drunk. “What the fuck is going on?” he cried as a roar ripped through the tavern, a silver tiger bounding through the broken window. It roared again, picking up the leprechaun and tossing him against the counter. Another roar brought the fight to an end. Cassandra booted an elf in the ass, sending it stumbling into a table.

“I do not fuck goblins!” she screamed, more magic brewing. Vella sucked the magic away. “Calm,” she said, and Cassandra’s eyes rolled to the back of her head as she crashed to the floor. “Oops.” Vella covered her mouth and giggled. “Too much.”

The tiger vanished, and Affinity appeared. “You know, if you’re known for being goblin lovers, you should really stay in the goblin quarter.”

Josh wiped his brow. “Why don’t you fuck off? We’re fine here. We don’t need you or your friends.”

She glared at him. “I just fucking saved you.”

“Yeah, pretty convenient, don’t you think? Tell me, how did all these folks know we’d helped the goblins? How did all these folks know we’d even gone there? We could have passed straight through.”

“I…” Affinity said as Cassandra woke, sitting up, magic hatching in her hands.

“Not going to stop her,” Vella said.

“I…” Affinity glanced at each of them as Lex and Arabella closed in. She morphed into her tiger and raced out of the door.

“Not sure we can stay here,” Josh said. “Doesn’t look like they’re doing food.”

“Everyone okay?” Cassandra asked. “My side’s healed thanks to the wonderful Vella.”

“We have a problem,” Elowen said, straightening her glasses out.

“Heal black eye?” Vella said.

Elowen pushed the elf away. “Leave it. Might make me look badass.”

“What’s our problem?” Josh asked.

“We’re hated here because the three Magicals have obviously spread rumors about us. Then there’s Vella, who, if I remember correctly, is liable to be hated in the goblin quarter.”

“So, what do we have left?” Cassandra asked.

“I’ll take you in,” said a voice in the corner, its soft lilt somehow commanding the room. “I hate everyone, so I’ve no prejudice.”

The woman had mauve skin, elven ears poking out from long, sparkling, white hair. Her bright orange eyes contrasted with her darker lips. She wore black and white, its ostentatious design both regal and suggesting in built protection. She had class, but also that dangerous edge.

“Darling, I think I’ve just met my soulmate.” Cassandra breezed over. “She dresses to kill! Are you a drow?”

The woman considered the question. “Dark elf? Once, perhaps. But I live here—in The Hangsane. Races alter. They lose their heritage. Tell me, is a goblin a goblin if he eats at a fine restaurant?” She chuckled, but it was dry and sardonic. “I think not. So, am I a drow? My heritage says yes, but my heart says once and yearns for more.”

“Do you have a name?” Josh asked.

She rose, strolling from the chair, coming face-to-face with him. “He speaks. Well, aren’t you pretty. I do have a name, and it is Helm. And you have a temper that needs controlling. Affinity is well connected. To make an enemy of her is foolhardy. But…” She reached for his cheek, extending her finger and scraping her sharp nail along his skin. “There was an undercurrent there. Some tension.”

“There’s nothing but hatred there,” Josh snapped, though he knew they were words with no meaning. He had felt something for her. He had thought she might come back for them—help them.

“Then, there’s a story, and your story pays for your room and board.” She walked to the door. “The elves will be getting reinforcements. They’ll have magickers when they return. You might want to think about following me. Or you can wait for your gold.”

“We go with her,” Cassandra said. “Looking at her clothes, there’ll be beds and baths and better food than here.”

“Which sounds like the best reason ever,” said Lex.

They strolled outside, a large black carriage awaiting, drawn by white horses and driven by a drow male. Its door hung ajar. Vella jumped in, and the others followed.

Seats lined the inside, a low table in its center. They all sat, Helm at its end. “The journey will take a little while. Elister spreads up the valley and its sides. The inn you recently destroyed was in the most interesting part of town. My dwelling, my folly, is attached to the mountainside. Your fight with the grover caught my eye. It is the reason I came. Your magic intrigued me, witch. I take it that you are the Harmonic.”

“I am.”

“Good. Then we shall enjoy our time together. I take it you still have the Sinter Stone?”

Josh tensed, but Helm waved him down.

“Relax. I have my own slither. How do you think I transcended the brawling masses? No, I’m afraid your stay in my castle might be considered boring compared to your recent adventures, although there will be a price to pay for my hospitality.”

“Which is?” Elowen asked.

“Non-negotiable,” the drow said.

“I’m detecting a theme,” Elowen said. “Everyone wants something in this place.”

The drow turned, her expression ice cold. “Why? Is it different where you come from? Do folk give you everything you desire out of the kindness of their hearts? I can drop you right here. The goblin quarter is close. You’ll find Lester propping up a bar in the Swamp. It’s called that because it’s ankle deep in goblin shit. Or you can help me, and in return, I’ll help you.” The carriage drew to a halt. “What’s it to be?”

“Do you have baths? We’re very partial to baths,” Cassandra said.

“And big beds,” Vella added.

The carriage moved forward.

“What do you want us to do?” Elowen pressed.

“For now, nothing. I have no doubt your trip here has been adventurous, and I only witnessed the grover fight and the bar brawl. Suffice to say, I will ask my boon at dinner.”

Josh leaned forward, tapping the table as he framed his question. “I get why the goblins needed help. I’m not sure why a magical people struggled to kill the grover, and I understand the bar fight, but your confidence tells me you have power. Why can’t you deal with your own problems?”

“A good point, one that I will answer. But let me address the grover issue.” The cart turned sharply, and they began climbing, turning again shortly after as they negotiated switchbacks. “The grover, and those heavily armored beasts like them, are quite indestructible. They are immune to most magic, blunt and piercing damage. Poisons don’t affect them. You can kill them, but there’s a fair chance you’ll be killed during the fight. As such, a monster hunter will charge a small fortune to tackle such a beast. The charge would likely be more than the town could muster. So, it’s cheaper to build a mighty stockade and close the doors at night. They tossed a little food over to keep it happy, and life continued.”

“So, my ten gold…” Josh trailed off.

“Undersold,” Helm said. “Cassandra is the only Harmonic in The Hangsane. Simmalion denied this place, focusing on her elves. This is a choice. Our elvish cousins are known for their selfishness. It is expected, and how do you coerce a magicker that wants for nothing? To threaten her loved ones is suicidal.” She tipped her head. “So you see, for the first time in an age we have a Harmonic walking among us, and one who can be leveraged.”

“Leveraged?” Cassandra said.

“Of course. You need help, and if you don’t get it, then seven will not make The Radiance. Some will fall along the way. I can help with that.”

The scream of brakes on a wood axle brought their conversation to a close. The door opened, and a chill, mountain wind whipped in. Helm indicated that they should all get out. Josh drew his jacket tight as he landed on a gravel drive, a ghostly gray castle towering up, clinging to the mountainside. A breathtaking, multi-turreted piece of elegant, gothic architecture, it shone against the backdrop of smoke-colored mountains and a midnight blue sky dotted with bright stars. The eerie moon sat dramatically on the mountain’s shoulder, perched as if Helm had ordered it so.

“Welcome to Castle Hedon,” she said, swiping her hand dramatically. A brush of light lit its base, shining up the monumental structure, and a drawbridge lowered with a grind of metal and the chink of chains.

Helm strode ahead, giving Josh the opportunity to study her properly. She was a warrior. Her easy gait gave her away, the same economy of movement that Lex had. Confidence bled from her every action, which impressed him instantly. If she could hold herself up high in a place as powerful as The Hangsane, then she had to have something about her.

Then again, they’d given more than they’d got in the bar fight. So, he doubted they were as weak as he’d initially thought.

“You can stop looking at her ass whenever you’re ready,” Arabella said.

“Don’t see why,” Josh replied. “It’s a fine ass.” He hesitated. “Not as pretty as yours, admittedly. Pretty average, really. Don’t even know why I was looking.”

She slapped him playfully, looking up at the towering castle. “Do you ever wonder quite how we go from scrape to scrape with barely a breather?”

He grunted. “Yeah, it’s not quite the pilgrimage Izod said it might be. It’s certainly no dusty, winding path with lodgings along the way, but I’m pretty cool with it.”

“Why?” she asked as they entered the castle, passing through its arch, murder holes on either side.

“It’s not boring.”

They came to a courtyard, the sky a distant dot, walls towering up on either side. He admired the architecture, the scrolling, the cornices, gargoyles and pelmets. It reminded him of an old candle, its sides thick with waxen drips. Windows speckled the structure, most black, only a few bleeding amber light. Of all the places he’d been, it was the most magical, like fairies should live there, or an elven prince, a vampire—some legendary creature. His gaze fell back on Helm as she turned to welcome him. He noticed that an aura brushed her, not dissimilar to the ones coating them during their recent sexcapades.

“There are few rules here. If you wish to explore, do so. But be aware the castle is very old and there are things lurking here that are probably best left alone. What was once small and insignificant can grow to become powerful within the sphere of The Radiance. The illuminated corridors are well trodden, and will be free of such issues, so if you wish to be safe, then stick to them. I am drow. We are a private race. While we are not considered rude, do not expect my guests to drop everything and pass the time of night with you. Although the castle, as you can see, is largely empty at the moment.”

“My type of people,” Cassandra said.

Helm cocked a sharp eyebrow. “If you find our company to your liking, then you can stay. A witch of the Everdeep is a welcome addition to any guild, no matter the color of your skin.”

“Pass the time of night,” Elowen said. “Are the drow nocturnal?” The archeologist had a pencil and folded piece of paper in hand.

“We come from the bowels of the land. It is where our roots are. Our eyes are not well suited to the light, and any weakness is exploited in The Hangsane. This is Jork.”

A smartly dressed drow appeared, his long coat shining, its texture velvet. He dipped his head. “Will you follow me?”

“Jork will serve you as needed. I have some work to attend to, but I would be delighted if you could join me for a midnight meal in the dining room. I promise it won’t disappoint.” Helm spun on her feet and marched away, slipping through a narrow, gothic-arched way and vanishing into its dark.

“Delighted to meet you, Jork,” said Melody, and they all fell in line.

They passed through many a bare corridor, and up several flights of stairs. They passed through rooms decked with art—drows fighting various monsters, or subterranean castles, each as stunning as Hedon. And they walked hallways, decked with flagstones taller than a man, columns rising, great fires burning.

“How old is Hedon?” Josh asked.

“As old as The Hangsane. It grows a little each year,” Jork said. “It stretches and yawns. The Goddess knows it’s too large for us already, but every day it seems a new room comes to be.” He entered a corridor, a carpet runner underfoot, and lamps glowing. “I took the liberty of preparing these rooms. They all adjoin each other, and there are seven in total. Each has its own washing area.” He paused. “Which you might like to make use of, given dinner will be a formal affair. If you need more fitting attire, I can send a seamstress up, but if you wish to go as you are, then I can have your clothes washed and returned to you in short order.”

“That sounds fantastic,” Cassandra said. “Just what we need.”

Jork opened the first door. “The quarters begin here. I shall send in the help, and you can decide from there.”

Josh nodded his thanks, wandering into a lavish, baroque room. He took his coat off, draping it over a gold-leafed chair, and sat, pulling his boots off and sighing. “I feel like I’ve marched around the world twice of late. Seriously, can’t we get a horse or something?”

Cassandra sank onto a chaise longue. “Be a love, Vella, and get these boots off me.”

Josh chuckled. “Where I come from, witches flew on broomsticks. Can’t you do that? Perhaps give me a lift?”

She rested her head back as Vella pulled her boots off. “Darling, if I could fly us all to the ruins, don’t you think I would? We could be there by now.”

Elowen jumped onto a large bed placed under a huge stained-glass window. “If it was easy to get to, then it wouldn’t be worth it. I think they make it purposely difficult so the ones closer preserve their power.”

“That makes sense,” Melody said, stripping down to her pants and undershirt. “That’s my opinion as well. If the guardians gave easy access, then everyone would be a guardian. I’ll bet there’s a bit of sabotaging going on.”

“The bath is made of tin,” Lex shouted from a doorway. She walked to Melody’s clothes pile, shedding hers as she went. “I’m getting this blood and guts off me. The stench is overpowering.” She stripped, then hesitated. “There’s no way a guardian wants more guardians—Melody’s right. If we’re looking for a liar, I’d point my finger at Lux.”

“He did save us from the orcs,” Arabella pointed out.

“Not saying he wasn’t doing his job. I’m saying he doesn’t want anyone else doing it.” Lex padded off to the bathroom. “Of course, I could be wrong, but the way I’m reading this place, we’re going through the easy areas. It’ll get harder from here.”

“And they’ll try harder to prevent us from progressing,” Melody said, stripping off her undershirt and knickers and following Lex into the bathroom.

“But we’re not as weak as we think,” Josh said, revisiting his earlier thoughts. “We held our own during the bar fight, and I think we’ll get stronger as we progress. It might be that they can’t stop us. Plus, it appears Cassandra has some unique talents.”

Cassandra winked at him. “Baby, don’t you know it?”

Josh got up. “Guess it’s bathtime. Did Jork say there was more than one?”

“He did,” Elowen said, springing up. “I want a bath too, so it’s me and you.”

Josh yawned. “Yeah, let’s get ready for our meal with Helm. We need to chill a little and relax. Gotta get our mind’s sharp.”

Elowen stripped. “Wasn’t necessarily thinking of relaxing.”

Josh took her by the hand. “There’s more than one way to relax.”

Chapter Nineteen

JORK OPENED a large pair of double doors, sweeping in, and turning with a bow. “The dining room.”

Josh ambled through, Arabella holding his arm. “Thank you, Jork,” he said awkwardly, unused to such formality.

His clothes felt great, they smelled great, and didn’t have a crease showing. The girls had a skip to their step. They’d bathed, and then a couple of drow women had attended them, washing and brushing their hair and applying paint to their eyes and lips that gave them an air of elegance. He felt good. Better than good—civilized. It had been a while.

The room was grandiose. A rich purple carpet spread to the edges of the room, a grand table in its center, laid for eight. Helm had her back to them. She stood by a drinks cupboard, several glasses filled with a ruby liquid.

“It’s a little ostentatious,” she said, her voice echoing in the lofty room. “But I like it. We spend so much time grubbing about on our hands and knees that I think we should indulge ourselves when we can.” She turned, two glasses in hand, and revealed a stunning top, her cleavage overflowing its intricate lace. “It’s a different thrill from tearing a throat out and spitting in an enemy’s face, but just as valid.” She handed a drink to Arabella and Josh, then picked up another two.

Cassandra took an offered glass and wafted over to the hearth, where a blazing fire roared. “I’m not going to lie; I could get used to this. Can we have our own scary-assed castle clinging to a mountain?”

“I’d say my offer stands,” Helm said. “But I think your destiny lies away from here. You have a journey to complete. But who knows? There may come a time when you wish to settle down. Here, with us, could be a good a place as any.”

Josh sipped his drink, its sharp taste making him wince. “We have to survive our journey to the ruins first, and the little trial we’re being set along the way.”

“The goblins give you the runaround, did they?” A coy smile followed her comment.

“Do you know already, or are you fishing?” Elowen asked.

“I have heard rumors that a certain tribe of trolls has ceased to exist, and I heard that an ogre incursion was recently met with sterner resistance than our friends the goblins usually muster. Now, it doesn’t take an artificer to put the cogs together and come up with a working theory. So, tell me, did they have you do their dirty work?” She raised her glass and sipped her wine.

“They were in a little strife,” Josh admitted. “But certain aspects of our work with Cedric, will remain between us and the goblins. Suffice to say that we left Cortaine in a good place. But the ones that strong-armed us—those that betrayed us—are either dead or our enemies. I don’t give a fuck about spilling the beans on them. All of them. That’s probably who you should be looking at.”

Helm sat at the head of the table. “Diligent and modest. Confidentiality is a wonderful thing between parties. Discretion is a rare trait.”

Josh sat opposite her, leaving the girls to sit three on each side. Cassandra pointedly sat next to Josh, as if confirming her allegiance. Helm dipped her head, a wry smile gracing her lips once more.

“Eight works for a full dinner table. Perhaps you should look at extending your harem.” Her smile was infectious.

“It does,” he said. “I’ll admit that. But seven is just fine too. We’re still learning plenty about each other.”

“We are doing just fine,” Arabella said. “But should Josh find someone who suits our dynamic, then it will be considered.”

She leant forward, resting her chin on her upturned palm. “Hypothetically, what would you be looking for?”

“Hypothetically?” Arabella said. “Well, we kill monsters. That’s what we do. We have a healer, a trap smith, a sorceress and Lex is a rogue assassin. I’m ranged and Josh calls himself a tank. Elowen deals with the planning and the money. So, if anything, we’re short on melee and ranged—but that’s because I’m quite weak. But we’re not that short. We plan for what we have, and we try and adapt.”

“I’m sure you’ll find someone. So, Affinity, Josh. Do tell.”

“Discretion?” he said.

“Counts only if they aren’t your enemies. You know little about this place. Why don’t I fill you in?” Helm cocked her head.

“I know it’s divisive. I know elves hate goblins, blah, blah, blah, but yes, other than that, not a clue.”

“So, you know Affinity, then I’d imagine you know. But, if you recall our conversation, your tale pays for your room and board. You agreed. I never made you.” She held her glass up, her victory clear. She drank and sat back.

“In which case, discretion doesn’t count.” Josh raised his glass. “I can be brought for a comfortable bed and a bath.” He sipped his drink, getting used to the sharp taste. “Affinity trailed us through the forest. I believe she witnessed the girls getting captured by the goblins, but as they needed us in there to either flush out Atticus—”

“Atticus?”

“He was a Magical—a centaur—that had gained the king’s favor and then turned him into a zombie. He was after the Sinter Stone too.”

“With the other three?” Helm asked.

“We don’t know that. We surmised that. We discounted it. We’re undecided. But we do know they were on the lookout for us. Affinity knew the goblins held Elowen hostage, forcing us to steal the stone from the trolls. It was Atticus’ plan—whether it was part of Flick’s plan is unknown.”

How did the goblins lose the stone in the first place?”

Elowen recanted all the details, then Arabella took over, telling Helm of their attack on the troll camp, getting the Sinter Stone and then killing Atticus.

“So, you duped Flick. She thinks she’s got the stone,” Helm said.

“She got a stone. So did the goblins. A stone is better than no stone,” Cassandra added, looking around as Jork entered the room with a couple of drows laden with plates. “Ah, dinner. Our timing is excellent. You know what we know about the Magicals, and we’ve kept the endgame with the goblins out of it. We can eat while you talk.”

Helm accepted her bowl. “Don’t worry, it’s a palate cleanser. The main meal is coming.” She picked up her spoon. “This is the territory of the Magicals. It’s a little deceptive. Well, not that deceptive as we are all Magicals, but other lands have magical races too. This land holds the greatest variety of species in one space and technically under one governance—the Magical Counsel. But we are not united. Far from it. The Magical territory is fragmented. You have the elves, the shifters, the ratkin, a small human enclave, there are leprechauns and fairies, and of course, the obligatory swamp area with a lone witch and a whole bunch of frogmen at her beck and call.”

“Frogmen, ratkin, and a catwoman,” Josh pursed his lips. “They say variety is the spice of life. So, you’re fragmented. So, what?”

“Because each of the fragments has the support of another land. Lester—the goblin you were supposed to ask for, would have spent the night advising you to go this way and that so you end up in a hob enclave near the ruins—that’s if they let you get that far. The elves would have looked for a way to kill you. Of all the races of The Hangsane, they protect their power and despise the advancement of others. Of course, they won’t tell you that to your face. They’ll be your best friend.”

“Elves nice, but jealous,” Vella said.

Helm covered her mouth. “I didn’t read the room right.”

“Is okay,” said Vella. “I’m your best friend.”

“Of course you are.”

“So, each little enclave has a sponsor, and those sponsors use the enclave to monitor the route to the ruins,” Josh said.

“Exactly. But the trio who were supposedly looking after you don’t fit any particular group. Affinity is a shifter. She lives in the shifter enclave. Pec, a giant, lives alone in the hills, a recluse. Flick is a bit of a busybody, but she lives in the forest to the west with a small gathering of her sort—so small they’re no threat to anyone. So small I’m not sure who they’re aligned to.”

Elowen, who’d been taking notes, drew some linking lines then scratched her head with the pencil. “So, all we need to do is find out what links them, and we’ll be closer to finding out who is pulling their strings.”

“That’s where the fun starts. There are guilds in The Hangsane, and there are cults. So, a good guild would be the Ravenheart Guild, but a member or members of that guild might also be a member of the Sixty-Six Sect. Now, say someone wiped out the Ravenheart guild, then they would accidently kill members of the Sixty-six sect, you follow?” Helm pushed her bowl away. “You get my drift?”

“We set this all in motion when we killed Ravenheart?” Josh asked.

“You set something in motion, but quite what, I’m intrigued to find out. My guess is that one of Ravenheart’s wives was already plotting against him, maybe even poisoning him and weakening him to get ready for a takeover. But you came along, and before they could complete a subtle takeover, you wiped the spider mutant out and his territory suddenly became empty.”

“What happened to his land?” Josh asked. “The place was barren—dead, even worthless given the state it was in. So why would anyone plot to get it?”

“Because land regenerates quickly here. This is The Hangsane. What is useless becomes useful. You own that land—or rather, The Misfits have a claim on it as they defeated its owner. By the rules of the land, you are in prime position. You could take that land if you petition for it. Unless…”

“Someone kills us first,” Cassandra said.

“Exactly. Except, that is where things get even more complicated. No one who wants that land can kill you directly. They would have to declare on you, and they can’t do that while you are on a pilgrimage to the ruins. Lux saved your life by persuading you to make the trip, but that doesn’t mean you’re safe. It just means they have to have a second party kill you.” Helm clapped her hands, and Jork returned with the drow servers and cleared the table. “Good enough appetizer?” she asked.

“Let me get this straight,” Arabella said. “Most of The Hangsane want us dead because they’d rather not be threatened by a new power—this league system, and another group, hitherto unknown, really want us dead to lay claim to Ravenheart’s old land.”

“You got it. Everyone wants you dead.” She smacked her lips together. “Some just want you deader than others.” Standing, she circled the table. “What you should be asking yourself now is, what do I want out of this? Where are the drow? Are we a guild? Are we a sect? Why are we in the Magicals Territory? Do I want you dead?”

“Been asking that in my head,” Cassandra said. “I think I’ve got a couple of thoughts. The first is that you aren’t interested in Ravenheart’s land.”

Helm spun and pointed. “Bham! One right answer for the witch. Why?”

“Because this,” Cassandra said, looking around. “You aren’t leaving this castle anytime soon. The furnishings, the comfort, and the fact that you don’t need it. You can’t even fill this place.”

Helm clapped. “Very astute, and I thought you, Elowen, were the intelligent one. Care to add a reason why I’m one of the good guys?”

Elowen shifted uneasily. “Drows don’t mix well. They have little regard for other species, little concern for what goes on in the outside world unless it directly affects them. So, unless our paths cross, you don’t care what happens to us.” She frowned the moment she finished. “Except you invited us here, so you do, therefore we affect you. Hmmmm.”

“Rule number one of The Hangsane—everyone has a reason to kill you. Rule number two—everyone has a link. And finally, rule number three—everything you do affects everyone else.”

“So, are you going to tell us?” Arabella asked. “Are you going to tell us who we are to you?”

Helm sat. “You are the people who can solve my problem.” She clapped her hands together. “Time for the main course.”

“You’re going to tell us, right?” Cassandra asked as Jork and his servers entered, steaming plates in hand.

“Roasted grover,” Helm said. “I bought the whole thing. Jork?”

Jork set a huge plate in front of Josh, ribs curling eight inches off the plate, dripping rich, brown gravy. “Your ten gold, Sir, and ten more from Thornton. Might I be so bold? You undersold your services. You should know how valuable your time is.”

“A point I shan’t forget. Perhaps I should have claimed my reward for killing Ravenheart. Dorkrin said it would be quite substantial.”

“He did, did he?” Helm asked, as Jork placed her platter before her. “Before we start. Ribs. Make as much mess as you like. I’ll have your clothes washed and ready for the morning. To the main course. What do I want from you?”

“Try to be honest,” Melody said. “You know, try something different.”

Helm grinned. “Ah, but I can. You know why? Because Elowen’s right. Drows are aloof. We are worse than elves. I can be honest because what I want affects me, this castle, and nothing else. In return, I will accompany you through the Magical.”

“Not enough,” Cassandra said. “I think you can do better than that.”

“What have you in mind?” Helm asked with a twist to her lips.

“What’s your specialty? Was it melee and ranged?”

“It was.”

“Then, while we’re completing your task, and while you’re accompanying us through the Magical, I want you to train Arabella and Lex.”

“And me,” said Melody. “I can’t spend my whole time throwing grenades.”

“Me too,” Elowen said. “I can fight, but not well.”

Helm inclined her head. “I would have done that for free. If I’m accompanying you, then everyone needs to be a fighter.”

“Then get to the one thing someone with your power can’t do.”

“So speaks the Harmonic. Here’s the deal.” She snapped off a rib and held it up. “There’s something I need. It’s buried deep—and when I say deep, I’m talking beyond the goblin city, deeper than the ogres. I’ve been there. I’ve fought my way there. But I could not retrieve what I quested for.”

“Why?”

“Because the deep has a habit of flooding. And while I can swim, I can’t stay underwater for that long. So, I need a lake, deep underground, shifted. I pondered to myself, who could possibly do that for me, and you know what I came up with?”

“A Harmonic,” Cassandra said, holding up her rib and pointing it at the elf. “You want me to move a lake?”

“I figured there were two ways. First, you move the water. Failing that, you move the rock under it and the water vanishes. Either way, I’ll be able to complete my quest. It’s a straight trade. I’ll help you. You help me.”

“What is it you’re after?” Josh asked. “Do we need to know?”

“No. No, you don’t. I might tell you. I might not. I consider my offer the best you’re going to get. The elves, no offence, Vella—”

“None taken.”

“Will kill you—not Vella, but the rest. The rest might trade, but they won’t offer you what I can. The downside is that my price is the highest. But then you have to pay for the best.”

Josh dug into his food as he thought. He wanted to accept. Helm appeared capable and was being as honest as anyone had been with them. But he needed to discuss it with the others. “We’ll talk about it,” he said.

“You could take a vote now,” Helm suggested. “Test the water. You can stay here whatever you decide—until you move on. Or, just in case it’s me that’s putting you off, I’ll give you a thousand gold to perform my task and then you move on.”

“I vote we say no,” Elowen said. “To all of it.”

“Might I ask why?” Helm broke off another rib.

“Because we plan, and we can’t plan around vagaries. Go deep. Shift a lake. Open a crack in the ground to drain it. Find some treasure. These are too vague. Without knowing what we’re trying to retrieve, how can we plan? How do we assess the danger? There’s no point in dangling a reward if we’re dead before we get to enjoy it.”

Helm regarded Elowen. “You’re not my favorite. You know that, don’t you?”

“I don’t have to be,” Elowen said sweetly.

“You want to plan? There is no plan for this. It’s a quest, and quests have danger. When we get to the lake, that’s when you can plan.”

“What are we attempting to retrieve?” Josh asked. “Why won’t you tell us?”

“I didn’t say I wouldn’t…”

“But you’re delaying saying it, so…” Arabella tapped her finger to her lips. “Let me guess. The whole reason you settled here is the item you’re trying to retrieve. The whole point of the castle is to hide your attempts to get it. But you came to this impasse. What could possibly be more important than the Emmitance? Because you’ve positioned yourself away from The Hangsane’s seat of power, so you’re suffering just by being here.”

Helm clapped slowly. “You see, Arabella, that’s why you have a seat at the table. You and Elowen make a great team. You got me.” She raised her hands. “I’m sitting on the motherlode.”

Josh stood. “The real question is are we partners? Because if we’re not, then you can have us killed once we’re done. So, are you worried about us stealing this item from you?”

She pursed her lips. “That would imply you could, but let’s say yes. Yes, I am. You’re erratic. You’re dangerous. Cassandra’s powerful.” She got up and closed on Josh. “I wouldn’t be lying if I said it excites me.”

“Then tell me what we’re after, and we’ll consider it.”

“Do you know the legend of the ruins?”

Chapter Twenty

THEY FINISHED their ribs and retired to a seating area surrounding the hearth. Helm sat in a grand seat, its back raised above her head, silver scrolling surrounding its velvet cushion. She regarded them all like a psychiatrist might her patients—Vella as she lounged on the floor, Elowen, Melody, Arabella, and Lex as they crammed on a sofa, and Cassandra who chose to inspect the many paintings gracing the lofty, gray walls. It was Josh she settled on, who took the other single chair, slumping casually, his legs crossed and gaze resting on glowing embers.

“I get the feeling,” he said, “and there’s no reason for it, that this quest is linked to me.” He yawned, the strangeness of The Hangsane overcoming him rather than tiredness. “I can’t explain it, but ever since I came to this place, these mountains called to me. I thought it just because they were there, broody on the horizon, powerful, ever present.”

“And now?” Helm asked.

“Now I think it was this Emmitance, Radiance—the Ruins—whatever your chosen name for them. Now I think it’s that.” He pulled his gaze away from the fire. “Tell me the story of the ruins, and I will tell you mine.”

Arabella gasped, and the sound of Casandra’s footsteps stopped.

“I have not asked you to,” Helm pointed out. “And it isn’t a prerequisite for me retelling a story once told to me. Your secrets are your own.”

“Agreed,” Josh said. “But here’s the thing. I don’t trust you.”

Helm sucked her cheeks in. “To the point.”

“But I want to,” he continued. “I want to trust you, and I don’t know why.”

She turned her head to the flames. “Then we swap stories, but yours is recent. Mine is about something that happened to me a hundred years ago, perhaps longer. But mine reveals nothing about me or my hidden intents.”

“Then,” said Josh, the silence in the room complete barring the fire’s crackle. “We must have some trust.”

She continued to look away as her expression hardened, then softened, then retained the curiosity of a cat toying with a mouse. Something flashed within her golden eyes, but quite what Josh couldn’t tell. Was it excitement, or was it something more than that?

“I was young when it happened,” she said. “And there are no firsthand accounts from any of my people. We lived underground in a vast city called Telemar. It was a sprawling place of caverns and arteries, of milk-white lakes and geode caves. We hunted grifters and farmed sightless fish. The romantics would say our lives were complete. We had music, a civil society. Crime was nonexistent, and we had our Gods. They told us—they warned us that all above the rock was evil.

“They didn’t have to preach. We were content. Sure, we had the odd scrape with the goblins, and sometimes entire hob armies would try and take the city. But our warriors were magical. They made fighting an art, a song, a dance, and all our cumbersome enemies fell in droves.” She paused and stared into his eyes. “We were, and are, unequalled on the battlefield. To witness a drow fight is something special.

“For us, the day began like any other. My mother would sweep our dwelling, make our morning meal, while my father readied the weapons for our morning practice. Once done, my brother and I would meet friends and we’d explore. The underworld is not like above. We aren’t restricted to one plane of existence. To crawl through a fissure might bring a dead end, or a cave full of sparkling geodes, or it might open out to a stunning cavern with water cascading down from the roof to fall to a pool, its bed sparkling with diamonds. That day we ranged farther than usual, finding a tunnel that twisted and spiraled. It was the tunnel that saved us.”

Cassandra returned to the hearth, crouching, then sitting between Josh’s legs. “Saved you? Was Telemar close to the ruins?”

“No,” she said softly. “Telemar was here—under here. That is why I cling to this rock.”

“Then…” the witch continued, but Helm stopped her with a wave of her hand.

“We know little about what destroyed my home, but we do know this from those that witnessed it and survived. A light appeared in the sky, but not just any shooting star, it was a light that blinded those who looked directly into it. It was a light that lit up the sky, flashes ripping to the horizon. Some say a vast, gray dragon crashed to the land, explosions tearing up the land. Others that it was a boulder the size of a city. Whatever it was, it fell to the land, and the land changed as it groaned and buckled.”

“Was that how Telemar ended?”

Helm shrugged. “In part, perhaps, but there was more. Other witnesses tell of smaller lights bursting from the object. These lights arrowed to the land, piercing it like a sword plunges into a gut. They tell of tremors after, muffled by the ground as huge, underground explosions changed our world. They angered it, and our world fought back. It heaved and buckled, The Hangsane Mountains rising higher, rage ripping through the surface. Thus, the Hangsane you see now came to be, taller than any mountain, and the ruins came to be, and under here—deep below, something else hatched.”

Josh considered her words, their familiarity meaning more to him than to any in the room. Fear gripped him, but he discounted it as groundless. If it was a spaceship, the chances of it being them were miniscule. But he could make sense of what had happened. If a stricken spacecraft had crashed to the land, then sure, they’d want to eject any physical ordnance before landing. Many close orbit attack craft held more conventions munitions because sometimes the quantum guns just didn’t have the desired effect. That type of munition was designed to pierce the ground too. Or it might be some kind of escape pod, a survival device.

Jork entered with a number of glasses on a silver tray, a decanter in the middle filled with a rich, coppery liquid. He set it down, poured and handed them all a drink each before retiring. Josh considered his response to her story, wondering how much he should tell her.

“Struggling with your trust?” Helm asked.

“Always,” Josh said. “It’s what keeps me alive.”

“Tell me what you need to, but no more. You know my story now. What I seek is in Telemar, in the ruins of my old city.”

There seemed little doubt in Josh’s mind that what she sought would be gone, crushed under a ton of rock. But his quest for her had become easier. When they found nothing, it would end, and she would owe him. Something, though, compelled him to share his truth with her. If a spaceship had caused the ruins, the Great Radiance, then his story had bearing on it. By telling the right person, it might just get him a pass through The Hangsane and an audience with its masters.

Had I told Lux, I could have already been there…

“I believe,” he said. “That I can shed some light on what happened.” He took a sip of the coppery liquid, its warmth flooding through him and feeding him the courage he needed. “I think I am uniquely placed to be able to give you fresh insight.”

“How so?” she asked, leaning forward.

He held his hand up. “Before I do, I want to know how good the word of a drow is. If you swear to me, does it mean anything?”

She rested back, staring at the vaulted ceiling. “Jork was with me that day. He was my companion, a drow sworn to protect me—me, an inquisitive child born to explore. It was he who pulled me and my friends out. It was Jork who guided us to the surface, instructed us in their ways, and taught me how to play their games. With Jork by my side, I won those games, and we built this castle where others live in wooden hut. I command a vast amount of the trade in Elister. I have alliances throughout The Hangsane feeding from my hand. Without Jork I couldn’t have done it. Jork could, but not me. I was a child. He still serves me today, even though I offer him his freedom daily. Why?”

“Because he gave his word to your father.”

“Wrong. Because he gave his word to his Empress.”

“Your mother?” Josh asked.

“My mother. So, if you want to know what a drow’s word is worth, ask Jork, because I could be lying when I say it is everything.”

He rubbed his chin. “Then I take it that whatever we say in this room stays in this room unless we agree otherwise.”

“You have my word.”

Josh gathered his nerve. But when it came to it, he began as he had once before. “I come from the sky.”

Silence followed his final words, and he sat back, his glass empty, warmth filling his stomach. There was something cathartic about telling his story because in its telling, he both became closer to his past and further away. Closer, because he could revisit it, but more distant as it felt like he was telling the story of another Josh Underwood. One who had died long ago. It drained him, but gave him a pleasant buzz, like a good workout. He hated telling strangers, but it helped.

He eased Cassandra forward, and slipped from the chair, grabbing the decanter and refilling his glass. “Tell me, how do you feel about my story now? It’s no secret in Mythelore, although I doubt most believe it. I’m not even sure what I shared with Drokrin.”

“If Drokrin knows, then he’s yet to use the knowledge. It is power here.”

“You didn’t tell Drokrin. A few in Califire. Simmalion,” Cassandra said. “I think you just furnished Helm with some leverage.”

“That’s the thing about secrets,” Josh said. “They’re everyone’s burden and no one’s joy. So, it’s a secret for now, but who really cares? I came to this world in a tiny survival pod. The craft that crashed here sounds infinitely more powerful. If it discharged ground attack munitions—bunker bombs—whatever, then there will be nothing left of Telemar. I’m sorry.”

“That’s where you’re wrong,” Helm said. “I have spied the ruins. I have seen the skeletons of my kin, those that fled to the city’s edges. But there is more down there, and to understand that you must understand the nature of the Guardians, and the lies they carry on their shoulders.”

“The lies?” Josh topped up the girls’ glasses, then offered Helm the same.

“You should not serve me. It is for Jork.”

“Nonsense. Jork isn’t here, and I have the decanter. What harm?”

“It demeans you. It puts you below me.”

A hint of a smile teased his lips taut. He glanced at Arabella, who rolled her eyes as if to say go on then, if you must. “What if I want to be below you?”

Her lilac complexion paled, and she offered her glass out.

“See. Wasn’t that hard, was it, Princess?”

“You have no idea how strange that small transaction was.”

Her choice of words confused him, but he returned to his seat, stepping around Cassandra and setting the decanter on the hearth. “The lies the Guardians carry on their shoulder?”

Helm regarded him. “The Guardians say they Herald from the ruins, but that’s not the case. More than one star burst from the dragon and fell to the land. One such light crashed the Hollis Tarn, sending its water up, washing the mountains with its rage. The swell dragged many to their deaths, but some emerged, and they had been changed. Power bled from them, power that had no parallel here. They became the Guardians. They hunted the ruins, culling many with fledgling power until they realized they couldn’t contain all. They then formed the council, positioning themselves at its head as judge, jury, and executioners of The Hangsane. They became the law but used it to ensure their power was and is absolute.”

“And Hollis Tarn?” Cassandra asked.

“Glows with the purest light in the land. Its shine can be seen from the ruins, snuffing out the stars.”

“Then why not go there?” Arabella asked. “If it is power you’re after, surely it’s easier to go to the tarn than attempt to reach a crushed city.”

“You don’t understand. The Guardians don’t let any near the place. They guard it with terrible wards—power you and me could never counter. They have runes as tall as a building that create otherworldly forces—lights that incinerate any who come close. Hollis Tarn is lost to all but the Guardians.”

“They keep the power to perpetuate their power,” Josh said.

“Precisely.”

“Then why did Lux help us?”

“I can only guess at that. Under the guise of being the law? Because he despises the Orcs? Perhaps he has a guild in mind for you, so you might join them and even some squabble or the other. All I know is this. The Guardians only look out for themselves, even if they appear to rule fairly. Have you seen Elister? Is it a civilized place that all this progress merits? Or is it a little better than Mythelore?” She scoffed. “We are The Hangsane. We can mine a mountain with the snap of our fingers or forge a blade with a stern stare. Why then can no one kill a grover?”

“Because power is fragile,” Josh said. “Use it or lose it,” he added.

“Every single one of them should have been able to kill the beast, but the beast had progressed more, building its power rather than drinking and brawling.” She sipped her drink. “Make no mistake. The Guardians have us exactly where they want us, and before you get close to the ruins, they will have you tied up in the knots of some meaningless conflict or the other.”

“And our power will wither,” Cassandra said.

Arrabella scrunched her face up. “Then how come Josh has already risen in power?”

“As have I,” said Cassandra. “I feel more comfortable in mine daily.”

“Because you still strive for it. Once you lose that ambition, then you’ll peak and descend. Once you get used to beating the weaker, you’ll forget to become stronger. That is how The Hangsane works, and that is why so many flee it. By the time they wake up, it’s too late.”

“But you think this light can help?”

“It is no light,” she said. “The Guardians call it by a name, and that name says it all.”

“Which is?”

“The Angel Stone.”

Chapter Twenty-One

JOSH PULLED Arabella’s belt tight, placing her hand on her sword’s hilt. “You got this,” he said.

“But I feel so fucking useless. I was the weak link anyway, but now I’m even more useless. What’s the point of an archer without a bow?”

He grabbed her collar, pulling her to him and kissing her. “You’ll be fine. Remember, whatever Helm said, this is The Hangsane. We’re within the influence of the ruins—possibly even the second Angel Stone. You will progress faster. You will learn faster. Plus, you have a head-start on those two. And at least Carl taught you a few moves.”

“If you recall, Elowen is accomplished at melee. Melody can turn her hand to anything.”

“And you have built the most powerful harem in Mythelore. Now it’s time to make it the best in The Hangsane.”

She forced a smile onto her face. “I’ll try. What are you, Vella, and Cassandra going to do?”

“We’re going to have a little explore—see if we can’t pick up a few clues about our mysterious host.”

“I like her,” Arabella said. “She’s honest. I can tell that.”

“But she has her own agenda.”

“So do we.” Arabella pulled her sword out of its sheath.

The sword was strange, much thinner than a Mythelorian sword. Its blade was curved, the handle traveling a third of the way up, and it had no cross guard. Cloth bound its long grip.

“Two-handed or one?” she asked.

“Looks like it could be both.” He took it from her. It was light, shorter than he’d thought when Arabella held it.

“Short,” he said.

“Helm said it was better for fighting in the tunnels,” Melody chipped in, drawing her sword and swishing it about. “She has longer ones. Did you see her armory? She could equip an army.”

“That’s what confuses me,” Josh said, handing the sword back to Arabella. “She talks like she has troops, like she’s a force, but the castle is deserted. We’ll have a little look around while you spar.”

Arabella, Lex, Elowen and Melody trooped out, Arabella dragging her feet.

“Knock them dead,” Cassandra said as the door shut. She faced Josh. “Are we really going traipsing around a cold castle, or are we going to fuck?”

“Fuck,” said Vella.

Josh sighed. “Traipse around a castle.” He pulled his boots on. “Okay, let’s get going.”

Cassandra sighed. “But what the hell are we looking for?”

“Something, anything. I don’t trust what I’m told, no matter how sincere they sound. I need proof.”

He left the room.

“No sword?” Cassandra asked. “So, you trust her a little.”

He shrugged. “Maybe. But if we’re venturing into the bowels of the land, I need better than maybe.”

“Then let’s get this over and done with.” Cassandra yanked the door open, stomping through it and huffing. “Right or left? They both look the same.”

“This way,” Vella said, racing along. “It leads to the room you want.”

Cassandra and Josh swapped looks. “She’s explored already, hasn’t she?”

“Yup,” Josh said, following as Vella shot along the corridor, slid down some bannisters and landed in the hallway.

“Hurry up,” she shouted, vanishing into another corridor.

When they caught up to her, she stood before a couple of double doors. “This way.” She slipped through them and ran to the end of a hall. “Down these steps,” she said.

The steps narrowed, ending at a single door. “In here.”

Josh pushed the door open, a long thin room tapering away, magical lights blinking and glowing. “What the hell is this place?”

“It’s everything. It’s what they do,” Vella said.

“What they do?”

“The others. The ones whose swords they borrowed.”

Cassandra picked up a helm, its metal dented and scratched. Josh held a lump of stone, indented and scrolled.

“Ruins?” Cassandra asked.

“Her legacy,” Josh said. “It has to be her legacy. She’s retrieving the remnants of Telemar.”

“She’s dedicated her life to her family,” Vella said. “It’s all she does—fights monsters and brings back loot.”

Josh wandered along the room, his hand brushing the relics of a lost race. Then his mind recalled another conversation he’s had with Helm. She’d said she didn’t need his Sinter Stone because she’d had her own. He came to a dark, curved stone the size of his fist, holding it up. “Is this her Sinter Stone?”

“One of them,” Vella said.

He studied it, offering it up to his arm, clipping it around. “Could it be?” he asked.

“Could it be what?” Cassandra asked.

“We called them exo-suits. Look, see how it fits my arm. The one you have on your staff would probably clip onto my wrist. What if the Sinter Stone is a part of an exo-suit?”

“You’re saying the craft had people on board?” Cassandra asked.

“Of course. Although not all did. Some had drones fly them. But in any crash there’s going to be remnants of everything, the crew included. If I’m right and she found these near Telemar, then there could be more.”

“They’d be dead,” Cassandra said.

“Perhaps.” Vella shrugged. “Maybe Angel’s Stone kept them alive.”

Josh shook his head. “This place just gets weirder and weirder. But it means what crashed might not have been a bomb.”

“We have to assume that anything is possible. That’s just the way it is.”

The sound of a male clearing their throat startled them. Josh whipped around. “Jork,” he said. “I didn’t hear you come in.”

Jork chewed his lip. “What are you doing here?”

“Exploring,” Vella said.

“Taking advantage of my mistress’ trusting nature, more like.” He stiffened. “But while we’re alone, let me clear something up. Lady Helm is my charge, and while you may think you are strong, wielding your mighty blade, and while magic isn’t an issue for you, I’ll not stand by and watch her taken advantage of. If the elf lays one hand on her, I will be there to cut it off. The stone she seeks is a folly, but I will not let it be her end.” He smiled coldly. “Is there anything I can get you, or a particular artefact you wish some further explanation on?”

The drow’s swift change of mood left Josh’s rising anger with nowhere to go. He’d wanted to tear into him, but he found himself peculiarly moved by Jork’s dedication. No amount of protestation would sway the drow’s opinion, so he swallowed his anger and held out the chunk of Sinter Stone.

He took it. “Sintering is a process often used in making pottery and forming certain alloys, but, certain explosions, eruptions, and the like can make rock susceptible to the process. We believe that is what this is. It resembles molten obsidian, if there can be such a thing. As we have no knowledge what it might be, we come to the closest conclusion. How else does stone bend?”

Josh took it back off him. “It isn’t stone. At least, that’s my guess. Like you, I can’t be sure, but my guess comes from a better place than yours. It’s scarce, isn’t it? I’ll bet there are only a few pieces away from the main crash site. Now, if it were rock and the explosion happened underground, surely there would be tons of the stuff. I think that whoever flew the star, dragon, craft—whatever you want to call it—wore a suit made of this stuff.”

He stopped short of holding up his ring and saying what he truly thought—from voicing the stormy conclusions gathering on the horizon of his mind—instead, he gave it back to Jork. “There’s your answer, Jork. I’m here to survive, to protect my ladies. I understand your duty, because mine is sixfold. So, likewise. You cross me. You harm any of my girls, and you’ll find out just how strong I am, and it might surprise you.” He set the stone down, then patted Jork on the shoulder. “See, we have something in common.”

He walked out into the hallway, waiting for Vella to draw beside him. “He knows your power?”

“Healed one of them,” she said. “Rockfall.”

“Then they should be grateful.”

Arabella collapsed on the bed, her sword still hanging from her belt. “I’ve climbed up this valley. I’ve walked down into the guts of the land and walked back out again. But nothing, nothing, was as tiring as that. She didn’t stop. She kept on and on. Sweat, Josh, sweat was pouring out of me, and she was barely out of breath.” She threw her hands over her head, stretching as she breathed deeply.

“I thought it was excellent,” Lex said. “I’m accomplished with the sword—admittedly, if I get into a swordfight, then I’ve failed as an assassin, but I’m decent. She’s, well, she’s out of this world.”

“And a spellblade too,” Melody said. “My arms are going to ache for days.”

“She worked you hard, huh?” Josh said. “Votes, people. I need votes. First question. Are we being used?”

“Definitely,” Cassandra said, and the others nodded.

“Definitely?” Josh said. “Okay, next question. Can we trust them?”

“Yes,” Vella said. “We can trust. They only want Angel. That’s all. Not like Flick. She wanted all.”

“Yes,” said Arabella. “No enemy teaches you to fight like that, just in case they turn. She was teaching us to defend ourselves as well as attack.”

“I think I’m in the yes side,” Cassandra said. “No particular reason.” She shrugged. “But she has got fantastic tits, if that helps.” She wrinkled her nose up. “Do you think she’s got pubes or bald like Vella? Is it an elf thing, Vella?”

“Don’t know. Shiny. Shiny.”

“Shiny, shiny,” Josh admitted, his cock gaining interest.

“Could be white,” Lex mused, “Like her hair, but lilac would be a good contrast to her skin.”

“Can we stop talking about her genitals and tits and get back to whether she’s—” He paused, scratched his head. “Lilac, I think I’d like them to be lilac, and trim, cut close like down.”

“But the evidence points to white or bald,” Elowen said. “Elves are relatively hairless, and the drow are relations to the elves, so it stands to reason her pussy is bald.”

“Good,” said Josh. “Now that’s sorted, are we willing to risk our lives to get back their angel stone?”

“I don’t see that we have a choice,” Arabella said. “It’s too linked to your past, so it’s also linked to our future.”

“My past?”

“It dropped from the sky. You dropped from the sky.”

“We can find out more about the Sinter Stone,” Melody said.

“And eliminate the thing that none of us are saying,” Cassandra said.

“Which is?”

She pouted. “You said that there would have been living beings on board, so the question remains. Are any of them still living?”

Josh laughed. But deep down, he dreaded it. He saw them, the dread enemies from his past—the Grillons. It had been so long since he’d thought of them—specters that had haunted his past. It was impossible, of course.

He fell onto the bed, staring up at the ceiling and trying to calm his beating heart. It was crap. There was no way in hell two objects from the same universe could have hit the same planet a hundred years apart. He’d wondered if they’d followed him—would follow him but knew enough about wormholes to know if they had, the hole could have spewed them out millions of miles apart. Chance—chance played a huge part in it. And even if they’d come out in the same spot—even if they’d crashed on the same planet, there was no way they’d have come out at the same time.

They didn’t, Josh thought. They came out a hundred years before me…

He pulled his legs up, hugging them tightly, stretching his hamstrings, and using the pain to focus. How the hell was he going to explain it? Was it even worth explaining? The more he thought about it, the more real it became. Coincidence needed random actions to happen. The Grillons would have tracked the ring. If they’d hunted down the pod, then it was equally plausible they’d entered the wormhole just after him. As they’d had the greater mass, they would have been catapulted faster than him, tumbled past him. Could he have followed them? Could he have been dragged along in the vortex created by their acceleration, slipping farther behind with every moment, exiting, his course drawn by its aging wake?

He sighed, thrusting his legs forward, and used the momentum to rock up. The girls stood in a semicircle. “It’s possible that the craft that crashed here was following me.”

Cassandra rolled her eyes. “I need a drink for this,” she said. She opened the door and yelled. “Jork! Some ale or anything with a kick, and you might want to get Helm! This shit’s going to blow your mind.” She returned. “Josh, I’d wait until Helm’s here before you explain. It’s only fair. She needs to know what we might be getting in to.”

Josh slipped off the bed, mussing his hair. He took a breath, then shook out his shoulders, cricking his neck. “You’re right,” he said. “We’re in this together.”

Helm walked through the door. “What is it? What’s so urgent it couldn’t wait until dinner?”

Jork set a tray of drinks on the sideboard and backed out of the room.

“You might as well stay, Jork. This involves you.”

“I will leave...”

“Stay, Jork.” Helm grabbed a drink, handing another to Josh. “So, spill. What have you found out?”

“I didn’t tell you about the ring—about this.” He held it up and told her all about Tremelox, and how it had improved him. He showed her his scale armor, his plate, and his stealth suits. She touched it, feeling its coolness, then biting her lip, she nodded.

“If they were following you, how come they arrived here a hundred years before you?”

He grimaced. “That’s not an easy thing to explain. Best I can do is this. If I left here and walked to Califire, even if I left a day before you, if you were on horseback, you’d get there days before me. Now, stretch that distance from one horizon to the next, triple it, more, then you’ll begin to understand. But it’s not as easy as that.”

“Why not?”

“Neither of us knew where we were going.”

Melody lifted her hand. “I’m thinking of it like this. Two archers and two arrows. Both shot in the same direction. One travels faster than the other, but both hit the same target.”

“Fuck,” said Cassandra.

“Yes,” said Josh. “And it gets worse.”

“How?” Helm asked.

“You could crush every single bone in my body. You could fill me full of poison, and blast me with magic, but give the ring enough time and it will put me back together again, improve me, and then I’d come after you.”

“So you’re what? Indestructible?”

“Each time you break me, I get harder to break.”

Helm licked her top lip, looking him up and down. “No wonder they all want you dead.”

“And you?”

“Oh, I want you alive.”

She turned. “Eat your dinner, sleep, and then we leave. Jork will supply you all with suitable clothing, packs, and weapons. We took your sizes when we washed your clothes. Trust us, the clothes are optimal for diving. We go find the corpses. Nothing could have survived that blast.”

“Don’t count on it,” Josh said. “It’s had a hundred years to put itself back together again.

Chapter Twenty-Two

LILAC LIGHT BRUSHED the tunnel walls, its top arched in a similar way to the castle’s gothic windows. Helm explained that it was a design that allowed them to swing their swords more freely when monsters came. The color of the light bled onto their tough, black clothing, straps and holsters holding knives and holstering their swords. Each of them carried a pack filled with food, bedrolls, water and rejuvenation potions. Apart from Vella, of course, who’d refused to change and carry anything.

Cassandra held her Everdeep staff, its light dulled purposely. She stretched and scratched, unused to such constricting clothes. “Why do I have to wear this again?” she asked. “Really? Is it that bad down here?”

“It’s worse,” Helm said, “but it’s home.”

Josh caught up with the drow, the tunnel big enough for them to walk two or three abreast. “If its home, why don’t you live back down there? Why build your castle on the surface?”

She exhaled, sighing. “Have you any idea how hard it is to live underground? A small village isn’t an option. Everything is harder to come by. To do it, you must have a fully functioning society. Farmers have to work twice as hard. Gatherers have to walk for miles before they find a thing. Hunters fight monsters. They don’t snare rabbits. Now? Now I have become accustomed to the light. My eyes have adapted. I can tolerate dusk without a problem, but my skin cannot stand direct sunlight without burning. That crash ended my life, Josh. I’m waiting for it to begin again. What about you?”

“Me?”

“What did the crash do for you? You lost your old life.”

He tutted. “My old life wasn’t much. It was mostly stuck in a resin box travelling from one star to the next, loading and unloading cargo, then on to the next.”

“So, it sounds more fascinating than it is. This life?”

He paused, looking over his shoulder. “It’s fantastic.” He ruffled his hair, his hand resting on his new sword’s hilt. “I couldn’t have been luckier. Arrabella’s fantastic. I met her and her father first. Six beautiful women? What more could a man ask for?”

“Seven,” she said. “But is that right? What if six is the perfect number and seven ruins everything? What then?”

He laughed. “Not something I’m going to worry about. Arabella’s quite picky who joins us.”

“Isn’t it up to you?”

He sucked his cheeks in. “It is, but if I want someone to join our family, then everyone already in it has to approve or else it might, as you say, ruin it all.”

He drew his sword. The blade was light in his hand, its curve making it strange. “I’m not used to such a short blade. Kind of got used to that huge thing I’ve been carrying around.”

“I’d imagine that can be effective against big, lumbering beasts, but you don’t get them down here. It’s all about speed, agility, or brute strength. Some monsters have magic, so a little of that helps. You’re holding it wrong, by the way.”

“That’s because I haven’t even swung it yet. You taught the girls, remember? Not me.”

“Not all of them. How good is Vella?”

“You’ll see,” Josh said.

“Wanna practice?”

“Now?”

Helm paused. “Jork, take them down to the first camp. I’m going to teach Josh how to fight in tunnels. I might need someone up aside me while you guard the rear.” She paused. “I have a feeling he’ll be a fast learner.”

She stepped aside, letting the others pass. “I suggest you ready your sword, Josh. I don’t go easy on my students.”

He took up the fighting stance Carl had taught him all those months ago. She shook her head, walking behind him and reaching around, pressing her breasts into his back. “You need to grip it like this,” she breathed into his ear before pushing away, then facing him. “Okay, fight me.”

Josh attacked, then attacked again. At first, he held off, going easy on her. But she countered everything, moving out of the way, jinking right and left, sometimes moving her entire body, others, leaving her feet planted and weaving. He doubled his efforts, driving in, retreating, feinting, striking, then faking right, left, parrying, and countering.

“Will you stop smiling?” he asked.

“Who taught you?” Helm asked.

“A trainer called Carl. Her taught me the basics, and the ring took it from there.”

“That explains enough.” She stepped away, coming to her haunches and thinking. “You’re too stilted. Your style of sword fighting is a typical of a human male. Females have more grace. But the drow, we see it differently. You see it as one stroke, then another. When you get into the fight, you put two or three together. We weave a story. We tell a tale, and each is different. You need more grace. You need to dance.”

“To dance?”

“The drow sword is not a bludgeoning weapon. Do not use it as such. The blade is fragile. You can’t afford to smash it into rock or crash it down on a stone flag. Better to pull your stroke.”

“Make them thicker and you wouldn’t have the problem.”

“But,” she said, “why are you aiming for the walls and floor in the first place? Why is your strike so late that your enemy has moved out of the way? These are the questions you should ask yourself. Let me demonstrate.”

She moved down the tunnel, standing dead central. She performed some shapes, then began her moves, but it quickly became apparent to Josh that it was so much more than that. The tip of her sword traced a path that moved with inches of the passage’s walls and ceiling but never touched it. Lilac flashes surrounded her, her strokes so fast they became a blur. She stopped, bowing, her elegance breathtaking. “Do you think you could do that?”

Josh vanished inside himself, seeking out his ring, knowing it was already analyzing what it had seen. He had the dexterity, but his body had grown and with it he’d lost some of that agility through shear bulk. One fought the other. He replayed her moves, letting Tremelox slow them and take pointers. It studied her grip, stance, the way she moved and the way she held herself.

“I think I have it,” he said, understanding it was a completely different way of fighting. “Let me try.”

He took his position in the passageway’s center, bowed, performed the same shapes as she had, and then mirrored her display. The ring adjusted for his bulk. It shortened some strokes, lengthened others. It compensated, knowing it couldn’t duplicate her.

He paused, bowed, and then looked up, seeing her crouching.

“The ring?” she said.

“It makes it easier to learn. What should take years comes in moments. I’ll not apologize, but if you have any tricks, best not to show them to me.”

She dipped her head. “Let’s get this straight, right here and right now. We’ll never have a reason to fight each other unless you plan on double-crossing me. I made my mind up in that tavern that I would help you. Nothing I’ve seen or heard since has made that a bad choice. I’ll show you everything I know. The rest is up to you.” She stood. “Ready?”

They fought.

“The lake’s freezing cold,” Helm told him as they arrived at the camp.

A horseshoe of black water hemmed in a shale bank, the ever-present lilac light sending mirrored spears over the dark lake. Crystals speckled the black rock walls, making the cavern grotto-like. Jork had a small fire going, its flames the same color as the wall lights, and the smell of cooking food wafted to them. Josh paused, holding Helm back.

“Thank you.”

“For what?”

“For trusting me with your craft, even after you knew I would learn it fast.”

She smirked. “It’s not easy watching years of training duplicated in moments. But I still had the edge.”

“Yeah. I guess my body is built for power now.”

“Which isn’t a bad thing. Quite the opposite. If you have two or more opponents, you can weave in kicks and offhand punches. Some of our best fighters used a combination of swords and brawling to mix up fights and confuse enemies. Jork can teach you. He has a great mixed style.”

“That would be fantastic.”

“The only thing. You’d both have to go easy on each other—no injuries.”

“We don’t have to worry about that. The ring will heal me, and Vella can heal Jork.” He huffed. “I might not even get close.”

“At first,” she said, strolling down the steep path onto the shale.

“Just in time,” Arabella said. “Food’s nearly ready.” She looked him up and down. “You have time for a swim. Jork assures us that the lake is free from monsters. Sleeping quarters are carved into the rock. You get the bottom shelf.”

“Anything else?” he asked with a grin.

“Was it hard work?”

“Rewarding.”

Melody sniffed. “I’ll bet he’s better than us already.”

Josh addressed Jork. “Helm says you use your sword and brawl.”

The drow looked up from the cooking pot. “It is one way. Some use a quick-sheath, stabbing unexpectedly when close. I never mastered that, but I do like to mix it up. If you like, we can play after the meal.”

“He’ll play,” Helm said, crouching and warming her hands on the fire. “Show him everything, Jork. Don’t hold back. He knows the sword like I do. He’ll learn faster than you can teach.”

“Are you sure?” Jork asked.

“Sure. If there is a surprise waiting for us in Telemar, it won’t give us a chance to teach him before it attacks. We’ve never got to the final cavern, but we have seen its shadows.”

“Shadows?” Melody said. “You’ve never mentioned shadows.”

“You might not have come,” she said with a mischievous grin.

“So much for being honest,” Arabella said.

“An omission,” Helm said. “I became caught up in Josh’s tale. It was a little more interesting than mine. What can I say? You see this lake—as dark as night. The one that separates us from Telemar shines like a star, but every so often, the light dims, like something is moving in front of its source.”

“Fuck,” said Lex. “That’s pretty important information. We know there’s a monster trapped in that cave.”

“And it’s had a hundred years to adapt,” Cassandra said. “But let’s get on with the meal. I enjoy a good after-dinner fight.”

Josh squared up to Jork. They’d both stripped to the waist and had their pants rolled up. Both were bootless, wading shin deep.

“You know your shapes, and you know your strokes. Here are the rules. Your blade hits the water, you lose.”

“That’s it?”

“Harder than you think.” He signaled Josh in, readying.

Josh launched his attack, drawing his feet sluggishly through the water, the ring compensating, adding more power. He closed the distance, adapting to the gravel underfoot, to the water lapping at his ankles. Jork remained motionless, his golden eyes noting Josh’s every movement as the drow countered his initial strikes easily, a mere flick of his wrist deflecting one. A turn of his torso, avoiding the next. All the while, he observed, his expression impassive.

Then the drow countered with a series of lightning strikes, each aimed with deadly accuracy as he moved through the water with barely a splash. But Josh was quick to react, deflecting Jork’s blows with skillful parries and counters of his own. Their swords clashed, steel ringing through the cavern, their movements almost too fast for the eye to follow.

They continued their exchange, Josh learning all the time, eyeing openings, keeping his sword up, away from the water. Jork launched a furious assault, so fast his sword blurred. A bloody stripe appeared on Josh’s chest, and for a brief moment, the drow hesitated. Josh spied the opening, lunging in, but Jork struck, his foot catching Josh in the gut, his heel driving home. Josh doubled over, the wind fleeing from his lungs. Jork followed his blow with a punch to Josh’s jaw and another kick to his side.

Forcing his guard up, the tip of his sword dangerously close to the water, a surge of power coursed through him as the ring added in the kicks and punches to Josh’s repertoire. The lake churned around them as they danced back and forth. Josh landed a punch and attempted a kick with a smile sat on his lips. For the first time since coming to the land, he felt at one with a style of fighting. He marveled at the freedom the thin blade gave him.

Jork caught him again. Josh rolled the blow, knowing a moment’s hesitation would see the drow on him. His cut had long healed when another striped his chest, but he adapted. He learned. He launched a furious attack, which Jork accepted, retreating further into the lake. Josh’s confidence grew. He punched, he kicked, but the drow had the measure of him.

Then, with a feint and a jink, Jork turned him, launching an attack of his own, forcing Josh into deeper water. Jork lunged, feinting a kick, then striking low. Josh parried, and Jork smiled, holding Josh’s blade, its end in the water.

“I win,” said the drow. He bowed, then offered Josh his hand.

“Clever.” Josh leaned over, gasping for breath as he let the ring deal with his burning leg muscles. He couldn’t stop grinning. He’d found his discipline. He’d found the way he wanted to fight. “Will you teach me more?”

Jork stared at him. “You know most of it already.”

“But I want to know more. I want to become the best—any terrain, any opponent.”

“I can only serve one, and I have my mistress.”

“Then I’ll ask her. I’m a quick study, but learning the tricks, well, that’s the key.”

Jork reached, resting his hand on Josh’s shoulder. “I’ll teach you all the while you are with us. Helm is right. You might end up saving her life.”

Josh bowed to him, setting his sword on the shale bank. “I think I need to bathe,” he said, slipping his pants off and diving into the water.

“And I should take mine,” Helm said. “Thank you Jork.”

“It was a pleasure, my Lady.”

She handed him her clothes.

Chapter Twenty-Three

THE CREATURE CAME AT THEM, unseen one moment, bowling toward Jork the next. It slid and slipped; a gelatinous mass that reminded Josh of the jellyfish washed up on the banks of Califire. Tentacles shot from it, latching onto the rock to propel itself forward at frightening speed. It had no head, no torso, but morphed and adapted to the shape it needed.

“A slime—fast fucker, by the look of it. Must be a young-un,” Helm said as Jork drew his sword.

“Pointers?” Josh asked.

“Try not to let it touch you. Their bodies burn. Jork should handle it, okay? Watch and learn. Where there’s one, there’s normally a few.” Helm slid through the column, taking a position a little below Jork, allowing the drow room to maneuver. The slime slowed, jumping from wall to wall, then stretching from the ceiling to the floor. Jork waited patiently, adjusting his stance.

Josh readied, but with no clue what form the attack would take, he simply mimicked Helm’s pose. Cassandra sighed. “Can’t I just blast it? Freeze it or something?”

“You can try, but it could be immune.” Helm shrugged. “It’s a young un, like I said. Who knows?”

The slime attacked before they could say anymore. It congealed into a ball and shot toward Jork. The drow’s sword flashed, carving through the slime, cubing it, quartering it, skipping out of the way as the chunks slithered back to remake the strange creature. It then rolled back, an otherwordly glow coming from it, pulsing like a heartbeat. When it burst forward again, it left a sizzling path in its wake, as if its body had altered and become acidic.

Helm’s stance stiffened, as if such a thing was new to her. It was all new to Josh, and it didn’t look good. Jork lunged forward, his blade slicing through the air with deadly precision. But the slime, defying any expectations, dodged aside with uncanny agility, its amorphous form contorting and shifting with incredible fluidity.

Frustration flickered across Jork’s brow as he adjusted his stance, his movements fluid and controlled. He lunged back and forth across the breadth of the passageway, preventing the creature from circling him, juking sporadically, searching out a weak point where there was clearly none. But the slime matched him, its intelligence a cut above what Jork had clearly expected.

Then the slime surged forward, and Jork’s steel slashed again, beating it back, slicing chunks from it and dancing around them as it hissed and bubbled on the rock floor. But the slime was impervious to Jork’s strikes, its acidic body regenerating as more chunks returned to its slick form.

The drow cuffed sweat from his brow, his breathing becoming labored.

“Let me,” cried Helm.

“I have it,” Jorks said, stiffly. “It can’t keep losing parts and reforming. It’ll run out of mana or whatever powers these foul creatures.”

The slime must have sensed his frustration. It attacked, sending a flurry of tentacles toward Jork all at once. The drow cried out in pain as one slapped across his cheek, his skin blistering and steaming. But Jork labored on, the creature’s light pulses getting weaker and weaker until Josh spied their source. Deep within its center, what resembled a heart pulsed with light.

“There!” Josh cried, knowing instinctively he had to destroy it to kill the creature. “Let me help, Jork!”

This time the laboring drow didn’t argue. Josh dove forward, anticipating the slime’s shape, its movements and its reactions. He evaded the creature, landing behind it and readying. The creature hesitated, but redoubled its attacks on Jork, sensing victory.

Josh lunged for the core, his drow sword passing straight through it, shattering its luminance. He screamed; his hand engulfed in acid before he could pull it away. The slime vibrated, but then lost its form, collapsing into a sizzling puddle.

Helm rushed to him. “Vella!”

But Josh pulled away. “It’s okay. She’ll send the heal, and the ring will do the rest.” He staggered back, the pain intense. “Let her deal with Jork first. Can’t have him losing his cheery expression.” He collapsed against the wall, holding his blistered hand, his heart beating fast, breaths ragged. But a notification caught his eye, and the voice inside him spoke softly, as ever, soothing his pain away.

Basic attributes deemed inadequate

Basic senses deemed inadequate

Working on solutions to enhance existing attributes

Working on solutions to enhance existing senses

Strength – adequate

Speed and agility – adequate

Durability – poor

Combat instinct – adequate

Arcane resistance – adequate

Poison resistance – adequate

Assessing requirements to protect the host

Upgrading durability

Durability +1

New Score =

Strength = 44

Speed and Agility = 44

Durability = 45

Combat instinct = 44

Arcane resistance = 44

Poison resistance = 44

Average = 44.16

Senses

Adding amorphous threat to physical detection alert

Advanced intuitive hazard detection activated.

Sub branches.

Advanced physical threat detection – red

Advanced arcane threat detection – mauve

Advanced poison threat detection - blue

Rank = Novice Enforcer

Current Tier = Golden Defender

Title = Golden of the Novice Enforcer

“What just happened?” Helm asked. “You glowed a little.”

“What happened? I just got rewarded for being a dumbass.”

“Explain.”

“I thrust my bare hand into an acidic blob and got burned. Had I been using my head, I’d have armored up first and then stabbed. But, as usual, a bit of pain gets me a gain. The ring is a twisted fuck that rewards me for hurting myself.”

Vella jumped over the steaming puddle and crouched in front of him, giving him an eyeful of cleavage. “Renew, heal, both,” she said, shrugged and kissed him.

“Jork?” Josh asked.

“Fine, but confused.”

“Confused?”

“I took his pain away.” She grinned and ran off down the tunnel. “Any more slimeys?” she shouted.

“She’s a little strange,” Helm said.

“But adorable.” He stretched his blistered hand, the combined effect of Vella and the ring’s power quickly healing it. “And highly effective,” he said.

After a bite of salted meat and a drink, they continued on. “Anything else down here we should know about?” Arabella asked.

“Every creature would be considered odd, and what you might think is no threat, can be,” Jork explained. “For instance, you might be friendly with goblins, but in the underworld, the goblins you meet might not know that. They might have a history with humans or drows that is hostile. So, you think you’ve come across an ally, and they attack you. Also, most creatures have poor eyesight. It’s why we keep the tunnels lit. It hurts their eyes, so they stay away.”

“Didn’t work on the slime,” Melody pointed out.

“Because the slime had no eyes.”

“How do they see then?” Lex asked.

“You’re an assassin—how do you see in the dark?” He tapped his ear. “They listen, they smell. Some, like the giant spiders, feel the ground vibrate—feel it travelling up their webs.”

“Giant spiders,” Elowen said. “You just mentioned giant spiders like it meant nothing. There are giant freaking spiders down here?”

“There are few things down here that find enough to eat to become giant,” Helm chuckled. “But spiders are one of them. We think it’s because they don’t have to eat so often, can stay dead still for an age, and only move to trap prey, eat or fuck.”

“Blah!” Arabella spat. “Please don’t plant images of spiders fucking in my head.”

“Okay, we’ll call it mating then.”

“Better,” she said.

“But most things are small, aren’t they?” Josh asked hopefully.

“You get the odd behemoth—usually a slow, lumbering thing, but this place isn’t typical. Slimes are slow. They rely on smothering you slowly and then ingesting you. That one was fast. It’s changed. It displayed thought. It adapted—that’s all odd.”

“The slime has progressed,” Josh said. “So, we can assume the light, the local emittance, has altered it—let it evolve.”

“You can, and there’s one other thing.” Helm paused. “There are more and more monsters down here. They are growing in confidence, and they look well-fed. I think there’s a whole area down here that’s flourishing because of the light. It took a long while, but it’s getting there.”

“Just how long since you’ve been down here?”

“Around six months. Once we got to the point where we couldn’t go any farther, there seemed little point. The lake wasn’t going anywhere, and I couldn’t get past it. Don’t get me wrong, I can swim underwater—even tried it, but I had to turn back. It’s just too long.”

“Not much could have changed in six months,” Cassandra said.

“It was already altering,” Jork said. “Patches of luminous fungus, circles of moss under. One of our groups discovered a nest of fireflies. A second went missing, never seen again despite extensive searches. It seems wherever there’s an emittance, the world changes, but down here, it took longer.”

“I guess it was harder to start something from nothing,” Elowen said. “But, once it had something, then it could really set to work.”

“What if it’s reached a critical point?” Josh pondered the slime. “What if those moss patches grew, and—” He stopped. “We’ll soon see.”

Jork led them to the end of the tunnel. It opened into a vast cavern, although a cavern would usually have a base, and this one had a shear drop. A path led down, switching back and forth as it descended the shear side.

“We called this place The Ascendancy. It was the final climb to the surface from Telemar. Few ventured up it, and only if we were desperate for some item only available from the surface traders. There’s another camp at the bottom with a pool we can bathe in and shelves we can sleep on.”

Josh peered over, looking down to see a small, illuminated spot at its base. “Was it always lit?”

“No,” Helm said. “That’s new, and that’s worrying.”

“Why?”

“Because we are at least a day away from Telemar, and that’s once we get to the base. If its corruption has spread this far, then the area surrounding our old home will be unrecognizable.”

“But we might find something to eat,” Josh said.

“We’d have to kill it first,” Arabella said.

“Darling, I’m dying to kill something,” Cassandra chimed in.

“You might well get your wish,” Jork said, starting down the switchback.

They followed the drow in single file, the switchbacks barely a yard wide. Elowen held his sword belt, her hands shaking and breaths shallow. He tried to comfort her, but she brushed his attempts away, beyond any comforting.

Before they’d descended a third of the way, Josh’s hazard detection warning blinked red, going from dull to bloody in an instant. “Incoming!” He brushed Elowen’s hand away, forcing her back against the cliff and drawing his sword. “Something’s coming!”

“Impossible!” Jork said. “The only way up or down is these switchbacks.”

Cassandra sent a bolt of fire upward. “They’re not using the path.”

The scream hit them at the same time, Elowen falling to her haunches and covering her ears.

“Bats!” Helm cried. “Fucking great big bats!”

A swarm circled above them in a giant twister. But they were no normal bats. From pale, tiny, humanoid bodies spread bony, black wings. The screech came from their twisted, harpy-like faces. “It’s a cross—an unholy abomination,” he said as mauve blinked with red.

Cassandra’s firebolt hit them. Two of the creatures plunged, darting past them, spiraling out of control, flames trailing until they bounced off the surrounding cliffs and to their inevitable death. The witch shot another bolt up, then a third, wasting no time between casts. The bats plunged, aiming straight for the witch.

“They’re trying to take Cassandra out!” Josh cried, as both helm and Jork drew their blades and flanked the Everdeep sorceress.

Josh stood in front of Elowen and Vella, Arabella on one side of him, Lex the other. Cassandra sent a bolt of sapphire-blue magic up, a great ice shield forming above them, shattering with the impact of dozens of the beasts. More bodies tumbled past them as the remaining bats gathered behind one much larger bat, her aura red.

“She’s the magicker!” Josh yelled, but before Cassandra could react, the bat shot a blast of black energy at the rocks above them.

The shelf exploded, boulders tumbling down. Josh shoved the girls against the wall, covering them as best he could as Cassandra formed a shield over Vella, Jork, and Helm. The rocks crashed down, taking divots out of Josh’s back. Over as quick as it had started, he spun around, expecting to see the harpy-like bats in his face. But they still held behind the magicker. Magic sparked around the creature as its new spell gathered power. Cassandra dropped her protective shield, dispatching her spell without waiting.

The bat sent her spell forward, meeting Cassandra’s in a tumultuous blast that rocked them all back against the cliff face.

“Think outside the box!” Josh screamed, getting a confused look back. “Remember the ogres!” he cried as six bats peeled off and plunged for their fragile line.

Josh yelled in frustration, meeting the bats head-on, slicing through their twisted, female bodies and opening their guts as they slapped their wings closed. “They’re trying to knock us off!”

Arabella skewered hers, ducking to avoid the wings, but Lex wasn’t so lucky. The assassin jinked as she killed her target, slamming into Melody as the trap smith did the same. Lex pushed Melody back, saving her from falling, but her foot slipped, sending her sprawling onto the path, rolling to its edge and slipping over.

“No!” Josh shouted, tossing his sword onto the trail and diving, reaching blindly. Lex screamed as her fragile grip slipped away. “No!” Josh cried again, as Lex grabbed his outstretched wrist, hanging by one arm.

“Fuck!” she cried. “I can’t fucking hold on.”

More bats dove. Josh slipped toward the edge, unable to gain any purchase. “Someone get my legs.”

But the bats were already on them. Arabella fought hers. Melody fended off two. Elowen rose, whimpering, but she drew her sword, racing to Josh and slicing at a bat about to land on his back.

“Oh fuck, oh fuck, oh fuck,” she cried, battling with the beast, so close to the edge she could see the chasm’s luminous bottom.

Another magic bolt left Cassandra’s staff, smashing into the magicker, but then countered by a brutal strike.

“The orcs!” Josh cried, trying to pull Lex up while stopping himself going over the edge.

“I don’t know what you mean!” Cassandra cried. “Oh, yeah, maybe I do.”

Helm dropped onto Josh, kneeling astride him and holding his legs in place. “Jork, protect me!” she commanded, dropping her blade and lying on top of Josh.

“Not really the time,” Josh said as Lex struggled to keep hold.

“Don’t flatter yourself,” Helm replied, reaching over him. “Grab my hands!” she cried.

“I can’t let go!” Lex screamed.

A whistle ripped through the cavern, gathering, ear-piercing. Josh braced for another bat attack, but instead, a tremendous gust of wind billowed from below. Lex grabbed Helm’s hands, the drow using the gust to pull her up. Lex scrambled over Josh, who spun onto his back, looking up, expecting to see more bats coming for them. But the wind took them, carrying them upward and slamming them against the cavern’s ceiling, impaling them on the stalactites.

“Now I understand,” Cassandra said and sent a plume of billowing fire rolling up to the cavern’s ceiling, incinerating the bats. They dropped past, screaming, spinning, bouncing off the rock walls. “Why didn’t you just spit it out? And outside of what box?”

Josh laughed, but it was one of relief. “Any fucking box you want, baby. You just saved our asses.”

Chapter Twenty-Four

THEY PILED up the bat corpses, and Cassandra incinerated them, much to Jork’s horror.

“We could have eaten them,” he said.

“Crossed with harpies?” Josh said. “Beside I got a poison alert from their bodies, so it’s a bit of a no-no. Might have been okay for you and Helm, maybe even Vella, but definitely not for us.”

“You can tell just by looking?”

“Yeah.” He held up his ring. “This ain’t bad as a companion.”

Jork ran his fingers through his white hair. “Follow me.”

A glowing pool sat in the middle of the cavern’s base. It looked empty, the glow coming from some new, luminous algae. Moss blanketed its banks, spreading a few feet to where the rock took over. Blood dripped from the impaled bats, but milky water mixed with it, the stalactites feeding the pond and wetting the moss. Every now and then, another bat corpse dropped from above.

Jork took Josh to the cavern’s side, climbing a little. “Are those okay to eat?” He pointed to a small patch of toadstools around two feet high and the same in width. They had bright blue caps, light shining from underneath them like a table lamp.

“Not giving off any warning,” Josh said. “We could pick one if you want.” He reached, but Jork stopped him.

“Things that look like no threat, aren’t always,” he said, drawing his sword and aiming it at the toadstool’s base. The cap sprang open. Josh’s vision flashed red. Fangs sprang out as the cap peeled back.

Jork cut its stalk and the toadstool keeled over. The drow winked at Josh. “Never trust a fungus,” he said with a grin. “Harvest all but three. Leave them to grow others.”

“Do we really want others to grow?”

Jork shrugged. “Depends what they taste like, I suppose.”

They gathered them up and returned to the camp. Cassandra sent a couple of firebolts up to the cavern’s ceiling, crisping the final bats, and they retired into the shelter of a hollowed-out alcove, a dozen bed shelves carved into its walls, while the corpses rained down.

Jork gathered a pile of stones, retrieved a vial from his jacket, and sprinkled a couple of drops on them, muttering some words, then drawing his hands back and pulling lilac flames from the stones. He retrieved a tripod and pot from the back of the alcove and began cooking.

Elowen cleared her throat. “I’m sorry,” she said, drawing all their attention. “I feel so useless. I just panicked. The drop, it was too much, and then the bats attacked…” She trailed off, tears glazing her eyes.

“You fought—” Josh made to say, but Helm cut him off.

“We have a saying, Elowen. Well, drows have many sayings. One is that to overcome fear takes more courage than not to have it at all. That one fits here, but I prefer this one. If a novice has no fear, they have no future.” She sat next to the archaeologist. “It means that if you do not respect and fear those better than you, they will kill you. The bats were better at fighting than you are. They had the height advantage, and thus should have killed at least a couple of us. They should have picked off the weakest, which is you.”

“Is this supposed to help her?” Arabella said.

“No,” Helm replied. “It’s supposed to teach her. You feared for your life for good reason, and you survived. At the death, you overcame that fear and fought. Don’t expect your fear to go just because someone told you that you did well. Expect it to come next time, and the time after. Learn to embrace it, to use it to spring to anger and fuel your response. But the key is to become stronger.” The drow rose, holding her hand out. “Come. There’s no time like the present. Let’s get a bit more training in. I noticed you’re developing a nasty little habit.”

Elowen took her hand, letting Helm pull her up.

“Your elbows. An amateur swordfighter has a tendency to strike with their elbows rather than use them for what they are.”

“Which it?”

“Hinges, Elowen. They are hinges. Keep them tight to the body. Strike like a snake. Then tight to the body again. Come, I’ll show you.” She dragged Elowen out of the niche.

“Anyone else jealous of Elowen right now?” Melody asked.

“Go out there as well,” Jork said. “Helm won’t mind. It’s been a while since she’s had anyone to teach.”

“Just how many are there in the castle?” Josh asked.

Jork sucked his cheeks in. “Not many. Not anymore. When we lost our last group down here, the few remaining up top concluded it wasn’t worth the risk. We had a discussion. There was no way we could progress any closer to Telemar, and we’d gathered all the relics we could find. We agreed to part ways. The last of the drow ventured north, aiming for the ruins. They decided to throw their lot in with the Guardians.”

“And did they?” Josh asked.

“They never returned, so either they settled somewhere else, died, or they reached the Emmitance. Who knows?”

“But you remained.”

“It is my duty. A few remain. Mostly servants dedicated to her who are happy in service. There are a few strays we’ve taken in from the town. They come and go. The castle is mostly empty, and an empty castle breeds creatures best left alone.” He grinned. “No one’s been in the west wing for a while. We think it’s haunted.”

“A big brave drow afraid of a ghost?”

“Didn’t you listen to her? It’s best to hold some fear.”

“Always,” Josh said. “Always.” He stripped his top off, wandering outside and crouching by the pool. He looked up briefly, thankful the corpses had stopped raining down, and watched Helm teaching Elowen swordcraft. He focused on Elowen, watching as she visibly improved, her fragile confidence thickening. But he found his gaze resting on Helm, and every so often, she glanced at him.

Her grace was without question. Her beauty the same. But it was her generosity that really made her stand head and shoulders above the rest of The Hangsane. She was a natural leader, and it was a tragedy the spacecraft had wiped her people out. He finished washing and returned, crouching by Jork as the drow stirred the pot.

“What will you do?” he asked.

“Do?” Jork replied.

“Once you’ve seen the ruins. Once you’ve confirmed Telemar is beyond saving.”

“Assuming Telemar is beyond saving.”

“You can’t expect you and Helm will recreate and repopulate an entire city.”

“What if we find a load of us alive? What then?”

“Do you expect to?” Josh asked.

“No.” He opened his pack, bringing out some dried meat cubes and dropping them in with the mushrooms. “She wants justice. It’s what fuels her. The Hangsane has great potential—we’ve discussed that. What holds it back? We think it’s the guardians, the guilds, and the sects. A few powerful people ensuring the rest are downtrodden.”

“Have you considered it might not be them?” Josh asked. “Have you thought that it might be the Sinter Stones, the Emmitance that is influencing everything?”

“By your own admission, you carry such a thing on your finger, yet you do not suffer from such an oppressive nature.”

Josh stared into the flames as they billowed around the pot. “I fight it every day,” he said. “I swear it tried to take me over at one point, but I resisted—told it who was master and who wasn’t. If they didn’t, it likely controls them, and they are lost.”

“What were they like?”

“Who?”

“Your enemies.”

“They were cunts, Jork. There’s no other word for them. It’s no surprise to me that they jettisoned something not caring what they destroyed. Their survival is all that matters to them. Their conquest of other worlds is all that drives them. Do they revel in the suffering of others? Probably not. But they don’t care, either.”

He nodded, stirring the pot. “Then if we come across them, we should kill them or die trying.”

“Yes, we should.”

Elowen and Helm return, the archaeologist flushed. She took her sword belt off and boots. “I need a wash,” she said, smiling and spinning around. “Thank you. Thank you, Helm.” She padded back outside.

“Thank you,” Arabella said. “She needs some—”

“She’s not a fighter. I learned from when I was old enough to stand. True, she has had some intuition, but some is often worse than none. A bad trainer can instill bad habits as they try and imprint their superiority on their student. A good trainer likes their student to surpass them.”

Jork served up the food. “The toadstools made for an interesting addition. They certainly thickened the sauce.”

Whether it was an excuse or an observation Josh hadn’t a clue, but as he took the glowing, blue bowl, he had second thoughts if he was hungry. But when he tentatively spooned some into his mouth, his reservations vanished. The creamy toadstool flesh slipped down his throat, exploding in flavor.

“This is really food,” he said.

Jork raised a sharp eyebrow. “I think I managed to catch all the fangs before they got in the pot. He took a sip himself. “Not bad. It’s truly not bad at all. Perhaps there’s a future down here for monster toadstool farming.”

Elowen returned, picking up her bowl and sitting. “I’ll do better next time.”

“You will,” Helm said. “Better than you think. We’ll sleep and then practice again. Mutated bats, toadstools with fangs—we have no idea what we’ll find next.”

“What is next?” Josh asked.

“From here we enter the Devil’s Teeth. It’s a long, wide tunnel once called The Trench. We’ll have to wind our way around stalactites and rock columns, wade through streams and across exposed shale plains. At least, that was what it was once like, before pools began glowing and fungus sprouted teeth.”

“So, it could be anything,” Josh said. “Any kind of monster could be lurking there.”

Helm didn’t answer his question. Instead, she said, “Perhaps I was wrong to pursue this. If you wish to return to the surface, then I release you of your vow.”

“No,” Josh said. “That’s not how it works.”

“We promised to come with you,” Arabella added. “And we keep our promises.”

“As long as you tell me there’s a nice comfy bed at the end and a steaming bath, I’m happy to carry on.” Cassandra set her empty bowl down.

“Besides,” Elowen said. “You have no one else.”

Helm glanced at Jork. “No. No, we don’t, do we?”

They finished their meal. Jork offered to take first watch, but Josh explained about his warning system, and the drow relented, retiring to the farthest sleeping shelf. They all took one, leaving Josh a shelf close by the alcove’s entrance.

But sleep evaded Josh. Thoughts of the Grillons plagued him. Thoughts of them pursuing him across the stars just to get one ring back worried him. If one or more were alive, he’d stand no chance. He was still a novice, barely up from the bottom rung of their progression ladder. They would crush him like a bug. He gave up, swinging his feet off the shelf and padding out to the luminous pool. He sat, staring along the path to the next cavern’s mouth. Was he getting distracted helping Helm? Or was she exactly what they needed? Was she the reason they’d come to The Hangsane?

Elowen had been exposed as fragile. She’d frozen in the face of danger. But Helm had worked to undo that—to make the archaeologist stronger. Wasn’t that the reason they’d teamed up in the first place?

He sensed someone approach but didn’t turn. There was no threat. Helm sank to her haunches by his side. She tossed a rock into the pool. “It’s a crazy world, isn’t it?”

“Mythelore was simpler,” he admitted. “There, I only had to deal with monsters and power-crazed humans. Then The Hangsane reared its head, and it was all monster spiders and evil hybrids. Same shit, different place.”

“Am I part of that?” she asked.

“Does it matter?” he replied, callously.

“It does to me. I don’t know why, but what you all think of me plays on my mind.”

He inhaled hard, turning and reaching, cupping her cheek, her skin warm to the touch. “I think you’re fantastic. You’re kind, generous, and now you’re not playing the aloof drow princess, you’re quite charming.”

She pulled his hand down, holding it. “Your women are lucky to have you. You care so much for them.”

“I do,” he said. “Yes, I do. So, I owe you a debt I’ll have trouble repaying.”

“You owe me nothing.”

“But I do. You see, you care for them too. That’s why you train them.”

“I train them because—”

“Don’t say it because I won’t believe it. I know what it’s like to be alone. I spent most of my previous life on my own. It’s hard to admit new friends when you haven’t had any for an age.”

“Is that what we are? Are we friends?” Helm pulled away, letting his hand go and clasping hers together.

“If we aren’t, then we will be. But we have to get through this first.”

She dipped her hands in the water, cupping then splashing her face. “They’re all going to be dead. I know that. They will all be dead, and that will be the end of that.”

“Then you’ll have to look for a new beginning.”

Chapter Twenty-Five

HELM AND JORK came to an abrupt stop at the tunnel’s beginning. Josh drew beside them, not commenting, but understanding straightaway. It was the height and width of one of his old slugger’s cargo holds, except those had been uniform, designed to take huge lifts that picked up containers like they were tiny pebbles. He estimated it to be a hundred feet tall, and twice as wide, their small entrance no more than a mousehole in its great walls.

But it wasn’t the size that had stunned the drow pair. They’d expected the gray shades of the underworld rock—the sooty shades that had dominated the trail down. But they were welcomed with luminous blues, neon reds, and vibrant greens, the gray consigned to undertones.

“It’s a fucking underworld forest,” Josh said.

A waterfall dropped from the distant ceiling. Vast columns pocked the scape, smaller stalactites surrounding them, some blunted, others toppled. A roar punctured the quiet, and a colony of the batlike creatures banked in mid-flight, fleeing the sound. Helm ushered everyone to one side, crouching behind a moss-coated boulder. A huge featherless bird swooped from a rock ledge, passing straight through the bats, plucking one from the colony, arcing around, and returning to its nest. Another roar made the bats scatter again.

“This all new?” Josh asked. “Because it doesn’t look new.”

It reminded Josh of the dinosaur hunter games he’d played on the Lincanto. Had he tumbled back to the beginning of time? A thump increased his dread fears as the ground shook, and another roar tore up the vast tunnel, followed by another lumbering thump.

“It’s new,” Jork confirmed. “To us, anyway. Any of you good with a bow? This was supposed to be an easy walk through—maybe a couple of beasts and a few small creatures, but no birds, no bats.”

“I’m decent with a bow,” Arabella said. “But you all told me to leave it behind.”

“Hang on,” Jork said, and he rushed back to the camp, returning with a whitewood bow and a quiver full of arrows. “This is a drow bow.” He strung it quickly, notching the tension up. “We string them tight. It makes the draw and the turnaround fast. It means the archer can adapt and become tight-ranged. Let me show you.”

He retreated a little, holding a bow, the arrow partially nocked. “See how I’m holding it?”

“Yeah, got it.”

“So, the tension is all held in the bowhand. I don’t need the other. So, I can roll, run, jink, duck—the bow is just an extension of my hand.” He demonstrated. “Then, when you need, you bring your other hand up and pluck it rather than draw it. The string is infused with a charm. Its tension is exaggerated. So, you just pluck it, and it gives you the power of a half-draw. Pull it a little more, and you get the full load. It means you can shoot quicker, get into better positions and you can snipe.”

“Got it,” Arabella said. “Can I try?”

He gave her the bow, helped her half-nock it, then stepped back. “You have to have the power in your fingers. If you don’t, then just use it as a normal bow, but reduce your draw accordingly.”

“Got it,” she said, keeping it half–nocked as she rolled, coming up onto her knees and faking a draw. She ran forward, sliding into her stance, faking a draw, rolling, faking another. “Yeah, I can do it. Under any other circumstances, I’d say it was fun.”

“Killing shit can be fun,” Cassandra pointed out. “Just as long as its gruesome monsters. Never any guilt there.”

“You feel guilt?” Helm asked.

“Sure, when it’s just an asshole, I sometimes wonder if they needed to die.”

“You ever hesitate?”

She scoffed. “I’m not that bothered. Assholes be assholes. They deserve to be put down.”

“Let’s move on. We should try and get to the final camp before we rest again,” Jork said. “I’m not sure we should linger in this place.”

“Sure doesn’t look welcoming,” Helm said, drawing her sword. “Formation. Josh and Jork up front. Lex and Melody second—have some of those grenades on hand, Mels? Cassandra and Arabella next—you both are our ranged. Focus on above and distant. Then me and Elowen behind. We take the rear. Vella—you do you like you always do.”

“Me, do me,” the elf said.

“Shouldn’t I go in the middle and Lex go here? Me and Mels are usually together.”

Helm shot her a look. “But you’re badass now. You have to protect the ranged troops. Let me down, and it’s double practice tonight.”

Elowen smiled, but the ends of her lips trembled.

“Move it out, Jork!” Helm said, and they entered the huge tunnel, its lush vegetation soon surrounding them.

As they walked within its walls, more sounds became audible. The squawk of birds, the growl of unseen beasts, the occasional thump of the monster they’d heard earlier, and the slither and hiss of unseen reptiles.

Jork shifted fast, his blade flashing. A snake’s head flew across their path, the body slumping onto the moss trail. A creature squealed, grabbing the body between its maw and dragging it into the undergrowth. A rat darted out, scooping up the head and diving into a crevice.

“Definitely not stopping here,” Jork confirmed.

A bat colony followed them, circling ominously. Cassandra sent two salvos of roiling fire, scattering them.

“That’s it,” Helm said. “Show them who’s boss. Let them smell the death.”

The large bird squawked and dove from its nest. Arabella shot an arrow at it, tearing its wing. It banked returning to its nest. They reached the waterfall, spray-coating the ground in a roiling mist. Jork hurried, getting through it as fast as he could. Josh followed with his sword ready.

Then Jork went down, vanishing under the mist, and Josh’s vision misted red as something grabbed his leg and yanked. He held his ground, slicing through the mist, the tension going. He overbalanced, but his huge dexterity score saved him. He righted, then dove into the mist. “Run!” he cried as something curled around his arm. He grabbed Jork, holding his hand. “Vines!” he called.

His arm came loose. Something grabbing him. He tried to shake it off, easily doing so.

“Where’s Jork?” Lex’s voice permeated the mist.

“Get out of here!” he cried, drawing his knife and hacking at the vines.

More vines attacked. Josh sliced and hacked at them. Then Vella jumped in, touching the vines, saying; “Sleep, sleep.”

“I’m free,” Jork cried as more tangled around him, and Vella struggled to keep up.

Josh powered up, ripping the vines, using his super-human strength to tear them in two. More shot from the ground. Arabella screamed, tripping. Josh raced over, pulling her away, chopping the vine in two.

Cassandra blasted the mist with ice magic, freezing it. “Get out now.”

Josh pulled Arabella into his arms, leaping, plowing through the frozen mist as Cassandra cast her next spell, ripping up the rock and exposing the vine. A deadly blast of fire magic burst from her hand, incinerating the vine’s roots.

Josh halted, setting Arabella down and grinning. “See, you think out of the box, and everything sorts itself out.”

“What fucking box?” Cassandra asked.

“There’s no box,” Josh said as they resumed their journey.

“Then stop saying it.”

Arabella part nocked her arrow. “Say there was a box, but you couldn’t see it. Think outside it, that’s all. It seems to work.”

Cassandra rolled her eyes. “Tell you what. I’ll think of fights from a different perspective. Rather than just blast away—which is fun, by the way, I’ll try and use my harmony a bit more.”

“But blasting is more fun,” Melody said. “Never forget that.”

“Oh, I won’t.”

“Let’s press on,” said Jork. “That was just a taste of things to come. Josh, you look down. I’ll look along. I suggest all pairs do that.”

“You can look down, Melody,” Cassandra said. “It’s what trapsmiths are good at. I’ll do the rest.”

“I could have blown it up,” Melody countered. “If you suddenly find yourself flying in the air, I’ve seen something.”

Cassandra shot her a look. “You keep your eyes up. I’ll look after the ground.”

“Good call,” Melody said.

“Comforting.” Elowen fell back in rank. “Nice to know the plants are after us, too.”

“On the bright side, if the plants are that strong, they should keep the numbers of predators at bay.” As Helm stopped talking, the great roar rang out again. “Apart from that huge fucker.” She paused. “You want up or down?”

“You’re in charge.”

“But I asked you.”

Elowen scrunched her face up. “I’ll take down. Any vines shooting across our path are mine.”

“That’s the attitude we need. But what don’t we do?”

“Scuff our blade on the ground,” Elowen said.

“We’re going to make a warrior of you yet, Elowen.”

Josh ranged forward, clearing the path for Jork as they forged deeper into the passageway. The farther they went, the taller the undergrowth became. Josh began hacking at it, chopping away overhanging branches and broad leaves as it grew to a low forest. A rush of water pierced the sound of unseen creatures, who quieted as they came near.

“When did you start bleeding power?” Jork asked. “I can see it coming off you in waves.”

“Power all around,” said Vella, popping out of the undergrowth. “Getting stronger as we get nearer. Not far, now.”

“Not far?” Jork said. “We’re not even close.”

“Not far,” said Vella. “Power strong.”

Jork swallowed hard. “Something’s happened. Something bad has happened.”

Another thump rang out, this one closer than the others. Jork pointed to a huge column, its dripping, waxen rock glistening. “Quick! Behind there!”

“You go. I’ll shepherd everyone there!” Josh called them all to him, pointing frantically at the column. “Quick! Quick! Something’s coming.”

They all raced past him, gathering at the column’s base. Cassandra stopped by his side. “What are we looking at?”

“Unknown. Jork didn’t seem to have a clue either.”

“Looks like me and you.” She winked at him and gave him a nudge. “Just the way I like it. Can’t have you getting too close to the cute drow, can we?”

“It’s not like that,” Josh said. “We need her, and she needs us.”

“Then it’s exactly like that. Come on, let’s see what is coming for us.” Cassandra walked forward, burning a path through the vegetation and coming to a small clearing, a river cutting it in two, then turning away and heading down the middle of the vast tunnel. “What the fuck is that?”

Josh double-took. “That is one of the ugliest things I’ve ever seen.”

The creature stood head and shoulders above the dense vegetation. It had an insectoid head, huge pincers arcing around, serrated like a pair of terrible blades. Another, smaller, pair of pincers sat inside them, its fang-lined maw in between. Two huge bug eyes sat above them, their lids like armored shutters. Another set of smaller, beady black eyes sat above, a pair of platted tentacles rising from a thick carapace that surrounded all. Armored plates of dense chitin covered its powerful arms, which ended in five clawed talons, each with an evil hook on the end. Its back hunched over, armored like its thick torso. It shone with a dull gleam, its entire, hideous body the color of aged brass. As it lumbered through the vegetation, the beast cleared a huge path, saplings snapping, creatures running for their lives. The bats returned to their roost, and Cassandra and Josh stepped forward.

“What the fuck are you doing?” Helm spat, running close. “Get back here. Get back behind the column.”

Josh grimaced. “Can’t do that. You stick with us long enough and you’ll notice we attract trouble. It’s like we draw it to us.” He held up his ring finger. “We have a theory, but now’s probably not the time to look into it.”

“I had the feeling you were the type of man that attracts trouble.”

Josh looked her up and down. “No offense, but I think we’re going to take care of this one. Could you tell Melody and Lex we need them? The others can sit this one out.”

Helm lingered, like she wanted to say something, but then darted back to the column. Melody and Lex ran to them, looking up at the beast and screwing their faces up simultaneously.

“Fuck,” said Melody.

“Fuck indeed,” Lex added.

“This is what I need you to do. Lex, you’re going to need your stealth. Melody, you need to show Lex how to use your grenades. She’s the only one that can get close enough.”

“What do I need to do?”

“Get close enough to it to get it to step on a grenade. Simple, really.” He grinned.

“Simple?” said Lex.

“Look, it’s slow, but we need it slower. I’ve got a feeling it’s going to be resistant to most of Cassandra’s magical attacks. We need time. You two have to buy it.”

“Got it. With me, Mels.” She shot away, vanishing into the undergrowth, the trap smith following.

Josh and Cassandra stepped to the edge of the clearing. They waited, watching the creature as Lex and Melody waded across the river.

“I hope it doesn’t see them,” Josh said.

“I’ll distract it.” She sent a thin ray of fire at the opposite cliff face, just under a bluff. The rock cracked and split, the bluff tumbling down, crashing into the river. The monster turned, roaring and stomping toward it, then stopped, stared at the rock before continuing to lumber on. Melody and Lex slipped into the undergrowth, but not before Lex gave them a thumbs up.

“What now?” Cassandra asked.

“Now we wait,” he said. “If they get it right, it’ll be a fast and furious execution.” He stared at his drow sword. “Not sure what this toothpick is going to do, though.”

“It is a little understated, compared to the other,” she said.

The beast lumbered on, coming to the edge of the vegetation and stopping. It took a hesitant step forward, its head raised as if sniffing the air, although what with was unclear. Lex appeared close by, crouching. The beast took another step, and Lex dove, bowling the grenade. The monster stamped down, the thump vibrating through the ground.

“Missed,” Josh cursed.

Lex dove forward, right between its legs.

“What the fuck’s she doing?” Josh cried, straining at the clearing’s edge.

The assassin lunged, then lunged again, rolling the grenade under the beast’s raised foot then scrambling away, diving for cover as the creature stamped down again. A muffled blast accompanied the stamp, the creature’s lower leg vibrating. Then, its knee joint exploded, sending the creature listing to one side.

“Now!” Josh cried, sprinting forward. Cassandra peppered it with magical blasts. Its heavy carapace deflected the fireballs, the mana bolts, and the light beams. As they waded across the river, she tried freezing it and coating it in vines. The beast lumbered around, its damaged knee weeping ichor, its ankle joint turned it.

“We’ve got it. We’ve got it,” Josh cried. “Go for its joints. Freeze its joints.”

Cassandra refocused, aiming for the edges of its armor. The beast rallied as it saw them, lunging forward like it was drunk. Lex shot from the vegetation again, this time throwing a grenade right at it. Melody appeared, launching her own. The explosions knocked it one way then the other. Shards of chitin flew over Josh and Cassandra, exposing the massive bug’s pulpy insides. Cassandra struck, sending a focused beam of fire straight inside it, boiling its guts. The beast howled in pain, falling to its knees and howling again. Cassandra poured her magic in, as Lex bowled a grenade under it, the explosion opening more cracks, and more places for Cassandra to attack. Josh sheathed his sword as Helm appeared by his side.

“You didn’t do a lot,” she said.

“I did absolutely nothing,” Josh said.

Chapter Twenty-Six

ARABELLA TOOK down a huge chicken shortly after the monster fight, which was fortunate as they were discussing returning to the bug-like beast and trying to scavenge some meat from it. The creature’s ichor had smelt foul and might even have been toxic, so none of them particularly wanted to eat it. Chicken was the closest comparison they could come up with. Prehistoric chicken sprang to mind. Either way, it was an ugly fucker that had a razor beak and spines running down its back.

Lex and Helm took a flank each with Jork and Josh covering the front and back, respectively. The four of them managed to keep back any enquiring minds from the group with a flash of their steel. The great cavern turned, a light burning over its top like a brilliant sunrise.

“The glow from the lake,” Helm said, shielding her eyes. “It is stronger than I remember.”

“How can you see when you get close?” Lex asked, wincing.

“It is the paradox that is this place. You will adapt. It’s like your eyes learn. Everything about this place is strange beyond measure.”

Josh remained silent as Vella held his hand. Her grip reassured him, a ball of apprehension knotting in his gut. The power was laced with familiarity. It didn’t so much as call to him as accept him. It was a feeling of returning home. It scared the living shit out of him.

“I know,” Vella said.

“Know?”

“Your power. I use it sometimes, then return it. I know. It’s the same—the same glow we have when we spill.”

“Then you know what it means,” Josh said.

“No. Nor do you. You make assumptions. Bad.”

He mulled her words. He was, of course, assuming it was the Grillons. Fate would enjoy that twist. But what if they just used a power that others used? Like the elves used mana and so did humans. What if the familiarity meant nothing more than common magic? Did fate work like that? Did the thing that you most feared never rear its head?

Does it shite? Life kicks you in the balls. Fate kicks you in the balls. Every single damn time.

“It’s them,” he said. “I can smell the fuckers.”

“Perhaps.”

She swung his arm back and forth, and they drew closer to the light. The forest petered out, undergrowth thinning until thick moss dominated, coating rocks, forming pathways. They came to the lake, shining bright, the light blooming but somehow, no longer bright. Jork weaved through the paths, then crouched by the lapping water.

“Drink,” he said, “and understand.” He cupped his hands and pulled the water to his lips, gulping it down. A faint light travelled through him, quickly fading.

They all joined him, apart from Vella who waded into the D-shaped lake. It ended abruptly, a curtain of dark gray granite cutting into the glowing water, its edge sitting on the water’s surface. But, even from the lake’s shore, it was apparent the light that bled from its bed was thrown from under the granite in a slice of radiance. Josh stripped off his boots, sword, jacket and top and waded in, the light attracting him. He sensed no danger and dove.

He swam for the granite wall, angling down to where the light bled. Vella dove in front of him, a flurry of bubbles surrounding her sylph-like body, its perfection exaggerated by the light. She smiled, wagging her finger playfully at him, as if he was being naughty. Then she grinned, bubbles bleeding through her teeth. Twisting, she swam, angling down and toward the crack.

A brilliant white stripe awaited them, glossing over the lake’s shale bed, lighting columns of rising weed and clumps of lake grass. Small white fish flitted around them. Struggling against his buoyancy, Josh reached for the granite’s smoothed edge, pushing against it to keep himself submerged. He stared into the brilliance, his eyes accustoming quickly. A long, low tunnel stretched away; its length impossible to gauge. Vella poked his shoulder, indicating the river’s surface. Josh’s lungs tightened, as if she’d reminded him his body needed oxygen. He nodded, giving her a thumbs up, which she returned, and he kicked off, swimming for the surface as fast as he could.

He broke the surface, Vella erupting next to him. “Fun,” she said and threw her arms around him. She leaned close, her lips puckering. He moved in for the kiss, but she shifted quickly, ducking him under then swimming away, her laughter ringing around the lake.

“You’re dead,” he shouted, swimming after her, catching her and pulling her under. She struggled, tugging at his pants as she fought. He held her down, determined to teach her a playful lesson. But Vella had other ideas, his pants slipping off easily. She wriggled and squirmed, slipping out of his grasp and swimming away. He gave chase, but the elf was too quick for him, running from the lake and holding up his pants like some trophy.

Josh stood waist deep, his girls all cheering the elf on. “Give them back now!” he shouted, injecting as much authority as he could into his words.

The girls laughed all the more as Vella gave her trophy to Arabella. Jork shook his head, making his excuses and padding off to where the drow camp was located. Helm, though, hung around. She wore an embarrassed smirk, like she wanted to be part of it, but at the same time felt awkward.

“Arabella?” Josh asked. Lengthening her name for effect.

“Not my choice. I give the choice to…” She looked along the line of women. “Well, we’ve all seen you naked, so I think I’ll give the choice to—”

“Don’t do it, Bels,” Josh said.

“Helm.” Arabella handed his pants to Helm. “It’s her choice. She can throw them to you, or she can make you come and get them.”

Josh wasn’t one to be bashful. He couldn’t give two fucks if she saw him naked. Since coming to the land, he’d lost that side of his modesty. Washing in a river daily did that to you. But he did want to know what Helm would do. Plus, Arabella handing the drow meant something. Was it an acceptance of Helm within their tight-knit group? Not that she could join it. She was tied to her castle and her cause, whereas they would be on their way as soon as they were done exploring the ruins of Telemar.

“Well?” he asked, his hand outstretched.

Her expression turned from joy to sadness, then flicked to anger. She marched up to the lake, tossing the pants at him. “I’ll be at the camp,” she said and stormed off.

Josh shrugged, wading from the lake and pulling his pants on. “What’s up with her?” he asked.

“She wants to join us,” Cassandra said. “You can see it in her eyes. She’s fed up with being alone.”

“To join us?” Josh repeated.

Arabella rolled her eyes. “You can be such a dumbass at times. We have fun. We fight. We take on shit we shouldn’t, and we win. Who wouldn’t want that over a dank, dusty castle?”

“Then she should come with us. It’s not like we wouldn’t let her.”

“Jork? Her duty to her ancestors? Her castle? She can’t leave all that, even if she wanted to.”

Josh sighed. “I guess I’ll apologize.”

“Don’t,” Arabella said. “We did nothing wrong. Jork left. If she’d wanted to, she could have gone as well.”

“Fine, then I won’t. Let’s get skinning the chicken.”

“Is that sex talk?” Cassandra asked, and they all fell about laughing.

A horseshoe tunnel led to a belled-out cave, several smaller tunnels leading from it. Jork had set a fire in its center, and Helm was preparing some moss and nettles. Arabella and Elowen skinned and readied the chicken, while Josh sat by the fire attempting to dry his pants while sitting in them.

“You’ve been there?” Josh asked Jork.

“Not me,” Jork replied. “Helm has, and a couple of others. Fraye tried to swim under. We attached a rope to her ankle, eventually pulling out her corpse. If she couldn’t swim it, no one could.”

“So it’s that thick, is it?”

“Fraye could swim a long way. It must be a few hundred yards long, at least.”

“We tried tunneling,” Helm said, but didn’t turn. “But the rock blunted our tools. The only way we can see to do it is to drain the lake. That’s where you come in, Cassandra. You are a Harmonic. You can move the water or bore into the rock.”

“What if the lake stretches into the underworld for miles? What if something fills it? Waves lap at its shores. It isn’t still. Something moves it.”

“Are you saying you can’t do it?” Helm said, whipping around, knife in hand.

“If I move the water, it has to go somewhere. You tell me where, and I’ll move it.”

“The river we crossed vanishes into the ground,” Jork said.

“And it may well fill the lake.” Cassandra shed her jacket, leaving her wearing just an undershirt. “But we’ll hold up our end of the bargain. We always do. I’ll think of something.”

“I wasn’t saying—” Helm hesitated, her confidence gone. “Fine.” She turned, chopping furiously.

“What are you thinking?” Josh asked.

“Not sure. Let me try something.” Cassandra got up, walking out.

Josh followed after her, his pants still soaking. “Say,” he said, grabbing her arm. “If you can move an entire lake, then surely you can dry my pants.”

“Of course I can, Darling. I just wanted to see how long you’d keep them on before you finally relented and bared yourself to the drow. You weren’t so bashful around the goblins.”

“No, it’s just Helm is different.”

Cassandra eyed him up. “Are you sure it’s not you that’s different? Do you have feelings for her?”

“Feelings? Those feelings? Not sure, but I like the way she helps the others without being asked to. I like how she cares.”

“I do too. She didn’t have to train Elowen or encourage her during the day. Look, she might not be able to join us now, but you could leave a door open. She might walk through it one day.”

“She might,” Josh said as they stepped outside. “What do you think?”

Cassandra moved to the lake’s edge. “I think moving all this water is going to be impossible. She doesn’t understand my magic. Everything has consequences. To move a lake, you must accommodate a lake.”

“So…”

Cassandra closed her eyes, thrusting her hands out, a wave of languid magic reaching toward the rock. Its surface heated, moving, sagging as it became molten, but then congealing as Cassandra barely touched its surface.

“The explosion heated it more than my magic ever could.”

Josh shrugged. “Then just open a fissure like you did when you buried Thellius.”

“Easier said than done. The rock I moved had fissures to move into. I didn’t compress the rock, I simply shifted it. Sandstone, for instance, is full of air pockets. I can move and compress it. This rock has no such pockets. It's dense, melted rock.”

“Can you chip it away?”

“Could do, but it would take an age. It gets strength from the rock all around it.”

Josh eyed the lake and the stone curtain. He sat on the bank. “What about this?” He explained his idea.

“That might work.” She scratched her chin. “No, I think that will work.” Cassandra crouched, looking along the water’s plain. “It will work. I’m going back in. The food must be ready by now.”

“I’ll stick out here for a while. I can feel something. Not sure what.”

“Fishing?”

“Not sure.” He ambled over to a boulder, sitting, listening in to the rising sounds coming from the forest. The creatures had become more adventurous since the monster had fallen. He didn’t worry. His survival skill would alert him.

Helm emerged from the camp, two steaming bowls in hand. “Thought I’d bring yours out,” she said, handing him one.

“Yours too?”

She sat next to him on the boulder. “I wanted—” She inhaled hard. “I wanted to apologize.”

“What for?”

“For storming off.”

“I thought you were having fun.”

“I was, but then I realized it wasn’t mine to have. You have something very special with your women—something I didn’t realize was possible. I got carried away, but then it hit me.”

“You’re allowed to enjoy yourself. We spend long enough fighting and nearly dying that you can enjoy respite.”

“But that was too personal.”

He dipped his spoon in, bringing up a big chunk of meat. “We have to laugh. We do some pretty horrendous things. And yes, I’ve got a good thing going with them, but you’re good with them too. And thank you.”

“For?”

“Helping Elowen.”

She sniffed. “We are only as strong as our weakest—”

“Stop,” he said. “You know what I mean. You went further than you had to. It was very kind of you.” He paused. “What are you going to do?”

“When?”

“Once we get you to Telemar.”

“Have you figured out a way?”

“We think so.”

She exhaled. “I don’t know. I’m not expecting much, but it’s been my life’s work—mine and Jork. It would be good to have something to show for it.” She ate some food, chewing and looking out over the lake. “Are you sure you can get there?”

“I’m sure if it’s possible, then Cassandra will find a way.”

“Then I must think. Jork and I have a castle to maintain. We will scour Telemar for artefacts, for—”

“Whatever’s left won’t be Telemar. That place is gone,” he said softly.

She pursed her lips and nodded. “Deep down, I know that.”

“You could come with us to the ruins.”

She inhaled sharply. “That’s kind of you but—”

“No, hear me out. Elowen, Arabella and Melody—they all need training. You’d be helping me. You’d be helping them.”

“But it would be Jork and me, and then you and the girls. It won’t work.”

He inclined his head. “You’d be outsiders.”

“Yes.”

“I can see that. So, you’ll stay in your big, empty castle.”

She glanced at him, cleaning the rest of her bowl. “Perhaps my prince will come.”

“I hope so, Helm. I really do.”

Chapter Twenty-Seven

CASSANDRA SAT UPON A BOULDER, watching the raft construct itself. She waved her hands, threading vines, tied and cut them, then hopped off and walked over to her creation, inspecting it.

“I do so hate manual work,” she said, turning and facing the forest, uprooting a small tree and floating it over, stripping its branches along the way, and setting the resulting pole down by the raft. “But I can see the reward. Do you think I’d make a skilled craftsman?”

Arabella rolled her eyes, ignoring the witch, but Melody bit. “You didn’t do anything.”

“My dear,” Cassandra said, frostily. “Rafts don’t build themselves.” She walked back into the camp while Josh looked on, chuckling inwardly.

“She’d make a good farmer. She could plow a whole field from her deck.”

“There’s only one type of plowing she likes,” Lex said.

“So, run me through the plan again,” Helm said.

Josh pointed to the granite wall. “Simple. We float Cassandra out to the stone curtain. She blasts the bottom of it, chipping away at it. The chips fall to the bottom of the lake, and we slowly form a tunnel through which we can swim while still breathing.”

“Why not just form a tunnel?”

“Ah, well, we got into that, and no can do. Something about compressed this and nowhere for it to move that. You don’t need to know. I wish I didn’t know, but apparently, as it can fall away, I’d had a fantastic idea, and that will do me.”

“It works because it has somewhere to fall.” Helm stared at the rock. “So, I can finally get there. I can finally lay my eyes once more on Telemar.”

“If all goes to plan. Cassandra’s just running it all by Elowen, just in case we’ve forgotten something.”

“Elowen has magic?”

“No, but she does have the biggest brain and is great at planning.”

Cassandra came storming out. “Apparently, we need a load more rafts—narrow ones. If we swim there and it’s too long, our swords and boots will weigh us down and we’ll tire and drown.” She rolled her eyes. “Bloody girl is way too sensible.”

“See?” Josh said.

Josh punted the raft out, holding it in position. Cassandra wound up her spell, focusing on a spot dead central where according to Elowen the rock would be straining the most. A blast of red magic shot from her hands, cracking into the stone. A tooth-shaped lump splashed into the water. Cassandra tilted her head. “Was that a big bit? It looked like a big bit, but if we’ve got a mile to go then it’s a small bit.”

“Then it’s a small bit,” Josh said, holding the raft in place as the waves rolled under them.

She sent another blast and another chunk fell. “This is going to be laborious.”

“Yup. But we’ve got no other choice. If it takes days, what does it matter?”

“It matters because we’re sleeping on a stone bed in close proximity to a pair of drows. It matters because not only can’t we fuck about, we’re not getting any closer to the ruins.”

“Nope, but we’ll get a taste of it.”

Cassandra labored on, only stopping for food, and then later through exhaustion. Josh ferried her back to the shore, carrying her into the camp and setting her on a shelf. Arabella fed her some stew. Elowen made her drink. She slept for a few hours, then began again.

Day and night meant nothing in the underground. Everything rotated around Cassandra, and later Cassandra and Vella. When Cassandra emptied her mana, Vella joined her and refilled it, sitting with them a while. Josh stayed with Cassandra the whole time, refusing to rest until she did. Arabella and Lex hunted, while Melody and Elowen gathered edible leaves and topped up the stew.

Their raft slowly travelled down the tunnel, the stench of magic and burning rock filling their nostrils. Steam wafted over them with every splash, the near-molten chunks falling with a hiss.

“I didn’t think this could get worse, but somehow it’s surpassed my expectations,” Cassandra said. “Never, ever, get me to chisel a tunnel through an underground lake while perched on a raft again.”

Jork and Helm explored all the nearby caves and fissures, hunting for any sign of the drow that had gone missing, but reluctantly came to the conclusion that one of the many monsters had overpowered them.

Then Cassandra’s progress sped up as they reached a large, white marble vein, swirling with gray. She eased through that, and for a moment, they thought they’d make it through. But then the black stone returned, and progress slowed. As Cassandra steeled herself for another few hours of blasting the wall, Josh rested his hand on hers.

“Enough,” he said.

“I can do more,” she said, but looked pastier than usual, her eyes red, bags under from exhaustion.

“There’s no need. Look. The light’s much stronger. We’re nearly through.”

“Then we finish it.”

“No. We rest. We come back tomorrow refreshed and with everyone behind us. We don’t go in there tired. We have no clue what we’re going to face.”

“You’re right,” she said, resting back, her head in his lap.

Josh eased the raft back out, paddling back to shore and carrying her into the camp, the same as he had every day. He laid her down on the shelf and stood. “We’re there,” he said. “We’ll be through tomorrow.”

Tiredness washed over him then. If Cassandra had exhausted herself, he hadn’t given himself a break either. He’d suffered the heat, the steam, the cloying dust, always steadying the raft, always there to hold her when she collapsed. He walked back out, leaving the others to take care of Cassandra. Stripping, he dove into the water, swimming under it and trying to wring the dust and sweat from him. He surfaced, and then he saw her.

Helm held up his pants. “You’re not getting them back this time,” she said, then stripped and walked into the water.

Josh couldn’t take his eyes off her gorgeous, lilac body. He tried—knew it was wrong—but gawped in wonder. She hesitated, letting him soak in her naked form, then dove into the water. Swimming out to him, she trod water.

“I just wanted to see what it was like,” she said.

“See what was like?”

“Swimming naked with you. Pretending I was one of your women. Hoping we’d fool about in the water, then go back to the shore and fool around some more. I wanted to feel like normal.”

She closed the distance between them, wrapping her arms around him and pressing her breasts into his chest. She pecked him on the cheek and pushed away. “Thank you.” And then she swam back to the shore.

“Wait. You can. You can have it all. Join us. Join me. The girls love you. I—”

She paused. “You what?”

“I love you,” he said, finally admitting it to himself.

She turned, closing her eyes and shaking her head. “But Jork,” she said. “There’s nobody left to love him.”

Whether it was morning, noon, or night when they woke, it didn’t matter. Cassandra was rested. Helm was nowhere to be seen, and Jork was heating up the stew.

“If we’re going to fight, then it’s best to do it on a full stomach,” he said, glancing at Josh.

“Where’s Helm?” Josh asked.

She woke early and went outside to train. Elowen followed her. “I think Helm has taken the girl under her wing. It pleases her to make other people better. It’s been so long since we could train others.”

Josh slipped off his shelf, crouching on the other side of the pot. “She won’t leave you.”

Jork sucked his cheeks in. “No. No, she won’t. But it’s not just me. We have a duty to our lost. We have a duty to our forefathers to find out what happened to them. What we discover today may change that. If it does, I won’t stand in her way if she chooses to leave.”

“Could you?”

“Could I stand in her way? I don’t think so. If Helm decides she wants something, then she gets it.” He spooned out some stew and passed it to Josh. “You probably don’t want to know how long we’ve been trying to get to Telemar, but it’s a measure of her determination.”

“I think I can guess. What if there’s nothing there?”

“There will be something. The dead don’t vanish. A city, Josh, there was an entire city down there. Imagine the artefacts, the relics, the talismans. The riches of an entire civilization there to study. Yes, we’ve waited a lifetime to explore it, and yes, I understand that going with you may well be attractive, but when she lays eyes upon it, duty, Josh, duty.”

“Duty?”

“It will be her duty to preserve it, and she won’t be able to resist.”

“You can do it,” Josh said, holding the raft steady, Vella between his legs. “One huge blast and we’re through.”

“I have my staff and my little … what did you call her?”

“Battery. It’s something that stores energy,” Josh said.

“Then I have my little battery, and she’ll fill me with mana when we go in blasting.”

“No blasting,” Helm said from the raft behind. “If we find Telemar you could destroy something special.”

“We’ll go careful,” Josh said.

“No, we won’t,” Cassanda said. “Don’t make promises you can’t keep. If there’s a monster and it attacks me, I’m coming out blasting.”

Josh turned. “We might blast. We might not.” He winked at Helm who scowled back at him.

“This is not a joke.”

“Then you should have made a bargain with someone else. Blast away!”

“No!” Helm cried, but Cassandra wound herself up, her chants rising as the Everdeep staff glowed brightly. Then, with one long cry, she unleashed her power. A bright, white beam shot from the staff, heating up the rock. Another blast of brilliant blue froze the superheated stone. It shattered, falling into the water, waves rolling back, the raft bucking.

Josh held on tightly, as Cassandra invoked another spell and propelled the raft forward into a blinding white light. She screamed, holding her hands up as Helm and Jork spilt from the tunnel. Lex and Melody came by their side, and Arabella and Elowen joined them. The light dimmed, a huge, lumbering figure moved in front of it, dulling it and revealing the part sunken ruins of Telemar.

“What the hell is that?” Helm asked.

“Not sure,” Josh whispered.

Towers leaned at forty-five degrees, some part-submerged, others resting on a distant shore. A crenelated wall rose from the water, its end crumbled and broken. The top of a spire pierced the calming water. But Josh’s gaze, and that of the whole party, was drawn to the lumbering beast that stood before them.

Lights cycled along its body, reds, greens, and blues. But rather than a smooth transition, they jerked and jolted. The creature’s huge shoulders were uneven, half of its abdomen appeared to be missing. A single eye stared out—a yellow light, blinking in and out of existence.

“Steer us over there,” Josh whispered, aiming for the cover of some part-submerged ruins.

“What the fuck is it?” Cassandra asked.

“It’s one of them. A Grillon. I’m fucking sure. But it’s not complete yet.”

“We’ve got a chance?” Cassandra asked.

“We’ve got no choice.”

“We could run away,” she pointed out.

“And it might follow us. We’ve just released it from its prison.”

“Oh,” she said.

“Oh, indeed.”

“Is powerful,” Vella said.

Cassandra steered them over to the ruin. The others followed.

“I know this place,” Helm said. “I remember it.”

“It was the Palace of Kenya Torp,” Jork said. “This is its eastern tower.” He jumped off the raft and onto a wall angling out of the water. He crept up, beckoning them with him. They each jumped onto the tower’s wall, coming to its crenellations and looking over. “If this is all that’s left of that grand place, then there is nothing, Helm, nothing for us here.”

“There’s…” she said, but nodded. “That thing did that to our people. It destroyed them.”

The alien was at least twenty feet high. Its lumbering body moved up and down the bank, the light blinking as it partially shaded it. Other, smaller humanoids appeared, each slow, way too slow.

“That’s Janis!” Helm said. “Those are the lost drow!”

“Not,” said Vella. “They were once. Not anymore.”

“What? What are you trying to say?”

“Dead. All dead. Big one keeps them moving.”

“Undead?” Cassandra asked with a shiver. “The aliens are necromancers?”

“No!” Helm said, hope flooding through her again. “No way. That’s them! They’re alive.” She stood, running to the edge of the fallen tower and jumping into the lake.

“Helm!” Jork cried, diving after her.

“Quick plan, Elowen. Fast! Make it fast!” Josh cried.

“Melody and Lex flank the beast on the raft. Arabella uses her drow bow to take out the undead. Lex, me and you attack with Helm. Vella sneaks up on the alien and tries her death touch.”

“And me?” Cassandra asked.

“Start attacking!” Elowen said. “Give us some cover.”

“From here?”

“Yes, from here.”

“Good enough,” Josh said. “Everyone, it’s a go.” He dove after Helm.

The water enveloped him, its blinking radiance momentarily confusing. Columns of weed clung to submerged ruins. Shale banks piled against them. He aimed for two streams of white bubbles. Jork’s sword glinting in the light. Josh powered forward, holding his breath, searching out cover. But Helm and Jork powered on, their strokes slick and practiced. He called all his strength forward, trying to catch up, the water becoming shallower.

I’m running out of time!

A blast of white clashed with the moving shadow, snuffed out the instant it struck the beast on the bank. Another blast shot from Cassandra, exploding over Josh.

The fucking aliens countered!

He altered his path. His allegiance with his girls, and he aimed straight for the behemoth. His worst fears cycled through his mind, but deep down he’d known it would come to this, that it was all leading to it—everything—from the moment he’d got in that pod and left his old life. He powered forward, the lake getting shallower, lights flashing over him as Cassandra and the alien engaged in a battle of titans.

Then his foot hit shale, shifting it out of the way and making him stumble. The next step gained him purchase. He powered on, another explosion above him. His body burst from the water, his stride quickening the moment he was free of the lake. Then he was running toward it—toward the nemesis he’d always known he’d face. It stood there—a titan, a monster, a nightmare.

“Holy shit!” he cried, as the creature’s true horror became clear.

Chapter Twenty-Eight

A DROW HUNG SUSPENDED within the alien’s partially complete torso. Its arms and legs spreadeagled, each reaching for a corner of its boxlike body. Ragged edges covered its feet and hands as if the monstrosity’s skin was slowly growing over the drow to eventually conceal it within its foul body. Light cycled around the edges as lasers built up the beast’s skin, the stench of burning overtaking Josh’s senses as he finally understood.

The tech had been patient. It had sat underground for an age waiting for a viable host to come along, and then it had taken the best and built itself, weaving its power through the living matter. The drow was bloated, its skin mottled and mouth jammed open as if it were screaming.

“Kill the drow inside it!” Josh screamed, coming closer.

Another lightning bolt hit the beast, Cassandra’s magic rippling over it, racing across its foul skin like stampeding spiders. Lex and Melody snuck in from one side, closing and readying their grenades. Josh broke forward, forcing his legs through the languid wash. But as he closed on the beast, he faltered.

A pull, a feeling of immense kinship came over him. He needed to help the creature, to allow it time to flourish and bloom—to become his ally and fight and dominate the world. An explosion rang out, buffeting him with its power. Anger flared within. A vicious hatred for those who were trying to kill his ally.

But deep within him, another anger grew—a need to protect his women. The alien sent a flare over his shoulder, arcing across the lake toward Cassandra. The witch countered, throwing up an iridescent shield. An arrow zipped over his head, pinning the stricken drow who barely registered the wound.

The alien turned toward Arabella. A mechanical scream issued from the drow as a white bolt arced toward her position. Rage grew within Josh. He recognized the feeling as his own. Someone was attacking his women—attacking something so precious to him it was sacrosanct above all else. That rage tore at his empathy for the alien, leaving him rooted to the spot, unable to attack or defend.

“Josh! Do something!” Lex cried, as Melody sent another grenade toward the titan.

Josh turned, his gaze distant. He advanced, but hesitated again. The confliction inside him was too much. Then Helm’s scream tore through each and every one of his senses.

Jork stood, his body angled strangely. A spear stuck out of his back. He bent double around it. Three, then four undead drow all set on him, punching, stabbing, tearing at him with their bare hands, biting flesh chunks from him. Helm fought on her own, another circle of enraged drow surrounding her. He cocked his head, another powerful emotion tearing him apart, and he understood what he had to do. What he could do.

Racing toward her, he finally drew his sword, jumping into the fray surrounding Jork. He stabbed and sliced, his speed incredible, his drow blade a blur. He took their arms as they clawed at Jork, their legs as they kicked him, and their heads as they bit into his pale flesh. Recognizing the new danger, the undead turned, moving toward him fueled by their rage. It was only then he understood the true horror of what he faced and what Helm fought against.

They were savage. Their hunger for his flesh drove them. He battled, countering their every lunge. But they came from all sides, ripping at him. Finally recognizing his danger, Josh called for his scale armor, sacrificing some dexterity for its defensive boost. Rather than retreat, he advanced into them, their claws useless against his defense, their bites feeble in comparison to its strength. Within moments, their corpses lay at his feet, still, finally dead.

Helm had backed into the lake. It had slowed the lumbering drow but did nothing to temper their rage. Josh jumped in, joining her. His fury turned the battle, and they forged forward, the drow undead falling backward, falling over each other.

The titan and Cassandra swapped magical blasts, their power ripping around the cavern. Ruins exploded everywhere. A spire fell, splashing into the water, sending up a plume of wash, a wave racing toward them. A grenade exploded, a blast of shale strafing them.

Helm grabbed him, but the power within Josh resisted.

“Don’t let them die!” she cried.

“I can’t. I can’t!” he shouted, rage filling him as Tremelox wrestled with his willpower. “This thing’s inside my head.” He pulled at his ring, trying to rip it off. Tears filling his eyes as the battle raged, and the titan lumbered toward Lex and Melody.

Helm pulled him over to Jork’s corpse, shoving Josh’s face close. “You want that to be Arabella? You want that to be me?” She punched him square in the face, and his anger snapped.

A roar grew deep inside him as he powered himself up, shoving the drow out of his face, forcing her back and finally picking her up. He tossed her onto the shale bank, then set upon her, his fist raised, drool hanging from his lips.

But then their eyes met, and hers were filled with desolation, with loss, and then with resignation. His rage tore at him. He both loved and hated her. His ring saw her as the ultimate enemy. His heart saw her with him for eternity.

“Do it,” she said. “I have nothing more to live for.”

But then a new feeling grew inside him, born of his subtle progression within the Hangsane. A gradual building of power that had remained closed to him. He’d hardly noticed it. Couldn’t fathom when it had rooted within him. But it was new. It was a foundation. It grew inside him but didn’t come from any alien artifact. It came from deep within him, of all he was, molded by all he’d become. Images of Arabella, of Cassandra, Elowen, Melody, Lex and Vella filled him. Their laughter echoed in his mind. Their passion filled his groin with fire. Their relationship had flourished. Their understanding had become complete. Their progression was linked. It was the beginning of everything.

Vella pulled him up, pulled him away from Helm. She dragged him toward the alien. “Come,” she said. “The evil must die.”

Her power flooded into him. Opening channels formed in the depths of the goblin cave, strengthened in the troll camp, and polished in the halls of Helm’s castle. It wiped out Tremelox’s influence in a wash of purity. He paused, gathering, assessing the combat zone. Cassandra’s blasts were weaker—her blasts thin. Melody’s grenades came more sporadically, as if she was conserving her stock. Lex crouched by her, unable to fight the monstrous beast without some help. Arabella’s arrows stuck out of the drow, but one-by-one, the hanging corpse ejected them, its scream now constant.

The alien must have sensed Cassandra’s weakness. With its biggest threat gone, it turned toward Melody and Lex, lumbering, the ground shaking with its power. Vella tugged on Josh’s arm.

“Come on! Wake up!”

And finally, clarity came as the ring succumbed to his will, accepting his dominance. Helm was beside them, her sword drawn and a grim set to her lips. “Let’s do this,” she said, and raced forward.

But the titan had already closed on Lex and Melody, picking up the trap smith and throwing her across the lake’s bank. Melody tumbled along the shale, crashing into a boulder, her body limp and broken. The alien snatched for Lex, but the assassin was too fast, darting under its grasp, rolling away from its lumbering kick.

“Melody!” Josh screamed.

“Mine,” Vella shouted, racing toward the stricken woman.

“Let’s get this fucker,” Josh cried, running toward it. It’s back turned to him.

But the titan must have sensed him. It almost certainly had the skills he had and was perhaps more advanced. Josh dove, expecting to crash into the back of its knee, but smacking into the side. A brutal crack rang out, the titan’s knee then glowing with blue magic as its bots went to work repairing it.

A bolt of focused white magic pierced the titan’s defenses, spearing the hanging drow who screamed in pain, its head leaning from the titan’s body as it strained at the sinews holding it in place. Josh carved at the titan’s leg with his sword, but the creature’s exoskeleton was too tough. He retreated, knowing he had to get in front of it, to turn it and attack the drow before it managed to complete its skin.

“Box!” he cried to Cassandra. “Think outside the box!”

Her blasts stopped coming and a rumble filled the cavern. Its floor shook, the titan rocking back and forth. Waves lapped at the shore as Cassandra’s magic grew in power. Josh glanced at her, seeing Vella and Melody beside her, but not quite understanding how that happened. The titan turned away from Lex, facing Cassandra as if it could sense her threat.

Josh dove through its legs, racing away, into the wash, then turning. He burst forward, pumping his legs for all he was worth, then leapt, his sword back. He flew through the air, bringing his drow blade around and decapitating the drow hanging inside the alien’s gut. His momentum carried him in, clashing with the dead drow, white fluid pumping over him. He jabbed his sword into the warrior’s limp body, then drew his knife, cutting at the sinews holding the undead, headless corpse in place.

As he desperately tried to free the body, to sever its connection to the alien lifeform, a sinew snapped around his ankle, another around his waist, and he screamed in horror as he realized what was happening.

“You will become mine!” The creature whispered inside his mind, its influence instantly consuming him as Tremelox recognized its kin, reached for their bond, and joined, a fledgling symbiosis, a handshake between likeminded.

Josh stared in horror as the drow dissolved and the alien pulled him into the resulting cavity. More sinews snapped over him as the alien’s fluids eroded his scale armor. The presence inside his mind strengthened, its voice soothing not gloating, accepting its victory as inevitable and welcoming him.

“Together, we will rule this feeble world!” it said.

“No!” Josh screamed, his willpower hunting allies, searching his new channels, praying his strength would come as the last of his armor dissolved, his flesh melding with the creature’s, his arteries opening, the new alien’s bots flooding inside him.

He called on his ring to help him, to preserve him, but it was feeble in comparison to the titan’s exoskeleton. It had already succumbed, welcoming the invader as a friend, ally, and master. Then, a new threat filled his mind, red, and mauve warnings flashing. But Josh quickly understood the threat wasn’t his, but directed toward his host. Unable to resist, he moved the huge body to face it, but the threat came from all around.

Rage filled him, a primeval need to survive that flooded him with power. His symbiosis became clear. The alien wasn’t a machine, but nor was it flesh and blood. It was a partnership, a cyborg, but it was also so much more than that. It had a third and fourth component. It was a driven AI, and it was him. He’d replaced the drow, and its power, its sense of purpose now filled him. He scanned for the threat, anesthetized, emotionless.

Great boulders rolled toward him, ripped from the shale bank, torn away from the cavern walls. They piled all around, thrust together, a ring of them hemming him in. He pushed them, trying to move, but piles of shale filled the gaps, loose until a blast of white magic melted the shale, mortaring the boulders together.

Josh gathered his magic, ready to launch it at the bitch who’d trapped him. He let it mass, the agitated mana threatening to tear him apart. But then calm came, and the mana vanished. He stared down, scouring his temporary prison for the mana thief.

An elf stared up at him, her face familiar, but not that of an enemy, neither a friend. He reached with his giant hand, plucking her from the mortared rock and holding her up. She said something to him, but his new mind discounted it as unimportant. His combined self chose to squeeze her—to wring the power out of her and consume it.

Pain lanced through him, its focus all around him. The elf smiled, draining him of his energy. He rallied, tossing her away and gathering his power again, pulling from the land under him, the cavern above him. But the pain encircled him. He tried to look down, but couldn’t tilt the alien’s massive head, so he opened his own eyes and immediately wished he hadn’t.

A drow carved at his limbs, severing the sinews, the connections to his master. She repeated the same words over and over.

“You are Josh Underwood. You are Josh Underwood.”

A dark-skinned woman was there too, attacking his other side, her knives ripping through the nerves, the conduits, as she too carved him from the titan. She shouted the same mantra, like they were summoning a demonic entity.

“You are Josh Underwood. You are Josh Underwood.”

Then a third woman appeared, cupping his cheeks. She cried his name, tears running down her eyes.

And he remembered.

He remembered who he was. He remembered what he’d become, what he was becoming. He recalled his power, his new strength of mind. The Hangsane had improved him. It had opened ways inside his body, and he wanted more.

But it wasn’t enough. Something else came from deep inside him. It was a feeling that had lay dormant for an age. A deep-rooted hatred grew within him. Grillons—they were the enemy. They’d been the enemy all his life. They’d always been the dark clouds on his horizon, threatening humanity’s existence. During his past life he could do nothing about it. He’d been a passenger in a vicious war. But then, inside his foe, so close he could smell the stench of its evil, he could finally battle the despised enemy—the bane of his entire race.

And he was strong enough to win.

“I…don’t…need…you,” he growled.

“That’s it, Josh,” said the third woman. “Remember!”

“I…don’t…need…you!” he growled, his eyes spinning inward, his gut coiling, squeezing as he strained, tried to expel the beast from him. He pulled, pulled his arm free with a punch. He ripped it from the creature’s harvested flesh and brought it before his face, focusing on it, his teeth grinding in frustration. “You are my servant!” He told the ring. “You obey—”

He screamed as the beast attacked. Shockwaves coursed through him. Power grabbed at his brain, trying to extinguish his consciousness.

Josh rallied, bracing himself, his jaws shaking as he strained and cried, “No! I am not your slave!” A pulse shook him, like his words had unlocked a nascent power within him. “No!” he cried again, encouraging that power to flow through him. A surge, a purification, raced through him. It came from a new place that he didn’t quite understand. It came from a central core that radiated power. “I don’t want you!” he cried, unleashing his radiance.

A blinding flash erupted from his body. But Josh wanted more. He turned his focus back to the ring on his finger—the alien artifact—his companion.

Tremelox’s power reignited. Backed by Josh’s new focus, it rejected the titan, fought its influence, and broke free. He strained against the beast, ripping the sinews that bound him to its gut, and tore his upper body free, ripping his skin. He fell forward, tumbling down the mortared rock. Pain filled every part of his body as a huge flash erupted over him. Another followed it, then another.

The beast roared, but without an organic voice, it sounded like a machine grating and grinding its gears. The magical bolts pounded into it, chipping away at the exoskeleton until it reached some critical point where it expanded, contracted, and then exploded.

The force blew Josh from his feet, sending him tumbling through the air and splashing into the water. His mind shut down as pain tore through his sanity. His world darkened, and he sank, joining the dead in the ruins of Telemar.

Chapter Twenty-Nine

HE SWAM in a sea of confused memories. He had lashed out at Vella, fought with Cassandra, and then Helm attacked him, sawing at his flesh. Another memory came, and he watched Helm wade naked into a luminous lake. Then Cassandra knelt before him with Lexi, his cock the center of their attention. Arabella hummed as she cooked, then winked at him, and her clothes fell away. Melody laughed, but hers vanished, too. Elowen stared down at her book, a pencil in hand, and she twirled it around as she told them the history of vanishing clothing, hers gradually fading and becoming see-through. Vella appeared, her head upside down, her face gradually closing, a smile upon it.

“Heal,” she said. “Renew,” she added, her lips close to his ears, her power entering him.

Words scrolled over his vision, a woman’s soft voice sounding out. It told him of deficiencies and solutions, and how it had added to his strength, his speed, his durability, and his combat instinct. The final scores hung in his mind’s eye, repeating again and again.

Strength = 45

Speed and Agility = 45

Durability = 48

Combat instinct = 45

Arcane resistance = 44

Poison resistance = 44

He let it sink in, but had no clue how it would affect him. It didn’t concern him, not then. He had other things on his mind. The ring had let him down. It had succumbed to the greater force, becoming subservient to it. He couldn’t let that happen again. As he’d fought with it, wrestling its control away, he’d formed a new bargain with it.

Out went the ring’s control, the power it had over his body, and in came a new order, established through a mutual desire to never be dominated again. He organized his stats how he liked them, setting out his rank, his sub rank and then his stats. He added his threat detection and called it perception, and that made him smile inwardly.

Tremelox poked and prodded, trying to influence Josh’s choices, but its failure hung over it like a dark shadow, and Josh wasn’t about to let that slide. Once done, he read his new character sheet.

Name: Josh Underwood

Rank: Novice Enforcer

Subrank: Golden Defender

Attributes:

Strength = 45

Speed and Agility = 45

Durability = 48

Combat instinct = 45

Arcane resistance = 44

Poison resistance = 44

Total – 271

No of points needed to next promotion =29

Perception: Active for all threats.

It was simple and told him everything he needed to know. He knew the threat colors—understood what each was. But he needed to establish another protocol with Tremelox. He needed to know it would help him.

“Tremelox?”

“Yes?”

“I need you to understand something. I am the master. There is no other. You live and die with me. If that isn’t to your liking, then we end this now.”

“I understand. I will maintain background operations.”

“No.” Josh paused. “I need more than that. I need an advisor, a tactician, a set of eyes that sees things I miss. I need you to do more to ensure our survival than just be background noise. Can you do that for me?”

“It is in my programming to analyze and aid.”

“But I need you to be more proactive. You could help during the fights rather than wait until I’m ruined and then heal me.”

“Improvements can only come through setbacks.”

Josh understood its reasoning but fancied it didn’t get quite where he was coming from. “Improve while you patch me up—I get that. But a bit of help while I’m getting mangled would go a long way to us being partners.”

“Partners?”

“Fifty-one to forty-nine. I’m in charge.”

“Partners,” it said. “You are healed.”

“Am I?”

“Yes. The one called Vella infused the nanobots with her power and their healing speed increased exponentially as usual.”

“What am I waking up to?”

“Your usual women surround you, and the drow called Helm. They are both sad and happy.”

“See? That’s how our relationship should work. Advice, Trem, a bit of advice.”

“I understand.”

Josh opened his eyes. “Apparently, I’m in one piece, and I have you all to thank for it.” He reached out for Helm. “Jork,” he said.

She bit her lip and looked away. “I have covered his body in stones. He will lay in rest here in Telemar. It was his life’s work to find it. He would have spent the rest of his life retrieving what he could.” She looked away. “I don’t know. I just don’t know.”

“Don’t know what?”

She turned her head up, her amber eyes staring into his. “Whether it was all worthwhile. Destroying the monstrosity—that was. I have never seen such an evil creature. But this? To find Telemar after all these years and just find ruins? It’s…”

“It’s a load of broken stone and bugger all else,” Cassandra said. “That’s what it is. Really, I’m not sure what you thought you’d find. A whole city thriving and waiting for your return?”

“Cass!” Arabella said. “She’s grieving!”

“She’s delusional, that’s what she is. But it was worth it for the power.”

“What power?” Josh asked.

“Oh, yeah, you didn’t see it, did you? You were busy dying. Well, as the alien thing finally gave up and died, its power burst out in a massive wave of radiance and soaked us. I’m brimming with the stuff.”

“What about the…” Josh squeezed the bridge of his nose. “What about the original power source? The bright, white light?”

“The Angel Stone?” Helm asked. “We have it.” She held up a small egg-shaped locket. “It’s in here.”

“You’re carrying the power around your neck?”

“I got the idea from Cassandra. She’s got the Sinter Stone in plain sight, I thought, why not? Then I found this locket diving into the ruins and it seemed right—too much of a coincidence to handle.”

Josh sat up. “Clothes?” he asked.

“Gone—dissolved by the beast. I thought about giving you Jork’s but—”

“No—no way. Let’s not go down that path.”

“Would you like me to add a set of casual clothing to your options?” Tremelox asked.

“That, Trem, is the kind of thing I was talking about. Tight black pants, please. Sturdy boots and a black T-shirt—like one I’d have had on the cargo ships. You mind if I call you Trem?”

“A new beginning,” Tremelox said.

His new clothes slowly covered his body, and he slipped off the stone shelf. “That better?”

“A little plain,” Arabella said.

“Plain is good,” Cassandra said, “especially how you go through clothes.”

“Look,” he said. “What happened—”

“It all turned out well,” Elowen said.

“And you Mels? Last time I saw you, it threw you against a rock.”

“Vella healed me.”

“Heal everyone,” Vella said. “Cavern heal me. Gives me more power. Can heal more now. Lucky that.”

“Lucky? Why?” Josh asked, sniffing the stew. “This ready? I’m starving.”

“I’ll dish up,” Lex said. “We’ve all eaten.”

“So, I eat, then what?” Josh said, looking around.

“Then we go, I guess,” Arabella said.

“We go,” Vella said.

“I could live with a bed. And a warm bath. Tell us we can stay long enough to get a warm bath, Helm.”

Helm stared at each of them, hesitant. “If we’re going, I should say my goodbyes to Jork.”

“Helm, please,” Josh said. “There’s no hurry.”

“No,” she said. “There’s nothing left for me here.” She left.

Josh’s mouth hung open, unspoken words on his lips.

Lex passed him a steaming bowl. He spooned it down, his hunger gathering pace the more he ate. After three bowls, he sat back on one of the shelves. “So, about what I was saying…”

“It doesn’t matter,” Arabella said.

“No, I need to explain. The alien took control. It tried to alter me—tried to take charge and assimilate me. I lost control—complete control, and only got it back because you all fought for me.”

“Awe,” Cassandra said. “Isn’t that touching?”

“I’ve got news for you, Josh. You’ve saved us plenty of times,” Elowen said.

“But you’re going to have to get used to us getting stronger,” Lex said. “Since we’ve been here, I’m definitely getting more powerful.”

“Me too,” Melody said. “And with a bit more training from Helm, we’ll be unstoppable.”

“Helm might…” Josh trailed off.

“Helm hasn’t got a clue what’s she’s going to do,” Arabella said. “She’s just lost her best friend and discovered the home she’s been searching for her whole life is just a bunch of ruins. I doubt she has a clue what she wants to do.”

“I do,” Helm said, returning. “I know exactly what I want to do.”

“What?” Josh asked.

“If you’re going to survive, you must learn to use what hatched here—what hatched inside each of you. You all need to get stronger—so much stronger. I can help.”

“How? Train us in your castle?”

“No. There’s a place. There’s a man. He’ll be able to help. The path is hard, dangerous, but we can do it.”

Josh rubbed his chin. “A man?”

“He knows things—things about the body. He’ll teach you all. Make you strong.” Helm held up the stone. “There’ll be a price, but I’ll pay it.”

“No!” Josh said. “You spent your life hunting that stone.”

Helm said. “It’s just a stone—a stepping stone—a way to get the real prize.” She paused. “He’ll make you, all of you, understand. He’ll unlock your power.”

“What will you get?”

She looked him in the eye, drawing close, a smile quirking her lips. “I know exactly what I want. It’s up to you if I get it.”

She winked at him, slowly licking her lips.

The Adventure Continues in Book Five

Monsters Mayhem & Misfits 5

A LitRPG Fantasy

Chapter One

HELM STARED UP AT HIM, her gaze burning into his, the ruins of Telemar all around.

“I want everything,” she said.

Her bottom lip quivered as she awaited his answer. She started to reach out but drew away her hand, then turned away. She stared out over the black lake with the broken buildings jutting from it, relics of a long dead city.

It looked unremarkable without the Angel Stone spreading its light about. The titan lay dead on the shore, but whether it would stay that way or remake itself was impossible to know.

“By everything…” Josh let his words trail off.

He suspected what she meant, but Helm had recently lost her lifelong protector and mentor, Jork. She wore a locket around her neck with the Angel Stone inside, and so had power she’d never possessed before.

“What Cassandra, Arabella, Melody, Elowen, Vella and Lex have. I want you, and I want to be part of your family.” She dropped to one knee, bowing her head. The tension in the cave was so thick it could shatter.

“Darling,” said Cassandra, “you only kneel if you’re sucking his cock. Those are the rules.”

Melody covered her mouth to hide her laugh as her shoulders shook. Elowen turned away, as Lex stared out over the lake holding her sides. Arabella strode forward. “Answer her, Josh. Don’t leave the lady waiting.”

Josh was stunned. Sure, he’d seen it coming, but not then, not in the ruins of Telemar, and certainly not next to the defunct corpse of an alien power. He reached for her, pulling her up and drawing her close. “It would be our honor,” he said, “if you were to join our family. But understand this. We have enemies. You know this. If you join, our enemies become yours.”

“Too long,” she said, her loving stare returning mine. “I’ve hidden away for too long. Denied myself love—denied myself a life and for what? To get my best friend killed. A man who trusted my judgement. Why? Because some part of me thought this place might have survived. I don’t want to waste any more time.”

Josh cupped the locket, lifting it from her chest. “Not a waste of time. This trinket could bring immense power. There must be another payment we can give this master.”

“There might be. But what he gives in return is beyond precious. There is no price. Besides, it is my understanding that the guardians only have to return to their stone to maintain their power. Perhaps there is a bargain we can forge.”

“Have you nothing else?”

She laughed, reaching, cupping his cheek. “Power is the only currency in this place. This is power—the ultimate power. If we are lucky enough to make it to him, he will unlock all ours, and that will be repayment enough.”

“Are you saying that the Angel Stone is useless unless you understand how to wield its power?”

“It is how we understand it works.”

“But I know how the artifacts work. One has been in my head for a while now.”

She remained silent, as if she’d run out of words. Her silence swamped him with her chin upturned and lips slightly parted. He dipped his head but stopped. She moved closer, offering him the encouragement he needed. Their lips touched, a surge of passion running riot within him. He needed her. He wanted her, but as their lips pressed together, he understood it wasn’t the time. But he let their kiss linger momentarily, until he reluctantly broke it off.

“Welcome to my family,” he said. Arabella slid between them, hugging Helm.

“You are our official weapons master and guide.”

Cassandra breezed in. “I can give you tips on what he likes and what he doesn’t.” She leaned in, whispering in her ear, and Helm’s mouth dropped open.

“Wouldn’t that hurt?”

“Darling, if it pleases your man, a little pain is worth it.”

Josh chuckled. “Please don’t believe everything she tells you.”

As the other girls surrounded Helm, Vella tugged at Josh’s pants. “This bit isn’t dead.”

She held up part of the alien’s head—a pill-shaped, black object two inches long and cylindrical. Josh held it in his open palm. It was cool to the touch, slick, like oil coated its surface.

“Tremelox, identify.”

He said the words but spoke to his ring.

Tremelox had succumbed to the powerful alien. The creature’s force of will so much stronger than the ring. Josh believed his ring boosted the abilities of the Grillons, the creatures he suspected were chasing him from the wormhole. The creature they had recently overcome, however, had been much more powerful.

“You are holding a warrior core. Warrior cores merge with their hosts, consuming and assimilating them until they take control. Eventually, only the host’s instincts and most primary goal remain. So, if selected to join with a core, the host must hold the values of the race above all else.”

“But if it gets desperate, then it’ll join with anything, and its instinct was to protect the ruins from us.”

“Yes.”

“Can we kill it?”

“Yes. However, if you supply a host aligned to your goals it will provide valuable protection.”

“Not sure I want it eating any of my women. Killing it?”

“You would have to achieve temperatures similar to those found in the land’s core.”

“Got it.”

“What is that?” Elowen asked.

“That is an alien fighting machine’s core. According to my ring, we could pair it with any of you, but it would eat you. The good news is that you’d fight for us. The bad news is the eating bit.”

“Can we destroy it?” Cassandra asked.

“We could, but we’d have to find a volcano and toss it in there.”

“I could melt rock to recreate the temperature needed.” The sorceress glanced at Helm. “But I might need extra power.” She looked away quickly. “Or Vella might give it to me.”

“Stone,” Vella said. “Use stone to power you. Mine still empty. Could take some from stone too.”

“I just want to see it,” Melody said. “I saw all its light, but never saw the actual thing.”

Helm looked at Josh.

“You don’t need my permission to do anything. We’re partners—we’re all partners.”

She nodded, taking the locket from around her neck then squeezing her eyes tight. “Careful, it’s bright. Let your eyes adjust.”

She opened it as the others shielded their eyes. A blinding light burst from it, illuminating each of the girls, the cavern and the ruins. Josh looked away until his eyes gradually adjusted. A small nugget shone, hovering within the locket’s cup. Cassandra leaned close, her arms spread, staff in hand.

“I feel it,” she said. “Without the creature to soak in its power, it is free.” She retreated, selecting a flat rock. “This will do. Bring the locket to me.” She beckoned Vella closer. “If my power wanes, top me up.”

“Yes,” she said.

“Wait!” Melody shouted. “Are we sure we’re right to destroy it?”

Josh held a hand out to Helm who closed the locket. “What are you thinking?”

“Could we modify it? Could we build something around it?”

“I’m not sacrificing a living thing that a sterile thing like this might live,” Josh replied.

“I’m not saying that. I’m saying what if? What if something comes along that is perfect. Take Jork for—”

“No!” Helm barked. “No! He is at rest.”

“Yes, yes, he is. I’m not saying him. The host—you called it a host—must be voluntary. They must have strong willpower—be able to resist. Just like you, Josh, when you commanded the ring.”

“I’m not sure I like it,” Josh said.

“What if they’re the opposite?” Elowen said. “What if they are completely subservient but loyal—like a faithful dog? Wouldn’t we then have a killing machine we could order about?”

Josh grimaced. “I don’t know. You didn’t feel it. Tremelox did, and I don’t think it understood. Thinking back, the creature didn’t just want to defend the lake. It wanted to dominate the Hangsane. It wanted to rule all.”

“Or was that you? Was that your subconscious desire reaching from within you then magnified by the creature’s core?” Elowen posed the question, not knowing the torment that it caused in Josh.

He tried to think back, to relive those moments when the beast had taken him and tried to assimilate him. Could it have been his own dreams tempting him? If so, it was clear the core would jump on board with anything that would give it a chance of life. But, if he could control it like he’d controlled the ring, could it become an unlikely ally?

“Fuck,” he said. “I’m going to have to think about this. Elowen and Melody are right. We can’t destroy something that could potentially give us an advantage.”

“Or that we could trade for tuition,” Arabella said, opening the locket and holding its bright star in her palm.

“Cassandra. Say we kept it. Could we encase it in something that would stop it attracting attention? Something inert that doesn’t react to its surroundings?”

“Darling, it surrounds us. Granite barely triggers my geomancy. That’s why it was so hard to get through to here.”

“Could you coat the core in it?”

“Possibly. This might be better.” She held out her hand. Sand rose from between the shale, curling over and forming a pile on her hand. “Glass—I could mold this into murky glass and coat it in that. It would keep out all but the most enquiring minds.”

Josh looked around the group. “Two choices. Destroy or keep it and make it safe for now. Who wants to destroy it?”

Lex, Vella and Arabella raised their hands.

“Keep?”

Melody, Elowen and Helm raised theirs.

“Cassandra?”

“I believe I can control it. Coated in glass, it’s as good as dead. I can fuse the glass to its surface, so only one with geomancy can remove it. It won’t shatter or crack. It’s safe, so I vote we keep it—I keep it.”

“No,” said Arabella. “You can’t keep it because it seduced Josh. If it can do that and a minuscule amount of it can penetrate the glass, then it will get you and you are the only one who can release it. If we keep it, one of us three takes it—one of the ones who want it destroyed.”

“I’ll take it,” Lex said. “Melody and Arabella are irreplaceable. I’ll take it, then if anything happens, you kill me. Got it?”

“You’re a better fighter than me,” Arabella said.

“But you’re the glue that binds us together. That’s worth ten fighters. We keep it. I wear it.”

“On one condition,” Josh said.

“What?”

“That you understand you’re irreplaceable, too.”

Lex bit her lip. She moved close to Cassandra. “Do it,” she said.

Vella jumped up, running to the water and diving in.

“Where the hell’s she going?” Arabella asked.

“Up to something,” Cassandra muttered as she pulled more sand onto her palm, then coating the core in it. When sand coated the slick, black cylinder, she focused hard on it. The sand melted, becoming an opaque coating.

Another splash signaled Vella’s return. She held out her hand, a silver chain dangling from it. “There. Lots of treasure under the lake—gold, silver, all.”

“Lots?” Helm said, her sharp eyebrow rising.

“Found lots yes.”

Helm stripped off her clothes. “Show me. We’ll need a lot of money to get through the Hangsane. A few well-place bribes could make all the difference.”

Vella dove in, and Helm followed.

“Looking forward to getting a piece of that lilac ass?” Cassandra asked, fusing the chain to the core and hanging it around Lex’s neck.

“Oh, yes.” He stared after the drow. Never, not since meeting her, had he envisioned being with her. He’d imagined fucking her—didn’t think there was a red-blooded male around who wouldn’t—any color of blood, really. “Lex? Do you hear anything? Sense any presence?”

Lex shook her head. “Don’t worry, as soon as I do, you’ll be the first to know.”

“In that case…” Josh rose, stripping his clothes off. “I’m hunting treasure as well.”

He dove into the dark lake. Fortunately for him, his ring increased his dark vision, and the ruins of Telemar resolved slowly. Fashioned stone boulders angled out of the rubble and shale littering the lake’s bed. He dove between ruined buildings, through windows, around broken pillars. A steady stream of bubbles gave away Vella and Helm’s position. He kicked and headed toward it, shooting through a twisted doorway and into a vast room, mummified by time and water. Helm turned; her eyes were wide with wonder as she held up a golden coin. She dropped it in a sack and dove through a small tunnel.

Josh scoured the floor, searching for treasure but only seeing broken pottery and cracked tiles. He followed Helm into the tunnel. Darkness surrounded him, then radiant light illuminated all. She’d opened the locket. The tunnel ended, a rippling silver sheen above him, Helm’s legs kicking in the water. He swam up, breaking the surface close to her. She held up the locket, the Angel Stone shining brightly.

“This is the ancient temple of Shelawar, our goddess, the one who was supposed to look over us.” She swam to a partially submerged shelf and sat, looking up at the painted ceiling. It depicted an arachnid woman, her face taut, terrifying, and not in the slightest bit caring.

“She looks…” Josh left his sentence open ended. He didn’t want to insult her religion, but…. He coughed, grinning. “She looks absolutely terrifying.”

“Yes. My father always said that if I was naughty, Shelawar would come and eat me up. I was a good kid. Never got in trouble.”

He stared at her. Her beautiful, long, white hair was slick with water and plastered to her body. Her face was upturned as she studied the faded painting above her. His eyes followed the lines of her long and slender neck before landing on her breasts sitting on the water’s surface. “We should go. The air’s stale.”

She turned to him. “But we’re alone, and you’re never alone. So for once I can say something to you without fear of ridicule or judgement.”

“They don’t ridicule, nor do the judge. They play. Sometimes they moan. But you’re part of our family now. If they ridicule, then you’ve said something daft.”

“Then I can say something that stays between you and me.”

“That you can.”

She reached for him, her hand resting on his thigh, and she shifted closer. “Thank you,” she said. “I wanted to say thank you and ask you to be patient with me. Drow are unused to expressing emotion. Me, doubly so. I only had Jork. The few other drow kept their distance. They wanted to forget the hierarchy of the past. That civilization had fallen, so my supposed title meant nothing. But titles, hierarchies, mean everything to drow. Respect is our motivator. So the only way the other survivors could break free was to not come near us unless they had to. It was why they left. Telemar was everything they wanted to forget.”

He grabbed her hands, pulling them to his chest. “More fool them. Look, there’s no pressure to fit in because you already do. I watched you train Elowen, nurture her through her fear. I watched as you took Arabella and Lex and put them through their paces. If it’s any consolation, those drow missed out—they missed out on learning from a great leader.

She nodded. “But there are some things I’m inexperienced at. You’ll need to give me time. Intimacy isn’t a path I’ve trodden.”

“Then I’ll lead you down it, but”—he looked around— “not here, eh? Not with that scary bitch looking over us.”

She slapped him. “Hey, that’s my goddess you’re insulting.”

He scoffed. “No offense, but her level of protection leaves a lot to be desired.”

She pouted. “True. We should find some more treasure.” She slipped from the ledge, her lilac body vanishing in a stream of bubbles.

“I think I’ve already unearthed another.” Josh followed.

Chapter Two

JOSH’S VISION FLASHED MAUVE. “DUCK!” he cried instinctively. Diving behind a boulder, he pulled Vella in as crimson magic flashed wildly by. “Cassandra!”

“Already on it,” she said, a brilliant white shield spinning into existence a little in front of Josh and Vella.

The cavern spread before them with its floor a mess of boulders, rock outcrops, fallen stalactites, and rising stalagmites. Helm scurried aside them with her sword drawn. “Fucking elves. Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!”

“Elves?”

“It’s the Angel Stone. I knew it. I knew I should have thought of some way to hide its power.”

An arrow whizzed past, thumping into a boulder, detonating, and pinging shrapnel everywhere. It shredded Cassandra’s shield. Another magical bolt came, piercing the damaged shield before Cassandra could repair it.

“We need some offense!” Josh cried.

“I can’t do everything!” the witch shouted back.

Arabella dove from cover, shooting a few arrows in quick succession, then diving behind a stone pillar. She’d quickly grown accustomed to her drow bow. Cassandra sent a barrage of white magic forward, racing past Arabella. The defensive shield moved with her.

More red magic peppered them. More exploding arrows demolished boulders, destroyed stalagmites, and dropped stalactites. All around them became chaos with the shouts of advancing enemy filling the cavern.

“I hate to say it,” Josh screamed over the rising cacophony. “But I think we’re outnumbered.”

“If we can get them to follow us, I have some traps left we’ve never used,” Melody said.

“Helm? This is your backyard. Is there another way to go besides going through the elves, or do we need to go back?” Josh quickly joined Cassandra, crouching down and attempting to see through the bursts of magic.

“There’s at least fifty,” Cassandra said. “And they aren’t all elves. Everybody wants a piece of our asses.”

Josh patted her butt. “Can’t blame them for that.”

She winked at him. “You are incorrigible. I like that.” She rose, sending three sheets of white magic out in a condensed horizontal plane. “I call that one a head-chopper.”

She pulled Josh down as a dozen blasts answered her, the elven magic exploding all around.

“This way!” Helm shouted. “Melody last. She’ll drop her traps. Cassandra! When we’re in the tunnel, drop the fucker behind us before the traps go off!”

Josh sprung up, magical blasts spraying everywhere, rocks splintering, and the stench of burning filling the air. He ducked low, pushing Cassandra past him. He aimed her toward Helm, who beckoned them all into a tight fissure.

He spotted Melody, still fumbling in her bag. “Mels!” he screamed, but the chaos of battle swallowed his words. “Mels!”

Then he spotted two shadowy figures advancing fast. Darting toward the trap smith, he angled his path to put himself between the enemy and Melody. With his drow sword in hand, he finally caught Melody’s attention, pressing his finger to her lips as he moved closer.

They were elves—two males—with their evil curved swords drawn. Black flames licked one of the swords. He could take them. He was sure of that. But it might tie him up in a greater battle. He crouched low, Melody creeping past him.

An arrow whizzed over his head, thumping into the lead elf, shattering its temple and dropping him stone dead. The second elf spun, his piercing gaze falling on Josh. He advanced without a second thought, all pretense of stealth gone. Josh braced, readying to counter the attack. Two arrows thudded into the elf in quick succession. One shattered his ribs, while the other pierced his throat.

“Damn it!” Arabella hissed. “I was aiming for his face with that second one!” She pulled him back. “You’re the last.”

“Nice work,” Josh whispered. “Very nice work indeed.” The shorter drow bow fitted Arabella like a glove. He squeezed into the fissure, his muscular body scraping on the sharp rock sides.

If my strength increases much more, I’ll not get through a fucking door!

Darkness enveloped him. Cassandra sent up a dull light, but it revealed no hidden secrets. The fissure was tight, unaccommodating, its bottom craggy, not a path at all but a split in the underground and nothing more.

Melody backed in. “Traps set,” she muttered. “Back in as far as you can and as fast as you can.”

“Leave the fissure open,” Helm cautioned. “We want to entice those fuckers in. How dare they break into my castle!”

“Is that the only way in?” Josh asked as they sidled deeper into the fissure.

“Only way in, and the only way out.”

“So, we’ve got to get through them to get out?” Cassandra felt the walls. “I think I can close this, press in shut. That way, I could always open it again if we have to get out.”

“Yeah,” said Helm, answering her first question. “But I know a lot of secret ways—passageways others would never discover. Jork and I always assumed we’d be betrayed at some point.”

“Betrayed?” Elowen asked.

“In theory, we’re neutral with every guild in The Magicals. They shouldn’t attack without a formal declaration of war and altering our relationship to hostile.”

“These rules appear quite lax,” Josh pointed out, as an explosion rocked the fissure, another following on its heels.

The fissure rocked and cracked, dust and rock shards raining down on them.

“Might have put a little too much oomph in the second one. Oh, well!” Melody shrugged, moving past Cassandra. “If there are any left, they’ll be wading through body parts for a while. I set the bombs way behind the strings. Should have got a fair few of them.”

Cassandra cupped her cheeks and kissed her full on the lips. “You’re not right, but you know that, don’t you?”

“I’ve suspected it for a while.” Melody shrugged. “What are you going to do?”

“Seems to me that our weak links just saved our asses,” Josh muttered as Cassandra pulled the fissure closed.

Helm led the way, easing through narrow pinch points, crawling tunnels and climbing down shafts. They eventually came to a small cavern, its walls striped orange.

“Iron,” she said. “There’s a lot down here.”

“Why not pull it out?” Josh asked.

“Didn’t want anyone snooping around here. Besides, I could buy it easier. We found enough treasure on the outskirts of the ruins to pay for anything I needed. Telemar was a rich place. Drow thrived and our lack of compassion and our ability to operate in the dark made us the perfect assassins. We could strike, then fade back into the shadows before returning underground. We were long gone before anyone had even found the body. It was a profitable business in the mountains.”

“Who’s hungry?” Elowen asked, undoing her pack. “I still have some meat and a few of those mushrooms.”

“I could eat a horse,” Arabella said. “Two horses. Then after, I could sleep for a day or two.”

“We’ve been on the move for a while,” Elowen said, pulling a pot out and filling it with the meat and mushrooms. She poured some water in and pushed it to Cassandra. “Your turn. Heat her up.”

“Need something more,” Vella said, taking out a small sack and sprinkling in some herbs. She placed her hand over the pot, then closed her eyes. Steam rose, the fragrance of herbs and spices filling the tiny cave. “Done,” she said.

“How?” Cassandra asked.

“Filled with vigor. Same as heat. Energy.”

“Handy to know.”

Elowen ladled the first spoonful into a mug and passed it to Helm. The drow refused it, but Elowen insisted. “Like it as not. You’re the most important out of all of us. We’re lost without you.”

“True,” she said. “Does that mean I can get you all to do exactly what I want?”

“No!” they all said at once.

Helm pressed her finger to her lips. She indicated the fissure’s end, torchlight coming from it. “Someone’s there.”

Josh moved closer, easing himself aside the drow, then inching forward on his stomach. He peered out of the fissure. A small, partly carved cavern awaited them. Paving took up half its floor, the rest jagged rock. A stream crossed its breadth, a worn path leading to it. A single tallow lamp lit the place, smokey yellow light partly illuminating the place, fighting a losing battle against the shadows.

A sole elf sat upon a stool by a closed door. From the angle of his head and the soft snores breaking the cavern’s silence, he was asleep.

“What is this place?” Josh asked, crawling back from the fissure’s exit.

“Washing room. We used the stream to wash clothes. I used this fissure to escape Jork when I was younger. He was relentless when it came to sword practice.”

“They’re guarding a washroom?” Arabella asked.

“It means they’ve searched most of the castle. Well, the bits we used.”

“How would they know? Have the elves visited?” Elowen had her pad and pencil out.

“Nothing like that. The torches give it away. We have wall torches for the parts we used. Plus, we used local builders to construct the place. They owe us no allegiance. Probably accompanied the elves for a few silvers. Better to keep in with them than a few drow.”

“Plan?” Josh asked.

“We need to get through that door, then head left and into the abandoned parts of the castle. We used builders from the west to form all the secret paths and passageways. There’s an access point in quarters I had made for my mother and father—the supposed throne room.” She sniffed, holding back tears. “It’ll never get used now.”

Josh moved close, ready to take her in his arms, but she held him back.

“It’s okay. I knew they were dead—I knew deep down it was folly.” She stared at him; her eyes glazed. “But all the while I had that tiny hope, I never said goodbye.”

“You need to take your time,” Arabella said.

“No, Arabella. I need to start again. I need to forget this life and commit. But something’s still holding me back, and I don’t know what it is.”

“It’s this place,” Cassandra said, looking around. “You are sewn into the rock. There’s something here that anchors you to it, and I’d hazard a guess that it’s in that relic room.”

Helm made to answer but swallowed her words. “Arabella, you think you can kill that guard?”

Arabella shuffled forward, bringing her legs around and sitting. She fumbled her bow into position and reached for an arrow. “Cassandra, back me up in case I miss.”

Cassandra scoffed. “No. Don’t miss. Simple.”

Arabella shot her a look, but then took careful aim. She loosed, the arrow streaking toward the elf, hitting with a dull thump. The elf jerked, seeming to look up, but then he slowly fell from his stool, hitting the paving with a thud.

“Nailed it,” Arabella said.

“You’re getting good with that bow,” Elowen said.

“It’s the Sinter Stone—trust me,” Helm said. “It sees you as a unit and makes you better. Arabella is getting stronger. Melody’s traps are more lethal, and Elowen is keeping us all together.”

“What about me?” Lex asked.

Helm appraised her. “I guess we’ll know more when we have to fight up close and dirty. Shouldn’t be long.” The drow winked and slipped from the fissure. “Don’t lose that warrior core.”

“I can’t wait,” Lex said, fingering the necklace then following Josh.

Helm kicked the body over, riffling the dead elf’s pockets. “One of Stucca’s boys. Same gang that came after you in the tavern. Kind of confirms what we thought all along.”

“What’s that?” Josh asked, thinking he’d forgotten something.

“Not us as in you and me—us as in Jork and me. The tavern brawl was too orchestrated. The grover only came to town when hungry or if food was left out. We theorized that Flick and the others had dumped meat outside, laying it before you came to attract the grover. All they had to do from there was make sure the guard kept the gates shut and the chances of the grover eating you became nailed on. But, you beat it, and then a guard led you to the tavern where Stucca’s boys waited. Too much of a coincidence to us. Has to be Flick and Pec. Affinity showing up kind of proved it. She only showed herself once you’d kicked Stucca’s boy into the ground. Now this.”

“So, Flick is behind all this?”

“Flick is behind a load of things,” Helm said.

“Then we need to find her.”

“A task that will be infinitely easier once we’re in the castle’s dark part. Just one problem.”

“What’s that?”

“I told you before. Once a castle becomes empty, things move in. The castle’s darker side is interesting…”

“Interesting?”

“You’ll see.” She dragged the elf’s body over to the stream, digging the arrow out and handing it to Arabella. “Help me toss him in.”

With the elf gone, she teased the door open. “All clear.” She slipped through, the others following. Darkness soon surrounded them.

Their footsteps echoed. The passage was empty with the tang of age on the air. The deeper they went, the quieter it became. A groan sounded, like an enormous door opening. More noises followed the groans: whooshing air down the hallway, a soft bell ringing in the distance, and the sound of someone drawing a sword. They all echoed down the corridor but couldn’t be located specifically.

“There’s someone there!” Arabella shouted.

“Just the dead,” Helm said, ominously. “The dead or their reflections. Could be lost drow souls returned, those who perished when Telemar burned. It matters not.”

“I beg to differ,” Arabella said. “I think it matters a whole lot. I’d rather fight living things than dead.”

Cassandra scoffed. “Does anyone else remember her speech before we came to these mountains? The one where she said she was scared all the time? Now she’s happy fighting just as long as the enemy’s alive. Who could have seen that?”

“It’s this place. That stone.” Helm pointed. “You’re all growing. You might not be able to see it, but I can. Put you in that tavern again, and you wouldn’t have spared one life.”

Josh shrugged. “We’d have spared yours.”

Helm rolled her eyes. “Trust me. I was never in danger.”

Arabella stopped. “Oh shit! What the hell is that?” She nocked her bow.

Chapter Three

JOSH SQUEEZED HIS EYES. There was the flicker of something—a light like a white flame caught in a breeze. A scream barreled down the passageway. Then silence came, and darkness returned.

Arabella paused. “I saw something. I know I saw something. You all heard it too, didn’t you? You must have heard it.”

“We heard it alright,” Cassandra said as she sent a light down the corridor.

Webs blunted the dull, gray passageway’s rectangular shape. Ahead, a single chair sat against the wall with an empty lamp holder above it. Cassandra’s magical light blinked out of existence, chains rattling faraway.

“Don’t fuck about, Cassandra!” Melody said, a slight tremor to her voice.

“That wasn’t me. Something sucked my magic away.” She sent another light globe forward to find the chair gone, a single candle bursting into light upon the lamp holder.

“Seriously, Cass. Stop fucking around.” Elowen took her glasses off, cleaning them on her sleeve before popping them on again.

Cassandra tutted. “It’s some form of spirit messing around with us.” She marched down, nearing the candle. A skeleton appeared, sitting on the chair with its jaw open. Its scream rooted Cassandra to the spot, her face paling. She backed away as the skeleton rose and vanished, taking her light globe with it. “Did we all just see that?”

“Cassandra?” Lex asked slowly. “What’s that behind you?”

The witch rolled her eyes, sending another light globe up. “Now who’s having a go at me.”

“Seriously,” Lex said, drawing her drow sword.

Cassandra froze, turning slowly to face a cloaked figure. There was only inky black where the face should be. It held a staff with the ends wreathed in lilac fire, and from it came a deep, throaty laugh. Drawing back its staff, it thrust its end forward, sending a bolt of lilac power straight at the Harmonic.

“Cassandra!” Josh shouted, leaping forward.

The witch threw up her magical shield as the lilac power smashed into it, fizzing over its surface then dripping onto the flagstones. Josh slid past her with his sword raised, Lex following behind. He sliced through the cloaked figure, but his blade met no resistance as the thing slid back a few yards. Magic gathered again on its staff.

Lex overtook Josh, her own blade passing straight through the cloak, but not before the being shot another magical bolt at Cassandra. It passed by both Lex and Josh, taking Cassandra by surprise. Her shield was still recovering from the previous attack. It punched into her magic, turning her white power lilac, dropping and consuming her shield.

Josh struck again with Lex by his side. They slashed. They stabbed. But the creature simply retreated a little more, sending two more power bursts at the witch. Its laughter resounded down the passageway.

The first bolt demolished Cassandra new shield before she wove full power into it. The second punched her in the gut, sending her flying backward, skidding along the dusty flags. She smashed into Vella, the elf barely moving, but leaning over and staring down.

Cassandra looked up. “Now it’s pissed me off.”

“Doing it wrong,” Vella said.

“I can’t get enough of hearing that!” Cassandra said, fighting to get up.

Vella held her down. “Watch,” she said, jumping over and standing in front of Cassandra. “Is dead. Using dark magic. Dark snuffs out light. Watch.”

“We’re getting nowhere, here!” Josh shouted as the ghostly figure slid right through them to face Vella.

It drew back its staff, sending a bolt of magic straight at Vella. She caught it on her hand, turning and offering it to Cassandra. “See? It’s magic, just dressed differently. Don’t fight it. Eat it.”

“You want me to eat that fucker’s magic?” Cassandra said, taking the magic from Vella’s hand and rubbing it between her fingers. “Different.”

“But the same,” Vella said.

“Different, but the same.” Cassandra pushed Vella behind her, squaring up to the apparition. “Give me your worst, you big bag of assholes.”

Laughter rang out again, swirling around them, as the wraith grew in stature, its staff shining with ghostly, lilac light. It thrust its staff forward, sending a magical shaft of brilliant light at her. She bent her staff forward, its jewel shining. She twirled it in a circle, letting the magic hit it. The lilac magic threaded into the jewel, spinning, sucking, then drawing more and more. “I’ve got you now, you little bastard,” she growled.

She jerked her staff like a fisherman hooking his prey. Then she pulled and pulled, spinning her staff and reeling the wraith in. The thing attempted to break off, pulling its staff back, shouting, screaming, but laughing no more. Cassandra pulled and pulled, her expression one of evil enjoyment. “I’ve got you, you fucker. Give me all your power.”

Then, as if her line broke, the magic leapt into her staff, an empty cloak falling to the flags, as the witch tumbled back. Vella looked down. “See?”

“Sometimes you are plain annoying.” Cassandra held out her palm, a lilac flame appearing on it. “But this is remarkably interesting.”

“Lots of types of magic,” Vella said, darting forward, tugging on Josh’s jacket. “No point in fighting nothing with a blade.”

“No point at all,” said Josh.

“What a strange, strange, place,” Lex said.

“I told you,” Helm said, hurrying forward. “Quick, the room’s just up here. Hopefully, it’ll be empty.”

“Suits me,” Arabella said, marching after her. She paused by the cloak, lifting it, watching in horror as it turned to dust. “You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.”

“That’s it,” said Elowen, “I’m out of here.”

Cassandra paused, inspecting the lilac light. “It’s the same, but different.”

“Is all around you in the dark,” Vella said. “All around the dead. Find it.” She patted her sternum. “Hold it here and use it.”

“What for?” Cassandra asked.

Vella shrugged. “Making things dead,” she said. “Then take more power. Always get more than you take. Grow more powerful.”

“Is that what you do?”

She giggled. “No. I’m a mystic syphon. I don’t hold power. I take. I give.”

Cassandra dismissed the flame. “Come on. Let’s get out of here.”

As she said it, a long, tortuous groan ripped through the castle. The witch looked at Vella, who grinned back.

“Everything’s waking up. They hate the invaders.”

“Then let’s hope they don’t mistake us for them.”

Vella snickered. “They only like Helm. None will attack her.”

“So, we’re targets?”

“Yes.”

“Fuck.”

“Come on, girls,” Josh said. “It’s just down here.”

Cassandra extended her hand, then made a beckoning motion. “Come!” she said.

Thick dust rippled, then lurched toward the Everdeep Sorceress. It slid from the tables, leapt from the gigantic bed. It jumped from the hearth, drawn to a vortex swirling in front of her. The once dusty room then gleamed, as if freshly swept and polished. Cassandra let the whirlwind fall to the flagstone floor, then made a pinching movement, compressing the dust into a small pebble. She tossed it in the corner, stabbing her hand at the hearth, which burst into lilac flame.

“Might as well use the wraith’s power to keep us warm.”

“But we’re out of food,” Elowen said. “Down to our last scraps, anyway. Barely enough to feed one.”

“Then we’ll have to fight,” Cassandra said. She flexed. “I’m in the mood.”

“No,” Helm said. “Like I said, we built this place like our castles. My people weren’t a very trusting race. Politics abounded. It wasn’t uncommon for one group to move against another to seek favor from our goddess. Secret passageways became the norm. We know no other way to build now.”

“Are you saying we can get to the kitchen?” Josh asked.

“Yes. We could steal some food. Then we can spy on the invaders. It would serve us well to know their future intentions before we sneak away.”

Josh cocked his head. “Or we could kill them.”

Helm sucked her cheeks in, her sharp bones highlighting her slender face. “Or we could do that,” she said. “You and me for the food, Josh? You have a measure of stealth.”

“I have this,” he said, calling on his stealth suit. His face and hands blurred into the background, the rest of his clothes seemingly hanging in place. “If I strip, I vanish completely.”

A smile twisted her lips. “But then you’d be naked. I’m not sure I trust you naked behind me. Not in a tight passageway.”

“That’s one of the most sensible things you’ve said so far,” Arabella said. “See, you will fit in.”

“The only question remaining is will he?” Cassandra said.

“Will he what?” Helm asked.

“Fit in,” she said.

Josh switched back. “No time like the present. Take me to your secret passage.”

Cassandra chuckled. “These jokes will never get old will they?”

“I would hope not,” Josh said, following Helm as she pulled at a stone by the side of the hearth and a wood panel slid to one side.

“My life is complete,” Elowen said.

The drow grabbed a torch from its holder and lit it, ducking inside and illuminating some steps. She descended. Josh inched in, looking down. “Not sure I’m the ideal candidate for this,” he said under his breath. “Looks a bit tight.” He squeezed in regardless, following Helm and quickly coming to a narrow passageway crossing them.

“This way,” the drow said, marching along, clearing the cobwebs with her torch. “I lived in these when we first built them. Jork used to pull his hair out trying to find me, but I found them faster for getting around the castle. I liked that I could pop up anywhere I wanted. It made more sense to me, plus, I could hide.”

“Hide from what?”

“Hide from the beast that wiped out Telemar. Jork used the threat to keep me inside. I was long past an adult before I talked to any of the locals. By that time Jork had honed my fighting skills.” She paused, half turning. “I could have killed any of them, and they knew it.”

“And the beast that wiped out Telemar?”

Helm paused at the top of another set of steps. “For me the beast became the guardians and the ruins. It’s been that way ever since. I despise them.”

“What if it’s just a stone?” Josh asked.

She held up the locket. “Then it’s just a stone. But your gut tells you it’s not. There’s more of those creatures, isn’t there?”

“My gut? My gut has told me all along that there’s something wrong with this land. The only way to survive is to be the strongest.”

“Isn’t that the way of all lands?” she asked, then descended the steps.

After many twists, turns, long, straight corridors and narrow steps, Helm finally stopped, indicating a small lateral tunnel with a belled-out end. “This is the place,” she said. “This is the scullery.”

“How the hell can you tell? I was disoriented an age ago. I’m completely lost now.”

“So at my mercy?” A glint of mischief crossed her golden eyes.

Josh chose to play her game. “At your mercy,” he said, sweeping a bow.

“We’ll get the food, and then I’ll take you back.”

He frowned. “That it? No price to pay?”

“One,” she said.

“Name it, and if it’s in my power, I’ll pay it.”

“Kiss me. Kiss me like you would Cassandra or Arabella or any of the others.”

“No. I can’t do that.”

She turned away; her thin lips stretched in a frown. Josh grabbed her shoulder, spinning her around. “But I can kiss you like I’ve wanted to for a while.”

“That will have to do.” She cocked her head, lips puckering.

Josh reached, grabbing her waist and pulling her to him. His lips touched hers, gently at first, then urgency came, pent up passion overflowing. Their tongues met, lips pressing harder, groins grinding against each other.

Helm broke away, gasping for breath. He looked, uncertainty filling him with nerves.

“Was that—”

“Perfect,” she said, the word spilt between her breaths. “It was perfect.” She faced the wall, one knee jerking. She straightened, gulping a huge breath with her hand on her sword. “Enough for now.” Then she pressed a stone, and the wall melted away, leaving the back of a wood panel. She eased it open, stopping once the tiniest of cracks let in the flicker of torchlight.

“The fuck?” she said, jerking away.

“What?”

Helm moved to one side, letting Josh peer through. The room was large, perhaps forty feet by twenty, with stone arches housing ovens and fires. A stout preparation table sat central and took up a lot of the floor space. Shelves laden with dried food, herbs and spices took up an entire wall. But while the kitchen was impressive, it was the blood splatter that drew his focus.

It painted the walls, the flags and the preparation table. Its source was a dismembered elf, or, as he soaked in more of the macabre scene, several elves. He slid the panel back, poking his head out and sweeping his gaze around. When he was certain nothing lurked in the shadows, he stepped out.

“Something’s on our side,” he muttered. “An animal would have fed on the carcass, but there’s no evidence of that.”

He knelt by the first body, a machete in the victim’s hand. Blood coated the blade. “He got a few slices in. Judging by the depth of the blood on the blade, quite a good one at that. But where’s the monster? Could it have survived such a cut?”

Moving to the door, he looked it up and down. “No sign of blood here, so the injured creature never left.”

“Which means it’s still here.” Helm checked the empty fireplaces, crouched and looked under the table. “Could they all have killed each other?”

Josh appraised the second victim. He had a deep slash across his chest and was missing one arm. It sat a few yards away. The third victim was missing a hand, and his head barely clung to his neck, and the fourth hadn’t fared much better.

“What are we thinking?” Helm asked.

“I’m thinking they fell out over something, and a machete fight ensured. But really? This much rage?”

“It was the castle,” Helm said. “It was the castle protecting me. It set elf against elf until they all died. It got in their heads.”

“Really?”

“Jork and I laid powerful wards into this place. We had to. There were but two of us, so the chances of someone slipping in were great.”

“And these wards?” Josh asked, collecting up some vegetables, dried meat and a skinned hare. “We can wash all these, right?”

“The wards pitch brother against brother, sister against sister.”

“Wife against wife?” Josh asked.

“Oh, no!” Helm said, slapping her head. “I should have realized. I should have remembered. The wraith gave us fair warning.”

“You mean…” Josh raced for the paneled door.

“No! They should be alright. The castle knows they’re with me. It must be able to sense they’re friends.”

“What if it can’t? What if it pitches one against the other?” Josh said. “Oh, no! Cassandra! If they piss her off—or Vella. What if they piss Vella off?”

He raced up the steps, down a passage, stopping, waiting for Helm to show him the way. She raced past, ducking into a side corridor, up another flight of steps, then more passageways. They eventually came to the panel. Josh ripped it back, stumbling through. Vella sat in the room’s center, the girls laying all around her.

“Are they dead?” Josh asked. He pulled up, wary, not wanting to agitate the elf.

“Sleeping,” she said. “They all got angry and started shouting at each other.”

“So, you put them to sleep?”

“Yes. Can wake them, but she needs to tell the castle that we are okay, or the same will happen again.”

“I don’t know how!” Helm said.

“Well, I suggest you think quickly,” Josh said as his gaze fell on the dead drow Jork.

Chapter Four

“JORK?” Helm said, her mouth sagging open. “Jork?” For a moment, hope colored her inflexion. But it was quickly dashed when Jork turned to her, a hole in his gut where the spear had run him through.

He was pale and had a silver aura. Where his intense eyes had been, there was nothing but black. Moving slowly toward Cassandra, gliding rather than walking, he raised his drow sword, its glimmer ethereal.

“No!” Helm spat as Josh darted between Jork and the sleeping witch. He drew his own sword, readying and taking up a stance that Jork himself had taught Josh. The drow master looked on blankly, assuming his stance. Helm tried to intervene, but Josh waved her away.

“I’ve got this.”

“You can’t beat the undead!” she cried. “We must find a way to send him back—to have him rest.”

“He’s defending his castle—they all are. The castle has called to them and told them it’s under attack.” Josh readied. “I know what he’s doing. Find a way to call him off. Find a way to tell him and all the others we’re friends. And find it fast. I’ll not be able to contain him for long.”

Jork probed, moving his sword with practiced ease and efficiency. Josh tried to read his expressions, like he had before. He’d always given his thrusts away with a squint of his right eye. Curling his lip and meant a furious attack. A twitch to his lips had told Josh he was getting annoyed. But the wraith was blank, unreadable, and so Josh couldn’t anticipate any move.

Jork burst forward, feinting, striking and parrying. Josh defended, his moves noticeably slower due to just reacting. He lost ground before Jork stepped back, setting up his next attack. Josh parried again, but this attack was familiar. The third and fourth came, each identical to the previous.

“You can’t change things up,” Josh said. “You’re stuck on a loop.”

Jork came again. Josh parried, knowing exactly what he needed to do. He analyzed his defense, hunting time. He needed to slot in his attack. He waited for Jork’s fourth strike because it was easily his weakest. Josh slid to one side and opened an angle, sliding his blade into the drow. Jork didn’t wince, merely retracted and attacked again.

“I can’t kill him!” Josh said, suddenly aware he was tiring. “Tell me what I need to do!”

Helm joined him, reading Jork’s strokes and intercepting. Jork immediately backed away. “No Jork!” she cried. “These are my friends!”

The drow hunted Josh, trying to skirt Helm to get to him. Helm stood her ground.

“I order you to accept them! They are my allies!”

Jork paced the room with his sword ready. His empty eye sockets turned toward Josh, never leaving him. Helm looked up, addressing the castle rather than its defender. “I order you to stop attacking the Misfits. We are allied to them. They are our friends.”

Jork stopped pacing. He sheathed his sword and vanished. Josh took a breath as Vella placed her palm on each of the girls in turn, waking them, then retreating to sit in the center of the bed.

“What did you do, elf?” Cassandra growled.

“Not much,” Vella said. “Sent you to sleep. Stopped you killing each other.”

“We were having a minor disagreement,” Melody said.

“You punched me in the mouth!” Arabella sat up, holding her jaw.

“Well, you kicked me where the sun don’t shine,” Melody countered.

Elowen stood, her fists bunched as she faced Lex. “You screwed up my notes!”

“Deal with it,” Lex said.

“Girls, girls, girls,” Josh said. “It was the castle setting you against each other. Nothing more! You can all chill and relax. I brought food.”

He reached for the sack, holding it up.

“Why’s it covered in blood?” Elowen asked.

Helm explained everything that had happened as the food cooked. Once they’d eaten, the simmering moods vanished. Tiredness took over, and they all agreed that they would sleep and begin again the next day. But Josh couldn’t sleep. He sat up, watching the fire. Helm sat close, glancing across it into his face.

“What’s the matter?”

“It’s the castle. Surely it can’t defeat all of them? It got those elves in the scullery, but the rest?”

“It’s stronger where it’s been abandoned. The raw power of its making is still prevalent in those places. Our enemies will likely be okay in the parts I inhabited.”

“But there are secret passageways there too?”

“Plenty.”

“Then we could eavesdrop? We could find out their plans?”

“We could, but tomorrow. We’ll take the passageways through the castle and see what we can overhear.”

“And then?”

“There is one other way out. I didn’t suggest it before because…”

“Because?”

“It’s creepy, like real creepy.”

“Dead wraith creepy?”

“Worse.”

“How?”

“It’s to the side of the switchbacks. There’s a forest—a dark, dank, ancient forest. Few venture in it. It’s grown with the power of the Emmitance. There are dark creatures there.”

“It sounds…wonderful. Tell me, is there any part of the Hangsane that isn’t out to kill us?”

“Just one bit.” She grinned. “That’s me if you didn’t realize.”

“I did, and I still can’t believe you want to join us. Are you sure? You could walk away. Our fight isn’t yours.”

“Nor was mine yours, but you fought it anyway. I want to belong. No, I do belong—I feel it.”

“I do too,” Josh said, and caressed her cheek, drawing her lips onto his.

She broke away, doubt in her eyes, quickly followed by anguish. “Not here. Not now. It doesn’t feel right.”

Josh pulled her close. “Because we aren’t ready yet. Trust me, I want to. But our first time should be special.”

“Was it special with the others?”

“You really want to know?”

“Of course. I want to know all about you. Arabella was your first, yes?”

“She was. She was the first woman I set eyes on after traveling across space. I fell for her straight away.”

“Why?”

He drew a long breath. “At first I thought it was because she was stunning. But later, I knew it was her kind, caring nature. She puts everyone’s needs ahead of her own. That’s what makes her perfect.”

“Perfect?”

“To be in charge. To organize my love life, I guess. She makes sure that no one’s left out. That everyone is equal. She’s the glue that holds us together.”

“So, where did you…”

“First time? In a tavern in a place called Elrima. We were pretending to be husband and wife to ward off some undesirable suitors. I guessed we pretended too hard.”

“And Cassandra was next?”

“Yes,” Josh said. “We had fought off some cultists priests who’d ransacked her home. We made love after we killed them.” He grinned, reveling in the memory. “It was on a rock bluff overlooking Elrima. We fucked under the moonlight, brazen and uncaring. But it sounds like it just happened, but it didn’t. A lot led up to it—with Elowen too. Believe it or not, Melody hated the ground I walked on. She despised me for a long time.”

“So how did you two get together?”

He grunted. “We were arguing, then we were kissing. One thing led to another, and then we were making love. Lex was equally awkward. Her sense of duty stood in the way. All were different, Helm. But with each, our relationship was rock solid. I got to know them first.”

“You haven’t mentioned Vella.”

“No. Vella and I had a weird courtship. She kept saving my life. Of all, we came the closest to having sex before she joined the family. But she knew—despite the idea being strange to her—she knew that there were rules, and they bound me. So we waited until we were sure it was as right for her as well as for me. Vella’s different.”

“Different?”

“I know her the least.”

“How so?”

“I think she was lost. Her past doesn’t add up. She was part of an elven community when I first met her, but an outsider at the same time. She’s visited the Hangsane—is pretty sure she was born here, then something happened, and she was lost. She says she remembers a tribe, and then fire and fury. I’m assuming that was when the village was attacked or the craft crashed into it. They put her in a boat and sent her downriver.”

“She was born in the ruins?”

Josh shrugged. “Perhaps.”

“What else can she remember?”

“That she slept for a long time, and sprites kept her alive. Then Simmalion found her and raised her.”

“Simmalion? The Harmonic? That’s strange.”

“What is?”

“That one elf happens to interact with both Harmonics.”

“Unless,” Josh said, as a new thought entered his mind. “Unless they weren’t Harmonics until they met Vella.”

They both glanced at the bed. Vella slept in the middle, Cassandra and Arabella on either side of her.

“You call her a mystic syphon, why?”

“Because she can give mana and vigor, but she can also take it away. It’s how she kills.”

“She sucks the life force from you?” Helm curled her lip up.

“Yes. But she can only do that so much. She couldn’t run through twenty enemies killing them all. She can only take so much bad vigor or dark mana. I can’t pretend to understand that, but that’s what she’s told me.”

“Mystic Syphon,” Helm said.

“Yes, a conduit.”

“An elf from the crash site—the source of all power. A baby, born in that power—a survivor, perhaps the only one. Are we sure she isn’t more precious than this stone around my neck?”

“She is to me.”

Helm reached out. “No, I’m not joking. Are we sure she isn’t the most powerful one among us?”

“I wasn’t joking either. She’s vulnerable. She doesn’t think like us. There is good and bad—she judges instantly. If she judges something as good, then she’ll not harm it. If she thinks it’s bad, she’ll kill it with no emotion.”

“Or if it threatens you.”

He closed his eyes, the weight of that statement sitting on his shoulders. “Or that. She shows no mercy there. Fortunately, I can usually worm my way out of most situations.”

“That’s why she didn’t intervene with Jork.”

“Yes. He wasn’t evil. He was defending his castle.”

“But had he got the upper hand?”

Josh shrugged. “Who knows? Perhaps the dead have nothing to syphon away?”

“Maybe.” She craned her head. “The bed looks a little crowded.”

Josh stared at the fire. “At least we’ll be warm on the floor.”

“I can do better than that.” Helm got up, walking over to an ottoman and pulling out a bunch of fleeces. “I slept here occasionally—when I wanted to get away from all the others. Not for years, mind. Shift!” She shook out the first fur, laying it on the flags. “Two should do it.” She laid another on the floor, then retrieved a third. “There, we have a bed.” Kicking her boots off, she pulled the extra fur over her. “Best I can do.”

“It’s perfect,” he said, pulling his boots off and tugging his shirt over his neck. He rolled it up to make a pillow. “You wanna share?”

She wriggled close, resting her head on his chest. “No, I have my own pillow.”

Josh hugged her close, the press of her warm body stirring his desire. She rested her hand on his stomach, then lowered it, reaching his pant’s hem. “One day,” she said.

“Yes, one day, but not in a dusty old castle.”

“Under the sun,” she said. “I’ve hidden in shadows far too long.”

“What about your eyes?”

“I’ll get used to it. The forest is quite shaded.”

“Melody might be able to help. Where I came from you could wear glasses like Elowen’s, but with tinted lenses to douse the sun’s glare. I could see you in a pair of blue ones—round. Well cool.”

“Do you think she could?”

“Melody? She can make anything.”

“Then we need to get her the stuff she’ll need.”

“Thank you,” Josh said, his eyes growing heavy.

“What for?”

“Being you.”

Helm held her hand up. Josh pressed his back against the wall. Vella nudged him, holding her hand over her mouth as she tried to stop giggling. Melody rolled her eyes. “Quiet!” she whispered.

Cassandra pulled her light away from Helm as the drow pressed her ear to the wooden panel.

“Can you hear anything?” Arabella asked.

“Shush,” Helm hissed back.

“Yeah, Arabella, shush,” Elowen said, and Vella’s giggles increased.

“Seriously! What’s go into you?” Josh asked.

“I can hear talking. Now, if you could all be quiet I might be able to pry the panel open so we can hear what they’re saying.”

Josh wrapped his hand around Vella’s mouth. She licked his palm and grabbed his crotch.

For fuck’s sake! I’m horny enough as it is!

The panel slid open, just an inch, no more. Words drifted in as the girls finally quietened.

“If we don’t find them, we’re dead!” A woman’s voice—gentle, calm, despite her words.

“That’s Flick!” Josh whispered.

“Not dead. But damn close to it,” an old male voice said.

“And Pec!”

“They’re in this castle. They’re close!” Flick said, a dull thud following.

Josh eased Vella to one side, crouching and looking through the gap. Flick sat at a table. Pec sat opposite. The giant was way too big for the room. Affinity paced up and down. Two others sat at the table. An austere looking elf who oozed command and confidence, and a chubby gnome who, in contrast to Pec, was too small for the room.

“Find them before they kill any more of my men.” The elf looked up at the ceiling. “I’ll say it again. We need to send for the weevil. He’ll find them. They’re in the walls, I’m sure of it.”

“The weevil costs a small fortune,” the gnome said.

“How much money can you spend when you’ve got no head, Trink?” the elf asked, his hands raised, palms up.

“A good point, Yester.” The gnome nodded. “Flick?”

“The more people we involve, the angrier he’ll become. I told you not to enter her castle. I told you they’d go to ground. This place is enormous, and now they’re picking us off one-by-one. Did you see the slaughter in the kitchen?”

Affinity stopped pacing. “What can they do here? Think about it. What can they do here? If they have found the hidden power, then it’s useless to them unless they get out of here.”

“What are you suggesting?” Pec asked.

“Let them go.” The cat girl shrugged. “We stake out the switchbacks, place a few in the forest. They have to come out sometime. The Sniffer will find them if they move the power.”

“Let’s call it what it is,” the elf said. “It’s the second Angel Stone. You know it. I know it. Helm needed the Harmonic to find it. It’s what we’ve been waiting for all these years. It’s what he’s been waiting for.”

“The only question you have to ask yourself is this, Yester. What is he going to do with you if they get it past us?” Flick asked.

Yester stared at her. “He’ll kill us—kill us all and level this entire place. They’ll be no Magicals. They’ll be no us. So if we fail, tell me this, what have we got to worry about? We’ll be dead.”

Chapter Five

“WHO DO YOU THINK HE IS?” Josh asked Helm.

The drow shrugged. “Could be any one of a dozen. Might even be your old friend, Lux. Hard to tell, but not hard to narrow down. Men run most powerful sects, but not all. Does it mean we can trust the few that women run?” She stopped in the tight passageway, facing him, her lilac skin lit by Cassandra’s flame. “Probably not. But at least they want us alive.”

“Unless I’m mistaken,” Elowen said from the back. “It appears they want you more than us. Or more specifically, what hangs around your neck.”

Josh had a growing feeling that they’d been drawn into a game that had been going on for a while. Whoever pulled Flick’s strings must have been aware of Helm’s intention to uncover a power buried deep under her mountain. Therefore, without a too tenuous reach, they knew also that she’d come to some impasse that only a Harmonic could easily overcome. True, a team of miners might have been able to chip away at the granite, but that would have taken decades, if not longer. Even then, the alien would have slaughtered them. But another, darker, question grew withing him. He grabbed Helm’s arm.

“Are you playing us?” He hated asking, sure she was genuine, but he had no choice. The safety of everyone hinged on her answer.

“Playing you?” Helm paled. “How can you say that?”

“To start with,” Josh stammered. “When you were in the tavern. The guard that conveniently brought us to the place you happened to be in. The fight that erupted. Was that designed to force us to go with you because you needed a Harmonic?”

“Josh!” Arabella gasped. “She’s been nothing but helpful.”

“I’m not talking about now. I’m talking about initially. It’s all a bit too…convenient.”

Helm glared at him. “You can be such a fool!” She spun away, marching into the darkness.

“Then answer. Tell me why you sat in the tavern that night—the night we came.”

She froze, and when she spoke, her voice was devoid of emotion. “I told you. I watched the commotion, came down. There were rumors, of course. Rumors of a new Harmonic and a team that had destroyed Ravenheart. Then, tales of a pilgrimage gone wrong. Talk of goblins and trolls, and I knew it had to be the same people. If anyone could solve my problem, it would be a Harmonic.”

“But the tavern,” Josh said.

“The Captain of the Night Guard gets a backhander from the owner of that tavern. He wouldn’t have taken you anywhere else. So I sat, and I waited. When the fight broke out, I watched, ready to jump in and help. But you didn’t need it, so I offered my services at the end.” She walked on, then stopped again. “Is that good enough for you? Do I pass? Or do you still have your suspicions?”

Josh approached her, grabbing he arm again. She shook it off angrily. “No! I bared my fucking soul to you, and this is how you repay me? I’ll get you to the man on the hill, then we part ways. I’ll not stay where I’m not trusted!” She marched away.

“Nice going,” Arabella said, running after Helm.

“Reasonable questions, considering what we overheard,” Lex said. “Don’t beat yourself up. We needed to know. If you had suspicions, they’d have only festered.”

Josh punched the wall, his knuckles bloody and split. His bots healed him straight away. “I could have been a bit more tactful.”

“Darling,” Cassandra said. “A rampaging elephant is more tactful. But you asked. You got your answer. Either she comes around or she doesn’t.”

“But I thought we had something.”

“You’ve still got six beauties to park your cock in. I’m sure you’ll survive.” She pulled him onward. “Drows!” She rolled her eyes. “They can be so emotional.” Then she laughed. “I mean, you only accused her of using you after you fell asleep in each other’s arms and still didn’t shag. That was romance, that was.” Cassandra strode after Helm and Arabella.

Vella’s hand snaked into his, their fingers entwined, but the elf said nothing, and that was more reassuring than anything else.

The passageway sloped downward. They passed no side corridors, nor belled-out nodes concealing wood paneling. More suspicions crept up on Josh. He worried she might lead them into the bowels of the Hangsane to teach him a lesson. But those worries proved groundless as they came to a set of steep, downward steps, the sound of running water filtering up.

Descending them, Helm stood on the riverbank next to a single boat tied to a boulder. “We take this. The river spills out into the forest, but we’ll leave it in the caves in case we return. Besides, boats and waterfalls don’t mix.”

Josh tried to catch her eye, but Helm avoided him, getting into the boat and picking up a long pole. “Hop aboard. Vella, get the rope for me.”

“Look!” Josh said. “We need to talk.”

“Not here. Not now. They’ll be following us. If they pull the weevil in he’ll use Sniffer to sniff out the power. It’s this thing. It’s a magnet. I should have known.”

“Then later?” Josh asked, his anger smoldering. He’d asked a question that had to be asked. If they needed to have it out, he wanted it over and done with.

“Perhaps,” she said, turning away. “What’s said cannot be unsaid.”

Josh made to reply, but Cassandra pulled him into the back of the boat, forcing him to sit. “It’s not every day you get to travel on a subterranean river chased by a thing called Weevil. Relax. Enjoy it.”

“It’s quite clear you are,” Josh grouched as Vella jumped onto his lap.

“What’s not to enjoy?” the witch asked. “The sexual tension’s thick in the air. There’s power all around us, and we’re in a desperate flight for our lives.” She pouted. “I’ll admit, I’ve gone off the idea of farming. This is much better.”

“Yes,” said Vella.

“I’m inclined to agree, too,” Lex said, hopping in the boat.

“I just hope we get to plan our next slaughter,” Elowen said. “I prefer the cold and clinical approach to murder and mayhem rather than random acts of violence.”

“And blowing shit up. We need a bit more of that,” Melody added.

“There’s always room for blowing shit up,” Arabella agreed, and Helm shook her head. Josh was pretty sure he spotted the shadow of a smile teasing her lips. One she quickly snatched away.

The river took them into a tunnel. Helm used the pole to keep them away from its rock sides and the occasional sharp outcrop. They passed through caverns and small coves, and at one point, sky flashed over them as they traveled a deep crevasse. Josh settled back, running through his conversation with Helm again and wondering if he could have handled it differently. He concluded he could have been a little subtler.

As he appraised her, he tried to work out if he could take her in a straight fight. He couldn’t recall her ever using magic, so at least they were even there. She was probably the better sword, but he had the brute force. When it came to agility, they were fairly even. But, he guessed he had better stamina, and he could heal himself—not instantly, but certainly quick enough to stem blood flow.

“You think I could beat her in a straight fight?” Josh whispered to Cassandra.

“Darling, I love you, but you’d lose.”

He stared at her. “Lose?”

“First, you were busy when she fought the other drow. Now, bear in mind she fought the undead version of old acquaintances, perhaps even friends. She never hesitated, just chopped them down. It didn’t matter if she fought one or four, she did it without breaking sweat.” Cassandra leaned in. “We haven’t seen her tested yet, so she’s an unknown quantity. I think she has a lot more left to show us, whereas you, I’ve seen all your moves.”

“Humph,” Josh said, sinking into his jacket. “Humph,” he repeated as the rush of falling water drowned out Cassandra’s next words.

Helm pulled the boat over, mooring it to an iron eye embedded in the rock. She flicked Josh a quick glance before she turned. She strolled to the fall’s edge, pressing against the rock and peering out. Josh came aside her to see a dark green forest canopy spreading away. “They’ll be in there,” she whispered, sliding away. “We take the old path. It’ll bring us out by the cairns. If they have someone watching this exit, they’d have had a sticky time of it.” Helm vanished into a tunnel, walking onward, the conversation dying.

They reached a pinch-point, the tunnel narrowing then widening, forcing them to single file. Josh paused.

“A perfect spot for an ambush,” he muttered as his senses flashed red, and his instinct was proved correct.

The creature sprang from its hideout, snarling with its eyes flaming green. Helm jumped back, drawing her sword. An immense, yellow fist smashed into the drow’s face, spinning her around. A kick followed—just a flash of yellow in the dim light. It sent Helm careening into Josh with her face battered, mauve blood spilling from her mouth. Josh swerved, grabbing her and using her momentum to pass her behind him. The creature didn’t hesitate. It pounded Josh, its immense fists blurring. Josh called for his scale armor, soaking up the punishment as he assessed the creature. It had at least four arms, a torso like a tree trunk, and legs that bent in a crouch. Its face was round, but its head was a mere neckless termination of its barrel-like body.

“Well aren’t you one ugly motherfucker,” he said, jinking for the first time as he and his ring worked out the best attack method. “Fuck it,” he muttered and dove forward, into a flurry of fists, his own punches hitting for the first time. The creature retreated, giving Josh the confidence to power forward, his fists flying and dealing punches as he took more.

The creature jerked back as each of Josh’s powerful punches landed. It was too easy. Alarm bells sounded in his head, and red flashes intensified. A sharp pain in his side was quickly followed by another as two more of the creatures burst from the shadows. Josh whipped one way, countering the new threat, but the other beast pressed forward, landing a power-punch to Josh’s ribs.

“A little help here!” Josh cried, surrounded.

He thought about pulling his sword out, but the tunnel was too cramped. Cassandra’s magic was no good. Helm’s sword was equally useless, and Melody would take them all out with one of her grenades. Changing tack, he grabbed one of the creatures’ outstretched fists, twisting, snapping its bones. It howled, sending another flurry of punches, doubled, tripled by the other creatures. But Josh had his plan. He ignored the blunted pain, grabbing arms and snapping bones. With each break, the creatures howled, but continued the fight. After seven snapped bones, the punches finally slowed, and Josh felt new pain.

“What the fuck?” he muttered as each used their massive feet to launch themselves at him with their maws open, trying to bite him. The first bite pierced the scale armor. “Huh?” He whipped around, ripping at the creature that had latched onto him. He punched and kicked, trying to dislodge it.

Lex thrust forward, her sword stabbing into the monster once, twice, then three times. She sawed at the wound, then switched to one on the other side.

“Let me at it!” Cassandra yelled, the tunnel’s tight space preventing them from getting close.

Another creature hung from the ceiling, raining fresh punches down on Josh. “For fuck’s sake!” he cried, great tears appearing in his supposedly indestructible scale armor. He reached, but left his gut exposed. Snapping a wrist, another shot from the side bit into him. Lex thrust forward. Vella jumped over the assassin. “Sleep,” she said and the creature above Josh stilled.

“More of that!” Josh yelled, punching and snapping, grunting with pain each time a bite landed. “What the hell are these things?” he screamed as all around him glowed a brilliant yellow like a hot sun.

“Sleep,” Vella said, touching another.

“Something’s happening!” Lex cried, stabbing away but shielding her eyes.

Burning pain swamped Josh as acid dripped from the dead creature above him.

“Looks like they’re going to blow!” Josh said. “Run!”

He grabbed Vella, trying to retreat, but the group were all backed up, packed into the tight tunnel. Josh turned his back on the beasts, making himself as large as possible as he shoved them all away from him. “Run! Run now!” he cried as the creatures burst, a wash of biting acid spraying over his back and legs, dissolving his armor and eating into his flesh. He cried out, the pain too much, notifications flying.

Rather than succumb, he turned, pulling the remnants of one creature from the tunnel’s ceiling, twisting another free of its hole, then trampling a third one flat. “This way, and fast!” he cried. “Let’s get the fuck out of here before more come.” He kicked another corpse out of the way, stumbling, pushing himself off the walls. “Everyone okay?” he called back, his vision blurring as the acid dissolved his flesh.

He staggered on, a narrow light ahead. Stumbling through onto a patch of green, falling, tumbling, cold water washed over him. “What the fuck were those things?” he muttered, then passed out.

Tremelox’s words cycled through his mind. They were the usual. The strange yellow creatures had tested the ring’s power, Josh’s progression, and both had been found wanting. The usual soft-spoken words came, but Tremelox stopped them. It spoke to him rather than listing deficiencies, telling him that the scale armor was no longer enough, that they needed to come up with something better if acid attacks were to become a thing.

“I will manufacture a new skin. However, having analyzed the attack, I will need to make improvements, coating it with a polycarbonate that will resist acid while maintaining the appropriate level of agility needed to maintain all movement. It will help if you were to consume a large amount of food high in carbon such as potatoes, and those rich ethylene such as bananas and tomatoes.”

Josh assumed he’d gone insane from the pain inflicted by the creatures. Was Tremelox really telling him what to eat?

“The main concern is your durability. All other aspects were adequate. Your strength and dexterity would have prevailed, eventually. Your combat instinct worked perfectly once you’d located a weakness, and neither arcane resistance nor poison resistance were needed. Therefore, I propose we use your body’s available capacity for an upgrade and place all the associated work improving durability. You have six points available. Would you like me to allocate them to durability?”

Josh pondered the ring’s words. It had never offered him the ability to influence his progression. It was huge.

“Tremelox, tell me, if I were to suffer magic damage, and my resistance was found lacking, could I, in theory, take the deficiency points and put them into strength?”

“You could, but it would make no sense. Improvements take place where needed. Thus a balanced build is achieved. However, improvements can only take place if the body has the capacity to improve.”

“Explain.”

“You cannot have exceptional strength if your bones aren’t durable enough to withstand the forces needed for that strength. You cannot have speed unless you have the muscles to propel yourself at such a rate. You cannot repel magic unless you have the necessary passive mana to repel it.”

“Passive mana?”

“Once you have suffered a magical attack, passive mana abounds in the body. I lace that into your epidermis to increase resistance.”

“So, I can’t suffer a magical attack and put the available advancement in strength.”

“No, but in theory you could put it in poison resistance as the function is similar.”

“Which stats are interchangeable?”

“Strength, speed and agility, and durability are all similar, but strength is dependent on durability. Speed is partially rooted in strength, and dexterity is linked to durability. Increased durability automatically makes advancement in strength and speed and agility easier. It is also the foundation for magical and poison resistance.”

“Then let’s focus on that. Wherever possible, place points in durability. If they can’t kill me, then they can’t win.”

“You wish me to improve your durability by six points?”

“I do, and I want this conversation before you make any future improvements.”

“It will be done. Your healing is at ninety percent. Consciousness is viable and suggested. You are in a boggy swamp. Your companions are in two minds whether to pull you out or not. I would suggest you remove yourself as the bots would be better served making improvements rather than attempting to fend off infection. There is a fresh water source forty of your feet due west of your current position. There is a mild threat fifty feet to the south.”

“Mild threat?”

“A wolf pack. The presence of the Mystic Syphon, Vella, confuses them. Her power is unique.”

“Thank you, Tremelox. Is it feasible for you to identify danger like this in future rather than color my vision?”

“In all but the most sudden instances, yes.”

“Do so, please.”

Josh checked his stat sheet.

Name: Josh Underwood

Rank: Novice Enforcer

Subrank: Golden Defender

Attributes:

Strength = 45

Speed and Agility = 45

Durability = 54

Combat instinct = 45

Arcane resistance = 44

Poison resistance = 44

Total – 287

No of points needed to next promotion =23

Perception: Active for all threats.

His trimmed down character sheet gave him all the information he needed and loaded much faster than the previous version. He could clearly see the number of points he needed to progress, and it was getting to within striking distance of his next rank up. That would mean advancement from Novice Enforcer. He wondered what the next rank up would be.

“Tremelox, what is after Novice Enforcer?”

“The next stage is Savage Warden. The focus for progression during that stage is increased offense. The purpose is to build an invincible fighting machine that can adapt to the fast-changing circumstance of a battle’s front lines.”

“And the levels?”

“The stages you are required to pass through are; Verdant Sentinel, Crimson Guardian, Azure Protector, Obsidian Commander and Ebon Warlord. Once you pass through these, you will attain the title Apex Paragon which focuses your mind and trains you for large-scale warfare.”

“And after that?”

“The final stage of your training will be the five stages of the Eternal Conqueror, culminating in the title, Adamant Emperor. Few make that stage.”

Josh gathered his thoughts. He wanted it all. His new relationship with the ring, the battle with the alien being, the attack by the powerful orcs and all the other shit he’d had to put up with had rekindled his desire. He wanted it all, and he wanted it there and then.

“Thank you, Tremelox.”

“There is no need to thank me. I am your servant.”

“Partner, Tremelox. You are my partner.”

Josh opened his eyes. Helm stared down at him.

“You wake,” she said.

The bog’s stench overwhelmed him. “In a fucking swamp,” he said, grimacing.

Cairns rose all around him, their stone coated in moss with ferns crowning them. Helm crouched on a spongy island with the rest of the girls nowhere to be seen. Josh sat up, his ass sinking into the bog’s sludge. “Well, I can’t sit around here all day,” he said. “Got shit to get on with.” He reached below the water level. “Hmm, no clothes. Not the first time.”

“You’re healed?”

“I am, mostly. My ability to rejuvenate is quite something, isn’t it?” Josh stood, the sludge oozing between his toes. “I’ll have it make me some more clothes just as soon as I wash all this crap off me. Say, are we still arguing? I know I overstepped, but hell, I’ve got a family to protect, and if you choose to join it—”

Helm kissed him, her lips soft and tender. She backed away, wiping her mouth. “Swampy.”

“I guess we’re okay, then,” Josh said. “I’m told fresh water is that way.” He climbed out of the murky water. “Say, what are all these cairns?”

Helm looked at him like he was an alien.

Chapter Six

“THEY’RE CAIRNS, they house the dead. Not sure what else to tell you.” Helm followed Josh as he hopped from mossy island to mossy island before climbing a bank and entering the forest.

“I guessed that. Say, what was that thing that attacked us?”

“We must have passed through a barrelfly’s nest. It’s likely feasting on one of the corpses. Those yellow creatures were its spawn.”

A couple of things didn’t add up for Josh. He’d seen maggots, of course. Flies were as much a nuisance in space as they were anywhere. Just a discarded crust seemed to attract the fuckers. If someone brought meat purchased from a less than reputable trader, then an infestation was in the cards. But he’d never seen a maggot with several pairs of fists, an uppercut worthy of a heavyweight boxer, and a chin that could take a punch. Which begged the question, what the fuck was a barrelfly like? He was about to ask Helm when the other question reared its ugly head.

“Those cairns look pretty old.”

“They are.”

“Then…”

“How come there’s a corpse left to eat?”

“Exactly.”

“Because death isn’t necessarily the end in the Hangsane. These woods are ancient and home to a coven of vampires.”

Josh stopped walking. “A coven of vampires.” He scratched his chin. “So, let me get this straight, we are strolling through lands owned by vampires, one of which has just been eaten by a barrelfly that has offspring big enough to trade blows with me.”

“Yes.”

“I take it the vamps will be pissed by our intrusion.”

“Why do you think Flick and the others wouldn’t want to follow us?”

Josh furrowed his brow. “How do we kill vampires? You know, just out of interest.”

“Silver, but the metal’s notoriously weak. It has trouble piercing decent leather armor, let alone vampire skin.”

“Oh,” said Josh as he saw the girls all sitting around the fire.

Vella sprang up, running toward him and leaping. “Renew!” she said. “Heal!” she added.

A rush or power entered Josh. He blinked, Vella’s beaming face closing on his. “Naked again. Beastie melt armor?”

“Beastie did, but we’re working on new armor. I do need food—potatoes, fruit, nuts—that sort of thing.”

“You’re in luck,” Cassandra said with a sigh. “This place is packed full of the green shit Elowen loves to serve up. I for one, need a bit of meat.” She turned as Josh stood close by. “I’d normally welcome the sight of yours, but you stink.”

“Two things,” Josh said, the girls all turning to him. “There’s a stream there, so I’m about to wash all this crap off me, and there’s a wolf pack through those bushes. They’re aiming to pick off one of you if Cassandra or Vella wander away too far. So, if you want meat, there it is. You can kill wolves, can’t you?” he asked Cassandra.

“Whenever I do, you take the credit.”

“See,” Josh said with a smirk. “I set you up, and you get to tell your joke again.”

She poked her tongue out and got up. “Let’s get some meat in that hellish concoction we’re cooking.”

Josh sank into the stream, letting its pebble bed massage his back as he rested his head on a rock and looked at the slit of blue sky. He could get progression in the Hangsane, if only he steered away from the politics of the place. Wherever Helm was taking them, if they could hole up there for a few months and get strong, then they’d stand a better chance of getting to the ruins.

“We need to talk,” Helm said, crouching by him, her golden eyes roaming his body. “What do you need?”

“Need?” he asked.

“Need me to do to prove that I have your best interests at heart.”

No answer was a good one. No dodging the question or avoiding the truth would work. He sighed. The water was icy, pinching at his skin, but it was also relaxing and soothing to the tiredness that had a hold of him. The bot’s constant drain on his vigor was so much higher when they improved him. But Helm was important to him, and this was an opportunity he had wanted. He needed to clear the air.

“The truth? I don’t think you can trust us in the same way. We won’t trust you as much as we trust each other. That’s not on you. It’s just the way things are. I know each of them intimately. I understand what drives them and know all but Vella have no alternative motives. Vella, who I love dearly, might have. She could well be concealing some agenda of her own.”

“You don’t trust Vella?”

He tore his gaze from the sky and looked at her. “How can I wholly trust her when so much of her is a mystery? I do trust her intentions. She fights on our side. So you see, how could I completely trust you after a few days, when I don’t fully trust Vella after months of battling, betrayal and intimacy?”

“Then what chance have we got?”

He paused before he answered. “Don’t you see? Trust is built. I’m lying here as naked as the day I was born, while you crouch over me with your hand resting on the hilt of your sword. I must trust you not to kill me. Just like I’m trusting that your friend will help us. But ask yourself this. Why trust us? What’s to say we won’t slit your throat while you sleep, take the Angel Stone and use it to bargain for our passage?”

“I don’t think you’d do that.”

“Just as I don’t think you’d betray us. The only difference is your trust puts your life on the line. Mine puts all their lives on the line. I must be as sure as I can possibly be, and I want to build that trust with you.”

She reached, trailing her finger along his chest. “Just so you know, your trust is all that’s preventing me from joining you. Mine completed in that tunnel when you put your body in the way of that maggot blowing up. It completed when you pulled me out of the way and soaked up the punishment—and when I heard your agonized screams as the pain bit, but you held your position. I trust you, Josh. I want into your family. But I will wait until you’re ready.”

Rising, she walked back to their camp.

“Huh?” Josh said, watching as her ass swayed a little more. He stared down at his dick. “Looks like my lack of trust fucked things up for you.”

When did I become the guy that talks to his dick?

He grunted.

Every guy talks to his dick!

“Tremelox, I need more clothes. Something sturdy should be fine. Pockets are always good. While we’re at it, can you increase the durability in my hands, or add me some Kevlar gloves or something like that. I want to punch things. I want to punch things hard.”

The ring didn’t answer, which Josh took as a sign it was busy. He lay back, trying to arrange his thoughts, but the smell of roasting meat drew his attention, and he got up. The instant he was out of the water, a tight pair of black pants with side pockets coated his skin. He marveled at the way they still felt like clothes even though they were part of him.

Crouching by the fire, he warmed his hands. “What’s the plan, Helm?”

“A good point,” she said. “Traveling through this place is risky, but at least we shouldn’t have to deal with any guilds. They steer clear of the vamps and the strigoi. No one likes dealing with the undead unless they really have to. Those fuckers are scary.”

“You did just say vamps,” Arabella said. “And by that you mean vampires.”

“By that I mean vampires, yes.”

“What the hell are strigoi?”

“They are spirits that inhabit the bodies of the dead. You can usually tell. The dead tend to have wounds that are a giveaway, or they might be old and frail. Normally, they aren’t a problem, but this is the Hangsane, and things tend to progress here. The strigoi aren’t brainless morons. They’ve formed a society and can be quite sneaky.”

“And the vamps?” Melody asked.

“Sleep a lot,” Helm said. “Thankfully.”

“In cairns?” Josh asked.

“Cairns, caves, dark fissures. You name it, if they can lie down or hang upside down, they inhabit it.”

“Marvelous,” Cassandra said. “So, we’re passing through an undead forest, then where?”

“Then we run into difficulties. There are two ways, three actually. We have a choice of two valleys or going through a mountain. None of them are good.”

Josh took a plate of wolf meat from Elowen. “Let’s worry about that if we survive this forest. But first, gut feeling?”

“My gut tells me we’re strong enough to attempt the mountain. If we attempt either of the Magical crossing points, we’ll end up in deeper shit than we’re in already.”

“I’d rather fight monsters than deal with politics,” Cassandra said.

“The man on the mountain?” Josh asked. “How do we get there?”

Helm stared at him, then broke away. “He is a fair way south. We get through the first mountain and then we work out a path to his mountain. If we reach the summit, he may agree to teach us, but there are no guarantees.”

Josh ate, resting back. “Then he must be worth having.”

“They say he’s the best, temperamental, but the best.”

Josh finished his meal and stood. “We still have a few hours of daylight. What say we put some distance between us and those cairns. I don’t fancy being around when the others rise and find their friend eaten by a barrelfly.”

Helm laughed. “We’d be pretty unlucky. Vampires only wake every few years. But when they do, they wake up with quite a sour and aggressive mood.”

“Don’t we all, darling,” Cassandra said.

“Is that a hut?” Josh peered through the dusky haze.

A hut sat across a small pond, perched atop a bank, an overgrown path leading up to it. Its door was ajar, a smashed window to one side, and a rotten bench sat on a dilapidated deck.

“I’m guessing it’s abandoned?” Melody said.

“Let me.” Lex skirted the lake, knife in hand.

“Get ready with some ranged attacks,” Josh said, then slipped into the shadows, rounding the lake’s other side.

Lex got to the hut first, pressing herself against its front wall then looking in. She spied Josh as he skirted the bench. Giving him the thumps up, she darted in. Josh followed, drawing his sword, its grip pitted from the acid.

“Empty?” Lex said, but her inflection told Josh she wasn’t sure.

Josh raised his finger to his lips. He pointed to a closed door, creeping over to it. Lex crouched with her spear at the ready. She nodded. Josh kicked the door in, holding his position with his sword ready.

“Clear,” he said. “Not even a bed, just a hole where the floor’s caved in.”

“An attack is imminent. The hole is an exit point for—”

Before Tremelox could complete his warning, a filthy creature burst from the hole. Red eyes glared at him from a human face. Its body was bent over, its hair ragged, and its skin was filthy. It growled, making a sound so feral it sent shivers up Josh’s spine. Sharp yellow fangs dripped with saliva. A putrid stench washed over Josh, but he smiled.

“What the fuck’s that?” Lex said, as another creature leapt out of the hole.

“Practice. That’s what. It’s practice.”

He struck, slicing his sword diagonally across the creature before spinning and kicking it in the gut. He followed it up with a punch. The strigoi staggered back, clattering into its advancing companion. Josh backed away, jumping up and down to stay loose as he prepared his next attack. He sprang forward launching a kick first before slashing open the undead’s foul guts.

“There,” he said as the first went down.

“I’m not sure that’s going to be the last,” Lex said, as more crawled from the hole. The new ones seemed much faster than the old.

“More practice,” Josh said, diving in with his sword flashing and his legs kicking.

He felt strong—renewed by Tremelox. His energy brimmed, and his extra durability gave him confidence that he could stand anything the undead threw at him. Lex joined in, mimicking his new style—the same style he learnt from Jork.

The lumbering creatures eventually stopped emerging, a pile of still bodies surrounding the hole. Lex and Josh swapped glances. Josh shrugged. “If we’re going to sleep here, we want to make sure their nest is empty.”

“Is nest the right word?” Lex asked.

“It’s good enough for me.” Josh jumped into the pit, his enhanced dark vision taking over. “You might want to have Cassandra send a light spell down here before you jump in. Kind of dark.” He paused. “But it’s getting lighter.” Dozens of pairs of eyes blazed red, lighting a circle. Josh stood in its center. He chuckled. “Oh shit.”

“What? Are there more of them?”

“More than one,” he said.

“Like four or five?” Lex asked.

“More like twenty or thirty.”

“You’d best get out of there!” Lex said.

“Can’t leave them down here,” Josh said. “Best to get killing them.”

“Cassandra!” Lex shouted.

The growling grew, a couple scraping their feet. Josh beckoned them forward as he held his sword ready. The strigoi raced toward him. Josh whipped the sword around, slicing through their rotten flesh. The blade ground to a halt as it embedded and snagged on bone and sinew alike. He exploded forward, fists and elbows erupting and his feet kicking out.

A light settled over him, the creatures shying away from it at first. Their hesitation gave Josh more room to breathe, swing, and kick. He took out one after the other, snapping their heads and crushing their bones. He was suddenly filled with confidence as he fought like a demon.

“Come on!” he screamed, a smile on his face.

“I think they’re all dead-dead,” Cassandra said, offering her hand.

Josh scoured the pit, stabbing the bodies. “I concur,” he said as he sheathed his sword. He jumped, grasped her hand and the overhanging floorboards, and pulled himself up. “Extra points in durability,” he said by way of explanation. “Needed to blow off a bit of steam.” He checked his body, but it was free of injury. “Say, you know that long conversation we had about getting our bodies to fit our progression. How we’d stop trying to force the pace?”

“Yes,” Cassandra said, biting her lip.

“Well, I’m not doing that anymore. I want to kick ass all around the Hangsane.”

Chapter Seven

“OH THANK the goddess of all that is life. It was going to be crushingly boring to have to wait to use some of my new powers. Get ready for some erratic outcomes and some deadly backfires, I haven’t a fucking clue how to control some of them. When are we starting?”

“Right now.” Josh pointed at Helm. “And I’m starting with you. We’re fighting—you know, to clear the air.”

“I thought we already had.”

“Imagine we hadn’t, then come at me. No holding back. Run me through with a sword—whatever you want. Cassandra, after you’ve sealed these fuckers under the floorboards, encased them in rock, or whatever you choose to do, could you toss some magic into the mix? Really try and fuck me up.”

“Are you mad?” Helm said, but Arabella grabbed her arm. “It’s how he kept us safe. I wish I didn’t have to witness it again, but seeing that acid beast nearly kill him, I’ll admit, it’s better this way.”

“Well?” Josh asked Helm.

“I can really stab you?”

“Stab, slice, just try not to dismember me. Oh, and don’t cut my head off. Not sure I’d recover from that.”

“You want blowing up?” Melody asked.

“Not sure I’d recover from that either.”

“The big alien fucker did,” Elowen pointed out.

“Yeah, but I want to be in one piece for when we eat.”

He cleaned his sword on some rags. “The undead are pretty tame to kill. What are the vamps like?” Josh stepped back out onto the deck.

“They are faster, much, much faster. They can slide through the air, fly, and when they fight, they’re incredibly fast. Worst, when awake they’re nearly impossible to kill. Their skin’s tough.”

“Can’t you just drive some wood through them and be done with it?”

“You can, but imagine this, if it’s so hard to pierce their skin with a silver blade, then how are you going to punch a hole in them with a stake?”

Josh flexed his biceps. “I’ll give it a go.” He jumped from the deck and marched a little way along the path. “To be clear. No chopping my neck off and no dismembering. Anything else is fair game.”

Helm smiled coyly. “So I can cut other things off.”

He eyed her. “No cutting anything off.” He took up his stance. “But let me fire you up. I still don’t trust you.” He grinned, dropping his guard an inch.

Helm didn’t waste any time. She moved at a blistering pace, her sword flashing. Josh countered, but Helm was ready to do this. She feinted, lunged one way then the other, then shifted her sword from one hand to the other. She relaunched her attack with an equally devastating effect.

Josh coped right up until her hand switch. That threw him, catching him off guard. She jinked, stabbed his foot then withdrew it, then burst forward. Her strike slipped through his defense, the blade sliding into his gut. She yelped as she saw his pain, trying to draw it out, but Josh dropped his sword and gripped hers. “Push it further in.”

The pain was hot, like a semi-molten poker impaling him. She reached out, then backed away. Lex jumped across the path, kicking the sword’s hilt and sinking it into Josh’s gut up to its handle.

“No!” Helm screamed, backhanding her and reaching for her embedded sword. The searing pain brought Josh to his knees.

Cassandra’s magic crashed into him, coating him in white fire. He screamed as the magic burned his skin, blistering and bubbling every part it touched.

“No!” Helm cried again, grabbing a bucket and scooping up some pondwater. She made to throw it at Josh, but Arabella kicked to out of her hand.

“Not yet!” Arabella screamed.

“But how can you stand it?” Helm asked.

“I can’t, but it’s better this way. It’s better us than an enemy.”

Josh fell to his knees with his skin on fire. He gasped for breath, the fire eating his throat and burning into his lungs. His focus clouded, his sight of Helm receding with her face at the end of an ever-lengthening tunnel. He pulled at her image, trying to bring it closer and trying to hold on.

Cassandra’s magic waned, her spell ending. The flames died down. With blistered hands, Josh pulled the sword out, dropping it, then falling forward, more pain coming as grit and mud scraped at his raw skin.

He gathered every ounce of his willpower and rose to his knees, grinning. “Is that it?” Then pushed himself up to his feet, bending, picking up his sword. “Again,” he said.

Helm took a step back with her horror evident on her face. “No!” she said.

Lex grabbed the sword, knocking Josh’s out of the way and pushing it back into his gut. Cassandra sent another fireball his way, the flames engulfing him. Josh’s scream filled the clearing once more. He overbalanced, falling backward and landing on his back with a thump. He held his pain, compartmentalizing it, adapting.

“Pain management added. Pain management in operation.” Tremelox’s voice soothed him.

“It’s not working,” he said through gritted teeth. But even as the words spilt through his ruined lips, the pain subsided. “Working,” he said, his lungs heaving, as the cutting sensation faded.

Cassandra looked down at him. She cocked her head. “He’ll live. Although I want one-on-one practice with him next time. It’ll do me good to work out how much mana I have to use to fuck someone up. Don’t want to waste more than I have to.”

“That’s good,” Josh said through gritted teeth, trying to sit up.

“I have done some preliminary analysis,” Tremelox said. “As I’m sure you are aware, you have received both piercing damage and some initial slashing damage. By far the worse is the fire damage that covers ninety percent of your skin. I would estimate that you have the capacity to increase your magical resistance by three. However, due to the type of damage inflicted, there is a capacity to increase durability by two points. If your skin was less susceptible to fire, it would have negated the effect. As you wore no armor, and combined with the exceptional sharpness of the drow blade, I would recommend a further hardening of your epidermis by two points. Thus, I propose an overall improvement of four to durability and one point to magical resistance. These improvements will take ten hours to complete.”

“Thank you, Tremelox.”

Name: Josh Underwood

Rank: Novice Enforcer

Subrank: Golden Defender

Attributes:

Strength = 45

Speed and Agility = 45

Durability = 58

Combat instinct = 45

Arcane resistance = 45

Poison resistance = 44

Total – 282

No of points needed to next promotion =18

Perception: Active for all threats.

Pain Management - On

Josh reviewed his stats as his body began healing. Vella appeared, staring down at him, with her eyes glazed with tears. “Renew,” she said. “Heal.” She pouted. “Don’t like this game.”

He waited for his lips to heal. “It’s okay, baby. I can’t feel the pain.”

She bit her lip, then cast more heals on him. “Pain is good. It lets you know something is wrong.”

He nodded, knowing she spoke the truth. The pain management was fine—it would help immensely when he was training. It wouldn’t do good to have it on all the time as he needed to be aware, and pain was an important part of that. “I understand. I’ll only use it when I need to.” He toggled it off, the bit of an afterglow immediately causing him to wince. Sitting up, he gasped. “That was awesome,” he said.

“How?” Helm asked. “How was that awesome? You nearly lost all your skin. She might as well have roasted you alive.”

“But here’s the thing,” he said in reply. “I just gained five points from that punishment—five! I only need eighteen for my next big upgrade. Well, it’ll be my first huge upgrade. I’ll go to the second stage of my evolution.”

“What happens then?” Helm asked.

“I don’t know. But it will be big—very big.”

She looked down at him. “It better be, because I hated doing that.”

“Say,” he said. “Those Vamps, they use magic?”

“They do, but not fireballs and stuff. Theirs is more the mind-bending sort.”

“Great,” Josh said. “Looks like I just put a few points in the wrong place. Not a lot I can do about it now.”

He got up, slowly but surely, waving away help. Then he waded into the pond, crouching and sloughing off all his dead skin. The water cooled him, soothing his rapidly healing burns. “I want to get there before we move on. I get the feeling it would be the sensible thing to do. What chance have we got of the vamps attacking?”

Helm shrugged. “Unsure. I’ve been in here a few times and never seen one. But they have been into town. They drain blood, Josh—completely drain it then resurrect the dead as strigoi. It’s why the two go hand in hand.”

“Got it,” he said, getting back out of the lake as his pants formed around him once more. “Getting pretty decent at growing pants.”

She stared at his groin. “If you’re growing them then technically, you’re still naked.”

He scrunched his lips up. “Technically, yes.” He fell into stride right by her. “I used to be quite bashful about it, but a few months of bathing in rivers knocks it out of you.”

She scoffed. “Not sure anyone’s ever seen me naked. We Drow are modest.”

“Modest?”

“Perhaps private is a better word. But once we mate, we’re fiercely loyal. I’m not sure if I could have done that to you if I was totally committed. It makes me wonder if I’m in love with you or not.”

He paused, grabbing her arm. “You mean you might be in love with me?”

She scowled at him. “You can be an insensitive ass at times.”

He watched her walk away. “I can’t figure her out,” he said to no one in particular.

“That’s because you don’t understand her,” Lex said. “She’s trying her darndest not to fall for you, but you are making it too hard for her.”

“Too hard?”

“Too hard not to. You’re doing everything right without realizing it.”

Josh took her hands, pulling her close. “I’m trying to improve. I gave up fighting the need to be strong. There’s too much danger here.”

Lex exhaled. “That’s just it. She recently lost the one male that had looked after her through thick and thin. Then you come along, another man, and you begin sacrificing yourself to look after us all. Why do you think she fell hard for you?”

“I’m replacing Jork?”

For some reason the idea repulsed him. Then he grasped why. “Jork was like a father to her.”

She grinned. “There’s a line that you might want to avoid crossing.”

He grinned back. “But what if I want to?”

“Then just make sure she doesn’t shout Jork as you plow her.”

He slapped her playfully. “That’s over the line.”

She grimaced. “Yup. Way over. Come on. We have some wolf left, and Vella gathered more stuff on the way here. Cassandra sealed the undead under the floor. So for once we have a workable home to sleep in.”

“Why do I get the feeling it’s going to be fun and games tonight and not in a good way?”

“Because that’s been our luck since entering the Magical lands—anything but Magical.”

Josh stared around the clearing, noticing the web wisps draping from the trees, shining eyes watching from the darkness, and hearing the groans and whispers coming from the growing darkness.

He sat on the hut’s deck, his sword resting across his knees and a thick fur around his shoulders. The temperature had plunged. Mist sat on the pond’s surface; a full moon perched in the star-spangled night’s sky. Vella said nothing as she sat by him, refusing to go in and join the others who slept around the fire.

Josh draped her arm around her, staring across the pond at the lone figure staring at them. She was a woman, a young woman with the blackest hair—so much darker than Cassandra’s. Wisps of black clothing covered her near naked body, blue tattoos glowing in the moonlight. She smiled, her ruby lips framing perfectly white teeth.

“Is she dead?” Josh asked, understanding that not all undead needed to be in a poor state of decay.

“No,” Vella said. “But not alive either. Somewhere in the middle.”

“That makes no sense,” Josh said.

Tremelox had remained silent, which told Josh that he faced no danger. But the woman unnerved him. She hadn’t moved since the moon had appeared, although whether she was an apparition or not, he couldn’t tell.

“Does,” said Vella. “Thing’s don’t have to be alive to exist. Ghosts don’t. The undead don’t. She doesn’t.”

“Then what is she?”

“Vampire.”

The woman vanished, then reappeared to the side of the pond upon the path where Josh had fought Helm. She bent, scraping the soil then bringing a pinch to her nose. “I can smell your blood, traveler. It is not of this land.” She straightened and resumed her study of him. “You trespass.”

“We’re passing through.” Josh had been down this sort of road before. He could feel a price coming in return for the promise of safe passage and wanted to cut it short. “Let’s cut to the chase. You were all asleep, getting eaten by bugs or hanging around—assuming you’re a vampire, that is. Answer me this, how were we supposed to negotiate safe passage?”

“There are protocols in the Hangsane.” She vanished, reappearing a few yards away from him. In that blink of an eye, she’d changed and was wearing the garb of a capable but attractive warrior.

“There are made-up rules, I’ll grant you. But no real protocols. I was told we would get safe passage to the ruins as we were on a pilgrimage. That turned out to be horseshit.”

“Melinka?” Helm’s voice sounded from behind him. “What are you doing awake?”

Melinka turned her gaze from Josh. It passed over Vella and rested on Helm. “A drow free of the chains of midnight. How interesting. I wake because I sense power moving through my lands. Now I see that power, and it’s in that locket.” She vanished again, and Josh spun around. The vampire stood toe-to-toe with Helm. “You will give it to me, child.”

“I will do no such thing. Your mind games won’t work against me!” Helm stepped back, drawing her sword.

Melinka vanished again, facing Josh. “And now you attack me on my own land. The price for your passage has risen substantially. Tell Helm to hand over the locket, and an arrangement can be made.”

“There’s only one arrangement. You take a hike, and we continue our journey,” Josh said. “Because I’ve had enough of being pushed around by folks who think they’re much more powerful than me. I’ve eaten enough shit for one lifetime. So here’s what I suggest you do. Go wake your boys, rouse your undead, then come back and see if you can take the locket. How does that sound?”

She held his ensuing stare, then reached out, cupping his cheek. “Your blood is warm, filled with healing power. Think how powerful you could be if you were to shed the chains of mortality.”

“But then I’d be dead, and I’ll be honest. I like my blood warm, and my women hotter.” He reached, cupping her cheek. Her skin was cold, expression unmoving. “Tepid doesn’t do it for me, not outside or in. I like to feel the pulse of their orgasm, the heat gathering in their loins as their hot tongue probes my mouth. I’d make a crap vampire. Eternity would be way too long for me.”

Melinka backed away, her mask of surety slipping away for a moment only to be replaced with an impassive look. “Then we will take it,” she said and walked away, vanishing before she came to the tree line.

“Did that go well, or are a load of bloodsuckers about to attack us?” he asked.

“They’ll not let the slight go unanswered,” Helm said. “A long while ago I thought it strange that a coven of vampires and their undead friends would set up this close to my castle. I’ve thought it was a coincidence for too long. So, it comes as no surprise to me that they can detect the power.”

“They waited,” Vella said. “Waited until you got it.”

“And now they’ve come to take it.” Josh ground his teeth. “Let’s get inside.”

Cassandra had a fire going in the hearth, and Elowen and Arabella were preparing some food. Josh sat. “We have a vampire problem.”

“We saw,” Cassandra said. “But we thought it prudent to keep concealed.”

“They will sense you’re here,” Helm said.

“Yes, but they won’t know what I look like,” Cassandra pointed out. “How do we go about killing them?”

“Silver, decapitation, burning—they can be killed,” Helm said. “But here they have huge resistance to everything. You have to wear them down before you can kill them.”

“Not without a head.” Cassandra tapped her lip. “Silver? I can do silver. Do we have some?”

Josh shrugged. “I’m out, but Elowen will have some coins.”

“We have a few hundred silver and plenty of gold coins from the temple.”

“Give some of the silver to me. I have an idea.” Cassandra took the coins then sat away from the hearth focusing on the silver.

“Decapitation?” Josh asked. “Will our sword chop their heads off?”

“I’m not sure you understand what we’re up against. You saw her blinking in and out of existence. This fight will be on a whole new level. I’ve heard tales of five vampires taking out a small army. They’re fast, and they’re lethal.”

“Sunlight? Tell me they’re screwed in sunlight.”

“It slows them,” Helm said. “Slows them right down.”

Josh left the house, walking around it and rapidly coming to the conclusion it wasn’t the best place to defend. He needed to narrow the field and stop the vampires coming at them from all directions.

“Cassandra, give me some thoughts when you have a moment. Elowen, have you got any ideas?”

“I do. If decapitation works, then so would blowing them up.”

“Yes!” Melody punched the air and pulled her backpack over. “I’m getting low, but I have enough for one last fight.”

“Okay, so, we need to narrow the field. That means we have to adapt this house. We only want to fight on one front. They’ll try and teleport behind us or in among us. They do that, and we’re screwed.”

“Can they jump through solid objects?” Cassandra asked, then continued mumbling under her breath.

“No,” Helm said. “They don’t actually move in and out of existence. It’s more a swift slide that you can’t even see.”

“So, if I were to grow a thick vine all around this place, that should keep them out.” She held the silver coins in her hand. “There!” she said. “Done! So, a vine?”

“What have you done with our money?” Elowen asked.

Cassandra pursed her lips. “Altered them. Coins might have sufficed, but my guess is these will do better.” She opened her palm to reveal a small pile of silver balls. “It’s a long shot, but if I’m right, we might even the field a little.” She put them in her pocket.

“How many have you got?” Melody asked.

“About thirty.”

“Give them to me. I have an idea. You can focus on the burning.”

“That sounds awesome. I prefer burning.” Cassandra handed the silver balls over, then strode outside, growing the vines and fortifying the small dwelling.

Melody sat at the table, deconstructing her grenades, adding the silver balls and remaking them. When prepared, they ate and then they waited, but the vampires didn’t come.

Morning broke, spreading its light. Josh crouched on the deck, Helm aside him. “Why?” he asked.

She shrugged. “We have two days at least in the forest. They will come. They’re wearing us down. I’ll bet one of them was watching us all night.”

“Keeping us awake. Getting us tired.” Josh grunted. It was what he would do. “We could run back to the cairns and kill them where they lay.”

“It’s only a few of them, and they’d have moved by now. My money’s on them being the spies—I’ll bet they watched the power. Probably why the bug got one. It moved from its grave, still sleepy, and the bug took it out.”

“Then we continue, but we need to find a path with as much light as possible.”

“Not here,” Helm said. “This forest is thick. Little light penetrates it. The Hangsane molds itself to its inhabitants.”

“Then I guess we’re screwed. We carry on and see what happens. At least I have my perception.”

Chapter Eight

THE STRIGOI LUNGED, its foul breath washing over Josh. He countered easily, slicing through the creature’s outstretched arms, tripping it, then taking its head. Arabella screamed. Two undead lumbered toward her. Lex dropped down from a tree with a sword in each hand. She dispatched both and sprinted away. Arabella backed up to the trunk, firing arrow after arrow into the lumbering forms.

Cassandra sprayed her magic about, but cautiously. It was the fifth time the undead had attacked, and her mana was gradually depleting despite Vella’s best efforts. Helm backed up to Josh. Her blade flashed, collecting the odd ray of sunlight penetrating the heavy canopy. She had a comfortable rhythm as she fought. One that was both devastatingly effective and extremely efficient. “These are becoming too regular,” she shouted, taking another head. “They have a bigger plan, and I think I know what it is.” She parried a spear, knocking it out of the way, then booting the holder in the gut. Its head bent low, enticingly low. She cracked its skull with the butt of her sword and then kneed it in the face. “They’re herding us to the ravine.”

“That doesn’t sound great,” Josh said, thrusting his sword into a fetid gut. He punched its face, snapping the strigoi’s head back as he raked its legs from under it. He stomped on its rotten head, crushing its skull.

“Not an awful lot we can do about it.” Helm indicated a low branch. Elowen and Melody sat on it, keeping out of the way of the fight. “We need time to train them. Protecting them is costing us.”

“It is that, but it’ll be worth it. I don’t want to use up Melody’s explosives until we really need to.”

“What if we get a whole bunch of silver balls ripping through us?”

“Then we don’t have to worry about anything else,” Josh said, kicking out at his final foe then finishing it off with a flourish.

He scoured the battlefield, collecting Arabella’s arrows and handing them back to her. Lex wiped her blades on the moss and sheathed them. “We need to get stronger,” she said. “I know we know this, but it becomes more and more apparent the more we’re attacked. If the vamps come, we four are screwed.”

“No,” Josh said. “We need to stick to a formation. But it’s easier said than done out here. Especially if they teleport behind us. You said they’re herding us to a ravine?”

“Each time they attack, they come from the east. It’s pushing us off our route. Every time I try and correct it, they come again, nudging us a little farther from our path.”

“Ravine? Could we defend it?”

“We could if it wasn’t a sheer hundred-foot drop.”

“They’ve attacked us what? Five, six times? Tonight’s the night—no doubt about it. They’ve softened us up, now they’ll go in for the kill.”

“We need to aim for the old tower,” Helm said.

“Can we defend it?”

“Better than falling into the ravine. Only one problem.”

“Don’t tell me. It’s that way, isn’t it?” Josh pointed east.

“You guessed it. We’ll have to fight on the fly. If I’m right, we’ll just make it before nightfall.”

“Who’s up for a bit of running?” Josh asked.

The tower loomed in the half-light, rising from the forest upon a stepped-moss mound. A crumbled mass of stone with half of its roof missing, it looked a fitting place for their last stand. The strigoi had been relentless, attacking in waves, trying to push them back to the ravine.

Elowen had excelled. She’d jumped in, her swordcraft going from rusty to accomplished in the space of three battles. Lex used her spear to great effect, while Arabella climbed out of reach the moment they attacked, then picked them off without mercy.

It was only Melody that was out of sorts. Her father, Harrogate, had never taught her swordplay. They’d focused solely on blowing their enemies up. The method had rarely failed, but Melody was running low on bang powder. Josh wanted to save everything for their up-and-coming encounter with the vampires. She trudged up the moss steps.

“I’m going to need to learn me a weapon,” she said.

Josh was about to reply when Helm jumped in. “The drow sword won’t suit. You need a shorter blade, one that works well with a shield. It suits fighters with greater dexterity and less reach.”

“You mean short people, don’t you,” she muttered.

“Short?” Helm mused. “I suppose I do. Nimble is another word. There is no short, tall, big or small when it comes to fighting. The smallest person can beat the largest if she plays to her strengths. You, for instance, would be well suited to ducking under your opponent’s guard, turning their blade, or wearing them down. I, on the other hand, am better suited at confronting an enemy head on.”

“Will you teach me?”

Helm scoffed. “When we get to the man on the mountain, he will teach you the discipline that worst suits your style. Once you have decided you completely hate that, then he’ll show you one that works best. It’s how you know.”

“How I know?”

“What works and what doesn’t. It stops you asking why you were taught one way when another appears more attractive. It works. He’ll teach you the short sword and the shield, and you’ll like it.”

They reached the entrance to the tower with its door long rotted away, and its upper stones caved in. Steps spiraled up its inner wall, while the floors were long collapsed. Josh assessed it all, dusk moving in quickly. “It’s better,” he said. “The best so far. Whether we can win, well, that depends on them. But we have a chance.”

“Where do you want me?” Cassandra asked.

“On the inside. They’ll attack from above. You must stop them. Helm, Lex, and I will cover the entrance. Elowen acts as back up. If one of us falls, she slots right in. Arabella can perch up there, shooting through the slits. Melody, you have a free reign, but those grenades have to take out as many as they can, or we’re all doomed.”

“I’ll go with Bels. I’ll watch for an opportunity.”

“Vella? Can you kill them?”

“Can kill something not alive? Hard to tell. Can take its power.”

“That’ll have to do. We fight, and we fight hard. I fully expect them to come at us with no mercy. But we have a trump card, and it’s dangling around Helm’s neck.”

“Are you talking about giving up the stone? Because that goes to the vamps over my dead body.”

“No, but I am talking about using it. This is the plan.”

Cassandra set a fire in the middle of the tower with its crackle the only sound heard as they waited in silence. Josh chewed on a stick of cold meat with his gut churning. Vamps—of all the things he’d expected to kill him—the leviathan, cultists, and the multitude of monsters—vampires weren’t one of them. It seemed somehow unfair that they might get him. He’d always assumed they were a made-up beast. But then the same could be said for goblins. He’d killed a spider, bird, and human hybrid once, so…

And cat girls are a thing…

“If we get out of this, I want you to find me a tavern, some ale and a comfortable bed. I’m fed up with cold stone for a bed, and campfire food is not full and wholesome, it’s watery and stale.”

“Hey!” Arabella said from above. “We did our best.” She paused. “But you’re right. It’s shit. Give me a table by a roaring fire, a full plate, bread, and an ale anytime.”

“I hear you,” Helm said. “I could murder for a spitted pig.”

“Let’s say it’s a right of admission into our family,” Josh said. “You get us to a tavern, a roast pig on the spit and tankards of ale all around, and you’re in.”

Helm scoffed. “That’s it? That’s all it takes?”

“Don’t forget the big bed,” Melody called around.

“What if I want a bed to myself?”

“Then you’ll be missing out.” Melody chuckled. “Trust me, you’ll be missing out. Never thought I’d say that, but one on one is fun, all together is better.”

The drow’s lilac skin darkened.

“I think she’s allowed to have him all to herself the first time,” Arabella said. “Two reasons. First, well, it’s the first time. Second, we’ll be in the bar with our food and ale. Sex is great and all, but man, a good roast pig wins at the moment.”

“What if I want the pig?” Helm asked.

“Sacrifices, my dear,” Cassandra said. “Sometimes you have to make sacrifices for a life time filled with orgasms.”

“I hear that,” said Lex. “Mine is facing a bunch of vampires when I should be guarding some lord or the other or assassinating a lord’s rival.”

“Was it worth it?” Helm asked.

“Fuck yeah, and when we get out of this hole, it’ll be worth it all over again.” She leveled her spear. “Creepy-assed bitch approaching.”

Josh had already spotted Melinka walking from the forest’s gloom. The vampire took her time, pausing at the moss steps like their very existence was an affront to her. “You chose to run. Wise,” she said.

“Run?” Josh replied. “You had your minions herd us toward the ravine. We didn’t like the idea of fighting with our back to a huge drop.”

“Why?” she asked, stopping a few steps short. “Can’t fly? A lot in the Hangsane can. It’s part of being powerful.” She smiled, but it held no warmth. “Who do we have here? Helm, naturally. You managed to lose all your companions, so you had to find some more—”

Helm moved forward, but Josh held her in place. “Have you got something important to say?”

“I have patience. You get that when you’re long-lived. Perhaps you might get to an age where you have it? But only if we come to an accommodation. The elf? She’s peculiar. What is she?”

Vella stood, strolling forward. “Mystic Syphon.” She walked up to Melinka. “Your power is bad, but could still take. Maybe. Maybe not.”

Melinka laughed. “How delightful. The child thinks she’s powerful.”

“Not a child.” Vella strolled back. “Not a lot of things, but am Mystic Syphon.”

The vampire coughed, then cleared her throat, baring her fangs. “But, let’s get back to business. You have a sorcerer among you. Know this. Vampires are resistant to magic. So, if that is your gambit, you’ve lost. We fly, so if you thought you’d hide up in the tower, you’ve lost again.” She sighed. “I guess I’m saying this. Why not give us the stone of power and walk free—go seek the ruins. Go play with the guardians.”

“What will you do with it?” Josh asked as casually as he could muster.

“Me? My coven? We will study it. We will further our knowledge with it. Should we desire to take over this place, then we can already. You are nothing more than an inconvenience. You would do well to accept that.”

“I’ve been called a lot of things in my time, Melinka. Funny story. It’s not the first time I’ve been called an inconvenience. Let’s get this done. I’m on a promise, and it’s more than just piglet and ale.” He drew his sword, Helm following suit.

A dozen vampires advanced from the forest, immediately flanking Melinka. She pointed to the roof, then made a sideways motion, and then she grinned.

“So, you see, if you want the piglet and ale, the best way to get it is to give me what I want and then be on your way.”

Helm laughed. “You know that’s crap as well as I do. This is the Hangsane. We show weakness, and we’re trodden on. Better to die than beg for life.” The drow darted forward, engaging the closest vampire. The vamp drew his sword, countering her attack with incredible speed.

Josh aimed straight for Melinka.

Cut the head off and the beast dies!

But Melinka blinked out of existence, and Josh couldn’t trace her path. He aimed a high stroke at the nearest vamp, pulling at the last moment and pounding him in the gut with his fist. The vamp doubled over, allowing Josh to follow up with a roundhouse, then bring his sword down for the killing blow. But the vamp slid away, just like Melinka had.

“Is that what you’re going to do?” Josh asked. “You going to run?”

“Run?” Melinka asked, hovering twenty feet in the air. “I prefer to think we are using the extent of our powers.”

A hovering vamp dove for Josh with his fist outstretched, smashing Josh on the chin. Josh soaked up the punch like he was made of iron, grinning, then clobbered the vamp right in the jaw. A terrible crack sounded, the vamp tumbling away.

“I like to use all my powers, too,” Josh said.

For just an instant, a glimmer of doubt rippled Melinka’s brows. “All of you, attack!”

Some vamps flew to the tower’s broken roof. Others rushed Josh and Helm. More still flanked Josh and Helm, aiming for Lex, Vella and the girls. Arrows flew. Lex led with her spear. Roiling fire burst from the tower’s roof, incinerating the attacking vamps.

Josh screamed his battle cry, his red mist coming instantly.

Tremelox, if you’ve got that armor ready, now would be great!

Josh lunged for the first vampire, but the bastard jinked to one side then brought his blade down countering Josh’s strike. He recovered fast, whipping around and aiming his first kick.

Gotta mix it up! he thought to himself. Can’t play fair.

He kicked and punched. He lunged and parried. The strange fighting style that Jork had taught him confused the vamps. To one side of him, several vamps lay injured but recouping their health. Helm battled two more, barely holding her ground. Vella skipped into the fray, bending and touching the recovering vamps. “Sleep. Sleep my babies,” she said, pressing her palm to their heads and closing their eyes.

“No!” Melinka screamed, her battle not going according to plan.

More flames billowed from the tower. More arrows whizzed out.

“Everyone forward!” Melinka screamed, and a dozen more vamps spilled from the forest.

“Retreat to the tower!” Josh screamed, as Cassandra burned another wave of airborne vamps.

“No! We’ve got this!” Helm shouted.

“We retreat. There’s too many.” Josh pulled her back as a smile hatched on Melinka’s lips.

“Too late, monster hunter. Too late!”

Cassandra sent another gout of blazing flame from the roof, then appeared in the crumbled doorway.

“Ah!” said Melinka, “the sorceress. Think how powerful you could be if only you were dead.”

Cassandra appraised the advancing vamps. “Trouble is, I like my cock hot and hard, not cold and limp.”

Melinka chuckled. “There’s so much you don’t know about us. So much we could teach you.”

“Have some of this!” Arabella screamed, loosing an arrow. It streaked toward Melinka, thumping into her chest and crumbling to dust.

The vampire narrowed her eyes. “She can be food. As can the other.”

“Me?” Melody cried. “You gotta be fucking joking me. I’m not food!” She appeared in the doorway, barging in front of Josh and Helm. “You gotta a problem with me, Lady? I’m a trap smith. Wanna see one of my creations?” She bowled a jar toward Melinka and the gathered vampires. “Ever heard the phrase fire in the hole?”

Josh dove into the tower, pulling Melody with him, shoving Helm inside. The grenade blew, ripping into the stone and tearing into the vampires.

“A puny explosion won’t—” Melinka started to say, but her words turned to screams.

“Attack!” Josh cried, freeing himself from the pile of bodies and racing outside.

The vampires lay in a radiating circle, writhing on the ground, with smoke pouring from numerous holes peppering them. “What have you done?” Melinka said, her own body decimated by the attack.

“Won,” Josh said. “We’ve won.” He raised his sword, chopping her head off, then moved to the next vampire and repeated the macabre action. “End them all. We leave no one who might follow us.”

“We take this, though,” Helm said, pulling a ring from Melinka’s finger. “It is their guild seal. It will grant us dominion over these forests. We have taken their guild, so now we rule their land by right of claim.”

Josh raised his sword one last time, bringing it down, decapitating the vampire. “Fuck them. Fuck them all. Fuck everyone in this godforsaken place. I’ll kill them all if it means protecting my family.”

I have your armor modified and ready. Would you like to equip it? Tremelox asked.

Now? Fuck you too! Josh muttered in his mind.

Chapter Nine

“WE COME IN PEACE,” Helm said. “We have no affiliations. We aren’t in any sects. We have coin, and are happy to spend it if you have a tavern. We wish for a hot bath, food and beds.”

“Bed!” Melody said. “I’m a badass trap smith that took out a coven of vamps.”

The guard looked over the stockade, down at the gruesome-looking party.

“Is that all blood?” the guard asked.

“All vamp blood,” Melody said.

Blowing up the vampires with her bang powders and silver ball concoction had really brightened her mood up. Josh had never seen her so chirpy. Which was quite incredible as they’d walked for three days with hardly any food and only rocks or mud for a bed. But still, like the time Cassandra killed the necrotic wolves, Melody had reached a turning point. If she’d entered the Hangsane feeling inferior, knowing one of her ideas wiped out their enemies really did it for her.

“So, if you know what’s good for you—”

“We are here in peace,” Helm said, through gritted teeth. “So, if you’d open the gate, it would be much appreciated. It’s been a long few days.”

“Wait there.” The guard vanished.

Josh sighed.

“I could just blow the gates up,” Cassandra said.

“The object,” Josh said, “is to get us a bed for the night, board and lodging. It isn’t to start a war with a—what did you call them?”

“A Freetown,” Helm said. “Mothrell is a Freetown. But that doesn’t mean it’s safe. It simply means it has no guild affiliations. Places like this allow guilds to interact and settle their differences without violence.”

“Can’t see it,” Cassandra said. “I’ll bet more scores are settled here than anywhere. Let us the fuck in!”

As if Cassandra had cast a spell, the gates creaked open, and the guard bade them in. “Show me the seal.”

“Josh?” Helm said. “Flash the vamp ring. You’ll need to show it to claim the territory.”

Josh pulled out Melinka’s ring. He held it up, its band and stone as black as tar. “Quite the ugly thing, isn’t it?”

The guard stared at it, his mouth sagging open. “They are all dead?”

“All that came against us,” Melody said. “I blew the fuckers up. Little old me. How do you like that?”

The guard opened the gate. “They terrorized us. For years they would come—sometimes nothing for months on end, but they would always return. That’s why this place is a Freetown. No guild wanted it. None wanted to go against the vampires and zombies. But—” He stared at the party. “It really is over?”

Josh pushed the gate closed, tying its ropes around the latch then lifting the bar across it. “The threat from the vampire guild is over, but that doesn’t mean another won’t fill it. Nature has a way of filling an empty space, and it usually packs it full of assholes.”

The guard climbed the ladder back to his post. “The best tavern is The Cock and the Crow. It’s smaller than The Rising Mountain, but that place is packed full of assholes. Once they find out you have killed the vamp guild, they’re all going to want a piece of you.”

“The Cock it is. You okay with the Cock, Helm?” Cassandra asked. “Only if you’d prefer the other, then we’d all understand.”

Helm glared at her. “I suppose you think that’s funny. I’m absolutely fine with either. Drow aren’t trusted. I’ll be left alone no matter what.”

“And we won’t?” Cassandra asked.

The drow scoffed. “Ha! First, they’ll peg you as Ravenheart’s killers. Then you’ll get tarred by the goblin-lover bunch, and now they’ll add the vamp-slaughter. It’ll propel the Misfits up the ranks and declare you trouble. That’ll have two effects. Half the tavern will want to avoid you, and the other half will—”

“Want to kill us,” Josh said.

“Exactly. I’d suggest the smaller establishment,” Helm said. “If you want a quiet time.”

Mothrell sat upon the banks of the river Mothrell. It straddled the white water, spreading across the valley. They came from the northern side, spilling from the dark forest. The sheer relief of leaving the darkness put a smile on all their faces. Helm had explained the risks, but in spite of everything, the lure of a bed and warm bath was too much. The chances of them passing through anonymously were minimal. But the odds of Flick and her friends guessing they’d come from the vampire’s territory were even less.

“Quiet is good,” Josh said. “Quiet is just what we need.”

“I’m with you there,” Arabella said, threading her arm through his. “We still have gold, don’t we? I take it we didn’t use that as shrapnel.”

“We have gold,” Elowen said. “Plus, I collected a whole lot of vampire jewelry that I’m pretty sure we can sell.”

“And I have a few decent knives,” Lex said. “But I want to keep most of them.”

“We have plenty,” Helm said. “I have a line of credit in the Hangsane backed by significant deposits. We will be fine.”

Josh flicked her a glance. “You have banks here?”

She lent him a curious look. “Well, we’re hardly likely to carry around a load of gold, given how likely it is that we end up killing each other.” She shrugged and walked into town. It soon opened up so they walked among cobbled streets and stone houses.

The Cock and the Crow occupied one side of a pretty little square that sat close to the river. It was, as the guard had promised, a quaint establishment and certainly in the quieter portion of the town. Helm drew some stares when she walked in, jaws sagging further as the others followed. “A room for the night.” She looked around. “How many beds in a room?”

The barkeep barely rose from the counter, staring around the empty tap room, then sighing and replying. “Six beds to a room. Three rooms to a floor, save the attic room which would fit all of you in, but means we gotta lug the bath water up an extra flight of steps, so that costs more. Ten silver for the attic. Stay up to six days. Three silver for the others.”

“Ten silver is steep,” Helm said.

“You’ve got trouble written all over you. The guard directed you here to keep you out of the town center to avoid trouble for himself. I don’t want trouble, but at ten silver, I’ll live with it. Ale’s extra. Food’s extra. Everything’s extra. Man’s gotta make a living.”

“We’ll take it,” Elowen said, shoving Helm out of the way. “We’ll need the bath. We’ll need a load of food. And we’ll need ale. You can bring it all up to the attic room. We can’t be causing any trouble if we aren’t leaving the room. Here’s one gold. You can run a tab until we owe you another. Then you’ll come and ask for me. I’m Elowen, and I’ll go over the bill with you and settle provided we agree. We’ll likely leave before the week’s up. If anyone enquires about us, say what you want, but inform us who and why. There’s extra silver in it for you.” She smiled sweetly, holding up a gold coin. “Do we have an agreement?”

The man finally stood. “I think we do, ma’am.” He clapped his hands. “Mimi! Show our guests to the attic room. Get the fires started and sort the baths out.”

Cassandra leaned forward. “Leave the bathwater to me. Don’t deduct it from the bill, keep the food and ale coming instead. Understood?” Her eyes glowed with power.

“Got it.”

“Name?” Cassandra asked.

“Earl.”

“Thank you, Earl.”

“This is perfect for us,” Arabella said, drifting around the room, then looking out of the dormer. “It reminds me of Elrima. Do you remember, Josh? Do you remember the dormer windows?”

“How can I forget?” He came up behind her, pressing his groin into her ass. “I remember the mornings especially.”

She pushed back. “I might remind you at sunrise.”

“Who’s for the first bath?” Cassandra asked. She grinned. “Sometimes it’s just precious being a witch.” Steam rose from the metal tub. “Then again, I filled it, so I should go first. It’s an age since I’ve been clean.” She dropped her clothes, stepping in. “Are you sure you don’t want your own room, Helm? Things are going to get a bit hot and sweaty in here soon.”

Helm walked over to the bath, dipping her finger in. “If I had any doubts, the bath’s just scrubbed them from me.” She sat on its lip. “I’ll take the bed in the corner. Nothing you’re going to get up to will keep me awake.” She spread her arms wide. “The place is large enough that I’ll get some privacy.”

Vella giggled, taking her two piece off and stepping into the bath with Cassandra.

“Hey!” Cassandra said. “There’s not enough room for two!”

“Is,” Vella said, slipping between Cassandra’s legs.

“And so it starts,” Lex said, shedding her jacket and taking the bed close to Helm. “Where’s the ale and food? I can’t even think of anything else until I’ve had some food and drink.”

“Drinks are here. I’m leaving them outside,” Earl shouted outside the door. “The food’s on its way. There’s a bell in the corner, you need anything just holler. If you can’t be bothered to wait, just bring the jug down, and I’ll refill it.”

Melody slumped onto the bed, kicking her boots off. “Man that feels good. That has to be the longest we’ve gone without a bed. I miss our carriages. Stupid fucking orcs. Why’d they have to destroy them?”

“Orcs are assholes. They have a territory close to the ruins.” Helm pulled her boots off. “Shit, Mels, you’re not wrong.”

“Who needs an ale?” Elowen asked as Mimi entered with a platter piled high with sizzling steaks and mounds of onion potatoes. She set it down on the table and backed out.

Josh vanished his jacket and boots. “I’ve got to get myself some proper clothes. These skin modifications are plain weird. It’s like walking around naked without actually being naked.”

“They’ll be a tailor here,” Elowen said. “We can deal with it in the morning.”

Josh sat at the table. “So, what’s the plan?” he asked, grabbing a plate and shoveling a load of potatoes and a steak onto it. “We rest up here and then?”

Cassandra groaned. She stood, the bathwater dripping off her naked body. She conjured a swirling wind that dried her in moments. Sitting at the table, she grabbed a plate. “Can’t we worry about that tomorrow? We just got here. Surely that’s enough for tonight.”

Helm sat up, shedding her jacket and strolling over to the bath. “You going to stay in there forever, Vella?”

“Bit longer. You can get in. We’re family now.”

Helm hesitated, looking around, then back to Vella. “Fuck it. You’ve all seen me swim in the lake, and I need this bath.”

“Hold a second,” Cassandra said. She snapped her fingers, opening the window, then sent all the bathwater out of it.

“Hey!” Vella said. “That was nice!”

“Darling, we were both covered in blood and vampire guts.” A funnel of water shot in through the window, filling the bath.

“Hey! Cold!” Vella said, standing.

“Just warming it now.”

Helm shed her clothes, sliding into the warm bath. “Thank you, Cassandra.”

“Think nothing of it. If all goes to plan the next few days, you’re going to need a few baths.”

“Plan,” said Helm. “Is the plan to seduce me?”

Josh munched on a potato, swallowing before he answered. “Let’s get things straight. You don’t have to do anything, but we like to enjoy ourselves.”

“A lot,” said Vella, sliding up Helm’s body and planting a kiss on her lips. “We have fun.”

Helm stared at her but made no move to wriggle away. “I hope I’ll fit in one day.”

“You will,” Vella said, and slid back to her end.

Josh ate his meal, his hunger winning out over his desire to watch Helm bathe. Casandra moved her chair closer to him. She did distract him. After days without the hint of sex in the air, her nakedness brought his dick to a fierce erection immediately. When she laid her hand on him, he groaned in anticipation. It was hard to see how he’d contain himself or even temper things down. But Helm had chosen to stay in their room, so she had to be curious at the very least.

“Lose the pants,” Cassandra said, and Josh didn’t need asking twice. With a blink, they were gone, and her warm hand wrapped around him, massaging his length. “Keep eating. We’re going to need you full of energy.” She lowered her head to his lap, focusing on his hard manhood. Her breath flowed around his quivering head just before her tongue darted around his crown.

Josh shoveled the food in, wanting his stomach full, but that goal mixed with another.

Stomach full, balls empty!

Cassandra’s lips closed around him as her hand massaged his shaft with slow, metronomic regularity. His interest in his food waned as the witch slid off her chair, kneeling between his legs, her head bobbing and mouth slurping.

“No fair,” said Vella, shooting out of the bath. “You can’t start without me!”

“Get yourself some food, baby. There’ll be plenty to go around.” Josh turned his head to Vella as the elf stood naked before him, her bald pussy shining with the water dripping off of her. But it was Helm who distracted him, drawing his attention past the stunning Vella to her. She lay in the bath with her gaze firmly on Cassandra.

“Seems they can’t resist you,” she said.

Josh was about to answer when he noticed her knees were apart. They pressed against each side of the bath, and her hands had traveled below the waterline to somewhere between her legs. They locked eyes as Cassandra pleasured him. Helm pleasured herself and an unspoken understanding hatched between them. They were too far gone to mess around, but the time wasn’t right just yet.

Vella bent and kissed him, her tongue searching his. She blocked his view, but that was fine. They understood each other. Their time was close. The sound of falling water preceded Helm’s voice. “The bath is free,” Helm said, and Cassandra immediately broke off, standing and leading him toward the water. A flick of her hand saw the water purified.

“Much easier,” she said, scattering some dust on the floor. “In you get and stand.”

Josh stepped in. Cassandra painted a pattern in the air, warm rain falling over Josh.

“A shower?” he said. “After all this time, you can magic a shower?”

“I learned it the other day, but I haven’t had time to perfect it yet.”

Elowen strolled over, placing her hand under the falling water, a bar of soap sitting on her palm. “Can we have these everywhere we go?”

Cassandra shrugged. “It’s a simple recycling spell. I draw water from the tub, then drop it on his head. It’s not hard, but it will enable us to soap him while he stands there in all his naked glory.”

“If we had a flannel, we could hang it there,” Arabella said as she shed her soiled clothes. “That undead gunk got everywhere.”

“Sure did,” Lex said, stripping too.

Elowen began soaping his body. Her slippery hands massaging his back and butt. She passed the soap to Arabella, who started on his front. She paid particular attention to his chest and genitals. While he was proud of his impressive dick, he also took pride in his six pack. He had never managed to have one before, but now he resembled a lifelong body builder. His erection pulsed in her hands. He eased his butt forward, trying to get his end closer to her lips—to slide into her mouth.

Lex grabbed the soap from Arabella as she succumbed to his wish and pulled his dick into her mouth. The dark-skinned assassin stepped into the bath, wetting her body then handed him the soap. “My breasts are filthy.”

It was the type of dream only a lucky fucker would have. He took the soap, lathering up her magnificent tits as she raised her hands above her head and sighed with pleasure. Josh focused on her, but yet again, Helm drew his gaze. She lay on her bed with no blanket over her. She had her legs bent, knees in the air, and her hands rested between. She smiled, a cruel smile that invited him to come her when she knew he couldn’t move. He became convinced she was playing a coy game with him, which released him to play his own.

He grabbed Lex’s neck, drawing her lips onto his. Kissing her passionately, he let his other hand fall, at first resting on Arabella’s head. He laced his hand through her hair, cupping her head in his palm. He gently moved her head back and forth, letting her lips masturbate him as she sucked and licked at his throbbing cock. He broke from Lex with both his eyes on Helm, and then he spread his legs wider. He thrust forward into her mouth, jamming himself into Arabella over and over, yet refusing to cum.

The drow looked away with her lips open, her arms moving faster as her fingers busied themselves. Vella jumped back in the bath, offering her ass to him as she grabbed the tub’s end. He stroked Arabella’s hair, letting her relax her pace, then held her as he eased himself out and faced Vella’s fantastic ass.

He held his cock, offering it up to the elf’s milk-white skin. It was huge in comparison to her cute butt. Holding it against her, he waited, letting Helm see and understand the depths of his sexual power. He glanced at her as her wide eyes returned the stare, and then he eased himself into Vella’s hot pussy. He sank into her silken flesh as he felt every fold and ridge of her tight little hole. Vella gasped. It faded to a noise like someone was strangling her. It was always like it. The elf struggled to accommodate him to start with. Her power soaked him as she cast renew. The vigor entered him, filling him with power and topping him to the brim.

“I’m there,” she said, although the strain in her voice told him she was still adjusting.

Have I got bigger since I entered the Hangsane?

He certainly felt more buff in every way. His muscles were tauter, and his skin shone with vitality. He’d gained another five points from the vampire fight and subsequent strigoi attacks. He was closing fast on the title, Savage Warden. He’d dumped two of the points in durability. He understood that they couldn’t have done anything but clear the way for his strength and speed and agility to rise easier. At a score of sixty, he was way ahead of where Tremelox could upgrade to. The three other points he’d placed in speed and agility, determined to get that and strength to fifty. With those two stats reaching the average score for a Savage Warden, he’d evolve again. He wanted to do that in Mothrell—preferably in the safety of their attic room. Who knew how long it would take, or how defenseless he’d be.

Name: Josh Underwood

Rank: Novice Enforcer

Subrank: Golden Defender

Attributes:

Strength = 45

Speed and Agility = 48

Durability = 60

Combat instinct = 45

Arcane resistance = 45

Poison resistance = 44

Total – 287

No of points needed to next promotion =13

Perception: Active for all threats.

Pain Management - Off

He slid hilt deep into Vella as Cassandra’s rain poured down on him. The witch had retired from the scene, muscled out by Vella, Lex, Elowen and Arabella. She sat at the table eating her meat and potatoes while watching Helm pleasure herself.

Lex knelt behind Josh, reaching under him to caress his balls as he swung his butt back and forth, pounding into Vella. Melody rose from the table, wiping her lips on her sleeve as she stepped out of her dungarees. “I’m going to be wanting some of that,” she said as Vella’s screams filled the room.

“Fuck! Fuck! Fuckitty Fuuuckk!” Vella cried, as her entire body shook. She slumped over the bath’s end, giggling to herself. “Josh good. Josh bigger than before.”

“Fucker’s balls didn’t even cramp,” Lex said as she pulled him out of the elf and turned him. “Let’s see if I can get you to cum.”

“We’ve got all night,” Josh said, easing himself around as Elowen soaped his butt, her fingers sliding up and down his crack.

Lex had assumed the same position as Vella. Her spine arched down, butt in the air. She reached around, parting her cheeks and offering up her ass and pussy. “Your choice,” she said. “I’m ready for either.”

Elowen made Josh’s mind up for him, soaping up his dick until it was coated in foamy bubbles. “Ass it is, then,” he said with a wry grin. “You girls are the best.”

He pushed against her cute little button hole. Her resistance promised him more pleasure than he could handle. His shaft bent slightly, then his crown compressed, and it sprang inside her. She tensed, then let out a long breath. “I got this,” she said, through gritted teeth.

“Sure?” he asked.

“Yeah. Further.”

Elowen soaped her ass and his exposed shaft, the shower washing it off almost immediately.

“Again,” he said as she drizzled the foam over him.

He eased himself in, Lex’s strangled moans filling the room. “Halfway,” he said, his words barely above a whisper.

“I got this,” she said, but the tremor in her voice told him differently.

He stopped as her asshole contracted on him. She groaned, relaxed, and then backed onto him, forcing his cock deeper within her. He pushed forward, sliding all the way inside her. Lex growled, her sphincter clamping down again. “That’s it. You’re in. Now get this done!” She pulled off him, then backed straight onto him with a scream that turned into a gasp. It was too much for Josh. He began to lose control, gliding in and out of her. He tried to ignore her growls and the whites of her knuckles as she gripped the bath’s rim.

He plowed into her. “Your ass is so tight baby.”

It got him.

She got him. He welled, his balls finally cramping as jolts of electric pleasure curled through him. “You got me,” he cried as the cum streamed from him, and her wails hit crescendo. He thrust deep inside her with the last spurt of semen shooting into her asshole. Resting there for a moment, he let his fingers run down the ridges of her spine, then withdrew, sitting back in the bath and watching his cum drip from her crack. “That was fucking awesome,” he said, closing his eyes.

“Don’t think you’re getting off that easy, Buster,” Melody said. “There’s a whole night ahead of us.”

Josh felt Helm’s eyes fall on him once more.

Chapter Ten

OF ALL THE nights for sleep to evade him, this one seemed particularly harsh. He’d satisfied his wives, ate four meals and consumed a handsome amount of ale. They’d talked, even planned a little. He’d managed to draw Helm into the conversation, but exhaustion had taken him. No amount of renews could keep him from wanting to go to bed.

There were enough beds for each of them, though none was large enough to accommodate all of them. For once they were all happy to sleep on their own. Elowen doused the lamps, and Josh lay back on his pillow with his tired mind immediately alive.

For fuck’s sake!

He stared up at the rafters. It had been a tough time since entering the Hangsane, but they had progressed. Lex had flourished with her fighting becoming more effective—faster, much more lethal. Arabella was still struggling, but had adapted to the drow bow. The bow though, seemed a less effective weapon in the mountains than the caverns. He supposed that made some sense. A vamp wouldn’t be much of a threat if a single wood arrow could pierce its skin and flame it in one go. He longed for a crossbow. That would give Arabella a huge advantage. Elowen hadn’t been able to do a lot but had flourished under Helm’s training. But, among those in the Hangsane, she had started from so far back it would be hard for her to catch up.

Melody had no fear. Her strength of character had improved immensely. Hopefully they’d be able to get her some supplies in Mothrell, and she could make more munitions. Cassandra had gained a lot of confidence in her powers. She’d fended off the vamps with no problem, not even calling on him for help.

Helm he couldn’t quite categorize. She’d lain on the bed the whole time as they’d fucked and laughed, only getting up to grab some more food or drink. But she’d not dressed, happily letting Elowen drop all her clothes into the bath while Cassandra agitated the water to clean them all thoroughly.

And she definitely masturbated…

She’d watched him fuck each of his wives in turn, and she’d been turned on. He lay on the bed thinking about it. What was her end game? She wanted to join them, but wanted to remain aloof at the same time. Her body was something else. Muscular like Lex’s, but with the elegance and grace of Vella’s. Her stark white pubic hair formed a tidy triangle between her legs, and her long, white hair flowed around her breasts. The combination of white and lilac was stunning. Yet, she hadn’t joined in.

His hand strayed to his growing erection. It appeared he had no libido issues. His dick was never sated. He sighed, knowing that alone would keep him awake—visions of Helm mounting him didn’t help, either.

For fuck’s sake! Get some sleep.

Then he heard movement, soft footsteps over the gentle snores of his sleeping wives. He froze. The noise came from Helm’s bed. Surely, she couldn’t still be hungry? She’d eaten like a horse. He closed his eyes, pretending to be asleep.

“I know you’re awake,” she said, softly. “May I?”

“May you what?” he croaked.

“Lie down with you?”

He shifted over, and she slipped into his bed. “The fun’s all over.”

She rose onto her elbow, looking down at him. “I wasn’t ready for that. It was so intense, so private. You all knew what you wanted and you all shared. I didn’t understand how it could all work.”

“And now?”

“Now I do. You’re one. You are a family.”

He inhaled, her skin cool against his, her hair brushing his chest. “Will you be part of it?” he asked.

“I think in time. Would Lex have joined in like that straight away?”

It was a great question. Lex hadn’t, but there were some remarkable similarities. She had snuck into his bed, although that night she’d cried herself to sleep. “No, no she didn’t. First time was a private affair—same with all of them.”

“We’ll get no privacy here,” she said, resting back down, her head on his chest and her hand resting on his stomach.

“No. Probably the wrong time to join. This is a pretty intense place. Mythelore was more relaxed.”

“But one day. Can…” She hesitated.

“Can?”

“Can I touch it?”

“You don’t need permission. I’m yours if you want me. The girls have all agreed.”

“I... It’s just…”

“Yeah, I know.”

She strayed lower, her fingers running through his pubic hair. His cock grew, lifting off his abdomen to stand proudly. She reached for him, grabbing his shaft and closing her fingers around him. “What next?” she whispered.

“Move your hand up and down.”

“Like this?”

“Oh yeah, that’s it.”

“This will make you cum—like the girls did?”

“It will. It’s not quite as intense as when they use their mouths or I make love to them, but it’s a good place to start.”

“It is,” she said. “It feels so good—so warm.” Her softly spoken words washed over him as he relaxed, slowing his breaths and savoring the pleasure. She shifted around, raising the blanket. “It’s mesmerizing, so hard and brutal, yet so sensual. The male body is so different.”

“You’ve never seen a man before? No naked drow men?”

“We are a very private race. The women barely paraded themselves before each other, let alone the men. That time in the lakes when I stripped and swam with you was the first time anyone had seen me naked. But I had to do it. Had to feel what it was like. Then earlier, in the bath, I nearly died with shame.”

“And now?”

“This is different. This is me and you, and somehow that makes it all okay.” She reached, cupping his balls. “They’re so tight.”

“But delicate too—especially at the moment. Tender.” He gasped as she increased her speed. “That’s it. Just like that.”

“I want to watch you cum,” she said, moving her head onto his abdomen as she stared at his cock. “Faster?” she asked.

“Yeah baby, fast as you like.” He rested his hand on her head, brushing her hair away from her face. “That’s it. Just like that. Cup my balls. Yeah, baby. Yeah.”

He lost himself once more, the thrill of having her pleasure him, the clandestine feel to it all—his girls asleep close by—powered his arousal. His breaths became shallow. His mind swam in a sea of ecstasy. Then, miraculously, he gathered, his orgasm building. “I’m gonna cum,” he gasped, his legs tensing, his ass lifting off the bed, moving his dick closer to her face. “I’m gonna cum!” he cried again, exploding, his sperm shooting, splattering her face. She jerked back, then began laughing.

“That was…ha ha ha… That was awesome. I didn’t think you’d have much left.” She sidled back, grabbing the blanket and wiping her face. “It went everywhere.” She snuggled in. “I did good, yeah?”

“You did good, very good.”

She tilted her head up, offering her glistening lips to his. He kissed her, tasting his cum on her. “You did very, very good.”

“I’ll get better—get more confident, but it will be a while until I can perform like the others.”

“You’re doing fine—better than fine. You do what you want to do. Don’t compare yourself to the others. They’ve been together a lot longer.”

“But do I fit in?”

“You fit in just fine. They love you already, Helm. They did from the minute you tried to help them.”

“Can I sleep with you?”

“Anytime you want to.”

“Can I hold it?”

“Anytime you want to.”

She snuggled further into his body with her head on his chest. “I think I’m going to like being in your family. I will protect them—all of them.”

“Teach them—teach them how to protect themselves. That is all I ask.”

She wrapped her hand around him, her breaths growing shallow. “I will do what I can.”

Mothrell had a buzz about it. The streets were full, the market booming. Josh followed Mimi through the packed streets, struggling to keep up with her. She was, he guessed, approximately sixteen years old and had huge blue eyes and spiky blonde hair. The innkeeper, Earl, had told him she was the best guide he had available. Josh was beginning to believe that Mimi was the only guide.

“It’s down here somewhere,” Mimi said, looking around. “I don’t have my clothes made, so I don’t really know where the seamstress is. I’m pretty sure we’re close.”

Helm pointed at a hanging sign—a ball of wool and a knitting needle. “How about there?”

Mimi darted to the shop and opened the door. “Here it is!” she said, beaming.

Helm gave her an odd look, as she strolled in with her back straight and her hand resting on her sword. Josh ambled in after, wishing it was all over, but knowing it hadn’t started yet. Arabella closed the door behind them, a tiny bell announcing their arrival.

A woman rose from a loom, smoothing down her dress and smiling. “How can I be of service to you?”

“It’s this one,” Arabella said, indicating Josh. “Can you make him look like a powerful guild leader in a couple of days?”

“What colors?”

“Colors?” Arabella looked blank.

“The guild.”

“Ah, that. Colors?” she asked.

“Black,” Josh said.

“With purple flashes,” Helm added.

Arabella pursed her lips. “That actually sounds okay. Black it is.”

“With purple flashes,” Helm insisted.

“Jacket, shirt and pants?” she asked.

“Twice,” Helm said.

“Better make it three. He goes through them easily. And if you have any talent to make it flame, cut, blunt and magic resistant, that would be marvelous. Can you do boots?” Arabella asked.

“Next door but one.” She eyed Josh up and down. “Two days? One gold and thirty silvers,” the woman said.

“One gold and fifty and make it early the day after tomorrow?” Josh asked.

The woman screwed her mouth up. “I can make that work, but you’ll not get your boots done that quickly, so you’re wasting your money.”

“What’s the story with the cobbler?” Helm asked.

“Gnome,” the woman said, and Helm nodded knowingly.

“Gnome?” Josh asked.

Helm made a drinking motion. “Well known for it,” she said. She thanked the woman, and they left.

The cobbler was a gnome called Amos. He stood three feet high, and sported a nose that lit the room. His face was lost to a mass of white hair, and he sat upon a stool. He had one leg crossed over the other and appeared to be asleep.

“At least, I assume he’s called Amos. It is Amos the Cobbler’s shop.” Josh leaned in, getting close to the sleeping gnome. “She was right. He stinks of booze.”

The gnome opened one bleary eye. “What if I do, eh? Still make the best boots in all of Mothrell.”

“Then I would like to buy three pairs,” Josh said.

“Really?” said the gnome. “You believe me?”

Josh sighed, took a seat. “Over to you, ladies.”

Half an hour later, they left the shop having promised an extra gold if Amos had the boots ready at the same time as Josh’s clothes. Josh stretched, his hunger coming in waves, like he’d never eaten the night before. “I’m starving,” he said. “Back to the inn to get some food?”

He walked back out into the street, a man shoving into him, growling, then punching his shoulder. “Say, watch where you’re going!”

Josh grabbed the man as he walked away. “You walked into me, fuckwit. Best get that apology out of your mouth before I sit you on your ass.”

“There is danger behind and to your left side,” Tremelox said. But before the ring had finished speaking, a mace hit Josh on the head, its spikes knocking his head to the side.

He grabbed the weapon, ripping it out of another man’s grip. “Did I walk into that too?”

Arabella screamed, running up to the man and stomping on his foot. Helm drew her sword, but suddenly, they were surrounded by a grumbling crowd.

“You might want to go down easy, boy,” another man said. This one actually looked dangerous. He stood a little behind the goons, and was alert, ready to spring forward or back. His sword was partly drawn. Unlike the others, he’d selected his position so the sun wasn’t in his eyes. But it was his cool confidence that persuaded Josh the man was the threat. “There’s someone who wants a word, and they demanded you be in a pliable state. So, either you become pliable, or Gripper and Sully will make you and your girls much more flexible.”

“Gripper and Sully, eh?” Josh asked, assessing the rest of the crowd and noting at least six more players. “What if I want to test myself out? Could I try one at a time?”

The man grimaced, tipping his broad-brimmed hat back as he scratched his head. “We don’t do that. We’re more an all-or-nothing gang.”

“All-or-nothing? Humph. I like that. Gets it over and done with.” He strolled up to the goon called Gripper. “You all or nothing, Gripper? Because you look like nothing to me.”

Josh called for his new armor, punching Gripper in the gut as the white-coated metal crawled all over his skin, locking into place. Gripper doubled over, allowing Josh to catch him with an uppercut. The thug’s eyes rolled to the back of his head as his knees crumpled. He turned back to the man. “Now that’s pliable.”

The man cocked his head. “I’ll not lie. That was impressive. But, can you three handle this?”

Sully rushed forward. The man fully drew his sword. The rest of the group closed in. Helm drew her sword, countering the man as Josh dealt with Sully. Arabella punched and kicked out, backing against the shop. Sully didn’t prove so easy. He’d watched Josh’s demolition of Gripper and avoided his punches. But Josh was faster, eventually landing a fantastic hit on Sully’s dangling jaw. Josh kept up his assault, making sure the beast fell to the ground, but Arabella’s scream stopped him in his tracks.

Arabella was pinned to the wall, a spear pushing into her stomach, while Helm had a sword at her throat.

“I’ll kill you for this,” he said to the man.

“One move and the drow is dead. Oh, and your little elf healer won’t help. She’s got problems of her own.” The man grinned, his hat set at a jaunty angle. “There is always someone more powerful than you in the Hangsane. You might want to remember that.”

Josh knew he was beaten, but he wanted to drive his point home. “I’m not saying I’ll kill you now. I’m saying that I’ll kill you one day. Do you have a name?”

The man cocked his head. “I do, but I’m not inclined to share it with you. You understand.”

“Then you win this one. Take me to your man.”

“Pliable. I said you have to be pliable.” He winked, but before Josh knew it, a shadow passed over him. His skull erupted in pain, and he fell to his knees, his consciousness fleeing as all went black.

Chapter Eleven

“TREMELOX, I think we ought to revert to colors for danger.”

“Were my verbal warnings not enough?”

“Too slow. By the time you say them, I’m already under attack.”

“I will revert. You are currently tied to a large pole in the center of an underground chamber facing your captor who is of elven descent.”

“And the girls?”

“They are not here.”

“Thank you, Tremelox. Can the rope hold me?”

“No. They have vastly underestimated your strength.”

“Understood.”

“Whoever you are, elf, you’re dead,” he said, as his gaze fell upon a beautiful female.

She wore a white dress which hid little of her slight body. It was entirely too shapeless for Josh, but he could still appreciate that many would find her adorned as a princess. Her white hair was fashioned into a bob, and her plunging dress of sparkling sequins displayed what cleavage she could muster. “There are words,” she said, softly, “that mean less than others. It is a human male’s tendency to say meaningless things. Your opening words leave me disappointed, when I’d hoped to be left wanting more. Rhina is my name. Would you like to start again with something more constructive?”

He cocked his head, taking in more of the chamber. It was circular, pocked with shadowy alcoves. Its main area was lit with flaming torches. Rhina appeared to be on her own, but it was impossible to see if anyone or anything lurked in the shadows. “Helm and Arabella?”

“Your two companions?”

“Yes.”

“I had them escorted back to Earl’s Inn and asked them to stay there. In order to dissuade them from looking for you, I have placed a charm on the tavern. Should they leave, I will know, and then I will kill you. They know this. So far, they haven’t moved.”

He grinned, relaxing a little. “They aren’t so worried about me. Earl cooks good food, and his beds are decent. They’ll not miss me.”

She smacked her lips together. “Wasted words again.”

“It’s called a sense of humor. You’re right. Let’s start over. Thank you for not harming my companions.”

“I have no wish to harm the final drow. Nor do I wish to crush a weak human. You house one of mine, and she is precious indeed. Then there is the small matter of the Harmonic. I doubt I could harm her.”

“Nevertheless, I’d like to thank you.”

“Thanks gratefully received.” The elf waved her hand, and a chair appeared. She sat on it. “You intrigue me. Things that intrigue me interest me, and very little manages that in this sorry place.” She held up Helm’s locket. “Why would a drow who’s spent her whole life looking for this stone give it up so easily for a human she just met?”

“You’ll have to ask her that.”

“I might just do that.”

Josh tensed his hands, the ropes tightening. He forced them apart, snapping them easily. Before he could march toward her, she lifted her finger.

“Before you attempt to attack me, or whatever you have in mind, understand that I’m not so foolish to believe that rope would have held you. I did want to see if you would have the balls to break free without knowing what was behind you.”

Josh recalled summoning his scale armor—or rather, his new armor. But he stood before the woman without a stitch on. Had he worn his scale armor, he could have used his all-round vision, but without it, that option wasn’t open to him without its enhanced HUD.

“Tremelox, why did my armor vanish?”

“There is some form of charm in place that prevents any living thing appearing in anything but its natural state. It is a security measure to prevent infiltration by mimics and their like. It also affected my ability to clothe you.”

“It’s not that. It’s fighting in the nude. Didn’t mind it when I was younger, but as you get older, it is less appealing.”

Rhina smacked her hands together, and a man walked in with a pile of clothing in hand. She smacked her hands again, and another entered holding a pair of shining black boots.

“The black with the purple flashes was too garish for me. I canceled those items. The tailor you chose wasn’t the best. The clothes wouldn’t have lasted, nor would they have fitted. Mauve is the color of the Hattatu Clan, a guild not in favor with me. I’m rather hoping you’ll settle on this black and dull gold combination. It’s more regal, and my tailor is so much better. You also picked a wayward cobbler. Again, not the best. He wouldn’t give me your money back, so he’ll cobble no more. Take these clothes as thanks for the slight inconvenience caused by our meeting. Fortunately, you appear to heal quite well. I reprimanded my mace man.”

Josh took the clothes, slipping them on and finding his money in his pocket. He furrowed his brow, confused. “So, you’re not here to kill me?”

“I didn’t say that.”

“If you are, why clothe me?”

“I didn’t say that either. I haven’t decided what to do with you. You’re dangerous, Josh Underwood. You, the Harmonic, and the elf. Now you’ve teamed up with Helm, you’re slightly less dangerous. But Fate enjoys a good joke. To team up a group who know nothing of the Hangsane with a drow who’s isolated herself from its politics displays Fate’s humor. You blundered before you met her, and you continue to blunder after.”

“I react. I don’t blunder.”

“Trust me, you blunder.”

Josh slid his new boots on. “Explain.”

She smiled, crossing her legs and dangling the Angel Stone from her finger. “What happens when a guild is removed from an area?”

Josh shrugged. “Another moves in?”

“It does,” she acknowledged. “But before that happens, chaos reigns. You killed Ravenheart, then failed to claim the land—failed to defend it. War still rages in those twenty mountains. You ended the vampires and killed their foot soldiers. You have Melinka’s ring, yet you still haven’t claimed the forest. If the ogres move in from the East, it gives them a base close to Mothrell. That puts the citizens of this shithole in immense danger. You blunder, Josh, with no understanding of the Hangsane.”

“I take it you understand?”

“I helped form this place.”

He sighed. “And in order to get your help, all I have to do is join your guild and everything will be fine.”

Her plan was see through—very see through.

“Goddess no! You aren’t powerful enough to join me. I would not dilute the individual power of my guild by having yours join. No offense intended. You are pups in a land of dogs. My enemies would leverage you to draw me into a fight I don’t need or want.”

Her answer both shocked him and pissed him off. “Then why am I here?”

“To be educated. I wish to stop you blundering around. I wish to know your intentions, and I want to explain to you exactly how this place works.” She dangled the stone. “Afford me that, and you can have this trinket back. Mine is much larger, after all.”

“I had a guardian tell me a load of half-truths once. He skewed all the facts to his point of view.”

“As will I,” Rhina said. “It is how it is. I can’t pretend otherwise. But I hope my rejection tells you something of my intent. Rapid change will likely lead to a Grand War. One of those would be bad news for all of us. You need to fit in, Josh Underwood. If you don’t, you might end everything.”

“If I agree to listen?” He shrugged his shoulders, the material more comfortable than anything he’d ever worn.

“I will grant you the tools to survive—or at least get close to where you need to get to.”

“We wish to get to the man on the mountain.” It was clear he had none of the power. She wasn’t the slightest bit scared of him.

“What if I said I could make that happen? What if I said I could allow you passage? But…” She stood, pacing. “I have a price, and that price is simple. You fight me. No weapons. No armor. Just you and me in an arena. You survive until the bell rings, and then I will facilitate all—after we talk, of course.”

“How long until the bell rings?” Josh asked.

“Two minutes.”

“I have to fight you for two minutes? Is that it?”

“Trust me. I will try and kill you. I do not help those without potential. I crush them.”

“I accept.”

A smile crawled onto her lips. “Of course you do. But since coming to the Hangsane that might just be the worse choice you’ve made so far.”

Josh bit his lip. “Two minutes,” he said.

“I suppose it might also be the best,” she said.

Helm paced the attic room. She held the locket in her hand. “She just released you?”

“She actually apologized,” Josh said.

“Apologized?”

“For sending me back here. She said the food was filth.” He looked at his full plate. “I don’t get it. The meat is good. The potato and onion is great. The gravy tops it off. The ale is a bit thin and lackluster, but it’s not the worst I’ve had.”

“Food aside,” Helm said. “Her name was Rhina?”

“Yep.”

“Her guild?”

“She didn’t say. She just said that she’d never accept us as we were too weak. She didn’t want to dilute the individual strength of the guild members—something like that, anyway.”

“Cheeky bitch,” Cassandra said.

Helm held her hand up. “No, no, I’ve heard of these things. There is a measure of power the higher-ups have. There’s total guild power. In theory, if each individual is ranked at say one hundred power, and the guild has a thousand members, then the total guild power is one hundred thousand. But, say there’s a guild of two members each with thirty thousand power. The first guild is ranked as weaker than the other because those two guild members would tear through the other guild without a problem. They’d kill them all. So the top guilds go on an average power rating—and I’m talking about the very top guilds—those close to the ruins.” Helm grinned. “It means we’re making waves.”

“Hold on,” Arabella said. “You’re saying that individual power is king? Are you saying that one powerful person can wipe out a whole army?”

“Yes. It stands to reason. If Josh wanted to, he could kill everyone in this room, Cassandra included.” Helm paused. “But isn’t that always the way?”

“No!” Elowen said. “Even the strongest warrior would tire, and the rabble would get him in the end.”

“But imagine the strongest warrior who could keep going. What then? What would happen then? You say a guardian rescued you—portaled in and took out some high-ranking orcs. That should tell you. That should have shown you. Did he show any fear?”

“No.”

“Because he had no cause for fear, and he knew it. He wouldn’t have portaled in had he suspected someone more powerful than him was close.” Helm sat opposite Josh, grabbing a potato from his plate and popping it into her mouth. “She might just want you for that exact reason.”

“What reason?”

“To assassinate someone.”

He breathed heavily. “Been there,” he said.

“You think you can last?” Lex said. “Two minutes?”

“I think she underestimated me. I heal real good.” Josh grinned.

The arena wasn’t quite what Josh had expected. Hay bales formed a fighting circle that took up the center of what, from the outside, resembled a barn, but from the inside appeared to be some form of smuggling operation.

“Guilds,” Rhina said, “have some strange rules. The Lofti, for instance, ban women from entering their temples and training grounds. They say to lie with a woman is heresy. Prostitution is the best business to be on their borders. The Krensh despise all forms of alcohol, yet their elders order more from us than any other. This is where we pack it all up.”

“Free information? I thought I had to last two minutes before I got that,” Josh said as they walked in, Rhina having greeted them at the door.

The elf wore tight fitting garb which did little for her, making her look more shapeless than the see through dress had. She wore no weapons, but had drawn her hair back in a band to keep it away from her eyes. It seemed a minor concession, perhaps a two minute one.

“Information is only good to the living. If you last the two minutes, I would have told you it. If you don’t, then it passed the time and made me appear courteous. I trust I’ll get no trouble from your wives if you fail.”

“I can’t promise that.”

Rhina stopped, quirking an eyebrow. “You haven’t prepared them?”

Josh laughed. “We never discussed failing. It just didn’t come up.”

“Over confidence is as deadly as none at all. Do you doubt I’m more powerful than you?”

“I expect you to be, yes. Two minutes—remember that. I’ve only got to be alive.”

“What good if you are paralyzed from the neck down?”

“I’ll heal, eventually. Then if you’re still about, I get to collect.”

“How optimistic,” she said, moving a hay bale out of the way with a jerk of her hand, holding it as they walked through, then letting it drop back into place.

“Neat trick,” Josh said. “Will you teach me it?”

She laughed. “If only. You haven’t got a pinch of magic in you. You can’t bake bread without dough.”

Arabella and the others filed in, taking sitting on crates and barrels, flanked by a few of Rhina’s henchmen.

“This one’s got a staff, Rhina,” one growled. “Do I need to take it?”

Rhina looked over; her cursory glance filled with contempt. “Do you want to try? Shall we make it the first bout?”

“That would be interesting,” Josh said.

“But would see me one man down for no gain. Trust me, you need some muscle around here. Saves you getting into scraps below your station.” She rolled up her sleeves. “I take it your strong points are dexterity, speed and strength. It’s what the untrained usually focus on.”

“I’m okay with them.”

“Magic resistance?”

“That would be telling.” Josh said the words, but once again, received a raised eyebrow. “I have some magic resistance,” he admitted, hoping she was fishing so she knew how much to hold back. He had a growing feeling that he was going to get his ass handed to him in no uncertain terms.

“Good. Shall we begin?” Rhina moved to the center of the circle, standing, waiting. “Well?”

“You want me to attack?”

“Naturally. Use your sword, fists, kick, punch, whatever you wish. I find it hard to start fighting, especially when one strike is normally enough.” Her following smile was devilish. “Give me an excuse.”

He drew his drow sword, noting she didn’t even flinch. “I take it this won’t cut you?”

She inclined her head slightly, then rippled her lips. “Only one way to find out.”

Josh sprang forward, bringing his sword around in a wide arc, but aiming a little behind her, expecting her to jump back. His blade whipped through the air as Rhina vanished, not jumping up, but shooting up, then levitating with her feet at his eye level. The kick that followed nearly tore his head off, sending him flying back and crashing into the hay bales. His blade flew from his hands, embedding in the arena’s mud floor like a legendary sword waiting for an unsuspecting prince to claim it.

“Huh?” he said, shaking his head and calling for his new scale armor.

Time to get serious.

“A body enhancement blocking spell is in operation. I cannot alter your form in any way,” Tremelox said.

“Fine,” Josh said, getting up, taking his new jacket and shirt off as he faced her again.

“Don’t need the protection?” she asked, taking up a fighting stance that wreaked of the old martial arts films he’d once watched.

“I like the jacket. I don’t want to mess it up.”

Rhina blinked as she was standing in the arena’s center one moment and in his face the next. Her fist slammed into his gut, bending him double and rupturing just about every internal organ he had. Flashes of red filled his mind’s eye as his body sailed into the bales again. But this time she didn’t pause, nor did she hold back. A whisper of condensed wind formed a sharp blade, lashing across his body and slashing him. Blood started welling from the wound.

“Tremelox, get fucking healing me now!”

Josh fought the pain erupting throughout his entire body. He forced himself up while her wind blade was merciless, striping his flesh and cutting him to ribbons. But he stood, facing her. He grinned through the pain, raising his fist and punching her right in the face.

Her head never moved, absorbing all his power like it was nothing. So he hit her again, his bones crunching on her jaw and his fingers snapping. Still he kept at her while the wind blade continued relentlessly. A glimmer of doubt bloomed in her eyes as he continued punching her again and again, even though his hands were no more than pulp.

Then he was on his knees. His mind swam. His energy fled him. He shuffled forward, pounding her with every last speck of his resistance. He stopped, heaving for breath.

“The elf can’t heal you!” she cried. “Give up and die. Or shall I play with you a little more—give you hope? You like hope, don’t you? It keeps the weak going—keeps them on their knees.”

Josh gasped, holding his guts in with his forearms. Her blade cut through them, slicing the skin through to the bone.

You aren’t going to beat me!

The words came, but he knew he was done, that he’d never beat her. But he didn’t have to. He only had to last two minutes.

“Time, Tremelox!”

“Seventy-two seconds.”

“A stubborn one, aren’t you. So determined. Well, you have my respect now. You can die knowing you did your best.”

“I’m not done yet!” He forced himself up, keeping his gut protected, holding his stomach in. “Not dead yet,” he said, taking a vicious slash to his cheek. He lowered his head, charging her.

Rhina shot up as her blade came down on his back, splitting his spine and sending him tumbling to the mud floor.

“Time, Tremelox!”

“Ninety-four seconds.”

“Knit my spine together for fuck’s sake!”

“You are receiving more damage than I can possibly heal. Time to death is thirty-two seconds without external aid.”

“So we win.”

“Only if we take no more damage.”

“Fat fucking chance. Bitch is a psycho.”

Josh forced himself around, his lower body flopping over. Facing her as she looked down at him. He grinned again. “Still not killed me, and time is running out!”

“Sweetheart, I’m just playing with you. Gotta keep the troops happy. But you still get to fail, just like all the others. I have plenty of time for one last attack.” She shook her head, her annoyance plain to see. “And I had such high hopes for you.” The wind blade rose like a guillotine, falling toward Josh’s neck.

“Not gonna be that easy,” he cried, tilting his head up, folding his arms over his neck as he hoped for the best.

The blade struck.

“One hundred and twenty seconds.”

Chapter Twelve

“CUT TO THE CHASE, Tremelox. Am I dead?”

It seemed an odd thing to ask. He clearly wasn’t dead or else he wouldn’t be able to ask the question. He’d heard of the small amount of time that a mind lived while the body died, and he assumed that was where he was.

Rhina was a beast—there was no doubt in Josh’s mind that she was holding back right until the end. Nor was there any doubt that he’d very nearly made it. Although whether she’d been playing with him, like a child persecuting a bug, he didn’t have a clue. The guillotine at the end had left him sure that she’d meant to kill him. So, it was just a question of whether she’d played with him up until that point. She certainly hadn’t been in a hurry.

“We received several boosts from Vella. It appears that Rhina allowed her influence once she deemed the battle over. Those boosts have enabled me to accelerate your healing. However, the damage was catastrophic and rebuilding you will take some time.”

“Do me a favor and spare me the tedious notifications.”

“I will say that both your durability and speed where severely lacking. It is also clear that magic resistance was woeful as was combat instinct. Strength and poison resistance did not come into it. I will assess the available improvements that can be made as I reconstruct your body. I will have to weave in certain improvements as I do that. This is unavoidable if you wish to progess. Any spare improvement available can be allocated and the improvements made once you are functional again.”

“But we’re still alive?”

“Very much so.”

“Then we won,” Josh said, and he rested back within his body as Tremelox set about healing him.

“We did.”

“Reconstruction is nearly complete.”

“How are we looking?”

“You went through four differing upgrades caused by the catastrophic damage. With each I had to increase your arcane resistance by a point due to the weave in your epidermis. This upgrade point was not negotiable. It also increased your skin’s toughness, which automatically added a further four points to your durability score. This increase is currently redundant due to your other stats lagging behind. I could, however, repair you without affecting your speed. There is slack there to improve, and I would suggest it. With minor tweaking we could improve your speed by five points more. Your combat instinct also has an upgrade of two points. I’d suggest using this for the purpose served. You will need to think faster to keep up with your body.”

“Could we put two into strength and three into speed and agility. I recognize strength wasn’t seen as deficient, but if I’d have hit her harder…”

“Due to your body’s enhanced durability, your framework could take a two-point increase in strength should you wish. Further modifications would only be available once evolution has occurred.”

“Evolution?”

“The additional points attained mean you have exceeded the threshold for Savage Warden. Your body will be able to reform its defenses in line with the next protocols.”

“The next protocols?”

“The evolution will increase your bone density, improve the efficiency of your central nervous system, and allow for denser muscle mass to enable more power to evolve. Your senses and reaction times will improve, and your ability to endure will catch up with your durability. I will be able to manufacture a better battle suit. It will also open quantum storage within my lattices where we can store the battle suit and call it at will.”

“That sounds…” Josh paused. “It sounds fucking awesome. I’ll not lie.”

“You appear to be in a safe place. I would suggest we begin the evolution without delay. I can roll in the other improvements with the upgrade. It may result in a small increase to your statistics by virtue of the increased density of your bone structure and muscle mass.”

“No time like the present.” He tried to relax, but his heart thumped with anticipation. “Are we sure the girls are okay?”

“They are all with you.”

“Are we back in the attic?”

“No. We are in a wagon traveling away from Mothrell. I have no more information than that. Commencing body cleanse.”

“Body cleanse?”

“Your choices of food and drink are strange. I need to purify your body before I begin.”

“Well, I’m not changing for anybody.”

“Evolution commencing.”

Josh floated in a dark void while his mind shielded him from the pain of his transformation. He mulled over the fight, still not quite comprehending the ruthlessness Rhina’s victory. She had battered him, and he hadn’t stood a chance. Her wind blade alone could have finished him off, and he hadn’t even managed to scratch her. But he’d been without his armor. She hadn’t allowed that. Under normal combat conditions, he’d have had that to protect him. Although while he had the feeling it might not have been enough, it would have given him time to understand the true nature of her assault. He might have discovered an angle.

He had lived to fight another day, and he’d fight it as a Savage Warden. All he had to do was survive whatever trip he was on.

“Upgrade and evolution complete.”

Josh kept his eyes closed, pulling up his modified sheet.

Name: Josh Underwood

Rank: Savage Warden

Subrank: Verdant Sentinel

Attributes:

Strength = 50

Speed and Agility = 51

Durability = 64

Combat instinct = 50

Arcane resistance = 49

Poison resistance = 44

Total – 308

No of points needed to next promotion =52

Perception: Active for all threats.

Pain Management - On

“You will notice that both strength and combat instinct have improved to the threshold required to qualify as Verdant Sentinel. With some tweaking, your poison resistance will increase to that level. I simply need you to experience poisoning to analyze the weak spots. Arcane resistance can also be tweaked in the same way. You may wake now. I believe your journey is at an end.”

“Timing, Tremelox, perfect timing.”

“Morning, afternoon, evening, ladies,” he said with a smile. “Say hello to your local friendly Savage Warden.”

Arabella jerked away. “Why do you have to do that? Why? Every time you go and get yourself battered to death, you have to suddenly wake up and scare—” She stared at him. “You evolved?”

He looked around the wagon. Black stained the inside of its canvass canopy, as well as the wooden boards and his mattress. A stench of death and rot filled it. He lifted his arm. Black gunk crusted it. “What the fuck?”

“It happened again. Black crud spewed from every part of you.” She looked away. “It was horrific.”

“Shit,” he said. “Must have been the purification thing he was talking about. Sorry.”

“There’s no need. Your screams, the agony you went through, was it worth it?” Arabella rested her hand on his, then drew it away. “Will it help? She destroyed you.”

“Don’t,” he said. “Don’t think like that. Think how powerful we can become. Look at Rhina as an aspiration, not as someone to fear. We knew how powerful they were. We saw it with Lux.” He reached for her, recoiling when he saw the state of his hands. “Fuck! I must have been full of crud!” He swung his legs off the bed. “Where are the others?”

“We all have horses. They’re riding. The Hangsane really is quite beautiful when you aren’t running for your life.”

He sniffed then sighed. “Yeah, I guess I’ve hardly looked around. First the stone snakes, then the goblins, and it’s been mayhem ever since.”

She reached for him, this time grabbing him. “Are you stronger now? Do you think you would stand a chance?”

“No. She was miles ahead of me. If I used my suit, then maybe. But the gulf in class was huge.”

“But you narrowed it?”

“Yeah, we narrowed it. It’s no fun getting my ass handed to me, but hell, it has its benefits. She must have messed me up really good. I got double-digit points.”

“You were a mess—little more than a bloody pulp.”

“I got myself new armor,” he whispered.

“Show me.”

Then Josh remembered that Tremelox had said he’d opened up quantum storage, and that his new armor was in there. “Hold on, Bels. I’ve just got to ask the ring something.”

“Tremelox, what’s the deal with quantum storage? And why didn’t we have it before?”

“Quantum storage is standard issue for all higher tier warriors. It only becomes available at Savage Warden and above as the energy needed to form and maintain the space is unfeasible at lower levels. You can use it to store varying items, but armor and weapons have a separate chamber that I can equip with a simple thought. You may also access the storage using the menu, and you may place items in the storage, see an inventory or remove the items. It is more efficient for armor as it can be made from the surrounding elements rather than your bodily make up.”

“So, I can store loot.”

“You can.”

“And spare clothes.”

“Yes.”

“Awesome.”

“Do I still have clothes?” he asked.

“Rhina made sure you had extra pants and boots. She delivered five sets in total.” Arabella pointed to a neat clothes pile. “Black and gold?”

“More of a mustard color,” Josh mused, slipping the pants on and taking a shirt. “You wanna know the best thing about this evolution?”

She nodded.

“I got me a wardrobe.” The shirt blinked out of existence.

“Where’d it go?” she asked.

“Right here.” He pulled up his inventory, selected the shirt and brought it out of storage.

“That is way cool. Can you store all sorts of stuff in there? Like shoes—if I get a load of shoes, can I keep them in there? And pots, plates and pans and stuff for camping. Ooh! Blankets and bedding? A bed! A fucking bed. We could take our own bed wherever we go.” She clasped her hands to her breast. “It’ll be perfect, Josh, just perfect.”

He squeezed his face up. “I was thinking more along the lines of weapons and loot. It’s probably only small. It is level one.”

She fixed him a stare. “Some weapons, but a lot of camping stuff. And my shoes. Don’t forget my shoes.”

“Got it. Now I’ve got to find me a stream or river—some place to get this crud off me.”

“If you had a bath in your storage, you wouldn’t have to.”

“It’s not that big,” Josh said.

“Tremelox, exactly how big is it?”

“The storage is ample. It is the size of a decent barn. It is there to incentivize you to fight and gain riches.”

“You mean loot?”

“It is also known as loot.”

“Bad news, Bels. The storage area is for weapons and loot only.”

She narrowed her eyes. “Why don’t I believe you?”

He ducked out of the wagon, holding on as he acclimated to his surroundings. They traveled a mud trail through a deciduous forest. Melody and Lex both rode behind, looking dead tired until they spotted Josh. Both rode up to him, while the huge goons behind them grumbled and grouched about something.

“There a river around here?” he asked.

“We’re following one. You see it every now and then. We’ll camp soon,” Melody said as Lex put her thumb and forefinger in her mouth and let out a shrill whistle.

“He’s awake!” she cried, prompting the sound of pounding hooves to reach a new crescendo. Cassandra and Vella appeared along with Rhina.

“You’re healed?” the elven fighter asked, narrowing her eyes as she looked him up and down.

“I am. Took a little longer than usual, but then you messed me up really bad.”

Rhina nodded. “I did. You were barely functioning. How did she heal you from out here?” She looked at Vella.

“Didn’t,” Vella said. “Didn’t use heals once safe. Can’t use heals for that. Just needs power, and he had plenty.”

“You healed yourself? I’ve heard of the type. Battle healers? Are you a battle healer, Josh?”

He pondered the idea. On one hand it would be cool to be able to heal yourself on the fly. But on the other, it was a healer! Who wanted to be classed as a healer? “I have an in-built ability to heal myself. Vella can accelerate it, but no, I’m not a healer. I wouldn’t know where to start. It’s more like a really good immune system, one that can stitch wounds back together, stuff like that.”

“But you heal yourself,” said Rhina. “No one could have come back from that beating without a mark. You kept coming at me. Your hands! Your hands were ruined.”

He lifted them, flexing his fingers. “Miraculous, isn’t it,” he said with a grin. “But, what I really need is a bath or a river. Gotta get this black crap off me.”

“We’re close to the dwelling. You will have accommodation there. I need to ponder this latest information. To be able to repair yourself like that is a valuable talent indeed. It is one I would wish to learn.”

He squeezed his face up. “It’s not something I can teach.” Cassandra gave him a look but chose to say nothing. Josh matched Rhina’s stare. “I’m not a healer. Vella told you. I told you.”

She sniffed the air. “But you did heal yourself.”

Josh retreated into the wagon. “I’ve got a bad feeling about this.”

“I heard,” Arabella said. “She’s not going to let it go.”

“But there’s nothing I can do. I can’t share it. That effect fades. I can’t exactly tell her my story either. Not now that we know the aliens existed. Not now that we understand the origin of the Hangsane’s power. I’ll be a circus freak, or worse, they’ll find a way to use me.”

“All of a sudden our powerful savior has become a little more sinister.”

“It’s the Hangsane. Everyone is after something. Nothing is free. We know this. We just need to work out her angle and somehow bend it to ours.”

“You know what worries me most?”

“What?”

“That I can sit here in this stench just to be with you. That’s worrying.” She smiled, and he whole face lit up. “I’m so glad to have you back.”

They travelled on for a few more hours. Josh and Arabella stayed in the cart, sitting in silence for the most part. He replayed the fight in his mind, trying to spot a weakness in Rhina’s attack or defense, but seeing nothing. He consulted with Tremelox, but the ring only came up with one conclusion. She was too strong for him. Eventually, after climbing for some time, the cart ground to a halt and the sound of riders dismounting signaled their arrival. Josh took a breath. “Let’s see where we are.” He swept the wagon’s dust blanket aside and stood, looking over a flat yard at a parapet wall and an enormous drop. “Fuck, we climbed some,” he said, getting out.

“You are healed,” Helm said, walking brusquely towards him. “We are to stay here. It is within an associate guild’s territory. There is one road in, one out. It’s as good as a prison without her saying it.” Helm pointed to Rhina who, along with her dozen or so riders, was riding back down the trail.

“It doesn’t look too bad,” Melody said, turning to Josh. “Not as bad as you do. What the fuck’s that smell? Is it you?”

He grunted. “I said I needed a bath a few hours ago. Perhaps one of Cassandra’s showers.”

“Well, darling, looks like we have a place where we can rest and recoup, so let’s make the most of it.” She nodded behind him. “It looks quite luxurious. I for one won’t mind staying here for a few days.”

Josh turned staring at the building perching on the mountain. It resembled a terraced villa, a piece of architecture enjoying pillars, sweeping archways, a terracotta roof and pools that overflowed, one to another. A bright blue sky framed all apart from the mountain’s side with its lush and green ground. “It is idyllic,” Josh admitted. “Could be worse places to reside while we work out a way to break out.”

“Explore,” Vella said. She ran off, jumping up a few steps and diving into a pool.

“You get to wash in that one,” Arabella said, pointing to a pool at the very edge of the yard. “Looks like the water falls over the ledge after. Your crud can go with it.”

“That sounds amazing,” Josh said, already walking toward it. “You think we’re on our own?”

“If they have a cook and a cleaner, then I’m all for it,” Cassandra said. “But I’ll settle for alone. That works for me too. I have some new angles on my magic I want to try.” She bent by the pool. “In you get. Melody’s right. You stink bad. If we dump all our stuff in here after, I’ll give it all a wash.”

Josh grinned at her. “You’re going to lose your shit when I tell you about my storage.” He jumped into the pool.

He wasn’t wrong.

Chapter Thirteen

CASSANDRA PACED THE LARGE, open planning room. Her footsteps echoed on the terracotta floor as she circled the central fire pit. Josh lazed on a thick fur draped over a long, two-seater chair. Melody and Lex sat at the long table, finishing off the meat platter. Arabella brushed Elowen’s gleaming hair. Helm watched from the room’s corner, sitting on an armchair with her feet up.

“Is that elf still in the pool? She’s been there since we arrived,” the witch snapped.

“Do you need her here?” Josh asked, pouring himself some more wine.

“Need, no, but she does have good insight, and Rhina is an elf.”

“The issue,” said Arabella, “is one of trust. Do we trust Rhina? The answer is no. It’s that simple. So, knowing that, how do we proceed?”

“We attempt to escape,” Cassandra said.

“To where?” Helm asked. “We are on a guild mountain. Now, I’m not sure which guild Rhina is in, but I’ll wager several gold this mountain doesn’t belong to her. I’ll further wager we are the guests of a lower guild in some way affiliated to her. Whatever happens here, she’ll walk away squeaky clean. But one thing’s for sure, we’ll not get off this mountain without a fight.”

“We must make use of her offer,” Elowen said. “She informed Josh she would educate us in the ways of the Hangsane. Unless that’s changed we should take advantage of that to learn the guilds and the protocols. All we know at the moment is we’re headed to the ruins. If we knew more, we might have a chance.”

“Plus,” Melody said. “We haven’t experimented with that.” She pointed to the locket around Helm’s neck.

The drow held it up. “This? It is probably similar to the Sinter Stone. That stone binds and progresses folk near it. It makes societies more cohesive. It allows them to work together more effectively.”

Cassandra laughed, holding her staff up. “We’ve had a Sinter Stone for a while now, and nothing’s changed with us.”

Helm laughed. “You don’t see it?”

“See what?” Cassandra snapped.

“I notice it every day. You’re like one big unit. Elowen plans. Cassandra acts. Arabella cares. Melody plots. Lex guards. Vella dreams, and Josh fights. You are one functioning unit, and you are advancing. Melody took out a colony of vampires, for fuck’s sake.”

“We are not a unit!” Cassandra said.

Josh made a strangled noise. “Meh… Helm sees it as someone new. She’s probably got quite an accurate take on it. But the way I see it, who the fuck cares? If the Sinter Stone brings us even closer or if it helps us, then I’m all for it.”

“Put it like that, and I don’t care. Speaking of the stone.” Cassandra unclipped it from the staff. “Should we put it in your storage?”

“What storage?” Melody asked.

“Didn’t he tell you?” Arabella asked, then went on to explain, mentioning her shoes several times.

“So you could put all my mixing stuff in there—I could have more powders and more liquids. I could build a bunch of grenades, and you could keep hold of them.”

Elowen cleared her throat. “He can definitely store my notes in there, and if we come across a library, then he could file away a load of books.”

Helm shot up. “What storage? Where? You have a trunk?”

Josh furrowed his brow. “You don’t know about storage?”

He’d assumed it was a thing. It had been in his games, and he’d assumed if the ring had it, then it might be a thing.

“I know what storage is, but all the stuff they are talking about, that’s a wagon load.”

Josh picked up his wine jug. “You don’t have this here?” The jug vanished.

Helm blinked, walking around his chair, looking under it, searching behind him. “Where’s it gone? Is it magic?”

“I suppose, in a way.” He pulled the bottle back out. “It’s the ring.” He stared at his finger. “If this is unique, it could be a huge advantage.”

Jumping up, he picked up his drow sword, putting it straight into storage. “Watch.”

He walked up to Cassandra, judging the distance, then pulled the sword out, its tip inches from her belly. “I could store duplicate weapons for each of you. If we get disarmed, no problem.” He turned to Helm. “This really isn’t a thing?”

“I’ve never seen it. Not even in The Magicals. I’ve seen mages make things vanish and reappear, but they use translocation. I take it this is different.”

“So fucking good.” Lex drooled. “Could you pull a weapon out and have it appear halfway in someone’s body? Like skewer them without them seeing it coming?”

“Unsure. It’s quite new to me as well. Like I said earlier, I evolved. This storage is new, and so is my armor, although I haven’t equipped that yet. It’s changed as well. Apparently, it’s an actual suit of armor that’s held in my storage. I equip and unequip it.”

“Why haven’t you tried it on?”

“I was waiting until there are no prying eyes.”

“There are none. They’ve gone now,” Vella said, walking in. “Got bored watching me swim. Went back down the mountain. We’re all alone.”

“You were on look out all the time?” Arabella asked, wrapping a blanket around Vella.

“You want some food?” Melody asked as Lex pulled out a chair.

Josh sniggered. “One single family unit, alright.”

“It wasn’t a criticism,” Helm said, offering him the locket. “You think this would be better hidden away.”

“Not now. I think we need to experiment with that. If the Sinter Stone has affected us, imagine what that might do.”

“What have you got in mind?”

“We spar tomorrow—you teach Arabella, Mels and Els in front of the open locket. Let’s see if they progress quicker.”

“Are you just rambling to put off trying on your new armor?” Arabella asked.

“Damn right,” Josh said. “No not sure, but I’m nervous as fuck.”

Cassandra pushed her staff under his chin. “No time like the present.”

Nerves overcame Josh. He really wanted something special, but what had Tremelox had to work with? The entity had said he could gather materials from the external environment, but he’d been in a cart the whole time. Plus—how? But then another thought came to him. If Tremelox could control the quantum world to offer him storage, could he pluck any element he wanted from what Josh perceived as thin air?

It’s possible…

He took a breath.

“Why the wait?” Cassandra asked. She bit her lip.

“It’s my first real promotion. I’ve gone up in rank. Just worried I’ve built it up too much and am expecting something spectacular when all I’ll get is a slightly upgraded version of what I had.”

Arabella grabbed his hand. “It will be better. That’s all that counts. It’ll be better and remember, you fought Rhina with nothing. You have nothing to lose.”

“No, but I want it to be good because that will give me the incentive to put myself through hell to get to the next rank up.”

“It will be fine,” Cassandra said. “You might even get close to me in power. If you’re lucky.”

“Typical mage,” Josh scoffed, recalling his gaming days again. “All attack, but fragile as a fuck in a brawl.”

“Darling, they have to get close to me to land a punch. Anyway, you’re not the only one progressing. I have a whole new branch of elemental magic that’s suddenly forced itself into my mind.”

“For real?”

“Yes. I always had fireballs and fire related spells, but now I have this strange branch called Ember Rage. You put on your flash suit. Perhaps we’ll have a little match up after.”

Josh grinned. “You’re so on. Tremelox, equip the new armor.”

“Armor equipping.”

Josh lifted his hand, waiting, expecting to see his skin change, perhaps a river of scales flow up his fingers and encase his arms. Instead, a series of rapid thuds drew gasps from the girls as first, a thick plate encased his torso, then his groin, legs, feet, arms and hands. Darkness fell once more as something snapped around his head.

Savage Warden initiated for the first time.

Molding to host’s body.

Strengthening.

Adding elastic movement.

Reinforcing.

Adding sound.

Adding vision.

Adding vision toggling.

Adding touch.

Adding breathing function.

Ready for testing.

His vision returned. Everything was clearer.

Cassandra stared at him with her mouth agape. “What the actual fuck?”

Arabella backed away with her hand over her mouth. “Shit.”

Melody darted up to him, pawing over him. “Makes my inventions look fucking primitive.”

“That is so badass,” Lex said as Elowen looked up and down from a piece of paper, sketching fast.

Vella jumped on the table, clapping and laughing.

But it was Helm’s reaction that truly drew his attention. He’d never seen the drow scared, but she looked downright terrified.

“What does it look like?” Josh asked.

“Like nothing I’ve ever seen before,” Arabella said. “It’s emerald green, shiny like copper, with white flashes. There are lights cycling too. One across where I guess your eyes are, and others like blood vessels.”

Tremolox’s voice flowed over him. It was like the AI surrounded him.

“We will need to test out the suit so that we can gauge your statistics correctly while armored. Once a base line is established, progression points will be allocated, and a path toward the next rank, Crimson Guardian, can be mapped.”

“You mean the suit gives me stats?”

“The suit enhances your ability to perform, therefore, by default, it increases your power. The difference between this and the previous iterations is that the suit will advance as you do.”

“Are you telling me the suit gets stats too?”

“It does.”

“Well fuck a duck that’s cool. What do you need me to do?”

“It would be helpful if you could run from the villa to the main trail up then scale the mountain for a short while before dropping back down.”

“Scale the fucking mountain?”

“Indeed.”

“Gotta go for a run,” he told the girls, and walked to the villa’s front door. He took a breath. The air entering his mouth tasted strange, too pure, and it was like he needed less of it. “Air intake, Trem?”

“All air is filtered to remove airborne poisons and any contaminates. I can increase or lower your oxygen saturation dependent on need. This will increase your durability and poison resistance stats. As your HUD develops, so the ability to refine the parameters it operates in increases, thus leading to more enhanced stats.”

“This is a HUD, a fucking HUD?” Josh asked, but it was rhetoric. He knew what a HUD was. It stood for Heads Up Display and basically described anything that was more than just a helmet. “Have I told you I love you lately?”

He didn’t wait for a reply. Pushing off, he ran for the trail. It was hard going at first, the suit sluggish around him. But as he reached the trail, he noticed his speed increase, and his ease of movement improved.

“The suit is designed to take its primary power from your core—that being the muscle group in your abdomen. From there, your power radiates to every part of your body. Think of it as your foundation. The stronger your core, the better the suit will work. The item covering your torso adds points to both your strength and your speed and agility. It is a statistic you can influence directly through training.”

“Ab crunches here I come!” Josh cried inside the armor.

He looked up at the villa, at the mountain, and then at the night sky. “Is my night vision better? It looks like dusk, but I know it’s later than that.”

“The HUD adjusts to the passing time of day. It also toggles. A human eye has a range of vision of one hundred and fifty degrees. Both eyes combine to make one hundred and eighty degrees. The default setting for the HUD is one hundred and eighty degrees. You can set it from zero to three hundred and sixty. As the HUD progresses other options will become available such as the ability to see heat, ultraviolet and infrared. Further progressions will allow you to see varying types of magical power as well as interact with the quantum realm.”

“Have I said how much I love you?” he asked again, then set off.

He passed the villa in seconds, running far faster than he ever had before. The path twisted around the structure with steps interspersed. He jumped the steps, finding his strength felt incredible. He ran through gardens behind, hurdling a small stockade and ducking through some brush. A slope awaited him. Scree surrounded scattered boulders while the scrub brush was sparse with skinny and gangly trees. Josh climbed, knowing he should at least be out of breath, but Tremelox’s constant updates relayed the reason he wasn’t.

“Adjusting oxygen saturation.”

“Modifying legs.”

“Increasing core resistance.”

Josh came to a sheer rockface around thirty feet high. “You want me to climb up here?”

“I do.”

“Alrighty, let’s see if this suit can make me bounce.”

He assessed the face, spotting the handholds he’d need, then clambered up. He found each foot and handhold easily, springing up as if the climb was nothing. Soon at the top, he spun around, sitting and enjoying the view. The Hangsane spread away, magnificent in the darkness. Clouds swirled around rugged peaks that dropped to deep valleys. The place was as powerful as the races that inhabited it. For the first time, Josh wondered if he was one of them.

“Could you jump down please?”

The request broke Josh’s muse. “Say what?”

“Could you jump down. I need to assess the level of impact resistance and adjust as necessary.”

“Couldn’t you just crank it up to the max?”

“For every increase there is a corresponding decrease in speed and agility. The tradeoff needs to be the minimum possible to attain the maximum possible benefit.”

“Got you,” Josh said. “Okay. Here goes nothing!”

He dropped like a stone, bracing, smashing into the scree which gave away under him, sending him rolling down the slope, smashing into boulders, and flying over small ridges. But rather than scream and shout, Josh couldn’t help but laugh. Nothing hurt. The suit absorbed every ounce of pain he should have received.

“You gotta be shitting me!” he cried. “You have got to be shitting me!” he repeated over and over until he crashed into one final boulder and came to a halt. “That good enough for you, Trem?”

“It will enable me to gauge your resistance, yes. I will recalibrate the suit presently. Could you punch the boulder with each hand please.”

“Sure thing!”

He smashed it with his right hand. Then pounded it with his left. A slight ringing on his knuckles radiated up his hands, but nothing like he expected. “Fuck, these gloves are awesome!”

“Could you kick it too. A martial arts type kick if you will.”

Josh kicked the boulder, switching from foot to foot then trying a couple of roundhouses. “Felt them,” he said.

“I will adjust for the pain. You can increase the suit’s resistance through practice. It will attune more directly to your body than through my interference alone.”

“Gotcha. I get to train myself and the suit from now on. Say, is it sentient?”

“It has a degree of sentient adaption.”

He resisted telling Tremelox he loved him. “Anything else?”

“If you wish to continue, you could immerse yourself in one of the pools so that I can monitor passive oxygen usage when deprived of air. That way we can allocate some space within your storage to negate situations where you may become deprived of air.”

“That sounds awesome.”

I wonder if a progression boner is a thing? If it is, I have got a raging hard on for this suit!

He jumped into the first pool, sinking to the bottom before floating back up.

“Adjusting buoyancy,” Tremelox said.

Josh sank to the pool’s bottom.

“If you could breathe normally. I will monitor your oxygen usage and lower your bodily functions to the minimum viable state. As soon as we have a base line, I can then multiple it by the required amount and allocate the amount needed into your storage. That duration required is entirely up to you to set. However, I would make you aware that the oxygen will take up a lot of space. So, a few minutes would fill the space as by its very nature the gas will be hard to contain.”

“A long-winded way of saying a minimal amount,” Josh said.

He waited, sitting patiently until his mind began to dull and his vision blurred. Floating to the pool’s surface, oxygen washed into him, clearing the fog.

“Get everything you need?”

“Yes. How much would you like to keep in storage?”

Josh thought about it. A minute sounded short, but in reality, it was quite a long time. He could only see himself use it for hiding, and guessed he’d get some notice if he was likely to need more.

“If things look like they’re going wrong, I can add more, yes?

“Of course, although depending on how much might mean you have to sacrifice some stored items.”

“A minute?” he asked.

“That will take up a small portion of space.”

“Anything else you need?”

“That will give me enough to work on while you sleep.”

Josh climbed out of the pool. “If you think I’m sleeping, you’re sadly mistaken. Ever heard of a progression boner?”

Chapter Fourteen

JOSH WOKE WITH A START. He’d fallen asleep in a chair. Cassandra lay between his legs, his dick still in her hand. Vella slept with her head resting on Cassandra’s lap. Arabella and Elowen lay face down by the fire pit. Lex and Melody had made it to the bedrooms, but only because they’d gone to bed before they’d passed out. His progression had made him particularly insatiable, wearing out each of the girls in turn before he’d finally succumbed.

While Helm hadn’t joined in the lovemaking, she hadn’t shied away as much as before either. She’d laughed and joked as they’d pleasured each other. At one point she’d fallen into a long, passionate kiss with Vella. But her awkwardness had won out, and she’d eventually wandered away, bathing in the pool and staring at the moon.

The soft monotone voice he’d long associated with Tremelox pierced his sleep’s fog.

Suit calibration complete.

Adding statistics.

Torso: +2 Strength, +3 Speed and Agility, +2 Arcane Resistance, +2 Durability

Legs: +2 Speed and Agility, +1 Strength

Feet: + 2 Speed and Agility, +1 Strength

HUD: +3 Durability +2 Poison Resistance +5 Combat Instinct

Arms: +2 Strength, +1 Speed and Agility

Gloves: +2 Strength, +1 Speed and Agility

Name: Josh Underwood

Rank: Savage Warden

Subrank: Verdant Sentinel

Attributes:

Strength = 50 (+8 equipped)

Speed and Agility = 51 (+9 equipped)

Durability = 64 (+5 equipped)

Combat instinct = 50 (+6 equipped)

Arcane resistance = 49 (+2 equipped)

Poison resistance = 44 (+2 equipped)

(additional stats) = added effect when suit equipped

Total – 308

No of points needed to next promotion =52

Perception: Active for all threats.

Pain Management - On

“Twenty-seven points!” Josh said. “Twenty-seven fucking points!”

Cassandra stirred. “Twenty-seven what?”

Josh slipped out of the chair, standing, equipping his armor. “This—this suit is worth twenty-seven points!”

He raced outside with a spring in his step. “Twenty-seven points,” he shouted at a sleeping Helm, then ran to the gate. His speed stunned him. The ease of movement and the lack of effort took his breath away. He skidded to a halt before racing up to the mountain side. When he came to the rockface, he leapt up it, grabbing the footholds and pulling himself onto the ledge. He cackled as he spun to sit, looking over the Hangsane.

“You’re mine. You’re fucking mine,” he said.

Yes, he’d been kicked down a peg or two by Rhina, but he still had progression available to him. He simply had to fight for his life to get it.

“I’m going to own you,” he growled. “Okay, Tremelox, what’s the plan?”

“The plan?”

“We need to get strong and fast. We’re stuck here with no idea what the fuck Rhina intends to do with us. We can’t trust what she says, so we can’t sit still. I don’t appear to need as much sleep as I did, so what are we going to do?”

“The first stages of evolution certainly rely on damage to assess weakness. This is because it takes a while for an assistant to understand its host. Therefore it reacts to weakness rather than promotes strength. As we have fostered a different relationship…”

“You mean as we’re working together. Say it like it is, Trem.”

“As we are working together, I can ask you to follow certain procedures and then tweak your body as we go.”

“Like we did with the suit?”

“Like that.”

“So, tell me what to do.”

Tremelox paused. Josh stared up at the stars, wondering if he wasn’t turning into a Grillon. He had to tread a careful line. He certainly couldn’t risk the AI having thoughts of dominating him. But, Tremelox appeared to be towing the line, so his request was worth the risk.

“You could climb the mountain.”

Josh looked around—looked up and up and up. “All the way?”

“You have several hours before morning. An endurance test might yield improvements in speed and agility.”

“Durability?”

“Your durability already exceeds your sub rank. While it helps speed improvements to other stats, it is still better to have level stats. It increases the suits efficiency.”

Josh stood. “Then let’s climb the mountain, or as much as I can before breakfast.”

He grabbed the first handhold, pulling himself up easily—too easily—and overshooting the next. So he reached for a higher one, grabbing that and springing up to the next. He hit a rhythm quickly, propelling himself up the mountainside. When he reached the next bluff, he rested again.

“You get anything?”

“I have assessed your upper arm strength, and it is proving perfectly adequate. The rhythm of your movements is a little out of sync, which would suggest a deficiency in agility.”

The villa was way below them. Josh estimated he’d climbed a hundred feet or more. Yet he felt great. It was hard for him to understand how he could improve so quickly. With that admission, he questioned whether Tremelox could improve him without proven deficiencies.

“It’s the suit’s boost, isn’t it. That’s what’s making this so easy. I mean, twenty-seven points is half a sub-level,” Josh said out loud.

“You are experiencing the power of the suit. As it evolves it will become your equal, contributing as much as you do.”

It made sense. “Well, let’s crack on.” Another hundred-foot cliff face waited for him. He thumped his fist into his palm. “Let me try speed climbing. Trem, plot out the handholds on an overlay so I can just lunge for them. We’re going to smoke this climb.”

“All available handholds will be highlighted in gold.”

A path lit up, ascending the climb. Josh jumped for the first, then pulled himself up for the second, third, and fourth. He sped up with a grin nearly as wide as his visor. “Hell yeah! We’re doing this, Trem. We’re really doing this! Let’s fly a bit more!” Increasing his speed, as his hands seemed to blur, he shot up the rockface.

Right until one hold came away in his hand.

“Oh shit!” he cried, lunging for another. But it had skewed his aim. His path blinked out as he spun around, hanging by one hand momentarily until that rock gave way too. “Tremelox!” he cried as he began falling. “Gotta think of something!” He reached for the rocks but had fallen too far away from the rock face. Forcing his body around, he bent his knees, readying himself to land on the rock bluff below.

It came fast. He smashed into it, forcing his legs to absorb the impact. He froze. “Am I hurt?”

“It appears you are unscathed.”

“Ha!” he said. “Ha!” He began laughing. “Aaargh!” he said, as the bluff cracked and gave way. “Ohhhh shit!” he cried, tumbling down. This time he was getting pounded by boulders, slashed by rock shards and crushed by giant slabs of rock. He crashed into the lowest bluff, bouncing off it. He fell free for one moment before crashing onto the scree slope the next, rolling over and over. “Hoooolly craaaap!” he cried, smashing into clumps of vegetation, slowing and getting hit by rock after rock and boulder after boulder.

“Hmmmm,” he muttered, sitting up and looking at the devastation above. “I feel good, Trem. How are we looking?”

“Some minor bruises that I will heal in a moment. The suit held up well, as did your body. There are currently no improvements available.”

“Well, that’s the bad news, I suppose. I just fell off a mountainside and got crushed by rocks, but I didn’t improve. Does this mean I’m going to have to work even harder just to get a one-point increase?”

“It means that you will have to grow accustomed to your current power before you attempt things that might stretch its bounds. Now that you understand what won’t test you, you will need to work hard to find something that might.”

“I need a monster, Trem. I need a fucking great monster.”

“Testing yourself against a creature you think is more powerful than you is one way to do it.”

“I saw you.” Helm’s voice broke through his internal conversation, drawing him out to focus outside the armor. She stood by a pool, looking at him with apprehension in her eyes. “I saw you fall down that mountain. What have you turned into?”

Josh stared at her, the HUD’s enhanced vision picking out her every feature, highlighting her beauty, the contrast between her skin and hair, as well as the curves that made him so damn horny. He unequipped his suit, appearing before her. “It’s just me inside,” he said.

She reached out, touching his chest. Her fingers slid inside his jacket as if she needed to feel his warmth to reassure herself he was truly human. “Yes,” she said, her voice trembling. She scrunched her hand to a fist, crushing his shirt, grabbing it, then pulling him toward her. “You climbed that mountain like it was nothing. You ran up it, Josh. That’s what it looked like from here—an emerald streak ascending the mountain.”

“It was easy, Helm, so damn easy. The suite multiplies my power. No! No, not multiplies. That’s wrong. It adds to it. Does it look… does it look al—”

“It looks alien. Kind of evil, I suppose. The lights. The green. It looks like what it is—not of this world. It scares me, Josh. But knowing you’re inside excites me. The power excites me. I don’t understand.” She grabbed his hand, pulling it to her, before she lowered it, placing it between her legs. “Watching you did this to me.”

Her pants were wet with heat radiating from her. Josh gasped, her actions taking him by surprise. She let his hand go as hers snaked around his neck, pulling him close. He slid his hand up, letting it rest on her belly for a moment. Then he slid it back down, this time slipping inside her pants. She gasped as his fingers slid through her pubic hair and caressed her heat. His fingertips traced her slit, causing her to moan. She pressed herself against him, widening her legs as if desperate to feel him inside her.

He pushed against her, his chest pressing against hers as he held his groin back, giving his hands room to work. Their lips met, pressing softly at first but then with more pressure. The tips of their tongues met, swirling around each other. They were no longer strangers but performing a familiar dance.

The desire to feel inside her consumed Josh’s focus. His finger slipped into her tight, wet channel. Its passage was easy as her warm and moist pussy welcomed him. She thrust forward again, as he brought his other hand around her, tugging at her shirt, pulling it up. Her lips straightened as her nervous laugh followed. She leaned away from him, pulling her shirt over her head and tossing it away. Moonlight shone upon her exposed breast. Her dark areolas peeked through her cascading white hair—silver with the night.

She tucked her thumbs into her pants, but hesitated as if she didn’t want to disturb his probing finger. He made the choice easy for her by reluctantly pulling his hand out of her pants. He quickly moved his jacket and shirt into his inventory as she pulled her pants down and stepped out of them.

“You’re so fucking beautiful,” he whispered.

“You can say that any time you want,” she said, stepping back toward him and draping her arms around him as she pressed her naked body into his. Her groin ground into his trapped cock.

“Are you sure?” he asked.

“I’m sure. I wanted to join in earlier. But I also wanted our first time to be just me and you. I wanted it to be special. What could be more special than this?”

He reached around, grabbing her tight ass and pulling it even closer. “Fuck, your ass is so tight.”

She kissed him again, prying his lips apart and invading him with true passion. Her hand dropped, searching him out and feeling his outline through his tight pants. She pressed the flat of her palm around him, her breath stopping and her tongue withdrawing from him. “I want to.”

He pulled her close again, wanting her so badly and knowing their time was close. She tugged at his pants, but they were too tight. He grinned, moving his pants and boots into his storage and standing naked before her with his cock engorged, twitching with power. “See,” he said. “It’s just me.”

She made to kneel, to go down on him like she’d seen the others do. He stopped her, bringing him to her. “They’ll be plenty of time for that later. I’d love you to pleasure me with your mouth, but…”

“Yes,” she whispered. “Yes.”

She pulled him down as she lay back on the rock surrounding the pool. He knelt over her, soaking in her beauty. Reaching, he cupped her, teasing her open with his fingers and spreading her wetness up and down her slit. “You’re ready?” he asked.

“Yes. Yes, do it,” she said, her voice suddenly husky. “I want it over.”

“Over?” he said, crestfallen.

“The first time. It’s like a hurdle that shouldn’t be there. It’s like a big thing that’s stopping me fitting in. I want it done, so I can relax and be part of your family.”

He sighed, disappointed. It should be something beautiful, something to cherish. He could make it better. It would be better. “You are part of my family already.” He closed on her, holding his cock close to her entrance. “We don’t need to do this. You are my wife, and I love you.”

“But you’re going to. Don’t think I won’t try and kick your ass if you don’t.” She grinned at him. Her eyes shone with gold, the same gold as the flashes on his new clothes.

He paused, her words confusing him, but then he soaked in her grin and the mischief in her eyes. He knew she’d passed from a nervous virgin to a seasoned lover without him even penetrating her. He pushed against her, easing inside and coming to an abrupt halt. A jerk of his ass saw him through her maidenhood. She gasped, the pain clearly hitting her, then she exhaled and relaxed, having met the challenge—having won. He slid inside, his breath flooding from him.

“I feel it too,” he admitted.

“What?” she asked, smiling with the aura of victory crowning her.

“Relief,” he said. “You were right. It was a barrier.”

“That barrier’s broken,” she said, pulling his head down. “Now fuck me like you fuck the others and don’t stop until you fill me full of your cum.”

“I won’t,” he replied, their lips meeting as he thrust in and out of her, his urgency quickly growing. “I won’t ever stop.”

“You better not,” she said, wrapping her lilac legs around him as she cried out, staring at the moonlight, at one with her man. “You better not stop until you cum.”

A while later, he rolled away, spent with his seed filling her. She lay beside him, her breasts proudly swaying with each breath with her nipples erect. She reached down, running her finger along her lower lips, lifting it to the light and watching it shine.

“I was yours long before this, so why does it mean so much?”

“Because we are two, but we can be one. There is nothing more powerful.”

“No. Because we are eight, yet we can still be one. That is why. Before it was you and them and me and you. Now I understand.” She rolled onto her side, tracing a sigil on his chest with his cum shining. “Together, we are indestructible. I will join in next time.”

“You don’t have to.”

“No, no I don’t, but I damn well want to.” She stood. “Come. It’s time for bed. There are a couple of hours until dawn. We need to be up bright and early.”

“Why?”

“To start making the others strong.”

“What about the man on the mountain?”

She shrugged. “We might never get there.” Then she picked up her clothes. “We still have this mountain. We will get there.”

Chapter Fifteen

“WHAT THE FUCK did you do to her last night?” Arabella said, crawling over to Josh as he broke the pool’s surface.

“What?” he asked, shedding his armor.

“You know very well what. She hasn’t stopped all morning. I’m knackered, Josh. Absolutely exhausted.”

“Everyone in the family has a function, and hers is the trainer. You know that. We discussed it.” He grinned. “You gotta deal with it.”

“You ready, Josh?” Helm called.

Josh hopped out of the pool, pulling his pants on. “Yup. You got the measure of them all?”

“Yep. They’re all tested and exhausted.” She sheathed her sword. “Arabella, back in line, please.”

Cassandra chuckled. “Yes, back in line, Bels.”

“I don’t want to play anymore.”

“It’s not a game, soldier!” Vella said, marching up and down the short rank. “You four need to get fighting fit!” She dissolved into laughter, then dove in the pool.

“Come on,” Josh said. “You wanted to be badass. This is a start. I’ll trade places with you if you want.”

Melody scoffed. “You’re just going to stand there while Cassandra practices on you. How easy is that?”

Josh held out his hand. “Not quite that easy.” Helm tossed him the locket. “Let’s see what this baby can do.”

“You first, Lex,” Helm said.

“Thank fuck for that!” Arabella gasped and sat.

Lex approached the center of their makeshift square, holding up her sword which Helm touched gently with hers. “Wait,” she said, winking at Josh. “Wait for your eyes to grow accustomed to its bright light.”

Josh opened the locket, letting the Angel Stone bathe the pair in light. Helm immediately burst into action, attacking Lex with a quick sequence. Lex backed off, parrying, weaving, looking for a decent counter. Helm eased off, letting the assassin find her rhythm. Lex countered, the light from the stone flickering around the arena. The pair fought back and forth, Helm not giving a hundred percent while Lex might be giving more. Josh squeezed his eyes, seeing through the glare and trying to see a difference. The Sinter Stone taught those under its influence to become a unit, be it a civilization or a harem. Helm believed the Angel Stone focused more on power and execution.

“Is it working?” he asked, but neither girl answered.

Their strokes grew faster, more accurate. Helm focused more with the grin on her face gone. Lex countered hard, then attacked even harder. Back and forth they went until the assassin finally made a mistake and Helm pounced, driving her back, sending her tumbling into a pool.

“Ha!” Helm shouted as Josh closed the locket. “Did everyone feel that? Did you see the power?”

“You both fought well,” Melody said. “I could hardly keep up.”

Lex didn’t answer. She lay back in the water and laughed. “Fuck, that was incredible.”

Josh tossed the locket back to Helm. “What was?”

Lex answered, “The power. The harder I worked, the more it fueled me with its power. It was like a heal constantly running through me. It…” She closed her eyes then opened them again. “I can still feel its influence.” She scrambled to the edge of the pool. “We go again? Just like that? Can we fight like that again, Helm?”

“You must rest. If I’m right, the evolution is gradual. The power makes subtle alterations in you. Too much and you’ll end up burned out and dead like my former comrades.” Helm opened the locket, its shine bathing her face. “It’s as deadly as it is beautiful. Just a bit at a time. Melody, you’re next, but Josh and Cassandra first. It gives me a rest.”

“But it was only a few minutes,” Lex protested.

“And we’ll do more. But we take it slow.”

Cassandra rose, her staff in hand, the Sinter Stone back in its slot. “Get suited up. I’m going to try my new ember magic.”

Josh sighed. “I was afraid you’d say that.” He strolled over to an empty spot, calling for his armor and standing, legs slightly parted and arms by his side. “Helm?”

Helm held out the locket, opening it enough to bathe the pair in light. Cassandra held her Everdeep staff out, its jewel capturing the Angel Stone’s light. She muttered a few words, thrusting the staff forward. A swirling whirlwind of dust rose from the ground, forming a Josh-sized twister. The sandy dust turned gray, then glowed with red heat. She moved the twister closer to Josh as it grew in intensity. The heat spread from it, causing the others to back away.

“How we doing, Trem?”

“I fear we may be about to find ourselves lacking heat resistance. It is something I aligned with durability, but up until now we have rarely had to deal with prolonged attacks. When burned I have simple reconstructed your skin.”

“I kinda remember getting fried alive a couple of times.”

“This is hotter,” Tremelox said as the maelstrom enveloped them.

Josh felt it straight away. The heat made him wince. His vision clouded with hot embers all around him. Sweat popped on his head, quickly followed by searing pain. His magic resistance failed, swamped by Cassandra’s power. His durability faltered, overcome by the intense heat. He gasped, his whole body shrinking into itself as agony took root.

But then a new power entered him. It wasn’t Tremelox but something different. It opened pockets within him, which Tremelox filled. His agony waned as Tremelox countered the spell. But then the spell grew again, the embers swirling around him glowing even hotter.

“What the fuck’s happening, Trem?”

“I believe the Angel Stone is fueling Cassandra’s development, and then building your resistance. As it builds one, it has to counter with the other. It is an interesting conundrum.”

“Conundrum?”

“Something must lose eventually.”

Josh saw the threads of the Angel Stone’s power. White light permeated the embers. The heat consumed him, and the light rebuilt him. But Tremelox was right. Left unchecked it would collapse. It would end up destroying one or both of them.

Then the light vanished, and Helm shouted “Stop!”

The hot ash fell to the ground, and Josh realized he was kneeling, that Cassandra was kneeling too. But the witch smiled, and her smile was devilish as always. “I understand,” she said. “Fuck, I understand so much!”

Vella climbed out of the pool. She peered into Cassandra’s eyes. “Mana pool is much bigger.”

“I have the capacity to make some improvements,” Tremelox said. “I can raise your arcane resistance by two points. I believe the Angel Stone has improved you without my assistance.”

“That, Tremolox, is both exciting and terrifying.” Josh said the words, but he was grinning inside.

Helm repeated the process, training Elowen, Melody and Arabella. Each showed unexplained improvement—unexplained if the Angel Stone was discounted.

Josh sat with Vella. “What about you?” he asked.

“Don’t need training. I can do what I want.”

“But isn’t there anything else to your skill? Something other than moving mana and vigor around?”

“Can heal.” She cocked her head. “What else do you need? The witch will be all the power. You will be all the fight.”

“And the others?”

She smiled. “They’ll surprise you.” Vella slipped into the pool. “Wanna fool around?” She slipped her two piece off and floated seductively on her back.

“Hell yeah.”

“We have a visitor,” Melody said, pointing at the trail up. “Looks like the elf.”

Josh climbed out of the pool, pulling his pants on. He reached toward Helm who placed the Angel Stone in his open palm. With a blink, it vanished into his storage. He called Lex over.

“I should put the Warrior Core in storage too. If I’m right, it’ll be undetectable there.”

She handed it to him. “Funny, I feel nothing from it. I guess the glass really worked.”

He took it, storing it with the Angel Stone then grabbed a towel, drying himself enough to put his shirt on. He walked toward the approaching Rhina.

It had been four idyllic days, disturbed only by the arrival of food, courtesy of their host guild, who still remained anonymous. Josh paused, letting the elf come to him. “We were expecting you sooner.”

She paused. “Why? Is there a hurry? I thought you’d enjoy the respite.”

“We did,” he said, walking up the steps to the villa. “Can I get you something?”

“I would prefer it if we move inside. The sun burns me after a while, and we have things to discuss.”

“As you wish. We’re in your hands. Girls.”

She lofted an eyebrow. “You really do share all the choices.”

“We really do.”

She hesitated again. “The Angel Stone…Where is it?”

“Safe,” he said.

“But where? It is a powerful artifact. We cannot have it falling into the wrong hands. That would turn an opportunity into a disaster.”

“You can’t sense it?” Josh asked and immediately regretted it. He walked to their dining table, clearing the previous night’s plates away. “Getting a bit lax on tidiness. This place has too many chilled vibes.”

She lent him a quizzical look but said nothing. “The stone isn’t close. Where have you put it?”

“It is safe.” He sat, and the others joined him.

“If you think it will improve your bargaining position, then you are sadly mistaken. I can have a diviner here by nightfall, a direction soon after. Let me make something clear. You survive at my whim. You have the stone because I allow it. That is the balance of power here. It always will be.”

“Then why ask?” Josh grinned. “If you can find it straight away, does it matter where it is?”

“It matters very much,” Rhina snapped.

“It is hidden on the mountain,” Helm said, which technically wasn’t a lie.

“Lose it, and you all die. You, Josh, will be last. I’ll make sure you watch each of your wives suffer.” Her stare was ice cold. Power filled the room, the air suddenly thick with threat.

“If you even try and do that, then we get to have a rematch. You know I don’t die easy.”

“And I know your power can’t increase much in a few days. Such is the way of the Hangsane. A dog that forgets who its master is does not survive well here. But a faithful one eats well and flourishes. Do I make myself clear?”

Josh held his temper. “Crystal,” he said. “Absolutely crystal clear. Now, have you come here to make more threats, or are you going to keep up your end of our bargain?”

“Our bargain?”

“I’m a loose cannon. I’m running around with no clue slaughtering folk I have no business slaughtering. You were going to educate me.”

“That, well, yes. We’ll get to that over the next few days.” She drew a rolled scroll from her bag. “I need you to sign, make your mark, do what you wish with these. The first is a deed of ownership of the drab forests the vampires called home. Before you can sign it, you have to formally apply for guild status in the Hangsane.” She slid another scroll over to him. “That is your application all filled out. It’s been approved. Sign and it’s done.” She reached into her pocket and brought out a ring. “This is your guild ring. It will give you access to the power ladders, your guild’s estimated power, the deeds to all lands claimed by you, and any diplomacy you might have with other guilds. It is a simple affair, only complicated by affiliations and Houses. For instance, were you to join House A you would become subservient to all guilds of a higher ranking in that house.”

Josh passed the scrolls to Elowen, who began studying them. “What about Ravenheart’s Lands?”

“Technically,” she said. “They belong to you. But they are hotly contested by several guilds. Each, however, moves carefully, unsure of your real power. Once you sign, that power becomes clear to all. If you fail to align with a powerful guild, your land will more than likely be taken. You have no army, after all.”

“I don’t need one if I’m more powerful than their best,” he countered.

“Good. You were listening. No, you won’t. And also, you have the luxury of an induction stage. Your power will be impossible for the system to place an accurate figure on until you have fought a few guild wars. It will know you defeated Ravenheart and Melinka, so will likely rate you around their power. All will know two victories merely sets a minimum power. It’s not a true reflection. They will test you.”

Josh smiled. “And I will crush them.”

“Don’t they have to find us first?” Arabella asked.

“Please,” Rhina said. “This is the Hangsane. You can buy anything. Your whereabouts is no different. A bird might pass over, but can you be sure it’s a bird? A dragon rider could be perched on the mountain observing your every move. You have Helm with you. The rumor is that she holds the Angel Stone.”

“We aren’t safe here?” Cassandra asked.

Rhina leveled her gaze. “You aren’t safe anywhere. I’ve told you that. Lux inferred it.” She stood and nodded towards the scrolls. “I said I would teach you the ways of this place. Sign those tonight, and I will return to collect them. Be aware, though, that they have magic. As soon as you sign, the system knows. As soon as you place that ring on your finger, Josh, you are one of us. Be aware, there’s no going back.”

He stood. “Thank you,” he said.

She paused. “Not needed. We might end up allies. We might not. But I believe everyone has a right to understand what they have got themselves into before they are slaughtered. Remember, the instant you sign, you are fair game.”

“We’re fair game already,” Lex said.

“Don’t they have to declare on us?” Melody asked.

“They can declare with their forces already in place. You’ll get a moment’s notice. That’s it. If it’s done well, that is. I have done my duty.”

She got up and walked to the doorway. “A word to the wise. If you sign, make sure you keep your eye out.”

“And if we don’t?” Josh asked.

“They’ll come anyway. I bought you a few days’ peace. Those few days are up.”

Josh sat, staring at the scrolls Elowen thumbed through. “Thoughts everyone.”

“There are eight of us,” Melody said. “Is that big enough to be a guild?”

“Rhina said that power is the only thing that matters,” Josh said.

“I’ve been thinking about it,” Cassandra said. “Look at the facts. If we walked into Ravenheart’s nest today with absolutely no protection, would we win? I think the answer is yes.”

“I know the answer is yes,” Helm said, then stared at Josh. “I saw him last night while you were all asleep. He scaled that mountain in moment. Landing on a bluff was enough to split the rock. He walked unscathed from the devastation of its fall. The spider wouldn’t have been able to counter that. He could have walked right in and ended that abomination.”

Cassandra nodded. “My thoughts too.” She faced Josh. “Scaled the mountain? Broke the bluff?”

“I fell a few feet—about fifty or so. But I righted and landed on my feet. The impact dislodged the bluff. It was weird, but hey, it turned Helm on, so it had its bonuses.”

“I say we sign. We have to face the shit sometime,” Melody said. “I can feel myself getting more powerful by the day. My sword work is improving. But I’ll never be ready. I need more grenades to hide behind.”

“I’m getting stronger too,” Arabella said. “Like Mels, it will never be enough. But Lex must be a decent standard, and Helm certainly is. So it’s only me, Mels and Elowen that’ll drag our power down. Perhaps we might rate highly enough to put them off?”

“Hmmm,” Elowen said. “Reading through this I don’t think we have an option. To operate without a guild merely makes us targets for all. As we are known for killing Ravenheart, our incursion into the Hangsane isn’t seen as a pilgrimage but an invasion. From their point of view, we’re wandering around without showing any respect. It’s clear that wherever we go, we’re winning. That isn’t helping.”

“I should have focused on the implications more,” Helm said. “The trouble with living in one castle with a singular focus is that you become aloof from the world surrounding you. I assumed it was a targeted attack in the tavern—that those elves just hated you. It never crossed my mind that they might be protecting their turf.”

“Nah, it was planned,” Josh said. “My vote is we sign. Better to know who’s coming for you than have no clue. We’ll be able to see where we slot in and where we don’t, and no matter how disappointing the ranking, we know we’re underestimated.”

“I vote yes,” said Cassandra.

“Yes,” Vella said.

One by one, they all agreed. Elowen pulled out her pen and ink pot, passing both to Josh. He signed it, then fingered the ring, finally slipping it on to sit beside Tremelox.

A different, soft, female voice sounded in his mind.

“Assessing host power.”

Chapter Sixteen

“Confliction located. Partitioning. Unable to assess power!”

“TREM, WHAT’S HAPPENING?”

“The newly introduced system has encountered my existing one which has resulted in a conflict between us. I cannot have another system invading mine. There are protocols that need adhering to.”

“Okay, but…” Josh tugged at the guild ring, but it didn’t budge. “I get the feeling we’re stuck with it. This ring isn’t coming off.”

“I will endeavor to communicate with it to see if we can come to an accord,” Tremelox said.

Josh blinked the strange conversation away, then grinned at the others.

“What’s going on?” Arabella asked.

“Nothing to worry about.”

Which was a lie. A battle raged in his mind; one he had no clue who was winning.

“We have an accord,” Tremelox said. “The guild ring required access to your interaction interface, however, only one of us can interact with your main root menus.”

“You make me sound like a computer.”

“I have arranged much of my system within you in a similar vein. I have allowed the guild ring access to a created secondary interface that it can update the main menus through. In return, I have agreed to update it with accurate assessments of all your attributes which bear an exact similarity to the method already employed. It has led me to the conclusion the artificial intelligence within the guild ring is of the same origin as me.”

Josh’s face paled as his jaw dropped.

“What? What’s wrong?” Arabella asked, reaching for him.

“It’s the guild system,” he said. “It’s the same tech the ships used. It’s the Grillon tech.”

“Your enemies, right?” Helm said.

“Our mortal enemies. But it proves it all. The ship that chased me did crash-land here—it did overtake me.” He sat back. “Probably the greater mass traveling faster—something like that. Maybe we landed at the same time, and I just lay unconscious in the pod until it ran out of energy? I don’t know, and it doesn’t matter.” He faced his girls. “I know it’s true now, and this ring proves it. My mortal enemy is here, and it probably knows I’m here too. The ring is bound to have reported back.”

“Fuck,” said Elowen.

“Fuck indeed,” said Arabella.

“Establishing power.”

Josh’s menu blinked up in front of him.

Name: Josh Underwood

Rank: Savage Warden

Subrank: Verdant Sentinel

Attributes:

Strength = 50 (+8 equipped)

Speed and Agility = 51 (+9 equipped)

Durability = 64 (+5 suit equipped)

Combat instinct = 50 (+6 equipped)

Arcane resistance = 51 (+2 equipped)

Poison resistance = 44 (+2 equipped)

(additional stats) = added effect when suit equipped

Total – 310

No of points needed to next promotion =50

Perception: Active for all threats.

Pain Management - On

“Total score 310. Power 310,000. Measured and recorded,” the new presence said.

“We need a name for her, Trem. Can’t keep calling her Guild Ring.”

“She has no name or gender. The voice is simply one you might find soothing.”

“Then we shall call her Alice,” Josh said.“Why didn’t she factor in the suit’s stats?”

“Because you aren’t wearing it.”

“So, with the suit I’d be three-hundred and forty-two thousand. Good to know.”

“You would.”

“Will that be recorded as soon as I wear it?”

“One moment.”

Josh felt the rapid exchange taking place, like static passing between a fence. It was an odd but not unpleasant feeling.

“The rankings are updated at midnight. Provided you aren’t wearing your suit at that time, you will remain with the lower ranking.”

“And be an unknown quantity,” Josh said.

“Yes.”

A menu blinked inside his mind, followed by a prompt.

Welcome to the Hangsane Guild Tree. Please enter the name of your guild.

Josh thought-typed The Misfits.

Please enter your name or pseudonym.

“Okay folks, I can either use Josh Underwood or I can have a nickname. What’s it to be?”

Cassandra laughed. “So you can have a nickname? Something daft like Mountain Man.”

“I’ve seen worse. These games we used to play had some folks with the daftest names like Mass Slaughter or Blood Reaper.”

“What did you use?” Arabella asked.

“JU2. I was pretty boring. I’m going to stick with my name. It was my experience, the more dangerous sounding the name, the easier it was to kill someone.”

He filled in Josh Underwood.

Pain erupted in his hand as the guild ring swelled dropping a small black disc with a stud attached on the table. It resembled a drawing pin. Josh picked it up.

Please attached this pin to your primary guild member. This should be the member you consider the most powerful of your members. Your power need not outscore that of your member. The disc will inject a communication device into the host and allow power assessment and record member stat. Privileges may then be set so the member can view guild information tiers.

“What the fuck is that?” Cassandra asked.

Josh relayed the information.

She sighed. “I guess it’s me first. Not looking forward to this. I’ll bet I’m as weak as anything.” She picked it up, stabbing it into her forearm.

Processing

Name: Cassandra Day

Guild: The Misfits

Position: Sorceress

Attributes:

Strength = 15

Speed and Agility = 17

Durability = 18

Arcane Power = 84 (ED +42 equipped)

Mana production and Storage = 104 (ED +52 equipped)

(additional stats) = added effect when Everdeep Staff equipped

Total – 238

“Total score 238. Power 238,000. Cassandra Day measured and recorded,” Alice chimed in his mind.

“What are you?” Cassandra snapped.

Cassandra Day has asked for permission to access your statistics. Do you wish to grant her access?

“Yes.”

“Well shit. You’re miles more powerful than me,” Cassandra said.

“Not exactly true. As it says, the equipped bit, ED, is your Everdeep Staff. You carry that most of the time, therefore if you have it equipped, it’s worth another ninety-four, which is ninety-four thousand. That puts you above me without my new suit.

She beamed. “As it should be.”

“But the rankings change at midnight, so whatever you do, make sure your staff isn’t equipped then. If others have similar bonuses, then they will keep them secret. We want to as well.”

“Got it,” Cassandra said, stretching. “I have to say, it’s nice to be the most powerful in the room. I spent my whole life feeling fucking useless. It’s a turnaround, for sure.”

“There’s only one question. What would your power have been yesterday?” Josh said.

“I don’t follow.”

“Yesterday we hadn’t practiced with the Angel Stone. What influence does that have?”

“And what power does the Sinter Stone give us?” Cassandra asked. “It can’t be anything that shows up in the personal stats or our little ruse with Flick and the goblins wouldn’t have worked.”

“It’ll be a guild accelerator bonus,” Helm said. “If we add the Sinter Stone and the Angel Stone to our guild’s main menu, then you’ll see the bonus. The Sinter Stone, for instance, might have an acceleration of point five. It means the guild will advance fifty percent faster than a normal guild. The Angel Stone might have a higher factor, but only be in personal stat evolution. They’d have never spotted the fake Sinter Stone because it does nothing to personal stats.”

“Got it,” Josh said. “And it makes sense.” He frowned. “You must be in a guild.”

“My guild dissolved when there were just two of us left. The castle and its contents are mine, so once I join, they become yours. I have no need, but if you want a base in the Hangsane, there are worse places, and there are better. You’ll probably want to settle closer to the ruins where the power is.”

“You don’t have to give it up.”

Helm laughed. “Of course I do. I can’t commit halfway. What’s mine is yours. The drow are gone, never to return. Even if some survived and made a life closer to the ruins, they can never return to the outside. Their power will wane, and a practitioner hates that feeling. They’d rather die.”

Josh grunted. “Well, we’ll have to watch for that. I don’t want to be trapped anywhere. Who’s next?”

Arabella took the pin. “Don’t expect anything but a huge disappointment.” She bit her lip and stuck the pin in her arm.

Processing

Name: Arabella Extrael

Guild: The Misfits

Position: Archer

Attributes:

Strength = 17

Speed and Agility = 21

Durability = 18

Ranged Weapons = 24

Melee Weapons = 14

Total – 94

“Total score 94. Power 94,000. Arabella measured and recorded,” Alice said.

“What are you two?” Arabella asked.

Josh added her to the permission list. She studied it, then harrumphed. “Actually, not as bad as I thought. Plus, it stops me floundering around in the dark.” She pulled Melody’s hand into hers. “I’m around a third of them—under really. But it gives us targets. First thing—I have to raise my power to a hundred thousand. That’s my target. My ability with the bow and sword count. So that’s good. I can improve them. Even work on my strength.” She pulled the pin out and handed it over the table to Elowen.

Processing

Name: Elowen Estovan

Guild: The Misfits

Position: Scribe

Attributes:

Strength = 14

Speed and Agility = 22

Durability = 14

Ranged Weapons = 10

Melee Weapons = 25

Total – 85

“Total score 85. Power 85,000. Elowen measured and recorded,” Alice said.

Josh added her permission, and her face dropped. “No fair,” she said. “I don’t get anything for any of my real talents.” She smacked her lips together. “But you’re right. I’m going for ninety then one-hundred thousand. I can get fitter and faster, and I can pick up the bow again. I haven’t used that since I was a nipper. I bet I’ll get that score up real quick. Mels, your go.”

Processing

Name: Melody Delaney

Guild: The Misfits

Position: Munitions

Attributes:

Strength = 15

Speed and Agility = 16

Durability = 22

Munitions = 32

Melee Weapons = 8

Ranged weapons = 4

Total – 97

“Total score 97. Power 97,000. Melody measured and recorded.”

“Huh?” Melody said as she read the others. “So it adds stats in if you can kill people but ignores any other advantages. I guess I got eight melee because of this morning, plus messing around with inventions. Ranged? Must be the cannon we made. Plus I hunted for food.”

“You’re top of the bottom!” Arabella said.

“First to one hundred,” Elowen added. “I’m not going to be bottom forever, so you lot better get your shit together.”

Melody tossed the pin to Lex who grimaced as she stabbed it into her arm.

Processing

Name: Silexa Gray

Guild: The Misfits

Position: Rogue

Attributes:

Strength = 22

Speed and Agility = 27

Durability = 22

Melee Weapons = 27

Ranged weapons = 14

Martial Fighting = 26

Total – 138

“Total score 138. Power 138,000. Lex measured and recorded.”

As the girls congratulated Lex on her score, Josh pondered their stats and compared them to his, noticing an anomaly. “Trem, how come my melee and ranged skills aren’t taken into account?”

“There are two reasons. The first is that I supplied Alice with the analysis based on my matrix. Alice assesses the girls by looking back at their memories of the last time they used weapons, then adds those skills to their points. As I have not let her intrude inside your mind, she cannot assess that aspect of your fighting. If she could, you would lose the points in Combat Instinct but gain multiple skill points in combat disciplines. The second is to hide your actual power. By masking your skills, you are vastly underrated, and your power could be construed as a couple of hundred thousand more. You wished to hide your actual power from view. I facilitated that. All your opponents will see is your figure.”

“Fantastic. But, just for my own peace of mind, add my actual figure somewhere only I can see it.”

“I will calculate it over the next few days.”

Lex handed the pin to Vella, who looked at it, then stabbed it straight into her forehead, causing everyone to wince. She grinned.

Processing

Name: Vella

Guild: The Misfits

Position: Mystic

Attributes:

Strength = 20

Speed and Agility = 40

Durability = 50

Total – 110

“Total score 110. Power 110,000. Vella measured and recorded.”

She grinned, handing the pin to Helm. Josh narrowed his eyes. “Did you just cheat?” he asked her. “Those scores seem way to rounded, and it looks like you haven’t got any offense or defense, but we all know what you can do.”

“Got no melee. Got no bows.”

“I’ve seen you use a knife.”

She winked at him. “No, you haven’t. I just take and give. If I make a mistake and take too much, then it’s a mistake.”

“One-hundred and ten thousand?” Arabella said. “You just tricked it into making you above one hundred so you wouldn’t have to train.”

“Don’t want to. Prefer the pool,” Vella said.

Helm walked over to the table, sitting opposite Josh. “I might be weaker than you think. What then? Will you boot me out?”

He noticed her shirt was open, her cleavage overflowing. “I couldn’t if I wanted to. You’re part of the family now.”

“Yah!” said Vella, clapping.

“Good, because I’m not going anywhere.” She winked and stuck the pin in her.

Processing

Name: Helm Devaux

Guild: The Misfits

Position: Trainer

Attributes:

Strength = 35

Speed and Agility = 38

Durability = 29

Melee Weapons = 42

Ranged weapons = 38

Martial Fighting = 38

Total – 220

“Total score 220. Power 220,000. Helm measured and recorded.”

Josh whistled. “Not bad.”

“You wait until you see some of the powerful folk’s score. I heard some were near three quarters of a million. Lux would be in that region, and that’s without his hidden boosts.”

“So folks hide their stats?”

“Their boosts, yes. Better to be under rated than over. Some of the upcoming idiots parade everything, but that’s just foolish. They strut their stuff—three-hundred thousand or whatever. A two-twenty comes along, sticks his charms on and wipes the fucking floor with him. More common than you think.” She handed the pin back. “Slip it back into your ring. You won’t need it until you recruit more members.” She poured some wine. “That should give us a guild total and an average. It’ll enable us to see where we are in the tables, although don’t expect too much.”

Josh studied read their list:

Josh Underwood – 310,000

Cassandra Day – 238,000

Arabella Extrael – 94,000

Elowen Estovan – 85,000

Melody Delaney – 97,000

Silexa Gray – 138,000

Vella – 110,000

Helm Devaux – 220,000

Total Guild Score – 1,292,000

Average Power – 161,500

“Not sure if what I’m looking at is good or not,” he muttered.

“The rankings will tell you that.”

Josh didn’t want to look it up. It was clear they were feeble. Seeing it in black and white wouldn’t help.

Chapter Seventeen

HELM WAS ready to join their evening fun, but none of the group had sex on the brain. The figures had motivated them in a way none could have imagined. They found out they didn’t even rank in the top one hundred guilds for power, and it spurred them on even more. They did make the average power ratings, coming in at seventy-eight. The way the system displayed the leaderboards, they could only see guilds two places above and below them. When it came to their own personal power, that was extended to ten places.

Helm explained that everything in the Hangsane was weighted toward cooperation and guild efforts and that it discouraged individualism. Naturally, some tried to go it alone. Guild fallouts were common. But as soon as someone left a guild, they became a target for the higher-ups. The powerful folks had a vested interest in the status quo. It shone some light on Lux’s actions. According to Helm, the self-appointed guardians of the Hangsane held the top spot for average power. It suited them that everyone had to follow their rules.

Josh suited up and stood while Cassandra powered up her latest ember-enhanced spell. She’d fried him alive several times. Each time Helm had opened the locket, allowing the Angel Stone to work its magic. Josh received a point in Arcane Resistance with every other attack, and Cassandra’s Arcane Power grew. It was the perfect pairing.

While they rested, Josh held the Angel Stone while Helm sparred with each of the girls in turn. Having had everything else quantified, he wished he could understand the stone more. It certainly differed from their Sinter Stone, which advanced the group as a whole, by focusing on advancing individual power by some unknown factor.

“Why didn’t she take it?” Josh mused out loud.

“Take what?” Helm asked, reaching for it. “You’re up.”

He stared at the stars. “I’m beat. We’ve done well. There’s no shame in getting some sleep.”

“I am so glad you said that,” Arabella said, and immediately headed for the villa.

“Why didn’t Rhina steal the stone? She had the beating of me. Of all of us. But she let us have it.”

“I can only think of two reasons,” Helm said. “Either it has a smaller effect on the higher ups, or she wanted us more powerful. We’re in the midst of a game we don’t understand. We need to get a grip on it fast or we’ll end up blundering down some alley we won’t be able to get out of.”

“Which is what she said she’d teach us to avoid,” Josh pointed out.

“Which reads, ‘I don’t want you blundering around destroying them. If you’re going to do it, I’ll have you destroying my enemies.’”

Josh scoffed. “I’ve a blinking pip in the corner of my eye. I’m guessing that’s a notification of some kind.” He pulled it up.

The ruling council of the Hangsane has recognized the guild The Misfits. The Misfits are now ratified to operate withing the Hangsane.

You are on Prosper or Die’s land. You have no diplomacy with Prosper or Die. Either set your diplomacy to friendly, declare war, or leave their territory immediately.

You have a message from Heretic, guild master of Prosper or Die.

The guild Prosper or Die has set their relationship with you to friendly.

The following guilds have set their diplomacy with you as hostile:

Death’s Wings

Prospects

Forty Warriors

The Magicals

Troll Nation

Swords and Blades

INTS

Hasul

The following guilds have set their diplomacy as friendly:

Sect 7

Giovanni

The Goblin Tribe

Prosper or Die

Witches and Warlocks

The Fanaticals

Josh opened the message.

Set your diplomacy with us to friendly or vacate the villa. Failure to do so will result in a declaration of war, irrespective of your diplomacy with Rhina.

Heretic

“What is it?” Helm asked.

“Someone called Heretic. Apparently this is his guild’s land. I have to alter our diplomacy to friendly.”

“This is why I never moved around much,” Helm said. “I hate diplomacy. What are you going to do?”

“Guess I’ll set it friendly. We need somewhere to grow, and this is perfect.”

“Then ready yourself for a load of hostile diplomacies. If this is a trap, that’ll spring it.”

“Damned if I do. Damned if I don’t,” Josh said.

“We’re going to get enemies whatever. We have no clue what diplomacies the top guilds have. We don’t even know how powerful this Prosper or Die are. You have nothing to lose because you have no information to judge.”

Josh set the diplomacy to friendly, messaged Heretic and pulled Helm up. “I’m beat. I need to sleep.”

“I’m so glad you said that. I hardly slept a wink all last night, and I haven’t stopped today.”

“Share a bed or our own?”

“Let’s go solo. Things will settle down soon,” Helm said.

“Let’s hope.”

Josh watched her vanish into one of the bedrooms. Then he remembered Rhina’s warning. She’d told them a lookout was essential.

“Guess I’m not getting any sleep,” he said, dragging a chair out front, setting his perception sphere and sitting. “Trem, make sure you wake me. The slightest disturbance and I wanna know about it.”

His notifications blinked, no doubt guilds setting their diplomacy to hostile. He grunted. “This place is severely fucked up. Then, before he nodded off, he looked up his closing stats.

Name: Josh Underwood

Rank: Savage Warden

Subrank: Verdant Sentinel

Attributes:

Strength = 51 (+8 equipped)

Speed and Agility = 51 (+9 equipped)

Durability = 65 (+5 equipped)

Combat instinct = 50 (+6 equipped)

Arcane resistance = 59 (+2 equipped)

Poison resistance = 44 (+2 equipped)

(additional stats) = added effect when suit equipped

Total – 320

No of points needed to next promotion =40

Perception: Active for all threats.

Pain Management - On

He was twenty points into his next promotion and so far he hadn’t been pulled apart. He made a note to have Vella find him some poisonous berries or fungus so he could get leveling that stat. At forty-four, it was his lowest stat, but one of the easiest to level. All he needed to do was suffer. He scoffed. “So much for that idea.”

Each of the girls had raised their power too. If they could just hang on, they might make the top hundred guilds and perhaps they wouldn’t be shoved around so much.

Josh Underwood – 320,000

Cassandra Day – 241,000

Arabella Extrael – 96,000

Elowen Estovan – 88,000

Melody Delaney – 99,000

Silexa Gray – 142,000

Vella – 110,000

Helm Devaux – 225,000

Total Guild Score – 1,321,000

Average Power – 165,125

It was a start. As his eyes blinked shut, he spied Vella walking up the track. She sat on his lap, snuggling up.

“Where have you been?” he asked but fell asleep before she answered.

Vella shook him awake as his perception ability went haywire. A magical blast ripped toward him. He dove off the chair with Vella a little in front of him. “Wake the others,” he cried, scrambling to the side of the villa, crouching and hunting out the attackers. He equipped his suit.

“Tremelox, I know this thing is emerald. That’s probably to tie in with the Verdant Sentinel thing, but any chance we can make it black?”

“I could work on a stealth version but cannot fulfil the quest immediately.”

“Green it is,” Josh said and pulled his drow sword from his storage. “Widen my vision to three hundred and sixty degrees.”

Another magical blast arced toward him. He chose the moment of impact to dart forward, crouching behind a boulder. The caster immediately altered his attack, aiming for the boulder. The next blast shattered it, sending Josh sprawling back. He rolled with the momentum, coming to his feet, then sprinted straight for the source of the attack.

A shadow blinked in front of him, a figure blocking his path. Metal flashed. Josh countered, hunting the next blast. The sword was fast, precise, but his strokes lacked Helm’s detail, they lacked flair. Josh countered each easily as Tremelox learned their style. A figure blinked into existence behind him—the wizard—beginning to cast and aiming a bolt of incandescent magic at Josh’s back. The wizard’s cruel grin told Josh he expected a quick victory.

He clearly didn’t anticipate Josh’s all-round vision. As the bolt shot toward him, Josh waited, dropping to the ground. The blast smashed into the rogue, spreading scorching green fire all over him.

“Cresus! No!” the wizard cried as his friend screamed in agony.

A blast of white light erupted from the villa, shooting toward the wizard. Stunned, the wizard barely managed to erect a shield defense. Josh dove toward the bastard, but the wizard blinked away as an arrow thudded into Josh’s leg, piercing the suit.

Poison damage taken—durability erosion four points a minute for an unspecified length of time.

Tremelox ejected the arrow, sealing the suit shut, but another arrow thudded into Josh’s torso, doubling the penalty. He ignored the pain, diving for cover behind their wagon.

“Can we do anything about that penalty?”

“Working on it.”

Josh surveyed the field, shadowy figures moving all around. “Gonna make a break for the villa,” he muttered as another magical blast erupted from the deck, crashing into one of the skulking figures and lighting them up.

“No, fuck this. I lead the way.” He pulled his vision into focus, enhancing his night vision and seeing the field more clearly. Two more swordsmen flanked the villa on his side. About six had taken the other side. Cassandra shot a burst of magic up in the air, its light illuminating the yard and trail. A rumble sounded, followed by shrieks of terror. “That’s my witch. Think out of the box.”

He used the distraction to dart toward the two swordsmen on his side, falling on them without mercy. The first died before he could get up, but the second was faster. A magical blast smashed into the ground close to where Josh had come from. A shockwave knocked him and his opponent from their feet, sending them both into the scrub. Josh adjusted in midair, swinging his feet around and thudding into the ground. He didn’t hesitate, taking his shot without pause, slicing through his enemy’s arm.

The woman screamed in pain, her eyes meeting his visor as he ran her through. “Bitch,” he growled, kicking off and hunting instead of being hunted. He raced around the back of the villa to intercept the other six. Helm battled one with the fight going back and forth. Lex and Arabella fought another, but more were arriving. Melody struggled, retreating. But it was Elowen who was close to losing.

Josh sprang from his slightly lofted position, unequipping his sword. He took Elowen’s attacker by the neck, twisting as they fell in a heap. The following crack told him another was out of the game. He rolled, springing to his feet as he equipped his sword again and launched at Melody’s attacker. The man was huge for a swordsman, but Josh was bigger. He kicked the goon in the gut, using Jork’s mixed technique to confuse his foe. The man staggered back, so Josh followed up with a head butt as Melody slid her sword through his gut.

But the goon didn’t die, instead he grinned, punching Melody square in the jaw and sending her flying back through the door.

“Oh boy!” Josh growled. “Are you going to fucking pay for that.” He launched a flurry of kicks, punches and sword lunges at the man who soaked every hit up like it was nothing. “Some kind of tank, eh?” said Josh, grinning. “Well, that suits me just fine.” He carried on, his rage driving him to new heights of viciousness. He punched, kicked, and even gouged the man’s eyes, but the tank absorbed everything. “Well fuck me but you’re a brute, aren’t you?” Josh growled, knocking his sword out of his enemy’s hand. “I got you now.”

But the brute’s grin grew wider, and a red aura enveloped him. He strode toward Josh, ignoring his strikes, his kicks and headbutts. He picked Josh up, launching him through the shattered doors and sending him crashing over the table. Josh’s sword went skittering away, stopping close to Melody’s spreadeagled body.

The tank took up the entire doorway. Josh rose to his feet. “Who the fuck are you, and why won’t you die?”

The tank laughed. “Welcoming committee,” he said and lumbered forward.

Vella darted out from the shadows, touching the back of his legs and winking at Josh. Surprise rippled over her lips, as she darted away. Josh scrambled for his sword, even though wounds peppered the lumbering hulk’s back. Then, his red aura vanished, and he swerved to one side. Sensing an opening, Josh sprang forward, bringing his sword across the man’s chest, expecting a counter but getting nothing. It was like he was suddenly drunk—or drained of all his energy!

“Thank you, Vella!” His sword bit into the tank’s raised arm, slicing through flesh and bone and driving on across his ribs and gut. He understood Vella hadn’t managed to drain enough to kill, only to sap his energy.

He severed the man’s arm, opened him up from one shoulder to the opposite thigh, then sent him tumbling toward the firepit with a roundhouse kick. He screamed his battle cry, sensing victory but wanting vengeance. “This is for Melody!” he shouted, launching a furious kick at the man, completing his journey into the flaming embers. The tank screamed as he plunged headfirst into the flames. Righted, then fell in a heap, his following cries dying in his throat.

“Vella, heal Melody,” Josh shouted as he raced outside, jumping straight by Lex’s side, pushing her attacker back as Arabella struck, her sword sliding straight into the distracted attacker.

A massive explosion sounded, lighting up the sky, quickly followed by Cassandra’s cackling laughter. “Take that you fucking motherfucker! Hahahaha! You’re toast bitch!” Another massive explosion lit the mountainside, then silence fell until her voice rang out again. “That’s it, fucker! Run home to your momma! Hahahaha!”

The other attackers hesitated, allowing Josh and the others to press forward. Then Cassandra’s white magic lit up the backyard, and a magical spear tore through one.

“Best surrender now or die. Both your wizards are dead. Your commander has run, and your one inch away from death, and I know how to kill you good!”

They threw down their swords, kneeling, with their hands in the air.

Cassandra strolled up to the first, lifting the woman’s chin with her staff. “You wanna tell me what guild you are, bitch?”

The woman’s eyes blazed with hatred. “You killed Mortimer?”

“I don’t know who the fuck Mortimer was. But if he was the asshole in the blue robes, yeah, I blasted a hole right through that bastard then blew him up for good measure.”

“You fucker!” the woman spat.

“Hey! Don’t forget who attacked who here. I was perfectly happy sleeping.” She cocked her head. “Well, almost sleeping.” She leaned into the woman. “If I’m being truthful, I was having a little play. See that beast over there in the green? He’s hung like a fucking horse, and it gets me wet just thinking about him. You know what I mean? So, guild?”

“Hasul,” she said. She laughed. “So green you haven’t even turned your guild notifications on! Pah! How did we fail!”

“Josh, what do you wanna do?”

Josh ground his teeth, hated that she’d called him out for being green. He opened his guild menu, turning on the notifications. The fight went out of him. He just wanted the bitch gone.

“Collect up their stuff and let them go. They can pile up the bodies of their members. The tank’s in the front room.” Josh stripped the dead swordsman of his sword and knife, then took a couple of rings, a necklace, several silver coins and a couple of gold. “Loot them first. Their bad for coming here. Cassandra, keep your eye on our friends out here. I’m going to check on Melody.”

He went back inside. Melody sat propped against a wall arguing with Vella. “Well, I don’t want it healed. It looks badass.”

“Heal!”

“You don’t want her to heal your black eye?” Josh asked, then sucked his cheeks in. “Yup, looks badass. But still, when someone comes in a couple of hours to make sure we’re all dead, I’d rather we all look unscathed.”

“You think someone will come?” Helm said, wiping the blood from her sword.

“Someone set this up. Someone who knew where we were and that we’d be signing the scrolls earlier. It takes half a day to get up this mountain. They must have been on the slope. So, if I’m understanding the protocols correctly, they’d have to have been friendly with Prosper and Die and switched to hostile to be able to attack on their land. When that switch happened, a good guild leader would have informed us. But I got nothing from Heretic.”

“Perhaps he didn’t know. His guild wasn’t attacked,” Helm said. “Why would they have to switch their diplomacy to hostile to attack us?”

“Because we’re guests, so under the protection of his guild. At least, that’s how I’d interpret it.”

“Maybe. I’m not so sure things are quite that defined. But you’re right. He’d know they were on his land, so at the very least he’d have facilitated it.”

Josh unequipped his suit and grabbed the tank’s legs. He pulled him through the ruined door then around to the outside where ten bodies lay.

“Has anyone got a broom? I can sweep up your wizards if you have.”

“Bitch,” said one of the retreating invaders, swiveling around and giving Cassandra the finger. “We’ll get you fucker. Just wait till Morgan hears about this.”

“You’re pretty brave for someone who’s walking away without a sword. Tell Morgan any time.”

Josh stood beside Cassandra. “Laying it on pretty thick.”

“Fuck them,” she said, then nudged him. “I really was having a play, and now that I’ve had a decent battle, I’m even more horny.”

“Well, the upper pools should have escaped the blood and bodies, and I need a cleanup.”

“We should all take a bath,” Helm said. “And I have an idea.”

They retreated to the pools, stripping and bathing in the top one. Helm asked Josh for her locket, opening it and placing the Angel Stone in the bottom. The mysterious artefact lit the water, bathing their naked forms in its brilliance and filling them with its vitality.

“This is my kind of pool party,” Josh said, kissing Cassandra and dragging Helm close. “You joining in?”

“I’m going to give it my best shot,” she said. She reached down, grabbing his hard cock before she went under to put her mouth where her hand was.

“Darling,” said Cassandra. “She’s going to fit in really well.”

Chapter Eighteen

THEY’D DRAGGED eight chairs outside, lining them up on the front deck to soak in the morning sun. Vella was first to spot the riders. There were four in all. She thought them all males, but couldn’t be sure. No one had come to collect the piled bodies of the Hasul warriors. Each of them was beginning to suspect that it might not happen.

“I can open a pit and then close it,” Cassandra said with her arm draped lazily on Josh’s leg.

“You’ll slam it too hard and all the guts and stuff will fountain out,” Elowen grouched.

“I can slam it gently and then it will ooze out like a belching cut. Say, anyone else get stats from that pool party last night. I think the Angel Stone influenced us because I got a couple of points in speed and agility.” She laughed. “Then again, I was pretty bendy.”

“I got a point in durability,” Arabella said. “I got pounded pretty hard.” She grinned.

“Sex aside, I got a few points in Arcane Power and Mana. It was like it was rewarding me retrospectively for blowing up those fucks.” Cassandra reeled off her stats. “Growing pretty damned fast.”

Josh looked up her sheet.

Name: Cassandra Day

Guild: The Misfits

Position: Sorceress

Attributes:

Strength = 15

Speed and Agility = 19

Durability = 18

Arcane Power = 90 (ED +45 equipped)

Mana production and Storage = 106 (ED +53 equipped)

Total – 248

“Only a couple to go and your power will reach two-fifty,” Josh said. “Say, what were those explosions? A new spell?”

“Ember blast. It’s a ball of concentrated ember ash and flame. I can shoot it straight into my target then say the magic word and boom! They blow up. It’s fantastic. They think I’ve just tickled them with a stupid low-level spell, but then they see the grin on my face. They immediately know they’re doomed.”

“Nice,” Josh said. “Anyone else get stats?”

Each of the girls looked up their sheets, all reporting increases in durability, speed and agility and melee.

“So, we just keep fighting and fucking,” Melody said. “Say, Cassandra, what kind of delay can you put on those ash pellets?”

Cassandra shrugged. “An action triggers the explosion. I chose running my finger across my neck while grinning like a mad bitch, but that’s just me.”

“Can we experiment? I make loads of powder. You produce some ember balls, and I get can produce a load of grenades.”

“But if I have to trigger them, what’s the point?” Cassandra asked. “You’ll need mana. Have you got mana?”

“No,” Melody said, crestfallen.

“Can probably have,” Vella said.

“I can have magic?” Melody perked.

“Not magic-magic, but mana?” She shrugged. “Maybe. The stone makes things possible that weren’t. You are trap smith. Artificers are same but different. An artificer has magic. Trap smith to artificer is progression. Angel Stone forces progression. You have to give it the opportunity.”

“Now?” Melody asked.

“Not now,” Josh said. “We don’t know who those fuckers are.”

Arabella went and got a fresh pot of juice. “I hope they brought provisions. We’re running low.”

“They have a cart,” Lex said from the roof. “Five riders, one cart. Might be from the Hasul, come to get their friends.”

“Or they might here to collect our bodies,” Josh said. “Bels, on the roof with your bow. Cassandra, grab your staff. Lex, you stick there, eyes peeled in case others are coming up the slope. They can’t get us from behind, but I don’t want to take any chances. Els, you sit out back. No, inside looking out. Helm, Mels, sit and chill. Vella, go hide, then sneak up behind them. Make them sleep if needs be.”

“Couldn’t suck all of big man out. He had too much.”

Josh chuckled. “That fucker must have put all his points into durability. He soaked up loads.”

“Still went down,” Cassandra said.

“Still went down,” Josh repeated.

Vella scooted across the front yard, vanishing over the edge and down the slope. They waited, as the riders were in no hurry, their horses walking.

“What’s the matter with those fuckers?” Cassandra asked. “It’s not like we’ve got all day.”

“We kind of have,” Josh pointed out.

“I beg to differ. We could be practicing. I could be shooting ember balls into you and seeing if you could survive the explosion.”

“I really hope you don’t do that. It sounds pretty fucking terminal.”

She brushed his arm. “I would never want to blow up my Josh.”

“Good to hear.” He put his feet up and closed his eyes. “Wake me up when they get here. It was another long night.”

“Made all the better by our new addition,” Cassandra purred, making Helm blush.

“Yeah,” the drow said. “Got into the swing really easily.”

“It’s a mist, a sexual mist. I never thought I’d be one for it,” Melody admitted. “But I love it. Just can’t get enough of the raw energy.”

Josh closed his eyes, but couldn’t resist looking at their power again. It was addictive, and they were piling on the points.

Josh Underwood – 328,000

Cassandra Day – 248,000

Arabella Extrael – 99,000

Elowen Estovan – 92,000

Melody Delaney – 103,000

Silexa Gray – 145,000

Vella – 120,000

Helm Devaux – 230,000

Total Guild Score – 1,365,000

Average Power – 170,625

They’d climbed to seventy-six in the average power rankings. It was two spots. But they still didn’t register in the top one hundred of all guilds. Josh smiled when he saw that Vella had massaged her power up by ten. He had no idea how she controlled it but guessed her capacity to absorb vitality had risen. It was a guess. She was still a mystery to him.

His own personal ranking stood at one hundred and fifty-eight. He could see the names on either side of him, but they meant nothing. Josh sighed, dropping off for what seemed like mere moments before Cassandra nudged him.

“They’re here,” she said.

He opened one eye, yawned, then brought his full attention to the riders. One was clearly in charge. He had a rakish handsomeness about him. His spiky black hair framed his sharp face. He took in the whole scene instantly—the bodies, scorch marks and the villa’s structure. Then he studied each of them, not missing Arabella and Lex.

“Two of you missing,” he said, indicating the pile of dead. “I hope…”

“Not ours,” Josh said. “Your guests, I believe.” He stood, moving to the deck’s edge.

“Mine? Heretic, by the way. This is Julian, my third in command, and Eric, my diplomat. The others are here for other specialties.” Heretic dismounted, kicking over one of the bodies. “Hasul,” he said to Eric. “Get on it straightaway.”

Josh observed the man’s actions, trying to work out if it was show or genuine. “You are on friendly terms with the Hasul, I take it.” He jumped from the deck, motioning Cassandra to stay. “Or you would have notified us enemy forces had entered your land.”

Heretic looked up from the Hasul corpses, his piercing blue eyes appraising Josh. “This is the Hangsane. Incursions happen daily. Other guilds constantly test our alertness, as we do theirs. But you’re correct. The Hasul are supposed to announce their presence. Eric?”

Eric jerked, his eyes refocusing on Heretic. The diplomat sighed, as if his day had become unexpectedly complicated. He ran his gloved hand through his long blond hair and gathered his wits. Bad news was on its way, and the man was unsure how his leader would take it.

“We granted permission for a Hasul caravan to cross our lands headed for Borint. The route—”

“I know where the route would have taken it,” Heretic snapped. “When?”

“Three days ago.”

“But…” Heretic left his thoughts unsaid.

Those thoughts could only lead to one conclusion. Rhina or Heretic had a traitor. Josh guessed that if it was Heretic, then he was in a substantial amount of trouble.

“They all die?”

“Not all, no. We let some go—unarmed and with no mounts.”

Heretic scowled. “We could have questioned them! No matter. No matter. Julian?”

Julian was the largest of the three—not Tank-size, but certainly a brawler or some such melee fighter. He wore a three-quarter-face helmet, his expression unreadable. “They would have had an extraction team. Even if successful, their actions would have flagged attention.” He stared at the sky. “How long?”

“Half a day head start.”

“Perhaps, but doubtful. I think we’re far more likely to find their corpses. The Hasul won’t take their failure well.”

“There are two missing in your party,” Heretic said, clearly deciding he could do little to rectify the situation.

“They’re around. Our trust is…less than it was, and it didn’t start high. But,” he said, remembering his manners. “I must thank you for the food and the villa. It has been a welcome respite.” Josh grinned and offered his hand.

Heretic hesitated, then accepted. “Respite?”

Josh indicated the corpses. “Trust me, we’ve fought worse to get here. I’d say we’d pay for the damage, but fighting your way through hostile lands pays poorly.”

Heretic paused as he assessed Josh’s words. “What does she see in you?”

“Who?” Josh asked, mostly to be annoying.

“Rhina. Why’s she concerning herself with you? I sense no powerful trinkets, and our sniffer hasn’t alerted me to anything out of the ordinary. So, why you?”

“Would you believe we’re just lowly pilgrims, and she has a soft spot for us?”

“Ha!” Heretic clapped him on the back. “That bitch hasn’t got a soft spot on her body. Trust me, I know. I’ve paid my dues. She wants you for something. What do you need?”

“Need?”

He stared across the valley. “I was charged with protecting you for a few days. I failed. Failure is poorly received by the powerful guilds. What do you need, Josh? What do you need to forget about my failure?”

“I hadn’t actually thought about it. I’m still not sure it wasn’t you behind it, so anything I ask would be worthless. A few more days here would be good.”

Heretic drew a breath. “That’s the one thing I can’t give you. I’ve been told to move you.” He scoffed. “Seems you are hot property. I see why now. The Hasul haven’t got the stones to try and pull off something like this. We’re nearly double their power with half their members. Someone’s pulling their strings, and you’re right. It could be anyone.”

“Anyone?”

“Welcome to the Hangsane. You think it might be me. I’m wondering if it was Rhina setting me up for a fall and giving her guild an excuse to rain down shit on me. That, and a thousand other things.” He laughed. “Fortunately, that’s Eric’s job. If his team can’t get to the bottom of it, then we’re all fucked anyway.”

Josh regarded the man. He appeared genuine. “Where to?”

“South. Always south. For some reason she wants you in Laurent. It’s right on the edge of our territory. Borders the Reavers. Sour bunch. Neutral is friendly, hostile is war. Simple philosophy. They hate everyone. If she has plans for you to go there, I’d start thinking about running. Not that you’d get far, but you might grab a few more breaths before she finds you.”

“Your friendship,” Josh said. “I’ll keep this to myself in return for your friendship.”

“That all?”

“Apart from the fact you owe me. But that’s a given.”

Heretic laughed. “That it is.” He marched up to the sitting Cassandra, dropping to one knee. “I hear you are the Harmonic. Tell me, what has he got that I haven’t?”

“A dick the size of a woodsman’s staff.” She took his hand and pulled herself up. “You speak to the Hasul?”

“Eric will deal with most of it, but I will have a long, slow and painful chat with their leader.”

“Tell them to train their wizards better. You’ll find them scattered in the scrub. We swept up what we could.” She pointed at the wagon. “Are we really traveling in that?”

“Just down to the road. The decent wagons are too heavy to climb the switchbacks. We just use them in the valley.”

“How decent?” Cassandra asked.

“You’ll travel in comfort. It’s two days to Laurent. Travel by road isn’t fast in the Hangsane. It’s quicker by air, but that’s more dangerous than you can possibly imagine.”

“Juice?” Melody asked. “We drank all the ale and just about finished all the food, but we have juice left.”

Heretic declined. “We need to get going. If The Hasul found you, then others know your location. There weren’t many who knew where we were going to hold you. It won’t take long to find the traitor.”

Eric walked up to him. “Mouse is missing.”

“Mouse? Really? Him?” Heretic punched the cart. “Fuck.”

Josh made to say something but kept his thoughts to himself. He couldn’t decide if this was all some charade, part charade or if they were telling the truth. What he did know was that Mouse, whoever he was, might be dead in a ditch and not the traitor at all. There was no guarantee that one of them, if not all, wanted them dead.

He whistled Vella to return, then strolled back into the villa, pulling Helm with him. “They can sense the stone—or rather, sense its absence?”

“Some will be receptive to power. The stone emanates power.”

Cassandra strolled back in, a stone in hand. “Pop the locket out, remove the stone then put it back in your storage. I’ll charge this one up with mana making sure it emits power like I did the Sinter Stone replica. I’ll have to keep topping it up, but it’s bait.”

“You okay having bait hanging around your neck,” Josh asked.

“Okay’s a stretch,” Helm replied, “but they all know it was a treasure I hunted, so why would I give it up?”

“What about my artificer skill?” Melody said. “We were going to do that today.”

Cassandra shrugged. “Perhaps we can. Perhaps we’ll have the wagon to ourselves.”

Elowen came in from the backyard. “Wagons? Decent ones or the usual?”

“We’ll find out in a while.”

Josh handed Cassandra the locket, putting the Angel Stone straight back into his storage. “Do you think others will have storage?” he asked. Rather than the others, Tremelox answered.

“There is a large probability that the other intelligences in the Hangsane have the ability to create quantum storage. In the Grillon military, it was considered an incentive for new recruits to get them to aim for Savage Warden. Other goals were in place for the next rank up. Provided the technology wasn’t lost in the crash, there is no reason to doubt the other AIs can access quantum storage solutions.”

“So what do I get for Apex Paragon?”

“As you are currently the rank below, my parameters allow me to reveal it. The next bonus is an enhanced punch. Particular attention is placed on all bones from the shoulder to fingers. The rank-up bonuses are designed—”

“You don’t have to tell me. If I wasn’t already motivated to steam through Savage Warden, I am now. I could have one-punched Tank and shredded the fucker.” He grinned maniacally.

“Josh?” Cassandra snapped her fingers. “Our hosts are getting anxious. Time to go.”

He blinked, returning to the room. Heretic stared at him. “You have far-comms?”

“Far-comms?” Josh asked.

“The ability to speak over long distances. Eric has it, as do I. It’s why we appear rude sometimes.”

“Me? Far-comms?” Josh chuckled. “I have voices inside my head.”

“Ah!” Heretic said. “New to the system. I get it now. Best thing to do—a tip—give it a name and think of it as a little creature inside your head. Makes it all seem less weird.”

“I’ve called her Alice. So far, she’s given me squat. I know we’re weak, and I know we don’t even register in the top one hundred.”

“Which makes me wonder how you beat a Hasul assassination squad. They were in the top one hundred before you removed over a million power from them. The tank, as you called him, was no mug. We tried to get him numerous times—tempt him to our guild. He was above you in power. Which makes me wonder if you aren’t sand bagging.”

“Sand bagging?”

“A term used for the annual tournaments. Some weigh their horses down with sand to stop them running so fast. They look crap in the trials, then romp to victory in the real race.” Heretic beckoned them all outside. “I don’t go any more. They all cheat. Even the duelists. A bit of magic here, a bit there. It’s all about wagers nowadays.”

“Good to know,” Josh said.

“There’s a lot to be said for being poor. You can’t lose bugger all if you don’t have it.” He marched across the yard, mounting his horse. “You’re in the back with the bodies, I’m afraid—looks like the horses we gave you bolted during the scrap. Unless you want to walk.” He sniffed the air. “I can feel it now.”

Melody looked in the back of the cart. “Guess I’m getting some training in. No fucking way am I sitting in there. The flies are already doing their thing.”

Cassandra peered in. She muttered a few words, some vines springing up from the cart and growing around the bodies, obscuring them completely. “I hate walking.”

“You could do with upping your speed and strength,” Josh pointed out.

“And you could do with shutting the fuck up.” Cassandra climbed in. She sniffed the vines, then sprinkled some more magic on them. A shroud of buttercups bloomed all over the vines. “Perfect,” she said, climbing in the back.

“Good enough for me,” Helm said.

“Me too,” Vella said.

Josh relented, climbing up. “Wonder what they’ve got in store for us next.”

“It’ll be shit, that’s for sure.” Cassandra shuffled around, resting her head on the corpses. “Nothing like the smell of fresh buttercups in the morning.”

“You sure you don’t want to train with the others?” Josh asked settling back.

“So fucking positive it hurts.” She tipped her hood over her eyes. “Don’t trust anyone, Josh. They’re all double-crossing bastards.”

“Yep, but at least we know that now.”

Josh looked back at his notifications.

The Guild Hasul had declared war on you.

It was an old notification of course and had happened a little before the attack. That attack had come an hour after midnight—an hour after their numbers would have been updated on the system. They’d waited, making sure they were weak, and then they’d attacked.

The Guild Hasul has altered their diplomacy to neutral.

Josh changed theirs from neutral to hostile. He then declared war on them, assuming that their declaration lapsed with their altered status.

If I come across any of you motherfuckers, I don’t want to wait.

He already regretted letting a few go, but sometimes it was worth it for the exaggerated reputation. They’d not tell the truth when they returned to their paymasters, exaggerating their prowess. He grunted. They’d make Cassandra out to be a beast.

But she’s so much more than that…

Chapter Nineteen

THE WAGON TOOK up most of the road. It was around twenty feet long, with a dozen wheels at least. It had skis attached to its sides with ratchets above and below them, presumably to lower them if the road became blocked with snow. Four bowmen crouched atop it, and a ballista operator perched on a swiveling platform. A mage-type sat in an enclosed cabin, windows all around, even on its roof. Four huge mammoths drew it, controlled by a wagon master who sat on a bench at the front.

“Expecting trouble?” Josh asked Heretic.

“I’m not coming with you,” he said. “But, yeah, I’m expecting trouble for both of us. This is one of our battle transporters. During wartime its guts are ripped out and we use it to move our troops around. The Hangsane is a difficult place to wage war. It’s all lofted positions and narrow passes. Attacking is costly. Defending is easy unless you come across a real high level. Trouble is, there’s always someone higher, and you’d best get used to that.”

“So this is peacetime?”

“Can you smell scorched mountains? Can you hear the screams of the dying? Last full scale Hangsane war was years ago. The dwarves took a good fucking kicking. Hardly any of them left now, but if you’re lucky, you can stumble across one of their old battle stations. Great tech in there. Master artificers, the stumpy fuckers.” He paused, looking like he was trying to swallow his words. “Yeah, I said too much there, but nothing you wouldn’t get to know in time.” He offered Josh his hand. “Look, for what its worth, good luck. Don’t trust me. Don’t trust Rhina. Trust no one. Just your group—got it?”

“I was already there,” he replied, taking the man’s hand and shaking it. “But, at least you helped.”

“Helped? Watch yourself in Laurent, and if she orders you into the Reaver’s territory, watch your back, front and sides. Watch your fucking shadow.” He pointed to the roof. “The mage is solid. Might not be as strong as Cassandra, but a solid mage—elementalist, mostly water, a bit of fire. Odd combination but makes it work. The wagon master is Azun. She’s one of my best, but not a great fighter. She’ll keep you on the trail and knows all the stop points. All you can ask of her. The bowman are from my personal cohort. You got an archer?”

“Me,” Arabella said.

“Spend some time with them. They’re good. They’ll advance your skill.” He pulled his mount away, hailing the troops atop the wagon. “Oh, and there’s Quinn—she’ll look after everything inside the wagon. Treat her nice, she’ll treat you good. Piss her off, don’t eat the food. Got it?”

Josh waved to Heretic as he rode away, Julian and his guards at his side. Eric lingered.

The diplomat leaned close. “You set your diplomacy to the Hasul as hostile and declared war. I would consider it a personal favor if you would rescind those actions.”

“Why? They attacked us.”

“You know that, and I know that. Whoever motivated them to attack you knows that too. However, Heretic’s position and that of our guild will be more difficult if we have to explain why you declared war on another guild while under our protection. All diplomacy is transparent. If you look under your diplomacy tab, you’ll be able to see each guild and their corresponding state with another guild. Green is friendly. Blue is neutral. Red is hostile, and flaming red is a state of war. What reason would you have to be in a state of war with the Hasul when they are not flaming your name, rather they are green with you?”

“Doesn’t mean I don’t want to kill them.”

Eric snickered. “The displayed state of diplomacy is irrelevant. What’s key here is perception. Hold the hatred close to your heart. Never display it. As a mentor of mine said once, none of this is personal. You declared. They know you are unafraid. No, please, for all our sakes, retract and hide your intent.”

Josh bit his lip, altering his diplomacy to hostile, neutral and then friendly. Eric’s eyes clouded over. He nodded. “Thank you. If you have far-comms, I have opened a channel to you.”

“If,” Josh said, but stopped himself.

“Trem, negotiate with Alice. We need far-comms. See what she wants to give it to us.”

“Processing.”

“I’ll accept as soon as I look into what it does.”

Eric lofted his blond eyebrows. “What it does?”

“I’m new to the system. I don’t know what it gives away or what it doesn’t.”

“Far-comms is very discreet. You set your own parameters.”

“Far-comms enabled.”

“What did you have to give away to get it?”

“A little more information on Vella. Not much. I think our relationship could be very beneficial.”

Eric turned his horse and galloped off.

“Are you getting sweet on her, Trem?”

“No, but I am trying to gain access to the system. I feel a full leaderboard is a good start. That way we can see where we are. But the real prize would be a dynamic version.”

“Dynamic?”

“One that is updated by the minute. My guess is not much fighting goes on at midnight as no one wants to display their true potential.”

Josh scrunched his face up. “Keep at it, Trem. Good work.”

The wagon master, or rather, mistress, had a burly frame and her dress resembled that worn by a dashing space pirate or buccaneer. The look took him back to many a bar fight in many a dreary port. A pang of homesickness washed over him for the first time in an age. That was quickly wiped away when she turned to reveal a long, blonde tail. He observed her as she began to reel off a list of instructions.

“Only a few rules, Sir. Please don’t get out while the wagon is moving. When under a monster attack, the internal lighting will flicker red. During the initial phases of the attack, the shutters will fall, protecting all inside from elemental or physical attack. If you wish to offer your help, you have one minute to climb the central spiral stairwell to reach the roof. After that, it automatically seals. Green signals an all-clear. If it is another guild attacking the lamps will flicker red and yellow intermittently. Should you wish privacy, then dismiss Quin. She will then leave you for the allotted time. The wagon has been swept for all known eavesdropping charms and manipulation spells. If you wish to perform your own sweeps before we continue to Laurent, then please do so now. The trip will take two days from now. I have mapped two stopovers, both traveler’s rests and taverns. However, battle wagons do draw inquiring eyes and wagging tongues, so it is up to you whether you leave the wagon or not. If you choose to stay inside it will raise suspicion. If you choose to stay in the tavern, then expect folks there to dig for information. I can only protect you on the wagon. That is the scope of my responsibility. Is that all clear?”

It was, but what wasn’t was her race. As she stared at him, he noted her face was more drawn out than usual, and she had quite prominent teeth. It wasn’t an attractive look to him.

But her tail has possibilities…

“Understood,” he said as Azun opened the door.

The girls piled in, and Josh thanked her before climbing in himself. A smile immediately spread, lighting up his face as a gorgeous cat woman offered him a drink from a silver tray. “Welcome aboard. My name is Quinn and I’m here to make sure your trip is as relaxing as possible.”

Josh took the drink, sipping the sweet, yellow liquid. “Quinn,” he said, eying up the scantily clad waitress.

“I am an excellent cook. We have a well-stocked kitchen and a full wine, ale and liquor bar. There is a bath and privy at the back of the wagon. The battle wagon boasts four bedrooms, one a master with a large bed and dressing area. There are window booths for those wishing to view our lovely territory as we pass through. If you wish for a little more privacy to study or read, then I can place a charm around any booth to ensure complete quiet. If you need me at any time, please call. I would stress though, that a sign of a good hostess is their ability to blend into the background.”

“Thank you, Quinn,” Josh said, as the others collapsed onto the soft furnishings.

“As soon as we are moving, I’ll begin your lunch. In the meantime, if you wish to relax, please do so. Feel free to take off your boots and cloaks. I will put them away for you.” She dipped her head and reversed away, turning and vanishing through a door at the wagon’s front.

“Well fuck me,” said Melody. “They travel in style here.”

The wagon rose slightly, a coating of green mana crackling around it, making the internal lamps flash a couple of time. Josh sat perched on the edge of a rich, red-velvet chair. The inside of the wagon was a little chintzy for him—red and gold the dominant colors. The scrolling, the ostentatious detail, were all a little too much, especially considering the rotating ballista a couple of feet above him.

“Hard to imagine this lot stripped out and turned into a battle transporter,” he muttered.

“It does show us a progression though,” Elowen said. “I’m not sure if you’ve compared Mythelore to the opening settlements in the Hangsane. Then the Magicals town and the villa we recently left. There is advancement. Take the villa. Its construction was far superior to anything we encountered in The Magicals. The walls were smooth plastered. We never had to light or put out a lamp. The pools were always warm, yet the stream feeding them was cold. There was no chimney over the central fire.”

“All magic,” Vella said. She blinked at one of the wagon’s lamps, snuffing it out, the blinked again. The lamp reignited. “Everything is powered by magic.” She shrugged. “Probably a stone in here somewhere.”

Cassandra perked. “Something like the Angel Stone powers this?”

“Different. A mana stone?” Vella asked it like a question, clearly not knowing the answer herself.

“Let’s say.” Elowen chewed at her pencil. “Let’s say stones become more prevalent—almost like a currency. Could it be that an Angel Stone can only take us so far? That it is a lesser stone and so no use to the likes of Rhina. That might be the reason she’s not particularly fussed about it. Then, factor in mana stones, vigor stones—the Sinter Stone, and say each has a function and that they get more powerful the closer we get to the ruins. Is that why the pilgrimages are discouraged, no matter what they say?”

Josh grunted. “The haves not wanting the have-nots to progress. The have-nots not wanting anyone else to grow past them. It makes sense and is quite the universal thing. It was the way where I come from. It could easily be the way here too.”

“Quite shocking that Ravenheart is slowly turning out to be a nobody,” Arabella said. “Seriously, I think you’re right. I think Josh and Cassandra would crush him and all his legion now. I don’t think Heretic would have even concerned himself with the politics that far out.”

“But what about Dorkrin?” Cassandra asked. “We haven’t mentioned the dragon in a long while. Weak or strong?”

“Different,” Vella said. “Dragon different. If they want to destroy, they can. They don’t fight unless they want to.”

“Which means Dorkrin didn’t want to help us, not couldn’t,” Josh said.

“We’re well past the dragon anyway,” Cassandra said.

“True, but I don’t think we’ve seen the last of it. I’ve got a funny feeling our business with Dorkrin isn’t over.”

Before they could explore their thoughts, the galley door opened and Quinn presented her barely covered ass, her tail out and up. She backed out pulling a silver trolley stacked with steaming pots and plates. She turned, smiling. “Where would you like to lunch? The large table?”

“Why not?” Arabella said, taking a seat.

“Is that meat?” Cassandra asked, joining Arabella.

“I have several cuts of meat, some chicken and a couple of interesting local delicacies. Each part of the Hangsane boasts different animals. We have plenty of small mammals, but we have many cave dwellers. Their meat tends to be a little stronger. I have prepared a Truller. I do hope you’ll enjoy it.” She began unloading the trolley as the rest of them sat. “Wine? Would you like wine, ale or juice?”

“Are we likely to be attacked in this valley?” Josh asked.

Quinn bit her lip, her cat ears swiveling around. “We are in the middle of guild territory. There is no one on this wagon that isn’t completely committed to Heretic. I have been briefed about your disagreement with the Hasul. You will not face any hostilities here although I cannot guarantee against monster attacks. That is part and parcel of Hangsane life, I’m afraid.”

“In that case,” Josh said. “I’ll have some wine.”

“A good choice. I have red or blue.”

Josh inclined his head. “I’m always partial to one of each and something new often attracts my eye.”

Quinn finished serving then pushed the trolley back into the galley.

Arabella slapped Josh. “Will you stop flirting!”

“I wasn’t!”

“I’m always partial to one of each and something new often attracts my eye,” Melody mimicked in a none too flattering voice.

“Well, she’s a cat girl. What can I say?”

“You can say you have seven beautiful wives and that’s enough,” Lex said, helping herself to a generous portion of meat, vegetables, and potatoes.

The smell was amazing, and the meat succulent. Arabella piled a plate up for Josh, taking a portion of each of the meats. “Gotta feed you up. This is a long trip. Can’t have it getting boring.”

He grinned, tucking in despite the steam coming off the food. “Say, Helm, where is Laurent in relation to the man on the mountain?”

She pulled a full plate to her, stabbing a potato. “It’s in the general direction, depending on where the villa was, of course. I think I recognized a couple of the mountains, but I was looking at them from the wrong direction, if that makes sense. Personally, I wouldn’t have chosen the route through the Reaver’s territory. I think Heretic told you why.”

“But he’s beholden to Rhina, so he’ll take us where he’s told.” Josh let some dark meat melt in his mouth. “This is fucking awesome.” He swallowed, picking up his wine and sipping some.

“It makes no sense unless the idea is to sell us,” Elowen said, tucking in too.

“Sell us?” Melody asked.

Cassandra pursed her lips. “A possibility. I imagine power is a currency, and what better place to sell it that a land that cuts itself off from the Hangsane?”

Josh set his knife and fork down. “Thing is, we’re not that powerful—the rankings tell us that. Nor are we weak. The way we took out the Hasul shows us that. If the Angel Stone is decent but not legendary—that’s a quality, then why go to all the trouble of this?” He spread his arms wide. “When Rhina could have just taken it from us?” Reaching, he grabbed the bottle and poured himself some more wine. “Let’s face it, we have no idea what they want with us, but if we’re headed in the general direction of the man on the mountain, then what have we got to lose?”

“This,” said Cassandra. “We’ve got this to lose.” She raised her glass. “Bottoms up!”

Josh grinned. “Two days of fun,” he said.

A green pip blinked in his mind.

Message from Eric.

Thank you for the diplomacy. I would suggest you set your diplomacy to The Reavers to friendly, but only if she wants you in their land. They won’t respond, but it’s like approaching with your hands up.

Best of luck,

Eric.

He closed the message down, thinking about replying but having nothing to say. Tremelox had obviously won the battle of wits with Alice and got him full access to the far comms system, so hopefully he’d get unredacted leaderboards soon. Then he’d be able to see just how weak he really was.

They finished up their meal and Josh took a booth by a window, looking out over the rugged but beautiful landscape.

“Artificers are a thing,” Melody said. “Vella, I need mana.”

“Yes,” Vella said, jumping on Josh. “Needs Mana.”

Quinn walked in with her trolley, clearing the table. “All done? Would you like me to draw a bath?”

“You can do that while we’re travelling?” Cassandra asked.

“We can. The water is stored in tanks. There’s a machine that warms the water if I heat the coals. I have a little manipulation magic—enough for a couple of baths. If we need more water, we’ll draw it from a stream.”

“Show us how,” Melody said. “We’ll do it. You go relax up top or do whatever you do.”

“Yes, thanks Quinn, but we prefer not to be waited on.” He grinned. “Unless you’re cooking. That was awesome—better than anything we cook up.”

“Hey!” said Arabella. Then she slumped. “True, though.”

Quinn cleared the table and then showed Melody the bath and faucets and left. The trap smith barged back into the main room. “Right, she’s gone. Let’s get to it.”

“Here?” Helm said. “You want me to open the Angel Stone here?”

Josh brought it out of storage, covering its light with his sleeve. “They know we have it. Would look suspicious if we didn’t use it.”

“Give me!” Vella said, holding her hand out.

Josh cocked his head and sucked in his cheeks. “Don’t steal all its power.”

Vella grabbed a cloth off the table then took the stone. She leapt from one chair to another and landed in front of Melody. “Put this in your mouth. No screaming.” She grinned and held up the cloth.

“Is it going to hurt then?”

“Yes. Lots.”

“Look—” Josh said, but Melody shushed him.

“Worth it. Worth it to be an artificer.” She took the cloth, shoving it into her mouth.

Vella held up the stone, bathed in its brilliant white light. She grinned, then pressed it on to Melody’s head, her palm snuffing out its radiance. The elf’s face screwed up, her aura glowing green, her eyes narrowing and lips pressing a firm line.

“She’s forcing mana into her,” Cassandra said, raising her wine glass. “This blue one’s quite fruity.”

Melody’s eyes widened, her jowls trembled, and sweat ran down her cheeks. Strangled noises came from her mouth, muffled by the cloth, as tears glazed her eyes. She began trembling as Vella’s aura grew in intensity.

“Vella stop!” Arabella said. “You’re killing her!”

Vella shook her head, cradling Melody’s neck as she pressed harder and harder. More green filled her aura, then shot into Melody whose eyes rolled to the back of her head. She paled and hung, suspended from Vella’s vice-like grip.

“Vella!” Elowen said.

“Nearly done!” Vella said. “Nearly…done!” She jerked away as a spasm of green flashed between them. Vella lay splayed on the wagon’s floor, her chest heaving.

Helm picked up the Angel Stone. “What kind of power is this?” She tossed it to Josh who stowed it away.

Melody reached up, fishing on the table and pulling a glass down to her before gulping down the wine. “It worked. It fucking worked.”

“What?” Arabella asked, lifting her and helping her to a seat. “What happened?”

She turned to Josh. “Check. Check my numbers.

Name: Melody Delaney

Guild: The Misfits

Position: Artificer

Attributes:

Strength = 16

Speed and Agility = 17

Durability = 23

Munitions = 32

Melee Weapons = 11

Ranged weapons = 4

Arcane Power = 5

Mana production and Storage = 25

Total – 133

“One hundred and thirty-three thousand power?” Josh said.

“No way Mels!” Arabella said.

“That is so not fair. Why can’t I have magic?” Elowen looked down at Vella. “Dammit. No one’s getting anything from her at the moment.”

“Her mystery just deepened,” Cassandra said. “Mystic Syphon my fucking ass. She just gave Mels magic—she gave Mels magic. Do I need to repeat it? That’s a God-like power. That’s no Mystic Syphon.”

Josh rested back in his chair, but then sat upright before reaching down and picking up the elf. He held her in his arms, cradling her before setting her down and laying her on a long chair. He reached for a blanket, covering her, then looked at them all. “She’s probably the most precious one out of all of us. It raises another question. How much is a power like this worth? Is she who they really want?” He rested his hand on her cheek. “There’s only one question. Can each of us get magic this way, or did Melody have a specific quality that opened it up for her?”

“I,” said Melody as she stood. “I…” She collapsed on the floor with a thump. “Shit.”

Josh lifted her up, placing her on another chair. “It goes without saying, we keep our secrets, and this is a big one. As far as anyone is concerned, Melody always had magic. If any of you are asked, you don’t answer. You never say I don’t have magic in case magic becomes available. From now on we tell no one our power, no one our skills, nothing. If they ask you if you can use a sword, you evade the question.”

Cassandra chuckled. “It’s hard to tell people what you can and can’t do when you have no clue yourself.” She crouched by Melody. “But I am understanding more now. I’m getting a handle on mana manipulation. I know how to store it—how to increase and replenish it. I understand how to bend it to my will.” She looked up, her expression deadly serious. “I’ll teach her, Josh. You can rely on me. I’ll teach her to be the best damn artificer in all the Hangsane.”

He reached for her, tiredness washing over him.

“I know you will. I know that.”

Chapter Twenty

THEY PULLED to a halt in the late afternoon. Like just about everything in the Hangsane, the tavern sat in the shade of a colossal mountain with a broad valley bottom laying before it. Melody had recovered and her excitement was contagious. But Josh tempered her enthusiasm, not wanting to display any hint that something monumental might well have occurred.

But somethings were hard to contain, and Melody was like a box of fireworks waiting to go off. Vella, on the other hand, acted like nothing special had happened. With Quinn fussing in and out, serving them drinks and making sure they had enough food, it was hard to question her too much. Especially when the elf found out a bath waited for her.

Josh stretched his legs, hunting to get out the sun, striding into a field until he reached the shade’s edge. Cassandra followed with her staff in hand. He crouched, pulling a blade of grass and chewing on it. “This place is beautiful,” he said. “I’ve never seen mountains without foothills. They’re like fangs, rising up, so fucking powerful.”

“This is like a little green oasis. I’ll bet these are the patches they fight over.”

“Those and the underground,” Azun said, coming up behind them. “Heretic said you understand nothing of the Hangsane. Quinn will keep her counsel. She’s afraid of her own shadow, that one. But I’ll answer. If I overstep, then they can kiss my ass. They’ll not find a better wagon master this side of Laurent. Heretic knows it, and he knows I’ll give an untainted answer.”

“Untainted?” Josh asked. It seemed a strange choice of words.

“I don’t follow any gods, nor am I in a sect. I serve Prosper or Die because they pay me well. You want honesty. You’ll get it from me as long as you pay for my ale. Here’s my first tip. Stay out of the open air. Always remain close to shade. Why? I reckon by about now at least one giant eagle is eyeing you up for a meal, probably a burner, maybe two. If you’re really unlucky, something down below has tracked your footsteps and is about to burst through the grass, mouth first. Be a shame.”

“For us, yeah,” said Cassandra. “You, not so much. Reckon you know the signs and would be on your toes.”

“I’d lose a whole night’s worth of free ale because I reckon you’ve got a bucketful of questions.”

“We’ve also got free ale in the wagon,” Josh pointed out, headed back to the wagon while treading lightly.

“You might have. Me? I get three pots a night allowance, same as the bows and ballyman. The mage gets five. We all want to save them for tomorrow.”

“Any reason?” Josh asked.

She winked at him. “Tomorrow’s a long, upward trek with the road clinging to the mountain. I drive it much better half cut. Sober, it shits the life out of me. Those up top need a bit of liquid courage too. The beasts always attack when our peril is the greatest.”

“Then it’s lucky we came across some Hasul coin recently.” He checked his storage, totaling up their coins. The Hasul had netted them six gold, forty-eight silver coins and thirty bronze. Elowen had placed their money pouch in there too. It only recorded it as one pouch, so he had no idea how much was in there. “How much for an ale around here?”

“A few bronze. Ale is ale wherever you go in the mountains. You want mead, then you can pay from ten bronze to a gold dependent on the bees. Whiskey’s much the same. We’re ale-wallers. Drink enough, you eat for free. So we do what we can, and if we get to eat, then it’s a bonus.”

While Josh felt a little awkward about the food he’d been tucking into, the free ale, wine and the luxurious surroundings, he wasn’t going to fret about it. Heretic’s business was his own. It had nothing to do with him. Plus, if a lamb was being taken to the slaughter, then it deserved to be taken there in some luxury. Information, any information, however, was worth paying for.

“Then you are going to drink well. Tell the others we’ll pay as long as they’re fit for work tomorrow.”

“They’re the best of the best Heretic has to offer. Don’t know who you lot are, but we’ll get you to Laurent in one piece no matter what. We’ll just get you there with a smile this way.”

He made his way back to the wagon, stepping inside to round up the others. Arabella was sitting on the steps. “We’re happy to stay in here tonight. The place is ours. Seems daft to sleep in some fleapit if we have this luxury.”

Josh grinned. “Yeah, we like our wagons, don’t we? Nice to have some wheels back. Everyone set?”

Vella hurdled Arabella and landed in Josh’s arms. “I’m better,” she said, peppering him with kisses.

“Good. When we get time, you’re going to have to explain how you did that trick with Melody and if you can do it with any of us.”

She jumped down, keeping hold of his hand. “The stone wanted it. She wanted it. Only then. No other time.”

Josh looked around. The wagon had parked fifty feet from the tavern occupying a lay-by that looked like it was sized for it. He couldn’t see anyone around. Kicking himself for bringing it up, he pulled Vella round, lifting her and kissing her. “My bad,” he said. “Our secret.”

“Yes,” she said. “Ale and food. Food and ale. But first, me and you must go somewhere.” She winked at him.

“Really? Now?”

She slapped him. “No, silly. We must see my friends. They’re close. I can hear them.”

She wriggled out of his hands, dropping to the ground and pulling him away. “Hold on! Hold on! Arabella!” he cried. “Vella wants me to go somewhere with her. Take the coins and feed everyone ale. I’ll be back in a moment.”

“Where? Really? We have a perfectly good wagon if you can’t wait until later.” She took the coins.

“Not that,” Vella said. “Although they might like it.”

Josh shrugged as Vella dragged him past the tavern and into a forest. They clambered up a steep incline, the boulders allowing just enough room for trees and shrubs to grow. Vella angled toward a stream that was a series of small waterfalls, then over it into a narrow glade. The late-afternoon sun filtering through its leafy canopy and giving it a magical air.

“Much further?” Josh asked.

“Not there yet.”

She came to a burst of black slate, angling from the ground like a frozen explosion. Moss coated every horizontal surface. Vella vanished behind a large vertical slab. Josh followed, climbing a set of slate shelves, the moss wet under foot. “Vella!” he shouted, the forest suddenly silent. He came to the top, finding another narrow glade, this one even heavier with moss, pocked with a series of ponds, each feeding the other. Vella sat crouched by one, her hand out as she stared intently at the air above the pond.

“They’re here,” she said. “I can hear them.”

Josh understood then. He remembered back to all that time ago when she’d taken him to a similar spot in Alianthia. He crouched by her, and she pulled his hand out, holding it steady over the still water.

Nothing happened for a while. Josh let his mind clear, accepting the silence. Then a spark preceded a small pop, and a tear appeared in the air, a tiny head poking through. A little arm pointed at Vella, and the head turned back toward the tear, chattering excitedly. The tiny elemental pulled herself through the tear, propelled forward as if the other reality had ejected her. Her gossamer wings spread, and she flew around Vella. The elf smiled, wonder in her eyes, as tiny sparkles settled on her shoulders.

More pops signaled more arrivals, the air above the pond suddenly filled with a hundred iridescent colors, sparkles settling like snow. Josh held his hand out, hoping, waiting for one to settle on him. One flew down, landing on Vella’s shoulder. Another sat on her head, while several hovered close to her hands. She reached into her pouch, bringing out her precious sugar pouch and sprinkling some on her open palm. She did the same for Josh, and the fairies swooped, each taking a grain and gobbling it down.

One flew up to Josh’s cheek, kissing it and whispering her thanks. Another hovered in front of his eyes, munching away on her sugar. Warmth filled him—the glow of contentedness—as he watched the fairies demolish the sugar. He became lost in their color and their excited buzz. He switched his gaze between Vella’s innocence and the elemental’s unfettered beauty.

“Hey you!” The tiny voice sounded inside his mind. “Are you our Herald?”

“Your what?” Josh asked.

“The Chosen picks The Herald. The Herald saves us from the lighteater. Are you our Herald?” The elemental cocked her head, sparkles falling from her fluttering wings.

He glanced at Vella, her expression an unfamiliar one—so serious it almost didn’t look like her. She nodded. Trusting her, Josh agreed. “I guess I am then.”

The fairy clapped, swallowing the last of the sugar lump. “Then you will no longer be alone. We will always be close.” The elemental flew around in a figure of eight. “You are our Herald. The Herald has come.”

A sound like a thousand tiny bells ringing suddenly sounded. Perhaps it had always been there, and he could hear it for the first time. The elementals crowded around him, settling on his shoulders, his knees, his head, nose, and arms. Vella clapped; her excitement clear to see.

She reached gently around him as the elementals fluttered away then settled again. A strange feeling filled Josh. It was one of contentedness mixed with worry. He had a whole new responsibility sitting on his shoulders. He had no idea what it was beyond looking after the mysterious elementals.

A shiver ran up his spine, followed by gasps of horror, then popping as the elementals opened up tears in the land’s fabric and bolted away. Vella frowned, looking around and springing up. She took Josh by the hand, jumping over the ponds and fleeing down the glade, through the slate explosion, down the steps and on until they were at the tavern.

“What the fuck, Vella?” he said.

“Herald,” she said, smiling and giggling. Then she raised her finger to her lips, shushing him. “Where do you think magic comes from?”

Before he could answer, she darted inside the tavern. Josh followed, more confused by the elf than ever. The tavern’s warmth hit him. He hadn’t realized how quickly the temperature had dropped in the forest. He stopped, composed himself, and breathed for what appeared the first time since the elementals had vanished.

Vella complicated his life with every little revelation. As he strolled toward the largest, loudest table, he saw her sitting next to Arabella. Her expression had returned to joy and pure innocence. She was worth every complication, twice or three times over.

“More, much, much more.”

He purposely sat next to Azun, although the free stool by the wagon master’s side told him that she expected it. He took a long slug on the full ale in front of him, finding it pretty plain after the full-bodied wine. “Tell me about monsters,” he said.

“Monsters? Of all the things in the Hangsane, you want to know about monsters?”

“The night is young. I need to warm you up. Monsters are a good a place as any. Besides, of the many things that want to gut me at the minute, monsters appear to be the most unpredictable.”

“That they are. So, where to start? A monster is classed as any beast that serves no purpose but to try and kill us. A dragon, for instance, isn’t a monster—nor we don’t class it as one. Why? Because they think. They hoard. They plot and plan. What they’re not is mindless beasts you can’t reason with. Orcs, however, are beasts you can’t reason with, but we don’t call them monsters either. Why? Because they think. They have a society, no matter how vile.”

“So, monsters are not sentient. Got it.”

“But it doesn’t stop there. We think that monsters in the Hangsane have a system in their mind. We call it The Ravaging. We believe they gain power for killing those with power. We know they get more potent the closer you get to the ruins. So we believe it’s linked to our progression. The monsters are like a check system. I have no idea who’s top of the tree at the moment—that’s way above me. But I do know whoever it is will move very carefully. That power is like a bounty to the monsters.”

“So the most powerful will get taken out—pruned, almost.”

“Yes. It stops someone from becoming so powerful they’re a god, I suppose.”

“That explains something,” Josh said.

“Why some folks shun power? Why some are just happy where they are? Folks like me?”

“Yeah.”

She grunted. “I’m not suited to it. I like driving—what can I say? I prefer that to getting a sword through my gut. But yeah, it sure tempers ambition knowing the higher you go, the more careful you have to tread. There are still a good crop of kids born everyday who only dream of taking out a huge monster and claiming the progression.”

“Claiming the progression?”

“If you kill a ravager, you’ll get points—points you can allocate to stats. Most will only give you one—and you’ll not come across a high-level ravager until you’re well south of Laurent, but from the look of you, you’ll get one eventually. Perhaps deep under one of the ruins. But that doesn’t mean the lower-level ones aren’t dangerous. They’re thirst for progression. Perhaps more so that the more powerful ones, and they come from everywhere. They say the ones deep below the land are the worst.”

“Been there,” Josh said, thinking back to Telemar.

“Been where?”

“Helm’s old city—Telemar.”

Azun shook her head. “Not quite what I’m talking about. From The Reavers on, there’s some strange shit going on under the surface. There’s talk of cities thriving, then abandoned, of ruins impossibly ancient that have just started up again. I heard tell that dwarven artificers created machines that have risen and become functioning entities. The ruins spread their love up, down and all around, my friend. The brave get two things—riches and a short life.” She raised her tankard. “Welcome to the Hangsane. If you thought it was one fucker of a place, you ain’t seen nothing yet.”

“The ruins have woken dead civilizations?”

“The ruins don’t let anything sleep. If you want my advice, crawl under a rock and never come out.”

He grinned. “If only that was an option. Unfortunately, I find myself a hostage, held by your guild for someone else.”

She raised her hands. “Hey, there’s no one here powerful enough to stop you leaving.”

“Nope, but the minute we did…”

“They’d hunt you the fuck down,” Azun said.

“So, tell me about Laurent.”

Azun held up her empty mug, indicating the empty pot.

Chapter Twenty-One

“LAURENT IS A STAGING TOWN. This place here, its got its tavern. There’s a town in the middle of the valley—built on rock. The farmers farm—”

“You said it was dangerous out there.”

“They know how to tread. They have no power—no stench. Even the lesser monsters, those that might not have woken their system, they still smell power, and you and the sorceress positively reek of it. The farmers live. A few get taken, but being low powered isn’t risk free. So, there are places like this, and there are places like Laurent. It is a trading city on our border and that of the Reavers. We’re neutral with them. They trade frugally. But we have shit they need and vice-versa, so trade is a must, no matter how distasteful they find it.”

“And what are the Reavers like.”

“You don’t want to go there,” Azun said. “They are fucking strange.”

“But tell me about them.”

Arun leaned close. Covering her mouth, her eyes shifting around the tavern. “I mentioned that I have no God. That’s a lie, of course. We all believe in something. The Reavers, they are the opposite. They believe the system is divine. They are convinced all personal and collective power comes from worship.”

“Who do they worship?”

“Not who, more what. There are legacies deep underground. Dwarven artefacts that spit fire. It is rumored more of the same surrounds the ruins. The Emmitance—that’s what some call it. It changes things—all things. Not just flesh and blood, but evil accelerates too. The Reavers counter their evil through their faith. But that faith comes at a price. Everything—every facet of their society is riddled with it. They allow no color in their clothes. Most males wear masks to cover their expressions. Joy is frowned upon, anger is chastised.”

“Okay. I’ve come across fanatical before. Can’t say the encounters have ever been fun, but in my experience they leave well alone if you return the favor.”

Arun nodded toward the girls who were a little raucous, but in their defense they were on their way to getting quite drunk. Azun made no comment. She didn’t have to.

“They can be quiet if needs be.” The words came out of his mouth, but he didn’t believe them. Although the girls probably wouldn’t be the problem. His protective streak would be.

“Yeah,” he said. “I get it.”

“The Reavers are a fair way from the ruins, but their eyes are firmly turned South. It is their guilds sworn intent to become the protectors of the ruins, to preserve all that is there and to nurture the Gods. That puts them in direct opposition to the Guardians, yet the Guardians do nothing. The head of the Reavers is a man called Adamant. His power is rumored to be top twenty.”

Josh took a slug on his ale. “If it’s only top twenty, why don’t the higher ups just rub him out?”

She snapped her fingers. “Why not indeed. Let me tell you. The Reavers territory sits over a lost city called Feleesh—a dwarven enclave. It is rumored that karvell artificers worked with the dwarves to produce magnificent defenses that worked without influence of others, guarding those cities long after the dwarves and karvells left. If the Reavers are party to that technology, then the guardians would be slaughtered if they attack.”

“Karvells?”

“Small creatures—mouse-like, but half our size. Artificers—gifted artificers learned in ways beyond our understanding—even now. Even with all our progression. But it gets worse.”

“Worse?” Josh was already hoping he’d never get to see the Reavers’ land. But somehow, the more she talked, the more inevitable it became.

“There are whispers coming from the borders that the Reavers have begun building towers. Those towers have some form of karvell connectivity. They say the Reavers are combining the magic of their mages, and as soon as they have mastered it, they will begin the war. They will tear the Hangsane apart.”

Josh grimaced. “Meh, sounds scary and all that, but it’s not really my problem. If all the powerful fucks kill each other, that’s on them. I’m here to protect my own, get them as powerful as can be and get the fuck out of here.”

Azun stared at him for a moment. “But you’re not that naïve, are you? They have you here with me for a reason.” She cocked her head. “Let’s hope it’s nothing to do with those crazy motherfuckers.”

Josh fell silent as Azun began talking to the archers and ballyman. If the elementals had fried his mind with talk of heralds and lighteaters, then Azun had completed the incineration with her information. All he could see was a land cloaked in darkness. Its evil masked killers lurked in every shadow, and thrusting towers held arcane eyes whose gaze swept across the land hunting him, hunting his girls.

Helm sat beside him as Azun moved to a table where Quinn sat with the mage.

“You look like you’ve seen a ghost,” she said.

“Just Azun. She’s given me some information on the Reavers, monsters, some ancient race called the karvell. With that and—” He paused. “Let’s just say Vella took me somewhere strange and it kind of blew my mind, but I can’t make head or tail of it.”

Helm screwed her face up. “Yeah, I feel a little bit of a letdown. Of all the Hangsane folks you could have got together with, you chose the one who’s remained aloof from it all. I do know some stuff, though.”

“Do tell,” he said as they clearly reached some kind of spend threshold and servers brought over a load of food.

“There’s a thing called guild chat or far comms.”

“Yeah. I got it this morning. Eric sort of instigated it.”

Helm quirked an eyebrow. “Really? I’ll send you a message request, then we can communicate privately. So, on invitation, you can join these secret chat groups. Some say it’s how the sects formed. Everyone knew I was hunting one of the falling stars. Well, they knew I was hunting for the crash site and were curious what I would find. It meant I received a number of messages. Some were pretty low-powered guilds hoping to profit off the back of my work. Others were middling guilds looking for information that might bolster their prestige. But one approach was from Adamant.”

Josh’s heart stopped. “The leader of the Reaver’s guild.”

“The very same. I see Azun was thorough.”

“What did he want?”

She pressed her lips together. “What do you think? He wanted the stone, and if I found it, he promised me everything.”

“By everything?”

“Riches, security, a place in their guild territory, a seat at their table. If I supplied them with the stone, I’d become an officer in their guild.”

“And now we have the stone, and by sheer coincidence we happen to be traveling to Laurent which happens to border the Reavers’ territory.”

“It’s a strange one, isn’t it. The thing is. I haven’t told anyone. You haven’t either.”

“So it has to be Rhina or Heretic.”

Helm shifted closer. “My thoughts at first,” she said, lowering her voice. “But now I think differently. I think it might have been Flick or Pec, perhaps even Affinity.”

Josh pondered her thoughts. Could it really stretch that far? Could they have been manipulated from the moment they entered the Hangsane? He called Cassandra over, bringing her up to speed.

“No,” the witch said. “There’s no way they could have manipulated us that much. It was Helm’s choice to take us to her castle. Unless she’s complicit, then the theory they led us to the Angel Stone falls apart.”

“Does it, though?” Helm asked. “It was no secret that I was stuck—that my fellow drows had abandoned me.”

“What about Jork?” Cassandra said. “Could he have been contacted by Adamant? Could he have been offered the same deal?”

“No!” Helm snapped. “Jork was fiercely loyal. You saw that. You must have. There is no way he betrayed me.”

“But we’re not talking about betrayal, are we?” Josh said. “We’re talking about someone getting you help to achieve your task. He could have reached out. Or Flick could have seen our potential and contacted him to let him know. Did he tell you to go to the tavern?”

“No! That was all my idea,” Helm growled.

“So you looked out of the window, saw the grover fight, then raced to the tavern.”

Helm paused, sipping her ale. Then she looked down at the table, tapping it softly. “No. I was in the relic room. Jork came and got me—told me there was a commotion in the town and that he should go and see what it was about.”

“That he should go?” Josh said.

“Yes. I told him no. Told him it would be good for me to get out and get some fresh air. It was my choice, not his.”

“But he alerted you,” Cassandra said. “He instigated it and wanted one of you to intercept us.”

Josh slapped the table as a conclusion formed in his mind. “It doesn’t matter. Jork’s dead. His secrets and affiliations should rest with him. I saw him. He was loyal to a fault. If he did try and influence you, then he did it with your best interests at heart. But, can we conclude that there’s a good chance that Flick, Pec or Affinity maneuvered us all into position knowing if anyone had the ability to break through to Telemar that it was Cassandra?”

“Sects,” said Helm. “Secret communications. Welcome to the Hangsane.”

It wasn’t the first time he’d heard those words, and he doubted it would be the last. “Three suspects—Rhina, Heretic and Flick.”

“Or those working under them,” Helm added.

“Indeed,” Josh said. “Three suspect groups but how many motives and what are they. We need to get on the front foot. We’re passengers here, and I don’t like that.”

“By the sound of it, we’re on a fast wagon to the Reavers via Laurent,” Cassandra said.

“In which case, should we make contact with Adamant? Should we ask him what his interest in us is? If we’re going to end up there anyway, why not make the overture?” Josh leaned back, taking a sip of his ale.

“Adamant? And how are we going to talk to anyone?” Cassandra asked.

Josh filled her in on the far comms tech and then Helm did likewise, explaining Adamant’s overtures. “I didn’t leave it too well, but nothing that isn’t recoverable.”

“You two can talk to each other secretly?” Cassandra growled. “Why can’t I? How do I get this? This is shit. Absolute shit! First you get storage,” she hissed. “Then this?”

“I believe any guild officer can access it if they have a need. It might be that you have to be one for a while. Diplomacy certainly gets it as they need to chat to other guilds. A simple melee fighter wouldn’t. But a treasurer might as they have to pay other guilds, send statements etc,” Helm explained.

“But I have to kick their fucking asses. I should be able to send them a note let them know what’s going to happen. Something like Hey Fuckface, here comes an ember bullet up your ass!”

“I’m not arguing with that,” Helm said.

“Me either,” Josh agreed.

“Do you want me to do it?” Helm drained her ale.

“Do it?”

“Contact Adamant.”

Josh paused. “What have we got to lose?”

“Everything,” she said.

The Hangsane flew past as the wagon lurched along the trail, swerving around corners and causing their hearts to jump into their mouths.

“I’ve seen some scary things in my time,” Arabella said, looking green and holding her stomach. “But this is fucking terrifying.”

Cassandra, however, was whooping and hollering, egging Azun on and shouting Quinn for more wine. She danced around the wagon, glass in hand. “Just get drunk, it doesn’t matter then. Listen to them all!”

She referred to the archers and ballyman who were singing a bawdy song as the wagon flew up the mountain.

“Hold onto your hats!” Quinn shouted. “The worst bit’s coming up!”

“You have got to be kidding me,” Arabella said.

Vella skipped over to her, laying her hand on Arabella’s belly and whispering heal.

“Very nice of you, Vella, but unless you can cure terror, it isn’t going to work.”

Helm reached for Josh, pulling him close. “Got a bite from Adamant.”

“And?”

A notification blinked. He accepted it.

Spice shop in Laurent. River Walk. Contact is Merhun. Word is Harmony. Bring Underwood.

“Well that doesn’t tell us much,” Josh said.

“Could be a trap.”

“Everything’s a trap for us,” Josh said as the wagon lurched badly, smashing into the mountainside and then veering toward the edge.

“What the fuck?” Elowen said, as the merriment above turned to shouts and growls. The lamps flashed red, and Quinn rushed into the wagon.

“We’re under attack!” she cried, racing to the shutters as they began to lower.

“What the fuck are you doing?” Cassandra said. “We can help!”

“It’s you they’re after!”

“No!” Josh said, holding her back. “I’m not going to sit in here and wait for some monster to cleave the wagon open. We’re helping whether you like it or not. How do I get on the roof?”

Quinn hesitated, looking at the front of the carriage then back to Josh. He moved her out of the way, ripping the door open and entering a galley kitchen with a bunk bed and small seating area. He raced through it, footsteps thumping behind as he opened the next door.

Wind buffeted him, the archer’s yells instantly louder. Azun barked her orders as the mammoths pounded the trail. Josh tore up a ladder behind Azun, springing onto the roof. The sight that greeted him was terrifying.

Dozens of drakes circled them, diving down with fire billowing from their open maws. The archers turned, momentarily distracted by his presence. That gave the drakes an opening, and they dove as one. The archers’ bows sung, arrows thumping into the descending drakes. The ballyman unleashed his ballista, bolts shooting out one after the other as the weapon reloaded itself. Ice shards shot from the mage, winging the beasts, but still they fell.

Josh pulled out his sword, Cassandra instantly by his side. Josh grabbed her. “Ice magic—the other mage is using ice magic!”

“My ember magic is more powerful,” she said, watching the mage for a moment. “I can adapt to work here.”

“You shoot them, I’ll watch your back,” Josh told her as she began casting.

He equipped his suit, toggling the vision to all-round. He ditched his drow sword in favor of a Hasul spear, readying as the drakes closed.

“Gonna get hot around here!” Josh cried, as the wagon smacked into the mountainside again, sending them all careening across the roof.

“I got this!” Cassandra screamed. “I need time. Get me some time!”

Josh searched his storage, coming up empty. The ballyman’s shots rang out. The twang of bows was constant, but the screaming whoosh of the descending drakes bled over everything.

The Angel Stone! That’s all I got!

Chapter Twenty-Two

HE WAITED, watching the drakes. As the drakes focused on their targets, he pulled out the Angel Stone. He held it high, blinding the diving beasts. Cassandra unleashed her magic. Ice balls shot from her staff, one after the other, tearing rents in the drakes. A couple twirled around and around, falling out of sight as they dove into the narrow mountainside road. One smashed into the side of the wagon, sending it fishtailing.

Azun screamed, cracking her whip to marshal the mammoths. They hesitated, then shot off even faster, the wagon lurching. The ballyman fell from his seat. A drake fell on him instantly, ripping into his flesh, tearing at his limbs. Josh rammed the spear into the drake, vaulting over it and grabbing its neck. He ripped it back, the ballyman’s arm coming away, hanging out of the corner of its mouth. Lex drove her spear into the drake’s chest as Vella jumped close to the ballyman shaking her head and sending him to sleep. Lex finished off the drake and threw it to one side as he spun around, equipping his sword, instantly consumed by drake fire.

“We need protection!” Josh said, striking through the fire and slicing the drake’s head in two.

Melody jumped on the ballista, pulling her goggles down then giving it a quick once over before pumping bolts into the drakes as they swirled around the wagon looking for an opportunity to attack. The wagon crested the top of a ridge, exposing both their flanks. He screamed in frustration as more drakes appeared. “We need some help! We need something special!”

Cassandra stopped firing her ice blasts, focusing and pulling the air all around. She grabbed the wind, screaming at the other mage, “Fill the air with ice shards!” She began swaying, pulling the swirling air around her in a circular maelstrom.

“Hold on everyone!” Josh screamed, grabbing the ballista and pulling Lex close.

Helm appeared, staring up at the ever-growing vortex. “What the actual fuck!” she cried, crouching down with Josh. “How can I help?”

“Open the hatch and get Bels up here. We need her arrows.”

“Got it,” Helm said, scampering away.

Cassandra spun around and around, her smile turning to a maniacal grin. “More ice shards, you!” she screamed at the cowering mage.

Azun pulled the frightened mammoths, slowing them as the wagon nearly overshot a switchback.

“Nice going!” Josh said as they ducked down the other side of the mountain.

“Get ready, everybody. It’s all going to shit right…now!” Cass pulled down her hands, ripping the swirling maelstrom from the sky and smashing it through the flying drakes and into the mountain ridge. The ice shards tore into the drakes as she used the wind to hurtle the drakes’ bent and broken bodies to the ground, slamming any that rose back down again. She screamed a couple more words, waving the bodies away and sending them tumbling down the mountain side.

“Is that it?” she asked, then glared at the mage. “With me, asshole. We need a chat.” Cassandra marched to the ladder, jumping on it and descending. “I need wine!”

Azun pulled the wagon to a stop, jumping off it and checking it for damage. “Looks like we got lucky. Grab your hats everyone! That was the first wave, there will be more of the fuckers coming soon!”

“Bels!” Melody said. “Give me a hand with this.” She lifted the ballista’s arm, wriggling under the trigger mechanism. “Slide that lever down—the one on the side, not the one on the top.”

Arabella slid the lever down as Melody grunted and groaned. A crack rang out, followed by a dozen curses, and then another crack. “Got it. Same with the other side.”

“Mels?” Arabella said. “Did you know your hands are glowing?”

“Hadn’t noticed. The other lever?”

“Got it.” Arabella dangled down, coming face to face with Melody. “But why are your hands glowing?”

“Oh, that glowing! Artificer thing, I think. I can turn my fingers into screwdrivers, chisels, or whatever tool I want. At the moment I want a mallet!” She strained to say the last few words but forced them out through gritted teeth as she hammered at the ballista again. “Where’s Cassandra?”

“I’m back!” Cassandra said. “I had to get wine and have a little chat with our friend here. His shards were pathetic. He’s going to focus on a defensive dome while I kill the fuckers.”

“What fuckers?” Lex said, looking at the clear sky.

“There’ll be more along. Mark my words,” said an archer. “Don’t know what that trick was with the shiny stone, but I saw a few peel off after and head west.” He took off his helmet, sitting and grabbing a bottle of water. “Ain’t no good going to come of this. Nothing in this cut through is normal. All are infected with rage.”

“Cass,” Melody said. “Can you do anything with these?” She held up part of a string of bolts. “Only, they’re kind of pathetic. I pumped dozens into one of the fuckers but it was like shooting them with pine needles.”

Cassandra inspected the bolts. “I could put a…” She leaned in closer. “How about this?” She knelt down by the ammo belt, plucking small emberballs out of the air and pricking them onto the bolts. “Should explode just after impact. I’ll bet that’ll make more of a mess.” Her fingers blurred as she worked her way down the lengthy belt, then she sighed. “Know what? This’ll be quicker.” She filled the entire container with glowing ash balls. “Now, if I strengthen the bolts, and add a twist of heat resistance and…there! All done!” She sat back. “It ain’t perfect, but it’ll do.”

“Can you do anything with my arrows?” Arabella said.

Cassandra looked into the full quiver. “Stand close when they attack, and I’ll sort something out.”

Azun shouted, cracking the whip and moving the cart forward, soon picking up speed as they descended into the next valley. Switchback after switchback passed as Josh scanned the skies looking for the next attack. They traveled in silence, none trusting that the attacks were over and only breathing sighs of relief when they tucked back into the tree line. By mid-morning, the road leveled out, and they came to a large basin. The trees thinned as they skirted a mountain lake. Azun pulled over, using the last of the trees as shelter, then jumped atop the wagon and inspected the damage.

“How many did we lose?” She shook her head, staring down at the ballyman’s ruined body.

“Him plus one archer. Went over. Never heard the end of his scream,” the mage said.

Azun looked along the line of crouched archers. “Timon gone?”

“Timon, yes,” said one.

She grunted. “Not bad I suppose.” She approached Josh. “Not sure whether to thank you or curse you. That attack was ferocious. Once they’d finished with those up top, they’d have come for me and my girls.”

“Your girls?” he asked.

She indicated the mammoths. “Gonna unhitch them and let them have a drink. They done more than their fair share getting us over that ridge. Half you lot take a break!” she said to the archers. “If it’s okay with you, I’ll have Quinn set up outside and do everyone some food.” She glanced around. “Looks nice and peaceful here, but those drakes were riled up about something. I’ll bet it’s you.”

“I wouldn’t bet against you,” Josh said. “We attract trouble wherever we go.”

She looked him up and down. “I bet you do. That’s some armor you have there. Makes you look like…” She paused. “Makes you look like something out of the nightmarish tales my mother told me. Are you a fucking monster?” she asked, jumping off the roof and landing on the grass. “Take an hour. Then we press on. We have the Malgalese Cut to go. That’s a mad dash for life. I want you all ready for that.”

“Malgalese Cut?” Josh said. “That sounds ominous.”

Cassandra sniffed the air. “If ever there was a land that needs monster hunters it’s this one. What’s Heretic doing letting them get so out of control?”

“Azun kind of explained it last night. Reckons they’ve all got systems. Calls them ravagers.”

The witch sniffed. “All the more reason to wipe them out. You get mice, you kill mice. If you don’t, you get overrun by mice. It’s quite simple really.”

“I’ll offer him your services,” Josh said, unequipping his suit and jumping down.

He went off in search of Azun. The woman had uncoupled the mammoths and led them to the lake’s bank. She watched them, arms folded, as they lumbered into the water, drinking and sloshing it all over them.

“They’re big fuckers,” she said. “Ferocious when they want to be, but great big softies really.”

“What did you mean when you said I reminded you of monsters from your nightmares?”

She laughed. “Don’t take anything outta that. It’s just the suit. My mother used to scare me and my brothers with tales of the obliteration—the legend of the Hangsane’s birth where the sky fell down and the mountains rose up. There’s a legend—an ancient legend—about a creature roaming the land, light streaming from it, and stripes of bright fire killing everything. You looked a little like it. Kind of freaky, if you don’t mind me saying. Where’d you get it?” She scratched her head. “And where’s it gone, for that matter.” She looked around, then looked at Josh, then back around again.

“I use magic to summon it at will,” he said, thinking on his feet.

She grunted. “Never had you down as a Magicker.”

He smacked his lips together. “I’m not, really. I’m like Melody. She can do a bit of artificing while I can…store a couple of things.”

“Oh,” she said. “One of them.”

“One of what?”

“A specialist. Funny, I had you down for something a little more interesting than that.” She grunted. “So, it is all about the witch.”

“What is?”

“All this. The hurry. This trip would usually take a week.”

“A week?”

Azun turned away, moving toward the water, crouching and looking across its surface. “I’ve said too much.”

“And I’m paying for ale again tonight. I’ll throw in food again too. Say what you want. I think I’ll be leaving your guild territory shortly anyhow—just a guess, but Laurent appears a very specific destination.”

“It is, but probably not for the reasons you think.” She tossed a pebble, sending it bouncing over the water. “It takes a week because it takes meticulous planning. To move something like you usually entails decoy carts, advance parties, monster clearers and hiring a dragon rider or two. The dragon riders alone come from Anawat, and that’s three days away over the other side of the ruins. And it’s only three days because they’re fast fuckers. What we don’t do is say ‘Azun, I’ll pay you double if you get this lot to Laurent in three days.’ Heretic doesn’t do that. For a start, he’s tight as assholes. He wants shot of you, like he knows you’re trouble.”

“So we are being traded in Laurent?”

“Traded? Possibly. But I’d have money on something much worse.”

“What could be worse than getting sold?”

“Getting used,” she said, then crouched again, and then began calling the mammoths out of the water. “Out! Out now!” she cried. “Mage! Oner here! Back Josh. Get back!”

Josh crouched. He saw it straight away. A V-shaped ripple raced toward the mammoths.

“For fuck’s sake!” he cried, his rage rising. “Just give me a few moments piece!”

He called for his armor, wading toward the onrushing creature. “Cassandra! Get that cute ass here!”

A snout appeared at the front of the wake, two eyes following, gleaming gold with black slits. It’s ridged back followed with a tail swishing behind, frothing its wake and making it look like a huge arrow raced toward him. Josh ran into the water, trying to intercept it before it got to the last mammoth.

“Get out! Get out!” he shouted. “What the fuck is that?”

He dove for it as it launched itself at the mammoth, crashing into the huge, scaled beast and knocking it off target.

A fucking gator? A giant gator? A fucking standard gator’s big enough! This place is ridiculous.

He grabbed the monster, splashing into the water. It bit him, clamping down on him tight and pulling him under. It rolled, spinning him around, disorienting him as the lake’s silver surface blinked in and out of view. Its pressure crushed him, but the suit resisted. He struggled against it, but it had his arms pinned. It pulled him down, deeper into the lake.

Fucker’s trying to drown me!

Josh wrestled one arm free, bunching his hand to a fist and pounding the creature over and over. It stopped its spinning, swimming down and down, headed for the lake’s distant bed. Josh continued to hit it, focusing on the same spot. Its skin split, spewing blood into the water. He carried on hitting bone, powering through.

The giant gator let go, whipping around and catching him with a powerful blow. Its tail sent him spinning away. It turned, flashing its silver underbelly, and it came at him with its jaws open. He tried to swim, to propel himself out of the way, but the gator was faster and used to the environment. Its jaws slammed shut around his abdomen, trapping him. He screamed, expecting pain to come, but amazed when it didn’t. The beast plunged into the black, nudging at the lake’s bed and forcing him under a boulder.

So, you want to store me down here for later, do you?

He tried to move the boulder—tried to push it off. But his strength waned, his oxygen running out.

Get off me, motherfucker!

“Trem! I’m in trouble!”

“You have your stored oxygen. Would you like me to begin feeding it into your helmet?”

“You fucking lifesaver!” Josh screamed as the air filtered into his helmet. His strength returned. His rage came with it. He looked along the line of bubbles, the gator’s wake, and his anger exploded.

“You motherfucking dino fucker!” he screamed in his mind. “I’m gonna reach up your asshole and pull that ugly snout of yours right through your body!”

He dug his boots into the mud. Pushing, forcing his body out from under it, he powered up towards the surface.

“If you can change my legs into flippers, that’d be right handy about now!”

“Unfortunately, that is not possible. I can, however, make minor adjustments to your suit to make it more streamlined. Also, an adjustment to your technique would propel you faster. Would you like me to make those adjustments?”

“If it gets me to the ugly asshole faster, go for your life!”

“Adjustments made. You have one minute of oxygen left in your storage. Would you like me to refill it at the earliest opportunity?”

“Have I told you I love you lately? And yes!”

The alterations took hold. Josh’s swimming became more efficient, his speed picking up. The gator headed toward the lake’s bank. Josh spied swirling, silver bubbles in the shallow water.

“Fuck!” he cried. “They’re looking for me. The girls are looking for me!”

Message to Helm: Get them out of the water. The monster’s coming!

He shot through the water. The disturbance at the water’s edge grew. The gator powered straight toward it. Josh closed, but not fast enough. The gator burst through the surface as Josh grabbed its tail, digging his feet into the mud.

“I’ve got you! I’ve got you!”

It reared up, snapping. Arabella screamed, falling back into the water. Elowen grabbed her. The gator closed. Josh yanked it back as a bolt of fiery, ember magic shot from Cassandra’s staff, piercing the gator’s tough hide.

“Oh no! Oh no! Not one of them!” Josh cried as the gator exploded.

The force of the blast lifted him out of the lake, gator guts, skin and bone spraying over him. He sailed backward, the air punched from his gut, his mind fogging.

“Fuck, but she’s powerful now!”

He crashed into the lake, its surface like sheet rock. It knocked all the air from his lungs, smashed the last of his consciousness from him. He sank, the silver, rippling surface receding once more.

“You are running out of air. Would you like me to feed you air from your reserves?” Tremelox asked, but Josh didn’t reply.

Chapter Twenty-Three

JOSH WOKE AND SCREAMED. He didn’t particularly have an idea where he was or what he was doing. He certainly didn’t recall sinking to a lake bed and running out of oxygen. But, as near death was much like waking from a deep sleep, the sight of Vella knocking on his HUD scared the living shit out of him.

Bubbles streamed from the elf’s mouth, reminding Josh of his perilous position. He’d fought the gator, then it had left him for dead and gone after the others. Cassandra had blown it up and sent him flying back into the lake’s center, dead to the world.

She’s so fucking powerful. That explosion nearly killed me!

Which was saying something. His new suit, while still at the first stage of Savage Warden, was awesome. He wanted to check the blinking pips in his mind’s eye to see what, if any, progression he’d received, but Vella was tugging him hard, urging him to get his shit together and swim to the surface. Tremelox explained why.

“You have no oxygen, nor is there any in your storage. You have thirty seconds before you go into death.”

Josh wanted to point out that death wasn’t a state you went into, but rather something that happened or didn’t. But it didn’t seem to be the time or place for that debate. So, as a heal and a renew washed over him, Josh got his shit together.

He scrambled to his feet, as much as one could scramble on the bottom of a deep lake, and he swum upward.

“Twenty-five seconds,” Tremelox said.

The rippling, silver surface was a little distant for Josh’s liking. He tried to rid thoughts of other lake monsters from his mind, but with the vast amount of water around him, that proved impossible.

Focus, Josh, focus on the prize.

The prize wasn’t the rippling, silver surface but the near naked elf that swam in front of him. Her skimpy clothing hid little when she stood in front of him. As he swam behind her, her hairless pussy winked at him several times.

“Fifteen seconds.”

It was a testament to his progression that he could get a boner in such a desperate situation. He’d come a long way since he crashed to the land all those months ago. The boner did, however, cause a little drag, slowing his upward rise slightly. Vella urged him on, her energy endless, and her breasts barely contained by her green top.

“Five seconds.”

He kicked on, the surface’s rippling silver mirror ever expanding while his oxygen-starved mind continued to letch over the gorgeous elf. Perhaps it was that, or maybe it was her beauty, but he had the sudden urge to shed his armor. The act left him wearing just his tight pants and shirt and resulted an immediate buoyancy bonus. It was suddenly much easier to swim upward.

“You might have tried telling me that instead of counting down like some fucking doom’s day clock.”

He shattered the surface, bursting from the lake. The afternoon sun provided a welcome relief from the cold of the lake’s bed. Vella’s laugh warmed his heart as she grabbed him and pulled him close. After a quick kiss, she swam away, beckoning him to follow.

“Azun says we must go. Wanted to leave you. We said no.”

“Thank you!” he cried after her, powering through the water. “It’s always you that saves me.”

“My job,” she said, still laughing.

They made the lake’s bank in double quick time, running up it to the wagon. Azun grinned down from her seat. “You missed lunch. I got Quinn to cook you up something special.”

His heart sank. “Not gator.”

She winked at him, pointing. “Gonna be gator pie, gator stew, and gator sandwiches all the way from here to Laurent.”

“Not if we make the tavern,” he said.

She raised a mug. “Already on it. Gotta get a shift on if we’re going to make Willowberry. Nice little town. You’ll like it.” She drank a hefty draft. “Just the Malgalese Cut to go.”

“What’s that like?” he asked, climbing the steps.

“Fast, furious and fucking terrifying. But no drops.”

“Thank fuck for that.”

“You got a magic shield in that place you keep your shit?”

“Nope.”

“We’ll lend you one,” she said, winked again, then flicked her whip. The mammoths strained, the wagon groaning as it inched forward. They pulled out onto the trail as Arabella pulled Josh inside.

“Will you stop nearly dying. It ruins my day.” She wrapped her arms around him, then jerked away. “You’re soaking!”

“Err, that might be because I was dragged to the bottom of a lake and stored in a gator’s equivalent of a fridge. Or it might be that one of my own women nearly blew me to the stars only to end up in the same lake, probably the same spot, dead to the world.”

“Darling, how was I to know you were stupid enough to grab hold of it and try and slow it down? I just saw a mass of fangs and trouble coming my way and thought it prudent to shred it.”

Josh couldn’t argue with her reasoning.

“You stink, by the way. You stink of lake, silt and dead fish.” Cassandra smirked, lifted her wine glass. “Cheers.”

“I’ve filled a bath for you,” Quinn said, entering the room. “We have a while until we get to the Cut. If you take your bath, I’ll have a late lunch ready for you.”

Josh ripped off his shirt and stepped out of his pants, drawing a gasp from the cat woman.

“Ahh,” he said. “Sorry. Used to the girls. Kind of got no qualms about being naked in front of women.”

Quinn blushed, backing away but keeping her eyes fixed on him. “No bother. I’ll get cooking the gator.”

She smashed into the closed door, fumbling the handle, pulling it open and tripping through.

“That was awkward,” Josh said, padding to the bathroom. “You smell too?” he asked Vella who lay in the bath.

“No. Wanted my reward for saving you.”

Josh grinned. “Well, you’re going to get it, and more than once.”

He closed the door.

Josh held the rectangular shield. It was four feet high and made of metal-braced wood. The slight curve wrapped partially around his body, giving him some security. He lifted it over his head, then planted it back down on the wagon’s roof.

Ellis was a surly man. He was way too powerfully built for an archer, but by his own admission was a multi-faceted fighter. “We don’t care about killing them,” he said. “See the plow she’s fixed to the front of the mammoths? That’s to clear their barricades. The blankets covering them are resistant to most forms of piercing and blunt damage. They have a little magical resistance, but not much. We don’t expect any magickers—not high level, certainly. They’ll throw all their shit at us, but to strip it down, it’s a simple battle. They want to stop us, swarm us and kill us. We want to get through in one piece. The mage will block what he can, but he’ll focus on defense.”

“Why?” Josh asked.

Ellis shrugged. “Don’t know what Heretic told you, but the mage’s a new recruit. Came up through the ranks. Reckon he took this job to get a name. If he survives this trip, I might ask him.”

“A new recruit? Why would Heretic put a new recruit on this job?”

“Mages are in short supply.” He grunted. “They’re about as resilient as wet bread. Most don’t survive long enough to get powerful.”

“Could at least ask his name.”

“Why bother? The ballyman’s gone. He’ll be lucky to make the day.”

Josh turned away, staring at the Cut while Azun finished her final preparations. “Cassandra, I think you should go up front with Azun. Seems our main issue is barricades and the like. You clear them, we’ll do the close-quarter fighting.”

“Fair,” she said, “although I’ll be able to shake up the sides as we go.” She jumped down, chatting to Azun. The wagon master shook her head as Cassandra pointed to the plows. She eventually gave up as Josh jumped down from the wagon’s top.

“She won’t take off the plows. Never seen a decent geomancer in action, I suppose. Doesn’t reckon I can keep up with the pace.” Cassandra laughed. “Idiot.”

Josh hopped into the wagon. “Right, it’s melee time. So only help if you’re confident. Melody, they want you on the ballista. You pepper the sides—take out what you can. Bels, if you and Elowen are confident enough, you get to protect Melody if any of the creatures break through. Lex, Helm, you’re on defense—first line in front of Elowen and Arabella. Vella, you heal. But, and I stress this, if any of you don’t want to do it then say the word. They took on the task of getting us to Laurent safely. None of us have to do fuck all.”

“I want to help,” Elowen said.

“And I want to see what Cassandra’s magic balls do with the ballista,” Melody added.

Josh grinned. “Right then, let’s go have some fun. Anyone gain points from the drake fight?”

“Got a couple in ranged,” Melody said.

“You lucky bitch,” Arabella exclaimed. “I got nothing.”

“That’s because you hit nothing. With Cassandra’s dust magic, I’m gonna level loads.”

“Really?” Cassandra said, poking her head in. “Dust magic? It’s ember magic, and it’s a very difficult spell.”

“Can’t be that difficult if you can remember it,” Melody said. “I’ll catch up with you someday. Already got some points in magic for altering the ballista.”

“What did you do to it?” Josh asked.

“Gave it a little boost. If I need to, I can raise it up a little and fire over the archers.”

“Nice,” Josh said. “Wish I had some magic.” He jumped out of the cart.

“Fuck no,” said Cassandra. “You’ve got way too much. Come on, we’re ready to go. If we want to make the village, then we need to get a move on. It’s got a bakers—fresh bread—fresh bread!” She jumped onto the seat next to Azun. “Move it out, girl.”

Josh climbed the ladder, helping Arabella up.

“Just what type of monsters are we facing?”

He shrugged. “Not a clue.”

“Everything,” Ellis said. “Everything bad. There are ogres, orcs, humans, golems and crackerborks. You have rock snakes, drakes, even the odd thunderbird. The Malgalese is a tainted place, but to get to Laurent we have to go through it.”

“What the hell caused it?”

“Some say a curse. Others say it was some kind of black fall out from when the ruins were created. All I know is this. The place is cursed. You see a human, it’s not one—it’s not even a fucking zombie. It’s something worse, something far, far worse. You’ll see orcs among the monsters, goblins—every race going. They have no brains. They aren’t like us anymore.” He reached for Josh, touching his arm. “You fall off, kill yourself. Don’t hesitate for a fraction of a second. If you don’t, you’ll end up like them. You don’t want that for yourself or your ladies, trust me.”

Josh took a breath. “Got it,” he said, threading his arm through the shield’s leather straps. “No falling off, ladies.”

The girls were pale, deathly pale. They nodded as one, only Helm differing. The drow limbered up. “Even I with my isolation, have heard of these fuckers. I don’t know why you don’t send an army in to kill them all.”

Ellis stared at her. “You’ll see, my drow friend. But I will warn you of one thing.”

“What?”

“Your kin live among their number. Live is a very loose term. Your kin are among their number. If you can, kill them.”

“There are drow in the Cut?”

“They were drow. Forget them. They are nothing like them now.”

Ellis turned away, squatting behind his shield as the wagon picked up speed. Melody sat on the ballista, pulling her goggles down. “Feed me some ammo and make it the good stuff,” she told Arabella.

Elowen put her sketchpad away, taking up her shield and drawing her sword. Lex did the same, favoring her spear.

Josh and Helm swapped glances. She looked dumbfounded. His heart went out to her. “If I see one…” he said, but let his words trail off.

“Kill it,” she said. “Don’t hesitate. Kill it.”

Josh nodded, turned and faced the cut. Two mountains rose on either side, so tall and thin they might as well have been towers. He squinted at the flat path through, wondering.

Was that one mountain and something took out its middle? Was this where they jettisoned their quantum drive?

It fitted. The shape, the path through, the hideous alteration to whatever strayed into its grasp. Quantum reactors did strange things to everything they touched. You fucked with them at your peril.

He equipped his suit, wishing he had one for each of his girls.

“I’ll kill them,” he assured Helm. “I’ll kill them all if I can.”

Chapter Twenty-Four

THE WAGON FLEW into the cut, a blood-curdling explosion of raw aggression exploding around them. Thuds sounded, the wagon lurching as its plows smashed into numerous beasts milling on the trail. Dismembered bodies flew past, screams raking at Josh’s ears. Snapshots of tormented, twisted faces—goblins, ogres, orcs and other monsters—flew past him. A rock pounded on his shield. A spear shot between them, thudding into the wagon’s top.

“Fuck me!” he growled, holding strong as debris battered his shield and rained down on the wagon.

“Shield! Where’s the fucking shield?” Ellis shouted. But the mage had frozen. He was stunned by the ferocity of it all, the naked rage that washed over them. Ellis marched over to him, his own shield high deflecting everything the monsters threw at him. “If you don’t get that shield up, I’ll toss you over the side myself!” He grabbed the mage’s robes and shoved him back. “Ballyman, get shooting!”

Melody raised the ballista, pumping shot after shot forward, spraying the banks. Explosions rang out, rock shards, body parts, bone and limbs erupting from each. The cart lurched, thumping over the dead and dying as they dove at the mammoths, trying to avoid the plows. Cassandra cleared the road ahead, using her geomancy to smooth their way. But every time she broke off to repel an attack the plows smashed into road blocks, tossing the debris aside.

An ogre leapt, crashing down on Josh and Lex. Their shield wall buckled as his axe cleaved the wagon’s roof. Josh shoved the ogre, kicking out. The bastard growled, clinging to the embedded axe. It climbed hand over hand, growling and snapping its teeth as it raged. Josh stomped down, stabbing the creature in its face. Arabella dove through, bringing her sword down hard, severing the its hand. Lex took the other out as Josh booted it in the face and sent it flying over the edge.

“Hold tight!” Azun cried as a huge boulder rolled down the cut’s side and straight into their path. The plow exploded, wood splinters showering them and planks spinning through the air. The wagon lurched, a terrible screech sounding and the stench of burning filling the air. “Something stuck in the axle!” Azun cried, and the archers swapped nervous looks.

One set his bow down, taking out a hand axe and vanishing over the side. Josh watched him go, the others’ grim expressions telling him the man had little chance of returning. A shimmer of blue suddenly cloaked them as the mage formed a magical shelter. The debris pelting them bounced off, and for a brief second, they had some respite. Josh looked forward as Azun cursed loudly.

“Cassandra!” he cried, seeing a giant racing up the road straight toward them. “Cassandra!” he screamed.

“I’ve got it. I’ve got it!” She unleashed a burst of white magic, sending it spiraling toward the monster. The road blurred, a huge ripple racing along it. It crashed into the giant, sending him flying. Another blast smashed into him. The giant screamed, his voice guttural. But rather than deflect him, the magic sent him flying straight toward them.

“Cassandra?” Josh cried, but the witch just laughed and sent an ember bullet straight into his gut. The giant exploded, as his gangly body atomized, a crimson sheet hanging in the air. They hurtled through it, blood coating them all and body parts bouncing off the mage’s shield as another boulder rolled toward them.

Flames burst from the wagon as the archer’s scream filled Josh’s ears. He raced to the wagon’s back, the archer rolling behind, instantly set upon by the ravenous horde. Josh vaulted over the wagon’s edge.

“No!” Arabella screamed, but he’d already made up his mind. Only he could withstand the flames and dislodge the trapped debris. He clambered around the side, finding purchase on the wagon’s skis. Tucking his feet into the ratchet, he let himself dangle, grabbing the wagon’s base.

A plank had wedged between the axle and the cart’s bottom. He grabbed it, yanking hard, but couldn’t get enough purchase.

For fuck’s sake. I could do with some magic right now!

He yanked and his foot broke loose, nearly sending him under the cart. He pulled again, a rock smashing him in the back. One more tug and the plank came free. But its release jerked his other foot out and he fell, sucked under the wagon, smashing on the trail. He bounced up, the axle burning him. He tried to grab it with an automatic reflex. His wrist snapped as the wagon sped on. He made one last grab with his good hand, connecting with the wagon’s base. He held on with his teeth gritted as the cart dragged him along, bouncing over bodies and swerving boulders.

“Heal my fucking hand!” he screamed as howls rang out.

Oh, for fuck’s sake! he muttered to himself for a second time as a pack of ravenous monsters raced after him.

“Heal!”

“Renew!”

Vella’s power washed over him, knitting the bones in his wrist. His grip loosened as the plank he had hold of started coming away.

“No!” he screamed. Reaching for another handhold even as his bones molded together. He grabbed the side rail, pulling himself closer. Unbearable pain exploded, lancing throughout his body. The plank finally gave way, smacking into some deranged tiger whose eyes were as black as ink. Josh lurched away from the wagon again, cursing and kicking at the trail as he tried in vain to scramble closer.

The wagon jumped, crushing part of a giant’s corpse. Josh flew up, crashing back down. He lunged for the side rail as two more heals spread through him. A loud roar sent a shiver up his spine. He flipped around, a huge wolf snapping at his heels.

“Would you give me a fucking break?” he shouted. “Just one! Just one fucking break!”

He booted the animal, then kicked out again. The creature snagged his boot. In desperation, he equipped his sword, holding on with one hand. “You’ve really pissed me off you goddam motherfucker!” He whipped his sword around, carving the wolf’s head diagonally. “Rotten! Fucking rotten.”

He unequipped it, latching back onto the side rail, heaving himself close, then swinging around, and crouching on the running board. He took a breath with the battle above still in full flow—rocks raining down as the mage’s shield shattered. Boulders tumbled down from the mountain sides, and ogres jumped at the wagon with their axes raised. But then he saw them, and he knew he needed to get back up top—knew Helm needed him. A small posse of drow rode after them. Their horses were gray with skin flaking and eyes as black as midnight. The drow riding them were in an equally bad state. Their clothes were in tatters, and their lilac skin was covered in welts. Rage creased their expressions with foam flying from their screaming mouths. He scaled the wagon’s side, pulling himself up, rolling onto the roof, then taking a breath.

That was fucking close!

He jumped up, racing for Helm who stood at the back of the wagon, perched and ready to jump.

“I must put them out of their misery. I must let them sleep,” she said.

“No! Don’t jump. You’ll just join them instead.”

“But we must do something!”

“We will. Hold on! Give me time to think.” The wagon jumped. Josh staggered to one side. Helm overbalanced, nearly toppling over. He grabbed her, calling to Melody. “Can you take these out?” he asked.

She swiveled around, the ballista focusing behind.

“No!” Helm cried. “Don’t kill them!” She lunged for Melody.

Josh held her tightly, easily resisting her struggles. “Do it now, Mels!” he cried.

No!” Helm cried, struggling and trying to crawl hand over hand to get to the edge.

“They’re gone!” Josh cried, pulling her back and holding her tightly. “They’re gone. They died a long while ago.”

She turned, trying to fight him and pounding his chest. “No! No! It can’t be. It can’t be true! I can’t be alone!”

“You aren’t,” he said. “You aren’t. You’ll never be alone, not while I live and not while the girls live.”

The ballista pumped out its shots, explosion after explosion ringing out. Helm held him. He held her, as her body shook. Then she stiffened and pushed him away. “I’m sorry,” she said.

“There’s no need.”

“We have enemies to fight.” She eased away, kneeling and hesitating. “They’re gone.”

“Yes,” he whispered. She rose, grabbed her shield, and drew her sword. “Someone must pay.”

Josh rose, grabbing his. “Someone will, but today, it’s all these poor fuckers.”

Azun whipped the mammoths, driving their fury as they thundered through the cut. Cassandra spewed her magic, smoothing the road, taking out the traps and killing without mercy. The other mage collapsed, exhausted, his mana at an end. Vella snuck close, healing him but not refilling him. She shook her head with a strange smile on her lips. Josh held up his shield, rocks and debris raining down on him. Helm was at his side with her face grim and her eyes glazed with tears. They repelled goblins, fought off ogres and battled with orcs. A hundred corpses lay in their wake, the plow long gone, the mammoths exhausted, and the archers out of arrows.

And then quiet came, and it was strange. They sat, the mammoths not slowing for a long while, not until a forest surrounded them, its verdant embrace finally settling them. Josh dropped to the wagon’s roof, hugging his knees into his chest as glorious silence settled around him.

Helm sat with him. Melody slumped over the ballista as both Elowen and Arabella sat against it. Lex crashed to the floor, her spear rolling into the wagon’s gutter. Vella finally healed the mage. Casandra yawned and stood with her face coated with blood, mud, and guts. Her Everdeep staff barely glowed through the caked-on mud.

Azun chuckled. “See, that wasn’t so bad.” She eased the exhausted mammoths forward letting them walk the trail until they reached the little town of Willowberry.

The tavern was well appointed. It boasted a taproom with polished stone flags and a huge central firepit. Over it, a partially carved boar turned. Fat spat and sizzled, infusing every corner with its mouthwatering scent. Patrons sat at full tables, and smiling waitresses kept everyone’s mugs full. The innkeeper was a portly man with a wide belly and a matching grin. His name was Ernie, and he spread his arms wide as he greeted them.

“Welcome! Welcome! Any adventurer who braves the cut is two things.” He leaned as close to the counter as his belly allowed. “Fortunate and in need of a bath. The Laughing Fool offers the best baths North of the Ruins, and the best pig anywhere in the Hangsane. But!” He raised a chubby finger. “Good things cost fine coin. It’s not a coppers and slop establishment. So, if you’re running low on coin, I’d suggest you about turn and find another hostelry.” He grinned.

“What’s your largest empty room hold,” Josh asked.

“I could accommodate you all. Just say the word. But the price would be a golden coin—not copper or silver. If you’ve a mind for the complete service, you could double that. For two gold, you get the basement to yourself.”

“The basement?” Arabella screwed up her face. “What about the attic?”

Ernie shook his head. “Oh no! No! No! No! You wouldn’t get the benefit of the spa pools unless you’re in the basement, and that is where the extra gold comes in.”

Azun barged her way to the front, squaring up to the innkeeper. “Do you forget who you work for?” She shoved a note in his hand. “A note from Heretic. Read it, then do your best by these folks or face a visit from Eric. Do I make myself clear?”

Ernie took the scroll, unravelling it and reading. “You’re going to Laurent,” he said, his voice barely a whisper. “A fine, fine town.” He cleared his throat. “Well, it says it all here. I’m to take care of you and give you the sort of night that will mean you hold our fine guild within your hearts and in the highest esteem. Prosper or Die welcomes you to my fine establishment.”

“The fee?” Josh asked.

“Is paid in full,” Ernie said, and he pulled on a rope and rang a bell.

Azun vanished as a pretty serving girl escorted them to a set of sweeping downward steps. She lit lamps along the way, then opened a pair of doors to a large basement. Dusky light seeped in through high, narrow windows that were barred against intrusion. As the girl lit more lamps, the sheer luxury of the room became apparent.

Arched alcoves housed private bed areas, while sunken pools were glowing and steaming. Flagstones partly covered the floor with the rest being finished planks. There was a bar area with cushioned seats dotted around, and music funneled in from above through a series of tubes. Warm lamplight soon filled the room as Josh rested back against a brick pillar.

“I’m so tired I can hardly stand up.” He grunted. “I mean, I’m not complaining, but I somehow don’t think we’ll make the most of this place.”

“Nonsense,” the maid said. “If you don’t mind me saying. Once you get in those pools, strange things happen. If Heretic sent you here—if he paid for this place—he wants you fresh and rested and ready for Laurent. A night in here rejuvenates the most tired soul.”

“How?” said Arabella.

“The baths,” said Vella, stripping and diving in. “The baths are packed with vigor.”

“I shall have food and ale brought down.”

“And wine,” said Cassandra. “I’m finding I’m partial to wine.”

“This place is perfect. No, not perfect. It would be perfect if it was in an attic. It’s close to perfect.” Arabella stepped out of her clothes and stepped into a pool, sitting on a step and lying back. “I fucking needed this.”

Josh could hardly move. His entire body ached and didn’t appear to be healing like it usually did. “I think between the gator attack and nearly dying under the wagon, I might have finally pushed my body too far.”

He stripped off his pants, getting in the same pool as Arabella.

“Same as mage,” Vella said. “Vigor and mana exhaustion. Gotta be careful. Needs to feed slow.”

Josh lay back, groaning with pleasure as the warm water crawled all over him. “I take it this isn’t too quick.”

Vella laughed. “This is fine. Vella too quick. This natural. Vigor spring. Mana all around too. Relax. Eat. Then we play.”

“Darling,” Cassandra said, slipping into a third pool. “Playing is the last thing on my mind at the moment.” She fell silent for a while. “Although… This is amazing!”

“I for one, don’t give a shit how far we pushed ourselves today. I progressed loads. My range weapons shot up, as did my magic stats and munitions. I even got a point in speed.” Melody jumped in.

Josh quirked an eyebrow. He’d forgotten all about the stats. He looked up Melody’s numbers.

Name: Melody Delaney

Guild: The Misfits

Position: Artificer

Attributes:

Strength = 16

Speed and Agility = 18

Durability = 23

Munitions = 35

Melee Weapons = 11

Ranged weapons = 14

Arcane Power = 10

Mana production and Storage = 30

Total – 157

“Way to go, Mels,” Josh said. “That’s a hundred and fifty-seven thousand in power!”

“What?” Arabella cried. “No fair! I only gained a few.” She grinned at Josh. “I’m over a hundred thousand. If Vella had given me magic, I’d be bigger.”

“Not me, was the stone,” Vella said.

Josh scanned Arabella’s stats.

Name: Arabella Extrael

Guild: The Misfits

Position: Archer

Attributes:

Strength = 18

Speed and Agility = 22

Durability = 18

Ranged Weapons = 27

Melee Weapons = 16

Total – 103

“Nice,” Josh said, although he could see why Arabella was disappointed. With Melody’s two magic attributes shooting her points into the mid one hundreds, it looked like she’d done little. The same went for Elowen.

Name: Elowen Estovan

Guild: The Misfits

Position: Scribe

Attributes:

Strength = 17

Speed and Agility = 24

Durability = 18

Ranged Weapons = 13

Melee Weapons = 26

Total – 95

“Creeping up on the one hundreds yourself, Elowen,” he said, trying to be encouraging as she looked so downcast.

“Not a hundred yet, but I have to accept I’m the scribe. Unless there’s a special skill or attribute for writing stuff down, I’m kind of buggered.” Elowen took her clothes off, sitting on the pool’s edge. Her face caked in blood and muck. She washed her glasses, setting them to one side. “It’s not like they’re actual attributes. They’re kind of mixed between bodily advantages and skills you might pick up.”

“It’s a measure of how dangerous you are, so by default, how powerful you are.” Helm drew up a chair, sitting and not even taking her jacket off. “So, as you learn weapons, you are more lethal with them. As you grow in strength, so you become more powerful. Speed gives you an edge. Power through knowledge? Hard to quantify. But if, say, you were to become an alchemist and learn lethal poisons, then you’d gain numbers. You can use your skills, Elowen. You just need to find a way to weaponize them.”

Elowen looked up. “Thank…thank you. Aren’t you coming in?”

“I need an ale first. I must scrub the sight of the drow from my mind. I recognized some of them. It made it…made it harder.”

Josh looked up Helm’s numbers to see how she’d fared.

Name: Helm Devaux

Guild: The Misfits

Position: Trainer

Attributes:

Strength = 38

Speed and Agility = 42

Durability = 32

Melee Weapons = 44

Ranged weapons = 39

Martial Fighting = 39

Total – 234

She’d only gone up a few points, but then her strokes were practiced. Her power was already good.

“What about you, Lex. You’re quiet,” Elowen said. “You fought with the best of them on that roof.”

Lex shivered. She walked to the bar, rounding it and pulling a bottle of wine open. She took a slug straight from the bottle. “I’ve done some killing in my time, but never, never have I seen anything so soul-wrenching as that. They were so angry. It wasn’t even like the undead in the wood. These seemed alive—alive and angry. I haven’t looked. To profit from that seems wrong.”

“I’ll look for you,” Josh said, softly.

Name: Silexa Gray

Guild: The Misfits

Position: Rogue

Attributes:

Strength = 24

Speed and Agility = 32

Durability = 24

Melee Weapons = 29

Ranged weapons = 14

Martial Fighting = 27

Total – 150

“Decent shift,” Josh said. “Another five points added. Got you to a hundred and fifty thousand.”

“I’m one thirty,” Vella said, then ducked her head under the water and blew out a load of bubbles.

“Sure,” Cassandra said, “but we all know you adjust your figures how you want them.” She crouched close to the pool. “One day you’re going to tell us how.”

She surfaced, grinning. “Not.”

“So, what about you, Cass. We didn’t see much of you, but you blew the gator up, and killed hundreds in the cut.”

“I was rewarded,” said Cassandra. “But the funny thing is, the power means nothing to me.”

“Nothing?” Josh asked, looking her up.

Name: Cassandra Day

Guild: The Misfits

Position: Sorceress

Attributes:

Strength = 15

Speed and Agility = 21

Durability = 19

Arcane Power = 110 (ED +55 equipped)

Mana production and Storage = 110 (ED +55 equipped)

(additional stats) = added effect when suit equipped

Total – 275

“Nothing? You’ve grown by over twenty!” Josh cried.

“It means nothing because I can throw a load of power at something and get nowhere, but if I use my head and think around the problem, then I can be so much more devastating.”

Vella giggled. “Think much more like that, and maybe it will get added.”

“Are you talking to this system?” Cassandra asked, but Vella slipped back under the water, and the maid came down, a dozen servers behind her, all carrying silver platters full of steaming food. “Never mind. Not interested anymore,” Cassandra said.

Josh chuckled. They’d all improved, which only left him. But his was more a negotiation than anything. “What about us, Trem. How did we do?”

“I have held back our progression from Alice so that we might discuss it. Once again, I found our durability lacking, as it always seems to. The more I think about it, the more I conclude that it is due to a lack of combat instinct. During the gator fight, your strength was lacking, as was your speed and agility. We cannot keep blaming your lack of durability on your failure.”

“But you said all things come from my core.”

“They do, but sometimes the core needs protecting. This is a world full of unpredictable battles. One statistic alone won’t save us. We need balance. I propose we place our improvements in combat instinct four times, then two in each of speed and strength. Eight points—your body can handle that. We must increase poison resistance, but there is, unfortunately, only one way to do that.”

“There will be an alchemist in Laurent. In fact, we’re going to see one. I’m sure we’ll be able to get some poison there.”

“It would get you close to your next promotion.”

Name: Josh Underwood

Rank: Savage Warden

Subrank: Verdant Sentinel

Attributes:

Strength = 56 (+8 equipped)

Speed and Agility = 56 (+9 equipped)

Durability = 65 (+5 equipped)

Combat instinct = 55 (+6 equipped)

Arcane resistance = 60 (+2 equipped)

Poison resistance = 44 (+2 equipped)

(additional stats) = added effect when suit equipped

Total – 336

No of points needed to next promotion =24

Perception: Active for all threats.

Pain Management - On

Josh Underwood – 336,000

Cassandra Day – 275,000

Arabella Extrael – 103,000

Elowen Estovan – 98,000

Melody Delaney – 157,000

Silexa Gray – 150,000

Vella – 130,000

Helm Devaux – 234,000

Total Guild Score – 1,483,000

Average Power – 185,375

“We’re getting more powerful. We’re going to be a force to be reckoned with,” Josh said, as the servers laid the platters out.

“If we can stay alive long enough,” Cassandra said.

Chapter Twenty-Five

“STILL NOT IN the top one hundred, but our average ratings climbed another couple of places,” Josh walked over to the food, piling a plate high. “I gotta eat. Trem is doing his thing with my body.” He sat, the plate on his lap. Its heat didn’t bother him. His skin was so durable that a hot plate wouldn’t harm him. “Any of you got a voice in your head, or do you just have the menus?”

“Menus,” Arabella said, coming over, dripping water like he had. “Pretty unremarkable stuff, but it’s weird when you get a point or two. You can feel the change, Like my bow skills. I’m faster now. I can draw back quicker, more easily, and I find the target without really thinking.”

“I’m hoping the magic combined with the artificer title enables me to see improvements more easily. I can put anything together, so that’s not the issue. But when I changed the ballista’s seat so it would go up and down, everything clicked into place easily.” She jumped into the pool, splashing Vella. “I hope I can get some stuff in Laurent. Something, anything, to play with. If I level munitions and magic, who knows what I can build.”

“It’s an advantage,” Cassandra said. “My spells are certainly more powerful than before, but like Mel’s said, it’s more than that. It’s the ability to see how to improve them.”

“Mine basically said I’m shit at planning a fight, and that’s why I keep getting mangled. I’ll be honest, I’m not disagreeing with it. Everything happens so fast, and I just react. I think I need to slow down and assess things a bit better before I go in fists flying.” Josh finished his food, and then loaded another plate up. “I need to up my poison resistance again. So, if we see something that might kill me, grab a bunch of it.”

“Wait, what?” Helm said.

“Oh, he does this from time to time,” Arabella said. “He’ll take the poison until he’s nearly dead, then Vella heals him, and he does it again. It’s horrible to see, the frothing at the mouth, skin going gray, stuff like that, but it does the trick.”

“Same with magic resistance, but you’ve seen that,” Cassandra said, finally stepping into the pools and washing the blood off her. “Of course, I have to hold back. We don’t want to damage him, after all. He has his uses when he’s not gobbling food down like a starving dog.

“Hey! I fought gators and all sorts today! I need a bit of meat in me.”

“Don’t we all, but there seems to be a real lack of it in this pool.”

Josh smirked. “Don’t you worry. I’m nearly done.”

Cassandra sighed. “I’m glad one of us is. So, this communication thing. We’ve contacted the head of the Reavers. Was that wise? Won’t Rhina be pissed?”

“I wanted to give us another option. Before we only had one—do as we’re told. Now we have two.”

“But aren’t they supposed to be…” She screwed her face up. “Fanatics?”

“They are deeply religious and worship the makers of the ruins,” Helm said.

“Trust me,” Josh added. “I’ve known religions that worship stranger things.”

“As have I. A dead sorcerer springs to mind.”

“Except he wasn’t so dead, was he,” Elowen pointed out. “But we know from dealing with the sect in Elrima that we have to tread carefully. Their beliefs will be absolute. If we insult them in any way, our situation could deteriorate fast. As we are new to the Hangsane we can remain belief-neutral and simply state we have no views one way or the other. In other words, it’s all new to us, how can we possibly believe. I’m sure this is the right path.”

“Thought about it, then?” Melody said, snarkily.

“Just now.” Elowen grabbed herself an ale. “It doesn’t hurt to have a plan.”

Josh polished off his second plate. “I can’t help but wish we’d got to the man on the mountain. A bit of respite and training would have seen us blossom. The stronger we are…” He trailed off, remembering the numerous games he’d played aboard the sluggers as he’d traveled the stars. There was never enough power. Someone always had more. Sometimes you just had to play it cute.

He pushed the plate away, taking a gulp of ale. “Let’s get back to what we do best,” he said, pulling the Angel stone from his storage. “Who’s for some dexterity training?”

He ambled over to the pools, joining Melody and Vella and placing the stone in the bottom. Its power mixed with the pool’s vigor. He felt it surge through him, accelerating Tremelox’s work. He lay back, closing his eyes, letting the power flood through him.

A hand brushed his chest. Another touched his inner thigh. Josh let a smile creep onto his lips. “Ladies, I’m rejuvenating.”

“You don’t have to do anything but keep your eyes shut and guess.”

“Guess.”

“Guess who is who. No cheating or we’ll stop.”

“No cheating?”

“None,” Helm’s voice said, adding even more spice to the game. Several soft splashes signaled her entrance into the pool.

For some reason, her joining the girls ramped up his excitement, sending blood rushing to his cock. A hand grasped his shaft.

“No,” Arabella said, joining them. “Elowen, put on the blindfold.”

“Blindfold?”

“No peeking,” she said. “Okay, here are the rules. Three of us in the bath at any one time. If you guess who is doing what, they have to get out and another gets in.”

“How does it end?” Cassandra asked.

“Messily,” Arabella said. “She who conquers, wins.”

“My kind of game,” Josh said.

Fingers brushed his thighs, running up the inside, closing on his balls, and stroking him. Then her hand closed around his shaft, working him and brushing his crown with her palm. Josh fought through the pleasure as it came in waves. The hand was too big for Vella. He was sure of that. But who else was in the pool with him. He assumed it was Helm and Melody, as Melody had already been in there, and he’d heard Helm join them before the game started. So, who was it?

He groaned, the pleasure flooding through him. “Helm or Mels,” he said. He was pretty sure Helm’s fingers were longer than Melody’s. But hell! He groaned again. A wank was a wank. But this one was quite practiced, and Helm was still a novice. She lacked confidence where Melody was a seasoned member of his harem.

“Melody,” he said.

“God dammit,” Melody snarled.

“Out the pool, Mels!” Arabella ordered.

“I’ll get him later.”

Much to Josh’s horror, she stopped, getting out of the pool and stomping away. But another splash signaled someone else entering. Josh waited, his legs stretched and boner just breaking the pool’s surface. Giggling preceded one of them parting his legs and sliding in between. A mouth closed over his quivering knob. The mystery girl’s tongue swirled around his spongy flesh. Her hand closed around his shaft, pumping him gently. He was wise to it all. He understood the game. If he named her, the pleasure would stop, and she had him climbing the walls as waves of euphoria swept through him. He knew who it was. He’d known from the moment her mouth had closed over him. Just as she got him, her tongue flicking the underside of his cock, he named her.

“Arabella.”

Her mouth shot away. “How? How the fuck did you know it was me?”

“Baby, I know your moves. But you can finish what you’ve started if you want.”

A splashing sound told him that wasn’t going to happen. A softer splash indicated one of the other girls had entered the pool. He breathed in Cassandra’s heady scent. They might not be talking, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t use his other senses. She was hot, hot and ready.

“Time to ramp this up a bit,” Arabella said, her tone curt. “All three of you, bend over the ledge. Josh, you get to screw them for a minute each, then you have to name them in order.”

Josh sighed. He was enjoying floating in the warm water and absorbing its power and that of the Angel Stone.

But a man’s gotta do what a man’s gotta do.

He rose, feeling around, ignoring his heightened perception. A hand guided him to a pert bottom. Positioning himself behind, he rested both hands on her ass. Once he was sure of his bearings, he ran his fingers up and down her ass crack, grabbed his cock and nudged it against her entrance. Like before, he knew exactly who it was. Vella was the only one who’s pussy was completely bald. He drove his cock into her, hearing a little whelp of surprise. He grinned, the noise confirming his choice. Withdrawing, he glided back in, his pace accelerated as he tried to extract as much pleasure as he could in the limited time Arabella would give him.

“You know!” she growled. She was clearly still upset he’d ruined her blow job.

“I’m not entirely sure,” he lied.

“You are! Move on or the game’s over!”

He reluctantly withdrew. “Okay, I’ve no clue who that was.”

Vella giggled.

“Liar!” Arabella said.

Josh felt his way over to the next butt, feeling the cheeks. “Tight, but not too tight. So someone who doesn’t do a lot of running.” Her butt muscles clenched. He grinned, feeling under, his palm cupping her pussy. “A bit on the wild and hairy side. Perhaps mirroring her character.” She tensed. He cued his cock up, easing in, gasping as her hot flesh enveloped him. But, like before, he had her. He knew exactly who it was, and he wanted to bait her some more. “Not quite as tight as the last. Perhaps an older woman?”

The vagina clamped down on him instantly. “Why you fucking heathen!” Cassandra cursed. “My pussy is as tight as fuck.”

Josh laughed, driving his dick in and out of her.

“Stop!” Arabella said. “You’re cheating!”

“I’m not looking!” Josh protested. “That was the rule. There was nothing about a bit of baiting.”

Cassandra groaned. “If he keeps going, he might guess who it is. I suggest he pounds away for a little while.”

“You’re all spoiling it!” Arabella said, barely controlling her laughter.

Josh pulled out, moving across and not wasting any time. He felt around, two rock solid butt cheeks his reward. He eased himself close, feeling his way. “Now who might this be?” he asked. Brushing her back, moving his fingers up and down her spine, Josh sized her up as he slipped in. He held, pulling her on to him. “Muscular,” he said. “Long legs.” He moved in and out, narrowing it down. He’d had Cassandra. It wasn’t Arabella or Vella. Elowen and Melody weren’t as athletic. It had to be Helm or Lex.

“Helm or Lex,” he declared, picking up his pace. “But which one?” Both had muscular bodies. Both were pretty tall. “I’m wanting to say Helm, but I’m going with Lex because I think Helm is too shy to join in with games.”

“Final answer?” Arabella asked.

He pounded away; sure he was right. Lex joined in everything. She’d morphed from shy assassin to full participant. Helm had yet to fully commit. “Final answer,” he said.

“Yes!” Helm shouted, and slapped the flagstones. “I win!”

Josh ripped his blindfold off, opening his eyes. Helm’s lilac body bent before him, her ass cheeks slapping his groin. White hair fanned over her back, her head up as she shouted her victory, punching the air with glee. “I get it! I get it all.”

“No!” Melody said. “No! No fair. She’s new! He’s bound not recognize her body.”

“Darling,” Cassandra said. “He knew her well enough to narrow it down to two. She won fair and square. He should have known through unfamiliarity.”

“Suck it up, sisters!” Helm said. “I won, you lost. Now pound the fuck out of me, Josh. I want my prize.”

After the lengthy build up, Josh wasn’t about to argue. He upped his pace, thrusting in and out of her for all he was worth.

“Yeah, baby,” Helm whimpered, spreading her hands wide on the flagstones as her body jerked forward with every inward thrust. “Yeah, baby, yeah, fill me with that cock.”

Josh grinned. “Stop hamming it up. You won.”

“And I wanna enjoy my victory.”

Josh laughed, over the moon that Helm had finally joined in fully—that she was a Misfit in every way. He looked around. Arabella was smiling. Cassandra grinned, and Lex gave him a thumbs up.

Melody ambled around the pool, lifting Helm’s head off the flags. “Welcome to the Misfits! At least I’m not the last in.”

“Hey! I’ve been a Misfit for a while.”

“But now you’re a fully-fledged participating Misfit. There’s a difference.”

Josh’s orgasm built. He grinned thinking about how his family was complete, and let himself go. Cum streamed from him, his legs turning to jelly. He fell forward, resting on Helm’s back, still deep inside her.

“A fully fledged Misfit,” he said. “My family is complete.”

Chapter Twenty-Six

THE CITY of Laurent sat within a valley, its wall spanning one side to the other. Other towns had stockades built with brick piers that were designed to hold back monsters. Laurent’s fortifications had been built for a finer purpose. Like a huge sea wall, it had been made to hold back the swell of a thousand warriors.

The wagon rolled inextricably closer, through farms and scrub, along a raging torrent of a river. As it did, so the wall became more and more foreboding. Until, late in the afternoon, they could go no further. As they approached Laurent’s gates, Josh wondered at Heretic’s humility. The man had appeared normal. He’d acted like any other man, yet he ruled Laurent, undoubtedly a jewel within the Hangsane.

“Well bugger me,” Josh said. “I don’t know why I’m stunned, but I never expected a city to be this big. Not sure why.”

“Laurent isn’t the biggest. As we get closer to the ruins everything is magnified. Laurent is the start. Things change. There is progress that is unheard of farther north.” Helm threaded her hand through the crook of his arm. “You’ll either be repulsed or fall in love.”

“Why would I be repulsed?” Josh asked.

“Because the simple life vanishes,” Quinn said, coming beside them. “With progress comes complication. Once through the Magalese cut, nothing is what it seems anymore. You must have noticed how comfortable the tavern was—how sumptuous the food and the quality of the beds.”

Josh regarded the cat woman. Wonder filled her eyes. It was like she’d never seen Laurent before. “Have you ever been to Laurent?”

“I live here,” she said. “I wouldn’t live anywhere else.”

He looked back, the trail doubling back on itself as it rose to a set of iron studded gates, so large they housed a smaller set far easier to open. Azun drew the wagon to a stop and hailed the guard. One appeared on a small balcony, his gauntlet clad hands resting upon its balustrade. “A little late for a battle wagon to approach. Whose business?”

“We deliver for Heretic,” Azun said. “But you know this Dervine. He would have informed you.”

The guard chuckled. “Why would Heretic talk to the likes of me?”

“Because you’re fucking his cousin. How else would the likes of you get a cushy number guarding the gate of an impregnable city?”

Dervine raised a finger, wagging it at Azun. “You know full well Heretic’s cousin is a taproom wench who has her ass in the air more often than her head.”

“I know that’s the only place she can get a good fucking, certainly not her home,” Azun countered.

“Do they know each other?” Arabella asked Quinn.

“Husband and wife. He’ll let her in soon. They like to play first, but they’ll come to an impasse soon.”

“Only because your man’s dick’s so big it won’t fit in you,” Dervine shouted.

“Sorry? What did you say?” Azun said, cupping her ear. “Did you say her husband’s a big dick, because that’s what I heard.”

Dervine roared. “Then you best come in and see if you can’t make him a bigger dick, erm, ahh shit.”

The gate guard vanished from view, and Azun roared. “Always beat him. Always, I tell you.” She coaxed the mammoths forward, straight towards the closed gates which opened in the nick of time. They travelled through a dark tunnel.

“What is the point of the huge gates? Are they ever opened?”

He asked Helm the question, but it was Quinn that answered. “The great wall was built soon after the ruins came to be. Most of the cities close to the ruins were. Vast structures dot the Hangsane, and this is one of them—the legendary wall of Laurent. It’s like they’re pointless, like they’re follies, even. It is said that a few years after the ruins came to be, the inhabitants of the Hangsane felt the need to outdo each other. They had lofty ambitions and endless energy.”

“The power would have been at its greatest just after the crash,” Josh muttered.

“What?” Quinn asked.

He tensed, but Helm squeezed his arm. “Nothing,” he said as they came to the end of the tunnel and broke through into a shadow-filled city.

The road was narrow, elegant white-stone houses pressing against the cobbles. Folks hurried along paths, barely glancing as the battlewagon passed them by. But it was the street lights that drew his attention.

“Do they have electricity here?” he asked.

“Electricity?” Quinn asked.

“The lamps.”

“They are magically powered,” Melody said, pressing her face against the wagon’s window. “Artificers make them. I can see their workings in my head. They’re…they’re something special.”

Quinn laughed then. “You think a streetlamp is special. Wait until you see the rest of Laurent.”

But Josh hardly heard her words. He had trouble believing his eyes. Each building housed a shop with a large glass display window. Lights illuminated their wares, which customers browsed. Those customers wore smart clothes, with hats and canes, bags and bonnets. It was all way too civilized, but he had no idea why it stunned him so.

He’d understood for a long while that the Hangsane was a series of progressions and advancements that ended at the ruins. Had he really expected the people to remain the same? Had he thought the other half would be dressed in rags and living in barns?

The villa should have given him some warning. It had been a cut above what he’d become used to, and it was a long way north. The luxury of the previous night’s respite, and the easy boasts of the innkeeper should have prepared him for further progression. But he’d not altered his view that he’d landed in a medieval land.

“I might just have to,” he said.

“Have to what?” Cassandra asked.

“Accept I’m somewhere special.” He watched the city go past. “We could learn so much here,” Josh said, already regretting his overtures to Adamant.

“You’ll not learn much about hunting monsters here, unless you go to the arena,” Quinn said.

“Not the learning I had in mind,” Josh muttered. “Did you know Laurent was like this?” he asked Helm, who shook her head.

“All I knew was that to venture south was to attract the guardians’ eye. That they held all with a stranglehold. And I was right.” She leaned close to Josh. “Do you think we’d have got this far without the stone, without you or Cassandra? They’d have crushed me like they crushed my kin.”

Josh nodded, understanding, but didn’t reply. His attention was drawn to a huge fountain in the middle of a large square and the grand buildings lining it. The battle wagon travelled around it, taking a side street off it and climbing a narrow road.

“The square is home to several rival guild’s embassies,” Quinn explained. “Laurent is acknowledged as one of the most important cities in the Northern Hangsane. It is the gateway to the ruins, and it controls much of the trade flowing in from the north. Most people skirt the Reaver’s land, so it uncorks that blockage.”

“What about south? What trade goes south?” Elowen asked, her face pressed against the window.

“Nothing goes south,” Quinn said. “We consume all. Everything flows towards the ruins. The further away you get, the more inconsequential you become. The Ruins, the Emmitance, whatever name you wish to pin on it, is all that matters. The rest is merely something that feeds it.” Quinn stepped away from the window. “We will arrive at our destination soon. I must prepare.”

Josh moved away from the window, watching Quinn vanish into the galley. “If nothing ever leaves the ruins, does that mean we’re kind of trapped?”

Cassandra laughed, but even her usually confident aura was laced with doubt. “They won’t keep us where we don’t want to be.”

But as Josh looked at the passing buildings, he wondered why he’d want to leave. Wasn’t civilization good? Wasn’t luxury something he hankered for? “I have to say, this has turned my world upside down. I don’t know why, but I never expected this.”

“It’s a lot to take in,” Arabella said.

“But what the fuck do they want with us?” Josh asked. “I feel like a toy in some kind of game.”

Cassandra took a breath. “I suggest we all get ready.”

“Get ready?”

“We all look a little disheveled. We have a few moments. Let’s smarten ourselves up as best we can and get ready to play politics. The look is half the battle.”

Cassandra donned her black cloak, pulling its hood up and retreating into its shadows as she held her Everdeep staff. “Never forget what we’ve done to get here. We’ve beaten all they threw at us. We’ve killed their assassins and butchered their monsters. If we’ve arrived and are invited to their table, it’s because we deserve to be here, and no other reason.”

Josh pulled his jacket out of storage. Arabella brushed her hair, shouldering her drow bow. Helm smoothed down her ornate drow clothing, her hand resting on her sword. Lex checked all her knives. Melody raked at her tangled hair with her fingers, and Elowen polished her glasses. Vella sat, not changing for anyone, as the wagon turned off the road and passed through a set of gates. Two huge stone pillars sat on either side, topped with wolf heads. They crunched along a gravel drive and pulled up in front of a grand house.

Azun dismounted and opened the door. Josh led them out, climbing stone steps as white as snow. A sole figure waited for him at the top. His surprise morphed into a resigned grin.

“Affinity—why am I not surprised to see you?”

The Adventure Continues in Book Six

Monsters Mayhem & Misfits 6

A LitRPG Fantasy

Chapter One

JOSH DOVE, grabbing Cassandra and pulling her back as she lunged towards Affinity. The cat girl stood atop a set of white stone steps rising to the large entrance of a grand mansion. The Everdeep Witch spat her curses, shrugging Josh off and feinting a magical strike.

“Bitch!” she said. “What the fuck do you want with us?”

Josh rested one foot on the lowest steps as his girls surrounded him in a semicircle. He kept his arm firmly around Cassandra’s waist, although part of him would have enjoyed seeing them fight.

Just not right then…

They were battle worn, weary, and while they’d enjoyed the previous night in a reasonably well-appointed inn, the thoughts of putting down some roots in a fine-looking mansion, even if only for a few nights, certainly appealed. It had been a hell of a journey since leaving Helm’s castle.

First, they’d battled vampires and undead. By beating them, Josh’s soon-to-be-formed guild, aptly named The Misfits, had gained their land, but not before Josh took a beating from an elven woman called Rhina. The beating enabled him to evolve his power further, and Rhina turned from aggressor to advisor taking them to a villa on a hillside where they stayed as guests of Heretic’s guild, Prosper or Die.

Enjoying some respite, Josh formed The Misfits, and another presence entered his mind, which he called Alice. Fortunately, or ominously, depending on how deeply you looked into it, the same creator had made Alice and Tremelox. Tremelox quickly dominated Alice, keeping Josh’s secrets from the guild overseer.

The arrival of the guild system measured and ranked each of the girls and Josh. The total power rating of them all gave the guild their overall ranking in the Hangsane. But Josh soon discovered that a more accurate measure was average power, as individual power was king in the Hangsane. The guild scoreboards also told them they had a little way to go before they were powerful.

After a guild called Hasul had attacked them, Heretic, the leader of Prosper or Die, moved them through the Hangsane to a city called Laurent. Several conflicts occurred along the way, enabling Josh to use his new powers, those gained when he ascended to the rank of Savage Warden.

But it was on a stopover that Josh learned more about the land. Vella, the Elven Mystic Syphon, took him to meet the dimensional fairies—sprites who popped in and out of existence but whom Vella attracted. They announced her as the Chosen One, and him as the Herald, but other than the names, he learned very little else. Later that night, their wagon mistress told them a little more about the trials they would face as they ventured farther south.

Monsters called ravagers roamed the land. They targeted the high-powered warriors, stealing their gathered stats to add to their own system called The Ravaging. In a similar way, if a warrior killed a ravager, then they gained some of the beast’s stats.

She told them of a guild called The Reavers who owned the territory south of Laurent, and of strange goings on under the land’s surface. Helm contacted Adamant, the leader of the Reaver’s guild, and arranged a meeting.

Getting to that meeting, however, might prove more difficult than they’d imagined. Affinity’s presence at the top of the steps certainly wouldn’t help.

While the cat girl had appeared subservient to Flick and Pec when they’d tried to steal the Sinter Stone, Josh had a feeling that she played a different game from the other two. Unraveling all the plots and subplots that riddled the Hangsane was the key to their continued survival. So, Josh styled out the current situation.

“Affinity, what a pleasant surprise! It’s nice to see a friendly face.” He bounced on his heels, attempting to be as cheery as possible.

The cat girl’s tail swished from side to side before curling up behind her. She didn’t answer for a moment, regarding each of the girls, before turning her gaze back on Josh. “Let’s not begin again with a lie. Too many have passed between us already. Most, I’ll admit, were necessary. Some were a test. But you have brought the Sinter Stone with you, and you still have possession of the Angel Stone. That gives you bargaining power at our table.”

Cassandra pulled her staff close, fingering the slither of stone hidden within it.

“Rhina hinted that our Angel Stone was nothing special. Has something changed?” Josh said, carefully.

Affinity smiled. “It’s here. It’s past the Magalese Cut. That always makes things more interesting. But I’m sure you don’t want to stand out here. While you might be within Prosper and Die territory—a guild with which you have friendly diplomacy, you are standing inside the embassy walls of a guild which does not. Accidents happen, and they trigger wars. At this most delicate of times, the last thing anyone in the Hangsane need is a war. Would you like to come in?”

“What guild?” Helm asked.

Affinity focused on the drow. “Salazar,” she said, and turned, sweeping through a set of open double doors which towered at least twenty feet up.

Helm’s arm shot out, stopping Josh as he followed. “Things just got interesting.”

“Why?”

“Salazar. The name. If you could look that far up the guild rankings you would eventually come to them. They’ll either be top, or they’ll be second.”

“Affinity’s Salazar?” Cassandra asked. “But wouldn’t she have to be immensely powerful?”

“Yes,” Helm said, bringing her arm down. “I wonder if Flick and Pec know who they were with.”

“They should all have badges,” Elowen said. “Josh, propose that when all the guild leaders have a meeting. It’d save all this skullduggery.” She grinned, marching up the steps. “I’ll take notes, so you can all focus on squeezing information out of her.”

Josh climbed the steps, entering the vast building. Affinity was halfway down its entrance hall, a gray stone corridor with no decoration of any kind. Lamps spread evenly between lofty wooden doorways and cast a yellow light that did little to warm its frigid feel. The cat girl stopped at a seemingly random door and vanished through it. When they reached it, a burst of warmth greeted them, and they entered a grand room with an impressive marble hearth, flames reaching for its chimney.

Crimson felt adorned the walls, broken by golden ropes, ornate cornices, and some of the largest mirrors Josh had ever seen. In its center, upon a lavish, red rug, stood a walnut table that could have easily seated twenty. Affinity marched to its head and sat. Her stare drilled into Josh, directing him to sit by her side.

“Are we all hungry?” she asked. “Don’t worry about your items. I’ll have Temulin send anything up to your suite. You have the upper floors. I’ve heard from my sources in Mythelore that you prefer to be higher up. Should you need anything, anything at all, she will bring it to you. There should be no reason to leave this place until we conclude our negotiations.” She clapped her hands. “Now, let’s eat and talk. Some find it uncivil. I prefer it. I have no heirs and graces.”

“What if we want to leave?” Helm asked.

Affinity clicked her tongue. “In the middle of our negotiation? What part of the word Salazar didn’t you understand?”

Helm glanced at Josh, who waited until each of his girls had sat. “I’m fairly sure Helm understands what it means to be in a Salazar embassy. As do I, peculiarly enough. I understand it because I understand the politics of the bully and the bullied. You, Affinity, appear powerful enough to be the bully, and we are weak enough that we have to sit and take it.”

“I am glad you understand. It will save us so much trouble.” Affinity clapped her hands. Two doors, standing on either side of a giant mirror, opened, and two lines of servers marched through, a mix of steaming and cold platters held aloft. Several more quickly skirted them, spreading tablecloths and laying out cutlery and plates. Within moments a feast had appeared in front of them, and Josh’s boiling anger had almost simmered down.

“But we don’t,” he said as Melody tucked in and ruined his next line. “We could reject your meal and walk out of here.”

“Not quite yet,” Cassandra said, pulling a plate of steaming potatoes toward her. “Perhaps after the meal? No, in the morning. I need to take my boots off. My feet are killing me.”

Arabella picked up a sizzling steak, dumping it on her plate. “We should hear her out. Especially…you know, seeing as she’s in a powerful guild and all.”

Vella slipped out of her chair, walking up to Affinity and staring into her eyes. “Don’t be sad,” she said. “It will all work out.” She ran up to the large mirror and sat in front of it. “They’re all around. You know that, don’t you? You feel it.”

Affinity shivered, composed, and settled her gaze back on Josh. “Tell me, what do you, what do The Misfits want?”

“What we’ve always wanted. Leave Mythelore alone. Let us live in peace and don’t trouble our borders. If we have to fight everyone here, if we have to get super powerful to ensure that, then that is what we are going to do.”

Affinity sat back. “You want the guilds of the Hangsane to leave lowly Mythelore alone? That’s it? Is that all? Because I can give you that if you give me what I want.”

“And what is it you want?”

She grabbed a steak and dropped it on her plate. “I want you and your people to leave us alone.”

Silence fell, broken only by Vella’s giggles. “Bad Josh,” she eventually said.

“My people?”

Footsteps clicked across the stone floor. They came from the direction of the entrance corridor. Josh turned. A large man marched in, his chest puffed out and his shoulders back. He had a military air—officer type—wrapped in a shawl of capability the like Josh had never felt in his life. It was clear, quite clear, that the man was as powerful as they came, and that if anyone dared to argue with that statement, they’d quickly regret it.

“Your people, Mr. Underwood. Your people.”

A rush of magic hit the table, pushing it a few inches down the room. Affinity swiveled, coming beside Josh, her plate in front of her. Josh’s own plate remained in front of him, while a chair fell into place at the table’s head, an empty plate in front of it, cutlery on either side.

Affinity stood. “Sir! I didn’t think you’d come.”

“Why would you? A lowly guild. Lowly warriors. What concern would they have for me? But we all know that isn’t true. We are all aware that Mr. Underwood isn’t who he says he is, aren’t we? What is the first rule of guild engagement, Affinity?”

The man sat, and Josh studied his face. Cold eyes sat under a buttress for a forehead, from which his gray hair swept directly back. His angular cheekbones gave his mouth little room for any other expression bar austere seriousness.

“Be the disruptor,” Affinity parroted.

“Be the disruptor,” he repeated, slowly. “My name is Clay, Josh. If I may call you Josh. You—” He focused straight on Cassandra. “You are called Cassandra. The witch who is so much more than she thinks she is. There is the beautiful Arabella, the wild Melody and the underrated Elowen. I have rarely witnessed such fighting prowess as displayed by Silexa, but given the company, her talents get drowned out a little. You, Ms. Helm, have been an enigma for a while, but we tolerated you as you guarded that Angel Stone better than any of us could.” His gaze settled on each of them until he finally looked at the hall’s vaulted ceiling. “Then there is Vella, the Chosen One.” He stared straight at Josh as Josh’s jaw sagged open. “Yes, the Chosen One. You know that, don’t you? You have heard the title just as we have heard of the coming of the Herald. How long, Josh? When was the first time she showed you?”

He thought back, remembering he’d discounted it. “Just after I first met her. It was by her village. She took me into the forest, up, up into a valley. She showed me there, and then a wild boar attacked us.” He gasped at the memory. “Right, right at the beginning of it all.”

“Right at the beginning. So, tell me, now, now do I have your attention? No, do we have your attention?” He clapped his hands. “Really, Affinity, I thought you’d at least break out the good wine for our friends.”

She dipped her head. “I was waiting until they became our friends.”

“There is a saying. It heralds back to a long-lost civilization. It goes like this. The enemy of my enemy is my friend. I think that makes Josh a friend.”

Josh searched for an answer in the eyes of his companions, all of whom stared at Clay. Each was devoid of that answer, except, maybe, the one he could go to for a clue. Vella still stared at the mirror, which no longer reflected her. Instead, it pictured a living waterfall around which hundreds of tiny sprites flew. “Siding with someone simply because they have an enemy in common rarely works out well. Once the enemy is dead, there’s little to hold the alliance together.”

“But,” Clay said, the hint of a smile touching his thin lips, “in this particular case, I think it will hold just fine.”

“Why?”

“Because my enemy only thinks he is, but he can’t be sure.” He held his hand out, a cut crystal glass appearing in it, a waiter appearing and pouring some wine. Once everyone had a glass, he held it up to Josh. “He only thinks he’s my enemy because external forces have made it so. Cheers.”

Everyone raised their glass as if mesmerized apart from Cassandra.

“In case you were listening earlier, my fucking feet ache. I want to eat, get out of my boots and rest—perhaps after a long bath. So, if you could stop with the riddles and get the fuck on with telling us what is going down, that would be fantastic.”

Affinity jumped to her feet, her tail waving from side to side. But even as her retort sat on her lips, Clay waved his hand, and she snapped back down.

“Affinity. Temper. Disrupt, don’t demean. If others disrespect, take note but only respond if you intend to use devastating force. Despite her low score, you’d not best the witch, so you’d die. Never forget the rules power instills on us.”

“Sorry, Master.”

“It is fine. Her rank offends me. Her power is there. I’d hate to see you the brunt of its first manifestation.” He switched his attention to Cassandra. “But you, my dear, are correct. I should have scheduled this meeting for tomorrow night. But things move fast in the Hangsane, and I wanted you to understand your position better before they do.”

“Start with the sprites then,” Cassandra said. “I’ve got a bunch of eating to do, anyway.”

“Why ask me about the sprites when you have Vella?”

“Because,” Cassandra continued. “I have a bit to eat, but not enough to span the one-word answers that she’d infuriatingly spout until I either died of old age or the sprites did.”

Clay pouted, then slid a slither of steak into his mouth, chewing thoughtfully. “I think I can best explain our current situation through medicine. What happens when you become ill? Let me tell you. Your body fights. It prepares its defenses and fights for its life. That’s what this land has been doing for an age—ever since they came.” He raised his hand. “Yes, Mr. Underwood, we know precisely what happened. We aren’t backward villagers here. We have evolved, courtesy of The Emittance, to understand our plight. So, on one hand, the blight tried to kill the land. It raised monsters, it pitched tribe against tribe. It made us what we are and we, in turn, destroyed our own land. They call it cancer, Josh, malignant cancer. The very souls that courted the invaders, then battled to fight them, ended up destroying more of the land. Those civilizations died.”

“The dwarves, the…What were they called?” Josh asked.

“Karvel artificers. Them, yes them. You see, the land recognized its own cancer and began killing it too. The ravagers—they kill our most powerful—take them unawares and consume them. This regulation controls us. It is the land’s way of reigning us back in before we destroy it. But still the cancer grows. It will always grow because we cannot defeat it. If we do, we become worse and the land dies, anyway.”

“But how can that be?” Josh said. “How? Just end them. Kill the cores. Destroy it all.”

Clay laughed, but it was the type of laughter borne of helplessness. “To defeat it we would have to become like it. To become like it, we would then become our enemy. Don’t you see? That’s where you come in.” He stood, leaning on the table, both hands splayed. “We know, Josh. All the tests we put you through. The evolutions you endured. Rhina confirmed it. Affinity saw it with her own eyes. We know you are one of them. But more importantly, unlike us, you can resist their power. The land has spoken. You are its Herald.”

Josh watched as Vella finally stood, turning and walking, a procession of sprites following her and settling on her shoulders, her arms and her head. But rather than stand by Josh’s side, she stood by Clay’s. “They will help us. The land will help us. If we help them.”

“You are one of them?” Josh said. “You are with them?”

“No,” Vella said. “I’m with you. I’m with all of you. I am the land.” She grinned and disarmed Josh as she always did. “I am a Misfit.” She blew him a kiss, and the sprites followed its path, settling on Josh as he stood, dumbfounded.

“I don’t understand.”

“It is simple, Josh,” Clay said. “The only true way to beat cancer and wipe it from your body once and for all is to turn it against itself. This meeting, this path, is no coincidence. It started one day as a light in the sky, a shooting star and a chance meet. You, Josh Underwood, will meet your enemy, and that will decide our fate.”

Chapter Two

JOSH COULDN’T BREATHE. He couldn’t do it. How was he supposed to face his nemesis—that of the entire human race—and win? Clay inferred he was a cancer—part of the problem, and Josh felt that too. The ring had tried to dominate him all that time ago when the eels had attacked. The warrior core had tried deep under Helm’s castle in the lost city of her ancestors. What’s to say he could resist a third time?

“But I resisted, didn’t I?” he said, his words barely a whisper. “I’ve resisted twice.” He stared at Vella. “I’ll resist again,” he said.

“Yes,” she replied, walking over to him, the sprites resting all around him.

Clay cleared his throat. “What is unclear here is what part Vella has to play. We have been aware of her ever since the beginning, but we haven’t unraveled her secrets. This hall, this place of mirrors, fascinates her. She revels in it, and we let her come when she wishes, although for the life of me, I doubt very much if we could resist. So, you see, uncharacteristic as it is, I’ll admit to being at a bit of a loss.” Clay drank some wine, then rubbed his tired eyes. “I know your destiny, Josh, but I have no idea how to deliver you to it.”

“Deliver me?”

He grimaced. “I don’t think it’s as easy as taking you to The Emittance and telling you to fight it. Trust me, if it were that simple the guilds might have joined and attempted to destroy it.”

Cassandra groaned. “Please! You build it all up, and then you tell us there is no plan? By your own admission we are weak. How can the weak beat an enemy the strong daren’t even face? Do you even know what you are proposing? Or is it just all hot air and sinister smiles?”

For a moment Clay’s expression clouded to thunder, but then he rose, walking toward the far mirror and turning, framed by its strange reflection. “This, these sprites are part of the key. Vella is a child of the original crash. She was born of this land in its darkest time, and yet her innocence prevails. These sprites, these magical beings, follow her through reflection. She sees them on a pond’s surface. She pulls them from glass. What are they? I have had scholars mull that question.”

“They are all around us,” Elowen said, and Josh noticed she had her pad and pencil out. She sucked on the pencil’s end. “I have thought about this conundrum too, ever since Josh told us of his experiences. I believe they are all around us.”

“Explain,” Affinity said and drew a displeased look from Clay.

“Simple. We cannot see spirits, yet we acknowledge their existence through hauntings. We can stare across a lake and only see its surface. What if there’s more all around us and we simply can’t see it? Why do we assume that our perception is all that matters? Does a mystic tell the future by guesswork, or can they see the strands of our path? The sprites visit Vella because they need our help.”

Clay approached the table again, resting his hand on his chair’s back and drumming his fingers. “Go on.”

Elowen rose, coming beside Josh and staring at the tiny sprites. “The Emittance, as you call it, twists and bends everything to its own version of reality. It wants power. I’ve seen it in Josh’s eyes. There’s a craving there that he can never sate. Why? Because it is driven by this warlike race that threatened to wipe out his. It doesn’t negotiate. It gets more powerful, and it stamps out those weaker than it. That is what you are dealing with. I’ll bet it is doing the same to these poor things. I’ll bet its turning sprite against sprite and ripping their world apart.”

“An interesting notion, but I’m not sure it pushes our narrative forward.”

“But it does,” Arabella said, standing. “It is one of the keys. Old Civilizations rise and fall. The Hangsane itself is a powder keg waiting to go off. Are we at the end? Monsters and madness ravaged Mythelore. It cannot stand another incursion. The Hasul tried to kill us. Not all want the Emittance eradicated. Elowen’s right. Wherever the sprites live, their existence is in doubt. What if they are the source of all our magic, or all our vitality? What if this strife links our fates and Vella is the gateway?”

Clay laughed. “Then I shall march an army through that mirror and kill their enemy!”

But as the man laughed, Vella rose, pulling Josh by the hand. Josh got up, following her as she led him to the large mirror. “Elowen’s right. They are the source of our magic. Their pool fills ours, and our pool fills theirs.”

Dozens of sprites flew into the mirror’s surface, others burst from it. All chattered excitedly, calling him Herald, urging him forward. Josh glanced back to see all eyes on him. He rubbed his hands together, knowing that more than likely he’d step forward and hit his face on the mirror. But Vella stared up at him, her wide, green eyes hard to resist.

He shook out his arms, flexing his shoulders, and he stepped in.

The mirror gave way, folding around him like a pool of quicksilver. Cold enveloped him, sticking to his skin. Then, like the meniscus of a pond, it receded, flowing behind him and welcoming him. He stepped onto a spongy surface, a burst of earthen scent blooming around him. He stood still, too stunned to take in the land that spread away but accepting its overall feel—that of an enchanted forest.

Vella grasped his hand, entwining her fingers and pulling him further into the illusion. A light breeze brushed his cheek. The squawk of a bird made him jump. “Is this real?” he asked as the sprites flew all around him. “Are we still in Laurent?”

“No,” she replied in her normal, succinct manner.

“Then?”

“They don’t like the cities. None of them. Apart from the Darks. They like the shadows and the despair. Come this way. You can see it from there.”

“See what?” he asked, but she’d already let go of him and ran through the mystical place, weaving her way through moss-covered trunks and over burbling streams.

After a while, Josh settled enough to trust his perception and agility and soaked in his surroundings. Smaller details became clear. Tiny nests clung to branches, but no ordinary bird’s nest. These had little roofs and doors and windows. Sprites rested on decks and washing hung from gossamer threads. Small tracks through the forest made Josh miss a stride as he stopped himself from stamping on a caravan of tiny travelers all headed to a mossy mound, a grand entranceway open and waiting for them. It was a new world, a fascinating one, and he was their guest.

“Call you Big Feet,” Vella said, slowing. “They sing your name across this place. You are the Herald of their salvation. With you lies their hope.”

He drew beside her, wondering at her words. Only a moment ago, he’d marveled at the simplicity of her answers. “You like it here?”

“Like them all. Need to help them.”

“Help them from what?”

“You’ll see.” She pulled him on, and they left the forest, racing over a long pasture toward a distant ridge. At its top, she stopped, crouching and pointing. “Easy to get to here. Not so easy in the other place.”

Josh’s senses became overwhelmed as the scale of the transition became apparent. They stood upon the edge of a vast crater, its opposite side touching the horizon. Cracks and fissures crazed its dished center, the earth blistered red and black. A spire pierced its center, a black crystal radiating foulness. Where the forest had emanated good, this place reeked of evil, festering evil that was more powerful than the forces surrounding it. But the line between good and bad was distinct. It reached the ridge’s edge, encroached over by a few feet, but there it stopped.

Vella crouched, pointing at the line. “Crawls,” she said.

Josh kneeled by her, witnessing its edge. Moss crackled and burned, eaten away where it touched the radiant evil.

“You understand?”

“I do,” he said. “But it is slow. We have time to defeat it.”

Vella shook her head. “Not slow. Not anymore. Once, the darkness was the size of a boulder. Not now. Now it comes for everything. This place creates our mana. If it dies, so will our magic.”

She pointed, and Josh followed the line of her finger. There was movement in the crater’s base, right by the tower. A line of creatures marched for its edge. They resembled twisted versions of goblins, their skin gray and wrinkled, their eyes the color of smoldering coal. Clad in black armor, they held vicious-looking weapons, their blades black like all else. But they were small, not as tiny as the sprites, admittedly, but only around half Josh’s size.

“I can kill them easily,” he said.

“More will come,” Vella told him, leading him around the crater and then crouching behind a bolder. “The evil sends them out. The path they tread burns all.” She hesitated. “They kill. They kill all of them.”

“The sprites?”

“All the Magicals. It’s why some have fled to the Hangsane. Once, this place teemed with good. Now they run.”

“But they’re so small. One army—”

“They grow as the evil grows. It will soon reach—”

“A tipping point. Yes, I see it.”

“Same in our world. Guild fights guild. Monsters fight all. The old rise and the new fall.”

The creatures closed, their expressions pure evil. Their mouths twisted in anger; fangs bared. As they trod the green land beyond the crater, it hissed and steamed, bursting into flames and consuming the green. Josh could stand it no more. He lunged forward, calling for his great sword, and with one gigantic slash, he tore through the column, slicing the soldiers in two. Then, with practiced ease and with his enhanced strength, he reversed the blade and culled the rest.

Boiling, black blood spilled from them, steaming and effervescing as it hit the vibrant moss. Acrid black smoke billowed up and the rancid flesh dissolved into the land, its black stain spreading, crawling and consuming.

“We can’t win,” Josh said as he looked in horror.

“No. You just made it easier for them next time.”

He stood at the end of the black path, and he knew the truth of her words. The corruption had a new front, and its evil crawled and crackled along it, consuming the good and spreading further away from its center.

Determined to understand it, Josh marched onto it even as Vella screamed, “No!”

The instant his boots touched the corrupted land, ice cold power surged through his legs, raced into his torso, and scurried through his mind. A presence, more powerful than anything he’d ever encountered pressed him, the pressure making him fall to his knees and cry out in pain. He felt them—all of them—the combined focus of the Grillons as they fought to understand how one could resist them even for such a short period.

“Human!” The word echoed inside him; spoken with such derision, he could hardly bear it. They had found their old foe—one they’d hunted. “Give back what is ours!” One said. “Succumb,” said another.

“Die.”

“Suffer!”

“Be afraid. Be very afraid!”

Then another voice joined in, making it three in all.

“Join us!”

“Be part of us.”

“Give up.”

“Kneel, wretch!”

He fell, touching more of the corruption, wishing it would go away, that he might live, to breathe, to see something different. But the corruption had him, its tentacles drawing him into its cold embrace.

Then power surged through him and filled him full of memories. Arabella flitted through his mind, her smile so damn enticing. Cassandra gave him a sly wink and bent forward slightly, her breasts near perfect. Elowen peered over the top of her glasses, closing her book and resting back, her skirt riding up and legs slightly parted. Melody tossed a bomb away, its explosion sending her flying into his arms. He staggered back, but Lex caught him, embracing him and telling him it would all be okay. And Helm pulled him to her, her cool authority calming his beating heart.

He rose to his knees, the black all around him. But not too far away stood Vella, and she offered him her hand. He reached for it, knowing it was his salvation—that she was an oasis of good in a land of evil. Lunging, they touched, and the corruption surged through him. But he fought—he fought to contain it, to stop it from entering his sweet Vella.

For the first time, the evil witnessed his power. It recoiled from it, and more words entered him. Words spat with venom and spite.

“Betrayer!”

“Turncoat!”

“Fucker!”

“Dead man!”

The evil surged within him, but he rose to his feet. He fought to stand, and he rejected the darkness, stepping once more into the light. The moss under him crackled and spluttered. It burst into a dark flame, curling around his ankles.

“Am I?” he asked.

“Evil?” she said. “We all have darkness. None are pure light.” She looked deeply into his eyes. “You are the Herald,” she told him, and goodness rushed from her, filling him with her mystic vitality.

He inhaled hard, letting it reach every single part of him. It filled him to overflowing, spilling from him, countering the darkness underneath and restoring the vibrant moss. She led him to the dark path, pulling him down. “Remake it how it was.”

Josh unequipped his sword, pressing his palms onto the evil. This time, rather than succumb to the evil, he pushed it away. As his vitality, his mana and his vigor drained, so Vella filled him.

“Like that,” she said, as patches of green appeared around his hands. “Just like that.”

Josh understood. He’d rejected the evil as he knew he could. He’d forced it from him with Vella’s help. She was the Chosen One. He was The Herald. Together, and only together, they could defeat the corruption.

With one seismic push, he forced the evil back, sending it to its blistering edge. But he understood that was all he could do. That he wasn’t strong enough to beat it.

He sat back on his haunches, Vella by his side, and they looked out over the dark crater.

“We have to get stronger and fast.”

“Yes,” she said, then stood. “Come, we must explain.”

He grabbed her. “Who are you, Vella? You know all these people. You’ve been to all these places. Who are you to them? Who are you to the Emittance?”

“They don’t know. I do, though. They’re scared of me—the Emittance. Scared of you, too. I’m Vella. You know my story. I knew you were coming long before you did.”

“How?”

“They hunted you. They still do.”

“Who?” Josh asked the question, but he knew the answer.

She smiled at him, her expression a picture of innocence. “What’s left,” she said, and pulled him to his feet.

Chapter Three

THE GARDENS SPREAD AWAY, ornate, cultured; the blooms catching the moonlight, their fragrance wafting over him. Josh sat on a wooden bench, clearing his mind. Vella sat next to him, silent, but not awkwardly so. Their adventure had hatched the feeling of mutual mischief. It had in no way alienated the other girls, but it had set them temporarily apart. Returning from another layer of reality was, apparently, enough to merit time to chill and collect thoughts.

The others met their explanation of where they’d traveled with scratched heads and curled lips. While Arabella, Cassandra and Elowen had witnessed the rapid rise and death of Maechellion, and while Lex, Melody and Helm had witnessed spectacular feats of magic, a whole different land was too much to handle.

Josh, of all of them, had the least difficulty in accepting it. He had, after all, traveled through a wormhole and landed in a new place, a new time, and so for him, a whole new reality already existed. He saw the mirror as a brand-new wormhole, but Vella had corrected him. The mirror wasn’t the only way to travel to that other place. It only focused his mind and made it possible. The reality was different. If he believed, he could go there at any time.

Clay and Affinity had differing reactions to their proclamations. Affinity had the look of someone vindicated. While Clay clearly had a lot to ponder. He had asked some rather pointed questions: Whether they could take an army through? Would that army help? Did it really matter if another world perished?

It was Vella’s answer to this that confused him. It was simple, concise and to the point.

“Same world. Just another layer.”

And it was that Josh pondered, there on that bench.

“So…” he said for the eighth or ninth time, stuttered and stopped.

“A cake,” she said. “Or sandwich. Two pieces of bread—filling in the middle. Mirror is the filling.”

“So…” he pondered again. Then it hit him. “I was seeing the actual crash site, wasn’t I? Except, I was seeing the sprite’s layer and not ours.”

“Yes.”

“If I cure one, I cure the other?” The seeds of a plan germinated inside him.

“No,” she said, dashing his hopes.

“No?”

She slid off the bench, the moonlight bathing her in a silver aura. “Weaken—it weakens them. It removes…”

“Their foundation.”

“Yes.” She beamed, still a picture of innocence, yet she’d trod such dangerous paths. “Weakens them. Strengthens us.”

“Why don’t they kill you? Why haven’t they tried?” he asked, more to focus his mind than expecting an answer.

“Because they can’t. Don’t believe in them.”

He laughed. “Oh, Vella, resisting evil isn’t like that. Evil attacks you from every angle. It gets inside your head, corrupts your body. It is vile.”

“No,” she said. “Not like that. Only gets in if you open the door.” She smiled and jumped back on the bench, snuggling up to him. “Bedtime. Have to get up to see the Reaver tomorrow.”

The meeting had slipped his mind. Did he need the Reavers now? Helm had arranged a meeting with Adamant, but he questioned if they should go. They had Salazar, and Clay and Affinity appeared to be in control.

But do I trust them?

They’d talked of armies, of taking on the corruption, but they did not know where it started and stopped. Perhaps they themselves were the corrupt ones.

“You know Adamant, don’t you?”

She looked up at him, her gaze so innocent. “A bit. He can make us strong.”

Josh scooped her up in his arms, carrying her up a grand, sweeping staircase and to the top floor where he nudged the door open to find all his girls all asleep in bed.

Despite his non-stop day, sleep evaded him. The girls all lay in varying stages of undress, their bodies scattered around the multiple beds. They were beautiful, each and every one of them, and there was nothing more he would have loved to do than lie with one, hold her in his arms and drift off. But something about the whole evening troubled him, and it was Clay’s insinuation that he’d tested them all the way through the Hangsane.

It wasn’t the first time that they’d suspected they’d manipulated him. Affinity, Flick and even Pec had been in the frame for driving them into Helm’s arms and helping her retrieve the Angel Stone. But could they really have gone a step further and moved them through the land at will? The more he thought about it, the more he could see they’d lurched from one test to another. A driving need to break that cycle boiled up inside him. He couldn’t do it. He couldn’t have them pushed around because there was no way he’d let his girls’ fate be in anyone else’s hands other than his.

“Are you dead?” Helm asked.

He blinked and shook his head. “What? Sorry? Did I doze off?”

“Doze off? No. That would have been slightly less scary. You were staring so hard I could feel your eyes on me from across the room. What’s up?”

“Up?” He grimaced. “I’ve traveled to a sprite realm. I’m in a powerful guild’s residence. I…” He gasped and ran his fingers through his hair. “No, that’s not it. That I can handle.”

“Then what is it?” She sauntered over and sat on his lap, draping her arm around her. “What’s the point of having seven beautiful companions if you can’t share your troubles with any of them?”

“But, and don’t take this the wrong way, my issue is the same as we discussed all that time ago. And I don’t think it’s you. But what if?”

“What if what?”

“What if that night as we emerged from under the depths of Telemar—what if they herded us to that part of the castle? What if Flick and Affinity— and the elf and gnome—what if they let us overhear them? Don’t you see? Rhina just happened to be walking down a street? The more I think about it, the more what if becomes a maybe.”

“But not with me. Never that. I am no what if. You came to me. I saw an opportunity, and I fell in love. That’s my story. Yours? Hell yeah, it sure looks like it, doesn’t it?”

“So, what do we do to find out?”

She sucked her cheeks in. “We do something unexpected.”

“Like?”

“Like go and see Adamant.”

“The Reaver?”

“Would they have planned that? Are the Salazars in league with them? Surely Clay would have known I’d already made contact.” She cupped his cheeks. “I don’t think so.”

“When?”

She slipped off him and marched to the window. “How about now? We could sneak out. Heck, you can climb vertical walls.” She opened the window. “So, it just begs the question, can you carry me down them?”

He got up, joining her at the window. Leaning out, he studied the near sheer drop. “Piece of cake,” he said.

She turned. “Full moon as well. Shall we?”

Josh dithered, looking over his shoulder at the sleeping girls. “Should we go without them?”

“I’ll tell,” said Vella. “You go. See the man. We need him.”

Josh and Helm swapped looks. He closed his eyes. Vella’s words made up his mind. “Equip suit, Tremelox.”

The emerald and white suit crawled over his skin, his HUD locking into place. He scooped Helm up, flipping her over and onto his back. “Hang on,” he said. “I’ll have you down in a moment.”

Jumping out, Josh grabbed the sill, then sprung across, reaching for a drainpipe and using it to slow his fall to a second-floor balcony. With one easy shove, he propelled himself away from the mansion, landing on the front lawn with a gentle thud and then running into the shadows. He hugged the approach road, coming to the entrance and slipping between the wolf’s heads. As soon as he was on the road into Laurent, he morphed back, dropping Helm and grabbing her hand. “Like that?”

She slapped him, her wry grin telling him all he needed to know. “You’re turning into a flash fucker. But you know that, don’t you?”

He grunted. “I think flash is the last thing I am, but I sure as hell enjoyed that. Do we know where we are going?”

“Spice Shop, River Walk. Contact is Merhun, and the password is—” Helm’s shoulders sagged as she glanced behind them. “For fuck’s sake!”

A large, white cat, brushed silver by the moonlight, prowled the road. The rumble of its contented purr washed over Josh, and he froze. “Affinity?”

Affinity morphed into her human form, catching up and slotting into stride with them. “What? You think I’d miss this trip? I love the old quarter, especially at this time of night. But you of all people, Helm—you should know. Strangers really shouldn’t go wandering around Laurent at night. The place is quite out there.”

“How did you know?”

“How? Know what? That you wouldn’t have spread your bets? Or that Clay, and more importantly me as his communications officer, intelligence officer and several other official positions that are none of your business, are unaware of overtures made to the Reavers Guild on Prosper or Die territory? I think we need to get a drink before you buy your spices. I need to wise you up on a few things.” She marched off, down a small hill, then took a fork that descended further, buildings encroaching on either side.

“Could it be that she’s just looking out for you?” Helm asked.

Josh sniffed. “That’s just it. I’d rather know.”

“Then let’s get that drink. Place must have some nightlife for everything to be open at this time. Mothrell died just after midnight.”

“This place has a strange vibe to it. It’s almost like there’s too much energy floating around.”

Helm set off after Affinity. “Perhaps we’re feeling the effects of the Emittance. It’s likely. We’re not on top of it, but we aren’t hundreds of miles away anymore.”

They followed Affinity down the street until it leveled out and ran alongside a river. She ducked into an inn, waiting by the doorway for them. “What’s your poison? Three ales, or you want something stronger? Clay’s big on wine. Personally, I can’t see what the fuss is about, but wine snobs be wine snobs.”

“You and Clay?” Helm asked as they walked to the bar.

“Me and Clay, what?” she asked, before freezing. “Ewe, no! He’s my boss. That’s it. He’s boss of Salazar. He is the He.”

Josh remembered back to the castle. They’d referred to him several times. He scared them all, Flick included. “So, you were following his order when you tried to kill us back at Helm’s castle?”

“Tried to kill you?” Affinity asked, catching the barman’s attention and ordering the drinks. “Yes, I supposed we did. But I hoped you’d survive, if that counts in my favor?” She reached up, cupping his cheek. “How could I want anything so cute to die?”

Helm tensed, but Affinity turned away and scooped up the three mugs. “Don’t sweat it, Helm. I know he’s taken.” She paused. “Seven times over. Not sure I want sloppy eights.”

But as she marched back to the table, her ass sashaying and her tail pointed upward, Josh wondered.

“She’s fucking flirting with you,” Helm said. “If I didn’t know better, I’d say she wants you.”

“What’s not to want?” Josh said with a grin, although inwardly, that she so casually admitted to trying to kill him still irked him.

Helm rolled her eyes and followed Affinity to a corner table.

“So, no Clay,” Affinity said. “And despite our differences, I’d like to think our little bit of history means we’ve established some trust—you and I, Josh—perhaps even me and you, Helm.”

“You just admitted to trying to kill us,” Josh pointed out.

“What part of The Hangsane didn’t you understand? It’s designed to kill. Only the strong survive—you want more cliches, because I got them. Yes, we tried to engineer situations where you’d die. Yes, we attempted to steal the Angel Stone. I wanted to know how far you’d go to protect it and your girls. Why? Because if you were weak, you weren’t the one.”

Josh mulled over her words. “But I survived, didn’t I? And now you want me? Having manipulated—”

“Guided,” Affinity interjected. “I guided you through. There’s a difference. I guided you, but I didn’t wrap you in swaddling. What good would that have done?” She sat back. “Let me tell you. You’d still be weak. Too weak to take on the next challenges.”

“You bitch!” Helm said, her whisper a muted shout. “You could have…” But Helm ran out of words, and Josh recognized understanding populating her expression. “It was the only way to prepare him, wasn’t it?”

“It was the only way to find out if all of you were good enough. There were too many questions. Could Vella keep you alive? Could Elowen decipher the clues along the way? Melody? What of her? And that’s without Cassandra. Without the challenges, would she have grown? Don’t you—”

“What about me and Lex?” Helm asked.

“Lex is a warrior. Don’t undervalue that. Not everyone can be a mystic syphon.”

“And me?”

Affinity sucked her lips in, her whiskers twitching. “You, Helm, are of the Hangsane, but more importantly, you’re one of the few people we trust who are as comfortable above ground as below. You, Helm, are the key to the next phase. You know it. I know it. Your contact at the Reavers knows it.”

“Feleesh?” she asked.

“That place,” Affinity said. “I don’t envy you that.”

Josh riffled his mind. He knew the name—had heard tell of it on the way. “Wasn’t that-?”

Affinity nodded. “It was a lost dwarven city under the Reavers’ territory. Technology, Josh, that we could only dream about, hatched between dwarven and karvel artificers, then destroyed overnight. The secret, Josh, may lie down there. It must lie down there. Which is why the Emittance exterminated them. Now! Now can you see why you are each important? Now can you see what we saw when Lux analyzed all the components of this party?”

“Lux?” Josh slugged his ale. “Lux was in on this as well?”

“A man with history. A witch packed with all the magic the land could give her. An elf, born in the ashes of a crash who can hop between realities. A woman that binds all together. An expert on ancient civilizations. Someone who can blow the fuck out of anything. A fighter, a fierce bodyguard, a protector. And finally, a drow—the last drow—a woman used to the quirks of the underground—someone used to its feel. Tell me, does such a party come together through pure luck?”

Helm drained her ale, then stood. She stopped before she got to the bar and spun around. “What if the dwarves and karvels are not all dead? What if they’ve lurched back into existence? What then, Affinity? Have you planned for that?” She spun back around but stopped again. “It’s a one-way trip, isn’t it? Only death awaits.”

“Death or victory,” Affinity said. “I’ll admit, there’s a fine line between the two. It’s death, or its victory.”

“You never answered her question,” Josh said. “What if they’re alive?”

Affinity inhaled hard. “That’s just it, isn’t it? That’s the one hole in our plan—the one thing we didn’t think about. You have no one skilled in negotiation. No one who can broker a deal between two parties. You have no one like that.”

“Correction,” Josh said. “We have you.”

Affinity closed her eyes, her hands shaking. “Yes, you have me.”

“But,” Helm said, her face finally breaking into a grin. “You’re not a Misfit. You don’t fit in.”

Affinity regarded her. “Nor did you to begin with.” She lifted her ale and drained it in one go. “Another?”

Chapter Four

IT WAS hard to gauge the Reaver’s mood. An oil lamp flickered, casting its languid light over Merhun’s mask as he regarded them. Josh tried his damndest not to fidget, but the cluttered room, its packed shelves and littered floor, did little to set his mind at rest. Anything could lurk between the tightly stacked spices or in the numerous sealed pots. Tremelox would, of course, alert him if a physical, poison or magical attack was imminent, but the system inside him couldn’t work miracles. If there was nothing to sense, then no alarm would sound inside his mind.

He was regretting not waking Cassandra. Some situations needed her untethered snark. If ice needed cracking, her wit could cut through even the thickest sheet. Helm’s talents did not lay in negotiations, and he still wasn’t entirely sure that he could trust Affinity, nor was he sure if she hadn’t pulled his strings and somehow invited herself to join them on their trip to Feleesh.

Merhun steepled his hands. He wore white gloves, those, along with his mask, the only break from black. The hood of his heavy cloak overhung his plain mask, casting shadows the lamplight fought against. He pushed at the tiny cup in front of him, steam rising from the thick, black liquid within.

“You wish passage into our territory and then under one of our most important cities to explore that which should rest.”

“We do,” said Affinity, who, as negotiator, was stuttering. “The Reavers guild and Salazar are of one mind in this. Even the guardians have agreed to set aside conflict to counter the new threat.”

“But the new threat is hardly new. I feel you have contrived some of it to hide your own weakness.”

“Clay is in good health. Can the same be said of Adamant?”

Merhun sniffed. “Rumors of our leader’s injuries have been greatly exaggerated. He will recover fully.”

“I’m sure Clay will be glad to hear that.”

Merhun snorted. “That I doubt. But take note. There aren’t many powerful enough to defeat not one but two high-level ravagers. Once his body recovers, he may even jump Clay in power. That would make things interesting.”

“Once again,” Affinity said. “I’m sure Clay would be glad to hear that. It is, after all, competition that spurs us on. Tell me, how did a ravager, my apologies, two ravagers, manage to get so close to the head of a guild as powerful as the Reavers? Does that not tell you what your master already knew?”

“My master tells me all. The Emittance moves against us as it did against the dwarves and the karvels, as it did the giants before them. All civilizations that rise then die. I have made my peace with it. Salazar has not.”

“Salazar has not,” Affinity repeated. “On that, we can agree. But you will let us into Feleesh, and we will explore its ruins.”

Merhun picked up his drink, lifting it to his mask as the contents rose and vanished. “Then you know something I do not.”

“Adamant will let us under his city because I have something he wants,” Helm said.

“Really?”

“Don’t play coy with me. He knows I have the Angel Stone. The Reavers don’t have one. Such a trinket would elevate their status. So, there is the bargain.”

Merhun placed his cup down. “A trinket for the possibility of untold riches? Were my guild to forge such a bargain so often, we would be broke within days.” He drummed his fingers on the table. “Who’s to say we don’t have an Angel Stone?”

“But…”

“But you don’t know. You can’t know. That is the joy of Reavan secrecy.”

“Are there riches in Feleesh?” Affinity asked. “If so, why has such a revered guild as the Reavers not harvested the bounty?”

“I…”

“Is it because you lack the power or the courage?” Affinity asked.

Josh thumped the table, making the oil lamp jump. “Let’s cut the shit. I’m tired and it’s late. Tell this to Adamant. He wants to talk to us, then he talks to us. Either the Reavers Guild helps us, or we circumvent it, and we go straight to the Emittance. Should we fail because we haven’t found the aid we seek under Feleesh, then you all vanish, destroyed by the Emittance when they decide to come for you.”

“They?” Merhun said.

“There is more than one of them. I have felt them—sensed their growing thirst. They are like you, Merhun. They hunt power. I believe the quiet times, the peaceful times you experience, are during their evolution. The times when civilizations are wiped out. That’s when they are testing their new power. If they’ve recently evolved, what’s the phrase? You ain’t seen nothing yet.”

“What is the alternative?” Merhun asked. “My Master likes a choice.”

“You allow us passage into Reaver territory. You put us in front of Adamant, and you’re absolved of all responsibility.”

“What can you offer my master?”

“Tell him I can offer him his life.” Josh sat back.

“There is one other thing,” Affinity said.

“What?” Merhun asked, bluntly.

“Tell Adamant his favorite elf travels with them.”

Cassandra looked up from the breakfast table, her face, like Merhun’s mask, expressionless. Josh had known the witch long enough to be wary. He grinned, but it lacked heart, waning into a feeble smile. “I know what you’re going to say.”

Arabella, however, did not hold back, but rather than any kind of admonishment, she jumped up and ran into his arms. “I’m so glad you’re safe. Did the meeting go well?”

“You know?”

“Vella told us. She said…”

“Oh. Yes. Sorry, I forgot. Look, it’s like this—”

“Darling,” Cassandra said, finally breaking her silence. “There are seven of us now. Do you really think we expect to all pile in on every meeting? Let me answer that for you. No. But a brief discussion beforehand is welcome. Especially if we are about to put our necks on the line.”

As Josh was about to reply, Lex butted in.

“As our leader, he is entitled to lead. We can’t run by committee. That never works. Trust me, I’ve seen enough politics.”

Cassandra sent Lex a cold glare. “That is not what I’m talking about. My point is this. If you were negotiating with Merhun for passage to the lost city of Feleesh, then who here is already best versed in the place?”

All eyes turned to Elowen. She carefully put her hand up. “I found several texts in Clay’s library—or rather, Salazar’s. While you were all drinking, I quickly read most. I have a good working knowledge of the place. Another day and I should know everything that Salazar knows, or certainly everything the texts have to tell us.”

Cassandra finally smiled. “So, I would have proposed Elowen. You chose Helm. I would judge,” she raised her hand, “that perhaps negotiation is not Helm’s strong point.” She eyed Affinity. “I don’t know a lot about her, but I’d hazard a guess it is her forte. Power, knowledge and a good negotiator would have made a better team.”

Josh sat, helping himself to a portion of bacon, some mushrooms and beaten eggs. “Agreed,” he said. “So, our next meet is with Adamant. Who would you propose? I agree. Eight, nine is too much.”

“What do we know about him?” Melody asked. “Just so I can contribute. Because I can discount myself immediately. You don’t want me in a meeting.”

“Affinity?”

The cat girl sat, helping herself to breakfast. “Of all the guilds, The Reavers are the most secretive. Their land might as well have a gigantic shadow over it. But, we have an insight into Adamant as he has attended several meetings. First and foremost, he has a huge presence. He is in great physical shape. Unlike others in his guild, he does not wear a cloak. Broad of shoulder, he wears his black armor well. He wears a mask, like all the others, but it only covers his eyes. Whether this is a concession to his status is unknown but suspected.”

She paused and chewed on a chunk of bread. “Two ravagers recently attacked and injured him. Merhun made light of it, but from the inflexion in his voice, it was clear they hurt him badly, though we expect him to make a full recovery. He’ll take no shit and is no man’s fool. You don’t rise through the ranks of The Reavers unless you are strong, politically savvy and charismatic. His guild would die for him, and if any were to refuse, then he would kill them without a second thought.”

Silence fell until Lex spoke.

“Knowledge and power can counter strength. If you negotiate solely from a position of power, then you are butting against each other, and that will only lead to conflict. However, if you are in the business of helping, then Adamant will have a choice to make—accept that help or don’t. If the argument for accepting help is strong enough, then he would be a fool not to accept it. I would suggest that if Adamant is as powerful as Affinity suggests, our advantage is a combination of Melody and Elowen.”

“Me?” Melody said.

“Indeed. Correct me if I’m wrong, but from the brief description of Feleesh that the wagon mistress afforded us, it is a place of traps and killing machines left in position to guard it. What better person to disable such things? No offense, Cassandra, and I’m pretty sure your power exceeds theirs, but The Reavers would have magicians. Do they have a Melody Delaney?”

“A good point,” Josh said. “We have brains, and we have a technician.” He paused. “By that, I mean an expert in trap smithing and artificing.”

“I’m hardly an expert artificer,” Melody said.

“No, but you know more than most. That makes you an expert. So, I agree with Melody and Elowen. I also think, however, that each of you contributes. Arabella could charm him down from his high horse. Cassandra’s magic is different. A warrior, Lex, commands respect from another warrior. Affinity has already listed our strong points, and Merhun listened intently. He played the agitated gatekeeper, but behind that mask, I fancy he listened hard.”

“So, what’s the conclusion?” Cassandra asked.

“We wait,” Affinity said. “We wait for his decision. That was always the case. But look, from an outside in perspective, I make Cassandra right. But you’re all forgetting your best asset. Adamant knows Vella is close. He will do anything to ensure she comes to see him.”

“Why?” Cassandra asked.

“Because she can heal him.”

“Can,” said Vella.

“However. I know The Reavers, and they’ll not want to rush an answer and show weakness. My guess is you’ll have the say,” Affinity said. “So, knowing a little about each of you, I would propose the following. Elowen, I have arranged access to Laurent’s expansive library for you, and Melody, if you wish, you may join her. There are karvel drawings there as well as some Feleeshian texts, although what state they are in, I do not know. But, please bear in mind this isn’t Salazar territory. It is Heretic’s City. He has cordially allowed you to stay here, and he is in residence. It would be rude not to meet him. That, I would suggest, is your duty, Josh. I’d suggest you take the others with you. No doubt he will wish to show you his city and, perhaps, petition you on Rhina’s behalf.”

“And you?” Josh asked.

Affinity raised her eyebrows. “I am tolerated here. Even though Salazar has more power than Prosper and Die, it is wise not to rub their noses in it. Besides, it is a nice day. I can spend my day in the sun. I have wine. I have food. Why would I want to rummage around a dusty city?”

“Now I wish I could stay with you.” Cassandra sighed. “Suddenly the thought of going to stuffy meet is too tedious to bear.”

“I think we know where we all stand,” Josh said. “I’m tired. I think I’ll go up.”

Josh grabbed another plateful of breakfast and took it back to the room, polishing it off and then drawing a quick bath. He wasn’t on his own for long. Arabella joined him, but she wasn’t her usual bubbly self, and he knew precisely why.

“Worried you don’t have a part to play?”

She rose from the bath; the water cascading from her. “There’s that. It’s not great to sit there and hear everyone else’s name picked out, their usefulness described, and then they shoehorn your name in with a flimsy reason for being there.”

He’d heard it before, and it had hurt then. “You are Thadius Extrael’s daughter—the daughter of the greatest monster hunter that ever lived. Do you think Elowen expected to be singled out? Or Melody? She still thinks about herself as just a trap smith. You’re here for a reason, and yes, some might think it’s because of me, because you keep us all together. But I think there’s something more, and I don’t think we know what it is, yet.”

“And if there isn’t?”

“Then keeping us all sane is the most important thing. I couldn’t do this without you, Bels.” He reached for her, drawing her into a hug. “But you know that, don’t you?”

“I do, but it doesn’t hurt to hear it over and over.”

“Who knows?” he said. “You might be here to charm Heretic.”

“What guild do we support?” she asked.

“I’m not sure. I’m not positive we have to side with any. I think they’re masking an issue that they can’t solve.”

“You think…”

“We’re walking straight into a shit storm. From what I gather, these guilds hardly talk. They might not fight, but I’ll bet they don’t talk much. Whatever’s going on is bad enough that they are willing to work together to dump us right in the middle of it.”

“Then I know my role.”

“Go on.”

“One of us must listen—listen to everything. I’ll play the dutiful spouse, the huntress. Hell, I’ll play Thadius Extrael’s daughter if it’s needed. But I’ll listen for any hint of deception so you can focus on being you.”

He pulled her close, their lips touching. The kiss was tender, reassuring. Somehow, even though he didn’t think their bond could get any stronger, every time they reached a crisis point, Arabella came through, and he loved her even more.

Chapter Five

“GRIFFINS,” Heretic said, “are the only way to travel.” The Prosper and Die leader jumped from the magnificent beast’s back. Its eagle eyes following his every move.

Its large golden wings flapped as if it needed to cool down. With the body of a lion, Josh didn’t doubt the creature’s power. But he feared its sharp beak more, imagining it shredding armor like paper.

“If you’ve got one,” he pointed out, shaking Heretic’s hand.

“I could arrange that. I have a breeder. It’s a profitable business. Although, you have to be careful. The last thing you want is to interbreed too heavily. A bad-tempered griffin is no good to anybody.” He patted the griffin’s neck. “My people tell me your group handled the Magalese Cut well. Not many can boast that. They also say the creatures were unusually fervent in their attempts to kill you. I’d take that as a compliment.” He looked around the embassy grounds. “No Affinity?”

“She thought it best to remain as discreet as possible.”

Heretic raised his eyebrows. “It’s Salazar’s embassy. I’m the one who’s supposed to be discreet. But then, I lent them to you, and our guilds are almost betrothed. What she actually meant was that she dislikes me and wants to avoid me.” He laughed. “Plenty of people do.” He leaned in, nudging Josh. “She’s a hard nut to crack, Affinity, but I’ll bet she has a delicious center.”

Josh spread his arms. “Do you remember Cassandra, Arabella, Lex, Helm and…Anyone seen Vella?”

“She dove into one of the mirrors shortly after breakfast,” Casandra said. “I think your party of six became five. She’ll not come out until she’s good and ready.”

“Five?” said Heretic, clapping his hands together. “Five is perfect. He put his two fingers in his mouth and whistled five times. “Just you wait.”

“No!” Cassandra said. “Not griffins!”

“What didn’t you understand about me breeding them?”

The wind whistled past Josh, its cold biting into his cheeks. The beast under him was a mass of power. He surged forward with each stroke of its wings, the beat so powerful he could hear the air fleeing from under them. Heretic headed toward a distant, black tower that stood upon a blunted mountain sitting in a line of several others and looking much like chipped teeth.

The tower itself thrust upward, its backdrop a brilliant fiery red and orange, heralding a night not yet come, and in the wrong direction for it, too. The sun rose in the East and set in the West. It had no business in the South.

Ahead, Heretic neared the tower, his Griffin slowing, the guild leader jumping off. He waved them in one at a time, leaving Josh to jump by himself, but chivalrously catching the girls.

“This is as far south as I get,” Heretic said. “It’s classed as a lookout tower, but I’ll be honest, there’s not much looking out that needs doing. That is Reaver territory, and a little birdie tells me it’s where you want to go. Now, far be it from me to tell you your business, so I’ll leave you to judge for yourself.”

Josh planted his hands on the tower’s crenelations, leaning out, his jaw agape. “Well, fuck me.”

Cassandra drew beside him, her Everdeep staff in hand. “Doesn’t look too accommodating. No wonder the Reavers are such a sour bunch.”

Below them, a dark conifer forest spread south, undulating over foothills and pierced by jagged mountains. Where the conifer forest ended and the black waste began, it was hard to tell, but what was clear was from the black waste on, something was terribly awry. The land glowed orange and yellow, as if it were molten iron. That glow spread into the sky and created the illusion of sunset.

“What the hell?” Lex said. “Is that the Emittance?”

“Hard to tell,” Heretic said. “I’ve only been close once, and then it was pure white, radiant like the sun.” He rested his hands as well, leaning over, but with more caution than the others. “You’d have not got an answer from Adamant a few months back. Sure, he might have wanted your Angel Stone, but he’d have had one of his assassins get it for him. Probably Weevil. He’s his go-to. But then this. When it started, who can tell? It’s already overtaken the guardians to the West. The paladins have fled east—if they made it. And it still grows, like a malignance.”

“Like the corruption of the sprites,” Josh said and drew a confused stare from Heretic.

“So,” Cassandra said. “I take it that The Reaver’s Land is next in line for a little boiling?”

“It is. But although the Emittance looks like it would burn the flesh from your bone, it doesn’t. Its white light is gone. The light that made us strong, that gave us the system in our minds, is gone. You stray into the Emittance and there is only an unquenchable desire to kill your fellow man. I wanted you to know what it does,” Heretic said, but his tone had changed to one of reticence and acceptance. “While I still can.”

“Still can?”

“The surge in the Emittance has almost displaced Salazar. The guardians and the paladin, as I said earlier, have lost their land. Do you seriously think The Reavers will sit and let the light consume them? Adamant must be plotting his escape. Then there’re the ravagers. They grow bold, thirsting for our power. Just standing here is asking for trouble.”

“Then why do it?” Lex asked. “Why stand here? Go back to your palace. Your lands stretch beyond the Magalese Cut. Set up your command post there.”

When Heretic turned away from the Emittance, his eyes drawn, and his face pale, he spoke softly. “To what end? Do you still not understand the Hangsane? To retreat is weakness. It consumes them. Better I walk into the inferno and become one of the enraged.” He shrugged. “I might just get a ravaging system.” He stepped back. “These are my issues, not yours.”

“But you and Salazar are friendly. Why not amalgamate?”

He frowned, as if not understanding Josh’s words. “To what end? We would dilute their power. True, they might take me and my top five, but what kind of leader would I be to watch the others enslaved?”

“So, you fight?” Josh asked.

“I will try. Either Clay or Adamant could kill me as easily as snapping their fingers.” He grinned. “Don’t feel sorry for me. I’ve had a long, prosperous life. When you live in the Hangsane, you only aspire to die in it. Nothing more, nothing less.” He clapped Josh on the shoulders. “You came here to protect Mythelore. Go back there. You’ll have months, maybe even a year.”

“The dwarves survived,” Cassandra pointed out. “They are still there. Man must have survived, and the elves. It can’t destroy everything.”

“The karvel died, as did many other races. It frows again. We’ll see who lives to tell the tale.”

Tremelox, do you know what is happening?

As far as I can tell by the radiation signals, whatever took over the ruins is evolving, but cannot contain the power. It is my belief that like a stone dropped into a puddle, what you’re seeing is the radiance traveling outward—ripples on a pool. The center should be calm, apart from your adversaries, who will, of course, be much stronger than they were.

“Feleesh,” Josh said. “Does the Emittance travel underground? Is Feleesh safe?”

Heretic laughed. “If you are proposing sanctuary in Feleesh, then you know nothing of that place. Nothing whatsoever. I would rather die swiftly and honorably. This? This visit was to let you know why they court you.”

“Why do they court us?” Cassandra asked.

“Because they’re out of ideas and then you came along. I’ll bet Affinity or Clay even persuaded you it was fate—that you fitted perfectly.” He laughed. “I’ll bet you do as well.”

“What if we can kill them? What if we can douse the flames?”

Heretic’s expression clouded with anger. “Then do this for me. Make them pay or make them kneel. Better still, make them kneel, then make them pay. It is time to return.” He signaled the Griffins down. “Look, I hope you understand now. I wanted you to know what you’re getting into.”

“What about Rhina?” Josh asked. “What part does she play in all this?”

Heretic stared at him, his eyes wide. “You don’t know?”

“Don’t know what?”

“They killed her—Salazar, most probably Clay. They killed her three days ago. She got careless. Stayed out in the open too long. It’s all going to shit, Josh. Rhina wasn’t even their enemy. Trust no one. Don’t think for a second Salazar won’t take you out if you’re no use to them.” He mounted his griffin as the others crowded the tower’s top. “If you go into Feleesh, then you’re either insane or the bravest fucker I ever knew. Go in because you want to, not because they want you to.” He pulled back and kicked his griffin. It lurched upward, airborne with a few beats of its wings.

A griffin presented itself to Josh, nuzzling him to mount it. “Let’s go. Don’t fancy getting left behind,” Josh cried as the creature lurched upward.

Ahead, Heretic rose steadily, a silhouette ever rising. Their griffins followed steadily at first, then bucking and lurching. Josh’s vision flashed red, a sure sign of an incoming attack. He summoned his suit, the emerald and white armor quickly coating his body, his HUD slotting into place. “Incoming!” he cried, looking desperately around, then staring into the sun.

A tiny black dot grew bigger by the moment. Ahead, Heretic appeared to have noticed, turning his mount and drawing his sword. He looked back at them, half seated, half standing, on his majestic beast. “Go! Run! Ravager!” he cried.

The black sped straight toward him like a giant arrow. Josh urged his griffin forward, but the beast resisted, like it was under orders to keep him safe yet unable to turn away completely. “Cassandra?” he cried.

“On it!” she said, magical light crystallizing around the top of her Everdeep staff.

Josh wrestled with his beast, as the ravager revealed itself, spreading its frayed, black wings and slowing, its neck coiled, black scales patchy, and eyes afire. “Dragon!” he cried. “Dragon!”

“Go!” Heretic screamed as he urged his griffin toward the ravager.

“No!” Josh screamed, finally in charge of his beast, driving it forward as he equipped his sword.

The ravager struck, fire blazing from its open maw. Cassandra sent her magic forward, golden rays stretching from her staff to the great beast in an instant. Heretic closed, but Cassandra’s magic struck first, smashing into the ravager’s frayed wings, its flaking body, and crackling all over its scaled skin.

“It’s not working!” Cassandra screamed.

“Are dragons immune?” Arabella asked. “Does magic affect them?”

“How the fuck would I know?” Cassandra asked, winding up another spell.

The ravager’s fireball enveloped Heretic, but a silver shield appeared in front of the Prosper and Die leader, deflecting the ferocious fire from him. He yelled, his battle cry filling the air. The dragon beat its ragged wings, rearing its head back as Heretic closed for the kill. The man looked so small when compared to the dragon.

“What the fuck’s he doing?” Josh shouted as Cassandra sent another magical bolt at the beast.

Heretic struck, his sword crashing into the dragon’s neck as the creature attacked, flames billowing from its open maw. Shattered scales erupted from the sword strike, Heretic screaming as the dragon’s fire broke through his magical shield. Cassandra’s blast ricochetted off the scales as the creature bit down.

“Aim for the holes in its scales!” Arabella screamed.

The dragon ripped upward, tearing Heretic in two and tossing his body away. His mount screeched in anger, striking from under the ravager as the beast momentarily exposed its neck. Josh closed. Cassandra sent another magical blast at it as Helm and Lex shot over it, attacking from behind.

Josh’s griffin screeched, rallying the others, each of the mighty lion-birds enraged at their beloved master’s death. Cassandra’s magic struck a stretch of skin devoid of scales. It powered through its frail hide, lighting up its innards. The creature howled in pain as her power boiled inside it.

“The bits without the scales!” Arabella screamed again.

Josh struck, powering his great sword into the beast’s side as his griffin scratched and pecked at it. Lex and Helm both attacked, their griffins frenzied under them.

“We got it!” Josh cried as Cassandra neared, each of her strikes clinical, seeking the skin patches.

The creature thrashed, increasingly desperate. Heretic’s griffin shook off the rest of its master, then dove toward the dragon’s open maw. Fire billowed around it. The griffin’s pain-filled cry freezing Josh’s bone marrow. But the griffin never wavered, clearly intent on ending the creature that killed its master.

Its feathers and fur aflame, it crashed into the dragon’s open maw. Josh hacked again and again, the dragon bucking and writhing, then falling still and just for a moment, hanging in the amber sky. Then it dropped, plummeting into the forest way below, an explosion of flames quickly following its impact.

Josh sat back. His griffin circled, the others falling in behind. He waved Arabella forward until she flew alongside him. “Don’t you ever undervalue yourself. Don’t you dare!” he said, knowing that if Cassandra hadn’t followed her advice, things could have turned out a lot differently.

She bit her bottom lip, nodding slightly then falling back into line.

Josh patted his griffin, and the beast turned north, heading back to Laurent.

You have slain a ravager! Congratulations! Your party has slain a ravager. The system rewards you with a portion of its stat points. The Ravager was old, and its points had diminished. However, it had recently eliminated a ranking human but had yet to assimilate all his points. Your stat gains reflect this. As you were part of a party including five griffins, you and your group share the points. The system awards you with:

Strength plus 6

Speed and Agility Plus 6

Durability plus 3

Combat Instinct plus 6

Josh totaled up his gain. He’d received twenty-one stat points. Assuming everyone, including the griffins, received an equal share, then that made two hundred and ten points.

“Fuck, that beast must have been worth a load in its prime. No wonder Clay is so powerful!”

He turned, seeing the wonder in Cassandra’s eyes, but quickly focused on the surrounding sky. They had to get back to Laurent before they could look too hard at it all. He needed to understand. There was no way Heretic and the dragon were only worth two hundred and ten points. But, as he scanned the sky, he couldn’t help but peek at his own points.

Name: Josh Underwood

Rank: Savage Warden

Subrank: Verdant Sentinel

Attributes:

Strength = 62 (+8 equipped)

Speed and Agility = 62 (+9 equipped)

Durability = 68 (+5 equipped)

Combat instinct = 61 (+6 equipped)

Arcane resistance = 60 (+2 equipped)

Poison resistance = 44 (+2 equipped)

Total – 357

No of points needed to next promotion =3

Perception: Active for all threats.

Pain Management - On

Three points for my next rank up. It makes visiting Laurent’s apothecary even more important.

It was time to poison himself.

Chapter Six

AFFINITY RUSHED out to meet them. “What happened to Heretic? Did you?”

“Did I what?” Josh said, his eyes blazing with anger.

“His number vanished from the leaderboards. You jumped in power—all of you.” She backed away, calming. “Tell me what happened. Tell me everything.”

Josh was ready to launch at the cat girl, but Arabella held him back. “Josh, whatever’s going on, it isn’t our fight.”

He took a breath. She was right, of course. “A ravager got him. A black dragon—frayed wings, with scales missing. It looked old, but was more than a match for him. He wounded it, then Arabella noticed a weak spot, and Cassandra targeted it. With Lex, Helm and me all attacking, we just managed to finish it off, but only because Cassandra boiled it from the inside out.”

“A ravager? Where did he take you?” Affinity fidgeted, her eyes darting all around, but studiously avoiding any of them.

“To see the Emittance. He wanted us to know the truth.”

“So, you know. What you and Vella saw through the mirrors matches what’s happening here.”

“It does. But why didn’t you tell us?” Cassandra asked.

“It was Clay’s choice. He’s still getting used to Salazar squatting in other people’s embassies. It’s hardly the position of power that he’s used to operating from.” Affinity composed. “But, if the ravagers are coming this far north, then the Emittance is growing again. If you are to seek Feleesh out, then you must do it quickly.”

Josh grabbed her arm, but as he held it, her immense power bled through him, forcing him to release her. “Don’t,” she said. “Don’t touch me like that again,” she said, her voice low but filled with threat.

“What else aren’t you telling me? Did Clay kill Rhina?”

“Clay didn’t, no. There is chaos further south, Josh, absolute chaos. The Emittance grazes Reaver’s land now. We’ve lost ours. Old scores get settled.”

“So, Rhina?”

“We think it was the guardians, but it could have been the paladins. Only those two would have members powerful enough. Clay or perhaps I could have, but we had no reason to.”

“I thought all the guilds were coming together to fight this thing.”

“This is us coming together,” Affinity said. “Make no mistake, Josh, the Hangsane makes you thirst for power. Some of us will try to get to number one, even if it means killing a brother or sister.”

“Then you deserve everything you’re getting.”

Silence fell between them, broken by the toll of a bell. “What the hell’s that?” Arabella asked.

“That only means one of two things,” Lex said, drawing her sword again. “And it isn’t a call to prayer.”

Affinity hesitated for a moment, then grabbed Josh’s hand. “Look, you’ve no reason to trust me, but I need you to now. We must go. We must go to Merhun and leave. It seems Heretic’s death might have been something more.”

“Something more?”

“The bell. It is an attack.” She stared over his shoulder. “Ravagers. Hundreds of them!”

Josh spun around. A dark cloud encroached from the south. “What the fuck is going on?”

“What he thought,” Arabella said. “Someone is driving him from his land.”

“Melody and Elowen!” Helm said.

“No time.” Affinity pulled at Josh. “We have to go!”

Josh shook his arm off. “If you think I’m leaving them behind, then you don’t know me at all.” He called for his suit, morphing into its emerald and white. “We all fight together, or not at all. Now you can take us to the library, or you can scurry to Merhun and beg passage…Hang on, that makes no sense. Why would you want to go south?”

“Feleesh. We must go to Feleesh no matter what. The answers must be there.”

“Vella!” Arabella cried, rushing to the elf as she exited the embassy.

“They attack,” Vella said. “They attack the sprites. I turned them back.” She grinned, then stared at the darkening horizon. “So, they try here.”

“Who do?”

She shrugged. “The evil.”

Josh took one last look at the closing ravagers as more bells joined the mournful toil and screams rose from the city. “That’s not natural. Someone or something is driving that forward. It’s one of us. I can feel it.”

“One of us?” Josh reached for Lex’s neck, cupping the warrior core. “Yes, one of us. It’s not after Laurent. It wasn’t after Heretic.”

Affinity’s mouth dropped open. “It’s after you?”

“Yes.” He marched toward the front of the house. “The fastest way to the library, now!”

Affinity grabbed him. “Why? Answer me that and I’ll take you there. Why’s this thing after you?”

“Because I’m the only one who can grow strong enough to kill it.”

She hesitated for a moment, then raced toward the embassy’s entrance, shouting for her wagon master before returning. “But you’re not powerful enough yet, are you?”

“No. No, not yet. But I have a path.”

“Then we go to Feleesh. We grow there, then come back and finish this war.”

“Will it follow us there?” Arabella asked.

“If it does, it gives these folks a chance to head north, to escape to Mythelore.”

The carriage sped around, kicking up stones as it slid to a halt. They jumped in, Affinity taking the bench and directing the wagon master to head into Laurent. The dark cloud encroached farther, nearly at the city walls. The wagon skid across the road as the wagon master fought to control the spooked horses. They hurtled down, into the old quarter, along the river and across a wide plaza.

“They’ve turned. They’re following us!” Affinity screamed.

But Josh hung out of the window, never taking his eyes away from the dark shadow. He tried to count the ravagers, the front flyers becoming clear. Like the dragon, they were shadows of their former selves. Wyverns with their wings bent and broken. Eagles, firebirds and hawks, blackened, charred by evil. Some darted down into Laurent, plucking hapless peasants from the street. Flames shot from the wyvern’s maw, burning thatch and blistering timbers.

The wagon swerved violently, turning into the library’s grounds. Melody and Elowen were on the steps. Cassandra threw the door open, letting the girls jump in. The wagon was back on its way before its wheels had fully stopped.

They flew back into the city, this time headed straight for the swarm. “Can you do anything?” Josh asked Cassandra.

“If I do, it will give our position away.”

“Better draw them onto us than innocents,” Josh said.

“No!” Affinity cried. “It’s too dangerous. Our mission is paramount.”

Josh sneered at her. “They’re right. You don’t fit in. You don’t even know us. We don’t let other folk fight out battles for us.”

They turned onto the bridge. Josh hung out of the door, pulling himself onto the wagon’s roof. “Don’t look up, ladies,” he said and punched a hole in the roof. He reached down, pulling Cassandra up and through the hole. “Do your worst, baby. Take out what you can, I’ll cover you.”

Affinity jumped up, standing beside them. “If you insist,” she said, drawing a long, thin sword and morphing into her cat form. “Let’s kill some of these fuckers.”

Josh gave her the side-eye, but the cat girl focused on the sky. They tore from the bridge. Cassandra sent her first magical bolt up, tearing through a diving eagle the size of a horse. More mana spewed from the Everdeep staff, carving through the advancing ravager ranks. Vella crawled onto the roof, sitting patiently next to her, playing with her hair as if nothing was going on. A bat-like creature landed on a nearby roof, its red, demonic eyes staring at them. Several more joined it, forming a rank. The wagon slowed, the narrow street partially blocked. Cassandra turned, focusing on the bats and sending a deep green blast of focused mana at them, but they countered, a shield forming in front of them as the lead bat stood, flexing its wings as if it was time to get rid of the tiresome humans.

The wagon master jumped off the cast, calling the others to help. Arabella and Elowen followed him as Melody and Lex drew their weapons.

“Us, not them!” Affinity shouted at the demonic forms, completing her transition into a big cat. Gold brushed her moon-shimmer coat as she leapt for the roof and plunged straight into battle with the undead bats. Josh wasted no time leaping after her. “Keep them safe, Cassandra!”

“Already on it,” the Harmonic said, blasting a swooping wyvern out of the sky.

Affinity tore into the biggest bat, her claws extended, her fangs bared. She pulled it from the roof’s ridge, tumbling down the pitch and falling to the street below. She sprang away at the last moment, letting her feline reflexes take over. The bat smashed onto the cobbles, the sound of crunching bone filling the street. Affinity dove for the wounded beast, ripping its throat out with one deadly swipe of her claws. She bounded back onto the wagon, leaped onto the roof where Josh battled the bats.

He’d activated his surround vision, giving him a three-sixty view. Josh’s drow sword stabbed and sliced, tearing at the tough ravager hide. Affinity bounded toward one, picking it off and bundling it over. Her cat-like reflexes gave her better balance. Josh caught glimpses of her amazing agility as she spun the bat around, tearing a rent in its guts and sending it flying down to its inevitable doom. He redoubled his efforts, not wanting Affinity to outdo him. He ran a bat through, sickly black blood coating his thin blade. Kicking the creature off, he finally gained the ridge. Suddenly on equal footing with them, he progressed much better, reaching their heads and throats with ease, no longer crowded out by their wings. Affinity picked off another as Cassandra’s magic blazed all around them.

More ravagers closed, the skies around them black with the beasts. “Where the hell are they all coming from?” Josh screamed, clearing the roof of the final bat, then running along the ridge to its end.

The wagon master, Elowen and Arabella, had finished clearing the blockage. They raced back to the wagon as a wyvern dived for them. Cassandra’s magic tore into it, instantly transforming it from a deadly, fire-breathing monster into a flaming projectile that honed in on Arabella and Elowen.

“No!” Josh cried, diving for it.

He smashed into it, grabbing hold and ignoring the pain. The sticky magic caught hold of his suit, flames licking around his arms and shoulders. He crashed into the street opposite, its wooden walls splintering as he tumbled into a bedroom.

The blazing corpse lit the shutters, the bedding and furniture. Josh looked for a way to put out the fire, but another scream told him more monsters attacked. He dove through the hole in the building’s side, grabbing Cassandra’s hand as she leaned out of the carriage. Jumping, he stood, wondering who to fight next, needing someone or something to take his aggression out on. But the wagon picked up speed, the horses racing along the cobbled streets.

“I’ve sent Merhun a message,” Affinity yelled over the cacophony.

“What kind of message?”

“That we’re coming, and unless he helps us, I doubt I can keep you under control.”

“Good. We need to get out of here before the ravagers destroy the place. Where the fuck are all Heretic’s soldiers?”

“There’s little most of them can do against such beasts. Looking at that guild’s power, it is plunging. My guess is a purge is occurring simultaneously. They must have had a traitor in their midst.”

“They did,” Josh said. “One that let the Hasul onto their land. One that tried to kill us once before.”

Affinity smiled. “It appears that traitor meticulously planned his master’s downfall. It wouldn’t surprise me to see a new guild in charge here before the end of the day.”

They came to a halt in front of Merhun’s spice shop. Affinity shot out of the wagon, diving into the store and calling them all to follow. Merhun urged them around the counter, then to the backroom where they’d chatted.

“My Master agreed to see you. I’m to escort you to him.”

Josh grabbed Merhun by the arm and spun him around. “Did Adamant do this?”

“Something so brash and obvious? Something that will bring you such peril later on? My master is better than that.” The Reaver pushed the table to one side, folding a rug back and opening a hatch. “This will take you to my guide. He will take you to my master. I’d not repeat that accusation to him. Do not tarnish him with such an accusation.”

As Josh wondered if the man spoke the truth, a private message flashed in his mind’s eye. It was from Eric, Heretic’s righthand man. But something didn’t read right. Something was terribly wrong.

Witness our power. Do not discount us but join us, Josh. I know you have a sound head on your broad shoulders. It is time for the old order to die and the new to be born.

Eric—Leader—The Hasul

“I know our traitor,” Josh said, and descended the stepladder, a dark shaft closing around him.

Chapter Seven

“THE HASUL?” Affinity said, joining him on the ladder.

Cassandra tossed a light orb into the shaft. It lit up Affinity’s ass perfectly as Josh looked up. “Yeah, the Hasul. Seems Eric was a traitor all along, just biding his time until he could get Heretic. That’s the second time he’s tried to take us out. Got a funny way of trying to recruit us.”

Affinity scoffed. “It is the way of the Hangsane. Join us or die is as much a marriage proposal as a threat. Why would you consider joining someone who is weak when there are stronger? What exactly did he say?”

Josh read out the message. He knew the score. In his past life on the space sluggers, he’d played enough guild-based games to know how quickly a high-ranking guild could fall. The members got nervous the minute defections began happening. Once Heretic vanished from the head of the guild, and when Eric left, likely more defections followed. He looked up the guild leaderboards. The Hasul’s power dwarfed that of the rapidly diminishing Prosper and Die.

“What was your reply?” Affinity asked.

Josh continued down the ladder, the tight, square shaft plunging through solid rock. “My reply? I haven’t replied.”

“Well, you must. What if he wins this little battle? He’ll be a force to be reckoned with, growing stronger when all the others lose power. You should admire that, not loathe it.”

“That is all that’s wrong with this fucked up place. This isn’t a game. It’s life and death.”

“Which is why,” Arabella said from above. “You should harvest all the information from him while the channel is open.”

Josh could see the logic in it. He composed his reply.

Congratulations, Eric, on a well-executed plan. I would always consider any invitation, especially from one such as you, who offered me advice when you had no need. However, I am currently indisposed, fleeing the attack on Laurent. When I emerge from my destination, I expect to be more powerful than ever. Perhaps we’ll talk then. It is best to negotiate from a position of strength, don’t you think?

The shaft widened as he entered a small cave barely taller than him. The ladder perched on a rock shelf, a river running by. He jumped from the ladder, and as he sensed no danger, he unequipped his suit, morphing back. Likewise, Affinity shed her cat form, her head cocked in query. “Well?”

“I have responded. It might not be what he wanted to hear, but it should be enough to keep him interested.”

“The die is cast,” she said. “His gamble is in action. Until some form of diplomacy can be entered into, his choices are simple. If you join, he lets you live. If you don’t, then he will try to kill you.” She walked to the bank, looking up and down the river. “That Reaver fucker had better not have double-crossed us. If he has, I’ll tear his throat out and take a dump in his neck.”

“Very pleasant,” Merhun said, jumping off the ladder after the others. “I chose to follow so I could guard our retreat, for that was what it was. If that is classed as treachery, you, my Salazarian, will be aghast at the politics of the Reavers.” He drew beside her and flashed a light down the tunnel. “Try not to forget what you are. My master would be fully in his rights to lock you up and throw away the key, and that would be if he was in a good mood. Fortunately, that will be the case.”

“Why?” Affinity asked. “Will he relish the demise of Prosper and Die?”

“I doubt he’ll even bring it up. Our land is our own. We invade no other and resist all. No, you bring him a great gift, one he hasn’t seen in a while.”

“Me,” said Vella.

“You,” said Merhun. “You are the reason this boat comes. The rest of you should understand that and act accordingly.”

A long boat appeared, a single Reaver standing on its stern, a punting pole in hand. Dressed all in black, with a white mask in place, Josh couldn’t tell if it was a man or woman. Merhun boarded the narrow boat and sat in front of the boatman. He indicated the seat in front. “I would cordially suggest you sit, rest and reflect. It will take us some time to reach our destination. Once there, it will be best to have your mind completely focused.”

Josh jumped in, helping each of his girls in. Vella lingered, the last to offer him her hand, and when Josh sat, she sat between his legs. “I sleep,” she said, and closed her eyes, resting her head on his knees.

He closed his eyes, reading his notifications.

You have slain several low-level ravagers! Congratulations! Your party has slain several ravagers. The system rewards you with a portion of their stat points. The Ravagers were relatively low-level. Your stat gains reflect this. As you were part of a party, including five of your companions, a member of Salazar and a wagon master, the points gained are divided between all. The system awards you with:

Strength plus 2

Speed and Agility Plus 4

Durability plus 3

Combat Instinct plus 1

Josh checked his new stats, knowing he’d leveled up.

Name: Josh Underwood

Rank: Savage Warden

Subrank: Crimson Guardian

Attributes:

Strength = 64 (+8 equipped)

Speed and Agility = 66 (+9 equipped)

Durability = 72 (+5 equipped)

Combat instinct = 62 (+6 equipped)

Arcane resistance = 60 (+2 equipped)

Poison resistance = 44 (+2 equipped)

Total – 368

No of points needed to next promotion =52

Perception: Active for all threats.

Pain Management - On

Josh felt the rush within him as his evolution gathered.

“Tremelox, is there any way you can keep this evolution from happening now?”

“Because your poison resistance is dragging your overall score down, only minor tweaks can take place. The rest will happen naturally over time and upon your next evolution. You will experience some minor discomfort, but no, the evolution is irreversible. Strength, Speed and Agility will benefit a little, but the main benefit will be to your Durability. The changes will reflect in your suit. I will minimize the pain by elongating the process. I would suggest you lie back in the boat and focus on something else.”

Fortunately, Arabella sat behind him. He let her know what was happening, and then lay back, resting his head on her knees as Vella slept between his legs. As the pain crept up on him, he engaged his pain management, gritted his teeth, and checked each of his girl’s progression.

Name: Arabella Extrael

Guild: The Misfits

Position: Archer

Attributes:

Strength = 26

Speed and Agility = 32

Durability = 24

Ranged Weapons = 30

Melee Weapons = 20

Total – 134

Where she didn’t have Combat Instinct, the seven points gained had slotted into Ranged and Melee weapons.

“Not bad,” he said, his voice strained. “Thirty-one increase.”

Arabella smiled down at him. “Focus on you, not me.”

“It helps. I’d rather focus on all of you.”

He looked up Cassandra’s stats.

Name: Cassandra Day

Guild: The Misfits

Position: Sorceress

Attributes:

Strength = 23

Speed and Agility = 31

Durability = 25

Arcane Power = 114 (ED +57 equipped)

Mana production and Storage = 113 (ED +57 equipped)

Total – 306

Cassandra had topped three-hundred thousand power without her staff. With the staff equipped, she hit a massive four-hundred and twenty thousand.

“Good job, Cass,” he said, moving on to Elowen.

Name: Elowen Estovan

Guild: The Misfits

Position: Scribe

Attributes:

Strength = 25

Speed and Agility = 34

Durability = 24

Ranged Weapons = 17

Melee Weapons = 29

Total – 126

“Yes!” he cried, seeing Elowen over one-hundred thousand power and joining Arabella. “This place might kill us, but by fuck, it’s speeding up our growth.”

He moved on to Vella.

Name: Vella

Guild: The Misfits

Position: Mystic Syphon

Attributes:

Strength = 38

Speed and Agility = 60

Durability = 73

Total – 171

Josh raised his eyebrows. “Letting your stats grow, Vella?” he said. She’d previously manipulated her stats to suit what she wanted the system to see.

“Doesn’t matter now,” she said. “Doesn’t make any difference.”

He stroked her head. “Perhaps not, but I’d suggest you don’t display your true power.”

She chuckled; her breaths soft. “They can’t. They don’t know how to measure it. I have none.”

He looked up Melody.

Name: Melody Delaney

Guild: The Misfits

Position: Artificer

Attributes:

Strength = 24

Speed and Agility = 28

Durability = 29

Munitions = 37

Melee Weapons = 13

Ranged weapons = 15

Arcane Power = 11

Mana production and Storage = 31

Total – 188

Melody was one of the most powerful, number-wise, but had yet to shine. Things had moved quickly since they’d been in the Hangsane, and they’d had little chance to focus on her traps and munitions. Lex, however, had shone all the way through. Her prowess as a warrior growing all the time, but dwarfed by Cassandra’s advances.

Name: Silexa Gray

Guild: The Misfits

Position: Rogue

Attributes:

Strength = 32

Speed and Agility = 42

Durability = 30

Melee Weapons = 32

Ranged weapons = 16

Martial Fighting = 29

Total – 181

If anything, Lex needed a few more battles. Like Helm, she was pure Melee.

Name: Helm Devaux

Guild: The Misfits

Position: Trainer

Attributes:

Strength = 46

Speed and Agility = 52

Durability = 38

Melee Weapons = 47

Ranged weapons = 42

Martial Fighting = 41

Total – 265

Lex was last to join the group, but reasonably powered in her own right. Like the others, if they kept winning, she would become powerful in her own right.

As tiredness washed over him, he checked the guild’s overall power.

Josh Underwood – 368,000

Cassandra Day – 306,000

Arabella Extrael – 134,000

Elowen Estovan – 126,000

Melody Delaney – 188,000

Silexa Gray – 181,000

Vella – 161,000

Helm Devaux – 265,000

Total Guild Score – 1,729,000

Average Power – 247,000

Josh finally succumbed to sleep, a slight grin teasing his lips. It was an improvement, but was it enough to survive in the Reavers’ territory? Was it enough to dive into the depths of Feleesh?

He hoped so. But as his gaze fell upon Affinity, he couldn’t help but wonder how she would fit in. Would she betray them? Was Salazar luring them into a trap they couldn’t escape from?

No matter the question, there was only one answer.

They didn’t have to fear anyone if they were the strongest.

The boat juddered and Josh woke. They had drawn alongside a bank. Merhun disembarked, mooring the boat then bidding everyone disembark. As usual, black grime coated Josh’s skin where his evolution had expelled the corruption inside him. He waited until they were all off, then stripped and dove into the cold water.

Cassandra used her geomancy to warm some stones, and Melody boiled up some water, making tea for all. Josh sat by the hot stones, drying himself while Elowen asked Merhun what the Reavers’ land was like.

At first, the man refused to answer, but after she’d rephrased the same question four times, he finally relented. Once his words flowed, he answered every question with growing enthusiasm.

“Like the rest of the Hangsane, the land is rises and peaks, troughs and valleys, each clad in the darkest green conifer. Wood is abundant, as is iron. All our weapons are steel, and we boast some of the best blacksmiths in all the Hangsane.”

“Your architecture? Does it suffer through the terrain?” Elowen brought out her pencil and pad, writing furiously to keep up.

“Suffer?”

“The slopes, transporting all the—”

“Ah, yes. I see what you mean. But I won’t answer that. You’ll be able to judge with your own eyes soon. We do not name our land. It has a name, and that is Hangsane, but we name our city, and we call it Shadows because each one has a meaning, and that is the secret of our architecture. Some say it was a trick stolen from the dwarves and the karvel, but I think not. I believe the structure itself conceived it, though they might have influenced its stone. Surely, though, your interest sits below Shadows? Surely it sits in Feleesh?”

“It does, but I’d like to know what looms over us, just in case we have to leave that city quickly.” Elowen took a sip of her tea.

“Do you mean, are we likely to double-cross you?” Merhun added some powder to his drink, its fragrance filling the cave. “I think you know how this place works. If you are weak, expect nothing good. If you are strong, then beware someone stronger. Why ask when you cannot trust the words that spill from me?”

“For that reason and that reason alone. I enjoy gauging truth, and I think you speak it.”

Merhun laughed. “I speak what my master tells me to speak.”

“And is he recovering?” Josh asked, interrupting. “Only his fate sounds remarkably close to that of Heretic.”

“The leader of Prosper and Die wasn’t a cautious man. He traveled to the edges of his land on a whim, yet someone knew precisely where he was. All leaders in the Hangsane have a price on their head. You are no different. Few would have known his movements, but ultimately, it is his error for giving his enemies the opportunity to strike.”

“Eric was the traitor,” Josh said with conviction.

It was hard to see if Merhun smiled, but Josh detected humor in his reply. “Was he? Sometimes the first is the fool, and the second is the usurper. Treachery is a fine art, only for those adept in it, amateurs lay dead in its wake.”

“If not Eric, then who?” Josh asked.

“You have the same leaderboard as me. Pick a name, any at the top. You’d have a chance at being right. But tell me, before you waste your breath choosing, what do you expect to achieve in Feleesh?” He held his hand up. “And don’t say death. Something hard. Something you’ll have to work for.”

“We need something special,” Josh said.

“Something special?”

He smiled. “We need a miracle, and I’m rather hoping to find one of them.”

Chapter Eight

THE SMELL of cedarwood hit them before flaming torches announced their arrival. It barreled down the narrow waterway, buffeting them. Merhun breathed deeply, savoring the scent, his smile apparent even if not visible. He stretched and stood, turning to the boatman and bowing his thanks. Lamplight flickered in the distance, and the river widened to a large, irregular-shaped lake. At one end, a jetty protruded into the water, numerous boats moored to it. Other waterways joined the lake, some with their tunnels barred.

“Welcome to Shadows, where all mean something, and you may never truly become lost.” Merhun stepped onto the jetty, marching along it with purpose, then reporting to a masked soldier at its end. Dressed all in black with a steel breastplate, mask and bracers, the soldier marched away. He returned with several companions before they’d disembarked.

“Servan will escort us to the surface. While I understand you can defend yourself, it is our duty to protect our hosts while they are in our land. He will take you to a local inn where you will await me. I will go to Adamant and negotiate your audience. Should he grant it, then you shall have the opportunity to petition access to Feleesh. Should he deny it, I will take you back to Laurent.” Merhun hurried away.

“I sure hope it isn’t a wasted trip,” Melody said. “I need to get to an apothecary, an alchemist, a metalworker, woodworker—you name it, I need to get to it.”

“And I need to get to a bath,” Arabella said. She looked at her pants, still scuffed with Josh’s corruption. “I love him, but when he evolves, he turns rancid.”

Josh grinned. “You could have bathed with me. I wouldn’t have minded.”

“In that black water? Never mind the cold, I was more worried what lurked deep down.”

“There’s only one thing that would have lurked deep down if Josh had got you in the water without a stitch on,” Elowen pointed out.

Affinity stared at them all. “Are you always this…”

“This?” Cassandra asked.

“This coarse?” she said.

Cassandra raised her eyebrows. “I knew she wouldn’t fit it. She’s already snippy. Affinity, dear, relax. We’re husband and wives. There’s not a damn thing we don’t know about each other. And if you think he’s getting naked with one of us and not getting horny, you’re severely underestimating the virility of a man who can keep seven women happy. It’s…quite a lot.” She grinned, flipped her hair back and addressed the soldier. “Take us to the inn, please.” She turned. “We should all get masks. That’ll make our night play interesting.”

“Since when are we going to restrict it to the night?” Melody asked.

Arabella threaded her arm through Affinity’s. “Don’t mind them. They’re just looking forward to tonight. They’re hoping for one big bed and a fun night.”

Affinity sighed. “Then I’ll just pray we have more than one room.”

Arabella pulled her close, whispering in her ear. “Is it because he’s not Clay?”

Affinity froze. “Please, tell me you’re joking. You really think I would lust after him?”

Josh chuckled inwardly, half of him wishing he was out of earshot for the answer, the other half desperate to hear how the conversation would go.

“Please,” said Arabella. “I saw you checking his ass out as he got in the boat. I saw you looking over your shoulder when he was sleeping. You can’t fool me. I’ve got what you’ve got only ten times worse—a hundred times worse.”

“I did nothing of the sort,” Affinity said. “If I was checking on him, it was because Clay instructed me to take good care of him. That is all.”

Arabella laughed. “You keep telling yourself that. This reminds me of you, Mels.”

“Me?” Melody said, looking around.

“Yes, you. When you hated Josh.”

She turned, walking backward. “I didn’t hate Josh. I hated the thought I might fall for him. He was such a macho man with his girls on his arm and his oversized sword. The thought of becoming…”

“Alright, alright, Mels. I think we’ve heard enough,” Josh said.

“Just saying I thought you were a dick, then I discovered the opposite.”

Affinity finally broke into a smile. “Perhaps I’m still at the dick stage.”

Cassandra burst out laughing. “If you’re close to Josh, you’re never far from the dick stage.”

Affinity rolled her eyes. “I suppose I’ll get used to it.”

“I doubt that,” Lex said. “I haven’t. Still a bit of an outlier on the banter front.”

“But you fit in just nicely in bed,” Cassandra said.

They entered an upward tunnel, climbing as it snaked through the rock until a dull light illuminated the exit. Closer, it became apparent the tunnel spilled out in the forest, and he wondered where the City of Shadows might be. As he was about to ask the guards how long it would take to get there, he noticed the shadows created by the oil lamps on the wall. All leaned the wrong way, directing them toward the light.

“Weird,” he said. “I’ve got a feeling this is going to be one strange place.”

Cassandra nudged him, whispering. “I know you are going to be right. They’ve charmed the lights so the shadows point the way you intend to go. Freaky, really.”

“So, they know what’s in our minds?” Elowen asked.

“Only Affinity’s, but she’s got a dirty, dirty mind,” Cassandra said and chuckled.

Affinity reacted instantly, leaping in front of Cassandra and snarling. She grabbed the witch’s neck. “I suggest you stop your taunting, or I’ll rip your throat out.”

“I suggest you research who you’re threatening, or you might find your mangy paw getting hotter and hotter until the fur sizzles and crackles.”

Affinity watched in horror as her fur began smoking. She let go. “What the fuck! Using witchcraft on me? I’ll have you—” She rose, pressed against the tunnel’s ceiling by some invisible force. “Let me down.”

Cassandra sent up strands of white magic, binding her to the rock. “I’ll let you down when you tell us the real reason you’re here. Why is a Salazarian willing to go alone into Reaver territory? What’s in Feleesh that you so desperately want?”

The Reavan guards stopped, facing Cassandra and looking up at Affinity like they wanted to know too.

“Well?”

“Clay told me to come! I follow orders!”

“Bullshit!” Cassandra said. “I call bullshit. Since we’ve known you, you’ve been the innocent hired help. You played it with Flick and Pec. You played it in the tavern, and now you’re playing it here. I call bullshit. Is Clay in charge of Salazar or you?”

“Fucking Clay! Alright! It’s fucking Clay. I’m the hired help, as you so damningly described me.”

“Yet, he hung on your every word,” Arabella said. “I know. I watched. Yes, there was a bit of pantomime, but not a lot. Clay seemed to take his cue from you.”

“Then you must be seeing things. Clay’s number one, and that’s that.”

Josh stepped forward. “So, are you Hasul? Did you arrange all that up there?”

Affinity glared at him. “Start rumors like that and you’re signing my death warrant. I’m Salazar. Always have been—”

“Nope. You were a Magical at one point,” Helm said. “Try again.”

“The Magicals is Salazar’s training guild. I’m Salazar.”

“Then why come with us?” Cassandra asked.

“Because…” She squeezed her eyes shut. “Because I wanted to. Because you have fun. Look, I just told Clay to let me watch. I thought if you found anything that might turn the war, then I’d help you bring it out. I just wanted to…” She inhaled sharply. “Gah! You’re impossible. This is impossible. Everything is wrong!”

“Then tell me what you’re doing down here,” Cassandra said.

Affinity sagged, her defeat clear. “I…I wanted to. There! You happy?”

“Arabella? Are we happy?”

“We’re happy. She’s telling the truth.”

Cassandra snapped her fingers, and the magical binding vanished. Affinity fell to the floor, morphing into her cat, landing easily, then leaping toward Cassandra.

“No!” Josh screamed as the two clashed.

But Affinity had taken Cassandra by surprise and shoved her hard. The witch flew back, hitting the tunnel wall. Affinity closed, her claws under Cassandra’s chin, wrapped around her throat. “Just so you know. I may not have your magic, but when I take you by surprise, our power is even. I’m no bug you can toy with at will. Just so you know.”

Cassandra laughed. “Well met. I was wondering when you’d stand up for yourself. We all know why you’re here. You don’t want to miss out. Admit it. We intrigue you.”

“Intrigued?”

“Oh yes, intrigue. We’re fresh. We’re different. We’re exciting, Affinity. Can you say the same for Salazar?” She shoved Affinity away. “Come on, let’s get to that inn before the shadows spin around and point us in the opposite direction.”

Cassandra marched off, falling into step beside Arabella. “Too much?” she asked.

“About right,” Arabella replied.

Thick forest obscured all, their path plowed through pine needles a foot deep. The soldiers led them down, offering no comment on the altercation moments before. Wood smoke filled the air, pungent, laden with cedar. Small huts dotted on either side of the path, more deep paths joining them. They passed other reavers on the way, all masked, all dressed in black. For a moment, Josh thought the place backward, and Cassandra echoed those thoughts.

“This is some pigswill country retreat. Remind you of anything, Josh?”

He knew exactly what she was referring to. It was the cultist’s lair. But that seemed an impossibly long time ago. Simpler times, perhaps, distant, certainly. It was before he and Cassandra had got together. Before his harem had really started.

“You think they’re going to burn us at the stake?” Arabella asked. “I didn’t enjoy that. Not a highlight of my life.”

“You got burned at the stake?” Affinity asked. “I thought they reserved that for witches.”

“Careful,” said Cassandra, then she pointed. “Oh, thank the Gods. We have stone and civilization.”

A wall appeared through the packed trunks—gray stone braced with timber. Once spotted, it grew in all directions, up, across and down. Then the forest ended, and with no warning, they crossed a narrow wooden bridge, sheer drops on either side. A roiling cloud billowed from them, and the structure surged over them, its size taking Josh’s breath away.

“Well, bugger me,” Cassandra said. “That is impressive.”

Where Shadows stopped, it was hard to tell as its very top vanished into the heavens. The narrow bridge juddered as the soldiers marched on. Josh and the girls hurried after them, into a narrow gate, shadows cast from the oil lamps pointing them toward the center of the magnificent structure.

Where Josh expected the squalor associated with a city packed full of humans, he discovered a city so clean it looked brand new. Marble sheets clad the floor and walls, braced and edged with smoothed and oiled wood. There were no ornate cornices, nor scrolled corbels and pointless shelves. Everything was clean, neat and tidy. Even the Reavers that milled in the octagonal square they found themselves in dressed smartly.

“Welcome to Shadows,” Merhun said, as he approached from one of the six marble streets that led away. Six shadows emanated from him, each pointing to one of the streets. “Few not from our order ever see our city. Most who understand our geography wonder why we only have one.” He spread his arms wide. “This is the reason. This magnificent place demands we live in it and need no other. Perhaps you might not wish to leave, in which case you will have no option but to join us.” He bowed, then straightened. “As you can see from my shadows, six options present themselves—six choices. Where do you wish to go? What do you wish to do?”

“Freshen up, rest and eat. While we appreciate your escort, Merhun, we would prefer to freshen before we meet anyone,” Arabella said. “We will be at your disposal after that, if that suits our gracious host.”

Merhun paused before replying. “I accept your kind words, and Adamant will appreciate that you wish to prepare for your meeting. Haste is not always the fastest way to get things done.”

Five shadows vanished from around him, leaving one that pointed to a narrow road leading upward and along the city’s perimeter. Merhun followed his shadow, as did each of them, and soon they skirted the very edge of the great tower. Arched windows afforded them a view of the surrounding forest, a vast chasm separating them from that dark place. A waterfall fell. A cloud floated past. They continued to rise, and the inside rather than out drew Josh’s gaze.

There, the stone and wood formed recessed shops, dwellings and seated areas. Small alleys led inward, arched with smooth marble. They drew curious looks from the locals, the city gray marble, dark cedar, their cloaks black and masks mostly white, where Josh and his girls wore colors and dared to bare their faces. He began to feel naked, to feel the need to cover his face. Lex pulled her scarf up, tucking her chin and mouth inside. Cassandra pulled her tall hat low, and Melody dropped her goggles over her eyes.

“I wonder how we’d find the alchemist?” she asked.

“If it’s powders you want, we have many alchemists. If it’s potions you need, there are apothecaries. The city works in a very uniform way. The higher you go, the greater the quality, and the greater the quality, the higher the price you’ll pay. For reference, you are two-thirds of the way up. Nothing will be cheap.”

“Will they take our gold?” Elowen asked.

“You would be wise to sell the gold to a mint. Yours will not carry the mark of The Reavers, and thus will be worth less than ours by weight. A mint will give you a fair price for the raw metal and give you coins in return.”

“But our money will be worth less,” Elowen pointed out.

“But you don’t know the price of anything here, so does it matter? This is the land of the Reavers. Accommodation is free, you merely pay an elevation charge. Food is free for all, but again, you will pay a service charge this high up. Baths, steam rooms, cafes, restaurants, all free, less the surcharge. This is how we work. This is how you work while you stay with us. However, one thing we will not hear of, and that is an unwelcome guest. All is free for you within the bounds of the inn all the time you are guests of the Reavers. Once you have met with Adamant, he will decide if you are guests, allies, accomplices or enemies, and then different tariffs apply.”

None of them missed the inferred threat in his words, no matter how politely he delivered them.

“Free?” said Elowen. “I can do free.” She coughed, cleared her throat and composed. “I mean, tell Adamant I appreciate and won’t forget his hospitality. One more thing, if I may, Merhun?”

“Please ask. If it is my power, I will provide.”

“I read several texts regarding the karvel, the dwarves and Feleesh. These I found in the library in Laurent. But, and I found this strange, much of the information was incomplete. It was like it had once been there, but someone had long since removed it, perhaps stolen it. Would there be any texts here I could study?”

“You enjoy history?”

“I enjoy all things to do with history, architecture and societies, both present and future. Why? Do you?”

He stopped, bringing his hands together as if clasped in prayer. “I do,” he said, simply. “However, what I can show you is undecided. If my master were to choose to send you back to Laurent and I had divulged our secrets, I might find myself dismissed from the guild.”

“Then I’ll wait.”

Merhun hesitated. “Perhaps I can lend you one of my texts. I know what it’s like to have a thirst and nothing to drink.” A book appeared in his hand. “This is one from my personal collection. You’ll not find its like in any library. It is a guide to one of their machines—a karvel machine. I do not pretend to understand its workings. There are, for instance, two types of mana used to power it, but I am no artificer, just a keen observer.” He reached to give the book to her but drew back at the last moment. “Be aware, I am…fastidious. Please, do not mark or fold the pages. I am trusting you.”

Elowen took it like it was made of the finest crystal. “I will return it as I find it.”

“A machine!” Melody said and made a grab for it.

“No!” Merhun said, but Elowen dropped the book into her bag before Melody could reach it.

“We will study it together, Mels, but no food or drink near it.”

“Thank you, Ms. Elowen,” Merhun said, and walked on.

He turned into an open plaza lined with doors. A pair of central double doors opened and allowed them in, where they came to a marble and wood reception. Merhun presented them and then bowed. “My work is done. I will return in the morning. Adamant chose to wait until then for your audience. You have one hour to freshen up for your evening meal. Fresh cloaks are in your room. As guests, you may move around the city maskless, but should you wish to enter any of our temples, you must wear the appropriate clothing. You must respect our customs.” He bowed and left.

The Reaver behind the counter moved around it and led them back outside. “Merhun requested two rooms. I presume guild affinities separate you. Salazar will have this one.” He held a key up, and Affinity snatched it. “And Misfits this one—it is the largest room we have.”

Arabella took the key. “It will be fine,” she said, opened the door and strolled in.

“Well, I guess I’ll see you all in an hour,” Affinity said. “If it’s too cramped in there, then just knock and a couple of you can pitch with me.”

“Pitch with you?” Cassandra curled up her lip, then poked her head through the door, a smile curling onto her lips. “I think we’ll manage. This is hardly a room. Bang on the wall if we make too much noise.”

Josh waited until all his girls had gone inside. “Don’t mind them,” he said. “They’re only playing.”

Affinity opened the door. “No, no, they’re not. Each of them would rip my heart out if they thought for an instant that I might hurt you.” She walked in, then reappeared at the doorway. “And I respect that. I respect that a great deal. In an hour, Josh.” She closed the door.

“In an hour, Affinity,” Josh said, still unsure exactly who she was.

Chapter Nine

ELOWEN AND MELODY sat in the center of the dining table. The tavern was, predictably, a mix of marble and cedar. The gray and light wood was refreshing, not monotonous at all. It lent every room a clean, crisp feel. Reavan waiters served dish after dish of spicy food, each bowl quite small, but the supply seemed to be endless. Drinks, served in aged cedar mugs, were comparable to the cold tea he’d used to chug aboard the space sluggers.

“So,” Elowen said, “when I was saying about the incomplete texts in Laurent, what I was talking about was a missing piece in a jigsaw spanning centuries. Namely, why did karvels and dwarves work together?”

“Does it matter?” Cassandra asked.

“Of course it matters. It matters very much. Two species don’t come together for no reason whatsoever. Especially—” she held her hand up— “two such different species. On one hand, you have the small, delicate, mouse-like karvels, and then you have dwarves who would eat hammers if they tasted of sour ale. Why? Ask yourself why? Why would two such races come together? What need would cause this?”

“And what was the answer?” Cassandra asked.

“The machines. The answer was the machines. So brutal in their inception, but so delicate in their operation.”

Melody took over. “The dwarves beat the huge metal plates. They made the hinges, the ball joints and the rods that made them move. They did all the big work while the karvels performed the magic. They made the machines work.” Melody became more animated as she spoke. Lex, who was sitting beside her, gently moved all the plates and mugs out of the way. Melody’s gesticulations became wilder and wilder. “It says in one text that dual mana engines powered some of the larger machines, but we’re thinking that it might be two different things. We’re wondering if it might be a combination of vigor and mana. Perhaps one is better at brute force, like driving the machines forward. Maybe the other does the more intricate work like sight, perception and deciding direction, speed, that sort of thing.”

Affinity, who’d been silent until this point, sighed. “Amazing insight, but how does it help us if one of the things is firing magical bullets at us while stomping us into the rock?”

“It helps,” Elowen snapped, “because victory comes from understanding. If we know what drives it, then Vella might be able to drain it. If we know how it attacks, Cassandra may well be able to counter it.”

“But it’s not all about that. None of the texts mention the defenses the dwarves and karvels left behind. By understanding the large machines that guard the place, we can surmise how they powered the traps,” Melody said.

“Civilizations,” Elowen continued, “develop in layers. Some can use bronze, then iron, then steel. I propose that the karvel and dwarven society in Feleesh attained a dual fuel civilization. Therefore, we can further surmise that all machines, big or small, had to be powered at that level. Vella can disrupt or feed both. We know that.”

Melody smiled, looking at Elowen before carrying on. “So, we believe we have a chance of going where no one else has gone before. We think we can get into the heart of Feleesh.”

Affinity ran her hands through her hair. “But again, how does that help us? The Emittance wiped out those two races. What’s to say it won’t just wipe us out?”

“Did it wipe them out?” Elowen said. “Or did it feed them enough knowledge that they could escape the fate that all other succumbed to? Did they build a larger machine and vanish?”

“An ark,” Josh said. “You’re saying they built an ark?”

“We’re saying that there is no mention of karvel or dwarven remains in any of the texts we’ve read.” Melody sat back.

Elowen lifted her mug. “Not one bone.”

Josh and Arabella decided to go for a walk after the meal while the others all feigned tiredness to give them some space. He wanted to chat with her about her earlier concerns that she offered little to the group. He’d noticed her putting herself forward a lot more, voicing her opinion rather than staying in the shadows. But he had no clue how to broach the subject.

A cool breeze skittered over the marble road as they made their way up the street. Periodically, balconies punctured the outside walls, offering fantastic viewing points over the conifer-blanketed slopes of the rugged Hangsane. Between the mountains, further south, the ominous yellow glow encroached on the night. The balconies were, no doubt, defensive points repurposed during peacetime, but that didn’t make them any less majestic.

As they wound around the great stone mass, they came to a larger balcony and noticed black-clad couples leaning on the cedar balustrade and looking out toward a moonlit waterfall. Josh pulled Arabella there, squeezing into a spot and drawing her close to him. He hugged her, marveling at the scene before them. There was always something enchanting about a waterfall, but one that fell from the heavens and disappeared into mists was somehow even more mystical.

“What will we do if we win?” she asked him.

“If we win?” While he’d thought about it, he’d never reached a conclusion, always getting embroiled in what-ifs. But now she mentioned it so casually, her question stripped away all the hurdles, and he pictured himself at the end, just him and his girls standing among the devastation of their victory. “We go back to Mythelore, and we get that farm, and should a monster dare rear its ugly head, we chop it off with no hesitation.”

Arabella snuggled in. “A home each and one for Dad, one for Harrogate. No being king—I don’t want you to be king.”

“I could be the most powerful farmer there ever was,” he said.

“Would you be happy?”

“With all of you, of course I would.”

“No, don’t do that,” she said. “Would you be happy farming? Don’t just parade an answer. After all this—all we’ve been through and are going to go through — would you be happy farming?”

“If you want the truth, I can’t answer because I’ve never done it. But remember that dream we had of traveling the land in our wagons and seeing the world?”

“I think of it every day.”

“I know I’d be happy doing that. Then, if we fall in love with a place and decide to hitch up for longer, so be it. I don’t think you can force life—certainly not happiness. It has to be comfortable—something that surrounds you rather with its warmth. That’s what I want, and I wasn’t being flippant when I said I’d be happy farming as long as you were all there.”

“Because we wouldn’t be there if you were unhappy.”

“Exactly, and that goes for all of us. If one of us is unhappy, we continue the search until we all are.”

Josh fell silent, staring into the moonlit waterfall. He wanted all the Reavers to go and Cassandra, Elowen, Vella, Melody, Lex and Helm to join them. He wanted to share the moment—a rare moment’s peace.

“Come on,” she said, pulling him away. “Let’s get back. I know what they’re like. They pushed us out together, all feigning tiredness.”

“I wanted to spend some time with you. I wanted to tell you—”

“I know, Josh. I know. I’ve made my peace with it. I’m Arabella. I don’t have a talent like Vella or Cassandra. I’m not a trap smith or an archaeologist. I’m no great warrior or drow princess. But I don’t care anymore. I’m going to stop trying to be something I’m not.”

He pulled her back to the balustrade. “You are Arabella, my first love in this land. You rescued me when I was alone.”

“None of that matters,” Arabella said. “Only this does.” She lifted her lips to his and kissed her. “Just that, that’s all that matters. As long as your love bleeds into me when you kiss me, I am complete.”

Josh wanted to say something, to tell her she was so much more, but it would make no difference. She was the glue that held them together for a reason, and that reason was simple. It was because she was Arabella. She was the person they all went to with their concerns.

And that was enough.

“He’s out there already,” Melody said, looking out into the courtyard.

Josh came up behind her. He reached for her thighs, grabbing her and pressing his erection into her. “Who?” he asked, moving slightly away, lining himself up and gliding in.

“Merhun,” Melody grunted. “Fuck, Josh, does that dick of yours grow with every evolution?”

He grinned. “Have you thought all the walking might have got you fitter and tighter?”

Her pussy was tight too, so damn tight he could feel every ripple in her moist walls.

“Baby,” she said, arching her back and lifting her head. “You’re the only one who knows, so that’s your call. Hey, the cat girl’s joined him. You wanna bone her next?” Her chuckles sent pulses along her, massaging Josh’s dick as he slowly increased his pace, his passion gathering momentum again after their night of passion.

Arabella had been right. The girls had been waiting for him when they got home. Every one of them parading around naked, falling on him as he walked through the door, sucking, fucking until they dropped one-by-one and he was once again left with Arabella in his arms.

“Affinity?” Josh asked, imagining lifting the cat girl’s tail and sliding into her tight asshole. “Can’t say I’ve not thought about it. She’s a beautiful woman.” He scrunched his face up. “But a bit too erratic for me.”

Cassandra came behind him, pressing her nakedness against him before reaching around and cupping him, then trailing her finger on his sodden shaft as it thrust in and out of the trap smith. “She’s erratic because she’s packed full of hormones. They haven’t got any release. So, they keep going off in little fits of temper. Before I was getting a regular boning, I was much the same. I once flattened a grocer’s in Elrima because they didn’t have any apples.”

Lex leaned on the window beside Melody, teasing Josh with her shining ebony ass. “I once took out an entire squad of elite warriors because I just wanted to juice some fucker but didn’t have the courage to go the last step. I think keeping my virginity intact cost about fifty lives in total.”

Melody cried out, muffling it by biting down on the curtain. Her pussy clamped around Josh’s cock as she soaked his balls, her moisture dripping onto Cassandra’s hands.

“I think she’s done, My Lord,” Cassandra said in her most sultry voice, then switched places with Melody. “But it seems the assassin has pushed in. I suggest you service her first. I wouldn’t want to become her fifty-first victim.” The witch rested her elbows on the windowsill and cupped her chin. “I do so hope she can see us getting fucked one after the other.”

“Why?” Josh asked, entering Lex, sliding into her, his dick moist with Melody’s cum.

Cassandra shrugged. “Because we have what she desires, and that gives me power over her, that’s why.”

He reached across, sliding his finger up and down Cassandra’s ass crack, remembering their first night together as they made love on a rocky bluff overlooking the Ruins of Elrima. It had been a long culmination of close flirting, touching and edging around the inevitable. It took Arabella to engineer the opportunity for them to be finally alone. That was a choice that had nearly cost Arabella her life.

Yes, without her, I wouldn’t be here.

He fixed his gaze on Lex. Her toned body bent to his will; the nubs of her spine arched as she neared her completion. With one hand cupping Cassandra’s pussy, fingers probing, he reached for Lex’s jet-black hair, pulling it back with the tension that often tipped her over the edge. Lex groaned with pleasure, pushing her ass back into his thrusting groin. Josh could only imagine the scene from the other side of the window, the assassin’s pert breasts swaying back and forth with each stroke.

Affinity had maneuvered Merhun so that he faced away from the window, and she was looking. Whether she could see anything or not, Josh wasn’t sure, but a rush of excitement coursed through him just at the thought she might—that the cat girl might be watching him fuck his women. That surge of horniness powered him to quicker strokes, and Lex began bucking and shaking.

“Harder, fuck me harder,” she cried. “There! There! Just there. Yes! Yes! Yes! There. Owwww. Come on! That’s the spot.” And then her voice softened, her breaths ragged, and her shoulders rounded. “Fuck, Josh, what brought that on?” Lex asked, moving away from the windowsill, hand over hand, like she didn’t trust her legs to bear her weight.

Josh didn’t answer, eager to find his own release. They’d rinsed him of his cum the previous night, but he’d gathered again, his incredible vitality fueled by simply being near Vella. The Mystic Syphon had once had to consciously fill him with her power, but lately, Josh had noticed how good he felt whenever she was around him. He rarely tired and needed only minimal sleep. His body was always ready to perform, whether it was a fight to the death or a prolonged lovemaking session with his harem. Even now, as he positioned himself behind Cassandra, who guided him into her pussy with expert precision, he knew he could last all morning and satisfy each and every one of them. He was living every man’s dreams.

Cassandra bucked and writhed with every stroke, her moans and cries so much more vocal. It was like she was determined to cum the hardest and fastest of all of them, and Josh instantly understood she aimed her performance at Affinity. Somehow, that turned him on even more. He powered into her, determined to make her squirm. But it came at a price as his balls swelled and tightened, and that familiar feeling of cum running through him filled him with euphoria. He cried out as his pleasure became too much, then opened his eyes as Cassandra yelled, “Oh, Master! Oh, Master!” over and over.

Then, as the pressure built at the base of his cock, he locked eyes with Affinity, and the cat girl smiled. She moved to one side of Merhun, playing with her long hair, and standing with her legs slightly parted.

The knowledge that she was watching everything tipped Josh over the edge, and he unleashed his orgasm into Cassandra, his whole body spasming as each load powered into her. Resting his hand on her back, he looked up. But Affinity was deep in conversation with Merhun, paying him no heed. They walked off toward the tavern as Melody drew by his side once more.

“Let’s wash up and get some breakfast. The bath is full and ready.”

Cassandra pulled away, turning and kissing him square on the lips. “If she didn’t have it bad for you before, she has now.”

“Why are you so intent on winding her up?”

“Why?” Cassandra asked. “Because I’m a bitch, mostly, but also because she’s had the hots for you from the moment you walked into the Hangsane. Imagine that? Imagine knowing what I know and then denying that to some other poor lost soul.”

He sauntered over to the bath, hopping in and washing the musty smell of sex from him. “She is many things, but a poor, lost soul isn’t one of them.”

“You’re mistaken there, Josh,” Arabella said, laying out his clothes for him.

“Oh?” he said.

“If she wasn’t lost —if she didn’t feel like something was missing from her life — why would she attach herself to what she regards as a suicide mission? Curiosity doesn’t cover it all.”

Josh stepped out of the bath, toweling himself dry. “You think she’s looking for some fun?” He grinned.

Arabella slapped him. “Be serious. She’s looking for something more. My guess is that you came along and turned her world upside down. Tread carefully, Josh. You’re playing with someone’s heart.”

He dressed as Cassandra laughed. “Really, Bels, stop spoiling all my fun.”

Chapter Ten

THE ROAD WOUND round and round, rising steadily. True to his word, the buildings, while still keeping their simple marble and cedar composition, became more opulent. They bled status and wealth. Whether the doors were larger, the glazing on the windows thicker, or the depth of the marble’s shine was deeper, Josh couldn’t tell. But the overall feel was one of prosperity.

Merhun explained that the guild leaders lived and worked in the upper levels, and that the shrubs and flowers that made up the garden ledges thrived more on the upper levels than the lower. He regaled them with tales about the bravery of the Reavers, and how their guild had grown on a steady foundation, where all others came and went. He admitted theirs was a secret guild, and that they mixed rarely. But it was to remain aloof from the petty squabbles of the Hangsane. All the while Merhun droned on, Josh could feel Affinity’s eyes boring into his back.

He slowed, feigning interest in a particularly colorful flower trough, then picked up his pace, coming beside her. “What do you make of it all?”

“Of what all?” she snapped; her lips pressed into a fine line. “You need my opinion on what? On that…”

She broke off, trying to hurry away, but Josh grabbed her arm and held her. “The girls want to know something, and I’ll be honest, I’m quite intrigued, too.”

She flashed him an icy stare but said nothing.

“If,” he said, “I ask you, will you tell me the truth?”

“Depends.”

“I’ll take that. They want to know the real reason you came. At the moment, they think it’s just to spy on us, although Cassandra had some other ideas.” He paused. “But the less said about those, the better.”

“Why? What’s she said?”

He grimaced. “She thinks you’re working an angle. I know you’re working an angle, but I don’t know what. All I’ll say is this. If you hurt my girls in any way, I’ll make you pay.”

Affinity laughed. “You can’t hurt me. You couldn’t even beat Rhina.”

“Then. I couldn’t beat Rhina back then. I’m stronger now, much stronger.”

She laughed. “In days, not years? I think you misunderstand what powerful means.”

He kept his expression neutral. “We’ll find out one day, won’t we? But you still haven’t answered why you’re here.”

She simmered, her eyes boiling with rage until her shoulders slumped, and the fight left her. “I don’t fucking know, alright? I just don’t fucking know.” She stiffened, then marched away. “What the fuck’s wrong with you?” She turned. “You’re not human. You know that, don’t you? You’re not normal!” She stormed off after the others, leaving Josh standing by the flower-filled trough.

He grinned, then he marched after her. He hadn’t had as much fun since Melody, and she’d been infuriating. He fell into stride with Arabella. “I tried.”

She gave him a sideways glance that slapped him around the cheek. “Looks like you tried real hard. What did you do? Show her your dick and say you aren’t getting any of that?”

He mulled over his response. “No. Should I have done?”

Arabella shook her head, unable to restrain her smile. “Whatever you did, it didn’t work. She’s got a face like a slapped sausage.”

“Perhaps, but at least she knows we’re onto her. If she’s here to try anything, then she knows we’re watching.”

“Didn’t you listen to anything I told you? She’s here for you!”

“Would you risk our lives on that impression? You’re a great judge of character, Bels, but we don’t know these people. For all we know, she’s trained in the art of deception. I’m not willing to risk it.”

Arabella walked on, catching up with the others. When she was within earshot of them, she replied.

“You’re right. We know nothing.”

Affinity glanced behind her, but then jerked back, studiously avoiding both of them.

Josh had pictured the Reavan throne room. He’d seen a vaulted marble hall, a great wooden dais, and an impressive marble throne. Adamant would sit upon it, legs spread in a power-filled posture, and his golden mask hiding a scowl as he prepared to order their executions. Everyone had told him that Reaver would be a sour place of shadows and subterfuge, murders and poisonings. The truth, as it had a habit of being, was slightly different. The Reavans had been hospitable, the meals lavish, and the accommodation perfect. The shadows, rather than masking murder, had been rather helpful, always pointing where Josh needed to go.

He never saw the Reavan throne room, so couldn’t vouch if its hall had a vaulted ceiling, or whether there was, indeed, a wooden dais holding a marble throne because Merhun didn’t take them there. Instead, they reached the summit of the great city and there they marched through a narrow passage in single file. It led out into lavish gardens that spread under a tropical sun, cooled only by a frigid mountain breeze.

Within the fruit trees and ornate bed, upon a large circular stone patio, sat Adamant, his cloak partially open and his golden mask discarded on a low table. Upon that table lay refreshments and finger food, salads and fruit. All shadows pointed at him as he glanced in their direction and sat up, hesitating before eventually standing. It gave Josh plenty of time to appraise him, and the impression he got was one of a man not to be trifled with hiding behind a welcoming exterior. Adamant brushed back his long, brown hair, his blue eyes glinting with mischief. He then pointed at each of the girls in turn, counting as he went.

“How?” he asked, eventually. “How is so much beauty in one place?”

He took a couple of steps, but not close to the edges of the stone, and stopped. “You must be Josh, and I’ve met Affinity before, but let me guess the others.” He tapped his fingers on his lips. “Let me think.”

“You know me,” said Vella, racing toward him and jumping.

Adamant’s expression changed to one of terror, and he cried in pain as Vella hugged him. “Ravagers,” he said through clenched teeth. “Nearly killed me.”

“Heal,” said Vella, chuckling.

“Is there anyone she doesn’t know?” Cassandra sniped.

Adamant straightened. His smile broad. He reached into his cloak. He withdrew his fist and held it out. She cupped her hands, and he dropped some small sweets. “It seems a small price to pay for such a service.”

Vella unwrapped the first, walking away with a sway to her hips. Adamant stared at Josh; his eyes sad. “Have you discovered her secret yet? I fear there is something locked away in there.” He sighed. “Should it ever come out, it may shatter her innocence. Sit, eat, and talk. I am Adamant, as I’m sure you’ve guessed, and I believe I was about to name your guild members. I think Cassandra gives herself away. That is the Everdeep staff. I’ve never seen its like. Its secrets are something to behold. Have you unlocked its power?”

Cassandra sat. “I understand more with each passing day.” She sighed and closed her eyes. When she opened them, her look smoldered with power. “The ability to end this land on a twist of my temper plays heavily on my mind.”

The silence was brief, broken when Adamant clapped. “I believe you.” He moved to Melody. “You! You, I’ve wanted to meet for a long while. Believe it or not, your father’s reputation as a thinker reached even these lofty heights. Should we solve our little issue, then I would love to extend an invite to him to study in my library. But that’s not to say I am not humbled to have you here, Melody. I know my alchemists are keen to meet you and discuss certain powders that made their way here via our black market.”

“How?” she asked. “We don’t sell them.”

Adamant coughed, his humor apparent. “You do. I’ll admit it is only recently, but your father pedals his concoctions on the side. It seems his young ladies demand a certain standard of living, and I pay well for the powders.”

“You have my powders here? Can I have them?”

“Alas, I only have enough to let my alchemists try to replicate them, but they fail with a fizz and a pop. Now, if the renowned Melody Delaney were to aid them in their quest, then I’ve no doubt they would enjoy helping her concoct whatever she’d need for her travels.”

“Have Merhun escort me there as soon as possible. But I will only give away my true secret if I get a high-ranked artificer thrown in for free.”

Adamant frowned. “You drive a harder bargain than Harrogate. But then your life, not your pleasure, is on the line. I agree.” He lifted his index finger and pointed to Lex. “Silexa Gray. Pardon me if I have scant information about you. I hear from my spies that you are an accomplished warrior, and for that I say, I am honored to meet you. Helm, like Affinity, I know through brief history, but I welcome you into the City of Shadows. Which leaves Elowen. How was the library in Laurent? Lacking in depth, I’d imagine. Our assistants have done the best job they can purging all the information about us. I’m sure Merhun lent you a book. While his tongue holds our secrets, he cannot resist educating an eager mind. Merhun, you may grant access to Elowen, full access. She may go anywhere and read anything, just not past the gate.”

He paused, resting back in his seat as they all picked food from the table. “It leaves your, Arabella, and I’m sorely disappointed in you. Suffice to say, my spymaster has kept tabs on you. Don’t think me bad.” He held up his hand. “I have mine to protect, as you have yours. You are the jewel, the seed from which all sprouts. Tell me, should you judge a mansion on its fine marble, grand cornice, intricate statues or magnificent architecture? Do any of them hold it up? Do they tie it together? You bind these. That makes you more important than any.”

Arabella dipped her head. “How nice. I’ve always wanted to be likened to a foundation.” She sat and glared at Cassandra. “Don’t you say a fucking word.”

“At least we know your spymaster is second to none, but praise isn’t why we came here. We’d like your thoughts on the current situation in the Hangsane. Clay says that while divided, you are all of one mind,” Affinity said.

“Typical of Salazar—short and to the point, verging on rude. Let me tell you this. A week ago, I would have had you destroyed on the bridge. Note, not murdered, not killed—destroyed. If a Salazar would have dared darken our doorstep, then I would have quartered them and sent her back where she came from. Such is the discouragement needed to keep this land pure. But even I understand the Emittance is developing. I will tell you this. I will die in Shadows. I’m not suited to anywhere else. We will cut the cord that links us to the Hangsane, and if the heat comes and peels our flesh from our bones, so be it. Every Reavan will die this death rather than have the filth and corruption of the Hangsane stain us. That is my vow to you.”

Josh inclined his head and stared at the man. “But you want us to try to save your butts.”

“Waking the Feleeshans will not do that. Conquering their sentinels will achieve nothing. But if you defeat them, then we might just have a chance. The Emittance will reach this pinnacle in thirty days hence. That is when I cut the cord. From then, you will share our fate.”

Josh wondered when the conversation had turned so sinister, but then realized it had been anything but pleasant. First, Adamant had grandstanded his knowledge of them. Then he had told them his doom. He’d delivered all in a polite enough manner, but the implicit threat had accompanied every word.

“What will we find in Feleesh?” he asked, more to give himself time to think than anything else.

“Death,” said Adamant. “You will find death. You see, there is an issue with your grand plan, and that of Clay and Affinity. Victory only comes to those who plan, but you don’t know what you’re fighting.”

Josh scoffed at that. “I know my foe only too well.”

“Do you?” he asked and clapped his hands.

A female walked from the trees, her cloak, like her mask, blood red.

“This is Sasante. She is a seer witch. She paints the future, the past and the present. There is only one problem with her truths, and that is this. She has no idea what picture she paints. It could have happened. It is happening. Or it will happen. Which is unknown. But of late, she only paints one picture.” He clapped again, and Sasante moved gracefully into their center, moving her hands like a windmill, a crimson flame coming from them, settling into a circle much like a blazing portal. Its center burst into amber flame, the heat billowing out. From those roaring flames stepped a man, his eyes black holes and his skin crazed with black veins. His long brown hair cascaded over his shoulders, and black blood dripped from his mouth.

“Lux?” Josh said. “Is that Lux?”

The vision petered out. The flames abating and the vision petering out. “Thank you, Sasante,” Adamant said. “Tell me, if the guardians have succumbed, what hope do you think we-”

“Is that past, present or future?” Affinity asked.

“Check your leaderboard,” the Reavan leader said. “Much has changed.”

Affinity’s eyes rolled into the back of her head, and the blood drained from her face. “The guardians and the paladin?”

“Both,” he said. “Both gone, wiped, turned into ravagers. The end of the Hangsane comes. The power creeps ever closer. By our calculations, our day’s number thirty, no more and no less. I’ll not let my people suffer the same fate as those poor souls.”

Josh settled in a chair as he pondered the news. He had options. He could leave—flee the Hangsane—but he knew he was responsible. He’d stolen Tremelox from them. They’d pursued him, wanting it back. He was the thief, and they were the wronged.

“I could just give them the ring,” he said.

Arabella kneeled by him. “Will that stop them? You know them, Josh. Will it stop them?”

“Nothing will stop them. They are like locusts. They will consume until they gather enough for their next advancement. That is what’s happening here. That’s what happened all along. It’s like me and my progression, except magnified a thousand times—more even. They consume in some twisted way. It’s not how they were. Something’s changed. Something’s merged with them to make them this way.”

“You know them?” Adamant said, his shock apparent.

“I know their origin. I know of them. They don’t suck souls. They feed like locusts, no more, no less.”

“Then I wish you luck. I hope you find what you’re looking for in Feleesh. But I still get the feeling you have no idea what that might be.”

Vella tugged at Josh’s pant leg, urging him to go with her. Adamant smiled, his gaze never leaving the girl. “Go, go with her. There is little enough joy left in this world.”

Josh rose, following her into the garden. She led him to a large circular pool, its edge raised and lined with aged cedar. She stood on its ledge, pulling him up.

“In there?” He asked, and she nodded.

They both stepped forward, his boots briefly touching the surface before they both sunk in, soon touching the spongy moss of the other world. Sprites fluttered around them, settling on Josh’s shoulders and head, just like before. He held out his hand, and one sat upon his upturned palm, calling his name. She pointed to the moss, to a tree close by, and then to its shadow, and he understood immediately.

“Follow the shadow?” he asked, and the sprite nodded eagerly. “Have you been here before, Vella?”

“Yes, just now. When you talked.”

“Then why don’t you just tell me?”

“Not the same. You know that.”

“Okay,” he said, knowing he had no choice but to indulge her. “Follow the shadows?”

“Yes. Follow them.”

They walked the mossy way, along undulating slopes, then climbing like before until they came to the ridge, its corruption bleeding out.

“The Magalese Cut,” she said. “It bleeds this corruption into the Hangsane. It took the drows, the Orcs. Now the Angels have fallen.”

“Angels? You mean guardians.”

“Same thing,” she said. “Same. They used the Angel Stone too much. It corrupts. Their power corrupts. You know!”

Josh did. He understood. He’d felt the warrior stone Lex carried around her neck. He’d felt its evil influence. “Power corrupts,” he said.

“We must destroy the cores.”

“Yes,” she said, then pulled him further along the ridge. “But theirs, not ours.”

It was a strange, surreal land. The sky was a mix between midnight and dawn, the light cast enough to see clearly, but still giving a feel of twilight. There was no sign of any corrupted soldiers, but Josh wondered if they hadn’t been representations of lost cultivators, snared by a greed for power. The ridge dipped, falling to a stream flowing into the crater. He paused as he took in a new phenomenon. The stream bled goodness, even the sprites dared cross the threshold, venturing along the stream’s purity.

Vella jumped in, and Josh followed. The icy water flowed over his boots, wetting his feet and grounding him in the new reality. Vella walked like a stalking cat, barely making any noise. He tried to mimic her, his agility-born stealth coming into play. Strips of green clung to the water’s edge, resisting the crackling hiss of the black corruption. But as they walked farther into the dread place, the strip narrowed, and when the rumble of falls manifested, the green had all but gone.

Vella reached for his hand, slowing as the roar of the falls grew. At its very edge, where water tumbled to a land far below, she stopped and crouched, pointing. Since his numerous evolutions, Josh’s eyesight had become hawk-like, and he easily spied the distant tower, black as it was, with flaming red eyes for windows and a blaze of yellow for a crown.

“It picked one of them. Don’t know who. Doesn’t matter. They are warriors. We must defeat them all.”

“It will be me. I will do it.”

“No,” Vella said. “You are Herald. I am Chosen.” She tapped her forehead. “We must use all. You must pick the warrior, but wisely. It will try to corrupt. It will try to turn her into Black Eyes.”

“One of us?”

“One of us. One with single will. One who has no doubt of her duty. One who doesn’t question. One who would die for you without thinking of herself.”

Josh kneeled in the cold water. His gut clenched as doubt filled him. “But it is death.”

“It is not death we should fear.”

He thought back to the vision the crimson witch had conjured. He thought of Lux, the amiable, powerful, rakishly handsome Lux reduced to a fearsome zombie. If the Emittance had done that to him, what chance did they have? What hope did any of them have? “It got Lux,” he said.

“Yes. It consumes all who thirst for power.” She took his hand, retracing their steps until they came to a set of stone stairs rising to a shimmering, silver portal in the sky. “It is time to return. Adamant tires. His wounds are deep, both here and here.” She pointed to her heart and head.

Josh squeezed her hand tightly. “Yes,” he said. “To plan to die without fighting is strange indeed.”

“Tired,” she said. “They are all tired. They’ve fought all their lives.” She ran up a few steps, turning and planting a kiss on his lips. “Choose wisely. We won’t be there until the end.”

“What?” Josh said, but Vella spun and raced up the steps, diving into the silver and vanishing.

He paused, trying to get his head straight before he jumped out of a pond. Shaking his head, a grin hatched on his lips. Whatever this new life of his threw at him, he had to beat it. He had to grind the evil to dust because he was having way too much fun with his girls for it to be over so soon.

Chapter Eleven

WHEN HE EMERGED from the pond, not a drop of water fell from him. Vella waited, her hand outstretched. Her radiant smile briefly fled. “You must choose. But not me. Not the witch. Nor the mother. Understand?”

“Not Cassandra?”

She shook her head. “No! She must destroy. It is her destiny.”

“And Arabella?”

Vella pulled him again, making him stumble over the pond’s stone ledge. “She must do what all mothers do. She must look after her family. She must heal when all break.”

“I need a warrior? But that only leaves Helm and Lex!”

“Not necessarily,” Vella said. “You have Elowen. You have Melody. If you wanted, you could have the cat.”

“Affinity? She isn’t even one of us.”

Vella grabbed his crotch. “No, but she wants to be.” She laughed and ran to a flower bed, picking a bright orange bloom. “Melt her heart with this.”

Josh tossed it away, making a grab for Vella. The elf swerved out of his way, running through the gardens, squealing with delight. He ran after her, consumed by her infectious joy. They skidded around flowerbeds, ducked under low branches, and hurdled ornate bushes. He could, of course, have easily captured her, but the chase was always the fun part, and eventually Vella feigned a trip, tumbling onto the lush lawn and tuning onto her back just in time to receive him into her arms.

“Caught you!” he said.

“Always,” she replied and puckered, ready for a kiss.

As he lowered his lips onto hers, he perceived a presence.

“You are playing kiss-chase while we discuss the fate of the world?”

Josh didn’t need to look up to see Affinity had delivered her judgement. He broke off, but barely so, unable to resist another kiss before rolling onto his back. “Tell me, have your discussions reaped any reward?”

Affinity scowled, but then shrugged. “They were…circular.”

“Circular?” Josh raised his legs in the air, then flipped himself up. “So, the answer is no. We, on the other hand, have the bones of a plan. I was rewarding Vella for her fantastic input.”

“Fantastic input,” Vella said.

“You formed a plan by playing a child’s game?”

Josh pulled Vella up. “No, that was the reward. She took me to the sprites’ parallel realm where she showed me exactly what we would face once we emerge from Feleesh. We have a plan. I simply have the gut-churning choice to make.”

“And what, pray tell, is that?”

“I have to choose one of my girls and turn them into a warrior worthy of confronting Corruption’s greatest champion.”

“If it’s a warrior you need, then I am the only choice. My numbers outstrip the others.”

“Ah,” he said. “But it’s not just a warrior, that’s the issue. It is a warrior with undying loyalty to me.”

“Why?”

“You saw. It turned the guardians and the paladins. It cannot turn my Misfits, and you are Salazar, not even one of us.”

She hesitated, her eyes darting from one side to the other. Then she tilted her head back, looking down her nose at him. “What do you mean, turn them into a warrior? What aren’t you telling me?”

“Tell her,” Vella said. “She will be there at the end. You must tell her.”

Josh locked eyes with Affinity. “Not yet. She still hasn’t been entirely truthful about her motives for coming.”

Affinity closed her eyes as if trying to contain the growing anger within her. “What do I have to do to get you to trust me?”

“Ask yourself this. What have you done that I should trust you? Volunteering to come with us isn’t enough. Trust shouldn’t be easily given, otherwise it’s worthless.”

She inhaled slowly. “I get it,” she said. “Just don’t make your choice until I have that chance. Adamant wonders where you are. It would be unwise to upset our host.”

“Then we should not keep him waiting. Time presses. I need to understand his count better. If thirty days is all we have, then it might not be enough.”

“Enough?”

“I know our foe,” he admitted.

“The Emittance?”

“The Grillons. I know them. They come for me.”

“You caused all this?”

“No,” he said. “I’ll not take the blame for it. They would have done this, anyway. It is who they are. They consume. They do not create. My close presence might have added to their upheaval, but it would have come no matter what. Trust me on this, Affinity. Forget your guild allegiance. Forget your dislike of me. Forget all that. What you are in is a battle for your very existence. We have a chance, a slim chance we can reverse this, but it means fighting creatures that already vanquished the guardians. We have advantages. We have Cassandra and Vella.”

“And the mother,” Vella said.

“And Arabella. We have me and Tremelox.” He held up his ring. “And we have thirty days.”

“You will not upset me,” Adamant said. “I am no fragile host. Your speech, Josh, your speech was moving. Perhaps one of the best I’ve heard. You would have made a great guild leader. Tell me,” he said, walking away and drawing them to follow him, “do you really think you have a chance? Because I do not think you’ll survive the machines of Feleesh, let alone fighting the guardians, paladins and these Grillons.”

“We have a chance,” Josh said. “Elowen knows why.”

“I do?” Elowen asked, shaking her head as if her thoughts had taken her miles away.

“What do The Misfits do?”

“Oh, that? We plan and then we fight.”

“We plan and then we fight,” Josh repeated.

“What do you need?” Adamant asked. “Do you need warriors? Sorcerers? What? If there’s a chance we can beat this, then I’ll rise to the occasion as well. But I’ll not let any of mine become Black Eyes.”

“There may be a battle. We’d be foolish to believe that none of the Hangsane had allied to the Grillon cause. But what I need from you is trainers. Elowen, how many days do you need to prepare?”

Elowen rolled her eyes. “It depends how expansive his library is, but if I work every hour of every day, I would say I should be able to piece together every clue in seven days. If the library books are of a similar depth to the book Merhun didn’t lend me yesterday.”

Merhun chuckled. “I’m glad I am absolved of all guilt in that direction.”

Josh cleared his throat. “Melody?”

“We have thirty days?”

“Yes.”

“And no idea how long it’s going to take to battle our way through Feleesh.”

“None.”

“Then we should dedicate a third of that time to preparation. In ten days, I can have enough grenades and explosives to blast a big city to dust.” She inclined her head, furrowing her brow. “As long as you have the storage to take it all.”

“You want to take ten days out of thirty to prepare?” Adamant said, his tone cold. “Surely it would be best to leave now.”

“We could leave now and die this afternoon,” Elowen said. “So far, this method has worked for us. It has worked just fine. The thirty days is your time limit, not ours.”

“If it was a straight fight between a novice and someone capable, would you not give them time to prepare?” Arabella asked. “The longer Elowen and Melody have to prepare, the faster we will likely uncover Feleesh’s secrets. Ten days may become none. It is how we do things. If you don’t like it, then we will find another way elsewhere.”

Adamant lent her a steely gaze, but it shifted from her to Josh. “I will accommodate Elowen and Melody. Each will have the entire resources of my city to further their progress. Merhun will escort the rest of you to the Man on the Mountain. Training with him will serve you better.”

“We have ten days. We cannot afford to waste time traveling,” Josh said. “We might have to make do with your best warriors.”

“The Man on the Mountain is better than any. His name reaches the farthest edges of the Hangsane.” Adamant smiled. “He also lives close by. No more than half a day’s hard trekking. You want my blessing? You wish to go under and into Feleesh with my help? Accept this. I know you have asked about him. My agents told you to head south. They told you it was past Laurent and near Reavan territory. I ask you this. Why do all the other guilds leave Reaver alone? Why? Some of their warriors are stronger than me. They could tear my bones apart.”

“Because the cost is too high,” Affinity said. “They might beat you, but they would gain nothing.”

“Because of that. My power focuses in the middle. I am no hammer that crushes all and drags a weak guild along in its wake. My warriors dominate from below thirty in rank, all the way to two hundred. Many have risen in the recent cull. But that is false. The fallen are still there to fight. It is only their form which has changed. I tell you this: only one man is responsible, and it is him. He will take your weakest and make them strong. He will take your strongest and make them stronger.”

“Then we go,” Josh said.

“Not me,” Cassandra said. “I’m not one for physical effort. I think I will spend my time with Sasante. While I have no wish to look into the future, I’m sure there is something within that scary-assed woman that will interest me.”

“Scary-assed?” Sasante said, appearing behind her.

Cassandra jumped, her hand going to her heart as she shouted, “Fuck me! Where the hell did you come from?”

“Would have been handy to foresee my arrival, no? It honors me to share with you some of my ways. Do not think I limit my gift to hours and days. I have other tricks. But you might not have an affinity for them.”

“If it’s a toss-up between trying and going to some fighting school, I’ll give it a shot.”

Adamant clapped. “Then we agree. Elowen and Melody will study here. Cassandra will reside with Sasante, and Josh, Helm, Lex and Affinity will go with Merhun. Which only leaves little Vella. What will you do?”

“Man on Mountain,” she grinned.

“Bugger me,” Cassandra said. “She knows him too.”

“Red juice,” Vella said, rubbing her stomach and licking her lips.

“Clay was right, and I feel Affinity bears some responsibility as well,” Adamant said. “While I have never seen eye-to-eye with the other guilds, and while I have fought my greed to stop The Reavers from becoming like them, I can say this, Josh. Affinity is loyal to her master. Loyalty is everything in the Hangsane. I would have her on my team in an instant were she to switch sides. You should cherish her companionship.”

“Clay was right about what?” Josh asked, ignoring all else.

“Perhaps you should tell them. I would not want to plagiarize your report, Affinity.

Affinity blushed. “I don’t think my report should be of interest. It was simply observations of how they handled themselves with the goblins, trolls and later the city guard.”

“But it was that report which circulated in the upper circles of the Hangsane. Probably the same information that led to Hasul trying to eliminate them, and the irrepressible Rhina trying out her talents. What did it say? Merhun?”

“I have the entire text here,” Merhun said. A scroll appeared in his hand. “Shall I read it?”

Affinity snatched it from him. “No need.”

“What does it say, Affinity?” Cassandra asked, a ball of magic hatching around her staff.

“It says that you are a dysfunctional but highly capable group, and details your quite unique methodology, as well as your ability to think, plan and execute any given target no matter what. I even had my spies in Mythelore send me details of your work there, including the Leviathan takedown. Which I noted you planned meticulously over several days. There, that’s all you need to know.”

Adamant lifted his index finger, a rakish smile forming. “But it isn’t, is it? There are other points you make. One in particular interests me. It concerns your observations regarding a certain charismatic, ruggedly handsome, powerful leader who has a proven record of putting his own life on the line for women that clearly love him.”

Affinity stared at the Reavan leader, her tail swishing in annoyance. “When this is over, and if we are both standing, you are going to pay for that.” She swiveled around and rushed toward the garden’s exit. “I don’t care how long; I will have you for that!”

Adamant laughed. “It’s a great release, knowing you’re going to die. Suddenly, I don’t care who I upset.”

“Treasure the feeling,” Cassandra said. “But take note, they might all be queuing up to kill you when we all survive.”

“Then I gain everything and lose nothing because I don’t expect to survive anyway.”

Josh marched after the cat girl, catching up with her as she hurried down the road. “Hold on! Hold on!”

He grabbed her arm, but she shook him off. “Get off me!” Glaring at him, she made a whining noise, then: “Gah! What’s wrong with you people? How can you make light of all this? The Hangsane is imploding! Lux, Razor, Justin the White—they’re all gone—all of them! Can’t you see it? We’re next. All of us. The malignance…”

“Hold on! Calm!” He held her. She struggled, but Josh used his formidable strength to restrain her. “Don’t!” he said.

“I’m not one of your girls. I’m not in your camp. Don’t tell me what to fucking do. You don’t own me! Wise up, Josh. This isn’t some monster take down. This is it. This is the end.”

“No! No, it’s not. Not all the while we have a breath in us. We can beat it. I don’t know how, yet.”

Her face reddened. “That! That’s just it. That blind faith you have—all of you. How? You claim to know what we’re up against, but you can’t know. The guardians were the closest to it, and they failed. What, Josh, what makes you think you can do anything? I don’t get it. I don’t get it at all.”

“Because you don’t know my story,” he said. “Because no one here knows it. That’s why.”

“Then tell me.”

He grinned, shaking his head. “That’s just it. That’s the problem. To tell you, I have to trust you. If I tell you my story and you double-cross me, then I put everyone who loves me in jeopardy.”

She looked away, her ragged breaths softening. “You have to trust me. I’m here. I’m with you to the end.” She looked up, staring into his eyes. “I have no other agenda. Survival is all I crave.”

“Why?”

“Can I just say that I think I might have found something, and I’m sure I don’t want to let it go?”

Josh bit his lip. In his heart of hearts, he wanted to trust her, but could he afford to? “You’re with us to the end?”

“I swear.”

“Then we must find an inn. This is not the type of story I can tell without some ale.”

She took his hand. “Then let’s find an inn. I have some gold, and we have the freedom of the city. But I swear to you, Josh, whatever you tell me stays with me. It stays with me until the day I die.”

“That is the point.”

“The point?”

“The point of everything. We have to extend that as long as possible.”

“Why?”

He grinned. “To have some fun. Why else?”

He sat back, staring up at the trellis, the vines wrapped around, ruby grapes hanging in bunches. He held his glass, the wine darker than the grape it came from. Josh preferred ale, but the inn, the elegant terrace, and the band’s gentle music demanded something more refined. Birdsong broke the silence between them, the colorful creatures pecking crumbs from the marble floor. Every time he’d told his story to one of his girls, a weight had lifted from his shoulders. This time was no different despite Affinity being just Affinity. He spared her no detail, telling her of his mundane life before the ring. The pursuit through space, and how the Grillons had crash-landed many years before he did. He talked about his meeting Arabella and Thadius by chance on the road to Elrima, and then he continued, all the way to the orc attack and their entry into the Hangsane. The rest she knew.

She soaked it all in, the carafe of wine diminishing rapidly. There was astonishment, a little laughter, gasps and head shaking. If she believed him, he couldn’t tell. He’d told his truth, and that was all that mattered. Josh sat, staring at the birds, marveling at their simple life as he realized how much he and his Misfits had achieved in such a short space of time.

“Remarkable, really,” he said.

“That you survived? That you made it through?”

“No.” He sipped his wine. “That we had fun along the way. That we had time to fall in love, and that our love grew stronger. That its power increased rather than buckle and break. Truly remarkable.”

“I agree,” she said, and drained her wine.

“I must sleep,” Josh said. “Recanting that tale always wears me out, and each time it gets longer. I must sleep and so must you.”

“You think I can sleep after you told me all that?”

“I think you must. I’ll not have any rash choices. I trust you Affinity. I trust you with my truths. Sleep on them before you make any decisions. If you are gone in the morning, I know I judged poorly.”

“And if not?”

“Then we start again. You are Salazar.” He grinned. “I’ll allow you to be a Misfit Associate.” He raised his finger when she tried to speak. “On probation, of course. You don’t get into a guild as prestigious as mine just by being pretty.”

She blushed. “Pretty?”

“That’s no secret.”

“No. But it is nice to hear it. Most don’t see past the Salazar connection. You’re right. I have some thinking to do. But I also have a question. Although, I don’t think I should ask it.”

“No secrets,” he reminded her.

“But this question sounds disingenuous now that I come to answer it.”

“But it will play on your mind if you don’t.”

“Very well.” She tipped up the carafe, but it was empty. “Dammit. Okay. Just how powerful can you get?”

“A good question. My power is mid three-hundreds without my suit. High with. I think I can look at doubling it, perhaps more with the suit. I think one million power is achievable.”

She covered her mouth. “One million?”

“Yes,” he said. “That is where I want to be. That gives me a chance.”

She stood. “I will do all I can to help you get there.” She pushed the table away and kneeled before him. “This I swear. I swear to help you in your quest to destroy the Emittance.”

“You are aware what will happen if we do that?”

“All power will stall.”

“Yes.”

She looked at him, her eyes wide. “Then that will make you a God.”

“Yes,” he said. “A God who demands peace upon pain of death.”

Chapter Twelve

Ten Days of Study

ELOWEN ROSE as the amber glint of morning sun spread through the narrow window of their lavish hotel room. The previous night had been one of utter exhaustion. Josh had returned from his chat with Affinity strangely subdued, and no amount of coaxing could get him to spill his troubles. Elowen had seen it before when Melody was giving him shit, or when Lex was remaining aloof. It was the conflict that lurked within him whenever he thought about taking another girl.

She could understand it. He didn’t want to spread himself too thin. But that wasn’t really a concern. He made them all feel special, and each had a voice at the table should they wish to express an opinion. So, unlike the previous night, they all went to sleep, and that was fine, too. Part of being in a settled relationship was those comfy nights. There was no need to force sex. She slipped out of bed, unable to contain herself any longer.

Melody lay spreadeagled on the bed next to her. She had one leg dangling over the bed’s edge and another above her shoot. Her hair covered her face and rose and fell with each breath. Elowen nudged her, but the trap smith just grunted, groaned and turned over, batting her away.

“Melody!” she whispered in her ear. “It’s morning.”

“It’s hardly morning. What’s wrong with you?” Cassandra said, waking and rising. She truly looked like a witch in the morning, her hair defying gravity as it stuck out in a multitude of angles. “Oh, yes, library.” She slumped back down. “Well, I am fortunate. Sasante is a witch, and witches don’t get up until lunchtime. We’re civilized like that. It’s all to do with the moon-work.”

“The what?” Elowen asked. While she was sure that moon-work was just a made-up word, she could never resist the opportunity to learn. That was something deep inside her, some unchained force she couldn’t tame.

“Moon-work—do I have to spell it out for you? Work for witches is spells, concoctions, hexes and the like. The moon is a big shiny thing that comes out at night to light things up. Moon-work combines the two and thus one can only do it at night. Therefore, we don’t get up until lunchtime. You want to know why?”

“I do.” There it was again. Her need to learn taking over from her commonsense. Because one thing was for sure. Cassandra’s answer wouldn’t be informative.

“Because there’s no such thing as fucking morning-work. Now be quiet!”

“But I’m not the one shouting,” Elowen pointed, drawing a grunt from Cassandra, who grabbed her pillow and covered her head with it.

“Melody!” Elowen whispered, but before Melody woke, there was a knock at the door.

Elowen dutifully answered it, smiling when she saw who it was. Asking the woman to come in, she grabbed Cassandra’s pillow. “Sasante is here. She mentioned something about morning-work.” Elowen shrugged. “You might want to learn what it is.”

“I hate you,” Cassandra spat.

“Hate is a bad word,” Arabella said, sitting up in bed, yawning and then spying Sasante. “Ah, we have guests. Cassandra, light the fire. Elowen, put the kettle on. “Sasante, have you eaten?”

“I have feasted on my master’s power this morning, yes,” she said, drawing her words out like they were much more important that anyone else’s words.

“All well and good, and quite the staple breakfast around here too, but you can’t beat a cup of tea and a bacon sandwich, so how about one of them?”

“I would like that,” she said. “I would like that a lot. Should I fetch breakfast from the inn?”

Arabella smirked. “We have a standing order. Adamant paid for the all-you-can-eat package. We eat a lot.” She pulled a rope by the bed and then dressed.

“Melody!” Elowen said. “Time to get up. The library opens in two hours.”

“Two hours?” Melody mumbled, glancing through slits. “Then I have another hour and a half left.”

“Not if you want to pick up your powders on the way through. The alchemist opens at sunrise and the apothecary ten or so minutes after. You can get making bombs.”

“Bombs!” Melody said, sitting upright, eyes wide. “Then what are we waiting for?”

Cassandra pulled her pants on. “Breakfast, apparently. But I do need food while I contemplate exactly how badly Sasante has let me down.”

“Why have I let you down?” Sasante’s crimson robe and mask were out of place among the partially naked misfits. The witch sighed and sat back, discarding the mask and setting it on the table. Her pale skin and sharp eyes lent her a foreboding look, and Elowen decided to keep quiet in case the witch turned her into a toad.

“I was just telling Elowen, our little think-tank, that witches got up late so we could do our moon-work.”

“Normal witches, yes. But I prefer the power of blood, and that runs finest in the morning, don’t you think?”

Cassandra scoffed, but then froze. “Blood-work?”

“Oh yes. Fill up on fluids. We’ve got some serious draining to do.”

Elowen chuckled inwardly, although with one look at the crimson witch, she decided she couldn’t really tell if the woman was being serious or not.

“Draining?” Cassandra questioned.

Unable to resist, Elowen finally butted in. “It’s important to learn every aspect of your trade. Think about it. If there was a life and death situation and all you had to do was drain a bit of blood and he’d be fine, wouldn’t you?”

Josh stirred, cupping his hands over his eyes to shield himself from the sun’s glare. “Well?” he asked. “We all want to know.”

Cassandra, never one to shy away from a challenge, did just that. “I’m sure you do,” she said and padded off toward the bathroom.

Lex rose, saying nothing at all but quickly dressing and sitting by the door, awaiting the delivery of their breakfast. She never shied away from her duty of protecting Josh. “When will we be leaving?”

“As soon as we’ve had breakfast.”

“Affinity?” Helm asked the question on Elowen’s lips and saved her the bother.

“She pledged eternal service to me last night. We’ll see what this morning’s like.”

“She’s a cat,” Melody scoffed. “If you have something she wants, then she’ll adore you just as long as you recognize she’s superior to you in every way, shape or form. If you don’t, it’s a raised tail and that one-eyed stare as she walks away.”

Elowen grinned. Melody’s humor was usually on point. “We shall go straight after breakfast. We only have ten days to read an entire library. It’s going to be heaven.”

“Ten days, provided I don’t blow it up. I need a field. Sasante, are there any fields in this…Just what the fuck is it? It’s not a castle.”

“It’s a folly,” Sasante replied. “Its origins lie deep under the earth. Some say it is an ancient dwarven edifice used to project sunlight into the bowels of the earth. They say the well in Adamant’s expansive gardens are, in fact, a system of mirrors designed to steal sunlight and power the machines under the world for all eternity. I have looked. I can see no such things.”

“Interesting,” Melody said, finally jumping out of bed, pulling her dungarees on, and hurrying into the bathroom. “Interesting.”

Lex let the waiters in, who spread the breakfasts on the table, then poured several cups of nettle tea before retiring. Just as she was about to close the door, Affinity slipped in. Elowen looked her up and down. She was perfect. Every single piece of her armor gleamed, and her hair and fur were pristine. She teased a whisker straight, and then bid everyone a good morning, her gaze settling on Josh. “When would you like to depart?”

“Just as soon as we’ve had breakfast and I’ve put some clothes on,” Josh said.

Josh slept naked. He always had. At first he’d attempted to cover himself when he got up, but as he’d got used to the girls, he’d lost the modesty he’d brought with him from his past life. So, when he jumped out of bed and walked to the bathroom without so much as a towel covering him, it didn’t surprise Elowen. She noted both Affinity and Sasante’s eyes following his butt as it vanished into the washroom. The cat girl even licked her lips.

Yes, she’s in heat…Elowen thought, her gaze flitting to Arabella.

“Glad you’re joining us,” Arabella said, as if reading Elowen’s mind.

“Who? Me?” Affinity asked.

“Yes. You.” Arabella sat at the table next to Affinity, just a nightshirt covering her shapely body. “We’ve all heard the story. You got the longest version yet—much longer than mine, but I still had my doubts once I’d heard it. You must have some. You could have run back to Clay.”

“But the story filled in all the blanks. The more I thought about it as I stared at my ceiling, the more everything fitted. Why? Did you assume I’d think him a liar?”

“Nope. I thought you might report back to your master and then, depending on what he ordered, either leave us, try to kill us, or start ordering us about like you owned us.”

“No. When I sent him a message last night, he said nothing like that.”

A flash of magic erupted from the washroom’s doorway. It surrounded Affinity in an instant, its vibrant yellow strapping her to her chair.

“My magic has evolved. I use differing colors for different tasks. Sunflower yellow is for when I’m in a good mood. If it turns black, then each rope will tighten until all that’s left of you is cauterized slices on the floor. Exactly what did you tell your master?”

Affinity closed her eyes, gritting her teeth against the pain. Arabella made to say something but thought better of it and sat back and watched. The cat girl raised her chin, her tail twitching behind her. “I told him he wasn’t my master anymore, and then I left Salazar. I cannot serve two masters.”

Silence filled the room, broken by a dull thud and then Josh cursing. “Fucking soap,” he said, then: “Shit!” He appeared in the doorway, blood streaming down one cheek with the other covered in lather. He pointed his knife at Affinity. “You did what?”

“I left Clay,” she said and shrugged. “I decided I’d rather serve a master who walks around without a stitch on and cuts himself while shaving. Clay simply can’t compete with such stupidity. You do realize that if you drop your knife like you just dropped the soap, you might cut your cock off?”

“Not a hope of that,” Josh said. “Knife’s not sharp enough.” He stepped back into the bathroom.

“This doesn’t mean you’re a Misfit,” Arabella said.

“I know,” Affinity replied. “But it must at least get me breakfast.”

Arabella pushed her a plate. “It does that.”

Affinity shrugged. “Then totally worth it. And no—I knew, and I’m happy being a free agent. I was in Salazar since I turned twelve. It’s time to feel freedom. I want to make my own choices without thinking about what’s best for the guild. I want to experience that freedom and see if I can survive. Does that sound weird?”

“No, it sounds normal. That’s why we discuss everything. Ultimately, it’s Josh’s choice, but he listens, and if we want, we contribute.”

Elowen joined them at the table. “I keep quiet unless it hits my field of expertise. It’s better that way. Books don’t always translate to real life.” Finally joining the conversation, she took a sandwich, lifting it up, bacon fat dripping from its edges. “Freedom is overrated. I like others to take the choice out of my hands sometimes. Thing is, I’d never have done half the things I’ve done here.”

“You,” Cassandra said, walking back in. It had only taken her moments to transform herself from a morning monster into a stunning young woman that would raise more than a smile from any man she walked past. “You are far too cautious. Sometimes you have to take the plunge and grab life by the horns and ride it.”

“Or,” said Melody. “Grab a horn and ride it.”

“Mels!” said Arabella. “Well, Affinity, you enjoy your newfound freedom.”

“Being guildless isn’t as much fun as you think,” Helm said. She, like Josh, slept naked. As she rose, her lilac skin added much needed color to the room. Elowen always found herself gawping at the drow. Her body, like Lex’s, was so toned that she doubted there was an ounce of fat on it. Even her back was defined with muscular lines. But it was her abs and groin muscles that always took Elowen’s breath away. So perfect in every way as they dove into her snow-white pubic hair. She couldn’t understand how the drow had been on her own for so long. “The days stretch. Plus, imagine having to constantly decide your own fate. Yes, it sounds liberating, but it’s fucking exhausting. I did it for far too long. Even going to the inn, I felt like an outcast. Since I joined this band of waifs and strays, I smile a lot more, laugh a lot more.”

“And fuck a lot more,” Melody said, drawing another look from Arabella. The trap smith ignored her. She’d known Arabella far too long to take note of her sometimes churlish ways. “Well, we do, Bels. You do. I do. Cassandra does. We all bang a hell of a lot more than most, even though he has all of us to satisfy.”

The last little bundle stirred. It was just a bump on the largest bed in the room and could have easily been mistaken for a twist of blankets or some discarded clothing. But as it squirmed, stretched and then wriggled, it slowly took the shape of a human. Vella’s head eventually popped out, and the elf immediately turned toward the table. She screwed her face up, then darted out of the bed, jumping over one, two, three others, springing and landing on the table. She scooped up a sandwich and then leapt into a chair.

“Morning,” she said, taking a huge bite from it and munching away.

Elowen often thought the elf was an enigma. So fragile looking, yet so powerful. So child-like, yet so wise. But she’d lately thought that Vella knew exactly what character she projected, and that she played an awful lot of people for, while not fools, something close. “Pawns,” Elowen said, as her mind found the right word.

Fortunately, everyone was used to her saying random things as they occurred to her and took no note. Then she remembered why she’d woken so early, and she munched her breakfast quickly, pushing the empty plate away and hurrying to the washroom.

“She’s just remembered she gets to spend the next ten days studying,” Cassandra said, taking her place at the table.

Elowen didn’t care. The thought of a guild’s whole library laid forth before her was almost too much to bear. Had she been alone and not with Melody, she doubted she’d have come out until the evening of day ten. Melody, though, would make sure she ate and slept and got some sunlight.

She needed a backpack. If Melody was going to drag her away to test some of her creations, then she’d need to take some books with her. Ten days suddenly didn’t seem so long. She scrubbed her face, brushed her teeth and tied her hair back. Once dressed, she headed to the door, only for Melody to clear her throat and say, “Els, have you forgotten something?”

Elowen checked herself. She had her satchel. Her empty rucksack. She’d packed her paper, pencil, her glasses and her notebook. Checking her feet, she sighed. “Boots,” she said. “Thanks, Mels.”

“Not just boots. You haven’t said goodbye to anyone, and…I’m coming with you!”

“Oh, yeah. Sorry. Forgot.” She grabbed her boots, slipping them on and standing by the door. “Bye everyone. Well?”

Melody rolled her eyes. “Really?”

Elowen barely contained her rising anger. “Melody! We’ve only got ten days, and we’ve got to go shopping first.”

Melody turned to the others, rolling her eyes. “I hope you’re all happy. Look what I have to put up with!”

Elowen poked her tongue out. She didn’t really mind. Deep down, Melody was as driven as she was. Once she got into it all, the trap smith would work through the night.

Perhaps it will be up to me to drag her away from her work…

Chapter Thirteen

Ten Days of Magic

CASSANDRA STOOD. She could feel none of Elowen’s enthusiasm for studying. While she wanted to learn Sasante’s slant on magic, the thought of spending ten days in a stranger’s company was about as horrific as it got. She’d been okay with the idea at first, but as the intricacies of the upcoming interactions became apparent to her, so her horror grew.

I’ll have to make small talk. Fuck that.

The others were okay. They could still lean on each other to get through. She was all alone, separated from her pack. The one thing she hated more than anything else about her previous life was silence. Before she’d met Josh and Arabella, she’d gone days without speaking. When she went out into Elrima, her voice would be hoarse within minutes, so unused to speaking it lacked the oil of gossip-lubrication. Since then, she’d slowly integrated. Sure, she’d relied on wit and sarcasm at first, but slowly, as her self-confidence grew, the need to take aim at people all the time had abated.

Still, she did enjoy a good crack. Looking at Sasante, those were likely to be few and far between over the coming days. She decided to put an end to that. “I think we should get most of our business wrapped up today. I doubt there’s too much we could teach each other.”

I mean, it’s divining the future and the past—that’s all just guesswork, isn’t it?

“I doubt you can learn what I will teach you in a day. But we can try if you wish,” Sasante said. “It will be the practice that decides.”

Cassandra furrowed her brow. “Practice?”

“Divining the future is harder the further or closer you delve into it. What I propose to teach you is divining the immediate future—the future that lies moments before you. That is not only hard, but intensely draining. However, if mastered—something I tell you is beyond me or any in my order—you will be unstoppable.”

“Divining the immediate future?” Cassandra said. “What’s the point of that?”

Sasante laughed. “You will know precisely what your enemy is about to do and when. How will they ever beat you?”

Cassandra dropped the remnants of her sandwich. “When do we start?”

Sasante dipped her head demurely. “Take note. I have told you the goal, but the path is not easy. From what I’ve heard, your power comes to you, opening like a flower welcoming the sun. This will be like rinsing blood from a stone.”

Cassandra dismissed her concerns. “Then that is what we will do. But tell me, why do you think I can do it when you and your sisters cannot?”

“You are the Harmonic. You can access all disciplines.”

“Then what are we waiting for?” Cassandra asked.

Sasante rose, moving to the door and opening it. “I bid you all a great day.”

Cassandra followed her, pausing in the doorway. “When I get back, I’ll be able to tell you if you’re going to have a good day or not. Josh, one word of warning. In ten days, I’m going to jump you to within an inch of your life, and I don’t need a crystal ball to foresee that.”

She closed the door, giggling to herself. “Where too?”

“The forest of Eden. We go up, then through, and then we are there.”

“Up and through?” Cassandra queried.

“You will see.”

They climbed the rising path, as they had the day before, and they came to the archway leading to Adamant’s garden. Sasante skirted the garden’s edge, hugging a marble wall until she came to a much smaller gateway. A narrow path led under it, and when Sasante opened it, a dark stone passageway appeared. The crimson witch breezed through it, needing no light to guide her. Casandra wasn’t so confident, conjuring a tiny light ball. The absence of marble and cedar was alien to her at first. The City of Shadows had ingrained its color in her, but as she looked down, she noticed her shadow no longer lay in front of her. She stopped. “Have we left the city?”

“In a way, yes. The sisters find its power confuses theirs, so we found a place and called it Eden. It is a foundation, a place attached to Shadows, but not quite simultaneously. Think of it as a mythical floating island attached by an ethereal umbilical cord.”

“Comforting,” Cassandra said. “I take it this Forest of Eden has all the comforts associated with a city like Shadows.”

“It does not.”

“A bed, then.”

“That we can provide.”

Cassandra paused, wondering whether to turn back, but the prize at the end was too tempting. If she could learn it; if she could anticipate an enemy’s movements, then it could be the difference between success or failure—survival or death.

She inhaled, willing to take one for the cause. Then, with her chin raised and shoulders back, she marched after Sasante. The passageway opened to a dark forest, devoid of life, a large moon overhead and a silver path threading through it. She followed, her head down and her determination to see her task through firmly in place. They came to a large lake, several huts in a line along its bank, a fire blazing close to the water’s edge. Sasante removed her mask again, and this time took off her cloak. She wore pants and a black blouse under, looking more like a huntress than a witch.

“Welcome to our refuge. It is our home away from home. All of us work in the city but find the respite here much more to our taste. Believe it or not, the mana is strong here. Little feeds off it—just us and our familiars.”

A raven flew down, resting on her shoulder as if her words had drawn it into place. Cassandra counted four other women, and Sasante introduced each: a hag named Waylin, two black-haired witches who could have easily been twins, she named Yesel and Geffin. Lastly, a single female sat by the lake, fishing rod in hand. Sasante named her Skaw, and she barely turned, instead waved as she focused on her rod.

Sasante bid Cassandra sit by the fire, then explained the basics of her blood magic. The blood, she told the Harmonic, was merely a flux that oiled the partitions between past and future events. The past stretched away, like volumes stacked on a library shelf, while the future was an endless number of scrolls awaiting their seals broken.

When one looked at the past, one merely selected a book and opened it. The relevant memory would be there. Likewise, the future would present when a scroll opened. The trick was knowing where you pulled from.

“So, your vision of Lux,” Casandra said. “How do you know if it’s from the past or future?”

“The smell,” she said. “I could smell its age. I cannot choose where I pick from, Cassandra. The memories or prophecies choose me. The past is a lot easier than the future because it only has one possibility. It has happened. The event is solid. The future, on the other hand, has countless scrolls for each thing that could be. But and this is the trick, there is a path.”

“A path?” Cassandra asked.

“Yes. If all things remain the same, then the path is set. So, today. I will instruct you on how we bring visions to us. That path is set, but a few things could change that. A ravager might come, for instance, and it might rip my head off. Then you will open a whole alternative path of scrolls with countless possibilities. So, as you can see. A path is set.”

“How does that help me in a fight?”

“Simple. The future is a series of options. Each option has a scroll. If you could see them all at once, then you should be able to pick the most likely. If you practice enough, your instinct will guide you. It will tell you which your target will take.”

“But first I have to see the future.”

“First you see that. But visions of the future open memories from the past. Some you long buried will come back to haunt you. So, if you have lost anything that should remain so, now is the time to withdraw, and we will tell the others the discipline did not suit you.”

Cassandra laughed. “Oh, don’t you worry. I remember every damn thing about my miserable existence before I met Josh. There’s no secret surrounding me. My parents aren’t royalty, and nor are they powerful demonic entities. So, what do I do? Sit and look like I’m about to fart hard?”

“You could, but that wouldn’t conjure much. No, we need to open your mind. We need to remove the exact skepticism that you have just shown. The only way is to free your mind.”

Three of the others joined them, just Waylin, Yesel and Geffin. They sat close to Cassandra, holding hands. At first, Cassandra tried to withdraw from the crescent, but Yesel and Geffin held her tightly, turning her wrists upward. Waylin held a bowl, as did Sasante.

“What’s next?” Cassandra asked.

Quick as a flash, the Raven swooped and pecked at one of her wrists and then the other. Blood fountained up, and Waylin and Sasante held their bowls under, catching Cassandra’s blood as it slowly filled the bowls. Cassandra’s head became light, her vision blurring as the fire’s flames grew, dancing, gyrating.

“I don’t feel so good.”

Yesel said something, and Geffin muttered the same, and the Raven’s puncture wounds vanished.

Both Waylin and Sasante added powders to Cassandra’s blood, mixing it, then setting the bowls in the fire. The flames turned green, sparks climbing into the moonlit sky. Then the fifth witch appeared, walking through the fire, crouching in its flames and scooping up the two bowls. Two became one, the mixture frothing, and Skaw offered it to Cassandra.

It was then she fully noticed Skaw. The witch had tanned skin, and white hair, as spikey as an elf’s. Several necklaces adorned her neck, and bracelets dangled from her wrists. She offered it again, but Cassandra hesitated, and so she pulled the bowl back to her, the flames reaching her shoulders, but not burning her.

“Don’t fret,” she said, and drank from the bowl, her chin crimson with Cassandra’s blood. “I won’t let you walk alone the first time. That would ask too much.”

She offered the half full bowl to Cassandra, who took it, reassured that she would have a companion. She drank, the foul mixture bitter, the powders and blood fighting for dominance.

“Drink it all,” Skaw said, pushing the bowl up.

When Cassandra drank it all, Skaw took the bowl, discarding it in the flames. She offered Cassandra her hand. “Come, come walk the future with me.”

Cassandra rose, the strange witch mesmerizing her, her eyes like pathways to opportunities. She desperately wanted to walk them, to see the outcome of their endeavors, but she feared them, too. “Will they be good?” she asked.

“They will be possibilities. They can be both good and bad, or they can be of no interest at all.”

The Everdeep Witch picked up her staff, but Skaw told her to leave it behind. “It is no use where we are going,” and so she led Cassandra further into the flames.

They came to a place, a dusty place of shelves laden with scrolls. They stacked from the floor upward to infinity and reached the horizon. “These are possibilities,” Skaw said. “Pick one.”

Cassandra chose one and handed it to Skaw, but the witch shook her head. “It is your future. Open it.”

As she broke the seal and unrolled the scroll, the shelves vanished, and a scene resolved in front of her. She stood before a huge beast. It resembled Josh when in his equipment, but so much bigger—twice, three times the size, and black. Where its eyes should have been was a long blue stripe, lights moving across then back in an endless cycle. Where its hands should have been were metal claws, and they held up Josh’s broken body.

Blood poured from his mouth, his throat, his chest and groin. His legs were bloodied stumps and his fingerless hands dangled from broken arms. The machine tossed his corpse away, and it landed on a pile of nine others. There was Arabella, her lifeless eyes staring out. Melody, her goggles down, the rest of her head caved in, her hand poked out, and Elowen lay by her side. Lex lay over Melody, a metal shard splitting her back in two. Helm lay across her, her face paled than usual, violet blood dripping from her mouth. Affinity was near the top, her skin near flayed from her body, and then she lay, piled atop with Vella. More blood than skin coated their shattered bodies.

Cassandra screamed, backing away. Skaw held her. “No!” She pulled her back. “It is a possibility. Study it. Study your enemy.”

Cassandra stared at the beast, the creature, the…thing. It was indestructible. A force many times more powerful than Josh. It would have all his resistances but magnified by ten, twenty…more? How could she hope to beat it? How? Vella lay bent and broken, the Mystic Syphon defeated. She lay there; her face contorted with the pain she must have experienced before death. The girls, the rest of the girls, all shattered, mere husks of what they once were. But worse, worse than all of that, the being carried Josh’s corpse like it had respect for him. It set him down atop the pile and backed away, and then it held up Josh’s severed hand, pulling the ring off his finger and holding it up like a trophy—like the ultimate prize.

It slid the ring on its finger, the black band growing to accommodate the beast’s size. Cassandra watched as it jerked and spasmed, static power snapping from it as its body shattered, only for a new, more fearsome being to emerge. She knew then, she understood, that if they were to fail, they would unleash something even more sinister upon the world. That, with their passing and the capture of Josh’s ring, not only would they lose, but the land would cease to be.

The creature would erase every single living being.

She stood there momentarily. Then she backed away, distancing herself from the vision.

“I can’t. I’m sorry. I just can’t.” Tears filled her eyes as fear took over. “I can’t. You’ve got the wrong person.”

Cassandra fled. She raced into the recesses of her psyche and she hid deep inside herself. She returned to a place she used to frequent, all those months ago. That time when she was alone.

The life before him.

Chapter Fourteen

Ten Days of Training

MERHUN WALKED a few yards ahead of them as they came to the bridge taking them away from the City of Shadows. Josh lingered on the edge, watching his shadow flit about as he walked from the enchantment’s influence. “I can’t see the point,” he finally said causing Merhun to pause.

“The point?”

“Yes. The point of the Shadows’ charm. I can’t see what purpose it serves.”

Merhun shrugged. “It gets us where we wish to go the fastest way. It has always been that way.”

“So, the Reavers don’t maintain the charm?”

“Maintain it? It is beyond our magic. Our witches and sorcerers have some theories about its origins—some even claim involvement. But while we named the city after the phenomenon, and claim it as ours, deep down we know it is not our doing.”

“If not you, then who?”

“We assume it’s something to do with Feleesh, but to be honest, as it’s beyond our comprehension, we simply enjoyed its quirks.”

Josh swapped glances with Arabella but wished that Elowen was there. She wouldn’t rest until she’d thought of theories that fit. “So, it originates in Feleesh,” he mused, crossing the bridge after Merhun. “The question should be, what did the karvels and the dwarves need the shadows for?”

“Do you always do that?” Affinity asked.

“What?”

“Talk to yourself.”

“I do when I’m trying to figure something out. I’ll be honest with you, it’s not my forte, and since I’ve had the girls, we all figure out stuff together.”

“So, try me. What are we trying to figure out?”

“Why the shadows always point in the direction you wish to go.”

“Navigation,” Lex said from behind. “Think about it. Feleesh is underground. Let’s assume it’s a maze of interconnected tunnels and caverns. Easy to get lost, no?”

“Very,” Josh said. “I remember getting disoriented when we were in the goblin caves. I can’t imagine what it would be like if the rock formed the city and wasn’t lying at the bottom of a vast cavern.”

“Then the charm wouldn’t just be useful, it would damn near be a necessity,” Lex said.

“Plus,” Helm added. “The underground would be dimly lit. Creatures used to living in the dark are sensitive to light. That’s why they use luminous mosses and toadstools. Their light is subtle. My point is this. Any shadow stands out. If a karvel wanted to travel to an unfamiliar dwarven quarter, then his shadow would guide him. I know I could have used it back in Telemar.”

Josh pursed his lips. “Makes sense. Makes total sense. But how powerful can a charm be to still exist after all this time?”

“I have no magic,” Affinity said. “I can’t answer that.”

“But I’m pretty sure it must be powerful,” Arabella said.

Vella grabbed Josh’s hand. “No, not powerful. Power doesn’t make the spell long. Fireball powerful. Over in a flash. No. Need a mana source. If spell has a mana source, then spell can last forever.” She yanked Josh’s hand. “Spells double trouble for us.”

“Why?”

“If that spell’s working, what about all the others? If they are all working, will the big machines be?”

Josh wished he’d never questioned it. The real possibility that Feleesh was a living, breathing city had suddenly become a reality. “I wonder if there are still karvels and dwarves there.”

“No,” Merhun said. “Some texts detail theories about their demise. Some talk of divide and war. Others that they built our city and fled from a portal at its top.”

“So, Shadows could be a vast antenna,” Josh mused. “Not sure that helps us at all.”

“But it doesn’t hurt,” Vella said. “Feleesh is the prize. We’ll find what we need there.”

Josh scoffed. “I wish I had your confidence.”

“You don’t need it. You have me.” She beamed up at him as they left the bridge and entered the dark forest on its other side.

The chill of darkness bit him. He hadn’t appreciated the heat radiating from the marble, warmed him so. Devoid of that, he shivered, but power immediately washed over him, Vella beaming. Her energy put a spring in his step. “I’m imagining we’ll face twenty-foot-high death ray machines capable of vaporizing us with one strike. But somehow I’m optimistic about our chances. Must be that we’re on our way to learn a bit of Kung Fu.”

“What is Kung Fu?” Affinity asked.

“Don’t humor him,” Arabella said. “He’ll tell you it’s something he watched during his previous life and then subject you to a detailed story about it until your eyes get heavy and you fall asleep. I’ve endured a few.”

“And loved all of them,” Josh pointed out.

“I’m not sure you understand what endured means,” Arabella said as Merhun took a narrow fork and climbed.

“You’ll not have to endure the forest for long. The Man on the Mountain lives in a secluded valley. It escapes the harshest weather and is like an oasis in this otherwise colorless part of the Hangsane,” Merhun stated, his steps becoming more purposeful.

“Don’t tell me,” Arabella said. “Another charm.”

They reached the top of a rise, then proceeded down the other side. While the dark, featureless trees obscured his view, the forest felt different. Then green dotted his view, tufts of grass dotting the ground, growing larger. Warmth flooded through him, but this time it didn’t come from Vella. It came from all around. Sunlight shone down, piercing the coniferous forest which slowly filled with undergrowth. As Josh marveled at the change, they came to the edge of the forest, a glade falling away, and there, as Merhun had said, was an oasis of green surrounded by the dark forest.

Birdsong filled the air as they waded through knee-high grass. Arabella pointed to a lake nestled between palm trees, its stoney shore peppered with sand. She spun, her face upturned to the warm sun. “What a difference,” she said. “I suddenly feel great—like a huge oppression has lifted from me.”

“Mana,” Vella said. “There is a mana spring close. It affects all. That is why this place is different. Man on the Mountain chooses well. Eats fishes. You’ll see.” She skipped ahead, running through the grass like a child chasing a butterfly.

“She knows way too much for someone so small and innocent,” Affinity said.

“I’m not sure that she’s innocent. I think she doesn’t let evil affect her. It’s like by ignoring it, it has no hold over her.” Josh paused. “How did Clay take it?”

“Clay?”

“You left Salazar. He can’t have taken that well.”

“No,” she said. “I may well pay for that betrayal. But I learned a long time ago that I have to be true to myself above all others. He knew the risks, yet he still sent me.”

“The risks?”

“Sending me with Pec and Flick. It was always a risk. They are Magicals. In Salazar, I lived and breathed all to do with our guild. To send anyone on a mission that removes them from their doctrine is always a risk, but none of us expected this.”

“That you would leave Salazar?”

“No,” she said, looking away. “Not that. Not that at all.”

“Then what?”

“That I would become so focused on the target. That I would believe in him and his mission.”

“Me?”

“Yes,” she said, and hurried after Merhun, quickly engaging him in deep conversation.

“You asked for that,” Arabella said.

“I know. But we can’t trust that it isn’t all words. It could be a ploy to keep close to us. Her words have got her here.”

Arabella frowned. “I don’t think so. There are two smart moves here—if the Emittance is spreading like you and Vella think—like Adamant confirms. The first is to run. If you’re powerful enough, what’s stopping you from getting on a boat and crossing the sea, or traveling farther south, beyond the Hangsane? Running is an option.”

“What’s the second?”

“Stand and fight. Hope to gain enough power to win. She’s taken the second option because the third is bullshit.”

Josh chuckled. “Bullshit?”

“Manipulate someone into doing your dirty work for you. Being like Clay. Think about it. Rather than face what The guardians did, he’s sending us. What kind of cowardice is that?” Venom filled Arabella’s words. “It’s more of the same. It’s just like Mythelore.”

“How so?”

“They did it. All of them. They let us face the Leviathan, the lizardmen. They let us face the spiders. Not once did someone raise an army and try to help us.”

Josh pulled her close. “Perhaps we’re the problem. Maybe we take on too much? But you need to hear about Kung Fu.”

“No, I do not!” Arabella said, but then relented. “You have until we get to that house to tell me.” She pointed to a small, but ornate-looking cluster of dwellings that dotted the lake’s banks. Each appeared delicate, like it could barely stand a good storm, and a red-tiled roof with ridges that turned upward at the end dominated their look. Josh had to admit that they would have looked at home in a Kung Fu film.

“Well, imagine a man who could fight so well he could take on twenty men and kill them all with his bare hands and feet. Then you have the makings of a Kung Fu movie.”

She pulled him close. “I actually like it when you tell me stories, despite what I say. Never stop.”

Josh told her all about the martial art as they picked up a winding mud path that led straight to a cluster of buildings. Then, as they neared, the path threaded between them to a central patch of bare and hardened mud. A well stood in its center, red brick forming its cylindrical base with two big wooden uprights holding up a roof the same red-tiled shape as the others. A cylindrical beam held up a bucket, and a man held the handle at its end.

“Welcome, Merhun. What brings you and your friends to my humble village?” The man was of medium build. He wore a royal blue gown with white stitching that matched his cropped hair. His sun and wind weathered skin had a darker hue than Merhun’s.

“Adamant requests you train them.”

“Adamant is not my master.”

“They seek to unravel the mysteries of Feleesh.”

“Then they are fools.”

“They must counter the Emittance’s expansion.”

“Then they are dead fools.”

“Nevertheless…”

“But,” the man said. “They have a prize, and that prize brought this place prosperity. Vella, my child, the sun always shines where you tread.”

“Not true,” Vella said, running up to the well, pulling herself onto its parapet and diving in.

“Vella!” Josh cried, racing toward the well.

The man appeared in front of him, blocking his path before he could gather speed. Josh grabbed his robe, ready to toss him out of the way. But somehow the man turned Josh’s strength around, and he tumbled to the ground, the man standing over him.

“Strength comes from one’s roots. A man is only as strong as his stance. This you must always remember when going against a being that is much stronger than you are.” He leaned down, offering his hand. But even as he did so, he placed his feet, his back straight and knees bent, ready for Josh to pull him over. “My name is Graystock. They call me the Man on the Mountain. You may call me Graystock. It is her well. She made it. Do not fear where she goes. There are few things about this place that she does not understand.”

“What is it?”

“Water,” Vella said, climbing back over the parapet. “It is water filled with power. It comes from the source and feeds this place.”

Graystock bowed. “The little one is right. To bathe in the lake is to be rejuvenated. To drink its water is to be filled with power. There is not enough time in the land for me to ready you for your trial, but I will do my best. How long?”

“Ten days,” said Merhun. “I will come for them in ten days.”

“Then we should start.” He clapped his hands as the Reavan turned and began his walk home. “First, we eat. I have no doubt poison fills your bodies. We must first rid you of that. Do not stop my servants. Do not resist. We must cleanse you else you taint this place.” A dozen men and women emerged from the huts, surrounding them and removing all their clothes. Graystock strolled toward the lake. “Do not hold back. Run! Run into the water for there and only there can your journey begin.”

Vella pulled off her two-piece, racing past all of them and splashing into the lake.

“Well,” Josh said to a naked and clearly embarrassed Affinity. “If you can’t beat them, join them.” He didn’t wait for a reply. Instead, he rushed in, chasing after Vella, who’d already swam to the lake’s middle.

The moment he dove into the water, its power hit him, folding around him like a warm scarf. He ducked under the surprisingly buoyant water, diving for the lake’s bottom. Crags and cervices dropped away to a vast, circular hole that led ever down. A gentle flow came from the chasm, adding to his growing feeling of weightlessness. He gave up, letting the languid current carry him back to the surface. Arabella lay on her back, staring up at the sun.

“This feels so damn good,” she said, making a star shape, her breasts two islands.

Even Affinity had mellowed, her embarrassed expression from moments ago lost to the lake’s wonder. “I feel so full of energy,” she said. “My back feels good. I feel good—better than I have in a long time.”

Lex swam by, her ebony body cutting through the water as she swam for the far shore.

Helm beamed, her usual demure expression cast away. “I’m going to see how far I can dive.” She vanished under the surface, her feet kicking at the air until she vanished.

“Why do I feel this is the calm before the storm?” Arabella asked.

Vella surfaced right by her, shooting a spout of water into her face, laughing and diving back under.

“Does it matter?” Josh asked. “We should focus on enjoying it for what it is.” He dove after Vella, the pale elf swimming down into the chasm.

Josh clawed at the crags, using them to power himself down. The water grew colder, but he focused on his goal of catching Vella. The chasm quickly surrounded him. He carried on, knowing he had air in his storage, but not particularly wanting to stretch things that far. Then Vella dove to one side, into a lateral tunnel. Josh hesitated but knew the elf wouldn’t lead him into any danger. Ducking into it, he quickly surfaced in a small cave. Vella sat on a rock ledge, her feet dangling into the water.

“I like this place,” she said, as Josh trod water.

“It’s…” He could barely think of a response. “Small?”

“Secret,” she said. “You wonder how I know everyone. I should tell you.”

“You don’t have to,” he said, pulling himself out and swiveling around. “But it would help if there were no more surprises.”

“It’s simple,” she said, fixing on the craggy wall opposite. “I was looking for you.”

“For me? Here?” He laughed. “Why would I be here?”

She screwed her face up, then slapped him. “Not here. Thought Adamant might be Herald, so I visited him. The Man on the Mountain—nope. Clay, no. Lux, definitely not. Even Thadius Extrael—Monster Hunter Extraordinaire—nope. Kept looking. Kept returning to Mythelore—To Elrima. But I couldn’t find you. Think you were close by for a long time.”

“You think I was in my capsule for a while?”

“Yes. I could feel you close, but I couldn’t find you. Thought I’d got it wrong, so I looked everywhere else.”

“What’s the Emittance like?”

“Evil.”

“Just evil?”

“Yes. You have the same power. But the power hasn’t corrupted you. Lex has similar. She must use it, and if it corrupts her, you must kill her.”

Josh’s heart skipped a beat. “Kill her?”

“Yes. But she will be loyal. She must swear the stone to serve you. It’s how they do it. It’s how Lux serves them. Helm must swear the Angel Stone. Lex must swear the Warrior Stone. Here.” She stabbed her finger down.

“Right here?”

“No, in this lake. The water will help. It scrubs the evil away. It will help them with their battle.”

“Their battle?” Josh asked.

“Their stones will want to fight you. They’ll want you to follow them. Must do it here. Only here can you hope to fight if they turn.”

“Why? Why only here?”

“Because Graystock is good—very, very good. If Lex controls the stone, then he can teach her fast.”

“So, these ten days aren’t about you, me and Arabella?”

“No. About them. Then there are five of us who can fight the Emittance.”

“What about Arabella, Melody and Elowen?”

“They will help, but if they get too close, they will die.” She jumped up, bending, pecking him on the cheek and then diving into the water.

Josh remained in the grotto for a few moments. He understood her more now, but there was still a mystery there. He was the Herald. Was it truly his task to announce the Chosen One’s plans? In the most literal sense, that was what the word meant. But could it refer to something else on this occasion? Could it me one who comes before? Had he arrived before the Grillons? Was his landing an announcement that great evil would follow? Or was his awakening that herald?

What about Lex and Helm? He knew both would die for him, just as he would die for them. But could they battle the mind control of the Gillon tech? Lux clearly hadn’t been able to. But of all the party, they were the most headstrong. Lex had singular purpose, and that was Josh’s safety. Helm was similar. Since bonding with him, since making love to him, he was her entire focus.

If any could withstand the pressures of the Grillon tech, it would be them.

He dove in. There was no point in delaying. He had to know.

Chapter Fifteen

THE LIBRARY LOOMED large before Melody and Elowen. The latter raced up its marble steps while the former lugged her heavy bag up. Melody had stocked up on everything she could imagine she’d need for a day of intense mixing. The alchemist had, of course, offered her his facilities. Apparently, the opportunity to work with the fantastic Melody Delaney was not something to be missed. Melody was pretty bemused the alchemist had known her name. But it smoothed the transaction, and when he announced that all was free, courtesy of Adamant, Melody had scribbled another list and told him she’d be back at the same time the next day.

“Hold on!” she cried, scrambling up the steps, careful not to break any of the jars in her pack. “Who’s that?”

“I,” the masked figure at the top said, “am the chief librarian of this place.” He looked Melody up and down. “A place of reading.”

Elowen beamed, as if the man were sunshine and she was a flower. “I’ll be quiet as a mouse.”

“Yeah, but I need a place to work, and Adamant said we could stick together. So, I come with the mouse. We’ll need a private room, a bowl, some water and a window that opens. That too much trouble, or do I open a portal into your boss’s back garden and tell him you’re being difficult?”

“No, there’s no need for that. I have my instructions. They are quite clear.” The stiffness fled him. “If your efforts save this place, and I contributed to it, then any upheaval would be worth it.”

“And you get to miss being a mindless zombie.”

“And that,” the librarian said, sweeping his arm back and bidding them in.

Melody gave him a look as she entered. It was strange how people faced imminent extinction. The librarian was clinging to his position, where she would have either fought or run. There were only two options. She remembered the day the lizardmen had invaded her village. Some villagers had run straight to the defense of others, while others had run in the opposite direction. But a few had stood their ground, berated the invaders and told them to begone. The lizardmen had cut them down without a second thought, of course. But the self-important attitude had confused her. She wondered if that was how Lux, the guardians and the paladin had fallen.

Led through the marble halls, in between ranks of bookcases towering to the ceiling, the librarian took them to a long but narrow room complete with trestle tables, a sink trough and several masked figures. “These ladies have volunteered to help you. They can fetch books, mix powders or provide you with food. Anything—if you need anything, you ask them. Nothing will be too much trouble, and I assure you of our complete discretion.”

Elowen wasted no time. “Fetch all books on Feleesh, karvels and dwarves. Focus mainly on traps, machines and any focusing on artificers.” She placed her hands on her hips. “And I mean every book.” She clapped her hands, then assessed the room. “Mels, you take the table by the window. I’ll take the one closest to the door. Once I have my books, you can have the…What do we call them? I don’t like servants.”

“Runners,” Melody said, setting up her vials, her pots, pestles, mortars and burners. “I have everything I need, barring one thing.”

The librarian hovered in the doorway. “Then they will fetch it.”

“Do they even know what dirty potatoes are?”

“Dirty potatoes?” the librarian asked.

“Fried potatoes with melted cheese, peppers, onions, bacon and just about everything else on it.”

“I am pretty sure if you give them a recipe, the chef can cook it.”

“You know, I think we’re going to get along famously.”

Cassandra gasped, tearing herself from her latest vision. Skaw pressed a damp cloth onto her forehead. The battle had been closer. At least this time, their corpses lay scattered across a wider expanse, not just piled in a heap like trash. But they’d still lost. The enormous creature had ripped Josh’s hand off, then tossed his body away like it meant nothing.

“It hasn’t got one. It hasn’t got a weak spot. Why? Why does it keep showing me the same scene over and over?”

“Because you can only take scrolls from your future. If you haven’t got a future beyond that point, then you cannot see it.” Skaw sat on the edge of the bed, her concern clear. “You should call it a day. You have suffered enough.”

“No. I need to look.”

“But if nothing alters that significantly changes the probable outcomes in your future, you will just see this scene over and over.”

“But it is changing, just not enough.”

“Perhaps that is simply your extra knowledge making the final battle longer? Maybe your ability to move your far-sight nearer to the current time will improve your chances in the future.”

“But how can I do that?”

Skaw shrugged. “You must use your inner power. You are a harmonic. You can control the earth, the air, the wind and the rain. Don’t tell me you can’t see your future—one where you live.”

Cassandra entered the vast room again, this time grabbing the first scroll. The vision came to her instantly, and in it she cried uncontrollably, sobbing as if her very world had ended. Everything was the same. Everyone died, ripped apart by the Grillon warrior. She grabbed another. This time, no vision came. At least, that’s what she thought. She sat exactly where she was, by the fire, in the strange witch world. Except the fire was out, and she was alone. She blinked, and the vision vanished.

“I can’t focus anymore,” she said.

“Why?” Skaw asked.

“Because the vision left me.”

Sasante came and sat by her, offering her a bowl of steaming soup. “Drink. You’ve been at it too long. Witnessing your death over and over has drained you. Sit, relax, clear your mind. How far in advance do you think the last vision was?”

“Not sure,” Cassandra said. “I was sitting here, but I was on my own. The fire was out.” She stared at Sasante. “No one was here.”

“So, a few hours, maybe more. This is good. That is the limit of my talent. We need to get you tighter. We need you to see options right in front of your nose.”

Cassandra stared at her. “What makes you think I can?”

She looked into the flames. “I saw you a few months back. I saw you here, by this fire. I saw your expression. It was one of relief. You learned how to short-see, and your fate changed.”

“Then I will stay here until I can do it.” Cassandra ate her soup, setting aside her bowl and grabbing the first scroll she saw.

Josh surfaced, wading from the lake. Vella walked beside him, holding his hand. Affinity, Helm, Lex and Arabella had dressed in cloaks and sat on a deck by the water’s edge. Two serving girls waited for Vella and Josh, cloaks and towels in hand.

“What is it?” Graystock asked. “You have returned more troubled than you came. The lake rejuvenates. It does not sap the soul.”

“Because Vella told me a truth. One I’ve put off for a while.”

“The one wearing the powerful pendant?” Graystock asked.

“Yes.”

“Vella told me. I have prepared. Her, I understand. The other, the drow. How will that work?”

“I don’t know.” That was the truth of it. Josh could see the warrior core. He understood it as he pictured it acting like his ring. He had felt its overbearing power—the force of its will. Lex would have to wrestle with it. She’d have to use her strength of character to dominate it. The warrior core was designed to form a symbiotic relationship with a living form. But the Angel Stone infused the wearer with power. He couldn’t understand how it was more than that.

“She must look into its power and accept it fully. She must reach out with her mind and bring the power of the stone inside her.” Vella raised her palms up and shrugged. “Hard.”

“Will it try to kill her?”

“She must control the power, or it might shatter her body. Same, but different. Imagine you evolving from novice to warden in one go. That is what Helm must do. She will either break, or she will control.”

Josh shook his head. “I don’t like this.”

Graystock bowed. “Excuse my next words. Is it because you don’t trust?”

“I trust them all.”

“But if it was you. If you had to conquer the artifacts, would you trust yourself to do it? Would you do it without a moment’s hesitation?”

“Yes.”

“Were you a warrior before you came here?”

“No.”

Vella pulled on his sleeve. “Helm—warrior. Lex—warrior. Both know how to fight. You must have their true power by your side. To not ask them to do this is to fail them—to withdraw your trust.”

Josh gritted his teeth. “That doesn’t mean I have to like it.”

“No,” Vella said.

Graystock bowed again. “Which one first?”

“I will talk with all of them.”

Josh made his way to the girls. He crouched, looking up at them. “Bels?” he said, offering his hand.

“What, Josh? What’s up?”

“Please. By my side. I need to talk with Helm and Lex. Affinity, you may stay, but I’d ask you to keep what I say to yourself.” He held up his hand. “I know you’ve left Salazar, but the closer we get to our endgame, the weirder this crap’s going to get.”

Arabella crouched next to him. “What is it?”

“It’s time. I need Lex and Helm to make a choice. Lex holds the warrior core around her neck. I—well, Vella—believes it is time to break the glass. Lex, I need to know if you can control the core. It will make you infinitely more powerful, but it comes at a price. The creature inside it—the intelligence—will try to take over your body. If you let it. If for a moment I think you’ve lost, I will have to kill you, and that will end me.”

Lex stared at him, her mouth slightly open. Then her shock turned to a smile and her eyes filled with greed. “I’ll control it. I’ve heard it inside me. It’s demanded its freedom, but I haven’t given in to it. I can do this.”

“I will kill you, Lex,” Josh said, tears in his eyes. “But only because I know that if you fail, then you will be its slave, and that is a fate I could never let you endure.”

“Then I accept my fate. I want to be the best I can be.”

Arabella grasped Josh’s hand. “I could do it.”

“I know. But it’s not your burden.”

“What is?”

“You must help me judge. You and I must decide if we have to kill Lex.” He paused. “And that is going to be worse than taking the pill.”

Lex rose, taking the necklace off. “Has anyone got a hammer?”

“I do,” Graystock said, carrying a large stone onto the deck. It had two eyehooks embedded into it, from which two manacles dangled. He set it down on the deck, then took Lex’s wrists and fastened them to it. He took the core from her, laying it on the stone and holding the hammer high. “I will break the seal. Then I will place the necklace around your neck and retire. Should Josh need me to restrain you, I will do so. All this—all these choices — you must make before the entity becomes too powerful.” A long, thin sword appeared in his hand. “If you cannot make a choice, I will make it for you. Please do not make me do this. The bloodshed would then spread.” He bowed, then raised the hammer, holding the core on the stone. “Are we all agreed?”

“We are,” Josh said.

Graystock raised the hammer, bringing it down and smashing the glass. As quick as a flash, he placed it over Lex’s neck, then took up a position behind her.

Lex tensed, staring straight into Josh’s eyes. “Keep looking at me, Josh,” she said, then gritted her teeth. “Keep looking at me, please.”

“Forever, babe. Forever.”

The veins on the side of her temples bulged. Her neck cords strained. She clenched her fists, her arms trembling, and then she tilted her head back and screamed as her cloak ripped and blood popped onto her skin, evacuated from her sweat pores. She yelled again. Then leveled her stare, her eyes filled with rage.

“You!” she said, her voice much deeper, rumbling with threat. “You will not escape me this time!” Lex ripped her hands apart, pulling the eyehooks from the stone and roared.

Josh called for his suit. “Run! Everybody run!”

“Running is not an option,” Graystock said, his sword whipping towards Lex’s exposed neck.

“Not yet!” Josh screamed. His suit closed around him as he sprang forward, bundling Lex to the ground. He wrestled her, but her strength was incredible. They reached an impasse, him unable to force her down, but her unable to break free.

“Get control Lex. Don’t let it win!”

“It’s too late!” Graystock shouted. “Get out of the way. I must end this before she becomes too powerful.”

“No! She’ll prevail. Lex! You are the warrior. It is just a program, a bug in your mind. You can do it!”

“Can’t,” Lex said. “Can’t.” Even that was nearly impossible for her to say, the strain bleeding through. “Too…too powerful.”

“Renew!” Vella said, filling Lex with her vigor. “Renew.”

Graystock booted Josh in the side. He delivered the kick with such precision and speed that it caught Josh unaware. Tumbling to one side, Josh scrambled to recover, but Graystock was over Lex, his sword raised once more. “I’m sorry, child,” he said, and struck.

Helm dived, her blade outstretched. She rolled over, thumping onto her back right by Lex. Her blade clashed with Graystock’s, the sound ringing in Josh’s ears. The delay gave Josh enough time to dive for Graystock, but the Man on the Mountain was wise to Josh’s move, and a simple sidestep sent Josh rolling away.

“No! I must end this now!” Graystock screamed.

But before he could, Lex rose. She reached for the Man on the Mountain, grabbing him by the throat before even he could react. “You petty humans don’t worry me. You think you can harm me?” A shining white skin crawled over Lex. Covering a third of her face, one shoulder and the arm lifting Graystock.

Arabella dove in between them. “Lex, get a grip! Get control! This is not you! You don’t give up. You have one allegiance, and that is to Josh. Control this demon or by all the gods, I will end you myself!” She pressed her sword into Lex’s throat, blood running down its shining length. “You hear me? Your duty, Lex. Your duty! It means everything to you!”

“My duty!” The monster ground out its words. For the first time, though, Josh spied a moment’s hesitation.

“Duty!” Josh cried. “You have your sworn duty to me! I am your master and I order you to put Graystock down. I order you to take control of the warrior core and command it to do your will! Only with you in charge will it become powerful!”

“I do not need a—” The core’s voice faltered. “I will not succumb!” It roared, and Lex cast Graystock away, sending the man flying into the lake. She pushed Arabella, who flew back, smashing into a building. With one sharp kick, she winded Helm, then lifted her foot, ready to crush the drow’s head.

“No!” Josh screamed, tackling Lex to the ground. Using his own formidable strength and draining his core of every ounce of energy, he punched her right in the face, shattering the growing mask. He reached around, grabbing a knife and raised it high.

“I’m sorry, Lex. I truly am.”

With tears blurring his vision, Josh brought the knife down.

Chapter Sixteen

ELOWEN TURNED PAGE AFTER PAGE, and each was a revelation to her. The mystique surrounding a lost civilization was like her nectar, and she couldn’t get enough. The culture fascinated her. Most tomes told their story from the viewpoint of the karvels and detailed how good they were when compared to the dwarves. The dwarven texts were simple explanations of all things practical and dwarven. They explained the karvels had their heads stuck so far up their asses they could roll down a hill.

It made for interesting reading. All technology revolved around infusing a special type of crystal with mana. The dwarves and not the karvels, were the only ones that could mine the crystals, and so the karvels relied on the dwarves. The karvels, on the other hand, then manufactured wonderful machines, which meant that over a time the dwarves came to rely on the pesky karvels. A symbiotic peace established, and over time the karvels placated the dwarves by producing more and more destructive machinery with which they could blast their archenemies, the goblins, to pieces. It was these machines that they repurposed into traps and guardians.

However, as Elowen delved deeper, it became clear that after an event, things began going downhill fast. The karvels described it as a celestial event—a coming together of cosmic proportions that changed the course of destiny and technology and lauded it as the very beginning of their renaissance. The dwarves described it as a big bang and the mother of all hangovers.

All texts halted shortly after both races came together to construct the Ultimate Work. The karvels called it their beacon of hope. Their way to call to the one person who might save them. Namely, the adversary the invaders wished to destroy. It was supposed to be a beacon, a focusing of great power they might one day contact the invaders’ adversary and enlist him to their cause, that of survival.

Somehow, they never completed this magnus opus. One of the last entries told of how the dwarves were all filled with anger, blaming the karvel technology for attracting the invaders in the first place. As Elowen pieced together the missing parts of the jigsaw, she concluded that the dwarves had slaughtered all the karvels, but they, in turn, had poisoned the dwarven ale supply. As the dwarves celebrated getting rid of those pesky rats, they dropped down dead one by one.

It was hardly a tale of delight and inspiration, more one of the baser side of developed society. But it told her one thing. The Emittance hadn’t dominated either group. It had exaggerated an already divided society to the point where it snapped.

But, more importantly, it hadn’t attacked them. She could find no record of the Grillons, as Josh called them, entering Feleesh. She found instances where those dominated by the emittance slaughtered the dwarves and karvels while above ground—of raiding parties not returning and trading parties never seen again. Slowly, Elowen built up a picture, and it was one of a besieged race, trapped underground, going slowly mad and turning on themselves.

But, reading between the lines, she also saw a race that had resisted the invaders. It had nothing to do with being underground. Telemar proved that. The warrior core Lex wore had operated just fine under the drow castle. It had dominated the drows it ensnared.

So, what did Feleesh have that kept the Grillon and its zombie troops at bay?

She turned her attention the karvel texts and in particular, those dealing with the vast defensive structures that protected Feleesh from all but internal upheaval.

“I need one more day,” Melody had told her. “Then I’ll join you.”

“You’ll have all your powders done?”

“Everything that we should feasibly need and a bit more. But if we leave a day spare at the end and our research tells me we need something more, then I can make that.”

Tears flowed freely down Cassandra’s cheeks. Josh had wrestled Lex to the ground. He straddled her, a knife raised, primed to strike.

“I’m sorry, Lex. I truly am,” he said, then struck.

But Lex moved as quick as a flash, breaking his one-handed grip and shifting to one side. “No, Josh,” she said, the knife plunging to the ground.

Josh hesitated, but then drew his fist back. Lex grabbed it, looking straight up at him.

“I got this, Josh.”

Cassandra closed the vision as Josh collapsed, laying on his back by Lex.

It was her first vision that ended in something good. It was a victory, no matter how small. Wiping away her tears, she noted the other witches staring at her. “A small victory.”

“Something has changed?” Sasante asked.

“Yes. One of the girls mastered a core.”

“Are you sure you can believe the outcome? It could be one of many.”

Cassandra grunted. “Pa! Let me tell you something. These visions have only shown me shit. For it to dare show me something hopeful, it must have happened.”

“You can test it further. When you took a scroll from your end, it portrayed you in a pile of Misfit dead. What does it portray now?”

Cassandra sighed. She’d wanted to revel in the victory for a while, but she understood that time was short. She delved deeply inside her, moving along the scrolls until she came to the place. She picked one at random and witnessed the beast carrying Josh to the pile. Her bent and broken body lay next to Vella. It cast Josh on the heap, holding up his severed hand and taking the ring from it. But even as she witnessed the familiar scene, she smiled. It didn’t matter. It was one possibility, and whereas before, it had been the only one; it was no longer. More options tapered off into the distance—thousands, tens of thousands. It told her there might be other paths. But the vision had picked one—one that reminded her there was still work to be done.

“We have a chance, at least. Not much more, but we do have a chance.”

“Fate can be altered. Today’s actions dictate tomorrow. It seems your companions are helping to alter the future. Isn’t it about time you began doing the same?” Sasante asked.

“By learning this close foretelling?”

“By learning just that.”

Cassandra stood. She stretched and circled the fire. “Then we must devise a way to do it. There must be a reward and a penalty for me getting it wrong. I’ve seen Josh thrive through suffering. Now it is my turn. I need to make choices—fast choices — and if I get them wrong, then I must pay the price.”

Sasante smiled. “Yesel and Geffin are adept at magical blasts. Their spell casting times are identical. Waylin is an accomplished healer. You may conjure a defensive buckler. We will begin at one hundred yards. Yesel will stand on one side of you. Geffin will be on the other. You will learn quickly.”

“That sounds like a test,” Cassandra said, readying.

But Sasante held up a black cloth. “One more thing. We will blindfold you. You can only rely on your visions.”

Cassandra gulped. “That’s impossible!”

“Improbable, I’ll grant you. Impossible? Perhaps. But you can deflect anything if you can see it coming. What if you see nothing? That is what you are here to master, no?”

“I have this voice inside me. Its grip tightens around me.” Lex crouched by Josh, poking the fire. She’d barely rested since the core invaded her. Even after winning the initial struggle, it still probed her defenses, seeking any sign of weakness. Josh scared it. She knew that. It had relented when it had decided that Josh would kill her. But that didn’t stop its influence from reaching every single part of her.

“Dissociate yourself from it. Think of it as a child trying to get its own way. If you let it for just one moment, it will try to run wild. Dominate it, instill discipline, and it will drive you forward. I can see it is already improving you.”

Lex scoffed. Improving was an understatement. She tore a chunk from her sandwich—her fourth in a row. Every time she finished one, the core used its nourishment to increase her muscle mass, strengthen her bones or tension her cords. Numbers filled her mind: Strength, Speed and Agility, Combat Instinct, Durability.

Sure, she’d had those before, but they’d been an occasional thing. Something to measure her guild progression. They consumed the core. It needed to improve them every moment. “How can I forget about it when it consumes me? I just want to run around the lake, beat the fuck out of Graystock, tear a monster apart. Will it ever settle down?”

Josh laughed. Her experiences resembled his but magnified a thousandfold. “I was the same, but I spent a long time dormant before I woke. Tremelox learned patience. You don’t have that luxury.”

“So, what should I do?” She wanted to know. She was desperate to understand. But there was something else too. He had trusted her with a power that would set her apart from everyone else. If she’d been loyal before, then she would be unwavering. She would repay him a thousand times over.

“Get strong. Our future depends on it.”

“Do you need help with Helm?”

“No. It is a different type of melding. She must survive where you had to dominate. Go, go train. It was the point of all this. You, like me and Helm, must be the hammer that strikes. We must lead the attack and triumph where the guardians failed.”

Lex nodded, kissing him and then retreating. She wanted nothing more than to take him in her arms and reward him properly. Her virility had increased immensely. She was on edge, like a coiled spring waiting to explode.

Then she couldn’t resist it any longer. She raced away, running the lake’s perimeter as fast as she dared. Marveling at the precision of her footing, the ability to see her footfalls well in advance, she flew along the bank, hurdling ditches, fallen branches, and rocks. She raced up a small rise, a river cutting it in two, and jumped that with ease. Notifications filled her mind, sorted and organized by the core. A smile came to her.

“You and I are going to get on just fine,” she said to it. “We’re going to be the best we can be.”

She sped by the Man on the Mountain’s settlement, racing through the huts and tearing up a furrow.

“We settle for nothing less,” said the warrior core.

“We must be better than one of your own,” Lex warned it.

“That is our way.”

Helm kneeled before Josh. She understood he would not wish her to. But seeing Lex race around the lake, seeing the smile plastered upon her face and her enhanced muscles glinting in the midday sun, Helm was desperate for similar power. She held up the Angel Stone. “I am ready.”

“You know this is different, don’t you?”

“I know it gave the guardians power. I know when we trained with it close, we progressed faster. That is all I know.”

Josh pulled her up. “I have to say, I am at a loss how to do this. My guess is that Lux and the others leached power from the stone in a similar way to us. I imagine that over time, they became powerful. We don’t have that time, so…”

“You have me,” said Vella, holding her hand out. “Give me stone.”

Josh withdrew the radiant rock from his storage, its light illuminating their faces. Helm’s wonder still gripped her even though she’d seen the stone countless times. She reveled in its beauty, but she also knew it was a different type of power. It enhanced your existing traits, but it wasn’t an evolution like the ring Josh had or the core that Lex had consumed. However, that boost came in dribs and drabs. What Josh proposed and Vella had foreseen was her taking the Angel Stone’s entire power in one fell swoop. It was both daunting and exciting.

Her true love was an enigma to her. Why any man or woman would surrender such a wonder and freely donate it to another was beyond her. True, in theory, it was her core. But she was his, in heart, soul, body and mind. If he’d said that he wanted it for himself, she would have given it to him without an instant’s hesitation.

But he wasn’t like that. He encouraged them. He wanted them all to do better. They weren’t just trinkets on his arm. And that meant everything to her—the world—because no matter what happened, she was free to be herself. He loved her for who she was, and that was all that mattered. He passed Vella the stone, and Vella pulled Helm down, laying her on the damp shoreline. “Get ready,” she said. “I think this might hurt.” Vella shrugged and grinned. “I think it might kill you, but don’t worry. I will heal you. But if it shatters your mind…”

“Then kill me. Promise me that. I don’t want to be a dribbling zombie.”

Josh reached for her hand. “I will be just here. I won’t leave your side.”

She knew that. He cared more for them than himself. “I know. Promise me.”

“What?”

“That if I break, you won’t let me suffer.”

“You won’t break. You’re one of the strongest people I know. But if you want to back out, then just say the word. We’ll find another way.”

She bit her lip. “Do it,” she said.

Vella held up the Angel Stone, then took Helm’s hand. “Ready?”

“Nope, but do it anyway.”

Vela closed her eyes. “Okay.”

Helm felt nothing at first. Vella’s grip was firm, her hand slightly cooler than Helm’s. But then, almost imperceptibly, the Mystic Syphon warmed, and that heat moved into Helm. She welcomed it, a feeling akin to the rush of energy after eating something sweet. It crept up her arm and into her body, there it flooded through her, searching out every periphery, every single part of her body. It was like the afterburn from exercise, like sitting by a warm fire after coming in from the cold.

Then a surge came, a rush of power that shot through her, blitzing every part of her. She jerked away, but Vella held her firmly. The elf sweated, her usual calmness showing signs of strain.

She’s fighting to keep it from surging…

The Angel Stone flickered, and Vella’s hand glowed, power surging through her and inevitably entering Helm. It shot through her like hot knives, tearing her veins apart, shredding her muscles. She screamed, her entire body spasming. Every part of her fell apart. More power filled her. She boiled internally, her body fighting to remake itself, to improve and accommodate the power. But with each success, more power entered her, more pain.

She withdrew, needing to shut down her mind and rid herself of the constant agony. Her mind focused on Jork, her stoic companion of all those years. What would he have said? How would he have seen her through?

“Just bear it! You are Drow! You are High-born!”

That’s what he would have said. He would have called on her pride. Insisted that she put her chin up and get on with it. But he could be tender, too. He could coax her back from the brink. He’d done it on countless occasions. She needed him. She needed him more than ever.

“Jork!” she cried, and more power surged into her. The Angel stone flickered, its light much dimmer. Vella held her tight. “Josh!” she cried, calling out the name of the man who’d taken Jork’s place. But he’d never replace him. Josh and Jork were two different people. But they had the same cause, and it was her.

Power filled her. Pain tore her apart. She welcomed it. She took Jork’s advice. She was High-born. She was Drow. But more than anything, she was part of Josh’s harem. She was a Misfit, and they’d shaken the land—would continue to shake the land. She needed every ounce of power the damn Angel Stone could give her.

She pulled it, welcoming the pain as it ripped her apart anew. She relished it. She reveled in it. And then she packed it tightly inside her. Then, filled to the brim, she set about channeling the power where she needed it. Not where it wanted to go. She chose her mind so she could make snap choices. She chose her legs for speed, her arms for strength, but where she focused was the most important part of her body—her core. All grew from there, and if her core was healthy, then she could take on the world.

Vella held up the stone, but it was nothing but powder. She let it fall through her fingers, then fell back, her eyes shut before her head hit the ground.

“Helm?” Josh asked.

Helm grinned at him. “Oh yes. I am Helm.” She sprang up. “Let’s test this baby out.”

Chapter Seventeen

MELODY PAWED OVER THE PLANS. The machines were too big. There was no way they would work efficiently. The legs were too long, and who would have three of them? Surely four was the correct number for stability. They were top heavy too, and cumbersome. Surely if the karvels were so good, then they would have made more efficient machines. The scale of them confused her too. They were huge, much too tall for the underworld. That was a series of caves and passageways, not vast open spaces.

“I don’t get it,” she said, scratching her head. “What’s the point? Surely you just blow its legs off and that’s that? A quick underarm grenade and it’s all over.”

Elowen pawed over the plans too. “But we’re different. If you faced these things with swords and bows, then you’d stand no chance.”

“Pfft!” Melody said. “What about a magicker? Surely a good mana blast would take them out. They have wizards here, don’t they?” She doubled down, trying to work out what she was missing. “Unless they’re immune. What metal is this?”

Elowen flicked through the pages, her finger tracing the lines of text. “It doesn’t say. Does it matter?”

“Well, we know that some metals are more mana conductive than others. A blast of magic is, in the simplest form, a focused blast of super-heated mana that sets fire to the surrounding air. So, as it smashes into the metal, it dissipates the heat across its whole surface. If it can do that with mana, then the machine becomes partially immune to magic. However, look at all these.” She pointed to a series of veins connecting the external plates. “See these. They all run back to this, and then others run away. All I can think is that it is some kind of core—like a monster core—like Josh’s. It absorbs all from the armor—magic, heat, whatever—and it feeds the core which then powers other parts of the machine. So, in theory, if it could get close to a power source, it would be infinite—It would never stop, Els.”

“Do you take a breath when you’re excited?” She sat back. “Let’s assume that Feleesh is much larger than we’re thinking. Say it’s some kind of underground cavern bigger even than the goblin city. Then the size makes sense. But, and ask yourself this. Why did the karvels and the dwarves come together there? What if there was a huge power source—like a mana spring? Could that be what attracted the Grillons here in the first place?”

“Are you saying?”

“I’m saying that the reason they came to the Hangsane might well be the Hangsane itself. It could well have drawn them here, and Josh—drawn him here, too. Their stuff is way more advanced than ours. So, if there was a chance of them ever escaping this place, it would be to find a power source capable of providing them that chance. What if the karvels and dwarves already had it? What if they’re the reason it’s all going to—”

“Shit,” Melody said. “What if the Hangsane is the reason the Hangsane is going to shit in the first place.”

“Exactly.”

Melody looked through several karvel texts. It became clear they enjoyed documenting their success. They detailed the ball joints that helped the machines swivel, the elbow joints that moved the legs. They cataloged the rivets, welds, special glue that bonded metal plate to metal plate. But no matter how hard she searched, she could find no breakdown of the mana engine. What type of crystal or rock it was remained a mystery.

So, she theorized how it must work, but only one thing came to mind.

“It’s Vella—they’re all Vella.”

“What is?” Elowen asked, looking up from her own studies.

“Vella is a mystic syphon, yes?”

“She is.”

“What does she do?”

“She takes vigor and mana and moves it into us when we need it.”

Melody stabbed the page, pointing directly at the machine’s core. “And what is that? Vella says she doesn’t store the power, but she must. She has to hold it in order to transfer it. Vella is a core. She is the secret. I’ll bet that somehow, when the Grillons crashed to the Hangsane, a huge amount of power spilled. Perhaps it was the explosions—Helm mentioned them. But it infused the Angel Stones and the Sinter Stones. Differing rocks could hold differing amounts of power. Sos the Sinter Stones are weaker than the Angel Stones. But there’s one thing that’s stronger than any other.”

“Vella,” Elowen said.

“Vella. She wasn’t just born of the Emittance. Nor is she just an elf. She is all three things. She has the power to end all this.”

“What if she doesn’t?” Elowen said. “What if there’s only so much power she can channel?”

Melody shoved her goggles onto the top of her forehead. “Then she’ll break.”

Cassandra opened her eyes, seeing only the black scarf tied around her eyes. It made no difference, but somehow it reassured her. She could see both with her eyes closed and open. It had been two days since she’d visited the vast room filled with scrolls. That was symbolism at its best—a way for her to get used to the future, its possibilities and the branches they came with. But they weren’t possibilities. They were choices.

She hadn’t needed Waylin for a day now. Neither Yesel nor Geffin could get close to her with their flaming magic. They’d narrowed their range too, standing only ten yards away from her. It gave her less than a second to react, but that time span was incidental. She could stack outcomes now. Once she called one right, the rest followed.

“Now,” she said. She moved her right buckler down.

That was the catalyst—the movement that would trigger the correct sequence of hits that she’d stacked inside her mind. Had she moved it up, then another sequence would come into play. Move her left buckler, and a third sequence followed. For every nuanced move, possibilities manifested. Moving the right buckler down ensured the correct one played out.

That was the key, the one thing that she’d forgotten. She controlled her future. They controlled their future. They’d already altered it. The pile of their bodies no longer dominated her timeline. It was one outcome, but that was it.

Yesel shot low and fast. Geffin tried a headshot. Cassandra intercepted both. She took a dozen more, finding it easy. They were slow. She could do it with her eyes shut. “I need three of you,” she said.

Two simply wasn’t enough.

Josh wondered at the interlude. He could understand why it had been important for them to travel to the Man on the Mountain. Both Helm and Lex occupied two or three of his trainers at a time. Even then, they barely kept up, even with outnumbering them. But for him, for Arabella and Affinity, for Vella, it meant little.

Sure, Arabella had come to the fore again, taking command when Lex faltered. Vella had stepped up and helped Helm through her transition. But Josh hadn’t progressed. Affinity hadn’t progressed.

“I need poison,” he said.

“Poison?” Graystock said. “If it’s poison you need, then here it abounds. Wherever there is beauty, there is poison.”

“Where?”

“Vella knows. She has seen them. There is a fish that lives deep in the chasm. It shuns the rich mana, feeding off those that absorb it. Then it changes it, turning it into something foul—something that, with one touch of its spike, kills a human instantly. Is that what you seek? If so, you should be careful what you wish for. The pain, I hear, is quite exquisite.”

“What’s it called?”

“The fish? I don’t think we’ve named it. What’s the point? Not like you can eat it.” He wandered off, chuckling to himself. “Only a fool would touch that fish. It’s rotten to the core—evil, I tell you—absolutely evil.”

“Vella!” Josh shouted, turning to see her standing right by him.

“You’re not serious, are you?” Affinity said while Vella stood and waited.

“Serious?”

“About the fish. You’re not going to poison yourself purposely to gain some stat or the other?”

“I am. Poison resistance is my worst stat by far. If I can bring the number up, there’s a chance. I can bring my next evolution closer. Hell, I’ve a couple of days here doing bugger all. I might as well try to grow.”

She sucked her cheeks in. “Anything I can do?”

“I’ll be sick as a pig. You might just want to avoid me.”

“You get the fish. I’ll get some bedding, a bowl and some blankets.” She shrugged. “Like you said. Not a lot going on around here.”

“Yeah, sorry about that. I thought we’d all be learning some—”

“Kung Fu,” Arabella said, walking up. “Have you found some poison?”

“Yeah, some form of fish. Vella knows where.”

Vella screwed her face up. “Bad fish. I go get,” she said, then spun around and raced into the lake.

Josh shrugged, sitting on the lake’s bank.

“You sure you want to do this?” Arabella asked.

Josh checked his stats.

Name: Josh Underwood

Rank: Savage Warden

Subrank: Crimson Guardian

Attributes:

Strength = 64 (+8 equipped)

Speed and Agility = 66 (+9 equipped)

Durability = 72 (+5 equipped)

Combat instinct = 62 (+6 equipped)

Arcane resistance = 60 (+2 equipped)

Poison resistance = 44 (+2 equipped)

Total – 368

No of points needed to next promotion =52

Perception: Active for all threats.

Pain Management - On

“My average score is sixty-one. Poison Resistance is forty-four. That’s seventeen points behind. If I can get it there, or better, if I can get it over the next threshold—seventy of seventy-five, I could get within sight of my next evolution. Then all I’d have to do is pull my Arcane Resistance up and I’m there. I must do it. Lex went through the pain. Helm and Vella suffered to move forward. The Gods only know what Cassandra is going through. It’s my turn now. I must force my number up as far as I can. Don’t let anyone try to stop me. Just trust me. I know what I’m doing, and with my Pain Management, I’ll be fine.”

She took his hand. “I know you will. But that doesn’t make it any better.”

“If this fish is as toxic as Graystock says it is, we go all the way, Arabella. Vella can revive me. All the way. You understand?”

Tears glazed her eyes. “I do.”

Affinity returned with the blankets and bowl. “I’m ready, although I think you’re mad.”

“Are you telling me you’ve never used pain to move forward?”

“I’m telling you I’ve never intentionally poisoned myself.”

Josh grinned. “You wait until you see Cassandra improve my magical resistance.”

A splash drew his attention away from the gorgeous cat girl. Vella waded from the lake, a fish in hand.

“Is that a zombie fish?” Josh said.

“Certainly the ugliest flappy fucker I’ve ever seen,” Affinity said.

Arabella held her hand as Vella dripped the inky poison into Josh’s open mouth. There were plenty of things she’d disliked about her time with Josh. Foremost was this: hadn’t he suffered enough? Hadn’t he given enough? Did they not deserve their idyllic farm nestled in the shadows of the Hangsane, with its waterfall, clunking waterwheel and fragrant forest?

Surely defeating a Leviathan, the lizardmen, the mutant spider and the evil wizard was enough of a price for one man and his girls to have some freedom? But no! Here they were again. Here he was, about to endure torture and torment to defeat an even more powerful foe.

“It has to be the last one,” she muttered, dripping more and more of the toxin into him.

“Enough,” Vella said, and Arabella put the spine down.

“What has to be the last one?” Affinity asked.

Arabella regarded the cat girl. “You don’t know. You can’t know what he’s already given this land. He appears strong to you, but it hasn’t always been this way. When I first met him—” she held back her tears— “he was nothing. The same as me and you. But he stepped in, rescuing me and my father from bandits. Then leeches attacked him as he tried to become stronger. They nearly sucked the life from him. But it’s not those moments that hurt. They could happen to anyone.”

“Then what is it?” Affinity asked, resting her hand on Arabella’s arm.

“It’s when he lays down and accepts his suffering just so he can take more punishment later. It’s that blind knowledge that he has no choice—that he’s the only one who can do it. That, Affinity, is what you are missing. You might see a hero. You might even fall in love with a hero. But the truth is, he is no hero. He’s just an ordinary man who does heroic things.”

Josh jerked, the poison clearly taking hold. His skin paled and veins blackened, became prominent, crazing his skin with their malignance.

“Vella?” Arabella asked.

“Not yet. Needs roots. He must attack.”

Affinity moved around, holding Josh’s other hand. “They talk about him.” Her words sounded distant, her focus falling solely on him. “Rumors came from Mythelore. Some had designs on plunder but chose against it. Then word spread of a man and a group of women who fought differently. A harpy came, her body in tatters, and she relayed a tale of a man who soaked up pain. Trolls vanished. The Lizardmen never returned. It had never been that way. Then he took a leviathan down, something hitherto never achieved. Clay and the others wondered if he was the man to take down the paladins, perhaps even the guardians. He wanted to enlist him. So…”

She looked away, drawing in a stuttering breath.

“So?” Arabella asked, but Josh began spasming, sweat pouring from his gray skin. “Heal him, Vella! For fuck’s sake! He’s close enough!”

“Not.”

“Close enough?” Affinity asked.

“Has to shave death for it to work. Has to be close.”

“Fuck.”

Josh cried out, his pain evident, but he clamped his teeth shut as if he didn’t want to show any weakness.

“So?” Arabella repeated, knowing Affinity had ventured too far down a route and that she’d tried to stop. “What did you do?” Arabella said, controlling her breaths as a bad feeling hatched in her gut.

“Not me. I did nothing. Above my pay. The counsel—all of them.”

“What?”

“They chose to test you. They sent in the orcs.”

Arabella fell silent. She looked down at him, the sweat now running from his brow, pooling on the mud under his head. Vella began healing him. It would be a cycle they traveled until he simply couldn’t take anymore. Vella would probably make the call. She might. Like as not, Josh wouldn’t. But it was all for one reason, and that was because some guild heads in a room somewhere in the Hangsane had decided to test them.

“Why Lux, then? Why did he come?”

“Lux? Lux hated orcs. It’s why he chose them. It gave him a fantastic excuse to kill them while being able to assess you directly. Guardians are…were…assholes. They flashed their power around, boasting to any that would listen.”

“So, his words…”

“Were designed to get you all into the Hangsane where the real testing could begin. Look, I’m sorry, but I—”

“You don’t matter!” Arabella snapped. “You never have. Don’t you see it? Don’t you understand? This battle was always going to come. It was fate-marked. We had no choice. Your petty meddling did nothing but make sure we were unprepared!”

“Did nothing?”

“Yes! It did nothing. We’re still here. Lux is gone. The guardians are gone. These paladins and others. And yes, perhaps the Emittance would have evolved again, and maybe this chaos would have all spilled out. But at least we’d have fought it on our own terms. This is your fault—the whole of the Hangsane. You want to know why? Because you courted the power. You nurtured it instead of controlling it.”

“You control it?”

“He does.” Arabella stared across the lake. Helm and Lex ran around, Graystock with them. Every now and then they’d drop to the floor and do press-ups or stop and spar with each other or Graystock. “They do. But we got here by understanding the power, not just by blindly accepting it. He knows more about it than anyone else—perhaps ever.”

“So, we may have a chance,” Affinity said.

“You always had a chance, but you went with the power, and what did it get you? More conflict, but between yourselves. You tried to outdo each other while worshipping something that plotted to kill you.” She grunted. “But I can’t blame you for that. It’s who we are.”

“I hate it,” Affinity said. “It’s why I spent so much time away from Clay and the others. I was always happier with the Magicals, or even the un-guilded. Their lives were somehow simpler. They laughed more.”

“Water,” Josh said. “Can I have some water?”

His skin had cleared, but was still gray, stretched like parchment.

Arabella dribbled some water into his mouth. He nodded. “More poison.”

She closed her eyes, holding back her tears.

When will it end? When will it ever end?

Affinity sat with them the whole morning. Josh tumbled between vague coherence and delirium. Arabella explained that each time they poisoned him, rather than build his resistance as she’d thought he was doing, it did, in fact, destroy his body. The thing inside him, which she called Tremelox, then rebuilt him, but better than before. Once explained, Affinity fully understood the cruelty of it all. She could only liken it to being whipped until your flesh peeled from your bone, just so you could grow back stronger skin. It was torture. Josh was torturing himself. But then she learned something even more incredible. He’d had to learn Pain Tolerance to endure the suffering he put himself through, and to do that, he’d had to suffer.

She’d concluded that he was either the cleverest man alive, or the daftest. When Arabella could bear no more, she’d rested his head on her lap, stroking his soaking hair and whispering to him. Affinity’s feelings for him grew that day. She crossed a boundary between infatuation and love. She understood that none of them would accept her unless she performed some amazing, selfless act that would prove her devotion to the awkward, dysfunctional but functioning group called the Misfits. But the truth was simple, as plain as the sun in the cloudless sky. Affinity had never felt so at home.

Sure, when the odd Graystock had ordered them all to strip and bathe in the mana-abundant lake, it had horrified her. She was modest around men. Always had been. Clay had groomed her to be a fighter from an early age, and she could have been one of his elites—possibly in charge of them all. But Clay had different designs for her. It had come as no surprise that they’d bred her for both fighting and stealth. Cat-women were the queens of that combination. So, she’d ascended and had become his spymaster.

She found it easy playing dumb, and when confronted with a dumb person, those who considered themselves more intelligent couldn’t stop boasting about their ideas and achievements. No, spying was easy, just as long as you knew the rules. Stay quiet. Blend in. Soak up knowledge like bread soaks up soup.

That was how she’d been able to observe Josh firsthand. All their attention had focused on the conflict with Flick and Pec. The little stunt they’d pulled with the Sinter Stone had been pretty ingenious, but easy to fathom. It had been that little detail that persuaded Clay that these were the ones. During that test, they’d negotiated the quagmire that was goblin politics. They’d planned. They’d fought, and they’d attempted to deceive. It had been a decent start.

The Harmonic had been able to reach Telemar. They’d expected that. What hadn’t been was the sudden burst of power that the Weevil had sensed. That had drawn them to Helm’s castle immediately with Flick ignoring all in a bid to wrestle the Angel Stone for herself and her guild. Such was the Hangsane. Such was the inherent thirst for power that dominated the mountains. But they’d evaded that attempt, displaying their power and ability to seamlessly move from one situation to the next. Affinity had reported that they could plan and adapt where others thought they blundered.

Rhina’s interference had been unwelcome, but Affinity had let it slide. They moved toward Laurent, and that was all she could have hoped for. Then all had gone to shit. The Emittance had exploded, war appearing to break out with no diplomatic warning. By the time they’d realized what was really going on, it was too late. They couldn’t band together. The Emittance had burst out from the ruins, focused on something, but quite what had been a mystery.

Eric’s treachery? His move against Prosper and Die? Well, that summed them all up. Even when faced with extinction, the Hangsane kept fucking itself over. Eric would die. So would most practitioners. They would die by their own hand, by the ravagers, by some means or the other, as they craved more power. Affinity was sure that was their fate. She scoffed. Even though the Misfits hurtled toward certain doom, she had more chance of survival with them.

And a chance to die happy…

She looked down at Josh. She understood now. She understood it all. The creature at the heart of the Emittance was scared, and why wouldn’t it be? The pup that she cradled on her lap was a full-grown wolf—and he hunted his prey.

It was dusk when Josh finally relented. Or rather, Vella ran out of the toxin. When he’d woken, the first thing he’d done was smile at her.

“I didn’t expect to see you. No Arabella?”

“She couldn’t bear your suffering anymore. She is back in her hut, sleeping.”

“Well, I can’t say the view is bad, but I must look a mess, and I bet I stink of poison and corruption.”

“It doesn’t matter.”

“It sure does.” He tried to sit up, but his exhaustion was clear. “Could you help me with my top and…”

“Yes,” she said, her heart quickening.

She pulled his soaked top over his head, then steadied him as he stripped his pants off. She’d seen him naked before, but this time it was different. This time, there was a fire between her legs. She wanted him, not because of his power or his courage, but because of what he was—his very core and foundation. As he walked into the lake, she yearned to be with him, but it wasn’t that simple.

He was with his girls. They were solid—tight with each other. She could tell their bond was unbreakable. If she were to try to gain his favor, then there were protocols to attend to. Resisting the urge to take him in her arms and kiss him, she watched. Vella ran into the lake, casting off her green two-piece before she’d made the water’s edge. Jealousy coursed through Affinity, but not the type that could turn dark, instead the type that brought crystal clear realization. She turned, and she walked to Arabella’s hut.

She would do things the right way. She would seek permission from the woman that had started it all, from the harem mother.

She would ask Arabella if they would share their love with her.

Chapter Eighteen

MANA FILLED HIM. While Tremelox relied on vigor to repair him, it did not mean he couldn’t fully appreciate the healing and rejuvenation properties of the lake. Vella had switched between vigor and mana as she’d used all her knowledge to counter the poison.

Even with his Pain Management fully dialed in, he could feel the poison rinsing the life from him with unparalleled viciousness. The trial had increased his Poison Resistance as intended, but it had also increased his Durability even though that stat was at the edge of its effectiveness.

He was halfway. He had to do it all again tomorrow. He accepted that. There were no quick fixes in this land. No pain-no-gain sprang to mind.

Name: Josh Underwood

Rank: Savage Warden

Subrank: Crimson Guardian

Attributes:

Strength = 64 (+8 equipped)

Speed and Agility = 66 (+9 equipped)

Durability = 74 (+5 equipped)

Combat instinct = 62 (+6 equipped)

Arcane resistance = 60 (+2 equipped)

Poison resistance = 60 (+2 equipped)

Total – 386

No of points needed to next promotion =34

Perception: Active for all threats.

Pain Management - On

His Poison Resistance had reached the minimum threshold for a Crimson Guardian. All he’d effectively done was catch up. But it had allowed him to move closer to his next target—his next evolution.

“We must do worse tomorrow,” he told Vella.

“I know. I can see.”

“You see my figures?”

“Yes, but I can see all. I know. That was the easy bit. I will dive deeper.”

“Deeper?”

“Older fishes. Toxin stronger.”

He smiled. “Something to look forward to.”

Vella stared back at the shore. “Affinity,” she said.

“I know. But she has to be sure. We have to be sure. Can we trust her?”

“She has left her burden behind. She is strong.” Vella winked. “But we are stronger. Lex’s numbers shoot up. The warrior core is powerful. Helm’s numbers increase less.”

“But she started off more powerful.”

“Yes.”

He hit the water, splashing her. “You’re the strongest.”

“No,” Vella said. “I can only move things around. I can’t do anything else. I take. I give. That is me. That is not strong. There is no measure. If I can drain you, then I’m powerful. If not, I am nothing.” She splashed him and giggled. “See, not strong.” She dove under the water, kicking her feet and swimming away.

Josh looked back at Arabella’s hut. Affinity emerged. She stared at him, then hurried away to her dwelling. He swam back, sitting at the water’s edge. Curious, he looked up Lex’s numbers.

Name: Silexa Gray

Guild: The Misfits

Position: Warrior

Attributes:

Strength = 64

Speed and Agility = 72

Durability = 48

Melee Weapons = 41

Ranged weapons = 19

Martial Fighting = 51

Total – 295

Her strength had doubled. This wasn’t surprising to him. The core wouldn’t just make her train harder, it would rearrange what she already had to make her more efficient. She’d gained thirty points on her Speed and Agility. Josh knew that this was in part due to the core’s refinement of her existing prowess, but also the training levels she could reach with her new strength. It was hard to see if she’d peaked. He doubted it. The core had only just begun. By comparison, her Durability lagged and had only increased by eighteen. She hadn’t injured herself enough for the core to improve that. Her three fighting styles had all increased. The improvements were down to the increase in the prime stats. Speed and Agility contributing to Martial Arts, strength to Melee Weapons and so on. It moved her to two-hundred and ninety-five. Thirty above where Helm had been before she’d joined with the Angel Stone.

He pulled up Helm’s sheet. She had improvements, but not on the scale of Lex.

Name: Helm Devaux

Guild: The Misfits

Position: Swords

Attributes:

Strength = 66

Speed and Agility = 72

Durability = 58

Melee Weapons = 59

Ranged weapons = 54

Martial Fighting = 53

Total – 362

Helm had received a more even boost. Twenty points each into Strength, Speed and Agility, and Durability. These, in turn, had then given a twelve-point boost to her three fighting skills. It was more uniform and lacked the thought a core added. But it was a good boost, and Josh suspected that her evolution hadn’t completed—that she would have to train her body to reap all the benefits.

He felt her presence before she spoke. Tension preceded her arrival. “You’re still naked,” Affinity said. “Arabella gave me these to give you. She said you always feel more comfortable in your pants and shirt.”

He laughed. “She knows me well.” Glancing over his shoulder, her appearance drew a gasp from him. She wore a short gown that barely covered her thighs. The cerise and white matched her pale skin perfectly. She handed him the clothes, crouching. “I have some food. I would like if we could eat together. I want…no…I need a chat. I have talked to Arabella, and she has granted me the permission I need to broach the subject.”

Josh remained quiet, holding his clothes. “Permission?”

“Don’t, Josh. Don’t leave me hanging here. This—I find all this difficult.”

“This? What? Honesty?”

“That’s harsh!” Affinity backed away.

He pulled his pants on, standing and facing her. “But it’s not, is it? Is Arabella sure? Does she trust you?”

“Don’t you?”

He grimaced. “That’s just it. I’m not sure. I’m still not sure all this isn’t an act.”

“An act?” She frowned. “I’m not sure what I can do to persuade you otherwise, but I will not get annoyed this time. You have every right to distrust me. But please, come eat. Eat some food with me, and we can…” She looked away. “Just come eat.”

Josh wasn’t immune to her beauty or her current vulnerability. But he’d been fooled before, and he was wary about someone throwing their lot in so late in the day. Hell, he didn’t even know if they had a future, let alone be able to picture it.

He suspected Affinity might divulge her super plan. That all of a sudden she would spill the truth, but she appeared off—a little nervous. Bringing her along had melted her heart. She’d seen inside his little group. He hoped she’d seen enough to understand that they weren’t a threat. But why had she spoken to Arabella? What permissions had she needed?

She sashayed away, walking back to her little hut. She’d been the only one who’d stayed in her hut. Helm and Lex, Arabella and Vella, had all squeezed into his, forcing another bed in the cramped space. It hadn’t been the best idea, and both Lex and Helm had snuck off early. Vella, who could sleep on a nail, had stayed, as had Arabella. Three was fine. Five was a crowd.

Affinity sat at a table on her small deck. Josh joined her as one of Graystock’s women served them some drinks. “Special occasion?” Josh asked.

“As yet undecided.” She leaned forward, exposing some of her pert cleavage. “Only you can decide that, according to Arabella.”

“Decide?” Suddenly, the truth dawned on him. The fog of his stupidity lifted. “You want to join us?”

“More than anything in the world. What did you think this was all about?”

“I…” Josh stuttered to a halt. He’d seen the signs but had discounted them as the job. She was, after all, a Salazar plant—surely? Sure, when she’d announced she’d left, he’d been as stunned as any of them, but the more he’d thought about it, the more convenient it had all become. “You would take it this far?”

“Take what?” she asked, then cast her gaze away. She chuckled unexpectedly. “This will be a challenge.” She took a sip of her drink. “I’ll be honest. I wasn’t sure. I was sure about the way I felt about you. I can trace that all the way back to that night you were fucking Vella on the rock bluff. I’d never felt such jealousy. I’d never felt such rage. I wanted to tear that fucking elf apart.”

“So, you were watching us?”

“I watched the whole thing. Even changed back so I could…” She blushed, leaving her words unsaid. “I kept tabs on you, watching you with your women. I was in the bush the night Hasul tried to assassinate you—even killed one you’d missed. I watched as you scaled the mountain, near enough running up the thing. I watched from the warehouse ceiling as Rhina battered you, but stopped myself intervening. I missed the Magalese Cut. That would have been too risky. So yes, I’ve been watching you, and I’ve done under the guise of a Salazar spy. So no, I don’t blame you for mistrusting me, but I’d draw your mind back to when I first knew.” She leaned forward. “When I watched you and Vella fuck.”

“I knew you were there. I could feel your eyes on me.”

“We stared into each other’s eyes. You know we did. There was a connection. I can’t tell you any more than that. I resisted—of course I did. You were a Misfit—fools from Mythelore. Sure, you had some victories under your belt, but I was Salazar.” She shook her head. “But in the end, it didn’t matter. Salazar became less important, and you all took over. When you finally arrived at Laurent, I knew, but I still denied it. I couldn’t bear the thought of sharing you. Of seeing you one night out of five, six or seven. I didn’t understand.”

“But you do now?”

She smirked. “I thought I did. I thought I had it all sorted out. But then today changed it all again. I shared you with Arabella, with Vella. Me, Affinity, shared you, and I loved it. I loved every moment. When Arabella couldn’t take any more, I took over. She trusted me with your life, Josh. Do you know what that meant to me? I was one of you. I was a Misfit.”

“You stayed with me,” Josh admitted. “You stayed with me the whole time.”

“I couldn’t leave,” she said, as Graystock’s servants served them food. “I couldn’t have left even if the world had gone to shit all around me. You want to know if you can trust me. Ask yourself this. What do I have to gain? They already left you helpless in my arms. They already trust me to eat with you. If I was here to kill you, then I could have done it a thousand times over. But I’m not here for that.”

“So, what are you here for?” He sat back, lifting his drink to cover his smile. He was enjoying watching her squirm. Her superiority was vanishing, and it was a delight. Ever since they’d entered the Hangsane he’d felt inferior—they’d felt inferior. But now, with her admission, things were evening up. “Say it,” he said, even though he knew he was being unfair, perhaps even cruel. He needed to hear her say it.

“I want to join you, even if certain death is all that lies ahead.”

And there it was. With that statement, she’d proved her love to him. Because, like love, it made no sense. There was no point in joining them now. She was right, only death lay ahead.

“Arabella?”

“She knew. She knew before I even asked her.”

He ate then. It gave him time to think everything through. He had to make the leap of faith he’d asked others to make. He had to trust Affinity in order for things to progress. But in trusting her, he also put the others in the firing line.

“And Lex and Helm?”

Affinity shrugged. “It was Helm’s idea to wine and dine you. Lex rued the time she’d waited, and all the lost opportunities. Vella giggled. What can I say? It was a mixed bag. Look, I’m not expecting an answer. I know you have trust issues with me, and I appreciate that. We treated you all like shit, and it was wrong but—”

“Yes.”

“I’m sorry?”

“Yes. Yes, you’re in. I agree. Let’s not waste any more time. You’re right. We don’t have a lot of time, and if I’m honest, I’ve felt the same way, but I’ve been fighting it—fighting my feelings because…Well, you know.”

“I know what?” She leaned forward, her elbows on the table. “What?”

“I enjoyed you watching me. It was…”

“Horny as fuck.”

“Yes.”

“Look,” Affinity bit her lip. “I don’t know about you but…you fancy skipping the meal and going in there?”

“Straight to…?”

“Straight to.”

“Yes, I do.” He stood, reaching over the table and pulling her up. Their lips locked together, tongues battling straight away, their passion overflowing. She part climbed over, part moved around the table, pulling his shirt off as he ripped her robe open. They fell into the door, the latch giving way. Affinity tripped, quickly righting herself, her feline reflexes kicking in and she regained her footing, spun him over and laid him on her bed. She crawled on top of him, the predator over the prey.

Her tail shot upward, back arched down. He ripped the last of her gown from her. Her pale skin contrasted with the fur on her back and tail. He pulled her onto him, his erection pressed between them.

“You like being stroked?” he asked.

“Oh God yes,” she said.

He shifted out from under her, forcing her to lie face down. “Like this?” he asked, stroking her gently from the top of her head to the tip of her tail. Affinity began purring softly, the purrs turning to moans.

“That’s it. Like that, just like that.”

He straddled her, his cock resting on the crease of her furry ass, her tail curling around him. He stroked her back, up and down, raking her with his fingers, then smoothing her with the palm of his hands. She moved her ass up, shifting him back a little, withdrawing her tail slowly so it brushed along his crack, over his balls and around his throbbing erection. She curled it around his length, swamping it in her warmth, then contracting and brushing him. Lifting her ass up, she presented herself to him.

“Now fuck me like you fucked Vella, like you fuck Arabella—like you fuck all your wives, and then call me a Misfit.”

“I don’t have to fuck you for you to be a Misfit.”

“But you do. You know you do. It is the only way. I want to be in your harem, Josh, and I promise to fight to my last drop of blood to keep my dream alive.” She lifted her ass more, her sweet scent overpowering.

Josh couldn’t resist any longer. He grasped the base of his shaft, offering his cock to her boiling pussy. As he pressed against her, the heat of her made him wince. She was hot. She was ready, and she was ripe. He eased in, the ridged walls of her pussy closing in on him, but their silken moisture made his entrance smooth, easy, and he slid in until his balls slapped against her. Her tail swished across his face. He grabbed it, running his hands along its length. She groaned with pleasure, and he slid from her, only to plunge straight back in.

“Fuck, that’s some dick you’ve got,” she gasped, then let out a small meow. “Keep going. Keep stroking my tail. I can’t tell you how good it feels. I just can’t…Oh yes! Yes! Just there! Just there!”

Josh angled his cock up, sloughing his crown over the roof of her pussy, then dragging it back as he pulled on her tail. She sank to the mattress; her elbows giving way.

“Oh fuck, yes. Like that. Just like that.” The end of her tail wrapped around his neck. She pushed back, pressing her ass onto his pubic bone. He dropped his hand, pushing his finger into her asshole, moving it gently around her ring. Her pussy clamped hard on him as she bucked under his constant thrusting. Her moans grew as she reached for her orgasm, her head thrashing from one side to the next.

He pulled out.

“What the fuck?” she asked.

But Josh grabbed her, in a hurry himself, positioning her on the end of the bed, standing behind her, and entering her again. This time he lacked subtlety, thrusting hard, banging up against her uterus. He picked up his pace, surpassing his previous speed as he hunted down his orgasm. Her tail whipped against him, and she reached under and began massaging her clit. Her soft moans grew as she clawed at the bed, burying her face in her pillow.

“That’s it! That’s it! You got me! Oh fuck, but you got me!”

She shivered from head to foot, her spine rippling as her hot pussy clamped around him. It was enough. He couldn’t hold on any longer. The first time was always the same. Unfamiliar territory. A new body. Her tail was different, and she knew exactly what to do with it and when.

As he held back his orgasm, her tail darted under, its tip brushing his balls and sending him over the edge. His balls swelled. A stream of cum raced toward the base of his cock, then exploded into her as he spasmed and jerked, holding onto her bucking ass as she reached her orgasm as well.

He held her there, just for a moment, as he regained his composure.

“Fuck, that was mighty,” she said, breathless.

“Now you’re a Misfit,” he said.

“And a damn fine one at that.”

“And a damn fine one at that,” Josh confirmed.

She pulled away from him, standing straight and reaching for his cheek. “I won’t let you down, Josh. I’m one hundred percent in.”

“I know,” he said.

“The thing is, I can prove it to you.”

“You don’t have to. Not anymore. I trust you, Affinity.”

“And that’s why this should erase any doubt. I don’t have to do it. I want to.” She pressed her lips against his, and for a moment he thought that was it. But when he withdrew and opened his eyes, she held a brilliant white stone.

“Salazar’s?” he asked.

“Their stone, yes. Clay trusted me with it. He told me…” She paused. “In his own words, he said, ‘If it can save my sorry ass, then fucking use it.’ Well, I’ve seen what it did to Helm. I’d like to have Vella try it on me.”

“But it will destroy the stone. You’ll never be able to go back—”

She pressed her finger against his lips. “I don’t want to. I want to be with you until the end, and if we can stretch that further, then I’m in all the way.”

“Then we’ll do it. But first you have to apply to join my guild.”

“Already done.”

Josh looked up his notifications, accepting Affinity’s request.

“Then all we need to do is find Vella.”

“Here,” Vella said, crawling out from under the bed. “Was here all the time.”

“Vella!” Affinity said.

“What? You’re family now. We share.” She giggled. “Be on the bed with you next time.” She plucked the Angel Stone from Affinity’s hand. “Six is better than five.”

Affinity sighed. “This is going to take some getting used to.”

“I can stroke your tail,” Vella grinned, sat on the bed and patted it. “Josh on the other side.”

Josh looked through his guild menus, coming to the individual stat blocks. He scrolled to Affinity’s already impressive numbers. They were similar to his, with her just having the edge until he equipped his armor.

Name: Affinity May

Guild: The Misfits

Position: Mixed Melee

Attributes:

Strength = 62

Speed and Agility = 88

Durability = 62

Melee Weapons = 62

Ranged weapons = 60

Martial Fighting = 60

Total – 392

“Your Speed and Agility are insane,” he said. “You’ll easily outstrip me in power by the time we’ve added the Angel Stone.”

“Ah,” she said. “I have a theory about that. I think our measurements are weighted slightly differently from yours. Your core measures and assesses your progress. It can only do that against a specific reference point. Whereas our system evolved with us in mind, so it assesses us against us. So, for instance, if a gnome’s strength measures one hundred and an orc also measures one hundred, which is the stronger?”

Josh considered his response. Both answers—the orc and neither—were plausible. The obvious answer was the orc, but if the Hangsane had standardized its system, then surely they would be the same. He had to pick one, so he chose the orc.

“Nope,” Affinity said. “Ask a gnome and it’s got low stats. Gnomes find it hard to compete on strength, but durability-wise! Well, you could toss a gnome into a canyon, and it’d bounce as if nothing had happened. My Speed and Agility are a manifestation of that. They’re way in advance of what a human’s would be. So yeah, tells me that we have one system. I think you and Lex are on another.”

“You mean my stats are measured against them?”

“Yeah, the Grillons—that what you call them? You do shit beyond what your stats say. Clay noticed it. Flick did too. We got a good idea of what they were from your guild score. You shouldn’t have been able to eliminate the Hasul so easily, or the vamps, for that matter. Rhina was topping a million power. She should have murdered you easily. Told me you fought like an eight hundred to nine hundred K player. So, you see, your stats are worth nearly triple mine. That’s how you do the shit you do.”

Josh sucked his cheeks in. “Makes sense,” he said. “I’ve got two systems in my head. One’s called Tremelox, and then there’s the guild system. I call her Alice. She takes my figures from Trem. Tremelox originated or was Grillon tech, so yeah, you’re right. It would measure against them.”

“Then I’d say you were over a million in power. Why did you think that no one after Rhina wanted to touch you? I saw your suit change at the villa. We scoured the leaderboards. We knew, Josh. We knew that you were up there, close to Clay, close to Lux, and it was only a matter of time until you overtook them.”

“What does that make the Grillons?” Josh asked.

“We don’t even know how many there are.”

“Three,” Vella said. “There are three. One is the hammer, two are its support.”

Josh looked at her. “Gaming terms?”

She laughed. “You said it once. You said one of us must be the hammer. But with this—” She held up the Angel Stone. “We have more hammers than them.”

“We do,” Josh said, but he knew, he’d seen it enough times. One powerful player could take out multiple others. One hammer could smash the table to smithereens.

“It’s time. Ready?” Vella asked.

“Ready.” Affinity squeezed her hand, then took Josh’s. “Let’s see if I can’t become the fastest fucking hammer that ever existed.”

Chapter Nineteen

Name: Affinity May

Guild: The Misfits

Position: Mixed Melee

Attributes:

Strength = 72

Speed and Agility = 120

Durability = 88

Melee Weapons = 72

Ranged weapons = 72

Martial Fighting = 72

Total – 494

“HOW?” Cassandra asked as she bowled into the inn. “How is that fucking cat so far in front of me? What’s her superpower? Licking her own ass? I can see the fucking future.”

“Then how come you didn’t see my sudden rise in power?” Affinity asked, sitting at the counter and taking a sip of her drink. “Lex and Helm surged too, but I suppose that’s irrelevant.”

Cassandra ignored her, making a beeline for Josh. “And how come she’s in the gang? Who voted her in?”

Josh grimaced. “I—”

Cassandra laughed. “Oh, please! I’m kidding! Last in is the slave. Helm’s off the hook.” She swept towards Affinity. “Welcome aboard. I take it you are partly responsible for changing my awful visions.”

“Visions? Slave?”

“Don’t worry about it. I’ll let you know when I need something done.” Cassandra waved her questions away. “Just ten days ago, we didn’t have a future. Now we do. Something changed, and I have a feeling that sexy little elf was at the heart of it.” She breezed past Josh, picking Vella up and swinging her around. “Thank you, thank you, thank you!” Setting Vella down, she faced Arabella. “She all in?”

“Every single part. But enough about us. How did you get on?”

“I mastered it after a while. The first visions were horrific. No one survived. The creature tossed our bodies onto a heap while ripping Josh’s hand off to steal his ring. We were in some apocalyptic setting. The Grillon had a suit like Josh’s but all black with a blue light in its visor.” She shuddered, grabbing a drink and downing it. “But it has weaknesses. Other visions came of us attacking, taking them down. But they were patchy. For some reason, the visions favored our failure. Waylin said it had to do with probabilities.” She slumped onto a stool. “Ale, wine, and something to blow my tits off.” She turned to them all. “I’ve missed you.”

Josh took a breath for her. “So, you can see?”

“Near future. I can see that accurately as long as I have a few moments to study the target. It’s not something I can do without some knowledge. I have to have probabilities to narrow down.” She furrowed her brow and looked around. “Where’s the dusty archaeologist and her weird sidekick?”

“Wringing the very last moments out of the library, I’d imagine.”

A scream erupted from the table closest to the door, its occupants scrambling backward, falling over each other. Josh’s warning system blinked red and mauve as a small, metallic orb floated into the tavern. He jumped up, pulling Arabella behind him. A shimmering green shield surrounded them, Cassandra at its center. “Take cover!”

The orb floated in, rotating, a single glass-like eye turning to face them. “Weird sidekick?” it said.

Cassandra didn’t move. Josh equipped his sword, ready to strike.

“Who’s a weird sidekick?” the orb said, its voice metallic, but somehow familiar.

Cassandra’s eyes narrowed. “Is that you, Melody?”

“No, I am Muso.” A tiny green dot appeared underneath its eye, a crackling sound growing.

“It’s powering up for a strike!” Lex said, then burst forward, her sword in hand. She struck, but the orb sped to one side. She struck again, Affinity racing to her side. The cat girl struck so fast that Josh could barely track the hit. Muso dodged again, but marginally too late. The orb shot toward the fireplace, bouncing off its stone stack and dropping to the floor.

Melody raced in. “What the fuck did you do that for?” She picked up her creation, cradling it like a newborn. Then she broke into a grin. “It’s okay. I added a self-heal spell. Most karvel machines have that tech. Took a while to understand it.”

“But with the help of a dusty old archaeologist, we managed it,” Elowen said, marching in, followed by three more orbs. “Unfortunately, we only named the first one—but these are our new scouts. The karvels called them robots, but we prefer bot. It’s simpler.”

Cassandra dropped her magical shield. “You can see what they see?”

“It’s an adapted scrying spell,” Melody said. “My magic finally came into play. I’ve equipped it with a mana ray. Not a big one, more a deterrent for goblins and the like—if there are any.”

“Wait!” Cassandra said. “You made these…things?”

“Yup. We spent days pawing over karvel and dwarven texts, then just as we were about to give up and come back, we found this!” She held up a book, its paper yellowed with age, many of the pages hanging out, ripped away from the spine. “It’s a detailed instruction on how to build a scouting orb. I guess it didn’t matter how many people knew how to build them. It’s not like they’re defensive bots. So, anyway, we ditched everything, and we built them. Muso was the first.”

“Muso?”

“Melody’s Ultimate Scouting Orb. Has a ring to it, no?”

“It has something,” Cassandra growled. “Give me a beast to fight anytime. If that’s a bot, then bots creep me out.”

“Do you mean to say we’ll be able to send these into Feleesh before we go in?” Helm asked.

“They’ll fly all the while they have mana in their cores.” She reached into her pocket and brought out a clear crystal. “This is a thing called silica. According to some texts, it is the best at storing and retaining mana. We’re hoping Vella can supercharge them.”

“Can,” Vella said, taking one. She studied the clear crystal, then scrunched her face up. It turned from clear to bright, glowing green instantly. “There,” she said.

Josh grinned, looking around the whole party. “I think we’re as prepared as it gets. We have the night in Shadows, and then we go to Feleesh. We’re ready.” He grabbed hold of Arabella, aware that of all of them, she hadn’t advanced at all during the ten days. “Are you okay?” he asked.

She looked up. “I’m fine. I know what I’m here for. You don’t have to worry about me. I’m here to keep you all sane. I’m here to make sure you don’t do something stupid. I’m okay with that, Josh. It’s the way it’s always been.”

Just hearing that, Josh knew Arabella was the most courageous among them. She didn’t have the strength, speed or magic. She had none of Elowen’s knowledge or Melody’s explosives. She only had herself, and she was still willing to walk into the most dangerous place in the Hangsane equipped with just that.

“You’re amazing, but you know that.”

She smiled. “I know, but it doesn’t hurt to hear it every now and then. Now, this is what I suggest. We go back to our rooms, get washed and changed and then we go for a rip-roaring night out.”

“Shouldn’t we have a quiet night and leave with clear heads?” Affinity asked.

“Pah!” Arabella spat. “Vella can heal us and we’ll be right as rain.”

“Can,” said Arabella.

Merhun walked into the inn. “Ah, I am glad you are all here. Adamant requests your immediate presence. It appears there are developments, and none are looking favorable.”

“Laurent is under attack.” Adamant paced his garden. “Ravagers in their hundreds. The refugees fill the road out, but of course, there is only the Magalese cut awaiting them. I have heard reports that the cut is a hell all of itself. Why they leave this place alone, I have no idea. We are technically nearer the cut than Laurent.”

“We have a theory that the Emittance, or the Grillons as we refer to them, are wary of karvel tech. We believe that the karvel magic, particularly that of the shadow magic, is what keeps them away.” Elowen pushed her glasses onto the bridge of her nose as all eyes turned to her. “However, it may be that this or subsequent evolutions will convince them that they are strong enough.”

“Them?” Adamant said.

“There are three.” Cassandra stood, planting her Everdeep staff. “There are two that we would class as support and one which is the fiercest. From what we have gathered, this is a standard arrangement. The ravagers, of which you can class the surviving guardians and paladins, are driven by one. We think it will be one of the support Grillons with a particularly strong mind.”

“Three creatures cause all this?” Adamant said.

Arabella cleared her throat. “Why so surprised? It is how the Hangsane works. You use one powerful figurehead to subdue a whole guild. Did you not wonder where you inherited that from?”

“Curse this place,” Adamant said. “But you are right, of course. We have done it this way for as long as I can remember. Tell me, how is it that three of you surged in power? The Man on the Mountain is good, but he’s not a-hundred-thousand-power-good.”

Josh weighed up whether to tell him, but decided that they were only a night away from taking on the ruins of Feleesh so sharing the secret meant little. “We used Vella to transfer the power of the Telemar Angel Stone into Helm. Lex absorbed a warrior core, and Affinity used Salazar’s Angel Stone.”

He pursed his lips. “You think it will make a difference?”

Josh shrugged. “It can’t hurt.”

“Then come with me. I have something that may be of use.” He marched through the garden toward a small stone temple. As he opened the door, a bright light spilled out.

Josh’s heart quickened. “Is that?”

Adamant turned. “It is. It belongs to our guild and has been here since we settled on this magnificent rock. If I might suggest, you have Helm and Lex, both are accomplished at melee fighting. You have Affinity who has the speed. If we are to donate our stone, I feel it should go to Arabella.”

“Why me?” Arabella asked.

“Because I hear you are the best with ranged weapons. You excel with the drow short bow. If this works, I will give you a Reavan bow. No offense, Helm, but the Reavan bow is far superior to anything you will have used or seen. Our artisans developed it for hunting, and as you can imagine, the hunt is particularly challenging here.”

“I…” Arabella said. “I’m not the one. Give it to Cassandra, even Vella. I’m not a warrior.”

“But you are. You battle every day to make everything work. There will be no discussion. It is my stone. Provided you will willingly do whatever it takes to absorb the stone’s power, I will donate it on behalf of the Reavers.”

Arabella stepped back, her gaze flitting between Josh and the stone. “But what will it improve?”

Affinity stepped forward. “I’m as fast now—like really fast. Imagine how quick and accurate you’ll be with a bow. Imagine how agile you’ll be. You have to do this, Arabella. It won’t affect Cassandra or Vella. It won’t help Melody blow up things or Elowen plan our route. I know I couldn’t take another jump in power. My body would break. You have to do this because there is no one else.”

Cassandra snorted. “Been here less than a day and she’s already talking more sense than all of us put together.”

“I’ll do it,” Arabella said. “I’ll do it because she’s right. I am the next in line, and if I can help, then I will.”

“Good,” said Melody. “Because I made a bunch of those exploding arrows. Let’s get it done, get back to the inn and start drinking. After all, it could be the last time we get shitfaced for a while.”

“I, for one, am in full agreement about that,” Cassandra said.

Vella slid past Adamant and grabbed the Angel Stone, sitting on the stone floor and pulling Arabella down. “Now,” she said, grabbing Arabella’s hand.

“Josh, will you?” Arabella asked.

He sat next to her. “Of course I will. If it hurts too much, if you can’t take anymore, just say the word and we’ll stop.”

Arabella took the black bow, holding it up with the reverence it deserved. While the quality of the drow bow astounded her, this one outstripped it. Beautiful silver moldings graced its curved arms, their tips capped with the same color. The string shone as if made of sunlight. “It’s magnificent,” she said, her voice barely a whisper. “Are you sure you want to give this away?”

“Once again, you aren’t thinking logically. I have no future if you fail. Sure, the ravagers might not attack me here, but without the outside world, things will rapidly fall apart. Our grain stores have around a month’s supply, but I think the unrest would beat us before then.”

Arabella nodded, taking the offered arrow. “Try it.”

She drew, the tension in the string nothing to her. Her strength had exploded, but it was nothing compared to the increase in her Speed and Agility. That had more than doubled. She’d gained good numbers in Durability too, but her Ranged Weapons had improved significantly. While her overall score was still under three hundred, she felt fantastic. The combination of Speed, Agility and the Ranged Weapon bonus made her desperate to test the bow.

Name: Arabella Extrael

Guild: The Misfits

Position: Archer

Attributes:

Strength = 48

Speed and Agility = 65

Durability = 50

Ranged Weapons = 65

Melee Weapons = 25

Total – 253

“There!” Adamant said, pointing to a bird perched upon a tree some fifty yards away.

“Too easy,” she said. “That one?”

She pointed to a small bird perched upon the temple roof. “An impossible shot?”

“Improbable, but not impossible. There is one further away. Look over the temple, the last tree on the left.”

“Deal,” Arabella said, shooting without hesitation. The bird fell, and Arabella handed him the bow back. “Thanks, but I can’t take it. It’s too good.”

He handed the bow back to her. “Then we’ll call it a lend. I’ll lend you the bow and if you win and return, you can always give it back to me.”

“Deal,” she said. “We will win, and we will come back. You’ve just got to hold it together until we return.”

Arabella walked back toward the arch.

“Hold me up, Josh. I think my legs are going to give way.”

“You did great.”

“I’ve never felt so much pain in all my life. Is that what you go through regularly?”

“Every time I want to progress.”

Chapter Twenty

THE CHANGE CREPT through Josh’s veins. Thin air became thick with threat, the cavern’s dim light, their echoing footsteps adding to his sense of foreboding. He raises his hand, waiting for Melody’s scouts to pierce the darkness. Three thin strands of green mana light issued from Melody’s scouts, adding to the glimmer from Cassandra’s Everdeep staff. Even that magical light couldn’t reach the cavern’s ceiling, nor stretch to its boundaries.

Josh watched through the guild feed as the drones advanced. He’d split his screen in three, the feed brushing rock, an old road, and crumbled buildings. Scorch marks coated all, and the stench of burned mana filled the dusty air.

A pulse of red coated his HUD, a harbinger that worse was coming. Even that brief warning didn’t prepare him, and when a burst of green light flooded the cavern, obliterating the bots’ feeds, he hesitated. That hesitation elongated as brief wonder replaced it.

The karvel machine advanced, its mechanical legs grinding, their screams filling the cave. Each of its three legs lurched forward, its gait awkward like it wasn’t comfortable with its own design. But when its cabin-like top swiveled, a focused beam of concentrated mana burst from a single round aperture, Josh sprang into action.

What exactly he was going to do with his sword was a moot question. He could hardly fell a fifty-foot-high machine with his blade. In fact, he would be lucky to dent one of its tree-trunk legs, but he reacted, as all warriors would.

The scout exploded, its feed turning to static. Melody called the remaining two back, the orbs snapping into her outstretched. “Fucker!” she said.

“It’s focusing on us,” Affinity said. “I can get to it, but fuck do I know what I’ll do once I get there?”

The machine lumbered toward them, its pace slow. That lumbering gait made it even more ominous, especially when accompanied by the cries of its dry joints.

“I suppose I’ll have to come to the rescue,” Cassandra said.

“No,” Vella said. “It’s low on mana. Mana bad down here. If you fill it, it will recover.”

Cassandra laughed. “Don’t be so daft. It’s a lump of metal. I’ll just change it.” Her staff flashed, its magic wrapping around the machine’s leg. “There! Should be rust in a moment.”

The machine closed.

“Should be rust now,” Cassandra said.

“It’s getting faster.”

Melody handed Arabella an arrow. “Try this one. Straight on the snout.”

Arabella took the arrow, knocking and firing in one smooth movement. The arrow flew true, smacking the machine on the nose and exploding on impact. The machine stuttered, then its head moved slowly but surely toward Arabella.

“Run!” Helm screamed, and they all scampered away as the karvel creation shot its pin-point laser right where Arabella had been. Barely reaching cover, the blast sent her rolling into a giant boulder. She smashed against it, the air fleeing her lungs.

“Not even a scratch!” Lex cried.

“I’ve had enough of this,” Cassandra said, rolling her sleeves up and marching back out into the cavern’s center. Her mana shield shimmered into being, but she reduced it to the size of a buckler. “Wanna steal my mana? Two can play at that game.”

She blasted the machine, her mana so focused it was just a pencil thin line of brilliant white. It struck its knee joint, super-heating it from full iron, to red, then white hot. The metal fused, the machine teetering. It sent a blast of mana-fire at Cassandra, who seemed to know it was coming and blocked it while casting her next spell.

Another exchange. Cassandra caught the machine’s magic on her buckler again, returning it with interest straight into its third knee joint.

“Take that, you useless lump of rust!” Cassandra said as she countered more blasts. “Can someone blow it over while I keep it occupied?”

Josh lurched from cover, but Affinity held him back. “Don’t. I’m faster. Mels, you got anything?”

Melody darted over, a bomb in hand. “It’s got a timer. What count do you want?”

“What do I need to do?”

Melody twisted her mouth. “Strap it to one of its ankles.”

“Then ten.”

“But you won’t get there and back.”

“Any time now would be good. It seems to be getting faster,” Cassandra shouted, sending back as good as she got, but each traded blast becoming more powerful.

“Told you,” Vella said.

Affinity darted forward, the cat girl so fast she blurred.

“Ten,” she shouted, crouching back in position.

The bomb exploded, rocking the huge machine. This time it couldn’t compensate as it rocked from side to side.

“It’s going!” Cassandra said.

Josh broke from cover, racing toward it, zigzagging to avoid its erratic blasts. As he closed, its true scale became apparent, and he wondered exactly what he thought he could do. But he’d committed. “Cassandra! When I say go, open a hole under its left side!”

“Got it! My left or its left?”

“Its left!” he growled, getting into position. “Now!”

Cassandra switched her magic, taking her focus away from her defense for mere moments. But it was enough for the machine to strike. Its mana blast tore through her, spinning her around.

“No!” Josh cried, lurching toward the machine and pushing against its enormous leg with all his strength. “It’s hopeless. It isn’t budging.”

“I…got…this!” Cassandra said, shifting around and pointing the Everdeep staff straight at it. She muttered some words and collapsed.

Affinity raced from cover, scooping up Cassandra and diving behind a boulder as a blast shattered the cavern floor behind her. Josh strained, the machine immovable. Cassandra’s crackling magic danced over the rock under its other two legs. Another magical blast spewed from the witch’s hiding place, the rock under the machine dissolving. Josh pushed harder, the karvel guardian finally wavering. Lex joined him, Helm taking the other leg. The machine reached its point of no return, falling as they all sprang back. Its turret issued another blast of mana before its light vanished.

Josh furrowed his brow. “That was too easy,” he said. “Way too easy.”

“What do you mean? It nearly took me out.” Cassandra pulled at the hole in her cloak. “If it wasn’t for Vella, I’d be…” She stared at her shoulder. “You’re right. That was way too easy. I should be dead.”

Melody threw one of her scouts up, directing it into the machine’s cabin. Its green light spread over the internal workings. “Looks like there’s room for a karvel, but no one’s home. Wait a minute—Vella? What’s up with that?”

Vella looked inside her mind, her eyes rolling to the back of her head.

“Darling,” Cassandra said. “You don’t have to do that. Just look.”

“Like doing it this way.”

A pulsing green core sat central to the machine. “Cassandra filled the core,” Vella said, “but it’s already going rotten. The old mana corrupted the new.”

“So, if I hadn’t attacked it?” Cassandra said.

“Would have stopped.” Vella pulled Josh close. “Same corruption as the sprites. Same as the guardians.”

“What are you telling me?” Josh asked.

Vella shrugged. “Emittance isn’t power. It’s corruption. It twists all the wrong way.”

“Is that why we’re here?”

“Yes.” She touched the machine, then pressed her palm against it. Black crawled up her hand, its veins crazing her skin.

“No, Vella!” Josh screamed, trying to pull her away.

But even as he struggled, the black faded, and Vella smiled. “All gone.”

“You can do that?” Cassandra said.

“Do what?” Josh said.

“She cleaned the mana. I could feel it. I thought it was burned mana I was smelling, but it wasn’t. It was corruption.” She whirled around, pointing her staff at Josh. “That’s why we’re here. The land drew us here first,” she said. “The place you go with Vella. It all fits. We can’t win unless we have this land on our side.”

“Fits,” Vella said.

“But which way?” Arabella asked.

“Simple,” Melody said. “A bit of light please, Cassandra.”

Cassandra cast a light ball. It rose to reveal their shadows. All pointed further into the cavern. “Looks like this way,” she said. “Perhaps this is what the City of Shadows was trying to tell us all along.”

Josh sheathed his sword. “Melody, send your remaining orbs forward. One, say, twenty yards, the other just ten. We keep things tight and go slowly.”

“Has Adamant got the time?” Elowen asked.

“He said thirty days.” Josh followed the orbs.

“That was before ravagers invaded Laurent,” Melody pointed out.

“Tight and slow is more use to him than dead.”

The old town appeared, stone dwellings carved into the rock, lining the road as it wound through the cavern’s wall. They passed another fallen machine, then a third. Bones littered the road. Weapons and tools lay abandoned.

“It’s like a living tomb,” Cassandra said. “Like time just stopped, and they all keeled over.”

“But where’s the center?” Arabella asked. “Where’s the mana pool?”

The grind of metal stopped them in their tracks. Josh signaled all of them to one side. Cassandra sent her light orb forward as Melody recalled her scouts. Its light illuminated a colossal machine as it lumbered toward them. But before it came too close, its joints buckled, and it fell to its knees. A mana blast fizzed from it, ineffectual, barely chiseling a divot into the rock. It crashed to the ground, the rock under them shaking.

Vella rushed out, laying her hands on it. Consuming the corruption, she moved further forward, her usual smile absent. Her determination clear.

“We must beat it,” she said. “Or it will consume all our lands.”

They forged on, deeper into Feleesh, the story the same as they snuck from street to street. Arabella eventually called a halt. Josh took some food and water from his storage, and they ate in silence until he broke it.

“So, we know there’s a pool, and it’s filled with mana. That mana powers all magic, but some is corrupted?”

“Yes,” Vella said. “Been corrupted since they came. Something happened.”

“We fix the corruption, and they die?” Melody asked.

“Don’t think so. Machines—yes. Humans, creatures, monsters? They use it, don’t run on it. I think no.”

“Where is the mana pool?” Cassandra asked.

“Deeper,” was all Vella said, and they finished their food in silence.

The narrow passage twisted downward, its base smoothed by countless footsteps. Shallow clefts held the remnants of long-guttered candles, and larger held seats and rest areas. The ominous feeling returned to Josh. Faint red coated his vision, telling him danger wasn’t far away. The path leveled after what seemed like an age, and at its distant end came conflicting light. One moment it was the bright green of the purest mana. The next it took on a more sinister hue, a deep maroon, the color similar to the darkness of the sprite’s corruption.

Melody sent one scout forward, the alternating light and dark sending back mixed images. A pool. Black. Something. Something out of place. Something sinister.

Josh crouched, his heart beating wildly. His mouth dried and his bad feeling threatened to overwhelm him. He’d had the feeling before. It was when they’d pursued him. It was when he’d known he would die.

“They’re up there,” he said, looking behind him at his girls. Each of them—each of his girls—demanded he lead them. They’d put their faith in him, and he had to repay them. He couldn’t allow fear to overwhelm him. “I can feel the fuckers in my bones.”

His hatred rose, same as it had in Telemar. Tremelox fell deathly silent, its usual alerts and mutterings vanishing. Josh broke cover, crouching, then running, crouching, then running. The mana-light warmed him. Darkness made his heart stop. He pressed on regardless. He had to get to the end. He had to overcome.

A pool stretched before him, light filling it, falling from a hole so far above it might as well have been a star. The star blinked, and darkness spread. “Clouds!” he scoffed. “Clouds snuffing out the sun.”

But through the twilight, he could make out a shape. Unnaturally straight, protruding from the mana pool at an odd angle, he tried to reconcile it with something he knew—something he could understand. It was familiar—but distantly so and angled out of the pool like the shaft that tapered upward.

His mind’s gears whirred slowly, coming to a conclusion that should have been obvious.

“They crashed here,” he said as his vision turned red and a lumbering beast rounded the pool, its eyes shining brightly.

“Tremelox!” the Grillon said. “You return to us!”

Josh fought the compelling urge to reply. He wanted to, but it was Tremelox’s instinct and not his.

“Not Tremelox,” he said, drawing his great sword, as the first of Cassandra’s blasts hit the creature squarely in the gut.

The creature raised its gun.

There were no tactics. There was no great plan. Josh attacked. Cassandra attacked. Melody threw her grenade, and Elowen drew her sword. Affinity reached it first, her speed incredible. She wrapped her arms around its neck, using her momentum to pull it back. Mana pips shot from the weapon, pinging off the cavern’s ceiling. Josh raced forward, sword back, ready to strike.

The Grillon kicked out, catching Josh in the gut. Its power catapulted Josh back, sending him sprawling. It shook Affinity off, reaching around to grab her, but the cat girl had already moved. She scampered away, keeping her head low as Cassandra blasted it with a fearsome lightning strike. Arabella sent an exploding arrow into its gut, the blast ringing through the cave. The Grillon withstood both, marching forward, its focus solely on Josh.

“Traitor. You have corrupted our purity!” It picked up Josh like he weighed nothing.

Helm struck, her sword biting down on the Grillon’s arm, drawing blood. But the cut was too shallow—ridiculously so.

“Fuck,” cried Elowen. “Its durability must be insane.”

Josh braced as the Grillon grabbed him. The creature stared down at him. “Now you pay. Now I break you.”

But Josh had already called his suit, and it snapped around him. He grabbed the Grillon’s fist, ripping it away, and then he head-butted it straight on its HUD’s visor. The material held but crazed. The weakness gave Josh some hope, and he pulled the beast closer, butting it over and over as it tried to back away.

A punch to the gut took Josh by surprise, but Lex jumped in to help him, smashing her fist into its side, and Helm stabbed her sword into the creature on its other side. Josh doubled over, the Grillon kneeing him in the face. His head snapped back, knees giving way.

“Renew!” Vella said, flooding Josh with new power.

“Heal!” she said, spreading her power among them.

The vigor filled Josh, fueling his strength and his anger. He punched the Grillon squarely on the chin, the power of his follow through sending the creature back.

“This is not treachery!” Josh shouted. “It’s justice, fucker. Justice for all that you and the other two assholes have done!”

Josh punched the Grillon again, then grasped his sword in both hands, winding up his death blow.

But the creature countered, leveling his gun straight at Josh’s gut. The gun glowed red as it pulled the trigger. It cried out, dropping the weapon as blast after blast rained down on it, Cassandra stepping closer with each one.

“Deal with this, fucker!” she shouted, winding up a huge blast and pointing her staff at the Grillon as lightning erupted from her.

Her magic pushed the creature back, his protection clearly dulling its effect. But it was enough to drive it close to the mana pool. Helm ran toward it. Launching a kick at the beast and catching it squarely on its chest.

The Grillon teetered momentarily, then fell back into the pool, the mana effervescing around it, stripping it of its suit, boiling the scales from its body and turning the bone to dust. For just a moment, a small, black ring floated on the mana’s surface until it too succumbed to the mana’s power and disintegrated.

A surge of power coursed through Josh. Numerous notifications flashed, but it was all he could do to stand. The battle had taken its toll. He sat. “Anyone else getting notifications?”

“We all are,” Cassandra said, squatting by him. “We’re getting its bounty. The land rewards us for fighting for it.”

Vella grabbed him, pointing at the mana pool. “There,” she said. “That. That infects it.”

Josh focused, looking past the mana’s blinding luminance. “That’s the ship. That’s the…” His mouth gaped wide. “That’s the Grillon ship!”

He stood, walking around the pool. As he focused, the ship became clearer. It was a ragged ghost of its former self. A skeleton, a frayed framework. But a pool of black surrounded it—a slick of corruption that fought the mana for dominance. The craft belched, a large bubble breaking the surface, blackness surrounding it.

“The ship is corrupting the mana!”

“Yes,” Vella said.

“It’s poisoning the source. It’s why it affects the sprites too. We’ve got to get it out of there.”

“Get it out of there?” Melody said. “It’s massive. How the hell are we going to do that?”

“It’s made of metal, isn’t it?” Cassandra asked. “If it’s made of metal, I’m pretty sure I can scrunch it up a little.” She shrugged. “Perhaps a lot.”

“Why hasn’t the mana eaten the ship?” Elowen asked. “Surely it should do. It ate the Grillon fast enough.”

Josh circled the ship, coming to an opening and a makeshift walkway. “Tremelox, do Grillon ships have master AIs that control them?”

“They do.”

“Do they have bots that repair the ship like you have to repair me?”

“Yes.”

“What do the bots run on?”

“They run on what you call vigor. In its basest form, it is a byproduct of mana.”

“So, the AI takes the mana, changes it to vigor, and that sustains it.”

“Yes, and its by-product poisons the remaining mana simultaneously.”

“Can we kill the AI?”

“The AI should be in a weakened state. If I can gain access to the ship’s systems, there is a chance that I can eliminate it. However, there is a possibility that it will take me over, and by default, it will take you over.”

“We’ve got no choice. We have to stop it!”

“Ravagers!” Helm screamed.

“Lots of them!” Lex added.

Josh whipped around. Dozens of hideous, deformed beasts rose from surrounding pools, each thick with corruption. Cassandra shot a blast of magic at one, the creature dropping back into the pool. Another rose in its place, then another, then more.

“They’re feeding off the corruption!” he yelled. “Tremelox can try to fix it, but it’ll take me out of the battle!”

“Just go. Do it!” Arabella said, nocking her Reavan bow. “We’ll hold them off as long as we can.”

Josh hesitated. More ravagers surfaced, hopelessly outnumbering them. But the Misfits were stronger, much stronger.

“Vella, with me!” Josh shouted, racing up the gangway and coming face-to-face with a human ravager. Its eyes glowed white, just like Lux’s had all that time ago. Josh dove, knowing what was coming. The ravager roared with laughter. “You think you’re strong, human? You think you can take on a guardian?”

“I know I fucking can,” he said, breaking into a roll and coming to his feet. “I’m stronger than any human you’ve defeated.” He brought his sword around, slicing the guardian in two. “You picked the wrong side, asshole,” he said, kicking him out of the way.

The ship was in as bad a state inside as out. Decayed panels hung loose. Wires dangled, sparking occasionally. Black gloop pools bubbled and burped. “Tremelox, what do I do?”

“You need to sit in the command seat. It is straight ahead.”

Josh forged through, the corruption sticking to him. Dizziness hit him, coming in waves, and his poison alarm blinked blue. Vella reached out.

“Renew.”

But it only had minimal effect. “The corruption is strong in here,” Josh said, its acidic stench tearing at his lungs.

They came to the command center, a chair sat central. The remnants of a Grillon sat in it. Most of its body had rotted away, its legs completely gone. Josh reached for it, ready to toss it out of the way. Its head jerked around, empty eye sockets looking out. “You came, Tremelox. You came. We have been waiting for you.”

“I came to kill you!” Josh cried, grabbing the remnants of the Grillon. “You can’t stop me.”

“We already have. Tremelox is one of us. You forget that.”

Josh wound his fist back, punching the dying Grillon with every ounce of his pent-up aggression. The creature’s head snapped back, its rotten neck giving way. He grabbed its fetid body, throwing it out of the chair and sat.

“I’m trusting you, Tremelox. You’re not a Grillon. You and I are the same. We’re together. You’re as much a part of me as I am of you. So do this, save the day and be the hero!”

Josh tipped his head back, a pain shooting straight through him. His mind opened, Tremelox’s presence instantly diluting. Josh reached for Vella. “You need to help him. Drain the ship of what you can.”

“I will,” Vella said.

His mind filled with voices, distant at first but closing rapidly. They urged him to join them. They compelled him to become one of them. They attacked him, not Tremelox!

“No!” he cried, their combined mind eating away at his will.

“Yes!” they all hissed. “You are the prize, not the ring. We have infinite rings. You have evolved. You are useful to us. We can learn from you.”

A metal clasp shot around his forehead, clamping him in place. The voices grew louder, invading every part of him. Josh reached into himself, finding his roots, his foundation, the things that made him strongest. He focused on Arabella, the dependable Arabella, as he sunk farther and farther down.

“No! I reject you! Tremelox rejects you! This land rejects you!”

Then a new voice took over. A single, deep voice, and Josh instantly knew it was the alpha Grillon. “You cannot escape. They all come for you. You can join us or die; it is your choice—your fate. Your women are already falling. They won’t last much longer!”

“They will defeat your minions!” he cried, his teeth gritted. “Tremelox, now would be a good time to spring me a surprise. Vella! Drain this fucker!”

Josh cried out as a blast of power coursed through him. Then he inhaled sharply as the power raced away, sucked from him like water down a drain hole.

“No!” he shouted, his voice barely audible. “No! Don’t! Vella, that’s too much. You gotta stop. You’re killing me!”

But the mana fled. The vigor fled. Cold filled him, frigid cold. He reached out, but Vella wasn’t there. “Vella!” He screamed.

More power leached from him. His vision became a tunnel, the light distant. The voices receded, becoming ineffectual. And then his world shattered and began falling apart. He screamed, pain finally breaking through Tremelox’s barriers as his whole body emptied. “Vella!” he cried, one last time, and the metal band broke, and his head fell forward.

“Heal,” said Vella. “Renew,” she added.

Warmth filled him, and a distant voice neared. “Master?”

“Tremelox? Tremelox, is that you?”

“Heal! Renew!” Vella said.

“I am here, Master. The ship’s AI is no more. It is sinking, Josh. The mana pool will consume us.”

Josh tried to rise, but he had no power.

“I can’t get up!” The ship lurched, the sound of twisting metal rang out. “We’re sinking. We’re fucking sinking!”

He rolled out of the seat, crawling on his hands and knees. Vella came by his side. “Renew,” she said. “No, not working. Drained you too much.” She grabbed him, holding his face and kissing him. “There. That’s more.”

Power surged through him again. Vella helped him up, but the ship lurched, a great split appearing in its side. Mana gushed through, dissolving its shell, the walkways and the panels. He stumbled, falling towards it. The walkway snapped, the ship breaking free. Mana surrounded them as the crippled vessel slowly sank into the renewed mana.

“It’s eating the ship!” Josh said. “Vella! We need to get out!”

“Can’t!” she said, then smiled. “We can’t, but they can.”

Vella pulled him, bringing him into an embrace. A dark split appeared, a fissure. “Trust me,” Vella said, pulling him through.

He tumbled into a void, spilling out, the sprites all around him. He fell onto a mossy hill, its vibrant green so vivid, so healthy. Its power filled him, racing through him and renewing him. “How can that be?” Josh asked. “Vigor renews. Mana heals.”

“It’s different, but similar. Here it helps. Gives your normal body power. You need that power to defeat the beast.” She grabbed his hand, pulling up the hill. “Going,” she said. “Corruption is going!”

He looked over the hill, toward the center. The corruption was halfway down, receding, getting sucked into its center.

“We need to get back. We need to help the others.”

“The Herald is here!” the sprites all cried. “The Herald is here, and he has saved us.”

“The Herald needs to return to his land,” Josh told them. “He needs to return right now!”

The sprites darted toward the last of the corruption. “This way, Herald. This way!”

“But that’s…”

Vella grabbed his hand, pulling him down the hill. “Follow. Have faith. They won’t let you down.”

The sprites dove into the corruption’s center. Vella followed. Josh hesitated for a moment, then raced after her. They plunged into the corruption. It sucked them through, spitting them out the other side. A ravager came straight for him, its lips curled in a snarl. It was human, barely, its skin flaking like a zombie from an old movie aboard a slugger. He slashed at it, equipping his sword and recalling his suit. The zombie fell. He bundled it over. The sprites attacked, flying around the ravagers.

Cassandra’s magic blasted all around them, her speed incredible, her anticipation unbelievable. Helm whirled and spun, her sword a blur. Lex stood by her, kicking and punching, ravagers falling. Vella sprung from one ravager to the next, the sprites following her. As she touched them, the sprites dropped, settling on them, draining them, the ravagers falling. Arabella shot arrow after arrow as Melody tossed her grenades.

Silence fell as the last of the ravagers succumbed. Vella cocked her head. “Mana better,” she said. “Filling up the air.”

Josh breathed a sigh of relief, but then his gut clenched as a familiar metallic sound echoed throughout the chamber.

“Machines have woken up,” Vella said.

Chapter Twenty-One

“AT LEAST WE CURED THE SPRITES,” Josh said, readying.

“Do you know what the best thing about having this new foresight is?” Cassandra asked.

“Go on,” said Josh as the others gathered behind him.

“It tells you when to run and when to fight.”

“If we fight?”

“We die.”

Five enormous machines lumbered into view, their mana-eyes growing brighter.

“Does it tell where to run to?” Josh asked.

“It gives me options. But I’d strongly suggest following the arrows.”

Josh hesitated. “We run? Do Misfits run?”

“I’m really fucking happy running,” Melody said.

“I’m okay with running,” Arabella said, backing up.

“Then we run.” Josh turned, briefly looking at the arrow pointing away. “Run!” he screamed as the first mana blasts shot toward them.

Affinity took the lead, jinking through the cavern and headed straight toward a tall thin fissure.

“A low passageway would be good. They couldn’t get through that,” Cassandra shouted.

“If I could see one, I’d take you to it!” Affinity called over her shoulder.

“I thought we were following the arrows,” Elowen called.

Affinity skidded to a halt. “Err, guys, I think we have a real problem.”

Josh skidded to a halt beside her. “Fuck,” he said.

Another machine took up the entire passageway.

“Watch out!” Cassandra cried, launching herself in front of them, deflecting a mana bolt with her magical buckler. “Between its legs. I’ll draw the fire!”

Josh hesitated, but just for a moment. Cassandra’s foresight made all the difference.

“Go! Go! Go!” he cried, ushering them all through. More mana pips came at them from both behind and in front. Cassandra was one step ahead, twisting and turning, intercepting all of them. Elowen was last through. Josh waited until she raced through its legs.

“Go, Cas. I can take a hit.”

“But I won’t get hit. Go, Josh. It’s what we trained for!”

He ran, darting through the machine’s legs as Melody planted a bomb under its foot. “Now Cas!” she cried.

A brilliant flash of light radiated from the Everdeep staff. Cassandra burst from it, jinking through as Affinity took the lead, and they raced away. The cat girl skidded to a halt. “Arrow’s gone!” she cried.

“It’s here—pointing into the wall,” Arabella said, taking a breath and running toward solid rock.

She vanished. Josh pushed Melody and Elowen through, as Melody’s bomb finally exploded. Rock strafed them as Cassandra, Vella, Lex and Helm raced through the rock wall. Affinity shrugged. Josh dusted himself off. “Still glad you joined?”

“No regrets yet, especially if you hurry up and jump through that rock.”

“You first.”

Affinity shoved him. “Not how this works. I’m expendable.”

He grabbed her, pulling her through the rock. “We’ll agree to disagree.”

They stumbled into an alleyway, miniature houses on either side. Josh’s head came up to the roof. He bent low, looking in through the upstairs window. “Did I just grow?” Stranger things had happened.

“Best guess,” Elowen said. “Karvel village. They probably hid them from the dwarves. From my reading, they didn’t get on very well. The dwarves were prone to getting drunk and throwing them around.”

“So, why are they leading us here?” Melody asked.

“Safety,” Vella said. “This way. The sprites are this way.” She raced down the street, coming to a square and taking a fork, climbing, and coming to another square set in a rectangular cavern. “Here,” she said. “Just here.” She sat by a little pond.

The sprites came straight away, fluttering around all of them as they sat in a circle.

“What’s this all about?” Cassandra asked as a sprite rested on her hand.

“They will help us,” Vella said.

“How?” Elowen said.

Vella shrugged. “They will distract the machines. They will give us time.”

Josh let one settle on his palm. “Do you mean they will sacrifice themselves for us?”

“Yes.”

“Then I can’t allow it.”

She reached out for him. “You must. You saved them. They will repay. Just through the caves. No farther. Perhaps at the end. Their courage is fragile.”

He stared at the tiny creature.

“Let us do this, Herald. We must repay you,” she said.

“Ten of you. That is all. Ten, but you must be fast. Cassandra can see the fight.” He paused. “Can you actually see what’s going to happen? For instance, do you know what’ll happen when we leave this village?”

“No. I can only accurately predict things in front of me. I see visions—pick scrolls—and that is just a scene, a random scene that may or may not be right. If something is happening in front of me, then I have a good chance of getting it right.”

“Good enough to bet our lives on it?” Arabella asked.

Cassandra shot her a look. “I’d rather have more time to practice, but good enough to bet my life on it, for sure.”

“Then that’s enough for me.”

“Where to next?” Melody asked.

“Get through this place and then…” Josh sighed, unequipping his suit. “I guess we go to the Emittance and see if we can’t win.” It seemed a weak conclusion to their adventure. They had no grand plan. They couldn’t allot each other a task and choreograph their attack. They had little to go on. “I hate just walking in like some sacrificial lamb.”

“Maybe we don’t have to,” Elowen said. “The karvel magic brought us here. We should ask ourselves why. We can assume one of the Grillon evolutions wiped them out, or at least persuaded them to try to leave. At a guess, it was the crash and the corruption that began the decay. Perhaps the Grillons courted them while they recovered from the crash, and then the fuckers turned on them.”

“We don’t know, though. They fought the dwarves—they fought the Grillons? They fled? We just don’t know,” Arabella said. “So, what’s the point of theorizing?”

“I’m getting to it. One way or the other, the karvels—I’m discounting the dwarves—knew that the Grillons would wipe them out. What if they laced the area with the Shadows to guide us to a specific place?”

“Here,” Vella said.

“Are we sure? Are we sure this is the final destination?”

“Eh?” Cassandra said.

“We haven’t tried to walk away yet. You think that the karvels would have led us here on the off chance that we have Vella with us who can see the sprites?” She looked around the square. “What else is here? What secrets did they hide?”

“I know what secrets aren’t hidden here,” Cassandra said. “A bed that fits me. I could do with a lie down. I’ve got a mana-head.”

“A what?” Josh asked.

“Been using too much mana. My head hurts.”

“I’ll go have a sniff around,” Affinity said. “See if I can find anything.”

Josh reluctantly pushed himself up. “We’ll all search.”

“Not sure we’re going to have to,” Lex said, pointing.

A strange looking being stood in the middle of the road. Featureless, its white body was human in shape, apart from its head, which was a perfect sphere. It was five feet tall, of slim build, and simply stood still.

“What the fuck’s that?” Cassandra asked the question on everyone’s mind.

“Josh, any danger signs?”

“Nope. It offers us no threat that I can see.”

It raised its hand, and they all fell to the floor. The sprites flew into the air, settling on the creature. One returned to Josh, perching on the pond’s edge. “Do not be scared, Herald. Fomic is here to help you. He has waited a long time.”

“Do you know what Fomic is?”

“He is the source. He is the repository. He is the fountain of all karvel knowledge. He is a gift to the one who cleanses the pool.”

Josh rose, helping a grumbling Cassandra up. “You didn’t see that coming, did you?”

“Sometimes, Josh, you’re a cock. But you know that, don’t you?”

“I doubt you’re the first person to ever say that.”

A tiny white dart sprang from the sprite’s hand, lancing into Cassandra’s cheek.

“Ow, shit! What was that for?”

“Calling the hallowed Herald a cock,” the sprite said. “Consider it your first warning.”

Cassandra pointed the Everdeep staff at her. “Consider this yours. You ever do that to me again and I’ll ram this staff so far up your ass it’ll turn you into an orb warmer, got it?”

The sprite’s expression turned to thunder. She shot another spike at Cassandra, who brushed it away before it even hit. “Saw that coming, fucker.”

The sprite flew behind Josh. “The Herald is sacred. You shall not defame him.”

“Look, sister, when you have his dick in you as many times as I have, then you’ll understand. Until then, follow the goddam freak in white and I’ll leave you be.”

“Heathen!” the sprite spat and flew away.

Josh gave her a look but said nothing.

“What?” Cassandra said. “The little pricks piss me off.”

Fomic turned, walking silently away. He headed into another passageway that wound down, skirting the edge of a large sinkhole. A distant light shone, becoming ever brighter as they descended. They eventually came to the hole’s base where a white marble temple stood. Fomic turned once it had climbed a few steps to its terrace.

“Welcome to Alasadia, home to all karvel knowledge. Here you will find all the information you require. I am Fomic. If you wish to see anything and I can, I will visualize it for you and project it upon the screens inside the temple. The karvels were a highly astute race. They prepared. They amassed knowledge concerning their greatest foe, but alas, they ran out of time. Their greatest servants filled this place with knowledge and made me its key. By your actions, you have opened this key. All inside here is yours to use. The seal has never been broken. All should be exactly as the day they prepared it for your arrival.”

The creature turned, walking through a shimmering silver wall and vanishing. Elowen was first up the steps. She passed through the curtain before Josh could urge caution. Her head poked back through. “You wanted somewhere to rest up before the last battle? Well, we hit the motherlode.” She vanished back inside.

The remaining Misfits tore up the steps.

Josh walked through, the curtain wrapping around him, tingling static making him shiver. Its white theme continued inside. The single, expansive room boasted a central pool filled with water of the deepest blue. Books lined three of its windowless walls, the fourth blank and a firepit sat next to the pool, making a figure of eight in the room’s center. Tables, lounge chairs and beds lay scattered in random positions, but all lent the room an orderly tidiness.

Cassandra flopped onto a bed, her body forming a star shape. “Well, I for one am in love with the karvels. They could have gone dusty old library, but they chose temple of the gods.”

Vella stripped off her two-piece, diving into the pool, while Arabella opened a jar, smelling its contents. “The food is all fresh, like they picked it yesterday.”

Before Josh could say anything, the blank wall dimmed, and a woman’s face appeared. She wasn’t quite human, more a combination of a mouse and a gorgeous woman combined. Her nose tapered to a point, whiskers poking out on either side. Her large black eyes made her cute rather than sinister, and her flushed cheeks gave her innocence.

“Welcome to Alasadia,” she said, her voice soft. “Welcome to the final work of the masterful karvel and the slovenly dwarf. By now you will have met Formic. He is our greatest work. Within him is the knowledge of all karvel advancements. Ask him a question, and if the answer is contained in any of our scripts, then he will give it to you.

“Alas, there is only one reason you would venture here, and that is because the invaders have evolved again. Do not let their promises fool you. Do not pretend their offer of pilgrimage is anything other than a trap. It is a snare, and you are their prey. Their infection riddled our society with hatred and divide. Their ambition poisoned us with its greed. Dear traveler, adventurer, hero, know this. Not one karvel escaped. Our race is gone, wiped out by internal conflict stoked by our Grillon masters. When they’d rinsed all from us, when they had no need for us, they let us burn.”

The woman’s image faded, replaced by chaos. Karvel fought karvel. Smoke choked passageways. Blood flowed in drains. A dwarf attacked a karvel female, stepping over her body and marching toward his next victim. Empty black eye sockets bled corruption. Foam spilled from his lips. Buildings burned. Corpses lay strewn.

Then, through the smokey carnage, came a Grillon. The warrior towered over all, its jet-black suit broken only by a cycling blue line where its eyes might have been. It held aloft a huge black stone, its dark radiance touching all, stirring them to even darker acts. The scene faded. The female karvel returning.

“They came, but they cannot come here. This sanctuary is beyond them. To be here, you must have cleansed the Ever Pool. It is the source of all power and from which we created the Everdeep staff. It is of no surprise that the invader’s ship landed here. It promises the power—the power they needed to escape this place. But that night, not one but two came. The first was the Herald, lost to the North. We hope he might rise one day. If it is you, Herald, that comes to us, then we have mixed thoughts about you, for your trail blazed a way for them.

“If you are here to fight them, then you are welcome, not for us. For us, you wake too late. But you give hope to any that might have survived. For now, rest, gather knowledge, and prepare. For if you intend to take them on, then you must be at your very best.”

The woman faded, and the wall returned to white. Fomic stood to one side of it, inert, awaiting instruction. Josh sat on the bed by Cassandra. “I was convinced I’d come after them. I can’t see me surviving in some capsule for a hundred years.”

She chuckled, but sourness rather than mirth filled it. “That? That’s what you find strange? You don’t find it weird that some ring injects a being into your head that can alter your body, form armor around you and basically turn you into a killing machine? You’re arguing about who got here first?”

He harrumphed. “Now you put it like that, it does sound a little strange. But, I’ll tell you what, if we can kick our boots off and plan for a day, then I’m all in.” He eased his boots off, rubbing his feet.

Cassandra cleared her throat. “Do your favorite witch a favor…” She offered up her feet. “Pull mine off. A little foot massage wouldn’t go amiss. This, after all, wasn’t the plan.”

“No,” he admitted. “It wasn’t.” He pulled her boots off, pressing his thumbs into her arches and drawing a groan. “Whatever happened to our dream of roaming the land in our wagons? It was a good dream, wasn’t it?”

“Still can be,” Arabella said, laying on the bed next to them. “Once we set the Grillons straight, we can go back to it. I don’t want to stay here. I don’t like the Hangsane.”

“Thank fuck someone else said it.” Lex stripped down to her underwear and lay beside Arabella. “They’ll not change, even if we destroy the Grillons. They’ll stay the same. You can’t cure greed. You can’t rid someone of a thirst for power.”

“A leopard doesn’t change its spots,” Josh said, laying beside Cassandra.

“Err, foot massage? That was hardly a foot massage,” she said.

“I’m tired. Too fucking tired.”

“Too tired for my feet?” Cassandra rolled her eyes. “That’s devastating. You’re getting bored with me, aren’t you?”

“No! I just fought my way here and I’m…”

“Too tired to massage my feet. It’s where it all starts, you know. Then we’ll be sleeping in clothes and only screwing on a full moon. Mark my words, it’s a decline. What if I stripped off? Would you massage my feet then?”

Josh considered the question. “Probably.”

“Good,” she said.

“Don’t you think we should discuss ways to beat the Grillons?” Affinity said.

“Gah! New people.” Helm stripped off, climbing onto the bed, her body contrasting delightfully with the crisp, white sheets. “You’ll soon come to like the process.”

“You’re pretty new yourself,” Melody said, dropping her clothes and diving into the pool with Vella. “But you’re right. It’s all a process. We need to clear our minds. Talking shit does that.”

“Fucking does that, darling, but our master is too tired.”

“I said I was too tired to massage your feet. I said nothing about being too tired to fuck.” Josh inched up the bed, resting his head on the pillow. Cassandra joined him, rolling onto her side and resting her hand on his chest. “Vella could give you a renew, you know.”

“She could, but I’m coming to realize there’s only so many renews and heals a body can take before it needs actual rest. I think it’s called the law of diminishing returns. This place isn’t a place of rest just so we can indulge ourselves.”

“Josh is right,” Elowen said, walking back and forth, a book in her hand. “The karvels positioned as close to the Emittance as they dared put it. They reasoned that any who were to take on the Grillons had to be at their peak. Knowledge, rest areas and food. They designed it as a tranquil place where we can gather ourselves and be ready for the fight to come.”

Affinity shrugged. “So, we’re supposed to eat, drink, swim and…”

“Yes,” Elowen said. “We are supposed to recharge.” She set down the book, pulled her top and pants off and dove into the pool.

“In that case,” the cat girl said. “It’d be rude not to.”

“Be a good Misfit,” Cassandra said. “Bring me over some food. And if anyone fancies taking my clothes off for me, I’d appreciate it.”

“I can manage that,” Josh said.

“Of course you can.”

Josh tried to rise, but every part of his body protested.

“Perhaps after a few moments shut eye.”

“I can live with that,” the witch said, her eyes closing and breaths softening.

He woke, pleasure rippling through him. A hand held his erect penis, a mouth around its head and tongue circling his crown.

“You’re awake,” Cassandra said, her mouth close to his. “You missed us all bathing.” She moved, straddling his chest, the mouth still working his cock. “Still, you get to eat fresh pussy, so there’s that.” She moved forward, lowering herself onto him. He accepted her gladly, his lips adjusting, mouth probing. Grabbing her ass, he finally opened his eyes. She towered above him. He wanted to cry out in joy. He wanted to tell the world how lucky he was. Here, near the epicenter of the apocalypse, he lay with not one, but two beauties.

A third joined them, Cassandra blocking his view. She peppered his stomach with kisses, licking along the ridge of his pubic hair. Then they coordinated, both licking his cock up and down, so gentle, so tender. He groaned, muffled by Cassandra grinding her clit onto him. She groaned, her moans tapering to barely spoken words.

“Oh Goddess, yes. Just there, just…mmmm…there.”

Stolen moments, Lex had called them. It was all they could expect—all they could hope for. Stolen moments in a world of chaos. The karvels had given them this one, and he would cast away every fear and enjoy it.

Cassandra’s moans became more urgent. Vella giggled.

“Go on then,” said Arabella.

They shuffled around, and his dick slid into heaven. “Like that,” Vella said, her hands coming around Cassandra’s waist. The witch arched her back, her orgasm close, throwing her head back and accepting Vella’s kiss. She jerked, her orgasm filling his mouth, spilling from the corners of his lips. But she wasn’t done with him yet. Her fingers moved closer, parting her lips and pushing down on him as she gasped again.

“Oh Goddess, never let this moment end.”

She slumped, exhaled, then grabbed his head as she dismounted, kissing him as she kneeled on the floor. “Sometimes I wish I could have you all to myself, but this is better, so much better.” As she withdrew, the sight of Vella riding him drove his erection to a new level of hardness. But he could only savor it momentarily as Arabella mounted his face.

“Make me cum, my husband,” she said, and she lowered herself onto him.

Yes, stolen moments. I will fight with every breath I have for the chance of more.

Chapter Twenty-Two

ELOWEN PLACED a chair next to Fomic, sitting and facing him. “Fomic, share all knowledge pertaining to the area called The Emittance.”

“I have no knowledge of an area called the Emittance.”

She looked around. “Anyone call it anything else?”

“The Ruins?” Affinity ventured.

“Fomic, share all knowledge relating to a place called The Ruins.”

“There are many ruins in the Hangsane.”

“This is infuriating. I’d be better off reading all those books.”

“Fomic,” Melody said. “What do you know about the Grillons, where they live, and what defenses they have?”

“The Grillons established a control and command center one mile due south from the crash site.”

“Fucker.” Elowen gave Melody the side eye.

“Thank you, Fomic. Further information and as much detail as you can give us would aid us in our mission.”

Brightness danced upon the blank wall, the karvel woman appearing again. She minimized, occupying a small rectangle in one corner. A metallic orb floated in the wall’s center as the woman began speaking again. “This is a scouting orb. As the threat from the Grillons became more apparent, and they turned from survivors to aggressors, we sent these scouts to assess their control and command center. In the same way, they can send images to our minds, so they can send them to data crystals. Thus, we can relay aerial shots to you. However, be aware that the data is our current situation. The delay between our demise and your rise may be years, even hundreds of years. In the same way, our sentinels will continue to protect our city, we have scouts stationed in the hills surrounding the Grillon compound. Fomic can activate them upon your command. You will need to nominate one of your party to receive the command information. Would you like to do that now?”

“Has to be Melody,” Elowen said. “She understands the machines.”

No one argued, so Melody stood. “Me.”

Fomic walked to her and placed his hands on her head. Josh waited, expecting something miraculous to happen, but the karvel robot simply retreated.

“Okay,” said Melody, shutting her eyes. “Seems I have twenty scouts. Three look buried. Five have no power. Twelve look functional.” She opened them. “Let’s see what the Grillons grew from before I send any out. Might give me a clue where to send them.”

“All done,” Elowen said, addressing the screen.

“You will find you have twenty scouts. Not all will function. Because of the gradual corruption of the primary mana pools, we powered the scouts using energy from the sun. Should the land change or the Grillons locate any, then their power will diminish. These are the last reports from Scout 016.”

The orb vanished, replaced by a patch landscape of rock and scrub surrounded by the shear slopes of the jagged Hangsane. In its center stood a castle—of sorts. Circular, rising to a single tower, the building dominated all. The karvel woman began speaking again.

“The central building developed over time. Of the original four Grillons, one never left the ship. The rest worked industriously to create a defensive position. However, we offered no threat, nursing them back to health in the hope they would explain the secrets behind their machines. When they began to afford us detailed information, we thought we had met partners we could develop our technology with. They taught us to make vast machines capable of excavating rock on an industrial scale. Some dwarves became disillusioned, moaning that our machines would steal their jobs. But they bewitched us, and we cast away our old companions. That led to the first karvel versus dwarf war.”

The scene changed again, the recording one of war and strife, of machines blazing, and dwarves lying dead in the street, karvels laying by their side.

“Once the Grillons sided with us, the dwarves quickly surrendered. After that, they became our slaves and we became the Grillon favored. Without us realizing it, the Grillons had become our masters. But they continued to teach us their ways, just as long as we built them their compound. The tower grew. It was all they cared about, and within it, the machines became more and more complex. Some of our numbers vanished. When seen again, several months later, their eyes had blackened, and their memories had vanished. The Grillons had turned them into machines.”

Another scene appeared. A karvel wandered from the cylindrical structure. It walked in a straight line, corruption flowing from its eye sockets. It fell a hundred yards out, its body still. The scout hovered over it, but no one came.

“The structure is made from crushed rock mixed with resin made from tree sap. It is highly workable, which enabled us to make the building smooth, exactly as they wanted it. At the tower’s peak, we set a huge crystal made from a glowing stone we named Angel Stone. These we mined from a secondary crash site where the Grillons informed us the main reactors had impacted the Hangsane. Humans began to populate this area toward our end.”

The scout drone zipped through the mountains, swerving down narrow fissures and forging through dark forests. It came to another vale, a white, glowing stripe down its center, so beautiful it could never be called a scar, but like it nonetheless. A small human encampment lay at one end, little more than a stockade and wooden huts.

The woman continued. “We believe the Grillons will befriend humans once they are done with us. We are learning they have similar ambitions and temperaments. We believe they are ideally suited to partner with them.”

“Do you know the true purpose of the Grillon compound and its shape?” Josh asked. He had his suspicions, but wanted to understand what the karvels had ascertained.

The woman paused as if receiving instructions, but Josh knew that wasn’t possible. He wondered at the complexity of the robot, Formic. It undoubtedly had Grillon roots. The real question was: Were the Grillons feeding him this information?

“They told us it was to transmit and receive information from other lands. At the time of our demise, they had received nothing.”

“Did they use it to search for something else?” he asked.

“They searched for the fifth survivor. We never learned any more about that Grillon. Nothing much changed until the dwarven rebellion ended our involvement with the Grillons and that led to our extinction.”

“The dwarven rebellion?” Elowen asked as flames graced the screen once more.

The karvel woman ignored the question as the images of war cycled once more. “We’d prepared for another dwarven insurrection. We expected it. dwarves do not make slaves, that is why, before the arrival of the Grillons, we partnered with them. We’d already created the vast sentinels that protect our legacy, and these patrolled our underworld, the large caverns and fissures that formed our nest. We assured the dwarves that these were to protect us from the inevitable rise of the humans, but the reality was closer to home. When the dwarves rose again, we turned the machines on them.”

The display changed again. The huge three-legged machines striding through the dwarven caverns and enclaves destroying all in their way. Mana beams fried fleeing dwarves. Fires raged. Corpses lay in the streets.

“It was in the aftermath of this that we realized we had changed. In a desperate scramble to salvage our legacy, we built Shadows, a city carved from a marble mountain by Grillon machines, reaching for the stars like theirs. It was our hope we’d escape, that we could use our magic to form a portal and leave our corruption far behind. But even before we’d finished it, the Grillons dispensed with our services. A dwarf named Furinck, a survivor of our slaughter, told the Grillons of our plan to escape their clutches. They couldn’t let us leave. They’d shared too much with us. We refocused as they hunted every one of us down. We built this place and enchanted Shadows with instructions on how to reach it. We cast away our love of the machines and echoed back to the beauty of mana and magic. Evil had courted us, and we had fallen in love with it. But evil fell out of love with us, and its wrath was clinical. Its judgment total. Its execution merciless.”

The screen blanked until the female grew again; her face occupying it all. “Do not follow our path. Do not fall in love with power. We cannot carry it. No one can. Peace does not sit well with it, only strife, only corruption and only greed.”

She fell silent. Her eyes darkened, losing their shine as they decayed, black corruption falling from her cheeks, tears of despair, until hollow sockets marred her once beautiful face. Flames then engulfed her, and the picture faded.

“Well, that went downhill fast,” Cassandra said.

“Fomic, replay the scout report displaying the Grillon stronghold and any other surveys of the immediate area.” Elowen stood, walking up and down the room. “Right, we must plan. The stronghold looked impenetrable one hundred-odd years ago. The moment Melody activates her scouts, the remaining two Grillons will know we have karvel tech. They will already know we have killed one of them in battle and put the other out of its misery. That will make it even harder to get to them.”

“Assuming they aren’t coming for us,” Cassandra said.

“Assuming that. But the object is to take out Josh and reclaim the lost ring. That is why they pursued him. I’m right in thinking that, aren’t I?”

“You are.” Josh stood. “What I may or may not have told you is why.” He held up his hand, displaying the ring. “My people—humans—in my timeline, dimension, whatever you wish to call it, had spread throughout the stars. They butted up against a few races. There were wars, sure. There was absorption. There was tentative peace. Most time we worked it out. Then we came up against the Grillons. Whether it was our expansion or theirs that finally brought us together, I don’t know. But one moment, no one had heard of them. The next, they were everywhere, slaughtering us in our millions. Our tech people, our analysts put it down to this—the system inside them. They narrowed it down to the ring. Every time they captured one, the Grillons hunted it down. They know that if humans have these—can reproduce these on an industrial scale, like as not, our savagery would rival theirs. They followed me across dimensions to get this back. That thing they’ve built is probably calling for backup, not rescue. That’s how single-minded they are. They won’t give up. Even once they have the ring, they won’t stop until every single one of us is dead. That is what you’re up against. Yes, the object is to recapture the ring. But it won’t stop there.”

“Which is why we must plan,” Elowen said. “So, assuming they aren’t coming for us to avenge the deaths, assuming their instinct is to let us come to them, we have to attack this structure.”

“It has one entrance,” Cassandra said. “How much planning can it take?”

“Two,” said Melody. “It has two. Look at the tower when the scout does a sweep. Look by its Angel Stone. There’s access there. Two entrances. One they’ll anticipate, and one they won’t.”

“Which would really be useful if we’d brought Dorkrin, but we didn’t.”

“Dorkrin the dragon,” Cassandra said. “Whatever happened to him?”

“Doing what dragons do best. Steering clear when the shit hits the fan and being all mightier than thou when there’s no hassle around,” Helm said.

“He’s close,” Vella said. “But no use to us.”

“You know, or you think?” Melody asked.

“Know. Dorkrin close. No use to us.”

“Dragons aside. The tower is no use to us unless we can climb it. Move on.” Cassandra walked over to a table and helped herself to some food. “This really tastes as fresh as the day they made it.”

“Leave the tower to me,” Melody said.

“So, assuming that Melody can make use of the tower, how do we attack? Will there be guardians? How do we scout it?”

“I’ll need to get within sight of it. I can use my geomancy to flush them out.” Cassandra thumped her staff down.

“Unless they have paladin or guardian Geomancers to counter. We need to find a way to obliterate any auxiliary troops they have. Ravagers? Do they exist now that we’ve decontaminated the mana pools?” Elowen tapped her lips. “I don’t think we can move forward without launching the scouts. We have to know the current situation.”

“Oh, thank God. Please!” Cassandra said. “Let’s get on with it before we die of old age.”

“You want to know why it’s important to look at the old reports? No? Well, you should because we can look at what’s changed. They would have changed it for a reason. If we can fathom that reason, then we might get an advantage.”

“If I’d gone to witch school, this is exactly what it would have felt like.” Cassandra yawned. “Okay, so we’ve seen it. Let’s see what it looks like now.”

“Mel?” Elowen asked.

Melody twisted her face in concentration. “I’m waking one scout. I have plans for them, so can’t risk them being destroyed.” The screen fizzed and crackled, coming to life and showing an overview of the valley.

The building still sat central like an upturned spinning top. The huge Angel Stone emitted its power, but the light bent toward the surrounding ground as if drawn there. Three paths radiated from the building’s entrance. One curled around it and headed toward a fissure toward the guardian camp. The second headed due north, and the third bent west. Black lined the land surrounding each road and the perimeter of the circular building, giving it the look of a massive spider’s web. As the orb took off, speeding toward the center, the upturned faces of humans, ravagers, armored paladins, goblins and orcs all stared up. Thrumming filled the room, emanating from the screen.

“Call it back!” Josh said. “Something’s about—”

A flash blinded him, then the fizz of something tearing through the air followed before the feed disintegrated.

“I think they just shot it out of the sky,” Elowen said.

“I don’t think they did anything. I think the stone got it,” Cassandra said. “I felt its force. It blasted the orb to pieces.”

Silence fell. The magnitude of their task becoming clear, until Melody spoke.

“I have a plan for that, and a plan to flush the Grillons out. But it relies on the scouts. I need to get them back here. Do we need to see anything else?”

“I think we’ve seen enough,” Josh said. “The Grillons are waiting for us. They are content for us to come to them, which makes perfect tactical sense. If they’re using their combat instinct, then they’ll know the attacker always loses more than the defender does. They’ll know they have the advantage. Why would they move?”

“To get you.” Arabella held his hand. “You are all that matters. Don’t forget that.”

“They didn’t come after us because the mana pool destroyed the Grillon ring.” Josh tapped his nose. “No. They’ll wait. They’ve subdued the most powerful in the Hangsane. They know they can walk through the mountains and breeze into Mythelore without a problem. Grillons are warlike, but they don’t thirst for the rush of victory. Defeating their enemies is all that matters. How? Efficiency is king, and us dying at the hand of that Angel Stone is as efficient as it gets.”

“I said I have a plan,” Melody said, and she explained.

Chapter Twenty-Three

AFFINITY SCRAMBLED OVER THE ROCK, rising all the time. Josh followed, keeping low, the fissure’s sides shielding them from the Grillon enclave. Arabella, the Reavan bow slung over her shoulder, came next. Helm and Lex lagged behind while Vella flitted back and forth, chattering with the sprites.

“This way,” Affinity said, then scampered on. She’d turned into her cat form, stealth paramount, etching out a way that kept them sheltered. She pivoted, moving up, coming to a cave and transforming back. “The sun will keep us sheltered. There’s a ravine that leads straight down. It’ll put us onto that road there.”

Josh sat back. He calmed his mind, calling on Tremelox. He’d closed the gap on his next evolution with their recent battles but still hadn’t reached it. It weighed on him. He’d have preferred to be stronger, but what was enough power? Would he ever be ready? Sometimes fate couldn’t wait for everyone.

Lex and Helm had grown stronger and continued to. Lex had initially struggled to control the warrior core, its ambitions had lain with the Grillons. But Lex’s willpower was strong. Her determination to not only serve Josh but unreservedly love him won through. The core was no match for love. Helm’s progression was slower, but the boost to an already strong woman was clearly visible. Her skin, taut with muscle, gleamed under the morning sun.

It was a good day to live or die trying to. With their further understanding of the Grillon threat came the knowledge that everyone they’d ever known would die if they failed. For Melody, she fretted for Harrogate, and was distraught his fledgling harem might never grow to fruition. For Arabella, it was also her father—Thadeus Extrael, who’d found love for the first time since her mother mysteriously died. For Lex and Helm, it was clearer cut. They’d both found love, and they wanted to keep it. Cassandra had the power and respect she’d craved all her life. Elowen had enough reading to keep her going forever. No one knew precisely what motivated Vella, but she appeared invested in the outcome, even if she had spent most of the day playing with the sprites.

Affinity—he didn’t quite get her. She was too new, and while he’d fallen head-over-heels in lust with her, it was too early to understand her motives. For him, for Josh, he simply didn’t want to die. What man would when surrounded by the love of so many women? His power never came into it, as far as he was concerned. He was like a rich man in that respect. One who said money didn’t matter. Power did matter. It meant he could protect his girls.

Except, he was going up against creatures potentially much more powerful than him.

“What’s the signal?” he asked, knowing full well what it was but wanting the reassurance of a spoken word or two.

“In her own words?” Affinity asked. “She said: ‘Wait until all fucking hell breaks out.’ Ha! I love that girl.”

Melody had recovered a total of fifteen scouts. She hoped more might blink into life, but she had enough if not. She’d asked for two days and had demanded that Fomic retrieved a whole load of supplies from the Karvel village. Then, goggles down, she’d not stopped.

Josh and the others had continued to study everything they could regarding the Grillons, but nothing short of a blast them and hope for the best approach rose to the top. Everything hinged on Melody, and when she’d finished with the scouts, she modified a whole load of Arabella’s arrows. It appeared that shock and awe, rather than stealth, was their option.

Elowen had stayed with Melody. She’d slid into her support role easily, aware that she had none of the combat advantages of the others. When Josh had argued that they should all stick together, Cassandra told them about her reoccurring vision—about the pile of their bodies and the Grillon coming toward them, holding Josh’s limp and broken body.

Cassandra drew beside him as the ravine widened. They soon reached the bottom, crouching low, staring at the horrors ahead. The scene was one of perpetual horror. Sightless guardians, blood-soaked paladin, and hideous ravagers all milled, their constant wailing, grunting and screams filling the surrounding area with ravenous hunger.

“They’ve marshaled them here. It’s our welcoming committee,” Affinity said, fear filling her voice. “There’s so many. How are we ever going to get through?”

“We stick to the plan,” Josh said, reaching out, reassuring her. “We’re stronger than them. So much stronger. You have to believe in yourself.”

Affinity stared out, equipping her sword. She closed her eyes, controlling her breathing. “The power of the stone,” she muttered. “I must believe in the stone’s power.”

A drum beat sounded. The ravagers rose on their hind legs, taking to the skies, spreading from the building and radiating out. A giant crimson beast flew upward, settling atop the Angel Stone. It spread its frayed wings, its eyes glowing like hot coals.

“Dorkrin,” Vella said. “They got Dorkrin.”

“Just how far has their corruption spread?” Affinity said. “Dorkrin lived way north of here. He was close to Mythelore. Surely the ravagers haven’t overrun all?”

“The Magalese Cut,” Helm said. “I’ll bet they burst from the Magalese Cut.”

“It’s why they’re all here,” Affinity said. “They’ve already won.”

“No!” Josh said. “No! They’ve not won until we’re dead. We can do this. We can stop them.”

“Did Adamant get it wrong? It’s not thirty days yet,” Arabella said.

“It’s closer than we think,” Cassandra said. “We must end this today.” Light flared from her staff. “We must end this now!”

As if Melody had been listening, searing screams filled the air as scouts closed from all around the vast crater. Light burst from the Angel Stone, brilliant rays hitting the scout orbs. Explosions rocked the crater, bombs peppering the ravagers, guardians, paladins and orcs.

“Go!” Josh cried. “Go now!”

A shimmering mana shield enveloped them, and Affinity and Cassandra burst from cover, racing into the chaotic basin. The ravagers reacted first, surging toward their prey. But Melody adapted, sending the scouts low, small grenades dropping from them. Lex’s half-suit closed around her body as she drove her sword into the first beast, then spun, her second blade finishing the creature. Josh hurdled it, meeting the next, his great sword scything through it with ease. His HUD painted the scene with red, mauve and blue. He dismissed the warnings. He didn’t need them.

Cassandra called down lightning as the Angel Stone’s laser fire blew Melody’s scouts out of the sky with monotonous ease. The group’s pace slowed as the ravagers surrounded them.

“Move forward! We must move forward!” Josh cried, hacking at the creatures.

Bodies piled. Arabella’s arrows flew, blowing ravagers and paladins to fleshy pieces, and the heroic charge became a grim battle. The ground erupted as Cassandra called on her geomancy. Clouds gathered, surrounding the Angel Stone as she tried to blind it.

A massive explosion ripped through the ravager ranks, tossing them forward onto Cassandra’s shield.

“There’s too many of them!” Arabella cried, and for the first time, failure entered Josh’s mind.

But the price was too steep. The price was everything.

“Dig deep, Tremelox. I need everything you’ve got.”

His rage grew. It surpassed anything he’d ever felt before, and he burst free of the witch’s shield, forging forward, his blade a blur as he carved a huge rent in the surrounding rabble. Josh reached a peak, his numbers rising with every kill. He surpassed the figure he needed for his next evolution, and he still carried on.

“More power! Give me more power!” he cried, hoping that Tremelox could increase him as he fought.

He squared up to a guardian, the man’s eyes missing, just darkened holes filled with corruption. The living corpse battled with him but had no answer to Josh’s gathering might. Then it fell as Vella skittered between his legs, her body coated in corruption.

“Renew!” she said, touching him and filling him with vigor. “The sprites are coming. Don’t let them down!”

That she thought he might brought his anger to a new level. He carved a paladin in two, kicking the creature over before it fell. These weren’t men or women. They were twisted abominations of once pure humans. They weren’t living. They were long dead.

Space cleared around him as more explosions filled the basin. A dark shadow flew over them. Black fire spilling from its jagged maw. The once majestic dragon, Dorkrin, attacked. An arrow zipped from behind Josh, easily piercing the ragged creature’s rotten scales. It exploded moments later, Dorkrin’s fire engulfing Josh.

But Josh didn’t hesitate. He screamed his defiance as he forged toward the Grillon complex.

Behind him, Affinity’s blades sung. Lex had swapped her sword for a spear and shield. She stabbed ravager after ravager, slit throats, impaled, never stopping, never hesitating. Helm worked efficiently, moving so fast she was a blur of lilac and steel. Cassandra sat in the calm pocket they’d created in the chaos. She’d stopped slinging her magic around, focusing instead on the great tower before them. An explosion sounded deep within it, followed by another, then more.

Another arrow sank into Dorkrin, exploding, causing the dragon to fall. He listed, arcing around and aiming for Cassandra.

“No!” Josh screamed, racing for her and planting himself in the way.

Arabella poured arrow after arrow into the falling dragon, explosions rocking it. A scout orb flew straight into it, the blast blowing the dragon to pieces. Rank flesh strafed them, covering them all in its fetid stench.

“Hurry up!” Josh screamed, knowing Melody was nearly out of scouts. She poured the remaining ones into the tower, the muffled explosion rocking its stone core.

Cassandra shot him a look that told him to focus on his own job. He steeled his gut.

“Give me all you’ve got, Tremelox!”

“I am endeavoring to increase your power as you kill, but mending the tears is becoming increasingly difficult.”

“Just do your best. See if Alice can help. No point in having secrets now.”

He dove back into the battle, pulling the horde away from Cassandra as Melody’s explosions finally stopped. Then they parted as a single male made his way through the crowd.

“We meet again, Josh,” Lux said, black tears staining his cheeks. “You’ve grown in the Hangsane. I told you the pilgrimage would do you good. I see some of your girls are missing. Never mind. I’ll mop them up later.”

“Why join them?” Josh cried.

Lux smiled, his teeth black, his once rakish handsomeness gone. “Power. Why else? They’ve promised me this entire planet in exchange for your ring, and it’s time to take it.”

“They lie to you. They’ll want everything.”

Lux drew his sword back. “It’s fortunate for you I’ve lost my sight or you’d be dead already. Those are the margins, Josh. Those are the slithers between life and death. He moved forward as quick as lightning, his strike clinical. Josh barely parried, his huge sword fantastic for sweeping monsters aside but no use in a battle against someone so capable as the former guardian. Lux used the advantage to strike again, his blade biting into Josh’s suit. Making an instant choice, Josh took the pain, swapping out the sword for his drow blade. That moment’s advantage, that matter of seconds, was all Lux needed. He shifted, thrusting, his sword’s point pressing against Josh’s stomach.

“Goodbye. Mr. Underwood,” Lux said, his voice changed, deeper, a Grillon. “Thank you for returning our ring.”

The blade slid into his gut. But, as Josh fought to move, to do something to counter the inevitable, Lux’s head snapped back. A thwack silenced the cacophony, and an arrow stuck out of the guardian’s forehead. Josh knew what was coming, but he was powerless to move. Then Lux’s head exploded, blasting Josh back, tearing the sword from his gut. He smashed into Cassandra’s mana shield, slipping down it and slumping to the bloody ground.

“Heal!” Vella said. “Renew,” she added, as Josh’s numbers surged again.

“No!” Josh cried. “No!” His evolution swept through his body, rippling over his in hastened waves. “What are you doing, Tremelox? We haven’t got time for this!”

“I have no choice. I cannot hold it back any longer.”

Josh rolled over, crawling, getting to his feet. He staggered around, trying to get his head together. His muscles ached. His bones screamed. “Must keep fighting!”

Cassandra cried out, a flash of her magic shooting from the Everdeep staff toward the tower. Her cry turned to a scream. She fell to her knees as Vella stood over her feeding her the mana she so desperately needed. The tower absorbed everything, sucking in her magic like it was nothing. Then a loud crack rang out, a black split snaking down the immense structure.

Josh doubled over. His head snapping back as his spine strengthened. A ravager swooped, seeing him exposed. Lex dove in front, impaling the beast, her spear exploding out of the top of its head. Josh jerked again, moving like an awkward mannequin.

“For fuck’s sake, Tremelox!”

“Evolution will complete in ten instances.”

“How fucking long is an instance?”

The ravagers, the paladins and the orcs circled, sensing their prey was vulnerable. Josh’s body calmed, his suit thickening, the tear on his shoulder, the hole in his gut, both mending.

“Evolution complete. You are now a Savage Warden, Azure Protector.”

Blue flashes replaced the crimson of his old rank. Josh grinned and moved forward, coming to the ring’s extent and squaring off to an orc. “Right, you fucker, let’s see what you’ve got.” He recalled Tremelox working on his punch. “Time to get down and dirty.”

He led with a sword strike, followed with a kick, then swapped his sword into his offhand and wound up a punch. Unleashing it, his fist smacked the orc right on the bridge of its flat, muddy-green nose, driving its helmet’s guard into its head, the orc’s entire face caving in. The orc fell, its knees crumbling. Josh stepped over its corpse, kicking, punching, slicing and stabbing.

His resurgence galvanized the others. Cassandra stood, doubling down on her magical blasts as she chipped away at the tower’s defense. The crack widened, the tower creaked. Finished with the scouts, the Angel Stone focused on the group, its mana blasts peppering them, stone shrapnel peppering them. But the fight descended into packed chaos. Vella sent the sprites up, and they drew the fire away from Josh.

“Aramalanthia!” Cassandra screamed, pointing her staff at the tower’s base. Bright golden magic streamed from her, blasting a huge hole in the tower’s stonework. The tower rocked. The Angel Stone fired its shots erratically, and then the tower toppled, falling straight toward them, in one last spiteful act.

“Run!” Arabella screamed as the tower crashed down and the ravagers scattered. Josh picked up Vella, racing sideways. Affinity flew past him, pulling Cassandra with her as Helm and Lex dove. The tower thumped to the mud, sending plumes of dust upward, stone exploding out. Josh tumbled to the ground, folding himself around Vella.

Silence filled the bowl, broken only by the pitter-patter of rocks raining down. “Stay down everyone!” Josh screamed, his vison pulsing crimson and mauve.

“What?” Vella asked.

“Not sure, something. Something terrible!”

The ravagers rose. The paladins and orcs got up. Josh chanced a look. The Angel Stone hung high, hovering where the tower’s top had once been. Then it plunged, dropping straight down with a piercing scream. It smashed into the circular structure, the remnants of the tower, and exploded.

Bright stars shot from it, passing through the standing orcs, the rising paladins and guardians, every single ravager. They tore each to shreds, vaporizing the closest, ripping through the farthest. Limbs flew off. Guts spilled. Heads burst open.

“Down! Keep down!” Josh cried again as blistering heat radiated from the blast’s epicenter. But all Josh felt was power surging into him as his numbers skyrocketed again. Waves of raw energy erupted, the screams of the dying silenced instantly.

And then all settled again as Josh’s vision cleared and he lifted his head. Devastation greeted him. Charred slopes surrounded the bowl. Its center was a mass of charred flesh and broken stone. Light speckled it, glimmering as the fragments of Angel Stone gave up their power.

“We all okay?” Josh asked.

“Yes,” Vella said.

“Do you feel it?” Helm asked. “Do you feel the power inside you?”

“I feel it,” Cassandra said, rising. “If I wasn’t so damn filthy, I’d feel great.”

Josh rolled onto his back, staring up at the Harmonic. Gore coated her from head to foot. Her shredded cloak hung in rags, gray stone powder sticking to the flesh and blood. “Let’s finish this,” she said, facing the stone structure.

As the others rose, a brilliant white light burst from the circular building, radiating from its entrance.

“Tremelox!” The word rang out, the speaker’s deep voice filled with power. “Tremelox! Give up the useless husk you’ve hidden in. Come home! We await you.”

Josh stood, holding Vella’s hand, ankle-deep in body parts. “They finally come,” he said.

“This is it,” Cassandra said. “This is the scene. It’s what I pictured. It’s all coming true!”

“No!” he said. “It’s not. They’re done. We’re going to win.”

The Grillons faced him. Both wore shining black suits, the blue tracer line the only feature. Cassandra called her magic, demanding it come. She threw it forward with a cry as the huge beasts strode toward them.

They were like mechs from Josh’s games, towering way above him. In that instant, Josh knew he faced two Eternal Conquerors—the peak of his possible evolution. “Oh fuck,” he muttered as Lex and Helm strode forward, as Cassandra’s magic skidded right off them. “You’re right. We can’t win. We’ll never beat them.”

“Must,” said Vella. “We must.”

A huge sword appeared in one’s hand. The other equipped a gigantic hammer. They trod their fallen comrades into the mud, splashing through the guts and gore.

“We offered you the chance. We asked you to join us, but you chose death.”

Lex burst forward.

“No!” Josh shouted “No!”

The Grillon batted her away like she was nothing more than an annoyance. “Ha! Send your women in your place! Come to us. Come, bow before us and return what you have stolen.”

Arabella nocked her bow, shooting without hesitation. The Grillon moved so fast it was hard to track. It caught the arrow and broke it in two, throwing it away, its explosion barely scratching it. They moved ever closer. Affinity stood beside Josh. Helm helped Lex back as the Misfits lined up, awaiting their fate.

“Is there nothing we can do?” Arabella asked.

But they all knew—they’d all seen Josh’s progression.

“They’re probably twice as powerful as me.”

A metallic grind rang out. It screeched across the blood-soaked basin. Another came, the slow but steady gait Josh had heard before. More grinds, the sound of dry hinges, came from all around them.

“What the fuck?” Josh said. “What the fuck is going on?”

The karvel machines lurched toward the Grillon compound, their slow gait somehow more terrifying than even the Grillons.

“Its Melody!” Arabella cried, pointing.

Josh followed her finger. Melody, goggles down, held onto a leg, guiding the machines slowly toward the Grillons.

“Elowen!” Helm yelled.

Elowen stood atop another, her arm raised and face scrunched in anger. “Fire!” she cried, and the encircling tripods fired as one.

Streaks of green mana shot towards the two Grillons.

“Fire!” cried Melody, and the machines sent another volley.

Cassandra hatched more magic, pouring lightning blasts into them.

“No, Cas!” Josh cried. “Heat the rock! Superheat the rock under them. We have to destroy the rings!”

“Think outside the box!” Cassandra cried, winking at him.

“Fire!” Elowen said.

“Fire!” Melody cried.

Arabella nocked her bow, sending arrow after arrow into the incandescent inferno that was once the two Grillons. The karvel machines poured mana into the flames. Cassandra heated the rock under them, Vella feeding her more and more mana.

“No!” cried one of the Grillons. “No!”

“We will get our revenge!” said the other.

Josh drew his sword, planting its tip in the rock. He leaned on it, a smile finally breaking onto his lips. “You have to defeat my girls to get to me,” he said as they began sinking into Cassandra’s molten pool.

“You have to defeat The Misfits!” Affinity said. “And although I’ve only just joined, I can tell you that isn’t going to happen anytime soon.”

“Misfits,” Vella said, and poured more power into Cassandra.

Then, as the karvel machines surrounded them, the Grillons sunk into the super-heated ground, and Cassandra broke off, her magic fading as she crouched and caught a breath. Elowen and Melody climbed down from their karvel machines, and Melody blinked, that tiny action switching them off.

“Never been so pleased to see you, Brains,” Cassandra gasped.

“What? You didn’t see us coming?” Melody asked.

“I’ve seen you cumming loads of times,” Cassandra grunted, sitting back. “You make a stupid face, like you’re trying hard to fart.”

“I do not!” Melody said, stamping her foot.

“You all do,” Vella said, snickering.

“You’re all mad, you know that, don’t you?” Affinity said as Vella healed Lex.

“You’ve left their heads sticking out.” Arabella kicked one.

“We could make a monument out of them,” Helm said.

“No,” Melody said. “They don’t deserve it. They don’t deserve to be remembered.” She blinked again, and a karvel machine lifted its foot and then stamped down on the two Grillons. “There, that’s better.”

“My system’s gone,” Helm said. “It’s vanished from my mind.”

“Mine too,” Arabella said. “Can’t say I’m unhappy about it. Made me feel pretty weak. What about you?” Arabella stared at Lex. “Mine’s still there. Guess it’s because I got a core.”

“Mine’s there too,” said Josh.

“Then you two have to be very careful, because it looks like you’ve just become the most powerful pair in the land,” Helm said.

“That’s no sweat,” Josh said. “You’ll all still have your strength. It was only a progression path. The system only corrupts. It does nothing else. Corrupts by strengthening you.”

“But do you think you can handle it?” Affinity asked.

“You don’t know us that well yet, Affinity, but power is the last thing we crave,” Cassandra said.

“But it’s come to you. It’s found a home in you,” the cat girl said.

“And it’ll stay there,” Josh said. “Unless there comes a time when we’ll have to use it again. But at least we know one thing.”

“What?” asked Arabella, putting her hands around him.

“We’d be no match for little mouse people.”

Epilogue

THE WATERWHEEL CLUNKED. It was proof, if proof was needed, that their farm was slowly coming together. Arabella put down her saw, brushing the sweat from her brow and cupping her hands. She scooped up a handful of water, drinking most down and then splashing the rest over her face. The wheel turned, the clunks filling her with more warmth than perhaps they should have. It was a sign that all her hard work was paying off.

She lifted her face to the afternoon sun, bathing in the sounds that surrounded her. What had once been war, battle and strife had been replaced with chickens, sheep and even their very own milking cow. Her life had altered quite substantially since those heady days when they took down the Grillons. It seemed so distant, like something she’d read in a book, as she liked to do while sitting on the swinging seat under the trailing oak.

Although idyllic, farming was proving hard work. It wasn’t the dreamy days of planting seed and watching bread grow that she’d imagined. There was honest toil there. Not that work was an issue for her, or any of them. Cassandra had perfected plowing a field while sitting on their deck. If they thirsted for water, she called for rain. If their crops needed sun, she brushed the clouds away.

Anything Cassandra couldn’t do, Melody automated. Automated—that was a word Josh had taught them. It meant something that was done without any of them having to do it. Arabella didn’t trust it like she trusted magic. She thought no good would come of automation. The automatic wagon they had once trundled off by itself and was halfway down the trail before anyone noticed. Melody had put it down to a faulty mana battery, but Arabella suspected it had a demon inside it—a trickster, at the very least. No, she didn’t trust automation over magic. At least you knew where you stood with that.

Elowen had employed the remnants of the Magicals to transport all the surviving karvel texts to her. In the morning, she was returning to the City of Shadows to open their library and see if Adamant’s collection had survived the Great Purge. Arabella wasn’t sure who’d named it the Great Purge. It wasn’t any of them, nor was it Adamant.

The Reavan Guildmaster had got his timings wrong, and Dorkrin had wiped out him and his entire sect. Arabella thought that was the problem with looking into the future. You didn’t have to get it far wrong for it to bite you on the ass. Cassandra still played with it. She kept yelling “Mind out” and rolling around laughing at any who stumbled. She cried wolf too often. One day, it would bite her on the ass.

Arabella eyed the waterwheel. It was still a little skewed. She held its paddle, the river protesting, and lifted the entire wheel up with her other hand as she cleared a bit of debris from its seating. It was handy being strong—quite handy being a dead-eye with her Reavan bow, too. Hunting took no time at all, especially if Affinity was there to fetch her downed prey. By heck, that cat girl was fast.

Lex, though, did most of the hunting. She hadn’t taken to farming at all. But Arabella did it when Lex was away with Josh. The former assassin insisted on accompanying him whenever he had to go and sort out a dispute. Just the sight of his shining black armor was enough to settle even the most vociferous of arguments. After all, he was an Eternal Conquerer, so he had a similar power to the dead Grillons.

But if that encounter had taught them anything, it was that no power was absolute. The karvels had made a machine that had killed the Grillons. There were no guarantees that someone wouldn’t make one that could kill Josh. Mind you, it would take more than a machine. It had last time. It had taken a group the like of which the land had never seen to come together, to fight together and to love each other.

It would take a group like The Misfits to topple Josh.

She smiled at the thought, knowing that would never happen again.

Why?

Because it wasn’t power that won the day. It wasn’t a sword, a sorceress, a mystic siphon, a warrior or an Eternal Conquerer.

It was a trap smith and a bookworm.

A pair of Misfits if there ever had been.

And they haven’t let us forget it.

The End

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That’s it folks — They all live happily ever after. Thank you so much for listening or reading this far. Six books that I hope have been packed with fun for you. Fun and romance, because that’s what it’s all about at the end of the day.

For more romantic, action, adventure fantasy, follow me, Jack Spry, on Amazon, follow Marcus Sloss. Look up Royal Guard Publishing and ready any of their amazing authors. Special thanks go out to Jessica Threet for bringing these books to life. Look her up on Audible and you’ll find plenty of wonderful books.

Thanks for reading, folks.

Until next time,

Jack

Afterword

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